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Story

The galaxy is at peace, ruled by the
glorious REPUBLIC and protected by
the noble and wise JEDI KNIGHTS.

As a symbol of all that is good, the
Republic is about to launch STARLIGHT
BEACON into the far reaches of the
Outer Rim. This new space station will
serve as a ray of hope for all to see.

But just as a magnificent renaissance
spreads throughout the Republic, so
does a frightening new adversary. Now
the guardians of peace and justice
must face a threat to themselves, the
galaxy, and the Force itself….

The Great Disaster

The freighter Legacy Run, under Captain Hedda Casset, is making a routine run into the Outer Rim Territories, carrying around 9,000 passengers who are moving to the edge of the galaxy and some cargo. Captain Casset goes on her evening rounds around the ship, scolding young Serj Ukkarian for trying to access age-inappropriate holos and checking to make sure a shipment of volatile liquid Tibanna is properly secured. Just after she returns to the bridge, however, something almost impossible happens: an obstacle in hyperspace, dead ahead, with seconds to impact. Casset tries to steer the Legacy Run around the obstacle, but the starship’s great age – over a century – catches up with it, and she only has time to seal the passenger compartments before dying as the Legacy Run is ripped apart.

In the Hetzal system, scantechs Merven Getter and Vel Carann are respectively doing and not doing their jobs onboard the outer-system monitoring station when they are jolted into awareness by the sudden detection of multiple exits into realspace. The new arrivals aren’t scheduled, and the two quickly realize that the star system is in grave danger. They manage to send a warning back to Hetzal Prime, but their space station is atomized before they can reach their shuttle.

On Hetzal’s surface, Minister Zeffren Ecka is advised of the disaster taking place within his system. With the help of the young technician Keven Tarr, they are able to send out a distress signal to the Galactic Republic, a call which is answered by Jedi Master Avar Kriss on board the Emissary-class Republic Cruiser Third Horizon, in transit from the Starlight Beacon space station. When the cruiser arrives in the system, its complement of Jedi Vectors and Republic Longbeams launches, with those onboard spreading out to assist the system in any way possible while Kriss coordinates the effort from the Third Horizon’s bridge.

Jedi Master Loden Greatstorm and his Padawan Bell Zettifar are among the first to reach the surface of Hetzal Prime to help citizens evacuate. They encounter a gated compound where armed guards are keeping a desperate crowd away from a starship. Greatstorm utilizes his identity as a Jedi to persuade the guards to allow the many settlers begging to be let on board to escape with the family who resides in the mansion, after he and Bell repel a group of would-be pirates. Meanwhile, a group of Vectors piloted by Jedi Te’Ami, Mikkel Sutmani, and Nib Assek, accompanied by her Padawan Burryaga Agaburry, work with a Republic Longbeam piloted by Joss and Pikka Adren, aiming to destroy a chunk of debris headed for the Fruited Moon. However, Burryaga interrupts them after sensing lifeforms onboard. When Avar Kriss is informed of the development, she locates ten such pieces of debris and spreads the word that those people are to be rescued as well.

As the rescue mission continues apace, Captain Finial Bright of the Republic Defense Coalition sacrifices his life so his subordinates, Innamin and Peeples, can evacuate the wounded crew of Solar Array 22-X before it explodes. Avar Kriss, meanwhile, realizes she has missed something, and a scan of a piece of debris that catches her interest reveals it to be the liquid Tibanna tank, on course for the largest of the system’s suns. Admiral Kronara fills Avar in on what it means: since the star is R-class, if the tank hits it the star will nearly double in size and begin emitting radiation lethal to the lifeforms in the system.

As another evacuation continues, Avar calls out to the Jedi in the Hetzal system again, determined to save it. She brings them together in an effort to use the Force to push the tank off of its collision course. The effort is immense and exhausting, with some participants, such as Jedi Knight Rah Barocci, dying due to exhaustion. At one point Avar loses the tank, before Estala Maru finds it again. Eventually, with Jedi from across the galaxy joining in, they succeed: the liquid Tibanna tank grazes the star’s photosphere before tumbling away, heated but intact. Keven Tarr broadcasts the Jedi effort on the HoloNet, ensuring that they unknowingly had a galactic audience. The Hetzal system has been saved.

But it is not over. One day later, the first Emergence occurs in the Ab Dalis system. Seven fragments of the Legacy Run appear in the system. Six pass through harmlessly. The seventh hits Ab Dalis and kills twenty million people. In the aftermath, Larence Garello of Garello Technologies decides to relocate his company and employees. However, the convoy is attacked, and not just by any pirates: they are targeted by the Nihil, a particularly terrifying group of marauders that have developed a reputation in recent years for leaving few survivors. Larence Garello is not one of them.

The Nihil

On Coruscant, Supreme Chancellor Lina Soh holds a meeting in Monument Plaza about the recent disasters, attended by Kriss, as well as Jedi High Council members Yarael Poof and Jora Malli; Master Sskeer, Malli’s second at the Starlight Beacon; Admiral Pevel Kronara; Senator Izzet Noor of Serenno; and Secretary of Transportation Jeffo Lorillia. Lina has decided to extend the hyperspace closure around Hetzal for hundreds of parsecs until further notice, which Noor warns could strangle the Outer Rim. So far, fifteen Emergences have occurred, but the cause is still unknown, as is the risk of a similar incident. The Jedi confirm that the crisis does not appear to have been caused by Force users.

Lina assures Noor that she will authorize limited shipping of essential goods so that no one will starve, asking Kronara to ensure that the RDC is spaced out to enforce the ban in what will be the coalition’s largest mobilization in quite some time. The Chancellor has plans for her Great Works to expand the Republic’s presence in the galaxy, and as part of those plans, she feels that the Starlight Beacon’s dedication ceremony must occur as scheduled, in thirty days. Avar and Jora agree that the station is essentially complete. Lina announces that she wants the group to get to the root cause of the situation, with the ceremony as their deadline, or else it could be the end of the Republic.

As the debris of the Legacy Run is pieced together in the Hetzal system, Avar, her friend Elzar Mann, Secretary Lorillia, Senator Noor and Keven Tarr discuss the situation, as the hyperspace blockade expands with every new Emergence. Keven suggests that with enough navidroids, he could replicate the surveillance system he used during the disaster and be able to predict new Emergences. Avar and Elzar back him up, and Lorillia promises to get Keven the droids. The Muun also suggests that the two Jedi visit the San Tekka clan, a family of renowned hyperspace prospectors who might be able to help.

A celebration is held in the Great Hall of the Nihil to mark the most recent raid, hosted by the Tempest Runners Pan Eyta, Kassav Milliko and Lourna Dee. Eye of the Nihil Marchion Ro, who gives out the unique hyperspace Paths that allow the Nihil to travel in ways others can’t, thinks the aftermath of the Great Disaster marks the need for a temporary slowdown of operations, due to the danger of the Republic and Jedi finding out about their capabilities. Since one of the Tempest Runners agrees with him, it will happen. However, Lourna Dee persuades Ro to approve a job proposed by one of her Clouds: kidnapping a family from the Outer Rim world Elphrona to ransom to their wealthy relatives. But since Elphrona houses a Jedi outpost, approval comes with a warning to not draw the Jedi’s attention.

At that self-same outpost, Bell Zettifar is pushed off a cliff by his master so he can learn controlled descent, but is caught by Indeera Stokes when he fails, something Loden knew would happen. But over thirty kilometers away, past Ogden’s Hope, the homestead of the Blythe family falls under attack from Nihil raiders. The Blythes barricade themselves inside and attempt to call for help while using delving droids to defend themselves, but Ogden’s Hope security is too scared to come upon hearing that it is the Nihil attacking. The droids’ attack injures some of the pirates, who decide they’ll have to hurt some of the Blythes in response. Over at the outpost, the Jedi have just finished a breakfast of Porter Engle’s Nine-Egg Stew when they get a call about the attack, prompting them to head out on a rescue mission.

On Naboo, Avar and Elzar pay a visit to the San Tekka compound in the Lake Country. Clan heads Marlowe and his husband Vellis offer the assistance of their navulators to help with the proposed droid array. However, when the two are given more details about what befell the Legacy Run, namely that it appeared to have been trying to avoid a collision, they flatly say that such a thing is impossible. Elzar can tell they’re lying, but Avar dissuades him from using a mind trick on Marlowe. The San Tekkas agree to help, but as the Jedi take their leave, Avar tells Elzar that they will question the prospectors again if their investigation turns up no answers. Marlowe and Vellis are concerned, meanwhile, because they know of only one person who could do what the disaster reminds them of, and she would be beyond ancient if she was still alive.

Mari San Tekka is still alive, the ancient woman an unwitting prisoner in a medical capsule aboard the Gaze Electric, Ro’s flagship, where she has used her unique ability to calculate the Paths on behalf of him and his ancestors for generations. Ro discovers she can predict the Emergences, and hatches a plan, offering the information to the Tempest Runners to the benefit of the Nihil. He has further plans for the pirates, though, plans to change the group so he can strike against the Republic and Jedi.

On Elphrona, the Jedi reach the Blythe homestead in their Vanguard to discover it in flames. As Indeera keeps watch from a distance on a Veil speeder, Loden, Bell and Porter investigate the burning house to find the Nihil’s destroyed speeder. Porter deduces that the pirates stole steelees to transport themselves and their prisoners to their starship, as the homestead is located in an area where Elphrona’s magnetic field makes flight impossible. Mole mines left behind by the raiders prove a deadly surprise, but although the three Jedi are able to destroy the moles, one takes out their vehicle. Indeera heads back to the outpost to retrieve a Vector while Loden, Bell and Porter commandeer the remaining steelees for pursuit, Loden salvaging a cannon from the Vanguard and bringing it along.

In the Hetzal system, a reception is held aboard the hospital ship Panacea for the survivors of the Legacy Run to meet their rescuers. The Adrens are in attendance, as are Nib Assek and Burryaga. The Wookiee Padawan, uncomfortable about being there and feeling isolated because most people there can’t understand him anyway, spots a lonely child who is sitting in a corner and ignoring a therapy droid: Serj Ukkarian. Burryaga manages to make a connection with the child across the language barrier and learns that Serj blames himself for the disaster because he sliced into the bridge in an attempt to retaliate against Captain Casset for scolding him, having intended to play a video on the screens. Not only that, but Serj saw what the Legacy Run was trying to avoid. Burryaga takes Serj to his master, Nib, and she manages to persuade the boy to tell her what he saw: three lightning strikes.

On Elphrona, the Blythes are transported by their captors in a stolen repulsorcart pulled by stolen steelees. Erika and Ronn Blythe have both spotted signs of pursuit, but Ottoh is unconscious, young Bee is terrified, and they are being watched over by Asaria, a bad-tempered Trandoshan. At an opportune moment, when the Nihil realize they are being followed, Ottoh reveals his unconsciousness was feigned and attempts a ploy, but although Asaria the guard is killed, the Cloud Dent and her crew regain control, knocking Ottoh out again and preparing an ambush for whoever is coming. Despite the setback, Erika is heartened when she sees that the pursuers are Jedi when they ignite their lightsabers.

Onboard the New Elite, which has just arrived in the Eriadu system, Kassav has a plan to get rich. Aware that several pieces of debris will Emerge in the system soon, he calls up Eriaduan Governor Mural Veen and attempts to extort her into paying him to destroy the debris. Veen eventually grudgingly agrees to Kassav’s terms after a convoy of lommite transports is destroyed and the pirate claims that Eriadu’s inhabited moon will be hit if she refuses to pay. However, Kassav’s crew fails to destroy the third and final piece of debris, leading it to impact the moon. The New Elite is forced to flee back to the Nihil as Veen vows vengeance against Kassav.

On the Rooted Moon of Hetzal, Keven Tarr prepares to activate his array of 57,817 navidroids in front of an array of guests, including Secretary Lorillia, Senator Noor and his aide Jeni Wataro, and Jedi Avar and Elzar. Keven privately wishes he had far more droids, but activates the array. His concerns are warranted when the array begins to overheat, and as droids begin to burn out, Keven panics about the array blowing out before it can even finish simulating the Emergences that have already occurred. Elzar has a crazy idea, however, and manages to summon a rainstorm to cool the array with Avar’s help. Thus cooled, the array works as Keven had hoped, predicting the thirty-fourth Emergence, which has yet to occur.

Porter Engle’s steelee is killed by the Nihil lying in ambush on Elphrona, and he tells Loden and Bell to continue pursuit while he deals with the pirates. He finds it fairly simple to do so, but gains an assist from Ember the charhound when one of the pirates turns out to be immune to headshots. Porter takes the pirate’s stolen steelee and continues in pursuit. Loden and Bell catch up to the pirates, and the Jedi Master uses his salvaged cannon to destroy one of the Nihil ships. However, the pirates injure Erika Blythe and dump her in the sand, but Loden fends off their assault just in time for Indeera to arrive with both Vectors, remotely piloting one with the Force. As the pirates flee, Loden and Bell join Indeera in pursuit while Porter, catching up, takes the injured Erika to safety.

The thirty-ninth Emergence, in a desolate region of space, is met by a Republic rescue group consisting of the Adrens in the Aurora III, Te’Ami and Mikkel Sutmani in their Vectors, and three other Longbeams. Unseen, the stealthed Lourna Dee also watches, as both the Republic and the Nihil have identified this as one of the likely places for the Legacy Run’s flight recorder to appear. This Emergence is just a passenger compartment, however, so one Longbeam stays behind to assist as everyone else heads off to the fortieth Emergence. And this time, the piece of bridge that everyone has been waiting for appears. Lourna launches an attack that kills Te’Ami and the crew of one Longbeam, but Mikkel, the Adrens and the other Longbeam manage to retrieve the recorder before the Tempest Runner can destroy it, forcing her to retreat.

Dent the Cloud begins to worry as her plan falls apart around her with the Jedi in pursuit. She contacts her Storm, Zoovler Tom, for help, but does not receive the guarantee of a new Path to escape. This leads her to order the Blythe daughter thrown off her ship in an attempt to shake off Jedi pursuit. Aboard the Third Horizon, meanwhile, Avar convenes a meeting of the task force commissioned by the Chancellor to discover the cause of the Emergences. Lina, informed of the Nihil ship that caused the disaster and the marauders’ subsequent actions at Eriadu and elsewhere, learns from Keven Tarr that the Nihil ship which caused the disaster originated in the Kur Nebula. She orders Admiral Kronara to gather a fleet from the RDC treaty worlds to hunt down the Nihil and bring them to justice.

In the Great Hall of the Nihil, Marchion Ro meets with the Tempest Runners, pointing out that the Nihil are all in danger. After maiming Kassav in a fight, Marchion promises that he has a plan to fix everything, signalling an irreversible shift in the power structure of the marauders. He sends Lourna Dee to help with the job on Elphrona, while dispatching Kassav and his Tempest to the Kur Nebula, claiming that they will be able to capture or destroy the flight recorder of the Legacy Run before the Republic can get all of the information from it. On Elphrona, Bell leaps out of his and Loden’s Vector to rescue the falling Bee Blythe, flung from the Nihil ship, and finally masters controlled descent in the process.

The Jedi High Council meets to discuss the crisis, with the Masters debating whether or not they should assist the Republic in hunting down the pirates. They are not a military force now, but Oppo Rancisis argues that they have been in the past, waging and winning the Great Sith War. Ultimately, it falls to Jora Malli to cast the deciding vote: she chooses to take the Ataraxia and join Admiral Kronara’s fleet, doing as the Force wills.

The Storm

At the Kur Nebula, Kassav and his Tempest await the Republic ships, the Weequay musing to himself about ditching the Nihil and starting his own group while a medical droid bandages his maimed hand. But what does arrive is not a few small ships, but Kronara and his battle fleet. Onboard the Third Horizon, the admiral, preparing for a battle the likes of which hasn’t been seen in decades, awaits the arrival of a third faction on his side and confers with Jora. The Jedi Master decides that she will likely take a Vector into battle, leaving Avar to coordinate the Jedi from the Ataraxia like she did at Hetzal. Kassav decides to cut and run, but his three Storms, Wet Bub, Dellex and Gravhan, were told by Ro that they should kill him if he tried to do that. The Tempest Runner manages to talk them back to his side, but the arrival of an Eriaduan fleet boxes the pirates in, leaving them with no choice but to fight.

Above Elphrona, Loden and Indeera race to rescue the remaining Blythes in their Vectors. Contacting Bell, Loden learns that he successfully saved Bee, and is so proud that he tells him he intends to petition the Council for Bell to be promoted to Jedi Knight, although Bell wants Loden to be there. Loden details his plan with Indeera, before maneuvering his Vector in front of the Nihil ship and mind-tricking Dent into unlocking the back hatch, allowing Indeera to leap through the vacuum and rescue one of the two Blythes. But as Loden prepares to do the same, the forces of Lourna Dee and her Tempest arrive, changing the situation dramatically.

The Battle of Kur rages. Kassav, watching his forces being pushed back, gives the command for the Nihil to fight dirty like the pirates they are. The aggressive tactics include dumping a large amount of toxic waste from a recently captured freighter, tearing apart a cruiser with harpoons, and launching escape pods filled with explosives. Admiral Kronara, appalled by the dishonourable tactics, asks Master Malli for the Jedi to assist in the battle, and she agrees. Jora and Sskeer head into the hangar, leaving Avar on the Ataraxia to coordinate them through her network. Sskeer suggests that Jora let him go out alone, but she insists, and they agree to try and not die. Jora uses her lightsaber to activate her Vector’s weapons, leading her squadron into battle. Kassav, on the New Elite, watches the steadily advancing Eriaduan cruisers, and as he gives orders for them to be fired upon, Marchion Ro finally responds to his request for a Path. He promises Kassav’s entire Tempest the Battle Paths, which he claims will allow them to protect their way of life, and something happens. The Nihil ships begin to shift around, jumping impossibly short distances through hyperspace. One ship lands in the middle of the Jedi Drift, leading Sskeer to lose an arm and killing Jora Malli.

Above Elphrona, Loden takes the Nova on a one-fighter assault to allow Indeera to escape the Nihil fleet with Ronn. Loden then prepares to board the Nihil ship to rescue the father, but breaks his leg severely while entering the airlock. He finds Ottoh alive and all of the pirates dead thanks to Indeera. Ottoh gives Loden a painkiller shot from a medpac, but before they can do anything else, the ship is struck by a missile which puchtures the wall, precluding Loden from Force pushing it out as the air will leak out otherwise. The missile spews poison gas which knockes out both miner and Jedi Master, and Lourna Dee boards the ship with her crew. Seeing a Jedi prisoner, Lourna figures that that will be enough to make things up with Marchion, and she hopes that Kassav fails in his mission.

Amidst the chaos of the battle, Admiral Kronara wonders how the Nihil’s incredibly short hyperspace jumps are possible. Avar reaches into the Force and finds a way to guide the Jedi forces to strike at the Nihil, something Elzar appreciates. Marchion contacts Kassav privately and accuses him of being Asgar Ro’s murderer, before “thanking” him for his sacrifice, as he intends the deaths of Kassav and his Tempest to save the Nihil. The Battle Paths change again, sending the Nihil ships on self-destructive collisions with Republic vessels, and Kassav orders his crew to disconnect the Path engine. Kronara believes that the marauders have gone mad. Governor Veen asks for the flagship to be left to her forces, given what happened at Eriadu, and Kronara obliges. In the moments before the Eriaduans find him, Kassav realizes just how much the Paths have made the Nihil dependent on the Ros. He decides to make a deal and tell them what he knows, but Governor Veen doesn’t believe him and kills him on the spot. The Battle of Kur is over.

Onboard the Gaze Electric, Lourna delivers Loden Greatstorm’s lightsaber to Marchion Ro, unsettled with the weapon. Ro decides he’s going to keep it. She realizes that the new confidence the Eye is displaying is the person he had always been, but he had kept it hidden before. Ro asks Lourna what she thinks about the battle, and she admits that she has deduced he deliberately sent Kassav’s Tempest to their deaths. Ro admits that he deliberately allowed the flight recorder mission to fail to set up the battle, so the Republic would stop hunting them for a while. He reveals to her that he has had a plan for a long time, something he and his father worked on, and that he believes he will need Lourna. The Twi’lek is unnerved, but knows she cannot escape, and asks why Ottoh Blythe is so important. Ro uses the lightsaber to kill the miner, saying that what he cares about is their new Jedi prisoner, since one Jedi is just what he needs.

On Coruscant, Lina Soh announces that she is reopening the Outer Rim. She wants to find a way to use Keven Tarr’s brains, as well, although he’s currently working for the San Tekkas. Lina thanks Senator Noor for his patience during this trying time, and he tells his aide that he will be making a speech as well. Admiral Kronara, however, is not confident that the Nihil are gone. However, the Starlight Beacon is going to open on time. Lina thinks that everything is going to fall into place.

In the Great Hall of the Nihil, the pirates’ assembled ranks watch a recording of the Battle of Kur. Marchion claims that Kassav and his Tempest sacrificed themselves to protect their way of life, and the recording appears to back him up. With this, he takes full control as the leader of the Nihil, declaring that they shall ride the storm across the galaxy and have everything. Later, Marchion goes to visit his Jedi prisoner. Loden has been surrounded by several captured civilians locked in cells designed to torture them, specifically to keep him imprisoned, and his leg has not been seen to. He tries to mind trick Ro into letting them go, but Marchion has trained for such things. He explains that his grandmother taught him how to imprison Jedi, and asks Loden what his name is. When told, he finds the Twi’lek Master’s last name perfect. Loden asks Marchion what he wants, before realizing that the Eye is the one who told the Elphrona Outpost about the attack on the Blythes. Marchion also admits that the Great Disaster was his doing as well. Revealing a mysterious rod with connections to his family’s past, Marchion tells Loden that he is not concerned about the Jedi coming after him.

Visitors arrive at the Starlight Beacon for its dedication ceremony. The Elphrona Jedi come, with a grieving Bell accompanied by Ember. Indeera has taken him on as her Padawan for the time being, but Bell does not truly believe that Loden is dead as most think. He has no interest in taking the vows to become a Knight without Loden there. Porter thinks about why he stopped being the Blade of Bardotta. Indeera wonders if Loden and Ottoh might have been saved if things had been done differently. Elzar’s actions in helping track down the Nihil have finally earned him the rank of Master. Sskeer has been deeply affected by Jora’s death. At the ceremony itself, the Chancellor gives a speech. She speaks of her vision for the galaxy and her Great Works, and memorializes those who died in the recent disasters and battles, proposing a permanent memorial. She declares that the Beacon will be a symbol of hope. Across the atrim, the assembled Jedi ignite their lightsabers all at once, symbolizing that hope.

Later that evening, Elzar and Avar walk and talk in one of the gardens, discussing his recent promotion. Avar reveals that she has been appointed the station’s new Marshal, and they promise to stay in touch. Left alone, Elzar has a Force vision: Jedi fleeing. Evil sweeping the galaxy. And most of all, an overpowering sense of fear.

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