A Path Less Taken

A/N: I had a hard time figuring out how to start Order 66. The words would just not come for quite a while. Every time I thought of something, my brain just ground to a halt for a moment.

Now buckle up. As Sidious would say, the time has come.

"Are you ready?" Sidious asked.

"Yes, my Lord," Dooku said.

"Then... attack," Sidious said, gesturing two fingers forward. The two Sith Lords lead the battalion of troops towards the front gates of the Jedi Temple. Just in front of the entrance was a Jedi Knight out for some fresh air, and he couldn't believe the sheer number of troops marching their way. But once he saw Count Dooku and another man with a hood next to him, there was no second guessing as to what that meant. So, rather than opting to stand and fight, he retreated back into the temple.

"It's an attack!" the Knight exclaimed as loudly as he could, catching the attention of many Jedi who were in the area. "Sound the alarm! The temple is being attacked!"

The Jedi who were in earshot wasted no time at all in getting to the alarm, but before the Knight who sounded the alarm could turn around to see how close the battalion was, he felt his throat close off as he was lifted in the air. Raising the hand with little effort, was Dooku.

"The time of the Jedi has come to an end," he said before breaking his neck and tossing him into a corner. Though he had little time to turn before several Jedi were upon him, igniting their sabers and leaping towards the Count.

The Sith quickly raised his saber to block one of the Jedi's strikes before using his other hand to fire a torrent of lightning to knock another one of them back. The third was quickly shot in the side in the middle of his leap, clutching his wound when he hit the ground hard. He quickly shrugged off the pain, but several more blaster shots quickly put him down.

Dooku then wasted no time in disarming the Jedi that was placed in front of him before taking his head off with a swift, effortless slash through the neck. Now the entire Temple was alerted to their presence.

"Four Jedi down. Many more to go," Dooku thought as he straightened up. Many clone troopers soon charged forward ahead of him, firing their blasters at the Jedi that were approaching them down the middle.

Sidious simply had his hands in his robes as he surveyed the battle that had begun. Initially, his hand was not supposed to be in this battle. So he would on interject if he came across an opponent that was worthy of his attention.

He made one thing clear to everyone involved. Kill every single Jedi and preserve their library before activating the Temple's signal beacon. That way if any Jedi did manage to survive his troops, they would walk into an army and Sith Lord ready for them. Soon enough though, he would need to address the Senate. So he was on limited time to find anyone who fit that criteria.

The battle that raged involved almost all of the Jedi versus many of the best troops out of the 501st Legion. The army Skywalker once lead. Many were veterans of war. And their skill and fortitude would be tested tonight. So would the might of the Jedi.

Though many Jedi made their way down the middle to meet the army head on, several Jedi came out of entrances on the side and got the drop on many troopers, cutting them down quickly before they could even turn their blasters in their direction. Dooku impaled on of the Masters in the chest before leaping in the crowd of troops, cutting down the Jedi that were trying to bleed their forces.

"Traitor!" one of the Jedi Brutes of the Temple growled as he locked sabers with Dooku. The Padawan that was with him wouldn't last long, so he quickly pushed the brute back with the Force before moving to the Padawan and dodging past her saber strike before impaling her in the chest.