Few days ago it has been precisely 8 years since I left.
I do not regret my decision to leave my old life. I had good reasons to never come back there.
Before The Sacking Coruscant I was a prominent Jedi Master who just successfully guided my third Padawan through The Jedi Trials.
But now I am meditating in this cave, thinking about how I got here.
All those terrible things I saw on Coruscant made me different.
I just couldn't stay with the Jedi Order any longer, their peacefullness, forgiveness and reconciliation with everything irritated me. I had to go somewhere as far from everything and everyone as my resources allowed me.
During The Sacking of Coruscant I saw the worst kinds of things imaginable – young Padawans slashed to pieces by the Dark Lords of the Sith and their obedient servants, Jedi Archives burnt to ash while Imperial troopers took everything that could somehow benefit the Empire, Jedi desperately fighting for their lives againts the overwhelming horde of Imperial troops.
My name is Vaayto Darak.
When it all began I was in my quarters. I heard really loud bangs and screams so I rushed out of my room to find out what's going on. In the main hallway I saw my former student (a Knight at the time) with Master Tinall Kun and two Padawans fighting a group of Imperials. I promptly leaped to them, saving one of the Padawans from a blaster bolt by deflecting it right back at the aggresor. When all of them were dispatched he thanked me for saving his life. I just nodded understandingly and told him that he doesn't need to worry about that right now.
„We need to get to the centre of this mess!" I commanded as we marched through the hallway towards the turmoil of a raging battle.
When we finally reached the main entry hall we were terrified. Bodies of dead Jedi lay everywhere. We could even see a little group of survivors being just slaughtered by the ruthless invaders. As I saw the scene I quickly decided that this is not a good place to be. I realized we desperately needed to get to the escape shuttels. And as quickly as we could if we wanted to survive this onslaught.
On the way there we came across some debris blocking the way. Master Kun and I had to gather all our forces to clear the way. The others were told to protect us from harm as we were more than busy with our problems. Unfortunately one of the Padawans got shot to the chest because of him not paying attention and the other one decided to leave his place to help him. To everyone's surprise my although capable but sometimes egoistic ex-apprentice, Kay-Jin La, was handling the situation with ease and seemed to have no problem defending all four of us at the same time.
That and many other reasons led to her subsequent promotion to the rank of Jedi Master.
When the debris was finally removed we had a clear path to the hangar, where we would found our getaway vehicles. Master Kun and the two Padawans got into one of the two remaining speeders while Kay-Jin climbed with me into the other one. We decided to split after takeoff so we had better chance of making it out alive.
Later I found out that they were shot down shortly after I lost sight of them.
At last, we reached a place far from all the danger. It was some kind of landing platform for interplanetary starships. I got out of the speeder and just stood there, unable to move. As long as I was in the temple, I didn't really thought about what was really happening. I was so focused on protecting others and leading them to safety that I didn't let the horrors catch up to me. But they did when I stood there. I was suddenly hearing all those dead voices, seeing all those dead bodies in my mind. I just couldn't handle it anymore and I simply collapsed to the ground.
I was woken up by Kay-Jin. She was shouting at me that we had to go and how it is not safe here but I didn't hear almost anything. With her help I slowly got up and somehow managed to sit back in the speeder. Then she flew us to a place where all the other speeders seemed to be gathering. It must have been some kind of refugee camp for the Jedi that escaped the temple because all I saw in my state was lots of robed people walking around. Then, without any warning, I fainted.
When I opened my eyes I was lying on a medical bed and a doctor was standing next to me.
„You woke up. Good. It seems that you have not suffered any major injuries, that determines your sudden fainting is caused probably by some kind of mental problem. I have not yet been successful in finding out what that might be. But, of course, I am no psychiatrist," the doctor explained to me and to bystanding Kay-Jin La with a grin.
„I was worried sick, Master!" she said after she asked the doctor to leave us alone. Her whole body was shaking and trembling as she felt helpless just standing there unable to help me get better.
„I dont' know what came over me. I was just so... overwhelmed. But you, Kay, definitely deserve some recognition for your actions. Protecting the rest of us while we were incapable of doing it ourselves was more than a difficult task. Once the High Council is reassambled I will surely commend you for your accomplishments. But now I need some more rest, I am still very weak," I responded, to my surprise, with a very weak voice. I was not feeling great and evidently still shaken from my previous experience.
„Of course, Master. I will leave you to it, you look like you really need it. You're really pale, even more than usually anyway," she smiled as she handed me a little packet with some drugs inside.
„Just one last thing – the doctor said you should take these pills, they should help you sleep better." She covered me in a thick blanket and then left me to my thoughts.
I took the pills even though I didn't really need them, I was sleepy enough already. Just before falling asleep I took another blanket just to keep myself even warmer. It was a cold day.