Path to War (The Chosen Twins Book #2)

Chapter 17 - The Negotiations Were Short

Anakin Skywalker

The ramp lowers, and the three of us walk outside. I recognize the complex immediately. It's the droid factory. The one Obi-Wan must have found. Directly inside is a hall that leads up to a door. After the door opens, we find ourselves standing inside another corridor. At the end is another door, which probably goes into the main production area. We carefully walk along the vent, not fully certain what to expect. I can hear the sounds of the machinery, but I haven't seen any signs of lifeforms so far, which I find almost unnerving because I can sense something nearby.

"Where is everyone?" whispers Padme.

"Something is nearby," Aniya cautions, stopping, her hand inching closer to her lightsaber.

"Wait," I command. I can feel it clearer now, closer. Something unfriendly is lurking in the shadows of the mostly dark vent. I look up at the ceiling just in time to see several winged creatures fly down at us. They're form is very similar to that of insects, except they're human-sized. They're mostly brown, but their wings are a much lighter shade than the rest of them.

Reacting on pure instinct, Aniya and I ignite our blue lightsabers and swing the blades at the creatures flying towards us. There must be at least half a dozen that are attacking. I take down a few of the near ones, but as soon as one is down, a few more have already taken its place. "Run!" I shout at Padme, who takes off down the corridor to the doorway we spotted earlier.

Aniya and I dash after, lightsabers spinning about to keep the creatures at bay. They seem to be pouring in from nowhere in never-ending numbers. We dash through the doorway... only to discover that there's only a very small walkway behind it. Surrounding it on all sides is a long drop down to the production area of the droid factory. Aniya comes to a stop so fast I have to grab her to keep her from falling over the edge.

"Back!" Padme commands, realizing that there's nowhere to run here. Just as we start turning back for the door, it slams shut behind us, trapping us inside. Before I have a chance to consider cutting through it, more creatures materialize out of the machinery in the factory. Once again, I have no idea where they came from. As if that's not enough, the walkway suddenly starts retracting.

Padme falls onto the conveyor belt right below. "Padme!" I cry, grabbing for her but missing. Aniya jumps off after her, having nothing to stand on or hold onto. I catch a handhold next to the doorway with one hand, just in time to keep myself from falling as well.

Seeing there's no other option, I leap down onto the conveyor belt after them. The Geonosians start flying at us all over again. Both our lightsabers ignite once more as we begin to fight them off. One of the creatures flies up and starts shooting at me. I roll out of the way, then spin around to face it as it flies straight towards me. Aniya races up behind the creature and cuts it in half.

Farther down the conveyor belt, I spot Padme trying not to get crushed by the giant machines that keep slamming down around her again and again. We need to get over there now, but the creatures keep swooping down at me and my sister from all sides.

With our lightsabers spinning, we attempt to hurry down the conveyor belt, but we aren't moving fast enough. Another creature flies at her. In the ensuing scuffle, Padme loses her balance and falls into a giant vat right behind her. What really makes me start to panic is that the vat is heading straight towards the area of the factory that they're pouring molten metal.

"Padme!" Aniya and I yell in a panic. Before I have a chance to react, four more creatures begin shooting at us. Simultaneously, we duck everything flying our way before using the Force to throw the nearest movable objects to knock them off the conveyor belt.