70- Relics of the Dark Side.
Coruscant
It was already late afternoon above a singular place at The Works, the industrial sector of Coruscant. However, all the area was offline and there was no one there, the reason: the entire area was now a restricted area, guarded by clone troopers patrolling around. However, that didn't allow them to detect a ground bridge portal which opened right inside one of the structures, the one they guarded. From that portal emerged Megatron, accompanied by his second-in-command Starscream, his main scientist Shockwave, his communication chief Soundwave and Knock Out too.
"Are you certain this is the place?"
"Without a doubt, Lord Megatron." Starscream answered. "The only problem we should consider is if there is no problem about the natives detecting our arrival."
"The last time we came to Coruscant we arrived with my warship, and now with our new mighty fleet would be highly risky, too much for this…simple investigation. Nonetheless, no matter how advanced the Republic technology is, Soundwave has confirmed me that their scanners are unable to detected our portals, no without Autobot supervision, especially those ones much weaker than a space bridge. And they are too busy searching the rest of the galaxy in their efforts of securing more Predacon fossils than us." Megatron explained as Soundwave nodded to Starscream.
"Well, putting that aside, this looks like a very risky area for a bunch of Decepticons to go wandering around. What exactly are we doing here? Because I doubt this planet could harbor any energon deposits, and I doubt also it could be a Predacon bone here."
"We didn't came here looking for any references to Cybertron, Knock Out. The value of this place is from a different nature, but also important. Something the Jedi know well." Megatron revealed.
"The Jedi? Is that the reason this place is crawling with clones?"
"This is not about the Jedi. But their counterparts, their ancient and eternal enemies, now extinct once again and for good." Starscream started.
"The Sith. If that is how they were called."
"Indeed, my liege."
"Wait, don't tell me: this place is, or better said, was the hideout of one of those…Sith." Knock Out deduced.
"Affirmative." Soundwave confirmed.
"Whoa. Soundwave, you talked?!"
"Focus, Knock Out! We cannot stay here for much time, so we better find what we are looking for and get out of here the fastest we can." Starscream yelled.
The Decepticons started to make their way inside the dark building.
"My liege, I do not wish to question your wisdom, but what exactly is the motive for this quest?" Shockwave asked.
"During the time he stayed in this galaxy while I was…otherwise busy, Starscream managed to learn the history regarding the Clone Wars and before, diving into the secrets and origins of why this conflict took place. And the truth is quiet disturbing: it appears there was a Sith Lord infiltrated within the Republic's government, attempting to achieve control over the entire society, and evading his Jedi rivals at the same time, someway similar as how Knock Out and the Autobots travel in disguise around the galaxy. His civil identify was that of a human politician, a senator which managed to create a crisis on his own home world in order to get to the top of the government, as chancellor. Once he achieved that post, he started to move the strings of the incoming war, starting dividing the galaxy in the two factions of the Clone Wars."
"Wait. Are you saying that he played both sides? What benefit can contribute by playing two sides of a conflict?" Knock Out asked confused.
"I also became that confused at the beginning, but during my stay with General Grievous, I understood the motives of his actions, the one which benefit the Sith: they only care about themselves, so the cyborg was a puppet of him during the war, just like his two apprentices. His ultimate goal was to corrupt the ideals of the Republic as his minions depleting his enemies, achieving more and more power over the society and military, waiting for the right moment to strike, to turn the tides against the Jedi and turn the entire Republic into his own faction to rule the galaxy. In other words, a galactic empire." Starscream explained.
"A long well-designed plan, indeed." Megatron admitted.
"But it seems that plan didn't managed to reach fruition at the end."
"I don't get it. If the Jedi were not aware about how close their enemy was, how did they managed to stop him?" Knock Out asked confused.
"It appears this Sith Lord used some unknown ability of this dark side of the Force to both camouflage himself and fool his enemies, becoming blind to their supernatural senses. Is the only logical explanation." Shockwave deduced.
"And if at the end he failed, I think we can thank that to our opponents. Maybe the Sith was too busy controlling all the aspects of the war, that he didn't thought of the possibility that something beyond his knowledge could discover his intentions. Something, as well as he, hidden in the shadows." Megatron realized.
"The Autobots indirect involvement went undetected by him, resulting in the alteration of his plans." Soundwave clarified.
"Perhaps the Autobots indeed fought in the Clone Wars, but not in the front lines. Maybe as a secret support that the factions were not aware of." Starscream deduced.
"And knowing Optimus as I do, in the moment he realized the Sith's true intentions and the true purpose of the war, he surely decided to intervene, in order to make sure his plans were delayed." Megatron added.
"Hum. Do you think we should have come here during the time of the Clone Wars?" Knock Out asked suddenly, making the other Decepticons to look at him. "I mean, maybe we should have succeeded by taking advantage of the conflict, right?"
"Perhaps, or perhaps not. But that doesn't matter right now, Knock Out. That thing belongs to the past, but as we know, sometimes, the past finds a way to the present. And if that Sith Lord wanted to become emperor, ruling the entire galaxy by his own rule, it would have become a potential threat for us. A dangerous rival, competence. And you all know that the only one who has the right to rule that way is the one who has the power to achieve it. And that one is clearly me, not any other. Specially a human." Megatron said growling.
"Okay. But that doesn't explain why we came here, specially is that Sith Lord is long gone."
"Because the Sith are known to use…unnatural facts of the Force: the dark side. That includes preserve their existence through power, even in afterlife." Starscream answered.
"In other words, immortality. After Starscream discovered his history and intentions, we couldn't discount the possibility that he had a contingency plan, in case that he failed. When Starscream discovered that this place was restricted because it was his whereabouts, we decided to make sure there wasn't anything that remains of his previous existence. Nothing he could use to ensure any possible return from the dead." Megatron clarified.
"Well, for what I'm seeing it obvious he didn't care about his own house. This place looks like no one has been here for ages, and surely the Jedi already had checked this place upside-down lots of times. There is no way it could be anything here he managed to leave behind." Knock Out expressed before he hit a chandelier, which caused all the dust to fall on his chassis. "The only thing present here is the dust and rust which it may put my finish at risk!"
In that moment, Megatron' dark energon shard started to pulse lightly, and he felt something which seemed to come from behind a wall. "We shall see it. Soundwave, see if there is something behind this wall."
Soundwave nodded before approaching the wall and started to scan it with the help of his tentacles and the antenna of his back. After a few seconds, he retrieved them.
"Strange lecture detected. There is some kind of powered up device behind the structure." Soundwave communicated.
"Then I will see what exactly lies hidden." Megatron said before he punched through the wall, and pulled out some rubble.
In middle of the wall's pieces there was a small pyramidal object glowing in red.
"Whoa. But, how did you…" Knock Out started.
"Some things can be found if one has the proper means to track it. If my suspicions are true, which always are, this small object is someway related with the dark side with the Sith used to control. The reason why it cannot be hidden from the dark energon's evil influence." Megatron explained as he and the other Decepticons observed the object.
"I think you have found some kind of Sith relic, master. One of the precious objects they and the Jedi only reserve to themselves: an holocron. That's how the Force wielders call them." Starscream identified. "The ones of the Jedi are very value because of their knowledge, but the ones of the Sith, it is said they can also be dangerous, able to manipulate people because of the forbidden knowledge they contain, like if they were able to contain the spirit of an ancient Sith predecessor."
"Intriguing, but the last part I can reassure you its false, my dark energon was able to feel Unicron's presence when he rose from slumber, and the presence within the asteroid which ended to be his follower Thunderwing. But it doesn't sense any supernatural presence inside, it's just a reliquary."
"But the knowledge contained inside could tell us any information the Jedi and the Autobots were not aware. I recommend bring it to the Nemesis for later analysis."
"Excellent suggestion, Shockwave. Take care of that immediately, both you and Soundwave. There is nothing more of interest for us here."
Immediately, Soundwave opened a ground bridge which took everyone back to the Decepticon warship. Later, Soundwave was attempting to access the holocron's content with lots of smaller tentacles which emerged from his arms and try to introduce them inside of it. It looked like it was impossible to break, even for him, until one of the tiny tentacles managed to slip inside and touch the inside. In that moment, he started to download data into the ship's database, data that Shockwave started to see.
"Lord Megatron, Soundwave has managed to obtain the holocron's contain. It appears to be a big bunch of data." Shockwave reported.
"Excellent. What secrets it contains?"
"We do not know yet. The data is written in an ancient language, probably the Sith. It will take time for us to decipher and analyze."
"Then start immediately. I want to know what it is."
Once Sidious's holocron was empty, Soundwave started to translate the data from Sith to cybertronian language, but it was complicated since it was a forbidden language and there were not many possible sources to translate it. It took him almost half an hour, but at the end Soundwave managed to decipher all the data, just when Megatron entered the lab.
"Well?" He asked.
"Decipher of the holocron completed. Commencing analysis." Soundwave said.
The warship' supercomputer, Teletraan-1, showed lots of images of an agenda.
"Uh, what exactly is that?" Knock Out said, arriving with Thundercracker.
"It seems Darth Sidious recorded everything he planned about his masterplan in his holocron. Every single detail, every single step of his plan from the beginning, and how he kept developing it through the years of his machinations." Megatron explained.
"And for what exactly was this masterplan for?" Thundercracker asked.
"Just as Starscream discovered: he wanted to conquer the entire galaxy, just like his predecessors did very long ago. Becoming his ruler, defeating his enemies from the inside out."
"There's more. It appears he managed to record the location of the remains of the former Sith and Dark Jedi domains and everything related to the culture of the dark side and its activity around the galaxy. There's a list of coordinates recorded here, which pinpoints certain locations of this galaxy." Shockwave showed.
"Excellent."
"But that's not all. There is a singular passage that retails that in case to be discovered, the safeguard plan explains he would travel to refuge himself at the Sith's home world, and that way start from zero."
"I know which planet that is. Me, Starscream and Breakdown were there after we found the energon harvester. Of course, we were far from any place which resembled any proof of the Sith." Knock Out reminded.
"You're talking about the Sith? I think I remember hearing Starscream mention something curious about them. He said he heard stories that mention the Sith were able to preserve their spirits within their tombs to keep their power active even in the afterlife. So that way in the future being able to pass their knowledge to future apprentices, in order to preserve their order." Thundercracker revealed.
"I do not believe in spirits. But if this fact of the Sith is real as the other ones, that could be a menace for our future plans of domination. Besides, if Sidious had some secret hideout on that planet, we may find anything related to his plan B. Thundercracker, you and the Seekers are in command of the entire fleet during our next journey. Knock Out, find Starscream and bring him to my presence immediately. Shockwave, Soundwave, prepare for departure. Set coordinates for Korriban."
Moraband/Korriban
A ground bridge took the five Decepticons to a desert landscape, in middle of a sandstorm.
"Oh great, this is perfect! I was already nervous for the fact we could face the spirits of some undead Sith lords, but why it had to be a sandstorm?! My poor finish is going one more step ahead to be rusting." Knock Out complained.
"Enough with your excuses, Knock Out, or I will be the one to ensure your lifeless chassis lies in this wasteland forever." Megatron threatened with the Dark Star Saber.
"Oh no, my liege. I…I didn't say anything."
"According with the holocron's coordinates, there is an ancient Sith city a few clicks from here due north." Shockwave informed.
"Then north we will go." Megatron decided as he started walking.
"Are you sure this is a good idea, Starscream? I heard the Jedi said this planet is haunted by the spirits of the fallen Sith lords." Knock Out expressed frightened.
Starscream chuckled a little nervous. "They are only superstitions, Knock Out. There is nothing to be afraid of."
"Is more than logical to think that. However, let's not drop our guard, we don't know what things are we going to face here." Shockwave warned.
Both Decepticons shivered in fear as they ran to catch up with their companions. Suddenly, something approached them: it looked like giant serpents that merged together until it remained one big enough to face Megatron. But the Decepticon leader didn't show any signs of surprise, instead he pulled out his Dark Star Saber and cut the creature with a simple slash, making it disappear.
"It seems also the local fauna looks scary." Knock Out observed.
"That was not a living being." Megatron revealed.
Then Starscream gasped. "Master, we got company."
A group of strange humanoid forms materialized from black dust and surrounded the Decepticons.
"There is no life after death. Only nothingness awaits you, strangers. Your fear feeds our hunger for power. You will die and be nothing." The terrifying beings said at the same time.
"Is that so? Nothing is invincible, not even death. I have perished before, and yet here I am. However, it is time for you, simple remains of empty husks, to meet your true end!" Megatron challenged them.
The specters charged at him, but before they could reach him, Megatron roared and unleashed a wave of energy from the Dark Star Saber that disintegrated them.
"What in the Allspark were those things?" Knock Out demanded.
"No life signals detected, only unknown energy lectures." Soundwave answered.
"So those creatures are not living beings. Those were…"
"Indeed, Starscream. Dark spirits. The ghosts of ancient Sith warriors that in time walked upon this very planet. It seems I was wrong." Megatron confirmed.
"This defies all logic about life. How it is possible those entities continue to exist after death?" Shockwave asked.
"Just as Starscream deduced, it appears the Sith's knowledge of the dark side has allowed them to achieve a way to prevail in afterlife. But it seems spirits can also be destroyed, as I suspected, if they are faced with an equal power or greater than them, as my Dark Star Saber. You see, nothing is invincible."
"I guess that confirms this planet is truly haunted." Knock Out said.
"Not for long. As we have witnessed, the power of these evil spirits can also be eliminated, and with that any hopes of their dream of a possible future return. I'm sure we will find more of them where we're heading. The reason why Sidious chose this planet for safeguard his backup plan. We must reach that city."
With all that said, Megatron changed to vehicle form and took flight at their destination. The Decepticons did the same and followed him. In a few moments they reached the ruins of an ancient Sith city, where they changed back to robot form.
"Spread out, and find whatever looks suspicious." Megatron commanded.
"Uh, Lord Megatron, just in case this place might also be guarded by Sith ghosts, shouldn't we at least not travel alone, in case to avoid any chance for them to ambush us? I am…just saying."
"Hum, very well, Knock Out. Divide in two and search the city. I'll go by my own." Megatron decided.
The group divided in two: Soundwave and Shockwave went in one direction while Starscream and Knock Out went to another.
"Now that we are alone, I can say it, this little trip to this nest of darkness and evil looks like a very bad idea to me. If the Jedi have not entered this planet for eons even before we arrived, what motives do we need to do it instead?"
"Stop complaining, Knock Out. As we both have witnessed, Lord Megatron is able to stand even against the undead specters of this world. Besides, the Jedi are the only ones who can actually be affected. Being Force-sensitives, their connection is the only thing these ghosts can use in their advantage, trying to corrupt their beliefs to turn them into new possible comrades. But we are not, so we don't have anything to worry about." Starscream explained.
"Except them been there tormenting us with their supernatural tactics and any possible risk to be possessed. Besides, we don't even know if our weapons can make them any damage. Just Megatron's big sword, perhaps because it's made from the blood of Unicron, the supreme being of the dark side."
"Continue talking and perhaps we will see another one. Just keep looking for anything which looks out of place."
"Well, I'm not an expert of ancient ruins, but you may want to see this."
Starscream returned with Knock Out and saw what he discovered: behind a giant hall there was a huge chamber with some tombs. Despite how dark it looked, the Decepticons entered it.
"A burial chamber. It appears the Sith lords also showed their respects to their comrades and predecessors, considering that treason between them was also not rare. Similar to Decepticons." Starscream observed.
"Do…do you think it could be another spirit active inside of one of those tombs?" Knock Out asked, careful to not disturb any of them.
But Knock Out stumbled with a rock, which rolled until it hit one of the tombs. After that, some of the tombs started to glow in dark red and some spiritual forms came out from them and floated above the Decepticons.
"Knock Out! What have you done?!" Starscream demanded in disbelief.
"It was an accident!" He defended himself. "No, don't get close, you ghostly freaks!"
Knock out pulled out his weapons and started to fire at the ghosts, but the laser shots simple passed them through.
"What purposes brings you here?" One of the ghosts asked them.
"No one! I just wanna get lost sight of you!" Knock Out answered really scared.
Because the ghosts circled around the chamber, Knock Out fired in every direction, forcing Starscream to cover. One of the shots hit one of the glowing tombs, destroying it. And at the same time, one of the ghosts vanished screaming in pain.
"Hum, it disappeared when its resting place was destroyed. Knock Out, aim for the tombs! They are their power sources!" Starscream advised as he fired one of his missiles.
Knock Out followed Starscream's advise and changed his guns for his buzz saws to cut the tombs in pieces as the leader of the Seekers blew the tombs in pieces with his missiles. Once they were destroyed, both tombs and spirits, the Decepticons could finally sigh in relief.
"Starscream, what was that commotion? What happened?" Megatron called through com-link.
"Everyone, we careful, there're still dormant Sith spirits within the city. But we know how to beat them: destroy their resting places, they are linked to their tombs, they are the source of their power. If you destroy them, they will cease to exist."
"Sounds like a logical advice, Starscream." Shockwave thanked while he and Soundwave were also surrounded by specters before they started to fire at the tombs.
Meanwhile, Megatron was still searching by his own in what looked like an ancient Sith palace. He saw another tomb, and just in case, he blasted it with his fusion cannon. He took a look to the area until he spotted something curious: a part of the floor looked different from the rest, it wasn't cracked, but restored, like if someone decided to hide something below it. He fired his fusion cannon at it multiple times until it revealed a passage which lead underground, like an elevator.
He smirked. "Decepticons, I think I have discovered Sidious's secret hideout. Meet at my location while I start to inspect it."
He jumped down until he reached the floor. He opened a door in front of him with his hands by force. But when it took a look inside, he became wordless for what he saw: a chamber simply filled with riches and ancient Sith ceremonial items. He took a close look to whatever which looked suspicious, but no one of them showed any signs to hide anything. In that moment, Starscream descended.
"So, what have you discovered, master?"
"Riches. A simply chamber full of riches and useless tools!" Megatron shouted mad as he punched a pile of objects, breaking it. "What is the point of accumulating so many treasures if they are not going to be used to recover the lost power?!"
"Maybe this is where he guarded all his precious items when he reached the top. It seems he had a soft spot for that kind of material treasures."
"But this doesn't seem the kind of content that would allow him to rise again."
"Well, all these riches would have served to gain the loyalty of many warriors, or to start his own new army. Unless…"
"Unless?"
"All these trinkets could have another purpose. Like if in case the Jedi manage to find this place, make them believe there is nothing important here, and that way keep hidden the only truly worthy artifact." Starscream said as he took an old rusty box, opened it and found something similar to a Sith holocron. "Jackpot."
"Ah, excellent work, Starscream."
"I just needed to think like a Sith. But this doesn't look like a Sith holocron or some highly power relic."
"Looks can be deceiving. As you previously mentioned, this place is simply a fake lair, a tactic to fool his adversaries and make them lost his trail, his true trail. Let us hope this little thing would give us more detail about his true hideout." Megatron decided as he took the artifact.
Moments later, the Decepticons were back at the Nemesis. Soundwave was now analyzing the artifact while the other Decepticons were debating.
"So, the reason why some of our ships has left the fleet is because…" Knock Our started.
"The rest of the coordinates supplied by the holocron indicate places of the galaxy which belonged to the ancient Sith. If those places contain a burial place for an ancient Sith lord, our troops are instructed to identify them, and in case of confirmation, to destroy them." Shockwave explained.
"And with that we will be sure that all menace of any remaining Sith will be eradicated." Megatron ended.
"With Thundercracker, Skywarp and Slipstream in charge of those operations, nothing will go wrong. It will take them a while, but I have faith they will succeed." Starscream reassured.
"Lord Megatron, analysis completed. This artifact is called a Sith wayfinder. An artifact which has an entire space route recorded in its databank." Soundwave reported.
"And which place is at it's pinpoint?" Megatron asked.
"A remote planet located in the Unknown Regions called…Exegol. The hidden world of the Sith."
Exegol
When the Decepticons emerged from the ground bridge, they saw themselves in middle of another wasteland, but this time everything was dark, with storms above them shooting lightning through the sky.
"So, this is Exegol? The hidden world of the Sith? It definitely suits it well." Knock Out observed.
"This place is completely in middle of nothingness. Why no one would want to come here if there is nothing of interest?" Starscream demanded in disbelief.
Then Soundwave pointed at some kind of huge pyramidal structure in front of them.
"Exactly because of that: a remote planet out of every galactic cartography. A place only a few know about it, and where not everyone can reach because it's position. The perfect place for the revival of the seed of the Sith. One that I must make sure it doesn't germinate again. Remain here, I must complete my mission." Megatron instructed before he transformed and flew above the structure until he reached the entrance.
Megatron started to explore the citadel's inside alone. He broke through the walls to the inside, next he continued wandering through the passages as he observed the structure and the lightning that moved among its walls.
"Intriguing." He said as his red eyes were the only thing apart that glowed in the dark.
He continued going down with an elevator that took him to a lower level, one where he could see the statues of some ancient Sith lords. There was no doubt that this place was not only a Sith territory, but also a cult place for them. He ended reached to a huge amphitheater with a throne at the center. But what caught his attention was a small room which unlike the rest contained capsules and medical equipment, some still incomplete, a lot of bodies on other type of capsules: clones for the Sith Lord, vessels waiting for his spirit, despite he never claimed any of them.
"Ah, I see now."
Megatron spotted a terminal, still with energy, and pressed the power button. Immediately, the terminal showed a hologram of the supposed Sith Lord. He seemed talking to someone, so it was a recorded message.
"Things are getting more unexpected than I envisioned, something is not right. Someone must have discovered something about my plans, things are needed for a change. Go and stablish a cloning outpost at this world, Exegol. If things continue like this way, my plan may never reach to its fruition, and I have taken many years for this moment to come. I must make sure if the tides are turned against me so sudden and the Jedi realize the truth, to have a new plan not only to survive, but also to ensure my rise to power, as I pretended, by other unusual way. But I know this: wherever the way, I know I will become emperor of this galaxy. And once again the Sith will rule it all!" Darth Sidious message replayed.
Megatron become mad and crushed the terminal with his fist.
"You were indeed busy all this time, Sidious. I must admit your machinations were impressive, almost at my level." He said walking at the throne. "Having all these years to make that galactic war played by your rules, it was almost perfect. And yet, you were so close to reach your goal, to only meet your own downfall. But this place explains lots of things: if you were so powerful at you boasted yourself, your spirit would have found its way here to these empty bodies waiting for you to be reborn, achieving your reincarnation, and allowing you to regain your plans for dominating this so called reign of yours. But by the looks of things, your backup plan was incomplete, you haven't returned to life, or more precisely you haven't reached your destination yet. A moment that I will ensure it would never become real. You went through all this to become yourself emperor of this galaxy. What a fool old man, that's what you are. You, ruler of an empire, of all this?! No, you don't know the meaning of true power, and the right to use it. There's only one who can be worthy of that title. Only one who can have and wield the power like that of an emperor, or a god, can be one! Me! Only I, Lord Megatron, am the one who can do it! I was the one worthy to rule Cybertron, and for that I am also the one who can rule this galaxy! Now I know that you and your kind were more than a potential threat for me and the Decepticons, and the Autobots knew it as well. So Optimus did me a favor in assisting your enemies to put an end to your plans. And know this, dear Sidious, in case you're listening. The Decepticons will be the only ones who will rule this galaxy, the only empire which will prevail! And to ensure that future, I will make sure you and your order will never come back from the death. YOU AND ALL YOUR CURSED ORDER WILL REMAIN FOREVER IN OBLIVION!"
As he finished his speak, Megatron destroyed the throne with his fusion cannon. He continued firing everything around him as he roared in rage, and he sent waves of energy from the Dark Star Saber. His unleashed rage destroyed everything on the amphitheater: the laboratory, the statues, everything. He opened a hole in the ceiling before changing to vehicle form and fly at the top of the citadel, where he, once back in robot form, charged the Dark Star Saber and unleashed a beam of energy with a battle cry through the hole back to the inside, causing a huge explosion. In the outside, the Decepticons saw lots of dust and smoke coming from inside the structure, before it fell to the ground and started to break in pieces as fire started to consume it.
"Wow. Lord Megatron's doing?" Knock Out suspected.
"Most likely." Shockwave answered.
The four of them approached the structure until they saw their leader walking through the smoke and flames.
"Yes, that was definitely his doing." Starscream confirmed.
In that moment, they saw the Nemesis above them, moving above the remains of the citadel.
"Huh, what did you find inside?" Starscream asked.
"Everything. Starscream, join your Seekers and inspect all the locations deployed by the holocron, and order the fleet to scatter across the galaxy in order to find any place related to the Sith, to their ancestors and similar ones or their dark side cult, and reduce them to ashes. Leave no trace of their legacy." Megatron commanded as behind him the Decepticon warship continued destroying the remains of the Sith citadel with the same weapon used to destroy the Autobot base on Naboo while he walked away, without looking behind.
"As you wish, Lord Megatron." Starscream nodded.