Chapter 7: Admiral Daala's Dismay

A Lambda class shuttle burst of hyperspace by the deformed planet Kessel, though no one was around to see it. It was piloted by Darth Sion. He wore a robe, hooded and cloaked, the hood fell over his eyes, for he had no need for them. He slid his shuttle toward the right, there was an odd sight he could no see. Hundreds of black holes, spraying out gases and radiation. Twisting gravity, Sion flew his shuttle towards them and navigated it precisely through the gaps of the holes, careful not to get into the fluxes of gravity of get hit by the radiation.

The ship held up against the pull of gravity and Sion sensed where he had to go next, which turns to take, to go up or go down. He was almost at his destination and finally he arrived. This place was called the Maw cluster of course but there was no mapped gap in it, however he had found a huge one with an island like asteroid in the center. On it were the labs of the Empire, circling around it were four Imperial class star destroyers led by an Admiral Traya wanted him to find. Above everything was a wireframe orb, black and barely visible. A prototype Death Star, Sion didn't care.

He flew his ships closer to the star destroyers, closer until he came into their radar and his comm crackled. A voice filtered through it riddled with static from the black holes everywhere.

"Lambda shuttle this is Commander Kratas of the Gorgon capitol ship of this fleet. You are required to transmit the Imperial code to gain landing permission otherwise you will be shot into space." Kratas said. "You have five standard minutes to comply."

Imperial code? This was a bloody Imperial shuttle! Well Republic shuttle now but they didn't know that, Sion scoured the computer data banks for the code. He found it and transmitted it. After a few seconds Kratas spoke again.

"This code complies, you are cleared for landing, start your approach and land in hanger C 87. Admiral Daala will be there to greet you, Kratas out."

XxX

Admiral Daala stood at attention in hanger bay C 87 awaiting the arrival of the Lambda class shuttle. She had long dark brown hair and wore a flawless Imperial uniform. A storm trooper captain stood next to her also standing at attention as he had been taught. Daala was eager to talk to the occupant of the shuttle, she had been craving information. Grand Moff Tarkin had put her on this assignment years ago and said that he would make routine check-ups there and send in fresh supplies every so often.

The last supply shuttle however had come and gone about ten months ago and no one came ever since. She was very curious to know why. The shuttle, wings folded, approached the hanger bay, it gently glided in and ejected landing struts. It touched down easily. Daala waited for a moment as the ramp lowered. She looked up to see a cloaked figure descending. His boots hammered loudly against the plasteel of the ramp. When he reached the end Daala bowed.

"Welcome to the Gorgon Lord Vader." She said assuming it was him since no one else she knew of wore a hooded cloak.

"I am not Lord Vader. My name is Darth Sion." Sion replied, his voice had a rocky echo quality to it. Slowly he lowered his hood and Daala almost jumped back in fright. This man looked like living gray stone, but it was his skin, held together by something. Even more revolting was his eye, completely white yet blood shot. It took all of Daala's discipline not to jump back from him.

"Welcome Lord Sion." Daala said composing herself. "I trust you were sent by Grand Moff Tarkin for an inspection."

"You would be wrong. Grand Moff Tarkin is dead, just like the rest of the Empire." Sion explained what the Force told him. He told Daala about the battle on Coruscant, Vader's betrayal, this killing of Tarkin and the Emperor. At the end Daala was almost in tears.

"They're all gone?" Daala asked in disbelief. "All of them, except us?"

"And those last armies on Carida, as well as a few scattered legions yet to be destroyed. I can help you, I am a new Sith Lord, I am to work with you while my master works with the New Republic, eventually I will have you attack and we will restore the Empire."

"I am… grateful for your service Lord Sion. May I give you a run down of our operations here and a small tour?"

"Lead on."

Daala turned composing herself. Sion followed her to a turbo lift. They walked through halls of the ship and Daala pointed out various rooms and command decks. She told him how she continuously drilled her storm troopers for when and if battle came and she told him what their purpose here was. This place was called the Maw Instillation, here on the asteroid the four star destroyers orbited was a scientific lab devoted to make new deadly weapons for the Empire. The first they had made was the Death Star and the prototype was still orbiting around. It only had a command deck and storage room aboard as well as one hanger. It was made for testing so it did not require all of the decks. So far that was the only super weapon they had developed but she had her scientists working on a project called the Sun Crusher. It was to be a ship with indestructible quantum armor and with the capability of firing a torpedo directly into a sun and obliterate an entire solar system. So far all they had were some rough blue prints, they had not actually started to develop a prototype at all.

Daala's tour concluded with a look around the bridge of the ship and the meeting of Commander Kratas, she then took him to a suite close to hers and said this is where he would sleep. Sion entered it and began to meditate as Daala headed back to the bridge to tell the crew about the horrible news.

Sorry this chapter is so short but I hope the introduction of Daala will make it interesting. And Sion working with her, isn't that an odd pair?

Next Chapter: Master and Apprentice, Father and Mother