CHAPTER FIVE
Jass Kropp, the self-proclaimed Hunter of Fhost, was scared.
For a brief moment, his target- the Corellian freighter Junker- was right there, ripe for the taking. Then, a massive dreadnaught, armed to the teeth, dropped out of hyperspace between him and his quarry. Dozens of turbolasers, some damaged, were aimed at him, ready to fire.
"This ain't worth the creds," Kropp murmured to himself. A storm of sweat breaking out on his face, he quickly spun his ship around and kicked the hyperdrive. Needless to say, Reegas Vance would not be seeing him again anytime soon.
* * *
Jaden Korr stared in awe and disbelief at the ancient Sith dreadnaught. This couldn't be possible; such a ship had not seen use since the collapse of the Old Sith Empire. Even the subsequent Sith factions had eschewed the design.
While Khedryn Faal and Marr Idi-Shael were simply awed by the sight, Toah Jarsan also seemed to be concerned by the presence of this ship. "Impossible... how could such an ancient ship still be holding together?"
"It's sure seen better days," Khedryn said, noting the scratches and dents that were all over the dreadnaught.
"We should investigate it," Jaden said.
Khedryn gave him an incredulous look. "Excuse me? That frozen moon was bad enough; I'm not in a mood to explore old, damaged ships."
"It is strong in the dark side," Toah murmured, ignoring the salvage operator. "Very strong. Its crew must be still alive."
"Its bridge has been taken out," Marr pointed out. "Are you sure about that?"
"Let's investigate it and find out." Jaden got out of his seat. "Find a docking bay-"
"Uh-uh. No way." Khedryn spun around in his seat and gave Jaden a hard stare, an impressive feat given his lazy eye. "I only agreed to take you to the frozen moon and back to Fhost. You never said anything about detours... unless you're paying extra."
Jaden frowned, realizing that the pilot was right. After thinking for a moment, he finally said, "Take us to Ossus instead and drop us off there. I'll ask the Jedi Council to investigate the ship, as long as it doesn't move from here. I don't think it's capable of going far, though."
Khedryn nodded. "Fair enough. Tell me how to get there and-"
Before he could finish, something caught his eye, as well as those of Jaden and the others: an escape pod launching from the dreadnaught....
* * *
Relin Druur groaned in pain, clutching his cracked ribcage with his good left hand. It was a bit cramped up in the escape pod he was in, but that was the least of his concerns. It was better to die here than the Harbinger, which still wallowed in the dark side.
After the mag-grenades on the hyperdrive had detonate, he had been knocked out unconscious. When he awoke, Saes was still unconscious as well and the ship was practically dead. He wasn't sure what had happened while he was out, but since he had still sensed the Lignan crystals on the ship, he figured that the Harbinger had failed to make the jump to Kirrek. The mission was a success.
Relin took in a ragged breath, causing great pain in his chest. He doubt that any ship would come across his pod in time to save him. The radiation poisoning had made his limbs numb and it hurt to breathe; he would be joining Drev in the Force soon.
Laugh even when you die. His apprentice's mantra rang vividly in his head. Perhaps he would have laughed, just to honor his late Padawan, if only it didn't hurt so much....
Suddenly, he felt his pod lurch to a stop. Before he could properly react, he was moving again, this time at a slower, steadier pace, as if being pulled in by a tractor beam. He looked out his pod's viewport and saw the source of the beam to be a roundly shaped light freighter of a model he did not recognized.
Relin grimaced. Unless it was a medical ship, he doubt he would be anything more to the crew than a corpse.
* * *
Khedryn watched as Jaden and Toah undid the latch to the escape pod that they had brought into the Junker's cargo hold. The lid hissed open and the two Jedi kept their lightsaber hilts in hand, in case the pod's occupant turned out to be a Sith.
Instead, they found a bruised man with a missing hand clutching his broken ribcage.
"Someone get a medpac, now!" Jaden shouted.
Khedryn rushed to retrieve a first-aid kit while the two Jedi carefully extracted the man from the pod. When Khedryn returned with the medpac, Jaden and Toah quickly set to work, applying bacta patches and other medicines while trying to heal his wounds with the Force.
After a few minutes, the man finally spoke, his voice coming out as a hoarse croak. "Are... are you Jedi?"
"Yes," Toah replied. "Now keep still, it won't do your body any better."
"We'll take you to the Jedi Temple on Ossus," Jaden told the man. "Master Cilghal will see to your full recovery."
"Ossus?" The man tried to shake his head but it merely twitched slightly. "No, I need to go to Koros Major and rejoin Master Nadill... tell him and the others what happened."
Toah's brow furrowed. "Koros Major? That planet was destroyed by the Empire nearly thirty years ago."
The man's eyes widened. "Destroyed? No... that can't be true. Impossible...."
"Easy," Jaden said, placing a hand on the man's heaving chest. "Who is this Master Nadill? I've never heard of a Jedi by that name."
"What do you mean?" the man asked. "Jedi Master Memit Nadill is one of the most revered in our Order. He is the trusted advisor of Empress Teta-"
"Wait," Toah said. "Did you say Empress Teta?"
"Indeed. She's the ruler of Koros Major."
Toah bit his lip and gave Jaden a meaningful look. The other Jedi Knight returned it.
Toah then said to the man, "What year do you think it is?"
The man thought for a moment. "31,453 TYA, I believe."
Jaden took the date he mentioned and applied the math to it in his head, using the current galactic calendar system. He then sighed as he looked down at the man.
"I don't know how else to put this," he said grimly, "but you've been out of the know for over five thousand years."
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