Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling and Star Wars belongs to Disney.
"Normal Speech"
"Thoughts"
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*Hologram Speech*
Chapter 2 – The Emperor's Reach
(36,431 TYA / 978 ARR / 1995 A.D.)
Sith Citadel, New Adasta, Ziost
The Emperor and the Empire were one and the same. If one was attacked, then the other was attacked as well. If one was served, then the other was served as well. But there were exceptions to this situation, such as those that belonged to the Emperor's own power base, or as some called it, the Emperor's Reach.
The Eye, the Hand, the Guard…and the Voice.
The first served as the emperor's agents across the galaxy, embracing many roles, such as spies, bounty hunters, politicians, and several others. The second served as agents of the Emperor within the Empire itself, their very existence known only by those in the Empire's upper echelons, and their actions known only to the Emperor himself. It was said that to gain the attention of the Hand would either mean one's impending doom or a possible boon. The third were an elite group of non-Force-sensitive warriors, serving not just as his protectors, but also as his own enforcers.
But the fourth, the Voice…not many knew what the Voice truly was, although the majority of those that knew of its existence thought of it as a mere messenger who transmitted commands from the Emperor himself. But there were those few who knew that the Voice was actually a conduit for the Emperor's own essence, a host body for his immortal spirit. So it would not be a surprise that the Emperor's Voice would held all the powers that the Emperor himself possessed over the Sith Empire. But this also gave origin to a great problem.
"It seems that Darth Baras's plot is currently far more advanced than it should be." said one of the Eye "Our colleges in Dromund Kaas report that he has assassinated his own sister and placed the blame on one of his own agents."
"Does the Emperor know of Baras's progress?" asked another.
"I assume he already does." replied the first one "With the Hand already following new orders, then I believe that the Emperor intends on solving this issue as fast as he can."
"The Emperor may want to solve Baras's plot, but I don't think that he will do it in such a simple way. He enjoys complicating things." said another Eye "He could simply walk right to the Dark Council Chamber and execute the traitor, but he most likely conjure up some plan that will possibly end up in causing severe damage to Baras and his power base."
It was then that a robed figure entered the room. Unlike the others, this one was Force-sensitive and a Red Sith as well.
"High Agent Melkans, what is your report on FI-1?" asked the robed Sith.
"One moment Servant One." said Melkans to the leader of the Hand, before turning to a terminal and loading up a set of files "We have less reports about her than the usual. It seems that she has currently arrived at Quesh."
"Is she heading for Baras's trap?" asked Servant One.
"It seems so." responded Melkans "Does the Emperor's wish for us to act?"
"The Hand shall take care of the current situation, Agent Melkans." stated Servant One "For now continue to operate as you have."
All of the Eye were somewhat surprised that the Hand themselves would be taking direct action on the matter, but this was most likely the Hand acting on their own accord, furthering the Emperor's plans with plans of their own.
"Very well." said the leader of the Eye "On a similar matter, do you also require information on FI-2?"
"Indeed." said Servant One.
"It seems that the young Sith Lord has started to amass his own power base, and is now currently heading to Korriban, in order to choose an apprentice to take." revealed the Eye.
"Keep him under your watch." said Servant One "The heir of Kallig is of great interest to the Emperor."
"The Emperor's will shall be done." said Melkans.
Servant One simply nodded and left the room intending on meeting with the other members of the Hand, while the High Agent returned to his work.
Hogwarts School, Scotland (U.K.), Earth
The third task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament had begun, and Daniel only saw the maze's entrance close as soon as he had entered, leaving him in a strangely silent and ominous location. It was almost as if he was no longer in Quidditch pitch.
Removing the lightsaber from the robe's belt, Daniel began to navigate the artificial structure, making sure to hear any king of sound that would alert him to danger. But as he attempted to enter a path, the hedge grew, blocking his way.
"Not going to happen." he whispered, before taking a few steps back. With the power of the dark side, he sent a single Force blast towards the blocked path, obliterating the hedge that was blocking his way.
The Sith apprentice continued on his path, the maze no longer randomly blocking his path. However, his second obstacle came when he saw a floating figure standing several meters away from him. He felt cold, and he knew exactly what the thing was.
"A Dementor?" he wondered "Out of all…things that exist, why would they bring a Dementor to the tournament?"
But he remembered the words of Lupin when he was his Defence teacher and taught him the Patronus charm.
"You are supposed to represent fear." he said as the Dementor slowly approached "But fear is a weakness. It can be exploited by the enemy, and even by those that walk beside you."
He began to feel the effects of the Dementor's presence, some of his worst memories flashing though his mind. He heard the scream of his grandmother as she begged for Voldemort to spare him and his brother. He remembered when Ginny Weasley was dying in the Chamber of Secrets. But he also remembered when Voldemort had tried to convince him that he could be reunited with his brother during their confrontation in First Year.
"And you know what is the best part of the fear that you are trying to cause me?" he asked to the Dementor "It is the fact that it has brought memories filled with anger and hatred."
Sparks of lightning flashed on his hands.
"Hatred which I can turn against you!"
Blue lightning flew from his fingertips towards the Dementor, causing it to emit a high pitched screech. Daniel continued to pour even more negative emotions into the Force power, increasing the intensity of the lightning. The Dementor trashed about, trying to escape its torture, and when Daniel stopped the onslaught of Force lightning he stuck once again, this time with the lightsaber, its blade buried into the head of the Dementor. It began to melt into a puddle of transparent goo, leaving nothing behind. Daniel deactivated the lightsaber, and ignoring the goo on the ground, he continued on his way.
But as he used the Force to guide his way, he heard a scream of pain. Curiosity filled him mind, and he headed towards the source of the scream, and when he took a turn in one of the corridors, he saw Cedric Diggory on the ground, while Krum was using a curse to torture the Hogwarts champion. Daniel narrowed his eyes, and unleashed a powerful wave of Force energy at Krum, sending him flying backwards, until he fell on the ground, unconscious. Daniel turned towards Diggory, who was getting up and still twitching in pain from the attack.
"Diggory, what happened here?"
"Krum…he…he sneaked up behind me and…and used the Cruciatus Curse." he said breathing heavily.
"Why would Krum…never mind." He turned towards one of the paths available "The ministry will deal with him later. I guess you better continue as well."
Cedric gave a quick nod, and headed towards another path.
As he ran through the maze, Daniel wondered exactly why Krum was using an unforgivable curse on another champion. It didn't make any sense. After all, even if he won the tournament, he would still end in Azkaban for life. He was sure that the Bulgarian wizard knew that the usage of any Unforgivable curse was highly illegal, so he was either stupid, thought that he could get away with it due to his status as a Quidditch star, or perhaps he was being controlled by someone or something.
Nevertheless, he needed to continue. He had already wasted too much time investigating the scream, and he now had to concentrate on the task itself.
Jedi Temple, Temple District, Coruscant
The Jedi knew that they were being watched by the Republic. They wondered how could one which had once been a Jedi himself attack the Order in such a way, weakening them against the Sith threat. But it was no secret that the common and widely accepted opinion amongst the Jedi was that Chancellor Hord had somehow fallen to the dark side. In a normal situation, they would send a strike team against a fallen Jedi to deal with the problem, but this was not a normal situation. The fact that the Republic was at the hands of a Dark Jedi was terrifying to those of the Order, but despite wondering on why the Chancellor was attacking the Order, they knew the reason for Hord's distrust and possible hatred against the Jedi.
It had all started as rumours, but most false rumours in the Order would be exposed as soon as possible, and this was not the case. Said rumour was that Harrison had discovered by accident that Skywalker had massacred a village in the Outer Rim and nothing had been done about it. And when it was discovered that the rumour was true, Skywalker became completely ostracized by the other Jedi. Not just because of his actions, but also due to him being the main cause of the Order's current predicament. But the rest of the Jedi also blamed the Council for not taking action against Skywalker, and the results were now being rather visible.
"The number of Jedi leaving the Order is increasing." stated Shaak Ti "Most of them defecting to the Sith and their empire."
"Strong, the call of the dark side is." said Yoda "Strong the Sith have become."
"They may be powerful Master Yoda, but the Force is on our side." said Windu.
"Sure of that, you are." replied Yoda before sighing "But the truth, that is not. Failed we have."
"The Jedi Order will prevail, as it always has." said Windu, rather confident of his own words.
"But how can we succeed if our numbers are diminishing?" asked Shaak TI "Especially now that the Republic has forbidden us from collecting Force-sensitive children to train."
"Do you think that the Chancellor is allied with the Sith?" asked Windu.
"He certainly has Sith ideologies." said Depa Billaba.
"Then we should remove him from power!" exclaimed Windu "We can't let a Sith be in charge of the Republic."
"What you said is equal to treason Master Windu." said Shaak Ti "While I am against the Sith as well, even if Harrison Hord follows Sith ideologies there is nothing to do against him."
"The majority of the Republic seems to enjoy his chancellorship." said Billaba.
"I think we are all getting away from the main issue here." said Shaak Ti.
"The main issue?" asked Billaba.
"Master Kenobi's padawan." answered the Togruta Jedi Master "We can't ignore that it was his actions that led to Harrison's self-exile from the Jedi Order and subsequent fall to the dark side."
"Indeed." agreed Windu "Skywalker does seem to draw out the worst characteristics of a person. I'm no longer sure about this whole Chosen One prophecy."
"They were rather bitter rivals weren't they?" wondered Billaba.
"Unlike the other Padawans, Harrison was never caught into Skywalker's web of fame." said Shaak Ti "In fact, Harrison saw the other Padawans as fools for seemingly worshiping Skywalker. His master once told me that he was too focused on the Jedi teachings of old, repeatedly dismissing what he called 'unnecessary alterations'."
"Unnecessary alterations?" asked Windu.
"Master Cohl said that he was refereeing to the study of midi-chlorians and their inclusion in the philosophies of the Jedi." revealed Shaak Ti.
"A rather strange behaviour for a padawan of a member of the Council of First Knowledge." said Billaba.
"Fascinated with young Hord, Master Cohl was." said Yoda "In him, a prodigy in the Force he saw."
"And he was not wrong." stated Shaak Ti "His padawan passed all of the trials at a very young age, somewhat effortlessly."
"He would be devastated if he saw what had become of his favourite pupil." said Windu.
And that was an opinion shared by the other masters.
"But Skywalker was not pleased with Harrison's apathy, as I am sure that you remember the duel between the two."
"Indeed. I never saw such techniques with the lightsaber before." admitted Windu "And his usage of Dun Möch was well applied."
"Skilled with the lightsaber he is." said Yoda.
"But his skill with the Force is even greater." retorted Windu "I fear what he can do to the Republic with his affinity."
Unfortunately for the Jedi, Harrison actually wanted to "heal" the Republic.
But to heal a wound, it had to be sterilized first.
Author's Note:
There is a reason that the power base of the Emperor is also known as the Emperor's Reach. Perhaps it will be revealed in later chapters…?
Daniel did not save Cedric because "it was the right thing to do". He simply went to investigate the scream and decided to deal with the situation quickly. He may be a Sith apprentice, but that doesn't mean that he is a lawless barbarian. Don't forget that the Sith Empire follows a strict set of laws, and that the Earth is part of the Sith Empire. By the way, this fanfiction's cover is the main emblem of the Sith Empire. It is a mixture of the emblems of the Old Sith Empire and of the Sith Empire of the Star Forge.
The Emperor's Power Base – A highly organized and secretive group of organizations and "independent" individuals based on Ziost which exist with a single purpose: to serve the Emperor's will and make his wishes reality. Its primary members are the Emperor's Hand, the Emperor's Eye, the Emperor's Voice and the Emperor's Guard. Shadow Hand Bastila Shan and her son Vaner are also part of the power base and the Emperor's apprentice Darth Solutus is as well. Those that knew of the Emperor's power base would also refer to it as the Emperor's Reach.
FI – A codename used by the Emperor's Power Base. It means "Figure of Interest".
High Agent – The highest rank in the organization known as the Emperor's Eye. This position can only be occupied by one person and he/she serves as the Eye's leader.
Master Cohl – A Mirialan Jedi Master and part of the Council of First Knowledge who died shortly before the Clone Wars began. He was Harrison Hord's Jedi Master, but fell victim to a disease during the trials of his Padawan.
Dun Möch – A combat style used by Force-sensitives in which they would conjure distraction and doubt in their opponent through several methods, such as taunting, in conjunction with lightsaber combat itself. In some cases, the usage of this technique could turn against the user.
