Heart of the Force

by fluttershyfan17

Chapter 1: Order 66

Author's Note:

I find the best way to get into the mood of the story is through music. I highly recommend listening to this while reading this chapter.Order 66 and the Jedi Temple

John Williams can make anything epic. Happy reading and may the Force be with You!

It was night on the planet of Corusant, but the brightness was piercing, making it difficult to sleep. The hum of ships and cruisers echoed as they flew through the sky, weaving through skyscrapers. Everyone is moving constantly, their faces obscured in covering or the neon lights and shadows. It is in these lights that a figure is walking at a steady pace, wrapped in a robe of blue.

For Kaleb Taymar, the noises of the planet were something that he could never get used to. As a Jedi youngling, he was raised in the Temple, a pensive and quiet place where he trained. Or it used to be. The Clone Wars changed everything, moving training to a battlefield. This proved to be a challenge for the new apprentice at first, but he grew as did his abilities. Three years later and at 19 years old, the effects of the war had taken its toll.

Kaleb knew something was wrong as he was finishing patrolling the streets. The relative peacefulness and relief that had swept the planet after the safe return of the Chancellor took over at first, but the anxiety had moved back over. Looking over at the HoloNet news, it broke that Master Kenobi had killed General Grievous. Kaleb smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. He knew that the war would soon be over. As he walked back towards the general direction of the Temple, the time passed from evening into night, and it was almost a half hour later that something caught his attention. The Jedi Temple was caught in a fury of lights and blaster fire. The explosion that followed set the temple ablaze.

Running towards the struggle, Kaleb jumped and entered the Temple through the broken window to find the dead at his feet, many only younglings. Shock took over his mind, freezing him in place as his instincts took over. Visions of the slaughtered flashed through his mind, remembering the carnage of the innocents he had tried to protect. He knew that if remained any longer, the assailants would kill him as well. Running towards his quarters on the 1^st floor he grabbed a bag from the shelf that contained a Data tablet with maps of star systems and an offline library of information from the Archives. Hesitating at first, he quickly bagged the Jedi Holocron that contained various teachings and ran. Taking a left, he came across a large atrium that contained Clone Troopers scanning the area.

“Hey! This is Kaleb Taymar, Jedi Knight. What’s happening?!”

The troopers turned around, the fire reflect in their helmets. They raised their blasters with deadly intent.

“Execute Order 66.”

Kaleb reacted quickly, using the Force to knock down a statue that blocked the blasters. He sprinted through the hall, the flames licking at his feet. Igniting his lightsaber, he made his way through the hallway, illuminated only by the blue light that cut through the smoke. Jumping out of an open window, he ran towards one of the Jedi Starfighters that lay untouched by the devastation. It was a Delta-7B, an older ship but a good one. Quickly jumping into the pilot’s seat, he closed the hatch and stared the engines. The roar of his heartbeat cancelled out any noise out there, and ship took flight. A million thoughts raced through his mind.

“I need to focus…Who did this? Those younglings were not killed by blasters… Focus…Did anyone escape…Trust the Force…Trust the Force.”

The Republic ships followed him, racing towards the Starfighter. With the grace of a dancer, he avoided fire of the oncoming ships, flipping and firing on the troops who fought side by side with him for years. Tears welled up in his eyes as he remembered who he was firing upon. The explosions that rocked the sky did not sway the ship’s path, entering space at a 45-degree angle. The Republic fighters behind him continued to follow into space, firing with the intent to kill. Kaleb went to send a distress signal, speaking faster than he ever had before.

“This is Kaleb Taymar, Jedi Knight, the clones have turned against us. Is anyone there…Damnit!”

A blast hit the ship, sending Kaleb’s head into the control console. The communications had been knocked offline, and the surface of the wings had caught on fire. There was no astromech droid to make repairs. Despite the throbbing pain in his head, he tried to get a clear thought.

“The only chance I have is to jump to hyperspace. If I can get away, I should be able to hide...,”

But before he could finish the thought, a portal of purple light appeared, sucking the Starfighter towards it. It was reminiscent of the old smuggler’s routes that he heard from General Skywalker. The light blinded Kaleb, reflecting off the metal of the ship. He did everything he could to get out, but the engine and electronics would not turn back on. The portal shielded him from the oncoming ships, before disappearing into the darkness of space.

Dropping him in the middle of the night sky, the portal vanished as quickly as it appeared. The ship dived into a sharp descent, the only sound was the whistling of the wind. Kaleb tried to start the engines, but they must have been affected by the portal.

“At least I’ll see my master again.” Kaleb thought. It was the swooping skies of the night that happened to be the last thing he saw as unconsciousness took hold.

---

It was in that moment that the royal guards of Canterlot took notice to the object falling in the sky towards the grounds.

“Alert Princess Luna at once. We...”

Luna had already taken flight, heading towards the object approaching the Castle grounds. Slowing it down with magic, she approached the ship, putting out the fire that nearly spread to the cockpit. Smashing the glass, Luna took the creature from the cockpit and soared through the air. The ship hit the ground in the gardens, but with not as much force due to Luna’s magic. Guards ran towards the scene, looking perplexed as they saw the cockpit was empty. Luna had the creature, using magic to let it float beside her as she flew in the direction of the castle. She called out to the guards.

“I’m taking the creature to the infirmary. There is not much time. Alert Celestia and tell her to meet me there”.

The guards immediately sprinted towards the castle. Luna glided through the open window of the infirmary and landed, setting the creature down on one of the empty beds. A few moments later, Celestia entered through the doors quietly, walking with a fast pace with a medical team behind her.

“Luna, what’s going on? The guards alerted me… What is that?”

The medical team worked quickly, and Luna indicated for her sister to go onto the balcony. The two sisters left them to do their work. Luna spoke, telling her everything that had happened.

Celestia spoke first. “As far as I know, this has never happened in Equestria’s history. I was performing a spell from the archives, one of Starswirl’s design, but I had no idea how powerful it was.”

“You cannot be certain this was the cause, but you need to be more careful. As for the creature, we should wait until it awakens before we figure out what’s going on. It is not certain what intentions it has here.” Luna reassured.

Celestia nodded. “I should be more cautious. I’ll approach the creature with kindness and friendship, but I should be prepared just in case.”

The doctor joined the two on the balcony. “The creature’s alive; breathing slowly but still alive. As far as I can tell, the injuries are minimal and its vitals are stable. The head is bruised slightly, but the swelling has gone down.”

Both sisters breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you. I know it’s late but thank you for your time”. Celestia replied. “In fact, it’s almost sunrise. Luna, get some well-deserved rest.”

Luna gave an expression of thankfulness to her sister and flew towards her bedroom. Celestia turned to the medical team who had joined her.

“I will look after it and alert you if there is any emergency. I think there is quite the story to tell”.

The medical team nodded and left her on the balcony. Celestia took a breath and began the process of a new day.

Comments

[Thunder-Bolt]

Hey, this was pretty good! This really satisfied a certain Star Wars itch I've been having lately, so thanks for that. :)

[Mine_Menace]

Not bad. The pacing was kinda fast and there were a few mechanical errors, not to mention the portal came out of nowhere without any explanation, but for what it is, it's pretty good.

If you want an editor or someone to look over your chapters before publishing them or something, I'll volunteer, just because I think having an editor is a pretty good idea. It might especially help for this genre since the whole Human in Equestria thing is old and has been used often, but if you don't want an editor, that's perfectly fine. In any case, I'll be tracking this to see where it goes.

[LK-52O]

I am the senate.

[MoonLit_Assassin]

i like the concept

[xmanaflip117]

the delta-7 starfighters dont have hyper drives they rely on hyperspace rings

[fluttershyfan17]

9921593
True! Kaleb was scrambling to come up with a plan on top of everything, so I would like to think he forgot that one detail.