Star Wars Fan Fiction

Into the Lion's Den: Part I

Chapter VII

Anakin surveyed his target, Corporate Construction, from the rooftop of the building across the street. The workers, had long since left, and Corell had begun to dip behind the skyscrapers of the city center. Anakin had been watching the entrances for 3 standard days now and he had assessed that the best way in was the oversized exhaust vent on the building's side. He pulled his cable and grappling hook from the kit on his waist, and stepped up onto the ledge. The vent in question was about 10 meters down the building's side, and he needed support while he attempted to cut through the metal with his lightsaber.

Anakin took a deep breath and tried not to look down. The offices of Corporate Construction were on the 98th floor of the building, and air speeder traffic swirled beneath him ferociously. He put one foot out on the thin support beam that held up an advertising billboard between the two buildings.

Just one step at a time, Anakin thought to himself.

No sooner had the thought gone across his mind, did a huge gust of wind threaten to knock him off of the beam. Anakin managed to hang on and hurried across the beam.

When he made it to the other side, Anakin planted the grappling hook securely against the side of the building and tied the cable around his waist as tight as possible. He then lowered himself, slow and steady, all the way down to the vent. Peering inside, Anakin could tell that while the vent was quite large, it would still not accommodate his full stature. He unclipped his lightsaber from his belt and went to work. He began at the top, slowly pushing his lightsaber into the grated metal of the vent cover, and pulling it around in a large circle. Red hot metal outlined his cut when he was finished and he kicked the center of the grate, knocking it back into the vent with a loud screech. He swung himself inside and untied the cable around his waist. He peered down the vent and saw nothing but darkness. Anakin pulled his glowrod from the kit around his waist and marched forward.

He had been walking slumped over for almost 10 minutes, his back screaming in agony all the while, when he reached an elevator shaft. He stuck his head out and looked up and then down. The elevator was stuck about 2 floors above him.

Down it is, he thought.

He used the elevator rails to shimmy down the shaft to the elevator doors on the floor directly beneath him. He opted not to cut through this one, as it might draw unwanted attention later. Instead he used his strength, and a little of the Force, to pry the door open. When the door was just wide enough, he bounded through, letting the elevator doors slam shut with a muffled thud. Anakin let out a sigh of relief. He was finally inside.

And suddenly the bright light of a glowrod appeared around the corner. Anakin felt his stomach do an uncomfortable twist.

"You said you heard somethin', Jim?"

"thought I heard somethin' fall," Jim responded.

Anakin needed to act quickly. He glanced hurriedly around the large room he had just entered. It seemed he had entered the building's office space and the floor seemed to be made up primarily of offices along the outer walls with cubicles in the center. Anakin ducked under a nearby cubicle. It was a convienient place to hide, but if the guards came any closer, it also would be easy to get caught.

"Aw, Hell, if I had a credit for every time you thought you heard somethin'…"

Anakin ducked behind a desk as he heard the guards enter the room. He saw the shadows dancing along the walls as the guards shone the bright light into the room.

"Damn it, Jim, it looks exactly like it did when we walked through 10 minutes ago," fussed his fellow.

"I'm sorry, Bill. You know how I get when they put us on these damn midnight shifts," complained Jim.

Anakin listened as quietly as he could. He was so nervous that he was practically holding his breath.

"Yeah, yeah," responded bill clearly irritated with his partner.

"Hey, Bill, you mind if I go take a piss? This excitement's got m'nerves all worked up."

"Sure. Just hurry it up."

Anakin heard the footsteps of the second guard become more and more muffled as he wandered off to find the refresher. He exhaled. One guard was much easier to deal with than two. The first guard, confident that the noise was just a figment of his partner's imagination, shut off his glowrod, and turned to leave. Anakin crept from behind his hiding spot, and sneaked up behind the guard. The guard must have known something was behind him, because he turned around a split second before Anakin smashed his fist into the man's throat. The man let out a gurgling noise before Anakin spun the man around and placed his forearm firmly against his windpipe. The man's eyes were wide with surprise as he looked up at Anakin. His lips moved, but no words came out.

"I don't want to hurt you, but I don't want to be caught either. Don't make me choose between the two," stated Anakin as he attempted to drag the struggling man back into the room. The man's eyes became wider still, but he stopped struggling and allowed himself to be dragged. When they were safely back in the darkness of the office space, Anakin used his free arm to grab a pair of stun cuffs out of his kit. After the guard was secure, with the cuffs tightly around his wrists, Anakin released him.

"Why are there so many guards assigned to this building?"

"Don't know," answered the guard defiantly, his voice still hoarse from the blow Anakin had dealt him.

"Well they must be guarding something. What is your assignment?"

"Just to guard the building." He looked Anakin up and down. "And to make sure vandals and people like you don't make it in here," He added.

"You better come up with some better answers pretty fast, or I'll dispose of you and go find out where your partner got off to. And I guarantee that he will be a lot more accommodating," Threatened Anakin. He was growing more impatient by the second.

"Alright, Alright. There's a door two floors down. I've never been inside, but they always make a big deal about the guard on duty leaving his post. My buddy got suspended for two weeks just 'cuz he left to go take a piss," the guard replied hoarsely.

Anakin considered this for a moment. Obviously there was something of value hidden behind this door. He would be a fool not to at least check it out.

"Alright, ," said Anakin. "But I have to make sure that you don't disturb my plans."

"Hell, this is the part where you kill me anyway, ain't it?" asked the guard as he eyed Anakin warily. "Just hurry up and get it over with, then."

"I already told you, I'm not going to kill you. But this will probably hurt a lot tomorrow," said Anakin impatiently.

"What do you me-"

BAM.

Anakin punched the guard with so much force in the temple that his head reeled. The man fell backwards, knocked out cold. Anakin tried to ignore the pain in his knuckles, but there was something satisfying about landing a good, hard punch.

Anakin picked up the guards feet and dragged him into one of the empty offices. He stuffed the guard underneath one of the desks, careful that no part of the man's body would be visible from the viewport on the door. Satisfied with his work, Anakin crept off to find a stairwell to take him down two floors. He wandered, lost for a minute, but soon found a stairwell at the end of one of the long halls. He hadn't come across any more guards, and for that he was silently thankful. The door slid back into the wall, revealing the stairs, which Anakin followed downwards. He came out two floors below, in a long, dark hallway. There was no movement, save for guard at the end of the hall. He was sitting in a chair behind a desk with his chin in his chest, snoring loudly. Anakin could see the large grey durasteel doors behind him. He crept forward, using the force to muffle the noise of his feet. As he came closer, the guard stirred a little, but still he did not wake. Anakin walked up, raised his hand and Force choked the man. The guard awoke almost immediately, and clawed at his throat struggling to breathe. But he soon lost consciousness. Anakin released his force grip on the unconscious guard's throat and strode forward to the durasteel door. It was tall, from floor to ceiling and also looked as if it had been reinforced. He noticed a control panel on the right side of the door with a bright red light shining in its center. Anakin observed that it looked as if it would take a key card. He reached over and checked the guard's pockets for a card that looked like it might match. He found it easily in the man's chest pocket and swiped the card. the light on the control panel shone green, and the doors peeled slowly back into the walls. Behind the door was another long and uninteresting hallway. But at the end of this one was a simple elevator shaft. Anakin strode up to the door and almost pressed the down button before he stopped himself. Anakin allowed himself a smirk. How stupid. It was a mistake he might have made as a Padawan. What could be a quicker way to announce his presence and get himself killed? Instead he opted to pry the door open once again. The elevator was a floor below him. Anakin Dropped down on top of the elevator and crawled down the side. When he reached the rails underneath, Anakin paused to look down. His heart caught in his throat. He couldn't see the bottom; it was so far down that it was enveloped in darkness. Wherever it led, was deep underground.

This is going to be a long climb, he thought sullenly as he resigned himself to the task.

When Anakin had finally made it to the bottom, he pried open the elevator doors once more and slid through. This floor looked a lot like a secret hideout to him and he had been in his fair share of secret hideouts. He had emerged at the end of a long corridor with labs on each side. He walked to the end, where it forked; one path left, and another one to the right. The door at the end of the left one seemed more ornate, so he shrugged and chose that one. When he reached the doors, they slid back and let him inside.

Inside was a large chamber that far dwarfed anything he had yet seen in the office complex. Against one wall sat a large, complex looking computer console. He counted at least a dozen screens all around one very large one. Anakin walked up to the computer and tried his luck. He searched Padme's name and her file and picture popped onto the screen. The file seemed to be an archive that the company kept of its contracts; his name was on the list as well. as he selected his name, the computer monitors suddenly went blank.

"I knew you would be unable to stay away," said an amused voice coming from behind Anakin.