Darth Nox emerged from the ancient ruins of Lehon, his steps slow and deliberate as if the weight of the world had settled upon his shoulders. The remnants of his long stasis still clung to him, fogging his mind and making the sharp edges of reality feel distorted. The Force had sharpened his senses during his slumber, heightening his awareness to levels that even he had not expected. It was this newfound clarity that unnerved him, a sense of vast power but also an undercurrent of uncertainty that gnawed at him.
The sun beat down on the jagged stones of the Rakata ruins, casting long shadows across the desolate landscape. As Nox took in his surroundings, the once vibrant power of Lehon now felt quiet, dormant. This planet had been the home of the Rakata, ancient masters of the dark side, builders of the Mother Machine. But now, it was as if the planet itself had been frozen in time alongside him, waiting for something to stir.
His head ached slightly as if his mind was trying to make sense of something elusive, a riddle just beyond his grasp. What troubled him most was the strange, fragmented feeling in his connection to the Force. It wasn't broken, but something had shifted, some underlying current of the dark side felt... altered. He tried to grasp at it, but the deeper he reached, the more it slipped away, elusive as a dream upon waking.
It was only moments later that he felt them—Lana Beniko and Xalek, along with the familiar mechanical presence of HK-51 and HK-55. The faint traces of their Force signatures reached him, as though they were walking toward him from the edge of his awareness. They had been searching for him. That much was clear, but something felt... wrong.
As Nox approached the clearing where his ancient Sith Interceptor stood, a familiar sleek black ship that had ferried him to countless victories, his companions came into view. Lana and Xalek stood at the forefront, while the two assassin droids loitered just behind them. The moment their eyes met his, he could feel the wave of relief and awe wash over them.
"Lord Nox," Lana said, her voice filled with a rare fervor. "We finally found you."
Nox stopped before them, towering in his dark robes, his piercing gaze fixed on her. He nodded slightly, though the dissonance within him deepened. "I sensed your arrival," he said, his voice cool but laced with curiosity. "How long have you been searching?"
Lana and Xalek exchanged glances, their confusion mirroring his own growing unease. "It's been five months," Lana replied slowly, her brow furrowed. "We tracked every lead we could find. Nar Shaddaa, Dromund Kaas, Nathema... until we arrived here. Five months, since we started searching."
Nox's expression remained calm, but the truth of her words clashed violently with the knowledge he held. Five months? That couldn't be possible. His mind had been awake for what felt like centuries, unraveling the knowledge of ancient Sith, absorbing the power of long-dead spirits. His body had been frozen, yes, but his consciousness had been active—he had felt the passage of time. Yet Lana and Xalek stood before him, unaware of the eons that had passed.
"No," Nox said quietly, his tone edged with something far colder. "It has not been five months. I have been trapped in this place for far longer. Centuries... perhaps more."
Lana's eyes widened, her confusion deepening. "But... how? We've been searching all this time. We've followed every lead, and it only led us here a few days ago."
Nox's eyes darkened, his mind racing as the pieces of the puzzle failed to align. "The Force has deceived you, Lana. It has bent time itself around us."
Xalek, always the quiet warrior, stepped forward. "You mean... we've been frozen, too? We didn't feel any different."
Nox's gaze swept over them, lingering on the droids before settling back on Lana and Xalek. "Your minds may have been unaware, but you were as much prisoners of time as I was. The Force held you in stasis, just as it did me. You only think you've been awake."
A ripple of unease passed through the group, the weight of his words slowly sinking in. Lana and Xalek exchanged looks, still grappling with the impossibility of what he was saying. HK-51 and HK-55 stood impassively, though their mechanical brains were undoubtedly calculating the odds of such an occurrence.
"What does this mean?" Lana asked softly. "How long... have we truly been gone?"
Nox didn't answer immediately. He didn't know for certain. The length of his slumber still eluded him. All he knew was that it had been far longer than they imagined. And worse, something had changed. The Force felt different, twisted in ways he could not yet define.
He turned from them, his gaze sweeping over the barren landscape of Lehon. "We need answers," he said finally, his voice grim. "And I will find them."
Without another word, Nox strode past them, moving toward the waiting ship. The weight of time pressed down upon him, but more than that, the feeling of uncertainty gnawed at his mind. Whatever had transpired during his long sleep had altered the galaxy in ways he could not yet see. But he would discover the truth soon enough.
The interior of the Sith Interceptor was just as he remembered it—cold, efficient, and steeped in the dark side. He moved swiftly toward the cockpit, the weight of Lana's and Xalek's confusion pressing against his back. He could sense their emotions in the Force: disbelief, fear, and the growing realization that something was terribly wrong.
But Nox already knew what they could not grasp. The Force had kept him awake for what felt like centuries, guiding him through an endless stream of ancient knowledge and power, even as his body remained frozen. Yet, the time he had experienced in his mind was but a fraction of the reality that awaited him. He had felt it the moment he woke—this was not the galaxy he had left behind.
Lana's voice cut through his thoughts as she stepped into the cockpit behind him. "Lord Nox... you said the Force held us in stasis. But why? What reason could there be for it to freeze us all for so long?"
Nox didn't look back at her. His hands moved across the controls of the ship with a practiced ease, activating the systems one by one. "The Force has its reasons," he replied coldly. "It bends time, manipulates the threads of fate. But I do not yet know why."
The ship hummed to life, and Nox turned to the ship's holocomputer. He accessed the HoloNet, searching for any sign of the current date—any clue that would confirm the truth he already suspected. As the data began to load, he felt Lana's presence hover just behind him, her confusion and growing fear bleeding into the Force.
Xalek stood in the doorway, silent but watchful. His eyes burned with a mixture of anger and wariness, though he said nothing. Even the assassin droids, usually so boisterous, seemed subdued by the gravity of the situation.
As the HoloNet flickered to life, Nox's eyes scanned the information displayed before him. The date—clear and undeniable—confirmed his worst fears.
It had been nearly 3,000 years since he had first departed for Lehon.
For a long moment, the only sound in the cockpit was the steady hum of the ship's engines. The weight of the revelation pressed down on him, though outwardly Nox remained as still and impassive as ever.
"Three thousand years..." Nox murmured, more to himself than to anyone else. He had known it had been longer than a few centuries, but this... this was beyond even his darkest imaginings.
Lana stepped closer, her voice trembling slightly. "What... what does that mean?"
Nox finally turned to face her, his expression cold and unreadable. "It means, Lana, that the galaxy we knew is long gone. The Empire, the Alliance, everything we fought for... it has been dust for millennia."
"What... do we do now?" Xalek asked, his voice low and full of barely contained rage.
Nox's eyes gleamed with a dark and terrible resolve. "We find out what has replaced the old order. And then... we take what is ours."