After The Fall
Shattered Memories
A/N: This is a re-write of my story After the Fall, which I removed due to lack of satisfaction. I didn't like the way it was turning out, and I got several of my facts wrong. Now, due to a renewed inspiration (I watched ROTS again) and a new source of SW facts,( Wookieepedis rules!) I am having another whack at it! Wish me luck!
Disclaimer:None of the Star Wars characters are mine. But the three main characters are.
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The sound of gentle waterfalls and softly lapping waves always pervaded the serene Room of a Thousand Fountains. It was the perfect place to meditate, to think, and for many Padawans, to swim. The Masters often came to the room for relaxation purposes.
I walked slowly through the room, savoring the cool air, and relishing the feeling of peace as it pervaded the room. I, like many other Jedi, loved the room the most of all the other features of the massive Jedi Temple. Huge waterfalls could be seen, and the largest lake there, where there were many small younglings swimming, gave a cheery effect.
One that was quickly destroyed. Flames engulfed the lush vegitation, and screams rent the once-still air. I looked around in shock, and saw many Jedi being gunned down by . . . . No, it wasn't possible. They served the Order, the Republic, the Chancellor . . . .
But there was no mistaking them. Clone troops mowed down dozens of Jedi before they could react. I quickly drew my lightsaber, and snapped it on with a dull buzzzmmm!
The bright green blade drew the clone's attention. They fired in my direction, and I deftly evaded or deflected the bolts. They continued firing, and I retreated. They made to follow, but I was now through the smoke, and out in the gigantic entry hall.
All was choas. There were thousands of clones, and the strewn bodies of hundreds of Jedi littered the lush red carpets. I stared at the still fighting factions in shock, and then started as a voice called out, my own Master, I later realized,"Jiri! Run!"
I obeyed without question, fleeing deep into the Temple. I soon found myself in a stone passage, with two clear inches of dust. I had never been there before, but I knew I had to escape.
I entered a small room, with nothing in it. There was also no door leading out. I swore, cursing my foolishness for going straight to a dead end. Then I heard noises behind me.
I turned, my lightsaber still activated. Six clone troopers entered the small room, and after second's hesitation, they opened fire.
I deflected their fire back at them, killing two. I ran at them, my Padawan training kicking in. I stabbed one, and whirled, slashing another. With a brutal kick, I sent one flying. Another quickly lost his hand, and the third had his gun cut in half. I bolted for the door.
Pain, raging, biting, burning pain slashed through my shoulder, throwing me to the ground. I fought with darkness, and though I was strong, Darkness won. . . .
I woke with a start. I frantically felt behind me, my wounded shoulder, and was slightly relieved to find the wound healing. I breathed deeply, using Jedi techniques to calm myself. When I was more in control, I surveyed my surroundings.
We had taken refuge in an abandoned building, deep in the undercity. There, we felt we would be safe, where the clones rarely ventured, because the Twilighters didn't tolerate them. I looked over at the door, where another Jedi Padawan, who went by the name of D'ren, was standing guard.
Standing exactly six feet tall, and the same as me, D'ren was my opposite. I had blond hair, he had black. I had blue eyes, his were black with gold flecks. And another thing, while I was human, he was unique. He had wings, which were blacker than midnight.
A soft grunt shifted my attention to my only other companion, and another of my fellow Padawans. Litra was a Togruta, like her own Master, Shaak Ti. She was an early bloomer, her head tails already grown to their full length. Her more densely striped lekku, or third head tail, hung down her back, while the two thinner ones hung over her shoulders to rest on her torso. Her horn-like montrals were adorned with stripes as well.
Her skin was a rusty reddish color, except for the bright white skin around her eyes. Togruta had long ago used this pigmentation to startle predators on their homeworld of Shili.
Litra woke, and blinked blearily. She swore in a mumbled voice, and banged at the small heating unit she'd managed to get working. Litra was a mechanical genius. Accepted late into the order, she had once lived on a space freighter. There she had worked with her mother, learning and mastering anything to do with machines faster than anyone they had ever seen.
On a mission to the planet Correlia, Jedi Master Shaak Ti had been astounded by her abilities, and had brought her to the Temple for assessment. The council had warily agreed that she was to be trained, and Shaak Ti had agreed to do so personally.
I looked back at D'ren, who felt my emotions, and turned to lock eyes with me. He smiled comfortingly, and went back to watching the hallway. I had told both of them of my nightmares, and both had offered their support. I moved on from those thoughts, knowing they would make me feel worse, and turned to speculating about D'ren.
The strange being was an enigma. He wasn't an alien, he'd said, and claimed to be human. But humans didn't have wings. D'ren avoided these subjects, instead focusing on our ability to survive.
All three of us were exceptionally gifted Jedi, for Padawans. D'ren was the most skilled swordmaster for his age i had ever met. And whenever D'ren used the Force, the power he commanded was greater than anything I'd ever felt, even in the presence of Master Yoda. But I also felt a faint ripple, no more than a whisper, of the Dark Side from him. He admitted it freely, and said that it happened whenever he used the Force.
Litra was the least Force sensitive of us, though she still used it to a commendable degree. I had been told I had potential by my own master. Tears welled in my eyes as I remembered the scene quite vividly.
Master Ali-Alann stood his ground, and looked over his shoulder."Jiri! Run!" He shouted, and swung his lightsaber viscously. With the powerful blow, he cut a clone clean if half. But the resultant momentum caused him to overbalance, and he never regained his equilibrium. A clone shot him in the back of the head before he could right himself.
I was about to sink deeper, when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up, and found D'ren's deep eyes looking back. He nodded, and I calmed myself. Litra was ignoring us, trying to increase the power of the heating unit.
I took several deep breaths, and said,"Shouldn't we be leaving soon? Didn't Radnel say ten?"
D'ren nodded, and replied in his short, clipped way,"Breakfast first."
Litra pulled out her tattered bag, and rummaged for rations. Being Jedi, we couldn't cook very well. We could Cook for survival, but cook something that actually tastes good? Naw. But Litra was the best cook of the three of us, so she set to work. Soon the slight meal was ready, and we ate quickly. When the food was gone, we packed our scant belongings, and exited the building.
The Twilighters, or the residents of the Undercity, were already out and about. We wove through them, our own tattered clothes matching theirs perfectly. He had hidden our Jedi appearance well. Our lightsabers, or at least, Mine and D'ren's double-bladed lightsaber. Litra had lost hers in the Purge.
Our Padawan braids had been cut. Our hair had been let loose, and now we looked like three homeless teenagers. But we were more than that. We were three homeless teenagers with a purpose. And that purpose was simple. And by simple, I mean simplistic, not easy. We wanted answers. And we were doing what we could to get them.
And that involved going to the home of a Rodian named Radnel. Litra remembered going with her master to him for information. He had been a friend of the Jedi, and it was likely he still was. But the New Order had put a very large price on Jedi bounties. And greed is a powerful motivator.
A/N: Aaaaand, I'm gonna end this chapter here! Tell me what you think, and tell me what you liked! I can assure you, all facts concerning Star Wars are correct, unless proven otherwise by either me or Wookieepedia. I'm going to keep up with this, I hope, so review often, because it will help me to write this no doubt long and arduous story. R/R! Please!
Aciadrian