Allow me to shed some light in the dark of this former youngling's story.
Rebels
An Old Friend
Chapter 3
Coruscant, the capital jewel of the galaxy and home to more species than one could count. Located in one of the core systems of the galaxy, the planet served as the headquarters of the democratic governing body of galactic society. Over the years, the planet had become one giant city with hundreds, if not thousands of levels, some so deep that sunlight was but a myth, and others so high up that those who lived up top were all but gods in some perspective. Among the latter were mystic beings that some really thought were gods, the Jedi Knights.
Once guardian peacekeepers of the Republic, as of late they'd become leaders in the war effort against the Separatists. Despite their best efforts, as the violence worsened, more people began to turn against the Jedi. Not just the Separatists who saw the Jedi as invaders to their worlds, but even those within the Republic who believed that the mystics had lost their way and were becoming corrupt like the Senate they served. It didn't help matters that the leader of the Separatists movement was a former Jedi Master.
There were still those who'd yet to be exposed to their order's falling out, mainly the younglings who resided in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. In particular, a Twi'lek named Sammo Quid. For him, the Jedi were still seen as the good guys, and for him, life was simple. Since he was an infant, he had everything he could want or need thanks to the Order; good food, comfortable clothes, a warm place to sleep, friends, and a bright future. However, there was one thing he didn't have that all younglings like Sammo desired, to become a padawan learner to a knight or master. Like his friend and fellow youngling Tai Uzuma, he'd yet to be selected as an apprentice by one of the tens of thousands of Jedi Knights within the Order, despite being a skilled swordsman, a strong wielder of the Force, and very knowledgeable of the Order's history. Meanwhile, his friend Caleb Dume, another fellow youngling who had a habit of annoying the heck out of the other younglings as well the older Jedi with his constant questions, had been apprenticed to former council member Depa Billaba and was off fighting the Clone Wars. The war had been going on for three and a half years now and was drawing to a close, with victory on the horizon for the Republic and its Jedi generals. Though at the rate it was going, combined with the obvious slim chances of him being apprenticed to any Jedi at this point, Sammo doubted he'd be able to see some of the actions before the conflict was over. Still, Sammo managed to keep an ear on the status of the war, including the battles being fought by his friend.
"I was speaking to the clones again," Sammo said to Tai as the two were walking through the halls one night. "They won Kaller."
"Whoop-de-do," Tai replied sarcastically. She never said it directly, but Tai was getting tired of not being selected as a padawan yet and instead stuck training as a youngling while Caleb was learning the ways of the Force from his own, personal mentor; exploring the galaxy, fighting droids and freeing worlds from Separatist tyranny.
If either of them were lucky they'd see some mop-up work after the war. Rebuilding damaged cities, scrapping droids and cleaning up the mess created by the war across the galaxy. Not the most preferred jobs, but the best they would get if they became padawans anytime soon.
"Hey, I'm just as upset as you are that Caleb got to be a padawan and we didn't," Sammo admitted. "I certainly wish I could be out there using my lightsaber skills to slash some clankers to pieces before they're all deactivated. But hey, with the war almost over, maybe Caleb will be able to return to the Temple and we can catch up."
"Remember we weren't exactly supportive of that kid becoming a padawan," Tai reminded.
That was true, neither had been happy for Caleb when Master Billaba chose him as her apprentice. Tai thought Caleb was too young and not ready to be a padawan; whereas Sammo was concerned about Master Billaba, given her past losses. In the end, Caleb had been pretty disappointed by their reactions and they didn't depart on the best of terms.
"That was months ago," Sammo pointed out. "I'm sure Caleb's over it by now. Look next time we see him, we'll apologize and let him know we regret what we said to him when Master Billaba took him on as her padawan."
Tai didn't seem as enthusiastic as her friend. "I'm not sure I am," she rebuked.
Later on, as he meditated in his quarters, Sammo wondered what Caleb was doing. Was he celebrating his latest victory? Did he take any injuries that required him to be in a bacta tank? Or perhaps he was busy training with his new master? So many possibilities, yet Sammo knew was pointless. As the Jedi taught, keep your mind in the present and on what you, yourself are doing. He tried, even though that word was not in the Jedi vocabulary, but it was the best the Twi'lek could do. They hadn't been close, but Sammo missed Caleb nevertheless. He couldn't help wondering what his friend was up to. Despite being annoying, he was still fun to hang out with. He bet his friend was having a great time despite being in a warzone. He wanted to know... All of a sudden Sammo's thoughts of Caleb were interrupted when he felt an immense amount of fear, hatred, and suffering swirl through the Force.
The next thing he knew he heard the sound of explosions and blaster fire erupting outside his room. Then much to the youngling's surprise, the door opened with a clone trooper, one with the blue stripped armour from the 501st legion, standing outside, his rifle aimed at Sammo.
Before the youngling could do anything, much less get up Tai appeared, as if out of nowhere, jumping in between Sammo and the clone, using a lightsaber to deflect the clone's attack and then cut his rifle in half before impaling the sword through his chest.
"Sammo, get up!" Tai shouted the Twi'lek, who was contemplating what he'd just seen.
"Wha... what's happening?" he asked.
"The clones are attacking!"
Sammo's mouth dropped. He heard his friend and saw it for himself, but he was still having a hard time believing it. "WHAT?! Why?! How?!"
"Augh you're sounding like Caleb," Tai groaned, tossing him a lightsaber. "I don't know what's up with the clones all I know is..."
"Open fire on the Jedi," ordered one of several more clone troopers now standing outside of Sammo's room.
The Twi'lek was so shocked he failed to so much as moving a muscle; which would've gotten him killed if not for Tai taking the initiative and began defending Sammo against the clones who began fire on them. By the time he had snapped back to reality, all the clones outside his room were dead, and Tai was looking at him, appearing more annoyed than she already was regularly.
"We need to go. Now!" she stated.
Realizing that his friend was right the two exited his room, to a sight that made Sammo's stomach want to puke. The halls were in flames, bodies of both clones and even Jedi were littered around the floor, with the sight and sound of both parties fighting one another.
"Freeze!" another squad of clones commanded. But before either they or Sammo and Tai could respond Jedi Master Tera Sinube jumped in between the clones and younglings and started cutting through the soldiers who then diverted their attention towards the master. "Target the older Jedi," the clone Sargent ordered. Despite being in his older years, Master Sinube was still a skilled duelist, slashing his sabre through clones at a speed faster than expected for someone of his age.
"Master Sinube," Sammo called out.
"Run younglings. Run!" the elder Jedi ordered as he continued to cut his way through the clones.
Doing as instructed, they ran. As they made their way through the Temple, they saw more and more of the fighting going on between Jedi and clones, with the former appearing to be losing as for every soldier died, ten more appeared to take their place. The overwhelming odds, combined with the surprise the Jedi were facing gave the clones the advantage they needed to shoot down more and more Jedi. Masters, knights, padawans and younglings alike. It was unlike anything Sammo or Tai had ever imagined. Even Tai trembled at the sight of Master Nema being executed by the clones. But they kept on running, without any idea where they were going or what they were going to do; something that bugged Sammo greatly.
"We're gonna need a plan," he hollered out to Tai who lead the way through the carnage.
"Yeah keep running," Tai said as the two leaped over a small pile of dead bodies.
"No, I mean a real plan. We can't keep running forever," he rebuked.
"I know what you- agh" Tai cried as a blaster bolt hit her right in the chest.
"TAI!" Sammo cried. Leaping through the air, he slashed his blade across the chest of the clone who had just shot his friend. Then cut through the remaining clones by their brother's side. Once they were all dead, Sammo ran back over toward a dying Tai, cradling her in his arms.
"Ge… get out of... here. Save... save yourself…" those were her final words before she succumbed to her injuries and joined the Force.
That's what he did. Carrying out his friend's dying wish, Sammo ran, making his way down to the lower levels of the Temple, and escaping through the sewage system.
Soon afterwards, around the morning following that tragic night, Sammo learned that it wasn't just the clones on Coruscant who'd betrayed the Jedi. Across the stars, clones had turned against their Jedi leaders, with few if any surviving. Following the attack on the Jedi Temple, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, leader of the Galactic Republic revealed that the Jedi had committed treason, attempting to assassinate him and overthrow the Senate. That was the reason why the Jedi were being targeted by the clones. Sammo, of course, did not believe the Council would do such a thing. Throughout his entire life, the young Twi'lke had been raised to believe that all Jedi were loyal to the Republic; trained to serve the Senate as protectors. Yet despite this, despite thousands of years serving the democratic government, a great majority of, if not all, senators not only believed this but even applauded as word reached at almost all the Jedi were wiped out. Sammo never felt so betrayed or alone. For all, he knew he could've been the last of his kind. An endangered species that was on the verge of extinction.
Knowing he was in the heart of the new Empire, the one that the Republic was being reorganized into to counter the Jedi rebellion, a place swarming with clones ordered to hunt down and kill anyone who called themselves or looked like a Jedi, Sammo knew he needed to flee Coruscant.
To do this though, first, he needed to ditch his lightsaber, the one Tai had given him. He knew if anyone saw him carrying the blasted sword around, he'd been targeted at once. Next, he did something embarrassing but necessary, he stripped out of his Jedi robes, replacing them with rags he found in a dumpster. They reeked worse than a Hutt, and they drove people away from him. But none suspected he was a Jedi, just a lowly street kid.
Then all he had to do was get offworld. He didn't have any credits to do so, but one good thing right now about his Jedi abilities was that they made it easy for him to infiltrate secured places and hide there without being detected. This made it simple for Sammo to get into say… a cargo ship without being detected; one headed for the Inner Rim world of Taanab, a planet that had remained neutral throughout the Clone Wars; meaning there were no clones there to identify and perhaps kill him.
Doing just that, Sammo found himself in a secure place inside the cargo bay of the ship he'd stowed away on; one surrounded by crates where no one could see or think to look for him. The stench of his clothes was a risk, but the crew members of the ship had already passed it off as either someone breaking the wind or some discarded trash, nothing more, and worth wasting any more attention on.
Looking out a window located in his hiding spot, Sammo took in the sight of the cityscape of the planet he called home his entire life. He watched as the view became replaced with the bright dotted spots of stars in a black, endless array of space. "So long Coruscant," he said just as the stars were replaced with the streaking blue and white of hyperspace. His life as Jedi was over. Now it was time to start over. Start fresh. He was scared but he knew he had to succeed if he was to survive the Empire. This was the way. The new way that was.
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