Hello and welcome to Road to Redemption! This story is a partial sequel to Return to the Unknown; however, it is being written so that reading the previous story is not required. I have a poll on my profile to gauge interest in my potential stories to publish, so please do take a peek at that. Reviews are always welcome to develop my writing skills! Enjoy!

Orders

Blackness. Cold, hard, clammy blackness. Nothing else existed. Small miracles. Maybe they would just leave her here and forget that she ever existed. Forget that she had let Obi-Wan Kenobi run free when Fate demanded that he die.

They had tortured her. Forced her to torment others. She was good at it. Too good. They had deprived her of everything. All hope.

In the icy blackness, the former Jedi Knight shivered helplessly on the floor, her back pressed against the chilled wall for some vestige of support. She no longer had the will to even try warming herself. The threadbare tunic that clung to her scarred body wouldn't have done anything, even if it hadn't been drenched with her own clammy sweat.

She bent her head down, giving in to the darkness, empty of hope and fear – an old trick. Maybe they would forget. Maybe they would let her die quietly without continuing to impress upon her how she had betrayed everything, had nothing left – how no one would ever come to save her. It was the Purge all over again.

Over a decade had passed since she had locked herself in cryogenic rock to avoid capture after Order 66 – on the run from the Empire and unable to contact any old Jedi friends. About two decades since she had been forced to fight her comrades-in-arms, the clones. A last-ditch effort of defiance. But he had found her. She didn't have the strength to fight him. She was a slave. Then, the Death Star was completed. Obi-Wan had been there for a brief time and she had accepted her fate. She saved him and was prepared for Vader to land the killing blow in retribution. It never came. This came. This hell.

How many had she killed since then? Before, she had been able to justify her actions by telling herself it was distracting the Emperor from Master Kenobi and Luke after she found out about the boy's existence on Tatooine. Now, she had saved them and sent them on their way; her job of keeping the galaxy's savior safe was over. She was ready to sacrifice her life. Instead, she only took more lives. Pointless lives. The eyes of the dead bored into her soul, asking why, accusing her. Any rays of hope or salvation had long died out. She was a servant of the Emperor. A pawn of the Dark Side. And the slave of her own mistakes and pain.

It seemed so long ago that she wandered the halls of the great Jedi Temple. She had gone back there during her last mission – tracking down an old Padawan who had long evaded the Purge. She remembered staring in awe at the great pillars between missions. The light. The breeze. The peace. Seeing Master Yoda or Master Skywalker passing through on their way to a meeting… So long ago, yet so…painfully fresh. She could still smell the burning bodies of the Jedi that had been cut down in those halls of safety and tossed into a smoking, rotting pile. Forgotten.

The prisoner squeezed her eyes shut as agonizing memories of dead Younglings and attacking commandos struggled to the forefront of her mind. Her friends, her colleagues, all the people she cared about…she was glad they were gone. They would be ashamed of her now, and the potential hope that had been taken. She had heard that so many of them died heroes and martyrs – brave souls. Anakin had sacrificed himself to save the Younglings…or so she had thought for a few years until…until she herself had already become a monster. They were both monsters now.

Too late for salvation. Too late for hope. Only the cold, clammy darkness. She remembered the day Sidious first claimed her loyalty…and how exactly he provoked her fealty. Her only comfort and her one secret was that she could protect Luke and Obi-Wan from the eyes of the Empire. She had succeeded, and now he knew her secret; now, she didn't even have that. She was losing that one ray of hope, now that Luke was safely with the Rebels and following his training. Sidious was sure to crush that last ray of goodness before even beginning to trust her again. The galaxy now had hope; she had none. She felt sucked dry – an empty, scarred husk with only her Master's whims to direct her hollow, hateful gaze. A beaten dog.

There was a metallic chink and the door slid open, allowing the blinding white light and a stinging wave of warm air. She looked up with bloodshot eyes through her stringy black bangs at the two blurry shadows before her. A set of dark robes was dropped on the floor at her feet, followed by the smooth, curved hilt of her lightsaber.

"You are going to escape," the crackling, filtered voice commanded. She winced as the directive grated in her ears. "You will flee to the Rebels. You will kill Obi-Wan Kenobi. And you will not fail."

The smaller shadow crouched to her eye-level with a toothy, yellow grin and a ghostly stare. He paused with a mask of pity and sincerity. He had broken her. And he knew it. He gloated over it. The woman who should have aided his downfall was now his plaything.

"Do you…understand…Sheena?" She hated this. She hated him. She hated herself. "Well?" he probed sharply.

Her cracked lips parted just enough to respond.

"Yes, Master."

No tracking device. No partner. No followers. Just as they said. She had dressed in her fitted black and grey robes, made her way to the exit, and stolen a fighter with lightspeed capability. No one in her way. No one keeping an eye on her. Only because they knew she had no choice.

Out of habit, the released prisoner hopped around to a few different systems to throw any followers, but there wasn't really a point. The Force was guiding her. At one point, she found herself floating over Tatooine; but there was nothing for her there now. Her last stop was the Anoat sector. She dropped out of lightspeed and coasted along, vaguely aware of her need for fuel, but she wasn't concerned. Especially when a large scout cruiser suddenly appeared overhead, demanding that she stand down and board, or be blown out of the sky.

As she slid stiffly down from her fighter's cockpit, the woman found herself surrounded by Rebel scum. She could have killed them all easily. She heard one of them order to meet up with another cruiser for a prisoner transfer. They would bring her right where she needed to be. The second someone recognized her, there would be one person they would call on. Someone whose life she had saved for their pitiful cause: Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Hope you enjoyed this first chapter. Please review!