15

ABOVE DAGOBAH

ABOARD THE DATHOMIRIAN CURSE

It was strange having organic sentients aboard his ship. Strange to even be talking to them. For over a year now, Ageless had been conducting his work for both the Empire and the Rebel Alliance in secret, his handlers on both sides never really knowing his exact movements. This kind of lifestyle necessitated long stretches of being out of touch. With everyone. Until recently his company had consisted almost entirely of droids—either debating next plays with R-3PO and R4, or sparring with the TRD-5 training droid. For the last few months, he’d been with Yoda down on Dagobah, and now that were all flying out-system, making for a safe entry point into hyperspace, his time with the Jedi Master seemed even more like a dream.

And now here was Namyr and Kevv, the two Rebels who had subdued him on Hoth, and had reluctantly gone along with him on Bespin to complete an operation there to bring down Hej Zumter, Ageless’s former mentor and boss. In the process, he’d also managed to nab Horizon Lost, another top operative for the Kingdom, and handed him over to the Rebs.

“I suppose I should thank you for saving me,” he said, walking into the galley and taking a seat. He did so slowly, with his face wrapped in bandages and coated in synthflesh. It hurt to talk. The bacta and stims were working, but it still took some concentration via Force-enhanced breathing exercises not to feel pain. And he didn’t want to rupture his wounds; the kolto ought to seal those up soon.

“You saved me first, remember?” Namyr said, leaning against a bulkhead and folding her arms. “I received your message on Malastare. Got it just in the nick of time. How did you know I was in trouble?”

“I have sources,” Ageless said, and left it at that. R4 came rolling up to administer another kolto injection and Ageless took it from the astromech’s tiny pincers to inject it himself.

“And how are you using those sources to help Commander Fera and her operations?”

He looked up at her. The implication was clear, but he wanted to hear her say it. “Just say you came to check on me and make sure I wasn’t double-crossing you.”

“We actually came because—well, you know what, to be honest I’m not entirely sure why we came, but we came. We thought you might be in trouble, and…well, here we are.”

“You’re lying,” he said. He didn’t need the Force to tell him that, though he did sense a small wash of mild deception emanating from her, a feeling that he was already learning to pick up on via his connection to the Force. A most unusual feeling, that. Something he might’ve once mistrusted—something he did mistrust back when his grandmother had tried to teach him.

Namyr stiffened. She kept her cool like the professional she was, though. “Commander Fera did want someone to check up on you, for political reasons.”

“There it is.”

“Can you really blame her?” Kevv said, taking a seat across from him, and leaning on the dejarik table. “The commander stuck her neck out for you, Ageless. She gambled big on trusting you to help with that joint operation on Cloud City.”

“She gambled, and she won big,” Ageless reminded them. “Hej Zumter and Horizon Lost. We nabbed them both. My guess is an intel catch like that hasn’t come through Rebel intelligence cells in ages, maybe never. You guys still pumping them for info? How is my old boss?”

“You know we can’t tell you that,” Namyr said.

“You can’t tell me that, and you can’t tell me exactly why you felt compelled to come all this way to help me, besides the fact that you were taking orders. So, what can you tell me? Why did you even want to come aboard? What is this?”

Namyr and Kevv glanced at each other. Ageless immediately sensed the nonverbal communication between them. They were wondering how much they could share with him. “It’s classified,” Namyr finally said.

Ageless rolled his eyes, and even that hurt part of his face. “Come on. You came all this way to help me, chased away a Kingdom vessel and saved my tail, only to walk in here and clam up now? Come on, Namyr, you can trust me. I’ve given you more than just Zumter and Horizon, haven’t I? I’ve given you new informants, high-ranking Imperial leaders that I turned into double-agents for you.”

Namyr shrugged. “That’s all compartmentalized, I’m sure. I’m not privy to everything you do for Fera.”

“So then we’re right back where we were when you two ambushed me on Hoth. Right back at square one. Three slamo nerf-herders who can’t even trust one another.” He leaned back in his seat, wincing in pain, which was slowly becoming manageable.

“We’re not here to cause you any trouble—”

“So get off my ship.”

“Excuse me?”

“I saved you, you saved me. That makes us even. Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like you two to disembark your docking tube from my ship so I can get on with my work. I’ve got some serious repairs to do and the droids and I need to get to it.”

“We could help with that,” Kevv said. “I’m pretty good at spot-welding, rewiring and rerouting damaged circuitry bays. After that…who knows? Maybe we’ll work together as good as we did on Bespin—”

“I work alone.”

“Usually,” Namyr said. “You usually work alone. But Kevv is right, we made a helluva team in Cloud City.”

“That may be, but that was ad hoc, a joint operation out of pure necessity for us both. I’m currently working on various ops for the Kingdom to make it look like I’m still on the Empire’s side, meanwhile I have to find spare time to root out leads for you Rebs. That makes my schedule a little full right now—”

“Ossus!” the Dark Voice pushed into his brain.

Ageless reached for the edge of the dejarik table and squeezed. He ground his teeth, forcing back the migraine through deep breaths.

Namyr looked at Kevv, then back at Ageless. “Ageless? You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m—”

“Tell them! Tell them about Ossus!”

I’m not listening to you—

“Tell them! Ossus! Tell them now!”

“Ageless?” said Kevv.

“Ossus!”

I’m not—

“Ossus! Say it! Say it now! Ossus! Ossus! OSSUS!”

“What about Ossus?” Ageless finally growled. Suddenly, the Dark Voice receded, and the two Rebels were both staring at him, mouths slightly agape.

“Where did you hear about that?” Namyr said.

Ageless clearly saw the change in each of their demeanors, especially Kevv, who suddenly looked spooked. He decided to play his sabacc cards close to his chest. “Why don’t you tell me what your interest in it is, and I’ll tell you mine,” he said, searching in his mind for any further presence of the Dark Voice, or for any memory of such a thing as Ossus. He suddenly recalled a very old history lesson, something at the Academy, after basic but before special forces or darktrooper selection. It was a planet, but…Lost somehow? Forgotten? He couldn’t remember.

Namyr said, “Have you had any dealings with the Hutts?” She pushed herself off the wall and began pacing in front of him. “How do you know about—”

“Ossus?” Ageless shrugged, still playing it cool. Let her leak what she knows first. “I have only a vague interest, I assure you. But tell me your interest.”

Namyr tilted her head quizzically. “What were you doing on Dagobah?”

“Who said I went down to Dagobah?”

“The outside of your ship had some mud, specks of vines and forest debris.”

Ageless winced inwardly. He hadn’t thought of that. It hadn’t occurred to him the sloppy, muck-infested swamp world would have left such an indicting piece of material on his ship, but of course it had. “So, I went down.”

“What for?”

“Tell me about Ossus.”

“What’s on Dagobah?”

“What’s on Ossus?”

Kevv sighed and stood up. “We could be like this for a year, going back and forth just like we did after we left Hoth. I thought we were past all that!”

“Yeah, Ageless—” Namyr began.

“I’m talking to you, too, Namyr,” Kevv said. She looked at him, stunned. “Sorry, boss lady, but we have to cut the bantha poodoo sometime.” He looked over at Ageless. “Ossus is a world that’s been effectively off-limits for millennia, ever since something went wrong—very wrong. Most say it was a nearby star that went hypernova or something, others say it might’ve been a Sith superweapon. It happened so long ago, and so few got out before the ‘Event’ happened, who knows for sure?”

A Sith superweapon? Ageless shrugged, feigning disinterest. “And your interest in it?”

“A group of Hutts found what they think may have been a way through,” Kevv went on, attractign evil looks from Namyr, but Ageless noticed she wasn’t stopping the Duros from talking. “Apparently, the Emperor wanted this information. Maybe already has it.”

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Ageless nodded, giving nothing away, pretending as though he might know something about that. “Palpatine has been known to send out intel groups to seek artifacts that are of, eh, dubious quality. He’s been called eccentric for it.” But his mind was going elsewhere. Darth Vader was a Sith, or at least an inheritor of the Sith Order’s dark power, Master Yoda had confirmed as much. How many others knew this? Did anyone inside the Rebellion know? Had Luke Skywalker shared this revelation to any of his friends or allies?

And another question needed to be answered: If Vader is a Sith, and the Emperor holds his leash, then is the Emperor a Sith also? In conversations with Yoda, it certainly seemed the little green Jedi Master believed it to be so. Ageless only knew Sith by their reputation, but if even half the stories were true, then he couldn’t imagine any Sith at Vader’s level of power would take orders from any non-Sith.

If Yoda’s right, if he’s not just half-senile and making it up, then this changes everything. Does the Rebellion know about Vader and Palpatine’s true nature?

Looking at Namyr and Kevv, he figured not. If so, the Rebels would already be spreading it as propaganda: FORMER JEDI TURNED AGAINST FELLOW JEDI TO DESTROY THEM, AND EXECUTED THEM IN SERVICE TO HIS SITH LORD—EMPEROR PALPATINE HIMSELF. The headline alone could undermine Palpatine’s grip and authority throughout the galaxy.

So why didn’t Skywalker tell anyone? Is it the shame?

Ageless thought about returning to Dagobah to ask Master Yoda, but the Jedi Master was clearly dying, and clearly done teaching him. At least for now. Besides, if Unsheathed Saber got away in his Lambda ship, then he could be returning with reinforcements very soon. Ageless had to get out of here if he wanted to live.

But the mystery of Ossus still needed to be settled. “Why do you think Palpatine wants to return to Ossus? What could he possibly want from there?”

Namyr decided to answer this part herself. “The Great Jedi Library, maybe? Or perhaps resources of some kind? Alliance intel suggests the Empire has reason to believes that something is there. We don’t know what, but if the rumors are true that the Sith are the ones who destroyed access to all hyperlanes around Ossus using some sort of superweapon, well…”

“He’s looking for lost technology,” Ageless said, nodding. He was suddenly very concerned for whatever the Emperor had planned. He stood up, adjusting his weight to compensate for the cracked ribs. They were already feeling a lot better, just bruised. “He’s looking for any old Jedi tech that could turn the War around, like General Grievous did during the Clone Wars, scouring the galaxy for anything to give him the edge.”

Kevv’s shoulders flinched, a Duros mannerism that indicated extreme curiosity. “What do you mean? What sort of tech did Grievous find?”

Ageless waved a hand. “A long story, remind me to give you the history lesson later. Right now, we need to begin repairs. If you’re going to help me, get started in the circuitry bay. I’ll do a spacewalk and check for any damage to relativistic shield emitters—I’ll need those working properly if I want a safe jump into hyperspace. The hyperdrive is working well enough, I think. Arfour says its motivator may need a jumpstart, he siphoned power away from it to other defense systems when we were being attacked. He may have depleted it too much.”

“I’ll check that first,” Kevv said.

“I’ll do the spacewalk with you, Ageless,” Namyr said.

“I can do it alone—”

“Nuh-uh. Not in your condition. Something goes wrong and you pass out, don’t want you drifting off into the black.”

“You almost sound worried about me now.”

“Just let me get my vac-suit. But…you haven’t said where you’re going. I mean, if we help you limp on out of here—”

“What do you get out of it, you mean?” He snorted out a laugh. “My undying gratitude. How about that? And I’m coming with you to Ossus.”

“Why?”

“Because if there’s something there Palpatine wants, then it must be destroyed. At all costs.”

That, he thought. And I want to know what’s there. Or who? Ageless had suddenly developed a thirst for knowledge in the Force, and, despite Master Yoda’s warnings, he wanted to see if the owner of the Dark Voice was there Ossus. Is that why he bade me tell them about it? Is that why he had me mention Inquisitor Mann, to stall Miser and Vicious long enough to allow these two to arrive? Did he—or she, or it, or whatever—did the entity know that Namyr and Kevv were on their way here?

Did the entity…did it arrange for them to be here?

Master Yoda had bluntly admitted he had no idea exactly who or what the Dark Voice was, only suggesting it may be some vague facet of the Dark Side.

But I want to know. I want to know who’s inside my head, and how to get them out.

For a brief moment, he thought about taking Yoda’s advice and going straight to Dathomir to learn his grandmother’s teachings, but that in itself would mean a delay. A delay in everything, including stopping the Emperor’s plans, which was actually on his to-do list these days, despite everything. What had started as anger over Hej Zumter’s betrayal had gradually morphed. He’d sought vengeance against Zumter, focusing his cold intent against Horizon Lost, the assassin the Kingdom had sent to kill him. Then he sought to know what else the Emperor was hiding besides the fact its rulers were secretly Sith. And now, with the knowledge of Yoda and his grandmother passed down…

What else am I missing? What other facets of the galaxy are being withheld from me?

“Are you actually able to go to Ossus?” Ageless asked them. “Have you obtained the coordinates?”

Namyr nodded. “We’ve obtained what we believe is the pertinent data, yes. Commander Fera’s team sifted through it all, and…it looks pretty legit. It’ll take us along the Perlemian Trade Route and then we’ll have to go off course and do a series of micro-jumps into territories populated by micro-singularities, carbonberg storms, and dense nebula clouds.” She shrugged. “If the charts are correct, though, the course ought to take us a couple of weeks.”

“And is that your current mission? Your only mission?” He sensed it must be. Why else would they have reacted so strangely when he mentioned the planet’s name?

“It is,” Namyr said.

“But there’s something else going on,” Kevv put in. “Something out near a place called Endor. Not sure what. The Empire seems to be building something big out there. A few Bothan assets are looking into it—”

“Kevv!” Namyr said forcefully. “He doesn’t need to know all that.”

“Why not? He could help.”

“Don’t worry about it, guys,” said Ageless. “No need to fill me in. One thing at a time.” He looked at both of them. “So, what do you say? Are we really doing this? Partners?”

Namyr was the most reluctant, he could sense that easily.

Ageless shrugged. “You might could use some help out there. If there are Imperial excavation teams already in place, you’ll want to know their procedures, their habits, their patrol types. I might be able to help with that.”

The two Rebels exchanged looks.

“You’re not gonna find anyone else with my skill set that can help you, not if you want to get there as soon as possible.”

Finally, Namyr Abjura sighed heavily. “All right. Partners. At least as far as Ossus.”

“Kevv?”

The Duros shrugged. “You already know I’m in.”

“Then let’s get to work. By the time that Lambda returns, if it returns, I want this system to be a ghost town. We were never here.”

* * *

It took less than a standard day for both ships to be made ready. R4 had to cannibalize some of the Lady of Hope Ascendant’s spare circuits and hyperdrive parts, and he spliced a myriad of instruments in creative ways that Ageless had never seen before, but he got the motivator running. They weren’t able to fix R-3PO so that he could walk, but the protocol droid was able to be dragged around by R4 and could crawl around and prop himself up in seats whenever necessary.

Kevv did a mean job of spot-welding, and with R4’s help, Ageless and Namyr were able to use some of the Ascendant’s interstitial insulation to stuff in those exposed gaps between the Curse’s hull.

Ageless’s injuries needed a bit of time to heal, and after putting on a brave face for several hours, he finally allowed Namyr to convince him to step inside the Ascendant’s bacta tank. Suspended, floating, he breathed through the mask while he went inward, reaching out to the Force and replaying the battle against Vicious One in his mind, going over all the mistakes he’d made, what he’d do different if he could go back there.

It was called “dynamic visualization” and most serious athletes practiced it. But he was surprised how vibrant and visceral the memory was. Channeling the Force, he was able to slow down the memory and appraise both his and the Wookiee’s technique, seeing where he would make a slight adjustment. The sensations all came back, he could even taste the blood from the instant the Wookiee slashed him across his face. Felt the claws tearing into him as if he was still happening.

Ageless stepped out of the bacta tank feeling mostly rejuvenated, but a quick glance in a mirror showed him his mauled face, forever scarred unless he underwent surgery. So be it, he thought. Another new life, another new face.

After a few tweaks to the motivator’s power output, both ships were ready to make the jump.

They were soon gone, leaving the lonely, dark star system behind, and its single sentient occupant sat at the edge of the swamp that had become his home, cross-legged, looking up at the sky, awaiting the return of another.

The Dagobah system once again became as lonely a place as it had ever been.

* * *

CORUSCANT

EIGHTH LEVEL OF THE 932nd MEGABLOCK

SAFEHOUSE FOR ISS OPERATIVES

The Voice of Ether read the short message from Unsheathed Saber again. It had come via the Undernet. The Kingdom operative’s Lambda ship had limped towards Utapau and found an underworld contact there loyal to the Empire, who then passed his message along using Undernet slicer groups.

The message was plain. Something had gone wrong, Ageless Void had some help and he’d fought back. Old Miser and Vicious One had not reported in at the rendezvous point they’d agreed upon at Utapau, so the assumption was that they were either incapacitated and unable to fly the Dathomirian Curse to the meeting point, or they were dead.

Worse, Ageless appeared to have been as traitorous as they’d feared.

Worse, Ageless had mentioned something to Miser and Vicious just before Saber had had to break and run: He had mentioned the name of Inquisitor Mann.

That was awfully strange.

Awfully, awfully strange.

The Voice of Ether leaned back in his seat, developing a thousand-yard stare. He tapped his fingertips on the armrests. That name haunted him.

For all anyone knew, Inquisitor Mann was long dead, killed in action against a Rebel cell on Denon. But the Voice of Ether was one of six people who knew the Inquisitor had survived. He knew, because he had arranged for his own death to go undercover, and Lord Vader and Emperor Palpatine knew, because they’d given him permission to do it, in order to give the Rebels false hope in celebrating Mann’s death. They thought they’d won. They had let their guard down.

But even after Inquisitor Mann faked his death and reemerged to kill the remaining Rebels on Denon, the Emperor, in all his great wisdom, had decided to use Mann for his other talents, that of information-gathering and managing large cells of ISB spies. Recently, his work had been so far above reproach that he’d been granted the task of reforming the Kingdom just last year, managing what few assets were left.

Inquisitor Mann had given up the life of a personal servant and right-hand to Lord Vader, and become the Voice of Ether. Among his first recruits were Old Miser, Unsheathed Saber and Vicious One, three of the six people in the galaxy that knew Inquisitor Mann was still alive and well and using his power in the Force to govern intelligence assets from a centralized location on Coruscant. Sequestered, living alone, all data flowed through him, none were allowed to speak to him besides his droid, who issued orders on his behalf.

Sequestered—at least, for the most part. He did, occasionally, between his training and his work, still entertain guests at his humble, sub-level living quarters here on Coruscant. Mann didn’t mind being alone, it came naturally to him, an introvert who obsessed over saber training and learning more insights into the Force. Occasionally, Lord Vader himself deigned to check in on him, and sparred with him, offering lessons on his deepening quest towards enlightenment.

But no one knew Inquisitor Mann yet lives, he thought, looking at Unsheathed Saber’s message from Utapau.

He closed his eyes, searching deep within for answers.

So how did he know I’m alive?

After an hour of meditation, the Voice of Ether—Mann—opened his eyes and stood up. To his droid attendant standing in the corner of the Black Office, he said, “Inform Lord Vader, I am leaving the Black Chair. The Black Office is, at the moment, empty. You will reside in my place. Tell him ‘Code Onyx.’ Do it now. I will be gone in my shuttle before he answers.”

“Yes, Inquisitor,” said the droid.

“Shut down all operations after I’m gone. Code Indigo. Tell all assets to report to the nearest safehouse and await instructions from ISB handlers there. Then, self-destruct.”

“Yes, Inquisitor. It has been an honor serving you.”

“Same to you, my friend,” he said, patting the droid on the shoulder on the way out.

“May I tell Lord Vader where you’re headed.”

“Yes. Tell him I’m going to terminate Ageless Void, once and for all.”