CHAPTER FOUR
Although the vision given to him by the glove of Darth Vader had directed him to the Belderone system, Shadow had chosen to not to travel there for a few reasons, the main one being that he had figured out why Darth Tenebrous and his master were going to the system: to retrieve the holocron of the Sith King Adas.
Thanks to the 'resources' given to him by his master, Shadow knew that, many decades ago, two Jedi had retrieved the holocron from the planet Kodai and had brought it to the Jedi Temple. During Palpatine's purge, the holocron was stolen by an agent of the Mecrosa Order, a Sith cult, and was brought to the Order's headquarters on Nyssa.
Sometime later, the Sith Lord Darth Vorath, in his search for the Sith gods, managed to obtain the holocron from Nyssa. However, when he was not satisfied with whatever information it contained, he returned the object to the Mecrosa Order, which was now its current owner.
As Shadow's stealth fighter came out of hyperspace and entered the Nyssa system, Shadow mused over what he knew of the Mecrosa Order. Founded during the Tapani sector's Dynastic Era, the Mecrosa Order was a group of Force-sensitive nobles that served House Mecetti. Across the span of two centuries, the Order became corrupt and later became a Sith cult under Exar Kun's Sith Empire. After the Great Sith War, the Jedi Order began cleansing the galaxy of the Sith and the Mecrosa Order was soon defeated.
However, unbeknownst to the Jedi, the Mecrosa Order slowly rebuilt itself in secret and came back to the fore during the New Sith Wars, during which they killed the Dark Lady Belia Darzu. Since then, the Order had remained intact during Emperor Palpatine's reign, serving as an ally to both the Order of the Sith Lords and Vorath's Sith. With the collapse of both, Shadow was not sure where the Mecrosa now stood in galactic affairs.
The planet of Nyssa soon came into view and Shadow piloted his fighter towards the fog-cloaked world, enabling his ship's stealth system. Soaring through the planet's thick clouds, he was reminded of swamp planets such as Dromund Kaas, which had a foggy atmosphere as well. Thus, Shadow was prepared for whatever type of swamp he would find beyond the thick fog.
However, much to his surprise, Nyssa wasn't much of a swamp world at all. Although he did indeed find a swamp once he had passed through the clouds, the rest of the planet's terrain was more agricultural, with large plains and fields, as well as vast forests.
The thing was though, all of it was dead.
The grass was a dull shade of beige, the trees were weak and in the danger of falling. Decayed plants and vegetables loitered the fields, carcases of animals laid everywhere...the whole planet seemed to be dead.
Quite fitting for a Sith cult, Shadow mused.
After taking a few minutes to observe the rest of the scenery, Shadow located the Mecrosa Order's headquarters, which was a lone, stone castle, which seemed to be on the verge of collapsing just as everything else.
Silently landing his fighter before the castle's entrance, Shadow put on his ebony cloak and armed himself only with a small bladed weapon. As he walked off the fighter, he saw two human females guarding the entrance. They were cloaked in several drapes and had nearly their entire faces covered, save for their eyes.
Upon noticing Shadow, or sensing him through the Force, they tightened their bladed spears and aimed them at Shadow's face.
"Who are you?" one of them demanded. "Are you of the Mecrosa? Speak!"
Shadow ignored the woman's question and instead simply said, "You will let me enter."
The guard's dark eyes fixed on him in confusion. "W-what...?"
"You will let me enter."
"He's using a mind trick, sister!" the other guard snapped. "Don't listen to him!"
"That is correct," Shadow said coldly. "Instead of listening to me, you will allow me to enter."
Now both of the women stared at him, their eyes filled with confusion, wonder, and perhaps admiration. Finally, the second one said, "Very well. You may enter."
The two guards parted, opening the gate, and allowed Shadow to stride into the castle without intrusion.
Inside, the castle was colored in black walls made of stone, with scarlet drapes covered over them. Throughout the long corridor that Shadow walked down, he heard a quiet, morbid chant echoing. At the end of the hallway, he found a large door, guarded by two male guards dressed similar to the females. After convincing the two men the same way he did the women to let him pass, the door opened and Shadow walked into a wide, circular room, crowded with several beings cloaked in black and red robes.
The chanting suddenly ceased. The gathered beings all turned to look at Shadow, malice glowing through their eyes. At the opposite side of the room, sat atop a regal throne and guarded by two large Herglics, was a tall woman dressed in scarlet robes with a red hood raised over her dark-skinned face. Her appearance almost made Shadow think of the Nightsisters of Dathomir, who dressed in a similar fashion.
Gazing at him with fire-colored eyes, the woman said, in a rather calm voice, "Speak your purpose here."
Shadow inclined his head as a sign of respect. "Greetings, Lady Zandra Balis of House Mecetti. I am Shadow, agent of the Watcher."
Lady Balis' gaze did not waver, but her eyes did narrow in suspicion. "Who is this 'Watcher?'"
"That is not for you to know," Shadow said coldly. "All you must know is that he is a being of greater power than you."
Balis continued to glower at him. "What is it this Watcher wants from me?"
"A holocron," Shadow replied. "A holocron, if I recall correctly, that you gave to a Sith Lord named Vorath and it was later returned to you."
The woman slowly nodded. "Yes. You are speaking of King Adas' holocron, correct?"
"Indeed. And if you do not mind, I would like to have it."
A small, mirthless smile touched Lady Balis' lips. "I am afraid I cannot give it to you."
Shadow stared at her menacingly. "Why not?"
"A few years after Darth Vorath's demise, we were visited by someone claiming to be his successor and asked for Adas' holocron. Considering who she was, we kindly obliged."
Shadow's eyes narrowed. "What was this person's name?"
"Not one you would recognize," Balis said. "She called herself Lumiya."
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