The shuttle landed in one of the hangars of the death star. While approaching, Padmé could clearly see that the construct was far from completion.
A rather big piece was still missing, but Padmé could make out that it was going to be a perfect sphere one day. After everything Anakin had said about this thing, she was sure, she wanted to be at any other place.
Her only comfort was that this time, at least her children weren't separated from her, and Ahsoka was with her. And soon, Anakin would return from Hoth. She forced herself to calm down.
She had been captured more often than she could count, this was just once more. Yet, she couldn't rid herself of the uncomfortable feeling, that something was different this time. Padmé didn't imagine the Emperor to be a very pleasant captor.
Padmé was lead down the ramp by a group of clones. A dignitary awaited them. He handed a data pad to Ahsoka stiffly. "What are the Emperor's instructions?", Maul asked. "Bring the children to the other one.", Ahsoka told a clone.
"Absolutely unharmed.", she added. Ahsoka read on and her eyes turned to ice. Maul snatched the pad out of her hands, then a menacing smirk appeared on his face. "The woman goes to the interrogation room.", he said.
Padmé commanded her immediately racing thoughts to stop. She would be fine. Somehow. The twins were carried in the opposite direction and shortly after they were out of her field vision she stopped hearing their cries.
She concentrated, pushed all despair into the back and put on her senator face. This was not the time to show weakness. If Sidious tortured her, so be it. She believed there was nothing that could shock her after Polis Massa.
Ahsoka was following her with eyes, until out of sight. Padmé was well aware that if Sidious wanted her to talk, there wouldn't be a choice for her. She was not like Anakin, or Ahsoka, who could cut their minds off from the force.
To Sidious she would be an open book. The realization of what that really meant came slowly. He would learn that Anakin was alive, Breha was alive, and that Ahsoka was an infiltrator.
If Padmé were to die anyway, Maul should have done it on Naboo, before she had been given the chance to doom who she cared about.
The troopers that had dragged her into a poorly lit chamber, strapped her arms to a chair, then left her in darkness. Now that she was alone, her icy facade began to crumble, and soon she had to blink away the tears.
She imagined how terrified the twins were, and recalled the last she had seen of her parents. Everything had been fine for her since Anakin had bombed his fortress.
The few days they had spent as a family, were what she had dreamed of during her pregnancy. But happiness couldn't prevail long, while Sidious was still alive. It only took a few minutes, before the door opened.
"We're in luck.", Ahsoka said, before switching one what little there was of lighting. "The Emperor has entrusted me with the task of torturing you." Ahsoka strolled over to her and removed the metal restraints.
"He won't believe that I failed to get anything out of you. I have to bring him something." Padmé nodded. "He can't know about Anakin.", she hurried to say. Ahsoka sighed.
"He already suspects something. He isn't stupid. With the twins alive, he probably imagined Vader wasn't as obedient as presumed." Padmé grunted. "We have to make something up then. Fast." Ahsoka shrugged.
"If you want to hold onto Anakin having died in the bombing, you have to come up with a reasonable explanation.", Ahsoka mused. "How could two toddlers survive what a highly trained sith couldn't?", she added.
"We say they weren't there anymore.", Padmé replied. Ahsoka frowned. "Then where were they?", Ahsoka countered. Padmé buried her face in her hands. "This has to be creative, Ahsoka."
"She didn't show much resistance to the mind probe, master.", Ahsoka announced. Sidious smirked, leaning back in his throne.
"She has told me that before the rebels destroyed the fortress on Mustafar, they kidnapped the children. They left them with her, believing they would be well hidden with their mother." "She is with the rebellion.", Sidious concluded.
Ahsoka cursed herself. Perhaps this story hadn't been the best choice. "Go again, and find out where their base is.", Sidious ordered. Ahsoka bowed shortly, before leaving towards the detention block once more.
She wondered if Padmé even knew where the base was. Ahsoka didn't. Would it be believable to insist she didn't know? Ahsoka slipped into the dark room, switched on the light and released Padmé's restraints.
"Did he buy it?", Padmé asked. Ahsoka nodded. "Now he wants to know where your base is." Padmé's eyes widened. "Oh no. I actually know!", Padmé called out.
"It's alright, we can just lie again. You were never part of the rebellion, they just gave the twins to you, because you're their mother." Suddenly the door opened, and Maul entered. "You take too long.", he snarled.
"I was just done.", Ahsoka replied icily. "She doesn't know, she isn't a rebel." Maul narrowed his eyes. Without a word he raised his hand before Padmé's forehead, to then sink into meditation. The restraints snapped back onto her wrists.
Padmé's eyes widened, and she began panting. Her knuckles turned white as her fingers dug into the armrests. "Were is the rebel base?", Maul snarled. "I don't... know.", Padmé pressed. "Liar.", Maul said surprisingly calm.
"Where is it?", he repeated. Ahsoka could only watch helplessly as Padmé's will shattered under Maul's invisible grip. "Dantooine, they're on Dantooine.", she whimpered. Maul pulled back and Padmé gasped for air.
"Your jedi skills are pathetic.", he spat to Ahsoka before leaving once more. "They're in trouble now.", Ahsoka remarked. "You need to warn them.", Padmé muttered. "Buy them time, Ahsoka, please."
"I'll do my best.", Ahsoka promised before hurrying out of the room. She needed to find a holo terminal immediately. After throwing glances through a few random passages, she found an unoccupied conference room.
Her finger flew over the keys until she had installed a secure connection to Obi Wan. "Please tell me you hear me.", she cried. A few long seconds, Ahsoka only heard her own heartbeat.
"Ahsoka?!", Obi Wan's unbelieving voice asked. "Yes, it's me. We have no time.", she rushed. "We know about Padmé and the twins, and we're working on it. We already on Dantooine, briefing the attack.", Obi Wan informed her.
"No! Evacuate!", Ahsoka said immediately. "What are you talking about?" "They know where the base is, Obi Wan! Maul bent Padmé's mind." "Maul is there?", Obi Wan repeated in alarm.
"Have you not heard what I just said. Get off Dantooine this instant! The destroyers will be there any second.", Ahsoka commanded. "It might be too late for that.", Obi Wan murmured.
Obi Wan looked after the X-wings that had left the surface, then his glance swung to the ready ship he was supposed to fly. After a second of thought, he twirled around and sprinted back to the compound.
He slammed open the door to the briefing room, where the leaders were following the fighters on holo. "There is a problem.", Obi Wan said. "The empire knows where the base is, you must evacuate immediately."
After a heartbeat, all excitement in the room turned into horror. "I knew Vader couldn't be trusted.", Ackbar called out. "Vader?!", Mon Mothma repeated. "What do you mean, trusted?", she demanded.
"It wasn't him.", Obi Wan rushed. "Padmé was captured, and her mind read." "Why would she know where the base is?", Ackbar countered. Nuha stepped forward sheepishly. "We mentioned it in front of her. We trusted her."
"And she didn't betray you by choice. The force has great power over the mind.", Obi Wan clarified. "That's unimportant now!", Ackbar called out. "We need to evacuate. Trigger the alarm, inform all in the base."
"Where should the transports go?", Mon Mothma asked. "Off the planet. Out of the sector. We'll Regroup on Wayland.", Ackbar explained. "Will your transports make it that far?", Obi Wan asked.
Although Wayland was rather close to Dantooine, the way might have been too far for the few transports he had seen. Those could only make as part of a well protected convoy.
"We are always ready to evacuate, master jedi.", Mon Mothma ensured, before she triggered the deafening alarm.
The fighters flew in a tight formation and jumped into hyperspace simultaneously. For a few seconds, all around them were the blurred traces of stars, until it appeared before them. It was just as huge as Anakin remembered.
"Look at the size of that thing.", Anakin heard a dumbfounded voice through the com channel. "The surface is too well guarded during construction, it can only be destroyed from the inside.", Anakin reminded.
"Are you sure you don't want us to come with you?", another voice asked. "I am.", Anakin replied. "You need to survive the TIEs they will send after you, and make sure the jedi can reach the station."
"Erm...you'll have to go alone then.", the first voice announced. "Your friend didn't jump with us." Anakin's jaw flexed. "When did he leave?", he wanted to know. "I don't think he even started his fighter."
Anakin rushed to tune his communication differently, to contact Obi Wan. "Where are you?", he hissed. "There were serious complications.", Obi Wan apologized.
"I won't defeat them all without you, Obi Wan.", he stated. "You would, even if Ahsoka wasn't there. And the other jedi will arrive shortly.", Obi Wan countered. "You are the chosen one, this is what was meant to happen."
"You don't know how powerful Sidious is.", Anakin snarled. "No, I don't.", Obi Wan admitted. "But I do know, he's not as powerful as you." "He cut down three jedi masters, members of the council, in only a few seconds.", Anakin responded hotly.
"Good thing you were never a master.", Obi Wan said. He cut the connection before Anakin could give a fit reply to his friend's taunts. Anakin switched him com back, and immediately the voices of the rebel pilots reappeared.
"Who's even on there?", one demanded. "The Emperor.", Anakin answered. "What?!", one cried. "We're facing Sidious himself? This is insane." "You won't, I will.", Anakin replied.
"What makes you think he will be so occupied by you? Just imagine how many jedi he must have killed in the past." "We have a special feud.", Anakin explained. "Even if he could, he wouldn't just cut me down without making it a spectacle."
"Are you sure you're not just a little too sure of yourself? I mean what could you have done to deserve the Emperor's wrath?", a sceptical voice asked. "I don't want to get into it, but let's just say I killed Vader.", Anakin answered.
"You?!", another demanded. "The empire announced it had been the rebellion." "Because they didn't want to admit a jedi was stronger that him.", Anakin replied quietly. Calling himself a jedi left an odd feeling in his stomach.
In that moment the TIEs became visible. They emerged from the distance then passed over their starfighters to begin shooting them from the back. "We can't get them off our tail!", someone cried.
"Remember the briefing.", Anakin said harshly, then twirled his own fighter around. The TIE that had been following him, didn't react fast enough and passed him. Anakin began tailing him while firing at the hexagon wings.
"Nice move.", one of the rebels noticed. The TIE wanted to copy Anakin to get behind him again, but in the second it turned around Anakin shot through the glass of the cockpit.
The TIE fighter spun into the abyss of nothing. "Who taught you to fly?", someone cried. "Concentrate!", Anakin warned. "Advance to the station steadily, I need to enter." Even more TIEs came screeching towards them.
"We can't stand against them all.", a voice pressed. Anakin observed how one TIE readied to fire at one of the rebels. Anakin studied the markings of the fighter. "Red 4, pull left immediately.", he instructed.
The pilot obeyed and dodged the green laser blast not a second to soon. "That would have been it.", Red 4 panted. "Go into formation and cover each other.", Anakin sighed, frustrated.
The cloned pilots he had served with in the clone wars had been far better trained. For a moment, Anakin wondered what had happened to Rex, before a green light that came rushing towards him pulled him back to the present.
Anakin flew through the net of lasers the TIEs fired around the rebels, and shot through any of their cockpits that gave him a chance. "I'm hit!", someone cried, and Anakin spotted the fighter of Gold 2 with a burning wing.
"Get your Astromech to do what it can, and start paying attention. Redirect some power into your rear shields.", Anakin instructed. "And remember, you're not aiming on defeating the TIEs, but on reaching the station."
Anakin gripped his controls a little tighter, then fired up his thrusters even more. Some of the TIEs that had been fighting the other rebels left them to follow him. Clearly, they had the task not to let the enemy push to the station.
"Their mission is not to destroy us, but to keep us from the death star. We can use their priority against them.", Anakin noticed.
"They won't be pushed back by us, it's not usual combat. It doesn't matter how hopeless their situation will be, they won't retreat, even if that would grant them reinforcements and refuelling.", he stated.
"But we're not strong enough to get them that far.", Gold 2 countered. "With the right strategy we could be.", Red 4 said. "Clearly, we have someone with great experience on our side." Anakin sighed.
"I thought you were trained yourselves.", he snarled. "Not like this.", a third voice murmured. "They have more fighters than us. They could surround all of us if they wanted to." Anakin snorted. "That's not how aerial combat works.", he mumbled.
Maybe there were four or five more TIEs than rebels, but the way how the pilots were worrying about such a little disadvantage was pathetic. "All of you, strengthen your rear shields and let one or two TIES follow you."
"But we can't shoot them if they're behind us.", Gold 2 complained. "That's exactly what they will think.", Anakin said. "They will concentrate only one the one they're following, not on anyone else."
"So we're taking shots to our rear shields, while taking out the TIEs that are attacking our friends.", Red 4 repeated. "Precisely.", Anakin said. "We should be able to destroy about half of them before they change their strategy.", he stated.
"Two of you should fly towards each other at times, so that both can get better shots at the following TIEs.", he finally instructed. With that, the X-wings spread broadly, and the TIEs did exactly what they were supposed to.