Chapter Thirteen
Admiral Haden stood before the door to Darth Vengus's meditation chamber; he took a deep breath and pushed the intercom
"Enter, Admiral" came the voice of The Dark Lord and the door slid open
Haden stepped through, the room was dark, the only light a pale radiance coming in through the viewport and shining down on Darth Vengus, who sat on his throne gazing out into space
"You called for me my lord?" said the Admiral, not an ounce of worry in his voice
"I did," said The Dark Lord without turning "my mission to Coruscant was a success but it has raised questions, I discovered that the Jedi were not all dead as I had heard, this worries me"
"I see my lord," said Haden, frowning slightly
"Do you?" said the Sith turning his throne to face him "the memories and thoughts I read from The Emperor's throne are mixed and confusing, I will require time to sort through them"
The chair turned back to face the viewport "Take me to Korriban"
The Admiral nodded "Yes My Lord"
A day later the Star Destroyer had arrived over the Sith tomb world and Admiral Haden was once again summoned by The Dark Lord
He arrived outside the door to find Sola and Darth Vile already there, the two glanced over at him and the tattooed Sith said, "Good, he didn't wish us to enter until all had arrived"
The door slid open and the three filed in past the Stormtroopers on guard
They were surprised to find that the Sith artefacts and tapestries that usually filled the chamber were missing, apparently packed away in the boxes and crates stacked against one wall, all it contained now was Darth Vengus's throne which contained the Dark Lord himself "I have summoned you here because I will be gone for some time" he said, his fingers steepled before him "I am going to Korriban to meditate on what I learned from the Emperor's throne and consider my next move, while I am gone I have orders for all of you"
"Lord Vile, you will carry on recruiting as I have ordered," said Vengus
"Yes My Master," said Vile, bowing
"Admiral, patrol the surrounding systems, if we are discovered…" the Dark Lord left the comment unfinished, cocking his head
"Understood" said The Admiral, standing to attention
"Sola, your Shadowhunters and spies are to be deployed at once, I am clearly not quite up to date with events if a Jedi was able to exist without my knowledge, it makes me wonder how many others there are who escaped Vader" The Dark Lord paused "I also want you to pick up on our spying on both The Republic and Sidious's Empire, I want to know everything they're doing and my Visions do not give me enough"
"I'll have the boys and girls out straight away Vason," answered sola "We'll find out about your Jedi"
"Excellent" said Lord Vengus
The door opened and a number of crewmen entered and stood to attention, The Dark Lord gestured at the crates "to my ship" he said, standing and turning to the door to his quarters
"Droid, is she ready?" he called
The door opened and Silri walked out, led by the hand by 4F6-RA-7 "she is ready sir"
Sola and Haden looked surprised when they saw that the Nightsister was wearing a simple smock and slippers and seemed utterly unaware of anything, her once haughty and rage filled attitude gone
Darth Vengus walked over to her, removed a glove and ran a gentle hand down the side of her face, she flinched slightly "take her to my shuttle, we will be leaving soon"
The droid nodded and left
He looked back at the others, said, "Do not fail me" and walked out the door
Haden turned to Sola and raised an eyebrow "I wonder what that was about" he said
Sola grinned, "he's a man, she's attractive, what's to wonder?"
"Somehow I doubt it's that simple, My Master always has a reason for everything he does, she has some use" said Darth Vile then he turned and walked out of the room
"I think you're both right, Lord Vengus always has some kind of plan going on, most of them beyond me" Haden said smiling slightly "but the fact that she's a full bodied and attractive woman is likely a factor too"
"Is she now?" said Sola turning to Haden and gave him a joking frown and pout "more lovely than me Bran?"
Haden threw his arms around her waist and pulled her to him "Never"
Sola leaned forward and whispered in his ear "prove it" she pulled herself away and walked seductively over to the door to Vengus's quarters, they slid open and she took a step inside
Haden grinned, pulled out his comlink, turned it off and followed the Shadowhunter, locking the door behind them
Jalin Cer frowned as he carefully stepped into the room, his hand on his blaster, a sweat drop ran down his face and moistened the collar of his Navy uniform, he checked under the desks and around the large computer mainframes that dominated the room
"Hey Jal, What are you doing?" called a voice from behind him, making him jump
"Didn't you hear that?" he asked, turning to face his friend
"Hear what?" Garis Hall gave him a frown "we were patrolling, I turned around and you weren't there, came back and found you"
"I heard something from in here," said Jalin turning back to look around the room
"No-one's here, everyone's gone for the night" said Garis, stepping up beside his friend "Besides, these are just the personnel archives, what could anyone want with them?"
Jalin frowned and said, "I'm sure I heard something"
Garis patted him of the shoulder "come on, we have to finish our rounds"
The two security guards turned and left the room, the door slid closed
From the roof a figure in black, form-fitting armour dropped to the floor, eight photoreceptors glowing blood red on it's face-concealing helmet
The Shadowhunter wasted no time moving to one of the terminals and powering it up
Text appeared on the screen demanding a password, the Shadowhunter raised a hand and a short probe slide forward out of the back of his hand, he pushed this into the socket beneath the terminal and instantly the message vanished, the Hunter flicked open a compartment on his belt and withdrew a datapack
Mere minutes later the room was empty again with no sign of the Shadowhunter's presence and the ranks of the New Republic Military had increased by over a hundred members
Admiral Haden was standing on the bridge of the Oblivion, watching the slowly turning sphere of Ziost below him when Sola appeared beside him "You're back?" he said
Sola nodded with a slight smile "just came back from Prakith, I organised a spy ring there to keep an eye on Moffs Brill and Gann"
Haden nodded "Good, you will be here for some time?"
Sola nodded
"Excellent" said Haden then turned to Captain Voran "I am leaving the bridge to you Captain, I must consult with Miss Sola"
Voran stood to attention "Yes Sir"
The Admiral turned and walked to the Turbolift, Sola close on his heels
Once inside he pressed the indicator for the level his quarters were on, as soon as the doors closed he turned and threw his arms around the Shadowhunter, kissing her hard
She giggled and placed her arms around his neck "it's only been a month"
"I know but I also know that you'll be gone again in less than a week so I need to make use of what time I have" he said, kissing her again
He pulled her closer but she pushed him away and pointed at the floor indicator "those doors will be opening soon and if we're going to keep this secret we can't be making out when they do" she ran a finger down his chest and whispered "We'll be in your quarters soon enough"
The doors slid open and the two of them, clothes carefully straightened, walked down the corridor a short ways to Haden's quarters where they stepped inside
Haden pressed a button beside the door, locking it and turned around
Sola pinned him against the door, her lips pressed to him and her hands working the fasteners on his clothes "Bran, it's been too long"
He grinned, "It's only been a month"
He reached for his communicator to turn it off but just then it beeped, Haden growled and pulled it from his belt "I am in a planning meeting with the Shadowhunters, What is it?"
The voice of Captain Voran came from the device sounding slightly worried "I'm sorry sir but there is a problem, a New Republic vessel has entered the system"