His ship landed in the hangar of the icy asteroid, dark gray unlike the rest of the structure. The rusty color of the ship he had commandeered stood out like the blemish it was- wrong, improper, not Imperial. A ship he had taken to get back from his first mission being the Empire’s assassin.

Shiny black boots stepped onto the sleek, shiny metal floor, reflections bouncing between the two surfaces. Bode Akuna tugged at the bottom of the crisp white uniform to straighten it, rolling his head as the high collar made him uncomfortable and collected sweat. The pale green top he had worn on his mission had gotten dirt and blood on it, which would not be acceptable to wear before Lank Denvik, his handler, his master, as would anything less than his uniform. Being innately familiar with deception, he kept his features smooth as he inwardly scowled at the thought of being no more than Denvik’s attack dog. He didn’t want to show emotion to the armed troopers waiting for him to bring him to said man.

“Easy, not going to fight back,” Bode said, raising his gloved hands in that easygoing tone he had taken on when in his role. He was met with a push of a blaster against him. Alright, guess they weren’t going anywhere. It’s not like he had a reason to leave, but every reason to stay. But what did these Imperials know about things like love and family?

He didn’t let the trooper escort make him feel small, or cowed. He held his head high as they led him to Denvik’s office, where they stood outside as he entered, standing before that neat desk with his hands behind his back, gaze fixed on where leather met durasteel, just above the man’s head. He really didn’t want to meet Denvik’s eyes yet, not wanting the ISB officer to see the absolute loathing in his.

Lank Denvik finished typing something on his datapad, letting Bode wait in silence until he was done a couple minutes later. He set the pad aside and those steel gray eyes scanned the former Jedi, flicking up and down and appraising him in his uniform. “Tell me, Akuna, how did it feel?”

Out of all the questions to start with, Bode didn’t expect that. “Excuse me?” He couldn’t help but ask, the shock and surprise genuine, slipping past his usually controlled facade.

A crease to that heavy brow- he was annoyed. “We’ve worked together quite some time now, and you know those reports you give can be so impersonal. I want to hear from you, Bode Akuna, here and now with no deception: How did it feel when you killed that Jedi, when you were once one of them?” He leaned forward in his chair, expectant, fingers steepled together as he waited for an answer.

Bode’s jaw tightened so hard it started to hurt, remembering the last several weeks. The way he had gained the trust of his mark, carefully shielding his Force signature just like he had during the Clone Wars, putting on his friendly persona that lowered guards despite his intimidating size, the way he had befriended his mark before plunging the proverbial knife in their back and a blaster bolt between their eyes. The words fell from his lips before he could stop them, heavy as boulders: “I hated it.”

Not nearly as much as he hated himself for going through with it.

Denvik had a ghost of a smile marked by the slight upturn of his lips. “As to be expected. Well, I won’t keep you here then, I’m sure you’d rather go see your daughter than talk to me.” He waved a hand dismissively.

The squeak of his boot heel on the polished floor marked Bode’s departure, leaving a small scuff as an act of defiance. Bode utterly loathed Denvik, who the man had become since working in Intelligence together, the harsh reminder of why he killed that Jedi rubbed into his face. Why he had leashed himself to the very Empire that had killed Tayala and hunted him down.

He didn’t remember walking through the base, one moment leaving Denvik’s office and the next he was entering his room, hearing the door latch behind him, locking him in. The white walls blinded him, harsh and sterile and unforgiving and uncompromising. Bright white marking the loss of identity within the Imperial machine, and there he stood wearing the bright white uniform of an Imperial officer.

None of that mattered as a door opened and his favorite voice cried out “Papa!”. He scooped up Kata as she ran to him and held her close, spinning as he picked her up. Her laugh was the sweetest sound he had ever heard in his life, and he didn’t want to let her go. A hand went to the back of her head, his face in her shoulder, eyes closed. She was here, in his arms, safe, protected. In that moment, everything he had just done was worth it. He gripped her tighter as she began to squirm, wanting down.

“Papa put me down!” She whined, fighting his tight grip, trying to pull away.

“Just another minute. Papa missed you, little Star,” he mumbled against her shoulder before he finally pulled back, setting her down on the floor. She looked so small compared to him, especially in this unfamiliar place, in this prison cell of a room. He sat on the sofa and patted his knee, hoping she would join him.

She hesitated for a moment, before she did. “I don’t like it here,” she said softly with all the candidness of a child.

Bode sighed and went to touch her, then scowled and tugged his gloves off before running a bare hand through her hair. “Neither do I, Kata. This is a bad place with bad people.”

Kata looked up at him with eyes so like his own, from a face so like her mother’s. “Then why are we here? Are we bad?”

How did he answer that? Because Kata wasn’t, she was the best damn thing in this galaxy. But himself? He was a bad man, he knew that deep down. But he covered that up with an easy excuse, a lie he had told himself since he walked away from that dead Jedi’s pyre. I had to, I’m a father.

He knew he wasn’t getting out of answering when she shook his knee. “Papa?”

“No, no we’re not bad,” he began, trying to think of how to explain why he had sold himself to Denvik and this cold, inhospitable place. “But… there are bad people after us, like the people who took away Mama, and this place can protect us from them.”

She frowned. “So we’re hiding from bad people with bad people? Why?”

Bode huffed a breath at himself, having talked himself into a corner. “Because… It's all we can do, to be safe. I can’t lose you, little Star. Sometimes I’ll have to go away, but I’ll always come back. And you’ll always be safe.” He pulled her into another tight hug, and began to sing to distract her from other questions he could not answer.

On all accounts, Bode should be dead.

But he's alive, and reliving his story with Cal all over again, but this time he had the upper hand on what's going to happen.

Take on the role of Bode Akuna in this visual novel "game", where your decisions can alter the outcome of the story of Jedi Survivor.

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This is my love letter to both the Jedi game series as well as a love letter to visual novels and visual novel-type games.

Time took:

Script: written over the course of about 5-ish days (i travelled during some of it, sue me)

All art assets: drawn over the course of about 8 days. Some which were nonstop 12 hour days.

Editing: completed over the course of about 5 days between song choices, effects, and some assets that were used. including my own screenshots from the game!

All songs are listed in the credits by order of appearance, and all thanks are put at the end.

I was sick through about 75% of this, but I wanted to bring forth the love I had for this project and the love I have for these characters, game, and ship. A special thanks to the creators, writers, actors, and everyone involved in the making of the Jedi games because without them, I wouldn't have made *this*.

Yes, there are multiple endings including two secret endings.

No, I don't think I could do this again (maybe, if I get the motivation for it another time), it was 3.5 weeks of constant work and I'm exhausted.