Chapter 6
Thanks to Dormé's distraction, most of the Separatist security forces had moved to the hangar floor. Even the small squad of battle droids that managed to make it into the private hangar bay had found their way back to the lower levels, leaving the outer corridors into the palace relatively unguarded. Anakin and Padmé cautiously made their way into the palace.
It was obvious that the architects had crafted the building with the needs of Royals in mind. The Queen and her dignitaries had easy access to space transports from their private wings of the palace. Fortunately for Anakin and Padmé, this meant they would have a fairly direct route up to the Queen's suite of rooms.
Direct, but not easy. In every hallway carbon scoring from blaster fire marred the polished finish of marble walls and pillars. Not a window was left intact, though it was impossible to tell whether that was due to blast vibrations or direct fire. Glass shards and rubble covered the floor, making walking treacherous.
Worse than the devastation around them were the scattered corpses of the Royal Guardsmen. Anakin would stop to read their ID tags and record their names on his comlink, knowing it would make confirming the dead and missing easier. A few weren't military and appeared to be palace staff. Those they couldn't identify.
Padmé grew more and more withdrawn. Though they'd found at least twenty bodies, so far there had been no sign of Dormé's husband or sister. She fervently hoped for her friend's sake that it stayed that way.
The strangest thing about making their way through the rear passages of the palace hadn't been anything they'd found. Rather it was what they hadn't found that surprised them most. They had yet to cross paths with even one battle droid or droideka. Something just didn't feel right.
As they came upon the Queen's private wing they saw an area littered with at least a dozen bodies. Two were obviously female. One was dressed in the formal gray robes Jamillia preferred for her handmaidens; the other wore a far more elaborate gown and headdress. Both bore the scorch marks of laser fire shots that had taken their lives.
Padmé's breath hung in her throat as a feeling of dread seized her. Anakin walked forward first, bending down to the first of the guardsmen to read his security badge and record his identity.
Padmé could easily imagine the relentless onslaught of droid soldiers that had pushed this group to a final standoff. Solemnly she walked over to where the women lay and kneeled down. It was obvious that the first girl, the one in gray, was not Noalé. Of course, there was no way to positively identify her. She was familiar, but Padmé hated the fact that she couldn't recall her name. The second, the one in elaborate dress, had to be turned over to see her face. Fear clutching at her heart, she took a good look at the young woman's painted visage.
She gave a sigh of relief to discover that it wasn't Jamillia or Dormé's sister. That meant both Noalé and the Queen could still be safe. Saying a quick prayer that this anonymous handmaiden's sacrifice hadn't been in vain she absently wiped a tear from her cheek. It was entirely possible that the intruders believed the Queen was dead. That illusion, along with the number of dead might explain why the military presence in the palace wasn't as tight as they'd expected. The hangar bay would still have functional value for invading troops. The rest of the structure would not.
Anakin's hand on her shoulder gently reminded her there was still work to do. Time would be found later to grieve later for these who had fallen in service to Naboo.
She rose, noticing that the entrance to the Queen's wing was unsecured. She moved cautiously through the open double doors only to find the rooms untouched. In the back bedroom she checked the secret compartment. It was sealed. Entering the security code revealed no one hidden inside.
A few moments later she returned to where Anakin was finishing with his task of identifying the dead.
"Empty." Padmé breathed the word with a mixture of relief and disappointment.
"That's one down," Anakin commented, "which leaves the Throne Room, the subterranean level and the garden. Given the lax security I say we try the most obvious place next, the Throne Room."
"Good idea," Padmé agreed, "If Naboo was under attack that's the most likely place for Her Majesty. It's where I would've been…" her voice trailed off as she started down the corridor. Anakin quickly followed.
The Throne Room was empty.
No bodies and no blast marks were evident, though even here the windows were shattered. Except for the glass covering everything, the room was pristine. It seemed to mock Anakin and Padmé as they entered through a small side door. For long moments they stood looking around, searching for some clue as to what, if anything, had happened here.
Then Anakin sensed it. A trickle through the Force. Pain and fear.
"Where is that secret room?" He asked urgently.
Padmé rushed to one of the far corners, running her hands along an elaborate wood wall panel and depressing one of the inlaid design squares. Nothing happened. Deliberately she pressed again, her efforts yielding the same result.
"I don't understand. The safe room is behind that wall," she motioned to the corner "and this button is supposed to open it."
Anakin pressed the button himself. Still nothing. The urgency he'd felt before was growing stronger, the fear magnifying itself by the moment.
Without warning the panel started sliding back. Padmé drew her blaster as Anakin pulled her away from the moving wall. The door opened to reveal six red battle droids standing armed and ready. Four held their weapons leveled at the newcomers. The other two faced the back of the cubicle where a pair of handmaidens and a man in a lieutenant's uniform crouched in the dim corner.
Suddenly Anakin felt a current through the Force, a familiar dark presence he'd sensed only one other time in his life. He spun around to see a tall gray haired man enter the chamber through a door on the opposite side of the room.
"Dooku!" He spat the name.
"Ah, if it isn't Obi-Wan's young apprentice." The Count smiled coldly at Anakin before his gaze slid to Padmé. "And Senator Amidala as well. What a pleasant surprise! I set a trap for one and caught two." He strode forward, his dark cape fluttering elegantly behind him.
Anakin stood motionless, one hand resting lightly above the lightsaber at his waist. He fought the impulse to ignite the blade and rush headlong toward the man moving so confidently in his direction.
Flexing the fingers of his artificial hand, he reminded himself the cost of such a maneuver could be high. Voices whispered in his head. Palpatine telling him to be patient. Master Windu advising him to wait for targets of opportunity. Master Yoda's warning about anger and aggression.
"Come now, young Jedi, choose your path wisely." He stopped in front of the younger man. Less than a meter separated them and Anakin was hungry to close the distance. "There are always consequences to foolhardy behavior. One word from me and they die." He inclined his head back towards the prisoners.
"Don't take me for a fool, Count." Anakin's contempt radiated from him. "I know you'll kill them anyway."
"You're right." The Count nodded sympathetically. "They will die once they've outlived their usefulness, but for now they remain an effective bargaining chip."
He inclined his head towards Padmé, noting the sleek silver blaster in her hand. Somehow she'd managed to point the weapon at Dooku, though Anakin hadn't seen her do it.
"Senator," The old man's tone was patronizing, "there's no cause for behavior like that." Without warning the blaster flew from her fingers, smacking lightly into Dooku's outstretched palm. "If you would be so kind as to join my other guests." Dooku waved her towards the other captives.
Whether she realized a show of bravado would be pointless or didn't want to be the reason Anakin rushed to strike the Count, Padmé did as she was told.
"I must admit, Skywalker, you took a bit longer getting here than I anticipated."
Anakin's eyes widened, betraying his surprise.
"Yes, I was expecting you. See this party?" Dooku waved a large hand towards the shattered windows. "This is all in your honor."
A fresh wave of fury pulsed through the young padawan. How dare this man lay the blame for the destruction of Theed at his feet! With considerable effort he forced himself to breathe in and out steadily, to focus on the entire situation in front of him. "There's no way all this is about me!" He muttered through tight lips.
"You underestimate your worth." Dooku evaded. "All will become clear to you in time. Come! Take a walk with me. There's something I want to show you."
Anakin stood his ground. The last thing he wanted was a show of camaraderie from this man.
Dooku wouldn't be put off. "Let me rephrase that. If you hold any hope at all that your friends will live, you should come for a walk with me now." He motioned towards the large double doors at the front of the room.
Stalemated for the moment, Anakin reluctantly turned away from Padmé and the other hostages and followed Dooku towards the closed doors. He was mildly surprised when Dooku raised his hand and used the Force to easily push them open. Anakin preceded the old man out into the light.
Anakin's conversation with Dooku faded into the background the moment Padmé could really see the prisoners. Elation shot through her when she realized one of the handmaidens was none other than Jamillia herself! The Queen's unpainted face stayed carefully expressionless, but as her black eyes met Padmé's the relief that shone from them was obvious.
The second girl sat with an arm draped protectively around the lieutenant. From the laser burn on his chest and the droop of his shoulders it was evident he'd been shot, but even with his eyes closed Padmé could easily recognize Dormé's husband. Danel Panaka's wavy black hair and swarthy complexion were the image of his father, the captain who had served Queen Amidala well as chief of security.
Her gaze slowly traveled up from where Danel leaned against the handmaiden's shoulder and she felt a rush of excitement. Noalé! Solemn eyes flashed upwards as if in response to her silent cry. More than a hint of worry was evident in their dark depths.
Padmé schooled her features into a neutral mask. It wasn't easy. This turn of events was almost too good to be true. For the moment, at least, Dormé's loved ones and the Queen were alive! They might stand a chance after all. She knelt beside Jamillia, her optimism returning by slow degrees.
Glancing up toward the guards she found herself staring into the bright red eye sensors of two security droids as well as the business end of the blaster rifles they held. The other four droid soldiers had turned away, standing silently at attention just outside the tiny room. Padmé wasn't fooled by their seeming indifference. They could snap their weapons toward a target and fire in less time than it took to blink.
Six armed Federation guards and a former Jedi Master. Yes, they would need a good plan to get out of this.
She glanced back toward her husband only to see him striding purposefully alongside Count Dooku towards the main entrance. What was Anakin doing leaving the room! For a quick second anxiousness threatened to shatter her hard-won composure. Then reason kicked in. Sure, with Anakin out of the room they were down a Jedi, but then, so was the other side because Dooku was leaving too.
No question about it, the odds were definitely better this way. Anakin could focus solely on Dooku – Padmé knew from their last encounter that he would need all his concentration to do so – while the rest of them directed whatever resources they had towards disabling the droid guards.
Still, she couldn't suppress a shiver of apprehension as she watched the two men leave. When the double doors swung inward she lost them in the blinding glare of late afternoon sun. Sunlight? Those doors opened into the main receiving hall of the palace, a room with no windows! Why was daylight now pouring into the throne room?
Shielding his eyes from the bright light as he and the Count crossed the threshold, Anakin realized what must have caused the shattered windows throughout the structure. Until now they had only seen the back half of the palace. The sole evidence of missile strike thus far had been confined to the hangar bay. Now the full extent of the morning's destructive attack became apparent.
Federation AAT's had reduced the palace's main antechamber – once a grand room filled with statues and paintings of indescribable worth – to nothing more than a pile of rubble. From his vantage point on the second floor landing he could see what remained of an ornate marble staircase. It curved gracefully down only to stop jaggedly two meters above ground level. He followed it anyway, jumping down to the main floor and climbing over broken rock to reach the main entrance to the palace. Dooku remained half a step behind, keeping pace with the younger man with a dexterity that belied his years.
The carved doors and grand archways were gone, as were the colossal monuments of Naboo philosophers that had once graced the plaza. Now there were only droid soldiers, two dozen or more, standing guard over broken pillars that rose halfway to nowhere.
At his feet, shattered stone covered the very stairs where Anakin had stood so many years ago. How different it had been then, watching the Gungans and the Naboo celebrate their victory against the Trade Federation. Now, in place of flags and streamers, columns of smoke twisted skyward throughout the city, mute witness to burning homes and places of business. Broken bodies, both citizen and soldier, lay in the streets while the waning sun cast a pale orange glow over the ruin of it all.
Anakin struggled to control the emotions writhing inside him. He could feel fury hammering inside his head like a drum. The urge to act was almost overwhelming. Dooku was there, within easy reach of his blade. It would be so easy to just call his saber into his hand and –
Reaching desperately into the Force for strength, he managed to find iron control to bind the anger, but he refused to let it die completely. There was a certain potency to be found in it if one knew where to look. He let it simmer inside him.
"You're going to pay for this." Anakin's voice was calm, giving no hint of the icy rage that was even now quietly filling his soul.
"No, Skywalker, the price for this has already been paid through the ages on the backs of independent systems. Countless generations ruined by slavery, disease, despair and poverty while the Republic tended their own interests closer to home. You know the truth of that for yourself; you hardly need me to point it out."
The Count's disparaging tone and the stark reminder of his own slave heritage had Anakin cringing inwardly. How many times had he silently blamed the Republic because slavery still existed on Outer-Rim worlds like Tatooine? How often had he promised himself that once he became a Jedi he would right those wrongs? In the meantime he could only watch, helpless, as chaos ran rampant through the galaxy.
The Jedi, ever dwindling in number, struggled to keep the peace by dealing with one small matter at a time. They would no more than rush in to fix one problem before a dozen more would crop up. Problems, Anakin thought, that began and ended with this man and his legions.
"Injustice is no excuse for arbitrary killing, Dooku!" His felt his control slipping a little and grabbed tightly at it, clenching his fists at his sides.
"Perhaps not," the older man conceded, "but the back of the Republic must be broken before anything will change. Corrupt senators won't sit up and take notice until their own worlds fall."
"And this?" Anakin waved toward the courtyard. "How does the Confederacy of Independent Systems justify this? Naboo has always been a peaceful world with no off-world armies or galactic agendas. Her Senator is not corrupt!"
"Amidala gives her unwavering support to the Republic. That loyalty alone makes her an enemy of the Confederacy." Dooku's lip curled in a semblance of amusement. "Interesting, how staunchly you defend her, almost as if you had a more personal interest here. Perhaps my master is right. Your heart does not truly belong to the Jedi."
It was a taunt Anakin refused to acknowledge. "My heart is my business," he denied hotly, only then stopping to register the full import of the Count's words. "Your master? I thought you were done with the Jedi and all they represent."
This time Dooku did smile, a chilling grimace that didn't reach his eyes. "Ah, a light dawns!" The sarcasm grated like sandpaper over Anakin's already taut nerves. "Reach out with your feelings boy. So much eludes you that should be obvious."
Anakin's eyes closed as he tapped into the Force, pushing his awareness outward. A clouded image of the Count stood before him, shrouded in darkness, pulsing with sinister energy. How had he not seen it! It was the same dark power as the warrior in the melting pit. The one who killed Qui-Gon!
"Sith!" His eyes snapped open.
One of Dooku's eyebrows lifted in grudging respect. "Very perceptive."
Anakin felt a brief euphoria at finally naming his enemy, even as dismay crowded in behind it. He'd fought Dooku before. How had he failed to recognize the true origin of the darkness in him?
As if sensing Anakin's conflict, Dooku turned to face him. "Don't be too hard on yourself, padawan. You are still very young. Seeing through my defenses would've been a formidable task even for a Jedi Master." The Count folded his arms thoughtfully. "Though you are quite gifted, you've been far too preoccupied of late to notice what's been right under your nose."
Suddenly everything swam into focus. It all made sense. The lack of obvious danger signs, his failure to sense the deaths of so many, an attack on Naboo just when he happened to be here, even the relatively unguarded state of the palace halls. Dooku had been shielding the darkness from him all along.
"You've been testing me." Anakin muttered with certainty, turning to face the Count. "Why?"
"I'm sure you know that Obi-Wan's master was my padawan learner. Qui-Gon Jinn was an apt pupil, even if he did possess a certain annoying sentimentality. Your Master wasn't cursed with that particular failing." Dooku took a step, then another, circling Anakin while he spoke. "On the contrary, for all his fumbling beginnings, Kenobi became an ideal Jedi. What a pity if you should choose to share his fate."
"It has always been my destiny to become a Jedi." Anakin spoke softly, with conviction.
"Is that what your heart tells you?" The older man stopped his pacing to stand directly in front of the padawan. "I don't think so. You find their way of life as stifling as I once did." Black eyes met blue. "They offer you the cruelest kind of confinement: a life of mediocrity, where you serve as one small voice among many, unable to affect any kind of lasting change on the universe around you."
Anakin found that point difficult to argue. There was precious little freedom in the Jedi way of life. He'd already broken the rules of the Order because of it. His heart pounded in his chest. He did not want to agree with Dooku, but so much of what the man said were things he had already thought and felt.
"They will never let you reach your full potential. Already, the Jedi fear the scope of your power." Dooku's gaze was hot, burning into his soul with a violent truth Anakin fought not to believe. "No, Anakin, your destiny does not lie with them."
Though he'd often suspected it himself, Anakin pushed the possibility aside. Hearing the words in the sardonic voice of his opponent gave them a blessedly hollow ring. His destiny must lie with the Jedi! A lifetime of dreams depended on it! He'd already sacrificed so much to get to this point.
The faces of his Jedi teachers swirled hazily through his mind. He could hear their warnings against anger and fear, could feel their encouragement and support. How could he walk away from Qui-Gon's conviction that he, as the Chosen One, still had some pivotal role to play in all this? How could he betray his own master's trust, or the faith in him that his mother never lost, even upon her death? And then there was Padmé, with her vision of a galaxy made whole again. He had only to think on these things and his destiny was clear.
"You're wrong, Dooku. I will become a Jedi." His voice was firm, unwavering.
For the smallest fraction of a second – so fast Anakin thought he might have imagined it – Dooku's mask of superiority slipped. Then, quicker than a breath, his craggy features returned to their previous air of absolute confidence.
"Look around you Skywalker." The Sith Lord gestured dramatically towards the horizon. "Naboo is in ruin. The Queen is dead, her military scattered to the winds. So much has been lost. This is what the Republic has to offer you!"
Anakin stared out at the devastation, feeling resolve replace the emptiness in the pit of his stomach. Everywhere he looked glittering fragments of marble reflected the blazing orange of the setting sun. Even the clouds themselves had turned blood red.
His patience was fast coming to an end. Glancing around the palazzo, he noted the twenty or so droid soldiers standing in rows at the base of the stairs. He would need to clear them first, before dealing with Dooku and his lightsaber. The soldiers would be easy. The hard part would be staying between the Sith Lord and the path back to Padmé. He reached for the Force, feeling a welcome surge of strength and a hint…just a hint…of something else.
"Where are your fellow Jedi now? Your loyal comrades-in-arms?" Dooku sneered. There was an almost desperate quality to the Count's voice, as if he realized his audience was no longer listening. "When you called them, did they rally to your cause?" He shook his head in mock woe. "No. I think not. Look around you at the world the Republic deems less worthy than a manufactured army. You stand alone here, Anakin. I'm afraid where the Jedi are concerned you always will."
"That's where you're wrong Dooku." Another voice came from the far right. "My padawan does not stand alone."
Anakin's breath left him in a rush as he heard the familiar snap-hiss of a lightsaber igniting. Evidently Count Dooku wasn't the only one here with a knack for blocking his presence in the Force.
Though Dooku's expression didn't change, anger and frustration poured from him as Obi-Wan Kenobi stepped out from behind what remained of a marble pillar.