Alderaan Senate Office

Senator Organa was watching worriedly the Temple out his window at the which had smoke rising from it he had noticed some time ago many ships leave rapidly he was still uncertain of what to do. With him was Padme's double as they watched the smoke rise.

"Do you think they were warned?" she asked.

"Perhaps; it's the only explanation I can think of for the sudden departures, followed by this attack," Organa replied grimly. "I believe I would be more useful elsewhere."

"You're not going down there, are you?"

"I normally would but seeing as it's likely almost everyone got out, I don't think it would do any good. No, I'm going to go find Yoda and maybe Padme," Bail asserted.

"Take C-3PO with you," she replied. "My Lady's absence has already been noted."

Cockpit of the Millennium Falcon

After the slightly tense decision to head for the rim instead of returning to Coruscant, a message flashed through the secret Jedi channels.

"This is Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. I regret to report that both our Jedi Order and the Republic have fallen, with the dark shadow of the Empire rising to take their place. This message is a warning and a reminder for any surviving Jedi. Trust in The Force. Do not return to the Temple…that time has past. And our future is uncertain. We will each be challenged. Our trust. Our faith. Our friendships. But we must persevere. And in time, a new hope will emerge. May the Force be with you, always.

"Master Kenobi, how are you transmitting this when you're with us?" Ahsoka asked.

"I'm not. It must have been someone in the Temple using it as a warning that the Temple has fallen," Kenobi said.

"Prerecorded message? Master, how long have you guys believed something like this is possible?" Anakin asked.

"I don't recall ever making it. Certainly not with that kind of foresight, but we have had a recall message at the Temple on Coruscant since the Old Republic," Kenobi answered, confused.

"Maybe an old message using your voice, then," Anakin said. "At least that means Yoda's message was reiterated so no one will return to the Temple to get killed."

Ahsoka nodded.

At that moment a familiar voice came across the channel.

"Hello, can anyone out there hear me?"

"Bail, this is Master Kenobi; we hear you."

"Its good to hear from you. It's been a disaster," Bail said. "I'm sending you coordinates to meet me."

"Understood. We are on our way," Obi-Wan said.

Anakin nodded, He took the Falcon out of hyperspace and plugged in the new coordinates and made the jump. The door opened and Ben walked in.

"Why did we leave hyperspace?" Ben asked.

"We got coordinates to meet with a friend," Ahsoka said.

"Someone reliable?" Ben asked cautiously.

"Yes. Bail Organa, Viceroy of Alderaan," Kenobi said.

Ben visibly relaxed. "Very well. I assume this meeting will not be on Coruscant."

"No, he's meeting us a few hours away," Anakin said.

Vestara walked in. "Anything the matter with the hyperdrive?"

"No, slight detour to rendezvous with Bail Organa," Ben said.

Vestara nodded. "Good. I was worried we would have to make a pit stop on Cloud City or something." She then left the cabin.

"Inside joke?" Anakin asked.

"Yeah, of the morbid variety. A left over of her upbringing, I'm afraid. My aunt and uncle got caught by a Sith lord on Cloud City and my dad had not completed his training. He raced in to rescue them and lost a hand. My aunt had to save him," Ben said flatly.

"Your dad doesn't seem to have a very good track record with Sith Lords," Anakin noted.

"Yeah, not when he was a teenager. His batting average improved as an adult, though," Ben said. "Now there isn't a single Sith Lord in the galaxy that dare come near him; even Darth Krayt didn't show his face around him if he didn't have some serious backup."

"Any reason he didn't come help us?" Anakin asked.

"Yeah. He has an order to lead into an impossible battle against a foe that would make Sidious run away in fear," Ben answered eyes becoming distant.

Silence took over the Falcons cockpit for the remainder of the journey.

Tantive IV

Bail Organa watched as the stars resumed normal shape when Captain Antilles informed him they were being hailed. A Correlian freighter was waiting for them at the rendezvous point and was quickly directed to dock.

A few minutes later the Jedi and Senator Amidala, along with her troopers, were onboard.

Ben wasn't too surprised to see C3PO, aka goldenrod, aka the bane of his uncle's existence. He had long known that the droid had belonged to Bail Organa and had in turn faithfully, if erratically and somewhat annoyingly, served his aunt Princess Leia Organa Solo for years. He figured now would as good a time as any to find out where in the galaxy Bail Organa had picked up the accident-prone droid.

"Have you had word on survivors?" Kenobi asked Bail.

"I know at least most of the Temple was able to evacuate before the Clones moved in. I heard also rumors that many Jedi had disappeared before their troopers turned on them. While that alone isn't much to go on, there has been an increase in Clone presence around the Senate building and 500 Republica which indicates the Chancellor believes the rumors," Bail said.

"Hopefully the younglings were already out of the temple by the time the order came," Kenobi said.

"The younglings were out of the temple nearly a week prior," a voice said from the doorway. "The secret archives were as well."

Everyone turned around to see the Grandmaster himself hobble into the room.

"When the incident went down, I went searching for Master Yoda," Bail said.

Yoda nodded at Bail. "Good to see you it is my padawans and their friends." He took a seat and sighed. He looked at Ben and Vestara. "Put to good use your Grandmaster's warning I did. Hopefully a better future we have because of it." Yoda looked at Skywalker. "Still a long journey you and your friends have to complete."

"Master, should we not focus on the matter at hand?" Anakin asked.

"Nothing to do is there for any save me.,Yoda said sighing. "I have one final part to play. No, the Order is in hiding until the pressure eases off a bit. On the run they are, us hunting them down while searching for hiding places would only trip everyone over each other. No, a plan is needed before searching for survivors."

"The Chancellor will need to consolidate his power within the Core before he can afford to send his army looking through the Outer Rim," Bail said. "If the Jedi all bail for the Outer Rim, most should be able to find safety at least temporarily."

"How long before he consolidates his power?" Anakin asked.

"A while," Padme answered, "With Order 66 not being as successful as the Chancellor likely hoped, his political power is more strained than it might appear."

"He could just formally take over without the Senate, using the clone army," Vestara said.

Padme and Bail both shook their heads.

"Not practically," Bail said. "While a bill was passed to make regional governors, they are too new and do not have the legitimacy nor the power to run the bureaucracy. He will need the Senate to manage the local systems, at least for a considerable amount of time."

"Alright, so what's the plan?" Anakin said.

Yoda sighed. "The plan is for you and your companions to complete your journey. When you are done, contact me, you should. While on your journey, look for safe places to take the Jedi to survive. On the political war front, wait for the enemy I'm afraid a long time we may need to."

"So we're just going to sit back and let him take over the galaxy and not do anything about it?" Anakin said angrily.

"No, I'm going to make it so he will never enjoy his rule. But," he looked hard at Anakin, "if we take a few thousand Jedi into Coruscant win we may, but at the cost of many innocents." He pointed his gimmer stick at him. "Especially your men who are guarding the Chancellor because he betrayed them. Angry you are, because you have been betrayed In line get; your men were all betrayed by a leader they were supposed to obey without question. I was betrayed by a colleague who called me friend to my face while he twisted my own padawan into a weapon against his own family. Betrayed into leading my children into war I was, so we would not make the same mistake the Order did when it refused to go to war against Mandalore the Great. Instead, we were led to war so he could kill them all. Betrayed your wife was by he who acted as a friend and mentor too, all the while plotting to use her in his schemes and kill her when he was done with her. Betrayed we all were."

At that Anakin sat down.

Padme asked, "Speaking of deception, if the chancellorship is what he wanted, why bother having his apprentice attack us on Naboo?"

"Know for certain I do not, however I would guess it was so he could at least pay lip service to delivering his side of the bargain to Gunray and Company. Likely, care he did not, which way the battle turned out," Yoda said. "Lose and Naboo would be celebrated and he could ride the celebration parade to the chancellorship. Win and he could have used your funeral to ride a sympathy vote to the top."

"The slimy weasel had it all planned," Rex said.

"Yes, but thanks to a timely warning ,he stumbled when he reached for victory," Yoda said.

"What about the clankers?" Jesse asked.

"He will likely order them shut down within a few days to end the war so he can disengage the GAR from the front lines," Yoda said.

"What do you need me to do?" Bail asked.

"We play the long game," Padme answered. "Pretend to go along with him while blocking him when you can and see that any surviving Jedi gets transferred to safety."

"Very well," Bail said. "We will do our part."

"Yes," Yoda said. "Time it is for your journey to continue."

"Padme, I brought you back C-3PO," Bail said.

Padme looked at the protocol droid and her heart sank when she said, "Keep him for now, Bail. I don't know if being on the run will be the best for him."

"As you wish, Padme, but we will have to wipe his memory. There's no telling who he will discuss this encounter with," Bail said.

"I understand," Padme looked at 3PO sadly.

"Oh, dear. A memory wipe," 3PO moaned. "It's not funny, you little bucket of bolts," he said to R2.

Anakin also looked sad at the moment, as he never liked wiping his droids, but he knew 3PO was a chatterbox.

Ben walked through about this moment. "Where did you get that droid anyway?"

Anakin looked at Ben. "I made him for my mother when I was 9 years old."

Ben looked shocked and then shock turned into peals of laughter, not unlike when they had first seen the Twilight.

"For real, you built that stuffed shirt, fluent in 6 million languages droid." Ben bent over laughing. "That's awesome. Ves will love that one," He said as he made his way back down the hallway where the Falcon was docked.

"You know, every time I think I understand those two they wind up laughing at my engineering skills," Anakin said looking where the departed Jedi Master had disappeared.

"Hmm, at your skills they laugh not; irony is what they laugh about," Yoda said, suddenly appearing beside Anakin and Padme. "Understand you will in time, be not in a hurry to learn secrets- a lesson I believe you have learned the hard way."

Anakin shrugged. "I guess, though I wish I knew why they kept so many secrets."

"Necessary it is for them. Want to do so they do not. But keep them if needed, otherwise they will not or dead most of our Order would be," Yoda said. "Revealed all will be in time. Good luck on your journey."

"One last thing, Skywalker. Safe the child is, if keep the mother away from the Sith lord you do. Do not attempt to return to Coruscant. Or in danger all will be," Yoda said.

"I understand, Master. Good luck on your mission," Anakin replied.

Yoda nodded and hobbled of on his cane towards the Falcon. "One last conversation with our friends I will have before you go."

Millennium Falcon; engine compartment

Vestara was taking care of some, thankfully for the Falcon, minor maintenance and was almost done when her husband walked through the door laughing like he had just been told the best joke in the galaxy.

She pulled up her welding goggles. "Ok what did I miss? I've only been gone 5 minutes."

"3PO." Ben stammered, not able to catch a breath.

"Ok, who did he trip, splash liquid on, or step on this time?" Vestara said.

"No one," Ben said, "but you will never guess who made him."

"I figure he was built in the droid factories where most protocol droids came from, though he's somewhat peculiar for a protocol droid," Vestara said.

"Darth Vader built him," Ben said.

Vestara blinked at him. "Come again? It sounded between your attempts to breath that Darth Vader built him."

Ben just nodded.

"Seriously?"

Ben nodded again.

Seconds later, Vestara was in peals of laughter. "Your uncle Han would throw him out the airlock if he ever figured that out."

"He would probably think Vader programmed him to get on his nerves on purpose because he married his daughter," Ben said in reply as they continued to laugh.

"Let me in on the joke can you, young Skywalkers?" Yoda said, walking into the room.

Seeing Yoda, Ben sobered up. "There's a lot of history there, that doesn't look to be happening again that I would need to explain."

"Young Skywalker fell, didn't he?" Yoda asked.

"Yes, I'm afraid so, and became a dangerous Sith Lord but an injury crippled him and forced him into a somewhat terrifying looking life support outfit," Ben said. "My aunt, who should be on the way here shortly with my father, inherited C3PO from her adoptive father, Bail Organa. My aunt and uncle's few run-ins with my grandfather were unpleasant, to say the least. My uncle still has nightmares. Either way, 3PO gets on his nerves rather quickly especially when their alone, so the fact that my grandfather, the terrifying Sith Lord, built him is rather amusing."

"Hmm, sense there were twins I did not," Yoda said.

"Not surprising, my aunt has always had a strange ability to shield her presence," Ben said.

Yoda nodded. "Believe he will fall you do not."

"If he does, it won't be for the same reasons. He had already fallen hard by this point last time around. But he came back in the end. He sacrificed himself to save my father. He also killed the Emperor, though it cost him his life," Ben answered. "Hopefully, our journey will bear more fruit and he will be fine for the long-term."

Yoda nodded. "Very well, proceed with your plan."

"Master Yoda, if your about to do what I believe you are, be careful and don't throw everything away. My father needs you." Ben said.

Yoda nodded and hobbled out the door on his stick.

Vestara watched him go. "He's going after the Emperor, isn't he?"

Ben sighed. "It's his duty as head of the Order, just as it was Dad's to face Abeloth. He will be fine, I'm sure."

Vestara had finished her work when the rest got back in the Falcon and was waiting inside the cockpit with Ben. They detached from the Tantive IV and headed into the deep Outer Rim.

Note: Since this story follows mainly the old EU minus the chips in Order 66, we are going with the story of Starkiller starting the Rebellion. I know some people don't like the Force Unleashed but having old Palpatine being the unwitting author of his own demise is just too much fun.

Senate Rotunda

"In order to ensure security and continued stability, the Republic will be reorganized into the first Galactic Empire! (applause) For a safe and secure society." Thunderous applause roared through the building as all of Palpatine's puppets lauded the move and rapidly voted to install the new dictator for life. Bail and Mothma looked on, slowly clapping while feeling the sting of the loss of democracy in thunderous applause. The motion passed almost unanimously, and Bail was certain whatever brave individual had voted no would die very quickly in some obscure corner of a Coruscanti alleyway.

Chancellor's/Emperor's office

Sidious was euphoric. Just moments ago those slimes in the senate had just handed him ultimate power. He was the Emperor of the Galaxy. Even if the somewhat botched Order 66 had left him unpopular in some of the systems, it wasn't enough for the Senate to attempt to turn on him. Not that it would have done any good, he would have marched the 501st inside and had them make him Emperor at gunpoint if he needed too. He was waiting for his chilled bottle of Naboo wine to toast with his new Grand Vizier who had faithfully served him for years, when he heard the sound of his guards hitting the floor.

He turned around in his seat and there was his "little green friend"

"Master Yoda, you survived," the Emperor said bitterly. "How did you discover my plan?"

"Chose your apprentice poorly, you did," Yoda said.

"I should have known Dooku would betray me," Sidious hissed. "Well, let's not stand on ceremony."

Mas Amedda fled the scene and neither the shadow nor the light even glanced at him as he left.

The fight was short but brutal. Yoda and Sidious were both left devoid of their lightsabers quickly. In the end, the Jedi master was able to turn his opponents lightning back on his face, but the feedback loop blew them apart from each other. Yoda was about to reengage when a blaster shot narrowly missed him. He glanced up to see the Clones starting to storm the Senate rotunda. Yoda threw a Force blast at the Clones and one at his temporarily fallen enemy and made his escape by jumping down to the bottom of the Senate chamber. The Grandmaster escaped using the vents and jumped into the awaiting speeder of Bail Organa.

The Clones, meanwhile, came up to the Emperor. "Are you all right, my lord?"

"Yes, I am fine," The emperor said calmly

"Sir, your face! We need to get a medic," The trooper yelled.

In the visor's reflection Sidious could see his face had been disfigured by his lightning in the fight. He clenched his fists. If only that had happened when Mace had attacked him, he could have used it to dredge up a sympathy vote. Now being attacked and disfigured in the center of his power could lead to the belief that he was vulnerable.

"Search this place from top to bottom. See to it that my attacker doesn't escape," Sidious hissed the order.

"Commander Fox, you are in charge of security, are you not?" Sidious asked the commander who had just came through the door.

"Yes, my Lord."

"Not anymore," Sidious said and motioned towards two troopers.

The troopers gunned down the former commander instantly.

"Send a message to the troops. Tell them to double their efforts to eliminate the remaining Jedi," Sidious said, pulling up his hood and walking out of the Senate chamber.