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| - Quickly, Anakin reduced his speed as he skidded across the floor. A moment later he ejected himself and Artoo from the craft, coming to land near the battledroids that quickly clustered around him. It took another moment to clean up the droids, and when this was done Obi-Wan and Padmé were there to help him with the others that had scuttled over to join the fight. “Artoo, locate the Chancellor,” Anakin ordered as the little droid trundled up. “The ship’s computer.” By the time the last of the battledroids were spare parts at their feet R2-D2 was projecting a hologram of the ship, isolating a certain point at the very top. “There’s the Chancellor’s signal,” Padmé said as she shut off her lightsaber. “The observation platform.” The image changed to show Chancellor Palpatine shackled to a chair, Anakin could feel his anger rising. If Grievous had hurt him, if Grievous had touched him… “That’s the General’s quarters,” Obi-Wan said with a frown. “Any sign of Grievous?” The image swivelled around the room, there did not appear to be any sign of the droid general. But this did not mean their approach would be easy. “Hmm.” Obi-Wan stroked his beard thoughtfully. “What about guards?” From what they could see from the hologram their appeared to be none. “No guards?” Anakin asked. “But that doesn’t make sense!” “Of course it does,” Padmé replied quietly. “It’s a trap, a very convincing one.” “So what’s the next step?” Anakin asked in exasperation. Obi-Wan smiled. “Spring the trap.” “Well, there’s only one thing to do then,” Anakin replied, walking off with the other two following. For a moment, Artoo followed. “No Artoo,” he told the little droid as he glanced back. “You need to stay here.” The little droid protested at this, chirping and humming softly. “Here.” Padmé threw Artoo her comlink, the droid caught it with a grappling arm. “Wait for orders,” Obi-Wan added as they left the hangar. “We might need you later.” This final remark was somewhat reassuring to Artoo, the little droid retreated into the shadows to wait. On the bridge of his flagship, the Invisible Hand, Grievous surveyed his crew. Aside from the battledroids there were his own guards and the Neimoidian captain who was about as useful as a battledroid and as stupid. Yet they were all he had, and would obey his orders without hesitation and not just due to his leadership of the droid army. Grievous was formidable in how own right and to cross him might mean your last action. He gave no quarter or mercy for he knew neither, and incompetence was something he could not tolerate. Yet even his appearance inspired this, he was often shown on the Republic’s Holonet as an unforgiving, uncompromising monster. And not just a monster, a machine. Grievous had once been living, had limbs and flesh and blood like any other lifeform until a speeder crash had imprisoned him in this durasteel frame. Instead of a face he had a menacing mask with cold, cruel eyes that peered from underneath the metal frame. Instead of a body he had a casing of metal, two long arms that could be split for combat, and a steel rib-cage that enclosed the last of his internal organs. But his voice, like the sound of rasping metal was perhaps his most fearsome weapon. It made beings jump to his bidding, even those who considered themselves to be above him like Viceroy Gunray. And he liked it, it was a power he had never had when he had been alive. “What is our situation?” he asked the Neimoidian captain, strutting over to stand above him. “General…uh…Jedi have landed in our entry bay,” the nervous Neimoidian stammered. “Excellent, just as Count Dooku predicted,” Grievous said. “Kenobi and Skywalker will soon be in my trap.” “Um…there are three Jedi,” the Neimoidian said sheepishly. “Three Jedi?” The droid general turned back. “Let me see them!” he thundered. The captain shakily compiled, bringing up the hologram. Sure enough Kenobi and Skywalker were there, but there was a third Jedi with them. A female Jedi that Grievous couldn’t identify. Where has she come from? Grievous thought What is she doing here? Yet there was no need to delay his plan, what did it matter that another Jedi was there? All of them would soon be dead and he would have three more lightsabers to add to his collection. All he had to do was wait. For some reason it appeared entirely too easy. The elevators were up ahead and so far they had not met any resistance. They hadn’t actually seen anyone, which disturbed Obi-Wan as he would have preferred to know what was ahead. Anakin was not thinking about the mission as much as he should have been, the unexpected fact that Padmé was here changed things considerably. And not just on the part of the mission, but the hope for something else. Had Padmé changed her mind? She didn’t seem so, but perhaps that was because Obi-Wan was there. Then a door either side of them opened and four magna guards walked up to them, followed closely by six destroyer droids. “General Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker,” the droid completely ignored Padmé, “the General is expecting you.” “We are here to rescue the Chancellor,” Anakin challenged, “not join him.” “You will find escape quite impossible,” the droid said as the Jedi were quickly surrounded. “Remember Anakin, rescue, not mayhem,” Obi-Wan reminded him. “We can blow the ship up after we’ve got the Chancellor.” “Right,” Anakin agreed, he made a nod to Padmé and the three of them ignited their lightsabers. The droids fired while the guards stepped in with their staffs crackling, yet the bolts were deflected quickly as the Jedi cut a circle around them in the floor and went down to the floor below. Immediately below them was a generator room, pipes and electric cables were overhead. Yet these were showing signs of wear and tear by the constant bombardment from space. A strong-smelling clear liquid began to leak from the pipes, spilling into the back of the room. Obi-Wan identified the liquid instantly. “It’s fuel, that’s why they stopped shooting,” he said, glancing around the room. “The slightest spark will send the ship into oblivion.” “Well, we’re safe for now,” Anakin said, staring towards the far end of the room and running off. “If your idea of ‘safe is the same as ‘rescue’ Anakin, we’re all in trouble,” Padmé replied as she and Obi-Wan followed him through the fuel. As they ran more explosions rocked the ship, cracking more pipes and soon the liquid was waist deep. Eventually they had to swim, with the ceiling getting nearer and the sounds of doors closing around them it was getting close. “They’re sealing this section off,” Anakin said, scanning above him for a way out. “Look!” Padmé nodded back to where they had come from. “Six droids coming this way.” “Keep going!” Obi-Wan urged. “There must be vents somewhere!” But the droids were not their only worry, at the far end Padmé could see live electrical cables dangerously close to the fuel. If they touched it the fuel would ignite, and…she didn’t continue that thought, there was too much at stake right now. “I’ve found our escape hatch!” Anakin announced, pulling away the soft metal to reveal a small hole. “You’re crazy, Anakin!” Obi-Wan rebuked. “We’ll never get through that, it’s too small!” “Only in your mind, Master,” Anakin joked, ripping away the side of the hole to reveal space big enough for them to fit through. “Quick, they’re closer!” Padmé urged, swimming up behind Anakin and following him through the vent, Obi-Wan came last of all as the droids were upon them. Using their liquid cable launchers they managed to climb up towards another hatch that Anakin had spotted. He removed the covering with his lightsaber then scrambled through as the blaster bolts started flying. The liquid was starting to seep through the hole in the bottom of the shaft when Padmé slipped through after Obi-Wan. Anakin quickly replaced the cover and sealed it with his lightsaber. “That’ll never hold,” Obi-Wan said, shaking his head. “It will,” Anakin told him. “The blast will break the hull, but this side’s pressurised.” “You still have much to learn, Anakin,” his former Master insisted. Another explosion rocked the ship, thundering beneath their feet. The sound of it roared up to the sealed hatch. But while the metal bulged considerably, it remained whole. “All right, all right, you win! I still have much to learn,” Obi-Wan conceded. “Let’s go!”
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