"Beware the Darkside,
for it consumes all,
like an abyss from which
there may be no escape."
Luke Skywalker
23 ABY (After the Battle of Yavin)
Chapter Twenty
The black dagger form of Darth Vader's Executor exited hyperspace. It had been several weeks since the destruction of the conduit in the Penoria system and all the Imperial forces there. Imperial scientists were unsure of what had happened, suggesting that perhaps the star on the other side of the conduit had somehow gone nova. This, of course, did not make any sense the star lacked all the normal preconditions for a nova.
A week had passed since Vader had received word that the Lusankya had been found, the battered Super Star Destroyer lay now in orbit of a grey and dead world. Two Imperial Star Destroyers had arrived days earlier and used their powerful tractor beams to keep the mammoth vessels orbit from decaying further.
Lord Vader ordered that communications be opened with the Lusankya and a junior officer answered.
"This is Corporal Levin Detrin, acting Captian of the Lusankya," he said, "I am afraid that most of the crew is dead my lord, and most of our systems are heavily damaged. I believe that the ship is repairable with time."
"Where is Lord Krell," Vader asked.
"I don't know, my lord," Detrin responded, "He appears to have fled just after we arrived in this system. No one even noticed him leave sir, he took the remaining Commonwealth engineers and his experiments and left. The corvette Running is missing as well, he must have fled with that.
"We have no idea where he went."
Vader considered this silently for a moment, the only sound he emitted was his rhythmic breathing
"Corporal, repair what systems you can, get her under way. The Emperor has new plans for your ship," Vader finally said, "Then destroy any records you have of the mission, everyone is to forget that it ever happened. Do you understand?"
"Yes, my lord," Detrin responded.
"Good," Vader replied, "It would be a shame if more of your crew had to die."
_________________
A small Hammerhead shaped craft exited slipstream in the deepest regions of the galaxy. Looming just barely one light-year beyond was the massive black hole that held the galaxy together. A solitary world orbited a surprisingly young star caught in the maelstrom of radiation and gravitational tides emanating from the black hole. No other world had ever been discovered so close to the centre of the galaxy, not that many had looked. Lord Krell was one of the few who had.
Before coming into the Emperor's service Krell had been a warlord acting in the Deep Core. Dozens of worlds had feared his name, and though he knew little of the Force at that time, he ruled with an iron fist.
This world had been his secret stronghold, a fortress of solitude that had guarded him from all but the most prying eyes. Neither Palapatine nor Vader knew anything about this world, his fortress was built prior to his joining them to avoid his own destruction. It was a treasure vault, a military base, and a lab.
Now it would serve the same purpose again.
"You have done well," Krell said to the chief engineer who sat in the new pilot seat. The words were those of praise but their intention was rather a warning, failure would result in death.
"The systems works perfectly," the engineer told him quietly. He was one of several Commonwealth engineers who had survived the trials of being one of Krell's servants.
On the world below Krell would hatch his new plans. Taking the Running to Kashyyyk, Sullust and Rodia, Krell had captured physical examples of creatures whose genetics had far too much in common with the Magog. Krell was still missing the vital fourth piece, but perhaps experimentation would breed results.
Twenty-five years later...
Krell sat in a small private throne room contemplating that last two and a half decades. Across the galaxy the Empire he had once served had fallen. Petty warlords battled over worlds that had once been his draining the Empire until finally they abandoned the Core for greener fields elsewhere.
The New Republic had not bothered much with the Deep Core, staying well away from the handful of still bickering warlords fighting for dominance in a galaxy they would never control.
Rumours had been heard of a great war being fought in the wider galaxy. A new race from beyond the constraints of the galaxy were invading, causing horror where ever they went. These creatures deserved some investigation for a feeling in the Force had gathered within him, his life work would soon be completed.
Having sent a small group of his finest agents to discover anything they could about the invaders and to bring back a live one, Krell was becoming anxious. Patience was never one of his strong suits.
Two of his special operatives burst into the Throne Room unannounced dragging with them a heavily restrained, dead looking, and horribly disfigured body. Krell was sad to see his suspicions collapse, this was not a Magog.
"They are called Yuuzhan Vong," the team leader reported without preamble, "They invaded the galaxy a few months ago and have been pushing to the Core. The Republic is faltering in the face of the invasion. The Imperial Remnant has assisted the Rebel's in battle over Ithor but the planet was lost to these creatures. It took out most of my team before we were able to sedate this one."
Krell tightened his focus on the creature but he found no presence in the Force.
"Is it dead," he asked.
"No, my lord," the officer reported.
Krell felt a strange satisfaction grow over him as he starred at the creature. Picking up a genetic scanner, Krell approached the gruesome creature. A quick scan revealed some interesting results.
"Get this creature to the labs," Krell demanded.
At last his time had come.
"My lord," one of Krell's scientist approached as he stood on the bridge of the Running. The ship had been in his possession since for two and a half decades and though he had other ships at his disposal the Running had a special status for him.
"What is it," Krell demanded.
"We have analysed some of the Yuuzhan Vong's equipment including a small fighter that the team recovered. They use organic technology exclusively including a creature that emits a powerful gravitational field comparable to a mini black hole.
"We have managed to replicate the effects of this device and were able to complete the Accelerator much more quickly then we imagined."
"Excellent" Krell exclaimed, "We will begin at once."
The Accelerator was a device that Krell had spent the last decade designing. It would allow him to access directly through the use of tesseracts and the Force the power of any black hole. He had used the unfinished version to genetically manipulate many of the slaves he had captured over the years, combining their DNA with that of other creatures, hoping to stumble on to the correct genetic code to create the Magog.
"We have placed all four live samples in there chambers, my lord," the scientist proclaimed, "And we have moved the ship as close to the black hole as we dare. We are ready whenever you are."
Krell simply nodded as he stepped into the core of the Accelerator system.
Stretching out with the Force, Krell could feel the black hole its power, its hunger. He slipped his arms into the control collars on either side of him and activated the machine. A rush hit Krell like no other feeling he had ever experienced, he could feel the galaxy down to the most minuscule detail.
Focusing his mind he found that he could actually sense the Vong through the Force, though not in the same way as the Wookiee, Sullustian, or Rodian. He latched on to each of these creatures using the Force to direct the tesseract fields as tore apart their genetic structures and began to rearrange them. The creatures native to this galaxy were relatively easy to pull apart and put back together as he wished but the Vong was proving to be a genuine challenge. Opening himself to the Force by letting all the anger, hate and disgust he had accumulated in his entire life flow through him, Krell focused all his attention on the Yuuzhan Vong ripping the creature down to its most basic levels and combining it with that of the others.
A blue wave of energy engulfed the Accelerator Core, an explosion of Force like non other before. One of the scientists ran to the entrance to the Accelerator Core. Once their he saw Lord Krell's body, burned beyond all recognition, the limp form of the Dark Lord still breathed, but with labour that made Darth Vader sound positively healthy. A faint glow was emanating from Krell's burnt form and it was increasingly getting brighter.
Skin cracked as the strange light engulfed what remained of the Dark Lord's body. Underneath the skin nothing existed but insubstantial light and deep darkness. Krell's eyes opened and he stood up on shaky legs. The eyes were no longer in there place, instead two orange glowing maelstroms, like the accretion disks of black holes replaced them.
What little skin that remained now boiled away in the horrible light of the birth of a new evil. The light faded, leaving only an insubstantial and transparent form in the shape of a human. Darkness and fire seemed to flow form him and through him.
Krell tuned to the scientist who had beheld his metamorphosis, and he could feel its fear.
Behind the scientist two coarse furred creatures, their razor sharp claws tore into his soft flesh and their poison soon immobilized him. The creatures let loose a squeal of pleasure as they infested the scientist with their progeny.
Krell could no longer speak, he did not have any need to. The creatures he had created were so tuned to him that that they could if necessary be his voice.
The first of the Magog had sprang fully formed from the Accelerator and had begun to slaughter the scientists and engineers that were there. Krell could have stopped them but he had revelled in the death, the transcendence.
The power of the Abyss had created him and guided him, its power would sustain him. He was the Spirit of the Abyss. And the Magog would be its Harbingers.
The End.