Naboo: Betrayal

[Arcubis Kornelius]

THEED


Betrayal : PART 1

The planet Naboo and its history are anything but forgotten. A few members claiming to be a part of the council have gathered in the capital city of Theed to discuss the pending meeting with a Jedi, who claims to have possession of classified information regarding a weapon of mass destruction. Receiving interest from the council, a meeting has been set. It has been a few years since the Rebellious rogue Sith Arcubis Kornelius had been seen. With little known of his former alliances, and what his true intentions are, he became just a star amongst millions within the galaxy.

A wedding celebration also takes place in the capitol streets, as Kara Kornelius and her husband, Private sector commander Var-Sulis have exchanged vows. Security is at an all-time high, as the celebration commences. But for how long can peace prevail?

(OOC: This is simply a plot with a bigger story arc with several characters I write. It is only official in my "mind". Feel free to join or DM with any questions about the characters involved : ) )
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[Var-Sulis]

Here we go​

 

[Var-Sulis]

In a chamber bathed in the amber glow of Nabooan lanterns, Commander Var-Sulis stood before a tall window, arms crossed behind his back, his silhouette cast in golden relief against the polished stone floor. The cool breeze carried the faint scent of lake blossoms, but it did little to calm the storm twisting just beneath his composed exterior. He wore his ceremonial uniform—crimson and black, tailored sharp across his broad shoulders—but the man beneath the garb was not without doubts. He had faced warlords, navigated interplanetary treaties, and led troops through fire and smoke. Yet today, the thought of a single woman—Kara Kornelius—had him pacing like a cadet.

Behind him came the familiar squish-snap of webbed feet, followed by a deep, rolling voice. "Ooh boy, yousa got da wedding nerves, huh?" Cooguba waddled in, robes of teal and bronze trailing behind him, his long Gungan ears swaying as he grinned with toothy amusement. "Mighty strong man like you, looking like he's about to faint."

Var-Sulis cracked a crooked smile, turning to face his old friend. "I've led a battalion through a siege on Chalderon IV. Negotiated peace between two warring clans on Mygeeto. But this? This is different, Coog."

Cooguba raised a brow and plopped onto a cushioned seat, adjusting the medallion that marked him as part of the Gungan royal cabinet. "'Cause dis time, yousa not commandin' soldiers or starships. Yousa puttin' your heart on da line. Dat's scary-stuff, eh?"

Var chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. "Exactly. I know what I'm getting into on the battlefield. But with Kara... there's still so much I don't know. She holds back. Even from me. And I get it—she's a Jedi, she's got duties, secrets... I just wonder if she'll ever let me all the way in."

Cooguba leaned forward, his wide eyes narrowing with uncharacteristic seriousness. "She trusts you. I've seen it, heard it. But Jedi been raised to guard demselves—too much loss, too much pain. Dey taught not to love, 'cause dey afraid love turns to fear, and fear... well, you know how dat goes."

Var's smile faded, his tone turning quiet. "I'd never make her choose between love and duty. I'd never ask that. I just want her to know that whatever she's hiding, I can carry it. I'm not afraid of what she is."

"Good," Cooguba nodded, his tone warm but firm. "Den tell her dat. Not wid words, but wid who you are. Da charm, da bravery, da heart. You already fight for her—now just love her wit' dat same fire."

Var-Sulis nodded, his confidence returning like a slow-burning sun. "You're a better politician than you let on, Coog."

Cooguba smirked and leaned back. "Yousa just figuring dat out now?"

The two shared a laugh, but the air between them had shifted. The nerves remained, but so did a sense of purpose. Var straightened his collar, took one last look out the window, and whispered to himself, "She's worth every shadow."

 

[Kara Kornelius]

As Kara stood before the mirror in her private chambers, the soft hum of a droid echoed through the room, its metallic limbs adjusting the delicate fabric of her ceremonial gown. The droid, an etiquette and protocol assistant named L-3V0, had been assigned to her for the preparations, its programmed precision ensuring that every fold and embellishment was placed to perfection. Yet, despite the droid's efficiency, Kara’s mind was far from the gown. Her thoughts spiraled around the impending ceremony, her heart caught between duty and uncertainty.

"You are unusually tense, Lady Kornelius," L-3V0 observed in its crisp, modulated voice, its optical sensors flickering as it studied her. "Typically, a bride is excited on the eve of her wedding. My data suggests that this is a moment of great joy."

Kara exhaled, smoothing a hand over the fabric of her gown. "It should be," she admitted, her voice softer than usual. "Var-Sulis is an incredible man—honorable, kind. But he doesn’t know everything about me."

The droid tilted its head. "Ah, you refer to your status as a Jedi and the nature of your abilities. You fear his reaction?"

She turned to face the droid fully, crossing her arms. "The Jedi aren’t supposed to form attachments, at least not in the way the galaxy expects. I’ve already broken that rule. But revealing the full extent of my powers, the things I can do... I don’t know how he’ll see me after that. The Jedi are warriors, yes, but we are also seen as something... otherworldly. Will he look at me as the woman he loves or as something beyond his comprehension?"

L-3V0 paused for a moment, as if processing the complexity of organic emotions. "Based on my analysis of Commander Var-Sulis' records and documented interactions with you, I find it statistically probable that he values you for who you are, not merely for what you can do. Love, as illogical as it may sometimes seem, often surpasses fear."

Kara let out a soft chuckle, shaking her head. "Droids always have the simplest way of saying things."

"Simplicity is often where truth resides," L-3V0 responded. "Shall we continue adjusting the gown, or would you prefer a moment to breathe?"

Kara looked at her reflection once more, the weight of uncertainty still lingering, but now laced with a glimmer of hope. Perhaps, just perhaps, L-3V0 was right. Maybe Var-Sulis would see her, not as a Jedi, not as a political figure, but simply as Kara—the woman he chose to love.

Var-Sulis

 

[Kara Kornelius]

The hush of the corridor outside Kara's chamber was deceptively peaceful, but within her, the Force had begun to stir—no longer a flowing stream, but a churning current she couldn't ignore.

L-3V0 stepped back, finishing the last adjustment on her gown, its polished fingers carefully releasing the final fold of fabric. "You are now fully attired for the ceremony, Lady Kornelius. Estimated time until procession: seventeen standard minutes."

Kara didn't respond immediately. Her gaze was fixed on the ornate mirror before her, but her mind had gone distant. A chill had crept up her spine—subtle at first, like a whisper brushing against the back of her neck. Then deeper, heavier, like pressure building inside her chest. She pressed a hand to it instinctively, her fingers gripping the embroidered front of her gown. Something was wrong.

"L-3V0... do you feel that?" she asked, her voice barely a murmur.

The droid blinked, processing the query. "My sensors detect no atmospheric anomalies. Your vitals, however, suggest elevated tension and irregular breathing patterns."

She shut her eyes.

It wasn't just nerves anymore. This was something older. Familiar.

A presence… elusive, yet distinct in the Force. A vibration laced with pain, with fire and smoke and shadows. The sensation dragged her backward through memory, to the day her life fractured—when her brother, Arcubis Kornelius, vanished into exile after defying the Jedi Council and rejecting the Code. They'd said he was lost. Fallen. Possibly dead.

But she had always wondered.

Her hand clenched. This sensation… she hadn't felt it since she was a girl. Since Exegol.

"L-3V0, I need you to run a scan for any unauthorized Force signatures in the region. Anything that doesn't belong." Her voice had turned steely, her Jedi instincts taking hold even through the silk and lace.

The droid paused. "That protocol would require elevated clearance and may delay your arrival at the—"

"Override it. This isn't just nerves. Someone's here."

A flicker of lightning arced across her mind's eye, not literal—but in the Force. A cold wind seemed to blow through the room, though the air remained still. The mirror warped in her vision, just for an instant, and in its surface, she thought she saw a figure—dark robes, piercing eyes, and the unmistakable tilt of a jaw she knew too well.

"Arcubis…" she whispered, her voice breaking.

Was he alive? Was he here?

A knock sounded at the door—firm, too timely to be coincidence. Kara's hand went to the lightsaber hidden beneath her ceremonial cloak. The wedding could wait. Destiny, it seemed, had arrived uninvited.

 

[Var-Sulis]

The great doors of the ceremonial hall loomed ahead, flanked by guards in polished silver and white. Commander Var-Sulis adjusted his collar with a quick swipe of his thumb, his boots echoing with sharp precision down the marble corridor. He had walked these paths countless times before—on state visits, in military parades, through peace accords. But never like this. Never with this strange tension building in the air.


Just ahead, the wide corridor opened into the Grand Atrium, where the press had been permitted to gather under the pretense of a "limited appearance" before the ceremony. He should have known better. The moment he turned the corner, camera flashes burst to life like tiny supernovas, and a wave of voices crashed over him.


"Commander Var-Sulis! Over here!"


"Is it true that your relationship with Jedi Kornelius began during a classified operation on Garel Prime?"


"How do you respond to rumors that she violated the Jedi Code for you?"


But then came the question that hit a little too close to the old scars.


"Sir, given your former ties to the Elysium Empire—many still blame your command division for the collapse of the Southern Systems. Do you truly believe a man with your history is fit for political alliance with the Jedi Order?"


The crowd hushed slightly at the sharpness of the inquiry. Var's jaw tensed. He recognized the voice—Kreta Solane, a persistent Holonet reporter who had made a name digging through the ruins of the fallen Elysium Empire, looking for ghosts.


He paused. For a second, silence reigned.


Then he stepped forward, his voice calm and measured, his presence magnetic.


"I was raised by the Elysium Empire. I fought for it. And when I saw what it had become—internal issues—I walked away. I led the mutiny that exposed the corruption in the high command. I lost comrades, I lost family. And yes, I carry that weight every day. So if you're asking if I'm fit to stand beside a Jedi… ask yourself who better than someone who's faced the darkness and chosen not to serve it."

(Lies with a little bit of rumors mixed into a pot of truth. No harm right?)



The crowd shifted. Some murmured, others lowered their holorecorders in contemplation. Kreta Solane narrowed her eyes, already calculating how to spin the moment. But Var didn't give her another second.


He turned and resumed his walk toward the ceremonial hall, his strides long and unshaken. Yet even as he pressed forward, a ripple in the Force danced along the edge of his awareness—untrained, but intuitive.


Something had changed.


He slowed near the threshold, glancing down the far corridor that led to Kara's quarters. A flicker of unease passed through him, just enough to raise the hairs on the back of his neck.


He tapped his comm discreetly. "Security, Sulis. Give me a quiet status update on Jedi Kornelius' position. Something doesn't feel right."


His instincts, sharpened by years of war, were whispering the same thing Kara had just begun to realize:
They were not alone today.

 

[Kara Kornelius]

The knock came again, gentler this time, as if coaxing her away from the edge of the cliff she stood upon.

Kara's fingers lingered near the hilt of her concealed lightsaber. She took a breath—steady, practiced, drawing the Force inward like a calming wave. Still, the eerie sensation of Arcubis's presence clung to her like static, whispering from the corners of the room.

She moved toward the door and slowly pressed the release panel. The door slid open with a quiet hiss—

—and a burst of laughter and excitement greeted her.

"Kara!"

Her bridal party surged into the chamber like a wave of warm light, led by Jedi Knight Renna Solai, one of her oldest friends from the Temple. Behind her came Sera Tevnari, a Corellian senator's daughter and Kara's diplomatic liaison, followed by Mido Tal, a wide-eyed Mirialan padawan who had insisted on helping with the ceremony despite barely reaching Kara's shoulder.

Renna immediately held up a delicate wreath of woven star-lilies and silverveil, grinning. "You weren't going to start glowing and float off without us, were you?"

Kara blinked, taken off-guard by the sudden shift in atmosphere. "Oh—no. I was just… centering myself."

"You look like you just sensed a Sith Lord outside the window," Sera teased, stepping past her with a tray of warm spiced tea. "Drink. You need something real before we pin you into that dress forever."

L-3V0 made a chime of polite protest. "The gown is perfectly secured—"

"No offense, Leev," Sera smirked. "Just saying she looks like she's about to levitate out of her boots."

Kara managed a small laugh, but the tightness in her chest hadn't left. She moved with them, nodding, sitting where they guided her, letting Renna adjust her veil and Mido nervously try not to knock over anything sacred. It should have been a comforting moment. It was meant to be one.

But even as she smiled, Kara's gaze lingered on the door.

That feeling—the shadow of Arcubis—had vanished the moment the others arrived. It was as if he'd never been there. But she knew better. The Force didn't guess. It warned.

Renna leaned in, sensing the stiffness behind Kara's smile. "You okay?" she whispered softly enough that the others wouldn't hear.

Kara nodded once. "Yeah. Just… pre-wedding jitters."

But deep down, a quiet voice inside her whispered:
He's alive. And something's coming.

 

[Var-Sulis]

The ornate corridor outside the ceremonial hall shimmered with soft light from floating lanterns, their glow casting an almost dreamlike quality to the moment. Guests had begun to file into the temple's great rotunda, where banners of white and deep blue hung from the high archways, bearing sigils of the Jedi Order and the restored GA. The air carried the hum of hushed conversation, punctuated by the occasional rustle of ceremonial robes and the click of polished boots.


Sulis stood just beyond the entrance alcove, speaking into a discreet wrist comm with a tightly coiled sense of focus.


"Status update. Tell me she's okay."


A calm voice returned through the channel. "Affirmative, Commander. Jedi Kornelius is in her quarters with her designated party. All biosignatures confirm. No unauthorized individuals in proximity. There was no breach."


Var exhaled slowly, nodding. "Copy that. Keep a quiet perimeter. No sudden movements unless I say."


"Understood."


He ended the transmission and adjusted the collar of his uniform again, more out of habit than necessity. His gut still clenched with unease, but the sharp edge of tension dulled with confirmation. She was safe. At least for now.

 

[Kara Kornelius]

Just then, the chamber doors at the far end of the corridor whispered open. A wave of lavender and silver robes drifted in as Kara's bridal party emerged in a formation as elegant as it was subtle. At the center, walking with practiced grace but eyes that still carried a veil of conflict, was Kara Kornelius.


Her veil fluttered slightly in the temple breeze, star-lily crown aglow under the ambient light. Her gaze met Var's across the corridor, and for the briefest moment, everything else vanished. No Empire. No past. Just them.

Kara reached him at the threshold, Renna offering a silent nod before stepping aside with the others. The ceremony chamber's great doors opened slowly, revealing the Jedi Masters, dignitaries, senators, and fellow officers all waiting within.

 

[Var-Sulis]

"You alright?" Var asked under his breath, his tone low, intimate.

 

[Kara Kornelius]

Kara nodded once, offering a smile—genuine, but laced with gravity. "I will be. Let's walk forward."

Together, they stepped into the hall.

As the music swelled and the crowd rose to witness the joining of Jedi and commander, the Force stirred around them—not in protest, but in warning. The future had just shifted.

And somewhere, far beyond the stars, a shadow stirred in kind.

 

[Arcubis Kornelius]

Exegol​

Lightning split the black sky of the desolate world, casting jagged shadows across the twisted spires that pierced the heavens like the claws of ancient gods. Wind howled between broken monoliths and forgotten temples—structures built for rituals long buried by time and the will of the Sith.

Within the heart of a temple's subterranean sanctum, a figure knelt in darkness.

Arcubis Kornelius sat unmoving upon a dais of obsidian, cloaked in tattered robes that whispered as he breathed. His eyes were closed, his brow furrowed in brutal focus. The chamber around him pulsed faintly with dark side energy, like a heartbeat echoing through a tomb.

Then—
He felt it.

The tremor was small, but sharp. The Force didn't whisper this time—it struck. A ripple of warmth. A flicker of light. A presence he hadn't touched in years but would never mistake.

Kara.

His eyes snapped open, pupils contracting to pinpricks.

She was alive. Close.

And worse—she was at peace.

Arcubis rose slowly, his robes trailing behind him like smoke. A dozen Sith holocrons floated around the chamber, reacting to the storm inside him—glowing, spinning faster, vibrating with the stir of fury.

He moved to a shattered altar and placed one hand on the cold stone. Through the dark side, he reached across the galaxy. The bond he'd once buried surged to life again like a reopened scar.

He saw her—veiled, adorned in white, walking beside a man. A soldier. A stranger.

His lip curled.

"She forgets," he growled to no one. "She pretends peace can erase blood."

The man she walked with—Var-Sulis—glimpsed through a haze of fury and jealousy, made Arcubis' fists clench until his knuckles bled through his gloves.

"No Jedi leaves me behind," he whispered, voice rising to a snarl. "Not her. Not ever."

The storm outside surged louder, matching the tempest inside him. The temple groaned, stone grinding against itself as the energy in the room began to crackle.

Arcubis tilted his head, his expression twisting not in pain—but in purpose.

"She's opened the gate again," he murmured, stepping back into the shadows. "And now she'll see what became of the brother she abandoned."

Lightning cracked. Somewhere deep beneath the temple, something ancient stirred in response to his awakening rage.

Arcubis Kornelius was no longer in exile. He was preparing for war.

 

[Kara Kornelius]

A hush fell over the crowd as Kara and Var-Sulis entered the ceremonial chamber, arm in arm beneath the arched canopy of crystalline glass and towering kyber-laced spires. Twin streams of starlight filtered through the vaulted ceiling, casting luminous patterns across the floor where a ring of Jedi Masters and dignitaries stood waiting.


The air held a stillness that almost felt sacred.


Master Pahul Vitorbreeze , robed in midnight blue and bearing the sigil of the Knights of Tomorrow, stood at the center of the dais, eyes calm but keenly aware. He watched the couple ascend the steps toward him, his hands folded in front of him—not as an officiant of mere tradition, but as a guardian of something much older.


Kara's steps were graceful, but with each one she felt the echo of that presence gnawing at the edge of her awareness. She could still feel him—faint, like a heat mirage on a cold plain. Arcubis was watching. Somehow. Somewhere. Her fingers curled inward slightly against Var's arm, but she kept her face serene.

 

[Var-Sulis]

"Easy," Var murmured just for her. "You've faced worse than a room full of politicians and Jedi robes."

 

[Kara Kornelius]

She gave a soft smile, appreciating the levity even as her heart pounded.

 

[Pahul Vitorbreeze]

The guests—officers, senators, Jedi, and delegates from over twenty systems—stood in respectful silence as Pahul raised his voice.

"We are gathered today not in defiance of war, nor to forget the trials of our past, but to embrace what grows in the aftermath of survival. Today, a union is forged not just of hearts, but of paths—Jedi and commander, spirit and shield."

 

[Kara Kornelius]

The words echoed gently through the rotunda. Kara felt the Force swell and fold around her, thick with emotion—love, pride, caution, curiosity. But also something darker, something far more distant.

Far above them, the kyber-laced spires pulsed faintly… one flickering ever so slightly out of sync.

 

[Pahul Vitorbreeze]

Pahul turned toward Kara, his expression kind. "Jedi Kornelius, you stand here in choice, not obligation. Do you give your bond freely, knowing all that may come with it?"

 

[Kara Kornelius]

Kara opened her mouth to answer—but in that very instant, her breath caught.

A rush of ice passed through her chest—an unmistakable disturbance in the Force, raw and personal.

She saw a flicker in her mind's eye: Exegol. Lightning. Fire. A silhouette with her eyes, her blood—but twisted with rage.

She blinked quickly to steady herself. No one else moved. Only Var noticed her hand tremble slightly in his.

"Yes," Kara said finally, voice clear but barely above a whisper. "I give it freely."

 

[Pahul Vitorbreeze]

Pahul nodded, now turning to Var.

"Commander Var-Sulis. Once of the Elysium Empire, now reborn in purpose. Do you give your bond freely to the one who walks the Force beside you?"