MidReal Story
Betrayal's Shadow: A Padawan's Dilemma
Scenario: Rio was a Padawan under Anakin Skywalker Rio was torn in half when he realized Anakin has fallen under the dark side
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I was only a Padawan when I witnessed the fall of the Jedi Order.
I was only a Padawan when I saw my mentor, Anakin Skywalker, turn to the dark side.
I was only a Padawan when I watched him become Darth Vader.
It was a day that would forever be etched in my memory.
The day that Anakin Skywalker betrayed us all.
The day that he killed the younglings.
The day that he killed the Jedi.
The day that he killed my faith in the Force.
I was only twelve years old when I became a fugitive of the Empire.
I was only twelve years old when I went into hiding with ObiWan Kenobi on Tatooine.
I was only twelve years old when I learned the truth about my mentor, Anakin Skywalker, and his fall to the dark side.
I was only twelve years old when I learned that there were no more Jedi left in the galaxy except for me and ObiWan Kenobi.
The sound of blaring alarms pulled me out of my meditation.
I opened my eyes, momentarily disoriented as I tried to remember where I was.
It took me a few seconds to recognize the dimly lit room and the familiar sounds of the Temple.
I had fallen asleep during my meditation again.
I groaned as I sat up, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.
I might be a Padawan learner, but that didn’t mean I could slack off when it came to my training.
I needed to be disciplined, especially now that the galaxy was at war.
I needed to be prepared.
That was something my mentor, Anakin Skywalker, had made sure to drill into my head over the years.
“Rio,” Anakin’s voice crackled over the Temple’s com system, “stay where you are.”
“I want you to lock the doors and stay hidden until I come get you.”
I frowned, wondering what was going on.
“Master?”
Anakin’s voice was stern.
“Do as I say, Padawan.”
“Yes, Master,” I replied, though I wasn’t sure if I would actually heed his advice.
Something felt off.
A deep sense of unease settled in the pit of my stomach as I waited for Anakin to return to me.
But he never did.
After several minutes passed with no word from him, I rose from my position and made my way to the door.
The Temple’s corridors were eerily quiet as I hurried down them, though it wasn’t long before I heard a series of loud crashes coming from somewhere nearby.
I quickened my pace, feeling a sense of urgency that I couldn’t explain.
As I turned a corner, my heart stuttered in my chest when I saw a group of clone troopers standing over the bodies of several Jedi Knights and Padawans.
The once serene hallways were now filled with blaster fire and smoke, and the acrid scent of burning flesh filled the air.
Confusion and fear gripped me as I tried to make sense of what was happening, but it wasn’t until I saw the bodies lying at my feet that another emotion rose up within me.
It was strange how quickly the world could change.
One moment everything was fine, and the next it was falling apart at the seams.
The once beautiful halls of the Jedi Temple were now marred by the blood of the fallen, and I could barely bring myself to look at the bodies lying all around me.
But there was one body I couldn’t ignore.
One body that stood out among the rest.
The body of my mentor, Anakin Skywalker, now clad in black armor and a menacing mask, standing over the lifeless form of Master Windu, his crimson lightsaber still humming in his hand.
His eyes met mine, and I could see the hatred and anger burning within them, but it wasn’t until he spoke that I realized just how far he had fallen.
“Rio,” he growled, his voice cold and unrecognizable, “come with me.”
The Anakin Skywalker I knew was gone, consumed by the darkness that now surrounded him like a menacing shroud, and in his place stood a being I could barely recognize.
A being known as Darth Vader.
The sound of blaster fire rang out all around us, momentarily pulling me from my thoughts, and I realized that Anakin was no longer alone.
He was now surrounded by a squad of clone troopers, each one aiming their weapons at him, ready to open fire at a moment’s notice.
Anakin held up his gloved hand in a silent gesture, and after a brief moment, the blaster fire ceased, leaving an eerie quiet in its wake.
“Rio,” Anakin said again, his mechanical voice sending a chill down my spine, “come with me.”
I stared at him for a long moment, trying to find the words to say, but there was nothing I could say that would save him now.
“Sorry, Master,” I said at last, “but you’re on your own.”
Anakin’s eyes narrowed behind his mask, and for a moment I thought he might strike me down where I stood, but instead he let out a low growl and turned away from me to face the clone troopers still surrounding him.
“Get rid of them,” he said.
My heart stuttered in my chest as I watched the clone troopers raise their blasters and take aim at the Jedi Knights and Padawans who were still standing there in shock.
They opened fire without hesitation, mowing down our comrades as though they were nothing more than rabid animals.
And then all hell broke loose.
Master Windu’s death cry was the signal the other Jedi had been waiting for.
Blades ignited with a snap-hiss as they leaped into the fray alongside their Padawans.
The clone troopers fought back without mercy, gunning down Masters and younglings alike without a second thought.
I was paralyzed by fear and disbelief as I watched the chaos unfold around me.
I wasn’t sure how long I stood there on the sidelines watching the battle wage on before I finally managed to shake myself out of my stupor and make my way back to my quarters.
I didn’t know what was going on or what I should do next, but I knew that I didn’t belong here.
I needed to leave.
I needed to get as far away from this place as possible.
It was only a matter of time before they discovered that I was still here.
I needed to leave, and I needed to leave now.
But where would I go?
As if answering my unspoken question, a soft voice whispered in the back of my mind.
Follow me, Padawan.
A shiver ran down my spine as I recognized the voice as that of Obi-Wan Kenobi, one of the few Jedi Masters who had managed to escape the massacre at the Temple.
I knew that I should ignore him.
I knew that it was foolish to follow him, but something within me refused to listen.
My feet moved on their own as I made my way down the Temple’s corridors, avoiding the clone troopers who were still searching for survivors.
It wasn’t long before I found myself standing in front of a small closet door.
With a deep breath, I opened it and stepped inside, closing the door behind me just as a group of clone troopers rounded the corner.
I held my breath as they passed by, praying that they wouldn’t find me, and after several long minutes, I finally let out a sigh of relief.
It wasn’t long before Anakin himself came looking for me, but he never found me.
When I learned that Anakin Skywalker had betrayed us, I found myself questioning the wisdom of the Jedi.
How could we have been so blind?
How could we not have seen this coming?
Hologram after hologram arrived on Tatooine bearing news of Anakin’s heinous acts.
He had ordered the clone troopers to gun down the younglings who had taken refuge in the Temple’s underground crèche.
He had killed Masters and Padawans alike as they tried to escape the slaughter.
He had even gone so far as to betray the Republic that he once swore to protect when he turned his lightsaber on Chancellor Palpatine.
And he had done all of this while destroying the city of Coruscant and killing thousands of innocent civilians in the process.
Obi-Wan couldn’t believe it.
We couldn’t believe it.
We knew that Anakin had been angry and frustrated lately, but we never thought that he would turn against us like this.
We never thought that he would betray us.
We never thought that he was capable of such atrocities.
By the time the last hologram arrived on Tatooine, it was already too late for us.
The Temple was in ruins.
The clones were rounding up the last of the Jedi who had managed to escape the massacre.
The Galactic Senate was disbanding itself for fear of being targeted by the Empire next.
The clones were turning on their Jedi Commanders without warning or cause.
The war was over before it ever really began.
We were defeated before we even had a chance to fight.
I couldn’t believe it.
I couldn’t believe that the Jedi Order was no more.
I couldn’t believe that our beloved Order was gone forever—and all because of one man’s actions.
How could this have happened?
How could we have let this happen?
What did it mean to be a Jedi if we couldn’t even see this coming?
I was still reeling from the news of what Anakin had done when I turned and saw Obi-Wan standing there with tears in his eyes.
As I watched him silently grieve for our fallen comrades, I couldn’t help but wonder if he was thinking the same thing that I was: what did it mean to be a Jedi if we couldn’t even see our own destruction coming?
Obi-Wan must have sensed my thoughts because he turned his weary gaze on me and said, “I don’t know.”
It was the first time that I had ever heard him admit that he didn’t know something, and it made my heart ache all the more.
It wasn’t long before Yoda arrived on Tatooine with a small group of survivors in tow, and as I watched him descend from his starship and make his way over to us with his gimer stick in hand, I knew that it was finally over.
He didn’t waste any time beating around the bush as he said in a voice that was barely above a whisper.
“The darkness has fallen,” he said.
“It is up to us now to set things right.”
