[Fic] The True Teachings II: Forbidden Knowledge

[igyman]

Yes! The sequel to the Heir of Darkness is here, featuring a darker story and longer and more quality chapters (I hope). Here's the prologue, enjoy!

[igyman]

Forbidden Knowledge

 

Prologue

 

Time passes. The Galaxy is thrown further into turmoil as the bloody Yuuzhan Vong war slowly escalates. The New Republic stands aside and welcomes her replacement – The Galactic Alliance. Both sides had their victories and their losses, some smaller, some greater thanks to which both sides started to forget the incident involving a certain Vong halfbreed.

 

*******

 

''You have learned much since you came here and we are pleased, but your training is not anywhere near its completion. Listen carefuly, young one, everything you've read and was told about our history is true, but it is not the True Way of the Sith. You have been told about that so-called Sith Code... There is no peace, only passion... pffft. A stupid poem invented by empty-minded Sith... wannabees.''

 

''Yes, Master.''

 

''We are the only ones that can teach you what it means to be a True Sith and teach you we shall. It is our duty as it will be your duty to one day pass the teachings on. Now come, there is much for you to do today.''

 

''I follow, Master.''

 

The two figures disappeared into the dark corridors of the compound. The enormous city-like compound that laid on a dead and distant Dark Planet. In its orbit a wreckage testified of a year old conflict, a conflict whose end marked a new beginning, a new destiny for one person, a destiny filled with darkness and death, just as the road to reach it was. The name of that person was Ralik, the half Yuuzhan Vong, half human young man. A halfbreed orphan, genetically accelerated to adulthood Once a Commander in the Yuuzhan Vong Warrior caste, now something else... something... different.

 

In the one year Ralik had spent in that place he had indeed learned much. When he used the Force, it was like watching a master mechanic use his tools to fix the problem in a matter of minutes. Days passed and he trained more and more, learning also the history of the Sith, both the history of the fallen Jedi that called themselves Sith as well as the history of the True Teachings.

 

One might wonder how he managed to survive on that planet, alone, accompanied only by spectres of the ancient Sith. Well, the race that built the enormous compound where Ralik now lived, was extremely advanced. The planet was indeed barren and unsuitable for growing any type of food naturally, but the species that built the compound, the True Lords of the Sith, the unknown species that his Master, the one that lured him to this place, belonged to wasn't interested solely in mastering the Force and using it to rule the Galaxy, as so many of the Sith Lords tried to do. The mysterious species was also interested in developing science and technology, which is how they managed to develop a machine that produces food, well if you can call it food. It was nothing like the meals people eat every day, it was more of a dense liquid that was made of all the necessary daily nutrients. It wasn't very tasty, but it was food.

 

Another day, another lesson and Ralik actually started to enjoy it. He enjoyed it because he knew he would need all that knowledge one day, he still remembered what his Master told him when he first arrived to this place: ''Your time will come, young one, but it is not now.'' Ralik awaited that time with great pleasure and until it comes he will learn all that he possibly can, so that when his day finally comes nobody will be able to stop him.

[RC-1162]

excellent! i was waiting for this

i spotted a few grammatical errors in the 5th para, where it says that Ralik had learned much, you have a little confusion with "has" and "had" but other than that, it's a great start. can't wait for more

[igyman]

Fixed! And thanks! As with the previous fic, when a new chapter is posted I will update my signature.

[Diego Varen]

Great Prologue. Sounds darker than the first. Looking foward to more.

[igyman]

Chapter I

 

The red, burning sun was slowly rising over the Jedi Academy. It was early morning and the courtyards were still empty, as were the training rooms. A few of the more dedicated students were awake, studying the history of the Order in the peacefulness of the Jedi Library along with their Masters.

 

Jedi Master Luke Skywalker was up for hours, meditating in his private chambers. This costly Yuuzhan Vong war occupied every corner of his mind, but despite his current preocupations, he never forgot that night one year ago, the night his Jedi Academy was intruded, when Ralik the halfbreed, Ralik the Yuuzhan Vong Force Sensitive infiltrated his Academy searching for nothing other than information of an ancient ship. An incident that in the end resulted in the disappearance of the Jedi Master sent after the intruder, Jedi Master Anduil Wrynn. Little did Luke know that Anduil was long dead. To him Anduil's fate was still uncertain.

 

''What did the intruder, Ralik, want with that information?'' Luke still wondered, he knew every story related to the ancient Ebon Hawk, but he still couldn't understand why would any intruder, especially a Yuuzhan Vong halfbreed that has only just discovered his affinity to the Force, bother to break into the Jedi Academy, only so he could get the data on a long lost ship. He could almost feel something clouding his judgement on the matter, but he could not yet break free of it – the unidentified dark influence that prevented Luke from understanding something as obvious as this. Sometimes Luke would think about it for hours, completely forgetting about the war, if nothing else.

 

As time passed and the Padawans and their Masters slowly finished their breakfasts and started to fill the courtyards and training rooms, Luke was slowly coming back to the present. He remembered that today he was supposed to give a lecture to the Padawans.

 

''What was it about this time?'' He started to recollect.

 

''Was it about the dangers of the Dark Side? Or was it about the fall of the Galactic Empire?''

 

''Don't you remember?'' An old and familiar voice asked, ''You are supposed to give them a lecture about the Rebellion's tactics during the war against the Galactic Empire.'' It was Obi-Wan, Luke's old friend and mentor. Luke often communed with him when he felt he needed guidance, or support.

 

''Ben! It's you.'' Luke responded joyfully.

 

''I always said you had a gift for perception.'' Obi-Wan joked.

 

''Yes, that you did.'' Luke said with a smile.

 

''But you aren't being much of a Jedi Master, if you can't remember your obligations for the day.'' Obi-Wan continued to tease Luke.

 

''I know. It's just that I have a lot on my mind, Ben, and with this war and everything...'', Luke paused, ''sometimes I need to put my mind on other things and that break in is something that I simply can't stop thinking about. It has something dark about it, but I don't quite know what.''

 

''You are more right than you know, Luke, but that matter, I can safely say, can wait a while.'' Obi-Wan replied, ''The most important thing right now is to win the war. Everything else is secondary.''

 

''Yes. Yes, you are right.'' Luke finally agreed.

 

''Good. Now you better start preparing for that lecture, you don't want to disappoint your students, do you?''

[RC-1162]

YAY! Obi Wan is back! well done on this chapter, iggy. i didn't spot any errors or anything.

did you know, Obi Wan was supposedly unable to hold himself as a force-ghost sometime before the Vong. hopefully he got it back. i have no complainst whatsoever. good job

[Diego Varen]

YAY! Obi Wan is back! well done on this chapter, iggy. i didn't spot any errors or anything.

did you know, Obi Wan was supposedly unable to hold himself as a force-ghost sometime before the Vong. hopefully he got it back. i have no complainst whatsoever. good job

 

I agree. It was nice to see Obi-Wan again. The description was great too. I'm looking foward to more. I hope to see Ralik again as well.

[igyman]

Chapter II

 

Another day at Yuuzhan'tar, the former capital of the Republic. Its surface, once covered by shiny, lifeless metal and concrete alloys, now covered with Vong lifelike biot. Even the atmosphere of the planet was changed, now, like most of the planet itself, even the sky appeared green.

 

Another day for Supreme Commander Kraal, filled with frustration and grief. Supreme Commander Kraal was a good friend of the long dead Xerx and had inherited Xerx's regiment as well as the responsibility of conducting an investigation of the events that lead to the disappearance of the worldship Raktajorr and the unfortunate disappearance of its crew as well as the disappearance of Supreme Commander Xerx.

 

This task sounded easier than it actually was. No matter how determined Kraal was to find out what really happened to that ship and its crew, the war with the Galactic Alliance, the former Republic always took presedan. Thus Kraal was often deprived of manpower, or weaponry, or ships, or various other necessities. These obstructions mostly came from the office of High Prefect Laerne of the Intendant caste, who didn't consider the fate of a missing high ranking officer of the Warrior caste a priority. Winning the war was what mattered to the High Prefect and in order to achieve that proper allocation of resources was necessary, better yet, it was obligatory.

 

This day was one of those when Kraal would go to a meeting with the High Prefect in order to discuss the amount of resources spent on his investigation. Those meetings would mostly end with more restrictions from the High Prefect, but Kraal considered it a duty to try to sway the High Prefect into giving him more ships, manpower, anything that could speed up his progress, which was almost nonexistant, again mostly thanks to the High Prefect himself.

 

The Intendant caste and with it the High Prefect's office was located in the quarter that once belonged to the Coruscant elite, you could say that it still does, in a way. After all, the Intendant caste were bureaucrats and polititians, so apart from some structural differences, you wouldn't find many others if you compared them with the aristocrats of the Republic.

 

Kraal had just arrived at the building and made his way up to the High Prefect's office. ''I really wish Laerne would see my point and help me for a change. Otherwise these meetings will completely lose their point.'' Kraal thought to himself as he entered the elevator. About a minute later the elevator arrived at the desired floor and Kraal exited it and entered the office.

 

The office itself was very interesting to the eye. It, of course, had a window with a breathtaking view on the Intendant quarter, but what was interesting was that the walls were painted in gold. It appears that Laerne really enjoyed its shine. To him it was a contrast to the rest of the planet.

 

''Ah, Kraal, come in. Come in.'' The High Prefect pretended to be hospitable.

 

Kraal entered and sat in the chair opposite to the High Prefect's chair, only Laerne's table stood between them. Laerne's chair was slightly taller than the one for his visitors, he enjoyed looking down on them.

 

''High Prefect, as you know I have submitted five requests for additional resources in the last month to your office, this meeting, as you also know was your response to them.'' Kraal made an effort to sound completely official, but respectful at the same time.

 

''Yes, yes.'' Laerne replied, ''But as I have told you on our countless previous meetings I need some kind of progress from you in order to allow more resources to be spent on your investigation. What have you found in the last year? Huh, Kraal?''

 

''We...'' Kraal started.

 

''I'll tell you Kraal – nothing! You know that Supreme Commander Xerx proclaimed one of his underlings a traitor, you know that he organised a pursuit to capture that traitor, you know that he hasn't reported to anyone, even the Warmaster, since he left Yuuzhan'tar with one of our extremely valuable worldships, you know that the worldship left for Ruusan and that's pretty much all you know after a whole year of investigating.'' Laerne responded, offended in appearance, but he knew very well why hasn't there been any progress in the investigation, he was the one that prevented it.

 

''As you know High Prefect, one week after the worldship's departure from Yuuzhan'tar we sent a ship to search for its hyperspace signature, but too much time has passed and by the time our ship got there the signal has already dissipated.'' Kraal added, still trying to be strictly official and respectful, but it was becoming harder and harder by the minute.

 

''Yes, yes, I know all that. I also know that you have pulled some strings with the regional commanders to order their ships to continue scanning for the Raktajorr's signature every week which they still do, with no progress whatsoever, I might add.'' Laerne replied arrogantly.

 

''How could we make any progress when you take everything you can from us to halt it?'' Kraal thought to himself, but he knew that saying it outloud wouldn't bring a favourable outcome to this meeting, so instead he asked as politely and respectfully as he could: ''High Prefect, I know you aren't satisfied with our progress in this investigation, but I must humbly request that you give us any manpower and ships that can be spared. I believe that it would significantly hasten our progress.''

 

''I understand your position, Kraal'', Laerne started, ''but you must also understand mine. I am responsible for making the adequate allocation of our available resources that will help us win this war, so my answer still stands – I cannot give you any additional units without you showing me some significant progress.''

 

''I understand, High Prefect. Winning the war is a priority.'' Kraal said respectfully, but inside he was boiling with anger.

 

''Good. Now, if there was nothing else...'' Laerne hurried to end this meeting.

 

''No, High Prefect. Thank you for your time.'' Kraal said and left. ''Indeed, thank you for being such a stubborn idiot, Laerne, and for wasting my time again.''

[Diego Varen]

Another good Chapter. The Chapters are at a reasonable length now, so I like it.

[igyman]

Well, I did promise longer chapters in this fic.

[Diego Varen]

When will you post Heir of Darkness in the Jedi Archives?

[igyman]

Posted! Now we just have to wait for the mods to move it.

[RC-1162]

very good chapter. you still seem to occasionally confuse 'has' and 'had' but other than that, it was well done. great work!

[igyman]

***damnit!!

 

Fixed. Again. Oh, how I hate those mistakes.

 

 

Folks, some people find the use of a Deity in conjunction with a cuss word extremely offensive. Please avoid using that one. Thanks, Jae.

[igyman]

Chapter III

 

Luke entered the main classroom. The Padawans were quietly sitting and waiting for him to begin his lecture, all three hundred of them. Several other Masters were also there to maintain order and discipline among the Padawans. Luke walked up to the speaker's platform and gave the sign to start the projector. The large cloth behind him soon portrayed pictures and schematics of the ships used by the Rebel forces during the war against the Galactic Empire.

 

Luke started explaining everything he knew about those ships and their capabilities, ship by ship. Then he explained in which battles were particular ships used, from small fighters to large frigates. After he finished with that he moved on to the strategy and tactics that were used back then, slowly explaining every detail he could think of. Then he moved on to the battles themselves, especially those in which he participated. After all, he knew most about those. When he finished he gave the Padawans a chance to ask questions about anything he talked about.

 

The questions were mostly related to the battles Luke participated in and were mostly in the following form: ''So, Master Skywalker, what was the feeling like, after performing such a precise shot as you did on th first Death Star?'' or ''Master Skywalker, what was it like fighting your own father? It must have been terrible!''

Luke tried to answer even those questions in a way that could teach the Padawans something, despite the fact that some of them were very painful for him, especially those about his father. After half an hour of questions his lecture was finally over.

 

Luke retired to his meditation chamber, relieved that the lecture was over. He sat down, closed his eyes and channeled his thoughts, soon after his mind was empty, empty of all the worries and problems. Then Obi-Wan appeared again.

 

''I take it the lecture went well?'' Obi-Wan asked with a dose of humor.

 

''Not really. Very few students paid attention to what I was trying to teach them, the others mostly acted like fans of movie stars. That's why I don't give many lectures.'' Luke said with sadness in his voice.

 

''Knowing that your words reached even a few souls is reason enough to be certain that you accomplished something.'' Obi-Wan said.

 

''You always know what to say, old friend.'' Luke replied, releived, he finally managed to relax a bit, ''but my point is that there's a war going on, I'm trying to teach them every military tactic I know of so that when they do get out on that battlefield they know what to do and the only thing they are interested in hearing are details of my confrontations with Vader.''

 

''You can't blame them. You are a legend in their eyes, Luke.'' Obi-Wan said.

 

''I know, but...'' Luke started.

 

''And you should really stop calling your father by his Sith name and start calling him Anakin.'' Obi-Wan interrupted him.

 

''Yes, you are right...'' Luke started again, but was interrupted by a knock at the chamber door.

 

''Hmmm. Looks like you have a visitor and I'm willing to bet that it's one of your more dedicated Padawans coming to get additional information on your lecture.'' Obi-Wan said with a smile.

 

''I thought Jedi don't deal in chances.'' Luke teased Obi-Wan.

 

''Well, no... We will continue our conversation later, it's rude to keep the guests waiting.'' Obi-Wan said cheerfully and disappeared.

 

''Come in!'' Luke said.

 

The doors opened and a Padawan entered. It was Dasha Kar, one of the most promising students of Luke's Academy. She was interested in everything the Masters teached them, but she was most intrigued by the history of the Jedi Order. She dreamed about becoming a historian of the New Jedi Order and was making enormous efforts to achieve her dream.

 

''I am sorry to disturb you, Master Skywalker.'' She said gently and respectfully.

 

''Not at all, come in. How can I help you?'' Luke asked.

 

''Well, sir... as you know I am studying very hard to become a historian of the Order...'' Dasha started slowly.

 

''Yes and from what I hear from your Master you are the Padawan most likely to accomplish that goal.'' Luke said, trying to calm her down.

 

''Thank you, Master... Anyway, I was studying the Old Republic ships and I came across an interesting vessel.'' Dasha continued a little calmer than before, ''Its name is the Ebon Hawk, the ship owned by the legendary Jedi Revan.''

 

''Yes, I am familiar with it. What do you wish to know?'' Luke asked calmly.

 

''The file says that the ship was last seen in the vicinity of Vjun and that it was never found. Well, I remembered that break in from last year, the intruder took only the data about that ship.'' Dasha continued, her voice radiating with confidence.

 

''Yes, that's true.'' Luke confirmed.

 

''Well, Master Skywalker, I also know that you sent someone after the intruder. I am interested to know what happened. Was the ship found?''

 

''I don't know. Master Wrynn, the Jedi I sent after the intruder, hasn't reported since his departure. His fate and what he found are unknown to me, but I fear the worst.'' Luke replied.

 

''But, why didn't you send someone to find him, to find out what happened to him?''

 

''Because of this war. It was a critical time for us and our Order and the Galactic Alliance couldn't afford it, we needed every available Jedi on the front, or here.''

 

''I see. Then I would like to request permission to leave the Academy and search for him and the ship.'' Dasha asked, completely determined to do it.

 

''I don't think that's a good idea at this time. Yuuzhan Vong patrols are everywhere, you could be captured, or worse.'' Luke was reluctant.

 

''Please, Master Skywalker. I'll be careful and for a piece of Jedi history as important as that ship, I am willing to take the risk.''

 

''I sense your determination. I suppose I have no choice but to allow you to go, nothing I say will change your mind. Very well, take one of the Academy's fighters and go, but be extremely careful. You are one of your most promising students and it would be a shame to lose you.'' Luke said, still reluctantly, but a little calmer about the whole matter.

 

''Thank you, Master Skywalker! Thank you! I promise I won't disapoint you.''

 

''I'd rather you promised to come back alive, but I'll settle with that one.'' Luke tried to joke.

 

Dasha laughed, said thanks one more time and left. ''Ebon Hawk.'' Luke thought, ''That ship obviously has an important part in all of our futures, but what? And what knowledge could it hold that drove its owner to hide it, but not destroy it?''

[Diego Varen]

Another good Chapter igyman.

[The_Catto]

Excellent work so far!, i bloody like it lol, can't wait to read more. :D

[igyman]

Chapter IV

 

Dasha entered her room overwhelmed with hapiness. She has just told her Master about her departure. Her Master was even more reluctant, but since the permission came from the head of the Academy himself, Dasha's Master was forced to agree and simply give her some more warning about being careful and taking care of herself and finally ending it with ''May the Force be with you.'' She, of course, assured her Master that she will be extremely careful and promised to bring back the knowledge from the Ebon Hawk.

 

Dasha quickly finished some minor assignments she already had and started packing. She didn't plan to bring many things, but she considered one spare robe to be necessary, then, of course, some food and every piece of data on the Ebon Hawk. She didn't get a copy of the data yet, but it was only a matter of going to the Jedi Archives and downloading it into a datapad. She left that for tomorrow.

 

She laid down on her bed and gazed at the room ceiling. Soon the stony ceiling disappeared and was replaced by the vast and endless space. She floated through the vastness of space, the cosmic winds swirling her long brown hair. She remembered her home world of Nar Shaddaa, the Smuggler's Moon. She was one of the few humans that actually lived there and it was only because she could never save enough money to leave to another world. Her luck changed when she one day came across Jedi Master Kyle Katarn, who was on a mission there to investigate Hutt activity. He recognized the power inside her and took her to the Jedi Academy on Yavin. She passed all the tests with flying colors and was accepted into the Academy, she was then assigned to a Jedi Master and her training began. Even though Kyle wasn't her Master she still sometimes turned to him for guidance.

 

Dasha woke up early the next morning. The sun was just peaking over the horizon as she got up. She still had enough work to do before her departure and she wanted to get started as soon as possible. She made her bed and took a quick shower. She got dressed and went down for breakfast.

 

The dining hall was still almost completely empty when she came in. Most of the students were just getting up from their beds. ''Good. At least there's no line for food.'' Dasha smiled at her own thought. She aproached the food table, filled her plate and sat down at the nearest empty seat. She took her time eating her four sandwitches, in the meantime the dining hall was slowly filling up. When she finished her meal, Dasha took the plate and put in on the table designated for dirty dishes, then she left for the Archives.

 

When Dasha entered the Archives room she didn't waste any time. She quickly sat in front one of the terminals, took the datapad from her pocket and inserted it into the slot. She then found the Ebon Hawk file and downloaded it into the pad. The blue viewscreen showed a message confirming that the file was copied successfully, so Dasha took out her datapad and went back to her room to get the rest of her things.

 

Fifteen minutes later Dasha was at the Academy's hangar. As she entered she saw Master Kyle Katarn waiting near one of the X-Wings.

 

''Master Katarn.'' She greeted him with great surprise, ''What are you doing here?''

 

''Well, I heard you were leaving on a business trip so I came to say goodbye and wish you luck.'' Kyle replied.

 

''I thought Jedi weren't supposed to believe in luck, Master Katarn.'' Dasha joked with Kyle.

 

''Well, as most of the Academy's occupants know, I'm not your classic stuck up Jedi.'' Kyle smiled, ''Anyway, there's one more thing I wanted.''

 

''What's that?'' Dasha asked.

 

''It's a dangerous world out there so I brought you a going away present.'' Kyle joked as he was reaching out for his back. He took out a lightsaber and gave it to Dasha.

 

''Thank you, Master Katarn, but I don't plan to break into a Yuuzhan Vong base, or get into any kind of fights.'' Dasha replied as she took the lightsaber.

 

''Nevertheless, you should take it. You never know what the future brings. It can still prove useful for things other than fights.'' Kyle replied.

 

''I guess you're right. Well, I should get going. The sooner I leave, the sooner I can come back.'' Dasha smiled.

 

''Right. Just be careful out there.'' Kyle said and went for the switch to open the hangar doors.

 

''I will. Goodbye, Master Katarn.'' Dasha replied as she entered the X-Wing. Minutes later she left the Academy grounds.

[Diego Varen]

Good, although Kyle doesn't like being called Master Katarn. He says this on JA by saying, Titles make my skin crawl. Otherwise it is good.

[igyman]

Yeah, I know about Kyle and titles, but I still put it in, if nothing else, then to add to Dasha's character, and besides a long time has passed since the events in Jedi Academy (which I'm playing now ), maybe Kyle learned to accept that people will call him Master.

[RC-1162]

great chapter, iggy. hope to see more! theres only one problem, as usual

EDIT: no matter. i see it now

[Jae Onasi]

Interesting story. The grammar and spelling looks pretty darn good. The only thing I had a little trouble with was Luke telling Dasha he couldn't stop her. I didn't feel like she gave a good enough justification to leave. However, the rest of the story looked good.

[igyman]

Thanks for taking the time to read it.

 

As for Luke letting her go, he felt that she would go no matter what he says and he prefered that she goes with permission, than to sneak off the academy.

 

@RC: Actually, this one isn't a has/had mistake (I assume you were refering to the second sentence in the first paragraph), since the Present Perfect Tense (has told, in this particular case) is used to express an event that happened recently and its consequences are being felt in the present moment.

[igyman]

Chapter V

 

The day Dasha left for Vjun was just another ordinary day on Yuuzhan'tar, even for Supreme Commander Kraal. He was awake the whole night, thinking, revising his options. The High Prefect couldn't care less about his investigation and will definitely not invest more money, or manpower in it. Kraal had to find a way to go around the High Prefect, he had to get those resources from someone else.

 

Kraal was an extremely respected officer of the Warrior caste, many men that once served under him were promoted and reassigned, but, despite that, most of them would be willing to help their former superior in any way they could. That is how Kraal managed to convince those ships in Ruusan's orbit to continue scanning for the Raktajorr's hyperspace signature in the first place. But this time, he feared, having friends in certain positions will probably not be enough. He could go directly to the Warmaster, but Warmaster Tsavong Lah was as obsessed with winning the war with disregard to anything else as the High Prefect was, if not more.

 

Kraal slowly got up from his bed and put on his bioengineered Vonduun Crab armor. He aproached the window and looked outside. The sky was as green as ever. Kraal took his Coufee dagger and placed it in his belt, then he took his amphistaff and left for his office.

 

Kraal's office was only a few floors up from his quarters. Usually Kraal always took the elevator up, but this time he decided to take the stairs. He needed the time to think and he thought a walk might help him. After about ten minutes Kraal arrived to his office. The stroll didn't help him at all.

 

Kraal's current office was actually the office once used by Supreme Commander Xerx. When Xerx's regiment was added to Kraal's, Kraal also inherited Xerx's office. He didn't use it right away. First he had it fine combed at least ten times in search for any kind of evidence about Xerx's whereabouts. He found nothing. Xerx had taken everything with him, including his numerous battle trophies. After a while Kraal made peace with the facts and moved in his new office. He didn't have many battle trophies and those he had he kept in his private quarters. The office was now strictly business-looking. Instead of trophies, the walls were filled with starcharts, battle plans and investigation reports.

 

Kraal came in and took a look around. The door closed behind him and he slowly aproached the starchart filled wall. He looked carefully at every single starchart, then at every single report, but nothing was there that he didn't already know. He then went to the large window that overlooked the Warrior quarter. He enjoyed the look for awhile, trying to clear his mind. Still no ideas, nothing.

 

Suddenly the viewscreen on his desk activated, it was a message from Communications:

 

''Supreme Commander Kraal, are you there?'' The Communications officer sounded over the viewscreen.

 

Kraal immediately went to his desk and sat down.

 

''Yes, this is Supreme Commander Kraal speaking.'' He replied.

 

''Sir, there's an urgent message for you from the Braxtaal.''

 

''The Braxtaal? That's Yondra's ship.'' Kraal thought, ''Patch it through!''

 

Yondra was one of those friends that were mentioned earlier. He used to be a Commander in Kraal's regiment, but he was promoted to a command post on the A-vek Iiluunu type starship, the Braxtaal, which was orbiting Ruusan for two years now. Yondra knew to appretiate his former command officer's understanding and intelligence and was eager to help Kraal out when he asked for those periodical hyperspace signature scans.

 

''Supreme Commander Kraal.'' Yondra greeted him respectfully.

 

''Commander Yondra! What a pleasant surprise.'' Kraal greeted him back.

 

''It's been awhile, sir'' Yondra replied, ''How goes your investigation?''

 

''Poorly. We are standing still for too long now, Yondra. The High Prefect stubbornly refuses to give me more manpower, or more equipment, or anything.''

 

''Then you are really going to like what I have to tell you.'' Yondra said over the viewscreen, filled with satisfaction.

 

''You found something? Tell me you found something, Yondra.'' Kraal was so excited that his heart rate rose.

 

''Our shapers have been working on a way to adjust our ship's sensors to detect a ship's signature long after it passed through an area.'' Yondra reported proudly.

 

''They succeeded?'' Kraal asked.

 

''Yes. They found a way to detect hyperspace signatures by scanning on a subspace level.''

 

''And you...'' Kraal started.

 

''Yes, sir. We found your missing worldship, or at least where it went after Ruusan.'' Yondra replied.

 

''That's excellent news, Yondra. Thank you.'' Kraal said, ''so where did the Raktajorr go?''

 

''I'm sending you our findings along with the data necessary to adjust sensors to scan on the subspace level.'' Yondra replied. His assignment was extremely boring and he was glad to do something even a little exciting for a change.

 

''I have received the data. Thank you. I am in your debt Yondra.''

 

''Think nothing of it, sir. I hope you find that ship. Yondra out.'' The transmission ended.

 

Kraal took a look at the data Yondra sent to him. ''Yavin IV? The Jedi Academy? I have to see this through personally.''

 

Kraal pulled some strings and in a few hours managed to acquire a Kor Chokk type starship, the Grondel, he personally selected his crew as well as crew that came from the Shaper caste. He had to make sure that no one sabotages his efforts now. After a year of standing still, this was a major breakthrough and Kraal wasn't about to let it slip its way to the ears of the High Prefect. If it did the High Prefect would surely reasssign even more men from the investigation with an explanation that there's no need for that much manpower in this investigation when it's progressing that well.

 

Kraal immediately took a transport to his starship. As he entered he was greeted by the ship's high ranking officers, among them was Master Shaper Jashra, the officer whose main purpose was to tend to the Grondel's sensors. Kraal greeted them and took a moment to talk to Jashra. He gave Jashra instructions on how to adjust the sensors for subspace scans, saluted and left to find his new office. Fifteen minutes later, after Kraal settled in, he gave the order over the comm. In half an hour the ship will depart for Yavin IV. It was to follow the exact path of Xerx's worldship, the Raktajorr.