Eternal Father
Natanus, an often-overlooked system nestled in the bosom of the Core Worlds.
Though by no means a backwater, Natanus had never fully reached the same level of prominence its more wealthy neighbors had. In the midst of large-scale industrialization, the majority of the planet's surface was being converted into urban sprawl for the influx of factory workers and technicians who flocked to burgeoning worlds exactly like Natanus.
Natanus itself occupied a trinary star system, where three stars of equal or near-equal size orbited one another at its center. This bathed Natanus in perpetual light, one sun setting right as another rose up on the opposite horizon. The native inhabitants of Natanus had learned to adapt many eons ago, though the constant day was often unsettling and disorienting to the scores of new migrants.
All was quiet, nothing unusual had been picked up by the relay stations at the edges of the system. Ever-vigilant for any anomalies, these stations monitored incoming hyperspace traffic and were in possession of a list of scheduled arrivals for the next galactic week. At this point in time, there were no arrivals scheduled to occur within the next hour or so. The crew inside the relay station was relaxed, though not negligent in their duties.
This is why the sudden klaxon of incoming vessels was so startling, nearly toppling one of the crew members out of their chair. Rushing to the viewscreens, the data coming in was frankly impossible to wrap their heads around.
"What is it?!"
"Some kind of wormhole!" The terror in the crewman's voice was palpable, "It's huge! A hundred times the size of this station! Energy readings are off the charts!" The warning klaxons considered the wail as the stunned crew watched as, just beyond the glasteel viewport, a massive rift in the black veil of space was violently split as if someone had taken a knife to the fabric of space and slashed it open.
Out emerged a congregation of ships, a healthy smattering of Katana-class heavy cruisers and EF96 Nebulon-A escort frigates. All were vessels on the public market from Kuat Drive Yards, though none were displaying any affiliation or designation transponders.
One of the station crewmembers rushed to establish communications with Natanus' defense force, "This is Outrider Station 7 calling the Home Fleet. Our scanners just picked up a gigantic hyperspace wormhole. An energy storm of undetermined magnitude is--" The message was never completed as another ship emerged from the hyperspace wormhole to smash directly into the station, killing all aboard and destroying the ship that had crashed into it.
Unperturbed, the massive fleet which had suddenly materialized continued forth into the system, jamming system-wide communications as they neared the planet. Before the wormhole closed, a final ship emerged from the chaotic turbulence. It was far larger than any other ship that had come before it, its hull made of sleek black metal that masked it against the darkness of outer space. It moved at a leisurely pace, shadowing the mass of smaller ships deeper into the system.
Hours later, a message was broadcast directly to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant from the Natanus system.
"We are the Eclipse. We have taken control of Natanus. We will bathe Natanus in purifying flame unless the Jedi fulfill our demands. Gather a thousand Alliance civilians and a hundred of your younglings and snuff out their light on live holonet. For every half-hour that you squander, we will orbitally bombard Natanus' cities. May His will eclipse the stars."
