Chapter Five: The Galaxy Ignites
It all happened so fast. Tau Squad had changed so quickly that Artus had barely enough time to ignite his lightsaber. A cold blue blade cut through the air. Barran had not been so lucky; a shot from Parsec had grazed his shoulder before he could defend himself. The Rodian reacted by plunging his weapon through Parsec's chest. Artus raised his hand and pushed Ryth to the back of the gunship before he could react.
"R9! Get us back to Coruscant! Now!" yelled Artus. The droid beeped as the gunship swung back towards the planet. In the chaos Bridge opened fire on the two Jedi. Artus guided his blade to deflect the blaster bolts. He leapt forward and sliced through Bridge's arm. A hand, still clutching a blaster, clattered to the ground. Bridge's screams of agony were silenced as Artus swung his lightsaber through the trooper's neck. Bridge's body fell to the floor, steam rising from where Artus had struck. At the back of the gunship Ryth began to rose to his feet. Both Jedi turned to him. Sweat dripped from Artus's brow; he could feel adrenaline coursing through his veins. The clone went to draw his weapon. A blue ring whistled past Artus's face and struck Ryth; the commando crumpled to the ground, stunned. Artus turned to Sarge holding his blaster, poised to fire again. The weapon was smoking. The clone turned to face the two Jedi, a tear in his eyes.
"I…I had to. I don't know what happened." Barran placed his hand on Sarge's shoulder. "Why would they do this?" Sarge continued as his voice steadied. "They tried to kill you!" Before Artus could speak he felt a rush of air engulf the ship. Desperately reaching out, his fingers clasped a handrail. In the corner of his eye he could see both Barran and Sarge had also managed to grab onto handrails. Using all his strength, Artus forced to head to the open bay door to the rear of the gunship. In the distance he could see Ryth boosting towards the Avenger. Before he could react the door slammed shut and he crashed to the floor; looking up he saw Sarge's armoured hand on the door controls.
"Ryth to Avenger, come in!" Sarge's commlink said with an electronic rasp. "Ryth to Avenger! Zendak and Rykor have the ship! They have the ship!" Artus felt a pit in his stomach as he realised what the commando's words entailed. An abrupt boom rocked the ship. R9 shrieked.
"Karrablast! We're being fired upon!" shouted Sarge. Barran leapt past R9 into the cockpit. The gunship began to serve to avoid the Avenger's firepower. Artus desperately gripped a handrail. Sarge's datapad began flashing at an alarming rate. The clone briefly reviewed the screen, before dropping it to the floor. "I don't understand…" he whispered, covering his face with his hands. Reaching out with the Force, Artus pulled the datapad to him. Its contents tore through him more than any blaster.
Ki-Adi Mundi – Target eliminated on Mygeeto
Plo Koon – Target eliminated on Cato Neimodia
Jaro Topal – Target eliminated above Bracca
Artus couldn't believe it. Countless reports continued to flood the databank as Artus's nightmares became reality. He looked back at the datapad, hoping the reports would stop.
Aayla Secura – Target eliminated on Felucia
Obi-Wan Kenobi – Target eliminated on Utapau
Chiata – Target eliminated on Zeffo
Depa Billaba – Target eliminated on Kaller
Stass Allie – Target eliminated on Saleucami
Taron Malicos – Target eliminated above Dathomir
Artus couldn't bear it. His heart broke as he felt his fellow Jedi become part of the Force. He felt a hot anger rising within him. Artus was wise enough in the Jedi Code to know better, but what good was that? The Jedi were gone, the Galaxy was ablaze and he could not do anything to help. Artus clenched his eyelids as the fury grew within him.
"Ahhhhh!" he screamed, igniting his lightsaber. And then, as quickly as it had risen, the anger left him. Remembering his training, Artus deceived his weapon and opened his eyes. Wiping tears from his face he glanced down to see the datapad sheared in two.
"Artus…" Barran's soft voice calmed the young Jedi. "I have set a course for my safehouse near the Temple. We've received a distress call from the Temple, ordering us back. Hopefully some of the Jedi Council survived."
"Master…" Artus's voiced wobbled.
"Artus. Calm yourself. I have seen the reports from the cockpit. Master Yoda and Master Windu are not on the list. They must have secured the Temple. I can also sense Masters Beq and Drallig are at the Temple, as well as Skywalker. Hopefully we can regroup and understand how this catastrophe has occurred."
"Yes…yes master." Artus braced as the ship entered Coruscant's atmosphere.