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Aboard the Royal Harpy – En Route to Yavin IV
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The hum of the hyperdrive reverberated softly through the Royal Harpy, the Corellian freighter cutting through the fabric of space at lightspeed. The cockpit was dimly lit, the faint glow from the nav controls reflecting against the hardened expression of rah Asli, our pilot. She was a woman of skill, a veteran of nurous operations before she had ever even worked with Jedi. While she wasn’t Force-sensitive, her instincts were razor-sharp, and few pilots could maneuver a ship the way she did.
I sat beside her, adjusting my gloves as I peered out into the swirling hyperspace corridor. Ahsoka stood nearby, arms crossed, her lekku twitching slightly as she studied the readouts on the panel.
"ETA five minutes. Shouldn’t be too rough of a landing—assuming Yavin IV’s atmosphere doesn’t throw us around too much," rah muttered, her eyes fixed on the display.
"You always this confident, or are you just showing off?" I teased.
She smirked, adjusting the thrusters slightly. "You don’t survive long in this job without confidence. Cockiness gets you killed. Big difference."
Ahsoka chuckled. "I like her."
rah rolled her eyes, but there was amusent behind it. "I get that a lot. Now strap in—dropping out of hyperspace."
The Royal Harpy lurched slightly as the swirling blue of hyperspace gave way to the deep black of real space, punctuated by the massive gas giant Yavin and the erald moon of Yavin IV below us. The planet looked deceptively peaceful, its thick jungles stretching endlessly in every direction. But we knew better. The ancient Sith presence here was far from dormant.
The comm crackled to life, and a familiar voice greeted us.
"You took your ti, Will."
Shaak Ti’s image flickered onto the screen, standing atop an old Massassi temple. Her expression was calm as always, but there was a trace of unease in her presence.
"Had to make sure the ship didn’t fall apart on the way here, Master," I replied with a smirk, glancing at rah.
She scoffed. "You’re lucky I like you."
Shaak Ti’s gaze shifted to Ahsoka. "I see you brought company. I’m glad. This situation has beco... complicated."
Ahsoka leaned forward. "How complicated?"
Shaak Ti’s expression darkened. "We’re not alone here. The cult from Dromund Kaas you guys discovered has arrived. And they’re looking for sothing."
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We touched down near the edge of an overgrown clearing, where Shaak Ti was waiting. As we stepped down the boarding ramp, I could feel it imdiately—the dark presence lingering in the air, woven into the very ground beneath us.
Ahsoka exhaled sharply. "It’s thick. The Dark Side has a strong presence here."
Shaak Ti nodded. "This moon was once the domain of Exar Kun. His temples still hum with residual power. And that’s exactly why they’re here."
rah, standing at the foot of the ramp with her blaster pistol slung over, frowned. "Who exactly are ’they’?"
Shaak Ti glanced toward the treeline. "The second Sith cult. We first heard whispers of them in Ziost, but now we know their true origin. They are the remnants of Sith doctrine from Dromund Kaas. They operate in the shadows, unlike the Crimson Forge. Their aim isn’t war—it’s preservation of Sith knowledge for sothing bigger. And right now, they’re after sothing ancient."
I didn’t need to ask what.
I already knew.
"They’re searching for Exar Kun’s lightsaber," I said, the realization sinking in.
Shaak Ti confird it with a grim nod. "One of the most dangerous relics in history. If they find it, they’ll have access to its power—and to the knowledge buried with it."
Ahsoka clicked her sabers together, her expression hardening. "Then we better find it first."
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We trekked through the dense jungle, guided by Shaak Ti’s knowledge of the ancient Massassi ruins. The deeper we went, the stronger the presence beca—an echo of sothing dark, whispering through the trees, as if the spirits of the past were watching us.
"There were once hundreds of temples here," Shaak Ti explained as we moved cautiously forward. "But only a few remain structurally intact. Exar Kun’s saber was lost long ago, but its last recorded location was deep beneath the largest remaining Sith temple."
rah adjusted her pistol. "And let guess. That’s where the cult is headed?"
I sighed. "Wouldn’t be fun otherwise."
As we approached the temple’s periter, we could see the remnants of recent activity. The cult had already arrived.
Figures in black and crimson robes moved thodically around the temple entrance, carefully examining its structure. At their center, a Sith Lord stood, his presence undeniable—a figure clad in deep red armor, watching over his followers like a predator studying prey.
"We need to get inside before they do," Shaak Ti murmured.
Ahsoka gave a sideways glance. "Any bright ideas, Gran-Paladin?"
I inhaled, feeling the weight of responsibility settle over . We had little ti, and if we failed here, the Sith would gain an artifact of unimaginable power.
I turned to rah. "Think you can give us a distraction?"
She smirked, already reaching for her grenades. "I was hoping you’d say that."
Ahsoka spun one of her sabers in hand. "Then let’s move."
The Jedi Order had abandoned Yavin IV long ago. But today, the Paladins had co to reclaim its lost history.
And we wouldn’t leave without the saber of Exar Kun.
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