The Jedi Temple- Coruscant- Saturday evening
It was a relief to get back to Coruscant after cruising between Sith planets. That was true even if as soon as she got there, she ended up leading Ben and Vestara through the Temple until they reached the library to meet Natua.
"I commed you about seventeen times," Jaina greeted her, finding her behind several stacks of datapads.
Natua did a double take, obviously having been engrossed in her work until now. "Jaina! Ben! Welcome back. I’m sorry, I had it turned off. I was completely lost in some research I’ve been doing."
"So I see," Jaina said, smiling.
Natua turned to the last member of their party. "You must be Vestara Khai," she said. "Master Luke tells me you wish to become a Jedi."
Yeah. That had happened.
"I do," Vestara said. The thing was, she actually seemed pretty sincere about it. It was weird.
"I look forward to talking with you. I didn’t know much about the Sith culture before I started doing research for you all," Natua told her. "Now I find it fascinating."
"I think I will like learning about Jedi," Vestara offered. "Of course, I’ll tell you what I can to help."
While they talked, Jaina moved a pile of datapads from a chair so that she could sit next to Natua, and Ben and Vestara followed suit. "I wanted to come and thank you for all you've done," Jaina said. "You've been extremely helpful."
"Even if all you reached was a bunch of dead ends?" Natua said, apologetically.
"Even so. It's not your fault the Sith have a lot of hideyholes we need to investigate one by one."
"Well,” Natua said, "the wild caranak chase just might be done. I was going to comm you myself shortly. I wanted to do a bit more research first, but since you’re here, you might as well know."
"What have you found?"
"I’m not certain,” Natua warned, "but... I might have found Ship."
"What?" Jaina asked, a little too loud. A few others in the library looked her way, and Natua tried not to laugh.
"I know that we wanted to focus on known Sith worlds, going on the idea that if we knew about it, the Lost Tribe would as well," Natua said. "But one night, I decided to just randomly start reading about worlds we knew very little about, or that didn’t really play a significant role. One of these worlds is called Upekzar." Natua touched a datapad, causing a display of a planet to appear. "Upekzar has been mostly forgotten. This seems to be a pleasant and temperate planet. There are polar ice caps, rain forests, oceans, plains, mountains, forested areas- most climates are represented here. Unfortunately, but unsurprisingly, the unpleasant spots are where we need to target our investigation. See that ring of islands there? The ancient Sith called this Circle of Visions. The rest of the planet went undeveloped while they focused all their attention on five specific sites along this circle."
"Why was that area so special?" Vestara asked.
"The abundance of volcanoes," Natua replied."More specifically, they valued what the volcanoes left behind."
She described a lot about volcanoes, and how the ones on these islands had left lava tubes which were used for Sith rites and thus became if not a dark side nexus, then still an area where the energy would be strong. The girl knew her research.
"Ben, you first found Ship on Ziost," Natua continued. "He was... docked, for a better word, below an abandoned citadel, in the ground. What remaining documents there are indicate that this site was ‘the nest of the future Sith.’ I thought it was a nursery or a school, until I saw this." This time the image she called up was something that did look a lot like Ship. "While it’s highly doubtful this is the same Ship we seek, considering how long he seemed to have been on Ziost, it is definitely a Sith training vessel. It’s not too much of a stretch to believe that Ship might decide to return to a known ‘nest’ to ‘roost.’"
"So, it sounds like we’ll have to explore the city to see if we can find a trace of Ship in its, uh, hangar, and we’ll investigate the nearby volcanic caves to search for other information that could help us if he’s not there," Jaina said. "Natua, what do we know about the rites that were conducted in the lava tubes?"
"Unfortunately, nothing. They were secret- only for the initiated. The records go silent on what actually transpired."
"Upekzar is a small and not very well-known bastion of the Sith to begin with,” Jaina said. “I wouldn't have thought there'd be much information on them. You’re going to make the Grand Master of the Jedi very happy. And if you’d like, I’d love it if you’d come with us. Seems to me you’ve more than earned your right to participate in the hunt, and I’m going to tell Luke so." Because with all the work she'd done to help them, Natua deserved this.
Natua's eyes widened in surprise. "I... I would of course be honored to help the Grand Master, if he wishes me to come. Thank you, Jaina."
Jaina gave her a smile and pushed her chair up to stand. "Okay. I'm going to leave a message for Uncle Luke, and then I’m off to see my fiancé."
"Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do," Ben quipped.
"Hey- I certainly hope I do, and you better not," Jaina said lightly, pulling her comlink as she left.
[NFB, NFI, yadda yadda you're not reading this anyway. Taken from Ascension by Christie Golden.]
"I commed you about seventeen times," Jaina greeted her, finding her behind several stacks of datapads.
Natua did a double take, obviously having been engrossed in her work until now. "Jaina! Ben! Welcome back. I’m sorry, I had it turned off. I was completely lost in some research I’ve been doing."
"So I see," Jaina said, smiling.
Natua turned to the last member of their party. "You must be Vestara Khai," she said. "Master Luke tells me you wish to become a Jedi."
Yeah. That had happened.
"I do," Vestara said. The thing was, she actually seemed pretty sincere about it. It was weird.
"I look forward to talking with you. I didn’t know much about the Sith culture before I started doing research for you all," Natua told her. "Now I find it fascinating."
"I think I will like learning about Jedi," Vestara offered. "Of course, I’ll tell you what I can to help."
While they talked, Jaina moved a pile of datapads from a chair so that she could sit next to Natua, and Ben and Vestara followed suit. "I wanted to come and thank you for all you've done," Jaina said. "You've been extremely helpful."
"Even if all you reached was a bunch of dead ends?" Natua said, apologetically.
"Even so. It's not your fault the Sith have a lot of hideyholes we need to investigate one by one."
"Well,” Natua said, "the wild caranak chase just might be done. I was going to comm you myself shortly. I wanted to do a bit more research first, but since you’re here, you might as well know."
"What have you found?"
"I’m not certain,” Natua warned, "but... I might have found Ship."
"What?" Jaina asked, a little too loud. A few others in the library looked her way, and Natua tried not to laugh.
"I know that we wanted to focus on known Sith worlds, going on the idea that if we knew about it, the Lost Tribe would as well," Natua said. "But one night, I decided to just randomly start reading about worlds we knew very little about, or that didn’t really play a significant role. One of these worlds is called Upekzar." Natua touched a datapad, causing a display of a planet to appear. "Upekzar has been mostly forgotten. This seems to be a pleasant and temperate planet. There are polar ice caps, rain forests, oceans, plains, mountains, forested areas- most climates are represented here. Unfortunately, but unsurprisingly, the unpleasant spots are where we need to target our investigation. See that ring of islands there? The ancient Sith called this Circle of Visions. The rest of the planet went undeveloped while they focused all their attention on five specific sites along this circle."
"Why was that area so special?" Vestara asked.
"The abundance of volcanoes," Natua replied."More specifically, they valued what the volcanoes left behind."
She described a lot about volcanoes, and how the ones on these islands had left lava tubes which were used for Sith rites and thus became if not a dark side nexus, then still an area where the energy would be strong. The girl knew her research.
"Ben, you first found Ship on Ziost," Natua continued. "He was... docked, for a better word, below an abandoned citadel, in the ground. What remaining documents there are indicate that this site was ‘the nest of the future Sith.’ I thought it was a nursery or a school, until I saw this." This time the image she called up was something that did look a lot like Ship. "While it’s highly doubtful this is the same Ship we seek, considering how long he seemed to have been on Ziost, it is definitely a Sith training vessel. It’s not too much of a stretch to believe that Ship might decide to return to a known ‘nest’ to ‘roost.’"
"So, it sounds like we’ll have to explore the city to see if we can find a trace of Ship in its, uh, hangar, and we’ll investigate the nearby volcanic caves to search for other information that could help us if he’s not there," Jaina said. "Natua, what do we know about the rites that were conducted in the lava tubes?"
"Unfortunately, nothing. They were secret- only for the initiated. The records go silent on what actually transpired."
"Upekzar is a small and not very well-known bastion of the Sith to begin with,” Jaina said. “I wouldn't have thought there'd be much information on them. You’re going to make the Grand Master of the Jedi very happy. And if you’d like, I’d love it if you’d come with us. Seems to me you’ve more than earned your right to participate in the hunt, and I’m going to tell Luke so." Because with all the work she'd done to help them, Natua deserved this.
Natua's eyes widened in surprise. "I... I would of course be honored to help the Grand Master, if he wishes me to come. Thank you, Jaina."
Jaina gave her a smile and pushed her chair up to stand. "Okay. I'm going to leave a message for Uncle Luke, and then I’m off to see my fiancé."
"Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do," Ben quipped.
"Hey- I certainly hope I do, and you better not," Jaina said lightly, pulling her comlink as she left.
[NFB, NFI, yadda yadda you're not reading this anyway. Taken from Ascension by Christie Golden.]