Vaniki's father, Gaveth Shera, is the king of Kairen. Vaniki is his oldest daughter and has been sent as an envoy to request the aid of the Jedi. Recently, strange "dark circles" have arisen outside Kairen cities and are widely believed to be the cause of the widespread disappearance of travelers. Most travelers who wandered through these dark circles and returned home have become nearly catatonic, refusing or unable to speak. There have also been rumors of strange, dark-robed figures roaming the nearby countryside...

The Kairens believe that the Jedi can help them to stop these disappearances, so Vaniki was sent to ask aid of Luke Skywalker's untrained twin sons, Myrthan and Jonack. This is because many of the people of Kairen believe strongly in the innocence of youth, and they think that a pair of young, untrained Jedi will be the least tainted by prejudice and mistakenly learned ways, and therefore most likely to be able to help defeat the evil of the dark circles. The Kairen also tend to view Jedi as almost other than mortal, and the twins are the sons of the great hero Luke Skywalker. Thus it comes as little surprise that they should not wish to bother the Jedi council with what they believe must be, to them, a trivial matter, and this is why Vaniki is sent to ask help directly from the twins.

Vaniki caught up with Myrthan and Jonack as they were heading toward their ship. The Jedi Council had just sent them to place called the Valley of the Jedi on a distant planet, a place where the Force is very strong. The plan was to have Skywalker's sons train there and hopefully gradually absorb some of the great power of the place, in order to create two Jedi champions who will be able to combat some dark evil that lurks on the horizon. The Jedi Council would not say what this evil was, however...

In the meantime, Vaniki spoke with the twins, who readily agreed to make a slight detour by way of Kairen. They board their ship, which is piloted by Scrap, a man of dubious reputation and an even more dubious interest in fiddling with anything mechanical; he is constantly trying to make "improvements" to any of the ship's systems, electronics, wiring, weapons that he can get his hands on. (Hey, and you thought Han Solo was bad! At least most of his modifications worked, at least some of the time...)

But more may await the twins on Kairen than they expect, particularly with Scrap taking them there, and the young, self-conscious Vaniki as their guide back to her home planet. Vaniki herself is not without secrets; she seems to have something to hide and a reason to want to prove herself, despite her royal heritage...

After Scrap took off, they headed for Vaniki's home planet. Upon landing, the Skywalker twins requested to inspect one of the dark circles up close before heading for the capital to speak with Vaniki's father. Vaniki agreed, and they left Scrap to wait with the ship on the cliffs, while they climbed down the cliffs and into a large canyon or ravine to find the dark circle's center.

On the way, they had to do a bit of tricky climbing to get down the steep trail. Vaniki proved to be fairly nimble, having grown up in this land filled with majestic cliffs and breathtaking views. Myrthan and Jonack kept up, following her as she led them down the trail. The twins began to notice Vaniki growing uneasy, however, and they themselves felt a sense of darkness growing the further the went. The center of the dark circle was on a ledge below them, and they realized they would have to make a short but steep climb down the cliff face. Vaniki nimbly led the way, climbing quickly and finding handholds, but a strong gust of wind knocked her off balance, and she lost her hold, tumbling down.

To Myrthan and Jonack's surprise, two great wings, covered with snow-white feathers, burst from Vaniki's shoulders. She glided downward and skidded to a stop on the ledge, then sat down as the Skywalker twins scrambled down to join her. She frantically pleaded with them not to tell anyone; as she explained, the winged race was thought to have died out, but obviously they had not quite vanished yet. Vaniki did not know who her father had been, but he was one of the winged race, the Kavirans. Vaniki's mother had been in love with the man, but her parents had contracted a marriage with Kairen's future king, and so she had married him, and when Vaniki was born she was hailed as the oldest princess of Kairen. Sometimes she wonders if her father knows, but she fears how he might react if he did find out for certain, someday, that Vaniki was not really his daughter, was not of royal blood, and what's more, was a half-breed. The Kavirans had been feared; not hated, but the difference mattered little, since the fear had led to the races' separation. The truth of Vaniki's heritage would have been a scandal, and at worst it might end up making her an outcast. And so she did the best she could to be a dutiful daughter and a good princess, trying to prove herself. She has never planned to take the throne after her father's death, always making it clear that one of her younger sisters would be better for the role of future queen. Her father's opinion on this matter is unknown.

Myrthan and Jonack listened to Vaniki's story, then promised not to give away her secret to her people. They then continued to inspect the area. The dark circle's center lay on the rocks of the ledge, where the ground turned dark and the twins could stick their hands inside it. As they tried to decide what to make of it, suddenly the ledge shook. Smoke and steam poured from the dark circle, and two figures rose out of it...

The two famed Sith lords, Exar Kun and Darth Maul, stood before Jonack and Myrthan. Never mind that Maul was supposed to have been dead for decades; somehow he was here, looking threateningly real. Myrthan ordered Vaniki to escape, and she spread her wings and flew around a corner and out of sight. Kun and Maul ignored her, instead engaging in combat with the Skywalker twins.

Sometimes the vanished travelers who had come through these cliff trails had left behind various kinds of items. Vaniki searched among them, on a nearby ledge, and produced a vibro-sword. She returned to the other ledge, hiding behind rocks, and then flew out and darted toward Exar Kun, vibro-blade drawn. Exar knocked her out of the sky with a huge wall of flame, and she fell to the ground. The battle grew fierce, and Vaniki was able to get in a few well-aimed kicks, knocking enemies off their feet while they were distractedly engaged in lightsaber combat with the twins. Inexplicably, a ship arrived, and Darth Vader stepped out, adding his efforts to the fight. The Sith managed to render the twins unconscious, and Exar Kun pumped Force lightning into Vaniki until she could barely move. When Darth Maul rushed at her with his saber, it was all she could do to roll aside. As he stood by the cliff, readying for another rush, she feebly raised her wings and swept them toward him. A rush of air knocked Maul off balance, and he went tumbling over the edge of the cliff. Then Vaniki blacked out briefly.

When she awoke, the Sith were gone, and Myrthan and Jonack had awakened as well and were coming to see how she was. They were a bit worse for the wear, but neither had suffered the kind of injuries which Vaniki had: broken arm, bruises, burns, bloodied cuts, battered wings, and an aching body which had suffered a severe overdose of Force lightning. Myrthan and Jonack argued over how to get her back to the ship and then to medical care, as Vaniki herself slipped in and out of consciousness.

Unbeknowst to our heroes (but beknownst to us!), Darth Maul sat on a nearby ledge, angrily nursing his wounds. He had managed to catch himself and, with a great deal of effort climb back up the cliff face nearby. So all the Sith are apparently still there to be reckoned with...

A stranger unexpectedly appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, and offered to aid Myrthan and Jonack in finding medical help for Vaniki. The girl awoke and dazedly saw a winged young man standing above her, where she lay on the rocky ground. She asked a few confused and excited questions, despite the pain she was in, before she was forced to lie still again. The young man introduced himself as Learsan S'novaya, saying he lived in a Kaviran cliff town, some distance away. He said they had far from died out, but they did keep in touch with events that happened in the capital and off-planet. They had not yet managed to contact other Kaviran groups, if there were more. They also had not known Vaniki's true heritage.

Learsan flew Jonack back up the cliff side, with Jonack's Force powers aiding him, so he could have Scrap come down and pick them all up in the ship. Myrthan stayed to watch over the now-unconscious Vaniki, and Learsan waited to guide them to his city. When we last left our heroes, Jonack and Scrap had just arrived, and the others were boarding the ship.

Little is known about the Kavirans at this point, except that they are feared by other Kairens, and many think they have died out. One thing more which none of the characters know (except Learsan, of course) is that this winged race has a tendency to produce a high ratio of those who are Force-sensitive...

After Vaniki had been healed, they took their leave of the Kavirans and went to the capital for an audience with Vaniki's father. He thanked the twins for their help; though they had not found a solution to ridding the planet of the dark circles, they had promised to do what they could when they learned of a way. Not liking the king's abrupt and dismissive manner with his daughter, Myrthan (thinking the king seemed to be blaming Vaniki for a lot of things) asked if the princess might accompany them. The king agreed, and Vaniki, after quickly packing, joined the others on their flight to the Valley of the Jedi.

When they arrived on the planet, the four of them—Myrthan, Jonack, Scrap, and Vaniki—set out on speeders to try to find the Jedi who was to train the twins. They came across a fire in the wilderness, tended by Winayla Lespr. They ate and talked with her, and then retired for the night. On the morrow, Myrthan and Jonack will begin their rigorous training...

That's all so far! There is a little that happened afterward, but it mostly involves the twins' training. Not much of it was all that exciting, as I recall—mostly just Myrthan and Jonack having water fights when they're supposed to be training. =P