He sensed them a nanosecond before the black, metallic hovering objects flew through the window; he grabbed Padmé and fell with her to the floor. The bullets sprayed into the room and sparked off of the walls like fireworks.
Empire.
He had no time to ponder on the possibility of this actually happening. He grabbed the lightsaber from his belt, ignited it, and passed it through the first probe droid that neared them. The probe combusted in a crackle of blue light.
"Three more coming in!" Padmé screamed, scrambling to her feet. Her blaster was already in her hands. She fired twice, and another probe went up in flames.
The remaining two probes let loose with a volley of bullets. Obi Wan's lightsaber was a blur as he deflected them, sending them ricocheting back to the hovering spheres. One of the probes jerked violently and dropped to the floor, smoking.
Padmé squeezed the trigger and the last probe fragmented into a thousand pieces. She lowered her blaster, her chest heaving. She wheeled to Obi Wan. "The Empire knows!"
He pulled her to his side, holding his ignited lightsaber protectively before them. "Yes, and they won't give up this easily. Be alert, Padmé."
A shiny silver object buzzed through the open window, clearing through the dust and debris. Obi Wan recognized it the moment he saw it; he gasped. "Do. Not. Move."
"What is it?"
"Poison droid," he hissed through his teeth. "Responds to organic movement fast." He stretched out with the Force and sensed with dismay that there was an empty chasm where the poison droid's presence was supposed to be. Clearly this droid was not meant for anyone except for him. He held onto Padmé's arm.
The crystalline droid hummed as it slowly made its way into the room. Its single eye flashed in their direction. Obi Wan could see himself reflected in the lens, a bearded man in a heavy brown Jedi cloak, and he could see Padmé standing next to him, an infinitely beautiful Queen who held her ground unwaveringly. He realized how young she was. He gripped her arm tighter.
The droid's eye passed over them and continued to scan through the rest of the room. "A camera," Obi Wan whispered to himself. The Empire knew how to economize their droids, combining multiple functions together on a single tiny machine. Their images were probably flickering into each memory disc of each probe droid in Tattooine right now.
Without warning, Padmé tore herself away from him.
"Padmé, no!" He screamed, but she was too fast.
She raised her blaster and aimed it at him -- no -- she was aiming at something behind him. The poison droid beelined for her just as Obi Wan felt the hot wind of a blaster shot sear agonizingly past his head. Something exploded; he spun around to see the smoldering pieces of a probe droid falling to the floor. He smelled his own singed hair mixed with the nauseous smoke of the probe.
Then Padmé was upon him, cupping his face into her slender hands. "It was the one that fell to the floor! It was still functioning!" She drew back her fingers from his forehead and Obi Wan saw the blood on them. "For heaven's sake, I hurt you! I'm so sorry--"
"Where's the poison droid!" he shouted.
"I shot it!"
"No you didn't! You shot at the other one!" He grabbed her by the upper arms and shook her. "Did it get you?"
"No! I'm fine!"
"Don't lie to me! Did it get you?"
"No, it flew into the wall!"
"You just said you shot at it!" Fear knotted in his gut. He saw the tiny line of blood marring her pale neck.
