answers to reviewers questions or statements:

Starlord Master: Pretty serious, but he may find under going such a deed a little difficult.

Kalvernus: Darth Marr didn't plan out the Sacking of Coruscant or lead the attack, that was Darth Malgus and Darth Angral. And the Republic wasn't going to go and publicly celebrate the death of a Sith Lord, one that was apprenticed to a member of the Dark Council no less, so soon after the war ended. Starkiller isn't going to be Peter's Apprentice in any way, even a semi one, it's a pride thing for Sith. Unlike Jedi who have no issue with letting their students learn a bit from others tutelage, Sith aren't all that eager to risk their students letting slip something that could aid their rivals or end up joining their rivals to kill them.

Mr No Bo Dy: Which Emperor? Vitiate or Sidious? And by the Sith that sucked a planet dry of all life, do you mean Vitiate again or Darth Nihilus? Honestly, Tulak Hord might be the most powerful Sith Lord to have ever lived, even when compared to the likes of Vitiate, Marka Ragnos, Sidious, and Exar Kun.

Mr Guest: Currently the Empire has no real need for any advance TIE models since the galaxy is as Takel put it 'at peace', but he'll pilot a few once the Empire begins to design and deploy them as the Galactic Civil War breaks out in full.

Uzu: Felicia will not be brought back to life.

storming hawk wolf: Yes, he'll have an active love life. He's just more focused on settling into this new era and coming to terms with the death of his beloved than getting laid.

Gon: They wont be friends.

Guest: The Dreadnaught that Vader is in command of isn't the Executor, it's a Vengeance-class Dreadnaught, a different type of Super Star Destroyer. Realistically, Peter isn't so much as more powerful than Starkiller as he's more skilled. I mean he is stronger than Vader's Secret Apprentice, but his skill far surpasses his, and to some extent Vader and Sidious.

MeteorElDrago: Their fight would go much differently as Vader will be facing him down alone and Peter has a better idea of what the Sith Lord can and can't do.

Mr Holocene: I'm not ripping on him so much as having it pointed out that he's still a kid despite his power and Peter is a decades old seasoned warrior that's been trained to hunt down and kill rival Sith or Jedi. Poor Galen will find him a lot harder to beat than the likes of Vader or even Sidious given he's still in the prime of his life and isn't hindered by age or a life support armored suit. Honestly, I don't think Vader is or ever was the Chosen One given that be it Legends or 'Canon', the Force never seems quite 'Balanced' after he kills Sidious. Like in both universes, the war between the Jedi and Sith continues on for at least another thirty to forty years at least, with Legends going a full hundred and some years longer.

GuestReviewer: The thought's crossed my mind from time to time.

Guest: Peter will notice that Sidious is building something, but he wont know it's the Death Star until it's literally right in front of him. Peter and Vader will reach a level of mutual respect before the events of A New Hope begin.

Guest: Have I heard of Pius Dea? No, I mean it's not like I've mentioned them several times already.

Spidey's1437: Yeah, this will be a long one, very, very long.

Sandman001: Sorry that he's not already the new Emperor of the Empire and has a instant harem of women to cater to his every sexual need.

Disclaimer: I don't own any Marvel, Star Wars or Mass Effect characters seen, mentioned or used.


Since the creation of the Empire out of the ashes of the failed Republic almost fifteen years ago, a number of highly classified research stations had been created, repurposed or outright taken over to further the advancement and power of the Imperial Military. Many of these programs and projects had begun with the Republic during the Clone Wars and had simply been transferred over, while many more were created in the wake of the corrupt democratic government's demise.

One such installation, and perhaps the most infamous within the very highest echelons of the Imperial government was the Maw Installation, located deep within the Maw Cluster where numerous black holes were located.

It was because of these interstellar hazards that Mara found it to be the biggest pain in the ass to get to.

To make sure she didn't fly into a black hole at lightspeed, Mara had to carefully navigate her shuttle though a very precise hyperspace lane that acted as the only real way to the installation outside of trying to pilot yourself there through real space.

'Though that route would take days. Longer even if new holes had emerged or moved into the 'safe route' we've mapped out' Mara thought as she carefully guided her ship through the hyperspace lane, keeping a close eye on the sensors to make sure that she didn't stray to close to the 'shadows' of a black hole that may have drifted too close to the lane.

Out of all of the remote research and development facilities the Empire had, this one has cost them the most in literal terms. In just three years four Imperial-class Star Destroyers had been destroyed by roaming black holes with all hands aboard lost. Even with a fleet of over twenty five thousand plus of the warships, losing just one was a noticeable lost, and a costly one at that.

'And some admirals act like the damn things grow on trees' Mara thought with an eye roll as her shuttle had finally reached the end of the route and came out of hyperspace into the largest, and most easily accessed, clearing within the Maw Cluster, and the location of the Maw Installation itself.

The Maw Installation, or more infamously know to the higher ups that were aware of it's existence as the Phantom Station, was created by Grand Moff Tarkin for the sole purpose of creating advance superweapons and technology that would be used by the Empire to fit with the 'Tarkin Doctrine' which required the Empire to utilize fear to keep it's vast territory in line. The facility was created from multiple large asteroids, some twice the size of a Star Destroyer, and had been hollowed out and fitted with advance sensors, shield generators, anti-starfighter and capital ship batteries and housed state of the art laboratories that were operated by the Empire's best and brightest. The asteroids were further connected by intricate 'bridges' that were fitted with turbolaser batteries, ion cannons and missile pods to aid the station's defense.

And orbiting the installation were six Star Destroyers, twice as many Victory-class Star Destroyers, three Allegiance-class Battlecruisers, over a hundred Raider II-class corvettes and the factory ship, Arc hammer, under the direct command of the facility's chief security officer, the recently promoted General Ron Mohc himself along with over a dozen squadrons of experimental starfighters called TIE/ph Phantoms. Any attack on this facility, no matter how remote, would find itself greatly outgunned.

'And that's before we even get to the superweapons being developed here, half of which are operational enough to be utilized in a surprised assault on this place' Mara thought with a grim snort 'Or the legion of Dark Troopers, Shadow Stormtroopers, Imperial Commandos and the various Death Trooper squads'

Once her shuttle had made it within a half dozen kilometers of the installation, she received a heavily encoded transmission. She answered it quickly as one of the Victory-class destroyers had begun it's turn towards her and started it's approach. She answered the call and was greeted to the sight of General Mohc himself.

"Unknown Imperial shuttle, identify yourself" the man said before Mara could even so much as open her mouth "You are in highly restricted Imperial space. Send your transponder coeds immediately or you will be destroyed"

Mara nodded and sent the codes to the General and await for his response as the Destroyer ahead had placed itself between her and the Installation. Someone off screen captured the man's attention and he looked towards them before a datapad was placed in his hands. He gave it a quick look before nodding and handed it back to whoever gave it to him and turned towards Mara and gave her a stiff but polite bow.

"Forgive me Emperor's Hand, I was unaware that it would be you we were to expect"

"It's fine General" Mara said as she regarded the man coolly "Now would you tell your destroyer to stand down? I'd like to avoid being reduced to atoms scattered across the Maw if I can help it"

"Of course madam" the General said as he made a hand gesture to someone off screen and Mara's readings showed the warship shut down it's weapons and begin to return to it's previous post "We've reserved hanger bay seven for you to land. I'll launch a few fighters to help escort you in. Do enjoy your stay aboard the Maw Installation, Emperor's Hand"

Mara sighed as Mohc's projection flickered out of existence and she was left to sit there as her ship was drawn in towards the Imperial station via it's tractor beams while several TIE Phantoms emerged from one of the facility's hangers and flew towards her and provide an 'escort'.

She hated coming here, to the Maw Installation, to the Maw itself actually. She couldn't quite explain it, but being in this place, it always unnerved her. It felt like she was being watched. By what she could never explain it and on the few rare occasions she accompanied Vader and even the Emperor to this facility, they too seemed to be aware of this feeling and in their own way seemed unnerved by it.

'I wonder if whatever they sensed is the reason why security here has been increased' Mara thought as her shuttle was brought into a hanger.

It was largely empty aside from a few other shuttles and a couple of droids doing maintenance on them.

Across the hanger, a pair of durasteel doors, thick as Mara was tall, opened to reveal a breath takingly beautiful woman. She walked with a level of confidence and superiority that even a Grand Moff and some of the Grand Admirals and Generals of the Empire would struggle to match. She stood a little taller than Mara and much to the red head's annoyance, possessed a nigh unrivaled physical beauty that quite possibly made this woman the most attractive human female in the Galaxy. Mouth watering curves that were given even more attention thanks to the black and white body suit she wore, a gifted chest that held no sag and was all natural, shoulder length black hair that seemed to shine and a Outer Rim accent gave her a sense of deadly exoticness.

Miranda Lawson was a woman to both be admired… and feared.

The Imperial Intelligence Agent was an old colleague of Mara's from their time in the Royal Imperial Dancers Corps when they were both younger. Like Mara, Miranda was powerful and skilled with the Force, however, unlike Mara, her abilities laid more in suffrage than direct combat like Mara's did, even though her skills more than matched the red head's own, and thus was often employed by their Emperor on missions that required less bloodshed. She excelled in her fields for a time and Mara had found herself coming in second place to the exceedingly beautiful woman... until she failed in a mission to infiltrate reported Rebel Cell out in the Cooperate Sector.

Mara, even with her connections and clearance within the Imperial hierarchy, is still unaware of what exactly happened that caused Miranda to fail and fall so far from the Emperor's grace and be reduced to being General Mohc's executive officer all the way on the very outskirts of the Empire like this.

'I doubt she'll ever tell me' Mara thought as she flashed Miranda a polite and somewhat friendly smile "Miranda, it's been a while"

"Jade" Miranda responded with a nod, a ghost of a smile on her face as well before a cold mask of indifference replaced it "I see you took time away from your comfortable, plushy, lifestyle to spare me a few minutes of your time"

"For you, always" Mara said with a bit of ice in her voice as her face adopted a similar look of indifference before she nodded towards the entryway Miranda came though "Shall we?"

"And here I thought you'd like to catch up over a cup of caf" Miranda said with a barest hints of sarcasm in her tone as she turned on her heel and gestured for the red head to follow her.

"Perhaps afterwards" Mara said as she followed the raven haired woman into the facility proper itself "Assuming of course, you have caf out here"

"We do, lots of it" Miranda said with a dry look on her face "As it turns out, great scientific minds do in fact run off the caffeinated substance"

"There's one mystery of the universe answered" Mara said with a snort as they entered a brightly lit hall.

Even though the corridor was barren of any other personnel or even Droids, Mara knew they were being watched. The most advance security sensors and cameras in the Galaxy were installed in the walls, ceiling and floors to monitor every single one of her movements. Right now, she knew that her profile was being scanned from her weight to her hair color and skin complexion to heart beat and other vitals and cross referenced with previous data on her to make sure she really was who she claims to be. After all, difficult as it may be, anyone could get their hands on the transponder codes she sent, but not everyone can mimic her body language so perfectly, even shape shifters like Shi'ido or Clawdites had their limits.

The fact that a squad of Death Troopers or Shadow Stormtroopers hadn't emerged to gun her down proved she was in fact the Emperor's Hand, Mara Jade.

For some reason, Mara sensed that Miranda hated the fact she was the real deal and was thus spared being executed on the spot.

'Probably just wants to watch me, or at least someone wearing my face, getting gunned down' Mara thought wryly, she'd be lying is she didn't shoot or cut down holographic projections of Miranda whenever she was training.

"Anything new and exciting happening in the galaxy? It's been months since our last supply drop" Miranda asked as the two approached a lift that would take them up several levels to the lab that Mara had been dispatched to inspect.

"The Emperor has created a new office" Mara revealed.

"Really?" Miranda said with a perfectly raised eyebrow "What is it?"

"The Executioner" Mara said in a dry tone as the lift arrived and the two stepped into it "It's right under Vader's standing"

"I bet the Grand Vizor just loved that" Miranda said with a snort "Being demoted to the fourth most powerful person in the Empire"

"He was... unhappy" Mara said with a smirk.

"Who is it?" Miranda asked as the lift began to steadily rise "One of the Grand Moffs? Grand Admirals? Grand Generals-"

"A Sith" Mara interrupted the dark haired woman.

"Sith?" Miranda said with confusion "But the only Sith are Vader and the Em-"

"Another one was found not too long ago" Mara said with a sigh "On Dromund Kaas, in some sort of stasis pod. After he was awoken and brought to Coruscant, the Emperor named him Executioner of the Empire and even gave him a fleet to rival the likes of Vader or Thrawn's"

"He must be powerful" Miranda observed.

"He's decent" Mara said with the barest hints of a snarl in her tone.

Miranda's eyes seemed to glow in amusement as the lift came to a stop and they stepped out into a brightly lit hall with a few Death Troopers standing guard every few meters. The two women silently made their way down the hall, passing the dark armored troopers until they reached the end of the hall and the entrance to the one of the Installation's main labs. With a wave of her hand, Miranda had the door begin to unlock and slide open before she gestured for Mara to follow.

"Did you just use the Force to open that or is you waving your hand the signal for it to open?" Mara asked as they stepped into the lab.

"What do you think?" Miranda asked.

"It's either one or the other and I thought I should ask to see which one it was" Mara said with a huff.

Miranda snorted at this while they passed several long tables and benches that were littered with numerous test tubes, datapads, sheets of paper dotted with notes, and trays that held organized piles of flesh that caused Mara to winkle her nose in disgust.

"What are you people doing here?" the red head asked.

"It's better not to ask" Miranda said as she and Mara approached a large window that gave the two women a view into the room next door.

The room seemed half the size and was dimly lit, causing Mara to frown as she reached out through the Force to see if she could-

"Don't do that" Miranda suddenly said, causing Mara to glance at her in confusion.

"Don't do what?" she asked.

"Use the Force to look inside" Miranda said as she approached the glass and peered into the darkness beyond "It already knows we're here and using the Force around it only aggravates it more. It's Force-Sensitive, but only in so much as it can tell if you are or not and if your trying to manipulate it "

The Emperor's Hand frowned at this but nodded as she stepped up next to Miranda and peered inside, trying to find the reason she was sent all the way out here "What's it like?"

"Aggressive" Miranda answered as she folded her arms under her bust "Manipulative, cunning, and smarter than it looks"

Mara hummed at this before she took a step back as a sudden mass of black tar struck the window. The red head's hand drifted towards the hilt of her lightsaber while Miranda stood where she was, looking at the tar like substance with a scowl. The substance seemed to twitch before it began to crawl along the glass, shooting small tendrils out to help it maneuver better before it detached and slithered back into the darker portion of the room.

"I'm guessing that's it?" Mara said as she stepped back up towards the glass.

"No, that was just a pile of excrement that happens to move on it's own" Miranda said with a eye roll "Yes, that's it"

Mara stared into the shadows again for a moment before she saw what looked like an entire mass of the substance slide into the more lit areas of the containment room. The surface looked like a combination of tar and oil and seemed to pulse like a heart. Mara's face contorted into one of disgust as the mass crawled towards the glass before coming to a stop only feet away. Miranda didn't so much as blink when a portion of the mass began to rise up and take on a vaguely humanoid like head with two large white markings that seemed to represent eyes. Mara's brow rose as a mouth formed and the entity opened it to reveal a maw of jagged, needle like teeth and a long pale white barbed tongue.

"Project Venom..." Mara muttered.

Despite being placed in charge of the Emperor's latest project and given access to some of the files regarding it, Mara was still in the dark on just what exactly this creature was going to be used for. Though given what she could view, it seemed project venom was being designed as some sort of advance bio weapon to be used for urban environments. Though how it'll be deployed and it's exact function once it was remained a mystery.

The creature seemed to hear Mara's statement despite the fact the room it was locked in was sound proof, and narrowed it's 'eyes' at her until they looked like thin white slits while it's tongue flickered like that of a snake or lizard of some sort.

"It's bigger than I thought it's be" Mara admitted as she noticed how it seemed large enough to fill the inside compartment of her ship.

"According to the researchers, it grows an excess ten pounds of biomass every sixteen days" Miranda revealed as she reached up and brushed a few strands of her hair back "They aren't quite sure when it's rate of growth will slow so we've begun to reduce it's food intake while some of the engineers prepare a new, larger, containment room. Preliminary testing will begin once it's been secured and if the Emperor likes it well enough, it can be expected to be deployed within a year, two tops"

"Impressive..." Mara muttered as she stepped back from the glass and watched as the creature began to slither back into the darkened corners of the room.

"Though I recommend avoiding environments that are either arid or suffer from extreme heat, it doesn't do too well in them" Miranda advised.

"So no dropping this thing on Mustafar?" Mara said with a grin "Noted"

Miranda didn't offer a verbal response as she gestured for Mara to follow her out of the lab as several researchers and biologists entered to continue their studies. Mara paused at the door and glanced back at the window and saw the creature's pale 'eyes' in the shadows, watching her. The red head resisted the urge to shiver as she stepped out of the lab and the door closed.

...

Half an hour later, Mara found herself sitting in Miranda's own private office, with the far wall being a massive floor to ceiling and wall to wall window that looked out into the cluster of black holes that surrounded the Installation. The owner of said office, sat behind her desk and brought up several holographic projected screens that showed the current status of several of the Maw's current projects, security reports from both the station's garrisoned troopers and the fleet.

"So, how long will you be staying here?" Mara asked as Miranda typed a few things down and brought up another screen.

"Far as I can tell? Another year" Miranda said with a sigh.

"Any idea on where you'll be sent to next?" Mara asked.

"Assuming I'm not still black listed?" Miranda said as she glanced at Mara and offered a shrug "No idea. Though I was hoping to get stationed at Scarif"

"Of course you'd pick the planet that'd give you an excuse to wear a bikini" Mara said with a eye roll.

"Jealous that someone can pull the look off better than you?" Miranda said with a smirk.

"Hardly" Mara said with a scoff as she gestured to Miranda's body "If you want to parade around in hardly anything at all, be my guest. Me, I prefer clothes that don't have me look like a Zeltron in heat"

"Says the woman that's part of the Imperial Dancers Corps" Miranda said with a raised brow "Your outfits are enough to leave Jabba the Hutt panting like a bitch in heat"

"And thank you for putting that image in my head" Mara said with a look of disgust on her face.

Just what she needed, a Hutt drooling over her while she danced.

"Any time" Miranda said with a smirk as she brought up another screen, this one filled to the brim with numerous glyphs of some sort that Mara didn't recognize.

"What is this?" Mara asked as she looked at the various symbols racing across the screen.

Miranda shrugged as she leaned back in her chair and stared at the screen "Some sort of advance equation or algorithm that some researchers found in some remote facility on Dromund Kaas a few weeks back that seemed to be devoted to research and development for the Sith Empire's war machine and sent out here for us to crack. I can't make heads or tails of it since almost all of it is written in whatever language the Sith used to use back then. A security measure most likely to ensure the Jedi couldn't steal it and either replicate it or find some sort of counter to it"

Mara hummed at this, wondering if perhaps Vader or the Emperor would be able to understand any of it. Who knows, perhaps even Peter might though there'd be no guarantee he'd be truthful in his translations.

"Are there any programs to translate this?" Mara questioned.

"We're throwing every one we have at it" Miranda said with a sigh "It's slow going but we believe we might be able to have it fully translated soon"

"How soon?" Mara asked.

"Well, given the rate of translation per minute, the size of the files themselves..." Miranda trailed off as she did a few mental calculations before answering "Three weeks, at the earliest"

"Three weeks?" Mara said with shock "The file's that large?"

Miranda nodded as she continued to study the screen with a look that boarded on annoyance.

"Do we have an idea of what this is exactly?" Mara asked with frustration in her voice "Any clue as to what this is for to require such storage and a ridiculous security measure?"

"Based on the few files we could translate, and our own hypothesis, we believe it's some sort of advance biological enhancement of some sort" Miranda answered.

"That... could be useful" Mara said with a nod "It'd give our Stormtroopers an edge at least. The maker knows most of them can't shoot worth a damn, even with targeting computers built into their damn helmets"

"If it's that kind of enhancement, than yes" Miranda said with a snort of amusement "But for all we know, these possible 'biological enhancements' are some kind of reproductive organ enlargement the Sith would use... wouldn't be the first time"

"First time?" Mara said with a quirked brow.

"Don't ask, please" Miranda said with slumped shoulders "I swear I'm never going to get those four hours back"

"Well what do you know, it seems the ancient Sith were just as fallible as we mere mortals are and are slaves to the same kinds of vices we experience" Mara snorted as she watched as another few words and equations were decrypted and translated.

"So it would-" Miranda began before she winced and raised a hand to rub the side of her head.

"Is something the matter?" Mara asked.

"Nothing, just a headache" Miranda said as she rubbed the other side of her temples with her other hand "They act up every few weeks but they don't last long. Hurts like hell though"

"Getting enough sleep?" Mara asked.

"When I can" Miranda answered with a sigh that almost sounded tired.

"When's the last time you did get any sleep? As in longer than a few hours?" Mara asked with a frown as she leaned forward and rested her elbows on the table.

When Miranda didn't answer right away, Mara's unease grew "Miranda-"

"I'm fine" the dark haired beauty snapped with a glare that caused the hairs on the back of Mara's neck to stand on end "I appreciate the concern but I'm fully aware of my limits"

"...Fine" Mara said with a edge to her voice as she leaned back in her own chair.

"Thank you" Miranda said with a nod as she scooted back and reached for a drawer on her desk and pulled it open to retrieve a small bottle of pills that Mara assumed were for the headaches.

Mara watched her 'friend' down a few of the pills before she practically threw the bottle back into the drawer and slammed it shut. It was rare to see her lose her composure in such a way. These headaches she was experiencing must be worse than what Miranda was letting on. Combine that with a lack of sleep and having to deal with a staff of people who each think their the greatest thing since sliced bread because their smart and it's a wonder the woman hasn't snapped yet.

Mara knows she would've.

"So, back to our earlier discussion" Miranda said as she typed down a few things before shutting off the projected screens "What can you tell me about this 'Executioner'?"

Mara felt a prickle of annoyance grow in her as Miranda gave her an amused smirk "What's there to tell? He's an ancient Sith that's somewhat descent at combat"

"You've said that, but what's he like?" Miranda asked with her smirk growing a little more "Is he a dark charming rouge that makes you want to make a bunch of wrong but pleasurable mistakes or is he a total bore that just happened to get lucky?"

"Why do you care?" Mara demanded.

Miranda's reply was a shrug "Call me curious. After all, I'm sure the Emperor had his reasons for elevating a rogue Sith to being the third most powerful man in the Empire even though we both know he has a legion of his own, much more loyal Force Users, he could've used instead. The Inquisitors have plenty of promising candidates"

"Not that promising, I assure you" Mara said with a scoff.

The only one of the Inquisitors that were a actual challenge for her was the current Grand Inquisitor himself and the First Sister. The rest were a bunch of, in Mara's opinion, mediocre failed Jedi Padawans that the Emperor took pity on.

"They work better as a group than individually" Miranda said with a wave of her hand.

"Just what the Empire needs, a Force Sensitive version of Stormtroopers" Mara said with a eye roll.

Both Miranda and Mara chuckled at this.

H-... -e...

Mara straightened at this and looked around the room with narrowed eyes "Did you hear that?"

Miranda's brow quirked as she watched Mara look around her office "Hear what?"

"I thought I heard something, just now" Mara said as she stood up and continued to scan the room.

Instead of some scathing remark about Mara losing her mind, Miranda simply sighed as she rested her elbows on the table and massaged the sides of her head "ah, so your hearing whispers now too hmm?"

"Whispers?" Mara said as she turned to regard the dark haired woman.

"I get a report about twice a week about someone complaining about hearing whispers" Miranda said as she brought up a screen that showed a list of reports that dated back to before Miranda's stint as the Installation's XO "I've brought this to Mohc's attention several times but he claims I'm being ridiculous. That it's just the madness in some of these 'mad scientists' finally taking it's course"

"What do you think?" Mara asked as she watched Miranda stand up and walk over towards her window and gaze out into the Maw.

"I think that either someone's screwing around or one of the experiments that went on here at some point in the past is coming back around to bite us in the arse" Miranda said as she brought up her arms as if to hold herself.

Pl-... h-... -e...

Mara felt the beginning of a headache taking form as she heard the whisper again. It sounded like someone trying to tell her something but their voice came in muffled and extremely quiet, like they were in another room shouting their lungs off to get attention.

"What about you, do you hear them?" Mara asked as she noticed that Miranda had tensed a little when she heard the whisper again.

Miranda's reply was a almost haunted look in her eye when she finally turned to stare at Mara.

"Every night I try to go to sleep"

...

Several hours later Mara and Miranda silently made their way into the hanger that housed Mara's ship, this time occupied by ten Death Troopers who had formed a line of Five on each side of the lowered ramp.

Mara gave them a quick once over before she glanced at Miranda with amusement "Seeing me off in style hmm?"

"It's about all their good for" Miranda said with a slight glare of annoyance at the troopers "What I wouldn't give for a good Purge Trooper"

"I think their all dead by now" Mara said.

"Pity, I liked how professional and competent they were" Miranda said with a shake of her head and a sigh "Oh well, there's always Captain Fordo if he ever gets tired of his posting as Captain of the Imperial Place Guard"

"I think he's one more complaint away from resigning" Mara said with a snort as she turned to Miranda and extended her hand out "It's been a pleasure seeing you again"

"May our next meeting be a very long time from now" Miranda said as she took the red head's hand and gave it a single firm shake.

"The feeling's mutual" Mara responded with a a smirk.

"Do give Grand Moff Frost my regards" Miranda said as the shuttle behind Mara began to start up.

"I shall..." Mara said with a nod as she released Miranda's hand "Though I think she'd appreciate a personal visit from you when you have time away from your duties"

"I would if I was certain that this place wouldn't fall apart the moment I left it" Miranda said with a hint of annoyance in her tone "I swear if it wasn't for me, half the people here would've killed themselves by now in their ridiculous experiments"

Mara frowned at this "Shouldn't they be calming down now that the Deep Space Mobile Command Center has been moved to Despayre?"

"You would think" Miranda said with a heavy sigh as Miranda reached up and rubbed her temple "But rumor has it that project Star Crusher will be moved here for further testing and development. And then there's project Venom and rumors that the Emperor is going to re-start The Sentinel Initiative-"

"So it'll be a while" Mara interrupted.

"A very long while, yes" Miranda said with a frown "Though if I can get my transfer to Scarif, or anywhere at this rate approved, maybe a few weeks to a month"

"I shall speak to the Emperor about it" Mara said "I don't see why he wouldn't approve"

"Please do" Miranda said with a sigh "I'd rather not live out the remainder of my life here if I can help it"

Mara nodded as she turned on her heel and made her way up the ramp of her shuttle while Miranda dismissed the Deathtroopers back to either their original posts or thee station's barracks. The Installation's XO gave Mara's ship one last glance before she turned on her heel and made her way out of the hanger while the Emperor's Hand pulled her ship out of the hanger and back into the void of space and quickly set a course away from the Installation.

She waited until she was a good twenty kilometers away from the facility before turning towards the holo projector beside her and keyed in the Emperor's commlink and waited for a response. Several seconds ticked by as Mara's ship flew past several Corvettes before the Emperor had decided to answer her hail rather than wait until she was back on the Capital to speak with her.

"Report, Jade" he Emperor's voice echoed around the shuttle's cockpit.

"Your majesty" Mara gave the projection of the Emperor a quick but deep bow "I'm happy to report that Project Venom appears to be running smoothly. Estimates show that it'll be ready to be deployed within a standard year or two"

"Excellent" the Emperor said with a nod "I do hope it's appearance didn't frighten you too much my dear. I understand how horrid it looks"

"I was more surprised by it's size than anything else my lord" Mara said before she frowned "The researchers have noted that it continues to grow in size. They've cut it's feeding to see if that might help stem it a bit"

"So long as it doesn't effect it's performance, they can do what they feel is right" the Emperor said with a wave of his hand.

"Yes my lord..." Mara said as her mind drifted back to Miranda's request for a transfer off the station to somewhere else.

It was than she remembered the woman's headaches and the sense of unease she's felt since arriving at the Installation.

The sense of being watched.

"You have something to say Mara..." Sidious said as his head quirked to the side slightly, sensing Mara's thoughts drifting "Speak your mind child"

"My lord... there's... there's something not right about the Maw" Mara said as she ran over what she's felt and even seen from some of the installation's inhabitants "I don't know what it is, but I feel as if I'm being watched sometimes. I feel these, these whispers at the very edge of my mind sometimes"

"Whispers you say" Sidious said in an unreadable tone as he leaned forward a little "Can you, by chance, make out what these whispers are saying?"

"No my lord" Mara said with a shake of her head "But I know what I heard and Lawson had informed me that this isn't a isolated incident. There's been numerous reports filed by the station's staff that talk about hearing whispers"

The Emperor was silent as he contemplated what Mara told him, leaving the red head sitting there before he muttered something under his breath before nodding.

"For sometime now I've sensed something from the Maw, something that I can't quite explain. I shall look into it my dear, to see if it poses a threat to the Maw Installation and perhaps even to the Empire itself" the Sith Lord stated.

"Do you think it's the Jedi?" Mara asked.

"Perhaps it is, perhaps it's not" Sidious said in a thoughtful tone "Time will tell. Return to Coruscant, I have a new task for you. And before you ask, I have also approved of Agent Lawson's transfer request off the station. I feel her talents will be best used elsewhere"

"Yes my lord, and thank you. I'm sure she'll appreciate being away from the Maw for a while" Mara nodded as the image of the Emperor shut off and she allowed herself a moment to breath before she turned her attention to her ship's console and prepared the jump to hyperspace.

The sooner she was gone, the better.

...

...

...

Help... me...

...


And done.

Next chapter, Jedi hunting...