Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed or Star Wars. They belong to their respective copyright owners. This story is not created with commercial aim. I make no money from it.
AN: This part was betaed by Mighty Bob and SuicideJunkie on the Space Battles forums! Thank you very much for the time and effort you put in cleaning up this update!
AN 2: I've been sick for more than a month and a half now, so that's the reason I haven't updated any of my stories. I know that this is a pretty short update, but its an attempt for me to get back into writing. Please tell me what you think.
Chapter 19: Operation Anvil
Part 3
=RK=
Medical Wing
Green Site
Somewhere in the inner rim
"You did a good job, doc. Keep her stable."
"We can do that much, General. Unfortunately, it will take some time to fully analyze the compound in her blood and create an antidote."
"I expected that much. How's your other patient?"
"General Skywalker? His wounds are healed but we are keeping him under just as you instructed."
"Splendid. I was relieved when at my arrival I found this facility standing. You don't want to deal with a grief maddened Jedi of Anakin's temperament and power."
"That bad? I've heard some interesting stories about him, yet..." the Duros doctor shrugged.
"Well, his wife has been getting herself into a lot of trouble lately. That combined with the strain of leading troops in the war and balancing it all with his duties as a Jedi…" I shook my head. "No matter. It's time to wake him. I need to have a chat with our young Jedi friend."
"Ah. Of course, General. I'll see to it."
=RK=
A medical droid that looked like an overgrown floating spider made its way to the bed where Skywalker was slumbering. Its servos whined softly as it extended one of its manipulators and administered a mild stimulant to the sleeping Jedi.
A few moments passed with no apparent change. Then I could feel the Force in the room stirring, slowly gathering around Anakin. He then grasped it, using its endless energies to revitalize his body. Suddenly Skywalker gasped.
"Padme!" Anakin bolted upright with a shout. His wide eyes were scanning the room for his wife.
"Try again."
His eyes focused and he glared at me. Skywalker tried getting off the bed only to stumble and fall to the ground. Obviously the sedatives were still strong in his system, despite his Jedi resilience.
I grimaced at his antics and grabbed him with the Force, returning him to the bed none too gently.
"We need to talk. That daredevil wife of yours placed us in a tough position."
Well, that's new. He actually growled at me. His eyes even flashed yellow for a moment.
"Padme. I need to see her. I can feel her pain!"
"She'll live. For now. Keeping her that way may prove complicated."
His glare intensified, but at least I had his undivided attention.
=RK=
Venator Cruiser "Chimera"
Staging area "Gray"
Outer Rim
My eyes glanced around, briefly stopping over each person in the conference room. Skywalker, Kenobi and Admiral Yularen were here with me in the flesh, while General Valentra, the Chancellor as well as Yoda were present via holocom. It was a small gathering, one that was about to decide the fate of a whole planet and one particularly troublesome Senator. So far everything was proceeding as expected. Ironically enough, under different circumstances I would be in complete agreement with the Jedi, who were in the middle of committing a grievous mistake.
I had to fight a grin, which was trying to spread across my face, regretting that right now I wasn't wearing my helmet.
I wish I could say that I'm surprised. The Jedi were about to burn their bridges as far as Anakin was concerned, without even realizing it. In the meantime, Palpy was doing his best to help them along. While subtly giving me enough rope to hang myself as far as any ambitions towards becoming Skywalker's master were concerned.
Just as foreseen and planned for.
"I understand, Master Yoda. The Jedi won't compromise their principles on this issue," said the Chancellor, copious amounts of regret dripping from every word. "Is there something that our armed forces can do?" his image turned my way.
"If this information is correct, the facility where the antidote might be located is at one of the most heavily defended regions of Geonosis. That's not a place where our special forces could do a smash and grab run and we don't have enough time to even attempt an infiltration," I shrugged. "We can't take that place without reducing the Separatists space assets and then fighting through whatever they have waiting for us on the ground."
"Kriff it all to hell! You are just going to let her die!" Skywalker, who had been seething for the whole meeting, exploded.
"Anakin!" Kenobi exclaimed. "Keep your feelings under control."
"Under control!? She is parsecs away, unconscious and I can still feel her pain!" Skywalker roared. The Force itself shimmered around him, swaying from his fury.
Anakin glared at us, then turned around and stormed out of the compartment. He didn't notice the effect his parting words had on the Jedi. After all, you didn't just form such a strong force bond with just a friend, especially if that person wasn't force sensitive.
"Now, that the personal drama is out of the way," I frowned at the Jedi, "we still have battle plans to discus. Chancellor, can I count on additional reinforcements for this operation? With the current force dispositions heavy casualties both in space and on the ground are all but guaranteed..." I trailed off, pointedly disregarding the troubled looks passing between the Jedi.
"What about Anakin?" Obi-Wan exclaimed.
I gave him a deadpan look. "He obviously needs to cool off. If you mean about his relationship with the Senator, well that's none of the Army's business so long as it doesn't interfere with his duties as a general."
Kenobi glared my way and stalked after his former apprentice.
"Perhaps we could scrape up some additional support for this operation..." Palpy mused, pointedly ignoring the byplay and effortlessly taking the moral high ground.
"I'll see what I can do. I may be able to free up few units here and there from secondary theaters." Valentra added his two cents.
With that, the conversation drifted back on topic – the impending assault on Geonosis. Now all that remained to be seen was which way Anakin would jump. I had subtly pointed him in the desired direction during our last conversation, shamelessly manipulating the poor kid.
=RK=
Skywalker left the briefing room, barely keeping a lid on his fury. Unless he did something… Anakin growled. While he was assured that right now Padme wasn't in any real danger of dying, her mind was another matter. He could feel her pain even here, parsecs away. By the time the Force cursed poison was out of her system it was an even toss if she would be sane or not. The worst thing was that Skywalker actually knew that Veil was right… from a certain point of view. The other general simply couldn't justify throwing the whole assembled fleet and attached ground forces into the teeth of the CIS defenses on the off chance they could get to the antidote. His hopes that either Veil or a Jedi healer could help Padme were dashed when he was informed that apparently whatever she was dosed with, reacted really bad at attempts to be removed using the Force.
That only made things worse for Anakin. Sith spit! In Delkatar's shoes he might have done the same thing, and yet… The young Jedi reached an elevator and used the Force to smash its call button. He paced restlessly while waiting for the turbolift.
Anakin couldn't help but feel betrayed. By the Jedi, by the Republic… and by Veil. Padme was everything for him, yet they all were ready to throw her away. The reasons, no matter how compelling and logical didn't really matter to Skywalker. She was his wife, the love of his live. In the end everything else paled in comparison to her importance.
The elevator's doors slid open and the Jedi stalked in, grateful that it was empty. He really didn't want to be near anyone but his wife right now. Anakin saw Obi-Wan walking briskly his way and was grateful when the doors closed while the other Jedi was still at the other end of the long corridor. He really didn't want to be anywhere near his former master. Skywalker simply didn't have the energy for another argument right now, especially considering how angry he was at everyone.
Kriff it all, it wasn't like anything but helping Padme mattered. But how?! He groaned and leaned on the cool wall of the elevator. What was he supposed to do? Anakin needed a way to help his wife and damn the consequences!
He briefly considered surrendering in exchange for the antidote but almost immediately disregarded that idea. It wasn't like he could trust the enemy to hold to their part of such a bargain. What did that leave him with?
Skywalker exited the turbolift once it stopped and wandered aimlessly through the ship, deep in thought. He needed to somehow get to the ground and the place where the cure was held. An impossible task for even someone like him. No matter how good a pilot he was, Anakin knew he wouldn't be able to slip through the waiting fleet, not to mention the army on the ground. Not alone at any rate.
He frowned at that thought. This was the heart of his problem. He couldn't reach his objective without a fleet at his back distracting the CIS… Something that was going to be denied to him. A frontal attack over the complex he needed to get to simply wouldn't work. It would cost too much, a price neither Veil and the High Command, nor the Jedi were willing to pay… Nevertheless that was the most expedient way to reach his objective and time was of the essence… No one knew how long Padme's mind could hold on…
Anakin found himself in front of a small armored window. He could see scores of capital ships nearby, whole wings of fighters and bombers patrolled around them like moths around the behemoths. A whole fleet that was no use to him or Padme…
'What would you do to save her?' a voice whispered in his mind.
"What?" Skywalker glanced around. He could almost hear someone whispering in his ear yet there was no one around, that he could sense with the Force anyway.
He shook his head. What indeed… Anakin's sight drifted to the window and the assembling fleet beyond.
=RK=
My comm beeped while we were still discussing the fine details of the upcoming offensive.
"This better be important."
"Sir, a battle group is leaving the formation and not responding to our hails."
Ah. So he went after the bait.
"Which ships?"
"General Skywalker's unit, sir."
"That young fool!" Yularen snapped.
All eyes fell on the Admiral. Said battle group was nominally under his command. I glanced at Yoda who suddenly looked all his nine hundred years. The Jedi's ears drooped, he slumped resting most of his weight upon his cane.
"Darker the future is."
"Ahem," Palpatine cleared his throat.
"Skywalker seems determined to force our hand." I stated the obvious. "If you excuse us, Chancellor, Master Yoda. We have a battle to win." I waved my hand and two of the holographic images flickered out.
"What is Skywalker thinking? His ships won't be more than a distraction!" Valentra snapped.
Yularen nodded darkly. None of them was thrilled that Anakin was about to throw away the men and ships under his command.
"We can speculate later. I want the whole fleet ready to depart yesterday."
