Star Wars_ The Dark Lord Trilogy - James Luceno [96]
Before Obi-Wan could reply, twenty battle droids hurried into the room through the door behind him. Whirling, he deflected their first barrage, then fought his way to cover behind a heap of dismembered droids, where Anakin joined him.
In the hope that Dooku was listening from afar, he shouted: “Whatever happens here, Dooku, your Confederacy is finished! The Republic has all of you on the run—even your master, Sidious.”
More droids appeared.
To Dooku, this was nothing more than a game, Obi-Wan told himself. But if it was a demonstration of Force ability Dooku wanted, then Anakin was still more than willing to provide it.
“Dooku!” he howled.
With such force and wrath that the ceiling of the vast hall began to collapse.
Hurry, Threepio,” Padmé said over her shoulder. “Unless you want the Senate to be your final resting place.”
The protocol droid hastened his pace. “I assure you, Mistress, I’m moving as quickly as my limbs permit. Oh, curse my metal body! I’ll become entombed here!”
The broad, ornate hallways leading from the Great Rotunda were packed with Senators, their aides, staff members, and droids, many laden with armloads of documents and data disks, and in some cases expensive gifts received from appreciative lobbyists. Blue-robed Senate Guards and helmeted clone troopers were doing their best to oversee the evacuation, but, what with the warbling sirens and flying rumors, alarm was beginning to yield to panic.
“How could this happen?” a Sullustan was posing to the Gotal next to him. “How?”
To all sides of her—among Bith, Gran, Wookiees, Rodians—Padmé heard the same question being asked.
How could Coruscant be invaded?
She wondered, as well. But she had more to worry about than Coruscant.
Where is Anakin?
She reached for him in her thoughts, with her heart.
I need you. Come back to me—quickly!
Grievous’s strike was impeccably timed. Many delegates who might not have been on Coruscant had come to hear Palpatine’s State of the Republic address, and had remained onworld to attend the endless parties that followed. In light of the surprise attack, Palpatine’s reassurances seemed even more woefully premature now than when he had uttered them. And despite the fact that the Supreme Chancellor’s optimistic remarks had been echoed throughout the Great Rotunda, Padmé couldn’t help notice that many of her peers were surrounded by cadres of bodyguards, or sporting body armor, jet packs, or other emergency escape devices.
Clearly Palpatine had failed to lull everyone into complacency.
Thirteen years earlier Padmé could have claimed to be one of the few dignitaries whose homeworld had succumbed to an invasion and occupation. Targeted by the Trade Federation, Naboo had fallen to the Neimoidians; her parents and advisers were arrested and jailed. Now she was just one of thousands of Senators whose worlds had been similarly invaded and ransacked. Regardless, she refused to accept that Coruscant could fall to the Confederacy—even with the home fleet reduced to half its former strength. Word of mouth had it that buildings in the Ambassadorial Sector had been toppled, that battle droids were surging through Loijin Plaza, that midlevel skylanes overflowed with Geonosian Fanblades and droid fighters … Even if the rumors proved true, Padmé was convinced that Palpatine would find some way to drive Grievous from the Core—again.
Perhaps he would recall battle groups participating in the Outer Rim sieges.
That meant that Anakin would be recalled.
She chided herself for being selfish. But didn’t she have the right? Hadn’t she earned the right?
Just this once?
Thus far, the Senate Building was unscathed. Nevertheless, Homeworld Security felt it prudent to move everyone to the shelters deep beneath the hemisphere and the enormous plaza that fronted it. With most of the autonavigation lanes congested, it wasn’t as if anyone could flee Coruscant. And there was always the likelihood that Grievous would single out civilian targets, as he had done on countless occasions.
Jostled by the surging crowd,