Jedi Master Alliya Sunbeam woke up with a start. She gazed thoughtfully into the surrounding darkness. Would these memories haunt her for the rest of her life? It had been many years, but the images still tormented her. Images that she desperately wanted to forget. But she couldn't get them out of her head. There was no forgetting and no peace. Not even when she was with the younglings she had rescued and who were now growing into young men and women. The constant worry that the Emperor's henchmen might find the supposed refuge was her companion.
Alliya wondered why no one in the temple had sensed what was coming. She wrapped the blanket tighter around her shivering body as she consciously remembered what had happened in the Jedi Temple.

The day began peacefully, despite the war with the Separatists, and there was no sign that it would end in blood, chaos and violence. Everyone went about their business, and Alliya was on her way to the training ground with a group of younglings when she heard blaster shots and screams. The children looked up at her, stunned.
“What’s going on here, Master Alliya?” A little girl asked.
The tall Jedi shook her head.
“I don't know, Sahima. Maybe the Separatists have invaded the temple.”
But at the same time, she doubted it. It seemed impossible
to her that this could have happened. No, the intruders had to be others.

She put a finger to her lips and indicated to the younglings that they should be quiet. Then she spoke under her breath.
“Stay here. I'm going to see what's going on.”
She opened the door, stepped out and locked the door. Carefully, she walked over and peered into the great hallway that led to the temple entrance. She froze in shock when she saw what was going on.
Clone troopers were shooting mercilessly at everyone, not even the youngest were spared.
Dozens of dead Jedi, their blaster bolt holes still smoking, lay on the ground.
She couldn’t believe her eyes, for the clones served the Republic and fought side by side with the Jedi against the Separatists. And now they were attacking the Jedi here in the temple?
Suddenly she saw Anakin Skywalker through the clouds of smoke. She was almost on her way to him when something held her back. Confused, she looked at the scene before her eyes.
The clone troopers were not shooting him like the other Jedi, but saluting him. Skywalker nodded and pointed to the Jedi library.
The clones started moving towards it and had disappeared from Alliya's sight when a Jedi jumped out of cover and attacked Anakin.
Skywalker almost casually ignited his lightsaber and parried the attack. The duel was short and after a few minutes the Jedi lay dead at Anakin's feet. Skywalker turned and followed the clone troopers into the library.
Suddenly, the Jedi Master knew for certain that Skywalker was no longer with them. Without making a sound, she left her observation post and went to the room where she had left the children.

When she opened the door, she saw frightened faces.
She thought feverishly about what she should do now. Whatever it took, she had to get the children out of here. But how could she do that? Alliya was sure that the younglings would not be calm when they saw the bodies. But it was the only way to get them safely into the vault of the temple. From there, they could disappear unseen into the city canyons of Coruscant. If they managed that, she would find a way to leave the planet and take the children to a safe place.
She calmly tried to explain to the younglings what would await them outside. The children looked at the Jedi Master speechlessly. Finally, a small Bothan boy took her hand. “We will come with you, Master Alliya. Take us away from here,” he said quietly.
The other children nodded in agreement and crowded around the Jedi Master.
“Let's go, children.”

She cautiously opened the door and glanced in the direction of the great hallway. The coast was clear and she waved her hand for the children to follow her.
From a distance, they could still hear blaster fire and screams. The temple was burning and they could smell the smoke as they climbed over the corpses to reach the vault. Every now and then the Jedi Master would bend down and take the lightsaber from the lifeless hands of a fallen Jedi. The dead had no more use for it, but perhaps the living did.
Alliya turned around when she heard a stifled sob from one of the children and shook her head. The sobs quickly died down and they continued on their way in silence.

Finally, they reached the entrance to the vault, where Alliya gave each child a lightsaber. Tiny hands, paws and claws ran uncertainly over the oversized weapons.
The Jedi sighed at the sight and hoped fervently that there wouldn't be a fight in which her protégés wouldn't stand a chance. She activated her lightsaber and, followed by the younglings, strode into the corridor, which was unlit due to the power outage caused by the fire.
They had almost reached the exit when Alliya suddenly stopped. She motioned for the children to stop at the side walls as she moved forward.
A figure appeared in front of her in the faint light of a blue lightsaber blade.
She approached cautiously, always ready to fend off an attack. The figure approached her just as cautiously. Finally, there was only a lightsaber's length between them.
Alliya was relieved to see the familiar face of Dusty Mort. When she was a young girl, she had taken the first steps in her Jedi training with him. Dusty's face was contorted in pain, but he still managed to grin at her.
He pressed his hand to a wound in his right side and shook his head before she could say anything.
“It's nothing, Alliya. Are you alone?”
Instead of an answer, the Jedi waved her lightsaber, and Dusty heard the sound of small feet pattering.
Shortly afterwards, he was surrounded by younglings who looked up hopefully at him and Alliya. Despite the situation, Dusty laughed.
“I should have guessed you’d bring your younglings. But let’s go now, before the clone troopers get here.”

They actually managed to escape. Alliya Sunbeam remembered with gratitude the freighter pilot who had brought them and their protégés to their place of refuge without asking any questions.
They had been safe here for many years and perhaps, with Dusty’s help, her haunting memories of Anakin’s betrayal of the Jedi would fade with time.