FORBIDDEN ATTACHMENTS ─ star wars

XXXIX. Taken

Chapter Thirty-Nine
Obi Wan

I jump off one of the tanks and use it as leverage to place a charger on one of the spider droids, smiling as it blows up, taking at least ten droids with it. I land back on the ground, deflecting a blast and sending it into the body of a destroyer droid.

Anakin deflects blasts next to me, looking less exhausted and more like he's enjoying himself. He has always been an energetic person, even as a boy. But he is far from a boy now, he is a Jedi knight. I couldn't be more proud of him, especially as he deflect two blasts at once, cutting into the chest of a droid all in one swing.

"Glad to see you're enjoying yourself." I comment, deflecting another blast.

Anakin laughs to himself. "Well if you can't enjoy your job then what's the point?"

I grunt as I use the force to grab onto a destroyer and throw it at one of the separatist assault tanks, letting out a sigh. "At least one of us is enjoying themselves."

I feel my holo projector buzz in the pocket of my robes. I run back towards where Commander Cody stands near one of our tanks, providing me cover for the time being. I fish it out of my pocket, clicking on it to find Fallon's hologram looking at me. I didn't expect she would be the one to contact me.

"Fallon, is everything alright?"

She looks very unsettled, with something else mixed in her eyes, guilt it looks like. "When I told Genevieve we freed Bretta, she insisted on transporting the supplies herself. I tried to talk her out of it but you know how she is. She couldn't stand not helping our people. She said she would go to the villages and not the cities to be safe, but I think something happened to her. I tried contacting her, but she hasn't answered."

Grevious has been attacking villages as of late, leaving most of his army to fight in the main cities. I have sent clones to help the villagers, but he's moving around too quickly. He isn't staying in one village too long. Genevieve wouldn't have known that, of course she thought the villages were safer. I should have told her about this, I should have known she wouldn't listen to me and she would come here anyways.

I feel my heartbeat pick up rapidly, my breathing grow shallow. I can't think, can't process what I'm hearing. The image of Grevious capturing Genevieve, laying his cold metal hands on her, taunting her, hurting her, killing her...

"Fallon," I say firmly. "Where was Genevieve going? What village?"

"Avem I think. It's a bit outside the capital."

I nod to her, trying to keep my voice calm. "I will go search for her. Focus on getting more supplies ready and wait for me to contact you."

Fallon nods, cutting off the transmission. I feel my surroundings come back into focus, remembering that I'm in the middle of a battle. I search the crowd of clones for Anakin, flagging him over. He gives me a look of confusion, but nods his head to me, making his way back towards me.

"Is everything alright?" He asks me, analyzing my expression in attempt to root out what's happened.

"Genevieve returned to Taris and Fallon hasn't heard from her. She thinks something happened to her."

Anakin's expression grows cold, anger filling his face. "I will take care of things here, you go find Genevieve. She's more important."

I nod, clasping his shoulder. "I will try to return as soon as possible. Hopefully I'm not too late."

"Don't think like that. Now get going. Find her." Anakin says, nodding to me, not wasting another second before heading back towards the battle, telling our men to push forward. I don't waste a second either, rubbing towards my ship at speeds I didn't know were possible.

-

Avem is barren when I arrive. I pop open the top of my ship, jumping down to the ground, hearing only the thud of my boots throughout the whole village.

I sense a lot of people here, but they are nowhere in sight. I ignite my lightsaber, caustically making my way into the village, trying to stay diligent. I look into the window of the first house I see, seeing a family huddled in the corner of their living room. I rush inside, seeing the whole family cowering in fear as they set eyes on me.

I put my lightsaber away, holding my hands up to show them I mean them no harm. "I am not a separatist, I'm a Jedi. I'm not going to hurt you."

This doesn't take all of the fear from their eyes, but they seem calm enough to speak, to get out from their corner of security and approach me.

"Do you know where the queen went? I heard she came here."

One of the family members, a young man, nods his head, wiping his shaking hands on his pants. "She was here. That droid took her on his ship, along with it's other droids. They destroyed the supplies she brought, the only food we have seen in weeks..."

I feel my own hands begin to shake, my mind spiraling, my heart stopping dead in my chest. It is here, here in this village, that my worst fear has been realized. Genevieve is gone.

I nod to the young man and his family, forcing a smile. "We are working on getting more supplies. I assure you, this darkness will not endure." I tell them, trying to reassure myself as much as them.

I walk out of their house, bringing my communicator up to my mouth. "Anakin?"

I hear a grunt before a reply; "Did you find her?"

"No. She's been taken."

A pause, then a sigh. "The supplies?"

"Destroyed."

"Of course," Anakin says, his anger and frustration evident in his voice. "You go after her. I'll contact Fallon and tell her what happened, as well as Aiden. What's important is for you to find her, we can't let Dooku kill her."

I feel myself flinch at the mere thought. My voice sounds uneven, raspy as I say to him; "That won't happen."

Another short pause. "Grevious will take her to Dooku. Wherever he is, is where she will be. The only person who would know where he is is another separatist. Start there."

I let out a short laugh. "That's a good plan. Why are you so levelheaded right now? It is very unlike you."

I hear a laugh come from his end. "One of us has to be levelheaded, because that is certainly not how I would describe you right now, Master. I don't want you to worry about Taris, there's nothing that hunk of metal could throw at me that I couldn't handle."

"Well that hunk of metal isn't here right now so your chances of success are higher. Contact me if anything happens, try to be patient, try to be rational."

"May the force be with you, Obi Wan." Anakin says, his voice filled with understanding.

I let out a small sigh. "May the force be with you." I tell him, lowering my communicator and running back to my ship, leaving the broken village behind me.