AN: I hope everyone is ready for the next chapter. I've honestly been really excited to post this chapter for weeks . . . months really, ever since I wrote it. I've been doing my best to mostly stick to my posting schedule, which gives me wiggle room, but I've been really eager to see what people think of this, since this is where I throw a major curveball into the story that will cause some major changes in the future of the galaxy. Let me know what you think! As always, thanks for all the support to this story!
Morgriff - That was my reasoning. It was killing two birds with one stone. Siri was the best option they had for the mission, but they could also test her and Obi-Wan by extension at the same time. Kastor and Siri both knew they needed to pass the Council's test, especially since it would reaffirm that attachments can be allowed, and that Siri and Obi-Wan can live the Jedi life and still be true to each other.
Chapter 39 - A Sith Relic and a New Threat
"I can't believe I'm in command of a fleet," Kastor muttered for the hundredth time, looking around the bridge of their new Arquitens Heavy Frigate.
It really was a marvelous warship . . . and that's exactly what it was. A warship. There were larger ships with more capabilities, sure, but the firepower on this ship, combined with the complement of fighters and bombers would allow it to go blow for blow with most ships. By all accounts, it held the firepower of a capital class ship. It just didn't have the size or carrying capacity for cargo or troops that a capital cruiser had, which Kastor was relieved about. If anything, his ship was a capital ship killer, being a smaller and faster target. In war, when ships start getting retrofitted with more combat power, his ship would still stand strong, but it would be a more comparable fight against heavy frigates and capital cruisers if or when that day happened.
The ship had a state of the art medical lab, an improved communications center in the command deck, the promised large hangar, Venator class engines, rather than the smaller Arquiten ones, and had been specifically altered to make docking the Ebon Hawk to the bottom of the hull easy. There were far fewer cabins for personnel compared to the base model, but there were still an additional ten on what they needed. Really, it's only weakness was that it wasn't a Venator and thus deployment of the starfighters or bombers would be a bit slower, having to go through the launch tube, but that also meant the ship didn't have the weaker points with nearly the whole top of the hull being bay doors like the Venator Carrier did, nor did it require the large volume of personnel and/or droids for upkeep. Besides, it was slower deployment, not slow deployment. Especially when you had Mandalorians that perfected their battle rhythms until they had them as quick and seamless as possible. They could deploy the fighter squadron in one minute, and the bombers in one minute after that.
"And a company of Mandalorian warriors," Asuna said. "We could conquer planets with this force!"
Kastor shot her an unimpressed look while Rhys snorted in amusement.
"What?" Asuna asked, trying to sound innocent. "I'm not saying we're going to. I'm just saying that we could."
"It is an important distinction," Des offered up, with a rare glint of humor in his eyes.
"Mandalorians," Kastor said with a groan, looking around at the now large crew that was adapting to their positions. He was effectively surrounded by Mandalorians with only a few exceptions, and he'd even agreed to that. Maybe he was going insane. The only non-Mandalorians on the ship were Rhys, Kastor, and those Rhys had recruited.
Rhys had gotten an old friend of theirs to join with them, Vana Sage, who had just left Bravo Flight again and had been thinking about going back into the mercenary game. Since she was looking for a steady job with pay, Rhys proposed that she work for them. She had agreed without hesitation, bringing her experience as a mercenary, her skill as a pilot, and her ship with her. There were also a dozen Antarian Rangers, as well as two dozen Antarian Ranger support staff members who had taken much of the frigate's crew requirements off of the Mandalorians, handling medical treatment, communications, navigation, and a portion of the maintenance. Rhys had been promoted in the organization to the rank of Ranger Captain, for his service to the Rangers and the Jedi Order, and his new rank along with a unit to work for had been an easy draw for members of the Rangers to join up.
Then there were three promising young pilots who were looking to make names for themselves, gaining flight experience, before joining their home worlds' respective naval flight academies: Antoc Merrick, Carson Teva, and Garven Dreis. The three pilots were all connected to senators that Kastor respected and knew of his proclivity for undercover work, and had asked for his aid in helping them find outfits that would develop them and give them the experience they were looking for. The Senators, of course, hadn't known that Kastor was forming his own group, but they didn't really need to. Instead, Kastor and Rhys had recruited the three men for their own unit, and sworn them to secrecy, which none of the men had had an issue with, more than happy to get experience working with a Jedi, a section of Antarian Rangers, and a company of Mandalorians. They would get more than what they needed to get into their naval academies, and likely get fastracked to being fighter pilots, just as all three hoped.
With so many new faces, Kastor's most covert actions were being done separate from the fleet with the Ebon Hawk, while the rest was fairly open. All of them had been read in on Kastor's cover, and had been briefed that as far as anyone was concerned, the ship belonged to Asuna. They had also insisted on naming their "mercenary group" Kandosii, which meant indomitable in Mandalorian. Whether Kastor's cover remained intact or not, the name would stay with the group.
Everything had gone smoothly leading up to where they were. Padme had easily brokered a deal to acquire a squadron of bombers and a contract to replace them as needed. Nubian Hypernautics indeed had been happy to have a business deal that would help bring in offworld income. Within a fortnight, Kastor, Rhys, Des, Koba, Asuna, and Njonne, who had joined up with them, were aboard the Ebon Hawk enroute to Kuat, where they docked up to The Darasuum, which meant The Eternal, in Mandalorian. From there, they'd made the trip to Mandalore where they picked up a whole contingent of Mandalorians. Including Asuna, Des, Koba, and Njonne, they had two hundred Mandos who had eagerly signed on for the group as well a dozen fang starfighters and five Kom'rk fighter-transports, before they made their way to Naboo to pick up a dozen of the new N-2 Bombers, and Rhys picked up the rest of their new recruits with the Ebon Hawk and one of the Kom'rks.
With the Antarian Rangers and the other pilots, it was still a skeleton crew compared to what a Republic Navy vessel would have, but they didn't need double the crew for night shifts, and the Mandalorians and Antarian Rangers all pulled their weight, helping out where they were needed. The young pilots too were eagerly learning everything they could from their more experienced compatriots, helping out wherever they could.
They had spent the next month taking escort missions, fighting pirates, or providing paid policing functions while they monitored Omega's fleet or fleets since it had finally broken up. Thankfully, from their trackers, they were able to monitor where the capital ships, at least, went, though that didn't always paint the best of pictures. Omega's fleet or fleets often moved between various planets, mostly those controlled by criminal organizations, some of which Rhys had noted from Omega's files, but many they could only speculate on what they were doing there.
At the same time, they had sent out small parties to gather intelligence from Rhys and/or Kastor's underworld contacts as well as many of their newer members' contacts, providing a much quicker and updated picture of what was going on in the criminal underworld. Smaller groups took some smaller missions too, garnering funds and raising the reputation of the group for hire in the galaxy, ensuring that word was spreading and that job offers kept coming, and serving to give the Mandalorians, mercenaries, Antarian Rangers, and eager young pilots the experiences they were looking for.
Now though, they were pursuing one of Omega's three capital ships, the Lucrehulk, which had entered Sith space and was currently orbiting above Ziost, having just left Korriban.
Kastor was always concerned with any Sith cultist showing large interest in Sith worlds. He knew that no matter how hard the Jedi Order had tried to retrieve all the Sith relics from those planets, there were always more to find. The Sith themselves had excavated Korriban multiple times over multiple millenia, and each time, they found more tombs or monuments from the older Sith Empires.
"I wish we had more updated intelligence on what we're going into," Kastor muttered, returning his focus to the command display where they had all the available intelligence on Omega's fleet.
They knew the Lucrehulk was above Ziost, and they knew the other two capital class cruisers were not, but as for the rest, they could only make assumptions based on what they had seen the first time they observed the overall fleet and marked it, and the little bits of information they had gathered since then.
They could assume that since the Sabaoth Destroyer wasn't present, that they probably wouldn't find any Sabaoth bombers or fighters. They could assume that all six frigates, both light cruisers, and all six corvettes weren't with the Lucrehulk, but they couldn't confirm that was the case.
With the Lucrehulk, they knew it was just a base model, exactly like the one that Anakin Skywalker and Bravo Flight had destroyed during the Invasion of Naboo. Lucrehulks were large cargo haulers, and while it's firepower was nothing to scoff at, the Darasuum outgunned the capital ship. However, the fighter complement the carrier could have was enormous. If the carrier had that many ships, they could be in serious trouble.
They couldn't be sure how many starfighters would be on the Lucrehulk. Kastor doubted that the ship was filled to capacity, but even if it was at half capacity, they still could be facing off against seven to eight hundred enemy starfighters if the ship was able to deploy them all. They would have to try and stop that from happening. If the Lucrehulk was alone, or only had one or two escorts, that was doable. Otherwise, they might be making a hasty retreat, hoping to minimize losses.
"I wish we did too, but we'll manage," Des said grimly. "That Lucrehulk needs to go, and salvaging its cargo will fund this journey, and put a major dent in Omega's transportation capabilities."
"We've faced worse odds too," Vana added with a grim smile. "This is like the Naboo Crisis all over again . . . except this time we have a whole squadron of fighters, bombers, and a capital level cruiser helping. We can take that Lucrehulk out before it deploys its whole fighter complement, and even if it does, assuming their droids like they were back then, they'll be no match for our squadron. We'll scrap 'em just like we did back then."
"I like her," Asuna said mildly. "Kastor. Be like her."
Most of the room laughed and Kastor couldn't help but smile with their amusement. He couldn't say that the majority of the room didn't know what might be coming. The younger ones that Rhys had recruited were green, and probably hadn't dealt with that type of loss, but most of the Mandalorians and Vana were fully aware of what it was like to lose comrades.
Still, he hoped they all came through it, and he intended to do what he could to give them every advantage, but he suspected their fleet, their group, was about to encounter it's first real battle beyond the skirmishes with some of the pirate groups, and Omega's people whether droids or not, weren't likely to be quite as cowardly as most of the pirates had been.
**The Will of the Force**
"Alright, we'll be pulling out of hyperspace in sixty seconds," Asuna's voice went through the comms. "All crews, prepare for battle. Reaper Squadron, be ready for deployment. Basilisk Squadron, be ready to follow. Ebon Hawk, be prepared to detach."
Kastor wanted to grimace, since he would not be flying his ship, but there was a better capacity that he could fill. He started breathing slowly, reaching out through the Force, entering the meditative trance he would need.
Rhys was leading Reaper Squadron, which was his N-1 and the Fang fighters, which included their three young pilots. Vana was flying escort and providing direction for Basilisk Squadron, which were the N-2 bombers, all five Komr'k fighter-transports, and her ship, the Mantis. Asuna held command over the Darasuum, and the Ebon Hawk was being piloted by Ania Esok and Ghatul Jaing, one of Njonne's clanmates. Koba and Njonne were in the turrets on the ship.
"Ten seconds . . . five . . . four . . . three . . . two . . . one . . ."
Kastor felt the ship leave hyperspace, and with the Force he could feel everything. He knew that the Lucrehulk was already starting to deploy some of its fighters, clearly looking to destroy them, like Omega's fleet had attempted to do in their first encounter.
Maybe they'd have to look into scramblers for the Darasuum, like the Ebon Hawk had, to conceal their arrivals into systems. Kastor almost wanted to shudder at what that probably would cost, even if it would be worth it, both for now and possibly later.
Ziost was sparsely populated and didn't belong to any major government, so clearly Omega's fleet was looking to blast whoever entered the space near it out of the sky and then would probably salvage whatever they could along with whatever they had found on the surface. They had based this encounter on that. If Omega's fleet didn't engage, they wouldn't have either. It would have just turned into an intelligence gathering mission.
Along with the Lucrehulk, there was one of the Trade Federation Missile Frigates, one of the Techno Union Munificent Frigates, both Commerce Guild Corvettes, and one of the Carracks Light Cruisers. This was going to be a real fight, especially if the Lucrehulk was able to deploy its full contingent of fighters, however many that was.
"Reaper Squadron, deploy. Ebon Hawk, detach," Asuna's calm voice said, and Kastor could feel Rhy's starfighter shooting out of the launch tube, with a dozen Fang fighters following closely, one after the other, while the Ebon Hawk detached off the bottom of the Darasuum.
"All wings, on me," Rhys's voice said calmly. "We've got three dozen incoming Scarabs. Those droids aren't the greatest pilots, but their ships have light shields, and they win by overwhelming their opponents. Stay with your wingman. We've got to make an opening to the Lucrehulk."
"Roger, Reaper One," several voices said through the comms.
"Basilisk Squadron, deploy!" Asuna ordered, and Kastor felt Vana's Mantis heading out of the launch tube, followed by two of the Komr'ks, and then the N-2 bombers, and finally the remainder of the Komr'ks.
"Basilisks," Vana's voice came through the comms. "We're going to detour to the starboard side of the Lucrehulk. Escorts, take care of any fighters that get through Reaper. Basilisks Two and Three, I'm going to use my ion cannon to take out the shields on that starboard corvette. Take it out. The rest of you are going straight for the Lucrehulk. We need to stop that thing from deploying anymore starfighters."
"Understood, Basilisk One," several voices responded.
"Forward batteries, concentrate your fire on that Missile Frigate. Point Defense, first priority, missiles, second priority, enemy starfighters," Asuna ordered. "Divert power from the engines and rear shields to the forward batteries and forward shields. We have to fortify and survive the volley from the Munificent Frigate and the Missile Frigate while the fighters and bombers keep the Lucrehulk and the corvettes busy. Ebon Hawk, take care of that light frigate."
Kastor continued to breathe slowly, going further and further into his meditative trance, and truly finding the balance needed for battle meditation. It was almost like he was watching the battle from a bird's eye view through the Force.
Reaper Squadron was flying better than they ever had, with Kastor's powers boosting their morale and focus, and they were effortlessly cutting through the scarab starfighters, but the other ships had opened up their salvo and even with Kastor's aid, one of the Fang fighters was destroyed.
He felt the death in the Force and heard the scream through the comms.
However, Basilisk Squadron was making its run, and already the Mantis was hitting the starboard corvette with a concentrated ion blast, and bailing away as the two lead N-2's unleashed a volley of proton bombs that caused a chain reaction blasting the corvette apart. The rest of the squadron was making its run on the portside hangar on the ring of the Lucrehulk, which was still spitting out starfighters that were being engaged by Reaper Squadron as soon as they cleared the hangar.
The Darasuum was pounding the Missile Frigate, while the Missile Frigate and Munificent Frigate were trying to focus their fire on the Darasuum, whose shields were holding out admirably, and whose point defense turrets were neutralizing all fire from the Missile Frigate. The Carracks was being outmaneuvered by the Ebon Hawk, whose cannons were already wearing down the shields. The remaining corvette was moving closer to the Lucrehulk, clearly hoping to help destroy starfighters from around the Lucrehulk's hull.
"Portside shields are down on that hanger. Bombers, hit it hard," Vana said sharply through the comms. "Escorts, focus your fire on those gun towers and receiver dishes."
"Starboard side shields are down as well," Rhys's voice came through. "Reapers, keep those fighters off those bombers."
The Lucrehulk just wasn't designed to handle a squadron of starfighters and bombers being right around it. Its anti-starfighter weapons were few and far between and were almost negligible against the speed of the Naboo and Mandalorian ships, just like they had been back on Naboo. Kastor felt some satisfaction as both hangars were bombarded with a volley of proton bombs, causing the ship to collapse in on the hangars, destroying them and blocking them off from deploying any more starfighters until debris could be shifted, which they would not give the ship's crew time to do.
With the destruction of the hangars, the two squadrons were almost untouchable in the airspace around the Lucrehulk. The Lucrehulk started lumbering away from where the Darasuum was approaching their fleet.
"Basilisks Two through six make a run for the Lucrehulk's engines. We're not letting it get away, and we're going to force this thing down to Ziost. Basilisks Fourteen and Fifteen, cover them. Basilisks Six through ten, focus your efforts on the control ship in the center of the ring. Basilisks Sixteen, Seventeen, and Eighteen, back them up. If we can remove the bridge, this fight is over. Basilisks Eleven, Twelve, and Thirteen, you're with me. We're going to support the Darasuum, but first I'm going to knock the shields out on the last corvette. You know what to do boys."
"We got you, Basilisk One."
"Understood, Boss."
The Ebon Hawk finally scored a volley of hits on the Carracks's engines, causing them to blow, and the ship was seized in Ziost's gravitational field and started moving towards the planet where it would crash.
"Divert power from everything except life support and the forward batteries to the forward shields," Asuna commanded as the Missile Frigate broke apart in a chain explosion as they finally broke through the shields and hit the missile silos on the ship. "Batteries, concentrate all fire on the heavy frigate."
Kastor knew the fight was over when the center of the Lucrehulk's ring blew apart as the N-2 bombers' proton bombs breached the shields, only seconds after two of the three engines were destroyed. The Lucrehulk was dead in space, and drifting towards the planet as half the bombers continued to assault the ship and destroy the turbolaser batteries. They would have to go to the planet to check for survivors and scavenge for intelligence and salvageable materials, but the command bridge was mostly intact, though he knew much of it would be ripped apart as it descended on Ziost.
"The heavy frigate is trying to run. Disable its engines!" Asuna ordered, and Kastor could feel the Munificent trying to flee before the Darasuum and the Ebon Hawk both started pummeling the ships shields, and just before it likely was about to flee, Basilisk Squadron hit it with a volley of ion blasts, disabling it completely.
"Escorts, return to the ship. We're going to board and take that ship!" Asuna said.
Kastor pulled out of his meditation, and got up moving over to where Asuna was.
"We're boarding that vessel?" Kastor asked.
"Good opportunity to possibly gather some intel," Asuna said shortly. "Plus, that frigate hasn't taken much damage. We can sell it for a very large profit or we give it to the Mandalorian Defense Force. We might be hunting the enemies of the Jedi, but we still need to pay the bills while doing it."
Kastor chuckled wryly and nodded.
"You're the boss," he said wryly. "I'll get down to the hangar and board the enemy vessel with the rest of the troops."
With the bombers hitting the Munificent Frigate with ion blasts periodically to keep its systems offline, all five Komr'ks were loaded with Mandalorian warriors, two Antarian Rangers, and one disguised Jedi Master.
Kastor moved through the door that they had managed to force open, immediately opening fire on the squad of Federation battle droids that had gotten into position to repel their boarding. He frowned as he and the almost thirty Mandalorians mowed them down, quickly moving down the halls, finding more droids waiting for them.
'Where did they get all this support from the Trade Federation?' Kastor wondered.
He knew there was no way they purchased all these things from the Federation. They wouldn't have sold this many of their droids, not including the Lucrehulk. No, Omega had some sort of deal with them . . . but what?
"This is too easy," one of the Mandalorians, Tork, muttered with a snort, coming around the corner and spotting a very large group of droids that was already in a firefight with another of their boarding parties.
"Shan," Asuna's voice came through their comms. "One of the other groups just reported that there are batches of droids being activated from stasis. You need to get to the command center and stop them from activating anymore droids. Our scans show they could have as many as ten thousand droids held in stasis on that ship."
Ten thousand . . . a solid invasion army. If that was the case, then they couldn't afford to let this army get wherever it was intending to go. Omega could do great harm with that type of power. No. Keeping his cover wasn't worth the risk of them failing and the lives they could lose if the command center was able to activate that many droids, both among his companions and in the greater scale of things.
Kastor holstered his blaster, and pulled both of his lightsabers from where they were hidden inside the cloak he wore. He ignited both white blades and started moving quickly towards the droids, some of which turned around as Kastor's party of Mandalorians started firing into them. They turned just in time for Kastor to start slashing through them, effortlessly maneuvering through the droids as they turned to confront him as the real threat, only for them to take well aimed blaster bolts to the sides and back. Within moments, every droid had been cut down or blasted down by Kastor's companions or deflected bolts.
Kastor didn't wait though. He immediately rushed down the next corridor in the direction of the command deck, deflecting blaster shots from other droids that were appearing, and he used the wall to leap over a large column of droids that entered from a room that they must have been in stasis in.
The door for the command deck was in sight when four destroyer droids rolled in front of the door, unfurling and raising shields.
"Blast," Kastor swore as his offensive movements became defensive, trying to keep up with the volley of bolts coming his way.
"Kas, on your left!" a voice shouted, and Kastor spun right, deflecting a volley only for a wrist rocket to go flying past him and strike the shielding between the two lead destroyers blasting them back into the other two with the force of the blow. All four destroyers' shields faded away from the impacts, and two quick shots flew by him impacting the center of the two lead destroyers, destroying them.
Kastor put away his shoto blade and reached out with the Force, lifting the remaining two who fired wildly, their bolts striking the ceiling. He closed his fist and both droids crumbled into scrap metal.
Kastor nodded at the two Mandalorians who had caught up to him.
"Thanks Runa, Taad," Kastor said.
He pulled his other blade back out and with the two Mandalorians, he made his way into the command deck, and immediately started deflecting blaster bolts from the droids and the four live members of the crew. It didn't take long though for the three warriors to destroy every droid, killing all four crew members who fought to the end, and while Kastor and Taad watched for enemy reinforcements, Runa disabled the droids from the droid control panel.
"It's done," Runa said after a moment.
"Asuna, the ship is ours," Kastor said through the comms.
"Good, we tracked the Carracks and Lucrehulk remains to the planet," Asuna replied. "They're not too far from each other. Two of the escorts will take their contingents down to the surface to check for survivors and look for salvage. Two more will stay on the Munificent and sort through the information and make sure nothing goes wrong. The remaining escort will return to the Darasuum in case the enemy has reinforcements on its way and we need the Darasuum fully operational."
"Understood," Kastor said. "My Komr'k will be one of the two down to the surface. Get the fighters and bombers back aboard the Darasuum. As soon as we've evaluated the wreckage, we'll decide if we need more bodies. Otherwise, be prepared to jump."
"Agreed," Des responded. "We'll have the Ebon Hawk lock onto the Munificent, to give our forces a way off, if anything goes wrong."
"How many did we lose?" Kastor asked quietly.
"Two Fang Fighters, and two of the boarding party," Des responded. "A couple more injuries and damaged ships, but all of the injuries are manageable and the ships are repairable."
"We'll give them a proper ending to their song when we leave this dark planet," Kastor said.
"Aye, that we will," Des responded approvingly.
**The Will of the Force**
"Anyone found anything yet?" Kastor asked, moving about the wreckage of the Lucrehulk.
"Negative," he heard from various voices through his comms.
"We managed to recover the main computer's hard drive. It's badly damaged, but we might be able to pull some information off of it," Tylo Dara called in. "So far, not much worth salvaging. Lots of destroyed battle droids and maintenance droids. Some of them are salvageable, and we did find some munitions, but not much else other than scrap, which ain't our business. We can probably sell the location of this site to some scrappers I know though."
"Group 2?" Kastor asked.
"Kas, we might have something that you need to see over here," Arlon Kale said hesitantly. "We have two missing Mandos. They said they were seeing things in their head . . . a ship of some type . . . and they went looking for it. They haven't commed in yet."
Kastor frowned.
"Good copy. I'm on my way with the rest of Group 1. Everyone, be wary. This planet is steeped in the Dark Side of the Force and has been a seat of power for two ancient Sith Empires. Ania, get the Ebon Hawk down here to retrieve the Lucrehulk's hard drive and the salvageable cargo along with the five comrades I'm leaving with it."
"Understood, Kas."
Kastor quickly gathered up the rest of his party, loaded into the Komr'k and they made the four klick journey to where the other Komr'k was grounded. When they got out, he quickly found Arlon.
"Do we know where they were last seen?" he asked.
"Heading in the direction of those ruins," Arlon said grimly. "I know what Jedi say about these worlds. I figured it was best to call you rather than send a party looking for them as soon as they didn't respond."
"Good call," Kastor agreed. "Grab ten to come with us. We're going to go find them."
Arlon nodded quickly and quickly found ten volunteers and soon they were swiftly moving through the wooded, but rocky terrain, finally reaching what appeared to be the ruins of an old Sith Temple, against a cliff side, one that from the sky would be very concealed in its current state. In some ways, it made Kastor glad. This planet had been barren last he'd seen it, its life destroyed by Vitiate. Over three thousand years later though, and it was healed. It proved that true evil was not eternal. The light always returned eventually.
"Sir, I hear a voice," one of the Mandalorians said nervously. Kastor glanced to see it was Khan Harend.
"What does it tell you?" Kastor asked, pushing out with the Force and getting the imprint of some sort of ship, something that seemed familiar, but yet was eluding his grasp.
"That I'd get stronger if I deal with all of you," Khan said nervously. "It's promising me power."
"Definitely Sith," Kastor muttered, and he finally felt a trace from where he sensed the dark presence emanating. "Follow me."
Kastor moved swiftly through the ruins, ignoring nearly everything, but feeling for possible traps, and they navigated through the dilapidated temple until they found a stairway that led them up into a cavern that had a large opening. He could at least tell that nobody had been here in a millenia, probably much longer.
In the cavern were three things, two Mandalorians, fighting hard, grappling on the ground, and a spacecraft, spherical, almost like a floating eyeball with batlike wings. Kastor's eyes widened as the ship's engines started up.
"Blast that Meditation Sphere!" Kastor said, rushing towards the ship, but he was too late as it blasted off into the sky. "Blast! Asuna! Rhys! Anyone! Sith Meditation Sphere exiting the surface. Do not let it escape!"
"Shavit, the last of the fighters were just docked," Asuna growled back. "We're out of position to intercept."
"Attempting to intercept with the Ebon Hawk, but we have a lot of ground to make up," Ania's voice came through.
Kastor turned to the two fighting Mandalorians who were starting to come back to themselves. Kastor didn't want to take any chances though, so he used the Force to put both to sleep, something that probably wouldn't have worked on them if they hadn't been affected by the Sith Sphere.
"Grab them," Kastor said forcefully. "We need to get back to the Fleet."
Just as they were making it back to the two Komr'ks, Ania's disappointed voice came through the comms.
"Kas . . . it got away."
"Shavit," Kastor cursed, wondering whether they had just put something into motion that should not have occurred and could not be undone, or whether they had just given themselves an advantage. "Asuna, have whatever intel we can find on the Munificent and Lucrehulk's hard drives analyzed and compiled as soon as possible. Then, depending on what answers we find, we need to hail the Jedi Temple. I have a bad feeling about this."
**The Will of the Force**
"Obi-Wan, come with me," Siri said, and Obi-Wan nodded, with Anakin looking confused.
"What's going on?" Obi-Wan asked, falling into step with Siri, leaving Anakin looking disgruntled.
"Kastor's making a priority call to the High Council," Siri answered. "He requested that you be there, and any available Masters or Knights as well be present or in briefing rooms where the communication will be broadcasted to."
"It must be something serious," Obi-Wan remarked with a frown, and Siri nodded in agreement, looking grim.
They made their way quickly to the High Council, finding that several other Knights and Masters were doing the same thing, most showing the serene face of a Jedi, yet there was an undercurrent of unease. Kastor had a good reputation in the Order, among those who'd ever worked with him or met him, and among those who only knew of him. If he thought something was worth alerting as many Jedi as possible, as quickly as possible, then it was something world-shaking . . . possibly galaxy shaking.
The full Council was assembled, all looking grim, and Kastor was already broadcasted into the center of the room. Siri glanced around, noting the other Knights of Masters who were in attendance around the room. She recognized Baylan Skoll, Aayla Secura, An'ya Kuro, Ranik Solusar, Luminara Unduli, Jaizen Suel, and Clee Rhara. There were several others that she didn't know.
"Ready we are, Master Shan," Yoda said solemnly, and Kastor nodded.
"I'm with a Mandalorian strike force orbiting Ziost," Kastor said, and Siri frowned, remembering that Ziost used to be one the key planets in several Sith Empires. If she remembered correctly, it had been considered the gateway into the Sith worlds, and had been the capital of two different Sith empires. She was pretty sure that the Council had been firm in that Kastor was not to go to any of the former Sith Empire worlds. Trust him to ignore that. "We were following one of Granta Omega's fleets."
Obi-Wan exchanged startled glances with Siri, and she nodded.
"One of the fleets that have destroyed innocents who enter the space they are orbiting?" Plo Koon asked in clarification, and Siri wanted to hide a slight grin, knowing Plo was providing justification for his friend to be orbiting a Sith world without permission.
"Yes, Master," Kastor confirmed. "When we entered the airspace, it immediately engaged us, as it had done before. The Sith cultist fleet consisted of a Federation Droid Control Ship, a Techno Union Frigate, a Federation Missile Frigate, a light frigate, and two Commerce Guild corvettes. We won the battle and managed to subdue and board the Techno Union Frigate, hoping to get some answers, and additionally, a platoon of Mandalorians went to the surface to look for survivors from the Lucrehulk which crashed onto the surface."
Kastor paused.
"Between the various craft, we estimate the cultist fleet had between sixty and seventy thousand Federation and Techno Union battle droids in stasis awaiting deployment."
Siri saw most of the Council exchange startled looks.
"An invasion army?" Adi asked.
"That was my initial assumption," Kastor confirmed, "but I worry they might have had other motives as well. On the surface, we recovered a damaged hard drive from the Lucrehulk, and we have managed to decrypt a fair amount of what was on the drive as well as what they weren't able to erase onboard the heavy frigate. Much of the pertinent information is in a code we can't crack, but what we were able to decipher is alarming."
"What did you find?" Mace asked.
"Two things stuck out," Kastor said. "The first was a large set of files titled: CIS. The locations were numbered in an unfamiliar way, but which seemed to represent sectors or areas of the galaxy, but whatever this CIS is, seems to be building hidden bases throughout the galaxy, and we are guessing that it seems to be amassing armies. Based on the figures, I can only assume the Trade Federation, Techno Union, and Commerce Guild are somehow involved, but there's not enough information to tell if they are simply supplying this CIS or are more involved. However, this led to a second set of files dealing with the Sith, much of which was not encrypted."
Siri heard murmurs of alarm spread through the room.
"It seems that Omega has managed to connect with hundreds of Sith cults throughout the galaxy," Kastor said. "The locations were numbered, rather than labeled, but there were far more than the Order is aware of. There are also files on resources gathered. They have enough to create a new Sith army. More alarmingly, the files contained information on Sith holocrons they've recovered, and they have a very comprehensive list of Sith Lords, ranging back thousands of years."
"For what purpose?" Ki Adi asked.
Kastor grimaced.
"They seem to have traced the fates of several of the Sith Lords from the various Sith organizations throughout history that the Jedi Order was unable to confirm deaths for. For all of the ones they've found, they've managed to confirm the deaths for, them but they also found several Sith cults from the descendants of those with the missing Sith. This might even mean that acolytes or Sith apprentices might have survived to train their descendants. The greater threat however, are three particular files dedicated to Sith that Omega seems to believe might still be alive."
"Alive?" Eeth asked in shock. "How would any of those Sith still be alive after all this time? Surely we would have found them by now? Or they would have come out into the open. Unless you are claiming this Sith Lord we believe is out there, the Master or Apprentice of the one that killed Master Jinn, is one of these Lords. Do you believe that?"
"No, Master," Kastor said with a shake of his head. "I believe the one whose existence we are aware of is from the lineage that sprung up from Darth Bane, the last survivor from the Brotherhood of Darkness, almost a thousand years ago. Reports from Master Farfalla and Knight Othone over nine hundred and fifty years ago would suggest that Darth Bane had an apprentice, reportedly known as Darth Zannah. Zannah was reported dead on Ambria, however I believe this was a ruse and that Zannah survived. Perhaps even Bane survived their fight on Tython, but I can only surmise. Bane reportedly believed in a Rule of Two, which he adapted from past Sith, possibly Darth Revan's holocron, if the reports are accurate, and I believe that is the line that has survived in hiding for the past thousand years. No, these other Sith are reported as being alive because Omega has found possible evidence to suggest that they were either sealed away in some manner or there are reports of them having been seen over the past several millenia. Of the three Omega thinks he can find, two I believe are credible threats."
Siri saw concerned glances shoot throughout the Chambers. It was bad enough that throughout the past thousand years there had been one or two, perhaps even more when considering overlap, Sith running around, but the concept that there could be two or even three more Sith from ancient times that could be resurrected to possibly join with the modern Sith or these Sith cultists was more than alarming.
"Who are all three, and which do you believe are credible threats?" Rancisis asked.
"The first is Darth Rivan, who was reported to have died some twelve hundred years ago, after his fortress on Almas was destroyed. The second is Darth Glovoc, from back during the Jedi Civil War. He was one of Darth Revan's and then later Darth Malak's commanders. He went missing after Malak's death at the hands of the redeemed Revan. Lastly is Darth Nox, who went missing during the Galactic War. He was one of Vitiate's most powerful Dark Council members," Kastor said.
"Fought him, you did," Yoda said, and Kastor nodded slowly.
"A few times," Kastor admitted. "We have a history. He killed my former Padawan among many other Jedi . . . many of whom were my friends."
"Which two are credible threats?" Coleman asked.
"Glovoc and Rivan," Kastor said. "Glovoc was reported to be a self-proclaimed Lord of the Mind's Eye. He supposedly spent much of his time in deep meditation, and according to these files, he was in control of an oubliette."
"An oubliette?" Depa asked in confusion.
"A Sith stasis casket invented by Naga Sadow," Kastor answered. "Reportedly, they would allow a user to enter a meditative trance within that would keep them alive for thousands of years. I have no knowledge on the accuracy of that however. A Republic strike force is reported as having engaged Glovoc's flagship after Malak's demise, but the casualties were too high and no accurate report was given other than the ship was left to crash and be destroyed. There's not even a real confirmation that they did engage Glovoc. In our Archives, he is listed as missing, presumed dead."
"So, you believe this Sith Lord is possibly in an oubliette?" Adi asked.
"It's possible," Kastor admitted. "Omega seems to have found some reports that claim that others have heard of a Sith cult that worships a sleeping Sith, who awakens once every couple hundred years. That would suggest the presence of a oubliette, if they work as reported."
"What about Rivan?" Mace asked.
"Omega obtained a Sith holocron from Jabba the Hutt," Kastor said, and grimaces deepened around the room. "Based on these reports, he hasn't been able to unlock all the secrets, but the holocron reportedly will lead to a Sith and Sith army that have been frozen in time, awaiting the right time to be awoken. Notes indicate that they believe the Sith army and Sith Lord were frozen in carbonite. The notes seem to suggest it's Rivan, but it could be anyone."
"If the process worked, then the Sith could still be alive," Rancisis agreed.
"I worry that at least one of them is alive and has been found based on what we found on Ziost," Kastor said, looking troubled. "It's why I'm not sure if the droids were meant for an invasion. They might have been meant to scour the planet for Sith artifacts, and possibly something very specific."
"What did you find?" Mace asked.
"A Sith Meditation Sphere," Kastor said with a frown. "I estimate that it had been in the ruins of the temple for thousands of years, but it was just as sentient as ever. It messed with the minds of two of our party and escaped before we could destroy it."
"What is a Sith Meditation Sphere?" Depa asked, looking frustrated. "These are all things that haven't existed in thousands of years!"
"Even longer than you know," Kastor said darkly. "They are a relic from the Great Hyperspace War almost five thousand years ago. They are ancient warships that are self-aware, alive even, created through the dark side. They allow a Sith to enhance their battle meditation while still engaging enemy combatants. At the same time, they can communicate and were known to pass on knowledge of the Dark Side to acolytes and apprentices of Sith Lords."
"It can teach Force users how to do Sith force techniques?" Rancisis asked, looking alarmed.
"It can, and it will," Kastor said solemnly. "Depending on who might have created or controlled this thing in the past, it could have a great store of knowledge within, just like a holocron. It left when it saw it couldn't overpower my mental defenses. I'm sure it's off to try and locate any Sith that it can, and it's going to gather information as it travels throughout the galaxy, stealing information from various people's minds, and corrupting those it deems worthy. If there are Sith out there that have survived by being isolated, that Sphere will not only find them, but also train them up if they're below strength, and inform them on current events in the galaxy."
"Thus, your concern is revealed," Yoda said. "Believe a Sith Lord to have sent the droids to find the sphere, you do."
"It is possible," Kastor admitted. "These Sith cults seem to be mobilizing and rallying around Omega, but I'm not sure Omega is enough. I'm not sure if this CIS has anything to do with it, but I worry it won't be long before we have another Sith war on our hands, and if they get that Sith Sphere, we're going to find novice dark side users becoming knowledgeable and formidable Sith warriors in time."
"A priority, finding this Omega, we must make," Yaddle said. "Reveal the secret of the Sith, he may. The key to our enemies' defeat, he may be."
"We can't let another galactic Sith war become reality," Ki-Adi said. "We've monitored many Sith cults, but we've never seen any inclination for something like this. Clearly, we need to intervene."
'Omega's a real threat,' Siri thought. 'Just like Obi-Wan tried to tell you all.'
"Committed no crimes, Omega has," Yoda said. "Proof we need. Proof that this fleet belongs to Omega, there is not. Proof Omega is gathering cults to fight the Jedi or the Republic, there is not. Proof we need in order to fully act. Make him a priority we cannot, without giving the Senate information not in our possession."
Kastor nodded slowly.
"I'll see what I can do, and I'll transfer what we obtained back to the Temple. Maybe some of our experts can decrypt or decode more. In the meantime, I believe we need to start surveilling Sith cults. They might slip up. In addition, we need to be on the lookout for that Sith Meditation Sphere. It must be destroyed."
"Agreed, we are," Yoda said, now looking around the Council Chambers. "Alert the Jedi must be. Prepare for conflict we must. Defend the galaxy from the Sith, we must."
'Is this the war you saw coming, Master?' Siri wondered, looking at Kastor, who was nodding to something someone on his end was saying. 'Is it the Sith who will plunge this galaxy into a war, or something else?'
"We'll see what we can do on our end, and we're alerting Duchess Satine and the new Mand'alor to the possible threat," Kastor said.
"Understood," Mace said. "May the Force be with you."
"And with you all," Kastor said with a bow, and the communication ended.
Siri glanced at Obi-Wan, who nodded slightly and fell into step with her as they left the Council Chambers.
"You were right," Siri said. "Kastor was also right. He's been right this whole time, and we never knew."
"The Sith never really completely disappear," Obi-Wan remembered Kastor having said several times. "They always return."
"We'll always be there to fight them when they do," Siri said with determination. "I hope Kastor's wrong, and I hope he's even more wrong about which Sith might have survived. I suspect that he'll take the survival of that third one personally."
"Darth Nox," Obi-Wan muttered. "I've never heard of him, but seeing that he's from Kastor's time, that's not surprising. If he killed Kastor's former Padawan, I'm sure a grudge exists. I didn't even know Kastor had a Padawan at one point . . . though I guess it makes sense that he would."
"He had two," Siri said quietly, and Obi-Wan glanced at her. "His first padawan, the one he mentioned, he trained until the boy gained Knighthood during the Cold War. I only know he was killed and that Kastor was there. His second Padawan was killed while on a mission with Kastor while he was still a Padawan. Kastor refused to take another Padawan into war after that."
"He lost two Padawans," Obi-Wan muttered, thinking how much he would mourn the loss of Anakin let alone Anakin and another. "He has faced loss on a level that few Jedi could ever even come close to understanding."
"It's made him who we know and love," Siri said.
"Still, I think you're right," Obi-Wan said. "I hope this Darth Nox is truly dead because he might be one of the only people to truly shake Kastor, and I think the Jedi Order is going to need his knowledge, experience, and power in the coming days. Now, more than ever."
"Not just the Jedi," Siri said quietly. "Not just the Jedi."