As soon as the ships arrived, they docked, allowing the white armored passengers into the arena to help take down the droids surrounding the trapped Jedi. "Around the survivors, a perimeter create." Much to Padmé's surprise, Yoda of all people was leading the charge of soldiers to surround them. The elder Jedi was one of the people most vehemently against any war starting, so the fact that he was here leading an army was near to impossible for her to wrap her head around.
The soldiers immediately pulled out blasters and began firing, hitting the droids and doing as Obi-Wan ordered, clearing a better path. Now no longer surrounded, it became much easier too for the remaining Jedi, as they began slicing through droids with a renewed fervor, aiming for the carriers to get them away. Rather than work at clearing a path, Padmé stayed near Anakin, continuing to keep the senator from harm as she blocked fire and sliced through any droids that got near with her blade.
"Padmé! Anakin!" Padmé looked to a nearby carrier and locked eyes with her former master. "It's time to go."
She nodded and pulled the senator away, continuing to guard him from blaster fire after blaster fire, each catching on her blade and reflecting back at the droid who sent it, before finally making it onto the carrier with Obi-Wan, Anakin standing near her, and they took off, flying around the cliffs rapidly.
"Hold on," Obi-Wan said as he indicated the different straps hanging from the ceiling. Padmé nodded, and grabbed onto one, Anakin grabbing onto her moments later, although she doubted it was for stability. She shot him a look of annoyance and rolled her eyes, only for Anakin to give her a cheeky grin back and grabbed onto one of the ropes as well. (Though still not letting go of her.)
Rather than give Anakin a lecture on actually hiding their relationship, if that's what it was, Padmé decided it was best to remain focused on the task at hand, the battle they were in. "We have to stop them from escaping. If they escape, then it'll be war."
"If you have any ideas, my former Padawan, I'm all ears." She nodded and began skimming the battlefield, looking for anything in the skies or on the ground that they could use to defend themselves.
Her eyes landed on a tower, not far off from the combat in question, and lit up as she came up with her strategy. "The fuel."
"Padmé, what are you talking about?" Anakin asked.
"If we can knock down the fuel towers, we clear the skies and can do more damage to the factory so they won't be able to make as many droids." She had to slow the war effort, it was bad enough they were definitely among an army right now (not that she had any idea of how the Republic managed to put one together so fast) and that all the risk Anakin had put himself in had been for nothing, but at least stopping it from growing would keep things from getting worse.
Anakin grinned at her. "Padmé, you're a genius." The trio watched as the soldiers relayed the commands before firing some kind of explosive right at the fuel tanks, which toppled over, setting off an explosion on the droids beneath it and causing substantial damage.
Obi-Wan gave her a look full of approval, and Padmé felt his pride coming off of him in powerful waves. "Good call, Padmé." She smiled at him, glad to have his approval over her decisions.
"Thank you, Master." They continued flying in the carriers, attempting to keep up with Dooku in the midst of all the chaos of the battle. Energy beams continued to fly around as the shields kept them defended from most of the strikes.
Two cruisers appeared from the ground not far away, and sent a rocket flying at one of the cruisers nearby, causing it and anybody on it to go down in flames. "Attack those federation starships." Obi-Wan gave the order, and the soldiers complied, taking revenge for their fallen brethren who had been shot down.
Padmé had partaken in the slave rebellions on Tatooine when the planet had become free of Hutt control a few years back. She had thought that was war, that was as bad as it would ever get.
This was worse.
She was pulled out of her thoughts by Anakin moments later. "Padmé, Count Dooku's there." She looked at where Anakin was pointing, and though she was unsure how he knew, she knew he was right. She could sense a malevolent presence aboard, likely the Sith that was aiding him in his battle.
"Shoot down that ship."
"We're out of rockets, sir." The soldier's voice reminded her of that of the Mandalorian who had captured her and Anakin in the factory earlier, and an unsettling feeling made its way into her stomach. Why were the people in their army so much like the bounty hunter who had been after Anakin?
Before Padmé could give another command, Anakin spoke up. "Follow that speeder."
"Yes, sir."
The carrier they were on sped up, and Padmé gave Anakin a nervous look. "Anakin, we can't go after him."
"We don't have a choice. The three of us are the only ones close enough to Dooku to give chase. And we have to stop him here if we want to stop the war." That...no, that couldn't be right. Anakin had to be mistaken.
"No, Master Yoda and Master Windu, they were nearby, they can–"
"Master Yoda and Master Windu have gone to lead the clones in the battle on the surface of Geonosis." Obi-Wan's statement confirmed Anakin's request. "We are, unfortunately, the only ones here who can. Fortunately, I know both of us can handle ourselves in a fight, Padmé. Have a little faith."
She wanted to argue, but deep down knew that Obi-Wan was right. Their best bet was to fly straight there. Besides, he had a point, even if she wasn't one hundred percent confident in her ability to face Dooku, Obi-Wan had already killed a Sith once before. Dooku would have to be child's play compared to the Sith he'd defeated on Naboo, and that thought gave her some comfort.
They continued flying closer, Anakin clinging onto Padmé whenever the flight got turbulent to make sure he could stay on the carrier, and it wasn't long before they landed just outside.
Padmé and Obi-Wan stepped off, gripping their lightsabers tightly in their hand. "Stay on the ship Anakin." She couldn't afford to babysit him in this battle, it was too important.
"No." He shook his head. "I may not be Jedi trained, but I can still fight. You both need all the help you can get." He then smirked at Padmé. "Besides, weren't you the one who wanted more backup."
"Yes, Jedi backup."
"And you'll have me instead." Anakin put a hand on Padmé.
"Either stay on the ship or don't Anakin, but we don't have time to discuss this. If we don't stop Dooku then there will be consequences." Anakin and Padmé both immediately fell silent, the reminder of exactly why they were there at this moment a dark reminder of everything they had to lose if this took too long.
Obi-Wan led the way in, Padmé following close after him and, much to her annoyance, Anakin following after them. They set foot in the hanger, lightsabers immediately lit.
"Going somewhere, Dooku?" Obi-Wan called out to Dooku, who had been walking towards a ship near the back of the hanger.
He stopped, and watched as Obi-Wan and Padmé moved in between the ramp and Dooku. "I was, until you and your apprentice stood in my way."
"Former apprentice, actually." Padmé smiled, but didn't say anything more. "Give up Dooku, you're outnumbered."
"And you're outmatched." Lightning shot out of Dooku's hand, blasting the space where Anakin stood. The senator barely managed to duck behind a rock in time to avoid the blast, and Padmé felt relief that he was safe for now. "Bringing a senator along to a fight between Jedi, a bad decision Kenobi, Naberrie. He barely knows how to fight."
"You shouldn't underestimate him, nor should you underestimate us." Whether Padmé agreed with Dooku's assessment or not was irrelevant, nobody talked bad about Anakin. Not in front of her, at least.
Obi-Wan moved to the side, positioning himself closer to the exit. "We'll take him together. You go in slowly on the left, I'll come in from the right." Padmé nodded, and together in sync, she and her master ran towards Dooku, swinging their lightsabers down. Dooku raised his, blocking Obi-Wan's attack with a practiced ease before aiming a palm at Padmé, stopping her in her tracks by way of the Force and shoving her back. She hit the wall, and felt pain shoot up her back as the wall rubbed against the scratches she'd earned in the arena. She lifted her head, trying to watch the battle between Obi-Wan and Dooku.
In terms of skill, they were evenly matched, Obi-Wan's blue lightsaber matching Dooku's red blow for blow, Dooku taking the offensive while Obi-Wan took advantage of his defensive combat style to block each strike as it came before jumping backwards onto the ramp, safely out of range of Dooku's strike. In response, Dooku sent out a blinding lightning bolt right at Obi-Wan, which he blocked with his saber. "As you see my Jedi powers are far beyond yours."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Obi-Wan gave Dooku a smirk before jumping back into the fray, slashing at him once more, constantly raising to guard and taking advantage of any momentary breaks in Dooku's form to attempt to land a hit. It was a stalemate, though Obi-Wan seemed unsettled. Padmé wasn't sure what the lightning that Dooku used meant, but given she'd never stumbled across it in all her training, it didn't seem likely it was something that could just be used for good.
Then, in the middle of the dancing blades, Obi-Wan fumbled, only for a moment, but it was enough. Dooku sliced at his arm and side, and the man crumpled to the ground, alive, but injured and unable to fight further. "Master Kenobi, you disappoint me. Yoda holds you in such high esteem. Surely you can do better." It seemed that, despite his disappointment, Dooku didn't care for the young Jedi Knight's life, as he simply raised his lightsaber in an attempt to finish the job.
Only to be blocked by Anakin, who had grabbed Obi-Wan's saber to protect him. Padmé watched in horror, trying to pick herself up to do something.
"Brave of you boy, I would've thought you'd have learned your lesson." Dooku taunted him, but rather than phasing the boy, Anakin just smirked in response.
"I'm a slow learner."
"That you may be, but you are also an untrained Force sensitive, and not worth my time." And with that he lifted Anakin up off the ground, who grabbed at his throat.
He was force choking Anakin. He would die if she didn't manage to pull Dooku's attention away. She forced herself off the ground and ran, her lightsaber relit and ready for battle as she swung the blade down. Dooku released Anakin to block her strike, and he fell next to Obi-Wan, unconscious, but alive. "Leave Anakin alone."
"Ah, so you do care for the senator...interesting." Whatever Dooku was noting that for, Padmé didn't want to know. She swung her lightsaber, each match being met by Dooku's and just like with Obi-Wan, little ground was gained or lost between the two of them. They simply continued to strike at each other. Green met with red in a violent clash of colors, creating bright sparks where they met.
Dooku smirked and pushed her back with the Force, breaking the pattern and throwing her off balance. "Padmé!" She caught Obi-Wan's lightsaber as the man threw it at her and blocked the strike with both sabers. She kept striking, but the extra saber made no difference in her ability to hit Dooku. He was too well trained. She couldn't protect them on her own or defeat Dooku by herself. She needed Obi-Wan, she needed–
Before she could process anything more, a searing pain went through her left arm, and she looked down to see nothing but empty space where the lightsaber should have been. She let out a cry in pain, but before she could react farther, even attempt to process, she was pushed back with the Force, the remaining saber flying out of her hand and to the ground.
She looked up, the red glow of Dooku's corrupt lightsaber vanished, and he turned his back away from the two, defeated Jedi and Force sensitive senator. It was likely the only reason he hadn't killed them was because they'd managed to stall for a long enough period. Hopefully, long enough where the other Jedi could show up and help them.
Just before Dooku could head up the ramp, however, the sound of footsteps reached Padmé's ears, alongside the sound of a cane hitting the ground. The movements were slow, but not drawn out, and it wasn't long before Yoda came around the corner, looking upon the scene in front of him without judgement or anger.
"Master Yoda." Dooku nodded to the Jedi Grandmaster, though it was clear it was more born out of courtesy than anything else.
"Count Dooku." There was a sadness to Yoda's voice, almost as though he regretted the fate that was going to pass. The inevitable battle that would be coming sooner rather than later. The two powerful Jedi looked upon each other for a moment, neither speaking a word.
"You have interfered with our affairs for the last time." Dooku finally spoke, breaking the silence. Rather than give a chance for possible negotiation, Dooku pulled a piece of metal off the walls of the hanger and threw it at Yoda, who caught it with the Force and set it down gently, not wanting to cause any further damage. He repeated this twice more, but both times, Yoda easily protected himself from each of Dooku's strikes, sending the objects away before they could deal any damage, though this time it was less like a gentle set down and more of a throw as far away as possible. It seemed as though Yoda was struggling more with fighting somebody who was once a fellow Jedi more so than he was with the battle itself.
He entered a combat stance, as though daring Dooku to throw more objects at him, and throw more Dooku did. He raised his hand and brought down the ceiling, which may have crushed Yoda had he not been as strong in the Force as he was, but as it stood, he simply caught the rubble and tossed it aside, much like every other object thrown his way. "Powerful, you have become Dooku." Rather than simple praise, however, Yoda sighed. "The dark side I sense in you."
Padmé felt her blood run cold. Was that why Dooku had so many strange powers she had never seen a Jedi use before? Was his lightsaber now truly that of a Sith?
"I have become more powerful than any Jedi, even you." Dooku sent a blast of the same blue lightning he had used on all of them at Yoda, but unlike Obi-Wan and Anakin, Yoda had been able to simply catch it in his hand, absorbing the lightning before redirecting it back at Dooku. Dooku blocked the lightning before firing it again. This time, however, Yoda absorbed it and let it dissipate into nothing, as though it had never been fired at him in the first place.
"Much to learn you still have." Ever the teacher, Yoda was, even now, even to the dark side user in front of him who may have fallen not just from the light, but to the dark realm of the Sith.
"It is obvious this contest cannot be decided by our knowledge of the force," a bright red glow surrounded Dooku as he turned back on his lightsaber, preparing for combat, "but by our skills with a lightsaber."
Without a word, Yoda summoned his lightsaber from the pocket of his robe using the Force and ignited it, the bright green glow attracted her attention for a moment before he was running at Dooku. Keeping track of the fight was difficult, as Yoda was all over the place, moving rapidly as he constantly struck at Dooku, managing to barely be blocked by the red lightsaber at every turn. Similarly each time Dooku attempted to land a hit, Yoda would catch it in turn before jumping away, and continuing to move away from the blade. The pattern continued, and Yoda jumped onto the ship, causing Dooku to strike it's wing. The ship took minimal damage, and Yoda avoided the lightsaber's blade before jumping on the walls and in front of Padmé, Obi-Wan, and Anakin, away from the ship, but still distant to the two hurt Jedi and the senator.
Dooku struck once more for Yoda, and Yoda caught the strike easily. "Fought well you have, my old Padawan."
"This is just the beginning." Dooku lifted his other hand and used the Force to pull down on one of the nearby walls, grabbing a part of the structure of the hanger and pulled it down towards the trio, leaving Yoda with little choice but to attempt to catch it to protect them. The pillar slowed its descent, but Padmé watched as Dooku boarded his ship, likely to inform the Separatist council (or maybe other Sith?) what had happened here today. The pillar fell harmlessly to the side, crashing to the ground with a loud thud.
With Dooku gone, silence fell, the gravity of their failure hitting them with no other choice but to acknowledge that Dooku had managed to escape. Yoda let out an audible sigh, but Padmé found herself looking to the unconscious body beside her. She used her remaining arm to push herself up and did her best to maneuver over to Anakin. "Ani?" She felt his presence stir in the Force, and found herself looking into his blue eyes.
"Hi." He gave her a small smile.
"Hi." She attempted to return the smile, but given the situation found it a bit difficult, even if seeing Ankain awake alleviated a lot of her fears.
Anakin sat up and looked around, as though attempting to process. "Where's Dooku?"
"...escaped." It hurt to admit that the rogue Jedi had fled, but there was nothing else to say. She had failed to stop him, stop the war. "Anakin, I'm so sorry–"
"All of us are still alive, and you did your best." He didn't comment on anything, instead simply bringing their foreheads together. "That's all we could really hope for."
And in that moment, with their foreheads pressed together, Padmé believed it. There would be more times that they could stop Dooku and end the war.
The three of them made it out of there mostly in one piece and alive and to Anakin and her, that was all that mattered.