Chapter 21

The gears churned as the carbonite slab was brought back up to floor level. The slab was then moved back so that it leaned against the wall. Cort's frozen hands reached out from the bindings near the top of the slab and his face was contorted into a silent cry for help.

Daruc put his hands on his hips and smiled deviously. He turned to the other men in the room. Raising his hands in triumph, he shouted, "The Raifen dynasty is no more! From now on, this planet will answer to me!"

The men roared in approval and cheered even louder when Daruc mentioned that he would have to do some redecorating in order to fit his new trophy into the throne room. The room grew louder, though, as the cheers turned to shouts of alarm when the men realized that a last ditch effort on behalf of the Jidorian security forces was caving in the sewer tunnels.

The men began streaming out of the tunnels and upwards as the ceilings rained down. A few men began to move the carbonite slab, but Daruc ordered them to forget it and move out. Everyone managed to escape, but as Daruc was climbing out onto ground level, Cort's lightsaber fell from his belt and into the darkness below.

* * *

The battle at Jidora left the sewer tunnels completely impassable. Many of the magnificent works of art throughout the palace had been completely destroyed. Entire rooms had been buried. Among those rooms was the Raifen library and its immense wealth of knowledge.

Daruc's rise to power was swift, but his fall happened almost as rapidly. When he grew over confident and began to ignore the commands of Darth Sidious, the Galactic Senate coincidentally ignored Alonia. No relief forces arrived to help the trapped citizens, despite the intervention and pleas from the Jedi Council. Daruc's power began to crumble as men who had previously been loyal to him began to feel betrayed by his dictatorial rule. They organized a successful movement to topple him from power. Alonia never recovered and found itself subject to numerous political insurrections. The planet eventually became empty as people left for elsewhere. Alonia was soon only occupied by military deserters, treasure hunters, and other people who did not wish to be found.

The carbonite slab containing the frozen Prince Raifen was forgotten. Obi-Wan Kenobi soon found himself drawn into urgent matters that kept him very busy in addition to Anakin's training. When the Clone Wars broke out, he lost all hope of ever finding out what happened to his good friend.

Anakin recovered from his injuries, but not without side effects. He remembered nothing of the chaos on Alonia. Obi-Wan did not care to relive those events, so he discouraged the Jedi healers from trying to repair the memories that Anakin had lost over those few days. After Anakin fell to the Dark Side and became Darth Vader, Obi-Wan was thankful that he had not repaired Anakin's memory. In the Jedi purge that followed the Clone Wars, Alonia was left undisturbed. Darth Vader had no memories of the time he spent there as Anakin. He remembered nothing of a Jedi prince or of the Raifen family library. That wealth of knowledge remained lost.

Many years passed and the layers of dust in the ruined palace grew. Many people stayed away from Jidora due to the stories about the ghost of the last prince that supposedly roamed the palace. Only treasure seekers dared to venture inside. But none went into the tunnels that entombed the frozen prince.

The carbonite slab remained down there, encased by the collapsed ceilings and passageways. Only the sewer vermin were around to hear Cort's silent scream for help.