In the grand corridor of the temple, which connects the inner and the outer temple. Aayla Secura and a large group of battered jedi, both old and young, were in the midst of their greatest struggles.

Sweat was dribbling down her face as she reflected back another bunch of plasma beams at the incoming clone troopers. Her two single-handed lightsabers, one green and one blue, symbolized her dedication towards two jedi schools, one being the consular, while the other the guardian. The colorful blades were frequently dancing through the air, leaving behind nothing but the scent of ozone.

On either side of her, other jedi, both padawans, knights, masters and temple guards, were doing the same with different measures of success. An entire platoon of fully equipped clone troopers attacked the temple. Not long after dawn’s first light shined through the crystalline windows of the grand corridor where they were currently battling.

The situation was dire… there were simply too many clones; the temple had almost no defensive systems of its own, behind the security sensors that were only meant to catch unwelcomed visitors who might wish to sneak into the temple and steal artifacts or knowledge. It was useless against an army of clones bursting through the main door of the temple.

How did things end up like this in the first place?

She couldn't understand what was happening. Neither of the jedi could.

One moment, we were about to head for breakfast with my new padawan… The girl was called Kalifa. She had managed to so easily sneak into my heart after I requested to be assigned as her new master. It was just a few weeks ago, but it feels like we have known each other for years.

The girl was a sweet child. Beyond her crude exterior, she reminded the master of her own younger version, much more than she would ever like to admit it openly. The girl was all and more than she envisioned in an ideal padawan. She was headstrong, decisive, which was a rare trait in a padawan of her age, especially in young girls.

Aalya didn’t want to raise a padawan right now. She wanted to focus on the battles to come, not be distracted by the necessity of teaching a noisy child. She watched her old friend, Obi’Wan, with great amusement, as he struggled over endless nights with the teaching of Anakin. Teaching a padawan seemed like a never-ending flood of unresolved troubles, and she was more than happy to not take part in it as long as it was possible.

It wasn’t a really womanly action, as Obi‘Wan the old crook had never missed a chance to rub in that she still hadn't taken an apprentice. In a sense, Aayla herself started to doubt that she would ever raise a padawan of her own… Then she met with Kalifa. They spoke for a while, and it became clear to her what she needed to do.

The girl needed someone to guide her, to teach her how to be a jedi. It was time for her to become a teacher, after all.

Anyway… she visited the grandmaster, and asked him to allow her the privilege of taking Kalifa as her own apprentice. Yoda was pleasantly surprised by her sudden request, and accepted it right away. No doubt, the old master was afraid that she might change her mind. He had been trying to drop a padawan into her lap for quite some time now.

That was how she finally took on an apprentice. The human girl called Kalifa was very cute in her own slightly boyish and clumsy way. She had much to learn, but Aalya saw the spark in her eyes, which she believed to be an absolute necessity for a great jedi knight.

But now, only a handful of days later, everything seems to fall apart… The temple was under siege, the only reason they had a chance to hold out at all, was in the fact that the clones seemed to want to capture the building in a mostly intact state. They weren’t using bombs, or large area destructive weapon systems… only the usual blaster guns, rifles, heavy blaster guns, and hand thrown thermal detonators were used against them.

She blocked another blaster shot, reflecting it back to an incoming trooper. The soldier hit in the chest by the beam fell over, dead. From this close, the basic clone armor was useless against plasma beams. If a soldier is hit in the chest from less than thirty meters’ distance, he is dead ninety percent of the time. That was the limit of thin plastoid armor.

They were created to be used in long distance combat on battlefields. When plasma shots were traveling kilometers before hitting anything. From that distance, they lose quite a bit of their carried destructive energy. In those cases, the armor would be able to easily neutralize multiple shots without the wearer feeling much discomfort or pain.

Almost simultaneously with the clone’s fall, Aayla saw with a pained expression, as a padawan not far from her, being no doubt tired from the intense battle, missed to deflect an incoming shot, which pierced through her throat as she gasped in pain and fell over, clutching her throat with tears falling out of her eyes.

-NO!

There was a sorrowful shout from an older man as he rushed to the side of the fallen padawan. He grasped her lifeless hand, his expression showing a deep sense of self loathing and loss.

He must be her master…

Thought Aayla as she gulped drily while thinking that she had made the right choice, not bringing her new padawan to the fight. She is at least safe in the inner temple, for now.

However, Aayla couldn’t figure out how long that state would last.

There was an unexpected explosion on the left side of the corridor. Near the slowly creeping forward line of clones.

Aayla sensed a strong ripple in the force, as three shadowy figures burst forward from the newly raised smoke cloud.

She focused on them for a second longer and realized that they were a group of jedi shadows. Masters of the subtle art of war. Three of the shadows rushed at the momentarily confused clones with two blades in each hand, cutting through the line of clone troopers like a hot knife through butter.

Aayla was familiar with the battlefield. She saw more than her fair share of combat. But seeing her brothers and sisters disassembling clone troopers with a similar precision and emotional detachment as they used to do with droids felt incredibly wrong to her.

In a matter of seconds, twenty clone troopers were cut apart, limbs and other body parts covering the floor. In the wake of the three flanking warriors.

She felt a deep sense of sorrow, utterly disgusted with the sight she was forced to face. There was nothing else to do, however… She shouted at the others still standing by her side… It was their opportunity to push back the clones and gain ground against the seemingly numberless clone squads storming the temple.

-Charge forward! Cover the shadows!

There was an unusual burning sense of blood-thirst lingering in the air, one that was never meant to appear between the walls of the Jedi Temple.

There were battle shouts coming from here and there, as the warriors jumped into the fray with blazing swords wielded with deathly precision.

Aayla saw the man whose padawan died a minute ago, as he blinked away his tears and rushed forward sending a powerful force push into a group of clones, they were pushed to the ground, as the blade of the first shadow leading the charge pierced into their chest.

To the shock of the shadows, one of the clones held an already activated thermal detonator. The device blew up, still clutched in the clone’s lifeless grasp. Two of the three shadows were caught in the unexpected explosion. The one who stood closer was completely taken off guard and was ripped apart by the concentrated explosion.

The other managed to raise a force shield just in time, but was still sent to the side, flying from the unleashed waves of destructive energy.

Aayla couldn’t see if the other shadow survived being blown away or died. As a shroud of laser beams fell on them from the side at an unexpected angle, the clones managed to infiltrate the side corridors and balconies; it seems. Now they were the ones being flanked.

She hissed in pain as a laser beam grazed her thigh, and another her left forearm… It was simple blind luck that she wasn’t hit by those shots. She saw two knights fall to the ground, as they failed to react in time, and were hit in the back with multiple shots of blue plasma.

-We are flanked! Take cover!

Shouted someone among the jedi.

Aayla saw a young boy, around fourteen, as he fell onto the ground with a pained cry… His thigh was pierced with a laser shot.

She immediately jumped forward, blocking the rest of the incoming shots, carefully redirecting one towards the shocked clone. She watched as the bolt hit true, and the clone quickly disappeared behind the cover he was using for aiming at them.

She crouched down, as an armored temple guard rushed forward to cover her with a golden saber staff. She felt grateful for the help, as she picked up the boy, and was about to bring him to the safest cover she could find. It was then she felt a shaky hand grab her arm.

She turned and saw a pale faced kel dor woman standing next to her. Her eyes and lower half of her face were covered in a dark breathing apparatus. Aayla couldn’t help but recall her knowledge of the kel dor race. Oxygen was a poisonous gas for them, so they had to cover their faces and eyes with a special breathing mask.

-I will take care of him. He is my padawan, and… thank you for saving him, Master Secura… I will never forget your kindness…

Aayla nodded briefly as she carefully helped the injured boy onto the woman’s back. She brought him away, while being covered by the blade of a young knight who came over at just the right time.

Aayla felt relieved seeing that the kid and his master had gotten to safety. He must be taken to the infirmary right away.

Finishing that thought, she turned back towards the enemy line. The moment she turned around, she saw another knight being shot down by the cold blue beams of death. Her grim expression returned, with the cold realization, they needed to do something, and quickly.

-We need to kill the clones on the flank!

She shouted, while deflecting three more lasers shot at her. The only remaining shadow seemed to have an unexpected solution. He shouted at his nearby comrades.

-Cover me!

Two temple guards moved into position to deflect incoming shots from heading towards the shadow.

Then he put away his lightsaber and picked up a sniper rifle from a fallen soldier. Turned toward the enemy and began to shoot down the flanking soldiers one by one. With every shot, one soldier fell. Soon the continuous fire from the flank stopped, or weakened as the clones didn’t dare to leave their cover anymore, and the ones who dared were soon hit by a precisely shot laser beam.

Seeing the shadow’s example, some of the padawans decided to pick up blaster guns, too. Shooting back at the soldiers, while the older, more experienced jedi were covering them from incoming laser shots.

There was movement behind us, and I turned back to see who was coming. I felt a wave of relief as another three temple guards joined our defensive formation.

Our numbers were getting thinner. The temple had only so much older padawans, and jedi knights staying here at the moment. And a large amount of the temple guards were killed in the initial invasion of the temple.

The clones have used the momentum of surprise effectively, killing many from our ranks by simply overwhelming them with firepower. We had been pushed back to the inner temple. It was here where we managed to stop their quick advancement. As we could focus most of our numbers in the same place.

We must stand our ground here. If we are forced to scatter once more, the temple will be lost.

One of the new temple guards ran up to me suddenly.

I furrowed my brows. This couldn’t be good news…

-The clones managed to breach the walls of the inner temple. The security system showed multiple breaches in different parts of the temple. They are going to surround us on every side.

I heard the dire news and felt my throat dry up suddenly. I closed my eyes with a stretched sigh.

-What about the younglings? Are there any breach near the council room?

The temple guard thought for a while, then said.

-I believe there isn’t.

-Good. We will continue to hold our ground here. I hope you left enough people to defend the infirmary!

-Naturally, Jocasta Nu is with the younglings in the council hall, while Vokara Che is treating the patients, with a couple of other healers. There are still four temple guards defending the infirmary.

I nodded and said.

-Good.

With that, we jumped out of the temporary cover of a huge pillar and jumped back into the battle, which was already going on for more than half an hour with an unholy intensity.

The less trained, or battle oriented jedi, were already exhausted, deflecting deadly laser beams for that amount of time, while also running around cutting down as many clones as we could, doing more than our fair share of force techniques in the meantime.

Such a pace was tiring for the most hardened warriors, dancing on the edge of a blade, and watching out for the myriad of force warnings.

I prayed to the force that the younglings would be safe, but I didn’t believe in it, to be honest. I was incredibly worried for Kalifa… But… she was simply out of our reach, and if we fall here, there will be no reason to worry about them anymore.

I looked around and made a quick head count… there were about thirty to forty jedi of different title and age in the hall. We lost more than half of our numbers. It was a horrible situation about sixty battle capable jedi had been either heavily injured or killed.

The worst thing of all was the uncertainty. What if the clone army has turned against the jedi everywhere… then is there even a chance to survive? Who gave the order to do this? Would the Senate wish our destruction? But why would they want that?

The jedi temple possesses little value for those who can’t wield the force. Is this the work of a Sith then? But, how would a Sith turn the clones against us? However hard Aalya thought about this, she couldn’t find a reasonable answer, and decided to stop thinking about it for now. She didn’t need another distraction. She must focus on the battle entirely.

Even so, she couldn’t help but lament. The masters just had to go out on some important matter… If master Yoda, Windu or Obi’Wan would be here, everyone would feel much more relieved, even me…

While the deadly battle in the grand corridor had reached a momentary standstill on the other side of the temple, a bunch of kids were running through the much thinner corridors of the inner temple.

-We need to get away from the clones!

Shouted O-Mer, fearing that the clones from earlier might manage to reassemble themselves and eventually follow them.

Kalifa shouted at him with annoyance.

-And what do you think we are trying to do at the moment, stupid?!

Before another argument could break out, Jinx wisely intervened.

-We can’t lead them to the council room, it must be filled with younglings already… If they find them there… It would be catastrophic…

Kalifa slowed down slightly, realizing this. Then she stated with a determined expression.

-Jinx is right… but even so… we can’t go anywhere else! There might be other jedi adults guarding the council room. It is our best shot at the moment.

Barriss joined into the conversation with a dire expression on her face.

-Yes, we need to get there, and if there are no adults, we have to defend the rest till the very end!

The little group of kids turned silent, trying to digest the mission that was awaiting them.

Kalifa added decisively.

-After the next turn, we will have to go for two more corridors to reach the turbo lift that goes up to the council room. We will have to set up an ambush at the other end of the lift. If any clones dare to come through it, we will be up on them in a second.

-Are you sure about this?

Asked Jinx, with a somewhat shaky voice.

They saw the rest of the children reach the turn, as they were running ahead of them by half a corridor.

When the first kid turned, she froze and immediately began to try to push backwards, but the rest of the kids ran into her, not expecting her to stop so suddenly.

Kalifa and the others watched in horror. As a series of blue, plasma was shot into the line of children. Sounds of pained screams and terrified crying filled the corridor in seconds.

At the time, the panicked children managed to get out of the line of fire. One or two of the kids had been shot.

-Oh no!

Exclaimed Kalifa, in a state of shock and disbelief.

There were tears in her eyes clouding her eyesight, as a sense of wrath fell over her mind, one that she never felt before… not even when the lizard men captured her two years ago…

Her family was about to be massacred in front of her eyes, and she couldn’t defend them… Someone needs to pay for this! But the sound of crying quickly chased away her wrath as more somber thoughts appeared in her mind.

I need to calm down and think reasonably.

If she attacks the clones in a state of rage, then the rest of the children will be undefended…

Damn! I should have thought of the possibility that other clone troops had also managed to infiltrate the inner temple. Since one was already hot on their heels.

They finally caught up to the rest of the kids, as they couldn’t run in any other direction. When they reached their side, the first thing they checked was the few injured ones.

A little togruta girl was hit on her right arm, and she was crying pitifully about to lose her consciousness from the pain. It was not a deadly injury, at least, since the plasma shots immediately cauterized the injured tissue. If she will be able to use that arm in the future was a different question.

There was another kid injured, this time an older boy. He was shot in the right shoulder, and his left leg was also hit. Poor kid was already unconscious, but that was not a deadly injury either…

She looked around in search of more injured, but it didn’t seem like there were any. She was about to feel relieved, but then.

Then… she realized something. This boy, he was the one that was running with Lily… The new girl! Where is she? In the chaos, she completely forgot about her!

She began to look around in a panic. She was nowhere! At last she shouted at one of the pale-faced kids. It was a crying Iktochi girl with her two horns barely starting to grow out.

-Where is Lily, the new girl, with those strange wings on her back?

The girl's face seemed to turn even paler as she answered.

-She… she charged ahead… there were bugs… covering her body all of a sudden… it looked terrible. I was so scared. Where did those bugs come from?

Kalifa blinked, feeling completely shocked.

-She… she what? She charged ahead!? Where?

It was only now, when Kalifa realized, that the sounds of heavy shooting and gunfire had never ceased, even now, long after all the kids had hid behind the turn in the corridor. What were the clones aiming at?

Suddenly, the painful scream of a man bellowed through the corridors.

Everybody became silent as they listened to the blazing gunfire and the echoing screams.

Words of the clone troopers could be heard, as they shouted over the noises of heavy blaster fire.

-GET IT OFF ME! GET IT OFF! AAAAaaaaarhh!

-SHOOT IT DOWN!

-IT’S TOO QUICK, CAN’T AIM RIGHT!

-AGH! WHERE ARE YOU SHOOTING?

-KILL IT, KILL IT!

-IT’S INEFFECTIVE! PLASMA IS INEFFECTIVE!

-IT CAN’T BE, SHOOT MORE AT IT!

-LOOK OUT!

There was a wet, crunching sound, similar to the noise that metal blades create while cutting into flesh.

-AAAHH!

Another ear-splitting scream filled the corridor, then soon there was another, and another followed.

-WHAT IS THIS THING?

-STILL NO VISIBLE EFFECTS!

-WHERE IS IT?

-ITS ON THE CEILING!

-CT-913 ITS ABOVE YOU RUN!

-WHA-? ARRRRRGH!

-WE NEED REINFORCEMENT, BACKUP! BACKUP! ARGHAA!

-NOOOO! GET AWAY FORM ME! NOO-AAGHHH!!!!!!

After the last scream as the disturbing sounds of ripping flesh faded and a heavy thud resembling that of a collapsing body dispersed. We were left in complete silence, standing or sitting in the corridor, not even daring to move a single finger.

Some of the younger children started to whimper pitifully as their fear got the better of them. Nobody understood what had just happened.

Kalifa felt her heart painfully throbbing in her throat as she forced herself out of the shocked state.

-What… what just happened?

She asked the obvious question in a whispering tone, the question that was on everyone’s mind.

O-mer answered, copying her whispering voice.

-Something has massacred the clones… Jinx, go and check it out!

He pushed the twi’lek boy forward with his left arm.

-What..? Why me?

Asked Jinx in a panicked voice, but still careful to not speak louder than absolutely necessary.

He had no desire to risk his neck on such an endeavor, but he could hardly refuse to do so, as he looked at the bunch of crying, injured, unconscious, or terrified kids around him.

He walked towards the corner, which was only a few steps from him, and slowly peeked out into the eerily silent corridor. He pulled back his neck after his body went rigid. His expression was deformed, with a sense of disgust and horror. His color was quickly turning paler, too.

He seemed sickened to the core, and raised his hand in front of his mouth, similar to someone who was on the edge of vomiting.

Seeing this, Kalifa walked next to him and looked into the corridor. She needed to know what had happened. She was the leader, after all…

The moment she could lay her eyes upon the terrifying sight, she immediately regretted her decision.

Half of the corridor was filled with dead bodies thrown around and ripped apart. As if a wild beast ran amok devouring the clones, they were mauled, ripped apart into many pieces, and spread out like a bloody red carpet. The floor was covered in large splotches of red blood and intestines… The walls were also splattered with blood, and even the ceiling…

Half of the corridor was covered in burn marks, as the clones were shooting around in a panic. In the middle of the room, among the dead bodies, a single girl’s form was visible. She was robed in a jedi cloak, but it was ripped and burnt by plasma to an almost unrecognizable degree. Two large wings were growing out of the girl’s back, and billows of smoke were constantly elevating from her body.

She was completely covered in blood, resembling an evil monster of the darkest Sith legends Kalifa’s imagination could conjure. There was a sudden cracking sound, as the face of the girl whipped towards her at an unnatural angle and speed. Then she saw the blazing yellow that looked into her very soul. Her instincts were screaming in her ears to run… While at the same time, she felt like the blood was freezing in her very veins.

Her hand was clutching the hilt of her lightsaber as the terrifying sight turned her body rigid and heavy. The only thing that kept her from running away was the silent and weak voice whispering to her consciousness. Telling her that this person was very similar to a certain girl she had just gotten acquainted with. Even as her face was covered in strange scale like things… Those wings were without a doubt belonging to Lily…

Did she really massacred all those clones alone? Then another unwelcomed thought appeared in her little head.

Am I going to be the next?