(This work is unedited) [Minor changes 8 Feb 21]
All the standard disclaimers that canon Star Wars characters do not belong to me and are only being used to tell my story in this Fan fiction. That my original characters are mine.
My views of the Jedi are much more powerful and do have precedence in the Canon books. Using the battle between Sidious and the four Jedi masters from the book and not the movie give a much more power version of the type of battles possible as the description of the fight had Anakin seeing only two spheres of shadow with flashes of the beings who created them. One tinted red and the other purple. This means they were moving so fast that the naked eye could not keep up. So all the fights in the movies are nothing compared to what they should be. Think Yoda Dooku fight on 25x FF or the Mustafar fight on fast forward 25x.
There are a few parts taken from the script and altered a bit to fit into mine. They are not marked but start as Qui Gon reports on his mission after arriving from Tatooine with Anakin in tow.
Enjoy, comment, and pass it on or not.
Aliora Kimble woke as if from a nightmare. Sweating, breathing heavy, lost. She was lost in more ways than any other time. This time she knew that everything was different. The cost had been much greater than she could have ever imagined. Her choices will haunt her for the rest of her days. Again the names of the fallen rolled past her eyes. Kira, Scourge, Cort, Ingo, Sanusha were on the top of the list. Corso, Aric, Vette, Senya, Qyzen, Doc, Rusk, Iresso, Bowdaar were only the start of a very long list. A list of the dead and lost. A list of those that might have survived if I had only let the Force guide me instead of trying to appease certain factions.
No, I couldn't let that happen and I got tossed into a whirlwind of chaos that had resulted. Of a life that was controlled by the very actions that I had used to avoid this ending. An ending that came to this very point no matter what I had chosen. The last scenes of the final death of the one who called himself Tenebrae, Vitiate, Valkorion still imprinted on my mind as I stood up in the chamber that had held his original body. The sarcophagus contained now only dust that radiated the dark side of the force slowly weakening in power.
I moved out of the room into the next hoping for something but knowing the truth even before my eyes could remind me of the truth. There in the rough circle was the remains of all who had come with me in the force dreamscape. Nothing more than clothing and dust. Satele, her students, Lana, Kira, Scourge, Senya, and Arcann were gone. They were the last of anyone who would aid me. Despair took me to my knees as their loss tore into my core. They had been my friends confidants and even my lover. I would never feel their touch or hear their words again. I had lost everything and for what? To save a Republic that was barely able to fend off a fleet of fifty ships or an Empire that was tearing itself apart? Or the Hutt Cartel that in fragments as well.
No, I had done more than I thought I could. No, there was a difference and though I could not realize that the cost was worth it in the end I would never know. The Alliance was all that was left of both the Empire and the Republic. The only power in the universe at large. Even the Hutt Cartel was nothing more than a few misguided Hutts. The Eternal Empire and the fleet it commanded vanished to the far corners of the galaxy. I finally regained my feet not remembering when I had sunk to the floor. No, I said again to myself. I still had purpose. I still could be used by the Force to restore the balance.
I felt its touch as I reached out to feel it. It was changing so quickly. As fast as I moved through the dead craft to my own. As I entered the airlock of the Jedi Defender I felt the change in the Force settle. I shuttered with the feeling of the Force reflecting only the Bendu, Balance. Have I really brought true balance to the Force? Was it really possible? C2 and T7 were the only ones remaining and they thankfully remain silent as I moved towards the bridge. Sitting down in my command chair I felt the entire weight of the responsibilities I had to bare.
"Master Aliora?" I could hope that the silence would not have been broken, but time was still moving around me no matter how much I wanted it to stop and rewind to the moment of a better time. To the time I learned under the most revered and hated Force user, Revan. I learned the truth the hard way that he was a man like all others. Just that he made the most of what the Force tossed at him. In the end he still died and it was at Vitiate's hand just before I destroyed that body. Fighting Valkorion had cost me Cort, Ingo, and Sanusha's lives as they fell to Arcann and Vaylin's power. "Where are the others?"
"They are not coming."
"I understand. I will retrieve their remains." C2 of all his faults this was one that still shocked me how he could take such information from the few words I gave him. His words word dripped concern and true loss. His ability to decipher that they were dead was eerie.
"Retrieving their clothing is not needed. Their bodies were consumed by the Force." T7 whistled sadly before his motors removed him from the bridge. Though I wondered if I should not have collected at least their lightsabers. No it was better not to, even as a part of me cried that I should.
"Very well, Odessen?" Direction as with any droid at a point it would need direction and having none to give I remained silent. Time passed and neither of us moved or spoke. I barely breathed just lost in my thoughts and the Force. I reached out in the Force trying to find them all. To see them one last time. To hear them speak to me. To smile, snarl, or blankly look at me. They were truly gone. Not a single glimmer. I let them go. I gave them to the Force. I gave my feelings to the Force as my eyes had long ago crusted shut from the steady flow of tears.
Without opening my eyes I stood and walked into my cabin. Like a droid with a single minded command I stripped, showered and got under the covers. Exhaustion was more than happy to take me in its embrace. Dreamless sleep was the best medicine that I could have received. Force imbued dreams were never good and it knew I needed time. I had lost everyone I knew once before and now again. Sure there were others I had left behind in the Alliance, but none of those had I been close to. They as well are no more than strangers.
The days it took to return to Odessen were filled with the need to forget. Their lives spun in my head as real as any other. Their laughter, sadness, rage, and regret echoed in my mind and their memories. As I settled into the captain's chair I felt more alone than ever before. Though I could not dwell on my losses as I needed to command the Alliance one last time. Without my friends, without them working in the background I knew that what we built would not hold together. I maybe the focal point of the Alliance I was just that, a point in a larger picture that needed the leadership on my friends and allies and with them now gone I highly doubted the assistants below could handle the load or have the influence to direct the more insistent members of the Alliance.
I gasped as the ship reverted to real space and the Force surged. Moments ago it had shone with balance neither light nor dark. Now it was mottled and muted as if covered in a shroud of darkness.
"Odessen is not responding to our hails." I glanced at the droid as he brought up the live feed of the planet I had called home for several years. Scans went out and reports filled the sides of the holo field to be viewed when needed. The port station lay dormant in the main view half the size it had once been showing a catastrophic failure as if it had happened long ago. Other debris was know to be from the remains of the ships that had once been a part of the Eternal Fleet, but now much reduce in volume. Though some of the larger chunks had remained. C2 guided the ship close to the station to confirm there was not a sign of power or life on what parts remained.
"This does not compute."
"That is an understatement."
"Master, There is one functioning device left on the station, but it insists that it has been several thousand since we left."
"What? Who?"
"I will land near it. You will need to retrieve the device. It has stopped responding."
"What happened?" This question cut through my grief and spurred me to rush to get this device. As C2 directed I jumped from the ramp into the derelict station.
"Proceed along this corridor and then to the fifth space I believe used to be unit I33B7." The map came up on my display and my boots thumped as they magnetically locked with the deck.
"Okay I am at the door. Anything I need to know?"
"Use the power bar on the main controls there is a small cover next to it. That should open the door."
"Right." The cover popped off and floated away a second later I shoved the power bar into place and the ancient door slid silently open. There was a small release of air showing that there had been sealed since the station's destruction. The foyer of a common apartment and there floating was the remains of a droid but not just any droid. This was HK-51 or 55 it was hard to tell in the current light.
"I found an HK droid not sure if it one we know."
"Please be careful they always made me nervous."
"C2, I am fine." I used the Force and the thrusters to move the droid back to the ship. Once inside the hold the gravity came slowly on as I position the droid into a charging station. As the lights normalized I still could not tell if this was 51 or 55 as their coloring had varied from each other. As far as I knew this could be a different droid or version.
I locked down its limbs just to be safe as the last orders the droid could have had was to kill.
"It will take fifteen minutes to restore enough power to reactivate."
"But it had just talked to you."
"Not the droid but a time device in the living space."
"Should I go back?"
"No, further scans once the door was open revealed the apartment to be nearly gone. The device had been in the foyer with the droid as that was all that remained intact of unit I33B7."
"Then we need to find the base." Moving back to the bridge I got the ship moving as C2 helped. T7 came on the bridge now curious about why it was so silent on the channels. T7 whistled out his concern as he reached the bridge. I took a glance at the droid and nodded as the ship traveled the normal landing pattern to the Alliance base. As we broke through the clouds it became clear the base had been abandon long ago. The dome was covered over in green and the smaller landing pad which was only half there. The two gun turrets had long ago fallen though the larger balcony remained. The cleared landing area for the ship was over grown, but still clear enough to land.
Exiting the ship the air still smelled like the first day we landed as I remembered. Walking to the remains of the bridge and then jumping distance brought back so many memories. People events and different missions flashed through my mind. As we entered the hanger the vegetation had never gained a hold even with it being open to the environment. There was evidence of a rapid exodus and abandonment of the base as broken supply crates littered the hanger with a pair of rusting fighters that must not have been able to fly. Computer consoles and general equipment that was designed to be taken in a hurry was left to rot. Each door that was closed I had to use the Force to open. That remained true until I came to my quarters. The door opened on its own. A bit slow but not hindered over time. The air that rolled out was like a fog.
"Master, that is pure nitrogen." C2 warned as T7 beeped out the same warning. The Force had warned me before the door open and I had plenty of air until the mix diluted with the stale air of the base.
"Initializing message system. You have one message marked with emergency level one priority. Replaying holo message now."
"Commander it has been three months since your secret mission with Scourge and Master Carsen. We now have to assume the worse and none of you will return. As much as we came together, you and the other leaders were the ones that kept this Alliance moving. Hylo Visz, Gault Rennow along with the smugglers under command just vanished and with them most of our treasury. With that it was not long before the Sith and the Jedi decided to part ways after a fierce battle between Xalek and Choza Raabat neither the victor as Darth Hexid killed them both. It was then chaos as the military members scrambled to leave as Paxton Rall demanded to be paid as his forces started to attack. Aygo died from his wounds once the base was evacuated. I am unsure of what became of Juvard and his team as that section of the base collapsed. I hope that you return and can visit me as I will return to Voss. If not then this is a memorial to a leader, friend and teacher."
Tears came down my face as the message played out. Sana-Rae had been a fountain of innocence and wisdom over the years and did her share of keeping the Alliance running and working together even with the strong differences. To know that she was gone as with everyone else hit me hard as I suddenly cried out in pain. I could handle the losses over time and even the most resent loss I was sure I could have endured, but to lose everything you have ever known was more than I could currently cope with. Other messages tried to play but they had degrade over time. Only through the Force could the first message have survived. It had also seemed that this was what kept the power active to the room as it went dark again.
Once the pain let go I absently searched the room for anything else only finding a holocron that I had been working on. The other thing was the ring Doc had given me so long ago. The case was made out of Aurodium alloy that stood the test of time and theft. It was just another pain that stabbed the heart as I had never worn it other than one time. I pulled out the ring and the perfect Corusca gem glittered in the harsh light coming from the droids. Slipping the ring on my finger broke the pain the sorrow had on me. The Force flared as I somehow let go of the past for now.
"There is nothing more here for us." Still we moved through every open area and even found a path into the collapsed chamber that was Juvard's lab. Nothing of value was found here either though the cybernetic eye had survive the test of time. As we returned to the ship I had forgotten the droid we recovered.
"Surprised exclamation: Master you live!"
HK 51 or 55?"
"Confused reply: I am unsure. Declaration: My assassination protocols are currently blocked or deleted."
"How long have you been deactivated?"
"Intriguing answer: Internal and external power sources show that my internal clock continued to run for 785 years 6 months and 13 days."
"C2 what was the date on the time device you recorded?"
"Our ship time is 23:6:12:10:53 23 years since the Treaty of Coruscant, 51 years since the beginning of the Great Galactic War and 346 years since the beginning of the Mandalorian Wars. The device held a time of 3621:11:10 years since the Treaty of Coruscant. Strangely enough the current time is the same."
"Query: Then it has been 3615 years since I killed my last meatbag, I mean, trouble maker."
"3600 years but how? Would we not have felt such a shift? Should not the the Force have told me?"
"I have no record of any time lapse or incident that should have been reported."
"T7 search the hyperdrive records and see if there had been anything unusual recorded." I reached out into the Force for anything, anyone and found nothing. Just a foggy darkness that was difficult to sense more than what was around me. My grief may have hidden the cause or warning the Force could have given me or that it happened while I slept from exhaustion from the battle with Tenebrae. The only sign was that at one point the Force had sung out in balance and the next it was shrouded by darkness, yet light.
Over thirty six centuries was a hard thing to swallow. With no direction coming from the Force the reason for such a jump in the Force baffled me. Several days passed just getting to the nearest system that had a hyperspace map updater. Even after the update the ship took several hours to download and realign the internal maps with the current date of Ruusan Reformation 967:11:20 or 3:02:20 GrS. This confirmed the ancient clock and baffled the droids more than it did her. Even Galactic Standard had changed slightly making her dialect archaic. There was nothing left but to leave and find out what truly has changed. Access to the holonet was eye opening.
Her travels had filled the ship with odds and ends that came in very useful from the pure Aurodium bars to what was now considered ancient collectibles. The Republic Currency that she carried had also traded for a decent amount and even more once we had joined the Corellian Trade Spine. Much had happen in the last 36oo years and there was too much to take in, but the surprising was the final defeat of the Sith and the near extinction of the Jedi. Though very little more than common general information was available on the public holonet with many references to seek out the galactic libraries. The most extensive was referenced to be the Jedi Order Public Archive and the Grand Library of Coruscant.
Since that was where I could find answers and reconnect with the Jedi I felt it was where I needed to go and the Force was neutral on the subject. Meditating and sparring with HK was my only other outlet and break from my loss. It was while I was meditating that I was interrupted. I looked at the clock as I spoke.
968ARR:01:05:12:13/3GrS:4:05:12:13