The Mission to Bast Castle was a mission by a team of Jedi under Tionne sent to the former Imperial fortress of Bast Castle on Vjun in 22 ABY. The purpose of Solusar's mission was to investigate rumors that the fortress contained the late Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi's lightsaber and to obtain it if proven true. The mission also included Jedi Master Ikrit, Jedi adepts Anakin Solo—the youngest son of Han Solo and Leia Organa Solo, Tahiri Veila, the droid R2-D2, and Solo's friend Uldir Lochett.
Having survived Bast Castle's automated defense systems and booby traps, they discovered the lightsaber. However, a group of mercenaries and pirates under a cloaked lightsaber-wielding man named Mage Orloc arrived at the same time. Following a brief standoff where Solusar and Ikrit were separated from the others, Orloc stole Kenobi's lightsaber and led the other Jedi in pursuit. During a confrontation between the Mage and a lone Lochett, boasted of his powers to Lochett and revealed to him the presence of another Jedi relic— the holocron of the Old Republic Jedi Master Asli Krimsan in the castle.
However, the other Jedi managed to rescue Uldir; forcing the Mage to flee. They then searched for Asli Krimsan's holocron in the private quarters of the former Sith Lord Darth Vader. Upon finding it, Orloc suddenly reappeared and stole the holocron. Despite trying to slow them down by activating several trapdoors, he himself fell into one. Uldir retrieved the holocron from Orloc's hands as the Mage dropped down into the abyss. With their mission successful in achieving its goals, the Jedi then made their way back to the Jedi Praxeum on Yavin 4.
In 0 ABY, Jedi Knight Obi Wan Kenobi was slain by his former-apprentice-turned-Sith Lord Darth Vader onboard the First Death Star. Following the confrontation, his lightsaber fell into the hands of Lord Vader who promptly stored it at his redoubt of Bast Castle on remote Vjun in the Outer Rim. Sometime between the Great Jedi Purge in 19 BBY prior to his death in 4 ABY at the Battle of Endor, Vader also obtained the holocron of the Old Republic Jedi Master Asli Krimsan from the Jedi Archives on Coruscant. Asli Krimsan was a woman who had taught young Jedi for over two hundred years and had gathered all of her lessons in the device so that they would benefit future generations of Jedi teachers and students. While the device was not mentioned in any of Vader's records, he kept it in Bast Castle on Vjun. It was stored in a secret vault in his personal chambers, next to his sleeping tube.
In 22 ABY, the fraudulent "Mage" Orloc learned that Asli Krimsan's holocron was in the castle. Meanwhile, rumors of Kenobi's lightsaber in Bast Castle drew a Jedi team to Vjun shortly after Orloc arrived to claim the two Jedi relics. The Jedi team was led by by New Jedi Order historian Tionne, and consisted of Jedi Master Ikrit, Jedi trainees Anakin Solo and Tahiri Veila, the droid R2-D2, and Solo's friend Uldir Lochett.
When the Jedi team landed at Bast Castle on the Jemlaat-class yacht Lore Seeker, they discovered another starship which they later learnt was Orloc's transport. Since Tionne had obtained the information from a broker, she feared that the broker had also revealed the information to others. They were not expecting serious resistance as they searched the castle, but encountered a laser trap and a holographic death trap as they explored. Behind the holographic trap, Anakin Solo discovered a secret door. Beyond the door, he found a secret chamber containing Obi-Wan Kenobi's lightsaber.
Meanwhile, Orloc was also searching the fortress. He had discovered plans to Bast Castle in a maintenance bay and used his knowledge of its secret doors and passages to his advantage against the Jedi, stealing Kenobi's lightsaber and causing Tionne and Ikrit to fall through a trapdoor. Solo, Veila, and Lochett chased the Mage, but split up when he evaded them. Lochett was the first to confront Orloc. They spoke while Orloc threatened him with the lightsaber. The Mage boasted of his powers to Lochett and revealed to him the presence of Krimsan's holocron in the castle.
After the Jedi team reunited and forced Orloc to retreat, they searched Darth Vader's personal quarters for the holocron. Solo discovered the secret vault that held the holocron behind Vader's sleeping tube. The vault opened to his touch and voice command, and he was able to remove Krimsan's holocron. At Lochett's request, Tionne activated the holocron to see if it was operational. While the Jedi were examining the artifact, Orloc returned and stole it from Tionne's hands. He attempted to escape through another set of doors and opened more trapdoors in the floor in an attempt to slow down the Jedi. However, R2-D2 closed the doors via a control panel before Orloc could leave the room, and the Mage lost his balance and fell through one of the trapdoors. Before he fell, the Mage dropped Krimsan's holocron, which was caught by Lochett. The Jedi team then returned to the Jedi Praxeum on Yavin 4, having successfully retrieved both Krimsan's holocron and Obi-Wan Kenobi's lightsaber.
Despite the mission's success, Uldir Lochett had been led by the Mage to believe that the latter was a powerful Force-wielder who could teach him how to use the Force. Lochett wished to become a Jedi but was not Force-sensitive and thought Krimsan's holocron could help him in his quest. With Master Skywalker away on a mission to investigate the whereabouts of the Jedi expedition Outbound Flight which was rumored to have ended up in the Unknown Regions and Tionne unable to access the holocron only allowed Jedi Masters to access it, he decided to steal both Jedi artifacts and go to Exis Station to see if the mysterious Orloc could teach him how to use the Force.
During the night, he crept into Skywalker's empty quarters and stole both Asli Krimsan's holocron and Kenobi's lightsaber. To reach Exis Station, Lochett stole the Sunrider, a ship belonging to Jedi Master Ikrit. In the morning, his friends discovered that he and the Sunrider were missing. While they immediately suspected he had gone to Exis Station, the Jedi spent the rest of the day searching the grounds of the Praxeum for him. When Lochett did not turn up, Tionne, Ikrit, Solo, Veila, and R2-D2 traveled to Exis Station on the Lore Seeker, to retrieve him.
- The Essential Chronology
- The New Essential Chronology