Chapter 17 - The Battle of Naboo: Part 1
Four Standard Hours Later – Theed, Naboo
Sabé and Padmé led their group of Jedi, former Jedi, security officers, resistance members, and pilots through the side streets of Naboo, steering clear of the droid army patrols. Sabé, once again dressed as the decoy Queen, threw up a hand to signal for everyone to stop as a droid battle cruiser hovered by. When it passed, she signaled and they crept forward again.
They'd decided against using the main entrance and instead opted to go in through the hangar and enter the palace through the plasma refinery complex. They skulked up to the plaza just outside the hangar and hid behind some trees and stone statues of renowned leaders and heroes. Padmé leaned around the statues and clicked a light signal to Panaka, who was across the plaza concealed behind an archway. They were ready for the distraction.
Sabé turned to Voraté and gripped her hand, wishing the tiny girl luck. She'd be on her own with only the Nubian pilots as she led the attack on the droid control ship. Voraté smiled determinedly and nodded.
Blaster shots rang out across the plaza, tearing chunks out of the large tanks and taking down individual droids. Panaka had begun the diversion.
"Go!"
Padmé ran forward and Sabé closely flanked her, keeping an eye out for any stray shots. Obi-wan and Qui-Gon had their lightsabers out and deflected the shots sent their way as the droids noticed them. They made it to the hangar entrance successfully and barged in, destroying the unprepared droids just inside the hangar. The group took cover and exchanged fire with the remaining droids in the squadron. The Jedi stayed near Sabé and Padmé, cutting down droids that ventured near them. Starré and Terrikan had opted not to use their lightsabers yet and were using the Force and blasters to incapacitate the droids.
"Pilots, get to your ships!" Voraté's high voice clearly rang above the racket of blaster fire.
The droid platoon thinned out and Sabé advanced forward, destroying them with her blasters. Yellow fighter starships streaked out of the hangar, dodging blaster fire from the droids and the new surface guns outside the hangar. Panaka's small group entered the hangar and took a few droids by surprise. Finally, the last droid was taken down, sliced apart by Obi-wan. The air was thick with the scent of burnt machinery. Sabé wriggled her nose and followed Padmé as she led the way to the plasma refinery complex, which had a passage that led into a side corridor in the palace.
"Hey, wait for me!" Anakin shouted as he stood up in one of the few remaining starfighters in the hangar.
"Stay in that cockpit," Qui-Gon pointed at Anakin as the boy raised a leg to climb out of the starship.
"But I…" Anakin whined.
"Stay there, Anakin," Qui-Gon urged.
Anakin frowned and thumped back into the fighter seat.
Sabé kept her blaster at the ready as they approached the doors, frowning as she felt energy ebbing and flowing around her, growing dark and angry as they approached the refinery. She tugged Padmé to a halt as the blast doors whooshed open. Two hooded figures stood beyond the door, both clothed in black robes and visibly carrying a lightsaber on their hip. They surveilled the group before dramatically throwing back their hoods and tossing off their cloaks.
One of the Sith warriors was glaring at Terrikan. The man was tall and muscled, his eyes an ugly yellow, and his blue face was contorted with hatred. The other Sith was slightly shorter and had black and white skin, the colors alternating in a natural streaky pattern. His pointed teeth were bared at them in challenge and his yellow eyes were full of psychotic rage. Sabé shivered as she looked at the latter. He was from Dathomir, like her father, only he'd been raised differently.
"Maul, you traitor," hissed the blue Sith warrior at Terrikan. He activated his lightsaber and pointed it at him. "I warned Master Sidious about you, but he never listened. He always had faith in your allegiance, but I could tell you were never truly dedicated to our cause."
Terrikan stepped past Sabé and Padmé. "You can't betray a cause you never truly believed in. I never wanted to be a Sith. I just wanted to find my mate," He activated his lightsaber and a brilliant white beam shot out. "And my name is Terrikan Mitar. Maul is dead, as you will soon be."
The blue-skinned Sith warrior screeched and launched himself at Terrikan. Terrikan easily deflected the blow and Force-shoved the man back before advancing on him, moving the fight away from the Nubian resistance fighters and into the plasma refinery complex.
The other Sith gave a shrieking manic laugh and advanced on Sabé, pulling out his lightsaber as he did. Obi-wan shed his brown cloak and stepped in front of her, drawing his lightsaber and adopting a defensive fighting stance. Qui-Gon likewise removed his cloak and swung his green lightsaber into position. The Sith gave a shrill giggle, managing to sound more horrible and deranged than he already did.
"We'll take the long route," Sabé directed their forces to turn around.
She pressed a hand to Obi-wan's back to silently wish him luck before turning to lead her people back into the hangar. The blaster doors whisked shut, and she heard a lightsaber battle ensuing just before they did.
"They'll be alright," Starré murmured to Sabé. "Focus on the battle."
"Right," Sabé nodded and hurried up to join Padmé at the point of their pack.
Unfortunately, the appearance of the Sith had given the Trade Federation time to recuperate and send droid reinforcements to attack them. They took cover as a squadron came through the doors. They returned the droids' fire as Sabé looked around to find their escape route.
"We need to get to that pillar!" Sabé screamed over the loud blaster fire, pointing to the column right next to the battle droids. "There's a secret tunnel we can use to get into the palace. It lets out in the main entrance hall."
"We're not getting anywhere until we defeat these droids," Padmé yelled back, firing her blaster and taking out two droids.
"Oh, shit!" Rabé ducked down. "Two droidekas just rolled up!"
Chunks of stone and wood ricocheted off the floor and rained down on them as the blasts increased. The group shielded their eyes as best they could while returning fire. Damn it, Sabé thought. Their blasters didn't have nearly enough firepower to put a chink in droidekas armor, much less break through their shields.
"Keep shooting while I think of another plan!" Sabé hollered.
She was thinking about following the Jedi through the hangar doors and hope they'd taken the fight deep into the refinery when a yellow starfighter rolled past them. It shot its cannons at the droidekas and obliterated them before leaving the hangar and shooting into the sky.
"Oh, stars!" Sabé breathed. She looked to where Anakin had been sitting in a ship. The space was empty. "Anakin!"
"We can't do anything now. He'll be fine," Padmé reasoned, looking shaky as she thought of the boy who was hurtling towards a space battle. "Come on."
Sabé shook off her dread and led the way to the secret entrance. Together, she and Padmé attempted to pry the door open, but it was rusted shut from years of disuse.
"Step aside," Starré commanded. She spread her hand on the door and closed her eyes. Seconds passed and nothing happened, but then Starré stepped back and swiped her hand to the right. The door groaned and specks of rust and sand trickled down as it slid open.
"Great job, mom," Sabé grinned and led the group into the tunnels.
Sabé stooped low to avoid ruining her costume and swiped away cobwebs with the tip of her blaster. Soon, they came to the tunnel exit that was also rusted shut as Sabé found when she pulled the catch to open it. Frustrated, she slammed her hand into the wall and channeled her energy into it. The door exploded outwards into the entrance hall. Sabé blinked and blushed in embarrassment. She really needed to work on controlling the energy flow. She brushed off the dust from her uniform and walked into the hall. There weren't any droids on patrol, but that would soon change the closer they ventured to the throne room.
"Quickly!" Sabé quietly commanded. "We have to get to the throne room before more droids show up."
-oOoOoOo-
Obi-wan breathed easier after Sabé's touch, his mind becoming clearer. He studied the remaining Sith warrior, waiting for him to make the first move. The Sith bared his pointed teeth at him and curled his black-streaked hands around his long-hilted lightsaber, activating it; deadly scarlet beams shot out of both ends. Obi-wan could tell the exact moment the Sith chose to launch his attack because his yellow eyes flickered between him and Qui-Gon before brightening with sick glee.
The Sith warrior burst into a flurry of motion, attacking Obi-wan and Qui-Gon with his deadly lightsaber. Obi-wan parried his blows and attacked. Together, he and Qui-Gon pushed the Sith back, following Terrikan and the blue Sith further into the refinery. They left the hangar and turned into the core of the refinery complex. Bright purple plasma was being pulled through gigantic vertical tubes and platforms that crisscrossed the complex and spanned many levels and encircled the tubes.
Obi-wan and Qui-Gon cornered the Sith on the edge of a circular platform, but he leaped into space and landed on another platform. They leaped over to join him. The Sith giggled and continued attacking them with vicious strikes. Their battle brought them to another platform-encircled tube. The blinding plasma light shimmered around them, making it difficult to see their opponent. Obi-wan managed to block the deadly blow the Sith dealt him, but he was unprepared when the Sith kicked him hard. He went flying over the platform and landed harshly on the next platform twenty feet below. His momentum threw him over the edge. He let go of his lightsaber and clung to the ledge with both hands as he swung back and forth. His Kyber crystal screeched at him to get back into the fight. He used the Force to pull himself back onto the platform and scooped up his lightsaber. He looked up to where Qui-Gon was battling the streaky Sith warrior and gauged the distance he needed to jump.
A thud sounded on Obi-wan's platform as it vibrated violently. He looked to the source of the commotion and brought up his lightsaber just in time to deflect a strike to the head from the blue Sith warrior. A lighter thud shook the platform and Terrikan advanced on them. The Sith disengaged and twirled his lightsaber, adeptly defending against Obi-wan and Terrikan.
"Get back to Qui-Gon!" Terrikan roared as he sliced at the Sith's head.
Obi-wan nodded and ran down the platform, but stopped as Terrikan cried out in pain. He turned to see the Sith's red lightsaber hilt deep in his stomach. Terrikan was still conscious, amazingly unfazed despite the enormous amount of pain he must be experiencing.
"I was once proud to call you my friend, but that time has passed," said the Sith warrior as he sneered at Terrikan. "And now you will die."
"You'd be surprised how many people have said that to me," Terrikan smirked and brought up the white beam of his lightsaber to cut off the blue Sith's head. The Sith's body tumbled to the ground and Terrikan grunted as he deactivated the lightsaber lodged in his side.
"Terrikan!" Obi-wan ran to him, but the injured Zabrak motioned him away.
"Go help Qui-Gon! I'll be fine!" Terrikan bit out as he slumped to the floor, clutching his wound.
Obi-wan swallowed the lump in his throat and leaped to the upper platform. He ran as fast as he could towards the fight, using the Force to quicken his steps. Qui-Gon was masterfully fighting the Sith warrior and they were backing into a junction that led away from the core of the refinery complex.
Obi-wan had almost reached the junction entrance when a transparent wall of red energy activated at the end of the corridor. Multiple sets of energy beams turned on in sequence, separating Qui-Gon and the Sith warrior. Obi-wan skidded to a halt as the last energy beam sprang into place.
He deactivated his lightsaber and the two men ahead of him did the same. Qui-Gon knelt and didn't move as he went into a meditative state. Obi-wan grimaced in sympathy; the stress of fighting a young Sith warrior alone was no doubt taking its toll on Qui-Gon. He was tired. The Sith warrior paced restlessly within the confines of the energy beams, staring at Qui-Gon with an evil smile on his face.
Obi-wan eyed the beams and took several steps back. He would need a running head start to make it through all the barriers in the few seconds they remained deactivated.
Long minutes passed. Obi-wan's heart raced and he steadied himself, ready to run as soon as the beams turned off. He felt a shift in the Force and he activated his lightsaber. The energy beams at the end of the hall deactivated and spread to him. Qui-Gon and the Sith warrior resumed their duel with a flurry of furious strikes and blows. Obi-wan eyed the rate the beams were turning off and ran forward, hitting the entrance of the junction just as the last pillar turned. He ran faster than he'd ever run before down the corridor. But it wasn't enough.
Obi-wan skidded to a halt as a wall of red energy – the only thing separating him from Qui-Gon and the Sith – sprang up. His arm brushed up against the energy wall, singing the fabric and some hairs. Damn it! Just one more second and he would have made it into the room. A wave of disappointment in his failure overtook him as Qui-Gon was forced to continue battling the demonic Sith warrior alone.
A/N: Our heroes have their work cut out for them with these new Sith. How will they fare?