Survivors of the Jedi Purge (epic)

[Serena Laran]

The morning dawned red, which excited the villagers. Serena Laran finished tying her long red hair back and pulled her robe on over her long tunic as she tried to listen to the chatter outside the door. Feeling anxious, she tugged at her obi, trying to settle her emotions. A Jedi feels... nothing. Or, at least, doesn't feel worried. The Jedi Knight tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

A white helmeted trooper poked his head in. "Ready miss?"

She drew her lightsaber to her with the Force, and clipped it to a ring hidden cleverly on her wide cloth belt. "Certainly Captain Kata. We have a lot of work to do today."

"Yes." He backed away and held the door for her. Serena ducked under the lintel and looked up at the blood red sunrise. Villagers were clustered in groups around the hut that housed her. As the Republic's emmissary to the Outer Rim world, Serena stood tall, but she felt unsure of herself. At twenty-four she had matured beyond feeling like an awkward teenager, but all these people were depending on her.

She had a simple mission - to survey the damage wrought by a space battle over the planet, and supervise the doling out of relief supplies. The Republic had lent a squad of Clonetroopers to assist her. The area affected was small, but the people there had been devestated. They all looked to her to save them - but she was only one girl.

Back ramrod straight, she held herself with almost a regal bearing, cool green eyes betraying nothing of her feelings. "What is it they are saying, Captain?"

The trooper didn't move. "Red dawn. They fear it means more death."

Serena mentally sighed, motioning over the translator droid that had been assigned to her. "Tell them that the war is over here. I heard last night that General Kenobi himself was searching out General Greivous. There will be no more battles in the skies over this planet. The Republic is very close to victory."

Five hours later the villagers were distributing a crate of emergency foodstuffs as Captain Kata and Serena trekked into the forest in search of an even more remote village rumored to have been completely wiped out by a strange sickness that came out of dust. It sounded like a ship's reactor might have fallen into the middle of it, and the Jedi couldn't leave without making sure the rumor wasn't true. And, if it were true, she would have to make things right.

Captain Kata held a branch back so it wouldn't fly into her face, and Serena climbed up the hill slightly behind him. "We should be there soon - Jorna said it wasn't more than a three hour hike."

"If it is the site of a reactor breach, the dust cloud should have been visible when we arrived." Kata turned his expressionless mask towards the Jedi.

She chuckled a bit, pulling a leaf from her ponytail. "So, my good captain, you doubt the story the villagers told us?"

The trooper might have shrugged, but with all the armor it was hard to tell. "A sickness may have many causes, Jedi."

"Indeed. Which is why we are traveling to see exactly what it is we're dealing with." They topped the ridge, and looked down into a densely forested valley. "There..." Serena pointed toward the far western side where a thin trickle of dark smoke drifted lazily into the air.

"I see it. Doesn't look like enough for a whole village."

"Could be hidden in the trees. It looks dense there." Serena swiveled around, looking back the way they'd come. The horizon was layered with smog, the consequence of a Trade Federation Droid Control Ship crashing into a mountainside. It was also the reason for the bright colors in the sunrise. "Don't you think so, Captain?"

The Jedi Knight looked forward again, studying the trickle of smoke in the distance. "Certainly doesn't look like a reactor meltdown. Captain Kata? Shall we?" She smiled, looking over at the trooper who had his back half turned to her. For a moment it looked like he was recieving a message, and then he turned towards her.

He shot her high in the chest, the smell of burnt linen scorching her nostrils as her robe smoldered around the hole the blaster bolt made in her skin. The Jedi Knight gasped in a ragged breath of fire as her eyes widened in shock. Captain Kata leveled his blaster rifle at her again, black and white gloved hands tightening on the trigger. The Force gave her no warning, and she could feel no malice in his thoughts or actions. She felt a numbness spreading from the initial fire and pain of the wound. Her arms and legs didn't seem to work, and she wobbled as her good arm brushed ineptly against her lightsaber.

Serena fell off the ridge, tumbling down the steep incline into the valley, Kata's second shot booming in her ears. Elsewhere, the Emperor cackled as Order 66 was executed with extreme prejudice.

[Terran Starek]

It was pure chaos.

Terran stood from his meditation in the West Gardens as the incredible feeling - and sound - hit him. Confusion. Fear. Death. The Force gathered around him like a death shroud, clouding his vision and his senses. Something terrible was happening - right here in the Temple. He could hear the sonds of battle and feel the surge of conflict through the Force. Blasters and small explosions and cries rose from so many of the chamber hallways.

Everyone around him seemed to be experiencing the same thing. At first, confused looks were exhanged. Estranged glances met nervous eyes, the same question on the each Jedi's mind: What's happening? No meditatior could survive such a disturbance as this. Terran's eyes finally found the turbolift as he decided it was time to act.

Oneri.

Oneri Tul'ada, the bright young padawan, was the only image Terran's mind could focus on. Terran had just been knighted not half a year ago. He was a promising Jedi - 21 Corellian years old. His Master, Jarek Hurone, had always said so to those around him, but never to Terran. He always sought to enstill humility into his padawan. Now, as a Jedi Knight, Jarek's encouraging words had been clear: "Keep that head of yours, Terran. You've got a strong one. It will always serve you better than your lightsaber. Don't forget that."

Now, as a Jedi Knight, he had taken a learner under his own tutelage. They had been together now for about three months. Her name was Oneri Tul'ada, a Twi'lek. She wasn't the strongest with a lightsaber, nor did she have the greatest control of the Force. Terran had chosen her above the others because she had the sharpest mind of all the padawans. He could see it behind her eyes, in the windows of her spirit. Almost anyone could learn to develop their weaknesses, but this was the kind of awareness that couldn't be taught.

He had to reach her.

They hadn't left the temple yet, so they hadn't needed to establish a comm link. Terran silently cursed this decision now that he had no way of contacting her. He would have to reach out into the Force, and only then could he send her a simple message. She wasn't trained well enough to respond.

Oneri, get to my room and wait for me there. Use caution.

The turbolift took him swiftly to the main hall, where he would have to cross and switch turbolifts to the residential wing. He waited patiently as it shot downward, finally reaching its destination. The doors opened as --

CHOO-CHOO-CHOO-CHOOO!

kkkaaaa-BOOOM!

Terran's lightsaber instinctively ignited as a horrific scene broke before him. Throughout the Great Hall, across the pillars and balconies and ornate landings, war had broken loose. Terran hadn't been expecting this. He would've never dreamed that this could happen, not in a thousand light years.

It was their own troopers.

As he tried to wrap his mind around the tragedy, but didn't have time a blaster fire pummeled the lift behind him. He brought his lightsaber forward, tucked close and across his body - a typical stance for Soresu. Jogging across the hall, he could see the lift that headed towards the east wing just ahead. As his eyes scanned the hall, the devestation was unbelievable. Jedi lay strewn across the hall as troopers checked the bodies, making sure they were lifeless. It looked as though Terran had just missed the brunt of the attack.

Soon enough, Terran's movement caught a few of the trooper's attention. The Jedi was single-minded as he picked up his pace. His lightsaber broke in a downward arc, meeting two blaster bolts and deflecting them away from harm. He turned his head toward the source of the shots. Lifting his hand and flicking his wrist, he sent a piece of debris squarely into one of the trooper, dropping him in pain. The other fired another blaster bolt, this time intercepted by Terran's lightsaber and sent directly back into the aggressor's chest.

Terran had to reach the lift. He had to reach Oneri.

[Lamar Starworth]

Peace consumed the life of a Jedi.

Never before had such pain aimed at the Jedi's being. A shadow casted itself through the halls, and a shroud built itself in the streets of Coruscant. Calamity overcame all senses as time dwindled into a negative. The Force beacon the screams and echoes of anguish. Any sober mind lay astonished by the sheer fury across the flow of every being. Not a word could truly parallel or compare the fierce nature which overcame the galaxy at large. Deficits rose from the soil of war and empower itself in absolute demise.

Peril formed in the architecture, painting the Jedi Temple in a crimson and coated the aroma with a roasted stench. Sizzles popped in the depths of the halls as moments transpired. Bolts of all shades splashed in the living, capturing the lasting breathe in a villainous theft.

Even the eyes of fellowship had blended from discretion to disturbance. Perversion engross the world as everything pure contorted into demonic concoction that no hellish imagination could even insinuate.

Swindled from numerous grand destinies, men and women dangled in the mix of corruption. Braids hung by ears that sound could no longer wake. Robes lay on bodies too cold to care. Weapon strangled in grips that turned too limp to use.

A woman sat in her chambers as lightning impaled existence. The weather had changed, erosion folding reality into a mess. She could only meddle with her imagination at what rested beyond the doors. Blast sprawled the passageways, the foiled toil perplexing her senses. Memories enriched her mind, but her heart had grown impoverished at the seemingly endless loss. Not even a sigh could be forced through the crave for expulsion of such pain. She swallowed instead, settling the fire in her belly as she grabbed her lightsaber.

Aselam Winfield would not lose them all.

The Jedi would survive...

He would not let them die.

[Tieru Ocarre]

Sluis Sector...

Sluis Van...

Starvation engross the land. Nutrients were absorbed by the Separatists base. The calm of the season faded, and little disruption rumble on common grounds. A flux of distraught had overcame all the lively crowds that tour the cities, hush the barrage of festivities and detain the good times. Few privateers venture as deep as Sluis Van any longer.

The Clone Wars had left a definite infection across the galaxy, and Sluis Van was just another victim. Disdain sat unsettled in the hearts of the planet's citizens, while few supported the change. The dwelling of another Outer Rim territory for the Confederation, with the only bustle at the stationed CIS bases.

Sieges ran a wave through the Outer Rim Territories. Pain and anguish doubled throughout, and bouts forged a distrust that would take more than simply time to erase. Futile rebellions struck in the wastelands of many planets, while protest were overlook. Many sought protection against the war, but such enormous scaled events could not be evaded. Invasion pour into the sectors of numerous planets. Explosion spark the skies as the soil was sour with bloodshed.

Sluis Van was not exempt.

The homeland of one sole Jedi was nestled in the unholy battle. No side wield a sense of light, and despite the frontal pull of politics their was no progression on either side of the faction. Citizens and soldiers had no placed to turn. Corruption forged a heavy mold about the galaxy, and that sole Sluis Van Jedi did not walk the path of battle.

Three years had passed since he relinquish his namesake. The war would not effect his status, but reputation at it's inevitable end. Over time it became evident that the warring was far brutal then the sparkling Clone armor could rectify. Bolts flare in red and blue from both frontiers, splashing a scent of demise on all lands.

Wild Space was silent as the galaxy voyaged through for 250,000 years was painted in trepidation. War was a senseless matter, indeed, and the young Padawan saw little purpose in his hands getting dirty in the foul play. Only days previous had drawn his private ship to return to the known galaxy. A breech had been created from his fellow workers in the Jedi Corp. , allowing him a quiet visit to his Homeworld.

It grew into much more than a simple visit.

----------------

"Blasted!"

A main hue of white sprinkled with bits of blue, green, red and yellow ran in a bundle through the plains. Rocks and mantles erected from the crowd as a forest at up ahead.

Order 66 had been called only an hour previous. Tieru was stupid to carry his lightsaber on the little trip back to see ol' momma, but he wanted to show off his trophy. Home was only a little farther away, and he wasn't going to keep her surprise waiting.

The clones were on his tail, and Tieru would have to do more than curse a few words to get them off his hiney. The young Morganian and Morellian mix could do nothing but spit and heave as he thought up a plan. Hidden in the fronts of the wooden forest, he juggle every plan.

One last, eased breathe was given to the world as the trot grew near.

"Man, what I'd do for a Jawa milkshake right now."

And with that, it was on...