Prologue One – The Lone Jedi

An armoured Jedi, donned in dark robes and a hood, with a lightsaber holstered upon his dark belt, entered what used to be his home. What used to be the home of all his kind. The Jedi Temple. A once peaceful place now in ruins, charred remnants, with evidence of fire and battle clear, despite rain having cleared most of the grizzly evidence from the once-venerated place.

The Jedi Purge, as it was now called, happened a week before, with the Chancellor of the Galactic Republic, Sheev Palpatine, having called the Grand Army of the Republic, the Clone Army, to execute all Jedi "traitors". They did so with stunning efficiency, with 90% of the Jedi Order decimated within a single night, and more falling within the first week. The Republic also died along with the Jedi, being, to quote Palpatine himself, "reorganised into the First Galactic Empire". An oppressive autocratic system which killed true democracy and liberty in the galaxy, however corrupt the previous government was.

The lone Jedi saw the bodies of Temple Guards, their bodies sliced by what seemed to be a lightsaber, judging from the charred edges on their clothes and the cauterised wounds. He glanced at a single slain body, slightly bowed to it in respect, before straightening and slowly walking away. There was no sound other than his footsteps on the charred and bloodied ground. All was silent, the Jedi did not speak, nor did the Temple. The Force, the power that surrounded him and had previously whispered to him, was also deathly silent.

No-one had dared step foot within the building since the Purge. Imperial troopers, "Stormtroopers", as Emperor Palpatine had named them, had cordoned off the area, shooting anyone that tried to enter as an early show of the new Empire's oppression. The lone Jedi had entered with stealth, no-one knew he was here. If they did, he would be a dead man. Through the ledges and different floors, he saw numerous corpses strewn, all brutally slain, of both Jedi, of all ages, and Clones. Truly, one of the greatest battles of the Clone War took place within this building, one that was meant to be of peace. One of the few places where the war was never meant to reach.

He walked through the hallowed halls to go to a certain room, one characterised by its entrance, many steps leading up to a grand durasteel door. The room of the Jedi Council. Now rendered useless like the rest of the once-grand Temple. Most of the Council was dead, and the Jedi Order was, for all official purposes, disbanded.

The lone Jedi used the Force to open the doors, which obeyed and slid open on numerous sides, revealing the gruesome scene inside. Sliced, tipped-over chairs around the room, broken windows, and worst of all, sliced and stabbed younglings, all no younger than ten years of age. The Jedi could feel the wind coming through the broken windows upon his face, cold and unyielding. Even the Force was cold, to the Jedi, it felt of death and decay, a feeling he did not enjoy. Even the most hardened of Jedi Masters would blanch at the scene.

For the lone Jedi, this was too much. Running up to one of the younglings, a blonde boy whose head was brutally yet sloppily disconnected from the rest of his body, which itself was next to the head, the Jedi kneeled, lightly touching the forehead of the late child with a single gloved hand. There were already signs of decay on some of the bodies, but the Jedi ignored that. He felt tears run down his cheeks, though the sight of them were most likely obscured by the hood of his cloak, covering his head. The strong emotions of sadness, anger, and hatred pooled in his veins, and he felt his Adam's apple strain against the front of his neck as he thought of what happened to these mere children. Such a show of emotion, and the emotions themselves, would be condemned by the Jedi Council, but he did not care. The Jedi Council did not exist anymore. The ghosts of the former members had no power over him.

While crying, the lone Jedi spoke his first words since entering the Temple this time, in a choked and whispered, yet anger-filled voice, "Sidious. You will pay for what you have done."

He didn't bother to clean the tears that were now streaking down his face. To him, he had a valid reason to cry. His brothers and sisters, his friends, were all dead. He was truly alone in the Galaxy. All thanks to Darth Sidious, and his new apprentice and enforcer, Darth Vader.

And, oh, how he wanted to get revenge on them both. Revenge was not the Jedi way, but were these emotions not justified? The Sith killed all the Jedi, for Force's sake!

Stroking the now-matted and dusty hair of the youngling whose forehead he had touched, and glancing over to the other slaughtered children, the Jedi suppressed a choked, depressive noise, before he stood up, not without struggling, briskly walking out of the Council Chambers. There was another room he had to go to. Another room he wanted to go to.

The Security Hall. It wasn't a short trip, and on the way, he saw many more bodies, that of Masters, Knights, and hell, even Padawans. The Clones and the Sith truly did not discriminate when it came to slaughtering the Jedi. They showed no mercy, truly the genocidal maniacs they were. To the Jedi, they lived up to their title of ruthlessness. The Sith of the old would most likely be proud.

The Security Hall was a bare hallway, filled only with a platform with a hologram emitter attached on a declined part of the hall, and literal walls of code containing security holograms dating back to the times even before the Old Republic. He could only imagine how the Old Jedi would feel about the Purge and the new Sith Empire in all but name. The Force, which felt like a quiet yet sad lullaby wafting through his ears, gave but a small implication to the answer to that question.

Through the gentle, yet weak encouragement of the that grand power, he approached one of the walls, a newer wall, and tapped on a single section, one recently modified. The section, a small disk, ejected itself and hovered towards him. Greenish lines of code ran on the sides of the square object, and the hologram emitter on the top began to play a recording.

The image of Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, former Council Member and Clone Wars hero, appeared and began to speak, posture stiff: "This is Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. I regret to report that both our Jedi Order and the Republic have fallen, with the dark shadow of the Empire rising to take their place. This message is a warning and a reminder for any surviving Jedi, trust in the Force. Do not return to the Temple, that time has passed, and our future is uncertain. We will each be challenged. Our trust, our faith, our friendships. But we must persevere, and in time, a new hope will emerge. May the Force be with you, always."

On the already tear-stricken face of the lone Jedi, more tears began to fall. He looked left and right, and seeing no-one was around, he took off the hood of his cloak to reveal a young face, with a scar on his face and long, messy brownish-blonde locks. It was Anakin Skywalker.

The disk had already put itself back in place, but he kept looking at the exact spot where the hologram was, water pooling and leaking out of his ocean blue eyes. They were already red and puffy from crying many times over the past week, but he did not care. There were many things to cry for ever since the Chancellor, his friend, the secret Sith Master, destroyed the Republic, destroyed the Jedi Order. Ordered his death. Killed Padmé. Him and his damned apprentice, Darth Vader, who, apparently, was a force-sensitive clone of his made purely to serve Sidious with the full extent of Anakin's power.

Though, that was until Obi-Wan managed to severely wound the clone, making the Sith Apprentice burn in lava, while the Jedi Master prepared to kill him before he sensed Darth Sidious close by, approaching the two with the intent to kill Kenobi. Obi-Wan barely escaped in time so he wouldn't have to meet the Sith Master, who by that stage he knew was more powerful than even Master Yoda. If HoloNet reports were to be believed, Vader was now in a life-support suit as a result of the wounds he received.

The Jedi had many reasons to be depressed. Many reasons to feel anger. Many reasons to feel hate. And, oh, how he felt all of them. He was angry at the Sith and the Imperials. And he genuinely, from the bottom of his heart, absolutely resented Sidious. The Jedi Council would not like it, but they stopped ruling him the moment it disbanded. If they ever did truly rule him.

After a while of stillness in this emotional state, the Jedi choked out: "May the Force be with you too, my old Master, wherever you are."

Last he saw Obi-Wan was on Bail Organa's ship, the Tantive IV, along with the Senator himself, Master Windu, and Master Yoda. Obi-Wan and Yoda elected to go into hiding, training and expanding the breadth of their powers, while Anakin and Master Windu, in a rare show of solidarity, elected to join the early Rebellion, which was in part founded by his late wife through the Delegation of Two Thousand, an organisation of two thousand systems which sought to bring back power to the people and the Senate before Palpatine declared himself Emperor of the Galaxy. Then, he never saw them again, reducing him to his current state, a Jedi truly alone in the Galaxy.

Now, Anakin was working for Bail Organa and Mon Mothma in gathering intelligence and recruiting people to their rebellion against the Empire, as an operative named Fulcrum, after his secret communications system back during the Clone Wars. Master Windu was also working for the Senators in the Rebellion. At the moment, Anakin had no knowledge on his whereabouts, just like Windu did not on Anakin. This was for the safety of them both in their early missions, if Vader captured one, they could not find the other while the Rebellion was still fledgeling. Though, Master Windu had assured Anakin they would meet again, weirdly enough. Anakin had thought the Jedi Master had hated him, though his actions after they both failed to defeat Darth Sidious in the Chancellor's office, when they were both shot out of the windows by Sidious and an emergent Vader, showed otherwise. Force, the elder Jedi Master even promised to teach Anakin some more advanced skills, and even Vaapad if the young Jedi sufficiently proved himself.

Not something that would be done from a guy that hated him.

His children, his twins Luke and Leia, born just before Padmé died, were being raised under the loving care of Bail and Breha Organa, receiving what was befitted the two children of the King and Queen of Alderaan. Originally Obi-Wan and Master Yoda wanted to split them, but Anakin vetoed that. He would not break up his family more than it already had been. Broken by Padmé's death and his own inability to take care of his own children. Another one of Anakin's many regrets these days, though he knew they would be better off under the loving care of the Organas'. They had promised Anakin would have a role in the lives of his children, however. It remained to be seen how that would play out, however.

After that final meeting on the Tantive IV, they all left for their respective destinies. He had no idea where Obi-Wan, Master Windu, or Master Yoda were, and he had no idea what they were doing beyond what they said they would do during their last meeting.

Though, as the remaining Council Members as far as they knew, and a show of Master Windu's new phase of goodwill to Anakin, the three decided to bestow upon Anakin the rank of Jedi Master just before they left, although Anakin definitely did not feel like one. He had failed to defeat Palpatine… no, Darth Sidious. He failed his duty as the Chosen One. He did not deserve the rank of Jedi Master, however much he had wanted it before… all this.

Finally wiping away the tears from his face, Anakin raised the hood of his cloak again, obscuring his face. With a swift motion he turned away from the holoprojector, walking towards the entrance of the Security Hall from which he came in. He had no other purpose within the Jedi Temple. He had already seen the bodies, and he had already seen Obi-Wan's recording. He had thought of his failures all he wanted. The time for reminiscing was over.

Now, it was time to help the Rebellion against the Empire as Fulcrum.

It was time to make up for his past mistakes.


A/N: Well, that's the first chapter of my first fanfiction! Hopefully you all enjoyed it, and please consider favouriting and/or following if you did. Please leave a review too if you want, it could really help with my improving and motivation to write. I might have left quite a few questions with this chapter, but I will eventually answer them as the story goes on. I'll try to put up the next chapter as soon as I can, but when I will do that isn't guaranteed because of my University work. That's all I really have to say, so goodbye for now!