This story takes place at the end of the Clone Wars and beyond, following Padawan Zaliza Vyvan and her Mirialan master, Ullara Avdune. The Jedi and their purple clad 1204th Clone Battalion beginning with The Siege of Felucia.

Secrets of The Outer Rim.

Act I.

The Last Days of The Jedi Order.

Chapter I.

The Horrors of Warfare.


I took cover behind some bizarre gargantuan plant as two AT-TE walkers advanced at either side of me, their heavy cannons doing anything and everything to battle the battle droids entrenched on the ridge line above. The Clone wars were waging on all around the galaxy as The Galactic Republic with its Jedi peacekeepers and legions of Clone troopers battled against The Confederacy of Independent Systems, the separatist faction wielding the largest droid armies in history, all under the supervision of the Sith Lord Count Dooku. I had to believe that victory was near, all our information suggested that we had the separatists outnumbered, outgunned, and outmatched, but as I looked at the Clone troopers trying to advance with the walkers being gunned down one by women by separatist laser fire, I didn't exactly feel like we were about to win. I knew that the only way we were going to advance is if I personally lead the charge.

I activated both ends of my double-bladed lightsaber, causing two purple blades to shimmer into life. I leaped out from cover and charged the droid positions, bringing the pinned down Clone forces with me as we sought to finally take the ridge. I cut the legs off of a battle droid with the rear blade of my weapon before swinging around and bringing the front blade down into its chest, disabling it. Using my lightsaber, I threw the wreckage into some droids on my left, bringing me the time I needed to swing around again and cut down another B1 Battle Droid. This left my preoccupied with the second line of heavier, deadlier B2 Super Battle Droids. I plunged my blade into the head of one droid before it could even fire but the rest were too quick. I was forced to go on the defensive. I used the Force to amplify my movements and I spun my double-bladed weapon with impossible speed, redirecting laser bolts at the blasted droids.

"Danger close!" a clone trooper shouted and I was forced to take cover yet again. I looked up to the skies as a squadron of Y-wing bombers strafed over the battle field, dropping their payload on the droid forces in the valley beyond the ridge line. A plant shielded my as heat and smoke blew past me at the side of the poor Felucian tree. There was a time in my life where I would have been shell-shocked by having just experienced an air strike from so close, but not anymore. It is impossible to ever truly get used to the sensation of hellfire and shrapnel exploding all around you every which way while brutal sound waves punish your ears and the stench of death defiles your smell, but the Clone Wars have at least made me numb to these horrors, after all, I face them time and time again in my duties as a Jedi Padawan. War and all the horrors attached to it are just another element of my life.

I am sixteen years old.

The air strike had cleared the way so that we could take the ridge line, the Clones and I finished off the charred remains of any droid stragglers. The first step of our mission complete, I knelt down at the edge of the ridge line, observing the valley below. The bombing run had down its job, scorching droids and the innocent plants and lifeforms of Felucia above, however, the separatist presence on this part of Felucia was so great that the droid armies already had reinforcements filling up the valley while their comrades were still crawling out from under the rubble. Clone Commander Warlock joined me. The officer in his white armor personalized with purple details, including a visor, a pauldron, and a black skirt around his legs was covered in stylized purple lightning bolts, a sort of symbol that he adopted when he was given the moniker Warlock. The man was an excellent soldier and I trusted him with my life, so, while we were technically equal rank, he was the professional and I was the peacekeeper - I may be a better fighter, but I tended to leave decisions to him when it came to actual battle strategy and tactics. My master, Master Avdune, operated rather similarly, though she had stayed to protect our heavier tanks, the A6 Juggernauts, as the massive wheeled vehicles took the winding local road rather than advancing straight through the heavy jungle like we had with the walkers.

"Wishlist! Williams! Winch! On me, we're heading into the valley with Commander Vyvan! Warden, Witchcraft - cover us!" Warlock gave the order and primed his scattergun before we slid down into the valley below, my double-bladed purple lightsaber cutting down droid after droid as Warlock blasted a fist sized hole into a Super Battle Droid. Wishlist was Warlock's second in command, earning his name due to his habit of requisitioning huge amounts of gear, gear which he admittedly put to good use. The Clone always seemed to have more droid poppers and thermal detonators than everyone else, something which the soldier proudly displayed by rolling a droid popper into a group of droids. The EMP grenade electrocuted the droid while otherwise being harmless. Clearing the way for the soldier with a purple W - the unofficial logo of the 1204th - painted across his helmet to advance. Williams was armed with a full length blaster rifle and his armor was so heavily painted purple that the white seemed like the accents rather than the other way around, nevertheless, he was meticulous as he blasted the heads off of B1 Battle Droids time and time again. He was our squadron's strategist. Winch earned his name because he was initially our squad's mechanic, however, the war has forced his to take on triple duty as mechanic, field medic, and soldier all at once. The war was hard on all of us and the soldier with the two purple tesla coils painted on either side of his T-shaped visor was no exception.

A group of droidekas rolled out of the brush and were about to stop and activate their shields when Warden - so called because of his skills with crowd control - unleashed the full power of his Z6 Rotary Cannon. The soldier with a stylized prison cage painted over his chest and a purple police badge painted just above his visor mowed down the droidekas before they could even become a problem. All of us were so distracted by the arrival of the destroyer droids we didn't even notice that a commando droid was about to ambush Commander Warlock, fortunately, he had a guardian angle on his side. Witchcraft was a young clone who Warlock had taken on as a protege and the young ward paid his teacher back by saving his life. A single sniper bolt to the head brought down the commando droid and alerted us to the ambush. I turned on a dot and bisected the one that was about to ambush me. Wishlist, Williams, and Winch all opened fire while Warden suppressed them. The Clones celebrated, once again, their squadron had faced impossible odds and lived to tell the tale.

Clone troopers were bred for the sole purpose of war. Most of them are expected to die.

The airstrike had thinned their numbers and reduced their AAT tanks to smoldering wrecks, but we were not done, not by a long shot. Warden and Witchcraft joined us from the ridge along with other members of the 1204th battalion that I was less familiar with. We had to take the rest of the valley and join up with Master Avdune on the main road. She is counting on us taking the direct route faster than the road so that we can clear a large separatist checkpoint before it could catch our tanks as sitting ducks.

My robes, a very dark reddish-brown protected my red skin - I was a Zeltron, a near human species with red-skin - I had purple eyes and black hair, though the latter was hidden under my hood. In this outfit I advanced through the wreckage and exotic plant life of Felucia into what was surely going to be another separatist force. The brush in the valley eventually gave way to another clearing just off of the road and my suspicions proved correct. We had to face one last separatist force before attacking the checkpoint. I reactivated both ends of my lightsaber as the All Terrain Tactical Enforcer walkers opened fire on the droid ranks. Destroying their AAT tanks and announcing our arrival. I charged into battle, the clones not far behind me.

I Force pushed a number of B1 battle droids down, the pressure combined with their impact with the ground was enough to break the standard droid units. A B2 Super Battle Droid equipped with a rocket launcher aimed at me, charged his blaster, and was about to fire when I waved my right hand and his arm was suddenly aiming to his right, directly at a number of fuel barrels. The explosion finished off half the droids but, unfortunately for us, the droids left standing were the heavier, tougher droids. Two vulture droids were on the ground, using their pointed wings as legs, fully capable of splitting a person clean in half. I would focus on them. I got their attention with a battle cry and slid below a laser blast before twisting off my rear into a standing position. My saberstaff pierced one of the four legs. I cut the leg off and the droid was falling over. I penetrated the droid's head from below, stabbing droid through the under-chassis. One vulture droid down, one to go. I ran up the body of the one droid and jumped into the air above the other one. I gathered the Force in my free right hand before coming straight down. An explosion of energy directly on top of the vulture droid's head killed it. I jumped off and touched down on the ground While Williams kicked a Super Battle Droid's leg out from under it, allowing Warden to spray it with his rotary cannon.

We had done all that, but now we had to take the checkpoint. The six man clone squad, three other troopers, and I knelt down at the side of the road, behind the checkpoint. Three two story barricades blocked the road with two towers - one on either side. A tactical droid was in command of a force of B1 and B2 battle droids, the B1s on the tower were armed with Geonosian sonic cannons. There were two crab droids with them. This was going to be difficult, but not impossible. Wishlist passed a thermal detonator to each of us - his requisitions did indeed come in handy.

We threw our grenades at the droid checkpoint and attacked. The tactical droid had survived but I opted to correct that immediately. I used my lightsaber holding left hand to pull the droid towards me while simultaneously using my free right hand to Force push the droid's head away. The tactical droid was decapitated as his head and body went flying separated directions. I ran towards a crab droid before jumping on top of it and plunging the rear blade of my weapon into its skull. I then moved on the right side tower. Running close to the tower I cut down the supports opposite of the road and got out of the way as the tower fell back into the valley. The B1 battle droid, out of incompetence, decided to help me by firing its sonic cannon at the opposite tower, bringing that one down too. I looked through the barrier as Commander Warlock gunned down the last Super Battle Droid, censoring the act by scorching the glass window of the barrier. The checkpoint was clear.

"Clear the barriers and move the walkers up to the clearing. Once Master Avdune arrives, we're taking down the separatist base." I gave the order and helped the troops by lifting and moving the central barrier with the Force. The barriers were clear and the AT-TE walkers moved into position, aiming their guns at the spire of the separatist base at the end of the road. Our mission on Felucia was to take down this base, allowing for General Aayla Secura and her forces to land their cruisers and begin their full scale assault on the planet. We would be returning to Coruscant for a time after this, our campaign through separatist space has been lengthy and losses have been high. The men have more than earned their break.

The A6 Juggernauts arrived and Master Avdune jumped down from the roof, landing next to me. The Mirialan deactivated her green lightsaber and placed it on the belt around her brown robes. She was ever so slightly taller than me but our built was basically the same. My Master was only 25, only nine years older than me. She would not have taken a Padawan on this early under normal circumstances, however, the war means that Jedi Knights and Jedi Masters are becoming ever more scarce while the number of Padawans, still recruited before the Clone Wars, some even even Naboo, stay the same. The gap between master and apprentice has never been smaller, such is the price of this war.

Children leading children to die.

Missiles from the Juggernauts and laser fire from the AT-TEs destroyed the separatist base as our LAAT/I gunships landed in the clearing. Explosions and smoke filled the skies behind us as the spire collapsed, but I didn't care, I found it all distasteful. I boarded a gunship with Master Avdune and our main squadron of clones, we would be taken back to our star destroyers. I was grateful when the doors shut, I didn't have to see the devastation anymore, though I knew that this was not the end. General Secura would lead the Republic through the rest of The Battle of Felucia while Master Avdune and I were sent off to some other battlefield. We were no longer peacekeepers, we were now soldiers, as far as I was concerned, there was no denying it anymore.


I watched from the bridge of the Venator-class star destroyer Sage as we hit hyperspace before leaving the bridge all together. I was heading back to my quarters. I had my hood down and stood quietly as I rode the elevator down, two clones were on it with me, though they kept their conversation to themselves - I didn't mind. I left the elevator just as quietly once we reached my level, the clones continued on their way down. I walked down the familiar hallway to my quarters - they were adjacent to Master Avdune's - before entering them.

Jedi quarters were sparse, such was the way of the Jedi. There was a cot for me, a spare set of robes, and a small shelf where I could put my lightsaber. There was a bathroom connected to it - nothing special, just a sink, a vacc tube, and a refresher. I laid down on my cot but I was not going to sleep yet, I wasn't in the mood for meditating either, but I wanted to be alone. I understand that our enemies are just droids, I know that when I reach out with the Force, they are not alive, in fact, they are voids in the Force, but we have seen time and time again that droids are capable of free-thinking, that they can act independently, and that they can develop personalities, they may not be lifeforms in the conventional sense, but they are definitely something. Not since the golden age of the Sith have the Jedi been so involved in a war and those wars brought the Republic to its knees, I fear that this war is having a similar effect on both the Jedi and the Republic.

The Jedi claim to be peacekeepers and we claim to be the personifications of the Light Side of the Force, but when I am told by the Jedi Council to go off and bring separatist worlds back under Republic control, against the will of their governments, I can't help but think that, with every passing day, what separates us from the Sith is shrinking and shrinking. I know that the Jedi mean well, I know that our war is in service of the Republic, but I question if we even should be serving the Republic. First of all, if the Jedi are to be peacekeepers, is it not best for us to be entirely impartial? How are we supposed to truly be peacekeepers if we have a vested interest in seeing the Republic succeed and grow? The Jedi Order should be entirely neutral. Alternatively, if we are to be defenders of the Republic first and peacekeepers second, should we not object to Chancellor Palpatine with his multiple terms, his increasing use of emergency powers, and his growing influence over every facet of government? I am not proposing a coup, I am proposing that we defend the Republic's constitution rather than the Republic's leader. The role of the Jedi within and without the Republic is becoming increasingly questionable and that scares me, especially because no one seems to be doing anything about it, not Master Avdune, not famous Jedi like Aayla Secura or Anakin Skywalker, and not the Jedi Council.

I am scared for what will happen to the Jedi after the war - can Padawans like I really go back to resolving local disputes and questing for knowledge after going directly from being younglings to become front line soldiers? I am scared of what will happen to the clones - how will the Republic handle it when there's suddenly millions of identical men with accelerating aging and the most advanced military training of all time looking for jobs? I'm scared for the Republic itself - how can we go back to regular democracy and economics after Palpatine took control of so many senatorial duties and of the banks to fight this war? I didn't know the answers to any of those questions and that terrified me. My entire life is moving at the speed of light and I fear what will happen when all of that comes to a sudden stop. I know that Master Yoda always warned myself and other Padawans about fear when we were mere younglings, but, with the entire galaxy at war, how can I not feel fear? I want help, I need help, but I feel like I would disappoint Master Avdune if I ask her. I don't want her to think that I am doubting her or that I'm a bad student, it's not her fault and it's not my fault, but I don't know how to confront that.

Spending my whole life in the Jedi Temple has made me an excellent thinker, there is so much to learn and so much to think about, but the fact that we are to control our emotions and the fact that most masters are far older than their apprentices - though again, the Clone Wars have changed that, though not for the right reasons - my social skills are stunted. I don't know how to ask my master the questions that I so desperately want answered. Perhaps a friend around my age would make things easier, but it's hard to make friends in a war. Not just because assignments often put us on opposite ends of the Galaxy but because any Padawan I befriend can die in any mission at any point. I don't want to go through all the effort of making a friend just to see them die. I would really need help then and getting warned about making attachments is not help, far from it.

"I sensed you are in distress." Master Avdune quietly entered my room. I took a deep breath, Ullara may be my master and she may have authority over me, but she is the closest person to my age within the Order that I talk to on a regular basis and she isn't that much older than me, surely she must at least understand this turmoil. I had to hope that she would help me, because now that she has confronted me, I know that she won't let me be until she hears the truth. I suppose that this makes her a good master and a good person, but it didn't really feel that way for me, this felt like something I may be punished over. If nothing else, I hope this didn't make Master Avdune doubt my ability to become a Jedi Knight.

"Yes master, I am sorry, but I am troubled." I admitted, rising up to a seated position but unwilling to make eye contact quite yet, I feel like seeing her reactions would only make my confession harder than it already is. Sensing her emotions would only do the same thing so I tried to focus on anybody but her, I wanted to deafen myself to her emotions as much as possible "I am worried about the Jedi."

"About the Jedi? How so?" Master Avdune asked, clearly assuming that I had a vision about some sort of Sith plot. Somehow, I wish that it was that simple, a Sith plot, while usually obscenely complex and immoral, was at least something tangible, something that could be stopped in a rather straightforward way. The rotting of the Jedi and the Republic from the inside out? That was a more troublesome issue.

"Master...I fear that we are not staying true to our mandate. Jedi are supposed to be peacekeepers, guardians, scholars, yet instead, we are commanders and generals fighting a war that is essentially a Republic Civil War." the separatists were systems that voted to leave the Republic, now, the Republic does not have a form of lawful secession, but, the secession is democratic. People voted for this, now, Count Dooku certainly coerced any worlds into joining his cause, but we are not viewing this from an entirely impartial perspective. We are seeing the separatists as Sith because they are led by a Sith but we are seeing ourselves as an instrument of the Republic. I wonder how the Jedi would react to this war if we truly were impartial keepers of the peace.

"The war is hard on all of us Zaliza, but the Sith started this war as a plot to take over the Republic. Separatist democracy is a ruse to bring legitimacy to a Sith regime after countless Sith Empires have failed in the past. It is our mission to defend the Republic from the Sith and, while I do agree that seeing us as commanders and generals aboard star destroyers is not how the Jedi Order should be, this is how the Council has opted to proceed and we must stay loyal to our Council." Master Avdune explained, I understood that we had to protect the galaxy from the Sith but is this really the way to do that? The goal of this war is not to track down and stop Count Dooku, if it was, you'd think that we would have at least figured our Dooku's proper Sith name by now, but no, we are being used as shock troops in a war between the Republic and the separatists. As for staying loyal to the Jedi Council, well...what if the Jedi Council is not acting in accordance to the Jedi Code? What comes first, the Code or the Council? I knew that my master was trying to help and I was grateful for it, but her assurances are just making me ask more and more questions leading to me feeling more and more troubled.

"Master...how are we supposed to go back to being regular Jedi after all of this?" I asked the question that was probably disturbing me the most. I didn't understand how we were expected to just shrug off the horrors of warfare when all of this war over. I don't understand how training to kill, resentment between Republic systems and separatist systems, and the mental strain of seeing thousands of clones die in battle can be erased. I fear that, even if we do live through this war, Master Avdune and I will spend the rest of our lives cleaning up the shadow of this conflict.

"We have to try Zaliza. Everything happens for a reason and the Force is testing us, the Jedi, as a group. It will be difficult to tame ourselves and to tame the galaxy when the fighting ends, but it is up to the Jedi Order to find a way. Without the Jedi, there can never truly be peace in this galaxy." Master Avdune tried to assure me, passing this whole war off as some sort of mass cosmic trial, but I didn't buy it for a second. My master is trying to assure me but she doesn't have the answers to these questions, I bet not even her former master does, the Clone Wars have resulted in a great division between those who wish to learn and those who actually have the wisdom to teach. Master Avdune is a fantastic Jedi and she has taught me everything that I know, but she is struggling to teach me now. She has taught me how to use the Force, she has taught me how to use a lightsaber, and she has taught me how to do battle, but she has never taught me how to achieve inner peace because that is something that she never achieved. I think it has been a long time since any Jedi has achieved inner peace, perhaps Master Yoda was the last one to do so, perhaps not even he has done it, but the for every other Jedi, it is clear that we are not at peace within.

I know that Master Avdune must be struggling with these same questions inside of her and, if she wasn't before, she certainly is now. If the both of us are struggling with this, then this is indicative of a larger problem within the Jedi. We must recommit ourselves to peace and find our purpose in the galaxy, otherwise, more and more young Jedi Padawans will be forced to become child soldiers.


"Master Jedi, we are being alerted to an incident on the C77-R5S landing pad. All available troops in the area are being called to respond." Our clone pilot said over the intercom when we were finally coming in for a landing on Coruscant. No rest for the Jedi I suppose.

"Take us there now captain." Master Avdune ordered and our shuttle changed course. I didn't like that there was already an incident when we had just arrived on Coruscant, though I suppose it has been a long time since I've had to do something that didn't involve the war or my increasingly worried thoughts over it. This was annoying, but perhaps it would turn out to be good for me. The shuttle touched down on the landing pad and Master Avdune and I got off, both of us holding our lightsabers but not activated them. Ullara held her single-bladed green lightsaber in her right hand and I had my double-bladed purple lightsaber in my left. Master Avdune had initially questioned why I went with such a weapon if I was opposed to war, I then explained that there is a peaceful element to martial arts and that, in many ways, learning how to properly use a saberstaff used the same skills as meditation. I needed to be focused, obviously, I needed to be calm - erratic anger with a double-bladed lightsaber is a good way to cut yourself in half - and I needed to be in touch with the Force - I had to feel where the weapon would go and how it would react before I even moved.

The incident, didn't seem to be much of an incident at all. Sure, a number of Republic troops were gathered and training their blasters at the other party, but when I looked over at the other party, what I saw was hardly threatening. A mildly annoyed red-skinned Nautolan woman with sharp black tattoos down her Lekku stood wearing a black and purple hooded robe, four of her numerous Lekku coming over her shoulders -two on each side - and hanging over her chest. The woman had a curved-hilt lightsaber on her hilt and had the same entirely black eyes as Master Fisto. She was clearly not a Jedi but, at the same time, she was clearly not attacking us. She was accompanied by two women - one a brunette human, the other a bald orange-skinned Zabrak - in similar robes armed with electrostaffs - these guards were not Force sensitive - a glossy black protocol droid that, for whatever reason, was holding a blaster rifle, and an Echani woman in silver and black Mandalorian armor. The retinue was certainly well armed but none of them were ready to attack, merely ready to defend themselves. This was certainly proving to be a lot more intriguing than I had been expecting and it seemed like it would actually have a peaceful resolution. I mean, if a fight was going to start, wouldn't it have started by now? Testing the waters, Master Avdune and I approached, passing the clones and approaching the Nautolan woman standing just in front of an angular, swept-wing jet black starship. She was strong in the Force, but in a different way than the Jedi Masters. I wanted to know more.

"Greetings travelers. My name is Ullara Avdune, Jedi Knight, this is my Padawan, Zaliza Vyvan. Welcome to Coruscant." Master Avdune greeted warmly before bowing, I followed her lead. After a moment of showing respect, we rose, waiting to see how the intriguing red-skinned woman react. She looked at my master for all but a moment before turning to me, her alien eyes were difficult to read, but she definitely stared at me for far longer than she stared at Master Avdune, nevertheless, the woman, who couldn't have been much older than I was, turned to my master for her greeting.

"I know all about your Jedi ways Master Avdune and I know exactly where I am. I am on the Republic homeworld, the world that has been a cesspit of corruption and sin for millennia, unfortunately, I am here to ask for help." the woman spoke with a posh accent and managed to come across as polite despite the fact that she clearly hated our order. The words she said suggested that she was a Sith, but the fact that she hasn't attacked us yet and the fact that she is here for help suggests something very different. She can't be a Sith if she wanted help from the Jedi Order and the Republic. I turned to Master Avdune, hoping that my master saw this the same way I did, this clearly wasn't the enemy of the Jedi Order, this was a friend, a surprising one, but a friend nonetheless. My eyes trialed downwards and I could see that my master's finger was on the activation switch of her lightsaber. I suddenly begged to the Force itself that she would not react violently...if she activated that lightsaber, she would be the one to start a conflict with the Nautolan woman and her companions.

I glanced back up at her retinue, the two female guards were on the verge of activating their electrostaffs but they were not going to make the first move, the Mandalorian and the protocol droid had their weapons ready but down. If Master Avdune activated her lightsaber, we would have a full scale fight in a nanosecond. I silently begged my master, avoid the fight, for pragmatic reasons if nothing else.


Ugh, cliffhanger I know, I'm sorry, but I will have chapter two ready next week. After that, chapters will be biweekly, alternating with my EU4 fanfiction The Legacy of The Romans. I also have a SWTOR story on hold so, if you prefer that, let me know, I will write whichever story you guys want.

Ciao everyone!