Ancient Artifice

Ancient Artifice is a short story written by HarmonyGrex. Set during the Galactic Civil War, the story introduces several original characters and is the author's debut piece of Star Wars fan fiction. Several of the characters' stories will be continued in the planned sequel, Survival.

The story consists of four chapters, and takes place on Yavin 4.

Plot Summary
In 3 ABY, several days after the Battle of Hoth, Lieutenant Delof Terallo and Sergeant Zekk Ryen, accompanied by astromech droid R5-C3, are sent to the jungle moon of Yavin 4 to find any worthwhile machinery or material that the Galactic Empire would be able to use in the construction of the second Death Star. The planet's surface has been the scene of many minor conflicts since the first Death Star's destruction, with lots of equipment and defunct devices being left by scavenging groups or rebel sects.

However, the Imperials end up discovering an ancient artefact from centuries prior, and reawakening an ancient enemy with a thirst for blood.

Story

 * Chapter 1
 * Chapter 2
 * Chapter 3
 * Chapter 4

Behind the Scenes
Ancient Artifice is the HarmonyGrex's first attempt at writing Star Wars fan fiction. The author chose to mostly include original characters and an original story for their first short story to allow for more creative freedom. Despite this, the story takes place during the events of The Empire Strikes Back on a well-known planet in the universe. Some Legends material is also incorporated into the story, such as Exar Kun and his Sith Empire.

The Imperial Reclamation Service depicted in the story is heavily based on the organisation of the same name featured in Star Wars: The Old Republic. As stated in the story, the pirate group the Eellayin Wanderers are named after an extinct species in the franchise.

The story itself is only several thousand words long, and took the author around a week to write fully. Originally, the chapters were going to have individual titles, but this idea was later scrapped.