Prologue
Thunder resonated across the Republic shipyard on Coruscant, the sound of heavy rain and the sloshing of water from the boots of clone troopers was overshadowed only by the storm above. Two enormous doors leading from the main building opened up, revealing huge battalions of clones and Jedi generals heading to their destroyers to carry out various missions given to them by high command. Clones conversed with one another; some laughing and joking, while others held a very serious tone. One battalion, in particular, was the 517th legion led by Jedi Master Agera Dain. Agera was a Twi'lek Jedi with orange skin and a double-bladed turquoise lightsaber. Her forces were assigned on a top-secret reconnaissance mission on the outer rim jungle planet known as Bakkan-3. Their mission was to investigate the crash-landing of a massive unknown vessel on the planet and discover who it belonged to. The 517th boarded their cruiser known as The Titan and prepared for launch. The Titan's engines roared to life and emitted their signature blue glow, propelling the ship forward into the upper atmosphere of Coruscant. On the bridge, skippers and crew members were getting settled in for their long journey to the outer rim. The ship's admiral made sure the final preparations were made for hyperspace and then engaged the hyperdrive. The destroyer launched forward into the deep blackness of space leaving a thin trail of blue light behind it.
Chapter 1
Master Agera was sitting in her chambers meditating when she was interrupted by a knock, "Come in." she announced. The door slid open revealing Clone Commander Diesel. He stepped inside the cramped quarters and leaned against the wall. "General, we are approaching our target destination. The troops are boarding the gunships as we speak, and the crews have prepped your fighter for launch" Agera stood up from her meditative position and turned to Diesel, "Thank you, Commander. You ready for this?" Diesel nodded and put his helmet on, "When have I let you down ma'am?" he said in a light tone. Agera shrugged her shoulders and smirked, "Let's get going." she said with a laugh.
Agera and Commander Diesel exited the room and went down to the hangar bay. When they got there The Titan had already dropped out of hyperspace and was holding position over the jungle world of Bakkan-3. Flight crews all across the bay were performing their final checks on all spacecraft that were being used on the mission. Agera walked over to her fighter and prepared to enter it. The clone working on it saluted her and stepped out of her way, Agera saluted back and stepped into the cockpit of her fighter. She sat for a second feeling the controls and checking the systems, then she fired up the engines. Her droid, by the name of R5-K4, was getting lowered into the fighter. R5 rotated his head towards Agera. He was so excited to see his master again, beeping and buzzing to show his delight. Agera laughed and smiled, "I'm glad to see you too R5." The fighter slowly lifted off the ground and held its position.
Commander Diesel boarded a gunship and grabbed hold of the handle above his head, the doors slid shut and sealed itself. Admiral Lessing gave the go-ahead to launch all gunships. The loud drone of the engines was deafening as it resonated off the walls of the hangar. The gunships filed out of the hangar and headed towards the planet below with General Dain trailing not far behind them. Diesel turned to his men and shouted "Alright boys, we've got an important mission to do! Two days ago an unidentified vessel crash-landed on this world and we're going to find out who it belongs to and why it's here. Now for safety measures, we're going to drop 8 clicks away from the target to avoid any surprises just in case. Am I understood?" The clones nodded and shouted, "Sir yes sir!" Diesel continued his speech by saying, "Remember, the native lifeforms on this world are extremely dangerous, so stay close and watch your footing." The clones took that last comment to note and prepared for the landing sequence.
With a whoosh, the doors on the gunship slid open and revealed a large swamp. The spacecraft held its height above the water at around 10 feet and the clones began to exit, using cables from the ship. Agera landed her Starfighter on a nearby hill and exited, telling R5 to stay with the ship. The General regrouped with the rest of her squad and proceeded to move towards the objective. The clones waded through the knee-deep water on high alert unless any creatures tried to come attack them. It was very hot and humid in the swamp making Agera and the clones very uncomfortable. Commander Diesel was taking point, with his Z-6 rotary cannon ready for anything. To the clone's surprise a large, four-legged reptile sprung from a tree and began to attack the clones from the right. Diesel was quick to start firing at the animal pitting numerous shots into its neck and chest, but they had little effect. The large beast snatched a trooper up with its claws and dragged him behind some trees. Diesel yelled, "Scattershot!" at his comrade as they were pulled out of sight. Agera ignited her lightsaber and yelled out to Commander Diesel, "Keep moving!" Diesel nodded and motioned to his squad "You heard her men Let's Go!" The clones kept marching through the swamp, worried about their brother. Agera sprinted through the swamp after the beast, tracking its footprints through the wet area. Scattershot could be heard screaming in pain as the beast tried to escape with him. Agera finally spotted the enormous reptile then hopped onto its back and proceeded to stab it repeatedly, which provoked the beast to roar ferociously. The beast released its prey and threw the Jedi off his back. The reptile narrowed its yellow eyes and stood on its hind legs, it screeched and charged at Agera, who jumped up into the air and brought her lightsaber down on its neck, making a smooth cut straight through the other side. The reptile's head landed in the water, making a large splash in the area. Agera ran over to scattershot to check on his condition, his armor was cut in numerous places due to the sharp claws of the beast. Agera checked his pulse and sighed with relief, his heart was still beating. Scattershot spoke to her and said, "Thanks general, I owe you one" Agera nodded and laughed, "I'm just doing my job" she said with a smile. Agera helped Scattershot up and assisted him back to the group. Two clone medics tended to Scattershot's wounds and called a gunship to take him back to the cruiser.
As time passed, the 517th reached the edge of a clearing, there was debris and burn marks everywhere. Diesel bent down and picked up a small chunk of metal from the ground. He examined it and then placed it in his utility pouch. "We're getting close." The clones kept walking until they reached a behemoth of a ship, resting on the side of a lake. The ship was torn to shreds, with large chunks spread all over the place, and lots of bodies scattered around the crash site. Diesel and his men investigated the bodies and found a lot of them to be rotted out and burned. The medical officer "Patch" looked up from his holopad and shouted over to the commander. "Commander! You might want to come see this. These people have been dead for months, their bodies show signs of malnourishment and severe lack of oxygen." Diesel nodded and questioned Patch, "Do you think their life support failed?" Patch shrugged his shoulders and kept investigating. "Some of these bodies have burn marks suggesting they were attacked by another vessel" Diesel shook his head, "That doesn't add up. They could have burned-up on entry to the atmosphere." Patch pointed to his holopad and said "These burn marks are old, which seems to have happened around the time they died. Diesel pondered for a minute and then turned his attention to the ship. "Patch you keep up the good work, I'm gonna go take a closer look" with that, Diesel and a few of his men made their way to the side of the ship. There was a massive gash in the side of it, prompting the clones to enter through it.
The clones turned on their flashlights and moved carefully through the narrow corridors, ducking through doorways and checking hallways until they reached a room with a large metal door that was cracked open. Diesel and his men put their weapons down and pried the door open, revealing a room containing glass pods in it. "Is this some kind of lab?" Diesel questioned as he cautiously moved into the room. The clone to his right shuddered and said "I dunno but I don't like it." As the clones neared the glass pods they noticed large armored figures encased within two of the pods. Diesel holstered his weapon and motioned to his men, "We need to open these pods, those might be survivors in there." The men shouted, "Sir, yes sir!" and began to break the pods open. The glass on the pods was over 4 inches thick and the sides were made of a durable steel alloy, proving tough for the clones to get through.
Out of nowhere one of the figure's arm twitched and its head moved around, signaling it was awake. Diesel ordered his men to step back and take caution. The tall figure sported white and red combat armor that the clones had never seen before. Diesel radioed to General Agera, "Hey general, we need you up here as fast as you can arrive. Something is in here and I'm not sure me and the boys can handle it. I'll set a beacon to our location so you can find us" Agera got on her commlink and responded, "I'll be there as quick as possible." Agera sprinted towards the vessel and made her way inside, following the beacon that Diesel set for her. When she was getting close she could hear shouting and yelling from inside a room. When she got close she ignited her lightsaber illuminating the room with its signature turquoise color. There stood the armored figure, with its arm wrapped around the neck of a clone trooper. Agera turned to Diesel "What in the world happened here?" Diesel shrugged and responded "That was what we're trying to figure out. This… thing just burst out of that pod over there and snatched up one of our guys." Agera looked directly at the visor of the tall being and said "Let him go" The being scoffed at her "And if I don't?" It said through its helmet. Agera pointed her lightsaber at it, "You don't want to find out." The being loosened its grip on the clone trooper, and threw him over to the wall, knocking the clone trooper's helmet off, "Human?" the one being muttered. As soon as that happened the other armored figure kicked the door off of its pod, shattering it instantly, this one had tan and black armor. The two looked at each other and nodded, charging for the exit at top speed. The clones dived away from the threat and made an open exit path for the two assailants.
Agera helped up the clones and then sprinted off after the pair. She could hear their heavy footsteps as they ran through the ship. Agera got on her commlink and hailed Patch, "I need you to create a perimeter outside immediately, there are two bogies headed your way and you need to take extreme caution. Set your weapons to stun, and do not engage unless I give the order." Patch responded saying "Understood ma'am." Patch and the rest of the clones got into position at the gaping hole in the ship's hull, with blasters ready. After a few seconds, the two Armored figures had appeared in front of the clones, and Agera wasn't far behind. The two stood there for a second and then raised their hands to surrender. Agera came from behind and ordered the clones to cuff them. The restraints snapped in place around the wrists of the giant beings, but they didn't stay for long. The two snapped their cuffs and stood straight up "You're gonna need some bigger restraints." Said the tan armored figure. The clones looked at each other, confused and amazed to see such strong individuals, "There's no way they just broke those things. Even a Wookie struggles to get them loose." Said one of the clones.
Agera walked over to an uprooted tree and sat down on it, she then motioned the clones to bring the two survivors to her. The clones sat the two on an adjacent log and stood beside the armored beings. Agera narrowed her eyes and then spoke: "Who are you?" The one in the tan suit of armor removed his helmet. The face underneath was shown to be a black man with medium-brown skin and short black hair. "I'm Michael, of the United Nations Space Command." Agera looked confused, "I'm sorry, I-I've never heard of that faction before." Agera stammered. Michael shrugged his shoulders and rubbed his chin. "I figured, just by the way you guys reacted to seeing us." Agera nodded in agreement and then turned to the person in white armor. "What about you, what's your story?" The one in white armor took her helmet off revealing an Asian woman with long black hair and brown eyes, "My name is Hanji, what's yours?" The Jedi Knight responded saying "My name is Agera Dain, Knight of the Jedi Order"
Hanji and Michael raised an eyebrow and looked at each other. "What the heck is a Jedi?" Michael asked. "We are peacekeepers, devoting our lives to protecting others through use of the Force." This confused Michael and Hanji even more, "What's the force?" Hanji asked in an irritated tone. Agera rolled her eyes and reached her hand out and raised a nearby stone with the force. Hanji and Michael's eyes lit up with confusion and excitement. "How did you do that?!" Michael exclaimed. Agera looked at Michael and said, "There's a lot of things you don't understand, so let me bring you up to speed…"