Star Wars_ Darth Bane 03_ Dynasty of Evil - Drew Karpyshyn [75]
The risk of Argel telling someone about her was too great; the information might make it back to the Jedi and cause them to investigate. Above all else it was critical that the Sith remained hidden, so Zannah was left with no choice but to eliminate Argel.
The real tragedy was that she never did manage to get anything more than a single name out of him: Darth Andeddu. Argel hadn’t known why Bane was interested in this particular Sith Lord, and without more to go on Zannah was stuck.
“Welcome back, Master,” Set said by way of greeting. “You’ll be happy to hear that I’ve learned everything one could possibly ever want to know about a miserable little pit of a world like Doan.”
“Too bad I didn’t send you to find out about Darth Andeddu,” she muttered, letting her frustrations boil up to the surface.
“Did you say Andeddu?” Set asked, obviously startled. “The immortal God-King of Prakith?”
Zannah’s jaw nearly hit the floor. “You’ve heard of him?”
“Ah, so now I have something to teach you,” Set said with a grin, recovering from his initial surprise. “Does that make me the Master?”
Zannah was in no mood for his jokes. “Tell me what you know about Andeddu.”
To his credit, Set picked up on her tone and took on a more serious demeanor.
“My last few years with the Jedi were spent serving under an Ithorian Master named Obba,” he explained.
“I’ve heard of him. He’s on the Council of First Knowledge.”
Ever since their battle against the Jedi on Tython, Bane had insisted they both know the name and reputation of every Master in the Order.
Set raised one eyebrow. “Impressive.”
“Consider that your first lesson. Know your enemy as well as you know yourself.”
“Noted. May I continue?”
Zannah nodded.
“While under Master Obba’s insufferable tutelage, much of my time was spent researching the histories of the ancient Sith. The hammerheaded old fool had this grand idea he could best serve the light by making a catalog of every known Sith Holocron, then sending out his agents to round them up and bring them back to the Jedi Temple for safekeeping.
“In my research, I happened on several references to a man named Darth Andeddu. The Jedi had worked hard to remove all mention of him from the galactic record, but as a member of the Order I had access to the original confiscated materials.”
“Get to the point,” Zannah warned him.
“Of course. Andeddu ruled over the world of Prakith as a god. At least, he did until the hyperlanes into the Deep Core collapsed, effectively cutting the planet off from the rest of the galaxy.
“There was, however, some evidence to support the theory that Andeddu created a Holocron during his reign. Master Obba believed it was still on Prakith, though he felt a journey into the Deep Core to retrieve it was too dangerous. To be honest, I kind of agreed with him.”
“What’s so special about Andeddu’s Holocron?” Zannah demanded. “You nearly swallowed your tongue when I mentioned his name.”
“If the legends are to be believed, Andeddu’s Holocron contains the secret of eternal life.”
Zannah cursed under her breath as all the pieces tumbled into place. Somehow Bane must have learned of Andeddu’s Holocron and gone to Prakith to claim it. He was trying to become immortal!
That’s why he had sent her off to Doan: so she wouldn’t find out what he was up to. Despite everything he had taught her about the Rule of Two, he wasn’t willing to accept the idea that his apprentice would one day surpass him. He actually thought that if he could find a way to stop the ravages of time and age, he could rule the Sith forever.
This is a betrayal of everything you taught me. You said you were teaching me all your secrets; you said the legacy of the Sith would one day be mine to carry