For my American readers, Happy Thanksgiving! For all others, welcome! Much thanks to those who've reviewed the previous chapters, I appreciate every one that I receive. Enjoy the next chapter! ~F
Chapter Thirteen
Slim Prospects
Supreme Prophet Feyd gazed slowly around the Imperial ballroom of Dromund Kaas. He was throwing a small victory party for the Adepts that survived the battle, but the real reason was something far more devious.
He was scouting potential prospects to back him in his slow grabbing of more power throughout the Empire. His faction, while widely represented in the Empire, was sufficiently lacking compared to those still loyal to his majesty, and only through the bringing in of the fringe warriors and seeing where their loyalties could be swayed worked most effectively for fostering a greater influence throughout the lesser ranks of the Dark Adepts.
Still, the one he had been hoping to catch, High Prophet Zhar, seemed to be one of the most difficult to entice to his side.
Noticing his apprentice coming toward him, Feyd turned toward the red-skinned being. A descendant of the Sorcerers of Tund, whom Veneficus eliminated after taking what former Sith would rejoin, Ekitc Batoi had immense power in the Dark Side, and a natural affinity for it. Yet the male pureblood was more or less a disappointment in other areas, where he lacked discipline or patience to learn.
"Lord Zhar and his apprentice have left the party, my Master," Ekitc stated, to which Feyd sighed.
"I am aware of that, as well as the fact that they had been more or less isolating themselves the entire duration of the celebration. What I wanted you to do was find out what they were discussing, have you managed that?" he replied.
"No, my Lord, they were very secretive whenever I or anyone else approached them," the pureblood said, knowing that his punishment would be costly, albeit not public.
"You have failed me," Feyd said, sealing the fate for the apprentice that was to come, but nevertheless, Feyd turned away from the purebood. "Still, I do wonder what he and his apprentice are up to… surely they are not forming their own faction?"
"Korriban would be a powerful recruiting ground if that was the case," Ekitc stated, showcasing the fact that he was occasionally intelligent.
"Yes…" Feyd said, slowly becoming convinced that this might be the case, "it could be that he is playing the long game, gathering influence throughout the Empire through his apprentice, especially in consistently showing up the apprentice of the Supreme Prophet…" Ekitc's aura darkened at the mention of his many failures to put the young iradonian female in her place.
"At the same time he would be establishing his own powerful group on Korriban, filled with the most knowledge in the Empire, aside from Dromund Kaas or the Emperor's personal library." Feyd continued.
"So what would we do about it?" Ekitc asked.
"I haven't yet figured that out," Feyd admitted, stroking his short beard in thought. "We would need more warriors under our banner if we were to seize control of Korriban by force, but there's no saying what sort of accident could happen in the meantime…"
"I believe I've been neglecting visiting dear Korriban to connect with my ancestral roots…" Ekitc said, again showing the intelligence that Feyd wished his apprentice would employ in more than just situations that involved demolishing his personal rival.
"Yes, I believe that you should do so…" Feyd replied, smirking darkly as Ekitc nodded, turned and departed the ballroom completely. In the meantime he would gather what allies and favors he held through the Dark Council, and see what mustering he could do to bolster his own forces. If Zhar was plotting against him, then the Supreme Prophet wanted him crushed underfoot.
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Hermione was just overseeing the next in a long series of semi-fabricated generator stations when one of the engineers, monitoring the sensor station that they prepared when they had landed came running up to her.
"Ships have entered orbit around the planet," the man stated, carrying a datapad of the readout from the sensor tower.
"One of ours, or Imperial?" Hermione asked, already preparing mentally for the worst.
"Neither," the man replied, showing her the readout of the ship, which at a glance was not of any rebellion, Republic or Imperial design. "They are broadcasting on open frequency, and are not being terribly subtle about it either."
Hermione sighed. You just couldn't trust these people. "It's not safe to leave them up there, whoever they are. If the Empire gets drawn here before we're secure then not only will this base be compromised, but we'll be in danger, and that will threaten everything."
"Do we contact them, or chase them off?" the technician asked.
Hermione paused, decidedly uncertain. It was likely that these were the first in a tidal wave of new blood for the rebellion that others had begun forwarding to them, but at the same time it could be accidental, and either a smuggling or pirate organization meeting at random coordinates.
"Send up some ships and bring them down." She said after a time, "at the worst we will obliviate them and send them on their way."
"Yes, Director," the man replied, walking away and following her orders immediately, sending out communication to the various pilots in the camp. Within minutes a squadron of fighters was in the air, speeding toward the last reported location of the ships, in order to escort them down to the surface.
Meanwhile, as she was paranoid of any chance that the Empire might be tipped off and be coming for her, Hermione had her shuttle prepared and fueled, just in case she and her command staff had to retreat back to Hoth.
Still, her fears started to be worn away as the large shuttlecraft was guided down by the rebel fighters, landing lightly on the newest landing pad that had been set and hardened. The large beings that emerged, smiling widely as they looked about at the forming base camp.
"I had heard that the new rebel base would be at these coordinates, but I have never suspected that an entire planet would be hidden from prying eyes." The leader, a Rodian, said as he approached Hermione. Inwardly, she sighed in relief; they were new recruits.
"Yes, well… no protection is secure enough in our current times…" she replied.
"I heartily agree," the Rodian said, antenna twitching in a pleased manner. "We were told that Director Hermione Granger, the founding leader of the rebellion would be here, through the various channels that we've eagerly listened to. We want to fight."
"I am she," Hermione affirmed, and many of the others behind their leader, a myriad of alien races, started to mutter excitedly among themselves.
"Commander Granger," the Rodian said, kneeling before her, "we will pledge ourselves to the cause. Do what you will, our lives are yours."
Noticing that many of them had a scanty collection of weapons, likely what could be illegally obtained in the light of the Empire's total ban on privately owned weapons, or any tool that could be used as a weapon, Hermione thought hard.
"We desperately need some people to scout out the planet, and see where it would be best to place our defenses. Orbital scans only did so much, and our engineers are too busy here getting the primary base in order to go out…" she started, and the Rodian leapt to his feet.
"Consider it done! Just supply us with ground vehicles and communication devices, and you will have a thorough scan of the planet as soon as possible." He said gleefully.
Appreciating the enthusiasm, Hermione nodded, directing the new recruits to the appropriate officers, who were in charge of their excess supplies and making sure that all were accounted for at all times.
"Cancel prepping my shuttle," Hermione said into her comlink moments later, once she was alone again, "there is no danger at the moment."
"Yes, Director…" her pilot replied.
Even as she returned to her work, ironing out the runework for a custom devise that would allow direct and secure communication between Hoth and the new base on Bakura. Throughout the rest of that day, she was summoned to allow or deny the arrival of three more shuttles of new rebels, all who were overjoyed to at last be able to have a place to express their irritation at the Empire.
It was heartening, and something that shone a bit of light into the gloom and shadow in Hermione's soul, which until now had been overcast by the malevolence that was Veneficus; the lying sociopath formerly known as Harry Potter.
"Director?" a voice said, pulling her out of her thoughts. Turning to look at the officer she put in charge of the new recruits, she smiled.
"Everything is completed for the day, shall we call all the new people back and let them have the evening to settle in?" he asked.
"Yes," Hermione agreed, tuning to look at the setting sun over the horizon. "Yes, there is much yet to prepare for, and we will all need what strength we can get…"
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Ist had a stretch of the longest hours she had ever experienced before, even as she and the other Republic and Rebellion soldiers prepared the two shuttles for takeoff. It was long, not because of the work in which she was engaged, but rather the debate and conflict in her own mind.
The decision loomed before her; go with Shade and the others back to Bakura, and the new base, or take the risk and Shade's second shuttle, and go to Dathomir, near to the center of the Imperial Core, and try to find this unknown, just on the chance that it might be a lost Jedi. There was much to be concerned about. She could easily give the coordinates to anyone in the group, but was it worth it to try and find someone who might already be dead after fighting against the Empire's assassins for an unknown amount of time.
The soldiers seemed to sense her internal struggle and said very little to Ist, leaving her to debate her path on her own, without trying to influence her one way or another. In a way, she was grateful, but at the same time she would have wanted any reason to not go through with what she was already planning.
She first noticed this when she started packing emergency rations and other survival gear into the second shuttle, almost unconsciously. She knew it was crazy, but there was something so enticing about seeking out this figure that Shade had shown her, and while she wasn't positive, she felt that the Force might be subtly egging her on to that choice.
Soon enough, the point of no return arrived, as Shade declared that everything was loaded and ready to go. "I have several charges planet throughout the Imperial outposts in the area," the being explained, "once I trigger the detonation, it will send out a chain reaction of electromagnetic pulses, shutting down all their electronics, their ships, and most importantly their sensors. Once that is done, we can slip out the blind spot and jump to Hyperspace before the fleet can move to cover the gap in their network."
Ist felt something just then, like a constricting vice encircling them all. "I sense… darkness closing in around us…" she said, turning to look around the room, almost thinking that something was in the room with them.
"We're running out of time," Shade stated, climbing into the first shuttle, "It's time for everyone to make their choice, are we going to your base, or what?""
Ist hesitated, before drawing a deep steadying breath, "I'm going to Dathomir," she announced, pulling a data disk from her robes, and handing it to Lieutenant Jezhala "These are the coordinates you need to find the new base. Broadcast the information there afterward, and someone will come to take you to the final destination of it once you arrive."
"Are you sure, young Jedi," Shade said, leaning back from the pilot's chair, "it might have been false information on that recording."
"I'm sure," Ist said, feeling more confident as she proceeded, "I have to find out for certain. Your ship will serve me just fine to get there and back, I hope…"
"Then this is where we part ways… don't wait too long after we lift off, the window will only be open for so long before power is restored to the Imperial bases." Shade said, flipping switches and pushing buttons to start the small shuttlecraft.
"May the Force be with you all…" Ist said, stepping back as the landing ramp start to close itself.
As soon as they started to lift from the ground, Ist rushed to the other shuttle, slipping into the cramped cockpit and starting up the engines. "I've activated the detonator, we'll have approximately two minutes before all power in this sector of planet is knocked out, then about ten before emergency power is established, you've got to get into the upper atmosphere before that time." Shade reported over the frequency shared between the shuttles.
"Understood," Ist replied, gentle taking the controls and lifting up off the ground, testing the maneuverability of the shuttle. It was surprisingly nimble for its size, and ought to be able to evade enemy attacks if needed. Granted, it lacked any real weapons or heavy armor, so speed was all it had in the means of defense, so Ist hoped that she didn't end up needing to use her skills to weave through an enemy blockade.
"Power spike through the sector, it's now or never, go!" Shade announced, and the roof to the base pulled open, the first shuttle zooming out into the open air. Ist pulled hard on the controls, navigating herself into a steep climb right behind the first shuttle.
Getting above the cloud line in the time limit wasn't the problem, it would be getting into position for the jump into Hyperspace before the Imperial Fleet moved to intercept. There was little chance that they would go unnoticed the moment they left orbit of the planet, and therefore Ist started the calculations immediately, plotting vector and determining the angle that she needed to face the shuttle in order to reach the next waypoint on her way to Dathomir, almost the exact opposite direction that the others would be heading.
"If we never meet again," Shade said over the intercom, "know that I greatly appreciated all that you do for the rebellion, my young Jedi friend, and all your Order."
"We will meet again," Ist said, confidence in the Force guiding her words.
"I hope that that will be the case." Shade replied, "time to go!" he said, even as the Imperial cruisers started around from the far side of the planet.
The first shuttle tore into Hyperspace, vanishing in a blur of light, and Ist turned the control hard, angling her ship the right way, and once she was clear of the gravitational pull of Ord Mantell, she punched the large button to engage the Hyperdrive.
The stars around her blurred into lines, and the oncoming ships, the planet, and what was supposed to be a simple mission all vanished behind her, as Ist started toward the unknown.
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Veneficus spent a great deal of time in thought, during the aftermath of eradicating Skarok-Nur from history of the Galaxy. It had taken a great deal of effort to make and prepare such a powerful spell, but even it was an illusion. He had combined, modified, and altogether altered the nature of the Fideius Charm with the Oblivate spell. Once cast, it erased the memory of the target, and in the process created a keeper for the secret identity within the caster.
So, in the end, only Veneficus would retain in memory the identity of his fallen foe, until the time that Veneficus himself was erased from this life… therefore forever.
But the problem now lay in the fact that, in a moment of weakness, Veneficus had revealed the secret of his immortality to Diábolis. This was a grave mistake, and he knew it. But the deed was done, and his fool of an apprentice knew the greatest weakness of his master.
There was no doubt in the Sith Lord's mind that the Devaronian was even now planning how best to use this information to dethrone Veneficus and reign over the Empire in his place. It had taken a great deal of effort to not eliminate the wayward apprentice where he stood and close that loose end, but Veneficus was patient.
Assassins could be sent at any time, but Veneficus desire to use his apprentice to the greatest extend that he could before finally eliminating him. Sending Diábolis to hunt the rebels would force his two greatest threats together, and once they made a move against him, he would crush them both utterly, ending every threat to his power.
Still, it wouldn't hurt to put a bit of pressure on his apprentice, to nudge him in the right direction with all haste. Calling up a personal hololink, Veneficus glared at the foolish being that ran the Imperial underbelly.
"I have a job for you…" he said slowly, concealing his voice and appearance in the shadows.
"Oh, and who are you wanting to put a bounty on?" the being asked, the slim that coated his aura in the Force almost palpable.
"It is a Sith Lord…" Veneficus said, enjoying the look of horror on the aliens face as he realized that this wasn't some petty hit on a Dark Adept, but one of the two leaders of the Empire.
"Are you mad?!" the being said, frightened, "the amount of money needed to make such a thing happen would be astronomical, let alone the suicidal nature of it!"
Leaning forward, and allowing the royal crest on his breast be visible, Veneficus smirked from under his hood, "I am well aware of the cost, and am willing to meet any price needed to fulfill my desire."
"I… um… well… as you wish, your Majesty…" the being stammered at last, cowering as he understood the full magnitude of what was being asked. Eventually he gave a price for what Veneficus desired, astronomical indeed, but well within the Emperor's ability to pay, especially when he never expected anyone to actually be able to collect.
Disconnecting the communication the moment that he had finalized the bounty on his apprentice, Veneficus sat back in his throne, pondering the full impact of what was about to rage through the Empire. He was not as oblivious to the movement of his underlings as they hoped he was. Each faction was moving simply as the Dark Side, commanded by Veneficus himself.
The Empire had served its purpose, as far as he was concerned, and ruling the Galaxy was only as useful as long as it provided him with more time to research the means to achieve the Sith's grandest scheme: eternal life.
He believed that there was soon to be a breakthrough in his research. It was growing quite apparent that the Dark Side, despite its great power, lacked the ability to truly grant life and vitality, without great price. He had read of the ancient Sith names as the Lords of Pain and Hunger, and while those fates would be useful for servants to keep them under control or in line, but they were not true methods that he would consider for an Eternal Emperor.
That left him one choice that he could investigate: the Light Side of the Force.
Should anyone within the Empire learn of this, the likelihood of betrayal would skyrocket, but Veneficus would do whatever was necessary for his goal, even learn to channel and command the Light Side as greatly and masterfully as the Dark. His theory was that eternal life would lie somewhere in the balance between Light and Dark.
He certainly had his work cut out for him in that effort however, as even the Jedi Holocrons required a great deal of effort on his part to convince the gatekeepers to reveal any of their secrets, and then even more if he sought to take those same secrets by force.
Still, despite the inherent power and seeming sentience that governed the Force, long use and study of the mysterious foundational energy that underlay the universe had led Veneficus to believe that there was more to it. He speculated that he could force the Light to answer to him, much as he commanded the Dark Side. There were plenty of references anciently regarding those first great Force users wielding both sides, and therefore he should be able to as well.
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Gor-lak growled to himself as another communication interrupted his meditations in his private chambers. Thus far, the slow pursuit of the rebels in the southern portion of the Galaxy was proving just as slow and difficult as it had been before, with the wily Flitwick evading him time and again, and his warriors were slowly growing disillusioned with the entire plan so far. If Gor-lak did not do something, he might start to lose much of the prestige that he had so recently won from the Emperor.
Answering the call, he restrained himself from growling at the being on the other end, "What is it?" he said, still expressing the frustration that he was experiencing.
"My Lord, there has been a series of disturbances on Dathomir, your facility might be in danger of exposure from both Imperial or other investigation." The female Dark Adept said.
The High Inquisitor grew very still, quickly thinking through the situation. He had an entire private base filled with things that would clearly appear to anyone as the possessed human seeking to overthrow the Empire and establish his own, and that was not the case. Gor-lak had collected a great amount of items from his old Empire, long before the Emperor of the Sith devastated the entire planet, and added to it a grand selection of trophies from his various victories, creating a sort of tomb or mausoleum for himself, but that part was the façade.
Within the interior of the underground cave network that he had taken control of, there was a full ritual chamber, set with all the materials that he could find, as well as a plethora of writings that Gor-lak had written with his own hand, recording and keeping the history of his people alive. Within the tomes that he created, was also a categorical recount of all the spells he had been taught, and recalled from the long history that he had reigned as Emperor, including many that were tied to life and death.
Hypothetically, he could use these spells to call back the souls of the dead, and allow them control and power over the world of the living once more, and it could easily be construed that he planned to unleash an army of the dead upon the Galaxy in a bid for his own power.
While the thought had struck him, from the earliest time he worked with the Sith that he could do this, he had quickly decided against it, as it was clear that the Sith Lords would be more than capable of defeating his forces, especially in their weakened state as freshly returned to this world.
Still, perceptions of those fanatically loyal to the Emperor would not see it that way, and the enemies of the Empire would use it as means to destroy Gor-lak at the worst. Because of this, his desire to abandon the south front of the Galaxy and double back to defend his safe house, but at the same time he couldn't make it obvious what he was retreating up north for.
After silencing the communication, he immediately started looking through the massive log of recent events in the Empire, specifically looking for any mention of rebels in the north, near to Dathomir.
The system itself had nothing; no mention of disquiet or any sort of activity that could warrant the Inquisitorial fleet's intervention. The nearest conflict was Ord Mantell, where the Republic was being slowly eliminated from the Galaxy. There was something, not necessarily a garentee of rebel activity, but logged record indicated that another ship had initiated a small skirmish, and had damaged several Imperial ships before escaping.
"Helmsmen, prepare the Hyperdrive, we are going to Ord Mantell," he said, hailing the bridge immediately.
"Ord Mantell, my Lord?" the man replied, confused.
"Yes, there are rebels affecting the last remnant of the war," Gor-lak explained briefly, before ending the call.
Even as the ship started to turn, the human-encased ork lit several incense burners, sinking into a magical trance and attempting several spells to locate the presence of the rebels.
It was difficult, as he couldn't use the concept of the Force to locate them. There were simply too many Dark Adepts throughout the Galaxy that would throw off his spell, but…
A thought came to his mind, an idea to be able to track the Jedi specifically. For it to work however, he would require a sample of a Jedi lightsaber crystal, and while he was hesitant to bother the Emperor once again with nothing of note to show for his effort, but the Imperial Palace was the last location that he knew that would have those sorts of crystals on hand, and available for his ritual.
"Correction," he said, re-signaling the bridge, "return to Coruscant, there is something new that has come up, and the Emperor will want to hear of this potential breakthrough…"
This time the admiral at the helm didn't question him, simply responded with the affirmative, and soon enough their ship adjusted once more, before finally initiating the jump to light speed.
If this concept turned out how Gor-lak suspected it would, he might have just solved the problem of locating the hidden rebel base, as well as tracking all their enemies through the Galaxy.
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Euka was mildly surprised at the speed to which she and Zhar hastened back to Korriban. Granted, the two systems were not terribly far apart, but the pilot seemed to waste absolutely no time in getting them back to the dusty tomb-ridden world.
Nevertheless, there seemed to be a distinct lack of time for Zhar the moment they landed, within seconds of the landing ramp being down he was out and striding purposefully toward the massive structure of the academy. Euka had to run in order to keep pace with his long strides.
"It is imperative that we start immediately in searching for the secret of the Sith," he said softly, keeping their conversation as private as possible as soldiers saluted and other Dark Adepts made a path for them as the High Prophet of the system and his apprentice crossed the open sand to the massive temple.
"I presume that you've already commenced in the library here, so where shall I assist you, my master?" Euka asked, wondering what the human had in mind for their search.
"Since I had little ability to just scour the tomes there without being interrupted or questioned, I've barely made a dent in the vast collection there," Zhar admitted, "and even still, I worry that the Emperor has already removed whatever information there might be there, but there is a great deal to do just there; however, I want you to directly oversee the excavation of tombs and caves around the Valley, and make absolutely sure that whether there is any mention of the desire of the Sith as an organization."
Euka nodded, understanding the reasoning for her master's desire. If they could divide their attention between the library and the ancient tombs that they had at their fingertips that they had to find at least some sort of hint to their goal, or else a clue of where to go next to further the search.
Together, master and apprentice entered the vastness of the Korriban Academy library, where row upon row of ancient tomes and scrolls lay upon shelves in the dark and torch-lit room. Very little of Sith history or knowledge had been recorded on datapads, and while there was an extensive group of Dark Adepts working tirelessly to transcribe as much as they could into a digital format, the sheer amount was daunting.
"So many…" Euka breathed, only now realizing the work before them.
"Yes, and an unknown amount of time in which to find what we seek." Zhar added, starting toward the rearmost shelves, out of view of the translators and others in the library seeking knowledge.
Euka started to follow, but a small disturbance in the Force caught her attention, and she turned back, "What now?" she asked.
Zhar turned, and Euka could sense her master reaching out to the Force to understand what the matter was. "Feyd…" he said, "the Supreme Prophet has sent his apprentice to cause us trouble…"
"But why?" Euka asked, growing irritable at just the idea of Ekitc coming here so soon after her showing him up in the skirmish on Dromund Kaas.
And then, the thought of the battle reminded Euka that she couldn't remember everything regarding why they were fighting in that battle and that disturbed her greatly.
"Clearly the Supreme Prophet thinks were up to our own political maneuvering that might undermine his precious coup…" Zhar said with a sigh, even as they left the library once more.
"The Supreme Prophet is trying to betray the Emperor?" Euka asked quietly, very surprised at this information.
"It's the way of the Dark Side; those with power constantly strive to increase their power…" Zhar explained, "There are several other, smaller factions throughout the Empire vying for the same goal, but Feyd's is by far the largest. He'd approached me a long time ago, but I rebuffed him, as survival is my primary concern, and now he must suspect that we are forming our own faction to oppose him."
"So we are now engaged in battle with them regardless of the truth, simply because they are paranoid." Euka surmised.
"Yes, and regardless of what we desire or what we choose to do in response, it will only confirm it for them." Zhar added.
They exited the academy once more, having accomplished nothing of their original goal, just in time to see a shuttle coming to a landing far away from the structure, in the central area of the tombs.
"The question is, what are they planning?" Zhar asked himself.
"If the Supreme Prophet is using his apprentice, it won't be terribly subtle…" Euka informed him, "For all his raw strength, Ekitc is about as cautious and intelligent as a rancor…"
"Then we will use that to our advantage, and make sure that he is distracted from whatever goal he has come to achieve." Zhar concluded, calling over several Dark Adepts.
"The Supreme Prophet's apprentice has just landed out in the Valley of the Dark Lords, go and monitor his activities, and report to me regularly, I do not trust what he is up to…" Zhar instructed.
"Yes, my Lord." The adepts responded eagerly, clearly more than willing to earn a bit of prestige with the leader of their planet.
Euka smirked. Granted she had been much the same way during the early period of her apprenticeship to Zhar, but she had risen above that, earned his favor, and was now the closest being in the Galaxy in his confidence. These other fools had no chance to truly win over the Lord of Korriban.
"With that taken care of, I suppose we ought to finalize our strategy for dealing with this young upstart for good, as well as how to proceed with our research at the same time…" Zhar said, watching a larger group of hopefuls and initiates start flocking to the Adepts that he had given the orders to.
"Indeed we shall…" Euka replied, turning and following her master back into the academy as the man disappeared out from under the harsh sun of Korriban.
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Fury was still unsure when he and his forces were ordered to remain with Darth Diábolis for the time being. The battles against the strange forces that had threatened the Empire were over, so much to the point where Fury himself couldn't seem to remember exactly what it had been that they were fighting. That was odd, as hadn't the fight not been too long ago?
Still, with that finished he ought to have received a reassignment order, preferable somewhere that he could bath Calamity in blood and violence to truly hone the massive troll into a finely tuned weapon of the Dark Side. However, that seemed to not be the case.
Standing on the bridge of the Sith Apprentice's flagship, the Marauder watched the actions of the officers and troopers as they flitted about, checking the instruments of the vessel and navigating them through Hyperspace toward their southern destination.
According to the brief meeting that took place with all the commanding officers aboard the ship, Fury included, Diábolis was tasked with aiding in the hunt for the last remaining Jedi and Rebels in the southern regions of the Galaxy, although not directly working with the strange human High Inquisitor named Gor-lak.
Where that one had come from, Fury was not certain. The human had come with the Emperor from his homework sometime before the war with the Republic, and among the Sith he had remained. Fury wasn't even certain whether the mysterious Inquisitor was even a Force wielder, or some sort of sorcerer like the Emperor himself.
Still, they were not dealing with that strange one, and so Fury put the oddity of that man out of his mind. Apparently they were stopping off first in a still neutral world, Triton. From all accounts this was just a stop off before they made a clearer decision, because the barren world was no more useful to the rebels as it was to the Empire.
Still, there was no harm in being extra vigilant. Calling several of his personal Black Fist, the Dark Adepts that served him alone and were the elite of all Marauders throughout the Empire, with only a handful of exception, Fury set a series of drills for them to accomplish once the ship had stopped off at the intended destination. With a bit of luck they might find a nest of pirates to eliminate at the worst, at best they would be lucky and encounter some of their actual enemies to engage.
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Yoda had a bad feeling about the scheduled stop that they were taking, on their way north to another rebel friendly system. The barren world of Triton was about as lifeless as a molten rock in space, except for the native inscectoids. However, they had little wish to interact with the outside Galaxy, so the Rebellion simply left them to their own devices, which suited everyone perfectly.
There was a difference in the Force when they arrived however. Something was incredibly off about the entire section of space, and Yoda did not like it at all. "Plot the next jump, quickly we should," he advised Admiral Weasley, who seemed to appear as agitated as Yoda himself was regarding the stillness of this section of space.
"Yeah, I'll get right on that…" the red haired man said, tearing himself away from looking out of the viewport and conversing with his navigators.
Before they jumped away however, the long range sensor that detected approaching Imperial coded ships sounded its alarm. "Category two Imperial fleet approaching!" the officer in front of the console yelled, causing the entire bridge to go into a panic.
"Raise shields! Get those coordinates plugged in, and start calculating the jump!" Admiral Weasley said, leaping into action and clamping down on his subordinates' fears. "I want us to be in the process of jumping by the time those Imperial ships get here, understood!"
"Yes Sir!" the bridge rang with replied, even as an agitated calm settled across the bridge.
Yoda closed his eyes, briefly tapping into the Force to try and detect who it might be approaching them. The prospects were bad. The heavy infusion of Darkness meant it had to be an upper ranking member of the Imperial ranks, a High Prophet at least, if not more. At the least it was not the Emperor, against whom they'd stand no chance whatsoever.
"Sir, they're leaving Hyperspace earlier than calculated!" the officer at the sensors declared, even as the ships appeared in real space outside their viewport.
"How long on those coordinates?!" Weasley shouted.
"Just another few moments!" the technician replied, tapping furiously on his console.
"We've been spotted!" the sensor officer called, just as the technician let out a whoosh of air, punching in the last command, and their ship started into Hyperspace immediately, the stars around them blurring and the ships in front of them disappearing from view completely.