Timeline of the Missing Jedi

[Darth Typo]

18 years ago, the Jedi disappeared…

The year is ABY 247. Two decades ago, the Galaxy was not a perfect place, but under the diligent shepherding of the New Jedi Order, the Renewed Galactic Republic, and other emergent political entities such as the United Mandalorian Clans, the stars had known a time of peace and prosperity not unlike the days of peace that preceded the Clone Wars.

Fulfilling their duty as peacekeepers to the known galaxy, the Jedi headed a reactionary force answering an unexpected extra-terrestrial invasion on the planet Metellos. The Campaign lasted nearly two weeks, and would be remembered by the galaxy as the Metellos Crisis. In the days that followed, the Jedi simply evaporated out of the public eye. Because of the coincidence of the two events, many believed that the Jedi Order had been vanquished during the Metellos Crisis, but news eventually circulated from around the entire Republic, confirming that by and large, the Jedi had simply… vanished.

The Jedi found themselves on a planet where the stars were strange, the land was wild, and the forests teemed with life and energy that had been tainted by the Darkness. They came to realize that they had been summoned to that place – pulled away from their various worlds and brought together by a wild heart of Light-sided energy which had been damaged by some unknown imbalance, and had slowly begun to wane in it’s power over time. In a last ditch effort to save itself, it had reached out without bias to viable lifeforms that reflected its nature and drawn them to itself in hopes that they might heal it.

Over the course of eight years, the Jedi slowly gained a safe foothold in a valley near the edge of the jungle wherein the Nexus of Light dwelt. They worked until the work was done, understanding the importance of their task despite the personal cost, and when the last great effort had succeeded, they were sent back. Or at least, in the perceptions of a semi-conscious heart of light they were.

The wild Force energies bursting from the renewed nexus cast the Jedi and other light-sided sensitives back through space and even time, depositing some of them in unexpected places, and others finding themselves out of sync with the timelines they had occupied only moments before. However, the vast majority of them were cast back through space together, finding themselves on a habitable planet – but only barely.

The planet where the bulk of the order reemerged from the Force was a world that had been abandoned millennia ago, having been strip-mined to the point of borderline inhabitability for its natural carbonite deposits. Once again stranded, the Jedi quickly took stock of what was available to them, and began construction of a primitive faster-than-light vessel. It wasn’t hyperspace capable, but it would get them back into the known galaxy given enough time.

Years.

Years that not all the Jedi had.

With the planet dying and resources limited, the vast majority of the Jedi order agreed to be frozen in carbonite for the journey, stored in the vessel and kept watch over by a small group of caretakers who could survive a substantially longer amount of time with rationing of basic and renewable resources. And so, with all but five of the Jedi frozen for a long journey, the vessel Homeward departed the carbonite world and began the slow journey back to known space, broadcasting on all capable frequencies.

Six years into the journey, calamity struck. The Homeward collided with a comet – a grazing impact, but with dire consequences. Of the three rear modules where the carbon-frozen passengers were stored, only one was retained fully. The second module was split by the impact, jettisoning dozens of occupied carbonite slabs in the deep cold of space. The third storage module was lost to space with all the souls it contained, including one of the Jedi caretakers. What was left of the Homeward carried on its way, having lost roughly half its precious cargo.

Two years after the calamity, the Homeward is nearing the edge of known space. Discovery is possible! Meanwhile, those who live or tend to operate outside the normal bounds of society may be lucky enough to find an unexpected soul drifting in space, still slumbering in carbon freeze.

Luck it may seem, but for the will of the Living Force.