Revenge of the Sith AU during Order 66
Author's Note's: Senior Youngling: younglings ages roughly 10-14, who are almost Padawans or who have been unofficially chosen by a Master, but haven't had the ceremonies and braid done. This is head canon, but these kids aren't babies, as Ahsoka Tano was Anakin's Padawan at 14, in the CW film.
I look out the small window in my tiny cell. After I fell to the dark, the Council locked me up here. I remember the Council at the time. I was once Jedi Master Jyesella Dellaeon, once one of the lightsaber instructors, and a Master of Form 6 and 3, who taught dual wielding for years. I see the guards look worried and frantically run off. I make out a few words of what they are saying. Sith. Attack. Many dead. Oh, no, this doesn't sound good for the Jedi Order, but this is my moment. My only chance to escape, likely ever.
I quickly manage to unlock the cell, using the Force. I had figured out this trick roughly two years ago, and had saved it for an occasion like this. One where I might actually have a chance to escape. I run up the stairs, going up to the main area of the Temple. I reach out into the Force deeply, for the first time in years, and see visions. I use the Force to cloak my self and presence to hide me from discovery.
Temple attacked. Help! The Clones have turned on us! Then I see a vision that I wish never happened even more then the first few. The Sith that's attacking the Temple raises his hood for a second. It is Anakin Skywalker. He has just killed a Temple Guard, at the main entrance, with blaster fire from Clones getting the rest of them at that entrance. No! The young boy I taught the basics of dual wielding… The former Master of a Padawan who I taught advanced dual wielding… One of the best lightsaber duelists in the Temple. If he has Fallen, then whoever's sent to kill or capture him will have to be one of the Temple's best.
What the Council doesn't know, is that after they locked me up, I found the light again. They never checked on me, and over time, they just forgot about me. I am a Jedi again, if only in spirt, as the Council expelled me. I wasn't completely cut off from the Force in my cell, as to do so to a Force-sensitive being would basically kill them, very slowly and painfully, and the Council outlawed it for all but Sith Lords millennia ago. I guess that this time, what the Council doesn't know might just save them, or at least help them out a little bit.
I try to remember my lightsaber skills, as from what I saw in my visions, I'll need them. Be with me, Force. Don't fail me now. I feel the Force's reassuring presence being with truly with me for the first time in years. I reach out through the Force carefully, and sense that the highest level Jedi at the Temple is Shaak Ti. I steal an extra Jedi robe from a closet to make it easier to blend in, so I will not get spotted. I sense that the least defended entrance is the left side entrance, and walk there.
As soon as I get there, a Jedi Knight falls. The young Knight couldn't have been over 25. Luckily, the Kyber crystals in his pair of lightsabers sorta bond with me, so I use the Force to pull them to my hand. I turn the blue blades on, with a snap-hiss, and walk on out to where to the real battle is. I haven't had a fight like this in years, but if I can save even one Jedi for a little while, then I will sacrifice my life, if I must.
I sink deep into the Force. May the Force be with me.
Double Vision, which is the Force showing me the present combined with a glimpse of the future: bolts coming at shoulder from far right…
Double Vision: bolts coming at neck from lower left…
I use my twin lightsabers to deflect each bolt, hoping to save even one Jedi. I combined Jar'Kai with Niman and Soresu, years ago, so I could deflect blaster bolts better, as well as having a very strong defense. It also made me a better lightsaber instructor. For many years I had taught the basics of dual blade work to all younglings and padawans, and taught more advanced skills to those who wanted to learn them.
"Master Ti, the prisoner escaped when we went off to help check the Temple defenses.", says Zena Eren. Zena is a Temple Guard, and has just been Knighted a few months ago. She hasn't taken on a Padawan yet, and has mentioned not taking on for a few more months at least, if not a year, so she can get used to being a Knight.
"Knight Eren, do you know where the prisoner is?", I ask, hoping we can recapture her safely, without risking the Temple falling.
"Let me check, Master." She walks over to a console and searches the security cameras.
A few minutes later she replies, "The prisoner is at the left side entrance. No…", she gasps, then continues, "I want to say the cameras are wrong."
"Is she helping the Sith?", I ask, worried that we might have three Sith or Dark Jedi, on our hands. With Anakin now confirmed as a Sith and Chancellor Palpatine confirmed as well, even the death of Dooku reduce the number of Dark-siders to deal with. If she is, then we may have lost the battle already, and it'll only be a matter of time until we are all dead and the last Jedi are gone.
"No… She's actually defending the entrance! I think she chose that one, as it's the weakest defense wise. It's currently only staffed by padawans, senior younglings, and a very few knights. If she is truly not a Sith, her skills would be a massive help. If she is… What should I do now with her?", says the young Knight.
"Try to confirm that she's not helping the Sith, then if she's not helping the Sith, let her be. We have bigger matters to worry about right now, like the fact that Anakin is the Sith Apprentice!", I say
"So, you mean not trying to recapture her if she's helping us, Master?", says a surprised Knight Eren.
"Yes, Knight Eren. We need all the help we can get to protect the Temple, even if some of it doesn't have as clean of records as others.", I say. Let's hope Jyesella Dellaeon is not a Sith.
Jedi Knight and Temple Guard, Zena Eren walks off to the left side entrance. She sees Jyesella Dellaeon standing there, with her twin lightsabers deflecting many blaster bolts. She senses only a little bit of darkness in Jyesella, an amount that would have been accepted if it was in a Jedi. She remembers how dark Anakin was in the Clone Wars, and this is much less. She sees Jyesella's dark hair streaming down the back of her neck, as the former Master Dellaeon is standing in the midst of the clones' assault on the Temple. She is standing there, deflecting as many bolts as possible, to make it easier for the younglings, padawans and the few newly knighted Knights to survive.
Could people come back from the dark? Or is this all a trap?
I remember the stories we were told. The one about no one can come back from the dark. The story of what happened to Master Dellaeon. After her first mission in a long time, not too long before the start of the Clone Wars, she fell to the dark side. The Council sent out a strike team to go retrieve her, and they managed to capture her. They ended up locking her up, in the prison under the Temple. I reach out in the Force, sensing that former Master Dellaeon is not dark anymore.
I ask to the oldest Knight there through the Force, while he's deflecting all the bolts former Master Dellaeon misses, "Do you know who the person deflecting all those bolts is?" Does he know just who he's dealing with?
He replies, "Nope. But whoever they are, they have got to be a Master. Her skill is just so good. Just I definitely don't recognize her, and I thought I knew most of the Masters in the Temple... Very few Jedi use Jar'Kai with any degree of mastery anywhere near that, let alone mixed with Soresu like that, so that should narrow thing down quite a bit."
"They are actually an escaped prisoner. Former Jedi Master Jyesella Dellaeon." The young Knight is shocked, and tries to hide his gasp. The young Knight remembers vaguely the news stories, as well as her teaching them dual wielding, all those years ago. He thought he had some degree of skill, but compared to her, even with her being so out of practice, he was nothing, dual wielding wise. Her twin lightsabers zoomed around so fast that if you weren't a Jedi or Force sensitive, you couldn't see them as individual blades.
I try to reassure him, by saying, "Just keep an eye on her, but Master Ti says to keep her on defense, as we need all the trained people we can get to defend the Temple and buy time for the evacuation.
Double vision: thermal detonator, from high above
I deflect a bunch of blaster bolts, then when the thermal detonator comes, I use the Force to push it back, into the line of Clones trying to get in. Then, as I keep deflecting blaster bolts, I see the new Sith Lord, who once was Anakin Skywalker come over this way. He's slaughtering as many Jedi as he can, as he comes over here. I watch as he cuts down a youngling, then on purpose use the Force to bait him over. I will do what I must to stop this Sith.
As Darth Vader comes over, his eyes are yellow with rage and the dark side. The Force seems to crackle around him, showing his true power. I know that Anakin's weaknesses are his impatient mind and body, his reliance on Form V, and his arrogance. I remember hearing him say that attack is the best defense. I also know that Vader will likely have the same weaknesses as Anakin once did. I remembered teaching Ahsoka, and hope my dual blade wielding will help me win, or at least slow him down.
He comes over, and begins fighting. Right away, I know that this will be a hard fight. Vader's Form V skills are extremely good. I use Form Three, and know that I may have problems just surviving.
"You weakling! You're not even a Jedi! Give in to your hate, your rage, your anger, like you did before." screams the new Sith Lord, Darth Vader. I remember teaching him to wield dual blades. He wasn't that great for being the Chosen One, if I'm being honest. His Padawan was better then he was at the dual blade work. I know better then to give in to his taunting.
Our blades clash, as I work on just slowing Vader down. He's able to use more strength then I remember, but it may be due to the fact that I was locked up soon after the start of the Clone Wars, and the fact that he's a Sith now. I manage to block or dodge all his blows. I know I will die, but if I manage to slow him down, so Shaak Ti can save some other Jedi, then it will be worth it.
I call the few Padawans, and senior younglings who aren't on the defense line to me, saying, "I need your help. The Temple is under attack, so we must evacuate. I need you to split into teams. Team One will retrieve as many Jedi holocrons as it can. The code to the vault is on this data pad." I hand the data pad to the oldest, a Rodian boy of 14, then tell him to share the code with the rest of his team, which I quickly pick.
"Team Two will help me prep the ship. In case I die, we are going to the ancient Jedi home world of Typhon. We will try to rescue as many defense line people as possible. Tiiona, I know you were Master Yarels' top choice for a Padawan. Did he ever tell you that?" I ask the 13 year old Kothlian. She looks like a human, but her race is slightly different, with especially light skin, and dark hair.
The girl nods, then says, "Yes. He said that he would pick me, when he got back from his mission to the Deep Core. That would be in a week."
"Oh, good. I'm making you a Padawan. You're currently going to be assigned to someone, to be determined, but if your would-be Master is alive, he'll train you. You are in charge on Team two, as you're also going to be the pilot, if I, or another more senior Jedi don't make it. The hyperdrive route to Typhon requires a code. The code is Ashla-Bogan-Jedi." I see the weight of the responsibility I have placed on the girl's shoulders, but know that she's the best pilot in the group, and the most responsible. I also want her to know that she's not forgotten about. I know that she's looking forward to being a Padawan, and want her to know, even if she doesn't make it, that she will not be forgotten.
The girl bows saying gratefully, "Thank you, Master Ti."
"You're welcome.", I say in return to the new Padawan Haruss. She smiles at me.
"We are taking the ship, Tranquility, as it's the biggest, fastest, and strongest armed ship that will fit on the landing pads at Typhon. It's in the hanger bay in the highest tower."
The children of Team Two reply in unison, "Yes, Master Ti.", and run off. The small group of kids left is Teams Three and Four. Team Three will rescue the younger younglings, while Team Four will steal or destroy classified records and medical supplies.
"You guys here, are Team Three, and you guys here are Team Four. Team Three, you will will rescue the younger younglings, and Team Four will steal or destroy classified records and medical supplies. Myria, you're in charge of Team Three. Aayn'synda, you're in charge of Team Four." The teams run off, and I go reset the security beacon, to warn all Jedi to stay away from Courscant.