The handover of the two prisoners to us happened swiftly and quietly.
Grand Admiral Pellaeon, knowing the backlash it could bring down on the Remnants if what my older brother planned to do got to spread, appreciated the clean solution we offered to him. He met with my Master at the secondary docking hub just hours after our interrogation concluded, and we had what we wanted. The two Sith prisoners were shackled in regular binders, as even if they wanted to do anything, they were watched over by Master Katarn and HK-O1, who seemed particularly delighted to be 'personally entrusted with their containment.'
"This is for the best," Pellaeon said, his weathered expression giving away a flicker of relief. "We want no part in this business. No headlines. No rumors of 'Imperial Sith' breeding in the Outer Rim."
"We understand," my Master replied in a calm and respectful tone. "We'll take full responsibility for them. They are Jedi business now."
"I appreciate it." The Grand Admiral gave a firm nod, glancing at me before looking back at Ben, "I trust you to clean this up, Master Skywalker. For all our sakes."
And just like that, the chain of custody was wholly entrusted to my Master. By the time the formalities were over, our ship was prepped and cleared for departure. We didn't waste time; the fewer eyes on us, the better it was for everybody.
Whatever happened at Iskandor would spread, of course. There were too many eyes and too many moving components to keep it from becoming public. But with the Admiral's interjection and our arrival... The whole conspiracy was snuffed out before it could develop into a proper fire. As for my eldest brother's future? I didn't know what it would be, and I didn't feel any impulse to find it out. I just wanted to leave this place... And never come back.
How will the Imperials handle the blowback from it? That was also not something I was bothered by. The fact that it would be presented as a Jedi business was the perfect excuse for both parties. They would present it however they felt fit, probably even placing the blame on the Force or something. I didn't really ask, and I didn't want to know... Somehow, I had the feeling it would simply anger me.
So, instead of worrying, I was more focused on the captives and what we had learned from them.
Leading them onto the ship, Vila stayed near the boarding ramp, one hand resting casually on the hilt of her saber. At the same time, HK-O1 marched our prisoners up into the ship with a surprising amount of ceremony—even humming some distorted march tune through his voice modulator, making my eyes slightly twitch. Even more so when I heard him speak.
[Declaration: I am now your entire world, meatbags. Resist, and I will happily demonstrate my versatile approach to corrective action.]
Of course, the Sith said nothing. Smart. Silence is their biggest weapon right now, so I would have been disappointed if they began talking again.
Once aboard, we locked them into one of the modified cargo holds. Master Katarn converted it into a temporary holding cell, and he rigged extra sensor fields around it, making sure they could do nothing. At least, nothing that we wouldn't notice in time to stop them. Of course, HK took up sentry duty with near-maniacal joy, arms folded, red photoreceptors gleaming every time one of the Sith so much as twitched, just waiting for a reason to reach for a blaster we gave him.
I argued against the idea, but my Master was convinced it would work out, so there he was—finally armed.
With the situation stable, we launched, leaving the orbiting station and the whole Imperial Remnants behind. Our ship slipped free from Iskandor's orbit, cruising clear of the security net without incident. Minutes later, the hyperdrive whined to life, and the stars stretched into brilliant streaks of starlight... And we were on our way—toward the uncharted system we had discovered. I didn't even look back...
...
....
.....
An hour into the journey, Master summoned Vila and me to the conference room just off the main deck.
The room was Spartan: a circular table bolted to the floor, a few chairs, and a flickering galactic map projected above the center, examined by Master Ben and Master Katarn. Arriving, Vila slumped into a chair sideways, her lekku twitching in restless patterns, probably curious about our current situation. I remained standing, my arms folded, my mind still churning over what the Sith had said—and, more importantly, what they hadn't. Since leaving, I couldn't help but replay their words and feelings in my mind, trying to figure out more than we already had.
Ben stood at the head of the table while Master Katarn leaned back against the wall, arms crossed, observing more than participating for now.
"I know that you wanted to know," Ben said after a moment, "about the Rakata."
"I knew your reaction wasn't that simple, Master." I nodded while Vila perked up slightly, sensing the importance. "Out of us all, only you didn't react to the name the same way."
"There is a reason for that." Ben exhaled slowly, gathering his thoughts, but I rarely saw him do it so seriously. "What I'm about to tell you isn't common knowledge. It's not even something that should be recorded... My father decided not to put it in regular text, and it became something that is documented only in his personal holocrons."
"Not even you knew about it?" Vila asked, surprised, looking at her Master.
"There are certain types of knowledge that are sometimes best not to be shared." Master Katarn shook his head. "I made a mistake with such a secret once, thrusting the whole Galaxy into peril. Wanting to know everything, wanting to know more, is a never-ending pitfall. Many prodigies and talented Jedi fell because of it in the past. There needs to be a balance, Vila, and sometimes one has to be satisfied with what one has, no longer wanting to hoard more. Be it knowledge or power."
"I... Understand, Master." She muttered, but I wasn't sure she really did.
"Most of it, what I am about to tell you, is lost history." Ben continued, "You won't find it in Republic archives or Imperial records."
"Why?" Vila asked again, frowning.
"Because," Ben said, "there are things in the galaxy so old, so dangerous, that the people who survived them made a conscious choice to forget."
"Or the knowledge was suppressed and deliberately erased," I added, gaining a glimpse through my Master's feelings.
"Yes," he nodded. "For example, many Jedi texts, teachings, and knowledge were lost when Emperor Palpatine erased them from existence. My Father spent decades trying to rebuild it all, and we are still nowhere near what the Jedi Archives had back in the glory days before the Empire." He explained, waving a hand.
To the gesture, the holo map shimmered, zooming in on the galactic north, where our course was plotted. It was changed not by the Force but by R2, understanding his instructions and making a change to the projection.
"The Rakata," he continued, "was one of the first galactic empires. Tens of thousands of years before the Republic even ever existed. They were Force-sensitive, the whole species. Worse, they were aligned with the Dark Side, not only susceptible to it, but they were reveling in a way that was cannibalistic. They did it even before the Sith rose to prominence."
"And they were conquerors," Katarn added grimly. "Slavers. Tyrants. The usual baggage, coming with Dark Side afflictions."
"They were the most successful Dark Side empires to boot. They ruled the Galaxy." Ben nodded. "They built technology no one else could replicate—things powered directly by the Dark Side of the Force. They called them Star Forges that could create entire fleets, planetary disruptors, mind-control devices capable of enslaving species across entire star systems."
"Is Vestara found something like that?" I asked quietly, gulping, "A... Star Forge?"
"No." Ben said with profound conviction, "No more Star Forges are remaining in the Galaxy. Believe me when I say that."
"Then what is it?" Vila asked, looking at me and then at my Master.
"That is the prize-winning question." Katarn shrugged before Master could continue.
"It can be a lot of things besides a Star Forge. The whole species vanished," Ben said. "We don't know what else they left behind. As for why they disappeared? We don't know. Some clues allude to the fact that they destroyed themselves. Others believe a plague wiped them out, severing their connection to the Force and collapsing their Empire almost overnight. Maybe it was both. Ancient Sith records I once saw with my own eyes pointed towards the fact that the first, original Sith species managed to repel their invasion, defeating them in battle and sending the first cracks through their Empire. What matters is this: remnants of their technology still exist. And it's dangerous."
Letting us consider his words, he waited silently for us to think it through. Then, as we began stirring again, he tapped a button on the console, and a new projection appeared: jagged structures half-buried in alien jungles, ancient hyperspace gates tangled with corrosion and vines.
"My father and I," Ben said, his voice lowering slightly, "encountered Rakatan ruins during the hunt for Abeloth. Vestara was with us... We used both sides of the Force to find the clues, and we found places where the Force felt… wrong. Twisted. Like echoes of a terrible hunger."
"Wait, what is Abeloth?" I asked, raising a hand and blinking my eyes.
"An amalgamation of Dark Side energy," he explained, sighing. "The Force is everywhere in the Galaxy. As you know, it's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the Galaxy together. The Rakatans twisted that force in ancient times, creating something like a... sickness. It is pure Dark Side energy that corrupts the minds of Jedi and Sith alike. Maybe that is the reason why they also disappeared."
"Brr... I do hope that thing was dealt with..." Vila shivered visibly.
"Father extinguished it for good." Master smiled, letting me also sigh in relief, allowing me to ask what I was thinking about.
"So... Searching with you, Vestara also learned about it, probably gathering clues, finding something. And that's where she is heading right now?"
"Most likely," Master said with a nod. "If she's anything like she used to be—" He stopped himself, grimacing.
"You knew her... very well... " I muttered, realization dawning on me, feeling the emotions in my Master's chest.
"I did," Ben admitted. "But not enough to sway her from the grip of the Dark Side. But it is not too late..." he added with a soft smile.
The air grew heavier a little, but I understood. And I hoped Master was right. Something that I learned while reading the records back home was that believing in redemption is a key point in Master Skywalker's new Jedi Order.
"Vestara Khai," Master continued, "was once... close to me. She was a Sith apprentice raised under the Lost Tribe of the Sith. But for a time, she fought alongside the Jedi against Abeloth. And even learned things from my Father."
"A failed redemption story?" Vila asked, her voice somewhat skeptical.
"Almost." Ben's smile was thin and bitter. "She... I tried. But in the end, the darkness had its claws too deep. She chose her people—her survival—over the light side." He explained while he folded his hands behind his back, staring at the projected map. "If Vestara is after Rakatan technology, it's not just about survival anymore. It's about power. Authority. Maybe control. Maybe even creating something the Galaxy can't fight against."
"Like the Star Forge," I mumbled, making them look at me.
"It... It is not out of the question," Ben said. "And if she's trying to rebuild something even half as dangerous..."
"We have to stop her," Vila finished for him, sitting up straighter now. "Understood. So this is no longer about not letting the Sith go underground and disappear for another millennium or so."
"Yes," Ben said simply. "Before she disappears beyond the reach of any Jedi, any government—and builds a new empire in the ashes, to repeat a cycle this Galaxy had seen dozens of times, we must step in."
"That we are good at," Master Katarn finally pushed off the wall, walking over to the table. "Question is," he said, "what are we walking into?"
"Well," Ben looked at me, and for a moment, I felt the full weight of the future settle on my shoulders in his gaze. "Something dangerous, for sure," he chuckled. "Something forgotten. And something that was never meant to be found."
The ship shuddered slightly—normal turbulence through the hyperlane—but it still made my heart beat faster. We were heading into literal darkness. Into history, the Galaxy tried to erase. How exciting! Wait... that last part wasn't my thought. It was Vila's... I knew because I heard it in her voice and looked at her; she was indeed excited.
Well, at least one of us doesn't worry at all, eh?