XII
The
Enemy's Nest
The corridor that the helmeted man led Padmé down was dark, and smelled of sewage. He pushed her along in front of him, the muzzle of his blaster to her back. Padmé walked along obediently, nervously sweating.
She hadn't encountered the world outside the Temple since she was six – before Jedi Kenobi had come to Naboo and recruited her to join the Jedi. Since that time, she had wanted to go out and see the some of the world again. With her new Master, she had gone out once more to explore the world outside the confines of the Jedi Temple.
The trip to the diner had been quite nice, but the armored man that she had seen out the window hadn't been so nice. Everything had spiraled downward from there. Her Master had left the diner to face the bounty hunter, while she had stayed inside, crouched under a table. Two men, who had obviously been associates of the bounty hunter, had come in the back door, and grabbed her. In desperation, she had fought them. Unfortunately, her size had proved a disadvantage, as both the men had been more than two heads taller than her.
After being dragged out of the diner, Padmé had been roughly loaded into a waiting speeder. Dooku had pursued them in his speeder, but had been unable to catch up.
Arriving at the end of the passage, the bounty hunter typed a code on a hidden keypad. A section of the wall slid back, allowing them to progress further into the lower levels of Coruscant.
The air cleared as they progressed farther downward, giving way to a slight breeze. After the time spent in the dank corridor, the breeze was very welcome. There was little lighting, making it hard to see. Padme knew that if she had been asked to navigate these passageways on her own, she never would find her way back to the surface, not in a hundred years.
They made numerous turns, changing direction and moving up and down levels, continuing to slowly descend farther into the depths of the city-planet.
After an indeterminable amount of time, they stopped in front of another access panel. Keying in a code on the keypad, the bounty hunter prodded her in the back with his weapon.
"Get going," he said coldly.
Walking ahead of her captor, Padmé proceeded to enter the dark chamber that the secret door led to. Far off on the opposite wall was something of a raised dais, were she thought she could see a figure seated on the massive chair that adorned it.
The bounty hunter shoved her forward unceremoniously. "Move!" he ordered. She had entered the chamber and stood still, taking in her new surroundings.
Losing her balance, she fell to the floor.
"Fool!" the armored man said angrily.
She started to get up, but her she still was not moving as fast as the bounty hunter wished. His boot connected with her ribcage, aggravating the not-yet-healed injuries she had incurred in her encounter with Brennen Col.
"I said to hurry up!" he spat, his voice gaining in volume. He kicked her again, sending her back to the floor.
"That is enough, Jango," the seated figure across the room. "Bring her here."
Dragging her to her feet, the man named Jango roughly pushed her across the chamber towards the seated man.
"Yes…" he hissed as she came closer. "Come, my pretty."
Padmé felt her stomach turn a somersault when she was close enough to see the other man's visage.
Most of his face was concealed by hood, but what she could see was pitted and pale. The man cackled maniacally as she cringed in revulsion.
"Go," Jango said, gripping her shoulder and digging his fingers into her flesh.
She allowed the him to push her up onto the first step of the dais, and then stood with her head down, refusing to look at the cloaked man before her. Even with very little Jedi training, she could sense the evil that emanated from his presence.
Stubbornly, and much to the dark man's ire, she refused to raise her eyes.
"Do you know who you are?" he asked. "Do you know what a threat you are to me?"
Padmé clenched her jaw. She promised herself that she would not tell this man anything, as she new that he was evil. Jango struck her across the back, sending her to her knees.
The dark man came forward, taking her chin in one of his hands. Padmé felt as if tendrils of ice were creeping up her jaw, the dark man's hand was so cold. She could feel the cold darkness that was within the man seeping out towards her. He forced her too look at him.
"Now, my pretty," he hissed, "we will discuss who you are, and what that means to me."
Padmé swallowed hard. He heart felt like it was in her throat. She was afraid of the darkness that emanated from her captor, she was afraid of what that darkness might do to her. She felt his presence of mind encroaching upon her own, feeding on her fear, drawing it out of her so it only became more powerful.
"You were chosen by the Force," he said.
Padmé leaned away from his grasp, trying to distance herself from his foul breath and haunting yellow eyes. She received the Jango Fett's knee in her back, forcing her back towards him…
"You are the one that is supposed to bring balance to the Force…"
Padmé struggled against his grip further, feeling his bony fingers dig into her skin. He dragged her up to a standing position again. She shrugged off his cold hand and shrank away from him, back to the floor. Jango grabbed her from behind, putting his hands under her arms, forcing her to stand and face the Dark Lord.
"…but I have the Jedi fooled," he continued. "I have installed my own protégé in their ranks."
"No…" she began. She stopped, unable to go one, thinking of the young man at the Temple who was hailed as the Chosen One.
"Young fool," the Dark Lord said scornfully. "You know nothing of the Force. Your mind is like an open book to me. Have they taught you nothing…that council of morons in their tower? Do you not even know how to shield your thoughts?"
She focused on the floor, refusing to look the man in the eye, ashamed by her lack of knowledge in the Force.
"You disgust me," the Dark Lord hissed. "Jango, take her away!"
The bounty hunter unceremoniously dragged her from the room, down several corridors, where he eventually deposited her in some sort of holding cell. She walked the perimeter of its walls, surveying her new surroundings.
She was greatly relieved to be freed of the presence of the dark man, but still did not feel safe. Padmé crossed to the center of the room where a scream escaped her as the floor gave way beneath her.
Somewhere else, another person awoke from a horrific dream with a scream…
Padmé fell to the sand-covered floor below, landing hard. She collapsed to the floor, as pair of large, luminous eyes opened in the far corner, and began moving toward her.
She screamed again.
