A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...
The Secret of NIMH:
EXPERIMENTS OF THE EMPIRE
Civil war! A thousand years of peace and liberty upheld by the Galactic Republic have come a bitter end as the Clone Wars break out in the Outer Rim.
While the Jedi take up arms against the Confederacy of Independent Systems, they are oblivious to a secret Sith experiment in uncharted space that could tamper with the power of the Living Force.
As SUPREME CHANCELLOR PALPATINE of the Republic journeys toward a secret laboratory light-years beyond galactic civilization, an unknown traveler secretly follows him into a galaxy far, far away...
PROLOGUE
BENEATH THE SURFACE
Omega Base, 1974
Except for the lighting panels in the walls and overhanging lights in the ceiling, the corridors of the base were as dark and silent as the project it would take part of. The personnel walking down these halls would often experience moments of claustrophobia and paranoia, probably because of the dim lighting, and the fact that nobody knew what the Supreme Chancellor had in mind; what he wanted to do with the research facility hidden underneath the American medical laboratory, the National Institute of Mental Health—or NIMH for short.
Nobody knew what Palpatine's intentions against the recent separatist movement were, or if the Separatists caught wind of the facility and were preparing to strike. Some had speculated that anti-droid pulse weapons were underway, others that it was surveillance equipment that could spy on a suspect ship within an entire star system, and few dared to imagine biological weapons like a trihexalon variant, animals that could hunt down Jedi and droids alike, or even a vaccine that could bring the dead back to life.
Although there was no way anybody could know about its location or detect it, it still presented its occupants with a sense of loneliness and dread of being isolated from the Republic. They had little hope of assistance in the event of an attack from the Separatists; but it was a higher likelihood that their own project that could be a deadlier threat to the entire base. Security personnel consisting of Republic Army and Navy troops, as well as the newly commissioned clone troopers, patrolled the base relentlessly. If they failed to stop any mishaps during testing, then it would be all over for them.
As the old spacer's saying went, no one would hear them scream in this corner of space. Not even on a remote unknown world that was nowhere on any of the navigation charts.
But with the base commander, Colonel Khorrus, in charge, it was unlikely that there would be any sound to be heard unless he requested it specifically.
There were four things that were heard in Khorrus' presence; first and foremost was the sound of his boots pounding on the ceramic and durasteel floors. Whenever it echoed throughout the corridors, that precise militarized pattern, the troopers and workers would stand at attention and salute him as per proper procedure. If he wanted them to speak up, then he expected a full and concise report as well as good news, the second sound to be heard around here. If Khorrus had no intention of seeing or hearing from them, then they were silent. But the one thing he detested was anybody slacking off the job. Power tools whirred and computer boards clacked at his arrival, the sound of productivity was what he wanted to hear.
Even a few short years in the military branch at the Galactic Academy had honed his character not only to be efficient, but to expect his command to be as efficient as well. It had taken seven months to construct the base when it should have been over six and a half months. The recent failure of one of the power generators two months ago hadn't helped matters. Nobody knew what happened exactly or who could be responsible for it, but Khorrus didn't care who it was as long as another accident was prevented, and that everything would run smoothly again.
Not a month before the accident, the Republic commenced a preemptive strike against the Separatists on Geonosis. Despite the crippling blow to their military, the failure to capture the Separatist Council along with their leader, Count Dooku, proved to be costly. In little over a month, the Separatists had reassembled their armies and struck back hard. Although the Droid Army's efforts were countered, they remained a clear reminder of how close the Republic could come to collapse, and why the base should have been completed sooner.
But first, Khorrus' top priority was to ensure that the base would be fully operational today. There was an inspection team coming and he wanted everything to be perfect. Stolidly, he marched toward the space and air control center.
Supplies were still needed to run and maintain the outpost. Specialized power cables, generators, and converters were just some of the needed items to sustain themselves. They were also expecting weapons and ammunition as well as food, medical supplies, and the classified material from this supply run.
But despite their need for the supplies, the transports had to be especially quiet on the delivery runs. Although the planet the base was established on was relatively primitive compared to them, they still had the technology that could spot approaching ships before they reached the surface. Of course, the carrier would never be seen thanks to political disputes on opposite sides of the planet that nobody would bother to notice. The difficulty was getting the supply shuttles planetside without being detected.
Here in the space and air control room, that was just the problem the engineers and technicians were working on at present. The control room was just an assortment of computer monitors and consoles all directing the traffic of incoming spacecraft and redirecting civilian aircraft away from the area around NIMH. On the front wall were more monitors that calculated the projected courses of the various airborne vehicles in the general vicinity, along with satellites in low orbit, any approaching starships outside the system, and communication traffic of military and civilian channels.
They were preparing to test a specialized satellite to mask a probe's approach when the doors to the room hissed open. In stepped the base commander, looking as grim and no-nonsense as usual. The lieutenant on duty announced, "Atten—tion! Colonel on deck!" Everybody who was able to stood up and snapped to attention. They were soon dismissed with a nod, and returned to duty.
The lieutenant was the only one who remained standing to deliver his report. "We've just started to power up the satellite, sir," he said. "All systems appear to be nominal. We are ready to dispatch the probe and begin testing weather manipulation and radar masking beams."
His superior nodded grimly. "Good work, Lieutenant. I expect everything at peak efficiency." His tone projected the air of dignity despite his nasally voice. "I have received word that we have an inspection group en route to this system within a week of this planet's time. Are all the base's systems fully operational?"
"Almost. The ventilation systems in Section A-3 near one of the labs are being checked out for full operational status..."
Khorrus ground his teeth in frustration. He had a good guess on who would be working on those systems, damned if it wasn't those two slackers... "Are Misters Azzameen and Dekkar currently on that assignment?"
"Yes sir."
The colonel growled quietly. He had been correct in assessing that Tomaas "Ace" Azzameen and Eltar Dekkar were responsible for repairing the vent systems.
Khorrus did not know how they got enlisted into the Engineering Corps, nor did he want to. Those two, he thought, were nothing but troublemakers who didn't seem to care about the urgency of their jobs. This wasn't entirely true, but as long somebody had to take the heat for the power generator shutdown, those two fit the bill.
First things first, He reminded himself. He stiffed up straight and resumed his air of authority and professionalism again. "Commence the test, launch the probe." The lieutenant nodded his acknowledgement and began relaying the orders to the satellite operators.
Holo-displays and console lights flickered, dissipated and re-coalesced to show images of the planet as well as a number of spy satellites in orbit; satellites used by the superpowers of this world known as the United States and the Soviet Union.
Another image showed two unusually designed satellites in larger orbits than the spy satellites, and another display showed a hidden launch tube inside one of the strange satellites. The missile inside the tube actually held a vessel for a communication probe. It would listen in on any radio transmissions sent by SETI, or the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. Its mother com satellite would intercept the radio waves and redirected them elsewhere to prevent interference whilst it took in Republic transmissions and beam them to the base's com systems discretely.
The other satellite was just as critical as the com satellite. Its special design permitted an array that would bend light not only around itself and its sister satellite, but around where the carrier ship, the Prosperity and her compliment of cargo shuttles; preventing inquisitive stargazers from seeing. Thanks to a specialized radar jamming system and a beam to create cloud cover against the photo satellites, the ships would land undetected.
Once all the instrumentation checkouts were completed, the okay for the probe was given and the launch commenced. Another bank of consoles briefly showed the probe's arc of descent toward the planet, then vanished in an instant from the screens. A third group of screens showed the probe approaching the Eastern Coast of North America on specialized sensors, and a fourth group displayed the area around the probe's landing zone clouded by fog and, apparently, rain clouds.
Suddenly, an enormous hole seemed to appear in the ocean where the probe would land. It halted in mid air and descended slowly into the whirlpool. Instead of being pulled inside the vortex of water, the probe remained in the relatively dry center.
Khorrus watched without pleasure or excitement as he saw a channel of matter-energy forming within the vortex. The tunnel was level with the probe where it extended toward the coast itself. The machine floated through the shield tunnel until it reached an armored door. Once the probe had entered the door, and the door closed, the energy tunnel and the vortex dissipated.
So did the tension in the room soon after.
"The test has been successful, sir," the lieutenant reported. "Sensors confirm total radar jamming, perfect cloaking field, transmission interception and redirection, stable matter parting and tunnel formation toward the excavated hangar tunnel."
Khorrus just nodded without turning toward him, "Good. I leave you to maintain control of all operations of our satellites. I expect them to be working in full order when the inspection team arrives. Now, if you will excuse me, I still have work to do." With that, the lieutenant saluted, and Khorrus marched out the control center.