Thank you to the 14 people who reviewed the last chapter, despite how short it was, and I hope that you like this chapter. Reviews, as always, are much appreciated.
Chapter 17
Obi-Wan knew what was going to happen next but by the time he and Anakin, along with Jenica and Ahsoka, returned to the Resolute, it had already occurred. That meant that he and Anakin would have to mount a rescue mission to get Padmé off the Malevolence. That being said, Obi-Wan recalled what happened the first time around and found himself thinking how he could change what happened last time. The fact that he knew what would happen was definitely going to help him a lot during this mission.
Padmé Amidala's Nubian yacht was being pulled into the Malevolence when Obi-Wan pulled himself from his thoughts and glanced at the ship. "Have you contacted the yacht yet, admiral?" he asked Admiral Yularen.
Yularen nodded. "The person has not yet…" he began.
"This is Senator Amidala," Padmé's voice came through the intercom at that moment and Anakin glanced sharply at the intercom eyes narrowing.
"Senator? What are you…?" Anakin began.
" There is no time for that. I'm being pulled inside the droid cruiser by a tractor beam! I will not be made a Separatist bargaining chip. Continue your attack! You must destroy this monstrous ship!" Padmé's hologram snapped before the transmission abruptly cut off.
Obi-Wan felt a flash of panic come off his former apprentice and he placed a hand on Anakin's shoulder. "Pull back," he ordered Admiral Yularen. "Wait until I give the signal and then you may resume firing on the Malevolence."
"Yes General Kenobi," Yularen said frowning. "But what are you going to do?"
"Rescue the senator. Come on, Anakin. We only have a small window of opportunity and we should take it."
"But Senator Amidala wants us to keep firing on the Malevolence," Jenica protested.
Obi-Wan turned his gaze to his apprentice. "We will destroy the Malevolence, Jenica, but not now. Stay here with Ahsoka. Anakin and I will deal with this," he said.
Jenica was silent for a long moment before she nodded. "Yes Master," she said quietly.
Obi-Wan glanced at Anakin and the two of them dashed off the bridge of the Resolute and toward the hangar bay where the Twilight, which was what Anakin named the Separatist freighter he and Ahsoka picked up on Teth, was located. They made good time, arriving at the hangar in less than ten minutes despite how big the Resolute was.
"All right, Anakin," Obi-Wan said slipping into the co-pilot's seat as he doubted Anakin would let him fly. "Finding Senator Amidala is probably not going to be that easy."
"Considering she won't just let herself get captured, I know," said Anakin with a faint smile.
Obi-Wan snorted as he remembered what happened last time; he didn't know the full story but he did learn that Padmé had decided to blow up her ship rather than get captured. It was a plan that worked but it also made it a bit harder for him and Anakin to find her afterwards. Luckily, Obi-Wan knew where Anakin's wife was going to be if everything went as they did the first time around.
"It might also be best to make sure the ship doesn't jump into hyperspace."
"In other words, take out the hyperdrive."
"Yes." Obi-Wan remembered the fact that he confronted Grievous the first time around and resolved to avoid letting that happen again. He knew that would be easy since he knew when and where Grievous would be but that would only happen if everything went as they did last time and Obi-Wan wasn't sure if it would occur like last time.
He supposed he will have to trust in the Force and hope that it will happen like last time.
With a few subtle changes of course.
"What are we going to do, Mistress Padmé?" Threepio asked watching as General Grievous walked into the ship with a couple of B1 droids after him. Once they were inside the ship, which was due to explode at any moment, Padmé gestured to Threepio and began making her way deeper into the warship.
"We need to find a communication panel," she whispered to the protocol droid at her side. "Then we'll contact the Republic ships. Hopefully, they listened to me and will focus on destroying this monstrosity."
"If you would like my opinion, Mistress Padmé, then I would say they will not focus on destroying the warship if it means putting your life at risk."
Padmé pursed her lips together knowing Threepio was right especially if Anakin was onboard the Republic Star Destroyer. "All I know is they need to destroy this ship before its too late," she said before ducking down a corridor and jogging down it to where she could see a communication panel in the distance.
"Good, this should let us get into contact with the Republic," said Padmé coming to a stop in front of the panel before she activated the panel and began attempting to send a transmission to the Republic ships. Unfortunately, that's when she heard the sound of droids making their way toward her position.
"Quick, hide," Padmé said grabbing Threepio and steering him toward one of the inlets in the corridor that she hoped would provide adequate enough cover from the battle droids. Grievous walked past them in the corridor with a patrol of B1 battle droids just behind him when his comlink beeped.
"What is it?" Grievous asked once he activated the comlink and the hologram of another droid appeared before him.
"General Grievous, the damage done to the hyperdrive was not as extensive as we previously thought. It shouldn't take us as long as we thought it would to repair it," the droid replied.
"Good. You, finish looking the ship for the senator while I report this news to Count Dooku," Grievous ordered
"Roger, roger," the battle droids said monotonously before they walked away and Grievous left the group in the opposite direction.
Once they were gone, Padmé waited a few minutes before she dashed across the corridor toward the communications panel and began attempting to contact the Republic fleet.
"This is Senator Amidala, is anyone there?" she called quietly.
"Senator Amidala," Ahsoka's familiar voice said, "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine, Ahsoka, but I've just learned something that you should know."
"Hold that thought, Senator. I'll patch you through to Master Skywalker and Master Kenobi," Ahsoka said. There was a moment of silence before Anakin's familiar voice sounded through the comlink.
"Padme! Thank the Force you're all right," Anakin said sounding relieved.
"Yes I'm fine, Master Skywalker," Padmé said, "but there's something you and Master Kenobi really have to know. I have to be quick because I don't know when those droids are coming back but I overheard a droid tell General Grievous that the hyperdrive is going to be fixed sooner than they originally thought. You need to destroy this ship before it makes the jump to hyperspace."
"We are getting you off the warship first, Senator," Obi-Wan's voice said. "Let's rendezvous at the rail jet junction in the center of the ship. Anakin and I are heading there now."
Padmé was about to protest but decided against it. "All right, Master Kenobi," she said before she disconnected the transmission and glanced at Threepio. "Let's go."
"Yes Mistress Padmé," Threepio said and the two of them began walking toward the rail jet junction.
Anakin put his comlink away before glancing at his master who was already making his way toward the center of the ship. "Master, do you know where you're going?" he asked matching his master's strides easily and keeping an eye out for battle droids.
Of course, those battle droids arrived at that moment and Anakin quickly ignited his lightsaber and sliced through a couple of droids before turning around to see his master doing the same thing. The two of them sliced their way through the battle droids before running toward the rail jet junction.
Obi-Wan was silent the entire time and Anakin frowned. "Master, are you all right?" he asked as they continued to run toward the rail jet junction.
"Huh? Oh yes I'm fine, Anakin," Obi-Wan replied glancing at him briefly before turning his gaze back to the corridor they were running down before he turned down another corridor and Anakin, frowning followed him.
"Master, are you sure you know where you're going? We wouldn't want to get lost in this place," Anakin said half-amusedly but also half-serious. He didn't want to get lost because the longer it took to find the rail jet junction where they said they'd meet Padmé, the more likely Padmé will be hurt.
"We won't get lost and if we do, we do have Artoo with us," Obi-Wan replied with a shrug glancing at Anakin and Artoo, the latter of whom was rolling as quickly as he could behind them.
Anakin frowned.
"Trust me, Anakin."
"I trust you with my life, master," Anakin said quietly.
Obi-Wan nodded before turning down another corridor leading toward an opening in the distance. Anakin, frowning, followed his master to the opening.
Padmé fired at the battle droid patrol firing at her before backing toward the rail jets and quickly leapt onto one of the rail jet cars firing on the battle droids that were on the car. Unfortunately, Threepio ended up on another one and Padmé shook her head hoping the protocol droid wouldn't get destroyed.
She fired on another droid before glancing up when she spotted two lightsabers igniting above her head. She watched as Anakin and Obi-Wan leapt onto one of the rail cars nearby but quickly focused on firing on the droids that were still firing at her. She knelt down beside the crates on the rail car as it sped across the railway before firing on another droid.
Unfortunately, that was when another droid fired on the junction in front of her. Padmé, eyes wide with horror, watched as her rail car sped rapidly toward the hole that the rocket the droid fired had created.
"Padmé!" Anakin shouted from on top of the rail car that ran alongside but slightly above the one Padmé was on.
"Padmé, jump!" Anakin called.
Padmé glanced at her husband as he gestured toward her rapidly. "Come on, Padmé. You don't have much time. Trust me," he called again.
Padmé trusted her husband and she was going to prove that by listening to him now. She holstered her blaster before taking a deep breath and leaping toward Anakin. A moment later, she was floating across the gap between the rails and landed on top of the rail car in her husband's arms.
"Are you all right?" Anakin asked wrapping his arms around Padmé.
Padmé nodded. "Where's Obi-Wan and Threepio?" she asked.
"I have Threepio," Obi-Wan said through the comlink Anakin activated to get in touch with his former master; Obi-Wan was balancing on one of the rail cars with Threepio floating between the two rail cars a few meters ahead of them. "Come on, you two."
"We have to destroy the ship, Anakin," Padmé said gazing at her husband.
"Artoo, take Threepio back to the Twilight," Anakin ordered the astromech droid who beeped in response and activated his booster rockets before joining Obi-Wan.
"Master, we need to destroy the ship," Anakin said into the comlink.
"I know, Anakin. I'll go after the hyperdrive." Without waiting for a response, Obi-Wan disconnected the transmission.
"I don't know if deactivating the hyperdrive will be enough," Padmé said.
"It'll give us enough time to actually destroy the ship though," said Anakin.
"I have a plan," Padmé said. "If we sabotage the navigation computer, we can get the ship to fly into the dead moon."
"Good idea."
Obi-Wan knew Grievous would be in the hyperdrive room, he couldn't exactly shout what he was going to do to Anakin and Padmé so he contacted him using his comlink and he was pretty sure that was how Grievous knew he was there the first time around, but he was ready for him. All he needed to do was sabotage the hyperdrive and get out of there preferably before Grievous arrived.
He pressed himself against the wall as he neared the room where the hyperdrive was located before he slipped into it gazing around for Grievous as he rushed toward the battle droids guarding the hyperdrive. He sliced through them in quickly before kneeling next to the wall and preparing himself for when Grievous would arrive.
Sure enough, Grievous walked into the room with battle droids. There were also droidekas rolling into the room and Obi-Wan grasped one of the droidekas with the Force and tossed it at Grievous before dashing past him toward the hyperdrive while Grievous was distracted.
Unfortunately, Grievous wasn't distracted for long and Obi-Wan swore as he had to dance away from the hyperdrive to avoid the blasterfire Grievous was directing at him. He tucked and rolled lightsaber flashing to block the blaster bolts until he was behind the droidekas using their deflector shields to block Grievous's blaster bolts while examining the hyperdrive.
Last time he had been unable to sabotage it because of Grievous's arrival and it looked as though that was going to happen again. Obi-Wan grimaced before rolling out of the way of the blasterfire and igniting his lightsaber again as he leapt to his feet. Considering it was difficult to avoid Grievous's blasterfire and try to sabotage the hyperdrive, Obi-Wan decided that it would be best to leave that particular assignment to Anakin like last time.
Looks like I'm not changing anything this time around, Obi-Wan thought as he blocked another blaster bolt from Grievous and prepared to make his escape.
Anakin sliced through the droids on the bridge before turning around as Padmé stepped out of the turbolift Anakin pushed her into. She glared at him and he shrugged. "Sorry," he said before dashing toward the navicomputer and kneeling down beside it.
Padmé began removing the droids Anakin destroyed. "It might be best if they don't know we've been up here," she said when Anakin glanced at her.
"Good idea," Anakin said before he removed the panel he had been working on moving. Once he removed it, he began working on hotwiring the warship's systems.
"Hurry, Anakin. I think I hear more droids coming," Padmé whispered.
"Almost have it," Anakin said gritting his teeth as he connected a couple of wires and the ship began to alter its course to where it was beginning to head toward the moon. Once it was in range, Anakin replaced the panel before glancing at Padmé.
"Let's get out of here," he said.
Padmé nodded in agreement and the two of them dashed off the bridge.
Blast it, Obi-Wan thought leaping to the side to avoid the blasterfire that was flying at him from the droidekas that were following him. He sent several blaster bolts flying back at the droidekas or at the walls surrounding the droids and found himself thankful he managed to escape Grievous again. That was due in part to the fact that Obi-Wan knew of what to avoid when fighting Grievous in order to prevent a delay.
Naturally, however, droidekas were chasing after him.
Obi-Wan, nearing the airlock, spotted Anakin already there with Artoo, Threepio and Padmé and, just like last time, Anakin provided some cover with the Force and the crates next to the airlock. Obi-Wan, panting, skidded to a halt beside his former apprentice
"Shall we go?" he asked once he got his breath back.
"Probably a good idea," Anakin said tossing the crates at the droidekas before leaping into the airlock with Artoo, Threepio, Padmé and Obi-Wan just behind him.
Once they got into the cockpit of the Twilight, Anakin detached from the Malevolence before flying as rapidly as he could toward the Resolute as the Separatists warship was flying rapidly toward the dead moon of Antar.
Obi-Wan watched as the Malevolence flew into the dead moon and disappeared in a brilliant explosion.
"At least it's gone," Padmé said quietly.
Obi-Wan nodded in agreement before watching Anakin guide the Twilight into the Resolute's hangar bay and cut power to the main engines. He, Obi-Wan, Padmé, Artoo and Threepio left the Twilight before making their way to the bridge of the Resolute.
A/n what do you think?
Blaze: since I don't want to do every single episode, or arc, of the Clone Wars TV series, I am going to be skipping around and putting in my own missions. The next couple of chapters are a mission of my own creation that is completely AU as it never occurred in the books or TV series and it will contain some more Siriwan but not as much since I freely admit I SUCK at writing romance.
Darth: after that arc, Blaze will do the Hostage Crisis episode of Season 1 and then go on to Season 2 and she is leaving the decision of which episodes from season 2 you (the reviewers) think she should do, this includes arcs, so she would greatly appreciate it if you submitted which episodes or arcs from season 2 of the Clone Wars TV series she should do.
Blaze: I would greatly appreciate it if you would submit suggestions.
Harry: I have an idea!
Severus: oh pray tell, what idiotic idea do you have?
Harry: shut up, dunderhead!
Severus: don't call me a dunderhead, moron!
Anakin: (shakes head and sighs)
Blaze: (chuckles) please review and I will post chapter 18 as soon as I possibly can but I really doubt it'll be anytime soon