Saturday, November 15, 2025

The Chains Beneath the Hills

 

Chapter I: The Chains Beneath the Hills

The Iron Hills were not made of iron, but of sorrow. Beneath their jagged peaks, the Dominion had carved out a network of slave pits where Orcs—once proud warriors of the Northern Clans—were reduced to laborers, digging for kyber shards to fuel the war machines of the Empire.



In the shadow of the Iron Hills, where Orcs toil under the cruel lash of the Dominion, a cloaked figure descends from the stars. The Ebony Jedi, last of the Vire Order, moves like smoke through the slave pits—his lightsaber humming with righteous fury. These Orcs were warriors once, proud and free. Now, they are shackled. But not for long.

With a whisper to the Force and fire in his heart, the Ebony Jedi begins the liberation.

The air was thick with ash and despair. Guards in obsidian armor patrolled the perimeter, their visors glowing red, their rifles slung low. No one escaped the pits. No one dared.




Until now.

A ripple passed through the Force.

From the shadows of the canyon, a figure emerged—cloaked in midnight robes, his presence cloaked by the ancient art of the Vire Order. His skin shimmered like polished obsidian under the twin moons. His eyes burned with purpose.

The Ebony Jedi had arrived.

He moved like wind through the camp, silent but unstoppable. With a flick of his wrist, his saber ignited—a blade of violet fire that hummed with righteous fury. One guard turned. He never had time to scream.



The galaxy of Gallica is a fractured empire — vast, cold, and suffocating under its own weight. Its colonies stretch across dying stars, their people broken by the mechanical overseers known as the Praetors of Iron. Entire civilizations have forgotten the meaning of freedom. The Jedi Order, once a symbol of hope, has been twisted into myth — its remnants hunted and erased.

In the wastelands of Vornis IX, beneath the smog-choked peaks known as the Iron Hills, lives Anara Voss, the last survivor of the Ebony Order — a sect of Jedi who embraced the balance between shadow and light. Haunted by her failure to save her people, he hides among miners and refugees, his once-brilliant saber buried beneath the dust.

When the empire enslaves a new wave of colonists — children among them — something inside Anara reignites. His defiance sparks a chain reaction of rebellion. Smugglers, soldiers, and mystics rally to her cause. The Iron Hills become a symbol of uprising — a fortress of hope beneath an empire of despair.

But liberation comes at a cost. The empire unleashes Lord Kareth, a former Jedi Master turned enforcer, who shares a dark past with Anara. Their conflict is more than battle — it’s a reckoning of faith, guilt, and destiny. As the rebellion spreads across the galaxy, Anara must decide whether to lead as a savior or destroy as a weapon of vengeance.




The Iron Hills groaned under the weight of centuries. Once sacred ground to the Orcish clans, they had been hollowed out by the Dominion—turned into a fortress of suffering. The slave pits stretched for miles, lit by flickering plasma torches and the dull glow of kyber shard furnaces. The air reeked of scorched metal and broken spirits.

But tonight, the wind carried something different.

A whisper. A promise.

The Ebony Jedi moved like a shadow through the outer perimeter, his cloak billowing behind him. His boots made no sound on the gravel. He paused at the edge of the pit, surveying the scene below: hundreds of Orcs, their green skin dulled by ash and exhaustion, chained in rows, digging with trembling hands.

A guard barked orders. Another struck an elder Orc across the back with a shock baton.

The Jedi’s grip tightened around his hilt.

He descended.

Two guards spotted him and raised their rifles. The Jedi’s saber ignited with a hiss—violet light slicing through the gloom. One rifle clattered to the ground, its owner disarmed and unconscious before he could scream. The other tried to run. He didn’t make it far.

The Jedi reached the slave line. The Orcs recoiled at first, unsure if this was another trick. But then he knelt before the elder who had been struck.

“I am not your enemy,” he said, voice low and resonant. “I am the last of the Vire. And I’ve come to break your chains.”

He raised his hand. The Force surged through him, ancient and wild. Shackles snapped open. Chains unraveled like serpents fleeing the light.

Gasps rippled through the pit.

“Take up your strength,” he said. “Tonight, you fight not for survival—but for freedom.”

Alarms blared. The Dominion had noticed.

From the command tower, Overseer Varn watched in disbelief. “Deploy the sentinels,” he snarled. “Kill the Jedi. Burn the slaves.”

Drones lifted into the sky, their red eyes scanning for targets. Mechs stomped from the hangars, armed with plasma cannons and sonic disruptors.

The Jedi turned to the Orcs. “You must move. Head for the northern ridge. I’ll clear the path.”

“But we have no weapons,” one said.

“You have each other,” the Jedi replied. “And you have me.”

He leapt into the air, landing atop a mech with a crash. His saber carved through its armor, disabling it in seconds. He spun, deflecting blaster fire, redirecting it into the drone swarm above. Explosions lit the sky.

The Orcs ran.

Some fought.




One young Orc, barely old enough to remember freedom, picked up a fallen baton and charged a guard. Others followed, emboldened by the Jedi’s fury.

The battle raged for hours.

By dawn, the Iron Hills were silent.

Smoke curled from the ruins of the command tower. The slave pits were empty.

At the northern ridge, the Ebony Jedi stood among the freed Orcs. He looked out over the horizon, where the Dominion still ruled.

“This is only the beginning,” he said.

The elder Orc stepped forward. “What do we call you, warrior?”

He turned, violet blade extinguished, cloak fluttering in the wind.

“Call me what they fear most,” he said. “Call me the Ebony Jedi.”




Saturday, November 8, 2025

The Ebony Jedi: The Chase

 The smell of ozone and burnt flesh was a cold promise: the hunt was on.



Kaelen and Vexa ran, the sounds of Imperial reinforcements descending upon Plant Gamma echoing in the tunnels behind them. The escape route was the oldest part of the Xylotian infrastructure—a network of abandoned maintenance conduits and geological fault lines that ran beneath the city's toxic crust, leading toward the dilapidated spaceport on the far side of the continent.

The Deep Tunnels

When they finally rejoined the rest of the rebels and the rescued children, the mood was shattered. The initial euphoria of the strike was replaced by grim reality. The children huddled together, their small, grey bodies trembling.

"He's sealed the whole sector," Vexa reported, after checking a salvaged seismic sensor. "The Imperial presence is ten times what it was this morning. They've landed the Aegis, a light destroyer, over the capital. They aren't just looking for rebels; they're looking for you."

Kaelen knew it. Her actions had drawn the eye of the Emperor's deadliest servant. The price of her visibility was the safety of everyone around her.

"We need a ship," Kaelen stated, ignoring the sharp, throbbing pain in her ribs.

"Ships are at the spaceport," Takk, the young rebel, said. "It's three hundred kilometers and guarded by a full perimeter wall and AT-STs. We'd never make it across the surface."

"We won't go across the surface," Kaelen countered. "We'll go beneath it. Vexa, you said these tunnels lead to the old city. Does that path continue to the spaceport?"

Vexa consulted her internal mapping data. "It’s unstable. A three-day journey, maybe more. We'd have to cross the geothermal vents. But it's the only way to avoid the main military road."



"It's a chance," Kaelen said. "We split into three groups. Takk, you lead the younglings. Vexa, you and your strongest lead the rearguard. I’ll scout ahead."

Before anyone could protest, she activated a small, battered holoprojector. It displayed a schematic of the spaceport's docking bay.

"We aren’t aiming for a cargo freighter," she said, her voice firm. "We're aiming for the Imperial Yacht. It’s fast, shielded, and registered with high priority. We take that, we can outrun anything the Aegis can launch."

Vexa looked at the schematic, then at Kaelen. "And how do we get a dozen children and twenty rebels onto an Imperial yacht without being seen?"

"We create a distraction they can't ignore," Kaelen said, looking back the way they had come. "Something big enough to make them forget everything but their own safety."


The Inquisitor’s Pursuit

The chase was agonizing. For two days, Kaelen's party moved through the choking, sulfurous maze. The tunnels were hot, the air thin, and the fear was a constant, gnawing presence.

The Inquisitor, however, was not hampered by a dozen younglings. He was a shadow that didn't need water or rest.

Kaelen, scouting ahead, felt him first—a sudden, glacial coldness that cut through the geothermal heat. He was close.

She led the group into a chamber where the tunnel roof had collapsed, creating a labyrinth of broken concrete pillars and rusted scaffolding. She ordered Vexa to halt the group behind the wreckage.

"He's here," Kaelen whispered, activating her amber saber and stepping into the open. "Go. Don't look back."

Vexa grabbed her arm. "You can't do this alone! He knows your moves!"

"No," Kaelen said, a fierce, determined fire in her eyes. "He knows the moves of a Jedi. He doesn't know the moves of a scavenger."

She reached out with the Force and pulled. An Imperial surveillance drone, left behind weeks ago, detached itself from the ceiling and floated into her hand. She disabled it and kept moving.

Kaelen plunged into a side tunnel that ran directly above a massive, pressurized steam line. She had nothing but her saber and her resolve.



The Inquisitor arrived moments later. His spinning red blade illuminated the dust motes.

"Foolish girl!" his synthesized voice boomed, echoing through the confined space. "You cannot escape destiny! You cannot escape me!"

He advanced, his focus absolute. He saw the saber scorches where Kaelen had braced herself against the wall, preparing to fight. He sensed her presence directly ahead.

He charged, rounding the corner—straight into the surveillance drone Kaelen had planted at head-height.

It was nothing, a minor obstacle, but it broke his concentration for a split second.

WHUMP!

Kaelen didn't attack with her saber. She didn't use a push. She used the Force to rupture the aged, rusty steam pipe beneath the Inquisitor's feet.

A jet of superheated, contaminated steam erupted, engulfing the Inquisitor. He roared, staggering back, his armor screaming in protest as the steam cooked his life support systems. His blade wavered, dropping to his side.

"You will pay for that!" he shrieked, his voice ragged with pain and rage.

Kaelen ran, but not back to her group. She ran forward, away from the tunnels, toward the surface.

The Gambit

She emerged into the darkness of the spaceport's massive exterior sewage system, hours ahead of her group. She was exposed, but she had achieved two things: she had bought Vexa time, and she had lured the Inquisitor away from the main route.

Kaelen sprinted toward the perimeter wall, throwing herself against a service ladder. The wall was immense, crowned with laser turrets.

She saw the Yacht first: the Ruler's Hand, sleek and arrogant, docked in a segregated, fortified bay.

Kaelen climbed, reaching the crest of the wall just as the Inquisitor emerged from the sewage exit she had used, his armor blackened, steam still curling off his shoulders. He was injured, but his rage made him more dangerous.

"There you are," he rasped, activating his saber.

"This is over," Kaelen said.

"Yes. It is."

Kaelen didn't fight him. She launched herself off the wall, dropping twenty feet onto the roof of an ammo dump next to the main power junction.

The Inquisitor followed, leaping across the gap, landing on the roof to block her path.

"I will enjoy tearing you apart, piece by piece," he said, advancing.

"You won't get the chance," Kaelen spat.

She raised her saber and didn't attack the Inquisitor. She attacked the power junction. She didn't slice it—she melted the conduits, focusing her Force-enhanced heat to weld the main power relays together.

A cataclysmic surge of energy ripped through the junction. The air filled with the screech of burning wires and the explosion of transformers. The entire spaceport plunged into darkness.

The Imperial garrison panicked. The automated turrets went silent. The heavy hangar doors locked down.

Kaelen grabbed the Inquisitor's shoulder and pulled them both off the exploding roof and into the darkness. She tumbled, hitting the ground hard, the pain in her ribs a blinding flash.

She rose, ready to fight, but the Inquisitor was gone—swallowed by the sudden, disorienting chaos. He would be recovering, using the confusion to reposition.

The distraction was in place. The Imperial forces were blinded, deafened, and worried about a general insurrection.

Kaelen stood in the darkness, pulling her hood up. She had mere minutes before the backup generators kicked in.

She could feel Vexa's group emerging from a hidden tunnel, moving toward the yacht's bay under the cover of the power outage. Kaelen knew she had to get to the Ruler's Hand first. She had to secure the cockpit.

She wasn't leaving Xylos yet. She still had to face the Inquisitor one last time—not to kill him, but to ensure everyone else escaped.





The Chains Beneath the Hills

  Chapter I: The Chains Beneath the Hills The Iron Hills were not made of iron, but of sorrow. Beneath their jagged peaks, the Dominion ha...