Chapter 12: Terror In The Temple
"There he is, Master," Anakin said, nodding toward the building below them as he swung their ship around the top of Obi-Wan's residential building and down toward the landing platform. He sighed deeply, more than a little relieved, as he saw Obi-Wan raise his arm and wave up at them, his long, brown cloak flapping in the breeze that cut across the platform.
Obi-Wan looked up and watched as Anakin fired the breaking thrusters and lowered the landing gear on their transport, sending huge swirls of the dust that settled from Coruscant's late afternoon air into the air around him, as he dropped their transport onto the platform next to his own ship. He narrowed his eyes and shielded them with his hand, as he started to trot toward the ship as the entry ramp began to drop down toward the dark black platform. Obi-Wan's boots only barely touched the top step, as he leapt up on the ramp, grabbing hold of the handrail as he pulled himself quickly into the ship.
Obi-Wan stopped, quickly, just as Anakin stood up from the pilot's chair and took several long strides toward him, and then embraced him tightly. "You're a sight for sore eyes, Master," Anakin said, releasing his former master from his embrace after a moment and leaning back so that he could see him, holding his shoulders tightly. "It's great to see you."
"It's good to see you, too, Anakin," Obi-Wan nodded, as Anakin walked toward the access panel near the door and tapped the controls quickly. As the entry ramp began to close, Obi-Wan turned his attention toward Yoda, who sat in the copilot's seat, looking over his shoulder at him with a grin.
"You're late, Master," Obi-Wan smirked, taking a step toward the cockpit and standing behind Yoda's seat, as Anakin engaged the throttle, and they started to lift off the landing platform again. "I beat you here by a full thirty minutes."
"Trouble, Anakin and I had, with the navigational computer," Yoda said with a smirk and a nod, as Anakin glanced over at him with a grin. "If a decent repairman, I had had," Yoda said, looking over at Anakin slyly, "then been here long ago, I would have."
"Thanks, Master," Anakin nodded, just as he pushed the throttle, sending them speeding off through Coruscant's skyline.
Obi-Wan felt his stomach churn a bit, watching out of the cockpit window as Anakin started to weave in and out of the massive buildings as he fell into the speeding lines of traffic that snaked constantly through the city. "I think I need to sit down," he said, holding his stomach for a moment, as he took a step toward the empty seat beside Yoda. "I'd forgotten how Anakin flies, before we boarded the Imperial Hand."
Anakin shook his head, chuckling quietly to himself, as Obi-Wan looked back toward Yoda. "So, Master," he said, as he slipped his arms out of his long, brown cloak, tossing it onto the seat beside him, "what's the plan?"
"Discussing that, Anakin and I were, only a moment ago," Yoda nodded, as Anakin piloted them quickly across the city's skyline. "Another transport, we will need," he said, his large, round eyes fixed on the view screen as he spoke, "if we are to approach the Temple undetected."
"Padmé said that Palpatine has the Temple secured, and that he's not letting anyone in or out," Anakin said. "We scanned it, on the way into the city, and she was right."
"There's about eight troop transports on the landing pad, and at least twenty clone troopers standing guard there, and at every entrance to the building," Anakin continued, as Obi-Wan listened intently. "There's no way we're getting into that building undetected in this ship," he said, shaking his head. "They'd shoot us down before we even got close to the building."
"So I'm assuming that we're looking for a military transport, then," Obi-Wan nodded. "Something that wouldn't tip the troopers off when we land."
"Exactly," Anakin nodded in reply, as Obi-Wan looked back at him, curiously.
"So where do we look for a transport?" Obi-Wan asked, tilting his head curiously. "It's not like we can just drop by the military depot in the old industrial section and say 'Mind if we borrow one of these? We promise we'll wash it when we bring it back.'"
"Master Yoda has an idea about that," Anakin grinned, slyly. "We should be there shortly," he said, and then Anakin turned his attention back to the controls, as he whipped them quickly out of the main flow of traffic, and toward the outer edges of the city's main populated areas.
The afternoon sun glinted brightly off the hull of their transport as Anakin banked it hard to the right, as he cleared the last few massive buildings. Obi-Wan looked out of the cockpit window, a look of surprise spreading across his face, as he looked down at the landscape as Anakin leveled their ship and headed down toward the gas fields below them.
"I'd hoped we'd seen the last of this thing," Obi-Wan sighed, as he recognized the site that lay below him.
"At least this time it's already on the ground, Master," Anakin said, and then he turned and looked out of the cockpit window toward the hull of the Imperial Hand as he brought them down toward the massive wreck as it lay, still smoking, strewn across the gas fields where he and Obi-Wan had brought it down only a few days before.
Obi-Wan looked down toward the wreck site below them, as they passed over the length of its hull, as Anakin cut the throttle and slowed their decent; he could see the maintenance crews working to dismantle the ship's hull, and he scanned the site with his eyes quickly as they passed over it. He looked, with keen interest, at the massive breach on the ship's starboard side, where the reactor decks had exploded; it was nothing short of a miracle that he and Anakin were still here.
"You're right, Master," Obi-Wan said, looking back toward Yoda with a grin. "It seems to be mostly private maintenance crews handling the clean up," he said. "Only a handful of military ships, at most."
"Inconsequential, this ship is now," Yoda said with a nod, scanning the site with his eyes, searching for a prime candidate as they passed over the Hand's twisted hull. "Light, the military presence should be," he said, as Obi-Wan stood up and looked over his shoulder.
"Simple, it should be," Yoda nodded, "to appropriate a small ship, and to do so quietly," he said, as they neared the forward part of the wreck as they passed quickly over it's hull.
"What about that one there, Master?" Anakin asked, as he pointed toward the small transport that rested a short distance from the Imperial Hand's main command deck.
Obi-Wan and Yoda both turned their attention to the ship that Anakin had selected; it appeared to be a small gunship, lightly armored and, most likely, quite fast. Only a handful of private workers stood near it, and they could see the bright white armor of the two clone troopers that stood guard near it's access ramp, the short, bright white plumes of cooling gas venting from its engines underneath its wings.
"Serve us well, that might indeed," Yoda said with a nod, and Anakin swung their ship hard right and began to bring them quickly down toward the ground behind a group of small buildings that stood not far from the ship in question.
"Obi-Wan," Yoda said, as Anakin reached over and fired the breaking thrusters on their ship and lowered their landing gear, "Speak with Senator Organa, we must. Need his help, we will, if successful this rescue attempt is to be," Yoda said, turning his eyes back toward the cockpit window as Anakin dropped them softly to the ground and cut the ship's engines.
"I'll get him on the comm station now, Master," Obi-Wan nodded, as he walked back to the passenger's compartment of their transport.
"But how are we going to contact him?" Obi-Wan asked, curiously, folding his arms over his chest and leaning against the bulkhead as Anakin stood up and walked into the back of the ship to join him. "I thought that Sidious had locked down the Senate," he said. "He's surely going to be monitoring any of the communications that any of the senators try to make right now."
"Senator Organa has one of Master Windu's encryption keys, Master," Anakin said, sitting down and activating the communications station as Yoda walked slowly into the passenger compartment to join them. "Padmé gave us his key code a while ago," he said, as he slipped the small encryption key he'd just pulled from his belt into the console and engaged the transmitter.
"With any luck," Anakin sighed, "he should be waiting to hear from us."
Bail Organa sat in his study, his chair turned toward the window behind his desk, his hands folded across his chest, as he stared thoughtfully out of the window, watching the first of Coruscant's suns slip slowly below the horizon.
He sighed, deeply, as he watched the buildings in the distance darken as the sun's rays cast an orange hue to the late afternoon sky. How did we let this happen, Bail thought to himself, shaking his head slowly as he reflected on the events of the past few years that had led them to the place where they now found themselves.
The events had seemed innocent enough, at the time, but he realized now that, from that moment when Palpatine had placed himself in the position of Chancellor, that the man who he now knew to be the greatest enemy that the Republic had ever encountered had manipulated all of them, played them for fools, as he had controlled the events that brought them to this dark, empty page of the Republic's history. He felt used, betrayed in a way that he never had before; and, though his wife had told him otherwise, he felt at least some responsibility for the deaths of Master Windu and the Jedi who had tried to stop Palpatine. He would have to find some way, somehow, to help those in the Order that were still alive, if Padmé were able to get in touch with them. He hoped, with all of his heart, that she would.
He turned quickly in his chair, somewhat startled, as he heard the door to his study suddenly fling open, as his wife burst into the room.
"Bail," Breha said, walking quickly into her husband's study, as he stood up from behind his desk and looked at her intently, "you're receiving an urgent call," she said, as she watched him walk quickly out from behind his desk.
"Do you know who it's from?" Bail asked, as they both started to walk quickly back toward the door of his study.
"No," she said, shaking her head, her long hair moving about her shoulders as she walked beside him. "But they're using Master Windu's encryption key."
Bail placed his arm gently behind Breha's shoulders, as he followed her through the door, nodding his head. "Come on," he said, and the two of them walked quickly down the hallway toward the com station in their main living area, and whoever it was that was trying to contact them.
Anakin, Yoda, and Obi-Wan all watched as Bail's image appeared on the holopad in front of them.
"Senator Organa," Yoda said, nodding his head slowly, as he held his small cane in his lap as he sat on the bench in front of the small table, "pleased I am, indeed, to see you."
"As I am to see you, Master Yoda," Bail said with a relieved sigh, nodding his head slowly. "When we heard about Master Windu and the Council," he said, solemnly, "we feared that we had lost you, as well."
"I trust that Padmé was successful in relaying my information to you?" Bail asked, his countenance growing more concerned as he spoke.
"Indeed," Yoda said, nodding his head. "Very resourceful, young Skywalker's companion is," he said. "Walked into a trap, we would have, if contacted us, she had not."
"As I had feared you might," Bail said, nodding his head. "How can I help you, Master Yoda?" Bail asked. "I, my family, and all of my resources are at your disposal."
"Thank you, Senator," Yoda said, and then he paused and took a long, deep breath. "Require your assistance, we do," he said after a moment, as Anakin and Obi-Wan looked on, as they sat on either side of Yoda.
"Attempting a rescue of those still in the Temple, we are," Yoda said, as Bail listened intently. "Need your assistance, we will, if successful that attempt is," he said.
"How can I help, Master Yoda?" Bail asked, as they all watched his image flicker on the holopad.
"Transports, we will need," Yoda said, "if able to liberate any of those in the Temple, we are," he said. "Obtain these, can you, and have them ready should we need them?"
"Certainly," Bail said, nodding his head as his blue-green image flickered again. "I can have as many as we need," he said.
"We're most likely not going to be able to have you land on the main platform," Anakin said, as Bail turned his attention toward him. "You're going to need to be ready to come in fast, and wherever we can manage an exit."
"Not a problem," Bail replied, shaking his head. "I can have the transports waiting near the Temple," he said. "I'll stand by on the comlink until I hear from you in regards to where you need them."
Anakin and Obi-Wan both looked at Yoda, and watched as he nodded his head slowly and took another deep breath. "Contact you we will, then," Yoda said, "as soon as we have entered the Temple," he said.
"Understood, Master Yoda," Bail said, nodding his head. "And if there's anything else that I can do to help," he said, "please let me know." Bail paused a moment, and then took a deep breath. "I can't help but feel that what I'm doing is painfully insignificant, in light of the circumstances."
"We appreciate your help more than you know, Senator," Obi-Wan said, nodding his head slowly. "Our list of allies has grown extremely thin in recent days."
"Perhaps on the surface, Master Kenobi," Bail said, as he turned his attention toward Obi-Wan's bearded face. "But please believe me when I say that there are many of us who stand with you, and will, in any way that we can."
The three Jedi sat quietly for a moment, and then Yoda finally spoke. "Contact you shortly, we will, Senator," he said, "if successful we are in reaching the Temple."
"Very well," Bail said, nodding his head again. "I'll get the transports arranged, and I'll look to hear from you soon," Bail said, and then he paused for a moment. "And all of my hopes go with you."
Yoda nodded his head again, and then they all watched as Bail's image flickered for a moment, and then faded.
"Very well," Yoda said, as he sighed deeply as he stood up and turned to regard his two companions for a moment, resting his hands on his cane. "Time it is," he said, nodding his head, "our transport, to obtain."
Anakin and Obi-Wan stood just behind Yoda, looking out of the front of the maintenance building toward the small gunship, and the individuals who stood near it.
They had gained entry to the building from the rear, and had made their way to the front where they now stood. Thankfully, they had found the building empty, and they stood silently as they watched the two maintenance technicians as they worked on the plasma cutting torch a short distance from the ship.
"The workers won't be a problem, Master," Obi-Wan said, watching the two troopers that stood near them, their blaster rifles held securely at their chests. "But getting those two troopers without setting off some kind of alarm could be a bit of challenge."
Yoda watched the two clone troopers that stood near the ship, watching the maintenance workers, for a long moment, and then he turned his attention back to his companions.
"Wait here," Yoda said, as he glanced up at Anakin, and then to Obi-Wan, as the two of them stepped back into the shadows on either side of the doorway. "Bring these two to you, I will," he said, as he turned his small, determined expression back toward the two troopers that stood near the ship.
Anakin and Obi-Wan nodded, and they both leaned forward a bit and watched with keen interest as Yoda walked slowly through the doorway of the maintenance building, his tiny cane tapping on the ground as he walked out a short distance from the building and then stopped, resting his hands on his cane as he watched the two troopers intently.
"If I didn't know better," Obi-Wan sighed, glancing back at Anakin across the hallway, "I'd almost think that Master Yoda is taking this whole thing personally."
Anakin took a long, deep breath as he watched Yoda for a moment, and then sighed as he nodded his head slowly. "Master Windu was his closest friend, Master," he said, looking up at Obi-Wan. "Could you really blame him if he was?"
Obi-Wan stood quietly for a second or two, and then turned his gaze back toward Yoda, as he stood silently, watching the two troopers as they stood watching the two workers repair the torch, their backs to him. "No," he said, shaking his head slowly. "I don't believe I would."
They both gripped the hilts of their sabers tightly, as they watched Yoda intently. "Remember," Anakin said, "if we have to kill them, go for the dark material, just below their arm, behind their chest plate," he said, as he looked back at Obi-Wan. "It won't look very convincing if there's a huge saber hole in that white armor."
Obi-Wan nodded his head, slowly, and they both watched as Yoda rapped his cane loudly on the hard ground, clearing his throat loudly, as he suddenly called out to the group that stood near the gunship.
"Looking for me, were you?" Yoda called loudly, and he watched with a smile as the troopers and maintenance workers turned around, suddenly, and looked at the tiny Jedi in shocked surprise.
"Hey!" one of the guards cried out, as he looked at the small, green skinned stranger in surprise. "That building's off limits," he said, as he watched Yoda turn around quickly and, chuckling loudly to himself, began to walk quickly back into the maintenance building.
"Many interesting things, there are, in these buildings," Yoda chuckled loudly, as he glanced back over his shoulder toward the surprised troopers. "Surprised, you would be, to see them, hmmm?"
The two maintenance workers looked up at the troopers as they started toward the building after Yoda. "Stay here," one of the troopers said, gesturing toward the workers as they both stood up and watched, curiously. "We'll go and get him," he said, as they both started to run toward the building. "If we're not back in five minutes, then get to the next command post and bring some help."
The larger of the two workers shook his head, as he watched the troopers run toward the building, just as the small, green individual with the exceptionally large ears disappeared through the doorway into the darkness. "What do you think all that's about?" he asked, turning his attention to his smaller companion.
"Probably just some little weirdo out searching for trinkets to barter in the red zone," he said, shaking his head as he knelt back beside the plasma torch and returned to his work. "Small as he was, they won't have any trouble rounding him up."
The larger worker watched as the two troopers dashed through the doorway, and started to turn his attention back toward his companion; they both looked up, for a moment, as they heard a loud commotion inside the building, and looked at each other curiously as the noise suddenly died again.
"What do you suppose that was?" the smaller worker asked, turning his attention back toward the doorway; it remained hauntingly silent.
"Is everything okay in there?" the larger worker shouted, as they both looked curiously toward the maintenance building's dark doorway.
"Yeah," they heard a voice call from the darkness. "Everything's fine, we found him," the voice called with a laugh. "He put up a pretty good fight, to be such a little guy, but we've got him. We'll be out in a minute."
The two workers looked at each other and laughed, shaking their heads, as they turned and went back to repairing their plasma torch. "We've got to get this thing fixed," the smaller of the two said, "or we're never going to make quota for today."
Anakin and Obi-Wan both looked at each other for a moment; neither trooper moved a muscle, and they looked back at Yoda as he took a step toward them and handed the two blaster rifles to his companions.
"Remembered well, your hand-to-hand combat training, the two of you have," Yoda said with a grin, as he looked up at his two heavily breathing companions, as they took the blaster rifles from him.
"Now," Yoda said, looking up at them, his long ears perking up as he spoke, "time it is, I believe, to put on your new uniforms," he said, "and take your prisoner in for questioning."
The two maintenance workers turned and watched, with great amusement, as they saw the two troopers walk through the doorway of the maintenance building toward them. The small, green-skinned fellow between them kicked his feet and shook his long ears angrily, protesting loudly, as they held him tightly by his arms between them, dragging him forcefully across the ground toward the small gunship.
"Hey, Nate," the larger of the two workers said with a laugh, as he elbowed his friend, "take a look at this little fireball," he said, as they both started to laugh at the comical display before them. "You every seen anybody so small make that much noise?"
"Innocent I am, I tell you," the little green fellow chided loudly, as he kicked his large, three-toed feet and swung between the two troopers as they struggled to drag him toward the ship. "Mine, those things are! Found them, I did," he shouted, "fair and square!"
"Yeah, yeah," the trooper on the left said, as he held tightly to the angry little fellow's arm with one hand, as he swung the large, brown sack up and over his shoulder with the other. "You can tell it to the Chancellor when you see him," he said, as the little green fellow looked up at him with disgust.
Anakin struggled to keep himself from laughing, as he watched, through his helmet, as Yoda turned his head and gave Obi-Wan one of the loudest raspberries he'd ever heard; Padmé's never going to believe this, he thought to himself. He'd never seen Yoda put on such a show, and a more convincing one, he couldn't possibly have imagined. It was all that he and Obi-Wan could do to hold onto him as he thrashed about wildly.
"PPPhhhhththtbbtttt!" Yoda sprayed through his teeth, as he looked up at Obi-Wan, kicking his feet wildly. "Thieves and hoodlums, the two of you are," Yoda exclaimed loudly. "Nothing but a pile of poodoo!"
"Got your hands full there, don't you?" the larger worker said with a laugh, as he watched the little green fellow thrash wildly.
"Yeah, he's a handful," the trooper on the right said with a nod. "But nothing we can't handle."
"Whatcha got in the bag, there?" Nate, the smaller of the two workers asked, gesturing to the large brown sack that the trooper on the little fellow's left carried on his shoulder.
"Just some stuff he was trying to steal," the trooper said, as they both drug the little fellow, kicking and protesting wildly, toward the entry ramp of the ship. "We're gonna take him down for questioning," the trooper said, as they walked past the workers and made their way, as quickly as they could with their thrashing little prisoner, up the entry ramp toward the ship.
"Steal?" Yoda exclaimed, angrily, as they drug him up the ramp. "Mine, those things were! Found them, fair and square, I did!"
"Yeah, you've told us that one," the trooper on the left said, as two workers laughed as they watched the two troopers struggle to drag the angry little fellow into the ship, and then press the button on the control panel on the bulkhead.
"Bantha poodoo, the both of you are, picking on one as old as I!" the two workers heard the little fellow exclaim angrily, as the ship's ramp began to close slowly. "Pick on someone your own size, you should! Eight hundred and seventy years old am I! Pppthththbbbttt!"
They took a step back and shielded their eyes as they laughed, as the ship's entry ramp closed just as its main engines fired. It rose up into the air, turning slowly, its thrusters kicking huge plumes of dust into the air around it, and then rocketed off into the air toward the city.
"That's got to be one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time," Nate said, as he wiped his eyes and knelt back beside the torch, as he and his friend chuckled quietly and went back to work.
"Mistress Padmé," Threepio exclaimed excitedly, as he walked hurriedly into the ship, waving his arms excitedly as she turned to face him from her seat in the pilot's chair, "Masters Ruwee and Darred have returned with the core you requested," he said. "They're bringing it aboard the ship now."
"Good," Padmé said, as she stood up and walked over to Threepio's side, as she heard her father and brother-in-law wheel the cart up the ship's ramp. She watched them, as they brought the rather large, heavy computer core down the access hallway toward the cockpit.
"Where do you want it, sweetheart?" Ruwee asked, looking over his shoulder at her as he drug the cart into the cockpit, its wheels clattering loudly off of the metal decking as it rolled along. Darred pushed it from behind, and Sola followed closely behind him, with Ryoo and Pooja tagging along, their young faces both excited and concerned at all of this commotion.
"Bring it over here, Dad," Padmé said, gesturing toward the corner of the cockpit where Artoo normally sat, not far from the comm station. Artoo turned and wheeled himself out of the way, as Ruwee and Darred pushed the cart over toward the corner, and then took hold of the huge, round core.
"Ready?" Ruwee said, looking across the core at Darred, as they both gripped the ends of the massive storage unit tightly. "On three," he said. "One… two… three…"
Sola came and stood close by Padmé's side, as they watched the two men groan loudly, and then lift the core off of the cart and place it, with a heavy thud, on the decking near the comm station.
Ruwee stood up, slowly, and placed his hands on his back as he shook his head. "That thing's heavy," he panted, as he turned and watched Padmé walk up to the core and examine it closely.
"You're right about that," Darred said, rubbing his hands slowly as he watched Artoo roll up and watch as Padmé opened the wiring panel on the side of the core and pull out the long interface cables. "Now what is it again, exactly, that we're going to do with this thing?"
"We're going to use it to store some very valuable information, Darred," Padmé said, as she closed the wiring panel and tossed the cables over on the floor near the open access panel in the ship's bulkhead. "Information that we can't let be destroyed," she said, as she stood up and looked at him thoughtfully.
She watched as Artoo rolled quickly over and extending his pincers, picking the cables up off the floor. "Okay, Artoo," she said, nodding at her faithful little astrodroid. "We don't have much time," she said, as she watched him turn toward the open access panel. "We need this thing online as fast as you can manage it."
"What kind of information is it, Aunt Padmé?" Pooja said, as she looked up at her aunt with a curious, apprehensive expression.
"All of the very important information that's stored in the Jedi Temple archives," Padmé said, looking back at her niece's curious face.
"But why do we have to save it here?" Ryoo asked, as he looked up at his aunt from the spot where he stood at his mother's side. "Is something going to happen to it at the Temple?"
"Yes," Padmé said quietly, nodding her head as she looked at her nephew's worried face. "Something's happening at the Temple."
"Is it something bad, Aunt Padmé?" Ryoo asked quietly, his small face looking up at her.
"Yes, Ryoo," Padmé sighed, softly. "It's something very bad. That's why we're doing this for Uncle Anakin."
Padmé turned and looked at Sola, the two of them exchanging worried glances for a moment, and then they both looked back at Artoo as he worked to connect the core to the ship's computer, as quickly as he could.
Anakin sat in the copilot's seat, watching as Obi-Wan brought their newly appropriated gunship quickly up through the last thick lane of speeder traffic as they headed directly toward the Temple. He looked out the cockpit window, as Yoda came and stood between them, watching over Anakin's shoulder as the Temple grew quickly in the window as they approached it, its tall spires gleaming, a mixture of brilliant white and gold, in the late afternoon sun.
"Now's where we find out if anyone's noticed that this ship went missing in the last fifteen minutes," Anakin said, looking over his shoulder at Yoda, as the tiny Jedi nodded his head as he looked out at the Temple ahead of them.
Anakin and Yoda glanced over at Obi-Wan as he spoke. "Hopefully," he said, as he nosed their ship up as he began his approach to the main landing platform on the east side of the Temple, "that room was far enough back where it'll be some time tomorrow before anyone hears those two yelling for help."
The three of them turned and watched in nervous silence, as Obi-Wan backed off the throttle and started their descent down to the landing platform; they could see the troopers that milled about on the dark black surface near the rows of troop transports that lined both sides of the platform.
"I never thought I'd see the day," Obi-Wan said with a long, deep sigh as Anakin and Yoda turned their attention toward him again, "that we'd have to consider sneaking into our own Temple."
"Or fighting our way out of it," Anakin sighed, as he turned and watched the setting sun glint brightly off the spire nearest them as they descended slowly toward the platform.
"I guess we'd better get these back on," Anakin said after a long pause, as he reached down and picked up the two helmets that sat on the deck next to the copilot's seat, and Yoda watched as he handed one of them to Obi-Wan, and then turned the one in his hand around so that he could see its faceplate clearly.
"I don't know how these guys manage to shoot anything," Anakin said, shaking his head disgustedly, and Obi-Wan turned and watched his young friend with a grin as he placed the helmet on his head, twisting it gingerly as he tried to get it on correctly over his long blonde hair.
Obi-Wan laughed, shaking his head as he watched Anakin shrug his shoulders as he tapped the side of his helmet several times near the earpiece. "I can't see a thing in this helmet," he heard Anakin's tinny voice say, as he reached up and twisted it around again, grunting with displeasure as he did so.
"Hopefully," Obi-Wan said, turning his attention back to the cockpit window as he placed his own on his head as they started their final descent to the platform below, "you won't have to wear it much longer."
Commander Bartellow stood silently, watching as the small gunship dropped its landing gear and fired its breaking thrusters, rotating slowly as it settled down on the Temple's landing platform. He turned and motioned to the eight troopers that stood behind him, and they started quickly across the platform toward the ship, as its entry ramp began to descend quickly toward the dark, black platform.
He raised his hand, and the detachment behind him stopped as they watched the two troopers step quickly down the entry ramp, dragging the small, green skinned individual between them.
Commander Bartellow watched, somewhat amused, as the two troopers stepped down onto the platform and approached him, as the large-eared individual between them struggled vainly to free himself. "What have we got here?" Bartellow asked, as the two troopers stopped for a moment as they approached him.
"We caught this one over by the recovery site," Anakin said, calmly, as he watched Bartellow look down at Yoda, as the little Jedi Master looked up at him with a look of utter contempt. "He was stealing stuff from one of the maintenance buildings," Anakin said, gesturing toward the brown 'sack' that hung over Obi-Wan's shoulder.
"We're taking him in now, for questioning," Obi-Wan said, nodding his head as Bartellow turned his attention toward him. "We think he may have some information that could be useful in our current search for the remaining Jedi," he said, as he watched the commander and his detachment eye them carefully for a moment.
"Very well," Bartellow said, finally, as he watched Yoda struggle to free himself again. "Take him down to the dormitory levels," the commander said, nodding over his shoulder, as he turned and motioned toward the main entrance. "Any prisoners are supposed to be held there as they're brought in. Chancellor's orders."
"Yes, sir," Anakin nodded, and then he and Obi-Wan tugged on Yoda's arms, as they dragged him, still kicking and grunting in protest, toward the ornate entry doors to the Temple's main levels.
Bartellow watched them, for a long moment, as they opened the door and took their struggling captive down the hallway, and then disappeared around the corner.
Anakin, Yoda, and Obi-Wan stopped suddenly, as they rounded the corner; they all stood in shock for a moment, in horrified silence, at the terrible site that lay before them.
The Temple's once peaceful and ornate hallways looked like the battlefield of some distant planet, after the hostilities had long ceased; the bodies of several young Jedi Knights lay strewn across the ornate marble floors, their weapons lying on the cold, stone floor near them, intermingled with those of the unfortunate Temple workers that they had obviously been trying to protect.
Anakin swallowed hard as he took in the terrible scene, and then turned and looked at Obi-Wan as the two of them released Yoda's arms and stood in stunned silence beside him for a long moment.
Yoda could sense the wave of despair that surged through his two companion's hearts; it was the very same despair that threatened to overcome him now, as well. He took a long, deep breath, as he reached deeply into the Force to calm himself, and then looked back up quickly at his two companions as they stood quietly beside him.
"Hurry we must," Yoda said, his own voice betraying the sorrow that flowed through him as he took in the terrible sight. "No time, have we, for our sorrows at the moment," he said, as he stepped carefully over the lightsaber that lay on the floor before him.
"Get to the Temple's archives we must," Yoda said. "The evidence of what has happened here, we should be able to find, on the Temple's recorders."
Anakin stood silently for another moment, as he watched Ob-Wan and Yoda start down the hallway toward the lift that led to the archives; he took a small step, and then knelt slowly on one knee beside the body of the young Jedi in front of him, reaching over and picking up the saber that lay on the ornate marble floor only a short distance from the boy's hand.
He squeezed the weapon tightly in his hand, as he turned and looked at the boy's face; he couldn't be more than eighteen years old, Anakin estimated, as he looked at him lying on the floor. The lad's eyes stared blankly up at him, a look of terror and fear still on his young face, his mouth still open, frozen in time as the boy had either cried out in fear or gasped for his last breath. Anakin took a deep breath, as he felt a mixture of despair and anger brewing deep inside of him. He reached over with his free hand and gently closed the boy's eyes, and then lifted the boy's arm up off of the floor; he wrapped the lad's cold fingers around the hilt of his weapon, and then laid his arm gently against his chest, covering the charred burn on his tunic. He looked at the boy for a long moment; somebody's going to pay for this, Anakin thought to himself, as he squeezed the hilt of the blaster in his hand tightly.
He looked up, finally, as he heard Obi-Wan call to him; Obi-Wan and Yoda had stopped, a short distance from him, and they stood quietly, watching him.
"Anakin," Obi-Wan said quietly, watching his young friend as he stood up slowly from the fallen boy's side, "there's nothing we can do for them. We need to get to the archives," he said. He watched, as Anakin nodded his head slowly, and then took a step toward them.
"Let's go," Anakin said somberly, as Obi-Wan and Yoda turned and started back down the hallway toward the lift. He glanced back over his shoulder, watching the hallway behind them, as the three of them made their way quickly down the long hall, their boots echoing quietly through the eerie silence of the once bustling Jedi Temple.
Anakin picked up his weapon vest from the makeshift sack that Obi-Wan had made from his cloak; he put his arm through one side, lifting it onto his shoulder, and then turned and looked back toward Obi-Wan and Yoda, as they both sat at the computer display in the dimly lit archive room.
"Have you found anything yet?" Anakin asked, as he put his other arm through his vest and tossed it up onto his shoulders over his dark brown tunic as he watched his companions at the console across the room from him.
"We're just getting into the surveillance recordings now," Obi-Wan said, as he looked down at the display on the desk where he and Yoda sat. "We should have something here in just a few minutes."
Anakin fastened the belt of his weapon vest securely around his waist, and then reached down and picked up his two lightsabers; he rolled the two smoothly polished weapons in his hands slowly as his mind drifted back, for just a moment, to the young Jedi in the entrance hall. He could still see the terrible, angry burn on the young boy's tunic where the saber had pierced his chest; he closed his eyes for a moment, and he felt his hands begin to tremble as his mind shifted to the cold, angry yellow eyes that he had seen onboard the Imperial Hand, staring out at him from under that thick, black hood. Please don't let it be him, Anakin thought to himself,as he placed the saber in his right hand into its holster at his left side. He turned around, opening his eyes slowly, and he looked at his two companions for a moment, a deeply troubled look on his young face. He sighed again, deeply, as he holstered his other weapon at his right side, and then walked over and stood directly behind Obi-Wan, watching as he scrolled quickly through the massive surveillance databases.
"There's a lot of surveillance video in here," Obi-Wan said, as he spun the small control wheel on the side of the console, advancing the recording quickly as the three Jedi watched intently. "We've just got to find where the attack began."
"It couldn't have been too long ago," Anakin said quietly, shaking his head as Yoda turned his own deeply troubled face toward him. "Rigor mortis hasn't begun to set in yet," he said, his mind drifting back to the unfortunate boy once again. "Maybe an hour, two at the most."
Obi-Wan turned his head, nodding slowly as Anakin spoke, and then he turned his eyes back toward the display and began to spin the control wheel faster, as he moved the time index quickly toward the point in time that Anakin suggested. They all watched, as the figures moved quickly on the display, a blur of motion and activity, as the recording advanced quickly in front of them.
Obi-Wan stopped the control wheel quickly, as he suddenly saw a bright flash on the display. He scrolled the wheel back a few moments, and then pressed the play button; the three of them watched, in stunned silence, as the recording began to play back the events that had transpired in the Temple's main entrance, only a few hours earlier.
"No, please, no,"Anakin said softly, shaking his head slowly as the image appeared on the display in front of them.
Anakin felt his heart begin to sink, as he saw the dark, cloaked figure rush toward the young Jedi on the screen, the brilliant crimson blade in his gloved hands flashing brightly as he swung it wildly at him, as a series of loud cries mingled with the loud, angry hums and crashes of the lightsabers that flashed on the display. He watched, as the young Jedi tried desperately to defend himself against the furious attack, as he called out frantically for help, amid the screams and shouts that filled the Temple's hallway.
Obi-Wan's mouth hung open, in stunned disbelief, as he, Yoda, and Anakin watched the horror that unfolded before them, as the small room in which they sat filled with the screams and cries that echoed from the surveillance recording.
Anakin felt his heart begin to pound in his chest; he felt a wave of nausea overtake him as he watched the young library technician cower on the floor, backing away as quickly as she could, tears streaming down her young face, as the dark, menacing, cloaked form approached her, his crimson blade glowing and humming loudly at his side. "No, no, please!" she sobbed, as the angry Sith raised his blade up high over his hooded head, "Please, I don't want to die!"
Anakin turned away from the screen, squeezing his eyes shut tightly; he felt his breath come in quick, ragged gasps as the young woman's terrified scream filled the room. He took several steps away from the control station where Obi-Wan and Yoda sat, and then leaned forward against the table that stood behind them, squeezing the edge tightly in his hands.
"That's enough, Master," Anakin said loudly, bowing his head as the screams on the surveillance video continued to fill the room. He felt himself trembling, as another wave of nausea and anguish swept over him.
"I said that's ENOUGH!" Anakin shouted suddenly, turning his head and looking over his shoulder toward the control station where his two companions sat.
Obi-Wan felt himself snap out of the nightmare that he had been watching on the display, just as he felt Yoda's small hand on his shoulder. Those images had been so horrifying, so terrible, that he hadn't heard Anakin's agonized request to stop the video's playback. He turned and looked over at Yoda, as the tiny Jedi Master looked at him for a long moment, a look of deep sorrow on his small face.
"Obi-Wan," Yoda said quietly, as they both glanced back at Anakin as he stood silently at the table behind them. "Enough, we have seen," he said, and Obi-Wan reached over with his own trembling hand and pressed the button on the console in front of him.
Obi-Wan turned around slowly in his chair, and Yoda watched him as he stood up and walked slowly over to Anakin's side and placed his hand gently on Anakin's trembling shoulder.
Their worst suspicions had been confirmed as they had watched the horrible acts of Sidious's apprentice unfold on that small display. It had never occurred to Obi-Wan, though, as they had watched that video, how terrible it must have been for Anakin to watch it.
"I'm sorry, Anakin," Obi-Wan said, his own voice trembling as he spoke. "I'm afraid that I didn't realize…"
"I know they thought it was me," Anakin said quietly, as he reached over and took hold of Obi-Wan's arm, squeezing it tightly. "Every one of those people who died out there thought that I killed them."
"Don't think like that, Anakin," Obi-Wan said, as he squeezed his young companion's shoulder tightly. "It's not your fault. Don't blame yourself for any of this."
"Yes," Yoda said, as he stood up from his chair at the console and walked over to Anakin's side, looking up at him as the young Jedi Knight turned his deeply troubled face toward him. "To Obi-Wan, you listen," he said, nodding his head.
"No work of yours, any of this was," Yoda said, holding his small cane tightly as he spoke. "The Dark Lord's doing, alone, this is," Yoda said. "Blame yourself, you must not."
Anakin nodded his head slowly, as he looked back down toward the table and closed his eyes for a moment. "The children," Anakin said, turning his eyes back up toward Obi-Wan as he squeezed his arm again tightly. "Where are the children?"
Obi-Wan looked at Anakin for a moment; he could see the deep look of concern in his young friend's glistening eyes, and he glanced back at Yoda as he stood beside the two of them. "They should have been in their rooms," Obi-Wan said, looking from Yoda back up to Anakin's troubled face. "One level down, in the main dormitory level."
Anakin reached up and wiped his eyes on the sleeve of his tunic, and then turned and walked back toward the display console, as Obi-Wan and Yoda followed him closely. "The cameras in the dorm rooms," Anakin said quietly, as he watched Obi-Wan take a seat at the console again. "Are any of the cameras in those dorm rooms working?"
Obi-Wan tapped the console in front of him quickly, as he tried to call up the surveillance cameras on the main dorm level below them. He watched the display, as it tried to call up the video feeds that he had selected; the screen segmented itself, as the cameras identifications flashed in the corner of each segment, and they watched as each one flashed, several times, and then stayed dark.
"No," Obi-Wan said, shaking his head, and looking at the display. "Something's wrong with the feeds from the dorm level," he said. "None of the cameras down there are working."
"How about communications logs?" Anakin asked, leaning forward and placing his hand on the console as he watched over Obi-Wan's shoulder as he tapped the control pad quickly. "Has anyone sent anything in or out of the Temple since all of this happened?"
"The communications logs have been quiet," Obi-Wan said, as his eyes scanned the log as it scrolled slowly across the screen in front of him. "There haven't been any communications attempts out of the Temple since…"
"Wait a minute," Obi-Wan said, as he narrowed his eyes and looked at the entry that flashed near the bottom of the display. "Someone sent a transmission out of the Temple just over an hour and a half ago," he said. "It was sent from the communications station in the Council chamber."
"Were the recorders working when that transmission was sent?" Anakin asked, as he watched Obi-Wan attempt to call up the transmission in the archive database.
"Yes," Obi-Wan said, nodding his head as he looked at the display. "The whole transmission should be here in the database."
"Playback that transmission," Yoda said, as he took a step closer to the console and watched as Obi-Wan tapped the controls quickly; they all stood in silence, as Palpatine's familiar voice filled their ears as they listened to the transmission as it replayed on the console's small speakers, along with one other hauntingly familiar voice.
"What is it, Lord Vader?"
"The mission proceeds as planned, Master Sidious. I have taken the Temple, and our forces have secured the entrances on all levels. No one will leave or enter this building without our knowledge."
"You have done well, Lord Vader. And what of the homing beacon?"
"The beacon has been activated, my Lord. Any Jedi that remain should be returning to the Temple immediately."
"Excellent. I will be coming to the Temple within the hour. There is information that I need in the archive library. Have you tied up any loose ends that remained there?"
"I have but a few more to handle, my Lord. They shouldn't prove to be a problem."
"Very good. As soon as you are finished, I want you to take a ship and travel immediately to Mustafar. I have just told Nute Gunray and the Separatists leaders that you are coming to deliver Chancellor Palpatine to them as we agreed. As soon as you arrive, I want you to kill them all and then return here to Coruscant."
"Understood, Master Sidious. But what of the Jedi who return to the Temple in my absence?"
"I will deal with any remaining Jedi myself. Many of the Jedi who were on the outlying systems were killed in our initial attack. Any threat presented by those that remain will be insignificant. Proceed to Mustafar and contact me as soon as the Separatist leaders are dead."
"Understood, my Master. I'll be on my way in a few moments."
Yoda looked up at Anakin and Obi-Wan as the transmission crackled, and then fell silent. "Arrive here soon, Sidious will," Yoda said solemnly. "Work fast, we must, if we are to complete our mission."
"We've got to get down there, as quickly as possible," Anakin said, shaking his head as Obi-Wan turned and looked up at him intently. "We've got to try to rescue those children."
"Agreed," Yoda said, as his two companions turned and looked at him as he stood by the console at Anakin's side. "Attempt to rescue the younglings, you must," Yoda said, nodding his head. "But first," he said, "get to the Council chamber, you must. Imperative it is, that you deactivate that homing beacon."
Anakin looked at Yoda curiously for a moment, as the tiny Jedi Master looked up at him and Obi-Wan. "Aren't you coming with us, Master?" he asked, as he watched Yoda take a long, deep breath.
"No," Yoda said, shaking his head slowly. "Something else, of grave importance, I must handle," Yoda said, as his countenance grew deeply serious. "Retrieve the Book of the Whills, I must, from the library in my quarters," he said, turning his eyes downward toward the floor for a moment. "And several other things."
"We'll come with you, Master," Obi-Wan said, as he stood up and turned his own concerned expression toward Yoda as he stood next to Anakin. "I don't think it's a good idea for us to split up."
"No," Yoda said, shaking his head again, as he looked back up at them. "On different paths, our destinies lie," Yoda said, as he looked up at his two Jedi companions. "Deactivate the homing beacon, you must," he said, "and then attempt to rescue the younglings, and deliver them safely into Bail Organa's hands."
"If successful you are," Yoda continued, as Anakin and Obi-Wan listened to the tiny Jedi Master intently, "then go to Mustafar, the two of you must," he said, as he turned his eyes toward Anakin, "and stop the Dark Lord's apprentice."
"But, Master," Anakin said, shaking his head as he looked down at Yoda's small face, "you heard the transmission yourself," he said. "Sidious will be here any minute. We can't leave you here alone to face him by yourself."
"Deal with Sidious, I will," Yoda said, a look of grim determination spreading across his small face as he looked back up at his two companions. "Meet later, the three of us will, when complete, our missions are, if the Force is with us."
"No," Anakin said, shaking his head as Yoda looked up at him. "We can't let you face him alone, Master," Anakin said, his voice trembling and agitated. "We've already lost too much," he said. "Sidious killed Master Windu and the other Council members. If you try to face him yourself, then you'll just…"
"Anakin," Yoda said firmly, cutting his young companion off in mid sentence. "Understand and appreciate your concern, I do," he said, his countenance growing softer as he spoke. "But trust my judgment in this matter, you must."
Anakin took a long, deep breath, and he and Obi-Wan stood silently for a long time, as they watched Yoda regard the both of them proudly for a moment.
"Powerful Jedi, the two of you have become," Yoda said with a quiet smile. "And powerful friends. Fitting it is," Yoda said with a nod, "that on your shoulders, the future now rests."
"Guard well, each other," Yoda said, as he looked up at them both proudly, and then he turned his attention back toward Anakin, regarding him thoughtfully for a long moment.
"Guard well your companion, Anakin," Yoda said, his expression growing deeply serious, "and your younglings. Your first, and most important responsibility, that is," Yoda said, his voice relaying the urgency of what he now told the young Jedi, just as it had that night in Obi-Wan's residence.
Anakin looked at Yoda for a long moment, and then nodded his head slowly. "Yes, Master," he said quietly, as he looked at Yoda's small, determined face. "I will," he said. "I promise."
"Now," Yoda said, stepping to the side of the room and gesturing toward the door ahead of him, "Your mission awaits. Urgent it is, that you get on with it, and I on with mine."
Anakin and Obi-Wan looked at each other for a moment, and then Anakin watched as Obi-Wan turned toward Yoda. "All right, Master," Obi-Wan said with a resigned sigh, nodding his head. "We'll contact you as soon as we get to Mustafar."
"Very good," Yoda said with a nod. "Go now," he said, as he looked up at both of them again with a troubled smile. "And may the Force be with you."
They all looked at each other for another long moment, and then Yoda watched as Anakin and Obi-Wan walked past him, and carefully opened the door at the end of the archive room where they stood. They stepped through the doorway and into the hall, and Anakin turned and looked back at Yoda, his young face deeply troubled, as the tiny Jedi smiled back at him.
"Be careful, Master," Anakin said, quietly. "We don't need to lose you, too."
"Careful, I will be," Yoda said, with a nod, and he watched as Anakin stepped out into the hallway and let the door to the archive room close slowly behind him.
Yoda took another long, deep breath and stood quietly for a long moment, as he held his small cane thoughtfully in his hands. He turned slowly, and made his way toward the doorway, his small cane echoing off the dark, empty room as he walked. He raised his hand, reaching into the Force, and the heavy door swung open effortlessly; stepping through the open door, Yoda made his way toward his chambers, as the archive's heavy door closed slowly behind him.
Anakin looked back over his shoulder, watching the hallway behind them intently as Obi-Wan placed his hand on the identification scanner that hung on the wall beside the Chamber doors. Obi-Wan frowned, as he heard the defiant buzz as the scanner refused to operate; he reached down and took hold of the handles to the doors that led to the Council chamber.
"They won't open," Obi-Wan said quietly, as he shook the two tall doors hard, as Anakin turned and watched him intently. "The Temple's security systems are offline. The lock won't disengage."
"Then disengage it manually," Anakin said, looking up at Obi-Wan with a sly smile, and he watched as his former mentor reached down to his belt and retrieved his weapon.
Anakin glanced back over his shoulder again, as Obi-Wan ignited the blade of his weapon, and then turned and watched, somewhat surprised, as Obi-Wan thrust the bright blue blade through the gap between the doors and quickly slid his blade upward, slicing cleanly through the locking mechanism.
Anakin looked at the weapon in Obi-Wan's hand with keen interest, as he extinguished the blade and returned it to his belt. "Interesting saber you've got there, Master," Anakin said quietly, as Obi-Wan turned and looked at him. "What happened to yours?"
"One of General Greivous' droids got lucky when he took a pot shot at me," Obi-Wan nodded, as he turned toward Anakin, reaching down with his left hand and taking hold of the door's handle tightly. "I needed a replacement, so I relieved the good General of this one just before I left."
Anakin smiled, as he watched Obi-Wan take a step back, and then throw his shoulder hard against the door with a loud grunt. The heavy door swung open quickly, banging loudly off the inside wall of the Council chamber, as Obi-Wan and Anakin rushed into the empty chamber, their weapons held tightly in their hands as they scanned the interior of the room quickly.
"Nobody here," Anakin said, as the two of them made their way quickly toward the head of the room, to the smooth, round obelisk that stood behind Masters Yoda and Windu's seats.
Anakin watched, as Obi-Wan tapped in the access sequence on the control pad. He looked at up Obi-Wan's face, just in time to see the angry frown that spread over his old mentor's countenance as they heard the dull, defiant buzz as he tried to enter the code.
"Damn," Obi-Wan said, as he slammed his hand down hard beside the display, the sharp sound echoing through the empty chamber. "He's changed the access code," Obi-Wan said, as he looked back up at Anakin. "We can't shut it off."
"Can't you just cut the access door open and destroy it?" Anakin asked, as he looked down at the panel as Obi-Wan keyed the sequence again; again, the panel buzzed at them defiantly, flashing it's bright yellow error message at them in the chamber's dim light.
"No," Obi-Wan said, shaking his head as he looked back up at Anakin. "The transmitter's got it's own separate power system," he said. "It's designed to keep sending out the homing signal until someone powers it off from the console down here. If we just destroy this console without powering down the transmitter first," Obi-Wan said, "then the homing beacon will keep operating."
"Where's the power supply for the transmitter?" Anakin asked, as Obi-Wan looked down at the console in front of them, his brow furrowing deeply as he watched the yellow error message flash up at them.
"It's built into the transmitter itself," Obi-Wan said. "It's housed in the top of the Temple's main spire. The only way to get to it is from the outside of the building."
"We don't have time for that," Anakin said, shaking his head. "We need to shut that transmitter down now," he said, "and get down to those dormitory levels and rescue those children before Sidious gets here."
Obi-Wan turned his frustrated face down toward the console again; he stood quietly, for a long moment, and then he glanced over at the computer console in the corner of the room thoughtfully.
"We can't shut the transmitter down, because access to the power system is locked in this console," Obi-Wan said, as he looked back down at the console thoughtfully. "But the data that's transmitted by the beacon is controlled by another part of the system."
"If we can't shut the transmitter down," Obi-Wan said, as he turned and smiled back at his young friend, "then maybe we can change the message."
Anakin looked at Obi-Wan with a smile, nodding his head slowly, and the two of them walked quickly across the room to the computer console that stood near the chamber's entrance. Anakin stood behind his old master and watched as Obi-Wan sat down in the chair at the console, and began to call up the Temple's computer system as quickly as he could.
"How's it going?" Sola asked, as she walked up behind Padmé and placed her hands gently on her younger sister's shoulders.
"We're moving data," Padmé sighed, as she looked up over her shoulder at her sister's face from her seat in the pilot's chair. "The core seems to be working," she said, as she looked back down to the display in front of her and watched as it cycled quickly as all manner of plans, designs, and information scrolled by.
"It's just a matter of time, now," Padmé said, as she turned and looked at Artoo as he sat at the communications terminal, his data probe spinning the control wheels quickly as he transferred the data from the Destiny's onboard computer to the massive core that stood, humming softly, behind him.
"That's an awful lot of information," Sola sighed, as she watched the screen flash by at an incredible rate. "Do you have any idea how long it's going to take?"
"Not really," Padmé said, shaking her head, as she watched the indicator's flash on the core's display as it stored the precious archive data as quickly as Artoo could fill the ship's buffers and write it. "I've told Artoo to skip over the stuff like topographical maps, geographic data, and ship registries," she said. "That weeds out a big chunk of it, but the amount that's left is still huge."
"Is there anything we can do to make the transfer faster?" Sola asked, as she watched Padmé look up at her again.
"No," Padmé said, shaking her head as she folder her arms across her chest and looked back at the display in front of her. "All we can do now is wait," she said, and then she took another deep breath, as Sola squeezed her shoulder again tightly. "And hope."
"We're in," Obi-Wan said, the display in front of him casting a bluish glow over his bearded face, as he looked over his shoulder at Anakin.
"So what do we say?" Anakin said, as he looked down at him with a deeply curious expression.
Obi-Wan looked back down at the display in front of him, raising his eyebrows curiously as he took a deep breath; he had been so concerned with getting into the system so that they could change the beacon's message, that he hadn't given any thought as to what they were going to change it to.
"I'm not sure," Obi-Wan said, shaking his head as he looked back up at Anakin's face. "The Code says that only the senior members of the Council can operate the beacon," he said, as he looked back at the computer in front of him again. "I never thought I'd have to do this."
"Well," Anakin said, as he reached up and patted Obi-Wan's shoulder reassuringly, "Master Yoda's not here, Master," he said, "so that makes you the senior member of the Council, as far as I can see."
"It's up to you," Anakin said quietly, shrugging his shoulders as Obi-Wan turned and looked up at him again.
Obi-Wan turned and looked at the display for a long moment. "Sidious told Vader that most of the Jedi who were in command of the battalions were killed in the initial attack," Obi-Wan said, his tone growing deeply somber. "If that's true, then it would mean that there aren't very many of us left alive."
"It's a pretty fair bet that he'll use the clone army to hunt the rest of us down, one by one, if he's able to get his hands on that data in the archives," Anakin said, as Obi-Wan looked up at him thoughtfully. "Maybe we should tell them to lay low until we can make sure the archives are destroyed so that Sidious can't use them."
"And then we can regroup later, once Master Yoda's had time to come up with a strategy for dealing with Sidious," Obi-Wan said, nodding his head slowly as he looked back at the console in front of him.
"We need everyone that's left," Anakin said, nodding his head. "We don't need them out where the clones can find them, until we can get rid of Sidious and regain control of the army."
"Simple enough," Obi-Wan said with a nod, as he started to key the message quickly into the system in front of him. "In that case, we do what any other creatures do when they're threatened," he sighed. "We hide."
Yoda reached up and pulled the large, thick book down from its place near the top of his bookshelf; he held it, almost reverently, as he ran the fingers of his right hand gently over the cover. He turned around, slowly, and placed the book down on the table near the center of his chambers.
He sighed deeply, as he ran his hand over the cover again, looking at the ancient script that was scrolled across it. It was old, far older than him, and the many repairs and patches on the cover and bindings of the heavy manuscript bore witness to that fact, as he gently opened the cover and read the inscription on the faded, yellow parchment inside:
The Book Of The Whills
By Guidance Of The Living Force
For The Knowledge and Direction
Of
The Order
It had existed since Kaja Sinis, the first Jedi, had assembled it and penned the first pages ages ago; contained in its hundreds of cracking, yellowed pages were the deepest secrets, the most critical knowledge of the workings of the living Force that the Order possessed.
Yoda turned the pages carefully, as he flipped midway through the book, laying it open gently on the table, as he searched for the information that he needed, now. The Temple's archives were a vast resource, filled with information of the utmost importance, a virtual storehouse of knowledge that the Jedi Order had built and maintained over hundreds of years; yet, it paled in comparison to what it was that he now sought, as he turned several more pages, and then took a long, deep breath as he stopped, and again read the inscription on the page in front of him:
Understanding The
Mysteries of The Sith
The Servants Of
The Dark Side
It was here, in this book; Yoda sighed again, as he looked up and gazed for a moment out of the window of his chambers, as he watched the afternoon sun dip down below the city's massive skyline. The clouds glowed a deep gold, as the setting suns cast a golden hue to the many buildings, their lights beginning to twinkle in the waning sunlight.
They had learned much, in the infancy of the Order, about the Sith; the servants of the Dark Side of the Force had been far more prevalent in those early days. Indeed, the Order had almost died once before, and the Sith had reigned for nearly five hundred years, driving the true Jedi to the brink of extinction in their cold-blooded quest for riches and power. But they had prevailed, thanks to those original founders and the knowledge that they had passed down to their padawans, and the servants of the living Force had seen the Sith driven to extinction; it had been over a millennia since they had last been seen, and the Book and all of its knowledge had been all but forgotten, as the Jedi had become the guardians of peace and justice as the Galactic Republic had been born.
Yoda could only hope, as he closed the book and looked at its cover thoughtfully, that the information that it contained would help them now, as he and his two companions struggled to find a way to stop the dark lord before all hope, at last, was lost.
"That's it," Obi-Wan said, as he tapped the control pad again, and watched as the transmitter acknowledged the message and began transmitting it. "It should be on its way," he said, as he looked up at Anakin as he stood beside him.
"Did you send a new activation code?" Anakin asked, as he reached down to retrieve the small homing device from his belt.
"Yes," Obi-Wan said, and he smiled as he heard the two high-pitched tones that began to echo from Anakin's tracking device as he pulled it from his belt. "Even if they've turned them off," he said, watching Anakin as he activated the small display, "they should get a new alert that will force them to look at the message."
Anakin smiled, as he watched the new message scroll by on the display. "Perfect," he said, looking back at Obi-Wan with a smile and a nod. "It's coming through now."
"We need to lock that transmitter down so that no one can change the message," Anakin said, as he silenced the device and returned it to his belt as Obi-Wan silenced his own. "Can we lock the programming system out so that no one can activate it?"
"I think so," Obi-Wan said, as his fingers flew across the control pad quickly, as he accessed the transmitter's system once again, and began to key in a long series of encryption codes. "We can lock it down and encrypt it using Master Yoda's key," he said, as he reached down to his belt and retrieved the key that Yoda had given him earlier. "That way only us, or Master Yoda, will be able to unlock it again."
"Perfect," Anakin said, watching over Obi-Wan's shoulder as his old mentor slipped the key into the slot on the system and locked the computer down.
"Done," Obi-Wan said, as the screen went blank after a moment; he reached down and popped the key out of the slot, returning it to his belt as he stood up quickly and turned to face Anakin again. "Nobody's changing that message without our knowledge," he said, as he nodded at his young companion. "They'll have to just knock out the transmitter."
"Come on," Anakin said, as he reached over and squeezed Obi-Wan's arm tightly. "We've got to get down there and rescue those children."
Obi-Wan looked up at Anakin's deeply concerned face; he had never seen Anakin so determined or worried before, but it warmed his heart, somehow, as he saw the look of deep compassion in his young friends eyes. Maybe it was because he would soon be a father himself, Obi-Wan thought, or maybe he was somehow picking up on Padmé's concern for the children. But whatever the reason, he had never seen Anakin so concerned with the young padawan's before.
"Lead the way," Obi-Wan said, nodding his head slowly, and he followed closely behind him as the two of them ran toward the Council chamber's doorway, their weapons held tightly in their hands as they bolted through the door and down the hallway to the lift that lead to the dormitories below.
Yoda closed the heavy book, carefully, and then looked thoughtfully out of his window again. He stood there for a long moment, and then he walked to his small desk near that same window, and began to sort quickly through the array of padawan records that he kept in the large drawer near the bottom.
His small fingers moved, quickly, as he flipped through the rows of translucent datacards; he stopped, as his eyes spotted the one he was searching for, and he lifted it up in front of him, eyeing the name that was inscribed on the front of it with deep interest:
Skywalker, Padmé
"Wonderful and mysterious, the ways of the Force are," Yoda said quietly to himself, as he looked at the datacard, turning it thoughtfully in his small hand. Rarely had he found himself at a loss to explain anything, over his eight hundred and seventy plus years; yet he now found himself humbled, greatly, as he reflected on the young woman whose test results he now held in his small hand.
Qui-Gon had believed with all of his heart that Anakin was the chosen one. He had believed it so strongly, that his only request as he lay dying in Obi-Wan's arms was that his student accept Anakin, against his own judgment, and train him as a Jedi. He had agreed, and Yoda had watched, with great concern and foreboding, as the young boy had grown, his young heart torn and angry, the future of his young life clouded by the uncertainty and dark shroud of the Dark Side.
And then Padmé had entered Anakin's life, and the dark veil had lifted from his heart. Yoda knew, beyond any doubt, the horrible fate that Padmé had saved him from, that dark night in that tent on Tatooine. It had been her love, her devotion, her commitment to Anakin that had drawn him away from the Dark Side, and allowed the Force to work though him as it had truly intended.
Yoda took another deep breath and sighed again, as he placed Padmé's test results securely in the pocket of the small belt at his waist. He had to protect her, and he couldn't risk the chance that Sidious might discover what it was that he already knew about her, and he pulled his robe back over his belt as he fastened the small pocket securely shut.
It was truly amazing, and humbling, what the Force had accomplished through this wonderful, loving young woman, without her even truly knowing it. Yoda smiled, shaking his head, as he realized, for the first time, how important this beautiful girl, who Anakin loved so deeply, really was.
She had saved Anakin, that much he knew. She was working now, as hard as she could, over half a quadrant away, to save their history, all of the knowledge the Order had amassed over the centuries, before it fell into the Dark Lord's hands.
The visions that the Force had allowed him to see were clearer now; how fitting, Yoda thought to himself, that as Padmé worked to save their past, she carried their future in her womb.
Yoda walked slowly over to the book on the table behind him, closing the cover gently, as he looked back out of the window thoughtfully for a long moment; Padmé had saved Anakin. She was working to save their past. And she now carried their future, and the hope of the entire galaxy, inside her.
Yoda brushed his hand gently over the cover of the book, and then looked down at his waist, as he heard the high-pitched tone sound again on the small transmitter in his belt. He reached down quickly, pulling the small device from its place near his saber, and looked at it intently, as he watched the message scroll across its tiny display.
Urgent message from the Council:
Disregard homing beacon. All Jedi en route to the Temple are to turn back immediately. The Temple has been taken by clone forces now in league with Darth Sidious. All Jedi are to avoid contact with the Republic Army and its agents. Protect yourselves at all costs, and await further instructions from the Council.
May the Force be with us all.
End of Message.
Yoda smiled, as he watched the message begin to repeat itself on the small transmitter, and then he silenced it and returned it to its place on his belt. "Resourceful, indeed," he nodded, "those two are."
Yoda turned back toward the table, and he started to reach down and take the large, heavy book into his hands, when he stopped, suddenly, as he heard the latch rattle on the door to his chambers.
He turned around quickly, watching as the handle began to move, as he felt the dark, heavy presence of the dark side closing in around him.
"Jedi!" the trooper yelled, scrambling for his weapon as the other members of his battalion turned and opened fire on the two Jedi Knights that bolted through the lift doors as they opened, the sound of their lightsabers filling the long hallway as they powered them up.
The trooper who had sounded the alarm never managed to fire his weapon; Anakin swung the blade in his right hand around hard, making short work of the trooper as it struck him cleanly at his shoulder and sent him collapsing to the floor with a loud cry of pain. Anakin reached down quickly and pulled his other weapon from its holster; its gleaming white blade surged forth with a loud hum as he swung it up quickly in front of him, deflecting several laser blasts back down the hallway, where they caught two of the surprised troopers squarely in the neck, sending them flying backwards and crashing to the hard stone floor.
There were at least twenty of them, Obi-Wan guessed, as he and Anakin stood just outside of the lift as the troopers began to scramble, shouldering their blasters and firing wildly at them. He swung his blade up quickly, sending the barrage of laser fire back toward the troopers, taking several of their attackers out as he looked down the long hallway toward the entrance of the padawan's living quarters. Obi-Wan saw the clone commander near the doorway fire at them several times, and then look down as he scrambled to get the comlink from the belt at his waist.
"Anakin!" Obi-Wan shouted over the din of frantic laser fire, as he turned a group of blasts back toward their attackers, and then spun his blade around quickly as the trooper closest to him began to rush toward him, firing wildly. "Down the hallway, by the door," he yelled, as he caught the blasts with his shimmering blue blade, turning them harmlessly aside. "Stop him before he tells the others that we're here!"
Anakin glanced over, watching the brilliant array of sparks that erupted as Obi-Wan's blade sliced cleanly through the end of the blaster in the trooper's hand, and then sent the unfortunate clone collapsing limply to the floor as Obi-Wan swung his blade back toward him, thrusting it effortlessly through his brilliant white armor. Anakin looked back down the hallway, just in time to see the battalion's commander pull the comlink from his belt and start to raise it to the faceplate of his helmet; he drew the saber in his right arm back and, reaching deeply into the living Force that flowed so powerfully through him, he threw it down the hallway as hard as he could.
It was a skill that few Jedi ever mastered, and Obi-Wan spun around and watched in amazement as Anakin's weapon whirled down the corridor, spinning end over end like a brilliant, humming white pinwheel, as the troopers near the center of the long, ornate hallway dove for cover amid the columns that lined the walls.
The commander looked up, just as he pressed the button on the comlink to activate it; he tried to scream, but he never managed to utter a sound as the brilliant white glow of Anakin's blade filled the faceplate of his helmet as its blade struck him squarely between the eyes, piercing his helmet and embedding itself deeply into the wall behind him, sending the comlink clattering to the floor.
Anakin stretched out his hand, and Obi-Wan watched as his weapon leapt from the wall as the commander's body slumped to the floor by the doorway; Anakin snatched it from the air, spinning it quickly up beside him, his two blades whirling in perfect symmetry as he and Obi-Wan began to make their way quickly down the hallway, their weapons whirling and flashing brightly as the troopers began to fall quickly under the flashing blades as they tried in vain to stop the two determined Jedi Knights.
Yoda took a step back toward the window, watching as the door to his chambers opened slowly; he turning a determined, almost angry expression to the dark, cloaked silhouette that stood in the shadows outside of his doorway, and then began to walk slowly toward him into the dim light of his chambers.
"Well, well," Chancellor Palpatine said, as he watched the tiny Jedi master look up at him with contempt. "It's been far too long, Master Yoda," he said, nodding his head and smiling at Yoda politely. "I had hoped that you would have come to see me with your companion, Master Windu," he said as he stopped just inside the doorway. "I was quite disappointed when I saw that you weren't with him."
"Sorry I am not," to have disappointed you, Chancellor," Yoda said, as he stood completely still, his small hands folded in front of him. He paused for a moment, and then looked up at Palpatine intently as he continued. "Or should I say, Master Sidious?"
"It was quite rude of you not to join your companions, Master Yoda," Palapatine said, taking a deep breath and sighing deeply as he spoke. He took a step inside the door of Yoda's chambers and walked up slowly to the small bookshelf just inside the doorway. He ran his fingers down the bindings of the books on the top shelf, and then rubbed his fingers together lightly as he looked at them. "And Master Sidious will do just fine," he said, looking back at Yoda with a confident smirk, as his voice suddenly shifted, changing to the deep, menacing voice that Yoda had heard in Sidious' transmissions.
"A Master of the Dark Side, you are, Sidious, and an agent of pure evil," Yoda said, following the grey haired Chancellor with his eyes as he turned from the bookshelf and took a step closer to him. "Many innocent lives, you and your apprentice have taken this day."
"They night is still young, Master Yoda," Sidious said, as he reached down and pushed back the edge of his cloak; Yoda looked down at the curved hilt of the light saber that hung at his waist for a moment, and then turned his eyes back toward Sidious, eyeing him with utter contempt.
"So," Yoda said, nodding his head slowly as Sidious looked down at him. "Come now, to destroy me, you have."
"The Jedi will soon be extinct, Master Yoda," Sidious said, as he watched Yoda turn and face him with a stare of contempt that would have suited someone much, much larger. "My victory is complete," he said, nodding his head and smiling at Yoda with a haunting, evil smile. "The time of the Jedi is over."
Sidious watched, as Yoda closed his eyes; his confidence faltered, for just a moment, as he felt the strong tremor that suddenly surged through the Force as Yoda reached deeply down into it, as he sought to find the vision that the Force had revealed to him only a few nights before.
Yoda turned his head, slightly, as the image flashed through his mind again, and then he opened his eyes and looked back at the grey haired Sith lord that stared down at him. "Confident you are, Sidious," Yoda said, his face growing even more determined and angry. "But tell you this, I will."
"Won this day, you may have," Yoda said, as he took a step closer to the Dark Lord of the Sith, as he reached down and pushed the edge of his own tiny robe back, revealing the small saber that hung at his belt. "But lose the battle, in the end, you will, just as the prophecy has promised."
"Master Windu spoke of your pitiful prophecy," Sidious smirked back at Yoda, as he lowered his own hand toward the smoothly curved weapon that hung at his side. "Just before he died at the hands of my apprentice."
"Fullfilled, that prophecy will be," Yoda said, as Sidious glanced down at the saber at Yoda's waist; the smile on his face was gone, as he looked back at Yoda's flashing, angry eyes. "Repaid richly, you will be, for your treachery, and driven to extinction, once and for all, you and your kind will be."
An angry frown began to spread over Sidious' face, as he watched Yoda take yet another step toward him. "And a new prophecy, will I share with you," Yoda said, as he stopped and dropped his small hand down toward the saber that hung at his waist.
"The light that pierced the darkness shall bind them together," Yoda said, as he pulled his tiny saber from his belt as Sidious reached for his own, "and perish, you will, by the joined hands of the ones you sought to destroy."
Sidious' yellow eyes began to glow brightly in the dim light, as he glared down at the defiant little Jedi Master. Yoda ignited the brilliant green blade of his saber, and swung it hard as leapt toward the Dark Lord of the Sith, crying out loudly as his blade crackled and hissed wildly as he lashed out at Sidious, over and over.
Obi-Wan swung his blade around cleanly, taking out the last trooper that stood between him and the entrance to the dorm rooms; he turned around quickly, just as he heard the lift doors open again at the end of the hallway.
Anakin swung the blade in his right hand around hard, sending the trooper that attacked to the floor with an anguished cry, and then he turned and looked back over his shoulder, just in time to see the five clone troopers leap from the lift and level their weapons at them.
"I'll take care of these guys," Anakin said, turning and look back at Obi-Wan, as he nodded at the doors that led to the padawan's dorms. "You go round up the children."
Obi-Wan nodded, and he watched for a few seconds as Anakin leapt into the center of the hallway, the humming, white blades of his two sabers flashing brightly as he began to send their attacker's blasts back down the hall as the small group of troopers rushed toward them.
Obi-Wan spun around, closing the distance between himself and the doorway; he didn't bother with the locking mechanism, as he thrust the blade of his weapon through the gap in the doors and swung it up hard, sending another array of sparks onto the ornate marble floor as his blade sliced effortlessly through the locks. He took a step back, and leaned back on his right leg as he kicked the doors hard near the handles, sending them flying open, and then he rushed into the recreation area that stood just inside the entrance.
Obi-Wan's boots slid across the smooth floor for a short distance as he stopped suddenly, a powerful wave of despair flowing through him as his eyes took in the terrible sight in front of him. The large room was a shambles; its simple furnishings and recreational equipment lay broken and strewn throughout the room, and the walls bore the deep, dark burns where the saber blades had glanced off of them as the older padawans had struggled in vain to defend themselves against their fierce attacker.
He felt his heart begin to sink, and he took another halting step forward as he looked down at the young Twi'lek girl that lay on the floor in front of him, her small hand still clutching the saber in it tightly as she lay, along with her nine companions, in silence on the cold marble floor. Obi-Wan knelt beside her, the blade of his weapon still humming and glowing brightly in his right hand; he closed his eyes for a moment, as he felt the overpowering wave of despair flow through him again as he powered down the saber in his hand.
We're too late, he thought to himself, as he opened his eyes and looked at her young face; she couldn't be more than thirteen years of age. Obi-Wan felt his heart cry out with agony as he looked at her, and he reached up with his left hand and gently closed her beautiful green eyes. He closed his own, taking a long, deep breath, and then he looked up slowly as he glanced quickly around the room.
They were all of similar age, as far as he could tell; the children, the younger ones, were nowhere to be seen. Obi-Wan felt another wave of despair sweep over him, and he struggled, as hard as he could, to drive away the terrible images that flashed through his mind as he considered what might have happened to them. He turned around quickly, just as he heard the sound of Anakin's boots as his companion rushed through the door and into the room with him.
Anakin stopped, suddenly, as the terrible, icy chill ran through his body as his eyes took in the terrible destruction before him; he glanced around the room, his breath coming fast and shallow, and he felt a terrible wave of despair and hopelessness sweep though his heart as he saw the bodies of the teenagers that lay strewn about the room. He powered down his weapons, and he felt his breath catch in his throat as he looked down at Obi-Wan as he knelt beside the young girl's lifeless body.
"No," Anakin said, shaking his head slowly, his voice barely audible as Obi-Wan turned his sorrowful face up toward his young companion. "It can't be."
"I'm afraid we're too late, Anakin," Obi-Wan said, as he looked up at his companion, his own voice betraying the emotions that tugged at his heart as he looked back at the young girl that lay beside him.
"They all died fighting," Obi-Wan said quietly, as he turned his troubled eyes back toward his young companion. "It looks like they were trying to protect the younger ones, he said, as Anakin stared down at him in disbelief.
"They're all gone," he said, as he looked back at the young girl's lifeless body again. "Vader must have taken them, or…" Obi-Wan stopped, closing his eyes; he couldn't finish voicing that terrible thought.
Anakin glanced around the room quickly, his eyes blinking back the tears that welled up in them as he searched the room frantically, looking for any sign of the younglings; there were no bodies, no sign of them anywhere; they were just gone.
Obi-Wan looked up at his young friend as he took a step closer toward him, and then dropped to his knees, his weapons clattering to the floor near him on the hard, cold floor. Obi-Wan watched in silence, as Anakin reached up slowly, and gently touched the young girl's cheek as she lay in front of them, not far from the bodies of the others.
Anakin cringed, his heart leaping into his throat as he felt the coolness of her skin beneath his fingertips. "We failed them, Master," he whispered, as he gazed at the beautiful young girl through the haze of tears that filled his eyes, gently taking her cold, lifeless hand into his own and squeezing it tightly.
"We failed them all," he said again, soft and brokenly, as he clenched his fist tightly; he hung his head sadly, placing his free hand over his eyes, and he started to sob quietly as the terrible wave of anguish and remorse swept through his heart.
Obi-Wan's own heart was breaking, as he watched his young companion weep quietly as he held the young girl's hand tightly in his own; he reached over and placed his hand gently on Anakin's trembling shoulder as reassuringly as he could, and then turned his own eyes back toward the doorway as he swallowed hard, fighting to control his own emotions. His own heart aching with sorrow, he closed his eyes and squeezed Anakin's shoulder tightly as his young friend sobbed quietly beside him.
Threepio stood quietly at Padmé's side, as she and Sola watched Artoo as he worked as quickly as he could, transferring the precious data from the Jedi's huge storehouse of knowledge into the core that hummed and rattled behind him as his data probe spun the control wheels at his station furiously.
Padmé closed her eyes suddenly, raising her hand to her mouth and shaking her head, slowly, as she began to sense the terrible anguish that flowed through Anakin's heart. "No," she said softly, as she shook her head slowly in stunned disbelief as the realization of what it was that so tormented her husband's heart became all too painfully clear to her.
Threepio turned his attention toward Padmé as he heard her soft, troubled cry. "Mistress Padmé," he said, his electronic voice conveying his concern as he looked at her, "Are you all right?"
Sola turned and looked at her, her countenance growing deeply worried as she took hold of Padmé's arm gently; she could feel her sister start to tremble, and she saw the tears that welled up in her eyes as she opened them and looked back at her, shaking her head slowly. "What's wrong, Padmé?" she asked, as Padmé closed her eyes and began to sob softly.
"The children," Padmé said, as several tears streaked slowly down her cheek as Sola turned toward her, placing her hands gently on her sister's shoulders. "Oh, Sola," Padmé sobbed, as Sola closed her eyes and wrapped her arms comfortingly around her, "Something's happened to the children."
Artoo whistled, low and forlornly, and he stopped spinning the control wheels for a moment as he swung his sensor dome around slowly and watched in silence for a moment as Padmé sobbed softly in her sister's arms.
"Artoo," Threepio said, quietly, turning his attention from Padmé and looking down at his little round companion. "You'd better keep working. Mistress Padmé says we don't have much time."
Artoo whistled again, sadly, and he swung his dome back toward his work, as he started to spin the control wheels at the console again, moving the data from the archives into the core behind him as quickly as he could.
Sola felt her own eyes begin to sting from the tears that stood in them as she hugged Padmé tightly, squeezing her own eyes shut as she realized the horrible truth that her sister was sensing.
Yoda leapt back away from Darth Sidious, his breath coming fast and hard, as he watched the Dark Lord reach deeply into the dark side of the Force, and throw the small table that stood between them through the air and against the far wall near the window.
Yoda turned and looked, for an instant, as he watched the precious Book of The Whills strike the wall and fall to the floor face down, it's deeply yellowed pages folded and crumpled as it lay open, face down, on the thick carpeting of his chambers.
He turned back, just in time to bring his small blade up and turn Sidious' vicious stroke aside; Yoda glance up toward the bookshelf near his wall, and stretched out his hand, quickly reaching into the Force, tearing the heavy shelf from the wall and sending it flying toward his attacker.
Sidious turned around quickly, raising his hand, and deflected the shelf away from him, sending it crashing back against the door of Yoda's chambers, sending the books and papers on it flying though the room in all directions.
"Come now, Master Yoda," Sidious said, glaring at Yoda angrily as he swung his crimson blade down hard on the tiny Jedi again, swinging his blade first left, then right. "Why prolong the inevitable?"
"Only inevitable," Yoda said angrily, as he turned each blow aside harmlessly, "your ultimate defeat is, Sidious," he said, and he leapt into the air again, reaching deeply down into the Force as he swung his small blade with incredible speed.
Sidious swung his blade wildly, as Yoda rained blow after blow down on him, driving him back toward the doorway of his chambers; he looked down, and he saw the look of determination flash in Yoda's eyes as his blade moved quickly, encasing him in a brilliant green glow, as their blades crashed in violent opposition, over and over again.
Sidious reached down deeply into the dark side, summoning all of his strength, as he suddenly stretched out his hand and pushed, hard, as Yoda lunged at him again.
He caught the tiny Jedi in mid swing, and he watched with satisfaction as he went flying through the air across his chambers, striking the wall behind him hard with a loud groan, and then slumped down toward the floor.
Sidious extended his hand again, and he unleashed an incredibly powerful bolt of brilliant blue Force lighting toward Yoda, as he struggled to get back to his feet.
Yoda leapt up, quickly, stretching out his hand as Sidious lunged at him; he stretched out his small hand, reaching deeply into the Force and closing his eyes for a second as the powerful bolt of energy struck his outstretched palm.
Yoda's move caught Sidious completely by surprise, and he screamed in agony as the powerful bolt of Force lighting suddenly surged back from Yoda's palm, striking the Dark Lord squarely in the face.
Padmé sobbed softly in Sola's arms, her heart aching along with Anakin's as her heart and mind were filled with thoughts of the children that he had been searching for. Why? Padmé thought to herself, as her heart cried out in anguish. Why did this have to happen to those innocent children? What have they done with them?
The pain was almost unbearable, as she felt the combined agony of her own heart, along with Anakin's. Please, Padmé thought to herself, as she stretched out with her feelings toward the Force that flowed through her, the Force that she was just beginning to understand, with Anakin's help. Please help me make the pain go away, she thought, as she felt another wave of love and compassion for those lost young ones surge through her heart.
Padmé jumped, as a vivid image suddenly flashed through her mind like a bolt of lightning; it frightened her, somewhat, as she felt the strange sensation flow through her as she sobbed softly in her sister's arms. She felt her breath catch in her throat, as she saw them, just for an instant.
They sat together in small groups, clinging to each other in the darkness, and she could feel the terrible fear and pain that surged through their young hearts as they cried quietly in the cramped, dark space.
Padmé squeezed her eyes shut, as the image faded as quickly as it had appeared; it frightened and confused her, as she struggled to understand what it was she had just seen flash through her mind, as her heart and feelings reached out in agony and compassion toward the children that Anakin and Obi-Wan had been searching for.
Sola felt Padmé jerk in her arms as she held her tightly, and she opened her own eyes and leaned back so that she could see Padmé's tear stained face. "Padmé," Sola said softly, as she watched her sister as she stood trembling in silence, her eyes still squeezed shut tightly. "Padmé," she said, squeezing her sister's shoulders gently, "are you all right?"
Padmé jerked again, as the image suddenly flashed through her mind once more, as she felt the tremor that traveled to her heart through the Force.
She couldn't have been more than four years old, and she looked up at the older girl, tears streaming down her young face as the older one gently brushed her hand through her long, black hair and raised her finger to her lips. "Quiet," she whispered softly, and she watched as the little one dropped her head back into the crook of her arm and cried, as softly as she could. The older girl looked up, her own face scared and terrified as she looked down the cramped, dark tunnel, toward the horizontal shafts of light that shone into the tiny space a few meters from them.
"Padmé," Sola said, looking at her sister worriedly as she shook Padmé's shoulders gently. She watched as Padmé opened her eyes suddenly; she took several sharp breaths and glanced around the Destiny's cabin, dazed and confused, as she reached up and took hold of Sola's arms tightly.
"Padmé, what's wrong?" Sola asked again, as Padmé finally focused her eyes on her sister's face as the strong, overwhelming tremor began to subside, slowly.
"I know where they are, Sola," Padmé said, her breath still coming in short gasps as she nodded her head slowly at her sister. "The children," she said, reaching up and wiping away the tears from her eyes with her hand as Sola looked back at her, puzzled. "I know where they are."
Yoda watched as Sidious howled with pain again, as he staggered to his feet near the doorway of the Jedi master's chambers. Yoda took several deep breaths, as he struggled to regain his strength as Sidious suddenly turned his face back toward him.
Yoda cringed, as he saw the face that stared angrily back at him as Sidious trembled violently, his crimson blade humming at his side as he stumbled again, his body rocked by the searing pain that coursed through it.
Palpatine's once regal face was all but unrecognizable; the power of the bolt of Force lightning that he had released toward Yoda had been incredible, and it had taken all of the power that Yoda could muster through the living Force to turn it away and send it back toward the Dark Lord.
"You shall pay dearly for that," Sidious said trembling in pain and anger, as Yoda looked at his yellow eyes as they glowed out at him from his horribly burned and disfigured face. "I would have afforded you a quick and painless death, Master Yoda," Sidious said, as he reached down with all strength, pain and anger that flowed through him into the dark side as he stood up and started toward the tiny Jedi master.
Yoda could sense the terrible tremor that reverberated through the Force, as he watched Sidious' yellow eyes begin to glow, even brighter, looking out from his horrible, unrecognizable face as he screamed angrily, and swung his crimson blade down hard at the Jedi master.
Anakin knelt on the cold, hard floor, still holding the young girl's hand tightly in his own as he reached up with his free hand and wiped away the tears that streaked his face. He opened his eyes and looked back at her, through the haze of tears that still stood in them, as she lay silently on the floor where she had given her life only a short time ago.
Anakin closed his eyes again, as he felt Obi-Wan's hand squeeze his shoulder tightly as he spoke to him. "Anakin," Obi-Wan said quietly, "we need to go. There's nothing more we can do here. We need to get to Mustafar, and stop Vader before he kills anyone else."
Anakin knew that Obi-Wan was right; he nodded his head slowly, and he reached up and wiped his eyes again. He opened his eyes and took another long, sorrowful look at the young girl before him, and he released her hand slowly, folding it gently across her chest. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, as he placed his hand on the floor beside him and started to stand up.
Anakin stopped, suddenly; Obi-Wan looked at him, as Anakin froze as he knelt on the floor beside him. "Anakin," Obi-Wan said, his brow furrowing as he looked at him; Anakin wasn't moving at all, indeed, he didn't even seem to be breathing. "Anakin," Obi-Wan said again, "are you all right?"
Anakin knew it was Padmé; he recognized her strong, soothing tremor instinctively, yet this time, he sensed something different. She was calling to him, pleading with him, trying desperately to tell him something. He stayed there, completely motionless for several moments, as he reached out toward his wife with all of his heart, trying desperately to calm himself as he listened for that faint, small voice as her heart called out to him.
Obi-Wan watched in silence as Anakin suddenly opened his eyes and jerked up straight, taking a deep, halting breath. "Thank you, Padmé," Anakin said softly, his voice trembling as he stretched out to his wife with all of the love for her that flowed through his heart. He closed his eyes and took another deep breath. "I love you," he said, quietly.
"Anakin," Obi-Wan said, looking at his young companion with a puzzled, worried expression as he suddenly turned and looked back at him. "Are you all right? What's going on?"
"She knows," Anakin said, reaching down and retrieving his weapons and placing them back into their holsters as quickly as he could. "She knows, Master," he said, turning his face back toward Obi-Wan as he stood up, as quickly as his trembling legs would allow him.
"Who knows, Anakin?" Obi-Wan said, his face deeply puzzled as he stood up next to Anakin and watched as he ran his hand through his long hair and took another long, halting breath as he wiped his eyes with his sleeve again. "What are you talking about?"
"Padmé knows where the children are, Master," Anakin said, nodding his head as Obi-Wan looked at him in puzzled amazement. "And she just told me."
Obi-Wan shook his head, slowly, as he saw the look of hope that suddenly flashed through Anakin's eyes. "How would she know where they are, Anakin?" he asked, shaking his head again.
"I don't know, and it doesn't matter right now," Anakin said, shaking his own head as he looked back at Obi-Wan. "But we've got to find them, and fast." Anakin looked around the room, frantically, as he scanned the room quickly with his eyes.
"Where are the ventilation shafts on this level?" Anakin asked, as he looked back at Obi-Wan's puzzled, but attentive face. "Didn't they rework the dormitory levels a few years ago?"
"Just recently, actually," Obi-Wan said, nodding his head. "They're down the hallway, though the exit at the back of the living quarters," Obi-Wan said, gesturing toward small door at the end of the recreation area.
"Come on," Anakin said, as he reached over and grabbed Obi-Wan's arm tightly. "Let's go, we've got to hurry."
Obi-Wan nodded his head, and he followed closely behind Anakin as they flung the doorway open and bolted through the rows of beds and chairs that lined the sides of the room.
Thank you, Padmé. I love you.
Padmé gasped and opened her eyes, taking several quick breaths as she heard Anakin's heart speak to her as clearly as if he had been standing beside her. "I love you too, Anakin," she said softly, as the overwhelming feeling of love and hope flowed through her heart.
Artoo and Threepio both turned their attention toward the pilot's chair where Padmé sat as Sola knelt quickly beside her sister. She looked up at her, a look of deep concern on her face as Padmé cupped her own face in her hands and started to cry again as the powerful emotions overwhelmed her. "Padmé," Sola said, placing her hand on her younger sister's shoulder comfortingly, "What's wrong?" she asked. "What happened?"
Sola watched, as Padmé dropped her hands into her lap again; she watched her, and she felt her own heart begin to pound as Padmé's sobs slowly began to turn into laughter as she turned and looked back at her older sister, a bright glimmer of hope shining through the tears that stood in her beautiful brown eyes as she laughed.
"What happened?" Sola asked, as she watched Padmé close her eyes again, as another happy tear rolled down her cheek.
"He heard me," Padmé half laughed, half cried, as she opened her eyes again, reaching over and squeezing Sola's hand tightly; she could see the look of hope in her own eyes reflected back to her as Sola smiled back at her.
"He knows, Sola," Padmé laughed, her eyes shining brightly. "And he's going to find them."
Sola's own eyes filled with happy tears as she started to laugh along with her, and she flung her arms around Padmé and hugged her tightly as Artoo's bright, happy whistle echoed through the Destiny's cabin. The little astrodroid swung his dome back toward the console in front of him, and he went back to work with a renewed fervor, transferring the data from the Temple archives as fast as his circuits and the ship's computer would allow.
Anakin and Obi-Wan burst through the maintenance doorway at the end of the dormitory level, scanning the long, narrow corridor quickly as they ran into the narrow passageway.
Anakin immediately sensed a faint presence as he stopped and stretched out with his feelings; it was her, it had to be, the girl that he had seen in the image that flashed, only for a split second, through his mind as Padmé's heart had touched his.
"They're in here somewhere, Master," Anakin said, as he looked around the maintenance corridor frantically. "Can you feel her?"
Obi-Wan stretched out with his own feelings, and he felt a very faint tremor, as faint as a whisper in a gale. "Yes," he said, nodding his head. "It's very faint," Obi-Wan said. "If they hid in here, it's no wonder Vader didn't find them."
"The first thing padawans learn is how to conceal themselves," Anakin said, nodding his head, as he and Obi-Wan walked quickly along the corridor, following the faint tremor. "It's easy when you're young, but it gets harder as you get older."
"Where are you?" Anakin called, as his eyes searched the corridor frantically. "We're here to help you."
"I still don't understand how Padmé knew they were in here," Obi-Wan said, as he crouched down and looked behind a large group of small cargo containers. "Do you have any idea where they are?" Obi-Wan asked, as his eyes searched the dark grey walls as he and Anakin half walked, half ran along the maintenance corridor.
"Look for the ventilation shafts," Anakin said, as he pushed several large storage containers aside and glanced behind them. "I saw light, like she was looking out through a ventilation grate of some kind."
Obi-Wan turned around quickly, his eyes scanning the corridor, and he suddenly caught sight of a corner of one of the larger ventilation shafts, just behind another group of cargo containers. "There," he said, as Anakin turned around quickly and looked to the spot where Obi-Wan was pointing.
They both ran quickly down the corridor to the containers, and Anakin watched as Obi-Wan stretched out his hand toward them and sent them sliding out of the way across the floor, revealing the large metal ventilation grate at the base of the wall behind them.
Obi-Wan dropped to his knees in front of the grate as Anakin came and stood beside him. "Don't be afraid," Obi-Wan said, as he quickly spun the clamps loose that held the grate in place. "We're here to help you," he said, as he pulled the cover off and tossed it to the floor beside him. He reached down to his belt, retrieving the small spotlight that he kept there, and switched it on, shining it up inside the ventilation shaft as he peered into the darkness.
Obi-Wan felt his heart begin to pound in his chest, as he saw the teenage girl blink her eyes as she lifted her hand to her face and recoiled in fear. "Don't be afraid, Shanda," Obi-Wan said, as he immediately recognized her. "It's me, Master Obi-Wan," he said, as he turned the small spotlight toward his face so that she could see him. "We've come to help you."
Anakin felt himself begin to tremble, and he closed his eyes and folded his arms over his chest tightly, as he fought to control his emotions; Padmé had led them right to them somehow, through some miracle of the Force and the love that flowed through them. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, his breath trembling as he reached up and wiped his eyes again with his hand as Obi-Wan reached into the ventilation shaft.
"Master Obi-Wan?" Shanda asked, looking at him in disbelief, her voice trembling as she spoke. "Is it really you?"
"Yes, Shanda," Obi-Wan said reassuringly, as he extended his hand toward her as she looked back at him. "It's me, and I've got Master Skywalker with me. I promise, you're safe now. How many of the young ones do you have in there with you?"
Anakin leaned back against the wall, squeezing his eyes shut tightly; he felt his heart leap in his chest as he heard Shanda answer Obi-Wan's question. "All of them," Shanda said quietly, as she moved a little closer toward the entrance to the ventilation shaft. "They're all here with me."
Obi-Wan sighed with relief as he looked down and closed his eyes for a moment and shook his head slowly. He started to laugh softly as he looked up at Anakin's face smiling down at him; he could see Anakin's eyes glistening brightly, as he looked down at Obi-Wan, sighed deeply, and then wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his tunic again.
"I don't know how she did it, Anakin," Obi-Wan laughed, shaking his head slowly, as Anakin reached down and squeezed Obi-Wan's shoulder tightly.
"Never underestimate the power of an angel, Master," Anakin said with a laugh, as he sniffed hard and closed his eyes, leaning back against the wall again. "Especially mine."
Obi-Wan smiled, and then he turned and looked back into the ventilation shaft and watched as Shanda slid slowly toward the entrance. "Shanda," he asked, as he extended his hand to her again, "how did you get down here and into this ventilation shaft?"
"One of the older padawans came down and told us we needed to hide, that the temple was being attacked," Shanda said, her voice still shaking as she slowly inched toward Obi-Wan's outstretched hand. "Leytana, me and the others all brought the young ones down here to hide, and they made me stay with them since I was the youngest."
"They all went back to the dorm rooms and said they'd come back and get us later, when it was safe," Shanda said, as she reached out toward Obi-Wan's outstretched hand.
Obi-Wan glanced back up at Anakin, and the two of them exchanged a long, painful glance; they had suspected as much, yet now, they knew beyond any doubt the terrible price that the older padawans had paid for the safety of their younger companions.
"They knew that the young ones couldn't protect themselves," Anakin said quietly, nodding his head slowly as he turned his saddened expression toward Obi-Wan.
"So they sacrificed themselves to save them," Obi-Wan said, nodding his head slowly, as he felt Shanda take hold of his hand. He sighed, deeply as he considered for a moment what those teenagers had done; no Jedi Master had ever made a more noble, more selfless sacrifice than those young students had a short time ago, as they had given their own lives to protect the small ones who couldn't protect themselves.
Obi-Wan turned his eyes back toward the ventilation shaft, and stood up slowly as he helped the frightened young teenager to her feet; she looked up at Anakin's face, as he took a step toward her and placed his hand comfortingly on her shoulder.
"You don't know how glad we are to see you," Anakin said quietly, as he smiled down at the teenaged girl who looked up at him.
"Shanda," Obi-Wan said, nodding toward Anakin as he stood beside him, "This is Anakin Skywalker," he said. "You remember him, don't you?"
"I think so," Shanda said, managing a small smile as she nodded politely, looking up at Anakin's face as he smiled back at her.
"Did you find the others, Master Kenobi?" Shanda asked, as she watched Obi-Wan and Anakin exchanged pained glances for a moment. "Were they okay?"
Obi-Wan took a long deep breath, and sighed deeply as Shanda looked up at him. "No, sweetheart," Obi-Wan said, shaking his head slowly as he squeezed the young, brown haired girl's shoulders comfortingly. "They're not okay."
Obi-Wan hugged her tightly, as she wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in the chest of his tunic. He looked up at Anakin, and watched as his young friend placed his hand on his shoulder and squeezed it tightly.
"Hold onto her for a few minutes," Anakin said quietly. 'I'll get the others out," he said, a determined expression quickly spreading over his face. "And then we're going to get them all out of here."
Obi-Wan rubbed Shanda's shoulder reassuringly as she hugged him tightly, and he watched as Anakin knelt down in front of the ventilation shaft and started to help the other youngsters out, one by one.
Bail Organa sat up quickly in the driver's seat of his speeder, as he heard the two high-pitched tones suddenly ring from the small comlink that rested on the center console beside him. He reached down, quickly, and pressed the small button on the side of the comlink.
He brought it up to his face, as he heard the telltale tone as the link activated. "Yes," he said, his brow furrowing as he listened intently for the voice on the other end.
"Bail," he heard Anakin's voice say, "This is Anakin Skywalker. Can you hear me?"
"Yes, Anakin," Bail said, nodding his head as he spoke. "I'm reading you loud and clear. How can I help you?"
"We need that transport, Bail," Anakin said, his voice small and tinny over the tiny comlink's speaker. "We need to get these children out of this building as soon as possible."
"That's wonderful news," Bail sighed, as he heard the news that their rescue attempt had been successful. "How many were you able to find?"
"Thirty seven of them," Anakin said. "All children."
Bail's smile faded quickly; "Only thirty seven?" he asked, stunned and surprised. "There had to be more than that in there."
The comlink was silent for a long moment, and then Bail heard Anakin's voice again. "There were," Anakin said, quietly. "Lots more."
Bail took a long, deep breath as the terrible realization of what Anakin was trying to tell him struck him. "I'm sorry, Anakin," Bail said quietly, turning the comlink over slowly in his hand. "Deeply sorry."
"We need to get these children out of here, Bail," Anakin said. "They're young, and they're scared, and they don't need to be here. How quickly can you have the transports at the Temple?"
"Quicker than you can tell me where to meet you," Bail said, nodding his head. "I've got the transport and my own speeder standing by."
"We're not going to be able to use the landing platforms," Anakin said. "But we've got an idea. Get your transport around to the east side of the building, just beneath the main Council chambers. Do you know where I'm talking about?"
"I do indeed," Bail said, nodding his head as he listened intently. "But there aren't any exits on that side of the building."
"Exactly," Anakin replied. "So there shouldn't be any troopers watching that side of the building. We'll make our own exit as soon as you get there. Be watching, you'll know it when you see it."
"Understood," Bail said, as he reached over and engaged the drive of his speeder with his left hand. "I'll be there in less than five minutes."
"Thanks, Bail," Anakin said. "We'll see you in a few minutes."
Bail heard the comlink beep as the link when dead, and he tossed it into the seat beside him. He reached over and punched the throttle of his speeder, surging out into the main traffic lane as he headed around toward the Temple, engaging the communications terminal in the dash of his speeder as he prepared to call his transports into action.
Yoda swung his blade as hard as he could, trying desperately to turn aside the furious attack that Sidious unleashed on him. His breath came hard and fast, as his small blade flashed brightly as the Dark Lord lunged at him again, driving him back closer and closer to the corner near the window of his small chambers. He was losing ground, and losing it quickly.
He glanced over to the corner, toward the table that lay smashed on the floor, as he turned aside another of Sidious's furious blows; he saw the Book of the Whills, lying there face down for an instant, as he looked back up and swung his weapon furiously as Sidious pushed him ever closer to the window behind him.
Anakin held the two small children tightly in his arms, as he reached out with his boot and pushed the door to the Council chamber open, and then looked back over his shoulder into the hallway behind him.
"Hurry," he said, as he watched the children look up at him as they followed closely behind him, "And stay together, okay? We don't want to lose any of you."
Anakin turned and walked quickly through the doorway, the two children in his arms clinging tightly to him as he made his way over to the windows that looked out over the city; he leaned down as he approached Master Rancisis' old chair, as the other youngsters streamed into the room behind him, as Shanda and Obi-Wan followed behind, making sure that they didn't lose any of them.
"Here," Anakin said softly, as he leaned down and let the two small children he held slip slowly from his arms into the large, soft chair. "Stay here for just a minute, okay?"
Anakin looked at the small boy's face, as he heard him whimper as he tightened his arms around Anakin's neck. "No," the boy said, as he squeezed Anakin's neck tightly; he didn't want to let go.
"Don't worry," Anakin smiled, as he reached up and pulled the boy's arms gently from around his neck, and then placed his hand on his small cheek reassuringly. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you," Anakin said, as the lad looked up at him. "I promise."
Anakin turned around and looked at Obi-Wan, as he turned and hooked the heavy door with his boot, pushing it shut tightly as he held two small girls in his own arms. He turned around and placed lowered them to the floor by the other children, and then stood up and walked over to Shanda's side, as she huddled the children together near the center of the room.
"Shanda," Obi-Wan said, placing his hand gently on her shoulder as she looked up at him, "Anakin and I are going to need to break several of these windows," he said, as she looked up and nodded at him. "We need you to keep the children away from the glass. The wind's going to pick up in here pretty strongly when we break them, and we need you to keep them calm, okay?"
"Yes, Master Obi-Wan," Shanda said, nodding her head as Obi-Wan smiled at her and squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. He watched her, as she walked over to the chair next to where Anakin stood.
Shanda and Anakin smiled at each other for a moment, and then Anakin watched her as she reached down and took the two small children he had been carrying into her arms. "Come on, you two," Shanda said, reassuringly, as she lifted the children up and held them tightly as she turned and headed back to where the other children huddled closely together. "We need to stay out of Master Obi-Wan and Anakin's way."
Obi-Wan watched Shanda for a moment, as he walked across the room and stood at Anakin's side, as Anakin turned around and scanned the windows of the Council chamber quickly.
"Master Yoda's in trouble," Anakin said quietly, as he turned his eyes toward Obi-Wan for a moment.
"I know," Obi-Wan said, nodding his head as he returned Anakin's concerned expression. "I sensed it, too."
"We've got to get these children out of here, and fast," Anakin said, as he turned his eyes back toward the windows, studying them closely.
"I think these two here will be best, Master," Anakin said, as he walked quickly over to the two windows near the center of the room, as Obi-Wan followed closely beside him. "The ledge is wider here, almost a meter and a half," he said, as Obi-Wan looked at the narrow ledge outside of the glass. "It should make it easier to get the children on the transports."
Obi-Wan nodded his head, and then looked up, watching as the thick glass vibrated softly as the wind outside the Temple whipped by. "It's going to get very windy in here as soon as we break this glass," Obi-Wan said. "And it's going to be hard for the pilot to keep the transport steady in all of this wind."
"We'll have to help steady the transport ourselves," Anakin said, nodding his head as he reached down and took the saber from its place at his right side. "It's going to take both of us to hold it steady while we load the children," he said, as he turned and looked back at Obi-Wan with a smile. "I guess we'll find out if we're as strong together as Master Yoda is by himself."
"I suppose so," Obi-Wan said with a sigh, as he turned and looked back toward Shanda as she knelt beside the group of huddled, frightened young padawans. "Shanda," Obi-Wan said, as she looked up at him. "Anakin and I are going to break these windows," he said, nodding his head toward her, and then he turned his attention to the children who stood near her, listening to him intently. "It's going to get pretty windy in here, young ones," Obi-Wan said. "But you're going to be just fine, I promise. Just stay close to Shanda until we call you, okay?"
"Come over here with me," Shanda said, as she stood up and backed over toward the wall behind her, and the children all followed her obediently, huddling together in a tight group as they all turned and watched the two Jedi Knights who had rescued them intently.
Obi-Wan drew his own saber from his belt, and looked back at Anakin. "Ready?" he asked, as he nodded his head; Anakin nodded back at him, and the two of them powered up the blades of their sabers, thrusting them through the center of the thick glass.
The glass splintered wildly, as the heat of their blades surged through it against the cold air outside of the Temple's windows. They both withdrew their blades and stepped back away from the windows, and Obi-Wan watched as Anakin extended his hand toward Master Rancisis' heavy, metal-framed chair that stood near them.
Shanda watched in amazement, as the chair lifted effortlessly from the floor, and suddenly flew toward the huge window with incredible force; she felt herself jump as the chair smashed through the glass, sending shards of glass flying out in a brilliant shower into the early evening sky.
"It's all right," she said, comfortingly, as the young ones huddled close together around her, as the wind began to gust strongly through the once quiet chamber, as Obi-Wan reached into the Force and threw another chair through the window in front of him, sending another brilliant spray of glass shimmering into the sky and down into the city below them.
"There," Bail said, as he looked up at the huge shower of glass that erupted from the windows near the top of the Temple, not far above them; he saw the ornate chair as it flew out into the cold, turbulent air and began to tumble toward the city far below. "Get that transport up to those windows, as quickly as you can."
"I see it, Senator," he heard the voice call back to him, and he swung his speeder to the side and watched as the large transport flew past him and made its way toward the spot where they had seen the two huge showers of glass.
Bail pushed the throttle of his speeder, as he followed closely behind the transport as they closed in quickly on the place where Anakin and Obi-Wan waited for them.
"Here he comes now," Anakin said, as he looked out of the broken window at the transport as it approached them rapidly, the wind whipping wildly through his long blond hair.
Anakin took a step back, and he and Obi-Wan watched, along with Shanda and the children, as the transport drew up close to the building beside them and opened the large access door on its side.
Anakin and Obi-Wan stepped up next to the window's heavy metal frame, and they both reached deeply into the Force, as they attempted to steady the transport as it bucked and tossed in the heavy wind outside of the Temple. Anakin looked up, just in time to see two of Bail Organa's aides step up to the edge of the transport's door, only a few feet from them.
"How many do you have?" the tall, muscular young man shouted, as he looked over at the two Jedi Knights as the transport began to steady itself as they held it tightly in the Force.
"Thirty seven," Anakin said. "We need to get them loaded and out of here as quickly as possible."
"Send them over," the young man shouted. "We're ready."
"Shanda," Obi-Wan called, as he turned and looked back at her as she stood huddled closely together with the children. "Bring them over, a few at a time," he said. "We need to get them on this transport as fast as we can, before anyone sees us."
Shanda took a deep breath, and then reached down and scooped several of the children up in her arms. "Come with me," Shanda said, as she turned toward the small group that stood near her. "The rest of you stay here. I'll be back to get you in just a minute."
Shanda carried the two in her arms over toward Anakin and Obi-Wan, as the small group followed close behind her. She handed the first child in her arms to Obi-Wan, and watched, with more than a little trepidation, as Obi-Wan handed the child out of the window and into the arms of the senator's aid on the transport.
"Please don't let any of them fall," Shanda said, turning and looking at Anakin with a worried, frightened expression as he reached over and took one of the children in his arms.
"Don't worry," Anakin said, nodding reassuringly. "We won't. You keep them coming, okay?"
Shanda nodded her head slowly, as she reached up and brushed her hair out of her eyes as she watched Obi-Wan and Anakin begin to pass the youngsters quickly out through the window and into the arms of Bail's aides. She turned and started back across the room, and she kept them moving as quickly as she could, as the two Jedi Knights loaded them, one by one, into the waiting transport.
Yoda cried out loudly, as he felt the tip of Sidious's crimson blade bite into the edge of his hand as it struck the hilt of his saber, slicing cleanly through the small weapon and sending it clattering to the floor in a brilliant flash as its power cell exploded violently.
Yoda stumbled backwards, and then looked up as Sidious's crimson blade glowed only a few inches from his small face.
"As I said," Darth Sidious said, his voice still trembling with pain and anger as he looked at the defenseless Jedi as he lay on the floor before him, "the Jedi will soon be extinct, Master Yoda. Just as you will soon be."
Yoda reached up and grabbed his throat, as Sidious stretched out his hand toward him and began to lift him slowly into the air. He could feel the dark, angry tremor that flowed through the Force as he struggled to breath, and he glanced back and looked at the Dark Lord again as he held him, defenseless, almost a meter off the ground.
Sidious's eyes flashed angrily from his horribly disfigured face; Yoda glanced over again, catching sight of the Book of The Whills, as it lay on the floor not far from him. He reached deeply into the Force, struggling with all of his might to stay conscious as he felt himself begin to float toward the window behind him.
"And now, Master Yoda," Sidious said angrily, "You've grieved me for the last time," he said, as he thrust out his hand toward the tiny Jedi and pushed with all of the strength that he could muster from the dark side of the Force that he served.
Yoda felt himself suddenly begin to fly backwards toward the window behind him with incredible force; he stretched out his hand, reaching into the Force with all of his might as he felt his small body strike the window behind him.
Sidious watched, with evil satisfaction, as Yoda's small body hurtled through the glass as it shattered with a brilliant crash, and then plummeted down toward the city far below; he saw movement out of the corner of his haunting yellow eyes, and he glanced over, just in time to see the large, thick book suddenly leap from the floor and fly out of the window through which Yoda had just disappeared.
Sidious stumbled again, taking several long, trembling breaths as another wave of searing pain coursed through his body, and then he started to walk slowly to the broken window as the wind began to whip wildly through the small chambers, sending the destroyed books and papers that once lined the shelves of Yoda's chambers flying through the devastated room.
Shanda watched, as Obi-Wan handed the last of the children to Bail's aide, and then watched as they ushered the children toward the far side of the transport.
"Come on, Shanda," Anakin said, as he looked at her and extended his hand toward her. "It's your turn. The little ones need you to stay with them."
Obi-Wan watched, as Shanda walked slowly over and took Anakin's hand, squeezing it tightly, and then looked down out of the window nervously. "I'm too big," Shanda said, shaking her head as she looked back up at Anakin. "I'm too heavy for you to hand over to them."
"You're going to jump," Anakin said, as she looked at him, a look of disbelief on her young face. "And I'm going to help you."
"I can't," Shanda said, shaking her head as she looked back at him, her face frightened and apprehensive. "I'm scared."
"You can do it, Shanda," Anakin said, as he looked at her, nodding reassuringly. "I'm going to hold your hand, and steady you with the Force as you jump. You won't fall," Anakin said, as he squeezed her hand tightly. "I promise."
Shanda took a long, deep breath, as she looked at Anakin's reassuring smile. She was terrified, but something about him told her that she could trust him, and she nodded her head slowly as she looked back out at the transport and swallowed hard. "Okay," she said, as she looked back at Anakin and took another deep breath. "I'll try."
"We'll go on three, okay?" Anakin said, nodding his head and looking up at her reassuringly.
"Wait," Shanda said, as she raised her hand as Anakin started to count. They both watched her, as she looked at both of them for a long moment, and then turned and looked at Obi-Wan with a thankful expression.
"Thank you, Master Obi-Wan," Shanda said, as she nodded her head and smiled at him gratefully.
"You're welcome, Shanda," Obi-Wan said with a smile, as he watched her reach up and brush her hair out of her eyes as the wind continued to gust through the chamber wildly. "You'll all be safe with Senator Organa until we can get all of this sorted out. We'll be back to get you shortly," he said with a smile. "I promise."
Shanda turned and looked at Anakin, and she squeezed his hand tightly as she smiled back at him. "And thank you, Master Skywalker," she said, as he squeezed her hand tightly in return.
"Thank you, Shanda," Anakin said. "Thank you for taking care of them. They wouldn't be here without you."
"You ready?" he asked, as he watched her take another deep breath and look out at the transport as it bucked again in the strong evening wind.
"Yes," she said, as she looked back at Anakin and nodded her head.
"Okay," Anakin said. "On three. One…. Two… Three!"
Shanda held her breath and she ran toward the window as she held tightly to Anakin's hand, and then jumped as hard as she could toward the open door of the transport.
Anakin released her hand as she jumped, and he stretched out his hand toward her, releasing his hold on the transport as he held her tightly in the Force, holding her steady as he guided her through the air toward the waiting arms of Senator Organa's aides.
Shanda felt Anakin's strong Force grip let her go, as she landed safely in the arms of the two aides that pulled her quickly into the transport beside them. She turned around, and looked back at the two Jedi Knights who had rescued them with a grateful smile, as she watched the wind whip through their long hair as they stood on either side of the window as the transport began to back away slowly from the window.
The tall, muscular young man turned and looked at the transport's pilot. "That's the last of them," he said, as Shanda turned and walked over by the children, and then turned and watched for another moment as she saw Anakin and Obi-Wan turn and step back away from the window, just as the door of the transport closed tightly.
"Where are we going?" Shanda asked, as she looked up at the young man as he walked over and looked at her with a smile.
"We're taking you to Senator Organa's residence," he said. "You'll be safe and comfortable there until the Jedi can get things under control."
"Senator Organa says to assure you that you'll all be well taken care of," he nodded, as he looked at the group of children that huddled closely around her.
"Did Master Obi-Wan and Anakin arrange this?" Shanda asked, as she looked up at him thoughtfully.
"Yes," the young man said, nodding his head as he looked back at her. "They did indeed."
"Then I know we will be," Shanda smiled, nodding her head; she sat down slowly on the bench, as several of the younger children climbed up in her lap and wrapped their arms tightly around her.
Bail pressed the button on the comlink as he lifted it from the seat beside him and brought it quickly up toward his face, as he turned his speeder away from the Temple and began to follow the transport back down toward the city.
"Yes, Anakin," Bail said, as he pushed the throttle of his speeder forward. "We've got them," he said, nodding his head as he spoke. "We're getting clear of the building now."
"Bail," Anakin panted heavily into the comlink, as Bail's expression grew concerned. "Master Yoda's in trouble," he said. "We're heading up to his chambers now. We may need you to help get him out of there."
Bail swung his speeder around hard, punching the throttle as he headed back toward the Temple. "I understand, Anakin," Bail said, as he made his way quickly up toward the massive building and headed toward the north side of the building where Master Yoda's chambers were. "I'm heading up there now."
Yoda clung to the ledge tightly with the three fingers of his right hand, as he reached deeply into the Force, trying to steady himself as the wind tore at him wildly. He looked down below him, as he clung desperately to the thick book under his arm.
He felt a sense of despair tug at him, and he struggled to push it away as he looked down toward the seemingly endless depths of the city below him, as another gust of wind nearly tore his fingers lose from the ledge again.
Yoda looked back up again, as he struggled to pull himself up; he was simply too weak. Sidious had been far stronger than even he could have imagined, and he felt his strength waning fast as the dark feeling of despair dogged him again.
He heard a sound below him, and he looked down again and watched as the small speeder began to close on him quickly. Another blast of wind tore at him, and he reached into the Force as strongly as he could as he clung to the ledge with all of his might as Bail Organa's speeder headed directly for him.
Anakin and Obi-Wan stopped quickly, as they ran toward the lift that lead up to Yoda's chambers. Obi-Wan watched, panting hard, as Anakin reached down and pulled the comlink from his belt as it beeped loudly.
"Yes," Anakin said, as he listened to the tone as the com channel opened.
"Anakin," Bail called excitedly, his voice trembling as he spoke. "I've got him."
Anakin looked up at Obi-Wan, and they both exchanged puzzled glances as they heard Bail's excited voice. "You've got him?" Anakin asked, frowning deeply as he looked back at the comlink. "What do you mean you've got him?"
"It's a long story, apparently," Bail said, as Anakin and Obi-Wan looked back at each other as they listened intently. "He was outside the building, clinging to a ledge."
"He's in my speeder, now," Bail said. "I'm taking him back to my residence."
"Master Yoda said to tell you that it's imperative that the two of you get out of there as quickly as possible," he said. "Sidious is in there, and he'll be looking for you."
Anakin's face grew angry and determined as he considered the fact that Sidious might be near; he glanced at Obi-Wan, and he saw the same look in his old mentor's eyes as he looked back at him.
"Master Yoda says that the two of you are not to confront him, under any circumstances," Bail said, as they looked back down toward the comlink. "He said to tell you both to get out of there and get on with your mission."
Anakin and Obi-Wan looked at each other for a moment; Anakin watched, as Obi-Wan nodded at him silently.
"We're on our way," Anakin said, looking back at the comlink in his hand. "Tell Master Yoda that we'll contact him as soon as we get to Mustafar."
"Understood," Bail said over the small, tinny microphone. "Be careful, you two," he said after a long pause. "And may the Force be with you."
Anakin looked at the comlink as it beeped and fell silent, and he returned it to his belt as he and Obi-Wan turned and bolted for the lift that lead to the main landing platform directly above them.
Yoda sat quietly in the seat beside Bail Organa, as the small speeder dropped down into the heavy traffic lanes as they made their way toward Bail's residence. He looked out of the window, thoughtfully, for a long moment as the city's brilliant lights flashed by them.
"Anakin and Obi-Wan were able to get the young ones out, Master Yoda," Bail said quietly, as the tiny Jedi turned his sad, thoughtful face toward him as he spoke. "They're on their way to my residence, now."
"Thankful, we must be, for that," Yoda said with a sigh, as he looked down and brushed his injured hand gently over the cover of the book that lay in his lap. "One thing more, there is, left to do at the Temple," he said quietly, and Bail turned and watched silently, as Yoda closed his eyes, reaching deeply into the Force.
Padmé looked up, suddenly, from the data that scrolled by quickly on the terminal in front of her as the strong tremor traveled through her through the Force.
"We're out of time," she said softly, as she turned and looked at Sola as she turned and looked back at her.
"What?" Sola asked, puzzled, as she looked back at Padmé's deeply concerned face.
"We're out of time," Padmé said again, as she nodded her head as she looked at Sola's own worried face. "We've got to destroy it," she said, as she turned her eyes back toward her console and tapped the control pad quickly in front of her as she prepared to sever their connection to the archives.
Sola swallowed hard, as she realized what it was they were preparing to do. "Are you sure, Padmé?" she asked, quietly, as she watched her sister tap the control pad quickly. "We don't have everything yet."
"Yes," Padmé said, nodding her head as she pulled up the com station's controls in front of her. "I don't know how, but I know we're out of time," she said, as she looked back at Sola, her expression somber and determined. "What we have will have to be enough."
"Artoo," Padmé said, as she turned and looked at her faithful little companion as he swung his dome toward her. "It's time. Stop the transfer and key in the destruct sequences. Now."
Artoo whistled in reply, as Sola stood up from her seat in the copilot's chair. She and Threepio both walked over and stood behind her, silently, as Artoo spun the wheels on the console quickly, keying the destruct codes into the Temple's control system as quickly as he could.
Padmé took a long deep breath, as she watched the seven codes begin to scroll on the screen in front of them, one by one, as the Temple activated its self-destruct system. She reached up and took Sola's hand from her shoulder, squeezing it tightly as she saw the message suddenly scroll across the screen in front of them, as the system activated the built in ten second delay.
Code accepted. Destruct sequence engaged.
Ten… Nine… Eight… Seven…
Darth Sidious threw the doors to the Temple's archive library open hard; he stepped through the doors quickly, and he scanned the massive series of computer banks with a rapturous lust, as he smiled, in spite of the horrible pain that coursed through his badly burned face.
It was his now; everything that the Jedi knew, all of the knowledge that they had amassed over the centuries, along with the location of every single individual that would ever be able to oppose him. He took a step toward the console just inside the doorway, and reached out toward the display in front of him.
He stopped, suddenly, and stared at the display as the message flashed brightly in front of him.
Six… Five… Four… Three…
"No!" Sidous shouted angrily, as he looked up toward the massive rows of computer banks that lined the long hallway. "It's not possible!"
He took a step back toward the doorway, just as the bright flash blinded him as the computer core closest to him exploded violently; the force of the explosion lifted him into the air, throwing him back through the doorway to the archives and sending him crashing violently to the floor of the hallway behind him.
Sidious looked up, dazed and disoriented, as he lifted himself up on his elbows and looked back toward the Temple archives. He felt a wave of incredible anger and rage brewing inside of him, as he watched core after core explode, sending shards of equipment flying out through the doors and crashing to the floor around him.
The Dark Lord's angry scream filled the empty hallway around him, as the last of the archive's computer cores exploded, utterly destroying in a few seconds what it had taken hundreds of years to build.
Anakin turned and watched as Obi-Wan closed the ship's access ramp behind him. "Let's go," Obi-Wan said, as he extinguished the blade of his saber and returned it quickly to his belt.
Anakin punched the throttle, as their small gunship lifted off the landing pad; Obi-Wan took the copilot's seat beside him, and he looked down at the platform below as Anakin retracted the landing gear and swung them quickly out away from the Temple.
The troopers on the roof had given them little resistance, and Obi-Wan took a long, deep breath, sighing deeply as he watched the Temple that they had known for so long begin to fade as they lifted slowly into the thickening clouds above them.
"I wonder if we'll ever see it again," Obi-Wan said, as he turned and looked at Anakin thoughtfully.
"We can always hope," Anakin said quietly, nodding his head slowly as he looked back out of the window in front of him. "We got the young ones out," Anakin said, managing a smile as Obi-Wan looked back at him. "We'll need a place to train them, someday."
"Can you take the controls for a minute or two, Master?" Anakin said, as he looked back at Obi-Wan. "I need to contact Padmé and let her know where we're going."
"Sure," Obi-Wan said with a nod, as he turned around and took hold of the control yoke in front of him. He watched as Anakin stood up from the pilot's seat, and he looked up at his young friend as he placed his hand gently on his shoulder and smiled down at him weakly.
"Everything's going to work out, Master," Anakin said, as he squeezed Obi-Wan's shoulder. "Master Yoda's okay. He'll know what to do."
Obi-Wan smiled, just as weakly, and he watched as Anakin walked slowly back into the back of the ship toward the communications console. He turned around slowly and looked back out of the window beside him, as the Temple disappeared into the clouds below them. He looked back out ahead of him, and took a long, deep breath as he pushed the throttle and headed directly into the atmosphere above them.
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