Beacon Company 3

This campaign follows the adventures of the characters featured in two preceding campaigns, Beacon Company and Beacon Company 2, concluding the Beacon Company saga.

A Bleeding Galaxy
Over the course of the year following the Battle of the Jagged Corridor and the dismantlement of the Auxiliant Mandate, the heroes of the Vigil continued to mend the devastation wrought by ceaseless warring that had plagued the Republic for decades. Jedi Master Bendarin Fellspire personally oversaw the training of numerous apprentices at the rapidly growing Jedi Order on Coruscant, including Madok Rysta and Dartu Takali. Frocukkabukk aided Bendarin in the reconstruction efforts, lending his martial skills to the Republic and Jedi Order alike.

Bendarin and Dartu
Notably, months before the events of BCIII, Bendarin and Dartu were dispatched to abet the people of Tanaab, whose farmland had recently fallen under attack from unknown raiders. Bendarin and Dartu successfully drove back the attackers, an amalgamation of droid and Verpine forces, to a mountain base site. There, they discovered that the raiders were a part of a bounty hunter organization called Bato Krim, usually loyal to Yugudda the Hutt, but presently performing an independent job for anonymous client. They were briefly captured by Bato Krim forces before fleeing into a nearby cave system in which the Verpine population was concentrated. Within, they discovered the leader of the Verpine forces, a mutated Verpine calling himself Wraith, who had in years past taken apprentices and shared his knowledge of the Force, but who had recently become a thrall of Prax's Mind Collector. Dartu successfully purged the darkness from Wraith's mind while Bendarin was able to drive Prax's presence from the shard of the Mind Collector. Wraith, now revealing his true name, Kome, agreed to oversee the healing and eventual relocation of his people, and told the party where he believed that his apprentices could be found.

Meanwhile, one of the local senators of Tanaab, Salev Mendell (enforcing a xenophobic agenda), sent a team of security operatives to incinerate the Verpine hive (against the will of the Jedi and the Republic). Bendarin and Dartu were able to negotiate a ceasefire between the Verpine and the Tanaab locals. In light of the success of their missions, Dartu was named Bendarin's official Padawan learner.

Following Kome's coordinates, Bendarin and Dartu aboard the Cobalt Sparrow traveled to a nameless, desolate world encased in an atmosphere boiling with solar winds and magnetic energy. On the surface, they discovered an ancient Sith temple. Exploring its unhallowed corridors and staircases, they discovered Kome's missing apprentices, also thralls of the Mind Collector. While they were able to disrupt temporarily their mind links with the artifacts, Prax's arrival at the temple renewed the corruptive influence of the Dark Side, and the pair found themselves facing down Orson Prax and the four apprentices.

Drawing heavily on his training as a Jedi Sentinel, Dartu was able to expunge the darkness from the minds of the apprentices as he held them off. Meanwhile, Bendarin vigorously battled Prax in the upper levels of the temple, keeping Prax's mind occupied and weakened.

As the battle came to a point, Bendarin realized that he needed to maintain Prax's full attention as Dartu escorted the weakened apprentices out of the temple, and he threw himself at the fallen Jedi with selfless and measured impetuosity. Though he fought valiantly, he was overpowered by Prax, who severed his left arm and hurled him from the top level of the temple. Dartu gathered Bendarin and the rest of the apprentices into the Cobalt Sparrow, where they escaped Prax -- but not before he left a mysterious mark upon their minds.

Verenna Avery
Additionally, a month or so before the events of BCIII, Verenna Avery was summoned by her friend Raseni Takali (mother of Zanno Takali) to Coruscant for a private meeting, where Raseni revealed that A) some of the drop pods from the Hol'dorr invasion of Glee Anselm had remained extant (and that one in particular was giving her foremost production facility trouble), and B) that the Takali Corporation, which had assumed control of the Glee Anselm restoration effort, had resorted to dubious dealings with Czerka Corporation to remain afloat, financially. Raseni had contacted Verenna knowing that she might be able to operate with some independence from the Jedi and the Republic, which would allow the corporation to continue their operations unhindered. Verenna agreed to travel to Glee Anselm to combat the Hol'dorr threat.

Operator Drasam, the Vigil's SIS handler, informed Verenna that Tyzen (who was interned at the prison facility Vanguard) had been asking for her. When she arrived, Tyzen revealed that Raseni had come to him weeks earlier asking questions about Hol'dorr. He'd pieced together the situation and wanted to help. Cautiously, Verenna agreed to allow him to accompany her to Glee Anselm under her close watch.

Of note is the fact that, twice, as she attempted to depart Coruscant, Verenna was beset by bounty hunters claiming to be working for Threkk, connected to Bato Krim.

She took the vessel Goldfall (property of the Takali Corporation, modeled heavily off of the now-destroyed vessel The Golden Brandy and containing the ship AI VIN-SAAR) to Glee Anselm and was met by Breck Utopo, the facilities manager of prominent Takali Corporation location Hanthen Factory. He revealed to Verenna that strange activity had been reported from the nearby Kittar Ridge and that several local security scouts had not reported back. Verenna and Tyzen departed via submersible to investigate. Notably, they saw that Dorrun Csur was negotiating with Takali Corporation employees.

Verenna and Tyzen located and explored a small pressurized cave network in the Ridge, discovering that a Hol'dorr pod had landed nearby and that the survivors had set up a camp, using water to conduct their energy (which had the unfortunate and probably intentional side effect of frying their submersible's computers when a pulse hit it, trapping them inside). With some difficulty, they managed to clear out the Hol'dorr soldiers and free the survivors (a dozen or so security team members), preventing the reconstruction of a large siege wardroid. They also discovered a Hol'dorr Archon in the base, a Force-wielding mystic who attempted to bargain for his freedom in exchange for the lives of everyone in the cave; instead, Verenna and Tyzen attacked him, and, by the skin of their teeth, they bested him in a clash of swords (though not before they were both infected by a mysterious toxin spreading greyish numbness through a wound on each of their hands).

Heavily injured and poisoned, they were returned to Hanthen Factory by a rescue team. As they recovered, Captain Renarus informed them that a committee including the benevolent Vigil-supporter Senator Book was trying to take the issue of Glee Anselm's recovery to the Senate, saying that a private corporation shouldn't have such control. Renarus advised that Verenna supported this motion, which she did, against the will of Raseni. The Senate agreed to hear the issue in full -- a vote was to be had in the coming weeks.

An injured and resigned Tyzen was returned to the Vanguard Prison.

Dartu and Bendarin
Immediately after the events of the Verenna Avery adventure, Dartu was approached by Raseni, who beseeched him for support in the coming Glee Anselm referendum. Favoring his trust for Raseni above concerns regarding the Takali Corporation's criminal dealings, Dartu appeared before the Jedi Council and gained their endorsement for his proposal: a joint reconstruction effort between the Republic and the Takali Corporation wherein the Corporation and the Glee Anselm government would continue to operate with relative autonomy under the supervision of the Republic. Though Commodore Renarus (who specially requested to appear before the Senate as a representative of the Republic military) argued against Dartu, Dartu's adept negotiation skills ultimately prevailed. He had tipped the scales in favor of a joint partnership.

Meanwhile, Bendarin found himself in dire straits when his tea was poisoned and delivered to him by a reprogrammed TD-12. As Bendarin's vitality dropped precipitously, Dartu investigated the crime and uncovered the culprit: Bato Krim, which had officially been contracted to hunt members of the Vigil. He tracked Bato Krim alongside Elio Wyck to the lower reaches of Coruscant near a cluster of thermal vents. There, he discovered and negotiated with Hurad, a Quarren working for Bato Krim. Though there was a brief incident involving Dartu grappling a hunter through a thermal vent, he was able to extract the location of a rendezvous where Hurad's contact was to appear with the antidote. With Elio and the SIS, Dartu orchestrated a takedown of the Bato Krim forces without a single shot being fired, and the antidote was secured. Elio's medical mind noticed that the chemical composition of the antidote was familiar -- in fact, it had come up recently in Subject X's autopsy.

Bendarin -- who, due to the poison, had lost his sight -- and Dartu went to the Vanguard prison to talk to Zanni, who confessed to inventing the poison, saying that Tarask Kahzan was the only other man in the galaxy who would've had access to it.

Furvus Malos
Furvus Malos, a lone agent and Force adept, continued the hunt for Hol'dorr. Notably, he nearly single-handedly exterminated a Hol'dorr Krayt Shadow training facility tucked in the dunes of Tatooine.

Riona
Finding herself the target of several near-miss assassination attempts, Riona hired some personal protection. Together with this small band of surprisingly effective misfits, she managed to acquire the identity of her attackers: the Trandoshan crime ring Frostbite. The group tracked them to Rhen Var, where they caught the Trandoshans red-handed raiding the old Hol'dorr outpost (previously in the hands of Republic forces). They were unsuccessful in killing the Trandoshans, but their boldness and dogged determination earned them the attention of Dorrun Csur, who extended them an offer of partnership (see Episode VII).

Kavel Caranthyr

Kavel Caranthyr continued to lead a series of successful strikes against the Children of the First Light, slowly amassing apprentices defecting from Orson Prax's oppressive regime. Notably, he took on the promising apprentices Eiko Darmani and Sathm Klar -- and the slightly less-promising apprentice Anat Jallir. We also discovered that, in Kavel's formative years, he'd been struck by a premonition of great darkness, portending the fall of the Jedi Order. From then on, the Order adopted a guarded approach to his training, and he was treated with delicacy (and, at least with some masters, mistrust), as the darkness within him remained ever-present.

Others

Yhin Xonirr, Tobias Relex, Lex Iryan, Melkin Dranbar, Verenna Avery, Madok Rysta, and, technically, Jero Ballast, lent their services to SIS Intelligence as the Republic investigated a breakout from their primary prison, The Vanguard. A group of Bounty Hunters (including Tobias) had freed a former Sith officer, Talipre Shalt (the former owner of then-enslaved Yhin during the Jedi Civil War). The hunt for Talipre, which included a couple of run-ins with mysterious Clawdite Tono, eventually led the party to the Jagged Corridor, where Czerka Corporation was attempting to purge incriminating data (concerning their involvement with the Mandate). Talipre revealed that she had begun training as a Sith and escaped, and Tobias blew his freaking hand off with a grenade.

A smaller subset of the group (Yhin, Melkin, and Tobias), using data recovered from the Jagged Corridor, tracked the creator of the Ion Isolator to Cinnagar, where they found a massive research base/observatory on Cinnagar (Koros Major) run by Gatanus, a mysterious yet brilliant Givin. Too late, they recognized his hospitality as a contrivance to ensure their silence; Gatanus revealed that he was in fact Darth Victus, accompanied by apprentices Darth Arkous and Darth Bast (Talipre). The trio was interned at his base.

Thule
Above the planet of Thule, the Republic Fleet, led by Admiral Carth Onasi, began its assault on the secret fortress of Orson Prax, built into the ruins of Darth Malak's Shadow Academy. As the upper reaches of Thule became engulfed in a furious battle, a small contingent of the Vigil was dispatched in secret to the planet below.

Unexpectedly, the Vigil was reunited with an old ally -- Kavel Caranthyr and his apprentices Eiko Darmani and Anat Jallir. Setting aside their differences for the furtherance of their shared of objective, the group led a small strike on Prax's base, sending a meager outfit of soldiers to disable a small energy shield protecting the base.

The Vigil met fierce resistance inside the base, facing off against Io Urandukan and other Children of the First Light as they fought their way through the zero-gravity academy to the upper reaches, whereupon a horrific truth reared its head: Prax's fleet was crewed by thralls of the Mind Collector, innocents forced into servitude aboard his vessels. As the Republic gained a decisive upper hand, Prax's fleet suddenly lurched into action, preparing a suicidal mass-ramming-maneuver against the Republic ships. Given a choice between trying to find a way to save those aboard Prax's fleet (and risking Republic lives) and gunning down the fleet using the orbital cannon, the party chose to open fire, vaporizing Prax's small force. Though Prax himself was nowhere to be found, the Vigil had set the tone for what was to be a conflict of sacrifice. Urandukan in tow, the party departed and prepared to return to the Republic fleet.

Aboard the ship, Bendarin, Furvus, and Kavel attempted to use their Mind Collector artifacts to reforge the mind link between themselves and Prax, relying on Furvus and Kavel's previous use of the Mind Collector and on Bendarin's Force Scar. They managed to do so, finding themselves and Prax on a mysterious rocky slope, unable to ascend. Prax contemptuously explained that he planned to break a long cycle of Force users grasping -- then failing to wield -- the true power of the Force. As the conversation drew to a close, he ascended the slope alone. The mind link was severed, and the artifacts were destroyed.

Coruscant
The party returned to Coruscant for a debrief and some critical caucuses. First, the Force users of the group appeared before the Jedi High Council, where it was decreed that Furvus, Kavel, Eiko, and... uh... oh right, Anat -- would be given provisional protection and freedom under the authority of the Jedi Council as independent Force traditions as long as they were able to maintain congenial relations with the Order and didn't impinge upon Jedi or Republic goals.

Additionally, the entirety of the Vigil (save the poor souls still under the lock and key of Gatanus) was convened before the Special Tasks Council (formerly the Military Advisory Board, and including Senator Book, Republic General Reu Lai, Senator Both Valence, and Senator Ekay) and Operator Drasam, SIS representative. The possibility of appointing a leader was discussed and discarded, but it was decided that the Vigil was to be more strictly regulated by several directorates within the Republic, and that subsequent decisions concerning Vigil affairs would depend in part on internal majority votes.

Notably, the party also met with three important prisoners: Tyzen, Doctor Zanni, and Io Urandukan.

Tyzen petitioned the Vigil for permission to accompany them on their coming missions, citing his lauded actions on several prior Vigil operations (mainly, assisting Verenna on Glee Anselm and assisting the party at the Battle of the Jagged Corridor). He was successfully able to secure a spot on the mission, provided he remained within arm's length of Bendarin.

Doctor Zanni was not quite so lucky. While she was removed from the maximum security wing of the Vanguard, she was not allowed to use lab resources to further Republic science projects for fear that she would, in Mitch's words, "pull an Iron Man."

Io Urandukan was, with the combined strength of the party's Force users (focused by Dartu's sentinel training), liberated from the corrupting influence of the Mind Collector. Confused and amnesic, she was handed over to the Jedi Temple for healing.

Finally, the Vigil alone was invited to a secret rooftop rendezvous with Riona and Dorrun Csur, who had been cooperating to find Vashask -- Riona motivated by a desire to find her pursuers, and Dorrun by corporate greed. The party agreed to accept information about Vashask's location on the condition that they did not share the information with the Republic proper and that they would allow Riona and Csur to interrogate Vashask before they disposed of him. Once again operating outside the law, the Vigil stole away in the Astral Tortoise and made for Jabiim (when aspersions were cast on their actions, Dartu offered a brief explanation -- "vacation" -- then closed the comm line).

Jabiim
The party entered the system aboard the Tortoise and followed the coordinates deep into the atmosphere, where they were waylaid by a fleeing Trandoshan vessel that reversed course to engage the ship. Between Trandoshans landing atop the ship (forcing the party to dispatch their best fighters to the outer hull to repel them) and several devastating blasts to the Tortoise, ship and party were sent careening to the ground, where they struck a stone formation and were dashed against the ground. Tortoise in dire disrepair (but still holding together), the party licked their wounds on the jagged plateau.

Taking to the dense mountain range in pursuit of Vashask, the party happened across Thoranda, a small village comprised of junkers descended from once-shipwrecked scavengers, isolated by Jabiim's unforgiving atmospheric conditions (preventing both escape and communication). Befriending many of the scavengers, they learned of a nearby Hol'dorr base -- reportedly, Vashask led an unsuccessful attack on it and then fled the system (in the same ship that had downed theirs). They brokered a deal with the scavengers to receive much-needed ship repairs and speeder bikes in exchange for passage off the planet. The party also noted that three of Vashask's Trandoshan hunters had taken up refuge under the roof of a respected elder in the village, who insisted upon neutrality and hospitality. They didn't provide much helpful information.

On the way to the Hol'dorr base to find out where Vashask had gone afterwards, the party encountered and dispatched a Hol'dorr attack squad on its way to the village. They prevented any scouts from returning to the base thanks to the expert piloting and Force-slamming of Furvus.

When they reached the base, they found it heavily fortified. Tyzen's Hol'dorr acumen laid the groundwork for an attack strategy: they'd knock out the security grid to prevent the people inside from recognizing any systems failures, then knock out the communication tower to prevent them from calling for reinforcements. Bendarin and Froccy would provide a distraction beyond the walls of the base.

The plan was executed flawlessly, particularly the neutralization of the security tower, during which, in a scene of arrant badassery, Kavel sent a bolt of lightning chaining across each computer terminal in the room, cast the room into complete darkness, and picked off the extant foes one by one with single strokes of a lightsaber, ignited and extinguished with frightening speed.

The rest of the party made it into the base proper, where they encountered Sargon, sealed beyond an impregnable blast door. They managed to dissuade him from destroying the trail to Vashask, but it cost them their companion/prisoner Tyzen, who quietly assured them that he would find a way to disperse Hol'dorr secrets to them.

When the party returned to Thoranda, they found it in ruin, the Trandoshan trio having slaughtered all but one of the villagers and attempted to commandeer the Tortoise (the attempt was thwarted by Eiko and, to a lesser extent, Anat). The remaining villager, the Rodian Gavar, gratefully accepted transport aboard their vessel, and the party moved onto Kashyyyk, Vashask's destination. They decided not to apprise Czerka of the situation, and instead concealed their knowledge and travelled in secret.

Kashyyyk
The party arrived on Kashyyyk, landing in the Wookiee village of Koworrka (possessing the sole functioning landing beacon on the planet). Initially unwelcome, Froccy managed to convince their chieftain, Makarruk, of his companions' probity and of the dangers of Vashask, an imminent and unprecedented threat. For his warning and propriety, he was gifted the Katarn Waraxe, a spine-ridged ionite blade.

The fast-climber scouts returned to Koworrka soon after and confirmed Froccy's augury; Froccy's home village of Nokorro was under attack by outsiders from the sky and Trandoshan hunters from the Shadowlands, trapping the Wookiees in the middle. A Wookiee warband was assembled and dispatched to Nokorro, lead by Makarruk, Froccy, and Growandorr the Blade. The rest of the party was permitted to accompany them with the caveat that they not interfere with the Wookiee vendetta against the Trandoshans, only the other outsiders (Hol'dorr agents).

When they arrived, Nokorro was in flames, and Hol'dorr attack shuttles deployed dozens of Hol'dorr shock troops led by an Archon. The party proper went high, and Froccy and the Wookiees went low. Up high, the team of Jedi led an incredibly effective attack on the Hol'dorr lines, pushing them back as Furvus battled the Archon and procured the shard of the Mind Collector.

In the lower village, Froccy spearheaded a bold offensive that took the Trandoshans by surprise, forcing them to regroup in the central platform of the villlage. There, Froccy encountered Vashask and his brother, Shortatha the Mad-Claw, who had been injected with rage-inducing drugs and was fighting at Vashask's side. Vashask seized the opportunity to issue a paltry taunt. In the most patent display of motherfucking draconian retribution, Froccy severed Vashask's arms in a single swipe of his axe (clocking in around 125 damage), then brought his blade crashing down into Vashask's skull, ending the Trandoshan's life in an instant.

Seeing this, Shortatha grabbed Froccy and launched him into the lower scaffolding of the village platform, where their epic battle continued -- Froccy pulled his punches and desperately worked to persuade Shortatha to return to his senses, but his mercy was costly, and he ended up heavily battered. As the melee grew increasingly furious, Froccy managed to discover that Shortatha was being controlled by a remote transmitter on Vashask's person. Finally, Shortatha launched him back onto the platform and dealt a series of nearly mortal blows to his brother as Froccy searched Vashask's corpse for the remote, managing to slip out of his brother's death grip and to counteract the toxins, sending Shortatha into a nearly catatonic state.

His vision blurred and his body battered, he suddenly glimpsed a streak of white fur amidst the battle with the Trandoshans. As he looked closer, he saw his son, Snowtharr, unsuccessfully battling a squad of Trandoshans. With unshakeable resolve, Froccy lumbered to the Trandoshans and dispatched them. He drew Snowtharr into an embrace, too late discovering that the person he thought was his son was in fact the shapeshifter Tono, who planted a pair of vibroblades in Froccy's back and, subsequently, his throat. Tauntingly, he reminded Froccy that Kahzan was not to be crossed. Froccy, clinging to life by a shred of willpower, spat, "Fuck Kahzan," and summoned his last ounce of strength to send both himself and Tono careening off the edge of the platform, ending both of their lives.

In the aftermath of the battle, Froccy's death (among the deaths of many Wookiees including Makarruk) was mourned, but the Wookiees insisted that the party leave them to their recovery, retaining their distrust for the outsiders. Nearly-dead Shortatha in tow, the party left Kashyyyk.

Cinnagar
Meanwhile, a small contingent of Vigil members arrived at Gatanus’s (now-derelict) observatory, finding the guest wing (and the prisoners contained therein, Tobias, Melkin, and Yhin) intact and the remainder of the base stripped clean. Via an elaborate network of holoprojectors, Gatanus manifested himself in the wing to parlay with the party, revealing that he gave Tarask Kahzan a powerful ancient Rakatan accelerator, and that its twin was buried on Korriban in a tomb. He provided the exact location in exchange for the party’s assurance that he would accompany them to the Void Crucible, a mysterious barrier that separates known space from what lies beyond.

Space
The two groups rendezvoused in space after receiving summons from Operator Drasam informing them of an impending court marshal and an intervening house arrest on Coruscant. After much deliberation, the group defied the summons, once again severing good relations with the Republic.

Additionally, they were informed by Riona that, in light of their failure to deliver Vashask alive to Dorrun Csur, she was to be put to death. A small group of C- and B-list characters were dispatched to investigate the last known coordinates of the Czerka cruiser, despite the urgings of The Force.

Korriban
The Tortoise delivered the party to the tomb of Vallus Steel, set into an inhospitable desert plateau. The party encountered another group of Children of the First Light and Orson Prax — he, however, was discovered to be an apparition of the Dark Side.

Meanwhile, the Ultimate arrived in orbit, sending a detachment of Takali wardroids and several orbital blasts down to the surface. The crew that had remained on the Tortoise took to the skies and began to pursue The Ultimate as the rest of the party was driven deeper into the tomb, eventually discovering a hidden laboratory containing the Rakatan accelerator and a strange, engorged Rodian seemingly bereft of mental faculty.

The Tortoise group pierced the atmosphere and managed to deal a critical blow to the shield generator of the Czerka vessel and, in an incisive maneuver, managed to place the Tortoise neatly in the umbilical hangar of the Ultimate. They quickly overcame the vessel's meager interior defenses, captured the surviving crew members and their captain, Dorrun Csur, and landed the vessel on the surface as the tomb-diving crew emerged.

Dorrun Csur managed to bargain for his life and his crew's life in exchange for vital assistance extricating the Takali Corporation from the clutches of the corruptive Czerka Corporation. Dartu and Tobias assumed the burden of delivering Dorrun & Co. to Glee Anselm.

Unexpectedly, the group received a communication from Tyzen, supplicating them to trust him and the data enclosed in the transmission: the coordinates of the Void Crucible, which had fallen under siege to Kahzan's forces. To disguise the transmission, he'd had to conceal the coordinates in a Hol'dorr encryption protocol, which the party quickly discovered would require substantial processing power to break. Melkin Dranbar reminded them that the most powerful known decryption technology in the galaxy could be found in the mainframe of the Republic SIS Headquarters on Coruscant. On the clock, the party raced to Coruscant to complete their objective.

Coruscant
The party returned to Coruscant, using Bixby's expertise to disguise the Tortoise's transponder emissions. The party apportioned the various tasks set before them:

Some of the party snuck into the SIS headquarters, feigning the capture and surrender of the Tortoise by Melkin Dranbar, who allowed himself to be taken into custody, giving the party just enough time to sneak into the mainframe levels of the base. Therein, they chanced on Jero Ballast siphoning and selling data from the mainframe to Bato Krim; they managed to break off the data stream mid-transfer, but they did not apprehend Jero. They successfully decrypted the coordinates and made a daring escape.

Meanwhile, Furvus and Kavel positioned themselves at the exterior of the Republic prison Vanguard, and Kavel used his mind-probe powers to read the thoughts of prisoner Doctor Zanni. He found that her memories had been extensively tampered with, leaving suspicious interstices where Gatanus was concerned. The duo was picked up by the Tortoise on its way out of the system, pursued by Republic fighters.

The party managed to decrypt the data, also finding Jero Ballast selling information to Bato Krim, but not apprehending him. Melkin allowed himself to be captured to help the party escape. Also, Kavel used mind-probe technology to scan Zanni's mind from outside the Vanguard prison, discovering that her memories had been tampered with.

The Void Crucible
The party arrived at the Void Crucible, a massive cluster of thermal nucleii, magnetic currents, and superheated asteroids. As they pierced the storm, their scanners faltered, and only through expert piloting did they manage to avoid destruction at the hands of the natural dangers of the Crucible.

At a small cleft in the curtian of asteroids, they found Kahzan's ship, the Marred Spine, embroiled in a space battle against the Hol'dorr dreadnought and a massive, alchemically-engorged Sith Leviathan. Deciding first to rescue Tyzen, the party landed on the dreadnought, where they encountered Arkous and Talipre, defected apprentices of Gatanus possessing the true accelerator, not the fakes that he had given the party and Kahzan. A few of them -- Verenna, Furvus, Taldarian, Tyzen, and Anat -- decided to stay aboard the Hol'dorr cruiser to take control of the defenses and draw off the Leviathan, allowing the rest of the group to infiltrate the Marred Spine. Before they could escape on the Tortoise, however, an explosion in the hangar bay sent it careening into the void, stranding Gavar, Riona, Ryzek, and Bixby. Only Bixby's escape pod made it aboard the Marred Spine -- the others were cast adrift.

The group who had stayed to defend the Hol'dorr dreadnought managed to escape the ship aboard a pod, barely avoiding doom at the serpentine 'hands' of the Sith Leviathan thanks to the piloting of Taldarian.

The rest of the party boarded the Marred Spine, where they met fierce resistance from Kahzan's troops and the Children of the First Light. Bendarin fought his way to the engineering level, where he once again encountered Orson Prax -- Bendarin deftly convinced Prax to accompany him to the bridge where they could stop Kahzan and activate the accelerator. The full entourage convened on the bridge, finding Kahzan, Adin, and, shockingly, a very alive Zanno Takali, another byproduct of Kahzan's resurrection technology. Before the agglomerate group could reach a consensus, Talipre used the Force to activate the 'accelerator' -- which was actually a Rakatan Mind Trap -- suddenly ensnaring the minds of everyone aboard.

From the perspective of those trapped aboard the escape pods -- Verenna, Furvus, Taldarian, Tyzen, Anat, Ryzek, Gavar, and Riona -- the Marred Spine seemed simply to vanish, stranding them alone in the Void.

The Mind Trap
The group aboard the Marred Spine awoke in a strange, vacant world with only a pair of obelisks erected nearby. The party found that they could not use the Force here, nor harm each other. An apparition of Gatanus appeared, explaining that he had trapped the party's consciousnesses here, exulting his trickery. The party briefly inspected the obelisks, but soon turned their attention towards a crazed rodian in the distance, who explained that his body had been taken and experimented upon by Gatanus (the party recalled the grotesque rodian experiment from the Korriban lab). The rodian explained that the trap could not be vacant, and that some had to stay inside for the others to escape its dire effects. The party convinced the rodian to remain within. When they tried to escape, however, they found themselves encased in an endless darknes, suffocated by horrific silence and solitude stretching their consciousnesses thin over a decade of torment.

Bondar
Kavel, Bendarin, Eiko, Zanno, Bixby, Yhin, Osto, Arkous, Talipre, Prax, Kahzan, Adin, and Raina came to on a strange, twilight shoreline on the planet of Bondar, discovering that their bodies had aged ten years with their minds. They were led by Koban Thowe and Kora Mast to an isolated, agricultural community inhabited by the Offcasts and governed by a small council. They learned that the Offcasts comprised exiles from the Regulant, a larger faction on Ketooine descended from a crashed Republic scouting operation nearly a quarter of a millennium prior.

The village was positioned on a precarious seam between the light and dark sides of this tidally locked world, one side inhospitably hot, the other shrouded in darkness and home to crystal mountains. They were given lodging in the home of Koban, where they resolved to find a way off the world. They learned from the villagers that the force known as Dusk resided in the mountains on the dark side of the world, ravaging their village with regular storms, and that Gatanus (who had arrived ten years prior, hell-bent on finding Dusk, and purloined a shuttle from the Offcasts). They also learned that Koban Thowe had, many years prior when he was a Jedi Master, attempted to scale the crystal mountains and failed at the hand of the powerful darkness, leading to his rejection of the Force.

While investigating in the woods, they happened upon a mysterious underground structure (a Kelorian Well), wherein they learned the tragic history of the Kelorians from an ancient computer (and the remains of the Kelorians entombed within the lowest chambers). [REDACTED]

Prax, who claimed to have visited the woods in his dreams, led a small contingent (Osto, Bendarin, and Adin) through the woods to a powerful Dark Side cave. While both Prax and Bendarin attempted to brave the perils of the cave, only Prax reached its terminus, shaking his faith and forcing Osto to try and restrain him. A skirmish broke out, resulting in Prax's near-death. The group dragged his nearly lifeless body back to the village, where Bendarin struck a bargain with the rest of the party: Prax's life would be spared, but he would be cut off from the Force. Meanwhile, Zanno and Yhin spearheaded a successful PR campaign to appease the suspicious villagers (who had seen too much of the Prax debacle).

The party met with the Offcast Council to negotiate safe passage to Ketooine, battling suspicions fostered by Gatanus's theft of one of their shuttles a decade ago. They successfully convinced the council to furnish them with a ship on the condition that they not return to Bondar.

Ketooine
The party arrived at the Regulant settlement of Navrik Point, built atop an arid plateau (and a small distance from a Hol'dorr stronghold). They were met with some suspicion, but eventually, after a brutal interrogation by the leader of the local defense force (The Line) named Laskii, they were given freedom and lodging by the benevolent General Tadorio. Bixby discovered a large transport ship in a cavern beneath the plateau equipped with powerful (but incomplete) experimental hyperdrive technology called 'plate shielding' that would allow the ship to pierce the deadly magnetic storms of the Harbor.

A small group of fighters ventured to the swamps of Ketooine, hunting rumors of Sith Witches, who had terrorized both the Offcasts and the Regulant with regular abductions under orders from Gatanus. Notwithstanding a brief encounter with a projection of Gatanus, the party quickly defeated the group of witches and recovered from their camp some of the missing hyperdrive components.

Another group convinced Tadorio to agree to a negotiation with the Offcasts to broker a peace -- previously, the Offcasts had defied direct orders from the Regulant General and tried to attack Hol'dorr, and the Regulant disavowed them. Despite concerns on both sides, the two groups met. Captain Laskii attempted to renege on the armistice and fire upon the Offcast Council's shuttle, but his attempt was thwarted by Eiko and Adin. The groups agreed on a peace to launch an attack on the Hol'dorr base contingent upon the reassimilation of the Offcasts into the military command structure of the Regulant.

The party devised a brilliant battle strategy to assault the Hol'dorr base (which, upon closer inspection, seemed empty save several massive gun emplacements) on multiple fronts, commanding The Line. The attack began without a hitch, but as the group pressed deeper into the base, Kahzan managed to abscond with Raina, force her to open a secret maintenance hatch, and murder her. He activated the base's automated droid defenses, and the grounds were flooded with a small army, held at bay by The Line, Bendarin, Prax, Zanno, and Talipre (who might've perished in a big ol' stomp were it not for Zanno's talent for action-lending).

The group reached the lower levels of the base, finding a small force of Sith Witches, and discovering that Kahzan had used his lead to escape aboard one of the plate-shielded Hol'dorr shuttles. Dispatching the last of the witches, the party converged on the Hol'dorr Praesidium Sanctum, meeting with a hologram of Gatanus, who revealed that he had kept the party's bodies in stasis for 10 years to use them as power reserves in his assault on the mountain, but upon reaching the summit, had reconsidered. He told the party that he was on his way to attack the Jedi Temple.

Council meeting

hol'dorr base

Coruscant
Now 10 years after the beginning of Episode VII: Whispers of the Dark Side, the timelines mercifully converged: the Republic was embroiled in a fierce conflict against the Carbon Empire, and the Jedi Knights staged an offensive in the Outer Rim, assuming command of the Republic Fleet.

Coruscant fell under attack from old, hidden foes: Gatanus's fleet, headed by the Marred Spine, pierced the atmosphere of the planet and battled in fierce rainstorms as Gatanus himself led a contingent of Sith Witches and The Nameless Ones (a sect of Dashade warrior-priests) in an attack on the Jedi Temple itself. In the absence of the Jedi Masters (engineered by Gatanus), the younglings, Padawan learners, and few Jedi Knights were scattered.

Meanwhile, Tarask Kahzan, ever the opportunist and unstoppable jerk, instructed Bato Krim to assault the Senate building; the hunters arrived with a droid army (complete with tank droids) deployed from a control ship and laid siege to the tower.

Coruscant
Reeling from the destruction wrought in the Battle of Coruscant, the Republic held a military funeral for its fallen, using the opportunity to upset the narrative that a handful of Republic heroes (or even criminals) had fended off the Sith assault.

Puko Durantilli, mechanic extraordinaire of the Regulant, rushed to meet with Bixby, citing a chilling development in the Kahzan situation. Upon hearing of her tragic demise, he redirected his inquiries to Bendarin, informing him and the party that the data Kahzan had been attempting to mine from the Senate tower (an attempt thwarted by Yhin) contained Republic fleet movements, crisis codes, and assault maneuvers; the clear implication was that Kahzan was preparing for another clash with the Republic... if the party decided to pursue the lead at Mon Calamari, they'd likely be walking into another trap.

This knowledge did not deter them whatsoever.

The plan was laid out in excruciating non-detail: they'd get to Mon Calamari, find and eliminate Kahzan, discover some secret to destroying Dusk and the Mind Collector, and converge on Bondar for one final showdown for the fate of the galaxy.

Still, there was business to attend to. Orson Prax was tried before the Jedi Council (which included Bastila Shan, Dartu Takali, Bendarin Fellspire, Deesra Luur Jada, Therovis Len, Tos Merikader, Juhani, and others). After much debate in which certain elements of the Council advocated severance from the Force, the Council elected to extend provisional asylum to Prax, as he could be a critical asset in the coming counterattack. Despite his misgivings, Osto (acting as Republic liaison) grudgingly decided not to overrule the Council's decision in favor of the we-need-every-saber-we-can-get-our-hands-on policy.

Tobias and Melkin were awarded the Chancellor's Service Medal for their heroism in the Senate. The news was delivered by now-Director Drasam, who scathingly noted that they would've gotten the Medal of Valor had it not been for the Republic cover-up.

Ryzek, Verenna, Sathm, and Tyzen discussed their futures; Tyzen and Verenna decided to aid Beacon Company in this final strike against darkness. Ryzek and Sathm retreated to continue to subsume the fracturing Carbon Empire -- Tyzen warned Ryzek not to become the next Kahzan so that he wouldn't have to plant a sword in his spine.

Prax combined the shards of his lightsaber with Bendarin's first lightsaber to create Prax's Blade, which he gave to Bendarin as thanks for his mercy (and as an asset for the coming battle).

Bastila furnished Kavel with the Revansaber, noting Kavel's near-unprecedented occupancy of the liminal boundaries of Light and Dark.

Dartu and Madok (in recovery) decided to stay behind to rebuild the Jedi Order.

Taldarian came into contact with Director Drasam, who enlisted his aid as an extra-governmental intelligence asset -- Taldarian agreed to employ famed Sith stealth ship Wraith to scout out Mon Calamari, from which no recent communications had been received.

Finally, Zanno provided the strike team with a ship (chock full of upgrades, refurbishments, and booze compartments) of identical model and make to the original ''Astral Tortoise. ''After one final goodbye, the party -- Bendarin, Kavel, Verenna, Osto, Eiko, and Tyzen -- charted a course for Mon Calamari.

Mon Calamari
Wraith confirmed that, indeed, Kahzan had blockaded the planet and jammed all communications. The party arrived with a small Republic star fleet helmed by Carth Onasi aboard the ''Sojourn. As Carth and the fleet engaged Kahzan's navy (comprising the Marred Spine and several frigates), the Tortoise ''slipped down to the surface to the research station RC-B2M.

Inside, they were met with gore and viscera -- the entire base had been exterminated save one Force-sensitive medical officer, Acaloh, who relayed the horrors of the bloody executions at the hands of Kahzan's wardroids. The party embarked on the familiar descent to Deepridge Station.

Inside the flooded station, they managed to gain access to the Sith torture chambers after encountering Takali (disabling the armed explosives with which he was rigged and salvaging his memory core) -- inside, they were met with a familiar staircase, the entrance to the Last of the Kelorian Wells.

They defeated several of Kahzan's henchmen and the wardroids, finding Riona trapped inside the Well, expecting a rescue from Kahzan that would never come. The party consulted with the databases of the Well which contained the final memories of the Kelorians...