STAR WARS: INVASION
EPISODE II
GHOSTS OF TIME
PROLOGUE
Cold rain pounded onto the transparisteel viewport of an ebony colored starship as it soared through the storm clouds, headed for the first spaceport it could find. It soon reached its destination, which was a bowl-shaped hangar bay on top of a large, gravity propelled platform that hung in midair. Awaiting the ship at the port was a tall, cloaked being.
Once the ship had descended into the hangar, the landing ramp lowered and two humanoid figures, both clad in armor, exited the ship. Their greeter, a Muun, quickly straightened his stance and bowed.
"Welcome to Mygeeto, Lady Lumiya," the Muun said. "Chairman Hill is awaiting you."
"Lead the way," said one of the armored humanoids, clearly a female judging by feminine voice and appearance.
The Muun led the two visitors out of the spaceport and towards a tall building that was not too far away. Inside, they followed a long, narrow hallway which ended with a single door. Behind the door was large room with a long table placed in the center. Sitting in the chair at the end of the table, opposite of the door, was a formally dressed Muun in his seventies.
The tall alien's dark eyes noticed his three visitors and a sly smile touched his lips. "Greetings, Lady Lumiya. I am glad you could make it-"
"Skip the pleasantries, chairman," Lumiya interrupted him. "You said you had something that would interest me."
Chairman Hill nodded. "Indeed. A few weeks ago, I was going through some of the personal writings of my grandfather, Larsh Hill, which he had passed on to my father before his death roughly eighty years ago. Among his writings, I found mention of a Hego Damask."
Lumiya's eyes widened behind her mask. "Is that so? Were you able to trace the name?"
Hill's smile faded slightly. "Unfortunately, most records of the name 'Hego Damask' seemed to have been destroyed. But..." He rose a bony finger for emphasis. "We were able to trace the name to where he was born...which was here on Mygeeto."
Even partially concealed by a mask, Lumiya's face betrayed intrigue. "Really? Anything else?"
The chairman of the Banking Clan waved an airily hand. "Not much...other than that we found out Damask's mother had connections with a ship designer named Rugess Nome."
Lumiya folded her arms across her chest. "And why does this matter?"
The Muun's smile returned. "Well, Hego Damask- or rather, Darth Plagueis' strength in the Force had to have come from one side of the family. And if Damask's father had been strong in the Force, Plagueis' master would have chosen him as an apprentice instead..."
"So Damask's mother must have been somewhat Force-sensitive," Lumiya concluded. "Then Rugess Nome..."
Hill nodded. "May have had...connections with the Sith."
"Indeed." Lumiya slowly turned to leave. "Thank you for the information, chairman."
"It was my pleasure, my lady."
As Lumiya and her companion left the meeting room and walked back down the hallway, the latter turned to face Lumiya.
"So where do we go on from here?" he asked her. "I doubt we'll find much on Rugess Nome, let alone his teachings as a Sith...if he was one."
"We will find a way, my apprentice," Lumiya replied. "With enough time, we will find all of the teachings of the Banite Sith. And, thankfully for us..."
She reached into her cloak and brought out a pyramidical-shaped Sith holocron- the holocron of Darth Bane.
"...Lord Vorath was arrogant enough in his dreams of being the ultimate Sith Lord, that he saw no danger in leaving his predecessors' holocrons intact."
*more than two centuries ago*
"What is the point of all of this, master?"
In the shadows of the abandoned fortress, the human Sith Lord turned to his Devaronian apprentice. "Of what?" he asked.
The Devaronian gestured to the place they were in. "All of this. Why are we scouring the remains of some palace for a simple object?"
The Sith Master narrowed his yellow eyes. "This is not just 'some palace.' This was the fortress of Ludo Kressh, an ancient Lord of the Sith. And we are not searching for a 'simple object.' We are searching for his holocron."
The apprentice scoffed. "Ludo Kressh? Wasn't he just a selfish man who wanted the Sith Empire to stay on Korriban rather tan conquer the Republic?"
"You sound as if that was a bad thing."
"Kressh was a coward," the Devaronian went on. "He cared more about welfare than power, unlike Naga Sadow, who knew what was best for the Sith."
The Sith Master slowly turned to his apprentice, his eyes filled with menace, although his voice was calm and quiet. "And how are you so sure on what is best for the Sith?"
The apprentice opened his mouth to reply, but his master silenced him with the raise of his hand.
"In time, my apprentice, you will understand that there are more ways than just conquest to achieve power."
The Devaronian Sith scowled. "Such as?"
"Knowledge." The master gestured to the ruins of the fortress. "In these ruins lays the knowledge of Sith who lived in their golden age. By searching through their knowledge, we can find ways to bring back that golden age and take over the galaxy."
His face became somewhat solemn. "Many Sith Lords like you have failed to carry out Darth Bane's Grand Plan, because they fell to obsession and greed. But thanks to Darth Gravid's efforts, we can now see our path clearly.
"Knowledge is like a blade. With it, we can pierce through our enemies shells and severe their so called 'peace.'"
A cruel smile crossed the Sith Master's face. "History is a window, Darth Furor. A window to the past, which is a door to knowledge, which is the key to power, which leads to victory.
"Always remember that, my apprentice. Always fear the ghosts of the past."
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