Chapter 36 – Duel at Daybreak
DISCLAIMER: We do not own Star Wars, even if we wish we did. xD
Author's Note: In which someone tries to assassinate Padme... ;)
If there's a fic you'd like us to write, I have a SW fic request form which you can fill out. We'll gift write all the requests we get… eventually. :D The link is as follows, but with no spaces: forms . gle / rmXWtRomMMaULuPa6
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~ Amina Gila
I don't want to dwell on what happened to Anakin in the future any longer, so I quickly change the topic. "Which reminds me... there's something else that someone needs to investigate. The Empire had a Death Star – a planet sized battle station for destroying planets. It blew up Alderaan –"
"What?!" they all gasp simultaneously, identical looks of horror on their faces.
"The Empire blew it up," I repeat, "I don't know how long it took them to build it, but the thing was huge. It wouldn't surprise me if they're already working on it now somewhere in Separatist territory. I think we should try to destroy it as soon as possible even if we do take down Sidious. There's no way we can leave that thing existing."
"We have to," agrees Anakin.
"I'll inform the Council of this when I can," Obi-Wan decides.
Padme sighs. "To think that Palpatine has been deceiving everyone this whole time..."
I scowl. "He is an expert actor and manipulator after all."
"It explains why every time we tried to reach an agreement, one of the sides suddenly did something so the other Senate rejected the peace proposal," she remarks. Exactly, since he was controlling both sides the whole time, he could easily ensure they continued fighting. My mind drifts to the last time that happened, when the Republic supposedly killed Mina Bonteri. That's when Lux finally realized the Separatists weren't really going to fix the galaxy.
"How could all of the Jedi have been so fooled?" Padme asks.
"Many members on the Council, myself included, have been suspicious for a long time that something was not right," Obi-Wan speaks up, "Yoda and others realized how much the Dark Side surrounds him, but to think he's actually a Sith Lord was pushing it." True enough, but –
"If the Jedi stopped shunning the Dark Side and learned to use it, they would have figured it out a long time ago," I point out.
**w**
The steady lines of traffic passing through the mostly dark Coruscant sky are the only light coming into the guest bedroom at Padme's apartment where I'm staying. I roll over onto my back, staring up at the ceiling. I can't sleep at all. I can't stop worrying about the fate of the galaxy. How are we going to find the evidence we need?
It doesn't help that the feeling of impending doom is growing ever closer. I can't figure out what I was thinking when I suggested such a foolish idea. Killing a Sith Lord isn't like killing a droid. And so far, we haven't gotten any closer to achieving our goal. Padme hasn't been able to find anything more conclusive, and we haven't heard a word from the Council. Not that they'd probably give us an update right now anyway, unless it was something critical, but still.
It's been a month since then. An entire month. Instead of suffering heavy losses from us being taken off the front, the Republic is rapidly gaining ground. Palpatine is insistent it's because we've been helping the Separatists all along, and surprisingly, the Council is maintaining we're innocent. The general public seems completely torn on what to believe.
The feeling of approaching danger is drawing ever closer, but I can't tell if it's just because I'm super paranoid right now or because something is actually going to happen. I'm afraid Sidious is going to try to kill me and Obi-Wan for sure, maybe even Padme too. And turn Anakin.
Slipping out of bed, I step over to the window and stare out. Nothing looks out of the ordinary. The endless colors of the passing traffic cast their familiar glow across the room. I almost missed seeing it after the over half-year of not having been to Coruscant. Closing my eyes, I reach out with the Force... in search of something, anything.
There's nothing. Wait... yes, there actually is. Danger. It's rippling closer, closer. And its center focus is... Padme? My eyes snap open as danger flares through our bond. Whirling around, I grab my lightsabers off the table next to my bed and bolt out of the room. She's stepping outside onto the landing platform with Anakin close behind.
I dash outside, half expecting a blaster bolt assault but instead a tremendous explosion suddenly rips through the area, the force of it throwing me to the ground, as burning pieces of debris fall down around me.
I instinctively throw up my arm to shield my eyes, slowly lowering them once the smoke clears. Padme's speeder – that she had been just about to get into – has been almost completely blown up.
"Close call," Anakin comments, standing up from across the platform and helping Padme to her feet. He must've thrown up a shield right in time to save them.
A sudden movement near the other side of the landing platform catches my eye. Whirling towards it, I spot a figure zooming away in a speeder, which was far too close to the landing platform to be just "passing by". The guilty party here, unquestionably.
"There!" I shout and bolt for the nearest speeder – since Anakin's is on the completely other side of the landing platform, this one will have to do. Anakin runs after and jumps into the pilot seat. I jump in next to him and we take off into the Coruscant sky after the rapidly shrinking figure.
As we zoom after the fleeing assassin, Anakin pushes the speeder to go at its highest speed. Moments later, we're dodging in between lines of traffic, narrowly missing hitting crafts both above and below us. As we approach the assassin, his speeder suddenly picks up speed again.
He must have spotted us.
A blaster shot suddenly rings out up ahead, the bolt whizzing right over our heads. The speeder spins out of the way of the next several shots fired as we dodge in between another traffic lane, slowly gaining ground on the assassin. He swerves around a few buildings in front of us, so we lose sight of him.
Our speeder moves faster, zipping around another large building and through a few more lanes of traffic, taking a shortcut. One more turn, and the assassin's fleeing speeder comes into view again.
As a barrage of blaster bolts begin raining down around us again, I activate my lightsaber, deflecting the ones that come too close – which isn't very many considering all the twists and turns we're taking. Obi-Wan is lucky he's not here.
Another bolt nearly takes off Anakin's head, which I attempt to deflect but our speeder suddenly jerks out of the way, nearly causing me to decapitate him instead.
"Be careful," Anakin warns.
"Your crazy flying is making that difficult," I grumble, ducking another bolt as we continue to whiz along.
As the chase continues, we continue to gain ground on the assassin. He stops shooting, instead turning his focus on attempting to escape for now, probably realizing that shooting at us wasn't helping anything. Our pursuit is slowly leading us towards the underworld. I'm sure he has his hideout somewhere around there, so that's not surprising.
As we get closer, an idea forms in my mind. "Excuse me for a moment," I call, climbing to my feet and leaping through the air, landing on the back of the assassin's speeder up ahead. Just then, he zooms forwards faster than I even thought possible.
The speeder jolts, nearly throwing me off, but I manage to catch on the back end of it. The speeder swings about wildly, as he attempts to slam me into the wall of a nearby building. I swing out of the way barely in time, and then drag myself up onto the back of it again. He would have been able to knock off any human, but luckily for me, Togrutas are extremely agile.
He turns, attempting to fire a shot at me. On instinct, I Force-shove his arm to the side, and the blaster bolt goes off inside the speeder, striking the engine. A minor explosion shakes the craft, and it sways wildly out of control, rapidly descending towards the ground as flames begin to lick out of the engine. This whole thing is going to be going up in flames in moments at this rate.
Suddenly I sense danger screaming through the Force as several blaster bolts whiz towards me. I attempt to duck out of the way but lose my grip on the speeder in the process. And fall... down... down... down... before landing on the back of another oh-so-familiar speeder.
"You okay, Snips?" asks Anakin as I pull myself back into the passenger seat and we go in pursuit of the crashing craft not far up ahead.
"I'm fine," I groan. By the time we get around the next couple buildings and avoid a few more lanes of traffic, the speeder has already crashed and is laying in smoking ruins. People are scrambling about, attempting to stay out of its way as they continue with their business.
We jump out of our speeder and approach it. There are no signs of the assassin anywhere in sight. He must've already escaped. I pause, closing my eyes and reaching out into the Force, trying to determine which way we should go now. I think I feel the assassin close by, but even more than that – all I feel is danger.
A sudden Force-shove from Anakin knocks me aside barely in time as an explosion rips through the ground around us. I hastily sit up, taking in the scene. The explosion, presumably from a grenade thrown by the assassin, hit near our speeder. It has sustained some very visible damage, though we could probably still fly it – at least back to Padme's apartment. Anakin is standing up nearby.
I glance up just in time to see another suspicious fleeing speeder disappearing between the buildings. But now, there's nothing we can do.
**w**
"Did you get anywhere?" Obi-Wan asks as we walk into the living room. Padme has already left for the Senate in a different speeder – of course because she wouldn't miss whatever important vote she had to go to, even though she almost got killed this morning.
"No, he got away," I grumble, taking a seat on the couch.
"I expect the attack was ordered by Sidious," Obi-Wan declares.
"We don't know that for sure," I point out, "Many people have wanted Padme dead before, like Ziro. But it's still likely, and we have to be careful."
"We actually might have an idea where to go," Anakin interjects. "He was heading off to the underworld, and we'd have to see if there's a way to track him from there. I got a pretty good look at him too, so I'd be able to recognize him if I saw him. It couldn't be that hard. I can go."
I shake my head. "No, we can't be obvious about it. You'd be recognized. I'll have to go, and I'll have to go alone."
He frowns, clearly not happy at this. "She's right," Obi-Wan agrees after a moment.
"We don't know what we're dealing with," Anakin argues, "I expect this was ordered by Sidious."
"I'll be careful," I reassure him, "It's the best we can do for now, and we can't let police investigate this. They never get anywhere. And with the war going on, I doubt the Jedi would be able to do anything either."
Anakin sighs reluctantly but doesn't argue. "You're right. You can take my speeder."
"Somehow, I think that might look a little out of place in the underworld," I point out, "I'll see if there's anything I can buy."
We need to try to find the assassin, and we're the only ones who could do it. And we can't wait, especially if Sidious is involved. I need to leave now.