The platform they had to reach was almost on the opposite side of the Temple. Living there as a child, Kai had loved its vast architecture. He could spend hours exploring its depths and barely scratch the surface. He often got into trouble for his unshakeable curiosity. Now he loathed the building. It was playing host to an army whose sole intention was to kill every last inhabitant. The structure had been built with ease of navigation in mind, allowing anyone to make their way from one section to another painlessly. But now this convenience was in the clones' favour. Kai and Teleek would have to choose their path carefully.
Getting to the younglings had been the simple part. Troopers had fallen like Gizka and the Jedis' speed had overwhelmed the armoured clones. But now progress was maddeningly slow. The children lacked the physical requirements to match the Jedi's pace and were extremely easy targets, especially being clustered together in such a large group. If they came across a clone; which was almost guaranteed, Kai knew he and his teacher would have to deflect every blaster bolt and from every direction. The situation was dire.
Flanking the group, Kai noticed that a few children carried training sabres. 'Master the younglings, maybe some of them could help…'
'No Kai,' Teleek replied. She did not even turn to address him.
Kai knew this meant she had already considered and dismissed the possibility.
'We are here to protect them because they cannot protect themselves,' she said. 'They might try, but they would die quickly. You've already seen an example of that'.
This stung Kai; the fresh memory burned bright.
The younglings were listening closely; anything to block out the sound of death occurring all around them. Kai hoped their disagreement would not terrify the children further.
The Younglings chattered amongst themselves. 'Example of what? What did he see? What's going to happen to us?'
Teleek stopped and turned to address the group. Adopting a soft yet hurried tone as the situation demanded, she said, 'listen to me, if we are forced into battle, stay back. Hide yourselves and let us handle the situation, we will keep you safe. Some of you have sabres; keep them at your sides unless absolutely necessary. Trying to help us will only get you killed.' She turned away and continued on while the shell-shocked younglings remained frozen.
Kai gently ushered them forward. Once more he found his teacher's tone shocking. 'Harsh and brutal is not what these kids need right now,' he thought. He realised quickly however that the situation was not suited to a patient approach. As the group hurried along toward a larger chamber, they spied a large group of clones in a distant passage. Normally the Jedi would have engaged them, but the open space and clone numbers made it too much of a risk. Besides, with the younglings now present, any combat on this scale was completely out of the question.
Teleek pulled back and looked at Kai. She shook her head, 'we have to move quickly. They will be here soon.'
Kai noticed a small access panel behind one of the children. 'Through there,' he pointed, 'it should lead us up and over them. Come on lets hurry.' He moved around them and silently removed the panel.
'Lead them through and I'll follow,' Teleek whispered as she peered around the corner again. Kai climbed in and made his way swiftly along the maintenance shaft, followed closely by the younglings. The clones were still a way off but they were making steady progress towards them.
'Come on quickly now,' Kkai urged.
Fear had stolen the childrens' voices, so silence through the tunnel wasn't a problem. Teleek took one final look around the corner. The Clones had stopped in the centre of the room, distracted by something. Unwilling to hang about, she made her way into the tunnel, closing the grate behind her. The shaft climbed steeply, but was large enough for a maintenance droid. The group made their way with little difficulty. Following the arch of the room, the shaft led them straight over the clones now congregated below.
Just as Kai was nearing the other side, there was a noise in the tunnel behind him. 'A cough maybe?' He peered behind to see a youngling's mouth covered by three of his classmates. Teleek was staring hard through a small grating, allowing her to view the troopers below. Despite the cacophonous din filling the Temple, the clones below had heard the child cough and were frantically searching for the source of the noise.
Kai motioned for the children to pass him. He met the eyes of a youngling whose hand was still covering his companion's mouth. Kai slowly peeled the child's hand away, but as soon as he did, the boy sneezed.
The clones below raised their guns and began blasting away at the ceiling. The younglings panicked and scrambled forward, trying desperately to escape this new threat. Kai was momentarily stunned, torn between staying with the younglings and engaging the clones. As he looked to Teleek for instruction; he saw that she had already taken a course of action, leaving him with one option. As soon as the troopers below had opened fire, Teleek had raised her hands and directed them at the base of the shaft, blowing it clean away. She had descended with the debris, and as trooper's yelled below, Kai heard Teleek activate her lightsabre.
Kai struggled to keep the younglings moving, but he got them through. Following the descent back down, the tunnel continued for a short while before Kai saw another panel exiting to the hallway. As he shifted it aside, a white blur soared past him and collided with a wall. The blur turned out to be a clone, only recognisable as it fell to the floor. Stretching to look in the direction the clone had come from, Kai saw troopers strewn all over the place. Some lay still with sabre wounds, while others had clearly been crushed by the force. One was bent backwards over a table, while another two lay amongst the remains of a console. Teleek was leaning against a wall, breathing heavily, her robes dancing along the wall.
'What kept you?' she joked with a half-smile. Then she grimaced and slid down the wall. Her robe bore a scorch mark just below her left shoulder. She had been hit.