LITTLE RICH GIRL
Chapter Fourteen
Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Qui-Gon
found the lowest level of the palace. The room was as wide as the palace
itself. It was a war bunker for the people of the palace. Within a few moments,
the room was being filled with frighten people. Anakin ran to the wall with
Padmé. More and more people came in. Padmé held onto Anakin tightly, breathing
heavily, tears streaming down her face. She looked around. Some people were on
there knees, praying. Others were holding onto each other.
Back in the shielded area outside
of Theed, the people could see the fires, explosions, and ships hovering over
the city. Sola was wrapped in her husband’s arms, crying. Jobal watch with
nothing on her face--no emotion. Ruwee, however, had tears in his eyes. His
daughter was somewhere in that fire. To himself, he said a prayer. He asked for
Anakin to protect his daughter. He would leave it up to the fates for Anakin to
hear it.
The room was getting crowded with
people. Padmé was being pushed around by people trying to get by. She looked at
Anakin.
"Ani?" She still had
tears in her eyes. He looked down at her. "I’m scared." She cried. He
kissed her forehead and brought her closer.
"You won’t die," he
said softly.
Outside, a small band of droids
found the power source of the city. They put a couple of bombs in it. After the
timer went off, the power source blew and all the lights of Theed went out.
Thousands of cities were without power already.
People in the room screamed. But
the palace had a second power source that came from the waterfall. The lights
were dim, but they had light, nonetheless.
Up in orbit, Dooku looked out a
window and then looked at a timer. He tuned his head and nodded. A creature at
a desk started to press a few keys, then a big button.
In the room under the palace, the
ground shook again, and people got louder. Qui-Gon knew what it was.
"They’re launching the
warheads," he said. Padmé grabbed tighter to Anakin, and Anakin responded.
The warheads outside of each city
took off. In orbit, Dooku could see them traveling from one place to another.
It only took one warhead to wipe out an entire three thousands leagues of land.
The room got quiet as people
heard something. Before anyone could react, a warhead hit the city of Theed.
The palace shook, and Anakin pushed Padmé to the ground, shielding her with his
body. A seismic wave ran threw city. People could feel it run right under them.
It stopped, but the palace groaned. People looked up, and they could hear the
walls cracking. The whole palace caved in on itself. People screamed as they
felt rumbling and heard concrete and steel coming down on them. But it stopped.
People looked up, and they could hear cracking. Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Qui-Gon
looked at each other.
"If we don’t do something,
we’re going to die," Obi-Wan said. The lights flickered. They would not
stay on much longer. Anakin looked at Padmé.
"Stay here," he said,
and kissed her on the lips. He got up and followed Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan.
"Ani! Ani, come back! Come
back!" she cried out to him. "Please, come back!" The three Jedi
got to the center of the room.
"Think of a dome
shape," Qui-Gon said, and the other two nodded. People screamed. For a few
moments, nothing happened, but then the cracks became louder. Anakin, Obi-Wan,
and Qui-Gon got to their knees in a circle and concentrated as the ceiling
above them came down.