The rescue team broke out into a sprint as they turned down yet another corridor. After flying out of the elevator shaft, the cockpit of the cruiser had been able to right their stabilising jets. The cruiser was yet to tip again, but the Jedi didn't want to get too comfortable. They had to get off General Grievous' ship before they had a run in with the cyborg, as they had been lucky to not cross paths with one of the most lethal separatist leaders so far.

Sol gripped the commlink in her hand in preparation for R2 to get an escape pod ready, as Anakin and Obi-wan's ships in the hanger were bound to have been noticed by droids by now. She had tried her hardest to ignore the presence of the Chancellor and was ready to get back on Coruscant, where she could stay far away from him in the Jedi Temple. Every dramatic gasp and whimper irritated Sol, and when she heard Obi-wan or Anakin ask if the Chancellor was okay, she rolled her eyes and looked off into the distance to ignore the interaction. If they asked her, Sol would say that the Chancellor didn't need to be worried about, as he was perfectly content with telling Anakin to kill Count Dooku in front of him, so a little running wouldn't hurt him.

At the sensing of something, Sol slowed her sprint and the two Jedi with her seemed to sense the same. With a hiss, grey mists dropped down in the shape of a square around the Jedi and Chancellor. The mist, although unsuspecting, ignited a deadly shock if its prisoners were to try and step through its barrier. From a projection in the ceiling of the corridor, the box of moving grey mist trapped the rescue party in its hold, and Sol didn't dare reach out to test its functionality.

'Ray shields!' Anakin cried. While the Chancellor looked at the Jedi with confusion and fear, Obi-wan let out a deep sigh at their helplessness. They couldn't under any circumstances break out of the shield as a lightsaber would be useless against its walls.

'Wait a minute, how did this happen?' Obi-wan turned to Anakin and Sol with an arched brow. 'We're smarter than this!'

'Apparently not, Master,' Anakin huffed. 'This is the oldest trap in the book... well... I was distracted.'

'Oh, so all of a sudden it's my fault?'

'You're the Master. I'm just a hero.'

Sol let out a 'ugh' at Anakin's usual arrogance and it drew the party's attention to her. While Obi-wan continued his disappointed muttering, Anakin raised an eyebrow at the woman who stood with her arms crossed over her chest. He stepped around Obi-wan, making the Kenobi back up into the Chancellor. The ray shields didn't leave much space for the group, but Anakin made sure to place himself in front of Sol and lean down into her space.

'Anything you want to suggest, Solaris?' he asked mockingly, and Sol glared up at him.

'No,' she said, before shamefully looking down at her feet. 'I barely sensed this before it happened. Usually I'm good at this stuff, but I, too, was distracted.'

'By what, may I ask?'

Sol had been partially feigning her dislike for Anakin in her reply before, but when it came to remembering Count Dooku's murder, she dropped the act. She didn't bite into Anakin's question like she usually would in front of Obi-wan, nor did she answer it truthfully like she would when they were in private. Sol just looked away and pressed her lips together; something she had been doing a lot recently. Anakin was surprised by this and straightened his neck from looking down at Sol. His lips parted at the thought of genuinely asking what really was bothering her, but in front of Obi-wan and the Chancellor, he knew it wasn't the time or place.

'Why don't we let them take us to General Grievous?' Chancellor Palpatine piped up at the silence. 'Perhaps with Count Dooku's demise, we can negotiate our release.'

'You don't know Grievous like we do,' Sol mumbled without looking at the older man. Anakin and Obi-wan looked at each other, agreeing that it was a foolish plan wordlessly.

'I say... patience,' Anakin stated.

'Patience?!' Obi-wan cried with crossed arms. 'That's your plan, is it?'

'Yes,' Anakin defended. 'Artoo will be along in a few moments, and he'll release the ray shields.'

At his mention, R2-D2 flew out from the side door further down the corridor. With an almighty yelp, the droid crashed into the opposite wall and rotated his head to face his master and fellow Jedi. The party could tell that R2 had been through the runner at the sight of the scorch marks all over his silver panels and the dents in his domed head. But just like Anakin had predicted, the droid was capable to help them out of the ray shields.

'See!' Anakin cheered confidently. 'No problem.' 

The Jedi Knight spoke too soon. From all sides, super battle droids and droidekas appeared around the ray shields and the R2 unit. With their blasters aimed, they encircled the party and made Anakin's cheerfulness drain from his face, and the hope fall from the Jedi and Chancellor. The Chancellor huddled close to the Jedi as he peered at their ambush and Sol thought better than to reach for her lightsaber and fight her way out of this. There were too many, and when she saw the super battle droid kick over a feisty R2, she knew that they were captured.

'Do you have a plan B?' Obi-wan asked Anakin in vain.

 ---

The Jedi, R2 and the Chancellor were led in bounds to the cockpit of the Trade Federation cruiser. In a line, the droids forced them into the large room that consisted of the ship's failing controls and a windshield with the battle outside. Sol could see that the Republican to separatist ship ratio was in their favour, and it wouldn't be long until the failing cruiser would lose all power from the Republic's attacks. But Sol and her party were still on the ship, and they were yet to secure an escape route.

'Ah yes, General Kenobi, the Negotiator. We've been waiting for you. That wasn't much of a rescue.'

General Grievous was a monstrosity of a creature. With the looks of droid, the cyborg had gruesome brown skin around his yellow eyes. Through his hunched over posture, the general held human insides with a beating heart and barely functioning lungs. The cyborg was constantly coughing due to a run in with Master Mace Windu, who had attempted to crush Grievous' droid breast plates with the Force. This permanently injured him, but he had gotten away with his life and continued to reign terror over the Republic as a separatist general.  

'That depends on your point of view,' Obi-wan fought back as he was brought to the general by the super battle droids. After him, Anakin was brought out with a nasty look on his face at the sight of the gruesome creature.

'And Anakin Skywalker,' General Grievous looked to the man. 'I was expecting someone with your reputation to be a little... older.'

'General Grievous. You're shorter than I expected.'

Sol was brought out next while the Chancellor was held back by two separate battle droids. As the general grumbled at Anakin's response and was handed the Jedis' lightsabers, Sol was stopped by her guarding droids beside Anakin. At her appearance, General Grievous turned his yellow eyes to her and moved his hissing joints to stand over her shorter figure.

'And Sol, the Jedi Knight with no other name,' Grievous leaned down to intimidate the woman. 'But that has not stopped you from making a reputation for yourself in the Republic.'

'I guess a name doesn't mean much, huh, Grevious?' Sol didn't back away from the closeness of the cyborg's metal face.

'It's Grievous,' he corrected angrily, but Sol just smirked.

'I know.' 

With a harsh cough, General Grievous turned away and Sol didn't flinch at the whip from his dark green robe. She heard him mumble the classic 'Jedi Scum' as he made his way back towards the middle of the cockpit. With the Jedi lined up and the Chancellor guarded, General Grievous turned to his prisoners and towered over them with his hunched figure.

'Sol, try not to upset him,' Obi-wan said with a slight playfulness in his voice. 'We have a job to do.'

'Your lightsabers will make a fine addition to my collection,' Grievous slipped his droid arm underneath his robe with their three lightsabers in his robotic fingers. Sol caught a glimpse of his humanoid organs inside his chest plates, before it was hidden by his falling robe. 

As Obi-wan continued to play with the cyborg, Sol used the commlink that she had been able to slip into the opening of her glove to communicate with R2. With the droid only being a metre away, Sol glanced down to him as she pressed the button on the commlink in a series of clicks. She was sure that she didn't need to tell R2 that they were planning to escape, but to ensure that it was a successful one, he needed to coordinate with the Jedis' attempts.

'... not this time,' Obi-wan finished and Sol finished her series of clicks.

'Artoo!' 

At Sol's command, the droid went into overdrive. With flaring mechanical arms and electric currents extending from all panels, R2 distracted the surrounding droids. The electricity that zapped in all directions proved useful as Sol was able to use the Force to direct its currents towards her bounds. She twisted to allow its shock to hit where her wrists were together and she felt their release, while Obi-wan was able to call their lightsabers from underneath General Grievous' robe. Obi-wan cut Anakin free and Sol caught her lightsaber from Obi-wan's throw and ignited its blade.

'Crush them!' General Grievous stepped back and let his two bodyguards step forward. 'Make them suffer!' 

Blasters were fired and a large commotion took place in the crowded cockpit. The bodyguards of General Grievous were revealed to be IG-100 magnaguards, and the appearance of their electricity-charged staffs made the Jedi uneasy. Anakin and Obi-wan stepped forward and Sol took it as a sign to take on the surrounding battle droids while they fought the magnas. With rotations of her cyan lightsaber, Sol cut through droids as they yelped and fired until they were dismantled on the cockpit floor. She dodged the blasts with ducks and leans that tapped into the Force for speed and accuracy. She had no issue with taking on the battle droids, but Anakin and Obi-wan were struggling to take down the magnaguards.

With swings and jabs, the guards tried to kill the two Jedi with their electrified staffs. There were many collisions of lightsabers to the purple currents, and during the commotion, Chancellor Palpatine was pulled away by his guarding battle droids. He let out yelps at the uncomfortable tugs and was helpless without the Jedi's protection.  

'Stay and watch your stations!' General Grievous cried to his droids throughout the chaos. The cruiser was taking hit after hit without its shields and the cyborg was panicking at the drops in their controls. He watched as Sol took out droids and saw Obi-wan cut off the head of his magnaguard. But as Obi-wan turned away, the magnaguard continued to swing its staff and bring the Jedi back into battle.

'Sir, we are falling out of orbit!' a droid cried from the screens. 'All aft control cells are dead.'

'Stay on course,' Grievous cried and threw a dismissive hand towards the falling of their fellow battle droids. 'Don't bother with them. Keep the ship in orbit!' 

Anakin was able to overcome his magnaguard and slices it in half. He sees that the Chancellor is being pulled down the corridor away from the cockpit and runs after him with his lightsaber raised. The battle droids threw up their hands in surrender but were cut down anyway with swift swipes of Anakin's weapon. When their parts were dismantled, Anakin cut through the Chancellor's binds and the man let out a relieved sigh.

Sol finished with the nearby battle droids and caught sight of General Grievous crouching down to pick up one of the magnaguards' discarded staff. At the same time as Obi-wan, she leapt over the centre console of screens and controls and landed behind the cyborg. The general stood up and held the staff in his robotic hands, looking in front and behind him at the Jedi that blocked his exits. 

'You lose, General Kenobi,' Grievous coughs out and Sol raises an eyebrow.

'Oh, I don't think so. You've got nowhere to go, Grevious,' Sol mocked and readied her attack.

'The ship is breaking up!' 

Sol and Obi-wan simultaneously leapt towards General Grievous with their lightsabers raised. But before either could land their blow, the cyborg blunged the staff through the windshield of the cockpit. The suction of space immediately took effect and Grievous flew out of the cruiser with everything else that wasn't tied down. Sol and Obi-wan were able to grab the centre console before they could be sucked out, and their legs were in the air as space fought for their bodies to be in its hold. 

Droids were helpess as they flew through the cockpit and yelled out in their nasal-induced voices. Chancellor Palpatine and Anakin, who were far enough away from the window to be able to hold onto something, squinted as the air rushed out at great speeds to create a form of wind. Anakin looked at his Master and Sol whose legs kicked through the gushing air, but his worry didn't lessen when he saw their grip on the centre console. He wanted to make his way over and help them away from the windshield, but it was too dangerous. But thanks to the ship's automatic protocol, Anakin was relieved to see blaster shields close over the window.

Sol and Obi-wan's legs flopped down and hit the floor with a loud clank. Their hair had been pulled back and sat in ruffled messes on their heads. Sol let out a groan from the weakness in her arms while she forced her legs to stand her body up from the centre console. She yearned for a rest, but the sound of blaring alarms and danger warnings told her that there was no time. The cruiser was beginning to fall towards Coruscant, and there was little time before it would begin breaking in its fall into the atmosphere. 

'The hull is burning up!' Chancellor Palpatine cried and rushed away from the corridor at the feeling of heat radiating through the doors.

Anakin ran to the navigator's chair and threw himself down to look at the controls. Obi-wan and Sol made their way around the centre console and sat down in the chairs beside him. Shaking off their exhaustion from the pull of space, the two looked over to Anakin for the rundown of the Trade Federation cruiser's levels.

'All the escape pods have been launched,' Anakin said in frustration.

'Grievous,' Obi-wan cursed the cyborg. 'Can you fly a cruiser like this?'

'You mean, do I know how to land what's left of this thing?' 

'Cut it, Ani, can you get us out of this alive or not?'

Anakin looked up from the screens to Sol and gave her a look, but didn't shrink away. She jutted her chin forward to the planet that sat out the front of their windshield and knew that her fear was evident in her eyes. There were billions of people living on the city-covered planet, and a cruiser this big could annihilate millions if it were to plummet without some diversion. Not only that, but Sol and Obi-wan were onboard, and Anakin cared more for them than anything.

'Well?' Obi-wan prodded and Anakin huffed.

'Under the circumstances, I'd say the ability to pilot this thing is irrelevant. Strap yourselves in.'