The king and queen of Valeria in all their glory ^^

Beware the darkness of power, -

Smoke was rising above the ruined city. The queen stood upon the hill; eyes locked onto the fire that burned within the former homes. The flames licked the foundations, leaving nothing but ashes in their wake. Her power, which was often seen as a salvation to her people, was now turned into a maleficent force that tore down their life's. A force that now swallowed everything that once was, and left them with nothing but ruin.

Beware the stalker of dreams.

Amidst the streets legions of men in white armour marched with blasters gripped tightly in their fists. The sight was a familiar one, but there was one thing that was missing; their generals were nowhere to be seen. Not a single lightsaber had lightened up the dusty streets, not one had led their battalions into battle.

Their absence was both a relief and a curse. A relief, because it hadn't been them that had betrayed her in such a way. They hadn't turned against her and decided to take away that what was most precious. A curse, because now she had no idea what had happened to them. The jedi, for all she knew, were all gone.

Beware the corrupted once trusted,

But those clones, they remained. They were the ones to start this destruction. They'd torn down the city they had protected almost a year ago. Up till 4 days past she'd considered those men her friends. They'd even considered her their 'Valkyrie', their protector amidst the fields they had braved together. Now they were marching through the streets of her kingdom and laying waste to the place she called home.

Velen was all but destroyed. The city that they had spent the last year rebuilding, gone, within a day. She didn't even know how many casualties there had been. She didn't know what had happened, how they had tried to defend it before they had lost the fight. How long it had taken for their formations to break, to succumb under the endless legions of the Republic.

All she knew was that she had arrived too late to save those trapped in the turmoil.

Beware one who is not who he seems.

Lyanna glanced down at the single blaster she'd recovered from the war ridden streets. She'd glanced into its past, saw what had happened the day before when she'd felt that pain tearing her apart. She'd seen how the clone wielding that weapon had pointed it at his leader, a jedi she'd never known, and pulled the switch without a second thought.

All it had taken was a single order from a cloaked man she recognized to be the one that had attacked her all that time ago in Coruscant. He'd given the order to eliminate all jedi, and the clones had followed his wishes within a heartbeat. To give that devastating command, he'd simply muttered 3 simple words. They continued to echo in her head, his voice repeating the same command over and over.

Darth Sidious.

Her eyes narrowed into a deep, hateful glare. Flames licked her knuckles as they clenched, the skin turning white while a single tear fell and smudged the black war paint down her cheeks. The first part of the prophecy now finally made sense. It'd warned her of the plot to take down the jedi, and she had ignored it.

She could've known. She should've hunted the sith down after he'd attacked her and prevented all this. She shouldn't have given up on the fight and let Obi Wan go alone. She should've been there, defending her land, her people. She shouldn't have let her guard down like she did. She should've fought to her very last breath, she should've, -

"My queen, -" Stefan ripped her out of the emotional spiral she'd fallen into. He watched as she flinched at the sound of his voice, her head slightly turning in his direction. "We've rescued the last of the soldiers. The city of Velen..." He took a moment to steady his voice while he watched her closely. "Has fallen."

Lyanna took in a deep breath through her nose. "How many?" She willed her voice into the stern one, the one she always heard her father speak with. Maybe if she copied it just right she could pretend she was half the leader he was.

"40, -" Stefan sighed while he remained a few paces behind her. "Which means there must be over 300 dead."

"Civilians?"

"Unbeknownst to this moment." The commander finally walked to her side; his eyes glued to the numerous looming ships in the distance. They hung in the sky ominously, promising a much larger battle to come. There were more than yesterday, and there would probably be more when the day was done. At this pace, they would be overrun within days, maybe hours.

Stefan swallowed audibly and cast his gaze to the ground. "Probably thousands." He knew there would be more. He knew that if they didn't find a way out, Valeria and its people would be lost.

The queen remained deadly quiet. Her figure, unmoving. Her friend looked up at her warily, trying to decipher what she was feeling. He hated that he couldn't read her as he usually could, he hated that in their months apart she had grown this distant.

"Why would they do this?" Stefan wondered out loud, the sorrow seeping into his voice. After all his years of experience as a commander, he had never seen devastation like this. He had never felt as helpless.

Lyanna merely shook her head as an answer, not able to muster out the words. She was too locked up in her own mind to even figure out how to explain all of it. All she could think about was what was coming. If her mother was to be believed, the end of all things was looming on the horizon. Behind her she heard the rustling of two great wings and the low rumble of a storm approaching. A thud followed, paired with the clanking of armour.

"Whatever it is, we'll soon find out." Aidan answered. His footsteps landed almost next to the two, the great grey wings folding together while the king still recovered from the landing. Aidan wove his wind-ravaged hair away from his face while wearing a deep scowl, walking up to his sister's side with pounding strides.

As if on cue, thunder roared in the distance. There hadn't been clear skies ever since the arrival of the Republic. When he arrived, his eyes glided over the devastated city in front of him, only further enraging the fury in his eyes. As if on cue, thick clouds started to gather above it, almost obscuring the sight.

He huffed angrily, clenching his hands into fists. "But why Velen? They know we don't use it as a military base, they know we were still restoring it." Aidan's frustration was clear as he shifted on his feet. His hands wove into the direction of the ruins. "All this destruction, and for what?"

"To scare us." Lyanna responded curtly, emotionlessly. It was a stark contrast to his raised voice. "To show us their power, to show what they are capable of."

The king growled lowly, followed by another rumble in the skies. Clutched tightly in his fist was a small glass container, the contents hidden from sight. He waited till his anger had slightly diminished before he continued. "I found it." His voice was restrained, barely containing the cold fury that raged within him. The king unfolded his fingers, holding the container in his palm while showing it to his sister.

Lyanna glanced down, eyeing the green glowing substance behind the glass. It was an echo, or what was left of it. The last remaining power of a forgotten family. The Timeturners. This was all that was left of her mother's line. A great house, now reduced to this tiny flickering orb. With what felt like a mountain in her stomach, her fingers reached out for the artifact and wrapped them around it.

"That's what was left of it after they subtracted it from you." Aidan explained as he folded his arms before his chest. "Bloody echo almost killed you."

"It did kill me." Lyanna mumbled under her breath as she clenched the container in her fist.

"What exactly do you plan to do with it?" Stefan asked, worry evident in his voice.

"Whatever Tarkin is going to tell us, I'm sure it won't be good. We might need every help we can get. And this, even though it is but a flicker of what it once was, is the power of a Vanir." Lyanna explained and attached the small container on the necklace she was wearing. She hid it beneath her armour, covering it with several plates of dragonscale. The cold metal rested against her beating heart. "It might buy us another few hours."

The two men flanking her nodded, both their eyes darting to an advancing Republic ship. Their hands went for the weapons on their belts when it neared their position even though they had known they were coming. There was to be a meeting, a negotiation of sorts. Right after the city had fallen they'd received word from the Republic, a place and a time for them to meet, accompanied with only the request to surrender.

"Here we go." Aidan mumbled under his breath, his grip tightening when the doors opened and revealed a battalion of soldiers flanking a single man.

The three Valerians slowly descended down the hill, walking towards the men that had invaded their home. Even though they were with fewer, they posed a more threatening company. All three of them were clad in armor. The commander, wearing his plate and golden armour and the blue cape that swirled behind him. The king, wearing the same colours paired with the large greatsword he'd inherited from his father and the crown that adorned his head.

And finally, the queen, covered in black dragonscale plates decorated with golden feathers. The red cape was bellowing behind her, almost glowing like a fire in the light. Her hair was bound into intricate braids, pulling the strands away from her face that was covered with black war paint. The black coal covered the entire upper half of her face, making her look like a vengeful spirit. The phoenix-adorned sword hung from her hip with the single lightsaber on the other side.

Tarkin didn't seem in the least intimidated. No, he simply watched as they neared and folded his arms behind his back. He, in contrast to the three, was wearing a simple grey suit. He stared at them as they came to a halt, waiting for them to break the silence while he stared them down.

The queen's eyes narrowed behind the mask that covered the upper half of her face. Her lips pulled into a thin line, barely containing the growl that had almost erupted. She'd spoken with him a few times before and had barely agreed to a word he'd spoken in those moments. The man before her was reckless when it came to the lives of his men. He was cold and cruel, two principles that went starkly against her own.

"Captain Tarkin." She acknowledged him before her eyes went to the clones that accompanied him.

She recognized almost all of them. Most she'd fought with multiple times, others she had only glanced upon on the ships while they had travelled. Still, they'd never treated her for anything but a friend or family. Every single man she could name, yet there was one in particular that made her stomach clench and her heart freeze in her chest. Him, she had spent almost every day with, joked with. The carefully sculpted mask she'd donned cracked underneath his heavy gaze. She shifted on her feet uneasily, a motion that did not go unnoticed by both Tarkin and the two men accompanying her.

"Commander Cody." She barely got the words out of her throat. Obi Wan. Unwillingly, her eyes travelled over those gathered to try and find those ocean eyes. But he wasn't here, she knew, for his soul still felt miles away. Rex wasn't there either, which only made her more anxious about Anakin's current whereabouts.

"Your majesty." The sound of the clone's voice made the trembling of her hands much worse. Whether they wanted to wrap around his neck and squeeze the life out of him or pull him away from this war before it unfolded, she wasn't sure.

Cody didn't seem fazed in the least, his fingers as steadfast on his weapon as usual, his expression covered by his helmet. How she would love to see his face, to see the emotions boiling beneath that metal, to find out if he regretted his decision to turn against his own.

Tarkin continued studying her expression silently, until he decided that he'd seen enough of her heartbreak. "It's Admiral Tarkin now, doctor." The cutting voice made Lyanna flinch, her lips curling upwards into a snarl while her eyes darted his way. The man lifted his chin in pride and stared her down emotionlessly.

"And she's a queen and you'll address her as such." Stefan growled from her side as his hand ventured to his weapon. "Or you'll lose your tongue before you can even think to correct yourself." The tension immediately sky rocketed, becoming almost palpable.

"Now, now, there is no need for threats." The admiral grinned as he watched the commander curiously. "We're here to negotiate, as you might've read in the message we sent you."

"There isn't much to negotiate about when you've already laid waste to one of our cities." Aidan grumbled while his gaze remained fastened onto the simple man before him. He could see the smoke rising behind his figure. "If it's war you're after, there's no need to exchange words over it."

The admiral scoffed and with but a single glance disregarded the Valerian king and turned back to the queen. "There is no need for war. We are here to discuss the terms of your surrender, your majesty."

She watched him coolly, contemplating her answer. "Did you discuss terms with the jedi before you slaughtered them, Admiral?" Lyanna asked slowly. It was a shot in the dark, but in her mind there was no other explanation for the countless deaths she'd felt the day before and their absence at that moment. Given the fact he was still alive, he'd had to have had a part in it.

"Or were they killed without warning, just like the citizens you condemned to death?" She felt the gazes of her brother and friend on the side of her face. They hadn't connected the dots as easily as she had, but she knew when their gazes turned murderous that they had after. Thunder roared overhead and rain started to fall down.

"Well, not exactly like these Valerians, I gather." The queen chuckled coldly, ice in her eyes as she moved them towards the clone commander. "No, they weren't shot in the back by their friends." Cody flinched at the accusation, his muscles tensing.

The admiral took in a deep breath before answering, puffing up his chest. "The jedi chose their fate when they betrayed the emperor, and I will remind you not to make the same mista-"

"Emperor?" The queen laughed curtly. "There is no Emperor, -"

"You might know him as Chancellor Palpatine, your majesty." Cody interjected before she could finish. Her eyes darted his way again while he shuffled on his feet, weary underneath hers and the admiral's heavy gaze.

The chancellor, an emperor now? Lyanna took in a startled breath, the final pieces of the puzzle clicking together. The timing, with Darth Sidious killing all the jedi, it was too convenient to be a coincidence. Chancellor Palpatine, that old goat, was he the one that orchestrated this entire ordeal? Was he the one that had tried to kill her in that shipyard, that had forced her hand?

Her mind began running. He'd been after the adamantium mines of Valeria the moment she set foot in Coruscant. He'd wanted so desperately for them to join the Republic he'd even lowered himself to blackmailing her into it. But she'd refused, and only a day after, she'd been forced into service, forced to become a weapon because of a trial she could have never won. It'd all been a trap and a very carefully laid one at that.

She remembered his eyes the moment he gazed down upon her in the training room, his eyes so full of want and pride. She remembered how she'd felt nothing but darkness when grasping his hand, no memory or feeling, only now realizing that the sith lord had been blocking her powers the entire time.

Lyanna's eyes widened as realization struck. She looked up, her gaze jumping from clone to clone. "Do you truly believe the bullshit he's been telling you?" Her voice raised as she swung her arm in frustration. A rumble accompanied the low timbre in her voice, the sound echoing through the entire valley.

The clones immediately rightened, their blasters pointed towards her within a second. Both Aidan and Stefan quickly reached for their own weapons, the sky roaring above them but the queen remained unarmed. Her heart broke into pieces as she glanced between the clones, men she knew, men she'd saved mere months ago.

"How dare you?" She growled under her breath as she regarded them. "The jedi led you through the war, saved you, sacrificed everything for you and you kill them the moment some emperor tells you they're supposed 'traitors'? Without even thinking twice about it?!" She shouted and turned her full attention to Cody. "And you, Commander, did you try to kill your general? The man who fought for you, the man who loved you, who stood by your side for years, did you betray him too?!"

The man tensed at her words, his arm having never lifted his blaster towards her. Even under her heavy gaze, he remained silent. The commander could do nothing but stare back into the now flaming eyes of the woman he knew.

"Lyanna." Aidan grasped her upper arm, holding her back. He'd whispered into her ear, his gaze locked onto Tarkin's as he smirked at her fury. "This isn't helping."

The admiral's grin widened as Lyanna struggled to slow her breathing. She glanced towards her brother, the flames raging, until she nodded curtly and stepped backwards. With another motion of her hand, she turned the conversation over to him.

The king straightened as he turned towards Tarkin. "What are the terms?" He asked reluctantly.

The Admiral lifted a single eyebrow in surprise. "Your complete and full surrender." He stated simply, eyes gliding over the three gathered. They stared back numbly, waiting for him to continue. He started into a pace, summing up the conditions and counting them with his fingers.

"Valeria will become part of the galactic empire effective immediately, under the jurisdiction and order of the emperor. Your people will be processed and relocated to our wishes and conscripted into the army if need be. You will renounce all claim to the so called 'throne' of Valeria and forego your title as 'king' and 'queen'. You'll be forbidden to use your 'seidr' unless under direct order of the emperor. You'll pledge your complete and utter loyalty to him and maybe he'll allow you to remain in a position of power. Finally, -" His icy gaze turned towards the queen. "- queen Fireheart will return to the capital and continue her sentence as she did before the jedi unrightfully disbanded her from her service."

Aidan huffed, grinning coldly as he glanced towards the ground. He bit his lip, tapping his foot against the ground. He pretended to consider it, whilst he was thinking of all the ways he could kill the man before him. "And if we don't surrender?"

The admiral regarded him coolly. "Death, your majesty."

The king and queen turned to look at each other, silent words passing between them. A cold, calculating look was mirrored, their fury and fear now replaced by a certain assuredness.

The king nodded again and scoffed. "Well, those are some lousy options." Aidan chuckled humourlessly as he turned his body to the man beside him. He laid his hand on his shoulder and patted him a few times. "Stefan, why don't you explain to him what we Valerians think about surrender?"

Stefan lifted one of his eyebrows and flicked his gaze to him before he calmly answered without hesitation. "Surrender is never an option, your majesty. To us, it's a strange and foreign word. We don't even have it in our vocabulary."

"What about war, commander?"

"A welcome custom, my king. We yearn for it, delight in it. It's our way of life. We were trained from birth for it. I can think of no better way to serve our country than protecting it from invaders." The commander started to grin, a proud look overcoming the angered one.

Aidan's lips pulled into a smile as the confusion and surprise in the Admiral's eyes expanded. The king folded his hands behind his back and circled around him, coming to a stop behind the commander. "And death, my friend?"

"Death on the battlefield?" Stefan paused, chuckling softly before continuing with a low growl. "It's our dream, our goal, the very thing we long for our entire life. It is the only way for us to go to where we belong. I'll gladly venture into Valhalla today if it is my time."

"Thank you, commander." Aidan nodded and turned back towards the enemy. "I think you'll know our answer now, right, admiral?"

Tarkin's eyes narrowed in frustration while the clones around him shuffled uneasily. While they were loyal and trained for combat, they had doubts and reservations. The past events had shaken even the most loyal of clones. They were bred for this purpose, but their thoughts and feelings conflicted with it. They were deprived of a choice, while they desperately wanted to have one. The people they would be fighting seemed to have nu such complexities. They chose to fight for their country, they weren't forced into defending it.

"There is no way for you to win against an entire Empire. You'll lead your planet into a hopeless war, and for what? Pride?" The admiral scoffed. "We'll crush you within days."

"Yes, perhaps you will." Aidan shrugged and let out a heavy sign. "But we'll take down more men than you can stand to loose. We'll make you fight for every bloody inch, and we'll make sure it hurts every step of the way. To enter Valhalla, we will do whatever it takes and die happily when our time comes." The king cocked his head to the side and regarded him coolly. "Either way, we win."

The admiral stopped to think, clearly surprised by the words he was hearing. His one eyebrow lifted as he scanned their faces, trying to find even a hint of hesitation or fear.

"You know what I am capable of, aren't you, Admiral?" Lyanna finally spoke up, stalking closer to him threatingly, making him tear his gaze away from the king. "You've seen it first hand, the broken cruisers, the molten metal and bones turned into ash. I'm even sure you've even read every single report from the last month. Now, imagine fighting an entire planet filled with people like me."

She lifted her chin in pride. "We'll break you before the end."

Tarkin scoffed. "We have the power of an empire, your majesty. Above all, we have deathshot. Your powers will be beyond your reach. Even you can't hope to defeat that."

Lyanna's eyes narrowed when the poison was mentioned, her heart skipping a beat. The final blow that could tear down her kingdom, and it was caused by none other than the man she loved. She clenched her jaw and forced those thoughts out of her head. "No, but we will go down fighting till our very last breath."

The admiral sighed deeply as he regarded the three of them. Given their unwavering stares, he knew surrender hadn't ever been on the table. The only thing he would accomplish when threatening them was strengthening their resolve. "Where is he?" Tarkin asked after a few moments of silence. Lyanna cocked her head to the side, considering him coolly. "Where is Kenobi?" He clarified after another few seconds.

Lyanna huffed, but when she realized he was serious given his stern stare, let out a curt laugh. Her lips widened into a grin while her heart warmed, a sudden joy appearing in it. She glanced towards Cody and noticed his nervous state. He didn't know either. Obi Wan was okay. They didn't have him. He was out there, somewhere, and he was coming.

Then came another realization; he hadn't asked about Anakin. Lyanna flinched unnoticeably, worry filling her stomach. I have to trust Obi looked after him. He wouldn't ever leave him behind. A deep breath she sucked in, trying to calm her nerves as she turned back towards Tarkin. "I guess you'll find out soon enough, Admiral."

The upper lip of the man twitched as his frustration grew. The hatred in his eyes deepened as he straightened his back. "Very well." Tarkin decided and nodded at the three gathered before him. "Such a pity. I had high hopes for you."

Lyanna chuckled under her breath, glancing at her brother beside her as he grinned maliciously. Already the admiral had turned around abruptly, not waiting for them to utter a response. The two royals looked at his back as he departed. "Good luck telling him, admiral." The queen drawled, letting the fire rumble into her voice and shake the ground, seeing his shoulders tense as a result. "Tell your emperor I'll be seeing him soon."

Tarkin glanced back at her with a glare before he entered his ship, the clones in tow. There was one single of them that hesitated before the threshold. With his foot on the ship, he seemed to contemplate something. He dropped his blaster and used his now free hands to lift the helmet off his face. His tattoos stood starkly against his pale skin, a stubble showing on his sharp jaw.

Lyanna froze as Cody glanced back at her. His skin looked almost sickly, bags underneath his eyes that dragged them down, the stubble he previously wouldn't have ever dared to stay unkept. There, in his eyes, she saw the sorrow and pain etched so clearly that her heart broke at the sight. The mask he'd donned in front of his men had cracked, and the internal turmoil showed through. The commander bit on the inside of his cheeks, his jaw clenching, fighting against the emotions whirling beneath the surface.

His eyes widened, as if in fear of what he was thinking. "Cody." The queen whispered, taking a single step towards him, reaching out. Her brows drew together as she extended her hand towards him, realizing that he was begging her to help him.

He flinched at the motion and it seemed as if it had woken him up from a trance. The clone turned towards her fully and bowed, keeping his eyes on the ground. "My queen." He addressed her curtly and quickly went after the admiral, making the seams in her heart break apart entirely.

The doors shifted shut while her gaze remained there where he had been, tears welling up in her eyes. "Cody." She murmured, the expression on his face now etched into her brain. He'd looked like he wanted to go with her. Like he'd wanted to betray everything he was and turn against this empire his Republic had become. He was breaking apart, and he was all alone.

"Sister." Aidan walked to her side as the engines of the ship started. His hand wrapped around hers, squeezing reassuringly as his eyes studied her closely. She slightly turned towards him, keeping her gaze on the ground before his feet as she fought against the tears. The king waited for the ship to lift off the ground before he continued. "You know what we have to do now."

The queen nodded solemnly and finally dared to meet his gaze. "The final stand." She whispered, dread filling her stomach.

Aidan sighed and squeezed her hand again, nodding with her. "We have to do whatever it takes." He struggled with every word he spoke. "Even if we don't like the idea."

Lyanna closed her eyes and looked away for a moment to steady her breathing. When they opened, they focused on the distant mountain on the far north. There, amidst the cliffs, lay a cave where she'd ventured before. Where one powerful being now lay dormant, trapped in a cage she'd put him in. One whose powers had almost destroyed their kingdom but could now be the only thing that could save it.

"It is time for the final phase of our plan, -" Aidan followed her gaze to the crypts where the ancient tree watched over their former worst enemy. Everything about it felt wrong, but he knew they had no other choice. The king breathed in deeply through his nose and straightened, mustering out the words with his every might. "It is time for Ragnarök."

Oooh daaaaammmnnn

Shits about to get real

Gosh, I got so emotional when writing about Cody it was insane. The pure emotional turmoil he'd had to have had; it would've torn anyone else apart.
It's so interesting to think about how order 66 affected everyone, including the clones, and now Valeria too. I'm so excited about this part you have no idea! I've spent the last 3 years imaging the coming few chapters, and I'm so glad I finally get to share it with you guys

I love you all for sticking with me :)