Chapter 10 The Prophets of the Darkside 1
Palpatine continued his exploration of Marka Ragnos tomb on the ancient Sith burial word of Korriban. He didn't sense anyone else on the planet apart from himself and the two pilots in the shuttle he had arrived in. There were animals here that were also consumed by the dark side of the Force that lived here, such as the Hssiss-which were a semi-sentient species that had the ability to influence Force sensitive beings around them, if one was bitten by one of the Hssiss one would succumb to the effects of a dark side poison . Palpatine eventually came into Marka Ragnos tomb itself. Using the Force itself ignited all the torches that were in the room instantly like Magic. Ahead of Palpatine, in the centre of the chamber was the enormous tomb of Marka Ragnos. Palpatine walked over to the tomb and kneeled down to his knees in front of the tomb.
"Lord Ragnos can you hear me?" Palpatine asked. "I need your guidance, Lord Ragnos." Palpatine closed his eyes, and felt the Dark Side energy radiating like a sun from this tomb alone. Marka Ragnos was one of the greatest Sith Lords of all time. The greatest Sith Lord of his age, of the old Sith Empire, which was about 5,000 or so BBY. Nothing happend, the tomb was silent. Palpatine tried to remain patient, to wait for the Dark Lord's appearance. If he would not appear, Palpatine would just go and see one of the other Sith Lords spirits here on Korriban, like Tulak Hord or Ludo Kressh.
"Lord Ragnos," Palpatine repeated, after a few moments silence. Still no reply. Maybe the Dark Lord does not want to share his secrets, Palpatine thought to himself. The very thought brought a frown to Palpatine's face, starting to anger him. Palpatine raised both hands into the air, and lightning fired out. The blue streaks came streaking towards the tomb, the lightning blasted away the seal. Palpatine stared at the figure that rose before him. The shadowy spirit of Marka Ragnos stood before him. The Spirit had a blue crystal like colour to it.
"Marka Ragnos," Palpatine gave the ancient Sith Lord a slight bow. "You did not answer me."
"I wanted to see how powerful you were," Marka Ragnos said. "And indeed you are strong."
"Well I'm glad I passed your test," Palpatine said sharply. "Now help me." He demanded more fiercely, looking straight at the ghost of the Sith Lord.
"What is it you need Sith Lord?" The Sith Spirit asked.
"I want to further my knowledge of the Dark Side," Palpatine said. "and to learn how to become immortal."
"Ah, immortality." Marka Ragnos said, thinking aloud. "It is possible, Sith Lord."
"Thats what i thought." Palpatine said, nodding his head in agreement.
"A good start is defeating all the enimies that can stop you from achieving this," Marka Ragnos said.
"I have already defeated the Jedi," Palpatine said.
"Not all of them," Ragnos said. "There are other groups that are force sensitive that could be a threat, or some that could join you."
"Join me?" Palpatine asked.
"Yes some of them could be willing to join you as Inquisitors, or Assassins," Ragnos suggested. "Indeed there is a group we have learnt about called the Dark Force or also known as the Prophets of the Dark Side. Founded by Darth Millennial. Their temple is found on a planet called Dromund Kaas here in the old Sith space sector. They may be of use, in hunting down the Jedi you had failed to kill. Once that happens the Sith have finally won. Until then there is always a possibility that one of those Jedi will come back and challenge you."
"I will do that then," Palpatine said.
"Actually if you could seduce those Jedi to the darkside, and make them Dark Jedi or Acoylytes that would be useful." Ragnos said. "There are ways to cheat death, but obviously I do not know the full secrets of this myself. You could try using Clone Bodies, for your spirit to capture after you die. Empty clone bodies that is."
"Ah, I see," Palpatine said.
"Yes, you should do," Ragnos said.
"I will go then to Dromund Kaas to find these Prophets of the Darkside," Palpatine said. "And then I will have to have empty clone bodies created for me."
"Yes, that is right," Ragnos said. "You may comeback and ask. I may or may not help the next time."
Vader took over the base on Murkhana. He had then contacted the other Venator Class Star Destroyer that had been in orbit over the planet before Vader had even arrived. The Clone Commander appeared on a small hand held commlink that was in the right hand palm of Lord Vader. The Clone Commander was wearing phase II armour.
"Commander Nyrox," Vader said.
"Lord Vader," Commander Nyrox greeted.
"Were you the Clone Commander who contacted the Emperor of the Jedi?" Vader asked him.
"Yes i was," Commander Nyrox replied. "I was concerned of where this ship was going. So I commed the Commando down on the surface and he said it was allowed to leave, because he had befriended the Jedi onboard. He gave the command not to fire, so we followed his orders."
"You won't have to follow his orders anymore," Vader said.
"I see," Commander Nyrox said.
"Is it possible that you could've tracked where the ship went into hyperspace?" Vader asked him.
"Actually we did do that yes," Commander Nyrox replied. "Do you want the Co-ordinates?"
"Yes I do," Vader answered. Even though it would only be the Co-ordinates for the first planet they visited-if they had left that area or planet it could be anywhere else in the galaxy and Vader wouldn't be able to find their current location.
"The exact planet where they headed to from here is Phindar." Clone Commander Nyrox informed him.
"Phindar..." Vader repeated. "I've never heard of the planet."
"It's not far from here, near the Hydian Way." Commander Nyrox said.
"Set course for Phindar then." Vader said. Phindar, that's a remote planet for the Jedi to choose to hide on, Vader thought to himself.
"As you wish my Lord," Nyrox said.
"Inform the other destroyer of my return," Vader told him.
"Yes my lord," Nyrox said.
Vader then cut the message, putting away his comlink in his robe pocket.
Cad Bane could hear voices around, him before he opened his eyes. He kept his eyes closed, for the time being and his movement minimal. He felt he was sitting down on a chair, and his hands were tied behind his back. So I'm a prisoner, Bane thought to himself. Despite himself, he opened his eyes. He found himself in a room, with two Bith stood looking at him.
"Ah, our guest has finally awoken," One of the Bith spoke up. It was definitely male, with a deep voice. He was wearing casual clothes, a light blue top, a jacket with the zip done up and darker blue baggy trousers.
"Guest?" Bane repeated.
"Yes," Said the other Bith, with a high pitched female voice. She was slightly smaller in height than the male, which was common in some races. She was wearing pink shorts and a black jacket done up. "The name's Vicila."
"Mine's Edwin," The male Bith answered.
"May I just go ahead and ask why am I here?" Bane asked.
"Ah yes of course," Edwin replied. "You are because we want you to work for us."
"Work for you," Bane said, preparing to decline any offer they were going to make.
"Yes we know who you are," Edwin said. "You are Cad Bane, a bounty Hunter. You are closely tied with the Separatists of the Clone Wars."
"Ah," Bane said, sighing. "I see you've taken the time to catch up on your homework then."
"Well true in a way," Vicila said, scratching her head with her right hand. "We know that there is a bounty on your head along with the Separatist Leaders that was issued by Emperor Palpatine on Coruscant. So maybe you would be more inclined to work for us or we could just give you over to the Empire."
Bane took a deep breath and sighed. There is no easy way out of this-at least for now, at least until Grievous returns whenever that will be, He thought to himself. "What kind of jobs would I actually be doing for you both?" He decided to ask them, just out of plain old curiousity.
"The usual, assassinations and that sort of stuff," Vicila answered.
"Assassinating who?" Bane bothered to ask.
"Rivals, and various other targets," Edwin answered. "Don't worry we will give you the information you need to carry out these missions."
"I see," Bane said. "Who is the first target then?"
"A crimelord called Lynros Mikat." Edwin answered. "We will show where he lives, just keep plain and simple."
"Will I be able to use my own weapons?" Bane asked.
"Use anything you want," Edwin said. "We will be going with you on this mission of course, got it?"
"Yes I understand, quite clearly" Bane replied.
"We will take you there now then." Vicila said. "You promise you won't struggle when we release you?"
"Of course I won't," Bane said.
The New Hope had finally come into Bothan Space, just passing Mandell and its moon Moonus Mandel. Mandell was a primitive world, with a lot of agriculture-at least thats what it looked like to Grievous on the bridge.
"Do you think there would be anything of use down on Mandell?" Ahsoka asked, from her station.
"No I don't think so," Grievous shook his head. "If there is we can always stop on the way out of here."
"That sounds like a plan," Ahsoka said. "You've got to just make sure sometimes."
"Indeed," Grievous said, still staring out into space. He could see the outline of a planet far ahead of them, which should be Bothawui. There were indeed other planets in the sector but they were spread out orbiting the main sun in the centre of the sector.
The Tantive IV came out of lightspeed. The planet Lorrd was ahead of them. From the cockpit, Padme could see it was a snowy planet-as she had never visited the planet Lorrd before now. Lorrd was close to the planet Bimmiel, which was also an icy, sandy desert planet. The Corellian Corvette soon came into the planet's orbit.
"Let's head down into the atmosphere," Bail Organa told the pilots.
"Yes Senator," The pilot responded from his seat, taking in the order as always, but not needing to turn to look at the Senator.
The Correllian Corvette came down into the planets atmopshere. It was a remarkable sight from up in the cockpit in Padme's eyes, there was an enormous city ahead of them-and the ones she could see were made with white stone or marble-possibly imported. Surrounding the city was mounds and mounds of snow, in fact it was snowing at this very moment in time because the snow flakes were trickling down on the viewports in the cockpit. There were few plants and trees in the snow, and from here there weren't many animals in sight-probably hibernating or non-existant altogether.
"How many cities are here on Lorrd?" Padme asked.
"About four main cities," The pilot answered. "The city ahead of us is Lorrd City the capital. Qatamer and Frezen are up in the north beyond the Mountain range."
"Looks like a harsh place to live," Padme commented. "Not repulsive or disgusting, just harsh."
"Yes, because of the climate," Mon Mothma agreed with her. "It can get very harsh here in winter, with storms. Many people who can afford it go on vacation during the winter season and return for the summer and spring season, which are moderately warmer."
Palpatine exited Marka Ragnos tomb, and walked down the stairs. He saw that figure, that spirit he had seen earlier, but now it was at the bottom of the stairs. It seemed as though the figure itself was looking up at Palpatine. He frowned, and made his way down the stairs, not once taking his eyes of the spirit. Even from this distance he could sense it was not Marka Ragnos spirit, as his spirit had a strong presence in the Force, and it was definitely not present at the foot of the stairs of his temple. He soon came to the bottom of the stairs, the spirit awaited for him.
"Ah, Sith Lord," The spirit said. The spirit was of the ancient Sith'ari or Sith species. The spirit like Marka Ragnos was a crystal blue colour, wearing the long robes and crown he had obviously worn when he had been alive, but now were also in ghost like form.
"Who are you?" Palpatine demanded.
"The Sith Lord known as Ludo Kressh," The spirit introduced himself. "I saw you earlier entering the tomb of Marka Ragnos. You sought his guidance?"
"Yes, for furthering my knowledge of the Darkside," Palpatine said. "Not that it is any of your business." He snapped.
"I see," Ludo Kressh said, thoughtful. "He will not give you all his secrets away, young Sith Lord. No Sith Lord will. Nor will I."
Palpatine had enough of this dead Sith Lord's pointless talk. He raised both of his hands and sent a charge of lightning at the Spirit. The lightning flashed through the spirit-because thats all he was a ghost.
"How dare you try to do that to me, Sith Lord!" Ludo Kressh exclaimed. Kressh gave Palpatine a hard stare, and then vanished with a blow of the wind.
Vicila and Edwin led Cad Bane out of the hotel room, and to the entrance with Jural-the Twi'lek receptionist stood behind the reception counter.
"Morning," Jural greeted the three of them as they came into the reception.
"Hello," Edwin said.
"Morning," Vicila said.
"Hello," Bane said, sounding less pleasant than either Edwin or Vicilia.
The three of them went out into the city. It was a cold and cloudy morning, with numerous aliens and people travelling about on the streets and walkways.
"Are you certain that this man will be at his house when we arrive?" Bane asked, as he continued to walk in between the couple-or business associates, whatever they were.
"Yes most likely, if not he will be off on business, " Edwin replied sharply, glancing at Bane.
"Why do you want this man dead?" Bane asked either of them, looking at either one, neither of them revealing any emotion in their faces.
"Like we said, he is a crimelord-" Vicila started.
"I know that," Bane interrupted her. "But what has he got to do with you two?"
"He is one of our rivals," Vicila said icily, glancing at Bane giving him a hard stare but wasn't good enough to get a reaction from Bane. "He rivals our own organisation for trade, and various other deals. He has in the past had some of our own members killed in various gang wars over the years, and assassinations. We have got him and his cronies back with sabotage and various other things."
"So why has it taken so long for you to do something about him then?" Bane asked her out of curiousity, keeping his voice quiet incase of eavesdroppers and various other agents or spies.
"We have in the past attempted assassinations on his life," Vicila answered quietly, glancing over her shoulder briefly. Thankfully there was no one in earshot of their conversation. "We were planning yet another assassination attempt. And by a stroke of luck a few days ago one of our agents saw you with General Grievous. We knew that this would be a window of opportunity. We personally would have preferred General Grievous to do this mission for us, but he seems to have left Nar Shaddaa."
"How would you know whether or not General Grievous has left Nar Shadaa?" Bane asked, without thinking about. They must've been keeping an eye us as soon as we arrived in the city, Bane thought to himself instantly.
"A few days before you arrived, the new Emperor Palpatine on the holonet gave out a public speech. He wanted to bring the Empire's enimies to justice. Which included you and that General Grievous." Vicila said. "A bounty for each of you, for treturning to the Emperor."
"I see," Bane said simply.
"Where is General Grievous?" Vicila asked curiously.
"He is away on business," Bane said, not offering to expand the answer.
"Will he be returning soon?" Vicila posed another question.
"Yes, i expect so," Bane said. "Why?"
"We could use his help with some other tasks." Vicila answered.
"I see," Bane said simply.
The Tantive IV had landed outside the city Lorrd towards the mountain, out on the snowy ground, so they would be able to hopefully avoid any of the Empire's spies that might already be in the city.
"I will go into the city to look for Senator Alavar," Bail Organa decided, informing the other senators of his plan, as they were sat in the conference room.
"We will wait for your return," Mon Mothma spoke up first.
"I will not be long," Bail said, glancing at each of the senators.
"Good luck," Garm Bel Iblis said.
Bail glanced at Garm and nodded in agreement. Without another word, Bail left the senators in the conference room, making sure his modified blaster and datapad were attached to his belt thing that went around his waist. Bail came down the ramp, and walked onto the snow. As soon as he came outside he felt the cold air on his face. He felt his feet sink slightly on the snowy ground. As he came away from the parked Corellian Corvette , and around it, he could soon see the city of Lorrd ahead of him.
The New Hope had finally arrived in orbit over Bothawui. They were closeby to the enormous shipyard that orbited the planet, being a shipyard it was used to construct space ships of all kinds-cruisers, corvettes, destroyers and frigates. Not one of the best shipyards in the Galaxy but they got the job done here. Grievous looked down at the enormous lush planet of Bothawui, from up here he could see green as in the land, small bursts of white-the clouds and blue-the sea, a temperate planet. In terms of population it was minute compared to the vast population of Nar Shaddaa, with a population of around 3 billion. Grievous turned and glanced around the bridge, looking at some of the Jedi who were stood or sat on the bridge-in total there were only four, Ahsoka, Barriss Offee, Coleman Kcaj and Quinlan Vos. Some of the Jedi had brought chairs to sit on the bridge from other areas of the ship rather than just standing.
"Who along with me, wants to go down to the surface?" Grievous asked loudly across the bridge.
"I will come," Ahsoka spoke up first, with a little bit of excitement in her tone of voice.
"As will I," Barriss Offee said.
"Anyone else?" Grievous asked,
"No thankyou," Quinlan Vos declined his offer.
"I will pass on it for now, General," Kcaj said.
"Anyone who does want to go to the surface is welcome to take a shuttle down to the surface for a break. We will make contact with the ship before we return and make sure everyone is back on board before we leave." Grievous said. "You two," signalling at Coleman Kcaj and Quinlan Vos, "will be in charge for now."
"I accept this offer," Coleman Kcaj said, glancing at Vos who nodded in agreement.
"Good," Grievous said simply. "Let's go then." He said looking at the two Jedi, who both agreed with a nod of a head.
The two Venator class star destroyers arrived in orbit over the planet of Phindar. Vader stood on the bridge of the Shadow overlooking the planet of Phindar. From what Vader could see it was mainly a green colour across the surface of the land signalling either forest like on Kashyyyk for instance or grassy plains like on Naboo. Naboo, he repeated in his mind, I wonder how my children are doing, as well as Padme and Galen, he thought to himself. He turned to Captain Surge, who was stood on the bridge behind Vader at attention-waiting for orders.
"Wipe this pitiful planet from the face of the galaxy," Vader said. "Give the order to the other cruiser as well."
"Yes my lord," Captain Surge bowed briefly to the Sith Lord. Captain Surge then relayed the order to the crew on the bridge, and then they relayed it to the on deck crew who were on duty at the turbolaser cannons to start firing at the planets surface. Surge then relayed the order to the other Venator class star destroyer.
Vader stood watching as the turbo laser batteries began firing turbo lasers down into the surface. Both Venator class star destroyers began their orbital bombardment of the planet. He stretched out into the Force, trying to find the Jedi that could be here on the planet. He felt the planet before him teeming with life, not many sentient species-indeed they did have cities down on the surface for people to live in, but there were also large amounts of non sentient species such as animals that lived on the planet as well. It felt good to watch this weak planet get destroyed so easily, he felt the innocents down there in the Force screaming out in pain, then fading away like a cloud dispersing in the sky. Vader could see from space the green of the surface starting to turn into a black colour-the colour of smoke rising into the air and red-obviously fire burning.
The two Venator class star destroyers slowly moved around the planet while in orbit, to bombard the other parts of the planet they could not from their original position. The bombardment continued until there was literally nothing but ash and fire remaining. After this Vader felt slightly satisfied with his success. He stretched out into the Force, and indeed this planet was now lifeless-no animals, no sentient beings of what sort, there would be some life left in the form of organisms but nothing else. The cities were now an inferno. There is nothing else left here for me to do, Vader thought.
"Captain, tell the other Venator star destroyer to return to Murkhana, while we return to Coruscant." Vader ordered.
"Yes my lord," Captain Surge replied.
At the moment the three of them were in an abandoned house opposite to Lynros Mikat's house, looking through the windows at his house. From what Bane could see the house was very tall, more like a small skyscraper building, there were apartment blocks on either side of the large house. There was an air car parked at the front of the house as well as several trees that were planted about at the front of the house for decoration or whatever. The building was made out of durasteel, which obviously was a typical dark steel grey colour. There were two mercenaries standing at the front door of the house. The mercenaries were both Twi'leks, and both male.
"This is his house," Edwin said. He opened up his jacket revealing two blaster pistols that were holstered to his belt, he unclipped one of the blaster pistols that Bane recognised as his own. "You will need this."
"Indeed," Bane replied as he caught the gun casually in his right hand. "What about those guards?"
"We'll help you deal with them," Edwin said, as Vicila drew her own blaster that was holstered to her belt.
"Okay let's get this over with then," Vicila said. The three of them moved quickly, moving away from the windows and going outside through the side door, to avoid detection from the mercenaries. They rushed up to the front of the building, peering around the corner, they could see that the mercenaries were still stood at the house's entrance. The three of them were all holding their blaster pistols, preparing to move off, they had already checked they were loaded when they had arrived in the building. They moved quickly and silently out into the open, moving away from the building, and moving towards their target. When they got a clear view of the mercenaries, who were now aware of their presence, began firing at the two Twi'leks. Edwin fired several shots at the closest Twi'lek mercenary. The two mercenaries reacted instantly. They both dived to the ground drawing their own weapons from their holsters, they fired at their attackers. The three of them dived to the ground, moving behind the trees using them as cover. Bane stood behind one of the trees, peering around it, seeing one of the Twi'leks run towards the door of the house. The other Twi'lek spotted Bane peering around the tree instantly, he aimed and fired at Bane. Bane jerked his head around instantly, with the laser bolt firing aimlessly past the tree, missing him by a few centimeters. He heard more blaster fire He peered around the tree once again and saw the house's door was wide open. There was only one Twi'lek in view-the other must be inside the house. He He saw Vicila run towards the air car and kneel down behind it for cover.
"Move quickly," Edwin exclaimed.
Bane reacted instantly as did the other two. The three of them moved up the driveway and up towards the main door. They heard the alarm go off from the inside.
"It's this easy to get to his house," Bane remarked. "I expected there would be more guards than this."
"Change of plan we will get him together," Edwin said, not really listening to Bane's remark. "We will get him together."
"Right," Vicila said, just as the Twi'lek returned at the door holding a large repeating blaster rifle. He had taken them by slight surprise, as he aimed and fired at the nearest which was Vicila. Lasers streamed into her as Edwin and Bane returned the fire. Bane saw Vicila fall to her knees just as Edwin took out the second Twi'lek mercenary with a pretty acurrate headshot. As the second Twi'lek went down, Edwin walked over to Vicila and kneeled down beside her. She was still alive and not badly injured.
"He's obviously not here," Edwin said. He looked up at Bane. "Go turn that alarm off now."
"Indeed," Bane said. Bane spun around, and dashed over to the door of the house. He stepped over the dead body of the Twi'lek and went inside the house. He looked near the door for the device that controlled the alarm system for the door. At first he couldn't see one, but the door was still open-blocking part of the wall on his right hand side. Bane pushed the door too, but not all the way. And indeed it did reveal a small white box attached to the wall, with the keypad on display. The keypad had a small black computer screen with buttons below it, on the black screen it said "Alarm has been initiated". Thankfully it was written in basic, a lot of alarm systems came in all different languages to suit the owner itself. He spent a few moments studying the keypad. There were numbers in the centre of the keypad from 0-9, and by either side of the number pad there were command buttons. You know what, why am I doing this, Bane thought to himself. He aimed his blaster pistol at the silly machine and fired several shots at it. The electronics were fried instantly, electric waves buzzing around it. However moments later the alarm finally died. Ah, finally, Bane thought to himself. Bane opened the door, and walked into the doorway. He got a shock then. Edwin had his hands up in the air, as did Vicila, who were now stood in the drive way with about a dozen mercenaries stood around them wearing uniform of a sort. They were all armed with slug repeaters and blaster rifles.
"Get out of my house," A male human shouted, walking casually towards Bane. He wasn't dressed in uniform, but dressed in smart clothes as it were. Bane reluctantly came out into the open. "I'll deal with you now."
"Ah, so your Lynros Mikat then," Bane said in the same tone of voice.
"Well you should know, it was you breaking into my house," Lynros said sharply.
Grievous walked down the ramp of the shuttle in the spaceport on Bothawui, with the two young Jedi already stood waiting by the hangar bay door. He closed the ramp of the shuttle to with a flick of a switch on a remote and walked over to the Jedi.
"You ready?" Grievous asked them.
"Of course," Ahsoka said. "You took your time."
"I only came off a minute or so after you. You jumped off before we had even landed." Grievous said, slightly sarcastic.
"Not true," Ahsoka replied.
"Well let's get moving then," Barriss Offee said.
"Right," Ahsoka agreed.
The three of them made their way out of the hangar bay, and into the coridor. They came into the main terminal building that had signs and designated areas for public transport and private transport. They saw many aliens, droids and humans here in the building, some were solo and others in groups whether they are travelling as a family or friends. The three of them then eventually stepped outside passing the Spaceport security officers that stood on watch on the inside and outside of the building. As soon as they had come outside they felt the breeze of the air on their faces, gently brushing against their faces.
"Feels good to breath fresh air again," Barriss said.
"It's amazing,"Ahsoka said in awe. She hadn't set foot on a planet since Nar Shaddaa and that was...well ages ago. For Barriss Offee it was even longer since Felucia. She felt the planet, beaming with life, the city itself was full of life, everybody with their own stories and lives. She saw an air taxi land in front of them, two small human kids-one boy and a girl came out of the back carrying bags in their hands, the parents came out of the front. The man paid the taxi driver and the air taxi took off. Ahsoka could feel the excitement and anticipation of the kids through the Force-obviously they were looking forward to a holiday or trip. Ahsoka looked at one of the kids and smiled briefly, the girl returned the smile, the four of them made their way into the spaceport.
"We need to locate the nearest junk dealer or trader," Grievous said to them.
"Right," Barriss said, looking at Grievous.
"We could ask those officers, if they know anything," Ahsoka suggested, turning to look at the officers who stood at the entrance of the spaceport. She saw that two of the three officers kept glancing at them-especially Grievous, and they seemed slightly agitated about something. "Maybe not." She said turning away.
"Why not?" Grievous asked, looking at her rather than the officers.
"They seem to be agitated about something." Ahsoka said.
"Yes, I feel it as well." Barriss said.
"You're getting worked up over nothing." Grievous remarked, glancing at either Jedi. "Just ask them for directions to a dealer."
"If you say so," Barriss said. She turned and walked over to one of the security officers. There were two of the stood by the side of each other.
Grievous and Ahsoka turned to look at Barris and the officers while they waited.
"Do you know where the nearest junk dealer or trader is located?" Ahsoka asked either officer calmly.
"Yes there is one nearby," One of the officers responded. He was slightly smaller in height than his friend. "Head that way." He pointed in the direction past Grievous and Barriss Offee. "Keep heading that way until you come to the second right. Continue that way, through the city centre and eventually you will see a dealers called "Dorov's chop shop". That is one of them. If thats not open there is another one close by."
"Okay thanks." Ahsoka smiled at them, but they did not return it. Without further a second look at these officers, Ahsoka spun round and walked back over to Grievous and Barriss.
"Basically we follow this street-" Ahsoka started.
"-And take the second right turn," Grievous finished for her.
"Hey, you could've let me finished my sentence." Ahsoka said, putting her hands on her hips in a mocking stance, bringing a smile to Barriss Offee's face.
"I could've," Grievous agreed. "But I didn't. Let's go." The three of them left the spaceport behind.
As they were out of earshot the officer looked over at his friend, "Did you recognise the droid thing she was with?"
"Yeah, of course I did, Jon," The officer said. "General Grievous."
The Penumbra, the Venator class star destroyer, arrived at the planet Dromund Kaas. It was located in the same sector of space as Korriban, but it was still quite a long distance from here to Korriban though. Palpatine had left Korriban without incident, or meeting any those long dead Sith Lords of the Old order. They soon arrived in orbit over Dromund Kaas. From up here in space, Dromund Kaas looked like a very dark, and murky planet, the clouds-or whatever they were, were a dark grey colour with some being near black. Palpatine felt the planet was immersed in the Darkside of the Force, not as strong as the power he felt on Korriban, but still strong nevertheless. He turned and looked over at Admiral Nubis.
"Wait for my return," He told Nubis.
"Yes my lord," Nubis replied as Palpatine strode past him and off the bridge.
Soon enough Palpatine was sat behind the two pilots in the shuttle as they came down into the atmosphere of Dromund Kaas. From up in the shuttle, as they continued to fly around the planet, Palpatine saw an enormous temple ahead of them. That must be the temple where these darkside followers must live. The temple had enormous watch towers that seemed to surround the temple along with high walls.
"Land near that temple." Palpatine instructed the pilot.
"Yes your excellency," The pilot replied. The pilot did as he was told, and landed just outside the temple on soft ground.
"Wait for my return," Palpatine ordered the pilots.
Palpatine made his way off the shuttle and walked up towards the entrance of the temple. The entrance was grand, nevermind the temple; the entrance was an enormous electronic gate like door, that was guarded by two golden statuettes that were tall. The statues were motionless Sith statues that were carved to resemble a cloaked human figure of a sort. Beyond the entrance, on the walls either side were golden markings that were encraved on the walls. He walked up to the entrance. There was no way to look to see who was stood behind the door as there were no windows of any sort, but that didn't make any difference to Palpatine. Palpatine could sense the beings within the temple walls, though slightly clouded, which would hide their presence perfectly to most people including some of the most strongest Force users including the Jedi, but Palpatine was certainly not most people. He revealed his presence to them in the Force, although he realised someone was already coming to the door to open it-they must have sensed the presence of the two pilots in the shuttle outside. The temple's entrance gate opened up like an old fashioned castle, the gate opening upwards, moving up into the wall. Stood in the doorway was a male human being. He was dressed in black robes, his face was badly scarred.
"Ah, only a Sith would've been able to successfully find this planet," The man said.
"And who might you be?" Palpatine asked, in a neutral calm tone of voice.
"Steren Kane," The man answered.
"Are you the leader of this temple?" Palpatine asked
"No," Steren shook his head. "What is your business here?"
"Simply, instead of remaining of this world for eternity," Palpatine explained. "I want you to join my Empire."
"Ah I see," Steren Kane said. "I will take you to our leader."
"Good," Palpatine said, stepping through the temple doorway. The corridor before Palpatine was dimly lit, similar to the one he had just left on Korriban. There were two more statues in the corridor , not as large as the ones outside but they were still fairly impressive. He saw that this corridor led straight on, and to the left and right. Steren led Palpatine straight down the corridor, seeing other Prophets on the way.
Bail Organa came into the city of Lorrd. It was still snowing, not in a storm sort of way-but rather in a gracious, calm fashion. He made his way into the city centre, he noted that there were more humans here than alien races, but that was normal as Humans were the native species on this world. Bail contuned to make his way into the city. He soon. enough came to the Government's building, where the senators and governement officials gathered, the Governor lived in it though. The Government building was grand, even before you reached the building itself, you had to pass through a gate that was connected to a perimeter fence that went all the way around the building along with the gardens that were at the behind the building. Organa had seen the gardens before on his past visits here. Bail walked to the entrance gate. There were several human security guards stood at the gate, along with a protocol droid. Bail walked up to the gate.
"Hello, state your name, and your reason for visiting the Governor's house," One of the officers said, as Bail approached the gate.
"I am Senator Bail Organa," Bail Organa said, as he handed him his datapad.
"Ah, Senator Bail Organa, right," The officer said, after checking his datapad. "What's you purpose of your visit to the Governor's villa?"
"I came to see Senator Nee Alavar," Bail answered.
"Nee Alavar," The officer repeated. "I'm sorry, to inform you that Nee Alavar past away two days ago."
"Past away." Bail repeated, in surprise.
"Yes, she had been suffering from an illness, her body couldn't cope any longer." The officer said. "The funeral is tomorrow."
"I see," Bail said, taking a deep breath and a sigh.
"Senator Clax Corlin, has replaced her," The officer informed him.
"Oh right," Bail Organa said, sounding professional but inside he was slightly dissapointed. Indeed he was dissapointed, as Clax Corlin had been an diplomat and advisor previously, and had come to the senate building with Nee Alavar. Unlike Alavar, Corlin had been very for the Clone Wars, and didn't support the petition of 2000; he only went along with it because Alavar did.
Grievous, Barriss and Ahsoka came into Dorov's Chop Shop. They could see that the main room was littered in droids and various other parts. In the centre of the room there was the counter with a Human male stood behind it. There were other humans in the shop, some wearing the same scruffy uniform that the man behind the counter was wearing. There was also a back room beyond the counter with droids and what not.
"Ah, may i help you?" The man greeted his new customers. The man was wearing a scruffy outfit, blue overalls that were covered in black dirt, and grease. He had a name tag on his overalls 'Dorov'.
"Yes we are looking at hiring some mechanics to help fix our hyperdrive, as well as our droids." Grievous informed him.
"What ship is it?" Dorov asked him.
"A cruiser," Grievous answered. "We are also looking at purshasing an astromech droid."
"We could do with at least two General," Barriss spoke up.
Grievous looked around at her and nodded. "Two astromech droids."
"That can be done. It will cost you." Dorov said.
"What astromech models have you got in stock?" Grievous asked.
"I will show you them." Dorov said.
Ahsoka and Barriss had a look around as Dorov started showing Grievous the astromech droids he had for selling that were on display.
"Hmm." Ahsoka said, as she looked at one of the astromech droids. It had a sign on a pole next to it saying "R3-Series Astromech Droid, R3-A2" It was similar, very similar to the R2 series, which reminded Ahsoka of R2-D2. R3-A2 was painted with yellow rather than a dark blue colour. At the moment the droid was switched off.
"You seen something you like?" Barriss Offee asked, stopping, and turning around to look at Ahsoka.
"Yes, I think so," Ahsoka said. She looked over and called over one of the mechanics that were on duty. "How much does this droid cost?"
"Only two hundred republic credits," The mechanic said. "Or should i say 200 imperial credits."
"Oh thats cheap." Ahoska said. "You do still accept republic credits, right?"
"Yes of course, same thing really," The mechanic said.
"Could you turn it on?" Ahsoka asked the mechanic. "So I can see that it works."
"Yes," The mechanic stepped towards the astromech droid and flicked a switch on the back of the droids dome. The mechanic stepped away as the droid came to life. R3-A2 moved forwards on three legs that had small wheels attached to it-but they were hidden from view like R2-D2. R3-A2 looked over at Ahsoka and Barris, and the mechanic, with his large silver domed head, with the round light that was giving of a blue light, next to that was the normal holoprojector/recorder.
"He looks fine," Ahsoka said stepping closer towards the droid.
"You ready to pay then?" the Mechanic asked.
"Yes I am," Ahsoka answered affirmatively, turning to look at the mechanic, then back at R3-A2. "I'm your new owner." She said excitedly. The droid beeped loudly in acknowledgement.
"Right well, follow me to the counter," The mechanic said brightly.
"Right," Ahsoka agreed. She followed the mechanic to the counter, with R3-A2 following closely behind them.
"Interesting droid," Grievous said inspecting the R3 unit, as he came over to the counter with them. "I will pay for the droid, as a reward for working on the bridge, and putting up with all those mindless battle droids."
"Really?" Ahsoka asked, sounding excited and surprised in the tone of voice.
"Yes," Grievous said. He placed a hand in his robes and took out the credits and placed them on the counter, while the mechanic filled out the paper work from behind the counter.
"Ah yes, that's a good droid, up to date with everything," Durov said as he came around the counter.
"Very good," Grievous said. Suddenly Ahsoka felt a tingling sensation in the Force, it felt close by, it was like a shiver running up her back, it was warning her of danger. She looked around at Barriss Offee, who looked straight back at her. Ahoska saw Barriss open her mouth and said something-'i'll be back in a minute, wait here'. Barriss turned around and dashed over to the door, trying not to disturb any other customers or mechanics with her sudden alarm. Barriss went outside and into the street. She glanced up either street, looking in both directions, for the moment, everything seemed normal. There were civilians walking up and down the street. Then suddenly, she saw about a dozen human soldiers marching up the street, and they were coming right towards them.