» The Order

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Dramatis Personae:

The Clones
- Commander Bly; human male from Kamino; Leader of the 327th Star Corps
- Commander Cody; human male from Kamino; Leader of the 212th Attack Battalion
- Commander Bacara; human male from Kamino; Leader of the Galactic Marines
- Commander Neyo; human male from Kamino; Leader of the 91st Recon Corps
- Captain "Jag" Jai'galaar; human male from Kamino; Leader of Blue Squadron
- Commander Gree; human male from Kamino; leader of the 41st Elite Corps

The Jedi
- Aayla Secura; Twi'lek female form Ryloth; assigned to Bly
- Obi-wan Kenobi; Human male (origin unknown); assigned to Cody
- Ki-adi-Mundi; Cerean Male from Cerea; assigned to Bacara
- Stass Allie; Tholothian female from Tholoth; assigned to Neyo
- Plo Koon; Kel Dor male from Dorin; assigned to Jag
- Yoda; male (species and origin unknown); assigned to Gree


Chapter One
Bly, Location: Felucia

Clone Commander Bly walked through the Felucian jungle, the walkers and men of the 327th Star Corps following behind him. Next to him was Jedi General Aayla Secura, who had served with him throughout most of the Clone Wars. Over the many battles and campaigns, Bly had developed a genuine friendship with her, and understood her in a way most of his men did not. His aide-de-camp, a trooper who had named himself Galle, had often said that soldiers amongst the Star Corps gossiped that their relationship was something more than a friendship. Bly paid those rumors no heed. Let the troopers think what they wanted. Bly knew that his relationship was nothing more than a friendship; he didn't care what others thought.

General Secura had taught him that.

Bly and his men were en route to a Felucian water processing facility. The Gossam President of the Corporate Alliance, Shu Mai, had released a poison into Felucia's water supply, and it was up to the Star Corps to stop it. General Secura had suggested shutting down the processing plants, so the poison would not be pumped into Felucia's reservoirs. Bly had agreed, and promptly deployed his men to the primary facility. Jedi Knight Barriss Offee, with Galle assisting her, had taken a detachment to go after Felucia's secondary plant.

Bly's handheld holocomm suddenly started beeping. Though the troopers all had comlinks built into their armor, all commanders carried one permanently locked onto the Supreme Chancellor's comm channel.

And Bly knew of only one reason why the Chancellor would need to use the holocomm.

Apprehensively, practically shaking in his boots, he turned it on.

A hologram of a hooded man appeared. "Commander Bly. The time has come. Execute Order 66."

Bly's previous apprehension had all but disappeared. He now felt a detached stoicism, and a knowledge of what must be done.

General-no, Secura, she was an enemy now, stood ahead of him, apprehensively eyeing the advancing phalanx of Commerce Guild Spider droids.

Bly knew what to do. There was no turning back. He jammed a clip into his rifle, the squad with him doing the same.

Bly looked down the barrel of his gun at the Jedi General he had served with since the beginning of his military career, and who had understood him like no one else.

He fired.

Secura took the shot in the back, dropping to the ground with a betrayed look on her face that Bly knew would stay with him for the rest of his life.


Chapter Two
Cody, Location: Utapau

"Commander, contact your troops. Tell them to move to the higher levels."

Clone Commander Cody stared up at Obi-wan Kenobi, the Jedi who he had served with ever since leaving stormy Kamino. Cody knew he looked up (and Obi-wan looked down) because Obi-wan was riding a Varactyl mount that he had named Boga, which he had gotten to easily traverse the Utapau battlefield.

But it wasn't a bad metaphor for their friendship.

Though he was considered by many to be Kenobi's right-hand man, Cody really felt he took a secondary role to Kenobi's protégé, Anakin Skywalker, and he resented it.

That's not to say Cody disliked Kenobi, far from it, but he often wished that Skywalker would just bug off.

"Very good sir." Cody made to turn away, and then remembered the lightsaber that had fallen on the landing platform that he and the men of Parjai squad had been fighting to secure.

"Oh, by the way, I think you'll need this," said Cody, handing the lightsaber up to Obi-wan.

"Thank you Cody. Now, let's get a move on. We have a battle to win here."

Cody had barely enough time to say "Yes sir" before Obi-wan spurred Boga into action.

Cody sighed. Obi-wan was probably jaunting off to play the hero; to find a unit pinned down by a numerically superior force, and dash in to save the day; he, Cody, had to do all the dirty work.

Cody was just about to broadcast Kenobi's orders when the holocomm started beeping. He sighed. As if one figure of authority bossing him about wasn't enough. Now the Chancellor had to butt in.

Cody snapped the holocomm on.

"Commander Cody. The time has come. Execute Order 66."

Cody's annoyance was gone, replaced with a sense of purpose, of knowledge at what had to be done.

"Yes sir," said Cody, snapping the comm off.

Cody sighed to himself, "Could he have given the Order before I gave him the bloody lightsaber?"

Obviously an infantry attack was out of the question. But an AT-TE defending Cody's position was nearby.

Cody turned to the gunner, "Blast him!"

The walker fired, its barrel recoiling from the shot, which slammed into the cliff face that Kenobi's lizard was ascending.

Cody snarled, and activated his helmet comm. Lt. Sixer, a member of the 2nd Airborne divison's Parjai Squad and Cody's aide-de-camp, came on. "Did you get Kenobi sir?"

"No. It looked like the lizard took the most of it. So deploy the seekers. I want to see the body."


Two hours later, Sixer met with Cody.

"Did you find Kenobi?"

"Sir, no one could have survived that fall." Sixer sounded apologetic. Cody didn't want apologies. He wanted evidence of Obi-wan's death.

"Start loading your men on the ship. Move it!" The troopers began racing to their craft, eager to escape Cody's wrath.


Outbound from Utapau on his personal gunship, Cody spotted something odd. A Separatist starfighter was outbound from Utapau, but it was making no aggressive maneuvers, nor was it displaying a Sep transponder. Or any transponder, for that matter.

Cody knew who it was. Speaking softly to himself, he said, "Congratulations General Kenobi. You've proved yourself superior again."


Chapter Three
Bacara, Location: Mygeeto

Commander Bacara knew that his men were in trouble. And given the situations the Galactic Marines had been in, that was saying something. Bacara and his men had been fighting to take the InterGalactic Banking Clan stronghold of Mygeeto for several weeks now, and they were currently fighting for a bridge spanning a vast chasm that led into Mygeeto's capital city.

The Marines had arrived in full force, accompanied by a UT-AT walker for armored support.

The Separatists, for their part, had dispatched an overwhelming number of Super Battle Droids, and a pair of Tri-droids to combat the UT-AT.

Bacara jammed another clip into his DC-15 blaster, and jumped out from the debris he was using as cover, plugging away on full auto at the SBDs. Other Marines followed his example, firing their rifles at the droids, managing to wipe out a squad; but for all their progress, they were still losing ground.

A blue-colored blade blazed to life, and the Marine's odds were a hair better: General Ki-Adi-Mundi had joined the battle.

Mundi was the Jedi General assigned to the Marines, and he had high regards for Bacara's tactical abilities. Though Mundi held Bacara in high regard, the feeling was not mutual. Bacara thought Mundi a horrible tactician, and the General had earned the derisive nickname "Conehead" amongst the troops.

Despite this, Bacara often utilized Mundi as the Marine's secret weapon, sending him out to equalize bad situations, like now.

The Marines began to come out from their cover, volleying more and more shots at the Seps. Bacara was thinking they had gained the upper hand when a shell from a Sep tri-droid whizzed overhead and slammed into the UT-AT, blowing it sky-high. So much for armored support

Despite this, the rout for the Marines was beginning to turn in their favor, for more and more SBDs were falling.

Mundi decided to increase the ground they held, holding his lightsaber over his head, he yelled, "Come on!" and charged forward.

Bacara shook his head in disbelief. Mundi, skilled though he was with a lightsaber, couldn't possibly block all the incoming fire.

But Bacara had been trained to obey orders. He motioned to his men to follow him, and they charged after Mundi.

That was when a message came over Bacara's comlink: "Execute Order 66."

Bacara grinned. He had been waiting for this moment, as unlikely to happen as it had seemed.

The Marines ground to a halt, loading their guns and slamming them onto full automatic.

Mundi turned around, a confused look on his face.

Bacara barked a single word into the comm: "Fire," and pulled the trigger. The Marines opened fire. Mundi blocked several volleys, another, another. And then Bacara's shots slammed into his chest.

The Marines surrounded the corpse, and Bacara spoke to the cadaver: "Rest in peace, Conehead."


Chapter Four
Neyo, Location: Saleucami

Commander Neyo stood in the former Separatist command center on Saleucami, surveying the troop movements. Though Saleucami had been taken several days before, sporadic attacks by Morgukai and Separatist survivors had been plaguing the occupying forces.

A scout trooper had picked up what looked to be the biggest concentration of remnant forces, though he had been killed, Neyo had gotten a fix on his last known position, and was going to personally accompany General Stass Allie to investigate.

Allie, who was standing next to him, turned to face Neyo. "Well Commander?"

"We'd better take the chance, General. This could possibly be the best chance we have of completely wiping out the Morgukai. Providing we don't get ourselves killed first."

Allie made no response to that last bit. Working with Commander Neyo, you got used to fatalistic remarks like that; Neyo was notorious throughout the GAR for ending his briefings with "Good luck making it back."

"Then let's get our speeders ready, Commander. We have a job to do."


Twenty minutes later, Neyo, Stass, and Neyo's lieutenant, Flyer, were speeding along the desolate deserts of Saleucami. Neyo activated his external speakers, "The signals were coming from somewhere over here, General."

"Right Commander. Cover me."

"Yes ma'am."

The three speeders zoomed towards the direction Neyo had indicated. Suddenly, Neyo's helmet comm beeped. Neyo opened the message habitually putting a hand to one side of his helmet.

The message was audio only; a voice croaked: "Execute Order 66."

Neyo nodded. He turned to Flyer, jerked his hand back. The Lieutenant nodded, and the two braked their speeders sharply, decelerating behind Allie. Neyo did not hesitate. He jammed his thumb down on the trigger.

The BARC speeders' laser cannons spoke, and their shots slammed into Allie's bike, putting her engines out of commission and blowing the General into the creek flowing below.
Neyo nodded. Mission accomplished.


Chapter Five
Jag, Location: Cato Neimoidia

Captain Jai'galaar, nicknamed Jag by his troops, was flying on yet another scouting mission with General Plo Koon. Though the media had declared Cato Neimoidia under Republic control following Obi-wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker's heavily publicized mission there, the truth was that the planet remained largely under Separatist control. The majority of the Seps were concentrated in the planet's bridge cities, in the northern continent. As Command had deemed it impractical to mount a ground-bound assault on the bridge cities, Jag and the pilots of Blue Squadron had been flying raids with Koon against the major strongholds.

Jag had a very good relationship with Koon, as the General had saved him from ignominy when he had been demoted to Captain, for when leading the 127th Gunship Wing, Jag had started a retreat from the planet Kantrasii. Deprived of his command, Jag's flying skills had gained Koon's attention, and the General had used him as a test pilot for the new ARC-170 fighters. As a result, Jag felt he owed Koon a debt he never could repay.

Jag's sensor board flared red, as he spotted a Separatist droid platoon.

Jag opened a comm channel to Koon. "Sir, there they are. On Bridge number five."

"Copy that." Koon's fighter took lead, sideslipping left and right. Jag vectored his fighter to follow the Jedi's Delta-7. Koon's voice again came over the comm: "There they are; land on the nearest platform."

Jag made no reply, but vectored about, following Koon.

That was when his cockpit holocomm flared to life: a hooded man, his face horribly distorted, appeared. The man gave no preamble: "Execute Order 66."

Jag wasted no time either, saying,"It will be done, My Lord." Jag pulled back on the joystick, Koon's fighter already locked in his sights. Jag pulled the trigger.

Koon's fighter didn't immediately respond. By the time he did, it was too late. Jag's laserfire slammed into Koon's engines, blowing them apart, a massive explosion wracked the fighter's cockpit area, and the wedge-shaped craft spiraled out of control, slamming into one of the towering buildings.


Chapter Six
Gree

The normally peaceful Wookiee city of Kachirho was now a raging battleground. Clone Commander Gree crouched behind one of the wooden barricades the Wookies had erected to defend the city, and swore. The Separatist attack had originally been comprised of B-1 Battle droids, but NR-N99 Tank Droids, and Dwarf Spider Droids had now joined the fray, and would have given the Seps a formidable armored advantage had the 41st Elite not already fortified the area with several Ubbrikkian-made Juggernaut assault vehicles, which were rolling towards the tank droids, missiles and laser blasts flying from their launchers.

But even with all that, and with Jedi Generals Quinlan Vos and Luminara Unduli acting as frontline commanders, the troopers were still taking heavy casualties. One rambunctious trooper rather unwisely got out from the cover of the fortifications to get better aiming. Gree looked at the clone. "You sure that's a good idea, trooper?"

"Relax sir," said the trooper, rifle still blazing. "They couldn't hit a bantha at this dist-" The trooper's derisive remark was cut off as the cloned infantryman took a blaster shot right in the throat. Gree opened a comm channel to Clone Commander Faie, who had been assigned to Quinlan Vos, and was leading the Juggernaut attack from the cockpit of the lead vehicle. "Faie, what's your situation?"

"Doing good, Commander. We're ripping the Seps to shreds, and hoping they can keep 'em coming."

Gree nodded. "Right. I better give Master Yoda an update on the tactical situation."

Though Gree had posted CT-6601, nicknamed Deece, for his favorite weapon, the DC-15 blaster, to protect Master Yoda, Gree would feel more comfortable giving the Master a situation update himself.

The Commander flagged down a passing Oevvar Wookiee catamaran, the two simian Wookiee pilots shifting over to make room for him. Gree liked the Wookiees. He admired their warrior spirit and sense of honor, both of which he could identify with. On Kamino, the Wookies had been the race Gree had strived to learn the most about.

The Wookiee Command Center, housed in one of Kashyyyk's massive Wroshyr trees, had a small balcony where one could observe Kachirho's lagoon. Yoda was there now, Deece just behind him, watching the tactical readouts.

Gree hopped off the catamaran, offering a quick salute to the Wookies who had flown him. They roared an acknowledgment and sped off.

Gree hadn't made two steps along the platform when his holocomm started to beep. Gree took out the comm, wondering what the Chancellor would need at a time like this. A hooded man with a distorted face appeared. "Commander Gree. The time has come. Execute Order 66."

So now Gree knew. Snapping off the comm, he said, "It will be done, my Lord." Gree walked forward, readying his rifle. Deece had also received the Order. He nodded at Gree. The Commander nodded, raised his gun-A bar of green light appeared in Yoda's hand. Time slowed down. The Jedi's lightsaber came up and around, Deece's decapitation seemed to occur in slow motion. As the lightsaber came towards his head, Gree started to pull the trigger -- Then a flash of green, and then blackness.