Chapter Seventeen
Plummeting. Plunging. That is precisely what Anakin was doing, falling past speeders and floor upon floor of high rises amongst the mile high skyscrapers. His arms were spread wide to control this fall, to guide him in the direction of the speeder.
The yellow speeder. The vehicle in which the person who was trying to kill Padme currently flew. He had to get to it. If he did not, Padme could die.
Just a few more seconds...Got it!
Anakin latched onto the speeder as he landed on it. Because of the speeder's velocity, Anakin slid back along the body of the speeder, but he managed to cling to it.
The assassin most certainly knew that he was there. They sped and slowed before turning sharply. That turn forced Anakin to slid all the way over the speeder's length to the very front tip. He clung to one of the two protrusions on the front of the speeder, waiting for the next trick the assassin would throw at him.
Soon enough, the assassin fired the Anakin. Quickly, he swung over to the other protrusion, only narrowly avoiding having his hands burnt to a crisp.
Next, the assassin tried to speed up as they dodged amongst the speeders in the normal traffic lanes. This did little, which allowed Anakin to swing himself back up onto the speeder. Seeing that, the assassin quickly turned, making Anakin slide once more along the length of the speeder.
However, the assassin glanced back at him as they turned. In that glance, Anakin saw that the assassin was a woman and a changelum
The padawan did not let this information distract him. Nimbly, he climbed up on top of the speeder and drew his lightsaber. He quickly cut through the top of the speeder, attempting to hit the assassin. She, in return, fired her blaster at him, causing him to drop his lightsaber. It went flying, or rather falling, through the air only to be caught by a person in another speeder that followed the one to which he was currently clinging.
A few seconds more of struggling for control of the blaster proved disastrous. The assassin fired, attempting, of course, to hit Anakin. Instead, she hit the controls of the speeder. This sent the vehicle in a crash course for the ground.
All either of them could do was cling tightly to the speeder as it dove toward the ground, beginning to burn with them still very much so attached to it. As the speeder neared the ground, it wavered in its course, tipping and rolling. The very first of these tips cast Anakin off the speeder to the hard Duracrete (cement) below.
The assassin was left in the speeder as it came down to crash into a building. While Anakin picked himself up from his undeniably hard landing, the assassin leapt out of the speeder and ran away into a nearby club, presumably to hide.
Meanwhile, Obi-Wan and Sarali continued to follow Anakin in their speeder. When they saw the crash, Obi-Wan hurried in for a landing. Even before they were fully stopped, Sarali had jumped out of the speeder to race after Anakin, the energetic young man that he was.
Obi-Wan took only slightly longer to exit the speeder before following the other three in turn. His greater height should have allowed him to overtake Sarali easily, but she had always been far faster than her height led on. As it was, she reached Anakin before he did, which meant she was able to pull him to a stop before he ran into the club.
Seconds later, Obi-Wan arrived, stopping beside them. Anakin quickly pointed toward the entrance to the building and said urgently, "She went into the club, Master."
"Patience. Use the Force," Obi-Wan instructed.
"Think," Sarali added on seriously. After all, she knew of his particular gender and age group's tendency to think with the lower brain. She had voiced those very same concerns before on multiple occasions.
"Sorry, Master," Anakin answered, though he seemed confused. It was almost as though he did not know which of them to answer.
"He went in there to hide, not to run," Obi-Wan explained.
"We can far more easily catch them when they are stationary and believe they are hidden than when they are running," Sarali elaborated.
"...Yes, Master," Anakin said after glancing at his once-sister.
Obi-Wan then held up Anakin's lightsaber and said, "Next time, try not to lose it."
"Yes, Master," Anakin said again, though he did not sound like he was listening.
"This weapon is your life," Obi-Wan said seriously.
"I'll try, Master," Anakin said.
With that, Obi-Wan turned and walked into the club. Anakin and Sarali followed side by side. As they walked, Sarali shook her head and said, "Trying is for those who know they will not succeed."
In response, Anakin just looked at her and grinned.
"Why do I get the feeling you're going to be the death of me?" Obi-Wan asked, though it was not entirely serious.
"Intuition," Sarali said with a sardonic smile.
Anakin ignored her and walked up to Obi-Wan's side. "Don't say that, Master. You're the closest thing I have to a father," he said.
Sarali could sense that he was being entirely sincere about this. That did not stop her from snorted and saying under her breath, "You two act more like brothers than father and son."
"Then you're the older sister," Anakin said fondly, turning back to smile at her.
"As the older sister, I say listen to Obi-Wan," Sarali said, playing along with the charade while getting her message across.
"He listens to you, but he doesn't listen to me," Obi-Wan remarked.
"I am trying," Anakin insisted.
Now that they were not so engrossed in their conversation, Sarali and the two Jedi looked around the club. All around, there were males of all types and species and many women, mostly human, and just about all scantily clad. Of course, it had to be a club like this.
"Do you see him?" Obi-Wan asked vaguely. He could have been talking about either or neither of them, but his tone made it clear that he was speaking to both.
"I think he is a she. And I think she is a changelum," Anakin said.
"In that case, be extra-careful," Obi-Wan instructed. This time, it was directed more at his padawan than at her. It was almost as though he already knew that she could handle herself quite well. After a second, Obi-Wan said to Anakin, "Go and find her."
"Where are you two going, Master?" Anakin asked.
"For a drink," Obi-Wan answered as though it was obvious.
Sarali barely suppressed a snort at this. Nevertheless, she followed the Jedi to the bar while the apprentice began to walk amongst the...interesting patrons of the club.
After she and Obi-Wan got their drinks, shook her head while smiling at Obi-Wan. He in return smiled knowingly back at her. She already knew what he was doing.
This moment was broken when the humanoid next to them intruded by asking, "You wanna buy some Death Sticks?"
Obi-Wan set down his drink and waved his hand toward the humanoid while saying, "You don't want to sell us Death Sticks."
Mindlessly, the humanoid repeated, "I don't wanna sell you Death Sticks."
Calmly, Obi-Wan said, "You want to go home and rethink your life."
"I want to go home and rethink my life," the humanoid said, setting down his drink and leaving the club.
The Jedi and the humanoid remained at the bar, simply waiting, while the padawan walked through the crowd, scanning it for the assassin.
After less than half a minute, Sarali sensed something. Very quietly, she gasped, but that was enough of a warning. Obi-Wan whirled around, drawing his lightsaber in one fluid motion. The energy blade sliced through the air and into the assassin. She cried out in pain, dropping her blaster as she fell back.
The club patrons all stopped their conversations top look over in the direction of the disturbance. Obi-Wan ignored them and walked over to the assassin. He pulled her up and hauled her out of the club. Anakin lingered to look around imposingly and say, "Jedi business. Go back to your drinks."
Once outside, Obi-Wan laid down the assassin. He, Anakin, and Sarali all knelt around her and leaned toward her. Only then did the Jedi ask, "Do you know who it was you were trying to kill?"
"The Senator from Naboo," she said through her pain.
"Who hired you?" Obi-Wan asked.
"It's just a job," the assassin said evasively.
"Who hired you? Tell us," Anakin said quietly. When she did not answer, he demanded loudly, "Tell us now!"
Sarali put a hand lightly on his shoulder. Instantly, he leaned back a little, becoming more detached and calm.
"It was a bounty called-" she began. However, a whizzing noise interrupted. That sound ended abruptly at the exact same moment that she stopped speaking. "Rishani slaymoor," she said as her muscles relaxed in death.
All three remaining people quickly turned n the direction the noise had come from. They turned just in time to see a man completely encased in blue-silver body armour fly away via a rocket pack.
Silently, Obi-Wan looked at her neck. He took a small, silver dart from there and showed it to the other two. "Toxic dart."
"We should get back," Sarali said after a second.
The two looked at her before nodding.