CHAPTER TWO – The Dark One

"Rancor squadron, please come in." he shut the comlink off and then on again seconds later, "I repeat, Rancor squadron please come in."

Vez put the comlink back and sighed, what has Viol gotten herself into now?

He became aware of several ships moving in system and moved towards the holo screen displaying red blips. They were moving through the asteroid field, and apparently, Vez had lost contact with Viol just outside of the Covey belt. His worries began to swell, and his impatience was throbbing intensively. He wanted to regain control of the situation.

There was a tint of fear in his whispering voice. "I have a bad feeling about this."


The fleet moved through the Covey asteroid field in mere minutes by making several micro jumps meticulously over the belt. Their sights were fixated on New Coruscant, filled with bustling and anticipating vermin waiting to be scourged by the Yevethan fleet of Viceroy-class thrustships and hundreds of Yevethan fighter craft. The Yevethan craft were a mind boggling one-thousand-six-hundred meters in diameter, encased in heavy armor and strong deflector shields.

Primate Nag Sunra stood on the bridge with a blood stained grin, his red crest stretched out from his forehead to his plated scruff with two more extending from his cheeks; a sign of preparation for battle. His eyes were nothing more than tiny black beads watching New Coruscant from his flagship, Destroyer X. Underneath his grayish green and leathery skin, his heart pumped with anxiety, and his brain pulsed with excitement. He could feel the beat from outside his brain cage, placed in his upper chest. He yearned for the blood of the vermin. After so many years in isolation, the Yevetha were starving for revenge. Now they had a fleet, an army and a terrible leader and apprentice.

Nag had been chosen by the Blessed himself to go and whittle the vermin's confidence and pride down to nothing. To attack on their most precious and joyful holiday was essential to breaking them. They had to thank the unfortunate crew of Courier for arriving all those years ago, supplying them with the data they needed. Sending it back just before the fleet would attack would result in the ultimate humiliation of the military of the Alliance.

Someone interrupted his thoughts, "At what extent do you hope to succeed in, Primate Nag?"

He had heard the deep, low sounding mechanical voice from a distance, echoing amongst its electronic systems. Nag had turned to see a cloaked figure clothed in black robes and hood, pacing steadily towards him.

He then realized that it was the presence of the blessed one's apprentice, he who went by no name. He was part vermin and part mechanical terror constructed by the great smiths of Giat Nor.

"I was not aware of your being on this important trip, Dark One."

The black creature stopped a few feet away, facing the Yevetha strategist, "The darama has ordered that I oversee your actions, and make sure that you do not fail. If you do so, I am obliged to terminate your entire command and replace it with a much more efficient team."

"I see etaias. This daring mission will go as planned. The vermin have no idea what we have in store for them. Their deliberation is near and will be just." Nag growled.

"Do not underestimate the enemy, Primate Nag," the dark clad one said, pointing his gloved index finger at the Yevetha's chest, "This is only the first phase in my master's plan. If we succeed here, there will be more battles spread out across thousands of star systems."

Nag snarled, "I do not know why the darama chose a filthy vermin over many hardened blood warriors as his personal apprentice," he growled again, more ferocious than the last.

Then the Yevetha felt a tight grip on his frail neck.

"You see, Primate Nag, the superior being wins. They always win. I sense a feeling of distrust in you, common for the xenophobic alien you are. You could've been strong," he let go his invisible grip on the Yevetha, throwing him to the cold floor, "but you had to be weak. And the darama sees no more or no less of you."

"I would slit your throat, if you weren't nothing but the mechanical abomination you are, Dark One. But then, I fear that I would be slaughtered as well, no?" the Yevetha got up to his clawed feet, grinning mischievously with his blood smeared teeth.

"You have much to learn. The wrath of the Dark Side is the strongest force in the Galaxy. Do not tempt me to use it against you, again, Primate Nag."

The Yevetha just circled the apprentice; his beady eyes set on the hooded face of the dark creature, and said, "You speak the truth. Leave me to my duties, and I will leave you to yours. This attack will surely be devastating against their defenses. I assure you."

"And what if your promise breaks?"

"Do what you will."

"As you wish, Primate Nag," the apprentice said solemnly, turning to leave. His swift, dark cape flowed like a gentle river as he moved. As soon as Nag was alone, he immediately set off to the decontamination chambers in preparation to land on New Coruscant.


"Uh, Commander Frykal, we have a slight situation here." Vez had stated, and by the sound of his voice, his nervousness and fear had grown considerably between the time of Rancor's disappearance and now.

"What is it now, Vez?" the gurgled voice of Frykal was almost too much to bear for Vez, as tears started to swell behind his eyes as a result of fear of losing his sister, but he managed to fight them back.

"Um, Rancor flight... I've lost all established contact with them. I can't read them on the scanners either. They've... disappeared." He confessed the terrible news.

"What? How is this possible?" Frykal's anger grew with Vez's fear, so it seemed.

"Well, uh, sir, we have a massive fleet of unknown origins heading directly towards New Coruscant. Thirty of them," Vez swallowed hard, hitting a lump in his throat which made him more nervous, "We... have no idea if they have destroyed Rancor squadron or merely escorting them and Courier back to New Coruscant. All we know is that they won't make contact with any of our stations."

"This is suspicious, but I'm assuming this fleet is nothing more but a tourist group. But to send these many ships at once at the height of Millennia Day is unthinkable. I will send Kulklar to investigate. If they will not comply with our terms, I am assigning you to take care of matters. I trust that you can do that."

There was that word again, trust, the very word that got Vez into this mess tonight. He cursed every language that bore the word in their dictionary under his breath. All traces of communication with Frykal were gone in an instant. Vez's chair hovered to a nearby viewport, and he cringed at the sight of the Kulklar, the most powerful space cruiser in the sector. The super vessel was a massive and bulky three kilometer ship, but unfortunately close to retirement; a replacement ship was being built in the shipyards of Fondor, twice the size of the Kulklar.

The mysterious fleet could now be seen from the naked eye to Vez. In complete horror, his lower jaw dropped and his pupils widened out of amazement and fear. Vez had never seen such ships in his life. Large spherical balls basking in New Coruscant's luminous sun as if they were jewels from the deep mines of Txiin. If such things had weapons, the Kulklar would not be able to stand a chance, let alone the defenses of New Coruscant and neighboring planets and systems combined.


He is nothing more than an itch, he thought, nothing more, nothing less.

He walked past several Yevetha in the seemingly endless corridor, ceasing their little conversation for a moment and cringing from his unnatural scent. He did not bother to discipline them for their incompetence. The repulsive muttering and gossip would be handled later... much later.

He continued walking at a decently fast pace. His black cloak did not allow him to blend in with the pure white background of the access tunnel aboard the thrustship. He noticed a service droid hovering by, as small as a womp rat. It was very unusual for a droid to be aboard a ship of Yevethan descent. Yet again it was even more unusual for himself to be the apprentice for the Viceroy, their so called 'Blessed One'.

And it was more unusual that there was no Viceroyin the first place. Not a real Viceroy anyways.

His plan would soon commence. The ultimate fall of New Coruscant was at hand. The event was unavoidable. The Alliance only has feeble warships to battle his force of ferocious mechanical terrors. They had only worthless vermin to combat with his merciless armada of Yevetha soldiers. Their little party would be interrupted almost too suddenly, to leave everyone shocked and dazed as the newly reformed Duskhan League pummeled the city of New Coruscant. It was his destiny to do so.

He could feel the future in his grasp.

The so-called apprentice continued walking down the bare corridor of the immense spherical ship, thinking of what would become of the Galactic Alliance, as well as the New Duskhan League, in the next few years.


Aboard the Kulklar's bridge stood Admiral Prekto, a male human with short brown hair and icy blue eyes and a cunning military mind. He was dressed in his white uniform which he was wearing during the ceremony of Millennium Day, where he was told that he was needed. The situation was an emergency, he was told. He did not enjoy being interrupted during the biggest event since the fall of the legendary Galactic Empire.

"Captain, give me a status report." he ordered in a disgruntled manner, turning to an officer clad in a blue uniform standing beside Prekto.

"We're all clear, Admiral. The Kulklar is moving towards the Covey."

"Good, good. Any word on Rancor squadron yet?" Prekto asked, concerned about the safety of the elite squadron.

"No, not yet, Admiral, we'll tell you if we do."

Prekto turned away from the captain, dismissing him from the bridge. A frown formed up on his wide face as he saw the enemy fleet emerge from the depths of the Covey asteroid field. He had not seen anything like it. As of now, scholars, pulled from the celebration abruptly, were searching the archives for such vessels or anything similar.

Prekto instantly knew his own sputtering outrage was beginning to blind his tactical mind, having been pulled out from the celebration and separated from his family during this joyous occasion. He was unable to think clearly and effectively. What was he supposed to do with one war cruiser against a massive fleet of thirty? Of course, reinforcements have been called in.

In order to prevent widespread panic, nothing was broadcasted over Holo Net. The whole thing was called over in total secrecy to keep the peace. Prekto was told that three fighter carriers, six destroyers and five gunships were called to reinforce and keep everything in tip top shape for the celebration.

Now he only had to worry if he would make it back in time to see the much anticipated display of fireworks.


Nag Sunra was dressed in a white ceremonial robe, prepared for the massive blood shed to come. The Yevetha primate closely examined every detail on his dress, making sure he was clothed properly for commanding his fleet of starships.

Nag walked towards the room's only table, where a type of emblem laid. The symbol was a red circle with two equilateral triangles placed around the crimson-colored dot to create an almost diamond-like formation. Nag recognized this instantly as the official symbol of the recreated Duskhan League. He took the hand stitched emblem and tacked the meaningful symbol onto his plain looking war dress with extreme preciseness and carefulness. The symbol of might and ruthlessness now hung from the right side of his chest.

Nag was proud to be a Yevetha, even more satisfied to be the High Primate, even if the present Viceroy was not suitable to rule over Nag and his kind. If only society would allow him to pass on the rank of Primate to become the Blessed One.

The primate grinned at the thought as he pulled on a black robe, "Imagine the possibilities," Nag whispered to himself.

He straightened his robe's collar and left his living quarters with a decent amount of confidence. The battle will be his to win and for the vermin to lose.


Nag had arrived on the bridge shortly after, accompanied by only two other beings on the rather not so spacious command deck.

"Vermin battleship identified as the Kulklar. Your commands, etaias?" an anxious nitakka primate asked. Nag nodded with the confirmation of the enemy battleship.

Nag watched the vermin ship close in on his fleet of thrustships from the forward command deck. He felt eager, with a bit of nervousness inside of him. Nag placed his hands behind his back, wrapping his fingers around each other and turned his head slightly to the left to see the darama's apprentice approaching.

The Yevetha bowed in respect as well as the others in the bridge. The Dark One stood in front of the primate and commanded Nag to reside his previous stature. Nag complied and nodded his head.

"The darama has given me direct orders, Primate Nag, to begin the battle. You may fire when ready," the apprentice said.

Nag replied with his rising fist, gesturing for his officer to comply, "Concentrate all fire onto the incoming vermin craft!" said Nag in his native language.

His inferior commander processed the orders through the main terminal, transferring targeting data to the gunners of Destroyer X and other thrustships. Within a few minutes, the leading five thrustships unleashed hell; a fiery barrage of red laser fire and missiles headed straight for Kulklar. Nag stood beside the darama's apprentice and had a devilish grin on his face.


"The enemy has fired!" cried one of the officers aboard the command deck of the Kulklar. Prekto's attention was fixated on New Coruscant's brilliant display of fireworks until the officer had alerted him of the incoming onslaught of disastrous projectiles and laser bolts. He approached the three officers that accompanied him on the bridge.

Prekto turned and nodded calmly, "Get the shields up to full power immediately."

"Yes sir!" the tallest officer replied, rushing towards the main controls and Holo Net receiver.

A few seconds later, a yellowish glow surrounded the Kulklar. The incoming wave of energy and particle weapons slammed into the deflector shields, dissipating or exploding upon contact. Explosions dotted the Kulklar's surface in a wondrous pyrotechnic display of red and orange colors. Prekto turned towards his company of three officers, "Lower the shield and retaliate with our own weapons."


Nag Sunra slammed his fists against a control panel, angered at the fact that the vermin had managed to evade their first attack. Now they had deployed their own weapons. Nag was shocked to see the vermin use such tactics. He turned towards the darama's apprentice, "You told me they would retaliate with peaceful intentions! You are a liar!"

"Calm yourself," the Dark One said, "We outnumber them greatly. We shall win the day."

"Don't be so sure of yourself you piece of vermin..."

Nag felt a tight grip on his frail neck and heard the Dark One's voice rumble, "Remember, Primate Nag, I am the superior around here. You will do as I say and nothing more. If we return to N'zoth, the darama will have your head, either we win or lose."

The Dark One dropped Nag from his invisible grasp. The alien struggled for to breathe, wheezing heavily as he tried to get a gulp of air into his fragile lungs. His beady black eyes blinked in disbelief and a look of displeasure appeared on Nag's once expressionless face. He rose to confront the Dark One.

Nag pointed a sinewy finger to the Dark One's chest, "You will regret this."

"Somehow I know I won't, Primate Nag. Now divert all power to shields and move the fleet closer to the Alliance command ship. Then release the gravity bombs and get this over with."