Quick disclaimer; I own nothing. The characters, ships, and planets in this story all belong to Disney and Lucasfilm.
Perseverance: A Mace Windu Adventure
Chapter One: Escape
A faint light, almost unnoticeable, flickered in the empty mind of the Korun Jedi Master.
What was that?
Its glimmering persisted, becoming more rapid and frantic as he powerlessly watched. Soon, it brightened and expanded to a massive degree, flooding the entire scope of his mental vision.
He felt his eyes begin to sedately open, and they too were instantly blinded by the indistinguishable light.
Where am I?
As his eyes finally opened fully, he realized exactly where the glow was coming from. An endless cluster of speeders zoomed over the area where he lay.
What?
He still couldn't tolerate the glare created by the light, so he instinctively moved his hand to cover his squinting eyes, but instead came to an even more shocking revelation; he didn't have a hand.
No.
Abruptly, he remembered everything that had just occurred. Why he didn't have a hand, where he was, and what he was doing there.
Palpatine.
The Sith Lord had been victorious. He had failed.
Not because of the dreaded Chancellor, however. No, another name, even more grim than the other materialized.
Skywalker.
They had done this. Together.
Along with the distressful memories, an unbearable wave of physical pain arose.
Everything in the Jedi Master's body suddenly began to burn. His skin seared from the blistering lightning he had absorbed, his bones ached from the substantial fall he had undergone, and his right arm trembled from the loss of his hand.
Confusion, anger, and betrayal overtook his emotional neutrality. He could barely comprehend everything at once.
Why did he-?
The wounded Jedi groaned in anguish as he attempted to sit upwards. He couldn't even shift any part of his body without experiencing an overwhelming surge of pain.
Force, it's worse than I thought.
Unless he desperately needed to, he obviously wasn't going to be able to get up any time soon. At this point, he was strictly limited to being able to ponder the events of the night.
The only problem was, none of it made any sense.
Palpatine was at his feet, begging for mercy. His lightsaber was poised, ready to strike and remove the influence of the Sith from the galaxy forever. All was going according to plan.
That is, until a shatterpoint emerged. The shatterpoint. Anakin Skywalker, the Chosen One, the hero without fear, ignited his own formidable blade and prevented Windu from executing the crucial act.
But, why?
Windu had sensed the conflict within Skywalker the entire time, but he had never expected the Jedi to lash out in such a treasonous manner. Palpatine had been desperately pleading for the Knight's assistance, but Windu never took any of the cries seriously. Skywalker was merely confused and Palpatine was only clinging to his last hope in the room. That was what the Jedi Master had reasoned.
Both assumptions, of course, had been entirely incorrect. Windu had made a critical mistake in ignoring both of the blaring alarms which had feverishly rung in his mind. Once Skywalker had swung his lightsaber and Palpatine had roared in triumph, it had already been too late.
Windu had paid for both of his errors. Dearly.
I can't believe this.
He still couldn't accept anything that had transpired. Skywalker was supposed to be the Chosen One. He was supposed to bring an end to the Sith and deliver the anticipated, the desired, balance to the Force.
Apparently, the prophecy had been misread.
Was Skywalker a Sith? Did he and Palpatine plan to bring the four most powerful Jedi at the Temple to their dooms?
Then, it dawned to him.
The Temple.
Without him and the three other Masters whom had fallen, the Temple was more vulnerable than it had been in decades.
Right now, as the Jedi Master lay helplessly in the streets of Coruscant, the entire domain could be facing absolute destruction, along with all of the Jedi inside of it. None of them stood even a remote chance against either Palpatine or Skywalker, assuming the latter was now sided with the Sith.
They would be doomed if the two opted to attack.
"Excuse me," a gentle, feminine voice interrupted Windu's thoughts.
The Jedi Master positioned his head in a way so that he could see where the voice had originated from.
Around him was an alleyway. Clumps of garbage from the surrounding shops flooded the entire scene. Beings strolled past the alley on the overpopulated streets, paying no mind to any of their surroundings. The lights of the speeders overhead, as Windu had observed earlier, continually shed a glimpse of radiance into the alley as they passed. This was especially beginning to annoy him.
In front of him was a female Mikkian, a curious expression engraved on her features as she slightly tilted her head to the side. She modeled a long robe which was coated in a glossy shade of silver, spreading from her slanted shoulders down to the area of her ankles. A wave of green tentacles rippled above her head peacefully, almost glowing in the dark atmosphere. She rested her hands on her hips, wrinkling the texture of her robe.
"Are you okay?"
Windu opened his mouth to reply, but before he could get the chance to speak, the Mikkian gasped and took multiple steps backwards.
"W-Wait, you're a Jedi!"
Windu lifted an eyebrow. Did this mean that the Jedi were all expected to have been dead?
"No, I know you. You're Master Windu! You tried to murder the Chancellor!"
Oh no.
To make things worse, public opinion was in favor of Palpatine.
"Everyone, watch out! Look! There's a Jedi!"
Behind the Mikkian, several more beings gathered and gaped at the wounded man.
"Caraya's soul, she's right! Someone inform the Republic! We need Clones down here now!"
Clones?
The Clones were even against the Jedi? Surely, the army which had served and bonded with the Order throughout the entire course of the war would never betray them. Windu must have misunderstood what the being had said. It was just impossible.
Once again, however, his assumption was incorrect.
Before he knew it, a multitude of armored troopers stormed in his direction, blasters pointed directly at him for the kill.
He was really in trouble this time.
Although any form of movement brought excruciating pain, Windu could still focus all of his Force energy into dampening his injuries for a short interval. During that time, he would be able to evade the troopers for long enough until he could arrive to a safer location.
Doing so would render his injuries much worse later on, but for now, that wasn't important. What was important was that Windu survived in the first place.
"Blast him!"
Windu called out to the Force, directing all of the energy to his injuries, and instantly felt his pain subside.
He could finally move again.
Taking advantage of his newfound strength, he gracefully sprung to his feet and faced the incoming Clones. Before he withdrew, he required more information on the situation at hand.
"Troopers, I command you to drop your weapons."
The Clones halted their approach, but kept their blasters pointed at him.
"I'm afraid we can't do that, sir. We have strict orders to terminate all Jedi."
Windu shook his head in outrage, "What?! Who gave you these orders? Who in the Galaxy would tell you to do this?!"
The communicating Clone paused, "The Chancellor, sir. Order 66 has been initiated."
Order 66.
The Jedi were aware of such an order, but it was merely viewed as a contemporary measure. If the Jedi were to ever rebel against the Republic, it would be the responsibility of the Senate to enact it.
Was his assault on Palpatine viewed as a betrayal of the Republic?
"Trooper, I am your general, and I have done nothing to harm the Republic. Do you really have the authorization to shoot me?"
The commanding clone took another step forward and tensed his grip on his blaster, "It's not my place to say, sir. I'm sorry, but I have my orders."
The Clones were done talking.
Windu knew he wasn't going to receive any more intel from his foes, so he commenced his retreat.
Before the Clones could even be provided the chance to fire their blasters, the Jedi Master vaulted to the nearest balcony.
"Don't let him get away!"
The Clones bounded a barrage of blaster fire in the direction of Windu, who immediately ducked behind the balcony wall for cover.
He reached for his lightsaber, but stopped when he remembered that he had lost it during the fall.
Blast.
He couldn't fight back, and he couldn't deflect any lasers. He would have to resort to dodge-and-run tactics, something he wasn't accustomed to in the heat of battle.
Windu surveyed the area around him. He would have to move quickly, before reinforcements arrived. If he stalled for too long, escape would eventually become impossible.
High above him was a landing platform, which carved into the general structure of the building. Opposite his position was an additional cluster of balconies which stacked towards their building's top.
The additional balconies would require more jumps and provide more opportunities for the Clones to shoot him. That was out of the equation.
The landing platform above him required only a single extended jump, and promised the possibility of containing a ship.
That was his next step.
As the blasts bombarded against the crumbling balcony wall, Windu accumulated the necessary Force energy to leap to the platform.
Stars!
He felt a momentary rush of pain emerge in his torso as he leapt.
It seemed to him that with every jump, he lost more and more of the energy restraining his excruciating pain; leading to instances such as this one.
The Clones swiftly adjusted their aim to fire at Windu midair, but the Jedi Master moved too briskly for them to hit.
He landed on the platform with an acrobatic roll, generating more distance between himself and his assaulters.
He had escaped their grip for now, but he wouldn't be safe for long. It was imperative that he find a ship immediately. As he scanned the casual hangar, he discovered that his options were very limited.
The platform's spacecraft solely consisted of transports and shuttles. Nothing which included weaponry.
Windu would require something compact and hasty. The Clones would likely signal for gunships to pursue him, and without laser cannons, he would be forced to rely on speed to escape them.
The transports were too large and sluggish to fit Windu's requirements. The shuttles weren't fast, but they were his best chance of avoiding enemy fire.
Here we go.
The Jedi Master bolted towards the nearest shuttle and slid up its walkway. It was miniscule compared to some of the other ships on the platform, supporting three slanted wings on its sides and its peak. The exterior shade was a plain gray, clear of any blemishes.
That would soon change.
As Windu prepared for takeoff, clicking and tapping a variety of colored buttons, he apprehended the fact that it would be extraordinary difficult to fly with only one hand.
A normal pilot wouldn't be able to perform any sufficient maneuvers without such a key limb.
They would essentially be rendered a sitting duck.
An easy target.
Windu was no normal pilot, however.
He was an attuned Jedi, with reflexes beyond that of any standard being.
If he put his faith in the Force and allowed it to guide him, he would reach the security that he coveted.
He only needed to trust it.
And he did.
The Korun Master discarded of any doubts or fears that he possessed, permitting the Force to flow through him and dictate every one of his actions.
The ship lifted and turned towards the city, zooming out of the hangar and avoiding the impotent fire of the remaining Clones on the streets.
Windu steered the ship above the long line of speeders and into restricted airspace; reserved only for that of Jedi transports, emergency vehicles, and Republic military craft.
The very breed of ship which he may soon encounter.
He wasn't going to waste any time sitting in the traffic of the city's air lanes. He was now a fugitive with nothing to lose. He would break any law he needed to if it would assist in his escape.
Even though the upper airspace could be accessed by the Jedi, he doubted that they still possessed such rights after what he had been told by the Clones.
He determined his first destination to be the Jedi Temple. Even if it was destroyed, he could still analyze its condition from afar and consider his next step of action based on his conclusions.
He couldn't just leave his comrades behind. Even in this state.
He wasn't far away at all, anyway. At this height, he could already catch a portionable glimpse of the structure.
And he didn't like what he saw. Not at all.
Multiple dense funnels of smoke poured out of a scatter of quivering flames around the Temple's towers, leaking towards the night sky and mixing to form a single, giant channel of exhaust.
No.
It was the only word the Jedi Master could even muster in his thoughts. The very location in which he had been raised, trained, respected, and befriended in was being destroyed before his very eyes. Everything he had lived for, fought for, persisted for, and been willing to die for was nearly gone. He could only watch helplessly.
With no power over anything that transpired.
I'm too late.
He began to close his eyes in overwhelming distraught. He just couldn't stand the sight of it anymore.
I've failed.
Regret consumed him. He had been granted so many opportunities to prevent this from happening.
If I had only killed Palpatine before Skywalker could-
His sullen thoughts were halted when his entire ship trembled intensely.
That had to of been...
Windu peeked behind the shuttle and discovered five LAAT's on his tail. He had just absorbed their first wave of fire; and they weren't done yet.
Multiple more blasts bounded in the shuttle's direction, scarcely missing their target as Windu expertly maneuvered his ship in avoidance. He increased his speed to garner more distance between himself and his attackers, but it was no use. The Gunships were much faster, and they quickly adjusted to his sudden burst of acceleration.
He continued to keep his ship in motion, constantly circling and violently swaying from side to side. He was much more difficult to hit in this state, but he wouldn't last for much longer. The gunships would eventually land a critical hit.
Another barrage of green fire collided with the hull of his ship, prompting it to tremble to an even greater degree. Windu could see the haze of smoke which was beginning to gush out of the back of his shuttle.
Blast! How many more hits can I take?
He persisted to swing his ship in every possible direction, simultaneously furthering his approach to the Temple.
No.
He narrowly heard an unidentifiable voice echo in his mind.
There's nothing you can do.
It continued to whisper harsh realities.
The Temple is already lost, can't you see? You're too injured to help anyone, anyway.
Windu supplied a mental nod. The voice was right. What could he do? The Force energy restraining his injuries was fading away. He could feel the pain slowly creeping up his legs, vigorously nagging to spread to every section of his body. He could barely pilot in this state; let alone run or fight. He would best assist the galaxy by retreating and healing his injuries, only later to return and eliminate the Sith.
An additional ripple of fire smacked against his left wing, breaking it apart. His ship dangerously veered to the side, subsequently losing much of its maneuvering ability.
The Force had carried him long enough.
He needed to leave. Now.
As the Gunships continued on their fiery pursuit, Windu steered his ship away from the Temple and towards the dark atmosphere.
The movement caught the Clones off guard, and they responded somewhat slowly. They altered their course and formation to adapt to the Jedi's rotation and better align themselves for assault; but, they were too late.
Windu thrusted out of the Coruscant sky and pummeled into space.
The Gunships attempted a few final shots, but it was no use.
Windu glanced one last time at the city-coated planet before departing.
I'm sorry.
He positioned his ship to leave, and made the jump to lightspeed.