Chapter 1

Finn ran into the command center to speak with General Dameron in person. Poe was looking over another chart on the center display console when Finn found him. "Finn, buddy," he said with an icy tone. "What happened out there?"

"Did you get our transmissions?"

"I got something but you're not making any sense. Some… ancient force destroyed Ebron's fleet? And you lost Rey? I thought I told you not to engage."

"We didn't. Ebron found the force he was looking for on Melochaj and released it, but he couldn't control it. They destroyed his entire fleet and then came for us."

"And what about this gravity well?"

"It's a weapon that prevents ships from entering hyperspace. The Empire used them during the Rebellion, Chopper recognized the effect on the ship because the Ghost was caught in something similar when he was flying with General Syndulla. We only escaped because Rey sacrificed herself."

"I knew it was a bad idea to send her. This was your fool's mission, and now we've lost our best hope against the First Order remnants."

"It was her idea. Do you really think you could've stopped her from going? This is important. She knew the risks but she still went. She gave herself up so we could escape and warn you!"

"Warn me about what, exactly? Some… crazy fairy tale fleet that jumps out and blows up the First Order? I'm not even seeing a problem."

"They attacked the First Order fleet so quickly after they launched… I don't think they even knew or cared what the First Order was. They were coming to attack us too, no warning, no provocation."

"What do you want me to do, General?"

"We have to warn the surrounding systems about the threat. At the very least they should know they can't pass through that system anymore without risking being pulled out of hyperspace."

"All right," Poe huffed. He waved away his chart and used the console to call up a chart of the sector around Melochaj. "That's a pretty empty sector but there's a few systems. We have some people on Ganydar, I'll put them in charge of warning the neighbors."

Poe pushed a few more buttons on his console. "That's strange. They're not answering."

"Maybe they're busy," Finn suggested.

"That's not like them. They never leave the comm unmanned. Hang on…" Poe kept working the console. "It's not just them. There's no signal at all from Ganydar. What is going…"

He continued to push buttons on the console. Four star systems near Melochaj turned red on the map, including Ganydar. "Oh no…" Poe said.

"What is it? What's this showing?"

"I'm just scanning for signals. Any signals. These four systems have gone completely dark."

"The four closest to Melochaj?"

"Not exactly, but close. These aren't the exact closest but they're strategic. Controlling these four systems gives them control over the hyperspace lanes into Melochaj. We have to find out what's happening there. I'll see what ships we have available…"

"Send probes. I've seen what their ships can do, we can't risk sending anyone."

"Maybe you're right. There are some old Imperial probe droids collecting dust in storage. We'll have to be careful, but they can be reprogrammed."

"Thank you, sir. I also have another idea for how to learn about our enemy," Finn said. "The Jedi knew about this force. They kept the planet quarantined for centuries and it's a good bet Ebron found out about it from Jedi records. We should try to find an old Jedi history, see if it tells us anything about them."

"The Jedi Archives on Coruscant are long gone," Poe said.

"There's still Jedi temples around. Where's the oldest one that's nearby?"

"Let me check…" Poe said, typing on the console. "Sarapas is closest but Vanadar is just a bit further and supposedly has Jedi historical records.."

"Can we take Vedya?"

"Padawan Vedya is maintaining comm silence. I can't risk trying to get her a signal when she's so close to General Skeen. Why do you need her?"

"I'm not sure we'll be able to open the temple without a Jedi."

"Should've thought of that before you lost Rey! See what you can do on your own. Vedya is due to check-in in five days, but…" Poe trailed off, gesturing like he wanted Finn to finish the thought.

"That's a long time to wait right now. I'll try my best."

"Hey; that's all I can ask, buddy."

The Renegade dropped out of hyperspace in the Vanadar system. The system was sparsely populated. It had one inhabited planet, Vanadar, which was a damp swamp. The temple was on the swamp planet, located in the middle of a rare dry island in the tropical jungles that encircled the equatorial regions of the world.

They came out of hyperspace near Vanadar but quickly realized they weren't alone. There was a large First Order fleet in orbit over the planet. "Crap!" Finn said when he saw it. "Have they scanned us?"

"Not yet, sir," Gatya replied.

"They will soon. I'm sure they saw us come out of hyperspace and they'll get curious before long. If only we had BB-8. He could mask our signature and spoof our transponder."

"Whomp? Womp wa womp waa waa!"

"What do you mean you invented that?" Finn asked.

Chopper plugged in and spun the port rapidly, continuing to lecture Finn as he did.

"That's great, Chop, it is. How was I supposed to know you could do that? I don't know, Chop, you're like seventy years old or something, how am I supposed to know what you can do?"

"Womp wa wa. Da daa!"

"You did it? Gatya, are we still clear on scans."

"Nothin' yet, sir. They're hailing us now though."

"Put it through."

"Shuttle Denovian, this is Commander Gondan of the First Order. We weren't expecting you. Please explain."

"Sorry sir, we're having trouble with the transmission. Can you repeat?" Finn said before ending his transmission. He turned to Chopper and said, "Denovian? Who are we, Chop?"

Chop explained while the commander repeated his request. Finn responded, "Of course sir. We're delivering supplies to the surface. You should have us on your schedule."

"Must be another mixup. What's your clearance code?"

"It's.. hang on…" Finn said, looking desperately at Chopper.

"Wa womp wa. Waa!"

"We're transmitting now," Finn said.

"Code accepted. Please proceed to the spaceport on Vanadar."

Finn sighed with relief. "Nice work, Chop, I guess you still got it. I remember the name 'Gondan'. He's one of Raith's commanders, right?"

"I believe so, sir. Least he was," Gatya said.

"Given the size of this fleet I'm going to guess that's who's here. Well, even if our mission is a bust at least we can tell General Dameron we figured out where Raith went. Take us down slow and steady, Gatya. No surprises until we're low enough to dodge their sensors."

"I know how to fly, sir. Ye might want to get yerself ready for the 'surprises', though."

Finn sat down and strapped himself in.

"Wa wa?" Chopper asked.

"Just lock down, Chop."

The shuttle coasted down towards the planet's surface. The spaceport was nowhere near the old temple, however, so they were going to have to veer off their flightpath at some point. Gatya eyed the groves of trees growing in the swamps below. "I think I can fly below tree cover but there's not much of it around the port. They'll notice we're off course sooner than we'd like. Want to try the distress special?"

"Sure," Finn replied.

"Wa waa?"

"Don't worry about it, Chop, this one doesn't need you."

Gatya continued along as though she was heading to port until the landing pads were visible. Then she shut off half the engines abruptly. The shuttle began to drop and swerve off course. "Shuttle Denovian," a voice on the radio called, "You've departed from your course. Are you having issues? Over."

"Port control we're…" Finn said. He pushed a button on the console next to him that sent static. "Unable to…" more static… "lost both of our!... this is the Denovian requesting immedi… Ahhhhhhh!" Finn shouted. He calmly disconnected the radio and killed the transponder a moment later as soon as the shuttle dropped below the trees.

Gatya rapidly moved to restore power to all the engines and regain control of the shuttle as it hurtled through the branches in the canopy layer of the trees. It burst out below the canopy and into the understory a moment later. There were no leaves there but the swamp trees were densely packed and The Renegade was heading straight into a cluster of three trunks.

Gatya reacted with lightning speed to dodge around them and plot a course to continue through the forest. It was a rough ride, but Finn only counted three times where he was entirely out of his seat and pressed into his restraints.

She slowed as they approached the rocky outcrop and stopped to check sensor readings. "There are life signs around the temple and a bit of garbled radio," she said. "Probably encrypted communications."

"They're here?" Finn said.

"Seems likely."

"Put us down as far away as you can without landing in the swamp. We'll go in on foot."

"Womp wa wa whomp?" Chopper asked.

"You keep the ship warm and your comm open. We'll be in a hurry when we leave."

The ship set down near the edge of the boggy water and Finn and Gatya armed up and set out.

They worked their way through the trees across damp ground that was buried under at least a half meter of dead, decaying leaves. They found a tree near the temple that they could climb to get a view. It was nearly dusk by the time they were in position.

The temple was a cylinder of stone ringed by a stone walkway, and it looked like it was at least fifty meters tall. The entire structure looked like it was a single piece of rock and there was only one obvious entrance, a rectangular doorway that led into a darkened passage. Finn and Gatya looked around the area through scopes to see who was there. They saw several pieces of First Order equipment around the temple and caught occasional glimpses of stormtroopers patrolling around the perimeter, just beyond the trees. There was no one around the base of the cylinder, however.

After a few minutes of watching they saw someone come out of the entrance. It was a human male who looked to be in his teens. He had black spiky hair and a triangle shaped goatee. He was wearing baggy clothes with bulky, blue colored pads sticking out around the shoulders, elbows, and knees. He was looking down at the ground.

A figure marched towards him from the woods in a hurry. He was a green-skinned humanoid dressed in black with a molded armor plate over his chest and a flowing black cape behind him. He wore a black helmet with five sharp horns protruding in a ring around it. Finn recognized him and said, "Inquisitor Krawle. Could've guessed he'd be here. Let's try to listen in."

They turned on the long range mics on their scopes and spied on the conversation as Krawle approached the young man. "Dahzi Sunn, have you left without opening the door again."

"Lord Krawle, I can't…"

"You can't keep failing me!" The inquisitor pulled a short, multi-ended whip from his belt and struck the young man hard across the cheek. "Three weeks you have been here! You have one task! You're supposed to have more power than this. If you can't open a simple door, you are useless!" He struck the boy again.

"I'm sorry, Lord Krawle…"

Another blow from the whip silenced the young man. "Save your apologies for Admiral Raith. If you continue to fail, you'll answer to him."

"Yes, master," the boy said, chastened. He slunk back into the temple.

"That's terrible," Gatya said, "They've kidnapped that poor boy and they're trying to use him to force their way into the temple. What do ye think they need with him, though?"

"He's probably a force user. I thought you might have to use the force to get in."

"The Inquisitor's a force user too, isn't he?"

"Yes. But according to Rey, he's nothing special. The kid must have more power."

"Should we rescue the boy?"

Finn nodded. "Let's sneak in after dark. We can get him out and maybe learn more about the temple and the First Order force here. It sounds like we probably won't get in until Padawan Vedya can join us."

They stayed in the tree until nightfall and continued to scout out the enemy patrols. If the enemy suspected their ruse with the shuttle crash, there was little sign of it. Patrols were light and sporadic, and Finn was confident they could get to the door unnoticed.

They climbed down and snuck quietly around through the trees towards the temple. They walked on tiptoes towards the entrance. They were just a few steps away when they heard a stormtrooper shout out, "Hey! You!" Several blaster shots rang out and hit the wall beside them.

Gatya drew four blaster pistols in four hands and had the stormtrooper down before Finn even got his heavy rifle aimed. The blaster fire had attracted attention, however, and more troopers began to rush over immediately.

Finn and Gatya jumped into the entrance and Gatya began to spray coverfire at the approaching troops. "Hold them off," Finn said.

"Hold them off? Until when?"

"I'm going to talk to the kid. Maybe I can help him open the temple up."

"Open the temple up? Have ye lost yer mind? He's been at it three weeks already! How long are ye expectin' me to hold them?"

"Just give me a chance."

"I'll give ya what I can. It's been a right honor to serve with ya, ye damned daft maniac."

Finn ignored her snark and ran back down the dark passage. He heard Gatya's blasters working overtime behind him. She could hold stormtroopers off for quite a while, but sooner or later they'd bring heavier weaponry.

Finn found the young man by a sealed stone door at the end of the corridor. The young man threw his hands up. "Don't shoot! I'm not armed."

"I'm not going to shoot. I'm with the Resistance. We're here to rescue you."

"Resistance?! Rescue me? What in the world makes you think I need rescuing?"

"We… saw the Inquisitor beating you. He's forcing you to open the door for them, right?"

"He's my master. He's teaching me to use the force. What are you idiots thinking? They'll kill you all and I'll be lucky if they don't kill me for talking to you."

"You really think he's helping you? Treating you like that?"

"That's how these things work. He's tough, but you have to be tough to use the force."

"That's not how I've seen it taught. Look, I don't have the force but I've helped teach younglings. I've seen how it's done right. If I help you open that door, will you hear me out?"

Blasters continued to ring out behind them. The boy scoffed, "I'm not sure I have a choice now. But I've been at this for weeks. It's impossible."

"Let me see what you've been trying."

The boy turned and lifted his hands. He strained and grunted as he pushed with the force. The door began to shake, but it didn't move. "Open!" he yelled. "I said open! You stupid piece of useless rock. If I can't lift you I'll blast you to a million pieces!" He pushed again with all his might. The entire temple shook, but the door was unmoved and unharmed.

"That was… interesting. Let's try something else. I want you to close your eyes and relax."

"Relax? How is relaxing going to help?"

"You said you'd try."

"Fine. I'm relaxed."

"Now feel the living force around you. Feel my force, flowing through me. Feel my pilot's force down the hall. Feel the connections. Feel how everything is linked."

"This is dumb."

"Try. Do You feel it? Do you feel it flowing through you?"

"I… yes. I do."

"Now feel the force connecting to other things. Feel the walls, the floor, the ceiling, and the door. Feel the force connecting to the door. Feel everything around it and feel how the force flows through it."

"It's a door. I don't… wait. Maybe I do," the boy said. He cracked a hint of a smile. "I can feel the door. I feel everything around it."

"Good. Now focus on the door, and only the door. And lift it."

The boy opened his eyes. "I can't. It's impossible."

"You have to stay focused," Finn said, trying hard not to sound frustrated.

"No. I get it now. That was exactly my problem. I kept trying to lift the door but I couldn't because it's impossible to lift the door. But that's because…" the boy said. He turned to the door and lifted both arms in front of him, crossed in front of his chest and pointed down with outstretched fingers at some unseen points beyond the walls. He moved the hands together and then continued to slide them apart, sideways. As he did, Finn could hear some hidden heavy stones inside the wall sliding along. "…The door doesn't go up." The hidden stones in the wall continued to slide and as they did, the door dropped down until there was a passable opening into the temple.

"Gatya! We're in!" Finn yelled. He jumped in the entrance and a moment later, Gatya sprinted into the entrance behind him.

The boy hesitated for a moment. He looked back down the corridor but only heard more blaster fire. Finally, he jumped in as well. He closed the door behind them, sealing them in and away from the troopers.

"Thanks kid," Finn said. "I'm Finn."

"And I'm Gatya Feyn. Thanks for savin' us back there."

"Yeah. I'm Dahzi. Dahzi Sunn. What are you doing here?"

"We need information. There's supposed to be some history recorded here."

The inside of the temple was hollow and a spiral staircase ran up and down the entire height. The tube extended into the ground below them as well, deep enough that they couldn't easily see the bottom.

The inside of the wall was lined with writing. Dahzi turned to look at it. "I can read this," he said. "It is a history. It looks like the newest history is at the top, like they started at the bottom and wrote up. It ends here… with a separatist plot to kidnap the Chancellor. What is that about? Was that… something recent?"

"No," Finn said. "That's from the Clone Wars. About fifty years ago."

"Why does it end there?"

"Shortly after that, the Jedi Order fell. There was no one left to record history."

"Jedi? What do they have to do with anything?"

"This is a Jedi temple. You didn't know?" Finn asked.

"They don't tell me much," Dahzi said.

"We don't want recent history. We want something ancient. Sounds like we should head down."

"Sounds like it," Dahzi said.

They walked down and Finn noticed that Dahzi was being a bit careless. "Watch your step," he said, "You never know if there might be booby traps…" but before he could finish the thought, the stairs beneath Dahzi converted into the smooth ramp and he slid down the spiral ramp, screaming as he slid.

Dahzi landed with a thud on the bottom of the temple. There was a wider chamber there, lined with statues of stately, elderly looking figures in robes. There was more writing along the walls. He looked up to see what had become of his companions, but he saw nothing. He dusted himself off.

Suddenly he heard a child's voice, "Hey, mister. What are you doing here?" He looked up to see a young boy, perhaps ten years old. He was dressed in brown rags and had a mop of blond hair on his head.

"Who are you? Why are you here?" Dahzi asked.

"I'm the caretaker of the temple. I'm a Jedi Knight!" the boy said.

"Jedi Knight… they were all wiped out. The temple's abandoned."

The boy vanished, and Dahzi heard a new, older voice behind him, which said, "That's true. The Jedi were all killed." Dahzi looked and saw a man not much older than himself. He was dressed in a brown robe and he had short-cut blond hair, except for a single, braided lock that dangled off on one side. "But I'm not really here. And I'm not exactly alive."

"What are you? Who are you?"

"A Jedi Knight, like I told you. I'm Anakin, but my friends call me Ani. Now, I asked you a question: what are you doing here?"

"I'm looking for information."

"No, you're not."

"What?" Dahzi asked.

"No. You're not," the specter said. He had vanished and reappeared again and now was older and had long wavy hair. "Your companions are looking for information. Your master outside is looking for information. But you don't care about that at all, do you? So what do you want?"

"I'm just trying to help."

"No. You're not. You can't lie. Tell me the truth. What do you really want?"

"I want… strength. I want power," Dahzi said, surprised by his own conviction in the response.

"Well, which is it?"

"Which is what?"

"Which do you want? Do you want strength?" the specter said. He vanished mid sentence and reappeared behind Dahzi once more. Dahzi spun to see him now in black battle armor with shoulder pads that sported a Jedi insignia. There was now a long scar across over his right eye and down his cheek. "Or do you want power?" he asked, grasping an empty fist in front of his chest emphatically.

"What's the difference?" Dahzi asked.

"The difference may seem small, but everything depends on your choice."

"Do you always talk in riddles?"

The specter laughed, warmly. "Sorry, kid. That's kind of the Jedi way. But I still haven't gotten an answer from you. Why are you here?"

"I just… followed those people in."

"Why? You weren't with them."

"He said they could show me a better way to learn my power. And he did help me open the door… but, you're right. This is crazy. I need to go back and turn them in, before it's too late."

"Maybe," the specter said, "or you could stick with your gut and stay with them."

"Stay with them? But they're the Resistance. They're doomed. Why would I join a lost cause?"

"Like you said, they helped you reach your goal. Think how much you learned in just a minute with them compared to the last month with your old master."

"He's… he's teaching me. He's just a little hard sometimes. But that's how you learn."

"You know he's not trying to help you, right? He only wants your power for himself. But you're stronger than him. Stronger than he'll ever be. If you reach your potential, you'll become a threat to him and his position. He won't just let you. He'll try to hold you back and if that fails, he'll try to destroy you."

"I know."

"You know?"

"Yeah. That's how things work. Everyone is only looking out for themselves. He's using me and I'm using him. But I've hidden my true strength from him. By the time he tries to strike me down, he won't stand a chance."

"But what if there was a better way? An easier way?"

"What, with the Resistance? They won't want me to get what I want either. They'll just try to use me until they realize they can't anymore and then they'll cast me aside, just like Krawle. It's a Blurg eat Blurg universe, and that's just how things work."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"What does your intuition tell you about the Resistance fighters?"

"It tells me… that they're fools. Gullible, naive, pathetic fools." Dahzi smiled. "If they think I'm on their side and that I'm helping them, they'll just let me take advantage of them at every turn. I can walk all over them."

The specter smirked and nodded at him. "So it's decided. You'll stay with them, and learn how to use the force."

"Why do you care? Why do you want me with them?"

"I want to help you. We share more in common than you think. You can think of me like a guide."

"Why should I trust you? How do I know you're not just serving your own interests?"

The specter chuckled, "Being dead, my options for serving my own interests are kind of limited."

"But you're one of them. You're a Jedi. I don't want to be like you. I don't want to give my life away, give my power away to serve some pointless cause. Why should I follow you?"

"Like I said, we have more in common than you think. And you should know…" he vanished again, "I wasn't always a Jedi."

Dahzi spun again and saw the man now dressed all in black. His eyes had turned an eerie shade of yellow and there was something just off about him now. Dahzi sensed anger and loss in him now. The feeling of fury was overwhelming.

"So, whatever you choose, I just want to help you be your best self, Dahzi Sunn. And I have so much I could teach you. I just need to see if you can do one little thing first." The specter tossed a lightsaber at Dahzi, which Dahzi caught. He'd used them in training with the Inquisitor, and he knew how to use it.

"And what's that?" Dahzi asked.

The specter drew and lit its own lightsaber. "Survive," it said. It charged at Dahzi and swung a swift blow down at him.