STAR WARS™: The Old Republic™ News

Highlights:

• New Flashpoint - Secrets of the Enclave - Experience a new story and unearth secrets that brought Darth Malgus to the Jedi Enclave ruins on Dantooine!
  
• Galactic Seasons - Welcome to the first Galactic Season: “The Stranger from Kubindi.” Complete Daily and Weekly Priority Objectives to earn new rewards. More information here: Welcome to Galactic Seasons
• Double XP for May 4th! - Running May the 4th and lasting until May 18th, enjoy two weeks full of Double XP, Valor, and Renown.
  
• Ranked PvP Season 14 - Today marks the beginning of Ranked PvP Season 14. Players who participated and earned Bronze, Silver, and Gold rewards during season 13 will find their rewards waiting in their mailboxes. Top 96 players will receive their rewards in the coming days. Season 13 Ranked PvP Rewards are now available on our PvP Vendor, Giradda the Hutt, on the Fleet.
  

General

• The Onderon Explorer Achievement is now working properly.
  
• The Legacy Stronghold Limit has been increased to 20 (up from 15).
  
• Updated the chat filter to help combat spam messages.
  
• Reduced the Legacy Level Requirements of the following Convenience Unlocks:
  
  • Legacy Fleet Pass I, II, and III now require Legacy Level 1/5/10 (down from 5/10/15).
    
  • Legacy Travel I, II, and III now require Legacy Level 1/5/10 (down from 5/10/15).
    
  • Rocket Boost now requires Legacy Level 1 (down from 8).
    
  • Improved Priority Transport: Personal Starship I now requires Legacy Level 15 (down from 30).
    
• All players now have access to Displaying Titles and Unifying Colors.
  
• The Day 7 Login Reward crate now correctly displays an icon.
  
• The chat command /sneeze now uses the Sneeze Emote as intended.
  
• The chat command /bound now correctly plays the Bound Emote.
  
• Corrected the following issues with the Emote window:
  
  • Jumping after using an emote from the window no longer repeats the emote.
    
  • The Cartel Market window no longer pops back after the character jumps if the player previously selected a Locked Emote.
    
• The Customize Appearance tab no longer overlaps with the Character sheet.
  
• Updated copy for the Customize Appearance options panel in German to avoid text-overflow.
  
• Offhands are now correctly displayed when inspecting a character.
  
• There is no longer an invisible Amplifier List Window preventing players from interacting with the game world while an Outfit Designer tab is active.
  
• Double-clicking on Nautolan to select the species when creating a Sith Marauder now works correctly.
  
• The Alignment indicator no longer goes beyond the limit at certain values.
  
• The Companions & Contacts window’s hitbox has been adjusted to fit the window edges.
  
• The Legacy shortcut in the top menu is now always available even if a Legacy is not unlocked yet.
  
• Free-to-play and Preferred Status players no longer have higher credit costs at some vendors.
  
• Free-to-play restrictions are now correctly displayed when Free-to-play players try to use the Who window.
  
• Corrected environment issues in the following areas:
  
  • The southern part of the Jedi Library Ruins on Ossus.
    
  • Near the elevator to Oasis City in the Scum and Villainy Operation.
    
  • In the central part of the Star Chamber.
    
  • In the north side of “The Works” area in Divided We Fall Uprising.
    
  • Above the Ancient Sith Crypt on Onderon.
    
• There is no longer a hole in the ground on the central side of the Axial Park, next to “Coronet Zoo” on Corellia.
  
• Added a force field in The Tenebrous Hangar Deck to prevent players from falling under the map.
  
• Fixed graphics issues on the sign at the entrance to Okara Droid Factory on Balmorra.
  

Cartel Market

• The MTX Pack Explorer’s tabs now display correctly in German.
  
• Fixed the following visual issues on the Cybernetic Pauldron’s Chestguard:
  
  • The shoulder pads no longer stretch when the character’s head on all body types turns to the side.
    
  • The skirt on the back of the chestguard now lies more smoothly on female characters.
    
• To alleviate clipping issues, facial hair is now hidden on all male body types on every race that has a beard feature when wearing the following helmets:
  
  • The Cybernetic Pauldron’s Headgear.
    
  • The Force Pilgrim’s Mask (excluding mustaches).
    
• The tooltip of the Patient Defender’s Armor Set in the Collections and Storefront now correctly mentions that it has two types of chest pieces.
  
• Corrected the following issues on the Patient Defender’s Armor Set:
  
  
  
  • The Patient Defender’s Helmet is no longer clipping with the ears of Cathar species on body types 1, 2, and 3.
    
  • The Patient Defender’s Helmet is no longer clipping with Rattataki’s piercings on all body types.
    
  • The cape from the Patient Defender’s Chest piece is no longer clipping with the rest of the armor on all body types.
    
• Corrected several issues on the Force Pilgrim’s Armor Set:
  
  • To alleviate clipping issues, the Miraluka's masks are now hidden when wearing the Force Pilgrim’s Mask on all body types.
    
  • The Force Pilgrim’s Hood no longer clips with the character’s skin on all body types.
    

Items + Economy

• The refund timer of eligible items no longer pauses while the player is offline.
  
• Removed the incorrect decoration listing of “Datacron: Dark Vs Light” under Furniture/Arrangements.
  
• Changed the "Infamous Mercenary Armor Set" to "Infamous Bounty Hunter Armor Set" in Collections and on the Storefront in order to match the item name.
  
• Preferred players can now equip their characters with items over iLevel 270 (Spoils of War Premium and Prototypes items) as intended.
  
• The Character Rename item now correctly allows names with special characters or diacritics.
  
• Applying an enhancement to a bindable item is now correctly binding that item to the player.
  

Classes +Combat Jedi Knight Sentinel Sentinel Tacticals Combat

• The Fanged God Form Tactical no longer mentions rage instead of focus in the tooltip.
  

Jedi Consular Sage

• The Inner Strength passive Ability now has an icon.
  

Smuggler Gunslinger Gunslinger Tacticals Dirty Fighting Dirty Fighting Tacticals

• The Ultraviolet Blast Tactical has been redesigned and its effect has changed to:
  
  • Hemorrhaging Blast finishes off all your directly applied bleed effects on the target at once, dealing all their remaining damage. While the target is affected by Hemorrhaging Blast, Wounding Shots converts your lingering bleed effects on the target into the original bleed effects. Hemorrhaging Blast's cooldown is increased by 6 seconds.
    

Imperial Agent Sniper Sniper Tacticals Virulence Virulence Tacticals

• The Ultraviolet Blast Tactical has been redesigned and its effect has changed to:
  
  • Weakening Blast finishes off all your directly applied poison effects on the target at once, dealing all their remaining damage. While the target is affected by Weakening Blast, Cull converts your lingering poison effects on the target into the original poison effects. Weakening Blast's cooldown is increased by 6 seconds.
    

Trooper Commando Commando Tacticals

• The extra damage from the Energized Charges Tactical is now correctly applied to Commandos.
  

Flashpoints General

• The following Flashpoint missions can now be shared in Story Mode:
  
  • Assault on Tython
    
  • Battle of Ilum
    
  • Battle of Rishi
    
  • Blood Hunt
    
  • Boarding Party
    
  • The Esseles
    
  • The Foundry
    
  • The False Emperor
    
  • Korriban Incursion
    
  • Maelstrom Prison
    
  • Taral V
    
• Activity Finder no longer matches players below level 75 with Flashpoints they can’t access, including:
  
  • Objective Meridian
    
  • The Spirit of Vengeance
    
• Lost Island and Kaon Under Siege have returned to the Activity Finder in Veteran Mode starting at level 50.
  

Flashpoints Kaon Under Siege

• Melarra is no longer below the platform preventing players from interacting with her in the Kaon Under Siege Flashpoint.
  

Star Fortress

• The Star Fortress bosses in Veteran Mode are now correctly dropping loot.
  
• Fixed an issue that could cause the EPHEMERIS encounter to break if reinforcement waves from the elevators are killed too quickly.
  
• Star Fortress Heroic Mode is now rewarding credits in addition to Experience and Renown Points.
  

The Spirit of Vengeance

• Players defeated by the Ash’ad Sharpshooter trap no longer respawn at the beginning of the Spirit of Vengeance Flashpoint, preventing them from progressing in the Flashpoint.
  
• Players are no longer stuck in combat with the Ash’ad Sharpshooters after falling through the trap door in the Spirit of Vengeance Flashpoint.
  
• Bask Sunn is no longer using the Skytrooper death explosion animation in the Spirit of Vengeance Flashpoint.
  
• Corrected Gorga Brak’s behavior in the Spirit of Vengeance Flashpoint - Master Mode:
  
  • Gorga Brak is now immune to interrupts.
    
  • Gorga Brak now only gains a stack of Stand and Fight if the player escapes his Immobilize effect while using Full Auto.
    
• Heta Kol is now properly spawning a loot chest after being defeated.
  
• Troya Ajak is no longer missing the visual effects of the Songbird Volley and Songbird Salvo projectiles in the Spirit of Vengeance Flashpoint.
  
• Made the following balance adjustments to the Spirit of Vengeance Flashpoint Solo-Story and Solo mode:
  
  • Reduced damage of Gorga Brak and Bask Sunn.
    
  • Reduced health of strong and elite enemies.
    
  • Players are now bolstered in these modes.
    

Operations The Nature of Progress

• Fixed an issue where a Lit Neutralizer Flare would stop functioning if the player who threw it moved more than 70m away from the initial position in The Nature of Progress Operation.
  
• Players can no longer stand on the center platform of the Apex Vanguard room without suffering damage after the first battery is removed in The Nature of Progress Operation, as intended.
  
• The Apex Vanguard now becomes angry if players attempt to run from it while ignoring Darkness Overdrive in The Nature of Progress Operation.
  
• Corrected the following issues on the Ventilation Station in the Nature of Progress Operation:
  
  • Early activation of the Ventilation Station within a very specific timing window no longer breaks the Red Venom Cloud mechanic for the remainder of the encounter.
    
  • Reduced the active duration of the Ventilation Station to 10s to align with the visual duration of the spinning fans.
    

Uprisings

• The Healing terminals in Uprisings now have names.
  

Galactic Starfighter General

• Remote Slicing now requires line of sight and the amount of Engine Drain suffered is reduced by half.
  

Missions + NPCs

• World Bosses now reward 25 Tech Fragments and 1 World Boss Equipment Crate to each player at level 75, instead of being shared amongst all players.
  
• The mission indicator for the step “Rendezvous with Zenith” of the Jedi Consular’s Mission “Passing the Torch” now points correctly to the next step.
  
• Added an indicator to the usable datapad to increase its visibility at the step “Return to Lana Beniko on Vaiken Spacedock” in “Forged Alliances: Part III” Mission.
  
• The ship blaster fire is now correctly displayed in the space battle during Echoes of Oblivion.
  
• A duplicate Kira Carsen no longer appears at the “Speak with Kira Carsen” step of Echoes of Oblivion.
  
• The NPC “Sandor” is no longer flying above the ground on Dromund Kaas.
  
• Players without a current target no longer continually auto-target nearby friendly NPCs who are engaged in combat in "Chapter VIII: End Times" of Knights of the Eternal Throne.
  
• The text of Space Combat Mission rewards now correctly mentions Renown Points instead of Command Points.
  

Warzones General

• PvP brackets have been merged into two brackets instead of three: 1-74 and 75.
  
• After several performance adjustments bringing them more on-par with the classic Huttball map, Queshball and Vandin Huttball are now back in the PvP Map Rotation.
  
• It is no longer possible to get stuck on the terminals in the Tatooine Canyon Arena Map.
  
• Fixed a typo in the description of the Season 3 Mount Achiever Achievement.
  
• PvP target dummies from the following locations no longer incorrectly have Expertise applied:
  
  • Starter planets
    
  • Capital worlds
    
  • Fleets
    
  • Personal ships
    
• Characters with lower than iRating 306 gear no longer have higher stats than characters in 306 iRating gear in PvP Modes.
  
• Mandalorian Battle Ring Arena has been temporarily removed from the PvP Arena rotation while we investigate reports of players randomly dying throughout the area.
  

Events All Worlds Ultimate Swoop Rally

• There is now an animation in the daily cinematics for Pit Screamers for the following planets:
  
  • Onderon
    
  • Dantooine
    
  • Tatooine
    
• The last yellow gate for the gangs' Bonus Timer Achievements on the following planets has been moved behind the finish line:
  
  • Tatooine
    
  • Onderon
    
  • Dantooine (moved in a previous update, 6.2.1)
    

Nar Shaddaa Nightlife

• The Nightlife Event decoration “Floor Trap - Fire” is now correctly lined-up with the Stronghold hooks.

Conquests

• Guild Commendations are now rewarded for completed Planetary Invasions during the next conquest event.
  
• Infinitely repeatable Conquest objectives in the personal conquest window are now correctly updated to match the Achievements tracker.
  

Ranked PvP Season 14 will officially start tomorrow with the launch of Game Update 6.3 “The Dark Descent”! Rewards for players who achieved Bronze, Silver, and Gold ranking in Season 13 will be waiting in your mailboxes following tomorrow’s scheduled maintenance. For those who climbed to the very top and obtained Platinum ranking, rewards will go out in the near future. As we kick off the new season, let’s talk about what rewards Ranked Season 14 will offer.

New Rewards

Since we introduced a new Mount and new Armor set in the last two seasons, it's time for us to introduce a new Weapon Set! Check out the concept art for the Season 14 Weapon Set below. Stay tuned--later in the season, when we announce the ratings breakdown, we’ll show off screenshots of the weapons in action.



Tier Rewards

We're slightly adjusting how we communicate the rewards for reaching Bronze, Silver, Gold, or Platinum rankings. Rewards for each ranking will be communicated at the start of the season in addition to revealing the new rewards. This way, players will have a better understanding of what rewards they can aim for!

Bronze Tier

• Bronze Season 14 Flair
  
• Bronze Season 14 Battle Flag
  
• Bronze Season 14 Decoration
  
• Bronze Season 14 Title – [PlayerName] the Resourceful
  
• 37,500 Ranked Tokens
  

Silver Tier

• Silver Season 14 Flair
  
• Silver Season 14 Battle Flag
  
• Silver Season 14 Decoration
  
• Silver Season 14 Title – [PlayerName] the Determined
  
• Bronze Season 14 Title – [PlayerName] the Resourceful
  
• 75,000 Ranked Tokens
  

Gold Tier

• Gold Season 14 Flair
  
• Gold Season 14 Battle Flag
  
• Gold Season 14 Decoration
  
• Gold Season 14 Title – [PlayerName] the Resolute
  
• Silver Season 14 Title – [PlayerName] the Determined
  
• Bronze Season 14 Title – [PlayerName] the Resourceful
  
• 150,000 Ranked Tokens
  

Platinum Tier - Top 96 (Top 3 of each Advanced Class on the leaderboard)

• Platinum Season 14 Flair
  
• Platinum Season 14 Title – [PlayerName] the Tenacious [AdvancedClass]
  
• Ex: [PlayerName] the Tenacious Marauder
  
• 225,000 Ranked Tokens
  
• All previous tier rewards (not including token grants)
  

As for each tier’s rating requirements, players will have to wait until we're well into Ranked Season 14 for that breakdown. With that, we wrap up the Ranked Season 14 kickoff article. Best of luck to every PvPer across the galaxy!

Game Update 6.3 “The Dark Descent” brings players a new Flashpoint called “Secrets of the Enclave” and features one of the most notorious Sith Lords, Darth Malgus. The Flashpoint takes players to the previously unexplored Jedi Enclave on Dantooine. In a previous interview with World Designer Allison Berryman we discussed the creation of a new event: Behind the Scenes of “Feast of Prosperity.” Allison is back, this time to discuss the process of creating a new Flashpoint. We discuss the difference between the creation process of an event and a Flashpoint, the introduction of the Jedi Enclave in SWTOR gameplay, and more!

To begin, tell us about yourself and your role on the SWTOR team.

Hi, again! Y'all have heard from me before. I'm a World Designer on our team, so I wear a lot of hats. Most of what I do is putting together the building blocks that make missions work, from scripting out objectives to hooking up logic that gets you through conversations. Sometimes they even let me dabble in a little writing--like in the Feast of Prosperity and Swoop Gang events. In this case, I was the primary designer for the entire Flashpoint (but I still had a lot of help).

Can you tell us more about the “Secrets of the Enclave” Flashpoint and its genesis?

In Secrets of the Enclave, you get to revisit the Jedi Enclave on Dantooine--a truly nostalgic place for all the Knights of the Old Republic fans out there. Like several recent Flashpoints, it has a Solo-Story mode that takes you on the full adventure alongside the typical single-player, Veteran, and Master Modes. We've been wanting to peek inside the enclave for some time in our game (and we know fans have, too), and our recent storylines finally gave us a great reason to go inside. You'll be pursuing Malgus and trying to figure out what his plans are as you fight your way through the ruins. I don't want to give too much of the story away, but I think most everyone will enjoy their time here.



Last time, we interviewed you about the creation of the new “Feast of Prosperity” Event. How is the Flashpoint creation process different from the Event creation process?

Flashpoints are a different beast than events, that's for sure. We did some stuff I was really proud of for the Feast (like the new mini-games and incorporating World Bosses into the event), but Flashpoints have even more moving pieces—specifically when it comes to encounter design for bosses. It's a big challenge to create fights that are entertaining and easy to understand, but still as difficult as they need to be. Since our modes differ significantly in the number of players and group compositions we need to support, we have to make adjustments to every boss to get each mode feeling right. Some mechanics that work great for a full group with a tank, healer, and two DPS don't always work for a solo player, so there's a lot of fine tuning we need to do.

Another thing I wanted to be careful of was making sure the Flashpoint was a reasonable length--you should be able to jump in and complete a Flashpoint relatively quickly in most cases, and boss fights shouldn't go on too long. It's a lot easier to judge how quickly you can complete one solo mission for an event than to get the overall flow and length of a Flashpoint down. And that's just the design side--so many people need to be involved in the creation process for a Flashpoint! From end to end, they're some of the most complex pieces of content we make (Operations being the very most complex). I could go on, but I'm putting the finishing touches on things as we speak.

The Jedi Enclave is such an iconic place in The Old Republic. Why did the team choose this location and how did you integrate it into SWTOR gameplay?

Like I mentioned above, we've wanted to go to the enclave just as much as our fans have, and now was just the right time. I think one of the most important elements of the Flashpoint is its environment, and I'm pretty sure everyone will agree with me that art knocked it way out of the park. We've got a great variety in environments--you start outside in the rolling Dantooine hills (where you'll notice some really nice VFX touches, like butterflies), transition into the crystal-studded cave, and then through the lower and upper enclave itself. It lent itself really well to a diverse cast of bosses and enemies and to different gameplay patterns.

The first bit feels open, the latter two thirds are more linear (though there are still some nice treats for those who go out of the way in the ruins!), but the corridors are broken up nicely by some awesome, highly recognizable rooms. I think there's a little something for everyone in here, whether you like to take your time and explore, or if you just like fun boss encounters (I hope!). There’s also a bonus mission that has a little bit of a trick to it to unlock the optional boss, so there’s quite a bit of gameplay variety packed in there.



To wrap things up, what is your favorite part about this new Flashpoint?

That's not a fair question. I love it all. I'm more interested in hearing what players think is the best part. But if I really, really have to answer, I love the way the Terentatek boss hurls himself at you full-force, face planting directly on you. He's perfect, and don't think for one second that I don't see you folks on PTS teasing him by getting underneath his room!

That does remind me, I want to shout out everyone who has been playing and leaving feedback on the PTS. I know I asked a ton of questions, but your feedback has been really crucial in getting this right. I read every bit of it and sincerely appreciate the effort you all put into your responses. Thanks to everyone who made this Flashpoint come together, and I can’t wait for you all to play it.


Thank you for your time, Allison! As a reminder, the “Secrets of the Enclave” Flashpoint will be available, along with Galactic Seasons, with Game Update 6.3 “The Dark Descent” April 27th, 2021. If you'd like to know more about this next update, keep an eye on our newsfeed.

We will be taking the servers offline on April 27, 2021, to deploy Game Update 6.3.

Details:
DATE: April 27, 2021
TIME: 6:00AM - 9:00AM PDT (1300 - 1600 UTC)
VERSION: 6.3

Patch notes will be available on Monday.

Thank you for your patience as we maintain Star Wars™: The Old Republic™!

The silence in the room was heavy, until Master Satele placed a worn cup on the table with a soft thud. Steam rose in steady wisps from the fragrant liquid inside. Aryn Leneer sat awkwardly, her hands in her lap as she stared at the drink.

“This tea comes highly recommended from General Daeruun,” Master Satele offered.

“Thanks,” Aryn warmed her hands on the sides of the cup. “I take it that means it’s good?”

“Very.”

The quiet returned, and the former Jedi Grand Master remained standing, her eyes slowly searching Aryn’s face. It made her nervous.

“You can sit too, you know,” Aryn said.

“I prefer to stand,” Master Satele countered. “But,” she continued as Aryn frowned, “if it makes you feel more comfortable, I will sit.”
Master Satele pulled out a chair, and Aryn took a sip of the tea she’d been offered. It was good; really good. And, unexpectedly, it soothed her nerves a bit.

“You probably don’t know much about what I’ve been up to after… after I left the order,” Aryn began.

“I have heard a few things.”

“Right,” Aryn took another long sip of tea. “We live on Dantooine--Zeerid, Arra, and I. We have a farm. It’s peaceful.”

“It sounds wonderful.”

“It is,” Aryn replied. “We don’t see a lot of trouble. So when something is wrong… you notice.”

Another sip of tea; if nothing else, it gave her time to steel herself. Now or never. She had to say it.

“Darth Malgus came to Dantooine.”

The Jedi’s steady gaze didn’t so much as waver. Aryn didn’t expect the notoriously calm Master Satele Shan to cause a scene, but it was unnerving to see no reaction at all. She might as well have said it was starting to rain.

Aryn continued, “I could sense that he was coming, so we got ready. Zeerid locked down the farm, took Arra somewhere safe--”

“And what did you do?”

After Master Satele’s long silence, her question was so sudden that Aryn thought she might fall out of her chair.

“I… I went looking for him. Followed his trail to the only place on Dantooine a Sith Lord would be interested in.”

“The enclave…” Master Satele said, barely above a whisper.

Aryn downed the rest of the tea. She wasn’t sure if it was the drink’s calming effects, or that Master Satele’s stoic veneer seemed to be cracking, but she finally started to feel some confidence in reliving what had happened.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the same way she could sense Malgus approaching Dantooine before he arrived, Aryn could feel the powerful Force energy radiating from the abandoned Jedi Enclave before it came into view. But as her speeder raced across the grassy plains toward the crumbling ruins, she could sense something else coming from within, a strong presence, entwined with the enclave’s aura, corrupting it…

Malgus.

Aryn maneuvered the old bucket of bolts behind the biggest blba tree she could find and parked it in the shade of the leafy canopy. She thanked the stars for Zeerid, who had put a brand new power cell in it the day before. No chance of getting stranded out there.

She kept her eyes on the entrance to the ruins as she fixed her lightsaber to her belt. The weight of the weapon--and of what it meant to carry it--had become unfamiliar in the many years since she last wielded it. Fending off unruly kath hounds and the occasional thief on the farm didn’t require such a sophisticated weapon. And honestly, she expected--hoped--to never need the lightsaber again.

As she watched the ruins, minutes passed without any sign of movement. Whether Malgus had already accomplished what he came for and fled, or whether he was still inside, Aryn couldn’t be sure. There was only one way to find out.

There were many ways to get into the old enclave, but Malgus, brazen as he was, probably wouldn’t hesitate to stroll right through the front door. Aryn didn’t feel particularly brazen, but she would do the same.

She stumbled into the shadowy enclave from the brightness of midday. Her eyes adjusted to the enclave’s dark hallways quickly enough, but she still kept her hand close to her lightsaber’s hilt while everything around her came into focus. If she was going to do this, she’d do it carefully. She reached out through the Force, but she couldn’t sense anything out of the ordinary--at least, nothing felt different from what she’d been feeling so far. And if an ambush was coming, it would’ve happened by now.

Aryn turned and surveyed the area around her. From the few points of light that filtered through the cracks in the ceiling, she could make out great hulking chunks of fractured stone. Who knew what they might have once protected in here, before they came crashing down centuries ago; now, they only blocked intruders from reaching many forgotten areas of the enclave.

Her gaze settled on one end of the gloomy hallway. A curtain of dust, dancing in a sliver of sunlight, hung in front of an opening so dark, it could only mean that it led further inside.

As Aryn carefully picked her way over the debris littered across the stone floor, she couldn’t stop thinking about the irony of what was happening. How many Jedi would have given their dueling arm for the chance to be here? And here she was--an outcast, a failure--stumbling through the darkness of one of the Jedi’s best kept secrets.

She kept her pace slow. No telling what sorts of things decided to make their homes in here, and from the rustling she heard when she got too close to the walls, she didn’t want to find out. As for what the Jedi left behind, traps, alarms… that was an even bigger mystery.

It didn’t take long before the steady, but faint, sense of Malgus’s proximity suddenly flared up and hit her like a wave. It was almost unbearable as it knocked the air from her lungs. Not only was Malgus still inside the ruins, he was close.

In the murky dark, she heard him before she saw him. The telltale sound of a crystal sparking, igniting a lightsaber’s blade. She slammed her eyes shut and raised her arms over her head, summoning the strongest Force shield she could muster in the little time she had. But the blow never landed…

And there was nothing there when she opened her eyes, only brief flashes of red lighting up the walls in the distance. Whatever Malgus was fighting down there, it wasn’t going down easy.

Aryn picked up the pace. Each of her echoing footsteps was drowned out more and more by the sounds of Malgus in combat. Metal crashing against stone. Humming energy slicing through circuitry. She pulled her own lightsaber from her belt and held the pad of her thumb against the activation switch.

She reached the end of the hallway, where the mouth opened up into a cavernous stone room. She could see the entrances to other corridors scattered around the outer wall. And in the center of the chamber, a commanding tower of might, a shadowed silhouette shrouded by the dark side of the Force… Darth Malgus.

His back was turned, and Aryn ducked behind a jagged section of the tunnel wall before Malgus had the opportunity to spot her. Crouched down in her hiding place, she watched as formidable combat droids--the Jedi’s defenses were still active, after all these years--crumpled like they were made of sackcloth. The droids were swift and brutal, and she couldn’t tell where they were coming from, but it didn’t matter. He ruthlessly cut each of them down just as fast as they came online.

Nothing was slowing Malgus down. With each effortless swing of his lightsaber, each crushing blow from his fist, she could feel it: he was just as powerful today as he had been when she last saw him, decades ago. Back then, she could hold her own against him, but now… there was no way she could defeat him. Not alone.

Slowly, Aryn moved to head back the way she came, bent low and out of sight. But when the small rock she disturbed with her foot clattered loudly--too loudly--across the stone floor, she realized that Malgus’s battle was over. The echo of stone bouncing against stone was deafening, but not as much as the silence that followed.

Aryn froze, except for her hand twitching around the hilt of her lightsaber. She shut her eyes and willed every muscle in her body to be as still as the rock that surrounded her. Her ears strained, but she couldn’t hear anything over her pounding heart.

The sound of searing electricity tore through the air as Malgus’s lightsaber blazed to life. Aryn waited, shallow breaths ticking the seconds by as she weighed her options. If she attacked from this position, the surprise could give her the upper hand. It’d be the hardest fight of her life, but she would be damned if just let the Sith Lord take her down.

Aryn pushed the breath she’d been holding through her teeth and tightened her grip on her lightsaber until her weathered knuckles turned white. She pushed the soles of her boots firmly into the dirt…
And she ran.

Without looking back, Aryn sliced her arm in an arc behind her, knocking several of the larger stones down into something that resembled a barricade. She thrust her lightsaber’s hilt in front of her as she ran and hit the activation switch, and the blade illuminated the darkened space.

Fighting Malgus would always be a gamble. There was a small--but almost negligible--chance she might win, but Aryn learned from a very young age to trust in her own feelings. And with every fiber of her being, she could feel that if she faced Malgus now, she would never see the sunlight again.

The same sunlight that shone like a beacon at the end of the tunnel.

She stopped suddenly when her feet hit the soil outside the enclave ruins. In the distance, next to the tree where she’d hidden her speeder, a figure was jumping off his own vehicle. Aryn sheathed her lightsaber and ran toward the tree with every bit of strength she had left.

“Aryn!” the figure called out as she entered the shade of the blba tree.

Before she could stop herself, her body collided with Zeerid’s, her arms wrapping tightly around his shoulders.

“What are you doing here?” Aryn asked through her attempts to catch her breath.

Zeerid’s bearded face softened into worry at Aryn’s urgency. “I came to help you. Not like I needed much convincing, but Arra said she’d never forgive me if I let you do this alone.”

“How’d you know where I was?”

“I had a hunch Malgus might be after something in this place.”

“He’s in there. I think…” Aryn swallowed. “I think he knew I was in there, too.”

“What? Is he following you?” Zeerid’s hand flew to the blaster at his hip as he scanned the entrance to the ruins.

“I don’t know,” Aryn replied. “But we’re not sticking around to find out.” She swung a leg over her speeder and started it up, its engine rumbling to life.

“So, what do we do?” Zeerid asked as he climbed onto his own speeder.

Aryn faced the ruins. Malgus’s presence, his pain, his anger, his power… she could still feel all of it so strongly outside the sturdy walls of the abandoned enclave. To defeat him, they would need the only people strong enough to oppose such a force. Unfortunately, the people they needed probably wouldn’t be too happy to see Aryn.

“We go to the Jedi. They’ll know what to do.”

“Are you sure?” Zeerid asked.

“No. But what other choice do we have?”

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“I wanted to fight him.” Aryn tilted the empty cup back and forth, rolling the bottom along the wooden tabletop. “Maybe I should have. But deep down, I knew--it was going to take more than one ex-Jedi to stop a monster like Malgus. So, once I got Zeerid and Arra somewhere safe, I came here. I came to you.”

Master Satele’s bright blue gaze remained steady throughout Aryn’s story, but now, just for a moment, Aryn thought she saw something like amusement as the Jedi narrowed her eyes.

“I am glad to see that as you’ve matured, you’ve learned to let a cooler head prevail.”

Aryn folded her hands in her lap and gave a curt nod. Whether Master Satele was offering good-natured ribbing or genuine criticism, Aryn had no desire to be reminded of why she withdrew from the Jedi Order.

“I could feel Malgus’s anger, his frustration, but there was more. It almost felt like he was… confused. Like he knew what he was searching for, but he couldn’t find it.” Aryn sighed. “That’s all I know. I would tell you more if I could.”

“It’s all right. You’ve done well, Aryn. Thank you.” Master Satele stood and crossed to the opposite wall, her back to the room.

“So,” Master Satele began. “How should we handle this?”

Aryn furrowed her brow. “Why are you asking me?” she replied to Master Satele’s back. “This is Jedi business now, and you’re the last person I need to remind that I’m not a Jedi anymore.”

Master Satele turned to face her, her passive expression easing into understanding. “You’re not the only one who relinquished their ties to the Jedi. My role--my place--in the order isn’t what it used to be. If I am being truthful, it’s been different for years, really. But we will all have our parts to play in this, regardless of our standing in the Jedi Order.”

A wordless moment passed, but before Aryn could respond, a cool, clear voice rang out from the door to their meeting room. A young woman with bright red hair leaned against the door’s frame, arms crossed.

“Satele, Sal-Deron asked to see you. When you can spare a moment.”

“What fortunate timing,” Master Satele replied. “There is someone I would like her to speak with.”

The young woman barely spared a glance at Aryn before she turned and left the room.

Master Satele gestured toward the door, her gaze on Aryn once again. “Let’s go together. I know Master Sal-Deron would be very interested in hearing what you have to say.”

Aryn stood and walked a few paces toward the door. “Just ‘Satele?’ Since when are you so informal with other Jedi?”

“Syl is… a complicated student. I try to choose my battles wisely when it comes to her. It seems to help...” Master Satele ushered Aryn into the hallway, closing the door behind them. She walked to the right and motioned for Aryn to follow.

“I mean it when I say things have changed, Aryn, the Jedi Order and many of us with it. Others hold the responsibility that once was mine, and I need you to tell them your story before you return to your family.”

The two walked on. “I understand that the Jedi aren’t what they used to be,” Aryn began. “But things… can’t be that different, can they?”

“Oh, yes,” Master Satele replied, serenely. “But change is one thing that the Jedi have always been familiar with, no matter how hard we fight it. And after all that you’ve shared with me today, I feel that more change is yet to come…”