Blood of the Forgotten/Ch2

The obelisks of Cha’amth rose like mythical giants, far above the flat, plateau landscape of the world. Quinlan Vos sat at the foot of one of these darkstone spires, feeling through the Force. His comrades in battle were dying. He had escaped from Boz Pity, and traveled far from the Outer Rim. It was over. The Jedi had finally reached the point of no return - and he would not be a part of this. His eyes were closed, and he mentally checked off everyone he knew was alive. Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Madame Jocasta, and the rest was hazy.

As the Kiffar tracker sat there, Bail Organa sat in his office on Coruscant. It was the end of the Republic, as the Jedi were hunted down and killed. A young Padawan who’d escaped the Temple’s sacking with him sat next to him. The human boy was obviously scared and confused as to why the clones, taught to be unwaveringly loyal to their generals and commanders, had attacked.

“Padawan, what’s your name?” Bail finally asked while the boy was staring at an Alderaanian flower.

“Zett Jukassa.” he said shyly, not even turning to look at him. “Th-thank you Senator.”

“I’ve been a friend of the Jedi for a long time, Zett. There’s no need to thank me for anything.” It was a true fact, ever since the Alderaanian royal government had appointed him to the chair after his predecessor’s passing, the Viceroy had long been friended to the Jedi. That was helped by his relationship to Senator Amidala, who he suspected had more than just a ‘friend’ relationship with Knight Skywalker. “How would you feel to be taken to Alderaan? It’s much safer, considering-”

The door swung open, and two clones barged in, their blasters aimed at Jukassa. “Step away from the traitor, Senator! We don’t want to have to kill you as well!” Bail narrowed his eyes at the clones- before a green lightsaber sliced both of them in half before they could even react. A Caamasi Jedi stood there, and deactivated his blade.

“Senator Organa. I am Master Ylenic It’kla. I understand that you have a friendly relationship with the Jedi… and me and my refugee brethren wish to apply for asylum in Alderaan.” A Tholothian girl and a Rodian stood behind him. “This is Katooni, and this is Pasem Gird.” he said, motioning to the two other Jedi. Jukassa had finally turned around, and the Tholothian (Katooni, Bail presumed) stared at him. They obviously were familiar with each other.

“Wherever you got your information, you were right, Master It’kla,” Bail replied, standing. The tall Caamasi strided over to him, and shook his hand. “I’d be happy to take you all in.”

~

Rex stood over the gravesite, one lone shoto saber on top of it. His helmet and pistols sat next to the shoto, in a mirage that both him and Ahsoka were dead. Ahsoka was propped up against his side, still dazed from the bombing. They were in a forest now, having escaped to Concordia, Mandalore’s moon. The clones had followed them, and now it would appear they were dead. Maybe later on, a troop would find that grave site, and they’d be safe.

“You know, we have to split up, Ahsoka. You take the Darksaber. I’ll fit in.” He pulled Ahsoka to his chest. “I know we’ll see each other again.”

“I hope so, Rex.”

~

Obi-Wan Kenobi clamped a head on his sweaty forehead as he slowly walked through the plains of Utapau. He saw the starship ahead, with a Zabrak man standing out front. The Zabrak saw him, and narrowed his eyes. He held up a blaster pistol at Obi-Wan as he continued to walk.

“You there, stop! I’m warnin’ ya!” the Zabrak shouted, firing a warning shot at the low-cut grass as Obi-Wan approached. Obi-Wan, tired and not wanting to deal with this, lifted his hand and threw the Zabrak against the ramp, rendering him unconscious then and there. He walked up the ramp, and found that there was nobody inside. He hadn’t expected a 1-man crew… which sent a bad feeling to his gut. Something cold rested against his head.

“Obi-Wan Kenobi.” a female voice said, and slowly he turned his head, to see another Zabrak. This one was much more familiar.

“Sugi. A pleasure to see you again.” He could practically feel her roll her eyes at him. “I was just wishing to… get off the planet.”

“Always the charmer. Obviously you didn’t kill Maghato there, he is a bit of a dolt.” She motioned for him to sit in the co-pilot’s seat. She left for a moment, entrusting him to not lift off as she dragged her companion’s unconscious form back into the ship. The Halo, if he remembered the ship’s name correctly, lifted off from Utapau moments later. A holographic screen lit up, named were hundreds of Jedi. “You’re lucky I like you, Kenobi. The Empire’s sent out hundreds of bounties on unconfirmed dead Jedi. They’ve also released a list of dead Jedi. I’ll let you look through.” She handed him a datapad, listed alphabetically by last name.

Names scrolled by, many he’d never heard of before, but many he did.

Plo Koon, Aayla Secura… and a name that sent a shiver down his spine.

Ahsoka Tano. Dead on Concordia. No. He denied the fact that she was dead. Even though he knew, in his heart, that she probably was. Next to the name was CT-7567. Rex had tried to save her.

“I know how hard it must be for you, Kenobi.” Sugi said, trying to comfort him as much as a bounty hunter could. He looked at the bounties still active. Yoda was alive, as was Kit Fisto, and Quinlan Vos. Anakin wasn’t mentioned in any of them, which made him neither worried nor relieved. Anakin had gone almost radio silent in the Force when the clones began to shoot at him.

“Take me to Alderaan.”

~

Kalakim was a picturesque city - sitting on the edge of the great obsidian obelisks of Cha’amth. A freighter entered the atmosphere above the city, and Satine smiled. This was her new home. A river cut straight through the city, leading straight out into the adjacent sea. A large structure sat in the outskirts of the city, most likely to preserve its history, yet the structure still held Kalakite architecture at its core. The freighter had picked up many travelers on its way, most of which were pilgrims.

One such pilgrim, a Theelin, sat next to Satine after the previous inhabitant left at the Garel stop. Satine observed how this one had to be no older than twenty, and her parents - or at least she assumed they were - sat across the passage, and often they’d look over, and then whisper to each other. Something was definitely wrong in that family, but Satine did not intrude.

“''This is the last stop. Please gather your belongings and head to the exit in an orderly fashion.''” One by one, all the rows stood, gathered their suitcases and bags, and left. “Thank you for your cooperation.” She followed the Theelin out, and she was separated by a Caamasi couple from her parents. Satine made her move.

“Hey, what’s your name?” That was cheesy.

“Uvarui.” the ‘pilgrim’ replied sheepishly, not even turning to look at her.

“Is something wrong between you and the… other Theelins?” she asked, a bit too forcefully for her own taste. Uvarui did not respond. “Come on, just tell me.” Need to make up a lie… “I’m a psychiatrist. I notice these things.” People trust doctors - right?

“My parents forced me to the Cha’amth pilgrimage. Didn’t even tell me what we were going here for, just packed my bags and told me we’re going.” she replied. Her eyelashes fluttered, and Satine put a hand on her shoulder.

“You don’t need to go with them, you-”

“You don’t understand.” piped in another voice, and Satine turned around. A tall Theelin stood behind her. “It is sacred for all Theelins to come here every year. Obviously, these parents have neglected their sacred duty. This child must be taught the ways of her people.”

“I don’t want to go. It’s religious nonsense, I can’t believe my people aren’t more progressive-” Before Uvarui could finish her sentence, the bulky Theelin had slammed his fist across her cheek, with an audible crunch she hit the doorpost. Satine spun around and slammed her knee into the man’s groin - the one place she knew would hurt the most.

“Attacking someone is illegal on a world like this…” Satine began, smirking. “...obviously your people don’t have the same standards as the civilized world.”

“Civilized. Don’t make me laugh.” the man said, standing back up in order to make himself appear as if he was much taller than initially thought. “Laws don’t apply to pilgrims.” He lunged forward and grabbed Satine by the arm, throwing her against the wall and then picking up Uvarui by the back of her shirt, and began to drag her off the ship. Dazed, Satine stood back up and watched helplessly as she disappeared into the city.

~

Maybe it was for the best. The war was practically done, especially with the reformation of the Galactic Republic. The First Galactic Empire. Hopefully the first of many. Open your eyes. That was advice you could do easily, yet he felt that it was almost impossible. Someone was saying his name. Forget who you are. How could he possibly accomplish that? He would always know his own name. The many names others had given him.

''The Hero With No Fear. The Chosen One. Ani. Master. Skyguy. Anakin Skywalker.''

Darth Vader.

Finally, he found himself.

“Padmé.” he said, weakly, “Padmé, can… can you hear me?”

“She can’t hear you, idiot. Good luck getting to her.” ''Was this just a test? Was Palpatine playing him again?''

“Go to hell.” he said - not even thinking. Buzz. The man standing in front of hem, holding a knife to his dear wife’s throat, was dead in three seconds flat. Padmé grabbed on to his black robes, tattered from the battle he’d experienced in the Jedi Temple.

“Oh Ani…”

Yet another pointless nickname.

Palpatine was standing in the doorway. He felt his wife’s pregnant belly. ''My child. I’m going to be a father. Don’t mess this up.''

The old man was walking forward. In his hand, a lightsaber. He’s going to kill two birds with one stone. His hand slid the pistol he’d hidden in his robes to his wife’s hand. She looked at him in confusion. He tightened his grip on her other hand.

Sidious or Palpatine, whatever he referred to himself, had a wicked grin on his face. And he sprung forward. Vader pushed Padmé to the side, careful enough not to cause any harm. Palpatine, not expecting the move, continued on his leap and prepared to stab his lightsaber right through his apprentice’s heart -

Instead, a single shot from the pistol pierced his skull, and he fell mid-jump to the floor. His eyes burnt as smoke lifted towards the ceiling of her apartment. His lightsaber slid from his cold hands, and Vader called it to his own. Padmé looked down at her hands. Her heart was beating abnormally quickly… she’d never been this nervous before. But she’d done it. She’d saved democracy in the galaxy… but in turn, had become a murderer.

“Padmé…” he said to her. She fell to the floor, dropped the pistol and covered her face with her hands. Vader knelt in front of her, and pulled his shaky wife into his arms. “You don’t need to be so hard on yourself. It’s over. He’s dead. I held my promise. We can rule the galaxy together, shape our futures the way that we want them to be. We can raise our child in a galaxy free of slavery, free of war, free of pain. Padmé… we can do this.”

She looked up at her husband. The eyes were blue again. Flickering, like the lights in a haunted house. In a way, he was like a haunted house. He was haunted by his past, and full of demons. Her hands fell against the sides of his face, before wrapping around his neck and pulling him into her.

“I know we can do this.” she whispered, before letting her worries drift, dead bodies floating out to a sea of hope.