Disclaimer: The following chapter contains a good amount of violent and intense scenes. Though they are not too graphic, they may prove to be very intense for some. Please read with care.
Chapter 12
It had already been an hour since their hasty departure from the resort. Seeing the lines of trauma written on his face, Padme decided not to question his judgment. After all, hadn't he already saved her life? She knew that Anakin could see things that she couldn't even begin to perceive. Perhaps it was better that she did not know what she could not see. It was in that line of thinking that she had yet to question Anakin on his most recent nightmare. But not surprisingly, with her mental complacency came the pestering notions of doubt, most often embodied by the baritone voice of Queen Amidala.
How could you trust your life to a mere boy, the Queen asked. What did he do the last time he had these so-called visions? I guess that mass-murder isn't that much of an issue in the long run. Padme had to admit that Anakin wasn't one for careful analysis of each situation or scenario.
"Anakin." She leaned her head forward towards his ear. "What exactly did you see?"
He gave no reply at first. Instead, he focused on piloting the speeder through the moonlit meadows at speeds high enough to win any podrace. Finally, he told her without looking back:
"I saw a fire. And your family, your mother, father, sister…they were all in the fire. And Pooja, she was crying…"
Padme's face paled, and her grip on Anakin's arms tightened.
"No…it…that…can't happen."
"I saw it, Padme. I felt it."
"Just…drive. Hurry."
"I won't let you down Padme."
"It's not your burden," she whispered into the wind, away from his ears.
"Mom," Sola offered weakly. It seems to have been an eternity that Jobal had been staring outside the second floor window.
"There's more of them," she said in a grim, low tone. "I counted forty this past hour. I don't know how long it's going to be before the Royal Guard can't restrain them any further."
"Mom, Darrad's here, and he brought a speeder with him. Dad and Pooja are already packed downstairs. We have to leave."
"Padme. She's not safe. What if she…"
"She won't come back here mom. Padme wouldn't want us to stay here with the mob." Sola walked up to her mother and wrapped her arms around her.
"Padme wouldn't have done something like that. It's not in her nature."
"I know, mama. I'm sure she'll take care of this misunderstanding. She knows better than us."
They rushed down the stairs to the back entrance, where Ruwee and Darred were already waiting with the baby.
"Did you grab all your belongings," asked Ruwee to his wife.
"There is no time," Darred whispered as he walked over to Sola and handed her their daughter. "The mob hasn't reached the alleyway yet. If we hurry we can still escape their attention."
"I can't believe they would think our daughter could do that," Jobal sobbed.
Darred grabbed two briefcases and quickened his pace to the speeder that awaited them in the backyard.
"It is a confusing time," he said. "The people are scared, and the Governor is a convincing politician."
"He is a mere politician," Jobal argued back. "My daughter is the Queen."
"To many people, they are all the same. Only the Governor had the advantage of speaking first."
He looked around nervously as the distant chanting of the panicked protesters echoed loudly around them. The young architect ushered the Naberrie family out into crisp night air.
Sola was the first to notice.
"Who is that?"
"Who is what?"
"The man in your speeder."
Sure enough, they saw beams of moonlight reflecting sharply off a smooth dark silhouette in Darred's vehicle. The mystery man exited the speeder abruptly and seemed to glide menacingly towards the family.
"Don't move," he ordered. His voice was muffled by the durasteel armor that covered him from head to toe. "Drop your belongings, and we'll step inside."
Jobal's eyes widened when she saw the two blasters pointed at them, and Sola clutched her baby protectively.
"We've have two droids pursuing us."
"And a million of them in front of us."
"What do you think we should do, Master Kenobi?"
"Well, you are the Jedi Master here," said Obi-Wan as he configured the ship's computers, "but if I have any say in this, we go after my Padawan."
From his co-pilot's seat Obi-Wan pushed down on the acceleration lever while Adi Gallia navigated their ship through the throng of Trade Federation fighters.
"Three minutes to the surface," Adi stated as she examined the readings, "if we make it that far."
"It shouldn't be a problem" Obi-Wan assured her even as he harbored his own doubts. Master Gallia was a very competent pilot, a better one than himself, but when it came to a quagmire like the one he found himself in right now, there was no one else he trusted more in the pilot's seat than Anakin, adolescence and all.
I'll get you back, my Padawan. I'll save you from the darkness.
His resolve hardened, Obi-Wan manned the ship's guns as Adi took the starfighter into a barrel roll to avoid the cascade of incoming missiles.
"We really need to get single-pilot fighters," Obi-Wan remarked. "I feel so useless just sitting here."
"I thought you didn't like to fly," Adi retorted. The fighter rocketed towards one of the Trade Federation control ships, and she banked hard to the right and pulled the skiff up to avoid crashing into it.
"Flying's not my forte," Obi-Wan remarked as he pulled his insides together, "but I don't much like dying, either."
"Are you criticizing my flying, Master Kenobi?"
"Oh no, Master Gallia. It's slightly less nauseating than my Padawan's."
He thought he saw Adi smile for the first time of their trip. It quickly faded as remembered the context of their mission.
"Maybe I'll have a chat with Master Yoda about it."
A red light flashed on the ship's communications counter.
"That's odd," Obi-Wan remarked. "Someone's trying to signal us, but there's nothing out here but droid fighters."
"Patch it in," Adi ordered. "Maybe it's Trade Federation control."
"No, it's definitely coming from one of these ships."
The computer beeped, indicating that the connection was secure.
"This is Jedi Master Adi Gallia. Please state your business."
"It's quite the relief to see a representative of the Republic out here," spoke a deep male voice from the other end. "I am Captain Panaka, head of the Royal Guard of Naboo. May I inquire, Master Jedi, how you were informed of this invasion."
"We are actually here on a separate mission. The Trade Federation's presence in this system has caught us by surprise."
"It was a surprise to us, as well."
Obi-Wan noticed several droid fighters circling around Panaka's ship. He made a motion to Adi, who caught his meaning and steered the ship down behind their new ally. Obi-Wan quickly blasted the enemy fighters out of the sky.
"Thank you, Master Jedi."
"Glad to be of service," Obi-Wan replied.
"Captain Panaka," Adi interrupted, "do you know the whereabouts of our colleague, Ranakin Skyesolo?"
"He is with the Queen, escorting and protecting her."
"I see. It appears that his comlink may be broken. Do you know of any way in which we can reach him."
"All I know is that Queen Amidala and Master Ranakin should be in the Varykino area, on the other side of the planet. It is possible that he is still not aware of this invasion."
"Thank you, Captain. You have aided us tremendously."
"My thanks go to you, Master Jedi, for giving me cover. I must reach Coruscant and inform the Chancellor of this attack."
"Very well. We will cover you until you reach hyperspace."
The bounty hunter struck his solid fist out again, this time making violent contact with Jobal's face. Sola gasped afterwards when she saw blood running out of her mother's broken nose.
"I ask you again, where is the Queen?"
"I do not know," Jobal repeated. "My daughter is a simple handmaiden. We do not know…"
"Shut up!" He smacked her again, this time aiming for her jaw. "Don't play games with me, foolish woman. I know your daughter is the Queen."
"You are a coward," Ruwee shouted, "picking on helpless women."
Both he and Darred were bound to a chair with their hands tied up behind them. Ruwee could only hear the blows raining down on his wife as his eyes were bloody and swollen from the torture. Darred sat weakly in his seat, his broken legs and kneecaps dangling helplessly above the floor. The women had their appendages free of any bondage as the bounty hunter did not expect any threat from them. Pooja lay alone on the wooden table, whimpering softly for her parents.
Jango Fett cursed in anger. For all the pain he had inflicted on this family, they still had not said a useful word. They were strong, but years of experience taught him that everyone had a breaking point. If physical pain was not the answer, then perhaps he would try another method. Jango walked over to the kitchen table and picked up the infant girl that lay upon.
"If you do not tell me the whereabouts of the Queen, I will kill her."
"No," Sola shouted. She sprang up from her chair and ran at the bounty hunter, pounding uselessly onto his armor. "You monster! Kill us, but she's just a baby! She's innocent."
Jango shoved her back roughly, and Sola crashed onto the ground.
"Choose, woman! Your sister, or your daughter?"
She does not deserve this. My wife should never have to make such a choice. I will make it for her.
"She is at the lake," Darred shouted. "Padme is at the Resche Lake Retreat."
Sola gazed at her husband in shock. Jobal simply leapt from her seat and charged onto Darred's, knocking them both onto the ground.
"How could you? My daughter! My baby! How could you?"
"Pathetic." As Jango looked at the scene before him with disdain, he laid one outstretched palm onto Pooja's head. The baby let a sharp scream before it was silenced forever. A quick twist of the neck had ended her short life.
"Pooja," several members of the family cried out at once. Even Jobal's attention shifted to the infant girl's last cry.
"Pooja is dead." Jango unceremoniously tossed the tiny corpse out the down onto the backyard lawn. "And you will all follow her path."
Anticipating a reaction from Sola, he kicked her in the stomach.
"Get up," the killer ordered, once again pointing his blasters at the unarmed family. "Untie your husbands, and walk outside. We don't want to make a mess of this lovely house, do we?"
If Jango Fett had not been wearing a helmet, the entire family would have been able to see his grin.
He sensed it several minutes before they actually arrived at Varykino. A mixture of confusion, panic, fear anger, and hatred composed the aura that surrounded the tiny village. He sensed danger, too; a malicious intent that he had last felt during the assassination attempt.
"Something is seriously wrong," he told Padme. He heard voices now from far away, resonating from its source in the village. Random and agitated shouts of mad fervor. "Do you here that?"
Padme tuned her ears.
"Maybe. I'm not sure what I'm listening for."
"Me either. We'll find out when we get there, I guess."
As if they weren't already going fast enough, Anakin pushed the acceleration as far down as he could, trying to avert whatever dark fates poised to threaten Padme's family. The background noise kept increasing the closer they got until it was obviously apparent to both of them despite the roar of the speeder's engine.
The village of Varykino had an eerie red glow surrounding it. Though the roar of a crowd was ever present, as they passed through it Padme noticed that the outskirts of the town was completely silent. It was strange to her, as the streets of her hometown always bustled with friendly activity. Even when it was late, she would often see the University students walking home from a late-night study session or stumbling around in the aftermath of their festive and carnal activities. Now, the village seemed completely abandoned.
It became increasingly evident that the absence of the townspeople was attributed to a mob that gathered near the center of the town. Quiet neighbors that Padme had known for years were running around with crazed expressions in their eyes. Men carried torches, pitchforks, and crude sticks as they marched angrily through the town. Many teenagers were pillaging their way through the village market, often getting into fights with others who wanted their loot.
"Ani, what is going on?"
"The people are scared." Anakin revved his speeder loudly in order to clear his way through the ever-denser crowd. "I can feel their fear, and their anger."
"My family! Are they safe?"
"I don't know. These people are slowing us down."
The numbers of the mob continued to increase exponentially until they reached the archway outside of Padme's home, where Anakin was forced to stop the speeder completely. It was obvious now that the mob had one target for their dissent and animosity. It was also apparent that the watchmen assigned to control the crowds were only minutes away from being overcome by them completely.
"Arrest the traitors!"
"Kill the Queen! Kill the Queen!"
"Death to the Naberries!"
Padme listened to the protests in horror.
"What…why? What have I done? Why would they say this?"
"I don't think we can afford to find out. We have to get inside your house, Padme. I sense another danger, far worse than these people, and he's already here."
Instantly forgetting about the mob, the wheels clicked on in Padme's head as she focused on a to save her family.
"Turn around, and take a left. There is a small alleyway that will lead to my backyard. It's fenced in behind another house, so we won't have to worry about anyone crowding it."
Anakin engaged the speeder again, but in their temporary stop someone had already recognized the now infamous passenger on it.
"There she is! There's the traitor!"
"Hurry," Anakin yelled. He felt several objects propelling towards them and instinctively batted them away with the Force. To his dismay, Padme stood up in the speeder and faced the crowd.
"People, I beseech you," Padme yelled as tears ran down her eyes. "Why are you doing this? Why are you attacking my family? What have I done to deserve your wrath?"
The answers rained back at her.
"What haven't you done?"
"You've doomed us all!"
"Look at her, carousing with her lover while Theed burns!"
"Theed is burning?" Utterly confused now, Padme shrank back into her seat while Anakin continued to create a Force shield around them to prevent the stones and other projectiles from reaching their destination.
"The Trade Federation will kill us all!"
"Don't pretend ignorance!"
"All of Naboo is burning!"
"How dare you show your face around here? After you sold us all out!"
The facts clicked into place in her head, and though she still did not possess the complete picture, Padme shrieked out in agony. It was happening again, she realized at last. Her planet was under attack again, and for some reason the people blamed her.
Anakin could feel the hurt in her heart, and it enraged them that these people had inflicted such a pain into Padme. He was her protector, and no one was going hurt her in any way.
"Liars! You all lie! How could you accuse your own Queen of such things?"
His statements only seemed to incite more fury into the crowd, and several of the unrulier members charged at the solitary speeder. In response, Anakin Force-pushed them back violently into the walls. More came, and again they ran into an invisible wall that shoved them roughly onto their backs.
As they found themselves surrounded on all sides, Anakin pulled out his lightsaber and ignited it. With his other hand he began to send out the beginnings of electrical currents into the air.
"Back off," he ordered. "Do not make me kill you all!"
"Anakin, no," Padme warned, but her words did not prevent the mob from advancing. Anakin sprang up from his seat and sliced his lightsaber in a forward arc, striking through several of the villagers. He shot lightning out of the other hand to hinder the efforts of the mob on the other side. It was soon obvious that the lightning was a much more efficient way of disposing of the crowd, so Anakin disarmed his saber and shot out electricity from both hands, effectively creating a barrier between the mob and their speeder. All who stood towards the front of the crowd screamed out in pain, and the others, seeing an impossible situation, backed away warily.
Suddenly he heard a sharp cry beyond the deafening chorus of the mob. Anakin's face paled, and tapping as deep as he could into his plentiful reserves of power, Anakin Force pushed everyone that blocked his way back. With a little room to work with, he accelerated the speeder and forced his way through the crowd, barely aware of the dozens of people that he was running over.
They left behind a bloody trail of maimed citizens all the way until at Padme's signal he turned into a private driveway. Anakin found the alleyway soon afterwards, and when they arrived at the middle of it he stopped the speeder. Padme saw the boy sink into a deep concentration, and suddenly heard a deep rumbling sound. Bricks began to fall back at the entranceway of the alley, and soon both surrounding walls imploded onto the ground, blocking the path from the mob. Without hesitation, Anakin piloted the speeder through the last legs of their journey.
Padme gasped when they pulled into her backyard. The same assassin that had tried to kill her only days ago now had her entire family lined up on the exterior of their house.
"I want you to look at me before I kill you," Jango had ordered only seconds ago. He relished the look in his victims' eyes the moment before their deaths, and he took in a morbid satisfaction from the fact that his eyes were kept hidden from them. It gave him a sense of psychological advantage and a feeling of superiority.
Just as he was about to pull the triggers, he heard the roar of a motor in the distance. He hesitated just long enough for the mother to shout out a warning.
"No Padme! Get back! It's a trap!"
A second later the Queen's speeder revealed itself, and Jango knew he had to work quickly. He had no orders to kill the Naberrie family, but Jango had vowed that he would exact vengeance for his earlier indignation and physical pain. What better way than to kill his bounty's parents, he reasoned. Especially now, when he had an unexpected opportunity to perform the deed right in front of the Queen's eyes.
With his lightning quick reflexes Jango's fingers pulled the triggers on his twin blasters again and again as the figures in front of him crumpled onto the ground. A moment later he too was on the ground, the victim of a Force push by the Jedi.
"Nooo!" Padme tripped over the speeder as she tried to jump out of it. She hit the ground just as a blast flew past where her head had been a half-second ago. More blasts continued her way, but Anakin deflected every one of them back. In his cover, Padme ran towards her fallen family. She made it to the doorway when she tripped over another object. As she propped her arms up on the grass, Padme gazed appallingly at the object she had tripped on: the corpse of her deceased niece.
"Pooja!" Her hand felt something, and she saw that it was the bloody ankle of Pooja's mother.
"Sola! Mummy! Dad!"
Sola's lifeless eyes stared past her, seemingly never having left the sight of her dead daughter. Sprawled up against her with his head in her lap lay Darred, with blaster wounds through his chest. Padme vomited at the grotesque sight ahead of her, when she finally lay her eyes onto her fallen parents. Mercifully her dad had already slumped forward onto the ground with his face in the grass so that Padme could not see the full extent of the blaster shot through his head. Jobal lay on her stomach on top of her husband. Still clinging to life, she lifted her head up to see her crying daughter.
"Padme…my baby…"
"Mother," Padme cried. She reached out and grabbed her hand. Jobal's eyes never left her daughter's as she gazed onto her lovingly.
"Padme…love…you…"
"Mother, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry."
"Don't…I…lo…"
Her mom's head slumped back down, and Padme screamed painfully at the top of her lungs as her fists pounded the grounded repeatedly. The sound of blaster fire soon caught her attention, and she focused on the man who had been responsible for the slaughter.
"I hate you," she yelled in a voice that barely resembled hers anymore. "I hate you! Die! Anakin, kill him!"
Jango had barely time to heed the Queen's curses as he found the young Jedi charging at him and deflecting every one of his shots with hatred in his eyes. He had stopped aiming for the Queen now, since his own survival was a more pressing matter. The Queen's screams, however, distracted the Jedi. Taking advantage of this brief respite, Jango dropped one of his blasters and grabbed a tube on his back.
Anakin felt a searing sensation approach him and barely jumped out of the way as the bounty hunter's flame-thrower missed its mark. He rolled along the grass with the fires pursuing him every step of the way. Abruptly, the attack stopped.
"Padme! Get out of the way!"
Jango Fett's eyes didn't even see Anakin spring towards the Queen and tackle her away from where his flames struck only milli-seconds afterwards. Instead, all he scorched were the sprawling corpses on the ground and the side of the Naberrie house, which quickly caught on fire.
Suddenly, he was in a world of familiar pain. Jango fingers dropped the flame-tube and his entire body was paralyzed as it was engulfed in the lightning that shot from the young Jedi's hands. He tried to move his hand towards his back to activate his jet-pack, but his arm jerked and moved about spasmodically as the lightning came at him with increasing intensity.
Anakin continued to pour the electricity onto the hateful villain. He levitated him into the air and flipped him around; the jet-pack and the flame-tube was forcibly ripped off his back, and Anakin casually tossed the equipment into the fire that was now tearing through Padme's home. He set the bounty hunter down and ceased his electrical attack. Finally, Anakin gripped the man's blasters with the Force and flung them away.
His armor still smoking, Anakin approached the bounty hunter with his lightsaber lit.
"What is your name?"
No answer.
"I asked you," Anakin shouted angrily, "what is your name?"
He shot a current of lightning through the man for emphasis. His body jerked up at the sudden attack.
"My name is Jango Fett."
"Who hired you?"
Again there was no response. Anakin fried him again.
"Tell me, who hired you?"
He repeated the process several times, but it was clear that the rapidly fading Fett would not give away his employer. Anakin sighed in frustration as he gave up on that effort.
"I should kill you, for what you have done. And I will." He raised his lightsaber to make the final blow.
"Anakin, wait!"
Anakin looked back at Padme, who was walking slowly towards him with a grim resolve in her eyes.
"Give me your lightsaber."
He gave it to her without question.
Her mind lost in a cloud of rage, Padme did not even notice how light the weapon felt in her hand. She only saw the shimmering of the blue blade and the man, no the thing, that lay before her.
"Anakin, take off his mask. I want to see his eyes before he dies."
Shocked slightly at the coldness of Padme's voice, Anakin continued to use the Force to restrict the man's movements while he knelt down and pulled the helmet off of Jango Fett's head, revealing a tan-skinned man with a charred face and unfeeling eyes.
"Keep his head like that, Anakin, so that he is looking into my eyes."
Padme positioned herself above Jango and carefully moved the lightsaber so that it stood above the bounty hunter's left shoulder.
"I don't care if you tried to kill me, but what you have done to my family is unforg…" She couldn't finish the sentence as her tears overflowed her eyes. The three of them stood in that awkward standstill until Padme regained her composure. Her breathing short and abrupt, she started her execution.
"This is for Darred."
She lowered her the lightsaber slowly into the assassin's shoulder, taking several seconds for each inch. She ran the blade through the man's flesh until his left arm was completely separated from his body. Jango's face flinched in pain, but he did not make a sound.
"This is for my sister Sola."
She repeated the process with his right arm. Padme took two steps back, her eyes never leaving the bounty hunter's.
"This is for my Papa."
A tormenting minute later there was only one leg attached to the assassin's torso.
"This is for my Mother."
The blue blade sliced slowly and cleanly through the last remaining leg. Not yet satisfied, Padme spit onto the bounty hunter's face.
"And this, this is for little Pooja."
She stuck the lightsaber straight through his crotch, and Jango Fett finally screamed out in pain.
"Wherever you go after this, I hope you suffer."
The lightsaber found its way in, out, and through the bounty hunter's neck.
Her enemy dead, Padme closed her eyes and deactivated the lightsaber before releasing it absent-mindedly onto the ground. She couldn't bear to look at the killer anymore. To her dismay, the sight that greeted her when she turned around was her family and the house that she grew up in burning into ashes. Padme collapsed onto her knees and buried her face in her hands. With no need to restrain the bounty hunter anymore, Anakin picked up his dropped lightsaber and approached the weeping Queen.
She felt him approach, even though she couldn't see him.
"I never should have left. I should have stayed. You could have protected them here."
Anakin laid one hand on Padme's shoulder. He continued to grip his weapon with the other.
"It's not your fault, Padme."
"I never even said goodbye to them."
"You couldn't have known. No one could."
"That doesn't excuse me. I killed them, with my pride and my stubbornness."
"I couldn't save her either." The situation was all too familiar to Anakin. He barely heard himself as he found his mind stuck in a hellish purgatory somewhere between Varykino and Tatooine. The touch of Padme's skin brought him back to reality. Her fingers grazed his other hand until they laid themselves on the hilt of his lightsaber.
"Was that really me, Anakin? Did I really do that?"
"He deserved it. He killed your family. He deserved it."
"I know." Padme turned her head and looked Anakin in the eyes. "But…was it right for me to do that?"
He looked away.
"I don't know. Does it make you feel better?"
"No. No, it doesn't."
"I know. It never does."