Disclaimer: In no way at all do I own any of the original character, locations, ships, or anything else mentioned in Star Wars. They are all owned by George Lucas. I only own my OC. Any similarities between this story and another are purely accidental.

A/N: Yo readers and reviewers. I only need eight more reviews until I get to one hundred! I'm not a picky person, and I don't care if ya'll don't wanna review or whatever, but getting to one hundred reviews has been a big goal for me since I started writing! Be kind to me please!

Hoonah: Really? They're funny for you? Yay! I hope you remember what is it you were going to ask/tell…

Elibe: Thank you! And here's that update.

Masked Masquerader: Thank you too!

randomness: Okay girl (you are a girl, right?), that's getting seriously creepy. But if you're in 3B, do you by any chance happen to know Arisa Sakagami? If you do, tell her I hate her guts.

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The three Jedi stepped out on a balcony, which overlooked a large chamber with a wide viewing window at one end. In front of that window, chained to a seat with wrist-binders, was Chancellor Palpatine, looking no worse for the wear. They approached him.

"Chancellor," said Obi-Wan as he and Lyra bowed.

Anakin, however, launched into, "Are you alright?"

"Count Dooku," said Palpatine quietly.

The three Jedi turned around to see Count Dooku striding in, standing on the balcony. Flanking him were two large battle droids.

"This time we will do it together," said Obi-Wan quietly.

"I was about to say that," muttered Anakin.

Count Dooku jumped over to the main level, drawing his lightsaber.

"Get help," said Palpatine, "you're no match for him! He's a Sith Lord!"

Who would help us? thought Lyra, restraining herself from rolling her eyes.

Obi-Wan turned around to face the Chancellor. "Chancellor Palpatine," he said with a small grin, "Sith Lords are our specialty."

"Your swords please," said Dooku, nearing the three Jedi who had removed their cloaks. "You don't want to make a mess of things in front of the Chancellor."

"You won't get away this time, Dooku," said Obi-Wan, igniting his lightsaber. Blue and green ignited on either side of him, where Lyra and Anakin were standing.

The three Jedi charged at Count Dooku, their lightsabers flashing. The fighting paused for a while, as Count Dooku carefully watched his enemies.

"I've been looking forward to this."

"My powers have doubled since the last time we met, Count," said Anakin confidently.

"Good." Dooku smiled. "Twice the pride, double the fall."

The fighting resumed, until Count Dooku used the Force to fling Obi-Wan back. Lyra and Anakin continued the fight, moving up the stairs to the upper levels.

Meanwhile, Obi-Wan had gotten up and was climbing the stairs, destroying the battle droids as he did.

Dooku suddenly spun around, using the Force to lift Lyra into the air. He closed his fist, and Lyra felt her throat constricting. She gasped, trying to get air into her lungs.

Finally, he flung her across the room, her back hitting the hard metal wall. She slid down the wall, falling to the ground. Before she could stand up, Dooku ripped the metal lining from the wall with the Force, using it to bind her on the ground.

Lyra watched helplessly as Obi-Wan met the same fate as her, only Dooku caused a balcony to trap him, and he had fallen unconscious.

---

Angered, Anakin kicked Dooku over the balcony. He jumped off as well, following him down to the main floor. He and the Count continued their fight, their lightsabers humming.

"I sense great fear in you, Skywalker I sense great fear in you, Skywalker," taunted Dooku. "You have hate, you have anger, but you don't use them."

Anakin did not respond, instead increasing the tempo of his attack on Count Dooku. Finally, in one last energized charge, Anakin sliced off Count Dooku's hands. The Jedi caught the lightsaber as it dropped from the severed Sith Lord's hand. Count Dooku stumbled to the floor as Anakin crossed the two blades over his neck.

"Good, Anakin, good!" praised Palpatine, grinning at Dooku's defeat. "Kill him. Kill him now!"

"I shouldn't…" Anakin trailed off, his eyes landing on Lyra, who was looking at him in shock. She fervently shook her head, but Anakin ignored her, looking back at the Chancellor.

"Do it!" Palpatine hissed.

With that, Anakin sliced off Count Dooku's head.

"You did well, Anakin," praised Palpatine. "He was too dangerous to be kept alive."

Anakin walked to the Chancellor's seat, moving his fingers over the wrist binders causing them to pop open. "Yes, but he was an unarmed prisoner. I shouldn't have done that. It's not the Jedi way."

Palpatine stood up, rubbing his wrists. "It is only natural. He cut off your arm, and you wanted revenge. It wasn't the first time, Anakin. Remember what you told me about your mother and the Sand People."

There was a silent pause.

"Now, we must leave, before more security droids arrive."

Anakin rushed over to Lyra, using the Force to unwind the metal lining from around her body. "Are you alright?" he asked.

She stood up, examining her hands. "Other than a few wounds from the lining, I'm fine." She wiped the blood on her dark brown tunic and headed for Obi-Wan, Anakin right behind her.

"There's no time!" said Palpatine sharply. "We must get off this ship before it's too late!"

"He seems to be alright," said Lyra, checking his pulse. "No broken bones, breathing's normal."

"Leave him," ordered Palpatine, "or we'll never make it."

Anakin looked up at the Chancellor. "His fate will be the same as ours."

---

Lyra, Palpatine, and Anakin with Obi-Wan slung on his back made their way to the elevator, which, Anakin discovered wasn't working. An ominous shockwave jolted the ship, worrying the two conscious Jedi.

"R2, activate elevator 3224," commanded Anakin, speaking into Obi-Wan's commlink.

There was no answer.

"R2, do you copy? R2?"

The doors of the elevator slid open, but before they could enter, the ship tilted forward. The Jedi and the Chancellor struggled to climb into the elevator shaft, which had now become a long hallway.

Moving quickly, they were running down the long "hallway" when the ship began to right itself, and the hallway became vertical again. They began to slide, until Anakin's hand found a thick wire sticking out of the wall. Lyra grabbed onto Anakin's boots, while the Chancellor grabbed onto hers.

As they hung there helplessly, Obi-Wan began to regain consciousness.

He gave a low cry when he saw himself hanging from Anakin's shoulder, quickly tightening his hold on Anakin. "Did I miss something?" he asked, peering down at the Chancellor and Lyra.

"We're in a bit of a situation," she said sheepishly.

A rumbling noise was suddenly heard above, and all four turned to look up, in time to see the elevator rushing towards them.

"R2, shut down the elevator," said Lyra into her commlink, trying to mask the panic in her voice.

"Too late! Jump!" ordered Obi-Wan.

They fell about three hundred feet before the tilt of the ship caught up with them, and they hit the side of the shaft and slid at great speed just ahead of the elevator. The three Jedi threw grappling hooks, which slowed their fall as the shaft became completely vertical. All the doors in the elevator shaft opened, and the group swung through the open door into a hallway. The elevator roared by.

Obi-Wan stood up, brushing the shoulders of his tunic. "Let's see if we can find something in the hangar that's still flyable."

"R2, get down here," Lyra ordered.

The four of them took off down the hall, Anakin jogging beside Obi-Wan, and Lyra keeping beside the Chancellor. As they passed under two lights, a blue glowing ray shield shot out and trapped them where they were standing.

"Ray shields," said Anakin, identifying the force field.

"Wait a minute," Obi-Wan groaned, looking from Lyra to Anakin, "how did this happen? We're smarter then this!"

Lyra smirked, folding her arms across her chest. "Apparently not."

"I say patience," said Anakin, quickly interrupting whatever smart remark Obi-Wan was about to retort.

Obi-Wan looked at his apprentice. "Patience?"

"Yes," said Anakin firmly. "R2 will be along in a few moments and he'll release the ray shields."

A door to their left slid open and R2 wheeled in, screaming at the top of his—well, if he had any—lungs. He zipped across the hallway, banging and rebounding off the wall, beeping incessantly.

"See?" said Anakin, smirking smugly. "No problem."

Just as the words left his mouth, two destroyers rolled out, unfolding their guns and shields. Another door opened, and droids like the ones flanking Count Dooku earlier entered, followed by the thinner white battle droids.

Obi-Wan looked at Anakin. "Do you have a Plan B?"