Skywalker's Apprentice

The Fall

Smoke rose in columns from the five pillars and the sky began to cry ash as the Jedi temple burned.  When Padme had first pointed out the sight in fear, Ashoka thought she must be mistaken but Padme eyes were not faulty.
"Anakin's at the temple," said Padme her voice trembling. No matter her difference in opinion with Anakin her love for him could never be questioned. 
"Most of the masters and knights are away. They're mostly younglings and a few padawans. They won't know what to do if the temple is being a attacked, " said Ashoka rushing to the edge of the balcony that looked out to the temple.
"There are clones at the temple. They will now how to deal with an attack and Anakin can handle anything," said Padme trying to convince herself as much as Ashoka.  Ashoka tried but failed to push away the bad feeling that was eating at her heart, something terrible was happening.
"I have to go," she called over her shoulder as she leaped over the rail and fell on the hood of an oncoming speeder. It felt like the journey to the temple took years but only a few minutes had passed when she reached the temple grounds. The smell of smoke filled her nose and the sound of blaster fire filled the air.  She rushed forward. How had battle droids gotten in to the temple? And why attack the temple and leave easier targets unharmed. She held back tears as she stepped around the bodies of clones... and younglings some no more than 8 turns old. Jedi do not cry she told herself ... But she was no longer a Jedi. Another emotion seeped in, guilt. If she had stayed could she have stopped this? Buzz, came the snap hiss of a lightsaber followed by the sound of blaster fire.  It's not over. Reaching out a hand for the padawan's fallen lightsaber she called it to her. It hit her hand with a thud and she ignited it. The sound of the familiar snap hiss echoed off the walls. The red blade illuminating her steely face. Who ever had done this would pay. She was no longer a Jedi but that did not mean she had forgotten how to use a lightsaber. Ashoka sprinted down the hall following the path of destruction. Rubble and ash was all that was left of her home. The familiar white and black of the clone trooper armor greeted her as she rounded the corner. Four clones stood guard outside the door to the council room. One had a blue shoulder plate that marked him as a commander.
"What going on?" Ashoka managed to get out before they opened fire. Doing a back bend the first bolt missed her. She blocked the second and third with her lightsaber. It was not the first time she had been attacked by clones but it was the first time she had been attacked by captain Rex.
"What are you doing!" She yelled in frustration, using a force push to knock some sense into two of the clones. They hit the wall and did not get up. She sprang through the air cutting through Rex's blaster while using the force to knock the third clone out. She blasted his helmet off and pinned him to a wall.
"Just because I left the Jedi order you are going to kill me?"

Rex shook his head. "We were ordered to kill all the Jedi..." He never got to finish his sentence because at that moment a horrible high pitched cry of a child came from the council chamber. Rex fell to the floor as Ashoka rushed to the aide of the voice.
It was the smell that hit her first. The smell of burnt skin. On her way in she stepped on something soft. Glancing down in horror she started to tremble. It was the tiny robed body of a human youngling. The unmistakable mark of a lightsaber burned across his chest. She stumbled away as fast as she could but brushed the body of another dead youngling horribly disfigured. It took her a few moments to see through the horror in the room to realize she was not alone. She had felt the dark side before its ever present whispers of absolute power just as every force sensitive could but in this room the whisper had become a shout that overwhelmed everything else. A tall hooded figure stood facing away from Ashoka. A lightsaber was in his gloved hand and it was pointed at the throat of a child no more than five turns old. The child stood frozen in terror. Eyes wide and pleading. Somehow Ashoka knew before he ever spoke. She had seen the signs. She had known him better than anyone including his own master.
"You were right," Anakin said without turning, his voice was filled with emotion. "The Jedi were wrong. You were right to leave them. Now you can join me as my apprentice again and help restore peace to our new galaxy." Anakin turned forcing the youngling to turn with him or be cut by the deadly blade.
"You've gone too far," spat Ashoka. Rage boiling inside of her. "You could have believed in me. I certainly believed in you. If you had asked before to leave the Jedi so you could marry Padme and train new Jedi I would have followed. But you have become a murderer, a monster that kills children." Her grip tightened on her blade.
"I feel your anger. You are no more a Jedi than I am now but if you won't join me then you will die." Ashoka responded with Yoda's chair to Anakin's gut. Knowing that would not stop him for long she scooped up the terrified youngling, who instinctively clung to her neck and hung on her back. Anakin retaliated with a powerful combination of lightsaber blows that Ashoka was forced to parry. Using the force she leaped over Anakin to land on his other side but she was weighed down by the youngling and off balance. Pain exploded in her shoulder as Anakin pulled out his lightsaber for the killing blow. But it never landed as blaster fire rang out like an echo from across the galaxy as a clone trooper shot his Jedi in the back.
"Rex," Anakin said in pain and confusion. Ashoka not missing her opportunity force pushed her master through the glass of the Jedi council window watching him fall.