Saga - ST Saga - Legends Star Wars: War for the Outer Rim

Hey folks! New poster here, with a year's worth of work put into a script-fic that expands the events of TLJ into a full series a la Clone Wars.

The summary, as Gentlemans Dame 883 puts it:

(Said elements include lore from Bloodborne and Final Fantasy's Ivalice Alliance)

Unfortunately, copy pasting the whole thing creates a bunch of formatting issues, so I invite you to read the fic over at either Fanfiction dot net or AO3:

FF: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13024855/1/Star-Wars-The-Outer-Rim-War

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20842178/chapters/49545974

And while you're there, leave a review or a kudos! I will, however, be posting chapters in progress as soon as work on the next chapter begins, which should be pretty soon.

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Individual AO3 chapter links:

1. The Battle of D'Qar
2. The Sirens of Ahch-To, part 1
3. The Sirens of Ahch-To, part 2
4. The Sirens of Ahch-To, part 3
5. The Sirens of Ahch-To, Epilogue
6. The Battle of Charon's Belt part 1
7. The Battle of Charon's Belt part 2
8. The Battle of Charon's Belt part 3
9. Heroes on both sides, part 1

 

DRAMATIS PERSONAE
(a work in progress)
(aka IgnusDei's delusional hollywood fantasy casting rubbish)​

JEDI

Luke Skywalker, human male, late 50's. Veteran Soldier and Officer of the Rebel Alliance during the Galactic Civil War, responsible for the destruction of the First Death Star. Twin brother of Leia Organa. Failed Jedi Grand Master. Trains Rey in the Jedi Way.

Rey, human female, late teens to early twenties, last name unknown. Scavenger, expert in Civil War era military technology. Orphaned at a young age and abandoned on Jakku. Excels at multiple skills and disciplines due to an inborn talent for Psychometry.

Mara Jade, human/dathomiri female, late 50's (appears in her 20's or 30's). Former Imperial Agent and personal Assassin to Palpatine. Graduate of the Starkiller Academy under Darth Vader. Pursued a personal vendetta against Luke Skywalker that blossomed into a happy marriage. Became an instructor at the New Jedi Academy, but focused all her attention on one apprentice: Tristan Lacrima.

Kyle Katarn, human male. Veteran Mercenary of the Galactic Civil War, initially for the Empire, then later defected to the Rebellion, Secret Operations asset responsible for the success of Operation Rogue One and Operation Arc Hammer. Legendary Soldier. Current Location unknown. The remains of his vast arsenal provides Rey with martial skills as she finds them. Former owner of the Moldy Crow. Instructor at Luke's New Jedi Academy, focusing most of his attention on his Padawan Rosh Penin.

Lord Rolandau Hoth. Human male. Jedi Lord. Ghost. Appears in some of Rey's dreams, teaching her Soresu.

Valenthyne Farfalla. Half-Bothan male. Jedi Lord. Ghost. Appears in some of Rey's dreams, teaching her Makashi.

Bastilla Shan. Human female. Jedi Master. Ghost. Appears in some of Rey's dreams, teaching her Juyo.



THE NEW REPUBLIC / RESISTANCE

General Leia Organa, Human Female, late 50's Inspiring leader of the Resistance against the First Order, former wife of Han Solo and mother to Ben Solo aka Kylo Ren. A passable commander and strategist. Self-trained talented Force User.

Finn aka FN-2187, human male (cyborg). Former First Order Stormtrooper, helped Poe Dameron escape from the Star Destroyer Finalizer. In spite of being a low ranking member of the First Order Armed Forces, he possesses a near-encyclopedic knowledge of the First Order's organization. Talented marksman and Force Sensitive, potential Jedi candidate. Has effectively defected and joined the Resistance. Partially converted into a cyborg by Dr. Adasca.

Poe Dameron, human male. Former officer of the New Republic Navy, currently the Resistance's top X-wing pilot. Commander of Black Squadron until demoted to Ensign due to insubordination and the costly (but successful) attack of the First Order Dreadnought Eclipse at the battle of D'Qar.

Tallissan "TALLIE" Lintra, human female, early 20's. Former member of the New Republic Navy, currently the Resistance's top A-Wing pilot. Commander of Blue Squadron. Dedicated to the cause, but extremely cynical of Leia Organa and Lumi Celchu's leadership.

Vice-Admiral Lumi Celchu. Human female (Hapan). Owner, master and commander of the assault frigate Stormblood. Daughter of Legends characters Winter and Tycho Celchu. Mid-to-late twenties. Cold, imperious, always finely dressed, very paranoid due to upbringing. Second in line to Leia and Ackbar in the Resistance command structure.

Garland Alleck. Human Male (Hapan). Lumi Celchu's bodyguard. Large, middle-aged, veteran swordsman. Ideally played by Liam Cunningham.

Sonochee Pava, Human Female. Resistance Mechanic specializing in robotics and cybernetics. Sister to Jessika Pava. Prosthetic right leg. Former Mecha pilot. Early 20s. Native of the Corporate Sector, colourful dresser, likes synth pop music.

Commander Orlandeau Onasi, Human male, descendant of Carth Onassi, captain of a Nebula-class Star Destroyer repurposed as a Republic Flight Academy training vessel. Flight Instructor. Extremely protective of his students. Ideally played by Jamie Bamber.

Asuran Adasca, Arkanian off-shoot/pureblood hybrid male, late 20's. Cybernetics specialist and Lead surgeon aboard the Mercy, the Resistance's Medical ship. Heir to the Adasca Biomedical Corporation. Played by Penn Badgley.

Jan Strange, human female. Rebel Intelligence agent, Kyle Katarn's handler after Jyn Erso's death during Operation Rogue One. Location unknown, MIA.

Taika Katanga, weequay male. Pirate and Captain of the Sable Pearl. Expert V-wing pilot. He and his crew joined the Resistance in the hopes of stopping the First Order from establishing a police force across the Outer Rim... as it would be bad for business.

Mahrraccor, wookiee male, 200+ years old. Victim of bioaugmentation experiments by Czerka Corporation. Leader of the mercenary group Mahrracor's Siegebreakers. Older brother

Sabar "Pliers" Sykes, Besalisk male, middle-aged. Starfighter Technician, served the Republic in the Clone Wars and the Rebellion. Taught basic starfighter maintenance at the New Republic Naval Academy on Coruscant before joining the Resistance. Served as lead starfighter engineering alongside Luke Skywalker during his tenure as Wing Commander aboard the Midway, a commandeered Onager-class Star Destroyer refurbished into a heavy carrier.



KNIGHTS OF REN and ALLIES

Kylo Ren, Human Male, early 30's Grand Master of the Knights of Ren. Son of Leia Organa and Han Solo. Orchestrated the Jedi Massacre on Tython by administering the Blood of Ren to several of the non-force sensitive Orphans. Killed Han Solo shortly after the Hosnian Prime disaster, is currently recovering from wounds inflicted by Rey, leaving Ceadeus Ren to do his bidding.

Ceadeus Ren, Setim Male, mid-30's. A senior member of the Knights of Ren. Tall humanoid with an ideal physique. Master of Gladiators, CQC expert. Recently acquired the Title of Paladin. Other Titles: Monk, Armorer, Botanist. Often seen with Kylo Ren - Close personal relationship suspected and oftentimes discussed in hushed tones by First Order female staff. Ideally voiced by Richard Madden.

The Shamed One Diminutive and deformed but devoted servant to Ceadeus Ren. Played by Andy Serkis.

Godwin and Sackheim, Two veteran Gladiators under Ceadeus' command. Almost never seen apart. Both men have lost loved ones in the Bur-Omisace Massacre.

Jerec Ren, Miralukan Male. Age unknown, appears to be in his late 30's. Knight of Ren and Master of Arcanists. Titles: Scholar (Historian), Astrologian, Alchemist. Archeologist with an interest in Jedi, Sith, and Valendian history. Curious about Rey. Ideally played by Hugh Dancy.

Maw Ren, aka The Berserker. Boltrunian male. Giant. Knight of Ren and Master of Warriors. Titles: Marauder, Blacksmith. Recipient of Valendian leg prosthetics. Likes big Valendian vibroaxes, which keeps him in the company of Jerec in order to acquire them. Wants Rey as a trophy.

Sariss Ren, Miralukan female. Mistress of Lancers. Titles: Dragoon, Weaver, Bard.

Irvine Ren, human male. Master of Archers. One of Luke's original students before the New Purge. Valendian bow can flash forge arrows at will, from bodkins to broadheads. Suffers from ear condition. Blessed by the Blood of Ren with enhanced vision.



IMPERIALS

Captain Paxton Fell - human male, mid-sixties. Senior officer in the First Order's Special Forces, Captain of the First Order Dreadnought Eclipse. Ideally played by Idris Elba.

Lieutenant Lynn 4RD3N - human female cyborg, early-twenties. Bridge officer of the FO Dreadnought Eclipse under Paxton Fell. Communications specialist. Martial Arts fan. Ideally played by Rosa Salazar.

Helmsman Pressly FL185 - human male, early-twenties. Bridge officer of the FO Dreadnought Eclipse under Paxton Fell. Capital Ship piloting specialist.

Ensign Kilran KWK40 - human male, early twenties. Bridge officer of the FO Dreadnought Eclipse under Paxton Fell. Gunnery specialist.

Lieutenant Malek Fell, son of Paxton, human male, mid-to-late-twenties. Ace Pilot in the First Order Special Forces, favours TIE/SF Interceptors with a swarm missile loadout. Ideally played by Ricky Whittle.

Rom Mohc, Human Male. Imperial. Dead. Project Lead of 'Dark Trooper'.
"Why Phase 3? Why not stop at the remote interface? Because this isn't a damned video game! We should never, ever separate the soldier from the battlefield, or we'll never see the end of war!"

Rae Sloane, human female, formerly the Grand Admiral of the First Order, Sloane retired from the position to become the director of the Special Projects division, working closely with Alexander Jaemus to create the next generation of Stormtroopers and combat vehicles. Will be watching Finn's career as a Resistance Marine with great interest. Is obsessed with Rom Mohc's Dark Trooper project. Ideally played by Gina Torres.

Alexander Jaemus, Owner and CEO of Siennar-Jaemus. Chief designer of the First Order's specialized hardware, and their TIE Fighters. Robosexual. Highly intelligent strategist in and out of the boardroom, and a rising star in the First Order Hierarchy.





SIREN SORCERESSES OF SSI-RUUK

A trio of ancient Force Users that have lured passing travelers to their island and use entechment to drain their lifeforce. Severely mutated due to drinking the Blood of Ren and not being supplied with more to stave off the side effects.

Nona the Maiden. Quick, blessed with rapid wound regeneration, weaponized tongue. The Most Passionate.

Verthandi, the Matriarch. Moderately resilient, moderately armoured. Wields a metal staff. Produces the Crone's Milk. The most Powerful.

Aisa, the Elder. Slow, but protected highly resilient barnacle armour. Often lies in wait to strike with her giant scissors. The Strongest.



INDEPENDENTS

The Dark Witch, Dathomir/Miralukan female, user of magicks. Age unknown. Communicated with Rey as she traveled through the city-ship of Firwirrung. Current whereabouts unknown.

The King of Kings, human-cyborg male, cyber-gladiator and founder of the Sunbreaker tribe. A strange, larger than life figure in FINN's past that haunts his memories. Perished at the hands of the First Order after personally killing more than one thousand First Order personnel, including several AT-ST and TIE FIGHTER pilots in their vehicles. Imagined with Chadwick Boseman in mind. Most certainly not a Jashugan expy

Schakal, Turanic, late 30's. A Turanic Pirate that engaged the Resistance's Black Squadron on its way back to the Raddus, and was taken prisoner for interrogation.

Mastiff Tenzin, human-epicanthix male, late 40's. Criminal entrepreneur. Kanjiklubber. Wants to steal Ceadeus' bioship, and wants Rey's help in doing it.

 

As I am wont to do, I thought I'd evaluate how Eldritch Abominations stack up against other Eldritch Abominations, and when it came time to evaluate Abeloth — Star Wars' answer to the Great Old Ones, I have to admit — I found her to be wanting. Yes, the components are there: immense power, twisted-looking avatar, put into a can and sealed away... But it all just doesn't click to me, it doesn't come together into a horrifying deity.

Abeloth just doesn't scare me.

In an effort to see why that is, I thought I'd compare and contrast her to another feminine eldritch abomination from beyond the stars.

But before I introduce her...

"Luminous beings are we! Not this crude matter..."
- Yoda, Empire Strikes Back​

...Let's talk about crude matter.

Let's talk about meat.

We hate meat. It's crude, and moist, and gross, and it gets everywhere. Its why we tend to extol the beauty of the soul, imagine ourselves to be luminous beings trapped in prisons of flesh, entities of purity being divinely punished for a sin committed by our ancestors long ago. That is why when midichlorians were introduced in episode one, most of us were displeased, but few could articulate why: simply put, binding the Force, a mystical energy field, to an aspect of our crude meat, made it dirty.

​

Me? While I still think that meat can get pretty gross, I also find it pretty fascinating: a collection of cells —billions of them!— interlinked by other smaller cells, each one following a blueprint coded in amino acids, and powered by even smaller symbiotes. Ask any biologist: under a microscope, meat - that is, living tissue, is fascinating.

But nevertheless, as wonderful as biology is to some people, it remains a THING easily corrupted, and nothing exemplified this corruption than John Carpenter's The Thing, a horror movie about an alien sentient virus loosed upon an isolated research base in Antarctica. Full of visceral horror and paranoid terror, the Thing served as the spiritual inspiration for the godlike horror that, I believe, would have made a far better antagonist than Abeloth:

Jenova, from Final Fantasy VII.

Jenova is the Thing from beyond the stars, landed on the Planet Gaia millennia ago, on a chariot of burning rock. As soon as she arrived, she began to infect the first civilization she came across: The Cetra, who were, much like the Jedi, a deeply spiritual, magically-inclined people. Using shapeshifting, Jenova approached the Cetra by mimicking their loved ones, then proceeded to infect her victims with her cells, mutating them into monsters enslaved to her will. It took considerable effort from the Cetra to vanquish her, but for all their power and magic, all they could do in the end was seal her in a crystal. Even then, Jenova had the last laugh: the Cetra were doomed as a species, and thousands of years later Jenova's body would be dug up to be experimented on, her cells implanted in even more victims, producing more monsters, more SOLDIERS, more slaves to her will, dedicated to her resurrection and her ultimate goal devouring all life on the Planet. With her goal accomplished, she would use the lifeless husk of a world as a vehicle to travel the stars, find another world teeming with life, and begin the process anew.

Why is she doing this? Where is she from? We don't know. She does not deign to speak to us, to share her motivation, to tell her origins, or to explain her master plan. She is merely there, unspoken. Our only clue to her thoughts are her actions and the insane ramblings of the madmen she infected, apostles promised great power by consuming a piece of her flesh...

Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
-Jesus Christ according to John 6:54, King James Bible​

...and even all of that is not enough proof to believe she is even sapient.

I doubt mere words can convey what Jenova is capable of. After all, how terrifying can she be? She's just meat. Crude, simple meat. But she is meat that can multiply by corrupting other meat. And meat... is gross, and cheap, and it's everywhere.

It's in the rodent in your walls.

It's in your most loyal companion.

It's in your friends and loved ones.

It's... in you.

Thus, an entity like Jenova, or her spiritual successor, Mitonchondria Eve, would be an ideal antagonist for the Star Wars universe - a biopunk nightmare, its powers borne out of her own meat, the antithesis of the Jedi, mystics who draw their power from a comfortably nebulous and unknowable energy. Or is it? Does the Force not come from life? Does the Force not come from meat? From this crude matter? Jenova's mere existence raise the sort the questions that would fill Jedi with existential, philosophical dread, mirrored by our disdain for our own flesh, and our desire for our spiritual selves - itself the product of the thinking cancer we call brains - to remain pure.

But if the Force comes from a thing easily corrupted, easily shaped... does that not mean it is a thing easily engineered? Easily replicated? Easily distilled?

Can you drink this thing, and claim the power infused within?

But no, of course not. That's not how the Force works!...

...right?

 

Character profile:

IRVINE REN​

• Homeworld: Kalevala
• Born: 1004 Ruusan

Physical Description

• Species: Human (bioaugmented)
• Sex: Male
• Hair: Red
• Eyes: Hazel
• Skin Colour: Light
• Height: 179 cm
• Weight: 70 kg

Affilliations:

• Clan Skald
• New Jedi Agricorps
• Orphans of Tython
• Knights of Ren

Irvine Ren is a member of the Knights of Ren and, like all of them, is an artificial Force-Sensitive due to his communion with the Blood of Ren. As of the New Republic era, he is the leader of the Knights' ranged combat division, the Archers. A close personal friend to Ceadeus Ren, Irvine is almost always seen close to him during missions that require a Coterie, along with Kainé Ren.


BIOGRAPHY:

Early years:

Born on Kalevala as Grendyl Skald, Irvine spent much of his childhood on the road with his father, Beoulve, a traveling minstrel. Through an accident of genetics, Grendyl was born deaf, and was unable to appreciate his father's work. In spite of this, Irvine has nothing but fond memories of his father, this favourite being developing their own sign language based on Mandalorian combat hand signals. Beoulve also thought him the basics of fieldcraft and marksmanship, as any mandalorian should.

Years after Beoulve's death — an event that haunts Irvine to this day — the orphaned mandalorian teenager was found aboard a cargo transport as an accidental stowaway. Sent to an orphanage to the Core, a medical examination revealed him to have an elevated Midichlorian count, and so was promptly sent to Luke Skywalker's New Jedi Academy on Tython, where it was revealed that he was in fact not Force Sensitive at all. With nowhere else to go, Grendyl became one of the Orphans, a group of young non-force-sensitives under the care of the New Jedi Order. Unable to communicate with anyone, Grendyl quickly developed a reputation as weird loner, who kept gesticulating instead of speaking normally.

Life on Tython

Due to the difficulties of managing thousands of the students (and Luke's own inexperience with bureaucracy), being an Orphan often meant being ignored by the Jedi instructors, while often being the victims of cruel jokes by force-sensitive teenagers. Worse still, the orphans were forced to live in tents or cheap habitats, and were sometimes denied food due to shortages (and, as Irvine often claims, Kenth Hamner being an "elitist fascist piece of poodoo"). Grendyl, being a trained survivor, would often brace the jungles of Tython and return with a great deal of bushmeat. Due to his isolation, he shared none of it, which made his reputation among the orphans worse.

This all changed with the arrival of Tristan Lacrima, a Force Sensitive that was found too weak to be trained as a full-fledged Jedi. With no place to go and a fugitive from Ryloth, he was offered by Luke Skywalker to be the first of the new Agricorps. Tristan, an orphan himself and a bleeding heart, felt a strong kinship with the Jedi Academy's orphans, and dedicated much of his time and effort to improve their way of life, teaching them what he had learned of carpentry and agriculture. Initially, Grendyl wanted nothing to do with him, but Tristan recognized in the young mandalorian a skilled hunter and another kindred spirit. Through patience and understanding, Tristan learned to communicate to Grendyl through signs, and through subtle use of the Force, Grendyl learned to speak, read lips. Finally able to make friends, and now more aware of the orphan's needs than ever, Grendyl found his place providing for his peers, helping the Orphans found a proper community, separate from the Jedi Temple. During that time, Tristan would teach Grendyl to read, using his bible, slowly turning him into a convert to the Fayth in the process.

The Orphan's improved lot, however, drew hungry eyes. Luke, a desert farmer, was fearful of the jungle and forbade his students from foraging too deep in the jungle. This meant that the young Jedi were fed a constant of field rations and whatever Mon Mothma's government could spare. Oftentimes, their food stores would spoil due to Luke's and his senior staff's mismanagement or unprotected from wild, clever beasts. Jealous of the Orphans' growing bounty, the young Jedi would often raid their stores, often with the approval of Jedi Master Hamner. These raids, culminating with ruining a new year's feast, sowed the seeds of hatred in Grendyl's heart for all the Jedi. Due to this, Grendyl had become a willing participant in the Jedi Massacre at Tython.

The Massacre:

After Tristan's trial and punishment by the Jedi Order due to mere suspicion of being a Sith due to his passionate religious beliefs, Grendyl had become consumed by hatred for the Jedi, and so Ben Skywalker had no problem turning his to his cause. When Hamner came to interrogate the Orphans (in force), Grendyl had been among the first to drink the Blood of Ren, and surviving his Communion, becoming a Bearer of Shemhazai in the process. Thus transformed and consumed by the sheer feral euphoria of becoming a vessel of God, Grendyl slaughtered Jedi both young and old by the hundreds.

He would remember nothing from the event, save joy.

A Knight of Ren

During the seven years after the Jedi Massacre, Grendyl was taken by Ben Skywalker deep in the Unknown Regions, where his training as a Knight of Ren would begin. As a bearer of Shemhazai, he was taken to the star system of Sagittaire, where he would become an Archer. With his skills taught to him by his father and his experiences on the jungles of Tython, Grendyl succeeded every challenge he faced. Encouraged by Gran Kiltias Anasthasis, Grendyl took on even greater challenges, culminating in challenging then current Master of Archers in a duel. Victorious, Grendyl became both the new Master of Archers, and gained the title of Hunter. Shortly after, Anastasis would baptize him, christening him Irvine Ren.

Shortly after aiding Ceadeus in claiming the Silver Grimoire (aka the Book of the Ren Herself), Irvine would assist in repelling the Mandalorian attack on the Grand Temple of Bur-Omisace, but not before Anastasis perished in the attack at the hands on Ezra Bridger. Feeling guilty for this failure, Irvine joined Ceadeus and lent him the support of his Archers during his crusade to liberate Ryloth from the Republic. Mere weeks after that victory, Irvine would participate in the audacious attack against the massive Resistance Fleet as part of Ceadeus' coterie, assaulting their flagship thanks to a short hyperdrive jump executed by Captain Paxton Fell. Despite being outnumbered, Irvine would distinguish himself by injecting a virus in the Raddus' systems, causing havoc and mayhem among the crew, and finally killing Admiral Ackbar during his last stand. In spite of his abilities, Irvine would admit that Ackbar was "one tough fish".


PERSONALITY AND TRAITS

Irvine maintains the relaxed, devil-may-care attitude of a quintessential scoundrel at all times, seemingly shirking his responsibilities as Master of Archers in favour of hanging out in taverns and cantinas, or camping out alone in the wilderness, playing a tune on his Baliset in either case. It's largely a facade for his issues. Deep down, Irvine is both hypercritical and disdainful of authority figures (himself included), and hates nothing more than "passing the buck". He's also not terrible fond of fascists, a point of conflict between him and Kylo due to the latter's rank and influence in the First Order. While grateful to Kylo for granting him power, ultimately his loyalty and love lies with Ceadeus.

He has an almost insatiable appetite for women, going so far as exclusively recruiting them to become archers... who just so happen to be very lovely on the eyes. On the surface, it seems like lechery, but Irvine does have an eye for talent, and many of the women he recruits are very good at shooting bows. Always on the 'hunt', Irvine even takes time to eye enemy female soldiers, and does his best to avoid killing them. More experienced with starting relationships (and ending them gently), Irvine would be the first to give Ceadeus Ren advice on women, should the man ever need it.

Despite his love for his father, Irvine is critical of the Mandalorian way of life, and insists on having no love for his people. After the Bur-Omisace massacre, he likes mandalorians even less.


POWERS AND ABILITIES

As Grendyl, he had been taught fieldcraft and the use of long guns by his father, and had honed these skills in the jungles of Tython. A born survivor, Grendyl could endure in hostile environments for days, potentially weeks. Years on the road with his father, going from one watering hole to another, has given him insight into alcoholic drinks, and he likes to tend bar as a hobby.

As Irvine Ren, the Blood of Ren had granted him superior speed, agility, hand-eye coordination, and senses, including superior hearing. However, this came at the cost of creating mutated, almost cancerous eardrums that are so sensitive he requires metal implants to manage the pain. Without these implants, Irvine Ren is extremely vulnerable to loud noises, with Force Screams being the most debilitating of all.

Poor at telekinesis, Irvine makes up for this with enhancing his agility through the force. Drawing from the Dark (an aspect of the Force according to the philosophies of Ren), Irvine can perform the Quickening, seemingly teleporting short distances to evade blaster fire and melee strikes. His signature skill, however, his creating a duplicate of himself, useful in confusing, deceiving, or overwhelming his enemies. The duplicate seems to have a mind of its own: whether this is Irvine's sense of humor at play or if the replicant can really think for itself remains a mystery.

As Master of Archers, Irvine has license to use a veritably arsenal of ranged weapons, from kinetic long guns to bows, along with a panoply of gadgets, potions, poisons, grenades and portable traps, all accessible from his belt and longcoat, the latter of which appears to have bottomless pockets. Being a Hunter, Irvine also has license to carry a variety of transformable weapons, he favors Sagittaire, a biometal bow capable of turning into a pair of daggers. In spite of his stated dislike for them, Irvine's pragmatic combat skills and guile would make him an ideal Mandalorian, an irony he's all too aware of.

In spite of his proximity to the Jedi Temple and forbidden from using lightsabers by Kylo Ren, Irvine has no formal knowledge of lightsaber forms, and instead relies of a self-taught, acrobatic fighting style refined by sparring with Ceadeus.

 

The Pagan Wars​

The Pagan Wars, also known as the Wrath of the Ren or The March of the Black Queen, was the name given to a major decade-long conflict that began around 6000 Before Ruusan (or 7000 BBY) between the Kingdom of Valis and Barbarian Tribes of Xytegenia. The war was named due to the religious nature of its causes, as the Tribes were fanatical worshipers extra-planar entities known as Horrors while the people of Valis were devout followers of the Light of Kiltia, with each side viewing the other as "pagans".

The war began when the Roy of Valis, Solus van Oberyth, took his army to the edge of his Kingdom, hoping to put a stop to a surge of slave raids led by Warchief Valfodr the Immortal. A year into his campaign, Solus had managed to force Valfodr into a parlay, but he had been deceived: Valfodr purposefully lost the recent battles to lure Solus into a trap. Stranded on a desolate planet, Solus managed to lead Valfodr on a merry chase for months before reinforcements led by Nero van Oberyth — Solus' brother — finally arrived. Unfortunately, while Nero's forces had arrived just in the nick of time, Valfodr had engaged Solus in personal combat, and infected him with a Worm, rapidly turning Solus into a Half-Horror as Valfodr was forced to flee. Ajora Van Oberyth, Solus' daughter, had borne witness to her father's horrible fate, and was powerless to save him as he perished in her arms. Swearing eternal vengeance against the Horrors and all who worship them, Ajora bypassed her uncles in the line of succession, taking the crown of Valis, and becoming the Reine.

An impossibly brilliant scientist and engineer in her own right, Ajora spearheaded efforts into improving Valis' weaponry and heavy industry, pioneering the use of Gunblades and Bipedal Armour in order to better fight the Horrors the Tribes relied on as both heavy infantry and armor. Under Ajora's banner - The Royal Lotus - Valis' fleets and armies would spend the next seven years spreading outward, eradicating any Pagan tribe they came across Eventually, Valfodr returned, gathering the necessary force of Horrors and Half-Horrors to push back against the Royal Army. While Valis had impressive technology, the Pagan horde had powerful Magicks on its side, and so a stalemate was forced. However, Ajora's resources began to dwindle, and she could not maintain the stalemate for long. During that time, Ajora's knowledge expanded from biology and into the arcane, as she began to thoroughly research Kildean myths and legends in the hopes of finding an alternate way to defeat the Horrors and counter the Magicks they granted their shamans.

"It appears I must embrace that insane old adage... to fight fire with fire."
-from the journal of the Ren Herself​

The turning point of the Pagan War came at the Battle of Katarn, where Valfodr sought to do the same thing to Ajora as he did her father. That was when, at the Royal army's darkest hour, the First Knight of the Reine appeared, a dark figure that stood defiantly between Valfodr's demonic form and the Reine. Wielding unparalleled power against the towering Half-Horror, the Dark Knight killed the Immortal once and for all, and in doing so, dispersed the horde of Pagans and Horrors.

With this reprieve, Ajora spent the next few years consolidating her power, re-organizing the Royal Army around the nascent Knights of the Reine. The Knights, by Ajora's will, were to pattern their orders after the Kildean Zodiac, the first indication that Ajora believed herself divine. Ready for war once more, Ajora's armies spread like wildfire, conquering entire star systems under the pretext of freeing them from Pagan influences. The further Ajora spread her reach, the farther the Pagans fled, seeking refuge within populated worlds and spreading the influence of Horrors. Eventually, the Horrors had transformed the head House Solidor, the royal family of Archades, into a Half-Horror, granting them the numbers to hold back the Royal Army once more, time they would spend breeding new creatures. While Archades' armies and fleets proved a match for Valis' war machine in numbers, extending the conflict for fifty years, Ajora's mind kept conceiving of more powerful weapons, giving her an edge in an arms race that the Archadians found themselves unable to win.

Archades' conquest, and the massacre of its royal family, marked the end of the Pagan Wars, the start of Reine Ajora's thousand-year reign, and the birth of the Holy Valendian Empire.

 

The Trade World of Warjilis​

Warjilis is a Class M planet orbiting Delta Piscium, an orange dwarf located deep within the Valendian Sphere. As it is second to Archades in its proximity to the Pharos of Ren, it is a port of call along the majority of the Sphere's trade routes. With the added bonus of being an ideal recharging point for the Last Heighliner, the Port City of Massalia, Warjilis' capital, receives a great deal of visitors looking for rest, recreation, business opportunities, and samples of the local sea food.

Before the Fall of the Holy Valendian Empire, Warjilis was (and still is) famed for its temperate climate, characterized by gentle winds and clear blue skies, complimenting vistas of greenery, dark blue water, and bright grey cliffs. Such idyllic beauty made it a popular vacation spot for Valendian nobility, royalty, and artists, many of whom had invested a great deal of Gil into Massalia's service industry. As a result, much of the capital's architecture echoed that of the Holy Capital itself. The citizens of Massalia being a quirky bunch, it was required by law to tile every roof with orange ceramic, contrasting sharply with the blue sky and sea.

Warjilis' peaceful climate and beautiful scenery hides a flora and fauna that rivals Golmore in both danger ferocity, and diversity. Having attracted hunters for centuries, the Valendian Hunter's guild built a Lodge at Massalia, which became the guild's primary headquarters after the Fall. A member of the guild, Irvine Ren often visits the Lodge to receive high-risk contracts (usually involving Horrors), and encourages the Archers of Ren to do the same to help fund their operations.

Massalia is the birthplace of Sariss Ren.

The Last Heighliner​

Supertransport number 999, also known as The Last Heighliner, or the Stormbringer, is a Valendian Titan-class starship carrying one of few functioning spacefold drives and, as is moniker implies, the last of its class. Capable of transporting thousands of frigates, millions of people, or untold tons of cargo across the galaxy in an instant, the Heighliner's performance is offset by immense power and fuel requirements, requiring weeks of ramscooping for each jump, as well as the need to periodically dump the electric charge in its drive cores. While gas giants are ideal for this process, 999 is infamous for often dumping its drive core charge into the atmosphere of inhabited planets, causing lightning storms to erupt across their surfaces for days.

Helmed by an unseen entity known as the Navigator, 999 operates around the Periphery of the Valendian sphere, bringing much needed trade to the relatively isolated systems. A berth aboard the Heighliner can cost anything from 10,000 Gil to a cut of one's cargo, or even crew, but the Navigator will also take payment in the form of coordinates to planets glutted in Mist, if not containers of the substance.

The Heighliner is crewed by around 250,000 people, most of whom had lived aboard the immense vessel all their lives. A quarter of ship's population is a dedicated police force, a peacekeeping army to deter any competing factions berthed inside the Heighliner from turning its interior into a battlefield.

Mist​

Mist is a visible aspect of the Force, taking the appearance of multicolored, nebula-like gas. When a Force Sensitive uses his or her powers in an area covered in Mist, hitherto invisible abilities gain an impressive visual effect, along with a boost in raw power. Properly harnessed, Mist can power impressive machinery, a technology that the Ren Herself had spend much of her immortal life developing, building on the successes of her father before her. While difficult to contain in its gaseous form, Mist has been known to coalesce into a solid crystalline substance known as Ceruleum, an important component in Valendian airships and starships.

Currenly, worlds rich in Mist can be accessed in the Periphery of the Valendian sphere or on the fringes of Wild Space, where the interstices (where the Empyrean and Tellurian overlap) are commonplace. Other such worlds exist in deep in Unknown Regions, but attempting to hyperspace there guarantees an attack by Horrors.

Horrors​

Also known as Outsiders and Abominations, Horrors are hostile extra-planar creatures that infest the Unknown Regions. Subsisting on the negative emotions of both sapients and sentients, Horrors are compelled to harm and torment any living thing they come across, a task easily accomplished by their horrifying, twisted appearance alone. There is one single physical trait that defines Horrors: their flesh continuously twists into spirals. Otherwise, they come in an infinite variety of forms, from small insects, man sized beasts, or starship-sized floating monsters. Using fatigue points in space and time, Horrors can teleport from any two point within the Unknown Regions, and incursions led by Horror Queens can go as deep within the Valendian Sphere as Archades.

In spite of their extra-planar origins, Horror biology has one compatible component with the denizens of the Galaxy: Midichlorians. As such, consuming Horror tissue can cause horrific mutations, even converting sapients and sentients into Horrors themselves. The Jouk, also known as the Sanguisuga Mimicus, are suspected to have ties to Horrors, as they share many of their metamorphic abilities with them, though they are not capable of interdimensional travel.

Known Horror variants include:

-Hound
-Reaper
-Helix
-Worm
-Floater
-Snatcher
-Siren
-Witch
-Queen