Place: Royal Palace, Naboo.




About thirty feet from the palace itself, the soldiers in the landspeeder let us all out. We then crept through the alleyways to the entrance to the hangar. It was a nerve-racking journey, one that almost saw many of us caught. But luckily for us, the shadows in the alleys were many and dark. As we crept along the wall and finally settled in a spot by the hangar entrance, I tugged on Qui-Gon's sleeve. He looked down. "Master, if worse comes to worse, should I use my lightsaber?" I whispered. Qui-Gon thought a moment, then shook his head with resolve. "No. If the Queen's attacker is there Obi-Wan and I will go after him. There will most likely be an attack among the three of us. You shouldn't reveal your Jedi abilities. It would put you at great risk." I nodded, my excitement sinking. Inside the back of my head, I considered disobeying. But I knew I wouldn't. I respected Qui-Gon too much to do that. And inwardly I knew that if, that man saw my abilities, he would most certainly go after me as well. This thought was unspoken by Qui-Gon, but it had been implied. I was now fully willing to keep my Jedi abilities under wraps.




I drew the blaster Amidala had leant me out, gripping the handle tightly. Amidala's tentative brown eyes glanced around her before she lifted up her beaming device and gave the signal. Across the plaza, her officer returned the signal. Amidala turned to face us, the Jedi, Anakin, her soldiers, me, and smiled grimly. "It is now that we act. You know the plan?" We nodded in the affirmative and she sighed shakily. Then she took a deep breath, running out into the open stretch to the hangar. We followed her, our blasters drawn ready to protect ourselves and Amidala. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan drew their lightsabers and deflected the blaster bolts that the droid army fired at us simultaneously.




Luckily for me, I had gotten used to the heavy feel of the blaster in my hand and had managed to shoot a few droids head on. I was towards the back of our group and was supposed to bring up the rear, destroying any droids that attempted to follow us. But they began to become numerous, surrounding us as we entered the hangar. I was getting tired of it, waiting behind everyone else, destroying the remaining droids. It was taking too long. Exasperated, I waved my hand quickly at the remaining droids, sending the Force over them, watching them collapse in a heap, their circuits fried. I smiled grimly and entered the chaotic hangar.




What I saw inside was chaos. A circle of captured pilots was in the middle of the hangar, battle droids surrounding them. Obi-Wan was walking towards them, lightsaber drawn. Qui-Gon, Amidala and the remaining soldiers were fighting head to head with the battle droids that were in our way, keeping us from our mission. There weren't many of them and we were able to dispose of them quickly without much work. I knew that this was only the beginning. There would be much worse fights than this.




I heard Obi-Wan's ragged breathing behind me and I turned, giving him a hopeful smile. He nodded, taking deep breaths. "The pilots are on their way." He said through his breaths. I nodded, turning and watching the pilots rushing into their ships and blasting out of the hangar. Amidala nodded grimly and waved her hand. We then proceeded to a large blast door at the end of the hangar. This would lead us to passages that would lead to the Throne Room, the place where the Viceroy would be hiding. As we approached the door, it surprisingly opened automatically revealing a figure that made my blood run cold. There in the doorway stood the man who had attacked Qui-Gon, and my brother. His twisted orange eyes, his black and red tatooed face, it was all real. He was there in flesh and blood, unfeeling and unwilling to feel. He lifted his head and scanned the crowd. His gaze rested on me and he submitted a small smile. Not a one of kindness, but one of evil.




When he had killed my brother, he had smiled in the exact fashion. Then he had walked away. But this time he would not walk away. He would take control this time and if possible, he would kill. Instinctively, my hand drifted down till it rested on my hip where my lightsaber lay hidden. He stood there and his demonic eyes followed my movements, his smile widening as my hand stopped. In my head I heard his voice,




Soon. I'll come for you as soon as I dispose of the Jedi. I will have my revenge.




My blood went cold and at the same time began to boil as I answered him.




The only thing you shall get is what you gave to Taran. You will never get to me. I have grown since that day and I will not run away from you this time.




The figure cocked his head slightly.




I am surprised. You are so sure of yourself. I can feel your ability. But I doubt that you are as strong as you say you are. You were not so sure when I left.




I shook my head.




I was a child. And it wasn't you that left that day. It was a man, a real human man. Jaren Solo, my father. You are not him and you never will be. He died that day. My mind screamed.




The figure's smile disappeared and his anger surged as his gaze finally moved on to the Jedi. "We'll handle this." Qui-Gon said firmly, he and Obi-Wan gazing at their attacker. "We'll take the long way." Amidala said walking quickly away from the scene, her group following her. But I could not move, my gaze could not be taken away from the man in the doorway. "Qui-Gon don't!" I whispered. Qui-Gon turned and smiled reassuringly, then waved me in the direction of Amidala and her departing crew. I hesitated for one more moment, waiting.




I will come for you Elaina. Don't doubt me.




The purring voice echoed in my mind as adrenaline rushed to my legs and I ran out of the corridor. I almost heard his laughter echoing behind me in the corridor, though it was non-existant.




I finally caught up with Amidala and the others as they were running across the hangar, attempting to reach the other doorway to the palace. I drew my blaster, anticipating the attack that was going to come. As we ran down another corridor, blaster shots rang out behind us. I turned around and groaned at what I saw. I had read about them, but had never seen one. They were droid decas, deadly machines with an unpenatratable shield. The only way to get through the shield was to blast it with higher power than a blaster. This we didn't have.




We all dashed behind pillars and began shooting at them, but despite the many dead-on shots that we inflicted, the droids remained intact. As I started to lose hope, one droid deca blew apart. Then another. Then the droids remaining. I looked down the hall and saw to my surprise, a Naboo fighter sliding down the hangar. I stared in amazement at the ship, then squinted at the pilot.




Hey Elaina! You guys better get out of here! I got the droids out for ya! I smiled with relief as Anakin's voice ran through my head.




What are you doing in that ship Anakin Skywalker? Didn't Qui-Gon tell you to stay put?




When Anakin answered, his voice was excited and wheedling.




Yeah I guess. But he didn't say where I had to go did he? And plus I am staying put. It's just the ship thats moving. Cut me some slack Elaina! He protested.




Don't blame me if you get in trouble with Qui-Gon. Just stay out of trouble alright Ani?




Will do!




And Anakin,




Yeah?




Thank you.




Sure. You better get going before more droids come!




I nodded to the figure in the cockpit. He nodded his blonde head, his face all smiles. I grinned and rejoined Amidala as we finally headed back on course. We reached an empty corridor and ran down the marble floors. In no time at all, hundreds of battle droids were upon us. Amidala yelled and she ran behind one of the marble pillars that lined the hallway. I managed to get to a pillar behind her as we shot our blasters, attempting to make a hole among the droids. It was no use. There were simply too many of them. We were wasting time. Amidala hissed in frustration as she blew another droid away. "We don't have time for this captain." She said, shooting droid after droid.




As if on cue, the Captain blasted one of the large, glass windows lining the corridor on the other side. Me, Amidala, the Captain, and a few soldiers managed to make it across, while the remaining soldiers stayed to fight through the droids. We stepped onto the window ledge tentatively. I looked down, my eyes widening as the lush greenery and lakes, as well as the stone pavement rushed up at me. Amidala put her hand on my shoulder, which brought me back to reality. She pressed the cable on her blaster, shooting it up to the roof above us. We all did the same. The cables shot into the sky, hitting their targets.




I took a deep breath and held on tightly as our cables drew us up into the sky. We reached a window about three stories up and alighted on the ledge. Upon detaching our cables, we looked at Amidala. She nodded grimly. "On the count of three, we shoot." She said. We nodded, aiming our blasters at the window as Amidala began the count. The count of three saw the huge window shattering in an explosion of sparks and glass. As the glass fell, it looked like a waterfall of exquisite, but deadly crystals as they fell beside us. The captain stepped cautiously inside. Seeing no one, he waved to us that all was safe and clear. I breathed a shaky sigh as we stepped safely inside the marble corridor. Amidala touched my shoulder and pointed to the door at the end of the hall. "Through that door and another one beyond is the door to the throne room! We are almost there!" She whispered excitedly. I nodded, my thankfulness growing. Soon, we would all be reunited, Anakin, Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon, and me. Everything would finally be over.