CHAPTER FIVE
The Mon Calamari cruiser that carried Toah, Jacen, and the artifacts they had found on Ossus, slowly landed to the ground outside the Jedi Praxeum on Yavin Four. Awaiting them outside the Praxeum were Jedi Master Luke Skywalker and Morin Tharr, the latter being clad in the more traditional Jedi robes rather than the different styles utilized by the rest of the New Jedi Order.
Once Toah and Jacen had stepped off the cruiser, the two Jedi Masters walked up to greet them.
"I take it your task on Ossus was successful, am I correct?" Master Tharr asked.
Toah nodded. 'Yes, Master Tharr. The site is now clear for a Jedi temple."
Luke smiled. "Good. Chief SoBilles says he's gotten a business to fund its construction." Turning to Tharr, he added, "I believe a new era for the Jedi is at hand."
"Indeed," Tharr said. "I am sure Masters Yoda and Kenobi would be proud of you."
"Thank you, Master Tharr. I think they would be proud too." Turning back to Toah, Luke said, "Go help Remker and Kyle unload the artifacts. Then, come back to the Council Chambers. I wish to speak with you about something..."
Toah gave a departing bow as he went back to the Republic cruiser, wondering what Luke wanted to speak with him about.
* * *
Coruscant. Ever since he was brought to the city-planet by his father, Jenssar SoBilles had found it to be the most beautiful planet he had ever seen. Quite fitting, he thought, for the capital of the two Republics that have thrived, along with an empire.
Jenssar sighed. He remembered the deceleration of the Galactic Empire all too well. He had witnessed it on the Holonet, along with his wife, his children, and his father. No one could have described the shock on their faces. Years later, Jenssar formed a resistance on Duro, and later joined the Rebellion during the Galactic Civil War. And now he was the leader of the Republic that he and the other Rebels had always dreamed of.
He did all of this for his father.
Hanssar SoBilles was the senator of Duro during the terms of Chancellors Kalpana and Valorum. He studied the history of the Republic under Tarsus Valorum and saw that the Republic under his descendant Finis was more corrupt than it had been right after the Ruusan Reformation.
Jenssar had then made it his task to help create the Republic his father had wanted, even after his death. And he had succeeded. If only his father was alive to see it now...
His musings were interrupted by the sound of his office's doors opening. In stepped Senators Borsk Fey'lya of Kothlis, Pwoe of Mon Cala, and Triebakk of Kashyyyk, who was accompanied by a teal-colored protocol droid.
Jenssar swiveled around in his chair to face them. "Hello, my friends," he said casually. "What brings you here?"
Borsk crossed his arms and huffed frustratingly. "We are getting impatient, SoBilles. Senator Organa has not returned from Bastion."
"Give her time, Fey'lya," Jenssar replied. "The Empire is hard to convince."
"Exactly the point," Senator Pwoe said. "We highly doubt the Empire will sign the peace treaty. Which means..."
"We must use the weapon we found on Had Abbadon," Borsk finished. "It is the only way we can ensure peace to the galaxy."
Jenssar nodded slowly. "I agree. I only went with Senator Gavrisom's peace treaty idea because half the Senate had then supported it."
Triebakk growled something in the Wookiee language, which the teal protocol droid translated. "Then it is time to use the weapon. Who shall we send to carry the operation?"
Jenssar scratched his blue chin. "I think Wedge Antilles may be up to the task," he said. "Send Fifth Fleet with him to supervise the operation."
The Duros Chief leaned back in his seat, tapping his fingers ideally. "This will be a day long remembered," he declared. "For it will soon see the end of the Galactic Empire."
In his thoughts, he added, This is for you, father.
* * *
Far into the Deep Core, in the nameless sector simply numbered five, a planet wallowed in the dark side, drawing any travelers towards it with its power.
Darth Vorath, however, did not need to be lured. He had come to Prakith willingly.
The mountainous planet had not so long ago been under the Imperial rule of Moff Foga Brill, until he was killed by his fellow officers, which brought Prakith into Republic command. Despite this, however, the Republic hardly payed any attention to it, allowing Vorath to set foot on the planet without any interruption.
The Sith Lord traveled via a borrowed airspeeder through the caverns, crevasses, and cities until he finally reached his destination: an isolated structure located far away from the cities. Vorath had learned the location of the building from the holocron of Darth Andeddu, which he had acquired long ago. He had also learned the solution to the puzzle engraved on the door to unlock it.
Sliding the moving panels into their correct positions, the door to Andeddu's Keep slowly opened and Vorath stepped into the darkness within. Inside the temple, disembodied voices whispered in the old Sith language, not unlike the voices he had heard on Korriban more than a dozen years ago. But unlike those voices, these were not chanting the Sith Code, but some other creed, twisting the words of the Jedi and Sith Codes, much like how Darth Ruin had made his statement of belief.
Walking deeper into the shadows, Vorath began to see light up ahead. He arrived at a dusty, apparently desolated chamber, filled with dusty and web-covered artifacts. No one else was in the room but him...or so he thought. The whispering voices he heard went silent, replaced by a louder, less disembodied, yet raspy voice.
"What brings you to my temple, strange one?" it asked.
"I am here to speak with you, Lord Andeddu," Vorath announced. "If I may be so bold, I'd like to request that you show yourself in person."
"You're asking a being older then the stars to fulfill a request?" the voice of Darth Andeddu replied. "My, very bold indeed. But nonetheless, I shall show myself."
A hidden door ahead of Vorath swung open and smoke crawled out of it. Arising from the smoke was a humanoid male, dressed in ragged clothes, ancient, rusted armor and boots, and a plain, almost cube-shaped headdress. From his skull-like face, empty sockets seemed to gaze down upon Vorath. In his left arm, he carried a lightsaber akin to the ones crafted by the ancient Dark Lord Tulak Hord.
When Darth Andeddu spoke, his voice almost sounded like a knife scraping against wood. "Now then...why are you here?"
"I am in search of the armor of Valtheran," Vorath said. "I've read the texts of Ajunta Pall and Molar-Am, and yet I have found nothing about Valtheran, let alone his armor and staff."
Andeddu stared silently at Vorath, as if he was baffled by the Sith Lord's request. Finally he spoke, thought Vorath did not hear what he was expecting.
"I have the armor of Valtheran..."
Suddenly, a group of burly, seemingly human men came up behind Andeddu.
"However," the old Sith Lord continued, "I am far from willing to put it in the hands of a younger Sith that I presume you are."
His ancient lightsaber ignited a fiery red blade. Andeddu rose it in a challenging manner, grinning smuggly. "You will have to fight me for it."
Hardly intimidated, Vorath unhooked his lightsaber and activated its bloodred-colored blade. "It would be my pleasure to duel such an ancient Dark Lord of the Sith."
The two warriors spun their blades and lightened the room as they clashed.
No comments:
Post a Comment