A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…

STAR WARS: EONS

Episode V

THE FINAL BETRAYAL

It is a time of crisis in the galaxy. Hundreds of planets are threatening to leave the Galactic Alliance, their efforts spearheaded by the planet of Corellia, claiming that the former New Republic has the makings of a new galactic empire.

Even with the newly signed Azure Accords, unrest continues to spread, and there are rumors that the Order of Revan is backing the Corellian Insurgent States, only sparking tension between the two galactic superpowers.

In an attempt to quell the situation, the Prime Minister of the Order of Revan and the Chief of State of the Galactic Alliance dispatch a contingent of Jedi knights to Naboo, where important negotiations are set to take place…

Naboo Orbit

Corellian Insurgent States (CIS), Galactic Alliance

30 ABY

The cockpit of the Alliance attack shuttle was quiet as it left from the Interdictor-class capital ship hangar, unfolding its wings as it blasted off towards the Insurgent blockade. The blue-green planet of Naboo slowly spun behind it, its beauty just as it was in the days of the Old Republic.

The pilot kept a direct course while two cloaked Jedi knights looked on from behind, his attention fully ahead.

"Pilot," one of the Jedi said. "Inform their Admiral that we have waited long enough. We will be boarding at once."

"Yes sir," he replied, opening a communication channel to the large frigate they were approaching in the blockade. After a few moments, a hologram appeared of a uniformed human male, his clothing reminiscent of the Rebel Alliance. "With all due respect, the ambassadors wish to board at once."

"Very well," the man replied. "We await their arrival."

After the confirmation, the shuttle picked up speed, approaching the opposing hangar and landing with the trained ease of an Alliance pilot.

Once the landing cycle had completed, the pilot cleared the Jedi for departure. "Wait here until we return," one of the Jedi ordered. After they received a nod from the pilot, the Jedi descended the loading ramp and into the hangar. They were greeted to the sight of multiple X-wing starfighters, along with what one of them recognized as vulture droids. Despite initial reports, the blockade was far more armed than anticipated.

They crossed the hangar to a somewhat circular door, where a dark blue protocol droid was waiting for them. "Hello," the droid greeted them in a female voice. "I am CI-24, if you would please follow me."

The droid led them down the hallway a few meters before turning into a conference room, complete with a window looking out towards Naboo. "On behalf of the Corellian States, we are honored with your presence. Make yourselves comfortable, my masters will be here to greet you shortly."

Once the droid had finished, they shut the door behind them, leaving the Jedi alone in the conference room. Away from prying eyes, they both pulled over their hoods.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Ahsoka Tano said, crossing her arms. "Those were vulture droids back there. I haven't seen those in almost 50 years."

The togruta was 66 years old by now, but her knowledge in the Force hadn't slowed her down even a step. Her appearance was largely unchanged, besides various scars riddled across her skin from the many years of battle she had taken part in. Her white robes and hints of gold were hidden behind her brown cloak, but she didn't need the glamor for people to know who she was. Many titles had been given to her; Clone Wars veteran, The Fierce Commander, Hero of the Rebellion, Hero of Tython, and more recently, the Vanguard of Light. She disregarded many of them, much more preferring to be simply called by her name.

"I agree, Master," Jaina Solo, her former apprentice, followed up. "There's something unsettling about this place."

Jaina Solo was one of the twins born of Rebellion heroes Leia Organa and Han Solo. Born five years after the Battle of Yavin, she had grown into a powerful Jedi Knight, and one of the best pilots in the Revanite Navy. Ahsoka had on many occasions compared her skills to that of her old master, Anakin Skywalker. While that name was still tainted with the scourge of Darth Vader, all members of the New Jedi Order were sure to be made aware of Anakin's true self: the general who fought fiercely for the Republic during the Clone Wars. She did her best to live up to that legacy, especially with his blood flowing through her veins.

Ahsoka stretched out with her heightened senses, feeling each lifeform roaming through the halls of the frigate. There was much self-assurance and pride, but behind that…something sinister…illusive.

"I sense it too. There may be a bigger hand behind this mystery," Ahsoka said as they paced towards the window.

"I thought with the Azure Accords and the concessions both the Revanites and Alliance made, they might back down," Jaina figured.

The Azure Accords was the largest galactic agreement since the Treaty of Bespin and served as an attempt to appease growing resentment inside both Revanite and Alliance borders. Only 8 years back was the Order of Revan engaged in a civil war against a resurgent Mandalore, a conflict that lasted three years longer than it should have. Mandalore ultimately surrendered, but not after billions of deaths across Revanite territory. The splintering revolt had crippled their military, forcing the New Republic to rearm itself in a matter of protection, as the Revanites could no longer serve as their police force. The Accords reformed the New Republic into a more autonomous collection of states, dubbed the Galactic Alliance, and the Order of Revan granted semi-independence to Mandalore, although demilitarized, and the Pentastar Alignment, which was a concentrated area of pro-Empire planets.

Perhaps the most important part of the agreement however was the declared neutrality of Coruscant, allowing it to serve as joint capitals of both superpowers. On paper, that meant more cooperation, but so far it has only resulted in more border disputes and friction.

"We may have just ended up empowering them, as Master Eon mentioned, and I may be falling into agreement with him," Ahsoka said, taking a seat at the table. Jaina did the same, her medium-length brown hair settling into place. The togruta could feel her impatience, illustrated by her black-gloved fingers tapping atop the table.

"I hate all the politics," Jaina eventually said. "I don't know how my mother puts up with all this."

Ahsoka scoffed. "That's definitely something your father would say. I've always leaned more towards action, but diplomacy should never be overlooked if it is possible."

"I remember," Jaina said, and then smiled. "That reminds me of when we were stuck on Felucia, and you cut a deal with the natives for food and shelter after agreeing to a trial by combat."

Ahsoka laughed, although remembering how worried she was that she wouldn't get Leia's daughter back to her safely. "That was a close one."

At the bridge of that same frigate, which went by the name Helios, Admiral Constantious of the CIS Navy impatiently awaited the report from CI-24, who was waddling its way towards him from the bridge entrance. Despite this, he kept a calm and collected demeanor present, as to not rattle the crew members working around him.

He didn't consider himself a rebel, but he was Corellian, and if his world wanted independence, then he would get it for her.

CI-24 stopped as soon as it was within a few feet of him. "Who are the ambassadors?" he asked.

"The ambassadors are Jedi knights, I believe," the droid replied. "I am unsure who specifically."

The Admiral grimaced. Jedi were based from Coruscant, a neutral planet, and were recognized under Alliance and Revanite law as enforcers, which essentially ensured them jurisdiction across the entire galaxy.

"This complicates things," he said, and then sent the droid back to tend to their guests. News such as this could not go unreported. He made his way back to the holo-table aboard the bridge and punched in a specific transmission code. "I need privacy," he declared, and all his subordinates left the area to himself. Closing the blinders around him, he pushed the transmission through.

The table flashed and revealed a holo image of a hooded figure, their features completely concealed aside from strips of cloth covering where their mouth should be. "What is it?" the figure asked in a female voice.

"There's been a complication, the ambassadors the Alliance sent are Jedi knights," he revealed. "I am unsure as how to proceed."

The woman grumbled but didn't show any signs of distress. "This development is unfortunate. My plan is not ready to begin. Bring the fleet to Malastare and await my next instructions."

"Of course, my lord," he said. "And the Jedi?"

"Kill them."

A violent surge in the Force forced Ahsoka to her feet, instinctually calling one of her brilliant gold sabers to her hand. The special hilt emitted a powerful initial burst and then deep, dark hum as she stood motionless, trying to pinpoint the sudden disturbance. Jaina had sensed it too, her purple blade drawn at the ready.

The shuttle was the source. The pilot was dead, along with the small clone security team that had accompanied them. Ahsoka sent out silent thanks for their sacrifice, and then turned her attention back to their current situation. A sound of smoke came from the vents, and her eyes locked on a green mist beginning to fill the room.

"Dioxis!" Ahsoka yelled, and then reached out with the Force, deactivating her saber and creating two large protective bubbles around each of their heads. "Don't move."

Jaina stayed still as she collapsed her blade, her eyes darting around as the green mist was stopped from coming within striking distance of her nostrils or mouth. Even with the protection, she refused to breathe. She would've likely struggled to hold a technique like this for an extended period of time, but this was child's play for Ahsoka. In fact, she had learned the technique from Obi-Wan back in the Clone Wars.

The room was completely filled with the green smoke, and Ahsoka's ears picked up the noise from the vents coming to an end. Now, it was only a matter of time until their failed assassins returned to finish the job.

Ahsoka noticed Jaina's face beginning to turn blue. "Hey, just breathe! The air around you is clean," she insisted while concentrating.

Jaina was smart to not take a desperate gasp, only sharp breaths to replenish her lungs to avoid sucking in all the clean air around her.

After a few minutes, the door opened, and the green mist was so thick their bodies were concealed from whoever had come to kill them off.

"Check it out Corporal, we'll cover you," Ahsoka heard, and in a familiar mechanical voice.

"Roger, roger."

Battle droids? She thought to herself. Not just any battle droids, but more specifically the battle droids. The backbone of the Separatist army back in the Clone Wars, mainly the B1 and B2 units. Hearing that they were in operation under Insurgent control was troubling, and only enticed her to find out the true reason why Corellia had become so hostile to the Galactic Alliance. The best way to do that was to speak to their leaders, and they were on the bridge.

Her mind made up, she looked to Jaina and signaled she was going to cut the bubbles from existence, and they both took a deep breath. Once Ahsoka had dropped her control, the green smoke filled in all around them.

A gold and purple saber ignited from the smoke. "Uh oh," one of the droids said. "Blast them!" Laser bolts erupted from each of their blasters but were only sent right back where they had come, dropping two of the six B1 units to the hallway floor.

Jaina leapt out of the haze, her lightsaber cleaving one droid in half before it could react, and Ahsoka followed suit, backing up her former Padawan until they had cleared their welcoming party completely.

Ahsoka deactivated her blades, taking a knee so she could get a look at their droid assailants. "Yep, just as I thought," she said. "B1 units."

"You think the Corellian States are building a droid army?" Jaina asked, keeping an eye out for more.

"I don't know," Ahsoka admitted, turning to look down the long hallway, spotting another battalion on their way. "But this is starting to look frighteningly familiar," she then activated her wrist comm. "Dragon, this is Aurora. We have confirmed Separatist droid presence. Be advised and be sure to warn Phoenix."

"Copy that, Aurora," Jacen Solo confirmed, his knees giving a clear indication that they did not enjoy crawling inside the ventilation ducts. "We're almost in position."

The second of the Solo twins, Jacen was the more "Jedi-like" of the two. As one of the Jedi who initially stayed out of the Second Mandalorian War, his knowledge of various Force studies was second to none. Even Luke Skywalker found Jacen difficult to compete with, and he was widely regarded as the Order's most gifted member. He was very close to his sister, even if she had decided to follow the Revanites to war against Mandalore when he had not.

"Ow!" the woman behind him grunted after a metallic impact. "Sometimes I wish I didn't have lekku so damn big."

Jacen chuckled. "I agree. It would help us stay incognito more often."

Petra Eon glared at his backside as she crawled behind him. "Very funny."

The togruta-zabrak was not only the first of her hybrid species, she was the prodigal daughter of Ahsoka Tano and Xur Eon, two of the most famous warriors in the current galaxy. This, unfortunately, correlated into her becoming somewhat of a celebrity at birth, which was why she was raised on the secluded Rakata Prime, away from all the attention. That didn't mean she was kept away from people, but she hadn't spent time in the wider galaxy until she was 13 years old. When she was 16, she joined her father to fight the Mandalorians, and developed a close relationship with Jaina Solo, who was her mother's apprentice.

Despite that, she quietly preferred to work with her brother, Jacen.

"Why is it that we always get the dirty jobs?" Petra complained. "You'd think Master Skywalker would put a Revanite Marauder at the front of the operation."

"Huh, maybe he wanted a diplomatic solution, rather than having you charge forward and burn down everything in your path?" Jacen suggested, with a grin she couldn't see.

"Well that's no fun."

Jacen rolled his eyes and stopped, reactivating his commlink. "Phoenix, this is Dragon. Aurora has confirmed Separatist droid contact and has already been engaged. We are at our designated point and will be dropping from the duct as planned."

"Copy that Dragon," Luke Skywalker acknowledged. "Be careful."

"Always am," Jacen assured, and then cut the transmission. "Alright Petra, let's-," he was cut off by the sound of a lightsaber ignition and the heat of melting metal behind him. "What are you doing?" he demanded, but only received the sound of the bottom of the duct slamming into the floor below and the 27-year-old woman dropping through, followed by the shriek of surprised droid units as a lightsaber cleaved them in two.

"I hate it when she does that," he grumbled to himself, and then pulled the vent grate from the duct and slid through, only to find the entire droid patrol already disposed of. Petra's violet blades collapsed into their hilts, and she returned them to her belt in time for him to ready his own.

Her clothing was mainly armored robing, much more militarized than any Jedi in the Order, perhaps because she technically wasn't a Jedi. The only part of her body that wasn't covered was her face and fingers, which revealed her fiery red-orange skin. The lekku around her head was that of any other togruta, but there were three zabrak horns atop her forehead, accurately surrounded by white traditional designs. Blue eyes of brilliant determination and confidence topped everything off.

Jacen was dressed less sophisticatedly, adopting a much more Jedi look. He was slightly armored but followed Luke's doctrine of attempting to have the Jedi look less like military generals, even if they were serving as ones. His robes were deep brown, almost cookie-cutter.

"Thank you for proving my point," Jacen mocked, returning his hilt to his belt.

Petra rolled her eyes, and he began to sense her annoyance building. "Whatever. Let's just move."

He elected to say nothing more, as he preferred not to upset one of the most violent Force wielders in the galaxy. Jacen had always felt that his command of the Force was elite, along with his Skywalker bloodline, but there was something different about her. There was something ancient about Petra, something he could never quite put his finger on what or why exactly.

Whatever it was, he was glad she was on his side.

They had landed in the exact hall of the Helios that they had gone over in their plan, which meant that their destination was not far. His senses spiked, and he quickly recognized the fire of combat being ignited in his bond with his sister. Jaina was doing battle, but he found no inclination towards pain.

Petra took the lead, as always, and they were lucky enough to avoid droid patrols until they reached the operations center. The door had two B2 super battle droids posted outside, and Petra and Jacen ducked behind a lip in the hallway wall before a patrol of B1s ran by.

"They must be going after Jaina and your mother," Jacen whispered.

"Probably a good guess," Petra said, her eyes fixed on the door. "I've never fought a real B2 unit. I guess it's time to find out if they're as tough as Dad says."

Before she could charge out, Jacen pulled her back with a firm grip on her arm. "Wait, I brought droid poppers."

Petra gave him a disappointed look, crossing her arms. "You sure know how to take the fun out of everything."

Jacen flashed a knowing smile, "A Jedi is never to crave adventure, for-."

Petra couldn't stop herself from smiling, knowing he was teasing her. "Yeah, yeah, save your lessons for the Younglings at the Temple."

He readied the grenades in his hand. "You should come by, maybe teach them a thing or two about Vaapad?"

"Yeah!" she whispered sarcastically. "And teach them how to fight with passion and anger, just like a true Jedi should!"

He shrugged, rolling the grenades out into the hall, and then watched as their discharge overloaded the droids and sent them crashing down. "Don't knock it until you try it."

Once it was clear, she turned to him. "Alright Doctor No Fun, maybe you would want to lead the way?"

Ahsoka plunged her gold blade into the blast door blocking them from the bridge, the metal instantly melting into liquid around it. B1 units were still attempting to apprehend them, but Jaina was holding them at bay for the time being.

The togruta grunted. "I'm almost through!" she shouted, feeling the center of the door melting away. There was a lax in the B1 waves, until another sound she wished to never hear again began.

"Master, destroyers!" Jaina shouted, holding her purple blade in a defensive stance as rolling droidekas stopped to unfold into firing position. Ahsoka had no choice but to pull her blade free and ignite her second, just in time for the droidekas to begin firing with their deflector shields.

"Take cover!" Ahsoka shouted, and they both dove behind nearby lips in the wall at lightning speed. Bolts pounded into their respective cover, and Jaina quickly regretted trying to look back at them. The ferocity of these droids was unlike anything the young Jedi had ever faced.

Then as suddenly as they arrived, their barrage of laser fire was stopped by the sound of a lightsaber cleaving each of them in half. Jaina dared to peak from her cover, and she was greeted to the sight of a blue lightsaber blade, and Mara Jade Skywalker.

"Need a hand?" the red-haired spouse of Luke Skywalker asked, collapsing her lightsaber.

Ahsoka sighed with relief. "Mara, I'm glad to see you," she exited her cover, but looked around as if someone was missing. "Where's Luke?"

A few meters down the hall, a Force wave ripped through a junction, and two B2 units screamed as they crumbled to the floor.

Mara shrugged. "Held up in traffic."

Luke emerged, jogging down the hall with his green blade until he caught up. "Ahsoka, Jaina, good to see you safe," he said. "All these battle droids were making me worry."

"I'd say I was nostalgic," Ahsoka joked. "But they're still trying to kill me."

Mara raised an eyebrow. "So, it's true? They're the same units the Separatists used 50 years ago?"

"Yes," Ahsoka nodded, turning back to the door to the bridge. "But why Corellia has them, I'm not sure." She pulled out one of her hilts and prepared to plunge it into the melted hole she had created but paused.

"What is it?" Jaina asked.

Luke cocked his head. "There's…no one in there."

Mara gulped. "And that means…"

Self-destruct sequence initiated. Abandon ship.

Ahsoka sighed as the intercom finished. "It means that."

Sirens blared as the ship practically begged Jacen and Petra to make way for the escape pods, but they both stayed put, trying to pull as much information from the main computer as they could.

Or at least Jacen was.

"Wrap it up, Solo!" Petra shouted, her sweep through the operations center complete. "Does self-destruct mean anything to you?!"

"This information could mean the difference between a peaceful compromise and a civil war, so I'm willing to cut it a little close," he insisted, waiting for the drive to finish copying the last bits of data.

"That information will be worthless if we're dead!" she protested, frantically looking to the droids running for their lives past the room they were in. Jacen didn't budge, committed to extracting as much intel as he could. Something about the CIS made him fearful enough to keep going despite the slightly senior warrior's protests. He couldn't quite place why, but the threat was serious enough for him to risk his life.

Petra disagreed.

"That's it!" she shouted, pulling the drive from the computer. "I'm invoking seniority. We're leaving!"

He wanted to protest, but knew that when her mind was made up, it was best to go along with it. Reluctantly, he followed her out into the hall and sprinted to the escape pods.