967 Post Ruusan Reformation - Korriban

"Statement: Master, I believe that was the most fun I have had in ages. Query: What is it you are after?"

"HK, do you really need me to tell you again or are you still in denial that we're trying to raid Tulak Hord's tomb?" It had been just over a year since my Verd'goten and father had granted me a little time away from Concordia. It wasn't the first time he had given me leave but this was the only time he had let me come to this hellhole.

"Scoffing reply: Master, I only wish to clarify that we are indeed marching toward another bloodbath." The silver 99 model said excitedly - even though he had no inflection in his words.

"No doubt about it, HK. I have no idea what the hell those things were," I said I kicked one of the carcasses of the hulking things that attacked us out of nowhere, "but if I see another pack of them again it'll be too soon, so we'll find at least fifty within the hour."

"Excited Exclamation: Master, that's wonderful! Impatient Query: shall we go on, master? Or shall we stand here in the sun and sand waiting for my shell and servos to rust through?" I just sighed and started the march toward the tomb once again. It used to be a place of solace for Darth Nox but the pressure of the Dark Side was overwhelming, not that it stopped me. Hord was one of the true masters of Lightsaber combat, I would do anything to be able to spend even five minutes under his tutelage.

"Blasters ready, HK, it's just up ahead," I said as I glanced down at my compass, centering myself in the Force and the code Revan taught me.

'There is no Ignorance, there is Knowledge. No Fear, only Power. I am the Heart of the Force. The Revealing Fire of Light and Mystery of Darkness. Between Chaos and Harmony, I am Immortal in the Force,' I paraphrased Revan's code over and over again as the sculpture of the Sith whose tomb we came to pillage finally came into view.

"Master," HK said quietly, "assertive worry: I am unsure what this pressure bearing down on my circuitry is but I fear if I approach this tomb I will become inoperative."

"Stand guard here. I probably won't need backup in the cavern but I do need someone here to take overwatch," HK's eyes flashed in acceptance so I carried on. "Set your cannon for artillery mode and kill anything that comes into sight. I'll do what needs to be done as quickly as possible."

"Irrational irritation: Yes master, I will do as you ask. But I am not happy about it!" The droid yelled at my back as I took off toward the titanic statue at full speed.

'Times like this are when I wish I had Julius and Ayla here, those two know what they're doing and would have been great as back up,' I thought as my feet touched the ground in front of the door to the tomb. I took a short breath in before letting it go, shoving the door open as I did. I could have sworn I felt the ground shake under my boots as I stepped foot into the tomb of one of the most feared swordsmen in Galactic History, drawing my own lightsaber as the doors behind me shut. I growled as my IR filter utterly failed in the overwhelming darkness but ignited my saber, relaxing slightly as the blue light illuminated the hall in front of me and revealed that it was indeed just that, a hall.

I took another breath in and stepped forward, centering myself in the Force and preparing for what was to come. The walk was short but it was nerve-wracking, to say the least, this is a Sith's tomb after all - if there's not at least twenty traps then I tend to be a bit on edge. A Sith that doesn't try to protect his tomb is one so confident in his skills even beyond death that I should be worried. So far, there were a grand total of zero traps even as I got to the end of the hall and the second door. Pushing the door open revealed a rather small cathedral domed room with the prominent feature being an intricately carved sarcophagus with the man carved on the lid of the tomb holding a lightsaber in one hand and a damnably easy to recognize pyramid in the other.

"Who disturbs the final resting place of the Demon of Ruusan? The Tomb of Tulak Hord?" A voice cracked through my mind like a whip.

"Perseus, of Clan and House Vizsla," I said aloud, "the heir of Kallig Nox, Tarre Vizsla, and Revan - the Butcher of Mandalore."

"Why have you come to this place, Mandalorian?" the deep, reverberating voice rang through the tomb like a bell - obviously trying to intimidate me.

"To learn, by choice or by force. Either is acceptable. I wish for my people to become as strong as they were - nay, stronger than - when Revan stood against us! To become the warriors that the Galaxy still fears to this day. I will lead them to that," I growled out, "for my friends and family, I will make sure Mandalore becomes feared once again. Will I have to kill you to do that, Sith?"

"You are determined, young one," the voice said, "but unworthy. Leave this place and never return and you shall have your life. If you return, you will die." the voice growled as the cold dread of the Dark Side clenched around me like a giant, invisible fist.

"No," I said, bringing my lightsaber back to the ready position as I concentrated on wrestling the overwhelming amount of Dark Side back down, it hesitated for a brief second before bearing down with even more power. I felt my knees buckle as the weight of the Dark Side fell on my shoulders, "I am the son of Pre Vizsla by choice, by fate! My blood calls out that I am the son of the Sea! I am the heir of time! You will not overpower me, Sith!" I bellowed out as the chamber exploded in blue-green light mixed with golden streaks as the sound of waves crashing echoed through the chamber. Dust shook from the ceiling as the earth shook underneath my feet and, though I couldn't see it, my eyes were glowing with power. Without a thought, I raised my hand and forced my will on the tomb.

I watched as the durasteel sarcophagus twitched, the hands of the statue releasing the lightsaber and the Holocron almost unwillingly but surrendered their burden all the same. I summoned the pair of objects to me with the Force as the recently freed dust kicked up in a small whirlwind around me, the wind whistling in the small chamber.

"What are you?" The voice whispered in awe.

"Aliit haar ad'alor, ad be Poseidon, bal bu'ad be Kronos, Darjetti. Ad'ka be Shonar bal Sho'cye. Partaylir meg," I said as I strode out of the Tomb. [1]

XXX

"Query: Did you break the holocron, master?"

"In a manner of speaking, HK," I said as I opened my eyes on board my freighter, the Nighthawk. I don't use it very often and usually kept it in a hanger back on Concordia but there were talks in the engineering corps about if it would be possible to attach it to the Fist. "Hord wouldn't teach me anything so I had to break down his programming one step at a time - which is weird since it's supposed to be a bit of his actual personality encrypted into the Holocron."

"Secondary query: And what did you discover after your murder and mindwipe of the Sith Lord, Master?" I couldn't help but smirk at the bloodthirsty droid but shook my head slightly.

"His lightsaber techniques. Unfortunately, most of his moves won't suit my style," I ran my fingers through my hair but frowned over the next bit, "and a manufacturing giant called the Star Forge."

HK immediately perked up at those words as he turned around to face me, "The Star Forge, master?"

"Yeah," I said slowly as the droid walked over to the VCX-100's copilot seat and attached himself to the computer.

"Statement: accessing datafiles of model HK-47, command override - Meatbag, Revan, Mand'alor, Orbit, Rakata, Valkorian. Access Granted, accessing files," the silver Hunter Killer droid said as his normally red eyes flashed blue, "the Star Forge: an ancient Rakatan artifact powered by the Dark Side of the Force. This battle station, discovered by Revan and Malak after his - correction, her - role in the tragedy at Malachor Five. The Star Forge became Revan's most powerful asset in the Mandalorian War and into the Old Sith Wars. The Battlestation was allegedly destroyed in the year 2956 before the Ruusan Reformation [2]."

"Allegedly?" I asked interestedly.

"The Republic stated that the super factory was destroyed above the Star Abo of the Lehon system - there has been no footage of the event found. Galactic records now indicate that the system has been marked as a hazard to life. Ah, it would appear the reason is one in the same as why all hyperspace lanes within a lightyear of the system have been terminated. Republic records indicated that there is now a supermassive gravity well within the Star System."

"A black hole? In the Lehon system?" I asked in surprise.

"Negative, master. Records state that Abo has become a Neutron Star."

I jerked my head from the Holocron in my hands back to HK. "No way. Records indicate that Abo is a red giant, it shouldn't have been able to collapse into a neutron star for a few more billion years."

"Acquiescence: you should be correct, master. It appears the Star was destabilized."

"What the Hell could destabilize a Star?" I asked, slack-jawed.

"The Star Forge is powered by the heart of a star, life forms aboard are protected from the massive heat levels by the Forge itself. If the factory was allowed to keep feeding on a Star for an extended period of time or if it fell directly into its source of power..."

"Then the machine could potentially kill a star billions of years before it's due to expire? HK, that's a bit far fetched, even for you," I said, massaging my forehead.

"Conceding admission: it is far fetched master, yet this is not an opinion made by other stupid meatbags. This is a conclusion based on an analysis by HK-47, Revan's personal hunter killer, master. Envious aside: what glory he saw in battle!"

"Wait wait wait," I said, completely confused, "what did 47 report?"

"Recollection: by his observations and calculations, he found that the Star Forge would require one star - similar to Abo - every thousand years."

"And let me guess, the Republic marked the Abo system unfit for life around the same time 47 made this report?"

"Observation: That is correct, master. The Abo system is periodically checked by Republic scouts with the most recent being at the time of the Ruusan Reformation - there is no indication this scouting team returned. Speculation: With the Abo system being located at G.674563-11.318586 on the Galactic grid, it is possible the Star Forge is still in the wild space surrounding the star."

"HK, I want to find this thing as much as you do… But is it possible to even find it?"

"Hesitant Answer: Potentially, master. The ship is of old Rakata. Envious Continuation: they are famous for three things; supermassive factories, infinity gates, and self repairing systems - though the second was stolen from the ancient Kwa. Observation: I would not be surprised if the Star Forge could repair any damage sustained if it's computers remained intact. Hypothetical Supposition: The Star Forge mainframe could have possibly been star proof and slowly drained Abo of its luminosity - repairing itself in the three thousand years since it was destroyed."

"We're considering this?"

"Statement of fact: We are."

"Where do we start looking then? I don't want to go barreling into a system hosting a damned neutron star without at least some preparation, HK."

"Hesitant Resolution: I would advise visiting the Malachor System. The other planets in the system are batteries to Malachor V."

"Batteries?" I asked incredulously. "What the Hell are they powering?"

"Indeed, master. Planets Malachor I through IV all are armed with superweapons in their own right. Even if the Republic is aware of the one on Malachor I, the weapons are there, Master. These independant weapons are also used to charge the weapon stationed on Malachor V. Historical Banks, Accessed: The reason the Republic knows of Malachor I is due to a battle fought between the Sith and Jedi of years past. The Republic has designated the planet Malachor, per the Jedi's recommendation. Speculation: Perhaps the Jedi believed ignoring the other planets in the system would mask Malachor V's existence? Continuation: The two factions clashed there before the Mandalorian Speculation: Revan found this super weapon and used it as a stepping stone to power the Mass Shadow Generator at Malachor V."

I just shook my head, "I don't know, HK, that's not in the memories she gave me."

"Disappointed statement: a shame, master. The slaughter at Malachor V was an event that shall forever hold a place in my databanks."

I rolled my eyes at the bloodthirsty droid's antics and sat down in the pilot's seat, "alright then, HK. This is your idea, set course for Malachor One, I want to see this supposed superweapon."

"Jubilant Declaration: Master, you are too kind!"

XXX

Malachor…

"Disappointed statement: This is not as stimulating as I thought it would be, master," he said in his deep, synthesized voice, "no bones, no bodies, just unstimulating statues…"

"Look again, HK," I said heavily, "those statues were Jedi and Sith. Now they're just statues thanks to whatever is in that pyramid." I looked at the face of one of the frozen Jedi and froze as it looked like his ghost appeared behind him, watching as a wave of white light washed over him - the next thing I knew he was just a normal statue again. I blinked before forcing myself to turn back to HK.

HK's head turned as he examined the area before he quietly replied, "Statement: You are correct, master. There is nothing here for us other than these… Statues," he said as he kicked at the ground, loosening something before he placed his foot down. My eyes followed whatever it was he just kicked and I grinned broadly.

"Not quite, HK," I said as I summoned the object. HK looked down at the crude weapon as I snarled at it slightly, it was a mockery of my saber even if it was older by more than a few thousand years. I tried to ignite the cross-guarded blade but it snapped and fizzled before dying out after a few seconds. "Collect the Kyber crystals," I growled and dropped the blade, tossing it to the floor but watched as the blade fell to the dirt and immediately bounced into the air. The blade flew into the hand of one of the Jedi statues standing to my left. Again, a ghostlike apparition appeared in front of me but this time he was locked in a fight against a Sith. The green blade clashed on red before that same white light washed over the valley and transformed him into a statue as his blade clattered back to where I picked it up. I blinked and the Lightsaber was back where I tossed it, I shook myself from the strange vision and looked back up at HK. "I don't care if they're Jedi, cracked, or whole - I want every single one of these we can scrounge up."

"Dreading Apprehension: Master, there are approximately three thousand of these statues that we passed coming into the valley. Clarification: Are you sure you want all of the crystals?"

I tapped my helmet thoughtfully and looked at a Sith statue, shuddering again as another phantasmic vision washed over me - forcing me to watch the Sith fight three Jedi at once before falling to the wave of light. I tore my eyes away from the statue and forced myself to reply to HK's question, "find the best specimens and return them to the ship, HK. Leave any Sith crystals you find, I don't know if I could purge them on a world like this and don't want a small Dark Side Nexus on the Nighthawk… I have to explore the temple."

"Angered and Resigned Exclamation: Damn it master! I never have any of the fun!"

XXX

Three days later, and we collected around a thousand odd Kyber crystals from the battlefield and I had finally managed to crack the code to gain access to the temple itself. It was a hard bitch to get into but I managed it. I made my way to the weapon chamber and found it bare, save for one lightsaber lying on the floor. I reached out with the force and summoned it to my hand - shocked at the familiar hilt. With a flick of my thumb, I ignited the old lightsaber and stood transfixed at the sight of the purple blade.

"Holy shit…" I whispered as I held Revan's lightsaber. Forcing my jaw closed was a hard process, but I managed it. The hardest bit was convincing myself to turn off the lightsaber so I could rejoin HK in the killing field… The purple light from the saber cut off abruptly as I lifted my thumb and attached the blade to my belt, grinning maniacally all the while.

The best news? Turns out getting out of the temple is a hell of a lot easier than getting in. It took me three days to reach the heart of the weapon and twenty minutes to get out - granted I just had to find a ledge and jump to leave.

"Amused Statement: Ah! Master, you have returned! Query: Did you find anything of value?"

"That holocron from yesterday was about it, HK," I snarked, "you know? The one with the actual Rakatan in it? Oh! And Revan's lightsaber," I said viciously.

"Impressed Reply: A most fortunate find indeed, Master! Secondary Query: Is our time on this Hell masquerading as a world finished?"

"Most definitely. Set course for Rakata Prime, we have an actual superweapon-factory thing to find."

"Excited reply: Oh yes master! It shall be done!" the bloodthirsty droid said as we loaded the frigate. HK could handle piloting the damn thing, I had about a thousand and a half or so kyber crystals to sort through and see if they could be of any use - but first I had to go through the lightsabers and see if any (besides Revan's) were in proper working order. My new team - the Strikers, as HK suggested - was in dire need of any kind of parts and crystals to make their own lightsabers. Ayla and Julius already had their weapons, but the rest of the team needed them.

I sighed as I pushed the door open to my cabin, I placed Revan's lightsaber on the wall on the first peg I'd had put there to keep lightsabers hung up on until I could get back to Mandalore to put them in a more secure area, but for now this will work. I sighed as I pushed the door back open and made my way to the cargo hold. I couldn't believe my eyes when I stepped inside it, the entire thing was practically covered in lightsabers, parts, and crystals all divided into their own separate areas. The first thing that had to be done though? Making sure none of the crystals were flawed and then dividing them further into good and bad. I would have let HK-99 do it but you had to be Force Sensitive to find small flaws in the crystals. I sighed as I sat down on the floor, closing my eyes and preparing myself for a long hyperdrive route of sorting crystals.

XXX

"Master, we are approaching Rakata Prime. Resigned Suggestion: I suggest you exit the cargo hold and join me on the bridge for approach." I opened my eyes and stretched my back, wincing as I felt it crack all the way down.

'Note to self, don't spend days straight in a meditative state sorting crystals and parts. Thankfully it's done but this is not going to be fun.' Climbing to the command deck was a chore, but I managed it. I took the copilot's seat as HK kept his seat at the captain's chair.

"Facetious Exclamation: Master!? You are here!?"

"Shut up, damn you," I growled at the droid as I looked out the front viewport at the pure blue world we were coming to under cloak. "We're not here to start trouble, just hunting a myth." I grumbled.

"Query: But master, what if they are the ones to start trouble?" I glared at the droid but stared back out the viewport, scanning the flooded world for some sign of life but there was nothing save a massive pyramid in front of us.

"HK," I started slowly, "what the Hades is that?" I felt my head twinge slightly as I heard that same phrase echoed by a girl's voice that I knew I had never heard but was painfully familiar all at the same time.

"Unsure Observation: It appears to be an ancient Kwa Star temple, master… Hypothesis: There should be an infinity gate inside. I do not recommend taking this path."

"Do you have a better idea?"

"Negative. Observation: I have a bad feeling about this." The droid said almost nervously and I couldn't help but agree as I stepped off the Nighthawk's gangplank and onto the surface of the bog world. It took about an hour for the two of us to make it through the underbrush to make it to the foot of the temple but we made it. We entered the temple and, fortunately for HK, it wasn't abandoned. The Rakatan people who had made the temple home apparently didn't take too warmly to outsiders - unfortunately for them, HK took even less well to people attacking him with lightsaber spears..

"Exclamation: Master! I apologize! This is the most fun I have had in years! Query: Can I destroy anymore hostiles we come across, master?" he seemed so excited as he cut down another three Rakatans but I just took in the carnage he dealt in stride, picking up one of the lightsaber spears the Rakata used.

"Yeah, sure, HK," I said slowly as I activated the orange bladed weapon, comparing it to my lit weapon curiously. It was much longer and was mounted on a metal stick, there was no elegance to this weapon. It was meant for one thing, dealing death. "Let's keep moving," I said, deactivating the weapon and looking into HK's blue eyes that really should have been red.

"I couldn't agree more, Master," HK said, almost too bloodthirsty.

"Who knew all I needed to do to keep your loyalty was feed you some Rakatans. Here, catch," I snarked and tossed him the pike as we made our way through the superstructure.

"Scoffing Reply: Master, to keep my loyalty all you had to do was let me complete my programming but the Lightsaber will be helpful to achieving that. Hopeful Aside: Perhaps there will be more chances for this to happen!"

"Maybe father was right about you," I snarked but grinned under my helmet.

"Contradictory Statement: Master Pre does not understand my programming, Master. You do. I believe we are approaching the Gate Chamber, the likelihood of engagement is high."

"Good, I think your cervos need a reblooding," I muttered darkly.

"Confusion: I do not understand, master. I am at one hundred percent operation capacity, save for my weapon charges which are at ninety-five percent capaci- System Error… Concerned Observation: It appears my sensor arrays need to be recalibrated, Master. I believe I heard you say: 'reblooding.' This unit functions on a miniaturized nuclear cell, I do not need oil to function properly."

"Oh, my mistake," I snarked, "I just assumed since you kill so many people you use their blood as oil."

"Master! That is barbaric! Disgusted Statement: To use anything other than Gungan blood would ruin my cervos!" I just grinned and shook my head as we jogged onward toward the gate.

XXX

"Well, I hope you enjoyed yourself," I muttered as I wiped blood off my visor from where HK spattered it on me. Of course, the damn droid couldn't have just used a lightsaber pike like it was supposed to be used and decided to use it as a club.

"Pleased Reply: Indeed, Master! It has been many, many cycles since I have seen such glorious bloodshed!"

"HK, you killed seventy of them on your own! I even let you borrow a lightsaber!"

"Scoffing Rebuttal: A lightsaber you claimed from a corpse, master. Witty Addendum: Do not forget that You killed forty-three of them with Your blade." Before I could blink, HK raised his blaster toward me and pulled the trigger. There was a squelch and a thud as another Rakatan fell to the floor. "And that is seventy-one, master."

"Damn droid," I growled but shivered all the same - these damn things were Force nulls. Granted, I couldn't really touch the Force all that much, yet, but still I could usually feel people in my immediate vicinity - not the Rakatans. Nope, that would be too easy. HK and I had been fighting through the temple for the better part of an hour and killed, and killed, and killed some more just trying to find the gate room. We hadn't had much success yet.

"Observation: Master, I believe I have found something," HK said as he pressed his hand into a wall and it disappeared from view. I raised my eyebrow but nodded at him to go on, he did without a second of hesitation. I didn't hesitate either.

When I stepped into the room I really didn't know what I was looking at, at first. It was just a black room with occasional specs of light throughout it.

"Startled Realization: Master, I believe this is a Star Map."

"A star map?"

"Exasperated Query: What else would a space faring race use to find their Infinity Gates scattered through the cosmos, Master?"

"Point."

"Amused Statement: You make it too easy, master. Lecture mode, engaged: Star Maps, used to determine locations between Infinity Gates - also referred to as: Force Gate, StarGate, HyperGate - throughout the galaxy. Deemed lost to the galaxy with the Rakatan's loss of the Force, these ancient Star Maps were better at calculating potential hyperspace jumps than any capital ship's computer systems. Activate: Star Map!" HK called out and immediately, the room lit up like a blaster bolt - putting us both in the middle of space as planets, stars, galaxies, and other systems appeared as if they were right in front of us. It was a massive Planetarium but on a much, much larger scale.

"Can it find the Star Forge?"

Known Superweapons:

Star Forge: lost. Last Known Location: Lehon System - Star: Abo. Status - Unknown, Assumed Destroyed - Transmitters Damaged Critically.

The Gravestone: destroyed over Medriass - also known as Nathema. Chlorian Sector. Last Known Location - Zakuul, Eternal Swamp. Zakian Sector. Status - Destroyed.

The Foundry: lost. Last Known Location: Zakian Sector - Ultimate. Status - Functioning, Computers Offline.

"What the Hades was that!?" I gasped as I felt information flash into my head.

"Observation: the Stellarium has downloaded something to my processor… Accessing: Hm… Interested yet agitated statement: This is of little use to us master."

"What about Zakuul? I know that name from Nox's memories… But from what I can remember there's nothing there now, is there?"

"Determined declaration: We will go there and see, Master," his eyes flashed but at that very moment my holo chirped. I groaned and pulled it off my belt - watching as dad appeared in his full gear.

"Perseus, the Dar'Fett has been found on Raxus Trias. For what reason he could be there is unknown but you are to meet us there, immediately." I felt myself freeze as dad carried on, "is there a reason you cannot?"

"Father… I… I'm on Rakata Prime."

"YOU'RE WHAT!? Why in the name of the misbegotten fallen are you on that damned world!?" He roared, making me flinch slightly.

"I'm hunting a lead, dad. Long story short, I found a holocron of an ancient Sith, and ripped everything I could from it's databanks. That information led me to Malachor where I found and dismantled another ancient Sith holocron that's since led me here. I'm hunting something called the Star Forge. It would be four or five days before I could join you in the Raxus System."

"You will cease hunting for that dreaded station, at once! It has killed more Mandalorians than could be counted! And I thought I had expressly forbidden you from exploring the Malachor system?"

"You did… I apologize, father, but the opportunity was too rewarding to pass up. On Malachor I alone, HK managed to recover well over a thousand lightsaber crystals - more than enough to arm the Strikers. But, Dad, the Forge could still be out there."

"Set course for Concordia. We will have words about this face to face."

"Yes, Father…"

"Good. You said it could still be out there, did you find it? Was there even so much as a hint that it could be whole?" he asked softly but in a hard voice.

"No, father. I was about to return to the ship and set course for Zakuul to try and gather more intel when you called."

"Excellent. Let that station stay lost, Perseus. Mandalore does not need the notoriety of having rediscovered that particular station. You will only find woe on Zakuul, let it, too, remain lost. Come home," he said, cutting the transmission with a wave of his hand.

XXX

[1]: "I am the Son of the Leader, son of Poseidon, and grandson of Kronos, Sith. Prince of Waves and Water. Remember that."

[2]: Since there's no doubt that some of you are wondering about timeframes and years since I'm using the Ruusan Standard Calendar for time reference, here's a little cheat sheet:

Timeline of Events - Reference:

The Ruusan Reformation took place 1000 Before the Battle of Yavin (B.B.Y) and the Battle of Yavin took place 1000 years after the Ruusan Reformation (A.R.R).

Percy found by Pre Vizsla and the Five: 44 BBY = 956 ARR

Percy's Verd'goten: 34 BBY = 966 ARR

The Phantom Menace: 32 BBY = 968 ARR

Attack of the Clones: 22 BBY = 978 ARR

Revenge of the Sith (Order 66): 19 BBY = 981 ARR

Percy Jackson born*: 47 BBY = 953 ARR*

Padme 'Amidala,' Naberrie born*: 46 BBY = 954 ARR*

Using these numbers and times given in Canon, we can figure some things out: such as

Clone Army Started: 31 BBY = 969 ARR (One year after TPM)

Jango Fett selected as the template for the Clone Army in the same year by Darth Tyrannus - aka, Count Dooku.

Anakin Skywalker birth year: 41 BBY = 959 ARR

Mandalorian Civil War - aka, the Mandalorian Revolution: 37 BBY = 963 ARR

Padme's Time as Queen (She served two terms of two years): 32-28 BBY = 968-972 ARR

Yes, Naboo was invaded during her first year of her rule - potentially as early as within the first few months to weeks of her taking office.

The reason I use the Ruusan Time scale is because that is what the characters are currently using. Once this shifts, I will shift to fit with the time. Also, I find it easier to read years sequentially instead of counting down to the Battle of Yavin - or, Canon. In fact, I think Order 66 and the formation of the Galactic Empire would have been the reference for the new Galactic Calendar while the Rebels would have used Yavin (their first major win against the Empire) as a frame of reference. So, you can look through the lense of the Rebel Alliance or Galactic Empire, I choose to view it through what would be accepted throughout the greater galaxy.

So, now that that's out of the way: some of you may be asking just what the hell the Ruusan Reformation is. If canon had not established something for the Old Republic period, please understand that I will fall back on the Legends. With this in mind, I understand that some of you will go to the Wookiepedia, most of you will probably find that it's just too convoluted to understand easily, so, in layman's terms: The Jedi Order used to be an army. Legitimately. The Jedi, the peace loving Jedi we all love so much, were an army. You see, around this time, there was a small conflict known as "the New Sith Wars," (because there have been like three different Sith Wars and they had to designate them somehow) between the Sith Empire and the Republic. After the war, the Supreme Chancellor (who was practically a dictator at that time - this is important) and Galactic Senate didn't really like the fact there was an army of Force Monks a short jog away from the Senate building and said "no!"

Immediately, the Jedi Army (what was known as the Army of Light) and Navy were disbanded. The Jedi shifted the training of new younglings to birth instead of the previously standard age of five to six to make sure the Sith couldn't get them. Training Padawans was supposed to happen on Coruscant according to the Accords, again to make sure they didn't study 'forbidden Sith stuff!'

This is also considered the start of the Golden Age of the Old Republic and this period is where the age of High Republic began. In other words? This was when the Republic reigned supreme over the Galaxy. The Senate was designated more powers and rights that used to be granted solely to the Chancellor - powers they could give back to the Chancellor if necessary. These are known as Emergency powers. In the event the Senate thinks the Republic is in danger they can hand these powers that were given to them in the Accords back to the Chancellor. Things like term limits could be waived, supreme command of any army could go to the Chancellor, or the Courts could be bypassed completely if the Chancellor decided it warranted his and the Senate's attention directly. Essentially? This is how Palpatine basically became Emperor after his time as Chancellor. The Accords basically paved the road for the rise of the Empire from these so called 'Emergency Powers.'

(This is not a diatribe on real life and any similarties found to it can be laid at the feet of Lucas Studios, not the lowly Rogue Mando.)

*Pertains to the last chapter but this is rather important as I had forgotten to mention it: Percy and Padme will not be married until they are both at least 18. In canon, Padme had the good grace to wait until Ani was 19 while she was 24, I can give her the same courtesy here. My apologies to those who think this is either draconian or unnecessary but please do keep in mind, they are still very much kids. Kids who are head over heels for each other in two cultures that are very open about certain things but Padme and Perce are still just that: kids. I have no plans on rushing the progress of this relationship and definitely don't have any plans on showing the progression of that relationship in text until they are of legal age, and I'm not sorry about that - thank you very much.