A/N: The long, meaningful Sabé/Siri talk refers to scenes in Secrets of the Jedi which is owned by Jude Watson, not me. Don't sue me please, I'm just having fun manipulating other people's characters : )
Updated A/N (2010): I've slightly expanded Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon's meaningful talk to include Qui-Gon's opinions on attachment and possession.
Chapter Twelve – Battle.
Obi-Wan had noticed the slump of Sabé's shoulders when Padmé had stepped forward, and sensed disappointment and anger rippling from her. However, after a quick talk with her cousin something else seemed to occupy her mind. Qui-Gon had already spoken his surprise at who Padmé really was and had gone over to discuss battle tactics with Captain Panaka. Obi-Wan joined him just as Padmé sent Panaka off to gather troops.
"Tell Yané and Saché to be standing by in the palace. I don't need them here. You should find them staying with all the people who've rebelled."
"Yes, Your Highness." Panaka nodded to a handful of guards and they hurried to a speeder.
"Everyone meet back here as soon as Captain Panaka returns," Padmé told the group. "Until then rest, conserve your strength."
They broke up. Padmé sat down to speak to Anakin, mostly to reassure the boy that they were still friends, Obi-Wan thought. He swept his gaze around the makeshift camp and let his eyes rest upon Sabé. She was sitting alone, leaning against a tree, knees drawn up. Her head drooped and a sullen expression graced her face. He walked over to her.
"May I join you, Your Highness?"
"Very funny," she growled.
Obi-Wan sat down. "Are you all right? You look sad."
She eyed him wearily. "Why?"
"Can a man not enquire after a friend?"
She sighed. "Sorry. I'm okay. Just a little apprehensive about the battle, I suppose. I didn't mean to snap."
"I can't say I blame you," he sympathised. "Sometimes I feel like yelling at people too."
"Why don't you? It might relieve stress."
He grinned. "Not a very Jedi thing to do. I think Master Yoda would be very upset if I began screaming the Temple down."
She smiled and played with a loose thread on the hem of her skirt. "Now that I would pay to see."
Obi-Wan laughed. "I'm sure there are many who would gladly do the same."
Sabé picked up two twigs from the damp ground and began to weave them together. "Thank you," she said softly.
"For what?"
"Everything you've done. Thank you for being a friend to me. I know it can't have been easy to befriend a Queen, even a false one."
"You don't have to thank me, Sabé. I've enjoyed talking to you. Finding new people to talk to is always nice, even if they're false Queens." He smiled. "Anyway, being a Jedi Padawan can be a lonely life. It's not that I'm not grateful to have Qui-Gon, but sometimes you just want someone else to spend time with."
"Yes, I understand that. Padmé and the other handmaidens are like a second family to me, but I see them all day every day. I enjoy speaking to new people. I wish there was a better way to show my gratitude."
"When you think of one you can let me know," he said light-heartedly.
"Be careful, I might hold you to that."
He chuckled softly and they sat in silence, just enjoying being in each other's company. Obi-Wan could sense Sabé's fear about the forthcoming battle, but also how determined she was to conquer it.
"Are you afraid, my friend?" he asked.
"Yes, it's inescapable. But part of why I became a handmaiden was to overcome my fear and face it head on. It's a major weakness of mine, I'm afraid."
"Fear is not a weakness. Not for someone who isn't a Jedi anyway."
"Well to me it is. The idea of going into battle and deliberately causing violence…it's just horrible. I don't think I will ever get my head around that."
"You will. You may not believe it now but you will. And remember, it's not people out there you'll be fighting, it's droids. That's got to make a difference hasn't it?"
"I suppose so."
Another silence followed. Obi-Wan spotted Qui-Gon standing a little way off, deep in thought.
"Forgive me, Sabé, but I must speak with my Master."
"Of course, my friend. Thank you for your counsel."
She watched him stand and walk over to the Jedi Master. Obi-Wan could feel her eyes following him, but he was too wrapped up in his questions for Qui-Gon to acknowledge it. He approached the older man with caution, still painfully aware of the delicate manner in which their rift was mended.
"Master, may I ask you something?"
"Of course, Padawan."
"About Tahl."
Qui-Gon's expression changed to one of sad remembrance.
"Yes?"
Obi-Wan hated to bring such a painful topic to the surface, but he had questions that needed answers.
"Did you really love her?"
Qui-Gon looked deep into his Padawan's eyes, trying to find the reason for this interrogation.
"Yes. I did. And now you're going to ask about love being forbidden again?"
"Yes." Obi-Wan didn't need to ask how Qui-Gon knew that. It was quite obvious.
"I thought we had been through this, Obi-Wan."
The Padawan looked briefly down at his boots. "Yes, I know that. But this is different…somehow."
The Jedi Master looked reflective. "Possession and attachment are forbidden, not love."
"But surely love leads to attachment."
"Not necessarily. It depends on the circumstances. There are many different forms that attachment can take. Sometimes it takes the wisdom of experience to recognise them. But possession and possessiveness within a relationship is no love at all, or a pale shadow of it at best."
Obi-Wan was surprised. The last time this topic had been discussed his Master's answer had been quite different. Perhaps the years of reflection had changed his mind.
Glancing at his student, Qui-Gon asked him the key question. "Why did you ask me this, young one?"
Obi-Wan remained silent. He wasn't sure which direction he wanted this conversation to take.
"Who is it, Obi-Wan?" Qui-Gon asked kindly.
He sighed. "Sabé Naberrie. The decoy Queen."
"Ah." Qui-Gon looked over at Sabé, who was standing talking to Padmé.
"She's not Siri, you know," he said gently. "The Jedi rules do not apply to her."
"I know, Master. But she is aware of them, I'm sure. I know she's not Siri. My feelings for her seemed so simple. With Sabé it's different. I don't know what I feel about her."
Qui-Gon sighed deeply, weighing his Padawan's words.
"As I said before," he said at last, "you are a much wiser man than I. You must follow your heart and be careful."
Obi-Wan bowed his head, wondering how would be best to use this information. "Thank you, Master."
Qui-Gon's response had been so different from last time. As instructed Obi-Wan had buried his feelings for Siri, but he had no idea that they would completely disappear in this manner. At the time he had firmly decided that he would never love another. Clearly that was becoming untrue. The Force worked in mysterious ways.
Suddenly the peaceful but tense atmosphere was shattered by a shout from Anakin. "They're here!"
Everything seemed to speed up then and Obi-Wan set his reflections aside.
Padmé looked up. "Good, they made it."
Everyone gathered around a parked speeder. Obi-Wan noticed Sabé hanging back, keenly listening to what was being said but without getting involved.
"What's the situation?" Padmé asked Panaka as he approached.
Behind him several landspeeders containing the hierarchy of the Nabooian army emptied and the officers hurried into the safe canopy of the trees. Padmé and Boss Nass had led their people to the outskirts of the swamp and were currently adjacent to a large plain, which eventually backed onto the cliff upon which the iconic Theed Palace stood.
"Almost everyone's in camps," Panaka reported. "A few hundred police and guards have formed an underground resistance movement. I brought back as many of the leaders as I could. The Federation Army's also much larger than we thought and much stronger. Your Highness, this is a battle I do not think that we can win."
"The battle is a diversion." Padmé set him straight at once. "The Gungans must draw the droid army away from the cities. R2?"
The little droid, R2-D2, projected a 3D holo of Theed Palace onto the front of the speeder. Padmé gestured to it.
"We can enter the city using the secret passages on the waterfall side. Once we get to the main entrance, Captain Panaka will create a diversion. Then we can enter the Palace and capture the Viceory. Without the Viceory they will be lost and confused." She turned to Qui-Gon, who she had come to rely on for advice. "What do you think, Master Jedi?"
"The Viceory will be well guarded."
"The difficulty's getting into the throne room," Panaka said. "Once we're inside, we shouldn't have a problem."
Qui-Gon turned his cool gaze to the Gungan leader.
"There is a possibility with this diversion many Gungans will be killed."
"Wesa ready to do uss-en part," Boss Nass declared firmly.
"We have a plan which should immobilise the droid army," Padmé told her confidants. "We will send what pilots we have to knock out the droid control ship orbiting the planet."
Qui-Gon nodded. "A well-conceived plan. However there's great risk. The weapons on your fighters may not penetrate the shields on the control ship."
"And there's an even bigger danger," Obi-Wan offered. "If the Viceory escapes, Your Highness, he will return with another droid army."
"Well that is why we must not fail to get the Viceory," Padmé said in a tone that was slightly patronising. "Everything depends on it."
Obi-Wan nodded, deciding he liked Sabé as Queen better.
"Sabé, Rabé?" Padmé called, interrupting his thoughts.
"Yes, Your Highness?"
The two handmaidens approached the group.
"You will go with Captain Panaka. Take half the troops with you. We'll meet up in the hangar. Sabé, Panaka, you're in charge. Go."
Sabé nodded to her cousin and followed Panaka over to some of the speeders. The Gungans began to head in the opposite direction to gather their equipment. Sabé climbed into the driving seat of one of the speeders, cursing the headdress for the thousandth time as she hit it against the side of the windshield. Presently, they were racing towards Theed, packed to the gunnels with troops and pilots. They silently followed the secret waterfall passages and set up position hidden in the plaza, directly opposite to the hangar. Sabé poked her head around the column they were hiding behind.
"It's going to take more than our blasters to knock out that tank," she pointed out. "Do we have a cannon available?"
"I've arranged for a speeder," Panaka told her. "It should be hidden through that alcove."
Sabé looked, but could see nothing. "Either they're hiding very well or they've abandoned us."
"They're hiding very well." Panaka smiled briefly.
What seemed like hours later, Padmé's group appeared across the plaza. She and Panaka signalled to each other with tiny lights, then the Captain ordered his troops forward. Sabé made a point of being noticed by numerous droids while Padmé scurried into the hangar. Blasting filled the plaza for several minutes, but the element of surprise gave the Naboo the upper hand. The droids were soon immobilised.
"All of you with me," Sabé called to the troops. "We must assist the Queen."
She led them, firing, into the hangar, blasting at droids scattered all over the place. Sabé and Panaka sprinted towards where Padmé and the Jedi were taking cover.
"All went well," Sabé panted, pausing to shoot at a droid that was getting too close. "The plaza is currently free of battle droids and tanks. Ones in working order anyway."
"Good work," Padmé said. "We're going to make our way to the throne room as soon as we're clear here."
"We have to make sure the pilots get clear," Obi-Wan put in, reflecting a blaster bolt with his lightsabre.
A similar shot struck a guard in the chest and he fell into a pile of crates, knocking them over.
"There goes our cover," Padmé cursed.
Qui-Gon dodged a shot and reflected another. The others kept shooting, their aim excellent. Obi-Wan, Sabé and Panaka ran for cover behind a pillar. Qui-Gon pulled Padmé down behind one of the fallen crates as a blast narrowly missed her head. Sabé was not so lucky. A well-aimed shot from one of the droids caught her and threw her back into Panaka. He steadied her.
"Are you all right, Sabé?"
"Yes," she gasped, biting her bottom lip.
Burning pain seeped across her arm, centring from the small area of singed flesh. Obi-Wan shot her a look of concern and took a moment to squeeze the fingers of her good arm. Luckily, it was her left arm that had taken the shot and she could still efficiently fire at the droids. After a few more minutes of shooting all the droids lay still.
"My guess is the Viceory is in the throne room," Padmé announced.
"Red group, blue group, everybody this way," Panaka called.
The Naboo fighting force made its way to the far end of the hangar. As they passed one of the small yellow fighters Anakin popped up from the cockpit.
"Hey, wait for me!"
"Anakin stay where you are, you'll be safe there," Qui-Gon said at once.
"But I–"
"Stay in that cockpit." The Jedi Master's voice was firm.
Anakin looked sulky and watched the group progress across the hangar. As they neared the door, it opened revealing a figure robed in black, gazing down as if in mourning. Slowly he looked up, glaring at them with eerie yellow eyes set into a red and black tattooed face.
Sabé's breath caught in her throat. She had never seen anyone so terrifying. What scared her most, however, was the calm way in which Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon stepped forward, the latter saying, "We'll handle this." Seeing that cold determination about them gave the decoy Queen a terrible sense of foreboding.
"We'll take the long way," Padmé decided, leading her troops away from the demonic figure as fast as she could.
Behind them there came the distinctive snap-hiss of lightsabres being ignited. Sabé counted; two, three, four. Four? She turned to see that the dark figure's ruby lightsabre had a blade at either end. That was surely not a good sign. As the duel began, Obi-Wan executed an impressive leap over the foe's head so that the Jedi had him pinned between them. Unfortunately it did little to hinder him. He moved with speed, accuracy and grace that would have been quite elegant if it were not for his terrifying aura of evil.
She had no time to observe any more, however, as a blaster bolt clipped her headdress, sending pieces of false hair flying. After much arguing with Rabé over the hairstyle, Sabé had finally managed to get her own way. Her hair was essentially in a ponytail with a complicated twist on top made from a false hairpiece. She ducked and rolled behind a pillar, turning to see what had shot Rabé's artistic handiwork. It was a strange type of droid that appeared to have its own personal shield. Three of them rolled up, forcing the Naboo to take cover once again.
They were eventually saved by Anakin, who had managed to find the controls for the blasters on the ship he was hiding in. Sabé thought he was a surprisingly good shot for nine years old. As soon as the droids were taken care of, Padmé led them from the hangar and into the familiar passages of the Palace. The handmaidens were always running back and forth along the corridors, but Padmé was used to walking regally from one place to another. It seemed strange to her to be running around like an escapee in her own home.
They had made their way up several floors without seeing a soul, but the closer they got to the throne room, the more resistance they met. At first, when they were still several floors away, their enemies were only one or two droids that Panaka's troops took down without even stopping, but all too soon they ran into a party of battle droids blocking their way.
The Naboo force ducked behind the huge marble pillars that lined the Palace upper floors. After several minutes shooting without any foreseeable results, Padmé turned to Panaka. "We don't have time for this, Captain."
He muttered something, then blasted the window on the opposite side of the corridor, showering Sabé and Rabé with shards of transparisteel. Padmé and Panaka crossed the hallway, dodging shots, and gathered a small group of the best fighters out onto the window ledge. There, they fired cables from their blasters to another ledge several stories up. Before ascending, Padmé exchanged a glance with Sabé. The decoy Queen nodded, knowing that soon the cousins would put their secret plan into action. The plan that no one else knew about, not even Panaka. Padmé didn't want even the slightest chance of something disrupting her capture of the Viceory.
Sabé watched the group disappear upwards, then turned her full attention to the situation in hand. She once again made sure she was seen by the droids at least twice. For all they knew the Nabooian Queen was still delayed in the corridor, not running swiftly towards the throne room. Padmé had left her in charge of the remaining troops. She hoped she was up to the responsibility. Posing as Queen was one thing, posing as Queen while leading troops was another. At least she had the advantage of Rabé and Eirtaé. They had all trained together and knew how each other fought.
Sabé continued firing at the droids, hitting one in the chest before it could fire at her. There were several more still attacking. She had counted four, but wasn't sure if any were hiding behind the pillars.
"Okay," she said at last, turning to Rabé, "come with me, I have an idea. Lieutenant, you're in charge for the next few minutes, keep firing at them as we have been doing."
The young man nodded and Sabé beckoned to Eirtaé, who crossed the corridor carefully to join them. The three handmaidens stepped out onto the window ledge that Padmé and Panaka had just vacated and hung from it, dangling dangerously six stories up from the waterfall, which sent violent white froth from the river plummeting down thousands of feet. Sabé gulped and began to shimmy sideways, past the window where the droids were, to the next. Then they carefully pulled themselves up. She bit her lip against the pain in her wounded arm.
"Never make me do that again," Eirtaé gasped, steeling a glance downward.
"Don't worry, there's little chance of that," Sabé said with confidence, fighting off vertigo.
Rabé peered in the window, choosing not to look down at the expanse of swamp and river unless she had to. "How are we going to get through without alerting the droids?"
"The slow but quiet way." Sabé fished for the vibroblade she kept sheathed in her boot and begun cutting around the window's seal. She worked as fast as she could, all too aware that Padmé might call for her assistance at any time. After a few minutes she carefully lifted it through and propped it up on the ledge. Then she and the other two slipped back into the corridor, now positioned behind the droids.
Rabé crept across to the opposite side. The troops further down gave no sign of having seen her. Sabé mouthed the word, "Now," and they began shooting. They each took down a droid at once and the fourth one stupidly turned around to fire at them, consequently getting shot in the back by one of the guards.
"Good work," Sabé told her troops, holstering her blaster. "Let's go."