An Archivist's Escape

Posted on Sun Mar 2nd, 2025 @ 9:37pm by Rebel Braylon Kucera

848 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Prologue: An Empire Overnight
Location: Coruscant
Timeline: 19BBY

An Archivist’s Escape

It has been a tense day at the Jedi temple though no amount of disturbance in the force could have prepared the jedi for what was to come that eve. As galactic politics were shifting and worlds were being set up to crumble across the galaxy amid the wave of power grabbed by Supreme Chancelor Palpatine, a republic would be shook down to its very foundation only for a dark abysmal empire to rise from the rubble. There was a calm before the storm, peaceful for a few moments and time felt as though it paused for minuscule amount of time. Though he did not know why then that Braylon had looked up feeling as though the force had been manipulated into freezing everything. It had not, but when he looked up he saw Chief Librarian Jocasta Nu stumble, bracing herself against the stacks.

“Master Nu?” Braylon heard Jin-Lo Rayce call out to his master, scurrying across the library towards his master, the Chief Librarian. It had caused Braylon to get up from his seat where he had been submerged deeply in his personal studies of the High Republic era. “Is everything alright?” Rayce had asked. Braylon had joined him and saw the expression etched on Jocasta Nu’s face. No, everything was not right and this Jedi master knew it, felt a darkness at their foyer flanked by demons and plagued with perverse power.

Before the Jedi’s Chief Librarian could say anything, the sound of screaming broke the cold silence followed by the sound of blasters and the soldering of lightsaber to metal and deflecting blasters, the bolts of light ricocheting about. A Sullustan jedi knight had backed into the library having been shot by blaster fire in the shoulder, shifting his lightsaber to his other hand and deflecting a barrage of blaster fire. “It’s the clones!” exclaimed the Sullustan before the barrage of fire increased and engulfed him, striking him down.

It was then that Jocasta Nu acted and acted swiftly, extending her arm outward and reaching for something that was well outside of her physical reach but with focus and the force she was able to pull her lightsaber from where she had left it, quickly igniting the blue blade and blocking blaster fire. Jin-Lo Rayce joined her igniting his own lightsaber. “We mustn’t let them get to the archives” quipped Master Nu.

Soon more Jedi arrived from the upper levels of the library, some joining Master Nu while others including Braylon began doing what they could. He watched the Jedi Chief Librarian give her padawan, Jin-Lo Rayce two long objects. She spoke to him but over the sound of blaster fire ricocheting off of ignited blades, Braylon could not hear what was being said. Only that was some sort of instruction and Jin-Lo Rayce quickly retreated from defending the library stairs. Several of the Jedi advancing to the front lines of defense. Braylon followed Rayce deeper into the library, catching up to the young Padawan who was frantically searching in the restricted section for something on a shelf among dozens of sacred Jedi texts.

Jin-Lo Rayce had found what he was looking for, barely acknowledging his friend, Braylon. “What are you…” Braylon started to ask as he observed Rayce start to remove a text that did not seem to come any further. A click. Small but noticeable. It was then that Rayce moved towards the end of the unit that held texts and started pushing in the opposite direction. It moved. The whole thing only moved slightly, but a space enough small wiry boys to slip through.

Once inside, Jin-Lo Rayce made a swiping motion with his hand and sealed them in. Rayce ignited his lightsaber casting a blue glow in a narrow tunnel, the only illumination they had. He reached into his robes and pulled out the two long objects that Jocasta Nu had handed him. He handed one to Braylon and looked at the archivist. “Bray, take this. Protect it with your life.”

Braylon had studied it for a second. He knew what is was but not why he was being given it. “Why…” no that was not the question to ask. “Where are we?” asked Braylon. He had been in the library what felt like hundreds of times. He was an archivist with the Jedi Service Corps, but he had never known about this passageway or where it was taking them.

“Catacombs” said Jin-Lo Rayce and started running with Braylon following behind. “We need to get out of here and we need to split up, make our way to the slower levels of Coruscant” stated Rayce.

None of this was making any sense to Braylon. “Catacombs? The Jedi have always burned our remains to be one with…” He was a student of the force, and he held respect for the High Republic, and reverence for history. “But the Sith did not” muttered Bray under his breath. The Jedi temple had not always existed. It had been built atop of a Sith shrine.

 

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