Destruction of the Innocent (Anakin Skywalker)

~26~

   We make a break for the elevator and ride it up to Temple spire. I push Gilly behind me as the elevator doors open, then Padme and I make quick work of the guards. We almost round the corner into another group of them standing watch in the hall.

I hold my hand up and we crouch out of view. While I count the odds, Padme reaches around me with her blaster but I lower it.

"No, don't. You'll draw too much attention", I whisper and shake my head. I look back to them."Besides, I'm hoping at least some good soldiers are still in there somewhere."

My gaze hits the ground and I find a piece of rubble near me. I pick it up, then threw it across from me into some bushes. As planned, it drew their attention away long enough for us to crouch run down the hall.

    Once we made it around the corner, I sensed no one else and stood. They followed me and we began stepping around fallen soldiers on the boardwalk. I looked around the city, and no longer saw the mysterious ship on the horizon, but a few tie fighters zipped around in the air.

It was so eerily silent, I heard my heartbeat in my ears. I look back down to watch where I was walking and froze. There before me on the ground, was who I thought was Rex.

     "No, no, no", I mutter as I kneel down to him and pull his helmet off . Then I sigh in relief when I realize it was'nt him.

his eyelids cracked open a bit and he turns to me,

"Forgive me, Princess", he barely croaks, then his eyes fall shut one last time.

I bit my lip and nod, trying to not let tears escape my eyes. Gently, I lift his head and put his helmet back on. I kiss the top of it.

"All is forgiven", I whisper. 

It was all so fast.

I stood to walk away, but another clone comes back to life and grabs my ankle. I gasp and fall back into a broken pillar. Padme had aimed her blaster at him, but a blue lightsaber blade in his heart beats her to it.

The clones grip on my ankle becomes limp and he rolls back onto the ground.

Somewhere high above me, a chunk of the pillar comes hurling down towards my head. But a strong forearm and metal hand covered in leather raises to meet it. The rock breaks into dust above him. He scrunches his eyebrows together but says nothing,  and he lowers his arm to his side again.

I turn to look and inches beside me, is  Anakin Skywalker towering over me-the same hard expression on his face. It turns condoled for a split second then he masks it once again. 

"Come on. They'll have heard that", he mutters huskily. He turns and begins stepping carefully around the bodies.

     Immediately, my mind goes back to my Father telling me he was under investigation just earlier that night.

  I hesitate, looking him up and down in suspicion as Padme and Gillian follow close behind.

He turns over his shoulder to me,"Or you can stay with them. Your choice."

He walks away without another word, and I turn over my shoulder to see that guards had in fact returned to their post. With a roll of my eyes, I begin following him back to the main Spire.

As he pushes the door open to the conference room, 4 faces turn to see us. There were a few staff still working on tracking beams and looking for signals on nearby planets.

"I found them", he states and walks to stand by Obi Wan.

"Took ya long enough", Ahsoka says, hands on hips.

"My love!", called the man I did'nt recognize. Padme flies into his arms and he squeezes her tight.

Colonel Matthew Allard: Padme's husband and a good man. He often worked with my Father on many battles and worked along side us Jedi Knights.

"Oh thank God!", my Father says. He rushes forward to hug me, but I grunt in pain and he pulls back.

"You're hurt?", he eyes my shoulders. I sense Anakin's gaze on me for a second then his eyes snap back down to the hologram again.

"I don't have the luxury right now-they have my Mother!", I say"The Dead Sector. And they have all the younglings as well...They're going to question them about what they know."

The fear and anger I see flash behind his eyes is real. His jaw tightens and he lets me go, walking back to the table. He switches the key off and the tracking beam for the  

"Gillian?', Padme calls behind her. Gilly jumps from a chair and races to her side.

       We push out the double doors and into the hallway. A couple guards on duty turn to us but they are quickly taken out.

We work our way to the garage and file into our ships. I sit up front with my Father as a co pilot and start the engines. Across the way, Ahsoka, Obi Wan and Anakin do the same. Padme, Echo and Matthew take a seat in the back and check in to see who is still around.

The door to the hanger opens and we inch our way towards it. Along the way we dodged a few blasts from enemy cannons but made it out with haste. Then we hit hyper speed towards the outer rim-Obi Wan's ship in tow behind us.