CHAPTER NINE
Varon Krul watched as the female Chagrian moved gracefully through the aisles of shelves and bookcases, humming a folk tune of the ancient Sith. Never in his life had he seen a master of the dark side act so casual and... happy. The other masters, including his own, never acted like this; he doubt either of them had ever made a genuine smile in their lives.
"Darth Glovoc, you say," Lady Saarai said as she sashayed about. "My apprentice was able to gather all of the records regarding Darth Revan's Sith Empire that could be found. Help yourself."
With that, she unceremoniously dropped a handful of datapads onto a table. Varon seated himself and began to sift through them. After hours of examination, he finally found what he was after.
The Dying Sun. It had been the name of an Interdictor-class cruiser which Darth Glovoc had commanded during the Jedi Civil War. It was last sighted after Darth Malak's death at Ord Radama, where it vanished and never returned. From the reports of ships in Glovoc's fleet, the Dying Sun had been angled towards a system somewhere in the Trans-Vulta sector, theorized to be the Luire system.
He had his lead. Bidding his thanks and farewell to Lady Saarai, Varon left the Sith Temple of Jaguada and made his way towards his starship, where his Veknoid servant was waiting.
"Set a course for the Luire system, Sao," Varon ordered. "We are going to find Darth Glovoc."
Skepticism briefly crossed the Veknoid's face, but he nonetheless gave an obedient grunt and hurried onto the ship. Varon followed him and in mere moments, the courier was taking off from Jaguada and blasting off into hyperspace.
* * *
From transparisteel windows, Jedi Masters Noran Raun and Taana Di watched as the Quarren dark sider known as Prodd, restrained to an isolated chair, was interrogated by Captain Jana Koral of GA Security.
Normally a scene such as this would be taking place on Coruscant rather than within the walls of the Jedi Temple. However, given Prodd's volatile temper, it was considered to be too dangerous to even transport him to Coruscant. Thus, a member of the Alliance's security branch was summoned instead.
Although neither he nor Taana Di could hear the conversation from outside, Master Raun could tell it was not going well.
"He keeps screaming at her," he observed, watching as the Quarren's face-tentacles shook at Captain Koral, who merely frowned in response. "I don't think we'll be getting anything from him."
Taana nodded slowly before saying, "I noticed that Jaden did not return with Zarin. Why is that?"
"Zarin said that Jaden was headed for somewhere in the Trans-Vulta sector," Noran replied. "He didn't know exactly where, however."
Taana frowned. "Something's been troubling him lately. He's constantly roaming the galaxy, unsure of where he's headed. Do you think it's the dark side sending him astray?"
Noran sighed. "It's a possibility. I sometimes wish Katarn hadn't taught him those dark side powers."
"But surely he's proven himself capable of self-restraint when he stopped those Dark Jedi from bringing back Marka Ragnos all those years ago."
Noran did not reply and lost his chance to do so when Captain Koral stepped out of the interrogation room.
"Well," she said with a sigh, "I'm afraid he's not answering any of my inquiries. Granted, I'm not as... brutal as Director Girdun, but I don't think excessive force would help matters either."
Noran nodded. "So what shall be done with him?"
"I'll summon a security courier ship to transport him from here to Coruscant," Jana replied. "Maybe the director will have to speak with him himself."
She shuddered slightly at the very thought and Noran could tell from her feelings that this Girdun person was apparently not a nice man. Either way, he thanked Jana for her service and watched her walk away.
He then turned to Taana and said, "Make sure Prodd is safely transported. I shall contact Jaden."
* * *
The chime of his navigation board broke Jaden from his meditative trance in time to bring his fighter out of hyperspace. Coming into full view was the planet known as Nyriaan, a world that had been long contested between Corporate Sector Authority and the former New Republic.
Just as he retook control of the starfighter, R6 transmitted a warning onto his computer and Jaden directed his attention to a medium-sized courier ship flying alongside him. It did not seem to have noticed him yet, so he eased off his fighter's thrusters to let the courier pass him.
He frowned as it went by. He could feel a strong dark side presence emitting from it, stronger than Prodd's even. It was most likely that this person was the one he and Zarin had been after- the one who stole the Sith amulet on Begeren.
As he prepared to follow the courier- once it was far ahead of him- Jaden heard his comm-channel buzz. He was about to answer it when he hesitated. No doubt it was the Jedi Council asking him to return to Ossus, worried about where his inclination was taking him. However, even if he told them that he had found the thief, they would still pressure him to return.
Thus, he ignored the call and commenced his pursuit.
* * *
"We be followed."
Varon Krul glanced at Sao and then at his ship's rear-view screen. Tailing them was a Z-95 Headhunter modified to include an R6-series astromech droid. He could not help but smirk; apparently Prodd had failed to cover his tracks on Korriban and the Jedi were still in pursuit. But how did they know he would end up going to Nyriaan?
"We kill them?" Sao asked.
"Not yet," Varon said. "If they were one of the ones who defeated Prodd, then they may be a worthy opponent."
"What if Jedi beat you?"
Varon smiled mirthlessly. "They won't. By the time they find me, it will be too late."
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