Chapter 50: A Vision and the Twelve
Reviewers:
Oblivionknight7: You'll get it.
LurkerAnom: Thanks. We'll see what I am soon enough.
Grayangle: I see. Still, the lack of worshippers should hurt them at least a little bit, and maybe make it harder for them to establish new cults. Yes, I just couldn't stand seeing the Imperium dissolve into another civil war. Sorry.
Silvanas: All right, all right, just wait one more chapter. Thanks, both your ideas for the story sound good.
gta5sssjc: I don't think it's possible for the war to get into a stalemate. The other galaxy I'm doing is Andromeda. Others I'm thinking about are Starcraft, Wing Commander, and possibly Macross to get veritech technology.
Lennox: Hey, if it works. Don't worry, the target world isn't Coruscant. The ship won't be invincible, but only just. I see. So that's what BG stands for. It's either going to be three stories or a three part single story. I hope I cheer up too.
Liljimmyurine: Thanks. The Empire might not have as many worlds, but I'm pretty sure they have at least 25,000 Impstars, and I read somewhere it might be as high as 350,000. In the Star Wars Essential Guide books it says four SSD's were complete by the battle of Hoth. As for Hyperdrive, in Empire Strikes Back after the Falcon escapes one of the officers says "If the Millennium Falcon went into light speed it could be on the other side of the galaxy by now." The Death Star at least has a magnetic shield, they said so in A New Hope. I never said the Emperor asks for anything.
Sean: Thanks. It's going to be the Star Wars Galaxy then back to the Andromeda galaxy. A new Andromeda's what Harper's been working on. I'm glad I can make you smile. For the Imperium!
WeaverOfTails: Thanks. Consider it done. Those two are a possibility.
Darth: Can the Imperium give them that hope?
Coruscant, capital system of the Galactic Empire. An entire planet covered by a single massive city. And currently home to the most powerful man in the galaxy. Emperor Palpatine was concerned. The Enemy Lord Vader had recently fought seemed to have disappeared. Their wormhole was gone and there had been no further attacks by them. The official story was that the Imperial Navy had destroyed this new enemy and collapsed their only way into the galaxy. The people of Kestrel supported the story. The end result was an increase in support for the Empire for defeating this new threat.
However, the Emperor and those closest to him knew the wormhole had merely shifted location, not been destroyed. Vader was currently heading up a massive search operation in the outer sectors. The inner regions of the Empire would have detected the wormhole if it had been there. The Rebellion was actually taking a back seat to this Imperium of Mankind Vader had said the newcomers had given as their name. In the Emperor's throne room, Palpatine allowed the Dark Side to bring him a vision. He saw death, a planet destroyed. The entire world shattering into rubble. He felt the deaths of billions. Then he was back in his throne room, the darkness bringing him comfort. Then he became aware of a blinking light. Someone was attempting to contact him. He activated his Holonet transceiver and Vader appeared.
"What is it Lord Vader?" The Emperor asked, sinking into his massive throne.
"My master," Vader spoke, taking a knee. "My fleet has searched hundreds of systems and found no trace of the enemy."
"They are still here. My visions tell me they will strike very soon, and an entire world will burn," the Emperor said. He could sense Vader's surprise.
"Have your visions told you which world they will strike?" Vader asked.
"No, but I know it is an important world, one which possesses a planetary shield." That would narrow the choices significantly.
"That will make it easier. I will summon fleets to defend those worlds at once."
"Beware Lord Vader. I have sensed that this new enemy possesses extremely powerful warriors. Their energy is not of the force, but something very similar."
"I will uncover their secrets Master," Vader said. Palpatine then ended the transmission. He knew Vader was strong, but he had felt the strength of the minds Vader had encountered. The Sith were extremely powerful, but this new energy seemed almost as strong. Still, this new enemy would never prevail. His empire would endure for a thousand years.
In the Unknown Regions, far from any Imperial presence, the main Imperium base in the new galaxy stood. Ten Ramilies star forts guarded sensor posts, research facilities and other structures. Ten Star Destroyers were lined up in the rear of the base. Two were surrounded by research stations. The stations were all pure black and had been constructed to evade most sensor scans. The wormhole was in the center of it all, surrounded by defense satellites from one of the other galaxies. Suddenly the wormhole flared and expanded to three times its normal size to accommodate the Final Judgment as it came through. It was the largest ship anyone had ever seen. The Emperor sent a message for the base commander to come aboard.
The commander, a man named Drent, was a tall man, nearly two meters, with short blond hair and perceptive blue-green eyes. He was carrying a datapad with the latest reports from every department. The Emperor came out of a lift with five Custodes guards. Drent got onto a knee.
"Rise Commander," the Emperor commanded.
"My Lord Emperor, I have the information you asked for," Drent said, handing the Emperor the report on recent RD developments, sensor scans of the surrounding systems, and the little information they had been able to get from the Imperial databanks. "So far we've only been able to translate a portion of their star charts, but we have been able to determine the locations of some of their main manufacturing and starship construction facilities. Their data encryption is like nothing our tech priests have seen before, but with the help of our prisoners we should have more soon. Their torture methods are nothing compared to our own."
"Very well. Continue your work. I have already selected the target," the Emperor stated.
"But how?"
"It is the site of the first Imperium retreat in this galaxy. Now it will be a monument to our power," the Emperor said. "While I am gone I want the analysis of the enemy ships accelerated. If my mission is successful the Empire will triple their efforts to destroy us. You may return to your base," the Emperor said, walking away.
While the Imperial Star Destroyers were being taken apart, the Final Judgment slowly glided out of the base. It was in full stealth mode. It was cloaked and used a special grav field nullifier which prevented its gravity shadow from appearing on any scanners. As the vessel passed through transwarp, the Emperor decided to pay a visit to the school. It was not a normal school mind you, but a training academy his daughters had begged him to allow then to run on board for high level psykers. They felt that they could help young children control their abilities because they had gone through what they had and also they were their own age, in a way. So far there were ten students from all over the galaxy. With Transwarp the Black Ship fleet had become far more efficient. With the temporary weakening of Chaos it had become safer to train psykers. The twins had selected the ten alpha class children so far discovered. Since the twins were the only psykers stronger than an alpha it seemed logical for them to train alphas. An entire section of the ship had been psi-shielded to keep the crew and ship safe from accidents. Null rods were available if they were needed.
The Emperor walked through the corridors of the training facility. He could feel the psychic energy permeating the place. His daughters were in the main holodome. Their students were gathered around them. The twins are in their younger forms. They could only maintain their teenage forms for a half our at most minutes.
"Now, computer, program three," Keren ordered and a Warhound class titan appeared. "Ok, you're up first Jessica." A girl who looked around seven and had long brown hair and green eyes stood up and aimed her hand at the titan. A flash of energy and the titan was flung back. A flick of her wrist and the titan came apart at the waist and vanished.
"How did I do?" She asked a bit shyly.
"That was perfect," Sharon answered. Then the twins noticed the Emperor. "Everyone, we have a special guest today. This is our father the Emperor." The children stood and bowed.
"Welcome Emperor," they said together, bowing. There were six girls and four boys. They were all between six and ten years old.
"Hello," he replied. "So these are your students eh girls?"
"Yes Father. All Alpha class. The only ones found so far," Keren said.
"Because we're the only psykers other than you who are above the Alpha level we felt we were the best qualified to train them," Sharen said. "You wouldn't believe how fast they can pick stuff up. Already they can do simple attacks and contain their energy."
"I see. I came to tell you that we will be arriving at a planet in a few hours where we will test fire a new weapon. If it is successful the entire planet will be destroyed and the Galactic Empire will be gripped by terror. When they respond they will likely bring with them one or more extremely powerful psykers. I believe you and your students could learn a great deal from fighting this enemy. Do you believe they're ready?" He asked.
"They will be soon. We're refining their powers as quickly as we can. For some reason the Warp in this place doesn't affect us psykers as strongly as the Warp in our home galaxy. We can access our powers easier than normal. I think the students will be ready for battle in a few weeks, maybe less," Keren said.
"Good, would you two care to come with to the command deck and observe?" The Emperor asked. The twins nodded.
"Katie, can you continue the exercises?" Keren asked. One of the girls nodded. As they left the Emperor looked back at the children and smiled. They represented the future of humanity. Someday all of mankind would be as they were, and then humans would truly be the greatest race.
How was that? In the next chapter the Emperor will test his new weapon. Can you guess which planet is the target? Hint, it was the sight of the first Imperium retreat. Also, I'm thinking of doing a side story about the psyker academy, which will get larger in later chapters. Is this a good idea? Well, see ya next chapter, and don't forget to review!
ENTILZA