Chronicles: Act I

Act I Playlist
Above you can find a link to the playlist compiled by The-Elvenqueen and Freedomliveson, for songs which set the mood/scene for the events of Act I of the roleplay.

Yerbol and Lysa
Yerbol Massani and his sister Lysa are training as Jedi Knights under the Masters on Tython. Lysa is more independant and always arguing with the older Masters, questioning orders and acting recklessly. It was no surprise when, shortly after passing their Knight trials, Lysa was drawn in by a Sith Lord known as Lord Bracknell, which leads to her subsequent 2 year disappearance, which Yerbol spends trying to defend her reputation and dispel rumours of Lysa falling to the Dark Side. This continues for two years before he receives Lysa’s message.

Aria and Lysa
Aria Saal is the daughter of Dark Council member Roan Saal (Darth Noctis) and a high-profile Senator from Onderon, who has been training in the Sith Academy on Korriban since the age of 4, with on-and-off contact with her mother where Roan and the Dark Council allowed it. Branded a “scrawny runt” by the majority of the Council and other acolytes due to her smaller stature, she must sneak extra training sessions with Roan and his apprentice, Vano, in order to build her strength and give her the abilities she requires in order to fight off all other competition and prove she is worthy to be considered for an apprenticeship to Lord Bracknell or one of the other Darths on the Council. Aria and Lysa form a strong rivalry as acolytes, constantly trying to out-compete each other in every aspect, in order to be chosen as Lord Bracknell’s apprentice. The Dark Council are slightly more reserved about Lysa due to her Jedi heritage, and their rivalry reaches its strongest point when Aria is put up to the initiation tests early and passes them, granting her the rank of Inquisitor while Lysa remains an acolyte. Lysa would once again even the playing field between the pair some eighteen months later however, when she makes a discovery hidden in Naga Sadow’s ancient tomb...

Lysa's Death
Lysa discovers that there may be an undiscovered artefact hidden in a secret passageway of Naga Sadow’s tomb, after doing her own research amongst Sith and Jedi archives and uncovering texts that hinted at the presence of a “True Sith” (the Sith Purebloods) Empire many years before, she contacts her brother Yerbol and summons him to Korriban, asking him to meet her in Naga Sadow’s tomb so that they can search for the artefact together and hopefully uncover more about the True Sith.

An avid lore enthusiast, Aria’s father Roan had discovered the existence of the artefact some years before but had failed to locate it precisely. When Lysa approaches the Dark Council and claims she can retrieve the artefact for Bracknell, Roan sends his daughter to pursue Lysa and ensure that the holocron comes to him instead of Lord Bracknell. The Inquisitor follows Lysa deep into Sadow’s tomb where she dispatches her quickly and easily, only for Yerbol to appear in the moment Aria begins to search for the secret passageway. Enraged by his sister’s death, Yerbol rises to Aria’s taunts as she attempts to bait him further into the tomb. The pair fight viciously, a few missed fatal blows damaging the support pillars holding up the ceiling of the tomb and causing the entire tomb to cave in, sealing the pair in the tomb with Lysa’s body.

Discovery of the True Sith Map
Aria and Yerbol discover the secret passageway which was activated during their fight, leading them to the artefact which they discover is in fact a map to a planet out in the region beyond the Outer Rim known as Wild Space. The pair bicker verbally over who has rightful claim over the artefact, leading to Yerbol suggesting they duel again, this time hand-to-hand. The winner of the duel would take both the artefact and the loser to present to their Masters. Finding the prospect of one dead Jedi, an ancient artefact AND a captured Jedi prisoner under her name irresistable, Aria agrees, thinking that she can use her former knowledge of the tomb to best him and win the fight. Aria launches a flurry of fierce attacks and almost succeeds in overwhelming him due to the effort required for him to continually block her attacks, but gets cocky enough to let her guard down momentarily which allows Yerbol to twist her ankle, thus incapacitating the acolyte and turning the battle to his favour. Aria is sour about the loss but sees no way to get back to the surface without Yerbol’s help, she helps him to find another passageway which leads them outside again.

Escape from Korriban/Satele's Mission
Upon exiting the tomb into the Valley of the Dark Lords, Aria and Yerbol are set upon by a group of three rival acolytes who claim to have overheard her earlier conversation with Roan and tracked her to Naga Sadow’s tomb intending to ambush her when she came out in order to steal the artefact and claim the prestige for finding it. They engage the other acolytes, Aria initially attempting to flee after killing one of their opponents and leaving the remaining two to kill Yerbol, which she would claim credit for doing, only for the Inquisitor to realise that the Jedi Knight is still in possession of the artefact, which the Darths of the Council surely need her to bring back. Under further prompting from Roan, who had been keeping watch over her exploits, she returns and helps Yerbol to fend off the remaining two attackers and helps him to flee Korriban. The initial plan was for Aria to have Yerbol lead her back to Tython where Roan and the other Darths could use her to lay a trap for the Jedi so that the Sith may wipe out what remained of the Jedi Council since the last war. This plan was thwarted when Masters Satele Shan and Syo Bakarn summon Yerbol to Taris with his prisoner in tow. During the flight from Korriban to Taris, the pair exchange names and some menial conversation regarding each others’ positions in their respective Orders, Aria explains the prestige system promoted by the Academy and Yerbol scoffs about how barbaric the system is. He questions Aria about Lysa’s role within the Sith Empire and Aria confirms that Lysa had fallen to the Dark side and come to Korriban in order to further her pursuits. After arriving at Taris, Yerbol brings Aria before Bakarn and Shan where they prompt her to help them open the artefact so that the Jedi Masters may view the map themselves. Bakarn and Shan prompt Aria for more information and in order to comply with Roan’s secret directive and gain their trust, Aria complies and the Masters make the first mention of a race known now as the “True Sith” (the original Sith Purebloods before the bloodline was later ‘diluted’ by interbreeding with (Dark) Jedi).Satele Shan suggests that Yerbol follows the co-ordinates of the map to the planet in question in order to retrieve any intel on the True Sith, and coerces Aria into accompanying him with a promise that she would walk free for her efforts and not be imprisoned and interrogated by other Jedi on the Council. Aria scoffs that Master Satele is sending them into a death trap purposefully to dispose of them, but with no further contact from her father reluctantly agrees to go along with the plan.

Later that night, Aria attempts to escape out of an open window only to be thwarted by Yerbol as he returns in an attempt to try and make amends with her for the sake of their future mission. The Inquisitor brushes it off nonchalantly and they go their separate ways, only to be summoned by Satele again the next morning. The Masters have compiled data from the Jedi Archives overnight to produce a map that is more complete, and together with Yerbol and Aria they begin to theorise the purpose of the hidden Star Map, eventually concluding it may be an attack outpost designed to allow exiled True Sith to launch more coordinated attacks on worlds where Jedi Enclaves were known to be built. The pair are dismissed to the shuttle hangar where they programme a shuttle to travel to the co-ordinates, and attempt to set aside their differences on the long hyperspace journey.

True Sith Initiates
The shuttle arrives at the coordinates, where Aria and Yerbol discover a planet with a strange dichotomy: dense jungles interspersed with rivers of lava. The pair tentatively begin explorations of the planet’s surface after finding a place to land, where Aria discovers a rune totem left there by former True Sith Masters. They begin to follow the pathway denoted by the totem, where they are then set upon by a pack of humanoid ice beasts native to the planet. Yerbol kills one, but not before it manages to summon the rest of its pack. The pack chase Aria and Yerbol into the temple at the end of the pathway, where Aria uses a Force Scream to scare the ice beasts away. Further exploration of the temple leads the duo to discover three pathways, marked “The Path of Vengeance”, “The Path of Redemption” and “The Path of Power”. Yerbol and Aria conclude that it must be a trial of some kind, and separate in order to complete the Path of Vengeance and Power respectively; Yerbol is confronted with a phantom of his sister Lysa who attempts to encourage him to kill Aria in Naga Sadow’s tomb instead of bartering with her, meanwhile Aria is placed into a vision which claims her success in leading Yerbol and the Jedi into a trap, but forces her to confront and kill her father in order to remove the final obstacle to her mantle of power on the Dark Council. Both emerge from their respective tests successfully, and venture into the “Path of Redemption” hallway together. Here, they are confronted with a simulation of a group of prisoners, being detained by a True Sith apparition who claims that one of the five prisoners is in fact innocent of any crimes and may be pardoned while the remaining four are guilty and will be put to death by execution. The apparition demands that Aria and Yerbol interrogate the five prisoners to discover whom is innocent, and vanishes again. Feeling uncomfortable with the thought of being an interrogator, Yerbol bids Aria to take over and the Inquisitor gladly agrees and proceeds to try and forcibly extract a confession from the guilty persons using the usual torture methods learned in the Korriban Academy. Yerbol expresses distaste at her readiness to cause the prisoners (projection or not) pain, to which Aria scoffs that he should turn around and not watch if it makes him uncomfortable, claiming she is equally comfortable with killing them all and making it look like an accident if they fail to get a satisfactory answer out of any of the prisoners. Yerbol intervenes and cleverly tricks the guilty prisoner into confessing, which allows the duo to pass the Redemption trial and continue onwards.

Aria is disappointed at the lack of bravado or other rewards for their completion of the trial and suggests they look further into the temple and try to find something useful. The Knight agrees and they venture in further, this time staying together. Renso's Lore Archives

They find another pathway and begin to follow it, exchanging some more banter as both attempt to make light of their current situation. A few hundred yards further, they discover another large temple-like summit carved into a rock face, which is guarded by more of the ice beasts. As Aria and Yerbol attempt to climb to the top of the structure, the ice guardians attack again and the duo are forced to fight as a team in order to fend them off. After defeating the ice beasts, Aria and Yerbol climb to the summit of the temple where they trigger a trap containing a large bat-like beast (another guardian of the temple, theorized to have been created by hybridisation experiments conducted by the True Sith during the reign of their Empire). The pair escape the clutches of the guardian by ducking through the next doorway, discovering an ornately decorated hallway and yet another staircase, blocked by the beast which somehow circumvented the small entryway in order to block their path. By teaming together, they succeed in killing the beast, allowing Aria and Yerbol to finally proceed into what appears to be an archive. Here they are confronted by the projection from the Redemption trial once more, the projection claims they are too stuck in the old ways of Jedi and Sith to learn from the True Sith and attacks. The resulting battle kindles the Force bond between the pair, and as they climb the staircase they discuss the implications of such a bond forming. Aria expresses fear at her father discovering the connection when he comes looking for her, though Yerbol points out that they have to complete their mission before they can think about trying to get the bond severed. At the top of the staircase they discover a room which appears to be a library or archive of some sort. Aria and Yerbol search the archives for information, discovering suspicious holodisks, some of which were made fairly recently. The holodisks implicate several high-profile members of the Jedi and Sith Orders as secret sleeper agents of the True Sith, who claim to be lying in wait for the right time to strike and cripple both orders so that what remains of the Senate will be forced to comply with the True Sith’s directive. Panicked by the implications of what the holodisks showed them, Aria urges Yerbol to return with her to known space so they can warn the respective leaders of their Orders. Yerbol is reluctant to jump to conclusions until he recognises Jean Soto in one of the holodisks they play back, in agreement the pair grab the incriminating evidence and return to Tython to present it to Satele and the Jedi Council.

During the hyperspace journey to Tython, Yerbol receives a mysterious vision and message from an unknown voice who claims to be planning to kill the Force in order to restore balance to the galaxy. Worried and afraid, Yerbol and Aria discuss the vision, parts of which Aria witnessed through their newfound bond, and what this discovery could mean for the pair of them, before they have to present their evidence before the Jedi Council. The Jedi Masters are reluctant to believe their claims and dismiss Aria and Yerbol back to the Knight’s quarters while they deliberate further.

Tython Massacre
When Yerbol is distracted, Aria slips off to eavesdrop on the Council’s meeting, determined to get answers of her own to take back to Roan, but instead finds the Council chamber heavily guarded and instead ends up following Jean Soto where she intercepts a secret transmission between the young Master and Lord Bracknell, revealling that the Sith Lord was in fact one of the True Sith agents planted within the Dark Council to destabilize the Sith Empire. Before Aria can flee, Soto senses her presence and confronts Aria. The Inquisitor panics and latches onto her bond with Yerbol, using it to call out to the young Knight for help. Hearing Aria’s plea, Yerbol sprints through the halls to Aria’s aid only for Soto to nonchalantly dismiss them back to their quarters as if nothing had happened at all, claiming as they leave that “all will soon be resolved”. Returning to Yerbol’s room within the temple, the young Knight berates Aria for sneaking off without him and then presses her for information, where Aria reveals the truth to him about Bracknell and implores Yerbol to help her escape so she can warn her father and friends back on Korriban. Before they can flee however, chaos  erupts in the atrium of the temple as Soto and the other Knights and Padawans she gathered to her cause launch their first attack to begin eliminating the Jedi on Tython. Having to fight their way to get to the hangar anyway, Aria and Yerbol attempt to rescue some of the younglings and other Knights from their demise. The True Sith are able to single the pair out due to Aria’s Sith-like fighting techniques and by capturing her to lure Yerbol into trying to rescue her so they can capture him too. Both are drugged, captured and taken to a remote part of Rendili where they are to be executed while Soto and the rest of her forces eliminate the remaining Jedi Masters including Satele Shan and Syo Bakarn before leaving Tython to attend to other business. A few young Padawans were able to take shelter in the Twi’lek village of Kallikori, where they would hide until they are found later by Aria, Yerbol and Neta.

Using shared meditation through their Force bond, Aria and Yerbol are able to flush the drugs from their system and defeat their captors, hijacking the shuttle used to transport them to Rendili and using the autopilot function to travel to Manaan where Bracknell has organised a summit which will cement his position with Chancellor Saresh and the cabinet by staging an attack by “rogue Force users” in order to obtain Saresh’s authorisation to carry out the execution of the remaining Jedi and Sith Masters under the Senate’s approval.

Yerbol is confronted by the mysterious voice again upon landing on Manaan, and urged that he and Aria should not interfere in the purging process. Ignoring the warning, the duo proceed to the Republic Embassy in Ahto City where they disguise themselves as maintenance workers and search the ambassador’s office for the location of the summit. Before they can boycott the meeting however, the young duo are discovered by the security cameras; aware of their presence Bracknell slips away from the summit to accompany his personal guard of Ubese and capture the duo.

Manaan
Aria and Yerbol awaken after being knocked out to find themselves in separate cells somewhere in an underwater facility on Manaan. Initially worried that they may not escape their imprisonment, Roan finally tracks down Aria’s whereabouts and arrives with Chwuq and Taral to free the Knight and Inquisitor from their cells. Yerbol protests to following the Sith Lord’s orders until Aria reassures him that as her father, Roan knows what he is doing. The Sith Lord escorts them to the hangar where they narrowly escape a planet-wide lockdown on Roan’s personal ship, and flee to a remote moon on the edge of the Outer Rim. Roan claims that they should go into hiding and wait for the worst of the fighting to blow over, due to Aria and Yerbol being too young and inexperienced to fight in a war on their own. He then leaves the Inquisitor and Knight in the shelter of a ruined building while he attempts to procure less conspicuous transport that can take them to the rendezvous he had planned. Aria agrees with her father, proclaiming that she is “not willing to die for the others” and this causes an argument to erupt between the duo as Yerbol attempts to convince Aria that it is their duty to look for the other survivors and help them, too. The argument eventually blows over and, in the light of their new-found friendship after their latest ordeals, Aria and Yerbol apologise and she agrees that they should try and do something to stop Bracknell although she isn’t sure how to win over Roan. The Sith Lord returns and summons the young pair to the ship of Netanya Orso, a former Republic spec ops soldier turned mercenary whom Roan hired to escort Aria (and by extension, Yerbol) to a safe location on a moon orbiting the Wookiee homeworld Kashyyyk, where they would be out of Bracknell’s reach for the foreseeable future. Roan then leaves them in Neta’s charge, claiming he has “unfinished business to attend to” and will join them as soon as it is concluded. Yerbol and Aria attempt to persuade Neta to divert from their intended course and return to Korriban and Tython to help them look for survivors, the mercenary is initially apprehensive and claims that “now is the time to duck and cover and not try to fight a war they can’t win”.Yerbol prods at her further by calling her a “merc” to which Neta becomes offended and reveals she has far more skill than some contract mercenary, convincing her to listen to their plan however Neta is still unwilling to risk a Sith Lord’s anger by going behind Roan’s back, able to tell that they haven’t “cleared” their plan with him yet.

Aria employs her Inquisitor training to blackmail Neta by threatening to reprogramme the co-ordinates and claim to Roan that Neta had been the one to deviate from the plan, which convinces the mercenary pilot to go along with the duo’s idea in order to avoid a worse confrontation with the Sith Lord. They set course for Tython first and during the journey Aria and Yerbol discuss their families in more detail, Aria explaining that her mother was an Onderonian Senator who had (surprisingly) worked for the Republic, Yerbol’s parents live on Taris and help with the restoration effort there. Aria enquires what it was like to have a sibling since she confesses that she never had siblings growing up.

Destruction of Tython
Arriving on Tython, they discover the Imperial fleet has set up a blockade around the planet in order to prevent anyone from entering or leaving. Roan provided Neta with an Imperial signature which they can use to slip past undetected on the way in, but Neta claims getting out will be more difficult as the Admirals and Moffs will know they aren’t part of the Imperial fleet. Neta remains with the ship after touching down while Aria and Yerbol head towards the village to search for survivors. The pair discover the village already swarming with Imperial troopers and Republic Commandos who are attempting to hunt down the last remaining Force sensitives on the planet. Working together, Aria lures the squad of soldiers away by creating a fake rockfall which she then uses to collapse part of the cliffside and trap the troopers on the mountain while Yerbol searches the village buildings and coaxes some of the Padawans out to join them. They rescue two human Padawans, Udike and Janika, and a Twi’lek named Manso before returning to Neta. The pilot warns them that she has caught a news broadcast from Bracknell on the HoloNet while they were gone and that reinforcements for the fleet have arrived since; heavy artillery ships which look like they have one purpose: to blanket bomb the planet once the Republic and Imperial troops are off-world to ensure no survivors can escape.

Their ship is seen as hostile without valid clearance codes and is fired upon as soon as they leave the atmosphere, Yerbol takes the co-pilot’s seat to help Neta maneuver while Aria takes the turret to eliminate the Dustmakers the fleet has deployed to incapacitate them. The group narrowly escape Tython thanks to Neta’s quick thinking and the slipspace generators Roan had installed beforehand, clearing the fleet just in time for them to witness the destruction of Tython before they jump to hyperspace. The Force users are momentarily incapacitated due to the massive shift in the Force which accompanies the planet’s death, Neta leaving them to rest while she settles the three Padawans in as best as she can. Aria panics as she comes to the realisation that Bracknell and Soto want to kill every last one of them, particularly more powerful Force users such as her father. They agree to continue on their course to Korriban, hoping to beat the fleet there and rescue as many as they can before they bomb that planet, too. Yerbol suggests they attempt to rally any surviving Masters to a secret location hidden from Bracknell and Soto where they can attempt to persuade them to work together to strike back, though at this point neither are sure where an optimal location would be. Yerbol suggests somewhere in Wild Space, since they are the only ones to have ventured out there recently and hopefully Bracknell and Soto would be less eager to follow them out into unfamiliar territory. Aria agrees and they shift their focus to the rescue on Korriban.

The Other Masters
Meanwhile, Master Matthew Carnegie narrowly escapes an assassination squad while stationed on Tatooine, Master Ailel Sparr is forced to go into hiding on Ryloth to avoid a similar fate, while Roan contacts Cheriss Matare (a.k.a Darth Lash) to warn her of Bracknell’s betrayal, urging her to get out of sight until it is safer for them to get in contact again. Malu Zola (Darth Jungze) takes refuge on Hoth where she is kept safe from most of the chaos until the rebels contact her later as well.

Destruction of Korriban
Neta, Aria and Yerbol arrive at Korriban to find another blockade impeding their entry, Aria finds the ID card from the shuttle Roan used to get them off-world on Manaan and they trick the blockade into letting them through to the planet. However, they will need a second ID signature to pose as an Imperial fighter ship or something similar in order for them to get out again without being shot at. Once landed, they agree to split up, Aria taking Neta with her to search the Valley of the Dark Lords and the corresponding tombs for any lucky survivors hiding out there while she sends Yerbol and the Padawans to search the Academy hangar for an ID code, which she believes would be safer than the tombs due to there being a lack of free-roaming savage beasts in the Academy grounds.

Yerbol is reluctant to split up at first, but comforted when Neta promises to look out for Aria in his place until they are reunited. Aria and Yerbol exchange a joke about wanting to see each other back in one piece again before they split off. Yerbol, Janika, Udike and Manso head into the Academy while Aria and Neta begin their search in Marka Ragnos’ tomb. Yerbol and the Padawans are ambushed by troopers in the atrium of the Academy, but manage to successfully fight them off and begin to make their way to the hangar. Aria and Neta come across a group of three Sith acolytes in the tomb, Neta questioning Aria whether she should shoot them on sight or try to talk them down and convince them to join them. Aria claims she might know them and begins to approach, only for two of the acolytes to launch an attack. Aria recognises the Mirialan as her father’s apprentice, Vano Shenly, and after exchanging a few verbal barbs revealing that they are indeed close friends, and diffuses the former tension which caused the acolytes to attack. Aria introduces them to Neta and the four begin to make their way back towards the Academy, but progress is slow due to the third acolyte, Takree, being badly wounded and unable to move very efficiently. Aria inquires whether any other acolytes escaped the troopers, particularly concerned about one named Merak. Vano shakes her head and claims that while her brother made it out to the tombs with their group, he was killed by the troopers in the same firefight that injured Takree and didn’t survive. Aria appears saddened by the news, but doesn’t elaborate further on the possible relationship between herself and Merak. Qanarr, the other acolyte, becomes frustrated at their slow progress and urges Aria and Vano to leave Takree to the tomb beasts while they escaped before the troopers came back. Aria vehemently protests to leaving Takree and insists that they work together now and things have to change. On their way back to the Academy they are ambushed again and Qanarr is fatally wounded, Aria sparing her a long and painful death by breaking her neck.

Inside the Academy, Manso attempts to break the encryption key to the hangar, finally succeeding only for them to find a group of security droids and commando troopers waiting for them. Yerbol loses control of his anger in his attempts to protect the Padawans, who are badly wounded. Udike is fatally injured while Janika and Manso could still be healed. Overwhelmed by the scenario, Yerbol calls out to Aria through their Force bond, prompting her to race ahead after feeling the strong surge of emotions from him. Aria manages to calm Yerbol down and Vano and Neta help Janika and Manso to their feet. After grabbing an ID card from an unused shuttle in the hangar, they use the transponder code to disguise Neta’s ship again and escape before Korriban is destroyed too. Neta claims the rendezvous point on Kashyyyk is no longer safe and tells Yerbol to plot course for Nar Shaddaa instead where she can get help from some of her contacts. Aria returns to their quarters to find Yerbol nearly asleep and the pair attempt to comfort one another after the traumatic experience. Aria suggests trying to contact her father and claims she could get him to help them if she phrases it in the correct manner, they agree to try after meeting up with Neta’s contacts on Nar Shaddaa.

Gathering Allies
They meet Neta’s contacts, a Chiss (Kandar Maekno), Devaronian (Bek Kata) and human (Edor Stadd), in a seedy bar in the red light sector, where they reveal they had been secretly tracking Bracknell and Soto’s movements, proving that they had been meeting up unbeknownst to either Order on worlds where the True Sith were once believed to have centers of power. They also reveal that the former Jedi Battlemaster, Voldon Zabrahini, is somewhere on Nar Shaddaa and suggest that Neta, Aria and Yerbol attempt to contact him and his wife and recruit them to their cause. The trio agree and leave Neta’s contacts to seek out other surviving Force users while they descend into the lower levels of Nar Shaddaa to search for the Battlemaster. Before finding Voldon, Aria receives a holocall from Roan after Neta informs him of their whereabouts. He berates Aria for disobeying his direct orders, and instructs them to wait on the smuggler’s moon for him to join them once more. Neta returns to the ship to meet up with the Sith Lord when he arrives on the planet while Aria and Yerbol continue onwards to find Voldon and Kira. Aria allows Yerbol to do most of the talking, the young Knight convincing the older Force users to join them and lend their expertise. Voldon promises to get directions to the safe location from Neta’s former SIS contacts and claims he and Kira will join them once they have finished searching for other survivors. Aria and Yerbol return to the hangar where they find Neta yelling at Roan due to the Sith Lord’s choice of the word “mercenary” in their previous conversation, which seems to be a sore spot for Neta. Aria and Yerbol defuse the argument only for Roan to berate his daughter further and dismiss her to the ship. He then claims to be able to sense the Force bond between them and threatens Yerbol that the only reason he has kept the Knight around for this long is due to the high probability that Yerbol’s death would result in Aria dying, too. Roan then follows Aria onto the ship, with Chwuq and Taral in tow; Aria and her father argue further, ultimately ending in the former Inquisitor convincing Roan that they need his help. Neta and Yerbol join them again after Neta urges the Knight to try and be civil with Roan despite his unsavory nature. Neta fills Roan in on their current plan and asks whether Roan may have better access to information that would allow them to find a suitable base of operations somewhere in Wild Space. An avid studier of True Sith lore, Roan proclaims that he does indeed have access to old archives and produces another partial star map he had recovered from Korriban’s library before the planet was destroyed. They are able to overlay the star map with the one Aria and Yerbol used to get to Wild Space before, enabling them to hash out partial co-ordinates to a second nearby planet. Aria and Yerbol head to the cockpit to give Neta the co-ordinates, where Aria apologises to the Knight for her father’s abrasive attitude. Yerbol claims that he will do his best not to irritate Roan further for the sake of their mission and they remain with Neta while she tries to plot their course. The Padawans attempt to approach Roan, who is unimpressed with their presence and Yerbol is prompted to call them together for a talk “before Roan throws them through the hull of the ship”. Yerbol attempts to convince the Jedi Padawans that they can work together with the former Sith, Janika agreeing somewhat timidly while Manso is less keen but able to conclude that they have little choice in the matter. Aria does the same with Vano and Takree, the Mirialan being more stubborn and much like Roan in her attitude towards the Jedi. Aria then attempts to plead with her father not to  offend their new allies to the point of them not wanting to work with them any more. Roan dismisses her concerns and refuses to acknowledge the Jedi as allies, dismissing his daughter so that he may continue his meditation. They arrive at the Wild Space co-ordinates to discover another planet, made up of what appears to be crystalline mountain formations. Roan shows interest in getting a closer look and suggests they try to land, but Aria is apprehensive that it may be dangerous and asks Neta for her opinion. The pilot confirms that navigating around the mountains to get to the ground would be nigh impossible due to the irregular air currents the crystal peaks have created and claims that they would never get to the ground in one piece. Yerbol suggests journeying further to another planet they can glimpse in the distance but the ship’s long-range scanners are unable to provide a decent read on it and the group are not prepared to take the chance that it is any more viable than the planet they are currently hovering above. Yerbol suggests that the Force users on board could all focus their abilities in order to manipulate the ship safely through the peaks to the ground, Neta is not keen on the idea as it places a lot of faith in luck and hoping there would be enough power between them, but Roan assures her it is achievable if they all work together. Neta is still unconvinced, but takes the controls anyway as they begin their descent. The group successfully works together to land safely and this defuses some of the tension between the opposing groups.

Zinuthra
Neta runs a topographical scan of the planet and discovers a group of buildings in the nearby valley, suggesting that Aria, Yerbol and Roan scout out the nearby valleys for a building or area they could make into a base of operations once they manage to recruit more followers, while the rest of the youngsters remain with Neta to repair the damage to the hull of the ship, Manso volunteers to repair the shield generators. Aria and Yerbol agree, and Roan, Chwuq and Taral accompany them out into the nearby jungles. They discover the pathway leading to one of the buildings Neta’s scan brought up, but are ambushed by a pack of native felines on their way through. Roan successfully uses his Force abilities to control the minds of the cats and dismiss them further into the jungle before they can attack and they continue onwards to the building. After Chwuq and Taral complete an initial scan of the building and confirm it isn’t dangerous, Roan sends Aria and Yerbol to investigate while he keeps watch in case there is more trouble. Yerbol discovers a terminal which, upon channelling the Force to get it to activate, grants both the young Force users with new lightsaber crystals which appear to be different in structure to their current ones. They present the crystals to Roan to examine, Aria claiming that he does a lot of alchemy work and “knows a lot about these crystals”. Roan suggests that it would be a good idea for all of the Force sensitives to swap out their current lightsaber crystals, as Bracknell would be able to track them to their location using the Force signatures of their current crystals due to the kyber crystal’s ability to “imprint” directly to the bearer of the lightsaber. Since the crystals on this planet are different, they may not imprint in the same way and thus would be harder to track. With Roan’s help the duo switch out their lightsaber crystals and they make their way back to join the other group in the second building which they discover is an old training academy of some sort which can successfully be used as a base of operations for their group as some of the meditation rooms can be repurposed into sleeping quarters. Yerbol and Manso investigate the possibility of reprogramming some of the deactivated training droids for extra security against the local fauna and/or attackers while Aria, Roan and the other acolytes attempt to set up guidance beacons using crystal structures from the mountain range to prevent any of their allies falling foul to the tricky air currents while trying to land.

The Summit
Meanwhile, Kira and Voldon have tracked down Matthew Carnegie and Ailel Sparr and recruited them to their cause,  while Kandar discovers Darth Jungze on Hoth and persuades her to make the journey out into Wild Space. Roan reaches out to Cheriss and gives her the coordinates of the planet. Just as the group finishes setting up the beacons and the makeshift base, their new allies arrive, first Elara Dorne and the rest of Havoc Squad, followed by Cheriss (who is less than pleased at the presence of the Jedi among the group, but agrees with some prodding from Roan not to kill them until at the very least hearing what Aria and Yerbol have to say once the rest of the summit is gathered). Yerbol makes a comment about Cheriss’ lack of friendliness and Janika and Manso share the sentiment, claiming that the woman “gives them the creeps”. Aria warns them not to say that within the Dathomirian’s earshot and simply to “stand up straight and answer “yes ma’am” to everything she says and everything will be fine”. They all retire to get some rest, and during the night Voldon and Kira arrive, with Matthew Carnegie and Ailel Sparr in tow along with most of Neta’s operative contacts. Yerbol receives another vision from the mysterious Sith man, who claims they will help him to restore balance to the Force. Yerbol vehemently proclaims that they will never condone mass genocide on this kind of scale and the man cautions him that one day they will both change their minds and understand. Aria is awoken by Yerbol’s distress through their Force bond and, feeling restless, heads out into the main command center with the intent to get some fresh air in time to greet the arriving Jedi Masters and attempt to make a good impression on behalf of her Sith brethren. Neta tells the new arrivals to rest before the summit starts, and Aria begins to return to their designated quarters only to fall asleep in the hallway before she gets there.

She is awoken the next morning to the others in the base gathering to begin the summit, where Cheriss screeches at Roan to keep Chwuq and Taral out of the meeting room, since the two Tuk’ata follow the Sith Lord wherever he goes. The Jedi and Roan bicker further and Aria contacts Yerbol to ask him to help her come and break up the argument, making a remark about how quickly the elders began bickering without even talking about anything important yet. Aria and Yerbol recount the events since their first meeting in Naga Sadow’s tomb, including their ordeal on the unknown True Sith planet, and the visions from the mysterious True Sith. The Masters present are also apprehensive to believe the visions, putting forward that Bracknell could be creating an alternate persona as a red herring in order to lead the duo astray. Aria proclaims that she is familiar enough with Bracknell’s presence to know it isn’t him at all, Kira questions how a man as unassuming as Bracknell could amass so much power and influence so quickly, and the meeting is interrupted when Kandar arrives with Darth Jungze in tow. Cheriss and Roan reveal that they suspected Bracknell had alterior motives for a long time, but due to the man’s natural skill in tactics and planning they never had any solid proof to expose him with and Cheriss was not willing to break the law in order to try to find it. Ailel suggests that they revisit the library Aria and Yerbol found the holodisks in and try to find more information, after some debate it is agreed that this is a viable course of action. Jungze cuts into the conversation to point out the Force bond between the Knight and Inquisitor which they begrudgingly confirm. Jungze concludes that Aria and Yerbol must return to the supposed True Sith homeworld since they have a connection to the projection and it is possible anyone else wouldn’t be able to gain access to the library without them.

Revisiting the Library
Roan protests violently to putting his daughter in danger and another argument ensues between the Sith and Jedi Masters, the only individuals not joining in being Voldon and Jungze. Aria and Yerbol attempt to catch the Masters’ attention but their efforts go largely ignored, leading Aria to conclude that the only way to get their attention is to literally scream at them. Aria warns Yerbol and advises him to create some kind of shield, asking him to protect Neta, Elara, Voldon and Jungze if he can. Aria’s Force scream successfully quiets the bickering and she insists that they should go, Roan begrudgingly volunteers to come with as well and it is settled that Voldon and Jungze should join them as well. They travel back to the True Sith homeworld and quickly make their way to the top of the library tower, easily fending off the tower guardians this time with the help of the four older Force users. Here, they split up to cover more ground where the group discover the lineage records kept by Renso Kator, who the records claim was one of the most powerful Force users amongst the Sith Purebloods. Voldon then appears and urges them to meet the rest of the group at a nearby information terminal where Roan has made an important find. The Sith Lord discovers a more comprehensive file of the genealogies Yerbol almost overlooked, not only that, but Roan has managed to analyse a fair portion of the lineage tree and trace it back from the current survivors of Bracknell’s purge to either relatives of Renso Kator or his closest followers. They take the lineage records and attempt to leave to return to their newly established base, only to be ambushed by Bracknell and more of the Sith projections on the ground floor. A battle ensues during which Bracknell attempts to kill Aria and Yerbol particularly, after discovering that his True Sith Master has been in contact with them and perceiving them as a threat to his climb to power. He successfully separates the duo by manipulating the True Sith projections, then proceeds to use a mind trick to play on one of Aria’s worst fears by forcing her to relive the moment she murdered her mother. Roan intervenes and dispels the projection, using a burst of dark energy to destroy the apparition and knock Bracknell unconscious at the same time. The group hurry back to their base planet, which the True Sith archives reveal to be named Zinuthra, where Roan leaves Aria in her quarters with Yerbol while he and the others attempt to decipher the records they retrieved.

Aria shares her guilt and regret on the matter and confesses that she doesn’t understand how Roan can act as if the matter meant nothing to him at all. Yerbol comforts her by sharing a similar experience of his own as a young Knight in a warzone on Ilum and after a few moments of quiet they quickly rejoin Jungze and the others to hear what they have uncovered from the archives. Jungze reveals some more information about the True Sith governmental structure, which comprised of eight Council members each in charge of an area of society. This is very reminiscent of the structure of the recently disbanded Dark Council, but is not the most interesting fact they present. Roan reveals that the genealogies they brought back are in fact an attempt by Renso and his disciples to trace the entirety of the True Sith’s bloodlines, leading all the way to many modern day Force users, including themselves. Roan claims that many of their group are more closely related to Renso and his original followers than Bracknell, which explains why they were not hunted down as fiercely as the other Force users. But now that Yerbol and Aria have received contact from a man they presume to be a descendant of Renso as well, Bracknell feels threatened and as if he must eliminate them before they can take his place. Roan suggests they begin a form of information warfare, leaking this information back onto the HoloNet to prove that Bracknell is going against Renso’s original teachings with the hopes of exposing him and turning some of his followers to their cause instead. While the older Force users discuss the finer details, Aria and Yerbol end up both slipping outside for fresh air at the same moment and agree to attempt to follow their Force bond and make a connection with the mysterious Sith man. They succeed and converse with him in more detail, while he refuses to reveal his identity he claims that their strengthening Force bond and friendship is already helping to spread his original message, which Bracknell has since twisted for his own gain. He urges Aria and Yerbol to stop Bracknell’s conquest by any means necessary and cuts contact with them.

Information Warfare
An elaborate conquest ensues over the next six months, comprising of various missions where the surviving Force users must undertake tasks such as hijacking HoloNet channels to feed in these messages, boycotting executions of Force users, rescuing prisoners and attempting to assassinate those of Bracknell’s followers who they cannot convince to join them. Yerbol journeys to Hoth with a squad where they attempt to sabotage Alliance efforts there, while Aria and Kira act as a protection escort for a recent cargo freighter of defector diplomats. Before the duo must venture out again to rescue another group of Force users slated for execution, they take a short respite break. Yerbol suggests they take a walk through Zinuthra’s jungles and Aria agrees, so the pair set off and begin a conversation about what they might do with their lives after the war is over. Yerbol confesses he’d like them to stay together as a team, as they have become very close friends over the past six months. Yerbol expresses that he misses his parents and Aria puts forward the suggestion that he try to contact them again once Bracknell is dealt with, Yerbol is worried that they might not accept him due to their profiles being broadcast on the HoloNet and branded as “terrorists”. Aria comforts him and reassures him that they will always be friends as long as he still wants her around, to lighten the mood she challenges him to a race to the top of the nearest tree. In her scramble to beat him to the top, Aria loses her footing, falls and knocks Yerbol out of the tree on her way down. This causes them to end up in an awkward landing where both scramble to apologise, Aria quickly suggests they return to the compound, feeling uncomfortable about the situation though Yerbol stops her in order to tell her that she has become very important to him. Aria responds on an impulse and kisses him on the cheek, which only makes the situation worse, and she hurries to head back to the others to avoid talking about it further. Yerbol pursues her and presses the issue, and Aria begins to wonder whether it was simply a lapse in judgement or something more. Before they can discuss it further however, they are summoned by Neta to mobilize due to an unexpected movement on the prison transport.

Assault on Zinuthra
Aria, Yerbol and Bex successfully extract the imprisoned Force users and return them to Zinuthra, though are suspicious about how easy the task is since the transport ship is all but deserted save for the prisoners they came to rescue. The transport turns out to be a trap set by Bracknell and Soto which allows them to track Aria, Yerbol and Bex back to Zinuthra with their forces in tow. Bracknell has grown tired of their interferences and is determined to end the resistance once and for all. Roan and the other elders are able to sense their approach however and conduct a quick, impromptu strategy meeting where Roan, Neta and Elara construct a battle plan for their resistance. Jungze, Ailel and the youngest Force users remain safely within the compound guarded by whatever defense mechanisms and troops they can get together in the short space of time, where they attempt to disrupt the air currents and prevent some of Bracknell’s ships from reaching ground level to drop troops. Voldon, Kira, Matthew and Vano are among the other Force users who divide themselves into squadrons with Neta, Elara and the rest of their troops, which intersperse throughout Zinuthra’s wilderness, using their knowledge of the terrain to lay traps and hopefully give them advantage over Bracknell’s ground forces, as well as a distraction to allow the main strike team to slip aboard Bracknell’s flagship unnoticed.

Confronting Bracknell/Roan's Death
Roan, Cheriss, Aria, Yerbol and the Tuk’ata, piloted by Abbeth, successfully locate and board the ship Bracknell is on. They advance towards the bridge, coercing most of the Alliance troopers who attempt to stop them to surrender and lay down their weapons. Before they reach the bridge, Bracknell deploys his personal Ubese guard once more, Cheriss stepping forward to draw them away while Aria, Roan and Yerbol track down Bracknell. Roan commands the Tuk’ata to find the rogue Sith Lord and they take off through the ship with the trio in pursuit. Bracknell finally rises to Roan’s taunts, meeting them in the hallway before the bridge. Roan orders Yerbol and Aria to make their way back to Abbeth and Cheriss while he engages Bracknell with Chwuq and Taral’s help. The duo comply until the battle between the two Sith Lords goes sour and Bracknell wounds Taral, then kills Roan. Chwuq attempts to return and urge Aria and Yerbol to come back and help Roan but despite their best efforts they are too late to prevent his death. Instead, they resume their attack on Bracknell, and discover that the mysterious voice who had been speaking to them over the past year was in fact Renso Kator himself when the True Sith Master aids them in weakening Bracknell. Determined to ensure Bracknell suffers for his torment of their friends, Aria orders Chwuq and Taral to attack. Bracknell initially scoffs that the beasts would never listen to her, although the Tuk’ata prove him wrong by immediately obeying the command. Weakened from the wounds they inflict, Bracknell drops his weapon and is unable to fight back, allowing Yerbol to deliver the finishing blow. Before returning to Abbeth, Yerbol makes a promise to Roan that he will always look after Aria. The duo catch up with Abbeth and they inquire about Cheriss, who he claims is badly wounded after fighting off most of the Ubese but that she will be alright if they get her back to the medbay post haste, since the Alliance forces planetside have surrendered after Voldon, Vano and Kira manage to capture and imprison Soto too. With no leaders left to direct them, what remains of the Alliance army surrenders to the resistance and Neta and Elara correspond with Saresh who expresses interest in drawing up a peace treaty and making amends for her mistake in trusting Bracknell.

Saresh's Peace Treaty/The Aftermath
While Yerbol is pulled into helping Neta and the others with repairing a lot of the damage done during the battle, Aria slips away to Roan’s former quarters wanting to be alone and away from all the chaos. She remains there for several hours before Chwuq and Taral track her there and attempt to comfort her though they are not sure how to and they are still confused about why Roan was left behind. Still grieving, Aria attempts to chase the beasts away by screaming at them and the Tuk’ata flee in search of Yerbol, pestering him instead. Aria emerges from Roan’s quarters a few hours later and finds the beasts and Yerbol, apologising to both of them. She confesses that she doesn’t have the heart to try and chase the Tuk’ata away again as they are the only thing left to remind her of her father; Aria and Yerbol agree to allow Chwuq and Taral to stay with them. They rest until Saresh and the rest of the Chancellor’s cabinet arrives whereby they are summoned to take part in the meeting where the peace treaty is drawn up. Saresh apologises for her rash decisions and puts plans in place to set up safe houses on heavily populated worlds such as Coruscant and Taris where Force users can remain safe from those who would remain hostile to them, until such time as they can be safely integrated back into society.

Business concluded, Aria and Yerbol are dismissed by the elders to have a period of “time off”. Before they can leave they say farewell to their friends, and Neta pulls the duo aside to tell them that she is gifting the XS freighter to them so that they can have their own ship to travel with, as she doesn’t need a ship of that size any longer. Aria and Yerbol are reluctant to accept at first, but Neta insists that she is going to return to Alderaan to stay with her children and that she can cope just as well without the freighter, so the duo accept and promise to visit Neta whenever they get a chance to. Yerbol suggests that they travel to Taris so he can visit his parents and asks Aria to accompany him, though assures her he would understand if she wanted to split up and travel alone for a time. Aria contemplates this, but concludes she would much rather be in his company and agrees to go with him. Before leaving Zinuthra, Aria and Yerbol construct a monument to Roan by fusing the deceased Sith Lord’s lightsabers into one of the crystal mountains he had brought them out to study before Bracknell’s attack. This gives Aria some form of closure to accept her father’s passing and they journey to Taris to meet Yerbol’s parents.