[Fic] The True Teachings II: Forbidden Knowledge

[Diego Varen]

Good Chapter igyman. Something tells me that something bad will happen. Soon.

[RC-1162]

great chapter once again. very nice cliffhanger. this'll probably be the last update from me for the next 2 weeks, so dont think im ignoring you

[igyman]

Chapter XI

 

''You have mastered everything I taught you so far, my apprentice and you've mastered it well.''

 

''Thank you, Master. I tried not to disappoint you.''

 

''And you did a fine job, especially when that last lesson is concerned, the one about drawing your power from both sides of the Force. Still there is something I didn't tell you then and I tell you now – you will draw your power from both sides of the Force, but you must not remain undecisive between them, you must align with one of them, only then will you be able to achieve your true potential.''

 

''I see. Then I shall align myself with the side of the Force that brought me here, the Dark Side.''

 

''Good. Good. Remember, be aligned with one, but draw your power from both.''

 

''Yes, Master.''

*******

 

It was a quiet evening at the Jedi Academy. Luke was standing on a balcony, gazing at the night sky, looking at the stars. He sensed someone approaching, he turned and saw Kyle Katarn at the balcony entrance.

 

''You can't sleep either?'' Luke asked.

 

''No. I have a lot of things on my mind.'' Kyle replied calmly.

 

''Don't we all?'' Luke said, ''This war has drained the strength from all of us.''

 

''True. But I wasn't thinking about the war.''

 

''Then what about?'' Luke asked.

 

''I'm worried about Dasha, the Padawan you allowed to leave for Vjun.'' Kyle replied.

 

''Yes, I am too. Unfortunately, this war prevents me from thinking about it as much as I should.'' Luke said sadly.

 

''I sensed her through the Force, Luke. She was screaming in terror. Something happened to her, I'm sure of it. We have to do something.'' Kyle insisted.

 

''You know I would do anything to protect my students'', Luke said, ''but we have nobody to send. And you and I are both needed here.''

 

''Yes, I know damnit. I just hate to see a student like her get hurt, or worse and not be able to do something about it.'' Kyle replied bitterly.

 

''Even if we can't send anyone after her, there is one thing we can still do.'' Luke said with a spark of hope.

 

''What's that?'' Kyle asked.

 

''We can meditate and concentrate on her through meditation, that way we can give her the strength she needs to save herself.'' Luke replied confidently.

 

''Then that's what we'll do.'' Kyle said, ''Let's go. You can stare at the stars again tomorrow.'' He joked.

 

They left the balcony and went to the meditation chamber. Along the way they went for Dasha's Master, after all they needed all the help they could get. The three of them entered Luke's private meditation chamber and sat down on the floor, forming a triangle. They closed their eyes, cleared their minds and concentrated. They drew their power to locate Dasha from the very essence of the Force. They didn't know it, but they weren't alone in that room, the spirits of old Jedi Masters were there with them, Masters like Luke's friends and mentors – Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda, then there were many of the old Council members, like Master Windu, Master Mundi, Master Fisto, Master Poof and Luke's own father, Anakin Skywalker. They formed a circle behind the three living Masters and were using their own essence to strengthen the efforts of the three.

 

It took them about half an hour, but they managed to find Dasha on a Kor Chokk station-ship, no less. She was in the cargo area. They saw her getting her things and they felt through the Force, trough Dasha when the ship started to move.

[Diego Varen]

Good Chapter. I liked the way you've captured both Luke and Kyle's personality. I like Kyle's "You can stare at the stars again tomorrow" comment. I also liked the beginning of the Chapter too. I'm looking foward to more.

[igyman]

Chapter XII

 

Dasha left the Trophy room and hurried back to the upper deck. The Grondel was drawing closer to the Dark Planet with every passing minute, she had to think fast. She was confident that she could successfully sabotage the ship, if she could only find a proper computer terminal. She heard a voice then, it felt somehow familiar, friendly. ''Go one more deck up. Find the Propulsion Control room and hack into the terminal there.'' It said.

 

She hurried upwards to find that Control room and stop the Yuuzhan Vong before it's too late. She sensed a number of guards blocking her path, so she ignited her lightsaber and charged hoping to catch each of them off guard and dispose of them quickly. She ran as fast as she could, slashing any guards she bumped into along the way, she had to aim for the head, since the Vonduun Crab armor protected their bodies and could easily resist a Jedi lightsaber.

 

Few minutes later and a few dozens of guards less, she arrived at the door of the Control room. She took a look at her lightsaber, she realized that this was the first time she used that particular saber. She noticed the light blue color of the blade, it was the most beautiful color she's ever seen. Master Katarn must have gone through a lot of trouble to get such a pure and obviously rare crystal for that lightsaber. She turned the lightsaber off and that friendly and soothing voice sounded again. ''Excellent, Dasha. Now go inside and overload the ship's propulsion. When that's done the ship will immediately drop from hyperspace and start falling apart from the pressure. You won't have much time to escape when that happens, so you'd better hurry.''

 

Dasha obeyed and entered the room. She quickly dispatched the two unprepared officers and got to work. It took some time for her to hack into the ship's central core, as mentioned before – she wasn't much of a hacker. Fortunately for her it took a lot less than she expected, thanks to a sense of calm and calculation she felt during the entire process that she couldn't explain to herself. She knew, however, that it surely had something to do with that voice she heard before. She only wished she knew who was helping her. When she hacked in she did as she was told before – she overloaded the Grondel's propulsion system and rushed out.

 

Supreme Commander Kraal was in his office during this entire series of events. The growing satisfaction of finally solving his investigation was interrupted by an explosion somewhere on the ship. As it violently dropped from hyperspace, the whole ship shook as if there was an incredibly strong earthquake at work. Kraal lost his balance and fell from his chair, as did most of the crew and Dasha as well. He logged into the central core and noticed the overload in the propulsion system. He quickly turned on the intercomm and ordered an immediate evacuation of the ship. As he fled from his office to the hangar bay, only one word was in his mind and that word was 'Jedi'.

 

The Grondel shook more and more violently from the explosions as its crew ran in panic either toward the ship's hangar bay, or to the nearest escape pod. Dasha was running towards the hangar, luckily she checked the ship's schematics before she performed her little sabotage, so this time she knew exactly where to go. She was often losing balance and falling down, due to the tremors from the explosions, but she tried not to let that slow her down.

 

Kraal arrived at the hangar bay only to see his crew literally kill each other to get to a coralskipper. He saw Master Shaper Jashra leaving in one of the last transports. He couldn't move. The ship was falling apart around him and Kraal just stood there and watched as if he was glued to the ground, while the last of the crew left. Only one ship remained at the hangar, the Jedi's X-Wing. Kraal slowly turned around and saw Dasha run into the hangar.

 

''So, little Jedi, you managed to escape death.'' Kraal said with hatred in his voice.

 

''Yes, I did. And I wrecked your ship along the way.'' She replied in amocking tone.

 

''Yes, I can see that.'' Kraal barely replied.

 

''And I'm quite satisfied with the results.'' Dasha continued to annoy her torturer.

 

''You have ruined a whole year of investigation, you Jedi bastard!'' Kraal shouted in anger.

 

''You ruined mine first.'' Dasha replied, ''I came to Vjun to find an ancient Jedi ship. As far as I know it had nothing to do with your investigation, which I tried to tell you. All I wanted was to return to the Jedi Academy on Yavin, but I had to bump into you and you just had to capture me, you couldn't just let me be on my way. And then you ordered your guards to have me killed. You weren't a very good host, you know.''

 

Kraal could barely restrain himself from laughing. ''My guards might have failed, but no matter, that means I will have the pleasure of killing you myself.'' Kraal said as he swirled his amphistaff and assumed the battle stance.

 

''Very well, if that's what you want.'' Dasha said and assumed the battle stance, her lightsaber was already ignited.

 

Kraal tightened the grip on his amphistaff and charged towards Dasha swinging the amphistaff over his head and swinging downwards as soon as he got close enough. Dasha quickly blocked his attack and used every muscle in her body to push Kraal backwards. He swirled his amphistaff once more and assumed his initial stance, this time waiting for Dasha to attack. She took a few steps to the left, holding her lightsaber vertically in front of her with both hands, then she jumped over Kraal's head, swinging her lightsaber towards it, but he immediately ducked and raised his amphistaff to block the attack. Still crouching, Kraal waited for Dasha to reach the ground behind him and then he quickly turned and tripped her. She fell on her back and Kraal stood up, turned and prepared to stab her with his weapon. He pointed his amphistaff vertically and aimed for the heart. As he plunged it down Dasha quickly rolled to the right and evaded the death blow. She stood up and used the Force to pull the lightsaber, which she dropped when she fell, back into her hand. Kraal was getting angrier, a mere child was giving him so much trouble. Him, an experienced soldier, couldn't handle an eightteen year old human girl. He decided to change his tactics. The amphistaff looked much like a serpent, but it was also a weapon and a favoured one among the Yuuzhan Vong warriors. He let the staff slide down his arm until its head, then he grabbed the head in a special manner thereby loosening the staff and turning it into a whip. He swung the whip towards Dasha's lightsaber, almost managing to make her drop it. Almost, but not this time. He kept swinging the whip at her and she kept repelling it with her lightsaber. Then Kraal aimed for the legs. He swung the whip, managing to swirl it around her ankles and pulled her towards him. Dasha fell on her back once again and dropped her lightsaber. Kraal kept pulling the whip and Dasha towards him as she tried desperately to grab her weapon. She was now at Kraal's feet. He crouched and pulled out his Coufee dagger meaning to slash her throat. He slowly put the blade at her throaat, looking her right in the eyes. Kraal wanted to enjoy her terrified look as she dies. He let his guard down. Dasha used the Force once again to quickly pull her lightsaber back to her hand, she swiftly moved her hand to the side of Kraal's torso, it was one of the few weak spots of the Vonduun Crab armor. His look now changed to one of terror as she ignited her lightsaber, thereby stabbing Kraal right through his stomach. He fell down on his back in agony. Dasha looked upon him, while the Grondel was still falling apart around them.

 

''Your people are great warriors.'' Dasha said to Kraal, ''It is a shame we had to be enemies.''

 

''Perhaps...'', Kraal said as he was coughing up blood, ''Perhaps one day we won't be.'' ''There's an interesting thought.'' Then he died.

 

''I'll look forwards to that day.'' Dasha smiled gently and hurried to her X-Wing.

 

She flew out of the hangar with maximum speed, a few seconds later there was a large explosion behind her, the ship was gone. Only a small amount of wreckage remained. Dasha was finally relieved. She did her duty, now it was time to return to the Jedi Academy. She plotted a course, entered hyperspace, turned on the autopilot and passed out.

[Diego Varen]

Is it just me or is that your longest Chapter yet? Good Chapter and I'm looking foward to more.

[igyman]

I think there's at least one longer among the previous ones.

[igyman]

Chapter XIII

 

Hours have passed since the Grondel was destroyed. Most of its crew evacuated successfully, some of them were forced to land on Vjun, but there were others who went to Yuuzhan'tar for help. In the next twelve hours all of the survivors were on their way back to Yuuzhan'tar. All, except one.

 

A lone coralskipper slowly approached the Dark Planet. Its pilot was Master Shaper Jashra. He was a person with a very curious mind. He knew about the High Prefect's conversation with Supreme Commander Kraal. Being a member of the Shaper caste, the other crewmen, who were all from the Warrior caste, didn't trust him very much, so he had to use alternative methods to learn what was happening on the ship. He assumed that the entire crew would be branded as traitors and executed as soon as they returned to Yuuzhan'tar, seeing how their commanding officer disobeyed a direct order to return and none of them didn't do anything to counteract his decision. That is why Jashra decided to try his luck with that place they were going when the Grondel was sabotaged, besides he was very much interested to find out what was that investigation all about.

 

As he approached the Dark Planet in his coralskipper, he noticed the wreckage of a Yuuzhan Vong ship. ''This must be what's left of the worldship we were searching for. Looks like we were chasing ghosts, Supreme Commander Xerx couldn't have survived this.'' He thought, ''But, what possesses such power that can destroy a Yuuzhan Vong worldship?''

 

Inside the compound on the Dark Planet's surface the Dark figure was just finishing another lesson with Ralik.

 

''Someone is coming.'' Ralik said.

 

''Yes, I can sense him, too.'' The Dark figure whispered, ''He is of the Yuuzhan Vong.''

 

''The Yuuzhan Vong?'' Ralik asked, ''How could they have found me here?''

 

''I don't think they did.'' The Dark figure replied, ''I think this one is the only one.''

 

''Yes, I sense nobody else approaching the planet.'' Ralik confirmed.

 

''That is good news. Kill this one and ensure your own safety.'' The Dark figure insisted.

 

''No. I sense that this one might prove useful to me.'' Ralik replied.

 

''Useful? How?'' The Dark figure whispered.

 

''I sense he is of the Shaper caste. He can produce many useful implants for me.'' Ralik explained.

 

''Implants? Why would you need implants, my apprentice?'' The Dark figure objected.

 

''Your race's history has taught me that mastering the ways of science is equally important as mastering the ways of the Force.'' Ralik replied coldly.

 

''Heh, heh, heh. You have learned your lessons better than I thought. Good.'' The Dark figure was pleased.

 

''I tried to be extremely careful in our classes.'' Ralik replied with a dose of humour.

 

''Very well. You may keep this one alive, but be careful with how much knowledge you share with him, he is not entirely trustworthy.'' The Dark figure said and then disappeared.

 

Ralik went to the Throne room to await the newcomer. Jashra's coralskipper just landed on the large building. Jashra left the ship and entered the building. He was amazed with it and terrified at the same time. The most terrifying thing was that he thought he was hearing a voice calling to him, leading him to a certain part of the compound. He wasn't imagining it, that was Ralik's doing. Ralik was leading him straight to the Throne room.

 

As Jashra entered the Throne room he saw a figure sitting on the shadowed throne. He approached slowly and the figure stood up. He could see the figure's face now.

 

''You must be Ralik.'' Jashra said, ''The halfbreed traitor to the Yuuzhan Vong.''

 

''Yes. Yes, I am.'' Ralik confirmed, ''I sensed you coming. How did you find me?''

 

''Sensed me? How?'' Jashra was confused.

 

''With the Force, of course.'' Ralik replied, ''You see, the Jedi believe that the Yuuzhan Vong species is not a part of the Force. They are wrong, as I've come to learn. Every single creature has a spark of the Force inside, no matter how small that spark is in some creatures, it is still there. That is why the Jedi cannot harm us with the Force, they can't sense that little spark inside us. But I can. Now, tell me, how did you find me here?''

 

''I was part of an investigation force whose goal was to find out what happened to Supreme Commander Xerx. Our commanding officer managed to get his hands on instructions that showed him how to adjust our ship's sensors to scan for a hyperspace trail on a subspace level. The trail would eventually lead us here, but let's just say that we had some trouble with the ship's propulsion and we failed.'' Jashra replied.

 

''Ah, I see. A Jedi sabotaged your efforts. She didn't want to allow you to find this place of darkness. I sensed her, too.'' Ralik added.

 

''Yes. Exactly.'' Jashra confirmed.

 

''You have taken a great risk by coming here. Why did you do that?'' Ralik asked.

 

''Because I am now a traitor, just like you, so I came here to offer my services to you, in exchange for your protection.'' Jashra said.

 

''Very well, Master Shaper Jashra, you may remain here with me and my teachers.'' Ralik replied coldly.

 

''Teachers?'' Jashra asked and in that moment the spirit of the Dark figure appeared next to Ralik.

 

''Yes.'' The Dark figure whispered, ''We, the ancient Lords of the Sith are his teachers and we have come to agree that your services will be highly useful to our pupil, but beware, Shaper, we will not tolerate a slightest hint of treason.''

 

''Y... yes, I understand.'' Jashra said, terrified. He could barely breathe.

[Diego Varen]

Good Chapter igyman. Don't do it Jashra! I'm looking foward to more.

[igyman]

Epilogue

 

Dasha's X-Wing was slowly approaching its destination, the Jedi Academy on Yavin. She was exausted from the torture and the fight and was unconcious during the whole journey back. Images flashed in her head, in her subconcious mind. Suddenly the random images from her life disappeared and there was nothing, but darkness.

 

A few dots of light started to appear and it wasn't as dark anymore. In the dream Dasha was once again flying through space. Those dots of light, she realized, were stars and they moved past her with incredible speed. She saw something approaching. It was a dead planet with an enormous structure on its surface. Suddenly Dasha found herself inside the structure and she wasn't alone. She saw a dark, hooded figure two metres in front of her.

 

''Where am I?'' She asked.

 

''You are still in your ship, on your way to the Jedi Academy.'' The Dark figure whispered, ''This is just a dream.''

 

''Who are you?'' Dasha was even more confused.

 

''That is of no importance.'' The figure whispered, ''What is important, however, is that I have brought you here to thank you.''

 

''Thank me? For what?'' Dasha was completely lost.

 

''For destroying the Yuuzhan Vong ship, what else.'' The figure replied.

 

''What is this place?'' Dasha asked.

 

''This... this is a place you heard about in the Ebon Hawk's log, girl.'' The figure whispered with satisfaction.

 

''What?'' Dasha was terrified.

 

''Yes, this is indeed the residence of the True Teachings, the very place the Yuuzhan Vong would have discovered, if not for your... timely intervention.'' The figure gloated.

 

''It can't be.'' Dasha couldn't believe it. The fear in her grew.

 

''Oh, yes. And I have brought you here, in your dream, to thank you for protecting it.'' The Dark figure gloated, ''Thanks to you, my work remains uninterrupted. My apprentice grows stronger and wiser by the day and he will continue to do so for quite some time, until his training is complete. And when he learns all I have to teach him, he will unleash his power upon the Galaxy and none will dare stand in his way. All thanks to you, Dasha.'' The figure and the dark room Dasha was in disapeared with the figure's evil laughter still echoing in the background.

 

Luke Skywalker was finishing breakfast when Kyle Katarn came in with news.

 

''Our sensors have detected a small ship approaching Yavin.'' Kyle said, ''It's an X-Wing!''

 

''You think it's Dasha?'' Luke asked.

 

''I am sure of it.'' Kyle replied with great joy, ''The ship was on autopilot, our technicians are bringing it in as we speak.''

 

''Excellent. We were due for some good news!'' Luke said cheerfully.

 

''Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go to the hangar and meet her!'' Kyle said with great excitement.

 

Luke stood up and they left for the hangar. When they arrived there, a couple of minutes later, a guard waited for them.

 

''Where is she?'' Luke asked the guard.

 

''In the medbay, Master Skywalker. She was in pretty bad shape when we found her.'' The guard reported, ''Here are her things.'' He handed Dasha's backpack to Kyle.

 

''When can we see her?'' Kyle asked.

 

''We should let her rest for awhile.'' Luke interrupted him.

 

''Yeah, I guess you are right.'' Kyle replied, he opened Dasha's backpack and found a datapad in it.

 

''What do you suppose is on it?'' Luke asked.

 

''Hopefully, some answers.'' Kyle said, ''We should take a look, maybe it can clear a few things up for us.''

 

They went back to Luke's private chamber and inserted the datapad into his terminal. There were two logs on it, one was Dasha'd and the other appeared to be from the Ebon Hawk.

 

''She found it.'' Luke said.

 

Kyle selected Dasha's log and started the playback.

 

Dasha's voice started to speak: ''I have found the Ebon Hawk. It was hidden deep under Vjun's surface. I have also found the corpse of the Jedi Master Anduil Wrynn and buried it. A few hours later his spirit appeared before me and I learned that prior to his death Master Wrynn fell to the Dark Side. He attempted to draw me to the Dark Side too, but I managed to resist.''

 

''By the Force.'' Luke said.

 

The journal continued: ''After numerous attempts I have failed to bypass the voice lock on the Ebon Hawk's navicomputer, but I have managed to download a log from the ship, that you might find particularly interesting.''

 

''That other log on the datapad!'' Kyle said.

 

''I am currently being pulled into the hangar of a Yuuzhan Vong ship, I am recording this log so that if something happens to me my discovery is not lost. I have also provided the coordinates of the Ebon Hawk's exact location on this datapad. It is my hope that the Order will one day be able to arrange an excavation of the ship and discover its secrets entirely.'' The log ended.

 

Luke and Kyle were extremely intrigued. Luke selected the log from the Ebon Hawk and started its playback. They saw the holoimage of Bastila Shan explaining Revan's last adventure and the secret contained within the Hawk's navicomputer. They were both left speachless.

 

After a few minutes they went to the medbay to see how Dasha was doing. One of the doctors greeted them.

 

''How is she?'' Luke asked.

 

''Not good, Master Skywalker. We have no idea what's wrong with her, but ever since we found her she kept repeating one thing over and over.'' The doctor replied.

 

Luke and Kyle approached the bed in which Dasha was laying. They couldn't believe their eyes and ears. The look in Dasha's eyes was one of undescribable terror and she repeated one sentence over and over in a paranoid tone: ''He is coming, the unstoppable Dark Lord, the whole galaxy will tremble at his feet and then the whole galaxy will burn!!''

[Diego Varen]

I'm sad this has ended, but it builds up to the last Part, which I'm looking foward to. What's it called?

[igyman]

Well, first of all, I'm thinking of making it a four part story and right now the working titles for the third part are The Ancient Army/The Dark Army.

 

 

HK will have a role in the next part

 

[Diego Varen]

Well, first of all, I'm thinking of making it a four part story and right now the working titles for the third part are The Ancient Army/The Dark Army.

 

 

HK will have a role in the next part

 

Yes, HK. RC will be pleased (When he comes back). I have a title you might want to consider. The Forgotten Empire (Took from the KOTOR III Name Thread).

[igyman]

Thanks, it has definitely crossed my mind, but I'll think about it some more. After all it'll take me at least a week, or slightly more to finish the third part and that's more than enough time to decide on the title.

[Niner_777]

igyman, sorry I couldn't get around to this. Do you think you could email me the entire story? I'll PM you my email, if yes.

[igyman]

Sure, but just so you know, there's a copy in the Jedi Archives, you can follow the link in my sig to it.

[HK-42]

Another good fic and good sequel now to part 3

[igyman]

Thanks, I hope you enjoy the third part and the fourth after that, though the fourth is not yet finished.