Reminder: Please kindly note that this is a remix of angelrider13's fic titled: Resist Order 66. This has been written with her permission and blessing.

- Part 1 of 3

Of Depa, love, and the will to sacrifice.

Kaller is breathtakingly beautiful, luxurious, and vibrant. No amount of war can tarnish the tall tall trees, the green gracious grass, and the bubbling babbling brooks that blanket the planet's surface. Depa wishes she can say the same for her Padawan and her men as they trooped behind her in silence. War is not kind and takes and takes until there is nothing left.

And that's why she stops them in the middle of the clearing with the blue brilliant sky above as their only witness. They need a break, she tells them, and she watches as her silent companions transform into kinder, better beings. She knows this is just a small small respite from their fight with the Separatists but this will have to do for now as Styles reaches out and ruffles her Padawan's hair in a teasing manner.

Caleb bats the clone's hands away, eager smile ready on his lips, and Depa brightens because there is still hope that not all those who fight are lost in darkness. There can still be moments of no fighting and no battlefields with the dead and dying. There can still be moments of quiet. Of happiness. Moments that bring laughter and delight that have become far far too rare.

As chuckles lilt off several clones, Depa can only savor this precious moment of peace. She reaches into the Force and it comforts her. She tries not to think that one day, Caleb will no longer laugh. Tries not to think that one day, Caleb will be stone cold. She hopes it will not come to that. The war must surely end before then.

Somewhere far far away, she hears Grey's comms spark on but the Force is pulling her away. Her mind is wandering and-

Suddenly, abruptly, Depa can no longer breathe because the Force is screaming, and she can see thousands upon thousands of lights flicker once before going out. Caleb must have sensed something was wrong for he takes her hand, and, with a tug, they are both lost in the horrifying flashes of white white armor shooting down starlight.

Instinct has her whirling and deflecting a blaster shot before she realizes it; the lightsaber fits in her hand too naturally this time. Her Padawan is still disorientated beside her and she takes no chances as she pushes him behind. He is still coming back to his senses so he cannot see but she does. She sees Grey signal and her men take aim again, mirror image of what she has just witnessed. She's shouting before she can stop herself.

"Why?! Why are you doing this?!"

Her men's face do not betray them as they say as one, "Good soldiers follow orders."

It's utterly wrong as a chill runs down her spine. A chill that has nothing to do with the wind picking up and trilling through the tall tall trees, the wind glossing across the green gracious grass, or the wind blowing against the bubbling babbling brooks. These are her men. Hers. She knows them like she knows that stars will one day die.

But it matters not what she knows because what she knows right now is that her men are shooting at her and her Padawan.

Her Padawan who is trying his best to recover from the dark but is failing until she calls his name.

"Caleb!"

He finally finds himself and steps up next to her, deflecting blaster shots as effectively as she is. They stand back to back, dodging and defending and keeping each other safe and protected. But this cannot stand and she's sure Caleb sees this too when more of her men appear to their left and right, surrounding them.

There is a beat, two, where she sees a vision of Caleb with a Padawan of his own and it's what compels her to push him towards the outskirts of the clearing behind, towards the tall tall trees that provide shelter and shade mere moments before. Conflict blossoms on her young Padawan's face and Depa knows what he's thinking. He wants to stay. He wants to help. He wants to do so many things but leave her because his devotion to her and the Jedi is all he has, and he cannot abandon it. Not even now when their men are turning on them. But he must and she gives him another shove, slashing another bolt from the air.

"Go! I'll be right behind you!"

As Caleb finally turns his back on her, Depa finds her heart in her throat because he is so so young, so so sweet, and so so bright. And she finds herself wishing that he will always stay that way but she knows that cannot be when the Force is screaming and their men are shooting and she is lying.

She wishes she had more time to teach him that there are things worth dying for and that he is one of those precious things worth sacrificing for.

Maybe he knows what she's thinking for he doesn't look back but the Force… it ceases for a beat, two, and she feels concern, anger, and beneath it all, deep deep sadness from her Padawan.

"Don't look back," she yells, and Caleb runs. She deflects shot after shot, heart jolting at every single man she's injured, at every single man she's killed for the sake of that young young child who holds the future's hope. She needs to keep him safe. They cannot touch him.

She whirls, twirls, and shoves with the Force still screaming in her mind; her men fly several paces backwards and she ignores the way some fall and don't get up. Then, everything slows down as she sees Grey motion and Styles aim at something past her…

Caleb.

"Styles, No!" The Force bellows out to shove his blaster aside. His shot goes wide and she has a second of relief before another shot catches her in the back. She knows without seeing that it is Grey who fires this.

She falls.

The green gracious grass greets her as the pain grows; she knows it's bad when she can still hear the bubbling babbling brooks break through the chaos of blaster fire and shouts of her men.

Funny. She doesn't remember dying hurting this much. Then again, last time this happened, she hadn't been fighting people she trusted. She hadn't been fighting for a new hope. This is decidedly worse than last time.

Another shot hits her body and she's dimly aware of the tall tall trees providing refuge from the shining sun. She thinks she's dying when she continues to ache, when the Force continues to scream, and her men continue to shoot.

She thinks she's dying and in her last thought before darkness approaches, she prays that her Padawan is safe.

In the distance, the same Padawan hears a whisper that tells him to run and he pumps his legs faster.

AN:

- I know in canon, she died as evident in Star Wars: Rebels, but if you haven't noticed, all the Jedi who were to die in Order 66 are alive in my stories. I wanted to emphasize on her story and the heartbreaking decisions she had to make.

- Hope you enjoy! Reviews are much appreciated! :)