Part 4

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Throk asked as he pulled his hood further down. They were nearing the Imperial Palace, the former headquarters of the Jedi, and a lot of Imperial soldiers were still around as the planet was not yet under fully Republic control.

"Stay close." Hiccup told Throk. "I'm not that good at cloaking as Fishlegs."

"Right" Throk mumbled as they made their way through the Imperial palace and past the guards that were still stationed there. "Why are we here again?" He asked out of confusion.

"What other place would we find the information we need?" Hiccup questioned. They made their way through the temple, avoiding guards and other obstacles along the way, until they reached the upper levels that housed the Jedi archives. "This area seems in quite good condition." Throk observed.

"Why wouldn't they be?" Hiccup questioned. "It is rumored that the Jedi Archives held the sum total of galactic knowledge." Hiccup stated. "This place supposedly has records dating back millenia. I'm sure we'll find something about Aries here."

The highest part of the Imperial palace housed the large library. Its high vaulted ceilings and densely packed rows of empty shelves a large contrast to the spartan decorated levels below. No banners of the Empire hung here and both Hiccup and Throk treaded carefully into the the room. Cold silence greeted Hiccup and Throk as they marveled at what was once the greatest collection of knowledge in the galaxy. The damage from some battles was still evident on some parts of the library.

"Where ar-hmmf" Throk was cut off as Hiccup placed a hand over his mouth as he heard something. He quickly guided Throk towards one of the shelves to hide behind. There they crouched low as someone passed. There was a series of beeps and then someone said "I know R2. I know. I just hoped that there would be more on the Jedi Order here."

They saw a set of boots passing by their hiding place and ducked lower. The pair of boots stopped for a moment near them causing the droid accompanying the person to bump into him. A flurry of beeps followed. "R2!" The man admonished. "I thought I sensed something near us."

Hiccup silently cursed and quickly dampened his presence in the Force. He realised that the man must be Force-sensitive, they had no problems passing the guards and only those strong in the Force might have sensed them.

"Hmmm" They heard. "I must have imagined it." Was murmured as the droid beeped a few more times.

"No, I don't think coming here was a waste." The man answered. "We managed to find some information on the Jedi Order that Palpatine didn't destroy."

Another flurry of bleeps. "Why do you want me to visit my sister now?"

After the droid answered, the man said "She's on Chandrila now, and yes, I know she's pregnant. I'm just trying to rebuild this Order."

The droid beeped again and this time Hiccup thought it sounded like something akin to exasperation. "Right, you do make a good point. Visit now instead of when she's near her due date." The man then said. "Han's actually been keeping any blasters away from her since she told him." The pair then made their way past Hiccup's and Throk's hiding spot and left the archives.

"Who was that?" Throk asked once Hiccup and him came out of hiding.

"Probably Luke Skywalker." Hiccup told him without batting an eye. He started walking further into the archives and Throk quickly followed with a look of disbelief.

"Are you kidding me?" Throk asked as he caught up. "That was the hero of the Rebellion?"

"I'm still amazed that you didn't realize it right away. Ever since the Battle of Endor people have been telling stories about him." Hiccup stated as he found an undamaged terminal.

"Well this is interesting." Hiccup mumbled as he accessed the terminal.

"You found information on Aries?"

"No" Hiccup mumbled. "It seems like very large parts of the archive have been intentionally purged. It looks like most of it was Jedi related."

"You think the Empire did that?" Throk asked as they looked over the logs. "Partially yes." Hiccup stated. "One of the login IDs however seems to belong to the Chief librarian of this place during the war."

"Okay here we go." He said as a search function appeared. Hiccup typed in Aries but the computer returned with 'NO MATCH FOUND'.

"Well that's just peachy." Throk mumbled and wondered what Mala had been thinking about when she gave him such a vague message.

"Okay let's try this again. I'll try going back further." Hiccup stated and widened the search parameters. 'NO MATCH FOUND' blinked back at them for a second time.

"If it doesn't appear in these records, the it probably doesn't exist." Throk commented.

"Doesn't exist, doesn't mean it never happened or existed." Hiccup mumbled more to himself.

"Where is a librarian when you need them?" Throk asked as he was getting frustrated.

"I know that this is frustrating." Hiccup told Throk as he indicated for the man to be patient a little longer.

"Right, Sorry." Throk mumbled. "It's just..... I get that I'm impatient, but Mala..... She's still stuck in that cell. I just wish she'd been a little less vague. I get that you just can't ask some omniscient source."

"THAT'S IT!" Hiccup suddenly jumped up from his seat startling Throk in the process. Throk held a hand to his heart from the sudden outburst. "We'll ask the Force!"

"We'll what?" Throk now exclaimed. "Why didn't you just do that at your house?"

"Well...... The Force works in mysterious ways. For these types of answers you need to be in a location of great Force energy." Hiccup explained. "Luckily we are sitting right on top of one."

"We are?"

"Yes" Hiccup stated. "It's been a while since I've been on this planet so everything is pretty different but I'm sure that this is the site of the Sacred Spire."

"The what now?"

"The Sacred Spire...... you know the Force Nexus that the early natives of Coruscant worshipped. I had a chance to see it when Fishlegs and I boarded the sleeper ship."

"Hiccup, when was the last time you were on this planet?" Throk asked as he had no idea what Hiccup was talking about. Hiccup frowned for a moment as he was deep in thought. "I think it was almost 26 millenia ago...." He mumbled not noticing Throk's eyes go as wide as saucers.

"Did..... did... you say millenia?!" Throk nearly sputtered and shrieked but quickly composed himself.

"Yes, it's a long story but I'm pretty sure we can get some answers here." Hiccup mumbled. "We just need to get closer to the Nexus." Hiccup said as he began to lead the way out of the Archives.

"Millenia" Throk mouthed incredulously as he followed closely. The hairs on his arms stood a bit on edge as Hiccup cloaked them again.

They had been walking for a while, mostly on the ground floor past several ransacked rooms and various twists and turns. "We're lost." Throk whispered. "I'm telling you we're lost."

"You....... May be right." Hiccup admitted as they came to a stop. "I can feel the Nexus below us but there doesn't seem to be a way to access it."

"I do know that the Empire remodeled most of the temple. It's entirely possible that they sealed up the old entrances." Throk mentioned.

Hiccup thought for a moment before he looked around cautiously and took out his lightsaber and lifted his cloak.

Hiccup indicated for Throk to follow him to a smaller hallway. "I can sense the Nexus below us. It's pulsing with Force energy." Hiccup told him as he lit up his lightsaber. The dark purple blade illuminating the dark grey corridor in an almost eerie glow. "If they sealed up the entrances then we'll just have to make our own." Hiccup then proceeded to plunge his lightsaber into the floor and started making a hole.

"I'm in the presence of a madman." Throk murmured under his breath as Hiccup was busy making a hole in the floor. The floor dropped into some other room below it and Hiccup indicated for Throk to hold onto him as he floated them down.

"What is this place?" Throk asked as the room was only illuminated by the purple glow of Hiccup's saber. "I'm guessing that it's one of the meditation chambers." Hiccup surmised once they had landed. The chamber looked small and nearly circular. The walls seemed to be decorated with stone carvings of previous Jedi while at the front of the chamber a large black stone wall stood. "That's as close to the Nexus as we'll get." Hiccup explained while pointing towards the black stone wall. He then proceeded to sit in a lotus position and closed his eyes. "Now.... we hope that this is where our answers lie." Hiccup mumbled before he connected to the Nexus.

Meanwhile back on Prakith, Andeddu was sitting lazily on a large throne reading one of his many scrolls while his underlings, who had been taught a lesson, scurried about to keep him pleased. Camicazi entered the room and frowned at what she saw. "Well?" She asked as she placed her hands on her hips. "Have you found it?"

"I'm still looking." Andeddu scowled at being interrupted. "Where has Dagur gone?"

"He had some business to take care of." Camicazi explained. "He should be back in a few days. Why don't I help you look?" She then suggested.

"NO!" Andeddu shouted as he held his scrolls close to him. He looked at Camicazi with wild eyes "You are not getting my knowledge. I agreed to help you find a way to gain immortality. I haven't agreed to give you access to my books."

"But it would go so much faster." Camicazi reasoned but Andeddu just looked at her with wild eyes. "No! You don't go near my knowledge! Knowledge is power and a true Sith does not share power." He hopped off of his throne and with a swish of dark robes left the room.

"Damn melodramatic hoarder." Camicazi hissed under her breath before she activated her commlink. "What! Can't you see I'm busy!" Dagur grumbled as she heard sounds of blaster fire in the background. "Take that you weaklings!!" She heard Dagur cackle over the comm.

"Will you just listen." Camicazi hissed. "Andeddu is being difficult. I think I know how the other Sith Lords felt when he reigned. He's a pain in a Rancor's behind. Hurry up with that package."

"I'm getting to it!" Dagur growled. "I had to make a detour first. I managed to find some information when Andeddu was sleeping."

"Alright. Call me when you get it." Camicazi stated. "I'll try to get into his good graces here."

"Right" Was all Dagur said before he shut off his commlink. Camicazi sighed and then looked towards the dark hallway where Andeddu had disappeared towards.

Andeddu meanwhile had slammed the door to his chamber and was muttering while pacing in his room. "They all want it.... She's just like the others. No it's my knowledge." He muttered to himself.

"You're paranoid." A voice suddenly rang through the room. Andeddu stopped pacing and looked around readying his body for a fight. "Over here you idiot." Came the voice again. Andeddu cautiously walked over to the dusty mirror. In it he saw his reflection, well he saw his host's reflection. The weird part was that the reflection was moving on his own.

"How?" Andeddu asked flabbergasted as he looked at the mirror to see the consciousness of his host body smirking at him.

"You're slipping. I'll soon have control over my body again." The clone provoked.

"Your body is mine!" Andeddu growled back.

"Some mighty Sith lord." The clone taunted. "Can't even keep a single human under his contr-CRASH" The mirror broke as Andeddu punched a fist through it. It seemed like his reflection had then returned to normal but he could have sworn that he had heard a faint whisper in the Force saying "Soon".