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Author's Note: This story takes place between mynovels ./edi
Seerch and Dark Apprentice. lt de-scribes the first encounter
between Luke Sky-walker and the Jedi historian/singerTionne,
whowill become one of his most important trainees.The background on
Exis Station also ties in withmy forthcoming Tales of the ./edi
comic seriesfrom Dark Horse, "The Redemption of Ulic,"
andRebeccaMoesta's third Junior Jedi novel, KenoDi's,Bldde. Of
course.l hoDe it stands alone as its ownsrory, roo.
By Kevin J. AndersonIllustrations by Doug Shuler
The world of Ossus had once been the greatest center of
Jedileaming--a magnificent library that contained knowledge of
theForce and the history ol athousand generations of def enders of
theOld Republic. Scrolls and dataplaques contained their legends
andsongs, their triumphs and tragedies. Ossus had been filled
withlountains and statues, beautiful pavilions of embroidered
fabric,Outed columns of milk-stone, courtyards with mosaics ol
flag-stones and tile, wind chimes of crystal and gold. . . .
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E Now, though, it was merely a tomb, a blasted dark scar' its
glory
$ ob[terated bY fiery violence'!
"-ii."^" .rritu.aiown the ramp of her ship the 'ore
Seeker-an
] obsolete. quirkv crafl almost as old as the ruins
themselves-ano! iiil.oaltirl l. the absorbed all lhe echoing
memories around9 'rr.. ii"it.,ft*-{-pearl eyes widened and her
silvery hair blew
lu"rii" ,r" a*a "i"C. Sh;
let her imagination swirl with.storiesthat miqht have been lold
by ghosts epic ballads the Jedr wourofruu" a'lne-lf Ossus had not
been incinerated when ten stars.""La"ain ttt" C.on Orift four
thousand years before' during theheisht ol the Sith War'' '
'6vertteaO
ti t t ing tte sl"f l ike a bri l l iant stain was the
incandes-
""n1 gu" ot irtu c-ron Drift, now a funeral pyre lor this
once_
macnilicent inf ormation center''''T"titti"n "ta""
rt.- her vessel Tionne saw glassy hardenedouaJi"" ^tiuna irt"
remains ol cycloPean stalues and pillars;lumDed from the raging
shockwave l hat had slruck thrs worlo ner.irt"l' ft"iiur"*
"u"."iher elfin face in the dead wind She could
"."'fiiii" ir'", alterelfects thal still ctung lo the breeze
like
shado\ts.As she walked, the broken stones and rubble crunched
under
her small feet. The sight overwhelmed her and a tear at
themasnitudeolthe loss h;vered onthe edge of her quicksilver
eyes'Sh;stumbled ahead, not knowing where to
start"",li"tl-"ii-.""1tg, fizard-like ;reatures skittered to
sheltei So'O"tu" **n't entirliy dead Small lilelorms often managed
toJurui,r", no -.tte. ho* great the devastation Four millennia
hasol"."O,
"nO,nu *aiution-levels had dropped to belowimmediately
iethal amounts, although Tionne mighl st i l l sul ler i l lness
rI.snestaved here long She certainly couldn t remain long enougn
(oun;over all the secrets hidden in the rubble'-
i"t nr*"ri"g.v* *anned the debris' and she walked to where,*o
oiriu.. n"riup
"
."inforced. ornal e arch that had miraculously
"r#tfa 't" holocaust. She wondered how many long-losl an-
!r".t tinn, n. Uu.i"a here how much more information aboutluOi
fti"ro".v
"ft" .outa find beneath the broken stones Learning
"t"ryt-ttitgit""t rft" great Jedi Knights had been Tionne's
driving
ouesi all of her life, and Ossus was a huge treasure trove'-itr"
g.plt" had frowned on remembering Jedi legends' onidolizinc the
great defenders of the Old Republic on keeping theiir-" i-r'it".
elf.t".tt"tas born.theJedihad been slaughtered ' all
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but wiped out. Tionne had lived on a drab lmperial world,
Rindao, la training station and outpost near the Outer Rim. Though
her 4people did not support the Empire. they had nol resisted outr
ighl ;whenthe stormtroopers came to take over, and thus their
clviliza-tion had not been punished.
ln Tionne's uninteresting childhood she had sought ref uge in
theancient stories. Her old grandmother had an archaic
two-sidedstringed instrument, and she would sing legends of
theJedi, heroicstories about Nomi Sunrider, her daughterVima, and
other cham-pions ofthe Forcewho had fought and perhaps perished
duringtheGreat Sith War.
Butonenightthelmperial commanderhad found
theoldwomantellingsuchstories. The stormtroopers had hauled
Tionne's grand-mother out into the town square and executed her
with theirblaster rifles, cutting her down for implying that the
olden-dayswere more heroic than the Empire's current glory.
Young Tionne had been devastated. Before the stormtrooperscould
ransack her grandmother's house, she broke in through aback window
and took away the stringed musical instrument, theonly memento she
wanted.
Quietly, as she wandered the spacelanes on her quest, Tionnehad
taught her fingers the mysterles of the strings, stretching
hervoicewiththe secret songs the old woman had playedforher.
Now,though, the Emperorwas dead, and his New Order had fallen
morethan six years ago. Withthe Empireand its repressive
restrictionsgone, Tionne had let herself be swallowed by her search
for Jediknowledge and lore.
The New Republic had occupied Coruscant, andTionne hadjustheard
thewonderful news that Luke Skywalker-perhaps thesolremainingJedi
Knight-had taken it upon himselftotrain the Jedlagain, to bring
about a new brotherhood of protectors.
Bending down to the scorched rubble, Tionne moved aside aiallen
cluster ol flagstones and found in the shadovr's beneath asmall
statue ofwhat must have once been aJedi Master. The figurewas a
short, unimposing alien with a sloping, rounded head andexposed
teeth, She wondered if it could have been the renownedscholarJedi
Master Odan-Urr,who had lought even earlier, in theCreat H)?erspace
War against the original Sith Empire, and hadthen lived fora
thousandyearsas the keeper of the library on Ossus.
Smiling, feeling her heart swell with pride, Tionne cradled
thesmall statue, saw its carbonized and glassy surface layers
where
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E the heat ol an syploding star had cr isped i t . She took the
I igurp.! astonished to be actual ly touching a piecp of Jedi
history.
No doubt il she spent the rest of her life combing through the-
debris on Ossus, Tionnecould lind more clues, more information,;
more vi tal t idbi ls of his lory. The Empire had declared Ossus
off-Y limits, fearing other seekers might discover too much
knowledge of
the Jedi-but now, perhaps, the New Republic could devote itstime
to a real excavation. with crews of scientists and historianswho
wanted to recreate the golden age of the Jedi Knights.
Tionne turned backtoward her battered and creaking ship. Shehad
found the statue of Odan-Urr; that would be enough for now.But she
would continue her quest until she knew all there was toknow about
the Jedi Kniqhts.
Yavin 4was an emerald moon orbitinga huge, pastel gas giant-the
site of one of the galaxy's greatest battles, home ol a formerRebel
base. Soon, it would become a training center for new Jedi.
As he f ought his waythrough the tangled f oliage, Luke
Sklrtalkerthought that the sheertenacityof the primevaljungle would
provean even more dilficult loethantheEmpire itself. Beside him,
Artoo-Detoo followed the path Luke chose, grinding his tractor
wheelsthrough the underbrush.
Finally, Lukestood at the ruins ofthe Great Massassi Temple,
itsstone steps ravaged by time and the forces of nature.,, as well
asImperial bombardment afterthe destruction of the first Death
Star.Ifthis moon had been good enough to shelter Princss Leiaand
herfreedom fighters, he thought, it would be good enough for a
placeof Jedi learning.
Luke had already found two candidates in his Jedi search,
andthey had accompanied him here to Yavin 4. Streen, the
eccentdcold hermit who had lived on Bespin, was a gas prosPector
whosarched the skies for valuable upwellings ol tibanna gas.
Streenhad an aflinityforthewinds, an abilitytosensewhena storm
mighthappen. Luke had tested him and found an untapped potential
lorusingthe Force--Streen would be an ideal Jedi candidate,
thoughthe old man had been reluctant to leave his peacelul and
quiet life-After ar ving on the uninhabited jungle moon, he seemed
muchmore content that he could find solitude again.
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Luke's other new trainee. Gantoris. had wild black hair and
abeard, accentuating his liery eyes and grim temperament.
Hispersonality had been forged by living on the hellish
colonyworldof Eol Sha, where a close moon causedtidal chaos,
seismic upheav-als andvolcanic eruptions.With his untrained echoes
ol the Force,Gantoris had experienced nightmares about a powerful,
dark manwho meant to lead him down a road to destruction. Cantoris
hadthought Luke fitthat premonitionand had tried to kill him.
ButLukehad survived. Eventually, Gantoris had comewith the Jedi
Masterin order to be trained in the Force.
Clearing away the overwhelming tungle and repairing the
crum-bling temple ruins seemedan insurmountable task. Luke smiled
asthe thought came to him. Yoda could probably have done it
allsingle-handedly. Luke and two hard-working trainees could
ac-complish it well enough-
The three men began the hard work of stripping out regrownweeds-
Luke ignited his lightsaber and began hacking avr'ay at
theunderbrush while Gantoris and Streen cleared fallen rocks
andswept away dirt. Artoo helped where he could, extending his
tinycutt ing saw and at lackrng l ibrous crecpers
''Glamorous workfor aJedi Knight," Gantoris muttered, tossinga
dusty load of stones aside. "l could get a better job as a
mainte-
.You're not a Jedi Knight," Streen said. "You're iust a Jedi
Luke stacked the torn underbrush in aclearingoutside the
mainr!ramid, while Artoo buzzed along, dragging a sledge filled
withther forest debris. In the middle of the clearing, Luke used
hisinlter to set the mound ol dead foliage on fire. The heaped pile
of--!rningbrands reminded him ofhis father's funeral pyre on
Endor,:rw Luke had set the fearsome black uniform ablaze.
For months, he had been keeping himself busy with the
menial::sks ol setting up his Jedi academy-because it troubled him
too-rch to deal with the larger issues. Luke Sklvalker didn't
know-.1 to train Jedi Knights;he didn't have enough knowledge
about
'. ancient warriors, what they had studied, who they had
been.r!-Wan Kenobi and Yoda had begun his instruction, but
thathad
-:n cut tragically short. Luke now had to discover his own
way,rd he also needed to find other students.
1e did have the Jedi Holocron. which Leia had taken from
the..-rrrected Emperor ayear earlier, and he had the libraryfrom
the
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Adventurc Joumd ' Novsmbd 1997
Chudnrhot, the wrecked Jedi ship he had found in the wilds
onDathomir. It would be enough. Luke vowed to work as hard as
hecould, to gain knowledge every chance he could so that he
mightenhance his own training,
The Jedi Knights woutd be rebom, but lt would be a long andhard
struggle.
fr'!F
-/Tionne went ftom spaceport bar to trading station to
bacli'water
outpost, lMng by her wits and her skills. She secured jobs
incantinas where she could use the stringed musical instrument
shehad taken from her grandmother on Rindao. She could sing
Jediballads and disseminate her passion lor the drama of
hlstory-folktales of how GavandJori Daragon had sparkedthe
HyperspaceWar, or the early tralning of Vodo Siosk-Baas, or how the
Twi'lekJedi Tott Doneeta had been horribly bumed while
single-handedlyfighting a heat storm to defend a small clilf city
on Ryloth
Shewas paid little in credits, but plenty in food and lodging'
soshecould contlnuehersearch. Hermain goal inhangingout at such
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rough establishments was toaskherquestions, plythe traders
andsmugglers into giving her clues about lost Jedi history.
Whenever she had completed her repertoire ol Jedi
ballads,Tionnewouldaskif anymembersof heraudiencehad otherstoriesto
tell. Many times this simply encouraged some of the drunkenmale
customers to try to lure herto the private chambers in
theirstarships, but Tionne could sensewhen theyweretellingthe
truth,when to signal for the bar bouncers to 8et them away lrom
her.
One night, after her show in an all-species restaurant near
oneol Ord Mantell's manyspaceports, she received a message from
arodent-like alien named Fonterrat, a down-on-his-luck
scavenger,:'lormally Tionne would have been suspicioust creatures
of alldifferent species had attempted to take advantage ol her.
Shesensed though, that Fonterratsimplywished to makeadeal, and
asshe sat down acrossthetable from him, shenoticed hewas eatingthe
cheapest item on the menu and did not ofler to buy hera drink.
"This inf ormation about the old Jedi Knights-" Fonterrat said
ina squeakingvoice. He had large ears and a pointed face, and
close-set eyes like black beads underafurrybrow ridge.
"HowmuchisitEorth?"
Tionne regarded him calmly, her pale skin flushing slightly.
"ldon't know. Howmuch is it worth?" she said. "l have some
credits,ixrt not enoughto make you rich." With one gesture of
herdelicate,Fle hands, she indicated the seedy restaurant.
'Would I be work-nS here il I had that kind of money?"
Fonterrat fiddled with his hands, last-moving fingers playingdth
a napkin wipe. He sniffled. "l'm a scavenger," he said. "l nedto
make money for the things I find. Someday, I'll stumble acrosssof
lethingthat ' l lmakemerichandlamous.. .butr ightnowl 'm justdting
to get by."
Tionne could sense his sincerity, could see that hewasn'ttryingb
scam her. "Tell me what you found," she said. "l'll be lair.l'U
paylur what I can."
'lt s an ancient city in space," he said. "Exis Station. lt's
beeniardoned f or centuries."
_Exis Station!" Tionne leaned forward, widening her
mother--of-tErl eyes with sudden interest. "That was the site of
one of thetteatest Jedi convocations in history!Nomi Sunrider
herselfcalled-gher the Jedi Knights a decade after the Great Sith
War."
footerrat did not appear interested inthe details. "So... is
that
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search the wreck yourself lor any artifacts, though bear in
mindthat it's been empty for a long time. Damaged by solar
flares."
"Yes,l'll pay." She scanned her own accounts, determiningjusthow
much she could give to this man and still buy enough luel toget the
,ore .9eefter to Exis Station. The amount she came up withwas
distressingly low.
"But it might be better if you don't go there," Fonterrat
said,twitching his nose.
Shesat up, alarmed- "You give me the location. then tell me
notto go? Why?'
"BecauseExis Station isat an unstablestar," he said. "Teedio.It
sentered an active phase, with increasing llares. Over centuries
thedrag from solar wind has pulled the city closer and closer to
theflares. Radiation levels on board have been lethal lor some
timenow. You'll risk your own life if you go there. All of Exis
Station isgoing to plunge into the sun before long."
"l don't care," she said- "l'm still going."She reached out her
credit pad and punched up a number.
"That's all I have." she said. "Give me the location."Fonterrat
looked at it in dismay, but he didn't seem to have any
choice either. "All right-l need the credits, even as lew as
these."He gave her a chip with navicomputer coordinates embedded in
it."Good luck.I thoughtthe inlormation was worth morethatthat."
Hestood up, hanging his head.
Tionne said, "Wait. If you go to the New Republic governmentand
give this information to Luke Skywalker, he may also beinterested.
He'll payyou much morethan I can. He's tryingto founda new order of
Jedi Knights."
"New Republicl" Fonterrat squawked. "l'm a smuggler. I have
athousand arrest warrants lrom dilferent systems. I don't dare
setfoot near the law,"
Tionne crossed her thin arms over her chest, "You're a
scaven-ger and a smuggler-you must have some connections that
youcould use to getthis information to him. Trust me, Luke
Sk,-\^/alkerwill make sure you get paid. From what I've heard of
his exploits,he's a man of his word,"
Fonterrat groaned, butalreadyshe could see his darklittleeyesf
licking back and f orth, racing through possibilities ol how he
couldusehis smuggler's knowledge to surreptitiously send
themessageto Sklv'/alker.
He left. Tionnequicklygathered herbelongingsand raced offto
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1997
ship- II Fonterrat was right, and the solar flare storm was
growingworse each day, she didn't have much time to search Exis
Station.
frtf'
-,/The bonfirein theclearinghad burned out, leaving only a
broad
swath of ash in front ol the Creat Temple. It made a nice
landingarea,andlheMillennium Fdlcon set down with ahiss
ofrepulsorjetsand a cloud of crunched charcoal.
Luke hurried outside the ancient pyramid with Streen andCantoris
at his side. Han Solo extended the landing ramp of hismodified
light freighter, and Chewbacca roared loudlyas hestrodedown onto
the blackened clearing. Han stepped into the blackenedcinders and
kicked them roughly with his boot.
"Cood to see you. Han!'Luke waved. "We need some extramuscle for
our work here,"
Chewie groaned and looked down at his own hairy arms. Hanlaughed
and shookhis head, tugging down his darkvest- "Not me,buddy. I just
brought you some supplies. Your sisterwants me tomake sureyou get
all the equipmentyou need." Han looked around
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AdvenlureJoumal ' Novmbor 1997
and snilfed the burnt air. "This is like awilderness outing.Luke
shrugged. "AJedi Knight knows howto cope."Artoo rolled
up beside him and whistled.With alaugh, Han clapped Luke on the
shoulder' "Sure, kid. But
il you're trying to convince new recruits to stay here, you
shouldroll out the red-carpet treatment, not warn them about how
muchthey'll have to sufler."
"l'll lind the new recruits, somehow," Luke said.Han pursed his
lips. "You know, you should test that kid Kyp
Durron-the oneI rescued from the spice mines ofKessel He's
sotalented I'm sure he's using the Force somehow, but he
doesn'tknowwhat he's doing."
Luke laughed. "Sure, Han.I'll test him anytime you want to
bringhim here.l need new candidates.ln fact,I've also got to go
back toDathomir where I can talk to Teneniel Djo and some of the
otherForce-wieldingwitches there. Somebody might be willing to
comehere-red carpet or no red carPet,'
Han opened the Fdlcon's cargo bays. Heand ChewieworkedwithLuke.
Cantoris and Streen to remove new power generators, aircirculation
systems, and food-preparation units.
"Leiadoesn't knowthis, but I've got them programmed for
somegood, greasy Corellian sausages," Han said, cracking open a
crateto flash the control panel on afood-prep unit 'But ilyou'd
prelersomethingmore bland, you can program in plentyol
otherdishesusing raw materials from the jungles right here."
Luke smiled calmly. "We'll get by, Han."Han brushed a hand
across his lorehead to smear perspiration
aside, "Don't you even sweat an,.rnore, kid?""Not unless I have
to."Wben theywerefinished unloadingand setting up, Chewie went
back to checking out the preflight systems on the Fdlcon,
whileArtoo downloaded a summary of all the Holonet reports that
hadbackloggedsincetheirarr ivalhere."Dutycal
ls,"Hansaid'BacktoCoruscant, '
But instead ofheadingbacklor his ship, Han Solo hunkered nextto
Luke on the second level ol the Massassi pyramid. He found
areasonably comfortable spot on one ol the moss-
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more trouble than he really is, keeps a low profile. But he
passedalonga message thatyou might be interested in some
inlormationhe has. An ancient space city called Exis Station. He
says a great Jediconvention or something took place there "
"Aconvocation,"Lukesaid. "Yes. Exis Station.l've heard of it,
butI don't know much about the place."
"Well, he gave me the coordinates, warned that thestation
itsellwas in danger. He's heard you're a fair man and hopes you'll
payhim forthe information." Han raised his eyebrows.
"Me,Ithinkit'sa scam."
Lukeshookhis head. "No, it's real, ifthecoordinates
arecorrect,Pay him what it's worth. Take it out of my credit
accounts."
Han seemed alarmed. "Luke, you can't just go trusting peoplel
ikp lhal . There are more con art ists and-
"Payhim," Luke said. "lfit reallyis Exis Station,l need to go
there.Maybe it can help me with my quest."
"lt you say so, kid,' Han said, disbelieving. Chewie signalled
onthe comlink and roared that the Fdlcon was ready for
departure.Hanswunghimself downofl themossyblockandcl
imbeddownthecrumbling stairs toward the Folcon.
"lf you need antthing, iust call me," Han said."l will.
Han."Luke watched the disc-like shape of the Millen nium Falcon
lake
off from the burned landing clearing, then disappear into the
sky.After a moment of concentration, he hurried to his newly
estatFlished quarters inside the dank pyramid. There, among his
per-sonal belongings, he kept the pearlywhite cube ofthe
glowingJediHolocron, an artifact filled with untapped knowledge
olthe old JediKnights.
He took out the ancient object and held it in lront of
him,caressingits sides. This had once belonged to the Emperor
Palpa-tine, but Luke had retrieved it after he had saved Leia.
In his linal conlrontation with the resurrected Emperor, Lukehad
almost become lost to the dark side. But that terrible ordealhad
finallycast him through so much anguish and mental fire thatit had
tempered him, taught him to ascend beyond a mere JediKnight to the
point where others called him a Master.
But Luke still feltso small, so untrained. Even here, alone in
the3ncient Massassi temples, he felt intimidated at his
self-appointed:ask of bringing back the Jedi Knights. Who was /ie
to do such aJring? lt would take him a lifetime even to begin
learning how to
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train others, but he knew i t had to be done.As a young Rebel
pilot, he had come earlier to these empty
temples.Atthe time he'd been barelytouched by Obi-Wan
Kenobi,just started in his path along the Force. He had known
little then,understood nothing about hovrthe Force affected all
things. Youngfarmboy Luke had sensed nothing backthen... but now
that he hadmore years of practice, more training, and more pain, he
felt theancient Massassi ruins somewhat oppressive. mysterious.
Theyseemed to hold secrets, a dark presence buried deep in the
coresof the stones. A coldness he could not explain.
Buthecould not run from it. Yavin 4wasaplacethatwouldfosterthe
rebirth of the Jedi.
Luke looked down at the Holocron, touched its side, and
calledforththe holographic gatekeeper. The image ofBodo Baas,
asmallshrunken alien, arose belore him, wispy, shimmering. Luke
said,"Show me Exis Station. Tell me what I need to know."
TheHolocron grewbrighterandtheimageof agiantcityinspacefilled
the air in front of him. Luke looked with awe upon the
greatabandoned metropolis, its sprawling turrets and modules,
itsstarports, its domes, its cargo holds.
And he knew he had to go there.
8tWhen Tionne arrived at Exis Station, the sight took her
breath
away.Shetrimmed the solar sails on herloreSeeAerand cruised
closer
to the sprawling city in space, orbiting high and looking down
onthe plane of the metal-walled settlement. The station had
oncebeen a metropolis, a bustling spaceport, a rendezvous point
fortraders, diplomats and Jedi Knights.
As the system's sun Teedio became unstable, Exis Station
hadtaken advantage of what could have beenviewed as a
disaster:ionminers and solar-flare skimmers operated in a boom-town
duringthe time when Teedio provided fast energy resources that
ambi-tious risk-takers in the Old Republic could exploit. But
whenconditions grew too dangerous, the entire city had been
aban-dond-left to hang empty in space for centuries.
But Tionne hoped it wasn't entirely empty.As she looped above
the north pole of the llattened central hub,
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she studied the numerous other pods and modules extending
Iikethe spokes ol a wheel. The modules were of varying sizes
andshapes, tacked on as the station grew asymmetrically. The
struc-ture had kind of a beautiful chaos, sizes and shapes and
materialsall spread out in a glistening array.
But Exis Station hung canted on its axis, knocked oll kilter
bycenturies of pummeling by heated flares. Uneven temperatureshifts
had gradually worked their damage upon the station.
The sun itselflooked likean angryred eye, its surlace roiling
andbubbling. Flares swept out like tidalwaves, prominences
gushingupward in geysers ofplasma, Sunspots stood out likeopensores
onthe stellar surface. Teedio's healy radiation bathed Exis
Station,pounding through its shielding, blistering its hull plates.
Obvi-ously, the place wouldn't last long.
She had her work cut out for her-During the evacuation of Ossus,
the Jedi had had enough fore-
warning ofthe supernova shocL:wave that theywhisked awayafewoi
the greatest artifacts, the most precious historytexts.
Theyweretaken to Exis Station to lorm a temporary library, a place
wheretbey would be safe. It was also here that Nomi Sunrider
haddeclared her legendaryconvocation, where the survivingJedi
lromtbe Sith War had discussed the reshaping of the Republic.
Tionne could not ignore the potential ofsuch a place. She had
tosee it. had to set foot on board and walkthe corridors that had
oncebeen a precious Jedi library-belore solar flares engulfed the
cityin space and obliterated it lor alltime.
ln Ihe Lorc Seeher, she transmitted a signal, hoping that
theautomated systems onboard the station hadn't been shorted
outb],the blasting radiation or the effects ol time. She was
pleased toreceive an archaic recognition signal that operated
oneofthe maindocking ports currentlyon theshadowside of the
rotating station.
Tionne folded several ol her solar sails to prevent them
fromdamage in the blasting force of the nearby solar wind. She
drilted:er ship around into the station's shadow. The docking
baydoors:reaked open automatically, as ifglad to welcome one ol
their firstiisitors in a tbousand years.
Ol course. Tionne realized, the scavenger Fonterrat had
come:ere, but she hoped hehadn'tknownwhatto lookfor. The
informa-'ion was what she valued, not jevr'els or mundane
treasures,
The Lore Seeker drifled into Exis Station and landed as
thedoorsi:aled behind her. As a precaution, she ingested a dose of
radia-
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tion-protection drugand wore shielded clothing. Thatwould
giveher a little extra time to explore.
Jumping down from her ship, Tionne set oll in a hurry.
ExisStation had very little time left.
ff,into his X-wing socket, Luke Sky'With ArtocDetoo loaded
walkertookoff from thejungle moon of Yavin 4, soaringabove
thetreetops and leavingthe starktemple ruins behind. He
maneuveredaway from the orange gas giant into interplanetary space,
headingtoward his insertion point into hyperspace. He had an
importantplace to see. "Set course forthe Teedio system, ,Artoo,'
Luke said,"We're on our way to Exis Station."
Later, when theyemerged from a numbingly long flight
throughhyperspace, Luke squinted through the cockpit windows as
thestar system snapped into view around him.
At high speed, they headed straight into a river of stellar
fire.Even as Luke reacted with Jedi reflexes, Artoo squealed in
mechanical alarm. Luke banked and rolled, roaring the X-wingaway
from the giant solar flare that slapped across their path likethe
licking tongue of a krayt dragon. The g-forces smashed him
totheright, but hedid not relentuntiltheX-winghad followed
asharphyperbola patb to safety.
Luke felt a strange, twisting agony in his gut as another
explosionoccurred deep in the unsettled sun, and a flaming belch of
ionizedgases spewed out from the chromosphere
The Force was in allthings, Obi-WanKenobi had said, and
Lukecould feel the pain, the anguish, ol this prematurely dying
star.
"Not a good way to start our visit," he said. Artoo shrilled
inagreement. "Recalibrate the instruments and we'll proceed with
abit more caution,"
Exis Station was huge, glimmeringunderthe boilingbath of
solarradiation. The wrecked starport was rotating, tryrng to
maintainsome semblance of its original artificial gravity, although
it \,eascockeyed and off balance. Its precession, like a
g)'roscope's, wasenough to bringthe station erratically closer to
the stellar inferno.
Luke studied it from adistance, taking in every detail. "Find us
adocking port, Artoo," he said as he raced toward the
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Artoo transmitted to the ancient systems on Exis Station
andreceived a warning in response. "l don't cate if the last
functionaldocking bay is about to rotate into the sunlight," Luke
said. "Let'sland in there and get to protection before the bay
heats up."
The X-wing swooped around in a tight maneuver, iust as if
Lukeqere fighting lmperial ships again. On his approach he
noticedEngine ports dotting the ring ol Lxis Station-orbital
adjustment'ets and all-axis thrusters used in times past to
stabilize the spacecity. Once the danger had grown too severe,
though, no one had.emained to keep Exis at a safe distance.
The docking bay doors opened sluggishly, and Luke easilyjlipped
his X-wing between them, anxious to get inside. Therelentless patch
ofsunlight crept like aflame across theouter hullri Llis Station,
butLuke managed to land the X-wing and closethe-oaning baydoors
before the direct glare struckthat sectorolthe:Dandoned
starport.
.\ salety levels rose to nominal, Luke swung out of the
cockpit,:ucking under the raised X-wing canopy. As he turned, using
theiorce to levitateArtoo up and out of his socket, Luke saw
another:iip aeep inside the cargo bay: an antique vessel with an
exotic:rniiguration that used hyperdrives, in-system jets, as well
as:jangular rellective solar sail panels for slow cruising
in-system.
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At first he thought it was an antique, abandoned along with
ExisStation. But he sensed that the cralt was warm, recently
landed. .another visitor,
"Somebody else is here, Artoo."The little droid bleeped in
affirmation, though he could provide
no information as to the make or ownership ol the
strangevessel."Whoever they are,let's hope they're planning on
gettingout ol
here soon," Luke said. "Come on, let's take a quick tour and
seewhat we can salvage before it's too late."
Artootrundled alter himas Lukestrode into thedarkand
stuffychambers of the long-abandoned station.
frtl
../Small andwiry, Tionneiogged alongthe metal passageways
witb
a light step. She hurried down the corridors that curved
off,vanishing into the distance under the flickering light ol
intermit-tently functioning glowpanels. Some of the electronics had
beenrippedout, scavenged bypeoplesuch as Fonterrat. She ducked
lowto avoid a dangling ceiling plate, dodged around the hulk of
abroken old-model worker droid.
Theair smelled sour, old, dusty. Thesilence bung like a
shroud,interrupted only by distant clunks and groans as the
stationtrembled from Teedio's fiery onslaught. A background hiss
likestatic crackled against some ol the outer wall plates, the rain
ofhigh--energy particles showering out from the solar storm.
She kept qxploring. Manychambers were barricaded with f
rozensecurity systems or piled debris. Several of the locked
habitationmodules for non-air-breathers had been blasted away into
space,leaving only sealed space doors and the ripped connectors
fromwhere they had been jettisoned. Tionne knew that each of
thesemodules had been added one at a time during the growth of
thestat ion;shesupposedthatsomeof themorevaluablemodulesmayhave
been stolen wholesale from the hulk of Exis Station.
The corridors seemed to be leading her toward a central area,and
she followed her hunches, absorbing details with her eagereyes,
Finally, she came out into an airy promenade and stoppedshort in
astonishment as herlast footsteps echoed severaltimes inthe
enclosed chamber.
The ceilingdome gleamed with triangularand diamond
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transparasteel windowplates that illuminated the broad open
areawith glittering colors. Pulsations ol electric light sizzled
throughIrom the llare star to dapple the deckplates. Faded emblems
andIamily glyphs were etched onto the walls alongside archaic
sym-bols.Theenclosedareaseemedl ikeacathedral
,ameetingplace.possibly the site of a great convocation.
Tionne recognized the inset alcoves right away, repositories
folthick crystalline memory plaques, an ancient inf
ormation-storagedevice. Unfortunately. few people could read data
from such an-cient technology anymore, and so the scavengers had
not botheredto take the plaques. Leaving them for herl
Tionne studied the Exis archives with absolute delight.
Shepicked up one plaque after another, studying the etched
summa_ries, ancient speeches, the philosophy of ancient Jedi
Knights,reminiscences ol dying masters who had lived lor hundreds
uponhundreds ol years. She felt breathless, and her hands trembled.
A\realth of knowledgel She had been searching all her life lor
aireasure such as this,
But nowExisStation rumbled beneath her, its deckplates groan-ing
as the fu ous sun continued to pummel it with intensive
flares,Coing linal damage. Tionne could feel the station barely
holdinglself together. She had to take these crystalline plaques,
as many:s she could carry, and rush backto hership. Shewould
stayunt i l:he last moment. but she had to rescue as much as she
could She:ouldn t bear lor this all to be destroyed.
She gathered plaque alter plaque, tucking the thick
crystalsheets under her arms, wishing she had brought something
more-iiicient to carrythem. Her throat was dry, and she breathed
fast
Tionne stopped dead cold, though, as she pulled out one of the:
aques and saw by the markings that it contained a recording ofi:e
actual speech byNomi Sunrider, given at the great convocation::
Jedi Knights.
Tionne's fingers went numb as she gripped the plaque.
Nomi::nridr herselfl She held in her hands the actual words,
the:agesl She could see how the legendary Jedi hero moved and.:oke
and gestured. Her heart felt huge in her chest.
Then she sensed as much as heard someone coming, and spun:rout
in timetoseeaman accompanied byan astromech droid. She:!iantly
recognized Luke Sk)'walker, heroofthe Rebellion, from all
::: imaqes she had seen. Hehad come here at last, He had
received
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her message from Fonterrat a{ter all!"Who are you? What are you
doing here?' Luke said- "Don't you
know it's dangerous? This station is breaking up."Before she
could answer him, though, an explosion ripped
through Exis Station, ringing against the hull like a gong.
Theshockwave rocked the station, throwing Tionne off her fet.
Shedropped the data plaques all around her. One ol the
crystalsshattered, but the others remained intact. The astromech
droidsquealed as it rolled across the deckplates. Tionnewas filled
vtithadmiration when saw how Sk,'vvalker managed to keep his
balance,using Jedi abilities to remain on his feet.
"Artoo,lind a data terminal!" he shouted. "Jack in and figure
outwhatthatwas, how great the damage is." Hehurried overtoTionneand
bent down. "Are you all right? What are you doing here?"
She scrambled on the floor trying to retrieve the data plaques
shehad held in her arms. "l'm Tionne.I sent a message for you to
comehere. I thought-" She gasped, trying to catch her breath as
sheclutched the data plaques against her chest. "l thought, since
youwere training Jedi, you'd want to come bere and find the Jedi
history."
"But this whole station is breaking up," Luke said. "We'd
betterqet off as soon as we can."('t\
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"Then help me carrysome ofthese plaques. 'Tionnehanded
himseveral from her stack, then grabbed more from the archive.
Shelooked sadlyat the shattered data plaque on thefloor, then held
theothers moret ight ly. At leastshe had saved Nom i Sunrider 's
speec h.
Artoo hooted mournlully lrom the wall station as he tried
toadapt h;s circuits to the archaic electronics of Exis Station.
Over-head, the ceiling thrummed, as if barely maintaining its
integrityagainst the scorching flares. Lukewent over to the little
droid andsaw the readout. "l take it that was your ship in the
docking bay,"he said over his shoulder.
''Yes," Tionne answered. I named it the l.ore SeAr".Well, it's
not going anylvhere now-and neither is my X-wing.
One of the stabi l iz ing engines igni ted in the f i restorm,
and theexplosion tore out the door circuitry. Our ships are
trapped, andbecause that section is now under the full solar
radiation, wecan'teven go inside to begin repairs. We have to wait
until Exis Station' narps Ihp do.king bay ba.k inlo shadow.
Tionne steadied hersell as the adrenaline ol fear sped
herienses, made all the colors brighter, the metal gleam. She
listened:o the groaning sound of one of the hull plates. "lf the
station lastsihat Iong," she said.
Luke began to say something, then the ceiling gave a
strange-'reaking noise. He looked up, flashinghis eyes. With a
hissing snap,ne of the triangular colored-transparasteel panels
split lrom its
:roldings after thousands ol years of strain.In the explosive
decompression, Tionne's ears popped. Her
::ivery hair f lew about herhead in a breeze as theages-old
station::r squealed out through the small opening.
''Quickl" Luke said, grabbingherarm and accidentally
droppingjEveral oi the data plaques. "We've got to seal ourselves
behind a.r lkhead somewhere. '
\rtoo-Detoo bleeped and spun about on his wheels. Luke ges: i
red lorT'onne to fol lowhim backthewayhehad come, acorr idor:re had
not explored. He took charge immediately, but he didn'tiem to know
exactly where he was going. As the escaping air
: ared behind her, she ran after him, cradlingthe precious
crystalaques, wishing she could go back and grab another handful,
but
-. sudden change in stress points on the hull of Exis Station
had-nt and cracked another ofthetransparisteelwindows. Soon,
this.iire chamber would be uninhabitable. exposed to space.
She raced after the Jedi Master, herslender feet skittering on
the
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deckplates. They turned down another side passage where
thecorridor curved off from the main Jedi library and museum
towardthe e.xternal habitation modules. Luke stopped short in front
of adouble-sealed airlock door that bore several brilliant
markings.Tionnethought sbe recognized thewriting, the language lrom
theOld Republic, an archaic Jedi script.
Artoo-Detoo stopped at the intersection of a corridor
andtwittered to himself as he edended his data connector and
ac-cessed another control panel on the wall.
Luke Sle'walker ignored the droid and ran to the double
doors."lf this mechanism still operates," he said, "We can seal
ourselvesin here, wherever it goes." His fingers flew over the
buttons as ifinstinctively knowing how to operate the ancient
machinery.
Tionne, though, felt asudden chill as shelabored
totranslatetheold writing. Droppingher load ol artifacts, she threw
herself forward,yelling, "No!'just as Lukesucceeded in openingthe
airlock.
Clawlike tendrils ol high-pressure greenish-yellowmist
sprayedfrom the crack as the door groaned open. Luke staggered
back,coughing, unable to breathe.
Tionne knocked him out of the way and lunged lor the
controlpanel, pounding buttons. She had no idea how to workthe
system,but she needed to seal the door shut again. The poisonous
gascontinued to escape. She held her breath, but her eyes
burned,blurring hervision. Tears shimmered across her
mother--of-pearlirises, but still Tionne fumbled with the system.
Finally, with ascreech of poorly lubricated gears, the door slammed
shut again.
Luke staggered back against the wall and slumped down,
cough-ing, trying to catch his breath from the fumes he had
inhaled-
Artoo-Detoo squealed with triumph, bleeped and flashed
hislights. At the corridor intersection, another set of bulkheads
camedown lromthe ceiling, closingoffthe passage from the
decompres-sionon the otherside, Tionneand Luke were sale from the
brokenwindows inthe librarynow, and thestation's own
air-recirculationsystems rapidly drained the poisonous gas Luke
Sl$vralker hadinadvertently let into the corridors.
Luke used all his remainingstrengthto catch his breathagain.
Helooked over where Artoo stood vr'obbling victoriously.
"Thanks,Artoo. You thought faster than vre did."
Tionne looked at Luke angrily. "That was one ol the
chlorine-breather's habitation modules! High-pressurized poisonous
gas. Ilwe had run in there, we'd both be dead in an instant," she
said,('t)
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shaking her head. "You're a Jedi Mastr-can't you read
OldRepublic script?"
Luke shook his head sheepishly. "l haven't finished
thosestudiesyet." He took a deep breath and controlled himself from
coughingagain. "ln fact,l haven't found a teacher who could show me
yet,"
Then Tionne heard rumbling, groaning alarms. Amber lights
llashedaround the double airlock. With an explosive roar, the
chlorine-breather's habitation module blastedfree of its pinnings
and launchedaway from Exis Station, ejected in an emergency
release.
"Looks like I did more than just seal the dooragain," she said.
"ldisengagedtheent iremodulefromthestat ion."Tionnebl inkedhereyes
in astonishment. "lt must have been prepped for removal,liust went
through the final steps-"
The largehabitation modulethumped away, shoving itself fromthe
main ring directly toward the churning sun-and its doom.Tionne
could feel the station lurch and move off kilter and start tospin
away from Teedio and its flares.
''I think you helped," Luke said, standing up, his eyes
bright.-Simple physics. When you pushed that large module away,
itpushed against the station, shoving us in the other direction.
Youinay have bought us a little time."
"Not very much," Tionne said. She held the historical
plaquesnext to her, wondering ifshewould get out of here alive so
that she:ouldwatch them, see the entire speech NomiSunrider had
made,.nd contribute to the New Republic's knowledge ol its most
pre-.ious history.
Luke Sl*ryvalker stood up with an odd gleam in his eye. "What
you:id gave me an idea, " he said. "Let's get to the central
control hub. Exisliation may still be iust lunctional enough for
what we need to do."
l!a63
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The central control hub of Exis Station was dark and musty, all:
the glowpanels shut down when the station had been mothballed
r.d evacuated. But Luke Iound the automated systems to slide-ide
the thick window coverings that shielded the viewing ports:':
around the control station. The heavy coverings scraped aside:
corroded tracks to reveal thefiltered dazzle of Teedio's
corona.
\rtoo trundled up to the main stations and let out a
mournful-:istle as he inspected the old computers. After checking,
Luker
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lound that manyolthe antique computers had shut down, or
theircircuits had been scrambled so much by stray radiation that
theirsent ient memory banks were ei lher seni le or insane,
"Get to the controls and do what you can, Artoo," he
said,scanning the panels. "Tionne,you might need to help
metranslatesome of this script." He gave her a wry smile. "l
don'twant to makeanother stupid mistake."
"That'll beaf irststep," the silvry-hairedwoman said, fl
ashinghereeriequicksilvereyes at him. Sheseemed to
behavingtroubledealingwith him as a person. At first she had seemed
in awe of him, a Jediabout whom she had heard so much. Now she
showed a bit ofdisappointment accepting him as asimple human as
well. "Once welglowwhatthecontrols mean,weneed to get them f
unctioningagain."
Luke stood by her side as she analyzed the faded labels
andetched words on the control decks. He ran testing routines
andchecked themechanisms. He hoped a fewofthe
stabilizingrocketscould still sputter and provide enough thrust to
move Exis Stationaway from the firestorm danger zone... at
leastuntil the docking portrotated into shadow again, where Luke
could work on the inoperablebay doors to free his X-wing and
Tionne's solar-sail ship.
Tionne managed to call up a diagram that showed the station
andits position. She identified the habitation modules studded
around itsexpansion spokes. The docking module holding both of
their shipshad passed beyond the high point ol the sun's flood, but
it still had along way to go before it fell into the relative
salety of shadow.
Now one of the larger alien habitation modules broiled under
theheat. Il Luke correctly interpreted what the computer said,
thismodule was filled with water for sea-dwelling creatures.
Luke looked up as he felt a wrench in his chest again, a
suddenviolent outpouringfrom the sun. He looked up to see the
blisteringred giant smoldering, regurgitating, and spraying an
enormousprominence into space like a hose of fire. The dense plasma
shottoward them in the largest inundat ion ever
Tionne saw it too. "We can't survive that. Exis Station is going
tobe incinerated."
Luke dove back to the sluggish controls, franticallytryingto
getthe station rockets functioning again. Most ofthem remained
off-line, but he powered upthree on the sunward sideso he could
givethe abandoned hulkanother push away. Exis Station wobbled,
stillslowly drifting from when Tionne had ejected the chlorine-gas
pod.But that small nudge had not been enough to give them
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velocityand the deadly blast ofsolar fire was hurtlingtoward
themwith incredible speed.
"These rockets arethe onlyones that work," he said.',I'rn
gonnafire full thrusters. Maybe they'll give enough of a push to
getourselves far enough away to survive." He swallowed hard.
..Butvou'd better hold on."
He pushed the buttons, waiting for the thrust. But the
controlindicators went red as two engines failed. Then an
explosionshuddered through the station.
"Two more fuel pods just exploded." Tionne looked at thereadouts
and then at him. He expected to seemorefear in her eyes,but instead
her face hardened. "We're dead in space, and there'snothing we can
do about it."
"l'mnotgiving up," Lukesaid. "We just have to understand howthis
place works,"
Hewent tothecontrolsagainand called up the diagram showingthe
habitation module filled with water. It was now under theharshest
glare of the sun; the skin on its hull must be turninschcrry-red by
now. Stability alarms flickered on. The diagnosti;panels and the
station integrity would never hold once theErslorm s peak reached
them.
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"Artoo, find the emergency cargo doors on this water bayl"
heshouted.
"What for?" Tionne asked."We don't have timel" Luke said. The
little droid was already
twittering, scanningthe controls, coaxing unreliable computers
toqive up one bit ol information. Finally' the codes appeared'
andtuke punched the emergency override opening lhe double_lay-ered
;uter cargo doors to space----xposing the huge volume ofocean to
the blazing llare.
Thousands ol tons ol seawater evaporated in the incandes_cent
heat and deadly vacuum, blasting and blasting Lukeqrabbed one ol
the nearby chairs as the entire station shud-iered and then began
to accelerate outward. The water contin-ued to gush out like a
rocket engine, pushinS Exis Station Iartherand farther away from
the sun.
"That's giving us enough velocity!' Tionne said."Let's just hope
there's enough water," l-uke answered'Exis Station picked up speed
and continued to move The
incredible solar flare surged toward them, but it seemed to
fallbehindastheydrewawayfrom it.Theabandoned citygroaned
andshuddered, barely holding itsell together.
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Luke continued punching the controls and linally managed toget a
single one of the station-keeping engines to function. Thesmall
rocket added its thrust to the dwindling evaporating roar ofthe
escaping ocean.
Tionne said with weary sadness, "No doubt that module wasfilled
with well-presewed artilacts."
"At least we're well preserved now," Luke said.The snake-like
tongue of the solar flare reacbed its peak and
began to loop backward toward the sun, drawn byTeedio's
gravityand magnetic fields, falling away lrom them.
"Now Exis Station should be sale," Tionne said, "for a
fewhundred more years, at least."
Luke smiled at her. "That's plenty of time to come backand
lookaround all you want-"
Fal len into shadow once again,;he docking bay
rapidlycooledenough that Luke, Tionne, and Artoo could safely
reenter i t .Light-footed, Tionne hurried back to the Ior .teefrer
to makecertain that none of i ts ancint and del icate systems had
beendamageo.
While Artoo went to run diagnostics on the X-wing with
hisdiagnostics, Luke inspected the automatic controls that
opened:he huge docking baydoors. The explosion that had ruptured
thes t abilizing th rusters had also fused the computer guidance
connec,iions. With a grim look on his face, he drew his lightsaber
and:$itched it on. The pulsing yellow-green energy blade sizzled
in:he enclosed chamber.
_We'll just have to do it manually," Luke said as he
slashed..jlrough the computer control cables. The mechanism sparked
andlumped into dormancy. Nowit would be asimple effort to
triggerDen the sealed doors.
ljnable to stop herself, Tionne turned to stare at theJedi
blade,rarveling at it. Her mother--of-pearl eyes widened, and her
small=outh hung open in astonishment.
\lrhen he saw her fascination, Luke held up his lightsaber
in-lute. "You never told me why you came here, Tionne," he
said,',ihy did you send that message that I was to come here?',
_Because you're a Jedi," she said. "l know you intend to
lt
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other Jedi Knights, and I lelt you should know whatever
knowledgeis stored here on the station." She held up the data
plaques she had
"l couldn't agree more," Luke said. "My background in
Jedihistory lacks quite a bit.'
Tionne inserted one ofthe data plaques into her antique
reader..Watch this, for instance. II you intend to teach new Jedi
Knights,you must know their history, what other Jedi did."
A small, f lickering holographic image ol a young,
driven-lookingwomanshimmered up lrom the player. She was slender,
dressed inarchaic clothes: her hair was tucked back, serviceable
but notstyled. She would have had a soft and lovely face, but
tragediesseemed to have hardened her, added lines to her
expression
"Together, we have suffered a great disaster, and now comes
atime for healing," she said.
"That is Nomi Sunrider," Tionne whispered. "One ofthe greatestof
all Jedi Knights. This is a speech she gave here on Exis
Station,during the Jedi convocation."
Luke listened raptly as Nomi continued. "War has spanned
thegalaxy, but now it is over. We can never forget the dead-but
wemustalso not lorget the future. We must trust in the Force. As
longas there are Jedi Knights, there is hope "
Nomi continued, butLukelelthis mind reeling. "Thosewords
arethousands of years old," he said, "but they still have a lot
ofrelevance today."
"Historyalways has relevance to the present," Tionnesaid.
Sheswallowed hard and looked up at him. "l understand that you
havea Holocron which is also filled with stories.'
Luke nodded. "True. But that doesn't eYplain yoar
interest.""l've always been fascinated by the Jedi," she said with
an
uncomfortable shrug. "The stories, the legends, I've been
collect_ing them all my life. It was like a compulsion for me. I
know many olthesongs,theballads, as much historyasl could gather,
thoughtheEmpire has destroyed many ol the records."
Luke looked at herwithdeeper interest. "Doyouthinkyou
couldsharesomeof i t?Wouldyoubewil l ingtocometoYavin4whi lelsetup
my Jedi academy? You can perhaps tell me where I m goingwrong,
point me in directions that I should know. Otherwise, l'dhave to
spend years gathering the same knowledge that you'vealready
found."
Tionne stood up straight, swelled with joy. Then she calmed/
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herself and stood with squared shoulders, her chin heldwould be
honored. Maslcr Luke S4,walker ._
''Who knows," Luke said, "you may even have a bitpotent
ialyourself ."
"That's too much to hope for," Tionne said. Her words werequiet,
awhisper barely mouthed. .,But you would never find amorededicated
student."
high. " l
of Jedi
l!6
l
&)When theyheard theships approach, Gantoris and Streen
came
out oftheshaded temple,looking up into thehazymiddaysLy. Theysaw
the silvery shapes of not only Luke Skywalker.s X-wing butanother
strange craft as well.
The orange sphere ofYavin dominated the horizon, shimmrinsoaslFI
oranges l ike the calaract- l i l led cye oi a giant. The
incominsrhips passed in front of thp planel. Streen marveled at lhe
si lhou-elted shapeofthe othership, an ancient craftwith
largetriangular
' 'For the wind, hesaid. Thesolarwrnd. 'Gantoris looked sidelong
at him.',Master Sk',v/alker's probably
iound another student,"They went to meet the two craft as they
touched down on the
bonlire-scorched landing clearing in lront of the creat
TemDle.Lukc popped open the canopy ol his X-wing and cl
imbed;ut,looking toward Tionne s ship. The slender, silver-haired
womanstepped gracefully down the metal rungs ol the boarding
ladderand stared up at theweathered stone ziggurats in amazement.
She:hen looked at Streen and cantoris.
''This is Tionne,'Luke said. "She's alreadystudied
moreJediloreard history than anybody I've ever met, so I thought
she'd better
_ls she going to train with us as well?" Streen asked.Luke gave
a secretive smile and glanced sidelong at Tionne.
_\ es,I thinkso.ltested her on theilight toyavin. She has an
affinitv:or lhc Force. and I could use plenty of help in my own
teachingj
Tionnesmiled,breathlessinherownexcitement. .
,soon,Master:kvlvalker,l hope there will be plentyofother newJedi
Knights who:an start making new history for all of us to
tell.,'
Together, theywalked into the cool shade of the Great Temple./
'2\\ \ |
43 ,/
-
,.,ra\;-I);\-}}Advenlure Joumal . November 1997
spaceiransportpilotingskilltodes. be 4hr abifity ro pilo( ships
may do so. ot lrlthymayopt tousethetu(hal .s tdship r f /p i lo t
ingski l ladded tohersk i l l l is l ln rhh l t {
,iir,itiiJi[ir"Ja"a'.t'*.r.rriir"ir"t'i ifdscript'on. CIh,s
modilicanon is olli- llciar erraia.) lCaFule: Tionn is a young y'
lscholar whose princ ipal passion h )is lor knowledge, part'cxtany
l[ .
\4
that concrning the Jedi.She learned much ol
whatsheknowsfromhergland-mother, who passed herknowledge to T
ionnethrough stories ratherthan in wr i t tn form.Tionne s talent
as a stGryte l ler and music ianhaveenabldhrtocon'
pPr.E
Roleplaying Game Statistics
Thb chMctcr b FoEe6dddve
EqulDnrt Blaster pisiol (4D), doubleviol, datapad, ihe Lore
SeekerNote:Tlonne sskjU lnpilotingarchaicsta.-sbips was not
reflected in thegamelnlormationand decriptionoihe.inThe Je.li
Acaden! Sourcebooh. Aamemas-ters who wish to continue lo use
the
TionneDDoERITY 2D+2Blaste.3D'1, dodge 4D, pick pocket 3D+2,
running4DXNOWLEDGE 4DAlien specl6 5D, business 4D+1, cultures
4D.1,langua86 4Drl, pldetarysvstems 4D+2. scholari tolklore 5D.2,
s.holar: Holooon 5D, scholarr Jedih'story 6D, st.eetwise 5D.1,
suNlval4D'2, valueSDMECIIANICAI- 3D+tA.chaic starship plbnng 4D+ I,
beast riding4D, musical instrument operation:double nol 6D,
.epulsorllft operation 4D+2, sensors 4D, spacet.ansports 4D+1,
PERCEPTION 4DBargain 5D*1, con 5D, ganbllng 4Dr2, prsuasion 5D,
pe.suasion: storyteUlng6D. search 4D.2. sneal 5DSTRf,NGTH
2DBrawling 3D, climbing/jumping 3D+ I, swimming 4DITCHNICAL
2DBlaster repair 3D, conputer programningAepair 3D, droid
p.og.anming 3D,lirst a'd 4D, musicat inst.unent repair: strlngd
instruments 4D.2
(
i('t)
4t/
-
-_ riL-\ ','/lltAdventure Jounat , Novmber 1997
tinue her grandmother's traditionas she passs on herdiscoverjes
to rothers lhrough story and song, keeping ajive the hjstories ot a
nobter dt imc. Cha.ming. gra.e lu l . and l igh l ot sp j r i r , T
ionne br jnss a smi le to the q-faces ol all but the most hardened
of beincs. 3She wanders the galaxy in her ship, the ror See&ea
a remnant oflessdangerous times, seeking information on theJediof
the Old Rpublicand sharingwhatshe learns inirontier cantinas and
tradestations_ Sheavoids sysrems stillunder the influence o,
Impriat aut horit ies, whichkpeps her from rhemore populous wo.lds.
burshe makes enough in thesmaller sysrems to keep hFr ship running
propFrty and conr;ue hersearch lor the hisrories o, a bygone ra.She
considers what sh has found on Exis Station to b the
greatestcollection ofJedllore she has ever seen, particularlythe
dat;phquecontaining Noni Sunrider's speech to th Convocation. But
even thatdiscovery rnay dim in comparison ro what she has
discovered aboutherselfwhen she met theJedi MasterLuke
Sl$v,alker.
The Lore SeekerCEfi: Hyrotil Jenlaor{lass in-s}stem sail
yachtTl?: Modilied sall yachr
Stlll: Archaic starship piloting
Crew SLIt See Tlorne
Ca4o Capaclty: 20 metric tonsCodluEabla: 2 nonthsHyp.ddve
Mtrldplle. x3H}?erdrlve Bac&up: xls
SDa.e: 4 (sublisbt engines)i 2-3 (saits)AtDGphere: 280; 800
kmhHull:3DSlrleldlilD
stan:20/tD
.tkil: Starship gunnery
Space Range: 1-3/12/25A t tu o sp h e re R o nge : 1 00300 n /
1.2km | 2 _svn
ct)45,//
-
e,!
J-| ,U5 , l ) \ ; ,Advenlure Journal . Novembr 1997
Capsule: Th Lore Seker re{lects hercurrent captain well. The
agingship combines nodern practicality \rith the romance and grace
of abygon era. When the Lore Seeker arrives in port, old trader
captainssigh wistfullyas they rmmbe. the days of their youth, and
even busyport authorities take a moment to admire theslek ship
nestled amongthe squat, blocky freightrs.
The origlnal ship was designed by Hyrotil Engineering as an
in-systempleasure yacht.lt had sublightngines capable ol a slow
manuver incass ol mrgency, but its principal means of propulsion
came from itsmaneuverable solar salls- These sails could rotate
relative to theposition ol the nearest stellar mass, and the sails'
sensitive radiationcollectors enabld captains to pilot the ship in
all but the outermostreaches of a system. Particularly adept pilots
could thread thir waythrough systems in which several stars wer
locatd, trimming theirsailslustsoto maximize the thrust provided
byonestarwhile minimiz-iog that of another. Hyrotil even produced a
sails-only variant of theJemloar for the sailship race circuit,
but, sadly, th sport has nearly diedin the wak of the dissolution
of the Old ReDublic and the rise of theEmDire.
Tionne's Lore Seeker has beenmodernized from its originaldesign.
Atthe expense of cargo area and crew and passengr quaners. th
shiphas a smail hyperdrive engine and an up$aded sublight ngine.
Inaddition, Tionne has placed a single laser cannon in the nose of
the shipto give the ship some defense against pirates and
protection againstastero'ds. Thesensors have also beenmodernized,
but not upgraded.Theshield generator will notworkwhilethe sails are
extended, as theybreal up shield integrity. It takes about one
minute to retract the sails,and about halt that to enend them.
Tionne has taken steps to ensurethatthe ship maintains as much
ot itsoriginal appearance as possible. With theexception of the
laser cannon,a regrettabl necssity, the modifications she has made
to the loreSeehel have not apprectably altered the look the
original ships had.Collectors have olf ered Tionne a handsonesum f
or rhe Lorc Seehe \ b'utshe views the gracelul old ship as her home
now, and sh could not bear
Game infomation created by Duane MaxuelL based on mateia[by
Keqin J. Anderson ond Paul Sudlou.
( 'ir!6)