Busy.

That's all the platinum haired woman could do to take her mind off the events that transpired on Vjun. Due to the constant use of students to help cover as much ground against the cult's widespread attacks and presence, along with Remnant behavior that included the mercenaries they've enlisted as additional arms, she hadn't seen much of her peers as of recently.

Just as Luke said, she was expected to be more active in the role of the Academy and that meant when she wasn't trying to fashion herself a new lightsaber to replace the old one, she was sent on missions. They varied from halting an attempted assassination on a governing official who refused to take bribes to house cult ships to following up leads on more information involving Tavion or possible whereabouts that Rosh may be hiding.

Jaden tried to center herself when she returned to her room between missions. Every time she'd try to form the basis of the saber's chassis, she'd find an odd mistake she made or an incorrectly placed few wires. It brought incessant frustration that she couldn't craft like she normally could.

The weight of responsibility gnawed at her, too. Luke and Kyle needed all the help they could. Now that she was a Jedi Knight, she couldn't afford to have delays. She made due with Republic ordinance and a vibroblade to replace the weapon she was still in the process of fixing. Using a solid blade made her fight on relying on less deflection and more on evasion, forcing her to battle more aggressively or take cover more often. It was upsetting just how little she could use her full skill set, especially when there was so much in the realm of features within her first weapon.

Then, one night, she felt compelled to go back to the place where she trained normally. Taking a shuttle wasn't a problem as most of the students were actively using Z-95 Headhunters to take them on missions requiring guile as much as firepower. She'd feel her stomach churn with uncertainty, her hands vibrating against the transport's steering wheel to control its trajectory. Having practiced piloting as much as she could between when the Auto-Pilot took over, she now had a more basic grasp of the concept to help ensure she could take care of her own transportation.

With the light of Yavin IV beginning to set, she landed near a clearing where she normally landed and parked it accordingly. Taking her vibroblade out from the sheathe on her hip, the weapon hummed with a visible current of light and crackled. It was a crude imitation of the elegant craft of the Jedi, and was often what was referred to as a 'training saber' by neophytes of the academy.

When the last glint of light began to vanish, she set foot into the ruins, passing through the obstacle course with nothing but the light of her drawn weapon to guide her. The squawking and hissing of proximate fauna filled her ears, the smell of the damp jungle filling her nostrils while the flow of the Force had become rife with activity. Passing through the obstacle course's weaving ornate statues, inscriptions and jungle-overgrown structures, she found the place where she had last seen it with her own eyes.

Seeing nothing come around, she wondered if it was truly here at all?

"Well, I might as well wait," She muttered to herself, sheathing the weapon and adopting a meditative stance. Though it didn't calm the disquiet of her soul as of the recent week, it was better than doing nothing. Perhaps she could connect to the Force and suss out precisely where this entity is or where it was hiding if she couldn't find it.

The hours passed and Jaden lost track of time passing her by. The distant red gas giant began to rise up, clouds uncovered to reveal traces of planetary rays coloring the abandoned ruins along with the sole visitor. She wore nothing but a sleeveless tank-top with a black bra visible beneath the sweat that she accumulated by basking in the natural heat she basked in. With black pants stained of earthy soot, with similar textured boots resting about, the only other thing she took was her standard issue DL-44 pistol.

As she drifted through a blissful sense of monotony of awaiting this thing's arrival, she felt a slight chill in the air. The prickling feeling that she had gotten from the last time prodded her memory and her eyes fluttered open.

"I was wondering when you'd come back to me," A voice echoed in the air, though it came from everywhere as much as it did nowhere. The jungle was nowhere to be seen, only an endless pool of blackness with a figure that took up the shrouded shape of a man. Standing apart from her, she could make out the faintest glimpse of his features. Black hair was knotted into a ponytail, one end resting over an armored shoulder of matching ribbed plating, fastened over a regal robe of deep red burgundy; a brass medallion wrapped over his right breast's location that held iconography that matched to that of the ruins she had seen repeated. Metal boots of ancient make had black silk pants fastened into them, with a pair of armored gloves that etched of similar important insignia she had seen thanks to those trips she made with her Miralukan friend, Cale V'eel.

Shadows obscured his face but she could feel as much as see the burning coals for eyes that had long since obscured its original color. A single mark branded on his forehead, indicative of a scarab with carved rings on its thorax. She didn't know the importance of this particular marking as she hadn't seen it anywhere during her research with Cale but she felt like she should. Still, the person's presence was wreathed in a cold, burning sensation that emanated all around her.

"Who are you?" Jaden inquired, her silver eyes now defiantly staring back at him while remaining cross-legged and seated in this illusion space she deemed the Force had created. "And why are you contacting me?"

"I've been known by many names, young one," The specter replied, his eyes staring into hers and leaving an impression like a cold vice was slowly cinching around her neck. It was getting hard to breathe but she remained focused and attempted to resist the sensation; more as she did, the feeling of daggers scraping along her nerves across her whole being became more prevalent with each passing second. "But you may call me, Exar Kun. As for why I contacted you? Well...consider my interest piqued."

"Okay," She mulled out, cautiously narrowing her eyes, realizing this being was that of the Dark Side. "Why?"

"Let's just say, this world used to be mine," The shroud explained, a smile spread across his shadowy face as he used phantom hands to gesticulate his words, far more eloquently than his apparition did in the past. "And before me, it was owned by another by the name of Naga Sadow. And he came from the one you are seeking to thwart his ultimate return: Marka Ragnos."

"You know of Ragnos?!" Jaden immediately jolted, standing upright with a look of surprise as much as anxiousness. "Tell me, do you know where Tavion is? Or Rosh? Or what the Disciples of Ragnos are planning?"

"First things first," The silhouette raised a finger, burning eyes still holding her captivation on a conscious level, even more-so now that her mind was open to the specter's words. "Jaden Korr, it seems your spirit has been disturbed ever since you opened yourself up to your own power. I thought you would have been liberated to feel such strength, but you are now full of regret. You must correct this, less you become unbalanced and are unable to grow more powerful; how else would you defeat someone who holds a relic of Ragnos in their grasp?"

"That's another thing?" She insisted, fists balling shakily at her sides while steeling a glare back at the specter standing apart from him. "How do you know my name?"

"I know a great many things, Jaden Korr," He insisted with a sly curl of his ethereal lips. "I'll answer the ones that burn in your soul, the more pressing issues contending against your Jedi Order, and most importantly, grant your power that you desperately crave. All I ask in return, is for you to make me your master and-"

"I refuse."

It was a for a moment that Jaden felt her whole body freeze in place. The spectral image of a long dead man stared her down with an intense fury of being denied, the feeling of daggers felt like they were injecting into her flesh. Flashes of phantom pain waved over her from the soles of her feet to the top of her head. Her throat let out a strangled gasp and tears welled up in her eyes as she could barely hold onto her stance while locking eyes with this effigy of someone once living but now a wraith of immeasurable presence.

Grinding her teeth together, Jaden summoned what strength she could and brought it up to the surface, pushing past the icy grip held over herself. It was just enough to move and dampen the agony of whatever spell was put over her. Breathing heavily, her body shook in place and the glaring eyes narrowed, the strain of his power lessening over her on his own accord.

"You have a lot of gall to not even let me issue my payment for granting you knowledge and power, Jaden Korr," It sneered with pits of red for eyes still looking at her. "Does hospitality not even exist in this era?"

"I had a feeling you didn't have my best intentions in mind, even back when I heard you tell me to rely on no one but myself. But this cements it," Jaden snarled back, her silver eyes boring into the specter's indignantly. "You're just an opportunistic scum, aren't you?"

"I have done nothing but relay advice to you. Have I once been dishonest? Were my words not enough of a prompt to safeguard your own life and earn you victory?"

His words etched painfully into the realms of sensibility.

She knew that this being was a product of the Dark Side. Something that dwelled so ominously and unnaturally in the Force that could inflict pain simply by staring at you, and gave off such an impression it had to be evil. Yet, he had only done so when she was being blunt and not at all receptive to it, despite she being the one to seek it out. Had she come all this way just to fight against an entity that was offering help?

"You're...right," She felt her voice speak, before her mind had been fully made up. With less strain on her own body, she bowed her head in as much reverence as she could to the spectral cauldron of Dark Side energy that projected itself to her. "I am sorry for interjecting so hastily. Please, continue."

"Apology accepted, Jaden Korr," The specter replied, it showing a pleased expression across its shadowy visage. "To the matter at hand, you wish to possess knowledge of this cult? I know not of Ragnos worshipers that you face, but I have seen glimpses of their interference. Their echoes are widely spread across the galaxy, enough that I can make out their impressions. The pair you faced on the dead world, scarred by the Force, was one part ally and one part enemy; they wield the relic of Ragnos, one of which its design I recognize as being a Siphon Stave."

"Siphon Stave?" Jaden repeated with slow, measured blinks.

"Yes. It's a tool used by ancient Sith sorcerers, to cultivate the power of the Force and unleash it upon their enemies or allies in whatever manner they wish of it. Marka Ragnos had such a tool but he had never used it when I inherited his will. Though I suspect, since Ragnos was the mightiest of our predecessors, it was capable of all sorts of abilities more unnatural than what his peers were capable of."

"Like what?" She inquired.

"Oh, anything. Twisting the body to be disproportionately more powerful. Altering the climate and weather of a given hemisphere. Even mangling machinery of war and bringing down orbiting satellites with a thought. There is a limitless application for such artifacts of a bygone era of Sith mastery over the Force; even capable of manipulating life itself," The specter added, a depraved smile deepening as it saw Jaden's face pale at an epiphany she suddenly obtained.

"Is it...possible, to bring back the dead with such a tool?" The peerless haired woman broached with a hint of fear lying behind her silver eyes.

"More than possible, I've seen it transpire before my eyes," It boasted with a haunting laugh that vibrated the air of the light-less space surrounding them. "In fact, my mere presence here means I have defied death itself. I had based the ritual after teachings I followed after Ragnos myself. It is inevitable that they acquire the necessary power to bring back the spirit of someone long dead, even as strong as Marka Ragnos. Yes, I am certain that this woman you are aiming to destroy is after just that."

"If someone as powerful as a Sith Lord is brought back to life...then...it'd be-"

"A true calamity in the making for your society, I'm sure," It drawled out with a mirthful sense of humor.

"So, at least you've been honest to your word, for the moment," Jaden cautiously admitted, her gaze relenting a bit after what she had been told. "You mentioned offering me strength. How would you go about and do that?"

Smirking, the silhouette produced something within the palm of its gloved hand. A glistening jewel, resonating with an ominous thrum that was colored in a fantastic azure deeper than any ocean of lush sky she'd ever behold. The gem lifted itself off its hand and then levitate over to her, hovering before her gaze. Without thinking much of it, she reached out and let it fall into her palm; almost dropping it, due to how icy cold it felt to the touch.

"Long ago, that was the crystal housed within my lightsaber. I'm sure you will find better use of it in hands that are more flesh and blood than mine," The specter spoke in a derisive tone of assurance. "Place that within the heart of your new weapon, and it will not fail. That I can promise you."

"Okay," She bit her lip, feeling a hint of wrongness in accepting a crystal as beautiful as this that felt so cold. It didn't possess the warmth that she was accustomed to the jewel that powered her first weapon. Still, it was something that gave her an odd sense of comfort to possess; the training droid's own crystal and the one the cultist's mass-produced red crystals possessed didn't have any significant presence that she could feel that'd be a proper substitute.

At least in this way, it'd leave an impression upon her that she could grow used to, for better or worse.

"Once you finish crafting your weapon, return here to me in the dead of night," The Dark Side apparition commanded, its smile thinned and eyes narrowing at her. "From there, I'll begin to train you in the ways of self-reliance and independent strength. Through this you will truly master the old ways of the Force that no modern Jedi nor acolyte of the Sith can grant you."

"And if I don't return?" Jaden questioned with an arched brow of curiosity.

Laughing in a mocking manner, the spectral figure gestured towards her with a knowing glint in its red eyes, "You wouldn't have come here in the first place, had you not sought out my counsel and strength. You will come, Jaden Korr. It is in your nature to pursue that which you do not understand and obtain it. You are a covetous creature that wishes to possess and hold things beyond your realm of understanding. But you will stumble in the dark no longer; I shall light the way and show you the true path to power and enlightenment!"

And then, Jaden's eyes opened.

She was once again, in the middle of the training grounds of the temple. She was soaked in sweat though she didn't feel warm but distinctly cold. There was not a hint of the fog that appeared the first time the specter's presence had drifted across her. The platinum haired woman wondered if she had imagined the whole thing or if it was a dream of some kind?

Standing up from her cross-legged form, she'd find something distinctly chilled to the touch resting in her open right hand. Blinking, she'd look down and marvel at the jagged crystal that she knew she was given by the ghost that had visited her. Some aspect of that meeting was tangentially real, and this was physical proof of it.

Folding her hand over it in a clenched fist, she closed her eyes tight and reopened them to stare up at the starry night sky.

She knew this was a dangerous path she was going to tread, but for now, she couldn't do more than get cursory advice from the overtaxed Luke or the busied Kyle. Acquiring more power was necessary if she was to thoroughly defeat her adversaries. Sharing this information, she knew, would be difficult so she decided to bide her time and await the opportunity to reveal what she had learned. This Exar Kun may be the key to helping defeat this Marka Ragnos, especially if Tavion succeeds in her aim to bring back the ancient Sith Lord.

"It's like Kyle said. There is nothing wrong with using Dark or Light Side powers. My use through intent is what really matters," She determined silently to herself. "Now, to simply make use of this crystal and finally finish my lightsaber. Who knows when my first real mission is going to be next?"

Bringing the crystal back, she went to work with a clear head and a calmer spirit. The shell she had decidedly used involved the barrel of the rocket launcher she picked up back on Vjun. It had came to mind that she didn't have much in the way of versatility, now that she lacked the components for the multi-phase lens that she could alter its length and width at a flick of a switch. Now that she had come to understand and learn more forms in Jedi swordplay, she went with something that she felt was a good direction.

A smooth platinum shell was used for the base, the overall chassis of the structure. Then she grounded the center down and wrapped with a handle leather that she had picked up from the speed bike she 'acquired' in the botched mission awhile back. It created a smooth haft, the handle being easy to hold onto without possibly slipping if her hands became moist for whatever reason. The emitters she fished around for scavenged materials, decidedly using the same products that were leftover from the droid's own dual-phase arm-saber. Soldered together, she was satisfied with its make-up, and made use of the remaining cortosis material she had to imbue it around a pair of cone-shaped guards around the end of the handle for each half, giving her a bit more of a brace to protect her hands in case the worst would come to pass. Adding the buckling so it'd be easily attached and messing with the circuitry to be processed in multiple manners, she finished her weapon and raised it up in her room with triumph in her eyes.

"It took me all night, but I think I got this to work," She spoke to herself, grinning with satisfaction at her weapon. Igniting the first saber, she saw it hiss to life and hum with a resonating beauty of crystalline blue. Painting the room in its glow, she waved it around, hearing its hiss turn into a purr as she gave a few experimental swings and jabs. Turning on the other blade, she spun it around, feeling a natural momentum that carried her across her personal quarters, weaving arcing windmills of blue streaks across the air.

Only to accidentally cut part of her 'Peace Dome' erected on her bed and set it aflame.

"OH HOLO-DUST!" She exclaimed, disengaging her weapon and immediately moving to the extinguisher to douse the flame in heat retardant mist. As she put out the fire, she heard a bleep come from her workbench. Rolling her eyes, she approached it with a jog and put her hands over the console: with the image of a golden plate protocol droid showing on the screen.

"Um? Hello?" The platinum haired teenager inquired with a speculative stare.

"Hello, Jaden Korr," The droid monotoned in a droll but plain way. "I am the protocol droid acting as mediator for mission control for the Jedi Academy and those pertaining to the New Jedi Order. While your master, Kyle Katarn, and Grandmaster Skywalker is away, I'll be handling your missions from this point onward."

"Okay," The peerless eyed woman replied, chewing the inside of her mouth with a knowing look across her face. "What do you have for me?"

"A mission has come up that required immediate investigation," He informed, his image shrinking and moving to the right corner while the description of a bluish world popped up with still-pictures of the vista involved. They oscillated between ancient statues of Jedi long since in the past and sheer cliff faces angled within the quagmire of rock that this destination was located. "There have been Cult sightings by the locals of Chandrila, specifically based around the tomb of a Jedi Knight buried there. The Chandrilans contacted us only minutes ago through the extranet, meaning we have little time to respond if the call is accurate."

"Like I haven't heard that before," She snorted with a roll of her eyes.

"Do make haste and use discretion. It is likely they may show up in great number."

"Copy that," She drawled out, exiting the transmission and began suiting herself up. With a sleeveless black jacket over long-sleeved white shirt with blue outlines, her pants of a similar hue with a kama skirt strapped around her waist for additional flare and micro-weaving protection she then marched up with her new weapon in hand strapped to her waist. She wasn't used to the object having such heft and weight, but she knew she'd deal with it. Grasping some armaments and explosives from the locker, she'd finally haul herself onto her own Headhunter craft and take off.

Pulling out of the hangar, she'd throttle herself out of the atmosphere of Yavin IV and punch in the coordinates. She knew this may be the first real mission she'd undertake in over a week. With her newly arranged partnership with this alleged 'Exar Kun' ghost and her weapon formed, she had a feeling this was a first step in improving herself.

"I won't let Kyle and Skywalker down," She determined, the streak of stars pulling across her ship's canopy, vanishing through the tunnel of hyperspace in an instant that followed. "I'll prove to them that I will be deserving of being called a Jedi Knight!"

A/N: Another shorter chapter, though with massive implications. Yes, in this variant of the game canon, Exar Kun is *still* around and is plotting something thanks to the business involving the one who named him successor eons ago. With knowledge of Marka Ragnos and armed with powers to techniques that she will undoubtedly find useful, the new Dark Side specter has tempted Jaden into accepting his offer in her most wavering moments. What does he want from Jaden, and what lengths will she go to obtain power to vanquish her enemies?

Find out, in the next chapter of Temptations!