Assassin (A Star Wars Fan-Fiction) Book 4

Chapter Twenty

Master Yoda was in the middle of a lesson when the universe went to hell.

The class of thirteen younglings was split into two groups, just as it had been when Master Skywalker was at Yoda's side instead of Mace. The lesson that day was about keeping their minds open and to stay focused, regardless of what else could be happening around you. Lessons like these were somewhat tricky, especially when it was both equally important to be mindful of your surroundings. But Master Yoda was pleasantly surprised to see that his students were taking the new knowledge quite well. Yes, a few had questioned his teachings when they recalled their sessions with Anakin, who stated it was critical to stay aware of the objects, buildings, or individuals around you. But they seemed to catch on with each passing minute.

Master Yoda's group of six concentrated on dealing with distractions as they 'fought' the floating duel spheres that would shoot a blaster shot in their direction. The objective was simple: deflect the shots from hitting yourself. But the task became much harder when the students waiting their turn were told to taunt the small individual at hand. With their peers clapping, stomping, whistling, and making fart noises with their mouths, it became much more difficult to remain serious and determined.

Master Windu's group were taken out into the courtyard for their half of the lesson, which was quieting their minds and opening them up to their surroundings. For the most part, the group of seven picked a spot beneath a large tree in the center of the courtyard, sat down, and meditated. Mediation was one thing the younglings despised the most, since each child was anxious to learn combat and force-using tricks. Meditation was something the kids didn't exactly jump up and down with excitement for.

The children were on their fourth round of distracting each other when the disturbance rippled through the force. It felt as if an avalanche of stones had fallen onto his shoulders, burying the old jedi master like he'd been shoved into a grave. He pressed his wrinkled three-fingered hand to his heart and his wooden cane clattered to the floor.

Though, ironically, the children were too busy distracting one another to notice the shift, one of them caught sight of Master Yoda's condition and approached the teacher with wide, concerned eyes. Little Maris slightly extended her arms towards him, knowing that he was in a state of shock and could easily fall without the support of his cane.

"Master Yoda?" Her voice was shaky, frightened by the vulnerable sight of her teacher as he tried to gather his bearings. "Are you alright?"

He didn't have a chance to reply before the classroom's door slid open and a squad of clones open-fired on the students.

**********

Anakin drew his lightsaber and stood protectively between the senators and the clones standing at the doorway, blasters set to kill instead of stun. The jedi's weapon hissed to life and gave off its usual bright blue glow.

"What's going on here, boys?" Anakin questioned warily. Padme instinctively put her hands over her stomach to try and guard her unborn child, though she knew there wasn't anything her flesh could do to block blaster fire if the troopers decided to act. "What's your squad name? Who gave you the orders to barge in here, blasters drawn?" He demanded to know.

Padme's eyes were on the clones standing between them and their escape, but her focus changed from the current scene to what was happening behind her back. Bail's hand had gently flattened against her spine, grabbing her attention long enough to slide his secret firearm into her grasp. He knew he was in no shape to start a fight, and he was also aware that Padme was a much better shot than he. With Anakin able to deflect shots and Padme able to go on the offensive, their odds of survival were much better.

The sound of the blasters' safety clicking off echoed through the room.

"We don't answer to you anymore, jedi."

The clone trooper spit the title like it was venomous before signalling his buddies and pulling the trigger. The flurry of shots was easily deflected by the experienced jedi's movements, as Anakin had expected. Bolts of blue bounced off his lightsaber blade and burned into the apartment's walls, leaving scorched marks in their wake. After getting his blood pumping and his adrenaline fired up, Anakin began to deflect the shots back at his newly found enemies, taking each soldier out one by one.

When there were only two left, his defending was cut short by a thin, silver weapon poking out from under his arm and aiming at their assailants. Twice it was fired, and twice its aim was true, nailing both clones in the chest and knocking them off their feet. The jedi would've been lying if he said he wasn't surprised to turn and see his pregnant wife standing at an angle, her right hand holding her weapon steadily and her eyes narrowed in concentration.

"Lets go," Bail walked over to the fallen clones and started looting for any spare ammunition they could possibly use. "We'll have to steal a ship from the hanger if we want to get out of here in one piece."

"But they weren't aiming for you two, they were after me," Anakin returned his lightsaber back to his belt. 'Confused' wasn't a good enough word to describe the way he was feeling right then. His eyes found the clone corpses scattered across the floor and his mind wandered to his own clone commander. What was going on? Were those just defective clones? Or was something bigger in the works? 

"Regardless, we should get somewhere safe until we know what's happening with the soldiers," Padme pulled the sleeve of her dress down to hide the gun in her hand, then nodded to Bail. "3PO and R2 can get my ship and bring it to the platform outside, you and I should check on the other nearby senators and see if they know what's going on."

"No, you shouldn't-"

"You need to lay low, Anakin," Padme cut him off. "Wait in here for 3PO and comm us when he arrives. We'll come as soon as we get the signal, hopefully with a few of our allies who might want to escape as well."

The two were gone before Anakin could put up a fight.

*********

Kota's starfighter was in motion before Kalani had even entered it. The infant was hovering in mid air, thousands of feet above the waters of Kamino, when her father reached out to pull her back towards himself. His fingers had barely skimmed the hem of her blanket when Kota let go of his force-grip on the child, letting her plummet towards the ocean below. 

Her father would've jumped down after her, but his heroic rescue was quickly ruined when Kota's ship charged down after the falling newborn and swept her up from harm's way.

There was nothing he could've done but watch as the rest of his family was taken from him, flying up into the atmosphere and disappearing into the cold abyss of space.