When the First Order beset on Takodana, Maz Kanata’s castle took the brunt of the assault. Located on the shore of a lake that was owned by the pirate Maz Kanata, it served as a haven for travelers, smugglers and other unsavory characters. Sensor grids and advanced communication gear secured the castle from unannounced attacks, giving its owner and visitors enough notice to flee the scene.

The area around it is rumored to have been the battleground for the Jedi and Sith, being of strategic value for those willing to seek control over Takodana, and is littered with ancient ruins that resemble the structure of the castle itself. Inside, the castle’s gray exterior vanishes into shades of brown, the color of sandstone. Tables and chairs fill the cluttered spaces where travelers could share tales or pursue their own controversial interests. Unfiltered smoke permeates the air, clogging the senses with a sweet odor. Various criminal groups have at some time or another sought shelter in the castle, their passage evidenced by the many-colored banners outside bearing their insignia.

Now, the castle remains uninhabited. Several of its towers have crumbled under the First Order’s assault. Stonework pillars have toppled over, scorched from turbolasers and blaster fire. Other segments lie in ruin, still too new for the forest to have reclaimed the land around the castle.

Takodana’s great abandoned castles were crumbling. Jecht stepped forward, up and up again; climbing the half-collapsed face of one such edifice of hubris and attempting to climb away from the ambush. The person, he dearly hoped it wasn’t a body yet, on his shoulder was losing blood. He could feel it seeping into his robes as he climbed into the half-decimated room. He slammed out his medical supplies, sighing deeply as he saw the rise and fall of the soldier’s chest. He took off his backpack and sliced in a bacta feed right into the wound.

He looked back over the edge, seeing the distant explosions of the craft they’d landed on going up in flames. The Arconan bastards had them on the field, ambush ready. The Force users had started it, lightsabers flashing around like glowsticks wielded by the most blood thirsty children imaginable. He still chaffed at being forced to disengage, to leave the battlefield with so many fallen.

He’d done his best. Jecht just hoped he wasn’t lying to himself. He stood, the solider stabilised and instead reached for the communicator they’d been issued before planetfall. As he did, he watched the pin fall out of his first thermal imploder, pulled by an invisible hand.

The first second he felt shock, horror at the turn of events.

The second, his instincts kicked in and he grasped the grenade into-

His hand in the third second, swinging his arm back and-

Throwing the imploder away from him. He saw-

The shape of an Ewok slamming to the ground with a clearly force enhanced landing.

In the sixth second, he spotted the lightsaber flying into the tiny being’s hand.

And finally, the timer went off, filling the middle of the large room with burning fire, blinding both warriors to each other’s position.