Episode Two

For three long years the Clone Wars had continued to fight the Droid Armies under the control of the separatist movement, causing the deaths of Jedi across the Galaxy itself, my vow to be present when needed had yet to come to pass as I remained in self-imposed isolation to hone my understanding and skills with the Force itself, although plagued by visions of Darkness and Destruction, one vision had continued throughout my isolation, Sharlon's death at the hands of the Clone Army under her command. An image that I could not shake, each time more of the vision had been revealed to me during my meditations as the time grew ever closer when my friend, my mentor would die and that was something that I could not allow to happen. Breaking my isolation, I left the almost ocean world on which I had lived alone to follow my visions to a world deep inside of Republic space for the first time in years.

I arrived on the green and pleasant world which had become a command post for the Clone Armies of the Republic itself onboard an old vessel I had stolen before my isolation itself. Although considered as small by the vessels which had orbited the planet itself, it was fast and bore a Republic Identification Transponder which I had activated once I had re-entered Republic space itself. Having the use of Clone Army Armour which I wore, I placed myself inside of Sharlon's own Command while using a Voice Modulator to hide my female voice which when heard, would sound identical to those around me to avoid suspicion.

During my isolation, I had yet to create a replacement Lightsaber for the one previously owned by my late Master and as such, I carried the standard DC-15-S Clone Army Blaster Weapon as my sidearm, stood by the Clone Commander, my fears had come to pass as a mysterious hooded figure appeared in the palm of the Commander himself, ordering what had been known as 'Order 66'. In the middle of the Command Center of their Encampment, several of the Clone Soldiers raised their weapons on Sharlon as she turned slowly to face them at the sounds of their weapons activating. But, I had acted quickly as I stepped backwards, behind the many soldiers and fired my own weapon first, killing several of the Clones before they could react to my presence. A blaster strike hit Sharlon in her left shoulder and as she fell onto the ground, I saw several moving towards her and I had no choice but to act in her defence and to reveal myself to those around us both. I leapt through the air, high above those around my friend and former Master while her own personal weapon and the weapon I had once placed into her hands leapt into my own and as my feet touched the ground before her, all weapons had turned instantly upon me as I defended the both of us from their cowardly attacks with expert ease of my training as a Jedi Knight while still hidden beneath the armour of the Clone Army.

Struggling for survival as more Clones arrived, I carried Sharlon on my shoulder as I ran for the ship I had once stolen while a call for assistance echoed through the internal communications inside of my helmet itself. I must have carried her for hours towards the hidden vessel before placing her into the seat by my own as powered up the vessel and quickly arose into the air while under constant fire from he ground itself. For a brief moment, I sighed with relief until a squadron of Clone Operated fighters descended from the skies in pursuit of my vessel itself. I knew the capabilities of my vessel itself along with those of the craft which had been attempting to destroy my vessel, although fast and agile, my own vessel had few weapons with which to defend itself against a squadron of fighters along with the vessels and cruisers which had orbited the planet itself.

Avoiding weapons fire as I weaved the ship through a large canyon which I have entered, I knew that I needed space from which to escape or even hide my vessel itself and as luck would have it, a large cave appeared to port of my vessel however, the numerous fighters where still in close pursuit. Eventually, I had gained enough ground on those behind me to circle back towards the cave as I fought with my own exhaustion along with the damage to my vessel itself before entering the cave which was large and deep enough to hide my vessel itself.

Hiding in the safety of the Cave, I turned towards my injured former Master as she awoke and turned towards me, startled by what she had seen before her as I still wore the armour of the Clone Troopers, my standard issue Blaster on the control panel before me along with the two Lightsabers I had used to defend her with.

"Easy Sharlon, you have been injured…" I said through the helmet's voice modulator.

"What happened?"

"You have been shot, by your own Clone Commander… I warned you this would happen, I warned everyone…"

"Who are you?" She said instantly, while her weapons leapt into her hands.

I heard only my own voice through the helmet and had gotten used to the view of the helmet itself, although I had instantly realised that I was still wearing the helmet and armour, I removed the helmet as shock instantly overcame my former mentor once she had seen my face for the first time in three years.

"Saris?"

"Hello, my old friend. You are not an easy person to find, did you know that?"

I had explained everything to Sharlon from my isolation, my visions of her death to the Mysterious messenger as displayed in the hand of the Clone Officer. Slowly activating a message I had recovered only moments ago from a man I had known and named as a Friend, her eyes opened wide as she stood slowly while nursing her injury.

"Sharlon? The Order has fallen along with the Republic. You heard Ob-Wan's last message. A Dark Shadow of some Empire has taken the place of the Republic… We must Trust in the Force. As much as I know that you want to return to the Temple, we can no longer do that… I can only hope that more have survived this cowardly attack. We must leave and soon…"

"And go where Saris?" She replied slowly.

"I don't know. From the message, it seems that Obi-Wan is in the Temple… we both know that Obi-Wan is a resilient man… if anyone can survive this, he can…"

"And Anakin? He is the Chosen One… he…"

"I don't know, I wish I knew. But we both known Anakin… if anyone can survive this, it will be him, he will find a way to survive, I give you my word. But right now, my primary concern is you Sharlon… you have been injured and need medical attention" I said with concern in my voice.

"Thank you Saris, thank you. I should have listened to you…"

"No, you did what you thought was right and I understand that now. But, we can't stay here forever and you do need medical attention…"

We thought that we where the only surviving members of the Former Order and we had both agreed that nowhere was safe for the two of us to go as we would be hunted down by the new Empire and it's Dark Figurehead, a large and imposing man known as Darth Vader, the new servant of the Emperor himself, the Chancellor of the Republic, know identified as a Sith Lord. Finding refuge on worlds far away from the former Republic on which the new Empire had declared war in order to expand its growing territories, Sharlon's injuries had slowly been healed from the numerous medical technologies of those worlds as hid our true identities by passing as Mother and Daughter while Sharlon and myself continued to trail ourselves in the ways of the Force itself. Given the weapon I had once owned which had once belonged to Carlin, we had often passed as traders dealing in Pre-Imperial technologies on worlds far beyond the Empire's own grasp as our connection to the force had begun to grow deeper while the Empire itself had expanded beyond the Old Republic itself, although on numerous occasions, we had found ourselves inside of the newly expanded Imperial Space, we quietly and swiftly moved away.

We had both felt an uncontrollable pull back into Imperial Space once again after five years of isolation, a pull which had led us towards a planet known as Alderaan, a world devoted to beauty and knowledge, however upon our arrival and greeting by the leader of the planet itself, we had both learned of the horrific truth behind the destruction of the Order itself and the creation of the Empire, the horrific and hidden truth behind the true identity of Darth Vader himself, Anakin Skywalker.

I could not believe what I was hearing, the young boy I had once sparred with, tested and pushed beyond his own knowledge of the force in the hopes of unlocking his true potential, had become the symbol of Darkness itself, a Sith Lord and the man responsible for deaths of the Jedi itself, including Children which had been slain at his own hand? I knew Anakin Skywalker, we had been raised inside of the order together and fought side-by-side on numerous occasions and I must admit, I had large amount of respect for the man that I hoped he would one day become, but the evidence was overwhelming as I saw him brutally kill children in a holo-recording as presented before me… and for the first time since I had found the Order, I felt anger overcome me, and it was a powerful feeling which I knew that I could use to destroy the man that my friend had become.

I spent weeks alone, in isolation in attempt to purge myself of the darkness which I had felt only to emerge with a purity of spirit, body and mind. I had never felt so clear as my life, once nothing more than a struggle for my very survival had returned as if an old friend had entered the room with a smile and a hug which felt as warm as the sun on my body as I once sat naked before star at the center of the star-system, deep in meditation. I had believed that I had found my path in life as dictated by the Universe itself.

I spoke with Bail Organa and Sharlon about what I had discovered about myself as they stood in shock before me, before I had left the order, I had yet to face my final trial to become a Knight of the Order and I had believed, with every fibre of my being that my true path was to either end Darth Vader's reign of terror by killing him, or bring him to his rightful path. However, something happened as I stood before Bail Organa, something that I had not imagined nor even seen in any of my visions… a young girl stepped before Bail Organa himself and held his hand lovingly and looked up at the man with a large smile upon her face, as if looking at her father, but what I felt, was something different and familiar… I felt the presence of something warm and loving, I felt the presence of Anakin Skywalker, the man that I had known and loved as a great and powerful ally and friend, within the young girl.

I later learned that the young girl was the child of Anakin Skywalker, adopted and raised as Bail Organa's own daughter and it was then, that my personal and hidden anger had vanished instantly. What I had never told anyone, was that I had loved Anakin Skywalker, we had been raised together and trained together for a long time and I knew how deeply he loved and feared for his mother's safety as slave and upon hearing of her death, I felt his anger and saw what he had done, I saw his crimes on Tatooine in my own visions however, in the eyes of the young girl before me? I saw a hope that I had never before witnessed in someone so young and innocent. I spent weeks with Bail Organa and his family before he let slip, by accident that Obi-Wan himself had survived the Jedi-Purge, as it had been known. Both Sharlon and I raced to Tatooine as fast as our vessel could carry us and after weeks of searching the sand dunes and scattered settlements of that world, we found another Jedi, we Found Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Standing before a hovel constructed using the native soil and dirt which had existed on the world itself, I entered the home of the last member of the old Council itself under the darkness of night, my hand wrapped around the weapon of my former master as I slowly and silently entered the main living quarters of the hovel which had become the home of a once powerful man I had known. Feeling a presence behind me and hearing the activation of a Lightsaber, I instantly turned to block the blue glowing blade of the weapon before me with my own green bladed weapon and pushed forwards slightly so that the light from the weapon would illuminate my features and his own as I smiled slightly.

"Master Kenobi? I am Saris… I have come a long way to find you"

"Saris?" He said slowly, in shock at my presence.

"Yes, and I am not alone. Sharlon is with me… please, lower your weapon?"

Pulling back with his weapon as I replied with my own, the light from the weapons illuminated our faces as for the first time in years, I saw the aging face of a man I had known and respected for many years, now little more than a pale imitation of his former self due to his own self imposed lifestyle.

"Then, there are more?"

"All I know Master, is yourself and Sharlon. We have been in hiding since your recording had been dispatched… is it true Master Kenobi? Is it true about Anakin being that Monster?" I said slowly.

"Yes, it is the truth…"

"I would not have believed it, if it had not come from you… what did we do wrong Master Jedi?" I said with sorrow, filling my voice while I knelt before him.

"I do not know. I tried to train him as I was trained by my Master…"

"I did not know your Mentor, only what I had read in the Chronicles. I even followed his teachings and it was his teachings, which gave me the strength to break away from the Order and immerse myself in the Force itself…"

"And a fine job it has done…" Sharlon replied, as she stepped into the home of Obi-Wan slowly.

"It has not been easy for me Obi-Wan, I struggled with my own Darkness for a long time, in my own isolation. But we need to rebuild the Order…"

"The Time, is not yet right for our return, Padawan. Soon, there will be an Awakening…"

"Skywalker's Daughter?"

"You surprise me Padawan…" Obi-Wan replied with interest in what I had to say, for the first time in years.

"But, I sense something else Master Jedi… another, close by? I understand now… for the first time in my life, I understand. Not one child of Skywalker, but two? A boy, strong with the Force as was his father, but he may be a problem, he is undisciplined… and yet to know of his true potential?"

"The Force, flows strong within you Padawan… as one of the last remaining of the Council, I have a challenge for you…"

"One of the last?" Sharlon said instantly.

"For now, the others must remain hidden. Saris, Sharlon? You must both cast off the teachings of the old order and live your life, but you must never forget your training, pass on what you have learned to a new Generation, the Next Generation of Jedi and when the time is right, only then can you reveal yourselves…"

I knelt before Obi-Wan as Sharlon stood before me, along side the last remaining member of the Jedi Council, or so I thought. Activating their Lightsabers, I was Knighted within that dirty hovel of a home on a dust-bowl of a world amidst my own pride as I felt the burn of Obi-Wan's Lightsaber on my shoulders with pride before he asked me to stand and it was then that he gave me an instruction that I had never heard before, as in that moment, he renamed me with the approval of my former mentor at his side from Saris, a name which I had once taken to Ryder, a name which in an ancient language which had once been connected with the old order, meant 'Hope'. Being in the presence of Master Kenobi for the first time in years had felt like a blessing to me, I had known and respected the Master Jedi for many years and seeing him alive even though he was living in such poverty and squalor with what had felt as if he had the entire weight of the universe on his almost frail shoulders, for the first time in many years I felt almost at home as we sat and spoke of the state of the Galaxy itself while attempting to trace the point where the good and honourable man we had all known as Anakin Skywalker had given up his training to fall into a long and deep pit of darkness and twisted evil. However, the more I listened to the two before me, the more I felt as if I had to do something, I felt as if I had to try to help Anakin and return him from the darkness and back into the light, or to die in the attempt because I knew that if my death would in someway start him along his path to redemption, that it was my fate to face Vader himself.

Almost feeling what I was thinking, Obi-Wan instantly ordered me to avoid Vader at all costs, using his own authority as a Member of the Old Council itself which I had now vowed to obey with the acceptance of my knighthood. I had never heard Obi-Wan issue me with a direct order before, and even though I still intended to follow through with my quickly building plan to face Vader, Obi-Wan informed me that if I attempted to follow through with my plan, he would stand in my personally as would Sharlon. Resigning myself to my fate of following my orders, I bowed before the two once again with respect while he issued me with a challenge and task that I had to complete or to die in the attempt, my challenge was to locate any surviving Jedi from across the Galaxy, find anyone with a connection to the Force itself and leave known space to create a new order of the Jedi itself, far away from the Empire itself in the hopes of one day the Republic will reform, and the New Jedi Order can return to their rightful place as Guardians of the Galaxy and Freedom itself.