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Chapter 43
Acacia stared at her brother. "Follow them? How? We have no idea where they went."
Anakin shook his head, smiling just a little. "As a matter of fact, Acacia, we do."
"Don't tell me that necklace Padme wears is actually a tracking device."
Anakin bristled at Obi-Wan's comment, but refused to show that it bothered him. "No. Vader took C-3PO with them."
"So?"
"So many droids have trackers in them, in case they're ever lost or stolen."
"We know that, Anakin," Obi-Wan said. "But Vader killed C-3PO."
"So he did," Anakin nodded. "Isn't it a good thing then, that protocol droids' trackers are in their brains, not their chest control panels, and will still work even if the droid itself is down?"
Acacia grinned, catching on immediately. "A very good thing, indeed. I assume you know how to track her droid?"
Anakin flexed his hands, pushing the joints until they cracked, and wiggled his fingers over the computer console keyboard. "You would assume correctly."
Acacia couldn't tell exactly what her brother was doing - she was pretty good with computers and such, just not that good. But Anakin must've had a pretty good idea, because after a few moments, a map of the Outer Rim appeared on the screen and a little red light lit up, blinking on the planet Mustafar.
"They're way out there?" Acacia leaned in for a better look. Why would Vader and Sidious take Padme all the way out to Mustafar?
"It would appear so." Anakin nodded grimly, pushing the chair back and standing to his feet.
"I assume we're going after her?"
"Again, young one, you assume correctly." In spite of the worsening situation, Anakin managed a smile at his sister and she grinned in return.
"Well, you know I'm with you."
Anakin nodded. At least he could count on her.
"Wait a second." Obi-Wan put up a hand. "You're just going after her?"
Anakin turned to his former Master. "That's the plan."
"But don't you see?" Obi-Wan frowned, annoyance in his eyes. "That's not a plan. You could be running straight into a trap."
Anakin pursed his lips, but nodded again. Of course he knew that. As a matter of fact, he thought it might even be likely, considering Vader had made sure to take the protocol droid with him. To Anakin, it was becoming more and more obvious that Vader and Sidious were probably baiting him. But they were holding his wife and, as if that wasn't bad enough, she was pregnant with his baby. Those Sith Lords were so good with bait, they ought to take up a career in commercial fishing. "What else can I do? The longer we wait, the more likely that she'll be dead."
Obi-Wan sighed, but nodded. "You're right. We need to get out there as quickly as possible." He took a deep breath. "I'll come with you."
For a second, Anakin was going to protest, but then he shrugged. If Obi-Wan went with him, it would appear more like Jedi business and there would be less grounds for anyone to say something weird was going on between him and the senator Amidala. "Fine." He turned to Yoda and Senator Organa. "What are you two going to do?"
Bail and Yoda exchanged a look, and the both of them nodded. "While find the Senator the three of you do, deal with this new Emperor, we will."
Padme flinched away from the black-gloved hand, imagining she could see the blood dripping from it. She'd never been so sickened, so absolutely disgusted in all her life. Vader had just heartlessly slaughtered every single one of the Separatists, and she'd been able to do nothing but sit and watch with her mouth hanging open.
It wasn't that she'd never seen death before. Force, she'd seen far more than her fair share, even done some killing herself in her time. But never like this. Never so wrong, never such betrayal. Never had she seen anyone murdered so mercilessly in freezing cold blood.
Vader tutted. "I thought you'd be happy with me. After all, isn't this what you always wanted?"
"I wanted peace," she snarled, "an end to the bloodshed. I never wished for the spilling of more." She shook her head again, trying to dislodge the memory of Nute Gunray's last moments. He'd backed away so pitiful, so frightened, almost like a child begging not to die. "Have mercy, Lord Vader! Please, we only wanted peace!" And then an anguished scream burst from his lips as Vader cleaved his body in half, twirled his lightsaber like it was some sort of light show, and kicked at the fallen man to ensure he was dead. Then he'd turned to Padme, smirked and bowed, as if he'd just done something to be proud of.
With nothing in her stomach to throw up, it had taken everything in her not to double over in dry heaves.
"A pity your ideals are not more... flexible," he whispered in her ear. She batted his advance away like an annoying fly.
The slap came before she had time to think, sending her sprawling to the floor and panting for air. Pain racked her entire body; she'd been able to ignore the dull aching while she was sitting down, but the sudden force and movement brought the agony back in full force. It was all she could do not to scream out in pain.
Vader knelt by her, an evil sneer warping his beautiful face. "In the future Senator, assuming you have one, I would suggest you pay me more respect. It would help to keep you out of trouble."
In spite of the pain, Padme managed to give him a single look that radiated pure disgust. Instead of getting angry, Vader only chuckled and kissed her cheek. "Good luck peeling yourself off the floor, sweetheart." Then he arose and walked away.
Only then did Padme give into the agony. She let herself collapse, pressing her aching head to the cool durasteel flooring and a worried hand to her stomach. She thought she sensed a tiny flutter of life there, but it was impossible to be sure. She herself felt as if she could hardly survive the abuse; what chance could an unborn baby have?
Tears pooled in her eyes, slowly dripped down her pale cheeks, hit the floor. They fell through the cracks in the durasteel boards, then evaporated in the lava below.
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