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Nightfall
Something had changed.
A shadow had grown across the Force, spreading like a cancer on the mystical field that had grown persistently darker since the start of the Clone Wars.
In the heart of the Jedi Temple, Shaak Ti, one of the twelve of the Jedi High Council, sat upon her pouffe, deep in meditation, trying to discern what had happened.
Not long ago, Mace Windu, Master of the Order, had led a team comprising of Saesee Tiin, Kit Fisto and Agen Kolar to go and make sure that the Chancellor relinquished his emergency powers. However, as they had left, Anakin Skywalker, who the Council had asked to spy on the Chancellor in order to try to draw out the mysterious Sith Lord who was behind the war, had returned with the terrible news that they could scarcely have imagined in their nightmares: Palpatine was the Sith Lord that they’d been looking for all along.
Anakin had been confined to the Temple. Mace had told him to remain in the Council chambers, intending to deal with this Darth Sidious himself, with the help of the other three masters. He had said Anakin was too conflicted. Shaak Ti scowled to herself. She, Obi-Wan, Kit and Plo had argued against the plan, saying that Anakin was far too close to the Chancellor as it was, but in the end, Yoda, Mace and Ki had won out, as they usually did, with everyone reluctantly following the lead of the Grand Master and the Master of the Order.
But Anakin had left, escaping Shaak Ti when she had tried to prevent him from leaving. Truthfully, the boy had looked awful, like he was tearing apart on the inside, and quite frankly, looked a little crazed. She had tried to calm him, but the boy had been insistent and had run off to help Mace.
But something had changed.
After Anakin had left, she had entered into her meditation, trying to discern what was happening at the Executive Building. And then, the niggles in the Force had started, like…cramp in one’s heel, just a niggle, but enough to notice. One, two, then a third a split second later…and now, something had changed.
And as she peered into the increasingly dark miasma of the Force, she sought out the others through the Force. Saesee, who’d long been a bulwark of the Council; Agen, as diplomatic as a blaster bolt to the face but still one of their finest; Kit, the happy go-lucky master always ready with a smile for everyone; and Mace, the stern and taciturn Master of the Order, but none the less, one of the their greatest. Good friends all, despite their disagreements in session.
And then her blood ran cold.
She couldn’t sense them.
At all.
As if their light had been snuffed out.
Shaak Ti’s eyes flew open, shaking in fear. It was a constant companion to her nowadays. She could face off hundreds if not thousands of battle droids; hunt down the worst criminals the galaxy had to offer; even deal with the coldly emotionless Kaminoans; but still, fear had been a constant companion to her since Hypori.
Since her first encounter with Grievous, the maniacal leader of the droid armies hunting them down for sport on the world where so much had gone wrong, she had been afraid. She had fought other Dark Acolytes over the course of the war, killing Artel Darc on Dagu, defeating Ventress on Metalorn and sending her packing before she had been captured by droids, they didn’t phase her at all. But Grievous…
Hypori had been a nightmare, one that she struggled to wake from. And then, the invasion of Coruscant and her second defeat at the hands of the General had simply compounded the problem. He could have killed her here, on the capital, where everyone on the planet was meant to be safe. He hadn’t, but still, she was afraid.
But now, Grievous was dead, killed by Master Kenobi.
But she was more afraid than ever.
Mace must have failed. She couldn’t sense him. How was it possible that Sidious had managed to kill four of the best masters of the Order, four of the best swordsmen? She hissed through her teeth. It couldn’t be. Mace was one of the greatest swordsmen of the Order, and while not one of the Six (a group that was widely considered to consist of the greatest swordsmen the Order had to offer, consisting of Yoda, Mace, Anakin, Obi-Wan, Cin Drallig and Shaak Ti herself) the other three were no slouches.
Yet she couldn’t find them in the Force. The Force was dark where their life forces should be. They must be dead. They had failed. And she couldn’t sense Anakin either. Had Palpatine killed him too?
No.
She couldn’t panic.
She was the commander of the Jedi Temple, and by virtue of rank, with the others dead, she was now the highest ranking member of the Jedi Council left on planet.
The Order was hers to lead.
And as the Dark Side spread through the Force like a cancer, she realised the inevitable truth…the Order was hers to lead to it’s own destruction.
XX
She tried to reach out through the Force to Master Yoda. He would know what to do. The Order had prepared some contingencies, she herself had prepared some contingencies, should they fail to stop Sidious. The Sith would retaliate. She had to endure, as much as she could. But she had to consult with Yoda. She reached through the Force, determined to find the Grand Master. Surely he must have sensed what had happened. Yoda had trained virtually the entire Order at this point, with the occasional exception such as T’ra Saa. He must surely have felt what she had felt, the death of Mace and the others, and the oncoming revenge of the Sith.
But as she sought him through the various eddies of the Force, it was like a typhoon of darkness became unleashed. Across the galaxy, she could feel it. Deep in meditation, anchored to the ancient Force nexus beneath the temple, she saw the horrific scenes play out time and against as friends were slaughtered across the galaxy:
Plo Koon, shot down by his own wingmen on Cato Neimoidia.
Luminara Unduli, murdered by her clones on Kashyyyk.
Ki-Adi Mundi, executed by his troops on Mygeeto.
Stass Allie, ambushed by her escort on Saleucami.
Aayla Secura, slaughtered by her own men on Felucia.
Caught up in the power of the Force, immersed in it’s embrace and tapping into the ancient Force nexus, Shaak Ti was pulled against her will. Across the galaxy, the Jedi were slaughtered, murdered, executed by the very clones that they had led into battle for the last three years. The individual lights of each Jedi were snuffed out, a tidal wave of darkness washing away the Jedi Order. Padawans, Knights, Masters, Council members; all were eradicated by the wave of darkness that had been unleashed.
The Jedi had failed.
This was the Revenge of the Sith.
Darth Sidious had destroyed the Jedi Order.
And she was unable to stop it.
Yoda was gone. He was alive, she felt, but he wasn’t here. He was no help to her.
Obi-Wan, she hadn’t sensed his murder. Perhaps he still lived.
But the Jedi High Council, so far as she knew, now consisted of herself and Coleman Kcaj.
She had work to do.
Centring herself, she pried herself out of the torrid current that the Force had become. She had to be present, she had to be here, she was needed here.
The door opened behind her, and she felt a surge of relief.
Anakin! He had survived, he was here, with him, they might just stand a chance…
Wait, there was something off about him…and how had she not sensed him before now?
“What is it Skywalker?” she asked, and her eyes snapped open propelling herself from her pouffe just before his blue blade would have ignited through her back.
Traitor!
Sidious hadn’t killed Anakin.
He had turned him!
Shaak Ti’s lightsaber sprang into her hand, her blue saber illuminating the darkness of her quarters as Anakin surged at her. Her blade quickly blocked his, grinding them both in a saber lock.
“Traitor!” she spat, fury and revulsion filling her, and Anakin, hidden beneath his hood, glowered at her, his eyes yellow with the dark side.
“I should have known the Jedi were plotting to take over!” he snarled, and he forced his saber against hers, trying to force her to break the lock.
Shaak Ti knew she wouldn’t win a contest of strength. But there were always other paths to victory, as her Master Rozza had used to say.
And so, she yanked the pouffe she had been sitting on with the Force, and hurtled it at Anakin.
Anakin broke the saber lock, turning to cut the pouffe in two, but that was all the time Shaak Ti needed. Gathering her power to her, she unleashed a powerful Force push, sending the treacherous Jedi hurtling across the room, slamming him into the wall. Sparing him a filthy look, Shaak Ti ran out of her quarters, into the fires of hell.
Clones were pouring through the temple. Blaster fire filled the air, and Jedi bodies lay everywhere. She cursed herself for a fool. Trapped in the recesses of the Force, and stuck in her meditation when the clones had turned on the other Jedi, she had been unable to break free of the trance she was in. She’d been trapped in her meditation when Anakin and the clones had begun their attack. Dead bodies lay everywhere, many of their frozen eyes looking at her in accusation, all asking the same question: where was she when they needed them the most?
But she was here now. She could sense Anakin, a dark pulsar in the Force, coming for her. Naturally. The boy had turned to join Sidious. He was the new Sith apprentice, replacing Count Dooku. And as his first act, his master had charged him with eradicating all the Jedi within the Temple, and as the remaining commander, that meant she was at the top of his hit list.
Very well, she thought to herself as the din of the apocalypse filled her ears.
And then, Shaak Ti moved.
Speeding through the war-torn corridors, she saw the same scene repeating time after time: Yoland Fee, the curator of the gardens, was slumped against the wall, a smouldering lightsaber wound in his head; Ali-Alann was lying draped over the side of a walkway, riddled with blaster bolts; Soara Antana had been felled by a single blaster bolt to the neck…
As Shaak Ti hurtled through the burning walkways, the dead faces of the Jedi she had been unable to help haunted her every step. Slaughtered younglings lay, their young faces frozen open in horror, either killed by blaster bolts or the lightsaber of a treacherous Jedi; Padawans, at least having tried to fight, cut down left right and centre; the remaining Knights and Masters, determined to escape, or to protect, killed themselves with ease as if the clones were simply cutting through dead wheat.
The temple shook, and from what she could see, Venators and Acclamators were in low orbit, turbolaser blasts pounding against the ancient ziggurat as V-Wings, ARC-170s and V-19 Torrents sped down and around, pelting at the temple with their lasers, and shooting down whatever protective emplacements they could find, and shooting down whichever starfighters tried to escape. LAAT gunships descended through the smoke filled evening air, the sky itself looking like it was on fire as the clones of the 501st surged through the temple.
Speaking of…
“She’s there! One of the Council, shoot to kill!”
This clone wore armour that was highlighted with violet accents, and Shaak Ti’s eyes narrowed. He was one of Mace’s former clones, likely rotated into the 501st for this situation. Big mistake.
With a shriek, Shaak Ti sprang the length of the walkway, the group of clones that were guarding the door that led to the Council spire. As the clones opened fire, intending to put her down like an animal, she didn’t hesitate. She had watched over the clones, supervised their upbringing and training on Kamino, but now, they were the enemy. Using her natural Togruta prowess, she weaved through the clones like a serpent, her blue blade flickering around her. And a second later, the dismembered bodies of the clone squad dropped to the floor, felled for their treachery, Mace’s former trooper’s decapitated head rolling out from his helmet and staring into the abyss in horror.
Shaak Ti breathed. She could feel the endless deaths, the screams of terror, the shock of betrayal from her Jedi brethren. The younglings, they were slaughtering the younglings. The others didn’t grasp what was going on either, but at least they could fight. The temple shuddered as another blast rocked it, and Shaak Ti could feel the dark storm that was Anakin approaching.
She had to see, she had to know, and she had to escape.
There were many paths to victory.
Victory wouldn’t be had today.
But survival itself was enough of a victory for today.
She darted into the spire, her eyes sadly trailing over the crushed body of Serra Keto. She had to get higher, she needed to see, needed to find out what she could.
“Get her!”
Blaster fire pulsed at her, and she deflected the shots into the faces of the clones who had shot at her, dropping their lifeless bodies to the ground. Fire was spreading through the temple now, smoke was filling the corridors, and the clones were relentless, their stream endless, and she couldn’t stop it.
But she could ensure that the endless stream of clones had too many avenues to pursue to effectively stop them all.
She ran towards the turbolift, she needed to access the comm system. That naturally, would alert all the clones, and of course Anakin as to where she was, but at the very least she would do what she could. Hammering the controls, the turbolift shot upwards, and she could smell the smoke rising from the temple, the whole building shaking as the warships pounded away at the Jedi sanctum. As the turbolift shuddered to a halt, she raised her saber, easily deflecting the blasterfire of the clones that Anakin had clearly sent to secure the comm system as she emerged.
“Kill her!” one yelled, only to be blown across the room by a vicious Force blow, the resulting cracks of their skeletons filling her ears as their lifeless bodies dropped to the ground.
Confident that she was alone for the moment, she hurried across to the comm system, looking sadly at the fallen form of J’oopi She, his chest blackened as he lay slumped against the comm system. She didn’t have much time, and she could hear gunships coming towards her location, and of course there was still the temple full of clones and a Sith Lord running amok to consider. She hammered the comm, if this was to be the end of the Jedi, she would make sure it was worth remembering.
“This is Shaak Ti. Our Order has fallen. We have lost. But they only win when none of us are left alive. Run. Run fast, run far. They can’t stop us all. Get out. Kill any clones that get in your way, but flee. Run. Run. RUN!”
She closed her eyes. She had done what she could. Now she had to make good on her own orders. The turbolift opened behind her, and she felt them rather than heard them. They were good, these clone assassins. Clad in different armour with a lilac breastplate, they were also armed with two long vibroblades that were attached to their elbows. Six of them had emerged from the lift, and they were spreading out to surround her.
She had questioned their creation at the time, asking Lama Su why the Chancellor had ordered this particular variant of clones to be trained. He had replied that after the defection of several Jedi during the war, such as Sora Bulq and Tol Skorr, Depa Billaba’s descent into insanity on Haruun Kal, and the nature of Count Dooku and Ventress himself, they needed insurance that the clones could also deal with the Confederacy’s Force users should a Jedi not be present. Unsettled despite this explanation, she had let the matter drop.
She sighed.
It had been so expertly done, the way the Sith had stitched up the Jedi. They had been so blind…was it any wonder that they were now presiding over their own destruction?
She didn’t wait for them to make the first move, flipping onto the comm station then flipping across the room, deftly landing behind one assassin and cleaving him in two before he could even react to her presence. However, the other five then swarmed towards her, determined to take down the biggest target left on the field. Shaak Ti danced out of the way, moving with her usual grace and ease, darting here and there, avoiding the lethal blades of the clones as they came for her.
She sidestepped one of the assassins, her blade lancing up and taking his head from his shoulders and then turning, just in time to block the attacks of another two. The other two pressed in on her from both sides, clearly intending to give her too many targets to cope with. However, she simply raised a hand, blowing one away from her, backing away from the other three as they pushed towards her, the other assassin struggling back to his feet. Shaak Ti reached out with the Force, her saber raised to guard herself, and then acted. Igniting J’oopi’s lightsaber with the Force, the green blade cut into the fallen assassin’s foot. As he screamed in pain, she swiftly closed the distance between them, flipping over the back of him and plunged her saber through his body, dropping his lifeless body to the ground. The other three assassins then wordlessly charged at her, but with the odds significantly slashed against her, Shaak Ti now had the upper hand.
Flipping over the three assassins, she reversed her saber as she landed, slicing one of the assassins in half before they could react. The other two lunged at her, forcing her to twirl away from them, her saber forming an impenetrable defence as the two clones tried to breach her defences. She angled her saber, cutting one vibroblade off the clone’s armour, but the other one then stabbed at her with his remaining one, forcing her to backflip away from him, unleashing a Force push as she did so. While the clone danced away from her attack, the other one sprang at her as she landed, both blades coming up to skewer her. Shaak Ti swung her saber in a wide arc, forcing him to back off and she leapt back over him, landing deftly before jumping again, Force pushing both clones. All she needed was one stumble, and to her satisfaction, one clone did in his attempt to avoid her attack. Landing deftly against the blaster scored wall, she propelled herself back down at him, her knee catching him under the chin and jerking his helmeted head back, and she plunged her saber through his chest as he flailed backwards, dropping the clone with the damaged blade to the floor. The other clone then made for the door, realising he was overmatched, but with a gesture, Shaak Ti sent the severed vibroblades hurtling through the air, puncturing the clone through the back and dropping him to the ground.
Grimly satisfied, she strode past the dead assassins, and entered the turbolift. She had done all she could. Now, her mission was simple: make sure as many Jedi survived as she could, while surviving herself. The temple shuddered as another turbolaser blast impacted the ziggurat, and she hissed through her teeth. How had they been duped so brilliantly? How had they allowed this to happen to them? To the Republic?
How had they allowed the Sith to win right under their very nose?
As the turbolift opened, a squad of normal clones was waiting for her she left. The clones raised their blasters, clearly having been caught off-guard, but their momentary relaxation was their undoing, as with several deft cuts, their severed heads toppled to the ground, allowing Shaak Ti to enter the main ziggurat.
Smoke, fire and death filled her nostrils as she looked out over the damage. Dozens, if not hundreds of her kin, all slain. There were numerous dead clones, that was for sure, but they just didn’t have enough Jedi left in the temple to defend against such numbers. She doubted they could have endured this treacherous attack even if the entire Council had been present.
Blaster bolts, missile launches and the thundering of turbolaser blasts filled her ears. She had to escape, she had to get out. She had to find anyone else who was left. And there was still the presence of Anakin to consider as well.
“Tell Lord Vader we’ve found the Curator!” one clone yelled, just before he gave an agonised scream and a chunk of clone trooper went flying up the walkway that she was running down.
The massive Baragwin form of Astaal Vilbum, the Curator of Records, one of the Council of First Knowledge alongside Shaak Ti and Jocasta Nu, barged out onto the walkway, scattering a group of clones before him. His green lightsaber was moving the fastest she had ever seen him wield it, deflecting a storm of blaster fire from the clones before gathering his strength and unleashing a powerful Force blow that sent the screaming clones hurtling off the walkway, plunging them down towards the floor below.
Astaal harrumphed in annoyance, and was about to move on when a clone that had somehow survived his rampage raised his blaster, ready to shoot the Baragwin in the back. A blue blade then cleaved his head off, and Shaak Ti laid a grateful hand on Astaal’s back.
“Watch your back my friend.” She advised, and his face broke into a tired smile.
“Master Ti! I was afraid you had already been killed! The clones, why-?” he demanded, trying to comprehend it all, but she shook her head.
“We’ve been betrayed Astaal. The Sith triumphed. But they cannot claim total victory while some of us survive. Run, my friend. Run.” She advised grimly, and his reptilian eyes flicked to the room he had emerged from.
Shaak Ti’s jaw dropped. A clan of about a half dozen older younglings, perhaps a year away from being chosen as Padawans, were shaking in fear, many of them holding books, scrolls or holocrons. They looked at Shaak Ti, terror on their faces, and she mustered as reassuring a smile as she could.
“It gladdens me to see you live little ones. Follow Master Astaal. He will lead you to safety. Trust him, follow his instructions, and keep your heads down.” She ordered, and the oldest of them nodded.
“We will master.” The human boy said bravely, and she nodded, squeezing his shoulder.
“There!” a clone yelled from behind them, and she turned to see a clone squad bearing down upon them.
Shaak Ti would not allow these younglings to die. She leapt the length of the walkway in an instant, landing right amongst the charging clones, who screamed in terror as she performed an elegant spiral, severing them into pieces. With the clones dead, she gestured for Astaal to follow her, and he led his group of younglings and their precious cargo along the walkway.
Below them, the clones continued to pour into the temple, which was buckling under the assault. There were fewer Jedi to resist them every minute, but Shaak Ti would not be dissuaded. She would ensure that some of them survived. She led them towards the hangar bay, sensing the horde of clones within. She steeled herself, if she could ambush them they might just stand a chance.
And then she heard the ignition of another lightsaber. Fearing the worst, she span, only to find the haggard form of Coleman Kcaj limping towards her.
“Coleman!” she breathed in relief, and the Ongree grasped her hand gratefully.
“I am relieved to see you Master Ti. I’ve tried to defend as best I could, but the clones are too many. Skywalker is here, he’s leading them!” he spat, and she nodded.
“I know. We should never have sent him to get close to Palpatine.” She lamented, and Coleman shook his head, he had reluctantly gone along with the idea himself.
“Hindsight is a great teacher. I assume we have a plan?” he asked, and she nodded.
“Storm the hangar. Astaal will take the younglings and get them out while we evacuate who we can.”
The Ongree nodded. She had fought with him before, on Torvaskl, where they had evacuated a Republic team from an assault by General Grievous. She had actually suggested his promotion to the Council following the death of Oppo Rancisis on Saleucami, which the rest of the Council had then endorsed. Between them, they stood a chance.
The hangar doors opened as she hammered the door, both Jedi entering into a storm of blaster fire. Coleman’s green blade (a new lightsaber, he’d been forced to build a new one after defeating a terrorist attack on Coruscant) wove in and out, his mastery of Djem So evident as he pushed into the hangar. Shaak Ti flitted in and out, using her mastery of Ataru to deflect blaster bolts everywhere, taking down clones left and right while Coleman got in close and downed the remaining ones. Astaal then hurried into the hangar, his younglings in tow, aiming for a gunship that had disgorged troops into the hangar to begin with.
“We need backup, reinforcements now!” a clone yelled before Shaak Ti cut him in two.
“Astaal, get onto that gunship, we don’t have much time!” she barked, and the Curator of Records hurried onto the transport as more clones poured through the hangar, shooting at the younglings as they fled onto the gunship.
More lightsabers then ignited, as various other Jedi rushed into the hangar, clearly having been making for the hangar themselves. These new Jedi, around a dozen or so, rushed the enemy from the rear, distracting the clones and allowing the survivors to push towards the gunship or abandoned ships lying in the hangar. The two Councillors exchanged a look, silently agreeing that they would hold the line to allow their brethren to escape.
Coleman and Shaak Ti came together, the last two members of the Jedi High Council forming an impenetrable wall of defence, deflecting blaster fire back at the clones as they tried to prevent Astaal leaving. The gunship roared to life, with the youngling that Shaak Ti had talked to in the pilot seat, and to their great relief, the gunship sped out into the darkening Coruscant night sky, aiming for the lower levels.
She breathed a sigh of relief. The gunship passed unmolested, they mustn’t have twigged that it had been commandeered but they couldn’t rely on that happening again. But they had saved some, and it was a start.
The other Jedi that had rushed in made for the remaining ships, either ones belonging to the Jedi, or to ones discarded by the clones. A S’kytri Jedi leapt from the open hangar, descending through the sky and fleeing into the reaches of Coruscant. A Calibop Jedi leapt into a starfighter, however there was a roar as an Acclamator started to approach the open hangar. Several other Jedi activated their commandeered ships, blazing out of the hangar, just as the transport opened fire. Six ships left the hangar, two were immolated, but the rest managed to avoid the guns of the transport, descending out of sight into the depths of Coruscant.
However, the clones that they hadn’t killed seemed rather displeased with their interference, all of them coming together and opening fire on the two Jedi. They backed away, retreating through the hangar as the clones attempted to flank them.
“We can’t hold here!” Coleman yelled to her over the din of numerous blaster bolts being aimed at them, and she nodded.
“We go down!” she told him as they backed out of the hangar, and as they reached the handrail, the two of them backflipped over the edge, dropping several floors, and landing away from the clone assault.
With a brief moment to regain their breath, Shaak Ti was sure she saw a spidery like creature fleeing through a hole in the wall of the temple, and realised that it wasn’t a spider, but rather, the Aleena master Kazdan Paratus, fleeing through the hole caused by a turbolaser blast. Pleased, she and Coleman ran. She didn’t know where they were heading, but up ahead, she could sense a dark storm of malevolent fury. Anakin.
Darth Vader, if what the clone had said was right.
As they rushed towards the Room of a Thousand Fountains, they saw more dead Jedi, more dead clones. It was endless. So much death, so much hate. How had they allowed this to happen? But still, they ran.
The temple shuddered, the entire building filled with the stench of death. Meanwhile, they were getting closer to the dark heart of all this.
“We take out Skywalker.” Coleman growled, and she nodded, though she did wonder if they had the skill to defeat him, even together.
They then set upon another group of clones, slicing through them like wheat at they entered the Room of a Thousand Fountains, the centrepiece of the Jedi temple. The gardens, meant to be a seat of meditation and contemplation, burned. Dead Jedi lay everywhere as the plants burned, the Force mourning all of the loss taking place within it.
And in the centre, was him.
The new Sith apprentice.
Darth Vader.
“Traitor!” Tru Veld spat, as he deflected blaster fire away from himself with his silver lightsaber.
Behind him, Vader was in the midst of a duel with Olana Chion. She lunged, trying to take off his fighting arm, but Vader simply threw his saber into his other hand, then grabbed a shocked Olana with his prosthetic hand, lifting her up.
“Filth!” she screeched, before he easily snapped her neck and dropped her lifeless body to the ground.
The clones were still trying to kill Tru, but with Olana dead, Vader was now bearing down on his former friend. Shaak Ti looked at Coleman, and with a curt nod, they decided. And as such, the last two members of the Council moved.
Shaak Ti seized a burning spar of a tree, so long and carefully tended, and threw it at Vader. Tru raised his saber, preparing to do battle against his one time friend, but Vader was then forced to turn to deflect Shaak Ti’s attack.
“Go, run!” Coleman ordered, as he dropped down to the grotto where Vader was, Shaak Ti following suit.
Tru didn’t need telling twice, deflecting blaster bolts and rushing ahead, making good his escape. That left her and Coleman to deal with Vader.
“The Council should never have sent you to spy on Palpatine. Or should we call him Darth Sidious?” Shaak Ti spat, her blue blade raised, and Vader glowered at her, his eyes yellow with the dark side,
“You were plotting to take over the Republic! I did my duty.” He growled, and Coleman shook his head.
“Such a disappointment. Poor Master Qui-Gon would be horrified to see what you have become. But we will end you here.” Coleman vowed, raising his own saber.
Vader snarled.
“You will try!” he roared, and then leapt at them, his lightsaber hammering into Coleman’s as Shaak Ti came at him from behind.
The two Council members and the new Sith Lord were blurs of movement. The smell of ozone filled the grotto they were battling in as the three fought, lightsabers crackling and hissing as they faced off.
Shaak Ti was everywhere and nowhere at once. Leaping around, using her mastery of Ataru to keep him off-balance, forcing Vader to have to constantly go on the defensive, which in turn allowed Coleman to push his attack against him. Vader was angry, unable to take the initiative in the fight against the two of them. Sensing an opening, Shaak Ti landed, her blade piercing through his defences and nicking his shoulder. He roared in fury more than pain and turned, blasting at her with a Force push. She flipped away from the attack, while Coleman came in high. Anakin forced himself into a parry, blocking Coleman’s heavy handed swing as the other master made to take his head. With their sabers locked, Shaak Ti closed the distance between them, preparing to end the Sith Lord. They were going to do it, they couldn’t reverse what had been done, but they would ensure that Sidious didn’t have his shiny new apprentice.
And that was when it all went to hell.
Vader raised his left hand, holding Coleman in a saber lock, and the Ongree’s eyes briefly flicked towards his rising hand, as Shaak Ti sensed a swirling of dark side energy. What was he doing?
And then, to her horror, a jagged fork of Force lightning erupted from his hand, catching Coleman right in the face. The Ongree screamed as he was blown across the grotto, crashing into a boulder, his lightsaber flying out of his grip as he lay, dazed.
And in that brief second, Vader closed the gap, and stabbed his saber right through Coleman’s heart, ending the Ongree’s life with a final gasp. Shaak Ti gasped in horror as she watched Vader murder Coleman, his body slumping, lifeless to the ground.
Vader then turned, a dark grin on his face, and she breathed through her nose.
So be it.
She gestured, and Coleman’s saber leapt into her hand, and she brought the two lightsabers up, ready to do battle. Vader lazily weaved his lightsaber, and with a final Makashi salute, Shaak Ti sprang at the Sith Lord.
The three lightsabers clashed together in the grotto, Shaak Ti like a blur as she fell upon her opponent. With her blue and green sabers spiralling around her, she pushed against Vader, forcing him into retreat, the Sith Lord caught off-guard by the ferocity of her attack. They erupted from the grotto into the midst of a burning bamboo forest, and Shaak Ti wordlessly threw the burning sticks of bamboo at him through the Force. Vader blew them away from himself, jumping back as Shaak Ti tried to take his head. In the midst of the burning grotto, they were surrounded by plants, trees and water, which would give her the advantage. She spiralled into the air, landing and hammering away at Vader’s defences, the young Sith Lord faced onto the backfoot, surrounded by burning plants, and Shaak Ti tapped into the Force.
Vines slithered down from above them, grasping for Vader, while roots from the trees erupted from the ground as Shaak Ti commanded the flora to attack. Vader snarled, giving way to the Council master, as he unleashed a torrent of lightning from his left hand. Shaak Ti absorbed his attack on Coleman’s saber, while pushing closer, trying to take his head.
Vader burled himself around, narrowly avoiding Shaak Ti stabbing him in the eye, He brought himself up, his face a furious snarl, his yellow eyes glinting as he jumped away from her, just as several burning vines and branches would have torn him apart. He jumped on the barely visible stepping stones that Shaak Ti had loved to walk on, as it made her feel she was walking on water. As she followed him, she could feel more and more Jedi lives being snuffed out around her but her target was the treacherous schutta of a Sith Lord who had slaughtered his way through the temple.
Vader emerged from the stepping stones onto the natural beach, away from the majority of the trees that made up the numerous grottos of the room. He unleashed a powerful jolt of lightning, catching Shaak Ti at a disadvantage as she hopped across the stepping stones in pursuit. Caught between trying to pursue him, keep her balance, and wield two lightsabers, she raised Coleman’s weapon and the blast sent it flying out of her hand, splashing into the water of the medititaive pool, lost in the murky, blood tainted depths. However Shaak Ti had now reached the shore, and she landed deftly on the small island that consisted the centre of the natural lake, raising her saber in challenge against the Sith Lord.
“We should have sent you back to Tatooine.” She spat viciously, and Vader glowered at her.
“Then nobody would be able to stop the Jedi from taking over! You’re the ones who betrayed the Republic!”
“Betrayed the Republic? Palpatine is the Sith Lord, the one behind virtually every disaster that’s befallen the galaxy for the last twenty years, and you think we’re the villains? He’s manipulated you into destroying us, and yourself along with it!”
Vader shook his head.
“No, he opened my eyes to the lies of the Jedi. And now, the galaxy will be rid of your taint!”
Shaak Ti shook her head in revulsion.
“Then there is no reasoning with you. You may think we’re evil, Anakin. That’s up to you. But Palpatine truly is evil. And despite what you’ve done here today, the evil you’ve committed…I sense there is still good in you.” She told him sadly.
Vader stood looking at her breathlessly for an instant, and she fancied that she saw a brief flicker of the boy he had once been, the Jedi he had become…only for it to be swiftly overridden by Darth Vader, and the Sith Lord went for her head, and battle was joined.
The two slammed their blue lightsabers against one another, the entire room shaking with the impact of the blow. Shaak Ti unleashed the finest offensive she had ever mustered, utilising her mastery or Makashi and Ataru, leaping around Anakin, flipping over him while also pushing against him with surgical, precise strikes, forcing the Sith up the embankment of the island towards the small wroshyr tree that had been a gift to Yoda that grew in the middle. Vader matched her every attack, forcing her onto the defensive, his strong, heavy form bludgeoning away at her composure, preventing her from taking victory. She blocked a lunge from him, pirouetting away and jabbing towards his eyes. Vader twisted out of the way, leaping up the to the centre of the island, and upon landing cast a torrent of lightning at her from his left hand.
Shaak Ti raised her left hand, the lightning impacting against her hand. Calling on the Force, she brought her arm back, and redirected the lightning back to it’s master. Vader’s eyes widened in shock as his own lightning caught him in the chest, blasting him up the island and slamming him into the thick trunk of the wroshyr tree. Vader shook his head to clear it, diving out the way as Shaak Ti was there, and her lightsaber scored the tree where his neck had been an instant before. Vader got back to his feet, and with Shaak Ti briefly overextended, he took advantage. He came at her, and she was suddenly the one on the back foot, forced onto a defensive as Vader hammered away at her defences. Shaak Ti pirouetted, determined to avoid the blow, and span, locking their sabers together, and Vader snarled, pushing against her.
Shaak Ti could see clones descending from the walkways, rushing to aid their master. She could feel that there were few Jedi left alive, so nobody would be coming to help her. And she was locked in a climactic duel with the Dark Lord of the Sith.
If she still had a second lightsaber, she could perhaps take the day. Vader’s saber skills were second to none, but he was physically stronger than her. Without a second blade, and her considerable mastery of Jar’Kai, she couldn’t take the day against Vader. Not alone at any rate. With only one lightsaber, against Vader’s physical strength and the fact he had clones on the way, Shaak Ti couldn’t win.
Not today.
It was time to take her own advice.
And live.
Shaak Ti twitched with the Force, and a large wroshyr branch descended towards them, sweeping towards Vader. Vader grunted, flipping over the branch, but with the brief break, Shaak Ti reached out to the thick and strong roots beneath the soil, and they erupted, going for the Sith Lord as the clones got ever closer. Vader unleashed a powerful Force blow, shredding several of the roots into little more than wood chippings, but through the storm of wood, Shaak Ti erupted, her saber going right for his neck. Vader was forced onto the defensive as she hammered at his defences, forcing him back down to the water, Vader trying to lock their sabers so he could take back control of the situation.
But she didn’t intend to let him.
They had battled down to the shore of the island, and the clones were mere moments away. If she stayed, she would die.
Time to survive.
Time to live.
Time to escape.
She ducked low, Vader trying to cut her in two as she darted around him, sacrificing the high ground as they battled onto the shore. The two of them were like blurs as they battled, Shaak Ti allowing herself to be pushed back, right to the small artificial beach, and away from the clones. Vader was stronger, and was going to take the day any moment now. But to her delight, she had found what she wanted.
Soft footing.
She tried one last time, going right for his shoulder, and Vader’s foot slid ever so slightly on the damp sand as his foot touched it, and he gave a screech of furious pain as her saber bit into his shoulder. He unleashed a powerful Force scream, staggering Shaak Ti with the sonic onslaught and he reared back, about to cleave her in two.
And Shaak Ti made her final gambit, and used the Force to throw a small sandstorm into his face.
Vader spat in fury as the sand assaulted his eyes and got into his mouth. Clones were shouting, he heard blaster bolts firing, there was a loud splash, and when he wiped the sand from his eyes, Shaak Ti was gone.
“Where is she?!” he bellowed at Commander Appo, and the clone pointed to the artificial lake.
“She’s in there sir!”
“Find her, and kill her! Find her now!”
But they wouldn’t find her.
Shaak Ti donned her breath mask, swimming deep into the artificial lake. She had always enjoyed swimming, and in her youth, she, Adi Gallia and their Sullustan friend Exaz had shared many missions and adventures together. When Kit had joined the Council, he had invited Shaak Ti and Adi to join him in an underwater meditation. A novel experience to be sure, but one that had proved invaluable, especially now, as if she recalled correctly, ah!
There was a small egress, a pipe that led out of the lake into a small control room, several levels below. And Vader wouldn’t know about it.
Swimming quickly, she pulled herself through the pipe as the clones opened fire into the water, clearly trying to hit her, but she was gone into the murky depths. She swam quickly through the pipe, away from the din of the conquering party as she made good her escape. She eventually reached the small control room, emerging from the pool that acted as the starting point of the estuary that she had swum up. Shaking herself off, she hauled herself out of the water, quickly sensing around to see if there were any clones around.
No clones, but she couldn’t be sure of that lasting. Above she could feel the dark fury of Darth Vader as he hunted her down, determined to execute the last of the Council. But he wouldn’t get that chance.
She was the last of the Jedi Council. If he killed her today, he would go back to his Darth Sidious and proclaim victory. And that she would not allow.
She edged out of the room, looking down sadly to see several dead younglings and Minas Velti, who had clearly died trying to protect the younglings. Sad soul. She hurried along the corridor, ears alert for any sign she was about to receive company. She could feel Vader above her, getting closer all the time. The clones seemed to have abandoned this area, opting to go further into the temple to secure their victory. She hurried through the corridors, the building now seeming more like a mausoleum as opposed to a sanctum. Something wet spilled down her face, and she brushed the water away, only to be replaced by more. It was her tears, not leftover water from the swim that she had made to escape.
The Jedi had fallen. Many of their brethren had been ruthlessly murdered, executed after being betrayed. The Republic, she didn’t doubt, would fall too. They had lost. She had lost. They had failed. She had failed.
But still, she survived. She knew something within her heart too: while she had sensed the deaths of numerous friends and colleagues, there was one bright light that she hadn’t felt get snuffed out. Yoda, wherever he was, was still alive. She would have felt it if the Grand Master had died, and the fact that she hadn’t, it had heartened her.
The purge, extraordinarily effective though it may be, couldn’t be completely effective. She knew that. Some Jedi, whether it be by luck, skill or happenstance, would survive. And one day, they would strike back against the Sith that sought to swallow them whole.
And until then, she would make damn sure they got stuck in the mouth of the Sith and caused them nothing but trouble on the way down.
She came to a stop as she heard stampeding boots, a squad of clones up ahead.
“Where did it go? You think it was Yoda?” one clone demanded, and the other clone responded, Shaak Ti listening intently.
“Nah, not him, the Lannik, the dude with the scars! Looks like him from a distance though, he leapt out of that hole that the gunship crashed into!”
Shaak Ti allowed herself a smile. No, the Jedi had been all but wiped out. But there were some who still lived, and it sounded like Even Piell had survived this treacherous attack. Having been planning to retire anyway, he had elected to stand down when Palpatine had appointed Anakin, well, Vader now, to be his representative on the Council. But that meant he had survived too, thank the Force.
“Hey!” the lead clone said, as he turned the corner to see her standing there.
Her saber was ignited in an instant, deflecting blaster fire into them. However, behind them, she saw two troops that looked like ARC troopers in black armour disappearing with an unconscious body held up between them, most strange. But if those clones were disobeying their orders and rescuing a Jedi, she was hardly going to complain. She finished off the clones, their smoking bodies dropping to the ground as she picked up their trail, heading towards this hole that Even had apparently jumped out of.
She briefly caught sight of a young man, who she recognised as Even’s former Padawan, Jax, making good his own escape, heading into the catacombs of the temple. Good, let the boy live. She could sense Vader, he was closer now. Better he hunted her than anyone else.
She could feel the wind coming from the hole in the wall she was making her way towards. She was almost there, she could taste the air, tainted by smoke and ash though it was. She hurried down the next corridor, and saw the unnatural light of Coruscant at the end of the corridor, in place of what had once been a veranda. Excellent.
“Jedi!” a clone jet trooper yelled, but Shaak Ti was taking no chances, and her saber span through the air, cutting the three jet troopers guarding the hole in two and dropping their corpses into the depths of the capital world.
Shaak Ti reached the end of the corridor, standing at the edge of the destroyed veranda. Despite all that had happened, it looked so peaceful from up here.
“Shaak Ti!” a voice thundered, and she turned to see Vader bearing down the corridor, a horde of clones behind him, ready to finish her off.
“Lord Vader. Ironic. Despite all you’ve done, all I see is the same frightened boy who wanted to be a Jedi. I pray that that boy returns one day. Farewell, Anakin.”
Vader’s face contorted with rage, but Shaak Ti didn’t stick around to find out what happened next, as she closed her eyes, took a step back, and fell into the abyss.
XX
Some months later, Shaak Ti smiled as she received word from Senator Organa. His daughter was doing well, he said. He had also indicated that she was not the only Jedi he was in contact with. And there were rumblings of discontent throughout the Empire.
The galaxy would learn to suffer under the rule of the Sith.
The Jedi’s light had been dimmed, but not extinguished. It seemed bleak, she couldn’t dispute that. But she knew other Jedi had survived. She knew Vader, now clad in black armour and breathing apparatus, would seek out Jedi and hunt them down wherever he could. But he was just one man. He couldn’t get them all.
One day, the galaxy would need the Jedi again.
And Shaak Ti would be here when they did.
She smiled as her Felucian companions approached, along with her new apprentice, Maris Brood, who had been orphaned in the Purge. She had found her wondering, seeking revenge. She would help the girl. And in turn, the girl would help her, keep her mind off the magnitude of the Jedi’s failure. Of her failure.
But with that in mind, she now saw her future. She had failed before. She had recovered. And now, she would do so again.
“We’ve much to do,” she told them, the ground thudding as her rancor mount approached, seeking her for their morning patrol.
The night had fallen. But night’s were only that: the night.
One day, the sun, the light would rise again.
And until then, she would do whatever she could to make sure it was a stunning sunrise when the day finally came.