A/N: Lanoree is a somewhat obscure character, so I suggest reading her Wookieepedia page for context.
Prologue: A Final Mission
Lanoree Brock felt the anticipation mounting as Tython filled her viewport. The Je'Daii Masters had called her back from an extremely important mission on Ska Gorra, so this must have been an emergency. She should have been worried about the mission, but she had left it in the hands of another Ranger along with her good friend, Tre Sana. She had met Tre when she was sent to stop her brother, Dalien, from activating the fabled Hypergate, and the two had remained close friends ever since.
"You summoned me, Masters?" she asked as she entered the room they had been designated to meet in.
"Indeed we have, Ranger Brock. We have a proposition for you," one of the masters told her.
"Since you called be back from a mission, I assume it is important?"
"It is very important. We have had a vision. We sense that there will be great struggles in the future of the Je'Daii, that many will fall, that the galaxy will be thrown out of balance."
"What does this have to do with me?"
"We have debated long and hard about what action to take, and the Force has given us an answer. When the galaxy is thrown out of balance, somebody must be there to help fix it. That somebody is you. You will be put into stasis in a Force trance, and when the time is right you will be retrieved by one whom the Force deems worthy. Together, you will restore balance."
"You mean I'm going to have to go away? Forever?"
"Not forever. Just until the Force decides you are needed. How long will that be? We don't know. It could be ten years, it could be ten thousand. I understand if you are reluctant."
"That you, Master. I would not like to leave behind my life here, but if the Force believes that this is to be done, I am its humble servant."
25,870 years later
Jedi Knight Cassis Tovar could only watch as the Vong drew closer. There was nothing left for them to do. This would be their last stand, their final battle. They knew they could not win, but they didn't need to. All they needed to do was slow the enemy down long enough for the troops to get away, as this was merely a distraction. The rain was coming down hard, as it does when moments like these occur, and Cassis was freezing. He swept a wad of his soaked, black hair out of his face, as he glanced over to Dav Colisar, his best friend. The Zabrak was crouched behind a boulder, just as Cassis was, ready to pounce.
"So this is what the end feels like," Dav said, "Cold and wet."
"It's kind of heroic if you ask me."
"How so. Isn't going down in a blaze of glory heroic enough?"
"We're cold and wet, yet we're still fighting to the bitter end."
"Right, because who would want to be a hero in good weather?" he chuckled, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"The rain will look better when they make a holo of us fifty years from now," another voice said. It was Adari K'sal, Cassis' old master.
"Nice of you to join us, Master," Cassis greeted.
"I've nowhere else to go," she shrugged, "So I may as well make the end memorable. It's been an honor serving with all of you." She said, turning to the others in the group.
The Vong were almost upon them now. They glanced around at the other Jedi and soldiers, all twenty of them. This was it. They would die here. The Vong drew even closer. It was time.
They jumped out from behind the rocks, and came down upon the Vong. Cassis and Dav stuck together and fought as one, dispatching the Vong soldiers with ease, but it was not enough. Their men were dropping like flies. If they were going to pull this off, they had to hold out for as long as possible. One Vong soldier after another dropped dead to the ground as the pair of Jedi worked their way through the crowd.
The next indistinguishable amount of time was a blur. Cassis had a few vague memories of what had happened, but nothing substantial. It didn't matter, though, because he, along with several other men had been captured by the Yuuzhan Vong, a fate far worse than death. He didn't know how long he had been there, and that didn't matter either. It was just a long time. That was the best way he could describe it. Every day, the Vong tortured him. His body ached, and he regularly begged for death, or at least he thought he did. Whether or not the words actually made it to his mouth was yet to be determined. Still, it didn't matter now. His pain was excruciating nonetheless. It felt as if he were being stabbed from all directions with fiery needles, and then being dunked into a lake of lava to cool off, but never actually catching fire. As if he were being left to freeze in the wastelands of Hoth while being beaten to death by a Wampa, but never actually breaking. As if a lightsaber was being continually being drug across him, but never actually leaving a mark.
He remembered watching Master K'sal being killed. She was in agony than he was as it happened, but he was still envious. She got to die and leave this wretched place, while he had to stay and be tortured.
Then he was somewhere else. A bleak, sandy world. Or at least that's what it looked like. He wasn't sure. For a year he had been tortured, and now he was no longer in pain. He did not care where he was.
