STAR WARS: Rebirth of the Jedi
Chapter One
It was early in the afternoon on Coruscant when Rey Skywalker found herself at the massive stairway leading to the old Jedi Temple. Abandoned for decades, it sat in the middle of Coruscant wasting away, fading into obscurity, along with the rest of the Jedi order. The once beautiful edifice was now tattered and worn, cracks forming in the infrastructure. It hardly looked like the kind of place that once housed one of the most esteemed orders in the galaxy.
Rey took a deep breath and lightly clutched the lightsaber on her belt. She was grateful for the New Republic offering the building to her (as a gift for helping eradicate the final order) but now, looking at the sheer size of it, she felt overwhelmed. Rebuilding the Jedi order from scratch would be no easy task, and now it just occurred to her how it could be almost impossible to do it alone. Even Luke had some help when it came time to rebuild.
She shook the negative thoughts from her head and began to make her way up the staircase. Masses of ships flew up above, getting caught in the tangles of rush hour. Constant white noise radiated from the neighborhoods nearby. Giant holographic billboards displayed ads of the most popular brands on the planet Coruscant was almost as lively as it was in the days before the Empire.
She eventually reached the front entrance of the building. She took notes of scorch marks on the ground in front of it, and the markings of blaster fire all along the temple walls, relics of what had happened in this temple over 60 years ago. There were no official surviving records of just what exactly happened there during the fall of the Republic, but Rey could guess what disturbing atrocities were committed within the temple walls.
As she walked in, she immediately took note of the massive entrance room, with many doorways leaking to a cacophony of rooms and staircases, which once upon a time, took care of a Jedi's every need. Now, all that remained was dust and more markings from the Jedi purge. The-once detailed pillars had massive cracks in them, with some even being broken in half. Places where statues of Jedi once stood were completely crumbled. The Empire had also gone over the temple with a fine-toothed comb, scrubbing anything that even remotely pertained to the order. Rey began to have a hard time picturing this as a once-beautiful place meant to assist one's journey with the force.
Suddenly, something began to feel off. Rey felt as if she was not alone.
"Who's there!? Show yourself!" She called out, reaching for the hilt of her lightsaber. No one answered, but she still felt like she was being watched. Not taking any chances, she flipped the activation switch, and her weapon sprang to life.
Suddenly she could feel something burrowing into the back of her mind, whispers surrounding her. She clutched her head in pain, and fell kneeling on the floor. She could hear the screams of jedi, being gunned down by highly trained clone troopers. She could feel their thoughts, their fear, and the feelings of betrayal as the soldiers they used to call allies slaughtered them. She could the final actions of the ones who managed to escape from the clones, only to be cut down by Darth Vader, barely any managing to escape. The visions continued to pierce her mind, and she passed out.
. . .
The Mos Eisley Cantina was less crowded than usual. While normally overflowing with scum and villainy, it was a lot quieter in the early hours of the morning. A few Gamorreans were hunched over at a table, while a group of bounty hunters sat at another, comparing their earnings for they day. A Trandoshan was slumped on a bar stool, guzzling down shot after shot. Suddenly, a humanoid man with long messy hair and a five o-clock shadow entered, and sat next to him on an adjacent stool.
"Did you find it?" he said, swiping some sand off of his polished black armor. The Trandoshan turned his head, recognizing him, and answered.
"Yeah, it was tucked away on a little planet no one's been to in centuries." he said, in gravelly basic. "Had to use all of my connections and I still barely managed it.".
"Which system?!" the man demanded, growing visibly impatient.
"Easy Jerec", the Trandoshan replied, "I think we need to discuss my payment. I deserve a bit extra, just fer how much trouble it was." With that, Jerec withdrew a small blaster and placed it on the table. The bartender saw, and headed into the back room.
"Tell me now!" Jerec yelled, "I'm not playing these games!". Almost instantly he felt the barrel of a blaster pistol on the back of his head.
"What are you hassling my friend for?" a Rodian bounty hunter asked in his native language. The other bounty hunters from that table were also now standing, their weapons drawn in unison. "You have five seconds to get out of here before me and my buddies blow you to pieces!"
Jerec started to cackle. Before the Rodian could ask what was so funny, shots from invisible attackers penetrated the heads of all of the hunters, their dead bodies quickly falling to the ground. The attackers uncloaked themselves, revealing that they were wearing blacked out Empire-era stormtrooper armor. They then all swiveled and pointed their blasters at the stunned Trandoshan perched on the stool.
"Now," Jerec said, taking his pistol from off the counter and placing it directly on the Trandoshan's head. "Tell me where the Valley of the Jedi is!"