Currently, Eila had a limited sense of her surroundings outside of the bacta tank she was in. Although, she was mildly aware that she was on Coruscant because of her injuries. Regrettably, she was instead fully aware when Hardy took over her body and forced her to murder her own men.
'Acting like your former Master, I see!' Reverberated in her mind.
She quietly hoped her consciousness would have been buried when Hardy took complete control, but instead she got a front row seat to their terror and being unable to stop her own body pushed her to fight for control viciously.
It goes without saying, she failed spectacularly.
But still being mentally awake in the bacta tank gave her plenty of time to have those events replay over and over again in her mind. It certainly reminded her of some unpleasant memories as a Commander, helpless to act because of a difference in rank. The guilty feeling of taking their lives gnawed at her incessantly even as she soon realized that uniting with a god had afforded her some heightened abilities. Never before had she seen visions of the future with as much detail and clarity as some of the best holodramas ever created.
She could see that the Clone Wars were going to come to a rapid but terrifying end.
Anakin Skywalker will be seduced by the Dark Side of the Force, by a Sith Lord who was quite literally in front of the Jedi the entire time. Frankly, it astonished Eila that no one could tell Palpatine was a Sith Lord until it was far too late.
She wondered how they all could have been so blind, even though the Jedi's dogmatism and stagnation as an organization, decadence in fighting a war they shouldn't have, and alienating Anakin Skywalker contributed to that blindness.
As for Skywalker, he would fall because he feared for the life of his wife, a wife who would soon tragically die during childbirth because Senator Amidala couldn't bear what her husband had done and was planning to do with his new master. The Senator's fear was justified as the new Galactic Empire that would rise from the remains of the Republic would impose a rule of fear and tyranny across the galaxy that would be capped off by the creation of a superweapon capable of destroying planets.
While the galaxy's immediate future wasn't looking so bright, she kept on seeing Skywalker's children at various stages of their separate lives. She wasn't aware why the twins were separated and the offence that Skywalker had broken the Jedi Code in fathering children with Senator Amidala flew over her head. Still, the girl becomes involved in politics and unwittingly follows in her birth mother's footsteps while the boy lives a modest, though somewhat unfulfilled life on a desert planet, but would end up meeting an old man that had a striking resemblance to Master Kenobi. It slowly dawned on her that when the two meet again when they're older it meant that if there was any hope for the galaxy's future, it would be with them.
Although, while there was that glimmer of hope, Eila wondered more closely to the present concerning the clones. It wouldn't be long now before they will turn on the Jedi due to a chip in their heads.
Three years of camaraderie zapped away in an instant.
Eila remembered she had tried to warn Wrench before they shipped her back to Coruscant when she got flashes of it, but she had frantically tried to pass on the information that she was sure he only got chunks of the event without proper context. Getting quickly sedated by the doctor and being severely injured as she was before didn't help matters.
Still, she believed Wrench would understand.
While hoping on that chance, she saw more glimpses into the future such as various Jedi succeeding or failing to hide from the Empire. The ones who weren't immediately killed will end up being tortured, broken, and then forced to hunt other Jedi in hiding to either kill them or turn them until they were no longer useful and disposed of in a manner befitting anyone who sides with the Sith. However, those that succeed in evading the Empire either completely disappear among the trillions upon trillions of people in the galaxy or begin to organize groups against the Empire. Another vision showed those various militias and rebel groups rising up against the Empire. Some would be brutally snuffed out, some even personally by Skywalker himself twisted into Darth Vader or handed off to his Inquisitors. But enough of them will survive to present a real challenge to the Empire, especially the ones organized by Jedi.
But as these visions passed by, Eila began to think back to a particular vision she saw in the midst of the others. She remembered seeing a space station, the size of a moon blowing up a planet. The superweapon that marked the height of the Empire's terror was ironically also a prelude to its downfall. Still, she soon realized why it was able to destroy planets with ease as she saw glimpses of the station's construction where it would receive shipments of kyber crystals stripped from Jedi temples, outposts, enclaves, and many other locations throughout the galaxy that had them in any capacity. She knew from the education she was given as a Padawan that enough of these crystals in one place and pumped with enough energy could threaten trillions of lives. Frankly, reckless use of kyber crystals has already gotten her into trouble before.
Upon this realization and as her mind began drifting to concerns about the kyber crystals in the Special Region, the visions of the future that had casually been passing by began to distort.
'What's going on?' She thought.
The visions seemed to warp and bend wildly but soon stabilized. Whatever caused their warping, it had a clear effect on the visions.
Suddenly, she could see the same space station blowing up more than just the one planet from before. She recognized Alderaan before but now there was also Kashyyyk, Geonosis, Raxus, and many others. The outer shell was clearly still under construction but it was definitely operational and was flying around the galaxy stomping out the slightest hint of dissent.
Eila could only stare in shock at the complete lunacy of blowing up not just one planet, but so many. Even from a selfish, unempathetic perspective, such a thing is still stupid as it's a perfectly good planet full of resources being reduced to dust. It's even worse when in some instances of this new reality, there seemed to be more than just one of these space stations flying around committing these acts of genocide at the same time.
She could only imagine the horrendous effects they would have on the Force as well. There's a reason Malachor is whispered in hushed tones among Jedi and referenced in material with warnings to never go there while used as a curse word by everyone else.
As these new visions progressed, the number of Jedi survivors still seemed to be about the same but they weren't quite as active in organizing resistance groups. As such, the militias and rebel groups she initially saw were fewer and the few that got started were now whittled down to a handful of people on their last legs, preparing for a last stand as the Imperials closed in on them.
More frighteningly, the future of the Skywalker children had changed. The girl's future abruptly stopped when her adoptive father, who looked to be Senator Bail Organa, gave her a tearful hug before everything went white and the boy has a similar life like in the unaltered future but is more dismissive of the old man and joins an Imperial academy to later be inducted into the military. He essentially fades into just becoming another nameless soldier in the Imperial war machine, unaware of how important he is to the galaxy's salvation.
'How? What happened?'
Seemingly responding to her will, she was shown what had caused this sudden change. It showed the Gate on Coruscant, but instead of the almost traffic stop-like nature of the facilities on the Coruscant side, it was now a bustling industrial sector with transports moving in and out of the Gate. The Uscru district was no longer an entertainment hub for Coruscant but looked to be instead an outpost of the Industrial Sector.
The Gate had some peculiar equipment attached to it and the Gate itself gave off an unnatural aura in the Force that Eila couldn't understand and felt sick when her supposed disembodied presence got close to it. Still, whatever the equipment was, it was clearly having a deleterious effect since the once pristine white marble of the Gate was now cracked, crumbling, and seemed to be covered in an oily grime.
Pressing past the now nauseating and suppressive air of the Gate, she was finally through to the Special Region side. The Gate had the same deteriorating appearance and equipment on it along with their base now encompassing the entire countryside around Alnus Hill. There was hardly any green left with a good chunk of the forest previously surrounding the plains having been turned into industrial spaces. The base seems to have even consumed the area the Town of Alnus was in, to be replaced by a parking lot loaded with towering walkers that were clear replacements for the AT-TE and other military vehicles.
But the most striking sight were the multiple naval dockyards orbiting the planet.
There were an assortment of ships from transports bringing goods in or out of the docks to the massive warships looming around and guarding the planet. Eila would notice that the warships seemed to be an evolution of the Venator but were clearly geared for superior anti-capital ship firepower and sheer size rather than the starfighter operations aspect most of the Clone Wars had been fought with.
Noticing a large transport ship coming in to dock, she finally understood what caused the change in the visions. The docked ship was offloading kyber crystals. It seemed that the Galactic Empire's plans for the kyber crystals and general resources for building such monstrosities now included plundering two galaxies for them. It probably explains the accelerated construction and operation of the space station she saw.
Despite that, Eila wondered about Rory, Lelei, Tuka, and the others.
'They wouldn't take the exploitation of their world sitting down would they?'
Just like before, her view shifted to Rory. She was hanging around with some troopers, though this was the first time Eila noticed how different the armor design was from typical clone armor. She wondered how they could even see out of it. Still, looking at Rory, she seemed to be the same as before when she was with Fordo and the others but the laughter she gave when one of the trooper's made a joke, seemed more canned than genuine. Eila then noticed that the trooper didn't sound like a clone. Listening carefully, none of the troopers sounded like the clones whenever they talked.
'They replaced the clones? Conscripts? Volunteers?' She wondered.
Then her vision shifted showing the clones under the new regime.
They would be retired as quickly as the Clone Wars ended.
While clones who were considered 'shinies' after the Empire was created would act as a police force, a majority of the clones who acquired substantial battlefield experience would be immediately removed from active duty and end up training their eventual replacements or simply retired because they completed the required service. She would see Wrench and Fordo separately instructing class after class of recruits in tactics, strategy, logistics, and other matters. Frankly, both men looked rather annoyed at how their recruits seemed to bungle their way through training but the new Imperial officer corps, that looked to be a replacement for the Jedi as command officers, kept putting a passing grade stamp for the recruits regardless of their objections.
Ultimately, the final fate of the clones would sadden Eila since most of them would end their service to both the Republic and Empire in shabby retirement homes because of their accelerated aging or be outright homeless and scattered across the galaxy. Any clones who openly objected or even thought about protesting this kind of treatment would either be silenced or sent on missions that guaranteed their deaths. Those who survived even that would all be collectively bitter that any aspirations they might have had outside or within the military were wasted on years training their replacements and serving a regime that is more than willing to throw them out like trash. It would make them resentful towards any non-clones further isolating them in their new position in Imperial society before dying to their accelerated old age.
Unfortunately, this would be a shared fate in both versions of the future she was seeing even though the preferred future did look brighter for them since some would defy their fate by joining the rebels or actually stay with the Empire even as they were completely replaced by natural born soldiers and relish in their time participating in the Empire for better or for worse.
In the end, the bravery and sacrifices the clone troopers made for the galaxy would be mostly forgotten in less than ten years after the Clone Wars formally ended.
Returning to Rory again, she seemed to be content with the situation with the new troopers but was not as overtly expressive as she was with the clones. Her actions were more restrained and calculated, as if not to anger someone. Eila then noticed something strange with Rory's arm. There were scars on it that seemed to resemble injuries sustained from getting hit by an electrical discharge. A true oddity since observations made on Rory's healing abilities left no scars whenever she was injured.
Worried at what might have caused a permanent injury like that but wondering of the others well-being, the view shifted to Tuka. Eila gave a smile as Tuka seemed to be with her people again in a village that sounded a lot like RT3's and the locals' descriptions of where she used to live. She would see Tuka embrace an elven man who appeared to have returned from a hunt. The man seemed to share some characteristics with Tuka appearance-wise. The two headed for home and had a reciprocal conversation about how their day was until Eila heard Tuka gleefully call out 'father' to the man when she responded to a question of his.
'Father? Tuka's father? I thought he was dead.'
While wondering how that was possible, Eila noticed something peculiar. As she watched Tuka and her father, it seemed to be through a translucent film. Her view began to recede with Tuka and her father suddenly accelerating away. They and their surroundings moved so quickly that the translucent film became opaque. It was then she became aware of why.
A massive section of a forest was covered in an opaque bubble. At the bubble's boundary, there was a fairly large base occupied by troopers and scientists. The scientists were studying the bubble in which Eila caught a glimpse on what was on one of the monitors. It seemed that time was moving much quicker inside the bubble with an estimate that one week outside translated into 10 years inside. Eila was impressed by the bubble and wondered if it was some advanced elven magic but then she noticed the troopers. They were awfully well armed for what seemed to be a simple research base. Walkers, hover tanks, heavy blaster turrets, and other military equipment occupied any empty spaces that weren't devoted to research equipment. It soon became clear to her that the purpose of the base was to eventually penetrate and invade the bubble and that the elves likely put up the bubble to be protected from whatever the Empire was planning for them. However, the time difference also suggests the elves are extending their preparation time for an inevitable confrontation.
Although saddened that a conflict might still be coming to separate Tuka and her supposed father again, Eila wondered what was happening with Yao. With the shifting perspective, Yao looked like she had returned to her people and was helping them rebuild. Although, there was a noticeable lack of support from the Empire in helping with the reconstruction. Significant support that had been authorized under the Republic and was in the process of being sent before the trip to Hardy's Temple. Eila figured that the Empire likely reneged on that arrangement given that Yao looked very exhausted in-between keeping some orphaned children fed, building new homes, and growing crops.
Dismayed by Yao's predicament but still wondering of the others, her sight settled on Lelei.
This would be the most concerning vision of this alternate future as Lelei would be shown with her arms in chains and dangling from the ceiling. She looked a little bit older and it appeared that she had been badly beaten with all the dark bruises on the exposed parts of her body. Surprisingly, Pina would be there as well, wearing something similar to a Republic naval officer's uniform with some small differences.
Eila would then sense a malevolent presence behind Pina. It was a Pau'an in a black uniform.
The Pau'an spoke, "Well, well, this is certainly disappointing Administrator Co Lada. Once again, another rebellious group opposing our prosperous alliance and led by an old friend no less. This failure in internal security is unacceptable and Lord Vader has expressed similar sentiments as such."
Pina responded with a quiver, "I—I understand, Grand Inquisitor."
"Make sure you do, Administrator. After all, destroying our mining facilities impacts you just as much as it impacts us. We certainly don't want Lord Vader to shuffle your administration now, do we? Or for him to…motivate your people to do better, hmm?"
Pina visibly shuddered at the Inquisitor's words, "Of—Of course not! I shall redouble my efforts to weed out undesirable i—ideas among my people and report any intelligence with the renegades you seek."
"Good. Now, as for our guest here, I believe I've extracted what valuable information she has so I believe a message needs to be sent."
"Y—Yes, Inquisitor. Locking away an important figure of the rebels sho—"
"No, no, no, Administrator. To dissuade such despicable terrorist acts, the response must be decisive and harsh. Your 'Empire' and individuals like your late family members understood this, did they not?"
Pina didn't answer but she certainly looked embarrassed to admit that everybody the Inquisitor pointed out did understand and used it quite liberally.
It was then Lelei spoke in a raspy voice, "F—Fear and intimidation did not serve the Saderan E—Empire well. And—And it will not work for the Ga—Galactic Empire all the same. Pe—People will yearn and fight for their freedom."
The Inquisitor seemed amused by Lelei's statement and began reaching for his belt but Pina would immediately interject.
"Please, Grand Inquisitor! I—I understand your anger, but resorting to that will only create a martyr."
The Inquisitor was similarly amused by Pina's comment and understood the double meaning of why she would say it. He knew where her sympathies truly were, but also knew Lord Vader and the Emperor were content on having her entertain them for a little while longer.
He eventually answered, "Of course, Administrator. I have no interest in creating martyrs…" Suddenly, the Inquisitor sidestepped Pina, ignited a red lightsaber, and casually stabbed the dangling Lelei.
"The interest is exterminating all that threatens the order of the Empire. There will be no need for martyrs if there is no one left to follow them."
He finished off the statement while making sure the saber was pressed in as deeply as possible.
The shock on Pina's face when the Grand Inquisitor stabbed Lelei and watched her die would be reflected similarly to Eila as she would jolt awake from her anesthetic slumber.
She was already resolved in stopping the Galactic Empire from exploiting the Special Region but these visions definitely pressed the issue further. However, a thought lingered on how that was to be done. The simple answer was to close the Gate, but she was sure that only the gods and Hardy in particular, could close it. She didn't exactly relish the thought of confronting Hardy again but she didn't have any other option.
While considering how to handle another encounter with Hardy, the brain fog she had lifted and she was finally aware of her surroundings. Although, while her view was slightly distorted because of the bacta, she could see the infirmary. She would be alarmed when she saw that the infirmary was a mess with beds and equipment scattered around the place. But once she saw the clone troopers seemingly firing at someone, she immediately understood.
'It's happening...'
Vania was prepared to throw herself in between the troopers and the younglings as the heavy troopers spun up their rotary cannons. However, this would quickly become unnecessary when all the troopers in the room suddenly fell to the ground. Surprised at what happened but reacting swiftly, Vania directed the younglings and nurse to a more defensible spot in the room before checking on the troopers. Turning one over, she could see the trooper was still breathing with another one close by lightly snoring. She felt something strange but very familiar about this sudden occurrence.
"They're asleep?!" She said aloud.
"Wha—What, Master Solon?" Petro called.
Returning to the younglings she repeated, "They're asleep."
"How?" Katooni questioned but Gungi began grunting and growling causing her to say, "I guess you're right Gungi. We should just leave while they're down."
Vania nodded in agreement but before she could lead them out, she heard the shattering of glass. Thinking it was another wave of troopers, she readied her lightsaber and turned to the sound. Instead she saw that Eila's bacta tank had shattered and she could see her friend on the floor removing the life support equipment she had on.
"Eila!" Vania called while running to her as Eila pulled out the feeding tube from her mouth and coughed heavily. "Eila, are you alright?"
She coughed a few more times while being helped up, "Vania? I'm—I'm okay."
Vania patted Eila's back as she continued to cough up some bacta that she managed to swallow. However, while doing so, Vania sensed that Eila seemed strangely strong with the Force.
"Are—Are you sure you're okay?" Vania questioned.
Spitting out the last bit of bacta, Eila answered, "I'm fine. Really."
Turning to see the two piles of sleeping troopers at each end of the infirmary, Vania would hear Eila murmur, "That really worked."
'So you did put them to sleep...' Vania thought as she remembered that Eila did that to her after she was rescued.
Eila would turn back to Vania, "Are my clothes here? My lightsaber?"
Vania would point to a smashed locker that she threw across the room earlier. Eila would break off the jammed door with the Force and pull her clothes and lightsaber towards her.
While she got changed, Vania felt compelled to ask as she could sense Eila knew something about their current situation, "Eila, do you know what's going on? Like why are we being attacked by the clones?"
"Order 66. The clones have been ordered to eliminate all Jedi." She answered nonchalantly as she put on her combat robes quickly and roped her hair into a bun before moving to the downed droid doctor and began fiddling with its circuits.
The younglings who had been listening collectively called out why as the nurse looked them over for any injuries.
"Chancellor—or is it now Emperor Palpatine, was the Sith Lord the Jedi Council had warned us about. He gave the order. He's probably killed most of the Council already and..." She paused at mentioning Skywalker, "Vader is leading the assault on the Temple."
"Vader? Who's that?" Petro questioned.
"Another Sith Lord that Palpatine has lured to his side." Eila answered as she stopped tinkering with the droid but continued, "We shouldn't stay here. More troopers will be coming soon."
As the younglings scratched their heads on the Sith Lords now hunting them all, Vania quietly absorbed the information before calling on Eila as she began to understand why her friend was in a deep meditative state before, "You saw the future didn't you?"
She nodded.
"Did you see...no, I shouldn't ask. The future can always change."
Eila didn't say anything at first but eventually said, "Yes, it can…always. Let's go."
Eila would lead the group out into the halls away from the danger. So far, they were quite lucky as most of the clones' attention was focused on the main hall and library of the Temple as most of the Jedi had amassed in the main hall to defend it and the Jedi were trying to destroy the library archives to prevent its use by Sidious while Vader headed for the Council Chamber.
As they found their way into the depths of the Temple and neared a maintenance duct that would lead them out, Vania would ask them to stop for a moment. Everyone quickly focused on Katooni who was crying while the nurse was trying to soothe her. Immediately, both Eila and Vania could tell that she was more affected by the ripples in the Force caused by the deaths of so many Jedi just in the Temple alone.
"I—I can feel them…" She sobbed.
"What?" Petro asked.
"Zatt...Ganodi...Byph...they're...they're..."
Gungi gave a mournful wail as he understood what she meant.
Petro let out a frustrated grunt, "What are we doing?! Come on Master Deova, Master Solon! We should go back! We should fight! We'll kick all their butts!"
Vania was inclined to agree with him and was tempted to turn back but then she noticed Eila's expression. It was merely stoic and unmoved by Petro's plea. She was confused as to why Eila seemed to look like she didn't care.
When no one reacted to his plea quickly enough, Petro simply ran the other way. Seeing his friend run, Gungi would try to follow but the nurse was close enough to stop him while Katooni remained frozen from her tears.
"Petro!" Vania called out and was also prepared to give chase but then her robe got caught.
"Please..." She heard, "Don't go. You'll just die."
She turned to see Eila holding onto her sleeve.
"But—But, Petro…"
"It's up to him and the Force now."
Vania was taken aback at the unconcerned tone. She wondered who really came out of that bacta tank. She felt disgusted that Eila was willing to leave the boy's fate up to chance. She trusted the Force like any other Jedi, but with all the death she was feeling that emanated across the galaxy, she believed the Force wasn't really on their side at the moment. She would come to grab Eila by the collar of her robe and questioned in uncharacteristic anger.
"What?! How can you say that?! You can feel it too, can't you?! Our friends, our teachers, the people who have taken care of us ever since are out there dying! And they're dying everywhere!"
"I—I know..."
"Is it because you can see the future now?! Did you just give up because the future showed Petro dying?! The future can always change! You said so yourself! Always! It can always change!"
Her last statements caught the younglings attention who dug themselves deeper into an embrace the nurse was providing them.
After a tense silence, Eila spoke up, "I didn't see his future. I don't know what will happen to him. I don't even really know what will happen to us if we choose to go back. But there is a future I know will happen if that place continues to be connected here. The Gate. I can't let it stay open."
A tinge of resentment came up when Eila mentioned the Gate but Vania continued, "Why?! What's so important over there that you're so willing to ignore what's happening here?!"
"Kyber crystals."
"Kyber crystals?!"
"If the Gate stays open, then the Sith get the kyber crystals over there. And I saw it, Vania. They'll make a terrible weapon out of it, a planet killer. And it'll be more than just one flying around, there will be a lot of them. I can't let the Gate stay open."
Vania let Eila go. She didn't detect a hint of deceit or even of cowardice from Eila. Instead, she felt a resolve that also seemed to bury a pain she couldn't quite understand.
Likewise, Vania had been previously informed of the potential of the Special Region for the Jedi upon her return to Coruscant. Worries over the protection of kyber crystals was something that had been floating around in the air among a number of Jedi whispering about that place. She would remember the horror stories of planet killers being used by the Sith during the times of the Old Republic. Frankly, the stories were sometimes overly exaggerated to frighten younglings and Padawans into encouraging them to be ready to face a Sith if they ever came back. She could understand Eila's concern but it still bothered her that they were essentially running away.
Seemingly sensing her train of thought, Eila would try to reassure her, "There is hope for the galaxy though. Twins and a rebellion are eventually going to take the Sith down, but that won't happen until years from now and it can't happen at all if the Gate stays."
After another period of silence, Vania let out a slow sigh as she regained her composure. She didn't want to run away since she felt every instinct telling her to fight back. But if it was to prevent a more terrible future from coming up, she assured herself that it was probably better to fight another day.
She was trusting Eila on this.
Casually using the Force to remove the grate for the maintenance duct, Vania conceded, "Okay then. Let's go."
While Katooni and Gungi would be reluctant to leave, the group would eventually enter the duct while hiding their presence in putting the grate back on. After moving through the duct, it would lead them to an open area with outbound pipes below leading into the wider city. Carrying the nurse and jumping down the gap, the group would eventually make their way into one of the alleys in the open city. However, before they could move towards a bustling street where people were out in the late night staring at what was happening at the Temple, Eila turned to the nurse.
"Uhh, Miss…?"
"K—Kiana. My name is Kiana."
"Yes, Miss Kiana. Can you please take Katooni and Gungi with you?"
Vania immediately spoke up, "Eila, what are you doing?"
"Getting them out of here," She said to Vania before turning back to Kiana, "Will you take them, please?"
"We—Well, I—I don't think they'd be safe in my apartment—"
"No, don't take care of them, it'll just make you a target as well. Send them on a ship bound for the Outer Rim. They'll be safer out there than anywhere in the Core or the Mid Rim."
Katooni managed to squeak out, "You're—You're letting us go out there alone?"
"Yes, unfortunately. I'm sorry but this is where being out there alone is going to be the best bet for the Jedi Order's survival. I can't go with you but..." Eila turned to Vania, "You can go with them."
Vania looked at two. She did want to keep the younglings safe but despite her lingering uneasiness with running away, she did also want to go with Eila and help with the plan, especially if it meant that the 'hope' she mentioned won't happen if things continue as they are.
"I—I—No, I'm sticking with you." Vania said.
Eila smiled but sadly looked to address the younglings, trying to frame it as a Jedi trial, "I'm sorry to you both, but it looks like you'll be alone for this after all. Just remember what you've been taught and trust in the Force."
Gungi grunted out a response.
"That's right, Gungi! W—Why can't we just go with you?" Katooni asked, "You're going to the Gate, right? Isn't that place better than here now?"
Eila decided to be direct, "No, I can't guarantee things will be better over there than how it is here and I plan on closing the Gate, permanently. Anyone left behind there won't be able to go home again."
The younglings paused, as did Vania who was momentarily reconsidering her involvement. The thought of never seeing another Tholothian, Wookiee, or familiar alien species again crossed the younglings' minds. After a minute of silence, Katooni gave a response.
"I'm going with you, Master Deova. I don't want us to be separated. We've…lost enough."
Gungi would give a similar answer and emphasized that they will be stronger together.
Eila bowed her head but acknowledged the younglings' decision before turning to Vania. It wouldn't be a surprise to her that Vania again agreed to go with her on firmer footing this time.
Turning her attention back to Kiana, Eila gave some final advice, "Miss Kiana, please go home and forget you ever saw us."
"O—Okay, but what about my job? I—"
"You were let go early by the droid doctor before the attack. The last thing you saw in the infirmary was me in the bacta tank. Vania and the younglings were never there."
Kiana nodded but then piped up, "Security recordings! They—"
"Will have been damaged during the attack. There will be no records to refute your side of the story if you're interrogated by the authorities. And the clones put to sleep there will have no memory of you."
Kiana nodded again but before she turned to leave, Eila gave an apology, "Miss Kiana, on behalf of the Jedi Order, we thank you for your service and we are deeply sorry that this is how it ended."
The younglings and Vania would bow their heads to her as well.
"Y—You're welcome, Master Deova. To all of you. But tell me, will things get better? For you..." She then quietly whispered, "For me..."
"They will. In time."
The former nurse nodded a final time and walked away. She waved back to them before exiting the alley and disappearing into the crowd.
As the four of them returned the nurse's gesture before she disappeared, Vania asked, "How do you know the recordings are damaged? And the clones?"
"Well, you trashing the room certainly helped. I don't know the exact number but several Jedi are going to escape because of damaged recordings all throughout the Temple and we're a part of that group. As for the clones, all they'll remember is everything in the infirmary floating and then shooting wildly to protect themselves when the objects go berserk. They'll remember hearing or seeing my bacta tank breaking before losing consciousness."
While Vania wondered how she was capable of that, Eila then sighed after straining herself for a brief period, "Just like how Miss Kiana won't remember us at all."
"What?"
"I altered her memories."
Vania was surprised, "Since when could you manipulate memories?! Mind tricks are good, but not that good."
"Well, I think it's since I broke out of my tank. But don't get too excited, it feels like I can only deal with short term memories. And as for Miss Kiana, it's to protect her just as much as it is to protect us. They can probe her mind all they like if they doubt her story, if they'll even doubt it at all. They won't get anything."
"Then why make up lies for her about what happened in the Temple."
"It was just to send her away thinking we'll be okay."
Gungi would growl that it was still dishonest, but he would agree that it was probably the best they could do for the nurse.
After a few moments of silence simply watching the crowd at the end of the alley continuing the gawk at the Temple, Katooni spoke up, "So what now, Masters? Do we sneak to the Gate?"
Eila would answer her, "Yep. Simple as that."
It turned out sneaking to the Gate was going to be a more complicated affair. The Jedi Temple was still burning behind them even as the sun was rising but the Coruscant Guard were already working hard in transforming the area around the Gate into the version Eila had foreseen. Choosing to catch some sleep in another alleyway before trekking to the Uscru district had cost them being able to sneak into the Gate undetected before the Guard made their move. Still, they needed sleep from last night's events. It wouldn't have done them any good to pass out tired in the middle of the street. Although, being awakened by Palpatine declaring himself Emperor and changing the Galactic Republic to the Galactic Empire by the giant HoloNet monitors around the city to joyful cheers was just another nail in souring their mood.
Suddenly, there were twice the number of troopers guarding the Gate along with armored support craft. Much of the area had new fencing and barricades to keep people out and keep any new arrivals going into the Gate in nice, orderly lines. The orderly lines caught Eila's attention as the troopers were admitting groups of people who looked to be mostly families and the lines were exclusively human. It seemed that the new Empire was already going for a colonization effort. It was also rather jarring to see lines of civilians casually going into the Gate as if it were like a vacation, even as the galaxy was in the midst of a giant political and societal shift.
But then again, the Jedi hadn't exactly endeared themselves to the civilian population on Coruscant or to the former Republic in general as Palpatine had been feeding them a steady diet of the Jedi being his friends but also being a 'good friend' in pointing out that the Jedi are completely incompetent in ending the Clone Wars. The Jedi never really defended themselves over Palpatine's arguments since they thought they shouldn't really bother with politics despite constantly getting involved in it in some way.
But while those missteps were now impossible to correct, it was more concerning to Eila and the others that the troopers were asking for 'chain codes'.
"Great..." She said aloud.
"Why? What's wrong?" Vania asked.
"The troopers are asking for chain codes."
"Chain codes? How did they put in an ID system so quickly?"
"Emperor Palpatine has been planning this for a long time. He was moving his pieces around without us noticing that we're supposed to be playing a game."
"Still, so what? We won't need it because you can just trick the troopers into letting us pass."
"Sure, but we're still going to need chain codes."
Eila explained while pointing at a particular device held by a trooper at the checkpoint. It was a scanner verifying the chain codes.
"I get the feeling," She continued, "That if we just waltz right in without them, alarms are going to go off and I can't get everyone in the area to just ignore those alarms with a mind trick."
"But Master Deova, you did it quite easily with Miss Kiana and the troopers back at the Temple." Katooni said.
"There's far more people around here compared to the infirmary and I had time to prepare. There's not enough time here since the Empire is already looking for stragglers and sticking around in one spot increases our chances of getting spotted."
Gungi would grunt out the simple solution of putting everyone to sleep.
"Yes, putting everyone to sleep over there would be easier but look," Eila pointed to the cameras that had been set up by the Guard which had hardlines moving off-site suggesting a monitoring station somewhere, "I can't fool them and it'll instantly get us some unwanted attention if everyone around here suddenly falls asleep and we really don't need that right now."
Gungi would then give a somewhat dejected growl at the fact that they're going to have to steal the chain codes off some people.
"Yeah, that's right."
"Stealing..." Katooni would trail off.
After a few moments of silence, Vania would speak up, "I know it's been difficult these past few hours…" She paused as they were still feeling the deaths of the Jedi echoing still, "But we have to do it. We have to do whatever it takes to survive even if...even when it goes against our own principles."
The younglings understood that Vania was trying to soften the moral blow for them, but they knew certain actions were going to go against their principles as 'honorable' and 'honest' Jedi. They understood the necessity of such actions for survival. They were already 'borrowing' some hooded cloaks to disguise themselves and they had to be deceptive to rescue Ahsoka after all. Although, while taking unattended clothing and fooling pirates was one thing, straight up stealing from clueless, innocent civilians was another. All of them quietly understood that anyone they stole chain codes off of were likely going to get into some serious trouble with the newly declared Imperials.
Taking the first step, Vania pulled the hood on her cloak up and began walking towards the lines going to the Gate. Eila and the younglings would watch her casually converse with a woman who was last in line. The woman then gave Vania something before the woman left the line and walked off in the other direction. While watching, Eila would be reminded of who taught her mind tricks in the first place.
Returning to them, Vania would activate the holographic setting on the chain code, "Okay, I'm Kalmara Beadow, a metallurgist. Born right here on Coruscant."
While Katooni and Gungi began thinking of what their chain codes might say, Eila understood that the Empire was clearly bringing over people who had talents in identifying, working with, or managing natural resources. Once Vania turned off the hologram, the younglings readied to steal their own chain codes, but Eila would stop them.
"No." She said,
Gungi gave an inquisitive whine as to why they were being stopped.
"No," She said again, "I'll get your chain codes for you. Stay here with Master Solon."
The two would nod as Eila would pull her hood up and begin walking towards the lines. As she approached the civilians, she began scoping out for families, particularly ones who had multiple children. She would notice one group, but they were too far ahead to deal with. Finding a more suitable family closer to the end of the line who had two children, she approached them.
"Hi!" She said,
"Uhh, hello?" The mother cautiously answered.
Using her ability, she directly instructed the mother, "Mind handing over your chain code along with your children's chain codes. "
The entire family's eyes went glassy as the mother beckoned to her husband. The father gave over their chain codes.
Taking them, Eila instructed further, "Thank you. Please go home."
The parents nodded, took their kids with them out of the line, and began heading for home. Apologizing softly to them, Eila returned to the group and handed Katooni and Gungi their chain codes. While the younglings examined theirs, Eila brought up the biographical information of the mother she stole from.
'Roselie Spaclow, administrative assistant…' She read. Going no further than some basic information about the mother, Vania was already moving on.
"Everyone ready?" Vania questioned.
They all responded affirmatively and lined up with the crowds. The younglings would be asked to cover themselves since Eila felt people might question why a Tholothian and Wookiee were in line predominantly populated by humans.
Vania moved ahead of them and told Eila, "I'll go first. You have 'kids' to look after."
Once at the front of the line, Vania went first and gave her chain code. She would be asked to remove her hood but luckily, her near-human appearance wasn't raising immediate alarms. Still, Eila had to concentrate on making people oblivious to Vania's ears just to cover up as much evidence they might leave behind. The administrative clone inserted the chain code into his scanner and looked at Vania. He seemed to squint under his helmet prompting Eila to work harder in making sure the clone believed Vania was the holder of the chain code.
The clone would nod and she was in.
Up next, Eila made sure to angle Katooni and Gungi away from the eyes of the crowd and briefly shifted one camera away that was pointed at them as she knew what the clone would ask.
"Hand over your chain codes and please remove the hoods on your children. We need to confirm your identities."
Once they removed their hoods, Eila closed her eyes to focus. She had to make sure the clones around them didn't have any questions to ask, like the alien appearance of her 'children' for one thing. She especially needed to put in a lot of effort into focusing her abilities in making everyone oblivious since the clones at the monitoring post for the cameras were getting suspicious why a particular camera at the checkpoint was holding a position away from the checkpoint a bit too long. Luckily, she only needed to hold it for a few more seconds as the clone would eventually say they were clear and the two quickly put their hoods back up. Letting go of her grip on the camera, the clones at the monitoring post dismissed it as a minor mechanical fault.
Boarding an airspeeder with a group of civilians, they would enter the darkness of the Gate. As they were in transit, Eila looked over to Katooni, Gungi and Vania. She could feel that they were still wondering if this was the last time they were ever going to see Coruscant again, believing that they might be able to come back when the situation in the Special Region was settled. For Eila, she already knew for certain it would be the last time for all of them. The convenience of travelling from planet to planet, having the Jedi Temple to call home, seeing familiar environments, and having the most current information in the galaxy at their fingertips was going to be difficult to let go moving forward. But for Vania especially, Eila could feel her apprehension at being back in the Special Region again but it was a fleeting moment as Vania managed the feeling.
"So what's the plan, Master Deova?" Katooni asked.
"You and Gungi will have to find a TX-130, particularly one that's been recently serviced by the ground crew. It's going to be our ride out. Signal us on the comlink where to meet you when you find it." She answered. "And Vania?"
Vania turned to her.
"Find what supplies you can and try your best to bring as much as you can. We won't get another chance."
Vania nodded.
"Adjust your comlinks to frequency 130.4. It's not the standard Republic or Jedi frequencies. Nobody should be monitoring it."
"But Master," Katooni questioned, "What will you do?"
She paused but answered, "I need to handle an administrative matter at the base."
Reaching the other side, the base still looked the same but seemed busier than usual. Troopers were out in formation, checking weapons and equipment, and the mechanics were similarly checking on their vehicles. A variety of engineers, construction and maintenance droids were also out making continued improvements to the base. It seemed everyone was getting ready for something.
The airspeeder would make a quick stop as half of the passengers would be getting off. Eila and the others would blend themselves right in as the people getting off with their families looked to be the administrative or research arm of the Galactic Empire's interests in the Special Region while the airspeeder left in the direction of the Town of Alnus.
"Alright!" A clone officer called out, "Line yourselves up in front of each trooper!"
The clone officer then made his way down a line up of troopers and designated each trooper for the civilians to divide themselves up over.
"If you're in communications, line up here. If you're in resource management, line up here. Resource analysis here, R&D here, administrations here, techs here…"
The officer would continue on to list more and eventually order the civilians to proceed to their designated trooper.
While the troopers were distracted with the civilians mixing themselves up, Eila nodded to the trio and they discreetly moved away to accomplish their tasks. Once they were gone, Eila lined herself up with the administration group.
She needed to see him.
Brought inside the main building as part of a tour for the civilians, she left the group and sneaked her way to Wrench's office. She took care to move into adjacent corridors or hide in rooms whenever there were troopers or settled civilians roaming around. There was a part of her that believed Order 66 hadn't reached the Special Region yet, but her observations of what the base was doing suggested otherwise. Making it to Wrench's office, it was strangely occupied by a civilian. Luckily, she was able to put the civilian to sleep and wipe his memory before he could raise an alarm.
Wondering where he is as she didn't see him in the operations room when her civilian group passed by it, she got curious and headed for her office. Surely enough, he was in her office with the door open and seemingly packing away her things. She started to get a sinking feeling though when she couldn't feel any impressions from him as she approached.
It was probably her own denial to the truth of the situation that made her casually call out his name as she got behind him, "Wrench?"
Instinctively, Wrench quickly drew his blaster and aimed it at the voice.
But unlike in Hardy's illusion of her future, Eila was sadly prepared as she gave him a quick tap to the head and put him to sleep.
"You didn't make it…"
She let him fall onto her and then gently laid him on the ground while shutting the office door with a wave of her hand. Saddened that he didn't figure out the inhibitor chip in time, she began fishing around his head for the inhibitor chip, hoping her newly heightened abilities might allow her to disable it.
As she roamed around his mind, she saw his most recent memories. Her sadness deepened when she saw him consulting the base doctor.
'You were so close…'
Suddenly, there was only one recurring phrase replacing Wrench's thoughts, "Good soldiers, follow orders."
The phrase would be interspersed with memories of the past with almost all of them consisting of memories of General Krell, especially the ones where Krell would order Wrench and the men to do something suicidal. The small minority that wasn't him would instead be all the times Eila was hostile to Wrench before the campaign on Devaron. For Wrench, the inhibitor chip was not only compelling him to follow Order 66 but was also goading him to hate Jedi based on all of his bad experiences with them.
As the phrase and memories continued to replay in his head, Eila could only think, 'You're a good man, Wrench, even without a uniform. Don't let it win…'
Despite knowing what to look for, Eila was having difficulty isolating and disabling the chip. It was taking too long.
Her time would be up when a trooper buzzed the office to be let in. Quickly grabbing Wrench's body, she moved to a corner of the room.
"Commander?" The trooper called, "I'm coming in."
The trooper entered the office and began looking around, "Commander? Are you here?"
Just before the trooper could turn the corner to them, Eila put him to sleep too. Startled at the possibility of more uninvited guests, she quickly moved Wrench's body to a chair and made it seem like he dozed off. She intended to carry the other trooper to another room and do the same. But before doing so, she removed Wrench's helmet and simply looked at him peacefully sleeping while unwittingly caressing his cheek.
"I'm sorry." She mournfully said before putting his helmet back on and carrying off the other trooper to be put somewhere else.
Setting up and leaving the other trooper in another room while dodging all the other clones and civilians in the corridors, she got an idea when she passed by the armory. Taking a set of clone trooper armor, specifically the one worn by tank crews, and blasters, she got a call from Katooni who had found their ride. Making her way to an isolated spot in the vehicle yard, Katooni and Gungi were there to greet her.
"Ahh, Master Deova, you're back," Katooni called before noticing Eila's somewhat melancholic expression, "Are you alright?"
Eila paused, "Yeah…I'm fine."
Gungi questioned why she was carrying a set of clone armor.
"Oh, the armor? It's going to be useful for leaving this place."
While Gungi would nod to her answer, Katooni then said, "So I guess…"
"Yes, we'll just wait for Master Solon now."
It wouldn't be long before Vania would call and join them to present her stolen spoils.
"Ration bars?" Katooni questioned with a tinge of disgust.
"Well, it's not like there was a lovely buffet lying around."
Katooni quickly pulled back her disgust at Vania's answer.
"At least we have water. That's the important part." Eila said.
Gungi growled on what was to be done now.
"Now we wait," Eila said, "We wait for a convoy to head out and we quietly join the lineup."
She knew that even with the regime change, there would still be convoys heading out. Even if they had dropped sending supplies to the various villages and towns that needed it immediately, they still had to re-supply the recon teams that were out there.
The trio would acknowledge her next step and they all chose to hide themselves inside the tank the younglings found for the time being. Although, whenever someone such as the engineers or maintenance workers wanted to check on the tank, Eila or Vania would casually change their minds.
As day turned into night, the group began to hear a buzz of activity and the sound of engines being started. Seeing their chance, they joined a convoy preparing to leave at the rear. The clone armor Eila stole would become useful as she would notice that all the other TX-130s in the convoy had the gunner sticking out and acknowledging a clone officer checking off each vehicle. Dressing up for the part, she acknowledged the officer while also making him not question why there was an extra vehicle going out.
Once the convoy began to move out, Gungi would question their destination as he assumed that they would find a way to discreetly leave the convoy at some point to go somewhere else.
Eila gave a weary sigh, "We're going to the Bellnahgo."