The secret mission to rebuild the Jedi Order, also known as the Hunt for the Holocron, was carried out during the Great Jedi Purge by former Jedi Knight Cere Junda and Padawan Cal Kestis. The Jedi Order had been largely destroyed by Order 66 and driven into hiding. Junda and Kestis' efforts to rebuild the Jedi Order brought them into conflict with the Galactic Empire's Inquisitorius, an agency of dark-side adherents tasked with hunting down any surviving Jedi. During the Clone Wars, Jedi Master Eno Cordova, who was once Junda's master, had a Force vision foretelling the doom of the Jedi Order. Cordova sought to safeguard the Order's future by warning the Jedi High Council, but most of his warnings fell on deaf ears. Jedi Chief Librarian Jocasta Nu, however, heeded Cordova's warnings, providing the Jedi Master with a holocron containing the locations of the known Force-sensitive children of the galaxy, who could be trained as Jedi Initiates to rebuild the Order. Cordova locked his holocron in a Vault on the remote Outer Rim world of Bogano, which could only be opened by a Force user with an artifact known as an astrium.
In 14 BBY, Kestis outed himself as a Force user by using telekinesis to save his friend Prauf from falling to death on Bracca. An Imperial viper probe droid recorded Kestis' usage of the Force, which led the Inquisitorius to track the former Padawan down. The Inquisitorius dispatched the Inquisitors Second Sister and Ninth Sister to Bracca. Junda and her Lateron captain Greez Dritus monitored Inquisitorius communications, and were thus led to Cal as well. Cere and Greez rescued Kestis from the Second Sister aboard the Stinger Mantis. Cere recruited Kestis to their secret mission, hoping the young Padawan could succeed her former master. Unbeknownst to Kestis at the time, the Second Sister had once been Junda's Padawan named Trilla Suduri.
Over the course of the mission, Kestis befriended Eno Cordova's droid companion BD-1 and eventually the Nightsister Merrin, one of the last survivors of the Nightsister massacre by Separatist forces during the Clone Wars. Together, the Stinger Mantis crew traveled much of the galaxy, seeking to find an astrium to open the Bogano Vault and retrieve Cordova's holocron, with which they planned to rebuild the Jedi Order. Over the course of the mission, Kestis deepened both his friendships with the Mantis crew and his estranged connection to the Force, regaining confidence and abilities as a Jedi. Cordova had sealed many of BD-1's memories, and the droid's holographic records were progressively unlocked as Kestis progressed in his journey. The Bogano Vault, the astriums, and ancient tombs of sages were relics of an ancient, technologically advanced, space-faring, and extinct species known as the Zeffonians studied by Cordova. The Zeffo originated on the planet Zeffo and worshipped the Force as the "Life Wind." During the mission, Kestis had Force visions, amplified and complimented through his rare power of psychometry, about the Zeffo, their wisdom, and their folly; which helped strengthen his connection to the Force. The Mantis crew sought to prevent the Empire from using Zeffo artifacts as part of Project Auger, fearing the destructive power the Empire could bring to bear based on Zeffo technology and mastery of the Force. Cal battled many Imperial stormtroopers, Purge Troopers, and even AT-ST walkers during the mission. The Mantis crew also came into conflict with the Haxion Brood gang and the Nightsisters and Nightbrothers of Dathomir over the course of the mission.
After exploring two tombs of Zeffo sages, Kestis was kidnapped by bounty hunters of the Haxion Brood gang. Greez owed the Haxion Brood great sums of money for his gambling addiction, and the gang took Kestis captive to fight in an arena as collateral on the Lateron's unpaid debts. Kestis had to free himself, rescue BD-1, and fight his way out of an arena on Ordo Eris to escape the Brood's clutches and return to the mission. After Kestis' escape, the Brood continued to pursue the Mantis crew across the galaxy, and Kestis fought more Haxion Brood bounty hunters during the remainder of the mission. Outside a Zeffo tomb on Dathomir, Kestis was overcome by survivor's guilt and his lightsaber's kyber crystal was destroyed when Kestis was confronted by a vision of his former master Jaro Tapal. The Mantis crew undertook a mission to Ilum so Cal could find a kyber crystal to build a new lightsaber with which they could complete their mission. Upon building his second lightsaber, Kestis returned to the tomb on Dathomir, where Tapal's specter once again confronted the Padawan. This time, Cal accepted the past and let it go, and thus dispelled the angry vision of Tapal from his path. Kestis entered the tomb, where former Jedi Master Taron Malicos sought to turn him to the dark side of the Force. Cal refused, so Malicos attacked him, but Merrin joined forces with Kestis and the pair were able to defeat the fallen Jedi and escape.
Upon successfully acquiring the holocron on Bogano, Kestis' psychometry caused him to have a Force vision that disabled him long enough for the Second Sister to steal the holocron. After her theft of the holocron, the Second Sister brought it to the Fortress Inquisitorius on the aquatic moon of Nur in the Mustafar system. Although Kestis felt dejected at the loss of the holocron, Cere saw his valor up to that point as demonstrative of passing his Jedi Trials, and thus bestowed on Cal the rank of Jedi Knight. The Mantis crew then journeyed to the Fortress Inquisitorius to rescue the holocron from the Empire's clutches.
At the Fortress Inquisitorius, the newly knighted Cal Kestis defeated the Second Sister in a final lightsaber duel before retrieving Cordova's holocron. Kestis unsuccessfully appealed to the Sister to let go of her hatred, when Junda appealed to Trilla for forgiveness. Just as Trilla came to terms with her past and became ready to forgive Cere, Darth Vader appeared behind her, executing her for her failure. Vader pursued the new and former Jedi Knights, who narrowly escaped with Cordova's holocron. Back aboard the Mantis, Kestis realized that if he contacted the younglings listed in the holocron, he would risk their death and torture at the hands of the Empire. He thus decided to destroy the holocron rather than endangering the younglings, trusting their fate to the will of the Force.
At the end of the Clone Wars, Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine of the Galactic Republic branded the Jedi as enemies of the state, accusing them of treason, ostensibly for their arrest attempt against him. Palpatine, whose true identity was the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Sidious, initiated Order 66; thereby commanding all clone troopers to execute their Jedi Generals and Commanders, and ordered his new Sith apprentice, Darth Vader, to conduct a siege of the Jedi Temple. Sidious then reorganized the Republic into the Galactic Empire and declared himself Galactic Emperor. The Jedi Order was destroyed through Order 66. Any surviving Jedi were hunted down during the Great Jedi Purge, a campaign overseen by Vader and the Inquisitorius, an organization of former Jedi that turned to the dark side of the Force and were tasked by Emperor Palpatine with killing all surviving Jedi.
One of these surviving Jedi was a Padawan named Cal Kestis. Kestis was aboard the Venator-class Star Destroyer the Albedo Brave with his Lasat master Jaro Tapal in orbit of Bracca when Order 66 was proclaimed. The clones of Tapal's 13th Battalion betrayed Tapal and Kestis. Tapal fought off his former clones, allowing Cal to escape to the planet below, but the Lasat succumbed to his injuries while Cal escaped. Kestis went into hiding after Order 66, finding work with the Scrapper Guild on Bracca, where he was able to live low as a rigger.
Kestis with his friend Prauf, a fellow worker of the Scrapper Guild
As a worker on Bracca, an Abednedo and fellow scrapper named Prauf was Kestis's only true friend. During one job, a Venator-class Star Destroyer being scrapped became loose, causing Prauf and Kestis to slip and fall. Kestis managed to hang onto the ship, but his friend Prauf was unable to hold on. Acting desperately, Kestis reached out and used the Force to save his friend, an act witnessed by an Imperial viper probe droid. Prauf realized that Cal had the talents of a Jedi and cautioned Cal to be careful as there were bounties out for "people like him." Cal responded angrily, informing Prauf that he already knew that. Prauf pled with Kestis to flee off world for his own safety.
The secret mission to rebuild the Jedi Order occurred in 14 BBY.
Cal attacks the Second Sister in retribution for her execution of Prauf.
Kestis, Prauf, and other Guild workers were riding a train when it was stopped by Imperial authorities. Stormtroopers brought them outside, where they were confronted by Purge Troopers, the Ninth Sister, and the Second Sister, who informed the workers that they were looking for a Jedi and failure for them to step forward would result in all of them facing execution. Prauf stepped forward, and, in an effort to protect his friend, spoke out against the Empire. The Second Sister killed him with her lightsaber. Kestis responded by striking at the Second Sister's lightsaber with his lightsaber, but the Second Sister used the Force to push the Padawan towards the Ninth Sister, who dropped him from a ledge onto a moving train after Kestis activated his lightsaber.
BD-1 reveals Master Cordova's message to Cal Kestis.
Thereafter, Kestis fled aboard the Stinger Mantis, joining Cere Junda and Greez Dritus on their mission to rebuild the order. The trio became known as the Stinger Mantis crew and embarked on a Mission to the remote world of Bogano. There, the droid BD-1 joined the Mantis crew and helped Kestis locate an ancient Vault built by an ancient species known as the Zeffonians. In the Vault, Eno Cordova, a Jedi Master who studied the Zeffo civilization, hid a holocron containing a list of Force-sensitive children who could be trained as a new generation of Jedi and restore the Jedi Order after the Great Jedi Purge. Kestis and BD-1 entered the Bogano Vault and found Cordova's message about the Jedi holocron enclosed within.
Cordova left Kestis a message, instructing him to visit the Zeffo homeworld, a planet called Zeffo, and hunt down artifacts known as astriums, which would allow them to open the Bogano Vault and access the holocron Cordova hid within.
Kestis stands on the ancient homeworld of the Zeffo.
On Zeffo, Kestis encountered stormtroopers, AT-ST's and more Imperial forces. The Imperials, led by General Markon of the 201st Squadron, had invoked Imperial Code 94364 to forcibly remove civilian villagers from their homes; murdering some and sending others to labor camps. The village was cleared to allow the Imperial forces to conduct Project Auger, an Imperial mining project meant to find powerful artifacts in Zeffo's tombs for the Emperor.
Cal entered the Tomb of Eilram and regained the ability to push objects with the Force. Upon entering Eilram's burial chamber, BD-1 showed Kestis a recording of Jedi Master Eno Cordova visiting the tomb. Cordova pointed out a wroshyr carving, which indicated the Zeffo once had ties to Kashyyyk. Cordova said that if the Zeffo had been on Kashyyyk, Wookiee Chieftain Tarfful would know of it. This led Kestis and his crew to travel there to find the Wookiee Chieftain.
Cal Kestis and BD-1 camp on Dathomir.
Master Cordova knew of possible Zeffo ruins on the planet Dathomir. The Mantis crew visited Dathomir to investigate leads on astriums.
On Dathomir, Kestis encountered the Nightsister Merrin, who distrusted Jedi. During the Clone Wars, Separatist General Grievous massacred the Nightsisters, leaving Merrin as the sole survivor in her village. The former Jedi Master Taron Malicos survived Order 66 and settled on Dathomir, where he fell to the dark side of the Force, conquered the Nightbrothers, and manipulated Merrin into believing the Jedi were responsible for the massacre of the Nightsisters. He thus convinced Merrin to teach him her dark magick.
Malicos met Cal Kestis outside of the ruined Tomb of Kujet. Malicos introduced himself as a "Wanderer" and claimed to be studying extinct cultures and dead philosophies. Malicos told Kestis that the tomb's ruins were "ancient beyond belief." He then claimed that the Nightsisters were tempted by the power within the temple. Malicos then warned Kestis to stay away from the ruins or be corrupted by the power within the structure.
Kestis with his new ally Saw Gerrera on Kashyyyk
The Mantis crew conducted a mission on Kashyyyk to find the Wookiee chieftain, general, and freedom fighter Tarfful. While there, Kestis met the Partisans' leader Saw Gerrera and helped the Partisans and enslaved Wookiees fight the Empire, which was occupying the planet. Kestis and the Partisans successfully freed the Wookiees being held at the Imperial Refinery, and Kestis made contact with Tarrful, by then leading the Kashyyyk resistance. The mission's outcome was considered a stalemate, however, as the Partisans were forced to withdraw from Kashyyyk and the Inquisitors failed to capture Kestis.
On Kashyyyk, Kestis befriended the Shyyyo bird, defeated the Ninth Sister, and located the site atop the Origin Tree where Eno Cordova once found an astrium. At that point, BD-1 unlocked another holographic message from Cordova in his memory banks. The message told BD and Cal that there may be another astrium on Dathomir.
The Second Sister reveals her identity as Trilla Suduri
During the course of their travels, the Mantis crew returned to Zeffo to prevent the Empire from learning the secrets of the Tomb of Miktrull. However, Kestis fell into a trap set by the Second Sister, who revealed herself to be Trilla Suduri, Cere Junda's former Padawan. Cal and Trilla had a lightsaber duel. Just as the Second Sister seemed to get the upper hand, BD-1 activated an unbreakable laser shield between the Jedi and the Inquisitor. Kestis and BD escaped into the Tomb and tried to comm Cere Junda, but Trilla interrupted by slicing into his comm.
Kestis explored the Tomb of Miktrull. Eventually, Kestis climbed onto a hanging sarcophagus. The Inquisitor ordered her forces to shoot the sarcophagus down. As he fell towards a certain death, Cal deepened his connection to the Force and regained the telekinetic ability to pull objects, thus landing safely on a ledge below. While leaving Miktrull's tom, Cal and BD unlocked another of Cordova's encrypted logs, explaining that the key to the Bogano Vault was a device called the astrium, which the Mantis crew would have to seek out.
Kestis had to fight to escape the Haxion Brood's fight pit on Ordo Eris.
After escaping the Tomb of Miktrull, Kestis was kidnapped by bounty hunters of the Haxion Brood gang. Greez Dritus owed the gang large sums of money for his gambling debts, and the Brood kidnapped Cal as punishment for Dritus' inability to pay them. Kestis had to fight his way out of the Brood's headquarters on the asteroid Ordo Eris, rescue BD-1, retrieve his lightsaber, and defeat several waves of creatures, bounty hunters, and Haxion Brood Bounty Droids before the Stinger Mantis arrived to rescue him. Thereafter, the Brood continued to pursue the Mantis crew.
The Treacherous Approach on the way to the Tomb of Kujet
After he returned to Dathomir, Kestis ignored Malicos' advice, trying to enter Kujet's Tomb. Before he could reach the Tomb, however, Cal and BD-1 were ambushed by Nightbrothers at the Treacherous Approach, and the ground beneath them collapsed. Kestis and BD fell and slid down into the depths of Dathomir's swamps. Kestis and his droid companion traversed the Swamp of Sacrifice, the Nightbrother Dungeon, and a Nightbrother arena. There, BD-1 discovered climbing claws on the corpse of a Nightbrother. Kestis went to pick up the claws so they could climb out of the Swamp, but the pair were attacked by the Gorgara. Kestis managed to fend off the Gorgara long enough for the chirodactyl to retreat, allowing them to climb towards the Strangled Cliffs. However, the duo were soon attacked by the Gorgara again, and an aerial fight ensued whilst Kestis and BD-1 rode on the back of the Gorgara.
After defeating the Gorgara, Kestis and BD were finally able to enter the Tomb of Kujet. Inside the Tomb, Cal had a vision of what had happened to him during Order 66, in which Kestis had to fight a specter of his former master Jaro Tapal. In the vision, Tapal's specter crushed Kestis' lightsaber, which had been a gift from Tapal. Shortly after, Malicos questioned Kestis about going into the ruins, but Kestis didn't want to talk to him. Malicos revealed his true identity as Taron Malicos, a former Jedi and survivor of the Great Jedi Purge. Merrin then attacked Kestis and Malicos with Nightsister Zombies, forcing Cal to flee the planet.
The Stinger Mantis approaches the planet Ilum.
On the former Jedi world of Ilum, Cal sought to rebuild his broken lightsaber. Since its formation five years prior, the Empire had mined much of Ilum's surface, leaving a landmark known as the Imperial Trench that was clearly visible from space.
In order to rebuild a lightsaber, Kestis searched the Crystal Cave at Ilum's Jedi Temple, where many Padawans had performed The Gathering. There, he found a kyber crystal that called to him. Cal was excited to find his crystal, but when he retrieved it, it broke in two. Cal felt despaired, but soon realized he could use the two halves of the original crystal to construct a new lightsaber. After constructing his new split lightsaber, Kestis fought off Imperial stormtroopers and KX-series security droids who had invaded the frozen planet's Jedi Temple and two All Terrain Scout Transports at Ilum's Shattered Lake.
Fallen Jedi Master Taron Malicos duels Cal Kestis.
After constructing his new lightsaber, Kestis returned to Dathomir face the shade of his master. He realized the only way to defeat Tapal was to embrace his past and move forward. He knelt before Tapal's specter, causing the apparition to vanish. As Kestis and BD-1 moved into the Tomb of Kujet, they came upon Merrin. This time, however, she was willing to talk. Attempting to reason with her again, Kestis insisted that Malicos had lied to her about the Jedi. Naturally, the Nightsister was skeptical, so Kestis disavowed Malicos as a fallen Jedi and passed her his lightsaber as a show of trust, stating that possessing such a weapon doesn't make one a Jedi, and explained the Order's role as peacekeepers before they were betrayed and hunted to extinction. In turn, Kestis learned that she might be the only survivor of the Nightsister massacre carried out by General Grievous during the Clone Wars. He empathized with her loss and stated that Malicos was wrong to use that loss against her.
Further inside the tomb, Cal encountered Taron Malicos. The Dark Jedi tried to seduce Cal to the Dark Side and become his dark apprentice. Kestis refused, leading Malicos to attack him. Merrin witnessed Malicos's treachery, denounced him, and joined Cal to defeat the fallen Jedi Master. Merrin then joined the Mantis crew.
The Second Sister confronts Cal Kestis in the Bogano Vault.
With all the necessary astriums collected, the Mantis crew returned to Bogano to retrieve Eno Cordova's holocron from the Bogano Vault. Upon entry and opening the holocron, Kestis saw a vision of a potential future if he kept and used the holocron to rebuild the Jedi Order. The vision showed Cal, as "Master Kestis", training younglings, only to be ambushed by the Empire. The Empire would kill and torture the Padawans, and Kestis saw himself surrender before the Second Sister to spare his Padawans' lives, leading to his transformation into an Inquisitor.
By going through difficult trials and reconciling with his past, Kestis proved himself worthy to be enshrined as a Jedi Knight.
Upon waking from his dystopian vision, Cal was ambushed by the Second Sister, whom he fought and defeated. Upon grabbing her Inquisitor lightsaber, Cal experienced a sense echo revealing to him Trilla Suduri and Cere Junda's tragic past of hiding from the Empire and their capture and torture at the hands of the Inquisitorius. By the time he returned from his Force echo, the Second Sister had fled and stolen Cordova's holocron. Cal was determined to hunt the Sister down before the Empire could use that holocron to harm the force-sensitive children it tracked.
Cal ran back to the Stinger Mantis to tell Junda what happened. Despite her previous voluntary shunning of the Force, Junda reached out to the Force, took up the Second Sister's lightsaber, and knighted Cal Kestis as a Jedi Knight.
Kestis and the Second Sister dueling for the final time on Nur
The Mantis crew realized the Second Sister would bring Cordova's holocron to the Fortress Inquisitorius on the water moon of Nur in the Mustafar system. They thus went to Nur to infiltrate the fortress and retrieve the holocron. The Stinger Mantis was able to approach the Fortress undetected thanks to a magick ritual performed by Merrin.
Upon reaching the holocron's location in the fortress, Cal was confronted by the Second Sister for a final duel. Cal told Trilla that he saw her pain and suffering and urged her to redeem herself to the Light side of the Force by letting go of her hate. Trilla fought against such redemption, and the two dueled. Cal defeated the Sister, left her on her knees on the floor, and picked up the holocron. Cere Junda, Trilla's former master, convinced the Sister to let go of her hate. Just as Trilla came to terms with her hate, Darth Vader came from behind her to execute her for her failure. The Second Sister could sense her final moments were near and quickly yelled "Avenge us!" to Kestis and Junda before Vader struck her down.
Darth Vader confronts Cere and Cal
Vader chased Cal and Cere through the fortress as the two Jedi fled. Vader eventually cornered Kestis, who fought him off only long enough for Junda to arrive. Cere used the power of the Dark Side to knock Vader back, impressing the Dark Lord. Darth Vader told Cere that she would make a good Inquisitor, but Kestis appealed to Cere's sense of choice of her fate to prevent her from turning to the Dark Side. As Vader struck with his lightsaber, Junda was able to put up a bubble to block his attack. Cal realized the bubble could easily fail, so he used the Force to destroy the already-damaged glass holding the water out, forcing Vader to avoid that instead of defeating Kestis and Junda. The ensuing chaos allowed Cal and Junda to escape Darth Vader and flee into the underwater exterior of the fortress. Junda lost consciousness, and Kestis put a breath mask on her as he swam towards the surface carrying her. Kestis started to lose consciousness due to shortness of breath and almost drowned, but both were saved by Merrin.
The Mantis crew begins a new journey.
Back aboard the Stinger Mantis, Cal regained consciousness to Greez's delight. The Mantis crew assembled and discussed what they should do thereafter. Having rescued the Holocron from the Inquisitorius, Greez's charter from Cere was complete, but the Lateron wished to remain with the crew during their future travels. Merrin asked what they should do with Eno Cordova's holocron, to which Cere replied they would rebuild the Jedi Order. However, Cal had witnessed the torture and despair he could bring upon the Force-sensitive children listed in the holocron. Cal thus chose to destroy it rather than using it to train new Jedi; as it would endanger those children and lead the Empire to hunt them. He, Cere, Merrin, Greez, and BD-1 stayed together as the Mantis crew. Kestis eventually found himself waging a personal crusade against Imperial rule.
The secret mission to rebuild the Jedi Order serves as the main plot of the 2019 video game Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.
In Jedi: Fallen Order, the mission has several optional objectives for players. Those include using Kestis' psychometry ("sense echo") to collect all of the available codex entries in the game; defeating more difficult variants of creatures on Dathomir, Zeffo, Kashyyyk, and Bogano; collecting all of the custom clothing for Cal, "skins" for BD-1, and lightsaber materials and components; collecting in-game plants for Greez's garden, fighting the Haxion Brood bounty hunters, and recruiting a bogling stowaway to the Mantis crew.
Jedi: Fallen Order features four so-called "legendary beasts", which are stronger variants of a more common animal that attacks Kestis in the game. Defeating all four of them is required to earn an achievement in the game. The legendary beasts are:
Jedi: Fallen Order players are able to customize the appearances of Cal Kestis, BD-1, the Stinger Mantis, and Cal Kestis' lightsabers. Outfits for Kestis, lightsaber materials and components, and "skins" for BD-1 and the Mantis can be unlocked by opening boxes at various locations in-game.
Jedi: Fallen Order players can collect seeds for certain plants for the garden maintained by Captain Greez Dritus, called his terrarium. Plants whose seeds the player collects will be seen aboard the Stinger Mantis in Greez's garden. An achievement is available upon collecting all the available seeds. The seeds and locations are:
Players can complete optional combat challenges at the game's meditation points. These challenges involve fending off waves of enemies at set locations. Challenge points are awarded for defeating all enemies, doing so without healing, and doing so without taking any damage. Earned challenge points unlock new appearance customizations for BD-1.
After the story level at Ordo Eris, Jedi: Fallen Order players are tasked with the option to destroy all Haxion Brood bosses, however this is not mandatory, and the story can be finished without completing such tasks. Despite being optional, these bosses may spawn in certain set locations where the player must pass through in order to continue their journey. Upon dying to the bosses they will respawn upon the player's next attempt.
- The Art of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
- The Star Wars Book
- Star Wars: The Lightsaber Collection
- "Rebel Rousers: Our Top Ten Rebels" — Star Wars Insider 203
- Star Wars: Timelines