Star Wars: Valuri's Saga I
Sorry it's a little late, but here goes! The following is a teaser from the story I wrote a while back. It sets the time and introduces my main character, Valuri Sa'rea
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Part One, Chapter One
~~Fall of the Jedi~~
The ominous padding of the feet of countless clones marching in unison was heard before seen. Some of the older teachers and Adepts were alerted to the danger through the Force, and they turned thier heads suspiciously to the temple doors. As the marching came closer, one of the Knights still in the temple told the younger Padawans and younglings to hide. Still more Jedi came into the main hall from the library and other adjacent rooms. They, too, felt the disturbance in the Force. Not the threat of death from the clones, but the vaccuum of Force energy that was approaching with them. Like a single black could in a sky of grey rainclouds, the rising strength of the Dark Side could be felt all the way to the Outer Rim, and this black cloud was its center. Spiking the sky with red lightening and tearing down the few pillars of light that remianed.
The temple doors began to open, and the Jedi behind them steeled themselves against the fate they knew was fourthcoming. They each knew none among them was strong enough to face this Dark Jedi. They each knew, however, that they must not give in to fear; A Jedi knows no emotion, there is only peace.
There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.
A Knight by the name of Valuri Sa'rea stood at the front and recognized the Dark Jedi at the head of this clone force. It was Anakin Skywalker, at least, that was who he used to be. A small nudge in the Force from Valuri ignited his green lightsaber, sending an emerald overcast across the darkened room. The look in Anakin's eyes was dreadful. His soul was completely twisted by the Dark Side, and this attack was a child of that perversion. Valuri knew words were meaningless to Anakin now. Sliding his eyelids shut, Valuri slipped into the Force, feeling the ebb and flow of infinate power around him. Power he had barely begun to touch, to understand. Let the Force flow through you, his masters had instructed. Opening his eyes, he felt the immensity of the Force surround his body like a wave of surging water; clearing his mind and freeing his body.
There is no passion, there is serenity.
Raising his lightsaber vertically in front of him, Valuri poised his body to prepare for the impending confrontation. The clones were of no concern. Most Padawans could deflect blaster fire with ease, and the less experienced Knights could handle the rest, but if there was any hope of escape for them all, someone would have to keep Anakin occupied. Valuri knew he was outmatched, but Anakin's arrogance was sensational. His pride would be his downfall. Valuri truely felt sorry for Anakin. He had the potential to be a great, and wise Jedi Master. Even Yoda acknowledged his capability. In a different future, perhaps Anakin would have risen to Yoda's position on the Council. Perhaps he would have been a beacon of light for all young Jedi to follow and learn. But Anakin was selfish, afraid, and very angry. Instead of seeking serenity though the Force, he choose to succumb to his emotions and the result of that failure stood before Valuri spelling the doom of the Republic and the Jedi Order.
There is no chaos, there is harmony.
Anakin's passion for power and his unattainable goal for peace in the galaxy drove him to the Dark Side. Valuri understood that in life, there must be death. In victory, there must be struggle. In peace, there must be war. War, perhaps the most misunderstood compulsion all sentient beings face. Everthing happens for a reason, to bring balance to the Force. It was said that Anakin would be the Jedi's saviour; that he would bring balance. The intensity of the Dark Side burning from him was evidence to the contrary. Anakin was a fool, and Valuri was not. Even now Valuri could see the Force in motion. Anakin's actions had consequences, as did all actions made by anyone. Master Yoda often said the future was difficult to see, and now Valuri understood why. He could not see the future, or get the simple suggestions of possible futures from which Yoda drew so much wisdom. However, Valuri could feel the Force shifting. Its indefinate progession. Somehow, he knew the consequences of Anakin's actions would be severe, not only for the galaxy, but for himself.
The clones raised thier blaster rifles. Lightsabers ignited behind Valuri as the young Knights and Padawans prepared to defend themselves.
"There is no death," Valuri broke the brief moment of silence, "there is the Force."
Anakin spread a wicked smile and lunged while firing his lightsaber into life, and behind him, a wall of blue blaster fire followed.
There is no death, there is the Force.
Beginning of the End - Order 66
OOC: At this point, the IC has started! Give your posts thought and I encourage you to place yourselves in your characters' shoes. I expect this should be pretty fun. On with the show...
IC:
The Force. Once thought by some to be magic; supernatural. In truth it is the most natural of all things. The very essence of the power that binds the universe. Its influence is unshakable, unerring, incorruptible... perfect. It exists in all things, living or not. It is neither Light or Dark; good or evil; right or wrong. It simply is. Only mortals have labeled it Light or Dark, as indicated by the wielder's actions. But the Force is not under the control of any, but the servant of all who know how to use it... or abuse it. It won't take sides, for it can't win or lose. It is The Force.
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Voices, marked by thier similarity. Padded footsteps falling across the cold, unlit floors of the Jedi Temple. The clone troopers were giving the sacred temple one last sweep, looking for the students within. Most were already dead, thier bodies cast on the ground and broken. The Jedi Code mandates that fallen Jedi are to be burned, and become one with the Force. Instead, the young innocent lives lost in this most revered of places will only see the dark bottom of a mass grave.
But not all was as it seemed to the clones as they searched.
"I am not important. You should return to your patrols," spoke a voice, hooded and cloaked in a dark storage room. "All is clear here."
"This one's not important. We should get back. This room is clear," the clone obediantly replied, ordering his fellows out of the room and back into the main hall. Slowly, over about an hour, a majority of the clones left the temple.
Valuri Sa'rea moved out of the storage room, clutching his side. It wasn't easy to feign death to another Force-user. Anakin was no longer in the system, however. Shortly after the massacre, he left, presumably to further ruin ten millinea of Jedi heritage. Valuri was not still at the temple to liberate it, however. He could sense the life of a new aquaintence, deeper in the temple's corridors. He met his Padawan only twelve hours ago. He told her that her life was about to become much more complicated. He didn't realize that meant running and hiding for what remained of it. Right now, his priority was to find Terri, and leave the temple.
Searching his feelings, he could detect her below him. Moving silently and avoiding remaining clones, his senses led him to the entrance to the Trials Chamber, where a small unit of troopers were attemptign to enter though force. Three charges were set on the door. Valuri smirked at his Padawan's resourcefulness. The Trials were a test of one's ability to promote to Padawan, Knight, or in some cases, even Master status. The clones backed away from the door as they prepared to blow the charges. Once they had cover, Valuri moved closer, walking quickly and as quietly as possible behind them. As the sergent leading the group pressed the detonator, Valuri ignited his saber and lunged, using the Force to boost his speed slightly. He dispatched two of the clones before they even knew he was there. The remaining two opened fire, but missed Valuri wholly in thier haste. Throwing his hand at the clones, palm out, Valuri sent the two flying throught he newly opened door. Seconds later, fuzzy yellow glow broke through the dust and dipped twice towards the ground.
Valuri deactivated his saber as Terri Hria, his new apprentice, walked out from the rubble. The young Twi'lek was wounded from blaster fire on her arm and leg. Both were glancing blows, but she was still obviously very distressed. Terri reached her master and disarmed her saber as she collapsed into Valuri's arms. Valuri smiled slightly, thankful that at least one of the Padawans has escaped Anakin's fury. He would have to ask her how she managed once they were safe.
Ignoring his own wounds, and usign the Force to numb the pain, Valuri made his way to the hangar. Once there, he saw a number of Jedi starfighters along with a pair of ARC-170's. One of those would be his ticket out of this mess. All he had to do was figure out how to get past the fifty or so clones offloading from a docked transport.
Terri stirred in his arms and he laid her on the groud behind the crates that served as his camoflauge. "Easy, now. We're in the hangar."
She opened her eyes and looked up at Valuri, "Master?" she sat up, crouching nest to Valuri, "Thank you. I'm not sure how much longer I could have held out."
"It is my duty to protect you as well as teach you, my Padawan. The fact that you managed to survive at all is very impressive. Not many others were as fortunate..."
Valuri trailed off as movement in the hanger caught his attention. The clones began loading back onto the transport very quickly, leaving only a handful of guards. Valuri narrowed his eyebrows. Something was drawing them away. Some kind of distraction in the temple.
"I hope you're feeling better, Terri. You're about to get a crash course in narrow escapes. See the ARC over there on the landing platform? Get over to it and prepare to buzz out of here. Make sure it has fuel. We won't get far in that tank without anything to run on."
"What about you Master?"
"I'm going to have a chat with the guards," Valuri smirked and dashed out from the crates. Terri moved not long after him in the opposite direction.
Taking a thermal detonator from a nearby falled clone, Valuri made his way towards the clones as stealthily as possible. They were gathered in a group near where the transport undocked and were conversing among themselves. Once he was close enough, Valuri armed the detonator, and gripped it with the force. He guided the small bomb across the floor quickly at first, then slowed as he neared the clones. He stopped it behind a console just a few feet from the clones. Looking over at the ARC, he saw Terri in the cockpit beginning ignition. He raised the detonator over the edge of the console and released it. It bounced off the edge on onto the controls, the impact starting the timer. It rolled off the console controls, beeping rapidly, and hit the ground at the center of the group of clones. The engines of the ARC fired as the detonator released its inferno, instantly killing the troopers.
Dashing across the hangar, Valuri jumped into the ARC's gunner seat, and the cockpit slid closed behind him.
"Just so you know Master," Terri spoke somewhat unsuredly, "I have never flown before."
Valuri's head snapped up, but the heavy starfighter roared into the Courescant skylanes before he could say anything. Flying over the temple, he saw the scatted bodies of clones all over the courtyard. Someone had survived after all. And they had come back.
Just as the ARC escaped the atmosphere and into space, three V-wings appeared on Valuri's radar. "Don't use your consoles, Terri. Use the Force. Let it guide your hands. Feel what will happen, not what is already happening. As soon as we are clear, jump to hyperspace. Those V-wings don't have hyperdrives," Valuri instructed as he rerouted the rear guns to the main gunner controls.
"Okay, Master..." she replied, the tension in her voice as audiable as her words. She activated the afterburners as red laser fire blazed past the wingtips and bounced off the rear deflector.
Reality slowed as Valuri concentrated ont he Force. In doing so, he felt something deeply reassuring coming from Courescant. A presence of widsdom and power. "I sense Master Yoda..."
OOC: Where you make your entrance is up to you, however you post should include your escape from certain doom. In case you missed it, the time is the morning after the attack on the Jedi Temple. By this time, most of the clone commanders have recieved Order 66, though it is possible that not all have gotten it just yet. Happy posting!