Assassin (A Star Wars Fan-Fiction) Book 4

Chapter Fifteen

Anakin didn't have a chance to speak before Obi-Wan could sense what he was thinking. In the blink of an eye, he'd spun on his heel and drawn his lightsaber, eyes narrowed at the man who used to be his best friend. Denali gasped and nearly shouted in anger at her husband for doing such a thing, but then felt the concern and terror growing within Anakin's mind. Her eyes widened and her face lost its color.

"No, Anakin."

Only two words, that was all Obi-Wan had needed to get his point across.

Anakin drew his lightsaber.

"Both of you, stop," Denali pleaded as soon as the weapons were displayed and stood between the two men. She could feel the heat radiating from their blades, but did her best to hide her fear. She knew they were both unstable when it came to their emotions and beliefs. Obi-Wan had lost so much in so little time, and Anakin was just trying to fix the mess Denali and her husband had started. And both men believed the other to be in the wrong. "Please, we can talk this over. It doesn't have to end like this. No one has to die! They're just infants!"

"Step aside, Denali," Anakin's tone was warning, but slightly saddened as well. He didn't want to kill her, not after getting her back when he believed she'd been dead. Not after getting her back when his padawan had left the Order as well and finding out his wife was pregnant. She could've been the support he needed to get through this complicated switch of events. Denali could've changed everything. "I don't want to hurt you."

"I won't let you," Obi-Wan replied in a similar tone and pulled Denali to his side. "I won't let you hurt my family. Be smart, Anakin. We don't want trouble, just let us take our children and we'll disappear. The Jedi don't have to know about this."

"I know you two can sense it," Their eyes found the bacta tank farthest to the right, where little Kalani appeared to have aged three whole months since the last time Denali had seen her babies, less than a day prior. The age acceleration was working at a rapid pace with the triplets, faster than any of the other clones produced by the Kaminoans. "You know it isn't like the other two. It's too dark, too..."

"Her name is Kalani," The babies' father corrected his old apprentice, his narrowed expression turning into a glare. His grip on Denali tightened and, though she never liked looking the weak one, she wrapped her arms around his middle. "I agree that the energy around her isn't comforting, but she deserves a chance to prove us wrong. Murdering a child is something unforgivable, Anakin. Don't make this mistake."

"Please, Ani," Denali begged once more. "You know more than anyone not to judge a child based on their background."

Something inside Anakin snapped.

"Excuse me?" He couldn't believe what she'd said, what she was implying towards himself. "My background has nothing to do with this situation, Denali." She knew she'd struck a cord that wasn't meant to be struck and shook her head, then tried to speak.

"Anakin-" 

"I was a slave and that thing is a being cloaked completely in darkness, there's a big difference." The Jedi master fumed, though he tried to keep his emotions in check. The last thing any of them needed was a reason to abandon hope of talking and jump into a fight.

"What Denali was trying to say," Obi-Wan began, his tone a little more civil than it had been before, though he hadn't put his lightsaber away and had no plans to. "Is that your future was just as shrouded when you first came to the Jedi Temple as a child. The Council knew the force was strong in you, just as the force is strong with Kalani. All we need is a chance to prove your thoughts wrong."

"That 'chance' could be the difference between life and death-"

"It is the difference, Anakin!" Denali's hands were balled up at her sides, fists shaking and her eyes wild with the protective, instinctive rage of a mother prepared to fight for her young. "My baby is innocent! She has done nothing to earn a death-sentence! She hasn't technically even been born yet! How can you stand there and think child-murder is excusable if you have a bad suspicion about that child? That would be the same if someone decided to kill Boba because they had a suspicion he might turn into his father someday!" 

Before Anakin could counter and the argument could continue, the floor beneath their feet began to quiver as the familiar echo of canon fire filled the air. The three teetered back and forth to keep their balance in an attempt to stay standing as the whole facility began wobble. 

"What's happening?" Obi-Wan lost his hold on Denali when the floor jolted upwards, then began to lean as if the building were rolling over onto its side. The ceiling lights flickered rapidly with each burst of canon fire and the glowing of the bacta tanks became just as unstable. Red lights on the side of the incubation devices flared to life and Denali gasped. "We're losing power! Obi, the bacta tanks can't run without power!"

The mother was on the verge of panic; her hands flew rapidly over the control panels in hopes of finding the right switch to put the machines on standby, before they could lose power completely. Beads of sweat dripped down her forehead and standing was almost impossible with each attack of energy against the side of the facility. She couldn't lose her children, not after coming this far.

The room was nearly completely on its side when the wall to their left cracked open like an egg and a wave of water rushed through the gap.

**********

"Sink the facility? What do you mean, sink the facility?"

Those had been the last words of the Kaminoan controlling the cloning facilities' defenses. 

It didn't take long to figure out that the newest batch of Denali and Danik clones had gone rogue and were now uncontrollable. Master Fisto knew cloning force-sensitive individuals was always a risky business and possessed the threat of revolt. They were dangerously unpredictable with no way of maintaining order. To sum it up, they weren't the kind of army Lord Sidious was looking for.

So he didn't hesitate to hijack the cloning facilities' main canons and turn them on itself.