Title: Our Past Heroes
Timeframe: About halfway between ROTS & ANH
Summary: A father remembers the heroes of the Clone Wars…and wonders at the Empire's fear
Disclaimer: All things Star Wars belong to George Lucas and all of the divisions of his company. Just playing in his sandbox.
I rarely allow myself to think of their names now.
The Jedi were eradicated over a decade ago, but I still can remember the names of those we hailed as heroes. I remember how they fought for the freedom of the Republic in the Clone Wars.
Ha, Clone Wars. Oh yes, there were plenty of clones to go around, and they sure as hell did their jobs well. But I think it's stupid to name a war after those fighting in it. Could it have easily been called the Separist War?
But the name is irrelevant, especially these days. Chanc…Emperor Palpatine ordered them to destroy the Jedi, our heroes. And sometimes I wonder what the future will hold for my son as he worships these dead heroes, but can only look forward to a set life on our planet or working for the Empire. Neither gives me much hope.
He asks me every night to tell him a story of the Wars. It's come to the point where I'm repeating almost everything, but he still gives me a wide-eyed look and a bright smile that remains with him throughout the night. I tell him of the different battles I watched on the holo, the stories I read about, and of the two "unlucky" times I happened to fly through a space battle.
I give my son as much detail as I can, trying to remember some things, wishing I could forget others. Sometimes I give him names of our heroes and our enemies, without mentioning specifics. He doesn't need to know that Tyranus was a Sith who one of our heroes beheaded; nor does he need to know that Aayla Secura was an amazing Jedi Knight who I once fantasized of marrying. Never once do I mention our Emperor's name, nor that his words for the future once gave me hope.
I do tell him that two of our heroes were always paired together, like a father-son team, were practically worshiped from the start. I tell him of their victories, and pretend to think hard when he asks me their names, only to tell him in a sad voice that I can't remember.
The truth is that I'm afraid to remember their names. They have been completely erased from the HoloNet and other public archives. While I understand why the Empire wouldn't want any Jedi name in existence, I have found that even Master Windu's name slipped through the 'Net's defenses once. The response is always the same to such names:
The contents have been banned due to irrelevancy. Take care to not bring it up again.
But I have never seen our two heroes' names before. There is even rumor that the last person to bring up the topic of, "What might have happened to them?" was taken by the Empire, tortured, and killed. I wish it wasn't true, but I still wonder why those two have been especially guarded secrets.
No one alive in those times could forget the two men who took on nearly all of the most difficult tasks, the ones who every male from ages 2 to 70 wanted to be like, the two who were always featured on the HoloNet news.
Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi.
They're both bound to be dead now; the rumors surrounding Skywalker's name alone make it impossible for him to be alive. Still, I wonder why the Empire is so afraid of two little names.