Above it all, R2-D2 wasn't watching his mechanical friend. He had spied his Mistress Padme and went in fast pursuit.
Padme flailed and rolled about the belt, scrambling to her feet, then diving back down low. She backpedaled, then rushed ahead suddenly to scramble under thumping pile drivers, machines slamming metal molds down hard enough to shape the parts of a heavy gauge droid. She dived under one stamper, then scrambled back to her feet right before another, backpedaling furiously, waiting for the precise moment as the heavy head went back up along the guide poles.
And then a winged Geonosian swooped upon her, grabbing at her and throwing her off balance. She used just enough of her attention to free herself momentarily, then hoped she had estimated right and burst forward suddenly, diving and crawling fast, and came out the other side just as the pile driver thundered down.
Right onto the head of the pursuing Geonosian, stamping it flat. Padme, facing yet another stamper, didn't even see it. She managed to roll through safely, but just as she emerged, a winged creature reared up right in front of her, wrapping her in its leathery wings and grabbing at her with strong arms.
Padme wrestled valiantly, but the creature was too strong. It flew off to the side of the conveyor and then unceremoniously dropped her. Padme landed hard inside a large empty vat. She recovered quickly and tried to scramble out, but the vat was deep and without handholds and she couldn't extract herself.
Anakin, battling furiously with a swarm of winged Geonosians, and all the while scrambling to avoid the deadly stamping machines, still managed somehow to see it all. 'Padme!' he cried as he came through a stamper to see disaster looming. There was no way he could get to her, he realized immediately, and the vat into which she had fallen was fast moving toward a pour of molten metal. 'Padme!'
And then he was fighting again, slashing aside yet another of the winged creatures, watching all the while in horror as his love neared her doom. He fought wildly, beating the creatures away, scrambling desperately for Padme and calling out to her. He crashed through another assembly line, sending droid parts everywhere, then leapt another belt, crossing the factory room toward Padme, who was still struggling helplessly, as she moved ever closer to the pouring molten metal. He thought he might get to her, might leap with the Force, but then he passed too close to another machine and a vise closed over his arm, mechanically moving it into position before a programmed cutting machine.
Anakin kicked out, both feet slamming a winged creature that had pursued him in, knocking the Geonosian away. He struggled mightily against the unyielding grip of the machine and managed to turn enough, just in time, to avoid the cutting blade-with his arm, at least. He could only watch in horror as the machine sliced his lightsaber in half.
And then he looked back, realizing that in a moment, the lightsaber would be the least of his losses.
'Padme! 'he cried.
Across the way, R2-D2 had landed near Padme's vat. He worked frantically, slipping his controller arm onto the computer access plug, then scrolling through the files.
R2-D2 coolly continued his work, trying to put aside his understanding that Padme was about to become encased in molten metal. At last he succeeded in shutting down the correct conveyor. It stopped short, Padme less than a meter from the metal pour. She barely had time to register relief-a group of winged creatures swooped down upon her and gathered her up in strong grabbing arms.
Anakin, kicking away another of the creatures, continued to struggle with the machine gripping his arm. He could only watch in dismay as a group of deadly droidekas rolled up and unfolded into position around him. And then an armored rocket-man dropped before him, with blaster leveled his way. 'Don't move, Jedi!' the man ordered.
Senator Amidala sat on one side of the large conference table, with Anakin standing protectively behind her. Across the way sat Count Dooku, Jango Fett positioned behind him. It was hardly a balanced meeting, though, for Jango Fett was armed where Anakin was not, and the room was lined by Geonosian guards.
'You are holding a Jedi Knight, Obi-Wan Kenobi,' Padme said calmly, using the tone that had gotten her through so many Senatorial negotiations. 'I am formally requesting you turn him over to me now.'
'He has been convicted of espionage, Senator, and will be executed. In just a few hours, I believe.'
'He is an officer of the Republic,' she said, her voice rising a bit. 'You can't do that.' 'We don't recognize the Republic here,' Dooku said.
'However, if Naboo were to join our alliance, I could easily hear your plea for clemency.'
'And if I don't join your rebellion, I assume this Jedi with me will also die.'
'I don't wish to make you join our cause against your will, Senator, but you are a rational, honest representative of your people, and I assume you want to do what's in their best interest. Aren't they fed up with the corruption, the bureaucrats, the hypocrisy of it all? Aren't you? Be honest, Senator.'
His words stung her, because she knew there was some truth in them. Just enough to give him a modicum of credibility, enough for Dooku to entice so many systems to join in his alliance. And of course, the reality of the situation around her stung her even more deeply. She knew that she was right, that her ideals meant something, but how did that measure up against the fact that she would be executed for holding them? And even more than that, how did her precious ideals hold up against the fact that Anakin would die for them, as well? She knew in that moment just how much she loved the Padawan, but knew, too, that she could not deny all that she had believed for all of her life, not even for his life and hers. 'The ideals are still alive, Count, even if the institution is failing.'
'You believe in the same ideals we believe in!' Dooku replied at once, seizing the apparent opening. 'The same ideals we are striving to make prominent.'
'If what you say is true, you should stay in the Republic and help Chancellor Palpatine put things right.'
'The Chancellor means well, M'Lady, but he is incompetent,' Dooku said. 'He has promised to cut the bureaucracy, but the bureaucrats are stronger than ever. The Republic cannot be fixed, M'Lady. It is time to start over. The democratic process in the Republic is a sham. A game played on the voters.
The time will come when that cult of greed called the Republic will lose even the pretext of democracy and freedom.'
Padme firmed her jaw against the assault, consciously reminding herself that he was exaggerating, playing things all in a light to give himself credibility. All she had to do to see through the lies, to see the fangs beneath the
