Division spreads across the galaxy! Faith in the Galactic Republic continues to weaken as wealthy corporations evade the restrictions intended to control their growing power. Across the Senate, old alliances fracture while distant systems quietly question whether unity still serves their interests. Hoping to prevent another world from turning away, the young Senator of Naboo travels to Serenno on her first independent diplomatic mission. Yet unknown forces have already taken an interest in the ancient world—and in the secrets hidden within the estate of its ruling Count....
The Republic diplomatic cruiser emerged from hyperspace with a flash of blue-white light, leaving behind the brilliant tunnel of stars as Serenno appeared ahead. The planet occupied the center of the forward viewport, its pale clouds drifting over wide green continents and dark mountain ranges. It looked peaceful from a distance. Most worlds did.
A young woman stood beside the viewport with her hands folded before her, watching Serenno grow larger as the cruiser approached. She wore a deep blue senatorial dress with silver embroidery following its high collar and fitted sleeves. Her brown hair had been drawn into a braided knot behind her head and held in place by two narrow silver clasps. The elaborate gowns and painted face of Naboo's queen belonged to another period of her life, but Padmé Amidala had not abandoned the care with which she presented herself. Time had softened some of the youth in her features without diminishing it. She was still young enough for older senators to underestimate her and experienced enough to recognize when they did. She had also learned that peace seen from orbit often concealed arguments, resentments, and old wounds that no starship sensor could detect.
Most of them no longer made that mistake twice.
Across the chamber, a Mirialan girl sat beside a low table studying the diplomatic briefing prepared before their departure. Her green skin was marked by small black diamonds across the bridge of her nose and the upper curve of her cheeks. A dark traveling cloak covered the simpler clothing of a Jedi Padawan, its hood resting against her shoulders. Barriss Offee held herself with practiced discipline, but every few moments her attention wandered from the report toward the approaching planet.
Padmé understood the feeling. No amount of preparation could entirely silence the uncertainty of someone's first important assignment.
"You know," Padmé said, "you remind me of an old friend of mine."
Barriss looked up from the report. "Why is that?"
Padmé considered the question as her fingers moved toward the bracelet around her wrist. It was an unassuming piece beside the careful elegance of her senatorial clothing, delicately crafted from pale seashells joined by a thin woven cord. A single pearl rested at its center. The bracelet had survived royal ceremonies, Senate sessions, hurried journeys, and more formal wardrobes than it had ever been designed to accompany. Padmé had been offered finer jewelry by families seeking Naboo's favor. None of it had replaced this.
"We met when he was around your age," she said. "He was a dear friend of mine."
"He must have meant a great deal to you."
The answer should have been simple, but Padmé had not seen him since the blockade of Naboo that had taken the lives of Master Yoda and Master Dooku. She did not know where he had gone afterward. She did not know whether he was safe, whether he remained with the Jedi, or whether he even thought about her or his friends. All she possessed was the memory of the boy who had given her the bracelet and the hope that, wherever he was, some part of him remained the same.
Before she could answer, the doors opened. A tall Mirialan woman entered beneath a plain brown traveling cloak. Dark geometric markings crossed her green skin, and a fitted headdress framed a face that remained composed even as the ship prepared to descend. Nothing in her bearing resembled an ordinary attendant. Master Luminara Unduli looked first toward Padmé and then toward her Padawan.
"I apologize for the interruption," Luminara said. "We will soon enter Serenno's atmosphere. Senator, the planetary government has requested that you address its leaders before they authorize our descent."
Padmé released the bracelet and turned away from the viewport. "Of course."
She passed Barriss on her way toward the forward communications chamber. "I'll tell you more later."
Barriss nodded and closed the diplomatic report.
The two Jedi followed Padmé through the cruiser. Republic guards and crew members moved between their stations as the vessel prepared for entry, but Padmé carried no large delegation. This was the first diplomatic mission the Senate had entrusted to her without another senator present to supervise the negotiations. In a remarkably short period, she had gained the confidence of reformists who had once considered her little more than an energetic former queen. That confidence had brought her influence, responsibility, and the expectation that she could convince powerful people to remain loyal to a government they no longer respected.
She had learned that admiration was often another way of giving someone an impossible task.
The communications station waited at the front of the ship. Padmé took her position before the holoprojector while Luminara and Barriss remained several steps behind her, beyond the expected range of the transmission. A signal appeared across the console, followed by the blue image of a woman dressed in the elegant fashion of Serenno's nobility. Her dark hair fell behind her shoulders beneath a narrow silver headpiece, and her expression held the reserved courtesy of someone willing to welcome a visitor without yet deciding whether that visitor could be trusted.
"Senator Amidala," Jenza said. "It is a pleasure to welcome you to Serenno. I have heard a great deal about the new senator of Naboo, both of your work in the Senate and your service as queen."
"Thank you, Lady Jenza. Your welcome is appreciated. I am grateful that you arranged this meeting with Count Ramil."
"My brother understands the importance of your journey." The answer was courteous without promising that Ramil appreciated it. "Your cruiser has been granted permission to land at our family estate. We will receive you there."
"We look forward to speaking with you."
"And we with you. Welcome to Serenno, Senator."
The transmission ended. Almost immediately, the deck shifted beneath Padmé's feet as the cruiser began its descent. Serenno moved beyond the forward viewport, the planet's curve gradually disappearing as clouds surrounded the vessel.
Luminara stepped nearer. "Barriss and I will accompany you inside the estate."
"Lady Jenza can be trusted," Padmé said. "The Count is another matter."
Luminara did not deny it. Reports reaching the Jedi Temple had named Serenno among the systems most likely to challenge the authority of the Republic. None contained proof of treason, weapons preparation, or an organized separatist movement. There were only private meetings, disputed financial records, and increasingly public speeches about planetary independence. Once, those matters would have belonged entirely to the Senate. The new cooperation measures supported by Chancellor Palpatine had changed that boundary. Jedi now accompanied more diplomatic missions, reviewed more intelligence, and operated with broader authority whenever instability threatened Republic security.
Most senators had welcomed the change. The presence of a Jedi made frightened worlds feel protected and uncooperative leaders more willing to listen. Padmé had supported portions of the Chancellor's proposal herself.
She was beginning to wonder whether the Republic had considered what would happen when leaders came to view every visiting Jedi as an accusation.
"I understand why you are here," Padmé continued, "but I need Ramil to speak freely. Please do not reveal yourselves unless it becomes necessary."
Luminara inclined her head. "Very well."
The cruiser broke through the clouds. Serenno opened beneath them in long stretches of green countryside broken by rivers, forests, and distant settlements. The family estate stood upon a high plateau overlooking a deep valley. Its pale stone towers rose above the surrounding woodland, joined by arched bridges and walls darkened by generations of rain. It was less a residence than a declaration that the family occupying it had existed before the Republic officials visiting today and expected to remain after they were gone.
The cruiser settled upon a landing platform built into the front of the estate. By the time the boarding ramp lowered, an honor guard had assembled outside. Their polished armor carried Serenno's silver crest rather than the symbol of the Republic. Lady Jenza waited at their center.
Padmé descended first. The air was cooler than Naboo and carried the scent of wet earth from rain that had passed earlier in the day. Luminara and Barriss followed several paces behind her, their robes and lightsabers concealed by their traveling cloaks.
Jenza approached and offered Padmé both hands in formal welcome. "Senator Amidala. I welcome you to my world."
Padmé accepted the gesture. "Thank you. It is an honor to be received."
Jenza looked briefly toward the two cloaked women standing behind her. Her attention lingered upon Luminara for only a moment. If she recognized the bearing of a Jedi, she gave no indication.
"Come," she said. "You have traveled far. Your attendants may accompany you. Rooms have been prepared, and my brother will join us for dinner. In the meantime, please feel free to get settled."
Padmé followed her inside. The halls of the estate were decorated with the history of Serenno: woven banners bearing the crests of old houses, landscapes painted before the construction of the modern capital, ceremonial blades displayed within glass cases, and sculptures carved from the dark stone of the northern mountains. There were few Republic symbols. Padmé counted only one, fixed to an old treaty preserved near the entrance. Even that emblem appeared to belong to history rather than the present.
Lady Jenza led them into a suite overlooking the valley. A sitting room connected two smaller sleeping chambers, and tall windows opened onto a balcony bordered by pale columns. "You may rest here. Dinner will be served shortly. I will inform Count Ramil that you have arrived."
"Thank you for your hospitality," Padmé said.
Jenza paused at the entrance. "My brother can be...direct. Do not mistake that for a refusal to listen."
"I have spent enough time in the Senate to recognize the difference."
A small measure of warmth entered Jenza's expression. "Then perhaps this meeting has some hope after all."
She left, and the doors closed behind her.
Luminara removed her hood. "They seem willing to receive us."
"Lady Jenza is," Padmé said. "I am less certain about her brother." She crossed toward the windows and looked over the estate grounds. Guards moved along the walls below, their patrols orderly and more numerous than the reception required. "Serenno's relationship with the Republic changed after Ramil inherited his title. Contributions that were once approved without debate became negotiations, and Republic inspectors lost access to several trade facilities. None of that proves that he intends to leave the Republic, but it was enough for the Senate to send me."
"We know very little about what is happening this far from the Core," Luminara said. "I may be able to learn more before dinner."
Padmé looked back at her. "Just be careful. If you are discovered, Ramil will use it against the Republic."
Luminara raised her hood. "Barriss will remain with you."
"Understood, Master?" Barriss asked.
"I will examine the public areas of the estate and return once I am satisfied that no danger is present. Padawan, make sure you stay with Senator Amidala and keep her safe."
Barriss bowed her head. "Yes, Master."
Padmé did not argue. "Do not take unnecessary risks."
Luminara slipped through the doors and disappeared into the corridor.
Padmé watched the entrance after she was gone. "I do not remember every Jedi being like this."
Barriss turned toward her. "Have you known many members of the Order?"
"Not many. Three particularly well." Padmé's attention returned to the bracelet on her wrist. "They were very different from one another, but all three were good people."
Barriss's curiosity became visible despite her effort to contain it. "Was your friend one of them?"
A knock sounded before Padmé could answer.
"Forgive the interruption," a servant called from beyond the door. "Dinner will soon be served. Count Ramil and Lady Jenza await the senator in the western dining hall."
Padmé straightened the sleeves of her gown. "Thank you. We are ready."
Barriss drew her hood over her head and followed Padmé into the corridor.
The western dining hall overlooked the same valley as the guest chambers, though here the view was framed by windows that reached nearly to the ceiling. A long table occupied the center of the room beneath lights suspended from silver chains. Only three places had been prepared at its near end. Lady Jenza waited beside a tall, broad-shouldered man dressed in black and silver. The crest of Serenno rested across one side of his chest, and gray had begun to enter the dark hair at his temples. He stood with the comfortable authority of someone who had never entered a room without believing it belonged to him.
"Senator Amidala," Jenza said, "may I present my brother, Count Ramil."
Ramil looked Padmé over before offering his hand. "Senator Amidala. Welcome to Serenno."
"Thank you for receiving me."
"I have heard a great deal about your work in the Senate." His gaze moved briefly toward the cloaked Padawan behind her before returning to Padmé. "Please, sit."
Barriss remained near the wall while the others took their places. Servants brought the first course, setting down dishes prepared from local grains, mountain vegetables, and a dark meat Padmé did not recognize. Ramil waited until they had withdrawn before looking across the table at her.
"You came a long way to speak with me," he said. "What does the Senate want?"
Padmé had prepared a careful introduction during the journey. His question made it unnecessary. "Serenno has withheld support from the last three Republic funding resolutions. Several of your representatives have also withdrawn from committees they once helped lead. I came to understand why."
"Then your journey should be a short one. Serenno is tired of paying for the Republic."
Lady Jenza looked toward him. "Ramil—"
"The senator asked."
Padmé allowed him to continue.
"Every crisis becomes Serenno's responsibility," he said. "The Senate asks for our credits, our ships, and the support of our representatives. In return, it sends inspectors into our ports and restrictions into our markets. When we ask for greater authority over the trade routes we maintain, Coruscant reminds us that every world is equal. Curiously, it never remembers that equality when the bills arrive."
"Every member of the Republic carries obligations," Padmé said.
"Not equally. Some worlds contribute promises. Serenno contributes wealth."
There was no anger in his voice. That made his position clearer. Count Ramil did not feel abandoned by the Republic; he felt insufficiently rewarded by it.
"The Senate is trying to limit the influence of the corporate powers," Padmé said. "Serenno's support would help us close the exemptions they have used to avoid those laws."
Ramil gave a quiet laugh and reached for his glass. "You have come to ask for our help again."
"I came to ask for your cooperation."
"What does cooperation give Serenno?"
"A government in which your world still has a voice."
"We already have a voice. The Senate simply expects us to pay before it listens."
Padmé watched him for a moment. "What would you consider a fair return?"
He had his answer ready. Serenno would reduce its contributions to Republic relief programs. It would receive authority over the surrounding trade routes and greater freedom to negotiate private commercial agreements without Republic review. Its representatives would also be granted stronger positions on the committees governing commerce and taxation.
When he finished, Padmé set down her fork. "You are asking to keep the advantages of the Republic while being excused from many of its responsibilities."
"I am asking the Republic to give us something in return for remaining part of it."
"You have spoken about Serenno's wealth several times. You have not mentioned its people once."
The Count's expression changed. It was small, but Jenza noticed it as well.
"My people are my concern," Ramil said. "The rest of the Republic is not."
That was closer to the truth than anything he had said since Padmé entered the room.
"And the systems that cannot protect themselves?"
Ramil lifted one shoulder. "They will find someone willing to protect them."
"Corporations. Banking clans. Crime syndicates."
"Who they choose is their decision. Serenno cannot be expected to carry weaker worlds forever."
Padmé glanced toward Lady Jenza. She had remained quiet, but the discomfort in her face suggested that she did not share all of her brother's indifference.
"The Republic has many failures," Padmé said. "I have spent most of my time in the Senate fighting them. But if every powerful system leaves because unity is no longer profitable, those failures will become permanent."
"Perhaps." Ramil drank from his glass. "Or perhaps the Republic has simply reached the end of its usefulness."
The words settled over the table. Padmé thought of the reports Bail Organa had shown her before departure: private assemblies, defense agreements made without Senate approval, and leaders speaking more openly about planetary sovereignty. None had publicly called for secession. Not yet.
Jenza broke the silence. "Serenno is not withdrawing from the Republic."
"Not tonight," Ramil said. He looked back toward Padmé. "But more worlds are beginning to ask what comes next. The Senate would be wise to consider that before it returns to us with another request."
"Is that a threat?"
"It is advice. The galaxy may be ready to move in a new direction."
Padmé could hear the confidence beneath the words. Ramil had not arrived at that belief alone. Other leaders had spoken with him, and what had once been private dissatisfaction was slowly becoming something organized.
"Then we have more to discuss," she said.
Ramil studied her, perhaps expecting anger or an appeal to loyalty. When neither came, he nodded toward the unfinished meal. "You will remain as my sister's guest. We can speak again tomorrow."
It was not an agreement, but it was not a refusal. For Padmé's first night on Serenno, it would have to be enough.
Luminara Unduli moved through the upper corridors of the estate without allowing her pace to suggest that she had become lost. Servants passed her twice and accepted the plain cloak as evidence that she belonged to the visiting senator's party. A pair of guards looked at her more closely, but neither challenged her. The estate had been designed across centuries, its oldest stone passages joined to newer wings through staircases, galleries, and narrow bridges overlooking interior courtyards. Finding a private archive within it should have required more time than Luminara possessed.
The Force offered another path.
She had sensed the disturbance shortly after leaving Padmé's chambers. It was faint and carefully controlled, the impression of another presence moving where it did not wish to be noticed. The sensation disappeared whenever Luminara attempted to focus upon it, then returned farther within the estate. Whoever created it understood how a Jedi searched through the Force.
That understanding concerned her more than Count Ramil's guards.
Luminara followed the impression across an enclosed bridge and into the oldest portion of the castle. The decorations changed as she moved. Diplomatic paintings and family banners gave way to armored statues, sealed display cases, and portraits whose subjects had governed Serenno before its union with the Republic. At the end of one corridor, two guards stood before a tall door marked with the Count's crest. Unlike those stationed throughout the public halls, both carried active blaster rifles rather than ceremonial weapons.
The presence she had followed waited somewhere beyond them.
Luminara approached.
One guard raised a hand. "This wing is restricted. Only Count Ramil and members of his family may enter."
Luminara allowed the Force to move through her words. "The Count gave me permission."
The guard's expression relaxed. "The Count gave her permission."
His companion hesitated, then lowered his rifle as the suggestion reached him. "You may enter."
Luminara inclined her head and passed between them. The door opened into a private gallery descending toward the Count's chambers. She felt no satisfaction in the deception. Padmé had warned her that discovery could damage the negotiations, and the senator had been correct. But if another Force-sensitive intruder had entered the private wing during a Republic mission, allowing them to escape unobserved carried its own danger.
The door closed behind her.
Luminara descended in silence. The presence ahead no longer moved. She reached an upper gallery overlooking a large study where shelves climbed toward a vaulted ceiling. A fire burned low within a stone hearth. At the center of the room, a terminal had been built into a broad desk covered by physical ledgers and sealed correspondence.
A hooded figure sat before it.
He wore a dark travel cloak weathered along its lower edges. A wrapped covering concealed the bottom of his face, while the depth of his hood hid everything above it. He appeared taller than Luminara had expected, his shoulders held without tension as his gloved hands moved across the terminal. A narrow data slate had been connected to its side. Lines of encrypted information passed over the screen: financial transfers, cargo manifests, fragments of private communications, and lists of planetary accounts that disappeared before Luminara could read them.
The extraction remained incomplete.
Luminara moved along the gallery, searching for a path that would place her between the intruder and the nearest exit. Her foot settled upon a decorative piece of stone loosened by age.
It shifted beneath her weight.
The sound was almost nothing.
The hooded man's head lifted.
His hand rose before Luminara could move. The Force closed around her and tore her from the gallery. She fell toward the study below, twisted in midair, and pushed against the power holding her. Its grip broke. Luminara landed upon the lower floor with one knee bent beneath her as her lightsaber entered her hand.
Green light filled the chamber.
The intruder rose from the terminal, taking the data slate with him.
"Identify yourself," Luminara ordered.
His concealed face turned toward the lightsaber, but before he could answer, the doors behind Luminara opened.
"Who goes there?" a guard shouted.
Four members of Serenno's security force entered with rifles raised. They saw the damaged gallery, the open terminal, the stolen data slate, and the green blade in Luminara's hand.
The hooded intruder moved first.
He thrust one hand toward the tall windows. The glass exploded outward beneath a wave of invisible power, scattering into the darkness beyond the estate. The intruder ran forward and disappeared through the opening.
"Stop!" Luminara called.
Blasterfire crossed the study. Luminara turned, deflecting two bolts into the floor and a third into the wall before following the intruder through the broken window. Cold air struck her as she landed upon the sloped roof of a lower wing. The hooded man was already running toward its edge.
He jumped.
Luminara followed.
They descended from one section of the estate to another, crossing roofs slick from the earlier rain. The intruder moved with the speed of a trained Force-user, but there was little waste in his movements. He never stumbled, never glanced behind him, and never used more strength than each leap required. Luminara shortened the distance between them as they reached the final wall. The man vaulted over it and fell into the wooded grounds beyond.
Luminara landed several breaths later. Branches pulled at her cloak as she pursued him through the trees. The estate guards remained behind them, their shouts fading beneath the sound of the wind. The man could have attacked her. He could have torn branches from the trees or thrown stones into her path. Instead, he ran as though escaping mattered more than defeating her.
That restraint did not make him harmless.
The forest ended without warning at a cliff overlooking the valley. Far below, a river cut through the darkness, reflecting narrow pieces of moonlight between the clouds. The hooded man stopped near the edge.
Luminara emerged from the trees with her lightsaber ignited. "Who are you, and what did you take from Count Ramil's terminal?"
He turned toward her. The data slate remained in his left hand. "I could ask what you were doing in there."
"I am here on behalf of the Republic."
"Does the Count know that?"
Luminara did not answer. "You know how to use the Force. Who trained you?"
The man remained silent.
A sound moved through the air behind them.
Luminara felt the danger a heartbeat before a red blade spun from the forest. Luminara threw herself to the side while the hooded man leapt over it. The weapon passed between them, crossed the cliff, then curved through the air and returned toward the trees.
A gloved hand caught it.
The newcomer walked into the open with unhurried precision. He was tall and carried himself with the restrained elegance of a nobleman despite the dark armor covering his body. A fitted black cloak fell from one shoulder. Silver lines followed the chest and collar of his armor toward a smooth mask that concealed his entire face. The mask lacked ornament beyond narrow eye openings and several recessed channels along one side. It was not designed to inspire terror through savagery. Its cold refinement was more unsettling.
The red blade rested beside him.
Luminara rose into a guarded stance. The presence before her touched the Force like a shadow crossing fire.
"A Sith," she said.
The masked figure gave no answer.
His attention settled upon the data slate. He reached toward it.
The device tore free from the hooded man's grip and flew across the space between them. The intruder raised his own hand. The slate stopped in midair, suspended between two opposing currents of the Force. Its casing began to tremble.
Luminara stepped forward, but the masked Sith moved his free hand.
Blue-white lightning struck the data slate.
The device burst apart. Fragments of blackened metal scattered across the wet ground, and the remains of its memory core fell over the cliff.
"Damn it," the hooded man said.
She attacked before he could withdraw. Her green blade swept toward his shoulder. The Sith met it with his own, turning the strike aside through a small, economical movement. Luminara reversed direction, but his weapon was already there. Red and green collided twice, their light cutting through the darkness.
His style was controlled and exact. Familiarity pulled at the edge of Luminara's thoughts, but there was no time to pursue it.
The Sith disengaged and jumped toward the cliff.
Luminara reached through the Force to stop him. Lightning erupted from his hand before her grip could close. She brought her lightsaber across her body. The blade caught the attack, but its force drove her backward through the wet grass. Light flashed around her, blinding and hot. By the time it ended, the Sith had fallen beyond the cliff.
An angular vessel rose from below. The masked man landed upon its open boarding ramp, one hand catching the frame as it turned away. For a moment, he stood within the opening and looked back toward the cliff.
Not at Luminara.
At the hooded intruder.
Then the ramp closed. The ship accelerated over the valley and disappeared into the clouds.
Luminara lowered her weapon. Her hands tingled from the lightning that had passed through the blade. She had encountered the dark side before, but never wielded by someone with such discipline. The Sith had possessed opportunities to kill her and ignored them. He had come for the stolen information, destroyed it, and left.
The hooded man stepped backward.
Luminara raised her lightsaber again. "Stop. You're coming with me."
He looked toward her from beneath the hood.
He stepped from the cliff.
Luminara ran to the edge.
For an instant, she saw only darkness beneath him. Then engines ignited below. A narrow starfighter rose along the cliff face with its canopy open. The hooded man landed upon one wing, caught the frame, and pulled himself into the cockpit as the vessel continued climbing.
Luminara recognized its shape.
A Delta-7.
The craft had been modified. Dark plates covered sections of its once-bright hull, several repairs did not match the original design, and the what seemed to be markings of the Jedi Order had faded beneath long travel. An astromech dome turned from its socket behind the cockpit and released a sharp series of tones. The canopy closed over the hooded pilot.
The starfighter turned away from the estate.
Luminara reached toward it through the Force, but the distance was already widening. The Delta-7 crossed the valley, climbed into the clouds, and vanished.
She remained at the cliff as the first Serenno guards broke through the trees behind her. The shattered remnants of the data slate were gone. The Sith's vessel had disappeared. The unknown Force-user had escaped in a Jedi starfighter, leaving Luminara with nothing she could place before the Council except her own account.
She had entered Count Ramil's chambers searching for evidence that Serenno might abandon the Republic. Instead, she had found a Sith—and another Force-user escaping aboard a Jedi starfighter.
A/N: Hello and welcome to the start of the story. I hope that you enjoyed the set up so far, but now the greater story begins. It took me a long time to create all the background events that are happening. From this point on we are not just telling the story of Khan, but of the greater galaxy. We will no longer be locked into a single POV, we are returning to story telling, and the structure of the story will change to show that. So apologize in advance if the story feels slower, because things are just getting started.