Coruscant, Palpatine's apartments.
Riv carefully walked into an empty reception room, generously finished in a scarlet tint. While there was no one inside, he could sense the presence of someone powerful, very close. The door behind the reception desk opened as soon Riv went closer. He could see a hooded figure sitting at the other side of a large round room. Riv slowly walked inside the room.
'Come inside, boy,' said a hooded figure, who appeared to be Palpatine. 'After those long years of struggle, you have finally come to the right place.'
'The force is guiding me,' said Riv. He walked closer to Palpatine's desk and kneeled.
'Have you wonder...Why you've never been granted the rank of a Jedi knight while others, significantly less capable individuals were receiving their high ranks?' Said Palpatine, rising from his chair and slowly walking towards the Riv.
'How... do you know it?' Riv asked.
'I know everything,' said Palpatine slowly, walking around Riv. 'So can you. The dark side grants great power, and you have everything to master it.' He stopped right behind Riv and widely smiled.
'What a pity... Having such talent, strength, and strong desire to use it, and being a slave of the Jedi!'
'I've never been allowed to pass Jedi Knight trials,' said Riv. 'I tried hard to meet the expectations of my master and the Jedi council, but....'- Riv was interrupted by Palpatine.
'And you would have never be allowed! You have frightened those Jedi with the unstoppable power you possess. They would have never let you reach even half of your true potential. Don't make such a foolish mistake Jedi did by restraining your powers! Brake down the shackles of the Jedi's lies and embrace your true destiny! The power you possess will make nothing impossible for you. It is time to give it good use. And I can help you with it.' Palpatine stood close to him. It was a particular challenge for Riv to keep his mind calm and silent.
'Your speech, about the Empire. It is true?' Riv asked. 'You shall bring peace and order to the galaxy?'
'Every single word is a truth, my young friend,' smiled Palpatine. 'The Empire shall bring the order, justice, and security to our galaxy.'
'I want to pledge myself serving the Empire and make its glorious and noble plans come true!' Riv declared, making Palpatine even more delightful. 'Jedi failed their mission because they were weak and foolish. But I'm going to succeed. I shall commit myself to serve this goal!'
'Good, good!' Palpatine smiled. 'But yet, there is something more. Ah, I see now—a strong will to avenge your fallen betrayed friends. But you are trying to suppress it. Why, my boy?' Palpatine put his hand on Riv's shoulder.
'I... don't know....' said Riv. He could sense Palpatine can see his minds, secrets, and desires. Never Riv had such an experience.
'An old Jedi dogma... A foolish paradigm!' Palpatine shouted, walking away from Riv. 'Traitor once is a traitor forever!' He thundered. 'Treason must not be tolerated! Do what must be done! Do not hesitate. Find this traitor and eliminate him at once! Once you defeated the traitor, bring me his weapon. That shall be your trial. If you succeed in finding out the traitor, tracking him down, and killing him, you shall take place right next to me, as my apprentice.' Palpatine declared and walked back to his chair.
'I will not fail you!' Riv said, still keep standing on his knees.
'For this trial, I shall grant you my personal indulgence,' said Palpatine, looking at the Riv from his seat. 'I shall accept whatever cost it would take to accomplish your goal. Unleash your true power against anyone daring to stand in your way, including any Imperial forces. That is my command! Now rise, and go!'
'Thank you!' Riv stood up and left Palpatine's apartment.
Walking down busy Coruscant night streets, Riv has been looking for Shiri. Last time they saw each other on the cruiser before Riv went to Palpatine's apartment. He told Shiri to lay low in the city, and he shall find her with the Force. He was still under significant influence and impression by the Palpatine. He possessed incredible power with the dark side of the Force, yet Jedi, including Grand Master Yoda, could not have sensed it. Riv caught himself thinking that he would learn from Palpatine much more than all Jedi could have taught him.
Riv went inside a small crowded cantina, where people were celebrating the end of the Clone Wars. Although most of the Coruscant inhabitants have never seen the real war, all of them were happy to embrace a new, hopefully, better era of peace.
Walking among diverse creatures inhabiting Coruscant upper levels, Riv stopped at the small table in the far corner of the cantina. Shiri was sitting there alone, with a small glass of juice.
'Can I have one?' Riv asked and sat against Shiri.
'It's just a juice....' she said, then looked at the Riv. 'I sense a darkness deep inside you....'
'Yeah, I know it,' Riv said briefly. 'I guess we had our talk on this matter already.'
'You accepting this darkness and letting it spread inside you! Will I be able to bring you back to the light side? Will you want to come back?' Shiri even moved away from Riv as far as she could.
'There is no more light or a dark side,' said Riv, looking right upon Shiri. 'There is only our duty and our survival. Without our survival, we won't be able to fulfill our duty. That is what matters only now.'
'You already talking like a Sith, bringing everything to an absolute!' Shiri said, trying to look away from Riv.
'I expected more... countenance from you,' said Riv, rising from a coach. 'Well then, I shall do everything myself alone. Try not to cross my way next time we meet, if we ever to meet again.'
Riv walked towards the exit when he heard Shiri's voice.
'Wait! I'm coming with you!' She said, trying to catch up with Riv.
'Yet you decided to give a try on me?' He asked.
'I won't try. I shall do it,' she said.
'Do exactly what?' Riv raised an eyebrow.
'Hold you from completely falling to the dark side!' Shiri said.
Riv and Shiri were flying in an open roof speeder through Coruscant night streets.
'I need to know who betrayed Jedi back there, during the assault on the temple. I'll find him and then kill,' said Riv.
'Is it necessary to kill him?' Shiri asked carefully.
'Absolutely,' said Riv without any emotion. 'The Emperor commands traitor's death. I have to obey. There is no other way.'
'I'm sure there are plenty of them,' said Shiri quietly but decided not to speak about this matter anymore now.
Riv landed speeder not far from the grand stair to the Jedi temple. They walked together with Shiri towards the main entry. The squad of clones and an Imperial officer were guarding the entrance into the Temple.
'Hold it right there!' Officer shouted when he saw Riv and Shiri approaching. But Riv kept walking.
'I said hold it right there! I won't repeat once more!' Officer pointed his weapon right at the Riv.
'Back away if your life means something for you!' Riv barked.
'I'll open fire if you don't comply!' Officer felt a bit worried, watching Riv getting closer.
'Try your best shot!' Riv said, igniting his lightsaber.
'Open fire! It's a Jedi!' Officer ordered. Clone troopers fired, trying to hit Riv, who quickly returned all the blaster shots, killing every attacking clone trooper.
'Your turn now!' Said Riv, pulling the officer closer. He made a quick upper horizontal lightsaber swing, decapitating the officer.
'Oh no! Why?!' Shiri cried out loud.
'Just wanted to see how it works on someone other than battledroid,' said Riv, deactivating his lightsaber.
'Your actions are giving out your excitement of the dark side! It's going to be hard to return back to the light someone who enjoys darkness so much!' Shiri said, but Riv preferred to ignore her appeal and walked towards the Jedi Temple.
They walked through dark and silent hallways, with dead Jedi, padawans, and younglings' bodies lying down all around.
'Oh no...No! It is so terrible! I can't believe it!' Shiri said quietly, unable to hold tears. 'They spared no lives. They've killed even children! Even children!'
'I've never could imagine that clones can do this....' said Riv, looking at the dead Jedi.
'Those clones!' Shiri exclaimed. 'They are just soulless and mindless droids made of flesh! Murderers!' She became emotional seeing numerous dead padawans. Riv could see the girl losing her control over the emotions and took her hand.
'We shall avenge their death and destroy those who have killed them, I promise you!' He said quietly. 'But now, we have to go on. We don't have much time.'
Riv and Shiri went to the security control room and activated holographic projectors to see recordings from numerous security cameras located through the Temple.
'Master Begnal said there was a traitor among Jedi ranks.' Said Riv, programming a holographic projector. 'Let's try to find him.'
They saw holograms of numerous clones assaulting the Jedi temple, lead by a robed figure wielding a blue lightsaber. Riv and Shiri watched recordings until they spotted the face of the robbed Jedi.
'Skywalker...' said Riv. He walked away from the holographic projector and began to laugh hard.
'Can you believe it? It was a Skywalker! The chosen one! The Hero of the Clone Wars!' Riv laughed even louder. Shiri looked at him with slight concern.
'Ironic, don't you find it?' Riv asked her. 'They put him so high, granting the rank of Jedi Knight, then gave a seat in a Jedi council without rank of a Master. And now, their bellowed Skypuppet decided to turn against Jedi, who nearly worshiped him!' Riv quickly ignited the lightsaber, jumped towards the holographic projector, and smashed it violently.
'I've been constantly poked into my face with my obsession with combat and fighting disciplines! 'On the combat side only, Jedi focused must be not! Unless a Skywalker he is! Do whatever he wants, a chosen one can!' Riv imitated with a weird voice.
'Stop it please!' Shiri said firmly.
'And you know what?' Riv could not hold himself. 'Jedi fully deserved all this massacre! For their arrogance, their blindness, and silliness! And I will prove they were wrong about me! I'm going to find Skywalker and kill him!'
'Riv, no! Please!' Shiri could barely stand there and look at Riv.
'I'll find and will kill Skywalker, proving I'm better than him, and those dead Jedi fools! I'll take my place near the Palpatine as equal to him!'
'Riv, clear your mind!' Shiri shouted. 'Palpatine has ordered Skywalker to assault a Jedi temple! Jedi would never let him transform the Republic into the Emire. And now he wants you to kill him! He is turning everyone against each other! Don't you see it?'
'It doesn't matter to me. I'll take place near Palpatine, and later, I'll wipe him out.' Riv looked at Shiri with yellow eyes and offered her his hand. 'Come with me! We'll take the fate of the galaxy into our hands, and we are going to build it better! We can make a new Jedi order! Our order! Place where everyone shall have his chances and opportunities! Without those silly prejudges of the past!'
'I could not believe you have surrendered to the dark side so fast....' said Shiri astonished, looking at Riv. 'Fight it! Fight it, please! Don't let it consume you completely.'
'Wait, I can sense someone else here,' said Riv, looking away. 'Strong with the Force.'
'A Jedi?' Shiri asked.
'I don't know. But let's find it out.'
They went outside of the security room and went towards the grand Jedi archive. Riv and Shiri could see the damage done to the library.
'I sense they are somewhere here,' said Riv, entering the archive.
'Hopefully, someone of Jedi has survived this nightmare,' said Shiri, following him inside the archive. Riv walked a bit further and then stopped.
'Not a Jedi,' he said, igniting his lightsaber. Two men with lightsabers who were hiding behind shelves jumped out and stood against Riv and Shiri. One man looked slightly older than the other, and they were both wearing different outfits, resembling travelers rather than Jedi. They both had green color lightsabers.
'Looking for something?' The young man asked, standing in a combat-ready stance.
'The Force is guiding us,' said Riv, assessing the situation.
'It guiding us too!' The old one said.
'You are survivor, from Jedi order?' Shiri asked them.
'No, not like that. We aren't survivors because we didn't fight, and we aren't Jedi, as we left the order,' the old one replied.
'They are Grey Jedi,' Riv whispered to Shiri.
'But what about you two?' The young one asked, still standing in a combat stance. 'Observing the fruits of your deeds here?'
'The dark side is surrounding this place,' the old one said. 'And it is strong within you.' He pointed on the Riv.
'Just leave while you still can,' said Riv, preparing for a fight.
'We can't leave with someone like you being aware of our existence!' The old one said.
'Have it your way then!' Riv said. He knocked the young guy far away with the Force push. The old Jedi prepared for a fight taking a defensive stance. Riv engaged the old grey Jedi with a powerful vertical jump attack. The old Jedi tried to dodge it, but Riv was too fast, so the old Jedi could only block it. Riv continued his attack with mighty swings of his lightsaber aimed to smash through old Jedi's defense. Riv constantly applied the Force in every fast and powerful swing of his lightsaber, so his opponent had no choice to increase distance. Old Jedi used double Force push to knock Riv away. Riv barely kept standing. He tried to pull the old Jedi closer to him, but it didn't work. Instead, the old Jedi threw debris into the Riv. Seeing the distance is too long, Riv has made another jump over the debris to get closer to the old Jedi. Riv continued his attack with fast and powerful swings of his lightsaber. This time old Jedi had not many places to leap away and tried to use different tactics. He managed to evade several Riv's swings and made a quick lunge, followed by a leg kick aimed into Riv's chin. Even though Riv managed to escape kick, he slowed down his attack. The old Jedi continued his counterattack, making an aggressive flip towards the Riv, but could not apply enough strength to his swing. Riv quickly blocked swings and ended Jedi's counterattack. He promptly pushed hard, with powerful and quick dashes and slashes of his lightsaber. Old Jedi had no strength to counter Riv's wild momentum. Riv starter a series of rapid swings, which certainly would break down old Jedi's defense. The old Jedi was barely holding the fight when Riv sensed a severe threat from behind. He quickly turned around just in time to block young Jedi's flip strike.
'Surrender while you still can!' The young Jedi said. 'You won't stand against two of us.'
'Then you shall have your final lesson now,' replied Riv. He made a quick Fore repulse pushing away his adversaries and then went into combat rage. Young Jedi jumped over Riv, attempting to perform a surprise attack, but lacked speed. Riv quickly countered his attack and made a strong kick with his leg into the young Jedi's torso. Exhausted old Jedi tried another attack with force jump, but Riv swiftly moved his lightsaber to block it. Riv dodged a couple of swings, made a rapid lunge, and knocked out lightsaber from old's Jedi hands. Riv was about to execute a defeated adversary when he felt a Force repulse wave. The wave hit both him and the old Jedi, knocking them off their legs.
'Stop this now!' A loud Shiri's cry echoed around the whole place. Riv and two other Jedi looked at her with surprise. Nobody expected her to make such a powerful repulse wave.
'This place is full of death and pain, and you still keep fighting here! Stop it already!' She walked closer to Riv and two Jedi. 'Does the darkness has taken everything, and there is no more light, so we cannot solve anything without a fight and death?'
'You won't let us go. You will hunt us down!' A young Jedi said, pointing at Riv.
'Why would I do it?' Riv asked.
'The dark side within you shall make you do it. You have caused this place to fall, and the dark side won't let you stop.' The old Jedi replied.
'Your arrogance is creating delusions and clouding your senses. I have nothing to do with the fall of the Jedi,' said Riv.
'It doesn't matter!' The young Jedi said, preparing for fight again. 'The people like you who destroyed this place and decimated Jedi shall be hunting for people like us. We won't let you let your masters know about our existence!'
'No, please!' Shiri went closer. 'We are not going spread any words about your existence, and we mean you no harm.'
'Then what you've been doing here, if not hunting for someone like us?' The young one asked.
'This is out of your concern!' Riv said quickly.
'Wait, but why we can't unite together?' Shiri asked him.
'Because this is my call and only mine!' Riv insisted, but Shiri didn't listen to him much.
'We are looking for Anakin Skywalker,' said Shiri, speaking to grey Jedi. 'We believe he betrayed us.'
'We know it was him!' Riv said unhappily.
'Anakin Skywalker...' the older Jedi took a seat over one of the debris. 'Oh, I do remember this name—a gifted boy. Kenobi trained him. He took the boy right after he became a Jedi Knight himself. Of course, he wasn't up for a challenge. Jedi still has much to learn even after obtaining a rank of a Knight. Only when Jedi has enough skill and wisdom, he shall pass his knowledge to a younger generation.'
'So what you are going to do with Skywalker?' The young one asked.
'I shall bring the justice,' said Riv briefly.
'Are you going to be able to help us?' Shiri asked. Riv glanced at her angrily.
'We don't need any help!' He said in an annoyed voice.
'We do!' Shiri retorted. 'Skywalker is one of the greatest swordsmen in the Order. I mean, he was.' She sighed. 'He bested Count Dooku not that long ago. You might not be ready to face him.'
'She is probably right,' the old one said. 'Four of us against Skywalker could make a difference.'
'Why would you agree to help us?' Riv asked saucily, looking at the old Jedi.
'It's simple-we helping you to defeat Skywalker, you letting us go, and never going to search for us,' the old Jedi replied.
'I agree!' Shirin nodded. She looked at Riv.
'Alright... I won't be hunting your down and won't disclose your existence to anyone else. But why does it matters?' He said.
'We have another way—not the Jedi, neither the Sith,' the old Jedi said. 'We are trying to understand and study the Force in all its aspects. We travel, we learn. And we want to do this in peace.'