DISCLAIMER: All the Star Wars characters here on out belong to George Lucas. I'm just borrowing them for a little bit...
In our last chapter . . .
Things quickly turned in the midst of the battle. I saw that Jango was decapitated . . . poor Boba saw the whole thing. The troopers were taking down the droids one-by-one. This made me extremely happy - witnessing their first winning battle. This happened so fast, and I saw that after this all happened that Obi-Wan, Padme, and Anakin had arrived at a mountain stationed in the distance. Master Yoda had disappeared sometime during the course of the battle (I would later find out that he had gotten to the same mountain). I gathered a small legion of troops. My legion and I headed as quickly as we could to aid my friends . . .
And now . . .
Shots were flying. Droids were falling. All the while, Sabe and her small legion of troops made their way towards the mountain. "We're almost there," she cried out, "Come on!" A blur of white amidst the sand attracted her attention; it wasn't the metallic white of the clonetroopers. "Go see what that is," she told two of the corporals. They nodded and advanced on it. "Commander," she heard in her radio a few minutes later, "Its a human female, early twenties. It appears she needs medical attention." "Make it so," she said (not realizing it was Padme herself). "The rest of you, come with me!" They all advanced as quickly as they could on the mountain.
"Commander," one of the soldiers said as they approached their destination, "How are we supposed to ascend up to the entrance without any equipment?" "Very, very slowly, General. Very slowly indeed." Setting an example for her followers, she slung her blaster onto her back and got a firm grip on the rocks. Each of her subordinates, though some were hesitant to do so, did the same thing and began to follow her up the side.
The minute . . . no, second I got up to the ledge I heard a gigantic cheer and looked out over the scene. The clonetroopers were pushing the droids back - they were going to win in the near future. I began to cheer and so did my subordinates when they saw what was going on.
Sabe, realizing what they had come up to originally do, turned around and ran back into the cave. She stopped when she saw what it had become: Master Yoda was hobbling towards her while Obi-Wan and Anakin were down on the cave floor, injured. When she took one look at the younger man's stub of an arm, she nearly passed out. She had never seen so much blood - not even when the Trade Federation had invaded Naboo. "Lieutenant," she said getting out her comlink. "Commander," he said back, acknowledging her. She continued by saying, "Prepare the medic ship to receive two wounded Jedi, quite possibly more. One of the two has lost an arm - I repeat, he has lost an arm and the other man is less severe; from what I can see, he has many cuts and scratches and that doesn't include any internal injuries." "Yes, ma'am."
I turned back to Obi-Wan and Anakin and ordered my troops to get them to the medical ship. After they were gone, I went out onto the battlefield and surveyed the losses . . .
"Congratulations on your victory, Commander." Sabe's second-in-command came up behind the woman as she scanned the field. The clones were helping up their wounded comrades and getting them to the medical ship, even though there was a considerable loss of life. "Thank you," she said. An unrecognizable burden was settling itself inside her - could she really keep up this army on her own? She didn't know *anything* about fighting . . . she was even surprised when they had won the battle. "Commander, is something wrong?" She took a deep breath and made her decision (which was based on a gut feeling she had). "This has not been made official yet, Lieutenant, but I am promoting you to the rank of Commander as soon as we get back to Kamino." "What?" She turned to him and said, "My term as Ambassador is up and I do not plan to apply for a second term. The army will need someone to lead them after I leave." "But . . ." "Don't try to convince me otherwise. I have a life on Naboo which I need to get back to after my term is up." "Yes, ma'am." Sabe brushed past him and headed for the medical ship where, she had understood, the Jedi and some of the other troops were being taken care of.
~*~*~
I asked around for Senator Amidala until I saw her getting her injuries wrapped. I went over to her, not realizing that I still had my helmet on . . .
"Padme," Sabe said to her as she knelt down by her. The senator looked over to her confused and asked if she knew her. She nearly slapped herself in the head as she realized her helmet was still on. Taking it off, she saw her friend's eyes widen. "No way . . . Sabe? You were the leader of the troops?" "Yes. Jango Fett gave me leadership while I was still on Kamino. I'm going to relinquish it as soon as I get back so I can leave my term in peace." "How did it all happen?" "Its a really long story. We have a lot to catch up on . . ." "I agree. We can . . ." Padme was interrupted as she felt someone sit down on the other side of her. "Anakin," she said with delight. "Surely you remember my friend Sabe?" She saw his face light up as he recognized her. "Sabe . . . yes, I remember you." The trio carried on a conversation until the Senator had her injuries wrapped. "Anakin," the ambassador said before they left. "Where is your Master?" "He's in a room down the hall, meeting with Masters Windu and Yoda." She nodded her thanks and, knowing that they would have time to catch up later, headed towards her love.
I waited outside his room until the two Jedi Council members had gotten done discussing something with him. When they finally came out, Master Yoda saw me sitting next to the newly-opened door. He set his little green hand on my knee and said, "Alone you two will be no more." He then walked off with his dark-skinned companion. I went in to be greeted by Obi-Wan . . .
"You know," Sabe said to her close friend, "You'll never guess what Master Yoda said to me just a few minutes ago." "What?" Obi-Wan asked with a gleam in his eyes. "Something like . . . 'Alone you two will be no more.'" The man's smile grew on his face as he embraced his love. "What? What does it mean?"
I had no idea at the time, but Master Yoda had just given me his blessing for us to marry.
