Title: Strength over fear
Author: ewan's girl
Author's note: Ok folks here is the chapter that I've been dreading. . .I'm not very good at battle scenes and I was very worried about doing this chapter. Thank you to my fanfic padawan Glavin69 for helping me with this scene. Thank you for all the wonderful reviews please let me know what you think of this chapter.
Chapter 5:
The roar of engines was barely heard over the crash of thunder, huge ships grew closer and closer to the city built on stilts. Bail Organa glanced around him at the army of clones assigned to him, they were posed and ready to defend the Republic. He marveled at how much of a perfect solider these clones actually were, they were able to think on their feet unlike droids but they also do not fear death like volunteers.
Organa shook his head, he still wished there was another way to end this disagreement without war. He glanced at the sky and knew Obi Wan and his team of Arc troopers would be dropping down on the droid army any second now. He looked over at the ion cannons and the massive walkers prepared to fire. He headed towards the cannons.
"Viceroy." The commander saluted him.
"Captain." Organa nodded at the clone. "Are your men ready?"
"Yes sir, my men are in position." The soldier answered.
"Good. Now let's give them hell." Organa commanded, although not too proud of himself afterwards.
"Yes sir."
******
Obi Wan and his team soared through the clouds, waiting to surprise their enemy. He glanced out the cockpit window at the trooper on his left, then to the one on his right. Both troopers nodded and began to descend below the clouds. Obi Wan sighed to himself and followed suit.
Just as the ships dropped into view the first blast from the ion cannon was fired, only to be deflected off the Confederacy's large battleship. The star ships had to scatter to avoid the deflected blast.
"Deflective shield." One of the Arc troopers called over the com unit.
"Then it's up to us to find a way around it." Obi Wan commanded. "Gold leader, blue leader see what you can do with that AAT."
"Yes sir." Both leaders said in unison, and took their team of 20 ships to one of the armored attack tanks that was hovering just above the water.
"Red team, you're with me." Obi Wan stated to the remaining flyers. He glanced out his window at the large, flat ship that held many smaller star ships on its deck. Obi Wan and his team flew low over the huge ship and fired at the deck. Obi Wan noticed droids rushing away from the laser fire. "Bail, the large guns won't get through the shield, and our smaller ones won't put a dent in their armor." Obi Wan reported. "We'll have to come up with something else."
Bail Organa sighed in frustration. "I knew it couldn't be this easy." He stated under his breath. "Do what you can General, we'll keep them from entering the city."
"Yes Viceroy." Obi Wan turned off the communication with Organa and led his troops on another run over the battleship. Suddenly the smaller starship droids began to chase after them. "Evasive maneuvers!" Obi Wan called out to all his troops as the dangerous flying droids closed in on them.
Three star fighters began to chase after Obi Wan as he broke off from the rest of the group. The little red astro droid kept in the back of the ship began to wail as the fighters grew closer. "Relax R4; I'm not that bad a pilot you know." Obi Wan tried to reassure the droid who seemed to huff at his statement. "Have you lost all your confidence in me my little friend?" Obi Wan asked as he stopped accelerating and quickly shifted to reverse. His ship then dropped behind the three enemy ships and he fired at them, causing one to crash into the other two. R4 whistled and Obi Wan smiled. "See R4 you have just been flying with Anakin too long." Obi Wan boasted, his smile faded however when five more ships came at him. He quickly pulled down on the stick and forced his fighter into a nose dive. The five ships following right behind him. "Blast." Obi Wan muttered under his breath.
Suddenly a huge door on the battleship opened and a rack carrying hundreds of battle droids extended. Bail Organa noticed this and stared in confusion. He ran to the com unit and called to Obi Wan. "General Kenobi, that battle ship is a giant MTT!"
Obi Wan glanced at the massive vehicle and noticed droids being dropped into the water. "What is that?" He asked as droids continued to drop into the waves beneath the MTT. His attention quickly returned to the fighters still on his tail. He continued to dive towards the water, accelerating to an unsafe speed. R4 beeped what could only be determined as curse words at his companion. Obi Wan pushed his plane to the limit that he could still control it and headed straight for the water, at the last second he pulled up, the bottom of his ship grazing the surface of the sea. Two of the enemy fighters couldn't pull up in time and plunged into the depths with a huge splash. Obi Wan turned and noticed three of the fighters were still with him.
"Viceroy Organa." Gold leader called over the com unit. "Prepare to fire at the first of the AATs."
Bail looked out towards the tank and wondered what the clone had in mind. He then noticed a lone tie fighter being pursued by four droid star fighters. He watched as the tie fighter took a dive towards the large tank. The clone pulled up in time to barely miss the tank, but the four fighters crashed into it, shorting out the deflector shield. Organa smiled. "Fire!" He shouted over the rain and the ion cannon roared to life, blasting a huge hole in the AAT.
"Way to go Gold leader." Obi Wan called over the com unit as he maneuvered his plane around the battle. He was interrupted by one of the tanks laser cannons shooting towards the city. Obi Wan held his breath as the shot expertly took out one of the Republic's AT-TE walkers. The flaming wreckage crashed to the sea below, taking out several enemy fighters and Tie fighters with it. 'Why isn't the Confederacy going after the city?' Obi Wan wondered as he stared at the other five AATs. He continued to out run the three fighters on his tail, and he twisted around the stilts of the city, trying to lose them. As he passed the large stilts he noticed battle droids climbing up the sides, heading towards the city. "Organa!" Obi Wan called over the com unit, but the unit wasn't working.
Bail Organa and several clones ducked as pieces of the walker fell around them. He then rose to his feet and stared at the water below. "Is this all you can muster Dooku?" He asked under his breath. He was then caught off guard by laser blasts coming from behind him. He turned and faced hundreds of battle droids entering the city. He waved his hand and the clone troops aimed at the droid army. "Fire!" He commanded and a huge battle commenced on the slippery platform.
Obi Wan flew above the city and saw the battle. He knew he'd have to find a way to stop the droids. Suddenly blasts came from behind him as the three fighters continued their pursuit. "Oh you've got to be kidding me." He pushed his plane to full speed and headed back to the battle on the sea. One of the fighters hit his star fighter, causing his gun to jam. "Damn it." He cursed under his breath. "And people wonder why I hate flying." He flew past several troop pilots, who were engaged in their own dogfights and tried to get lost in the fray, just as one of the fighters had him locked in their radar, the three were blown out of the sky by one of the Arc troopers.
"I owe you one Red leader." Obi Wan stated which confused the clone.
"Just doing my duty General." The loyal clone answered.
Suddenly Red leader was hit by a missile from a hailfire droid that was rolling along the surface of the water. The explosion caused Obi Wan's ship to malfunction and caused him to lose control of his plane. One of the other clones watched as Obi Wan's star fighter plunged into the water, the clone immediately destroyed the hailfire droid.
****************
Padme Amidala-Skywalker wrapped her cloak tighter around herself as she waited in the Supreme Chancellor's sitting room. She was uncertain weather or not Palpatine would even see her at such a late hour, but she had her mind set on speaking with him. She glanced around the lavish room and noticed all the various works of art that decorated it. The work was very strange and very dark, many of the paintings and sculptures depicting pain and suffering. Padme had been here several times, but had never noticed the art work before. Suddenly her thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice.
"Late is the hour in which you come." Palpatine broke the silence, startling the senator because she didn't even hear him enter the room. "To what honor do I hold for your presence Senator Amidala?"
Padme felt her cheeks get hot from embarrassment, knowing that she had disturbed him. "I hope I did not wake you Chancellor."
Palpatine shook his head. "No my dear, I just returned from a meeting with the Jedi Council." He eyed her. "Although I assume you somehow know that."
Padme avoided his gaze and nodded. "Chancellor I am sorry for my intrusion, but I need to speak with you." She looked at him. "It's urgent."
"Ah urgent." Palpatine entered the room and poured himself a drink, he offered one to Padme, but she shook her head. He then slinked his way to his couch and sat. "And this urgent matter cannot wait until we convene in the morning?"
Padme shook her head. "Your honor I do not think it can." She sat on the couch opposite of him. He took a sip and motioned her to continue. "I know that you believe that this war is the only answer to dealing with the Separatists, but I think you have jumped to conclusions Chancellor." She held her head up to look more impressive as she continued. "You have yet to address the concerns of the opposition, we have been in the middle of a civil war for two years and it has no signs of stopping."
Chancellor Palpatine sipped his drink and stared at her. "And you believe Senator that if you come here in the middle of the night that you would be able to single handedly end this war?" Padme started to speak, then shook her head. "By all means Senator Amidala, if you have all the answers please tell me."
Padme sighed. "It's not that Chancellor, it's just. . ."
"It's just what Senator?" He rose to his feet and poured another drink. "Frankly my dear I am surprised that you aren't in support of the war."
Padme was shocked by this thought. "Chancellor, how could you even assume such a thing? I could never condone such an act."
"But you were willing to condone such an act 12 years ago."
She stopped short. "That was different." She protested.
Palpatine put down his glass and walked towards her. "Really Senator explain to me how it was different. I see it as I am a ruler of a land that is having its freedom threatened." He stood inches from her. "It maybe a different kind of freedom, but freedom none the less." Padme avoided his gaze. "So explain to me how it was ok for you to go to war 12 years ago, but I am a monster for suggesting it now."
Padme moved away from him and thought for a moment. "I am not proud of my actions 12 years ago you know that. I did what I had to do, our people were dying." She looked back at him. "The war on Naboo started to STOP people from dying, this time people are dying BECAUSE of this war."
"Are you speaking of people in general, or specifics?" He eyed her.
"I'm speaking of the thousands of woman and children, I'm speaking of homes, cities being destroyed by both armies!" She shouted, then calmed herself down. "This isn't right, there should be another way to end the corruption."
Palpatine sighed. "I wish I knew Senator, if you have an idea please help me to see it."
Padme slowly shook her head. "If we sit down with Count Dooku then maybe. . ."
Palpatine laughed. "My dear you met the man, did you get anywhere with him?"
"No." Padme looked at the ground.
Palpatine rose and began to walk towards her. "Are you really concerned about the war in general, or is it that you are worried about a particular person?"
Padme was taken back by his question. "What?"
"I would hate to think that your opinion on this matter is clouded by certain Jedi." He continued.
"I don't understand." She tried to play cool, even though she feared her marriage had been discovered.
"I know you care for Master Kenobi and Padawan Skywalker, I would hate to think you are campaigning just to ensure their safety." Palpatine smiled at her reaction. "A senator who lets personal opinions get in the way is not a very good senator."
Padme sighed. "That is true." She admitted. "Then maybe I should no longer be a senator." ************
Obi Wan's head snapped back as his starship made contact with the water. The crash shook him up so bad that he had to take a moment to regain his composure. He looked down at his legs and noticed the water beginning to fill the cockpit, quickly unbuckled and grabbed his light saber. He tried to release the hatch, but it had been damaged, he then ignited his saber and burned a hole through the top. He crawled through the hole and began to swim to the surface.
He gasped for air as his head broke through the waves. He quickly assessed the situation at hand. He now found himself in the middle of the battle without a ship. He watched the Arc troopers continue to fight off the enemy fighters, he also remembered the droids attacking the city. Suddenly he heard a sound coming straight for him, he turned and saw the large MTT. He dove under the large vehicle and came up behind it. The ship hovered just above the water and moved very slowly. He then noticed as more droids began to emerge on racks and were dropped into the water.
Obi Wan stared at the large ship and smiled when an idea hit him. 'Anakin always says I overanalyze things, well I guess he'd be proud of me now.' Obi Wan thought to himself as he grabbed his cable launcher. His arms were almost pulled from their sockets as the cable dragged him up the back of the ship, he barely had the arm strength to pull himself up onto the deck. When he did he was quickly surrounded by several droids pointing blasters in his face.
"Halt." The lead droid commanded him. Obi Wan stood up and held a round device in his right hand. "Drop your weapon." The droid pointed the blaster closer to the Jedi.
Obi Wan smiled. "As you wish." He stated, and dropped the round device. He quickly ignited his saber and cut down the droids surrounding him as he used the Force to guide the device to the center of the deck. He quickly ran and dove off the back of the ship just as the thermal detonator went off, causing a blinding white light and a shock wave that ripped through the battle.
The MTT split in two and began to sink, Obi Wan swam as hard as he could to avoid being sucked down with the ship. Suddenly he realized why he tends to overanalyze things. He felt the pull of the ship tug on him and he knew he physically couldn't do anything to prevent it. He then called upon the power of the Force and pushed himself to safety.
Bail Organa turned his attention away from the battle with the droids when the thermal detonator went off, he wondered how it happened, but for now he didn't care. Suddenly the droids they were fighting began to go limp. He smiled, then composed himself. "Back to the cannons!" He commanded the troops.
Suddenly the droid fighters also began to drop out of the air, which confused the clones. "What happened Gold leader?" One of the Arc troopers asked.
"Don't worry about what happened, let's just finish up." Gold leader commanded. The squad found themselves tangling with the AATs and Hailfire droids.
"Only two AATs remained and half a dozen Hailfire droids sir." A clone explained to Bail Organa as the battle was winding down.
"And what of the damage so far?" Organa asked.
"We have only ten Tie fighters left sir, and General Kenobi is MIA." The clone reported.
Bail lowered his head. "Captain, let's finish this." The clone saluted and ran back to the ion cannon.
"Viceroy Organa, this is Gold 2, get ready with the ion cannon." One of the Arc troopers called over the com unit. He was suddenly hit by a Hailfire droid. "Never mind sir, I've been hit." The trooper exclaimed over the unit without a hint of fear in his voice. Bail still couldn't get over how willing to die the troopers were.
The Arc trooper aimed his ship for one of the remaining AATs, he crashed into it, causing a fireball after impact. Organa then ordered the ion cannon to finish off the AAT, which caused it to explode.
Obi Wan floated, watching the battle unfold. He saw several clone bodies floating in the water around him and he suddenly felt sick to his stomach. The Force warned him seconds before the last AAT fired at the ion cannon, causing it to go up in a cloud of smoke.
Obi Wan knew that was the only chance to get rid of the AATs. He quickly swam toward the large tank. 'We've come so close, I'm not going to let us lose because of one tank.' He thought to himself. He climbed on the side of the tank and ignited his light saber. He cut a hole large enough for him to get through and he began to attack the droids inside.
Bail Organa coughed as the smoke rose from the ion cannon, he quickly turned his attention to the last AAT, when he noticed it wasn't moving. He pulled out his Binoculars and noticed a familiar Jedi sitting on the roof of the destructive vehicle, waiting to be picked up. Organa laughed and shook his head. "Gold leader, you want to give General Kenobi a lift?" He called into the com unit. ******** Obi Wan thanked the Force when he felt solid ground under him again. He then turned to Organa who was shaking his head. "You have an interesting battle plan, I'll give you that."
Obi Wan chuckled, he looked at Bail's soot covered face and clothes. "You look terrible." He stated with a smile.
"Well thank you master Jedi, although I'm not sure if the ladies will go for your drowned rat look." Organa clasped Obi Wan on the shoulder.
Suddenly Obi Wan's comlink beeped. "This is Obi Wan." He answered it.
"General Kenobi, we're in." The familiar voice of a clone trooper came over the static.
"Good, I'm on my way." Obi Wan put away his comlink.
"In where?" Organa inquired.
"We found their base camp here on Kamino, I sent a special squad to find it while we distracted them." Obi Wan answered.
Bail looked at Obi Wan in surprise. "I'm sorry I ever doubted you General."
Obi Wan turned to leave when the door opened behind them. Obi Wan was shocked to see who was standing there. "Master Yoda?" He asked, very curious to see the small wizened master.
"Speak to you I must." Yoda tapped his walking stick.
"I thought you were joining the search for Siri." Obi Wan stated.
Yoda nodded.
*TBC.I know evil of me to end it here.
Author: ewan's girl
Author's note: Ok folks here is the chapter that I've been dreading. . .I'm not very good at battle scenes and I was very worried about doing this chapter. Thank you to my fanfic padawan Glavin69 for helping me with this scene. Thank you for all the wonderful reviews please let me know what you think of this chapter.
Chapter 5:
The roar of engines was barely heard over the crash of thunder, huge ships grew closer and closer to the city built on stilts. Bail Organa glanced around him at the army of clones assigned to him, they were posed and ready to defend the Republic. He marveled at how much of a perfect solider these clones actually were, they were able to think on their feet unlike droids but they also do not fear death like volunteers.
Organa shook his head, he still wished there was another way to end this disagreement without war. He glanced at the sky and knew Obi Wan and his team of Arc troopers would be dropping down on the droid army any second now. He looked over at the ion cannons and the massive walkers prepared to fire. He headed towards the cannons.
"Viceroy." The commander saluted him.
"Captain." Organa nodded at the clone. "Are your men ready?"
"Yes sir, my men are in position." The soldier answered.
"Good. Now let's give them hell." Organa commanded, although not too proud of himself afterwards.
"Yes sir."
******
Obi Wan and his team soared through the clouds, waiting to surprise their enemy. He glanced out the cockpit window at the trooper on his left, then to the one on his right. Both troopers nodded and began to descend below the clouds. Obi Wan sighed to himself and followed suit.
Just as the ships dropped into view the first blast from the ion cannon was fired, only to be deflected off the Confederacy's large battleship. The star ships had to scatter to avoid the deflected blast.
"Deflective shield." One of the Arc troopers called over the com unit.
"Then it's up to us to find a way around it." Obi Wan commanded. "Gold leader, blue leader see what you can do with that AAT."
"Yes sir." Both leaders said in unison, and took their team of 20 ships to one of the armored attack tanks that was hovering just above the water.
"Red team, you're with me." Obi Wan stated to the remaining flyers. He glanced out his window at the large, flat ship that held many smaller star ships on its deck. Obi Wan and his team flew low over the huge ship and fired at the deck. Obi Wan noticed droids rushing away from the laser fire. "Bail, the large guns won't get through the shield, and our smaller ones won't put a dent in their armor." Obi Wan reported. "We'll have to come up with something else."
Bail Organa sighed in frustration. "I knew it couldn't be this easy." He stated under his breath. "Do what you can General, we'll keep them from entering the city."
"Yes Viceroy." Obi Wan turned off the communication with Organa and led his troops on another run over the battleship. Suddenly the smaller starship droids began to chase after them. "Evasive maneuvers!" Obi Wan called out to all his troops as the dangerous flying droids closed in on them.
Three star fighters began to chase after Obi Wan as he broke off from the rest of the group. The little red astro droid kept in the back of the ship began to wail as the fighters grew closer. "Relax R4; I'm not that bad a pilot you know." Obi Wan tried to reassure the droid who seemed to huff at his statement. "Have you lost all your confidence in me my little friend?" Obi Wan asked as he stopped accelerating and quickly shifted to reverse. His ship then dropped behind the three enemy ships and he fired at them, causing one to crash into the other two. R4 whistled and Obi Wan smiled. "See R4 you have just been flying with Anakin too long." Obi Wan boasted, his smile faded however when five more ships came at him. He quickly pulled down on the stick and forced his fighter into a nose dive. The five ships following right behind him. "Blast." Obi Wan muttered under his breath.
Suddenly a huge door on the battleship opened and a rack carrying hundreds of battle droids extended. Bail Organa noticed this and stared in confusion. He ran to the com unit and called to Obi Wan. "General Kenobi, that battle ship is a giant MTT!"
Obi Wan glanced at the massive vehicle and noticed droids being dropped into the water. "What is that?" He asked as droids continued to drop into the waves beneath the MTT. His attention quickly returned to the fighters still on his tail. He continued to dive towards the water, accelerating to an unsafe speed. R4 beeped what could only be determined as curse words at his companion. Obi Wan pushed his plane to the limit that he could still control it and headed straight for the water, at the last second he pulled up, the bottom of his ship grazing the surface of the sea. Two of the enemy fighters couldn't pull up in time and plunged into the depths with a huge splash. Obi Wan turned and noticed three of the fighters were still with him.
"Viceroy Organa." Gold leader called over the com unit. "Prepare to fire at the first of the AATs."
Bail looked out towards the tank and wondered what the clone had in mind. He then noticed a lone tie fighter being pursued by four droid star fighters. He watched as the tie fighter took a dive towards the large tank. The clone pulled up in time to barely miss the tank, but the four fighters crashed into it, shorting out the deflector shield. Organa smiled. "Fire!" He shouted over the rain and the ion cannon roared to life, blasting a huge hole in the AAT.
"Way to go Gold leader." Obi Wan called over the com unit as he maneuvered his plane around the battle. He was interrupted by one of the tanks laser cannons shooting towards the city. Obi Wan held his breath as the shot expertly took out one of the Republic's AT-TE walkers. The flaming wreckage crashed to the sea below, taking out several enemy fighters and Tie fighters with it. 'Why isn't the Confederacy going after the city?' Obi Wan wondered as he stared at the other five AATs. He continued to out run the three fighters on his tail, and he twisted around the stilts of the city, trying to lose them. As he passed the large stilts he noticed battle droids climbing up the sides, heading towards the city. "Organa!" Obi Wan called over the com unit, but the unit wasn't working.
Bail Organa and several clones ducked as pieces of the walker fell around them. He then rose to his feet and stared at the water below. "Is this all you can muster Dooku?" He asked under his breath. He was then caught off guard by laser blasts coming from behind him. He turned and faced hundreds of battle droids entering the city. He waved his hand and the clone troops aimed at the droid army. "Fire!" He commanded and a huge battle commenced on the slippery platform.
Obi Wan flew above the city and saw the battle. He knew he'd have to find a way to stop the droids. Suddenly blasts came from behind him as the three fighters continued their pursuit. "Oh you've got to be kidding me." He pushed his plane to full speed and headed back to the battle on the sea. One of the fighters hit his star fighter, causing his gun to jam. "Damn it." He cursed under his breath. "And people wonder why I hate flying." He flew past several troop pilots, who were engaged in their own dogfights and tried to get lost in the fray, just as one of the fighters had him locked in their radar, the three were blown out of the sky by one of the Arc troopers.
"I owe you one Red leader." Obi Wan stated which confused the clone.
"Just doing my duty General." The loyal clone answered.
Suddenly Red leader was hit by a missile from a hailfire droid that was rolling along the surface of the water. The explosion caused Obi Wan's ship to malfunction and caused him to lose control of his plane. One of the other clones watched as Obi Wan's star fighter plunged into the water, the clone immediately destroyed the hailfire droid.
****************
Padme Amidala-Skywalker wrapped her cloak tighter around herself as she waited in the Supreme Chancellor's sitting room. She was uncertain weather or not Palpatine would even see her at such a late hour, but she had her mind set on speaking with him. She glanced around the lavish room and noticed all the various works of art that decorated it. The work was very strange and very dark, many of the paintings and sculptures depicting pain and suffering. Padme had been here several times, but had never noticed the art work before. Suddenly her thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice.
"Late is the hour in which you come." Palpatine broke the silence, startling the senator because she didn't even hear him enter the room. "To what honor do I hold for your presence Senator Amidala?"
Padme felt her cheeks get hot from embarrassment, knowing that she had disturbed him. "I hope I did not wake you Chancellor."
Palpatine shook his head. "No my dear, I just returned from a meeting with the Jedi Council." He eyed her. "Although I assume you somehow know that."
Padme avoided his gaze and nodded. "Chancellor I am sorry for my intrusion, but I need to speak with you." She looked at him. "It's urgent."
"Ah urgent." Palpatine entered the room and poured himself a drink, he offered one to Padme, but she shook her head. He then slinked his way to his couch and sat. "And this urgent matter cannot wait until we convene in the morning?"
Padme shook her head. "Your honor I do not think it can." She sat on the couch opposite of him. He took a sip and motioned her to continue. "I know that you believe that this war is the only answer to dealing with the Separatists, but I think you have jumped to conclusions Chancellor." She held her head up to look more impressive as she continued. "You have yet to address the concerns of the opposition, we have been in the middle of a civil war for two years and it has no signs of stopping."
Chancellor Palpatine sipped his drink and stared at her. "And you believe Senator that if you come here in the middle of the night that you would be able to single handedly end this war?" Padme started to speak, then shook her head. "By all means Senator Amidala, if you have all the answers please tell me."
Padme sighed. "It's not that Chancellor, it's just. . ."
"It's just what Senator?" He rose to his feet and poured another drink. "Frankly my dear I am surprised that you aren't in support of the war."
Padme was shocked by this thought. "Chancellor, how could you even assume such a thing? I could never condone such an act."
"But you were willing to condone such an act 12 years ago."
She stopped short. "That was different." She protested.
Palpatine put down his glass and walked towards her. "Really Senator explain to me how it was different. I see it as I am a ruler of a land that is having its freedom threatened." He stood inches from her. "It maybe a different kind of freedom, but freedom none the less." Padme avoided his gaze. "So explain to me how it was ok for you to go to war 12 years ago, but I am a monster for suggesting it now."
Padme moved away from him and thought for a moment. "I am not proud of my actions 12 years ago you know that. I did what I had to do, our people were dying." She looked back at him. "The war on Naboo started to STOP people from dying, this time people are dying BECAUSE of this war."
"Are you speaking of people in general, or specifics?" He eyed her.
"I'm speaking of the thousands of woman and children, I'm speaking of homes, cities being destroyed by both armies!" She shouted, then calmed herself down. "This isn't right, there should be another way to end the corruption."
Palpatine sighed. "I wish I knew Senator, if you have an idea please help me to see it."
Padme slowly shook her head. "If we sit down with Count Dooku then maybe. . ."
Palpatine laughed. "My dear you met the man, did you get anywhere with him?"
"No." Padme looked at the ground.
Palpatine rose and began to walk towards her. "Are you really concerned about the war in general, or is it that you are worried about a particular person?"
Padme was taken back by his question. "What?"
"I would hate to think that your opinion on this matter is clouded by certain Jedi." He continued.
"I don't understand." She tried to play cool, even though she feared her marriage had been discovered.
"I know you care for Master Kenobi and Padawan Skywalker, I would hate to think you are campaigning just to ensure their safety." Palpatine smiled at her reaction. "A senator who lets personal opinions get in the way is not a very good senator."
Padme sighed. "That is true." She admitted. "Then maybe I should no longer be a senator." ************
Obi Wan's head snapped back as his starship made contact with the water. The crash shook him up so bad that he had to take a moment to regain his composure. He looked down at his legs and noticed the water beginning to fill the cockpit, quickly unbuckled and grabbed his light saber. He tried to release the hatch, but it had been damaged, he then ignited his saber and burned a hole through the top. He crawled through the hole and began to swim to the surface.
He gasped for air as his head broke through the waves. He quickly assessed the situation at hand. He now found himself in the middle of the battle without a ship. He watched the Arc troopers continue to fight off the enemy fighters, he also remembered the droids attacking the city. Suddenly he heard a sound coming straight for him, he turned and saw the large MTT. He dove under the large vehicle and came up behind it. The ship hovered just above the water and moved very slowly. He then noticed as more droids began to emerge on racks and were dropped into the water.
Obi Wan stared at the large ship and smiled when an idea hit him. 'Anakin always says I overanalyze things, well I guess he'd be proud of me now.' Obi Wan thought to himself as he grabbed his cable launcher. His arms were almost pulled from their sockets as the cable dragged him up the back of the ship, he barely had the arm strength to pull himself up onto the deck. When he did he was quickly surrounded by several droids pointing blasters in his face.
"Halt." The lead droid commanded him. Obi Wan stood up and held a round device in his right hand. "Drop your weapon." The droid pointed the blaster closer to the Jedi.
Obi Wan smiled. "As you wish." He stated, and dropped the round device. He quickly ignited his saber and cut down the droids surrounding him as he used the Force to guide the device to the center of the deck. He quickly ran and dove off the back of the ship just as the thermal detonator went off, causing a blinding white light and a shock wave that ripped through the battle.
The MTT split in two and began to sink, Obi Wan swam as hard as he could to avoid being sucked down with the ship. Suddenly he realized why he tends to overanalyze things. He felt the pull of the ship tug on him and he knew he physically couldn't do anything to prevent it. He then called upon the power of the Force and pushed himself to safety.
Bail Organa turned his attention away from the battle with the droids when the thermal detonator went off, he wondered how it happened, but for now he didn't care. Suddenly the droids they were fighting began to go limp. He smiled, then composed himself. "Back to the cannons!" He commanded the troops.
Suddenly the droid fighters also began to drop out of the air, which confused the clones. "What happened Gold leader?" One of the Arc troopers asked.
"Don't worry about what happened, let's just finish up." Gold leader commanded. The squad found themselves tangling with the AATs and Hailfire droids.
"Only two AATs remained and half a dozen Hailfire droids sir." A clone explained to Bail Organa as the battle was winding down.
"And what of the damage so far?" Organa asked.
"We have only ten Tie fighters left sir, and General Kenobi is MIA." The clone reported.
Bail lowered his head. "Captain, let's finish this." The clone saluted and ran back to the ion cannon.
"Viceroy Organa, this is Gold 2, get ready with the ion cannon." One of the Arc troopers called over the com unit. He was suddenly hit by a Hailfire droid. "Never mind sir, I've been hit." The trooper exclaimed over the unit without a hint of fear in his voice. Bail still couldn't get over how willing to die the troopers were.
The Arc trooper aimed his ship for one of the remaining AATs, he crashed into it, causing a fireball after impact. Organa then ordered the ion cannon to finish off the AAT, which caused it to explode.
Obi Wan floated, watching the battle unfold. He saw several clone bodies floating in the water around him and he suddenly felt sick to his stomach. The Force warned him seconds before the last AAT fired at the ion cannon, causing it to go up in a cloud of smoke.
Obi Wan knew that was the only chance to get rid of the AATs. He quickly swam toward the large tank. 'We've come so close, I'm not going to let us lose because of one tank.' He thought to himself. He climbed on the side of the tank and ignited his light saber. He cut a hole large enough for him to get through and he began to attack the droids inside.
Bail Organa coughed as the smoke rose from the ion cannon, he quickly turned his attention to the last AAT, when he noticed it wasn't moving. He pulled out his Binoculars and noticed a familiar Jedi sitting on the roof of the destructive vehicle, waiting to be picked up. Organa laughed and shook his head. "Gold leader, you want to give General Kenobi a lift?" He called into the com unit. ******** Obi Wan thanked the Force when he felt solid ground under him again. He then turned to Organa who was shaking his head. "You have an interesting battle plan, I'll give you that."
Obi Wan chuckled, he looked at Bail's soot covered face and clothes. "You look terrible." He stated with a smile.
"Well thank you master Jedi, although I'm not sure if the ladies will go for your drowned rat look." Organa clasped Obi Wan on the shoulder.
Suddenly Obi Wan's comlink beeped. "This is Obi Wan." He answered it.
"General Kenobi, we're in." The familiar voice of a clone trooper came over the static.
"Good, I'm on my way." Obi Wan put away his comlink.
"In where?" Organa inquired.
"We found their base camp here on Kamino, I sent a special squad to find it while we distracted them." Obi Wan answered.
Bail looked at Obi Wan in surprise. "I'm sorry I ever doubted you General."
Obi Wan turned to leave when the door opened behind them. Obi Wan was shocked to see who was standing there. "Master Yoda?" He asked, very curious to see the small wizened master.
"Speak to you I must." Yoda tapped his walking stick.
"I thought you were joining the search for Siri." Obi Wan stated.
Yoda nodded.
*TBC.I know evil of me to end it here.