CHAPTER FOUR
There were very few words that could fit Dromund Kaas better than 'dark'.
In his mind, the planet seemed to bleed of dark side energy. It seemed like a bottomless well of intangible things like anger, fear, hate, and other such negative emotions. It sickened him, making him regret that he ever came here. But he had to....
Landing his shuttle in Kaas City, a few feet away from the Dark Jedi Temple (at least the Dark Jedi had been courteous enough to provide directions), Master Xanus Baran disembarked from the ship and made his way towards the temple.
Upon reaching it, the doors instantly opened and an old Woostoid woman appeared behind them, her black, orb-like eyes wide with surprise.
"Grand Master," she croaked. "This is a rather...unexpected visit."
"I wish to speak with your leader," Baran said. "The Revanchist. Now."
The Woostoid tilted her head. "Our leader does not normally accept requests such as this."
"Then he'll have to make an exception. I wish to speak with him now...and just the two of us."
The Woostoid eyed him carefully, her face devoid of emotion. Finally, she said, "Very well. Follow me."
Baran was slightly surprised by this response, but hid it, instead following the Woostoid into the temple. It wasn't until after he entered that the dark side felt stronger inside than out there....
* * *
Sol Paun observed the gathered people in the Forge Seeker's main conference room. The ship's primary team consisted of six Jedi Knights, six Alliance troopers, six Dark Jedi, and six Imperial stormtroopers, as well as the smuggler Jast Kyjar, his Wookiee partner Lumpy, and that annoying Rybet. The two Rodian technicians were also present, but Paun wished to keep an eye on them while on the ship.
It was quite a large and diverse team, making Paun wonder if this was such a good idea after all.
"Right then," he began. "Tatooine. Considered to be the galaxy's sweaty armpit. And yet, here we are."
"Yeah, mind explaining that one?" Jast said bitterly.
Paun gave him an annoyed look. "I was getting to that. See, before we can locate the Star Forge, we need five artifacts, called Star Maps, which, put together, will provide us the Star Forge's exact location."
Sev Nep raised an eyebrow. "And we weren't told this earlier because...?"
"Because we didn't want any potential spies listening in and following us," Paun replied. "There are other reasons, I think, but that was what I was told."
"Right, so we find this Star Map, gather what ever info it has, and then leave," said Ronn Jokar, commander of his stormtrooper squad once again. "Sounds simple enough."
Paun smirked wryly. "Don't believe everything you hear."
* * *
The Far Wanderer slowly landed at a docking bay within Deralia's capital city, Deraln Spaceport. Leaving R6 to keep an eye on the ship, Jaden Korr disembarked from the hangar and went off in search of Toah Jarsan.
It struck him as odd, to have a vision with Toah Jarsan- the one who defeated Darth Vorath and help end the Imperial-Sith War- and to have the name of a planet attached to him not more than ten years after his disappearance. It was too strange of a coincidence to him....
Deralia itself was not too impressive of a planet. It was a world of grasslands and rivers, not unlike Toah's homeworld, Dantooine. It did not seem to rely too much on technology, with landspeeders and small starships being the most technologically advance things he had seen so far.
Jaden soon figured that the most likely place he would find out Toah's location was at Deraln's information center. Go figure, Jaden, he thought.
After asking nearby locals for where the center was, he strode into the rather simple-looking building and found a female Wroonian working behind a desk, reviewing info on her datapad while wearing violet-tinted spectacles. Her actual eyesight likely worked find without the use of eye-wear, but Wroonians often like to wear ornate and unique clothing, just to prove their wealth.
Glancing up at Jaden as he approached her desk, the Wroonian said, "Can I help you, sir?"
"I'm looking for someone named Toah Jarsan," Jaden said. "I believe he arrived here ten years or so ago. Do you happen to have any travel logs on him?"
The blue-skinned woman stared at him for a few seconds before opening up a drawer of data files, sighed as if this were a waste of her time. After a moment, she said, "Well, someone under the surname Jarsan did move into a residence near the Central Plaza. I can't guarantee if they're still there, though."
Jaden nodded. "All right, thanks."
Walking out of the building, he asked for directions to the Central Plaza and then rented a landspeeder from a local man to make it there quickly. He soon reached the busied place and made his way through traffic to the residential area. It was there and then that he realized a small difficulty that he had overlooked.
He had no idea which of the several dozen houses Toah Jarsan lived in.
"Nice job, Jaden," he muttered to himself. "Real smart."
* * *
As he moved through the crowded streets of Coruscant, destined for his cloaked ship parked near a spaceport, the spy activated his comlink and spoke with his fellow agent, who was stationed on the Trucemaker.
"Is everything ready?" the spy asked.
"Yes, it should set off when the Forge Seeker lands on Tatooine."
"Excellent. Do you know the statuses of the others?"
"I haven't managed to contact Shadow yet. Umbra and the others are ready, though."
"What about Violet? I heard she tried to interfere with Shadow's mission on Taris."
"As far as I know, she is...no longer an active agent."
"Ah, how unfortunate. I suppose she'll have to miss out on this grand event."
"Are you nearly done on Coruscant?"
"Quite," the spy said. "Cal Omas has been removed, or rather, will be. Admiral Sovv's strategies are bringing the Alliance few victories, and so should be replaced soon. That leaves only the two Jedi leaders, who will be dealt with soon, and Grand Moff Verradun."
"Good. So once you're done with them, we should commence the final stage of the plan."
"Indeed." The spy grinned as he ended the connection. "That day draws nearer and nearer."
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