2 Hours before Order 66: 19 BBY
Jedi General Rahm Kota paced in his personal quarters, the silence of his command vessel becoming an annoyance. Kota had seen no action for the past two weeks and it bothered him. What bothered him more was the fact that he should feel at peace. Clearly, something was amiss. Dooku was dead, Grievous soon to be, and the Separatist armies were in retreat across the galaxy. The Clone War was coming to an end. After three brutal years, maybe the galaxy would have peace. So why was Kota pacing? Why not rejoice for the end of Dooku and the coming of a Separatist loss? What was the Force trying to tell him? Kota stopped, sat cross-legged beside his bed, and he closed his eyes. There it was again. That sense of foreboding. While light was triumphant, darkness was encompassing Kota's mind. Was it only his mind though? Clearly someone else felt something was wrong. And then he saw it.
He opened his eyes to see the Jedi temple burning. Dark figures marched throughout the temple, Jedi dead across the halls. Archives were ruined, statues broken, and a Sith stood before it all. His identity was masked, but above him was the image of an even darker presence. He then felt a great pain in his chest and he saw flashes of light flicker by, and then he was back in his room. Sweat drenched his clothing and he was breathing deeply. A voice crackled over his comm unit as soon as he got his bearings. "General Kota, this is the bridge, do you copy?" Kota hopped up and answered the voice.
"Kota to bridge, over."
"We've arrived at Dantooine. We will be requesting permission to land at the Republic outpost near Dantoo Town."
"Alright, tell them we will just be refueling and then setting off."
"Weren't we docking here for a few days sir? Reinforcements for General Tai?"
"Not anymore. I must speak with him while we refuel though."
"Copy that sir. Over and out." Kota opened his compartment under his bed, inside which was his travelling cloak and lightsaber. He didn't need anything else, not now. All other provisions were on this ship. He quickly changed into his new set of clothes and exited his quarters to join his crew on the bridge.
Jedi General Tai Tinora watched as Aston V landed just outside the walls of the outpost. For a consular ship, it certainly was not typical. It contained multiple small turrets that were clearly visible while some parts of the ship looked ready to pop open and let either missiles or more turrets out. Clearly, Kota had done some work with it. The ship also carried the markings of war. Scratches and missing panels made the ship look years older than it really was, but it certainly gave it more character. A loading ramp descended, and Kota emerged, followed by three of his personal militia. Kota was quite the character, to say the least. The man looked worse for the wear, his hair already graying at the age of 37, and he had enough scars to add ten more years. One scar ran across his face, making him look both menacing and hideous. He was a man built for war and he wanted everyone to know it. Perhaps that was why he left the Jedi Order, or why he refused to use Clone Troopers in combat. Was it because he was more of a war monger? Was it because of something else? Either way, the man was no enemy of the Jedi. He just resented them.
The Jedi bowed when Kota came near and the two parted from their soldiers to talk in private. "Wonderful to see you Tai."
"I'm not sure if I can say the same for you Kota. You're not exactly a great role model."
"That's a lot, coming from a Zabrak."
"Low blow."
"Well, your kind don't typically become Jedi now do they?"
"Darth Maul and his brother are a thorn in our kind. But does the public denounce humanoids when Dooku starts a Clone War with us?"
"Did he start it?"
"I don't want to get into this Kota. I know how you feel about the Order and their decisions. It is an old debate and I do not have the time or interest."
"Fine. Have you felt it though?"
"Felt what?"
"The darkness. Don't tell me you are blind to it!"
"We are nearly at a time of peace, Kota! How can you be thinking of darkness?!"
"I'm not thinking of it, the Force is warning me! I saw a vision Tai! The temple was burning and the Sith were in control! We need to contact the others about this! I cannot be the only one who senses the dark side taking shape right now."
"Who will listen to you Kota? You publicly denounced the Jedi before all of Coruscant and threatened to bomb the cloning facilities in Kamino!"
"This is serious Tai!"
"So was that! Now if you want your fuel, fine, but you won't be staying at this base for your stay. Dantoo Town is a few clicks off."
"Didn't plan on staying anyways. I want to head back to the Temple as soon as possible."
"Have fun. I'm sure the council will enjoy seeing you again." Kota wanted to retaliate, but he knew it to be futile. The Jedi walked in silence, despite the troops moving throughout the outpost, and the two returned after a full walk around the base. The ship looked ready to depart and Kota' men were already prepared to leave. The only troops left outside the ship were a couple captains that waited for Kota. He turned to look at Tai once more and the two clasped hands. Tai smirked and turned to leave. As Kota did the same, it happened. A flash, much stronger than in his visions. Death throughout the galaxy, the Sith finally unmasked, and the clicks of safety being turned off behind him. Kota immediately backflipped and sliced the heads off the two troopers who had just moved in to attack him, his green lightsaber glowing against the setting sun.
"Tai! Get over here now!"
"What in the name of…" Just as Tai had seen the carnage before him, his second-in-command dead, he was shot three times from behind.
"NO!" Tai fell to his knees, a squad of clones now emerging from the base to attack Kota. "Get in the ship! Tell them to take off and leave the ramp down!" He deflected blaster fire, the sound of his men boarding behind him. Clones fell to deflected blaster fire, but Kota would be overrun soon. He used all his strength to send the squad flying into the wall of the outpost, killing them instantly, which bought enough time for Kota to hoist Tai's body on his shoulders. Just as he heard more clones rushing to stop him, he leaped onto the ramp of the Aston V, the ship now taking off. He dropped Tai to the floor, a few medics taking him away, and Kota fell to the floor as the ramp sealed behind him.
"Do you need medical assistance sir?"
"No. Leave me." The medic did as he was commanded, and Kota sat there, his chest heaving as the pain of the dying Jedi filled him. This was it. The Jedi purge had begun. Just as Kota sat there, wanting to scream, sob, and personally kill every last clone on Dantooine, his second-in-command, Admiral Vencio, approached him.
"Sir, the Republic blockade is waiting for us. We will not make it out."
"Prepare my ship." Kota said this with a ferocity he was unaware of. He would not take this lying down. He would blow up every clone if it was the last thing he did. And he was determined to make this the last thing he did. He had been right in placing trust in real soldiers. The Jedi had been blind, and now they were being slaughtered. Kota pushed himself up, now renewed with hatred, and he marched to the docking bay. While the ship was not meant to carry any fighters, it had one spot for a transport vehicle to dock underneath. The bay was barely big enough to fit his Interceptor, but he was grateful it could now. A few engineers looked wary of anyone going alone to take on a blockade, but none dared to get in the Jedi General's way.
"Ship is fully prepared sir. Be safe out there!" Kota just nodded as the bay opened and Kota flew out into the upper atmosphere of Dantooine. Had it been under different circumstances, Kota would have considered the planet a spectacle to behold. Now, his focus was purely on the command ship and on the entire fleet if he could manage. As he sped ahead of the Aston V, a voice came through his headset.
"Sir, this is Admiral Vencio. I would not advise your doing this. It's suicide."
"So is trying to make it by without attacking."
"Why are they attacking in the first place? Maybe we can negotiate."
"No, I order you to go on your way and let me clear you a path."
"This is a fool's errand general!" Kota switched off his communications just as the docking bay of the command star destroyer opened. A fleet of ARC-170s swarmed from the hangar like bugs exiting a nest. Kota closed his eyes, connecting with the Force, and fired at the oncoming fleet. His first mark was obliterated, and he dove as a volley of return fire whizzed past his ship. He banked under the ships and veered up, firing at another. He destroyed it and let the other eight ships follow him. Torpedoes were fired, but Kota let off decoys that attracted their attention. One torpedo survived as Kota neared the command ship, but he cut out of a dive right by one of the ship's turrets, the torpedo not having enough time to miss it. Fire erupted from what used to be a turret and the squadron behind him broke off. Four ships each came from his right and left, and Kota barely missed their fire as he went underneath the destroyer. He took half the group under with him, the Jedi leading them towards the engines. He dodged their fire and pulled up towards the engines before another torpedo slammed into the belly of the ship.
"That's right. Just send one more." As if on cue, another torpedo was fired and Kota, with all his might stretched out with the Force. He could feel the fear in the pilots and the shame of the one who fired it as the torpedo veered right into one of the engines. The explosion caught all four in it, killing them instantly. Kota barely escaped and fired his own torpedo at another engine. With two down, the ship was sure to be crippling from the inside. The other four ships from the now puny squadron flanked him from the other side of the bridge he was now approaching, but he took one out with a well-aimed shot. He swerved by the other three and fired his last torpedo at the left bridge, hitting it perfectly. The back erupted, and he could see the crew sucked out and into the cold vacuum of space. With one last effort, he flipped himself and got behind his pursuers, firing and causing the lead ship to crash into the other two, and those crashing into the right bridge. The lead ship now crippled, Kota wasn't surprised to see the other two responding with squads of their own. He flipped on his communications, so he could speak to Admiral Vencio just as he entered the dogfight with twenty ARC-170s.
"Thank goodness. General, are you all right?"
"The command ship is down admiral, be ready to pick me up."
"Where?"
"You'll see me." He flipped his communications off once more and pulled a helmet from under his seat. He carefully slipped it on and turned the controls over to his R3 unit. "Good luck, old friend." With one push of a button, he was ejected, and with luck, none of the ships surrounding him noticed. Using the force, he pulled himself towards an ARC-170 and caught onto its hatch. With one swift move he ignited his lightsaber and pushed it through and into the pilot's head. The ship slowed and was now dead weight with Kota on top. He carefully opened it, threw the pilot out, and broke off from the fight. He flipped off his tracking and communications, set it on auto as well, and waited until he was mere meters away from the left bridge of the star destroyer closest to the Aston V. He ejected, went with the momentum past the bridge, and barely escaped the blast that came from the collision.
Through all the commotion, none of the Republic fleet noticed the Jedi getting away, the Aston V gliding past, or when it stopped to let Kota in. As the ARC-170s finally destroyed Kota's ship, they had already jumped into hyperspace.
1 Year after Order 66: 18 BBY
