The Clone Wars: Path of the Force, A Star Wars Story

5

Anakin had reached Padme's apartment wing quickly. He knew the senate building well, and knew the quickest, and the most discreet routes to her apartment very well. Obi-wan had taken a different route, and Anakin trusted his friend to be there when he needed him. When he reached the door, it was locked. He rang the chime and pounded on the door.

"Padme," he called. Then without hesitation, he lit his lightsaber, stabbed it into the door and began to cut himself a way in. He would rather be wrong about the danger and take the chiding for damaging her door, than be right and wait another moment to get in.

He pushed in a molten section of the door and saw her. Padme was unconscious and lying on the shoulder of that blue faced bounty hunter, Cad Bane. He was about to step inside when he saw Bane toss a small metal ball at him. It landed right in front him beeping and flashing faster and faster. He ducked back into the hallway just when the blast blew away the rest of the door, detonating the entryway with smoke and fire.

Anakin dove through the fire and rolled into the apartment, extinguishing the flames that had grabbed ahold of his robe. Bane was stepping onto Padme's speeder parked off the balcony.

"So long jedi," Bane said, sneering.

Anakin started toward him then stopped when he saw someone fall and land onto the hood of the speeder.

"I don't think so," Obi-wan said grinning, pointing his lightsaber at Bane.

Bane growled. "Not another step closer," Bane said, looking below him. "Or I'll throw her over the edge."

Anakin and Obi-wan gave each other a glance. Now Anakin grinned too. They had him. If Bane dropped Padme, Obi-wan was close enough to catch her and in one leap Anakin would take out Bane.

"Don't try it Bane," Obi-wan warned. "You are beat."

Bane looked down behind him again then back toward Anakin.

"Like I said, so long jedi," Bane said now grinning himself. He looked down behind once more, then he jumped.

"No," Anakin yelled, reaching out to catch Padme with the force, but he was too slow.

Then Anakin saw Bane rise into the air above the balcony, Padme still on his shoulder. He was standing atop a stolen Republic gunship, engines roaring as it rose above the Senate building. Bane raised two fingers and gave the jedi a small salute before climbing into the belly of the ship.

Anakin and Obi-wan jumped into the speeder and took off after the stolen vessel. They followed the gunship above the Senate building climbing higher into the air.

"That gunship doesn't have the lift to reach orbit," Anakin said.

"No. But, it can climb to higher altitudes than this speeder."

"We just need to get close enough to board the ship."

Obi-wan shook his head. "By board the ship, you mean leap out into the atmosphere while we're 7,000 clicks above the city, hoping to land on that gunship."

"Take the controls," Anakin said, letting go off the handles and crawling onto the hood of the speeder.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Obi-wan said, grabbing the controls and directing the speeder higher into sky.

Anakin reached the front of the speeder and crouched into position, when the speeder's engines spuddered. Anakin looked back at Obi-wan. Obi-wan compensated, bringing the engines back to full briefly before they spuddered again and went out completely. Just as the speeder began to slow, Anakin looked up at the still rising gunship and jumped. Using the force, Anakin reached out pulling himself to the back of the gunship. His fingertips had just touched the ship's metal armor when the ship rocked to the side and out of his reach. Then he was falling.