As the turbolift descended, Anakin sank heavily to the ground. He closed his eyes and took several deep breaths. "He killed them, he killed them all."
Obi-Wan turned around to face Anakin and knelt down in front of him. "Anakin, look at me."
Anakin's pain filled eyes opened and he looked at Obi-Wan.
"We must remain strong. The Sith struck a mighty blow to the Jedi, but the Sith has not won as long as we are still alive." Obi-Wan stood up and helped Anakin to his feet. "The Force is still with us and we will prevail."
Anakin slowly nodded his head and then watched as the lift doors opened up.
Obi-Wan stepped out first and then paused just outside the lift. Something was not right. He switched on his lightsaber and slowly continued walking.
Turning on his lightsaber, Anakin scanned the area with the Force and his eyes. "I sense something...something I haven't felt since...…" Anakin stopped walking and stood in a defensive stance. "We're surrounded."
"Great. Do you have any ideas?" Obi-Wan asked, warily watching for any sign of movement. Even though the enemy could not be seen yet, the Force told them something different.
"Not at the moment." Anakin answered. The Force whispered a past memory to Anakin and Anakin smiled. /I know what we can do. Remember Yulas/
/Ah yes and we barely escaped that disaster if I remember correctly./ Obi-Wan replied. /Let's do it./
They both sat down, back to back in a meditation position. Holding their lightsabers straight up over their laps, they closed their eyes as the Sumnii floated from their hiding places in the walls, ceiling and floor and solidfied around the Jedi.
Anakin and Obi-Wan gathered the Force around them, creating a wall of pure blinding light.
The Sumnii backed away in confusion and fear and then fled as the light flew at them. The Sumnii fled screaming and yelling out curses, leaving Anakin and Obi-Wan unharmed.
Emerging out of their meditation, Anakin and Obi-Wan ran down the corridor and headed for the exit. The Sumnii are not easily discouraged and they will be back. Knowing from experience that it was not wise to pause even for a second, Anakin and Obi-Wan both used the Force to open the doors as they ran.
Lixion stopped his pursuit of Zanthis when he felt a tremor in the Force. Closing his eyes he traced the disturbance to its source. "Jedi!" Lixion exclaimed, his eyes opening.
On the other side of the room, Zanthis nodded his head. "I sense them too. They are nearby." He disengaged his lightsaber, put it on his belt and went to pick up his cloak.
"Why bother? The Sumnii will catch them and kill them before we even get there." Lixion remarked, lazily twirling his lightsaber around. "It's funny though, I thought the Jedi were extinct."
Putting on his cloak, Zanthis headed out of the building. "Apparently they're not. Go alert the security forces!" He finished and went out the door.
Lixion sighed and turned his lightsaber off. "Fine, but I doubt they'll get to a ship before they're killed."
Obi-Wan reached their ship first and quickly got inside. Anakin was just about to head up the ramp when a red lightsaber flew at him. Anakin ducked and ignited his lightsaber as he turned in the direction that the lightsaber had come from.
Zanthis Force pulled his lightsaber back to him and, standing in a fighting stance, Zanthis made a quick analysis of the Jedi. The Jedi was taller than him in height and looked to be in his late thirties.
Anakin was also studying his adversary. The boy looked like he was around eighteen years old. He had blond hair and blue eyes, and the boy was a little bit shorter than him. He's just a child. Seconds after that thought, Zanthis attacked and Anakin defended himself.
Blocking a strike at his side, Anakin remained on the defensive as Zanthis viciously attacked.
As the minutes passed, Zanthis started to grow irritated that Anakin continued to remain on the defensive. "Why won't you attack, Jedi?" Zanthis spat out. "Are you a coward?"
"What's your name?" Anakin asked, dodging a strike at his legs.
"My name is Darth Zanthis, it is my blade you will die on." He replied and struck at Anakin's chest.
Blocking the strike with the blue blade of his lightsaber, Anakin smiled. "Not today," and Force pushed Zanthis backwards before flipping backwards onto the ship's ramp as the ship lifted off the ground.
Anakin ran up the ramp as the ramp closed, hooked his lightsaber to his belt, and then headed into the cockpit.
"What took you so long?" Obi-Wan asked as Anakin took the pilot's seat.
"I believe we can safely say that the Sith know we're here. Whether or not he recognizes exactly who we are is another question, although I don't think it matters." Anakin responded as he steered the ship into Coruscant's traffic that was heading offplanet.
Shaking his head, Obi-Wan checked the ship's systems and adjusted the shields. "The shields are at a hundred percent, however we don't have very much firepower."
"Lovely." Anakin responded sarcastically. "Divert the power used for the weapons to the shields and keep an eye out on the readings of the hyperdrive."
They were warmly greeted by several star destroyers and a few dozen tie fighters as soon as they exited Coruscant's atmosphere. Anakin turned the ship to the right and then brought the ship into a spin, dodging the laser blasts that were coming from the ties.
The ship shuddered as a few of the ties managed a few direct hits. "This is not good. They're attempting to cut off our escape route." Obi-Wan observed.
Anakin yanked the control stick back, and the ship lurched as Anakin cut the power to the engines and then put them back on. The ties sped past them and then came back around when the tie pilot's realized what happened. Anakin boosted the ship's speed and headed for the star destroyers. "Some hyperdrive coordinates would be nice."
Obi-Wan punched in a set of coordinates and then was jerked around in his seat as a few laser blasts from the star destroyers hit them.
Pressing his lips together as he concentrated, Anakin used the Force to help speed the ship up and get past the star destroyers. He closed his eyes, letting the Force flow through him and guide him.
Looking out the viewscreen, Obi-Wan's eyes widened as he saw something very familiar directly in their path. "Sommins!"
Anakin's eyes flew open and he yanked the ship hard to the right, narrowly escaping a tentacle from one of the sommins. "Anymore surprises?" Anakin remarked as he piloted the ship into a steep dive and then brought the ship back up sharply, escaping two more of the long silver tentacles that protruded from silver oval shaped ships. "Don't answer that." He said before Obi-Wan could make a comment.
The tentacles spat out purple globs that easily passed the ship's shields and attached themselves to the hull. Anakin curse loudly in Huttese and pulled the hyperdrive lever. The ship shook as the purple globs exploded, and as the ship entered hyperspace one last explosion took place and then everything went dark.
Zanthis burned with anger as Admiral Iden finished his report. "It was one ship against an entire fleet! Contrary to your report Admiral, they are still alive."
Iden swallowed hard and then spoke, "Lord Zanthis, I…" He gagged and brought his hands up to his throat as he struggled to get the much needed air.
"You have failed me, I do not tolerate failure." Zanthis told him as he squeezed the life out of Iden. "Captain Ozzel."
Ozzel came into full view of the comm. screen just as Iden fell still and lifeless on the floor. "Yes, my lord?"
"You are in command now Admiral." Zanthis told him with a tone of warning in his voice. "You are to take the fleet and track down the Jedi. I want them destroyed."
"Yes, lord Zanthis, it will be done." Ozzel responded and gave a short nod of his head.
Zanthis switched the comm. off and stormed into the next room where Lixion was calmly sitting on a plush red sofa and sipping a white wine. "You said that they wouldn't escape!" Zanthis angrily snapped.
Lixion took a slow, careful sip of his wine and then looked at Zanthis. "Yes, it was quite a surprise."
"Is that all you have to say? It was quite a surprise?" Zanthis asked, his eyes burning a bright yellow as his anger grew.
Taking one last sip of his wine, Lixion set the silver cup on the low, rectangular, brown table that was in front of him and stood up. "Our fighters are being prepared as we speak." He calmly replied as he looked at Zanthis. "The Jedi won't escape us for long."
To angry to speak, Zanthis stormed from the room and headed for their private hangerbay. Lixion followed at a distance and by the time he entered the hanger Zanthis was already in his ship and putting his helmet and gloves on. Lixion got into his own ship and within minutes was following Zanthis out of the hanger.
"Zanthis," Lixion said over the comm. unit. "I had a search plan put into your fighter's computer. If my calculations are correct, they can't have gone to far. Those were nasty explosions they took."
Zanthis didn't respond to Lixion, but he brought up the search plan on his ship's computer, looked it over, and a few seconds later spoke. "It looks good." Zanthis punched in a set of coordinates and got ready for the jump to hyperspace.
"Let's go then." Lixion responded.
Minutes later Lixion and Zanthis' fighters entered hyperspace.