PROLOGUE

It was late when Herg Ofvan finished typing his medical report. As the chief of the Republican medical staff aboard the Harbinger, he had to examine the highly wounded body of the unconscious man found earlier on a warship.

The Republican ship was on its way to Telos V on a diplomatic-level mission. Admiral Carth Onasi himself – who had once fought in the Mandalorian Wars and had played an important part in the fall of Darth Malak and the end of the Jedi Civil War – had required the captain of the ship, Edmung Tory, to change their planned trip to Onderon to head to the Outer Rim to pick up a woman. Although she had received a diplomatic status, the captain of the ship had received the order not to give her any special treatment. Several rumors about her true identity and the reason why she was aboard had spread around like wildfire. Herg Ofvan had refused to take part in the several pools going on among the crew.

A few days before, the Harbinger had received a distress signal from a freighter under attack by Sith forces. Captain Tory had changed his planned trip once more to investigate. When the Harbinger had arrived, both the freighter and the Sith warship were found empty. Only a dead woman and a droid were in the freighter and the battered body of the unconscious and unknown man in the Sith warship. Captain Tory had reported the discovery to Admiral Onasi and had given him the freighter's ID. It matched the Ebon Hawk, a ship that Carth Onasi knew very well. He had not heard of it for years, ever since Revan had gone AWOL. The Admiral had asked the Captain of the Harbinger to tractor the freighter to Telos V for further investigation.

In the meantime, a HK droid had been assigned to stay with their female guest. All those unusual events were making Herg feel suspicious. He looked one last time at the man in the kolto tank. His body was covered with scars and burns. His skin was thick and grey. He had been found only wearing torn pants and old boots. Every bone in his body had been broken. He was missing an eye, which had been replaced with a white glass eye.

The doctor heaved a loud sigh thinking of what that man could have been through. He was interrupted when a member of the medical staff walked in the infirmary.

"Sir, you shouldn't be here so late," the woman said. "He's been in there for a few days already. I'm pretty sure he won't make it…"

Herg frowned and then turned around to gaze at the woman. "Ona, I thought you were already gone."

"I was looking for Fens," Ona explained. "He is nowhere to be found! It's like everybody is slowly going missing… The soldiers have the same problem. We are in a spaceship, for Pete's sake. They must be somewhere."

Herg frowned again. He had noticed that a few coworkers were no longer reachable but had gotten worried by that matter. However, one matter had caught his attention earlier in the evening. He was glad to see Ona to tell her about it.

"Ona, dear, I'm pretty upset. We are missing an important quantity of sedative drugs. Have you seen or heard about somebody taking it?"

The woman shook her head no. The chief of staff heaved another sigh. "Well, I'll ask everybody tomorrow about it. I'll try to find out where is everybody as well. We should go to sleep now, dear. We are not yet done with that mission."

Herg turned around to grab his coat. At the very moment his hand touched his coat, he heard a squishy sound and gasp from Ona. Wary, Herg turned once more and found himself witnessing a terrifying scene. Ona was no longer touching the ground. She seemed to be levitating. An invisible object was pressed against her back, making her arch her back. Blood was splashing and running from a wound on her belly. Her blood had stained what seemed to be an invisible blade.

Speechless and terrified, Herg was unable to move. The last thing he heard was another squishy sound. This time, he felt the pain. He had felt a blade going through him from his belly to his spine. His assailant was invisible. An invisible threat was on board. Soon, Herg closed his eyes. The attacker pulled out the blade. Herg fell on the ground, dead.