The Forbidden Jungle, Onderon.

Bright eyes shone in the darkness, looking through the dense jungle for his prey. Their owner treaded stealthily through palm fronds and vines, careful not to give himself away by stepping on downed foliage. He forced himself to be as silent as he could possibly be, envisioning his life energy dimming as the old man of his village had taught him to do as a child. He had become a shadow, a true hunter in the dark jungle.

The beam of an Imperial Searchlight ended Gon's hunt.

It ran over his worn leather boots, and then the young man remembered the day's announcement over the intercom.

"Attention, citizens of Onderon! Due to another increase in rural terrorist activity, all citizens are now completely prohibited from going into the jungle! No exceptions! I repeat! Under the authority of our glorious empire, all citizens are completely prohibited from going into the jungle! This law is punishable by penalty of imprisonment or execution!"

Not again! Gon had thought upon hearing this announcement. Now how am I supposed to get food for my town? Imperial Rations? It isn't my fault that the people at the Outpost are starving to death!

Gon shook himself out of his reflections, and refocused his energy so that the stormtroopers in the forest couldn't see him. He made sure his hood covered his spiky hair, and then began to run.

He ran as if mythical protector of the jungle itself was on his heels, chasing away anything that disturbed it'd domain. What if he got caught? That would wreck his chances of being able to get into the academy, and off of this horrid, humid planet! The only way he was going to get into the greater galaxy! He would finally figure out what drove his father to leave the family home and …

His father. It all came back to his father.

Ging Freecs. Legend. Jedi General. War Hero.

Erased. Traitor to the Empire. A failure of a father.

At least that was what Aunt Mito and Grandma had told him, besides telling Gon that his father abandoned him and never, ever to talk about his father. Ever. After all, if someone heard that he was the son of a Jedi General, he would be tortured for his father's location, and that wouldn't be good.

Still, Gon wondered what had made his father leave Whale Outpost. He knew that his father hadn't always been a Jedi Knight, but what was so great about the galaxy? Why didn't Ging ever contact his family, even when the man wasn't on the run?

Gon yearned to figure out, but first, he had to get back to Whale outpost. He didn't want his Aunt to yell at him for being late. Again.


Whale Island Trading Outpost, Kabina River Delta, Onderon.

Gon was taking off his boots when the light flickered on.

His aunt stood at the entrance to her bedroom, laser pistol in hand. She blinked sleepily, squinted slightly at Gon, and then glared at the young man. Gon was tempted to take a step back from the protective fury in his aunt's eyes, but refrained.

"Gon! What did I say about getting home late!"

"But Aunt Mito," Gon stammered, " I -"

"Don't 'I' me, young man! You know what I said about getting home late! I've been saying it ever since the old man of the town convinced to let you hunt! Hell, young man, I didn't even give you permission to go hunting tonight, after that announcement today! Do you want to get killed?"

Gon chose that moment to interrupt."The outpost is short on food, Aunt Mito. You know that Imperial Rations aren't going to feed anyone. Look at how our outpost is starving! Someone has to help!"

"That doesn't mean you have to help!"

"Yeah, but the everyone in the village knows that I'm the best hunter at the outpost! Also, I'm the only hunter here who would be able to avoid stormtroopers! I've avoided poachers and rebels before -"

"Yes, but that doesn't mean you should try that again! Just because you have a lot of luck doesn't mean you should continue testing it!"

"But…"

"But nothing!"

Gon and Mito stared at each other silently, waiting for the tension in the air to dissipate.

Mito spoke up first. "Did you find anything?" she asked quietly.

"No," Gon said, looking at the worn floor in shame, "Tonight was a bad night."

His aunt walked up to him and put his hand on his shoulder. Gon leaned into her touch, and savored it. If tomorrow was to go as planned, this hug would be one of the last he would get from his Aunt.


The morning came quickly, in a blaze of red and purple. Despite the harsh conditions on Onderon, the sunset was always a marvel to behold.

Gon liked to wake up early, and to stare at the sunrise. Usually, he wondered if his father ever looked at the colorful sky and dreamed of the unknown, of anywhere other than Onderon. He liked to think that his father did, before he left. Gon sure did.

Today was the day. The day when all of his hard work would finally pay off.

Despite his late night, Gon woke up at the crack of dawn. Imperial Exam scores were supposed to come in today! This was his chance to get in, to find some information about his father. He was too nervous to get back to sleep, despite his late night.

After the sun took it's place in the sky, Gon exited his room and ran down the hallway. In the living room, Aunt Mito was asleep on the couch, cradling her laser rifle. She always slept on the couch after nights when her nephew would hunt, in fear of anyone following and hurting her surrogate child.

Gon walked up to his aunt, and kissed her on the forehead. Meanwhile, his Great-Grandmother was heating up last night's leftover rations, a small smile on her face from her family's antics. Gon walked up to his grandmother, and proceeded to help her cook the meager amount of food they had.

"Ready for the big day, young one?" Gon's Grandmother asked him.

"As ready as I'll be, I guess." Gon replied, a sheepish smile on his face.

"Well young man, we didn't pay all of those credits for nothing! Go and score!"

"Yes, Grandma, I'll try…"

"Oh don't worry, I know you're going to pass. Otherwise I wouldn't have made such a comment about the credits. Force knows how short we are on them…"

And they were. Everyone was on Onderon, unless they were the king or an imperial. Even then, the rich weren't as rich as their counterparts on other planets. Kriff, Gon was sure that the poorest beings on the Hutt Planets were richer than the Freecs family, especially after they had to pay for Gon's Imperial entrance exam.

Gon was sure that his family's money would pay off, especially if he were accepted. If he became an officer, he would enough money from his commission after graduating to pay his family back 300 times over.

Unlike his father, he wasn't going to forget about his family. Gon Freecs would find his father, and make sure his family had all the money and happiness that they would ever need.

And in order to do that, he would have to check his scores.

Gon hugged his grandmother, said goodbye, and ran to the town center, heart pumping with adrenaline. Time to figure out what his scores were.