Episode 1: The Darkness Revived

by SammaKlaus

An ambitious project undertaken purely for the love of Star Wars, this story is a re-imagining of episode 1 (The Phantom Menace). It involves new characters, new adventures, and fewer Jar Jar Binkses. Episodes 2 and 3 will follow in time. Reviews appreciated. Enjoy!

8. Part 8: The Liberation of Naboo

Part 8: The Liberation of Naboo

Obi-Wan sat at the helm of the Autumn Whisper, doing a quick diagnostic of its systems. He understood why it had been given such a delicate name. The ship hardly made any sound as it swept effortlessly through hyperspace. He wouldn't have known they were moving if it weren't for the hundreds of stars flying past them through the viewport.

Padmé sat in the seat next to his. He heard her stir, then click the seat's restraints in place. They were approaching the Naboo system and would only have a short time to prepare in the shadow of Ohma-D'un, the largest of the planet's three moons, before its orbit put them in the position to strike. Obi-Wan reached up to click on the headset he wore.

"Whisper to Dawnstar," he said into the headset's microphone, "diagnostic shows green across the board."

"Copy that," he heard Ruta reply over the comm., "two minutes to arrival. All ships, switch to comm. channel Besh."

"Copy."

Padmé reached across the ship's console to make the channel switch for him. He glanced over at her and nodded confidently, hoping she had more trust in him that he had in himself. He knew he'd be capable of doing whatever was needed to land the ship safely, yet it was hard to keep himself from nervously clenching the yoke. He looked back toward the viewport and let a long breath out through his nostrils, appealing to the Force for strength and guidance. Its response was almost immediate, giving him the peace of mind he needed to relax his tense muscles.

The Autumn Whisper emerged from hyperspace accompanied by the Dawnstar and eight small, angular starfighters. Ohma-D'un was covered in puffy clouds that told of large bodies of water below the atmosphere, supported by the moon's aquatic blue-gray color. From their position so close behind it, they were unable to see Naboo, nor any of the ships that made up the blockade.

"Alright, people, we're ten minutes from being in position," Ruta said over their open channel, "I'll give the signal for the fighters to start their attack. Master Azro will tell us when it's safe to start our landing."

"Roger that, Dawnstar," the Rodian's high, nasally voice replied in Basic, her accent thick, "everyone into formation."

Obi-Wan watched the fighters get into a loose formation he'd seen used once before by the Republic's own starfighters. All part of the ruse, he thought.

Something clattered from the hallway behind the cockpit. Alarmed, Padmé glanced backward.

"I think something broke loose," she said.

"I'll take a look," Obi-Wan replied, switching the ship's manual controls off before getting out of the pilot's chair.

The Jedi proceeded out of the cockpit and into the short, narrow hall that led straight to the engine bay in the back of the ship. Doorways branched off into the luxurious living quarters of the small yacht on either side of him as he passed. The walls were rich black with a metallic sheen. He thought it a gloomy interior decorating choice, but Senator Palpatine's preferences were hardly his business. The hall was, at least, well-lit by conical sconces emitting a light orange glow.

Obi-Wan entered the engine room and immediately saw what'd caused the noise. A small box of tools sat cap-sized on the floor, its contents spilled all over the flat surface. Having expected to find some sort of engine malfunction, he was understandably relieved. After kneeling down to start picking the tools off the floor, he took a quick look around. The box shouldn't have fallen off the shelf, at least not on its own.

He snapped the toolbox shut again and took hold of the handle on its top before standing to put it back in its place.

"Sorry."

Obi-Wan sighed impatiently and turned to face Anakin.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, "you're supposed to be on Coruscant."

The boy grinned impishly.

"Why do you think I was hiding in here?" he replied.

Obi-Wan had to groan, putting a hand to his brow.

"You're going to be a handful, aren't you?" he grumbled quietly to himself. After letting a short, tense breath out through his nose, he calmed himself and lowered his hand. "This isn't a game," he said, "you should know that. This is a battle. People are going to get hurt and there's no point in making yourself one of them."

"I know it's a battle," Anakin replied, his tone more serious than Obi-Wan had heard it yet, "and I know you don't have a lot of people to fight it. That's why I'm here. I know I can help you." He grinned again. "And I know it's too late to turn around and take me back," he added.

Obi-Wan narrowed his eyes at him, but he knew he was right.

"Then I suppose you're coming with us to Naboo," he admitted. He crossed his arms and tried to give him a stern look, though he'd never been thrown into a scolding position before. He hoped he didn't look too foolish. "But after this, you're going to need to learn to obey the Masters if you want to become a Jedi Knight," he stated, "unless, of course, we're just wasting our time with you. We can always take you back to Tatooine if you cause us too much trouble."

"I won't do it again," Anakin said, "I promise."

Although he doubted the truth of the promise, Obi-Wan pointed toward the doorway with his thumb.

"Well, go on, then," he breathed in a tone of resignation, "you'll want to strap in for this ride."

Anakin nodded obediently, a gesture the Jedi found comical after he'd so disobediently stowed away aboard their ship. The boy rushed down the hallway with Obi-Wan trailing behind him. Padmé twisted in her seat to watch him.

"Anakin?"

The boy hopped into the vacant seat bolted into the back wall of the cockpit and grinned at her.

"I came to help," he chirped victoriously.

"Stowed away to help, you mean," Obi-Wan corrected him, climbing back into the pilot's chair.

"For a good reason," Anakin retorted.

The Jedi turned his head back to give him a quick, narrow-eyed glare.

"Well, I hope it doesn't get you into too much trouble with Master Qui-Gon," Padmé commented. She paused to smile sincerely at him. "But thank you," she added.

Obi-Wan sighed quietly through his nose, then put the headset back on.

"Can I fly?" Anakin asked hopefully.

"No," Obi-Wan stated firmly, "and until we land, I'd appreciate it if you kept quiet."

Not a moment too soon, he heard Ruta give the signal for the fighters to begin their diversion. The formation of small crafts rushed off at full speed. It was a matter of seconds before they disappeared around the curve of Ohma-D'un's horizon. He glanced backward to make sure Anakin had fastened himself in. Satisfied, he directed the ship toward the other side of the moon, hovering slightly above the Dawnstar. Minutes passed, accompanied by the excited tactical chatter of the Jedi starfighters. Obi-Wan kept his hand on the throttle, waiting patiently for their signal to make a dash for the surface.

"The mynocks are loose; commence phase two," Master Azro exclaimed over the comm.

"Whisper, switch to channel Cresh," Ruta said immediately.

Padmé leaned forward to press the corresponding button.

"Now, with me!" Ruta exclaimed over the new channel.

Obi-Wan followed the Dawnstar when it shot forward. They emerged from the shadow of the moon. To the ship's right, Obi-Wan saw the chaotic battle in the distance. He wouldn't have been able to locate the Jedi fighters if it weren't for the swarms of vulture droids chasing after them. From that far away, they looked like insects. The tiny red flashes of blaster bolts flew wildly amongst them. Obi-Wan took a brief second to silently send his Jedi brothers and sisters all of his best wishes, for what it was worth.

Ruta's ship was heading straight for a gap between two of the larger battleships, traveling at full speed. Their way was clear of vulture droids, thanks to the diversion, but it wasn't long before the battleship turrets began to fire on them. It was easy to see the enormous blaster bolts, and therefore simple to dodge them, even for a pilot less experienced than Ruta. Obi-Wan was grateful for that.

"On your left, Whisper."

Obi-Wan glanced out of the corner of his eye to see a small squad of vulture droids approaching them, having just been released from a ship beyond the nearest cruiser. They weren't within range, but it wouldn't take them long to close the distance. Hopefully, they'd already be past the battleships by the time they caught up.

"I guess they kept a few back," Obi-Wan replied.

"Shouldn't be a problem," Ruta stated confidently, "but they're obviously not as distracted as we hoped." There was a brief pause before she continued, "ok, Obi, I have an idea. Now, the tricky part's coming up. We're going to be most vulnerable to turret fire when we pass between the battleships. Follow my lead and stay on your toes."

"Copy that."

Obi-Wan watched the Dawnstar zip past the increasingly concentrated blaster fire, trying his best to mimic the speed and agility of its dodges. Suddenly, there was a flash from the transport's rear. Metal debris pelted the Autumn Whisper's viewport. Padmé let out a shocked yelp.

"Dawnstar!" Obi-Wan shouted into the headset's microphone.

The other ship hurtled toward the surface of Naboo.

"Dawnstar, do you copy?" the Jedi called.

"Yes!" Ruta shouted back, "pipe down, will you? You're going to blow my eardrum!"

"Are you all alright? What was that explosion?"

"I said follow my lead," Ruta replied.

"What?"

"Alright, listen up. You're going to need to pass by one of the blaster bolts as close as you can. Then, simultaneously space your spare parts and vent the fuel compartment. Your power's going to drop like a rock, but that's the general idea."

"Are you sure you're not crazy?"

"Look, they're watching us too closely. If you want to land without a Separatist welcome party, you need to make it look like a crash. Now do it!"

Obi-Wan watched the Dawnstar enter the atmosphere, its entry violent. If he didn't know it was a ruse, he would've thought they were in real trouble.

"Easy," he whispered to himself. He cleared his throat and gestured to Padmé. "Get it ready," he told her, "I'll tell you when to throw the switch."

The girl rapidly pressed a few buttons, then stopped with her hand hovering over the console.

"I've never vented the fuel compartment before," she said, her tone understandably tense.

"It should be that red one by the gauge," Anakin said from behind them.

"Are you sure?" Padmé asked urgently.

"Pretty sure."

"We're running out of time," Obi-Wan warned them.

"Right. I'm ready," Padmé stated.

Obi-Wan tried to restrain himself from making any sounds that would reveal his anxiety as he rolled the ship ninety degrees to the left. The indicator for their deflector shield flashed briefly. Had they gotten any closer to the blaster bolt, it might've been a direct hit. Such a large blast from a battleship turret would've torn right through their shield. The Jedi's heart thumped uncontrollably in his chest.

"Now!"

Padmé yanked a lever down and slammed her palm down on the red button Anakin had indicated to her. The ship shook shortly and the power levels on the diagnostic screen began to drop dramatically. They hurtled down through the upper atmosphere, flames framing the viewport as they tore through the air's resistance to their intrusion. Obi-Wan knew they could only escape scanner range by flying just a few hundred meters above the planet's surface. He could see the tops of the enormous jungle trees rapidly approaching. Judging they'd gotten close enough, he pulled the yoke back hard while trying to slow their descent. The ship's repulsors fired desperately as they battled both the planet's gravity and their already substantial momentum.

The ship angled upward a little too slowly for Obi-Wan's tastes. They plowed through the jungle's upper canopy at an awkward angle. By the time he managed to level the ship out, they'd carved a clean streak through the top few meters of the jungle's dense coverage. The ship finally slowed down enough to allow him to pull it out of the trees and fly just above them. He let out a long sigh of relief. Low on power, he allowed the ship to coast at a leisurely pace above the treetops. They were below scanner range, so eyewitnesses would be the only thing that could expose their presence to the enemy. Even if they were unlucky enough to pass over a random droid roaming the jungle, the Separatists would never be able to scramble a whole squad to meet them in time.

Obi-Wan kept a wary eye out until he spotted a clearing large enough to set the small yacht down. It'd be a tight fit, but he'd already seen the trees could do very little damage the to the reinforced durasteel hull. If anything, there'd be a few nicks and dings in the outer coating, which was far less wear and tear than he'd initially expected. He imagined Senator Palpatine would be relieved to have his ship returned in such good condition.

The ship touched down gently on the mushy jungle floor. All three occupants of the cockpit released themselves from their seats' restraints. Obi-Wan could've sworn he heard a collective sigh of relief. Despite how nerve-wracking the flight had been, he couldn't help but be pleased with his performance. Perhaps he'd get the hang of flying in combat after all, not that he was looking forward to the next space battle.

"That was insane," Anakin breathed. Obi-Wan thought he detected the slightest hint of joy in his voice. "So, is it always like that when you're a Jedi?"

"Normally? No," Obi-Wan replied. He shrugged. "But times appear to be changing," he added. He neglected to mention what he believed was at the heart of that change. Sith were the Jedi Order's responsibility. There was no sense in worrying either of them with such foreboding news just yet. If they were to encounter their attacker from before, he and his master would deal with him.

Padmé reached back to retrieve the datapad she'd stowed in a pouch on the back of her belt. She switched it on and looked out through the view port.

"Does the ship's computer know where we are down here?" she asked.

Obi-Wan switched the console's display from diagnostics to a somewhat undetailed map of Naboo's surface.

"Roughly," he replied.

Padmé leaned forward to look at the screen, then compared it with the information on the datapad.

"Alright, I think I can lead us to the nearest tunnel entrance," she said.

Obi-Wan climbed out of the pilot's chair and led the others down the hall to the loading ramp. He signaled for them to hang back while he descended alone to make sure their way was clear. Pleased to see that it was, he called them down after him and together they proceeded into the dense foliage of the jungle.

[NEXT]

"General!"

Aderonn turned away from the screen on which he'd been observing the battle in space and faced the closest of his technicians.

"Our battleships report that they shot down the two ships trying to get past the blockade," the technician told him excitedly, "and the Jedi starfighters have retreated. If the Republic fleet is on its way, it'll get no support from them, Sir!"

Aderonn nodded for the sake of his followers, but grimaced after turning away. If the Republic was attempting to lift a blockade, they wouldn't have sent so few ships as the vanguard. Not only that, but he'd had yet to see a single Republic ship. Jedi ships and private transports were hardly part of the fleet's arsenal. Something else must've been going on. Perhaps they planned to send the fleet to the other side of the planet?

He turned his head back to look toward the open doorway when he heard hurried footsteps approaching from the hall. A small, skinny young man appeared in the doorway and saluted him clumsily. He decided not to make a fuss of it; the boy was new and needed time to adjust to how his army did things.

"General, Lord Maul is demanding an update," the boy said, out of breath.

"I'll send a status report to the terminal in his quarters," the general replied.

"He wants you to give it to him in person, Sir."

"Of course he does," Aderonn muttered to himself.

"Sir?"

"It's nothing. Thank you, Private."

The young man nodded and left, his errand completed. Aderonn told his men to continue monitoring the blockade before heading out of the room. His chest still ached where the Sith had struck him, fracturing one of his ribs. His medical droids had done a good job of treating it and numbing the pain, but it wouldn't go away completely for some time. He knew he'd have to avoid angering the man again and even that pained him, by way of his pride. He was a military officer, not a punching bag. Darth Maul was a Sith, yes, but he had no right to arrive unannounced and assume control of his command.

After arriving at Maul's quarters, he raised an arm to knock on the closed door. It opened before he could make contact with it. The room beyond it was dimly-lit, though the palace had a universal lighting system. It had to have been done deliberately. Before stepping inside, he paused to take a deep breath and let it out again.

The Sith Lord stood in front of the terminal in the room's corner, his arms folded. He turned his head to look at Aderonn when he entered.

"My lord," the general began, giving a reluctant bow, "a group of two small ships and eight fighters was recently detected in Naboo space. The ships were shot down and the fighters chased off."

"Give me your assessment, General."

Aderonn's brow furrowed.

"My lord?"

"Your assessment!" the Sith snapped, "if all I wanted was a summary, you wouldn't have needed to come here to give it to me." Maul turned away from the terminal to face him. "Tell me what you think this was."

Aderonn nodded, taking a brief second to appreciate that, for once, one of the Sith was finally realizing his worth.

"I think it was a diversion," he stated, "I'm not sure what the Republic's main ploy will be, but this wasn't it. They wouldn't have sent such a small force to lift a blockade."

The mouth beneath Maul's black hood smiled.

"Very good, General," he hissed, "perhaps you're not entirely useless after all." He gestured toward the terminal behind him. "I've been observing the battle myself. Why do you think Jedi starfighters were present?"

"I'm…not sure, my Lord. The fighters managed to draw many of the vulture droids away from the rest of the blockade. I do suspect, perhaps, that they might be planning to send the fleet to the other side of the planet."

"No."

Maul pressed a button on the terminal's control pad and stepped aside to show him the image of the two ships his cruisers had shot down. Aderonn recognized one of them as the ship that'd escaped him with the queen aboard.

"The queen's ship," he breathed. He could almost feel Darth Sidious's bony hands around his throat. "She…might not have been aboard. Surely, they wouldn't have been so foolish as to send her back so soon after she escaped!"

"Whether she was aboard or not is of little consequence," Maul replied, "the most important thing to note is that those ships were not destroyed. It was a ruse. I have no doubt that those ships landed safely, and that Jedi are now planetside." He grinned. "I sense them even now, though their locations remain a mystery to me. We can expect an attack soon."

"Are you…certain? Those ships were in flames. They breached the atmosphere at uncontrollable speeds."

"Of course I am. Make sure your men don't get too comfortable about this false victory, General. The Jedi will attack. We must be ready when they do."

Aderonn nodded slowly, then cleared his throat.

"If you say so, my Lord," he replied. He bowed at the waist. "I'll tell my men immediately."

"Good."

Aderonn turned to leave. He was nearly to the door when Maul told him to stop. He turned to face him again. The Sith Lord had returned his attention to the terminal's screen, his back to him.

"Tell your men that if they spot the Jedi, they are to monitor their movements, but not to engage them," Maul said.

"My lord, if we send the droidekas, we may be able to—"

"I will deal with them myself, General. Slaying a Jedi is a Sith's privilege, not a droid's." Maul looked back at him and sneered. "If you attempt to take them from me again, I will kill you instead, regardless of my master's orders."

Aderonn bowed his head.

"Understood, my lord."

"Then go."

[NEXT]

The cavern the Nabooian Resistance had turned into their makeshift headquarters was large, but not easy to find in the winding maze of tunnels beneath the planet's surface. Thanks to the map Captain Panaka had drawn for them, Obi-Wan, Padmé, and Anakin made it there without too many wrong turns. It hadn't been the easiest job of navigating, but Obi-Wan could only imagine how much worse it would've been trying to find their way unaided. There was no telling how many curious travelers had wandered inside and gotten lost, only to perish from dehydration.

There were three entrances to the cavern, each one guarded by one of Naboo's former security volunteers. The area was dimly lit by electric lamps that'd been hastily set up around it, as well as the light that emanated from the screens of the few computers the Resistance had managed to smuggle underground before the Separatists' droids had started to crack down on the people's movements. Of the equipment assembled in the cavern, only a few pieces didn't have some sort of blaster damage. Obi-Wan had heard from Padmé that the Resistance's first HQ had been located a week or so earlier, resulting in the deaths of several security officers. He was glad to see how many had survived.

The cavern contained at least a thousand Resistance fighters, and he knew there were other cells throughout the planet. It wasn't a full planetary army, but it was certainly more than they'd brought with them. If everyone performed their duty according to the plan, they would at least have a chance at capturing the Separatists' general.

The guard who'd been watching the entrance they approached from led them toward the center of the chamber where Qui-Gon, Captain Panaka, Ruta, the astromech droid from the Dawnstar, and the queen's handmaidens were waiting for them, accompanied by three men in Nabooian guard uniforms. The guards bowed at their waists as Padmé approached. Qui-Gon, however, was focused solely on Anakin, whose presence had yet to be explained.

"My queen," the foremost of the guards greeted Padmé dutifully, rising from his bow.

The girl bowed her head to them.

"It's good to see so many of you well," she said.

The guard nodded.

"We have those you see here, and we have hideouts in every major city," he said, "in total, we have twenty thousand people spread out across the planet. Captain Panaka has informed us of your plan and we believe we have more than enough operatives to busy the Separatists while you reclaim the palace."

"Very good, lieutenant."

The man cleared his throat to continue, gesturing toward a group of men assembled near the easternmost entrance to the chamber, "these men and myself will accompany you to the palace, my queen. Most of them are the pilots I told you about. Once we retake the hangar, they can join your Jedi friends above the planet. They won't be able to end the blockade on their own, but they'll keep the Separatists from sending more droids to the surface to stop us."

"That's all I ask of them," Padmé replied gratefully. She nodded in Ruta's direction. "And we have one more pilot here. I'm sure everyone will perform admirably." She turned toward Qui-Gon. "Master Qui-Gon, I would like to take a few minutes to speak with the men."

Qui-Gon nodded his acknowledgement and the girl left with the two guards, Ruta, and Captain Panaka. Her handmaidens proceeded to arm themselves with the Resistance's stash of weapons. The droid beeped inquisitively, the optical sensor on his round dome fixed on Anakin, who stood behind Obi-Wan. Qui-Gon approached them with the droid slowly rolling after him.

"It appears you brought something with you," he said, his tone revealing his displeasure.

"I'm sorry, Master Qui-Gon," Anakin spoke up, "it was my fault. I stowed away on his ship."

Obi-Wan had to admit he was surprised. He hadn't expected the boy to own up to it so easily. It relieved him to hear it; perhaps Anakin wouldn't be as much of a handful as he'd feared.

"I figured as much," Qui-Gon replied, folding his arms and looking down at him with the severe gaze his padawan had learned not to bring out of him.

The boy lowered his head, obviously responding to the look. Obi-Wan didn't envy him.

"I'm sorry," he repeated.

Qui-Gon gestured toward the astromech droid.

"Wait by R2-D2," he told Anakin sternly, "I need to speak with Obi-Wan."

The boy nodded and Qui-Gon took his apprentice aside.

"He didn't reveal himself until we were already in the system and I thought it'd be unwise to leave him alone on the ship, especially with all the battle droids out there," Obi-Wan told him, shrugging slightly.

"You thought right," Qui-Gon agreed. He sighed quietly, shook his head, and unfolded his arms. "And this cavern will be empty when we make our move," he continued, "it appears we must take him along."

"I'll look after him, Master," Obi-Wan stated.

"Are you sure you can handle the distraction?"

"If I'm to become his teacher, I may as well get accustomed to it."

Qui-Gon smiled.

"So, you've been thinking about what I said before?" he asked.

"I have," Obi-Wan replied, "I don't know if it's truly the Force's will that I train him, but I trust your judgment. If you think I can do it, then I do too." He cleared his throat. "I mean, if the Council allows it once I've passed my trials."

"If they agree to initiate Anakin, I see no reason they wouldn't allow it," Qui-Gon replied. He grinned and nodded at him. "Watching this all come together fills me with hope. If the Sith have come back to challenge the Order, they'll have a hard time of it."

Obi-Wan wished he could be as hopeful, but the future had suddenly become so uncertain. He tried to let his master's confidence boost his own. If it was his destiny to train the Chosen One, he would do whatever was needed to fulfill it. That was the best he could do, he told himself.

Qui-Gon gestured toward the queen with his head.

"Anyway, we should get ready to leave soon," he said, "the longer we delay, the more time the Separatists have to hunt down Master Azro and her team."

Obi-Wan nodded his agreement and his master gestured for R2-D2 and Anakin to follow him as they went to reunite with the rest of their infiltration team. Captain Panaka stood on a rock to get a look at the team in its entirety. Aside from the queen and her handmaidens, there were fifteen pilots, including Ruta, who were all armed with light blaster pistols, and seven men armed with rifles. It was a modest team, but any larger group of fighters would attract too much attention from the Separatists. The remaining Resistance operatives had assembled into several other teams to start fights throughout the other parts of Theed.

"Attention!" the captain announced loudly. Once he had it, he continued, "we'll start out toward the east and travel underneath the palace through Theed's main reactor before heading to the surface. I'll give the signal for the other teams to begin their attacks, then we'll give the distraction time to work before we head inside. Once we've secured the palace hangar, all of you pilots will take off and support the Jedi in engaging the Trade Federation's droid ships. You'll recognize them as Lucrehulk-class battleships. The rest of us will continue to the control room and capture General Aderonn. We will then use the Separatists' command codes to deactivate the droid army. Any questions?"

The assembled troops looked around at each other, but no one spoke up.

"Alright, then let's get moving."

Captain Panaka stepped down from the rock and led the group out of the cavern and back into the tunnel maze.

[NEXT]

It'd been a half an hour after Captain Panaka gave the signal to the other teams to make their moves before the infiltration team made it out of the caves and into the palace's courtyard. Anakin followed Obi-Wan closely, beside Artoo, as he'd been told, as they took up the rear of the group. He would have liked to be in a better position to see the fighting, but he'd already done enough to test Master Qui-Gon's patience for one day. Still, he was grateful to him for giving him a future he wouldn't have thought possible. His one misgiving was how quick he was to underestimate him. The Jedi hadn't even allowed him to carry a blaster like the others.

The Resistance fighters carrying blaster rifles made quick work of the few droids that stood guard in the courtyard. Anakin guessed their plan had worked to draw the bulk of the force away from them. It was exhilarating to see it all unfold the way it was meant to. Blaster or not, he knew he'd be in for one of the most exciting experiences of his life to date.

They encountered another group of droids just before the palace's entrance. He watched in awe as Master Qui-Gon sliced them down with the glowing blade of his lightsaber. He didn't have long to look at the sizzling scrap left behind before they rushed further inside, in the direction of the hangar. Their progress through the palace was fast-paced and thorough as they eliminated every enemy they encountered, leaving no witnesses behind to report their presence. Soon, the open archway that led to the hangar was within sight. Inside, there were many droids guarding the palace's starfighters. The ships themselves were smooth and painted a bright yellow, aside from the chrome rings near the two engines that were situated on either side of their cockpits.

Obi-Wan gestured for Anakin and Artoo to stay back as he switched on his lightsaber and joined the others in the fight. Anakin ducked behind a crate near the hangar's entrance with Artoo close behind him and peeked over its top to watch the action. Obi-Wan and Master Qui-Gon were quick and agile as they dispatched droid after droid with their lightsabers, the blades swinging with a sort of grace Anakin wouldn't have expected to see in a fight. It was a spectacular thing to behold.

His attention was yanked away from watching the Jedi when one of the girls he'd seen with Padmé on the ship was struck in the shoulder with a blaster bolt. She tumbled backward and landed a meter or so from Anakin's spot behind the crate, dropping her pistol. The weapon slid across the slick tile floor, stopping a short distance from him. The girl gasped and looked back to see the droid that'd hit her preparing to fire at her again. Anakin leapt out from behind the crate and snatched up the blaster pistol. He pointed it at the droid's center and fired.

The shot missed its mark, but not as horribly as it could have. It struck the droid's leg, blasting the slender artificial appendage away. The one-legged droid toppled over and clattered to the ground. Anakin fired again and blasted off its head. Aiming wasn't as easy as he'd thought it would be. The girl grunted in pain as she got up off her wounded shoulder and stood up. Anakin handed the blaster back to her.

"Thank you," she said breathlessly.

He nodded and the girl went back to the fighting, holding the pistol in her other hand. After taking a quick look around for danger, Anakin ran forward and grabbed the carbine the droid had dropped. He quickly crept underneath one of the starfighters for cover and waited for one of the droids to get closer. When one of them did, he shot its foot out from under it and allowed it to fall to the floor before finishing it off with a bolt to its chest.

It wasn't long before each of the droids had been dealt with, the clean stone floor littered with scrap metal. The pilots in their group remained in the hangar to start up the fighters while the rest of the group continued into the hall. Anakin kept his blaster low so as not to attract Master Qui-Gon's attention. He might not have been good with the weapon, but it was a comfort to know he could fire back if he ever found himself in the crosshairs.

The significantly smaller group continued its progress down several incredibly long halls lined with enormous windows. Anakin found himself glancing out of them more than once. The view was incredible.

When they encountered more droid patrols, they managed to deal with them like they had the others, but it slowed them down much more than it had before. He hoped they wouldn't encounter any groups as large as the one guarding the hangar. It'd been a struggle to clear them, even with the additional fifteen guns they no longer had. Anakin tried his best to help the others, but he was reluctant to shoot any droids that were too close to one of his allies. He wasn't absolutely sure he'd hit what he was aiming at, after all.

Finally, they'd made it to one of the palace's smaller turbolifts. Master Qui-Gon advanced to activate the call button on the panel beside its large, closed door. They didn't need to wait long before the door slid open and Anakin's heart jumped into his throat.

A Zabrak man with deep crimson skin, several beige horns, and sharp black tattoos across his entire face stood on the lift's platform. He was dressed entirely in loose black clothing, his hands hidden in black leatheris gloves. In his hand he held a peculiar-looking rod. The zabrak grinned cruelly, revealing his sharp teeth, and pressed a button on the rod's side. A red energy blade erupted from the rod's end and Anakin realized he'd met the man before.

Master Qui-Gon stepped in front of Padmé and her escorts, placing himself between the zabrak and them.

"Obi-Wan, get them away from here, now," he ordered.

"Everybody, get back!" Obi-Wan exclaimed, gesturing for them to follow him.

The group rushed away from the turbolift, leaving Master Qui-Gon alone with the dark Jedi. Anakin glanced back briefly to see them advancing toward each other. He fought his desire to watch and looked ahead, careful to stay close behind Obi-Wan as they ran. He heard the two lightsabers clashing loudly behind him.

"We'll need to find another lift," Obi-Wan announced.

"This way," Captain Panaka stated, taking the lead.

They rushed around the corner after traversing the length of the hallway only to be met with a squad of droids, led by three human Separatists.

"Surrender the queen!" the foremost of the humans ordered.

Obi-Wan threw his arm in their direction and the entire squad was knocked backward by an invisible wave. With the closest attackers on their backs, they had a clear view of the hall beyond them. More droids were already running toward them.

"It's a trap!" Captain Panaka exclaimed.

The Nabooian force raised their weapons to begin their desperate defense, but before any of them could shoot, the fire suppression systems in the hallway switched on. Anakin glanced to his right to see Artoo plugged into a computer interface socket on the wall. The fine chemical mist coated the slick surface of the hallway's floor and the droids' metal feet slid out from underneath them as soon as they attempted to cross it. Artoo bleeped proudly.

Padmé and her escorts carefully stepped around the fallen droids, firing whenever one of them attempted to stop them. However, few of them tried with their joints being clogged and frozen by the chilly chemical concoction of fire suppressors they wallowed in. Artoo waited for the mist to settle before following them, falling behind. Anakin stopped when the droid began to chatter at him. He glanced at the others, who'd begun to engage another droid patrol several meters down the hallway. He went back for Artoo.

"What do you mean they're in danger?" he asked, "what did the computer say?"

Artoo replied with a series of beeps and woos.

"I'm sure the pilots can get the blast door open," the boy answered, "I mean, this is their home. They must know how the system works."

Artoo's dome swiveled frantically as he responded.

"An energy shield!? They'll be trapped!"

Artoo bleeped his agreement.

"There has to be something we can do," Anakin muttered as he thought about their options.

He yelped when a stray blaster shot landed too close for comfort. He backed up against the wall, into an alcove beneath one of the many wall sconces that lined the hall. The droid followed him.

"Wait," Anakin continued, gesturing in the direction of the interface socket, "can you deactivate the hangar's energy shield from here?"

Artoo responded negatively.

"So, where is the nearest security terminal?" Anakin asked.

Artoo's dome swiveled back and forth as he booped unsurely.

"Right, well it's not perfect, but it's a place to start," Anakin replied.

He held the blaster carbine close to his chest as he peeked out from the alcove. The fighting had stopped and the others had moved on. It didn't worry him. At least this way he didn't need to convince anyone he knew how to help.

"Alright, Artoo," he said, "let's find that terminal."

[NEXT]

Qui-Gon grunted when the zabrak's boot struck him in the chest, sending him backward into the open turbolift. The suspected Sith leapt in after him and punched the control panel, closing the lift's door. He could feel them starting to travel downward.

"You're not escaping from me this time, Jedi," the zabrak declared. The twisted grin he gave him told of his lust for blood.

"What are you?" Qui-Gon asked, holding his lightsaber up defensively.

"I am Darth Maul of the revived Sith," the zabrak introduced himself proudly, "soon, your Order and the Republic it serves will be replaced by something more deserving."

"And I suppose as one who claims to be a Sith, you plan to be at its heart," Qui-Gon assumed.

"At least you know your history," Maul replied.

Qui-Gon nodded.

"I know the Sith are destroyed," he stated, "and that following the path of the Dark Side will only lead you to share their fate."

"The Sith were destroyed," Maul corrected him.

The Sith advanced, bringing his lightsaber down on him. Qui-Gon blocked the attack, but Maul wouldn't let up. The energies of their sabers clashed against one another, filling the turbolift with the noise of a sharp, continuous crackle. The turbolift door slid open behind Maul and Qui-Gon forced the Sith back with a powerful heave. He struck his hand out, knocking him back with a blast of Force energy. Maul tumbled backward and out of the lift. Qui-Gon joined him and the lift closed behind him. The Sith got off his back and onto his feet with an acrobatic leap, readying his lightsaber for another strike.

Qui-Gon recognized the room they occupied as the enormous reactor that powered the entire city of Theed. Only minutes earlier, he and the others had snuck into the palace through the tunnel entrances at its base. He and the Sith stood on a concrete bridge that led to scaffolding that circled the entire cavern.

Darth Maul leapt toward Qui-Gon, spinning as he swung his lightsaber's blade toward the Jedi's head. Qui-Gon ducked and rolled forward on his shoulder, putting himself on the other side of him, where he was no longer caught between the closed door and his assailant. The Sith pivoted and lunged at him. He blocked the attack, but was forced backward by the other man's strength. He retreated another step before sliding back into his defensive stance, just in time to deflect another blow meant for his torso.

Blocking swipe after jab after lunge, Qui-Gon found himself being driven further across the bridge toward the spiral scaffold. Maul's onslaught was continuous and merciless, giving him barely enough time to breathe between attacks. The Dark Side was driving him, plain as day. Its oppressive presence battered against Qui-Gon's mental defenses just as ferociously as Darth Maul's lightsaber battered against his own. Qui-Gon knew he was strong enough to resist the Dark's Side's temptation, that he wouldn't be driven to anger or hatred to defeat his opponent. He maintained his calm, feeling the Light Side of the Force guide his blade as he defended himself.

And yet, he knew he couldn't remain on the defensive forever. It was clear to him that Maul had no intention of turning from his dark ways. That meant he had no choice but to kill the creature, or at least incapacitate him so he could be captured. To do it, he knew he'd need to break the Sith's unrelenting assault.

Qui-Gon patiently timed each of the Sith's attacks, waiting for an opportunity to strike back. He ducked under a wide swipe, allowing him to kick Maul's left leg out from under him. The zabrak toppled over and landed on his side with a grunt. Qui-Gon brought his blade down to stab him in the shoulder, but the Sith blocked it with a quick swipe upward. Maul rolled to his back and roared, releasing a blast of energy that cracked the industrial-grade windows on either side of them and threw Qui-Gon back-first onto the catwalk behind him.

Qui-Gon didn't wait to catch his breath before rolling over and back onto his feet. He held his lightsaber up as he backed away slowly, trying to regain his composure. That blast was released with a strength he'd never witnessed before. The power of the Dark Side was truly great. But that was all it was: power in its rawest form. The Sith lacked the finesse of a trained Jedi swordmaster; he allowed his blows to fly uncontrolled, fueled by fury. Qui-Gon was not the most talented of duelers in the Jedi Order, but he knew he could defeat him, if he was very careful. All he needed was one good hit.

Maul was back on his feet by the time Qui-Gon had caught his breath. The Jedi could see a small crack in the guise of confidence he wore. The Sith hadn't expected him to be such a challenge. Like all servants of the Dark Side, he'd underestimated the capabilities of those who followed the Light. Still, Qui-Gon wouldn't let the small victory go to his head.

The Sith swiped his lightsaber to the side, severing one of the metal lines that kept the catwalk suspended. The platform tilted suddenly, throwing Qui-Gon off balance and into the railing behind him. Maul leapt down toward him, but he rolled to the side against the railing and the Sith halted his momentum by grabbing hold of it. Qui-Gon jumped and flipped backward, landing on the adjacent segment of the catwalk, which was still intact. Maul glared up at him before stabilizing himself upon the uneven surface on which he stood.

"Stop this now, Sith," Qui-Gon warned him, "I have no desire to end your life."

"That's unfortunate for you," Maul replied, "I have every desire to end yours." He struck upward, slicing off the corner of the catwalk Qui-Gon was standing on.

The railing connected to the wires suspending it bent with the sudden and unexpected weight, unsupported by the platform. Qui-Gon lurched forward and toppled over it, but he managed to catch the catwalk's edge before the hundred-meter drop. He dangled over it, held in place by only one hand. He switched his lightsaber off and hooked it back onto his belt to grab the ledge with the other. Then, he saw Maul climb up onto the catwalk above him, ready to slice him down.

Qui-Gon grunted as he swung himself forward and released the ledge. He fell several meters before landing hard on the scaffold below him. He sighed and looked up to see Maul proceeding down the catwalk, taking the longer way down the spiral. It'd be some time before he was within range again. It was time Qui-Gon was grateful to have. He took his lightsaber off his belt again and closed his eyes, reaching out to the Force in a quick battle meditation. Feeling renewed, he was ready for what was coming.

[NEXT]

Obi-Wan escorted Padmé and her followers as they tailed Captain Panaka in the direction of the nearest lift. He stopped suddenly, prompting the others to do the same.

"What is it?" the captain asked in a hoarse whisper.

Obi-Wan looked back to see the six handmaidens and seven Resistance fighters.

"Where's Anakin?" he asked.

Padmé looked around as well.

"He didn't get hit, did he?"

"No, I would have…" Obi-Wan paused to think, "…I would have sensed it. He's not in danger, but he could be soon. We should go back to find him."

"We can't," Panaka argued, "we're almost to the lift. The longer we spend running around the palace, the more droids we're going to encounter. We already have three injuries. I don't want it to escalate to casualties."

Obi-Wan didn't want to admit it, but he was right. If the Force was with Anakin, he would be alright. Still, it was his responsibility to watch over him and he allowed him to get lost. He shook his head slowly.

"Yes, of course you're right," he said, "let's get moving."

Panaka continued leading them through the immense halls of the palace until they made it to a hallway identical to the one in which they'd reencountered the Sith. On the far side was the turbolift's door, guarded by three shielded droidekas.

"Take cover!" Obi-Wan shouted.

The members of the group dashed into the sconce alcoves nearest to them. One of the Resistance fighters was struck in the leg before he could make it to cover. The next flurry of shots hit him, killing him instantly. The shallow divots the others hid in provided little protection from the droidekas' blaster fire, but they had few other options. Obi-Wan looked across the hall to the large windows facing them. He could hear the droidekas slowly advancing toward them.

"Master Jedi," Padmé called from the alcove adjacent to his, "I have an idea, if you can break through one of those windows."

Obi-Wan flung both arms out, blasting the nearest of the windows with the power of the Force. Cracks appeared all across its length, but it didn't give way. He blasted it again, sending shards of thick glass toppling down the cliff below the palace.

"Everybody, to the ledge," the queen declared, rushing forward. She reached the window despite the droidekas' fire and put her back to the empty frame. She gestured at Obi-Wan with her chin. "You'll need that blaster," she said, indicating the fallen Resistance fighter with her finger.

The others ran across the hallway's width one at a time, each one filing out onto the window sill. Obi-Wan dashed across, scooping up the blaster as he ran. He stopped in front of Padmé, then the two joined the others on the ledge. Padmé reached over to point out a button on Obi-Wan's blaster.

"Press that and follow my lead," she said.

She pointed her blaster upward and fired, sending a small, sharp capsule attached to a thin wire into the windowsill above them. The capsule snapped open, revealing several prongs which embedded themselves into the stone. The grapple secure, Padmé began to ascend to the floor above them. Obi-Wan watched the others do the same while the droidekas began blasting out the windows beside them with a heavy volley of bolts. Once the last of them had made it up, Obi-Wan copied them.

Dangling from the upper windowsill, Obi-Wan pressed his boots against the top of the lower window frame and pushed until he could grasp the ledge with his hand. The others climbed up onto it, but he stayed braced against its side as he ignited his lightsaber and sliced through the window above him. The queen and her fighters went through, arriving safely in the second-floor hallway. Obi-Wan climbed up to meet them.

The hall was like the one below it, with a door to the turbolift in the same spot. This one, however, was clear of droidekas.

"We'll need to get into the lift before those droids do," Fé told the others, running toward the turbolift.

They followed her and she pressed the call button. Obi-Wan let out a quiet sigh of relief when the door opened and revealed the platform was empty. The group gathered on the platform and Panaka pressed the button that would take them upward.

[NEXT]

Anakin ran down a narrow hallway in the inner parts of the palace, his stolen blaster swinging at his side as Artoo rolled after him. The many rooms and halls created a sort of maze. He didn't know where he was headed, but Artoo had said he thought there would be a security terminal in the room at the end. He reached the closed door at the end of the hall and opened it with its control panel. He was met immediately by a humanoid protocol droid with gold-colored plating, stashed away in a small closet.

"Oh, good heavens!" it exclaimed in surprise. When it looked down at him, it twitched. "Oh hello, there young sir; I hope I didn't frighten you. Allow me to introduce myself. I am C-3PO, human- cyborg relations. How might I be of service?"

Anakin pointed his blaster at the droid.

"Are you with the Separatists?" he demanded.

"Goodness, no!" C-3PO replied, holding both arms as far up as his restricted joints would allow. "They're far too violent and unpleasant," he continued, "you see, I'm programmed for etiquette and protocol, not slaughtering defenseless biologicals. Why, they've even murdered my mistress, the Lady Yayle of—"

"Do you know your way around this palace?" Anakin interrupted him.

"Yes, sir, I've been here ever since my last assignment on Balmorra. I'm afraid my former master was killed there, as well. Such a dreadful business it was. Lately, I've been serving the Lady Yayle as her translator and—"

"We don't have a lot of time right now," Anakin told him impatiently.

Artoo chattered at the other droid.

"How rude!" C-3PO exclaimed in response, "you really ought to get that mechanic droid looked at, young sir. Its behavior is hardly acceptable in these more civilized systems."

"Listen, Threepio, do you know where to find the nearest security terminal or not?" Anakin demanded.

"I most certainly do, young sir," the protocol droid replied happily, "and I would gladly show it to you, but those Separatist droids are everywhere. They'd most certainly blast us to bits if they caught us."

"We'll be careful."

"I really must advise against going out there. It's simply not suitable for a human being of your age to go wandering about during such a dangerous time. It's against my programming to knowingly endanger a youth."

Artoo bleeped obnoxiously.

"Well, I never!" Threepio exclaimed again, "of course I'm afraid. I'm not suited for combat."

"You have to help me find that terminal, Threepio," Anakin insisted, "if you don't, a lot of people will die, maybe even the queen. Does your programming say you can knowingly endanger the queen? She's also a 'youth', isn't she?"

Threepio stared briefly at him through his glowing mechanical eyes.

"Why, yes she is," he admitted. His artificial body drooped momentarily before he straightened his posture again. "It appears I have no choice. Very well; follow me."

Anakin and Artoo followed the protocol droid as he slowly waddled into the next hall. They rounded the corner to be greeted by a shot from a blaster. It struck the wall harmlessly, but Threepio's arms shot up.

"Ah!" he screamed, "I knew this would happen! I don't want to be turned to scrap!"

Anakin took cover behind the corner and fired back at the lone battle droid at the end of the hall. He missed, giving the droid the chance to fire again. The shot landed at the protocol droid's feet.

"I surrender!" Threepio shouted.

Anakin fired again, blasting the droid in its center. With it neutralized, he emerged from the cover of the corner and entered the hall to stare up at Threepio. The droid stopped panicking and looked back at him.

"Oh! How lucky we are to be in one piece. You see, young sir? This palace is full of danger with the Separatists in control."

"Stop calling me that," Anakin muttered, "my name is Anakin."

"Very well, young master Anakin. Shall we head back to safety?"

Anakin groaned.

"Just…keep moving."

Threepio reluctantly continued ahead, leading them through several hallways until stopping at a small door.

"These are Royal Guard Captain Panaka's personal living quarters," he said, "you'll find a security terminal inside."

"Thanks," Anakin chirped, heading past him to go inside.

The room was simply decorated, with a bed, a wardrobe, a bookshelf, and a desk. The terminal sat in the far corner of the room, beside the bed. Anakin stepped aside to let Artoo pass him and access it. The astromech droid plugged into the terminal's socket, rotating it as it accessed the network. Anakin watched the terminal's screen as it rapidly cycled through a series of displays, finally settling on one that read 'Hangar lockdown deactivated', flashing red as the message blinked on, off, then on again quickly.

"Good job, Artoo," Anakin told the droid triumphantly.

"What now, Master Anakin?" C-3PO asked, "shall we find somewhere secure to hide?"

"Actually, I have a better idea," Anakin replied. He looked at Artoo. "Have you ever been in a starfighter before?"

The astromech let out a low woo.

"Well, then I guess it'll be the first time for both of us," Anakin stated, "lead the way, Artoo."

Artoo bleeped excitedly and rolled past Threepio out into the hall with Anakin close on his tail. The protocol droid waddled after them.

"Wait," he cried, "Master Anakin, I'm not that fast!"

[NEXT]

Obi-Wan and the queen's people fought their way through the third floor of the palace on their way to the control room. Ahead, he could see the room's door. The faint electric hum emanating from it told him it was magnetically sealed. A seal could stop and reflect blaster fire, but it was no match for a lightsaber's blade. He jammed the blade deep into the door's center, breaking the seal and the locking mechanism with it. He sliced his way inside to find the room abandoned.

"The general isn't here," Obi-Wan stated for the others as they entered after him, "there isn't anyone here."

Padmé walked across the room to access one of the many control room terminals. She shook her head.

"There's nothing in here to say where they might've gone," she said, "but they wouldn't have left the palace, I know that. They'd need to find somewhere else they could monitor our progress from."

"There's a backup terminal, on the second floor next to the throne room," Panaka stated, "it would have direct access to the security feed."

"Then let's head out," Obi-Wan suggested.

"Wait," Padmé spoke up, her gazed fixed on the screen. "You'll want to look at this, Obi-Wan."

The Jedi walked over to her to look down at the screen. Several windows were displayed on it with images of different locations throughout the palace. Padmé selected one of them by touching it on the screen and the image expanded to fill it. It was the image of an enormous room, with the city's main reactor, a giant column of white light protected behind a transparisteel cylinder, in its center. The camera was recording from just above a catwalk that wrapped around the entire chamber, spiraling downward to a platform half-way down the height of the enormous chamber. It was a solid platform, aside from two railed openings that revealed a long drop to the chamber's base.

Through the security feed, Obi-Wan saw his master and the Sith. The latter was attacking mercilessly, driving Qui-Gon down the catwalk toward the platform at its base. His master was managing to defend himself, but he was doing little else. He wouldn't be able to keep it up forever, he knew.

"Where is that?" he asked, "how did they get down there?"

"It's the bridge over the reactor room," Panaka replied from behind him, "there's a lift that leads straight to it."

"He looks like he's in trouble," Padmé commented. She looked up at him. "You should go help him."

Obi-Wan sighed and shook his head, mainly for his own benefit.

"I can't leave you here unprotected," he said.

"We'll protect her while you're gone," Panaka stated, "it's our job. Right now, you and your master should get rid of that thing once and for all. If it gets past him, it'll threaten all of us."

Obi-Wan nodded.

"Here," Panaka began again. He brought up a map of the palace on the screen. "You can get back to the lift this way, then just take it down as far as it will go. You'll be there in no time."

"Thank you, Captain," Obi-Wan replied, bowing his head before he took off in the opposite direction they'd come from.

Obi-Wan rushed through the palace, chopping his way through droids when he needed to, until he reached the easternmost turbolift. He hurried inside and slapped the button to travel downward.

As the lift took him toward the reactor, he closed his eyes and took several calming breaths in through his nose and out through his mouth. This was his first real challenge. He'd encountered servants of the Dark Side before, but never anyone powerful enough to give his master that much trouble. He was about to fight a Sith, something no Jedi thought would be necessary again. He didn't know what to expect from his opponent, but he knew failure wasn't an option. With his master's help, he would defeat him.

[NEXT]

Anakin reentered the hangar behind Artoo, with Threepio trailing several meters behind in the hallway, still begging him to slow down. The room was clear of droids and humans alike, aside from himself and the astromech. Most of the starfighters had been launched, with only two left at the far side of the room. There were blast marks on the floor near the open hangar door. Someone must've been trying to blast their way out, before he and Artoo had lowered the energy shield.

Anakin grinned and ran to the closest of the two remaining starfighters, looking it over before climbing up the short ladder that brought him up to the cockpit. He sat down, put on the helmet waiting inside, and glanced over the controls.

"Ok, get underneath it, Artoo," he said.

The droid complied and Anakin tentatively pressed one of the buttons on the fighter's control console. A magnetic arm descended and attached itself to the droid's dome before lifting it up into the slot behind the cockpit. Artoo bleeped excitedly.

"Wait! Master Anakin, where are you going?"

Anakin looked toward the hangar's entrance to see Threepio finally waddling inside.

"To join the space battle, obviously," he replied.

"But you said you'd never been in a starfighter before!"

"There's a first time for everything."

Threepio nervously tottered around to close the hangar's entrance behind him.

"Master Anakin," the droid began again after turning back around, "are you quite sure you know how to pilot something so…dangerous?"

Anakin carefully started the fighter up.

"Well, I'm pretty sure taking off is the hard part," he said without taking his eyes off the console, "once I'm in the air, everything will be fine…I mean, until I need to land."

"Are you saying you don't know how to take off or land?"

"No, do you?"

Threepio started walking toward the ship.

"Of course I don't," he replied, "and I really must insist that you get down from there. As the only responsible droid programmed as an adult in this room, it's my job to—"

The starfighter lifted upward, knocking the ladder over. It clattered on the floor, its wheels spinning uselessly.

"Oops," Anakin muttered.

"Please, Master Anakin, it's much too—"

"If you say 'dangerous' again, I'll knock you down too," Anakin interrupted the droid.

He pressed the button that would close the cockpit's dome. He could still hear Threepio's protests, but they were muffled by the dome. Once it was sealed airtight, he couldn't hear him at all. Artoo's beeps sounded through the headset built into the fighter helmet he wore.

"We'll be fine, Artoo," Anakin replied, "how hard can it be?"

The starfighter turned toward the exit like he wanted it to, but backed up at the same time. He rushed to make corrections with the controls, but not in time to prevent the fighter's long tail from denting the wall behind it. Artoo protested with a squawk.

"Sorry, sorry," Anakin replied hastily. He cleared his throat. "It's ok; I got it now."

The fighter lurched forward, barely scraping the top of the docked fighter next to it. He clenched his teeth at the uncomfortable grating sound. Finally, the fighter cleared the hangar door and shot out into the air above.

"See? Told you I'd get it."

Artoo tweeted at him.

"Like I said, we'll be fine now that we're in the air," Anakin replied. He directed the ship to rise, toward the upper atmosphere. "I don't know if you saw how many ships the Separatists have up there, but the others are definitely going to need our help."

Artoo "woo"ed his agreement. The Nabooian starfighter broke free of the atmosphere and the openness of space greeted them. Starfighters of various kinds flew about, engaging vulture droids and gigantic battleships alike. Anakin spotted one or two fighters just like his among them, as well as a few of the Jedi starfighters. He laughed giddily.

"This beats podracing any day!"

[NEXT]

Obi-Wan emerged from the turbolift and crossed the bridge that would lead him to the catwalk. He could hear lightsabers clashing below him, echoing throughout the enormous chamber. He paused briefly to look at the cracked glass on either side of the bridge, and at the damaged catwalk just after it. The fight had been ferocious one, to be sure.

He backed up to get a running start and jumped over to the undamaged portion of the catwalk. His feet hit the metal platform loudly, causing an echo. He looked down through the grating to see both his master and the Sith glance up at him. The fight resumed when the Sith struck out at the distracted Qui-Gon, nearly decapitating him. Obi-Wan hurried along the catwalk's gentle slope, down toward the platform where they were battling.

He'd made it halfway when he heard his master cry out. He looked down to see the Sith had wounded Qui-Gon's arm. His master was tiring, he knew. He willed the Force to give him strength as he continued running, using the slope to boost his momentum. As he ran, he watched the battle from the corner of his eye.

Suddenly, the blue glow of Qui-Gon's lightsaber disappeared. He stopped running and looked down to see his master's hand on the floor, severed from his arm. It still gripped his lightsaber's hilt. Qui-Gon reeled back, holding his wrist with the hand he still had. The Sith kicked his lightsaber into the shaft beside him and it fell to the cavern's bottom, taking Qui-Gon's hand with it.

"Master!" Obi-Wan cried.

The Sith kicked Qui-Gon square in the chest, knocking him back against the platform's railing, before leaping forward and driving his lightsaber's blade into the Jedi's torso.

"No!" Obi-Wan shrieked, launching himself over the catwalk's railing. He fell several meters before landing on the platform a short distance from the Sith and his master. "Get away from him!" he shouted.

The Sith looked over at him and grinned, but backed away from Qui-Gon, allowing the Jedi Master to topple forward and land face-first on the metal grating. Obi-Wan looked down at him, then up at the Sith as he cautiously inched closer. Once he'd reached his master, he knelt and touched his shoulder. Despite the small hope he'd been harboring in the back of his mind, he could sense the absence of the Force in him. Qui-Gon Jinn was dead.

Obi-Wan could only stare in horror at his master's corpse. The man had been the only father he ever knew, and he was suddenly gone, taken from him by the Sith.

He looked up at the Sith, who'd surprisingly been gracious enough to let him see Qui-Gon's body without trying to attack him. Perhaps he thought it would make him afraid to see what he'd done to his master. He stood watching him, gloating with the look of pride on his face.

"He was hardly a challenge," the Sith told him haughtily, "as nothing more than his apprentice, I doubt you'll last much longer."

Obi-Wan stood up, taking his lightsaber off his belt and holding it at his side.

"What are you?" he asked through clenched teeth, "are you truly a Sith as my master thought?"

"I am Darth Maul," the zabrak replied. He looked at Qui-Gon's lifeless form. "The first Sith to kill a Jedi in a thousand years." He looked back at Obi-Wan. "And that makes your master the first Jedi to fall as part of our glorious revenge. History will want to know his name."

"You don't get to know his name," Obi-Wan replied, glaring at him. He flicked his lightsaber on. "But since I'm the one who's going to punish you for what you've done here, you ought to know mine. I am Obi-Wan Kenobi and you're going to regret harming my master." He slid into an aggressive stance, his lightsaber at the ready.

"Good," Maul breathed. He pointed his own lightsaber at the padawan and grinned.

Obi-Wan didn't bother to calm his rage before growling in anger and rushing toward the Sith. He swung his lightsaber at him wildly. Maul managed to block his attacks, but he was driving him back. He kept fighting, pushing him toward the shaft where he'd so carelessly disposed of his master's lightsaber. He was determined to kill him, one way or the other.

Maul ducked under a sideways swipe and spun about. Obi-Wan could see he was trying to get away from the shaft and it only made his rage grow.

"You have such ferocity, but you don't truly know how to use it," the Sith said, backing away several steps to put some distance between them. Obi-Wan clutched his lightsaber tightly as they circled each other. Maul continued, "abandon the meekness of the Jedi. Allow me to show you the path to true power."

Obi-Wan lashed out with the Force, a blast erupting on all sides of him. Maul tumbled backward, but caught himself on a railing before he could fall to his death. He looked up in time to spin out of Obi-Wan's way and avoid being cut in half, but the Jedi managed to swipe his leg and he fell on his back. Obi-Wan advanced toward the Sith, prepared to kill him.

"No, Obi-Wan."

The Jedi froze. That was his master's voice. He looked to Qui-Gon's body, but he hadn't moved. Had it been his imagination? Whether it was his imagination or not, the voice had stopped him from making a horrible mistake. He realized he'd allowed his anger to drive him. Even then, he could feel the Dark Side's power in his mind. It tempted him with the promise that he'd have the power to destroy Darth Maul, but he knew he had to fight it. Yes, it would make it easier to win the battle, but he would lose himself in the process. He pushed the Dark Side's temptation from his mind. He was a Jedi. He couldn't afford to forget that.

Maul had recovered by the time Obi-Wan returned his attention to him. The Sith sneered at him.

"What was that hesitation?" he asked, "are you afraid to kill me?"

"A Jedi kills out of necessity, not anger," Obi-Wan replied calmly.

Maul growled.

"How disappointing," he growled, "for a short moment, I had true hope for you. But I have no use for one whose mind has been so polluted by the weak teachings of the Jedi."

He pressed a switch on his lightsaber's hilt, bringing forth a second blade from its other end. Obi-Wan backed up a step. He'd heard of lightsabers with two blades before, that they were occasionally used by the Sith, but he'd never had to spar someone wielding one before. He wasn't sure what to expect, and he knew he wasn't prepared.

Maul advanced, spinning his double-bladed lightsaber from side to side in a dizzying display. Obi-Wan couldn't follow the dual blades as they whipped around. Which direction would the attack come from? He found himself backing up again, just to stay out of his reach for a bit longer. The Sith smirked and the Jedi realized he was showing his fear on his face. He pushed the emotion aside and tried to focus.

At last, Darth Maul struck at him. Obi-Wan blocked it, then swiped back at him. The Sith ducked under his blade and spun away to his left, but Obi-Wan had already recovered and jabbed at him. The Sith stumbled backward to avoid being stabbed in the gut. Obi-Wan shifted his foot forward and whipped his lightsaber to the side, cutting a gash in Maul's left arm. The Sith grunted in pain and backed away before raising his lightsaber again. He seemed less amused, then, the haughty grin on his face replaced with an angry frown.

"You're faster than your master," he hissed.

"Perhaps you judged me too quickly," Obi-Wan suggested.

"I don't think so."

Maul forced him to duck with a quick slice, then kicked him in the side, shoving him to the floor. Obi-Wan rolled as he made contact with the metal grate and ended up in a kneeling position beside his master's lifeless form. The Jedi Knight's eyes were only half closed. The sight of it sent a stinging pain into his heart. Obi-Wan wanted to just ask Qui-Gon to move, to respond and help him fight the Sith. He had to push that aside, as well as his pain. It was useless to hope for something that wouldn't happen.

Even worse, it was a distraction, a fact he learned quickly when Maul's boot struck him in the face. He fell back against the grate, but managed to whip his lightsaber up to block an attack from above. He rolled over his head, back to his knees, and blocked another strike. He pushed Maul back with a heave as he came to stand again. A quick swipe and he forced the Sith back again. Maul's frown turned to a snarl when his back hit the railing. Obi-Wan seized the advantage and slashed at his leg, cutting another gash.

Maul roared in frustration and grabbed his tunic to shove him backward. He dashed toward him and spun his lightsaber to bring it down on Obi-Wan, the blade moving faster than he could react. Rather than attempt to block it, he dodged to his left and the laser blade narrowly missed his ear. The Sith didn't need to recover. Instead, he merely spun it again, striking down at him with the other blade. Obi-Wan dodged to the right, this time putting more distance between himself and his opponent. His heel nearly slipped and he realized he was standing just in front of one of the shafts that would lead him at least a hundred meters down, to the cavern floor. He shifted his footing, turning his back away from the hole.

Without closing the distance, Maul swung his lightsaber around toward the Jedi's neck. Obi-Wan managed to bring his own saber up in time to block it. The two blades locked together, their opposing energies crackling loudly, sparks of light erupting from the point of contact as the Jedi and the Sith both attempted to outmuscle each other. Obi-Wan clenched his teeth tightly, trying to shove the zabrak away.

The Sith's features were consumed with a terrifying fury while he pushed against him. Maul's muscle strength proved superior as he pushed Obi-Wan's left side against the railing that lined the open chasm. The metal pressed painfully into the Jedi's ribcage, but he refused to let the Sith force him over it.

Suddenly, Maul's lightsaber gave way. Obi-Wan stumbled forward and nearly ran into the Sith's second blade, which he'd twisted upward to slice his legs. Obi-Wan quickly, but clumsily jumped forward, over Maul's blade, and fell on the grate. His momentum rolled him over his side and onto his back. The Sith spun about to face him and rammed his lightsaber downward, intending to stab him.

Obi-Wan pushed himself back onto his side and the red beam sunk itself into the grate behind him. He continued his roll to get away from the Sith's weapon and got up on his knee. Before he could prevent it, Maul swung the blade up and sliced the hilt of Obi-Wan's lightsaber, right at the base of the blade. The lightsaber's lenses ruined, it fizzled out, leaving the Jedi with a useless metal rod.

Obi-Wan dropped the hilt and scrambled to get away from the Sith before getting back on his feet. He faced Maul, unarmed, and continued to back away from him. The Sith followed him, but didn't close the distance between them. The grin on his face only made Obi-Wan feel more defenseless than he already was. He was relishing it, the fear Obi-Wan couldn't set aside. He realized, then, that he wasn't prepared to fight a Sith Lord.

Could anything have prepared him? This fight was unlike anything he'd been trained for. Entire generations of Jedi had been raised without this experience. How could any of them be ready for the Sith reemergence? If there were more, besides Maul himself, they would sweep through the unprepared Jedi with almost no resistance!

Fear consumed Obi-Wan, squeezing his heart and mind in an icy, unforgiving hand. He felt the temptation. It was the temptation to surrender to the Sith in the hopes he would spare him. But that felt foolish. Sith weren't creatures of mercy. No, there was another temptation lurking slowly through his thoughts. The temptation of power. Maul had already offered it to him on a platter. He knew it was wrong, but Maul's power was undeniable. He could do so much good with that power. If it had to exist in the universe, why shouldn't it be used by someone with good intentions?

No. He knew the histories! He knew what the power of the Sith led to. He fought to force the temptation away, to release his fear from his mind and embrace his Jedi training. No one had ever claimed resisting the Dark Side was easy, but he knew it was a battle worth fighting. He had to stop thinking, to stop trying to resolve the situation with his own strength. He didn't have the strength on his own. No one did. He allowed the Force to fill him like an empty cup, his mind cleared of his own worries and attempts to understand the situation. The Force was his guide. It was in control.

A Jedi was more than his lightsaber. He reached his arm up, toward the catwalk, and grabbed it with the invisible hand of the Force. The already precariously-dangling catwalk tore away from its remaining supports and hurtled downward. Obi-Wan threw the mass of metal at Maul from behind. The Sith whirled about and sliced it in two before it could hit him. He whipped back around and dashed toward Obi-Wan.

The Jedi jumped away from him, but stopped when his back hit the railing. Panic set in once again when he realized how close he'd come to falling into the chasm. Maul was upon him by then. He sliced downward, cutting the railing apart after Obi-Wan's hasty dodge.

Rather than try slicing him again, Maul shot his hand out and grasped Obi-Wan by the throat. He yanked the Jedi to the side and shoved him backward, past the gap he'd created in the railing. Obi-Wan's boots slipped and his feet dangled over the chasm. He desperately grabbed Maul's forearm with both hands as the Sith's grip on his neck tightened. He gasped in a breath, his heart pounding.

"For a brief moment, I suspected you could beat me," Maul stated, staring him down, "all this time the Dark Side has been reaching out to you. Had you accepted it, you might have stood a chance against me."

Obi-Wan looked down at the fall beneath him. It was a straight drop, lined with large pipes and the jagged edges of the platform's metal support beams. Cables and power lines stretched from one side of the shaft to the other. He could see the bottom, but he'd been down there once before to look up, when they were entering the palace. He knew from how high it'd looked back then that dropping that far unhindered would mean certain death.

"You were doing well," the Sith continued, "at least, better than I would've expected someone of your age to do. But no Jedi padawan can match the power of a Sith Lord."

Obi-Wan's lungs begged for breath, his airways completely closed off by the pressure on his throat. He tried to fight the panic and reached for the Force. It responded to him, somehow filling him with comfort despite his inability to breathe through his constricted airway. He allowed one of his hands to release Maul's arm, prompted by the Force's guidance, and held it out in front of him, unleashing the Force's energy against the Sith. Maul's grip slipped from his neck as the blast sent him onto his back.

With nothing to stop him, Obi-Wan tumbled down into the pit. His back struck one of the pipes in the shaft, but his momentum bounced him off of it and he fell toward a tangle of cables. He reached his hands out and caught one of them. The cable went taut with a strong yank on the Jedi's arm sockets. He grunted in pain, but kept his grip on it as his legs swung forward, then back again. As he dangled over the drop, he had the time to look up toward the platform.

He saw Maul jump down onto the pipe he'd struck, then search for another step downward. Obi-Wan looked below and located a sturdy support beam a short distance away. He swung himself forward and released the cable. He landed on his feet and looked up again to see the Sith stop. He ignited his lightsaber again to slice one of the cables near the one on which the Jedi had caught his fall. It whipped toward him and he barely dodged in time to avoid getting hit. It smacked the wall of the shaft next to him with a loud, high-pitched snap before swinging away. Its energy spent, the wire gently swung back and forth over the chasm while the residual electricity it held sizzled out of its severed end.

Obi-Wan didn't waste any time in continuing down the precarious climb, jumping from support beams to pipes, with Maul working relentlessly to keep up with him. Eventually, he ran out of places to jump and the free fall between the pipe he stood on and the bottom of the chamber stared back at him. The Force had sent him down the shaft. He had to trust it. Swallowing his worries about what awaited him at the bottom, he leapt.

Obi-Wan landed on his feet, but was forced forward by the impact and rolled over his arm. He wound up with his face and chest against the stone floor. He grunted as he pushed himself up and onto his hands and knees. Feeling the call of the Force, he glanced to the side to see a lightsaber hilt several meters away, beside one of the reactor's gathering towers.

He recognized the hilt as his master's. He reached his hand out to it and called it to him. Qui-Gon's hilt twitched briefly against the floor before it flew into his hand and he wrapped his fingers around it. He closed his eyes.

"Master," he whispered, "please, lend me your strength."

At that moment, he thought he felt a hand touch his back. The comforting presence of the Force flooded into his body with renewed intensity, erasing his terror in an instant. He felt his body spin about on one knee, igniting the lightsaber as it did. Maul's blade missed him by mere centimeters, striking the ground beside him. Obi-Wan swung his master's lightsaber upward and sliced through the Sith's elongated hilt. One of the double blades fizzled out. The Sith didn't allow the setback to slow him down. He struck down at the crouched Jedi, who rolled out of the way and back to his feet.

The area they occupied was lit solely by the white arcs of electricity that shot out between the five gathering towers arranged around the center of the cavern floor, where the base of the reactor's column sat. In the brief flashes of bright light, Obi-Wan could see his opponent turn toward him and advance. Before Maul could close the distance between them, he went on the offensive and lunged forward, forcing the Sith to back up. He swung again, faster than he knew he could, and Maul was forced to retreat another step. Obi-Wan's renewed strength and speed continued to drive him back, toward the gathering tower behind him.

The Sith stopped backing away when the electric hum of the tower was directly behind him. He pivoted to avoid one of Obi-Wan's attacks, then finally managed to strike back. The Jedi blocked it and their blades clashed together as Obi-Wan pushed forward, attempting to force him against the reactor's base, which was alive with electricity. The Sith planted his feet in place and pushed back. Obi-Wan's foot slipped on the stone floor and he was forced to take a step away. Maul brought his lightsaber up to slice down at him, but he dodged it by spinning to the side. He whipped his lightsaber downward, slicing through both of the Sith's wrists. His lightsaber hilt clacked to the ground as he cried out.

Maul stumbled away from the reactor's base, then fell to his knees beside one of the gathering towers. He groaned in pain, bringing his arms close to his chest.

"You…can't!" he growled, "I had you!"

"So sorry to disappoint," Obi-Wan replied calmly, his breathing completely in check despite the physical exertion of the fight. He pointed the blue blade of his master's lightsaber toward him. "You're out of options, Darth," he continued, "surrender."

"The Sith never surrender," Maul replied.

"Perhaps that's why they were wiped out."

Obi-Wan brought the lightsaber up to decapitate him; it would be a quick, painless death, though he didn't deserve it. Darth Maul jumped backward, between the reactor column and the gathering tower, and landed on his back. Obi-Wan started toward him, but was intercepted by an arc of electricity that erupted between them. When cut out again, the Sith was gone. Obi-Wan ran out from behind the gathering tower and looked toward the two exits, both leading to the tunnels. He tried to decide which one he might've taken, deciding on the one that led away from the city.

"Stop."

He stopped.

"Master?" he whispered.

"He is beaten. Queen Amidala needs you."

Obi-Wan looked around the chamber, then up at the platform above, where he knew Qui-Gon's body was still lying.

"I don't understand," he said.

"Go, now. The Force will be with you, always."

"Wait! Master, where are you?"

There was no response. He wanted desperately to search for him, to figure out how it was possible he could still be talking to him after death, but he knew he was right. He couldn't leave the others to fend for themselves against the multitude of droids the Separatists had at their disposal. He stepped away from the tunnel that led back into the underground maze and rushed into the one that would bring him back to the palace courtyard.

[NEXT]

General Aderonn and his armed officers emerged from their places hidden behind the control consoles in the security room beside the throne room. As planned, they'd caught the intruders by surprise. Five Nabooian security volunteers accompanied six young women, all dressed in red tunics of various shades. He knew about their handmaiden scheme, a lesson he'd learned after their escape. One of them was the queen. Finally, they'd recaptured her.

"Welcome back, your highness," he said, his blaster pistol pointed at the group he and his officers had cornered in the room. He swept it across the group, pausing briefly on each of the six girls. "I know you're one of these women. Come forward now and I won't need to start shooting your men."

The girl dressed in the deepest red tunic stepped toward him, away from the others.

"You have me, General," she said, "now tell your traitorous dogs to back off."

"You've always been such pleasant company," Aderonn replied sarcastically. He gestured toward one of his officers with his chin. "Take their weapons, Lieutenant."

The young Cerean officer moved forward to take the queen's blaster from her, before instructing the rest of her entourage to hand theirs over as well. Before they could comply, a panel on the back wall slid open and the Royal Guard Captain, Panaka, emerged from some hidden passage Aderonn hadn't seen before. Behind him was another of his security volunteers and a seventh young woman, dressed similarly to the others.

"Stand down," the girl ordered firmly.

Aderonn whipped about and fired, but hadn't had the time to take aim. He missed his mark and the guard captain fired back, killing his lieutenant with a well-placed shot in the brow. One of his officers fired, hitting the wall beside the security volunteer, who returned the shot and killed him. Their prisoners joined the fight, but the general kept his focus on the newcomers. Aderonn felt someone strike the back of his knee and he fell forward. The seventh girl rushed to him and forced him to the ground, putting her knee on his back and the barrel of her pistol to his head.

"I said stand down," she said.

"Stand down!" Aderonn called.

His officers stopped firing and the intruders successfully disarmed them.

"Good work, Sabé," the girl on his back told the one he'd suspected was the queen.

"You as well, your highness," Sabé replied.

Aderonn spat a curse. The queen got off of him and he got back to his feet, glaring at her.

"I knew you were more trouble than you were worth," he growled.

Queen Amidala lowered her blaster and stuck it in her belt.

"These brute tactics are out of place in a house of political discourse like this palace, General," she said. He sneered, but she didn't react to it. "If it's alright with you, I would like to try a different tactic. Negotiation."

"The Separatist Movement isn't interested in anything short of the complete dissolution of the Galactic Senate, in favor of a stronger body of government," Aderonn replied. He smiled. "One that wouldn't be too afraid of ruining its image to deal with a threat. Judging by the company you're keeping, the Senate wasn't very useful to you, either."

The queen's posture straightened and she regarded him with a straight, unfazed expression. Despite her political training in maintaining one's "cool", he knew he was right, and that it affected her.

"We're not here to discuss the Republic," she stated, "we're here to talk about the future of Naboo. You made a mistake by invading my planet, General. The Naboo may be peaceful in nature, but that doesn't make us weak. Nor does it make us afraid to resort to 'aggressive negotiation'." She gestured to the captain, who raised his weapon. "Now, you had the entire time you held me captive to present your demands. It's only fair that I have the same opportunity, under the same conditions."

"You have no idea what you're doing, girl," Aderonn hissed, "nor how big this really is."

"Nonetheless, I 'have the floor', as it were, and this is my demand: I want the Trade Federation control codes. That, or you can deactivate the droids on your own. That gives you two options, which is more than you gave me when you demanded my surrender."

"You thought this would be easy, didn't you?" Aderonn sneered, "did you really think we'd be stupid enough to keep codes that important in a place you've already escaped from once before?"

"Where are they?" the queen asked.

"Far from here," the general replied teasingly, "and you can do what you like to me and my men, but I will never tell you where to find them. You see, I've never had absolute control of the droids. You've made it this far, but all for nothing."

The queen looked toward the room's entrance when the sound of metal clacking reached them from the hallway outside.

"Tell your droids to stand down," she said.

"I refuse."

The queen sighed and gestured toward the secret tunnel she'd entered through.

"Captain, take the officers out the back way," she ordered, "I'll seal it once we're all through. One of them will have to talk, eventually."

The general raised his hand to the tiny earpiece he wore and pressed it.

"You're in command now, Colonel," he announced clearly.

Responding to the passcode, the droids outside began to fire in on them. Two of his officers were slaughtered immediately. A third bolt struck him in the chest and he collapsed to the floor.

[NEXT]

Padmé watched in horror as the droids quickly killed off the Separatist officers, leaving them with not a single prisoner to question. Once the last of them had fallen, the droids turned their weapons on her people. The room they were cornered in provided them with very few defensive positions. She pointed back at the secret tunnel she and the captain had used.

"Everyone! Get out of here, now," she ordered.

Padmé and her entourage rushed out of the room through the secret tunnel. Once the last of the Resistance fighters had filed through, she closed the panel behind him and hurried after them. After turning a corner and proceeding to the passage's end, they emerged in a hallway to the left of the throne room. A squad of droids awaited them and they were forced to fight their way out until they could take cover in the sconce alcoves lining the hall. Saché didn't make it that far. She managed, at least, to take two of the droids with her before she fell. Padmé gave her a silent prayer, then continued to fire on their attackers.

Padmé flinched back into the alcove when a bolt struck the wall beside her. The man standing in the alcove across the hall from her was struck in the back and he fell to the floor. She looked back and noticed a second squad of droids behind them, cutting off their escape route. She muttered a curse under her breath and fired back, blasting one of them before she was forced to take cover again. They couldn't hold out for long, she knew.

She shrieked when a blaster bolt hit her shin and fell to one knee.

"My queen!" she heard one her Resistance fighters cry. She looked up and saw him step toward her, exposing himself to the droids' fire.

"No!" she shouted, "stay there!"

The man did as he was told. She sat down and pressed her back to the alcove's wall. She twisted her upper body to continue shooting, but she knew her pistol's energy clip would eventually run out of charge. She wouldn't let them capture her again and force her planet's surrender. She'd rather die fighting than allow that.

Padmé's eyes widened when she heard a familiar sound. Someone had just switched on a lightsaber. She looked back toward the wall of droids on the northern side of the hallway and saw a blue blade slice through the droids furthest to the group's back. Qui-Gon had finally made it back.

One of the men to her left hollered excitedly as the Jedi carved his way to them through the droids. Once he'd taken care of enough of them, she could see him clearly and realized it wasn't Qui-Gon, but Obi-Wan carrying his lightsaber. She didn't want to think about what that could mean for the Jedi Master. Obi-Wan cut down the last droid and advanced to put himself between the second squad of droids and her people.

"Go!" he yelled, blocking the shots meant for them.

Captain Panaka rushed to her side and pulled her arm over his shoulder so he could hoist her up. With his support, she limped down the hallway with the others, past the dozens of droids Obi-Wan had cleared for them. Eirtaé and one of the five remaining security volunteers took up positions in front of them while the others followed. They made their way around the corner and into the inner parts of the palace, where the living quarters were located. She heard Obi-Wan run to catch up with them, his lightsaber still humming as he covered their rear.

The hallways were narrower and corners more frequent, allowing them to get out of their pursuers' lines of sight, but the clack of droid feet on the tile floors behind them was a constant reminder that they couldn't slow down. Padmé's injured leg ached as she battled to keep up with the captain, despite her waning strength. She could hear the others breathing heavily with the effort. They were all getting tired and she knew they couldn't run for much longer. Unfortunately, none of them knew where they were running.

Their plan had been thoroughly ruined by the deaths of General Aderonn and his officers. It was obvious to Padmé then that Aderonn was hardly their leader. If anything, he was merely another pawn, one that was happy to throw himself away for the cause. Aside from the strange man they'd run into on the turbolift, she had no clue as to who might be calling the shots. She doubted it was him, though. Obi-Wan had returned safely, and with Qui-Gon's lightsaber. He'd been in the same room as him, and she knew by the look on that creature's face that Obi-Wan wouldn't have made it out alive if he were still a threat. No, someone else had to be their leader. Someone out of reach.

And that was the problem. They were without an objective, and wandering around the palace was doing them no good. She had to come up with a plan, something to give her followers hope. They were counting on her as their elected leader. She didn't want them thinking they'd made a mistake by following her. Unfortunately, it was something she wasn't sure of herself. Despite her desire to serve Naboo, there was a part of her beginning to think her critics were right about her. Perhaps she was truly too young, and too naïve to be queen.

Eirtaé sped around the next corner ahead of Padmé and Captain Panaka, then stopped abruptly only half a second before the sound of a blaster shot. The girl was struck in the side and she fell down, but managed to fire back.

"Take cover!" she shouted.

The Resistance fighter beside Eirtaé grabbed the shoulder of her tunic to drag her back behind the corner, where she was no longer exposed to enemy fire. She managed to stand up again and turned to face Captain Panaka.

"Four battle droids, two Separatists," she told him, "they're scrunched pretty close together. If we had an explosive of some sort, we—"

Eirtaé's report was cut off when blaster shots erupted behind them. Obi-Wan knocked them away from the others with his lightsaber. Padmé looked back when she heard something rolling across the surface of the floor.

"Droideka!" she warned the others.

While still being supported by the captain, she reached back with her blaster and fired at the metal ball quickly gaining on their position. She hit it, but barely managed to slow it down. She fired twice more and the ball clumsily unfurled before crashing into the wall and collapsing into a half-closed lump of scrap.

The group didn't have long to celebrate the small victory before two more droidekas rolled around the corner and past the droids already shooting at them from the hall.

"Get them before they transform!" Rabé shouted.

Padmé's heart sank when she heard the same sound coming from behind. Soon, they were once again trapped between two squads of droids. This time, however, the droidekas accompanying them made it impossible to free themselves. They backed up, into the only door they could reach. The room beyond it was little more than a large closet.

Obi-Wan locked the door behind them and switched Qui-Gon's lightsaber off. He put the hilt back on his belt and faced the door while the others hastily tried to tend their wounds in the short time they'd have before the droids could corner them. The door whined as the Separatists tried to get inside. It cracked open.

Obi-Wan raised both arms toward it. The door twitched and the mechanics continued to strain, but the strength of the Force overpowered them. The door slammed shut again after something inside it snapped and Obi-Wan let his arms fall back to his sides.

"It won't hold forever," he said, turning around, "but we have some time."

"Time to do what?"

Padmé looked over at the man who'd spoken. He was occupied with tending to the wound on Eirtaé's side, his weapon on the floor beside him. Like the others, his face was grim.

"Time to lick our wounds," Captain Panaka replied, "and to get ready to keep fighting. When those Seps break through, we're going to give them hell. They might get us in the end, but we're not going to make it easy for them."

The muffled sound of a blast managed to reach them through the closed door. It held firm, but it wasn't meant to withstand blasters, especially not the heavy-grade ones the droidekas were armed with. Padmé knew they didn't have long.

"No," she said. She looked at the captain. "It's not going to do any of us any good if we force them to kill us."

"Surrendering won't do us any good either," one of the security volunteers countered.

"Not today, it won't," Padmé agreed, "but tomorrow, or the next day when we have the chance to continue fighting, it will. At the very least, it'll give the other teams around the planet time to find a weakness. Without finding a new weakness, we can't end this invasion."

She looked up with the others when another loud blast rattled the door. Obi-Wan looked at her.

"The queen is right," he said.

"They may kill us anyway," Captain Panaka reminded him.

"Perhaps," Obi-Wan replied, "but if we fight them, our deaths will be certain. My master said it often: there are alternatives to fighting."

"We'll figure something out," Padmé assured the captain, "but we need more time than we have to do it. Surrendering will give us that time."

The captain looked at the door again.

"Very well," he relented, "but they'll have to break in first. I want them to work for it."

[NEXT]

Anakin spun his starfighter under an incoming vulture droid and fired, blasting the one behind it into space dust. He turned the ship around to face the first one, which was already trying to get on his tail. He fired again.

"Woo!" he exclaimed after the droid exploded, "see, Artoo? I told you I'd get the hang of it."

Artoo replied excitedly.

Anakin's grin vanished when he looked up in time to see two of his allies get blown to bits by the turrets mounted on the outer hull of one of the Separatist battleships. In the time he'd been spacebourne fifteen of their fighters were destroyed. It was a lot to lose in such a short time.

"What's taking them so long?" he heard one of the other pilots ask over their channel.

"Cut the chatter," another replied.

"No, he's right," a third stated, "the ground team should've gotten these droids shut down by now. We can't take much more of this!"

"There's a whole army of droids down there," the second insisted.

"We knew this wouldn't be easy," a fourth voice reminded them. Anakin recognized it as Master Azro's. It was comforting to know at least one of the Jedi was still alive in the chaos.

"Not easy is one thing, but this is impossible!"

"Hey!" he heard Ruta reply, "you guys are pilots, aren't you? Pilots do impossible things every day. Suck it up and get to work!"

There weren't any complaints after that. Anakin hadn't thought it the most inspiring thing someone could've said, but it must've worked. He glanced down toward the planet and his thoughts began to wander in Padmé's direction. Almost immediately, something told him they were still alive. He was sure of that much, just as sure he was that they were in serious danger.

"They're in trouble, Artoo," he murmured, "Padmé, Obi-Wan, all of them."

Artoo questioned him with a series of nervous beeps.

"No, I'm sure of it," he replied, "they need help. But how would we…?"

His sentence trailed off when he looked up and spotted one of the battleships directly in front of him. It was one of several ring-shaped ones with a gap in one side where the ship's hangar was. He stared at it. He didn't know how he knew it, but he knew it was important. Very important.

"We have to destroy that ship," he said.

Artoo whined at him.

"I don't know why, exactly, but I know we have to do it, somehow. Can't you scan the ship and find a weakness?"

Artoo squawked doubtfully at him.

"Just try it, ok?"

Artoo transmitted the scan's results to the screen on the cockpit's console. Anakin grimaced.

"Armor and deflector shields," he grumbled. He looked back at the battleship. "There's no way I can destroy it with these guns. But I just know there's a way to blow that thing up. We just have to find it."

Ahead, he could see the energy shield of the ship's hangar fizzle out just as a brown vehicle began to emerge. He recognized it as one of the droid transports the other pilots had been targeting.

"I have an idea," he murmured.

Anakin grinned and threw the throttle to full. Artoo let out a series of exclamations, but he ignored the droid's complaints. Once he was within range, he opened fire on the droid transport. A few good hits and it exploded while it was still on the edge of the hangar. The starfighter flew through the debris, straight into the open hangar. The shield closed, but too late to keep him out. Red lights began flashing an alarm. Anakin quickly slowed the fighter as it sped over the tops of the other droid transports stored inside. Artoo screamed frantically at him. They were rapidly approaching the back section of the hangar, where an enormous door was closing.

"I know, I know," Anakin replied, "don't worry; I actually know what I'm doing this time."

He rotated the ship until it was flying vertically, tearing the tops off of several droids standing on the hangar floor. The fighter narrowly whizzed through the closing gap in the door and emerged in the battleship's inner workings.

"Yeah!" he exclaimed.

Artoo beeped a series of instructions at him.

"Power core, got it," he replied.

He looked around the large chamber, but was forced to evade a series of blaster shots from turrets mounted on the ceiling before he could focus on anything. The fighter shook each time a shot managed to hit its mark. He spun the fighter in a barrel roll, then focused its targeting system on one of the turrets. Once he'd knocked two of them out, he pulled the ship up sharply to turn about and got another look around the chamber. He spotted a long column reaching from floor to ceiling. The scanner readouts indicated a strong energy signature. He pressed the trigger on the control stick, but nothing happened.

"Artoo, what's going on?" he asked.

The droid replied in a series of urgent beeps. Anakin grimaced.

"Those shots must've hit harder than I thought," he muttered through clenched teeth. He began manipulating controls on the cockpit's console, though he didn't have a lot of options. "There has to be some way to restore power. See what you can do; we can't fly around in here forever."

The fighter twisted to avoid ramming into the power core and retreated to the far side of the room before turning around again. He pressed his lips together in frustration when he saw how many droids were gathering on the scaffolds to his right, responding to the ship-wide alarm. Their blasters wouldn't do a lot of damage to the ship alone, but if there were enough of them firing on him at once, he'd be in serious trouble.

"How's it coming, Artoo?" he asked. He frowned at the droid's reply. "That's not good enough. We can't blow the power core with the weapon systems only half-powered."

The droid squawked at him and he groaned.

"I know, I know, you're doing your best." Anakin sped the fighter up to make it a harder target for the battle droids, weaving and ducking around the scaffolds. He looked down at the console when a light began flashing on it. "Wait, what's that?" he asked.

Artoo whined at him.

"That's not good. How long will I last up here without life support?" Artoo's answer made him smile. "Good. I have an idea." He reached to the side of his helmet to strap the attached mask over his mouth and nose. When he could hear himself breathing through it, he knew it was secure. "Artoo," he called, his voice coming through the mask, "divert all remaining power from the cockpit's life support to the weapons. Use it to boost the laser strength. We're going to hit that thing with everything we have."

Artoo bleeped an affirmative. The cockpit began to get cooler as the life support system was drained. He shivered involuntarily, but ignored the cold and targeted the power core again. He held the trigger down, firing a steady stream of blaster bolts at it. Electricity coursed up and down the column as the shots began to disrupt the power flow. A few more and its center exploded in a shower of sparks and fire. The flames engulfed the droids on the scaffold and billowed outward to fill the room.

Anakin diverted his fire to the door and blasted an opening in it. The starfighter raced through the spreading flames and out into the hangar. Shockwaves of more explosions shook the fighter as gusts of fire erupted from all sides of the hangar around it. Anakin gritted his teeth together as the flames began to grow around him, threatening to fry him along with the Separatists aboard the battleship. He targeted the lines that provided power to the hangar's shield and destroyed them. The shield separating the hangar from open space dissipated in front of him and the starfighter raced out, closely followed by the explosions. Anakin let out an exclamation of joy when he cleared the hangar and rocketed out into space.

"Look!" one of the other pilots exclaimed over their channel, "that battleship's going down!"

"Yeah, looks like one of our own flying out of the hangar!" another replied.

"Yea-hoo!"

"I don't recognize your designation, buddy, but that was some fancy flying!"

Anakin grinned under the breath mask and replied, "thanks."

"Wait, is that a kid?"

"Hey there, Shorty," Ruta greeted him, "I thought you were planetside."

"I thought you could use a little help," Anakin replied.

"Who is that?" Master Azro asked.

"That's future Master Skywalker," Ruta replied, "right, Shorty?"

Anakin laughed.

"You know it."

Anakin glanced back when the battleship behind him lit up in an enormous explosion. Debris hurtled outward in all directions into open space. A collective cheer went up over the fighter channel. Anakin looked forward again just in time to see an incoming vulture droid. He ducked the starfighter under it and looked down at the scanner to see if it would follow him. It didn't. He looked around and noticed every vulture droid within sight floating harmlessly around the blockade. They'd been deactivated!

"Looks like you hit the control ship," he heard Master Shenn comment, "good work, 'Master Skywalker'."

Anakin glanced down at the flashing red light on the console, indicating the starfighter's less-than-pristine condition.

"Honestly, I think I might've just gotten lucky this time," he admitted, "my fighter isn't doing so great."

"Tell me about it," one of the pilots added, "are you ok? Scanners show your life support is shot."

"I'm fine," Anakin replied. He allowed himself to take a few deep breaths before answering, trying to fight off the growing cold. "I had to boost my weapon systems."

"What's that have to do with your life support?" Ruta asked.

"I had to get the power from somewhere."

He heard her laugh.

"You're a little bit insane, aren't you?" she said, "I can respect that. Anyway, we'll be able to handle things from here. You need to land before you freeze to death."

"I won't argue with that," Anakin replied between shivers. He angled the ship down toward Naboo and sped up.

"You've done well, young Skywalker," Master Feyron told him, "I'll make sure Master Yoda hears of it upon our return to Coruscant."

"Thanks!"

Ruta was the last to speak before he entered the atmosphere, "I'll see you planetside, Shorty."

[NEXT]

Obi-Wan threw an arm up in front of his face as the locked door blasted inward, pelting them with shrapnel. When he lowered his arm again, he saw several squads of droids and their Separatist comrades raise their weapons in their direction. Although his lightsaber was still harmlessly hanging from his belt, he expected to feel the pain of multiple blaster shots before any of them would have the chance to say "I surrender".

Suddenly, the droids drooped simultaneously. Some of them dropped their blasters or fell to the floor while others remained standing, but inactive.

"They stopped?" he heard one of the men whisper.

Obi-Wan reached out to the nearest of the droids and pushed it gently. It fell without resistance. The Jedi looked up at the puzzled Separatists and pulled his master's lightsaber off his belt to ignite it. The Separatists' eyes went wide and they dropped their blasters before raising their arms in surrender. Padmé stepped forward.

"Captain, show our prisoners to their new quarters," she said.

"With pleasure, your highness," Panaka replied.

Obi-Wan watched the captain and his security personnel move forward to lead the Separatists away. Once they were gone, he put the lightsaber away again and looked up toward the ceiling. Although he'd only sensed it a handful of times, he recognized a small quiver in the Force: Anakin Skywalker. He smiled to himself.

Colonel Ezna Belrut stood on the bridge of the late General Aderonn's command ship as she watched the Nabooian starfighters effortlessly destroy their deactivated vulture droids and begin firing on the ships of the blockade. With nothing to keep the fighters busy, the turrets made easy targets. She didn't need to see many of them destroyed before she knew it was only a matter of time. Their ships would be boarded by Jedi and without the droids' manpower, they'd have no problem capturing or executing the commanders. Belrut stepped up to the comm. terminal.

"Order the fleet to retreat," she told the officer behind it.

"Sir?" one of the lieutenants asked, stepping closer, "we still have our ships. We can figure something out."

"The Trade Federation's droids are gone," Belrut reminded him, "we've lost the planet's surface and there are Jedi flying around, ready to board us. Do you want to face them without droid support?"

The lieutenant lowered his head.

"No, Sir…but I don't want to give up either."

Belrut shook her head.

"The invasion of Naboo is over, but our movement is not," she replied, "the Republic hasn't seen the last of the Separatists. You have my word."

The lieutenant nodded grimly and backed up a step.

Belrut turned back to the comm. officer.

"Order the retreat," she said.

The comm. officer nodded.

"Yes, Sir."