Sandstorms were common on Tatooine. Any sane inhabitant of the desert planet would not be caught dead outside during a sandstorm, should they want to spend the next week scrubbing sand off skin and out of clothes and hair.
This sandstorm was fiercer than the rest, covering the entire Jundland Wastes and stretching as far as Mos Espa. On a lonely bluff overlooking the desert patch belonging to a certain Owen Lars, a man sat at the window, watching the storm fly by.
Tatooine had brought a sense of peace for ex-Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. It soothed his tormented mind and gave him something to take his mind off things. Sandstorms, like everything, passed on. His memories did not. Could not.
"I HATE YOU!" Those words would echo in Obi-Wan's mind for as long as he lived. The patched up tunic could not completely hide the singed holes from that fierce duel on that hellhole of a planet. The everyday chores of a hermit could not erase the pain of his former friend's last words.
It was something Obi-Wan would have to face for the rest of his life. The few who have left in shameful exile, he thought We are the last of the Jedi.
Okay, so here's how it is: About how-many-thousands of years ago, priests on the planet Tython (that's right, planet) discovered this big uber-power called "The Force". Certain people of certain species (yah, species, getting bored yet?) would have a strong connection to this "Force". Together, they formed the Jedi Order. Our primary weapon was a lightsaber, a laser blade sheathed in plasma energy that emitted from a metal tube-handle. Yes, our primary weapon. Over time, certain members of the Jedi Order turned to the Dark Side of the Force, using it for evil intentions. Originally known as Dark Jedi, they became the Sith Lords, masters of the Sith species, though later on, they just became the Sith Order.
The order was led by warlords known as "Darth something", each having their own unique name, like Darth Revan and Darth Nihilus. Eventually, about 1000 years ago after a climactic battle on the planet Ruusan, the last Sith Lord, Darth Bane decided that there should be only two Sith Lords, a Master and an Apprentice. One to lord over power, and the other to crave it.
A Galatic Republic formed around the same time the Jedi Order fought its first major war against the Sith. The Jedi became the peacekeepers of the Republic, answering to the Republic Senate and the Chancellor.
Okay, still with me here? So then around twenty years ago, a Sith named Darth Maul emerged during a regular negotiation to stop a blockade of the planet Naboo from the Trade Federation. But the Jedi had though the Sith extinct since the Battle of Ruusan. Two Jedi, Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi, engaged this Sith Lord in the palace of the capital of Naboo, Theed. Qui-Gon was killed, but Obi-Wan managed to kill the Sith Lord. Honoring Qui-Gon's dying words; Obi-Wan took on a Force-sensitive nine-year-old former slave from the planet Tatooine, Anakin Skywalker. His connection to the Force was so great, that it was believed that he was the Chosen One, one who was prophesied to bring balance to the Force.
Ten years later, an assassination attempt on Senator Amidala from Naboo, who was the Queen during the blockade I mentioned earlier, occurred immediately after her arrival on Coruscant to object against a Military Creation Act that would allow the Chancellor to create an Army for the Republic, as many systems were ceding from the Republic and joining the Separatist movement of a former Jedi, Count Dooku.
Anakin and Padme Amidala had met during the Naboo Blockade and now, ten years later, began to fall in love. I was just a Padawan then (A Padawan is an apprentice to a Jedi Knight or Master. After a certain amount of time or a heroic deed, the Padawan becomes a Jedi Knight), but I heard from rumors circulating in the Senate about something going on between them. After Obi-Wan was captured during an investigation on the planet Geonosis by Count Dooku, Anakin and Padme went to rescue him, only to be captured themselves. Dooku, the Trade Federation, and many other rich unions had formed together and were creating a droid army. 200 Jedi, including myself, went to Geonosis and prevented the three hostages' death in an arena. All but around 20 of us were killed. However, we were saved by the Grand Master of the Jedi Order, Yoda, and a clone army that seemed to have sprung out of nowhere.
The assassination investigation that Obi-Wan had started had led him to the planet Kamino, which was curiously erased from history. The Kaminoans were apparently renowned cloners that lived in sterile cities on their ocean planet. On Kamino, Obi-Wan discovered ten years beforehand, Master Sifo-Dyas of the Jedi Order had ordered a clone army for the Republic from the Kaminoans. The template for the clone army was a bounty hunter named Jango Fett, who was responsible for the assassination attempt. He had been hired by the Separatists. According to Master Kenobi, Fett stated that he had been hired not by Sifo-Dyas to be the template, but by a man called Tyranus. So far, all evidence suggests that either Fett was lying or Sifo-Dyas and Tyranus may have been associates or the same person. This was the army that Yoda brought with him to Geonosis. Thus started the Clone Wars.
For many long years, the Clone Wars dragged on. Anakin became a Jedi Knight and Obi-Wan a Master on the Jedi High Council. Finally, the Separatists made a bold move and captured Supreme Chancellor Palpatine on Coruscant, prompting a rescue mission led by Anakin and Obi-Wan above the skies of Coruscant. Sneaking aboard the Separatist flagship, Anakin and Obi-Wan rescued the Chancellor and Anakin killed Count Dooku (who had cut off his right arm during the Battle of Geonosis).
However, the Jedi Council began to sense a plot to destroy the Jedi. The Dark Side of the Force surrounded the Chancellor. In fact, just before the Battle of Coruscant, the Jedi Council had been on the verge of discovering Dooku's Sith Master, a man previously thought to have been one of Dooku's lies. The Council believed that the Sith Lord, Sidious, was in Palpatine's inner circle. From what I was able to recover, they ordered Anakin to spy on Palpatine, who in turn, playing on the fact that he had almost raised Anakin, ordered Anakin to be his representative on the Jedi Council. Anakin was on the Council, but was not made a Master, something unheard of.
After Obi-Wan killed General Grievous, the cyborg leader of the Separatists since the death of Count Dooku, four Jedi Masters; Mace Windu, Saesii Tiin, Kit Fisto, and Agen Kolar went to arrest the Chancellor and make him give up the emergency powers he had been granted during the Clone Wars.
It took me a long time to discover the truth, but as it turned out, Palpatine was a Sith. He had been Darth Maul's master and Count Dooku had been his next apprentice. Palpatine's Sith name had been Darth Sidious. Sidious killed Tiin, Fisto, and Kolar mere moments into the duel, but Windu held out and finally got the upper hand. However, Anakin showed up and was tricked by Palpatine into crippling Windu, after which Palpatine blasted him with lightning and threw him out of the window, sending him falling to his death many thousands of feet below.
Anakin then led an assault on the Jedi Temple. All over the galaxy, Palpatine issued a command to the clones: Order 66. This failsafe said that the Jedi had turned against the Republic and the clones were to execute them. We Jedi, having relied on the clones for so long, were caught unaware. While Anakin and the 501st Clone Legion decimated the Jedi in the Temple, the clone armies murdered their Jedi generals in cold blood. But not all of the Jedi were killed. Some were not in the company of clones and escaped. Others escaped by skill, hiding, or renouncing the Jedi Order. That's where I come in. My name is Arin Destrayn, and this is my story...
Once, teachers had taught hundreds of eager students in its classrooms. Now, dust and rubble littered the floors.
Once, the hum of life had been so rich in its halls, with friends greeting each other and others scurrying back and forth. Now, Imperial stormtroopers patrolled the blasterfire-marked halls.
Once, they had been a proud order of peacekeepers and protectors. Now, they lay rotting in massive graves or hiding in some godforsaken part of the galaxy. Betrayed by one of their own, they were nothing.
The Jedi Temple lay mournful and desolate amidst the bustle and hum of Coruscant. Imperial stormtroopers patrolled the hallways and entrances, searching for any Jedi too emotional to hide his or her true status.
It was widely believed that Operation: Knightfall had eradicated the Jedi presence on Coruscant, but this was not the case. Many instructors and students had escaped via the Temple Precinct or by maintenance tunnels extending into the Underworld of Coruscant.
Those few who did not believe the story were either the exiled Jedi or those who sympathized with their cause. Both could often be found in front of the still blazing Temple entrance.
"You have one shot" Kensei had told him "Don't let your emotions overrule your head. Get the data and get out. However, if you find anything that indicates that Jedi have been there, take note of it."
A squad of stormtroopers was patrolling one of the entrances to the Jedi Temple. It was evening, and the men were itching to get back to the garrison. Tales of Jedi ghosts, seeking revenge against their former soldiers were common in the barracks, despite their superiors' efforts to stop them.
Suddenly, the commander saw a form materialize out of the darkness. "Halt!" he ordered as the squad formed a semicircle around the man.
The commander could now see he was a human male, probably in his late 17's or 18's. An ancient bronze-colored rusted T3-series astromech droid was strapped to his back, showing carbon scarring from countless battles and various nicks and dents.
"This area is off limits to civilians. Move along" the commander warned. The man smiled.
"Why is that?" he asked with mock surprise.
The commander growled "The Jedi Temple is off limits. Everyone knows that. And the only ones snooping around here are Jedi, or those who want to capture Jedi for the money. I'm inclined to believe you're the first."
"Sir, how do we know he really is a Jedi?" asked one of his troops. He was a new recruit and was mocked for his cautiousness.
"By my lightsaber!" Arin roared. In one fluid move, he unstrapped the droid from his back, Force-called a lightsaber hidden in his belt to his hand, and decapitated the recruit. The rest of the squad backed away, firing their blaster rifles. Arin backed away too, deflecting the bolts in a continuous whirl of blue energy.
The droid had been forgotten by the stormtroopers. He rolled up to one and jabbed him in the leg with his shock arm. Minuscule tendrils of electricity snaked up the troopers leg, caused him to drop his rifle in panic. The droid turned his head, and unleashed a burst of fire from another arm. The rest of the squad dropped their blasters and shielded their faces from the intense heat. That was when Arin made his move.
He Force-leaped up and vaulted over the troopers heads. Landing behind the commander, he stabbed him through the back. The commander gave one look at the glowing blade that had grown out of his chest, and collapsed dead.
The other troopers were still half-blind from the bout of flames, and were no match for the Jedi, though one managed to land a lucky shot on his forearm.
As the last one fell to the ground, Arin was panting heavily. Turning to the droid, he said, "I know you're four thousand years old, but you could at least have done something after that flame thrower trick." T3-M4, former companion to Revan and the Jedi Exile, survivor of over four thousand years, and one of the last two crewmembers of the Ebon Hawk that still functioned, gave a happy chirp and began gliding towards the Temple.
Rain storms were rare on Coruscant, but this one had broken through the troposphere and poured all over the former Galactic City, now Imperial City. On a bleak landing pad by the 500 Republicas, what looked like one of the GAR Consular-class Republic Cruiser sat lonely and desolate, much like its inhabitants.
The Infinite Void, once a battered grey Consular-class cruiser with green battle stripes, had served many battles in the Clone Wars, right up to the Battle of Coruscant. It now resembled a drastically disfigured Dynamic-class freighter. Now, its crew sat in the formal dining room, staring at holos of the death of the Jedi Temple.
Kensei Rakenta, a veteran Kel Dorin and the head of one of the last pockets of Jedi exiles, kept on activating his lightsaber, staring into its sea-green blade as if he could see the ghosts of the hundreds of Jedi wailing for vengeance, and deactivating it.
"Would you cut that out?" asked the Weequay to his left. Doth Marosk was a Jedi Knight who had lost his Padawan to Operation: Knightfall, the codename for the attack on the Jedi Temple.
Suddenly, a young human female with long wavy brown hair and a greasy flightsuit ran into the chamber. "We've managed to intercept a transmission from the Temple patrol garrison. They say that one of their patrols was killed by some mad Jedi and a haywire assassin droid!" At this, everyone smiled. Clearing her throat, the young woman continued, "They're sending heavily armed patrols into the Temple right now to flush Arin out. He doesn't stand a chance against all those stormtroopers!"
Cursing, Kensei stood up. "Alright, let's go rescue that fool of a Jedi, again. Doth, you and Garyn will come with me. Just because he doesn't have Masters breathing down his neck doesn't mean he can carve up clones like hunks of meat!"
The Room of a Thousand Fountains lay dead and silent, its fountains dried up as if they had lost their water weeping for the many Jedi who had died in its once beautiful sanctuary.
Blood still stained the Temple in here, lying in crimson patches all over the floor, marking where countless Jedi fell.
A squad of stormtroopers marched past the Jedi Archives, casting furtive glances over their shoulders. Not too long ago, it was rumored that many of their comrades were killed by the vengeful spirits of Jedi Masters Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Arin waited until the squad disappeared behind a corner before scurrying toward the Archive double doors. These were still ajar, preserving the very moment when the 501st came marching into the Jedi Archives, slaughtering the countless instructors, students, and Madame Nu.
"Teethree, begin searching the computer banks. Find out why Emergency Code 913 was switched off and by who." Arin said out of the corner of his mouth. As Teethree rolled off to the computer archives, Arin drifted over to the data-shelves. He could see the marks left by countless Jedi trying to destroy data. Sadly, their efforts had been in vain, for they had not even succeeded in destroying half of what the Archives held.
As he made his way back to T3-M4, his foot connected with a small cylindrical object. Picking it up, he realized it was a lightsaber. Not just any lightsaber, but Madame Jocasta Nu's blue ornate weapon, which she had dropped when she was killed by Anakin Skywalker.
The sound of footsteps sent him into a running dive behind a damaged desk. Peering over it, he saw a squad of stormtroopers equipped with night-vision visors advance slowly into the Archives.
"Swore I heard something…" one of them muttered.
"Quite!" snapped the commander "You two, check out the computer banks, see if our little intruder is snooping around back there."
"Look sir, a droid!" One of the troopers had found T3-M4. "Well look y' here. A T3-series astromech droid. You don't find those lying around often." The commander mused.
Arin counted silently in his head. Three…two…one…LIGHTS OUT!
The commander fell in an unconscious heap as Arin leaped on top of him, sending the commander to the floor. Holding his lightsaber to the commander's neck. Arin barked out, "Surrender, or I'll tear open his jugular!" The troopers hesitated for a moment, before realizing that Arin was bluffing: His lightsaber had been damaged when he jumped the commander, taking the full brunt of his leap.
"Nice try Jedi…" a trooper sneered. Suddenly, he threw himself backward and smashed into the wall…wait, he was pulled back, but not by anything visible.
The sea-green blade of a lightsaber sliced through another trooper before the squad could register the sudden demise of one of their comrades. A glowing blue blade took out another trooper, but now the squad had regrouped.
Not bothering to use stealth anymore, the crew of the Infinite Void materialized all over the Jedi Archives. At least, some of the crew. Three Jedi, including Kensei and Doth, and two smugglers, Illen Grift; a Lethan Twi'lek slicer; and Myra Fenns, pilot and notorious markswoman, leaped down and surrounded the clones. In a couple of minutes, they had decimated the squad.
"Next time…" Kensei wheezed while he attempted to catch his breath "Stealth."
The Infinite Void had been one of many Consular-class cruisers to go through the Charger c70 refit, adding five turbolaser batteries, one mounted on each opposing side of the central fuselage and one mounted on the stern behind the communications array. Arin had customized the cruiser heavily, ripping out the entire interior fuselage and enlargening it, adding more crew quarters and cargo holds, as well as a training room. A small three fighter hangar had been grafted onto the starboard fuselage.
The hyperdrive had been replaced with a much more advanced one, which had been tweaked by T3-M4. Two concussion missile launchers had been added between the three aft engine pods. The small hangar bay now occupied one of the former droid holds in addition to its original area, now housing five Eta-2 Actis Jedi starfighters. Two new shield units had been installed: a
Perhaps the oddest customization was the welding of a Wayfarer-class medium transport onto the port side.
The Wayfarer-class was designed with a detachable portside section originally intended for modular reconfiguration, allowing it to load a passenger section, a hangar bay, or cargo module into an armature extending from the starboard section. Production costs forced Kuat Systems Engineering to scale back their plans and create only the hangar bay module, which served as cargo space for most owners, who generally did not carry or store starfighters. A few prototypes and custom builds of other modules existed, but were hard to find, limited primarily to bulk commerce corporate shipping operations centered on well-developed metropolitan planets like Coruscant. However, Kensei had managed to procure one prior to the execution of Order 66.
The hangar module now stored the Jedi's small Jedi ambassadorial shuttle and an aged but modified Whitecloak Jedi Fighter, as well as two speeder bikes in the back storage space of the hangar. The cockpit had been gutted and refitted to act as a mini-Jedi Archive, storing the data that the Jedi onboard had gathered, now also including what T3 had managed to recover in the Jedi Temple.
The full crew compliment was twelve Jedi Knights, Master, and Padawans, two ancient T3-series astromech droids, five R2-series and three R3-series astromech droids, two pilots, and five smugglers skilled in various professions.
After their minor skirmish in the Jedi Temple, the crew of the Void found themselves in a game of cat-and-mouse with three Venator-class Star Destroyers and two Acclamator-class Assault Cruisers.
"We just took a direct hit to our port stabilizer!" Illen roared as he and the bridge crew swiped at the smoke pouring from exposed and sparkling circuitry, coughing heavily. Garyn, a former Gran employee of the Commerce Guild until he had stumbled across incriminating information, commed Arin from his position inside the top turbolaser turret.
"I count eight ARC-170s and twelve V-wings on an intercept course!" Garyn warned "Men, pick your targets, but conserve the missiles. Aim for the proton torpedo magazines. One shot to those and the entire fighter goes nuclear. Try and clip their wings if you can."
"Alright birds, it's time for plucking!" roared Toven Fere, their weapons master and gunsmith. Streams of blasterfire began pouring out of his laser turret, sending the Imperial fighters scrambling.
Aryn winced as the console above his head exploded. "Prepare to jump to hyperspace!" He roared, sending the ship into a tight spiral.
"With these fighters on our tail?" Illen roared back "No chance. They'll easily plot our course!"
"The ship's being blown apart!" Aryn said, ignoring Illen and punching in the coordinates of a small, out-of-the-way system. As if to emphasize on his words, the communications array was blasted off and flew into infinite.
Illen sighed and ordered the crew to strap themselves in. The ship shook and whined for a few moments before disappearing into lightspeed.
23 hours before the end of the Clone Wars…
Wind whipped Elin Maros' face as the Republic Gunship he was hitching a ride on landed on one of the many bridge cities of Cato Nemodia. Next to him, Ithorian Jedi Master Thenta Cheena cursed as a concussion missile detonated a few feet off their port side. "General Koon has called for assistance." Commander Gears reported. Then he tapped his helmet, as he received another message "Yes…when? Right now? How many?...I see…we'll take care of it." He turned to Maros. "Two battalions of Super Battle Droids have just overrun one of our artillery outposts. Admiral Foreway has ordered our task force to destroy the Separatist forces." Nodding his head in approval, Maros watched as the Gunship, along with two others, turned and headed for one of the southern bridge cities that dominated the Cato Nemodian landscape.
The first thing that came to Maros' mind was the stench. Not of bacta, molten metal, or that smell that comes when you allow a wound to fester for a couple of hours, but of death and foreboding. Beside him, Master Cheena gripped his lightsaber. He senses it too, Maros realized.
On the ground, the last few ARC commandos were making a final stand against the wave of Super Battle Droids, unmistakable in their navy blue armor. Maros counted seven commandos in total, and calculated that there had been fifteen of them originally, along with around two squads of clone troopers, judging by the numerous bodies lying amongst the remains of the smoking outpost.
The first gunship landed without trouble, sending a wave of reinforcements and two Jedi charging to the rescue of the trapped commandos. The second gunship unloaded an AT-TE, which began blasting the droids to bits. The third gunship was not so lucky, and was brought down by two anti-aircraft cannons that the Separatist forces had set up.
A trooper beside Maros went down, a result of a lucky shot by one of the droids. His helmet was fused by the heat of the blast to his chest armor. His comrades did not even flinch, and continued their barrage of blasterfire. A chill of fear washed over Maros. These men betray no emotion. They are relentless in their efforts, he thought. I would not like to find myself on the opposite side of them.
Slowly but surely, the clone reinforcements recaptured the outpost and reduced the Super Battle Droids to spare parts. "Casualty report" barked Gears, as the tired and wounded commandos limped over gratefully to hastily set up med stations, where all but one promptly collapsed onto the hover-gurneys waiting for them. The only one not standing limped over to Gears to make a report. Maros could sense his pain in the Force. Had this happened to any other man, he would have passed out long ago, Maros said to himself.
"We…cough…lost a lot of good men in there" the commando reported "Heard a snippet of info from one of the droids. They're planning to fall back here to reinforce the northern cities." Gears nodded and dismissed the commando. The tired and badly wounded clone stumbled/ran to the last gurney, and with a sigh of relief, passed out on it.
"If the Separatists are pulling back, then we may be able to gain more ground" Gears mused "Sergeant Retro, what facilities are located in the areas specified by the commando?"
An ARC trooper with red striped armor, Retro was one of the failed first attempts at making clones by the Kaminoans. However, with their increased individuality, these "failed" clones made excellent commanders. Retro had fought alongside Maros in many battles, and had developed a strong bond with the young Jedi. "Hmm," Retro mused as he looked over a datapad "Thermal images taken by our probes suggest a hospital facility as well as several ammunition warehouses."
"Alright, here's the plan" Gears said later that night. The commanders were all hunched over a holoprojector, which showed a 3-D model of the Cato Nemodian bridge cites. "Under cover of darkness, Generals Cheena and Maros will take a squad of elite special commando units into these service tubes." He gestured at two long lines that spread out in a network of tunnels that spread across the holographic landscape. "You'll do a recon scouting mission to see if the Seps leave. Then we'll move in with the reinforcements Captain Jag has promised us."
Night fell over Cato Nemodia. Maros, Cheena, and Retro and the Kolar-Six commando team moves quietly through the twisted rubble. Maros had fought many battles with the Kolar-Six, and trusted them with his life. The senior members, Sniper and Claws, had fought in the Battle of Geonosis, while the younger, more inexperienced commandos were Ammo, Reload, and Dead Shot. Although the ARC commandos were suited in black stealth armor, Maros could sense their nervousness and anxiety. They had good reason. While they had stealth armor on, neither Cheena nor Maros wore any type of camouflage, making the team an easy target should Separatist scanners home in on the tan Jedi robes.
Coming to an iron gate which marked the entrance to what appeared to be an abandoned hospital, Maros signaled for the clones to stop. "Retro, do a surveillance sweep of the area. Take Dead Shot, Sniper, and Ammo with you. Set up a command post and begin sending out probe droids to help" he ordered "Claws, you and Reload take to the sky. Take thermal snap shots of the hospital. Any Seps battle droids should show up on the image. General Cheena and I will enter the building alone. Contact us if you find anything."
When Elin Maros had been picked by Zabrak Jedi Master Eeth Koth to be his Padawan seven years before the Battle of Geonosis, he had been overjoyed. Master Koth may have been a little stern, but he was an excellent swordsman and a wise Jedi. Once, two months after he had chosen his new Padawan, Master Koth had been walking the halls of the Jedi Temple one night when he senses alarm and dismay emanating from his new apprentice's quarters. Upon arrival, he found Maros weeping over the body of a sewer rat that had wandered from the Undercity in search of food. It had somehow gotten through the window and now lay in two smoking halves.
From what Koth was able to get from the hysterical Padawan, Elin had been modifying his lightsaber when he senses something come through the window. Reflexes took hold, and Maros executed a mid-air flip and slashed the sewer rat in two. Koth could sense that there was more than what his Padawan was saying, so he called Maros to his chamber two weeks later.
"I have witnesses your ability to remain calm under pressure and to tell friend from foe." Koth said as they both sat cross-legged on the floor "The fact that you struck out against the sewer rat troubles me. But while I pondered on this, I realized something. All of our exercises took place during the day. Tell me this: Are you afraid of the dark?" Maros was quiet for a minute. "It's just so…cold and unfriendly. Almost like a hungry monster. When I'm in the dark…I-I…I see the faces of all those I've hurt or killed."
Master Koth said nothing that afternoon, but a week later, he sent Maros into an unlit training room in the middle of the night, and told him to come out once he had faced his inner demons. "For it is not the dark that scares you" Master Koth had said, "But the memories of the horrors you have committed on numerous assignments."
Thirteen years later, Maros still remembered his Master's teachings. But as he and Cheena crept through the dark crumbling hallways of the hospital, he could not but help sensing a feeling of foreboding. Not here, but everywhere, almost like a stench.
"I sense it too" Cheena said "As well as anxiety from every single Jedi." A crackle on Elin's radio signaled Retro calling them. "We've secured two outposts overlooking most of the city" Retro reported "Commander Gears has ordered us to hold our position until tomorrow, when he can send in some ground troops safely. There are still some battle droids snooping around the streets."
As Cheena and Maros set up camp in one of the hospital wards, the uneasiness they had felt earlier increased. "Perhaps it will go away in the morning." Cheena suggested as he fell asleep. Maros stayed awake, standing watch.
The next day, Master Plo Koon led his ARC-170's
in his Delta-Aethersprite on an attack run on one of the Nemodian security compounds.
"Execute order 66" the disfigured face of Chancellor Palpatine ordered Captain Jag.
"It will be done my lord" Captain Jag acknowledged. Then, without hesitation, he fired his ARC-170's cannons at the Kel Dorin's fighter.
My troops are firing at me! Plo Koon realized. There was nothing he could do. Jedi fighters of any make did not have any tail armaments, instead relying on their clone backup as support. Had Plo Koon sensed the incoming cannon fire, he could have dodged, but he had been caught off guard, and his fighter's engines were now trailing large amounts of smoke and flames.
Koon's fighter began descending toward one of the bridge cities, rapidly becoming an enormous fireball. I have to get-Then another spray of cannon fire hit his fighter, and the Kel Dorin's ship lit up like a bonfire. It hit a communications spire, before breaking up and tumbling to the ground many miles below, along with the smoking and charred remains of the once renowned Jedi pilot.
"Execute order 66" Palpatine's message said as Commander Gears listened intently. "Yes my lord" he said. Activating his communicator, he signaled Retro. "Captain Retro, the Chancellor has activated order 66. Exterminate General Maros and Cheena."
"Order 66 has been activated?" Dead Shot said, not bothering to hide the confusion and doubt in his voice.
"Apparently, according to Gears, Master Windu and three other members of the Jedi Council tried to assassinate Chancellor Palpatine." Retro explained, but Sniper cut in.
"I've fought alongside Master Windu at Geonosis" he argued "He's loyal to the Republic. I can't see him attempting to kill the chancellor without good reason."
"But he did attempt to assassinate the chancellor without official orders." Claws piped in over their two-way radio.
"The fact remains." Retro snapped "Are we going to disobey our direct orders? Already, Aurek-Seven on Murkhana has disobeyed their orders. They face death, or worse. I know I don't speak for the rest of you, but I've stood with Maros in countless battles. There is no way I am just going to shoot him down."
"I think we all agree with that" Ammo said. Both Sniper and Dead Shot nodded their heads. Claws and Reload voiced their agreement over the radio. "If we're going to go down this path" Reload noted "Than we all have to go with the Jedi once they escape or stay and face the consequences."
"They'll decide whether or not to allow us to go with them" Retro reprimanded "What we should do, instead of sitting around jabbering, is inform the generals of the change of events."
Maros immediately sensed Master Koon's death, and stood up abruptly, his two blue lightsabers ignited and in hand. Master Cheena did the same with his sea-blue saber. "We have to return to base and figure out what just happened." Thenta said, deactivating his lightsaber after a quick Force sweep of the area. "Find out what the current situation is."
As they walked out of the hospital, Maros voiced the question they both had not spoken:
"Master Koon couldn't have been shot down by droids. Did our troops kill him?"
"You don't want to know the answer to that." Retro and the Kolar-Six team came out of their hiding spots, Reload and Claws taking to the air above the Jedi, while Retro, Ammo, Sniper, and Dead Shot surrounded the Jedi, their DC-17s armed and ready.
"There's been a change of events." Retro said as he walked up to the two Jedi, his two blaster pistols in ready position.
His lightsaber flashed as he struck down Jurokk, the former Gate Master of the Jedi Temple. Without hesitation, Anakin Skywalker led the clones of the 501st into the halls of the Jedi Temple. The slaughter had begun.
Maros brought his lightsabers up in the ready stance of the two-handed Jar'Kai version of Shii-Cho, while Cheena stood in the deflecting Ataru stance. "Sergeant, what the hell are you doing?" Maros said through gritted teeth.
"I'd rather not have to fire at you sir, but if I repeat so much as one word that you say, the rest of my squad will gun you down." Retro said sadly.
"What the hell is going on?" Cheena growled, glancing suspiciously at the soldiers.
"That's what we're going to find out." Reload said, lowering his blaster. The other commandos lowered their weapons as well.
"You can cut us down…or come with us to find out why we were ordered to kill you." Retro said, his voice betraying the fear that they would do the first. Maros deactivated his weapon. Cheena hesitated for a moment before deactivated his own. Together, the band of fugitives and soldiers made their way back to base.
The moment the Jedi stepped into the command base, the clone troopers brought up their rifles. "Hold your fire!" snapped Gears. Turning to Retro, he snarled, "Sergeant, there had better be a good explanation for this. I said execute the Jedi, not bring them back as prisoners."
"Your order made no sense, Sir" Retro replied "Why would we be suddenly ordered to kill those who have led us to many victories over the past few years? It could be a Separatist trap."
"Your place is to follow orders soldier, not question them!" Gears roared, spittle flying from his mouth. Behind him, the other troopers began to mark the group with their laser sightings "Fire!"
Please R & R!