A/N: I'm a bad person. I know.
Chapter Seven: Trapped
The Constellation
"Computer, how much longer until our arrival?" Anakin demanded.
"Estimated: 10 standard minutes, Captain." The computer replied. Anakin sighed and shut his eyes. His force perception was still too weak to feel for Padme's presence on Naboo. The gas had made his vision hazy and his hands shook at the controls. For the first time since his mother died, he felt powerless.
Wife. He thought. The word radiated in his mind. He had never felt such a deep connection to another human being, not even when his mother was alive. Padme was his entire world. He would do anything to make her happy. "I love you," he whispered, kissing her temple as she slept. She sighed, softly, and snuggled deeper into his embrace. He smiled contently.
"Two minutes until arrival, Captain." The Computer droned. The familiar green-blue planet slowly filled his view screen.
"Master? I'm sorry I disobeyed the order. I just thought—" Anakin scowled and clenched his fists tightly. "No! You weren't thinking at all." Ashoka recoiled, casting her eyes to the floor in shame. The word 'Commander' hanging in front of her name didn't change the fact that she was a fourteen year old child, thrown into leadership. She had endangered her life and that of every member in her squad for nothing.
"Go to your quarters, Ashoka." Anakin sighed, running a hand through his messy hair. It was hard enough taking care of himself without worrying about her every move, but she was his responsibility.
"I—I'm so sorry. I thought we could make it… I thought—I just wanted you to see what I could do… that I'm not a child." Ashoka said, holding back a sob.
"But you are a child, Snips," Anakin told her, more softly, "I don't doubt your skills. I've told you hundreds of times what an amazing Jedi I know you'll become, but it takes time. You have a lot to learn, young one."
"But I…"
"Go to your quarters and rest. I don't want to talk about this anymore." Anakin interrupted. Ashoka nodded solemnly and left him. Something told him this wouldn't be the last time she disobeyed orders. Her pride had become as much of a problem as his, but he couldn't teach her humility. For now, he could only protect her.
The ship touched down with a thud. Anakin's heart raced. Even through the haze in his force vision, he could feel the powerful tremors surrounding the Naberrie home. It was exactly as he'd feared. Cad Bane.
Cad Bane's Ship: Prison Chamber
Ashoka tried her best to sit Padme upright, but her arms had no strength. She was trembling from head to toe and felt sick to her stomach. The situation was far beyond her training. It was a nightmare. Though she wouldn't admit it, she was relieved to have someone with her. Padme was headstrong and intelligent. She would find some way to get them out of this mess.
"Mmm…" She heard. This time, Ashoka put her hand on the woman's back; trying her best to assure her someone was there.
"Senator Amidala, can you hear me?" She asked. Padme moved slightly under her hand, trying to sit up.
"Wh—who are you?" She whispered. With a low grunt, she moved onto her back and slowly pushed herself against the wall. She felt as if she'd been hit by a speeder. "Where am I?" Ashoka wasn't sure how to tell her.
"It's Ashoka, Anakin Skywalker's Padawan." She said, slowly. There was no reply. "We're in a prisoner's chamber on Cad Bane's ship." Again, silence. Ashoka thought, for a moment, the senator had lost consciousness again. "Senator?" She whispered.
"Ashoka," Padme whispered, brokenly. Reality came flooding back. The memory of shooting Bane, before the world went black, swirled in her pounding head. The rest was a frantic blur. "My family," she said, as shocked tears began rushing down her cheeks, "they're—they're dead."
"Oh, Padme," Ashoka whispered, "I'm so sorry." She put a hand on her shoulder as she heard the senator's breath begin to hitch in frantic sobs. For a long time, Padme kept her head buried in her arms, overwhelmed by emotion. Ashoka shut her eyes, desperately wishing she knew what to do. She had never felt such an agonizing sense of defenselessness in her life.
"I feel so helpless, like all of my training has been for nothing," she thought aloud, "Why do we even try, Padme? It's like the whole universe is against us. What if this is really the end, If Bane and Grievous win? Everything we've done will be meaningless. My entire life will just be meaningless." Her eyes shut tightly again, trying hard to find some glimmer of hope. Padme sighed, letting the Padawan's words sink in. Images of a time when she was much younger flashed through her mind. She remembered feeling the same way, but hearing a speech that gave her hope.
"No," Padme said, angrily, "It's not meaningless, Ashoka. Even if there isn't a victory, we still had the courage to fight. And if we die then we died fighting for something we believed in. I know sometimes it seems like the situation is hopeless and the universe is against you, but those are the times you learn the most about yourself. And you're stronger than you think, young one."
Outside of the door, footsteps could now be heard coming closer every second. "Don't let them see you weak. We'll get through this together." Ashoka nodded and sat up as straight as she could. Though she was terrified, her face was hard and angry. She could do this. The door opened.
The Naberrie Home
Anakin stepped quickly through the broken glass covering the side entrance. The entire house seemed to be engulfed by an ominous air, looming in the darkness. He didn't know what he would find, but he knew it wasn't going to be good. The sound of his boots echoed through the empty kitchen as he walked through to the hallway and flipped on a small light. The living and dining rooms were equally empty, leaving only the foyer and second floor. Suddenly, an image of his wife lying dead in her bedroom flashed through his mind and a cold shiver overtook him. He stopped in the middle of the hall and closed his eyes. Get a hold of yourself. She's not dead. She can't be.
"Hello?" He heard. He turned to where the quiet, weary voice had come from and darted towards the front foyer. At the end of the hall, by the stairwell, Ruwee Naberrie had propped himself against the wall. He was tied up and bleeding badly through his white nightshirt. Beside him, Padme's mother and brother-in-law were tied together, both unconscious and covered with fresh bruises. Anakin quickly kneeled beside Ruwee and looked over his injuries.
"What happened? Where's Padme?" He asked, breathlessly. Ruwee coughed, painfully and drew in a deep breath.
"Anakin, listen to me," he wheezed, "Bane took Padme. The snipers… said they were going to Sluis Van. Follow them. Find her." Anakin nodded, frantically.
"I will, Sir. I promise," he replied. Ruwee nodded, weakly. "I'll signal a medical transport for you." Anakin said, standing up to retrieve his communicator. Quickly, he punched in the emergency code and reached the medical operator. "This is Anakin Skywalker. I need a medical transport sent to Theed, Naboo 2359 code 48-003, immediately. Three people are seriously injured, one of them has been shot." Once the operator had entered in the information and confirmed that a medical transport had been dispatched, he knelt by Ruwee again. "The medical team is on their way. They'll take care of you." He told him.
"Good," he rasped, "You need to go now." Anakin shook his head, "No, I can't leave you alone." Ruwee coughed again and lifted his hand to push the young man away. "Go. She… she needs you," he whispered. When Anakin gave him another apprehensive look, he added, "I'll be fine. Go." The Jedi nodded and stood up. With one last hesitant look at his father-in-law he turned and headed for his ship.
The Republic Star
Obi-Wan blinked, wearily, as the fluorescent lights of the medical bay filled his vision. He had woken up to those lights many times before, but never to this much pain. His head and neck felt like they were on fire. An agonizing sigh left his mouth, causing the medical droid on duty to notice he was awake.
"Welcome back, General," it said, floating over to him. With a painful turn of his head, he looked at the mechanical figure.
"What's happened to me?" He asked, tiredly. The medical droid slowly retrieved his chart from the desk and began to read its diagnosis in complex medical terminology. "Could you read that in English, please?" Obi-Wan sighed.
"I'm afraid I don't understand, Sir. I was reading it in English. If you'd like me to—" If he didn't think it would be excruciatingly painful, Obi-Wan would have rolled his eyes. He'd almost forgotten that medical droids weren't programmed for sarcasm.
"Never mind," he sighed, "Where is Anakin?" The droid blinked the LCD eyes on its front screen.
"I'm afraid I don't know who you are referring to, Sir." It replied.
"What do you know?" Obi-Wan asked, sarcastically.
"Oh, many things! I am programmed with an advanced knowledge in eight different medical fields, including…" The droids voice faded out as Obi-Wan shut his eyes, again. He suddenly felt very tired, and sleep seemed a lot more welcoming than the dark presence that was starting to edge back into his memory.
Cad Bane's Ship: Prisoner's Chamber
A loud clang echoed in the chamber as white light flooded around a tall shadow. "You know, for a senator, you're awfully feisty. I might need bacta for those blaster wounds." The cracked voice of Cad Bane rang through the cell. Padme scowled.
"Why are you doing this Bane? Or should I ask, who's paying you to do this?" She spat. Bane chuckled to himself and stepped further inside.
"That's a secret, milady. But, I guess I could let you in on one thing. We're going on a little trip to see the Separatists. They're anxious to see you." He grinned.
"It won't be a very long visit." Padme replied, "Since I'm sure The Republic army is just as anxious to see them." Bane grimaced at this.
"The Republic Army is nothing but a bunch of fools. Besides, with their two best generals dead I doubt they'll be much of an opposition." He countered.
"Anakin is not dead. You said so yourself." Padme replied, more weakly. The dizziness in her head was starting to blur her vision. Ashoka, however, felt a surge of hope somewhere below the pain. Her master was alive.
"Soon enough, he will be," Bane replied, "and the two of you, as well." Imagining Senator Amidala lying dead somewhere on Sluis Van was getting to be his most anticipated fantasy. He was tired of dealing with her. "That's enough chitchat. I don't want any escape plans out of you." He said, and signaled another tall figure inside. It knelt between the two prisoners and took out a large piece of cloth. Before Padme could react, the figure pushed it against her nose and mouth until her eyelids fell and her head drooped to the side.
"Stop it! Stop!" Ashoka yelled, weakly. She tried to push the figure's hands away from Padme's face, but one strong swipe stilled her.
"What about the Padawan?" The figure asked, darkly. Bane scoffed, "Don't waste your time. As long as we keep the Senator sedated, we won't get any trouble from either of them." With that, the figure stood and stomped out of the cell, slamming them back into darkness with another loud clang. Ashoka sighed, "Stay strong. Just stay strong."
Cad Bane's Ship: Cockpit
Bane pressed one hand to his chest and let out an agitated sigh. The bleeding hadn't stopped, and a sharp pain continuously pounded against his chest, but he'd been shot before. It was all part of the job. Slumping down in the copilot's seat, he scrounged for the communicator in his pocket and signaled Grievous.
"This had better be good news," came the gruff, mechanical voice on the other end.
"I've taken Senator Amidala prisoner. Is that good enough for you, General?" Bane grinned, arrogantly. Grievous coughed loudly on the other end. His health had gotten worse over the years and, though his medic urged him to accept another surgery, he adamantly refused to submit to any more changes. Once the fit was over, he drew in a deep breath.
"Good," he rasped, "It seems you are finally living up to your reputation."
"I told you. I never leave a job unfinished. We'll be arriving within the hour. The Senator is sedated and Skywalker's Padawan has proven much weaker than I expected." Bane replied.
"Yes. I look forward to adding her lightsaber to my collection." Grievous said, maliciously, "Signal me when you're preparing to land and see to it that this mission continues smoothly. Even the smallest failure could give Skywalker an edge."
"Don't worry about that. Skywalker and his little lady will be dead before the day is through." Bane shut off the communicator and sat back in the seat. The stars streaked by, but he didn't see them. All he could see were credits. Half a billion credits.
The Constellation
"Computer, patch me through to the Republic Star." Anakin commanded. The display screen went blank for a few seconds then a loud booming sounded through his headset and Rex's frantic voice yelled over it.
"General Skywalker," he shouted, "We've run into a little problem." Another loud boom was heard over the connection, this time followed by the sounding of the battle alarms.
"What's the situation, Rex?" Anakin asked, hurriedly.
"Separatist bombers. They've got the ship surrounded. They've already blown two of the turrets and we're under heavy fire! We've got three squads left, General. It's not enough men!" He replied.
"Hold them off for as long as you can, Rex. Stay in position and wait for reinforcements." Anakin told him.
"I'm not sure how much more damage the ship can take, General," Rex shouted. Another loud boom was heard as the main deck shook from the impact. "Bastards! They're blowing the turbolaser cannons!"
"Stay in position, Rex. The Star has made it through a lot of rough battles. All you can do now is keep hitting them with all you've got until reinforcements arrive."
"Yes, sir. I never back down without a fight!" Rex replied. The connection cut off suddenly, leaving Anakin in silence. A little good news would be nice. He thought, rubbing his eyes in exhaustion. The display screen flashed 35 standard minutes until the ship reached Sluis Van. At the least, his head was starting to clear up. He could feel a slight tingle of the force around him, weak but steady. He shut his eyes and let out a long sigh. The whir of the ship's engine filled his ears as he let his shoulder slump from their tense position.
"They're okay," he whispered to himself, "Everything will be okay." As he let his fingers relax from their grip on the controls, he felt a strange sensation. At first, it was just a slight spark in his head, like someone had shocked him. Then, it got more intense. He focused on it, trying his best to summon the tiny tremors of the force that surrounded him. Then, he heard it: Master?
A/N: I hope you liked this chapter. I promise I won't make you wait nine months for the next one ;)