Raid on the Archive

During the Great Jedi Purge, the Galactic Empire launched a raid on Jedi Master Cere Junda's archive that she had built as part of the Hidden Path network on the desert moon of Jedha. The Archive was found after a betrayal from Bode Akuna, a member of Junda and Jedi Knight Cal Kestis's crew who had helped retrieve the compass, who revealed himself to have been a surviving Jedi working for the Galactic Empire. As Kestis pursued Akuna and Imperial forces closed in from all sides, Junda sacrificed her life to hold off the forces and fight Sith Lord Darth Vader long enough that the Path's contact codes could be secured and many of the Narkis Anchorites there could escape.
==Prelude==
On the planet Koboh, Jedi Knight Cal Kestis fought fallen High Republic Era Jedi Dagan Gera and his Bedlam Raiders for it alongside gunslinger Bode Akuna to recover an Abyss compass. He brought it back to The Archive on the moon Jedha, where Jedi Master Eno Cordova, who worked with the Hidden Path network that smuggled Force-sensitives alongside Master Cere Junda, worked to repair the compass in the hope that it would allow the Path to relocate to the hidden planet Tanalorr located in the Koboh Abyss.
Meanwhile, the reunited crew of the starship Stinger Mantis, including Junda, Kestis, Akuna, the Nightsister Merrin, and the pilot Greez Dritus, celebrated and discussed their plans for the future. Junda agreed to go with Kestis and the Path to Tanalorr and bring the Archive there with them. Taking Kestis aside, Akuna suggested that a smaller group should go on ahead and scout Tanalorr first, but Kestis disagreed. Weary and concerned for his daughter Kata, Akuna retired early, leaving Kestis and Merrin to share a romantic moment together on the balcony.
==The battle==
===Betrayal===
By morning, Cordova's repairs on the compass were complete. Yet at that moment, disaster struck—the Galactic Empire had found them, and was closing in from all angles. As confusion gripped them, a sorrowful Akuna took the compass and held a blaster to Master Cordova. Cordova tried to reason with him, but Akuna fired two shots into Cordova's abdomen, murdering the Jedi Master before tossing a grenade in the center of the Archive toward Kestis and Junda. Junda used the Force to block the blast and Akuna's other blaster shots. Akuna fled, racing through the base, Kestis running after him when Junda reminded him that Akuna had the compass.
Kestis, now grief-stricken, pursued Akuna across the Jedha's desert on a speeder to retrieve the compass from him. After navigating across thee Jedha landscape and navigating through hordes of Imperial troops headed for the Archive, Kestis managed to disable Akuna's speeder. Cornered, Akuna urged Kestis to head back to the Archive to protect his found family, warning that something terrible was coming for them. When Kestis instead attacked him, Akuna drew the lightsaber he took from Gera and used the Force, revealing himself to be a Jedi who survived from Order 66. Cal Kestis and Bode Akuna fought in a lightsaber duel, but Akuna gained the upper hand by force pushing and shooting the Jedi off a cliff, injuring Kestis and allowing Akuna to escape with his compass, leaving his former friend for dead.
===Siege and sacrifice===
While Kestis pursued Akuna, Junda and Merrin worked together to stop the Empire's assault and buy time for an evacuation. Eventually moving and fighting within the structure and then at the main gate, the two, along with many Narkis Anchorites who had lived and worked at the Archive held off many waves of Imperial forces forcing their way in through the main gate. After holding them off, Junda told Merrin to stay and protect the Stinger Mantis while she received the Hidden Path contact codes, knowing that if the Empire found them the entire network could be jeopardized. Though Merrin initially protested, she eventually agreed before Junda left.
Rushing to the Archive, Junda discovered that it was in flames and retrieved the codes from a console before entrusting Kestis's droid BD-1 with the Hidden Path contact codes. However, Darth Vader appeared, intent on revenge for his defeat at the Fortress Inquisitorius on Nur and total destruction of the Jedi. As Junda sent BD-1 away with Jedi codes, she engaged the cyborg Sith Lord in a savage duel with her skill and determination. Junda came close to defeating him, but at the final moment, a wounded Vader struck true, dealing a lethal blow to the Jedi Master, who collapsed.
==Aftermath==
Kestis eventually found Junda and held her, witnessing her last stand through psychometry. As she died in his arms she called out Kestis's name and the name of her late Padawan Trilla Suduri, before Kestis broke down and sobbed. Kestis brought back her and Cordova's bodies to the Stinger Mantis, where both Dritus and Merrin grieved. As the remaining crew tried to process Akuna's treachery and the sudden, devastating loss of their friends, they realized that they could use Akuna's locator beacon to track him to his hideout. Discovering that he was in the Nova Garon system, the crew decided to pursue him.
==Behind the scenes==
The raid on the Archive appeared in the 2023 video game Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, developed by Respawn Entertainment.
==Appearances==
*Star Wars Jedi: Survivor 
==Sources==
*
*Star Wars Encyclopedia: The Comprehensive Guide to the Star Wars Galaxy
==Notes and references==
Category:Battles of Jedha
Category:Battles of the Great Jedi Purge
Category:Battles of the Quest for Tanalorr
Category:Duels