"This is incredible." Kre said. Even the towering Sith had to crane his neck to look up at the roof of the Sanctuary of the Sith. There was a look of wonder and amazement on his face, almost child-like. He looked like some bumpkin from a no-name, back water, planet who was seeing Courscant for the first time. It was cute, in a way, another side of him she'd never seen. It was likely no one alive had ever seen him like this.
"It must have been something back in it's hay-day." Setress said. The duo stood on a walkway, suspended high-above the floor, in a cavernous room extending below them for several stories. In the center were four, large, holo-displays. On each were green Imperial symbols. They were so bright, they hurt to look at directly.
Five spokes broke off from the center, one led to the entrance, and out where the ruins of the city were no doubt located. The other four led into different corridors, red lights flooded them, giving them a sense of dread. The metal walls and walkway showed few signs of its age. Almost like it was sealed in time
"I don't get how this place is still functional. All the lights are still on, the holo-displays are functional. It looks like even the computers are still working. Even if the Dark Council installed some kind of super-generator, sheer erosion should have left this all in ruin."
"Well, I'll show you what the Imperials found." She led him down one of the corridors to a small lift. The two of them rode the lift down for several floors, then went through a few more twists and turns in another corridor. They came to a closed door, and Setress hesitated.
"What is it? Why are we stopping?" Kre asked.
"Listen, Kre," she said, trying to sound as supportive as possible. "Whatever happened to leave Kaas city as a ghost town, it- well. It hit what's on the other side of this door hard."
"I don't follow."
"I don't know if I can adequately prepare you for what you're about to see, so I'll just come out and say it; there are thousands of skeletons in there."
"Your concern is appreciated, but I've seen skeletons," he opened the door. "Before..." His voice trailed off. Looking at it now, her estimate was off. Way off. There had to have been tens of thousands of skeletons in there. The bones were haphazardly piled up to form a narrow path, and continued as far as the eye could see. It looked like the people inside were massacred, or they'd been trapped and were left were they fell.
"I'm sorry, master." Setress said. She put a hand on his shoulder, and squeezed.
"This...I...NO!" He took off into the corridor. Setress went after him, but it was hard keeping up with Kre's longer gait. He skidded to a halt, and got down on one knee.
"What is it?" Setress asked.
"It's Eraan." He whispered. Setress didn't know how he could tell. All of the skeletons looked the same to her. The only thing different about this one was that a few of the ligaments were still intact, and it was wearing a full set of light armor. There were deep scratches in his skull and armor, and some of the bones were snapped.
"I've never seen scratches like that." Setress said. They were wide, wider then Kre's hand, even outstretched.
"I have." He said, with a grim determination. "Rhakghouls did this."
"Rhakghouls?" She had heard of the mutated monsters, but they were almost never seen in the modern galaxy. The only place she'd even heard of where you could find one was on the still-ruined parts of Taris. Not that she wanted to see one. As far as she knew, only humans could be turned into rhakghouls through, but non-human species rarely survived exposure.
Not to mention they hunted in packs, and tended to be very violent and messy eaters.
"There might still be some hiding in the deep levels, Setress." He said, turning to look at her. "If we run into them, we may need to seal this place up for another three and a half thousand years."
"Wouldn't that mean we'd starve to death in here?"
"No, I'd kill you long before you suffered like that. Besides, dehydration would set in first."
"Oh, well, that's- wait, what's that?" She pointed to something in Eraan's hand. "Looks like a holo projector."
"Let's see." He carefully pried the device from Eraan's skeletal palm. "It's still functioning."
"You guys really built stuff to last, didn't you?"
"We were in exile for a thousand years, Setress, it was something of a necessity. Besides, you've seen our tombs." Kre turned it on, and the projector sputtered to life.
"-pushing us back steadily for thirty days, now." Eraan's holo-image said. "It's obvious we're not going to make it through this. Surrender is out of the question. We agreed after Darth Sanguine'ar's and Lieutenant Nallek's disappearance that we would carry their dream on; to the bitter end if we had too." There was an explosion recorded on the holo.
"This is it, the Republic is breaking through. All units, form up!" The recorder had immortalized the chaotic sound the Imperial military's final call to muster. "The Sith have collapsed, and now the Lords have scattered across the galaxy pursuing their own selfish goals.
"Darth Sanguine'ar, Lieutenant Nallek, I know that you are both alive. I can feel it. I pray that you will find this holo one day, and bring the Empire to glory greater than anything it's ever known. The barricades are starting to fail, they'll break through any second now."
"Sir!" Someone yelled out of view of the recorder. "The doors are breached, but the Republic is pulling ba- no! No!" The man let out a terrified scream that turned into a wet gurgling sound. More screams echoed into the recording, until they became almost deafening. Hisses and in-human roars joined the panic.
"By the Force." Eraan whispered. "They're using rhakghouls on us. They must have brought them from Taris. Darth Sanguine'ar, or whoever finds this holo, we found the Infinite Engine. We have it hidden beneath the Sanctuary of the Sith. Darth Nox had it and a sizeable slave population sealed in, until the Engine has generated enough mass to be useable to us. Whatever happens, remember us." A rhakghoul appeared on the holo, striking out with quick slashes against Eraan.
"He didn't even have the chance to fire a shot in his own defense." Kre said.
"Maybe not, but he was loyal to you to the end, and never lost faith."
"No, he didn't. Statistically, the Chiss were the most loyal race in the Empire."
"I've never seen a Chiss in person, before. Most people outside of the Order don't even know they exist." Setress said.
"Good. That could prove to be very beneficial."
"What are you thinking?" She asked.
"One thing at a time, Setress. First, we need to see if the Engine is still here."
"Do you think the rhakghouls really killed all of these people?" Setress asked. There were so many bones, more then she could count. She could feel how uneasy the sight was making Kre. It was something between disgust, fear, and sorrow.
"Probably." He walked over to the remains of an Imperial trooper, its body parts barely held together by what was left of its armor, and picked up the helmet. A skull, male by the looks of it, toppled out of it. Three gashes led into a massive break where a large portion of the helmet had been torn away. "The blow that did this likely took most of this marine's face off. Painful way to die.
Kre carefully sat the helmet back down.
"How are we going to clear all of these bodies out of here?" Setress asked. The two had been walking down the winding corridor in silence for only about a minute, but the constant staring from eye-less skulls and shattered bodies unnerved her. Try as she might, she couldn't shake the image of their final moments from her mind.
"I don't know." Kre looked- sad. He wore a depressed frown, and his brows arched up ever so slightly. When he spoke, there was a slight tremble in his words.
"Kre, a-are you...crying?" He started to shake a little bit, in a vain attempt to hold his emotions in.
"I- I-" Kre let out a single pathetic sob before choking his emotions back. "Let's go." He whispered.
"Suit yourself." She said, stepping in line behind him.
"Your highness," the new Imperial said, approaching Kre.
"I really don't like being called that." He groaned.
"Sorry, my lord." The human cleared his throat. "We were just about to open up the final door leading to the Engine."
"Do we know what to expect on the other side?"
"No, my lord. We don't even know what the Engine looks like."
"I see." He looked to Setress, who shrugged. "Well," He said with a sigh. "I guess there's only one way we're going to find out. Everyone stay behind me." Kre walked up to the curiously small door. His lover stood at his side, her hands on her lightsaber. "Everyone stay behind me. Even you, Setress." She glared at him, but stepped back.
Cautiously, Kre readied his reclaimed lightsaber, and slowly pried the door open. His jaw and lightsaber both dropped as his eyes took in the unbelievable site before him.
"I-I-I-I-I-" He stammered.
"Master, are you alright?" He only faintly registered Setress' words. Kre could barely register the sight in his mind. It didn't make any sense. It shouldn't even be possible. He vaguely felt someone push past him.
"Whoa." Setress said.
"Yeah." The awestruck Sith stood there together, trying to make sense of it.
"It's a-" Setress stammered.
"I know." Kre said.
"But it's-" Setress gasped.
"I know." Kre whispered.
"It's not-" Setress gawked.
"I know."
"Master, look." Setress broke his gaze, and pointed to a raising lift. Two twi'leks, their skins a pale white, rode it. The lift came to a slow halt, and the twi'leks stepped off. They wore a suit of armor similar to what the Imperial Guard of his time wore, except it was a dark blue and black, and the shoulders pads were only about half as long.
Their most unnerving feature were their grey eyes. There was no iris or pupil in them.
The two guards approached them slowly, pointing their long halberds at Kre and Setress. One of them stopped, and stood. He grabbed his partner's shoulder, and whispered something. The other guard took a long look at Kre, then gasped.
"My lords, forgive us. We were not expecting you." The two guards bowed low before the Sith. "We have long awaited the day when the Sith would return to call for us, and the Engine."
"Yes." Kre said, uncertain. "Where is the Engine?"
"It is all around us, my lord." The first guard stood and gestured to the surrounding area. To the sparkling city that had been built beneath the ruins of Kaas City. He pointed to the dazzling towers that spread out beneath them like stalactites in a cave. To the walkways and speeder lanes that were alive with traffic.
"All of this...is the Infinite Engine?" Kre asked. He felt small, meek, compared to the grand scale of it all.
"Yes, my lord. When the Engine was discovered by Imperial Forces on Nar Shadda, it was tended by Ongree slaves of the one called Revan. The Imperials took the Engine, then only about a meter high, and the knowledge of how to fuel it. Even then, it was capable of providing everything the slaves needed. Food, medicine, defense turrets and droids, and shelter."
"When it was brought back to Dromund Kaas, it was put under rigorous study by the Sith." Now it was the second guard who was talking. "They could not ascertain how it functioned, only that it functioned. We present the Engine with our dead, and it provides. It's nature is rooted in what the Sith call the Dark Side. It feeds on the Force."
"I see." Kre said. He understood how things could feed and grow on the Force, but trying to comprehend how this machine functioned as it did through the Force made his head hurt.
"However, it was not able to produce at the level the Sith desired it too." The first guard said. "So, millennia ago, the one called Darth Nox sealed it and our ancestors here, to tend the Engine."
"Our ancestors," this was the second one. "Waited patiently for Darth Nox's return. However, no Sith has ever opened this place since then. When the first generations passed, an honor guard was created to always guard this door, to await the arrival of the true Lords of the Galaxy."
"And here you are, my lords." The guards got down on one knee, bowing to the Sith.
"Arise, my loyal soldiers," Kre began. "There is much I wish to know about this place. Do you have a governing body?"
"Yes, my lord. A council of twelve maintains order."
"I want to see them."
"Of course, my lord. I will take you to them. Gaunders," the first guard said to the second. "Go tell the council the Sith have returned for us." The second guard, Gaunders, bowed his head. A small aerial platform appeared, which Gaunders mounted.
"My lord, what should we call you?" Gaunders asked.
"I am Emperor Kre, and this is my lover and apprentice, Setress." Setress, shocked, turned to Kre. There had never been a public acknowledgement of their relationship.
"Yes, my lords." The platform shot off. The first guard boarded the lift, and beckoned for Kre and Setress to do the same. Kre boarded, and turned to the Imperials.
"The rest of you stay here," he said. "We need to investigate this further." The lift began a slow slide down a horizontal rail, rapidly gaining speed. It took them along a busy thorough fare, strange speeders flying along lanes next them, and foot traffic crowding walkways on several different levels.
"Kre, this is amazing." Setress said. She craned her neck wildly to take it all in. Kre, for his part, stared straight ahead. Something about this made him feel uneasy.
"Does the council control the Engine?" Kre asked.
"No, my lord."
"Then, who does?" Setress asked.
"No one, my lord. The Engine has never needed guidance." Setress and Kre looked to each other, both of them increasingly cautious of this alien construct.
"You're honestly telling me that this machine decides what to build on it's own, and it fabricated all of this?" Kre asked, motioning to the surrounding city scape.
"Yes, my lord. We don't know how it determines what needs to be produced, and what doesn't. It does seem to be able to predict changes to our city in the near future." The rest of the ride was quiet, even tense. The platform carried them through the glittering towers of silver and black, as bright white and yellow poured out of the windows. Along the roof of the cave, massive flood lights created a false sense of day light, keeping the massive cavern as well lit as the plains of Dantooine.
Shops along the suspended walkways sold all manners of goods. Furniture, plants, cave animals, electronics. There were restaurants and business, with brightly lit banners tilted toward the walkways. Floating advertising boards slowly moved through the air, carrying their message around. Skiffs and barges acted as portable restaurants and market stalls.
Most surprising was just how many people there were.
"How many people live in this city?" Kre asked.
"Approximately thirty million, my lord."
"Thirty mi- how is that possible?"
"Darth Nox sealed about ten thousand here in the beginning. It was not a simple operation. The Dark Council made sure that our ancestors had everything they needed to survive for several generations. After about the fourth, the Engine was producing enough that we were able to begin forming an actual community. We have engineers, doctors, factory workers, wineries and breweries, professionals of all kinds. Recently, the Council has begun working on creating a fishery."
"How is any of this possible?" Setress asked, still disbelieving.
This is too good to be true, Kre. Setress told Kre through the Force.
I agree. We need to be prepared for things to go south at any time, he responded. Kre kept one hand on the hilt of his lightsaber as their journey continued. He had the ominous feeling that this discovery would be more bane than boon.
Light shimmered and twisted as the one known only as The Shadow deactivated his stealth field generator. At over three meters tall, the Kaleesh assassin was an imposing site. Even more so when he dropped out of stealth in the midst of his enemies, as he had now. The Imperials failed to act immediately, that would be their undoing. Gripping his massive vibroblades, he quickly sprung into action.
The first two fell before they knew what had hit them, deep gashes in their torsos spewing blood on the metal floor. With a quick spin, he dispatched three more. One, the blade having missed slicing through the organs, desperately clutched at his intestines as they spilled out of the wound. The second took two steps forward before the last of the electrical impulses from his brain died. His vivisected form fell to the floor.
The two armed guards were finally motivated into action. They leveled their blaster rifles, and fired.
The Shadow's tight reflexes allowed him to dodge the first shot. His armor took the second. He stabbed at the closest of the guards, but the Imperial was more prepared then The Shadow thought. He side-stepped, and used his rifle to deflect the blade. The Shadow pushed off of the first Imperial, and slammed into the second. His main-hand blade easily pushed through the gaps in the Imperial's armor. The force of the impalement carried the Imperial into the air. Through the helmet, The Shadow could hear a pained gurgling sound.
The second Imperial, too, had more battles under her belt then The Shadow thought. She buried the barrel of her rifle between the plates of the Shadow's armor, and pulled the trigger. The round burned through his flesh, and ruptured his organs. He would die, but not for another few minutes.
The Shadow threw the lifeless marine at the only remaining Imperial. He was thrown back, and knocked to the ground. The Shadow quickly jumped to the marine and, with a scissor's motion, severed his head. With the threat dispatched, The Shadow readied a tight-beam transmission with his coordinates and the message "target acquired." He sent the message over the frequency reserved for final transmissions.
As his injuries began to overtake him, The Shadow slunk against the wall. He died well, knowing that his compatriots would complete the mission. The Shadow, for there is never just one, would deliver the girl to General Grievous, and he would have his revenge.