Chapter Text
A great darkness had taken hold of the Force. It was felt by Jedi all across the galaxy—a flicker of light consumed by fear, anger, and suffering. What followed was the beginning of what many would consider the end of the Jedi Order, as clones began to turn against their Jedi leadership, executing them without hesitation or warning. Even on the Republic's capital world of Coruscant, home to the very heart of the Jedi Order, the clones of the 501st legion stormed the Jedi Temple and attacked Jedi. Killing all members of all ages and ranks without mercy.
The Jedi fought to defend themselves, but were overpowered by the sheer number of highly skilled troops. Within a couple of hours of the attack, over half of the temple's inhabitants were dead. Those who remained were scattered throughout the temple, fighting for their lives.
In the Corridor of the Lost, Koro Izumi – a teenage Zabrak padawan learner – fought against multiple clones alongside his master, a rodian Jedi Knight named Cessair Farr – younger brother of the late Senator Onaconda Farr – as they attempted to defend a group of younglings.
They'd initially attempted to get the children to the temple's hangar but were overpowered by clones and forced to retreat. Though there had been more Jedi Knights, Padawans and younglings with them before their former troops had slaughtered them, even younglings hadn't been spared. Now it was just Koro and Cessair and a dozen little Jedi in training; many who'd barely learned to wield a lightsaber in their young lives.
Huddled together in a corner beside the bust of recently-deceased former Jedi Master Dooku, now remembered as Count Dooku, the younglings looked on as master and padawan blocked ongoing blaster bolts, sending them back at the clones who cried out and collapsed upon being hit, and perhaps killed.
It was a gruesome sight. One that no child should be seeing. The younglings were beyond dramatized by this, and it pained Koro to see what this bloodshed was doing to them. Though he also knew that if he stopped fighting now, then both he and his master would be killed, along with the remaining younglings, who might perhaps be the Jedi's last chance for a future where the Order wasn't merely a memory. He had to stand firm and hold the line until reinforcements arrived and helped them get the younglings to safety.
That's when a flicker of hope sparked. From behind the clones, several of their deceased brothers were hurled at the living who were attempting to kill Koro and the other Jedi. As a result, the attackers were knocked off their feet, some even falling unconscious from the impact of their dead brothers.
This gave Cessair and Koro the advantage they needed to mount a counteroffensive. Slashing their lightsabers at the remaining clones. At this time, they were met by several padawans, led by Temple Battlemaster Cin Drallig. With their combined efforts, enemy troops in the area were outmatched and defeated. For the time being, the corridor was secure.
While Cessair and Master Drallig discussed a plan of action, the padawans who'd accompanied the Temple's Battlemaster remained on guard, ready to take on any enemy reinforcements that would undoubtedly come to finish what their brothers had started.
"Clones have the hangar on lockdown, and gunships poised outside. Several ships have already been shot down attempting to escape," Master Drallig reported.
Cessair shook his head in disbelief. "Then we have to find another way out," he said in his species' native language, which both Drallig and Koro understood.
"I agree. However, more and more clones are continuing to arrive and fill the temple," the Battlemaster revealed.
"What about the Temple beacon?" Koro chimed in. "Couldn't we use it to call for help?"
Drallig shook his head. "That was one of their first targets when they stormed the temple. Clones have it under tight control. Any Jedi who goes near is immediately killed."
One of the younglings, a Togruta, cried at the idea of more Jedi dying.
Cessair heard this. In response, the knight walked over to the younglings, got onto a knee and placed a comforting hand on the Togruta youngling while reaching out to all of the children through the Force. "Fear not, young ones. For even in the darkest nights, light still shines on the horizon, waiting to brighten the new day. I'm not saying it won't be easy, but we must hold on, trust in the Force and trust the holy energy field to lead us to salvation."
The younglings all smiled. Cessair's words took away the terror they felt from their hearts. The same could be said for Master Drallig, who nodded his head in agreement.
Koro also smiled and even let out a sigh of relief. Cessair was one of the best motivational speakers in the whole Order. In the bleakest of battles, only he could motivate a group of fighters outnumbered a hundred to one to carry on with the hope of victory in their minds. It's what made Koro idolize his master and look forward to each mission they faced together.
Sadly, that moment of relief came to an abrupt end at the hands of a great darkness that filled the Jedi's hearts. It felt like a cold ache that made some of the younglings' stomachs want to hurl.
Lights leading from the corridor flickered, and the sound of lightsabers clashing from afar hit their ears. A scream followed before a body flew through the darkened hall, landing in front of Master Drallig.
The colour drained instantly from the Battlemaster's face, as did the younglings and the padawans who'd stood guard, for the body belonged to Jedi Knight Serra Keto, Cin Drallig's most prized pupil. Master Drallig knelt to rub the forehead of his deceased pupil, a tear shedding as he looked at her in sorrow. While many Jedi had already been lost, seeing one who you'd trained from a young girl dead at your feet could horrify even the most well-trained masters. Koro himself was shaken up. But not just by Serra's dead body, by the fact that she was covered in lightsaber wounds. Showing what had obviously killed her.
Though this left everyone wondering who had done it.
The answer came swiftly as the sight and humming sound of a glowing, blue-bladed lightsaber appeared, revealing the silhouette of a hooded figure that everyone instantly recognized.
"It can't be!" Koro whispered.
The sight of a Jedi gone dark alone would be enough to crush a Jedi's heart. But this hooded figure, shrouded in darkness, was none other than the Jedi Knight/Council member Anakin Skywalker; the greatest Jedi warrior of the Clone Wars; the Republic's leading knight; and the prophesied Chosen One who was foretold to be one who would destroy the Sith and bring balance to the Force.
Yet it was evident from the menacing look of hatred in his eyes, along with the 501st clones who followed behind him as they'd always had without pointing their weapons at him, that he was part of the clones' betrayal.
Master Drallig got up, reigniting his emerald blade as both he and Cessair took up a defensive stance between Skywalker and the younglings.
"Your favourite student is no more," Skywalker said coldly, much to Koro's disgust. This was not the voice of a valiant Jedi hero, but a heartless murderer.
What followed was another bloodbath. First, the other padawans were sliced by Skywalker's blade. Then, while Cessair and Koro defended the younglings from clones, Master Drallig faced off in single combat against Skywalker. Despite his years of training and mastery with a lightsaber, Skywalker's sheer power overwhelmed the Temple Battlemaster, eventually killing him with a fatal stab to the chest.
More clones fell, but by the time Master Drallig had fallen, Skywalker ordered those who remained standing to cease fire. For a moment, the only sound in the corridor that could be heard was the hum of all three blue lightsabers. Still standing between the younglings and their enemies, both master and padawan held their guard, waiting for Skywalker to make the next move.
It felt like an eternity, but it was actually less than a moment before Skywalker used the Force to call upon one of the busts of the Lost Twenty and threw it at Cessair.
This particular bust, having been of the first of the Lost Twenty, Phanius, later known as Darth Ruin, who restarted the Sith Wars over two thousand years ago and plunged the galaxy into a millennium-long period of darkness. Koro had to admit that using his bust as a means of attack was a fitting choice for Skywalker, considering the similarities between his and Darth Ruin's actions.
Cessair easily sliced the bust in half with his lightsaber. However, this distracted the knight long enough for Skywalker to soar across the room and make his real attack on him. While Cessair was slicing and pushing the remains of Phanius' bust out of the way, Skywalker came in and slashed his blade through both Cessair's lightsaber hilt and the hand that held it.
Cessair howled in pain as his hilt, now sliced in two, fell onto the ground along with a portion of his hand.
"Master!" Koro cried out while he attempted to jump in between Skywalker and his master. However, he was pushed aside through the Force by Cessair, who used his undamaged hand to do so. Koro fell back right next to the younglings, who'd barely moved as they watched the terror of the Chosen One's betrayal.
Koro looked towards his master, who, in turn, smiled as he spoke calmly to his apprentice. "Defend the younglings, my padawan. Trust in the-"
Cessair's final words were cut off as Skywalker sliced the rodian Jedi in half from shoulder to waist. This left the younglings beyond horrified. To see such carnage inflicted on fellow members of their Order at the hands of one who was said to have been their saviour... it just couldn't be imagined in such young minds. Several of them looked away, while others looked at Skywalker with tears pouring from their eyes.
Koro, too, began to shed tears as the pain of watching his master's demise caused something inside of himself to snap. Perhaps it was his inner beast inherited from his Zabrak genes. Maybe his heart couldn't take any more of the emotional pain he'd endured throughout the night. Whatever the case, anger boiled up from inside the young padawan.
With his own lightsaber in one hand, he reached out through the Force to call upon Master Drallig's lightsaber, drawing it across the corridor into his free hand.
Now wielding both blue and green blades together, Koro allowed the anger inside him to erupt like a volcano. "TRAITOR!"
The younglings watched in stunned shock as Koro's anger engulfed him. None could do anything as Koro leaped towards the monster who'd murdered Masters Drallig and Cessair. Well, all except for one, a cream-pink-skinned, hairless alien boy named Farn. Despite the immense amount of fear within himself, Farn tried to stop Koro from committing an act of vengeance. "Padawan Koro, no!" he cried out.
Sadly, however, the youngling's squeaky voice was ignored. Koro's mind and heart were filled with painful memories of his dead master. Memories that tore his heart apart. And with his master's killer in his sights, the young Zabrak was not about to let him get away with murder.
He slashed both his and Master Drallig's blades at the former hero, only for them to be parried by Skwyalkwer without difficulty.
Koro attacked again, only to be blocked again.
Koro made several more attempts to get through Skywalker's defences. But despite his best efforts, despite attempting to use his anger to fuel his attacks, the padawan was no match for one of the Order's most gifted duelists – the one who defeated Count Dooku in combat mere days ago.
The only reason Koro had lasted as long as he had was because Skywalker was fascinated by the Zabrak's use of anger, as it was something few Jedi would allow themselves to do. Instead of counterattacking, Skywalker chose to block Koro's strikes, seeing just how deep the padawan's anger would drive him.
Eventually, Skywalker's interest faded as Koro appeared to be only doing the same strikes again and again. No imagination. No creativity. His anger, though powerful, clouded his mind to the battle he was clearly losing. Finally, having had enough, the fallen knight countered Koro's latest with a roundabout slash to his left wrist – similar to the move he'd done to disarm Count Dooku during the rescue of the Chancellor – causing the padawan's hand and blue lightsaber to flop onto the ground.
Koro cried out in pain, yet this only fueled his rage further. At the same time, he attempted a different means of attacking. Leaping into the air, he tried to jump over Skywalker and strike him from behind. But Skywalker was already ahead of him. With his own lightsaber, Skywalker slashed out at Koro's face, destroying his left eye while leaving behind a massive vertical scar that started just above his – now burnt – eyebrow and ended just below the jaw.
Distracted while in midair, Koro landed on its back, failing to land correctly on the tiled surface. The impact with the floor sent immense jolts of pain throughout his body. Temporarily paralyzing him as a result.
With Koro out of the way, Skywalker went straight towards the younglings.
Despite the immense pain, Koro managed to open his remaining good eye. But upon opening it, he wished he could close it as he watched Skywalker gut the poor younglings down like a butcher slaughtering animals for meat.
The cries of the younglings as they quickly became one with the Force in the most painful of ways, tore Koro's ears.
As soon as it had started, it was over. Leaving Koro alone with the Jedi butcher, who turned his attention back onto him. Koro feared that he was next. Fated to join his master and the others in death as the hands of the Jedi Order's greatest traitor. But instead of a slash from his lightsaber, Koro felt himself being lifted by the Force. He didn't know it at the time, but just before he was lifted, Koro had managed to grab Master Drallig's lightsaber again, which he'd dropped upon hitting the floor after his failed jump attack.
With the deceased Battlemaster's lightsaber hilt wrapped tightly around his fingers, Koro felt himself being thrown through a window, breaking through the glass and falling into the depths of Corsucant's city-world. Perhaps to his final resting place.