Last time, Mace went to the aid of one Cal Kestis on the planet Dathomir. The galaxy is in chaos with the cold war between the Empire and the burgeoning Rebellion, and it seems that no one has the upper hand in the battle of the Light Side versus the Dark. Will Mace be able to aid Cal on his mission? Will the Empire recover from their defeat at Despayre and the loss of their superweapon? And what about the Prophets of the Dark Side and the Inquisitorus?
. . .let's answer that last question first, shall we?
We return to this galaxy far, far away far and away from Dathomir. You might remember the Empire coming to kick down the doors of the Inquisitorus' stronghold on Nur waaaaay back in Part 9, and they have been largely out of the story since. Let's catch up, shall we?
Trilla, the Second Sister, had ordered her fellow Inquisitors to leave the stronghold on Nur. Under her guidance, they made their way to Korriban (no, not Morband - I don't care that George Lucas liked it better, Korriban fits the ear better) and sought guidance from the Dark Side of the Force. Hidden in a veil of the Dark Side, and most of the non-Force Sensitive among the Empire's number having no inclination to go to a planet with as dark and bloody a history of Korriban, they were safe...for a time, anyway.
. . .at least as safe as you can be on a hostile planet.
Trilla, now adopting the title of Acting Grand Inquisitor (the former having been lost to them in the escape, his whereabouts unknown), eventually receives a vision of a holocron placed into hiding by one Eno Cordova. Contained within are the names and locations of many prospective young Jedi, something that the Inquisitorus could sorely use in its struggles against the Empire and the Prophets of the Dark Side. Working from Korriban, she sends out agents to locate it.
Eventually, her path brings her to the planet Bracca as it did in the Disney timeline, where Cal Kestis was working hiding as a scavenger. As in the Disney timeline, the crew of the Stinger Mantis came to his rescue and the quest to recover Eno Cordova's holocron began as it had in Fallen Order, although with the slight alteration of the Inquisitorus not having the backing of the Empire. That does not mean, however, that the Empire wasn't involved.
Kadann had, likewise, received visions of the holocron and wanted it for the Prophets. With the efforts in protecting the systems between the Empire and the Rebellion, though, he is not allowed the same resources by Tarkin and Amedda that would be granted to the Inquisitors in the main timeline. Instead, with only a few minor detachments of troops, the Prophets make some headway in hindering Cal and the crew of the Stinger Mantis at a few points.
There is, of course, open warfare between the Inquisitors and the Prophets on the rare occasions that they come into conflict. Most often, the Inquisitors win these due to their exceptional martial combat training, although with those like Kadann in rotation it's not a guarantee in any way. And indeed, Kadann is in rotation as we've established before.
All this, along with the addition of Mace, has made the attempts to locate the vault holding Eno Cordova's holocron that much easier. We get a similar set of events as were in the game itself. The Inquisitors and the Prophets attack at various points and get taken down. Cal's lightsaber gets destroyed and he has to go to Ilum to recover a new kyber crystal and make a new one. In a change from the previous timeline, Mace takes a few clusters onboard to return to the other Jedi, seeing as a few generations are coming up and will eventually need to make their own lightsabers.
Unfortunately for him, the Force is not with Mace today.
Kadann manages to outflank Cere and take her hostage, demanding the holocron in return for her. Between that and an oncoming group of Stormtroopers, the heroes are forced to relent to his demands in order to have time to escape. Kadann releases Cere...by slicing her head clean from her shoulders.
Yep. Dead.
Cal calls out for his blood, but Mace is quicker to act and forces Kadann into a duel once again. This time, however, the Prophet is more than ready for him. With electricity, Mace is subdued and cries out for Cal and the others to run...and falls to the ground, seemingly dead. As a final act of victory, Kadann slices off Mace's mechanical arm and leaves it among the grass.
Cal is pulled back by Merrin and Greez, barely, and the wounded and beaten Trilla is taken into custody - likewise shocked by the object of her hatred having been cut down so suddenly and brutally. Kadann has Mace taken away, intending to bring him back to Dromund Kaas and interrogate him to find the location of the other Jedi.
The Stinger Mantis takes off in one direction while Kadann's personal cruiser heads off in the other. The lowest point for our heroes, with Kadann now having both the holocron and Mace in his custody. As they ponder what to do, and a wounded and sedated Mace is transported back to Dromund Kaas, the real action is back on Bogano.
Left in the grass following it being sliced away, the mechanical arm of Mace begins to hum. A light within suddenly becomes illuminated...and begins to flicker on and off...
. . .and that's where we're leaving off Part 12. Yet another cliffhanger! This one, I'm afraid, will last a little bit longer. Next time, we're getting into a very different kind of What If...? than we've ever covered before. Be there!
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