I KNOW PLACES ➶ STAR WARS

Part X // Ready

"I can save her." The rich voice poured out of the black mask.

"And the Jedi Master?" Asked a robotic voice.

"Leave him to die. He is meaningless to my cause."

"Certainly, Lord Vader," the droid answered. "What is to be done with the young Togruta?"

"Place her in a detainee cell. She is to become my apprentice once more." With that, Darth Vader entered the sterile white room in which Padmé lay upon a silver operating platform. "My wife," he said when she opened her eyes at the sound of him entering. "Do not fight it. Let the agony consume you, let it become your power."

Her skin was pale and her nostrils flared each time she tried to fight the immense pain that gripped her whole body. She closed her eyes again and gripped the sides of the platform. "Don't do this," she struggled to say. "Don't make our children grow up like this." She took in a sharp breath.

"Children?" He was surprised at her use of the plural form.

She glared at him through slit eyelids, then cried out in pain.

"Ah, have a secret, do we?" He paused. "We will just have to wait, then."

"Excuse me, Lord Vader. We must begin now," a passing droid said monotonously.

He stepped away, folding his hands behind his back and looking on in silence as the droids began their work.

In another room, Obi-Wan looked at his shoulder and winced. The pain was becoming unbearable, though he could only think about Padmé's pain. He was trying, unsuccessfully, to use the Force to relieve her. A droid entered and he looked up at his metallic captor hopefully.

"You are to be left in this room until you die. Lord Vader has no need-"

He raised his arm, separating it temporarily from his injured shoulder. His hand shook weakly and he used what energy he had left to Force the droid and reduce it to a crumpled, brainless pile of metal panels, copper-coated wires, and circuits.

"Foolish of you to leave me with a mere droid, Anakin." He sighed in relief when he saw that the door could not shut with the droid in the way. Mustering all of his strength, he stood, cursing once, and began to jog down the hallway to find the detainee cells, for he sensed Ahsoka was trapped.

Padmé screamed helplessly. Her cheeks were flushed, her breathing was heavy; this was not the way she planned to bring her children into the world. She wanted to be in her apartment, holding on to Obi-Wan's hand. Now her husband, standing by in all of his Sith glory, didn't say another word to her, much less hold her hand.

Obi-Wan slammed his fist up against the control panel which controlled everything in Ahsoka's cell. The panel gave out, crushed. The door flew up, opening, and the lights turned off inside. Ahsoka let out a fearful gasp, whipping her head up to see who it was.

"General Kenobi!" She immediately looked at his shoulder, which was tied with a blood-soaked rag. "My God, what are you doing out here? This could get infected." She stood and practically sprinted to his side.

"I had to retrieve you." He groaned out of sheer agony when she moved the rag to have a peek. "We have to rescue Padmé before her children are taken from her."

"First, I'm going to dress this properly." She poked her head out of the opening and checked the hallway to make sure no one was coming. "My bag is down the hall, in the possessions room. We have to hurry before our absence is noticed. Will you make it?"

"Yes, I think so." His eyes told a different story, but Ahsoka knew better than to not take him at his word.

"Okay," she said somewhat reluctantly. She checked the hallway once more. "Let's go. Follow me."

They both raced down the hallway and ducked into an open room.

"Hey, you can't be in here!" Shouted a battle droid. It shot at Ahsoka, who easily dodged the blast. She rolled toward the droid and snatched the gun out of its metallic hands after kicking its torso, disabling all mechanical functions. She shot at its head, knocking it off. She scrambled around the table in the center of the room to get to the cubby-hole marked 1138, the number of the cell she was detained in.

"You okay?" Ahsoka yelled to Obi-Wan, who told her he was fine. She shot the control panel in the room with the blaster she took from the battle droid. The lights turned off, all of the cubby-holes' doors flew open, and sparks flew from the control panel. After grabbing her medical bag and lightsaber, Ahsoka yanked the antiseptic and wound dressing from the bag. "This might hurt, General Kenobi." The serious look in her eyes made him nervous.

"I'm ready."