Raada, Outer Rim Territories | 18 BBY
The thing about evolving your class at three in the morning in a cheap hotel room was that nobody warned you it would hurt.
The system had presented the choice two weeks ago after I'd hit level sixteen and finally met the prerequisites. Four evolution paths, each one representing a fundamental shift in how the interface categorized my capabilities. I'd spent those two weeks running contracts for Mara Vakarian while the decision gnawed at me.
Jedi Guardian meant committing fully to combat specialization, becoming the Order's sword arm. Jedi Shadow emphasized investigation and covert operations, the intelligence operatives who worked in darkness. Gray Jedi acknowledged the philosophical shift I'd already made, operating between light and dark. Weapons Specialist abandoned Force focus entirely in favor of pure martial prowess.
I'd chosen Jedi Knight.
Not because it was optimal or because the system recommended it. Because despite everything I'd become, despite the compromises and the bodies and the year spent operating in the underworld, I was still fundamentally what Cin Drallig had trained me to be.
I still had belief, and it would be a lie to say otherwise.
The evolution process had started with a simple confirmation prompt. Then the pain hit.
Not physical pain, exactly. The system was restructuring how it interfaced with my Force connection, rewriting the code that translated my abilities into quantifiable metrics. It felt like my nervous system was being rewired while I remained conscious, every nerve firing simultaneously in patterns that shouldn't be possible.
I'd endured for six hours while my body convulsed on the hotel bed and the Force moved through me in ways that felt like drowning and flying simultaneously. When it finally ended, when the pain receded into memory and I could breathe without my lungs feeling like they were trying to escape my chest, the system's display had changed.
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CLASS EVOLUTION COMPLETE
Previous Class: Jedi Padawan
Current Class: Jedi Knight
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ADVANCEMENT BONUSES APPLIED:
+50 HP
+100 FP
+2 to all primary attributes
New Class Features Unlocked:
- Combat Mastery: +15% damage with all Force-enhanced attacks
- Knight's Resolve: +20% resistance to dark side corruption
- Force Attunement: Passive FP regeneration increased by 50%
- Lightsaber Expertise: All Forms receive +2 level bonus
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INVENTORY SYSTEM UPGRADE
Expanded Capacity: 50 item slots → 100 item slots
New Feature: Quick-Access Slots (4 available)
New Feature: Equipment Sets (Save/Load gear configurations)
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The changes were immediate and profound. My connection to the Force felt clearer, more responsive, as if someone had cleaned a viewport I hadn't realized was dirty. The combat bonuses translated to muscle memory that felt sharper, more precise. And the inventory expansion meant I could finally stop worrying about carrying capacity limitations.
That last feature had proven more useful than I'd expected. The system's inventory existed in some kind of dimensional pocket, items stored in a space that didn't physically exist but could be accessed instantaneously. I'd been using it conservatively during my Padawan classification, worried about exploiting mechanics I didn't fully understand.
Now I had room to actually utilize the advantage properly.
I'd spent the past two weeks acquiring gear. Not just weapons and armor but supplies, equipment, the kind of resources that would let me operate independently for extended periods. Medical supplies, rations, climbing gear, slicing tools, forged credentials, changes of clothing for different social contexts. Everything a Jedi operating alone in hostile territory might need.
The quick-access slots let me designate four items for instant retrieval. I'd configured them as: lightsaber, backup blaster, medpac, and a thermal detonator for emergencies. One thought and they'd materialize in my hands, faster than drawing from physical storage.
The advantages were significant.
I stood now on a rooftop overlooking Raada's corporate district, studying the target building through macrobinocs I'd pulled from inventory without reaching for a pack. The building belonged to Imperial-Aligned Mining Consortium, a corporate entity that extracted resources from Outer Rim worlds while providing the Empire with both profits and political cover.
Intelligence suggested they were also trafficking in information about Force-sensitives, providing the ISB with data on potential Jedi survivors in exchange for favorable mining contracts.
That made them a problem worth solving.
The system had flagged the facility three days ago when I'd arrived on Raada following another dead-end lead about Jedi survivors. The optional quest had appeared with the kind of timing that suggested the interface was learning to predict what missions I'd accept.
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OPTIONAL QUEST AVAILABLE
[CORPORATE SABOTAGE: IMAC FACILITY]
Difficulty: HIGH
Description: Infiltrate Imperial-Aligned Mining Consortium facility. Acquire intelligence on Force-sensitive trafficking. Optional: Destroy records to prevent future targeting.
Reward: +300 XP, Valuable intelligence, +2 CHA (if completed stealthily)
Bonus Objective: Extract corporate executive for questioning (+150 XP, rare information unlock)
Accept? Y/N
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I'd accepted immediately. Not just because the XP was good or because the intelligence might lead to actual Jedi survivors. Because the idea of a corporation profiting from hunting my former brothers and sisters made something cold and furious settle in my chest.
The Jedi Code preached compassion and restraint. Jedi Knight Zett Jukassa was discovering that compassion had limits.
The facility's security was typical corporate paranoia. Surveillance droids, automated turrets, biometric locks, rotating guard patrols. Challenging for most infiltrators. For someone with Force abilities and a system that could analyze patrol patterns with mathematical precision, merely inconvenient.
I'd been studying the facility for two days, mapping guard rotations and identifying weaknesses. The system had compiled the data into a tactical overlay that showed optimal insertion points and timing windows.
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TACTICAL ANALYSIS: IMAC FACILITY
Security Level: HIGH
Guard Count: 24 (rotating shifts)
Surveillance Coverage: 87%
Recommended Entry: Maintenance access, northwest corner
Optimal Timing: 0230 hours (guard shift change)
Success Probability: 71.3%
Warning: Executive target (Moff Harken) on-site. High-value extraction opportunity available.
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Seventy-one percent. Good odds. Better than most operations I'd run in the past year. And the bonus objective of extracting an Imperial Moff who'd been coordinating the Force-sensitive trafficking was too tempting to ignore.
I waited until 0228, then moved. The macrobinocs vanished into inventory as I pulled my combat gear from quick-access: dark clothing optimized for stealth, face mask to defeat facial recognition, gloves to avoid leaving biometric traces. The full loadout materialized on my body in three seconds, faster than physically changing clothes.
I descended from the rooftop using a grappling line I'd acquired specifically for urban infiltration. The northwest maintenance access was exactly where the schematics indicated, a service door protected by electronic lock and single surveillance camera. I disabled the camera with a carefully applied Force push that damaged its focusing mechanism without destroying it obviously, making the failure look like equipment malfunction rather than sabotage.
The lock required more finesse. I'd improved my technical manipulation abilities over the past year, practicing on increasingly complex systems until the skill reached level nine. Still not expert-tier, but sufficient for corporate security.
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Skill Usage: Technical Manipulation
Target: Electronic Lock (Difficulty: Moderate)
Chance: 76.8%
~~~
Success! Lock bypassed. +8 XP
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The door opened silently. I slipped inside and resealed it behind me, moved through maintenance corridors that smelled like recycled air and industrial lubricants. The facility's interior matched the floor plans I'd memorized, though the system helpfully overlaid navigation markers showing optimal routes to the data center.
I passed two guard patrols without being noticed, using Force stealth to blur my presence into background noise while they walked past within three meters. The technique had reached level ten after constant use, refined to the point where I could maintain it for extended periods without significant Force point drain.
The data center occupied the building's third floor, protected by biometric scanners and armed guards. I studied the setup from a maintenance closet across the hall, evaluating options. Direct approach meant fighting through security and triggering alarms. Subtle approach meant bypassing biometrics and accessing the system without detection.
Not this time.
I pulled a shaped breaching charge from inventory, something I'd acquired from a demolitions specialist during a job two months ago. Set it against the data center's side wall at a point the structural analysis suggested would minimize collateral damage. Triggered it remotely while I moved to a safe distance.
The explosion was contained but effective, blowing a hole through the wall large enough to enter while the concussive force disabled the guards inside. I was through the breach before the smoke cleared, moving with the kind of speed that Force-augmented Agility provided.
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Combat Initiated
Hostiles: 4 Corporate Security Guards
Threat Level: LOW
Recommended Strategy: Rapid Incapacitation
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My lightsaber ignited as I entered the data center, blue plasma cutting through the smoke-filled air. The guards were recovering from the explosion, reaching for weapons with the kind of delayed reaction that came from being concussed. I didn't give them time to organize.
Form IV, the Hawk-Bat Swoop Master Drallig had spent three years drilling into me. I launched myself at the nearest guard, my blade a blur of motion that disarmed him literally, taking his rifle and his trigger finger in a single strike. Spun past him toward the second guard, deflected his panicked shots back into his own chest plate.
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Skill Usage: Lightsaber Combat (Form IV - Ataru)
Enhanced by Jedi Knight Class Bonus
Multiple Targets
Chance: 91.2%
~~~
Overwhelming Success!
All targets neutralized in 4.3 seconds
+45 XP
Combat Efficiency: EXEMPLARY
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The third and fourth guards went down before they could fire a shot, my blade moving with the kind of precision that came from the class evolution's combat bonuses. Form IV had been level twenty before the evolution. With the +2 bonus it was effectively twenty-two now, approaching Master-level proficiency.
The difference was noticeable. Movements that had required conscious effort now flowed like breathing. Sequences I'd practiced for years executed with sheer perfection.
I was becoming what Master Drallig had always believed I could be, a true practitioner of Ataru, someone who embodied the form's philosophy of aggressive elegance.
The guards were alive but unconscious, which was more mercy than they'd have shown me. I moved to the primary data terminal and pulled out a military-grade slicing tool, something that had cost me three months of contract earnings but was worth every credit.
The system assisted with the data extraction, highlighting relevant files and flagging security measures before I triggered them.
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Skill Usage: Slicing
Target: Corporate Database (Difficulty: High)
Chance: 67.4%
System Assistance Active: +15% bonus
Total Chance: 82.4%
~~~
Success! Database access granted. +25 XP
Relevant files identified: 247
Download time: 3.2 minutes
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Three minutes. The facility's security would be responding to the explosion, converging on my position with whatever force they could muster. I could defend this position for three minutes easily, but that meant more casualties and greater risk of ISB involvement.
Or I could acquire the bonus objective while the data downloaded.
I checked the building schematic. Moff Harken's office was two floors up, accessed via a private turbolift that required executive clearance. Under normal circumstances, reaching him would require fighting through multiple security checkpoints.
I reached into my inventory and pulled out one of the corporate security uniforms I'd acquired during previous infiltrations. The equipment set feature let me swap my entire outfit in seconds, replacing stealth gear with the appearance of a legitimate guard. Added a stolen security badge for authenticity and walked toward the turbolift like I had every right to be there.
The biometric scanner tried to reject the stolen credentials, but a subtle application of Force persuasion convinced it to override its protocols.
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Skill Usage: Force Persuasion
Target: Security System (Non-Sentient)
Difficulty: EXTREME
Chance: 34.7%
~~~
Critical Success! System Override Achieved
New Technique Discovered: Machine Persuasion (Rank 1)
+50 XP (Innovation Bonus)
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The turbolift ascended while I processed what had just happened. Machine Persuasion. The ability to use Force persuasion on non-sentient systems, convincing computers and droids to act against their programming. It shouldn't have been possible. The Force influenced minds, not machines.
Except apparently it could, if you were creative enough and desperate enough to try.
The doors opened onto an executive level that screamed Imperial excess. Real wood furniture imported from worlds the Empire had strip-mined. Artwork stolen from cultures they'd subjugated. The kind of ostentatious wealth that came from profiting off others' suffering.
Moff Harken's office occupied the corner suite, protected by two guards who looked significantly more competent than the ones I'd encountered in the data center. I evaluated my options. Stealth was compromised by the guard uniform that wouldn't hold up to scrutiny. Combat would trigger alarms that would complicate extraction.
Or I could just walk up and knock.
The guards tracked my approach with professional wariness. "This floor is restricted," the senior one said. His hand rested on his blaster, not threatening but ready.
"I know." I pulled Harken's security clearance from my stolen credentials and held it up. "The Moff requested my presence. Something about a security breach on the third floor."
The guard studied the clearance while I reached into the Force, felt his surface thoughts and suspicions. He was skeptical but not certain enough to refuse what appeared to be legitimate orders. The kind of hesitation that made social engineering effective.
"Wasn't notified about any appointments," he said slowly.
"He just commed down. Check with him if you want, but he seemed pretty urgent about the situation." I projected confidence through body language and subtle Force suggestion, the kind of low-level manipulation that wouldn't register as obvious mind control.
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Skill Usage: Persuasion
Enhanced by Force Suggestion
Target: Corporate Security Guard
Chance: 71.3%
~~~
Success! Guard persuaded. +12 XP
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The guard stepped aside reluctantly. I entered Harken's office and sealed the door behind me, then reached into inventory for items I'd prepared specifically for extractions: binding restraints, a hood to block vision, and a low-yield stun grenade in case things went wrong.
Moff Harken looked up from his desk with the expression of someone used to being interrupted by subordinates. Human, maybe fifty standard years, with the kind of soft physique that came from decades behind a desk. His eyes widened when he registered that my uniform didn't match my face, that something was wrong.
I crossed the distance before he could trigger whatever panic button his hand was reaching for. Caught his wrist, applied pressure to the nerve cluster that caused his fingers to spasm open. "Moff Harken. We need to talk about your trafficking operation."
"Who are you?" Fear made his voice crack. Good. Fear meant cooperation.
"Someone who's very interested in the intelligence you've been selling to the ISB." I pulled the restraints from inventory and secured his hands behind his back with practiced efficiency. "Names, locations, everything you know about Force-sensitive tracking. You're going to tell me all of it."
"The Empire will hunt you down. They'll make you wish you'd died in the purge."
"They're already hunting me. You just made yourself a liability to them." I placed the hood over his head and activated my commlink. "Package secured. Extraction required."
The response came from a contact I'd made during my Vakarian contracts, a pilot who specialized in discrete retrievals. "Five minutes. Northwest pad. Security's going crazy down there, so make it fast."
Five minutes to get from the executive level to the extraction point with a struggling prisoner. The data download would be complete by now, so I just needed to collect it and leave. Simple.
The universe rarely rewarded optimism.
The office door exploded inward and four figures entered in perfect formation, moving with the synchronized precision of military special operations. But these weren't corporate security or even Imperial regulars. The Force screamed warnings about their presence, about the darkness that clung to them like physical weight.
Inquisitors. Four of them. Moving with purpose toward me and my prisoner.
The system's threat assessment erupted across my vision with enough urgency that I almost missed the first attack.
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CRITICAL THREAT DETECTED
MULTIPLE INQUISITORS
Threat Level: EXTREME
Recommended Action: IMMEDIATE EVACUATION
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Enemy Analysis:
Inquisitor Alpha - Level 24 - Double-bladed Lightsaber
Inquisitor Beta - Level 22 - Single Blade + Force Lightning
Inquisitor Gamma - Level 21 - Dual Wielding
Inquisitor Delta - Level 20 - Ranged Force Specialist
Combined Threat Assessment: OVERWHELMING
Current Survival Probability: 18.4%
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Kriff....
Eighteen percent. Worse odds than Order 66. Four Inquisitors, all higher level than me, working in coordinated attack patterns. The smart choice was abandoning the prisoner and running.
My lightsaber ignited as I shoved Harken toward the office's reinforced window. "Stay down and don't move."
The lead Inquisitor's double-blade spun to life, crimson plasma painting the expensive office in shades of blood. "Padawan Jukassa. The Grand Inquisitor will be pleased we found you."
They knew my name, well that's not great. Knew enough about me to bring an overwhelming force.
Maybe this was a trap...and I'd walked right into it.
The four Inquisitors spread out, flanking positions designed to prevent escape and maximize their numerical advantage.
"Last chance to surrender," the lead Inquisitor said. His presence in the Force felt cold and familiar, like a Jedi who'd been hollowed out and filled with something toxic. "The Empire offers mercy to those who serve."
"I've heard that offer before." I settled into Ataru's opening stance, felt the Form flow through me with the kind of natural ease that came from approaching true mastery. "I declined then, too."
The lead Inquisitor nodded to his companions. They attacked as one, four opponents moving with the coordination of people who'd trained together extensively. I met them in the space between heartbeats, my blade tracing defensive patterns while my mind processed tactical data faster than conscious thought.
The system overlaid combat information in real-time, showing attack vectors and probability calculations that let me react before opponents committed to their strikes.
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COMBAT: MULTIPLE OPPONENTS
Jedi Knight Combat Mastery Active: +15% damage
Form IV Ataru: Level 22 (Effective)
Processing optimal counter-sequences...
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The first exchange lasted three seconds. The lead Inquisitor's spinning blade came at me from high right, while Beta attacked low left with Force lightning crackling around his free hand. Gamma and Delta circled, looking for openings.
I met Alpha's blade with a parry that redirected his momentum past me, used his own force to spin me toward Beta. My lightsaber batted the lightning aside, sending it crackling into the office's expensive furniture. Continued the spin into a Hawk-Bat Swoop that carried me past Gamma's strike zone and toward the window where Harken cowered.
They were good. Very good. But it didn't matter.
I reached into inventory while my blade kept them at bay, pulled out the thermal detonator I'd designated for quick-access. Primed it and threw it not at the Inquisitors but at the reinforced window. The explosion blew out the entire wall, sending transparisteel and permacrete into the night air.
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Environmental Advantage Created
New Escape Route Available
Inquisitor Formation Disrupted
+25 XP (Tactical Innovation)
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Wind howled through the destroyed wall. I grabbed Harken and launched us both through the opening before the Inquisitors could recover. We fell toward the street five stories below while I reached desperately into the Force for the technique I'd accidentally discovered during my escape from the ISB.
Force Slow Fall, now refined through practice and the system's training protocols.
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Skill Usage: Force Slow Fall
Difficulty: EXTREME (Multiple Subjects)
Chance: 45.2%
Enhanced by Jedi Knight Force Attunement
Total Chance: 68.9%
~~~
Success! Descent controlled. -85 FP
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We hit the ground hard but survivable. I didn't waste time on assessment, just grabbed Harken and ran toward the extraction point while behind us the Inquisitors emerged from the building in pursuit. Above, my pilot's ship descended with engines screaming, The boarding ramp lowered before we'd fully stopped.
I threw Harken aboard and followed, felt the ship accelerate even before the ramp fully sealed. Behind us, Force lightning scored the hull where we'd been standing seconds earlier. Then we were climbing, pulling away from the corporate district while the Inquisitors became smaller shapes against Raada's nighttime cityscape.
The pilot looked back from the cockpit, a Zabrak named Kess who'd proven reliable through a dozen previous extractions. "What the hell did you steal that brought four Inquisitors down on you?"
"Corporate executive with information about Force-sensitive trafficking." I pulled off the security uniform and swapped back to my regular gear through the inventory system. "And apparently I underestimated how important he was to them."
"Clearly." Kess adjusted course toward orbit. "We've got pursuit. Two Imperial fighters breaking atmosphere."
Of course we did. Because the night couldn't just end with a successful extraction.
I made my way to the ship's gun turret, the same position I'd occupied during countless similar escapes. The familiar controls felt like coming home. "Get us to hyperspace. I'll handle the fighters."
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SPACE COMBAT INITIATED
Hostiles: 2 TIE Fighters
Ship Status: 87% (Minor Hull Damage)
Recommended Strategy: Evasive action until hyperspace ready
Time to Jump: 90 seconds
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The TIE fighters came at us with everything they had, but I tracked
the lead fighter's approach, felt through the Force when the pilot committed to his attack run. Led the target by three degrees and squeezed the trigger the moment before he entered optimal range.
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Skill Usage: Turret Gunnery
Enhanced by Force Precognition
Difficulty: HIGH
Chance: 83.7%
~~~
Success! Target destroyed. +35 XP
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The fighter exploded in a satisfying bloom of fire. The second pilot broke off his attack run, reassessed the situation, and came at us from a different angle. Smarter. More cautious.
The stars elongated into lines and Raada disappeared into the nothing-space of faster-than-light travel. I left the turret and returned to the main cabin where Harken sat bound and hooded, trembling with either fear or rage.
"Who are you?" he demanded again. "What do you want?"
"I already told you. Information." I removed the hood so he could see my face, let him see someone young enough to be his son wearing the exhaustion of too many battles. "You've been selling intelligence to the ISB about Force-sensitive children. Locations, families, everything they'd need to either recruit or eliminate potential threats."
"That's legal corporate intelligence gathering. The Empire commissioned..."
"I don't care about legality." My voice came out colder than I'd intended. "I care about the names and locations in your database. Every Force-sensitive family you've identified. Every Jedi survivor you've tracked."
Harken's expression shifted from fear to calculation. "If I provide that information, what guarantee do I have that you'll let me live?"
"None. But cooperation improves your odds significantly." I pulled the downloaded data chip from inventory and held it up. "I already have most of what I need from your database. You're just confirmation and additional details."
That was a bluff. The data was encrypted and would take days to fully process. But he didn't need to know that.
He talked for three hours. Names, locations, ISB contacts, corporate networks that connected the trafficking operation across dozens of worlds. The system recorded everything, flagging relevant details and cross-referencing against existing intelligence.
When he finally ran out of information, I secured him in the cargo hold and made my way to the cockpit where Kess was plotting our course.
"Where to?" the Zabrak asked.
"Ord Mantell for now. I need to process this intelligence and figure out next steps." I settled into the copilot's seat and pulled up the system interface, studied the mission completion notification that had appeared during the interrogation.
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QUEST COMPLETE: Corporate Sabotage - IMAC Facility
All Objectives Achieved
Base Reward: +300 XP
Bonus Objective Complete: +150 XP
Stealth Bonus: FAILED (Combat engaged)
Survival Bonus: +100 XP (Escaped Overwhelming Force)
Total: +550 XP
+2 CHA (Modified)
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LEVEL UP!
Level 16 → 17
+3 Attribute Points Available
+1 Perk Point Available
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TITLE UNLOCKED: Reconnected
You have established contact with another survivor from before the purge. Bonds forged in shared trauma carry unique strength.
Effect: +10% to all social interactions with other Jedi/former Jedi
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NEW QUEST CHAIN UNLOCKED: [FIND THE SURVIVORS]
Multiple Force-sensitive locations identified
Priority Targets:
- [INVESTIGATE RAADA SETTLEMENT] - Local Force-sensitive detected
- [THABESKA MINING COLONY] - Possible Jedi Knight in hiding
- [ANOAT SECTOR RUMORS] - Multiple unconfirmed sightings
Note: Some leads may be time-sensitive
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I stared at the quest notifications, at the promise they represented. Multiple Force-sensitive locations. Possible Jedi survivors. Not vague rumors but actual intelligence extracted from Imperial sources.
This was what I'd been hunting for thirteen months. The reason I'd taken contracts and made compromises and transformed myself into something Master Drallig might not recognize. The possibility that other Jedi had survived, that I wasn't alone in this hostile galaxy.
One location caught my attention specifically. Raada Settlement. Local Force-sensitive detected. The system had flagged it as high-priority, suggesting the signature was strong enough to be someone trained rather than a latent-sensitive civilian.
Someone who might know where others had gone.
Someone who might be Ahsoka.
The thought made something flutter in my chest that felt dangerously close to hope. I'd spent a year trying not to hope, learning that hope made you vulnerable to disappointment that could get you killed. But the possibility of finding her, of discovering she'd survived and was navigating this same terrible transformation, was too powerful to dismiss.
"Actually," I told Kess. "Change of plans. Plot a course back to Raada. Different location than the corporate district."
The Zabrak glanced at me with one raised eyebrow. "The planet we just escaped from? The one with four Inquisitors actively hunting you?"
"Yes."
"...You're insane."
"Probably." I pulled up the settlement coordinates from the quest data. "But I have something there I need to check. Someone I need to find."
Kess muttered something in his native language that probably translated to colorful commentary on my decision-making, but he adjusted course. "Your funeral. But I'm charging hazard pay for this."
"Fair."
I spent the hyperspace transit allocating attribute points and reviewing my character progression, studying the person I'd become over thirteen months of survival and violence and compromise.
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CHARACTER STATUS
Name: Zett Jukassa
Level: 17
Class: Jedi Knight
Age: 17 standard years
HP: 1,350/1,350
FP: 715/800
Stamina: 91%
Attributes:
STR: 20 | VIT: 25 | AGI: 30
INT: 18 | WIS: 21 | CHA: 17
LUK: 13
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I allocated two points to Wisdom and one to Charisma, continuing to build toward the Underworld Tactics skill tree while strengthening my Force connection. The changes rippled through immediately, that subtle shift in perception that came with enhanced attributes.