Skywalker from a distance in the arena of Geonosis. The young Padawan was
older now, but Boba recognized Anakin's defiant gaze - and his skill. "He
can really fly that thing!"
Anakin's starfighter pulled up once more. A blaze of Separatist fire
sparked around it. Then, without hesitating, the ship went into another
dive. It came in low, pulling up at the last moment as it lobbed an energy
charge at the citadel.
KARRR000M!
The charge exploded. Flaming spikes of durasteel flew everywhere. A
raw smoldering hole appeared in the citadel's side.
"Yes!" said Boba.
Wish I could do that! Boba thought as another spasm of flame arced by
him. Boba jumped, then ran through a throng of clones. He was now using all
the skills he'd acquired as a bounty hunter. His blaster fired without
pause. Droids exploded in orange sparks - and clones fell left and right,
as he fought his way toward the fortress.
This time, Boba didn't feel bad at all.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Near the foot of Wat Tambor's citadel, a homing spider droid had
fallen. Its large form slumped over on two of its legs, forming a small,
protected area.
Boba headed for this makeshift refuge. He had to leap over several
dead clones, and the smoking wreckage of a swoop. But once in the shadow of
the droid he was safe. For a few moments, anyway.
Now what?
Boba crouched, panting, and stared out at the battlefield. The clone
trooper reinforcements were holding their own against the Separatists, but
were unable to advance. Boba doubted they'd be able to defeat Wat Tambor's
forces. The clones were organic and could be killed. And they were being
killed in great numbers. The droids couldn't regenerate, but there seemed
to be an endless supply of them streaming from the citadel's mouth.
But could it really be endless? Surely even Wat Tambor's army had a
limit?
Boba peered out from the crook of the fallen droid's elbow. Far above
him, Anakin Skywalker's starfighter led the Jedi forces in the air attack.
They were targeting the spider droids.
As Boba watched, he saw another hailfire come spinning out of the
shadows of the malvil-trees. It rolled toward the center of the
battlefield, scattering clones like leaves. It stopped. It raised its
missile launcher, taking aim at one of the starfighters. With a deafening
burst of energy, a barrage of plasma pulses went soaring upward - directly
toward Anakin Skywalker's yellow starfighter.
He's doomed! thought Boba.
But the Padawan had other plans. Just as the plasma bursts approached
it, he arrowed his starfighter to one side. The energy bolts continued
onward, up, up, up through Xagobah's violet sky
And found another target - the ramship!
"Whoa!" Boba whooped.
An immense starburst of pure energy like a thunderbolt surged out from
where the ramship had been. Boba tensed, waiting for fallout; but none
came. The energy stored in the ramship was so dense and powerful that the
explosion caused it to self-implode.
Score one for the Republic!
Quickly, Boba scrambled between the fallen spider droid's legs. He
stared out at the battlefield. For a moment, everything had come to a
standstill. Battle droids and clones alike gazed up at the waves of energy
rippling through Xagobah's atmosphere violet, scarlet, gold.
"Very pretty," muttered Boba. He glanced at the entrance to Mazariyan.
He couldn't believe it. No droids were there!
Boba looked around again. And yes, battle droids and sentry droids
alike all seemed distracted. This was the moment Glynn-Beti had foretold!
It's the energy surge! Boba realized. It's momentarily scrambled their
command centers.
This was his chance!
droid. He raced toward the fortress, breathing hard. The entry to Mazariyan
gaped, faintly gleaming. Just a few more meters and he was there. None of
the clone troopers would make it in time; they were still too far off.
Boba paused, hand on his blaster. Behind him, the sounds of battle
began once more. In front of him was a problem: The maw of Wat Tambor's
citadel opened onto the Separatist's stronghold - and blades of purple
fungus ringed the entrance like razor teeth. Rows of spines stuck out
threateningly, ready to pierce any intruder. He recalled what Xeran had
told him and suddenly Boba understood.
Wat Tambor had perverted Xagobah's fungus to his own ends - inside his
citadel.
I have to get in there, Boba thought desperately. But how?
Boba shoved his blaster into his belt. He drew his vibroshiv.
No, he thought, and reluctantly replaced it. That will just make it
worse.
Boba's hand moved from his belt. That was when he felt something in
his pocket. Something round.
And suddenly Boba remembered.
Xeran's spore-globe.
What was it Xeran had said?
"If you have need of camoflage, crush this."
Boba pulled the globe from his pocket. He stared at the purple sphere
in the palm of his hand.
It looked harmless. And Xeran had said it was harmless - to Boba. But
he had also said the spores acted as chemical messengers. Could they
somehow damage the citadel?
Well, here goes nothing!
Boba glared up at the massive structure. Then he raised his hand, and,
hoping this wasn't a mistake, he crushed the globe.
It was like the energy surge that had destroyed the ramship. Only this
surge was darkest purple and smelled faintly of spices.
And it was, somehow, sentient. Boba watched in awe as a vast spore-
cloud enveloped the base of the fortress. The cloud moved like a gigantic
paramecium. And as it did, the spines nearest to Boba drooped. As Boba
stared, fascinated, he saw more metallic spines struggling to emerge.
But for the moment the spore-cloud was stronger. The spines withered.
New ones wriggled helplessly, then seemed to melt away. But more kept
coming, needle-sharp, and Boba quickly realized that the spores were just a
temporary solution. And whatever camoflage they offered would be temporary,
too.
Now! he thought, and turned back to the entrance. Sure enough, the
rows of spines had withered. They hung in limp black ribbons around the
opening. Boba lunged forward, head down. Around him the spore-cloud was
already starting to disperse.
If I can just get inside...
Tiny spines began to poke through the entryway. Tiny razor-sharp
petals thrust from the edges of the opening. Boba grabbed his vibroshiv and
slashed at them. Then, with one last desperate lunge, he leaped forward.
Metallic strands of fungus slashed at his helmet. Writhing silvery vines
slithered from the entryway
Too late!
With a gasp, Boba's feet connected with the ground. He staggered
forward into a murky purplish tunnel, heedless of the spikes behind him.
Beneath his boots the floor trembled like kallil-virus jelly. From the
curved durasteel wall
s, pale silvery fronds and stems waved like dead
fingers. There was a smell of scorched metal - and a faint, ceaseless thrum
as if some unimaginably vast machine heart was beating somewhere out of
sight.
Boba took a deep breath. Then, with every bit of courage he could
command, he stepped forward
Into the citadel of Wat Tambor.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
It took several minutes for Boba's eyes to adjust to the dimness.
Yet it was not completely dark. An eerie greenish/haze hung over
everything. Glowing orbs appeared to be set into the fortress's curved,
metallic walls. When Boba drew close to one, he saw that it was not an orb,
but a mushroom - a luminous mushroom. Wat Tambor had bioengineered the
fungus to merge with metal and plasteel circuitry. Phosphorescent bacteria
made it gleam. When Boba touched it, glowing pale green slime stuck to his
glove.
"Ugh." Hastily Boba wiped it off. He didn't want to be any more
noticeable than he already was!
He began walking down the hallway. The walls were smooth and metallic
and curved, as was the ceiling. They were covered by a film, of squishy,
violet fungus that squelched beneath his feet. But there were other things
in the walls, too. Blinking chips and miniature monitors, shining crimson
threads of circuitry like blood vessels.
Wat Tambor's genius had not been content with changing the malvil-
trees' genetic code. He had developed all kinds of nanotechnology. This had
enabled him to fuse computer intelligence into the fungus citadel as well.
Yet the monitors did not seem to be alert to Boba's presence. He
stopped in front of one, holding his breath: nothing.
The power surge from the ramship blast must have scrambled their
circuits, he thought. But that won't last long... better hurry!
Boba moved as quickly and stealthily as he could. He watched for
droids but saw none. Now and then another curving passage would join the
central tunnel. Boba peered down these.
What he saw made him content to stay in the main passage. The walls in
those tunnels had strange, lumpy shapes in them. Shapes that sometimes
moved or kicked or flailed. Boba wasn't certain what they were.
But he had a pretty good idea - he remembered the last ARC troopers
Glynn-Beti had spoken of.
And Xeran's people - the Xamsters who had struggled against the evil
Separatist. Boba gritted his teeth. He thought of the gentle malvil-trees.
He thought of the gentle Xeran, forced to take up arms against Wat Tambor.
Boba's hatred of Wat Tambor grew. I will show no mercy, he thought
fiercely. Xeran's people can no longer avenge themselves. I will take
vengeance for them!
And, of course, I'll get Jabba's bounty, too.
The passage began to climb slowly upward. As it did, it curved, as
though Boba were climbing some gigantic spiral staircase. He passed
shimmering walls where monitors flickered yellow and green and red. He
passed a room like the hollow chamber of a human heart, pulsing slowly in
and out. He passed tube-shaped openings that gave him a fragmented view of
the battle below.
But he passed no droids. He passed no clones. As far as Boba could
tell, he was the only thing that walked inside of Mazariyan.
And that made him nervous.
Could Wat Tambor have left? Could he have somehow escaped before Boba
arrived here to capture him?
Boba frowned. I sure hope not.
Things had been bad enough outside, with the citadel under siege. He
suspected they could get much worse if he was found inside by Wat Tambor's
troops - or the Republic's.
He continued his journey, in and up. The air grew thick and heavy.
Boba made sure his helmet's intake filter was working. He thought of the
violet haze of spores that surrounded this planet. He could only imagine
what kind of disgusting, protective spores were produced inside Mazariyan.
Sometimes an unpleasant thought would work its way through Boba like a
splinter.
What if I never find him? What if I can't find my way out?
He was working on pure intuition now. The curved passage seemed to
spiral endlessly up into the fortress. Sometimes it would branch. When that
happened, Boba would choose one way or another, on instinct.
He came to another place where the tunnel divided. To his left, it
curved upward, its smooth walls gleaming purple. To Boba's right, the
passage curved slightly downward. Here the tunnel had a deeper glow, almost
indigo.
Wonder what that means? thought Boba.
For a moment he paused, thinking. Then he placed his hand on his
blaster, and walked boldly into the right-hand passage.
He hoped he'd made the right choice.
Up until now he had - but not anymore.
Boba didn't know it yet. But his good fortune was about to dissipate
like the malvil's spores.
CHAPTER TWENTY
The air there was warmer; As deep and dark a blue it was almost black.
Boba didn't want to risk shining a light in the tunnel. He adjusted the
infrared on his helmet, but that seemed to make it worse. So he moved very
slowly, feeling his way. His gloved hands stuck to the slick walls. The
soft, dank floor sucked at his boots. Worse, the faint thrumming sound was
louder here. He could feel the floor vibrating under his feet. Ahead of
him, the tunnel's walls grew uneven. As Boba drew closer, he quickly yanked
his hand away.
Flabby, pale, fingerlike growths extended from the wall's surface. As
Boba stared, they wriggled like the tendrils of a Bestine sea anemone. The
tendrils were dark purple. Their tips were crimson.
"The Xabar fungus!" Boba exclaimed, recoiling. He remembered Xeran's
warning: The tentacles released a paralyzing toxin.
"Who goessss there?"
A hissing voice slashed through the air. Boba looked up sharply.
"Stranger - identify yourself!"
Boba felt his stomach clench - but not with fear. Anger had been
building inside him ever since he entered the fortress.
Now it boiled over.
A shadowy figure stood before him. Tall, with greenish skin, cold
deep-set eyes, a lipless mouth. Even in the indigo darkness Boba recognized
him.
The Clawdite, Nuri!
It had been two years since Boba had last seen him. That was on
Aargau. The shapeshifter had been smaller then. So had Boba.
But Boba was definitely bigger now - bigger, and stronger, and heavily
armed. And this Clawdite had betrayed Boba. Boba had trusted him. In
return, the shapeshifter had stolen what remained of his father's fortune.
"Nuri," Boba said in a low, controlled voice. He saw the Clawdite's
eyes narrow. "You owe me."
"Owe you?" The Clawdite did not recognize him. His gaze shifted
uncertainly from Boba to the passage behind him.
"That's right," said Boba. He drew his vibroshiv.
He lunged for the shapeshifter. As he did, Nuri's form seemed to melt.
His neck grew longer and longer. His arms and legs shrank into nothingness.
His head narrowed. Long, knife-sharp teeth filled his mouth. Feathered
scales covered his body. Where the Clawdite had been, a huge arrak snake
drew back to strike. Its glittering green eyes fixed on Boba. Then, hissing
furiously, it wrapped its coils around him.
"Not so fast!" Boba yelled. He struggled against the thick, powerful
serpentine shape. The arrak snake's coils began to tighten. Boba fought for
breath. His vibroshiv fought to discover some weak spot in the snake's
scaly armor
And found it! Just beneath the snake's fanged jaw there was a patch of
flesh unprotected by scales. Boba plunged the vibroshiv there - when once
again the shapeshifter's form changed!
In place of the arrak snake was a copper-colored dinko. It had
crushing jaws, and pointed talons the length of Boba's arm. Its jaws
snapped at Boba. When he kicked back at it, a foul-smelling spray squirted
from the dinko.
"Ugh!" Boba staggered backward. For a moment even his Mandalorian
helmet was no help - the fumes choked him. Then his secondary filters
kicked in. Coughing and shaking, Boba struck back. The dinko snarled,