Saga Shadows Fall (Joclad Danva, Arden Lyn, OCs, etc-Order 66 slight AU) 10/7 an update! wow!

Title: Shadows Fall (formerly Burning the Past - renamed to avoid some confusion)
(Part I of the Burning Cycle)
*Potential spoilers for Revenge of the Sith and Shatterpoint.
Author: unknown_shore
Characters: Joclad Danva, Arden Lyn, Stass Allie, Elan Sleazebaggano, Sabé Ralter, various Jedi, OCs, cameos? you can call this one Attack of the Background Characters.
Timeframe: RotS; it begins the night Mace & the Jedi Posse go to grab Palpatine. It is a slight AU in that Order 66 takes place over the course of several weeks, rather than the five or so minutes we saw in the film. The events contained within are a speculation on what might have happened if 66 were extended...
Genre: Drama, Adventure, Action
Summary: As Order 66 is executed, Joclad Danva and a ragged group of survivors and hangers-on must find a way to survive the Empire -- and each other.
Disclaimer: I own nothing that is of Star Wars; it is all belongeth to George Lucas, who has imbibed a large amount of my paychecks when it comes to movies, music, and video games.
Note: The only prequel-era book I?ve read is Shatterpoint, so I?ve basically drawn my own conclusions regarding how the Jedi pick up their padawans/younglings ? some of it?s not too different from the Jude Watson canon, but if any of the differences bother you, just chalk it up to further AU-ism.
Special thanks to my master, GrandAdmiralV, for her support and guidance and helpful hints in this big scary world of fanfic. I absolutely would not have gotten up the guts to do this without her!
Cover Art: I hope to improve upon it further, but for a lousy mouse and a monitor that perpetually dims things, I think it turned out all right.

[image=http://www.geocities.com/theunknownshore/shadowsfall2.JPG]

And since I've learned to use links now... the cast list.

***

Prologue: Depa

His visits often coincided with Master Windu's.

The older Jedi always greeted him with a solemn nod before returning his attention to the woman on the bed. Words were rarely exchanged; pleasantries at best, sometimes discussion of temple goings-on or the latest missions.

They never spoke of her anymore. Instead, they talked over her, each one sharply aware of her empty presence but unwilling to comment on it. Master Windu had said his piece when he first brought her home, and now an uneasy truce existed between the men. Each wanted only the best for her, and that was enough to make them bitter allies.

Master Windu invariably stayed on long after the younger man departed, perhaps hoping to reach into darkness and bring his former padawan back from the void. He kept a quiet vigil throughout the long night of the Clone War, lending her the presence of a friend and father. It was the best he could do - the best any of them could do.

Thus, Joclad Danva was somewhat surprised to find the man absent from the tiny room that Depa Billaba now called home. Master Windu was generally by her side in the evenings, silently reading the news or contemplating her still features. She was alone on this particular night, hands folded across the covers of her cot. The room smelled faintly of Chalactan bree vines, their sweet fragrance something Joclad had often associated with her. Such a scent was likely Master Windu?s doing, carrying on the task that Adi Gallia ? Depa?s longtime friend on the Council ? had started two years prior.

Joclad took a seat by her bed, reaching out to her through the Force and finding only dark glass reflected back at him. The first time he?d visited her like this, he feared he might tip into a black ocean if he looked too long. There was no trace of Depa Billaba, not then and not now.

I miss you, pirate, he thought at her, not really expecting a response. Depa simply lay there, silent and empty and full of darkness.

Master Windu?s words came back to him as Joclad studied her. I believe she was conflicted when she left, and dwe

 

1. Departures and Farewells

"You just... sounded a charge?" Joclad stared at Dack Meridian's hologram in astonishment as Cin Drallig snickered in the background.

Dack shrugged, brushing some snow off his Republic-issued uniform. In the shimmering aquamarine of the hologram, his mismatched eyes were both the same dull blue shade, something that likely would not displease him.

"Look, General Danva, when you get here, you can take over.? Dack pointed at himself. ?I'm just substituting ? and why did you get a farewell feast?"

"Because Master Drallig got sick of Serra complaining about his cooking and ? stop changing the subject. You're a general, aren?t you?" Joclad looked into the box of take-out Mantellian and spotted a morsel he fully intended on consuming before he left. As it turned out, Cin?s idea of treating his former-padawan-turned-general to dinner mercifully did not include his own cooking, and thus Joclad had emptied out six of the bright red containers.

"No, I?m Acting General. You know very well Myri was the brains of this operation. I just kept the troops amused." Dack turned around abruptly and started waving his hands at someone out of view. "No! Don't put the fuel in the--"

Dack cringed away, and the hologram rippled as something out of sight exploded. Joclad massaged his temples and peered at the hologram from underneath his hands. "How did you get assigned to Rhen Var?"

"He's got no head for tactics," Cin said, scraping the last bit of meat off his plate. He pointed his fork at Joclad in warning. "Better get moving, or he?ll destroy the planet before breakfast."

"I heard that," Dack said gruffly, "and I'm not a tactician. I'm the undercover man, damn you all. I should be infiltrating Dooku's palace."

"Dooku's dead."

"Which is why I should have been assigned there before Skywalker offed him. I could have changed the whole course of the war!? Dack abruptly wheeled around in alarm. ?No, don't--oh, Force, they're going to kill us all.? He looked back, eyes wide. ?Tell Master Windu the pilots are defective."

Joclad gave up on dinner and pushed the box away. "I don?t think the Rhen Var pilot contingent is comprised of clones, Dack.?

"Oh.? A short nod as his friend absorbed the information. Joclad took heart in the fact that Dack looked no more harried than usual, though his light brown hair reflected a shaggy unkemptness that the normally spotless Corellian would not have permitted in the temple.

Dack shrugged. ?That explains the idiocy. Right. Well, I'm off to clean up the pieces of the ARC unit. There?s a nasty storm on the way, so I don?t think CIS is coming on tonight. See you soon!" Dack gave them both a cheery, immensely fake smile, and signed off.

The snickering from his former master started to wear on Joclad's nerves, and he picked up his robe. It draped reassuringly over the dark fabric of his tunic. "He's right, you know."

Cin smothered a chortle. "I agree; that boy should be in a sideshow somewhere, not running around on a battlefield. I can't believe Windu sent him to Rhen Var, Myri or not."

The two men started walking toward the door, leaving the remains of Cin?s farewell dinner spread out on the table. Joclad had no doubt that Cin?s current padawan, Serra, and her friend Bene would come sneaking by later on and devour it. Serra loathed Master Drallig?s cooking as much as Joclad but had learned to schedule her sparring matches with Bene right in the middle of the prescribed dinnertimes ? thus giving herself a way out.

?Dack is capable,? Joclad said, though he - along with the rest of the temple ? had no idea what Master Windu meant to accomplish by sending Dack Meridian to a battlefield, especially one as savage as Rhen Var. ?Dack does have experience in open combat,? he pointed out, feeling he ought to defend his friend. ?Some of the newer Knights are sorely lacking in this, and??

Cin palmed the door, and th

 

Lovely opening, unknown-shore!

I think the interplay between the characters is excellent -- you really get a sense of the diverse personalities involved, something that's not always easy to do in the beginning of a story. I found myself wanting to know more about Joclad's relationship with Deepa before she went to Haruun Kal -- was there some sort of romance going on, or were they just good friends?

Also, nice touch, with the feeling of foreboding Joclad has. Of course, we all know what's going to happen, and even though Lucas makes it seem as if every single Jedi perished in the purge, I can't help but hope that Joclad and some of his compatriots will somehow manage to escape.

Looking forward to more!

 

2. Chain of Command

Dack Meridian stood on the edge of an ancient temple and gazed out into a snowstorm.

His clones had called it quits for the night. Rather, he had called it quits for the night, commanding his men to stand down and get some rest. The temple was pitted with fissures, and wind and ice dropped in through holes in the roof more often than not, but it offered better shelter than the flimsy tents with which they were equipped. Dack had made a personal vow to his men to get them better winter supplies before the war was through.

The way things were going, he figured that gave him twenty years.

Even the mighty battledroids of CIS had realized the folly of trying to fight it out in this mess and retreated to their headquarters on the other side of the mountain. Dack supposed he was fortunate in that respect. Keeping his regiment of clone troopers happy was one thing - leading them into a fight was completely different. Rhen Var, a difficult planet to navigate by any standards, had granted the Republic forces enough time to ship in the unorthodox but highly effective Joclad Danva and let him deal with this fiasco.

Maybe the Force was still with them.

Maybe it was just luck.

Dack smiled into the foul weather, rubbing his upper arms through his insulated uniform. The blue and gray fatigues, while not as comfortable as his typical Jedi garb, kept him warm in the chill and prevented droplets of water from leaking down the front of his shirt. Enough of his troops had complained of ice melting into armor joints for him to move the entire regiment into another of the great halls. That had been a project.

He turned his back on the storm and made his way to a group of men. Logres and Maverick stood by the communications array, and Logres waved excitedly when he spotted Dack. "General Meridian, listen to this...?

General? It still seemed odd to hear the title attached to him - even if it was only for a few more hours.

Logres grinned broadly. ?General Kenobi has defeated Grievous!"

Dack almost didn?t believe it, but the grin that split his face was mirrored in the faces of the two men standing in front of him. Grievous gone! One more step in the war - just one more victory...

The temple must be in an uproar. And I?m missing it!

"Ale for everyone!" Dack exclaimed. The men began to cheer, only to weakly fade out when they realized there was no ale. He noted this, and pressed his hands together placatingly. "All right, boys, drinks are on the house when we get back. We might not even have to engage those bugs on the ridge."

And this war will finally be over.

And I can go home?

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?No, Bene, put your blade up, not like ? Bene, now you?re just messing around??

Cin pinched the bridge of his nose lightly as the two young females in front of him sparred ? or rather, pretended to spar. Serra, at least, wanted a bit of a fight; Bene was clearly not feeling particularly enthusiastic about the entire program and merely parried.

In Cin?s opinion, there were few things worse than dueling a Dark Jedi. One of those few things was attempting to guide his padawan and her friend through their motions. Blast it, young women were terribly easy to distract when paired together.

Something nagged at the back of his mind; a vague warning he was not sure how to interpret. ?Serra, your form isn?t brilliant either. Pull your shoulder back.?

?Joclad has his shoulder forward when he attacks,? she protested, nonetheless adjusting her position. The two green blades in her hands spun menacingly toward Bene, who looked at them ? and Serra ? warily.

?Joclad is also?he does?? Don?t give in, Cin, she?s just trying to distract you. ?Serra,? he continued firmly, ?when you?re a Knight you can do whatever you like, but while I am in the room you will?? Cin cut off, lifting a hand to the throbbing pain that broke out across the b

 

I like this perspective on the carrying out of Order 66. In the film it seems to happen so quickly it's hard to get a real grasp of the enormity of the situation, but here we get a more human viewpoint. I also get a sense of each of your Jedi characters as distinct and unique individuals, and even at the very beginning of this story I'm really starting to care about them and hope (against hope, considering we all know what happened to the Jedi) that at least a few of them will survive.

Looking forward to more!

 

I don't know if anyone besides my master is reading this, but I'm keepin' at it.
Happy holidays everyone, and have a great New Year!

***

3. Night Errant

Joclad turned his lightsaber over, running his fingers along the grooves in the hilt. The nagging sensation of something about to go wrong had only intensified once his shuttle was well on its way to the Redeemer, and the weak jokes that his clone escorts were swapping barely distracted him from it. He flicked his thumb just over the switch several times, half-expecting the bright blue blade to spring out on its own.

His other lightsaber was still tucked away under his robe, safe from prying eyes. He did not know how many of the clones actually knew his name or who he was; those he'd worked with simply identified him as the one with two sabers. He felt the moniker suited him well enough.

These particular clones had given up socializing with him after he proved unreceptive to their overtures, and he decided he liked it that way. Joclad firmly believed in keeping an aura of mystery from time to time, particularly when in the company of living things that he did not quite consider real humans.

He tried to relax, leaning back against the seat. This would likely be his last dose of comfort until his return from Rhen Var, or the end of the war. Oh, let Kenobi pull this off. Joclad quietly harbored a darkly enthusiastic hope for the droid-general?s demise; the Code spoke often of forgiveness and the release of old anger, but Grievous had burned them all too deeply to wish for much more than his end ? by any means.

Maybe, the knight reasoned, it?s just the war, doing what war does best. Bitterness was a feeling Joclad Danva had grown well-acquainted with after what remained of Depa returned.

She?d said something to him in the days before Haruun Kal: This is not our war, but they will make us try to fight it. She had protested at length in Council meetings, even using her considerable pull with Master Windu to keep the Jedi out of it. It will taint our souls and drive us mad. Her words drifted through the temple corridors, viewed as ironic in the wake of the clone victory on Geonosis ? in her own contribution to it ? and even more so when Depa insisted on taking on a sabotage mission against the Separatists on her own.

Pretty hypocritical for a Chalactan, huh? Dack had asked when word of Depa?s plot got out, winking at Joclad from his bed in the healer?s ward. Dack?s entire ribcage had been rebuilt following his brief stint on Geonosis, and because of that injury, Joclad refrained from throttling him good-naturedly.

One clone muttered to the other, and Joclad returned to the present. Has it really been almost three years?

Three years, and nothing but dead memories and dreams, most of them broken in the fury of the Clone War.

Now, as he studied the weapon of his trade, he marveled at just how clearly Depa had seen things.

A comlink chimed politely, and one of the clones lifted his palm to his face. Joclad and the other clone exchanged weary smiles. It was likely Captain Tarkin, demanding to know why the Jedi was running behind schedule. The man was as punctual as he was brutal. Joclad rather liked him, aside from a rather macabre interest in combined firepower rather than actual strategy.

"It will be done, my lord," the clone on the comlink said. He stood up, appearing to stretch.

Joclad looked over at him fully as the device was put away. "?My lord?? Do I get a fun nickname, too?"

Both clones stared at him, and there was something new and intent in their dark gazes.

Joclad stared back, and the uneasy feeling erupted into a full-blown warning. He flung himself off the chair and landed hard on the deck, rolling to the side as blaster fire tore into the seat and the grate behind him. He jumped up, the lightsaber casting its blue glow over the twin faces before him. He deflected the bolts carelessly, ma

 

Wow! I'm so glad I clicked on this. Your words are powerful and moving, and weave a picture that strikes a chord in the reader.

Beautiful!

 

Talk about "out of the frying pan, into the fire"! Joclad's definitely heading into a world of hurt, but I have to say that he handled those clones most impressively.

For some reason, when Joclad walked into the cockpit to see all the clones gone, I got a flashback to that scene in "Temple of Doom" when Indy discovers that the pilot of his plane has bailed out somewhere over the Himalayas. Luckily, Joclad seems to have a bit more skill in the flying department than Indy.

Since you're doing this as only a "slight" AU, I'm guessing that there won't be much left to salvage once Joclad lands. Still, a girl can hope.

Very impressively written, as usual -- I still don't think you really need a master, but if you insist then I'm very glad I'm yours!

 

Your words are soooo descriptive! Wow, I could just literally see that picture in my mind. Shows just what a Jedi can go through. And Arden Lyn, I've only seen her on one video game, I'm glad to see that name somewhere else. Keep up the good work!

 

A couple of responses:

FETT-MAN - Thanks! One of the things I?m trying to explore in this fic is just what having all those crazy Force-powers can do to a person. I did first see Arden Lyn in that old video game and I?ve been intrigued by her ever since. She debuts in this chapter ? hope you like her!

GrandAdmiralV ? Joclad is going to be very unhappy with me in about two chapters? but then, you know that, O fabulous master.

VaderLVR64 ? Thank you! I hope the story can continue to please!

Author?s Note: I don?t know how many people know about Arden Lyn; she?s a character from the old Mortal Kombat-esque game ?Masters of Teräs Käsi.? The game booklet states that she is ?A Palawan warrior from the time of Jedi, her youthfulness belies her actual age.? Basically she?s a very old, very powerful Force-user. I?m going only on what?s in the official booklet and the old Prima game guide, and hopefully she?ll turn out interestingly in this.

And now, on with the show...

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4. Dack Sneaks Around

Dack stopped outside the pilots' quarters, which were comprised of one chamber on the ground floor. Despite his inability to use the armor from his two mutineers (lightsaber strikes might raise suspicions), he'd managed to conceal himself quite well by projecting the suggestion of a regular clone soldier on patrol. It took every drop of power that he possessed to hold up the façade, but the troops he passed accepted him as B-435, and no one seemed to notice that Logres and Maverick had not returned from either a mission to the ?fresher or a quick trip to murder the general.

He figured someone would find the bodies soon enough.

He pointedly did not return to the main camp. It was too easy to assume that the insurgency involved only the two he?d been closest with; what if the rest were involved as well?

And if the rest of them are in on it? Dack straightened up and stared at the door. It might be prudent to get the hell offworld if that were the case, which was why he?d come to the pilots in the first place. Then again, what exactly was he supposed to do when he went in? Just demand a ship? Yes, Dack, that'll go over well.

His inability to sense any sort of malice from Logres and Maverick before they fired on him kept Dack on constant alert, but he was reminded of Joclad's words: The pilots aren't clones. They might not be in on? whatever just happened?

But Dack felt nothing in that room. Nothing at all.

He poked a head in and just barely made out a body sprawled across the floor.

He reached out to the living and the dead, and now he recognized the corpses of all eight pilots: sentient beings created by their parents, not a batch of cloners on Kamino. Dack pressed further into the room, kneeling beside the only one to make it out of bed. The man ? Lieutenant Jukka, if memory served - had died with a blaster in his hand.

On some dim level, Dack realized that eight dead people should have bothered him. As he sat back on his heels, though, all he could figure out was why this happened.

The clones had turned on him and the pilots. But was it a widespread revolt, or orders from higher up? He'd thought the clones were resistant to any form of bribery or brainwashing, but perhaps the remains of Dooku's network had managed some sort of mass infiltration.

But all of them? How could he... how would he? The sheer logistics involved?

Even the Dark Side could not be that strong.

?could it?

Dack touched his fingers to his forehead and bowed over the man in respect. This is because of me, Lieutenant. I apologize. Go brightly into the Force and live on forever.

Voices filtered in from the hallway, and he realized the obvious: I need to get offworld.

He rummaged through the late Jukka's things, palming security cards, clearance chips, and a handful of credits. "Sorry about this," he whispered to the lieutenant, "but you

 

Great action in this installment, and some fun character development for Dack. He's really a very likeable character; it's fun to hear this thoughts as he's trying to fight off all those clones. And he really does rise to the occasion, proving that he has resources that maybe even he didn't know he possessed.

This Arden Lyn character sounds interesting; you know already that I hadn't heard of her before, so I'm glad you put some information in your author's note for those of us who don't know all the minutiae of the GFFA (especially as it pertains to games...you know I tend to stick to silly stuff like House of the Dead and Simpson's RR!). I wonder whether she'll intervene in the Temple and help save a few Jedi....

Wonderful work as always -- you're building a lot of great suspense here, and I'm eager to see where this goes!

 

Hmm, another SH installment, must be Tuesday...

GrandAdmiralV - I'm glad Dack is growing on you. He was comic relief in a couple of short stories I had, so he's stepping up. We'll see him again soon.

For now, Mr. Danva would like everyone's attention...

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5. The Temple Fight

T240, known as Terreio to some, strode through the temple with a group of three other clone troopers and shot anything that moved.

The Jedi went down in scores, their flashy lightsabers no match for hundreds of blaster rifles. Acrobatics and Force-hurled objects might work wonders against droids, but against a breathing, thinking creature that could dodge and adjust his method of attacks, such tricks did little good. The further the clones advanced into the temple, the more woefully inadequate the grand, ancient warriors of the Republic appeared.

Terreio did note that many of them were young; the temple had been emptied of its more seasoned warriors for much of the war. Still, he?d expected more of a fight from the Jedi.

To their credit, not one of them tried to run and hide. Knights and older padawans charged straight into the line of fire, sometimes taking out five or more clones at a time. This was expected and accepted: each and every soldier knew that a Jedi, armed or not, had a distinct advantage when taken on one at a time. The only way to defeat such a fighter was with a group.

Terreio and his group took care to constantly shift the aim on their weapons, creating an uneven stream of fire that not even a Jedi could hold off forever.

His quartet took out a grizzled-looking Wookiee with little effort. ?This is almost too easy,? D-234 said as the alien collapsed into a pile of smoking fur. ?That?s seven.?

"We'll go to the outer sparring chambers next," Terreio said. "Call for backup ? Lord Vader said there may be several hiding in there."

"You won?t need backup," a voice said from above him.

Terreio's head had barely tilted back to examine the source of the voice when something blue and glowing flashed right before his eyes - and then through them.

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Joclad Danva stood over the four fallen bodies, his lightsabers poised overhead to make a final, decapitating blow if one of them moved.

None did. His gaze roamed over the empty corridor, sensing destruction and death from deep inside the temple. This little bunch had wandered the great corridors alone, and made easy prey for a Jedi perched atop the statue of Bastila. Stragglers. Must be the clean-up crew, he thought, spinning the green blade almost languidly as he lowered it. The rest are further inside...

He needed only to follow the outbursts of shock that jolted through the Force. No Jedi ever expected a clone to turn against him, and the sheer size of the temple did not allow any sort of alarm to sound with great effect.

Not that anyone ever dreamed such an alarm would be necessary?.

Joclad sensed the grim reality of the situation as he ran through vast corridors now lined with bodies: they simply were not ready. Revolt, mutiny, and murder had not occurred to even the greatest of the farseers.

He'd leaped from the wrecked remains of the transport directly into a war zone. His senses, bolstered by the hundreds of other Force-strong individuals in the temple, shied away from strange holes in the Force where identifying signatures had once been. It felt almost like Depa's reflective presence, but the more he studied it, the more he realized it was simply empty instead of silent.

?Come with me,? he implored whenever he came across a Knight or padawan hiding in the shadows. ?Come with me! We?ll cut them off before the next level!?

Always they followed the fabled Code-breaker, willing to hedge their lives on his aggression. Oh, how they finally appreciated that aggression.

But they always fell, and he did not.

Some part of him knew it was too late, but Joclad fought on. It was all he knew to do.

 

First off -- bad padawan, for not PMing me to let me know you had posted a new chapter! If I hadn't been wandering around in the Saga forums I would never have seen this!

This is a wonderful update, full of tension and tragedy. You write action very well, and that's difficult to do. I was able to visualize the whole scene without having to work at it, and that's the mark of a good action writer.

I'm hoping Joclad won't let the anger take over him too much...or he won't be any better than Anakin. And I love how Jocasta Nu is chiding him even as she's dying of her wounds -- what a wonderfully Jedi Master-like thing to do.

I'm really looking forward to seeing how you handle the confrontation with Anakin!

 

(And this is the padawan groveling publicly before the master, begging forgiveness. She promises a PM this time! She even has the post-it to prove it! Three cheers for GrandAdmiralV, who puts up with me. )

Thanks, master - I love writing action but I'm never sure how it turns out. Will Joclad listen to Jocasta's guidance? We'll have to wait a couple chapters to find out. Anakin, however, is here and... well, he's not very nice.

General note to the readers: Yeah, I played ROTS: The Game (for research, of course ). Players may recognize a couple of Cin's "Welcome to your destruction" and Serra's "You're the worst Jedi I've ever seen!" - it's meant strictly as homage.
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6. Storm Warnings

Sabé Ralter awoke to a very impolite beeping by the side of her head.

She reached out clumsily, slapping aside her regular comlink and a likely message from Rabé or, worse yet, the new lieutenant asking for more guidance on mundane issues. Sabé had no intention of losing yet another hour of precious sleep to the girl?s yammering, which had so far ranged from starfighter maintenance to problems with the cooking staff, and, guardians protect her, what to do if one of the soldiers looked at her improperly. Gods, are they incapable of giving me a halfway-decent staff? Sabé stuck her head under her pillow. Go away, go away?

The comlink kept on needling at her. Whoever it was certainly wasn?t getting the hint. Probably is that idiot lieutenant?

Times are trying, Captain, the general?s voice reminded her. Make do. You?re not on Naboo anymore.

No, instead she was stuck on some gods-forsaken attack cruiser somewhere in the Core Worlds, waiting for proper orders. Sabé swatted at the desk again, this time successfully bashing her hand into her standard comlink and sending it skittering off the night-desk. The reactor better be going critical. If the ship?s not about to explode, I?m going to send her back to that rock she came from.

The comlink bounced gently off the thin carpeting of her quarters, but the beeping continued.

Sabé peeked out from under the pillow and realized that it was not the irritating lieutenant after all.

Sleep vanished as she yanked open the drawer of her night-desk and dug the secondary comlink out. ?Padmé, what is it?? she asked, mentally calculating the time difference on Coruscant. Padmé would not call this late unless?

Sabé heard soft breathing, but no actual words. She sat up properly, leaning back against the thin durasteel headboard that had been delivered after she reached the rank of captain. ?Padmé??

The breathing continued for so long that Sabé wondered if her friend had simply knocked into the comlink accidentally while cleaning. Or perhaps Binks had tried juggling machinery again and dropped it on the ground. It didn?t necessarily mean anything was wrong?

Then, from the transmitter, came a small, frightened voice. ?Sabé? Oh, Sabé??

Her feet were already on the floor, and one arm reached for clothing as she held the comlink up. ?Talk to me, Pad ? what?s the matter? Are you all right? Where are you??

?Everything ? everything?s fine?? Padmé took a deep breath, and the shaking in her voice stopped. ?It?s just?things are going so badly here, and I don?t know? I?m so tired of this?.?

Sabé held still, looking around the darkened confines of her room. Padmé Amidala never complained about work; such things had a way of becoming very public in these turbulent times. The quake she heard beneath the Senator?s unwavering determination was very real ? and frightening. The wear and tear of Clone War politics was finally starting to manifest. Sabé, with her military commission and excellent connections, had managed to avoid a good deal of the messy galactic affairs that in which Padmé was often ensnared.

What?s worse? Eirtaé?s melodic chuckle passed through Sabé?s mind. War politics or the

 

Thanks for the PM.

It's fun to see Sabé again -- especially such a cool, take-charge Sabé. I like pieces where authors extrapolate what could have happened to some of the minor characters, since I guess we never really find out what happened to Sabè after AOTC. (Was that the correct one? They all start to run together after a while.)

Again, wonderfully written action -- the lightsaber duel is handled really well. And Anakin is such a...well, board rules forbid me from using the vernacular I'd like to employ here, but let's just say he's an uber-jerk. What really bugs me is that I know he's not going to get taken down any time soon, either.

Great update -- I love what you're doing with all these characters!

 

Well, I'm putting this up from a different computer, so hopefully everything looks okay. They locked me away in the secondary office so I figured... might as well be useful, eh?

GrandAdmiralV - The handmaiden in AOTC was Dormé, I think - I just remember her because she was in that movie Troy. We literally hear nothing from Sabé after TPM, and I thought that was a great loss - she seemed like she could be very interesting. Oh well. More fun for the fanfic writers, I guess!

And Darth Ani gets progressively ickier. But I think we all knew that.

On with the flashy pyrotechnics!

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7. The Gauntlet Falls

A hydrospanner clattered to the deck and knocked aside several empty glasses that had once contained water and muja juice. Several seconds later, Devona Swyfte's head popped out of an overhead hatch, her dark braid dangling into the empty space above the corridor. "Hey, Arden? Could you get that?"

There was no response. Devona sighed, dropped down from the hatch, and picked up the hydrospanner herself. "Is it that much to ask for a little help? I?m carting you around for next to nothing, the least you could do is?oh, what?s the use?"

She stopped her complaints, shoved the tool into her belt, and gathered up the empty glasses. There was no use in asking an ancient Teräs Käsi master to help fix a hyperdrive; Arden would probably try to use her freakish powers and short-circuit the entire thing.

Again.

You?d think someone with several thousand years of experience would pick up some mechanical know-how along the way? or maybe she just does it to make me scream. Sometimes, Devona firmly believed that Arden did things purely to chuckle at the chaos she could cause.

The Wanderer's maintenance corridor had become something of a storage yard over the last few months, and as she stumbled through it she vowed once again to clean the damned place up ? at her earliest convenience.

She deposited the glasses in the galley and wiped off her hands on a rag. "Arden, I'm going to need to pick up a new converter before we..." She spotted the woman standing in the bridge, likely either meditating or thinking about jumping through the windows. Devona hedged her bet on the latter; Arden had been nothing but odd for the last day or so, going back and forth through the Wanderer?s living quarters and complaining about disturbances in the greater powers.

Whatever that means, Devona usually thought. Arden might be very powerful indeed, but that didn?t mean she wasn?t just plain odd.

In truth, Devona Swyfte couldn?t decide which group spooked her more: the Jedi, or the old-school Teräs Käsi warriors. They all fell into the general category of Force-users, most of whom served as chilling reminders of what happened when one had an abnormally large number of weird little creatures swimming through one?s bloodstream.

?I?m going to shop around for a converter,? she said as she puttered about near the back of the bridge. ?And then I think I might sell myself at the Outlander.?

Arden did not respond.

Devona rolled her eyes and brushed past her, leaning over a keyboard to check the readouts. "Life is much easier when no one listens to you, isn?t it? In fact..." She glanced up, fully expecting to see the sparkling lights of Coruscant when she looked out the windows.

Instead, she realized that Arden wasn't meditating. She was staring.

Slowly, Devona followed Arden?s gaze to the plumes of smoke rising in the distance. Orange flame leaped up from one of the tallest buildings on Coruscant, swathing everything around it in a reddish-brown glow. Fire? Here? There shouldn?t be fires on Coruscant. Much less from a building of that size.

And then it occurred to her.

Devona dropped her datapad, hardly noticing as it bounced off her foot. "Isn't that the--"

"Yes."

"But aren't the--"

"Yes."

She grasped at the chair, her eyes widening. "Holy mother of--"

Fire. The Je

 

Die, evil Ani, die! (Sorry...imagine that line said by Cartman along the lines of "Die, evil turkeys, die!" I watch too much Comedy Central.)

He really is a snotball. And I used to root for the bad guys. Sigh.

I see he was already working out his lines as a young man: "You're weak, old man."

Loved this one: "You call me old? Jedi age, Darth Whoever-You-Are. Sith Lords rot."

And it ain't pretty.

Thanks for the clarification on the whole Sabe/Dorme thing. Guess it's my own fault for not reading the novelizations.

I really like your new OC, Devona. She's a lot of fun, and her interactions with Arden Lyn are very interesting. I hope to see more of them soon.

Great work as usual -- you have a deft hand with the action, that's for sure!

 

This is wonderful! You do a perfect job of mixing action with introspection, honing the tension to a saber's edge!

You set the promise at the beginning of this story with this ominous passage:

The Force chose not to tell him, instead leaving him with a foggy notion of something not quite right going on. He tried to peer around the veils, but only succeeded in catching flashes of a bleak, frozen landscape not unlike that of Rhen Var. He gave up, the odd sensation curling through his mind and tracing uneasily down his back.

Something didn?t feel right.

But then again, nothing ever felt right anymore.

From there you deliver a blow to the heart: you take us to the inside of Order 66 and all it's various forms and implications.

I can't wait to read more of your writing!

Ursula

 

GrandAdmiralV - Anakin always struck me as the sort who might, uhm, rehearse his better lines a little bit. You know, to build up his reputation. I'm trying to slip in nods to the OT anyway so I might as well start with the Big Bad. =D
I'm glad you like Devona! She'll be around more, although I'm sure she doesn't want to be.

Ursula1 - Thanks for your comments! I remember feeling a little put-out that we saw so little of Order 66. I really wanted to delve deeper into what happened, and its effect on the Jedi. I hope you continue to enjoy it...

If anyone wants to be put on a PM list, let me know... though my master can attest to the fact that I've had problems remembering to PM in the past.

So, here we are. The Big Smackdown. Or something. Warnings for violence, despair, general Dark Side-yness.

Note: for the purposes of this fic, there are two kinds of teräs käsi ? the fighting art that J. Danva participates in, and a very old order that A. Lyn is a master of. The Order of Teräs Käsi is capitalized, the basic fighting bit is not.

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8. Into Shadow

Arden Lyn stood atop one of the highest buildings on Coruscant and watched the Jedi Temple burn.

Speeders full of gawkers were chased away by local patrols. Flickers of surprise and fear dotted the city planet as word spread, and even those who hated the Jedi would admit to what Devona Swyfte had already pointed out: The temple should not be ablaze like that, without any help in sight.

The wind that lifted her dark hair carried the faint sounds of battle. Clones and Jedi. Soldiers and commanders. If she stretched out her senses, she could pinpoint the exact fights as they were won and lost, but her inspection of each level brought only the same result: complete destruction. Jedi padawans and children scattered in hallways, and older Knights and Masters fought with all they had to no avail.

Carnage.

All of this against a batch of clones with projectile weapons?

Arden Lyn had seen a great many things throughout her unnaturally long life. She had come to accept that certain events would occur: the Sith would rise again, the Jedi would face unenviable hardship, and war would besiege the Republic.

Now, as she watched the cornerstone of peace and justice -- or what passed for it these days -- burn and die, she knew that something far darker had smoked across the stars.

She tugged on her wrist bracers and checked the nearby air for errant speeders. A step off the roof and she was airborne, soaring across the city and landing atop one of the buildings directly across from the temple. Several citizens were already gathered on the landing below her, gawking through smoke at the mess. It took only a tweak of the greater power to keep their attention off Arden and on the temple, allowing her to get a good look.

A lone fireship arrived, and smoke mixed with steam as it poured water on one of the many smaller fires: an apparently wrecked transport at the base of the Council tower.

She reached out again. Someone still put up a fight, though the exhausted strokes of a lightsaber rapidly indicated the person was running out of energy.

Of time.

Of hope.

She climbed up the spire, leaning out over an abyss and shading her eyes from the flames. Yes, the Sith have made a move...and a bold one. A direct frontal assault on the Jedi Temple had long been accepted as a suicide run and no more, even by the notoriously flamboyant Teräs Käsi masters. Were the temple in its usual peacetime state, hundreds of able-bodied fighters would have destroyed the clone force, regardless of its size. No mere soldier dared stand up to a full team of....

But they were away...with the rest of the clones.

Arden pulled herself back fully to the spire, and held tightly with both hands as she extended her reach as far as she could.

She immediately shrank back within herself, uncertain as to exactly what she was looking a

 

AACK! I've missed posts! If you PM when you update, please include me on the list so I don't miss any more chapters!

 

I've said it before, but I'll say it again: You do an awesome job with action. I can clearly see Joclad's advance through the temple, and the fight with Anakin is handled really well. I like how the characters are taunting one another -- and even though I know this is only slightly AU I couldn't help wishing that Joclad would kick Skywalker's butt! Ah, to dream....

Arden Lyn is a really interesting character. I know you said you took her character from some old video game, but you've fleshed her out so much that I really think of her as being your character. I can only hope that she catches up with poor Joclad in time.

Wonderful update -- I hope the next chapter doesn't include Joclad's demise!

 

great story.

 

Hi guys? happy Valentine?s Day! Not much of a romantic post, I fear.

GrandAdmiralV - Thanks! It's probably more AU than I like to admit (Arden Lyn running around the temple? Oi!) but hey. I'm glad you like the trash-talking. I think it's my favorite part to write. Hey, my formative memories are of Vader pushing ol' Ben around. Can't blame me!
Arden is fun to write, though I fear she gets progressively weirder.
VaderLVR64 - I've added you to the PM list. Thanks for asking! I do keep one (well... there's two people on it)- I hope you enjoy the next 'un!
sdhfs - Thank you!

Preface:

I always wondered why Darth Vader wanted Arden Lyn to beat up members of the Alliance. So, I gave him a reason?

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9. Without a Light

?Aren?t you going to at least make him beg??

The lightsaber skimmed millimeters over his head, cutting through empty air as Skywalker whirled around.

Joclad Danva exhaled, and still lived.

He turned his head with some effort to see what had just saved him. In the shattered doorway, dramatically backlit by the hellish flames of the burning temple, stood a woman.

The fact that she was standing there at all made Joclad wonder if he were hallucinating. Or maybe he was dead already, and now he was trapped in some sort of uneven limbo, doomed to fight the same battles over and over again. Nonetheless, his would-be savior clearly needed a little correcting. ?I don?t beg.?

?I wasn?t really talking to you,? the woman said, ?but I?ll make a note of that.?

?Who are you?? Skywalker demanded.

Joclad looked in the direction his other ?saber had flown off, and spotted the hilt gleaming dully in a corner. He stretched his left hand for it, but as it skittered against the scorched tiles, he realized he lacked the strength to summon it. Damn.

He thought the woman chuckled. ?I?m someone who has a severe dislike for executions,? she said, coming closer. Nearly-black hair brushed her shoulders, and she was clad in a simple black outfit. Not a single weapon ? blade or blaster ? adorned it. ?I prefer a straight fight to the death, to be honest.?

Skywalker looked at her incredulously. ?What, precisely, do you think it is we?re doing here??

The one who carries no weapon is the one to be watched most carefully. Joclad swayed to his feet, pain racing through every joint and muscle in his body. The woman stopped a few meters away, hands clasped behind her back. ?I know both your faces.?

?A shame ? they?ll be the last you see.? Skywalker ? Darth Anakin, Joclad decided ? bolted toward her. Joclad did his best to surge after him, but only crashed to his knees again in exhaustion, a reddish haze creeping across his eyes. Am I bleeding? I must be bleeding. Maybe my eyes are bleeding. Oh, that wouldn?t be good.

Darth Anakin?s azure blade swept toward the woman in a precise, body-cutting arc. Or at least, Joclad thought it did. It was hard to see beyond the haze, but Skywalker had either misjudged the woman?s position or she simply moved with impossible speed.

It was like watching a dream play out. This woman ? is she real? Did I dream her up as I died? ? danced around a Dark Lord of the Sith with all the precision and grace of a Laeraen skyrider. Skywalker chopped away at her, but she dodged over and around each blow so perfectly....

She rolled forward, skimming underneath the blade and leaping upward, practically smashing into Skywalker. As he brought his weapon inward, though, the woman?s right fist came up and out. There was a surge in the Force, and the last thing Joclad saw of Anakin Skywalker were his boots as the boy sailed out the fractured doors and over the balcony, presumably to land several stories down.

I know that move, he realized. Rancor-rising? Phow Ji had used it on him to great effect. But Joclad had never seen it used like that.

Looking closer at the woman, he felt he ought to recognize her. ?Ter

 

What a great chapter! You write action very well. I'm jealous!

This was a superb line:

The one who carries no weapon is the one to be watched most carefully.

And oh how true!

 

OK...so what happened to that PM?? Did you not want to bother your master on Valentine's Day?? <Insert GAV tapping her foot impatiently here> You're just lucky I wander around the boards on a regular basis, or I wouldn't have even seen this!

I know I sound like a broken record, but you do action superbly. This scene is so clearly written that I can see every part of it in my mind.

I really liked Cin's giving Joclad grief for being melodramatic. What a Jedi-masterish thing to do...scold that padawan about angsting while the master is dying....

And Arden is going to get progressively weirder? Hmmm....

"Don't try to outweird me, man -- I get weirder things than you free with my breakfast cereal!"

Ten points to whoever identifies that quote first.

And now Depa has vanished! I'm not sure whether that's a good or a bad thing...then again, she didn't seem inclined to independent movement the last time we saw her, so I'm wondering who it is who's taken her.

Wonderful update as always!