Relegation
A/N: Hello all. This is my very first Star Wars fic and hope yall will enjoy! I recently moved into a new home and came across the star wars movies in a box out of storage… so I just re-watched all 6 movies and an interesting idea hit me; I can't stop thinking about it. Too many ideas have been floating in my head, so I decided to come out and write it.
This is Relegation, a what-if/AU story that cuts off from canon when Padmé falls out of the gunship. Anakin disobeys his master and jumps out to stay by her side… this changes the Star Wars universe in more ways than one would think.
The writing will be more so mine after this chapter, I had to take a bit of a ride on canon here but it's not exactly the same. Beyond that, all I can say is… see for yourself :) and once again, enjoy!
An indescribable amount of laser fire, rockets and smoke flourished throughout the rocky desert terrain of Geonosis. A battle had been ignited in thanks to a dangerous group of separatists, led by the Sith lord known as Count Dooku and Viceroy Gunray of the Trade Federation. After holding Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi and his padawan learner Anakin Skywalker as well as Naboo senator PadméAmidala captive and forcing them to fight for their lives in an arena unarmed for the entertainment of the Geonosians… The Jedi could not ignore the separatist threat any longer. Master Windu led all available Jedi on a rescue mission and survived long enough for Master Yoda to arrive with an enormous force of clone troopers, the new army of the republic.
It was hard to believe how fast all of this occurred, in mere hours the galaxy went from political disagreement and separatism to a civil war. All of this was unlikely to unfold in the fashion it did if not for Count Dooku, eliminating him could be the republic's only hope to possibly avoid years of bloodshed. (Or in the seps' case sparks)
"Aim above the fuel cells," Anakin instructed the pilot.
"Right away sir." The clone typically replied in absolute obedience.
A volley of rockets soared from the gunship and collided with the fuel cells just as the Techno Union craft attempted to take off and exploded. That ship wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon.
"Good call my young padawan." Master Obi-Wan commended.
Anakin simply nodded. His thoughts were lurking elsewhere though. It was up to Obi-Wan to decide where the gunship would land and where they were to help the clone forces. What troubled Anakin was Padmé. This was a warzone… he was lucky that he managed to protect her throughout the duration of the arena battle.
"There, it's Dooku!"
That got Anakin's attention. "Shoot him down!" He commanded the pilot once again.
"We're out of rockets sir."
"Follow him!"
Dooku was riding a speeder bike, two Geonosian fighter escorts slowly trailing behind him. He turned his head and saw the gunship then waved a hand sign to his escorts. Both Geonosian fighters broke formation and regrouped behind the gunship and began firing on them.
One particular shot hit the hull pretty cleanly and shook the ship. Padmé and one of the clones aboard the ship actually fell out. Anakin hurriedly moved to the edge to see where she landed. Both she and the clone hit the ground hard, hard enough to knock them unconscious. Anakin watched, his heart in agony as she rolled down a sandy hill.
"Padmé!" Anakin cried. "Put the ship down!" He angrily demanded.
"Anakin! Don't allow your personal feelings to get in the way!"
"I can't just leave her master!"
"Search your feelings Anakin! I can't take Dooku alone; I need you! What would Padmé do if she were in your position?" Obi-Wan asked. He was met by a moment of silence as Anakin thought it over.
"Follow that speeder." The Jedi Knight stated as confirmation for the pilot not to turn around.
I can't… I just can't leave her like that. There's no telling what might happen to her! She could be found by battle droids or Geonosians and taken away as a hostage. She's a member of the Galactic Senate… that's a valuable hostage. Besides… if she fell into the hands of the Trade Federation and Viceroy Gunray found out she'd be executed for what happened ten years ago. Anakin reasoned with himself, even though he knew all too well there was more to it than that. He loved her…
"I… I'm sorry master." He stated. Obi-Wan began to turn around to ask him what he meant but it was too late. Anakin dived out of the gunship, ultimately choosing Padmé over pursuing Dooku.
"Blast it. Why doesn't he ever listen to me when I need him to the most!?" Obi-Wan grumbled.
The Geonosian fighters still weren't letting up on the gunship. "You two," he called attention to the couple remaining clones standing by him.
"Sir?"
"Do you think you can take out those fighters using the beam cannons?"
"Yes sir, the only reason we haven't is because they don't rotate three-hundred-sixty degrees, they are useless against pursuing crafts."
"And that is why the pilot is going to halt his pursuit of Count Dooku." Obi-Wan stated making sure the pilot could hear as well.
The clone lowered his weapon as he realized it was not a threat… but one of the two Jedi he was just serving.
"Is she all right?" The Jedi hurriedly demanded.
"As far as I can tell sir. I'm not a medic, until she regains consciousness I won't be able to know for sure."
Anakin said nothing, his eyes lingered to Padmé's face… and he took in her beauty subconsciously.
"What shall we do sir?"
"Call for a transport to come pick us up… until then…" He paused in mid sentence to sit on his knees in the sand at her side. "We wait."
Several trade federation Core ships prepared to take off, republic forces scrambling and doing their best to keep them from making it to outer space.
"Focus all of your fire on the nearest starship."
The clones complied with the order as the commander passed word along to all of the main guns. The core ship took off but gravity would eventually catch up as the beams took their toll. The impact with the surface blew hundred-thousands of grains of sand throughout the surrounding battlefront. Clones and droids struggled to fight through their invisible targets, some super battle droids accidently destroying normal battle droids.
"Master Yoda. Master Kenobi is trying to contact you sir." The yellow and white armored commander informed.
"Then speak with him, I will." Yoda replied and followed the clone to where the transmission was being received.
He made his way to the holo-transmitter and saw Obi-Wan and a clone trooper or two… but no young Skywalker. "Master Yoda, I need help with Dooku! I can't take him alone, is there anyone who can get here quickly? We don't know where he is at the moment; we broke our pursuit to defend ourselves from the Geonosians. Right now we're attempting to search out possible destinations… he was on a speeder so at least we know he's still on the planet."
"Capture and defeat Dooku, we must." Yoda agreed with utmost seriousness. "Join you in person I will. Commander, bring me a ship."
"Right away sir."
"Ugh…" Padmé moaned as she awoke.
"Padmé! How are you feeling?" Anakin demanded, his hand lingering onto hers.
Suddenly Padmé remembered everything and sat up suddenly wide-awake. "What happened?" she queried confusingly.
"You fell out the gunship… I disobeyed Obi-Wan and jumped out… to protect you." Anakin explained. His voice was clearly of a mixture of feelings. He wanted to guard her with his life, be with her in the moments she needed him. But at the same time, he knew what he had done and what it would mean after this Geonosis fiasco was over with.
"Ani…" Padmé began. She also knew what this meant.
Anakin looked down into the sand. "I know…" he paused. "Let's not worry about it right now… first thing's first you're all right and Dooku is still loose. If we hurry we might be able to catch up and help Obi-Wan. He suggested, his devotion to his master resurfacing.
"Another gunship should be arriving in a few more minutes, sir." The clone jumped in.
"Good… Let's just hope nothing's happened to him."
"Don't worry." Anakin reassured her. "Master Obi-Wan is fine… I can feel it."
"Over there!" Obi-Wan pointed out. It was a Geonosian structure with a small dock and an open hangar. "Dooku is inside." Obi-Wan assured his clone outfit.
"Should I land, sir?" The Pilot questioned.
It might be a wise decision to bring them in with me… if these clones are anything at all like Jango they should be of some use.
"Yes… if there are any droids in there we'll need to take them out swiftly."
The LAAT pilot complied with the order and touched down. Master Kenobi jumped out with two clones and approached with caution. The clones kept their rifles pointed forward, taking their steps carefully as they entered the darkness of the Geonosian structure. Obi-Wan was just behind them, his lightsaber tightly within his grip.
The trio slowly worked their way down the tunnel-like place; eventually they made a left turn and sped the pace up a bit, though still remaining as quiet as possible as they could see light. "I hear something." One of the clones whispered.
Engines.
Obi-Wan's eyes widened and he abruptly jumped into the room gaining attention from a few non-battle droids. All he could see was a Geonosian starfighter just as it exited the hangar.
"Blast it!" the frustrated Jedi shouted.
"Stop him!" One of the clones shouted through the comm link to the gunship.
"That ship is too fast we'll never catch him sir." The pilot responded.
Obi-Wan sighed. "Well… You've really gone and done it this time Anakin." He muttered.
Timeskip/Anakin's arrival on the scene
"Proceed with caution."
"Yes sir, captain." The shiny armor clad clone troopers did just that with their unpainted armor.
The captain looked to his Jedi commander for guidance. "I sense Obi-wan… and…" he paused in thought. "Master Yoda." He realized.
"Sir?" The captain spoke.
"Relax troopers. Dooku isn't here."
"How can you be certain?" One clone asked.
"He's not here." He repeated and walked past them, more concerned with what happened since he… abandoned… his master. Padmé remained at his side, and the clone that had fallen out of the gunship with her earlier chose to also tag along… if his superior was still alive he'd likely be with the other two Jedi.
"Anakin…"
He glanced at her with a knowing and assuring expression. "This won't be the friendliest of conversations. But after we get this over with… we can start a whole new life… together."
He hugged her, failing to notice the tears threatening to stream out of her eyes like waterfalls. She wasn't as worried about the future as she was guilty that because of her an extremely talented Jedi was bound to be exiled for his actions. The clone stood there awkwardly, somewhat wishing he had stayed with the other clone squad instead of looking for his own.
"You need to relax Padmé…" he smiled, trying to comfort her as he sensed an immense amount of stress emulating itself off of her body. "Everything's going to be fine, trust me."
"Now let's go make sure Obi-Wan's all right." She nodded and followed his lead, the clone to his other side, simple happy to be out of that situation. They worked their way through the odd dark Geonosian structure, Anakin holding his lightsaber out of paranoia. It had been a pretty rough day and aside from still being alive not much had gone their way. They could see light and walked towards it, leading them inside the main hangar itself. Droids not programmed for battle were gathered in one of the corners of the room; a clone stood in front of them with his battle rifle, keeping them detained. Several other clones were busy elsewhere in the hangar, some spitting out orders to grunts.
"So you actually cared enough to show up Anakin."
"Master…" Anakin replied, turning to face Obi-Wan. "I'm sorry… I just couldn't-"
"I don't know where your head is, but thanks to you Dooku got away and now the entire galaxy is going to be in turmoil!"
Anakin was at a loss for words. He knew what his master was saying was basically true… after this there was bound to be a war to break out through the galaxy with these separatists.
"You're supposed to protect and keep peace! Not bring war to the entire galaxy!"
"Master, I couldn't leave her."
"Oh you couldn't? But you could bring her to Geonosis where she couldn't possibly be in more danger! You could get her engaged in a battle for her life in an arena surrounded by man eating monsters! You my young padawan, have put her in far more danger already than she was in when she fell out of the gunship!"
"Hey, that wasn't my idea!"
"I'm sure you had a looong argument about it." Obi-wan retorted, his voice full of sarcasm as he pictured his padawan ignoring the danger completely for the sake of adventure and an opportunity to save him again.
"That isn't fair…" Padmé quietly responded, understanding Obi-Wan's frustration but also irritated that he seemed to want to put all of the blame on Anakin.
"Skywalker…" Yoda intervened. "Your attachment to Senator Amidala is misplaced I'm afraid.
Anakin shifted uncomfortably, hesitant to explain to the Jedi council member.
"Speak your mind." The strange alien encouraged.
"During my assignment… protecting her on Naboo I… well.. I mean, we fell in love." He stated in the simple version. Obi-Wan stared speechless, his eyes shifting from his apprentice to the senator.
"It's the truth… and we're both prepared to accept the consequences." She said, backing her partner up.
"Know attachment is forbidden you do. Love between two especially. Remain a Jedi you cannot. Explain what will happen to you, I need not."
Padmé watched Anakin… he looked like he was in pain… mentally and emotionally his heart was crumbling before them. Shed a tear he did not, nor would he beg forgiveness or vow to train himself not to retain his attachment. He was that much in-love with her.
Obi-Wan watched on with mixed feelings of his own now… He was very frustrated with Anakin at the moment… but he couldn't believe what he was hearing. Were all those years of training for nothing? No, it was all worth it… the bond he shared with Anakin was even stronger than the bond he had with Qui-Gon.
"I sense a lot of confusion in you… be careful you must… to avoid a pathway to the dark side." Yoda warned.
"Not to worry master. I'll remain mindful of myself on Naboo." He smiled slightly at the mention of his spouse's beautiful homeworld as he glanced her way. This was the way Anakin wanted it. Sure, leaving behind the Jedi after his commitment over the years and the strong friendships he had made along with the memory of Qui-Gon saving him on Tatooine. All of the years he spent under Obi-Wan's tutelage… all of the memories he'd have from serving along his side… some of which he might prefer to forget such as the arena battle that occurred less than two hours ago. He would miss the life of a Jedi… the adventure… helping people who cannot help themselves… but he had been given a tough choice and he made a decision.
A/N: Story will improve and be more detailed and much more… my own from next chapter and further. Oh and give me a lil time to get used to writing the characters! I don't think I did bad but I didn't feel like I nailed em either.
Reviews appreciated send em please I need to know where my holes are! Plus… reviews are fuel! More reviews = more writing motivation! ;)