Hey folks, this is Grubkiller.

This is the 2nd to last chapter of this story.

This chapter will be pretty short, and the next one will be even shorter.

I want to thank you all for joining me on this wild ride, and I really hope you enjoyed this story. I'm gonna make slight changes here and there if I deem it necessary.

Enjoy this last chapter.

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Tantive IV, Naboo system.

Around a conference table on Tantive IV, Bail Organa, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Yoda met to decide the fate of the galaxy.

"To Naboo, send her body . . ." Yoda stretched his head high, as though tasting a current in the Force. "Pregnant, she must still appear. Hidden, safe, the children must be kept. Foundation of the new Jedi Order, they will be."

"We should split them up," Obi-Wan said. "Even if the Sith find one, the other may survive. I can take the boy, Master Yoda, and you take the girl. We can hide them away, keep them safe - train them as Anakin should have been trained-"

"No." The ancient Master lowered his head again, closing his eyes, resting his chin on his hands that were folded over the head of his stick.

Obi-Wan looked uncertain. "But how are they to learn the self-discipline a Jedi needs? How are they to master skills of the Force?"

"Jedi training, the sole source of self-discipline is not. When right is the time for skills to be taught, to us the living Force will bring them. Until then, wait we will, and watch, and learn."

"I can . . ." Bail Organa stopped, flushing slightly. "I'm sorry to interrupt, Masters; I know little about the Force, but I do know something of love. The Queen and I - well, we've always talked of adopting a girl. If you have no objection, I would like to take Leia to Alderaan, and raise her as our daughter. She would be loved with us."

Yoda and Obi-Wan exchanged a look. Yoda tilted his head. "No happier fate could any child ask for. With our blessing, and that of the Force, let Leia be your child."

Bail stood, a little jerkily, as though he simply could no longer keep his seat. His flush had turned from embarrassment to pure uncomplicated joy. "Thank you, Masters. I... don't know what else to say. Thank you, that's all. What of the boy?"

"Cliegg Lars still lives on Tatooine, I think, and Anakin's stepbrother . . . Owen, that's it, and his wife, Beru, still work the moisture farm outside Mos eisley . . ." Obi-Wan said.

"As close to kinfolk as the boy can come," Yoda said approvingly. "But Tatooine, not like Alderaan it is - deep in the Outer Rim, a wild and dangerous planet."

"Anakin survived it," Obi-Wan said. "Luke can, too. And I can - well, I could take him there, and watch over him. Protect him from the worst of the planet's dangers, until he can learn to protect himself."

"Like a father you wish to be, young Obi-Wan?"

"More an . . . eccentric old uncle, I think. It is a part I can play very well. To keep watch over Anakin's son-" Obi-Wan sighed, finally allowing his face to register a suggestion of his old gentle smile. "I can't imagine a better way to spend the rest of my life."

"Settled it is, then. To Tatooine, you will take him."

Bail moved toward the door. "If you'll excuse me, Masters, I have to call the Queen . . ." He stopped in the doorway, looking back. "Master Yoda, do you think Padme's twins will be able to defeat Palpatine?"

"Strong the Force runs, in the Skywalker line. Only hope, we can. Until the time is right, disappear we will."

Bail nodded. "And I must do the same - metaphorically, at least. You may hear . . . disturbing things . . . about what I do in the Senate. I must appear to support the new Empire, and my comrades with me. It was . . . Padre's wish, and she was a shrewder political mind than I'll ever be. Please trust that what we do is only a cover for our true task. We will never betray the legacy of the Jedi. I will never surrender the Republic to the Sith."

"Trust in this, we always will. Go now; for happy news, your Queen is waiting."

Bail Organa bowed, and vanished into the corridor.

When Obi-Wan went to follow, Yoda's gimer stick barred his way. "A moment, Master Kenobi. In your solitude on Tatooine, training I have for you. I and my new Master."

Obi-Wan blinked. "Your new Master?"

"Yes." Yoda smiled up at him. "And your old one . . ."

C-3PO shuffled along the starship's hallway beside R2-D2, following Senator Organa who had, by all accounts, inherited both of them. "I'm certain I can't say say why she malfunctioned," he was telling the little astromech. "Organic are so terribly complicated, you know."

Ahead, the Senator was met by a man whose uniform indicated he was a captain in the Royal Alderaan Civil Fleet.

"Captain Antilles, I'm placing these droids in your care," the Senator said. "Have them cleaned, polished, and refitted with the best of everything; they will belong to my new daughter."

"How lovely!" C-3PO exclaimed. "His daughter is the child of Master Anakin and Senator Amidala," he explained to R2-D2. "I can hardlywait to tell her all about her parents! I'm sure she will be very proud-"

"Oh, and the protocol droid?" Senator Organa said thoughtfully. "Have its mind wiped."

The captain saluted.

"Oh no," said C-3PO.

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Mandalore.

Ahsoka and her few remaining men stood on the outskirts of Sundari. The quiet that had fallen over the planet in the aftermath of the battle was deafening. But now, they stood in a circle, standing over the row of quick graves that they had created, and filled with traitorous clones.

They were marked by sheets of metal that had several names carved into them.

CT-6116 - Kix.

CT-1409 - Echo.

CT-1110 - Hardcase.

CT-5597 - Jesse.

CT-8-1508 - Coric.

CT-7567 - Rex.

On each of their markers, apart from their names, they read: Died in service to the Empire, and in bringing the Jedi traitor to justice.

At the bottom of the tombstone that had Rex's name on, a pair of lightsabers lay neatly crossed, signaling to anyone that came across these markers, that the Jedi who wielded them was no more.

This was all apart of a carefully executed coverup, which would allow Ahsoka and her men to slip away into the Outer Rim and disappear. As they all attended their own funeral, Bo-Katan and some of her Mandalorian warriors stood watch for them.

"Hmpf. Never thought I'd ever have to fake my own death . . . from the Republic, no less." Jesse said.

That's when Coric turned to Jesse, and was about to walk past him before he put his hand on his shoulder. "Haven't you heard, trooper? It's not the Republic anymore." he said before he tapped his shoulder pad and walked off.

"Yeah, it's under new management." Echo said.

"Which means we're all out of a job," Hardcase said.

"Don't forget fugitives." Kix said.

Rex turned around and was about to follow his men, but turned back to see that Ahsoka was still standing there with her arms crossed over her chest, looking down at the fake graves which were adorned with her lightsabers.

Silence filled the spot between them, before Rex finally broke it.

"It's the end of an era." He said.

Ahsoka didn't move a muscle and continued staring at the graves. "It's so . . . surreal."

"How could it have come to this?"

"We were all played like an instrument, Rex. And then we were thrown in the fire when it was all said an done."

"Are you sure you want to go out on your own. We could really use your company, especially now that the General's aren't-" But Rex stopped himself before he could mention Obi-Wan or Anakin.

Ahsoka turned around. "What? If they aren't what?" She asked, staring daggers into Rex's soul.

He faltered, before he said the best thing he could say without making things worse. ". . . Around." He finally said.

Ahsoka looked down at the ground and sighed. "Look, Rex . . . these are really uncertain times. We need to go our separate ways. We can't risk the Empire finding us. A Jedi will attract a lot of unwanted attention. Especially for people on the run."

Rex nodded.

That's when the whine of an engine and the sand being kicked up all around forced Rex to turn around, to see a Nu-class shuttle coming in for a landing.

"Looks like your ride is here, Republic." Bo-Katan said.

"Welcome aboard, ladies," the clone pilot, Lt. Hawk, said over the squad's comm units. "Next stop, anywhere but here."

The original plan was for Ahsoka and the others to hitch a ride on the RSV Indomitable, and start small rebellion with the Jedi-loyal remnants of the 501st. But according to the Nite Owls, when the city fell, and the airspace were quickly becoming overrun with Imperial warships, Captain Autem and the remaining clones cut the evacuation short and fled the system, leaving Ahsoka and Rex's men behind on an Imperial-occupied world.

But an old friend stayed behind.

When the shuttle landed, Rex's men gathered their gear and went to board the shuttle. Their new plan was to fly deeper into the Outer Rim and disappear if they couldn't track the Indomitable. As they walked towards the shuttle, Bo-Katan walked over to Rex and Ahsoka, taking her helmet off to look at them.

"I . . . I wanted to thank you both. For everything." She said.

"Not just us." Ahsoka said, indirectly referring to the hundreds of clones who gave their lives to liberate the planet, only to have all of their hard fought victories wiped away by the Empire.

"They'll be remembered, Tano." She said, placing a reassuring hand on Ahsoka's arm. "I promise you, Mandalore will never forget what you did for us."

She then walked away to meet up with her warriors, who were preparing to head back to their hideout, deep underneath the City.

Rex turned to Ahsoka one last time. "Well commander . . . I guess this is goodbye." He then put his hand out for shaking. "May the Force be with you."

But instead of shaking Rex's hand, she threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly, catching Rex off guard. He then accepted the hug, and padded Ahsoka on the back.

"And you." Ahsoka said.

When they finally broke apart, Bo-Katan and her warriors watched as Ahsoka got into her own V-wing, which was scavenged from the battle, and the clones got into their shuttle, and took off, heading for orbit.

When they were out of sight, one of Bo-Katan's warriors walked up to her. "Ma'am, what do we do now?"

Bo-Katan turned around and looked at her warriors, who were all looking to her for guidance. She then looked at her helmet.

"We're going to do what we've been doing all these past years..." She said before putting her helmet back on. "...Continue the fight for Mandalore."

Sundari, underground tunnel system.

Bo-Katan Kryze watched as citizens continued to pour into the underground network, directed by Nite Owl commandoes and resistance fighters alike.

This was the first time in months that many of these people could return to the city. But many more were forced to come down here in the wake of the Imperial occupation.

But nonetheless, Mandalorians were very good at bouncing back from disasters such as this.

They will drive the Empire from their soil, and they would rebuild.

Many people walked passed Kryze. A lot of them stopped when they recognized her, and stopped to shake hands with the 'Warrior Duchess', and sister of the late Satine.

But she was really there to look for someone. She had to be sure.

"Mother?" She heard someone call out.

She turned her head swiftly to see a red-head boy in his late teens running in her direction. It was her son, Korkie Kryze. She ran in his direction, and they met in the middle. They dropped to their knees and threw their arms around each other. Korkie buried his tear covered face into his mother's shoulders, after not seeing her for several years. Some people clapped wen they saw them hugging. It was a sign of hope that Mandalore could be rebuilt, as well as the families and lives that were broken.

After several minutes, they let go of one another.

"Look at you, all grown up," she said in disbelief.

Korkie smiled. "You came back, Mother, to save Mandalore. Aunt Satine would be so proud".

She smiled.

"Yes, she would". She looked passed her son to see several of his friends looking at them. One of them was a pretty blond girl with blue eyes and light skin. Kryze smiled. "Are you going to introduce me to your friends?"

Korkie blushed and reluctantly led his mother over to his friends from the academy, who were also in the resistance. One of them was his girlfriend, Lagos.

It was going to be a long reunion.

Mandalore orbit.

Ahsoka flew her V-wing up towards the atmosphere alongside Rex's shuttle. After breaking orbit, and avoiding the Imperial blockade, they finally split up and went their separate ways.

As her trusty astromech, R7-A7, began to prep the ship for the jump to hyperspace, Ahsoka checked her comm-link, which she had forgotten to discard. But then she found out that she had several unread, and fairly recent, messages.

They were all from her boyfriend, Senator Lux Bonteri of Onderon.

Her heart started pounding as she forced herself to listen to the most recent message. A holo-recording of her Onderinian partner materialized in front of her.

"Ahsoka, the Jedi Temple is in flames. The Jedi have just been branded traitors to the Republic. And now Palpatine has just made himself Emperor of the galaxy. Please, my love, call me back. I need to know that you're safe. I need you to come back to me." His holographic eyes filled with sadness and longing, and clear signs of stress.

It was as if he was staring into her soul from across the galaxy.

But as much as she wanted to fly back and jump into his arms, before running off to live a peaceful life together, she knew that that was going to be impossible.

Choking back a sob, and clenching her eyes shut to allow tears to roll down her face, Ahsoka allowed the communication device to float up in the air with the Force, before it was crushed into a ball of scrap before being discarded into the trash canister behind her.

"Goodbye Lux."

R7 let out a concerned whistle

"I'm fine." She lied, before allowing more tears to roll down her face.

Her droid then let out another series of whistles and beeps that told Ahsoka that they were ready to make the jump to light speed. But before she pushed the lever forward, she began to swipe through her data pad, looking at pictures of all those who were close to her.

Rex and his men.

Obi-Wan.

Yoda.

Plo Koon.

Lux.

And finally, her old master, Anakin.

"I'll never forget you," she said to the motionless pictures, before she pushed the lever forward, and the stars began to elongate around her, before the ship was finally allowed to shoot off into Hyperspace, taking Ahsoka into a new dark, and uncertain chapter in her life.

Message from the Jedi Temple to all survivors of the Jedi Purge, received by Ahsoka Tano's comlink.

"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. Avoid Coruscant. Avoid detection. Be secret... but be strong. We will each be challenged: our trust, our faith, our friendships. But we must persevere and, in time, I believe a new hope will emerge. May the Force be with you always."

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Well folks that was part 24.

Part 25 will most likely be released at the same time as this one.

So check out that chapter for the final farewell for this story.