Chapter 2:
Mahranee, part II
Hello!
Wow, how many followers the story has! Thanks for the support, it means a lot to me!
Like I always say, sorry for the grammar mistakes!
SW-SW-SW-SW
The skies of Coruscant were closer and closer, in the midst of the darkness lightning flashes of war shone among the shadowy clouds. From the cabin of the ship she could see the artificial lights of the city, pointing to the hundreds of ships that crossed the lanes. Everything seemed peaceful, but meters above, danger lurked.
"General, we lose power in the main engines!" Exclaimed a clone trooper, doing everything possible to stabilize the ship.
"It's time to activate the secondary engines," Lyra said, observing the barely chipped window glass; It would be dangerous if the crack expanded. "The civilians?"
"In the vaults," announced General Chubor, "But I'm afraid we'll soon have to move them or we'll end up losing them."
"It's better to take them to the escape pods. We have managed to contact the Council; they will be sending back up ships, they will be able to intercept the capsules before the enemy. "
The ship shook violently and the emergency lights came on, as did the alarms; the shrieking sound played in every corner, listening like laments.
"General, we have lost contact with the starfighters," announced a second clone. Outside, the dark sky was punctuated by traces of fire; the fiery tongues split with the flames of the ion engines that crossed it and were punctuated by stellar explosions and rows of remains that rained down into the atmosphere and became tangled cloud loops.
"We're losing height," Lyra murmured, looking worriedly at the crack in the glass; the more they descended the pressure would increase and the glass would not support it. "Captain," a Clone trooper stood by her side, raising his hand formally, " evacuate immediately the capsules. Put all the refugees in them; select two of your best men and get the Chancellor inside as well. Let's drop the capsules into space. "
"Let's have faith that a cruiser of the Republic is on the march." General Chubor wished with a dismissive gesture.
Lyra left the bridge, she could not get the crack out of her head; how dangerous it would be if it got bigger...
She walked quickly through the corridors, bathing in the reddish light of the spotlights on the walls; the alarms sounded louder and louder, made her skin crawl and made her nerves stand on end.
"Are you okay, kiddo?" General Chubor asked, patting her knee softly.
"Everything in order, Master" she replied. "I just—I just was thinking."
"I feel great sorrow in you. You worry too much about this"
Lyra put a hand to her head; under her fingers, she felt that her hair was dirty and some parts of her clothes were already beginning to smell bad, how many days had they been blocked?
"There are no other thoughts in my head," she mumbled, being honest with the little Master.
She missed her room in the Temple, missed the warm water and missed Anakin. For days she had tried to put off her thoughts about him, to concentrate fully on the mission, but recently she had been feeling a deep emptiness in her chest, as if something was pressing her lungs. But anyway she managed to suppress it.
"We are flying over the capital, soon we will be back." Again the master patted her knee. "Try to think that; soon we will be back and all these people will be safe, because we—you, saved them." Lyra smiled at him. "Now, change that face. I have news; the soldiers have found a girl wandering in the halls. "
"A girl?" Sherepeated, raising an eyebrow. "How could she get out?"
"We are in a critical situation, there are not many clones available to take care of the cellars, not to mention that we have lost five men outhere."
Lyra put a hand to her chin, sliding her fingers down the length of her throat; she felt a shudder as her nails brushed the scar of the Anuba. Months had passed since the Battle of Geonosis, but the memory of that animal's jaws resonated real day after day.
"Where is she?" She asked, hovering her own hand around her throat. The scar had begun to throb.
"We've taken her to the pantry. She was armed, we seized a knife. " Chubor handed it over to her.
The young Buleeana nodded as she took the knife.
"All right. I'll go see her immediately." General Chubor patted her knee one last time.
"Oh, one last thing, the capsules are ready. It's only a matter of time until we get the moment to throw them." Lyra nodded again.
"I will return to the bridge in a moment."
Lyra turned on her heels, the alarms had finally been silenced but the lights continued to cover everything with a red glow; for a moment it reminded her of that dream inside the cave. The scar throbbed harder.
The pantry was a small room, adorned with metal shelves on both sides of the walls; There was a small window at the end where it was possible to see part of the atmosphere. In the center was a small table with two white chairs. In one of the chairs was a small girl.
"Soldair," Lyra spoke, "Wait outside."
"General." The Clone stood up and proceeded to leave the pantry.
Lyra went to one of the shelves, taking one of the cans. She unscrewed the lid and placed it in the center of the table.
"A sweet?" she asked, taking one out and bringing it to her mouth with the peak of the knife; she appreciated that the pantry was always well stocked. Whoever was in charge had put dried pieces of the sweet fruit of Naboo there.
The girl denied.
"They told me you ran away from the cellars," Lyra continued, sitting in the opposite chair. "What is your name?"
"Ashu-Nyamal, daughter of Ashu." She answered firmly, evading having to look at her.
"Hi, Nyamal. My name is Lyra." But the girl was not even remotely interested. "It has not been smart to run around the ship with a knife in your hand, you could have hurt yourself or hurt someone else."
Nyamal turned to her eyes, burning with rage.
"The only ones who would have hurt would be the enemies that destroyed my planet." She expressed bitterly.
"I'm afraid you would not have done much with only a knife." Lyra retorted, taking a second sweet. "Our enemies are not made of flesh and blood; they are metal and circuits. You would have needed something more. "
"But at least I would have tried."
Her smugness and bravery reminded her of Anakin; it was that stubbornness that sometimes drove her crazy, to the point of pushing her to the limit, while at other times it only managed to get her smiles.
"Basing your intentions on impulses will not guarantee anything." Sometimes she could not help it and Mace Windu's words came out of her mouth, maybe because those words used to be repeated hundreds of times.
"Can I go now?" Nyamal asked with boredom, as she tapped her fingers against the table.
"You will go back to the cellars" Lyra leaned back on the chair seat. The girl proceeded to get up, opening her mouth but Lyra stopped her without letting her say a single word. "No, you will not get your knife back. I can not afford someone to get hurt; the things outside— " she silenced and shook her hand," Forget it. Soldair! " she called and moments later a Clone trooper entered the pantry.
"General."
"Take her back and make sure nobody else comes out."
"That will be it, General."
Nyamal rolled her eyes while the Clone waited for her.
"Remember what I told you; think clearly and then act." Nyamal looked at her out of the corner of her eye and then proceeded to retreat, in the company of the soldier.
Lyra put her hand back inside the can, taking out one last sweet. But before taking it to the her mouth, the ship shook with more violence than before. The table trembled and the can rushed to the edge, trying to fall but Lyra's reflexes prevented it.
Something was beginning to smell burning. Lyra covered the can again, leaving it on the shelf and rushed towards the exit. Hanging from her belt, the lightsaber slapped against her hip; that made her feel secure.
She clung to the walls while the alarms began to shout again, now higher and higher, like the pitiful lament. She felt a shudder running down her back as she felt the echo of the Clones' boots running around her. The enemy fleet must have fired the ship, damaging something vital; everyone shouted orders, ran from one side to the other, panic could be perceived. Lyra also felt the fear from the other side of the ship, the civilians were nervous, the children were crying and their mother were trying to calm them down.
"Commander!" Lyra shouted, taking her wrist to her mouth so she could speak from her comlink. "Prepare the capsules!" An explosion was heard. Lyra clung to a handlebar as soon as the floor trembled beneath her feet, smelled burnt again. Something must be on fire.
Between tremors and tremors, Lyra managed to reach the bridge. General Chubor gave orders while trying to contact again to the Council.
"Why is the Chancellor not in one of the capsules?" The little Master questioned, his eyes bulging and his voice high, almost like a squeak.
Lyra looked back at the window; the glass was beginning to crack. It was a matter of time until the pressure made it explode.
"We managed to get a direct communication from Count Dooku," said a clone trooper.
"Make it through" Lyra ordered, unable to stop seeing the glass. Outside, the enemy ships fired, destroying everything they could. Their shield had fallen and it was only a matter of time... "And connect it with the Council." The soldier keyed a few buttons and the communication was linked to the Temple. At first there was interference, so it was obvious that the transmitters of the ship could be damage, but after a few moments the velvety voice of Dooku was clearly heard.
"It's amazing to know that all of you are still resisting," he said softly. The screens were also damage but a hologram of the Sith Lord managed to be projected for those on the bridge as well as for those watching from the Jedi Temple. "But anyway I'm surprised by the fact that you contacted me; as I understood, you preferred to ignore me, give me the treatment of silence. In other words, be stubborn. "
General Chubor, sitting next to the pilot clone, with his short feet that could not touch the ground, clicked his tongue, "You have your victory, Dooku," he said with a sharp, nasal tone of voice, charged with pain; Lyra thought it wasn´t the same Master who had tried to cheer her up moments ago, "The planet is yours. Let us save these people; We have entire families in here, and many are injured. They are innocent! "
Dooku let out a harsh laugh, as if that clemency request was really unnecessary.
"My dear General. You should know that in war there is no such thing as innocence; you should reconsider it more often, it would set a good example for the young people. "
"Count," Lyra spoke, positioning herself in front of the hologram; the flickering blue figure turned towards her, with uninterrupted calm. "There are children here, children who have not the faintest idea why this war came about. They are children " she repeated, emphasizing each word. "We are flying over the atmosphere of the capital, let us let them go. We'll fix what we have to fix between us—"
"Children." Dooku repeated, stroking his long white beard. "Children who have been sentenced by the foolish decisions of their parents to ally with the Republic!" His voice came out like a purr. His eyes remained on Lyra, probably reminding her of his hundreds of proposals
"Do not think me so naive, I know that this conversation is being heard by the Council; that is why I will give you one last clarification, "the purr disappeared, being replaced by a hard, cold and demanding voice," As long as the Republic continues to resist against me, the 'innocents' will continue to die. And every death in this war will fall firmly on the shoulders of the Jedi—"
The ship gave a new shake; in the distance the alarms screamed in a discontinuous tone. Lyra looked at the crack, it expanded slowly. Outside, a fleet of the Republic was trying to get through between the vulture droids and the Nantex-class.
"And now, it is time for all of you to join the rank of the fallen."
The walls shook as soon as a separatist shot hit the upper turrets. All the members present at the bridge clung to what was closest to them to avoid falling. A piece of turret fell in front of the window, disintegrating as it fell into the void of space. The glass was already a thin layer that separated the outside of the interior; with panic, both Jedi saw how the irregular chunks began to peel off as the pressure change seeped through.
"Free the capsules!" Lyra shouted back to hold the Chancellor by the arm. "It's time to release them! Go, go, go!"
"Everyone get out of the bridge!" General Chubor cried, jumping from the chair with his saber in hand, "Leave the bridge!" The few clones that were inside fled through the doors. When the last person was outside, the Jedi Master sealed the door.
Lyra ran down the corridor, dragging the Chancellor with her; the man was fastened to her wrist, in an attempt to run with his own feet.
"Master Windu!" Exclaimed Lyra, speaking from her transmitter; the communication networks were finally open, but she was afraid that she would not be able to get that message across.
"I receive you," announced Obi-Wan's voice, "Lyra, what's happening now?"
The ship tilted sideways, Lyra and the Chancellor fell against the nearest wall; they must have destroyed a large part of the infrastructure, since the ship began to lose its central axis.
"They are attacking with everything they have!" Reported the young Buleeana, now holding Palaptine by the wrist as well. "We have no means of responding to the fire and we do not have enough clones either." She looked over her shoulder, no one was following them. Not even General Chubor, they were alone in the middle of the catastrophe. "We have launched the capsules, the civilians go inside. It is all we can do."
'Everything we can do' that sounded like a clear defeat. Dooku had won this time, but at what cost? Soon the Republic would run out of Chancellor and the Council would lose two Jedi, what else could it sound like?
"Masters Shak-Ti and Secura are in the fleet; they will arrive soon. The first priority is to keep the Chancellor safe. "
Lyra looked at him and felt angry, why had he decided to give that speech? Why had he brought such a small escort? why?
"They won't make it" Lyra bit her tongue as they turned at a corner, "They are too many. They will not make it. "
Something crashed into the ship, causing it to sink more and more. Soon they would be falling into a tailspin and if the Separatists did not kill them, the fall would surely.
"Master Kenobi—" the nearest door burst. The Chancellor fell and in the process dragged Lyra; the transmitter flew out of her hands, getting lost in the rubble of the ship.
From the opening, two K-droids rolled, activating their shields and preparing their weapons. Lyra stood up, taking her saber and activating it. The K-droids were not easy to annihilate, but she would do her best.
"Stay here," she told the Chancellor, while under the twinkling lights, the brightness of her saber shone; the darkness of that corridor was interrupted by a small spark.
The droids advanced in formation as fragments of the ship fell in their wake. Lyra started walking towards them as well, but increasing speed as she approached. She let out a strangled scream and, pushing herself with the Force, fell between the two droids. The shields covered them completely, so there was no way to attack them externally. But the Battle of Geonosis had given her enough experience to disprove that fact.
The heads of the droids rotated on their axes, pointing their weapons towards her; she remained in the same position for a few seconds. It was crazy! But it would work ... or at least she expected it. The weapons began to emit a buzzing sound and the first beam came out of the droid on her right; Lyra rolled on the floor as soon as the second droid started firing as well. That was similar to a game. She jumped over each droid, weakening the shields with each shot. Soon they would be exposed.
The droid on her right was the first to go without a shield, and Lyra cut it off in the middle with her saber. The second rotated in her direction, still firing but she used her saber to redirect the rays against the sphere that protected it. Lyra again implemented the use of jumps to distract it and gain ground.
Through the same opening in the door, battle droids entered. They were two rows with five droids each. Lyra stood in front of the K-droid as it fired, and using the Force again, she managed to stop the beam in the air, just inches from her face.
"Stop there!" Exclaimed one of the battle droids.
Lyra smiled sideways and using her free hand, she levitated the K-droid into the droid formation, then threw the suspended beam, exploding the destroyer. They all fell like a pile of old junk.
"Chancellor!" she called, holding her saber, "Chancellor, come on. We must go. " she returned to the man, finding him crouched in a corner, almost like a child crying. "Cheer up. Soon you will be at home. "
But when turning on her heels, an invisible hand grabbed her by the neck. Lyra tried to breathe, but could not. Dooku watched her as he strangled her. She shook her feet but it no longer touched the ground. In her hand she still had her saber on, so she was shaking it with the foolish intention of hurting him, but Dooku only smiled.
"You won't need this anymore," he said, snatching her saber with the Force. "General, take charge of it." The sickly droid took the saber, observing it meticulously.
Lyra thought that it was the second saber she was losing and that her Master would definitely not happy with it... if he ever found out.
"Chancellor, would you be so kind?" Grievous grabbed him by the arm, dragging him down the path of destroyed droids. Lyra believed that the Chancellor, to be such a politically powerful man, was too docile when it was pressed.
"And as for you, silly girl, I should kill you" Dooku squeezed his invisible hand and Lyra felt her brain begin to run out of oxygen. "But I will have compassion; A Jedi has already died and one is enough for today. " her eyes filled with tears, "You will come with me. Maybe that's the only way you'll realize that I'm not the enemy. "
SW-SW-SW-SW
Everyone waited. Nobody spoke, everyone was just waiting.
Anakin was the most nervous, standing behind Obi-Wan's seat, shaking his leg uneasily. Communications with the fleet, The Dawn, had been interrupted abruptly and for a few minutes no one had tried to reconnect.
"It's Master Shak-Ti," Obi-Wan announced, as soon as a hologram began to flicker in the center of the room.
"Masters," announced the Togruta Jedi, bowing curtly, "The Dawn has been destroyed." Her blue silhouette threatened to disintegrate while the battle scenes were visible over her shoulder; ships exploding, clones running. "There are no survivors."
"And the capsules?" Mace Windu asked with a forced tranquility.
"We have intercepted only two; the rest have been destroyed. "
Silence fell like a heavy blanket on everyone. Nobody seemed willing to break it or maybe nobody knew how to do it. Anakin saw a silent despair on the faces of everyone present; the Republic had lost its leader.
'And I lost something more valuable'
He bit his tongue, looking away from the Master's silhouette.
"Mm-hm," murmured little Master Yoda, "We are grieved, we have seen much suffering," he said, "Courage, the young Master had, in the end. Forgotten, she and Chubor will not be. "
"The courage of all that crew saved an entire planet from extinction," Obi-Wan said, "Now they are one with the Force." Anakin felt a hollowness in his chest and refrained from looking up; she could not have left, she could not have left him. "I hope this tragedy would be the last one this war demands."
"So we all wish, Master Kenobi," Mace Windu interjected, "But I am afraid that this desire is far from being realized."
"No other ship made it?" Anakin encouraged himself to ask.
"No ship in that fleet make it out." Shak-Ti replied. "But, the space is wide, we still hope to find some lost."
"Hope was what got them to Mahranee in the first place," he mumbled through clenched teeth.
"This is not the first major casualty we have, young Skywalker," Mace Windu replied, "We should not turn the fallen into a martyr, when there were more of our brothers and sisters who died in battle. Hope was what motivated them to put themselves at the head of an army. Hope is what keeps people alive. "
"It's been almost three years since this war broke out," said Plo-Koon, his voice deafened by the mask he used to breathe in that atmosphere, "We can barely count our casualties, but this—" he shook his head.
"Everything is the product of a man and his ambitions" Windu reproached.
"It's true that Dooku is the leader of the Separatists," Obi-Wan interjected, "and none will disagree that Dooku is ambitious and evil. But he has not done it alone. I agree that we should hold him responsible for every death caused in this war, but he has not committed it alone. He is just the executioner. "
"Of course not." Plo-Koon nodded, "And it's interesting that you use almost the same words as Dooku. He has placed the blame directly on us. "
"A lie, that's it." Yoda said, shaking his little green hand, "Foolish it would be, for us to give it credence at the moment."
"Would it be, truly, Master?" Windu asked with a hard look in his eyes. He was probably one of the few people capable of contradicting or questioning Yoda from everyone there.
Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow.
"What do you mean, Master Windu?" Yoda asked.
" Have we, really, explored every available option? Could we have ended this war sooner, or in fact, finished it now? "
The rest of the Council was absolutely silent. Those words had taken more than one by surprise. Anakin swallowed, passing his eyes over each face.
"Speak plainly."
Windu watched his fellows, seemed to be weighing his words.
"Master Kenobi is right—Dooku could not do everything on his own. Billions follow him. But, I also have my observation – war is Dooku's creation. Those who follow him, follow him. Each player is controlled by the Count; every conspiracy we have traced back leads us to him. "
Anakin frowned.
"That's nothing new, Master."
But Windu continued, "Without Dooku, the Separatist movement would collapse. There would not be a figure they could follow. No doubt they would seek to place someone up there, but with so many allies, the movement would end up being consumed. You know, cut the head and the body will fall. "
"But that's what we have—oh." Anakin's blue eyes blinked as he understood the words.
"Assassination, mean you?" Obi-Wan shook his head negatively.
"No," said Anakin's Master, "Some things are simply not within the realm of possibilities. Not," his gaze fell on Mace Windu," for Jedi. "
"With the truth, Master Kenobi speaks," Yoda argued, "On the Dark Side, those actions lead."
Windu raised both hands, in a calm gesture. "Nobody here wants to behave like a Sith."
"A few does, at first. A small step, the one that determines destiny often is"
Windu looked from Yoda and then to Kenobi.
"Master Kenobi, answer me this: How often this Council has sat down, shaking our heads, saying everything leads to Dooku? A dozen times? About a hundred times?
Obi-Wan did not respond. Behind him, Anakin squeezed the back of the seat, digging his nails into it. He avoided looking at both masters, pressing his lips in a thin white line.
"The final blow must be given," Windu continued, rising from his chair, approaching Obi-Wan. Anakin watched as his ex-Master proceeded to stand up calmly, knowing that Windu surpassed him in stature.
"Dooku will continue to do exactly what he has been doing," Mace continued, "It will not change. And if we do not change, then this war will continue to explode, innocents will die, we will die and our galaxy will fall little by little. We—the Jedi and the Clones, we command—are the only ones who can stop this. "
"He's right," Anakin interjected, feeling an unease deepening inside him; everything that came out of Mace Windu's mouth, he translated it into an attempt to mourn the loss of his last padawan, or at least it was what Anakin believed. "I think it's time to open up to new ideas that we've never had before in mind."
"Anakin," Obi-Wan warned.
"With all due respect, master," continued the young Skywalker, "the fall of Mahranee is terrible. But it is the most recent crime that Dooku has committed against a world and its people. "
"We want to increase those numbers?" Windu added and Anakin thought it was the first time in his life that they could agree on something. "It is the life of a man to save millions. Should we not protect the innocent? We would be failing the Republic and the citizens. We must stop this—now."