Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars, as might be gathered. I mean no disrespect, I just can't help frolicking in this amazing universe.


Afternoon wore on. Dirty polluted clouds crossed the skies. The normal sky traffic was no different. Life still went on in Coruscant, despite the unnatural prosecution of the Jedi that was taking place beneath their noses. He sniffed, irritated that the very people the Jedi had sworn to protect made no effort to return the favor. Still, it had been the right thing to do and he had never once regretted his life.

By evening the troops were fewer and Ean determined that it was time. Cautiously, he crept closer, deflecting curious minds with a little help from the Force. The Temple, when he arrived, still had many soldiers guarding it, preventing anyone from getting in. A disturbance could be heard in the distance. Through the sounds of blaster fire and the moving troops, he caught the sound of lightsabers. Such a sweet sound; the sound of resistance, of hope. He raced towards the sound, abandoning concealment for speed. Up ahead he saw a blue lightsaber and a smaller form wielding a green one. Yoda and Obi-wan Kenobi were fighting their way into the Temple.

Ean raced in and joined the fight. Although he hadn't seen battle for months, he had kept up his skills. He was a whirl of blue-green motion, cutting down any trooper that got too close. Together with Yoda and Obi-wan they managed to enter the Temple and bar the door. They didn't have much time. The troops outside were dead but word would travel and they would be overrun. Both Obi-wan and Yoda looked worried.

"What's happening?" asked Ean. "What's going on?"

Obi-wan pursed his lips. Yoda looked up at him. "Turned the troops have, betrayed the Jedi are."

"By whom? Why?"

"We don't know," answered Obi-wan grimly. He turned around and stopped in his tracks. Ean and Yoda had been facing the door and each other but now turned towards the inside of the Temple. Breath caught in their throats, pain stabbed their hearts.

The floors throughout the Temple were littered with bodies. Several of them were dead troopers but most of the casualties were Jedi. All of them friends.

"Oh my…" Ean was speechless.

Yoda spoke softly. "Change the code we must."

"Code?"

"There's a broadcast from the temple telling all Jedi to return here because the war is over," explained Obi-wan, picking his way through the carnage.

"A trap." Ean followed the Jedi Master.

Behind him Yoda's feet pattered on the floor. "A lure for the Jedi it is."

"Someone has been planning this for a long time," Ean said.

Obi-wan and Yoda said nothing.

They passed through troopers with burnt flesh from lightsabers. The walls and floor were dotted with blaster marks and various body parts from both Jedi and trooper.

"Not even the younglings survived," said Obi-wan, his voice full of emotion. Ean looked at the Jedi littering the ground. The Jedi Knights and Masters had charged the attackers at the Temple's entrance. Once they were defeated, the younglings had no one to protect them.

Yoda examined some of the bodies closer. "Killed not by clones, this Padawan. By a lightsaber, he was."

Ean and Obi-wan stared open mouthed.

"Who? Who could have done this?" asked Obi-wan.

"It can't have been a Jedi, who would turn against the Order?" Ean asked quietly to himself. There wasn't an answer.

Unable to do anything for the poor Jedi, they slowly resumed their way.

Once at the Main Control Center, Ean offered his technical expertise and helped Obi-wan reverse the message rather than recalling them as their enemies had intended. Yoda watched patiently, checking for enemy troops.

"I've recalibrated the code warning all surviving Jedi to stay away," said Obi-wan, replacing the computer panel.

"And the new access code will keep them guessing." said Ean farther down the hall.

"Good . . . For the Clones to discover the recalibration, a long time will it take." replied Yoda.

Going back the way they came, they ran into a group of troopers. Taking another hallway they stumbled on a group of younglings together with a familiar face.

"Kauryn…" whispered Ean. Her eyes were closed and her blaster was still in her hand. A large wound across her chest indicated the fatal lightsaber strike. It was clear that she had been protecting the children against the evil that had walked these halls.

He kneeled and checked her pulse. It was silent. He bowed his head, confused at the welling of emotion he was having to suppress. He had been rather fond of the laughing Corellian. She must have heard the fighting and rushed to defend the Temple.

"Her child would have been a Jedi." He vaguely felt the small Jedi Master lay a hand on his back. Small comfort.

Obi-wan was looking beyond Ean to the computers behind him. "Wait, Master. There is something I must know . . ." He walked to the hologram unit.

"If into the security recordings you go, only pain will you find," said Yoda quietly but made no move to stop Obi-wan.

"I must know the truth, Master." He pressed a few buttons and the security holograms came to life. At first the figures were live Jedi, walking calmly down the hallway unaware their lives were about be cut short. Suddenly a lightsaber was flashing. Ean saw Kauryn enter the view of the recorder, herding a small group of younglings. Her blaster was out, firing, but she was cut down by the lightsaber. The figure stepped into view. It was Anakin Skywalker.

"It can't be . . . It can't be . . ." Obi-wan and the two Jedi stared unbelieving.

Once all the moving figures had been cut down, Anakin activated something on the computer console and a dark robed figure materialized in front of him.

"The traitors have been taken care of, Lord Sidious," said Anakin. The figure was unmistakably Palpatine.

"Now, Lord Vader, now go and bring peace to the Empire." replied the new self-proclaimed Emperor.

Obi-wan turned it off. "I can't watch anymore."

Ean stared. Of all Jedi to betray them, and of all the people to be the Darth Sidious the Jedi had been hearing about for years…it was horrifying. Anakin was one of the most powerful Jedi; he would be hard to control.

Yet Yoda said, "Destroy the Sith, we must."

"Send me to kill the Emperor. I will not kill Anakin," begged Obi-wan.

"To fight this Lord Sidious, strong enough, you are not."

"He is like my brother ... I cannot do it."

"Twisted by the dark side, young Skywalker has become." Yoda shook his head in sorrow and disbelief.

"I do not know where the Emperor has sent him. I don't know where to look!" Obi-Wan protested.

"Use your feelings, Obi-Wan, and find him, you will. Visit the new Emperor, my task is. May the Force be with you."

"May the Force be with you, Master." Obi-wan turned reluctantly but resigned to destroy his twisted apprentice.

Ean had been thinking about Kauryn. Suddenly he remembered something.

"Masters, with your permission I'd like to see if I could check the medical center. Kauryn was staying here until the birth of her child."

Yoda's ears perked a few centimeters. "A good idea that is. Confront the Emperor I must. Find the child, Radec. Afraid I am for the Jedi. If I survive, contact you I will with coordinates for a rendezvous."

"Yes, Master. Be careful, the Jedi have many enemies," warned Ean.

Yoda suddenly looked ancient. With drooping ears, he replied, "Many enemies indeed."