A/N: We hope you all enjoyed the first chapter. Also, this part may be a bit confusing, but she tried her best to make it easy to read. I didn't find it very confusing, but if it is, letme know and she'll try to clarify. Anyways, enjoy the chappy! Oh, and to answer "Chris's" question, the first movie is the same, only the second and third are different.
The first thing on the schedule was a meeting with Boss Nass, the Gungun leader. Despite the fact that the government had long since been restructured to include the Gungun's they still insisted on theses monthly meetings. Queen Amidala called it symbolic, a way to show the population that good relations still existed.
The Queen and her entourage walked quickly through the palace. Captain Panaka was discussing a new security measure with the Queen and the handmaidens. The goal was a balcony overlooking a waterfall and a garden where the Queen would meet Boss Nass for the first meal and stimulating conversation.
When they rounded the corner into the Audience Chamber Sabe and Rabe, standing on either side of the Queen, saw him first. They stopped slightly aged of the monarch, unsure of what to do. The rest of the handmaidens were positioned behind Amidala. They instinctively spread out into a defensive position and Panaka slipped his hand to his blaster.
No one moved for a heartbeat. The man just stood there with a hood up to conceal his face. To all but Dane, he was an eerie reminder of the Sith Lord who had tried to kill the Queen twelve years earlier and had killed the Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn.
"Queen Amidala?" the man asked slowly and deliberately.
"Yes?" the Queen answered after a moment. The man smiled, a cold, unpleasant smile the dark hood could not quite hide, and slipped the edges of his cloak behind his shoulders. He glanced at the handmaidens, a look as cold as his smile, and recognized them. His hand slid to his belt, and a moment later a red lightsaber sprang to life in his hands.
"Go!" Panaka yelled, pulling his blaster and firing three shots in about one second. Even before the handmaidens could pull their own blasters the man bounced the blaster bolts back. They heard Panaka yell, but the handmaidens refused to let Amidala slow down. Sache and Yane had a solid grip on the Queen and were flat-out running while the other four slowed down enough to shoot back through the door.
They had made it to the hall before the throne roomwhen he caught up to them. Rabe and Sabe had joined the Queen, forming a human wall between the assassin and his target. Dane and Eirtae turned to the man and met him face-to-face.
"Run!" both women yelled and fired as they moved forward. He easily blocked their shots, sending them back towards the handmaidens. Dancing around the reflected bolts, singed by the near misses, they never flinched from their attack.
Amidala and her group ran for the door. It snapped shut it their faces, the controls sparking and exploding dangerously. Down the hall Dane and Eirtae stopped, surprised and outgunned, as their blasters were torn from their grips as if by magic and set by the man's feet. Eirtae hastily retreated several steps, as did Dane. But, as soon as she was out of his sight she pulled her skirt up to her knees and grabbed a long knife from its sheath strapped on her leg. The man stood there for a moment, hen slowly raised his head to gloat over his victory.
But it was short lived. Trapped and angry the Queen and the four handmaidens opened fire. A blaster bolt burned through his hood knocked it back revealing a human face that was twisted into a mask of hate and anger and his eyes seemed to shine with malicious enjoyment.
As the blaster fire increased he deflected it away easily. While he focused on the incoming fore, Dane slid in on his left, knife in hand.
As the blade darted forward he spun, sensing the danger and, while still deflecting the blaster fire, realized it was too late. As her knife slid smoothly into his wrist, he roared in anger, knocked the knife from her hand and away from his wrist, and used the business end of his lightsaber to clip her hard in the chin.
Dane was out, crashing to the floor in a daze, but she had managed to distract the man just enough. He missed a shot and cursed as it hit his bicep. Then Eirtae attacked, kicking the lightsaber from his hand. She spun and snapped a kick at his head. The blocked it and slapped her return punch away. Glaring at her, he slammed the heel of his hand into her cheat. She stumbled back trying to catch her breath. As she fell to her knees, he smiled.
The Queen and the handmaidens opened fire again the moment Eirtae was clear of the field of fore. He spared them a minute of his attraction. Using the Force he slammed them into the wall behind them.
He took a few steps toward Eirtae, who was still on her knees gasping harshly. He held out his hand, letting the lightsaber slap solidly into his palm flicked it on. With a sharp "snap-hiss", the blade began to hum gently. Eirtae's head jerked up when she heard the blade turn on. When he laid the blade next to her face she raised her eyes to meet his, anger meeting anger.
"Eirtae!" Rabe screamed. She was still on the ground by the wall, and she couldn't find her blaster. The man blinked and glanced over at the woman, them turned back to Eirtae and
Rabe's yell brought Dane back to her sensed. Opening her eyes, the first thing she saw was the numerous burn marks on the pure white walls. Slowly, she pulled her view to the man in black. She woke up quickly when she saw the lightsaber raised in the air. Dane felt around frantically and was relieved to touch the cold metal of a blaster. Fumbling, she got a grip and brought it into line.
He laughed as Rabe screamed again and Sabe tried to get to her blaster. When he looked down at Eirtae with every intention of finishing it, Dane pulled the trigger. Eirtae turned and rolled away as he fell to one knee, his calf now sporting a crisp blaster hole.
He barely had time to do more than growl furiously at her before his gaze jumped to the door he had sealed. A rectangular outline started to glow, starting at approximately head height. A loud bong echoed through the room as the metal fell. Two men with lightsabers stood in the opening, surveying the scene.
"Jedi!" the man hissed, jumping to his feet. The two men adjusted their grips and walked out to meet the man.
"Making quite a mess here, aren't we?" the Jedi with the purple lightsaber said. The man in black snarled and attacked.
Cut, jump, block, slice and move. The three men moved so fast the blurred red, blue and purple, weaving intricate patterns in the air. Amidala, sitting up against the wall, stared in shock. Where in the galaxy had they come from? They weren't dressed like Jedi but they sure fought like them.
Dane laid on the floor, a burn on her chin that she barely noticed. Whoever these men were she had a suspicion that they had just saved her life along with Eirtae's. Her blaster lay forgotten in her hand, her knife with blood still on it lying next to her. She used the time the fight had brought her to pull herself together.
Desperate now that he was facing two Jedi, the man took a chance. He jumped backwards, hitting the Jedi with the blue saber solidly body-to-body. It was enough to get the Jedi off his guard. He fell, hit his head and rolled across the floor. The Jedi still standing stumbled back as the man attacked with full force. With just one immediate threat, a grin spread across his face.
Amidala stared in dismay as the one man flew backwards and the other man retreated. She knew she should run now that the door was open but she couldn't make herself leave the handmaidens behind. Besides, she was so sore she wasn't sure she'd make it far enough.
Watching the fight she saw Dane pull herself up to a sitting position and breathed a sigh of relief. Dane had even managed to hand on to her weapons, somehow.
The man also noticed Dane's recovery and took vicious pleasure at pulling the pillar from the wall beside her. It teetered for a moment, then jell towards her. The Jedi still standing was very aware of the young woman about to be crushed he used a neat twist with his lightsaber to disengage from the fight and flipped backwards. This gained him enough time to reach out with the Force and help pull the woman out of harm's way. She had already twisted and used her hands and the floor to push away from the falling stone. With the Jedi's help she cleared it. Then the man was back on the Jedi, with the other Jedi on his feet and following.
Dane curled into a ball as the stone hit and shattered tile sprayed out, pelting her. An explosion from under the pile of marble rolled her to the center of the room.
Woozy, she turned her head to see the Jedi and the man start in her direction, still locked in combat. She tried to get to her feet and run, but her escaping was apparently not in the man's plan. One minute Dane's feet are firmly on the floor, the next she's going through the window. The impact knocked her breathless, but the slice of glass still dragged a high-pitched scream from her.
"Anakin!" one of the Jedi yelled. He attacked the man in a flurry of moves, giving Anakin a moment. He gave his attention over to the girl and grabbed her. He dropped her as gently as he could on the floor.
Then the man slipped around the dark haired Jedi, driving him back. As Anakin tried to catch up and help his companion, a chunk of stone from the fallen pillar rose above the ruble. It shot across the room, clipping Eirtae as it went, then it slammed into Anakin's stomach. Barely seconds later more stones raced over to pelt the Jedi.
The man had the Jedi almost pressed against the wall. Their lightsabers carved deep grooves into the wall as they fought. The Jedi yelled his friends name again, and Anakin tried to free himself but more stones attacked creating a veritable hurricane of rock around him.
Gleefully, the man knocked the Jedi's lightsaber out of his hands and sent it spinning towards the fallen pillar. The man turned off his own lightsaber and bashed the Jedi in the head, again and again, until the man was down on the ground, bleeding. The Jedi moaned after the last blow.
The man, being who he was, couldn't help but gloat for a second. And in that second of pride, of distraction, he failed to notice Dane as she, bloody, bruised, and pissed as hell, scooped up her knife and the unlit lightsaber. The man kicked the young Jedi viscously, dragging a groan out of him, and didn't hear Dane run towards him.
The Jedi saw her, however, and tried to look balefully as he could at the man, trying to keep him distracted.
But even a man engrossed in the suffering of another man will hear when a lightsaber hit the ground mere feet form himself. He spun, knowing it was to late to stop her, and took her attack full frontal.
Her weight and speed propelled them back, away from the hurt Jedi, and the man's lightsaber. They hit the floor rolling and struggling for control of the knife. She got the knife within an inch of the man's neck. Then he rolled, grabbed her wrist, and pinned her with the knife to her throat.
"You little bitch," he whispered. She glared back at him, struggling against him.
She looked behind him and saw the dark-haired Jedi scrambling after them. He waved his hand and the knife flew from her neck to become embedded in the wall. The man snarled, sensing the Jedi's approach. The girl's attack had distracted him enough to stop the hailstorm of stones attacking the other Jedi, and he was running from the other direction straight at them. The man hit her in the temple with his fist, knocking her absolutely out, then he rolled to his feet. He called his lightsaber to him--but Anakin grabbed it with the Force and stopped it mid-flight, still several meters from the man. The two Jedi stood his left and right, forming a rough triangle with the lightsaber hovering in the middle.
The man looked at them and sneered. "Skywalker. I should have known. You've become the council's favorite pet nerf."
The two Jedi exchanged bewildered looks.
"Do we know you?" the Jedi with the purple lightsaber asked.
"Ah," the man smiled." Jayden Darklighter. The nerf's nerf. How nice to see you again." The three men stared at each other for a long minute, then a light appeared in Jayden Darklighter's eyes.
"Kado Daten, from the temple." He said, shocked.
"What happened to you?" Anakin asked.
"Sorry," Daten grinned," that would be telling." Before either could say anything Daten attacked. He somehow pulled his lightsaber from Anakin's grasp, no small feat, twisted through the Jedi's hasty blows and ran to the window, limping slightly. Then he was gone.
"Hell of the Sith."
"Panaka!" Amidala yelled, relief in her voice. Panaka stood in the doorway opposite the Queen. He was bleeding from his forehead and limping, but amazingly in one piece.
"Call security!" Jayden yelled to Panaka. "Try to keep people out of his way."
Anakin ran to the Queen, assessing the physical damage to her and handmaidens. He found the Queen and two of her handmaidens were in decent shape, nothing more than numerous bruises and pulled muscles. One had a broken arm but she was awake and lucid, and the other was in shock with a concussion.
While Anakin was helping them up Jayden knelt down beside the women that had just saved his life. She didn't look too good, but her pulse was strong and he knew she was determined. He glanced at the shattered window and winced. Very strong.
"Dane." Jayden looked up to see one of the handmaidens walking towards them. Her dark hair had come loose and spilled out of her hood. She looked kind of out of it.
"Is she alright?" she asked.
"She'll be fine." he assured her. "Why don't you come sit next to her?" He gently set her down next to the women, Dane, and told her to wait for the medical team. As soon as she nodded he ran to the blonde woman slumped against the wall. Behind him he could hear Panaka firing orders into his comlink.
"How is she?" Anakin came up behind him. Absently he swiped blood from his lip.
"She's unconscious, Anakin. How do you think she's doing?" Jayden pointed out.
"Probably feels like hell."
"Probably"
"Okay." Both men stood and turned. Panaka stood behind them, looking like he didn't know what to think about them.
"Who are you and why are you here?"
Jayden nodded a salute. "Jedi Jayden Darklighter. The Jedi Council sent us to protect the Queen."
Anakin smiled at the older man. "You don't remember me, do you?" he asked. Panaka shook his head.
"Should I?" he replied. Jayden had to smile.
"Does the name Anakin Skywalker mean anything to you?" Jayden hinted.
The older man stared. "Anakin Skywalker? Are you serious?"
Anakin looked uncomfortable. "Yes. That's right." Panaka held out his hand.
"Welcome back to Naboo," he said.
"Thank you."
The medics arrived, several clearly stunned at the destruction. With the serenity deluging the area Panaka quickly set about organizing it and setting up search parties for Daten.
"Anakin Skywalker." At her voice both men spun away from the window. There stood the Queen, regal looking despite her ordeal. Flanking her were the fully functioning handmaidens, safely ensconced behind their hoods.
"Yes, your Highness." Anakin answered.
"It would seem that I am once again in your debt." She said.
"I'm not keeping score, Your Highness." He said politely. She smiled, and Jayden laughed.
"Would you introducing your companion?" she asked, ignoring the laugh
"Your Highness, this is Jedi Jayden Darklighter. Jayden, Queen Amidala."
"Your Highness." Jayden replied, bowing.
"I wish to thank you both for your help. Without you I, and my bodyguards would certainly be dead." The Queen said.
Anakin smiled. "You and your bodyguards were doing pretty well when we arrived. You may be underestimating yourself." He returned. The Queen's mouth compressed into a thin line and she inclined her head.
"The man was about to behead Eirtae when you arrived." One of the handmaidens spoke up, "and would certainly have killed Dane next."
"Behead her." Jayden repeated.
"Yes." The Queen said shortly. "Dane shot him to stop him."
Neither man knew what to say. It was obvious that the Queen was very fond of her bodyguards, and they of her. They could only imagine what this attack was doing to the woman.
"Would you tell me," the Queen continued, "how it is that you were here are just the right time?"
"The Jedi council was concerned for you safety. If we had known how close he was or what he wanted, we would have notified you immediately, your Highness." Jayden assured her.
The Queen smiled grimly. "Thank you." Then she walked away.
As soon as she was out of earshot they relaxed.
"We cut it really close, Jayden." Anakin said. He never took his eyes off Amidala, who was trying to wave away the medics.
"Yeah, I know." Jayden sighed, and then frowned. "Anakin, do you remember Daten?"
Anakin nodded. He seemed lost in thought. "He was a nice kid. On the average side of skill."
"That wasn't average combat skill." Jayden pointed out.
"His winning a match at the temple was usual. He shouldn't have come close to beating us."
"Whom was he apprenticed to?"
Anakin looked at him. "He wasn't. He washed out." He said.
Amidala, to the frustration of Panaka and the Jedi, insisted on continuing with her schedule. And she insisted on only one Jedi staying with her, asking that the other help Panaka search for Daten. She also refused to be checked by a medical droid or to take any painkillers. The only thing she did agree to was to place a guard on her two unconscious handmaidens.
By unspoken agreement Anakin stayed with the Queen while Jayden at the Queen's request, escorted Dane and Eirtae to the hospital wing and to their guards. Yane soon followed to get treatment for a concussion, and stayed with her friends.
Amidala and her remaining handmaidens left to prepare for the meeting with the Gungun ambassador, the Jedi in tow.
The result of the attack seemed to many to be out of proportion to the duration of the attack. There was extensive damage to the wall, ceiling and floor of the hall, not to mention they needed a new pillar. On the living side, Yane and Eirtae had concussions, Panaka had a slight head wound, Sache's left arm was broken, both Jedi had numerous cuts and bruises, but Dane beat them all. She had numerous cuts, some of the rather deep, from getting thrown through the window, scrapes and bruises from the fallen pillar, a burn on her chin, a nasty knock to her head, and a fractured jaw.
And Daten was still out there.
A/N:Please review and let us know how it was! She's already on chapter two so it shouldn't be long. Until then, l8r!