Chapter 4 – Another Attempt
"Captain Typho has more than enough men stationed downstairs. No assassin will try that way." Obi-wan said as he stepped into the common area in Padmé's quarters where Anakin was patrolling. He shed his cloak and tossed it onto one of the couches. "Any activity up here?"
"Not as of an hour ago," Anakin reported. "The ladies retired and all has been quiet since."
Obi-wan opened his security reader to access the cameras in the Senator's rooms, but nothing came up. "What's going on?"
"Oh, Padmé covered the cameras," Anakin said, glancing towards the dark corridor. "I don't think she or Voraté liked the idea of me watching them."
"What are they thinking?" Obi-wan crossed his arms in disapproval.
"They programmed Artoo to alert us if there is an intruder." Anakin supplied.
"There are many other ways to kill a Senator," Obi-wan reasoned. "We can't do our job properly if we can't see her."
"Don't worry, no harm will come to either of them. I can sense everything going on in that room." Anakin assured him. It was disconcerting to not be able to feel the ladies' life signatures, but he could feel the faint flutterings of their sleep through the Force and there weren't any uneasy ripples nearby that signified danger.
Obi-wan glanced between him and the Senator's chambers. "Don't become overconfident, Anakin." He chided mildly.
Anakin sighed and leaned against the window railing. Obi-wan was a great teacher, but he was far more likely to mentor him than praise him.
"You look tired," Obi-wan changed the subject.
"I don't sleep well anymore," Anakin admitted. Slivers of dreams and nightmares surfaced before he could suppress them.
"Because of your mother?" Obi-wan asked knowingly.
Anakin nodded. "I don't know why I keep dreaming about her."
"Dreams pass in time," Obi-wan assured him, coming to stand beside him.
"They're more like nightmares." Anakin confided slowly. "Always the same, my mother screaming, pleading for me to come save her. They're unlike any other dreams I've had."
"Do you think they're visions?" Obi-wan's brow crinkled as he considered the possibilities.
"I don't know. I've never had visions like these before," Anakin sighed. "They haunt me day and night. I'd much rather dream about Voraté." He shrugged and stalked back into the room. "Just being around her again is… intoxicating."
"Be mindful of your thoughts, Anakin, they betray you." Obi-wan followed him. "You've made a commitment to the Jedi Order, a commitment not easily broken."
Anakin halted and stared pointedly at Obi-wan, reminding him of the hypocrisy of that statement. Obi-wan sighed and crossed his arms.
"I know that's ironic, coming from me. But think about it. I'm torn in half every time I speak with Sabé. I don't want you to have to suffer through that too."
"I'll keep that in mind," Anakin nodded.
Hours passed and Obi-wan sighed as he tried yet again to engage Anakin in conversation to keep his mind off Voraté. But it was no use; Anakin would speak a few distracted words before his eyes were drawn back to the chamber where the object of his affectations lay sleeping.
He hoped his warnings would be enough to prevent Anakin from acting on his feelings. He wasn't lying when he said he was torn in half from his relationship with Sabé.
They'd started communicating about a year after the Battle of Naboo. He'd managed to suppress his longing for her presence for a while. Adapting to life as a Jedi Knight and being responsible for Anakin had occupied his attention and time. But after a year, everything settled into a routine and his heart ached more fiercely than ever. He finally broke down and hacked into the Naboo communications network, hoping to find a trace of Sabé's transmissions. She must have stayed in contact with her friends on Naboo. After months of digging through thousands of transmission signatures, he'd found the right one and recreated the transmission. Obi-wan smiled as he thought back to that first contact.
- Flashback -
Obi-wan suppressed his guilt as he ran a trace on the faint remnants of a transmission. He had to see Sabé again, to hear her beautiful voice. It had been far too long, and he couldn't wait until the Force brought them back together again. So here he was, piecing together transmission signatures and hacking into a secret network. He ran his fingers over the intricate ridges on a small lockbox on his desk.
The only contact they'd had thus far had been this lockbox Sabé had secretly sent to him through Nubian channels. The encrypted box had contained a few handwritten missives and a photo. Sabé's letter assured him Qui-Gon was alive and well and had suffered no ill effects except de-aging a few decades.
Qui-Gon's missive had brought tears to his eyes. His mentor had expressed his pride in Obi-wan for weathering the aftereffects of the Battle of Naboo with grace and confidence that he would be a great mentor to Anakin. The letter had a bittersweet tone to it, as though Qui-Gon knew that it would be the only one he'd be able to send.
The photo showed Qui-Gon smiling next to Sabé's father. Qui-Gon looked to be in his mid-thirties, his formerly gray hair now a vibrant chestnut brown; a lively look glinted in his blue eyes. He looked more relaxed and happier than Obi-wan had ever seen him.
Obi-wan looked back the door's console, double checking it was locked. It wouldn't do for anyone to walk in. Luckily, Knights and their Padawans received their own private suite within the Jedi Temple and Anakin was attending a group lesson on caring for Kyber crystals, so he shouldn't be disturbed.
The communications console beeped and a green light flashed. A connection had been established! Obi-wan grinned and pushed a button to activate the holoprojector. A buzz sounded and a red light momentarily flashed. He frowned; usually, when communication was established, the person on the other end would activate their holoprojector. However, if it was Sabé on the other end, she probably wouldn't answer since she wouldn't recognize his encrypted transmission signature. Obi-wan entered in a snippet of code to force open a connection on her end. It was a rude and rather illegal practice, but he was sure that she'd understand.
The holoprojector flared to life and Obi-wan saw a pale yellow wall and part of a lavender-framed window. Snowflakes were gently falling outside the glass, and the bright sun made the flakes on the ground shine brightly. Footsteps sounded and a door whooshed open and closed.
"Where's my bag? I thought I left it on the bed. What the…? I thought I turned that off."
Obi-wan's heart skipped a beat as he heard her voice.
"Oh, stars." Sabé stepped into view of the holoprojector and her face went blank with shock. "Obi-wan?"
She was just as he remembered her. "Hello, Sabé. It's good to see you again." Obi-wan smiled widely.
"It's good to see you too," Sabé said as color returned to her face. "I… How did you find me?"
"I sort of hacked into the Naboo communications network," Obi-wan admitted. He was so enraptured, he almost didn't notice the baby in her arms. His smile grew stiff and his extremities went cold as he stared at the baby.
"This is my baby brother, Zabiere," Sabé said as she noticed where his gaze was.
"Oh," His smile returned and he breathed easier. Now that he wasn't panicking over losing Sabé to someone else, he could see the baby had red skin with inky, swirly patterns and tiny beige horns poking through his jet-black hair. "Congratulations."
"Thanks," Sabé patted the baby as he snuffled in his sleep. She sighed. "Obi-wan, I'm really happy to see you, but we can't…"
"I miss you," Obi-wan admitted, throwing caution and pride to the wind. "I can't stop thinking about you. There's a hole in my heart shaped like you. Please tell me it's not just me." He waited with bated breath for her response.
Sabé sat down in a chair and stared at him. Tears glistened in her eyes.
"I do feel the same, Obi-wan." She said softly. "But how can we sustain a relationship? We're light-years away from each other and you're a Jedi and I'm…" She paused and sighed, smoothing her brother's dark hair. "Could we make this work?" She wondered.
"Yes," Obi-wan insisted, leaning forward. "Of course we can. Please, Sabé. I can't go another day without seeing you or hearing your voice."
"Neither can I." Sabé smiled radiantly, making Obi-wan's heart skip a beat again. "To be honest, I was starting to break down and I would have contacted you if you hadn't done it first."
They chuckled, drinking in each other's presence. Footsteps echoed in the hallway outside Obi-wan's quarters, a tell-tale sign that Anakin was done with his lesson.
"That's Anakin," Obi-wan said, straightening up. "Can I contact you again, say tomorrow at the same time?"
"I'll be here," Sabé smiled sweetly. "Bye."
"Bye," Obi-wan replied and cut off the feed as Anakin bounded into the room.
His ten-year-old Padawan excitedly bounced around, reciting what he learned in the lesson. Obi-wan listened intently, but his smile was completely due to reconnecting with his fairy.
- End Flashback -
He and Sabé had been in contact ever since, speaking at least twice a month, if not more. He knew every aspect of her like the back of his hand and he could say without a doubt that he was hopelessly in love with her.
Unfortunately, it had been months since they'd last gotten the chance to message each other since he'd been sent on mission after mission and had no time to comm her. His heart ached for each moment they were separated.
A soft beeping from Padmé's room interrupted his thoughts. He wiped the idiotic smile off his face and focused his attention on the noises. He relaxed as the noises stopped and he felt nothing amiss. He tried to engage Anakin in conversation again.
"How are your studies coming along?"
"Fine," Anakin's blue eyes momentarily met his before they went back to the dark hallway. "I passed the written exams covering the different lightsaber forms."
"Good," Obi-wan smiled, glad that Anakin was taking his studies seriously.
"I am having some trouble putting Form III into practice, though," Anakin muttered sheepishly.
Obi-wan nodded. Soresu form was primarily a defensive form of fighting. It wasn't too much of a surprise Anakin was having difficulty with it; he preferred to be on the offensive. "We'll practice it in the training halls when this mission is finished. I…"
He perked up as an uneasy feeling smashed into him. Anakin similarly tensed and became more alert. Their gazes snapped to the hallway where the two Nubian women slept. Anakin glanced at him, wondering if he felt the same dangerous ripples.
"I sense it too," Obi-wan nodded.
That was all Anakin needed before he was running full-tilt into the Senator's chambers, followed closely by Obi-wan. Anakin activated his blue lightsaber and leaped onto the platform where Padmé and Voraté slept. Voraté shot up and reached for something under the pillows as he landed on the bed and swished his lightsaber over the head of the bedspread. Obi-wan saw the remains of the threat thud into the wall and fall to the ground.
Movement near the window caught his attention. A sleek, angular droid was backing away from the window. Without a second thought, Obi-wan flung himself at the droid, sending shards of glass everywhere as he dove through the window. It took off through the streets, carrying him with it. With luck, it would take him to the assassin.
Anakin ran to the broken remains of the window and stared in disbelief as Obi-wan zipped away with the assassin's droid.
"Who's reckless now?" Anakin muttered.
He turned back to the ladies. Padmé was sitting up on the bed, shaken and fighting off the remnants of sleep. Voraté was kneeling next to the worms that Anakin had sliced to pieces, nudging them with a blaster. She looked up at him.
"Stay here," Anakin ordered; he stared at Voraté, silently communicating to her to guard Padmé. He caught her nod and skipped around a worriedly beeping R2-D2 as he ran out of the room.
He passed Captain Typho and his guards on his way to the elevators. An alarm must have been triggered when the window broke. The ride down to the ground floor was long and he bounced on his heels in impatience. It was faster than taking the stairs, but certainly didn't feel like it. The doors finally opened and Anakin ran out to the speeder parking. He jumped into his speeder and took off, following Obi-wan through their Master-Padawan bond.
He weaved in and out of the Coruscanti traffic, ignoring the honks and annoyed curses he received as he violated several traffic laws. The bond tugged him forward and grew stronger as he flew into the Gambling Sector. He caught sight of Obi-wan ahead, dodging speeders and buildings as the droid tried to shake him off. As he drew closer, he saw a figure on the tall building advertising Morkan spirits aiming a sniper gun at Obi-wan. He gunned the accelerator, trying to get to Obi-wan before the assassin could shoot. His heart jumped as the assassin got a shot off, but it hit and destroyed the droid. Anakin immediately angled the speeders downwards and positioned it below Obi-wan, who held his legs and arms spread-eagled to control his fall. Anakin alternated his gaze between Obi-wan and the traffic, keeping the speeder steady and matching Obi-wan's descent speed.
Obi-wan dropped lightly onto the speeder and hopped into the seat next to Anakin.
"What took you so long?" Obi-wan huffed as he settled himself.
"Oh, you know," Anakin teased. "I couldn't find a speeder that I liked. With an open cockpit and the right speed capabilities."
"This is our speeder, Anakin," Obi-wan rolled his eyes in exasperation.
Anakin only chuckled in response. It was so easy to rile Obi-wan up.
"If you practiced your saber techniques as much as your wit, you'd rival Master Yoda as a swordsman." Obi-wan lectured him as he brought the speeder up a few levels of traffic.
"I thought I already did," Anakin replied mildly as he set a pursuit course for the dark green ship the assassin had fled in.
"Only in your mind, my young apprentice," Obi-wan corrected him. "Oh, stars!" He hollered as Anakin sent them in a vertical descent after the assassin.
Anakin chuckled at his mentor's displeasure. Severe flying stunts may not thrill Obi-wan, but they certainly got Anakin's blood racing with joy. It reminded him of podracing on Tatooine. The assassin's ship hurtled around a huge barge, but Anakin kept the speeder's trajectory steady, laughing as Obi-wan panicked beside him. He pulled up at the last moment and resumed their chase.
"You know I don't like it when you do that," Obi-wan complained darkly.
"Sorry," Anakin said unrepentantly. "I forgot you don't like flying."
"I don't mind flying, but what you're doing is suicide!" Obi-wan flinched down as ships raced over their heads with inches to spare as Anakin weaved the speeder through oncoming traffic.
Anakin sighed. As if he would let any harm come to Obi-wan. Flying was second nature to him and he wasn't even going that fast! He made a sharp turn as the assassin suddenly changed trajectory. The assassin sailed through the traffic and into a one-way access tunnel. Anakin went past it, intending to fly to the exit of the tunnel and cut the assassin off.
"Wait, where are you going?" Obi-wan turned to look at where the assassin had gone. "He went that way!"
"Obi-wan," Anakin said forcefully. "If we continue this chase any longer, that creep is going to end up deep-fried." Anger briefly rose within him as he remembered the deadly worms sniffing around Voraté's head before he'd sliced them to pieces. "Personally, I'd like to know who he is and who he's working for. This is a shortcut… I think."
Obi-wan huffed but said nothing as Anakin maneuvered the speeder to the other end of the Gambling Sector. Anakin brought the speeder to a halt as there was no exit to the access tunnel as he'd thought there'd be.
"Well, that was some shortcut, Anakin," Obi-wan griped.
"I'm very sorry, Obi-wan," Anakin said softly, looking over the edge of the speeder at the traffic below. He caught sight of their quarry a couple hundred feet below them following the stream of traffic.
"He went completely the other way," Obi-wan continued in a disapproving tone. "It will take us ages to find…"
"If you'll excuse me," Anakin interrupted him and vaulted over the speeder. He kept his arms and legs spread evenly to control his descent as he made his way to the assassin's ship. He could feel Obi-wan's disapproval through their bond the whole way down.
The green ship grew until it filled his vision and he grunted as he slammed into it and his muscles screamed as his direction of momentum was abruptly changed. The pilot twisted and turned the ship, trying to throw him off, but Anakin doggedly hung on. He climbed on top of the cockpit and thrust his lightsaber through the roof of the ship. Blaster fire came up at him and burned his hand. Unprepared, Anakin lost his grip on the lightsaber and it tumbled into the wind. He thrust his hand through the hole he'd managed to make and grappled with the assassin for control of the blaster. He managed to shoot it into the controls, which caught fire.
The engines started to smoke and the ship lost altitude as its systems failed. Anakin hung on as the ship listed to the side. As they got close to the ground, the ship rocked unpredictably and Anakin was flung off. He grunted as he landed hard, banging his shoulder against the unyielding ground. He rolled to his feet and tracked the green ship as it crashed and burst into flames. A figure emerged from the wreckage and whirled around, looking for something or someone. The assassin was a woman, Anakin realized as he examined the assassin's feminine features. For a brief moment, her skin turned a smooth green and her cheekbones became more defined before settling back into human-like features. She was a changeling too, a Clawdite!
The woman ran as soon as she made eye contact with him and Anakin charged after her. He shoved people out of the way, not taking his eyes off the woman as he chased her through the busiest part of the Gambling Sector. She ran into a club and Anakin was about to follow her in when he heard his name.
"Anakin!"
Anakin halted and turned to face Obi-wan. "She went into the club." He gestured to the club entrance. He dug his heels into the ground and launched himself after the assassin again, but Obi-wan grabbed his arm and tugged him to a halt.
"Stop, Anakin," Obi-wan said exasperatedly. "Use your head. Think."
Anakin sighed. Not another lecture. "I'm sorry."
"He went in there to hide, not to run." He said wisely.
Anakin nodded. Obi-wan held up his lightsaber and Anakin inwardly groaned.
"This weapon is your life, Anakin," Obi-wan said gently, yet forcefully. "Please treat it as such."
"Yes, sir," Anakin took the lightsaber from Obi-wan and clipped it to his belt. They headed into the club.
"Why do I feel like you're going to be the death of me?" Obi-wan remarked.
Anakin felt a spear of panic shoot through him at the thought of losing Obi-wan. "Don't say that, Obi-wan. You're the closest thing I have to a family."
"Then why don't you listen to me?"
"I am trying." Anakin sighed.
Obi-wan was right to be disappointed in him. He had a bad habit of losing his lightsaber or putting himself in a situation where it was destroyed. He was at ten lightsabers and counting. He didn't know why he kept losing his lightsaber. Perhaps it was due to the fact that he couldn't bond with any of the Kyber crystals. He didn't feel a personal connection to his lightsaber like Obi-wan did with his, so he wasn't as protective of it as he should be. He felt more of a connection with the japor snippet hanging around his neck than his lightsaber.
There was a crowd of individuals inside the club. News and sporting events were projected on screens on the walls. Waitresses and waiters wandered around, offering drinks to the patrons. The assassin was nowhere to be seen.
"I don't see him," Obi-wan said.
"I think he is a she," Anakin remembered the woman's brief shift in appearance. "And I think she's a changeling."
"Well, in that case, be extra careful." Obi-wan looked around the room again and then headed to the bar. "Go find her." He said flippantly.
"Where are you going?" Anakin asked, bewildered at his change in attitude.
"For a drink," Obi-wan said, his tone implying that should have been obvious.
Anakin nodded as Obi-wan continued to the bar and rolled his eyes as soon as he turned his back. This was no time to be drinking on the job! Anakin huffed and centered himself. He scanned the people carefully and searched the Force for the assassin's signature as he walked around.
He could feel the woman was inside the club, but he couldn't pinpoint where. A flash of blue illuminated the air and the buzz of a lightsaber sounded. Anakin whirled around to see Obi-wan standing over the injured assassin with a drawn lightsaber. He'd set himself up as bait!
Anakin hurried over to the bar. The patrons were muttering quietly and watching the commotion with cautious eyes. Obi-wan hefted the groaning assassin up while Anakin addressed the crowd.
"Jedi business, go back to your drinks." He said calmly and officially.
The patrons turned a blind eye to the proceedings and the band started its jazzy tune again. Anakin took a hold of the assassin's other arm and helped Obi-wan drag her out to the alley behind the club.
Obi-wan gently lowered her to the ground and started the interrogation. Anakin knelt down next to them.
"Do you know who it is you were trying to kill?"
The assassin eyed them warily before replying. "It was the Senator from Naboo."
"Who hired you to kill her?" Obi-wan continued with steel in his voice.
"It was just a job." The assassin weakly muttered.
"Tell us who hired you," Anakin demanded. She had almost killed Voraté and Padmé, twice. If she was smart, she would tell them who her boss was.
The woman remained tight-lipped and stared defiantly at him. Rage grew in Anakin and erupted before he could temper it.
"Tell us now!" Anakin shouted at her.
The woman flinched before stuttering out, "It was a bounty hunter called J…"
She was cut off as a silver dart pierced her neck. Anakin and Obi-wan looked behind them; the bright gleam of the attacker's metal suit glimmered off the surrounding building walls as a rocket pack sent them into the air. Another assassin, and a bounty hunter, at that! Anakin and Obi-wan turned back to the woman, but it was too late. Her words became garbled as the poison dart did its work and her face shifted back to natural Clawdite features as she died.
Another dead end. Anakin sighed and Obi-wan carefully pulled the dart out of the assassin's neck. They eyed each other, wondering just how far this assassination plot went.
A/N: What do think so far? Let me know! :)