Chapter Two:

The elevator continued going up until it stopped abruptly. Caught off guard, the Jedi stumbled. Then, the elevator dropped. Obi-wan pressed a button on his comlink.

"R2, what are you doing? We should be going up, not down." Obi-wan said. "R2!"

The elevator stopped, then went back up again.

"Much better." Obi-wan said. Above, a pair of battle droids peered down the elevator shaft. One of the droids spotted the speeding elevator.

"Uh-oh!" He said, just before the elevator crushed him and his friend. Then, the elevator stopped. Exasperated, Obi-wan commed R2 again, as Anakin and Siri looked at each other in puzzlement.

"R2, get the elevator moving." Obi-wan said. In the com, R2 beeped back a negative.

"The elevator's out of order? Force!" Obi-wan cursed. Anakin activated his lightsaber and cut a hole on the elevator ceiling. The chunk of metal fell on the floor with a clang and Anakin leaped out. Obi-wan and Siri leaped up behind him. Then, Anakin leaped up again to the wall and stabbed it. Then, he leaped to the other side, going up.

'Hmm….We are going to have to saberjump up there then.' Obi-wan thought. He and Siri ignited their lightsabers and saberleaped after Anakin. Once they arrived at the level, Anakin used the Force to open the elevator doors. The doors slid open and the Jedi leaped inside. There, waiting for them, was Chancellor Palpatine, restrained to a chair.

"Are you all right, Chancellor?" Obi-wan asked.

"Count Dooku." The Chancellor said shortly. Sure enough, Count Dooku was standing on the balcony, accompanied by a pair of super battle droids. Dooku leaped from the balcony on to the floor and took out his lightsaber. Siri, Anakin, and Obi-wan did the same.

"Your swords please. We wouldn't want to make a mess in front of the Chancellor, do we?" Dooku said. Three snap-hisses of lightsabers confirmed Dooku's challenge. He ignited his own red lightsaber. The three Jedi swung on the Count. But being an accomplished swordsman, Dooku parried them all. The Jedi tried to expose any openings on Dooku, but he didn't allow any. Siri thrust her lightsaber in an attempt to stab the Count, but he somersaulted over Siri and started to slash her in the back, only to be stopped by Obi-wan. Then, Dooku used the Force and lifted Obi-wan off the floor and threw him on Siri. Caught off guard, Siri toppled as an unconscious Obi-wan crashed into her. Then, Dooku lowered an overhead platform and pinned it on the pair. Anakin, left to duel Dooku alone, switched to an offensive mode. He and Dooku traded lightsaber slashes and swings, with Anakin slowly forcing Dooku to give ground. But as Dooku was about to swing downwards, Anakin slid behind Dooku, brought his lightsaber in front of the Sith Lord and swung upwards, severing both of Dooku's arms. Anakin caught Dooku's lightsaber and brought him to his knees.

"Good, Good…Now kill him."Palpatine sneered.

Anakin wasn't sure if he should kill the Separatist leader. It wasn't the Jedi way.

"I-I shouldn't. It's not the Jedi way." Anakin said.

"Do it!" The Chancellor insisted.

Anakin didn't want to disobey the Chancellor, so he beheaded Dooku with the lightsabers. The body fell on the floor. Anakin extinguished the lightsabers and dropped Dooku's on the floor, landing with a resounded thud.

"You have done well, Anakin." The Chancellor said. Anakin used the Force to unlock the Chancellor's restraints then rushed to an unconscious Obi-wan.

"A little help here?" Siri said. Anakin Force-lifted the broken platform off of Siri and Obi-wan and picked up Obi-wan. Then Anakin picked up Obi-wan's lightsaber and clipped it to his belt. Siri stood up and retrieved her lightsaber.

"Good job, Anakin." Siri said tentatively, seeing Dooku's body. Then she followed Anakin and the Chancellor out of the room. Meanwhile, the Republic cruiser "Guarlara" was firing side by side with the "Invisible Hand." The Separatist tried to fend off the Venator, but "Guarlara" proved victorious and the "Invisible Hand" started to nose dive. As it nosed down, Anakin, Siri, and Palpatine had reached the elevator shaft. Just in time, the group entered the shaft as the Separatist ship went vertical. With the elevator shaft horizontal, the Jedi and Chancellor ran as fast as they could to the escape pod bay. But then, the "Invisible Hand" started to right itself, causing Anakin, Siri, and the Chancellor to slide on the wall. They caught some wires on the wall and stopped sliding as the shaft returned to being vertical. Obi-wan then came to.

"Wait…What?" Obi-wan croaked. Then he noticed he was in the elevator shaft. "What's going on?"

"Dooku's finished, the Chancellor is back with us, and you managed to temporarily cut the blood pressure off my legs." Siri briefed. "Now we're going to the escape pods. Too bad you made me miss the fun."

Anakin saw an opening on the side and let go. Obi-wan felt his stomach lurch as he fell a few meters, then stopped, Anakin catching the edge. Then, Anakin hoisted himself and Obi-wan up and dropped him. Siri and the Chancellor fell and entered too. They dashed down the hallway when a ray shield activated, imprisoning the group.

"R2, get to the escape pod bay." Anakin said. R2 beeped an affirmative and shut of the comlink. Siri, getting a bright idea, activated her lightsaber and cut a hole on the floor around the group. They all fell to the lower level, meeting R2 there. Siri then launched all of the escape pods but one. She opened the other and climbed in.

"Get in you guys. Mission completed." Siri said, offering a seat to the others. Anakin and Obi-wan looked at each other and shrugged. They, R2, and the Chancellor climbed in. Siri shut the door and launched the escape pod. The pod blasted from the side of the Separatist ship and headed for the nearest Republic ship…

TBC…