Galvan was a traitor.
Vincent chuclked to himself as he browsed his gallery. Galvan is now as good as dead. He made my job easier. He moved over to his throne and keyed the bridge.
"Yes my lord?" a nervous helmsman answered.
"Take the Inferno back to Coruscant. I will give you further orders upon our arrival."
"Yes my lord."
Galvan opened his viewing panes to see the remains of Deneb before him. The Alliance came to me like moths to the flame, but once again George and his comrades eluded me.
He saw the violet outline of the Corellia move back into the debris field to look for survivors. The Inferno was cloaked a good distance away, and if not for its interference field, the ship would appear very large on the Corellia'sscopes.
The stars suddenly streaked past his window, and then the blue swirl of hyperspace surrounded the ship. They can't elude me forever. He is weak. I shall destroy him, and his pitiful rebellion. Be that as it may....
He turned to a statuette of a man sitting on a stool with his chin resting on his fist.
Thinking men, these humans... George is one of their best. Why does he continue to leave a trail? Does he not know of his true destiny? Does he not know of his true might? He could defeat me... if he only knew. He must know... He should know, shouldn't he?
He moved across the gallery, now looking at a painting of a woman. She didn't show emotion. No smile. No frown. She just sat there, in front of a vineyard.
This is absurd. I am spending too much time deliberating on prophecy. I am the emperor. I will triumph.
He walked out of the gallery onto the bridge. Officers hushed as he passed them, in fear. An evil smile crossed his face, which chilled the air around him.
They dropped out of hyperspace to see a large wormhole open up in from of the Inferno.
"Take us in."
And they were gone.
"I just don't get it Brenton. How do you do it, I mean, I was born on Earth too you know..."
Brenton rolled his eyes as they moved out of Corellia City and into the docking district.
"You know, Max, they say that here in the docking area, 100,000 ships take of and land each hour. Isn't that incredible?"
"I mean, I'm good with a blaster. I like to call myself the 'blaster bastard', but you don't see me wishing down the apocalypse on someone the way you do. It's not natural."
The moved over to the turbo lift, where other members of their dispatch team began to gather. Max moved over toward a man with a large gun on his shoulder, staring into the window as the lift began to descend.
"Ah, a Series 6 Valton Anti vehicle repressor. Nice choice."
Max stared ahead as the soldier looked at him with a skeptical glare.
Brenton smiled. "Carpen, this is Captain Max Goodwin, the Corellia's top weapons specialist."
The man looked back toward Max, chuckling. "I beg your pardon, Captain, but you are mistaken. This is a Series 7. The Series 6 put off to much heat. Not a single man could use it without burning his hands and shoulders severely."
Max smiled, trying to hide his mistake. "I'm glad to know you, uh..."
"Major George M. Carpen, Weapons designer. I have read your work. Good stuff."
"Reading is for useless. I test weapons. Sadly, some don't see the value of a good blaster at one's side. They use stupid son-of-a-bitching flames and dark man vengeance that would otherwise leave them defenseless without."
Carpen looked toward Brenton, ready to laugh out loud. Brenton, used to the ranting of the Captain, hit the accelerator.
The lift stopped at the main level of the docking bay. Stepping out, The group saw hundreds of carpenters stations and tech benches set up, housing people gearing up for a journey.
"Captain Goodwin! Major Galbraith! Over here!"
Brenton looked over to a young man running toward them.
"Captain Goodwin, I am Lieutenant John Matheews. I'm here to take you to your ship. Captain Sika is waiting."
"Nice to meet you John. Lead the way."
They walked a short way longer and came to a ramp leading up to a ship with the name USS-Pennsylvania inscribed across the top of the doorway. At the top, Captain Sika awaited them.
"I am Captain Ben Sika, welcome aboard the Pennsylvania. I have an order dispatch from Commander George here for us. Lets get to work."
They followed Sika onto the bridge, which was large for a battleship. The class was new, as far as Max or Brenton could see, and usually the first ship took the name of its class. The Pennsylvania class was impressive. With state of the art propulsion and weapons, this ship was just asking for a fight.
Commander George's face appeared on the main viewer. He was dressed in combat gear, which startled the pair at first glance.
"Gentlemen, its good to see you found Captain Sika amidst the rubble. I'll cut to the chase. The lack of finding a Halo ring at Deneb has forced Allied Command to believe that the Empire found nothing. We believe they attempted to lead us into a trap of some sort, using their Covenant allies as a weapon to wipe us out. Luckily, Master Chief and Cortana knew better. Our job now is to trace the hyperspace paths of the capital ships that left before the slipspace hole was ripped. Commander LaForge has analyzed the findings and sent them to you and the other tracing parties."
"What do you expect us to do when we find the fleeing Imperials, Commander?" Captain Sika asked. "Surely you don't expect us to fight them with a handful of ships?"
"Do not worry commander, we have reason to believe they scattered to plan another attack, and then regroup at the wormhole. We were able to identify which ships went where, so we are sending you to a fair fight. Your groups assignment is to track down the sith that Major Galbraith and General Katarn encountered. He is to be captured alive. Galbraith's Mentor will rendezvous with you at your first checkpoint, the Vulcan home world."
"Master Ignatious?" Brenton asked, concerned. "I thought she was at Dubrillion. Was she injured?"
"Rayne came down with the Cartesian Fever, treatable only at Vulcan. She is in good health now, rest assured. She has been fully briefed by the Council, who have ordered me to send you two to find the Sith Warrior you found on the Corellia. Rayne only needs a pickup."
"Yes, sir."
"Goodwin, you are in command of the ground forces. Wherever you find this Sith, we also want what he has with him."
"I'll kick his ass for you sir," Max responded.
The commander's expression did not change.
Same old Jim,. Brenton thought, He never could take a joke.
"My job is down a different path, men. I don't know what my outcome will be. This is where we part, old friends. May the Force be with you."
His face disappeared.
"Why do I get the feeling that we won't see him again?" Max asked aloud.