The clandestine operation to restore the Jedi Order, also referenced as the Hunt for the Holocron, was executed during the Great Jedi Purge by the former Jedi Knight Cere Junda alongside her Padawan apprentice, Cal Kestis. The Jedi Order had been decimated by Order 66, forcing the survivors into hiding. The efforts of Junda and Kestis to rebuild the Jedi Order pitted them against the Galactic Empire's Inquisitorius, an organization of dark-side adherents whose purpose was to hunt down every remaining Jedi. During the Clone Wars, Jedi Master Eno Cordova, Junda's former mentor, experienced a Force vision that predicted the Jedi Order's downfall. To safeguard the Order's future, Cordova attempted to warn the Jedi High Council, but his warnings were largely ignored. However, Jocasta Nu, the Chief Librarian of the Jedi, took Cordova's warnings seriously, providing the Jedi Master with a holocron. This holocron contained the locations of all known Force-sensitive children within the galaxy, who could potentially be trained as Jedi Initiates to revive the Order. Cordova secured his holocron inside a Vault located on the isolated Outer Rim planet of Bogano. This Vault could only be accessed by a Force user possessing an artifact referred to as an astrium.
In the year 14 BBY, Kestis revealed his abilities as a Force user by employing telekinesis to prevent his friend Prauf from falling to his death on Bracca. An Imperial [viper probe droid](/article/viper_probe_droid] captured Kestis's use of the Force, which enabled the Inquisitorius to locate the former Padawan. The Inquisitorius deployed the Inquisitors known as the Second Sister and the Ninth Sister to Bracca. Junda and her Lateron pilot Greez Dritus were monitoring Inquisitorius communications, leading them to Cal's location. Cere and Greez rescued Kestis from the Second Sister aboard the Stinger Mantis. Cere recruited Kestis to join their clandestine mission, hoping that the young Padawan could succeed where her former master had failed. Unbeknownst to Kestis at the time, the Second Sister was formerly Junda's Padawan, known as Trilla Suduri.
During the course of this mission, Kestis formed a friendship with BD-1, Eno Cordova's droid companion, and eventually with Merrin, a Nightsister who was one of the few survivors of the Nightsister massacre perpetrated by Separatist forces during the Clone Wars. Together, the crew of the Stinger Mantis journeyed across the galaxy, seeking an astrium that would unlock the Vault on Bogano and allow them to retrieve Cordova's holocron, which they intended to use to rebuild the Jedi Order. As the mission progressed, Kestis strengthened his bonds with the Mantis crew and rekindled his connection to the Force, regaining his confidence and abilities as a Jedi. Cordova had suppressed many of BD-1's memories, and the droid's holographic records were gradually unlocked as Kestis advanced on his journey. The Vault on Bogano, the astriums, and the ancient tombs of sages were relics of the Zeffonians, an ancient, technologically advanced, space-faring, and now extinct species that Cordova had studied. The Zeffo originated from the planet Zeffo and worshipped the Force as the "Life Wind." During the mission, Kestis experienced Force visions, amplified by his rare power of psychometry, which provided insights into the Zeffo, their wisdom, and their mistakes, further strengthening his connection to the Force. The Mantis crew aimed to prevent the Empire from exploiting Zeffo artifacts as part of Project Auger, fearing the destructive potential of Zeffo technology and mastery of the Force in the Empire's hands. Cal fought numerous Imperial stormtroopers, Purge Troopers, and even AT-ST walkers during the mission. The Mantis crew also encountered the Haxion Brood crime syndicate, as well as the Nightsisters and Nightbrothers of Dathomir during their travels.
After investigating two tombs belonging to Zeffo sages, Kestis was captured by bounty hunters from the Haxion Brood. Greez had accumulated significant debts with the Haxion Brood due to his gambling addiction, and the gang seized Kestis to force the Lateron pilot to pay his debts. Kestis was forced to liberate himself, rescue BD-1, and battle his way out of an arena on Ordo Eris to escape the Brood's grasp and continue his mission. Following Kestis's escape, the Brood persistently pursued the Mantis crew across the galaxy, and Kestis encountered more Haxion Brood bounty hunters throughout the remainder of the mission. Outside a Zeffo tomb on Dathomir, Kestis was overwhelmed by survivor's guilt, resulting in the destruction of the kyber crystal within his lightsaber when confronted by a vision of his former master Jaro Tapal. The Mantis crew then embarked on a mission to Ilum so Cal could acquire a kyber crystal to construct a new lightsaber to complete their mission. After building his second lightsaber, Kestis returned to the tomb on Dathomir, where Tapal's specter once again confronted the Padawan. This time, Cal accepted his past and moved forward, dispelling the angry vision of Tapal. Kestis entered the tomb, where the former Jedi Master Taron Malicos attempted to sway him to the dark side of the Force. Cal refused, leading Malicos to attack him. Merrin joined forces with Kestis, and together they defeated the fallen Jedi and escaped.
After successfully obtaining the holocron on Bogano, Kestis's psychometry triggered a Force vision that incapacitated him long enough for the Second Sister to steal the holocron. Following her theft, the Second Sister delivered the holocron to the Fortress Inquisitorius located on the aquatic moon of Nur within the Mustafar system. Despite Kestis's disappointment at the loss of the holocron, Cere recognized his bravery up to that point as proof that he had passed his Jedi Trials, and thus bestowed upon Cal the rank of Jedi Knight. The Mantis crew then traveled to the Fortress Inquisitorius to retrieve the holocron from the Empire.
At the Fortress Inquisitorius, the newly knighted Cal Kestis triumphed over the Second Sister in a final lightsaber duel before recovering Cordova's holocron. Kestis unsuccessfully pleaded with the Sister to relinquish her hatred, while Junda sought Trilla's forgiveness. Just as Trilla reconciled with her past and prepared to forgive Cere, Darth Vader appeared behind her and executed her for her failure. Vader pursued the new and former Jedi Knights, who narrowly escaped with Cordova's holocron. Back on board the Mantis, Kestis realized that contacting the younglings listed in the holocron would expose them to the risk of death and torture at the hands of the Empire. Consequently, he decided to destroy the holocron rather than endanger the younglings, entrusting their fate to the will of the Force.
At the conclusion of the Clone Wars, Sheev Palpatine, the Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic, declared the Jedi to be enemies of the state, accusing them of treason, ostensibly due to their attempt to arrest him. Palpatine, whose true identity was Darth Sidious, the Dark Lord of the Sith, initiated Order 66, commanding all clone troopers to execute their Jedi Generals and Commanders. He also ordered his new Sith apprentice, Darth Vader, to launch a siege of the Jedi Temple. Sidious then transformed the Republic into the Galactic Empire and proclaimed himself Galactic Emperor. Order 66 led to the destruction of the Jedi Order. Any surviving Jedi were hunted down during the Great Jedi Purge, a campaign overseen by Vader and the Inquisitorius. The Inquisitorius was an organization composed of former Jedi who had embraced the dark side of the Force and were tasked by Emperor Palpatine with killing all surviving Jedi.
One of the Jedi who managed to survive was a Padawan named Cal Kestis. Kestis was aboard the Venator-class Star Destroyer known as the Albedo Brave with his Lasat master, Jaro Tapal, while in orbit above Bracca when Order 66 was issued. The clones of Tapal's 13th Battalion betrayed Tapal and Kestis. Tapal fought off his former clone troopers, enabling Cal to escape to the planet below, but the Lasat died from his injuries as Cal fled. After Order 66, Kestis went into hiding, finding employment with the Scrapper Guild on Bracca, where he lived a quiet life as a rigger.
As an employee on Bracca, Prauf, an Abednedo and fellow scrapper, was Kestis's only true friend. During one particular job, a Venator-class Star Destroyer that was being scrapped came loose, causing Prauf and Kestis to lose their footing and fall. Kestis managed to grab onto the ship, but Prauf was unable to hold on. In a desperate attempt, Kestis reached out and used the Force to save his friend, an act witnessed by an Imperial viper probe droid. Prauf realized that Cal possessed the abilities of a Jedi and warned him to be careful, as there were bounties placed on "people like him." Cal responded angrily, informing Prauf that he was already aware of that. Prauf pleaded with Kestis to leave the planet for his own safety.
The covert mission to rebuild the Jedi Order took place in 14 BBY.
Kestis, Prauf, and other Guild workers were traveling on a train when it was stopped by Imperial authorities. Stormtroopers escorted them outside, where they were confronted by Purge Troopers, the Ninth Sister, and the Second Sister. The Second Sister informed the workers that they were searching for a Jedi and that failure to identify themselves would result in their execution. Prauf stepped forward and spoke out against the Empire in an attempt to protect his friend. The Second Sister killed him with her lightsaber. Kestis retaliated 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 knocked him off a ledge onto a moving train after Kestis activated his lightsaber.
Afterward, Kestis fled aboard the Stinger Mantis, joining Cere Junda and Greez Dritus on their mission to rebuild the Jedi Order. The trio, known as the Stinger Mantis crew, embarked on a mission to the remote planet of Bogano. There, the droid BD-1 joined the Mantis crew and assisted Kestis in locating an ancient Vault constructed by an ancient species known as the Zeffonians. Inside the Vault, Eno Cordova, a Jedi Master who had studied the Zeffo civilization, concealed a holocron containing a list of Force-sensitive children who could be trained as a new generation of Jedi to restore the Jedi Order following the Great Jedi Purge. Kestis and BD-1 entered the Bogano Vault and discovered Cordova's message regarding the Jedi holocron contained within.
Cordova left Kestis a message, directing him to visit the Zeffo homeworld, a planet called Zeffo, and locate artifacts known as astriums, which would enable them to unlock the Bogano Vault and access the holocron that Cordova had hidden inside.
On Zeffo, Kestis encountered stormtroopers, AT-ST's, and other 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 enable Imperial forces to carry out Project Auger, an Imperial mining operation intended to uncover powerful artifacts within Zeffo's tombs for the Emperor.
Cal entered the Tomb of Eilram and regained the ability to push objects using 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, indicating that the Zeffo once had ties to Kashyyyk. Cordova suggested that if the Zeffo had been on Kashyyyk, Tarfful, the Wookiee Chieftain, would be aware of it. This prompted Kestis and his crew to travel there to find the Wookiee Chieftain.
Master Cordova knew of potential Zeffo ruins on the planet Dathomir. The Mantis crew traveled to Dathomir to investigate leads on astriums.
On Dathomir, Kestis encountered Merrin, a Nightsister who distrusted Jedi. During the Clone Wars, Separatist General Grievous massacred the Nightsisters, leaving Merrin as the sole survivor in her village. Taron Malicos, a former Jedi Master who survived Order 66, had settled on Dathomir, where he fell to the dark side of the Force, conquered the Nightbrothers, and manipulated Merrin into believing that the Jedi were responsible for the massacre of the Nightsisters. He convinced Merrin to teach him her dark magick.
Malicos met Cal Kestis outside 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 warned Kestis to stay away from the ruins or be corrupted by the power within the structure.
The Mantis crew undertook a mission on Kashyyyk to find Tarfful, the Wookiee chieftain, general, and freedom fighter. While there, Kestis met Saw Gerrera, the leader of the Partisans, and assisted the Partisans and enslaved Wookiees in fighting 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, who was then leading the Kashyyyk resistance. However, the mission's outcome was considered a stalemate, 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 had once found an astrium. At that point, BD-1 unlocked another holographic message from Cordova in his memory banks. The message informed BD and Cal that there might be another astrium on Dathomir.
During their travels, the Mantis crew returned to Zeffo to prevent the Empire from uncovering 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 engaged in a lightsaber duel. Just as the Second Sister appeared to gain the upper hand, BD-1 activated an unbreakable laser shield between the Jedi and the Inquisitor. Kestis and BD escaped into the Tomb and attempted to contact 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 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 tomb, 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.
After escaping the Tomb of Miktrull, Kestis was kidnapped by bounty hunters from the Haxion Brood crime syndicate. 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 was forced 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. Subsequently, the Brood continued to pursue the Mantis crew.
After Kestis's return to Dathomir, he disregarded Malicos's counsel and attempted to enter Kujet's Tomb. Before he could reach his destination, Cal and BD-1 were suddenly attacked by Nightbrothers at the Treacherous Approach, causing the ground beneath them to give way. Kestis and BD fell, sliding into the depths of Dathomir's swamps. The duo then proceeded through the Swamp of Sacrifice, the Nightbrother Dungeon, and a Nightbrother arena. It was there that BD-1 discovered climbing claws on a Nightbrother's corpse. As Kestis reached for the claws to facilitate their escape from the Swamp, the Gorgara launched an assault. Kestis successfully held off the Gorgara long enough for the chirodactyl to retreat, allowing them to ascend towards the Strangled Cliffs. However, their ascent was interrupted by another attack from the Gorgara, leading to an aerial battle as Kestis and BD-1 clung to the Gorgara's back.
Having defeated the Gorgara, Kestis and BD finally gained entry into the Tomb of Kujet. Inside, Cal experienced a vision of the events of Order 66, forcing him to confront a specter of his former master, Jaro Tapal. In this vision, Tapal's specter shattered Kestis' lightsaber, a gift from Tapal himself. Soon after, Malicos questioned Kestis about his exploration of the ruins, but Kestis refused to engage. Malicos then revealed his true identity as Taron Malicos, a former Jedi and survivor of the Great Jedi Purge. Subsequently, Merrin attacked Kestis and Malicos with Nightsister Zombies, compelling Cal to flee the planet.
Cal journeyed to Ilum, a former Jedi world, with the intention of reconstructing his damaged lightsaber. In the five years since its establishment, the Empire had extensively mined Ilum's surface, leaving behind a prominent scar known as the Imperial Trench that was easily visible from space.
To accomplish this, Kestis sought out the Crystal Cave within Ilum's Jedi Temple, a location where many Padawans had undergone The Gathering. There, he discovered a kyber crystal that resonated with him. While Cal was excited to discover the crystal, it broke in two upon retrieval. Initially disheartened, Cal soon realized he could utilize both halves of the original crystal to construct a new lightsaber. After assembling his new split lightsaber, Kestis defended himself against Imperial stormtroopers and KX-series security droids that had invaded the planet's Jedi Temple, as well as two All Terrain Scout Transports at Ilum's Shattered Lake.
Having completed his new lightsaber, Kestis made his way back to Dathomir to confront the shade of his master. He came to the conclusion that accepting his past and moving on was the only way to overcome Tapal. Kneeling before Tapal's specter, the apparition vanished. As Kestis and BD-1 ventured into the Tomb of Kujet, they encountered Merrin. This time, however, she was willing to engage in conversation. In an attempt to reason with her once more, Kestis insisted that Malicos had deceived her about the Jedi. Naturally, the Nightsister was skeptical, so Kestis disavowed Malicos as a fallen Jedi and offered her his lightsaber as a gesture of trust, explaining that merely possessing such a weapon does not make one a Jedi, and elaborated on the Order's role as peacekeepers before they were betrayed and hunted to extinction. In return, Kestis learned that she might be the sole survivor of the Nightsister massacre perpetrated by General Grievous during the Clone Wars. He sympathized with her loss and emphasized that Malicos was wrong to exploit her grief.
Deeper within the tomb, Cal encountered Taron Malicos. The Dark Jedi attempted to sway Cal to the Dark Side and take him on as his apprentice. Kestis refused, prompting Malicos to attack. Witnessing Malicos's betrayal, Merrin condemned him and joined forces with Cal to defeat the fallen Jedi Master. Merrin subsequently joined the crew of the Mantis.
With all the necessary astriums acquired, the Mantis crew made their way back to Bogano to retrieve Eno Cordova's holocron from the Bogano Vault. Upon entering and activating the holocron, Kestis experienced a vision of a possible future if he retained and utilized the holocron to rebuild the Jedi Order. The vision depicted 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 to the Second Sister in order to spare his Padawans' lives, leading to his transformation into an Inquisitor.
Upon awakening from this grim vision, Cal was ambushed by the Second Sister, whom he engaged in combat and ultimately defeated. Upon seizing her Inquisitor lightsaber, Cal experienced a sense echo that revealed the tragic history of Trilla Suduri and Cere Junda, their concealment 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 escaped with Cordova's holocron. Cal was determined to track her down before the Empire could exploit the holocron to harm the Force-sensitive children it was tracking.
Cal rushed back to the Stinger Mantis to inform Junda of the events. 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.
The Mantis crew deduced that the Second Sister would transport Cordova's holocron to the Fortress Inquisitorius located on the water moon of Nur within the Mustafar system. Consequently, they traveled to Nur to infiltrate the fortress and recover the holocron. The Stinger Mantis managed to approach the Fortress undetected thanks to a magick ritual performed by Merrin.
Upon reaching the holocron's location within the fortress, Cal was confronted by the Second Sister for a final duel. Cal expressed that he understood her pain and suffering, urging her to redeem herself to the Light side of the Force by releasing her hatred. Trilla resisted such redemption, and the two engaged in combat. Cal defeated the Sister, leaving her kneeling on the floor, and retrieved the holocron. Cere Junda, Trilla's former master, implored the Sister to relinquish her hatred. Just as Trilla came to terms with her hatred, Darth Vader appeared from behind her to execute her for her failure. Sensing her impending demise, the Second Sister quickly yelled "Avenge us!" to Kestis and Junda before Vader struck her down.
Vader pursued Cal and Cere through the fortress as the two Jedi attempted to escape. Vader eventually cornered Kestis, who fought him off just long enough for Junda to arrive. Cere channeled the power of the Dark Side to push Vader back, impressing the Dark Lord. Darth Vader suggested that Cere would make a suitable Inquisitor, but Kestis appealed to Cere's sense of choice regarding her destiny to prevent her from succumbing to the Dark Side. As Vader attacked with his lightsaber, Junda managed to create a bubble to block his attack. Cal realized the bubble could easily fail, so he used the Force to destroy the already-damaged glass containing the water, forcing Vader to address that threat instead of defeating Kestis and Junda. The resulting chaos allowed Cal and Junda to evade Darth Vader and escape into the submerged exterior of the fortress. Junda lost consciousness, and Kestis placed a breath mask on her as he swam towards the surface carrying her. Kestis began to lose consciousness due to lack of air and nearly drowned, but both were rescued by Merrin.
Back aboard the Stinger Mantis, Cal regained consciousness to Greez's relief. The Mantis crew gathered to discuss their future course of action. Having successfully recovered the Holocron from the Inquisitorius, Greez's agreement with Cere was fulfilled, but the Lateron expressed his desire to remain with the crew on their future adventures. Merrin inquired about the fate of Eno Cordova's holocron, to which Cere responded that they would rebuild the Jedi Order. However, Cal had witnessed the torture and despair that he could inflict upon the Force-sensitive children listed in the holocron. As a result, Cal opted to destroy it rather than using it to train new Jedi, as it would endanger those children and attract the Empire's attention. He, Cere, Merrin, Greez, and BD-1 remained together as the Mantis crew. Kestis ultimately embarked on a personal crusade against Imperial rule.
The covert mission to restore the Jedi Order serves as the central narrative of the 2019 video game Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.
In Jedi: Fallen Order, the mission incorporates several optional objectives for players, including utilizing Kestis' psychometry ("sense echo") to gather all available codex entries in the game, defeating more challenging variations of creatures on Dathomir, Zeffo, Kashyyyk, and Bogano, collecting all custom clothing for Cal, "skins" for BD-1, and lightsaber materials and components, collecting in-game plants for Greez's garden, battling the Haxion Brood bounty hunters, and enlisting a bogling stowaway to join the Mantis crew.
Jedi: Fallen Order players have the ability 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 discovering boxes at various locations within the game.
Jedi: Fallen Order players have the option to gather seeds for specific plants to cultivate the garden maintained by Captain Greez Dritus, referred to as his terrarium. Plants whose seeds the player collects will be visible aboard the Stinger Mantis in Greez's garden. An achievement is awarded upon collecting all the available seeds. The seeds and their locations are:
Players have the option to engage in combat challenges at the game's meditation points. These challenges involve defending against waves of enemies at designated locations. Challenge points are awarded for defeating all enemies, doing so without healing, and doing so without sustaining any damage. Accumulated challenge points unlock new appearance customizations for BD-1.
Following the story level at Ordo Eris, Jedi: Fallen Order players are presented with the option to eliminate all Haxion Brood bosses; however, this is not mandatory, and the story can be completed without fulfilling this task. Despite being optional, these bosses may appear in certain fixed locations that the player must traverse to progress in their journey. Upon being defeated by the bosses, they will reappear upon the player's next attempt.