Chapter Seventeen
Our scout, a young Padawan by the name of Nargon had returned with the unsettling information that a droid army numbering nearly five hundred was headed our way and would arrive within an hour. We were a squad of thirty-two, counting the ten Padawans who were barely old enough to hold a lightsaber. This was a war of finality. If we lost this battle, it would be the end of the Jedi. The Chancellor would make certain that all beings across the galaxy were the same, which meant himself and his evil entourage would rule without much resistance.
We had to make a stand and we buffered ourselves with the Force while awaiting the arrival of our nemesis. Just before dawn, we heard the sound of the creaking and whirring joints of the droids first as they entered the city before we saw the red glow of Count Dooku's blade.
There was no point in hiding. We were all standing in the middle of the street waiting for him, having sent all the villagers into hiding.
Having encountered Dooku before, I expected a lecture before the battle actually began and I wasn't disappointed.
"My Master has foreseen the end of the Jedi. This day will be celebrated across the galaxy. No longer shall anyone experience the tyranny of your kind. After today, we will all be equal and there shall be balance."
"You're mad. The dark side has twisted your mind."
It was Qui-Gon who stepped forward and challenged the Count while the rest of us anxiously awaited the first blaster bolt.
"I see things more clearly now than I ever have, my Padawan," Dooku claimed, switching on his lightsaber, whose sound was echoed by numerous others, including mine.
"The Chancellor desires order where there was chaos, equality over inequality, and balance over…"
"Yeah, we get it," I interrupted him, unable to stand still much longer and listen to his annoying dialogue.
"Young Kenobi," Count Dooku sneered in my direction. "You bested me once. It will not happen again."
"We shall see, my old Padawan," Master Yoda said in a tone I had never heard him use before. It was low and threatening.
The Force flowed amongst us, creating an orchestra of movement and speed as the army began its onslaught. The droids discharged their weapons at a rapid pace while Qui-Gon had challenged Dooku himself. I was busy decapitating soldiers and couldn't manage to keep an eye on him, although I sensed he was holding his own.
However, a different sound captured my attention. It was more of a thud than the explosion of an energy bolt. I immediately looked to my left where I noticed a dart embedded into the wooden slats of one of the buildings. I quickly plucked it out and drew it to my hand to study it while continuing to ricochet blaster shots aimed in my direction.
It was an injector of some sort that I had no doubt contained the inoculation that would eliminate the M-counts of the Jedi. The droid army apparently had been supplied them and was randomly shooting them in our direction. I had to warn the others.
I ran first to Master Yoda who was working his way toward Dooku who had his hands full with Qui-Gon and showed him the dart. Immediately, an image infiltrated my mind and I realized that he had taken the time to reveal the danger to every Jedi involved in the battle.
/What is that?/
The image had also apparently leaked into the bond.
/Don't worry about it,/ I told Padmé as I turned my focus once more to a pair of destroyers rolling toward me. If the Battle of Naboo had taught me one thing, it was how to defeat them, even if they had shields. You had to get close to them, though. Really close.
I ran toward one of them and slid underneath it at the last possible second, swiping its underbelly with my blade, destroying its inner mechanics. Then I turned and did the same to the other one.
/Don't tell me not to worry about it! If it was nothing, it wouldn't have been broadcast!/
I really didn't have time for an argument right now! /It's a dart meant to deliver the vaccine,/ I quickly explained while preparing to lop off the heads of a trio of battle droids that had pinned down a young Jedi.
/Like a tranquilizer?/ she asked. /Are you serious? That's insane! Be careful!/
I appreciated her concern but had more important things on my mind. /I would be if I could focus all my attention on deflecting them!/
/Sorry! I'll be quiet now./
The bond went silent except for a filtered sense of growing determination, which could suggest something new to worry about were it not for the fact she had promised to stay hidden.
/I made no such promise/ she responded almost immediately.
A familiar-sounding pistol shot came from just behind me and I spun to see Padmé duck behind a metal barrel. At least she was taking cover. I ran to her anyway, just to make sure she was safe.
"Before you say anything, I was thinking that if you died, so would I. There's really no sense in me not helping. Dela promised to take care of Leia if the worst happened."
"I'm glad you've planned for every possible contingency," I teased while deflecting two shots right back to the shooters.
"Whatever happens to one of us, happens to both of us. I promised to stay by your side, remember?"
Yes, I remembered. It was part of the vow she had spoken during our wedding.
"I wouldn't have it any other way," I told her, quickly altering my plan of attack to one of protection.
The tide had turned with the number of Jedi now exceeding those of the droids, although there had been casualties on our side so-to-speak. A couple of the younger padawans who hadn't stayed close enough to their Masters had been struck by the darts and were presently kneeling in the forest out of harm's way. I couldn't imagine the sense of loss they were experiencing.
Padmé was as good as her word and subsequently fired upon a group of droids approaching us, taking out three of them. I leaped from the ground and landed amongst them to take care of the rest.
Further down the street, in between the wooden homes were several smaller skirmishes occurring: Mostly, two to three Jedi standing toe to toe with a group of droids doubling or even tripling their number. It wasn't long, however, until the main road through Dantoo Town was littered with metallic body parts and machinery of our attackers, with only Dooku left standing his ground.
We had sacrificed three; two to the inoculation darts, and one Knight I hadn't known very well who appeared to have taken a blaster shot to the temple.
That left twenty-nine Jedi versus one Dark Lord of the Sith. Realizing he was outnumbered, I expected Dooku was going to flee. Surprisingly, he relinquished his lightsaber to Master Yoda and stood quietly with his hands folded in front of his black cloak.
"By the authority of the Jedi, you're under arrest," Mace Windu told him, holding his own lightsaber near the man's throat.
A small cynical grin lifted a corner of the Dooku's mouth. "The Jedi no longer have such authority and this battle is far from over, my friend."
"You're wrong," Padmé replied hotly, stepping out from behind the marked barrel. "You and the Chancellor have failed. Soon, the Jedi will be restored and the Chancellor will be exposed for the truly evil man he is."
"Is that so, my dear?"
It wasn't Dooku who had responded to her prophecy, but the Chancellor himself. How he had snuck up behind us all without detection was a mystery, although the red lightsaber he produced was not. It explained so many questions we had all been asking lately.
He was the Sith Master we had been wondering about and he had been right under our noses all this time. We knew he was a corrupt politician, but a Sith Master? The thought was overwhelming. The next question that needed answering was how could he possibly think he could defeat this many Jedi?
The answer came readily and unexpectedly, and again took us all for a surprise as a bolt of dark force lightning came from his hand and struck us all.
Master Yoda was the first one back on his feet and intercepted the next bolt with his claw, tossing it back, only to be absorbed by the Sith.
This battle was now beyond most of our abilities, including my own. Each attempt to engage Palpatine with a lightsaber was met with another strike of dark energy, which was quickly followed by wooden panels and boards he had pried from nearby buildings, as well as tools and chairs, and anything within his sight.
The others were kept busy deflecting flying debris while Yoda moved forward to battle him at a closer range. The small Jedi Master's weapon was a blur of activity, although the Sith's response equaled his.
I had rushed toward them like the others when Palpatine had appeared, having neglected watching over Padmé. I assumed she had run for cover when the lightning strikes had begun. I was never more disappointed in how wrong I could be when I saw her struck down to the ground by a bolt while Palpatine cackled with evil glee.
My shout of distress mirrored the one I yelled out when my Master had been defeated by Darth Maul. I realized though, that the pain of this loss would be much more disastrous, and I wasn't talking about my own life. My life meant nothing compared to hers and Leia's.
I ran toward Padmé quickly although time seemed to slow down. Master Yoda had Palpatine fully engaged in a lightsaber battle while his free hand continued to attack my wife. I began to panic when I realized I may not get there in time to save her when I noticed that someone had beaten me to it.
At some point, our daughter had toddled out into the midst of the battle in search of her mother. I called upon the Force to add height and speed to my jump that I may reach them in time.
After flinging myself from the top of a wagon, I leaped as high as humanly possible, my weapon in my hand, only to be met with an invisible wall similar to a shield that knocked me backward and sent me sprawling down onto the dirt road.
No! My mind screamed out, calling for my family immediately afterward. When the dust had settled, I realized I wasn't the only one lying prone upon the ground. Every Jedi and even Palpatine himself had been thrown back and were struggling to rise.
Each of us glanced about in awe, unaware of how the anomaly had occurred and who had been responsible for it.
That is until I looked back to my two reasons for living and found Leia cradling her mother's face, telling her to wake up.
/Come here, child,/ I heard Palpatine's voice whisper through the Force. /And I will show you magical and wonderful things. You will have all the candy and toys you ever dreamed of. I will never tell you no. You will have everything you want and so much more!/
I tried to shout but my voice was paralyzed as was the rest of my body. The severity was decreasing, but I still didn't think it would be gone in time.
/Somebody stop him!/ I shouted out with my mind, hoping a Jedi would hear and rescue my little girl.
The old man in his dark robes stepped toward Leia and offered her his hand while tears began to fill my eyes. She seemed unsure at first, but somehow Palpatine knew exactly what to tempt her with. Gradually, her little hand began to drift toward his.
/Leia! No! Don't go with him!/ My stricken plea went out but returned void, and while I helplessly watched the Sith Master take hold of my daughter.
But then something remarkable happened. At first, I doubted my own vision, but tiny cracks of blue light began to appear on the Chancellor's skin. At first, I thought it was more dark lightning. If he intended on murdering my daughter before my very eyes, he didn't know what suffering was! I would find him and I would torture him until he begged for death!
I was slow to realize that it wasn't the power of Palpatine that I was witnessing, but apparently and miraculously, the attack was coming from Leia. On her face was the exact same expression she displayed whenever she had one of her temper tantrums. However, this tantrum was internal, and she was apparently funneling all of her anger and frustrations into the body of Chancellor Palpatine. Little by little, the veins of blue light spread over his hands and then crept up into his face before he fell to the ground, foaming at the mouth and writhing uncontrollably before our daughter. Not once had Leia let go of the man's hand and eventually, nothing was left of him but a glow of blue goo that gradually soaked into the dry ground.
Silence settled over the village as the paralysis finally diminished enough that we were able to stand. I immediately rushed over to my family to check on them.
"She's ok, Daddy," Leia told me softly and quite calmly. "She's just sleeping."
"Is that so?" I asked with delight and thankfulness while pulling Leia into my arms.
/Padmé?/ I asked a few times before I received a response. Her eyelids fluttered and those beautiful browns stared up at me.
"What happened?"
How could I ever explain this to her when I didn't understand it myself?
"I made the bad man melt. Like the sugar mommy makes."
Padmé eyed me curiously before turning her attention to Leia.
"Like the sugar melting? Are you talking about the vats of syrup in the Sap House?"
"Mommy turns the sticky stuff into sweets! I like sweets."
"Yes, you do," I replied, tearfully hugging my family tightly while informing Padmé that I'd explain everything later.