Date: 22 BBY
Location: The Unfinished Star Platform Above Tython
Cain's starfighter slid out of hyperspace into the orbit of =Tython, greeted by the imposing silhouette of an unfinished Star Platform suspended against the planet's green horizon. Scaffolding lattices and half-completed hull sections glinted in the distant starlight as construction droids crawled over the structure's skeleton.
The platform was massive even in its incomplete state – meant to be a linchpin of the sector's defenses once finished – but for now it resembled a colossal jigsaw with many pieces yet to be put in place.
Cain brought his ship alongside a temporary docking spar, noting the faint shimmer of a weak deflector shield enveloping the work-in-progress. Inside the cockpit, indicator lights flickered. Everything seemed routine on arrival, yet he felt an inexplicable prickling at the back of his mind, as if the Force itself were whispering a warning through the void.
Docking clamps latched onto his ship with a dull clank. Cain cycled the airlock and stepped out into a dimly lit hangar bay. The air smelled of coolant and scorched metal – the familiar perfume of ongoing construction. Only a skeletal crew manned the station at this hour, their distant figures moving among stacks of plating and cables.
Cain's boots echoed on the metal deck as he headed toward the communications console set up on a crate. He had come here expecting a straightforward inspection of the Star Platform's progress, but something in the Force nagged at him to stay alert. Before he could seek out the foreman, his personal comlink chimed urgently with a secured frequency notification.
Hesitating in the shadows of the hangar, Cain raised the device and accepted the incoming secret transmission. A hooded blue holo-figure materialized above the comlink projector – its features obscured and voice heavily modulated. The distorted voice spoke quickly, every syllable hushed as if uttered in confidence:
"Cain, this is an encrypted channel. No time for pleasantries. Project Tython security has been compromised. We intercepted a signal – someone's snooping on the platform's schematics. And… there's more. We have intel about Haruun Kal – something about a powerful Force presence there. "The name Kar Vastor appears."
Cain's eyes narrowed at the name. Kar Vastor. It was a name he hadn't heard in a long time, but one he knew all too well from his old life. The holo-figure continued in its low rasp, "I don't have all the details yet, only that Palpatine have taken interest. Stay sharp. I'll update you when I know more. Transmitting partial data packet now. Destroy after reading." The message ended with a crackle, the blue figure flickering out as abruptly as it appeared.
For a moment, Cain stood silent in the empty bay, the weight of the message sinking in. The mention of Haruun Kal and Kar Vastor set his pulse racing. He thumbed through the received data packet on his device – most of it scrambled – but he caught fragments: "unusual dark-side nexus… Korunnai telepath… caution." A frown creased his face. Kar Vastor was indeed involved somehow. The Force whisper from earlier now felt more like an alarm bell in his head.
Cain knew of Kar Vastor from the buried memories of his past life. He remembered the stories of a brutal jungle warlord on Haruun Kal, a figure as dangerous as any Sith despite never having formal training Windu and Luke had a hard time with him.
Cain quickly deleted the transmission record as instructed, then tapped his comlink to hail the station foreman and announce a hasty departure. Before he got through, however, another call came in – this time a more familiar channel. From Anakin.
Cain answered, and a miniature holo of Anakin flickered to life above the comlink emitter. Even at this small scale, Anakin's concern was evident; his brows were knitted and a sheen of sweat was visible on his forehead. Beside Anakin, a second figure appeared Ahsoka.
"Cain, finally we reached you," Anakin began, his tone brisk and tense. "We're on Haruun Kal. We could use your help." Cain nodded, having half-expected this after the secret message. "What's going on, Anakin?"
Anakin exchanged a glance with Ahsoka's hologram, then continued, Master Fay sent us here to investigate the planet's connection to the Force – something about an emerging darkness in the force. We've been researching a local warlord named Kar Vastor. We found him… or rather, he found us." Anakin managed a tight, humorless smile. "We had a run-in with Kar. It didn't go exactly as planned."
Ahsoka folded her arms, cutting in, "That's putting it lightly. He attacked us out of nowhere. We tried to contain him, but…" She shook her head, and even through the static Cain could see a bruise on her cheek. "Kar Vastor is incredibly strong – stronger than we anticipated. He fights like a wild animal. We were nearly overwhelmed."
Anakin's holo-image paced in place, recalling the encounter. "He communicates telepathically not much spoken Basic at all. At one point I heard his voice snarl inside my head without him moving his lips. It was unnerving." Anakin's frown deepened at the memory.
"And he uses the Force purely on instinct, Cain. No technique that I recognize, just raw ability. It's like he doesn't even fully understand what he's doing, yet he's doing it. I haven't felt something quite like it… except maybe…" He trailed off, not finishing the comparison, but Cain could guess – except maybe fighting a feral nexu or the raw power of a Sith's rage, unrefined.
Ahsoka nodded emphatically. "It's as if the Force itself is a survival instinct for him. He doesn't have form or finesse, but every move he makes is fueled by the living jungle around us. We've never faced anyone quite like this."
Cain absorbed their words quickly. His gaze hardened. "Are you both alright?"
"We're okay now," Anakin assured. "Bruised, nothing broken. We pulled back before things could get worse. Kar vanished into the jungle. We think he might be watching us even now." Anakin glanced over his shoulder, as if checking their surroundings off-screen.
"We're holed up at a safe location for the moment, but we're going to need to confront him again soon. We can't leave him unchecked – not with what's at stake here. If Master Fay was right, Haruun Kal itself could become a dark-side nexus with Kar at its center."
Ahsoka stepped closer in the holo projection, her voice quieter. "We could really use backup. Someone who can approach without him sensing it, maybe talk him down… or help us take him down if it comes to that."
Cain didn't hesitate. "I'm on my way. I just arrived at Tython's station, but Haruun Kal is far more important. Send me your coordinates. He paused, then added firmly, "And Anakin… be careful. This man is more dangerous than you know."
Skywalker managed a small smirk. "Well, I'm starting to get the idea. Safe travels, Cain. We'll keep an eye out for you." With that, the holo-call ended, both Jedi fading into static. A moment later, a data ping indicated coordinates received – likely a rendezvous point or their current camp in Haruun Kal's highland jungles.
Cain exhaled slowly, clipping the comlink back on his belt. The decision was made – he'd depart immediately for Haruun Kal. Tython and its Star Platform would have to wait. With long strides he returned to his ship and secured the cockpit. As the starfighter disengaged from the docking clamp, Cain's mind was already churning through everything he knew – or rather, remembered – about Kar Vastor.
The starlines of hyperspace stretched out before him as Cain guided his ship into the jump toward Haruun Kal. He sat back in the pilot's seat and let his memories flood forward. Kar is a dangerous man but can be a greater ally if recruited or a greater enemy if Palpatine gets his hands on him.
In his mind's eye, Cain pieced together the profile of the Korun warlord:
Lor pelek – Jungle Master: Kar Vastor was the lor pelek of Haruun Kal's indigenous Korunnai people – essentially the shamanic Jungle Master of his tribe. He was more than just a chieftain; according to legend he became the living avatar of the jungle's ferocity and darkness, the embodiment of Haruun Kal's wild Pelekotan (the jungle mind). Unpredictable and deadly, he could bring either life or death on a whim, much like the untamed rainforest itself.
Vastor stood well over two meters tall, with a muscular build honed by surviving Haruun Kal's deadly jungles from a young age. Left as a youth to fend for himself in that hostile environment, he learned to fight and kill or be killed. The result was a man of incredible physical strength and lightning-fast speed for his size. Even without any formal Jedi training, he had become an excellent hand-to-hand combatant through sheer instinct and experience. Every muscle, every reflex had been sharpened by the fight for survival.
The Korunnai were all Force-sensitive to some degree – the gift ran in their bloodline as descendants of ancient Jedi – and all Korunnai have some telepathic ability innately. Kar Vastor exemplified this. He lost the ability to speak in normal words, communicating instead through growls and primal sounds; to express himself, he projected his intent and meaning through the Force into others' minds.
What he lacked in formal education, he made up for with raw power. He possessed exceptional Force ability with no formal training, relying purely on natural talent. In fact, in the books Mace Windu's private journal noted that Kar's raw power in the Force rivaled that of Yoda himself – or Anakin , which spoke volumes about the challenge Anakin and Ahsoka were now facing.
Perhaps most unsettling, Kar Vastor was never truly alone in a fight. The jungles of Haruun Kal were his home turf, and he had a symbiotic link to its creatures. Kar could Force-bond with savage beasts called akk dogs, treating the fierce armored hounds as extensions of himself in battle. More than once, Vastor had fought alongside a pack of these tusked, impervious reptiles under his telepathic control. It was said he had six of them as loyal guardians, connected to him through the Force as packmates. If those creatures were nearby, Anakin and Ahsoka might be outnumbered without even knowing it.
Cain opened his eyes coming out of his force trance, realizing he had been holding his breath as he sifted through these recollections. This is the foe Anakin and Ahsoka have found themselves up against. Kar Vastor was the living product of one of the deadliest places in the galaxy, a predator empowered by the Force itself. The Jadaii duo, despite their skills, were in real danger if they underestimated him.
Even Anakin's prodigious power could meet its match in Kar's primal fury – after all, Mace Windu barely defeated Kar Vastor at the height of his Jedi prowess (Cain recalled how Windu ultimately had to exploit a weakness and use Kar's own shield against him to win). And Ahsoka, while agile and bright, had never faced a being quite like this.
As hyperspace churned outside the canopy with streaks of unreal light, Cain double-checked his ship's coordinates and prepared mentally for what was to come. He had the element of surprise on his side – Kar Vastor wouldn't know him, and Cain's presence could tip the scales. If nothing else, his foreknowledge might prevent the two from falling into Kar's traps. Cain's jaw set in determination. He would reach them in time.
Hours later, Cain's starfighter dropped out of hyperspace above Haruun Kal, greeted by a roiling blanket of storm clouds. The planet below was swathed in thick, dark green jungles and perpetual mist. Even from high altitude, he could see lightning flickering within the dense clouds that clung to the mountain plateaus. Cain guided the ship carefully through the cloud cover, his instruments blinking warnings about abrupt pressure shifts and gale-force winds as he pierced the upper storms.
Breaking through the last layer of cloud, the vista of the Korunnal Highlands opened up beneath him. Lush emerald canopies spread out in all directions, broken only by jagged ridges of rock and the occasional clearing. The air here at altitude was barely breathable without assistance – Cain knew the lowlands were filled with toxic gases, forcing most life to exist on the high plateau regions. As he flew over a valley, he spotted a herd of massive grassers – elephantine herbivores – plodding through a break in the trees, and in the distance, columns of smoke where Korun villages might lie hidden under the jungle's eaves.
He homed in on the coordinates Anakin had transmitted. It led him toward a region north of Pelek Baw, the planet's capital, deep in a rainforest expanse that was scarred with the remnants of warfare – likely signs of the ongoing conflict known as the Summertime War. Cain's sensors picked up the faint signal of a Alliance beacon: it must be the safe location Anakin mentioned. He eased the starfighter down in a small natural clearing beside a snaking river. The landing struts sunk a little into mud, and as the engines wound down he could immediately hear the chorus of alien jungle life outside – distant screeches, the drone of insects, and something that sounded like a predatory cat's growl far off.
Cain donned a lightweight rebreather mask (Haruun Kal's humid air carried spores and pollen that could be dangerous to off-worlders) and unholstered lightsaber, clipping them to his belt. Stepping out of the ship, he was engulfed by the heat and smells of the jungle. The richness of life here was overpowering in the Force; Cain could feel the thrum of every living thing around him, from the towering lammas trees to the tiniest gibbering monkey-birds hidden in their branches. It was as if the land itself had a voice – Pelekotan the Korunnai called it – and that voice was warning of danger. A heavy tension lay over the area, a sense of anticipation as if the jungle was holding its breath.
He found evidence of Anakin and Ahsoka's makeshift camp: the charred remains of a small fire by a rock overhang, footprints in the soft earth, and a few bacta patches discarded on the ground. But the camp was empty now; they must have moved, perhaps tracking Kar or attempting another encounter. Cain closed his eyes and stretched out with the Force, searching for the distinctive presence of his allies. Almost immediately, he caught it – the bright, fiery aura of Anakin's Force signature intermingled with Ahsoka's more graceful, light-stepping presence, not too far away. They were both in motion…and not alone.
Nearby, another presence loomed in the Force like a thunderhead – raw and primal, shot through with violence. Cain had never directly sensed Kar Vastor before, but he recognized this must be him: it felt like the darkness of a predator, not cold and calculating like a Sith, but hot, wild, and throbbing with life. They've engaged him! Cain realized, heart lurching he sprinted silently through the foliage toward the confrontation, careful to mask his own approach as much as possible.