Lindele- Thanks. I hope you enjoy the battle.
Ana- Thank you for your compliment. The story is almost complete.
It was a flawless day that greeted the Naboo on the morning of the battle. They had all arisen early, just as the sun was brushing the morning sky with dusky, feathery streaks of gold. They ate a light breakfast in relative silence, each man or woman lost in his or her thoughts about the upcoming day.
The bellowing sounds coming from the direction of the Gungan army massing nearby had been their informal salute of leave as they crowded into speeders and headed towards the city once more. The system of secret passages that interconnected various places in Theed had two major ending points in the valley below. The first, which Claria, Richard, and the other children had used to escape, came out in caves behind the bases of the waterfalls themselves. This branch was almost a straight vertical shot of staircases that climbed all the way up to the level of the palace. Panaka's reasons for deciding against this path were twofold. First, it was too inconvenient for their purposes to get across the tributaries and lakes that dotted the bottom of the valley. Second, the necessary climb was so vigorous that Panaka feared the whole strike team thoroughly exhausted before they'd even reached the city.
The second entry began in an abandoned graphite mine not too far from the Naberrie lands. This path meandered up more gradually, a series of gently sloping ramps rather than staircases, following the steady rise of the ridge towards the city. Sabé was grateful she wasn't claustrophobic, for the tunnels were dim, narrow, and very long. She'd been in them once before, when her father had taken her through the tunnels as a child.
"So the question of the day is," she said to Rabé as together they checked over their gear outside the entry, "whose head do you most want to stare at the back of for the next hour or so?"
"Not yours," Rabé promptly replied, tucking a spare blaster pack in her belt where it would be easily reachable. "Whoever gets stuck behind you won't be able to see around your head."
"Are we talking before or after the headdress?" asked Eirtaé, walking up and helping herself to a spare blaster pack of her own. Sabé stuck her tongue out at her. Eirtaé grinned.
"Don't do that too much, Princess, you'll ruin your makeup," Rabé pointed out. A sarcastic hmph was Sab's only response. "Well," Rabé continued, and hoisted her pistol in her small palm. "Here's to victory."
Before they entered the tunnels, Panaka sorted them into their three battle groups. The first group, Green group, consisted of only members of the security force, who would be responsible for commandeering speeders to distract and otherwise engage those battle droids outside the palace, so that the other two groups could try to seize the palace from within. These were Red group and Blue group, and each consisted of an equal share of guards, pilots, and handmaidens.
Sabé was part of Blue group, along with Rabé and Panaka. Red group included Eirtaé, Padmé, and the two Jedi. Earlier in the morning, Panaka had made everyone learn the names of their group mates, so Sabé was now officially acquainted with Lieutenants Jarvy and Blaine, and Privates Jenns, Typho, Restanti, Hart, and Welzune. The pilots' names she had not memorized, but if all went according to plan, she wouldn't be really fighting alongside the pilots anyway.
"When we reach the city," Panaka said, "Green group, under the command of Lt. Aloin, will break off and retrieve the speeders which the resistance inside the city already have prepared for us. Our intelligence agents have informed us that the Gungan army's efforts have been successful, and over two-thirds of the droids have been moved out to meet them." Sabé found this news most encouraging. "As soon as Green group is ready," Panaka continued, "Blue group and Red group will move into position."
True to her word, when they finally entered the tunnels, Rabé made sure she was not behind Sabé in line. As for Sabé, she was forced to duck with extreme care, for the entry way into the tunnel was poorly reinforced and a little overgrown. It wasn't easy to see from far away, though, and that was its chief advantage.
She lit her glowtorch along with everyone else once inside, which threw tall, eerie shadows on the compact, earthen walls. Everyone kept more or less silent as they walked along, and Sabé realized just how quickly this was going to get tedious. Still, she'd take a whole year of tediousness any day over the battle they were about to face. Tediousness was fine by her.
If there were gods in the universe, as the ancient Naboo had believed, and those gods had a twisted sense of humor, then they must have picked up on her thoughts. No sooner had they crossed her mind than the tunnel behind them was filled with a sound like a muffled implosion. The walls on either side of them trembled for a long, sickening moment, and light dustings of earth came sprinkling down all over. Everyone stopped in their tracks and looked back.
Rabé voiced the question everyone was thinking. "What in the name of Naboo was that?" She received no reply, for there was nothing for them to see. Sabé craned her neck, but the curve of the tunnel prevented her from seeing beyond three or four people behind her. There were however, a thousand different sounds, for reverberations of whatever had happened were still echoing through the earth and stone all around them, and unintelligible shouts were bouncing down the corridor towards them. No matter how Sabé strained and focused her hearing, she could not make out any words. All around her, people were still coughing from the dust.
Somehow, Sabé managed to keep from demanding the soldiers make a path for her, but the longer they waited the more worried she became. It seemed as if there had been a collapse of some kind, if the noise had been any indication. Was anyone hurt? Had Padmé been behind her or in front? She couldn't remember.
At long last, a distant shout of reassurance came their way, but not before Sabé had envisioned a dozen different ways her sister could have died from a tunnel accident. Their instructions were to keep going until they reached the first tunnel cross-section, about a hundred meters ahead.
When a very confused strike team reassembled in the junction, they all waited eagerly for those coming from the end of the line, deathly curious about what had caused the commotion. Sabé was immensely relieved to see that Padmé had indeed been in front of her, and was quite safe and sound. Everyone around was whispering and making suggestions. While they waited, Sabé and the other girls began carefully brushing and slapping the dirt off their clothes. The people that had been behind them were coming up even dirtier.
It was the Jedi who'd been manning the rear of the column, and sure enough, they stepped into the room last, accompanied by the last person Sabé would have expected to see – Anakin Skywalker.
He was covered from head to toe in a thin layer of grime. There were scratches and bruises on his face, as well as smudges that looked suspiciously like tear stains hastily wiped away.
"Anakin?" asked Padmé incredulously. "What are you doing here?"
Anakin looked up at the two Jedi standing over him, as if asking for help. Sabé doubted he'd get it. Qui-Gon looked stern. Obi-Wan looked livid.
"Go on," said Qui-Gon, "explain to her Majesty."
Anakin swallowed. "I – " he began feebly, "I snuck in the back of one of your speeders, Padmé. I wanted to come help you in the battle. When everybody was inside the tunnel, I got out of the speeder and followed you here."
"What happened in the tunnel, Master Qui-Gon?" the queen asked, her gaze flicking between him and Anakin, clearly understanding that there was some connection between the boy and her question. Qui-Gon merely gave Anakin another meaningful look.
The boy pulled something from his pocket, and handed it to Padmé. "I found these," he said. "Near the front of the tunnel. They were broken, so I wanted to see how they worked. I did get one of them working, but..."
"What are they?" Padmé asked, flipping the devices in her hand. They were small, ovoid disks, about a centimeter thick, made of rusting metal.
A nearby guard took a step closer. "Those are sonic graphite disrupters, my lady. My father was a miner– these were used in the lower levels to crack the stone a little bit, so it could be taken out in sheets. They don't give you much of a blast, but you do need to be careful with them." His eyes briefly rested on Anakin. "They're definitely not recommendable for an unstable area like this."
"Thank you, Lieutenant," Padmé told him. Then she looked back at Anakin and Master Qui-Gon. "Well, thank goodness you're safe, Anakin. I'm very disappointed in your behavior. Besides having endangered and delayed our efforts, you're also no doubt causing Saché and Yané a good deal of worry by now." She sighed. "Is the tunnel blocked?" she asked Master Qui-Gon.
He nodded. "A good portion of the entry is entirely caved in. Nobody will be getting out that way today."
"Then I guess Anakin will have to come with us. We can't afford the delay necessary to leave him anywhere."
"As you say, your Highness."
"Rest assured he will not go unpunished," added Obi-Wan. He'd clearly been suppressing some considerable annoyance during the entire interview. His arms were crossed and he was looking at Anakin with taught-lipped disapproval. Qui-Gon did not seem pleased that Obi-Wan had spoken up so boldly, but no more was said from the Jedi regarding the incident.
And so the journey continued, thankfully uneventful throughout the remainder of the trek through the secret passageways, though the memory of the explosion made the walls seem more stifling and threatening than they had been before. The walk was wearying as well, for though the slope was gentle, they were still walking continuously uphill without respite. Sabé was relieved when at last they reached the main system of tunnels, which widened and leveled out, giving everyone a bit more elbow room.
Panaka led them out of the tunnels where he and the queen had determined was the most advantageous point- a memorial garden nestled between the buildings of Theed University, very close to the Palace. That tunnel ended in a stone staircase concealed in the base of a statue dedicated to the great Queen Celdari.
When they were all clear and the entryway had been re-concealed, Padmé paused, and looked up sadly at the stone face of her great predecessor. "You gave us the Great Peace," she said quietly, seemingly unconcerned that everyone was watching her. "Now I am about to break it. Doing so will also break my heart, but I have decided. This is the best way, and I think you would agree." After a moment's pause, she added in a sad whisper, "Please forgive me."
Everyone stared silently on until the queen gave a small sigh and squared her shoulders bravely. "Let's go free our planet," she declared.
Whose idea was this wretched headdress, anyway? Sabé wondered as she and the rest of Blue group took their positions in a shadowy alcove, waiting for the Queen's signal that Red group was in place. She hadn't felt very subversive, trying to sneak through the streets with her head feeling twice as big as it rightly should have.
The time for conversation was over. Any moment now, the signal would come, and the attack would begin. They were all lined single file along the alcove wall, Panaka in front, Rabé just behind him. Sabé was further towards the back, among some of the soldiers and pilots. On either side of her were Captain Olié and Panaka's nephew, Typho.
Panaka held up his hand, and Sabé caught her breath a little, all her muscles tensing. Her heart was hammering. Any second now...
Sure enough, the sound of a loud, explosive blast came from the direction of the street just beyond them. Green group's distraction seemed to have been successful. Panaka waved his hand, and the column began moving forward. The sounds of blaster fire continued, and Sabé had to fight her sudden instinct to run the other way. It was not easy to walk straight into a battle zone in broad daylight, particularly when wearing a costume that pinpointed her as the number one person on the enemy's most wanted list. Theoretically, now that Green group had created its diversion, the rest of them would be able to slip in behind the droids and open the hangar door with little effort. The idea had been that with two groups there was a better chance of one or the other being able to reach the door safely.
Sabé squinted a little as she emerged from the alcove into the sunlight, just after Ric Olié, who had been ahead of her in line. Her blaster was already in her hand, and she realized that she couldn't remember drawing it. The acrid tang of smoke from the blaster fire teased her senses, which were already threatening to be overwhelmed. She took a deep breath and picked up her pace, trying to see everywhere around her at once.
Just as she caught a glimpse of Eirta's telltale blond hair across the square, a movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention– a droid, lifting the barrel of its blaster towards her face. She automatically lifted her own blaster to shoot it, but someone beat her to it. The droid's head exploded in a small ball of fire. She looked around briefly to try and identify her rescuer, but soon gave up and forced herself back to focus.
She noted with smug satisfaction that they were already halfway to their goal. In fact, Sabé noted, Padmé and the Jedi looked to have already reached the door and Padmé was already hard at work with security codes, getting it open. Any further analysis of Padm's progress was barred by another nearby droid. Sabé barely noticed him, ducking just in time, and winced as a small volley of blaster fire whizzed over her head.
Pay attention, Sabé!, she scolded herself. She took careful aim, and this time her shot got off, hitting the droid squarely in the mid-section and knocking him over.
By the time Blue group reached the hangar, the door was already sliding open. On the other side was a whole new batch of droids, who were wasting no time countering the hangar breech with rapid fire.
"Get to your ships!" Padmé called, and Sabé remembered one of Panaka's instructions.
Be sure to cover for the pilots while the board the fighters, he'd said. They'll be vulnerable for a little while.
Sabé ran to the nearest fighter, positioning herself a little to the front of it. Scattered here and there were a clusters of storage crates, meant for storing extra gear. Sabé ducked behind one such nearby cluster, which proved a convenient source of cover from which to shoot droids.
"Are we having fun yet?" said a familiar voice at her elbow. Sabé glanced over to see Rabé smile at her wryly. "This looked like a good idea," she continued. She popped up, neatly picked off a droid of her own, and ducked back down. "I thought I'd join you."
"Be my guest," Sabé replied, grinning back.
Together, they made good use of their makeshift bunker, but were forced to abandon it when they heard the loud whine of repulsorlifts behind them, signaling that the pilot on board was beginning to take off. The two girls scurried to the inside wall of the hangar. As the ship pulled away, Sabé waved a good luck to the pilot, who waved back. The pilots would be heading out to space in order to disable the droid control ship in orbit, thereby giving the Gungan army outside the city a much better chance of survival. It was thanks to the Gungan army that the number of droids in the city and in the palace were a much reduced number.
The two girls rushed out onto the hangar floor again, and resumed the destruction of battle droids with surprisingly increasing precision. Rabé, in particular, proved to be a crack shot, but then she'd always enjoyed shooting lessons more than any other handmaiden. Both girls made occasional, reflexive ducking motions, as the remainder of the fighters zoomed over their heads, out of the hangar, and headed towards space.
Sabé did her best to stick more or less with Rabé, as the two girls did their best to use each other as cover. It was considerably less difficult to concentrate on the droids in front of her, when she knew that Rabé was there to focus on the ones behind her. They continued using the sporadically placed storage crates as cover fire, and Sabé was pleased to note that they seemed to be making decent progress. As a whole, the strike team was steadily herding the droids into a progressively smaller ring. This made it easier to hit their targets accurately, though they also had to keep in mind the new threat of crossfire.
Just as Sabé was guesstimating that about a dozen droids remained, a sudden cry of pain from her left stole her attention. She and Rabé looked over just in time too see Lieutenant Jarvy hit the ground, taking a shot in the side. Both girls scuttled over to his side, and Sabé kept up cover fire while Rabé knelt down beside him.
"Help me up," he mumbled, struggling to get to a sitting position. His subsequent wince earned him a firm but careful shove back down from Rabé.
"I hardly think so, Lieutenant. You're going to have to stay here."
"We can't just leave him here, Rabé!" Sabé said, a little shocked as she ducked a blaster bolt. She winced. It had been a little nearer to her ear than she would have liked. She silenced the offending droid with a neat shot to his torso.
"I didn't mean here, here, Sabé," came Rab's retort, dripping with exasperated patience. Sabé paid her little heed. She was searching in vain for a new target, and was pleased when she realized there were none.
"I think we're done here," she said, blinking a little, surprised at the abruptness of it. Here and there, she spotted a few more dead guards, and there were pieces of battle droids scattered all over. Off to her right, Private Typho was helping an another injured comrade to his feet.
"There's a pilot ready room just over there," Jarvy managed, through gritted teeth. He nodded his head at a nondescript doorway on the opposite side of the hangar. "It would be ideal for the injured. We should move quickly, though. The rest of you need to keep moving."
Sabé looked at him for a moment before nodding briskly. "Right," she said. "Are you strong enough to walk with my help, Lieutenant?"
"Yes, Princess." With Rabe's assistance, Sabé managed to clamber to her feet, pulling Jarvy up with her as delicately as she could manage.
"Go check in with Padmé and Panaka," Sabé told Rabé. "I'll supervise this." Rabé nodded and hurried off. Sabé and Jarvy began hobbling steadily towards the ready room. "Typho!" she called, when they'd gotten near enough for him to hear her. When he caught her eye, she jerked her head towards the ready room. "Take the injured in there." He nodded his understanding.
Between the two of them, Sabé and Typho managed to settle their injured comrades safely. By the time they headed back out into the hangar proper, the main battle group was already headed towards the doors at the far end.
"Hey, wait for me!" came a small cry from across the way. Anakin's towhead popped up from the cockpit of an unused fighter, where he'd apparently been hiding.
"Anakin, stay where you are," instructed Master Qui-Gon.
Oh, sure, now he's worried about Anakin's safety. Sabé shook her head in disbelief.
"But I-" Anakin began.
"Stay in that cockpit!" Qui-Gon said sharply, pointing a finger.
Sabé and Typho had just taken their first steps to catch up with the main group, when suddenly then hangar doors began opening of their own accord. Everyone froze at the sight of the sinister-looking, hooded figure standing on the other side. From where she stood, Sabé could not see the person's eyes, but something in his stance made her take a step backward nonetheless.
"We'll handle this," she heard Master Qui-Gon say as he stepped forward.
Padmé, at the head of the group, turn heel and head back down the hangar. Sabé barely caught her words. "We'll take the long way," she declared. Sabé decided she was in wholehearted agreement with this sentiment.
'The long way' involved going back across half the length of the hangar, to a second set of doors with access to a less direct route to the throne room. These doors were on the opposite side of the hangar from the ready room where Sabé and Typho were positioned. Sabé had started to head across to the others, when Typho suddenly seized her arm to hold her back. It didn't take long to realize what had motivated him.
The Jedi had called them destroyer droids, and though Sabé had yet to see one up close, she had been well advised of their lethal tendencies. The three destroyers rolled into the room and turned the corner so quickly, Sabé was almost surprised they didn't topple over. As it was, everything about the droids spoke volumes of fluid power, and she was quick to duck back behind cover. How were they going to manage this?
Sabé kept making quick glances at Panaka, watching him for any sign, or listening carefully over the barrage of blaster fire for any shouted instructions, but none came. He just kept pounding away at the droids with his weapon, seemingly with no results. It was also difficult, at this distance, to get a good look at his face. Sabé did notice, however, that he was stealing glances all over the hangar. Perhaps he was keeping an eye out for opportunities.
"I don't know how we're going to get out of this one," Sabé muttered to Typho, starting to feel a little worried. She shook her head a little, trying to dislodge anything that could become panic. It was war, she reminded herself, as Panaka had told them in their briefing.
Don't expect the plan to follow through for very long. This is war. Anything can happen that will change our luck. Be prepared to adapt, or you're not going to last very long.
Sabé didn't bother trying to shoot the droids. At this distance, she was likely as not to miss, and she could already see from Padmé and the others' failing attempts that even a direct hit would have little effect– rather like trying to kill a rancor with a needle.
She was about to suggest to Typho that they go back to the ready room– perhaps there was some stronger ammunition available– when a sudden hum of power coming from behind made her jump. She risked a glance behind her, only to see one of the two remaining starfighters lift from its docking platform and begin hovering in their direction.
Isn't that the ship where Anakin was hiding? Sabé wondered. What in the name of Elsinoré does he think he's doing? Just as she had this thought, the fighter's guns blazed, and quick as a blink, the first destroyer droid was reduced to shrapnel. A moment later, so were the other two.
"Let's go!" Padmé shouted, and Sabé sprang into action, darting across the hangar, Typho at her heels. She wondered if anyone else was worried about the fact that a nine-year-old boy was seemingly at the helm of one of the Naboo's starfighters. All things considered, though, there wasn't much to be done about it.
On the other side of the doors, they found the ground floor corridor, lined with towering marble columns. From there, it was a healthy sprint through the lower corridors to reach the back staircase. Sabé had always been a decent runner, and she worked hard to get closer the front of the group, finally catching up with Padmé and the other handmaidens. A final, sharp right turn brought the staircase in sight. Descending it was a fresh batch of battle droids, already firing madly at the oncoming strike team.
Sabé dashed behind the nearest column, glad that the team had at least made enough progress down this length of corridor to be within firing range of the defending droids. Soon she was joined by Eirtaé and a guard. Sab's pistol began to feel hotter and hotter in her hand the longer she fired. Sometimes she missed, but her accuracy had been steadily improving over the entire course of the battle. Yet for every shot that found its target, there seemed to be another droid to fill its place. Wouldn't they ever stop coming?
"Sabé!"
It took several heartbeats for her to realize someone was shouting her name over the din. Squinting, she turned around to see her sister frantically gesturing from her own patch of cover two columns away.
"Run, now, Sabé," said Eirtaé. "Just go, we'll watch your back." Behind her, the guard nodded his agreement.
Sabé gave a nod of her own in reply, and without another word, made a mad, frantic retreat back to where Padmé awaited her. She hated turning her back on the droids, and was immensely relieved when she arrived safely.
"This is taking too long," Padmé told her. "We're going to try a shortcut. Myself, the rest of the guard from Red group, and Captain Panaka."
"But-" Sabé began to protest.
"Take this," said Panaka, pressing a comlink into her hands. "Keep making your way up to us. We'll probably need you at some point."
"They still think you're the queen, Sabé. I need you down here, distracting them for all you're worth."
"All right, be careful."
"The queen is putting you in charge, Princess," Panaka said, giving her a meaningful look. "I expect you to live up to her faith in you."
Sabé waited for the usual wave of resentment, but was surprised when it didn't come. "I will, Captain," she said, quite seriously. "Good luck."
Padmé and Panaka's 'shortcut' involved scaling the outside of the building via ascension guns. Sabé had not envied her sister, ascending to the next floor on nothing but a thin cable. One wrong step, and Padmé would tumble down to the bottom of the valley, which legend said was the fate that had befallen one of their great ancestors, Queen Lornaira. After Panaka and Padm's toes had disappeared from view outside the window, Sabé and the remaining strikers continued their assault on the descending battle droids.
"What we need is a distraction, Princess!" called Typho from a few feet over.
"What do you suggest, sir?" she shouted back. What on Naboo had possessed Padmé to put her in charge, anyway? She hadn't the slightest head for tactics.
"There aren't quite as many as there were before," he said, between shots. "Jens and I, we'll try to edge around behind them. Maybe it'll give you a chance to make some headway."
Sabé took inventory of the guards' faces who were within hearing range. She got the impression they all agreed with this plan, but wanted only her approval. Maybe that was the reason. With both Panaka and the queen gone, the soldiers would fall back on their natural inclinations as Naboo, and look to her. "Very good, Private," she told him.
Typho nodded, and motioned to his friend. Sabé kept an eye on them as she continued shooting. They progressed steadily, going behind the columns rather than in front of them. This process involved a fair bit of gut-sucking and sideways squeezing, and Sabé could certainly have never managed it while keeping her headgear in one piece.
Sabé, Eirtaé, Rabé, and the remainder of the guards focused on what they needed to do to protect their comrades, keeping the barrage of fire steady and unyielding. They succeeded in isolating the droids to the stairway only, which was something of progress. The plan seemed to be doing very well. By all accounts, the droids had not yet noted the two guards creeping steadily closer and closer.
Her heart was in her throat as she saw the guards reach the extent of their cover. Soon they would step out and take the droids by surprise. She and the others would have to take advantage of the brief moment they would be given to advance.
Typho, his back to the wall, caught her eye from the length of the long hallway and gave her a curt nod. Sabé nodded in return and tightened her grip around her pistol even more. She shifted her weight to the balls of her feet, ready to spring, and out of the corner of her eye, she could see others around her likewise preparing themselves.
With a loud cry that reverberated above even the twang of blaster fire, Typho and Jens leaped out from behind the corner. There was the briefest of pauses, as twenty or so battle droids turned with jerky motions to assess this new threat.
"Now!" Sabé shouted, and took off as fast as her feet would carry her towards the staircase. She had three of the droids down before the realization of the double-pronged attack registered in their programming, and they managed to split their attention properly between the two fronts. Sabé and the others dashed behind cover again, but now they were within point-blank-range of the remaining droids.
Sabé dodged to the left to avoid taking a blast to the chest, which instead found its way into the final column beside her, putting a black-rimmed crater in the fine marble. She promptly shot the offender, and took inventory. There were only about half the droids there had been before Typho's surprise attack, and even as she watched, two more went down before her eyes. Sabé resumed firing, and soon there were only two droids left.
Rabé, who had somehow ended up beside Sabé again, made move to take care of the first, but not before it took a shot at Typho, who was still standing quite unprotected a few steps up the staircase. Tyhpo managed to evade the shot by ducking and spinning rapidly on his toes, nearly throwing himself off balance. Sabé watched in horror, however, as the shot splintered the base of a potted plant resting on the stairs, sending dirt and shards of porcelain everywhere. Typho took the better part of the blast in his face, where his hands instantly sprung, and a cry of pain came from his throat.
Sabé gasped, and rushed forward once more, hardly noticing that the final two droids had now also been eliminated. The corridor was theirs.
"Private, are you all right?" she asked, crouching down next to the young man, trying to get a better look at him, but he still lay face-down.
"I am," she heard him gasp painfully. "I'll be fine. Jens won't though."
Jens? Sabé looked around, and noted the dead body of Typho's friend on the stairs a few meters away. "Come on, Private," she said, doing her best to be the responsible war leader Padmé seemed to think she was, though a good portion of her just felt ill. "You need to get up. We need to keep moving. You did well, you and Jens."
Still lying prone, he nodded, though his shoulders trembled. Then he looked up, and Sabé heard herself and Eirtaé make identical gasps of shock. Half of his face was bleeding profusely, and it was clear he could not see them. Sabé swallowed. "On second thought," she said, "you're probably going to have to stay here until we can get you a medic."
Eirtaé was ripping open her belt pack and pulling out reams of bandages she'd stuffed there. "I'm glad I thought to bring these," she muttered, edging past Sabé, where she began to wipe blood off Typho's face. "Rabé, come help me. Hold this against his eye. Gently, though. Gently. We need to try to keep the bleeding under control for a while."
Sabé watched her work, impressed. She herself couldn't focus long on Typho's wounds without feeling a little sick. Soon she had to stop watching altogether. Instead she looked around at the other guards, who were standing cloistered together, also watching Eirta's ministrations with concern.
Sabé was trying to think of something appropriate to say to them when the comlink at her side began beeping. She flipped it open. "Padmé?" she asked in a concerned voice.
"Sabé, you'd better get up here, if you can," came her sister's voice. "We've been captured."
Taking the long flight of palace stairs as fast as their legs could pump, it was a very exhausted strike team that finally reached the top corridor. Thankfully, there had been no remaining droids on the stairs themselves, which would have wasted precious time to deal with.
They had left Typho in the bottom floor corridor, still clutching bloody bandages to his face, tucked in a corner between pillars, out of sight. Sabé felt really terrible about leaving him there alone, but he insisted he'd be able to hold out for awhile, and they really did need as many people as possible to finish the battle.
Once they reached the top of the stairs, they kept going, sprinting down the corridor as quickly as possible. There were still no droids in sight, something that almost worried Sabé, but she wasn't about to over-complain.
The corridor was very long, but the familiar doors of the throne room were open as they approached. Squinting, Sabé focused intently upon what she saw inside as they hurried closer and closer. She was just able to make out the familiar tall figures of the Neimoidian leaders, and a very small figure that was undoubtedly Padmé, surrounded by a bevy of guards and droids. "Follow my lead," she said hurriedly to the group behind her. "We'll try to draw them away from her." Everyone nodded or murmured their assent, and Sabé turned to face forward.
She skidded to a halt when they reached the open doorway. "Viceroy!" she shouted. Everyone's faces turned to regard her, some shocked, some smug. In Panaka's case, he was already watching the surrounding droids with a beady eye. "Your occupation here has ended," Sabé said loudly, and shot the two droids nearest Gunray's ugly green head. She was proud to see that her marksmanship was perfect, and a little sorry she hadn't missed and hit the Viceroy. But killing him wouldn't necessarily help Padmé just now.
Sabé dashed to the right, heading down the adjacent corridor, and heard the rest of the strike team following her. To her satisfaction, they were also followed by the voice of one very angry Neimoidian. "After her! This one's a decoy!"
Then the world became a mad din of running and ducking, scorching lasers and blasting shards of marble. It would take some considerable work to restore this part of the palace later, but for the moment that was the last thing any of the Naboo cared about. Sabé, who knew the palace best, led the chase, through the queen's antechamber, and a series of conference rooms.
She was beginning to get quite tired. From the sprint up the staircase, down the long hallway, and now a frantic flee for their lives, she wasn't quite sure how much longer her endurance would hold up. Adrenaline was a major aide, but she so wanted to stop running.
Sabé was just eyeing their current situation, trying to pick a good place to make a stand, when all of a sudden the sound of opposing blaster fire ceased. She slowed, and turned around in wonder to see every single droid that had been chasing them clatter to the floor in a noisy heap.
Everyone stared for several long moments, dumbfounded, and it was Rabé who finally realized what had happened. "Burning Stars," she muttered. "They really did it. They knocked out the droid ship."
"And the Queen has captured the Viceroy," Eirtaé added in wonder. "Do you realize what this means?" She looked around, a bright light of pure joy radiating in her eyes.
"We've won," Sabé whispered, and soon her smile threatened to overtake her face.
Any other comments were drowned out by a sudden burst of cheering from the guards, and Rabé began jumping up and down, hugging everyone in sight. Sabé couldn't move. She just stood there, a silly grin on her face, staring at her pistol. They'd won. They'd won.
Naboo was free.
Feedback is always appreciated!
Saché