City in Ruin

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Master Norcuna didn't know how long the city had been bombarded, but by the time it ended, there was nothing but a city full of rubble and death. He had managed to avoid most of the fire by making it down to the basement level, he was only now emerging into the city proper and for the first time, he felt his facade crack and grief overwhelm him. All the people that had been in this city, they were dead or trapped beneath the rubble, and all because he had let them stay instead of ordering them away. He failed... but this wasn't a simple failure, this was a failure of the worst kind; they had been totally and utterly defeated. He had thought having a clear mind would help him prevail against the emotional and volatile nature of Alto Stratus, but it seemed underneath that exterior was a cold and calculating mind.

In hindsight, it seemed all too obvious that he would've gone for their shield generator. Their lack of artillery would've made them an easy target. "I'm sorry..." he whispered out, his voice carried out through the city as an echo as it seemed not even animals had survived the razing. Master Norcuna was not a man of war, he was born on a peaceful planet and taken young by the Jedi, he'd spent his life at the temple and it was only in recent years he needed to use his combat abilities.

As he stepped through the ruined city he saw numerous dead bodies, some of his own soldiers and some Jabiimi civilians. A small child had the lower half of her body crushed, it seemed she'd survived long enough to suffer as her fingertips were bloody from trying to drag herself out. Norcuna even as a Jedi master was having trouble maintaining control over his emotions and he fell to the ground throwing up the food he had earlier; the stench of death was pungent in the air, and of course, this was one of the only times the rain had stopped beating down on them so there was no benefit of it washing away the smell.

Norcuna stayed on his knees and inhaled deeply trying to regain focus over himself. He needed to regroup with any survivors but he couldn't do so if he was emotionally compromised.

"Can you not hear them Jedi?"

Norcuna's eyes opened and he turned his head around. 'How did I not sense him approach me,' he thought to himself as he grabbed his lightsaber off the belt and ignited the blue blade.

Alto Stratus walked across the rubble, at his back was a squad of his elite soldiers. "I hear them, the people of my planet, they reach out to me, they beg me for help," he said as he approached the Jedi Master.

Master Norcuna found as he listened but he couldn't hear anything, there were no voices. "I ignore them, I leave them to their shallow grave, I even place the tombstone on top of them," he said before spitting on the ground.

"You killed thousands of your own people today, men, women and children all gone because of you," Norcuna stated, though in truth he felt just as responsible for those lives as Stratus.

"They are not my people, a true son of Jabiim would never pick the republic over their own people, these 'people' are just as soulless as the clones you command," he spat out. As he got closer the Nimbus Commandos behind him aimed their guns at the Jedi master as they began to surround him.

Alto rolled his shoulders before drawing his sword. "I am glad you are alive Jedi, I want to kill you with my own hands," he said as he stepped forward —rubble being crushed under his feet as he stalked towards the Jedi.

Master Norcuna held his lightsaber with both hands in front of him. "I will stop you and end this reign of terror you have placed over the planet!" He said resolutely.

"You speak of me as if I am a Tyrant, when I am nothing but a servant, and I won't stop serving Jabiim until she's free or I am dead," Alto said in a calm voice.

"Then it seems your death is nigh," Norcuna stated as he brought his lightsaber high above his head, ready to strike.

"The words of a self-proclaimed peacekeeper... not that I expected anything different," Alto said while keeping his sword low.

"Stay out of this," he commanded his men as he faced off with the Jedi Master.

They both stood with the wind blowing roughly against them, the rain then abruptly started again, beating down on their heads. Alto rushed forward at a speed faster than any normal human; he stabbed his sword into the ground and swung up, launching debris at the Jedi. Norcuna was able to avoid most of it but a piece of rubble managed to hit him in his leg causing a bit of pain. He blocked Alto's sword when it came down on him and then pivoted his foot around avoiding a kick that would've snapped his leg inwards; Norcuna spun around while striking out with his lightsaber, but Alto leaned out of the way and thrust his sword at the Jedi Master.

They continued to exchange blows while moving through the rubble of the city. Eventually, Norcuna sensed himself being put on the back foot as he was slowly overwhelmed by the leader of the nationalists; his aggressive style and unorthodox moves were completely foreign to him and it was only through the force that he was able to remain ahead.

Alto swung his sword sideways aiming for the Jedi's stomach —which Norcuna dodged— and then went into an overhead strike which Norcuna had no choice but to block. "Your apprentice is better than you, I thought Jedi Masters were among the best fighters in the galaxy," Alto mocked before he grabbed the Jedi's arm and pulled him forward before slamming his knee into his stomach, spinning around and throwing him into a pillar which he smashed through.

Norcuna stood up his face contorted in pain "I will never regret focusing on diplomacy and peace rather than refining my combat," he said as he took his stance once again.

"Yet you were sent to this planet a place where there is no room for diplomacy and peace is a distant memory, speaks of how much the Jedi care for those in their order," Alto replied. He then saw Norcuna raise his hand and he knew what was about to happen, he drew his blaster pistol and fired at him breaking the man's concentration before he could summon the force; Alto then rushed forward while firing bolts at awkward places forcing Norcuna back. He kept his blade low scraping against the ground before he brought it up with all his strength; Norcuna attempted to block but was overwhelmed and a wide opening was created where Alto used his free hand to shoot him in the stomach. He then kicked the Jedi's kneecap, this time he couldn't dodge and his knee bent inwards making him fall to the ground.

Alto stood above him with his sword raised high, he brought it down on Norcuna who brought his lightsaber up weakly to defend himself. He blocked the first strike, but Alto was relentless and he continued slamming his sword against the lightsaber until he arched his blade in a semi-circle and swung sideways cutting his hand off.

His lightsaber flew out of his hand and fell onto the floor while Master Norcuna struggled to keep himself kneeling. Rain beat down on both men as they looked at each other, one with anger and hatred and the other with pity. "You could've done great things for your planet had your mind not been fixated on war..." Norcuna said as he gripped his stump.

"What could I have done? Spend months in the senate hall trying to convince greedy self-interested bureaucrats to help my starving people?" He asked.

"Maybe... but look at the alternative, you stand upon the graves of your own people and before this is over I don't doubt millions more will join them," Norcuna replied.

Alto just looked at him with contempt "How many of my starving people have you cut down with that weapon of yours peacekeeper?" He asked mockingly.

"Too many..." Norcuna said solemnly.

"Die knowing that in the end, you were never a keeper of the peace, but a weapon of war wielded by the Republic," Alto said as he brought his sword up.

Norcuna knowing nothing could be done tilted his head forward "There is no pain... only the force."

*Thud*

His head hit the floor and rolled across the ground where Alto picked it up. "I won't rest until every one of you is dead," he growled out before throwing it back to the ground and spitting on it.

"Sir the republic have taken the bait, they believe you're located on the Razor Coast and they've mustered their forces to capture you," Colonel Mazzi informed him as he stepped next to him.

"Good... let's go," he replied taking one last look at the Jedi before turning around and leaving.

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Jaden's eyes opened to complete darkness, as soon as he woke up he felt pain rushing through his body. He groaned as he tried to move, however he soon realised he couldn't. He could move his arms but something was pinning him to the ground. He attempted to push up but not only did he have no strength in his body, but whatever was on him was big, very big. If he was of clearer mind then he might've attempted to use the force, but Jaden's mind was hazy and unfocused; he had a serious concussion and being unable to move while being engulfed in darkness made him panic.

"help..." he tried to call out, but his throat was dry. It felt like dust and sand had invaded his mouth, and when he tried to spit it out he couldn't, there was no saliva.

"help..." he said again in a weak voice. The longer he was awake the more aware of his surroundings, he must've been under a collapsed building; the awareness of that fact made him panic more and he started to struggle but no matter how much he moved he was pinned under tons of rubble. He moved his hands down to his hips where he was trapped and tried to push himself out, at first he didn't even budge but by putting more force into it he eventually began to slide out, however, the area he was in was very small and so he ended up with his knee pressed to his chest.

He felt around the area he was in but the only way out was where he was stuck so he reluctantly climbed inside the hole and started pushing himself along, his arms were pinned to his side and his cheek scrapped along the ground as he pushed himself with his feet. The rough concrete scraped the skin off his cheek and caused a lot of pain, but he kept going, if he stopped now he knew he'd panic again and most likely die. He didn't know how long had passed, 10 minutes, an hour, a day, he kept slowly pushing himself along until he finally approached an opening and fell out.

The place he was in now was bigger thankfully but still not big enough to stand in, the ground was also wet as the rain was able to seep in more in this section. He ran his hands along the ground though he paused when he felt a body beneath his hands; after a bit more feeling he knew that it must've been a Clone Trooper and he was dead. Jaden was a little hopeful however as Clone Troopers were given Glowrods as standard-issue equipment. Searching through their belt he found one and pressed the button activating the chemicals within, a few seconds later an orange light began to glow filling the small alcove he found himself in.

When the light filled the space he got a glance of the kind of area he was in. He felt sick to his stomach when he saw various clones and civilians trapped and most likely dead underneath the rubble at various levels in the alcove, the water that was pooling on the ground was tainted with their blood as it dripped down onto him. However further down the alcove the ceiling got smaller as it led into another pathway, but blocking that pathway was a person that Jaden recognised.

"aubrie..." he croaked out as he crawled over to her. He put his fingers to her neck and to his relief he felt a pulse. Inspecting her body he noticed one of her legs was crumpled and twisted oddly; Jaden dragged her away from the hole and leaned her against the wall.

Sitting next to her Jaden put his head in his hands. He was getting close to his breaking point, he didn't want this, he just wanted to escape Coruscant's lower levels and now he was thrust into a place even worse. He should've just stolen a ship and become a criminal. 'What the hell am I doing here,' he thought to himself as he gripped his hair tightly. He wasn't suited to this, he wasn't a General, he wasn't even a Jedi.

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Jaden looked over to Aubrie who seemed to be waking up. "master?" She said in a quiet voice as she looked over to him, her face was covered in blood and dust making her skin look grey. Jaden grabbed the small canteen that was on the clone trooper belt and took a swig of it before bringing it to Aubrie's mouth. He tilted her head back and she eagerly drank from the canteen.

"What happened?" She asked in a clearer voice as her brown eyes bore into his.

"The nationalists brought down the city shield and bombarded the city, right now we are under who knows how many tons of rubble I'd imagine," Jaden replied.

"What do we do?" She asked, believing Jaden to have a plan.

Jaden shrugged his shoulders as he laughed hopelessly. "We are trapped, there's nothing we can do it's over," he replied.

Aubrie's shoulders slumped at Master Katarns words, if he had given up on trying to find a way out then it was most likely impossible. She looked at Jaden and the distraught look on his face, it was weird seeing that expression on a Jedi Knight. As her mind became clearer she tried to shift her legs but quickly realised she couldn't; panic invaded her mind as she looked down and saw her legs twisted and crushed in an unnatural way. 'He's right... it's over,' she thought to herself. Aubrie had done well in maintaining her composure throughout her time on this planet, but she was just a Padawan and only thirteen years old. 'I suppose I'm fourteen now,' she thought to herself. Her birthday had been a couple of weeks before, not that she'd told anyone, it didn't really matter.

Jaden heard Aubrie sniffle and looked over to see tears streaming down her cheeks. "I apologise Master... I don't mean to lose control," she whispered, she tried to regain her composure but the floodgates were open and her emotions couldn't be reigned in.

Jaden who very much felt the same way put an arm around her and comforted her as she sobbed. "It's not fair..." she whispered as she leaned into his shoulder.

"It's not..." Jaden replied as his own eyes began to water. After all the things he'd been through, fighting, getting hurt, job after job after job. All of that led up to him dying in a hole, so close to escaping to the life he wanted.

"I was going to be Master Windu's apprentice... it was one of the highest honours a Padawan could achieve," she whispered.

"I didn't want to come here *sniff* I don't want to be in this war," she said before she broke down again and started sobbing. Jaden felt his insides clench, his mind had become clearer now and so he could feel the raw emotions coming off of Aubrie. Sadness, regret, anger, hopelessness, they all poured off the young apprentice in waves as she grabbed Jaden tightly.

"This is wrong," Jaden said with gritted teeth. Jaden had grown up knowing how tough real life could be, he had to fight and scavenge for food ever since he was a kid, but Aubrie and the other Padawans had spent their life in the temple rarely seeing any fighting, and now they were thrust into a war and were now experiencing the horrors of war.

"I don't want to die..." Aubrie said gripping his robes tightly.

"We'll be fine..." he lied as he wiped his own tears from his cheeks.

They both sat there letting their emotions out for a long time, they sat there until their tears dried and the light started to dim. Eventually, silence reigned in their small space and they sat there waiting for the inevitable. "Everyone said I was on track to becoming the youngest Jedi Knight in the history of the order... I suppose that won't happen now," she said in a quiet tone. She was going to die, she accepted that now and knew that crying would not delay it.

"I wanted to go to Naboo, a place full of trees and beauty," Jaden replied.

Aubrie looked up at him "Have you not been before?"

Jaden shook his head "I grew up in the lower levels of Coruscant, the first time I saw a tree was when I came here," he said.

Aubrie's morphed into one of confusion "There are gardens in the temple, surely you would've seen them," she stated.

Jaden looked down at her for a moment then began to laugh humourlessly. "I can't believe I forgot..." he said, his mind was still hazy and he had trouble thinking straight.

"I'm not a Jedi," he said to her. He didn't see the point of hiding it anymore, they were going to die.

Aubrie moved away from him her eyes widening "What do you mean you're not a Jedi?" She asked.

"There is no Jedi Knight Katarn, I am Jaden, just Jaden and I'm a no one," he replied.

"B-But you can use the force, you have a lightsaber, I can feel your presence," she stuttered out.

Jaden shrugged "I found two dead Jedi in the lower levels, I took their robes and lightsabers."

"Why?!" She asked.

"I wanted to escape, I wouldn't be allowed past the checkpoint without the proper papers, but a Jedi wouldn't be questioned," he replied.

Aubrie sat there in shock unable to believe the man she'd been following was just a civilian and not a real Jedi. "I don't understand why you'd come here?" She finally said.

Jaden laughed again "It was bad luck mixed with my own stupidity."

Aubrie sat there unable to know what to think. Despite lying he had done a lot for all of them, saved many people and healed even more. "How did you learn to use the force, it is not something that can be learnt without teaching, not to the extent I've seen you use it," she asked.

"A Jedi Holocron," he replied.

Her eyebrows rose "Do you know of who?" She asked.

Jaden thought about it for a few moments but then shook his head "No they never said," he lied, Satele had asked him to keep her existence a secret so this wasn't his secret to share.

Jaden had expected Aubrie to get angry for lying, to curse him and maybe even attack him, what he had not expected was for her to embrace him. "I'm sorry you're here," she whispered sadly.

"You shouldn't have ended up in such a horrible place."

"Neither should you, all of you are children, you shouldn't be on the battlefield," Jaden replied as he hugged her back.

Aubrie laughed mirthlessly "I suppose it doesn't matter anymore." Aubrie looked around the space they were in, her mind was clearer now and she used the force to enhance her senses as she tried to look for a way they could get out. Using her Shatterpoint ability she was able to see the weakness in places, she tried to use it to find a place they could break through but instead, all she found was death. If they tried to shift any piece of rubble it would all collapse around them and kill them.

They were trapped, there was no way out.

(AN: I think Jaden is lacking a personality, I want to build him up, I also want to make the Padawans a bit more realistic, they are teenagers and they've been thrust into a war, I don't think Jedi that Young would be able to control their emotions after the experiencing that. Anyway, I will be trying to build up Jaden as a person, and maybe give him some more backstory. He has been conflicted ever since he came to this planet and the next chapter will explore that, while also going into their escape and what Jaden will do next. Hope you enjoyed the chapter.)

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