Chapter 6

The forest was filled with the chirping of birds, cries of animals, movement of beings throughout the forests, and soft falling of rain intermixed with the sighs of wind through the trees. Yet everything was heard by everyone and everything on Gaia, for the whole planet was alive and interconnected.

Even he who had once been as one with Gaia and departed of his own will was part of Gaia still. And so Gaia was aware when he moved through the barrier between galaxies, and even in that far, far away place they could sense him still. Gaia could sense the Mule's fury, as he sensed Gaia's eyes upon him.

He has crossed over to the other side.

The thought originated with one of the human members of Gaia, as he sat in his living domicile. No words were spoken. Words were wholly unnecessary. Gaia knew the Mule had entered the other galaxy, and Gaia knew his intent. Moreover, Gaia sensed a power on the other side sufficient to bring total destruction upon Gaia. Through its lost son, Gaia could sense a malevolence so deep as to induce something in Gaia not known for a very long time.

Gaia felt fear.

We cannot stop him, if he comes here.

By him, Gaia meant the malevolent being within the other galaxy, a being so ruthless and bent upon domination, that even the machinations of the Mule paled in comparison. But the being had not encountered anyone like the Mule, and Gaia wondered if even that evil being could be bent to the will of the Mule.

Also through the Mule, Gaia could sense a presence altogether new to its experience. A penetrating force of will appeared to bind that galaxy together, both imposing its will and serving as a tool for others. But Gaia's understanding of that force was extremely limited, though it reminded Gaia of the will binding itself together as one entity.

There were key differences though. Gaia had no sense of good or evil to itself, but only a purpose of being and unity. The force Gaia sensed through its lost son had something else: A dark side, and a light side.

…

Deep in meditation, he felt it. For years, he had held the title of Emperor for the First Galactic Empire, though secretly he was known by another name. Darth Sidious could sense stirrings of the galaxy through the Force. Even the probe and the ships entering his galaxy through the Maw had not escaped his notice, and now a being of immense power and presence broadcast its energies with an incredible lack of discipline.

"Strong in the Force is this one," grated Palpatine to the air in front of him. The Imperial Guards in red armor heard their master but did not react. They may as well have been statues, or part of the furniture. But their job was not to react to Palpatine's utterances, unless they carried a command.

The new presence was a threat, but if it could be turned...

Palpatine leaned over to the right side of his throne, activating the chair's communication system.

"Yes, my lord?" emitted a voice from the console.

"Summon Lord Vader, and command him to make contact."

"At once, my lord!" replied the disembodied voice, after which Palpatine resumed his meditation. He closed his eyes and reached out in the Force toward the new presence. It belonged to a human male, though Palpatine could not determine anything further. The human male had enough discipline to mask his physical presence. Indeed, much of the man's will was bent upon doing so. Interesting.

Palpatine probed deeply through the Force, attempting to gain more information on the man, and then he felt the man's focus upon him. Through the Force, a psychic shout slammed into Palpatine, and he jolted upon his throne. He sensed the Imperial Guards stiffen, scanning the throne room for a threat they could not sense.

Such power!

This man could indeed make a worthy successor to the cyborg servant who currently served as his Sith apprentice.

…

"However you want it, pal," stated the man flatly. He stood in front of the official, who was flanked by armed soldiers of the Mule's Empire. Ironically, the soldiers still wore the uniforms of the Foundation, which had until the Mule's rise, been the strongest power in the galaxy. Both soldiers appeared as bored with their job as soldiers throughout history had been while standing guard in similar situations.

The man behind the desk appeared more focused and determined than did the soldiers tasked with guarding him and the facility, for his job was to screen anyone going through the anomaly leading to the alien galaxy. And he took his job very seriously. The First Citizen himself had crossed over, and Harold Skelton would not let just anyone follow. The man in front of him appeared perturbed with being held up, but Harold didn't care. He had a job to do.

"I'll ask you one more time, sir. What specifically are you crossing into the other galaxy to do?"

The man wearing a light brown bomber jacket popular with space traders rolled his eyes and replied, "I told you already, but since you seem to be hard of hearing, we're carrying over the new microfusion-powered gadgets we've been selling throughout the galaxy. There's a whole new galaxy of folks over there just itching to spend money on these things, and I want in on it. All our papers are in order, so what is the hold-up?"

Harold found that he could see the man's point of view, and he softened a bit. It was a reasonable request, and the man's company was known for peddling exotic goods from the old Foundation worlds. Harold waved his hand over the holographic projection that would clear the man. He had to think a bit more to recall which company the man represented, and he wrinkled his brow. Then the name came to him, and he entered it into the console.

"You are clear to proceed, sir, but you will remain within the designated area only," announced Harold in a practiced, monotonous tone.

"Indeed, I will," said the man, whose name now inexplicably escaped Harold. As the man walked through to the cleared area, Harold forgot all about him.

First Speaker Pedro Chavez stifled a sigh of relief, as he walked into the cleared area. That had been much more difficult than he had envisioned, and he had been forced to use a significant portion of his not insignificant psychic powers to persuade the bureaucrat to allow him to pass. It was clear that the Mule himself had converted the bureaucrat, and so he was much more alert than would have been unconverted bureaucrats. The Mule was clearly taking no chances.

Chavez knew he was now in position to enter the other galaxy, and so he sent an information burst to other Second Foundation personnel who would accompany him. Were he to be captured, he and his cohorts would have little choice but to kill themselves, for they knew far too much about the inner workings of the Second Foundation, along with the location of many of their cells. It was a risk they had calculated though, and so he would spearhead this mission.

Just over two hours later, a trader fleet of just three small freighter ships entered the anomaly, disappearing from their own galaxy, and appearing instantly later in a galaxy far, far away. It did not cross the minds of the military personnel that this was the only civilian fleet to enter, after the first one had entered and been captured by the powers on the other side.

That was no accident either.

…

"Yes, my master?" growled Vader while kneeling upon the sensor pad. A three-dimensional hologram projected a visage of Emperor Palpatine in the air before him.

"Rise, Lord Vader."

Obeying, Vader stood as ordered, turning his gaze toward the floating hologram.

"I have felt a disturbance in the Force."

"I have felt it too, my master," replied Vader.

"We have a new enemy … or ally; that remains to be seen. You will go to the Kessel system to confront him."

"As you wish, my master."

"Do not underestimate this man, Lord Vader. He has successfully hidden his physical form from me, and that is an impressive feat."

Vader did not change his gaze or move, but within his mask he raised his brows. A man powerful enough to conceal himself from Darth Sidious? This could well prove a worthy foe. For Vader did not heed the second description. Anyone that powerful was a threat to Vader, and he did not tolerate threats.

"You will not destroy him without my specific orders," said the hovering visage of Palpatine, as if reading Vader's mind.

"Of course not! He will join us or die, master," rumbled Vader.

With hours, Vader assembled a task force comprised three Imperial Star Destroyers and then departed for the Kessel system.

...

The conference room aboard the alien warship known as the Imperial Star Destroyer Vengeance was large enough to accommodate the Mule, General Han Pritchard, and the senior Imperial officers of the sector fleet from the alien galaxy, all of whom had been converted.

The Mule had found it easy enough to convert the men and all power brokers within the sector fleet, and his fleet now consisted of four Imperial Star Destroyers, along ancillary warships and support ships. With a dark sense of irony, the Mule realized that with this sector fleet alone, he could have laid waste to the entirety of the Foundation military, the old Galactic Imperial military, and all of the scattered warlords. These ships were powerful!

Nobody paid attention to the Mule though, as he sat away from the main table, electing instead to remain on one of the many chairs set against the bulkhead. All eyes were on Han Pritchard. The Mule wanted Han to be the focal point of all power and authority, and so it was easy enough for him to project into the minds of all here that Han was calling all the shots.

"What of the military installation on that enormous asteroid dominating the system?" inquired Pritchard.

"Kessel?" replied Captain Poltz.

"It has a name then?"

"Yes, Kessel. It's planetoid that serves both as a mining colony and a prison. The Empire also has a monitoring station there, though it is small and not tied in with the prison itself.

Taking a visual queue from the Mule, Pritchard replied, "I would like to meet with the Imperial personnel on Kessel as well."

"That can certainly be arranged."

The door to the conference room swished open, and a lieutenant stepped through. He stood ramrod straight, until Captain Poltz motioned for him to speak.

"Captain Poltz, sir, we have received a message that Lord Vader is en route. He should arrive within three hours."

Poltz dismissed the junior officer with a wave, worry clouding his face.

"Lord Vader, coming here?" said Captain Tor with obvious concern.

Pritchard raised his eyebrows and replied, "Who is this Lord Vader?"

"He is a powerful cyborg and a Sith lord," replied Poltz, adding, "and he serves the Emperor."

Pritchard waved his hand in dismissal, "This Lord Vader will soon serve us."

Clearing his throat, Commander Bellorq said, "Gentlemen, I have had the … er, opportunity to work with Lord Vader before. He is not like others. He has … powers, that defy logic. His powers are beyond even that of the extinct Jedi."

"Jedi?" inquired Pritchard.

"Er, yes," interrupted Poltz, "They were, wizards, from the old Republic, who sought to violently overthrow the Senate and the Emperor, but they were hunted down and destroyed."

"Interesting," said Pritchard, adding, "and this Lord Vader has many of those … wizardly powers?"

"Those and more!" said Bellorq emphatically.

"I witnessed Lord Vader choke an officer, without even touching him! Do not underestimate him. To do so would be extraordinarily dangerous."

The Mule took it all in from the back of the conference room. He had sensed an incredible power upon entering this galaxy, even feeling it probe his mind from very far away. Not since his last experience with Gaia had he felt something similar, though this had been different … more focused, forceful, and malevolent. Could that have been this Lord Vader?

He would find out soon enough.

…

R. Robert Flynn walked through the corridor in an imperious manner. He was a quick study, and he had noticed how Imperial officers carried themselves in a haughty manner. It was easy enough to emulate, and so he did. It had taken Flynn only a short time to acquire a uniform of a mid-range officer, and so he now wore the uniform of an Imperial Army captain. Every time a furtive glance was cast in his direction or he sensed feelings of suspicion, he quickly engaged his limited psychic abilities to reach out and make minor adjustments in the minds of the humans from this alien galaxy. Thus he was not challenged.

Flynn knew he was now in the alien galaxy, and he knew that the Mule was with him, though on another ship. So pervasive was the Mule's psychic powers, that he seemed incapable of masking his presence, at least from those like Flynn who possessed even a modicum of psychic power.

But there was more, and Flynn sensed it. Something else was here, though Flynn could not put a finger on it. He sensed at least one incredibly powerful mind that had reached out through space, shortly after he had arrived with the Mule's newly-acquired fleet. Unlike the Mule's psychic endeavors, this new version had been extraordinarily powerful … and something more. Dwelling upon it filled Flynn with a strange sense of foreboding, and had his emotional replication program been fully activated he would have had to stifle an involuntary shudder.

Flynn scanned the ship's hallway, seeking a console where he could find out more about this new galaxy, but all the consoles he found appeared to require some sort of cylindrical key to activate, and he had not acquired one of those with the Imperial uniform. He quickly ascertained that such a cylindrical key would be specially coded to the individual to whom it was issued, so obtaining a random one would not suffice.

As he set his positronic brain toward the task of obtaining a cylindrical key he could use, Flynn suddenly sensed another psychic assault, though this one was different than the first he had felt the first time … and it was closer, filled with rage.

Someone was coming their way, and he was quite powerful.