Shield of the Jedi

Worlds away, Anakin Skywalker makes his choice. To save his beloved wife, he will turn against the Jedi Order.

Ripples shed through the Dark Side of the Force.

Underneath the Temple of the Eagle, at the entrance to one of the few, barely used tunnels to the town, Jedis Garrett and Ward awaited a summons only they heard. One that didn't come from the Temple's master.

Finally, soft footsteps announced a new arrival in the tunnel. They looked up to see a slender, ageless man, polishing his glasses, taking his time. 

He reached the side of the two men, and they bowed low.

"Master Whitehall," they chorused.

Whitehall nodded. 

"All is in preparation, the final pawns in play. By the end of this evening, the Jedi will be no more, and the Beast will once again rule triumphantly over this world. Tonight, the sun sets on the Eagle for the last time. Tomorrow is a dawning of a new age."

The three men turned to go into the Temple.

"Garrett, Ward. You will...shield...me from the rest of the Jedi's notice." Whitehall allowed himself a small smile at the pun. "Once events begin, we will make our move."

"What events, my Master?" asked Garrett.

Whitehall raised an eyebrow. "You will know when it is time, young Garrett. In fact, it will be impossible to mistake the call for anything else."

 In another place, young Skywalker completes his turn to the Dark Side, becoming Darth Vader. As he goes to cleanse the Temple of the remaining Jedi, his Master, Darth Sidious, turns to his computer.

"It is time. Execute Order 66."

On the transport shuttle to Coruscant, Jedi Hand turned from the window to greet the three clone troopers entering her room.

Three blasters fired, killing her without a word.

The troopers surveyed the Jedi's body impassively and then, holstering their weapons, left to await further orders.

In the Eagle's Shield, Jedi May doubled over in an unexpected pain.

Breaking her (fairly light) trance, Padiwan Skye rushed to her side.

"Jedi May? MAY?? Are you all right?" 

May lifted her face. The normally unemotional Jedi's cheeks were streaked with tears.

"No. No, Skye, something is terribly wrong."

In his office, Jedi Director Fury caught his breath.

Jedi Victoria Hand was dead. It must have been an ambush, but how? Why hadn't they been given a clue, a hint from the Council that there was danger?

Jedis Garrett and Ward strode through his entrance.

"Director Fury, are you aware of Jedi Hand's death?"

Still somewhat dazed, Fury looked over at them. "Yes...I..."

"Good."

The two Jedi lifted their hands and Fury was pinned against the back wall, his weapons flung far from his grasp. His gaze darkened as the air was forced from his lungs.

Suddenly, he was able to breathe, if not move, and he looked to see a third man enter the room.

"Hello, Eagle's Shield, Jedi Director Nicholas Fury. I believe you have been looking for me."

The newcomer nodded at Garrett and Ward. "You may go. Complete your mission and report back to me here"

Fury watched, horrified, as the two...traitors...saluted and left.

"Who are you?"

"My name? It's really not that important," the man said, circling the office. "It changes over the centuries. As one incarnation dies, another is taken. But I will grant you my current one, Whitehall." 

"A person should know the name of the man who kills him, don't you think?"

"I'm not dead yet." Fury strained, but could not move a muscle.

"No, but that's only a matter of time. Besides, Jedi Fury, I want you to feel everything that is about to happen. Every single death of the Eagle Jedi here on this planet. From your Eldest, right down to the newest Fledgling. Then, only then, will I send you into your Force, to join the rest of the Jedi of the Light." 

"You are starting to feel them, aren't you, Fury? Jedi Hand? Those outside? Do they cause you...pain?"

Fury closed his eyes as members of his Order, his friends, began to be ripped from his thoughts, the ragged edges of their Force whipping across his mind with the violence of their passing. 

"Good, Eagle's Shield. I have waited so long for this day. The final triumph of the Beast."

Whitehall sat down, watching Fury struggle against the Dark Force that pinned him.

"Let me enlighten you as to what really happened eons ago. You teach that your Eagle took the...Beast...up in its talons, and flew him up into the mountain ranges, throwing him into a frozen lake, defeating him for all time."

"All that is true, up to the last. The Beast survived in that lake. He eventually regained his strength, and bided his time. He sought out those who envied the power of the Dark Side, some who you of the Eagle cast out, and granted them power, in exchange for their bodies. Of course, as they all found, this deal was a trifle one sided."

"My most recent convert, Garrett, was somewhat sloppy. Letting traces of us slip. Letting you suspect I was more than a fairy tale told to children. I have greater hopes for his apprentice. He's younger and stronger in any event."

"Let us sit back, Director Fury, Jedi "Master". Sit back and enjoy the end of your world."

Outside the Temple Entrance, Jedi Mack was assisting Jedi's Gonzales and Morse with repairs to the speeders, when he started, and looked towards the town. 

"Jedi, I think something has happened to those we sent to the market for supplies."

Gonzales and Morse followed his gaze.

"I think you might be right, Mack." Gonzales replied. "Look, the troopers are back from patrol. I'll round up a couple, we'll go into town and see what has occurred." 

Gonzales got up, and strode over to the lead trooper. Mack and Morse watched him go.

"Don't worry, Mack," said Morse, patting him on the shoulder. "Probably just some of the youngsters wanting to prove themselves against the Eagle."

Gonzales stopped in front of the trooper. Without warning, the trooper lifted his blaster and fired, catching the older Jedi in the chest. Gonzales crumpled to the ground, lifeless.

"No!" screamed the other Jedi. Morse drew her lightsabre.

The trooper patrol drew their weapons and began to blast at the other Jedi, catching many before they could do more than stare.

Mack pulled Morse behind the speeder.

"Getting yourself killed is not going to help the situation, Morse. We're the only ones left out here, we have to seal the entrance!"

Nodding agreement, Morse led the way as the two Jedi dashed into the front entrance. Using the Force, Morse hit the emergency pad as the troopers' blast began to score the walls in the entrance way. Suddenly, a thick panel slammed across the doorway, muffling the sounds of the shots coming from outside

Mack and Morse looked at each other in horror.

"What in the name of the Eagle is going on?"

Jedi May struggled to find her balance, knocked off her mental perch with each new death of the Eagle Jedi. Padiwan Skye watched anxiously. May gathered every single calming and focusing tool she had ever learned, and regained her centre. She moved over to Skye.

"Look at me, Skye, I need you to focus." 

The younger woman swallowed and nodded.

"We're under attack. Given the number of...dead...we need time to regroup. I need to go find Fury and Coulson. I need you to gather the rest of the Padiwans, calm the Fledgings, arm yourselves, even Simmons, get the emergency packs and take everyone to the evacuation tunnels under the Temple." 

"Shouldn't we fight, May?"

May shook her head. "Please do as I ask, Padiwan. Now."

"Sorry, Jedi May. I'll go right now."

"May the Force be with you."

"And you."

Skye left at a run. May grabbed her lightsabre, and then one of the newer blasters the troopers had brought in.

Jedi Hand had found her, right before she had got on that blasted shuttle, and told her that Jedi Coulson was the key. The key to what?

May left the room. Might as well go find the man, then see what Fury knows.

Jedi Coulson rushed into the Council room. He was glad he had listened to Hand - all the Padiwans and Fledglings were practicing Force control together in the Fledgings' space. Skye was safe with May.

Outside the Temple, the world had gone crazy. Even Coulson could feel the passing into the Light of numerous Jedi - could it be all the Jedi? No, he must be mistaken, the Senate would never stand for this! This must be a sect of rogue clonetroopers, maybe one last gasp of the Seperatists.

Although this world was never a part of that war...

Coulson shook off the thought. What was important was getting backup. Help. A rescue started, for at least the Younglings. He had no illusions as to his fate, he would stand and hold off the Dark Side for as long as he could. To be the shield until he broke.

He activated the transmission to the Jedi Council, using Fury's emergency code. 

"I never wanted to do this," he muttered to himself.

"Jedi Council, can you hear us? This is Jedi Coulson of the Temple of the Eagle. We are under attack by clone troopers, and have sustained severe losses."

"General Skywalker, General Kenobe, we have sealed off the Temple, but are under fire. We cannot hold for much longer, we have started evacuation procedures"

Coulson took a breath. Who to make a final appeal to? Deciding, he leaned forward over the transmission.

"Help us, Obi-Wan Kenobe, you're our only...AAARGH!"

Coulson screamed, as a spear point protruded through his chest, and then disappeared, leaving pain in its wake. As he slumped to the floor, he looked up as footsteps approached.

"No hard feelings, Phil," Jedi Garrett looked down at him, "but I don't think you're cut out for the new world order. I'm doing you a favour, really."

"And how is that, John?" Coulson gasped, "You'd turn to the Dark Side for what?"

"Unlimited power, immortality, the usual. Now, Ward, on the other hand, has his mind on, shall we say, more earthier things. Your Padiwan Skye, to be precise. Normally, I wouldn't encourage such behaviour in my apprentices, but she'll keep him busy as I consolidate the Beast's hold over this planet." 

"You're gonna lose, Garrett."

"Oh, really. The Jedi are finished, Phil. The troopers are killing every Jedi not only here but around the galaxy. The Dark Lord has shown his hand, and the Beast is in ascendancy. Just where is my disadvantage?"

Coulson coughed, painfully. "You lack conviction."

Garrett looked at him, and started to laugh. Suddenly, a blaster shot rang out, catching Garrett in the back and throwing him across Coulson's legs.

As Coulson's vision faded, he heard a female voice say,

"So that's what it does...Coulson, no!"

"Can't...'m sorry...after Skye. Force..be..."

Coulson closed his eyes. The world faded.