Alright guys, well, we're at a certain point in the timeline and the chapter title is what it is. This is going to be a pretty major chapter and it'll be pushing the T rating. We will go up to an M rating with act two. At this point, I am pretty sure there will be somewhat of a hiatus between act one and act two. In any case, that's all the business-y stuff I got, here we go with Order 66.

Also, side note: Mace Windu's speech to the battle droids in episode four of season seven of Clone Wars was absolutely hilarious. This really has nothing to do with the chapter, but I loved that quote and, well, with coronavirus going on, I'm not really in a position to talk about that stuff face-to-face, therefore, I'm plastering it on the internet for whoever ends up reading this. Apologies for dating the crap out of this chapter, those of you in like 2025 who stumbled on this story can return to your regularly scheduled future or apocalypse, whichever happened.

Secrets of The Outer Rim.

Act I.

The Last Days of The Jedi Order.

Chapter IX.

Order 66.


A lightning flash tore through the jungle as we gathered around the perimeter of the circular separatist fortress. There was a two story metal frame surrounding it and, as Winch confirmed with the highly specialized method of throwing a rock at it, an invisible ray-shield surrounding the base. The flash of the lightning wore off and Williams and the clone commandos turned on their rifle-mounted flashlights, giving Winch even lighting to do his job. A clone commando tossed our mechanic a specialized, experimental spray. Winch sprayed the solution onto the ray-shield, causing the material to become a glass-like solid. Winch made a solid doorway about seven feet tall and four feet across before setting the spray down. Winch then knelt down with a silent drill, cutting into the glass, making a smaller entrance through it, leaving a substantial amount of glass along the edge - removing all the glass would just lead to ray-shields refilling that area, an edge had to be left in order to keep the shield out of our entrance. The clone removed the glass and the flashlights turned off, then we went single file through the entrance, first the commandos, then Master Avdune and I, and then W-squadron, led by Commander Warlock. Witchcraft picked up the spray bottle and shot a grappling line up to the second level platform, spraying a line of glass up with him. The sniper was going to cover us while we investigated this mysterious installation. We would keep this a stealth mission as long as possible.

"Witchcraft, what do you see up there?" Master Avdune asked through the commlink, wishing to know the layout within these walls. Master Avdune and I were here because this is the largest and most obscure of the separatist positions - we've never seen a separatist position arranged in this way, nor do we have any idea what this base could possibly be. We identified the mines, we identified the vulture droid nest, and the command center. This area could just be a fortress to hold control of the planet, but we already deduced that the cave complex was a defensive position, the separatists did not have the resources for redundant defenses at this stage of the Clone Wars. I took amount to tap into the Force, seeing what I could feel - though, given that droids weren't lifeforms and there devoid of the Force, I wasn't sure what exactly I was looking for - I didn't feel anything, other than my Master and the clones, which made sense given the circumstances, however, it only contributed to making this situation feel that more ominous. Lightning tore across the cloudy night sky as it continued pouring rain through the night here on Ypherro.

"There are two structures. One is a tower drawing in the lightning, it seems to be the structure powering the ray-shields, it's offset to the northwest. The other structure is in the exact middle of the compound looks like...a smaller version of the whole base. I don't see any droids, neither through eyesight or through the scanner built into my scope. General...just what is going on here?" Witchcraft asked. Warlock's young protégé, the talented sniper, was feeling uneasy, just like I was. I think we were all feeling this way by now, this compound is just getting weirder and weirder - why would the separatists devout such a larger base to nothing but a tower and some sort of little replica of itself? This didn't make sense, just what the hell was going on here?

"I don't know, but we're going to have to find out. Watch over us Witchcraft, I think this is some sort of trap. Commander Warlock, Padawan Vyvan, I wanted you to turn off the ray-shields, the rest of us are going to investigate the inner circle. Meet up with us once you're done." Master Avdune ordered, the Mirialan was furrowing her brows, she knew there was something very wrong with this situation. In any case, my clone counterpart and I started heading over to the tower, explaining why there were so many flashes of lightning in the sky over here. We reached the base of the tower and circled it before finding a control panel. Commander Warlock set his blaster down and pulled out a new weapon. A modified commando droid blade, electrified, coated in a black, cortosis material - one of the strongest metals in the galaxy, one which even lightsabers could resist - and decorated in purple.

"New toy?" I asked the clone, a bemused expression on my face.

"Yes ma'am, I figured there's only so many times a commando droid can attack me with one of these damned blades before I start giving them a taste of their own medicine." Commander Warlock countered before getting to work, prying the control panel open. I watched as he electrified his blade and stabbed it into the tower, overloading it and shutting it down. The tower was meant to absorb lightning, but there is a difference between absorbing lightning through the top of the tower where it is supposed to, going through coils and being managed before heading through it, and just stabbing an electrified blade deep into the wires and guts of the tower. I suppose I could have done the same with my lightsaber, however, Warlock did the job just fine and now we could head back to our fellow troops. The lightning stopped hitting the tower, the ray-shields went away, and the installation was now wide open for us. If this was truly a separatist trap and we were overwhelmed, we could now send work to the command center and have an armada of Republic gunships over the base in mere moments. Knowing that such a trap was a distinct possibility, Commander Warlock and I headed towards the inner circle in the center of the compound, eager to regroup with our allies. We didn't get the chance, however, as deactivating the tower seemed to spring the trap "Get down!"

Warlock pushed me down, behind a metal barricade. My purple eyes looked over to where we had just been and saw a missile strike directly there, blowing wet mud into the air. I used the Force to blow the mud off my face and then rose up to a crouch, looking over the edge of the barrier. Eight B2 Rocket Trooper droids arrived to fight us, another group flying off to fight my master and the other clones at the inner circle. The inner circle seemed to have been some sort of elevator, as regular infantry droids were fighting them, along with these rare and specialized jetpack droids. My master and the clones would have to manage on their own for now, we had a fight on our hands. I activated my purple saberstaff and Warlock readied his blaster rifle.

"Thanks for saving me Warlock." I told him before leaping into the fight. He was a clone, sure, but he was also an individual, a person with free will, fully capable of making his own decisions, of forging friendships, and of sacrifice. Warlock knew he could have died to save me and he tried to do it anyway - that is a loyalty that cannot be programmed, that is a genuine loyalty. I pushed with the Force, putting a droid into the mud before it could blast me. One of its comrades looked back at the droid - perhaps this was some sort of sentience from the battle droids as well, perhaps they were capable of companionship as well - I didn't dwell on it too much, I couldn't, not in a war - I cut across the droid who looked back and swiped at a droid to the left, however, that one activated his jetpack and flew over my strike. From above, that battle droid unleashed his cannons. I rolled out of the way, away from his blasts, stopping only once Warlock disabled the droid with a single shot to the head. I ended up next to the droid I had pushed into the mud earlier, struggling to get up from the mud. I rested a hand on his metal chassis with the Force. I used my hand like a magnet, locking onto the metal shell of the droid. I jerked my hand to the left and then to the right, crushing the droid's internals with its own chassis, finishing it off. Three droids were down, two by me, one by Warlock, we had five more to go.

I moved up to the next droid and stabbed with my lightsaber, using the long handle of my double-bladed weapon for greater reach. That disabled the droid, meanwhile, Warlock managed to land a droid popper on one of the B2's chassis. One droid backed away, coming close enough to me that I was able to cut it down, another, smarter one, flew into the air to get out of the EMP grenades range, however, the final two were not so lucky. Warlock's grenade electrocuted two droids at once. Now all that was left was the one in the air. I grabbed it with the Force to halt it, giving Warlock a clear shot to take it down. The two of us ducked down behind the barrier yet again to catch our breath and reload before heading back into the fight to help my master and her clones against the remaining separatist forces. We were just about ready to go when Warlock got an emergency communication through his holocommunicator. I reached for mine as well, but it wasn't beeping. Strange. I watched silently as Commander Warlock activated his, surprised to see a vision of Chancellor Palpatine in robes and a hood. Looking more closely, I could see that, even through the blue hologram, his features seemed different. He looked gray and deformed...had something happened? Also, why was the Chancellor of the Republic contacting a mere clone commander? Why not Master Avdune? This was very strange indeed.

"Commander Warlock, the time has come. Execute Order 66." Chancellor Palpatine stated, it was like he loved every single word he was saying. What did this mean? Why was the Chancellor giving an order to Commander Warlock in particular while we were in the middle of a battle? Just what was this Order 66 anyway. Right before shimmering away, I could swear I saw the Chancellor glance over at me, seeing my confusion. I watched his expression twist into a gruesome smirk before his blue image disappeared. Palpatine's smirk made me recoil away from Warlock's shoulder - I wanted to be as far away from that hologram as possible. I didn't know what was going on, but after that smirk, I knew, whatever it was, it wasn't good.

"It will be done, my lord." my confusion only grew as Commander Warlock replied to the apparently now disfigured Chancellor the same way that Phanza's underlings referred to the Sith Lord. The ominous tone that the clone took on didn't help matters either, I was now very uncomfortable. I knew it was probably a complete overreaction, but something made me want to reach for my lightsaber. I waited for a long moment for Warlock to turn around, hoping he would turn back, return to his normal voice, and ask if I was ready to attack the separatists. I hoped that Order 66 was just some mundane nothingness that Warlock could deal with it later, all the while I was well aware that the Chancellor of The Galactic Republic himself would not devote himself to mundane nothingness. My eyes widened as I saw Warlock, slowly but methodically, reach for his electrified blade. I rocketed up to my feet and my lightsaber came to life as Warlock turned around and rose up in a flash, attacking me with his electrified cortosis blade. His blade really could survive a lightsaber, he proved that much.

"Warlock! What are you doing!?" I asked, hoping to get the clone to stand down. All I got in reply was a war cry before the commander attacked me again. His electrified commando droid blade met the front blade of my purple lightsaber. It quickly became apparent that Warlock was actually trying to kill me whereas I was just trying to neutralize him - I didn't want to kill him, the clone just saved my life - I thought back to the call from Palpatine. Warlock was my loyal clone ally until he got that order, was this Order 66 an order to kill me? Why would Chancellor Palpatine want that? I didn't do anything to him...unless...could this be him cleaning up loose ends from the Exiim Abarghe execution? Did he somehow find out that Phanza told me? Did Phanza tell him? I didn't know, the look Palpatine gave me only complicated matters. Then again, he never mentioned my name...what if it's just not me? I glanced over to Master Avdune as I locked blades with Commander Warlock. My eyes widened as I saw that, despite having beat the droids, the clones were raising their blasters once again, this time, against Master Avdune, who had her back to them. This isn't just about me, this is a plot to destroy the Jedi! I cried out to Ullara "Master! They betrayed us!"

Warlock kicked me in the stomach, pushing me back into the mud. I didn't have the chance to stumble to me feet so I just brought my lightsaber up, blocking Warlock's blade. Once again locked in combat against the clone, I glanced over to see a green lightsaber activate, blocking blaster bolts from...from Wishlist, Williams, Winch, and Warden. W-squadron had betrayed us, the clone commandoes had betrayed us, all because of one order from Chancellor Palpatine. I snapped back to attention when I noticed Warlock overpowering me, pushing my own lightsaber blade closer and closer to my chest. I couldn't beat him in a strength to strength fight - I had to tap into the Force. I reached out only to wish that I hadn't - I felt the simultaneous executions of thousands of Jedi slapping me back out of it. I felt the once vibrant personalities of the clones reduced to almost nothing, as if they were muted. Palpatine must have had a way to control the clones, to rob them of their independence and turn them into killing machines. Killing machines which he unleashed upon the Jedi. Killing machines which killed Exiim Abarghe. Killing machines which Lady Attam warned me about. The Jedi were not Palpatine's favorite executioners, that distinction belonged to the clones, and now, now they were being used against us.

I pushed past the time of thousands of Jedi being killed at once, I pushed past the pain and suffering in the Jedi Temple, I pushed past the dying screams of Jedi Masters who I knew and cherished, and I tapped into the Force. I Force Pushed Commander Warlock away and got up to my feet. I ran up to the clone, struggling to keep standing in the slippery mud, and I took out all my anger and my pain at him. I slashed at him with my lightsaber, I stabbed at the face of every traitor clone who turned against my brother and sister Jedi, I cut through the symbol of The Galactic Republic, the symbol which Chancellor Palpatine corrupted. He took all the power from the Senate, he seized the banks for himself to fund the war against the separatists, and now, he has launched a conspiracy to destroy the Jedi. Lightning filled the skies, reminding me of the Force Lightning I used on Dxun, filling my vision with the dead clone who had saved my life not half an hour ago. I recoiled from the man I killed. Clones, Jedi, the war made us both executioners, Palpatine turned friends against one another and seized control of the galaxy right in front of our eyes. I turned to see Master Avdune knelt in front of a clone, filled with just as much remorse as I was. Ullara had killed the entire rest of W-squadron and the clone commandos. The murders were in self-defense, but these men had been our loyal companions, now, they were dead, killed by our own lightsabers.

"Master...we have to go." I put a hand on her shoulder and found my master virtually catatonic - I had to imagine that she was now reaching out into the Force, just like I had during my fight against Commander Warlock - but we had to leave, there were many, many more clones here, including three star destroyers, this clearly was not an isolated incident. The entire Grand Army of The Republic had turned against us. I shock my master again and the Mirialan finally snapped out of it, opening her eyes and rising to her feet, heading back into the inner circle.

"You're right Zaliza, you're right." Ullara said, breathing heavily, a far cry from the balanced military commander I was so used to seeing from my master, though I could hardly blame her, the unthinkable happened. In any case, Master Avdune was scrambling to come up with a plan "The clones will be scrounging the surface for us, we're not safe up here. The inner circle seems to be an elevator leading down to some sort of separatist underground compound. I have no doubt that there are droids there, but I think we'll have a much easier time fighting through the droids and emerging somewhere else on the surface of Ypherro than trying to hold out against the clones, especially after all we've seen from the gunships and the bombers. Wherever we emerge, we'll find a way to get off world, then -"

"No!" I cried out as Master Avdune was abruptly cut off by a laser bolt to the chest. My eyes widened - Witchcraft. I activated my lightsaber and turned around, looking at exactly where the clone had been. The clone, realizing he had a lot less time than he had to line up my master for a shot, took his chance and fired. I caught his sniper bolt and redirected it back at the clone, feeling the laser bolt penetrate his armor and kill the clone. I savored the vengeance, the evil clone fired at my master and now, now he was dead. I earned no satisfaction from the act, however, and I stopped savoring, instead, I ran over to my master, grabbing her body, feeling that there was still life in her. I had never attempted to heal with the Force before, but I had to learn now. I put both hands over the wound in my master's side and I channeled energy, trying to heal the wound. I shook as thunder echoed in the skies and I watched the threads of repaired skin fall apart. I didn't stop though, I kept repairing the damage, not stopping no matter how many times it was undone. I kept going and going, doing anything I could with limited knowledge to save my master. I couldn't do this alone, I couldn't survive being hunted down by the clones without Ullara at my side.

"Zaliza...you have to go." Ullara coughed out, my master pleaded with me to leave her, but I wasn't going to do it, I couldn't do it. Slowly but surely, I managed to keep the threads together, even as thunder struck, I managed to heal the wound, both superficially and, to an extent, below, eventually, it was at a point where I could move my master. I helped her to her feet and put my arm around my neck, heading to the elevator, following her plan "I'll only slow you down, it's too late for me...they already got me. You have to get away while you still can. You can't expect to be able to push pass the separatists down there while fleeing the clones and protecting me all at once, I'll only be a burden. Save yourself Padawan, please."

"No master, I'm saving the both of us! You are not going to die master!" I pleaded, tears filling my eyes as we stepped down onto the elevator and made our way down, away from the surface. The clones would be hunting for us, but together - and only together - we could figure out how to get through this separatist base, returning to the surface somewhere deep in the jungle, someplace where the clones would have no idea where to look. From there, we would figure out how to find a ship - with my master's help, there is no way I'd be able to find a ship on an unpopulated jungle planet on my own, especially not at night during an endless storm while being hunted by legions of clone troopers, the very clone troopers we trained with. I filled with anticipation as the elevator neared the underground base. I set my master down and she activated her green lightsaber while I activated by double-bladed weapon. The elevator opened up to reveal we were entirely surrounded by battle droids, guns at the ready, about to massacre us, except, they weren't...they were all deactivated. I watched as the droids stood there, eerily armed for combat but completely benign, turned off. I touched one battle droid but still, nothing happened. I backed away from the empty husks of droids and turned back to my master.

"Palpatine controlled everything, didn't he? The separatists and the Republic? He was the Sith Lord. He was going to win the war either way and he decided that it was time for the Republic to win. The Jedi were all killed simultaneous while Palpatine had the droids deactivated. This is how the war ends, with Palpatine winning and everyone else in the galaxy losing." I realized everything. We knew that there was a Sith Lord behind Count Dooku, the true Dark Lord of the Sith - the senior pretender as Phanza would say - and we knew that Chancellor Palpatine was up to something insidious, but we could never have imagined they were one in the same, not until now. This was Order 66, the death of all the Jedi, the end of the Clone Wars, and Palpatine's coup, the conquest of the galaxy.

"It would seem so, Zaliza," Master Avdune said as she managed to stand up on her own two feet - evidently her own connection to the Force was enabling her to heal herself at an accelerated rate - but she was still walking slow, clearly injured and far from fighting shape. The Mirialan took a long look around the room, scanning the elevator room, seeing ornamental architecture and four sets of statues at each corner of the room. Each set contained two figures, both in robes with lightsabers at their hips - a master and an apprentice - this was some sort of a Sith compound. The question is...did this compound belong to Palpatine or did it belong to Count Dooku? Either way, a secret Sith laboratory hidden on a planet like Ypherro could explain the heavier than expected separatist presence on this world, the only question is, just what is down here? I clutched my lightsaber as I felt Master Avdune hold onto me again, the two of us moving together into the unknown.

"Look master, there's some sort of red pyramid on that pedestal." I pointed out as we entered the next room, seemingly the main chamber of this underground compound. The device seemed to have a stone shell and a dark center, glowing red from deep within. This was some sort of Sith device, that much was clear, but it wasn't a Holocron. I felt a familiar red-skinned Nautolan peeking through my mind, seemingly taking great interest in the device. This was something which Lady Attam wanted, which meant that...it meant it could be useful to us. I stopped with my master a pair distance from the device and turned to her as much as I could without letting her down "This must either belong to Palpatine or it belonged to Count Dooku, what if we were to take this - thus deriving the Sith of their power - and offer it to Lady Attam? It could buy us amnesty in the Grand Duchy of Taaszon."

"Zaliza...we can't go to Taaszon..." Master Avdune meekly argued, as if she didn't believe it herself. I understand that she didn't want to go and hide in a Sith state, I didn't really want to either, but I couldn't see any other alternative. With the clones betraying the Jedi on Palpatine's orders and the droids conveniently deactivated just after, there was no alternative other than Palpatine having controlled everything all along. Nowhere in the Republic was safe, nowhere in separatist space was safe, and we couldn't even be safe in Hutt space either - not that I trusted the Hutts to protect us to begin with, especially not after the stunt that Dalenda the Hutt pulled on us on Nar Shaddaa. I shuddered, I had to hope that Master Towaan and Padawan Ai'sunn were okay, I knew the chances were slim, but I had top hope that Thonna managed to survive Order 66 - the violet-skinned Twi'Lek deserved better.

"Master...where else could we go? Taaszon is the only place Palpatine doesn't know about - Phanza only gave the Republic those two outlying systems. The rest of the Grand Duchy is completely hidden." I reasoned. I had to imagine that Taaszon was high on Palpatine's list of loose ends - after all, I already figured that the separatist attack was an attempt by the separatists to wipe out a rival faction - now, knowing that Palpatine orchestrated all of it, the clones would no doubt be sent in next. They would be under attack, but I've seen what they possess, getting involved in a war against the Chancellor was infinitely safer than trying to hide within his reach, constantly being hunted, constantly forced to hide our powers. In Taaszon, we had a chance to live as Jedi, potentially rebuilt our order - sure a Jedi Order rebuilt within a Sith state is going to take on a peculiar form, but it is something - better than the alternative, waiting around to die as hermits and lowlifes while Palpatine reigns over the galaxy unopposed. If this is the galaxy of peace I had been fighting for, I'm not sure I ever really wanted it after all. Perhaps war with the Jedi is better than peace without them. I didn't know, none of us knew, we were going into a whole new era we knew nothing about.

"Do you think Lady Attam would even give us amnesty for this device? It's not a holocron, I don't even know what it is. It could be completely worthless to her for all I know." Master Avdune countered. She was more logical this time, I didn't know what this object was either. It was clearly some sort of Dark Side device, but that didn't necessarily mean that it was valuable to Lady Attam. For all we knew, she had hundreds of them piled up in a corner, well, that was all we were supposed to know anyway. I had a connection I wasn't supposed to have, I knew that Phanza Attam was interested in this Sith device and I had the ability to ask the Sith Lord directly. I pleaded with her silently through our Force connection to take the device and protect us from Palpatine and his forces - surprisingly, Lady Attam was very quick to accept, though that didn't necessarily make me feel better - perhaps it was unsurprising that she accepted, perhaps she considered this the perfect way to turn me over to the Dark Side and potentially turned my master over as well as an added bonus. I felt Phanza nod and she gave me her word that she would protect us, however, I couldn't exactly tell that to my master, luckily, I had something figured out.

"I don't know. I know that there is a chance though. At this point, can we really hope for anything more than a chance?" I asked my master. I saw the clones marching into the Jedi Temple, I saw Jedi scream as a blue lightsaber tore through them - likely a fallen Jedi, Palpatine's new apprentice - and I felt Jedi after Jedi die all over the galaxy. Nowhere was safe, nowhere except a place that Palpatine didn't know about it. In retrospect, it made sense that Palpatine wanted the whole map of Taaszon from Phanza, he wanted his favorite executioners to have the knowledge his droids didn't. I wondered how much Phanza knew - did she keep Taaszon secret because she knew what Palpatine was, or was that the plan all along? Either way, I would be able to ask her soon enough, assuming that Master Avdune and I were able to survive this that is.

"Well...no, but there's a problem. The coordinates for the Grand Duchy's systems are only in the Sage's navigational systems. We would have to infiltrate a Republic flagship in order to do that. I'm in no shape to do that." Master Avdune argued. Now I didn't know what to do, I could get the coordinates from Phanza whenever possible, however, I couldn't tell that to my master. Now was not the time to reveal that I was communicating with a Sith Lord. I asked Phanza for some help, fortunately, for once, the Sith Lord was willing to help. The Mirialan is complicating things again? Hmm, annoying. I suppose you could steal a Republic shuttle, transmit the Republic codes to get off world, and then tap into the Sage's network remotely, stealing the coordinates through Republic tech. At that point, just land in one of the cities on Imperius Prime and I'll meet you there with the Ultimate. I thanked the Sith Lord for her help and relayed the plan to my master, finally getting the Mirialan to agree. I saw my green-skinned master raise her hand and use the Force to pull the pyramidal device to her. We had our bargaining chip and I had a secret guarantee from the Sith Lord, now all we had to do was actually get to Imperius Prime.

We were about to move forward towards the other, secret exit when we heard the elevator blown apart below us. Master Avdune and I turned back to see the elevator fall to the ground, followed by countless ropes as the clones repelled down into the secret base. We were out of time. I heard Ullara take a deep breath before practically forcing the Sith device in my hand. She grabbed her lightsaber in her now free hand and stood on her own - I saw that it hurt her and that her stance would be shaky at best, but that did not deter the Mirialan in the slightest. I watched as Master Avdune turned towards the clones, took one more deep breath, and turned back to me, her eyes told a thousand emotions. I saw acceptance of what was about to happen, I saw hurt over the clones' betrayal, I saw anger at the Jedi's failure to catch Palpatine, I saw a deep compassion my master had for me, and I saw a deep regret as Master Avdune glanced down at the Sith device before looking back in my eyes. She closed them for a brief moment and, with out final breath, Master Avdune said her final word.

"Go!" my master declared, igniting her green lightsaber and clearly preparing to make a last stand. Ullara Avdune wanted to make a final stand in order to allow me to escape Ypherro, to get those coordinates, and leave the planet, fleeing to Taaszon where I could survive as a Jedi, even if it meant I would be in the realm of the Sith. I couldn't think of any other option at this point, if we both fought, perhaps we could overpower this group, but the ray-shield was down, they could just call in the rest of the gunships to bring in more than enough clones to take us down - especially now that the battle droids were disabled - we could flee, but they would pursue us. I couldn't think of a scenario where we both got out alive, one of us had to sacrifice themselves, holding the line for the other to escape, and Master Avdune already decided she was going to be a burden on me. I couldn't argue against this plan, but I didn't think that it was right, I couldn't just let Master Avdune die, not after all that's happened. I learned to Force heal on the fly to save her, she couldn't just die after that!

"Master-" I tried to object but Master Avdune was having none of it, and what she did next shocked me to the core. Master Avdune silenced me by crashing her lips against mine. My eyes widened in shock but I closed them quickly, savoring the moment as much as I could. I didn't know what exactly this meant and I never got the chance to ask, because the next thing Ullara did was Force Push me away, behind a blast door. I scrambled to my feet, trying to get through the door to somehow save her despite the fact that the numbers were against us and that she was injured, but Master Avdune knew that I was stubborn. She used the Force to slam the blast door closed in my face. I was left with no choice but to flee, cutting through the door would just lead to the both of us getting killed and our escape plan being compromised. Master Avdune would fight and stand long enough to kill any clones who noticed I fled through the door and then buy me as much time as possible before she was overwhelmed. I shook my head because I didn't want to think about my master dying.

I took a much smaller elevator back up to the surface, trading an underground base for the constantly thunderstorm ridden jungle once again. I saw that I emerged deep in the trees, completely hidden. I knew that I probably should have gone looking for some sort of starship right away - hopefully one with autopilot, a good navicomputer, and, most importantly, a hyperdrive - to get off this planet. I no longer needed to get the codes off the Republic network, I could get them straight from Phanza, but I was in no shape to take the journey quite yet. I collapsed with my back against a tree and I wept. I wept for all the Jedi who perished in the temple and around the galaxy, I wept for all the people who would now have to suffer under a galaxy dominated by Palpatine, and I wept for Master Avdune. My perfectly flawed master who sacrificed herself to save me, leaving me with a wonderful kiss and millions of unanswered questions.

Eventually, I wiped my tears away and got back up to my feet, I had my key to getting to the Grand Duchy of Taaszon, finally seeing the mysterious Sith world which had alluded us, but first, I had to get there. A challenge easier said than done.


Alright guys, oof, that was an interesting chapter to write. The Sith device seen here is indeed a Sith Wayfinder, the macguffin clumsily introduced in the clumsy film that is Rise of Skywalker. We'll get more into this particular Wayfinder and the vault it was found in as we get into act two, I will say this though, it doesn't lead to Exogul. My thoughts on Rise of Skywalker were positive initially, I thought it was a fun watch, I didn't think it was very fun to think about though - whereas Last Jedi is probably one of the more frustrating Star Wars movies to watch but gives you a ton to think about if you look for it - Luke's story line and growth for instance, the idea of Kylo wanting to abandon both the Jedi and the Sith which JJ subsequenty completely abandoned, and the suggestion that there are shades of gray in the galaxy with the Canto Bight arms dealers, which everyone seems to overlook for the, admittedly silly, space horse chase. Anyway, you guys didn't come here to see my ramble on about why I think that Last Jedi is the best of the sequel trilogy, you're here for a prequel/interquel era story line. Going forward, I will be attempting to bridge together some of the KOTOR and SWTOR era lore of the Sith with some of the information we learned in the newest movie - hint, there's a reason why Phanza considers Sidious and the rule of two Sith as pretenders - amongst other things.

Going into act two, we will also see the transition from clone troopers and related equipment like the Venator-class Star Destroyer to stormtroopers and their Imperial-class Star Destroyers. I feel like we've seen a lot of the between III and IV interquel era but we haven't really seen all that much of the direct aftermath to Episode III - I think the Darth Vader comic book is an exception to that, but, to be honest, I'm not really all that interested in comic books. In any case, I'm going to try and capture a galaxy in transition in act two. Next chapter will follow Zaliza Vyvan's journey to Taaszon.

And yes, I did stretch the author's notes to get the chapter Order 66 at 6,600 words.