It's time the Republic nationalized its Force-wielding defense force. I intend to prove that the Jedi are outdated and no longer fit for purpose.
—Franklyn Pad, founder of Project Petrichor.
Project Petrichor was a Republic Strategic Information Service task force and political initiative spearheaded by SIS Bureau Chief Franklyn Pad in 28 ATC to capitalize on the untapped potential of ex-Jedi and unaffiliated Force users – light or dark – who were effectively barred from fighting for the Galactic Republic against the Sith Empire due to political or philosophical reasons. Initially conceptualized in 20 ATC, it was named after Petrichor, an alchemically mutated varactyl created by Darth Aivela that ultimately served as one of the catalysts for the project's creation.
The concept itself was first conceived by Frank after the Eternal Empire conquered the galaxy, fragmenting the Jedi Order and leaving its former members scattered across the galaxy and without the support of the fallen Order. Frank's own children – all three of them Jedi – continued to serve their mandate as defenders of the innocent during the occupation by shielding civilians who were targeted by the ruthless activities of Zakuul; divided and without support, however, they all eventually fell protecting their wards from Zakuulan Skytroopers. On learning of the passing of his children, Frank became determined to push for investment in infrastructure that would integrate the Jedi Order into the Republic hierarchy properly as part of its rebuilding, ostensibly as a safeguard against mass Jedi casualties in the future.
In reality, Frank hoped to completely replace the Jedi Order with an organization of non-religious Force users who answered directly to the Galactic Republic, in line with the army, navy, SIS and all Republic citizens, rather than standing as a distinct entity who were allowed to police themselves, as the Jedi had done for millennia.
Initially, his idea was met with skepticism from his colleagues and superiors, yet thanks to his long service, the respect he had earned over the course of his career and intelligence acquired from his ally Benjamin Lambert, Frank was afforded a token assignment of resources with which to prove his idea had merit, a feat made all the more difficult with the formation of Task Force Nova, an initiative that aimed to assist the Republic's ancient defenders in rebuilding the Jedi Order and restoring the status quo. Knowing he would have to choose wisely, Frank recruited and trained support specialists for a proof-of-concept black ops mission on the neutral world of Voryle; the reformed Hutt Cartel enforcer Yagogg, the former Republic soldier Bibi Jotto and the failed Voss Mystic Bon-Yi. Special Agent Carth Waverunner was persuaded to help with the initiative, and Carth in turn secured the support of his aunt, Jedi Master Sophia Sofora, who was not opposed to greater regulation on Jedi activity and so agreed to lead the mission on Voryle. Carth was kidnapped by Sith Lord Scarlet Jhang before the mission could go ahead, however, and Sophia was called to Corellia to help deal with the impending assault on the Meridian Complex; as a result, Yagogg, Bibi and Bon-Yi kept a low profile on Voryle and waited for their Jedi commander arrived.
By pure luck or the will of the Force, the treacherous Sith assassin Isla Ahnkett and her errant Jedi lover Zhavi Waverunner arrived on Voryle under dire circumstances and were mistaken for representatives of the SIS by Countess Patrice LaLenna, the Republic's lone ally on the planet. Deceiving the countess and the agents sent by Frank to ensure Ahnkett's medical bills were paid for, Zhavi and Isla built up a street gang on behalf of the Republic, using the gang as a proxy against the Empire's representatives to ultimately cripple Imperial activity on the planet. Such was the scale of their success that the Director of the SIS finally gave Frank approval to proceed with his initiative, formally organizing resources and personnel into Project Petrichor in early 28 ATC.
Starting with recruitment, Frank and Benjamin gathered together the viable candidates they had encountered already; Jedi Master Avexiss Odé – Lambert's oldest ally – agreed to assist as her self-appointed duties as a Jedi Shadow allowed, but the first proper agents of the group were Zhavi, Isla and Aaellu; an untrained Force wielder from a primitive world who, by chance, had befriended Benjamin and become his live-in babysitter. The group expanded a few weeks later with the recruitment of the Force-sensitive Gormak Xadda, and in early 28 ATC former Jedi Knight-turned-businesswoman Kassie Kaadara joined the team, followed mere hours later by Dark Jedi Damascus Lambert, Benjamin's Chistori "brother". A Jungle Felucian named Khruukunu – a student and friend of Benjamin's from his life in the Empire – sought Benjamin out and pledged his services to the group as well, and by midyear Project Petrichor consisted of a sizable team of varied Force wielders.
Together, the group were able to strike their first serious blow against the Sith Empire by the end of the year, decimating the operations of Darth Aivela and depriving the Empire of both her technological know-how and four of the eight Celestial Orbs – at minimal cost to the Galactic Republic and the Strategic Information Service. Thanks to their resounding success against Darth Aivela, Project Petrichor was afforded greater resources and elevated from a simple project to a fully-fledged department within the SIS, reforming into the Strategic Asset Reassignment Bureau with an expanded mandate to recruit and utilize any and all assets for use in unorthodox operations against the Sith Empire.
Captain Elizabeth Kondarr and the crew of the Terminus-class destroyer Relinquished were the last recruits to join Project Petrichor before its reorganization, with Zhavi and Isla assisting the crew in capturing the ship to escape the retribution of the abusive Sith Lord who led them as they raided Republic colonies. Following a lengthy negotiation, the Relinquished was being prepared as Project Petrichor's off-record mobile command center and a halfway point for those wishing to defect to the Republic, a role which it served in to great effect under the group's new banner.
History[]
Prelude[]
Conception[]
The Jedi do good work, but this isn't the first time they've collapsed and scattered in the face of adversity. Nobody else will say it, but the Jedi Order is either a part of the Republic or it isn't, and if it is, it needs to integrate properly instead of being a law unto itself.
—Frank Pad, to Benjamin Lambert.
The invasion of the Eternal Empire saw the Jedi Order disbanded and its members scattered across the galaxy.
In 17 ATC, the Eternal Empire of Zakuul launched several raids intended to test the strength of both the Galactic Republic and Sith Empire, which was followed shortly thereafter by a full-scale invasion of the galaxy, a short-lived conflict which ultimately resulted in both superpowers submitting to the authority of the invaders. The Jedi Order suffered significant casualties and was effectively disbanded by the war's end, with Grand Master Satele Shan and the Jedi Council being either dead or missing, leaving the surviving Jedi adrift.
Scattered and without leadership, the remaining Jedi were left to their own devices, and while some found their way into the secret Ossus Colonization Initiative led by Jedi Master Gnost-Dural others continued to serve the ideals of the Order on their own terms, without sanction or support. Three such Jedi were Irine, Lorros and Barv Pad, who continued fighting to protect civilians from the brutal regime of the Eternal Empire. Unfortunately, without the support of the Galactic Republic or the Jedi Order, and with the Zakuul–Republic treaty still in effect, the Pad siblings had to survive on their own doing what they could to fulfill their duties as Jedi – effectively becoming vigilantes – and keep themselves fed and clothed. Inevitably, this precarious lifestyle grew increasingly difficult the more they interfered with the activities of the Eternal Empire, and one by one the Pad siblings were hunted down, cornered and killed by Zakuul's endless legions of Skytroopers.
Only Barv Pad survived his wounds, being left for dead on Nar Kreeta after a failed attempt to protect a community of refugees who had been targeted by the Eternal Empire's forces for reasons unknown. Crawling out from the pile of refugee corpses he had failed to save, Barv was both furious and in tremendous pain and – as a result – unconsciously tapped into the dark side of the Force to sustain himself, surviving long enough to receive help. Sadly, that help came in the form of an Imperial scouting party who were discreetly monitoring and investigating Zakuulan activities for potential opportunities to undermine them; the Jedi was captured, provided with medical aid to stabilize his condition, then transferred to a prison camp until he was well enough to be shipped to the Imperial capital, Dromund Kaas, where he was ultimately turned over to the Sphere of Sith Doctrine for interrogation and indoctrination. Due to his disappearance, the fractured state of the Jedi Order and the general lawlessness of Hutt Space, Barv was – like many Jedi – listed as MIA and presumed dead, and it would be over a decade before his survival came to light thanks to his adoption of a new name; Vauk.
Although the Pad siblings had not seen or spoken with their parents since they were taken to be trained when they were children, their father, Franklyn Pad, had been observing their careers from afar, using his position as a Bureau Chief in the Republic Strategic Information Service to learn what he could about the children he had half-heartedly given up to the Jedi Order. Having lost track of them in the aftermath of the Zakuulan invasion, Frank spent many months chasing leads regarding his children's whereabouts, hoping that he could reach out and establish a relationship with them now that there was no Jedi Order to prohibit familial relationships. By the time Frank identified their respective locations, however, it was too late, and by 20 ATC all three of his children had been killed, with only Irine's body being recovered, though she had been cremated and scattered by the grateful survivors she had managed to save by the time Frank arrived to see her. Crippled by despair and rage, Frank took a few weeks away from his duties to mourn, during which time he came to believe that – while it was Zakuul who was directly responsible – the Jedi Order was guilty of failing its members, who were forced from early childhood to rely on the organization to meet their basic needs – without it, they had nothing.
Thus, Frank resolved to do something about it, believing that the Jedi Order should be absorbed into the Galactic Republic's infrastructure, rather than existing as a separate, self-governing religious entity as it had for centuries. Pitching the idea to his colleagues and the Director of the Republic Strategic Information Service, Frank was met with skepticism, though his peers were sympathetic, aware of how hard the deaths of his children had hit him. Nonetheless, Frank remained vigilant for opportunities to make his idea a reality, bringing it up with the Director periodically, albeit to no avail.
False Start[]
She's a civilian, Chief Pad. Force-user, but not a Jedi. Sorry.
—Benjamin, to Frank, regarding Aaellu.
Aaellu, a tribeswoman from an uncharted world initially believed to be a lost Jedi, was targeted as Project Petrichor's first potential leader.
In 25 ATC, Frank finally got the break he had been looking for; reports of a rogue Jedi living in the Coruscant underworld had reached his desk, and within a week of receiving intelligence that she had taken to fighting the Black Sun a high-profile Sith defector – Darth Enigmus – tried to smuggle himself through Coruscant Spaceport customs using fake credentials and a disguise, which would have succeeded if not for facial recognition flagging him up against the SIS database of high-profile Imperial persons of interest. Intercepting him before anyone else could, Frank had Benjamin and his companions – the pilot and wife of the deceased Darth Knossai, Cerys Odé, and Sith Lord Damascus Lambert – escorted to the Heorem Complex for a "meeting", during which he assured the party he had no interest in arresting or interrogating them and was, in fact, aware of reports from Taspir III, where Enigmus – now going by his real name, Benjamin Lambert – had been identified as the leader of a group of conspirators plotting against Empress Acina and ousted during an operation spearheaded by his own wife, who had since been promoted and was now known as Darth Aivela.
Frank had looked into Benjamin's background and discerned that he was a level-headed and restrained man, but also direct in his actions, a seasoned warrior. Thus, he surmised that he was not an infiltrator or threat to the Republic and, hoping to enlist his support, offered the former Dark Lord of the Sith and his companions a deal; he would use his seniority to grant them immediate amnesty, without the need for months of applications and court appearances, if they assisted him in rescuing the Jedi who had crossed the Black Sun and escorted her back safely to his office. Benjamin was surprised at what he saw as a generous offer for a seemingly simple assignment and accepted – a sentiment his companions quickly echoed – before departing the office to immediately head down to the lower levels, where he utilized temporary diplomatic immunity provided by Frank to get through the security checkpoints bordering Black Sun territory.
As a powerful Force Adept, Benjamin had little to fear from the Black Sun thugs and so decided – rather than contending with Black Sun to try and find the elusive Jedi alone, with no leads – to approach the Black Sun directly, claiming that the Jedi was a rogue asset who needed to be brought to justice for fabricated crimes and that he was willing to work with the Black Sun, turning a temporary blind-eye to ensure the Jedi in question was stopped quickly. Having suffered many losses both in terms of personnel and credits, the Black Sun reluctantly accepted Benjamin's help and, alongside Cerys and Damascus, he joined one of their search parties who were trying to corner the missing Jedi in the Works, deliberately allowing the native Cthon population to whittle down the Black Sun forces en route. By chance or design, when the search party finally caught up with the errant Jedi and exited the deadly tunnels, they found themselves in the ruined remains of the Jedi Temple, where Benjamin sensed the Jedi, attempting to hide her presence in the Force with limited success.
Once the Black Sun troops had assembled in the ruins in preparation for a fight, Benjamin confirmed aloud that he could sense the Jedi in the immediate area and would be able to draw her out of hiding – he then apologized for deceiving the Black Sun gangsters before turning on them, with Cerys and Damascus following their friend's lead without hesitation. Between the three of them, the Black Sun search party's defense lasted a matter of seconds before the last man fell. With the Black Sun dead, Benjamin called out to the Jedi – who he suspected was not a Jedi at all, as he could clearly sense the dark side within her – and explained that while he was looking for her, he was not aligned with the Black Sun and only wished to talk to her, peacefully. When she did not reveal herself, Benjamin reached out to touch her mind, making it clear he knew where she was and that hiding was now redundant, prompting her to reveal herself of her own accord. The group were surprised to see a young woman dressed in dirty rags, sporting the helmet of a Zakuulan Scion, from under which flowed long, beaded red hair. With the helmet translating her strange variation of the ancient Sith language, the unaffiliated Force wielder introduced herself as Aaellu, an exile who had traveled to Coruscant from a distant world.
The mutant varactyl Petrichor, who would unknowingly become a major influence on Project Petrichor.
Benjamin explained that members of the Republic government had heard of her activities on Coruscant and had sent him to bring her back safely, as they believed she was one of the missing Jedi who had been lost since the Zakuulan invasion. Now that he knew otherwise, however, Benjamin told Aaellu that he would leave her to her own devices, contacting Frank to explain the situation and allowing him to speak to Aaellu briefly, to ensure Frank could confirm she was not a Jedi with his own eyes, an interaction which saw Aaellu reject the Bureau Chief's attempts to recruit her to the SIS out of distrust. Following the call, Benjamin offered to teach Aaellu to better hide herself in the Force, and while guarded by Damascus and Cerys the former Sith Lord helped the wild woman to improve her technique, ensuring both Sith and Jedi would have a harder time finding her in the future. In addition, Benjamin gave her his comlink details, telling her she could contact him if she ever needed further assistance.
Benjamin and his team returned to the Heorem Complex, where Frank – though disappointed – honored their agreement and gave the trio amnesty, rather than forcing them to go through the long-winded process most defectors were subjected to. Frank then told Benjamin and his friends about his ambitions for Jedi integration, allowing Benjamin to sense the pain behind his words and prompting him to ask about his real motivation, to which Frank told the trio the story of how his children had been hunted down and murdered after the fall of the Jedi Order. Deprived of his rogue Jedi, Frank pitched the idea of Benjamin being involved in some way, but – while intrigued – Lambert explained that he had defected because of a Force vision in which he stood – as a Jedi Knight – against a Sith Lord who threatened the entire galaxy, a vision he felt compelled to pursue. Unfamiliar with the intricacies of Jedi powers and skeptical of the validity of any supposed "visions", Frank had little choice but to accept his decision and helpfully pointed him to Corellia, to Vera Rosalyta, a Green Jedi Master who was reportedly in the process of opening a new Enclave in the city of Tyrena.
Despite the setback, Frank exchanged contact information with the group before they departed and Benjamin did offer to help his initiative if time and circumstances allowed – and if Frank actually managed to get approval to pursue his ambitions. After his promising lead had turned into another dead end, Frank continued with his work for the SIS as before, shelving his ideas for a time until 26 ATC, when Benjamin reached out to him with a concerning revelation. His estranged wife, Darth Aivela, had sent their children – Ben, Alucia and Acina Lambert – to live with him at his home on Corellia without prior warning. Arriving with them was their pet nexu, Quill, which was not surprising. What was surprising, however, was the new addition to the family; a juvenile varactyl called Petrichor, whose existence caused Benjamin considerable concern.
Lexine Lambert, Benjamin's estranged wife, succumbed to the influence of the dark side and became Darth Aivela.
Petrichor was no ordinary creature; she was strong in the Force, a crystalline Sithspawn borne of Aivela's Sith alchemy, though she herself was not dark in nature. A non-invasive analysis of Petrichor showed her skeleton was made using the same unidentifiable crystalline substance growing on her beak, and this report drew interest from parties within the Republic who wanted to seize the creature for dissection, an outcome Benjamin was not prepared to accept. With Frank's assistance, the issue was ultimately dropped, but Benjamin's primary concern – the reason he had gone to visit Frank – was his wife's experiments, which he believed were not about making powerful, Force-sensitive warbeasts for the Empire to use against the Republic. In fact, he believed the creatures were a byproduct; Aivela's true ambition would be to modify sentient life, something she had already done to herself to bolster her own strength in the Force – without informing him and while pregnant with their third child at the time – prior to the confrontation on Taspir III. While explaining his concerns, he also told Frank – in confidence – that the confrontation on Taspir III had been staged, an elaborate ruse to allow him to leave the Empire, snare prominent Sith and Imperials who were not supportive of Acina's more progressive policies and ensure his wife was rewarded rather than penalized for his apparent act of treason.
In a further show of trust, Benjamin admitted he had concerns about the resources Lexine had to put towards her goals, revealing that he was in possession of a strange artifact, a volatile orb – one of the so-called "Four Bound Spirits" – that had fused with his body when he recovered it during an expedition on Dronim Major, which he had undertaken at his wife's request. He was able to manifest the orb into its physical form again, proving its existence to Frank, who – in spite of his lack of Force-sensitivity – could sense the power the artifact held. His wife was in possession of a second orb and was actively hunting more, her research suggesting there were four orbs in existence. Possessing an artifact that provided a considerable boost in Force power to the one who held it, groundbreaking scientific knowledge, her apprentice's gift for Sith alchemy and the resources of Benjamin's old company, Magenta Sparrow Innovations, the former Sith Lord feared that she was toying with dark sciences that were best left untouched – and her refusal to respond to his attempts at communication, as well as her sending her own children away unprotected and without notifying him, led him to believe she had fallen afoul of the corrupting influence of the dark side of the Force.
Preparation[]
Voryle's the perfect place for a single Force user to do some serious damage. With a small support team, a lone Jedi could turn the situation around within months, and after the absolute shafting our agents have taken over the past few years... put it this way, just keeping that place neutral will get this project the green light it needs to get off the ground. That's all we need to do.
—Frank, regarding the decision to send agents to Voryle.
Bon-Yi, Bibi Jotto and Yagogg were hand-picked by Frank as Project Petrichor's first recruits.
Armed with knowledge that had previously been known only to Benjamin and his wife, Frank – impressed with his moral compass – once again asked the former Darth Enigmus to join his initiative, this time as its leader, but the Force wielder remained cautious, unconvinced that the Galactic Republic – even the SIS – would tolerate people like him and fearing that drawing attention to himself would put his friends and family at even greater risk. Nonetheless, the intelligence provided by Frank, via Benjamin, was enough to interest the Director, who "rewarded" him with the allocation a meager, token fund for Frank to use towards his new initiative, the expectation being that it would amount to nothing and put an end to Frank's requests. Eager to push his agenda forwards in spite of his lack of candidates, Frank began recruiting agents for a black ops mission to the neutral weapons manufacturing world of Voryle, where Republic operatives had been all but wiped out by renewed Imperial activity spearheaded by Lord Sera Artofen – Darth Aivela's apprentice.
Hand-picking the reformed Hutt Cartel enforcer Yagogg and the former Republic soldier Bibi Jotto for their underworld and military experience respectively, Frank's small team of specialists was soon strengthened by the addition of the failed Voss Mystic Bon-Yi, who had been working at Coronet Zoo until Benjamin had spoken to her about the prospect of serving the Galactic Republic and subsequently passed on Frank's contact details. With a support team in training to prepare them for their work on Voryle, Frank reached out to his old subordinate, Special Agent Carth Waverunner, and asked for his assistance, in particular with convincing his aunt, Jedi Master Sophia Sofora, to lead the team on Voryle in place of the neutral Force user he had failed to recruit. Unfortunately, while she agreed and Frank deployed his team to Voryle in anticipation, Waverunner and Sofora never made it to Coruscant to be briefed on the mission, as the former mysteriously disappeared and the latter was asked to redirect to Corellia following an incident on Mek-Sha, which served as a prelude to the Sith Empire's bold assault on the Meridian Complex. Benjamin, visiting Coronet with Aaellu and his children at the time, was caught up in the fighting that spilled out beyond the Meridian Complex, but it was only towards the end of the year that he reported to Frank's office, finally committing himself to step up and actively participate in the fight against the Sith Empire.
Although Benjamin had finally come around about having a hand in Frank's controversial project, his change of heart coincided with a strange and unexpected development; two Jedi, claiming to have been sent by the SIS, had already arrived on Voryle and liaised with Frank's team on the surface. In an update report sent by Bibi Jotto (who was unaware of the identity of the Jedi being sent to lead her team), it was revealed that Jedi Knight Zhavi Waverunner and her Chiss Padawan Isla Ahnkett had landed on Voryle to take the lead in undermining the Sith Empire's influence, though their arrival had been fraught with complications. Chief amongst them were the life-threatening injuries Isla had sustained pre-arrival, followed soon after by Zhavi's arrest when she – underestimating the thoroughness and know-how of Vorylian customs – tried to smuggle her disassembled lightsaber through one of the orbital security checkpoints.
Thankfully, Isla had received medical attention in time to save her life, and while her injuries were substantial her care had been paid for by Countess Patrice LaLenna, a local Vorylian politician who had been covertly helping the Republic combat the Empire on her homeworld for years. On the downside, however, Zhavi's incarceration was a problem that would take longer to solve, as Vorylian weapons laws were ruthlessly enforced and her trial would almost certainly see her sentenced to death for threatening national security. Frank had chosen not to inform Bibi that the two women were imposters and had instead opted to research the them before making any hasty decisions, confirming that Zhavi Waverunner was from the same distinguished Iridionian military family as Special Agent Carth Waverunner, her younger brother. She had been the first member of her family in centuries not to enlist with the Republic armed forces in some capacity, being taken in to train as a Jedi instead, and despite having parted ways with the Jedi Order when she was just a child Frank was able to learn that she had fought in the invasion of Ossus, even surviving a foolhardy challenge she made against Darth Malgus.
Once known as Darth Enigmus, Benjamin Lambert's actions resulted in him becoming Frank's preferred candidate to lead Project Petrichor.
Isla Ahnkett's past, however, was shrouded in mystery; she was a Jedi Padawan, as Bibi's report had claimed, but she was also listed as having been killed when she was ten years old, back in 12 ATC, while en route to a diplomatic mission with her then-master, Rosentine Synma, who had also died that day. Frank had a theory as to who Isla might have been and what she had been doing since her supposed death, but it was only once he had brought Benjamin fully up to speed and asked for his thoughts on the matter that the former Sith Lord was able to shed additional light on exactly who had stumbled upon Frank's secret project.
While searching for the ancient orb he had retrieved on Dronim Major, Benjamin had been helped by a mercenary named Carla Jemso, a rough-accented Chiss who was working as a security coordinator for an archaeological expedition when the Antiquarians – a private military company who, somewhat ironically, specialized in archaeological site security – had attacked on behalf of the Sith Empire and massacred almost everyone at the research camp she had been hired to protect. Although mistrustful, Carla had helped Benjamin fight back against the mercenaries and overcome their use of a Force-neutralizing gas, and after sensing the dark side in her and sharing that he had once been a Sith Lord himself, she had reluctantly lent him her lightsaber, concealed on her person, which had allowed him to confront Tavion Wyntoq, convince the young Sith to depart without crossing blades and, ultimately, claim the Bound Spirit hidden beneath the ruins – along with the mysterious guardian whose consciousness was tied to the orb, though Benjamin told no one of this.
The incident had been featured heavily on the HoloNet at the time and was public knowledge, with Benjamin even being mentioned as a participant by several news stations, but at Carla's request both her ward Professor Leeroy Demmen and Benjamin omitted any mention of her involvement and, though her body was never found, "Carla Jemso" was presumed dead, along with half a dozen others. Later, Carla had forwarded Benjamin an intelligence file and given him instructions to pass it on to Zhavi as soon as possible; Zhavi, in turn, had immediately asked for him to drop her off on Dxun.
Though he did not read the file as a courtesy, he could sense the intensity of Zhavi's feelings for "Carla" – who she identified as Isla – during the journey and suspected they were romantically involved, which lined up neatly with a report Frank had read concerning the massacre of a Sith cult on Dxun, in the tomb of Freedon Nadd, just a few months earlier, an incident largely overshadowed by a high-profile conflict on Onderon that occurred at the same time, just before the attack on the Meridian Complex. Most notably as far as the SIS was concerned, a Sith Lord who worked for Sith Intelligence – Lord Scarlet Jhang – had been found dead in the tomb, further supporting Frank's unspoken theory about who Isla really was.
Both Frank and Benjamin agreed that Zhavi Waverunner, at the very least, would not act against the Galactic Republic's interests on Voryle, and though they believed the enigmatic Isla Ahnkett was in league with Waverunner and not a threat they quickly took steps to confirm that fact, combing over any information relating to the Waverunner family members and a Chiss Sith Intelligence assassin known as Loreli Patek, the mysterious Sith agent who Frank believed might be the alter-ego of the resurrected Isla Ahnkett. Although they were barely able to verify that Patek was even a real person due to the secrecy that enshrouded her, Frank was able to access surveillance footage for the apartment building where Zhavi's parents lived and – after trawling through hours of useless recordings – eventually found what they had been looking for; Zhavi Waverunner, visiting her parents while they were between tours, with a goggle-wearing Pantoran by her side, neither of whom had passed through customs on the upper levels. A check into the family's finances for that day confirmed they had visited a local restaurant, and archived security footage retrieved from the establishment confirmed the Waverunner family had eaten there that day, with the unknown Pantoran in tow – a meal for which, they learned, Special Agent Carth Waverunner had been present.
To protect Zhavi Waverunner, "Loreli Patek" confronted her Sith mentor on Dxun and was mortally wounded.
Carth had only recently returned to work after being questioned and declared physically and psychologically fit for duty, but like his parents – held captive alongside him – he maintained that he had been rescued from the tomb of Freedon Nadd by Zhavi alone. Nonetheless, Frank summoned Carth the following day in the hopes of confirming their suspicions, questioning him informally, as a friend, showing the evidence he and Benjamin had assembled and explaining how Isla Ahnkett's true identity and motives were an issue that Frank needed him to clarify. Carth assured Frank that Zhavi would not betray the Republic agents on Voryle, but apologetically revealed he was sworn to secrecy regarding Isla and would not break his promise, not even for Frank, who he had the greatest respect for. Illustrating the benefits of his plan to recruit Force users who were not defined by the Jedi Code, Frank asked Benjamin to retrieve the information by force; Carth was offered a final chance to tell them what he knew, but when he refused Benjamin apologetically ripped the knowledge from his mind, albeit doing his utmost not to harm or distress the younger Waverunner more than was required.
In doing so, it was revealed that Isla Ahnkett, Carla Jemso and Loreli Patek were indeed all one and the same; the Chiss and her master had been ambushed by one "Lord Kim" over a decade ago, an encounter that saw her teacher murdered and Isla forced to become Lord Kim's apprentice, shedding her old name to hide her survival at her new master's insistence. Since then she had worked as an assassin under Lord Kim, Imperial Intelligence, Sith Intelligence and – until recently – the Eternal Alliance, where she and Zhavi had formed a strong bond and entered into a romantic relationship that carried on – secretly – even after they both left the Alliance. Carth was not entirely sure what had happened since he first met Isla, but he had been under the impression that the couple had had a falling out, and after experiencing a surprise Force vision – revealing a connection to the Force he had never knew he possessed – of his sister being slain on Makeb, Carth and his parents had set out to find her, only to be intercepted by Scarlet Jhang, the Sith Lord who had been found dead in the tomb on Dxun.
Jhang had moved them around various Imperial detention centers over the months until, eventually, they were transferred to the tomb of Freedon Nadd, where Jhang used them to bait both Zhavi and Isla into a trap independently of one another, hoping to force the former into joining Isla – who she had been mentoring – as her apprentice, claiming that the pair were something called a "Force dyad". Benjamin was able to explain to both men that a Force dyad was a rare and unconfirmed phenomenon where two individuals were bound together through the Force, allowing them – supposedly – to share thoughts, abilities and powers and cooperate with such a level of coordination that they were as one being, similar to the more widely used Force meld technique, though he had never been certain such bonds were possible or if they were simply myths spawned over the ages.
Isla had arrived in the tomb first and was overpowered easily, but – presumably anticipating that possibility, given the data and instructions she had sent to Benjamin – Zhavi reached Jhang not long after, fighting through wave after wave of Sith cultists, fueled by the dark power of the tomb, until she reached the burial chamber where the Sith Lord was waiting. During Zhavi's fight with Jhang, Isla had broken free of her force cage and – thanks to their bond – the pair had gained the upper hand, only losing it when Jhang exploited a pause in the fighting to drop debris down onto the force cages holding the Waverunners. Forced to intervene to save her family from being crushed, Zhavi separated from Isla, giving Jhang the opportunity to get between them and incapacitate the weaker of the two combatants while she could, as the nature of the dyad meant she could not defeat them while they fought as one. Unfortunately, Isla had managed to lock Jhang's arm, immobilizing her as Zhavi was about to reengage and forcing Jhang to take more drastic action to survive; she managed to sever the Chiss' arm, which sent Zhavi into a rage.
In retaliation, one of Jhang's last acts had been to mutilate Isla, severing all of her limbs to both shock Zhavi and kill the Chiss, destroying the dyad and weakening Zhavi enough that she could be subdued and turned, a consolation prize after her scheme to snare the dyad had gone awry. Zhavi had come prepared to face a Sith Lord, however, and utilized a lightwhip – which Benjamin had helped her to complete during the journey to Dxun – to overwhelm and overpower Jhang, who was disarmed and slain. Zhavi then freed her parents and brother and carried Isla out of the tomb to find medical attention, using the Force to keep her from dying. She left the jungle aboard Jhang's ship, going alone at her insistence, fearing her use of the dark side could cause her to lash out at her family.
After relaying the tale to Frank, he and Benjamin agreed that both Isla and Zhavi had the potential to not only excel at the roles they had usurped, but could also make excellent recruits if the operation on Voryle was successful. Though they were unclear why Zhavi had traveled to Voryle in search of medical aid of all the places in the galaxy, they speculated that Countess LaLenna had heard of their dramatic arrival, mistaken them for the Jedi Frank had promised and Zhavi, being a petty criminal for many years, had simply played along, exploiting her luck for all it was worth to ensure her partner's medical expenses were paid for.
Now, indebted to LaLenna and with Isla unable to return to the Sith Empire, Frank and Benjamin were confident that the two women were not a threat to the operation, but were in fact uniquely qualified for it. Though Benjamin was concerned that by embracing the dark power of the tomb Zhavi Waverunner may not have been the same woman she had been before, they agreed to monitor the situation closely, convincing Carth to travel to Voryle and observe from afar, independently of the support team.
Operation: Petrichor[]
These two rogues... we don't know a lot. The Jedi girl, Waverunner, she ran from the Order when she was ten. Seems she's been a petty criminal since. Comes from a loyalist family and her brother's one of the best agents I've ever worked with, plus she was at Ossus. Even went toe-to-toe with Malgus apparently. So her... her I'm not too concerned about. But the Chiss? This... "Isla Ahnkett"? She was a Jedi a long ways back, but she's been "dead" for just as long, which brings up questions I don't think I'll like the answers to, but... I want to observe, for now. See how this plays out. If the Chiss is who I think she is, and she's working with Waverunner... this might work out far better than if we'd sent Sofora.
—Frank Pad, to Benjamin Lambert, concerning the events on Voryle in 27 ATC.
Marking their activities with a sinister tag, the Cobbled Terentateks quickly rose to prominence under the leadership of Dark Jedi Isla Ahnkett.
In early 27 ATC, Isla Ahnkett had recovered from her ordeal and was released from Capital Borough Hospital, whereupon she began coordinating with Countess LaLenna and Frank's team of operatives to secure Zhavi's release from prison so that they could turn their focus to ridding the city of its Imperial influence; regardless of the twists, delays and setbacks, it seemed Operation: Petrichor was finally underway.
Isla worked alongside Bibi, Yagogg, Bon-Yi, Countess LaLenna and her butler Rissessk and a local Hutt businessman called Tabassa to form a street gang to serve as the Republic's proxy on the planet, as the Sith Empire had done with the now-dominant Rabid Akks, a violent gang of thugs who prowled the streets making life difficult for the civilians. Isla's force, the Cobbled Terentateks, quickly rose to prominence in Yonmouth South thanks to the Chiss' abilities, beginning with the assassination of high-profile lawyer Ummin Cha Shyndatyriss, an Imperial sympathizer who had been brought in from off-world to lead the prosecution in Zhavi's smuggling trial. Thanks to LaLenna's influence, Zhavi's confiscated lightsaber components were sabotaged by Tommo Sanders, a sympathetic police captain who had his eyes on the position of police commissioner, ensuring the case against her was doomed when the trial finally began. Pending the processing of the necessary paperwork, Isla and LaLenna had successfully defanged the prosecution, forced the government to throw out the case and secured Zhavi's release.
While her "master" remained imprisoned, Isla got to work building the Cobbled Terentateks up, starting with making allies of the prostitutes who worked at the Midnight Rose, one of the most reputable brothels in the city and one of many business institutions who were forced to pay for "protection" from the Rabid Akks, or risk their wrath. Unconvinced that the new gang would do anything in the face of the Akks' city-wide control, Madam Quisselle – the head of the establishment and a well-respected local figure – demanded a show of power before she would risk her people by betraying her agreement with the Rabid Akks. To that end, she pointed Isla towards the Rabid Akks' hovertrain, which they used to ferry cargo and troops rapidly around the city. While Quisselle expected the best case scenario to be the destruction of the train and the worst to be the Chiss' murder at the gangsters' hands, Isla knew her capabilities and was far more ambitious; she ambushed the train and systematically eliminated every gang member on board, save the driver.
Seizing his mind using the Force, she compelled him to obey her commands, arranging for her lieutenants to take control of the train and turn it into a mobile base of operations. In doing so, Isla enabled Bibi, Bon-Yi, Yagogg and Tabassa to go into hiding before they were even identified by the Rabid Akks, moving unnoticed around the city and allowing them to avoid LaLenna's estate, which was being monitored by the Akks and their Sith masters.
As a former assassin and infiltrator, Isla's experience proved instrumental in securing early victories for Operation: Petrichor.
Having impressed Madam Quisselle enough to secure her support, Isla was able to enlist her help further, temporarily replacing one of her workers with her blessing to mesmerize the manager of the Voryle Capital Bank during one of his frequent visits to the Midnight Rose. Using her body and the Force to entrance him, Isla was able to steal his office key, which was kept on his person at all times. With the key in her possession and the manager none the wiser, Isla was able to undertake a brazen daylight robbery of one of the bank's high security vaults, the contents of which – including a Hurrikaine crystal, which Isla kept to use in her sabercane – provided the Cobbled Terentateks with an immense boost in capital, allowing them to renovate their command center, fund their activities and outfit their new members.
Despite the substantial early gains Isla had orchestrated, the situation on the planet deteriorated when the Empire showcased how committed they were to winning Voryle; Lord Artofen released one of the crystalline beasts she and her master had been working on at the edge of Yonmouth North, where it quickly worked its way towards the Cobbled Terentateks' home borough. Although Isla managed to outwit the Force-strong monster, penetrate its lightsaber-resistant hide and ultimately kill it before it entered her territory, the beast's appearance on the planet was worrying, so much so that Isla had the foresight to sever the creature's head before the authorities arrived and ordered her subordinates to deliver it back to the base for study. Once there, Rissessk (a former big game hunter) was able to identify the creature; a kkorrwrot, from Kashyyyk, albeit mutated by means that were unknown to him. He was able to confirm that not only was the outer carapace some sort of unusual crystalline substance, but that the skull itself seemed to be made from the same material, in place of bone.
Isla knew enough about Sith alchemy to suspect it as the source, but she was most alarmed by the realization that the creature was not only crystallized, but that the crystal radiated the power of the dark side of the Force, even in death. Realizing that the creature had been artificially infused with the power of the Force via its strange crystalline mutations, Isla put the gang on high alert and gave specific orders not to engage any more creatures that appeared. Only she and Zhavi were equipped to deal with such threats, adding extra pressure to the pair as their use of lightsabers had to remain a closely-guarded secret, lest they attract too much attention from the police.
Artofen's mission to win Voryle and its orbital weapon facilities over to the Empire took a darker, more personal turn when Isla was intercepted by Artem Phond – Darth Aivela's lesser apprentice and Artofen's close personal friend – beneath the Voryle Zoo, where he was stationed as the guardian of the secret Sithspawn laboratory Artofen was using to grow her mutants, rather than trying to smuggle them in. Although overpowered by the cyborg, Isla's intellect and agility – coupled with Phond's overconfidence – allowed her to outmaneuver him and ultimately use lightning against his life support suit to severely weaken him. After a fierce confrontation, Isla's allies arrived to rescue her aboard Lord Jhang's stolen Phantom-class, giving the enraged Chiss the opportunity to lift Phond into the air and feed him into the ship's engines, an agonizing death that Artofen felt keenly through the Force. Taking note of her efforts against him, Isla was invited to attend a garden party at the private residence of Prime Minister Namos D'callo, where the Chiss' ally and romantic interest Samantha was outed as being the Prime Minister's daughter, a move intended to unbalance Isla and create a rift between the two women – a scheme which succeeded. It was only when the Prime Minister and Artofen put their grand plan into action that Isla and Samantha reconciled, fighting together to slay a colossal Sher Kar mutant that was demolishing the city.
Sith Lord Sera Artofen's mission on Voryle became a personal vendetta against Isla after the death of Artem Phond.
Once the beast was defeated, Isla and Samantha worked together to interrupt an emergency session at the Debate Chamber, where a closed meeting of the Vorylian ruling council was in session to discuss whether or not to accept the Sith Empire's invitation to join them, in exchange for help destroying the behemoth threatening to level the city. While Isla eliminated a urnsor'is poised to release poison into the chamber's ventilation system to eradicate D'callo's opponents and give him the unanimous vote he required, Samantha confronted her father directly, driving him from the chamber but failing to catch him due to the intervention of his personal bodyguard, a HK-series assassin droid. The following day, Isla and her team traveled to Artofen's base of operations at the Magenta Sparrow Innovations building, where a large gang battle erupted, providing a distraction which Isla used to slip inside. Encountering Namos D'callo on her way up the tower, Isla incapacitated him and continued on, hoping to sneak up on the Sith Lord using her talent for stealth before she could escape, though Artofen was smart enough to anticipate Isla's position using the facilities cameras and successfully unveiled her before she could strike.
The pair fought hard to best one another, but neither of the women were particularly proficient with a lightsaber. It was only when Bibi Jotto arrived and attempted to intervene to assist Isla that Artofen gained the advantage, overwhelming the former soldier and dealing her a fatal blow that enraged the Chiss but forced her to choose between continuing the duel or helping Bibi. By choosing to attend to her friend, Isla begrudgingly allowed Artofen to escape the planet and, tragically, Bibi succumbed to her wounds anyway, though not before Isla altered her weakened mind to project false, happy memories, allowing her trusted friend to die peacefully and painlessly. Isla, however, was mortified by the loss, and once Bibi had passed she murdered the wounded Prime Minister D'callo out of spite. In the aftermath, Countess LaLenna manipulated the tense political situation to strong-arm Samantha into becoming Voryle's interim Prime Minister, ensuring the city was in safe hands during the reconstruction and erasing any chance of the neutral world joining the Sith Empire.
While not quite the success story many in the Republic would have wanted, Frank and his peers within the SIS knew that securing the planet's allegiance had never been an option, nor their goal. As such, Operation: Petrichor had proven the validity of Frank's ideas to the rest of the SIS; a Force user with no loyalty to the Jedi Order had instigated a massive political shift in a vital theater of war with minimal resources or support, and in the case of Voryle they had done so unsupervised and without any SIS training, nor with the need for any direction from a superior officer. Frank sent Benjamin to Voryle to debrief Isla and Zhavi while he began writing up his preliminary report for the Director, knowing that a familiar face would put them at ease and make them more likely to report to Coruscant to meet with Frank, which they did, ultimately accepting his invitation to join the SIS under his and Benjamin's command. Frank then filled the gaps in his report with the Isla and Zhavi's help and delivered it to the Director personally, finally strong-arming his superior into giving his approval and authorizing funding – albeit begrudgingly – for what would become known as Project Petrichor.
Making the arrangements would take time, however, and for the remainder of the year, Frank focused on analyzing intelligence that might be of note to the group, though he and Benjamin were particularly thorough in looking over Darth Aivela's activities in preparation for a targeted campaign against her, one which would not get underway until Project Petrichor was formally launched at the start of 28 ATC.
Service[]
Mission to Voss[]
They're getting better, but the Gormak are still wary of Voss and their powers. In the same vein, Voss are still uncomfortable with the idea of Gormak using the Force. Might be a pointless blue milk run, but I want you two to check it out.
—Frank, regarding the saber-wielding Gormak, to Zhavi and Isla.
Voss, where Project Petrichor's first unofficial mission took place.
In late 27 ATC, Frank had been reading reports on recent events taking place on the world of Voss, where a coalition of the native Gormak and Voss – under the banner of the Shrine Restoration Initiative – were working to repair damage inflicted upon the shrines at the Interpreter's Retreat during the Eternal Empire's attack. Within the reports was an interesting rumor pertaining to a certain Gormak worker who had – supposedly – been seen wielding lightsabers.
Whether the individual was able to wield the Force or not, Frank believed the rumor was interesting enough to warrant investigation, if only to spare Zhavi and Isla from being left idle while Project Petrichor was set up. Frank also had concerns if the Gormak was indeed a Force user, knowing that neither the Voss nor the Gormak would take kindly to such an individual even if the coalition was comprised of a more forward thinking assortment of volunteers. He suspected that, if confirmed, the Gormak in question would not remain welcome among her kind for long, and would either be murdered or forced into exile, wasting talents that Project Petrichor was perfectly positioned to put to greater use. To that end, Frank put the suggestion of a visit to Zhavi and Isla, though admitted it would be a "personal" visit, as he did not yet have the power to authorize a mission on behalf of Project Petrichor; it did not technically exist, and Operation: Petrichor had already been conducted without authorization.
Rather than risk earning the Director's disfavor, Zhavi and Isla agreed to go to Voss as civilians to investigate the lightsaber-wielding Gormak worker, taking their own ship and documentation that authorized them to dock with the Voss Orbital Station and descend to the planet's surface via shuttle. Once they arrived in Vos-Ka and familiarized themselves with the city they had heard so much about through their relationship with both the Eternal Alliance and former local Bon-Yi, the pair paid for passage on a second shuttle which was bound for the Interpreter's Retreat, arriving late in the evening.
One of Zhavi's old Eternal Alliance contacts had told her that the Alliance Commander, Sana-Rae and Arcann were all visiting the Interpreter's Retreat and so, hoping to leverage their connection to the Alliance, Isla set off to look for Sana-Rae while Zhavi explored the immediate area. Unfortunately, both women learned independently that they had missed the Commander by several hours and so, when Isla met with Maton-Ja and Kodom (the joint leaders of the coalition), she was forced to agree to help the Shrine Restoration Initiative in exchange for permission to remain in the area. Specifically, the pair requested assistance with a recovery operation into the Shrine of Silence, which was scheduled to set off in the morning after the successful cleansing of the ruins by the Alliance Commander. Isla and Zhavi would be helping to secure the ruins, locate the bodies of the fallen and return them to the surface.
In the meantime, however, they were free to remain at the retreat provided they adhered to Voss law. Rather than wait around, Isla set off to find Zhavi (who had taken to picking fights with the local mawvorr) and, once reunited, the former lovers continued onwards to the Gormak work camp, where they delivered the mawvorr carcasses as a show of good faith and were permitted to remain, lingering at the camp for a late lunch in the cafeteria after. Asking around during their stop, they learned that their target – Xadda – was something of a lone wolf, feared by her peers for reasons that were not specified but that the pair took as confirmation of her Force-sensitivity. Furthermore, she was not present at the camp, as she had taken an interest in the activities of Czerka Interstellar and left to investigate a reported sighting – of her own volition.
Following after her, the pair split up again, with Isla using her stealth abilities to scout ahead while Zhavi trailed slightly behind. Not too far from the work camp, Isla located the Gormak while she was engaged in combat against one of the native vorantiki, which she had lured into a sinkhole and was in the process of eliminating, doing so with both the aid of a pair of guard shotos and the Force before Czerka Interstellar mercenaries emerged from stealth to ambush her. Zhavi arrived shortly afterwards, drawing attention away from the surrounded Gormak, and when she refused to leave the area the lead mercenary opened fire, giving Isla and Xadda an opportunity to attack while Zhavi – the more seasoned saber wielder – took the brunt of the blaster bolts.
Working in unison, the trio managed to quickly eliminate most of the group, but Xadda was caught by surprise when the lead mercenary fired an electroshock net, incapacitating her and leaving her defenseless, if not for a timely shot from Zhavi's pistol. As she recovered, Isla and Zhavi explained to Xadda that they represented the Galactic Republic's Strategic Information Service and had traveled to Voss specifically to ask her to join them, pointing out that she would be working alongside others like her who did not see her abilities as "corruption", unlike the Voss and Gormak. She would be able to combat those like Czerka, while receiving training and payment, which would allow her to build a new home away from Voss.
Although distrustful by nature and dubious about the positive future she was supposedly being offered, Xadda knew life as she knew it on Voss would not continue forever, and so rather than face an uncertain future she agreed to accept the offer to join Project Petrichor. Isla escorted Xadda to Voss-Ka under the cover of darkness and took her back to Coruscant, leaving Zhavi to fulfill the obligation the Chiss had agreed to regarding the Shrine of Silence. Once Xadda arrived on Coruscant and formally agreed to work for Frank and Benjamin, arrangements were made for her to begin learning Basic and, initially assisted by Benjamin, she was provided with a tutor to help her transition from the simplicity of life on Voss into the wider galaxy.
After helping with the initial survey of the Shrine of Silence, Zhavi spent the rest of her week on Voss assisting the locals with building projects across the area before the transportation Frank had managed to arrange was ready to make its return journey to the Core, taking her along with it.
Investigation on Kashyyyk[]
«Welcome to Kashyyyk!»
―Batauww, to Isla and Zhavi.
Vrym, a rare red-furred tach, encountered Zhavi and Isla during their mission to Kashyyyk.
In early 28 ATC, Project Petrichor was officially established as a division of the Republic Strategic Information Service. With a green light to begin operations, Frank's first act as head of the project was to finance the acquisition and installation of the latest translation implants for all initiative members, though in Isla's case her existing translator – a high-end model used by Sith Intelligence – was simply updated with the latest software and language updates. To kick off their campaign against Darth Aivela, Benjamin and Frank briefed the team on the initiative's goals and direction, which would begin with the investigation of the locations Darth Aivela was using to source the beasts utilized in her experiments. To that end, Avexiss Odé – a Pureblooded Jedi Shadow and an old friend of Benjamin's – agreed to look into the fiery world of Mustafar, the homeworld of the blistmok Isla had encountered at the Voryle Zoo and the monstrous Sher Kar that had later laid waste to the city. Isla and Zhavi, meanwhile, were sent to the forest world of Kashyyyk, where the elusive kkorrwrot could be found.
In Isla and Zhavi's case, the mission was also a test of sorts, as it was the first mission where they would be following orders from a superior officer rather than operating independently. It was also the easier of the two assignments, as Avexiss' old master, Batauww, had left the Jedi Order and returned home to begin his life anew, giving them an inside source who would be able to assist them in navigating both the untamed world and Wookiee society, which was still haunted by the memory of their enslavement by Czerka Corporation during the Jedi Civil War. Taking the ship Zhavi had taken from Lord Jhang – which had been renamed the Cobalt Whisper by Zhavi – to Kashyyyk, the duo landed in Rwookrrorro, where they were greeted by unfriendly armed guards who warned them to behave themselves while visiting.
Thankfully, Batauww arrived to greet them personally and escorted them through the city, explaining that he had been keeping his ear to the ground for weeks after Avexiss had sent word about the exporting of Kashyyykian wildlife and – with the help of the local scouts – had a place for them to start their search; the deadly Shadowlands. Usually, outsiders were not permitted to venture to the forest floor, but, thanks to his friendship with the chieftain, Batauww had secured them passage, on the proviso that he travel with them to ensure they respected the forest. More used to urban environments, the duo were more than happy to have a local guide accompany them, and together the three of them descended to the forest floor via liftcar. During the lengthy trip down, they discussed the Sithspawn that had brought Project Petrichor to Kashyyyk, and the two women learned that Batauww had willingly cut himself off from the Force after a harrowing encounter with the dark side, an event that caused him to reevaluate his path in life.
During the descent, the group also attracted the attention of an inquisitive primate, which Batauww identified as a tach, a harmless creature, though the specimen in question had a rare red coloration and seemed particularly interested in Isla, a feeling which was not mutual. Strangely, the group did not encounter any hostile creatures for some time after reaching the forest floor, and though they remained on alert it was the sound of blaster fire that finally marked the first instance of danger. Following the sound, the group found the survivors of a Trandoshan hunting party who were fending off the last of a group of wyyyschokk ambushers before turning their weapons on the new arrivals. Working together, the trio took out the last of the hunters while a katarn sprinted from the undergrowth to try and pounce on Isla, missing thanks to her and Zhavi's unusual synchronicity.
Once the katarn had made itself know it was dispatched without much trouble, and the group looked over the remains of the Trandoshans, ascertaining that they were poachers rather than hunters, suggesting that they were – potentially – in the right area. Moving on, Batauww, Isla and Zhavi came across a wounded Wookiee scout who confirmed the existence of a poacher compound further ahead, beyond the usual patrol routes maintained by the Wookiees of Rwookrrorro. Assisting the scout and sending her back to the city, the group once again resumed their journey, locating the poacher compound and realizing that it was considerably better funded than they had expected, with dozens of cages and an impressive, chain-operated lift. The resources were beyond what opportunistic Trandoshan hunters could muster; Darth Aivela's involvement was all but confirmed.
Despite approaching the compound peacefully, the poachers responded with blaster fire rather than dialogue, forcing Zhavi and Isla to defend against an onslaught of bolts while Batauww picked off the enemy troops from the undergrowth, thinning out their numbers enough for the two Force users to push forwards. In doing so, they drew the poacher leader out from his cabin, quickly realizing – as he brutalized those under his command who tried to run – that he was a Force user too. Arrogant and overconfident in his own power, the Dark Jedi openly admitted his connection to Darth Aivela, boasting that he had trained under the Sith Lord herself before proudly revealing the lightsaber she had gifted to him. While Isla moved away to help Batauww release the caged beasts in the compound, Zhavi fought the poacher leader, where he enthused about his ambition to rule Trandosha and earn enough Jagannath points to become the Scorekeeper's mate, ambitions that were ended when Zhavi decapitated him and took his head as a trophy for the Wookiee chieftain.
With the poachers wiped out and their captives released back into the wild, the trio used the lift they had built to ascend to the wroshyr canopy, expecting to find more of Aivela's Trandoshan minions. Although they did, the troops they encountered were dead, the only living beings on the shipping platform being a squad of Chiss Expansionary Defense Force commandos, surprising all three members of the group with their presence. The Chiss were quick to assure them that they meant no harm; they were there for the Trandoshans, not for them, and in an effort to reassure them that they were sincere, the leader took his helmet off – revealing the face of Mitth'endar'inrokini, Isla's biological brother.
Mitth'endar'inrokini, offering his core name Hendar, explained that the Trandoshan leader – named Tsosska – had killed an agent of the Ascendancy and had been marked for death ever since. Hendar had tracked Tsosska's men to Kashyyyk and his forces had descended to attack the poaching operation, though he noted that Zhavi was carrying the head of his target. Hendar asked for permission to scan the Trandoshan's head to confirm his death, which the group granted, and Hendar gave Isla his contact information, telling her that the Chiss cared little for Sith politics – despite the change in her allegiance, their mother still wished to see her, if she changed her mind and decided to visit Copero. After watching the Chiss take off, the group began making their way back to Rwookrrorro through the treetops, rather than braving the dangers of the Shadowlands once again.
Upon their return, Zhavi presented Tsosska's head to the chieftain and relayed the destruction of the Trandoshan poaching operation, earning his gratitude for protecting Kashyyyk against his people's "hated enemy". Zhavi and Isla returned to their ship without further incident, accompanied by their curious crimson companion, whom Isla promptly removed from the Whisper before takeoff. After leaving the atmosphere, however, they discovered that – somehow – the diminutive primate had snuck back on board and quickly made himself at home. Zhavi, amused, convinced Isla that it was not worth the effort to take him back to Kashyyyk, and after his presence was begrudgingly accepted she gave him the name Vrym, after the unusual "cooing" he produced when relaxed.
Investigation on Mustafar[]
We've lost south block! We need everyone down at sector five! Everyone!"
"Enemy strength?"
"Emperor spare me..."
"Enemy strength, sergeant?"
"She's here... it's just one woman! She's–
—A comlink conversation between two Imperial troopers.
Once a lush Jedi world, Mustafar was a hellish destination by the time of the Third Galactic War.
While Isla and Zhavi were busy exploring the dark depths of Kashyyyk, Avexiss arrived in orbit above Mustafar, where her ship's sensors soon picked up signs of advanced life on the surface, which had been decimated centuries earlier during an apocalyptic battle of the Great Sith War. Setting her ship down a few miles out, she proceeded on foot to what she suspected was an Imperial facility, confirming her suspicions when she engaged Imperial troops who had been sent to cut her off in the Corvax Fen.
An expert fighter, Avexiss had no trouble carving a bloody path through the smoldering woodland and soon found a small installation – several kilometers north of the Burning Plains – that was clearly of Imperial design. Breaching the perimeter, Avexiss quickly discovered that the location was indeed for the exportation of local fauna – with several xandank and blistmok held in captivity – and set about reaching the command center, where she was able to open the base's outer doors, release the imprisoned creatures all at once and sabotage the controls, rendering the base temporarily inoperable.
Once she made her way back outside, she was intercepted by Tavion Wyntoq, one of the more notable Sith known to be serving under Darth Aivela's banner, and the two engaged in a brief duel where it immediately became clear that Tavion was outmatched. Avexiss allowed her to flee to her ship and depart the planet, however, as she wanted Darth Aivela – once her friend – to know that she stood in opposition to her schemes.
Investigation on Corulag[]
This is Kassie Kaadara. Cocky son of a Hutt, doesn't pay her debts, drinks like a Selkath... but she's got a mean right hook, a bar that sells passable Menkooro and I'd trust her with my life. Say hello to your new buddies, Kas.
—Frank, introducing Kassie Kaadara to the other members of Project Petrichor.
Upon their return from Kashyyyk, Isla and Zhavi were debriefed and congratulated on their success, both in confirming a connection between the Trandoshans and Darth Aivela and establishing a diplomatic connection with the Wookiees. Commander Lambert informed the team that he and Aaellu would be traveling to an archaeological site on Yavin IV, as intercepted communications between Aivela's forces suggested another of the artifacts – dubbed "Celestial Orbs" by the Imperials – had been located there. Although the rest of the group could sense tension between Benjamin and Aaellu, they were unaware that the pair had slept together while drunk, an incident Benjamin had written off as a mistake. Before the duo departed, Frank introduced the newest member of Project Petrichor, a Human woman named Kassie Kaadara, a Jedi Knight who had been displaced by the collapse of the Jedi Order and chosen to settle down, opening a bar – Kaadara Bara – on her homeworld Corulag.
Enjoying the perks of civilian life, Kaadara was still willing to help the Republic, but on her own terms, and after she turned down representatives of Task Force Nova who had reached out to recruit her back into the rebuilding Jedi Order, Frank had got in touch to present her with an alternate, more personalized offer. The details of the arrangement were still being negotiated and were between Frank and Kassie, but she had been brought in to help early as Project Petrichor had received a request from another department, one which would take the agents to Curamelle, the capital of Corulag. Zhavi and Isla would be accompanying Kassie back to Corulag, where they were tasked with locating a Sith Intelligence defector who had – before leaving his post – stolen a list containing the names of over two dozen Cipher Agents operating in Republic space, hoping to use it to buy himself asylum. He had been unable to reach safety before enemy forces closed in on his position and forced him to ground, however.
Given the value of the data and the fact that there were already several Imperial agents operating on Corulag, Kassie and Frank had agreed she needed backup to match the suspected number of enemy combatants in play. Their job was straightforward; find the defector and acquire his data before the Empire caught up with him, with a secondary objective of keeping him alive so he could be placed into protective custody. Once the trio arrived on Corulag, Zhavi and Kassie were happy to spend what was left of the evening settling in at the latter's bar, unlike Isla, who wanted to jump straight into the investigation. To that end, she began asking around at a number of well-frequented locations suggested by Kassie, trying to gleam any hint as to when or where the deserter last surfaced.
It was while questioning patrons at a local club that Isla attracted the attention of Damascus Lambert, a towering Chistori Force user who approached her as she left, claiming he was looking for the same individual as the Chiss. Isla was cautious at first, sensing the dark side and believing Damascus to be a Sith, though he soon revealed that he was Commander Lambert's "brother" and had been sent by Benjamin to look for the missing agent independently. When Isla asked why his name had not been mentioned at the briefing, he admitted to being wary of Project Petrichor and its agenda, trusting Benjamin and even Frank, to a degree, but not the Republic, knowing that the Jedi were zealous in their pursuit of those who did not conform to their beliefs and agents of the SIS wielded deception as their primary weapon. Hearing her own concerns echoed by another, Isla lowered her guard and allowed Damascus to sense her own connection to the dark side, taking comfort in the unexpected kinship.
She reassured him that the man in charge seemed to be a pragmatic, realistic individual more concerned with actions than ideology, although Damascus remained skeptical, which Isla admitted was probably wise, for the time being. Nonetheless, Damascus did not hide his relief at meeting a fellow "Sith" and all but demanded that they work together, which she was happy to agree to. No longer in possession of his lightsaber, Isla surrendered the lightsaber she and Zhavi had taken from Tsosska on Kashyyyk, ensuring Damascus was not left defenseless if their search turned violent. Isla then took Damascus with her when she reported to Kassie's bar, the group ending the night together with a few drinks before turning in.
The following morning the team split into pairs to cover more ground and Isla was quick to claim Damascus as her partner for the day. Together, the Dark Jedi followed up on local chatter, eventually crossing paths with an agent of Sith Intelligence, who Isla managed to throw in front of a passing speeder – but not before stealing his datapad and learning that he had found a lead. Heading to Crullov City to investigate, Isla and Damascus soon located their target while he was in the process of selling his data to a local criminal group. Using smoke grenades, Isla blinded and ambushed the participants of the meeting, rushing in to snatch the data from the deserter and sparking a fire-fight. Isla was in and out in a matter of seconds, fleeing the smoke and making a break for it by the time the shooting started.
Unfortunately, however, she was not the only one who had caught wind of the situation and conspired to steal the data; as she fled the scene, explosive charges detonated in an abandoned alley shopfront, throwing Isla off her feet, disorienting her and sending the briefcase containing the data skittering along the street, where it was easily taken by a Togruta woman. Isla pursued her, but as she ran for her ship the woman surprised the Chiss by using the Force to throw debris in her path to stall her, ensuring she could escape with the data, foiling the Republic's efforts and infuriating both Damascus and Isla.
Sadly, unable to identify or track the woman, there was little they could do to remedy the situation. Isla and Damascus reported back to Kassie's bar, informing their peers about the incident, and the Dark Jedi returned to Coruscant to report their failure while Kassie and Zhavi – taking a liking to one another – remained on Corulag until they received new orders.
Mission to Yavin 4[]
What the hell was that about? What were you trying to accomplish?"
"I could have got the orb!
—Benjamin and Aaellu.
While en route to Yavin 4, Benjamin made a point of continuing not to comment on Aaellu's new look, which he knew was an effort to prove they were not so different, and instead filled the time it took to reach the jungle moon with idle chatter about their mission. The pair would be investigating a site far from the documented points of interest like the Great Temple and the Temple of Sacrifice, where Imperial chatter suggested another of the Four Bound Spirits might be hidden away.
For Aaellu, however, there were more pressing issues looming than ancient relics and Sith treasure hunters; towards the end of their journey, she finally unleashed her pent up anger, angrily asking if Benjamin planned to ignore her forever. He tried to dismiss her complaint, saying it was not a good time to discuss personal matters, but she was not familiar with or interested in the concept of professionalism. By the time they arrived they were still arguing about their relationship; immediately after setting the ship down atop a timeworn ruin, Aaellu marched down the boarding ramp and off towards the jungle. Unfortunately, they were unaware that the Sith Empire had reached the ruins first; not long after landing, the stone platform the Little Sparrow rested upon was destroyed from below when several detonation packs were set off in unison, dropping the ship – and both Cerys and Benjamin, still aboard – down into the buried temple interior.
Thankfully, being inside the ship meant Cerys and Benjamin were unharmed by the fall, and when Benjamin answered Aaellu's call he instructed her to wait for him to catch up, as they needed to proceed together. Aaellu, on the other hand, had a different view of the situation, and made it clear she intended to proceed alone until he could catch up with her. Benjamin reiterated that they needed to work together and that she did not need to try and prove herself to him, but Aaellu was still angry and simply ended the call.
Charging ahead to find the main temple before Benjamin, Aaellu – armed with Benjamin's wife's old lightsaber – encountered a rage rancor, which – thanks to her familiarity with beasts both big and small – she defeated without too much difficulty before proceeding, finding the entrance to an underground temple – guarded by Tavion Wyntoq, the Rattataki Sith apprentice Avexiss had encountered on Mustafar. Thanks in no small part to Benjamin's training, combined with her advanced environmental control abilities, Aaellu was able to outperform her opponent, using the native plant life to distract the young Sith before severing her hand and stabbing her in the chest, killing her.
With the rear guard dispatched, Aaellu was free to enter the ruins, which soon brought her out to a cliff face overlooking the ocean where she found a scrap of torn fabric from an unknown individual's clothing. Touching it, her psychometry showed her the Imperials who had arrived before her moving around the cliff and rappelling down to an overgrown platform below. Following in their footsteps, Aaellu descended just as the Imperials had, finding a small entrance built into the rock face which led her into a series of tunnels. Those tunnels, in turn, led her beneath the seabed and brought her out onto a rocky spire she had seen from the cliff, just off the coast.
She followed the path around the stone island until she reached the entrance to the temple, venturing inside and catching up with the Sith party – led by Sera Artofen – in the main chamber. Ignoring the fact that she was outnumbered four to one by the Sith alone, Aaellu was preparing to rush them in an attempt to claim the artifact until Benjamin – hiding his presence once he knew she was trying to complete the assignment solo – caught up with her and talked her into leaving with him, saying they were too late and could not hope to defeat the Sith and their troops. Fleeing as the Sith noticed their presence, the duo took an alternate route back to the ship to avoid the Sith finding them, jumping into the ocean and swimming through the turbulent waters to reach the shore. When an Imperial vessel descended to the island after they had escaped, the pair were free to relax, confident that the Sith were not interested in pursuing them, giving Benjamin time to scold Aaellu for her recklessness.
Aaellu retorted that she could have recovered the artifact, but the argument rapidly broke down to the true cause of the tension between the pair; Benjamin admitted to being frightened when he had worked out Aaellu was trying to get to the artifact before him and said that, while he felt an intimate relationship was the wrong path for them, he still cared, deeply, for her. She echoed the sentiment, using a clumsily phrased metaphor about how love was like gravity, drawing those who felt it together, yet pointed out that he had not seen his wife in years. Aaellu boldly stated that Benjamin did not love her, not anymore, and likewise, Lexi no longer loved him either, or they would have been drawn back to one another before now. He rejected the idea, albeit halfheartedly, and Aaellu told him she wanted him to be happy instead of waiting for a woman who was not coming back. Benjamin, clearly struggling to reconcile what he wanted and what he thought was the right thing, said that she might have a point and that maybe they could see where things went, but that she needed to stop trying to impress him or she would end up getting herself hurt or killed.
Additionally, he pointed out that as nice as her new look was, he liked her as she had always been; being herself, unconcerned with what other people thought of her. He did not want her to be like everyone else. The pair kissed, though they did not linger long once their argument died down, Benjamin knowing from experience that Yavin 4 was filled with vicious wildlife; wildlife that was probably far more active in the dead of night. Tired, soaked, but in much better spirits, the couple made their way back to the ship to see how far Cerys had gotten with the repairs, waiting until morning to use the Force to raise the fallen vessel and depart the jungle moon.
Mission to Felucia[]
Don't worry about their numbers or gear, just make yourselves a nuisance. All we need to do is slow them down, harass them. You've got my blessing to improvise on how you get that done. From what I know about Felucia, you'll have to.
—Frank, to Isla, Damascus and Khruukunu.
Despite having a native onside, Petrichor agents had to fight their way through the dense jungles of Felucia.
After reporting their failure to Frank and the rest of the team, Benjamin and Aaellu were redirected towards another potential lead on Hoth and headed there directly from Yavin 4. Meanwhile, Isla, Damascus and Khruukunu – an unusual Jungle Felucian acolyte of Benjamin's who had left Imperial space to join his mentor – were tasked with traveling to Khruukunu's ancestral home of Felucia, where a damaged Imperial fleet was holding position in orbit, making repairs after escaping a skirmish with a Republic patrol. Frank wanted to build bridges with other Republic agencies, believing generating good will could be advantageous in the future, and without a more pressing assignment for the trio he decided that assisting the Republic Navy was the best move for their infant organization.
Isla questioned how they would engage an Imperial fleet with just three operatives and no military vessels to Project Petrichor's name, to which Frank revealed that the Imperial fleet had landed a significant number of its troops on the planet – he speculated that there was a reactor leak on the command ship, forcing them to temporarily evacuate to the planet while repairs were made and the leak was brought under control. Their task was simple; hamper Imperial ground forces and prevent their departure for as long as possible, forcing the fleet to remain in orbit once the repairs were complete or flee the system; either they stayed and the Republic navy would arrive to destroy them, or they fled to save the ships, abandoning their troops and equipment on the ground. Whatever they chose, Frank's scheme would ensure Imperial losses increased significantly.
Landing far enough away from where the Imperials had established their camp that they would not be seen from the ground, Isla, Damascus and Khruukunu used the Cobalt Whisper's stealth systems to land undetected and began making their way to their target – the nearest of three encampments the Imperials had set up in what few clearings they could find – on foot. Unfortunately, the native Felucians were not pacified by the presence of Khruukunu in their party as Frank had hoped and, not long after landing, the group were ambushed by a hunting party. Isla was hit by one of the attacker's projectiles, but Damascus and Khruukunu were able to shield her and drive the rest of the group away before Khruukunu healed Isla's burn, allowing the group to continue. Khruukunu, able to travel more quickly and stealthily through his natural habitat, scouted the area ahead of his companions, allowing him to uproot the Felucian warriors who were waiting to ambush his companions.
Eventually, Isla and Damascus found themselves out in the open and were forced to confront a pair of Felucian warriors astride rancor mounts, though due to their smaller size and Force-enhanced speed the pair had little trouble evading the attacks of the lumbering creatures, killing both beasts and riders. When they finally reached the clearing where the Imperials had made camp, Damascus, Isla and Khruukunu were forced to engage directly due to the lack of natural cover, though thankfully the signal-jamming properties of one of the local mushroom species made communication between the Empire's ground and naval forces patchy at best. Unable to properly communicate and not expecting Jedi opponents (dark or otherwise), the Imperials took considerable losses before they coordinated an organized defense and forced the Petrichor operatives to begin fighting more tactically.
Once they did, the Force-wielding trio responded similarly, altering their approach by dividing up and retreating into what cover they could find. Moving stealthily, the individual agents began launching surprise attacks on the soldiers searching for them, though both Isla and Khruukunu were more successful than Damascus, whose height and buld and background as a Sith Juggernaut made him poorly suited to staying hidden. Nonetheless, his inability to hide drew more troopers his way, helping Isla and Khruukunu. At the Chiss' suggestion, the pair commandeered two shuttles and used their cannons to lay waste to the camp. Once the remaining troopers were dead or scattered into the deeper jungle, the trio began loading what munitions they could find onto the two shuttles and used them to return quickly to the Cobalt Whisper, allowing Isla to disembark, power up the ship and – hidden by her ship's stealth systems – follow Khruukunu and Damascus into orbit.
Damascus hailed one of the least damaged vessels and explained the situation on the surface, using Imperial terminology to bluff safe passage into the hangar bay for himself and Khruukunu, whereupon he quickly set the timer of the explosive material collected aboard the shuttle, disembarked and boarded Khruukunu's vessel, ignoring the protests of the hangar crew. Knowing that the staff would report the odd behavior to the bridge, the pair raced for the next transport, hailing them and claiming that they had been rerouted due to worrying power fluctuations in the containment field of the other vessel's hangar.
Isla, patched in to their communications and hearing every stage of their plan playing out live, moved in to dock alongside her companions as they reached the hangar, knowing she might have to engage if the two larger vessels were able to establish the facts before Damascus and Khruukunu reached the safety of the hangar. As it was, though, the trio landed in their respective ships safely just as the first bomb-laden shuttle exploded, causing significant damage to the vessel it had been docked with, and in the commotion Damascus and Khruukunu set the timer on the second collection of explosives, once again abandoning one ship to board another. This time, however, a second, unidentified ship had the hangar crew on edge, and the sight of Khruukunu leaving the shuttle was enough to spark a shootout.
Wasting no time, Damascus and Khruukunu defended themselves as the situation demanded, focusing on reaching the Whisper rather than defeating the hangar staff firing at them. Once aboard, the trio made their exit from the system, leaving shortly after another explosion rocked the stuck Imperial fleet. Isla speculated that the surviving ships would gather up the troops at the other camps and depart, cutting their losses before they risked more ships and personnel, though Damascus was skeptical that the Republic navy would arrive in time to take advantage of their work and that the Empire would likely get away with most of its assets intact.
Whatever the case, they all agreed they had exceeded expectations and hoped that they could return to Project Petrichor's true purpose, rather than being the pawns in Frank's game of political dejarik.
Investigation on Hoth[]
Cerys..."
"There was nothing you could do.
—Benjamin and Aaellu, on finding Cerys' corpse.
Volatile, but providing a natural source of heat, the so-called "Molten Rift" was temporarily tamed by Imperial poachers.
Meanwhile, Aaellu, Benjamin and Cerys had arrived at the Hoth Orbital Station, where the latter was able to begin working on repairing the superficial damage the Sparrow had sustained on Yavin 4. While she got to work, Benjamin and Aaellu descended to Aurek Base, where they were able to requisition speeder bikes and travel to Outpost Senth, the Republic's command bunker for operations in the Glacial Fissure region.
Recent scout reports indicated a marked increase in Imperial activity in the southern Crystal Wastes region, specifically Imperial vessels landing and departing from the area – vessels that had been identified as belonging to the forces of Darth Madré, a known associate of Darth Aivela. Once they were provided with local navigational and intelligence data pertaining to the region, Benjamin and Aaellu resumed their journey on foot, against the advice of Republic personnel, who warned not only of the dangers of the region but also the oncoming snowstorm due to blanket the region over the next few hours. Aaellu was confident she could protect them from the frigid conditions, however, and agreed that a blizzard would cover their approach to the Imperial camp.
Unsurprisingly, once they were away from the well-traveled paths Republic forces used on a daily basis they began to notice the wildlife was more abundant, spotting a pack of whitefangs watching them from afar. Initially, Benjamin wondered why they were not attacking, since they had clearly taken an interest in the pair. Aaellu explained that they did not want to compete with the pair of larger and more powerful creatures that had been following them for the past mile, surprising and impressing Benjamin; he had not sensed them while focusing on resisting the effects of the weather.
Once they reached a narrow pass of icy spires – where the wind was blocked and the visibility was better – they waited for the creatures stalking them to catch up; two towering wampas stomped into the pass after them, at which point Aaellu reached out with the Force, using her natural talent with the beast control technique to forge a deep connection with the predators through which she confused, calmed and ultimately befriended both of them at once, conscripting them as bodyguards and fascinating Benjamin with the ease at which she managed to make the connections. Reinforced, Aaellu and Benjamin eventually reached an isolated volcanic region where it became clear the Empire was exporting wildlife samples – likely for Darth Aivela's experiments. As reports suggested, it was a small operation and, with the blizzard raging around them, activity was suspended until conditions improved.
Sensing their arrival through the Force, the Sith in charge – the Pureblooded Attrice Vhenn – raised the alarm. Aaellu moved to deal with the soldiers as they left the shelters and closed in to attack and, despite Benjamin's concerns, she asked him to trust her to be able to protect herself, allowing him to engage Attrice, dueling her above one the lava rivers flowing from the central volcanic vent. The Pureblood gave up no information on her superiors or their plans and was bested easily, being only a lower ranking Sith, while Aaellu was able to use her wampa companions to break open the cages – releasing several captured whitefangs, wampas, Hoth hogs and icetrompers – and divide the Imperial troops, forcing those that were not killed to retreat with their wounded, disappearing into the whiteout with their humbled Sith leader.
Together, the Force adepts broke open the remaining cages then tossed them – along with the Imperial ships and equipment – into the lava before demolishing the shelters, ensuring that any attempt to restart the operation would be too costly to be viable. Regrettably, though, they did not find any data they could use to identify or undermine Darth Aivela's other projects. With the blizzard not showing any signs of abating, the pair used knowledge Aaellu managed to gleam from her connection to the wampas to find a concealed cave entrance, taking shelter for the night while their hulking, furred guardians stood guard at the entrance. The couple slept together again, though this time Aaellu surprised Benjamin by performing the Yhjanda fertility chant, a customary ritual that the Yhjanda tribe believed increased the chances of conception.
What Aaellu did not know, however, was that the chant was a throwback to the days when the Sith – dwindling in numbers – ruled her homeworld of Farrow and was, in fact, a form of Sith magic. This magic worked with the alchemically altered biology of the Humans of Farrow, increasing their already high fertility rates, though the chant only had an effect when recited by Force users – and it only affected those who could trace their lineage back to the Sith traitors of Farrow. Benjamin, skeptical that the chant was anything other than a tribal custom, said nothing about the chant, though he did question why she would want children with someone she had only just begun a relationship with. Aaellu explained that on Farrow having large families increased social prestige, as the more a pairing propagated their bloodline the more they would – through their children – be providing for the tribe, long term.
Regardless of his opinion and Aaellu's avoiding his actual question, Benjamin did not argue further, knowing his own fertility was relatively low and, by the morning, he had forgotten all about the chant and was focused on their trek back to Republic territory. As they journeyed back along the Republic supply line leading to Aurek Base, Benjamin received a call from Cerys; to the couple's surprise, the woman who answered the comm was Sith Lord Dratine Rhonjenvyn, appearing alongside a badly beaten Cerys.
Taunting him and telling him that he made a mistake taking Tavion – the Sith Aaellu had killed back on Yavin IV – from her, Dratine executed Cerys over the comm in cold blood, using the Force to drain her life energy and promising the couple that she was just the first victim of Dratine's wrath. By the time they got back to the orbital station, a crowd had gathered around a security cordon. Aaellu and Benjamin's SIS clearance got them through, where the former Darth was horrified to find Cerys' body, mummified by the draining effects of the dark side. Benjamin carried her to the ship, ignoring the protests of the security personnel who wanted to preserve the crime scene, and the couple departed Hoth, returning to Coruscant with heavy hearts.
Death and Resurrection[]
We will reach the Sith Lord. She will feel suffering for this."
"I know, Aae, I know. Just wish I didn't have to avenge her at all. I was barely more than a kid when we first met... she didn't deserve to go out like this.
—Aaellu and Benjamin, at Cerys' funeral.
Cerys had left her homeworld decades earlier and never returned, but Benjamin could not think of anywhere else to hold the lifelong spacer's funeral other than Ryloth. Gathering the few close friends and family she had, a location was chosen just outside Cerys' family home, long abandoned due to the ebb and flow of the ongoing Galactic War, and a small, closed-casket service was conducted by a local priest.
Three unexpected attendees showed up for the funeral, much to Benjamin's surprise, the first two being Cerys' estranged sister and niece, who – due to her long-standing work as a Sith Lord's personal pilot – she had not seen for many years. Benjamin discovered, however, that they had recently made contact again, soothing his pain somewhat when he learned that Cerys had got the chance to meet her niece and learn that she was pregnant, prior to her death. The third visitor was the one that shocked Benjamin, however; a hooded Pureblood Sith, strong in the Force, who was waiting at the location prior to the Petrichor team's arrival; Darsun Odé, Cerys' deceased husband and Benjamin's former master.
Initially, Benjamin expected trouble and dropped into a ready stance, prompting his allies to mirror his movement; in his final years, Darsun Odé – Darth Knossai – had joined the Order of Revan and participated in the events that arose following the return of Revan, a legendary master of the Force and hero of the Jedi Civil War. During the conflict on Yavin 4 that saw Revan defeated and the Sith Emperor rejuvenated, Darsun played an instrumental but almost entirely undocumented role, due entirely to the fact that his efforts were thwarted by Benjamin, his wife and Darsun's own daughter, Avexiss.
The trio had discovered the Order of Revan and Darsun's involvement purely by accident; they had been hunting Lord Sehtra, a minor Sith Lord who had – by pure chance – developed a method of transferring her consciousness into other beings, a power she had used to murder Tallie Odé, Darsun's own daughter. In spite of this, Darsun was working alongside her on Yavin 4, as her method caused considerable, rapid degradation of the bodies she took over, particularly if the bodies in question were not strong in the Force – as was the case with Tallie. Darsun promised to provide a solution for this issue, if she used her talent for sorcery to embolden the isolationist Massassi tribe Revan had instructed him to recruit, far from the Temple of Sacrifice.
Darsun's recruitment of the Massassi would allow Revan to surprise the allied forces of the Yavin Coalition and fight them on two fronts, massively influencing the outcome of the conflict in his favor. With Sehtra's dark powers coursing through them, victory would have been a certainty. Benjamin, Lexine and Avexiss had discovered Sehtra and Darsun just as the Massassi army – swayed by shared ancestry and Darsun's diplomatic skills – prepared to march; Benjamin and Lexine had pursued Sehtra, while Avexiss challenged her father, defeating and killing him in single combat to not only prevent Revan's planned ambush, but also earn the respect of the Massassi tribe.
While Sehtra managed to sever Benjamin's hand and escape using her unusual command of the Force, Benjamin, Lexine and Avexiss had all seen Darsun's fallen body, fatally wounded and decidedly dead. Regardless of what he had seen, though, Darsun stood before him once again, alive and well. Regardless, he was quick to encourage conversation over action and promised to explain everything, starting from the beginning.
Darsun had been approached by the Order of Revan many months before the final conflict on Yavin 4 and – curious – did not turn them away, deciding to go along with the situation to see what they were up to, for better or ill. He eventually learned of Revan's existence and quickly realized he was disturbed – unbalanced by his near-death experience aboard the Foundry – and, shortly afterwards, discovered that Sehtra had aligned herself with the Revanites in the hopes of finding a suitable new host after killing Tallie on Makeb. Darsun revealed he had been the one who had leaked information on Sehtra's location, luring Benjamin, Lexine and Avexiss to his position to stop both Sehtra and Revan in a single flourish.
Benjamin questioned why he could not have simply summoned him to Yavin 4; the pair had been close and, though separated by their duties, remained like father and son, with a strong bond between them. To that, Darsun claimed he needed to disappear for a time, leaving his responsibilities and expectations behind him to focus his efforts on "matters of prophecy", although he would not – allegedly could not – elaborate on what those matters were. He told Benjamin that he should understand, given that he had himself left the Empire to follow a vision, and that in doing so he had created the doorway through which Darsun had stepped back into the Sith Empire's hierarchy. Darth Aivela, having lost Artem on Voryle and trusting Darsun more than most Sith, had helped him "clear his name" of the crimes Benjamin had reported him for on Yavin 4 and adopted him as her personal enforcer, allowing him to passively monitor her activities and report back to Benjamin in future.
Although the group were skeptical of his story, Benjamin had known his mentor since he was a teenager and had always found his betrayal on Yavin 4 out of character, particularly his lack of explanation at the time, as even when his master made choices Benjamin did not understand he never failed to explain himself. Finally, Benjamin questioned how precisely he had survived; he had seen his remains himself. With a smile, Darsun told him he had not taught him everything he knew, but promised to pass on that particular technique after the funeral.
Accepting the situation for the time being, the former master and student parted ways ahead of the service, mingling with the small crowd of attendees, many of whom were simply local villagers who had come to pay respect out of common courtesy. Though heartbroken, Benjamin managed to keep his emotions in check during the funeral, supported by Aaellu, and despite the tension and his own grief, Darsun comforted Alucia and Little Ben who – while never having met Darsun – were taking the loss of "auntie Cerys" quite hard. Once the service had concluded, Benjamin apologized for failing to protect Cerys, having not realized how dire a consequence they would suffer as a result of killing Tavion on Yavin 4. Darsun assured him the fault lay with Lord Rhonjenvyn, and if anyone was to take partial credit for Cerys' death it was him, as he had not wanted to reveal his survival to Benjamin until he felt certain the time was right and had thus failed to warn him of Rhonjenvyn's fondness for her concubines.
He reiterated that he could not reveal all his secrets to Benjamin; not yet, at least, albeit he hoped that in time circumstances might shift and allow him to reveal all. He assured him, however, that he remained the man he had always been, and that Cerys had been proud of who Benjamin had become since leaving the Sith Empire. By way of a statement, Benjamin asked if Cerys knew about Darsun's survival from the start, which he confirmed, though in light of her passing the former Darth Enigmus could not muster anger, only amusement. He asked if he would have been proud of his adultery, too, had she been aware of it, and Darsun revealed that she was in fact aware of his new relationship. He reassured him, however, that Cerys had lived within Imperial territory for decades and knew well how many Sith sacrificed themselves and those they cared for in their pursuit of power – she had pitied Lexine, but was happy for Benjamin. Furthermore, Darsun admitted that keeping Benjamin and his children in the dark had been taxing for him, emotionally, and that Avexiss had not taken his return as well as he might have wished for, yet he conceded that it was a lot to process and without any real explanation to offer she had every right to be frustrated.
Before returning to the Empire, Darsun meditated with Benjamin where Cerys had been laid to rest, teaching him how to conjure tangible phantoms that could interact with the world around them, though he admitted the technique – replicated from scratch based on old fables he had happened across – was flawed and required refinement, namely in that it required the dark side to employ and a tether to a living being to power it, meaning that if the illusion was wounded or killed, someone somewhere would suffer the same fate. He left with the promise that he would help him as best he could from within Darth Aivela's power base, but warned that he would have to continue to play the part of a loyal Sith warrior – if his loyalty was to come into question again, the Empire would not be so forgiving, and so he would need to act against the Republic and the Jedi.
In an attempt to combat the low mood following Cerys' gruesome end, Aaellu persuaded Frank to allow the group some time off and had him help her book a vacation to the resort world Spira, where they could try to forget about their troubles for a time. Isla, Damascus and Khruukunu joined Aaellu, Benjamin and his kids, though Zhavi and Kassie – the pair now romantically involved – turned down the offer to chase up a tip from Isla's brother in the Chiss Ascendancy instead.
Investigation on Zakuul[]
Spent so many years fightin' these people. Weird, bein' here now.
—Zhavi, on her first visit to Zakuul.
Not knowing Cerys particularly well and preferring to busy themselves in hard times rather than idle away on a beach, Zhavi and Kassie continued working, though with little to go on in their campaign against Darth Aivela they decided to look elsewhere for a diversion. Isla's brother, Mitth'endar'inrokini, had recently sent information from one of his sources indicating that a petty criminal – a Chiss wanted for desertion back home – was selling looted Jedi relics to various rival collectors on Zakuul.
As ever, Frank was pragmatic about the lead, and Isla's "trust" in her brother – or at least his own pragmatism – was enough for him to give the green light to them visiting Zakuul, albeit in an unofficial capacity. He conceded that the relics could be of use to Petrichor for credits, diplomacy or for the Force-wielding members of the organization itself, not to mention that Frank was keen to build a diplomatic channel with the Chiss Ascendancy, even if it was off the record, as the SIS had immense difficulty penetrating the veil of secrecy that surrounded the Chiss people. As it stood, though, tip-offs from the Chiss military were not something he could put on record. Thus, Zhavi and Kassie took the Cobalt Whisper to Zakuul for a "personal errand" and set about finding the Chiss salesman.
Thankfully, he was not a particularly talented criminal, and while he had managed to leave Chiss space and avoid their retribution for a time Zhavi suspected that was largely due to him being a very low priority against the backdrop of galactic war. To his credit, he managed to identify the pair as trouble and escaped in his speeder before they reached him, but he was ultimately killed in the ensuing speeder chase, leaving Kassie and Zhavi free to secure the assortment of low-value (and some outright fake) Jedi artifacts bundled in his trunk – among which they found a single holocron, the one thing of greater value he had in stock.
With Isla's permission, Frank contacted Hendar personally to confirm the death of their rogue member, hoping that familiarity with him might improve relations over time, though Isla was doubtful and not particularly keen about the idea of increased involvement with her estranged family, who she continued to avoid.
Mission to the Gray Secant[]
Rejuvenated by their vacation and ready to move on with their lives, the Petrichor team returned to being on call and returned to Coruscant to help with Xadda's training, waiting for actionable intelligence that would allow them to continue their campaign against Darth Aivela. It was during this time that Benjamin and Aaellu were called to meet with Frank regarding another diplomatic opportunity with a strange twist; a representative of the Gree Enclave had arrived on Coruscant seeking assistance from a "Black Bisector".
Aaellu and Benjamin reported to Frank's office and were introduced to the Gree representative and the ambassador droid doing its best to speak for him, Pat-aK. Initially, the group – like the Republic diplomats assigned to the case – were unable to ascertain what the issue was about precisely due to the impossibility of translating the Gree language into Basic, understanding only that the Gree required combat-trained agents to help them with a problem pertaining to the Gray Secant, an automated vessel that was created and deployed by the ancient Gree to study the worlds and species it encountered, normally impossible to locate while in transit due to the advanced technology that made it impervious to modern sensors and tracking equipment. It was on Ilum, several years earlier, that the ship had last been sighted, where Republic and Imperial forces participated in several combat research scenarios in the hopes of acquiring Gree technology as a reward for their efforts. That such an advanced vessel was sending a distress signal was very strange.
Using the Force to gently connect his mind with that of the Gree representative, Benjamin was able to gleam a greater understanding of the situation, although he was limited by his Human perceptions, as Gree had a larger number of senses that were not comparable to most sentient species. Nonetheless, he learned that the Gray Secant had been set upon by an unknown force and was broadcasting its location using a signal that only the technology on Asation – one of the major Gree worlds – could detect. Lacking their own warriors, the Gree hoped that the Republic would send fighters – the "Black Bisectors" the Gree had repeatedly spoke of – to remedy the situation on their behalf, though they emphasized the importance of respecting the vessel, which had an almost holy significance to their people.
Frank wanted to send the couple to the coordinates of the Gray Secant with the whole team to support them, believing they would need the numbers if the attackers were capable of taking on such a massive vessel. Benjamin only partially agreed, however, as he was familiar with Gree technology and knew it could be far more dangerous than what the others were accustomed to; unable to agree, Benjamin invoked his right to overrule Frank when it came to decisions regarding activity in the field. Hesitantly allowing Aaellu alone to join him, Benjamin accepted the mission and Frank deferred to the former Sith Lord's judgement, trusting the pair to find and board the Gray Secant, establish the situation and resolve it, emphasizing that there was a lot of pressure on them from the top to get it done quickly – if they did not resolve the situation quickly, he would send the rest of the team.
The couple departed Coruscant – borrowing the Cobalt Whisper for their mission – for their remote destination just over an hour later and when they finally arrived at the vessel a day later, it was stationary, as reported, with a Terminus-class destroyer docked alongside it. Benjamin scanned the vessel and transmitted the data to Coruscant, allowing Frank to check it against known Imperial vessels and confirm it was part of Darth Madré's small fleet. Interestingly, the same vessel had visited Hoth several times in the months preceding Petrichor's mission there.
Bizarrely, the Gray Secant was not sporting any visible damage, and despite being stationary appeared to be fully operational. Cherek, the AI in Aaellu's helmet, pointed out that the Imperial ship was broadcasting a complex signal that could not be deciphered by the Whisper's systems, suggesting the Empire had a device on board that had somehow forced the Gray Secant into submission, allowing them to board it. Docking in one of the ship's hangar bays, Aaellu and Benjamin began making their way through the ship, certain pathways being locked as they approached while others were opened for them; it seemed as though the Gray Secant was guiding them down a certain pathway, though to what end was, at least at first, unclear. Along the way, however, wall compartments slid away to reveal manufacturing droids that presented them with Gree armor, which Benjamin speculated the Gray Secant had fabricated specifically to aid them in defending the ship, given that the suits were a perfect fit.
His theory collapsed somewhat when they came across Imperial troops using Gree shield technology against them – and it deteriorated even further when they entered a large chamber occupied by an enormous combat analysis droid. Together, however, the pair managed to work out how to disable the complex shield systems and defeat the droid, passing the combat scenario and causing the droid to become inert.
The far door of the chamber then opened, permitting the pair access to a deeper section of the vessel, where they came across a familiar face; Attrice Vhenn, the Pureblood the couple had encountered on Hoth, was waiting for them. Ambushing them with a Gree stasis weapon, Benjamin was frozen inside a particle containment field, forcing Aaellu to duel the Sith – who was armed with high-tech lightsabers of Gree design – alone. Thankfully, Benjamin had not held back in training Aaellu; after a lengthy and intense duel, Aaellu managed to surprise the Pureblood, getting behind her and running her blade through her back. Once Aaellu finally worked out how to free Benjamin from the stasis trap, the pair were guided to a final chamber, one which contained a Gree artifact that Cherek identified as a high-tech star chart.
Taking the map triggered a power fluctuation through the ship, seemingly resetting its systems and allowing the Gray Secant to deploy security droids en mass, yet made no effort to stop the pair from leaving with their find, instead converging on the Imperial docking tube. Aaellu and Benjamin returned to the Cobalt Whisper and saw a number of small explosions lighting up on one side of the Imperial vessel as they were departing. By the time they were ready to jump to hyperspace, the destroyer had stopped transmitting the strange signal and had pulled away from the Gray Secant, retreating to – presumably – avoid being boarded by more defense droids and allowing the ancient Gree vessel to jump to lightspeed and continue on its endless voyage.
Aaellu wondered aloud why the droids had not been sent sooner, and Benjamin confessed he was not sure either. Cherek speculated that the signal had been produced by an artifact of Gree origin, one which could override the Gray Secant's automated controls and leave it unable to act, allowing the Imperials to board and prompting to the ship to call home for help. Evidently, removing the map altered the conditions in some manner, though Benjamin was unsure and Cherek agreed with him that with so little to go on they could only theorize.
Irrespective of the reasons why the Gray Secant had taken the actions it had, they all agreed the map must have been valuable to have such an influence on the ship's functions. The couple returned to Coruscant with their mission completed and a trophy of unknown value. They spent most of the return journey trying to unlock the secrets of the mysterious map, only to find it was just as secure as where it had been hidden, forcing them to accept they would never know what was hidden within.
Mission to the Circumvention[]
There's another thing. It'll be difficult, but it's very important, not just for me, but for what we're trying to do here; don't kill anybody else aboard that ship. If you can avoid serious damage, please do that too. Just don't kill any of our men or the Jedi escort. The prisoner is the only one who needs to die.
—Frank, to Isla.
While Benjamin and Aaellu were away pursuing the Gray Secant, Frank summoned Isla for a solo mission that she was uniquely qualified for. A fallen Jedi had recently turned himself in after disobeying orders, killing several civilian targets and going on the run, though as he had returned willingly and submitted himself to Republic authority, arrangements had been made for him to be transferred into Jedi custody so he could be rehabilitated.
Frank noted that this was another clear example of the Jedi being a law unto themselves; rather than face trial and go to prison, like anyone else would be required to, the Jedi was essentially going to get away with his crimes. He acknowledged that the dark side influenced Force users, but remained adamant that that did not excuse criminal behavior; a spice addict would not be forgiven for crimes committed under the influence, and neither should Force wielders, an opinion Isla shared. The Jedi in question was currently in transit aboard the prison transport Circumvention – Isla's task was to dock with it using falsified clearance codes and kill the fallen Jedi.
Unfortunately, what would have been a simple task for an expert assassin was complicated by Frank's insistence that she bring no harm to the Republic personnel on board the vessel, in addition to remaining anonymous during the mission; the assassination could not be traced back to Project Petrichor. Isla, familiar with the type of mission she had been assigned, accepted the challenge, though she requested a pilot for the mission to ensure a quick extraction. Carth, not a pilot by profession but trained enough to serve in that capacity, was temporarily reassigned from overseeing the Cobbled Terentateks on Voryle to assist Isla, though he was kept in the dark regarding the precise nature of the operation.
Using the clearance codes and a new transponder code, the Cobalt Whisper had no trouble locating and boarding the Circumvention, posing as Republic agents who had intelligence to share with the captain regarding an Imperial saboteur aboard her vessel. Once aboard, however, Isla proceeded to use her hand-to-hand skills to knock out the security personnel who greeted her before disappearing into stealth, speedily locating the Jedi prisoner's cell and confronting the Jedi stood guard outside. Although Isla tried to talk her down, warning her that Jedi were not above Republic law, the Jedi would not surrender the prisoner, as expected. Isla was forced to engage, using a spare lightsaber loaned to her from the Petrichor store to protect her identity, yet despite using an unfamiliar weapon Isla was a capable enough duelist to match the Jedi and – combining her stealth abilities and poisons with her blade work – she was ultimately able to incapacitate her opponent, leaving the prisoner defenseless.
When asked why she had come for him, Isla explained that the Jedi Order needed to realize they could not simply ignore the law; a crime committed under the dark side's influence was still a crime, and simply returning to the light did not entitle a fallen Jedi to evade justice. Glumly, the Jedi agreed, and made no effort to resist when Isla executed him. Remaining anonymous throughout her incursion and succeeding in sparing and killing exactly who she had been ordered to, Isla hurried back to the ship and left, engaging the Whisper's stealth systems before the prison transport could give chase.
Investigation of the Lost Gree World[]
This is very amazing."
"It's... yeah, not sure there's a better word. Amazing. Definitely.
—Benjamin and Aaellu, on seeing the effects of the Gree temporal device up close.
Powered by the Celestial Orb, the Gree Leviathan was a powerful opponent.
With the help of a representative from the Gree Enclave, Aaellu, Benjamin and Frank were able to activate the star chart upon their return, revealing the route to a lost planet deep within the impassable Archeon Nebula. Intrigued but resigning himself to handing the mystery over to the Gree people, Benjamin was surprised when the representative requested that he and Aaellu follow the map and investigate the lost world, believing the data they would recover would be invaluable to the Gree people but that it would likely be dangerous and, thus, require the ongoing services of the Republic's "Black Bisectors".
Handed a Gree scanning probe, the pair wasted little time returning to the hyperlanes, returning to the familiarity of the Little Sparrow and arriving in the volatile Archeon Nebula a few days later. When they reached the coordinates provided by the map, navigating the uncharted maze of forming suns and deadly gases, they discovered something truly remarkable; two of the moons orbiting the planet were in the midst of colliding with one another, a head-on impact with cataclysmic implications for the entire system, not least the planet they were investigating. The pair would have fled the system immediately if not for the fact that the collision was immobilized, the devastating impact locked in position – frozen in time like a three-dimensional painting.
Initially, the couple kept their distance and simply observed, wary about getting any closer to the impossible phenomenon. But that could not last and, eventually, they reluctantly agreed that they needed to either land or leave, both knowing that they could not bring themselves to walk away from such a compelling mystery. Upon landing they discovered a swampy world that was, in itself, unremarkable, the only point of interest being the Gree structure – a monolith concealing an underground bunker – they had come to investigate. Unguarded, getting inside the temple was easy enough, yet even with an open entryway the pair noticed a suspicious lack of wildlife or encroaching vegetation, the metal unblemished and pristine as if it was not abandoned at all.
Which was not entirely out of the question, as they soon came across an energy wall barring their path, suggesting that the facility still had power regardless of its age. The wall was immune to their weapons and only opened when they attempted to utilize the map they had recovered on the Gray Secant, the device doubling as a key to disable the facility's systems. Once inside, they discovered a vertical shaft leading down so far into the ground that they could not see the bottom. Aaellu, impatient to leave the strange world, leapt into the shaft, immediately discovering that the gravity was regulated inside the corridor, slowing her descent to a safe speed without any need for her to moderate her fall, prompting Benjamin to follow after her. What lay at the bottom was a hauntingly quiet, pitch-black chamber with a few feet of water covering the floor, confusing the couple until – with a metallic groaning – that confusion was forgotten by the appearance of massive, serpentine Gree droid, which emerged from a deeper pool and lunged at the Force users, pressing them into a disorienting battle in the darkness.
Fortunately, by working together and exploiting the benefit of the waterlogged arena using Force lightning, the lovers were able to evade the machine's attacks and ultimately destroy the ancient sentinel. Upon its destruction, a pedestal rose from a hidden compartment in the floor, breaching the water and revealing – glowing against the dark backdrop – another of the lost artifacts Project Petrichor had been hunting. This time, the glowing elemental orb was connected to a complicated piece of Gree machinery, and Aaellu asked if Benjamin thought the orb was stopping the explosion of the moons orbiting the planet, to which he lamented that he had hoped she had not had the same thought.
Regardless of their concerns, they had no real choice other than to remove the orb from the ancient mechanism; in doing so, the Gree machine lost power and the paused doomsday clock began ticking once again. The structure began to shake violently – driving home the need to move quickly – and as they fled they noticed the lights were beginning to lose power. They entered the artificial gravity shaft – the direction changed now that the orb was disconnected – and made their way out to the entrance, discovering that they had been followed when they emerged from the monolith.
Unbeknownst to the pair, they had drawn the attention of a Jedi Shadow, a dark-skinned Human man who Benjamin did not know. He instructed the pair to hand over the artifact – an order which Benjamin politely refused, stating they were with the SIS and that the artifact was now the property of the Republic. Unfortunately (though to neither Benjamin's nor Aaellu's surprise), the unidentified Shadow was not interested in anything other than taking the orb, though he had no idea the artifact fused with the person who claimed it. He demanded that Benjamin reveal it and hand it over without attempting any tricks. Benjamin reiterated that the Republic sent him to claim the orb, but the mysterious figure believed only Jedi had the training and discipline to deal with powerful Force artifacts, inevitably leading to Benjamin pointing out that he had been dealing with ancient artifacts and lost technology all of his life.
Sadly, the Shadow soon resorted to threats, warning the pair that he would take it by force if necessary, and with the breakdown in civility Benjamin responded in kind, giving him a simple ultimatum; move, or be moved through. Predictably, the Jedi Shadow engaged, relying on aggression to surprise and overpower Benjamin and clearly expecting that a former Sith Lord would neither expect such aggression from a Jedi nor be trained to defend against it. Darth Enigmus had mastered Soresu years ago, however, and was able to easily outlast the assault, letting the Jedi tire himself out before changing forms and using the Jedi's own tactic against him. Benjamin switched to Djem So and quickly overwhelmed his opponent's defenses, providing him an opening to slice through his kneecaps and cripple him, effectively ending the duel.
Suddenly much more interested in negotiating now that he was at his opponent's mercy, the Shadow attempted to appeal for his life, but Benjamin did not waste any time listening and simply followed through with his next attack, decapitating the Jedi and remarking to Aaellu that nothing annoyed him more than Jedi self-righteousness. Pressed for time, the couple resumed their mad dash back to the ship and reached the Sparrow as the atmosphere began to ignite; the heat and the light became almost unbearable as the planetary apocalypse entered into its pivotal moments, giving the pair precious few minutes to launch and leave the atmosphere before even their ship would succumb to the cosmic power bearing down on them. They were fortunate, in the end; aside from considerable stress on the rear shielding, they made it out of danger without taking any serious damage, leaving the dead Jedi to be incinerated along with the Gree fortress, the only evidence such a fascinating place ever existed being the data recorded by the Gree probe.
After navigating their way through the Archeon Nebula, discovering an ancient Gree time machine, destroying a colossal serpentine droid, recovering the last of the lost orbs, surviving a Jedi assassination attempt and escaping the destruction of an entire system, Aaellu and Benjamin returned to Coruscant in exceedingly high spirits.
Mission to Tatooine[]
In the remote deserts of Tatooine, Isla and Damascus searched for the Mandalorians of Clan Gharva.
Put away your swords, dar'jetii. We're not blind.
—Ramira Al-Zaidi, on meeting Damascus and Isla.
Shortly before Benjamin and Aaellu returned from their expedition to the lost Gree world, Isla and Damascus were briefed on a potential opportunity Frank had identified on Tatooine, brought to his attention by his old friend Colonel Vanrick Taetriss. Having served together in the distant past, Frank and Vanrick had remained friends ever since and shared similar ideals. As such, Vanrick had trusted Frank with a particularly delicate personal request.
Like his father, Vanrick's son Erin Taetriss had joined the Republic military yet, unlike his father, he was seemingly unfit for a military career. Repeatedly mouthing off and disobeying orders, Erin had wound up being court martialed and dishonorably discharged and, since leaving the military, had thrown his lot in with a small group of Mandalorians, much to his father's dismay. The Mandalorians in question were what remained of Clan Gharva, a small and almost unknown clan who – by chance or by fate – had once harbored Benjamin when he first fled the Sith Empire as a boy – before a rogue Jedi Knight named Ruhnali decimated their ranks.
Clan Gharva had not answered the call of Mandalore the Avenger during the war against Zakuul, continuing instead to live simple lives, seeking out challenging contracts and taking on new converts, such as Erin. One of the Mandalorians was – surprisingly – a Chiss woman named Ramira Al-Zaidi and a Mandalorian since birth. Most importantly, Al-Zaidi was engaged to a Sith Lord, Tharah Odé, and Tharah herself was the personal enforcer and most trusted apprentice of Darth Madré – she was held in such high regard that Darth Madré had legally adopted her and allowed the former slave to carry her family name as her own. As Darth Madré was allied with Darth Aivela, Frank hoped that they could use Al-Zaidi to get to Darth Aivela through Tharah. Isla and Damascus were skeptical, but they believed they could, at the very least, handle Vanrick's; he was concerned for his son's well-being and wanted Frank's agents to persuade him to get back in contact with his father.
When Isla and Damascus arrived at Anchorhead, they met with Rowan Delk, their local contact who knew the planet well and had helped the Jedi in the past, proudly claiming that he had assisted the famed Barsen'thor. Delk had asked around before their arrival, learning that the Mandalorians he believed they were searching for had been spotted on a moisture farm belonging to the brother of one of his friends. Accompanying them, Delk led the pair out to the edge of the Dune Sea, where they met the owner of the farm. The farmer explained that the Mandalorians had come to the planet looking to hunt the fabled sand demons – an elusive and lethal predator that was said to be able to "glide" beneath the sand – but needed credits in the meantime, which he had offered in exchange for assistance, being more familiar with work that needed doing than the location of near-mythical creatures.
His problem was far more grounded in the mundane day-to-day problems of Tatooine life; Exchange thugs had set up in a cave a few miles away from the farmer's home. They had been watching the moisture farm, yet so far had not done anything against any of the local settlements. Even so, the farmer was understandably worried and wanted to make the first strike before the Exchange forces had the chance to do so. Hiring the Mandalorians to kill them all, the farmer had started fretting when the armored warriors had not returned, fearing that they had failed and would prod the Exchange forces into finally acting against him and his family.
Grateful for the lead, Isla promised that she and Damascus would kill any Exchange thugs they encountered in their search for the Mandalorians, a ruthlessness the farmer appreciated. They parted ways with Delk – who directed them, but was unwilling to join them on account of an oncoming sandstorm and the general danger of their mission – and headed out. By the time they arrived at the cave the Exchange had been using as a temporary hideout, the location was littered with corpses; not only Exchange members but also several Sand People, the primitive locals who attacked anyone but their own people on sight. They dispatched the surviving natives salvaging equipment from the dead and checked the cave, though the trail of bodies leading away made it clear the Mandalorians had fought their way out, so they were not surprised when the Mandalorians were nowhere to be seen.
The duo followed the bodies until they inevitably ran out, carrying on their search by following what faint tracks remained in the sand. Eventually, they heard the distant sound of blaster fire and rushed to find the source, locating another cave – half-buried beneath the sand – that was under siege. A group of Sand People were firing into the cave – with some blaster fire being returned – and despite their lack of comparable skill they had significant numbers with which to press the trapped Mandalorians, no matter their losses. Fortunately for Isla and Damascus, with the growing sandstorm masking their approach and the raiders' attention focused on their quarry, the Sand People noticed the two Dark Jedi far too late to mount any kind of defense. The pair mercilessly cut through the masked warriors, their weapons, powers and training proving an impossible challenge for the primitive fighters, especially at such close range.
Although the immediate threat was quickly neutralized, the duo were wary of entering the cave, keeping their lightsabers active and raised, ready to defend against the warriors in the event they mistook them for a threat. As it turned out, they had nothing to be concerned about; inside the cave, the Mandalorian warriors – including Ramira Al-Zaidi, Erin Taetriss, Xelda Gharva and their leader, another Chistori named Bobassa – were calmly awaiting their arrival. Al-Zaidi told the pair to lower their weapons, referring to them as dar'jetii, which Isla knew enough Mando'a – from her infrequent interactions with the Mandalorians on Dromund Kaas – to recognize as the word for "Sith", prompting her to question the Mandalorian's word choice.
Al-Zaidi pointed out that real Jedi did not fight so ruthlessly nor kill so many without a moment's hesitation – she joked she had never seen a Jedi wearing black, either. Regardless, she thanked them for the assistance, asking what it would cost them, and so Isla cut straight to the point, telling her who they were and that they knew of her relationship with the Lord Tharah Odé and wanted her help gathering information on Darth Aivela, assuring her they would neither compromise nor harm Tharah herself. Al-Zaidi was loyal, however, and told them as much, declining their offer. She also told them that if anyone owed them for the assistance, it was Erin – she had quickly surmised that he had contacted his father to ask for help, otherwise they could not have found them, at which point Erin admitted as much, revealing to the Republic agents that – unlike most Mandalorians – Clan Gharva had not used beskar since the Republic confiscated their clan armor, forgoing it as a point of honor – hence their trouble with the Sand People.
Isla considered pressing for Al-Zaidi's assistance more forcefully, but decided against it, suspecting that Al-Zaidi probably had a strong will – and would not take kindly to having her mind violated. Instead, the group parted ways amicably and Isla contacted Frank, who advised the pair to remain on Tatooine while he contacted another operative. Frank was not yet ready to give up the idea of getting Al-Zaidi on-side.
Investigation on Nar Shaddaa[]
The SIS often operated on the criminal haven of Nar Shaddaa.
Should be memorable. Consider it done.
—Dupzola Quith, to Frank, regarding the latter's request.
Meanwhile, on Nar Shaddaa, agent Dupozla Quith had just completed his most recent assignment, deliberately losing a custom made transponder ring to a mobster in a high-stakes game of sabacc so that the SIS could monitor his movements. Shortly after his victory, the Pyke received a call from Frank, who was aware of his reputation as something of a maverick; Quith often took the initiative and made questionable – albeit effective – choices on the fly, usually in pursuit of nothing more than a challenge. Tharah Odé had been observed on Nar Shaddaa, arriving for an unknown assignment, and despite Hutt neutrality staying the Republic's hand on the Smuggler's Moon the SIS still monitored Imperial activity as best they could.
As such, Tharah's temporary residence had been identified and Frank charged Quith with finding incriminating information that would break the bond between the Sith Lord and Ramira Al-Zaidi. Having completed his current assignment and amused by the idea of ruining a Sith Lord's personal life, Quith agreed to the task and broke into Tharah's quarters, disabling her security droids and slicing her personal datapad. Although it took some time, Quith searched through Tharah's messages and found a link to a secure HoloNet storage site, discovering that Lord Sera Artofen had coerced Tharah into an act of infidelity after discovering her relationship with Ramira, which she had kept secret from her "mother", Darth Madré. Artofen had recorded the act to use as blackmail, exploiting the Twi'lek's one weakness to guarantee her loyalty – if Tharah displeased her, she would send the footage to Ramira and destroy their relationship.
Quith, understanding that his mission was to separate the couple, downloaded the footage and deleted the message and the link within; he then had the footage edited by one of his local contacts to omit the important context surrounding the rape to make it appear as though Tharah was simply unfaithful. Utilizing a secure line at a local SIS outpost, Quith transmitted both versions of the incident to Frank, satisfying the Bureau Chief's requirements.
Recruitment on Tatooine[]
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During their mission to recruit Clan Gharva, Isla and Damascus found themselves rescuing a Force-sensitive Sand Person.
Those animals can use the Force now?"
"If that isn't a case of the k'lor'slug calling the shyrack ugly. Come. It is time for us to step in.
—Damascus and Isla, on seeing a Sand Person using the Force.
On standby until Frank's agent on Nar Shaddaa reported back, Isla and Damascus returned to Anchorhead via Outpost Largona, arriving at the latter location as the handful of local militiamen stationed there rushed back and force in an attempt to coordinate a response to a nearby emergency. Sand People were reportedly attacking a traveling sandcrawler less than a mile away from the settlement, where several locals had ventured out to trade with the native Jawas. With limited manpower to hand, the militia were attempting to find additional forces from neighboring settlements but were having little luck.
Knowing they were obligated to assist, Isla and Damascus acquired the coordinates and set back out into the desert, reaching the location just minutes later. As reported, the sandcrawler was besieged by the local raiders, but what had not been noted was the presence of a lone Sand Person fighting against its brethren. While Isla and Damascus held back to assess the situation, they witnessed the Sand Person fight with remarkable speed and skill, culminating in the individual gripping one of its opponents with the Force and throwing them into another. On witnessing this rare display of Force-sensitivity, Isla and Damascus finally waded in to join the skirmish and turn the tide.
Once the attacking Sand People were dispatched or driven away, one of the more zealous settlers sheltering within the sand crawler – emboldened by the defeat of the raiding party – leaned out from one of the crawler's upper hatches and opened fire on the lone Sand Person, catching their savior by surprise and leaving them seriously wounded. Breaking the settler's arm with the Force, Isla and Damascus rushed the Sand Person back to the outpost and used their authority to order medical treatment for the unexpected patient. Although the outpost's doctor was willing to treat the Sand Person as instructed, the militiamen – embittered by years of trouble with the Sand People – were strongly against the idea and attempted to bar access to the medbay, prompting Damascus to choke them into unconsciousness with the Force.
Once the Force-sensitive raider was stable enough to be moved, Isla and Damascus contacted Frank to report the surprise development and transferred the Sand Person to the kolto tank aboard the Whisper, where the masked individual was left to heal, pending extraction to Coruscant to assess the possibility of recruitment. Isla knew that Benjamin's abilities would be required to even initiate a dialogue, so she and Damascus resumed their wait for Frank's other agent while the Sand Person was left sedated.
Once they received the recording provided by Dupozla Quith, Isla and Damascus followed Clan Gharva's trail once again, finally locating them in their moment of triumph; after a lengthy search for the elusive beast, Clan Gharva had located, drawn out, fought and managed to slay one of the dreaded Sand Demons. For Ramira, that victory was dampened massively by the false revelation that her partner had betrayed her trust. She stormed off without a word after watching the altered footage, leaving the pair alone with Erin, Xelda and Bobassa, who explained that Ramira had a temper, but if she was left alone for a little while she would cool off. Correctly anticipating her actions, Ramira returned to her clan a few hours later, having vented her frustration on the local womp rat population. Begrudgingly, she thanked Isla and Damascus for finding out what her wife-to-be had been up to behind her back, making it clear she understood that – although they had their own reasons – she owed them a favor.
Still furious, she asked what Isla's plan was, prompting the Dark Jedi duo to explain that all they needed from her was an eye in the enemy camp; if Ramira could play along as if she knew nothing about Tharah's affair, she could pass along information on what Darth Aivela was up to and inform them if she was planning anything noteworthy. The agents also promised a financial reward, but Ramira dismissed the credits and agreed to their request, confident she could continue to act as though she was in a loving relationship, though warned them that she would not wait forever to get Tharah back for betraying her. Isla promised she would get her chance sooner rather than later and, before they left, Xelda surprised the pair by presenting the pair with a gift; two pairs of phrik vambraces, lacking the usual plethora of gadgets that made the Mandalorians so deadly but featuring a retractable blade.
Xelda told her the best way to kill a Sith was by attacking in ways they could not anticipate, elaborating that she wanted Isla and her people to succeed because, should she fail, Clan Gharva might not survive the Empire's response. As the pair left, Isla felt a small twinge of guilt about destroying the couple's relationship, noting that despite coming from completely different walks of life Ramira and Tharah had overcome their differences and made things work, for a while. Discomforted by the familiarity of the scenario, not to mention her unfamiliar feelings of empathy, Isla was pleased with the outcome all the same, believing that Ramira would be a useful asset in tightening the net around Darth Aivela's operations.
Having completed their assignment and secured both Clan Gharva's assistance and a potential new asset for Petrichor, Damascus and Isla returned to Anchorhead and finally left Tatooine to return to headquarters.
Assault on Darth Aivela's Castle[]
With Master Oteg's fleet keeping the enemy's naval forces occupied, the rest of you will be joining our ground forces in assaulting the castle's front gate. While all eyes are on the battle, Commander Lambert will make his way through the surrounding forest to infiltrate the lower levels and make his way up to Darth Aivela herself."
"If she thinks the battle is turning against her she'll try to make a run for it. Knowing my darling wife, she's almost certainly left herself an escape route."
"You make it sound like she is expecting us?
"Mm. An old castle well outside Imperial space where she's a much easier target for Republic forces? She wants us here. We found her stronghold because she allowed it.
—Frank, Benjamin and Isla, discussing the attack on Darth Aivela's castle.
Fleet Admiral Oteg, the renowned Jedi admiral who freed Revan from the Maelstrom Nebula, agreed to assist Project Petrichor in taking down Darth Aivela.
It was six months into the year that Project Petrichor was finally presented with an opportunity to strike directly at Darth Aivela, who had remained isolated since they began targeting her operations and was seemingly content to hide out in her lab. With all of the known Celestial Orbs accounted for, the group could do little but keep an eye out for opportunities to disrupt her operations wherever they found them, yet leads were scarce and what information the group did uncover pointed to all of Aivela's facilities being located safely within the heart of Imperial territory.
So, when Ramira reported that Darth Aivela had relocated to an ancient castle stronghold located on the unremarkable world of Jum Tarra, all members of Project Petrichor were called upon for an emergency briefing. Benjamin made it clear he believed the movement of Aivela's forces was a trap intended to lure them out; he highlighted the fact that Jum Tarra was far enough from Imperial space to make it vulnerable to attack, but far enough from Republic space that it could not be reached quickly by the Republic navy – in essence, it was isolated, a private arena for Petrichor and Darth Aivela to do battle in. The group agreed with Benjamin's opinion that he was the target – or, more specifically, the orbs in his possession were – and it was clear that his estranged wife had no reason to lay a trap for them as an organization otherwise, as they had done relatively little to hamper her activities. Therefore, all she had to gain was the acquisition of the two Celestial Orbs in Benjamin's possession.
Knowing it was a trap that had to be sprung one way or another, Benjamin and Frank had managed to agree on a strategy for an attack on Jum Tarra, using the knowledge they had of Darth Aivela as an individual and the favors they had earned since the start of the year to come up with a plan of action. A detachment of the Republic's First Expeditionary Fleet, led by Fleet Admiral Oteg, had agreed to lend assistance by engaging Darth Madré's ships, primarily the Harrower-class dreadnought which was reportedly protecting the castle from above. Meanwhile, troops from the 372nd Legion – including Yuri and Nomi Waverunner, Zhavi's parents – would form the bulk of the ground assault, whose main objective would be to cross the narrow bridge that led to the castle's main gate. Both the ground and aerial assaults would primarily serve as a diversion, however.
Old survey reports of the planet from before the Great Galactic War included structural scans of the castle, which clearly showed a series of smaller ruins – in the forest adjacent to the castle – built atop a network of twisting caverns that could – in theory – be used to get into the cliff-side structure from underground. Benjamin would use these tunnels to bypass the front line of the battle and infiltrate the castle, allowing him to find Aivela and confront her – if they fought their way to her conventionally and she realized she was losing, she would initiate her escape plan and their opportunity would be lost. All the Republic forces needed to do was keep the Imperial forces occupied without advancing too quickly, giving Benjamin the time he needed to reach Aivela, which he admitted would almost certainly culminate in a duel to the death, much as he had hoped circumstances would allow for her to be captured.
Regardless, with the team briefed on the situation and the Telos ready to depart for Jum Tarra, the members of Project Petrichor – with the exception of the Sand Person Ul'ippr, who, despite successfully communicating through the Force with Benjamin, remained in poor health – joined the Fifth Expeditionary Fleet and the soldiers of the 372nd Legion and set off on their journey, readying themselves for a final showdown with Darth Aivela and her minions. En route, Aaellu and Benjamin spent time together privately ahead of the battle, giving her the opportunity to successfully convince him that it would be smarter if they confronted Aivela together.
Once the attack group arrived, they descended through the planet's atmosphere and approached the castle, remaining out of range to deploy their ground forces before slowly advancing towards the castle, which they soon discovered was shielded. When the aerial conflict began, Benjamin and Aaellu dropped from the Telos using thruster-equipped enviro-suits, rapidly descending into the nearby forest ruins. Upon landing, they quickly discovered that the overgrown ruins were not as abandoned as reported; Force golems, works of sorcery created by Lord Rhonjenvyn, roamed the area, and while they were simple-minded and easy to hide from the couple were caught by surprise by several hssiss, who ambushed them from stealth. Meanwhile, the ground forces reached the castle's bridge and engaged Imperial troops, with Petrichor's Force Adepts leading the charge towards the main gate.
Benjamin and Aaellu came across an unforeseen problem when they reached the opening to the underground caverns; in the years since the geographical survey of Jum Tarra had been conducted, the tunnels connecting the ruins to the ancient castle stronghold had been flooded, forcing the couple to make the risky decision to dive into the pitch black water and swim to their destination, relying on their ability to hold their breath for a dangerously long duration. As they traveled, the pair encountered the remnants of an ancient crystal mine, with hundreds of naturally occurring crystal formations lining their path upwards, until they finally reached an area that had not been swallowed by accumulated rainwater. The area, while offering them oxygen, was unnaturally cold, presenting a new danger for the waterlogged Aaellu and Benjamin to contend with, though when the pair were ambushed by crystallized wampas they realized the environmental manipulation was intentional.
Aaellu was drawn to an unusual presence before they left the mine, so strongly that she was beckoned off their established path and into a narrow crevice of razor-sharp crystals, where she discovered the source; a unique, spherical crystal that was inexplicably connected to her through the Force and bonded more and more deeply the closer she got to it. Benjamin remarked that naturally bonded crystals such as the one she had discovered were exceedingly rare and, he hoped, a good omen for the challenges that lay ahead of them.
Pocketing the crystal for later use, Aaellu and Benjamin continued upwards to the underside of Aivela's castle, where they were ambushed by several mutant cavern varactyls. At the same time, Isla – fighting with the ground forces on the surface – had decided to ignore orders and go after Sera Artofen, who she assumed would be close to Darth Aivela. During the commotion of the battle, Isla used her talent for stealth to slip away. After overcoming a crystalline tulrus and entering the lower levels of the castle, Aaellu and Benjamin encountered Tark Jaggentire and Tharah Odé, two of Darth Madré's most prominent warriors, who were supported by Skyell Ottazen, his XO Kara Regent and the rest of their squad of elite Imperial commandos. Despite their skills, Benjamin was able to combat both Tark and Tharah at the same time, while Aaellu took on their Imperial support, quickly sensing a connection between Skyell and Tark thanks to the former's unguarded mind; when she disarmed him, she held her blade to his throat and loudly demanded Tark – who stood alone, as Tharah had been wounded – surrender.
His lover held at the point of a lightsaber, Tark reluctantly stood down and turned over his lightsaber, allowing the duo to pass and continue their ascent up to Darth Aivela. En route, Master Oteg contacted Benjamin to warn him that the fleet was temporarily withdrawing until the castle's shield was disabled, as they were taking too much damage from Madré's Harrower. Pressing on without the fleet to support them, Benjamin and Aaellu were met by Dratine Rhonjenvyn, who stood waiting for them halfway up the castle. Both parties exchanged heated threats and eagerly entered into battle, with Dratine manifesting dark side tendrils to put the pair on the immediate back foot. Benjamin ordered Aaellu away, as he doubted his own ability to combat the pure dark side energy the sorceress had conjured never mind hers, though by focusing on his positive memories – particularly of Cerys – he was able to match her darkness with an equally strong manifestation of pure light, providing a shield against the flesh-consuming shadow tentacles.
Draining their personal Force reservoirs, the pair were ultimately forced into a lightsaber duel, using the last of their strength to try and kill one another; Benjamin, a lightsaber expert, eventually outmaneuvered Dratine and stabbed her through the shoulder, leaving her unable to even hold her own blade. It was only once she was at his mercy that Benjamin's anger over her murder of Cerys made a resurgence and, with Aaellu's encouragement, he embraced his darker urges. Working together, they dragged Dratine out into the castle's mid-level courtyard and – tapping into Aaellu's mastery over plant life – commanded hundreds of roots to emerge from the ground to restrain the Sith Lord and pull her down beneath the earth. Burrowing into her flesh and organs, the roots created a symbiotic link that kept her supplied with oxygen and nutrients, ensuring her death beneath the forgotten garden would be long and agonizing.
With her army busy on the ground level and her elite guards defeated, Darth Aivela was finally cornered in the throne room. Whatever confidence Aaellu and Benjamin entered the room with evaporated instantly when they saw the final guardians Darth Aivela was employing as her bodyguards; her apprentice and partner in biological crime, Lord Sera Artofen, and – far more worryingly – another of her creations; a winged dragon, so large it filled the room and loomed over all those within. Benjamin recognized what the creature had been – a kimogila from the planet Lok – but noted it was considerably larger than anything that occurred naturally – and that they did not usually have wings.
Aivela greeted them as they approached and Benjamin complimented the hypergate, situated behind Aivela, admitting her skills had far exceeded his expectations. Though she thanked him, she stated straight away that she was aware of Benjamin's affair before making a number of barbed comments towards Aaellu, to which the tribeswoman responded with goading rather than letting Aivela rattle her, claiming the Sith Lord was jealous and asking her why – if she was such a powerful and important Sith – she too weak to hold on to what was hers. Irate, Darth Aivela, Lord Artofen and the dragon, Sammatra, moved to attack, prompting Isla – having arrived in the throne room just moments after Benjamin and Aaellu – to dispel her invisibility and leap at Artofen in a surprise attack, determined to avenge Bibi's death at Artofen's hand. Benjamin, similarly, leapt towards the dragon – seeing it as the greatest threat – only for Aivela to yank him out of the air and commanding Sammatra to kill Aaellu. Though Benjamin attempted to launch Aivela from a window to temporarily take her out of the equation, she pulled him with the Force again, dragging him out with her and isolating them both in the garden where Dratine was entombed below.
Meanwhile, as Isla fought Artofen, Aaellu was faced with the prospect of battling the single-minded determination of the colossal dragon. More agile, the Force Adept managed to avoid the creature's initial attack and get on top of it, stabbing her blade downwards into its head only to find the hide resisted her blade completely. Sammatra then shrugged her off and lunged at her again, forcing Aaellu to pivot to one side, dodging the beast's snapping jaws before thrusting her blade into its eye, blinding it on one side at the price of enraging the beast. In its fury, it destroyed much of the walls and ceiling before attempting to drench Aaellu in acid projected from a pipe in its throat, leaving her no choice but to leap out of the ruined throne room, plummeting into a free fall towards the front gate of the castle.
Guiding her descent with the Force, she fell through a swarm of Imperial starfighters as they strafed the forces at the gate, managing to collide with one of them to save herself from a fatal fall. The pilot, realizing she had a passenger clinging to the hull, broke formation and ascended rapidly to try and shake her off. Before she could try another tactic after her initial failure, Aaellu gripped the pilot with the Force, keeping her immobilized to prevent the fighter from changing course. Locked in position, the pilot was unable to do anything but watch as her ship climbed higher and higher, rapidly approaching the underside of the Harrower stationed above the castle.
Sammatra, obedient to a fault, followed, flying up in pursuit, and Aaellu waited until the last possible moment before letting go of the fighter; the ship exploded as it struck the dreadnought while Aaellu fell, back down towards the battleground – and directly towards Sammatra, still flying up after her. Powering up the Gree energy shield and the more powerful lightsabers she had acquired on the Gray Secant, Aaellu used the Force to accelerate her natural descent, increasing her speed more and more as she fell directly towards the open maw of the approaching beast. She then flew straight down Sammatra's throat – lightsabers-first – and carved a number of fatal wounds through the dragon's soft innards as she went, though she lacked the power to burst through the alchemically enhanced hide. Meanwhile, Aivela and Benjamin's duel in the garden raged on, yet with only one orb to Benjamin's two, Aivela was outmatched. Raining debris down on her husband, Aivela fled back up to the throne room and interrupted Isla and Artofen's duel, betraying her apprentice in her desperation by stabbing her in the back.
In doing so, Artofen's orb was released for Aivela to claim, reinvigorating her and giving her a second wind, which she used to tear the hypergate out of the floor, casting it down towards the front gate. Darth Aivela then leapt from the ruined throne room, diving after the hypergate, with Benjamin and Isla hot on her heels.
Trapped inside Sammatra's innards, Aaellu could do nothing until the dying dragon fell from the sky, crashing down onto the castle and destroying the shield generators in the process before finally falling still. Aaellu struggled out of Sammatra's insides, cutting her way blindly until she clambered – somewhat disheveled – from the creature's mouth, just in time to watch as Darth Aivela, Benjamin and Isla all fell from the sky. All three made the jump in time – with Isla disappearing last – just seconds before the stone arch collided with the bridge over the chasm below, shattering it and deactivating the gateway. With the castle undefended and Darth Aivela gone, Aaellu contacted Oteg and reported the situation, prompting him to move his ships back in.
With most of the Sith leadership dead or defeated, the shields down, Sammatra slain and Darth Aivela not responding, Darth Madré withdrew her ships and departed Jum Tarra, abandoning her allies on the surface and allowing Republic forces to secure what remained of the castle. Tark Jaggentire, Tharah Odé, Kara Regent, Skyell Ottazen and several dozen other Imperial survivors were arrested and shuttled up to the Telos to be transported to Coruscant for trial.
Duel on the Outreach[]
I'm sorry I started you down this path, Lexi."
"The spirit... inside the... the ma–"
"Spirit?
"Have to stop... protect... fi– fi– fi–
—Benjamin and Lexi, during the latter's final moments.
Though believing she had outmaneuvered her husband and stood to gain ultimate power, Darth Aivela was assassinated by Isla Ahnkett.
Though the battle on Jum Tarra seemed to have all but concluded with a Republic victory, Darth Aivela, Benjamin Lambert and Isla Ahnkett had all passed through the hypergate arch before its destruction and been transported through hyperspace to parts unknown. When Benjamin was deposited onto a cold metal floor, he was initially unsure about where he was, and when Aivela – knowing where the passage let out and arriving a few seconds earlier – launched a desk at her husband, knocking him to the ground, his attempt to get his bearings was disrupted.
Concussed by the violent ambush and crawling along the cold metal floor in an attempt to distance himself from Aivela while he recovered, Benjamin soon realized he was in his old office aboard the Outreach, the flagship of Magenta Sparrow Innovations, his old company that had been passed along to Aivela during the war with Zakuul. Lined with Imperial decor and various displays of exotic technology ranging from Gree to Rakata, Benjamin groggily realized just how obsessed with her research his estranged wife had become in his absence. Yet, wounded by her ambush and seemingly at her mercy, Benjamin had little time to ruminate on his failings as a husband, knowing that he had to prevent her from acquiring the orbs in his possession.
Thankfully, he was not facing his wife alone; wisely concealing herself with the Force before she passed through the hypergate, Isla was present in the room with Benjamin, her presence and body hidden until she let her mask slip just enough to touch Benjamin's mind. While Aivela furiously scolded Benjamin – with words and lightning – for his shortsightedness and lamented that he could have stood at her side during her rise to power, Isla took cover behind a large Gree monolith that stood as the decorative centerpiece of Darth Aivela's office and unveiled her hand so that only Benjamin could see it. When he did, he understood her intentions and reached out, discreetly, to touch her fingers and transfer the orbs to her. Then, her sudden surge of power unnoticed by Aivela as she raged, Isla moved into position and finally revealed herself, impaling Darth Aivela from behind and fatally wounding her.
Aivela attempted to withstand the injury and keep standing, but to no avail – within moments she collapsed, caught at the last second by her former partner. As she lay dying, Benjamin apologized for starting her down the path that had led her to her end, only for Aivela to attempt to warn him of something – a "spirit" – with her last words. The nature of her wound did not allow her the time she needed, however, and Benjamin was unclear as to what she was referring to. Once she passed, the orbs were shed from her body, though in his grief Benjamin ignored them, taking a moment to hold the woman he had once – and in some ways, still did – loved.
Isla was far less concerned by the death of the Sith Lord Project Petrichor had been dedicated to hunting down, though, and with two of the Celestial Orbs in her possession and the remaining half of the collection lying before her, unguarded, the Chiss was struck by an impulsive idea, one which compelled her to seize the last of the orbs for herself. Benjamin attempted to dissuade her as the power began searing through her body, but with such divine energy at her disposal it was the work of a mere thought to prevent him from getting close to her. Once the initial shock of fusing with the four orbs had subsided, Isla used her newfound strength in the Force to move through space once again, disappearing to an unknown location with equally unknown intentions.
Mission to Voryle[]
Isla took the orbs and vanished. I don't know where, or why, but she's... she's gone."
"I will speak of this to our friends. We will be finding her soon, I promise it.
—Benjamin and Aaellu, after Darth Aivela's death.
Aaellu and the other Petrichor agents were recalled to the Telos while the ground forces finished up on the surface, and once aboard Aaellu was contacted over the comm by Benjamin. He told her that Darth Aivela was dead, but that all four orbs had been taken by Isla during the confrontation, after which she had acted strangely and – quite literally – disappeared. Transferring the call to a ship-board projector for the group to talk, the others agreed that they needed to find Isla quickly, with Zhavi and Damascus being asked specifically for ideas, as her former and current lovers, respectively. Damascus had no idea why she had taken the orbs, so had no idea where she would go, either, whereas Zhavi – distantly affected by the orbs Isla held through their rare bond – was able to tap into their link and discern that she had returned to Voryle.
Knowing that, it dawned on her what Isla was up to, and she asked Benjamin if the orbs could – in theory – resurrect the dead. Benjamin suggested that the orbs would be almost limitless in their potential, so restoring life would likely be possible, though he could not say whether it would bring the person back as they were or create some sort of vegetative abomination. Regardless of her intentions, they were at least sure she was on Voryle and – intent on retrieving the orbs – made a hasty departure for the industrialized world. Once they had passed through the invasive customs checks that were standard practice on Voryle and reunited with Benjamin, the group had little trouble locating Isla, who was sat by a stream in Voryle Recreational Park, the orbs resting beside her. The Chiss revealed to her companions that she had needed time to process the experience of merging with all four of the Celestial Orbs, explaining that she had seen everything that had happened, was happening and would ever happen in the galaxy, a process that had dazzled and confused her.
Though she lacked the biological capability to process or retain any of what she had seen, the visions had stopped before too long, allowing her to think normally. Feeling as though she had a limited amount of time before the orbs would completely destroy her body, Isla had transported herself to Voryle, to the cemetery where Bibi Jotto was buried. Granted divine abilities, Isla had no difficulty raising Bibi's coffin and exhuming her remains, using the four orbs to regenerate Bibi's cells, undoing the decay, restoring function to her organs and tearing her essence from the Netherworld of the Force to reawaken her, dazed and confused. She had remained unseen, ensuring she had been successful before moving to the park, where she had ejected the orbs, knowing that if she continued to try and hold them they would destroy her. She absorbed the orbs one final time and touched Zhavi's abdomen, for reasons she did not elaborate on, before willingly turning the orbs over to Benjamin.
As the strongest and most experienced member of the group – and having carried two orbs for an extended period of time without any ill effects – Benjamin was the best suited to protect the artifacts; he took each orb in his hand, one after the other, bracing as they shone brightly before dissolving into his hand until – glowing with the unimaginable power he was hosting – Benjamin stood before the group with all the artifacts finally under his protection. It took him several uneasy minutes to adjust, warning Aaellu away when she tried to reach out and place a concerned hand on his arm. Eventually, though, the power settled, altering the chemical makeup in his irises to change their color from a rich green to a distinct gold, a biological marker that seemingly indicated a successful synthesis. The orbs stabilized, Benjamin was confident that he could hold onto the dangerous artifacts safely for the foreseeable future.
Aaellu and Benjamin returned to Coruscant to report the concluding chapter of the operation to Frank, who had yet to hear the precise details of their victory. Zhavi and Kassie returned to Corulag and Isla and Damascus remained on Voryle, the Chiss wanting some time to recover – and to speak to her resurrected friend – before reporting for duty once more. After reaching the capital and getting Frank up to speed, the aged veteran congratulated the pair and thanked them, telling them that his peers and superiors had been skeptical about the initiative for some time, yet now, because of their elimination of Darth Aivela and the horrors she had been creating – many of which had been gifted to other Sith and deployed against the Republic army – his doubtful colleagues had been thoroughly humbled. He ordered the pair to take some time off, telling them they had earned it – and that when they returned Project Petrichor would be gone, replaced with a new, more permanent initiative.
Sadly, Benjamin did not share everyone else's feelings of pride and good cheer. His wife – whatever she had become in his absence – had died, and his children had lost their mother. Aaellu kept her distance while Benjamin arranged and attended her funeral, believing it would be inappropriate for her to join her partner, his children and Lexi's family when they buried her at her childhood home on Ord Mantell. Almost a month later, once the funeral had passed, Benjamin was keen to move on with his life, leaving the children with their maternal grandparents while he – using the orbs – used the same power Isla had showcased to transport himself and Aaellu to Idlanna, one of the moons of her homeworld Farrow.
Sabotage of the Ruuria Foundry[]
It is certainly an ambitious attack, given our numbers. But, with only limited ground defenses in our way, the element of surprise to improve our opening hand and our advantages over conventional soldiers... I would say our objective is within reach, certainly.
—Isla, assessing the planned attack on the Imperial starfighter factory.
After a brief respite, the Project Petrichor team were called back to service, resuming Xadda's training while Ul'ippr – who had agreed to join the organization to help better the galaxy – was inducted into the SIS. With the war still raging in the wider galaxy, Isla, Damascus, Kassie and Zhavi received a mission proposal from Frank, who had access to intelligence indicating an Imperial starfighter construction facility manufacturing Supremacy-class starfighters above Ruuria – an orbital foundry before the war – had been left exposed, although the gap in security would only be temporary. A large facility, the foursome were not the ideal choice to take down the station, the odds being firmly against anything less than a full attack group; such resources were neither available nor justifiable to Republic High Command, however.
Regardless, with their lightsaber training and Force abilities, Frank believed the group could stealthily enter the facility and sabotage it from within, destroying the station without the need for a full-scale assault. Kassie and Isla were cautious, admitting it was a good idea but expressing concern over the high cost of failure, while Damascus and Zhavi were eager to step up to the challenge. After a lengthy discussion to hammer out the details the team agreed to take on the mission, whereupon they were introduced to Gretta Farrow, a freelance pilot who had worked for Magenta Sparrow Innovations from time to time and discovered Aaellu's homeworld, naming it after herself. Given the danger of their mission, Gretta would be piloting for the group, remaining close by and ready to extract them at a moment's notice. Once Benjamin had allayed Isla's concerns about leaving her ship in the hands of a stranger, the group set off for Imperial space and used the Cobalt Whisper to approach the factory undetected.
Sneaking on board via an exterior maintenance hatch, the group had little trouble at first, moving unnoticed through the innumerable maintenance tunnels until an unanticipated maintenance crew forced them to cross a storage hangar, leaving them exposed. Skirting around the completed fighters, Isla and Zhavi made it further across the hangar than Damascus and Kassie, who were forced to hide as an inspection crew arrived. Zhavi and Isla reached another entrance to the maintenance shafts on the far side of the hangar but, as they ascended, Kassie and Damascus were spotted, sparking the beginning of a firefight that quickly led to a station-wide alert. Although Kassie got away thanks to an opening created by Damascus, the Chistori was captured as Zhavi and Isla watched from an air vent in the shaft, unable to do anything but hope that Damscus was taken alive as more and more Imperial troops filed into the hangar. They proceeded with their objective, capitalizing on the distraction created by their friend's unfortunate circumstances. Regrettably, however, the facility had been locked down due to the security alert, scuppering their plan to overload the station's reactor from the control room.
Kassie, being more tech savvy, had accounted for the possibility of such a complication and made her way to the reactor core to physically destroy it, using her lightsabers and the Force to cause significant damage to the machine and destroying the capacitors that regulated power surges to and from the device, rendering the entire system effectively irreparable. With the capacitors down, the damaged reactor began to overload the various systems throughout the station, generating more energy than the facility could safely manage and starting a deadly, unstoppable countdown.
Isla and Zhavi escaped to the Whisper via one of the hangars, but Kassie was held up and implored the pair to make their escape and leave her, certain she was too injured and too far from the secondary rendezvous to flee the factory in time. Zhavi leapt down from the ship and rushed back through the station to where Kassie was pinned down, carving ruthlessly through the Imperial troops and carrying her back to the ship. The trio escaped with minutes to spare, and once they were safely away from the factory Kassie angrily scolded Zhavi for her reckless heroics, leading to the mutual realization that the couple expected different things from their relationship. Fearing for the fate of their lost friend, Isla, Zhavi and Kassie returned to Coruscant in low spirits, unable to take much pride in the blow they had dealt to the Imperial war machine.
Rescue of Damascus Lambert[]
I have to try... I owe her that much. She is still my wife after all, you know?
—Damascus, to Isla, regarding Corrith Lambert.
The loss of Damascus fragmented the team; while Isla privately worried about the fate of her lover, Zhavi and Kassie severed their relationship, the latter returning to Corulag alone due to what she saw as a clear discrepancy between her feelings and Zhavi's. Divided and disconnected, the team was silent for a few weeks, keeping to themselves after their hollow victory over Ruuria. Isla monitored intelligence channels in the meantime, searching for any hint of Damascus' whereabouts, eventually learning that he had been evacuated with the Imperials and was being transported to Dromund Kaas for interrogation thanks to a tip-off originating from Darsun Odé.
Ever the type of woman to deal with things alone and not wanting to burden Zhavi so soon after her breakup, Isla set off to free Damascus on her own without notifying anyone, not even Frank or Benjamin. Unexpectedly, by the time she reached and infiltrated Dromund Fels where Damascus was being held pending his transfer to the capital, the Chistori was already in the process of being freed; a Twi'lek Sith had destroyed the Chistori's escort in the minutes leading up to her arrival, releasing him from captivity before Isla could do so. Before the two women came to blows, Damascus interrupted the pair, explaining that the Twi'lek was his estranged wife, Corrith Lambert, who had refused to join him when he left the Sith Empire behind.
Though the Twi'lek had refused to give up her position and authority, the threat of Damascus being tortured to death in the capital had prompted her to make a choice to betray her loyalties and step in, surprising Damascus, who saw her refusal to support him as a betrayal. She explained that she was willing to help him, but wanted him to come home to Dromund Kaas, where she could hide him while they discussed their future. Torn, Damascus agreed, asking for a moment alone with Isla, where he explained to her that although he cared deeply for the Chiss, he had made a vow to his wife and felt obligated to try and honor that, now that he knew it was not an insurmountable task.
Saddened, Isla knew there was little she could say or do to dissuade him and wished him well, jokingly warning him to remain safe, or she would kill him. Parting with a friendly hug, Damascus and Corrith left for Dromund Kaas while Isla returned to Coruscant, reporting the events to Frank and Benjamin upon her return. Frank was pleased Damascus had survived and was glad to have another mole inside the Empire, though Benjamin was saddened by his brother's departure, knowing that it could be some time before he saw him again. Nonetheless, the pair agreed that Isla had been reckless; Frank cut her pay for the month and reminded her that Project Petrichor was not a free pass for Isla to do as she pleased.
Capture of the Relinquished[]
This is a low-risk, high-yield situation. I have seen first-hand what valuable allies – and friends – former Imperials can be, and I trust the pair of you implicitly. So let's go make us some new friends eh?
—Frank, to Zhavi and Isla, regarding a request for assistance from an Imperial destroyer crew.
Towards the end of the 28 ATC, Zhavi and Isla were called in to meet with Frank in relation to a distress call received days prior, with Benjamin, Aaellu and Kassie being unavailable while they were on leave. On their arrival, the duo were introduced to Imperial pilots Seon Corbeck and Eleanor Corstle, the source of the "distress call", which in reality was a request for aid presented directly to the Republic by the rogue pilots.
Corbeck and Corstle were part of a squadron serving aboard the Relinquished, a specialized Terminus-class destroyer assigned to harass Republic ships and launch hit-and-run strikes on lightly defended worlds. Their purpose was to stretch Republic resources and demoralize its citizens, using their stealth systems and nearby space anomalies to veil their presence and allow them to operate with minimal expense or oversight. Commanded by a particularly merciless Sith, Corbeck and Corstle's peers were suffering under the yoke of their vicious commander and had been forced to commit actions more akin to terrorism than legitimate warfare. Most of their squadron had finally snapped during their last assignment and disobeyed orders to bomb a large civilian settlement, for which they had all been imprisoned.
Scheduled for a public execution on their return to Dromund Kaas, Corbeck and Corstle had conspired with their captain to request Republic assistance in exchange for their stolen cargo, mostly consisting of rare minerals. The two pilots were assigned a decoy scouting mission to ensure a safe route back towards Dromund Kaas through the Zavian Abyss, a dangerous and unstable area of space but one free of Republic patrols, while in reality they made immediately for Republic space to seek aid. After contacting the Republic, the pilots were arrested for war crimes and the SIS took the pilots into custody for interrogation, but they were unwilling to aid Corbeck and Corstle, which had led to them refusing to cooperate.
Once it became obvious the pilots were not going to compromise their position they were all but written off, and Frank's request to transfer them into his custody was granted, though it was made clear to him that he would get no additional resources for their proposed scheme – Project Petrichor was on its own. Knowing Isla and Zhavi worked well together and believing Isla in particular would appreciate helping other Imperials make the switch to the Republic, he offered them the task of taking the vessel. Frank believed that not only could they recruit a sizable crew of disgruntled Imperials, but also recover a swath of resources and steal an Imperial vessel ideally suited as a mobile command center from which Petrichor could operate.
Not sensing any deception from Corbeck and Corstle, Zhavi and Isla agreed to work alongside them in an ambush in the Zavian Abyss. In addition to the veteran Imperial pilots, Frank had hand-picked the Duros ace Parkott Hend and the self-proclaimed "immortal" Quarren known only as The Reaper to join Project Petrichor, expanding their capabilities and ensuring Zhavi and Isla – themselves inexperienced when it came to piloting starfighters – had the best support available at such short notice. With each of them provided a reconditioned FT-8 Star Guard purchased from a military surplus vendor and Corbeck and Corstle piloting their S-12 Blackbolts, the unusual squadron set off on their maiden voyage, transmitting a flight plan to the Relinquished along with a fabricated story to explain their extended absence.
Once they received a response confirming the Relinquished was proceeding through the Zavian Abyss without them, the squadron waited patiently at the ambush site until the destroyer arrived, at which point they attacked the vessel and Zhavi and Isla used the ensuing chaos to board. Despite Zhavi being forced to eject – and her ship exploding in the hangar shortly thereafter – the pair got aboard without issue and proceeded to carve their way through the loyalists aboard the ship. Many of the Imperials laid down their weapons ahead of time, signalling that they were among the defectors and ensuring Zhavi and Isla did not harm them in their rush for the bridge. On their arrival, the Sith in charge questioned how they had found his vessel, not realizing until it was too late that the captain – positioned behind him – had drawn her blaster. She fired, shooting him in the back and telling him that he was aboard her vessel, not his, before firing a second shot, killing him.
Stowing her pistol, the Rattataki introduced herself as Captain Elizabeth Kondarr, commanding officer aboard the Relinquished, in service to Darth Xarion. Kondarr thanked them for responding to her request for assistance and explained she was willing to negotiate terms for their surrender, making it clear that – in the absence of their Sith commander – she would be taking full responsibility for the crimes committed by the Relinquished during her captaincy and asked that that fact be taken into consideration in the treatment of her crew. The captain also provided a detailed inventory of the Relinquished's plundered cargo, primarily a large quantity of chromium that Zhavi – as a long-time smuggler – was impressed by. However, the pair assured Kondarr that – since they had no official sanction – they had no intention of forcing a surrender. Instead, they invited her to meet with Frank, explaining that – although their defection was driven largely by survival instinct – there was an alternative to prison open to them. Directing the Relinquished to a predetermined rendezvous point, Zhavi and Isla escorted Captain Kondarr, Corbeck and Corstle to meet with Frank, leaving them to discuss the situation with him for over an hour.
Following the meeting, Frank explained that Captain Kondarr had reached out for assistance for the sake of her crew, not out of disloyalty, but that he believed she was unlikely to betray their trust – and was smart enough to know the Empire would kill her if she ever tried to return. A situation, he pointed out, another member of Project Petrichor had once found herself in. With that in mind – and viewing the ship and its cargo as Project Petrichor's resources, given how support had been deliberately withheld from them – Frank had decided to offer her a mutually beneficial arrangement; she would continue to captain the Relinquished and her crew would remain under her command, but instead of attacking Republic worlds the vessel would become a mobile command center for Project Petrichor. Additionally, her pilots would provide off-the-books training to select operatives – starting with Isla and Zhavi – and accommodate additional pilots as part of their crew, starting with Parkott Hend and The Reaper.
When appropriate, Frank also intended to use the Relinquished as a "stepping stone" posting for defectors, to acclimatize them to the transition from Imperial life before official pardons were arranged, easing the often frightening and long-winded process of defection through the use of a visually familiar environment. Frank confided in Isla and Zhavi that he was irritated by the behavior of his colleagues who had dealt with Seon and Eleanor and would not be mentioning their new assets to anyone outside the project. Moreover, he believed another department would only try and take the ship and crew, a theory with which Isla and Zhavi both agreed, suggesting that the support the ship could offer them would allow them to be a lot more self-reliant.
Over the weeks that followed, Isla and Zhavi were put through an intensive starfighter training program by Parkott Hend, flying alongside their one-time wingmates on a number of training exercises to hone their ability to fly and manage their ships' systems with greater effectiveness. While undergoing this training, the Relinquished was refurbished using the abundance of chromium hoarded during its time raiding Republic settlements, giving it a sleek, reflective appearance that distinguished it from standard Imperial vessels as well as providing the hull with additional protection against radiation and laser damage. With Frank's blessing, Captain Kondarr upgraded the Relinquished's starfighters as well, improving them to be sturdier and introducing life support systems to better protect the pilots.
The most visible of the upgrades was the addition of chromium plating, which Kondarr remarked provided a style and uniformity that both stood apart from the Imperial aesthetic while adhering to its general style. Additionally, both the Relinquished and its starfighter complement were given updated transponder codes to identify them as Republic vessels, as well as being outfitted with IFF scramblers to confuse enemy targeting systems during battle, further improving the pilots' odds of survival. Finally, using the last of the resources they had to hand, the crew uniforms were overhauled to remind everyone that they were no longer servants of the Sith Empire; security personnel had chromium incorporated into their armour, and the new pilot flight suits were afforded extra armoring to reduce fatalities in crash scenarios, armoring which also sported chromium to match the Relinquished's new aesthetic.
Once the retrofit was complete, Captain Kondarr gave a speech commending her crew on their professionalism, adaptability and courage during such an uneasy and uncertain transition, praising their faith in her leadership and promising that – as always – she would continue to act with their best interests at the forefront of her mind. She also announced that – in keeping with their new role as agents of the Galactic Republic – the ship would be defended by a mixed crew of Imperial and non-Imperial pilots; Kondarr then ordered Chromium Squadron to stand to attention.
As Isla and Zhavi had other duties to attend to and could not fly with the squadron full-time, they adopted slightly different call signs. Instead of being numbered like their wingmates, Zhavi and Isla were given letter designations instead, those designations being Chrome Aurek and Chrome Besh, respectively, a tradition which would continue with Kassie (Chrome Cresh), Xadda (Chrome Dorn) and Ul'ippr (Chrome Esk) when they underwent the same training the following year. Benjamin had trained in piloting starfighters during his time as a Sith and so did not undergo training aboard the Relinquished. Aaellu, having been imparted with Benjamin's experiences during their union on Idlanna, also had no need to participate.
Disbanding and Reorganization[]
Project Petrichor has been disbanded. We've been given a permanent division, Ben. We bloody did it.
—Frank, to Benjamin.
By the start of 29 ATC, Frank had managed to negotiate a restructuring of Project Petrichor with the Director of the SIS, leveraging their successful campaign against Darth Aivela – which had seen the Sith Lord slain and her Crystal Synthesis project shut down – and the connections they had made with the navy and military to argue for greater funding and the establishment of the initiative as a proper, permanent division of the SIS. Although still hesitant due to concerns about souring relations with the rebuilding Jedi Order, the Director had agreed that Project Petrichor could transition from a temporary initiative into a formal department, provided it continued to prove viable as a concept.
As such, Project Petrichor was disbanded and reorganized into the Strategic Asset Reassignment Bureau, with the group's remit expanding to include screening defectors before they were granted citizenship and recruiting any and all assets that would otherwise go unused. A new funding scheme was immediately put into effect, with SARB being allocated a one-off cash injection to invest in equipment and recruitment. While Frank's office in the Heorem Complex remained the official headquarters of the group, unofficially everyone was relocated to the Relinquished, now a secret mobile command center commanded jointly by Captain Kondarr and Chief Pad and known only to members of the organization.
Frank summoned everyone to the Relinquished shortly after SARB was established to announce the development, which was met with universal approval, and thanked everyone for the part they played in ensuring the success of what had once been a seemingly impossible ambition. Allowing everyone a few weeks of leave time, Frank promised that – upon their return – the Strategic Asset Reassignment Bureau would continue the good work of Project Petrichor and do their part to restore peace to the galaxy.
Equipment[]
Weapons[]
You need something, you ask for it. It'll either be a yes or a no, but don't expect me or the commander to guess what you need.
—Frank Pad to Project Petrichor recruits.
Most of Project Petrichor's agents joined with their own weapons, such as Zhavi and her lightsaber (pictured).
Project Petrichor, owing to the nature of the organization, did not have standard issue weapons. Weapons could be requisitioned through Frank or Benjamin on a case-by-case basis depending on what the organization's budget allowed for, though many of its members, wielding lightsabers and the Force, had no need of additional weaponry. Supplementary equipment such as comlinks, ration and various types of power packs were provided as needed.
Armor and Clothing[]
We gotta wear a uniform? 'Cause the girls 'ere need room t' breathe, y'know?
—Zhavi Waverunner expressing her concerns regarding the wearing of uniforms.
Aaellu's helmet, taken from a Zakuulan Scion, was an example of the salvaged technology Project Petrichor was forced to rely on.
Personnel working for Project Petrichor were not issued with a uniform and could choose their own attire based on their own needs or wants, though they could requisition armor if required. Despite this, Project Petrichor's successor organization, the Strategic Asset Reassignment Bureau, did offer a uniform light battle armor for Force users which was named after the project that led to its creation; Petrichor battle armor.
Towards the end of Project Petrichor's existence, the acquisition of the Relinquished and its crew prompted Frank to implement a uniform policy for those serving aboard, redesigning the existing Imperial uniforms to maintain their aesthetic while making them distinct from standard Imperial attire. In particular, the flight suits worn by the former Imperial pilots were adapted into specialized flight suits that provided additional life support features and physical protection to those wearing them.
Starships and Vehicles[]
The budget'll allow for fuel and repairs, but we'll need to rely on hiring freelance pilots and using the Sparrow when possible. We need to budget like there's no more money coming. It could well be true.
—Frank, to Benjamin.
A modern reproduction of the Civil War era Dynamic-class freighter was one of the few starships at Petrichor's disposal.
Although Project Petrichor did not – for most of its existence – possess any starships or vehicles, some of its members joined with ships of their own. Benjamin Lambert owned a reproduction Dynamic-class freighter, the Little Sparrow, which he purchased during his time as a Sith Lord. Benjamin used the ship to travel to Republic space during his defection and continued to use it as his personal vessel while working for Project Petrichor, often relying on Cerys Odé as a pilot, such as during their mission to Yavin 4.
Similarly, Isla Ahnkett and Zhavi Waverunner "shared" ownership of the X-70B Phantom-class prototype Cobalt Whisper, formerly owned by Sith Lord Scarlet Jhang until she was killed by Zhavi on Dxun. The Cobalt Whisper was particularly useful to Project Petrichor due to its advanced stealth systems which – while out of date compared to the newest technology – allowed those aboard to perform their missions undetected. Most notably, it was essential in Isla's mission to the Circumvention, which would have been impossible without the vessel's cloaking systems.
The first vessel directly owned and operated by Project Petrichor was the Terminus-class destroyer Relinquished, which was captured by Zhavi and Isla with the combined help of The Reaper, Parkott Hend, Seon Corbeck, Eleanor Corstle and the many of the the destroyer's Imperial crewmen, led by the rebellious Captain Elizabeth Kondarr. A modified raiding vessel, the Relinquished maintained its considerable firepower and impressive stealth capabilities when it became Project Petrichor's new base of operations, although this was short-lived, as Project Petrichor transitioned into the Strategic Asset Reassignment Bureau not long after.
In addition to the destroyer, the four FT-8 Star Guards used by Zhavi, Isla, The Reaper and Parkott during their capture of the Relinquished became part of Chromium Squadron, complementing the S-12 Blackbolts that formed the bulk of the former Imperial squadron. The Star Guards and Blackbolts and the Relinquished itself were all outfitted with chromium during the last months of Project Petrichor's existence, though none of the vessels saw action outside of training before the organization was reorganized.
Ranks[]
No need to isolate our people by making things feel formal and smothering. I make the connections, you make sure to see 'em through. Doesn't need to be more complicated than that as far as everyone else is concerned.
—Frank Pad, to Benjamin, concerning Project Petrichor's command structure.
To maintain a sense of informality and operational freedom, and since there were only a handful of individuals working for the project directly, Frank opted to keep the chain of command within Project Petrichor simple. He maintained his position as a Bureau Chief, while Benjamin Lambert led the team as commander. Everyone else was simply designated an agent, and only Special Agents – who were already agents for the SIS brought in from other divisions – deviated from this formula.
- Bureau Chief: The head of Project Petrichor, responsible for most major decisions, from logistical arrangements to cross-organization diplomacy. They were responsible for green-lighting any missions undertaken in the name of Project Petrichor.
- Commander: The commanding officer within Project Petrichor. The commander was responsible for decisions in the field, whether he/she was an active combatant on a mission or not. As an experienced combatant with a thorough understanding of the potential and limitations of those with and without the Force, the commander could overrule the Bureau Chief when it came to how missions were executed.
- Special Agent: A rank that was maintained by existing SIS agents who transferred to Project Petrichor. It was not given to members recruited directly into the initiative and was maintained for the sake of simplicity, allowing existing SIS operatives to enter or leave the service as required.
- Agent: The standard designation for all non-officer personnel within Project Petrichor. Agents were given varied degrees of operational freedom at the discretion of the Bureau Chief/commander and could be deployed alone or in groups.
Behind the scenes[]
Project Petrichor is inspired by aspects of the Eternal Alliance, Imperial Intelligence, Sith Intelligence and its parent organization, the Republic Strategic Information Service.