Silent Jedi

Execute Order 66

Jett...Jett...

Jett was roused from her sleep, her body drenched in sweat. She could feel Hal. He was in pain. Something awful was happening down at the Temple.

Jett...Protocol E... He coughed, and Jett could taste blood in her mouth. Hal's blood. Her chest and abdomen were feeling a breeze. She closed her eyes and saw Hal on the floor, full of blaster holes. They're coming for you, Jett. Protocol E...run!

Jett hollered and Breezy disconnected from her charging port.

"Get the ship and the ring!" Jett signed with her shaky fingers. Breezy continued to sit there. Jett could feel a clamoring many floors below them. A big group of something bad was coming. "Breezy! Get the ship and bring it up to the window! Now! Go! You have to hurry!"

Breezy could see Jett's tension. Jett used the force to create a crack in the window, then another, and another. It shattered. Breezy flew out and down to the roof. Jett used the couch to barricade the door and threw some last-minute items into her suitcase. Her pike was at her side, ready to go.

They were coming. A big group of clattering men. They sounded like clones. Wait, clones? Why would clones be coming for her? Why would they shoot Hal? Clones had no reason to hurt the Jedi, right?

"She's down this way!" one of them said. They were right down the hall.

"Brr! Brr!"

Jett looked out the window and saw the ship pulled up as close as it could be. It had a lot of extra width with the hyperspace ring attached. Jett tossed as many bags in as she could.

"Let's go! Get her!" said another one of the clones.

As the door opened, Jett was already out the window. The clones ran across her apartment as she used the force to leap into her ship. She cried and smacked her palms on the dashboard, which Breezy took as a symbol to floor it.

The clones were at the window, shooting at the ship as it ascended into the sky. Breezy flew them past every checkpoint and out of the atmosphere. Jett hit the "attention" button. Hal installed it, since she couldn't communicate with Breezy through a headset like everyone else. Breezy turned.

"I'm entering new coordinates. We're setting course for Tatooine."

Breezy beeped in confusion, but Jett had already pulled the lever. The ship was enveloped in blue rays, and it took off into hyperspace. Meanwhile, Jett's body was full of so many emotions that she felt like she was going to burst. The entire Jedi Temple was under siege.

On one of the upper levels, Eep was walking down the hallway with his sister.

"It's very good that we made amends, Etta. I haven't spoken to you in so long," said Eep, his Padawan braid dangling on the back of his head.

"Now that I'm a Jedi Knight, I've matured," said Etta. "Hatred is not the Jedi way. Not at all. I was a fool for not seeing that sooner. I—"

She gasped and fell to the floor. Everyone was falling. Eep whipped out his lightsabers but didn't have time to do a thing. The clones shot him in the back and moved on. The hallway was littered with bodies.

Eep reached out to his sister and held her hand. For just a moment, he could see more than just the shadows he sensed with the force. He saw his sister's bright blue eyes, which narrowed as she smiled. Her grip around his hand tightened, then fell away completely.

In the garden, Sorra and Yoland Fee were trapped in a corner behind a stone wall. The clones were above them and coming in front of them. Sorra was a shaking, crying mess.

"Master, I don't know what to do!" she said.

"That is why you're the Padawan and I'm the Master," said Yoland Fee. He took out his lightsaber. "Draw your saber and do the only thing we can to: fight until our last breath!"

He and Sorra raised the blades of their lightsabers and came out from behind the wall. Clones were being tossed to and from, but Sorra and Master Fee were quickly overwhelmed.

Jett flinched in the cockpit of her ship. One by one, it was like pieces of her body were falling off. It was impossible for her to remain calm. So many Jedi were losing their lives. How had someone like her been so fortunate?

She listened to the radio, trying to find some information. All of the signals were scrambled in the void of hyperspace. All she could do was sit and fester. She rocked back and forth in her seat, trying to breathe, but she couldn't catch her breath.

The hours passed. She was starting to grow hungry, but she couldn't eat. She couldn't afford to have the smell of throw up festering in her cockpit for the rest of the ride. When she was just starting to fall asleep, there was a beeping on her dashboard.

An incoming communication? Should I even answer this?

Jett's curiosity got the best of her. She hit a button and received the transmission. It was a holocron. Her eyes were filling with tears of joy. There were more Jedi who survived.

"This is Master Obi Wan Kenobi. I regret to report that both our Jedi order and the Republic have fallen, with the dark shadow of the Empire rising to take their place. This message is a reminder and a warning for any surviving Jedi. Trust in the force. Do not return to the Temple. That time has passed, and our future is uncertain. We will each be challenged; our trust, our faith, our friendships, but we must persevere. And in time, a new hope will emerge. May the force be with you...always."

Yes! A new hope! That's us: the Jedi Recon Squad!

Jett turned off the holocron and could feel the force running through her body. If Obi Wan survived, then so did more of the Recon Squad. They were going to band together, reform the Jedi Order in the safety and seclusion of the desert, and defeat this new Empire.

The ship jolted out of hyperspace and Jett brought it down into the depths of the desert. She landed at the exact coordinates Obi Wan gave her. It was dark and cold, but she had extra blankets in her suitcase.

With the lights of the ship on, she couldn't see anyone else from the Squad. She decided to get some must-needed rest. Being the nighttime, it made sense that no one was here. They must've retreated into a cave or something.

Breezy turned to Jett and started beeping.

"Power down, Breezy, we have a lot of big things coming up."

Breezy understood and powered down. Jett looked up at the sky full of stars and sank back in her seat. She was going to make history. Her and the rest of the Recon Squad were going to be the new hope in this galaxy full of turmoil.