Chapter 12 - A Car Chase, Just Like The Movies
"Long and lonesome"
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It was dark when Padmé had finally decided to turn in for the night to get some rest. Anakin had urged for it consistently for most of the afternoon, but the Naboo Senator was adamant until she was too exhausted to stay awake any longer. Aurelia had assisted her friend to bed, making sure she was comfortable and without stress. She had programmed R2 with Anakin to scan for any movement during the night. Further, still, Captain Typho had installed security cameras within the bedroom for the Jedi and his security detail to keep an eye on the Senator. Padmé and Anakin were hesitant toward the idea but had no control over the decision.
An hour passed and both Anakin and Aurelia were content with the way things had been progressing. Padmé was sound asleep and breathing peacefully to escape the worry of the conscious. Her servants and assistants were comfortable in another room, half-awake for any emergency that would require their assistance. And as for the three Jedi observing the entire plan, they had been calm and at peace. Well, most of them. Anakin and Aurelia remained in the common room to keep a look out during the night, but Obi-Wan had traveled down to the control center to check in with Captain Typho.
Resting on the couches with the lighting dim, Aurelia yawned long and hard, for what she thought was the hundredth time. Anakin was pacing back and forth by the glass door to the balcony, his brows furrowed as they gazed upon the tablet he held in his hands. Although, when he heard Aurelia yawn yet again, his eyes drifted from the tablet and locked on his friend.
"You should sleep, Aurelia. You've had a long day." He reasoned.
Aurelia shook her head as another yawn encroached within her lungs. "No, not yet. I can't sleep until this job is done and Padmé is out of harm's way."
Anakin lowered his arms and sat beside her. "Aurelia, you're not going to be much help if you're tired. You'll be sluggish and you might be put in danger yourself. You must rest, for the sake of your life and others."
Aurelia stared at him long and hard through tired, droopy eyes. She was reluctant to leave her post but Anakin had been right. She would be no help to them if she was not at her best and that meant that she'd need to get some rest herself. She sighed and turned away from him, gathering a blanket from beside her as well as a pillow. "Alright, Ani. I'll sleep."
Anakin smiled and patted her back, but Aurelia's attempt to lay down was quickly squashed when Obi-Wan re-entered the room with a quick step in his stride. "Captain Typho has more than enough men downstairs. No assassin would try that way." He reported, sliding his brown cloak off his shoulders to be placed on the back of one couch. Then he looked up to his two padawans who had stood from their seats to greet him. "Any activity up here?"
Anakin was the first to speak. "Quiet as a tomb. The only activity would be Aurelia's constant yawns." He glanced toward her.
She smiled sheepishly but yawned yet again. "Sorry." She apologized, her eyes becoming even heavier than before.
Obi-Wan gazed upon her, his eyes soft, taking in her tired appearance. He reached his hand to her forehead and felt for her temperature, which happened to be perfectly fine. "You must get some sleep, Aurelia." He advised her. She nodded and plopped herself onto the couch once more.
"I know." She sighed, almost in a whisper, not bothering to cover herself with the blanket. She only grabbed the pillow and cuddled with it, a smile of contentment and peace spread upon her cherry lips. Obi-Wan chuckled out a breath, taking the blanket and spreading gently over her. He remained to hover over her for a few moments longer, taking in her beautiful scent. It was a perfume she used that was imported from Earth. It was the smell of crisp wood like a forest in the morning dew, mixed with an ocean breeze and the foamy spray of the shore. She told him that it was the same scent that came from the woods which she had played in as a child, just off of the cliffs that overlooked the crashing ocean below. The pictures he had seen of her home were most charming and peaceful, just like her. It only made him feel all the more saddened that she had been taken from such a beautiful place which she was most suited for. It was where she was meant to be.
Or was that only for a time? He thought, straightening out his back to turn back to Anakin who gazed upon him with furrowed brows. Does home come and go with time? Or does it stay as one stable place? Is home merely a location to travel to or is it deeper? These are the thoughts that Obi-Wan pondered and wondered about ever since the first time Aurelia had reminisced about her home planet with him.
"What are you thinking about, Master?" Anakin asked, knocking Obi-Wan out of his thoughts as they both walked to some computers on a table.
Obi-Wan shook his head. "Nothing important. What have we got?" He redirected, grabbing a tablet to look over.
Anakin looked out upon the dazzling view of Coruscant's nightly lights out of the window. "I don't like just waiting here for something to happen to her." He mentioned, crossing his arms over his chest and glancing from the bedroom door to the sleeping princess on the couch.
Obi-Wan nodded, clicking buttons on the tablet, only to receive a long beep. "A busy signal? On the cameras? What's going on?"
Anakin rose his head to his master. "Ah, she covered the cameras." He said, shooting a glance toward Padmé's door, then back at Obi-Wan. He breathed out a laugh. "I don't think she liked me watching her."
Obi-Wan sighed, annoyed at what the Senator had done, rashly. "What is she thinking?" He pondered, walking toward the hall of the bedroom while Anakin leaned against the window.
"We programmed R2 to warn us if there is an intruder."
"There are many other ways to kill a senator."
"I know, but we also want to catch this assassin, don't we, Master?" Anakin turned back on him, catching Obi-Wan off-guard.
He turned to Anakin, slowly walking toward him. "You're using her as bait."
"It was her idea." He deflected. "Don't worry. No harm will come to her. I can sense everything going on in that room. Trust me."
Obi-Wan's frustration began to rise. "It's too risky, Anakin. It's not just Padmé's life we're dealing with. It's Aurelia's as well. I don't want to take any chances. Besides, your senses aren't that attuned, my young apprentice."
"And yours are?" Anakin challenged.
Obi-Wan's head snapped to him, and his eyes narrowed. "Possibly."
Anakin shook his head and turned away from the older man, making a quick glance at Aurelia before walking out onto the balcony to gain some peace and quiet, for he too was tired as Aurelia was, but was just as adamant to rest as she was. However, his master noticed his tired eyes and observed him from behind with his arms crossed over his chest. Obi-Wan watched him solemnly, mourning the connection he wished to further have with his padawan. He didn't mind the playful banter they had every once in a while, but lately, Anakin began to grow ever more irritable than before. And Obi-Wan knew why.
"You look tired." He told Anakin with a softer gaze as his arms remained crossed over his chest reflexively.
Anakin glanced back at his mentor and breathed out a heavy sigh. "I don't sleep well anymore."
"Because of your mother?" Obi-Wan inquired, praying that Anakin would open up to him as much as he did with Aurelia.
Anakin stared at him blankly, flicking his eyes around the dark yet glowing atmosphere of the city. Then he nodded. "I don't know why I keep dreaming about her."
Obi-Wan glanced to the side, puzzled at what to say next. He wasn't an expert at personal conversations, especially with someone he had been feeling quite distant from in recent days. Aurelia had been more of the personable one, and a good friend to talk to and express anything they had on their minds. Anakin would regularly take up the offer, but Obi-Wan discouraged the arrangement under the instruction of the Council. However, as Obi-Wan had predicted, the two friends didn't care and continued to talk privately in their room late into the night. He didn't bother to separate them or discipline them for disobeying, though he knew it was against the Council's wishes. He guessed it was the Earthly human nature drifting onto him after being around Aurelia for so long. But he never spoke about it and kept it treasured in his heart.
"Dreams pass in time." He told Anakin as he slowly approached him, a bit on edge, though he tried his hardest not to show it.
"That's not what Aurelia says." He mumbled.
Obi-Wan began to grow irritated further with Anakin. "It shouldn't matter what Aurelia says."
Anakin whipped his head to his master as rage began to surface in his eyes. "Aurelia is one of the smartest people I've talked to about feelings and dreams and life. She told me that my reoccurring dreams could mean that something is coming. That God is giving me a glimpse of something I should be aware of." He yelled at Obi-Wan, though he tried to keep his voice quieter. "Maybe I should go to my mother on Tatooine and check on her."
Obi-Wan shook his head, trying not to let the truthful words of Aurelia invade his Jedi mindset. Her words were like a virus of truth, yet they all went against the Jedi way. Obi-Wan had tried to correct the girl, which she followed immediately, but then returned to her same old ways of talking the next day. It was frustrating, especially as her teacher and advisor, but he knew her heart was set on her ways. There was only one problem with that. She'd never become a Jedi Knight until she conformed to the Jedi way of living. And that, Obi-Wan was certain, was something that Aurelia could not do.
"Anakin, you know you cannot do what Aurelia is suggesting. It is against the Jedi Code to have attachments. Even to your own mother." Obi-Wan spoke, though he heard his own voice about a mile away from his heart and mind. He wasn't fully accepting his own words, yet he had to for the sake of the greater peace. For the Jedi.
Anakin sighed in annoyance and turned his head away, moving passed his master, into the room once more. "Either way, I'd much rather dream about Padmé" He answered, completely ignoring Obi-Wan's words. "Just being around her again is...intoxicating."
A bit shocked at what his padawan had revealed to him, Obi-Wan fell behind a step but quickly regained his stride matched with Anakin. "Be mindful of your thoughts, Anakin. They betray you. Just as I have mentioned before, you've made a commitment to the Jedi Order, just as Aurelia has, a commitment not easily broken." Then he murmured under his breath. "Although it seems to be easy for the people from Earth." Then he turned to Anakin once more as they neared the hall toward Padmé's bedroom. "And don't forget, she's a politician, and they're not to be trusted."
Anakin scoffed and stopped, turning to the Jedi Master with annoyance lining his facial features. "She's not like the others in the Senate, Master." He expressed.
"It is my experience that senators focus only on pleasing those who fund their campaigns, and they're in no means scared of forgetting the niceties of democracy in order to get those funds," Obi-Wan advised in a very know-it-all manner that aggravated Anakin even further.
"Not another lecture." He complained with a rough exhale.
"Anakin is right." Came a tired voice from behind. The two turned and came face to face with Aurelia who had been awakened by their argument. "Not all politicians are terrible, you know."
"Aurelia," Obi-Wan came to her, attempting to lightly turn her back toward the couch, "we're sorry if we woke you. You can go to sleep again." He urged her. However, she pulled her arm away from him in defiance, as she was known for between the trio.
"No. I'm not tired anymore. I've been listening to your conversations and I have to side with Anakin." Obi-Wan stared at her with hurt eyes, but she had to make her point known and attempt to persuade the Jedi Master. "Padmé isn't a normal politician hungry for power and influence in the Senate. Her heart is set on the good of her people and the good of the galaxy. For goodness sake, she risked her life to travel here in order to vote against any Republic acts of violence or war in this dispute with the Separatists. Anakin has been choosing incredible friends and people to surround himself with, but you keep on shooting him down, just because he's getting too close to someone. It's ridiculous, I tell you! Utterly, ridiculous!" She yelled, progressively becoming louder and louder as she went on in her rant. Obi-Wan, at this point, wasn't as concerned about what she was saying, but rather how her volume had increased.
"Aurelia, please-" Obi-Wan began but Anakin cut in on her behalf.
"No, she's right." He said, resting a gentle hand on her shoulder. "You're generalizing. The chancellor doesn't appear to be corrupt." Aurelia turned to Anakin, her brows furrowed. Although he and the chancellor were becoming close friends, she had her doubts about the old man. He seemed a bit sly and gave more interest in the Jedi affairs than she felt comfortable.
"Palpatine is a politician." Obi-Wan deadpanned. "I have observed that he is very clever in following the passions and the prejudices of the senators." Aurelia stuck out her bottom lip and nodded in some sort of agreement, grabbing the attention of Anakin, who stared at the two with a questioning gaze.
"I think he's a good man." He attempted to reason. "My-"
Just then, a strange tingling feeling rose through their spines. Something was wrong. Dead wrong.
All three of them whipped their heads toward the disturbance and both Anakin and Aurelia knew that they had overlooked one spot. The bedroom window. "Padmé." They said to each other in unison before sprinting off down the hall.
"Yeah, I sense it too, guys." Obi-Wan nodded to himself and quickly caught up with his two padawans.
Anakin and Aurelia barreled down the hall, swiftly opening the bedroom door. As soon as they entered the darkened room, they both ignited their lightsabers with their beautiful sizzle and the glowing color of blue and gold painted the walls in light. First, Anakin leapt into action and flipped over Padmé's sleeping body, slicing a large centipede-like bug or parasite, as far as Aurelia could tell, in two. Pushing his hand out as he landed on the bed next to Padmé, Anakin flew the second creature Aurelia's way and she sliced down with her golden blade on the screeching thing. Disgusted, Aurelia grimaced at the sight and turned to Anakin and Padmé, who had flung awake with a jolt. She breathed heavily from the scare but watched wide-eyed as Obi-Wan entered just behind the two younger Jedi, looking about for the source of a whirring sound. And there, hovering just outside the window, was a probe droid waiting for its mission to be completed.
Aurelia shot her eyes to her master as his footsteps quickened behind her and then his body hurdled toward the window. "Master! No! Don't-" But he had already crashed through the window and grabbed the droid before he fell to the oblivion that was the ground several hundred if not thousand, stories below. Hanging onto the droid for dear life, he scurried away into the busy skyline of Coruscant city. Aurelia breathed out a sigh and turned to Anakin as he scurried off the bed. "I hate it when he does that." She told him with her thumb pointed behind her.
"I know you do." He laughed short and tugged her along with him out of the room. "In that case, we should probably find something to follow him in before he slips and falls to his death." Just then, Padmé's servants and Captain Typho ran into the room to assist the senator. Aurelia nodded to them as they passed her and Anakin, but quickly refocused herself on what she needed to do most. Save the man who had saved her life.
The two partners sped their way down to the building's hangar and jumped into a yellow speeder that Anakin had hand-picked. Aurelia trusted him with his preferences of any galactic mode of transportation, especially ones he knew had the speed to do what they needed. And with this decision, he mentioned to her that the yellow speeder they had hopped into would catch up with their master at twice the speed.
With jerky movements that almost gave Aurelia whiplash, Anakin pulled out of the hangar and sped off into the Coruscant nightly rush hour. Generally, Aurelia didn't mind Anakin's piloting, but when he was in a rush, she almost couldn't handle it. This was why she mostly preferred Obi-Wan as her pilot. Nevertheless, she and Anakin darted their eyes around the skyline and each highway, searching for their flying master, or falling. Although Aurelia didn't like the thought of Obi-Wan falling to his death, so she chose to be optimistic.
"There! Anakin, there!" Aurelia gaped, hitting his shoulder repeatedly until he caught sight of Obi-Wan's flying body. He glided the speeder into a banking left turn and chased their master as he clung tightly to the droid. Aurelia watched in terror as the droid led him through highway traffic in the wrong direction, endangering the civilians in their respectable vehicles. She could sense his nervousness but surprisingly had managed to keep himself calm and collected throughout the entire chase.
Just then, a blaster bolt hit the droid and Obi-Wan began to fall. Aurelia gasped and motioned in urgency for Anakin to dive. "Dive, dive, dive! Get under him! I'll search for the source of that blaster shot." She told him and twisted in her seat just as he began to tip the nose of the speeder downward.
"That was a long-range shot. It was a special type of sniper blaster. Military-grade. Look for tall buildings with balconies." Anakin yelled over the sound of the raging wind.
Aurelia looked around her, only ever seeing tall buildings. "Anakin, we're in a city. There are only tall buildings!" She shouted back at him. He laughed and patted her back as they dove faster and deeper, passing several rows of highway lanes. "Be careful over there!" She warned the pilot who wasn't paying attention to how much the speeder rocked with every dodge.
"Sorry, just trying to save our master over here-"
"Found him!" She screamed and planted herself back in her seat. "He's traveling left. Let's pick up Obi-Wan and blast in that direction. He must be the killer if he sniped the droid." Anakin nodded and got underneath their master, swooping up gently enough for Obi-Wan to grab ahold of the rear. Anakin waved his thumb back to him and Aurelia nodded. She grabbed Obi-Wan by his arms and used all of her strength to pull him into the speeder between her and Anakin. With a relieved and tired sigh, Aurelia then rested her head on her master's shoulder. "Please, don't ever do that again." She requested breathlessly.
Obi-Wan breathed in deep and wrapped an arm around her, bringing her close. "I won't. At least, not in front of you." He joked, earning a tired chuckle from his padawan. He rubbed her arm as the wind whisked passed their faces and rested his chin on her forehead. She could feel each individual whisker on his face brush over soothingly, to which she sighed once more and breathed in the refreshing scent that he always retained. But then he turned to his other padawan, the reckless one, and shook his head. "What took you so long?" He asked sarcastically. Aurelia giggled and left his embrace to observe this transaction.
"Oh, you know, Master. I couldn't find a speeder that I really liked..."
"There he is!" Obi-Wan pointed as they rounded around a building and caught sight of the sniper's speeder.
"...with the open cockpit and the right speed capabilities," Anakin reported rather breathlessly as he pulled the speeder up to the level their supposed killer was speeding away in. Aurelia laughed at his joke, which Anakin smiled proudly about. However, Obi-Wan placed a hand over her mouth to silence her.
"Don't encourage him." He advised her, which only made her laugh harder and pry his hand away from her mouth. Their master turned to Anakin and gave him a stern look. "If you spent as much time practicing your saber techniques as you do your wit, you would rival Master Yoda as a swordsman."
Suddenly, Anakin jerked the controls evenly and Aurelia's stomach flipped with adrenaline. "I thought I already did," Anakin responded.
"Only in your mind, my very young apprentice," Obi-Wan told him. Anakin glanced to his right and caught bit her his master and his best friend with the same smirk plastered on their faces.
"You got 'very' this time. It's not just 'young' anymore, Ani." Aurelia mocked with a cackle and fist-bumped Obi-Wan.
The dialogue was cut out for a few minutes after that as they focused on their pursuit. They weaved in and out of traffic then followed the sniper into the higher atmosphere of the city, and then back down into a steep dive. This dive seemed like an extreme rollercoaster to Aurelia who was laughing like a mad man, but not so amusing to Obi-Wan who was grasping onto the leather seat for dear life. Deeper and deeper the speeders fell, the ground growing ever closer. At one point, Obi-Wan grasped Aurelia's arm, which knocked her out of her fit of laughter. They glanced at each other, but Aurelia only burst into laughter again at her terrified master.
Miraculously they had dodged through several layers of traffic as they chased the whistling speeder down. However, a large cruise ship floated in the way, blocking the path for the Jedi, and cutting off their close tag. Obi-Wan continued to squeeze the life out of Aurelia's arm but remained stoned-faced.
"Pull up, Anakin. Pull up." He yelled over the noise. Instead of listening, Anakin continued to dive and laugh, but eventually pulled up just inches before they would crash into the side of the large ship. They swerved but Anakin steadied them out and burst after the escaping ship again. Obi-Wan glanced back at the ship that could've been their doom, and turned around, visibly shaking. "You know I don't like it when you do that." He told Anakin gruffly. He took Aurelia's shaking hands in his and rubbed them to stop the adrenaline flow. Instantly, Aurelia warmed, but mostly due to her heart rate accelerating and the heat that rose to her cheeks.
"Sorry, Master." Anakin apologized, but Aurelia could hear the taunt in his tone. "I forgot you don't like flying." And there it is!
"I don't mind flying, but what you're doing is suicide!" Obi-Wan yelled, as they swerved into the deeper industrial side of the city with furnaces ablaze and smoke pouring out of the exhaust stacks. Aurelia practically choked on soot and contagious smoke as Anakin weaved through the fire.
Ahead of them, the sniper pursuant pulled out of blaster pistol and shot at two stacks that glowed a dim purple. He passed through them just before the purple sparked and created an energy field between them. Aurelia saw it first, pointing directly at it as they sped onward. "Watch out!" She shrieked.
"Anakin! How many times have I told you-" Obi-Wan was cut off as purple energy bolts electrocuted the Jedi and buzzed them into a frenzy. "-stay away from the power couplings!" He turned to him and nodded with his cheeks pinched as his lips formed a flat line on his face. "That was good!" He finished his scolding, only to feel an arm fall limply onto his leg. His attention turned away from his reckless pilot of a padawan and focused on the unconscious one beside him who leaned into his shoulder, a char mark scorching her cheek. "Anakin! You've gotten Aurelia electrocuted!"
Anakin's smile vanished almost immediately and he glanced at them. "Is she all right?"
"Keep your eyes on the assailant! I'll care for her." He instructed Anakin while he checked her pulse. He let out a breath of relief. "She's okay. Just asleep." Anakin breathed out a sigh and watched as the killer turned sharply into a tunnel. Obi-Wan examined Aurelia further but found no other injury except for her cheek. He gently wrapped an arm around her waist to keep her steady as Anakin speedily passed the tunnel. "Where are you going? He went that way." He nodded to the tunnel.
"Master, if we keep this chase going any longer, that creep is gonna end up deep-fried, and, personally, I'd very much like to find out who he is and who he's working for." Anakin expressed sternly with a hint of determination. "This is a shortcut. I think." He doubted himself slightly as he rounded a building.
They traveled in circles for a few moments more, before coming to a stop in a clearing. "Well, you've lost him." Obi-Wan sulked as he readjusted himself with Aurelia, who was slowly rousing.
"I'm deeply sorry, Master." Anakin spat as he looked around their speeder for anything, using his sense to pick up what they had been following somewhere nearby.
"That was some shortcut, Anakin. He went completely the other way. Once again, you've proved-" Obi-Wan went off, letting Aurelia prop herself up and rub her eyes. However, they both turned their attention as Anakin climbed out of the speeder.
"If you'll excuse me." He pardoned himself before dropping down into the abyss.
"Anakin, no!" Aurelia screamed, but he was already out of hearing range. Obi-Wan scooted over to the pilot's seat and leaned over the edge on his arm.
"I hate it when he does that." He sighed then turned to Aurelia, the black scorch mark ever prominent on her right cheek. "Now I know what that feels like." He chuckled at her. She snorted and nodded, sitting back in the passenger seat as her master swerved down after Anakin. "How are you feeling?" He yelled over the wind.
"Energized." She laughed. "Being electrocuted is a very interesting experience, but not one I promote."
He smiled at her sarcasm and quickly caught Anakin's lightsaber just as it had flown out of his hand below them. Aurelia watched in worry as Anakin struggled against the assailant, hanging onto the speeder with the extra boost of adrenaline pumping through his veins. He grabbed ahold of the sniper's blaster that he had been shooting at Anakin, then shot into the intricacies of the engine. The speeder caught on fire and began to fall fast. Obi-Wan kept a close eye on the flaming speeder and chased after it, watching as his padawan was thrown off the speeder and rolled to his feet in a crowd of people that gathered around vendors on the street. That's when Aurelia and her master lost sight of him and the flaming speeder as it crashed.
"There he is!" Aurelia spotted Anakin dart through the crowd, but she couldn't find the culprit. Obi-Wan brought the speeder to a smooth stop and parked it by a curb. Together, they climbed out, although he was a bit adamant at how fast she had tumbled to the ground. She reassured him that she was fine and ran ahead to find Anakin.
Obi-Wan caught up with her and spotted his padawan quickly. "Anakin!" He shouted, gaining his attention just before he entered a nightclub.
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A/N: Hey guys! Thank you all for reading chapter 12! I just wanted to let you know a few things. One, updates are going to slow down a bit as I am writing another story at the same time as well as juggling summer school work. Two, I will be offline all of next week because I'm going to Hume Lake Christian Camp with my church! I'm super excited! Anyways, other than that, I hope you all have a wonderful day and thank you again so much for reading! Love you all! ❤️
- 7/6/22
~ 4932 Words