Hello everyone! Here is chapter twenty-seven of Secrets of The Outer Rim!
Secrets of The Outer Rim.
Act III.
The Hunters and The Hunted.
Chapter XXVII.
The Homeworld of The Sith.
The Silent Fleet continued its voyage through space while I sat in the common room of our block, looking out at the blue rays of hyperspace. It almost appeared like a bubble of hyperspace surrounding the whole group of ships, another one of which was visible from my viewpoint. Around me, Yevenna sat in her room, her door open, but sitting in a chair and working on her blasters. Schweva was out on a patrol, as this was currently her shift and we tried to always have at least one person maintaining order on the ship at any given time. That was a duty divided between the four of us as well as the other Grand Ducal elites and their various apprentices, entourages, and powerbases, but the Chiss happened to be on patrol right now. Phanza then, quietly paced back and forth behind me, a red glow coming off of her, as she exercised an ancient Sith meditation ritual. I could hear her steps and I was aware of her movement, but it wasn't really bothering me. I was familiar with Phanza, and I was comfortable being in the same place as her. It was a little bit of domestic tranquility in the middle of a very uncertain voyage amidst the worst tyranny the galaxy has ever seen and the complete dysfunctionality of us or any other form of opposition right now.
"Lady Attam," I looked over to the entrance of the block to see one of the Sith Lords from the leadership council, the orange-skinned Togruta with red and white head tails, enter the room, looking to speak with my master. This was the elderly Sith woman who I saw crying that one time, the one who I suspected had lost her apprentice in the battle back on Taaszon, and her Trandoshan bodyguard stood in the hallway behind her. She was composed now, and she seemed very powerful despite just appearing like a small old woman, and I took note of that. Phanza ceased her meditation to stop and look at her, while I got up off of the couch and went to face her as well. I saw the slightest snarl from her bodyguard as the implicit threat was not lost on him. Perhaps I should be concerned by how easily I was slipping into the world of Sith politics, almost instinctively slipping into these power games and subtle shows of force.
"Darth Mesiphis," Lady Attam greeted in return, revealing the Togruta Sith's name. Mesiphis, a strange name, and I thought that it was a title she adopted, rather than an actual given name, and she was also a Darth, meaning that she was the highest rank that a Sith could achieve. This marked her as a higher rank than Lord Korzytkos for example, but I wasn't sure how she matched up in ranks to everyone else in the Grand Duchy. The thing is, I don't know how noble titles and Sith titles in the Grand Duchy line up to each other. Logically, I would think that Lady Attam would align her with Lord Korzytkos, however, she seemed more high-ranking than the human male Sith Lord, after all, she was the apprentice of the Grand Duchess. Perhaps the ranks did line-up correctly and Phanza truly only was a Lord, however, as the apprentice of the Grand Duchess, her real power and influence extended beyond her actual rank. In any case, I also noticed a certain tension between the two, and I wasn't sure if that was just the product of Phanza shying away from taking Grand Duchess Voytana's exact role, or if this was something older than that, some sort of previous conflict between the two.
"We are getting closer to Dromund Kaas, the people all across the ships are at a breaking point, and the ships seem to be crumbling around us, based on the hangar fire we all encountered. All of this is happening and we still don't have a leader, Lady Attam, what are we going to do about this?" Mesiphis asked, spelling out exactly what she wanted, and leveraging the difficult circumstances around us. It was somewhat of a dirty move, I felt, because yes, a lot of people died at Taaszon, yes, we're fleeing to a different planet, and yes, the voyage is impacting all of us right now, but that doesn't mean that Phanza wants to take Voytana's exact role. That isn't who Phanza is, she's a field operative, a spy, a Sith Lord, and our best hope against the Empire. She needs to be out there and, just as importantly, she wants to be out there. I understand the need for a leader right now, but I don't see why it has to be Phanza, just because she happened to be the apprentice of the last Grand Duchess of Taaszon. I didn't think that would convince Mesiphis though, the Togruta has been a product of the Grand Duchy of Taaszon for a long time, longer than both Phanza and I have been alive, perhaps longer than naturally possible, and she was not going to bend on its traditions.
"We are going to gather up our group, all of us, and discuss how the Grand Duchess's role will translate to the current circumstances. I have two apprentices, a spy network, countless operations in the galaxy, and my own powerbase to maintain. I cannot take on Voytana's responsibilities without hurting the Grand Duchy, not all of them anyway. I also don't think that everything about the Grand Duchy is going to be applicable on Dromund Kaas. We aren't going to settle and rebuild a planet with aristocracy and fancy titles." Phanza replied, methodically shutting down the Togruta, and explaining precisely why she cannot simply be the "leader" that Darth Mesiphis wants her to be. She also brought up a good point, how is the government of Taaszon going to translate to Taaszon? Obviously some of the legacy systems aren't going to be able to stand, some things will need to change and, while we're changing things, it's perfectly fine to have a discussion on how the Grand Duchess role will look within all of that. Perhaps Phanza could still become Grand Duchess and have ultimate authority while delegating more power than Voytana ever did, perhaps whole new roles and powers will need to be created for Dromund Kaas, and perhaps old ones will be impossible to replicate.
"Ah, very well. I can call the other councilors and have the meeting ready by tonight, would that work for you, Lady Attam?" Darth Mesiphis countered, the Togruta woman threw everything back in Phanza's face. Phanza wanted to discuss how leadership would look? Fine, then Mesiphis would have that discussion take place as soon as possible. I was on Phanza's side, obviously, but I had to admit, Darth Mesiphis was a woman with a sharp mind and a stubborn streak, she wanted Phanza to take control of the Grand Duchy and she was going to do everything in her power to ensure that happens. To her credit though, Phanza didn't shy away at this, or even seem all that phased at all, because she matched Mesiphis' verbal power play blow for blow. I liked witnessing this because, for the first time since the Battle on Taaszon, I saw the calculating, fearless Phanza again, and it was a lovely sight.
"Yes, organize it, right away please." Phanza accepted, calling Mesiphis' bluff. The two women simply stared at each other for awhile, the elderly Sith clinging to tradition and the young and energetic future of the Sith, locked in an invisible battle of wills. Phanza's black eyes were, however, uncompromising and, eventually, Mesiphis turned around and, wordlessly, left the room. The Trandoshan bodyguard turned to follow her but, stopping for a moment, I saw him snarl at Phanza and whisper something in his native language, likely some sort of threat, I wasn't sure. I didn't speak the Trandoshan language. I wasn't sure if she would go ahead with the meeting or not, perhaps she recognized by now that Phanza had something planned - I thought she did anyway, this situation screams of her having a plan, being capable of maneuvering this situation without losing her preferred position - or perhaps she decided to go ahead anyway, being too prideful to back down now. I suppose I would find out later, but, for now, Phanza and I were left in this room together.
Well, Yevenna was still working on her weapons in the other room, but, for whatever reason, things still felt private between us. The two of us, me and, how did I put it? The lovely sight that is Phanza. Lovely. I didn't miss the fact that my brain thought that when thinking of Phanza, and I didn't miss the fact that, ever since Order 66, I've effectively been attached to Lady Attam. At one point, I made hollow promises that I would try and rebuild the Jedi Order, but, instead of ever doing that, I joined Phanza on her various missions, and then I completely abandoned any notion of rebuilding the Jedi after seeing that vision of Ullara in the crystal cave. I became Phanza's apprentice shortly after that. Now, I've described this little moment - before Darth Mesiphis showed up - with words like domestic tranquility and a healthy co-habitation, and, as ignorant as I am about these things, even I have to recognize that I feel something towards the Sith Lord. I tried comparing this to how I felt about Ullara, but even that was just as complicated. I had always assumed that our relationship was a healthy one, master and Padawan, but a master and Padawan close in age, so we were perhaps friendlier and closer than average, but still not that much of an outlier. That was all before the kiss though, one final moment, which I now know was motivated by real feelings, and that kiss has permanently made me reanalyze my relations with women.
I already knew I was attracted to women, as foolish as I can be about this, I was well aware of that, and I've been aware of it for some time. I cannot ignore my visual preferences and automatic, physical reactions. That being said, I never thought that my relationships with women were defined by physical attraction, but...I have to admit that I was attracted to Ullara back then, and I must admit that I'm attracted to Phanza now. Is it that simple then? Well, maybe not, because, visually speaking, I can tell that Yevenna and even Schweva are very beautiful, Yevenna even being another Mirialan, if that was somehow my type or something, but I'm not attracted to them, not in the same way anyway. So then, perhaps what I felt for Ullara, and what I feel for Phanza now, goes beyond merely physical attraction, perhaps there is an emotional element to this as well.
Why would I be in love with Phanza Attam though? She is a Sith Lord, her ideology has some good parts, but there are a lot of horrifying elements to it too. Even then, the good parts of her ideology are there because they are politically expedient - her tolerance and her mercy are there because they give Taaszon more manpower and loyal subjects - it is a matter of practicality, not acceptance. Well, perhaps as a Nautolan woman, Phanza is more accepting than a human male Sith Lord would be, but, overall, her tolerance is not completely benevolent. Then there is the matter of power and authority, Phanza is my master now, she is the one who offered me asylum when I was fleeing from Order 66. Would that even be ethically acceptable? I don't know.
"Hey, what are you thinking about?" Phanza asked lightly, still worried about what was going on in my head. I did think that her concern for me was genuine...or did I? Could I really say that I trusted myself when it came to Phanza, or was my whole stance on the Sith Lord colored by my bias towards Phanza? I didn't know, I couldn't entirely be sure by now, and Voytana's manipulations with the Force Bond didn't help anything. I did hope that it was real, but, even then, that didn't necessarily mean anything good. It could just mean that Phanza was selfishly concerned with herself, her friends, and her allies, while being ambivalent towards ordinary people. My feelings are complicated though, indecisive too, because, even now, I can't decide how I feel about the woman right in front of me. Part of me wants to continue picking about her flaws and digging for the evil beneath, while another part of me keeps trying to tell me that there is no evil and that I'm being far too harsh to her. It's almost painful to be at war with myself over all of this.
"I uhhh...I...nothing, I think I'm going to go lie down. Let me know before you head to that meeting, okay?" I stammered out, extracting myself from the situation. Phanza didn't seem very convinced in my answer, but she nodded nonetheless, letting me go ahead and flee to the comfort of my room. I wasn't ready to face my thoughts on Phanza, certainly not to her, and I had to hope that she didn't pick up on this through our mental link. The mental link which made all of this more difficult because, thanks to Grand Duchess Voytana, I can't trust myself with Phanza anymore, I can't be sure of what's real and what's the result of this Force Bond making me feel closer to Phanza than I perhaps normally would. On the other hand, with Voytana dead, I'm left without any real closure, left to fester on what she told me and having to cope with her intentions. Voytana created the Force Bond to make me more corruptible, to make me more likely to fall to the Dark Side and become Phanza's Sith apprentice. Now, I am Phanza's apprentice and, while I may not have committed to the Sith ideology, I am uncomfortable with the fact that I've fallen into precisely what Voytana had intended for me.
I laid down on the bed and looked at the ceiling, left to wonder about Voytana's machinations, about my feelings for Phanza, and about whatever it was that was waiting for us on Dromund Kaas. In short, I was thinking about my past, my present, and my future, how I got here, where I am, and where I'm going. I can't be sure of why things are the way they are right now, I can't be sure of the nature of my feelings for Phanza and how genuine they are, and I have no idea how the upcoming circumstances are going to influence events. Quite frankly, for all we know, Dromund Kaas isn't even habitable anymore, and we'll be left looking for another world, one that won't be hidden from the Empire in the same way. It's a stressful time to be alive and, while I can try to cope better than the common people on these ships, I'm really not that much better off. Everyone's being affected by this.
Phanza entered the meeting room, Schweva and I flanking her on either side, and following just a step behind her. It was all a very impressive show of force as Lady Attam entered the room like this and took her seat, the two of us following her down, a set of loyal and obedient apprentices acting as a buffer between Phanza and any of her rivals on this table. Well, perhaps rival is a strong word, considering that they're all on the same side, but there is definitely a tension between Phanza and some of the other leaders of Taaszon. This was not the case with Admiral Wurra'thuundo'oma though, and Wurrathu was the first to join us in taking our seats. Wurrathu was here alone but, in being alone, and in being the first to sit, she was making a power move of her own, showing that she wasn't playing around with politics or getting caught up in petty feuds and power projection, she was above that, and I had to respect the Chiss Admiral as she sat down.
"You know Lord Korzytkos, he's with his former apprentice, Lord Jaranger, and the bald one is not actually a human. That's K7, Korzytkos' top of the line android unit, a master infiltrator and one of the most advanced droids ever created." Phanza whispered to us as the human Sith Lord took his seat. Senphtos was not in his entourage, not anymore anyway, but he maintained an impressive entourage nonetheless. Korzytkos was a Sith Marauder, judging by the pair of lightsabers on his hip, but his apprentice, Jaranger, another human, was a heavily armored Sith Juggernaut. A pale face, red irises, and a relatively long, unruly black haircut gave Jaranger a very unhinged appearance, making him seem like a vicious and rapid opponent, in spite of his bulk and his armor. Then K7, at first glance, appeared to be a bald human in a black jumpsuit, but, on closer examination, his skin was sickeningly off, the uncanny appearance of something artificial, very close to the real thing, but just different enough that, once you noticed it, you couldn't unsee it.
"Then, of course, there is General Zeno'kahanni'photon, or Kahaniph for short, has long been a close ally of Lord Korzytkos. Fitting then, that they sit together, as I'm sure they're in the same camp." Phanza continued as the Chiss General, wearing a white coat and a golden sash, both of which were marked with various medals and rank badges, joined Korzytkos on the table. These were the two individuals who had left the previous conference talking to each other, the ones who seemed dissatisfied with the situation after the battle of Taaszon. They sat to the right of us, while Wurrathu had sat on the opposite side to our left. I suppose the battle lines were being drawn like this, with the two individuals potentially siding with Darth Mesiphis.
"Wait, I don't recognize her," I pointed out as the next group of people entered, these lead by a hooded female Rattataki. Small-bodied but oozing of confidence, she strolled into the room at the head of her party, wrapped in black robes with a double-bladed lightsaber at her hip, both ends of it punctuated with spiky prongs, in what what apparently a rather common fashion in Taaszon. Speaking of Taaszon fashion, long, exaggerated shoulder plates extended onto either side, amplifying her silhouette. I watched as her eyes, silver, and surrounded by black makeup with plunged down her cheeks in what was likely an ancient and tribal manner, analyzed both sides of the room, before deciding to sit near Admiral Wurrathu. Another Rattataki, resembling her, but slightly younger, and wearing a longcoat with a bandoleer and a sniper rifle on her back, sat between her and Wurrathu, the opposite seat filled by the Sith woman's apprentice. a red-skinned, black-tattooed Zabrak woman wearing black, purple, and red robes which exposed her midriff, cleavage, and arms, in a similar fashion to some of Phanza's outfits. A pair of heavy battle droids, almost droideka like with their spider legs supporting a heavy, heavily armed body, stood behind them, adding some more power to our faction. What seemed to be our faction anyway.
"Ah yes, that's Darth Rezivara and her apprentice, Inquisitor Baracyn, they don't like to be seen. Rezivara is a Sith Assassin, one of the finest examples of their kind, and a master of stealth, capable of cloaking her whole body. Baracyn meanwhile, is a Sorceress like I am, but she has clearly been influenced by the tenants of the Assassin class, and has learned to cloak herself as well. They're a fine and useful pair, but a dangerous set as well. As for the other Rattataki, she is Rezivara's sister, Syssaveho Jelento." Phanza explained, making it clear precisely why I didn't see these women leave the last conference: they didn't want to be seen. I also took note of the fact that Phanza seemed to refer to Baracyn in her own right, implying that the Zabrak has a seat in the elites, as well as being a member of Rezivara's entourage. I could be reading too much into it though, maybe Phanza has just worked more closely with these too in the past and has more to say about them. My attention was turned elsewhere when, at the end of the hallway, I heard the thundering footsteps of the next group, arriving to the meetings.
"That is Darth Xelecon, Sith Juggernaut and Weapon-master of the Grand Duchy of Taaszon. The four behind him are members of Clan Xeleco, his band of hunters and bodyguards, fighting in the traditional Kaleesh fashion." Phanza explained as the heavily armed and armored Kaleesh Sith entered the room with his kinsmen, a large and powerful band of warriors, united in their species and characteristic bone helmet. The four huntsmen carried diverse weapons - one held a spear in his hand and carried a rocket launcher beneath the opposite arm, with a set of blaster pistols on his waist, another had a flail and a sniper rifle, which made me wonder what distance he actually fought at - already forming an intimidating sight. Then there was the third man, now on the other side of Darth Xeleco, and he had a pair of axes on his back, while holding a pair of full-length scatterguns, though they looked like shortened variants compared to his hulking frame. The final had a cannon mounted on his shoulder while lunging around a pair of what seemed to be tonfa weapons, but tonfa weapons containing some sort of hydraulic mechanism, likely something they were going to punch with. Darth Xelecon and his entourage sat down on Darth Mesiphis' side.
Then, the Togruta in question entered, Darth Mesiphis strolling into the room, the orange, white, and red-skinned Togruta more than comfortable as practically floated down the hallway in her black robes. The Trandoshan bodyguard followed her, ever the loyal guardian, but, this time, the pair weren't quite so lopsided, as they now had a third companion with them. A Cathar man, just as tall as the Trandoshan no less, followed as well, dressed head-to-toe in a blue suit of Mandalorian armor, holding his helmet under his arm as he walked, his jetpack and its missile behind him. Mesiphis took her seat opposite of Phanza, confirming the split in the table. The left side, with Wurrathu, Darth Rezivara, Baracyn, and our entourages, belonged to us, while the right side, containing Korzytkos, General Kahaniph, and Darth Xelecon, belonged to Darth Mesiphis. The stage was set for a discussion which would determine the future leadership of the Grand Duchy of Taaszon. Mesiphis looked like she was going to begin speaking when Phanza stood up and seized control of the situation.
"Ladies and gentlemen, leaders, generals, and Sith Lords of Taaszon, our state is at a difficult crossroads. Grand Duchess Voytana was tragically killed and we were pushed off of our capital world of Taaszon, and it is very likely that, now, the Empire is doing what they can to find and occupy the other worlds. If there are any star maps left on Taaszon, they will give the Empire the coordinates necessary to do just that. This leaves us, holding the bulk of the survivors, with the responsibility of resettling the population on Dromund Kaas and trying to rebuild our civilization on a world we haven't been on in nearly 4,000 years. I had been trusted with considerable duties by Grand Duchess Voytana, maintaining Taaszon's spy network and operations in the wider galaxy, acting as our primary field operative against the Empire, and training two apprentices of my own. I am not capable of both continuing these duties and taking on Voytana's duties, however, I have come up with a number of solutions, solutions which I think you will all find agreeable." Phanza began, instantly taking control and explaining precisely why this meeting is happening and what her agenda is, denying Mesiphis the opportunity of putting her own spin on events.
"To that end," Phanza continued, now spelling out the specifics of her plan "I have identified a number of key areas of Grand Duchess Voytana's duties. An important one, especially considering the situation with the Empire, was military strategy. While myself and other field operatives had actually planned and orchestrated the operations, they were all part of Voytana's overall strategy for combating the Empire. This particular duty is one I am willing to take on from the late Grand Duchess, however, I want to present it to the floor so that we may discuss it. For context, if we were to leave me in charge of our strategy against the Empire, I would largely commit to a campaign of indirect subterfuge, striking the Empire at random intervals in seemingly random locations to diminish their ability to exert control across the galaxy, all without pointing an obvious finger towards Taaszon."
"I have to second Phanza's strategy. We don't have the resources for an open battle against the Empire and, even if we did, well, we've all seen how that kind of battle would go." Admiral Wurrathu lent her support to Phanza, coming from the very good point that, after the Battle of Taaszon, not only do we lack the numbers and capability of waging war against the Empire, but we also don't want to. The costs of open warfare against the Empire are too great. Darth Rezivara supported us as well, demonstrated by her solemn nod, not wishing to speak more about the common atrocity we all witnessed. Mesiphis didn't even have a reply for that, the Togruta turning her lips into a thin line as she realized she had no counterargument for this. I had to imagine that she was thinking of her apprentice, the one that she lost on the ground on Taaszon. Phanza also had done well by leading with this, leading in an area where she was taking on one of Voytana's duties and, by being cautious and indirect, largely continuing the deceased Voytana's policies.
"So long as we remain aggressive, and do not allow the Empire to have an easy time in any of its major operations, this strategy can work. Especially if proving the Empire's weaknesses can promote rebellion within its territories." Darth Xelecon replied, the Kaleesh warlord turned Sith giving his perspective on things, emphasizing the disruption to Imperial operations, rather than the stealth. To be fair, looking at his armor, his hulking frame, and all of his weapons, perhaps I didn't necessarily expect him to be stealthy. Keeping a low profile during all this would be necessarily, especially given that, by now, Vader has seen all of our faces, so if we encountered him again, we wouldn't be able to lie our way out of it like Phanza and I did on Nar Shaddaa. So stealth was essential, as was moving quickly, before we couldn't afford getting caught up in an Imperial response again, as we no longer had the luxury of Thonna being a friendly Inquisitor...poor Thonna. My friend was just another casualty of the Empire, and one I wanted to avenge, but the Battle of Taaszon also proved we needed to be smart when fighting Taaszon, because we didn't have the ships, the Sith, or the soldiers to match the Empire in a traditional battle.
"Very well," Phanza accepted that particular duty as General Kahaniph and Lord Korzytkos nodded as well, albeit somewhat more reluctantly than even Darth Xelecon had been. I suppose then that Korzytkos and the Chiss General are Darth Mesiphis' strongest supporters, while Admiral Wurrathu is strongly in Phanza's camp, meanwhile, Rezivara and Xelecon both seem to be in a place where they can be influenced by either side, though, hopefully for us, Xelecon would be more likely to come over to our side than Darth Rezivara will be to side with Darth Mesiphis. Whatever the case, Phanza continued "The next matter is administration, specifically, overseeing the resettlement and reconstruction. I will not be able to do all of this. I will play a part when I can, but I anticipate, with my aforementioned duties, I will have to spend a significant amount of time off world, as soon as we are ready to resume action against the Empire. So, would any of you like to oversee the resettlement project? I would recommend a number of you take on this role, I can't imagine it would be simple."
"I can take control of part of the resettlement, Lady Attam. I have one hundred and eleven years of experience that the human and Chiss pluralities will respect, while providing a friendly face to the aliens and the downtrodden." Darth Mesiphis replied, maybe she was changing tactics, or maybe she was starting to see that Phanza was indeed being reasonable about this - this wasn't a bluff to avoid power, after all - but, whatever the reason, Mesiphis was now taking an interest in things. A pessimistic part of me thought that she was only trying to gain power over the resettlement situation - after all, she just exposed herself as a Sith Lord who is, at least, 111 years old - but her reasoning was sound and maybe, just maybe, she was being genuine about everything. I suppose I was trying to balance being suspicious of her for demanding Phanza to take power, and being pleasantly surprised with how cooperative she has suddenly become.
"While it has come to my attention that certain irregularities occurred beneath me during the voyage here, I am prepared to play a part in the resettlement as well. I will not allow any further irregularities to go unpunished." Lord Korzytkos offered himself up as well. The irregularity he was referring to was Senphtos and his corruption, something he shamefully only saw as an irregularity or an oversight, though, at very least, the human Sith was promising that it won't happen again. I didn't necessarily like that his promise sounded like he'll simply murder anyone who becomes a problem, but I suppose I would let that go for now. This meeting was making progress and I didn't want to disrupt that. This, I sat back and watched as Phanza handled every matter of Voytana's regime, getting the other Sith leaders and elites to take on her power, establishing the foundations for what would later become the new Dark Council on Dromund Kaas.
I watched as, after nearly a week in hyperspace, the Silent Fleet finally stopped, with the dark green world of Dromund Kaas filling the viewport. An atmosphere of heavy, dark gray clouds obscured the view, but, we had finally reached the planet. Phanza, Schweva, Yevenna, and I stood at the front of the bridge, seeing this through the large viewport, while, behind us, Admiral Wurrathu and a number of her officers coordinated the pilots, bringing the ships down. Our ship, Wurrathu's flagship, took the lead on this, being the first one down. This is why Phanza was right here, standing on the bridge, taking watch, because she wanted to know exactly what was waiting for us on the surface, she wanted to be the first one seeing everything, and it was her responsibility to make the call if we had to make a decision. She may have still just been Lady Attam, but, practically, she was the closest we now had to the Grand Duchess of Taaszon.
"Entering the atmosphere now, enabling thrust control at standard atmospheric pressure." Admiral Wurrathu announced, beginning our controlled descent - using thrust reversers to prevent us from going too fast and burning up on entry - planning for Taaszon like atmospheric conditions. That was another thing I didn't even consider when moving to another planet, the fact that different planets had different atmospheric conditions, pressures, and other such factors, and, honestly, we had no idea what to expect from Dromund Kaas, not having the atmospheric conditions anymore. Maybe they were saved somewhere in the old computers of these ships, but we didn't know how to access those records. We just had to hope it was similar enough to land safely and, if it wasn't, then we would need to make adjustments on the fly and communicate all of that to the ships following us. Not an easy logistical feat.
"Dromund Kaas, the ancient capital of the Sith Empire." Phanza announced as we tore through the highest level of clouds, revealing the vast array of jungle below, spreading across mountains, hills, and valleys. A few rivers snaked around the land, forming swampy, messy regions on their banks, and I'm sure the fact that the rains weren't helping. Even here, below the highest level of clouds, I could already see the rain falling on the window, and, beyond that, the lightning bolts filling the sky. I could imagine that a planet so important to the Sith would look exactly like this, filled with constantly dark and dreary clouds with this lightning filling the skies. I could, however, pick out some things beyond the jungle, places which would be very important to us.
I thought it was a set of mountains at first, however, upon closer inspection, I realized I was seeing the overgrown ruins of a city on the right, skyscrapers, towers, and megalithic architecture buried under a layer of wild growth and jungle, the four thousand year old remains of the ancient Sith, all of it existing in a place that the Jedi barely even knew about. There were a handful of records of a Sith Empire from that time, and a Sith Emperor being killed by a Jedi on this world, but I never knew that it was like this. I thought it was some sort of secret fortress or hidden base here that the Jedi uncovered, but no, because there's the ruins of a whole city out here, buried in the green. Then, the other thing that I saw was a massive clearing the jungle, something still visible all of these millennia later. This spot, on the left, had been where the Silent Fleet had taken off from, now, these ships were about to land again.
"Scans reveal the landing zone, while somewhat grown over, is still viable. Maneuvering there now." Wurra'thuundo'oma announced, bringing the ships in for a landing, the spot was now covered in some grass and a bit uneven, but it was still the best landing zone we had here. Theoretically, if we needed to, we could keep these ships flying and use the shuttles to get down to the surface, but it looks like that won't be necessary. Wurrathu turned the ship the proper way and brought it down at the beginning of the clearing, positioning the ship in such a way as to bring it down safely and leave enough room for the rest of the fleet to come down. I watched as the lead ship of the Silent Fleet touched down and we were finally on a new planet, Dromund Kaas, our new home.
"How are the air conditions? I'm assuming it's still safe." Phanza asked, referring to the fact that the planet had definitely once been habitable, but now, four thousand years ago, she obviously had no idea how it was now. I watched as Wurrathu released a drone from the ship, taking the air readings, checking for pollution, air quality, toxicity, and anything else which could determine the conditions out there, knowing if we could still breath out there. The drone flew around for a little while, as a few other ships from the Silent Fleet landed, before coming back in to deliver the data. The four of us came up behind Admiral Wurrathu to see the results, seeing them displayed on a virtual screen in front of her, revealing relatively healthy levels of oxygen, basically a lack of pollutants after a few thousand years of being abandoned, and the only out of ordinary feature was a somewhat high level of ozone, which is to be expected considering the constantly rainy conditions. Essentially, we were going to have no problem out there.
"Conditions are safe, also not seeing any signs of advanced society or civilization - the planet's been abandoned since the exodus - as far as I can tell." the Admiral explained, giving out the readings, as well as some extra data that I wasn't able to spot for myself. That was to be expected, I suppose, but it's still nice to have that confirmed, especially because, with this wayfinder being taken from Count Dooku, there's always a chance that Palpatine had a presence here. Fortunately for us, it seems like we're safe, Count Dooku really did manage to hide this from Palpatine, and now we had a world that the Emperor didn't know about, a place where we could be safe, where we could rebuild, and where we could continue fighting the Empire.
"Very well," Phanza said before turning to us "Lets go."
The five of us - Phanza, Schweva, Yevenna, HK-107 and I - along with Darth Rezivara, Darth Xelecon, Darth Mesiphis, Lord Korzytkos, and their individuals parties, climbed down the ramp and exited out onto the surface of Dromund Kaas. There were perhaps twenty of us total, all of the elites except Admiral Wurrathu, who remained on the ship, were coming out here, everyone wanting to see the surface for themselves. My boots touched the ground, setting down onto a patch of wet grass, feeling the ground sink ever so slightly beneath my weight, and I felt the rain coming down on my hood. Perhaps, with the rain, I had expected the planet to be humid, but no, this planet was cold, and, not only that, but I immediately felt the unsettling feeling of being in a hostile place. It may have been four thousand years since the Sith were here, but the scars of the Dark Side are still on this planet, and I can still feel it. This feeling is a lot darker than I ever felt on Taaszon, and that's after the world being abandoned, so I suppose that really is evidence that the Sith on Taaszon have gone a long way from being the pure evil Sith of old.
"That old gantry over there must have connected the landing zone to the old Kaas City, we can cross over there." Phanza noted, pointing our way to an old, but working elevated walkway, passing over the jungle. Kaas City was, apparently, the very original name of the city I saw the ruins of as we landed. Our group followed Phanza there, Xelecon's Kaleesh hunters and some of the battle droids and soldiers with us brandished their arms, scanning the unfamiliar jungle for potential threats. The lack of advanced civilization did not mean this planet was safe, there could very well be deadly wild predators and even hostile, primitive sentients in the jungle, which is why our scouting party consists of some of our strongest and mightiest warriors.
We climbed over the steps, hearing a few creaks from the old metal, but, overall, the structure was stable, so we crossed over from the landing zone, heading for the city. I saw the monumental scale of the city on the way here but, on the ground, it was even more striking, because I could see just how tall and massive the ruins of the city were. The tallest and largest of the buildings was a citadel of sorts in the distant, both incredibly tall and wide, containing three three, the middle of which was by far the tallest and most impressive. This is the precursor to the same civilization that built that gigantic monolith on Taaszon, so perhaps I shouldn't be too surprised, but it's still horrifying that the Sith were this strong and we barely even knew about it. I know a Jedi raided this world and killed a Sith Empire, and I had a feeling the Jedi and the Republic were also the ones to trigger the Sith exodus to Taaszon, but I had no idea the old Sith Empire had a capital on this scale. Its no Coruscant, to be fair, but its still a far more impressive world than I had expected, yet the Jedi Archives barely even knew it existed.
"So, this is our new home." Phanza announced as the walkway came back down in the city, placing us in a wide open square, surrounded by old buildings, wild vines, and no sign of any operational technology. We had a lot of work ahead of us.
Alright everyone, this has been chapter twenty-seven of Secrets, hope you enjoyed!