The Greatest Sith... That Never Lived
Posted by: Darth Danno 05.16.07 12:01am
Previously:

• CHAPTER I: MEDITATION and REFLECTION
• CHAPTER II: SEEKING THE SITH
• CHAPTER III: THE PLOT THICKENS (Part I)
• CHAPTER III: THE PLOT THICKENS (Part II)
• CHAPTER IV: THE LEGEND OF THE MASTER
• CHAPTER V: A PADAWAN FLEES
• CHAPTER VI: DEBACLE IN THE DOCKING BAY (Part I)
• CHAPTER VI: DEBACLE IN THE DOCKING BAY (Part II)
• CHAPTER VII: CONUNDRUM ON CORUSCANT (Part I)
• CHAPTER VII: CONUNDRUM ON CORUSCANT (Part II)
• CHAPTER VII: CONUNDRUM ON CORUSCANT (Part III)
• CHAPTER VIII: THE PRODIGAL RETURNS (Part I)
• CHAPTER VIII: THE PRODIGAL RETURNS (Part II)
• CHAPTER VIII: THE PRODIGAL RETURNS (Part III)
• CHAPTER IX: ENTER THE APPRENTICE
• CHAPTER X: AN UNEASY ALLIANCE BEGINS
• CHAPTER XI: THE APPRENTICE REVEALED
• CHAPTER XII: SUSPICION GROWS
• CHAPTER XIII: STALEMATE (Part I)
• CHAPTER XIII: STALEMATE (Part II)
• CHAPTER XIV: THE PIECES COME TOGETHER
• CHAPTER XV: THE SEEDS OF SUSPICION
• CHAPTER XVI: THE BEGINNING OF THE END (Part I)
• CHAPTER XVI: THE BEGINNING OF THE END (Part II)
• CHAPTER XVII: A THIRD SITH?
• CHAPTER XVIII: IT ALL BOILS OVER

CHAPTER XIX: SURVEILLANCE, SUSPICION,and SABOTAGE (Part I)

The probe made its way across Tatooine’s desolate landscape. Never stopping to admire the scenery, what there was of it, nor needing to pause for rest or nourishment. It knew only to follow its pre-set programming, nothing more, nothing less. It passed Lord Danno’s craft, yet paid it no mind as it continued on its way. A few Womp Rats stopped their daily foraging to gaze up at the dark orb zooming by overhead, but upon determining it was no threat, they returned to what they were doing. The droid simply floated along toward its pre-determined destination.

A pair of eyes, looking through a set of macrobinoculars, watched the probe’s approach with great interest, dropping them only once the orb drew close. The droid floated up to the dark clad figure, beeped and whistled briefly, the figure nodded his approval, and the probe floated past him and into the hold of a gigantic ship directly behind the watcher. The man gazed up into the sky for a few seconds before calling back into the ship.

“It has begun!”

A few moments passed before a second figure, also dressed completely in black, came down the ship’s loading ramp to stand at the side of the first.

“I hope I will receive some answers soon, Lord Contagion. I grow tired of all these games.”

“To be sure, Lord Ruin.” Contagion replied. “But time is of the essence, and I feel it would be better for you to see it all with your own eyes. For me to explain it would most likely cause you to think I had taken leave of my senses.”

“Indeed.” Ruin acquiesced. “I am to the point that I am wondering if that has not already occurred.”

Ignoring the jab, Contagion turned and walked to his speeder parked in the shade of the spacecraft. “All will be explained in time, my Lord. But we must be going as we have a stop to make before we are to witness the end of Lords Danno and Mortis.”

“Ruin crossed to his own speeder parked adjacent to Contagion’s. “Oh…joy,” was his only reply.

Master Lleyjo was greatly relieved to hear nothing was amiss back home on Coruscant. He told Master Dovarchi of their findings, and also contacted the Jedi in Mos Espa and relayed the information to them. Then he set out to locate Master Dychud. Dychud had gone back and spoke with Ferhen to see if he knew where they might find Ooziz, the Jawa. Ughh wasn’t sure, but said the best place to start would be near the docking bays. So Master Beyorel caught up with him there. Considering Jawas are in the majority here on this desert world, and also that they all look alike, the Jedi knew they had their work cut out for them. After a few hours, they managed to track him down, hanging out in one of the many marketplaces surrounding the bays. At first, he was reluctant to have anything to do with two men dressed like the figure who used “bad magic” to pick him up and fling him against a wall, but some Jedi persuasion, along with a reward, quickly changed his demeanor. The Masters weren’t able to learn much more than they already knew though, Ooziz never saw the drioid from the front, but knew it wasn’t an astromech, it had the build similar to a protocol droid, but even from the back, and being some distance away, the Jawa could tell this one was much more heavily armored than a standard protocol droid. He said he hadn’t seen a droid like this one for quite some time, so long in fact, he couldn’t remember exactly what make or model it was. Dychud was mulling things over in his mind, and had a pretty good guess as to what they were dealing with.

“You know what kind of droid it was?” Beyorel questioned.

“I can’t know for sure,” Dychud replied. “But taking into account what happened on Coruscant, and that some of the Masters died from shots determined to be from a blaster cannon, I believe we’re dealing with some sort of assassin droid.”

Beyorel looked at Dychud incredulously. “Assassin droid?? Aren’t those illegal?”

“That wouldn’t stop a Sith. I seem to remember one of the old Sith Lords had an assassin droid, didn’t they?”

Beyorel nodded his agreement. “I believe you’re right. I think it was…Darth Revan. And the droid in question was…”

“An HK unit…if I’m not mistaken.” Dychud nodded. “Highly proficient, and bordering on the psychotic. Just what a Sith would find interest in.”

“You don’t think this droid and Revan’s are one in the same, do you?

“Dychud shrugged. “At this point, I don’t know what to think, or what our next move should be.”

The chirp of Dychud’s communicator broke their conversation. He answered it and Master Issew chimed in.

“Any news?” Dychud wanted to know.

“Both kinds,” Issew replied. “Both good and bad.”

Dychud sighed, “What’s the good?”

“I have a pretty good lock on the Devaronian’s position.”

Dychud knew the other shoe would drop momentarily. “And the bad?”

“Somebody’s going to have to journey into the Sarlacc to ask him any questions.”

“The Sarlacc?? Isn’t that a little extreme for a small time robbery?”

Issew agreed. “Absolutely! But there really wasn’t really anything small time about it. Turns out there were a lot more of the ill-gotten gains, deathsticks and spice, than they had originally been informed about. It looked to be their lucky day until they discovered this contraband was earmarked for the Hutts.”

“Dychud cringed, “Oooh, not good.”

“Not at all good. Once the Hutts got word of it, they were not at all amused, and were only too happy to put out a contract on this poor sap’s head that made every lowlife on Tatooine with a weapon salivate in anticipation of becoming filthy rich.”

“Okay.” Dychud rubbed his temple with his free hand. “This avenue has definitely hit a dead end. Beyorel and I are at the docking bays, meet us here, and we’ll decide what to do next.”

Darth Danno