A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…

Star Wars

It is a dark era for the JEDI ORDER. The Sith Empire obliterated the Jedi Temple on Coruscant and slaughtered many of the Republic's brave defenders during the last war.

The surviving Jedi have withdrawn to their ancient homeworld of Tython, where they take advantage of a fragile peace to train a new generation of guardians for the galaxy.

Now a new hope emerges. A young Padawan strong in the Force journeys to Tython's dangerous wilderness to complete the final Jedi trials and become a Knight of the Republic….

As the VICTORY-class Republic dreadnaught lazily drifted along its designated patrol route above the vibrant blue and green planet of Tython, its gun batteries lazily panning around for a designated target, a single Republic shuttle unfolded its wings and began an approach vector to the planet below.

As the shuttle began its entry into the atmosphere, the shields on the shuttle began to flare with the familiar lick of atmospheric plasma. Adjusting their angle by the smallest of percentages, the trained pilots within the cockpit minimised the strain on the shields and kept the shuttle at a comfortable temperature, close to that of the planet itself – though the stale smell of the military shuttle remained.

Eventually, the shuttle broke through the atmosphere and began a lazy flight towards its destination – the Masters Retreat, part of the Jedi Temple grounds on the surface where they'd been instructed to land. As the pilots navigated the shuttle over the large expanse of wilderness on the planet, the single passenger on the shuttle opened the cockpit door, placing his hands on the backs of the pilot seats. To their credit, the pilots never once flinched though it would be difficult to tell with their full face helmets and armoured flight suits.

"Tython control, we are ready to land, over." The co-pilot called into his microphone on the console before him. The passenger smiled absently for a moment, watching the scenery pass below him as they sped over. He grinned a little when he spotted a mega-herbivore he didn't know the name of walking over some rolling hills that poked above the treeline for a moment. This was Tython. This was the home of his Order, the home of the Jedi.

"Roger that, transport Aurek. Continue to land at the designated coordinates. Welcome to Tython." Came the mechanical voice that can only be attributed to communications traffic.

"We're coming up on the landing pad in just a few moments, Jedi." The pilot announced, flicking a number of switches to begin the landing procedures.

"Thank you. Would it be at all possible to fly a little lower?" He asked inquisitively, smiling slightly as he continued to gaze out the window. The back didn't have any windows, it was all re-enforced Durasteel that was theoretically to protect Republic soldiers and minimize the fear prior to a combat drop in a warzone. He much preferred it in the cockpit.

"I don't see why not." The pilot replied, looking at his co-pilot who nodded in return. "Alright, Jenkins drop us by point three-four and begin venting the auxiliaries, let's make this as smooth as possible."

The Jedi grinned behind them, watching as the ground became a lot closer. He could see statues created by the ancient Jedi dotting the landscape, Jedi Masters instructing younglings and Padawans of varying age and species… and that's when he saw it. Standing proud and strong, surrounded by jungle and wilderness was the Jedi Temple. It was smaller than the one on Coruscant had been, but this was simpler, more natural and by the Force itself was it beautiful. He closed his eyes momentarily, feeling the emotions rippling out from it. It was a beacon of calm and fortitude. For thousands of years, the Jedi had been the guardians of the galaxy, always on the capital of the Republic in their huge, grandiose temple on Coruscant but this… this was what the Jedi really were, at their core.

"It's beautiful…" He whispered, feeling a familiar presence within the Temple itself. That caused him to grin momentarily, feeling her presence immediately react to his own. He'd been away from her for far too long.

"Copy that." The co-pilot echoed, awe lacing his breath. "Final approach is set." He added as he flipped a final switch and assisted the pilot to bring the shuttle in over some rolling plains to the east of the Temple by a few kilometres, over a recently constructed dam and finally to the Masters retreat.

As the shuttle cycled through the landing sequence, a number of Padawans that were speaking with their Masters stopped and looked towards the ship. It would be rare for a Republic shuttle to land on the surface, never mind at the Masters personal retreat. He thought he could even see a number of Knights, maybe one or two Masters pause in their tasks. He nodded at the two pilots, "Thank you."

"Just doing our job, Jedi." The pilot nodded back, shutting down the ships systems systematically. With that, the Jedi walked into the back of the transport, quickly gathering his personal belongings. He didn't own much, just a simple set of Jedi robes, a training saber, some holo-books, a holo-portrait of his family and a cyan crystal his mother had gifted to him upon his induction into the Order.

With a small bump and the familiar hiss of the cabin pressurising itself, he smiled slightly to himself as the ramp began to lower. He winced slightly as the sunlight began to peak through the cracks and into the shuttle, though he quickly adjusted his eyesight. Taking a deep breath, he began to descend the metallic ramp and onto the concrete landing pad.

Droids trundled along this way and that as he began making his way to the office he had been previously told to announce himself at. Though, as he looked around and began making his way up the ramp of the landing pad, he noticed a Jedi stood at the top of it, his blonde hair gently blowing in the wind with his arms clasped comfortably behind his back. The Jedi smiled at him and nodded. Taking this as the Jedi he was intended to meet with, he began to approach though he struggled to keep the wonder off of his face as he gazed around, his own dark hair billowing in the gentle wind.

"Welcome to Tython, Padawan. Everyone at the temple is looking forward to meeting you." The Jedi greeted, bowing slightly. He returned the bow equally, smiling the entire time. He had been worried about the reception he would receive, though it seemed his fears had gone unfounded.

They continued walking for a few moments in silence, the older Jedi giving the Padawan time to absorb everything around him and work through his wonder of being on the home planet of the very order he belonged to. It was breath-taking in every sense of the word.

"Your former Masters praise your combat skills. They say you're becoming and expert duelist." The older Jedi announced once they reached a room on the upper level. It was filled with computers and terminals. Even a droid or two were present.

He shrugged, slightly embarrassed by the praise, "It's easy to excel when you're trained by the best." It was true, he had been trained by the best the Order had to offer. He'd been trained by the most powerful Jedi of the era in various disciplines within the Force and with a multitude of weapons, all because someone somewhere had claimed he was special. He didn't enjoy the extra treatment and over the years had come to even resent it slightly. The older Jedi seemed to pick up on his feelings on the matter quite clearly.

"The Jedi Council will assign you a new Master to oversee your final trials. You'll be tested in way you can't imagine. You've earned this, Nasra. But when you leave Tython, you'll know what it means to be a Jedi Knight. More importantly, you'll know yourself."

Nasra nodded, feeling his chest expand unconsciously. "I'm ready to start my trials, Master. Where do I start?"

The Jedi smiled at the Padawan for a moment, "There's a speeder that will take you to-"He began, stopping himself when he heard his holo-communicator ping with an emergency frequency. With a worried frown, the middle-aged Jedi accepted the call and gasped at the state the Padawan on the other end was in. Even from here, Nasra could tell that his fellow Padawan was heavily injured from… was that a blaster burn?

"-under attack, I repeat we're under attack! Flesh Raiders are invading the Padawan training grounds! They have blasters! Send help!" The feed suddenly cut off, finishing with a loud explosion and static.

"Flesh raiders… armed with blasters? I've never heard of such a thing." The Jedi frowned, caught somewhere between confusion and worry.

"We could hear the blaster fire, we need to help!" Nasra exclaimed, his worry for the other Padawans, the Youngling he'd seen on his flight here was overriding all sense for caution and patience.

"Calm down, Padawan. Never rush into a fight before knowing your enemy." The Jedi reprimanded in a kind tone, "Flesh Raiders are a species of hostile natives. They're smart enough to use tools and violent beyond reason. I'm sending every able-bodied Jedi down to the training grounds right away – especially you." He announced, already typing commands into a nearby terminal as an alarm began to chime throughout the complex. Suddenly, the retreat became alive with the sounds of Jedi Knights and Masters racing past the room as they ran to get to a speeder. The Padawans were the next generation of Jedi and it was their duty to protect them.

"Just point the way, Master. I'll handle the rest." Nasra announced, standing somewhat taller than he had before. He gripped his training saber in his hand unconsciously. It wasn't a true lightsaber, and while it couldn't be used offensively against an enemy, it was still capable of deflecting blaster bolts and a true lightsaber to great effect. He was to fight offensively, he'd have to rely on his ability within the Force.

"There should be a number of speeders by the landing pad. Take one to the training grounds and link up with the rest of the Jedi already there. I'll meet up with you when I can, now go!" The older Jedi ordered, still furiously typing away on the console.

Nasra wasted no time and darted out of the room, running along the platforms in search of a free speeder. He hadn't realised upon his landing that the Retreat had been so full of people. He dodged and weaved between various lifeforms until he finally found what it was that he was looking for. There, parked slightly away from the rest of them was an Aretech Sythe – one of the fastest speeders to come from the company. That would do nicely.

As he leapt on it, he began the short start-up sequence by igniting the fuel cells and grinned to himself when the engine roared to life with a deep, menacing growl that shook him all the way to his gut. He revved the engine to clear the exhaust once, twice, three times and began to tilt the bike backwards. The deep growl continued for a moment or two and then he released the air-brake and cycled to the first gear. He pushed so much acceleration into the engine that the initial lurch almost tore him off the bike altogether, though with having experienced this particular model of bike prior he was somewhat expecting it.

As he began his journey to the training grounds over the reservoir, he could see the multitude of Jedi ahead of him heading for the same destination. Not knowing the planet, he decided to fall in line and follow them. He hadn't seen Jedi deploy while on his travels in the galaxy in any large number, but he could feel hundreds all over the planet converging on the training grounds. In his head, he knew that such a deployment hadn't been witnessed since the Galactic War and the Sith Empire. He thought it somewhat beautiful but at the same time terrifying.

The Jedi were going to defend their own against an unprovoked attack…

He almost felt sorry for the Flesh Raiders.