Chapter 1: A Grave Betrayal

19 B.B.Y

Jedi Knight Alec Cethro, a young man, slightly taller than average, with short black hair, was leading three clone troopers through the Coruscant Underlevels in the search for one of the temple workers who had been accused of murdering a Padawan the night before. Having just ascended to the rank of "Knight," Alec was on his first official mission without his Master by his side, so he was determined to bring back the man. However, he was having trouble focusing on the task at hand, as something was bothering him since he left the temple. But he did his best to ignore the feeling and pressed onward.

Suddenly, the three clone troopers stopped in their tracks, unbeknownst to the Jedi, and the highest-ranked of the three pulled out a Holoprojector, which instantly pulled up a hologram of Chancellor Palpatine, "Execute Order 66," the hologram said, and the transmission cut.

Wordlessly, the three clones nodded at each other and quietly raised their blaster rifles and took aim at the Jedi, now branded a traitor to the republic. But just as the clones were about to fire, Alec felt a disturbance in the force, like a prick in the back of his neck, putting him on his guard. Using the force, he pulled one of his lightsabers from up his sleeve and activated its green blade. He managed to deflect the initial shots fired at him, but the volley was too much to handle, and one of the blaster bolts caught him in the right side of his chest, causing him to fall on his back in intense pain.

His heart and head pounding, the world around him grew darker and darker as the three clones stepped closer and trained their blasters down on him, ready to make the killing blow. But then, out of nowhere, a sudden flash of green cut through the torsos of the first two clones, and a second flash beheaded the third. The lifeless bodies fell beside Alec as he started losing consciousness, and the last thing he remembered before passing out was a figure reaching down and grabbing him.

Almost an entire day had passed before Alec woke up. He shot up in pain and clutched his bandaged chest, and as the memory of the previous night slowly came back to him he scanned the shabby, dimly lit bedroom. His robes, tunic, and lightsabers were missing, and he had no clue where he was, but he heard someone moving around in the next room, so he silently got out of bed and inched his way toward the door. Wanting to catch whomever it was by surprise, he carefully turned the doorknob when a young woman's voice called, "I'm making breakfast if you want something to eat. Just…don't ask what it is."

Surprised that the woman had managed to sense his moving about, Alec cautiously opened the door and walked into the kitchen where he saw a woman, obviously Togruta judging by the Lekku and the orange skin, with her back to him dressed in a simple tunic, cooking something that didn't resemble anything Alec had ever seen. He looked around the apartment in the hopes that he could spot his equipment when the woman said, "Take a seat. Your robes and tunic are in the chest against the wall," she pointed toward a wooden chest to their left, "Oh, and you're welcome, by the way."

"Who are you?" Alec said as he walked over to the chest and retrieved his things, however, he noticed his lightsabers were not inside. "What have you done with my lightsabers?" he threw on his tunic and his robes and faced the Togruta woman, ready to defend himself if she attacked him.

"Relax, Alec, you have no need for them here."

Alec spotted a knife on the small table at his side, and readied himself to pick it up and attack if he needed to protect himself, "How do you know my name?" but the woman kept cooking, "Answer me," he commanded.

The Togruta woman slowly turned around and carried the pot to the table, however Alec still could not get a good look at her face, "You haven't changed much," she said, "you're just as twitchy as when we were training together as younglings."

Alec stood there, confused as he tried to piece together what she had just said, but once she turned and faced Alec the answer struck him, "Ahsoka Tano? Is that really you? You've gotten…" he took a moment to take a look at his friend, whom he had heard had left Coruscant far behind after the false accusations placed on her a couple months back, "Older."

"And you," she shot Alec that devious smile she gave to someone when she was being snarky, "haven't changed much." She scooped out and plopped a lump of gray food into each of the two bowls at the table and beckoned Alec to sit.

"Actually," he said as the two took their seats, "it's Knight now. I ascended rank shortly after you…after you left."

"Master Mezzir must have been thrilled to have you off her back," Ahsoka said with a half smile, but Alec looked down.

"Actually," he said with some difficulty, "she died on our last mission," he clenched his fists tightly as memories of his master dying in his arms started flooding in. But he closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths to clear his mind.

"I'm sorry," Ahsoka said, "she was a great teacher." Ahsoka stood up and walked over to the counter where she opened a drawer next to the stove and pulled out Alec's lightsabers, "that explains the different construction styles of your lightsabers," she held up the smaller, sleeker hilt in her left hand and the larger, less-refined hilt in her right, "You took your Master's blade after her death."

Alec reached over and took the smaller hilt, "In her last breath she said she wanted me to have it, to remind me that no matter how dark it gets, there is always someone who is looking out for you," he activated the lightsaber, and a short, yellow blade was emitted from the hilt. He deactivated the blade and rested the hilt on the table. He then grabbed the other hilt and put it beside his master's, "Though, to be honest, ever since Master Mezzir's death using a lightsaber hasn't been the same."

"Really?" Ahsoka said as she straightened up, "what happened to the Alec I knew who would insist on cutting his way through everything?"

"I started taking the Jedi Code a bit more seriously," he said, "After my Master's death I was having trouble staying focused, and after some initial… trouble, I was relieved of duty for some time," Alec straightened up, "But I came to realize that I could not allow her death to affect me. I had to control my emotions to keep my mind clear."

"Then I take back what I said," Ahsoka said with a half smile, "You really have changed." She paused for a moment before letting out out a chuckle, "Do you remember when—"

"Ahsoka," Alec cut her off, "What am I doing here?" the Togruta's smile vanished, "the last thing I remember is being shot at by my own troops, and the next thing I know, I'm in some apartment in the Coruscant Underlevels." Ahsoka averted her gaze away from his eyes, "And what are you doing here? Master Skywalker searched for you for days after you left. We had all thought you left Coruscant for good."

"I've always been good at hiding," Ahsoka said, casting her eyes further from Alec's gaze, "though admittedly my lack of patience almost got the better of me at first," Ahsoka briefly ran her hand over a scar that ran down her right forearm. She took a deep breath before continuing, "Part of me wanted to go back to Shili to help my people, to use what I had learned from the Jedi to actually make a change. But another part of me couldn't leave everything behind. There were times when I considered coming back, but I couldn't put my issues with the Jedi Order or the code behind me." With a distant look on her face she took a bite from her food. Alec, now realizing his hunger, picked up a spoon and took a bite of the thick, gel-like food. Whatever it was had an unsettling lack of taste, and it sent shivers down Alec's back when he tried swallowing it.

The silence continued for a few minutes before Ahsoka finally spoke up, "The Jedi have been betrayed."

Alec looked up at her, though she still refused to look him in the eye, "What, are you talking about?"

"Chancellor Palpatine," she said, her voice edging toward an angry tone, "he ordered the clones to execute the Jedi."

Alec dropped the spoon in disbelief, and almost fell out of his chair, "What? That's…but, that's impossible." He couldn't think of a reason why the Chancellor would issue such an order to the clones, but then he thought back to the previous night when the clones under his own command attacked him, "Surely you must be mistaken. The Chancellor would never betray the Jedi."

Ahsoka shook her head, "I took this off one of the clones that tried to kill you," she reached into her tunic and pulled out a holoprojector. She activated it, and a hologram recording of Chancellor Palpatine executing Order 66 appeared. Alec stared at the disk in the palm of Ahsoka's hadn, unable to process what he just saw. "The clones gunned down every Jedi in sight, and I hear that one of the Masters from the temple has become Palpatine's pawn."

"Do you know who?" Alec asked as he tried to wrap the situation around his head, "Do you know how many Jedi survived?"

"I don't know," Ahsoka shook her head, "As far as I know, you are the only Jedi who survived, though Master Rahm Kota distrusted the clones from the start, so he may have escaped."

Alec pulled out his comlink and was about to transmit a message when Ahsoka grabbed it out of his hand and smashed it on the table, breaking it into countless pieces, "What the hell are you doing?" Alec shouted, "We could have reached out to survivors."

"And bring the entirety of the clone army down on us?" Ahsoka shot at him, "Those clones that attacked you never confirmed their kill, meaning that you are still being hunted. And that comlink of yours would have killed us both the moment you sent out a transmission." Ahsoka stood up and threw on a tattered brown cloak, "If we want to find any survivors, we'll have to do it from the temple." She then walked over to the sole window, completely boarded up save for a small gap between the boards. "We'll head out once the sun sets."

Chapter 2: Devestation

Ahsoka and Alec spent the past few hours silently preparing for whatever remained at the temple. And now that the sun had set, Alec clipped his lightsabers to the holsters on his forearms and knocked on the door to Ahsoka's room, where to Togruta Jedi had gone to meditate. "Ahsoka," he said and he checked to make sure the holsters were secure, "are you ready?"

Without a word, Ahsoka opened her eyes and stood up from her meditation. She walked over to a small wooden chest that sat on a table beside her bed and pulled out her lightsaber. She stared at the hilt for a moment, reflecting on the last time she had been to the temple, "Master," she said under her breath, "please be alive." She then clipped the lightsaber to her belt and made her way into the kitchen. "Let's go," she said to Alec, and the two through their hoods over their heads and headed out the door.

The two stuck to the darkness of the Underlevel's alleys as they made their way to the temple. Not wanting to draw any unnecessary attention, they were forced to stop from time to time to allow a clone patrol to pass by before they could continue. But as the night went on, the two found their way to the Jedi Temple, where they hid behind a stack of supply crates.

"I count eight," Alec commented on the clones standing guard to the entrance of the temple, "Once we get inside we can easily sneak around, but we can't give them time to alert the other troops."

"Then we'll just have to be quick about it," Ahsoka said as she pulled her lightsaber from her belt, "I'll move from the left. You take the other side of the staircase and wait for my signal." Alec nodded in agreement before he and Ahsoka split, moving swiftly behind supply crates and un-manned shuttles until they managed to get close enough to the temple entrance to take on the clone guards. Now in position, the two pressed themselves against the ledges of the temple steps, preparing for the attack.

From hiding, Alec peered over the ledge and watched Ahsoka as he waited for the signal to move in. On the other side of the staircase, Ahsoka closed her eyes and calmed herself. She reached out to the force and let it flow through her, using it to grab a distant stack of supply crates and causing it to collapse.

Four clones moved forward to investigate, and once they passed Ahsoka threw Alec a signal and the two sprinted up the steps and quickly dispatched the remaining clones with four swift strikes of their lightsabers. But the clones that had broken from the group had caught sight of the two and opened fire. The two advanced on the group, deflecting blaster bolts along the way, killing the clones with their own blaster fire. The task done, Ahsoka and Alec put away their lightsabers and made their way into the temple.

As the two quietly walked through the quiet halls of the temple, there was a feeling of great unease. The corpses of Jedi and clones who had fallen during the battle surrounded Ahsoka and Alec, and the two could feel the final painful moments of each and every being that surrounded them echoing through the force. They walked in grave silence until they reached a fork and Alec spoke up, "My vision is too clouded, Ahsoka, I can't sense anything."

"Mine as well," Ahsoka said as she unhooked her lightsaber, "and the lack of clone troopers in the temple is very suspicious. But something dark is here, I can feel it."

"I can feel it too," Alec said, "But I can't pinpoint the source. The Dark Side has engulfed this temple."

"I'll take the path toward the medical facilities," Ahsoka started on the left path, "you take the path toward the Council Chamber."

"Is it really a good idea to split up? If one of us comes across the traitor, can we really take him alone?"

"I fear we won't have enough time otherwise," Ahsoka said, "there don't seem to be many troops left in the temple. If we don't stop the Chancellor and his pawn now, I fear we won't have another chance." Without another word, she rushed toward the medical facilities. Alec, with a sigh, headed down the other path toward the Council Chamber.

When he arrived outside the chamber, Alec could feel the influence of the Dark Side emanating from the room, 'The traitor must be in there,' Alec thought as he prepared himself for a fight. He used the force to bring the hilt of his main hand saber into his hand as he slowly made his way into the room. When he stepped inside he saw a man, his face obscured by a black hood, sitting in one of the chairs, flanked by two clone guards. They both raised their blasters to shoot him down, but Alec used the force to slam them to the ground.

"Ah, young Alec Cethro, how nice of you to join me," the man said in a hollow, gravelly voice that sent a shiver down the Jedi Knight's spine.

"Show your face, traitor," Alec ordered as he activated his lightsaber, "your scheme ends now."

"Foolish child," the man said as he stood up and pulled the hood of his cloak back, reavealing himself as Chancellor Palpatine to the young man.

"Chancellor Palpatine?" Alec raised his lightsaber upon seeing the Chancellor's now twisted face, "Where is your pawn? Who is it that turned on the order?" Alec stepped closer, preparing to take down the Chancellor if necessary, but the man simply let out a hollow laugh, which caused Alec's hair to stand on end.

"In your position my Apprentice is the least of your concern."

In that moment, Alec fully understood why he and Ahsoka were unable to pinpoint one Dark Jedi in the temple, and the Chancellor shot a bolt of force lightning at Alec, who barely managed to absorb the blast with his lightsaber. "You're a Sith Lord," Alec shouted, and the Chancellor stopped the stream of lightning, "You didn't just have one of the Masters under your heel, you took him as an apprentice."

"Jedi Master?" Palpatine said with a twisted grin, "Is that what you heard? Well I am sorry to disappoint you, young Cethro, but I did not turn one of your precious Masters. He was a knight, not unlike you. So filled with anger….and fear. His power limited by the restrictions of the Jedi, I was able to show him true power." Alec narrowed his eyes at the Chancellor and kept his guard up. "I sense great power within you, boy. If you join me, I can show you the path to true power. If you strike down your friend in the Medical center, I will show you power beyond your imagination."

Alec turned off his lightsaber and clipped it back up his sleeve, "Do not take me for a fool, Palpatine. You cannot lure me to the Dark Side so easily."

"Then you have sealed your fate, Jedi," Palpatine said, and Alec stood in a fighting stance, waiting for the Chancellor to attack, "And now you have lowered your defenses. Master Yoda truly has let such potential go to waste with his pitiful order," and as the Sith Lord shot another bolt of lightning at Alec, the young man smirked, and calmed his mind, extending the force through his fingertips as he intercepted the lightning.

"You are more powerful than I gave you credit for," Palpatine said as he ended the stream of lightning, "But your arrogance will be your end." Palpatine sent another, more powerful stream, which Alec managed to intercept. The two stood perfectly still, connected by bolts of lightning, which branched off, causing the remaining mirrors in the Council Chamber to shatter.

But it wasn't long before Alec's resistance started wearing down on the Jedi Knight. Alec had underestimated his foe, thinking that his old age would wear him down, but now Alec was forced to do something before he was too worn out to fight back. Alec closed his eyes and focused. He took a deep breath and, with all his might, pushed back against the stream and jumped to the side, out of the way of the stream and behind one of the Council seats.

The Chancellor let out another laugh, "You see, your teachings are nothing compared to the power of the Dark Side. Your Confidence will be your downfall, and the Jedi will be one step closer to extinction."

"The Jedi will not fail, Palpatine," Alec said as he pulled his two lightsabers to hand, "I won't let it happen." Alec activated his lightsabers and stood ready to fight.

"I sense an uneasiness within you," Palpatine said, "and your stance. Even a padawan would know that it is off," Alec tightened his grip and readied himself for an attack, "You may be powerful in manipulating the force, but you are no warrior." Faster than Alec could process, Palpatine drew his lightsaber and dashed toward him, swinging his lightsaber so fast that Alec just barely managed to put his blades up to properly defend himself. However, the strength of the attack caused Alec to lose his footing, and he nearly buckled under the force of the blow.

"You see," Palpatine said, showing little sign of strain despite his feeble appearance, "the power of the Dark Side is far superior to your pathetic Jedi teachings, and now, to prove it to you, you will die by my hand."

Despite Alec's attempts at controlling himself, he couldn't help but let the anger start getting a hold of him, "Never," he shot back before pushing back the Chancellor, allowing him to try and get on the offensive, but Palpatine effortlessly blocked every strike.

Alec, growing increasingly frustrated with the fight, pushed Palpatine back as hard as he could. He then receded himself and put away his lightsabers, "What is this?" Palpatine smirked, "You know you are no match for me, foolish boy." But Alec blocked the Chancellor's words from his mind and focused all his energy on the structure of the Chamber. He knew he could not take down the man on his own, but he was not going to make it easy for him, but the Chancellor saw through such plans and forced Alec to the ground. "Trying to crush me by collapsing the very room you are within. How blindly noble," Palpatine put away his own lightsaber and laughed, "I have entertained you long enough. Now you will die, Young Cethro, and with your death, I will be that much closer to total galactic power."

Alec, defeated, closed his eyes and prepared for death to come. "Do not give up," a soft female voice echoed in his head, "Alec, there is hope."

"Master?" his eyes shot open as he called out.

"Always hope," she said before her voice faded away.

Palpatine stepped closer so that he was just a few feet from the young man, "No one can help you now," he said as he shot force lightning at Alec. The young man writhed in pain while the Chancellor continued the torture. But just when all seemed lost, he noticed a thermal detonator on one of the fallen clone trooper's belts.

His energy reduced from the fight, it took all of Alec's remaining strength to concentrate on the thermal detonator and pull it from the belt, "Chancellor," he screamed in a mixture of pain and anger, "you will fall," using the force, he then activated the bomb and threw it at the emperor, who was forced to break his attention away from Alec to deflect the blast away. And in that moment, Alec stood up and ran as fast as he could from the chamber. And although Palpatine did not pursue him, Alec could hear his laughter echoing from the Chamber as he made his way toward the Medical Facilities.

"Ahsoka," he cried out as he spotted the Togruta, the Chancellor is a Sith Lord, we have to—" He cut himself off mid-sentence when he realized that Ahsoka was looking at something in terror. "What is—oh my…" Alec looked into the ward she was staring into and saw a man, covered in burns, and obviously in the middle of extensive surgery, strapped to a table. "Is that him?" Alec asked, "Is that the one who betrayed the order."Ahsoka, unable to form words, nodded, and a single tear rolled down her cheek, "Do you know him?"
"Alec…" she forced herself to say, "That is my old Master….That is Anakin Skywalker."

Alec could not believe what he was hearing, that thing on the table, he thought, could not possibly be the Chosen One, "Are you sure?" he asked, but Ahsoka would not respond. She simply stared at what remained of the main, who sat strapped to the operating table, all four of his limbs now machine, and an oxygen mask over his face. Alec hung his head, trying to block the terrible sight from his mind, when he heard Ahsoka activate her lightsaber. She reached back and swung down at her master, her face twisted in an angry snarl, but at the last moment Alec pulled out his own lightsaber and blocked the strike, "What are you doing?" he shouted as he pushed the young woman away.

"He a traitor," Ahsoka said as tears started flowing down her face, "he was supposed to be the Chosen One, but he fell to the Dark Side."

"Killing him is not the Jedi way," Alec took a glimpse at the man, but had to look away from the horrible sight. "My Master always told me that, as a Jedi, there will come a time when fear and hatred may cloud your mind, prevent you from seeing the light. And it is in those moments that you have to look to those closest to you for guidance. Ask them for help, and they will show you the way," Ahsoka glared at him, so he continued, "Just come with me," he said, and he offered his hand to her.
Ahsoka looked at his outstretched hand, but her rage only became more fierce, "To hell with the Jedi way," Ahsoka screamed, "I am NOT a Jedi," she raised her lightsaber over her head to strike again, but she stopped herself and looked down upon her former master, feeling nothing but pity for the man. She closed her eyes and put away her lightsaber, "Let's go," she said coldly over her shoulder, and the two ran off.

They made their way out of the temple just as a Shuttle landed. Alec drew his lightsabers, ready to fight any clone that stepped outside, but Ahsoka rushed toward the ship with a fury unlike any Alec had ever seen. He put away his lightsabers and stepped into to the ship, now littered with the bodies of dead clones.

"Ahsoka?" he called as he stepped further inside, "are you all right?" He then heard someone get slammed to the floor in the cockpit, so he rushed ahead, ready to protect his companion, but when he got there he only saw the young woman ontop of a clone, whose helmet lay several feet away.

"Why?" she ordered as she punched the clone across the face, "Why did you follow that command? How could you betray us?"

"A clone follows his commands without question, Tano," the clone responded, which made Ahsoka fight back even more tears.

"Why?" she shouted, "The Jedi were not a threat to the republic. You know that. Didn't you care about us, Rex?" Alec figured this clone must have served under Ahsoka at some point during the war.

"It is not a clone's place to question orders," the clone answered coldly.

"Then did you feel nothing? No sadness? No Regret?" Ahsoka could no longer fight back the tears.

"It is not our place to allow such emotions to get in our way."

Unable to look her old friend in the eye, Ahsoka left the clone to Alec, who grabbed the clone by the collar of his armor and threw him out of the shuttle, shutting the door behind him. "Ahsoka," he said to his friend, who now sat, defeated, in the pilot's chair, "We have to get out of here before the Chancellor shows up."

Ahsoka took a deep breath and nodded, before she wordlessly started the ship and flew away from the temple.

The two had flown for several hours and had finally entered hyperspace before Ahsoka finally said anything, "The Jedi have lost, haven't they?"

Alec did not answer right away. It was hard to disagree with her after the destruction the two had witnessed, but he could not get his Master's voice out of his head, that voice that told him to not lose his hope, "No," he said, and he tightened his fists, "the Jedi have not lost. As long as we survive, the ways of the Jedi live on. He has not defeated us yet."

Ahsoka did not respond, however, Alec noticed that her lips had formed a slight smile for a moment, before it completely vanished and she said, "When I saw Anakin, I could not believe that he had allowed the Dark Side to take him over like that. When I saw him I felt so much pain….so much fear…..so much hatred."

"You must not be afraid, Ahsoka—"

"No," she cut him off, "I am not talking about myself. I felt those emotions from Anakin. And it felt as if they were all aimed at himself, as if he was terrified by what he had become."

"Are you going to be okay, Ahsoka?" Alec asked his old friend.

She thought for a moment before sitting back in her chair and closing her eyes, "one day….eventually."

Chapter 3: A New Life

Alec and Ahsoka exited hyperspace just outside the atmosphere of Kya'arvec, a small planet of the Outer Rim Territories. "The clones would never find us in a place like this, even if they end up setting up a base here," Ahsoka told Alec. "Half of the planet is covered in desert, the other half in oceans, and slavers regularly make their sales here."

"We sure are a long way from home," Alec said as he tried to take in the fact that everything he had expected from life had changed overnight.

"One needs a place to call home before they can say such things," Ahoska said coldly, "I fear that we may never see Coruscant again."

Preparing to start their new lives on the run, Ahsoka and Alec started the descent toward the planet's surface.

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There's the first chapter. I hope you enjoyed. Please review (it makes for improvements).