Star Wars: Return of the Sith

6: The Unseen King

By Nanaki

Kuat Drive Yards, Orbital Shipyard #9

Tenn was impressed by how quickly they reached their destination. Jerin had probably landed in the most convenient docking bay he could, but even so, ten minutes seemed pretty fast. The turbolifts they'd taken had gone almost straight up the entire way, and they had to be close to the top of the shipyard now. As they stepped out of the final turbolift into a very wide hallway, Tenn looked around in surprise. Instead of the occasional small viewports that they'd been seeing, this hallway was almost nothing but viewports. They walls were entirely transparisteel, and even the ceiling had many wide windows, all looking out to the stars, or on the left side, the planet below.

Jerin set a brisk pace heading toward a vaguely dwelling shaped lump that protruded from the hallway. Looking back and forth, Tenn saw several more within her field of vision, though they were spaced pretty far apart. As they continued walking, Tenn realized that they were VERY far apart, and also very large. It seemed as though all of the living areas could be detached from the main platform in case of emergency. "What's the rent like on one of these places?" She wondered, almost afraid of the answer.

"About as astronomical as you'd expect." Jerin shrugged. "Though my parents actually own theirs. I don't know how much they paid, but just the property tax is pretty ridiculous." Now they arrived at the connecting tunnel that actually led out to the dwelling, and Jerin pressed an intercom button next to the hatch.

"Who is it?" A gruff voice demanded.

"It's your son." Jerin answered in a bored tone.

"Jerin! Where have you been?" The voice sounded welcoming and angry at the same time. "Would it kill you to call once in a while?"

"Well, probably not, but why take the risk?" Jerin grinned.

"All right smartass, come on in." His father groaned, then thought of something. "Are you alone?"

"Nope." Jerin answered easily.

"Business or pleasure?" Came the tactless voice over the intercom.

"Um..." Jerin risked a quick glance at Tenn, who didn't seem particularly offended. "I have no idea." He answered honestly.

"Well, in any event, get your butt in here." His father ordered. The hatch whooshed open to reveal a completely transparent cylinder, somewhat flattened on the bottom. Jerin looked back along the way to see that Tenn was fairly mesmerized by the stars visible between her feet. Soon enough, they reached the actual door. Jerin punched in a six digit code on a keypad, and this door rolled open as well. "Welcome home, Jerin!" His father boomed. "And who have we here?" His eyes focused on Tenn as he strode forward.

"Tenn, this is my father, Jaing Danar." Jerin introduced him.

Tenn stepped forward, her hand extended in greeting. "Hello sir, I'm Tenn."

'Don't say, "You can say that again!" Don't say, "You can say that again!" Don't say, "You can say that again!"' Jerin thought repeatedly to himself.

"You can say that again!" Jaing grinned as he shook Tenn's hand. Jerin winced noticeably. "Anyway, welcome. Make yourself at home."

"So where's Mom?" Jerin wondered.

"Oh, she's out dealing with some poor fool who hasn't payed her some money he owes." His father shrugged. "At any rate, let me show you where you'll be staying." He gestured for Tenn to follow him. Jerin tagged along behind.

"By the Force..." Tenn whispered. Behind the door Jaing opened was a gigantic room with a ceiling at least fifteen feet tall. Two of the walls were filled with enormous windows, with the left wall looking out on Kuat itself. Against the right wall was a bed that was probably big enough to accomodate a couple of Hutts. "This is a guest room?" She asked like she didn't believe it.

"One of four." Jerin nodded. "We may need to leave in a hurry, so get some rest while you can. It's already after ten at night, local time. Which is also midnight, since the day here is only twenty hours long."

'He's really not one for talking.' She observed. "Okay." She said aloud as she nodded.

"We'll let you get some rest, then." Jaing nodded, and closed the door.

After walking around the room a bit, Tenn flung herself down on the bed. 'What are you doing, Tenn?' She asked herself for at least the hundredth time. She flopped over on her back to stare at the ceiling. She supposed that she was about as safe where she was as anywhere else in orbit. The house could be detached from the main shipyard in an emergency, and even Sith couldn't survive in vacuum. At least, she hoped not. The down side at the moment was that she had no change of clothes, or much of anything else, for that matter. She at least had a fair number of credits with her, but that was about all.

Giving the arm of her sweater a sniff, she figured the clothes she had on now would be okay for another day, but she didn't want to sleep in them. Then again, she didn't want to sleep in the nude in a strange place, either. Opening the closet door, she found several white robes of various sizes. 'Good enough.' She thought. She wondered if she should have a sanisteam before heading for bed, but decided against it as she stifled a yawn. She couldn't help looking over her shoulder at the window as she slipped out of her clothes and into the robe. With those huge windows, it seemed like it would be easy for someone to take a peek inside. Though anyone on the planet below would have to have a pretty powerful imaging device to pull off a feat like that, it was well within the realm of possibility for Republic Intelligence. 'Seco has made you paranoid.' Tenn scolded herself as she pulled back the covers and climbed into bed. Even with all her worries, she was asleep in just a few minutes.

.

"May need to leave in a hurry?" Jaing raised an eyebrow as he and Jerin headed back toward the living room.

"Yeah... It seems the Sith are after her. And since I stopped them from getting her at Brentaal, now they're after me too." Jerin admitted.

"Why are they after her?" Jaing frowned in puzzlement.

"I don't know." Jerin shrugged.

"That seems like kind of an important detail." Jaing pointed out.

"I know, but she won't talk." Jerin replied in frustration.

"So why are you helping her?" Jaing asked he sat down on a very large sofa.

"Because no one else is getting their hands on her until I find out WHY the Sith are after her, how she knows the Skywalkers, and why Korgo the Hutt didn't bother to mention that she was Force-sensitive when he sent me after her." Jerin ticked the reasons off on his fingers.

"The Skywalkers too, huh?" Jaing whistled. "Sounds like you've got yourself mixed up in something really big here, son."

"So what?" Jerin shrugged as he took a seat in a reclining chair. "It'll keep me sharp, and I'm not afraid of anything, anyway."

"Oh, I know that." Jaing nodded. "And that's the problem. Fett himself said that only fools don't feel fear."

"I never claimed that I wasn't a fool." Jerin answered dryly.

"Zairina wouldn't want you to join her so soon." Jaing cut to the heart of the matter.

"Don't talk to me about what my wife would want." Jerin replied coldly. "I'm pretty sure she would want to still be alive, first of all."

Jaing held his hands up in defense. "Sorry, but we're just worried about you."

"I know." Jerin let out a long sigh. "But damn it, I don't know why I'm still alive. My life hasn't had any purpose for the last four years, other than revenge."

"You'll find a better purpose if you stick around. I promise you that much." Jaing assured him. "Maybe coming to the rescue of beautiful and rare-colored young Twi'lek girls?" He suggested.

"No thanks." Jerin waved that possibility aside. "Just one is more than enough trouble."

"Ah, but..." Jaing's eyes sparkled with mischief. "What if that purpose could go hand in hand with revenge?"

Jerin folded his hands in his lap, and sat up straighter in his seat. "I'm listening."

.

Wild Space

Both above and beyond the galactic plane, an asteroid over two thousand miles in diameter hurtled through space. This particular asteroid, however, was propelled through space by sub-light engines larger than entire cities. It was also filled with the power of the dark side, as well as those who used it. Though its official name was Legacy of Ragnos, it was more popularly known by its inhabitants as "Little Ziost". At this moment, in a huge spire at the very top of the asteroid, one who was very adept at using the dark side strode briskly past his bowing underlings.

Sado Kressh barely spared his Massassi warriors a glance as he headed toward the very top of the Korriban Spire. They bowed as they caught sight of him more out of habit than any actual requirement. However, Sado was the reigning Dark Lord of the Sith, and anyone who didn't bow in his presence could potentially be executed. At the moment, Sado had more pressing matters on his mind than reminding everyone who was in charge.

At the end of the conflict known as the Great Hyperspace War, this asteroid fortress, the last, desperate backup plan of Ludo Kressh, had headed for the edges of the galaxy and beyond. For 2,600 years it had raced into the void between galaxies, making contact with no one. Most of the interior of the fortress was farmland, so it was self-sustaining, but this put a tight limit on the maximum number of Sith that the asteroid could comfortably contain.

Then, 2,600 years ago, Sado's most revered ancestor, Lunen Kressh, had ordered the asteroid to be turned around. Lunen had argued that they couldn't run away forever, that risk was a natural part of life, and to avoid risk was to avoid an aspect of the Force itself. If extinction was to be their fate, as it had been for the rest of the Sith, then they would meet that fate head on. However, Lunen had also declared that a true master of the dark side could never be defeated by the foolhardy Jedi. Naga Sadow had been a weak pretender to the throne, and that was why the Sith had lost the Great Hyperspace War. Sado agreed with all of this wholeheartedly.

Now that they were actually nearing their home galaxy again, some of the Sith leaders had shown hesitation about returning to Korriban and their other home worlds. They had pointed out that their technology would be woefully out of date despite the best efforts of their ancestors to keep it deadly, and that even their own powers in the dark side could be overshadowed by other Force using organizations that might have sprung up in the meantime. Sado openly sneered at such weakness. For millenia, his ancestors had dreamed of returning home and destroying the Republic which had tried so hard to exterminate them. Once it had become apparent that they would be arriving home in his lifetime, Sado had become determined to be a Dark Lord that would be remembered in the same breath with Ajunta Pall, Marka Ragnos, and the accursed Naga Sadow. He was going to destroy the Republic and bend the entire galaxy to his will.

As Sado strode into the council chamber at the top of the Korriban Spire, everyone else in the room stood and bowed deeply. "Be seated, everyone." Sado said impatiently. "We've been debating for weeks now, with some good points on both sides." He lied diplomatically. "However, it's my decision, and I say we're going home." Those seated around the table were too wise to bother protesting aloud. Sado knew that he was going to have to watch out for daggers in his back in the near future, but he was very good at that. "The navigators tell me we can be at Ziost in under two weeks, so that's exactly where we'll be. If the race that currently inhabits Ziost consents to serve under us, they will be spared. Otherwise, they will face the same type of extinction we did." Now Sado's gaze lingered on the one being seated at the table who wasn't a member of the Sith species. His face was concealed by a fearsome looking mask of bone, sporting several symbols painted on with blood. "General Lael, what say the Kaleesh?"

Over ten percent of the asteroid's population was Kaleesh, a warrior race that rivaled the Sith's Massassi warrior caste in terms of raw strength. Their homeworld of Kalee had been deep in uncharted territory during the Great Hyperspace War. However, one Kaleesh named Saes Rrogon had somehow made his way offworld and joined the Jedi order, only to renounce the light side and become a captain of the Sith battleship Harbinger. Both Harbinger and it sister ship Omen had disappeared shortly before the deciding battles of the war, and their final fate was unknown. However, prior to his disappearance, Saes had returned to his homeworld and asked for volunteers for the Sith, promising that they would be part of the conquest of many worlds. This had appealed to many young Kaleesh warriors, and even after their ranks had been decimated alongside the Sith, more than two hundred had survived to escape on this asteroid. In the more than 5,000 years since, those initial two hundred had grown to over 50,000 today. Sado honestly couldn't imagine life without the Kaleesh, and he got along with General Lael better than he did with many of his own race.

"Lord Kressh, my council's decision is unanimous." Lael reported. "We will share our fate with the Sith, whatever that may be. All of our warriors are at your disposal."

Sado nodded in gratitude. "General, I would like your honest assessment of our chances."

Lael closed his eyes in thought for several seconds, before responding. "I can't say as yet, sir. We simply don't know enough. Once we reach Ziost, I'll make reconaissance my top priority. Fortunately, we should have surprise on our side. As usual, secrecy and deception will be our greatest weapons."

"Exactly." Sado flashed a toothy grin. "We will not repeat Sadow's mistake. The Republic will not know of our existence until our teeth are at its throat." The Sith around the table all began applauding with varying degrees of enthusiasm, but Sado didn't pay much attention to them. As long as he had Lael on his side, that would be more than enough.

.

"At last we will reveal ourselves to the Jedi. At last we will have revenge." - Darth Maul, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace

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(Nanaki's note: If you're thinking that the Sith survivors of the Great Hyperspace War having their own private army of Kaleesh is somewhat less than likely, I would have agreed with you, until I read Crosscurrent. In addition to what I described above, note that it was never explained just how Saes Rrogon initially found his way off Kalee, a world that wouldn't be discovered by the Republic for another 4,500 years or so. I established here that the Sith discovered the world with Saes' help, but how Saes himself reached the stars is still a mystery. At any rate, Crosscurrent rewrote the history of the Great Hyperspace War quite a bit, changing it from the very brief conflict depicted in the comics into a war that lasted at least the better part of a year, so I figured what I did here isn't outside the realm of possibility.

On another note, since I know my father is reading this story, I just want to say that I hope you're feeling better today than the last time you wrote. Since I haven't gotten any phone calls from Mom at work, I'm going to assume nothing too serious has happened in the meantime. On the plus side, if there's one best place in the world for just relaxing and not worry about what tomorrow might bring, Hawaii would have to be it. I'm hoping that it is just an odd virus, and, if it's not too hokey, may the Force be with you.)