6 AJP (After the Jedi Purge): A bearded Jaren Ko sat in his small ALC Mark 7 ship. The inside of the ship was devoid of life, save for tiny glimmers of green and blue coming from the buttons and the screens. There isn't anything wrong with the lights, nothing at all, there is something wrong with Jaren, he has lost hope.

After rumors had surfaced that Darth Vader had wiped out the remaining Jedi, Jaren's confidence wavered, but he was still sure that the rumors were wrong, there had to be Jedi in the galaxy, but then, through the HoloNet, the public execution of former Jedi Council member Shaak Ti, destroyed whatever hope Jaren still had. He didn't know what he would do, would he try and settle down, sit in his ship until he starved, maybe he would put the emitter of his lightsaber up to his temple and turn it on.

"I'm not that hopeless." Jaren thought, nearly cracking a smile. Maybe he wouldn't give up entirely, he could protect people from bounty hunters or low life thugs, he could return to Coruscant, live in the low levels and be the free-of-charge protector of the people who live there. "No, the Empire's presence there is too strong." he thought, still sitting in dusty his dusty old chair made of Mandalorian Iron.

After staring out into the vast expanse of the galaxy, Jaren typed in coordinates for a new destination. As he finished entering the complicated string of numbers, a blue light flashed on the main console screen, with the words "Lankade System" smack in the middle of it. Jaren flipped a switch, all of a sudden the specs of far away stars became long streaks of light, bright enough and beautiful enough to make the light from a Jedi's lightsaber seem like nothing, the stars were then replaced by a jaw dropping, seemingly infinite swirling vortex of blue and white, which was then replaced by the same vast expanse of the galaxy as before, the only difference: a giant blue and green planet with splotches of red across the main continent. This planet is Lankade 7, It was practically ignored by the Empire, and Jaren has made it his job to protect the people who live there. If anything, it would keep him from thinking about all of the friends he lost… and the hopelessness.

The landing was a bit rough, not in the "something is wrong with the ship" way, more like the "What is your business here" way, Jaren wasn't able to land in the loading dock for 3 hours. As one can expect, he was quite annoyed.

"Anger is not the Jedi way. Anger is not the Jedi way" he repeated to himself under his breath. The view of the planet from the ground helped keep him calm, the tall trees with bright green leaves, the large grass covered fields that eventually led to the mega cities in the distance, that wasn't where he was heading though. No, he was heading to a large village in the West, the villages on Lankade 7 were infested with scum like bounty hunters and common thieves.

Jaren raises his right hand on instinct to try and sense the presence of people who live in the village in order to get a better idea of how far the village was, but he stopped, it wouldn't be a good idea for him to use the force out in the open, even on a seemingly Empire-less world, as far as everyone else knows the Jedi are traitors to the Republic, he would be arrested even on a planet like this. Jaren tries to cover for his near blow-of-cover by using his hand to shield his eyes from bright sunlight, "Looks like it's about a mile away." Jaren said aloud, trying to sell the fact that he definitely wasn't a Jedi.

Jaren began his walk to the village, he knew it would take around 20 minutes, he did not care, he was not in hurry, he wanted to take in the sights. He thought about the Clone Wars, how the field he was walking through looked like a place one of the battles he had fought in would have ruined, so many beautiful planets were decimated or destroyed, so many innocents slaughtered, and what good did it do, it allowed for the Empire to seize power, it resulted in the Jedi begin massacred.

"Those damned clones!" Jaren angrily said aloud, trying his best not to raise his voice. He noticed a small pebble floating near him, his anger had gotten the better of him, if he had gotten any angrier the ground itself would break around him and his cover would be completely blown. Jaren inhaled deeply, and then exhaled. He stood still in the field, as he took more deep breaths he also took in the beauty of the planet he found himself on. Thoughts of the Clone Wars slipped his mind and he went on his way again.

When Jaren finally arrived at the village, more time had passed than he thought would, what felt like a few seconds of standing in the field was, in reality, about 4 hours, that is just how easy it was to get lost in the beauty of Lankade, that beauty was basically non existent in the village, it was dirty, the walls of local areas were stained with blood, it did not help that the night sky made the place feel like a murder scene waiting to happen, or perhaps it already did happen, that would explain the smell reminiscent of rotting corpses.

It did not take long for Jaren to notice a mugging in progress. A helpless Twi'Lek teen was the soon to be mugging victim of a skinny looking Kaleesh, you don't see that everyday. Jaren thought about going in head on, he readied his fists, but could not bring himself to jump in, he was mentally and physically exhausted. The thoughts of the Clone Wars and the trip there took a toll on him, he had to rest for the night, probably at an inn somewhere. His exhaustion didn't stop him from moving a sign slightly to the side, causing the Kaleesh to hit his head on the metal part knocking himself out, Jaren chuckled for the first time in days, it felt good to be amused. He then went to rest for the night, the inn near the middle of the village sounded comfortable.

The next next few days went by quickly, Jaren began discreetly protecting the innocent of the village. He fought off a young bounty hunter, she was apparently after the Kaleesh from Jaren's first night there, he sensed some good in her and decided to let her off with a warning. He also stopped a quiet bar argument from becoming a shoot out between two fugitives, needless to say, they were found outside of the bar tied to a pole. Whatever else happened was just a blur in Jaren's mind, he had done much in the few days he had been there.

"Maybe this place isn't as ugly as I thought." Jaren remarked under his breath, there was some truth to what he said, he had already grown used to the bad smells and hideous structures around him, it was not quite home, but it could be in time.

"Hey mister." a young high pitched voice said politely. Jaren turned around, it was a little girl, no more than 10, she was dirty and covered in white rags, a strand of red hair hung out from under her hood.

"What is it, young one?" Jaren inquired, he hadn't talked to any of the innocents until this moment, he was surprised that there was no hesitation to ask what the girl wanted, maybe it was the Jedi Knight in him.

"Do you have any money?" The girl asked awkwardly. He did, only a single coin, which wouldn't help her much, it was only worth half a credit, still he gave it to her, the girl needed whatever she could get and who was he to keep it from her. "Thank you, sir!" she smiled at him, he smiled back, the second time he's smiled in the last few years.

The girl began walking away, she had not even made it a few steps away from Jaren when he noticed something the girl was doing with the coin he gave her, she was playing with it, but not with her hands, she was making it float. Jaren didn't know what to think, this was the first time he had seen a force sensitive in person other than himself in 6 years. This revelation could be very good, or very, very bad. On one hand he could train her and they could bring the Empire down together, on the other hand, if the Empire's stance on this planet ever changes and she's found out… Jaren doesn't want to think about that alternative

"Hey, what's your name?" Jaren suddenly asked the girl, making her stop in her tracks.

"Mara, Mara Jade." Mara said. She turned around curious about why this stranger would want to know this.

"My name is Jaren Ko. I saw what you were doing with the coin."

"Oh, this?" Mara began making the coin maneuver through the air and around her hand, "I've been able to do that since, well, I don't know when."

Jaren reached his hand out "Let me show you something." Mara gave the coin to Jaren, and he began making the coin float.

Mara gasped with childlike curiosity, "You can do it too?!" Jaren chuckled warmly and nodded. He made the coin move back into Mara's palm.

"Mara, have you ever heard of the Jedi?" Jaren whispered.

"Yes, I've heard a lot about them, they're so cool! A lot of people say they were traitors but they sound like awesome heroes and…" Jaren shushed her, she was being much tooloud, he didn't want his cover to be blown. He had never seen someone get so excited at the mention of the Jedi before, he was flattered.

"You want me to tell you a secret?"

"Are you a Jedi!?" Mara said loudly, luckily nobody heard, Jaren was relieved. He nodded. "Seriously!" Mara yelled again. "Oh, sorry." She said quietly, her face was red, she was noticeably embarrassed.

"No don't worry, it's fine." Jaren reassured. He was about to ask her if she wanted him to train her in the ways of the Jedi, but he had to ask one thing first, "Do you have parents?"

"No, they died when I was 3, I've been on my own for awhile."

"Well, how about you come live with me, I can train you to be a Jedi Knight." Mara clasped her hands over her mouth, trying not to scream as she now knew not too.

"Can we fight the Empire?" Mara peeped innocently. Jaren was almost happy that she already wanted the Empire to fall, though the question hinted that she would most likely try to fight them when she wasn't ready, nevertheless, Jaren nodded once again. He took Mara by the hand and lead her back to the inn where he lived. Jaren taught her the intricacies of the force for the rest of the night.