Chapter 10: Cat and Mouse

Location: 500 Republica, Padme's Apartment

There were many times in Padme Amidala's life where she felt like she was about to die.

From the moment the Trade Federation enacted their blockade on Naboo, hardly a year went by where there had not been a threat, be it mild or serious, that had not popped up in some form or another.

As she stared down the barrel of a blaster pistol held by the Terrelian Jango Jumper assassin, she felt grateful that the constant threats on her life hadn't made her any less nervous. Padme still felt that rush of adrenaline course through her as she was moments away from death. Though to be fair, the panic she had once felt in such situations had vanished long before now. She hadn't felt true fear at these attempts since she'd professed her love for Anakin as they made their way into that horrid arena on Geonosis.

But Anakin wasn't here. She was going to have to get out of this situation all on her own.

"Why does Mas Amedda want to kill me?" she asked, feigning innocence as she stood up from her seat. She was grateful for her pregnancy, it allowed her to wear simple, obscuring clothing like the cloak she wore at the moment, it hid her hands from view as she leaned over her holoterminal. It was going to be essential for her plan to work.

"You know what you did, Senator." the Jumper sneered. He was a fearsome sight. A DL-18 blaster pistol was aimed right at her, and two twin bandoliers stocked with thermal detonators were strapped to his chest.

"You started looking where you weren't supposed to." he continued. "You learned things that were better left forgotten. Now powerful people want you dead. I aim to deliver."

"You don't honestly think you'll get away with this!" Padme exclaimed, her fingers flying at tremendous speeds underneath her cloak, hoping desperately that the assassin was focused on her face.

Accessing 500 Republica Power Grid

"You're not the first person Mas Amedda wanted killed, and you won't be the last."

Maintenance Reroute Authorized

"There's one thing your employer forgot to tell you when he sent you here."

Accessing Illumination. Subcategory: Total

"Oh really? What did he forget to tell me?"

Terminate Power? y/n

"I've faced worse than you." Padme grinned, and with one last hidden keystroke, every single light source in the entire building went dark.

Blaster fire erupted right where her head had been a moment before, but Padme wasn't there. The assassin uttered a scream of terrifying rage as he used his powerful legs to kick over the table where she had stood seconds ago.

Padme rushed into the bedroom, appearing no more than a blur in the dim lighting., She knew the Jango Jumper had eyesight that was no better than a human's. He was at a disadvantage here, in such an unfamiliar environment. If she had to hazard a guess as to what his next move was, it would be to wait for her to make a mistake. He'd wait near the door, and wait to flush her out as she became desperate to escape and the panic set in.

Poor fool, he had no clue who he was messing with.

Quiet as a Scyllian wraithbat, Padme snuck through her bedroom to a utility closet on the far side of her lounge/dining room. It was a small thing, purposely built to be out of the way and not a nuisance to the rest of the room. It was something that Padme had insisted on having ever since her husband had given her a wedding gift.

C-3P0 was more than just a gift to her. He had become a good friend, and Padme had wanted to give him his own charging station where he could power down and have a few scant moments of privacy when the Senator didn't need him. It had been fortuitous that she'd built this closet for him. If she hadn't, he likely would have been socializing with her or performing routine duties around her apartment and would surely have been destroyed. He might still be, but Padme had the element of surprise now, and she had the beginnings of a plan for how to get out of this.

"Oh my goodness, Mistress Padme!" 3P0 exclaimed, his eyes illuminating as she flicked his power switch on. "The lights are all dark! What is going o-"

Padme put a hand over his mouth and motioned for him to be silent. Already she could hear her would-be killer moving further in, no doubt drawn by the droid's noises.

"3P0, you have to listen to me." Padme hissed. "There is an assassin after me, and I'm going to need your help to escape."

Mercifully, the droid said nothing. He just nodded and looked at her expectantly.

"Good." she said with a small smile. "Here is what we're going to do."

The Jango Jumper was stressed, anxious even. Mas Amedda, or whomever it was that was controlling that spineless politician, had been using his services for years and in all that time, the Jango Jumper could only think of a few occasions where his target had given him any noticeable trouble.

There had been a Wookiee outcast who knew certain things that were better left unknown. That had taken him to the forest floor, where beasts no sane creature dared look upon waited with drooling maws.

Or the time he had hunted down a Jedi who was embedded in some sort of crazy cult who was about to expose some pretty powerful officials in the Republic. He still had the scar from where he'd been struck by a lightsaber. It hurt like nothing he'd ever felt before, but he'd survived it all the same. No matter how quick they might have been, there wasn't a soul alive that could escape his grasp.

This human, however, was giving him more trouble than he'd had in a long time. There was something in her eyes that troubled him. He saw many emotions in her. Anger, frustration, even a small bit of arrogance. But he never saw fear. That was worrisome. Every single one of his marks had felt fear, even if in the very end. This one was seemingly immune. Fear made his targets predictable. It allowed him to know their moves before even they did. If this Padme Amidala was resisting that fear…

The assassin shook his head, bringing himself back to the moment. It wouldn't do to think of things that might not be. Fear was infectious, and the Jango Jumper knew he wasn't immune. One false step, one moment of weakness would be all it took and he'd breathe his last breath before his target did.

A sudden burst of movement caught his attention. He dropped to one knee and leveled his blaster at its origin. Instead of Senator Amidala, a shiny golden arm waved wildly in the beam of light the Jango Jumper shined in his direction.

"Oh goodness gracious." it wailed, shuffling away from him at a pathetically slow rate. "Don't hurt me! I'm programmed for etiquette, not combat!"

A protocol droid, and one with a coward's personality core. It's why the assassin never used them himself. Too many variables that were out of his control. At least this one wasn't a threat.

"I won't kill you, droid." the assassin said with a sneer lowering his pistol as he slowly advanced towards a droid like a hunter does to a skittish beast. "But only if you tell me where your master is."

"Good sir, I am C-3PO, human-cyborg relations!" it replied, more indignantly than before. That didn't mean it stopped its slow shuffle towards the opposite wall however. Its master might not have felt fear, but this droid clearly did. It wasn't even moving towards the exit. The exact opposite in fact.

"I am more than just some droid that you can order about. Mistress Padme would be most cross if I did that." he continued, stopping at a wall near the balcony to the apartment and giving the Jango Jumper what he could only assume was the rudest gesture the protocol droid's programming would allow.

"And where is your 'Mistress Padme right now?"

"She did not tell me where she was going." the droid replied, stepping slightly to the right in an attempt to avoid the trailing barrel of the assassin's blaster. "She told me that I had other things to do."

"Going?" asked the Jango Jumper, a cold pit forming in his stomach. "What orders are you talking about?"

"Pulling the fire alarm, of course."

He'd been so stupid. The droid had caught him off guard and what he'd assumed had been fear had really been a concealed effort to reach the emergency panel on the wall. One quick button press later and the entire apartment, if not the entire complex, emitted a deafening screech.

A screech that caused the assassin to fall to his knees. Once again, he cursed himself for his foolishness. The noise and accompanying flashing lights that swirled above his head were a great distraction. A distraction that, if he were being hunted, he would use to escape.

Though the noise was loud, it wasn't loud enough to cover the unmistakable hiss of a door opening. He whirled around, firing blindly in a vain hope to hit something. He didn't hit anything, but he saw something clear as if he were next to it.

A small bit of a cloak, grey and commonly made. Not something that would be amiss on the streets of Coruscant.

That still wouldn't do her any good. The assassin let out a small smile. Perhaps she was getting a tiny bit scared after all. A wardrobe change wouldn't do her any good. He knew its color, he could guess its shape. It had cost her valuable time, and it wasn't going to help her elude him. He was a Jango Jumper. Three strides and he would be out the door. Three more and he'd be right on top of her. No cloak would prevent that.

Not unless she was planning to mingle with other pe-

The fire alarm! That was her big plan. Cause everyone to exit their residencies and mingle in the hallway. One cloak among dozens wouldn't stand out then.

Opening the door, he saw that it was exactly how he imagined. Dozens upon dozens of species of every size and shape were curiously looking around and wondering whether this was some sort of drill or not. One short beep later, and fire suppressant liquid fell from the sprinklers in the ceiling, adding yet more chaos and confusion.

No matter. He'd never lost his quarry before tonight, and he wasn't going to start now.

"Clever of you, very clever." he murmured, holstering his blaster and scanning the crowd for her face.

"But it won't save you in the end."

Location: 500 Republica, Lobby of the 781st Floor

If she survived this, Padme made a promise to herself that Threepio was going to get as many hot oil baths as he wanted.

The droid had done his job bravely, distracting the assassin with conversation before risking himself to walk away from the door and trigger the fire alarm. It had given her time to put on her cloak and flee her apartment.

People in the hallway had given her a tremendous cover, and she'd been able to snag a deathstick lighter from a 'companion' a Senator on her floor was entertaining. Holding it up to one of the sensors, Padme had triggered the fire suppression systems and made sure that she had a nice cover for when she moved to the turbolift.

Once inside, she slammed the button for the parking garage where her personal speeder was kept and leaned back against the wall, cradling the child she carried. She had been shot at, poisoned, and the target of multiple assassinations before, but none of those had occurred while she was heavily pregnant with a baby. She couldn't keep running, so she would have to escape quickly, and while she still had her strength. Luckily Anakin had insisted on overseeing modifications to her speeder himself. It had been a beautiful anniversary gift and she was grateful he had hemmed and hawed about making sure it was absolutely perfect.

And perfect it was. Not only as a symbol of their love, but a truly excellent way to outrun someone trying to kill her.

A task that would be easier said than done. As she breathed a sigh of relief, she saw a faint glimmer of light right off the side of the building. Whatever it was, it seemed to be catching the reflection of the almost uncountable amount of lights on the Coruscant skyline. With a cold pit forming in her stomach, she realized that could only be from broken glass falling out of a window that had just been shattered. Somehow, her killer had seen her get into the turbolift and was coming for her the fastest way they knew how.

Jango Jumpers were famed far and wide for not only their ability to traverse incredible distances, but also for the speed with which they could do so. This one was clearly one of the more gifted seeing how it was able to land on the turbolift after jumping only twice off the side of the building as it fell.

Padme was no coward, and drew her pistol from her holster with practiced ease. The assassin's reflexes were too swift for her however, and was able to dodge the bolts as they came. She ran out of charges on the pistol soon, as she hadn't really been given the chance to bring spare amounts of ammunition. Still she had one last trick up her sleeve.

The assassin assumed she was completely out of ammo and whipped out their own pistol, taking their time to line up a shot. At the last moment, Padme raised her blaster and used her very last shot to knock the pistol right out of their hands where it plummeted hundreds of stories to rest on the floor of Coruscant's underbelly.

She couldn't help but grin at him as she tossed the discarded weapon to the ground. They were at an impasse and time was on her side as they neared her floor.

The Jango Jumper sported a grin of their own, and started smashing their fist repeatedly against the glass on the turbolift. Cracks started appearing where their fist struck, and the small blaster hole slowly started to widen.

Approaching: Senatorial Garage

Padme couldn't quite figure out what they were trying to do until she saw the bandolier of thermal detonators strapped around her would-be killer's chest. It was all too clear then. They were trying to widen the hole that Padme had created so they could stick the detonator through and turn Padme into very expensive ash. Not today though, not if she could help it.

Now Arriving At: Senatorial Garage

The turbolift that seemed to be moving so quickly before seemed to slow down to a crawl at that moment. All she could do is wait. Wait, and see the crack almost get to the breaking point.

Arrived At: Senatorial Ga-

Padme didn't even wait for the computer to finish its announcement. She was off the turbolift and hurriedly pressed the 'close' button before diving away as far as she could. A thunderous explosion that happened not even a second later told her just how close she had been to incineration.

She made her way over to her speeder before collapsing to the ground in pain. All of a sudden, she was feeling the most horrible of cramps.

"No…" she muttered to herself. "Not here, not now."

But it was no good. Millennia of biology cared little for her current plight. It seemed the baby was coming sooner rather than later. Another round of contractions forced her to her knees once again before making her roll over on her back, staring up in anguish.

As she lay there, whimpering in pain and unsure of what to do, she saw something that she couldn't help but smile at. It seemed The Force had a plan for her after all, one that included her laying on her back in pain.

For the first time since this all began, Padme began to see a light at the end of this horrible evening.

Location: 500 Republica: Senatorial Garage

The Jango Jumper's thermal detonator hadn't killed his target, but he was unconcerned. It seemed as though despite all her efforts, the Senator from Naboo had fallen into one of his backup plans.

The turbolift was in too poor of condition to use, but there were other entrances to the parking garage. Though impossible for most other species in the galaxy to enter for his current position, all it took was a few more leaps and he found himself on the runway leading out of the garage and into the Coruscant traffic.

"There is nowhere else to run." he called out, sauntering into the garage with practiced ease. "I have destroyed your only other exit. Come now, you have done well for yourself. I have hunted Jedi, Wookiees, and other beings I dare not think about, but you have been my most difficult catch. Die well, knowing you almost got away."

"Not almost!" came a defiant call to his right, and right on cue, the headlights on Amidala's speeder flared and the assassin had to do everything in his power not to smirk. It seemed as though she was feeling more fear than he thought, and he was glad to see that his mantra of fear making people predictable still rang true.

The speeder careened past him and he happened to catch a small glimpse of her grey cloak before it sped right past him, turned left sharply and made for the exit.

With an almost lazy motion, he produced a remote from his pouch and pressed the button. It triggered a bomb on board the speeder and sent fragments of the craft careening in all directions. He even saw the head of a maintenance droid that must have been on board the craft when she took off flying past him. It had been a plan he'd thought of just before entering the apartment, and he'd only done it as a precaution, never thinking it would get that far. He was glad he'd been so thorough. That had been a particularly fine bit of work on his part. The bomb was thin, and cleverly placed underneath her speeder far away from any important wires or machinery so that the maintenance droids would never think to look there.

In fact, the only way it could have been spotted was if someone was laying flat on their back right next to it.

Not that it mattered now. Padme Amidala was dead and there was a bounty to collect on her. The assassin thought he'd earned a nice little vacation to Nar Shadda, or maybe some other Hutt controlled territory after this. A fun place where he could spend his ill-earned credits and forget all about the trouble she had caused.

He was just glad it all was over.

Location: Coruscant: Arjun's Ne'tra Gal

The assassin's favorite bar in this part of Coruscant was Arjun's Ne'tra Gal. Not only because it served surprisingly cheap amounts of its titular beverage, but also because its Nemoidian owner never asked questions and was always happy to let the Jango Jumper use the holoterminal to make whatever calls he needed to. Completely untraceable, without any direct link to him, and a very public place to make sure one of his fellow colleagues couldn't kill him discreetly for his credits.

With a curt nod to the Nemoidian who didn't even bother giving him a look, the Jango Jumper went back to a private booth and punched in the numbers he called every time he went to Coruscant.

Mas Amedda's sniveling face greeted him and wore the customary expression of disgust and worry that all politicians had when they had just gotten done doing something unpleasant.

"Well? Is it done?" he snapped, not even bothering with the usual formalities.

"Padme Amidala is dead." the assassin replied, impatiently cleaning underneath his nails with a vibroblade.

There wasn't even a sigh of relief, the Acting Chancellor just carried right on with the accusations he was clearly waiting to unleash.

"Do you have any idea how much damage you have caused? The attention you've brought upon me?" the Chargarin thundered. "Why did you have to kill her so publicly?"

"Look, you told me to get it done, no matter the cost." he snapped back. He didn't much care for the Acting Chancellor's tone, and he was growing uneasy about the fact that he hadn't been paid yet. Getting a lecture from someone was much easier when they paid you.

"Get what done? Blow up half of 500 Republica and make a fool of yourself?" Amedda goaded. It was too much. So the Acting Chancellor wanted to get a rise out of him? Fine by him. The pathetic excuse of a man deserved it.

"You told me to kill Padme Amidala, whatever it took!" he screamed. "You didn't mention how hard it was going to be! She almost got away and I did what I had to to kill her!"

"Didn't find her body though, did you?"

He started to feel that small seed of fear starting to sprout again.

"What?"

"I think that he's said more than enough, don't you, Commander Fox?"

The voice on the other end started to chuckle slightly, as the indignant face of Mas Amedda slowly morphed into that of one Senator Bail Organa. It was clear that the assassin droid had failed spectacularly. Besides a few minor scrapes, the senator from Alderaan seemed no worse for his encounter with the Jango Jumper's counterpart.

This was very bad indeed.

"Quite right you are, sir." came a clone clipped voice as strong pair of magnacuffs were slapped around the assassin's wrists and feet as a standard issue clone trooper blaster rifle aimed at his face.

"I want to make a deal." he spat, looking up at the smirking face of Senator Organa.

"That can be arranged." came the Senator's reply. "But you had better make it worth our while."

"Can I ever." the Jango Jumper chuckled.

"Let me tell you about the other jobs Mas Amedda has sent me on."

Location: 500 Republica: Padme Amidala's Apartment

Bail Organa turned off the holo-pad and made his way back over to Padme who was sitting on her couch with a thick blanket wrapped all around her and a warm cup of broth in her hands.

Despite all she had been through tonight, Bail could still see the fire in her eyes, the resilience that made her such a difficult target to kill. He was glad he called her friend, because he had a feeling he didn't want to be her enemy.

Still, she grimaced slightly every few minutes as she sat there, listening in to what Bail and Commander Fox were chatting about. Even now, the Jango Jumper was singing like a shyyyo bird who took to the air for the first time. In addition to what they found aboard the wreckage of the Invisible Hand, there was more than enough here to at least get a warrant for Sheev Palpatine's office and send his associates away for a long time. And that was just the start, who knew what else they would uncover once they had finally found the truth?

"Thank you, Bail, for everything you've done tonight." Padme said, a slight strain in her voice.

"I'm the one who should be thanking you." he responded with a smile. "It's not every night a Senator saves her friend from almost certain death, avoids one the deadliest assassins on Coruscant, and reveals the extent of the Republic's corruption."

She couldn't help but smile at that, but Bail saw that once again she winced and held her stomach.

"Is there something wrong with the baby?" Bail asked, suddenly chiding himself for not being more worried about his friend. She had asked to go home without even getting looked at by a medical droid. He knew that she was stubborn, perhaps she was hiding some sort of injury that she thought she could walk it off. If something had happened…

"I'm fine, Bail." she said, holding her stomach. "Just a little stressed from the night is all."

He might have believed her too, if not for C-3PO's entrance.

"I am quite unable to find the medication you were looking for, Mistress Padme." 3PO said, shuffling into the living room. "If you would only let a medical droid look at you, I am quite sure that they would be able to- oh my goodness, Senator Organa! I did not realize we had company so late. May I prepare you something to eat or drink?"

He waved off the droid, not even bothering to answer his questions. Bail knew it was rude, but he had much more pressing things on his mind than offending a protocol droid.

"Able to what, Padme?" he asked, fearing he already knew the answer. "What is it that you are trying to get them to do?"

She knew the game was up, Bail could tell from her body language.

"The stress from the night." she said weakly. "The baby couldn't take any more of it… Anakin isn't here and I just thought that if I…"

She stopped as she winced at what must have been a particularly bad contraction.

"How far apart?" he asked her.

"I don't know. A few minutes at most." she said.

"Padme," Bail said as he squatted in front of her and held her face with his hand to let her know he would be here for her. "This baby is coming. The medical droids can delay it for a little while, but they can only do so much. One way or another, you're going to be a mother soon."

"Anakin isn't here." she moaned. "He needs to be here."

"We will try to reach him Padme, I promise." Bail reassured her as he helped her to her feet and motioned for 3PO to summon the medical droid.

Padme was barely paying attention to any of it. She was lost inside her own little world as she worried about her husband and her child.

"Annie... " she said in a worried whisper. "Where are you?