The first thing I see is Master Alva Zelzash lying completely still on the floor. A blackened crater forms where her heart used to be, cauterized by the blaster bolt.

"Joelle!"

Master has both legs wrapped around the neck of one of the clones in a death grip, her upper body leaning against the controls where she had pushed the button to unseal the entry. Both the clones are armed and are pointing their blaster guns at Master, who has drawn her lightsaber.

PYU! PYU! PYU!

The clone without Master's legs choking him opens fire. Master tightens her grip on the struggling clone beneath her and wields her lightsaber to deflect the bolts. The deflected bolts ricochet off her blade and hit the sides of the ship.

Haris dashes for the clone that shot at Master, slashing forward all the while deflecting the bolts.

The clone under Master begins trying to shake her off. With a clever maneuver, Master leaps off his shoulders, kicking the clone to the floor. Master lands hard on the control panels, her elbow numbed by the impact. Her lightsaber clutters to the ground.

"The treasonous Jedi must die... at all cost," the clone shooting at Haris intones. He spins away from Haris and fires at Master.

PYU!

Master jerks and rolls across the controls just before I step in, deflecting the bolt back to the clone. The bolt grazes his side, and he cries out in pain.

SHOOM!

Haris swings his lightsaber, and the clone's head drops to the floor. His headless form soon follows suit.

I reach for Master, slumped in the pilot's seat. "Master, what happened?"

Master inhales, recollecting her senses. "The clones turned on us. All of a sudden, they pulled out their blasters and one fired at Alva. They must have been given orders..."

I place my hands on Master's shoulders. "Order 66. I heard one of them say that. What does it mean?"

Master shakes her head, biting her lip. "I do not know. But just recently, one of the clones killed a Jedi under the same order. The Council assumed that the clone in question was defective, but now..."

"We have to leave," Haris declares from the other corner of the cockpit. He is carrying Master Alva Zelzash in his arms.

Master nods. "The escape pods."

"If the clones aboard our ship are bent on killing us, then the clones at the Jedi Temple and everywhere else...?" I help Master up from the seat, becoming her crutch.

My face contorts, the feeling of a thousand screams slamming into my body sending me a few steps backward.

Master shakes her head again, fingers reaching for her temple. "You can sense it too, can't you? A great disturbance in the Force. A great many voices have been silenced."

"A great many, have returned to the Force," Haris finishes, bowing his head.

"May the Force be with them," I whisper.

"Come. We must hurry. We cannot return to the Temple, not now. It would be objecting ourselves to slaughter if Order 66 is what you think it is. The Jedi Order must have its survivors." Master stumbles forward, latching onto me for support.

"The escape pods, are at the end of the ship." Haris informs, leading the way. Master hobbles after him, holding herself steady with my assistance. "They are designed for, one passenger, so we will have to squeeze in."

As soon as we reach the escape pods, Haris lays Master Alva Zelzash's lifeless body into one of them and moves to enter the pod.

Master stops him. "No, I will go with her."

I let go of Master's arm and Haris helps her into the pod. I jump into the other one. "Where to, Master?"

"Dagobah. We can hide there for the time being."

I set the course for the pod to Dagobah as Haris crams into the space next to me. The pod prepares for launch, its engines revving up, igniting our hopes of escape-

PYU!

A blaster bolt slams into our pod, damaging its exterior. I press my face to the side of the pod to see our attacker.

The clone that Master kicked. We never made sure that he was out.

"The Jedi must not escape," he intones again in his stern, robotic voice. He raises the blaster gun again, this time at Master's pod.

SHOOM!

The glow of Master's lightsaber flies past my vision, striking the clone's arm before he even has a chance to fire a second time, effectively cutting it off. Decapitated, the clone retreats as the hum of the escape pods' engines grow louder, signifying our imminent escape.

Master's arm jerks back into the pod just in time before the pods blast off into space.

We made it out. Alive!

Relief flooded my senses and I instinctively turn to embrace the person next to me. "We're safe!"

Then, I realise who it is and awkwardly draw back.

"Not dying sure does strange things to people," I muse, firmly fixating my eyes onto the view of the galaxy in front of me. Haris is quiet, beginning to pore over the few controls in the pod.

The pod's transmitter switches on by itself, and Master's voice comes through. "Joelle, how is everything over there?"

"Everything is fine, Master. I do not think that bolt damaged any of the pod's interior mechanism."

"When we reach Dagobah, you will have to dismantle your lightsabers. Do not reach out using the Force, or the Sith will be able to-"

PCHOO!

A beam of light shoots through space at us.

"Mrrf !" With a muffled feline yowl, Haris grabs the controls and yanks them back, causing the beam to sail over our pod.

I throw my voice to the transmitter. "Master, are you alright?"

"It's that drone. He's firing with the ship's controls. I should have strangled him when I had the chance."

PCHOO! PCHOO! PCHOO!

More beams fly towards us, and Haris braces himself across the controls, maneuvering the pod to avoid them.

PCHOO!

Our pod ducks as the starship lets loose a fourth beam.

PCHOOM!

The beam hits the surface of a pod.

Master's pod. Her pod wasn't there before...

Master moves her pod behind ours as the ship releases more energy beams, acting as a shield. Haris jerks to face me, shock registering on his face.

PCHOOM! PCHOOM! PCHOOM!

Master's pod struggles to withstand the blows, still remaining as close to ours all the while becoming the absorber. I scream into the transmitter: "Master, what are you doing?"

Her response comes off sharp and scornful, though the message crackles as her pod moves to take more hits. "If you were a better Jedi, I would not be shot at. I cannot even use the Force at all, elsewise the Sith would be able to sense me-"

This doesn't make any sense...

Master's pod begins to convulse uncontrollably, and the transmission cuts off. The pod is about to explode.

"All Jedi teachings must be abandoned. The Sith will leave no trace of the Jedi behind. We will return to the Force in hyperspace, all of us."

...Hyperspace?

The starship fires more beams, targeting Master's pod.

Master's pod is blocking the clone's view of us...

"Jo, the pod is going to, explode..." Haris makes to move our pod away, but I stop him, my hands slamming down on his.

"No," I whisper, looking deep into his eyes. Haris nods, and an understanding is exchanged. He lets go of the controls. Before I can realise what is happening, he plants a kiss on my forehead. "Selamat tinggal, my Wildcat."

Blockhead.

I raise my voice so that the transmitter can hear me. "Master, we will stand with you, even if it is our last. May the Force be with you."

Master's pod is hit with more beams, its functions shutting down. My eyes begin to fill with tears. The transmission crackles again before Master's solemn voice trickles in with her final message.

"May the Force be with you, Joelle and Haris."

The starship issues one more beam.

KA-BOOM!

The explosion from Master's pod knocks ours off-course, the smoke and debris collecting in the area. While we are still shrouded in the carnage, I take the chance that Master has offered me.

Now!

I slam on the hyperspace button, and our pod jets off at a speed faster than that of light.

"Jo?!" Haris's surprised voice rings out beside me, but I have no time to look at him. The pod's control panel has succumbed to madness, emitting pinging sounds.

The systems are failing; the fuel is running out. The pod sustained damages from the explosion.

The nearest planet appears on our radar, the distance closing rapidly as the hyperspace mode accelerates our speed. The pod zooms to enter its dry atmosphere. The pinging grows louder, and the pod begins to shake the way Master's did.

I latch onto Haris, applying a vice-like grip. "Brace yourself!" He pulls me closer, and I shut my eyes.

The last thing I hear is a massive BOOM.

A/N: So, did you get what was happening like Joelle did, or are you a blockhead like Haris?

If you are a Haris, do not fear. Fear leads to the dark side, remember? All will be explained in the next part.

Signing out,
Scarlet.