![A Lifetime with Darkness. Padawan [Star Wars, OC]](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.royalroadcdn.com%2Fpublic%2Fcovers-large%2F176916-a-lifetime-with-darkness-padawan-star-wars.jpg%3Ftime%3D1783859565&w=640&q=75)
by GorMartsen
Flight Lieutenant James Cameron of the Royal Air Force was shot down over Iraq on 21 March 2003.He survived the crash, if barely. But what happened next was something he had no words for. Back in the Jedi Temple, Padawan Taren Lose lost consciousness after touching an artefact.It's hard to say who woke up in his body later. — Fanfic, isekai/reincarnation, Star Wars. A bit more of a mystery than an action story. A wartime pilot from Earth ends up in the early era of the High Republic. The New Sith Wars are still fresh in memory, but most of the Jedi who witnessed them have already died. The Ruusan Reformation is in place and slowly changing the Order and the Republic, and the Sith are believed to be extinct. There is no Clone Wars to come, no Anakin to save from Tatooine, and Yoda is just a youngling. What would James do? (or is it Taren?) — The first arc, Padawan, is finished — Jul 17, 2026. The second arc, Knight, is finished — Aug 29, 2026. The third arc, Captain Cameron, is ongoing now. Updates every Wednesday at 5:30 pm Eastern Time (UTC 9:30 pm) NO HAREM
Current
8/16/2026
Peak #7
46d
Current
8/11/2026
Peak #7
51d
#1
8/5/2026
Peak #23
6d
Observed Royal Road ranks are authoritative for lists where the story is active. Other eligible lists retain their Shadow RS ranks.
Overall Rising Stars Shadow RS rank
#6338 of 12,145 · 6288 below RS #50
By genre
beats 83% of similar stories
beats 15% of similar stories
beats 91% of similar stories
Firing on all cylinders
Traffic and conversion are both strong for a story this size. Readers are finding it and sticking — if Rising Stars is the goal, this is the moment to push.
Benchmarks: 8,060 active Royal Road stories, percentiles within the 20–49 chapters band, cohort of 2026-07-02. Conversion is measured as followers gained per 1,000 views over the recent window.
Also promotes