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| - “Where do you think we should land, Master?” Anakin asked. “Well, the spaceport might seem like a safe option,” Obi-Wan replied. “In case you haven’t noticed, Master,” Anakin said as the ship descended, “every ship is abandoning the city like mynocks leaving a destroyed freighter. The spaceport’s off-limits.” “They’re not abandoning…” Obi-Wan’s voice trailed off. “This entire planet is a trap! And not just for the Loyalists but for all of the fools who try to come in and save them.” He looked around to see if there was any way they could get into the city. Everyone’s trying to get out, he thought with an ironic smile, we’re the only idiots trying to get in. “Up there.” He nodded to a point right on top of the city where there were some windows they could get through. “Though what we’re going to do once we’re in there is beyond me.” “Isn’t that what it’s always like, Master?” Anakin asked, cocking an eyebrow. Obi-Wan only smiled again as he shut down the complaining com-unit which was telling them it was their final chance to transmit their code or they would be destroyed. Getting down was easy, getting in was something else altogether as Anakin pointed out they not only had to get in but have a way of getting out. Finally they managed to break a window that led to some of the power conduits, and there was an access stairway inside followed by a locked door that they quickly cut to ribbons. Yet when Anakin was going to sprint ahead, Obi-Wan held him back. They had to be cautious here, Count Dooku and who knew who else could still be near by. “Remember Anakin, our priority is freeing the Loyalists,” Obi-Wan murmured. “No excuses this time.” “Yes Master,” Anakin assented, not willing to dispute the matter this time. But several moments later they had something else to worry about, something more immediate. “Well, well, well.” Count Dooku strolled casually up to them with no more distrainment than a Security Officer catching someone for petty crime. “It appears we have a jailbreak Jedi and his rescuer.” “You’re not going to get away with this, Dooku,” Anakin snarled. “My, my, my, aren’t we a little touchy?” Dooku looked at Obi-Wan as if Anakin’s outburst was his fault. “You ought to control your Padawan, his short temper might get him into trouble one of these days. Fortunately, all I am here to do is keep you from getting any closer to the Loyalists.” “I don’t think so!” Anakin ignited his lightsaber and rushed towards Dooku. “No! Anakin!” Obi-Wan tried to stop him, he knew Dooku’s act was a trap from the very beginning. Anakin stopped suddenly as if he had run into a solid wall, then was thrown back against the wall and knocked out. “Unfortunate, but necessary,” Dooku said, then walked towards Obi-Wan, his hand going beneath his cloak. “I’ll make this as quick and painless as possible.” “You’re mistaken,” Obi-Wan said, igniting his lightsaber and taking a defensive stance. “How so?” Dooku looked intrigued by this “You are the one who isn’t going any further,” Obi-Wan told him. “This all ends here.” “I see.” Dooku regarded this with mild bemusement. “But I am sorry to tell you that you are the one who is mistaken, you’ll go no further.” He ignited his lightsaber, the curved handle emitting the menacing red blade characteristic of the Sith. There was no mistaking whose side Dooku was on now. Dooku poised to strike and Obi-Wan moved to intercept. Yet the strike to his left shoulder never came, Dooku feinted and attacked Obi-Wan at the below right. Obi-Wan just managed to evade this attack before Dooku sent his next one coming through, one handed again. Jocasta Nu’s words came back to him: with a lightsaber he had no match. Obi-Wan wondered if that number would include himself. From the outset Padmé knew she had no chance of besting Renust Nju. He was well renowned for his mastery of Jar’Kai, a deadly form of lightsaber combat which required extraordinary control and skill as the practitioner wielded not one but two lightsabers. Jar’Kai was normally noted for its rapid, flourishing style but Nju had evolved into a double-handed form of Djem-So. Consequently, it was all Padmé could do to hold her own against him, what with his constantly varying single and double attacks and impenetrable centre of gravity. Padmé twirled her green blade in a circle so it aligned vertically in front of her. Then, when Nju went to attack her below, she twisted her grip to follow down and deflect the blow and followed through with a counter-attack that made him retreat several paces. Finally, she aimed a blow at his left side, turning rapidly to give speed and strength to her attack. Nju crossed his saber blades where Padmé’s landed, pushing the weapons close together so the blue and green intermingled. “Good, but not good enough,” he spat, throwing her back with the full weight of his blow. The next moment he was on the offensive again. Now she knew she was getting nowhere, Nju was completely overwhelming her and it would only be a matter of time before the fight would be over—a finish that she knew could include her. I need to turn his advantage against himself, Padmé thought as she was thrown back again, he is luring me, I need to lure him. They were approaching the balcony rail; Padmé could sense it behind her. Focusing on the Force she jumped up so she was balanced on the rail, slashing her saber and catching Nju on the shoulder. But before he could react she flipped back and landed on the ledge behind, then shut her lightsaber off so she could hide in the darkness. “Haven’t I taught you anything?” Nju taunted, trying to sense where Padmé was, some how she blocked him. “Running and hiding are not the ways of the Jedi, Padmé.” Padmé bit her lip to hold back an angry retort, she could see him clearly now. She held her breath and pressed her back against the wall. Nju cleared the balcony and walked along the ledge, his form giving an eerie blue glow as he went. “Show yourself,” Nju thundered, “you cannot hide forever. Are you afraid?” At this Padmé emerged from her hiding place and hurled one of the heavy statues at him. The Jedi Master staggered back as it collided into him, but Padmé was on him the next moment in a frenzied attack. Nju retreated, blocking the rapid blows as best he could but evading most of them. Finally he was on the edge of the ledge, ready to turn the attack against her but she was ready. She stepped up next to him—like when she had fought Anakin back on Naboo—and brought her lightsaber diagonally across, the blades crackling under the pressure. “Is this good enough?” she murmured, smiling slightly. “Not quite,” Nju replied, letting himself fall back so he was on the table. With a tight smile Padmé summoned the Force and jumped after him. Nalanda emerged from the bedroom in a tight tan-coloured combat suit, on her belt was a blaster pistol. Whatever was going on, she wanted to be prepared. Bail looked at her with raised eyebrows. “I thought Naboo was pacifist,” he teased. “So is Alderaan,” Nalanda shot back with a smile, “but you carry a blaster and have armed guards.” It took a few seconds for Bail to realise she was right. “Everything fine out there?” he called to the guards. “We can’t blow the door,” came the muffled response, “we’re going to cut through the lock.” “Let’s get everyone else,” Nalanda suggested, “that way they only have to cut through one door.” He followed her into the next suite. When Anakin came to, he instantly went to his Master’s side to parry one of Dooku’s blows that swang dangerously close to Obi-Wan’s back. “Glad you could make it,” Obi-Wan said gratefully, but there was no time for anything else. It was something they had worked on for quite some time involving hours in the practise room until it was almost effortless. Anakin and Obi-Wan, Master and Padawan, fighting in tandem as if each were an extension of the other. It was not perfect, Obi-Wan knew that much as Anakin tended to lash out on his own every now and again, but that would gradually improved as Anakin’s skills with a lightsaber did. Normally, this would be more than a match for an opponent, but not this time. Dooku was not known to have no equal in lightsaber combat for nothing, his expertise in the old style of lightsaber combat that had been developed over millennia left Anakin and Obi-Wan far behind. Originally, Form II or Makashi as it was also called, was developed by the Jedi to combat the newly arisen Sith. Yet in the hands of Dooku, a fallen Jedi turned Sith it was a devastating dance of destruction. He deliberately led them further into the building, through corridors and down stairs to the more decorative parts of the complex. The parts, Obi-Wan surmised, where the summit was taking place. But why was Dooku luring them there? He didn’t make any attempts to finish off the fight, rather kept it going indefinitely. Was there a reason for this? The next moment Obi-Wan found out. Dooku brought his weapon around in such a twist that it entangled both blue blades. Yet he made no move to follow through with the attack. “Apologies gentlemen, but this is my cue to exit,” the former Jedi said with the grace of a polished actor. Anakin looked at his Master in confusion, but Obi-Wan was focusing on the dozen or so battledroids that were slowly advancing behind Dooku. “I would like to stay and finish this properly,” Dooku continued, still not moving as the battledroids neared, “but there is other business that needs taking care of. Until we meet again.” As the battledroids opened fire the blades disengaged. Obi-Wan and Anakin were on the defensive and Dooku made his escape. “Shouldn’t we follow him?” Anakin shouted over the blaster fire. “We need to get to the Loyalists,” Obi-Wan replied, he lowered his lightsaber as the last droid fell to the ground. “They should be somewhere near.” They set off further down the corridor, unsure to what they would find.
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