Clouded by the Dark Side

Chapter 20 - The Blue Shadow Virus

For those of you who have been hoping that we're going to develop Appo, I can promise that we will at some point. :D There's not going to be that much with him in this book because the focus is mainly on the twins and their padawans, but in the sequel for sure (yes there is going to be one) we're going to try to give Appo a distinct personality different from Rex's. =D 

~ Tirana Sorki

Warning: Mentions/implied child abuse! (Not in this chapter that I recall though. :P)

~ Amina Gila

Aniya Skywalker

The ship flies down low over the surface of Naboo. Together, we watch as the bomb goes off, ripping a hole through the compound for us to enter through. I stand at the edge, tensed. This is by far the hardest thing we've ever done. The entire planet is at stake. Everyone. Everyone I love is here, except Qui-Gon. One wrong move, and we'll all die.

I jump over the edge, dropping down through the hole after my twin. Our lightsabers are pulled out and ignited in unison, and I hear Appo and the 502nd landing behind us. Rex and the 501st were sent with the padawans. I glance up and down the hall. There aren't any signs of guards in the long tunnel. Two rows of relatively dim lights on either side of it are the only illumination down here.

"Looks like Ahsoka and Alema's distraction is working," concludes Anakin.

"Evidently," I agree, "Now let's get moving before they find us."

With that, we take off down the hall in the lead with the clones close behind. The hallways feel endless, as if we're not covering ground as fast as we need to be. Reaching out with the Force, I can feel Jaufre, Padme, and Jar Jar up ahead... Along with another unfamiliar Force signature. Probably the crazy doctor. At least we're going in the right direction.

Finally, the hall comes to an end in front of a door. They're right on the other side. Anakin and I cut through the door in a circle, our lightsabers finally meeting at the top before we push the door down and step into the dark room.

Padme, Jaufre, and Jar Jar are tied to a pole on the floor, and the doctor is standing not far away. My stomach twists as a memory of that tent flashes through my head. When we stepped inside only to find Mom tied to a pole, beaten and on the verge of death, and –

"Take another step and your friends die," snaps the doctor, pushing a lever down and electricity crackles into the three of them. Anger is all-consuming. It's blinding. This... isn't that. It's cold, it's calculating, it's a thirsting desire for vengeance, because no one dares hurt my family and lives. That sleemo will die, and I am going to kill him. "Drop your weapons," the doctor orders.

I'm about to start forwards, but Anakin's voice stops me. "Do as he says." He crouches to set his lightsaber on the floor, and the clones follow with their blasters. The electricity turns off the moment my lightsaber clangs to the floor, having been pulled from my hands by my brother. This is stupid. The doctor is going to hurt them anyway, and we need to stop him. The guilt nags at me, that somehow everyone I love is hurt because I'm not strong enough to stop it. That I was going to let them be hurt in my anger, and it took Anakin to stop me. Anakin is looking at me, concern burning in his gaze, but I look away, refusing to meet his eyes. I don't deserve him.

The droids are surrounding us now, and I find myself fully occupied with wondering how it would feel to crush them. The doctor walks over to a shelf and lifts a test tube, filled with a swirling cloud of the virus. He sets it in a case and turns back to us with a devious smirk, and I wonder how it would feel to punch it off his face. To feel his neck snapping beneath my hand. "I realize I won't be able to hold you for long, Jedi. I will give you a choice," he offers.