SW Kestis.
Chapter One: Order 66 I.
'Order 66-I (i), If the Jedi betray the Republic and her Interests, their Padawans and Younglings are to be kept safe and brought to Kaamino. There they will be told the truth and will be trained to hunt down their fellow Jedi. Do not harm them unless they resist or try to escape.'
[RSD Jaded Hope. Bracca, Early Hours of the morning.]
A young, well toned ginger haired boy was awoken to the sensation of being shaken.
"Huh, Commander Kraven?" The boy greeted, letting out a small yawn.
"Padawan Kestis, you must come with us sir. Quickly!" The trooper stated, gesturing for him to grab his lightsaber and clothes.
"What's going on? Is master Tapal alright, are we being attacked by any seppies?" Cal asked, putting on his boots and belt in a rush.
"All will be explained on the way, but we need to get you to an escape pod. The reactor is close to blowing, your safety is our priority." A different clone replied.
The ship shook, causing Cal to nearly fall over, only for Commander to grab his arm gently, saving him from falling over.
"Careful there, now come on."
They raced through the ship, but as they neared the escape pods, Cal sensed death, fear and anger. Something wasn't right.
"You said you'd explain, I'm not getting on the Pod without answers!" The Padawan stated, folding his arms.
"The Jedi have betrayed the Republic, the council tried to assassinate the chancellor and the moment our orders came through to apprehend or stop your master, he slaughtered our heavy ops squad." Commander Kraven said.
"What? No, that can't be true!"
But the force revealed no deceit, only truth, sadness and an underlying feeling of fear. Not of Cal, but of Tapal.
They shouldn't need to fear his master, they were his men, why did he turn on them? None of this made sense! But then he remembered that these men had risked their lives to get him out of bed and to an escape pod.
"B-But I'm a Jedi, why aren't you arresting me?" Cal then asked.
"You're a trainee, Order 66 (i) was thus enabled, allowing all clones to protect and gather Jedi students of certain age groups in order to bring them to a safe location while the Republic deals with their teachers." Another trooper answered.
"That...makes sense. O-Okay, let's go."
"PADAWAN!" A deep, angry voice exclaimed. For there, behind them, at the corridor door, was Jaro Tapal.
Tapal carved through the troops like they were paper, seemingly fuelled by anger, fear and adrenaline. "Get away from them my student, they have betrayed us!"
"We haven't sir, please, you need to listen!" A poor clone tried to reason, only to be cut down by the Jedi Master.
"Master what are you doing, stop!" Cal begged, fright and confusion in his eyes.
"No, these Clones are defective. They serve the Jedi, but now they do not, they are treacherous bigots!"
The powerful Jedi cut through more until he reached within a few feet of Cal, Commander rushed forwards, and Topal aimed to strike him down-
"Master, STOP!" Cal exclaimed, igniting his blue blade and clashing it against Jaro's own so as to stop him from killing the clone.
The Jedi master was shocked by his Padawan, his mouth hanging open in disbelief. "Padawan, you dare strike out at your teacher?" he growled.
"No Master, I'm defending your Commander. Your Iron Battalion, They were protecting me!" Cal replied.
"No, they were stealing you from me, and thus must be destroyed!" Jaro yelled, gritting his teeth, charging up the power he held so as to push all the Clones away from him.
Cal acted on instinct, bringing his saber upwards, cutting his master's weapon in half, as well as taking off his wrist and right ear.
Tapal on instinct, lashed out, slashing Cal across his leg with the working half of his lightsaber. After seeing what he had done, The Jedi Master froze, shame and shock in his eyes. He hadn't meant to-
The other Clones finished the Jedi after Cal disarmed him, causing the boy to deactivate his blade and fall to his knees. "What have I done..." he whispered.
"You saved us Cal, you put down a traitor." Commander Kraven said
"H-He was my teacher, my confident, l-like a father." Cal sobbed.
"No, he was a traitor. You did good Sir." Another clone said, going over to rub the boy on the back.
"Sir, the reactor is forty seconds away from exploding. We need to leave now!" A clone officer said, running over.
"Leave me here, I deserve to die." Cal said, bowing his head.
"No you don't, you saved us. Let us save you." Commander Kraven Said, picking up the kid and carrying him into a pod.
Cal didn't fight him, he was too anguished and numb to do anything.
While Kraven brought the boy into the pod, one of his men ran over to collect the broken halves of Tapal's weapon. He too then entered the pod.
Soon enough, they were jettisoned, the thrusters propelling the Clones and Jedi Padawan towards Bracca as the Venator Cruiser exploded behind them.
Cal felt incredibly tired, and let his eyes close. Falling into a deep sleep. The medic walked over and tended to his leg, wincing as he saw the deep burn and damage.
"Soldier, why did you retrieve the traitors weapon?" Commander Kraven asked the trooper who had grabbed the Jedi's weapon.
"Cal deserves to have it sir, he saved our lives and took out a traitor. I know nothing about Lightsabers, but maybe he could use Tapal's as parts or something. Plus it would prove he is dead." The trooper replied with a shrug.
The Commander nodded, accepting those reasons. "As soon as we make planet-fall, have the garrison contact republic command and request a ship."
~ - ~
Cal awoke to find himself in a medbay, where various medical droids, clone medics and alien doctors worked around him.
He sensed that he was not the only force user in the room, and after lifting his head to see, he saw over two dozen beds, all with Jedi students laid on them.
After noticing Kraven, he decided to ask him the question that was on his mind.
"Commander, where are we?"
"We're on the ISD Jaded View." Kraven replied. "This ship like a few others have been stopping by outposts to pick up Recovered Jedi students and then transport them to Kaamino."
"ISD?" Cal asked, not familiar with the term.
"Yes sir, the Republic has been reformatted into an empire. Meaning all vessels are now Imperial." Kraven revealed.
"Empire?" Cal wondered.
Kraven pulled up a holographic clip of what Chancellor Palpatine had recently announced:
"Henceforth, the Republic will be transformed into the first, Galactic, Empire. All remaining Jedi Masters will be hunted down and destroyed. Their attack on me has left me scarred...and deformed, but I promise you, my resolve has never been stronger!"
Cal had always looked up to the chancellor, having even had the privilege to meet and talk to the man after battle reports. He had been kind, understanding and well...just nice.
"Why doesn't this feel right?" a girl wondered, breaking cal from his thoughts.
She was slightly older than Cal, had lovely coffee skin And was sat on one of the beds nearest a viewport. She was visibly shaking, and her force signature stank of fear and uncertainty.
Forcing himself to stand, the ginger boy hobbled over to her and sat down on the edge of the bed.
"I'm Cal, Cal Kestis" he greeted, holding out a hand.
"R-Reva." The girl replied, shaking it.
"You're alone, hurt. I could get a trooper to help you?" he offered, gesturing to the many medics around them.
She had a burn on her arm and a few bruises on her face. Obviously from a short battle of some sorts.
"Not 501st..." The girl replied, fear in her eyes. Clearly she had been scared stiff by that legion, but why and how was a question for a later date.
"Okay then, Graham?" Cal called over a medical trooper. One he knew personally.
"Yes Cal?" the helmetless clone replied, having walked over to where the boy had summoned him.
"Can you help my friend here please?" Cal asked.
"Of course sir." Graham replied, tending to Reva straight away, He saw her nervousness and so tried to be as gentle and reassuring as possible
"Why do you trust them?" Reva whispered as she watched the medic tend to her wounds.
"They saved me, Our masters had betrayed the Republic. Betrayed their very nature, the clones tried to stop them and were forced to put them down." Cal replied, a dark look in his eyes.
The force confirmed that he was telling the truth, he did not utter a single lie. But Reva still felt like something was wrong.
"The Republic is now an empire, shouldn't we be doing something about that?" Reva wondered.
A few troopers turned their heads at that, and Cal felt their unease at her words. She basically had just admitted to treason, but she was a child, and they had orders to look after them, not harm them.
"As Jedi we serve the people, the people want the security of an empire. So we must adapt and change, our masters were too...attached to the old ways to see that. They were loyal to a lost cause, a Jedi must always be selfless, not selfish. Our teachers forgot this and paid the price." Cal explained, feeling the force flow through him, giving him confidence and peace.
Reva blinked. "So we are to forget what they taught us?"
"No. We use their teachings to help us help others, my Master was too far gone, slaying clones like they were vermin because he disagreed with what the senate and people had decided. I tried to stop him and show him reason, and he...struck me, slashed a scar on my leg which will not fully heal." Cal replied, trying to forget that painful and very recent memory.
"How could he do that? His duty is to raise you, not hurt you." Reva murmured, shock in her voice. Bit by bit she began to agree more and more with Cal's viewpoint. He was getting through to her.
"And yet his loyalty to the order blinded him, and he hurt me anyways. Empire or Republic, the people come first. The clones protected us against our masters, meaning someone in the senate saw that the Jedi were losing their way." Cal reasoned, shaking his head.
People thought he was naive because of his young age, but in reality he picked up on things and understood more than they could realise. The commanded had told him that he was wise beyond his years...whatever that meant.
"Okay...I'm just so afraid and uncertain." Reva muttered.
Cal rubbed her back. "That's okay, it's okay to worry. It's okay to be fearful of the unknown and change. But as long as we don't let it take over us completely, we will never truly be lost."
That's when Cal understood why he and the others had been spared.
"That's why we're not dead. We can still make choices, we can adapt and change. We're kids, students that can be remade. Our teachers were too far gone, they could not be convinced or shown the truth. But us on the other hand?"
"We can be trained. Unmade." Reva realised, beginning to relax. They were to become something more, they would not be overlooked or cast aside.
Cal nodded, a small smile on his face. The chancellor, no, Emperor, was smart and practical. He saw what others could not.
Long Live Palpatine...
(End of chapter one)