As Anakin and Padme continued to trek through the forest, the slope gradually inclined, and the duo were slowly but surely beginning to get exhausted.
"It's quite humid here," Padme sighed, wiping sweat from her forehead, "Never knew that the dark side of the planet would be so hard to survive."
"It's definitely not…" he paused as there was a distant rumble in the ground. "Stay here."
Leaping up into the air, he landed on a tall branch, repeating the feat several times, he made it to the treetops. Immediately, he cursed at the sight of several Federation ships hovering high above in the atmosphere, raining down laserfire onto the planet. Falling gracefully back to the ground, the force cushioned his fall as he turned to Padme worriedly.
"The federation has begun orbital bombardment," he informed her grimly. Padme let out a horrified gasp before steeling her emotions.
"Then our only hope is to find a cave...a tunnel or something of the like. Try and sense for any humanoid creatures, the Gungans are supposedly subterranean." Anakin took the advice, concentrating onto the currents of the force. A gentle prod encouraged him to head Northwest, towards the direction of the orbital bombardment.
"Anakin...the bombardment is coming from that way…" Padme prodded concernedly. Anakin merely gave her a resolute nod to which she steeled herself. "I trust you, just want to make sure."
"It'll be close, but it's our only hope," Anakin admitted. With a resolute nod from Padme, the two began trekking their way, Padme following Anakin. As the sounds of bombardment became clearly audible in the distance, Anakin ignited his lightsaber, warding off several smaller fleeing animals. A Nexu charged towards them, to which Anakin grabbed Padme and vaulted to the side, dodging its solitary bite before it charged past them, followed closely by six or seven pups.
"That's almost cute in a way," Padme joked as they continued advancing forward, carving a path through the fleeing animals. The rumbling from falling trees and the shaking from the impact of the laserfire unnerved both, though they continued steadfast.
As the air around them grew hotter as they neared the site of the bombardment, Anakin finally let out a cry of triumph, pointing towards a small mound with an entrance to what appeared to be a cave system. Yet as the two rushed forward, their luck finally ran out as the Federation's bombardment hit them directly, forcing Anakin to use the force, raising both his arms in concentration to create a protective bubble around them. Padme watched nervously as the invisible barrier was pounded mercilessly by red laserfire, before her attention was caught by Anakin falling to his knees, blood once again trickling from his nose, eyes and ears as his entire body shook, trembling.
"G-o!"
Padme ignored the advice, rushing to his side. Steeling herself, she whispered encouragement she hoped he would sense before crouching in front of him and pulling him onto her piggyback. Giving a light oof at the weight, Padme nevertheless continued stumbling and staggering towards the mouth of the cave. Finally, making it inward, she continued deeper, going until the vibrations from the bombardment could only be mildly felt.
Finally, she settled him down gently onto the floor before slumping to the side, completely exhausted. She felt her muscles burning as they greedily bit down into air, trying to dispel the lactic acid that had built up from her run and then dragging Anakin's prone form.
She eyed him to see that blood was trickling all down his face, and that several gashes across his arms and face had formed oozing blood. Fatigue immediately forgotten, she pulled out a medkit, beginning to inspect the wounds to see which required her attention.
Yet Padme found herself entranced by the sight of the wounds slowly closing up, knitting themselves back together in what she understood was the effects of a healing trance. Sighing, she ignored her guilt gnawing at her, focusing on wiping away what blood she could and applying bacta patches to the cuts that healed slower.
Her expression darkened as she felt his forehead, filled with beads of sweat, slowly burning up. "Kriff, this isn't good...I don't have enough supplies here."
Scrummaging through the medpack, she sighed in relief when she found a pouch of electrolyte stims, and pulled up his sleeve before injecting the fluids.
Resigning herself to waiting, Padme opened a ration bar, devouring it in three bites, before falling into an uneasy sleep, the rumbling of bombardment still causing tremors in the cave system.
-Break-
"Ugh," Anakin groaned as he opened his eyes, to see that there was a translucent blue substance covering them. Reaching out with his senses, he relaxed when only sensing Padme's presence in the immediate vicinity. He took of the bacta patch gingerly, setting it aside, and grabbed a canteen of water, greedily gulping down mouthfuls to relieve his parching throat.
He finished one canteen's worth, settling the bottle to one side as he pulled out a ration bar to eat. Doing a quick count, he estimated they had three days worth of supplies left with them, possibly four if they stretched. SIghing at the dire situation, he turned to Padme, which immediately softened his features as he couldn't help but admire her form. Quietly shifting over, he laid a hand on her cheek, frowning when he felt that she was unusually warm. Snapping a light rod to produce some much needed clarity, he could now see the myriad of cuts she had accrued, undoubtedly from dragging him while in a trance.
Tentatively, he ran his hand over the cuts he could see, channeling the force to try and heal her. He immediately felt dizziness wash over him again from the exertion, though thankfully, was able to remain conscious. Checking over her body, he found that most of the major cuts and scrapes had largely healed themselves, even if a few minor ones still remained.
Delicately, Anakin pulled out a cloth and began to wipe the sweat and blood off her body, starting with the face, whilst trying not to bask too much in the ways she leaned into his touch. Perhaps a trick of the light, but Anakin swore her features softened.
As he moved down to her arms, he felt Padme stirr slightly, before her brown eyes widened. "Ani! You're awake."
"So I am, Padme," he returned amusedly to her mewls as he continued to wipe her arms. "Are you alright?"
"Am I alright? I should be the one asking you that question! You nearly died a second time in...I don't even-"
"Shh," Anakin soothed, pulling her into a hug, "I'm here. I'm alright."
"No! It's not alright! I dragged you into this and now we're stuck here in these damn tunnels and we're running out of water and my people are dying and we're going to die!" Padme ranted, to which Anakin merely held her tighter in his embrace until her voice cracked and she settled for sobbing, moisture gathering on his chest.
"I came willingly," Anakin returned, "and we're going to survive this, alright? If an army of droids and an orbital bombardment couldn't kill us, nothing is going to stop us from returning to Theed and helping your people, you hear me?"
"I just want to give up," she sniffed.
"Tell me for a fact that you're certain, that the next queen chosen will fight equally if not more vigorously to defend your people, and we'll give up. Tell me, there's no chance they'll be a Federation puppet, or ineffectual, or weak and cowardly, and we'll give up. Otherwise, pack your things, because we need to get moving through the tunnels."
"Thanks," she gave him a teary smile, packing up the few pieces of equipment they had taken out of their backpack. Anakin ignited his lightsaber, and they made their way deeper into the caves.
There were carvings on the walls, depicting warriors fighting beasts among other things, and both tensed as they heard distant footsteps, causing both to grow more weary. Making their way through a large cavern, they found a collection of seemingly abandoned huts, made out of crude cloth and sticks, with campfires among them.
"This was recently occupied," Anakin mused, raising his lightsaber so more light would filter through the room, allowing the two a clearer view. "There's still warmth and embers from the fires.
Suddenly, a war horn sounded, echoing against the walls in a cacophony of wails as suddenly, hundreds of humanoids with long, fin like ears, mouths shaped like bills and two frog like large eyes sticking out from their head. They wielded an assortment of weapons, from slings loaded with strange blue orbs to swords and energy shields.
"Yousa trespass in wesa territory. Yousa be taken to Boss Nass," one of them ordered, jabbing a spear towards them threateningly. Anakin merely raised a challenging brow, prepared to retort when Padme placed a hand warningly on his arm. Relenting, the two began to follow the gungans, with Anakin still holding his lightsaber and turning it against any gungan who erred too close to the duo.
They walked for about five minutes, passing through various narrow tunnels and caverns, some clearly communal kitchens, canteens, schools, medical areas an so on. However, when the lead guard knocked twice on a large stone door before pushing it open, they knew they had arrived at the throne room.
"Insa here, go! Yousa try dodo and we ending you." A few of the gungans laughed at this, though the duo tried their best to ignore this, walking inside the room with confident poise. Six vats of oil burned, the blue flames providing light as they approached a tall throne, upon which a pod fished creature sat, flanked by several burly gungans.
"You are boss Nass?" Padme asked.
"Indeed, I am hesa. Whosa I be speaking with?"
Anakin gave Padme a pleading look to lie, though Padme shook her head apologetically before responding. "Queen Amidala, and with me Jedi Skywalker."
"Human!" One of the gungan court members hissed, and soon the entire room was jeering at them, though Nass remained strangely silent, even if he had a lecherous grin.
"And why yousa in our territory?" Nass questioned.
"We were attacked by outsiders, and forced to flee. We now seek passage, to return to the surface, whereby I can fight alongside my people," Padme answered, though her composure slid as she was jeered once again."+
"La prophecia!" one of the Gungans exclaimed, and suddenly the chamber was far quieter, filled with the confused murmurs of several groups of individuals. Even Nass had adopted a thoughtful look before smirking once again, leering at the duo.
"So itsa would be seeming," he mused. "And whysa should I let yousa through?"
"You speak as though you have a choice," Anakin interjected, brandishing his lightsaber threateningly.
"Yousa dare! Yousa dare!" the boss hissed. "No, mesa see an opportunity, yousa will kill da beast. Then wesa grant passage."
"The beast! The beast!" Several of the gungans chorused, to which Anakin and Padme looked at each other confusedly.
"Very well, if yousa kell da beast, passage be of granted," the boss decreed. "Da queen be staying with us."
"Absolutely not!" Anakin denied, raising his blade towards the gungan who tried to step towards them. Several of the gungans hissed angrily, "She come with me."
"Against da beast? Yousa might live, shesa will die."
"Then you won't mind me taking her, then," Anakin retorted. The gungan leader sputtered for several moments, while the court officials looked at each other confusedly.
"Very well, yousa go. Bombad general Binks will taketh you!" One of the burly gungans stepped forward, bowing to Nass before ushering them out of the cavern, leading them through various small tunnels.
"Yousa big doo doo, dis time," the gungan smirked, "even bombard marshal no surviving the beast."
"What exactly is this beast?" Anakin asked.
"Wesa no know, only know that it keel many gungan. Whether you keel beast or beast keel you, wesa win. Now Isa be leaving you here."
Before either could protest, the gungan had slipped away in the shadows, leaving the two uneasy humans to eye each other.
"Well, looks like we're off hunting again," Anakin chuckled hesitantly. Despite the poor humour, Padme laughed, easing some of the tension.
"Well I have my heroic jedi guardian to protect me," she returned.
"Why so much deference to those savages?"
"How would you feel if back on Tatooine, a core worlder came and demanded you host them in your home?"
"That's...irrelevant to this discussion. Your prerogative is to the people of Naboo, is it not?"
"I never thought I would have to lecture a Jedi on morality," Padme jibed, causing Anakin to chuckle as the two carefully wandered deeper into the caverns. "They don't know better, Anakin. And they have much reason to resent outsiders."
"So you're willing to sacrifice the lives of Naboo to appease these gungans?" Anakin challenged. He could feel Padme's discomfort at the question. "You can't save everyone, sometimes you have to make compromises."
"Moral shortcuts can't be sustained, Anakin. Make enough of them, and you become the very thing you swear to destroy."
"I-" a low growl echoed, and the two fell silent, Padme clutching her blaster while Anakin raised his lightsaber defensively. Anakin cocked his head, and Padme nodded, fetching a glow stick from her backpack, cracking it and tossing it forward. Anakin used a light force push to propel it further down, though it was unnecessary as it smacked against the outline of a huge beast, before falling to the ground, illuminating the creature's face. Deformed, the three headed beast, a canine of some sort, lunged forward. Anakin thrust his sword forward, managing to impale the open mouth, though not before its jaws closed and several teeth sank into his flesh.
Anakin immediately felt a wave of drowsiness over him and cursed, using the force to try and stem the flow of it. He tossed his lightsaber into his free hand and leapt onto the beast, slashing another head's neck only for his blade to glance off. Incredulous, he clung onto the creature's body for dear life as it tried to shake him off.
Unfortunately for Anakin, the beast slammed its head onto the side of the cave wall, nearly turning him into paste. The creature's head, despite being more resilient, waivered uneasily, letting out a low whine.
Anakin took advantage of this, crawling up the creature's neck before placing his lightsaber on one of its eyes and igniting his blade, piercing right through it and causing the creature to thrash wildly, recklessly slamming from side to side as it howled in pain.
Thrown off, he narrowly avoided being squished, ducking underneath a wild slash from its claws as he retreated backwards, feeling uneasy. Turning, he ordered, "Padme, run."
Without looking to see whether she followed his orders, he adopted the Jar Kai, the stance of a final stand, blade in hand. The beast, having recovered, lashed out towards him, jaws open for a bite.
Concentrating, Anakin threw his blade hike a javelin, impaling into the head of the canine. The blade pierced straight through cleanly until it lodged into the ceiling, before being called back with a flick of the wrist into his hand.
The second head fell limp to the floor with a thud, and Anakin caught his breath as the creature's other two heads stared at him with their four eyes angrily, though with equal amounts of weariness.
"Not so tough, no, are you?"
The creature, as though it understood the jibe, let out a loud roar before charging forward, though wisely keeping its jaw shut. Anakin rolled backwards, though as it kept charging, the distance increasingly closed until he vaulted onto the wall and leapt off it onto the beast's neck.
"Anakin get off!" Padme yelled. Despite his surprise he instinctively listened, leaping off the beast further into the cave as Padme fired several blaster shots at the ceiling, causing it to collapse down and bury the beast. It let out a low whine, but the danger had clearly passed.
"Da beast! Dey keel da beast!" the gungans muttered among themselves. "Desa must be weak! Keel dem!"
"Wait no-" Anakin heard several frantic blaster shots and a high pitched scream.
"What!" Anakin protested through the rocks, "Padme hit the ground!"
She instinctively did as he said, laying flat on the ground, and not a moment too soon as with a blast of the force, rocks were sent hurtling at bullet like speeds towards the gungans, eviscerating several of them, while inflicting heavy wounds on others. After this barrage, Anakin charged through an opening, lightsaber in hand as he decapitated a recovering Gungan before dashing to Padme's side, heaving heavily.
"Are you alright?"
"Fine...fine...just...shaken," she admitted, looking down at the injured gungans with distaste. "I...I can't believe they...they…"
"Their type only understands force," Anakin shrugged unrepentant. "Let's go, we're wasting our time."
"I thought you'd lead us to the surface?"
"Without a guide?"
"Can't you...use the force?"
"It...doesn't work like that, not exactly. It's got a mind of its own, one could almost attribute sentience to it. It's like trying to grab mist right now, resisting me. We're going to have to get a guide."
"Well, I daresay any attempt at pacifism has failed resoundedly," Padme shrugged despondently. "Just...try and listen? For me?"
"I'll try, but I won't promise anything beyond that," Anakin conceded, causing Padme to give him a thankful smile. The two worked their way backwards to the Gungan settlement, where they were soon flanked by six brute guards muttering under their breath as they were led back to the chamber.
"So...you keel da beast," Boss Nass ruminated, eyeing them with something akin to reluctant respect. "Very well, you shall have your guide. Oh, but one more thing. Kneel."
Without hesitation, Anakin fell to his knees, causing the gungans around to laugh amongst themselves. With a pleased smile, Boss Nass gestured for one of the gungans to step forward. "Disa Jar Jar Binks, he be your guide."
"Following me," the gungan blubbered, before striding out confidently, wielding a spear and sword. Anakin and Padme turned, following the gungan up through the tunnels.
"Dersa only be one path from here. Itsa go to the surface. Never return, human, yousa lucky dis time." With a sneer, the gungan faded back into the shadows.
"Why did you kneel?" Padme queried.
"If I must sacrifice my pride to keep you safe, so be it," Anakin shrugged, missing the blush that tinged Padme's cheeks as she was slightly behind him. "Why didn't you run?"
"I wasn't about to leave you behind!" Padme scoffed, offended by the very notion. "Friends don't do that."
"I could have handled it. Besides, you're far more important."
"And what was I supposed to do, Jedi? I have a blaster. I could maybe take four or five gungans out before they swarmed me. I haven't the faintest clue where I am within the tunnel complex. My best chance of survival was to stay near you."
"Fair point," Anakin conceded, "I'm sorry for snapping, I'm just...concerned for you."
Padme looked slightly surprised at his apology, deflating slightly. He chuckled wryly. "Far be it for me to let pride cloud my judgement. You're right, and you deserve an apology."
"I appreciate it. Anakin, in case we don't make it,,," he turned, to be surprised when she leapt onto him and pressed her lips onto him. He idly noted that they had a pang of berry taste to them before losing himself completely into the sensation.
-Break-
The two emerged from a cave on the outskirts of Theed. Cautiously, Anakin peered out from a corner, spotting several battle droids escorting a ground of disarmed Naboo security guards. Concentrating, Anakin threw his lightsaber in an arc, decapitating the four security droids. The handcuffed prisoners looked around wildly, with one exclaiming, "Your majesty!"
"Keep it down!" Anakin hissed, causing the man to duck his head embarrassed. Quickly, he cut open the handcuffs of the eight guards, and they reached to pick up the blasters of the fallen droids. Following up by freeing several Naboo officials, Anakin began organising them into groups.
"Your majesty, we assumed the worst when the Federation landed," one of the guards probed. "We are so glad you're alright."
"What's the situation?" Padme asked, nervously looking around to see if they had been spotted yet.
"Dire, your majesty. The federation has landed troops and disarmed local security. They had civilian hostages, we didn't dare resist without any sort of plan. Most of the locals have been left untouched, but many officials and personnel are being held hostage."
"Right now, the best course of action is to get back to Coruscant," Anakin advised. Several of the guards nodded, while others looked outraged, though all deferred to Padme.
"My place is with my people."
"Padme, we need outside help. The senate cannot ignore a full fledged invasion. I'll go to the Jedi and hopefully get some support. Only then do we stand a chance against the Federation. They won't respond to anything but force."
"We can fight!" one of the guards protested.
"Perhaps on the ground, but as far as I'm aware, Naboo has no capital ships, barely any starfighters and no planetary shield. If we take hasty action, the Federation could orbitally bombard the planet."
"They wouldn't dare!" one of the advisers protested.
"Just as they wouldn't dare attack Padme? Just as they wouldn't dare launch an invasion? Open your eyes!" Turning and ignoring the advisor's sputtering, he asked Padme, "Where's the hangar? We need to get off planet before the blockade tightens any more."
"I know the quickest way," Padme assured, taking lead on the group. They advanced through the deserted streets, destroying several straggler droid patrols, though met no significant resistance until they entered the hangar, where they saw a dozen pilots tied up and sat in a circle, guarded by several security droids. Other droids wandered around the hangar, though most turned to face the entering group.
"Igniting his blade, he decapitated the yellow commander droid that approached him, deflecting several shots and barking, "Get those pilots free. We're taking off now!"
The guards sprung into action, with several firing at the battle droids while others rushed to free the pilots. "To your starfighters!"
A resounding cheer was let out as most of the droids were dealt with, while the main entourage boarded the royal starship and the pilots initiated the launch sequence. Several droids entered the hangar, blasting at the ship, though the chromium plating did little more than deflect the shots harmlessly off. With a gentle rumble, the ship lifted off from the hangar, surrounded by several Nabooian starfighters coloured in yellow and chrome.
As they approached the blockade, all of them held bated breath as they approached the blockade. Anakin sat in the pilot's chair, his hands on the controls ready to send the ship to the side to avoid any incoming barrage. "Steady, keep a tight formation."
"Copy that," several of the pilots echoed, seemingly regaining some confidence with the reminder a Jedi was among them. Anakin pushed the throttle forward, and the ship accelerated as they neared within engagement distance of the Federation battleships. "Fighters form a defensive screen."
As the smaller and nimbler starfighters spread out in front of them, the Federation's guns sounded their greeting in the form of a salvo of laserfire, which peppered the shields of the Naboo starfighters, causing them to thrum a magnificent translucent blue against the red bolts.
"Our shields can't take more of such heat," one of the pilots warned.
"We just need to get the Queen to safety," another interjected. There was grim resolve amongst all present in the cockpit as two of the starfighters succumbed to the next barrage.
"How long to hyperspace?"
"Thirty seconds," the navigator called back. Another salvo destroyed yet more starfighters, leaving only three remaining, forming a V protectively around the larger ship. Suddenly, droid starfighters began to swarm out of the Federation ships, darting towards them.
"I'm not sure we have thirty seconds," Padme roused.
"We'll make it," Anakin replied with more confidence than he truly felt. The ship rocked as several droid starfighters launched an attack run, using their onboard laser cannons to pound away at the shields. Another Nabooian starfighter exploded, faced off against several dozen vulture droids.
"We're ready! Punch it!" the navigator yelled. With relief, Anakin pushed the hyperspace throttle, and they escaped into the safety of the blue and white beams that whipped passed them. All let out a sigh of relief, before dispersing to complete their various duties. Surrendering the helm to the normal pilot, he let out a sigh of relief, leading Padme to the medbay where they could get some of their injuries inspected.
-Break-
"Lord Sidious, I regret to inform you that it seems...the Queen has managed to slip past the blockade. We are still unsure as to how she survived the orbital bombardment."
"Regrettable, but not unexpected," Darth Sidious roused, causing Gunray to let out a sigh fo relief, his hands easing away from his throat. "Get yourself off planet, I will not have you be captured when the Republic inevitably invades."
"As you command, milord," the Nemodian agreed, flinching slightly at the scowl before hurriedly turning off the communicator. Not for the first time, as he stared into the vast emptiness of space, he wondered if he had made the right decision allying with the mysterious Sith lord.
Author Note:
I admit I've hit a bit of a lull while writing this story. I far more prefer plotting out stories rather than writing out them in detail, though I'm going to try and plow through to force myself to practice this. I've heard some of you feedback that I was moving too fast last chapter, and I definitely can see where you're coming from. Hopefully this chapter's slower pace is more to your liking. What did you think of the gungans? Is Jar Jar Binks Darth Sidious? How will the Jedi and the Republic react to the crisis?
As always, comments, whether praise or criticism, is always welcome! May the force serve you well!