CHAPTER XXXVII

Enemies of the Empire

Damn the clones, Kyp thought savagely as he ran along the final stretches of the dark, narrow passage. Damn Palpatine for sending them instead of coming himself, he added. If he had come, then this would have all been over. Jaina wouldn't be in danger of losing her life if the clones kill the twins.

Of course, that was the whole reason Palpatine had sent the clones in the first place. An easy way to successful dispose of Jaina without having to confront her himself. The twins were her weak link and as long as they were living in the past, they always would be.

His mind tried to find hers through the Force, but all he sensed was a confused tangle of pain and will. She was still alive, and fighting, but for how long? Had the twins been rescued yet, or not?

"How much farther?" Anakin growled.

"Here!" Bail shouted, coming to a halt. He examined the wall and hit a concealed switch. A door slid open and Bail ushered the Jedi out of the passageway.

They were in a garden. Plants and flowers grew in abundance, decoratively trimmed and cared for. The palace towered above them, reaching high into the bright sky. The sun was shining brightly. Bail closed the door and led them through a tangle of trees and on to the garden path that ran parallel to the wall of the palace. He walked swiftly along it for several meters before leading them away into the trees again.

"Safe, we are," Yoda said presently. "For the moment."

"Yes," Bail said.

"Now what?" Anakin asked. There was a strange expression on his face, a mixture of anxiety and aggravation. "We have to find Padmé and Jaina!"

"But we can't cross the palace to the main docking bay," Obi-Wan mused. "There are too many clones."

Anakin growled and threw his hands up in the air. "We have to do something!"

"And we will," Bail said. "This is Breha's private garden. Over there—" he pointed to a spot further up along the garden path – "is an entrance to the palace. Two floors up from there is a small landing pad. There is a transport there. If we can get to it, then we can give Captain Antilles orders to meet us somewhere safe."

"And how are you going to do that?" Anakin snapped, irritated.

Bail withdrew a comlink. "With this."

Anakin stared at him. "You had a comm? Why didn't you contact the ship earlier?"

"Because there wasn't time and there was nothing the captain could have done while we were in the palace," Bail answered shortly. He turned away and spoke quickly into the comm, his voice low. While he was conversing with Captain Antilles, Anakin paced around, biting his fingernails.

"She better be all right," Anakin hissed, partially to himself but loud enough for Kyp to hear as he passed by. "If not, then Jaina better have some explaining to do."

"She what?" Bail's voice exclaimed suddenly.

Anakin drew up short. "She what?" he demanded.

Bail paused and turned to him. "Padmé's safe," he said. "They were almost swarmed under by the clones, but she and Jaina arrived just in time."

A look of relief washed over Anakin's face and he relaxed.

"Wait," Kyp said. "You said Padmé's safe… what about Jaina?"

"She left the Tantive IV after helping to dispose of the clones," Bail said. "No one could stop her. Padmé is still with the ship, but Jaina must be somewhere in the palace. She's looking for us."

"Sithspit!" Kyp cursed under his breath. "Why can't she stay in one place?" he growled.

"This is not good," Obi-Wan said rapidly. "She doesn't know where we are and there are hundreds of clones swarming the palace. We have to get back inside and find her before reaching the landing platform."

Anakin's nostrils flared. "Trust Jaina to complicate things," he hissed.

"Look," Obi-Wan said quickly, "there's only one thing we can do. We have to get to that landing platform before the clones do. Kyp, you and I will have to find Jaina on our own."

"To the landing platform, the rest of us will go," Yoda concluded.

"No," Anakin growled. His eyes met Kyp's and his expression became determined. "I'm just as concerned for Jaina as the rest of you are. I'm coming with you."

Obi-Wan caught his arm. "Anakin, now's not the time for rash actions. All of our lives are at risk. You need to get back to Padmé."

"Don't tell me what to do!" Anakin snapped, pulling away. "I'm coming with you to find Jaina." He glanced at Kyp again.

Kyp's eyes narrowed. There was something that was worrying Anakin that he was not saying.

"Very well," Yoda said. "At the landing platform, meet you, we will."

"Once we reach there, it will be easy enough to fly to the Tantive IV," Bail said. "I've left instructions with Captain Antilles to meet us in a secluded vale away from the palace." He drew a spare comm out of his pocket and tossed it to Anakin. "Here," he said as the Jedi caught it with one hand. "Since you seem to have lost yours. Use it to contact us if something comes up."

Anakin nodded as he attached the comm to a convenient spot on the collar of his robes.

"Right," Kyp said. "Let's go." He started up the path towards the palace. Anakin followed.

"May the Force be with you," Yoda called out.

"And with you," Obi-Wan answered before running after Kyp and Anakin.

Breha's expansive private garden provided enough protection that the Jedi were not seen by the clones from the windows above. Thus, their trip back inside the palace proved uneventful, even though they traveled as stealthily as they could. Once at the palace wall, they crept back inside, finding themselves in a wide hall. They ran half-way down it, unsure of where to go, when Kyp suddenly skidded to a halt.

Anakin paused. "What are you doing?" he hissed. "She could be anywhere! We don't have time to stop!"

"Just wait, would you?" Kyp snapped back. He closed his eyes, trying to block out everything else that might provide distraction. His mind searched for one thing, and one thing only – Jaina.

Jaina? he ventured.

Suddenly, there she was, only half-way across the palace from the place they were standing. Her presence burned brightly in the Force; she was still alive and fighting. Her thoughts did not respond verbally, but she sent a reassuring feeling back to him through their connection. Kyp smiled slightly and opened his eyes again, looking up at Anakin and Obi-Wan.

"She's close," he said. "On the same floor and coming towards us. I'll lead."

He took off at a run, Anakin and Obi-Wan sprinting behind him. All three were clutching their lightsabers firmly in their fists, ready to activate them in case they ran into any clones.

"How… how do you know?" Anakin asked, panting for breath as they ran down the hall and skidded to the left through an archway.

"Never mind," Kyp shot back over his shoulder. "It'll take too long to explain!"

Kyp heard Anakin hiss something undistinguishable under his breath, but he didn't bother to ask what that was. All three of them had too much on their minds to worry about what the others were saying; they had a job to do and it was only with luck that any of them would make it out alive.

As Prince Consort of the Queen of Alderaan, Bail knew the palace layout by heart. He had used this knowledge for a number of things in the past – meetings with other Senators, balls hosted by the Royal Family – but never would he have guessed that his knowledge of the layout would be put to the test in such a manner as this. Of course, he would never have imagined that he would have to escape from his own home.

Still, that did not stop him from putting his knowledge to good use. There were several ways up to the landing platform, and while the clones had spread out in their hunt for the renegades, Bail found that there were several easy ways to evade them, mostly by using the handful of rarely used passages that were easily overlooked.

Unfortunately, even if they were using the unused passageways and stairs, that did not mean that there would not be clone troopers waiting for them around each corner. Bail was armed with a blaster, while Yoda's lightsaber was never out of his grip, his fingers ready to activate it at the first sign of trouble.

Thankfully, the first sign of trouble never came.

Though tensions were high and the sound of hundreds of clones moving throughout the palace echoed down the halls along with the sounds of their voices, Bail and Yoda soon found themselves at the landing platform without any trouble. The transport was there, untouched by the clones.

Now they only had to wait – if that was possible.

Bail leaned against the side of the transport and looked down at Yoda.

"Should I contact them?" he asked.

"Come, they will," he answered, "when they can."

"I'm worried," Bail admitted. "If Jaina had stayed in one place, then we wouldn't have had this problem. They could be killed out there."

"Masters of the Force, all three of them are," Yoda replied. "But worried, you have a right to be, Senator. Many clones there are, enough to take down even the most powerful Jedi."

"That is exactly what concerns me," Bail said. "Do you think –"

"Move!" Yoda barked.

A blaster bolt came flying out of nowhere – Bail ducked and it flew over him, passing by the transport and smashing into the side of the wall. Sparks flew in every direction from the impact. In an instant, Yoda's green lightsaber ignited with a snap-hiss. A second bolt flew their way and bounced off the blade, crashing into the stone floor.

Five clone troopers rounded the corner, each of them firing bolts at the Senator and the Jedi Master standing beside the transport. Yoda's lightsaber acted as a roaming shield, deflecting the bolts at every turn as Bail returned fire with his blaster. However, soon the air was sizzling with blaster fire and the sound of harsh clone voices as more and more soldiers came around the corner and fired at their prey.

"We can't stay here!" Bail shouted above the sound of crackling blaster bolts.

"Agree, I do," Yoda said quickly. "Hold, we cannot."

"What about Obi-Wan and Anakin and Kyp?" Bail asked. Suddenly, he cried out as a bolt slipped past Yoda's lightsaber and grazed his knee. Bail's damaged leg momentarily gave out and he fought for balance as he glanced at Yoda, wincing. "Can we wait?" He asked the question even though he already knew the answer.

Yoda shook his head.

"Get in," Bail said. "Anakin has my other comm; we'll contact him once we're in the air."

Fleeing the blaster bolts, Bail and Yoda escaped into the transport. Sitting down in the pilot's chair, Bail quickly activated the engines and prepared for flight. A bolt hit the side of the transport, exploding in a shower of sparks.

Bail activated his comm.

"Anakin, where are you?" he shouted.

There was no response.

"Anakin?!"

There was the sound of lightsabers deflecting blaster bolts and a sudden panting, then Anakin's voice came online.

"We… we're all right," he said, gasping for breath. "We're trying to get to the platform—"

"Anakin," Bail said quickly, glancing at the clones as they continued to shoot at the transport, "we're onboard, but we have to leave, the shields won't hold."

Anakin cursed.

"What… what do we do, then?"

"Do you have Jaina?"

No reply.

Bail swore and pulled on the yoke, forcing the transport up and outwards, away from the blaster fire. "Anakin," Bail said, "we're going back to the ship. Follow if you can—"

"We can't," Anakin's voice barked, suddenly back online. "We have Jaina, but we're surrounded. We can't get to you in time. If you're under fire, get out of there!"

Bail steered the transport down towards the docking bay where the Tantive IV waited. He could see flashes of red – more clones had come, but the crew was managing to keep them at bay and away from the ship. "Listen to me, then," he began, but Anakin's voice cut across him.

"No time!" he shouted. "Jaina – MOVE!"

The rest was a crackle of lightsabers and blaster bolts, and then connection was severed.

Bail swore and looked at Yoda.

Their companions were in trouble, and without connection to Anakin's comm, there was no way to help them.

When Jaina had left the Tantive IV in order to find her companions and verify that they were safe, she had never thought about the trouble she would cause them. She had been running across the palace in a mad dash to avoid clone troopers and find her friends as quickly as possible when Kyp's presence had filled her mind, trying to contact her. She had been so distracted by this that she had almost been hit from behind by the clones that were chasing her. Unable to think clearly enough while she fought them off and continued her escape, she had only had enough time to send Kyp the reassurance that she was still alive and the location where she was fighting.

It took Kyp, Anakin and Obi-Wan only minutes to cross the palace and find her, jumping into the fray with their lightsaber ignited. Kyp had several well-chosen words to say to her at that point as they fought off a barrage of blaster bolts – words that Jaina knew full-well to be true, but chose to ignore anyways.

"Durron," she had shouted at him as she ducked behind a pillar to avoid being hit, "do you really think know is the best time for lectures?!"

He saw her point almost immediately.

Then Bail's message had come through on Anakin's comm and their cause seemed almost lost, even though they continued to work their way upwards to the landing platform on the floor above. They were completely surrounded by clones and there was no other way to go. Even if they wanted to, there was no way they could fight their way through the small army that had invaded the palace and return to the Tantive IV alive.

They were trapped.

"Jaina!" Anakin's voice shouted in her ear. "MOVE!"

Jaina threw herself flat on the floor as Anakin flew in a Force-enhanced jump over her and crashed into the clone trooper who had been sneaking up behind them. With one quick slash of his blade, Anakin killed his opponent and flicked his lightsaber backwards to deflect a bolt aimed at his back.

Jaina clambered to her feet, ducking as another bolt went whizzing past her head.

We can't stay here any longer, she thought. It's only a matter of time before we get slaughtered. There's too many of them.

Her eyes scanned the area and then she saw a narrow archway behind one of the decorative white pillars. She raised her voice as she ducked another bolt. "This way!"

She took off at a run.

"Jaina!" Kyp yelled. "Where are you going?"

She spun, her violet blade accidentally deflecting a blaster bolt towards him. Kyp jumped aside and knocked the bolt towards one of the clones, who dropped to the floor upon impact. Kyp stared at her. She shrugged and tilted her head in the direction of the archway.

You don't know where it goes! Kyp's thoughts yelled at her.

It's better than staying here, it's the only way out! Jaina shouted back. Have you looked around lately, Durron? All the exits are blocked – except that one!

She was praying that the reason for that was that the clones had merely overlooked it.

"All right!" Kyp shouted at her after quickly glancing around the hall. "Anakin, Obi-Wan!"

They looked at him and sprinted towards Jaina as she turned and fled towards the archway.

It was dark in the corridor, but there was a staircase leading upwards. Jaina dashed up it without question, taking the steps two at a time. Her companions followed quickly. Their lightsabers cast a strange array of moving violet, blue and crimson lights on the walls. It was strangely eerie.

Step after step, they ran upwards. The staircase seemed to go on forever. How high it went, none of them were sure as there were no lights, for whatever reason. Suddenly, the staircase ended and Jaina stumbled out into bright light and another enormous hall – which was guarded by a dozen clones. They turned her way, their blasters at the ready.

Jaina froze. "Sithspit!"

"Keep moving!" Anakin shouted. "We can take them!"

Jaina dashed out of the way, throwing herself at the ground as blaster bolts flew over her head. Anakin emerged out of the darkness after her and swore loudly, but threw himself into the action anyways, his lightsaber spinning.

Tired as she was, Jaina forced her body into action as she joined Anakin in fighting off the clones. She tried to count them up as she did an intricate dance between the blaster fire and the lightsabers of her companions. There were only a dozen.

A dozen was easily dealt with.

She hoped.

It was only a few minutes later when she found out that she was right. A dozen clones against four powerful Jedi – though weakened by an extended battle – did not stand a chance. When Anakin killed their last enemy with a slash of his blade, he paused and looked around for any further attacks. Seeing any, he finally paused for a breath.

Jaina looked at him, wiping sweaty hair out of her face. Their lightsabers were still ignited, humming in time with each other.

"Now what do we do?" she said. "We're on the second floor – maybe the third, I'm not sure how long that staircase was."

"They're forcing us upwards," Obi-Wan said. "Soon, there'll be nowhere to go."

"Heh." Kyp rubbed the back of his palm across his forehead. "It's as if we're being hunted. Like animals."

"That's not a particularly pleasant feeling," Obi-Wan commented darkly, "being the hunted."

"We are enemies of the Empire now," Anakin said, still breathing hard. He glanced down at his comm and tapped it experimentally. "Hey, it's still working!" he exclaimed. "Bail? Bail, do you read me?"

Jaina straightened, crossing her fingers in hope that Anakin would be able to get through.

"Anakin!" Bail Organa's voice crackled through the comm. "You're alive!"

"Where are you?" Anakin demanded.

The sound of blaster fire, crackled by static, came through on the comm. Anakin's expression hardened.

"We've landed in the docking bay," Bail said after a pause. "The ship is surrounded, but we've managed to keep the clones out."

"Padmé?"

"She's safe inside, guarding the twins. The crew is out here, fighting off the clones. Whie and Scout are with them."

"Bail, is there any other way out of the palace?" Anakin asked hurriedly. "The clones are forcing us upwards."

A crackle of static.

"Where are you?"

"I don't know," Anakin began. "Third or second floor, maybe—"

Jaina sighed and rolled her eyes. She sprinted across the hall to the first window she came to and looked out. There was a large expanse of garden below and a lake and forested area near the horizon. There were also several snow-capped mountains. She looked over her shoulder and shouted at Anakin.

"There's a garden below us," she called. "Quite far below and you can see a lake off at the horizon. It's surrounded by forest and snow-capped mountains. One is rather irregularly shaped – kind of like the profile of a manollium bird head."

Anakin smiled tightly and shook his head as he relayed the information to Bail.

"You're on the third floor looking east," Bail said. "I know the view from the window in that hall. You are in a hall, correct?"

"Yes."

"Good. Now listen carefully. One floor directly above Breha's quarters – this is near the top of the palace – there is a small private ship. It will be hard to get to with the clones hunting you down, but I'm sure you can manage it. It is hyperspace worthy, so if you cannot reach the Tantive IV, you still have a means of escape."

"How do we get to it?" Anakin asked.

More static. Anakin exchanged looks with Obi-Wan, who was looking concerned, his eyes flashing over to the archway they had come out of. He was clearly worried about clones following them up.

"Bail, how do we get to it?" Anakin repeated, his voice edged with tension.

There was no reply.

"Kriff!" Anakin swore loudly.

Suddenly, there was the sound of footsteps coming up the staircase, followed by the sound of voices.

Clones.

The four Jedi exchanged looks and then ran towards the nearest staircase, dashing up it as fast as they could. They managed to disappear from the hall just in time. Moments later, clones filed in, their blasters at the ready, looking for their escaped prey.

Bail threw himself to one side as a well-aimed blaster bolt flew over his head and hit the transport behind him. With the transport's shields long gone, the docking bay was suddenly alight in fire as flames erupted and metal exploded outwards. Bail felt small pieces of shattered metal hit his arms and legs, but he had managed to protect his head. Feeling the heat of the burning remains of the transport, he rolled over and got to his feet, firing his blaster at the clone trooper standing directly in front of him.

He sprinted across towards the crew of the Tantive IV.

"Senator!" Captain Antilles shouted, having just enough time to take his eyes off the battle to glance at him. "We can't hold them off any longer!"

"What about the palace guard?" Bail demanded. "Have they shown up at all?"

Antilles shook his head. "No, sir. I'm assuming they were taken into custody soon after our arrival here. They have already taken the Queen – we saw her being escorted towards their ships from a distance."

Bail froze. His eyes flattened. He flinched as a bolt missed him by inches.

"And it's worse," Antilles continued. "There's an armada of Imperial ships down there, waiting for us. It's going to be almost impossible to escape."

Bail remained in stony silence for a moment. Finally, he spoke. "Not unless we leave now."

"Senator?"

"We're leaving," Bail said coldly. "Order a retreat, Captain."

"What of the Jedi?" Antilles asked. "General Kenobi and Knight Skywalker? Are they all right?"

Bail glanced upwards and then down at his dead comm. "They'll find their own way out," he murmured. "May the Force help them."

Dodging the relentless waves of fire, Bail managed to make it up the ramp and into the relative safety of the ship. Behind him, he heard Captain Antilles giving the orders for a retreat.

Bail paced down the corridors of the Tantive IV, a coldness sweeping over him. They should never have come here. Everything in their plan had backfired. The clones had come to hunt them down, but Palpatine had not been drawn out. Breha had been put at undue risk and now she was captured by the Empire and no doubt facing torture. And now Anakin, Obi-Wan, Kyp and Jaina were lost to them as well – they had no way to contact them anymore, as the comms were broken. Only the Force would know if they made it out alive.

"Bail?"

He looked up. Padmé was standing in front of him, a blaster gripped in one hand. Her expression was tense, the corners of her lips tight. Her brown eyes locked with his, asking the question he knew she wanted an answer to.

"They're not coming," he said.

Padmé's eyes widened. "What do you mean?"

"I'm sorry, Padmé," Bail told her, trying to walk past her. "But we got separated. They're cornered at the top of the palace with only one way out. We have no way of contacting them. Let's hope that they can get out on their own."

She stepped in front of him. "I don't believe what I'm hearing!" she said. "You're leaving them? How can you?"

"Padmé," Bail said harshly, "I have no choice! We're surrounded by Imperial troops with no way of getting to them. We can't stay here and wait for them to get their ship down to the docking bay. If we're going to evade capture, we must leave now." He brushed passed her and continued down the corridor.

"But you can't!" Padmé cried. "You can't do that!"

"We have to," Bail replied, without looking back.

Padmé followed him. "My husband is out there," she said coldly.

"And my wife is captured," Bail hissed back, his tone dark.

Padmé's expression softened. "Bail," she murmured. "I… I'm sorry."

"Don't be," he growled. "Do your part. We're leaving. Prepare for take-off. The Tantive IV is leaving Alderaan – without the Jedi."

He turned and began to walk away. This time Padmé did not follow him, but her despair was almost tangible. After several steps, Bail paused and looked over his shoulder at her. She fixed him with an ice-cold glare.

"I'm truly am sorry, Padmé," he said. "There's nothing more than I can do except hope for the best. Your husband is a Jedi Knight. He'll find his way out."

She lifted her chin. "I never thought that my family would be betrayed by one we called friend."

Bail looked back at her. "This is not a betrayal," he said quietly. "I've done the best I can – and no one can ask more than that." He paused. "It's wait for them and die, or leave this place and live, Padmé. I had to make the choice that would best benefit all of us."

She looked away. "I know," she murmured. "I know. It's what any of us would do."

He had never seen her look more hurt than she did now. Guilt plagued him as he turned and walked away, but Bail knew that he could not have made any other decision than this.

He just prayed that the Jedi would make it out alive.

The comm was broken. Anakin could tell that even as they ran up the stairs and he didn't even have a chance to look at it. Their connection with Bail was severed.

Which put them at an infinite disadvantage.

Still, his instructions were clear enough. There was a hyperspace worthy ship directly above Breha's private quarters. How they would get there, Anakin didn't know, and if there were clones waiting for them, he didn't know either. But that did not matter – that's where they were headed and nothing was going to stop them now. They didn't have time to stop.

The enemy was at their heels.

Though their lightsabers remained ignited, they did not turn and fight, but continued to run. They had managed to reach the grand staircases that they had used before when visiting Breha before all hell had broken loose.

Everything had become a blur of running and panting. They did not have time to talk, they did not have time to stop for breath. They continued on, pushing their bodies as far as they could go, running on adrenaline and fear of what would happen should they stop.

Anakin knew that he would probably not survive another full-on assault by the clones. There were too many of them for even the Chosen One. A Jedi could fight off a dozen, but hundreds at a time? No. Their strength was in their numbers, something which Palpatine had evidently known when he had had them created for the Republic's army.

And now they were loyal servants of the Empire, doing their job by hunting down the Empire's enemies.

Which happened to be them.

Anakin cursed under his breath and took the last several steps of their current staircase three at a time.

They gathered at the top of the stairs for a moment to regroup. All four of them looked worse of wear. Their clothes were singed where blaster bolts had just missed them, and there were series of tears in the clothes and bleeding cuts where the bolts had grazed them. Thankfully, none of them had suffered any worse wounds than that. Jaina has a large bruised on the side of her face from throwing herself down to avoid being hit and having her cheek come in hard contact with the stone floor.

"Now what?" she panted, her fingers curling around her lightsaber handle.

Anakin looked around. "I remember this corridor," he said. "Breha's quarters should be just along here – and then I think there's a staircase to the next floor that we can take."

Jaina nodded. "Right. Let's go."

They took off again, running along the corridor. Sure enough, Anakin's guess had been correct: after passing the doors that led to Breha's quarters (now blasted open, despite the efforts of Jaina and Anakin earlier in the day), they rounded a corner and found a staircase leading up. It was a wide staircase with many steps, built out of the white stone the Alderaanian architects loved so much. Anakin wasted no time in starting to clamber up the steps.

"Anakin—!"

Jaina called out just in time. Anakin threw himself to one side as a blaster bolt hit the step where he had been standing moments before and exploded in an array of sparks. Getting to his feet, Anakin backed down the stairs – a rather difficult thing to do, particularly while staring down dozens of blasters.

"Back!" he yelled, closing his eyes and turning his head away as a blaster bolt deflected off of the upper part of his blade and showered sparks into his face. He reopened his eyes and saw Obi-Wan, Kyp and Jaina retreated back around the corridor. Glancing over his shoulder as he ran back down the stairs, his lightsaber weaving a net of blue light around him, deflecting bolts, Anakin saw the clones making a slow progression down the stairs, their fire steady and unyielding.

He cursed and disappeared around the corner.

"Where do we go?" Jaina gasped, stumbling down the corridor.

Anakin's eyes caught sight of the open doors of Breha's apartment. He glanced at her. "There," he said.

"What?"

"We can stall them."

Jaina shook her head. "That won't work, Anakin," she said. "That was a one time thing."

"Oh yeah?" Anakin asked, raising his eyebrows. "Try me."

Jaina gritted her teeth. "Now's not the time for competitions!" she snapped.

"Run!" Obi-Wan shouted, pushing Anakin out of the way of a blaster bolt.

They pelted back down the corridor, back towards the stair case. Kyp, who was in the lead, skidded to a halt at the stairs, and swung out his arm to prevent Jaina from sailing past him. They came to a halt and turned again – clones were coming up the stairs. Several loud curses were uttered, and the Jedi ran back down the hall.

With no other options left, swung into Breha's apartment. The doors had been blasted open, but Anakin knew that there must be some way of reversing it. Clone technology was crude at best; he was an expert mechanic. He was confident enough to find a way to jam the door again to give them enough time to find some way out, even if they had to scale the wall. After all, what had Bail said?

Directly above Breha's quarters.

He grinned as an idea began to form.

They had a way out.

"Keep me covered!" he shouted as he deactivated his lightsaber and skidded to a stop in front of the hole in the wall where he and Jaina had first jammed the door. Obi-Wan sighed and came to stand next to him, keeping an eye out for approaching clones. A moment later, Jaina and Kyp joined him, their lightsabers casting a strange , flickering glow of amalgamated red-violet on the walls. It was a rather eerie shade.

"What are you doing?" Jaina hissed, trying to keep one eye on the corridor and the other on Anakin's progress with the wiring. It didn't work very well and soon she was more concentrated on what his flickering fingers than on keeping him covered.

The clones – one troop from either set of stairs – continued to march towards them, growing closer by the second.

"Hurry, Anakin," Obi-Wan said.

"Just – give – me – a – second!" Anakin hissed, frustrated, as he pulled one wire out completely and left it hanging loose. He wasn't even quite sure what he was doing, he let his hands guide themselves, reattaching the wires in ways that he normally wouldn't have dared for fear of electrocution. Suddenly, Anakin had another idea. He paused.

"Jaina," he said, "go to one side of the door and use the heat from your lightsabers to melt the durasteel."

"What?" Jaina asked, frowning. "But that will –"

"When the doors spring closed, they'll be fused together," Anakin explained in a hurry as he tried to locate the right wire to close the doors. He and Jaina had really messed things up when they had been working here before.

"Oh," Jaina said. She exchanged a look with Kyp and did as she was told. As Anakin continued to work, trying different wires, the metal on her chosen door grew hot and began to glow – and then it began to melt.

"Move!" Anakin shouted suddenly, pressing the tip of one wire to another.

Jaina sprang back just as the doors sprang closed, smashing into each other with a satisfying thud. Then there was a hissing noise as it fused with the side of the other door. Jaina glanced at him, her face breaking into a grin.

"Brilliant," she said.

"I know," he replied, grinning too.

Bang!

He had fused the doors just in time. The clones were trying to break in.

"Now what?" Kyp asked. "It's a good idea, Anakin, but we really are kind of stuck in here now." Worn out and exhausted, bearing marks from the constant battle, he did not look happy at all. For some reason, at that moment Kyp looked older to Anakin than he ever had before. For the first time since meeting him, Anakin contemplated the fact this Jedi from the future was actually quite a bit older – and more experienced – than he was.

When viewed in that light, everything that Kyp had ever told him made a lot more sense.

But that didn't change the fact that he was wrong this time.

"We're not trapped," Anakin said. "I have a plan." He paused, listening to the sounds of the clones trying to get in. He pursed his lips. "Well… we are if we can't find the type of blasters that we need."

Jaina raised an eyebrow. "And what are those?"

"The kind that has cables in them that you can shoot," Anakin said, walking past her towards Breha's desk. It was locked, but locks never did mean much to a lightsaber. After a quick series of cuts, he reached into the first drawer and began looking around.

"You think Breha's going to keep that specific kind of blaster in here?" Jaina asked. There was a slight scoffing tone to her voice.

Anakin paused and looked up at her. "No," he replied, "I'm hoping that she keeps that kind of specific blaster in here. Because if she doesn't, then we're all dead."

"Anakin, what are you thinking of?" Obi-Wan asked.

"I'm thinking that if the Naboo Royal Guard or whatever you call them," Anakin answered as he rummaged around in the desk, "can have that kind of blaster on them, then we're home free." He straightened and looked back at Obi-Wan. "I'm sure you have as much reason as I do to remember the Battle of Naboo, Obi-Wan."

Obi-Wan's expression became tense. "Yes."

"Well," Anakin continued, turning back to the desk, "Padmé told me about how she and her guards got inside the upper level of the palace without the enemy knowing. They had cables inside their blasters. They got outside on the window ledge, shot the cables upwards, and skipped a whole floor of fighting by going on the outside of the palace." He grinned as he looked back at Obi-Wan again. "I've seen the window ledges here. They're just big enough. And it's quite lucky for us that the landing platform with the ship on it just happens to be right up there." He pointed at the ceiling with a finger. "Oh, look! Secret compartment." Anakin opened it and took out a blaster. He examined it and then grinned as he looked up at his companions. He tossed the blaster to Obi-Wan, who caught it with one hand.

"Cable?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Cable," Anakin confirmed. He reached in and took out three more blasters, tossing two of them to Kyp and Jaina. "We have to remember to thank the Royal Alderaanian armory next time we're here. Come on." He shut the drawer and led the way to the window.

Anakin looked out. They were quite high up; the lake they had looked out at on the lower levels from the windows seemed even tinier from this view. Directly below the window was the garden they had come out in when they had escaped from Breha's apartments the first time around. Still, this was not the time to be afraid of heights and he activated his lightsaber, preparing to slice through the transparisteel.

"Anakin," Kyp called.

"What?"

"I've found something better." Kyp was grinning.

Anakin rushed over to where the Jedi was standing. Hidden behind some light blue drapes was a door that led out to a wide balcony. Anakin couldn't help but grin. A balcony was even better than a window ledge. He glanced at Obi-Wan and tilted his head in the direction of the door. Obi-Wan and Jaina rushed over, skidding through the door before Anakin and Kyp filed through it as well, closing it behind them.

They paced out backwards on the balcony, looking up at the right thing they could attach their cables to.

"There!" Jaina said, pointing. "That will have to do."

Directly above them was a wide window ledge. But to land on it, they would have to shoot their cables past it and have them hook onto something else. Jaina was pointing at the little bit of the roof that extended outwards above the window ledge. Apparently, the window they were going to land beside was on the final floor of the palace.

"And there's the landing platform," Obi-Wan said, pointing slightly to the left of the window.

"What's that?" Kyp asked suddenly.

They spun to see what he was looking at. Anakin's expression fell as he realized what it was.

The Tantive IV was shooting up towards the atmosphere, pursued by two large ships that had to belong to the Empire. His heart leapt into his throat.

Padmé.

Luke and Leia.

They were onboard the ship and now they were leaving without him. And with no connection to Bail or anyone onboard, how would they know where to find the ship again?

Anakin's fingers curled into fists.

"They must have been forced to leave," Obi-Wan murmured.

Anakin paused. "Yeah," he said, his voice dull. "Of course."

"We can worry about it later," Kyp said. "We have to get out of here first."

The four Jedi exchanged looks.

"Right, then," Jaina said, clicking her lightsaber back on to her belt and gripping her blaster with both her hands. "Let's do this before the clones get up there."

Simultaneously, the Jedi pointed their blasters at the underside of the roof and fired. Four cables shot up into the air and with a little help from the Force, reached the intended target and held fast. Anakin glanced at his companions once before they pressed the correct button on their blasters and the cable retracted, pulling them up into the air.

They slid past the windows of Breha's apartment and crested at the window ledge of the hall above her rooms. They let the cables pull them a little above the window ledge before stopping it and letting the cable detach. They settled easily on the window ledge and retracted the cables all the way back into their blasters.

Anakin peered through the window and groaned.

There were clones in the hallway – enough to cause trouble, but not enough to be extremely dangerous. Luckily, they weren't looking in the direction of the window, but it wouldn't be long before one of them turned and saw four black, Jedi-shaped figures standing on the other side of the transparisteel. Pursing his lips, Anakin glanced at the landing platform where the ship was located. He cursed – it was too far to jump, even with a Force-enhanced one.

There went one plan. They would have to improvise.

"Surprise or stealth?" Anakin asked, directing his question at Obi-Wan.

Obi-Wan glanced down at his blaster and then at his lightsaber. "Considering the tools we have and what we have to work with," he said, his eyes flickering at the large window they were standing in front of, "and the small amount of space to work on," he added, "I'd say 'Surprise.'"

"Me, too."

They stowed their blasters away and ignited their lightsabers simultaneously before smashing the window. The transparisteel shattered and fell to the floor, causing a loud noise to erupt on their side of the hall. The clones turned just in time to see four Jedi jump in through the broken window, their lightsabers at the ready.

The hall turned into a blur of red blaster fire and whirling lightsabers. Colours danced on the white stone walls from the weapons of both sides. When Anakin landed on the floor, he took off at such a pace that he slide on the broken shards of transparisteel and went skidding along the floor, almost losing his balance. He arrived in front of two clones and immediately sliced their blasters in half and slashed his blade across their chests.

Jaina flew by him, her lithe body appearing to dance as her saber protected her from a stream of blaster bolts. It created a net of violet light around her, she was moving it so quickly. Any clone that got to close to the violet net as she danced in and out of reach quickly met his death.

Obi-Wan and Kyp had become a team on the other side of the hall, one attacking while the other defended. Both Jedi were visibly tired, and their teamwork nearly tripled the results of their efforts as only one of them had to concentrate on one task.

Soon enough, they had managed to disperse of all the clones in the hall, though every one of them was tired. Panting for breath, Jaina was leaning against the side of the wall, clutching at it for support. Anakin's legs felt like they were about to give out on him as he staggered over to her.

"You okay?" he asked.

There was a cut under her eye from where she had received a gloved punch from one of the clones. It was bleeding profusely, but didn't look deep.

Jaina shrugged and nodded. "I'll live," she said.

Obi-Wan and Kyp managed to make their way over to Anakin and Jaina.

"Is everyone fine?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Jaina, you're bleeding," Kyp said, his voice concerned.

Jaina's eyes flashed. "I know that, Durron," she hissed. She tried to wipe away the blood with the back of her hand, but only managed to smear it across her cheek. "Let's get the hell out of here. Those clones probably called for reinforcements; there'll be more up here before long and I don't think I have enough energy for one more fight."

"This way, then," Anakin said, heading off towards an archway that led to the next room over.

The room was guarded by a heavy door to which they did not have the access codes. Grunting in frustration, Anakin stabbed his lightsaber through the door, trying to carve a way in. A moment later, his companions did the same. It was slow work as the door was thick and heavy, but soon they had cut out a circle large enough to step through. Anakin gave a backwards glance at the entrance to the hall as he shooed his friends through the hole. Jaina was right – it was only a matter of time, perhaps only a matter of minutes, before reinforcements arrived.

Once through, they found that the room was more like a cloister than anything else. There was not much room to maneuver, but they hurried over to the ship. They had finally made it to their escape route.

Bang!

Anakin yelled out in pain as he felt the blaster bolt graze his leg. He spun around, activating his lightsaber and drawing his blaster at the same time, heading back towards the hole in the door.

The clones had arrived – and they were going to complicate matters.

"Anakin!" Jaina shouted.

"Get onboard!" he yelled back, firing his blaster. He was too tired to approach the clones and attack them head-on. He stayed in the shadows, jumping in and out of range, shooting well-aimed blasts through the hole in the door at the clones.

"ANAKIN!"

"All right!" Anakin shouted. He fired one more shot, which caught the closest clone trooper in the chest, and then rushed towards the ship. The engines roared to life as he ran up the ramp and hit the close button, deactivating his lightsaber. A bolt hit the side of the ship, causing it to shudder.

"Are the shields up?" Anakin yelled as he ran towards the cockpit.

Jaina was sitting in the pilot's seat. She glared at him. "Of course," she snapped.

Anakin stared down at her. "Move."

"No."

"Move!"

"I'm quite capable of flying, thank you." She gave him a dark look.

Anakin threw his hands up in the air and groaned.

"Sit down, Anakin," Obi-Wan told him, "and strap yourself in. This is no time to be arguing about who flies what."

Jaina gave him a superior look. Anakin grunted and took his seat.

Blaster bolts flew by them as Jaina pulled on the yoke and urged the ship off the landing platform and into the air. No sooner had she done that then she was faced with five fighters that Anakin recognized as the ones the clones used. He swore under his breath. Jaina had no idea what she was getting herself into.

A voice crackled across the comm system.

"Jedi, surrender now or you will be shot down."

Jaina gave a very eloquent response. The voice was unperturbed.

"If you do not surrender now, your craft will be destroyed. You are enemies of the Empire. This is your final warning."

Jaina did not answer, but switched off the comm system. She pulled the ship upwards, heading higher than the fighters. They followed her.

"Jaina—" Anakin began but stopped speaking as he was taken by surprise when she suddenly let the ship drop.

The ship went shooting downwards, spiraling past the fighters, whose shots collided with each other and hit one of their own. Jaina smiled grimly as she took control of the ship again and sped forwards. Behind them, the fighters followed.

"Careful," Anakin warned.

Jaina suddenly jerked the ship on its side and two spiraling shots fired at them from two different ships collided together. She double-backed, shooting by under their pursuers as she headed back towards the palace. Slanting the ship, she just missed the roof of the palace as she shot upwards towards the atmosphere.

It didn't take long for the fighters to realize where they had gone and soon they were hot on the tail.

The Alderaanian ship and the clone fighters zoomed through the atmosphere, Jaina diving dangerously whenever they needed to avoid a blast. None of them were sure how good the shields were. The problem was that they were in a ship that was much less versatile that the one-man fighters the clones were using. There were certain tactics that you would be very foolhardy to employ in a ship like the one they were in.

Yet Jaina was using them anyways.

Anything to evade capture, Anakin thought. Even if it does mean blowing us up.

Still, the girl had a remarkable talent that Anakin would never have guessed she would have had. She seemed to know exactly how far she could push the ship, exactly when she needed to dive to avoid being hit. There were no guns built into this ship, which was problematic for them. Anakin doubted that Breha and Bail would have ever dreamed that their private ship would ever have been used for an escape attempt. This slight problem left Jaina with some interesting ways of coping with their pursuers. Unable to attack them herself, she was left to employ an intricate dance to trick the fighters into firing at them at the same time at a precise spot. She would then either turn the ship on one side, drop down, or fly upwards so the shot passed right by them and hit one of the enemy.

She was utilizing friendly fire to kill off their pursuers.

She's brilliant, Anakin thought.

There were only two fighters left chasing them down when they shot out into the vacuum of space. As Alderaan slowly shrunk behind them, Jaina wiped sweat off her brow as she turned to the nav chart and began readying the ship for hyperspace. A blast caught the side of the ship, rattling it. Jaina swore loudly as a siren went off, accompanied by a blinking light on the control panel.

"What the hell is that?" she shouted, though Anakin had a feeling she probably knew.

"Jaina, how much longer?" Kyp yelled.

"Just a few more seconds—!"

"We're not going to have a few more seconds, they're closing in on us!" he shouted back.

"Shut up!" Jaina snapped. "That's all we've got, or else we're not jumping to hyperspace, just hold on –" Her voice was cut off as she gasped as she was thrown back into her seat when the ship suddenly leapt into hyperspace, stars becoming streaks in the viewport. A moment later, the siren switched itself off though the light began to blink.

Jaina passed a hand over her face and began to laugh uncontrollably. Anakin exchanged looks with Obi-Wan and Kyp before they all broke out in laughter, grinning at each other, delighted at their successful escape.