Chapter 7

Mace and Trent crawled through the ventilation ducts in the Imperial research facility. Located deep below the surface of Coruscant, Mace and Trent had to take many paths to ultimately reach their destination. Mace took Trent to where he had previously entered the facility.

"Lucky for us the set up of the facility has not changed," Mace said. "It has been three years since I have been here last but apparently they have not thought it necessary to change anything. We must hurry."

After that Mace and Trent climbed into the air ducts and began their search through the building. They had to crouch down in the confined space of the shaft, sometimes on the hands and need, making sure to not make any noise. Surprisingly the air ducts were clean so traveling through them was easy. Attached to Trent's belt was his newly built and tested lightsaber.

"Now we must separate," Mace said as he and Trent approached a split in the linear path. "You know what to do."

"Yes, Master," Trent said. "I will scout and listen for anything I can, of course being careful not to get caught and will meet back with you once I finish my way through."

"Remember, stay on this path, it will take you outside. If you hear or see anything of importance only then leave the shaft, but remember where it is. It is easy to get lost in here. Only in the air ducts are there no sensors, so you should be safe as long as you stay unseen."

"I will master." Trent said and he and Mace went their different ways.

Trent continued on through the air shaft, the only sound the air moving through the shaft, blocking out his quiet footsteps. A faint light allowed him to see where he was going. Trent continued walking until he came to a part of the air ducts through which he could see everything below. He was standing near an open square patch with bars barricading any chance of leaving, not that he would have wanted to.

Below him he saw several technicians in Imperial uniforms working on many huge and intricate machines. Generators were making a constant humming noise as they powered nearby cylinders and pumps and other machines Trent did not recognize. As he watched the only door to the room opened and a man dressed in a prim Imperial uniform walked in, flanked by two stormtroopers. One of the technicians approached the officer and, with a salute, began speaking with him. Despite the noise the machines were making Trent could hear everything the two men were discussing, due to his training.

"Have the simulations gone as predicted?" the officer asked.

"Yes sir, everything has gone exactly as we knew it would." The technician responded.

"Excellent," the officer said. "And how soon until the process will be entirely operational?"

"We are ninety percent to completion, however with our limited resources we are not sure when we will be able to bring it to one hundred percent."
"Engineer Grurke, I know you are well aware that this project must be finished." The officer said calmly.

"Yes, sir." Grurke said.

"And you do realize what the price of failure is?" The officer said calmly once again.

Grurke gulped and glanced at the two stormtroopers standing behind the officer. "Yes, sir. But we are nearly on time and will be finished shortly."

"Very good, but I shall have you know that the Emperor has contacted me personally and has expressed much interest in this current project."

"Yes, sir."

"He also informed me that he wished to come here and view our work so far. I told him our task was nearly finished and he became quite pleased and told me he was coming soon to see our progress."

"The Emperor's coming here?" Grurke asked, slightly in shock.

"Correct, and I do not want to disappoint him."

"We shall triple our efforts." Grurke said.

"Good, for if you and your team are not finished, I shall inform him I was given the wrong information by my senior engineer. I hope you understand?"

"Yes, sir, completely." Grurke said, sweating slightly.

"Good," the officer said. "Now I must leave you, I have other matters to attend to. I will be back tomorrow for, what I hope, to be the final simulation update. Carry on." With that Engineer Grurke gave a salute and the officer turned and walked out the door, the stormtroopers following silently.

"Attention," Grurke called out to the other technicians who momentarily stopped working. "I have just been informed that the Emperor is coming here shortly, and that he wishes to see the complete project. Therefore we must increase our output by three fold. Now, carry on."

After giving the order all the technicians began working even faster than before. Meanwhile Trent watched quietly, hidden from all, committing everything to memory. Once he finished Trent continued crawling through the air ducts, passing many other rooms also filled with machines similar to the ones in the first room. But as he passed by more rooms things began to change. Instead of technicians and huge machines Trent began to see what looked like Imperial scientists and researchers and medical equipment. The room themselves had changed also, has before in the one with the generators the room was big but also dark and dirty due to the machine run off, the rooms here were bright and clean.

One area in particular caught Trent's attention, as if it called to him. Inside it several people, dressed in white laboratory coats were examining tubes of bubbling chemicals. The sight of them gave Trent a very uneasy feeling and he started to move away when he saw in one of the tubes a person floating inside. A medical droid monitored the person floating in the tube, an air mask allowing the person to breathe. The person's eyes were shut and he seemed to be asleep.

Trent started at the person floating inside, captivated by him for some reason. He looked at the person, seeing that the person was about as old as he was, but maybe a little younger. For some reason to Trent the person looked familiar to him but he could not know how. As he continued thinking about this the only door to the room opened and a man walked in. To Trent's surprise it was the same Imperial officer from before, flanked by the same stormtroopers. The officer once again was greeted with a salute by one of the scientists.

"Welcome, General," The scientist said. "Back for another update?"

"Yes, I am most interested in the progress you have made so far." The General said.

"As you can see we have progressed much." The scientist said, indicating to the man floating in the tube.

"Dr. Ixit," the General began. "I do not see anything."

"Exactly," Dr. Ixit said. "Everything has been set so nothing will appear either superficially or if tested upon. It would be kept hidden until it is time for activation."

"Excellent," the General said. "And when will the prototype be ready?"

Dr. Ixit cleared his throat. "Unfortunately, despite all the time and effort we have been working on this, the prototype is not perfectly ready. We still need to run some additional tests to-" Dr. Ixit stopped when the General raised his hand, silencing him.

"Dr., I have given you much time already," the officer said. "And I am afraid you are running out of time."

"But sir-"

"I have informed the Emperor on the progress we have made so far and he is very interested. So much, in fact, that he has decided to come see it for himself."

"The Emperor is coming?" Dr. Ixit said surprised.

"Yes, Dr.," the General said. "And I do not wish to disappoint."

"Very well, sir," the scientist said. "We shall finish up with our tests and have the prototype ready for when the Emperor arrives."

"Good," the General said. "Keep up the good work." With that the General turned around and walked out, followed by the stormtroopers.

After the General left Trent immediately left as well, continuing along his path through the ventilation system. He knew he had to relay all the information to Mace so they could plan their next step. After crawling silently through the air ducts Trent finally came to the end. A barred window blocked the exit and Trent had to remove the obstacle. He ignited his lightsaber, and with a snap-hiss an orange blade sprang to life. In a quick cut the bars were cut and Trent was outside, but not before using the Force to hold the bars before they clattered to the ground. Trent ran passed the security cameras and guards, back to his and his Master's refuge. Once there he saw Mace had already arrived and was meditating. Mace stopped as Trent approached.

"Good, your back," Mace said, standing up. "Tell me everything you have learned."

-

After telling his Master everything that he saw, Mace began filling Trent in on what Mace experienced.

"It is very interesting, based on what you have told me."

"How so, Master?" Trent asked.

"This general you saw, I have seen him as well." Mace said. "While I was investigating I came across a very peculiar room. In it I saw racks of stormtrooper armor propped up. Several technicians and engineers were working nearby when the same General walked in and began speaking with one of the senior officers. I do not remember what the officers name was but the General's name was never spoken. The General asked how some type of procedure had gone and the officer said it had gone well, but there were a few more tests to run before finalization. Then the General mentioned how the Emperor had taken an interest in their work and was coming to see personally."

"That is exactly what I heard as the General say as well." Trent said. "And it seems that the people, though in the same facility, have no idea what is occurring. They were all surprised when they heard the Emperor was coming. I would have thought a transmission would have been made, telling all that the Emperor was coming."

"Precisely," Mace said. "It is not a big facility, so contact should be easy throughout, unless someone wants to keep things secret from everyone else. Something is not right here."

"What should we do Master?" Trent asked.

"For now, nothing, we have done all we can," Mace said. "Today was just a preliminary search, but tomorrow we go back and gather even more information."

"How so?"

"We will have to sneak in and withdraw the information from the central computer," Mace said. "I passed by it today, and fortunately it is not heavily guarded because it is in the center of the facility, but we will have to be very careful." Mace paused and looked appreciatively at Trent. "You did very well today Trent. What you have helped me to do may cause many changes."

"Thank you, Master." Trent said, some pride in his voice.

"But we have done enough for today," Mace said. "It is late and we must be getting up early tomorrow. Let us go to sleep and we will leave at dawn. Remember, keep your mind focused on the present and do not worry much about the future."

"I will, Master." Trent said.

"Good, I will see you tomorrow." Mace said and they both left for sleep and a new day.