We came out of hyperspace a little before we were supposed to and Coruscant was immediately in our view. We stayed in our extended orbit for about 20 minutes just to see if any ships started to approach us for any reason but nothing happened. After the 'go ahead' nod from Master Wamo, the Captain took us in towards the planet. She had gotten the frequency broadcast directly from the Temple that told all Jedi to return at once. She took that as a sign that we could go.
We took it slow, not wanting to draw the attention of anyone in particular. But that was also the more painful route.
As we broke through the cloud cover the huge pillars of smoke were seen right away. I'd never been or even seen the Jedi Temple but from the quick breathes that Shaddoc and Wamo took I could tell it was bad.
We slowly looped our way towards where the two Masters directed us, taking long routes so as to make it look like we were just any other ship traveling to the planet. The two Jedi that stood in the cockpit stayed quiet the entire time, I could barely hear them breathe and I stood just next to them. Soon we broke through the many buildings that made up the minimum distance that was allowed to be constructed near the Jedi Temple and it felt like death gripped us all.
Trying to describe the scene to anyone else would not do it justice. The destruction of something that has stood for thousands of years and was literally a symbol for the galaxy as peace and protection was gone. It had been bombed to almost nothing. The once huge spires were crumbling and still coming apart. The huge sculptures that once stood on either side leading up to the entrance had fallen and were a sad sight to see. Everything else either had huge holes in it or was completely gone, even the entrance had fallen and was unable to be used.
The most frightening thing about it all was the scar it left on the Force. It was literally crying out to us in pain and there was so much death inside of it. Their left over emotions of fear and hopelessness cut deep into each one of us, even the Padawan. I could feel the Dark Side creeping into it, slowing swallowing everything that had been left over. It was suffocating even to me.
"Captain get us out of here now!"
She hesitated a moment but suddenly made the starship climb just narrowly avoiding turbo laser fire. She banked and flew back to the safety of the high rise buildings, only then realizing how far out of their protection we came after being hypnotized from the destroyed Temple.
"Where did that come from!? Who's got eyes on it!"
"There!"
The Padawan pointed off to our right, a fleet of 6 Clone Gunships were already bearing down on us and it seems like they were intending to either destroy or bring us down. The Captain grumbled something in Huttese and turned the nose even further from them only to see more ships and speeders coming at us.
"Get in those gun turrets and keep them off of us!" The Captain shouted as more laser fire flew through the air. We suddenly dived, heading for some type of fog that obscured everything below us and I turned to the back of the ship.
"Zavart stay up here! Shaddoc and I have the turrets!"
Master Wamo and Shaddoc ran to the rear of the ship and disappeared. The Padawan right away had no idea what to do so I tried to take charge.
"Might as well strap yourself in kid, this is going to get dangerous," I commanded while smoothly sliding into the copilot seat.
The Captain glanced at me but didn't say anything. She cut through the fog turning on the exterior lights as more laser fire chased us. The viewport flashed green multiple times and then it was filled with other starships and speeders. We nimbly dodged the flow of traffic as the missed shots struck civilians. The explosions started then and all hell broke loose as everyone started to not care about ship lanes and just wanted to get out of the line of fire. The Siren banked around a civilian transport that was just coming around a corner and then dived again and followed a blue sleek looking speeder. I saw the driver turn their head and screamed while ducking as green lasers missed hitting him and struck the front of his vehicle. The explosion rocked our ship and smoke filled up the viewport for a moment until the speeder veered to the left.
"Are you two shooting yet!?" The Captain yelled out suddenly.
"Working on it! We are used to using lightsabers not starship cannons!"
The ship rocked from taking a few blasts to the rear. Some alarms started screaming out but were silenced quickly.
"Work faster!!"
"What can I do?" I sat there looking at all of the readouts and knobs and levers all over the dashboard.
"You ever flown in a starship before!?"
"Not really!"
"Then don't touch anything unless I say so and shut up! I don't need anymore people talking than need be!"
"Understood Captain—"
We took another hit that bumped us into a garbage freighter.
"What did I just say!!"
She pulled the ship off the freighter and finally our guns started firing back. Now it was turning into an even crazier air battle and we were juking around ships every second. Suddenly she banked to the right and entered an open leveled parking garage and started to climb up it. I saw on the rear cameras a lot of ships get caught by the unexpected move and crash into each other or other civilians. There wasn't much room for us to maneuver here but that just meant our pursuers had to follow in a closer formation. It was easy pickings for the two Masters to hit them and cause a pile of exploded and disabled ships. As we neared the top the Captain fired the forward lasers on one of the dividing walls that kept people from flying straight out to the ship lanes and we broke through the rest.
"Where are we supposed to go when the whole planet is trying to kill us!?" The Captain called out.
"Get us back into space! I was sent a coded frequency to contact another Jedi Master right before we were attacked! We just have to get to a safe distance so that we aren't followed or traced when I contact him!" Master Wamo yelled back, not really angry but trying to convey her message and still shoot.
"How do you know if you can trust this Jedi Master? What if it's a trap?" I asked back. I was thrown an angry glare by the Captain, I'm guessing for breaking the 'sit down and shut up' rule.
"I trust Obi-Wan with my life! He's one of the few in the Order that everyone respected and is a trustworthy Jedi Master unlike any other!"
"You know I'm right here too—Sith Spit!" Master Shaddoc cut in before roaring out a curse which accompanied another jolt to the ship.
"Yeah I was about to ask that too. How well do you know this guy and why aren't we losing these people!? Are you two even shooting anymore!"
"Just get us back up to space so we can jump to hyperspace! It's hard enough not to shoot the people that are also trying to run away while still hitting the ones that are!"
Suddenly a blockade of speeders rose up in front of us, the Coruscant police had finally joined the hunt although they seemed to be more about just stopping us rather destroying. The laser fire still rained down on and any missed shots hit the police vehicles in front of us. They all scattered when it was realized friendly fire was on and we streaked past the gap they made. The Captain immediately corkscrewed and we slide into the real traffic of Coruscant. It suddenly became a whole lot messier.
"These schutta clones and this schutta planet and this schutta Empire—" the Captains' screams and rants turned to full Huttese then and I lost it in translation. Nevertheless I could understand what she meant without really knowing what she said. From the Jedi on her ship and bringing me aboard, to the pirates raiding her and taking her copilot, to now this....it didn't feel like she was getting her money's worth for everything that's happened.
"How we looking back there!?"
"Well, we've lost a lot of the Gunships and it's mostly police vehicles chasing us after we jumped into the main traffic hub. Uh, looks like they have some speeders coming from the right but if we start to climb now we should be able to outrun them and jump to hyperspace!"
"Good then that's the plan!" The ship was angled up halfway through that huge explanation and we shot back up into the atmosphere. A flickering light in the viewport caught my eye and I turned around. Right next to the Padawan a light was blinking signaling an incoming transmission.
"Padawan answer that."
The kid was spooked right away just from the sound of my voice and ran back further into the ship. I saw him stumble and run into the walls a couple times as we juked around a lot to avoid laser fire and then disappeared around a corner.
"You have a way with kids Sith," the Captain replied with the most genuine sarcasm I could imagine.
"I only picked him up with the Force, it's not like I choked him or anything. And my names Zavart, I thought that was established already?" I unhooked my harness and clambered back to the waiting signal.
"I wasn't in attendance when that happened, remember? I came in afterwards."
I crashed into the seat the Padawan had just vacated after a sudden forward thrust and I shot a look at the woman.
"Well now you know so please, stop treating me like I'm a contagious disease," my hands deftly strapped myself in and then activated the comm that Master Wamo left behind. It was the same one that let her know all Jedi were to return to the Temple. It's what led us to the ambush so what was it doing now.
"I think I'm the only person here that doesn't think that way."
The comm sprang to life and the voice of a man came out.
"To any and all surviving Jedi this is Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi of the Jedi Counsel. If you are listening to this DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT RETURN TO THE JEDI TEMPLE. Stay away from Coruscant and any Clone Troopers you see. Palpatine has turned against the Republic and taken control. What's more he is the Sith Lord we have been searching for and behind everything that has happened in the galaxy. I urge you to go into hiding and stay alive. May the Force be with you."
"Well looks like you're in the clear 'Zavart'."
"I don't know if you saying my name like that is better than calling me Sith."
"Well you said what your name was so you better get used to hearing it," she coupled this with flipping switches and yanking the control yoke so we flipped under some surprise vehicles and then pulled up on the other side of them and flew straight up. We broke through the cloud cover finally and streaked away from the planet.
Just to run into a whole fleet of starships. Our view was encompassed by a large fleet of starships that easily dwarfed our own. And as soon as they spotted us their bay doors opened up and fighters started pouring out endlessly.
"We are so not going to survive this."
"Yes we are Captain, and here's where we're going to do it," Master Shaddoc suddenly came up from behind us and sat in the copilots seat.
"Hey, that was my seat—"
"Well you're not in it so stop whining."
"The only reason I'm not in it is because your communicator was going off and Obi-Wan was sending a message."
"Well who said you should answer it?"
"Please stop bickering and just kill each other already! Otherwise put in the coordinates so we can get out of here!" The Captain screamed at both of us.
We both immediately shut up.
Master Shaddoc quietly punched in the coordinates he got from somewhere and the Captain turned the ship around. It was none to soon because laser fire screamed past the spot we were just occupying. Luckily for us they hit any starships that had followed us into the upper atmosphere and off planet so we had a bit of breathing room to make the jump to light speed.
In a moment we were gone and Coruscant was a distant memory behind us.
But now we had a new problem.
The Captain turned around in her chair and hit the ship wide intercom.
"This is for everyone to hear so I don't have to repeat myself twice."
"As long as your are on my ship and I am flying you around I will have no more fighting, less bickering, and a minimum 3 grumblings from all of you per week for whatever reason you can think of. I wasn't being paid to be in the middle of a galactic wide search for an extinct person who turns out isn't totally extinct, a genocidal manhunt for your whole religion, and the whining of men who can't stop rubbing dirt in each other's eyes. Are we clear?"
"Yes Captain."
"Yes Captain"
Master Shaddoc and I answered at the same time not daring to look at each other.
"Understood, Captain."
"Yes ma'am."
Everyone voiced their consent quickly and made sure she heard it. But apparently she wasn't finished.
"And another thing. My name is Ilawatizo. E-Lah-Wah-T-Zo. It's not Captain and it definitely isn't ma'am. If the Sith can get you to say his name can you start to say mine as well?" She turned back around to the instrument panel. "We've been on my ship for the better part of two years you would think you'd have asked what my name was by now."
Master Shaddoc was able to look embarrassed at least. Looks like asking what the woman's name was had flown over his head in his search for the secretive Sith.
"We'll do well to remember that, Captain Ilawatizo."
"You better. Now do you two want to come up here, seems 'Zavart' found something on that comm frequency you were listening to before."
"Again, why do you say my name so weird? There's no need for that."
"There's no need for you to cringe every time you hear me call my ship the Royal Siren either and yet you still do," she smoothly replied not even looking up from her instruments.
Which is good because I clearly cringed at the name of the ship again.
No one said anything more for a while until Master Wamo and the Padawan returned.
"So what's the news?" Wamo and the Padawan took a seat then and everyone turned to me.
I replayed the message that Obi-Wan had sent across the Jedi frequency for them all to hear. I got a look from Master Shaddoc when it was revealed I wasn't the real Sith Lord but he didn't say anything to me. When it was all over he got up and left.
"So our worst fears have been realized. The Sith have taken over everything and destroyed the Jedi Order. There's nothing left now," Master Wamo was obviously devastated from this. I didn't even need the Force to feel how hopeless she had become for a few moments.
"So....what will happen to me?"
Everyone turned towards the kid. The Lasat boy was huddle in his chair with his arms wrapped around his legs. Only then did I see this kid was actually a kid and more than likely malnourished for his age and race. He definitely would not be in fighting shape any time soon without more muscle mass on him.
I was not in any place to help him out. I was now a wanted man since this new Emperor definitely wanted me out of whatever picture he was trying to make. Plus, he wasn't my responsibility.
"Master Shaddoc and I are not planning on giving up on your training, we would not abandon you Drazad. But with the Jedi Order all but destroyed and us on the run you would be joining something that would put your life in danger. You should take some time to think about if you really want to continue on this path or not."
With that, Master Wamo got up from her seat and left the cockpit. It was pretty obvious she left so she could vent her emotions in peace and the rest of us acted like we didn't notice.
We wouldn't find out until later, but while the rest of the galaxy was praising the new Emperor and cheering for the end of the war; Jedi all over the galaxy were being killed by their closest allies. And the two on our ship were crying for every death they felt.