A/N: This is the result of a monthly challenge by JadeSaberat ALW: to write something inspired by Revenge of the Sith. The first plot bunny that bit me happened to be one inspired by one of the scenes when Anakin leads the assault on the Jedi Temple and... well, you'll see. Thanks for reading and, of course,reviews are always appreciated!
Disclaimer: Like most of us, I own no part of this universe and am not trying to extract profits from its use in any way except to practice writing.
Universe Insane
"Come on, Ranni!" I shout over my shoulder. Ranni's legs are a little shorter than mine, so I can run faster than her. Usually, that makes me proud, even though Master Yoda says we shouldn't take pride in things we didn't do anything to deserve, like having longer legs, but sometimes I forget. Today, though, it just makes me scared. Master Yoda says we shouldn't entertain fear, either, but I'm not really sure what he means by entertaining it…and, besides, maybe he's just never seen a Jedi Padawan – a real Jedi Padawan – being shot right down by the good guys, like we just did.
I slow down, and take Ranni's hand to help her go faster.
"Come on! We have to warn Terrin and whoever else is in the quiet room," I tell here. I like to run, usually, but today maybe I've been running too long or too fast or maybe it's the really scary things we saw in the main hall, but it kind of hurts to breathe. Ranni nods. She's really brave, even though she's a whole year younger than me.
I wave my hand in front of the panel to open the door, and then do it again. Master Yoda says impatience is bad, but sometimes I just can't help it. I bite my lip because I know I'm setting a bad example for Ranni. Master Yoda says we should always set a good example for younglings that are littler than us. It seems like forever and forever 'til the door is finally open.
"Terrin! Jorl!" I yell right away. Something in my chest squeezes, because there are at least ten people in here. And they're all littler than me and Jorl. I guess it's because we're the last age group that gets to use this quiet room; bigger younglings go in a different one when they want to study or meditate. I take a deep breath. I kind of hope it will stop me from shaking, but it doesn't.
"What's happening?" a little Tr'ghash girl I don't know says. The look on her face makes the thing in my chest squeeze tighter.
"I don't know, exactly…Master Yoda's soldiers have…gone crazy or something," I say. It sounds like a dumb, fake explanation somebody would make up so they wouldn't scare really little younglings, but it really is all I can think of. What else could possibly make Master Yoda's soldiers fight against Padawans? And kill them – with blasters! I try not to think of the Padawan I saw get shot – how his lightsaber missed that one blaster bolt, just one, and it went into his chest and he fell on the floor (it made a sound like whump!) and he didn't move so it was like he was sleeping, except his eyes were wide open like somebody who got really surprised. I can't think about that, though, or I might go crazy, too.
"But," I pause, because I have to push that awful, awful thing out of my head again, "it's really bad…and dangerous." I use a big word that I heard Master Windu say once. "Ranni and me think we should hide," I finish.
The little Tr-ghash girl's eyes get all round and big and the thing in my chest squeezes again.
"Where should we hide?" Jorl asks. His voice sounds like he's thinking really hard, which is good, because Jorl is really smart.
"Maybe the archives?" Ranni says from behind me. I am about to nod but Jorl shakes his head.
"Locked. We can't get in there without an older Padawan," he says. His face turns a little bit red and all of a sudden I remember when he told me that he tried to get into the archives to look up a bad word he heard on the HoloNet one time and Mistress Nu yelled at him. Something about not being respectable of the archives. Or respectful. He didn't remember that word exactly, either, he said. Jorl is always getting called "mischievous" by Master Yoda, too. Jorl figures it means something about getting into trouble, 'cause he does that a lot. I can tell Ranni is about to ask how he knows about the archives (sometimes I can just tell stuff about her, just like that) so I say "you're right," quickly.
"What about the Jedi Council chamber?" Jorl says. I can tell Ranni's eyes are going really, really wide like the little Tr'ghash girl's. Only somebody like Jorl would even think about sneaking into the Jedi Council chamber. Everybody is quiet for a few seconds, thinking how crazy Jorl must be to even say stuff like that. But it kind of makes sense…no one is stronger than the Masters on the Jedi Council…so their chamber would be the safest place to go…wouldn't it? Maybe the Force is so strong there that they can keep us safe even from far away. Or maybe, I think, there will even be a Master there to take care of us! That idea makes the thing in my chest get a little less tight.
Something makes a really loud sound outside and the Tr'ghash girl jumps and grabs onto my leg like some kind of crab or something. The noise reminds me that even if Jorl's idea is really crazy, it can't possibly be too crazy for today. I've already seen Master Yoda's soldiers kill a Padawan today, after all. Nothing could be crazier than that.
"Okay, let's go," I say. Ranni takes the little girl's hand and unwraps her from my leg. The other younglings seem to have figured out that bad stuff is going on and they all follow us. Terrin comes last and we all run. Everybody knows where the Jedi Council chamber is, at the very top of the middle of the Temple. It feels stranger than anything I ever felt before, having to be afraid in the Temple. Since forever the Temple has been safe and good and warm; even when we were being Mischievous, and we played at sneaking through the Temple, we never really were scared. All the Masters were always nice to us, even when we made trouble. That reminds me that we might find a Master who will protect us in the Council chambers and I run faster.
It was a tight squeeze in the turbolift because we didn't want to leave anybody behind, but finally we made it. And it wasn't even unlocked. No Master, though. The happy feeling that was starting to happen in my chest goes away like a glowrod that suddenly ran out of batteries. And it feels really weird to be in the Council chamber, anyway. I go over to the viewport and look out. The thing in my chest comes back, squeezing even tighter than before.
You can tell the universe has gone crazy when you look out there. Down by the landing docks, there are flashes of lightsabers, blue and green in the rain, mixed with red blaster bolts. A lot of the blaster bolts go flying back in the other direction when they hit the lightsaber, but there are just too many because every once in a while a lightsaber stops moving and eventually goes out. There are less and less of them. I bite my lip. I'm too old to cry, and Master Yoda says we shouldn't cry anyway.
Ranni hands the Tr'ghash, whose name turns out to be Jumay'y, over to Terrin and comes to stand next to me. She breathes in, a big "hhhhhuh" sound when she sees what's going on but I'm glad to have her close to me. Jorl comes over to stand by us, too.
"What's happening?" he says after a few seconds of looking out of the viewport. Ranni's eyes fill with tears. She is a whole year younger than us, after all.
"We saw- we saw a- a Padawan get k-k-k-" she says before she starts crying. Jorl looks at me. You don't even need to use the Force to figure out what she was going to say. I nod.
"Master Yoda's soldiers…the Republic Army…they started marching through the main hall when we were on our way to meet you guys in the quiet room, and we saw them shooting at stuff down at the other end. And then this one Padawan – one that has his own lightsaber already – jumped out in the middle of the hallway in front of a smaller one, right in front of us, and he was blocking the bolts with his lightsaber, but…but…he missed one and…and it got him right here," I say and put one hand over the spot where the blaster bolt went into the Padawan's chest. I have to bite my lip really hard to keep from crying. Even Jorl looks really worried, and I've never seen him look worried, ever. I reach out my other arm and hug Ranni, a little because I can tell she needs it and a little 'cause I kind of need it, too.
"What about the little Padawan?" he asks after another forever goes by. I look up from Ranni.
"We ran away then, but…but we heard another whump," I finally say. I try to do the sound that it makes when a real, live being falls on the ground and doesn't get up. It makes an echo in the Force, too, the kind that makes squeezy feelings like the one in my chest right now, but I can't make that feeling for Jorl. He probably doesn't need it, anyway.
That's when we hear the sound of the turbolift opening. I look at Jorl and the look on his face means he didn't notice it going back down, either. Everybody else seems to have heard it, too, because they all get really quiet, like when a Master comes into the quiet room to check on us.
"I'm hungry," one really little youngling says. It sounds really loud in the quiet.
"Hide!" Jorl says in a loud whisper. Nobody waits even a second and Ranni and I go behind the nearest chair. There's no time to think how good we are at hiding, because the door opens then. Somebody steps in, big boots clicking on the polished floor where we all where a few seconds ago. They wait. We all wait, too. Finally I peek out. And everything gets all better.
Master Skywalker!
"Master Skywalker!" I say. For a second he seems surprised that I know who he is. That's silly. Everybody knows who Master Skywalker is. Except he might not really be a Master. Jorl says he overheard something about him being on the Council but not a Master…or the other way around…something confusing, anyway. But he was a Podrace champion once, the only human who could even do it! And he rescued the Supreme Chancellor. And he won all sorts of battles. And he was the oldest Padawan ever! Maybe he'll make me his Padawan if I'm brave enough, I decide.
"Master Skywalker, there are too many of them!" That's not really what I wanted to say, I think inside, even while it's coming out of my mouth, but it comes out all by itself while I remember the lightsabers falling and going out down on the docking bays. "What are we going to do?" I ask. There. That sounds a little better. But I can't keep my voice from shaking. I don't have to be his Padawan after all, I think…if he'll just protect us from the craziness going on outside…
But even though I know I should feel happy about him being here, there's something weird about it. His eyes…they look so…weird. Kind of red and funny…and his face is weird, too. Not like the HoloNet reports at all. His mouth is all straight and thin, like he's angry. Well, even if Jedi aren't supposed to get angry, it must be okay because he's the best Jedi ever. And maybe when your own soldiers are killing Padawan's and the universe is crazy, it's okay to be angry.
I wish Master Yoda was here, I think all of a sudden. That's weird, too, because why would anybody ever not want Master Skywalker to be with them? But this is almost like a different Master Skywalker from the one on the HoloNet because a really bad, cold, scary feeling makes me shake really hard and the thing in my chest squeezes tight again. His blue lightsaber comes out all of a sudden, as straight as the line his mouth makes. Oh, good, now he's going to protect us.
A flash of blue, like lightening, and Ranni makes the worst sound I ever heard. She's on the floor and still like she's sleeping or playing dead, but her eyes are wide open…we never knew that dead people keep their eyes wide open when they die, so I guess we always did it wrong when we played dead in games…wide open like somebody who got really surprised. Like that Padawan.
No!
The thing in my chest squeezes too hard, so hard it makes everything burst like a star exploding…or maybe it's the flash of blue lightening that goes right by my face. Then the universe goes dark forever.