Prologue Part II

Once she was sucked, the only thing Leia could see was light, until it faded. What she saw was a town or city, but it was ruined. The buildings were destroyed by cannons, the plants were on fire. Leia noticed that she wasn't alone, as around her were people. Some were injured and they were assisted by others. They were all walking away from the ruined town as blaster shots and explosions were heard nearby.

"Hey, girl. Are you alright." Leia heard someone from behind and saw a Rhodian looking at her from above. "Yeh, I am." Leia answered, though it wasn't fully true. Yes, she didn't have any injuries, but she didn't understand where she was, what was going on, and where were Luke and Han. She stood up and to her it seemed that the Rhodian was quite tall, at least for her. Thinking of trying to find any answers, she was about to question the alien when a panicked voice disrupted the silence.

"Droids!" someone cried.

Leia turned and indeed, the civilians were suddenly attacked by droids. Battle droids! The very droids used by the Confederacy of Independent Systems about twenty years ago. What were they doing here? Has the remaining Imperials began using them?

Leia quickly dodged as the B1 and B2 droids fired. She did what other civilians tried to do, find cover. She hid behind a wall and peeked out, only to see some civilians, including women and children, falling to the ground, once they were hit by blaster shots. Some of the shots even hit the wall, making Leia grab her head. For the first time since she got herself in a situation like this, she panicked. She didn't know what to do in this situation to survive. To be precise she couldn't remember what to do. Leia was panting, trying to calm down and not to scream. She heard the droids interacting with each other, and apparently, they were preparing to leave. Leia released her breath, feeling relieved. Suddenly, someone grabbed her leg and, to her own shock, as she tried to hide her emotions even when somebody grabbed her, she screamed in fright. She looked and saw an injured civilian holding her leg, trying to murmur something, but to no avail as he lost consciousness. Leia quickly crawled away from the body. To make matters worse, she heard droids marching towards her, discovering her soon. Not knowing what to do as there was no weapon around, Leia looked around desperately until she saw the entrance to the basement of one of the buildings. She crawled into the basement and closed the door barely in time before the droids saw her.

Leia sat in the basement, praying to the Gods of Alderaan that the droids would leave her alone, only for the doors to be smashed. She looked up in horror and saw a B2 battle droid aiming his blasters on his arm at her. Knowing this was possibly the end, Leia closed her eyes as tears streamed down her face. The sound of blaster shots was the last thing she would hear, only for suddenly to hear the sound of a lightsaber. Although still frightened, Leia opened her eyes and couldn't believe it. At the remains of the sliced droid stood a Jedi. He was a tall Cerean with white beard and moustache, his lightsaber illuminating blue. She still heard blaster shots nearby.

"Do not fear, young one. They won't hurt you anymore." The Jedi spoke to her softly before offering his hand. Leia hesitantly took it, allowing the Jedi to lead her outside. She once again panicked when she was stormtroopers, though they weren't. They looked like stormtroopers, but they weren't. Suddenly, Leia remembered watching holorecords of the Clone Wars and the clone troopers she saw in the recordings. She heard about the clones serving the Jedi until they executed them all. From what Leia understood was that they were programmed for this, making them as mindless as the very droids they fought, which were now lying on the ground, destroyed. It appeared that they were wearing the Phase II armour, which the clones wore in the final years of the war. Still, it didn't explain what was going on here.

Soon, another Jedi came, followed by a few clones. He was also tall, even though he was human. His skin was black, while his head was bald. Just like the Cerean Jedi, he had gauntlets and armour on his forearms. "Any survivors, Master Mundi?" the bald Jedi asked. "Only one child." The Cerean named Mundi, answered. The human Jedi looked at the girl with a frown, confusing Leia, though, somehow, through the Force, she understood that she remembered the Jedi of somebody. "Do not worry, child. The Separatists are gone for now." He told her.

Leia tried her best not to look at him confused, while having a feeling that her head would explode with questions. What did he mean the Separatists? What are the Jedi doing here? Why are the clones wearing their old armour from a war they fought twenty years ago? What was going on, why are they calling her a child, and how did she get here?

Suddenly, everything to her made sense. The temple, it had something to do with time and space. Leia twitched in horror, realising that the temple took back to the time of the Clone Wars, when the Republic still existed, though it began to fall apart at that time.

"From what can I assume, Master Windu, she is from Alderaan due to her accent, and despite being small, the girl is about 14 years old. Am I right?" Mundi stated, catching the attention of Leia. What did he mean 14 years old? Leia was 23. She then turned and saw a mirror. The reflection of hers made her almost look pale. Instead of a 23-year-old young woman in her white Rebel clothes was a petite girl, the way Leia was when she was only fourteen. Her long brown hair was messy and untidy. She was wearing the same outfit Luke wore when he and Han rescued her on the first Death Star; white loose-fitting tunic with side slits below waist on both sides, wide brown leather belt with rectangular silver buckle, some brown pouches, tan pants and tan ankle length shoes with leg wraps.

"Yes… I am." Leia finally answered, looking at the two Jedi. She didn't know what to do, even though she knew what would happen to them two. Leia recalled the words of the mysterious lady; fix everything. 'Fix what? The past? Prevent the Jedi from being wiped out?' Leia thought to herself. If that was the case, Leia still didn't know what to do. Should he tell the Jedi that the clones would turn on them and that they would be slaughtered by Vader? But would they believe her?

Her mind snapped back to reality when Mundi spoke to her once again. "You must be hungry. Come with us. We'll also see if you have any injuries."

Leia was about to protest as usual, during her time in the Rebel Alliance, but managed to stop herself. These are Jedi, keepers of the peace, their purpose is to help the innocent and the sick. Her father, Bail, told her that the Jedi could be trusted. She nodded and followed the Jedi, while being wary about the clones. Little did she knew that the two Jedi masters called her not just to give her food and care.

***

Jedi Temple, Coruscant. 19 BBY.

Yoda sat on his hair in his private chambers, meditating. That's what he usually did during his free time. However, he now had less time as the Clone Wars ravaged across the galaxy. To make matters worse, Obi Wan revealed at the start of the war that the senate was under the control of the Sith lord. At least that's what Dooku told him on Geonosis, but while most Jedi ignore it, believing it to be a bluff, Yoda had a feeling that Dooku was telling the truth, and he had to come to believe it more and more. If the Jedi were blind enough not to see the creation of the clones on Kamino, then they could be blind enough to not sense the presence of the Dark Side within the halls of the Senate. This meant that the Sith had orchestrated the Clone Wars, playing on both sides. The galaxy was in even more grave danger than anyone could have imagined.

Suddenly, Yoda felt a disturbance in the Force. Everything was quite until something as if exploded, though he could not tell what it was. As he searched the source of disturbance through the Force, his com-device beeped. Using the Force, Yoda pressed the button without touching it to answer the call. The hologram of Jedi masters Ki Adi Mundi and Mace Windu appeared.

"An incident to report you have," Master Yoda spoke first.

"Yes," Ki Adi Mundi said with a nod. "The retaking of the planet went quick. We were able to oust the Separatists quite easily, though they massacred many innocent lives. However, during the rescue of some civilians in the suburbs of the capital city, me and Master Windu sensed a disturbance, in the Force, unlike anything I had ever felt before, like the aftershock of a violent explosion. It was very powerful."

"Find the source of the disturbance, did you?" Yoda asked.

"Yes, Master Yoda." The Cerean Jedi answered. "I sensed the source from a girl that we saved from the Separatist battle droids."

"This child right now where is?" Yoda asked. "Right now, the child is under the care of our forces." Mace Windu answered this time. "Hrrrm. To the temple for questioning bring her." Yoda spoke thoughtfully. The holograms of the two Jedi masters nodded in obedience before fading. Yoda stood up from his chair and walked towards the window using his cane. Looking at the window, he knew what the other Jedi did not; right now there was another Skywalker.

As soon as they arrived to a Republic camp, Leia noticed that she was starving. So when the clones gave her a bowl of a hot vegetable soup, Leia began to thrust spoon after spoon into her mouth, despite being used to manners and etiquette that she learned during her raising on Alderaan. "Whoa, whoa! Calm down kid, no one is going to snatch that bowl from you," she heard one of clones chuckling. Leia turned to him with a scorn, only to experience a bit of surprise. She expected to see a white helmet, hiding any emotions, but instead she saw a real human face with black hair and tan skin. Still, they were just a flock to Leia that followed any orders, even when ordered to commit genocide.

Still, the clone did not leave her alone, trying to start a conversation with her. "What's your name, kid?" he suddenly asked. Leia almost choked on her food. The clone asked her for a name. Leia cursed herself. How could she forget that they would ask for her name sooner or later? Trying not to compromise her cover, Leia took a deep breath before looking back at the clone.

"Lena… Lena Luce."

The clone nodded in acknowledgement. He then grabbed a tissue and grabbed Leia's chin, the same way Tarkin held her on the first Death Star. Due to her instincts, Leia immediately tried to resist, she even grabbed her bowl and smashed it against the clone's head. He immediately yelled in pain, attracting the attention of other clone troopers. "Ow! What the hell is wrong with you?!" he yelled in a mixture of anger and confusion. Leia scoffed. "What's wrong with me? You suddenly grabbed me!"

"I was trying to clean your mouth. It's filled with the soup." The clone answered, frustrated. Leia scorned at him. "I could have done that myself." Leia told him instead of apologising. She snatched the tissue from him and wiped her mouth. She looked at the clone who looked back at her with disdain. He was approached by another clone. "Leave her, Brass." He ordered his comrade calmly before they stood still. Leia heard someone approaching from behind and turning around, saw Windu walking up to her. 'I have a bad feeling about this,' Leia thought, judging by Windu's stern look as his arms were crossed over his chest.

"Something wrong," Leia dared to asked. She encountered many people that were frightening and intimidating. Soon, she learned how to try not to fear and stay calm, but this time she once again was trembling with fear inside her mind as the bald Jedi towered above her. "Who are you?" he asked.

"Sir, her name is Lena Luce." The clone, whom she hit with a bowl before, answered of her, stroking his head. Leia looked at him with disdain, annoyed that he answered for her. Windu, however, did not notice the tension between the girl and the clone. "Who are your parents?" he continued. Leia looked at him with despair, she didn't know what to say. Finally, she made up an answer. "Their dead… I'm an orphan," she stammered. What she said was true, her parents were indeed killed, when the Imperial gunners on the Empire's super weapon activated the laser that was aimed at her home planet.

"Hmmm. No wonder we didn't find you." Windu thoughtfully responded to this revelation. "Pardon?" Leia asked, not understanding what the Jedi meant. "You're Force-sensitive, young Luce." Windu explained. "Not to mention that your appearance has caused us the scares." Leia looked at him confused, though some piece of her mind was assuming that they sensed her appearance, because she was Force-sensitive. Gods, what's with all this Force? Why can't she be a normal being like Han or Wedge?

"Fortunately," Windu continued on, "you will have plenty of time to think about your explanation on our journey to Coruscant." He looked to the clone. "See to it that she is taken up to the cruiser. And keep her under a close watch."

The clone sergeant threw his hand up in a salute. "Yes, sir."

Windu gave him a nod of acknowledgement and turned to leave. He looked at Leia once again, his expression hard but unreadable. It was obvious that the Jedi master didn't trust her, at least for now, which made things more difficult.

"Come along, runt. Let's go." The clone sergeant pushed her slightly, making Leia to look at him annoyed once again. "I can do it myself, thank you."

The cruiser was a Venator-class Star Destroyer, hovering in low orbit above the war-torn planet. Ki Adi Mundi had called it somehow, and even though Leia wracked her brain, she couldn't remember ever hearing of it before, not even in the history of the Clone Wars. So many battles had taken place during the three-year-long war that ended with the Empire succeeding the Republic. In the end, she completely forgot the planet's name. Brought up to the Destroyer in what seemed to be an Eta-class shuttle. Guarded by four clone troopers; they kept their helmets on and said nothing to her on their short journey up to the Star Destroyer and even when they entered the cruiser's main hangar.

The moment when they saw the wedge-shaped ship, Leia felt a shiver of fear. She reminded herself that it was a Republic cruiser, not Imperial. Not to mention the fact that the Imperial I-class Star Destroyer was quite larger than the Venators. However, the fear remained ingrained in the girl, as the memories of battles with the Imperial Navy were still fresh. Once the shuttle landed, Leia followed the Jedi along with the convoy guarding her. As usual, the main hanger was a mess of activity. Clones were arriving on LAAT/i gunships and Eta-2 shuttles, while others worked to unload the vessels of cargo.

Once they left the hangar, walking down a small corridor, it became quieter. They passed only a handful of clones, none of them wearing combat armour, and a few non-clone officers, dressed in the grey uniforms of the Republic military, which also reminded her of the Empire, just like the Star Destroyers and the armour of the clone troopers. Soon, Leia was brought to what she suspected was the detention level. Her suspicions were confirmed as the corridor was lined with cells, much like the ones on various Imperial-class Star Destroyers and the first Death Star.

The clones led her down the hallway until the clones a presumably empty cell, due to its control panel glowing green. The troopers shuffled her into the cell once it opened. "You better stay here until we arrive to the capital," one of the clones spoke through his helmet, and then the door slid shut. The young girl heard the locks activate, and then the sound of the clones retreating.

She was alone, in a cell, once more. Just like it was on the Death Star. Only this time, no Luke Skywalker will come to rescue, disguised as a trooper.