Song: Sins of the Father Live in concert Tokyo 2018 FULL song

POV: Lelouch vi Britannia and Shirley Fenette.

Blind, in the deepest night

Reaching out, grasping for a fleeting memory

All the thoughts, keep piercing this broken mind

I fall, but I'm still standing motionless

Far, in the distance

There is light, a light that burns, these scars of old

All this pain, reminds me of what I am

I'll live, I'll become all I need to be

Once again, Lelouch and Shirley would board an LAAT gunship as it would take off from the Mother Base. Tagging along with them were General Kenobi and Commander Cody, and a few of the 212th Clone Troopers. Shirley would note that at least one of them had a different helmet compared to the rest of the T-shaped visor helmets. It resembled more of a beehive, with specialized equipment fit for airdrops (*1).

While the gunship flies back to Japan (Area 11), Lelouch and Kenobi begin to thoroughly discuss Euphemia's peculiar situation regarding Geass. And it was not just simply the fact that she was a potential risk and danger to any Japanese-born human, but of the connection of her situation to the Geass Order, one that Lelouch had ordered the entire massacre of in the original timeline.

Shirley couldn't help but feel a little disturbed, if only because of her experiences with it. Of how that power can be accomplished, depending on who uses it. She, of course, had her memories thoroughly wiped, or had her entire private thoughts intrude. The worst part is, that the people who would do this to her are still out there, still planning their own machinations, either for themselves or for the world at large.

Among the Geass users she personally feared was Mao, who even by this timeframe, is unstable due to the uncontrollable ability to read every mind without stopping. She couldn't imagine living a life like that. In one sense, she pitied Mao, due to how, if it came down to it, potentially anyone could have gone insane if you could literally hear the thoughts and see the memories of everyone around you without any hindrance or limitation.

"...Geass," Cody looked grim, his helmet removed and placed to his side. "General, how much do you think this power would be able to compromise all of our men?"

"That is unfortunately something of a genuine possibility, Cody," Kenobi muttered. "Geass is something of a case-by-case basis. In our current debriefing, Lelouch brought up Mao as an example of someone to watch out for. The only ones that would be completely immune from it would be someone like myself or Master Yoda, because due to our spiritual nature of being able to manifest in the world of the living while remaining dead, we have learned of new ways found within the Force. Aside from us, someone like Darth Sidious and his late master, Darth Plagueis, would also probably be immune. Most Jedi, Sith, and other Force Users are unfortunately vulnerable. Only the most powerful of us can really stand against it."

"Essentially," Lelouch explained further. "Despite being non-native and disconnected from 'God' (*2), they would still be affected by Geass. Think of two computer systems interacting with each other. They have two different origins, and the Geass acts like, shall we say, a connector cable that bridges both. This world is another computer, and as long you all are here, you are to abide by its programming."

Cody didn't look pleased by the explanation, grimacing more than anything. Shirley noted that the rest of the clone troopers were shifting uncomfortably during the explanation as well. Why? There was a history behind it, she would think.

"Well, that's just perfect. So at any time, me and my men could be heavily compromised by just one of these Geass users. And here I thought me and the vod wouldn't need to deal with a chip on our heads (*3)," Cody muttered with displeasure.

"A chip in your heads?" Shirley asked, paying attention to the last part, as her heart grew troubled. For whatever reason, something was warning her about this detail. Pay attention, like a whisper, a guidance that seems to penetrate her intellect. "What do you mean by that, Commander?"

A heavy silence fell on the gunship. She would also see Lelouch and Kenobi frowning, but looked like they intimately knew of what it meant.

Eventually, Kenobi would speak. "...You see, Ms. Fenette, the Clone Troopers, when they were created by their makers, the Kaminoans, they would essentially condition them so to speak."

"Let me explain further, sir," Cody spoke in turn, with a grave, haunted look. "This one is very personal for us clones."

"As you wish, Cody," Kenobi nodded.

Cody would look at Shirley with a hard "listen to every word he would say" look, explaining.

"The thing that you have to understand, Ms. Fenette, is that we were essentially bred for one single purpose. To follow orders, for a government and its' leaders, those that we do not really even know of other than what had been smacked into us by those learning classes that our own makers designed. They gave us accelerated aging, so whatever life cycles humans would naturally have, we only had half of those, at least until General Kenobi and a few others managed to fix that."

Cody shot a brief, yet grateful look from Kenobi before continuing as he looked at Shirley. "They trained us to be the perfect soldier, to follow orders like a perfect soldier, to obey orders without question. Of course, the final touch to that development was something called an inhibitor chip."

"Inhibitor chip?" Shirley asked.

"Those blasted long necks," Cody spat with derision, still sour even now. "Our makers, to make us perfectly obedient, since even they knew that it would only take so much before a soldier would start to question orders, for a lower 100% lack of risks and a higher 100% progressions in success, would deem it proper to give us these chips all carved along as a finishing touch into the manipulation of our own genetic structure, and into our own heads," Cody pointed at the back of his skull. "It's because of the chips that, should the Supreme Chancellor give the word, we would essentially be no different than droids, follow orders without question, heightened instinct and cold aggression, lack of pre-meditation and artificial motivation, our personalities remaining and yet all geared towards the contingency order that would be enacted."

When Cody explained this to Shirley, she could sense something very wrong. The commander's expression darkened, though it was not directed at Shirley. When she examined his eyes, they looked like a mixed bag of swirling emotions. Of a soldier that seems to have seen too much. What lay behind that order?

And she thought of this, Cody's mind was flashing back to a few things before this moment.

...

...

(*4) When Order 66 came down. Cody thought darkly. It all happened so fast.

He and the 7th Sky Corps under his command had just almost fully taken Pau City, one of the large sinkhole cities of the planet Utapau. It was still a cauldron of battle. He was somewhere in an observation post just off the landing ramp of the command lander on the tenth level. He swept the sinkhole with his electrobinoculars. He sees the droid-control center lay in ruins only a few meters away, but he knew that the Separatist had learned the lesson of Naboo; their next-generation combat droids were equipped with sophisticated self-motivators that kicked in automatically when control signals were cut off, delivering a program of standing orders.

Standing Order Number One was, apparently, Kill Everything That Moves.

And they were doing a good job of it, too.

Half the city was rubble, and the rest was a firestorm of droids and clones and Utapaun dragon cavalry, and just when Commander Cody was thinking how he really wished they had a Jedi or two around right now, and he thought of Rex and the rest of the boys in the 501st as well who were all missing in on the action, several metric tons of dragonmount hurtled from the sky and hit the roof of the command lander hard enough to buckle the deck beneath it.

Not that it did the ship any harm; Jadthu-class landers are basically flying bunkers, and this particular one was triple-armored and equipped with internal shock buffers and inertial dampeners powerful enough for a fleet corvette, to protect the sophisticated command-and-control equipment inside.

Cody looked up at the dragonmount, and at its rider. "General Kenobi, glad you could join us, sir," he said respectfully, and felt a stinge of relief. The man that he had served for three long years into this war was finally here. He was the man that he and his vod would have gladly died for, and it was truly an honor to fight side by side with the man who had led them through thick and thin.

"Commander Cody," the Jedi Master said with a nod. He was still scanning the battle around them. "Did you contact Coruscant with the news of the general's death?"

The clone commander snapped to attention and delivered a crisp salute. "As ordered, sir. Erm, sir?" Kenobi looked down at him. "Are you all right, sir? You're a bit of a mess."

The Jedi Master wiped away some of the dust and gore that smeared his face with the sleeve of his robe-which was charred, and only left a blacker smear across his cheek. "Ah. Well, yes. It has been a ... stressful day." He waved out at Pau City. "But we still have a battle to win, Cody. I want you to contact your troops, and tell them to move into the higher levels."

"Very good sir," Cody turns back before eventually recalling. "Oh by the way, I think you'll be needing this," Cody said, holding up the lightsaber his men had recovered from a traffic tunnel. "I believe you dropped it, sir."

"Ah. Ah, yes, thank you, Cody." The weapon floated gently up to Kenobi's hand, and when he smiled down at the clone commander again, Cody could swear the Jedi Master was blushing, just a bit. "No, ah, need to mention this to, erm, Anakin, is there, Cody?"

Cody grinned. "Is that an order, sir?"

Kenobi shook his head, chuckling tiredly. "Let's go. You'll have noticed I did manage to leave a few droids for you..."

"Yes, sir." A silent buzzing vibration came from a compartment concealed within his armor. Cody frowned. "Go on ahead, General. We'll be right behind you."

That wasn't just a statement. It was a promise. He genuinely meant it. He and the rest of the 7th Sky Corps would be right behind their general, the man who had led them through hell and fire. They would live and die together, as brothers.

Kenobi nodded and spoke to his mount, and the great beast overleapt the clone commander on its way down into the battle.

Then...

It all happened so fast.

Somewhere in his person, there was a concealed compartment that held a secure comlink, which was a frequency locked to a channel reserved for the commander in chief. The man that they served. Sithspit. He was nothing but a politician sitting comfortably in his office on Coruscant, with all of the power behind him, while the rest of the clones all had to fight and die for him. Over the years, he would silently grow bitter of the Republic that he was fighting. He wasn't blind. He and his other vod - many of them who are fellow commanders - knew that the chancellor's term should have been expired by now. They didn't know much about politics and its complex machinations, but they at least knew enough of the ordinary term that a chancellor would have to serve. And his term was supposed to have expired.

Yet for some godforsaken reason, he was still in office.

Many of the clone commanders simply thought nothing of it but simply the whims of a mere politician. They were at least generally aware to draw the line between criticism and treason.

That was ironic. A painful ironic thought that stemmed into his mind.

Treason? There was only a few seconds left before I would eventually make it. But it wouldn't be against the Chancellor. No, it had to be somebody else, someone that I...cared about, respected even.

Cody withdrew the comlink from his armor and triggered it, knowing that the frequency came from their commander-in-chief.

A holoscan appeared on the palm of his gauntlet: a hooded man.

I didn't recognize him. I was shocked by the appearance. The man looked deformed. His eyes were pale yellow - Evil - which gave a shudder down his spine. It was like something within his gut was warning him. Turn it off now, before it was too late. But it was too late. It was happening. And I couldn't stop it. When the voice came, that was when I knew that it was too late.

"The time has come," the hooded man said. "Execute Order Sixty-Six."

Good soldiers follow orders.

Words that kill, would you speak them to me

With your breath so still, it makes me believe

In the Father's sins

Let me suffer now and never die, I'm alive

Darkness took him. His willpower was fraught. He could not control it. He could only shed a tear in his eyes as the indoctrinated order came rushing into him like a hypnotic sound. Obey the order. It is an order. One must obey. He couldn't...stop it. He couldn't even scream. At least 150 Contingency Orders were present into his mind, and amongst them all was Order 66. The time has come. The time has come to execute the traitors.

He responded, helpless as the programming took over, trained since before he'd even awakened in his creche-school, for one single purpose. "Yes, my lord."

The holoscan vanished. Cody stuck the comlink back into its concealed recess and frowned down toward where Kenobi rode his dragonmount into selflessly heroic battle.

Back then, all I could recall was a fog, a silent scream, before everything was over. The next moment I knew was when I and the vod had enslaved the planet Utapau and its people. We, who were suppose to be liberators, became the very thing that we've been fighting. We, who enacted traitorous thoughts. Just the words of a madman was enough to bring us all to heel. Truly, words can kill.

But now, I have all of it. All of the memories. That included the memories of my own brainwashed state. I was fully aware, as if I was only there since yesterday. These thoughts suddenly penetrated my mind - disturbing; natural - I was a clone, and I was bred to follow orders. I would execute the order faithfully, without hesitation or regret. And my personality, twisted, complied, expressing.

"Would it have been too much to ask for the order to have come through before I gave him back the bloody lightsaber...?"

The order had been given at once, across the entire galaxy. The entire GAR would now turn against the very same people who treated them as living, breathing, sentient beings. Traitorous thoughts now spur as cold, efficient, brutal execution was carried out. Some tried to fight it, but they would succumb eventually. They became the gun. Cody was the gun.

I was the gun. I am the gun. And now, I turn my gun towards the person who I call my friend - my brother.

"Blast him."

That was the death blow that forever broke his heart, as the sounds of the tank's gunfire would fire straight into the trajectory where his general and his dragonmouth were just near. But, for some dumb stroke of luck, that trooper who shot it was actually fighting back, if only just a bit before succumbing, which explains how he missed Kenobi by a little.

Was it the work of the Force that his General would mention and from time to time, talked about? Cody didn't know, but all that mattered was that the general was safe in the end, even if it did end up with the latter falling into the water.

...

...

Pride, feeds their blackened hearts

And the thirst, must be quenched, to fuel hypocrisy

Cleansing flames, is the only way to repent

Renounce, what made you

Words that kill, would you speak them to me

With your breath so still, it makes me believe

(*5) A few short years later, the Galactic Empire had been born. Both the Republic and the Separatists had fallen, defeated, and shattered into remnants and pockets. As for Cody, he was still within that empire, but he lived with the guilt, with the regret, of losing the man he called brother, the man who treated him with more respect than anyone else, and he just shot him in the back.

His once orange color markings were now replaced with grey colors, symbolizing his own downfall, his own individuality stripped from him. Even he knew that this Empire was nothing more than a farce, a tyrannical regime that was even worse than the Separatists, because this had been built through the ashes of the Republic, as liberty had died, with thunderous applause, and the clones had become slaves, cattle for labor. They were nothing but disposable puppets. Their days were already numbered.

"...Tell me something, Crosshair," Cody spoke once with Crosshair, one of the irregular clones of the recently wanted Bad Batch. His tone was grim as he looked at the memorial of all who had fallen. All of the brothers whose names are listed. But of course, there were no Jedi. The names of the Jedi were tarnished, and exposed as traitors. That caused blood within Cody. The Empire and its' so-called Emperor had used them to kill the very force that would have been capable of stopping this madness, and that included children. Lots of children. He recalled the bodies of younglings, as his eyes lay haunted.

What had they become?

This was not the way. This was never the way. Children weren't supposed to die by their hands. They weren't just soldiers. They protected the innocent. They fought to protect them against the very evil that now governs the galaxy as a whole. And they enacted it.

"This...new empire. Are we making the galaxy better?"

That was a genuine question. Cody already knew the answer, and decided on the answer. But it was Crosshair that he was speaking too, to test him, to see just how much divided their brothers had just become, all because of this Empire. And he hated the Empire for it.

"We're soldiers, we do what needs to be done," Crosshair answered. A sorry Sithspit excuse. Cody thought bitterly.

"You know what makes us different from battle droids," Cody spoke grimly. "We make our own decisions, our own choices," He said as he stood to face Crosshair, looking at him in the eye. "And we have to live with them too."

He walks away. Some part of him hoped he'd reach him. But he never found out if he ever did. He left. And never turned back.

...

...

The Sins never die, can't wash this blood off our hands

Let the world fear us all, it's just means to an end

Our salvation lies, in the Father's sins

Beyond the truth, let me suffer now

In my heart I just know that there's no way to light up the dark in his eyes

Fast forward... Or fast backward... to a new outcome, to a world of the past.

It was the Battle of Sarrish (*6).

Though it was different from how he remembered. Mostly because, unlike the original outcome of this terrible, cataclysmic battle, the one where he lost a majority of his men, it was replaced by another terrible enemy. And it wasn't the CIS. It was something else - a horror born from another galaxy, having consumed its inhabitants of all life, and was now about to do the same to theirs.

They were called the Xnyntoids.

Not on his watch. And neither would Rex have anything to say about it.

The outcome of the battle was very different now. Now, they had the 501st Legion backing the 7th Sky Corps. They were the inseparable and most efficient fighting force; of clones of range and blue markings, coming together as one. There was a series of echoes, a clasping sound of thunder and rain, that came down on them all. From the skies, he could see Republic aircraft and star destroyers performing continuous bombardment on the insectoid abominations. On the ground, large tanks would steamroll the bloodsuckers off of the road, clearing the path for the men to push forward.

He and Rex, together again on the battlefield. Like him, Rex also came to this world of the past. Like him, he was preparing the 501st Legion in advance. The only clone troopers who ever came back from the future were him and Rex. It had somehow always been the two of them.

With his blasters set to automatic, he fired continuously against the horde of four-legged black-colored insectoid grunts, that were lashing its pincers at them. Cody dodges them with ease, stepping a few meters back and fires, shooting through their vitals as they fall down on the ground. He and Rex were not dying in this godforsaken planet, the same one that had taken many of his men from him in the past, and still continues to try to take. Never again.

Raising his blaster, he fires back, as automatic bolts screech through and smear the bugs, falling to the ground. He would stay clear from their blood, since it was acid and could melt him without fail if he tried to go near it. More bugs decided to draw near and raise their sharp-edged pincers, right before a quick blur slipped past between him and Rex, as multiple blue slashes would cut the buggers down, along with the rest of the large horde with the clasp of bluish lightning that came out of his own two hands, frying them to crisps.

The blurring figure would stop towards the top of the hill. The clones, including Rex and Cody, would see the man standing on top of the hill, with the rain falling down his head, uncovered, wearing Republic armor of white, with orange and blue markings, in honor of both the 7th Sky Corps and the 501st Legion. He carried two lightsabers in his hand; as the rain came down, it would create light grey smoke as it fell to the plasmic blue light.

"...Commander Marek (*7)," Cody muttered.

He would of course recognize the man. After all, he was from the same, dark future that Cody and Rex had been forced to live through. At least Rex saw the light at the end of the tunnel by then, before he would have, having died. The man, who had come from that dark future, had been sent by that person on a mission. To become General Kenobi's apprentice. He first encountered the man in the Battle of Christophsis; right in the middle of a battle, he just jumped out of nowhere and started to attack the droids and help the vod. Most of the vod, including Skywalker, was at the time quite suspicious of the man, but he, as well as Rex and Kenobi, vouched for him.

Of course, they didn't tell them that the man had come from the future. That would have just added more questions. Kenobi did most of the talking, while Cody and Rex tried to do crowd control on the vod. By direct order of Jedi Master Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi is to become Galen Marek's new master, to train in the ways of the Jedi, to fully complete his training.

Cody knew about Marek. In fact, he was the one who supplied the Rebel Alliance with information that the Empire, or their feared enforcer, Darth Vader in this case, was cloning Marek for whatever goal that he had in mind, which was never a good thing (*8). Cody was the clone who provided the Rebel Alliance with a lot of intel regarding Imperial bases and other points of interest, having been recruited sometime after his exile.

"You two alright down there?" He asked, concerned for the clones.

"We're more than fine, sir!" Rex exclaimed. "Thanks for the assist!"

The Jedi would nod as he began to leap across the battlefield, as far as the eye could see, as he would ignite his lightsabers, two of them, and strike down a large tarantula-like creature that had already killed a few of his vod. The creature roared in defiance and pain as it felt its legs cut down, its mouth wide open for the kill, but could not reach the blur that was once known as Starkiller.

"Come on, men!" Cody called out as he and the rest of the clones drew forward and fire with everything they could muster.

No more... Many Jedi and clones had died in the past - my past - I won't let things be the same. This time, I'm going to make our fight truly mean something. Not for the Republic. Not for the Separatists. But for us. All of us. Clones who got discarded and abandoned. An army without a home, without borders. This time, I'll fight to protect my own, and I will not let the same mistake repeat itself.

That was the creed of the famous Marshal Commander of the 7th Sky Corps.

He will not back down, even in the face of the chaotic tides of change. And neither would Rex as he raised his blasters and fired at the damned monster, aiming at its eyes, causing it to stumble, for Commander Malek to finish the touching blow as he dives and slices the thing in half; all while staying clear of its acid blood as it was crashing to the floor in a thud.

And with a battle cry, echoing from Cody and every clone, they charged against death, bolstered with courage and resolve as they face the darkened, black horde of insectoids that get gunned down with every passing moment, led by their Jedi Commander, who strikes them all down with thunderous applause.

...

...

Shirley was both in awe and was horrified. In awe because of the Marshal Commander's resolve for his brothers and for the sake of fighting for what was truly right. She was horrified because, the way the commander described Order 66, was unbearably similar to how someone with Geass could simply just...order people to die.

Kill the Japanese.

It made her feel like puking; miraculously she didn't in real time.

She knew that her Lulu was not the cause of this. It was rather the work of V.V. and the Geass Order. They wanted it all to happen, just for the war to continue, for the plan to be set into motion. Lelouch's revolution was never a threat for Charles. He had been played by his own father from the very beginning. That very moment was the day when everything turned darker - for everyone; for Shirley especially.

Respect was the only thing that Shirley could ever give to this commander, who had been through more life experiences than even she did. It made her want to know him, and the rest of the clones that were under his command. It was not only to help Lelouch, it was also her own initiative. For her to stand by her Lulu's side, she must choose her own path, forge ahead with great determination.

It was that same determination that led to her eventually forgiving Lelouch for everything, from the bottom of her heart. Some would call it simple naivety to just forgive somebody whose sins are as great as the blackened coals. But she never believed that any sin could never be forgiven, so long as that person was willing to change.

Cody has his determination. Shirley had hers. Their determination coincides as they follow the ones to whom loyalty is given.

"All of us clones of the 7th Sky Corps, by the time we headed to Earth, have already removed our control chips," Cody spoke grimly. "We all had the choice, and we chose to follow the General." Cody looks at Kenobi, who listens with a smile. "As far as I see it, if following the Jedi means becoming traitors to the Republic, then so be it, would anyone disagree with me on this point?!"

Cody asked, as all of the clones in the gunship, including the pilots who were listening, would answer. "Sir, no, sir."

The men, whose loyalties lay not in the Republic, but to their general. That was the similarity that Obi-Wan Kenobi had with Big Boss. They both commanded with charisma, fathers to their men, who earned such loyalties. The MSF and the 7th Sky Corps would fight and die, not for any country or galactic government, but a steadfast and firm loyalty, proven through and forged in fire.

And Shirley, who listened, couldn't help but form a smile as she glanced at Lelouch, who smiled in turn.

Truly, there was hope, even in the simplest of things.

Trivia For Chapter:

(*1) - These types of clones are referred to as Clone Paratroopers. They were also called airborne troopers, sky troopers, and sometimes even referred to as "Beehive" paratroopers.

(*2) - In the World of Code Geass, God is a term used to describe the Collective Unconscious, which is the consciousness of all of humanity living and dead. It's also where people go after death. So it knows everything humanity knows and far more probably, it's also where humanity originates from. Humans are individual parts of itself that are broken off so that they can experience life before rejoining with the greater whole which is an afterlife of sorts/nirvana.

(*3) - In the original timeline of the Star Wars Galaxy, the behavioral modification biochips, also known as inhibitor chips, control chips, and behavioral inhibitor biochips, were a type of organic bio-chip capable of dictating or responding to the thoughts of its host. Kaminoan cloners implanted them within each and every clone trooper in the Grand Army of the Republic at the third stage of their embryonic development. When they were activated, the troopers responded to take any order without question. This allowed the Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, secretly the Sith Lord called Darth Sidious, to initiate Clone Protocol 66 (one of 150 Contingency Protocols), which wiped out nearly all Jedi marked for termination, and any soldier that did not comply with the order, would be executed for treason against the Galactic Republic. This also included rogue Sith such as Darth Maul. The Galactic Empire later employed these devices to keep in line its enslaved Wookiee population on Kashyyyk.

(*4) - See Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, both the movie and its novel adaptation, for reference of details.

(*5) - See Star Wars: The Bad Batch, for reference of details.

(*6) - In the original timeline of the Star Wars Galaxy, during the Clone Wars, there was the Battle of Sarrish, fought on the planet Sarrish between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems, which took place in 20 BBY during the Outer Rim Sieges of the Clone Wars. Following a Republic victory at Duro, High Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi and the Grand Army of the Republic's 7th Sky Corps pursued Confederate forces to Sarrish, where they staged an assault on the entrenched battle droid infantry from the Separatist Droid Army. With a mountaintop anti-aircraft gun supplying heavy cover fire for the droids on the surface, Kenobi split his clone troopers to fracture the enemy lines. After his LAAT/i gunship was shot down, Marshal Commander Cody, led the soldiers of the 212th's "A" Squad to capture the anti-aircraft gun, using the droids' own artillery against them. Yet the Separatists ultimately routed the Republic forces, inflicting devastating clone trooper casualties. Clone Captain Gregor went missing in action during the battle, later ending up on the remote planet Abafar.

(*7) - In the original timeline of the Star Wars Galaxy, Galen Marek, codenamed "Starkiller," was a human male Force-sensitive who served as the personal assassin of the Sith Lord Darth Vader, who trained Starkiller as his secret apprentice—but came to the light side shortly before his death. Marek was the son of two Jedi Knights, Kento and Mallie Marek, born on the Wookiee homeworld of Kashyyyk in the aftermath of the Clone Wars. Following his mother's death, Kashyyyk was invaded by the Galactic Empire as a target of the Great Jedi Purge, Kento was confronted and slain in a lightsaber duel by the Dark Lord of the Sith, who discovered the fugitive Jedi's son in the process. Gauging the orphan's raw strength in the Force, Vader abducted and ultimately raised Marek, who became Starkiller, to embrace the dark side of the Force.

(*8) - See Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II, both the game and its novel adaptation, for reference of details. As part of the background of my story, Commander Cody was somewhat involved in these events, in the original timeline.