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Chapter 30 – Turned Tables

Gray skies were a fitting sight from the top levels of Xizor's palace. A palace he'd left before sunrise and hadn't returned since. Dusk was fast approaching, and the Holonet viewer in Padmé's suite had been on for twelve hours straight. Xizor had made a point of turning it on and taking the remote with him.

There must be some broadcast he keenly wanted her to see.

She'd watched fitfully throughout the day, watching and wondering if the next episode would reveal something earth-shattering. Wondering if her nerves could even handle another earth-shattering revelation.

Only a day had passed since Xizor stunned her by detecting pregnancy hormones on her scent. Yet it felt like ages. Having no one to talk to was torture enough, but having no one to share this news with was agonizing.

It felt like the Clone Wars all over again, only ten times worse. Here she was again with child and no guarantee of being reunited with its father.

The universe certainly had a twisted sense of humor when it came to her fate.

There were times when she swore she could hear Luke and Leia's cries from a distant wing. But then the sounds would vanish like echoes when waking from a dream. Having the Holonet on for background noise was both consoling and maddening at turns. She didn't want silence, yet hearing lively voices only made her soul burn for freedom all the more.

Where could Xizor be? And what hoops did he have Anakin jumping through to earn her freedom?

The answer came at 1700 hours, just as a plate of food was deposited through her door.

The sight of Xizor, Palpatine, and Vader on the same screen made her drop the plate with a crash.

She didn't blink once during the broadcast. Her eyes remained plastered open in pure horror. They saw Palpatine's shriveled mouth moving, forming sounds that reached her eardrums but didn't register as words. Except for a few here and there:

"…construction is heavily underway… ultimate weapon and space station ever built… recruiting more Imperial forces to man this Death Star…"

She heard enough to know what they were announcing. And it chilled her to the bone.

Acting on pure adrenaline, Padmé rushed for the door. If Xizor was broadcasting live, he wasn't anywhere in the building. Which meant her chances for escape would never be better than now.

Padmé yanked the casing off the door control panel, numb to the pain in her fingers as they were sliced by wires and sharp edges. Her knack with hotwiring was nothing compared to Anakin's, but she prayed she'd picked up enough from watching him years ago. In a frenzy, she tore at conduits and switches, ignoring the occasional shock that stung her hands. She had to get out of there. She needed Ainar.

After five minutes, her haphazard efforts at last paid off. The door slid open to reveal a startled guard who clearly wasn't expecting her to appear. Padmé's survival reflexes outmatched his and a quick elbow to the nose knocked him out cold. She stripped his blaster from unconscious hands and hurried down the hall.

The tapered design of the palace meant the top floor had the smallest square footage to explore. There were only so many rooms up here in which Xizor could have hidden Ainar and the twins – assuming they weren't on a lower floor. If they were, things would soon get very interesting.

Padmé punched the door controls of the first suite she came to. It opened on an empty apartment. In a flash she was off to the next alcove – and another vacant space. And another after that. Her heart raced; only two more doors lined the corridor.

With trembling fingers and lungs, she hit the controls.

And she gasped when Ainar almost swung to hit her.

"Padmé!" he exclaimed, eyes wide with shock and apology. "I'm sorry! I sensed someone coming and I had to assume it wasn't a friend!"

Catching her breath, Padmé slumped against the doorframe in relief. "It's all right, I'm just glad I found you!"

"Mom?!" a chorus of two young voices met her ears. Luke and Leia came bounding into the living space, bursting with joy as they squeezed her.

Padmé was speechless as a dozen emotions overwhelmed her at once. "He… he put you all together in the same apartment?"

"Yeah, and it seems he couldn't care less about us. We haven't seen him once all this time."

"How nice that must be!" Padmé rolled her eyes. "Up until yesterday, he couldn't go three hours without intruding on me!"

"What happened yesterday?" asked Ainar innocently.

Casting an uncertain look at her children, Padmé figured they'd find out sooner or later.

"He... discovered something," she began, lowering her voice. "I'm pregnant."

Ainar blinked, instantly confused – and a little suspicious. "He discovered that? How…?"

"He smelled it on me!"

Leia poked Padmé in the arm. "Mommy? What's that mean?"

"It means you and Luke will have a little brother or sister," she replied warmly.

While Luke and Leia rejoiced with each other, Ainar's expression was still contorted.

"It's… Anakin's, right?" he hesitated to ask.

"Of course it is!" Padmé's jaw dropped indignantly. "I'd never let that green monster touch me!" she cried, feeling a wave of guilt as she recalled Xizor's pheromones influencing her earlier.

"In that case, congratulations," Ainar smiled, hugging her.

"Thank you, but I don't feel much like celebrating. Have you watched the Holonet lately?"

Ainar shook his head.

"Palpatine, Xizor, and Anakin just announced the Death Star! It's a massive space station with a laser that will be able to destroy entire planets!"

"Death Star?" Ainar frowned. "I don't recall Anakin mentioning that before."

"Me either! He only told me Palpatine planned to dissolve the Senate. He said nothing about a superweapon!"

Ainar kept a neutral expression but was clearly unsettled. "I don't know what to make of this."

Worry creased Padmé's features as she sat next to him on the couch. "I have a bad feeling about it, Ainar. Like my worst fears may be coming true."

Ainar couldn't dismiss her concerns so easily this time. His son appearing alongside the galaxy's most vile villains was troubling enough. That they were announcing an incredibly violent development – one he knew absolutely nothing about – shook his faith in Anakin like never before.

"I feel even less safe here than before," Padmé confided.

"We have to leave."

Ainar's tone was firm and determined. And exactly what Padmé hoped to hear.

With a blaster in one hand and a Force-sensitive ally behind her, Padmé dodged and shot her way through the maze of Xizor's palace, smuggling the twins behind alcoves and behind corners until they all breathed the sweet air of freedom.

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Slinking and lurking around corners wasn't just for the Skywalkers that evening.

Tucked in the lengthening shadows of Imperial Palace, a hooded figure clutched a blaster tightly against his chest. He hadn't moved an inch in over an hour. Solid as a statue, his gaze never left the portico on the south wall of the palace.

He'd have only one shot at this – literally.

His vision strained as the sun sank behind the clouds. Twilight was both a challenge and an advantage. It meant he'd struggle to see his targets, yet it also meant they wouldn't see him until it was too late.

There were other pros and cons to this situation too. Not being human, one of his prey would lack readable thoughts.

And not being human, she lacked the sixth sense of an organic lifeform. Much less that of a Jedi.

All was cloaked in shadows now. Obi-Wan heard the door open before he saw any movement.

Just as Anakin had promised – Xizor and Guri. At least, they fit the description of each.

Obi-Wan inhaled once and then everything happened in rapid fire. Guri's head jerked at the faint sound of air entering his nose. Before Xizor could turn his own head, she'd snatched a blaster from her belt. But Obi-Wan had a thousandth-of-a-second advantage. He flicked the trigger just before she could.

By the time Xizor knew what was happening, he was hit too. He slumped down unconscious next to his assistant.

Obi-Wan made sure the alley was clear and scurried across, hunched over like a madman. He needed to work quickly before the stun effect wore off.

"Underestimated the Jedi, indeed," he gloated, feeling the base of Guri's skull for the seam of her access panel. He found it and gently pried it open.

A matrix of green and blue fiberoptic conduits were arranged in incredibly complex patterns. Obi-Wan forced himself to breathe and steadied his nerves. From a small plastic case he withdrew a microchip the size of his pinky fingernail. Force… if he dropped it now…

Hands shaking almost imperceptibly, he laid it in place and slowly reached around for his blaster. In three seconds, the lowest setting fused the chip in place and sealed it in cortosis ore to prevent detection from Guri's systems.

It was a chip he owed several friends for. It wasn't every day he called upon the collective network of Bail Organa, Dex Jettster, and several others. But when they came through, they came through. They'd procured the tiniest explosive device that carried 100,000 terawatts of explosive power.

Far more than was needed to destroy a human replica droid such as Guri. Far more than was needed to kill her and Xizor if he was standing fifty feet away from her.

Far more, too, than was necessary to destroy the Imperial Palace.

Obi-Wan closed her access panel and glanced at Xizor. Still out cold, but Guri was starting to stir ever so slightly.

"All done here, pick me up," he whispered into his comlink and started running.

A two-seat speeder descended at the front of the alley and Obi-Wan leapt in. He threw a grateful grin at the driver.

"Perfect timing, Bail!"

"Thanks… but hold off the congratulations until after we pull this off," the senator from Alderaan suggested.

"The hardest part is done."

"In my view, the hardest part will be Dar– Anakin following through." Bail didn't even try to hide his severe skepticism. Even saying Anakin's name felt too generous.

"He will! Bail, did you hear anything I told you earlier?"

"Hearing and believing don't automatically go together."

"If you don't believe me, why go to such trouble to help? Why get me the cortosis ore laser adapter?"

"Because any plot that involves planting a bomb on Prince Xizor's personal droid is one I can endorse, no questions asked. The Black Sun is a growing threat to the entire galaxy. Take her out and we might just cripple it for a while."

"So you believe Anakin wants to kill Guri, but not necessarily Xizor and Palpatine?" Obi-Wan read between the lines.

"Xizor, maybe. But the Emperor? Not in a million years," huffed Bail.

Smiling thinly, Obi-Wan nodded. "You're entitled to your opinion."

"Yes, and as for yours… Obi-Wan, I'll be honest with you. I'm still not convinced he doesn't have you under some sort of Sith mind spell."

Obi-Wan guffawed. "Look into my eyes! Do they have that vacant glaze? And just for argument's sake, even if I am being controlled… by Anakin…" he lost himself in laughter for a minute, "... then eventually I'll ask you to do something that's an outright conflict of interest! As long as you're not under mind control, I think you'll recognize if that happens!"

Bail frowned, glancing sideways at the Jedi. "I'm not amused."

Obi-Wan patted his friend on the shoulder. "That's all right. This really isn't an amusing situation. But given the choice between laughing and crying, I went with the former."

The rest of their short trip was awkwardly silent. Bail pulled up to the base of Darth Vader's palace and gave Obi-Wan an obligatory smile.

"Good luck, old friend," he said sincerely.

"Thank you, but with you and the Force on my side, I doubt I'll need luck. Just wait and see, Bail. A new dawn is coming."

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Dawn did in fact bring very interesting things.

From the instant Xizor opened his eyes, he knew this would be no ordinary day. How could it be, when he'd spent almost twelve hours unconscious?

He recalled the alley assault in murky detail. Guri had gone down first, sniped by a hooded figure in the shadows. How had she been taken off-guard? And how did the assailant calibrate his weapon to stun her yet not destroy her? Xizor knew of no energy beam that could do that.

Whatever it was, it clearly didn't agree with his system, knocking him out for so long. At least Guri appeared to be unharmed. Her system scans revealed
nothing out of the ordinary. She said she'd recovered quickly and carried him back to their palace.

A palace that no longer held their captives.

When Guri told him, he'd been too furious to move. Too livid to contract his facial muscles into a mask of rage. How. In. The. World. Had. They. Escaped!

According to the guards, it had happened during the time of the broadcast. So Vader couldn't have possibly assisted them. But then, he didn't really have to. Padmé was a tenacious shrew and Vader's father must be trained in the Force, or however it was said. Xizor had never given much credence to that superstition, but now seemed the time to reevaluate his attitude.

So they'd escaped. Regardless of who had or hadn't helped them, they'd escaped. And so his one supreme leverage with Vader was gone.

Easy come, easy go, or so he'd heard said. A platitude he'd never really believed until now.

And oh, how easy they'd been to capture. How easily Xizor had pieced together Vader's scandalous past through just a few clues. And now what did the Prince have to show for it? Empty penthouses and a growing knot in his stomach. Palpatine had ordered that he, Guri, and Vader be present for the cortosis ore delivery that morning.

Which meant he had less than an hour to reassess his strengths and weaknesses. And determine what, if any, aces still lurked up his sleeve.

The Prince of Falleen, the Vigo of the Black Sun, and Imperial Center's second-wealthiest figure felt an odd sensation. It started in his brainstem and crawled like spiders down his neck, then his collarbone, and out into his extremities. It felt unnatural, and for a moment he wondered if it was an aftereffect of the stun blast.

But no. To his incredulity, he slowly realized it was anxiety. For the first time in his adult memory, fear was awakening his nerves.

He'd much rather have stayed unconscious forever than woken to this.

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