Chapter 42. Encounter with Destiny II

Anakin's lightsaber was in his hand before he consciously realized why. His heart and mind had been wholly focused on Balé and on the disabled Army speeder. From his vantage point it was clear what had happened – an armed group of civilians had targeted a number of military vehicles along the heavily traveled road that skirted the south end of the grand Plaza. Evidently, Poulin and his group had been in one of the vehicles. Sonic detonators weren't the only weapons being used. The same group was now aiming a fierce barrage of blaster fire at the small clusters of soldiers who were strung out along the road to the spaceport.

Only the instinctive compulsion to defend himself could have wrenched Anakin's consciousness away from Balé and from the sudden and unexpected firefight. He snapped around, following his blade, which almost had a life of its own, to find Tec Andros bearing down on him with his blue-green lightsaber ignited. Master Andros wasn't paying attention to the trouble in the road. He was after Anakin.

No! Anakin screamed inside. Not now!

Without even thinking he lunged at Andros, catching the Master's blade with a powerful two-handed slash that sent Andros reeling backward – but just for a moment. In an instant Anakin and Master Andros were trading brutal, violent blows that would have pulverized stone or melted metal. The Force surged into a maelstrom between them, creating a disturbance that could be felt by Force-sensitive individuals far and wide like a distant earthquake.

"What are you doing?" Anakin roared between blows. "They're innocent! We have to help them!" 

"You're a fine one to talk," Tec Andros spat, whirling around to counter Anakin's battering blows. He leaped upward to give his next downward slash more power, but Anakin ducked and rolled with breathtaking speed. "You created this disaster!"

"Don't make it worse!" Anakin yelled. "Look at what's happening!"  Behind him, the firefight was rapidly turning into something that looked more like a battle. The armed civilians had taken up positions behind overturned armored vehicles and were firing remarkably disciplined and accurate rounds at the Army troops, who had re-grouped quickly into a combat formation. The orderly evacuation from the Plaza had degenerated into another melee, as the soldiers conducting it abandoned their charges and joined in the skirmish. The evacuees became refugees, fleeing the blaster fire in all directions. It was becoming difficult for Anakin and Tec to keep their private fight going without endangering bystanders in the crowds that began to surge around them.

Despite his focused and deadly intent, even Andros had to pause briefly when yet another group of civilians ran close by him. Anakin took advantage of the Jedi's hesitation, a matter of only seconds, to dive through the crowd toward Balé.

Keep her safe, Poulin, he demanded silently. Just keep her safe.

Even in the middle of the chaos Anakin's mind kept working logically, and stored the observation that the civilians behind the barriers weren't Naboo at all. Their Force signatures said D'laian, although they were dressed as Naboo. They were evidently mercenaries and rabble-rousers, and were taking advantage of the disturbances that Anakin had set in motion.

Of course he was being blamed. He would always and forever be blamed.

Anakin's headlong flight toward Balé and Poulin was halted by another volley of blaster fire from the insurgents. This time they weren't aiming only at the Army troops. Fleeing civilians were being targeted as well, and several people fell, shocked and wounded, nearby. No one on this part of the Plaza – or on the road – was safe.

Anakin's next actions arose out of a soul-deep impulse, augmented by years of uncompromising Jedi training. Instinctively he swung his lightsaber in wide, blindingly fast arcs to counter and deflect the blaster fire away from the bystanders. As he fought his way slowly and deliberately toward the source of the shooting, his circling blade created a safe zone behind him, where nothing as crude as a blaster bolt could get through.

"Get behind me!" he shouted repeatedly, to anyone and everyone who could hear him. "Pass behind me!"  At first glance he may not have looked like a Jedi, but the sight and visible effects of his whirling blade were enough to encourage the people around him to obey. The path before Anakin began to clear rapidly as the surging, terrified throngs dove and shoved their way behind him.

And then, all at once, he had help. Without faltering in his focus and rhythm Anakin sensed Tec Andros nearby, performing the same movements and the same service. With two masterfully wielded blades forming a barrier against the continued blaster fire coming from the road, the safe zone behind Anakin and Tec widened considerably and more and more people used it to flee in the opposite direction, toward the inner reaches of the Plaza and the Palace. Working as a perfectly functioning team, the two Jedi, Master and rogue, advanced on the not-so-ragtag provocateurs in their positions behind the disabled armored vehicles. On both sides of the Jedi small groups of clone troopers knelt in firing position and began systematically picking off the insurgents.

"You're a puzzle, Skywalker," Tec Andros growled at one point, during a brief lull in the rapid bursts of blaster fire.

Anakin dared to shift his focus for a brief instant, and allowed his eyes to flick in the direction where he had last spotted Balé and Poulin. He saw that they had retreated back toward their disabled speeder. Even from this distance it was clear that Poulin was holding the child firmly. They were safe, for the moment.

Get out of here, Poulin, Anakin thought fiercely. Just go!

Another staccato round of fire made Anakin snap his attention back to the job in front of him. "I don't want to hurt anyone," he said to Tec between clenched teeth. "I just want to go. I'll never come back."

"From what I hear," Tec said darkly, sidling a bit closer to Anakin but never allowing his attention to stray from his surroundings, "you're on your way to a place that spells destruction for us all. We can't allow that."

He's talking about the dark side. The Sith. Anakin felt a spike of white-hot frustration sear through him. Andros was fixated on that singular Jedi obsession; to the point that Anakin was certain that nothing he said or did would persuade the man to look beyond it.

"Not if I can help it," Anakin snarled, not really expecting to be heard, and then surged into blinding, fluid motion again as a new volley of blaster fire exploded around him.

Andros leaped into action in the same instant, and once again they were fighting side by side against a common enemy. Their gradual but relentless advance toward the enemy's position had brought them within ten meters of the road. Army troops had now taken up organized positions along the edge of the plaza, and the civilians had been cleared from the hot zone between the combatants. The Army troopers were beginning to advance toward and to encircle the shooters when suddenly a violent detonation somewhere on the road unleashed a shockwave of sound and destructive energy so powerful that several of the vehicles were thrown briefly into the air.

"Another sonic detonator!" Tec yelled, but Anakin suddenly wasn't there any more. With the first shock of the detonation Anakin had thrown himself to the ground, only to leap up again an instant later and hurl himself in the direction of Balé and Poulin. Their crippled vehicle had been knocked sideways, and Anakin couldn't see them. His perceptions were momentarily muddled from the close-quarters detonation and so he simply ran, with his heart pounding so painfully in his chest that he could feel and hear nothing else. He was only dimly aware that the firefight had started up again behind him.

And then he saw Poulin. In the swirling dust and debris left behind by the explosion his beige robes had been momentarily indistinguishable from the paving on the road, but as the young Padawan rose to his feet Anakin could see a small, brightly dressed form beside him. Balé was all right.

Thank you, Poulin, Anakin thought passionately as he leaped toward them.

"Anakin!" Balé screamed when she saw him. Anakin saw her duck under Poulin's outstretched arm as she pushed herself to her feet, and then begin to run toward him.

"Stay there!" Anakin called out to her. Balé kept running. As his ability to perceive returned, Anakin sensed her feelings surging toward him like an arrow of pure intention. Her body just had to follow.

She wasn't thinking. She was reacting.

Anakin heard a resurgence of blaster fire, and doubled his speed.

He saw Poulin grab out for the child, only to leap abruptly sideways with his blade whirling in the air when another round of blaster fire burst out across the road.

Balé kept running.

And then, in an instant, Anakin's life changed again. Forever.

Suddenly, horrifyingly, out of nowhere, there was a flare of red and Balé seemed to rise into the air, only to stumble and collapse as her feet touched the ground again.

To Anakin's disbelieving eyes and heart the whole sequence appeared to take place in slow motion. He covered the last few meters between himself and his daughter in a single, gravity-defying leap, and caught the child's limp body from underneath before her head could touch the ground. Skidding to a stop on his knees, Anakin cradled Balé's small form in his arms, stubbornly and rebelliously refusing to acknowledge what all of his senses were telling him about what had just happened. Poulin arrived on Balé's other side a second later, but Anakin hardly registered him. He only saw the child.

"Balé," Anakin whispered urgently. "Balé! I'm here!"

Her eyes were closed and her head was flung back. Anakin didn't notice the dark red stain that appeared on her chest, seeping through her clothes and soaking his tunic. He only noticed her Force signature, as it wavered and fluctuated, and finally began to dissipate altogether.

No. Anakin thought, denying the evidence before him with all of his might. No.

Balé's body felt feather-light in Anakin's arms. He cradled her close to his heart, burying his face in her dusty, tangled hair.

No, he insisted again, as though sheer will could make it otherwise. Not again. Please, not again.

"I'm… I'm so sorry, Anakin," Poulin's voice suddenly said, out of nowhere. Anakin looked up, surprised to see him there. Poulin's face was caked with dust and tears. Anakin gazed at him in wonder. He had never seen Poulin look like that before.

Tec Andros' voice came from somewhere behind him, intruding dimly on Anakin's dream-like state of denial and shock.

"Skywalker," he said gruffly, "that was a stray bolt. You left…I couldn't stop them all…"

You left. Andros was blaming him for this?  Anakin looked down at the child in his arms, and all of a sudden knew, without a doubt, that Balé was dead. He was cradling her familiar small body, but she was no longer there.

As his normal awareness began to return, Anakin had just enough time to take stock of his surroundings… Poulin was kneeling beside him, his presence in the Force a tortured knot of suffering. Not far beyond, a figure slowly standing up by the overturned speeder turned out to be Sabé, with a trail of blood trickling down the side of her face…Tec Andros now stood close behind Anakin, his blade still humming…  the firefight seemed to have receded further into the distance.

And then a new voice, edgy and full of barely suppressed excitement, tore into Anakin's fragile awareness like a dull blade tearing flesh, addressing Tec as though Anakin wasn't there.

"Master Kenobi said he was coming our way. What has he done?"

What have I done? Anakin's mind echoed in disbelief. The words tore away the last shreds of his dream-like sense of unreality. Anakin didn't turn around, and so he didn't see Tec Andros place a restraining hand on Lon Erian's arm.

Anakin looked down at his precious burden. Balé was gone. He had failed to protect her. All of his illusions fell away with that clear understanding, and with them, all of his many layers of inner shielding, leaving him completely unguarded and completely open to the Force. Bitter, undeniable reality took hold of Anakin's mind and heart, and shot through the core of his being only to emerge as a single, soundless scream.

NOOOO!!!!!!

* * * * *

If the battle between Anakin and Tec had vibrated through the Force like a distant earthquake, Anakin's mute outpouring of grief and rage cascaded through it like an avalanche, engulfing everything in its path. The three Jedi closest to Anakin snapped backward like young trees in a gale as it crashed over them. As the shock wave surged outward across the Plaza and the road, expanding further and further, even the least Force-sensitive individuals stopped and were startled by something that they couldn't identify. But some of those innocent bystanders were even more baffled by the sight of a sprinting Jedi Knight suddenly being tossed into the air as though lifted by a violent gust of wind, only to fall flat on his face with his arms outstretched.

The wave hit Obi-Wan when he was no more than halfway across the Plaza. He knew instantly what was behind it. While the surge in the Force packed the power of an indifferent natural event, it was shot through with feeling. It was pure Anakin. Obi-Wan pulled himself together quickly, and covered the rest of the distance to the far end of the Plaza at speed. He kept his head clear and his emotions in balance, but a deeply buried part of his mind chanted, no, no, no, no in rhythm with his running feet.

* * * * *

Far on the other side of the Palace, somewhere below the East Wing, Padmé stumbled suddenly and violently, and fell to her knees in an agony of inexpressible pain. Holding her head in both hands, as though she could ease the anguish that tore though her mind, Padmé huddled under her brown Jedi cloak, rocking back and forth.

At the same time that Padmé fell, Master Medulla jerked backward and smashed into the corridor wall as though he had been hit by a shockwave.

"Anakin," Padmé gasped, as she rocked and rocked. "Anakin. Something has happened to him – something terrible."

"I know," Master Medulla affirmed, recovering quickly. "Hurry on, Senator." He crouched beside her on one knee.

"He's in pain … the most terrible pain…" Padmé sobbed, still rocking rock back and forth, trying not to black out from the inarticulate blast of grief and anguish that had ripped through her consciousness and heart and senses. She couldn't understand what it meant, but she could feel Anakin at its center as clearly as she once could when he still had allowed her to speak to him directly through her mind… as though she could still speak to him in her mind…

Anakin? she cried out silently.

Padmé, Anakin sobbed inside her mind as clearly as if he had been standing in front of her. Padmé…

I'm here, she sent back frantically, caught between relief that Anakin had reached out to her in this way once more, and terror at what he wasn't telling her. Padmé surged to her feet. "I have to go to him," she said wildly. "Now, Master Medulla."

"No, Senator," the Jedi Knight protested. "I have to get you to safety. There is no time to lose." He took hold of her arm to get her moving again.

"Don't you dare!" Padmé gasped, yanking her arm away. The distraught Senator and the determined Jedi Knight faced off against one another. "This ends here. Now. I'm going to find Anakin."

"If you are seen, you will be caught," Master Medulla said bluntly. "It's far to dangerous." He reached for her arm again, but Padmé stepped backward, poised and trembling like a hunted animal ready to flee.

"It's too dangerous for you, you mean," she hissed, continuing to sidle backwards. "If I'm caught, then so are the Jedi. You'll have a hard time explaining this little scheme of yours. Now either take me to Anakin or get out of my way."

Master Medulla looked at her in silence for a moment, but although he did not move or speak, Padmé suddenly became aware that his attention had shifted.

"Either way," he said at last, "it may already be to late." This time when he grabbed her arm there was nothing she could do to stop him. "This way," he whispered shortly, and pulled her into a dead run back the way they had come.

* * * * *

Master Yoda had always said that the path to the future was carved by destiny, but paved by individual choices. It was an ever-changing thoroughfare, and therefore one that could never fully be foreseen. One could only be ready for any eventuality. The ancient Master's words had echoed loudly in Master Windu's thoughts and reflections since embarking on this journey to Naboo; but they had never been clearer in his mind than now, as he stood facing the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic in a gracious suite in the central portion of the Palace at Theed. Behind the Chancellor a grand window framed the picture of the Plaza in chaos. A glimpse of the future, perhaps. And certainly an eventuality for which the Jedi Order had not been well enough prepared.

All at once, Mace felt the Force surge around him like a whirlwind. It took all of his skills to remain standing in the middle of that wild vortex; but he succeeded, only to be even more deeply disturbed by his observations of the man standing opposite him.

The Supreme Chancellor had barely moved. It was as though the untrammeled onslaught through the Force had not affected him at all. He appeared as impassive as if he had lacked any Force-sensitivity at all. What did that mean?  Either the Jedi had been profoundly mistaken in their suspicions of the man, or….

But no. Palpatine looked into the distance, his face a perfect mask of calm – and yet his nostrils flared subtly, like those of a predator scenting blood. There was an eerie, cold light in his pale eyes, and for a moment the fleeting ghost of a smile appeared, only to vanish without a trace. Involuntarily, the Jedi Master shivered, and then gathered himself inwardly for all that was to come.

You were right, Master Yoda, he thought. You were right. This path can go in any direction.

Palpatine broke the silence between them by activating his COM link and speaking into it. "The Jedi have removed Senator Amidala from her quarters," he said to an unknown person on the other side of the link, never removing his pale, cold gaze from Windu. "Find her, and bring her to me." Windu stared back at him, boldly, but said nothing.

"It seems the Jedi are not the servants of the Republic they proclaim themselves to be," Palpatine declared coldly.

Mace didn't know how or from whom the Chancellor had learned of the Jedi plot to kidnap the Senator and prevent her arrest and sentencing. But he knew that the die had been cast, and chance was not in their favor.

"We serve justice," Mace replied evenly. Outwardly placid, but inwardly coiled as tightly as a spring, the Jedi Master settled into a passive stance with his arms crossed and his hands hidden inside the loose sleeves of his tunic, and prepared to wait, or spring, as circumstances might require.

But not before he had activated a pre-arranged signal on the COM unit hidden inside his sleeve. 

* * * * *

Obi-Wan's goal was in sight when his COM signaled. When he realized that it was the emergency code rather than a normal communication he halted in his headlong dash toward Anakin and turned his attention to the other part of his mission.

"Medulla," he snapped into the COM, heading reluctantly toward the central portion of the Palace, "get the Senator away. Now. I'm on my way to the meeting point."

* * * * *

"Anakin," Poulin whispered, gingerly picking himself up from the ground where he had been flung seconds before by the Force-storm that had emanated from Anakin.

Wordlessly Anakin looked up. There was an oddly blank, distant look in his eyes, considering the violent upheaval he had just generated.

"Let me take her," Poulin said, with the greatest gentleness. "I'll take care of her. I'll take care of everything."

Anakin's eyes drifted back down to Balé's pale face.

Tentatively Poulin reached out for the child's bodily shell, where Anakin still cradled it close to his chest. Anakin didn't resist. Slowly, reverently, Poulin encircled Balé's remains with his own arms and drew her out of his friend's. Anakin allowed it. Poulin gathered the small corpse close to him and began to back away.

"Someone has to tell Sabé," the boy murmured, watching Anakin closely all the time. If he had harbored any hope that Anakin might take over that duty himself, it was dashed by the look in Anakin's eyes. Anakin didn't seem to be there at all. Poulin hesitated in his cautious backward journey, and then whispered, boldly, "Someone has to tell the Senator."

It was as though a plasma current had suddenly passed through Anakin. Without a word he leaped to his feet, turned and moved in the direction of the Palace, pushing past Lon and Master Andros as though they weren't there.

"Skywalker, wait," Master Andros demanded. Poulin flinched inwardly. Leave him alone, he thought. Just leave him alone. He kept moving backward, toward the wrecked transport and Sabé, holding his precious burden carefully.

"The Senator is no longer in the Palace, if that's where you're going," Lon pointed out to Anakin's retreating back, without much feeling. "She's on her way to our transport."

"Padawan…" Master Andros, evidently the wiser, began, but it was too late. In two swift movements Anakin had whipped back round and taken Lon by the throat with his right hand.

"Where," Anakin intoned, "is your transport? Where is she being taken?" Lon's feet were already well off the ground. Lon's eyes flicked toward Master Andros. Poulin couldn't tell whether it was a plea for help or to say, "see? I told you so."

"Let him go, Skywalker," Andros said with professional calm as he stepped closer to Anakin. "Deal with me."

Not good, Poulin thought. Not good at all. He kept backing away from the scene. He could hear Sabé calling Balé's name behind him.

Anakin didn't answer. In the time it would have taken him to say, "as you wish," Lon was sprawling on the Plaza ten meters away, clutching his throat with both hands, and Anakin had exploded into a dead run in the direction of the Palace, with Master Andros hard on his heels.

"Poulin, is she hurt?" Sabé's worried voice was right behind him. "What happened?"

There were no words.