So hey, I saw a thing in another quest and realized that there might be people who would appreciate a recap of everything so that they can actually participate in the quest
without reading through several hundred thousand words of content. As such, I present a (somewhat) more concise recap to help bring people up to speed.
Granted, "conciseness" is a
very relative term here given all of the insanity I have to summarize. You'd best strap yourself to something, because it's time for a
trip.
The (Insane) Story Thus Far
Chapter 1: The Phantom Menace
Our story begins with a young Miralukan woman named Ciaran owning a run-down cantina in the Undercity of Coruscant. She had the usual dreams for a girl her age: to rise above her station, to spread her name far and wide, and to attain absolute ownership of the entire galaxy. The usual things. After taking control of a street gang known as the Abyss Watchers from a far more incompetent leader she set out to make it the biggest name in the Undercity. She managed to do so quite successfully, bringing on the sadistic Gand trainer Xruk and a Bothan...Bothan known as Gulan Terrek.
However, fate would have grander plans for Ciaran as she was noticed by the Sith Lord Darth Plageuis, who was interested in grooming Ciaran as a backup apprentice should his current pupil Palpatine (Darth Sidious) prove too troublesome. To that end he provided her with various boons through his shell corporation Damask Holdings, ranging from datachips on obscure Force sects to arranging contacts with more prominent organizations - namely the Trade Federation, Commerce Guild, and Techno Union. However, before he could bring his plans to fruition he was assassinated by Palpatine in his sleep, inadvertently freeing Ciaran to do whatever she damn well felt like. She managed to strike up a decent relationship with the Commerce Guild but relations soured with the Techno Union after a botched operation.
The Trade Federation on the other hand ended up giving Ciaran the chance to truly rise above her station. They contracted her people to recon the planet of Naboo for their upcoming blockade/invasion, and while the operation went off without a hitch Ciaran saw a much greater opportunity to be exploited. Using the cover of the chaotic aftermath of the final battle for Naboo, Ciaran's teams worked with the local crime lord Borvo the Hutt to steal whatever they could get their hands on from the planet - which ended up including the commander droid OOM-9 as well as the
Scimitar, formerly in the possession of Darth Maul. The operation went so well that Borvo became an advisor to the Watchers and sometime mentor to Ciaran.
From there Ciaran's next move could only be described as "audacious" - she returned to Naboo under the guise of humanitarianism, helping rebuild the planet and buying out businesses that had been devastated by the war. This would propel her into high society, and with her newfound status and fortune she would go on to acquire the protocol droid PR-1 as well as a Lucrehulk that would later be dubbed the
Oracle - a ship that would quickly turn into the Watcher's mobile base of operations in the galaxy. She would also reorganize the Watchers, changing them from a mere street gang to a formal mercenary company. And on a more personal note, she ended up befriending the young Padme Amidala, who was unaware of what Ciaran had done. She would suffer from Ciaran's trolling for the next several years.
Now free from the Undercity, the sky was the limit for Ciaran. But more importantly she was beginning to be noticed by some of the bigger names in the galaxy...
Chapter 2: Darkening Shadows
While Ciaran planned on spending most of her time gaining more power and resources and ensuring Nute Gunray would stay out of prison despite his many retrials, once again fate had grander plans for her than she could ever have expected. She received a request to pick up an infamous mercenary known as The Silencer from an uninhabited world in Wild Space and helping him go off the grid, and in exchange he would offer his services to the Watchers. However the transport that would carry him back to Coruscant suffered an engine malfunction, dropping the ship out of hyperspace over the planet of Kalee. After landing for repairs Ciaran and the crew quickly learned about the devastating Huk-Kaleesh war over the planet, and ran across the famed Kaleesh warlord General Grievous. Both sides were having a tense standoff until a timed bomb hidden in the general's shuttle went off, and both sides quickly entered into a ceasefire to protect themselves.
Upon Ciaran's return to Coruscant with the Silencer in tow she quickly pieced together that the Huk had managed to deceive the Republic into believing that they were the victims instead of the aggressors, to the point where sanctions were being leveled against the Kaleesh and Jedi were sent to aid the Huk. Though before she could act on them she was contacted by someone she had believed was long dead - her beloved grandfather, scoundrel, and playboy Silas Cata. After a misadventure with some debtors looking to collect from him the two happily reunited and Silas quickly established himself as a major force within the Watchers. He would also give Ciaran two gifts that would greatly aid her - an antique but still functional lightfoil, and an ancient holocron.
Once that was wrapped up Ciaran went on a brutal PR offensive, not only laying the truth of the Huk-Kaleesh war bare to the entire Republic but also providing the Kaleesh with enough support to help them win the war entirely, earning the loyalty of the entire species as well as making her a household name across the galaxy. More importantly though it brought her into contact with some of the biggest names in the galaxy - Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi and his Padawan Anakin Skywalker, Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine, and it also brought her to the attention of the Jedi Order themselves. During this time Ciaran also hired on the mad Givin scientist Var Zheen as well as the aged Blazing Chains pirate Tyro Torvin to help advise her efforts in technology and Force training respectively.
It was at this point that Ciaran was beginning to become aware of a bigger game being played in the galaxy. While on a trade deal with the Wookiees of Alaris Prime, she met Count Dooku face-to-face, and the future Sith was quickly intrigued by Ciaran's potential. More importantly though, during an infiltration of IGBC systems her people discovered a money trail that would lead her to a clone army being created on the planet of Kamino, and she quickly discovered that it was created under the auspices of "Sifo-Dyas," as well as learning that the Silencer had been a "failed" project sponsored by a Muun. More importantly though the Silencer was able to recover a set of inhibitor chips meant for the clone army while also sabotaging a group that would go into the future 412th Regiment.
This was also the time when Ciaran began to study the Force more intensely, learning that the holocron that Silas had given her belonged to the Sith Lord Darth Vectivus, a man who was surprisingly pragmatic and reasonable in comparison to other Sith - and she quickly began to admire his teachings. At the same time she forged a partnership with the Jedi Master Jerec, aiding him in various archaeological digs in return for compensation and scans of the artifacts found. This ended up igniting a deep passion for archaeology and galactic history within Ciaran, which would later focus on the Jedi Civil War and Dark War eras. After ensuring the success of the Outbound Flight and creating her own medical megacorp known as the Karada Corporation it seemed as though nothing could stop Ciaran-
- until she was nearly killed when her apartment was gassed, only saved by the timely intervention of Dooku and a quick transport to a Karada facility. While Ciaran was comatose for the better part of the following year, Silas took control of the Watchers and went on a vengeful rampage against the people behind the assassination attempt, killing everyone involved at a great cost of life on both sides. Meanwhile Ciaran was being treated by Arkanian geneticists who gave her a Zeltron biomod to speed up her recovery - which was not only successful, but gave her functional eyesight.
And in her sleep she was visited by the Force ghost of Plagueis, who granted her one final boon just before she reawakened...
Chapter 3: Prelude To War
Once she came to Ciaran quickly got back on track, discovering the nascent Confederacy of Independent Systems, learning that Damask Holdings funded the clone army, and settling a hidden planet in the Unknown Reigions designated S-840, later renamed Lordran. Just as importantly though she learned of her talent for lightsaber duels after Dooku returned her lightfoil and began to teach her Form II/Makashi. She later returned for a second and even more successful round of training, convincing Dooku to introduce her to one of his other students in the near future.
With the CIS growing in power and war seeming more and more likely by the day Ciaran investigated the unusual circumstances surrounding the increasing tensions and learned more about Hego Damask (Plagueis) and Damask Holdings' connections to the clone army. She decided to inform the Jedi about the clone army, who chose to stay quiet upon learning about the news, as well as convincing Padme to support an act that would dramatically expand the Republic Military. During this time she also recruited the young Togruta scientist Cheriss Sair, who had an unusual presence in the Force that Ciaran couldn't quite comprehend...
The next year saw events moving rapidly - Ciaran began supporting the relatively small group of neutral planets known as the Council of Neutral Systems, led by the pacifistic Mandalorian Duchess Satine Kyrze. A bombing on the Senate would lead the Watchers to support a Jedi capture operation gone wrong, barely managing to save the life of the Padawan Darra Thel-Tanis. Cheriss would begin studying the inhibitor chips in more detail, beginning to learn about some of the Orders programmed in them. Though most importantly for Ciaran's future, she was brought face-to-face with Dooku's other student - Asajj Ventress. She quickly formed a one-sided rivalry due to Ciaran's pragmatic and dirty fighting style managing to hold her own against Asajj's training, and at the same time Dooku began to realize just how much of a potential threat Ciaran could be to his and Palpatine's plans.
Then came the day of reckoning. The legendary bounty hunter Jango Fett attempted to assassinate Padme, and while he failed both him and his partner Zam Wessel managed to escape. Within hours she was transported to Ciaran's base in the Undercity for protection alongside her guardians Obi-Wan and Anakin, though before Ciaran could figure out any better plans Dooku contacted her about a secretive meeting on Geonosis and indicated he could help end the threat to Padme's life. Upon arriving Ciaran reunited with Asajj under slightly more pleasant circumstances, though Asajj was still somewhat bitter towards Ciaran. While she was mingling with the founding members of the CIS, Anakin suddenly left Courscant and made his way towards Tatooine, followed by a Watcher team that ended up saving his mother Shmi's life. In the end though, the Clone Wars began, and with the Republic unaware of the massive forces gathering on Geonosis it began with a major advantage for the CIS.
In response, Ciaran shifted her de facto base of operations from Coruscant to the CNS capital world of Mandalore, where she would ride out the war in relative peace. At least, that was the plan...
Chapter 4: Staying Afloat
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Ciaran's plan to stay neutral and fly under the radar went wrong almost immediately.
Now far more aware of Ciaran's capabilities and how dangerous she could be Dooku blackmailed her into assisting the CIS general Sevrance Tann with operations to steal a group of the Republic's prototype "Decimator" tanks, and at the same time the Jedi Council was demanding answers as to why Ciaran was present on Geonosis. While she was able to mount a successful and blistering counterargument against the Jedi, they ended up sending Darra as an intermediary/unsubtle spy to "better foster relations" and to help the Jedi keep a closer eye on Ciaran. Still, things weren't all bad for Ciaran as she was able to found a wildly successful humanitarian organization known as the Silver Cross - not only boosting her status, but giving her a network of spies to help her get a better grasp on the war surrounding her.
The next few months would see Ciaran beginning to take greater control of the CNS and setting up defense forces to Satine's chagrin and increasing concern, as well as managing to steal the designs for the Decimator tank and causing Sevrance's assault on Alaris Prime to stall out. However her true coup during this time would come from a team exploring the region around Lordran, as they stumbled across an uninhabited plant with a sole inhabitant - a one-time captain in the Chiss military known as Mitth'raw'nurudo, quickly nicknamed Thrawn by the recovery team for convenience. Upon his transfer to Lordran and meeting with Ciaran it became rapidly apparent that he was incredibly intelligent and had massive potential, only hampered by his lack of knowledge of affairs in the galaxy. As such he was quickly provided with material to begin bringing him up to speed.
However things continued to become more and more chaotic for Ciaran - a synthetic plague that created bestial mutants began to spread across the Northern Rim, the Kaleesh reached out to her for aid in preventing a retaliatory attack from the Huk, and Dooku still had his hold over her. However all three issues were solved in short order, and during this time Ciaran would discover that Cheriss was not a Togruta, but rather a silicate being known as a Shard riding in a robotic frame that resembled a Togruta.
The quarter after that would be the moment where things really started to go out of control.
While it began with Ciaran successfully taking more and more control of the CNS and learning more about the shadowy Darth Sidious it was a prelude to many things going wrong at once. An operation in Hutt Space, while successful, caused Darra to learn about Ciaran's underworld ties, making her flee back to the Jedi Order in a mixture of fear and disgust. Satine, now realizing what Ciaran was doing, called in Obi-Wan and Anakin in a bid to weaken her influence over the CNS. Mandalore began to suffer from terrorist attacks committed by the infamous Death Watch, only held at bay by a lone warrior fighting a one-man guerilla war against them.
However it was at this time that Thrawn reentered the picture, having completed his studies. With the addition of another formidable leader to the ranks, he and Ciaran were able to split the work of dealing with the Mandalorian issues - Ciaran would deal with the incoming Jedi and Thrawn (with the assistance of the Silencer) would do whatever he could to end the Death Watch threat. Ciaran would face an unexpected confrontation from a wavering Anakin, who was torn between feelings of betrayal that Ciaran would side with the Hutts he hated and gratitude for her men managing to save his mother and protect Padme. In the end Ciaran was able to assuage Anakin and throw off suspicion from him and Obi-Wan, as well as beginning to form an unusual mentor-student relationship of sorts as she began to teach Anakin that he did not necessarily have to follow the will of others.
Meanwhile, Thrawn and the Silencer had made their way to the moon of Concordia and discovered the man behind the one man war on the the Death Watch - Jango Fett. While he was suspicious of the duo due to their affiliation with the Watchers, Thrawn was able to talk him into allying under the pretense that both he and they wanted the Death Watch destroyed. After assisting him with an assault on base in a mine he revealed that the moon's governor Pre Vizsla was the mastermind of the attacks, and also inadvertently revealed the grudge he had against him. Thrawn, now increasingly fascinated by Jango and seeing something more in him agreed to help him, and Vizsla would later die in a duel with Jango. Said duel also revealed to Thrawn that Jango was once the
Mand'alor - a title reserved for the leader of the Mandalorians as a whole.
After a year of chaos it seemed that the Watchers had finally managed to re-stabilize their position. And with that they were now able to start going on the offensive...
Chapter 5: Echoes of the Past
While the quarter after the chaos on Mandalore began relatively quietly with the formal recruitment of Grievous into the Watchers and Ciaran managing to kick Satine upstairs into a diplomatic position, her mission to locate Asajj in the hopes of getting a better lead on the Sith conspiracy spiraled out of control when her men discovered a message from Dooku to Sevrance, sentencing her to death during the critical Battle of Kamino. Realizing that this would not only be the one chance she had to protect one of her best leads but an opportunity to turn one of Dooku's best assets over to her side, she covertly allied with Jango, fellow Mandalorian Kal Skirata, and the famed clone commando unit Delta Squad to help her locate and rescue Asajj in exchange for help in defeating the Separatist attack. Both objectives succeeded spectacularly, giving the Republic the chance to reverse the Separatists' momentum and letting Ciaran recruit Asajj, who warned her that she was beginning to draw Sidious' ire.
The quarter after that would see the return and destruction of a new synth plague as well as the revelation of its mastermind Albert Wesker, the kidnapping of Jabba the Hutt's son Rotta and his rapid return thanks to the Watchers, the handover of the traitorous Ziro the Hutt to Jabba and the Watchers gaining the formal recognition of the Hutts, the effective destruction of the Black Sun, and Ciaran finding herself enjoying harsh training under Grievous. However it would be at a formal party Ciaran hosted that she would make a new ally and learn a terrifying truth; using the
Scimitar as an inroad she formed a deal with Raith Sienar himself over constructing ships - legitimate and otherwise - and thanks to a tense conversation with Anakin she realized just how powerful he truly was. In the background Thrawn began to train under Jango's tutelage after he called in a favor from the Watchers to have an inhibitor chip removed from his clone son Boba, and Asajj began to deeply study the holocron of Vectivus. In the background and with the under-the-table aid of Mandalorian Prime Minister Almec, Ciaran pushed for the foundation of the Mandaorian Guardians - an organization that combined the warrior ideals of the past with the pacifistic beliefs of the New Mandalorians to create an organization that prided themselves on being noble defenders of peace.
The events that would follow afterwards would be the moment when the Watchers began to shake the foundations of the galaxy itself.
While they would have their hands in various acts like the CIS suddenly finding the planet of Onderon turning into a quagmire of guerilla fighters thanks to Grievous and saving the life of Senator Bail Organa, it would be Thrawn who would help make history. After a long and private conversation with Jango, he convinced the errant
Mand'alor to return and reclaim his title, an act that was wholeheartedly supported by the Guardians, terrified Satine (who quickly twisted Jango's arm into agreeing with having additional oversight over the Guardians for the near future), and stunned the galaxy as a whole. Around this time he also began taking on Anakin's Padawan Ahsoka Tano as a pupil of sorts, teaching her about strategy, psychology, and passing on many valuable lessons to his surprisingly eager student. Ciaran would locate and rescue the famed "Golden Tempter" Seti Ashgad from Nam Chorios, and he would begin aiding the Watchers by bringing his homeworld of Fresia and the Incom Corporation over to their side. And during all of this Ciaran and Asajj discovered the location of Vectivus' Home, and prepared to set out on a journey to find the one-time home of the Sith Lord they both expected.
However they were waylaid when an entranced CNS envoy informed them that the Great Mother of the Nightsisters, Talzin wished to see them, and as such the duo added the planet of Dathomir as a stop during their travels. Ciaran and Talzin would form a shaky alliance over their mutual enemies in Dooku and Sidious, and while Asajj was pleased at the chance to visit her homeworld Talzin was of the belief that she would be better off staying with Ciaran for the time being. After that the pair managed to locate Vectivus' home, and to their shock the man himself still held residence there, albeit in the form of a Force Ghost. Asajj asked him why he decided to leave the Jedi-Sith conflict behind and received a lecture on how to better face the pain she felt, while Ciaran was unable to think of anything to say. After some probing Vectivus concluded that he would not have any answers Ciaran would need to further her understanding of the Force, and directed her to the planet of Malachor II in the hopes of finding the legacy of Darth Traya, who he believed would be a far better teacher for Ciaran.
She also asked Vectivus if she could keep his Home, and the bemused Sith Lord was happy to oblige and would continue to serve as a literal advisor from beyond the grave, curious and eager to see the progress of his new and unexpected pupils.
The next few months began auspiciously with the recovery of the ancient but deadly assassin droid HK-47, the Silencer training with the Sun Guard of Thyrsus (and later betraying them due to their Sith influence), as well as Silas rescuing his Twi'lek granddaughter Larana Shayal from slavery and reuniting with his somewhat antagonistic wannabe merc grandson Galvin Thorn (who Cheriss would rapidly form a crush on). All of that paled to the combined efforts of Satine, Ciaran, and Thrawn which would transform into the Caamas Ceasefire, a galaxy-wide event that not only brought the Clone Wars to a temporary halt but also allowed Jango the opportunity to show the galaxy that he would not be a Mandalore like the crusaders that came before him. Around this time Ciaran would also be responsible for an economic miracle that transformed the fallen ecumenopolis of Taris into a thriving hub for refugees and a poster child for economic rebirth, making her incredibly popular on the planet and putting her in the running to become its Prime Minister.
For Ciaran, all of that paled to her journey to Malachor. With Asajj at her side the two of them arrived at a Sith temple on Malachor II, discovering that Traya still existed in some fashion, though not one that resembled Vectivus' state as a Force ghost. She would send the two of them through brutal trials to test their wills and to teach them valuable lessons for the future, using echoes of past Sith Lords as guardians of sorts. Asajj found herself fighting alongside a vision of her first master Ky Narec against the Lord of Pain, Darth Sion, a battle that would help her realize that she needed to stop being afraid of letting other people in and potentially losing them. That realization caused Asajj to subconsciously form a Force bond with Ciaran, though neither of them would realize it until later.
However Asajj's trial was an easy one compared to what Ciaran faced. She found herself face-to-face with the Lord of Hunger, Darth Nihilus, a being who terrified every Miralukan to this day after his consumption of Katarr - Ciaran included. While she was horrified by the void she saw within him and realizing that if she ever lost control of herself she would become exactly like him, she manged to barely defeat the terrifying echo - though what she saw there continues to haunt her to the present day. After questioning Ciaran further and possibly as a means of giving Ciaran one final test, Traya passed on her title to a stunned Ciaran, who considered it to be an incredible honor and immense burden in equal measure. The former Darth Traya - now insisting on being referred to as Kreia out of deference to her past disciple - also revealed the nature of Plagueis' boon - the ability for Ciaran to unconsciously manipulate "fractures" in the Force and shift events to favor her. She would also help Ciaran down the first steps of learning the physical variant of the technique.
That being said Ciaran's return brought terrifying news - the Watchers had finally discovered Darth's Sidious' true identity as Sheev Palpatine, as well as his plan to eliminate the Jedi through the use of the clone army and Order 66. With her true enemy in sight, her resolve stronger than ever before, and knowing that she had to defeat Palpatine or die as he formed his new Empire, she and the Watchers teamed up with the clone commando unit Omega Squad and effortlessly brought down Wesker and his virus facility, also discovering that he had based his virus off of the horrific entity Mnggal-Mnggal and forming an alliance of desperation with Clan Skirata.
The future looked bleak, but even so Ciaran had found what she had been searching for over the past few years - her true enemy. Now she could begin plotting her counterattack...
Chapter 6: Strange Aeons
Ciaran rapidly began to consolidate, bringing together a cabal of anti-Palpatine Senators with the help of Seti in the hopes of at least stymieing Palpatine's grabs for power as well as reactivating HK-47, who would inform her about a powerful droid-producing station capable of turning the tide of the war known as the Foundry. Thrawn would also lead the final push for the Onderonian rebels, helping them free their homeworld and stealing Sevrance's flagship - the
Invisible Hand - in the process. The Silencer ended up coming face-to-face with the horrific Durge, and would barely manage to disintegrate the mad Gen'Dai and ensure he could never return. Asajj would assist Clan Skirata in setting up networks to protect clone deserters. The fanatical Kaleesh Kygeetu san Torgh would become the first of the Watcher's highest-ranked Force-users - the Abysswalkers. And most unexpectedly, Ciaran ended up losing the Tarisian Prime Minister position to JanFathal refugee and one-time freighter captain Suberoa Zinnerman, though the two of them quickly set up a relatively cordial agreement to cooperate for the sake of Taris and its many refugees.
The months after that would see Grievous recovering the legendary starship
Arkanian Legacy from an exogorth-ridden asteroid field, the formal recruitment of Jango Fett and Zam Wessel into the Watchers, the recovery of genius inventor Talesan Fry's codebreaker, and Thrawn and PR-1 managing to gain access to the crashed
Chu'unthor on Dathomir. Cheriss would learn of her instinctive proficiency with mechu-deru, and use it to not only restore HK-47 to his full functionality but dramatically upgrade the entirety of the Abyss Watchers droid forces. Meanwhile Asajj helped Savage Opress recover his brother and Talzin's son Maul, alerting Ciaran to how unstable he was and the likely possibility that her alliance with Talzin would not hold in the future, and the Watchers would help "rescue" Ahsoka and many Wookiee prisoners after she broke out of Trandoshan imprisonment on the moon of Wasskah and kicked off a full-blown insurgency.
All of that paled to what Ciaran found herself embroiled in. While she intended to speak with Anakin after realizing his potential and that he was likely being targeted by Sidious as a potential successor, he and Ciaran were separately drawn to a mysterious distress signal in a distant star system, leading them to a black monolith that transported them, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka Tano to the realm of Mortis, where they would come into contact with the almighty Father, Daughter, and Son. Though while Ciaran was separate from the others she would encounter Plagueis - now enraged at Ciaran for going down a path Sith like him saw as heretical - and Kreia, who informed her about the nature of the three Ones and their representations of Balance, Light, and Darkness respectively.
After Ciaran reached the Father's monastery and came under his protection she tracked down Anakin with the help of a mysterious voice in her mind guiding her through the winding halls. Once they sat down Ciaran explained that she believed something important relating to Anakin would happen here, and Anakin in turn ended up revealing his frustrations that Ciaran was able to protect his loved ones when he should have been able to - though a slap to the face and a stern lecture from her snapped him out of it. Shortly after he left to confront the Father and Kreia reappeared to compliment Ciaran on her work and explain the concept of Force Bonds to Ciaran, revealing the bond she had already formed with Asajj and another potentially forming with Anakin. Upon finishing Ciaran was drawn outside and to an arena where she bore witness to Anakin drawing on the Force to such an extent that the backlash from her Force vision ended up knocking her unconscious.
She awoke in the Jedi shuttle leaving the planet, though they were interrupted by the Son kidnapping Ahsoka and escaping to his fortress. After crash landing Anakin broke off to try and rescue Ahsoka while Obi-Wan and Ciaran went to try and get assistance from the Father. After a tense confrontation between Obi-Wan and Ciaran the two of them arrived to the sight of the Father badly wounded by the Son, and once the Father was stable the Daughter requested Ciaran and Obi-Wan's aid in stopping her brother. Obi-Wan agreed without hesitation but Ciaran had her doubts, not to mention that Kreia was quietly following her and expressing her disgust towards the Ones as a whole.
The Daughter took them to a cave that held the Dagger of Mortis, a weapon capable of killing the Son. After Ciaran fell into a trance and recovered the Dagger before Obi-Wan could react, the three of them arrived at the Son's fortress to find Anakin in combat with a corrupted Ahsoka. While the Daughter faced off against the Son, Obi-Wan and Ciaran went to help Anakin, and thanks to a holdout pistol Ciaran kept with her she managed to knock Ahsoka unconscious, though no one had any idea how to free her from her corruption. Before anything could be discussed the Son burst onto the scene fighting off the Daughter and the Father, and he began to slowly overpower the weakened Father with his power. Despite Kreia's encouragements for Ciaran to kill all three of them to maintain balance, Ciaran opted to use the Dagger to take the Son hostage, though it was clear to everyone that it would only be a temporary measure. With no other way out the voice in Ciaran's mind gave her the name of a being only known as "The Mother," and she terrified the Ones into submission by invoking her name as they feared even speaking it would end up releasing the horrific entity.
The Father quickly dragged Ciaran back to his monastery and put Ciaran into a deep trance to help her gain control of the power that had managed to give her that forbidden knowledge. Within it Ciaran met a representation of her subconscious and learned that her shatterpoint abilities had gone into overdrive since her arrival on Mortis, guiding her almost every step of the way during her time there. And thanks to the trance Ciaran was able to fully master her power in a matter of hours as opposed to the years or decades it would have taken normally, and came out of it fully aware of how her power was guiding her. She would then follow Anakin after learning he had gone off to confront the Son, but was nearly killed by Plagueis, who had been empowered by the Son to stop her. It took Kreia's arrival and the last of her energy to fully banish him, erasing them both.
With no more obstacles in her way Ciaran entered the Well of the Dark Side and faced off against the Son alongside Anakin, though before any fighting could begin the Son tormented them both with horrific visions of Anakin's potential future as Darth Vader. Ciaran manged to snap out of the control the Son tried to exert on her, and though the Son revealed Ciaran's identity as Darth Traya his own will combined with Ciaran's encouragement allowed him to break free as well. He then found himself face-to-face with a manifestation of Vader, and though he won the ensuing duel he refused to strike a killing blow on Vader, rejecting the monster he could become. With that, everyone was free to leave Mortis, though the Father entrusted Ciaran with the Dagger as well as an abbreviated history of the Mother and Anakin decided that he would keep Ciaran's identity to himself.
Ciaran returned from Mortis stronger than ever and with the Chosen One on her side, though things were about to escalate quickly...
Chapter 7: The War Comes Home
Ciaran's return home came with good and bad news - while the Abysswalkers saw the Zeltron Dani Plenar join the ranks a crisis began when the strategically vital planet of Thyferra sent a clandestine application to join the CNS, which was later confirmed to be a calculated move by the controlling bacta companies to get the chance to sell bacta more widely to the galaxy. During this time the
Chu'unthor was partly repaired though required further work, the Watchers discovered and delayed a Techno Union project to create cortosis-lined battle droids, Ciaran mastered the self-reinforcing powers of the Matukai, and an operation was launched alongside Clan Skirata that saw the breakout of the genius but mad scientist Ovolot Qail Uthan and Jango's traumatized sister Arla Fett.
This would also be the time when Ciaran went on an expedition with HK-47 to the planet of Rakata Prime, and to her pleasant surprise ended up reuniting with Jerec. The two of them went on a search through the Temple of the Ancients in the hopes of finding records of Revan's stay there, and while his true hologram was destroyed Ciaran would discover a hidden room containing a log of his experiments with an ancient forcesaber and the legendary Mantle of the Force lightsaber crystal. The log would go to Jerec, while the crystal and forcesaber would go to Ciaran. The crystal was shortly used when Ciaran created a lightsaber of her own in a fugue state, nicknamed the "Moonlight Blade" for the distinctive arcs of light it would leave behind as it was swung.
Asajj would end up tracking Maul and Savage, and ended up manipulating them as part of a scheme to successfully assassinate Sevrance, the general that had left her for dead back on Kamino. At the same time HK led a retrieval team to the Foundry, though when he tried to access it an unknown program started up the station's internal defenses. It was only due to a desperate defense as well as HK's quick work that they were able to secure the first deck, while the others below were now flooded with hordes of extermination droids ready to kill any intruders on sight.
Ciaran also launched a false-flag operation to justify an increase in the CNS' military and supported it by using her fracture manipulation abilities for the first time, only for them to use Jar Jar Binks and his clumsiness as a patsy to reveal a legitimate threat from the mercenary group Sabaoth Squadron. The courier ship that carried him and Padme was saved by the timely arrival of Yularen aboard the
Resolute and Greivous aboard his newly constructed flagship
Karrabac. After the battle, the three groups decided to make their way to Naboo to ensure the safety of the courier ship.
Upon arriving at Naboo Grievous promptly dragged off a terrified Jar Jar as he believed the Gungan would be a key to tracking down Naboo's titanic and fearsome aquatic life, while Padme and Anakin met and had their arms twisted into going on a brief resort trip by "Ciaran" (Zam Wessel, practicing her Ciaran impression to become a proper body double). While Jango reunited with Arla for the first time in years, Anakin found himself suffering from visions of the potential future where he killed Padme in a fit of fury and madness, causing him to flee the resort with the real Ciaran shortly following him. After a brief heart-to-heart Ciaran convinced Anakin that one way or another he needed to have more faith and trust in Padme and be willing to trust her with the horrific knowledge he had seen.
As the next few months began Ciaran began to have premonintions of an oncoming disaster at the Jedi Temple, and through Satine managed to convince them to increase their defenses. The
Chu'unthor became fully functional during this time, Silas managed to reach an under-the-table deal with Thyferra resulting in their application being withdrawn, Cheriss pioneered the "Blaster Bits" and brought forth the idea of creating a "frame" for a human-sized being that could be deployed in battle, the paranoid engineer Talesan Fry was recruited, considerable amounts of intel were gained on Palpatine, his inner circle, and various clone regiments, and the Silencer would launch a wildly succesful heist on Metalorn that would see him capturing Wat Tambor (who would be briefly impersonated by a Gurlanin before being thrown to his rivals to do with him as they pleased) with a set of CB-3 droids and TU plans.
Grievous and HK would take center stage during this time as they commaned the first assault on the Foundry in the hopes of capturing it. In a stunning display they managed to clear out over half of the station's decks before stopping, and all while suffing a minimal amount of casualties. During this battle a medic named Riphath Althean would perform exceptionally enough to be fast-tracked to an Abysswalker position alongside another explosion-loving candidate only known as Piebald, and thanks to some of Cheriss' programming working far more effectively than she ever intended a group of Spider Droids would create a hive mind that rendered them functionally sapient.
Ciaran had also begun to learn Form III/Soresu from Obi-Wan, but her true focus was on an unexepcted invitation to a formal dinner from none other than Count Dooku himself. Curious and sensing an opportunity she took Thrawn with her to meet him on his homeworld of Serenno, and through both careful observation and Shatterpoint viewing Ciaran realized that Dooku's loyalty to Sidious was wavering. Deciding to seize the moment Ciaran pressed Dooku, and the formal dinner suddenly devolved into a fierce duel between Dooku and Ciaran. While Ciaran nearly managed to overpower Dooku with her swordsmanship and Matukai-enhanced speed Dooku was able to fend her off with his greater power over the Force. In the end though the duel ended in something of a draw when Ciaran managed to convince Dooku that the two of them could work together to bring down Sidious, and while they had their own reasons for doing so they would be better off as allies.
Shortly afterwards Ciaran's premontions came true as the Jedi Temple was suddenly bombed, and she quickly made her way to Courscant, shortly followed by Thrawn, Asajj, Riphath, Dani, Arla, and newly minted Cathar Abysswalker Koliya Karrosi. While Ciaran was eager to begin investigating herself she was stymied by the tightening of the Temple's security as well as the fact that one of the lead investigators was an old associate of hers - Darra Thel-Tanis. However she was able to get in on the investigation with the help of a mysterious Jedi Sentinel, who acted as an intermediary between her and the other lead investigator - Anakin Skywalker.
While Anakin was able to learn the identity of the bomber - Letta Turmond - on his own, Ciaran's men noticed a strange man patrolling her apartment, only to vanish as Anakin arrived. Anakin was able to succesfully arrest Letta and get a confession out of her, but both Ciaran and the Sentinel agreed that there was far more to this case than met the eye. They were proven right shortly afterwards as Letta requested that Ahsoka meet her privately and in person, and when she tried to reveal the true mastermind behind the bombing she was Force choked by an unknown assassin, framing Ahsoka, who was promptly imprisoned by the cruel Admiral Wilhuff Tarkin.
Ciaran and Thrawn both debated how they would get Ahsoka out of her prison, but it turned out to be a moot point as Ahsoka would be broken out by her assailant. While she managed to escape she was caught by Anakin, though he ultimately decided to let her go and directed her towards the base that Ciaran had sheltered him and Padme at during the beginning of the Clone Wars. Ahsoka fled into the Undercity and was picked up by Riphath, Dani, and Arla, who would defeat an ambush of Sith acolytes sent to silence her. She was quickly escorted to Ciaran's original cantina and given the opportunity to lay low while Ciaran and Thrawn considered their next moves.
Meanwhile Anakin was forced to listen to a rant from Tarkin that inadverently triggered a memory of Vader with a curious exception - one of the people in the vision was obscured for reasons he didn't understand. Curious and now realizing there was more to his visions of the future than bad memories, Anakin dove into them with reckless abandon and managed to discover her name - Leia Organa. Still confused as to why she was blocked out, he began going over his Vader memories again only to be knocked senseless by an even stronger distortion - and the effect was so strong that it resonated over his Force bond with Ciaran, causing her to realize that it had grown stronger since it had formed on Mortis.
Upon reawakening he received word from Ciaran through the Sentinel that they had narrowed down the suspects to four people, all of whom were promptly interrogated by him, Darra, and the Sentinel. At the same time Ciaran set up an ambush for Ahsoka's pursuers with the help of a body double - and while one was brought down through the combined efforts of Riphath, Koliya, Arla, and Dani, the other fled and was caught by Asajj only to reveal herself as the Nighsister Saato, a spy Talzin planted within the Dark Acoloytes. As she revealed the identity of the true mastermind behind the bombing the investigation trio would learn the same information from Bariss Offee - that the traitor was the respected Jedi Master Sora Bulq. While Anakin and the Sentinel rushed off to arrest Bulq Darra stayed behind to "protect" Bariss, suspicious that she was attempting to hide something.
From there everything went to hell. The arrest kicked off a full-blown battle between Jedi and Bulq's corrupted forces, and Bulq managed to flee the Temple with Anakin in hot pursuit. Darra was nearly killed by Bariss, and only saved at the least possible moment by the Sentinel, who revealed herself to be Darra's former Master Soara Antana. While Anakin tried to chase Bulq in a speeder chase across Coruscant, Bulq's speeder was brought down by sniper fire from the recently-arrived HK-47, who would assist Anakin in killing the traitorous Jedi Master.
The following days would see a third of the Order break away and leave for the Deep Core planet of Tython and Obi-Wan announcing his plans to head to Mandalore for the majority of the near future. Anakin would meet with Ciaran and with her help determine the identity of the being obscured by the distortion in his memories - and it would be none other than his future son Luke Skywalker. Stunned by the revelation and seeing Luke's willingness to offer Vader a chance at redemption, he left in a daze and quickly went off the radar entirely, going on a mysterious voyage...
The galaxy had been shaken to its core by what was now being called the Temple Massacre. However it was only a prelude for even worse things to come...
Chapter 8: Wounds
*Currently in progress*
AN: When your "concise summary" is a
seven thousand plus words long wall of text. I thought this would be a fun and simple idea, and now my fingers hurt...why did I think that typing this up over the course of two days would be a good idea...why...
This will naturally be updated as more insanity happens.
