Complete Teaser: Definitely AU (Alternate Universe). If you like stories that read like a good manga, this one is for you. The destinies of an ambitious Chiss noble, a beautiful Twi'Lek singer, a motley of pirates, and more are entwined with the fate of a turbulent galaxy in this new take on the species and cultures of the Star Wars universe. What is the "phantom ship of the Sith"? Who are the Advocates of the Force? Can the dark future a Mira Luka seer foresees for the Republic be avoided? If I've piqued your curiosity, read on!

Author's Notes: The story has a slow start, like any novel length adventure and there are a lot of important characters to introduce, so bear with me; I think you will find it worth it. Don't let this color your opinion, but this story is based on an RPG campaign. I want Von Lormac, Taru, the mysterious Kel-dor Jern Ponn and the impulsive Neris, and all the rest of the characters to make a place in your heart just as they have in mine. Let me show you our world, and our story.

NEW 3/24/05:A line like the one shownbelow

will be inserted in between paragraphs where there is a shift in scene and/or point of view. I was using double spaces, but it has come to my attention that the engine double spaces every paragraph automatically.

Disclaimer: Star Wars and all its copy written material belong to LucasArts, NOT me. Neither does the phrase "Night's Plutonian Shores"; it is a quote fromPoe's The Raven.

Prologue

"You are sending me . . . where?"
Lord Von Lormac, fifth scion of the House of Karn-fal, couldn't believe what he was hearing. Indeed, he didn't know whether to be disturbed or delighted . . . or to think that he was being made a mockery of. But not a hint of arrogant pleasure gleamed in his superior's solar red eyes.

It was impossible to think of a recent entrepreneur elect having their first commission off-world- let alone out of the imperial space. Yet here he was, being presented with an opportunity to expand the Chiss business frontier in a critical development. Someone in power must really be pleased with his work . . . or want him very far out of the way. The planet on which he was to set up "shop", and eventually possible business dominion, was one of the richest, and most dangerous areas in the galaxy. A gamblers heaven and a smugglers dream, it was also uncomfortably close to that aggressive cluster of worlds, Sith space. A profiteer trying to establish a presence would have to hold his own against a great variety of circumstances with nearly unforeseeable odds. The ultimate Chiss nightmare is a clouded future.

Nevertheless, risk is always the price of ambition, and the prospect of being the first Chiss to further the imperial interests as far as the glitzy rock of sin known as Ord Mantell was appealing indeed.

"This is the decision of your committee in accordance with your progress and promise. Do you accept, Karn-fal Von Lormac, or should I suggest this venture to another candidate?"

The supervisor folded his arms across the broad surface of his crisp white, uniformed chest. In the cold, all-business tradition of the Chiss, he was not eager to wait. Good fortune was either seized immediately, or it was lost.

"Yes, sir."

Von's answer was so vehement that he even surprised himself, though his posture remained relaxed in his seat in front of the Tarlon Academy's Senior Supervisor's broad desk, his fists clenched below the other man's line of sight. Excitement was tense within him, and he was unaccustomed to it. The Chiss were a pragmatic people, putting little stock in "fate" or "the Force". But if there was such a thing as destiny, Von felt as though he could feel it rising to meet him. This assignment would make or break him.

In a shadowed spot near the entry to the sterile, blue-silver office chamber, someone else was taken aback by the sudden light show of emotion. Taru, Von's personal bodyguard and closest attendant, had rarely seen her lord express even the slightest show of sentiment. And she had been with him a long time, almost as long as she could remember.

Part of the feral, attractive species known as the Nagai, it was Taru's duty, and honor, to partake of her people's eternal life debt by serving the Chiss noble. Her pairing at the onset of puberty to Von Lormac, younger scion of the prestigious merchanthouse of Karn-fal, was based on a complex series of tests of their psychological, mental, and physical capabilities. Not ones for leaving things to chance, the Chiss; they were lovers and masters of the delicate art of calculation. Even the decision to help the elfin nagai off of the harsh heap they had once called home had been more a carefully executed political and socio-economic move than an act of altruism, landing the Chiss empire with an entire culture of devoted servants.

And Taru was devoted, not just for reasons of the Life Debt. She admired Lord Von for his strong character and unconventional methods, his easy charisma and commanding presence even at such a young age. She would follow him to this Ord Mantell, or wherever else his footsteps would take him.

The supervisor spoke now to her.

"Nagai, you are aware of all that has transpired," the slightest turn of the neck, and the flick of ruby irises in her direction was all the Chiss Overlord deemed appropriate acknowledgement. "Will you follow your Lord, Von Lormac, out of this space that has been your home? Will you consign yourself to protect him and his holdings with your very life?"

"Yes, sir!"

Taru responded with passion equal to her Lord's answer, and the supervisor nodded his slick, ebon-haired head in approval. To him, her devotion was an affirmation of the sacred trust that had held between the two species for a hundred years.

"Very well. Von, scion of the family Lormac of the house of Karn-fal, who carry in their veins the blood of the great family Inrokini, you are officially assigned to open the planet of Ord Mantell to all benefits and privileges of official business with the noble empire of the Chiss."

With an elegant sweep of his long, blue right hand, the supervisor produced a pen from its silver holder on the desk. Von kept his aristocratic mouth in a firm line as the Senior Supervisor, without even leaving the seat, signed the papers that would send him light years from everything he has ever known. The young Chiss rose to receive his official statement of commission, arms behind his back, spine straight and legs locked in an attentive stance. In the true style of their people, the supervisor did not pause, but gave the command that would complete the time-honored Interview of Ascension.

"Karn-fal Von Lormac, you will take your nagai bodyguard and small entourage, and you will descend to Ord Mantell in a manner appropriately representing your empire. Once there, you will use whatever means necessary, provided they befit your status as a Chiss Lord and Entrepreneur Elect, to secure commercial supremacy of the space station Purgatory and trade dominance of the planet. Scion of Karn-fal, I commend you to your task."