Andrew Markos: A New War Begins

Chapter 1: Enemy of the Empire

Andreas didn’t know what to make of the situation. One moment, he and the men were celebrating their victory and several days later, they were shooting at him and calling him a traitor. 

Clone Trooper #1: Kill the Jedi! 

Clone Trooper #2: Don’t let that traitor escape! 

He began deflecting several waves of blaster fire. Eventually, he had to duck behind a pile of crates.  As he was deflecting the occasional shots that came too close, he saw a clone firing back. Upon a closer inspection, he realized that the clone was Anthony. 

General Andreas Martin: Alright Anthony, any ideas on what’s happening? And why aren’t you firing at me? 

Captain Anthony: Protocol 66 sir. It was just issued to the grand army of the republic. Under this directive, All Jedi leadership are now traitors to the republic and are to be terminated on site. I don’t understand what the Jedi exactly did to be labeled as traitors, to be honest. I removed my control chip after I discovered its true purpose.

General Andreas Martin: Most protocols can only be ordered by the supreme chancellor and in this case, that’s Palpatine. We’ll figure out why Palpatine did this if we get out of here.

Captain Anthony: You mean when we get out of here. There’s an old transport ship not far from here. If we can create a distraction, we can use that to escape. 

General Andreas Martin: I’ll be the distraction. 

Captain Anthony: General, are you insane?! 

General Andreas Martin: Think about it. They’ll be focused on me and they won’t notice you running for the ship.

Captain Anthony: This plan is crazy but it’s our only shot. Good luck General! 

Andreas ran out from behind the crates and took down several clones who tried to shoot him. Anthony quickly ran to the old transport a few clicks away. It was an old Nu-class transport and thankfully it wasn’t too badly damaged. As he began trying to power up the ship, he heard footsteps from behind and the sound of a blaster being loaded.

Voice: Hands in the air traitor! 

Captain Anthony: Briggs, put your blaster down and we can talk about this.

Briggs was another close friend of Andreas or at least he was before order 66 turned his mind. Like Anthony, he was another one of the earlier clones from the first batch deployed on Geonosis. 

Sergeant Briggs: The Jedi are all traitors Anthony! They tried to kill the chancellor! Who’s to say they didn’t plan this from the beginning? Maybe that’s why we were created… to serve the Jedi and take over the Republic!

Captain Anthony: You know that’s not true! The chancellor is just trying to get rid of the Jedi! Haven’t you noticed how much power he has gained over the last several years? Think about it! He knows the Jedi wouldn’t stand for it so that’s why he wants them out of the way. {puts his hands on his shoulders} He wants us out of the way too; what did you expect to happen to us now that the war is over? {Shakes Briggs a few times and knocks him out} 

A few minutes later, Briggs woke up on the floor with a compression pack to his head. Where was he and why were they on this ship?

Sergeant Briggs: [Groans] Anthony, what just happened? 

Captain Anthony: You and several troopers tried to kill the general.