Part 3

The inside of the Keep had an eerie air to it. The trio found themselves in a large antechamber. The ceiling above was pitch black and Dagur had to squint to see how high it stood. A thick layer of dust sat on the floor of the antechamber and they could see several paths available to them. Andeddu stood in the middle of the room and surveyed the area. His face betrayed no emotion.

"So....... where to?" Dagur asked as he tried to feel the way with the Force. He frowned when he couldn't sense anything.

"This way." Andeddu told them as he started walking towards one of the paths on the right side of the chamber. An eerie howling filled the chamber startling two of the three. "Intruder! Intruder! Intruder! Intruder!"

The voices rang through the chamber and were amplified by the large ceiling, the echoes being far more malicious sounding than the original.

"Ignore that" Andeddu told them and with a swish of his cloak he turned back towards where he was walking.

Their journey into the Keep was met with various voices trying to intimidate them. Both Dagur and Camicazi were a little on edge as they couldn't sense anyone in the vicinity. The whispers intensified as they walked further until Andeddu led them to a new room. This one looked more like a den of sorts. Some paper and books were scattered about with thick layers of dust and cobwebs covering them. The room also housed several pieces of furniture and Camicazi cringed when she bumped into a table causing it to collapse in on itself, the contents on the table spilling onto the floor causing a large cloud of dust to rise up.

"UCK" Camicazi coughed as she breathed in the dust. Her eyebrow twitched at all the dust.

"Cami control your obsession." Dagur muttered as he already knows what was going to happen. That woman had a compulsion to clean.

"It is not an obsession!" Camicazi defended as she scrunched up her nose at the centuries old dust. "Can't a Lady of the Sith desire a clean environment?"

"Of course you can." Dagur told her. "But it turned into an obsession when you practically lost it and forced Drago into a small refresher just because he was tracking blood onto your newly cleaned floor."

"He was getting blood on my Wrodian carpet." Camicazi complained. "It took me a few generations of waiting to get that piece."

"It was just a rug!" Dagur tried to reason. He still flinched as he remembered the language that was used during that conflict and he had been in an adjacent hallway at the time.

"Will both of you be quiet!" Andeddu growled. "Can't you see that we are being watched." That statement stopped their bickering and both Dagur and Camicazi looked around the room not sensing anything.

Andeddu let out a sigh of frustration as he outstretched his arm and used the Force to drag a black cloaked figure out of the shadows. "How?" Dagur asked as he looked at the trashing figure in surprise.

"There is more than one way to sense someone who cloaks himself with the Force." Andeddu muttered as he levitated their watcher. There was some skittering noise and the telltale sound of lightsabers igniting. Several more individuals came out of the shadows and surrounded the group with their red lightsabers drawn. Dagur and Camicazi had their hands on their sabers but stopped from igniting them when Anddedu held up his hand.

"Intruders" Several of the shadowy individuals hissed. Their voices laced with anger and malice. "Leave..... Leave now."

"How about no!" Dagur opened his big mouth causing their opponents to get more agitated.

"Are these the cult Malevolence?" Camicazi asked Andeddu in a whisper. Andeddu only nodded as he kept his eyes on their opponents.

"You dare tread into this place." One hissed. "So foolish."

"We don't take kindly to strangers" Another said as his lightsaber illuminated part of his face. Andeddu still kept silent as he observed them. "You will never see the secrets of our master!"

"Well, I got to hand it to you." Dagur grumbled. "You sure know how to pick followers who'll stay loyal to you for centuries."

"We follow no one but the Sith-god!" The one still being levitated rasped out.

"Well who do you think is standing in front of you?" Dagur provoked and then pointed towards Andeddu. "Guess who came back from the dead."

"LIES! Blasphemy!" Several screeched as they took an offensive stance.

"You were warned." One chuckled. "We will take great delight in cutting you up."

"Uhm..... Anytime now..." Camicazi mumbled as she looked sideways at Andeddu, her hand never leaving her saber hilt. She still didn't feel comfortable looking at the man. The body he inhabited and was running around in had killed Drago, their long time and slightly megalomaniac leader. She couldn't look at him for long without wanting to seriously hurt him and probably run him through with her lightsaber.

Andeddu dropped his captive with a simple wave of his hand. The man fell to the floor with a loud thud while Andeddu turned to address the others in the room. "If you cannot sense the presence of your own master....." He muttered in a low growl as he lifted his palm and pointed it outward. Camicazi raised a brow at the tone of voice. It was weird hearing that tone come out of someone with Hiccup's face. Just plain weird. "Then what good are you to me." Andeddu stated before releasing a torrent of Force lightning through the room.

The lightning coursed through the men as they yelled in agony. Andeddu only stopped when he sensed that they were close to dying. The shadowy figures slumped to the floor as their bodies shook uncontrollably from the lightning. One hesitantly raised his head and looked at Andeddu. "Who........ Who.... are you?" He managed to get out.

"I am your lord and master." Andeddu stated as he loomed over them.

Meanwhile on Coruscant, another world in the Deep Core, we find several familiar individuals. The world was an ecumenopolis, and in one of the districts, in a tiny loft and hanger, two familiar people resided.

"Hiccup!" Astrid called out. "Dinner is ready!"

"Coming!" Hiccup shouted from down in the hangar. He came out from the ship he'd been working on and made his way upstairs. "I can't believe you're not dead yet." He heard Toothless mentally say. "Astrid's cooking could slay a Rancor in a few seconds."

"I don't see what's wrong with it." Hiccup mumbled. "My mom used to make the same tasting food."

"By the Celestials!" Toothless exclaimed. "Your stomach must be made from Durite!"

"Toothless, Astrid's cooking isn't so bad." Hiccup mumbled.

"The stench alone made the flowers wilt!" Toothless protested.

"Sure sure Toothless." Hiccup said as he walked into the kitchen and gave his girlfriend a kiss.

"So how's the new cruiser going?" Astrid asked.

"Well, I got the engine working now and a few other components." Hiccup told her. "I'm waiting for Fishlegs and Heather to come back with some more components."

Their doorbell rang and Hiccup frowned. "Stay here." He whispered. It couldn't be Fishlegs or Heather since they had their own key and Snotlout and Eret had returned to Mandalore.

Hiccup walked to the door, his palm resting on his lightsaber. He opened the door and gaped upon seeing who had come knocking.

"Hiccup Haddock, you are not a man that is easily found." Throk stated. Hiccup stepped aside to let him in before closing the door again.

"Throk? What are you doing here?" Astrid asked as she had stood ready to back Hiccup up. Not many people knew that they were here, and those that did, besides their friends, wouldn't come knocking.

"It's a long story." Throk told them. "I was about to free Mala but she sent me here with a message for Hiccup instead."

"I think you'll need to explain this in a bit more detail." Astrid told him. "Why don't you sit down with us. We were just about to have dinner."

Throk nodded and went to one of the seats at the table that Astrid indicated to. "Thank you." He stated. "I've been traveling for a long time trying to track you down."

"Well, what's the point of hiding if we could be found easily." Astrid told him as she placed a bowl of soup in front of him.

"If you don't mind me asking, how did you two end up here?" Throk mumbled as he took a sip of the soup and nearly turned green or bluish green in Hiccup's opinion. "Eck....." Throk managed to get out. "This soup is quite....... Original."

"Oh, you like it!" Astrid smiled. "Well don't be shy. You can ask for seconds."

Throk's face showed panic for a few seconds before he hid it. Hiccup merely sipped his soup as he watched the interaction. Toothless however was laughing his tail off and singing "I told you so!"

"Well, we succeeded in saving the galaxy." Hiccup told Throk. "But unfortunately there appeared to have been a malfunction with the operating systems of the shuttle we were in at the time. I think some debris might have clipped it before we jumped into hyperspace."

"We managed to make it here. Landing safely...." Hiccup explained but Astrid butted in with a smile "You mean crash-landed." She corrected. "We decided to sell the shuttle, or what was left of it, off and keep a low profile since Coruscant was still an Imperial world at the time of our arrival. It wouldn't look good if anyone found us with an Imperial transport."

Throk nodded. He could guess that the people might think them to be spies or deserters, even worse now that the planet was back in Republic hands.

"So you have no transport off this world?" Throk asked.

"We have a transport." Astrid told him. "Well, we will have one as soon as Hiccup manages to repair it."

"That still begs the question, why are you here Throk?" Astrid asked.

"Like I said it's a long story." Throk sighed. "As you know we Umbarans had been spies for the Empire. What you don't know is that some of us had allied ourselves with the Rebels. Ever since they won the Battle of Endor we've been busy rooting out Imperials."

"Throk..... I don't really understand." Hiccup stated.

"As you know there is still Imperial opposition in the galaxy. Rumors have it that they are preparing to regroup in the Unknown Regions." Throk explained. "We received intel from Maz Kanata, the Pirate Queen, that some Imperials were smuggling children to turn them into soldiers. Mala went to investigate this herself but the information turned out to be faulty. She got captured."

Astrid and Hiccup's eyes widened at that. Throk however carried on. "I managed to find her location and infiltrated the place that they had been keeping her. She however stopped me from rescuing her and sent me here with a message for you because according to her it was more important.

"And what was this message?" Hiccup asked.

"She stated that she had a Force vision." Throk explained. "She told me to tell you 'Beware of Aries'." Hiccup's brows furrowed as he thought for a moment. "Do you know what she meant?" Throk asked.

Hiccup however shook his head. "No, but I know where we can find out." he stated. "Are you up for a little excursion Throk?"