Tatooine

A young boy, 12 years old climbs aboard a transport holding the hand of a girl of about the same age, and as they climb aboard they are greeted by a man of about 40 and his wife.

"You ready to go yet, Rusty?"

"Yea dad, I just had to go get Meg."

"Aww. Well, are you two ready to go?"

The girl speaks up

"Yes Mr. Metropolis. We're ready."

She turns to the young boy and hugs him tight

"Alright you two, go grab a chair with Terri, so we can go."

The doors shut and the transport slowly lifts off of Tatooine. No one noticed the stow-away climb onboard; a black hooded figure.

The Bridge of the Transport

The older woman and gentleman are sitting up front, the older man punching the controls.

"Alright, coordinates set. To Coruscant or bust..."

The boy and the girl are sitting together toward the back, her head on his shoulder and their hands interlocked. She kisses him on the cheek as the transport enters hyperspace.

An Hour And A Half Later

[i]The transport shakes violently, waking the kids and the older man stares at the controls.

"What? Dropping out of hyperspace? But we're still a good 100 lightyears from Coruscant. What in the Force...the hyperdrive's failing...the reactor core's too hot. Dammit. I'll be back Terri, watch the kids."

"Alright Joe. Just...be careful."

The older man disappears and the woman slowly drifts back off to sleep. The boy turns to his girlfriend.

"Megan, I'm going to check on dad. You stay here with momma."

"But Rusty, he told you to stay here. Don't leave me..."

"I'll be back sweetheart. I promise."

The boy travels down the corridors of the transport and to the engineering bay. He feels something odd and as he turns toward his father, a black cloaked figure emerges from the Darkness.

"Dad!!"

The older man quickly removes his lightsaber from his robes, and the cloaked figure removes his crimson saber as well. He speaks and as he approaches, Rusty feels the Darkness radiating from him. It is sickening to the boy.

"So Metropolis...we meet at last. I'll make an example of you, and then I'm taking these droids to the Sith, who'll make good use of them..."

"You go ahead and try...I'll send you back to hell."

A fierce battle follows, and Mr. Metropolis clearly has the upperhand. He has the Sith cornered, about to fall into the main reactor core. As he charges forward, the Sith jumps up into the rafters of the bay, and Joe Metropolis plummets to his death. The boy screams. Rusty runs to the bridge, to find his mother murdered and his girlfriend cornered. He kicks the Sith in the knee. Shattering his kneecap. The Sith realizes that to murder a child is absurd, and disappears down the corridors, limping. Stealing one of the smaller transports, he makes his escape. Rusty puts his mother's body in one of the casket pods and jettisons her into space.

The Engineering Bay

Rusty returns to the site of his father's murder, and picks up his saber. He clips it to his own belt. He then breaks into tears. His girlfriend, still a little shaken, emerges from the corridor and wraps her arms around him, crying with him. Rusty is the first to speak.

"...my dad...and my mom...I...I couldn't save them..."

"But...you saved me Rusty. He would have killed me..."

Rusty turns to the side, ashamed

"I didn't save you...I got lucky..."

He perks up a little

"...but I can save you...come with me."

he grabs her hand and leads her back to the bridge. He stares at the controls.

"Hmm...dad's Force must've powered the reactor...but it's still leaking. I can get this thing to Coruscant...I'll make the delivery...then I'm gonna go to Naboo."

The girl looks confused

"We're going to Naboo??"

Rusty shakes his head

"No...just me."

"Take me with you!"

"No...you must stay on Coruscant with your mom. She'll take care of you...until I can..."

"What are you gonna do?"

"I'm going to Naboo...to the training academy to train."

Coruscant

Rusty and Han Skywalker are on one of Coruscant's landing pads. Han Skywalker is his Master now, Rusty is now a Jedi Padawan. Han tells Rusty to go take care of his "business" and to meet back in two hours...

Coruscant Apartments

Rusty is greeted at the apartments by an older woman, Megan's mother. When he asks about Megan, the woman bursts into tears.

"Megan...is dead, Rusty...she was killed...her friends said some crazy black cloaked guy did it. They said whoever he was...he was pure evil."

Rusty leaves the apartments, to meet with Han again, tears in his eyes. He has now lost everything, but continues his fight for the Lightside, as he knows it is right

A Field on Naboo, Present day.

Rusty is sitting on a bench in a field, present day Naboo, site of a fierce battle long ago. A battle between Gungans and Droids. He sits, thinking over his past, staring at a picture of a girl, 13 years old. Rusty is now 17, and has turned to the Rogue side, his Jedi cloak covering his body, hiding his tears as he thinks to himself:

"Megan...I couldn't save you...I lost you too...I have lost everything now. I've nothing to fight for. The only reason I fight, is because it is the right thing to do, it is the will of the Force. Perhaps I can still prove myself to you after all...God I miss you..."

Karatoga walks onto the field, his search for Metropolis now complete. He always promised that one day he would return to face him, and that day had come. He stood in the middle of the field, feeling the boy's grief and gaining energy from it. He called to the Jedi, taunting him.

"She was fun to kill, kid. And so was your father. The only difference is she screamed more. I really enjoyed watching her die. I, am Karatoga, Sith Knight, belonging to no order but my own. I've been keeping you under surveillance. Now that your daddy, and love can not save you, you shall perish soon. So worry not, you will see them again soon."

Karatoga tossed his cloak aside, and unclipped his saber from his belt.

"Come on kid...time to die"

Rusty stood, enraged and hurt by the Sith's words

"You are a sick sonofabitch. How can you even say that...that is disgusting. But if you seek a fight, you've just picked a helluva good one. Now I'm gonna pay you back for Megan, and my father."

Rusty approached the Sith, studying him. As the Sith's saber lit, Rusty kicked at him hard, hitting him in the gut and immediately drew his saber, slicing at Karatoga with ease, testing the Sith.

The kick caught Karatoga off guard and he stumbled backwards, barely blocking the Jedi's saber in time. He pushed, getting the locked sabers to waist level before pushing the Jedi off of him. As he pushed the saber, he added a Force push, hoping to tumble the Jedi.

"You can't beat me kid. You're not strong enough. I'm older, and smarter than you. You're a loser without a cause. A Jedi...what a waste..."

Rusty hit Karatoga's hand with a hard chop and pushed Karatoga off of him

"A waste? A waste?! YOU, are a waste. Enough of this talk..."

Rusty swung at Karatoga again, hitting him in the chest, then sliced with his saber, straight at Karatoga's head

Karatoga blocked the Jedi's saber, but barely. The Jedi was faster than he was, he had to admit it. Karatoga blocked every one of Rusty's saber slices, just before they hit him, causing damage. Sparks from the sabers burned Karatoga's robes. Karatoga had pushed Rusty toward the forest along the edge of the field. The forest was silent as the two fought. Karatoga kicked Rusty in the chest hard, slicing at him with his saber at the same time

"Die Jedi DIE!"

Rusty was knocked backward by the kick, and as he looked up, he saw the Sith swing his saber. Rusty used his speed of the Force to quickly throw his saber up to block. The sabers clashed hard, with massive sparks flying everywhere. As they hit, Rusty's saber was pushed a little toward him, cutting his left side.

"Uhh!!"

The wound wasn't deep, but the pain was subsiding as Rusty ignored it.

"Dammit..."

was all he could choke out as he slowly rose to his feet

Karatoga smiled, feeling the pain he'd caused Rusty, and gaining energy from it. As Rusty staggered to his feet, Karatoga ducked, sweeping Rusty's feet from under him, landing him on his injured side. Karatoga stood about 10 feet from Rusty, taunting him

"Come on, BOY! You're stronger than this. What's your problem. Do you want to be one with the Force? Get up and fight like a man, boy!"

Karatoga stood, letting the Darkside flow through him, pumping himself up, smiling as he felt his energy rise.

Rusty staggered to his feet again, and approached Karatoga. With lightning speed, before Karatoga could react, Rusty gave him a swift punch to the jaw. The staggering was an act. Rusty was hurting, he was taking a beating, that was obvious, but the goodness in him...the retribution he was getting, fueled him to go stronger than ever, despite the burning pain in his gut. Rusty was bleeding badly, and didn't notice it until he heard the blood hitting the leaves on the ground. He quickly tied his belt tight around the wound, slowing the blood loss. Now was not the time for Rusty to lose consciousness, and he knew it.

"Die? Didn't I say enough talking?"

Rusty swung his saber at the Sith as hard as he could

The punch dropped Karatoga. He had predicted the hit as much weaker than it actually was. The fact that he was wrong only angered him further, fueling his fire of hatred deeper. Sparks flew from his hands as he jumped to his feet. He threw his saber over his head, blocking Rusty's head shot inches before it hit him. Karatoga was now on the receiving end, being pushed back by Rusty, as they slowly exited the forest and back into the field where they started.

"That's it, kid..."

Karatoga was seeing the kid he'd surveyed. He still believed Rusty to be a waste...Karatoga always believed Metropolis would make a hell of a Sith, but instead, Rusty had chosen the light. "What a waste" was all Karatoga could think of. Karatoga's mind raced as he fought fiercely to block Rusty's saber, and he too was cut, in the thigh. He groaned as he was hit, but fought on

"Arghh!"

Karatoga lifted a boulder behind Rusty, and as they fought, slowly raised it higher than the trees of the forest and positioned it over Rusty before letting it go.