Thankfully his shuttle landed without incident, the Republic forces distracted by the destruction of their fleet in space. Sahesri slipped off the ship followed by Pierce. Over the years, the soldier had served faithfully at The Emperor's side, being elevated to the rank of General. When it came to ground assaults and missions of a "sensitive" nature, Pierce was always the man to turn to.

"So what exactly are we looking for my lord?" he asked his friend.

"They're called Bouncers." Sahesri pressed a button on his gauntlet and a holo appeared of the floating creature.

"Strange little thing." Pierce observed.

"Yes they are, but if my plan works then they'll be the key to getting the Jedi off this planet." Sahesri muttered with a grin.

Intelligence reports had come in that several Jedi had established a secret base on Ruusan. They had kept themselves hidden during the fight but the Emperor could sense that they were on the planet. He just couldn't tell where exactly they were.

"Ummm Boss?" Pierce tensed towards his rifle.

Sahesri looked up to see that they were being watched over the ridge by a group of floating creatures.

"Put your gun away." he whispered to his friend.

He reached out his senses to greet the creatures.

I yield to you. He bowed before the group of Bouncers, five in all.

You...You are the one who shattered the stars.

You mean the space battle? Yes I commanded that.

You are powerful. A pillar of strength. Come...come closer to us.

Sahesri walked closer to the floating creatures. He got back down on the ground in a cross legged position. The group of Bouncers came closer to him, seeming to be examining him.

My name is Dancer. I am the leader of my flock. This is Nova, Floater, Swifty and Dreamer. And you are the one they call the Emperor, yes?

Yes I am. And I have come to seek you out. I wish to form an alliance.

The creatures dropped down and settled themselves into the grass in front of Sahesri.

We listen Emperor. And then we decide what we can do for you.

Another groundquake angrily shook the surface of Makeb. Augustus cursed and desperately tried to hang off a tree branch to keep himself steady. Kira hugged on to a tree trunk but Casia missed it by just a moment and yelped, falling to the ground.

When it was over, Augustus crept over to his Master and offered a hand to her to help her up.

"Thank you Auggie," The Dark Council member muttered, scrambling to her feet.

"They're getting worse. There was only 15 minutes between that one and the last one."

"Yeah." Kira agreed "The sooner we can get off this planet, the better."

The three Sith carefully made their way back to the camp they had set up earlier without further incident. They were expecting a transmission from Kira's husband Kex, otherwise known as Watcher Three. After 20 years in the field as a Cipher Agent, Kex had been given the promotion to Watcher and oversaw the gathering of new intel. He enjoyed the work because he got to brainstorm intelligence missions and be in charge of creating new operations agaianst the Empire's enemies. He had been in charge of the Makeb mission and had personally chosen Kira, Darth Nox and Augustus to take care of it.

The three Sith crowded into a tent as Casia fiddled with the holo. "Stupid Makeb! Can't get a damn signal!"

"Hit it Master. That may make it work."

The Sith Lord rammed her fist down on the console and it made a whirring noise and she grinned when it told her that her holo signal was going through.

Augustus smirked.

The holo flickered and Kex appeared. "Hello, hello? Can you guys hear me? There's so much interference."

"Yes you're coming through love. How about us? We were having an issue setting up the transmission."

"You're coming in clear now. Hello everyone, how is Makeb these days?"

"Obnoxious" Kira deadpanned.

"Ridiculous." Nox chimed in.

"We've been here a day and I hate it already." Augustus finished.

"Well I'm glad to see that Hutt occupation has done the planet good." Kex smiled apologetically. "Now, I have been studying the seismic data we've been gathering from the planet. And as much as I'd like to say just leave the planet to explode, nothing can ever be that easy."

"So you're saying we have to find a way to save it?"

"Sorry love, I'm afraid you guys are going to have to be Nature saviors. But I do have some clues to point you in the right direction."

"Out with it then Blue-man!" Nox demanded sarcastically.

The Chiss grinned and seemed to be typing on something. "Ok. The reason why these groundquakes even started was because the Hutts are really abusing the mining on planet. Without going into explanation about technique and all that, I'll just simply say that they're digging too deep. They're drilling into the core of the planet which is causing the groundquakes and the eventual explosion of the planet. But there's hope!"

"Of course!" Kira said "There's always hope!"

Kex looked at his wife dotingly before continuing, he consulted a terminal and pulled up a holo image alongisde his own.

"This is Dr. Lemda Avesta, her uncle runs the Avesta Mining Company. Avesta Mining made Makeb the planet it is today, that is until they tried to negotiate drilling contracts with the Cartel. This doctor, even though she looks young this girl is one of the best biologists in the Republic specializing in enviornmental concerns. She holds crucial research on how to reverse the issues on Makeb."

"So where can we find this girl?" Nox asked.

"Our sources within Avesta Mining say that she went into the field several weeks ago and has not been heard from since. Her uncle believes that she was captured by the InterStellar Regulators, the Cartel's personal enforcers. I'm sending you Doctor Avesta's last known coordinates. But beyond that you're going to have to find out where she is on your own."

"Never make anything easy, do you love?" Kira mused.

"After 16 years of marriage you should know that by now. But I unfortunately have other news, another objective for you to complete."

"Lay it on us!"

"The Emperor recorded this message for you before he left for Ruusan. He wanted the orders to come from him personally. Patching it through."

The image switched to an image of Sahesri in his red and gold Sith armor.

"Augustus, Casia, Kira, this objective is a secondary objective but it is a very personal one. As Augustus knows, we were investigating leads on how to find Julius and after all these years we think that we may have hit a solid mark. On Makeb are two Jedi Knights, Kex will send you files with information on them, our agents that have infiltrated the Jedi found out that these Knights went through their Jedi Trials at the same time as a Jedi Knight named Julian Marko, who we know is really Julius. I need you to find these two Jedi and take them prisoner so that they can be brought to Dromund Kaas and we can find out where he is. I know that if anyone will suceed in this it's you three."

The Emperor bowed.

"May the force serve you well."

Kex image flickered back. "I'm sending those files over along with the files on Dr. Avesta. I know this is a whole lot, but once you can try and get Makeb somewhat stable, you guys will be getting a back-up team from Dromund Kaas and we'll be able to move on to the next stage of operations. Now, any questions?"

"Out of curiousity, how is the siege of Ruusan coming along?"

Kex consulted with someone out of the holo's view. "Really? And that's the latest report? Wonderful!"

He turned back to them. "Latest reports say that Imperial flags fly on Ruusan. The Emperor apprently used some ingenious way to flush out the Jedi who were hiding there. Stirring up these force-sensitive animals to lead him to the Jedi."

"Father loves to overacheive." Augustus mused.

"Always trying to push the envelope your father is." Nox said to her apprentice. "But kandoshii! Such wonderful news! If we weren't in a planet that acts like it has gas I'd drunk to that."

Kex snickered "I'll drink for all of you! I'm already buying the team a round at the Nexus Room, so on that note! Kira I love you. Nox you're ok too. Auggie, make sure your Master doesn't get herself killed because then I'd have to deal with the wrath of the Emperor's Hand."

"Will do!"

Nox just glowered, but Augustus could tell that the banter amused her. Kex would never do it otherwise, if you made a Sith angry, really bad things could happen to you.

"I hate this planet." he said for the umpteenth time and all Nox and Kira could do was nod in solidarity.