Part 1 (1/2)
Star Wars.
Fate of the Jedi.
Omen.
Christie Golden.
This book is dedicated to my parents.
James R. Golden and Elizabeth C. Golden.
All those afternoons you dropped me off at the movies when Star Wars was playing have now borne fruit.
Dramatis Personae.
Allana Solo; child (human female).
Bazel ”Barv” Warv (Ramoan male) Ben Skywalker; Jedi Knight (human male).
Cilghal; Jedi Master and healer (Mon Calamari female) Han Solo; captain, Millennium Falcon (human male) Jagged Fel; Head of State, Galactic Empire (human male) Jaina Solo; Jedi Knight (human female).
Javis Tyrr; journalist (human male) Kenth Hamner; acting Grand Master of the Jedi Order (human male) Leia Organa Solo; Jedi Knight (human female).
Luke Skywalker; Jedi Grand Master (human male) Natasi Daala; Galactic Alliance Chief of State (human female) Natua Wan; Jedi Knight (Falleen female) Tadar'Ro; Aing-Tii liaison (Aing-Tii male).
Vestara Khai; Sith Tyro and apprentice (human female) Wynn Dorvan; a.s.sistant to Admiral Daala (human male) Yaqeel Saav'etu; Jedi Knight (Bothan female).
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away ...
ORBITING ZIOST.
TWO STANDARD YEARS AGO.
DICIAN FELT THE PLANET EVEN BEFORE IT APPEARED ON THE MAIN bridge monitor of the Poison Moon. She sensed it had seen her, as she now saw it, this seemingly harmless world of blue and white and green, and she smiled gently. The pale geometric tattoos on her face, standing out in stark contrast with her dark skin tones, crinkled with her smile. This was the destination she had beheld in her mind's eye a short while before, the unvoiced answer to the question of what she was hoping to intercept here. She had ordered the crew of this frigate to make all speed, and only hoped she was in time.
Where are you going, charming one?
To unopened eyes and dead senses, this planet would seem a world much as any other: a world with oceans and landma.s.ses, heavily, practically entirely forested, with two white, icecapped poles on either end. White clouds drifted lazily above it.
But it was not a world like any other.
It was Ziost. Homeworld of the Sith.
What was left of the Sith Order now remained silent and in hiding on Korriban. She would return there soon, but not without the prize she had come to claim.
Dician realized she was leaning forward slightly in antic.i.p.ation, and settled back in her command chair. She gently pushed her excitement down lest it interfere with her mission.
”Wayniss, take us into orbit.” In her role as an intelligence gatherer, the light, musical tone of her voice often deceived others into thinking her much, much more harmless than she was. Her crew knew better.
”Yes, Captain,” the chief pilot of the Poison Moon replied. Wayniss was a laconic man, not at all Force-sensitive, pleased enough to do as he was told in exchange for the generous pay he was receiving. In his own way, the graying ex-pirate was as fair, honorable, and hardworking as many so-called upstanding citizens. He had done well by Dician on this mission already.
”Any sign of the meditation sphere?” she asked Ithila, her sensor officer. Ithila leaned forward, her face, which would have been beautiful in the traditional Hapan manner if not for the horrific burn scar that marred the right side, furrowed in concentration.
”Negative,” Ithila replied as Ziost appeared in the forward viewports and the Poison Moon settled into orbit around it. ”No indication of it on the planet surface.” She turned to regard her captain. ”Looks like we beat it here.”
Dician smiled again. No mistakes. All that remained was to capture the small vessel itself.
Dician settled in to wait, her dark eyes on the slowly turning planet in front of her. It gazed back at her, and she felt a tug in her heart. She wanted to land the Poison Moon, to walk Ziost's forests as other Sith had done in ages past. But that was not why they were here. She must think of the good of the One, the Order, above her own yearnings. One day, perhaps, she would stand upon the surface of this world. But that day would not be today.
They did not have long to wait. Only a few moments later, Ithila said, ”Picking it up on long-range sensors, Captain.”
Dician sat up straighter in her chair. ”You have all served well and brilliantly. Now, as our smuggler pilot might say, it is time to close this deal.”
It was time for her, Dician, to be perfect. She could not afford a mistake now.
She felt it even as Ithila transmitted the image to her personal viewscreen. There it was, the Sith meditation sphere. She regarded it for a moment, taking it in-the orange-yellow-red hue, the spherical shape flanked by twin sets of bat-like wings. It resembled an enormous eye.
”h.e.l.lo again, charming one,” she said in her most pleasant voice.
Silence from the sphere.
”As you see, we have antic.i.p.ated your arrival. Why have you come to Ziost?”
Home.
The voice was inside her head, masculine and intensely focused. A little thrill of exhilaration s.h.i.+vered through Dician. This was not a pet to be coaxed, but a mount to be broken. It respected strength and will.
Dician had plenty of both.
There is a better place for you than on an abandoned world. Dician did not speak the words. Her melodic voice was no a.s.set in this negotiation; the focus and strength of her thoughts were.
The vessel continued its approach to Ziost, not wavering in the slightest, but Dician sensed she had its attention. It would listen.
You are a Sith meditation sphere. Come with me to where the Sith are now. Serve us, as you were designed to do. She let herself visualize Korriban: with not just two Sith, but many who were One, with apprentices in need of focus and training in the power of the dark side if they were to achieve the glory and power that were rightfully theirs.
”It's slowing its approach,” Ithila said. ”It's come to a full halt.”
Dician didn't bother to tell the Hapan woman that she already knew that; that she was intimately connected with this meditation sphere, this ... s.h.i.+p.
It seemed particularly interested in the younglings, and she understood that this had been the focus of its design. To protect and educate apprentices. To prepare them for their destinies.
You will come to Korriban. You will serve me, Dician, and you will teach the younglings. You will fulfill your intended purpose.