Five years ago we were sent on a mission to Mon Calamari to negotiate a treaty with them, forming an alliance against the Sith. They would build a fleet to oppose the Sith. I admit feeling optimistic when we successfully completed the negotiations. But the occasion was tainted by the assassination of the Administrator by a contingent of Sith and one droid. This droid was unlike anything I had ever seen before. It could replicate a living being, fooling most scanners. This particular droid had been impersonating the Mon Cal Chancellor, and vigorously opposed our attempts to ally with that government. My only indication that he was something other than was he appeared to be was his total absence in the Force. I saw nothing, I felt nothing. Unfortunately, I did not understand what this meant until it was too late.
We tried to prevent the murder of Adminstrator Ackbar but arrived too late. Our remaining option was to engage his assassins when we arrived. I destroyed the replicant (as they came to be known) and Dral brought it into his lab for study. He managed to locate and decode messages it had sent during its time on Mon Calamari. These messages included information on our arrival and intentions. It referred to us in bland, non-descriptive terms. Despite the non-specificity of its communications, the droid's existence was cause for concern. Dral sought to track down its origin.
I began to have dreams at this time. Sometimes the Force will send messages when one is asleep. This was one of those times, and I confess to being uncomfortable with the whole phenomenon. In these dreams I saw Xard in captivity. I saw his captors, though their species was unfamiliar to me. Their technology was also unfamiliar. This dream persisted for many nights and eventually weeks. I forget the exact duration. I did not get much sleep, I do remember. By engaging in deep mediation over that time period I was eventually successful in locating Xard's location. Interestingly enough, Dral and EmQuai had been doing their own research into the droid's origin. And of course, the droid's masters and Xard's captors would be one and the same. How convenient.
The trip to this system would be long. We first stopped at Aramasus for supplies before proceeding. There we met the Guild of the Jedi and witnessed their fall. I find this incident troublesome, though it is generally unimportant to this narrative. One thing of note about that unpleasant experience was our encounter with the Jedi Anakin Skywalker. He turned dark and killed many of the Jedi at the temple, and would have destroyed us too, if not for the questionable decision of Dral to blow up the room that both us and Anakin were standing in. If we managed to survive, it seems likely he may have as well. I wonder where he is now. Does he oppose the current Sith Lords? Or has he formed an alliance? I can only hope that this is just idle speculation.
Our trip continued, and after a long journey we found ourselves on Odeva. We were immediately greeted by a contingent of replicator droids. Our cover for this mission was that of trade, and so we were given a chance to negotiate (albeit under the close supervision of guard droids). I attempted to use this opportunity to gather more information, using my Force powers to coerce the negotiator into disclosing much about the Odevron Star Dominion's involvement in our galaxy. This was met with disasterous results. The guards disintegrated the man as he spoke. I was shocked and I deeply regret my complicity in this man's unfortunate death. I shall have to be more careful in the future.
It was apparent that we were now in serious danger, so we made our escape. I located Xard using the Force, also sensing the presence of two darksiders in the same facility. Xard would inform me that at least one of these individuals was Lord Ordotha, there to make a deal with the Odevron Star Dominion. The nature of this deal is unclear to me at this time. I can speculate that this deal may involve the consolidation of forces, possibly against the other Sith Lords, though they would easily destroy us as well.
Our ship was rendered useless and we were forced to leave onboard a mercenary ship. At this point we became concerned with matters of a more personal nature, involving the bounty on Zahn's head. The ensuing incidents are irrelevant to this missive. I point out that during this mission it never became apparent whether the Odevron Star Dominion is aware of the specifics of our deal with the Mon Calamari, or even who we are and where we are located. While this uncertaintly was disturbing at first, my concern began to fade as time passed without incident.
Not that everything would remain safe and stable. On Kamino there was the suspicious disappearance of a Mon Cal technician. We searched the facilities on Kamino to the best of our ability, turning up nothing but a pile of clothes. Using the Force I tried to find out his fate but I saw nothing of use. This matter remains unresolved.
Three years passed without incident, and then we received word of a possible alliance between three Sith lords: Ordotha, Mindander, and Klethos. We were charged with travelling to Tatooine to spy on this gathering. On Tatooine we endeavored to gather information about this meeting but information was hard to come by. I encountered a very strange alien female in a bar who struck me as suspicious so I tailed her back to her hotel room. In the hallway I was accosted by a Sith, but did not engage him due to the the timely intervention of this woman, named Demida Trisk. She beat the Sith to death with her bare hands. When I later returned to speak with Trisk, she revealed that she knew our identities and mission. She claimed to be a Hapan agent, though this was never confirmed.
That night we headed out to the palace of Lord Klethos, aided by architectural plans procured by Krussik. But we were detected and then confronted by a small contingent consisting of the Sith prisoner we took back on Mon Calamari (responsible for the death of the Administrator), a replicator droid, and Lord Klethos himself. I initiated an attack that should have destroyed the droid, only to discover that it was protected against my lightsaber. Regardless, we destroyed the droid and Xard killed Klethos, though the other Sith escaped again.
The next morning we sought out Trisk but found she had already left the hotel. A search of the city led us to the spaceport, where we were witness to the assassination of Lord Mindander by Trisk and her associates. Xard and I attempted to apprehend her but she escaped us using Force powers I am unfamiliar with. This experience, while educational, was also rather... unpleasant. I dislike such intrusions into my mind. The incident also makes her claim of being a Hapan agent less likely, and raises the possibility that perhaps she used some manner of Force ability to ascertain our identities and mission. Though I will certainly allow for the possibility of spies within the Hapan organization or on Kamino, especially with the earlier disappearance of the Mon Cal.
The Queen denied all knowledge of these supposed agents.
Some time later we were charged with investigating a Mon Calamari distress call eminating from the Maw Cluster. I admit to being suspicious but willing to check it out regardless. Upon arriving at the Cluster we made contact with the ship, and I sensed nothing unusual in the Force. But the crew turned out to be replicator droids, who attacked us when we docked with their ship. They were an upgrade from the earlier model we encountered in that these had a Force presence. We destroyed them, and meant to return home.
Prior to our departure from the Maw we received a genuine distress call from Mon Calamari, and the decision was made by the other members of the crew to travel there and render aid. On our arrival we discovered that the shipyards had been completely obliterated by an unknown attacker (with evidence of disruptor fire). Strangely enough, the planet was untouched. As our continued presence was unnecessary, we returned to Kamino.
Two years passed without incident, which I suppose would explain why I have been slow to put the pieces together and why other things continue to elude me.
A ship crashed on Kamino, which is how we obtained information about the reappearance of the Great Holocron. We traveled to the museum where it was being kept. Our clandestine retrieval of the Holocron was quickly opposed by our old friend (the Sith working for Ordotha that we fought on Mon Cal and Tatooine) as well as an unidentified Twi'lek female. From what I could ascertain, they were not working together. The Sith however, was accompanied by more replicator droids. I managed to escape with the Holocron and was forced into combat with the Twi'lek, who was a Force user. All of our opponents were killed in battle. We never ascertained who the Twi'lek was working for, and so I find the mission worthy of notation here.
Everything has suddenly come into question with our recent visit to Cularin. We stopped there at the request of our new associate Scilaxa. The planet had been utterly desolated. Krussik and Darn accompanied Scilaxa on the surface, discovering a ship that had been waiting for our arrival. Contact was established and we met the pilot Mrae Urka, who then proceeded to explain that we were being manipulated by some unknown enemy. Every mission we had undertaken at the behest of the Hapes Consortium was merely serving the interest of this mysterious adversary. Urka could not go into any further detail, only telling us that it was necessary for us to undertake a mission to the Deep Core to spy on yet another meeting between the Sith.
I have no idea what to think.
What do I believe? Someone knows where we are. Someone knows who we are. I have long worried about returning to Kamino to find everything destroyed, all that I have worked for gone. My child dead. I have an enemy and I do not know who it is. The Sith? The Odevron Star Dominion? Another mysterious faction? Or must I worry about the Hapans themselves? And then there are my compatriots, whose actions have been questionable at times. What was once so sure is now ambiguous. Confused. Unknown.
I have always been so sure of myself... but now I am afraid. Things are going to get rough, and the possibility that I may be forced to stand alone fills me with... trepidation. I shouldn't think like this. I cannot allow myself to think like this...