(all rights owned by lucasfilm and disney alike, star wars is not owned by myself)
A long time Ago, in a galaxy far far away...
It is a time of intergalactic war, with operation cinder underway, the empire tries suffocating what loyal planets remain, after the newly reformed new republic had broken through the blockade on coruscant, former jedi Ahsoka Tano and her clone veteran 'General Rex' are drawn to Coruscant to salvage what remains of the wreck of the emperor's office; formerly known as the jedi temple.
4-5ABY
"I will never understand why you haven't retired yet Rex." Ahsoka stated, carefully traversing the rubble of the emperor's palace, pressing her palm against gigantic shrapnel that leaned against the dilapidated pillars and shredded imperial flags.
Keeping her balance, she held out her hand and helped Rex up across the particularly buffed slabs that laid across the floor, mixed with polished chunks of granites and black painted wood.
"Are you calling me old, commander?' he enquired, earning a smug glance back from the togruta beside him, whom was kicking away fallen debris with her foot. The title came too easy to him, despite the decades dividing the old times. He flashed on the flashlight on his rifle, pointing it towards a large clump of dust falling from the ceiling.
The hallway ahead had little lighting, the natural daylight was being blocked by bricks and the burned out red flags with the imperial insignia.
"I never directly said that" she hummed back in defense, causing him to playfully nudge her in the elbow, the kind of thing long time friends would have done. Had the old man not looked as frail as he was, despite his biological age, she would have pushed him back in retaliation; but she didn't want to caretake yet another war veteran.
Despite the circumstances of the mission, it was relaxing just having the two of them around. The major civil war was over and the clone wars had passed decades ago. Rex was one of the only people who stayed with her throughout, and the dynamic duo had each others back. There wasn't anyone in the galaxy whom she trusted more.
"Sure you did." Rex shot back, rolling his eyes at the quick bantering, his grey eyebrows raising and shaking off dust settled upon his wrinkled forehead.
For a moment it was just peaceful silence, the only sound present was the clanging of a single metal lightsaber on her hips and the hum of her white lightsaber, which lit the corridor with a bright glow. Her eyebrows furrowed, as her expression turned solemn. Rex lowered his rifle and focused the concentrated beam of light at a fallen statue of an ancient jedi, the head was dismantled and placed on a crumbling pedistal, which spiders took joy in nesting in.
"Palpatine did a real good job at mocking the order didnt he?" the old clone grunted; his backpack rustled as he climbed across a large boulder, his chestplate scrached across the hard edge and his white cloak trailed weightlessly behind him.
"Couldnt have done it better myself" she replied, before her face lost the serious edge and gave a suggestion, her face could not keep the smile that tugged her lips at bay "i propose we should transform this place into a republic base just to humiliate his legacy in the same way" for a brief moment, her eyes flashed in revenge at the joke she had made, before returning to its natural expression.
"Ah yes, lets have another clever idea from General Fulcrum, where we build a HQ on the emperors former palace, just to piss his ghost off" Rex sarcastically quipped, before breaking into a light chuckle.
Ahsoka checked her footing for shards of glass as they approached what once was the centre tower, remembering the grey material wrapped around her; making her travel so much more difficult. "I still wonder why they wanted us to wear these beskar chestplates, its so heavy when we also have a backpack, not to mention the whole symbols and cloaks are a bit overkill"
"perhaps they wanted us to be representing the new republic.." he trailed off "and I'm not going to complain about the beskar, its so rare and expensive I reckon this is a way of repaying us for the days lost in breifing rooms"
The conversations kept switching topics as they scoured the deserted old temple, searching for anything left of the Jedi Legacy. As they headed towards what was once the archives, she passed the master's quarters, the (recently) black painted door was blown off and the doorframe was squashed and snapped in places, showing the evident damage it has endured during the last air raid.
Seeing her childhood home reduced to rubble sent a sharp pang down her heart, as everything she had been trained for had been obliterated by the Sith. Rex knew the look on her face better than anything, the grief that sat behind her eyes was not as masked as it once may have been.
"I wonder how much different things had been if the sith didnt survive their near-extinction"
"Probably would be a lot more peaceful, and there would probably be a lot more jedi around for sure." she remarked sadly. Her voice echoed around the walls and the place seemed like a ghost town of memories.
Trying to put on some optimistic thinking, the only comfort he could bring to her; however small it was, he explained "But at the same time, had they not I wouldn't be standing here now, and politicians may be squabbling over the piles of riches that should be owed to those less fortunate"
There was silence once again, and Rex wondered if he had said something to upset the Togruta, however judging by the twitch of her lips she was contemplating his words carefully, as if scanning for some hidden meaning.
The pair vaulted over a fallen pillar, which was starting to become overgrown with moss as water dripped and splashed through the holes in the walls, and sunlight crashed through gaps in the ceiling. Turning off their light sources, they took a long gaze at the room of a thousand fountains. The once tranquil place of meditation was in a state of overgrowth, the monuments had shattered and polluted the water.
Rubble had blocked up the artificial rivers that once spilled freely onto the river banks, bringing a calm aura to this area.
The wildlife was deprived of sentient life; with weeds springing up on the grass and unchecked plant diseases infecting masses of the trees, turning the once green plants into shades of yellow and deep brown. Any remaining trees either had stunted, warped growth or appeared so frail that it would uproot itself with the simple tap of a finger.
Turning away, a tear threatened to spill for her eye; for however long it was collecting in her tear ducts- she was unaware- so she clamped down on her lifetime built emotionless jedi training, and blocked out the grief to focus on the mission at hand.
"From my guess, palpatine must have kept any artifacts not inside his vault somewhere here" she squeezed herself through a gap in the rubble, where the archway must have fallen in on itself.
Lending out a hand, she assisted Rex through the gap, as he cursed at his body being tubbier than it once was.
This corridor was nearly unrecognisable, had it not been for the abstract patterns on the floor and the lightsaber marks on one of the doors, each pair placed next to one another and equally spread apart.
She stopped in her tracks, her bottom lip was trembling, and her hands started to gently shake as the lightsaber crystal in her hilt rattled in her palm. With some initial hesitancy; she turned towards the doorway, her feet unable to stop moving towards the frame despite the dust threatening to drown her lungs.
Disengaging her blade back onto her belt, the room was dim, with Rex's flashlight being the only source to this closed off part. A lone tear betrayed her, trailing down her eyelids and orange cheek as she placed a hand over the lightsaber dent. Trying to sniff away the grief, she let out a cough and murmered something about the air quality; though Rex wasn't stupid enough to believe that.
Jedi or not, she needed to come to terms with what had happened. She pressed her forehead against the dusty frame, sucking in deep breaths to hold in the grief. It all happened ages ago, but for some reason it still felt new.
Memories flooded her brain as she remembered her once over-enthusiastic mood towards embarking on a new mission, or the gossip she would share with her old friends, or the bantering interactions between master Kenobi and Skywalker, as they planned questionable shenanigans to turn the tide of the battle or the...
" 'Soka..?" Rex called, he had crept to her side whilst she had deeply reminisced on the past which was cut untimely short.
Protruding from the doorway, was a long Tattooine pendant, she plucked it off the ground, running her hand across it slowly as she recognised the design.
It was Anakin's.
She couldn't help herself again, and sniffed further, her voice came out weak, almost as a whisper. "I can't believe after all this time, so little is left.." After all this time, she still blamed herself for Anakin's fall. She blamed herself for leaving. For never saying goodbye. She blamed herself for failing the order and everyone she had known.
"Unfortunately nothing lasts forever" Rex grimly added, as she wiped away the tears that refused to dry on her cheeks. Her eyes were welled up further, and threatened to spill a dam, but it was mostly old wounds that had been provoked. She was still healing. She pocketed the pendant, which she would later bury with his memory.
Once she had brushed off the mosture and allowed it to dry on her hands, she refocused on the mission, determined to not allow herself any distractions. In final defeat, she admitted "I never thought I would return here.. I nearly didn't want to take this mission; but the real jedi are trying to rebuild and the war is technically over"
"Technically" Rex emphasised "The empire just dont seem to know when to quit."
"Ironic, given the fact that their loyalty is to a dead emperor" she bit back sarcastically to no one in particular, as the pair settled themselves on a flat cut platform of the foundation of a pillar, they turned over one of the charred flags and shook of the debris, causing crumbs to spread through the air.
Pressing the safety on, Rex gently places his gun down horizontally, the muzzle pointing towards the ground and away from himself, before lifting the full backpack off his tired shoulders.
Reaching his hand into the pack, he pulled out a basic flask, full of water, and the pair seated themselves on the red velvet.
The room was once again silent, aside from the glugging of water in the flask as the old veteran consumed it. Ahsoka sat in the darkness beside him, her grey cloak looking like she had just walked out of a funeral. She ran over the route to the holocron vault in her head, trying to remember the fastest approach and the least likely to be blocked passageways.
'Ahsoka' she heard someone whisper her name, snapping her out of her thoughts, the sudden shift in her concentration caused the old clone captain to look warily at her. She perked her head up in the direction of where she thinks the sound came from.
"You alright general?" Rex questioned, the title slipping out of his mouth by habit. She raised an eyebrow, and continued to scan her eyes through the darkness of the passageway.
"Do you.. hear that?" she said softly, as if afraid that she would scare off or alert whoever called her, she clentched her saber tight in her hands, as heat started rising in her throat, along with adrenaline. Seeing the panic written on her face, Rex whispered back, "Hear what?"
'Ahsoka' it called again, slightly louder this time.
Reaching out with the force, she scanned for life forces or signatures to indicate the presence of anyone who may be lurking in the temple. But to her own suprise, there was none.
Shaking her head, she tried convincing herself that her mind was playing tricks on her. "Nevermind, I think we should search that way just incase", she taps his shoulder; and ignites her blade to point towards the source of where she thought it came from, she painted a faint smirk on her face, and playfully added, "After all, you could just be getting deaf in your old age"
"And I could say your going crazy in your old age too General" he grins wildly in return, welcoming back the banter with wide arms. He closed the cap on the flask and gently lowered it to his rucksack.
'Rex' he heard a faint, yet familiar voice whisper out to him, it sounded like Fives. He stopped mid gesture; and shot up to his feet, causing his back to make a cracking sound in complaint, causing him to curse at his tired, rusty bones. Ramming the rest of his belongings in the rucksack, he threw it off his back and snatched the rifle off the platform, removing it off safety.
"Okay... I definitely heard something" he acknowledged - perhaps they were both losing it?
The pair walked towards the source, lifting up their hoods for cover on the settling dust that could potentially clog their lungs.
This time, it was Ahsoka's turn to shrug "I didnt hear anything this time..."
As they both advanced in the general direction, Ahsoka felt a warning through the force, on edge, she listened to her instincts and as Rex's foot smacked something, his old spine refused to bear the counter force to keep himself from toppling over, thus his weight shifted towards the floor and he started to fall. Out of reflex, she caught the clone by the shoulders, keeping his balance as she slowly lifted him back up to normal height.
As soon as he regained his breath and balance, he huffed a quick 'thanks' ,the Togruta let go of him, staring at the ground, she observed a glowing blue object which she needed to see more clearly.
"Rex, shine a light on that" she commanded.
Lowing his blaster down, the concentrated light beam focused on a cubed object, with ancient markings, at first Rex was confused, but by judging on the look on Ahsoka's face, she knew what it was.
Crouching down, she manually hauled the boulders off the holocron, and pulled it out of the wreckage.
"What is a holocron doing here?" she whispered "Does it still work?" Rex enquired, as she dusted the object.
"Only one way to find out."
Opening her palm on the object, she reached out with the force, and pictured a key unlocking the holocron, the sides tilted and a blue image of Obi-Wan crackled to life.
"This is Master Obi Wan kenobi, I regret to inform you that the jedi order and the republic has fallen". Knowing the rest of the message, she broke her concentration to the force and allowed the holocron to retract and snatched it out of the air.
"This is just like the one I saw from Kanan nearly 10 years ago, im guessing the emperor kept it for something"
She opened Rex's backpack, and withdrew a ration bar for herself and the captain, to make room for the holocron. Closing the zip, they get ready to trek ahead when..
'Hello?'
There it was again.
They both heard it this time, and worriedly exchanged glances at one another, in unison, they said normally, "You hear that..?"
They both nodded in response to the question and the former jedi reignited her white blade, the glow illuminating a wider amount of space in the room. Rex turns his flashlight back on, and sets his line of sight down the scopes.
They walked into the mostly destroyed holocron library, the old archives had shelves cleared and toppled over, with lights that had been shattered and glass shards protruding from the slabs of broken wood.
The place looked like it had been raided, nothing remained other than more piles of rubble and more debris.
The noise got louder, this time switching between different voices and fluctuating in volume.
'Master Skywalker, there are too many of them, what are we going to do?'
The noise sounded like it was coming from a single bookshelf that stood upright and against the wall, its physical condition appeared mostly intact, had the room not been as damaged as it was, it could easily have been mistaken as yet another shelf. It was cleared of it contents, revealing a gap behind it, which was enough to conclude that a hidden doorway lay there. Ahsoka gestured towards the wall, and the pair crept up to the shelf.
"Hello? Is anyone there? Its okay... you can come out now, your safe" she beckoned to the voice, to which the bookcase pivoted and opened a doorway that appeared to be leading deep.
They traversed in a corridor lined with imperial banners, in an attempt to squeeze through a small gap in the corridor, their armour enforced clothes scraped against the grey tiles, providing an awful scratching noise.
'If into the archives you go, only pain you will find'
Was that Yoda? What was Master Yoda doing here? she thought, she hadn't seen nor sensed him, but she could distinguish the owner of this voice.
They climbed down the staircase, and were shocked as the Imperial banners changed into Sith order banners. As they neared the bottom, Ahsoka felt a sudden rush of cold hit her, this place felt wrong; twisted.
When she saw the red glow of the wide, dark room, she finally realised what she had stumbled upon. Dark statues in long robes and lightsabers lined the walls, in Form 7 stances.
In the centre of this small room sat a glowing red Sith holocron on top of a pedistal.
There was a Sith Temple under the Jedi temple.
Her comm blinked on, startling the pair, accepting the request, they could hear a brief message with lots of interference and the signal appeared to be blocked by something.
"Agent-" the comm crackled "This is Red 8, Get Out- Empire- attack- Emperor- Evacuate"
"Red-8" she replied, her voice rising as they turned to run out of the hallway, "Red-8!" she repeated, "We're out of time" in a panicked tone, she went to snatch the sith holocron.
Later, when they make it out, she would destroy the holocron for good, rather than let it become buried in rubble with the potential to be used in the hands of the wrong people.
An explosion sounded from upstairs, and the ground above and below her shook.
Dust was falling from the ceiling, with cobwebs braking under the vibrations of the tremors and the floor was crashing about.
'YOU WERE MY BROTHER ANAKIN! I LOVED YOU' the voice screamed.
"Kriff." she cursed in a sharp intake of breath, trying her best to ignore the scream which provoked tears to spill, but her survival instincts where overriding that "The empire is here." She eyed the staircase leading back to the holocron library, "We have to get out of here"
As they traversed upwards on the staircase, a large chunk of the passageway fell onto Rex's foot, rendering him trapped. As the tremors continued, more debris piled on and she was positive that it was crushing his entire leg.
He struggled and howled in pain, coughing up dust that had fallen into his throat and was being repeatedly swallowed. If they wouldn't end up being crushed to death or buried alive, suffocation would be their enemy just as predominantly.
'Your father was the best star pilot in the galaxy, a cunning warrior and a good friend.'
Using her lightsaber, she cut through the chunk, splitting it off into smaller pieces for her to lift off his leg with the force, after a few minutes of the ex-soldiers screaming at one another, all the rubble was off, and Ahsoka wrapped his arm around her neck, supporting his waist and manually hauling him up the remaining steps.
'I am a jedi. Like my father before me'
They reached the final steps, and as she placed her hand on the doorway to haul herself and Rex out, a large chunk of the ceiling broke off, and fell on their heads.
"Help! H-" she spluttered, coughing out vowels as the dust and air pressure compressed her lungs, at a final attempt of self rescue. Black dots started to swarm her vision, and before she knew it, she blacked out.
'This will be the end of the story of your feeble rebellion' the voice sneered.