Hi readers. For those familiar with my other account, this is Revan Knight. I was having too many issues with that one so I created a new account for this site. I said I would do a Star Wars story for some time and this is it. If you are like me, you were not happy with what Disney did to the franchise. I actually read the plot for the last jedi before I went to see it and ultimately did not to see it at all. It was such a horrible story in my opinion that I wouldn't waste any time or money on it. I also am doing this story as a way of fixing the damage done to the franchise. I hope you enjoy.
Star Wars
Legacy of the Jedi
It is a time of oppression once more. Ten years after the fall of the FIRST ORDER, a race called the YUUZHAN VONG invaded the galaxy, wiping out the JEDI ORDER that REY was rebuilding and beginning a war the likes of which the galaxy had never seen.
After three years, the galaxy triumphed over the VONG and wiped out the invaders. The resulting victory allowed the one who led the galaxy during the war, ARCINA, to reestablish imperial control and create a new GALACTIC EMPIRE.
Sixty years later, the imperials are still in control of the galaxy. With the majority of the galaxy weary of the cycle of wars since the CLONE WARS, the empire is practically unchallenged. The only ones willing to fight is a group of rogues known as the GALACTIC ALLIANCE...
Coruscant
The gathering hall of the new imperial palace was swarming with guests. It was the day of one of the annual holidays of the empire. This particular holiday, though, was only celebrated by the empire's elite, it's most fanatical, powerful, and influential members. Many of the middle to lower class citizens weren't even aware this celebration was happening. This was probably a good thing for the empire, as what this holiday was for might stir up negative feelings towards it.
Admiral Gar Stazi was standing near the banquet table, reaching for a plate to gather some of the food the empire was providing at this gathering. Most of the imperial elite on Coruscant were present for this celebration, from minor nobles to the highest ranking military officers like himself. He was in full uniform, his dark grey dress shirt and pants contrasting with the cape he wore, which had a white underside. Almost all the other military officers he saw were in formal uniform, the few who weren't wearing extravagant clothes like the nobles. "Yep, anyone who is anyone is here" he said to himself.
Stazi preferred to stay to the outer edges of any crowd like this. While the new empire was not xenophobic (mostly) and there were many non-human members, he was still slightly uncomfortable being the only duros here. He also just didn't like crowds that much, or being near the center of attention. Each time he was promoted he had to ask his superiors to forgo a formal ceremony. Of course, now he was the one who did the promotions.
"Of course you would be here too."
The annoyed voice interrupted him as he was just reaching for some nerf steak. Stazi mentally cussed; he knew that voice all too well. Setting his plate down, he turned to face a human in his mid forties, just slightly younger than he was. "Hello Rian."
Rian Johnson, imperial admiral of the seventh fleet, was standing right behind him. Like Stazi he too was dressed in the uniform of an imperial officer, though he didn't have a cape on.
"I still fail to understand how the empire tolerates you and your kind."
Stazi had heard Johnson's prejudiced remarks so many times that he no longer cared to get angry at his hate-mongering. "It's simple: they need a man of actual military talent making the calls."
Johnson became enraged at his comrade's response. "You are a skilled tactician, but we both know you and your kind are incapable of any real strategic thinking."
"It's that sort of attitude that has you under another admiral rather than commanding your own fleet. It always has been that which held you and your career back."
Johnson looked like he was ready to retaliate when the lights in the room dimmed slightly. Johnson gave his hated rival one last look before he walked off to join most of the other officers. Stazi smirked to himself. He and Johnson had gone through the imperial academy together. Well, perhaps a better way of saying it was they were in the same class. Johnson had been speciest towards all non-humans practically his entire life (or as he liked to call them, aliens). He was a competent military officer, but Stazi's constant coming out on top of any class they were in fueled his hatred towards him and others of his kind. His instructors were quick to catch on to this, and many held Johnson in contempt for this.
"Greetings to you all" a speaker announced from one of the far ends of the hall. All guests turned towards the man speaking. "Now, without further a due, I present to you our glorious leader, Empress Arcina."
All guests fell to one knee and bowed as a figure entered flanked by two members of the imperial knights, the empire's force-sensitive warriors. Empress Arcina was dressed in a set of women's formal wear that hugged her body, the crimson red silk showing each and every curve in her perfect form while the cape-like robe she wore flowed down to the floor. Despite being a human who had ruled for more than sixty years, she was still young in appearance, seemingly only about her early to mid thirties. She had short brown hair (the latest of her choice of style and color) and yellowish eyes. Those eyes always made Gar feel uneasy. For all her beauty, Arcina's eyes seemed to make her look... unnatural.
The empress walked to an elevated podium on a stage and addressed her guests. "Greetings to you all. You may rise." The entire assembly rose at her words.
"Welcome to the imperial palace. Let us celebrate this glorious Mon Mothma day, for without her our current empire would not have been possible to create."
A chorus of laughter echoed throughout the hall. Mon Mothma day was celebrated each year on the anniversary of the New Republic's founding. This was actually not a true celebration, but rather a mockery of the memory of Mon Mothma, the first chancellor of the New Republic. She had led the Rebel Alliance to victory against the original Galactic Empire, but once the war was over she made a move that historians unanimously agreed was a foolish decision. Mon Mothma had hated Emperor Sheev Palpatine and tried to erase all he had done, which included disbanding galactic military forces until only a token force was left to protect the New Republic from pirates. This had single handedly doomed the Republic to conquest by the First Order before the greater threat of the Yuuzhan Vong had emerged.
Sometime later Stazi sat down at a table with some of his contemporaries in the military. For many in the top branches of the imperial military work was never over. Unlike most of the guests present, the admirals were discussing their most recent plans for dealing with their state's enemies.
"These pirates are getting bolder" said Admiral Mersher, a Rattaakki male who was also Johnson's superior officer. "This 'Galactic Alliance' is stepping up its raids on our supply lines."
"Any military convoy they come across has been stripped of all weapons" Stazi replied. "They're clearly massing for an attack. The question is where."
"That's also the question for their location: where" General Yarkoon, a Faleen male, stated. "I thought our empire's knights were supposed to be skilled in higher seeing. What use are those mystics if they..."
"You really don't want to continue that train of thought."
The entire residence of the table turned to an elderly Miraluka dressed in dark armor Despite the lack of eyes (this forced all Miraluka to wear some cover over the upper half of their heads), everyone could tell the man was angry. Jerec, the head of the imperial knights.
"I can assure you that my knights are doing all we can to locate the base of these pirates. So perhaps we can stop the insults to our capabilities. I would hate to have to stain the floor of our empress' palace with the blood of an insubordinate officer."
Jerec walked off after making his not so subtle threat. The head of the imperial knights seemed to enjoy following in the footsteps of Darth Vader when it came to dealing with insubordinate military members. Stazi had once seen him force strangle a mere trooper for a slight joke.
"That man is one reason the pirates have any means of recruitment" Stazi commented once Jerec was out of earshot.
"No kidding" Mersher said. "The Alliance is only able to make accusations of bigotry and discrimination, or any kind of tyranny, due to the knights harsh discipline methods."
"That is not true" Stazi thought to himself, "and I feel that deep down you know that as well." The empire may no longer massacre innocents or build superweapons to destroy planets as means of cracking down on rebellions, but that didn't mean it wasn't tyrannical. Allowing free speech when it suited your goals while suppressing it if someone disagrees with you was one such way imperial officials were unknowingly encouraging people to join the GA. Much like the original empire, this one was also creating rebellion.
Euphrates
The early morning sun cast a glare on Jacen's face as he piloted his speeder, the wind flowing through his hair. Fortunately for him, he had the foresight to lower the shader on his helmet so the glare wouldn't affect him. After living on the planet for several years now, he knew exactly how to handle the few issues he had to deal with. Indeed, his life on Euphrates was so ideal to him that the occasional inconvenience of piloting with the sun in his eyes was the only real issue he had.
Euphrates always had a temperate climate, no change of seasons. This made it an ideal agriworld since crops could be grown year around. It had whole continents of farmland that supplied much of Coruscant's food. Most of the farming was done by droids while people ran the whole operation. The farming population lived in scattered towns all over the planet to prevent too much industrialization. The only major city was the capitol of Tigris, which was built on a massive plateau on the planet's equator. It might not be a jungle planet like Onderon or the forest moon of Endor, but it still held the appeal of a world not spoiled by urbanization.
As he skimmed over the water of a crystal blue river, Jacen saw the outline of the town he'd received his call from. He was on his way to answer a call for aid dealing with 'nuisance' animals affecting a farm's production. The planet's farmland often mingled with the natural woodlands, and thus plant eating animals occasionally made a habit of taking food from more remote farms. Jacen was one of the so called scouts that dealt with these cases (why the companies in charge called them scouts he didn't know).
Though it wasn't a plant-eater he was looking for today. The report was that something was attacking herds of nerfs and uxibeasts. That meant Jacen was going to be dealing with one of Euphrates' predators. Only a few of them could threaten something like a nerf, and none of them were something that he wanted to deal with. However, he didn't have much of a choice. If this animal couldn't be dealt with humanely, the farmers would take matters into their own hands and shoot it.
Jacen stopped right at the edge of the town and got off his speeder, taking his helmet off and setting it on top of the seat. At the edge of town was a communications office that the farmers used to get in contact with him. The doors opened automatically as Jacen approached, and Jacen saw two people standing in the entrance room waiting for him. He knew these people well: Sef and Alyssa Starr had called for his help in the past.
"Jacen" Sef, a human in his forties, greeted him as he saw him. "Its good to see you again."
"Hello Sef, I understand you got an animal problem ."
"We certainly do" Alyssa said. Alyssa was a woman who, like her husband, was also in her forties.
"Well" Jacen said. "Lets get too it."
The trio took the Starr's craft to their farm on the other end of the town. Their house was small, fit only for a few people to live in. The shelter for their farm animals was much larger, and that's where they were headed.
"So" Jacen said once they approached the animal shelter. "What exactly am I up against today?"
"We're not sure" Alyssa said. She had grown up on this planet, though she was used to the city of Tigris. Therefore she didn't have as much familarity with the wildlife on her own home planet as Jacen. "All we really know is that its hitting our pockets hard. Each week, another one of our herd animals is taken."
"Yep" Sef added. "If you can't find it and stop it, we'll need to put it down."
"Well I certainly don't want that to happen. So, why don't you two show me where the last attack took place."
Sef and Alyssa led Jacen to a corner of their farm's pasture lands, walking through long blades of golden wheat and green grass. They also passed quite a few nerfs, the animals not even acknowledging them as they grazed on the plants at their feet. Finally, Jacen saw them stop at a section of fence that had been roughly demolished. There was blood splashed on both sides of the wrecked barrier and rough drag marks leading into the neighboring forest.
"Here we are" Sef said."The latest attack occurred right here. Whatever it was seems to have attacked a nerf that was standing right here."
Jacen knelt to get a closer look at the ground. Looking at the signs of the attack, it couldn't have occurred more than a few hours ago, most likely in final hours of the night. He looked at the damage done to the fence and noticed a small tuff of hair on a splintered section. Picking the hair off, he noticed it wasn't from the nerf that had been attacked. That immediately eliminated one of his three prime suspects: the akk dog didn't have hair.
"Well" Jacen said. "I can tell you it was either a nexu or a forest bear, and since the damage done to the fence doesn't seem large enough for a bear to get through, I can only guess that the animal responsible for this was a nexu."
"Do you want us to get one of our blasters" Alyssa asked.
"No need" Jacen responded. Reaching behind his back, he pulled his M-33 plasma shotgun from its holster. "If this nexu tries anything, I got plenty of defense."
Jacen started into the forest a few minutes later. As usual, he actively tracked his targets down. The farming community was in awe of his skills; some even called him a lothal wolf in human form. Of course, Jacen kept his real skills a secret. He didn't need attention drawn to his force powers, especially with the rumors his friends told him of the imperial knights methods of 'recruiting' someone. When he was around his clients, Jacen relied on the physical clues to help him locate the animals he was called to deal with. When it was just him, he relied on the force.
The sun was shining through the canopy of the trees, lighting the trail the animal left behind when it dragged the nerf off. A slight feeling of apprehension was starting to come to him; this nexu must be quite large if it managed to drag a nerf off like this, and that meant it would be much hungrier than a regular sized one. Also, in his experience with nexues, he learned that size was no limit to their swift reflexes, which were much faster than any human. It is true the force would forewarn him if the nexu started stalking him, but he still needed to be able face it.
A strange smell filled the air, and Jacen recognized it: musk mixed with vegetation. He was getting closer to this nexu's den, so close that he could now smell the animal's bedding. He could also see a trail of blood coming from some thick clusters of bushes that appeared to have been forcibly parted. Pushing his way through, Jacen came to the entrance of a cave in the side of a small rocky hill. The body of the dead nerf was just to the right of the entrance. He could see the bite marks left as the predator ate its meal. Suddenly, a warning sense from the force shot through his mind, leading him into assuming a defensive stance, his weapon raised. A low growl came from the left, and Jacen turned in time to see...
"By the force" Jacen whispered to himself. He'd been right about this creature's size. The nexu that was slowly walking towards him was almost the size of a sub-adult reek. At full height this thing would probably be as tall as him. Lowering his weapon to aim right at the nexu, Jacen slowly started to back up. Coming between a predator and its food was not a good idea.
The nexu continued its approach, hunched to the ground just ready to lunge at him. Jacen kept his eyes locked with the animal. He noticed that the nexu had a slight limp in its right front leg. That was probably the reason it was after the nerfs: if it couldn't hunt its natural prey, it would need to get food any way it could.
Suddenly, three small figures shot out of the den and ran to the nexu. The cubs hadn't seen him, so they ran straight to their mother as if nothing was wrong. This was the final piece of the puzzle. With three cubs to care for and her leg injury, this mother nexu had resorted to raiding the Starr's farms so she could keep herself and her cubs fed. Jacen's heart got lighter as he saw the cubs turn to face him. This mother was just trying to help her family, and Jacen had a soft spot for caring parents.
The nexu shifted her gaze from her cubs back to Jacen, and she resumed her threatening approach. Jacen, however, lowered his weapon and instead stretched out with the force, mentally reaching to touch the creature's mind. Once connected, he sent her assuring pulses of force energy, letting her know he had no intention of harming them. As the connection grew, the mother nexu became less aggressive until finally she stood down. Jacen's natural affinity with using the force to connect with animals came in handy on Onderon when he was growing up, and it was the same now in his line of work. Jacen preferred simply encouraging his targets to move further away from the farms, but that wasn't an option this time. This mother's injury meant she and her family would need more help.
Pulling a communicator from his pocket, Jacen contacted some friends at the local wildlife shelter. They would come out and take the nexues to a sanctuary where the mother's leg could be treated while her cubs would stay with her. Until they got here, Jacen would stay with the nexues. He was in no danger from them now.
Hours later, Jacen pulled his speeder next to a cantina near the center of Tigris. As he got off, he looked around at the surrounding city. Tigris was a typical urbanized city in the galaxy: skyscrapers dotted the city line as lines of sky traffic weaved through the various buildings. Unlike many other cities though, Tigris had some natural beauty to it as well. There were lines of trees that ran down the roads and walkways as well as parks scattered throughout the city. This is one reason Jacen chose Euphrates as the planet that he would settle on a few years ago. Of course, there were other worlds out there like Naboo that kept the urbanization down, but Euphrates for some reason just held some special appeal to him.
Walking into the cantina, he saw a bouncer standing next to the inner door. The trandoshan who stood in his way was someone Jacen didn't recognize. The bartender must have hired some new help.
"Don't cause any trouble" the bouncer said. This surprised Jacen; he hadn't met a trandoshan who spoke basic before. Most only spoke their reptilian local dialect.
Jacen walked through the door to enter the actual cantina. As usual, it was crowded with all sorts of sentient beings from all over the galaxy. Talz, twi'leks, togrutas, and all sorts of non-humans. There weren't many humans here, which would make spotting the people he was here to meet.
"Ah, Jacen."
Jacen turned to see the bartender waving to him. He smiled and walked up to him. "Hi. How is business today?"
"Its going well. I assume you're looking for Katarn and Ors?"
"You would be correct."
"They were heading to a table near the back right corner."
After thanking the bartender, Jacen headed to where his friends were said to be. It wasn't long before he saw them, though they noticed him before he could announce himself.
"Jacen!"
"Kyle!"
Kyle Katarn rose from his seat and embraced his friend. The two were quickly joined by Jan. After separating, all three friends sat at the table.
"So, how was your latest assignment" Jacen asked.
"It was long" Jan replied. "We spent two weeks on Nar Shaddaa looking for those gangs. The hutts probably won't be happy when they learn we defeated their main slavers for the evocii."
"You know" Kyle said. "After all the times we thwarted the hutts, you'd think they would hire better security. They still deploy the same tactics they have for the past century to deal with rivals."
"May I interrupt" a voice said. Jacen turned to see the bartender. "I assume you all would like something to drink?"
"Yes" Jacen said. "I'll have the naboo wine."
"Sorocco whiskey for me please" Jan said.
"I'll take Corellian ale, in a clean glass" Kyle said.
"Excuse me?!"
"Oh sorry" Kyle said, looking a little flustered. "We spent a few weeks on the smuggler's moon, I'm used to saying that."
Kyle's apology saw the bartender return to his place up at the front to fill their order. Jacen was about to restart their conversation when a news broadcast appeared on the holo-screen, blocking out the swoop race that had been playing.
We interrupt your scheduled program to bring you this special report. At 0400 hours Coruscanti time a pirate raid was conducted on a military depot on the world of Chandrilla. The pirates made off with a small arsenal's worth of blasters and rocket launchers, as well as half the ammunition stored there. The pirates had already fled before imperial forces led by Admiral Mersher arrived. Although the military refused to comment, we strongly suspect this raid to be the work of the pirate group who call themselves the Galactic Alliance.
Jacen felt a slight smile form on his face. The empire, for all its military might, kept getting outmaneuvered b pirates. Not since the Zann Consortium had imperials had such a hard time with renegade forces.
"You know, those Alliance pirates don't seem like pirates to me" Kyle said.
"What makes you say that" a patron at a neighboring table asked as they leaned closer.
Kyle turned to address the person who spoke to them. "I used to be in the imperial academy. Those Alliance forces seem like they're led by a military genius, not some vong-sucking low life that raids civilian targets."
"You think there is more to these attacks" Jan asked.
"Yeah, I think there is more going on here" Kyle replied.
"Well" the patron said. "I really don't care who it is. Anyone who gives the empire a headache is ok to me."
"What?"
The patron's remark saw three other people at a neighboring table rise to their feet.
"Oh great" Jacen thought. He knew what was happening. The patron who made the remark turned towards his aggressors.
"Any who screw with the empire is ok with me. My brother was arrested a few years ago for a crime he didn't commit."
One of the assailants grabbed the patron by the collar of their shirt. "You treasonous low life." He turned to his comrades. "What do you say we teach this traitor a lesson?"
"Hey, leave him alone" Jan said as she got to her feet. "He's allowed to have his own opinion."
"Not if it goes against Arcina in any way."
Jacen and Kyle both got to their feet as well. "You 'thought-police' need to cool off" Jacen said. "Not everyone who disagrees with the empress is a traitor."
The assailants turned towards them. One of them cracked their knuckles in anticipation.
"Well, looks like we got a bunch of disloyal schuttas. What do you boys say we teach them a lesson."
The assailant holding the patron dropped them and lunged at Jan. Jan merely stepped aside, letting her attacker collide with the table. Kyle ducked under another assailant's punch, then grabbed him by his shirt and threw him over his shoulder to land right on top of his friend. Jacen finished the third attacker with a swift kick to their groin, sending them to the floor in pain.
The brief incident ended with the trandoshan bouncer and multiple Weequays showing up and grabbing all six people involved.
"Alright" the trandoshan said. "You all just wore out your welcome."
"Hold it." Everyone turned to see the bartender coming up to them. "I saw the whole thing start. The three of them attacked first. The others can stay."
Jacen and his friends were released while their assailants were literally thrown out of the bar. Jacen was disgusted by this sort of behavior. All over the galaxy, incidents like this were becoming all too common. The empress had a complex of perfection and many of the galaxy's citizens took their loyalty to the extreme. He'd even heard of an academy on the world of Corulag was burned down by an angry mob because a professor there had said something that was considered hateful to the empire.
Hours later, after Kyle and Jan headed back to their apartment, Jacen returned to his speeder and went back to his house, which was located on the extreme outskirts of Tigris. Upon getting home, he parked his craft in his garage and entered to find his loyal droid friend in his living room.
"Hello R2-D2. Any problems while I was gone?" His little friend beeped back a negative response. With that, he started to power his house down for the night. It had been so peaceful the last few weeks...
"Jacen"
Jacen grimaced as he heard his name called out from behind him. He should have known his good fortune wouldn't last. He turned and saw the spectral form of the man who just wouldn't stop pestering him. "Luke."
Luke Skywalker stood there, transparent as always. He also was still dressed in his Jedi clothing. He may have died years ago, but thanks to some ancient force power he'd learned he could still manifest himself to the living. "Jacen," he said. "Why do you have to be this stubborn?"
"I guess its another trait I inherited from my ancestors." Jacen responded irritably. "You just won't take a hint, will you?"
"You are wasting your power working on this farm world."
"I'm doing what I like."
"To an extent, but I can tell you also would like to do more than this. You can..."
"Its always the same bantha crud with you. 'Be a Jedi, honor your lineage.' When will you realize I won't follow that path?!"
Luke continued to stare at him. "There is no denying your heritage, Jacen. You need to live up to it."
Jacen was now getting angry. Luke always said the same things, no matter how many times he appeared to him. "Failing at your own life wasn't good enough for you? You need to try to drag your own grandson into the same hole you wound up in?!"
"There you go with that word again. For one who says love for one's family is so important, you always point out the failures rather than successes of our past."
"What successes?! The Skywalker family is full of failures. Anakin failed the Jedi Order when he betrayed them for the sith, Leia failed her son as much as she failed the galaxy, and YOU failed to restore the Jedi, just like your so called champion Rey."
As usual, Luke looked devastated at the mention of Rey. Jacen knew that Rey failed as well when the Jedi she was trying to restore were wiped out. While Luke was long gone by the time she met her demise, he still blamed himself for her failing. "This is why you need to take up the family mantle Jacen."
"I won't!" Jacen shouted. "I'm not going to be a Jedi. They had a shot and failed, just like you. Let them stay gone."
"So why do you stand up to imperials who you see bullying others?"
Jacen was momentarily silent. "I do it because its the right thing to do. I don't need to be a jedi to stand up for what is right."
Luke smirked at him. "You always seem to stumble when I point out that you already act like a jedi at times. Why not make it official?"
"I'm not interested in going down your path."
"So all those times you spent as a kid playing jedi and sith with your friends on Onderon were meaningless?"
"Enough! No matter how often you come here, I won't change my mind about this! Now go away and don't come back this time!"
"I won't stop until you decide to quit being stubborn and take up the way of the Jedi like you are supposed to."
For some reason, Luke's continued harassment struck a much greater nerve this time than in the past. He couldn't explain why, but this time Jacen wanted to get the point across to his ancestor. He spread his legs apart, slightly lowering himself as if he was readying to spring, and summoned the power of the force into his hands, poised to unleash it. "Last warning."
"You can't hurt me Jacen."
"Not trying to. Leave, or I leave the force. I will cut myself off from the force if it means being rid of you."
Luke's expression finally changed to one of horror. "You wouldn't dare. You use your powers in your work."
"I can do so without it. I don't need the Force to help the farmers on this world."
"You would cut yourself off from the Force just to be rid of me?"
"Yes."
After a moment of glaring at each other, Luke finally began to fade. But he didn't disappear until he made one last comment. "You can't possibly be a greater disappointment to this family Jacen. You're a disgrace to us all."
Jacen smiled smugly as his grandfather's spirit was departing. "Yes," he said, "and I couldn't be happier."
I would like any of you who would have suggestions to send a message. I have a full outline on how this is going to go, but I also like hearing what you think. On a related topic, please be sure to review each new update.
