The chariot carried Anakin and Padmé into the arena, set up to allow the thousands of Geonosians and the Separatists leaders to watch the execution that would be coming, the battle between Anakin, Padmé, and whatever threats they might be forced to face. Her death was coming, it wasn't hard for her to believe that, but in spite of that, she wasn't quite bothered, almost feeling like she was floating as Anakin held her hand clasped in his.
A soft smile formed on her face as she thought back to it, even if they were being carted to their deaths. They were going to die anyways, there was no point in not indulging in this tiny, little thing that she could.
Besides, she had one more idea. As they arrived into the center of the arena, Padmé dropped Anakin's hand and reached into her hair, pulling at one of the pins she used to keep it from falling into her face to attempt to open the handcuffs binding her hands. It was her only idea really, otherwise there would be no survival.
...If she was honest, the chances of her survival were low anyways, but if she could do anything to improve those odds, she would. Anakin spared her a confused glance, but she refused to elaborate out of fear that the guards might notice. If they took the pin from her, she'd be as good as dead anyways. Rather than state the true reason she'd hidden her pin, she instead tilted her head towards the pillars in the area, which held Obi-Wan in an attempt to keep him from escaping his pending execution. He was probably having about as much fun as they were.
"I was beginning to wonder if you got my message." Their rescue hadn't taken that long, had it? Padmé rolled her eyes at Obi-Wan.
"We got it, and so did the Jedi Council." Padmé smiled.
"And they let you come to rescue me with the Senator?" Obi-Wan asked, his glance at Anakin as he got chained to his pillar as well.
"No, but I wasn't about to hang around on Tatooine while you were in danger." Anakin gave the two of them a grin, and it took everything in Padmé's power not to hit the back of her head on the pillar she was being chained to.
"The Senator and I decided to try to rescue you, without the council's full permission." She smiled.
Obi-Wan appraised the situation for a moment, before offering a sarcastic, "Good job." To the two of them.
"Don't worry, I have a plan." It was a half baked plan, not her best nor favorite move, but nobody could say that she wasn't good at improvising, at least. They hadn't noticed the pin. Which was all she'd needed.
"I hope it's a good one." Before she could reply to Obi-Wan more, she heard the distinctive sound of the Geonosian language echoing throughout the arena, followed by cheering. While she, admittedly, didn't speak it, she had a feeling it was a welcome to the execution they were watching.
She got her answer moments later as three creatures entered the arena. She didn't really have a full idea of what they were, just that they were not something she wanted to mess with, that much was certain. One of them, a large horned beast, turned its attention towards Anakin. A second, one that looked almost insect-like, approached Obi-Wan, and that left the third for herself. Not wanting to get acquainted with these creatures, Padmé dropped the pin into her mouth, and started using it to pick at the lock connected to her left hand. She only needed one. Her creature started prowling towards her, like a Loth Cat stalking its prey, but she didn't have time to contemplate that. She focused just a little more on the handcuff around her and…
Click
The handcuff released her left hand, and she grabbed the pin from her mouth. She could worry about the second one later. "I see, so that was your plan."
"The start of my plan." Padmé smiled at Obi-Wan, and worked at pulling herself up to the top of the pillar. She needed to get away, and get a better vantage of the battle that would occur so she could plan how to defend herself until she could get a weapon. And then she'd have a much easier time fighting them off. The creature that was chasing her, some kind of spiked, feline beast, clawed at the pillar, but was unable to climb it easily, buying Padmé a fair bit of time to take in the struggles of her fellow captives and work at her second hand cuff.
Obi-Wan was doing alright so far. The strange insectoid creature he was facing off against had sliced through the chain holding him to the pillar and he was ducking around to avoid being sliced by the sharp blades that made up its front two legs. Anakin was ducking around his creature, but aside from that had little luck. She cursed herself for not trying to take advantage of their week alone to teach him more than the half baked lightsaber lesson and meditation session, but she had been trying to avoid falling in love with him, so she gave herself credit for even that. As the horned creature ran towards him, Padmé used the Force to give him an edge, levitating him above it and dropping him on the thing. As it ran, it pulled Anakin's cuffs out of the pillar, likely buying him some time, at least for now.
She returned to her own cuffs, now noting that Anakin was doing alright and continued working at the second one. Seconds later, the cuff was off, and she was free, and not a moment too soon. The Force gave her a warning and she shifted as a sharp pain spread across her back. Her feline foe had managed to scratch her, and had she moved seconds later, it was likely the attack would have been more severe. Before it could attack again, she swung her cuffs at it, knocking it back onto the ground and buying her a bit more time.
There had to be some way off of this pillar. She glanced around. The guards had weapons. If she made the jump, she could outsmart one of them and steal it, and then use that to her advantage to keep the creature away until she could secure some form of path to the exit. Then once the exit was made available, the three of them could fight their way out of the arena.
It was a slim chance, a stupid plan if she was honest, but there wasn't any better options for her to take. Besides, Obi-Wan seemed to have the same idea as he ran at the Geonosians for a weapon.
She kneeled down, readying herself to jump and launch as far as she could, when the pillar shook. She looked down to see Anakin grinning as he'd used his creature to knock her own to the side. "Need a ride?"
She jumped down, pressing a small kiss to his cheek. "Perfect timing, Ani."
"I try my best." He smirked, turning to Padmé. "You have a plan?"
"Get me one of their weapons. Then I can fight my way out." He nodded, and used the chains around his arms to spur the beast onward. Before they could get far, Padmé felt a wave of distress ripple through the Force, the source of which being her master, who was now once more weaponless, the remains of the spear he had stolen lay in pieces at the insectoid creature's feet. If Padmé had to guess, the thing was stronger than it looked.
"Anakin." She pulled at Anakin's sleeve, getting his attention. "Obi-Wan needs our help."
Anakin smirked. "Looks like I'm just saving everybody today." She rolled her eyes at the cocky comment, but said nothing so he could focus on the rescue for now. He steered their ride into Obi-Wan's direction, and Obi-Wan jumped on behind her so the three of them were all together to get an escape.
Anakin turned towards the entrance. "Do you still need a weapon, or is this guy enough?" He pet the creature gently, surprising Padmé.
"Go. Just go." She had a new plan, a better one as she saw that the creature was one hundred percent listening to Anakin. If they could ride it out of the arena, they could escape that way. It was a better plan than using a wooden weapon, and they could probably get to the ship with no issues so long as they made it…
Unfortunately, things never really went as planned. Rather than ride out of the arena, they were stopped, not by Geonosians who they could scare out of the way, but by battle droids, an army of them surrounded them and the beast, halting them in their tracks and keeping them from finding a way out. Anakin cursed, likely something in Huttese, and Padmé was tempted to as well. They wouldn't be escaping this, not easily, anyways.
"Any more ideas?" Padmé shook her head and deferred to Obi-Wan, who seemed to be at about as much of a loss as he was.
"I am impressed with your tenacity thus far." Dooku's voice boomed over the arena. "But I'm afraid your escape ends here."
"I wouldn't be so sure of that." If Padmé didn't know any better, she'd swear the second voice that appeared was Master Windu.
For a moment, things were tense, and into the arena from the walls and all exits was a group of Jedi, quite possible, the largest amount Padmé had seen since exiting the temple. Almost every member of the council, and most of the knights she had encountered in her time in the temple were there, and a mass of blue and green lights, each from a lightsaber, surrounded them.
A tension pervaded the arena, and it felt like everybody was waiting with baited breath for the conversation between Master Windu and Count Dooku. As though a treaty of some form could be reached between the Jedi Master and the former Jedi, the Republic and the Separatists. One final chance to turn back from the precipice they were on and stop this war.
Peace didn't come. Master Windu jumped off the ledge of the balcony he had been on, the Geonosians began flying around the arena in a frenzy to escape, and the gathered Jedi started running, lightsabers in hand as they charged against the arriving battle droids, thousands of identical, copper, droids swarmed, firing their blasters at every angle.
Somebody in the mess threw lightsabers at Padmé and Obi-Wan, and the two caught them, freeing Anakin and Obi-Wan both from their restraints using the new lightsabers, Padmé's now a brilliant green, and Obi-Wan's now a bright blue. They jumped off of the horned creature and were off, falling into familiar patterns with one another as they alternated between protecting the other from the droid's blaster fire and slashing through them, cutting them down as droid after droid came filing into the arena. For every one they cut down, another two would take its place, leading to what felt like a battle of crazy striking with no real rhyme or reason to any of it. There was no time to take a breath, no time to even think. She just had to rely on the Force and follow its lead to keep them safe.
"Padmé, the Senator." Obi-Wan's voice jolted her out of the almost trance-like state Padmé had entered as her eyes caught sight of Anakin, using the small blaster he'd managed to keep on him to shoot at the battle droids. A small flash of pride ran through her, but she couldn't focus on that at the moment, realizing he'd be overwhelmed, she ran, slicing through droids as she went, and it wasn't long before their backs were pressed together, Anakin shooting and her using her lightsaber and the Force to keep the droids at bay.
"So much for a peaceful approach." Anakin joked. Had they really thought they'd manage to confront the Separatists and walk away without a war on their hands? It had probably seemed easier when they'd only been aiming for a rescue mission, rather than a battle, but whatever may have once been the case, it wasn't true now.
"Are you really that disappointed Anakin?" Padmé joked. "You are known for your aggressive negotiations, after all." She caught Anakin's smile and grinned back. She knew she shouldn't have been having fun on the battlefield, but in the moment, with Anakin at her back, it was hard not to. She loved him, more than she probably should, but she was done denying it the moment they'd entered the arena.
"Guess this means you were right when you said coming here with me was a sure fire way to start the war." It seemed like such a long time ago when she'd poked fun at him with that comment as they were exiting the ship, even though it had since been only a few hours. She deflected a blaster bolt aimed at Anakin hitting one droid, and he nodded in thanks before shooting at another droid, and they kept defending and shooting, moving as one entity and looking desperately for any break in the closing in wall.
Unfortunately, no matter how good they were at defending, deflecting, and firing at each of the droids, there were so many. Too many for the Jedi to keep up with, and Anakin and Padmé both found themselves slowly being corralled backwards. Padmé scanned the field for Obi-Wan, hoping he'd be able to cut a path and help them gain some ground, but he seemed to be otherwise occupied with the creature from earlier, leaving the two of them to continue backing away. They were cornered. Trapped. The whole of the Jedi were.
Just as it looked to be the end, as though there was no escape from the situation they found themselves in, the droids stopped their attack, giving Padmé a chance to take in the battlefield. All the creatures that had gone after them were dead, their horned friend likely slayed by the droids, while the feline like one and insect like one had been taken down earlier in the battles, and the Mandalorian who had managed to capture them earlier seemed to be gone from the battlefield as well, though who killed him, she was unsure.
There was one other thing that was clear to her. The attack had been stopped on Dooku's command, but it was clear for only one reason. She knew they were defeated. He knew his droid army had won.
"Master Windu," Dooku purposefully paused, waiting for the realization to sink in for the Jedi he addressed as well. "You have fought gallantly. Worthy of recognition in the archives of the Jedi Order. Now, it is finished. Surrender, and your lives will be spared."
"We will not be hostages to be bartered, Dooku." Master Windu shook his head, despite being too far away for Dooku to see the action.
"Then, I am sorry old friend." Padmé felt her stomach plummet. This was it, she supposed. All the fighting she'd been doing to survive would amount to little. The Force had decided it was her destiny, Anakin's destiny, Obi-Wan's destiny, to die here. She took the hand that wasn't holding her lightsaber and intertwined it with Anakin's, and he held hers back and gave a gentle squeeze, showing he was on the same page.
If they were dying, then they'd die together.
She tightened her grip on the green lightsaber, and watched as the droids took aim once more. If she died now, she'd do everything in her power to take as many of these rust buckets with her. She felt that same resolution in Anakin, as he aimed his blaster, ready for the third and final round of this execution.
It never came, over the horizon, ships began filing in, firing at the ground and aiming for each of the different droids and clearing a path for the Jedi to find escape.
Help had finally arrived.