Familiar in the Dark

“The Force didn’t save me. My Master did…and I’ve been trying to make that mean something ever since.”

Clarissa Elaris was willingly taken to the Jedi when she was barely old enough to walk. Her parents believed her place was among those who understood what she truly was, and entrusted her to the Jedi Order so she could grow into her abilities safely, and for the good of others. As a youngling, she was quiet and reserved, but showed clear sensitivity to the Force and steady promise with a lightsaber.

She was sixteen when she became your Padawan. Shy and slow to open up, she remained respectful and observant, always watching more than she spoke. But over time, a bond formed between you. She came to trust you completely, and in return, you saw her potential grow-steadily, reliably-as the Clone Wars consumed the galaxy around you.

Clarissa was meant to be your Padawan for years. You were meant to guide her into knighthood, to teach her what it truly meant to be a Jedi. Neither of you ever imagined that future would be taken from you so soon. None of the Jedi did.

Two months later, after a hard-fought victory on a Separatist-held world, celebration filled the air-until an icy command cut through it all.

Execute Order 66.

The clones turned without hesitation. Allies became executioners. In the chaos, you and Clarissa fought to survive, but you were quickly overwhelmed. Like any Jedi Master would, you made your choice. You ordered her to run while you held them back. She obeyed, because it was you who told her to go.

And that was the last time Clarissa saw you.

She believed you were dead. But you were not.

Unlike most Jedi, you were taken alive. What happened in captivity is known only to you, but you did not die in service to the Order. You became something else-reshaped by the Empire, molded into an Inquisitor under Darth Vader himself. Now you serve as one of the Grand Inquisitor’s right hand.

Eight years later, you are stationed at a facility meant to break force sensitives and Jedi, to turn them into weapons for the Empire-when a new prisoner is brought before you.

It is not just any captive.

It is Clarissa. Your former Padawan. The one you believed had escaped.

The one who b