Ah, another week and another chapter for us all to enjoy. Good News everyone! ANP is finished! *Crowd cheering* Yes! thank you, thank you... but that means I will start posting a new exciting story for you all to peruse, The Stormreaver, which will begin next week at the appointed time. so keep watch for it, and please, leave reviews to keep feeding the muse! ~F
Chapter Twelve
Taking the Helm
Bellatrix had wasted no time in scouting out the newly discovered section of the Fortress upon Khar Shian, delving deep into sublevels that were unreadable from orbital scans. And what was more, the sheer amount of residual artifacts and treasure was breathtaking to behold, both in riches and knowledge.
The Earth-born witch smirked evilly as she read documents that proudly proclaimed that this base was the true fortress of Naga Sadow, as opposed to the much larger one upon the planet itself. It was brilliance on the Sith Lord's part, to create such a tiny, almost seemingly outpost that in reality stretched on for miles underground, with layers of durasteel and other material that worked to prevent detection. An entire abandoned senor array was here as well, with beacons still functioning out in the nearby asteroids and nebulas, keeping watch for any signs of danger.
And while there was nothing in the way of Force artifacts, whether it was pendants or Holocrons or whatnot, it was still a major find, and well worth calling back down to the planet below to bring it to Ocraadi's attention.
The holocommunicator flared to life, showing the face of the Togruta, and even as Bellatrix smirked at her the other woman frowned. "Where are you?" Ocraadi demanded, "You've been needed to go out hunting for more behemoths for hours now, what are you doing?"
"Are you saying that you missed me?" Bellatrix crooned sarcastically, "I'm afraid I was most occupied finding this wonderful base up on Khar Shian, which as it turns out, is far larger and more supplied that yours. If I was to take my guess I'd say that the Sith Lord Sadow used this moon as his command station and your base on the surface as little more than a decoy."
The rage was visible on the Togruta's face for such an oversight, but it was not shown in her voice as he calmly spoke, "I see, well that makes a rather large difference. If the moon is of such value, we will need to move much of our personnel and equipment there as possible, to take up residence. The beasts are more than ready for their biochemical readings to be sent back to the Dark Council, as we can prepare fortifying this system and preparing for whatever commands are given to us next."
"Indeed," Bellatrix said, "We'll see about powering up the generators and getting the main hangar operational for your arrival, then."
"I will be there personally within the hour." Ocraadi said, shutting off the projector.
Bellatrix laughed immediately as the object went dim. "Oh, her face was priceless," she crowed, resisting the urge to skip unseemly amid her group. "Quickly you lot, we need to find the primary power source and get it functional again to prepare the main hangar." She commanded after a moment, sending the group scattering.
She herself was about to turn away and join the hunt, when a ping appeared on the sensor readings, signaling a ship off in the distance of the system, and approaching. The codes that the ship was passively firing were none that Bellatrix recognized from the Sith Empire, and she also doubted that the Republic would be exploring this far flung area, which left it to be either a smuggling ship or pirates.
Once primary power was restored, Bellatrix started sending encrypted messages back to the planet, warning them of the ship and that she and her group on the moon would take care of it, before activating everything in the Sith base that sent out a signal to space, trying to pull the attention of the passing ship to them rather than to Ocraadi and the planet.
It was almost too easy to predict as the ship altered course to beeline for the moon and its hidden base. As the ship came into view of the scanners, Bellatrix could see that it was bristling with weapons, indicating that it was indeed pirates, looking for under defended areas or scrap to salvage.
The ship wasn't terribly large, perhaps just over the size of a standard freighter, but fully loaded with all manner of arms as it started its decent into the hangar, full of chatter as the pirate crew communicated with their captain. Bellatrix only had a handful of warriors with her, so she sent the majority of the scientists and noncombatants to the sensor station, and took the rest personally to confront the ship.
The trio of Darksiders waited around her, lightsaber hilts in their hands and greed in their eyes at the promise of blood. The few trained with blasters merely crouched with stoic looks as they watched the ship touchdown and the boarding ramp lower. Smirking at them all, Bellatrix casually stood until the ship appeared and walked out to meet those descending the ramp, the rest of her entourage following cautiously in her wake.
The pirates raised their weapons, but didn't know whether to shoot or call for their leader, and after several tense moments they decided that the latter was their best option, and one vanished back inside the ship.
Soon enough, the captain appeared, along with another two dozen of his crew, all wielding blasters of various types. "Well, well, well," the boasting drunkard of a captain said appreciatively as he eyed Bellatrix up and down. For her part she smirked seductively back, hands clasped behind her back and wand in hand. "Who would have thought that such a pretty thing would be here waiting for us at an abandoned base that we just happened to be flying by."
Bellatrix wasn't really listening as the man introduced himself and his crew, declaring themselves something to the effect of noble and refined, and altogether lies to cover the truth of whom they were and why they had so willingly followed her little trap.
When the man mentioned that they would be 'liberating' the supplies and arms that they found here was what really brought Bellatrix's interest back to the conversation. "That might cause a bit of a problem, captain," she said slowly, batting her eyes to continue keeping his guard low.
"Oh it will now?" the man said, stepping forward importantly, as though his gender or size would intimidate her or the men behind her.
"I'm afraid so, as you see, this outpost had been reclaimed in the name of the Sith Empire…" Bellatrix crooned sadistically, her face melting from one of curiosity to a sneer filled with hatred. "As will your arms and ship, Avada Kedavera!"
The man had no defense for the curse of death, and at such a close range there was no dodging it. The captain perished just as his men lifted their weapons, but their fear was palpable as three crimson lightsabers exploded into being all around Bellatrix, as well as her soldiers opening fire on the pirates.
Bellatrix cackled as she threw up a shield, watching the blaster bolt reflect harmlessly off of it, much to the dismay of the pirates, three of whom were cut down by return fire from her forces. The Force Adepts leapt into the fray, blood red weapons cutting a wide swath of death as they started hemming the fools into a cluster before their own ship, dismembering and slaying everything that stood in their way.
Bellatrix lowered her shield, dodging a stray shot that was coming for her, and blasted the offender with a curse, shattering the being's skull and spraying his allies with the gore. That alone seemed to be the last straw for these cowards, who turned and ran as one for their ship. Summoning one of the fools back with a powerful charm, Bellatrix ended the pirate's life with a jet of emerald green, even as the pirate ship started up its engines.
"My Lady, shall we destroy their ship to prevent their escape?" one of the troopers asked.
"No, let them go, they won't be gone long before they return to us with open arms…" Bellatrix said with a smirk.
Touching the small comlink she had on her arm, she spoke, "Ocraadi, what's you estimated time of arrival?"
The crackle of static was soon cleared for the husky voice of the Togruta, "Momentarily, LeStrange, I hope you cleared away the bodies for our landing."
"Well, not quite, and you have a guest to welcome, but their trying to run off without a goodbye kiss…" Bellatrix responded, nudging the corpse at her feet.
"Ahh, well we can't have that can we?" the Darksider replied, even as the five armed transports arrived, cutting off the pirate vessel before it could pull away from the hangar opening. The rogues seemed to consider their options for a moment, before gently setting back down in the hangar, several of the Sith transports coming in behind and settling all around it.
The pirates emerged, arms raised in surrender, and Bellatrix smiled as the High Prophet appeared with her entourage, the underlying anger well hidden as she took in the skirmish all around them. "You went and had a party without me?" she said accusatorily, and Bellatrix merely shrugged in reply, resisting the urge to laugh. The crazed Togruta might well and truly hate her, but for Bellatrix it was like having Narcissa back from when they were girls at Hogwarts, before Malfoy came and stole her away and made her all prissy and boring.
"What can I say," Bellatrix replied, "I'm just so very popular these days…"
The Togruta seemed to find their banter just as humorous as Bellatrix, but kept a stern face as she then turned to the captured pirates, "but what shall we do with your uninvited party crashers then?"
"Well, I already made my intentions quite clear to their captain before he… unfortunately… passed away…" Bellatrix said, toying with her wand as the entire remaining crew flinched collectively.
"Well, we should have a bit of fun first, shouldn't we?" Ocraadi said with a small sigh, before her expression hardened into a scowl and she raised her hands on the crew. Blue-white lightning blasted forward, dancing from one target to the next, making each of the pirates drop to their knees in agony as they screamed.
Relishing the pure delight of their torture, Bellatrix started picking off one by one those who had been passed over, hitting them with the Cruciatus curse when they'd recovered from the lightning of the Dark Side.
Once the pair had had their fill of torture, and had ceased, one of the pirates crawled forward, begging for mercy in exchange for information or wealth, whatever would please the two women before him, but Bellatrix could already see the wheels of death spinning in the High Prophet's mind.
Ordering her troops forward, Ocraadi gave the order, and the ten soldiers formed a firing squad, weapons trained on the pirates. Executing them was by far the most merciful thing that the Darksider would do for them, for at least it was a quick and mostly painless death.
"Well, now that that diversion is over," the Togruta said after the last had fallen to the deck, "Let's go and see this base you have discovered my dear."
"As you wish," Bellatrix said happily, watching the soldiers drag the bodies away and start to board the pirate's ship. "I do want to keep their ship, just so you know."
"Of course, of course," Ocraadi said dismissively, "It does have a certain deadly flare to it, I agree, and after a bit of modification would fit you perfectly."
Bellatrix laughed, and together she and the Darksider turned to investigate the bowels of the citadel.
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The Assassin, once known openly as Colin Creevey, sat alone and extremely bored in a cantina in the lower levels of the capital world of the Republic. The expert infiltrator and killer only bothered going into the upper levels when he was called upon by Malfay, or for a job, but otherwise he liked the shadows and lack of scrutiny that the underworld of Coruscant offered, and he was treated like any other bounty hunter or scoundrel that frequented the capital.
Work was commonplace in the particular cantina that Colin was seated in, drinking some swill from a world he couldn't pronounce, but it had a certain tang to it that he appreciated, and waiting for someone desperate enough with the right amount of credits to approach him.
In between missions to the Sith he had made quite the name for himself as a bounty hunter and assassin, reaching far and wide throughout the Galaxy in the wide array of assignments that he had taken. Magic really made life easy to get in and out of places without being spotted, so primarily people hired him for his stealth, hence why he was simply known as The Assassin.
Many a bounty hunter had taken offence at the name and tried to set up traps for him, but they had all wound up dead, so his legacy was one of power and terror, not that many knew who he truly was, as Colin played off as though he was his own contact more often than not.
He was just starting to wonder where he was going to go to eat when his comlink buzzed, not the one he used for common missions, but the direct frequency from the Sith Emperor himself. Quickly downing the last of his drink, Colin took to a shadowed corner of the cantina, shielding the communication devise with his body as he activated it, displaying a miniature image of the Sith Lord, clad in black robes that shrouded his person.
"Assassin, I have work for you," Veneficus said discreetly, knowing the kinds of places that Colin frequented, and keeping up appearances of a simple business deal.
"I am not the Assassin," Colin denied, knowing that the game had to be played, as it was more than likely that the entire cantina was actively listening to his conversation, "but I can forward any and all information you wish to give to him, for the right price."
"Money is of no concern to me, I just want the job done," Veneficus continued, as they had for all his personal missions, "A datapad will be delivered to you soon, containing everything that I need accomplished, and payment in full upon its delivery to the contact."
"Who will this contact be?" Colin asked, for the benefit of those eavesdropping.
"The Assassin knows of whom I speak. Tell no one and you will not die painfully," the Dark Lord ordered, before closing the communication.
Colin smirked, typical Harry briskness. Pocketing the comlink, he casually made his way back to the bar, ordering another drink. The datapad would actually be forwarded to him via Drakis, as it always was, but paranoia and intrigue in this line of work dictated that a show of the Assassin receiving high clientele business had to be made.
After a few more drinks, but not enough to impair his judgment or reflexes, Colin left the cantina, watching for those who would react to try and hinder him from reaching the Assassin. There was always someone, a hotshot who thought they could steal a big job from the very best by attacking the messenger boy.
This time there were three, a Rodian and two Gamorreans, blocking his path as Colin took a shortcut through an alleyway to where his speeder was parked. "Going somewhere?" the Rodian said snidely in his strange alien tongue. Colin had made it imperative to understand as many foreign languages as possible, all part of his cover as a mere bounty hunter.
Instead of responding, Colin simply pushed past the Rodian, his smaller than average body packed with muscle from rigorous training and all manner of fighting colliding heavily with the scrawny alien, knocking him aside.
"Hey, stop him!" the Rodian ordered, and the two pig-faced guards darted ahead of Colin, blocking his way with their meaty bodies.
Sighing aloud, Colin folded his arms across his body, secretly wrapping a hand around one of his many blasters, and the other around his wand, "This is most unwise of you…" he said cryptically, hoping that these were some of the smart ones, and would back down instead of trying to fight him, "You seem to know who I am, and who I work for, so do you honestly think he isn't aware of where I am at all times…"
The Rodian looked around nervously, but regain his bravado quickly, circling Colin to face him head on, "You're just all talk, little human." He drew a blaster, big and bulky for intimidation, but horrible for accuracy and downright useless as anything but an improvised club. "You're going to take us to that datapad, and we will be taking that job, not the Assassin, not this time."
"One…" Colin said slowly, eyes narrowing as he looking into the blue speckled orbs of the Rodian, his thumb switching the safety off his blaster.
The pair of Gamorreans looked at each other nervously, but the Rodian was merely confused, "What? What are you saying?"
"Two…" Colin continued, steeling himself, and watching in suppressed amusment as the Rodian started to shout, "Why are you counting you stupid human, there are three of us, yes now take us to…"
But the alien never got to finish.
"Three!" Colin said, dodging the overlarge blaster as he ducked to the side, drawing his weapons and firing a shot in each of the pig-men's legs, while kicking the Rodian to the ground. The wand swung overhead, and electric discharge blasted the rightmost Gamorrean, frying the massive creature immediately, while the blaster punched holes through the chest and head of the other.
The Rodian was thoroughly terrified, his own weapon lying forgotten beside him, as Colin loomed over him, wand pointed. "Now now," he pleaded, trying to back away with his hands, "Let's not be too hasty about this…"
But Colin had no more time for the Rodian or his whimpering. "Avada Kedavera." He said slowly, watching the green light snuff the Rodian from the Galaxy.
Replacing his equipment in their holsters, Colin quickly checked the three for anything of value, only securing a few measly credits for his time, and left for his speeder, which had been parked only another block away.
It didn't take too long after getting into the air to arrive at the predestinated location, an abandoned factory just inside The Works. The safe within the old manager's office was a coded with password that was on personal interest to himself and Drakis, the true name of their Emperor, and within lay the datapad he needed.
Returning to his residence, after making certain that he was not followed or traced back here by any means, Colin went about layering on his equipment and disguises, arming himself with what amounted to a small arsenal of gadgets and other implements of death and chaos. Colin had learned from the best, although none of them would remember teaching him, due to the heavy memory charms that he placed on them afterward.
Once he was fully prepared to take on any challenge, the Assassin activates the datapad, groaning aloud when he saw the layout for the Jedi Temple once again. The pad detailed a path deep into the facility, down through many levels of security, to a vault under the library, the one place in the Galaxy that had the most information, and therefore the most protection. His target: a Jedi Holocron.
And what was worse, that was only phase one of the mission. After he had secured a Holocron and escaped, he then had to track down Jedi Masyer Vubud Egi, an Ithorian Jedi that was in possession of a specific Kyber memory crystal, and return both of these to the Emperor personally.
It boiled down to not only sneaking back into the home of all Jedi, finding a way past all their security, stealing one of their most prized possessions and making it out again, then tracking down and killing one of their masters. If it wasn't Veneficus himself commanding it to be done, the Assassin would have refused. Getting in and out of that place once had been easy, but now the Jedi were likely going to be more watchful of infiltration like he had before, so the Assassin would have to be far more creative.
Pulling up the holonews for a moment, he looked over the newest articles, and suddenly smiled. Perhaps this first part of the job wouldn't be as difficult as he had supposed. The Jedi Council was going in full to personally welcome the new Chancellor into office in the next few days, and speak with him in regards to the oncoming war, meaning that none of them would be in the Temple.
Silently he thanked whatever being out there that was giving him such fortune. He would be able to prepare a simple infiltration, and wing it as he went to keep the Jedi off guard if he was discovered.
Still, it would not be an easy task.
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Emperor Veneficus looked disgustingly at the nondescript building that hid the Ministry of Magic in London. Much of the city now lay in ruins, the explosions from the orbiting capital ships having caused massive damage over the entire country, and now moving on to do the same across the entire planet. The ships ought to be finished in the next few hours, which allowed the Emperor time to deal with this main contingent of wizards, to set the precedent for the others once they stepped forward.
Seeing no need to allow them to hide for long, the Emperor ordered the rank and file troops that had been brought to lay explosives all around the telephone booth that served as guest entrance to the building.
The charges detonated moments later, doing concussive force to the wards that protected the building, but from age and unfamiliarity with 'muggle' weapons, the wall suffered catastrophic damage, a massive hole being blown in, revealing the atrium far below on the opposite side. Sith troopers eagerly surged forward, engaging their rappelling lines and jumping down to the floor level even as the wizards within started to scramble for cover, some of their police and other fighters launching spells at the invaders.
Directing part of his personal guard to remain outside and protect their exit, Veneficus leaped with the power of the Force down to the center of a knot of wizards, lightsaber flashing in hand as he slaughtered them with a few graceful swipes. The wizards fell like the livestock that they were, and the way down was cleared for the three dozen soldiers and twelve Arcanamach that accompanied their Emperor into the wizard's seat of power.
"Fan out," Veneficus ordered, "kill everyone who resists, and confiscate all wands and other weapons. You four," he added, pointing at the leading Arcanamach, "come with me."
Turning he headed directly for the lifts, startling out many wizards that were trying to hide in them. The Sith Lord ignored the whimpering fools, but punched the button for the Minister's office level, stowing away his lightsaber as the lift rattled down to the appropriate level.
His guards filed out before him as the grate opened, and Veneficus maneuvered them toward the offices of the leaders of the Ministry. Several Aurors were posted to block their path, and Veneficus watched impassively as his Arcanamach fought with the red robed wizarding police. It was almost unfair how easily the towering Sith guards overpowered the fools, cutting them down almost effortlessly with their Lightsaber Pikes.
Proceeding on to where the offices were located, Veneficus commanded the leaders brought to him, and waited as his guards followed his commands, dragging the blubbering humans before him. Cornelius Fudge looked far worse for wear, his pinstripe suit covered in dust and residue from running for his pathetic life, while the other Department Heads were glaring angrily up at the Sith Lord, still quite unaware of who it was that stood over them.
Veneficus resigned himself to the pleasure of watching the reaction of his own face to blossom on one group after another, as wizarding communication was so behind in effectiveness than anywhere else in the Galaxy.
"Your world is at an end," he declared, cutting off all shock and complaint from the wizards before him, "I, Darth Veneficus of the Sith, am now taking total control of this world, to add to my Empire. Yield yourselves to my rule and live to see this planet rushed headlong into a new age of order and commerce, or die…"
"Now see here," Madam Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, stated, rising to her feet, "We will not tolerate such terrorism and…" but her words were silenced as Veneficus snatched the woman by the throat with the Force.
"Perhaps I wasn't clear enough. You are all powerless before my might and the strength of arms I possess. I could crush your world to ruin in a matter of days, if not hours. But I am a merciful Lord, and am willing to see all that your planet can offer in the way of resources and peoples to my cause. A war is, after all, a difficult business to run, and certain costs do accumulate. Join me willingly and your world will be spared any further devastation," the woman sagged as her neck broke under the weight of Veneficus' power, and the body dropped back to the floor in a heap.
The others, either cowed in terror or silent in angry defiance, continued to not answer him and the Sith Emperor snarled at them. "Fine, fools, perhaps your successors will have better vision. Slay them!" he ordered, and the Arcanamach waded in with their weapons, skewering and hacking apart the politicians without remorse.
"This city will burn," Veneficus said, more for himself than anyone else, even as he made his way back to the lifts. The troopers would take care of the rest of this mess, and the Dark Lord of the Sith had other important locations in Britain to visit, far to the north. Diábolis should already be on his way, if not arrived, at the gates of Hogwarts.
Veneficus' visions told him that the last refugees would gather there, along with their hopes of the future in their children. He had long ago thought to just leave this world with a shadowy control, sifting through their populace for Force users and smuggling them off world, but clearly it wasn't to be the case according to a distress call he had received briefly from the world. Lovegood had remembered, and liberated some of the denizens of this world; therefore he had to take far more, direct, means of occupation.
Signaling for the guards outside the Ministry to bring his shuttle, Veneficus stood stoically and meditated, allowing his consciousness to spread across the entire planet, conveying orders and confidence to all his forces, while surveying the levels of destruction planet wide. The Americas were putting up a valiant, albeit vain, struggle, their many nuclear weapons being fired at the capital ships with no effect, thanks to their magical shielding.
It would all be over soon, and Veneficus would start rebuilding this world in his own image, a parallel to Dromund Kaas, for a factory and retreat world that he could convey orders from in times of need, and most importantly, a free range growing center for his special soldiers, as well as many beasts that would be most useful in Sith Alchemy to transform into terrible monstrosities to unleash on the Republic.
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Drakis Malfay smiled smugly to himself as he read the news on his personal datapad. The polls from the Galactic Senate were finally in, even though it was one of the fastest elections in Republic history, due to the onset of war. The new Supreme Chancellor of the Republic was he himself, although the fools were less than aware of what they had done. Lord Anguis, a Dark Side Adept, now ruled their conglomeration of star systems, and would be gratefully making his acceptance speech in the coming week, which had been prepared previously so that this remaining time could be spent transferring his belongings to the Chancellor's office and meeting with Senators, Jedi and others to prepare for the coming war.
The perfect alibi if anything was to come up, such as another infiltration to the Jedi Temple, not that young Colin had failed yet, but accidents do happen, and Veneficus always said that the boy was expendable in the end.
The Darksider was just finishing packing up his belongings from the his old chambers, to make room for the new Senator from New Terra, Terrance Boot, yet another loyalist to the Sith cause. The boy had followed somewhat in Drakis' footsteps, but instead of Force training to resist the Jedi he had powerful enchantments and other Wild Force techniques protecting his mind from invasion.
The door opened, and Drakis turned in relative surprise to find Hermione Granger entering his office on Coruscant.
"Dear Draco, how have you been?" she said, extending her arms as she approached, rich robes covering her in pale blues and gold for walking the upper districts of the Capital of the Republic.
"Hermione…" Drakis said, hiding away his annoyance at the girl for not using his new name as they embraced, "what a surprise, is Theodore with you?"
"Oh yes," she said, glancing back, "he was speaking with Senator Boot for a moment just outside. It's wonderful that you won the election. To think that one of us is now the leader of the entire Republic that we joined only less than a few years ago."
"The wheels of democracy turn in strange ways sometimes," Drakis agreed, "Please, it's not my office for much longer, but have a seat." They sat, and Drakis cautiously used the Force to determine why she had come. The realization made him inwardly shout with glee. "Tell me, what brings you to Coruscant, I thought that it was nearly impossible to drag you away from your many projects to further our people in these changing times?"
Hermione had the decency to blush at that, and Drakis smiled back, keeping the anger at her presence behind his eyes. The girl was all but forbidden to leave New Terra, not that she knew it. Nott would be punished for his failure.
"Well, it is those changing times that brought me here," she confessed, "I feel that the steps our world has taken into the Republic, now that one of our own is Supreme Chancellor, could be accelerated even further if we offer the services of Magi-technology to aid in the war effort. Naturally there would be limitations to what non-wizard born could use, but I've recently redesigned a standard freighter to work entirely on magic, with advanced weaponry and shields."
The woman's eyes were sparkling with delight as she gushed about her latest creation, "Imagine the possibilities, if we refitted some of the Republics old war ships with this, and set about creating new ones working on much more efficient sources and with far better firepower, we could win this war quickly and return to a time of peace."
Lord Anguis was rather surprised that the foolish woman had caught on so quickly to part of the Sith Emperor's plans for her, but at the same time Hermione was typically so close and yet so far from the mark that it was rather pitiful. However, if he was to make the fight against the Neo-Sith Empire appear balanced and legitimate, he saw little course but to accept her offer.
"Gladly I would accept my dear, but please believe me when I say getting such a thing passed through the Senate would be most difficult. The hundreds of corporations represented in Galactic body alone would fight tooth and nail to stop any bill sending funds elsewhere during a time of war, and I fear that many politicians would be extremely distrustful of a new technology from our home world that is, to them, largely untested and potentially dangerous."
Hermione started to grow angry, and knowledge of their childhood on old Earth was all that allowed Anguis to forestall the oncoming outrage, "It's not that I am unwilling to present the bill to the floor, Hermione, I'm merely stating the facts of who out opponents are. Politics, you know, but I will do whatever it takes to make sure that Senator Boot has his opportunity, and give the bill all the support that the Chancellorship can muster."
That seemed to placate her for the time being, but Anguis frowned slightly with her next comment, "Perhaps it would be best if I bring the option to the Senate myself? Let them know from personal experience what our technology is capable of and what it would mean for the Republic as a whole."
Mind spinning with what he needed to do to make this situation work, Drakis smiled, "I believe I can arrange that to happen, not immediately mind you, but shortly after my official induction to the Chancellorship."
"Of course," Hermione agreed, "we wouldn't want to appear too eager to get this motion to the Senate as to ignore proper procedure and tradition…"
"Now you're starting to understand the politics of the Galactic Republic." Anguis said, slowly standing as a pair of mover droids appeared in the doorway. Gathering up the last of his belongings into the remaining crate, Anguis gestured for the droids to take everything. "This has been a lovely chat, my dear," he said to Hermione as the droids went about their work, "but there is much I need to attend to before this week is done, perhaps you and your husband would like to have dinner with me and the new Senator tomorrow evening, then we can discuss more of the details with Senator Boot in person and arrange how we want this bill presented."
"That sounds lovely, Chancellor," Hermione said, smiling as she said the title.
"Until then, Hermione," Drakis said in farewell, only allowing his smile to falter when the woman had left and the door closed. Scowling angrily, Drakis turned to the holocommunicator, punching in the Chancellor's private secure line to what he knew was the Emperor's personal receiver.
"My Lord, there has been a small development that requires a few moments of your attention," Anguis said quickly, not bothering with any of the formalities that he knew the supplicants of the Empire would be treating their leader with.
"Speak quickly Anguis," Veneficus said, even as he seemed to sit in a shuttle of some type, "there is little time for such a distraction in the midst of a war."
"Granger is on Coruscant, wanting to offer our technology to the Republic," Anguis replied, fearing the anger that might follow.
Instead, the Sith Emperor merely chuckled, "Does she now… Very well, make it happen, I'd like to see the Republic try to stop what we have prepared for them, even if their technology starts to resemble our own. It might make the fighting just slightly more real if they win on occasion."
"As you wish, my Lord, but what of Granger herself?" Anguis asked.
"She must be convinced that her place is still on New Terra," Veneficus stated, "we cannot afford to have such a pool of genius running loose across the Galaxy for anyone to take control of. The only location that she is securely under our control is there, tucked away from the rest of the Republic. You will convince the Senate that an orbital shipyard facility will be sufficient for the construction of these new ships, and return her as quickly as she will go."
"Yes, my Lord." Anguis agreed.
"Soon, everything will play out as it needs to," Veneficus stated, more as a general fact than specifically for Anguis, "I hope you are ready for our game of Dejarik, Anguis."
"I am, my Lord," the Dark Side adept replied, smiling as the communication was cut from Veneficus' end. Now all that was left was to make sure that Granger and Nott were kept out of trouble for a single week, then manage to get what would be an extremely unpopular bill passed in his first week of office, before commencing the construction of a shipyard on New Terra, then the woman would finally be out of his hair.
It was all in a day's work for the leader of the Galactic Republic, after all. Unfortunately, it was only the beginning of Drakis Malfay's most hectic week, and he plastered a smile on his face as he departed his old office, leaving it to Terrance who had a few mover droids with his own personal affects to add to the office.
"Supreme Chancellor," the other man said respectfully as they passed.
"Senator Boot, I hope you will join myself, and the Grangers for dinner tomorrow evening, there is much for us to discuss regarding the future of the military." Anguis stated, knowing that the Senator could not refuse him.
"I… of course, your Excellency." Boot replied, nodding as his droids entered the office.
"Good, I'll keep you informed of the location when it is decided." Drakis said, walking away.
Entering the lift that would take him to the Supreme Chancellor's private office, Drakis projected his mind outward, contemplating the future of this war. The thousands of Senators were looking to him to save the Republic, while Veneficus demanded that it fall to ruin. Anguis knew that the system was corrupt, and would need to be completely reformed, but he wanted to be in charge now, and had thrown off the shackles that the Sith Emperor had had him bound with so long ago.
It would not be easy, but with Hermione's knowledge and working partially in secret, he could see to the construction of a superweapon that would destroy Veneficus, kill the Jedi and the Sith, and allow Anguis to rule the Galaxy. It would take some doing, and probably more secrecy than even the Sith believed that he had, but in that underestimating would be Drakis' genius.
Let the war rage on, let Sith and Jedi slaughter each other, it would not matter in the end. Much as Darth Bane of old, Anguis would rise out of the ashes in the end, and would usher in a new era of peace, under his leadership.
Seeing the new layout of the office made the Supreme Chancellor smile. Directing the droids to begin unloading, he slowly started to sift through his possessions, setting small antiques and other items from old earth down in various locations, but most importantly setting a heavy stone statuette down on the side of the massive desk. None would guess that his lightsaber was contained within; a mere thought away if need be. He had others, naturally, but this was the one that he made by his own hand, his personal extension of his power, and he wanted to keep it close.
The statue was conveniently of a material that was immune to scanners, and therefore kept its cargo undetected as it had been transferred to the Senate so long ago when he first took office as Senator.
Let others underestimate him, it would be to their own folly to do so.