Dxun
One year before the end of the Mandalorian Wars
The Jedi stood in the remnants of a Mandalorian minefield. The battle had only ended a few hours ago, but already the rain turned the scorched earth into sludge, the curves of the craters left behind by triggered mines eroding down into mud, and taking the remains of Republic troopers with them, turning the craters into poor makeshift graves.
“This… This is too much” a surviving Republic Trooper mumbled, his armour marked with dirt and dried blood, none of it his and none of it Mandalorian, “She just… ordered us to march through. My entire squad just…”
“It was his orders.” The Jedi replied, the words tasted of bile in his mouth. “This is the consequence of war.”
The Republic Trooper shook his head. He was young, the Jedi noted, this was his first time experiencing war, possibly even his first battle. “My entire squad is dead.”
The Jedi put a hand on the Republic Trooper’s shoulder, a weak attempt at comfort. “There is no death, friend. They are now one with the Force.”
█̷̢̬̼̹͉͚͔͚͈͔́̓̌́̃͋̃̕█̴̗̦̠̦̥̻͓̹̼̬͙̉̓̋̑█̶̪̘͈̘͉͙̠̉̾́͑̋̅̅̓̒̔͘͘ ̷̡̛̪̝̯̥̼͉͚̓̈́͛̈́̏̚͜█̸̛̼̘̺̥̹̍͆█̶̩͓̞̍͛̂̃͊́̅͂̉͘█̷̲͇̦͖͚̏͑̂̐͘͜ͅ█̴̡̬̘̲͈͔̮̪͖͈̪̑͛̑̈́̆̾ ̴̣̗̣̤͓͍͉̤̗̻͚̎͗͊̇̓̏̏█̷̡͓̣̺̜̫̼̣̹̣̭̘͑͆͐͂͊̑█̶̨̧̤͉̭̦͙͎͖̝̓̈́̄̔͂̿͗́̈́́͝ͅ█̵̡̟̗̠̤͔̘̱̀͆̉█̴͔͓͇̪̞̦̩̹̖̥́̎̍̆̆̾͌͜█̷̡̧̡̮̫͓͉̫͓͖̥͐̃̀̅̃̽̈̒̈͋ͅ
One month after the end of the Mandalorian Wars
“This is insane, the technology they have here is unlike anything they have back in the Republic, and the level of production, it’s…” The Trooper’s words ran out as his excited mind struggled to finish his statement. “It’s… Amazing!”
The Jedi, if he could even call himself that anymore, was silent. He couldn’t concentrate here, this entire facility was something of darkness. Revan and Malak were toying with forces they couldn’t even hope to control. Every teaching he had grown up with screamed at him that this was a bad idea, that it was a mistake…
But then…
They said that joining the Mandalorian Wars was a mistake as well. Even he had started to think that Revan’s tactics were wrong…
But Revan won the war.
The teachings were wrong.
Why not see what else they were wrong about?
“You’re right…” said the Sith. “It’s amazing.”
█̷̨̨̘̠̱̦̎̈́̿̈̒̈́̊́͋̐͗̾̈́̕͝█̸̡̣̞͇̺̯̰͌̚͜͜ͅ█̵̞͎͔̄̔̽͛█̶̢̨̦͔̯̪̱̫͉͍͍̣͓͎̣͚̤̞͚̬̂͘█̴͇̯̠͈̥͖̞̠̜̱̖̠̭̦̀͂͊̇̈̍͒͆̾̈̀█̶̛̘̟̼̭̟̥̟̎̈́̈̎̿́̒̽█̷̭̯͕̬̪̤̰̪̲̯̰͖̐̽̎̿̽̀́́̀̌̍̆̕͘̕͜͜͝͠█̶̛̜̰͉͓̱̮̖͇̣̥͈̳̫̻̰̬̆̍̔̂̋̽͑̌̿͆̃͑̇̃̈̚͘͜͝͝
█̴̛͉̹͇̫͓̝̭͈̿̔̈͛͐̓̊͑͠ͅ█̸̨̜̭̖̙͇̦͇͙̒̒͆͐̂̚█̴̤͙̯͒̔̋̅̓̐̓́̂͜ ̸̣̲̝̖̟̭̣̠̋̌█̵̹̗̩̜̮̪̍́̆█̵͕̉͐̈́█̸̨̨͙͉͚̻͊̔͗̈́̅̆͝█̶̛̜͇̿̓̾█̶̡̥̝͇̜͇̫̣͈̰̒̈́̕ͅ before the end of the Jedi Civil War.
The Sith Trooper stared at the Inquisitor as he looked over the datapad.
“Who else saw this?” The Inquisitor asked.
“Just myself, and the excavation team.” The Sith Trooper replied. He removed his helmet, slinging it under his arm. “The woman who showed us this site. She said it was… For us.”
The Inquisitor’s brow creased at that. “And where is she now?”
“Gone. I’ve sent her description to patrols to apprehend her, but no one has found anything.”
The Inquisitor leaned back in his chair. When Malak had reassigned him to leading expeditions into the Unknown Regions he thought he’d find nothing, a glorified exile, likely for being too quick to sing Revan’s praises. He never thought he’d discover a civilization, let alone one so… open to the idea of Empire control. The thought had crossed him to just remain here, live as a ruler on this rock. No one would know how to get here, and no one would be able to oppose him. He and his men would be able to live like kings. But the notion of it itched at his ambition, could he really be satisfied with just one planet?
But this? This changed things.
“Round up the excavation team and have them executed.” He said, plainly. “If you think any of them have potential you can spare them, but this discovery must remain hidden. Do you understand?”
“Yes, my lord.” The Sith Trooper said, saluting. He did not question his orders, nor doubt them. He had no room in his heart for it since Dxun.
As his confidant left the room the Inquisitor stood and paced, and l̷a̵u̶g̶h̷e̴d̶. Ơ̶̙n̷̜̍c̷̖̕e̴͝ͅ ̴̹̐a̶͎̓g̶̦͋a̵̟͐ǐ̵̝n̷͚̒ ̶͕̀h̴͔̑ï̶̳s̴̖͒ ̴͓̽l̴̠̽a̴̜͛c̵̲̅ḵ̶̈́ ̵͓͂o̸̙̒f̸̲̉ ̷͎͘ǐ̷̲m̵̜͗ã̵̳g̵͚̀i̴͖͊n̵̡̒ä̴͉́ţ̶̍i̴̱͒ő̶̗n̴̝̎ ̸͊ͅh̸͎̃a̵̧͝ḑ̴͋ ̵̨̇ḽ̵͋e̴̤̋t̵̥̅ ̵̻͛ḣ̸̪i̸̟͊s̴͕̈́ ̴̲̓a̸͙̋m̴̱͐b̸̝̉i̸̥̕ť̵͖i̵̹͝ó̴͍n̴̰̔ ̵̏ͅd̶̻͆ö̴͇́w̴͇̅n̴̦̈́.̸̲̿
"̶̧̦̋L̸̯̳͛͂i̵͉̋͛v̶̆͜ë̷̪͝ ̴̞͑̀l̷̳͋͌͜i̶̝̬̿k̵̻̹̃e̵͔͆̕ ̴͈̺͌k̸̖͠i̵͓̳̊̿n̴͈͒g̵͔̈́̅s̸̨͗͝"̶̈́ͅ he snorted to himself
“W̸̧͕̒e̸̬͌̓ ̵̬̏w̶̡͖͌̒i̸͍̓ḹ̶̢l̷͊̓ͅ ̸̗͋͋l̴̠̂i̵͉̒v̶̰͐è̶̳͓̈́ ̴̫̼̅l̴̢̝͝i̸̡̽k̴̳͖̔e̶̺͊̔ ̸̡͝g̶̭̭̈́ô̶͈͕͗d̴̠̹͠ṡ̵̺̾͜”