A few weeks ago, the Almas Jedi had reached out to every Jedi organization they could for strong warriors. Their headmaster, skilled in the Jedi art of Farseeing, had been having many visions which worried him. However, because his focus was on the future, his ability to affect the present was limited.
At the time, Riphath was with the Tython Jedi, who sent him along with Darra Thel-Tanis. They didn't see any Jedi from anywhere else, but "Jedi" traditionally means someone in brown robes carrying a lightsaber acting with a sense of purpose, not someone with a planetary flag indicating where they're from. There was a guy in green robes who gave Riphath a funny look at his green Matukai robe, but nothing more came of it.
Asking around the Almas Jedi had gotten them information on a recent kidnapping of several Jedi by a dark-side cult. The kidnapped Jedi were held in a fortress of an ancient Sith Lord who developed a uniquely resilient sort of Sith Warrior Force Bond that let them transfer injuries to nearby bonded individuals and guaranteed loyalty among the normally-fractious Sith. Which confirmed that the place had a history with the Dark Side, with Sith. It didn't explain any more about the planet's strange energy in the Force.
So they'd gone and asked the locals about it.
The locals, the Tarasin, had gone on about how Cularin was a Force Nexus, Cularin was alive, Cularin was sacred.
That was enough for Riphath to connect the dots. A Force Nexus, with a history with the Dark Side and the Sith, and a guy who saw the future was having a bad feeling.
He hurried back to my ship and filed an urgent report. "Cularin is a Force Nexus. Local Jedi have seen visions of destruction including myself and Darra Thel-Tanis despite this not being our home. Recent dark side disturbances on-planet involving an ancient Sith fortress and a dark-side cult kidnapping Jedi. Timetable to attack unknown, assumed imminent. Condition Red Priority Zero, any and all assistance that can be sent to Cularin will be appreciated."
That was three days ago. All that was left for Riphath was to hope help would arrive.
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(Intercepted Transmission Prefix denoting receipt by Red Fury Brotherhood units. Voice analysis incomplete, subject noted to have used a scrambler)
"I've paid for your attention. I understand you've all had your issues with the Republic in the past. The attack I've planned will cause the Republic to crack. Once it's cracked, we can hit it again and it'll begin to crumble. Once it's crumbling, one more good hit and it will truly begin to fall.
We're going after Jedi.
Not on Coruscant. Not the ones in the army. We're going after all the other ones. We'll bleed them of Jedi until the Republic runs dry and dies like the dessicated husk we know it to be.
Also, at the end of it, you'll all be rich men with the promise of a lot more work available if you want it.
The first step is a Jedi Academy at a little planet in the Thaere sector called Cularin."
(Additional Intercepted Transmission Prefix denoting Red Fury Brotherhood contacting Thaereian Navy cruisers.)
"So you're in for this little Jedi raid on Cularin too, huh?"
"Yeah. Long as you don't get too out of control we won't go after you too hard. Jedi are scum anyway. More difficult to control. Less predictable. You tell a planetary governor you can provide security, they don't care too much about how."
"Haven't some of them said they were with the Republic, who kinda likes the Jedi?"
"We've gotten better offers from the ones interested in turning to the CIS. Besides, bringing the war to our sector and setting some systems against other ones is gonna be a great way to make all of us rich."
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Ciaran saw fire, and fear, and death.
Images flickered through the fog that saturated her sight. A star system with two suns, a planet that glowed warmly in the Force, an asteroid belt with an impenetrable void centered somewhere on the far side of the system, a planet gently lit by the light of a billion purple-white phosphorescent leaves.
The leaves were burning in Darkness.
A Wookiee battlemaster howled as a lightsaber struck through his sword arm, his body soon pierced by two other blades of red light.
A Jedi seer sat, hands resting on knees, tear tracks staining his peaceful face, as more lightsabers approached to strike him down.
A Duros handed out beautiful lightsabers to younglings, childish faces ragged with grief and fear, as he encouraged them to trust in the Force and prepare to defend their dormitory.
Ciaran recoiled as their dismembered bodies flashed before her eyes. She saw dead padawans, dead knights…
I know that face.
Ciaran forced herself to focus, to remember.
Who was she… oh. A name sprang to memory.
It was Darra Thel-Tanis who lay dead, cybernetic arm in pieces beside her. Another man in Jedi robes stood defending her body, but soon fell to join her in death.
The Academy burned. The planet fell. The system itself seemed to wither, as the darkness rose both from this planet and from…
Ciaran startled awake. A split-second warning in the Force was all that kept her face from hitting the floor, her forearms barely catching her as her upper body slid off the bed.
Ahh! Finally steady, even if precariously perched, Ciaran took a deep breath before pushing herself up.
She began to read. Between the intercepts and the progress report from Riphath, clearly something very big was happening on Cularin very soon.
Fortunately, there were a couple people who happened to be in the area that she could divert to help out and when she reached out to Celeste Morne, apparently she was already on her way...
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Hello and welcome to the first post of the new arc along with the first vote, courtesies of
@Barondoctor who wrote this update!
Please select up to three (3)
heroes to join Celeste Morne's efforts to help defend the Almas Academy. Note that any heroes deployed in this way will
NOT be available for Turn 30.
Hero: [] Write-in
Hero 2: [] Write-in
Hero 3: [] Write-in
