A/N:You know, all these jokes I've been making about Disney ruling everything were only half-jokes... until I learned that Fox was seriously thinking of possibly selling a good chunk of its entertainment arm to the Mouse. So, Disney owns Star Wars, and I am now officially one-tenth joking about them eventually ruling the world.

Alderaan. Amidala begins to speak, her voice calm and confident. Two youths flanking her, eyes darting. Blaster fire. Pain. Panic. Lightsabers activate. Danger not gone. Shots ring out...

"Aah!" Obi-Wan awoke with a terrible start. Looking around, he slowly recalled where he was.

The conflict on Balith was already finished, the enemy unable to deal with a clone army led by two Jedi; in fact, the surrender happened rather quickly the moment the CIS commander learned exactly WHO the two Jedi in question were—evidently, the reputation of both the Hero with No Fear and the Negotiator preceded them enough that a simple firm request of surrender from Obi-Wan over loudspeaker was sufficient. All in all, the entire engagement was over in less than forty-eight hours since they arrived, and both Jedi were on a transport back to Coruscant almost before noon the second day.

Shaking his head, Obi-Wan found himself unable to easily banish the images. Ordinarily, he would dismiss them as the product of an overactive mind at night—the gift of foresight rarely came to him in the form of full-on visions. This time was different; not only had Anakin had a similar dream the previous night, he could sense that his former padawan's current distress was from the same source. And if there was one thing he had learned from all his years in the Jedi, it was that there was no such thing as coincidence where the Force was involved.

Getting up and rushing to the door of his quarters, he found Anakin already standing in the hallway outside, a similar expression of worry on his face. The final confirmation that their dreams were more than night fancies came when they spoke in perfect unison:

"We need to get to Alderaan. Now."

"Kevin, wake up! She's here!"

I found myself being shaken awake by Ahsoka in the middle of the night—well, what passes for night when you're in space. We had been sharing a guest room on Padme's ship, and thanks to my (rather unexpected, I don't even know how it happened) victory over Ahsoka in our very first dejariik match I got to call the bed instead of the floor. As such, it took me a few seconds to remember the events of the episode and realize what was happening.

"Hnn... Ahsoka, are you talking about the assassin?"

"So you had the vision, too? Quick, we need to get to Padme's room!"

Knowing what was really going on and hoping to avoid any awkwardness due to panic, I grabbed her wrist. "Wait, Ahsoka! The assassin isn't here!"

She looked at me in bewilderment. "But you saw the vision, too! She's—"

"Yeah, I saw it," I lied before immediately transitioning into truth, "But if she were here, I'd feel her. Super Sense Powers, remember? The only way she would be here is if she were already on board when we got on, and I definitely would have noticed if there was someone extra outside of the landing crew."

She relented, understanding my logic but clearly not comforted. "Ugh... maybe I'm losing my touch. Without Master Skywalker here, I don't know what to do. I'm surprised you're doing better than I am, considering you've been in this universe for less than a year."

I chuckled tiredly. "Honestly, I'm probably even more surprised than you at that; I'm still adjusting to space travel, for crying out loud. Not having Master Obi-Wan here is kind of weird for me, too. But one of the first things he taught me when I started training at the Temple was that it's important to keep calm in cases like this. Besides, we may just be padawans, but there's two of us; between your skill and my sensitivity, protecting Senator Amidala shouldn't be too difficult, right?"

"Well, I guess..." Ahsoka sighed. "I just hope I don't freak out again and miss something important when it counts."

"Best way to deal with that is to get a good night's rest, in my humble opinion..." I said, wrapping the covers tight around me as she nodded and reluctantly went back to her spot on the floor.

Thankfully, there wasn't another incident by the time we arrived, and with both of us well-rested we were plenty alert and ready for bodyguard duty. I was even able to avoid getting distracted by Alderaan's frankly breathtaking beauty, though I made a promise to myself to get a holo or something before we left after stopping the assassination. That being said, seeing the same hallway from our force-vision made both of us nervous.

As Padme entered a private room with Bail Organa and Mon Mothma to discuss her speech before the impending refugee talks, I decided to join her in a last-minute meditation to see if we could discern anything new through the Force. I already knew the episode, but I still wasn't sure if anything significant had changed, and I figured it couldn't hurt to double-check. The result took me by surprise.

Padme speaking. Aurra Sing crawling through vents. Preparation of sniper rifle. Shot fired, hits Padme. Padme falls. Gasp from crowd. Glow of red...

We came out of trance with a mutual expression of "oh crap" written on our faces. What the heck was that last image? Was it a lightsaber? Something had gone dreadfully wrong with canon here.

"Ahsoka, that last image... this might be worse than we thought."

"Yeah, that reaction from the crowd looked pretty bad. Did the shot hit home or something? We have to warn the Senator!"

I reacted with confusion. "Wait, you didn't see anything after the crowd?"

"No, why? Did you?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "That assassin may not be the only one here. I saw a red glow, one that could have been from a lightsaber, but I couldn't be sure. Ahsoka, I've never been in a serious lightsaber duel, and judging by what I've heard about all the people out there with red lightsabers you guys have fought recently..."

Ahsoka groaned in frustration and worry. "Oh Force, this just keeps getting worse! Why did this have to happen when it was just us?"

I didn't have an answer. All I could do was pray that I hadn't somehow doomed Padme through my actions.

Aurra Sing was never the type to really think about her employers, so long as she got paid. That said, the only time she ever really had to deal with multiple employers was when one tried to pay her to turn on another; to her knowledge, no one had ever paid her to do exactly what someone else had paid her to do, save for an additional target and giving a pre-death message that wouldn't really matter. In the end, her musings on this were little more than idle curiosity to pass the time while waiting for the target; money was money, after all.

She grimaced, tugging a bit at the fabric of the porter's uniform she was wearing over her usual attire; The outfit was far from the light and breathable clothes she was accustomed to wearing, but if she wanted to get into position without attracting suspicion the assumed identity was a thankfully temporary necessity. After a few last-minute checks on the fit, she smirked.

"Well, it was fun while it lasted, but I'm afraid I'll have to get to work now. Thanks for the costume, sweetheart."

She walked out of the closet, not bothering to look at the corpse on the floor as she locked the door behind her.

We did our best to hide our fear as we entered the room where Padme sat visiting with Mon Mothma and Bail Organa; I was certain that we were only partially effective.

"Senator Amidala, might Kevin and I have a word with you in private?"

Padme looked up at us for a moment before getting the hint.

"Of course, Padawan Tano. If you'll excuse me..."

As her guests left the room, she stood and approached us with utter calm. "I assume this is about the threat you two have sensed?"

I nodded. "Yes, Senator. As a matter of fact, the threat might be even more dangerous than we first thought!"

"What do you mean by that?" Captain Typho stood next to us. "We don't have much time to waste with words; Senator Amidala must prepare for her speech—"

"Wait, just listen!" Ahsoka interrupted. "Kevin and I both had another vision just now, but this time we could see a location. You were giving a speech, and Aurra Sing shot you! But that's not all. Kevin, tell her what you saw!"

"I had the same vision as Ahsoka, but I saw one extra part—it wasn't very clear, but I saw some sort of red glow, maybe from a lightsaber. All I know is, it didn't belong to Sing!"

Ahsoka approached the Senator with a pleading gesture. "Please, Padme, call off the speech! This whole thing is getting out of hand!"

"I can't do that," Padme replied, shaking her head. There are far too many innocents whose lives may hang on the results of this summit."

I stepped forward next, trying to reason with her. "Senator, please reconsider! Maybe we could delay the summit for a bit—"

"I'm sorry, Kevin, but my voice is only one among many here; I can't ask the galaxy to stop spinning simply because my own life is in danger."

"But what about my vision?" I pleaded; considering what I knew about her importance to a certain Jedi Knight, the thought of her dying genuinely scared me. "If that glow was a lightsaber, I don't know if we'll be able to defend you against whoever was wielding it, let alone protect you from Sing at the same time!"

Captain Typho reacted to that, turning to Padme as well. "He has a point. Mercenaries are one thing, but neither I nor my men are equipped to fight a Sith."

For a moment, I was sure that the assessment of Padme's personal bodyguard would be enough to sway her. Unfortunately, I underestimated her stubbornness, as evidenced by a calm shake of her head. "I appreciate your concern, but I simply can't walk away. This summit is far too important."

"But is it worth your life?!"

"Yes, Kevin. It is."

The room froze for a few moments; Padme's statement didn't rise above a neutral volume, and the tone was as calm as ever. But her inflection was firm and full of resolve; it was clear that, as far as she was concerned, asking her to cancel her speech would have been equivalent to asking the planet to stop turning.

Before anyone could respond, she walked over to the balcony, pointing to a spot out in the distance. "Look out over that balcony; see that mountain over there, the one that take up most of the horizon? The number of refugees that this war has created thus far would cover it from base to summit several times over. Think about that. So many innocents; men, women, children, the young and the old, the sick, the poor, the hungry... this summit is more than a few speeches. The fate of all those people relies on someone convincing the attendees to provide the necessary relief, and not everyone here is willing to give as much as is needed. My words could make that difference. If I walked away, I would be putting all of those refugees in danger; by comparison, my life weighs far less."

Pausing for reply but receiving none, she continued, turning back to face us again. "I am not a Jedi, nor a soldier, but my role is just as vital. So many brave men and women in your Order have already given their lives in defense of those who cannot defend themselves, without hesitation or regret; I cannot, and will not, do any less. If helping those countless innocents means putting my life at risk in the process, then so be it."

The silence that filled the air continued to be deafening; I found myself rendered just as speechless by her words as Ahsoka was. That speech she had just given us was full of righteousness and conviction beyond anything I had ever heard in my life; it was plain to see where Luke and Leia got their nobility and courage from in the Original Trilogy. There was nothing left to say; the Senator from Naboo would neither move, nor be moved. Assassin or not, Sith or not, protected or not, she would be giving a speech that night, and that was all there was to it.

Finally, Ahsoka managed to muster up a defeated sigh. "Alright. But will you at least allow us to stay close to you for the duration?"

Padme gave a warm smile in return. "Ahsoka, I would have it no other way."

Bail Organa rose to his feet, speaking for the whole room to hear. "As the conflict that divides our galaxy escalates, we cannot lose perspective on the value of life and the price of freedom; no one knows this truth more than the distinguished Senator Padme Amidala of Naboo."

The summit began as it did in canon, save for me standing directly behind Padme, Ahsoka standing off to the side with Captain Typho and the rest of Padme's security detail. Hopefully, Sing would shoot from the same location as she did in the episode and Ahsoka would stop her; if not, I was in a prime position to block the shot. As Padme began to speak, I decided to use my sensory powers to look for anything out of the ordinary as far as canon went.

Closing my eyes and stretching out with my feelings, I quickly noticed that my sensory powers had grown a little bit more since I last tried this trick; for one, the range at which I could clearly detect non-force users was increased to the point where I could detect them through walls and ceilings. In addition to that, I had gotten better at "zooming in" on individuals, as well as at sensing intent. I almost immediately noticed the death of a guard on the balcony level above as Aurra Sing got into position; thankfully, Ahsoka noticed it too and began running to intercept, leaving me to remain at Padme's side.

Just as Sing began to fire, though, I suddenly sensed a MASSIVE presence in the Force, one that sent a cold shiver down my spine; I had never felt anything like that before in my life, but I knew then and there that the presence belonged to a powerful dark sider. As a result of my momentary distraction, Sing managed to get her shot off, Ahsoka's timely intervention causing it to hit Padme in the shoulder as it did in the episode. As those present rushed to her side and sent for a medical droid, I somehow managed to keep control of my senses long enough to search for the source of the disturbance... only to find that it had vanished again.

"Not good..." As the medical droid arrived and placed her on a hover stretcher, I gestured to Captain Typho, trying my best to stay calm as Master Obi-Wan would in such a situation. "We need to get her to a secure location as soon as possible! I don't think that sniper was alone, and I can't protect her in such a large space!"

"Already on it! Men, form a defensive perimeter around her; Padawan Caller, take point, we're going to have to run!"

I kept my hand close to my lightsaber as we rushed through the halls toward Padme's chambers; while we ran, I kept searching through the Force for that dark side presence as best as I could, but doing that while moving proved difficult. Try as I might, I was only able to tell that it was somewhere in the building, but considering that said building was a massive spire with hundreds of floors, that wasn't saying much.

Ahsoka joined up with us shortly before we made it to the room, worry on her face. "I was right, it was Aurra Sing! She managed to get away from me before I could stop her! How is Padme? Is she—"

"The shot hit her in the shoulder; the medical droid is in there with her now. But Ahsoka, I've got worse news..."

"Oh no... don't tell me..."

I nodded. "Yeah, my vision just got confirmed, too. I felt a huge dark side presence just before Sing took the shot, but it disappeared. Ahsoka, there's a Sith here somewhere, I know it!"

Yes, a cliffhanger. No, I'm not sorry. Yes, Kevin is absolutely screwed right now. No, the divergence from canon isn't done messing with him just yet, and it's not the only one that'll happen this arc. What's going to happen? Find out on the next episode of Call of the Force! *insert DBZ Toonami outro music*