A Jedi knight was sitting in her tent, talking to a hologram. The blue form was staticky and blurred out at several points, but the transmission didn't cut off.
"-you've got to get out of there! I'm telling you, there's an order to kill all the Jedi. It's called order 66 and the clones won't hesitate." The hologram demanded.
"And I'm telling you, Cyran. I trust these clones with my life. We have been through too many battles for me to turn on them just because you may have found something."
"Look, Tayski. I'm telling you this because I'm your friend. There are not many who look favorably on the Jedi and it wouldn't have taken much to hack into the Kamino system and plant these orders."
"Just drop it, Cyran. I don't have time for this. I'm on the front lines. I don't get much sleep as it is, can you please drop it."
"Tay, please just listen-"
"No Cyran. I don't have time for this."
"Just promise me, Tay. Promise me that if I die under suspicious circumstances-"
"Don't talk like that!"
"Promise me that you'll leave your unit. You don't have to kill any of them just leave. Get as far away from the war as possible."
"Cyran, you can't possibly expect me to disobey-"
"Tayski please, promise me this. Please."
The Knight sighed. "I can't believe I'm saying this." She muttered. "Alright. But only if the circumstances are suspicious and if it doesn't involve the war on any level. Does that satisfy you?" She said.
"That's all I'm going to get, so it's good for me. Goodbye Tayski."
"Goodbye, Cyran. I'll see you on Coruscant when we win this war." The transmission cut and the blue image flickered out. The Knight sighed as she placed the transmitter back on her belt. She pulled a wooden box from under her bunk and sat on her bed. She removed the lid, revealing the identification codes of clone troopers.
"Why do we have to do this?" She moaned. "Why do we have to kill?" She replaced the lid and placed the box back under her bunk. She moved to her tent entrance and looked out. She saw some clones milling around, but most were in their tents or on guard duty. She looked around at the jungle surrounding their camp. It was still awake. She could hear the insects buzzing and the drip-drip of water, the calls of wild animals and the shrieks of the birds. And she shivered.
The night air was warm and moist, but it wasn't home. It was enemy territory. The Separatists could be out there right now, watching them, waiting to make a move. But why? Why start a war? Simply because they thought the government had too much control? Or because the smaller systems felt unprotected? There had to be more behind it all, but she couldn't see it. It was elusive, like catching smoke with your bare hands.
3 months later
Jedi Master Shaak Ti was deep in meditation when she was hit with a vision. She saw her old padawan, green lightsaber activated and deflecting blaster bolts. Then a blue hologram flickering out and a clone's voice saying, "it will be done, my lord." She saw her Padawan's horrified face, the redhead pushing a clone out of the way and then the Knight falling to her knees in front of the clone she had pushed, holding a blaster wound on her side and mouthing something to the commander. The vision ended as the girl's green eyes flickered shut.
Shaak Ti opened her eyes and took a deep breath. She didn't have to think about what she should do about the vision, she already knew. The Force was trying to warn her. Something was coming, and she needed to get her padawan out of it.
The Togruta Jedi calmly left the room and aimed for the hangars. On the way, she felt the Force nudge her when she passed younglings or Knight who had not received their missions yet. She followed the will of the Force and told them to come with her. They looked at her oddly, but followed the Jedi Master anyway.
By the time she reached the hangars she had thirty to forty younglings with her. She chose a Jedi transport that had a med station in it and then made sure the young Jedi were on board. One of the older knights to the copilot seat next to her and soon the transport was lifting off and heading for space.
Jedi Knight Tayski Tivraa was pushing through some thick foliage when the attack started. Droids sprung out of nowhere and started shooting at the group. Tayski's lightsaber was activated and she started deflecting bkaster bolts away while the clones shot the droids down.
She heard the distant sound of a comm link buzzing and then someone speaking, but she was too consent rated on blocking blaster fire that she only heard, "...order 66," and, "will be done." Tayski felt herself pale. Cyran had been right and she had been wrong.
She turned to look at her commander, wanting to see if it was true for herself. She saw him raise his blaster, uncertainly and that's when she saw the droid behind him. It's arm was up and ready to shoot, but bdfire it could, Tayski was there. She shoved Commander Leed out of the way and brought her blade up, but she was too off balance when the bolts came. Three hit her lightsaber, but two hit her.
She fell as her clones opened fire on the droid. Her knees hit the ground next to Commander Leed. She could smell burnt flesh and could feal the blood spreading across her tunic.
Her body was starting to go into shock. She knew because she was breathing rapidly, her hands were shaking and she was getting dizzy. She forced down her panic as she looked at the commander. His helmet was off and he was staring at her She smiled and raised a shaky, bloody hand and placed it on his armor over his heart. "At least you weren't the one who pulled the trigger."
Her pale face grew paler and she fell on her side, her hand left a bloody smear across the white armor. The clone's mouth move but no sound came out. She gave him another small smile then her eyes flickered shut.
Commander Leed had never been so conflicted. He knew his orders and that he had to follow them, but he also knew the young woman he was being told to kill. She would have never let orders control her. She would do what needed to be done, no matter what the consequences. She would save anyone, including a clone, within a heatbeat if it were at all possible. Tayski Tivraa was a good woman.
And he had orders to kill her.
it was almost as if his body knew what it had been told to do, because his arms lifted the blaster, aimed right at her heart. She was looking at him like she knew what was going on and suddenly she was pushing him. He thought he was going to die. He was grateful that she was fighting back. He didn't want to shoot her down while her back was turned.
But nothing happened. He rolled over and saw his brothers shooting into the trees and General Tivraa standing over him with her lightsaber. But then she fell.
And as his brothers beat back the rouge droids, she told him that she had known of his orders. She knew that he had meant to shoot her, yet was glad that he couldn't have.
Then her eyes closed and he knew that he had a choice.
Thank you so much for reading!
I do not own anything in the star wars universe except for Tayski Tivraa, Cyran and Commander Leed.