Another missile was launched. This one, too, was headed for Obi-Wan.
"He's only aiming at me," Obi-Wan called. "Get closer, Anakin!"
Anakin zoomed past the missile. He saw Omega smile and target a slowing Obi-Wan again, but Mellora had vanished. He pushed the swoop engines past maximum.
He jumped the last few meters just as Omega launched another missile.
Anakin glanced back in time to see his Master barely evade it. His swoop seemed damaged by the action.
Omega had anticipated Anakin. He held the missile launcher against his shoulder, his finger hovering over the activation button. "Your Master's swoop is overheating. He doesn't have good maneuverability anymore. This one might get him. I've always thought that to be personally responsible for the death of a Jedi would truly help me make my mark. Would you really miss him so much, Anakin?" He grinned at Anakin, the ash-filled wind whipping his dark hair across his face.
"Don't," Anakin said. "You will regret it."
"I knew you'd get out of that ship!" Omega cried. "You will make a great Jedi Knight one day, Anakin Sky-walker. But you will be even greater if you listen to me!"
Anakin took a step toward him. "My Master and I request that you return to Coruscant with us for questioning by the authorities."
Omega sighed. "What a kind invitation. I'm afraid I'll have to refuse.
I'm busy, you see." He inched backward toward his swoop, his finger still hovering over the launch button.
Anakin leaped feet first. But instead of going for Omega, he kicked the swoop. Omega's eyes widened in shock as the swoop was knocked over the edge of the plateau. At the same time, Anakin's arm flew out and came down on the missile launcher, dislodging it from Omega's shoulder. With dismay, Anakin saw that the readied missile was launched as the launcher hit the ground.
Omega fumbled inside his tunic. Anakin heard the whine of a swoop engine behind him. He whirled in time to sidestep Mellora, who headed toward them at top speed. Omega tossed a thermal detonator as he clumsily leaped aboard Mellora's swoop.
Anakin caught the detonator and tossed it as far as he could. The explosion sent shock waves through the air. He raced back to his own swoop and leaped aboard.
Omega released seeker droids into the air. There were at least ten, heading toward Obi-Wan like a flock of deadly attack birds. Obi-Wan now had to contend with the droids and the tracking missile.
Anakin swung at the droids with his lightsaber as his swoop lurched crazily. He was trying to corner Omega and Mellora against the sheer face of the ridge, but the two zoomed below him, heading for the sandy plain.
It was a tactical error. Now they were heading toward the sea.
Obi-Wan turned his swoop at the last possible moment and the missile impacted on a seeker droid. He joined Anakin. They zoomed after Mellora and Omega.
The seekers were as thick in the air as the ash. Obi-Wan and Anakin swung their lightsabers constantly, sending them smashing down to the ground below.
Obi-Wan's speeder engine was smoking badly. "I'm overheating," he called to Anakin. "Some shrapnel pierced the engine."
Anakin maneuvered his swoop close to his Master. "Hop aboard."
Obi-Wan balanced on the seat and leaped onto Anakin's swoop. The swoop rocked from side to side, but Anakin straightened it and kept on flying.
Obi-Wan stood on the seat behind him, balancing easily. His lightsaber was a blur as he swung it at the attack droids.
"Master, the water!" Anakin called.
Far out on the sea, they could see a wave. It was as tall as a Coruscant skyscraper. It was a wall of water moving at more than a hundred kilometers an hour.
Omega and Mellora had gone too far in order to escape. Now they were trapped between the oncoming wave and the Jedi. They hovered in the air, staring at the wave. Omega looked back at the approaching Jedi defiantly.
Mellora only looked afraid.
Anakin pulled up the swoop close to Omega. They could hear the eerie sound of the wave now, a sound like no other Anakin had ever heard.
"You must come with us now," Obi-Wan said, his lightsaber raised.
"Granta, it's over," Mellora said, her eyes on the approaching wave.
"We must — "
In answer, Omega wrenched the controls from Mellora. He shot the swoop straight toward the wall of water. They could see Mellora's mouth forming a scream before its sound was snatched away by the roar of the titanic wave.
Grimly, Anakin headed after them. He stayed below Omega's swoop, hoping to force them upward. He didn't know if they would be able to clear the wave in time.
Omega swerved up, trying to clear the wave. Mellora had Darra's lightsaber and was trying to activate it. Anakin didn't know why. There was little she could do with it. Perhaps she wanted to force Omega to surrender.
Omega suddenly reached out and casually put his foot against Mellora.
With a push, he shoved her off the swoop.
She fell toward the wave, shrieking.
Anakin gunned the motor and dove under her. Obi-Wan caught her in his arms. The lightsaber fell from her fingers, and Anakin lurched to the side in order to snatch it from the air. Then he zoomed above as the water curled over their heads.
They couldn't make it. He took a deep breath as they went straight into the top of the wave. He felt the power of the water drive them backward. The controls shook in his hand. He heard the engine whine. He could only see water, and he was confused now. Were they heading up or down?
Then the Force entered him, and he did not see the water as a wall. He saw it for what it was. Full of particles, full of gaps, honeycombed with light. He headed for the gaps, willing the swoop engine to obey him.
They broke through the water into the air. Mellora clung to Obi-Wan, gasping.
Omega was a speck in the distance, heading away from them.
"He would have killed me!" Mellora choked.
Anakin hovered in the air, watching the speck disappear. They had lost him again.
"Head for our ship, Padawan," Obi-Wan said.
Anakin turned back toward safety. He did not believe that Omega wanted to kill Mellora. He had pushed her off knowing that the Jedi would save her. He just wanted to get away.
But it was better that Mellora not know that.
"I know where he is going," she told the Jedi. "I know where he goes when he loses. I can take you there."
"You don't have to," Obi-Wan said. "I know where he is going, too."
Chapter Seventeen
Because of the eruption, hostilities had ceased temporarily on Haariden. They left Mellora with the authorities there with instructions to hold her until the Senate could send a ship for her. But they could not be certain how long she would be held. It was clear that she was prepared to lie her way out of trouble.
"She hates him now," Obi-Wan said as they hurried to their ship. "I only hope she sees what he really is. He would sacrifice her young life to save his own."