Author's Note

Hey everyone! Just got a few things I wanted to say before the story. This is set in the Canon universe, but will feature Legends characters and lore later on, all things yet to have been confirmed in the Canon, but don't necessarily interfere with it (including my own crazy theories). I'm beginning with individual prologues for my three original characters to establish them, but once they are done, the timelines will match up. I'll also keep track of the dates and planets so it doesn't get too confusing. With that said, enjoy and I would love to hear feedback!

19 BBY, Coruscant

"Again."

Sariah pushed forwards, swinging her lightsaber over and over at her Jedi Master, Saram Bastoro. He countered every one of her strikes, moving with a speed she could match, but could not seem to exceed. It frustrated her to no end.

"Focus, Sariah," he urged. "You're letting your anger control you again."

She growled and leapt to the side, attempting to slash at his legs. He dodged with ease and she only cut air.

"I can't help it," she snapped, jumping back at his counterattack. "Not when you beat me every time. It's infuriating."

"Anger is the path that leads to-"

"I know, I know. Anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering, which leads to the Dark Side of the Force..."

Master Bastoro ceased his attack, his blue-bladed lightsaber shutting off. "Sariah, we have spoken about this. You need to contain these negative emotions."

Sariah sighed and deactivated her lightsaber, its silver glow vanishing into the hilt. "I know, Master... I've been trying, but they always seem to come back."

The older Mirialan walked closer, placing a hand on her shoulder. "When I took you as my Padawan, I vowed that I would train you into a worthy Jedi. I know you struggle. You have always struggled, but that it why I am here." A soft smile came to his lips. "Perhaps some meditation will help to clear your mind. Then we can try again. Does that sound fair?"

She nodded, smiling slightly herself. For all their struggles, Master Bastoro was always able to find ways to calm her. Although she had been chosen as his apprentice because Mirialan Masters only took Mirialan Padawans, she knew she would never make it under anyone else. A problem case, she had been called as a youngling. Never fully in control of her feelings. Master Yoda had said otherwise, but she couldn't help it. She had watched her family die as a child, murdered by pirates who wanted to take all they had. Master Bastoro had rescued her and taken her to the temple, where the Jedi had tried to make her forget it had ever happened. She never had and she never would, no matter what they tried to tell her.

She wasn't exactly a model Mirialan. She was not calm like Master Bastoro or Master Unduli nor did she have a particularly strong connection to the Living Force. Her face was inked with some tattoos already, but she had earned them all for physical feats, not spiritual or mental. And as the icing on the cake that was her incompetence, she had recently come under heavy scrutiny following Barriss Offee's fall to the Dark Side. She had her conspiracy theories, but Master Bastoro had advised her not to question the Council and so she kept her theories to herself.

Sariah ran her fingers through her short hair, brushing her Padawan braid as she reached the end of it. Three years ago, she had received it and it had been the greatest gift ever given to her. She had been told she would never make Padawan with her attitude, but Master Bastoro had seen something in her and even though they sometimes struggled to get along, she would have no one else training her.

"Shall we?" Master Bastoro asked, striding towards the door.

Sariah moved to follow, only to stop at the sudden sound of blaster fire coming from outside the training room door. Her eyes widened and she looked up to Master Bastoro, a surge of worrying thoughts coursing through her mind. "Master…?"

His azure eyes narrowed as he rested a hand on his lightsaber. "Stay here. Do not come out until I tell you to."

"But…" Sariah tried to argue, but he was already through the door before the word was finished coming out of her mouth.

She clenched her fists, staring at the door as the sound of blaster fire continued to reverberate in her ears. Only one thing could be happening and it took all her strength not to run out and fight against whoever was daring to attack the temple. The sound of the blasters was almost familiar, but she could not place it and it drove her insane. The ignorance was killing her and she was just about to go out after him when the blaster fire gave way to voices; voices that made her freeze in horror.

"He went this way. Find him!" The slightly muffled, orderly drawl of a clone trooper echoed outside the door.

"Yes, sir!" answered another and Sariah heard the distinctive movement of their armour as several–five at least, maybe more–spread out.

She fingered her lightsaber, feeling sweat dripping down the back of her neck. Master Bastoro had ordered her to stay, but if the clones were out there killing them…

She took a step closer to the door and drew her saber, her thumb on the ignition.

"We found him, sir! He's–" A clone screamed and Sariah heard the hum of a lightsaber outside, followed by many rapid footsteps.

"Shoot him!" another clone yelled as blasters began to fire off bolt after bolt. Sariah caught the signature sound one made after being deflected by a lightsaber, followed by a cry of pain from one of the clones.

"Leave this temple now! You have no right to be here!"

Master Bastoro! Sariah sprinted out the door, lightsaber activating in her hands as she rushed to help him.

The floor outside the training room was littered with the bodies of clones. She had expected them to have red markings, as those who served as Coruscant security did, but these ones were blue.

She did not dwell on her confusion for long, running towards the sound of fighting nearby. A clone crossed her path, his blaster raised to fire at her, but her lightsaber was through his heart before he could pull the trigger. She sped around a corner and saw Master Bastoro cutting a clone down, their bodies all around him. He was panting, whether from exhaustion or the blaster wound to his shoulder, Sariah did not know.

"Master!" she called out, causing him to turn to her, his eyes growing wide.

"Sariah! I told you to–" He suddenly gasped and clutched his throat, clawing at it as if he was being choked. His lightsaber dropped to the ground beside him as he began to hover in the air.

"Saram!" Sariah screamed, sprinting full-speed towards him. She had almost reached him when she heard a deafening crack and her master became frighteningly still.

All Sariah could feel was the pounding of her heart against her chest. The world became only a distant blur as she stared at him, her mind unable to accept the reality. It was only when his body dropped to the ground, completely lifeless, that she began to feel all the anger and grief within her bubble to the surface, raging to be released.

A man emerged from the shadows, his face hidden under a hood. One hand was half-curled into a fist; the other clutching a blue-bladed lightsaber. His eyes narrowed at her under the hood, but Sariah didn't care. She would kill him. Nothing else mattered now.

"Bastard!" she screamed, launching herself at him with lightning speed. Their lightsabers clashed, violent flashes of blue and silver light sparking off the glowing blades. She swung again and again, trying to beat past his defences and cut him down, but he was faster, countering every blow.

Sariah jumped back, narrowly avoiding a wide slash from him, and decided to try a different approach. She ran at the nearest of the many columns surrounding them, managing to get a few feet up before using it to propel herself over the man. She sailed through the air, slashing her lightsaber at his head as she did. He ducked out of the way just in time and raised a hand concealed by a black glove.

Sariah braced herself, but nothing could prevent her from flying across the room and slamming into one of the columns. A cry emerged from her mouth at the pain which coursed through her body and she slammed to the ground beneath it. Sariah struggled to get back to her feet, although every bone within her screamed at her to stop moving. A few of her ribs were broken and she could feel blood pooling under her robes, but she still got up, shaking as she faced the Fallen Jedi.

"Lord Vader!" The footsteps of more clones converged around her and Sariah heard the cocking of blasters behind her.

The world slowed for Sariah. Between the cloaked man and the troopers readying to shoot her, she was trapped. What was there left to fight for? Her master was dead and soon, she would follow him. What did she have left to lose? She curled her fingers, letting the Force flow through her before she snapped around and let it explode.

The clones flew backwards, screaming as her power ensorcelled them and tore them apart. She gripped one, choking the life from him, while slamming another into the ground simultaneously. Her fury spilled from her like her blood and tears, streaming from the wound at her side and down her cheeks. Reaching out with the Force as she was, she felt the suffering of the other Jedi in the temple as the clones gunned them down. She wept, wailing as she murdered the clones with the same mercy they showed her brothers and sisters.

Pain erupted in her shoulder and she collapsed, the havoc she had created ceasing instantly. She winced, clutching the blaster burn with a sharp gasp. She closed her eyes, blinking away more tears, and waited to die.

"Stop." The hooded man spoke for the first time and Sariah turned her head, staring at him in disbelief.

"Sir?" asked the clone who had shot her.

"Set to stun. Lord Sidious will want her alive." He was already walking away before he had finished speaking.

Sariah opened her mouth to beg them to kill her, but a shock went through her body and all became dark.