Sitara couldn't believe what was happening. She had been on her way back to her quarters after the evening meal when she saw clone troopers, she didn't know how many, marching through the Jedi Temple, killing everyone they saw. Sitara's first instinct was to run, but her training said otherwise. She muttered under her breath, "No, Sitara. You are a Knight now. You're stronger than this." She needed to stay calm. She had to find cover. She had to think of a plan. She consulted her mental map of the only home she had ever known. Even as she did this, Sitara realized her quarters were too far away. What she needed was a way out of the temple. The clones were no idiots; they'd have the main entrances guarded. That ruled out the ground floor. She would probably have better luck if she could get to the hangar and find a speeder. She had barely started in that direction when she heard the sound of booted feet coming down the hallway towards her. She ducked behind a pillar and willed the troopers to pass her by. As the squad ran past, she saw the blue detail on their armor. That design meant they were being attacked by the 501st. "Why would they do this? I thought they were on our side." she wondered to herself.
Either way, those troops were heading in the direction of the hangar bay. There were too many for her to fight alone, she would need to find another Jedi before she could leave safely. She turned around and ran back the way she came, toward the cafeteria. She had left early; maybe there were others still there. "Maybe they're safe in there for now." she tried to convince herself as she ran. She'd always had a tough time finding her way there. It wasn't likely to be any easier for the clones, who had never fully explored the place. When she reached the cafeteria, however, her heart sank. "No…," she breathed. She stared around a room littered with debris and bodies, both Jedi and clone. As her eyes fell upon the corpses of some of her friends, she was filled with a deep sadness. Jedi were taught to detach themselves from loss, but that didn't make it any easier. She reached through the Force, feeling for other life-forms near her location. Sitara closed her eyes and extended her mind, and was startled to realize there was someone alive in the room with her. She focused on that, and was able to trace the other consciousness to the corner of the room. With a start, she opened her eyes and sprinted across the cafeteria, drawing her lightsaber along the way, in case the survivor wasn't friendly. As she depressed the button, the cerulean blade flickered into life with a hiss. She vaulted over tables and benches, finally coming to a pile of bodies in a shadowy corner.
Sitara pulled the corpses away with the Force. As she was removing the last of the bodies, a form lunged at her from the shadows, swinging a green blade. Her own blade stopped it inches from her neck. As the green beam pulled away from her, a deep, somewhat gruff voice said, "Sorry. I thought you were another clone checking for survivors." Sitara stared at the shadowy form for a moment before relief flooded across her face. "Master Petra, am I glad to see you. The clones are…" He interrupted her with a raised hand. "I know, Sitara. I know. I felt it through the Force." Sitara looked into her former teacher's face and saw grief intermingled with his traditional Zabrak tattoos. Sitara tried to pull him towards the door. "Master, we have to get out of here. If we stay, the clones will find us." Master Petra's face took on a resigned quality as he said, "Even if we get out of here, there's still a temple full of clones to fight through. We might make it, but the odds aren't in our favor." Still, Sitara refused to give up. "But there has to be something we can do! We can't just quit now!"
She scanned the room for anything that might help them. She saw the bodies of four clones, still in their armor. Then it dawned on her. "Master, we could take their armor and wear it to disguise ourselves. The clones wouldn't shoot one of their own." Petra considered this for a moment, then grinned. "You always did have a knack for the unorthodox." He knelt and began stripping undamaged armor plates off the nearest trooper.
Minutes later, two helmeted clone troopers stood where the Jedi had been. They hid the bodies of the clones underneath some rubble, and walked to the door. Sitara thought the armor was stuffy and uncomfortable, even more so with both their lightsabers digging into her ribs. Master Petra was bigger than she was, and didn't have any place to hide his. Sitara was worried she might be a little short to pass for a clone, but as long as no one looked too closely, she thought they just might pull this off.
The pair ran through the labyrinthine halls of the Temple, mostly unnoticed in their borrowed armor. Neither one needed to ask the other's opinion; they had worked together for years, so they knew each other almost as well as they knew themselves. They headed upward, since the clones had to have come in through the lower levels. There was a chance they could warn other Jedi to get out of the Temple. It was obvious that the clones wanted to eradicate the Jedi Order, but if they could get enough Jedi out, the teachings of the Order could survive.
They reached the Archives and heard the sounds of blaster fire within. As they rushed in, they saw a handful of Padawans defending themselves against a group of clones. Petra raised his stolen DC-15 blaster and opened fire on the troopers. He had taken out three of them before the clones registered what was happening. The Padawans took advantage of this distraction and bolted for the other side of the room, dodging between the Archives' computer consoles. The remaining four clones fired on the Padawans, cutting down all but one before they made it. "No!" Petra shouted. Sitara pulled off her borrowed helmet, then reached into her armor and removed her lightsaber. "Over here!" she shouted to the Padawan. Sitara ignited her blade and moved into a Form III ready stance, a technique she had used all too often, but never against clones. Petra used the Force to remove his own saber from Sitara's armor and dropped into a defensive posture. Confident Master Petra would watch her back, Sitara rushed forward into the fray. She opened the first clone from left shoulder to right hip and sliced the next across the chest before the final two drove her back under a hail of blaster fire. The clones shot at them for a few seconds, but had forgotten about the Padawan between the data stacks behind them. He ran up, lightsaber blazing and decapitated one trooper, then in the same fluid movement, disarmed the other with a cut just above the forearm plate. The trooper's right arm, still clutching his blaster, fell to the floor.
He was about to finish the job when Sitara shouted, "Wait!" The Padawan paused in mid-swing and asked, "Why?" He gestured to the injured clone. "He wouldn't wait." Petra walked over and took off his helmet. He asked, "What's your name, Padawan?" "Zett. Zett Jukassa.", the boy replied. "Well then, Zett," Petra began, "Think for a moment. Do you know why they are doing this?" "No," Zett replied hesitantly. Petra nodded and pointed at the injured trooper before continuing, "Do you think he might know why? Think before you act, Padawan Jukassa." As Zett lowered his saber, Sitara whirled to confront the injured trooper.
She crouched, not very comfortable in the armor, and stared into the emotionless faceplate of his helmet. "What is the meaning of this attack?" she demanded, eyes blazing. "You clones were supposed to fight for the Republic, not against it." The clone looked up at her and said, "We are fighting for the Republic. It's you Jedi who are against it." "What do you mean?" Petra interjected. The clone coughed, or maybe it was a laugh, Sitara wasn't sure. "Just followin' orders," the trooper said weakly. Sitara, suddenly confused, asked, "What orders?" "Order Sixty-six," the clone replied, "States all Jedi are enemies of the Republic and must be dealt with." At this, Zett couldn't stay calm any longer. With a shout and a swing of his blue blade, he ended the clone's artificially short life.
Sitara stood up, put away her lightsaber, and walked into the data stacks for cover. She began peeling off the armor plates she was wearing. "What are you doing?" Zett asked her. "Why are you getting rid of the armor?" Sitara only looked at him and said, "Those clones would have let the others know there are Jedi disguised in stolen armor. They'll probably have checkpoints all over the Temple." Zett looked to Master Petra for guidance. "She's right, you know," the Zabrak said. "I've spent time commanding clone forces. They are very efficient. I used to appreciate that quality, but now it makes our job that much harder." He began removing his own armor. Zett deactivated his lightsaber and hung it back on his belt before asking, "What exactly is our job, Master?" Petra looked at him with a solemn expression and said quietly, "Our job is to survive. We need to get out of the Temple, preferably with some kind of vehicle." Sitara added, "We've been trying to get to the speeder hangars on the other side of the Temple."
Zett watched out for more clones while the others finished removing their armor and replaced their lightsabers on their belts. Then he grabbed a handful of datapads from the nearest console. Petra pointed out, "Those will only slow you down." Zett looked at Petra somewhat defiantly and tucked the datapads into his tunic, then went back for more. "Master, these datapads may slow us down, but if we can get them out of the Temple, some of the Archives will survive. Besides, the Archives had maps that might be useful." He gestured at the bodies of the three other Padawans. "My friends and I were transferring as much information as we could. We were almost done when the clones found us." Upon hearing this, Petra nodded appreciatively before reaching for a stack of datapads himself. "A good thought, Zett. Sitara, take what you can."
Moments later, the three of them prepared to leave the Archives for what would probably be the final time. Burdened with makeshift backpacks full of valuable information, the trio of Jedi walked to the door. They turned around for one last look, and saw another clone squad running at them from the other side of the Archives, blasters raised. The three ran the last few steps through the door, and sealed it from the outside. Sitara slashed the control panel, then ran her blade down the seam of the door, welding it shut without any conscious thought. "That will slow them down," she said. "They'll have to go around the long way."
They passed through the Temple's inexplicably haunting hallways. The signs of conflict were evident everywhere. They came upon many Jedi of all ages, genders, and species, but all were dead. Sitara was heartbroken. The clones had already been this way. They ran into some of the checkpoints Sitara had been worried about, but each consisted of only a few troopers and was easily taken care of. After what seemed like an eternity, they made it to the High Council Tower hangar. They hid behind a group of dark gray cargo crates with the Republic insignia stamped on the side and began to think of a plan.
Sitara stuck her head over the top of the barricade for a quick look at the hangar. The large, roughly circular room was well lit. That would make it a distinct challenge to sneak through. A large open hatchway on the other side of the hangar led out onto an exterior landing pad. Sitara cursed silently. The hatch didn't seem large enough to get a fighter out. There were shapes moving just inside the hatch, probably clones. They must have known it would be almost impossible to get a fighter out without first moving it onto the platform, and now they were keeping it extended. Around the perimeter of the hangar sat Eta-2 Actis Interceptor starfighters, a few on raised platforms for maintenance. They couldn't take any of those fighters. If clones were hunting Jedi everywhere, those starfighters would be too conspicuous. Sitara looked up at the vaulted ceiling and saw the flight control station was empty. Apparently they weren't expecting any outgoing flights. Ducking back behind the crates, she explained the situation to the others.
Zett was the first to voice an idea. "If we can get past the clones and onto the platform, maybe we can flag down a passing speeder." Petra contemplated this possibility for a moment, then responded, "It's too risky. It leaves too much to chance. What do you think, Sitara?" She replied, "I think we should do it. There aren't that many clones out there. Between the three of us, I know we can take them." Master Petra sighed as he said, "Alright. I'm not in favor of this plan, but I'm not about to leave you two to fend for yourselves."
With that, Petra crept to a starfighter and programmed it to take off. As it moved, the three dashed around the perimeter of the hangar. When the Interceptor started to fly out of the hangar, multiple cannon blasts reduced it to slag. Diving behind the nearest starfighter, Sitara suddenly felt stupid. Now she knew why the clones weren't bothering with the fighters. They didn't need to. They had programmed automated turrets to shoot down any ship attempting to leave! She looked to her right and saw Master Petra, bleeding from a gash to his upper arm. He must have taken some shrapnel from the fighter. He was tearing a strip from the edge of his tunic to use as a bandage. It didn't look like a serious wound, but it had to hurt. She looked left and saw Zett. He had made it farther than the others and was crouched behind another starfighter, maybe fifty feet from the open hatch. Sitara stared at Zett, willing him not to do anything stupid.
Zett returned her stare and removed his share of the datapads from his back. He slid them across the hangar floor to her, then stood up and used the Force to throw a crate across the hangar. The troopers gathered near the hatch heard the crate hit, and about half of them went to investigate. Before the Jedi could deal with the remaining troopers, some activity on the landing pad caught their attention. A speeder was landing, and it looked like a high-end model. The clones near the hatch walked onto the pad to meet the pilot. They prevented him from entering the Temple, and he began walking back to his speeder with an air of resignation.
Before Sitara or Petra could react, Zett had run the distance to the pad and followed the troopers onto it. He drew his lightsaber and jumped into the group of clones. He slashed into one trooper and vaulted over the body before it hit the ground. He disabled five others before the clones who had been distracted by the crate realized what was happening. The other troopers rushed onto the pad and fired on the Padawan. Zett took down two more clone troopers before he was overwhelmed by sheer numbers. As the troopers broke through Zett's defenses, Sitara heard someone on the platform shout, "No!" The clones turned their guns on the speeder pilot as he took off in a hurry.
Sitara went numb. Another Jedi was dead. She barely registered when Petra tapped her on the shoulder. His voice sounded distant, like it was coming from the other end of a tunnel. "…tara. Sitara, we have to go. Come on. We can get out through the speeder garages." She nodded. At least, she thought she nodded. She wasn't sure. Sitara reached over for Zett's datapads, but a hand held her back. Master Petra said, "Let me carry that." He picked up the pack and slung it onto his shoulder.
The pair walked solemnly through the hallways until they reached the nearest speeder hangar bay. Sitara strode through the door, lightsaber drawn. Petra followed her into the bay, noting a lack of clones. Sitara put away her lightsaber and scanned the vehicles in the bay. As she headed for a rather convenient four-person speeder, Petra stopped her. Pointing up at the ceiling, he said, "Remember the cannons in the hangar? This is too easy." That brought Sitara back to reality in a flash. "You're right. There has to be some kind of trap here." They scanned the room, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary except a pile of crates blocking the exterior doors. Sitara closed her eyes, extended herself through the Force and investigated the crates. On the outside, each appeared to be a normal cargo crate, but inside, she sensed something that didn't belong. Whatever was inside the crates, Sitara knew it wasn't alive. She would have sensed a living being immediately. No, this was something artificial. It was something… Sitara's eyes snapped open. "What is it?" asked Petra, suddenly alert. "Bombs," Sitara replied, "The crates are full of bombs."
Petra stared at the crates for a moment, trying to find a way around them. There wasn't one. "Probably on a proximity trigger," Petra thought out loud, "Set to detonate whenever anything gets too close to them. That'll complicate things." "Not if we push them out," Sitara said. "If we work together, we can use the Force to throw them outside." They both knew it would damage the Temple, but neither one cared at that point. Standing shoulder-to-shoulder, they combined their energies and hurled the crates from the hangar. A moment later, a massive fireball blossomed outside the bay as the bombs hit the ground below. The shock wave that followed jolted the Jedi into motion. They ran to the speeder Sitara had been eyeing earlier, tossed the datapads into the backseat, and jumped in. Petra took the controls, gunned the throttle, and the speeder zoomed out of the hangar.
The pair sat in silence, flooded with emotion. They were simultaneously relieved to be alive, and filled with sorrow at the thought of what they had escaped. As Petra directed the speeder upwards to merge with the dense Coruscant air traffic, Sitara couldn't resist looking back at the Temple. As she gazed upon the heart of the Jedi Order, her eyes filled with tears. The once-proud spires of the Temple were in flames, the only real home she had ever had was burning. Unable to look at the destruction any longer, she turned away, eyes streaming, and made a silent vow: she would not forget what had happened here. She would never be able to forget.