The Naboo cruiser sailed over Coruscant with the two fighters in close formation. The landing platform had been cleared for their arrival and although Kenobi had returned to the Republic capitol several time over the last ten years since the sith incident, this time he felt apprehensive, as though something was about to happen. Captain Panaka's recommendation had elevated him to the position of Chief of Security to Senator Amidala when the senator had been elected. Now known as Captain Latterie, he was as close as he could be to the senator without being one of her decoys, and that was hardly going to happen anytime soon. His prosthetic eye had been irrevocably damaged in a fire fight during a palace invasion by separatist terrorists about a year ago, so now he sported an eye patch instead. He still had his short, smart hair, even more auburn and a little grayer than before and the beard was well trimmed.
He landed his ship and went to the senator's side as she descended from the second fighter. She had become an extraordinary young woman of towering intellect but she had gentle humility with it, a trait very few of her counterparts seemed to display.
"You see," she said at his side, her helm still on as he had trained her. He removed his, still feeling apprehensive. "The threat was unfounded."
He nodded as her decoy and his men began to disembark.
"Perhaps for now, my lady, but we must be vigilant. This – "a sudden flare of warning came to him though the force.
"Get down!" he yelled out at the people on the ramp as he threw his body over Padme, pulling her down onto the deck.
In an instant after his words were spoken the cruiser was rocked by a massive explosion that ripped into the hull. Kenobi rolled across the deck, still clutching Padme, as debris from the cruiser crashed into her fighter, sliding it over the deck.
"Are you hurt?" he asked her urgently as they recovered and he pulled her back to her feet. He sensed her immediate fear for her people and he looked up to see the destruction. The cruiser smoldered and it was obvious there were casualties both on the deck and inside the ship and he dashed to his people as Padme ran to hers.
Lieutenant Typho, one of his best men, was badly injured, his face was badly burned, but he had shielded Dorme from the blast somewhat and her injuries were much less than they would have been without Kenobi's warning. The two other men present on the platform were shaken, but otherwise unhurt.
"Get them clear of the ship!" he yelled to the recovering men, who leapt to Dorme and Typho's aid, Padme already at Dorme's side. Assessing that Padme was as safe with his men as anywhere at that moment, Kenobi began to pull debris from the ship entrance and called to the people inside. The responses were weak, but encouraging and he pulled more debris out of the way to get to them. Above him the cruiser creaked and groaned over the strain of supporting the bulk of its mass on its broken back.
Sabe was helping her guards get back to their feet and Kenobi noticed the pilot and co-pilot helping each other out, both bloodied, but walking wounded at least.
"Sir," called out one of Kenobi's newer recruits and he looked down to see Private Nawe pinned beneath a bulk head by his badly broken arm.
"Lad, you really do get yourself into some trouble!" said Kenobi as he knelt beside the young man. He was a fearlessly loyal and earnest boy who needed his enthusiasm curbed a little to make him into a fine officer and Kenobi had grown to like the lad, reminding him of his early padawan days.
Kenobi looked down at the injury and realized if the arm was set it could easily be pulled free with little movement from the bulkhead.
"OK, Nawe, brace yourself," he said quickly and calmly as he gently but firmly gripped Nawe's arm. Nawe flinched at the touch to his injured arm and had a look of grim determination.
"Ready?" Nawe nodded, grimacing against the anticipation.
"OK, then, One, Two. Wait, is that Corde naked?"
"What?" exclaimed Nawe, looking up, and Kenobi pulled hard to set the arm. Nawe screamed and almost swooned, but Kenobi gave him a nudge through the force, he still had to get the lad's arm free and both of them out of the ship, which was continuing to creak and strain above them. The sooner they got out the better.
"Nicely done, sir" croaked Nawe at Kenobi's distraction.
"I'm sure you'd have done the same for me; now let's get you out of here."
He was able to slide Nawe from the bulk head and pulled him to his feet, a twinge of pain running up his left side. He didn't have time to register it, however, as the creaking became much louder as the super-structure of the cruiser began to buckle and Kenobi swept the two of them out of the ship and down onto the deck as the split in the craft could no longer support the two halves and they folded into each other, blocking the entrance Kenobi had made into the cruiser.
As they picked themselves up, Kenobi noticed the medical barge was already docked and a fire suppression ship was clearing up the last of the fires. The injured were being moved on med-cots and Kenobi led Nawe to the nearest one where the lad sat down as a healer assessed his arm which hung limply at his side.
"Thank you, sir" he said breathlessly, wincing at the healers touch.
"Just don't make a habit of needing to be rescued, there's a good lad." and he lifted his left arm to ruffle the boy's hair.
"Sir!" Nawe exclaimed, and Kenobi felt the pain in his side suddenly flare, "you're bleeding!"
Kenobi reached to his side against his ribs and gasped at the touch of the wound. Withdrawing his hand he saw his fingers covered with his blood.
"How strange," he exclaimed and the healer who had been tending Nawe spun around to examine the wound on the young captain.
"Med-cot here!" she called to her colleagues and just as Kenobi's knees buckled, the cot slid in behind him and he sat heavily on it.
"Let me get a better look here, Captain," said the medic as she pulled the arm up and pulled apart the torn fabric.
"It's just a scratch," said Kenobi, already sending healing force to the wound now he was aware of it. It must have happened while he and Padme were dodging debris in the immediate aftermath of the explosion. Shock and his subconscious connection to the force had effectively shielded him to the initial blow. Now it was catching up to him and he was glad of the med-cot for now.
"It's rather deep, there's a lot of blood here," she slapped a bacta patch over the wound and had Kenobi hold it in place with his right hand.
"Let's get you both to the infirmary"
"Wait, we have to make sure there's no one left inside," said Kenobi rising from the cot. The medic pressed her hand to his chest with surprising strength and he sat back down.
"You both are the last, everyone is out. Let's go!"
As the cots moved off, Nawe lay back while Kenobi sat up surveying the wreck of the platform. A spike in his force senses had his head spin around to a small craft traveling slowly between a series of buildings, and although he didn't get a really good look at it, he instinctively knew it was the source of their aggressor.
The med-barge was a hive of activity. Typho was the worst injured and medics swarmed around his cot while most others were walking wounded. He and Nawe seemed to be the next with Dorme suffering some burns to her hands that had already been dressed and Padme was sitting with her, soothing her warn brow. Sabe sat the other side with a lightly bandaged face, but otherwise looking good.
Nawe's arm was placed in a bone knitting cast and his pain medication had knocked him out. Kenobi's side was cleaned and re-bacta'd, the patch secured around his chest. As soon as the medic had finished, he replaced his shirt and went to Typho's side. He was badly burned down his left side and bacta had been smeared over his damaged skin. His left eye was swollen shut and his left arm was shredded to the bone in some areas.
"He'll need immediate bacta submersion once we get to the infirmary." Said the medic nearest the concerned captain.
"He'll pull through, he's a fighter," said Kenobi quietly as he sensed Padme approaching his side.
"I should never have returned," she almost sighed as the adrenaline she had been relying on left her system.
"He knew his duty, my lady, we all do. This vote is important to the republic. You can't blame yourself for this."
"No," she said equally quietly, "and neither can you."
He turned to her, his face a mixture of confusion and horror, how could she have known his feelings of guilt?
"I know you too well, Captain, you must promise not to blame yourself either."
"I should have realized it was too quiet up there. We had the deck checked thoroughly, but I should have overseen the landing myself. A few minutes delay for you and the cruiser while I rechecked everything and we could have avoided all of this, I should have –"
She took his arm to stop him as he flinched at her touch, his wound still smarting.
"You saved us, Latterie, no one died here thanks to your warning. You have nothing to recriminate yourself for."
He turned back to Typho wondering if the young Lt. would feel that way.
"Thank you, my lady," he said, not wanting to look on her at that moment, his feelings of failure and guilt surfacing again. It could have all been so much worse, but the fact of the matter was he had been unable to keep his group secure on such a simple mission. He just wanted to get to the infirmary, he knew he'd feel better with Typho in the bacta tank.