Chapter 2

Yavin IV

19 Years after the creation of the Empire

Once again, the dreams came; the dreams of the crash, of the smugglers, and of her ruthless killing. And once again, like every time before, Darth Taegous woke up sweating and panting on her hard wooden mattress, unable to fall back asleep for hours or at all.

"Stang!" the curse rang out through the otherwise silent room, echoing slightly; yet another night of no sleep, and nothing to do until morning. Darth Taegous knew that she was already too far behind on her sleep, and she also knew that she would need every ounce of energy she could get when she went on the fifteen-mile run through the woods that Exar Kun had assigned her to do the next day.

She abruptly sat up, shoved her feet into her black-dyed Runyip-hide boots, and stormed toward the door to her room, grabbing a cloak and throwing it around her neck on the way out. If she couldn't sleep, then she would meditate.

Bloodsucking bugs swarmed around her as she walked out into the cool, damp night air, but with simple use of her anger she created a "bubble" of unpleasantness around herself, and the bugs flew away to find something else to bite.

The stairs to the top of the largest temple numbered over a thousand, but Darth Taegous bounded up them by tens and twenties, never allowing herself to tire or stop to feel weary. This was just another test of her own abilities; she never failed, for failure was unforgivable.

Once up top, she allowed herself to calm and look out over the huge jungle trees that bordered the clearing around the great temple. The quiet clicking, buzzing, and hissing of numerous insects was audible in the background, and in the distance she could hear something large crashing through the trees.

She took deep breaths, focusing her anger, and felt the familiar blanket of the Dark Side wrap around her, filling her with energy and power. It still wasn't perfect; it took decades for even the most accomplished Sith Lord to gain perfect harmony with the Dark Side of the Force, and Exar Kun had accomplished perfection in centuries.

But she mustn't allow her frustration with the imperfection to cloud her senses. Frustration could be a useful tool in battle, but while meditating it clouded the mind, cutting one off from the full power of the Dark Side.

Once more Darth Taegous began to take deep breaths, listening to every sound in the forest, sensing even the smallest organism that crawled or squirmed on every surface. This planet was alive. There may have been no other Sentient life on the planet besides Exar Kun and herself, but there was plenty of animal diversity.

Piranha beetles swarmed even this late at night, ever searching for more food, Runyip slept in their large herds, constantly light sleepers in case a predator should decide to intrude upon their slumber, Woolamanders held their young in "cradles" made from putting both their hands together, and numerous unidentified species, both nocturnal and diurnal, went about their activities or slept.

Deep in meditation, Darth Taegous now swept her senses out past the small moon, past even Yavin, to sense the other planets in the system as well. Every little asteroid was a bright speck of light to her dark senses, just another chunk of rock or comet was part of the larger whole.

She could feel the planets in their orbits around the giant sun, ever burning brightly, destined to die out in just the next million or so years from consumption of its own mass for fuel. Then, at the edge of the system, she felt something else come- something that felt vaguely familiar, but yet something that she hadn't felt in a long, long, time, not since-

The smugglers.

Sentients! There were Sentients entering the system, in numerous spacecraft, just now coming out of Hyperspace. Strange, that after all this time, she would remember how ships worked and what Hyperspace was, but her memory had always been crystal clear. She could remember the crash of her own ship like it was yesterday.

But that didn't matter now- Exar Kun needed to know that there were Sentients coming into the system, if he didn't know already. Darth Taegous didn't think that Exar Kun ever slept, but he might be in deep self-meditation, unaware of the things around him.

Darth Taegous had never disturbed him during these meditation exercises before, but this was important. Sentients meant ships. Ships meant that she could get off of this planet and commence scouting for Exar Kun, informing him of what had happened in all the years he had been trapped here.

Master! She sent the message through the Force. Exar Kun wouldn't be able to understand exactly what Darth Taegous was saying, but the sense of the words should have been enough to let him know that something important had happened. This is important! Ships carrying Sentients just entered the system, and may be planning to land here. This could be my chance to leave and gather information for you.

Darth Taegous felt Exar Kun stir, and she kneeled as she felt his presence come through the temple to the very top, where she was. A shadow materialized in the air before her, a dark-haired man with the tattoo of a black sun on his forehead.

"You have sensed something, my young apprentice?" Exar Kun asked, looking straight at Darth Taegous, "Rise. Inform me of what you have seen."

"Yes, Master," said Darth Taegous, standing up to look Kun straight in the eyes, "Sentients have entered the system in numerous ships. I think that they may be planning to land on Yavin IV; I don't sense that they could be headed anywhere else."

"This is an interesting development," mused Kun, looking at the star-riddled sky above them and reaching out with his own senses, "I too sense that they must land here; go and wait for them when they land, but stay hidden in the shadows. Return and tell me what you have learned after you discover what their purpose is here. We may yet gain a chance to learn what has passed in the galaxy while we were exiled here."

"Yes, my Master," Darth Taegous said simply, then leapt from the side of the temple, midnight-black cloak fluttering in her wake. She used the Force to cushion her fall and landed expertly on her feet at the bottom, then darted into the thick jungle, disappearing into the shadows.

Kun watched her leave, then streamed back to the very bottom level of the Dark Side temple, gathering his energy to meditate on this new development.

"Yes, this could be very interesting indeed."

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Darth Taegous silently continued to run under the huge limbs of Yavin IV's trees in the warm, humid air that gathered there, prevented from rising into the atmosphere by the impressive leaves.

She could sense the Sentients drawing closer in their ships, circling overhead on this side of the planet. They were headed for the clearing up ahead next to some of the older Massassi temples, she was sure, and she would not fail Exar Kun in finding out what they were up to.

It felt good to be running in the night air again, and despite the lack of sleep she now felt wide awake. She finally had another mission, after years of waiting she would be able to at least see other Sentients again, if not speak to them, and she would be able to complete one of Lord Kun's requests.

Not that she hadn't completed his other requests- no, she had completed all of them. But this was a real mission, something important that might finally be able to get both of them off this moon, or at least her off so she could find a way to get Exar Kun a body and out of those temples.

The whirring sound of repulsorlifts passed by overhead, accompanied by the creaking of Durasteel and the whining of engines, and Darth Taegous braced herself for the rush of wind that she knew followed in a ship's wake.

Sure enough, as soon as the ship passed overhead, a strong rush of wind crashed through the trees, snapping the weaker limbs and causing a family of Woolamanders to start chattering worriedly in the trees above.

The gust was short, however, and Darth Taegous forced herself to run even faster. There was no doubt that the ship was headed for the clearing, and she was sure that the others were going to follow close behind. She wanted to see a ship land; after all this time, she still couldn't get that crash out of her head, and perhaps this would help to rid her of the memory.

She spotted the clearing up ahead, and sprinted the last few paces until she reached the edge of the jungle, then promptly leapt up into the branches of the tree above, leaping from branch to branch with ease, until she reached a spot where she would be sure to both see and hear the ships coming down and their occupants emerging.

Within seconds, the ship that had passed overhead stopped circling and began its descent into the clearing, landing "legs" emerging from the hull to settle on the grass below. It powered down, creating a whooshing sound that echoed over the treetops. Several more ships appeared, some in A-, Y-, or X-shapes, and others were large and boxy.

Not all the ships had landed, though; Darth Taegous could sense several other ships, too large to land, orbiting just outside of Yavin IV's atmosphere.

The hulls of the ship had now cooled, and the boarding ramps lowered from the sides of the ships or, in the cases of the smaller fighters, the cockpits opened and ladders lowered. All species came from the ships- Sullustans, Chiss, Humans, and even an Ithorian could be seen scouting the area surrounding the temples.

Darth Taegous enhanced her hearing with the Force, enticing sound vibrations to come directly to her ears, and was able to listen to snatches of conversation…

"-Imperials here. Repeat, no sign of… erials here."

"-perfect. These… emples could be of… eat use to us. They'd ma… wonderful docking bays."

"…ed Five to Blue Fo… nd your Y-wing over he… the forest could be good for… ocking transmitter sign… s."

"-way the Imperials will find us here. The Rebellion sh… be safe here for the ti… eing."

Cutting off her connection to the conversation, Darth Taegous sat in the tree for a few more minutes before leaping down and starting at a run back to the temple. From what it sounded like, this "Rebellion" was in hiding from these "Imperials," and they had decided to try and make a base on Yavin IV, or at least land there.

She would give this information to Exar Kun and then meditate on it herself. Because from what she had heard… it sounded as if the Republic didn't exist at all.

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars, and all Star Wars content except for my OC Darth Taegous (me!) is (c) Lucasfilm Ltd. George Lucas owns everything.

Author's Note: FINALLY I made a second chapter that I'm happy with! I had horrible writer's block for the longest time- sorry to anyone that was reading it! ; But anyway- I think that I may write the next chapter sometime either this week or next week, and if I don't update until July, feel free to kick me. Please review, I find that reviews are what keep me writing on time! Criticism, comments, anything is appreciated:P