Dromund Kaas: Kaas City

"Something is wrong." Lord Vauner muttered. It didn't make sense. Everyone was acting normal, Imperial citizen went about performing their daily duties. Likewise the soldiers and Sith that patrolled the streets were likewise acting normal.

But something was wrong. This had to be the Force telling him something, though what that might be, he didn't know. The Force could be awfully vague. This feeling of wrongness could be something that would happen in the future, it could be something happening right now, or he could simply be standing in a spot where something terrible had happened though that was unlikely. He looked at his apprentice. "What do you sense?"

Jaesa Willsaam, new apprentice of Lord Vauner stopped walking and closed her eyes. "Fear… anger…. anticipation…. doubt." She muttered, wincing as she opened her eyes "But none of it is coming from the general population. It seems to be…contained."

Vauner nodded, he had sensed that as well. Unfortunately, he couldn't pinpoint where the emotions were coming from. On reflection though, he was probably worried about nothing. If there was a problem, Vauner thought, then it would have been sensed by the Council. As much as the Sith enjoyed backstabbing each other, they usually avoided it becoming public. "Should we contact your master?" Jaesa asked, breaking his train of thought.

Vauner considered for a moment, it was tempting. Baras would know that he wouldn't make idle or unfounded statements and would likely have some advice. Still, he does not need to know everything that troubles me. Speaking to Jaesa, he answered, "No. If Baras felt something was off he would tell me. Besides," he added, "I don't think Baras deserves an update every time I feel uneasy."

Both of them walked towards a railing overlooking one of Dromund Kaas' many valleys. Jaesa, leaning on the railing, looked over at the newly appointed Sith Lord. "Perhaps he can't sense it. Maybe none of them can."

Vauner crossed his arms. "Explain."

She hesitated, "You…are not like the other Sith Lords. You know this. It's why I agreed to help you." Vauner nodded, waiting for her to continue, "Most people who draw upon the Dark Side," she explained, "draw upon strong negative emotions. Pain, terror, rage-"

Vauner held up a hand, "You're partially correct. However the Sith draw power from all emotions, not just negative ones. I draw power from my emotions of triumph and joy as well as pain and anger."

Jaesa turned to face him, pursing her lips "The point is that the Sith have become desensitized to these emotions, they don't feel them unless they are actively trying to draw power from them."

"An interesting theory." Vauner mused, looking at her with interest, "I may have to look into it after this feeling pass-"

A red beam of light from the sky struck the building immediately behind them, completely destroying it. Within an instant the lightsabers of both master and apprentice were lit and ready. Time slowed down and sound became muted as Vauner fell deep within the Force as he did in every battle. He observed civilians running in terror, trying to avoid being crushed by the falling debris from the ruined building. He observed soldiers looking around in confusion, not knowing if they should start aiming or run for cover.

There.

His focus became on a man who was about to be crushed by one of the falling pieces. Without thinking he called upon the force and leapt towards the falling piece, meeting it in midair and kicking it away from the man. Without looking at the man he turned his attention upward. Within seconds he determined that only seven of the falling pieces would be fatal if they landed on someone. He raised his hands upward as if to catch the falling rocks.

Seven massive objects would be difficult for most Sith Lords. Luckily, he had help. "Jaesa!" He roared, hoping she would catch on. Luckily she seemed to. Sheathing her lightsaber she stretched out her hand. Not at the rocks though. At him.

The weight of the stones met his Force grip and the sheer weight and force of the falling stones drove him to his knees. Jaesa, he thought, a little help would be nice. The stones were falling slower now as he struggled to maintain a grip, but they would still be fatal if they hit anyone on the ground. Suddenly, he felt stronger, more rejuvenated. His grip on the stones became tighter as his energy came back. With a roar he forced himself to his feet and observed not just the massive stones, but most of the debris that had started to fall, suspended in midair.

Power flowing from him he used his regained strength and thrust his hands towards the valley he had overlooked just a minute before. The massive stones and most of the caught debris went over the side. He took a breath and time resumed at a normal speed as did all the sounds. He looked around for Jaesa and saw her standing in the same place, her eyes closed and hand still extended towards him. She must have felt his gaze because she opened her eyes and as she withdrew her hand, the surge of strength that had entered him vanished as well.

Ah, now he understood. Rather than try to help catch the rocks, she instead focused her power on augmenting his strength. Very clever. "Well done." He congratulated as he strode towards her. She didn't look well, she stumbled to the ground. Vauner quickly helped her up. "Jaesa," he commanded, looking into her brown eyes "focus." He put a small amount of force suggestion into the last word.

"Right…" she muttered, "right, sorry… that took…more out of me than I expected." Vauner led her over to a small bench.

"Sit here while-", The ground shook as another building within the city exploded. Vauner quickly regained his balance, not quite sure what he was witnessing. An attack! Here, but who? He didn't have much time to contemplate as another beam from the sky appeared and destroyed another building. Leaving Jaesa he ran over to four Imperial soldiers who seemed to be communicating with someone.

"Solider!" he ordered, "Status report! What's going on?" The ranking soldier, broke off with whoever he was communicating with and answered.

"Were not quite sure, my lord. There are reports of multiple strikes throughout the planet." Vauner was stunned.

"Who is it? How did no one know about this?" He demanded, his outrage growing. The soldier took a step back.

"N-no one has taken responsibility my lord." He stammered, "I know as much as you do!" Vauner glared at him for a few moments, then let his rage fade. It did no good to frighten men who were just doing their jobs and didn't know anything. He sighed.

"Suspend whatever orders you were given. Evacuate the buildings and get medical help to those who need it." The soldier saluted.

"At once my lord!" He answered, then the soldiers ran off to fulfill their orders. Vauner spun on his heel and pulled out his holocommunicator. As he was punching in the frequency the ground was shaken as more buildings were demolished. Now screams of pain and terror starting to echo through the district.

A few seconds later, an image of Malavai Quinn, personal officer to Lord Vauner appeared looking as professional as ever. "My lord, is there something you needed?"

"Not now, Quinn!" As efficient as Quinn was, he sometimes played the role of the implacable Imperial officer too well. "Tell me why Kaas City is under bombardment!"

Quinn consulted a datapad he was holding, "It seems that this was not entirely unexpected. Imperial Intelligence knew about these satellites, which they have dubbed 'eradicators'. They expected an attack, but didn't know if, or when it would be carried out." Vauner stared at the blue image in disbelief.

"You're saying that they knew this was coming and didn't tell us!" He demanded, seething, "What were they thinking!"

"I cannot say, my lord." Quinn answered, "It seems as though Intelligence sent one of their agents to prevent this from happening, it appears that he has failed."

"No kidding." Vauner muttered, as another blast shook the ground. "Do we have locations on these 'eradicators'?" Quinn looked at his datapad.

"Yes, but they are just outside Dromund Kaas' AA guns and we only have supply ships or personal fighters. Reinfor-" Vauner waved him off.

"Send me coordinates of all the eradicator locations." He ordered, "Then patch me through to Vette."

"Yes, my lord." Quinn complied, "Sending coordinates now." Vauner nodded then shut off the holocommunicator, then tuned his earpiece in order to receive any incoming transmissions. Jaesa appeared to have recovered and rushed over to him.

"Ready, master." She said. Vauner nodded towards the center of the city.

"Most of the damage will be within the city. Let's go!" With that both of them charged into the heart of Kaas City.


Dromund Kaas: Imperial Control

"We have a lock!" The gunner shouted, trying to make himself heard over the flurry of voices calling out where the attacks were hitting.

"Apartment destroyed in sector 12!"

"Power grid targeted in sector 5!"

"Sith training grounds hit in sector 7!"

The officer gestured frantically at the gunner. "Take the shot!" The gunners adjusted their controls.

"Shot lined up." A gunner noted.

"Fire."

No one heard the shot, but all were anxiously awaited any information.

"Confirmed kill on anomaly over sector 3!" An analyst shouted. A cheer went up in the command center. The officer grinned faintly.

"Good work, get me another shot now. The ships over the Citadel are your primary targets." The gunners immediately went to work. Her aide ran up to her, his face ashen. He stopped and saluted. "What is it?" she snapped, continuing to watch the planetary bombardment.

"Sir…" he swallowed, "New information from Imperial Intelligence confirms that similar attacks are happening throughout the Empire." The officer almost collapsed.

"Ho…how? How many? Who…" she whispered, grabbing the table for support. This was worse than her worst nightmare. One major planet might survive an attack like this. Maybe two.

But not the entire Sith Empire.

"I…I don't know, sir. Intelligence doesn't know for certain." The aide answered her.

"How soon until the ships arrive?" She asked quietly.

"Thirty-five minutes."

Too long. It was too long. Dromund Kaas would be irreparably damaged within that time frame. Even if by some miracle the gunner targeted all the ships it wouldn't do any good.

She had to face the possibility that the Empire was finished.


Dromund Kaas: Kaas City

"Hey, what's up? Quinn sounded worried, even more than usual."

"Good to hear your voice, Vette." Vauner grunted as he raced through the streets, "Where are you? Are you safe?" There was a pause.

"Safe enough, I'm on the ship. What's going on? No one will tell me anything!" Vauner spotted an eradicator within the clouds. A beam shot from it and destroyed the building to his right. He leapt, avoiding the debris with ease. "Vauner!" Vette screamed over the comm.

"I'm alright." Vauner reassured her as he landed, and saw that Jaesa had also survived intact. "There's someone attacking the planet, not sure who though. Anyway, listen! I need you to bring down the Fury." He winced picturing the shocked expression that was surely on her face right now.

"What!"

"You can do it! You've done it before!"

"That was once, and that time you were helping me!"

"Unfortunately, we don't have much choice." Vauner said slowly as he watched the eradicator. 'Call down the Fury' was a maneuver that involved high precision targeting, usually requiring that the pilot get within close proximity to the target. Vette had actually been the one who had given the maneuver its name. While it was highly effective, it was incredibly dangerous for a non-force user to perform.

However, Vauner considered Vette one of the few who could possibly do it. Not that there was much choice. "Vette, listen." He told her, "You're scared now, I get that. So am I, everyone is now. Don't avoid your fear though, use it. Focus all your energy into the task. You can do this, Vette. Trust me." There was a long silence.

"Fine!" Vette sighed angrily, "But if I die, I'm going to haunt you!" Despite himself, Vauner grinned.

"I wouldn't expect anything less. Quinn will send you coordinates. Good luck, the Force will be with you." He clicked his earpiece off and turned to Jaesa.

"Is Vette coming?" Jaesa asked.

"Better." Vauner replied, with a grim smile, "She's going to bring down the Fury."