Coruscant – Jedi Temple Lower Levels
Ash and embers still clung to the walls.
Though the fires had long been extinguished, the silence was louder than ever. Beneath the shattered floor of the central archive wing, security droids now combed through debris, sensors tuned for explosives, residual chemicals… or truth.
Ahsoka Tano stood behind a barrier, her hands bound in magnetic cuffs. Her montrals twitched. Her gaze was steel.
"I didn't do this," she said.
Mace Windu didn't blink. "Evidence says otherwise. Your access logs. Your proximity to the blasts. And the testimony "
"False testimony," Ahsoka snapped. "You know me."
Yoda remained silent. Shaak Ti wouldn't meet her eyes.
Only Obi-Wan stood off to the side, the lines around his mouth carved with pain.
"Ahsoka," he said, "just tell us what happened."
"I was chasing a lead. I found the explosives in the lower levels. Someone planted them. Someone… who wanted to strike at the heart of the Order."
Windu folded his arms. "And yet it was your lightsaber that ignited the first tunnel collapse. That was confirmed."
Ahsoka froze.
"What?"
Obi-Wan's voice was gentler. "The ignition traces match your crystal. Not your blade your old one. The one you left when you…"
Ahsoka turned to him sharply.
"When I was forced out before. You think I kept that?"
"We're not saying "
"You don't have to say it."
The silence spoke louder.
She stepped back from the tribunal.
"You want this to be simple. But it's not. Someone inside this Temple wants us to fall."
"Enough," Windu said.
And with that, the Council voted.
Temple Courtyard – Hours Later
The sky was dim, bruised with stormlight. Jedi stood in quiet lines knights, masters, even Padawans.
Ahsoka walked down the steps of the Temple, no saber, no robes.
Only shadows.
Anakin pushed through the crowd, reached her before she reached the speeder platform.
"I fought for you," he whispered.
"I didn't ask you to."
"You're not alone."
She looked at him.
"Aren't I?"
And then she was gone.
Outer Rim – Thustra, Siege of the Marble Gate
Three Jedi Masters Ky-Narec, Vira Tal, and Padawan Indu Korr led the defense against waves of Separatist armor. They had held for nine days.
On the tenth, the sky split open.
Oblivion-class strikers
Serion's design fell like precision fire. Their cloaking fields activated mid-orbit, slicing Republic cruisers in half before ground control even knew they were there.
The Jedi were vaporized in seconds.
No remains.
Just silence.
Zereth Prime – The Vault
Serion stood before the tactical array, watching as systems across the Rim dimmed, flickered, and died.
"The Jedi hold lines with light. But lights cast shadows."
Taliya approached, more cautious now.
"You let her take the fall."
"No," Serion replied. "They chose to let her fall."
"She might come for you."
"She will."
A pause.
"And she'll understand."
Utapau – Jedi Starfighter Descent
Obi-Wan Kenobi flew low over the rocky craters, his ship's stabilizers screaming against the gusting wind. Below him, the once-neutral world of Utapau bristled with Separatist forces.
Oblivion cruisers disguised as mineral haulers.
Grievous.
The last general.
The Council had sent Kenobi alone.
He didn't ask why.
He already knew.
Utapau – Underlevel 10, City of Pau
The sinkhole city rose in tiers, a spiral of architecture carved into living stone. Kenobi landed quietly. Local resistance met him with hushed nods.
"They're in the lower levels," one Pau'an elder whispered. "He brought something... different this time."
Obi-Wan narrowed his eyes.
"What kind of different?"
The elder simply trembled.
Lower Catacombs
Grievous waited.
Eight lightsabres' hung from his belt.
His cloak no longer flowed it snapped with motion, heat, and fury.
Behind him, war-droids equipped with experimental cloaking Armor stood at attention. Not mass-produced. Bespoke. Serion-made.
Grievous didn't move when Obi-Wan entered the hall.
"General Kenobi," he growled.
"You're shorter than I remember."
The droids activated.
So did Grievous.
And the duel began.