Anneke stood at the open side of a gunship, between Padraig and Obi Wan, watching the battle rage below. Where had Yoda found these troops? They were well-trained and disciplined, and already had the Trade Federation on the defensive. Spotting a familiar figure racing past on a speeder, she pointed. "There's Dooku!"

"Shoot him down!" Obi Wan ordered the gunship crew.

The captain shook his head. "We're out of ammunition, sir."

Anneke gritted her teeth. "Follow him, then!"

"We're going to need some help," Padraig said.

"There's no time," Obi Wan replied. "Anneke and I can handle this."

The ship took a hit and lurched, nearly knocking Anneke off her feet. She grabbed the edge of the bulkhead above her, and held on. Padraig lost his balance and fell against a trooper, knocking them both flying through the opening and out of the ship. Anneke leaned forward to see them rolling across the ground below. Her heart dropped. "Padraig!"

To her relief, Padraig got to his feet, with the help of the trooper, and they both appeared to be unharmed. She opened her mouth to demand they turn around, to go back for Padraig, but stopped herself, biting her lip hard until it hurt. Padraig had proven that he could take of himself, and she would have to trust that he would do so again—stopping Dooku would remove a large part of the threat against him. She clenched her fingers on the bulkhead until her knuckles turned white. They couldn't let Dooku escape and, no matter what she felt, she had to do her duty. Swallowing hard, she turned back and met Obi Wan's thoughtful, questioning stare. She quickly looked away. Sometimes, like now, she wished her master wasn't quite so perceptive. He would never approve of her feelings for Padraig; he was too much of a rule-follower.

Dooku dismounted at a platform that led inside a tower of the omnipresent red stone. Seconds later, Anneke and Obi Wan leapt from the gunship to the platform, and followed him inside at a run. An interstellar ship lay parked on the far side of a large open space, and Dooku was at a control panel, throwing switches. If they let him take off, they might never catch him.

Obi Wan was saying something about strategy, but Anneke barely heard. Activating her borrowed lightsaber, she rushed the Count. Obi Wan's frustrated shout followed her: "Anneke!"

The fire from before was there at the edge of her awareness, roaring in her ears, eager to rage through her veins again. But there was something wrong. Dooku wasn't lifting a hand to defend himself, wasn't trying to evade her; he merely stood there, a small smile on his lips.

She pushed the blinding blaze away, and slowed her headlong rush, reaching out with her senses. The feeling of wrongness in Dooku's Force presence had strengthened. And she remembered where she had felt that before. Five years ago, on Naboo—the Sith who had killed Qui Gon had that same aura of dark energy.

The realization stopped her in her tracks. Dooku raised his hands, and a blast of crackling energy leapt across the space, struck her, and hurled her against the wall. Her vision went dark, and she couldn't move.

She had no idea how long she lay, her senses slowly returning. She could feel the battle raging between Obi Wan and Dooku; she could feel Obi Wan's growing desperation, and Dooku's amusement and triumph. She could feel Obi Wan's pain as Dooku's lightsaber caught him twice.

Then she felt her master fall. Gathering together all the threads of Force she could reach, she pushed herself to her feet and called her lightsaber to her hand. Obi Wan was on his knees, wounded, before Dooku. He had lost his lightsaber. As the Count lifted his bloodred blade to finish her master, Anneke took one giant step and she was across the room, the green blade of her borrowed saber arresting the downward sweep of the red.

Dooku's eyes flashed up to meet hers, surprised. "Brave," he said, "but foolish. I would have thought you had learned your lesson."

Anneke grinned, wrapping the threads of Force around herself. "I'm a slow learner." She pushed at him suddenly, and Dooku stumbled back, his eyes wide.

"You have unusual powers, young Padawan." Dooku stepped away from her as he regained his footing. "It won't be enough to save you, however."

"Anneke!" Obi Wan called, his lightsaber back in his hand. He tossed it to her, and she turned on Dooku, a glowing blade in either hand. Blue and green light washed over the Count's face, giving him the look of a corpse.

A sudden desire to make him the corpse he resembled exploded within her. Wild anger roared through her veins and she attacked without thought. He had nearly killed Padraig and Obi Wan! He deserved to die.

Dooku retreated before Anneke's onslaught, and a furious joy rose up in her heart. This would end here. But then he stopped and grinned at her, and all of a sudden, she was the one retreating. Fear rushed in to replace the raging fire. He had been playing with her, allowing her to believe she had a chance, but now he advanced steadily, driving her back step by step, until she could go no further—the wall was at her back.

She had lost her borrowed green blade at some point, and now frantically blocked Dooku's increasingly ferocious attacks with just the one Obi Wan had given her. Her arms ached with a bonedeep weariness, and she had to use both hands on the one hilt. Sweat slicked the grip, and her movements began to slow. She missed a block, and Dooku's blade came through, flashing red past her face, and shearing through her right arm at the elbow.

Pain exploded through her body and mind. She found herself on her knees, Obi Wan's horrified face watching her through a haze of red fog. His lips formed the word, "No," but she could hear nothing through the thunder in her ears. "I'm sorry," she tried to tell him, but her voice wouldn't work.

Her vision was closing in, the red haze fading to black.

Padraig…