The Chosen Apprentice/Chapter 2

“Have you checked the perimeter?” asked Gunray.

“Twice,” said the brown-suited security officer. “Several of my men are checking the surrounding area. We will find the intruder, Viceroy.”

“You better,” the Neimoidian spat, slamming the door and kicking a few battledroids into their positions.

He looked depreciatingly at the bare walls that surrounded him. When he had purchased this villa all those years ago, shortly before the fiasco that had been Naboo, but he had not been expecting to occupy it for an extended period of time, even if at all. Yet the Clone Wars as well as the demands of Sidious and that dratted Grievous had more than bankrupted the Trade Federation.

After Sidious gave the order to deactivate all the droids, Viceroy had fled Mustafar with several of his associates. Not to escape the long arm of the Republic, but his creditors that would be hounding him the moment he set foot on a civilised planet. This small villa in the outreaches of the galaxy with the limited number of droids inside was all he had left, and he did not know where he could run to after this.

But the intruder, could that be at all connected to it? Gunray knew that some of his creditors would not be above sending bounty hunters to dispose of him. Either that, or blow up the entire house with him inside, which was why he had a security system he could ill afford to have.

Or could the Republic be after him? Gunray was well aware of the fact that each of the other Separatist leaders had either been captured by Republic agents—Jedi or otherwise—or had foolishly taken their own lives. There of course had been the idiots like Dooku and Grievous who had gone down fighting at the end of the war, and of course Sidious whose death no one had yet been able to completely explain. There were even rumours floating about that the Sith Lord was not dead, that somewhere he was alive and plotting his revenge but the Viceroy ignored this; better a dead Sith Lord than a living one still able to plan and dissemble.

With a sigh Gunray returned to his chambers and turned off the lights. There were some things that were better off not thinking about.



Unlike the young Han Solo, Anakin knew from his experiences in the Clone Wars there were better ways to get into an impenetrable building. And as far as he knew, no building in the known galaxy had yet been made Jedi-proof, despite the many boasts of architects and engineers.

Rather than trying the fence or the front gate, Anakin approached the house from underground and followed his instincts to push up a metal grate and peer around him. He was in a cellar of some kind, yet that revealed nothing yet.

Carefully, without making a sound, he slipped out and crept towards the door. A few moments of waiting revealed that his entry had not been detected, and the sharp sound of metallic footsteps above indicated the battledroids were still on patrol upstairs.

Clearly, the Viceroy was not taking any chances. Anakin knew that he could get to him, but the droids might pose a problem on the way out.

He headed out the door and then waited at the foot of the stairs, when he heard the droids pass again he silently sprinted up and retreated behind a curtain just as another pair of battledroids went past. When they were gone Anakin let out the breath he had been holding, this may be trickier than he expected.

He thought quickly, where would the power be in a house like this? Clearly it wouldn’t be outside as it could be easily tampered with and he had seen nothing in the basement he had just left. Anakin slipped out from behind the curtain and ducked into a side room, moving out of sight from the patrolling droids. He sought into the Force, trying to pin point a weak spot if there would be one at all.

Then he saw it, a wall panel like all the others along the bare wall. Yet when he pressed the upper right corner it clicked out. Anakin ducked behind the drapes in case he had been heard, yet when it was clear that nothing was coming he opened the panel. It opened easily, though the door was thick and heavy. Behind it was a solid-looking safe.

Anakin stared at it angrily as if it was responsible for everything that could go wrong. He knew he could break this open without any of the droids knowing he was there, but that would take time he didn’t have. He needed to be out of the house with the Viceroy before anyone worked out what had happened.

Then his hand brushed something strange on the door to the panel. Anakin extended it to the full, for some reason it had been heavy…

With a smile Anakin saw what he was looking for, before him was an orderly row of dials and gauges that gave him readouts of the power to the villa. There were even several switches that helpfully said ‘Droid Control’. Anakin flipped them all and waited for something to happen.



Nute Gunray was sound asleep and the door to his chamber was thick and solid. So he heard nothing of the droids starting to jitter where they stood and heard even less when they fell on the floor.

Not even the security system detected anything, as it was concentrated on the exterior of the villa and more focused on life forms to avoid the battledroids tripping off the system.



For several minutes there was silence in the house, silence not even marred by the measured steps of droids. Anakin took it that the droids were out of his way and he could now focus his attention on the Viceroy.

The Viceroy’s chamber was in the very centre of the villa guarded by a thick durasteel door. Anakin glared at it, could he cut through the metal with his lightsaber without waking the Viceroy? He didn’t think so and hit the handle in frustration.

To his immense surprise the door swung open. How typical, Anakin said to himself, so dependent on his droids that he forgets what happens when they don’t work.

Quickly, he entered the room, quickly checking for any signs of hidden weapons. Nothing, so with a triumphant smile he ignited his lightsaber and circled the blue blade over the Viceroy’s bed. As the Neimoidian’s red eyes opened in astonishment they stared at the blue blade and then up at Anakin.

“But what?…How?…” stammered Gunray.

Anakin shrugged as if it were a matter of course. “You’re under arrest.”