The Budget
The Sith Empire was in jeopardy. Darth Nox knew this. He realized Darth Marr was right; infighting among the Dark Council would only help the Galactic Republic. However, Darth Nox, sitting at his desk in his opulent offices at the Sphere of Ancient Knowledge, couldn't help but think something was not quite right.
"Why do I get the feeling I've been hoodwinked again?"
He felt that Marr was using the situation to embed himself as permanent leader of the Dark Council.
"Is he trying to gradually worm his way onto the throne?"
Nox didn't have any evidence to prove Marr was trying to take the throne for himself, but he couldn't believe that Marr wasn't trying. Nox also realized that the longer Marr led the Empire, during their war against the Galactic Republic, the easier it would be for him to claim the throne, and the harder it would be for Nox to validate his claim to the Imperial throne.
"If the Imperial throne was an easy prize to obtain," Nox thought, consoling himself, "it wouldn't be worth having."
Nox returned to his work, reviewing the budget for the Imperial Reclamation Service. This quarter, Field Marshal Rett Herden was asking for an additional half billion credits in addition to the eighty trillion credits he'd already gotten for this quarter's budget. The field marshal asked for the extra funds to begin work on a newly discovered ruin. Nox couldn't believe that the commander of the Imperial Reclamation Service couldn't operate within his budget.
"How can eighty trillion credits not be enough?!" Nox wondered, incredulous.
The dark lord was in the middle of investigating whether someone was misappropriating funds, or if it was simply being wasted.
"How does anyone with an eighty trillion credit budget not find anywhere to make cuts or find wasteful spending that can be eliminated?" he asked himself, again.
Nox fully expected to find evidence of grossly wasteful spending and graft. By eliminating the waste and destroying the thieves within his sphere of influence, he expected to find enough funds to shift towards the new project and have plenty of funds to put in reserve.
However, after long hours of work, and even a missed meal break, Nox found that the Imperial Reclamation Service was actually inadequately funded. They were stretched thinly throughout the galaxy on tens of thousands of archaeological excavations.
When Nox was given official control over Taris by The Dark Council, after taking the planet from his hated rival, Acina, he was also awarded its annual budget, ten billion credits. The small budget, Nox discovered, was the reason for the slow progress in the cleanup and refurbishment of the ruined city-world.
Nox shifted sixty billion credits from the Imperial Reclamation Service, adding the funds to Darth Komo's budget for his work on Taris. This shift in funds actually exacerbated an already bad problem for the Imperial Reclamation Service.
Nox realized he was going to have to ask the Dark Council for more funding, and immediately realized they would use it against him as an obstacle to the throne.
"The war effort is draining all of our resources," Nox thought, remembering how close the Empire was to losing the war because of the fuel shortage a few months ago. "They won't give me any more than I already get."
Nox considered how difficult it was just to keep the budget he had each council meeting.
The dark lord dialed Field Marshal Herden's office, but the duty sergeant answered instead.
"Dark Lord!" he exclaimed in surprise, "Field Marshal Herden is at his residence. I shall contact him and tell him to return your call!"
Nox moved a pile of data pads from in front of his chronometer and felt his exhaustion after seeing the time.
"Tell him to come see me in my office when he reports for duty in the morning."
Nox cut the connection, reclined his chair and fell to sleep.
Nox awoke to 2V-R8's gentle prodding.
"Master, Field Marshal Herden is here to see you."
"What hour is it?" Nox yawned his question, stretching his back.
"It is the eighth hour of the morning, Master," The droid replied.
Nox figured that he'd gotten four hours of sleep. He felt exhausted, but rose from his reclining chair. He made his way to a small door hidden behind shelving in the corner of his opulent and expansive office.
"Tell the field marshal to wait a while," he said to his ship droid.
The hidden door silently slid shut behind him.
"Yes, Master," 2V-R8 replied, but its master was already gone.
Nox walked to a short bench within his private, lavishly appointed fresher and sat, a bit tiredly.
The dark lord undressed, removing his armored boots, followed by his semi rigid long sleeved armored tunic with its deep black and bright yellow patterns. Then he removed his matching flexible armored kilt. Darth Nox was famous for his stylishly bright and loudly colored armor, especially for his sharply contrasting patterned bright yellow and deep black armor. He then removed the thermal protection underlining, a black, tight-fitting, one piece body suit, which covered his body from the top of his neck all the way down, covering even his feet.
His brightly colored armor protected Nox from shrapnel and resisted penetration of lightsaber beams together with his personal shield generator, but the intensely high heat could still pass through and cause second and third degree burns. That's where his thermal protection underlining came in.
Nox then proceeded to remove his under garments, a solid black long sleeved top and leggings, both made with a soft and smooth material with seamless construction. Nox stepped into the fresher and let the water jets, from several nozzles, stream pulsing flows of water onto him.
2V-R8 entered the fresher and put Nox's armor, boots, and under linings into a valet. The droid programmed the valet and then left to prepare Nox's breakfast.
Meanwhile the valet, actually a very specialized droid, laundered Nox's things, first spraying the insides of Nox's armor, top, bottom, and boots with an anti-fungal, anti-bacterial solution. The linings were removed to another section of the valet equipped with an agitation washer.
Rotating brushes scrubbed Nox's armor and boots, inside and out. The armor pieces were then transferred to yet another section of the valet, where his armor and boots were submerged in a bath of nano-droids. Millions of microscopic droids went over his armor making micro repairs to the special heavy armored fabric material, removing scratches, abrasions, rips and tears. The nano-droids also repaired the scratches, chips, and tiny cracks on the paint of Nox's armored boots, while also restoring its glossy polish, thus restoring their like-new appearance.
Darth Nox had just rinsed the shampoo from his hair, which flowed down his shoulders and over his back, but leaving an awkward male pattern bald spot on the top of his scalp. Actually, his pate was showing the stubble of new hair growth.
Careful to not get any on his long hair, Nox rubbed hair removing cream onto his scalp. After a few moments, he scraped it off with a flexible soft edged scraping tool. Then he thoroughly rinsed off his scalp.
Darth Nox walked out of the fresher, and the water jets automatically shut off. He made his way to a sunken tub and stepped down into it, sinking into the tub to his chin as he sat. The pulsating water jets massaged his muscles as he sat, perfectly relaxed, in the very warm medicated water.
After a few minutes, Nox stepped up out of the tub and took a final cooling shower. After, drying off, he walked into his wardrobe and selected a clean set of under linings, all black, and put those on. In the wardrobe was his freshly laundered and repaired black and yellow armor and boots.
However, Nox chose a different set of armor to wear. This armor was the same style as his famous black and yellow armor, but it was blood red with black markings and patterns.
Nox stepped out of the fresher and walked just a couple of paces to a small table, set with a single chair. The table was also concealed behind the shelves which hid the fresher door. He took a seat, just as 2V-R8 set the table, lifting the cover from the breakfast tray, revealing Nox's favorite breakfast – which the droid assured him was also quite nutritious.
Nox ate unhurriedly, reading reports from the Ministry of Sith Intelligence, the successor to the Ministry of Imperial Intelligence. The Ministry of Imperial Intelligence had been dismantled by the Dark Council following the downfall of Darth Jadus.
Darth Jadus was cast out of the Dark Council in a most spectacular fashion following his attempt to overthrow the Dark Council. His goal was to remove the Dark Council and form a new government under the rule of the Sith Emperor, with Jadus as the prime minister.
The reports Nox read concerned Hutt activity since the Makeb incident.
The Hutts appeared to be deeply divided about what to do next following the debacle on the destroyed planet, Makeb. The leaders for the majority faction of the Hutt Cartel angrily decried the actions of the faction in the minority, arguing that what they'd done on Makeb was bad for business.
Another faction, a large faction but still in the minority, called for calm, while not explicitly stating their position on the matter. Clearly, they wanted to keep the cartel from fragmenting.
The tiny militant, minority faction, a very small minority, called for the action needed to return the Hutts to the glory of the old Hutt Empire. They argued that the cartel had the credits and resources needed to supplant both the Sith Empire and the Galactic Republic.
Nox chuckled when he'd read, "During a pause in the tumultuous debates, Szajin the Hutt, the self-appointed Archon, was arrested for conspiracy to commit murder. The evidence was all circumstantial, but quite compelling.
"The murder victim was none other than Toborro the Hutt, the one who led the conquest and occupation of Makeb. He was found dead in his compound on Hutta…"
There was more, but Nox stopped reading as he thought, "It seems the Hutts have come to their senses and have chosen not to challenge the Empire or the Republic."
Nox finished his breakfast and then walked from behind the shelves, which were filled with holocrons, and made his way to his desk.
As soon as he sat behind his desk, he told 2V-R8, "Tell Field Marshal Herden to enter."
"Yes, Master," the ship droid replied, leaving its alcove at the side of Nox's huge office, and making its way to the door.
Nox looked at his desktop chronometer. It was the eleventh hour of the morning.
Field Marshal Rett Herden wasn't angry, nor did he feel insulted or otherwise miffed. Rett Herden had had to wait to be seen by Nox many times before. This was nothing new to him.
Field Marshal Herden had come prepared to get work done. Arriving to Nox's reception area with a small team of assistants, runners, and droids, he reported in as ordered to Nox's office.
As soon as the dark lord's droid said, "Field Marshal Herden, please make yourself comfortable. Darth Nox will see you as soon as he is available," he knew he'd be waiting for a few hours.
"Thank you," the field marshal politely told the droid, "I'll be right here, waiting."
As soon as the door slid shut and the droid was gone, Field Marshal Herden turned about and pointed at one of the caf tables, and his staff immediately got to work setting up his work space. Within five minutes, he was at work reviewing a report and in conference with one of his field excavation commanders.
Three hours later, just as he was wrapping up one of his conferences with some of his other field excavation commanders, the door to Nox's office slid open and the dark lord's droid informed him, "The dark lord will receive you, now."
"Very well," Herden replied. Then he told his field commanders, "We'll have to wrap this up. The dark lord is ready for me."
The field marshal cut the connection, ending the conference call.
"Wrap this up," he told his team, "Take it all back to the office."
Then he proceeded to Darth Nox's office, passing through the door and walking half way into the expansive space. The huge office was lined with shelves, filled with ancient holocrons, on either side, leaving a huge space open to show off his rug.
The field marshal stopped on the center of Nox's hundred meter by hundred meter rug, woven with a stunning black and yellow pattern. It was a prize of war that the dark lord had claimed from a noble's palace on Alderaan many years ago.
Rett Herden knelt on his right knee and planted his right fist onto the rug, and bent his head.
"Dark Lord, you honor me greatly!" the field marshal declared as though proudly, "Thank you for receiving me into your presence! What is the will of my august dark lord?"
"Rise, Field Marshal Herden," Darth Nox told his subordinate commander.
Field Marshal Herden rose to his feet and then snapped to parade rest, with his feet shoulder width apart, and his hands crossed at the small of his back, with fingers extended and flat.
"Field Marshal," Darth Nox began, "the Imperial Reclamation Service has an eighty trillion annual budget. How is it that you can't find a half billion credits to develop this new dig site?"
Field Marshal Herden was careful not to mention that Nox had shifted sixty billion credits over to another program, wiping out his discretionary funds and forcing him to shut down thirty eight dig sights.
Instead, he said, "Dark Lord, we have several tens of thousands of dig sites scattered over thousands of planets, both in and out of Imperial space. Additionally, we have several construction projects currently under way to add more storage capacity and research centers for the many new archaeological finds that we make.
"Our current storage capacity is nearly exhausted, and we have a great need to expand our research capacity. We simply have way too many artifacts to study and not enough researchers. So, not only must we build new facilities, we must also hire many new researchers.
"Additionally, Dark Lord, we have made an unexpected discovery on Korriban. It is not a tomb but a subterranean research facility carved out of solid granite.
"We believe we have found a pre-Sith facility built some time shortly after the ancient Dark Jedi arrived on Korriban to settle there. The ruin is in nearly perfect condition. The request for additional funds is for that, Dark Lord."
Darth Nox nodded acknowledgement of the revelation.
"What secrets will I find there?" he wondered, intrigued.
Darth Nox produced a datapad from his desk drawer and set it on the desk top to his left side. 2V-R8 walked briskly from his alcove at the side of the office and walked behind Nox's wide desk to pick up the device. The droid then walked the device over to Field Marshal Herden.
"I have written a new policy for how new dig sites will be handled," Nox said, "and how it will affect the budget. You shall implement the new policies contained therein. Come to me, with questions if you find any part of that policy problematic."
Herden was not going to tell the dark lord there were problems with his new policies. Instead, he would make sure the spirit of the policy was executed, ensuring Nox's will was carried out.
"I know the Dark Council will not give me more," Nox told the field marshal, "You will need to prioritize. The new policy will direct you on how to prioritize dig sites including the shutting down of certain sites."
Field Marshal Rett Herden was disappointed to hear this, but Darth Nox had just told him he wouldn't be able to get more funding from the Dark Council.
"I understand, Dark Lord," the field marshal acknowledged, "The policy contained in this datapad will guide me on how to reallocate funding by prioritizing some dig sites and closing others down."
"Good," Nox said, "There is one last thing I need from you before you are dismissed, Field Marshal."
"Yes, Dark Lord. How else may I be of service?"
Nox set another datapad on the desk beside him, and again, 2V-R8 quickly stepped to Nox's wide desk, stepping around and behind it to reach the datapad. The droid then quickly walked back around the desk and stopped before the field marshal, presenting the datapad before finally returning to its alcove at the side of Nox's grand and opulent office.
"It is a list of the items I will need," Nox explained, "several droids, a military shuttle craft, and various scientific equipment which I require to take measurements and to record the data for an experiment I shall conduct. When I board the shuttle, I will tell the pilot the coordinates he must take me. I want all of the items on that list loaded onto the shuttle within two hours.
"Send the security droids, on my list, to the shuttle to guard it and to await my arrival. Send the work droids to the research facility to the level below, to gather the items on that list and then have them load the shuttle. They are to wait for me at the shuttle along with the security droids. Do you have any questions, Field Marshal?"
"No, Dark Lord. I will see to it that it is done. I will call you to inform you when the items on your list are all aboard the shuttle and ready for your use."
"Good. That is all. You are dismissed."
The field marshal snapped to attention, declaring, "It has been my greatest honor to be found useful to my dark lord!"
Nox nodded his acknowledgment, and Rett Herden turned smartly about and marched out of Nox's office.
"Red and black armor, this time, eh?" Herden thought to himself, "He's changed his hair, too."
Nox had arranged his hair in a single thick braid going down his back, instead of his customary top knot, which stuck out from the back of his head, like a short rod with a bushy end.
The field marshal was glad that Nox wanted a shuttle. It meant that, whatever that experiment was, the dark lord was going to conduct it somewhere far away. Years ago, Nox had conducted his first few experiments in the research center in the floor above the field marshal's headquarters, it caused several of his personnel to be driven mad with fear.
Those were quite chaotic episodes which caused a great deal of mayhem on several of the sublevels of The Citadel. The Imperial Reclamation Service's headquarters was not the only organization thrown into chaos. Several other administrative offices from other neighboring organizations were also severely affected.
Field Marshal Herden was glad it wasn't he who had to tell Darth Nox to conduct his research elsewhere. Under the advice of his Sith lord servants, Nox had begun to take his experiments deep into the jungles of Dromund Kaas, well away from any centers of civilization.
As Herden walked through the corridors on his way to a bank of turbolifts, another puzzling thought occurred to him.
"My budget is only eighty trillion out of the Empire's entire budget of three thousand six hundred trillion, and he worries the Dark Council can't afford to add a mere half a billion credits to my budget?"
The turbolift took him down a few levels to the Imperial Reclamation Service headquarters. He'd been pondering the dark lord's worry over such a minuscule increase.
"Something is terribly wrong," he thought with a sinking feeling, "Are we losing the war?"
8