Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters or anything Star Wars related.
CH. 4
"TWO JEDI AND A GENERAL"
The cold emptiness of space engulfed him as he flew his starfighter through the never-ending cascade of black and blue. There was nothing other than darkness accompanied by the illuminating glow of stars and nearby planets. He marveled at the beauty of it and a slight grin tugged at the corners of his mouth. It had been far too long since he had genuinely smiled.
It only lasted a brief moment.
His thoughts soon turned to the task at hand. He would be facing Obi-Wan Kenobi soon and he was not looking forward to it. Seeing Master Yoda again had been bad enough, but he had been attached to Obi-Wan much more than the elder Jedi Master. After all he had done, he could only hope his former mentor wouldn't try to strike him down while he was trying to rescue him…
Then there was Padme. No matter where his mind might wander, it always returned to her. Those brown eyes, her soft hair, her smile, the way she whispered his name…but as much as it warmed his heart, it tore it apart a thousand times more knowing that he had ruined everything and lost the love of his beloved Angel. He had no false hopes – he knew he had lost her.
He felt a great deal of sadness at the prospect of never seeing her again, never hearing that infectious laugh of hers that he couldn't help but laugh along with when he heard it…
That sadness quickly turned to anger. He felt it grow inside of him and consume his every thought until he knew nothing but rage and hatred. His grip on the fighter controls in front of him tightened as he squeezed his eyes closed in a desperate attempt to calm himself – struggling to restrain his overwhelming emotions.
"General Skywalker, we are approaching our target," he heard the voice of a clone pilot inform him. "ETA, three minutes."
Thankful for the sudden interruption of his thoughts, Anakin looked out of the cockpit of his fighter and focused on the many starfighters flying alongside him. "Get ready, Captain. Things are about to get very busy…"
"Yes, sir."
A minute later and he could make out the distant form of a ship. This is it, he told himself. Here we are. There's no turning back now…
"I am detecting enemy fighters approaching on my radar, sir."
"You're going to be on your own, Captain," Anakin tensely replied. "I'm going for the ship. Just keep them busy and I'll get Jedi Kenobi."
"Yes, sir."
They continued in silence until they spotted enemy fighters soaring towards them.
"Let's get this show on the road," Anakin said as he opened fire, engaging them and immediately blowing one of the fighters to space debris.
The enemy immediately returned fire and Anakin swooped in a perfectly executed roundabout, easily dodging the shots meant for him. Steadying his starfighter, he managed to fire on another enemy fighter and took it out of the fight.
"That's it for me, Captain. Good luck."
Without so much as another word, Anakin tactfully began performing evasive maneuvers and sped towards the ship in which he knew Obi-Wan was being held captive.
"Persistent, aren't you?" he muttered to himself in aggravation, glancing back over his shoulder at an enemy fighter that had managed to break away from the others and tail him.
He instinctively darted from side to side while the fighter fired upon him, skillfully avoiding the shots. Then, taking his starfighter into a downward spiral, he took it by surprise and flew up and around to resume his course – only this time taking position behind his pursuer. The enemy fighter erupted in a ball of fire and Anakin proceeded to move in on the ship that was now just ahead of him.
Blaster canons opened fire as he grew closer, but he easily dodged them and swooped down towards a large energy field that he could see led into the ships docking bay. Firing on the generators beside the blocked passage, the glowing energy field flickered before disappearing completely. He smirked to himself when he sped into the ship – the back-up generators rebuilding the energy field just as he passed through it – and roughly set his fighter down.
Sparks flew up from the metallic ground as it slid across the floor of the massive hangar, battle droids immediately racing towards him and opening fire. Ejecting himself from his starfighter, Anakin ignited his lightsaber while he flipped through the air.
The fighter took out several droids as it passed through them and he began striking down what remained of them with his glowing blade the moment his feet touched the ground.
He deactivated his lightsaber once they were all disposed of and turned his attention to a set of doors. "Where are you, Obi-Wan?"
Rushing towards them, he securely grasped the hilt of his lightsaber and readied himself before pressing the open button on the keypad on the wall. Fortunately, there were no more droids waiting for him on the other side. Wasting no time, he hurriedly made his way down the long hallway to find his old Master...
Bail Organa spun around when he heard the door to his office open rather forcefully. He was startled to see Padme storm into the room, glaring at him as she approached.
"Senator Amidala – what a wonderful surprise," he greeted her with a friendly smile, but it quickly faded when she didn't return it. "Is something the matter, Senator?"
"Why was I not told about Lord Vader sooner?" she asked, clearly infuriated with her fellow politician. "What's going on?"
Bail sighed in exasperation and clasped his hands behind his back, diverting his gaze from hers as he spoke. "Vader only met with us briefly. I didn't want to tell you at all, but Master Yoda insisted you not be kept in the dark. I thought you – "
"You had no right to hide this from me!" she cut him off before he could finish his sentence.
"Padme, you must understand why I thought it would be best that you didn't know," he attempted to reason with her. "His motives for returning to Coruscant are still questionable. He may have a hidden agenda that we are unaware of…I just didn't want you to get your hopes up. It was for your own sake."
"I can look out for myself, Senator Organa," she angrily replied. "I don't need your protection."
"I never meant to upset you," Bail said as he let out another heavy sigh. "You must realize…Darth Vader is not the man you married. Personally, I think Master Yoda is making a grave mistake in trusting him."
"If you mistrust him so much, why did you let him lead this mission?"
"I allowed him to go strictly for the purpose of bringing Master Kenobi back – I will not let him die in the hands of the Separatists," Bail turned away from Padme and watched the traffic of Coruscant pass by from the window of his office. "Granting him the opportunity to save Obi-Wan is the only thing I will ever do for him. Yoda is far more forgiving than me."
Even with his back to her, Bail could feel the other Senator's eyes on him. A long moment of silence ensued between them before he heard her turn to leave, the door slamming behind her.
Yet another sigh escaped his lips.
Obi-Wan watched in utter confusion and disbelief as the figure effortlessly sliced through the battle droids posted outside his holding cell.
How can this be possible? he asked himself. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined…
He watched the Sith Lord swiftly deflect blaster fire and cut down the few droids that were left standing, but he wasn't even focused on the fight…his eyes watched the lightsaber the figure held in his hands. The blade was no longer the deathly red it had been before, but was now replaced by a blue glow that seemed to shimmer in the dimly lit detention block.
Droid parts fell to the ground and the weapon was instantly deactivated as the figure approached his cell.
"Anakin?" was all Obi-Wan managed to get out.
"It's me, Master," Anakin replied, using the locking mechanism beside the door to shut down the energy field. The humming of the field immediately ceased and it vanished. "There's no time to explain. Come on, we have to get out of here."
Obi-Wan was baffled.
He caught the second lightsaber Anakin pulled from his robes and tossed to him, watching his padawan survey the area to make sure it was clear before starting back down the hallway in the direction from which he had arrived. "Follow me."
"Anakin, wait!" Obi-Wan called out after him.
His apprentice stopped where he was and reluctantly turned around to face him. Obi-Wan noticed the natural blue hue to his eyes -- they were no longer that sickly yellow he had grown so accustomed to.
"Anakin, what's going on?" he asked, staring at the former Emperor with less than subtle curiosity. "What is happening?"
"Jedi scum!"
Both Anakin and Obi-Wan whipped around when they heard the menacing voice shout at them. Obi-Wan instinctively igniting the lightsaber he now had in his possession and braced himself for an attack.
They cautiously watched Grievous walk into the room, glaring at them with a mixture of annoyance and disgust. "You have met your end, General Kenobi."
The two Jedi Knight's watched in stunned silence as his two arms separated and became four – each of them gripping the hilt of a lightsaber. All four blades burst to life and he crouched low in a threatening position.
"Who's this?" Anakin questioned, fully prepared to defend himself.
"Anakin Skywalker, I'd like you to meet the infamous General Grievous," Obi-Wan replied coldly.
Grievous took a step towards them to strike. "You are no match for me, Jedi."
"I think you will find he is extremely fond of his own voice," Obi-Wan remarked. "It is not a very flattering trait."
"Enough talking," Grievous spat as he lunged forward.
Anakin and Obi-Wan blocked his first assault and momentarily held off his advances, but he pressed on and continued to barrage them with blow after blow. They were forced back until they were almost pinned against the wall.
"Duck!" Obi-Wan exclaimed.
They dove to the ground as four glowing blades simultaneously slashed through the wall where they had been standing. Rolling to their feet, they stood at either side of him and awaited his next move, both of them in defensive stances.
Anakin grimaced. "This should be interesting…"