Agamar System - Outer Rim Territories | 19 BBY |
Jedi Knight Malius Ando stares intently at the surrounding rocky landscape, his eyes searching for a sign of their target. The Jedi High Council recently received rumors and reports of a Separatist hideout on the planet Agamar, and sent him and his clone troopers to search the planet and see if the rumored base is true. If it is, then they would have to flush the Separatists from the system.
However he is slightly unsure of this assignment, but not because he didn't think he could handle it. After all, it was only a week ago that he received himself a new Padawan.
"Master Ando, what makes the possibility of a Separatist base being here so certain?" Rylla asks, coming up beside him.
Malius lets out a quiet, unnoticeable sigh and turns to face his new apprentice.
"Activity in this system has been too quiet for the Council's liking, considering the heavy Separatist presence in close proximity to surrounding area," he explains.
"And if there isn't a base, what to we do then?" she questions.
Before he could answer, his clone commander's sensor began beeping.
"General!" he calls out, rushing over to him.
"What have you found Commander Santos?" Malius asks.
Commander Santos checks his wrist com, one of the buttons blinking.
"I'm not sure sir, but there appears to be a faint signal 16 clicks, due North," he reports.
"Alright, we'll check it out. Rally the men," he orders.
Malius begins heading off in that direction, Rylla following after him obediently. Commander Santos turns toward the patrol group with them, gesturing to follow.
"You heard the general! Let's move it boys!" he orders.
The tank begins walking in the direction that Malius and Rylla are headed, the troopers on the ground marching along as well. The large patrol group travels through the rocky mountains and hills, following the source of the faint signal that is coming from that direction. In orbit above the planet, a Venator class cruiser continues to monitor Agamar, also keeping watch for any possible surprise attacks from a Separatist fleet. The clones base camp wasn't too far from Malius and Rylla's current position, where the shuttle and a few gunships wait by in case of an emergency.
As they continue walking Rylla stares ahead, her eyes slightly unfocused, and Malius glances at his Padawan with a knowing expression.
"Are you still thinking about your clan mates young one?" he asks her.
She glances up at him sheepishly.
"Sorry Master, it's hard not too sometimes," she admits.
"I understand. When I first became a padawan it was hard not to miss them sometimes," he replies in understanding. "Of course, with clan mates such as yours I can only imagine it's especially difficult for you."
She nods her head.
"Yes Master. Both Padawan Tano and Padawan Shan were really fun to be around, and I can't help but feel a little envious since their Masters always go on missions together. Which means they get to be together too," Rylla explains.
"I suppose so," Malius replies thoughtfully. "But remember to keep your mind clear Padawan, especially during times like these, less you become distracted and make mistakes."
"Yes Master," she replies.
Commander Santo walks a couple of steps behind his general and commander when all of a sudden his communicator begins to beep. He glances at it, a bit confused, and the two Jedi also glance behind at him.
"You keep going sir, I'll catch up," he reassures them.
"Alright, Santos. Make sure to keep up," Malius replies with a small smile.
Commander Santos nods in reply, and the two Jedi make their way around the curve with his patrol following while he pulls out his communicator. He accepts the transmission, curious about who it was, only to be greeted by a bizarre sight. Who on earth is this... scarred old man in black robes contacting him for?!
"Execute Order, 66," the hologram of Darth Sidious orders.
It's as if someone flicked a switch in his mind. He immediately straightens his posture, his men all around him doing the same thing. They start to receive reports that the Jedi are all involved in a conspiracy to betray the Republic, and their orders are to deal with them at any cost, executing them. They were bred to fight for the Republic, and good soldiers follow orders. Santos nods his head obediently.
"It will be done my lord," he replies, ending the transmission.
Santos pockets his communicator and looks up at his men, giving them all a nod. They prepare their weapons and continue their march forwards, moving quicker in order to catch up to the Jedi. Up ahead, Malius and Rylla both continue on their walk, the rest of their patrol still a few feet behind them, until Malius stops, sensing a strange shift in the Force. Rylla takes notice with concern.
"Master?" she asks cautiously.
He raises a hand to quiet her, and narrows his eyes, scanning the area intently. The Force is warning him about something... something terrible.
"Something's wrong," he murmurs worriedly, glancing at her. "Let's get the troops back to camp."
Rylla develops a nervous look but nods obediently, shuffling alongside her master. They turn around and make their way back to the patrol, finding Commander Santos having caught up with them, the AT-TE still behind the small hill a little ways back.
"Commander, something's gone wrong. We'll have to turn around and head back towards the camp," Malius informs him.
"Of course sir," Santos replies impassively. "However, there is an issue that has come up..."
Malius narrows his eyes in confusion and suspicion, immediately sensing something off about the clone commander. Just then, a massive wave of pain and horror bursts through the Force, and crying out to him with the feeling of shock and fear. Malius flinches painfully in response, holding a hand to his head before widening his eyes in realization.
"Rylla! Get back!" he shouts, whipping out his lightsaber.
Rylla gasps in terror as the clones take aim at them, stumbling back in confusion. The clones all open fire with their blasters, and Malius waves his lightsaber around to deflect the blasters bolts back. Santos dives out of the way of a few redirected blasts, which take down two troopers just behind him. Malius quickly backs away, deflecting the blue laser fire away from him and Rylla, the latter continuing to stare in terror and confusion.
"What are they doing?!" she yells fearfully.
"Run, Rylla!" Malius exclaims.
Thrusting a hand out, Malius shoves the clones back with a Force push, temporarily stopping the blaster fire. He turns around and starts running, Rylla quickly following his example and running after him. They dash through the short, rocky mountains only to quickly find another patrol of clones in front of them to cut them off, and they immediately open fire. Both Jedi ignite their lightsabers and redirect the blaster fire back at the troopers, although Rylla has more difficulty, having not been in a true combat situation yet. Redirected blaster fire hits some of the clone troopers, but more are beginning to flank around them.
"Move, down that pathway!" Malius says, pointing towards a small tunnel in the rocks.
Rylla doesn't argue and moves to do so, but just then the AT-TE appears around a corner, it's cannon aimed at them and charging up. Malius widens his eyes in alarm and glances between the tank and his Padawan, easily making a quick decision. He whips around and uses the Force to throw Rylla down into the small entrance, much to her surprise, just as the tank fires.
"MASTER!" she yells in horror.
The shot from the blaster cannon hits the ground right next to them, sending Malius flying across the ground away from Rylla and striking a weak portion of rock. Boulders tumble down as a result and cut the two off from each other, much to Rylla's terror. She struggles to frantically claw away at the rocks, not wanting to leave her new master behind, but only manages to get enough rocks out of the way to see through a small gap.
Jedi Knight Malius Ando groans in pain, having just barely missed taking the full force of the walker's blaster cannon, and attempts to rise. The sound of heavy footsteps quickly gains his attention before he's roughly pulled up from the ground. He gives out a brief cry of pain, a couple of his bones broken as a result of the blast, but the clones don't care. His lightsaber lies on the ground a feet away, and he can barely see straight, his focus only coming to rest on an approaching Commander Santos. The rest of his former patrol all surround him, blasters raised.
"Why... why would you do this...?" he asks weakly, feeling a sense of betrayal.
"Good soldiers follow orders Jedi," Santos says coldly.
He raises his blaster pistol and fires a point blank shot through the Jedi Knight's head, who only had a moment to stare up at him defiantly before being killed. From inside the tunnel, Rylla gasps in shock, horror overcoming her as tears well up in her eyes.
"Spread out and find the other Jedi. We kill on sight!" Santos orders his men.
Grief overcomes Rylla as she begins to sob, stumbling away from the blocked entrance of the cave. She travels further inside the dark tunnel, terrified, heartbroken, and struck with heaping sobs as she comes to terms with what just occurred.
She's alone.
Author's Note: Hey readers! I'm sure some of you who have been following me for some time now may be a bit surprised and confused with this "new" story being made. Well I've finally thought of some things to add to the story of Rylla, my OC bounty hunter character! Here's to hoping I can follow through this time, haha. But I think I'm off to a good start so far!