Chapter 5

Just off the bright horizon of the Endor Moon, almost the exact spot that the space battle between the Rebels and the Imperials took place, the task force assembled for battle.

"The Judgment and the Helios have reported in," the Operations Officer told Captain Parck. "That's all of them."

And indeed it was. Parck nodded surreptitiously, and turned back to gaze out the viewport. Seven Star Destroyers, each one pulled from a different fleet in Grand Admiral Thrawn's territory, along with four Interdictor Cruisers, and over 30 Carrack cruisers gathered around the Admonitor, flagship of the entire Unknown Regions armada.

And right there, in the midst of that awesome assembly of Imperial military technology, like a ridiculous joke, stood a battered and badly damaged Strike Cruiser.

The catalyst in the entire plan.

"What's the status, Captain?" Thrawn asked, sitting quietly behind Parck in the Admiral's chair.

Parck spun around in full military composure. "All ships have reported in battle ready, Admiral. We're standing by."

Thrawn nodded. "What word from Delta Source?"

Parck checked his datapad. "Still nothing, sir."

Delta Source had been the sole entity responsible for reporting such highly classified and detailed information about Grand Admiral Grant's activities on Coruscant. Thrawn was still waiting for the cue that Grant was preparing to leave Coruscant, a likely indication that he was about to fall in Thrawn's trap.

An awful lot of careful planning and precious resources had been utilized in setting up Grant's demise. First, a certain datacard, Thrawn being the only one knowing its contents, was deliberately allowed to fall in the Supreme Commander's hands.

Parck looked back at the damaged Strike Cruiser. Now, Phase II was about to begin.

And it was just the sort of elaborate trap that a Grand Admiral could pull off. Admiral Thrawn new better than to engage the commander of the entire Imperial military forces in a direct confrontation. The only question was could a Grand Admiral ensnare another Grand Admiral in his own political demise?

Perhaps with a little luck.

"Signal the Strike Cruiser," Thrawn ordered. "Have them set course for Coruscant."

"Yes, sir."

"And Captain?"

Parck gazed in the playful glowing of Thrawn's red eyes.

"Yes, sir?"

"Make sure the ship travels the limited speed a normal, heavily damaged, Strike Cruiser would."

"Aye, sir."

…

The scoutship reported back to the Majesty. And Harlan didn't like the report one bit. He walked up to Grand Admiral Grant on the bridge, who was seated in the Admiral's chair as usual, approaching him humbly as if Grant were a king. "I've just received word from our scoutship in the Endor System. Grand Admiral Thrawn's fleet has made the jump to lightspeed."

"Humph," came a contemptuous snort. Standing beside Grand Admiral Grant was Nuso Esva, still under the guise of the mysterious persona of Lord Odo. "It's a distraction. Trying to pull our attention away from whatever he really has planned."

"Or a trap," Grant replied without looking at Esva. "It really doesn't matter. I have what I wanted from Thrawn, and now he's all yours."

"Then I must go," Esva replied. "Did your scout get the vector the fleet jumped to?"

Harlan glanced back at the report. "Yes, they did," he replied, and handed Esva the datapad.

Wordlessly, the alien took it, looking it over very carefully. For a pair minutes, the bridge of the Majesty was eerily silent. Then, with just the slightest of hesitations, Esva looked back up at Harlan.

"Thank you, Captain; that's all I need to know." And with that Nuso Esva strove off the bridge. Two stormtroopers immediately appeared at the bridge doors and escorted the warlord out.

"He's anxious isn't he?" Harlan said.

"It's not surprising," Grant replied dryly. "I'm sure wherever Thrawn is striking is pretty important for the Warlord to leave immediately."

He punched a few keys on his armrest. A star chart came up on the holo emitter just in front of chair. A red line drew itself across one of the star systems intersecting Coruscant and another world. "It doesn't concern us anymore," Grant said with an edge of steel behind his voice. "Now that we have the location of our target world, it's time that we put an end to this ridiculous charade. Thanks to Grand Admiral Thrawn's library, our victory will be complete."

There was a gleam in his eyes, the look of a man whose ambition was about to be realized. "As soon as the Majesty has finished preparations, we are to set course at these coordinates." He typed in the vector and the destination heading. Harlan watched carefully as Grant placed the pieces of the puzzle together: the coordinates of the planet, and the planet's code name.

Wayland.

…

"He did WHAT!?" she shouted, standing up from her seat in the mess hall. For a few seconds, the whole officer's cafeteria was silent. All eyes were trained on her."

"Quiet," Doran whispered. "It's not as bad as you think."

"Oh really," she whispered back, and sat down. "And when was I going to be let in on this little charade?"

Doran regarded her with an analytical look. Probably wondering whether she'll make another public outburst, Ellysia figured. "I'm sure the Grand Admiral just figured that having an Emperor's Hand on board would give our story a little more credit on Coruscant. Besides…" He waited a heartbeat and took a sip of his coffee. "I heard that Sate Pestage always regarded the Emperor Hands very highly. That may even be more so since the Emperor is dead."

"Oh Force, give me patience," Ellysia cursed. "So I'm supposed to pretend to be one of the Emperor's private young ladies, who by all counts of practicality, he could've been sleeping with on the side as concubines, but in reality, are secretly his private squad of deadly assassins? And you want me to stay calm?"

"Yes," Doran replied with no hesitation.

She couldn't believe it. "Thrawn's got some nerve. I should've killed him when I got the chance."

"You don't really mean that," Doran replied.

"Oh yes I do!" Ellysia snapped. "I had a quiet life on Endor until the Empire showed up. And it's just like the Imperials to think that if they do something for you, that they expect payment back in kind. I'm getting sick of this," she protested. I'm so mad I could just strangle him."

"Well, if you need to vent your anger, I know just the place to do it," Doran said, grinning.

Ellysia stared back at him, trying to see behind that smiling face. Doran was up to something. And she doubted it was any good.

…

"This is incredible!" Ellysia said as she took in the room around her. It was a huge compartment, about the width, height, and length of a turbo ball field court professional athletes played.

"We come here to train," Doran said. "Normally we run training sessions and place in obstacles and such, but this will do if you need to blow off some steam."

"Great, what do we do first?" Ellysia said excitedly. "I'm ready to tear apart anything."

"Calm down, Princess," he said. "You'll be sparring with me."

It took three seconds for that last statement to sink in with Ellysia. Then she burst out laughing.

Doran's smile was gone. He put his hands on his hips. "What's so funny?"

That just made the situation funnier. "I'm sorry," Ellysia managed through tears and giggles. "But you should know that you wouldn't last five seconds against me!"

"Oh I'm quite aware of your Force abilities," Doran said. "If you let me finish. I'll spar with you on the condition that you don't use the Force."

Ellysia thought about the offer for a few seconds. "Deal," she agreed.

"Great," Doran said, smiling again. "So what'll it be? Hand-to-hand combat? I should warn you though, I'm quite adept in various techniques."

"Nothing of the sort," Ellysia said, and this time it was her turn to smile. "How about lightsaber combat?"

"Uh, that's a little hard to do," Doran shrugged. "I'm afraid I'm fresh out of lightsabers."

"Not to worry," Ellysia said, and pulled a lightsaber out of some hidden zipper on her right leg. "I always keep a spare in case of emergencies." She tossed the weapon to Doran.

Gripping the hilt in hand, and fumbling around for the switch like a novice, he managed to cut the blade on. It glowed bright blue with a strange hum. Examining the sword with almost a childlike curiosity, he brought the blade vertically in front of him. Then turning to face Ellysia, he swiped the lightsaber down. "En guard."

This was going to be fun. But she had to make sure not to tap into the Force. This may be a little more difficult to do. She sure didn't want to hurt Elliet. But he was a soldier and could take care of himself. Little did he know, that Ellysia was one of the best young duelists at the Jedi Temple before the Purge.

She charged, making sure to expend her own energy and not draw on the Force. Doran waited until Ellysia was within a few yards before sidestepping her blow. It was a good thing he did. Ellysia chopped down with her lightsaber making a gash in the metal where Doran was standing.

"Whoa there, Princess," he said. "This is just a spar, not an actual duel to the death."

"This was your idea," Ellysia shot back, slicing upward. Doran swayed to the side, twirled and brought his blade down to bear on her left, making sure to give Ellysia enough time to parry.

She did with easy grace. Crossing her blade horizontally, she blocked the blow and pushed off making Doran step backward.

She waited for him to make a move. But he just regarded her quizzically. "Be aware of your surroundings," Doran warned, his toning becoming that of a teacher's.

"And just when did you become an expert at using a lightsaber?" Ellysia retorted.

"I'm a military operative," Doran said easily. "I'm trained to use a variety of weapons at my disposal."

"Well, then, here you go," Ellysia said, launching herself at him on the word "go".

For nearly half an hour, the two danced around their blades, striking and parrying. Eventually, both of them tired out around the same time.

Gasping for breath, Ellysia managed to say something as they both sat down. "I can't believe you could keep up with me."

"I told you," he said through heavy breaths, "I've trained with weapons for a long time." Doran's hands were on his knees before he collapsed to the ground. "I could've struck you," he rasped, "on at least three occasions."

"That was because," Ellysia choked back, "I was focusing on not using the Force."

Doran regarded her thoughtfully. "Is that why you're sweating so much?"

"Yes," she answered. "It takes a lot of mental and physical discipline to not tap into a power you know you have. It's hard to imagine I'm sure."

"Yeah," he said. "Well, you're one hell of an opponent. Maybe, I should stop calling you 'Princess'."

"Maybe you should."

…

Deep inside the temple made of pure crystal, centered around a circular pedestal, the rest of the Kore assembled and reported to Lord Darien. He was dressed in golden white royal garb, a long flowing purple cape underneath him. The Lord was seated in a throne with two parallel rows of royal guards armed with spear guns across their chests protruding out from the throne. Behind each of the rows of royal guards, stood a line of crystal columns.

They were standing at rigid attention, as the scene played out around the pedestal. "What has the Force revealed to you, Wisdom?" Damien demanded.

"The Emperor is planning his return," Wisdom answered. The little man was dressed in a green hood, his visage hidden underneath the cloak. "Without the Kore of Prophecy, we can't be sure, my lord. However, my wisdom never fails me. The Emperor will return."

The Lord turned his head to the other. "Knowledge, can you confirm this?"

"I'm not so sure if the Emperor was killed my lord," Knowledge admitted. He was dressed in much more regal clothing; a shimmering white suit with traces of blue design all over and on his gloves. "It hasn't been confirmed that he actually was on the Death Star when it was destroyed. It could be some sort of elaborate trap."

"We made our mistake by not intervening the first time Palpatine rose to power," Darien spoke. "We must intervene this time and stop him."

"May I remind my Lord," Knowledge spoke up, "that the Kore have always made it a point to stay out of political affairs. We exist to guide all existential beings to the Force. Only then, can true harmony exist."

"Seraph is wrong," a voice said. In the midst of the group between Knowledge, Wisdom and Damien, a dark cloaked figure appeared with pale hands gliding over a crystal ball. "Intervention is the only course necessary to avoid such a catastrophe occurring twice. If we who have the means to stop such atrocities do nothing, then we are as guilty as those who commit those atrocities."

"Wise words, Sage," Damien approved. "The Kore of Darkness is correct. As Light and leader of the Kore, I have decided to move forward with Sage's plan. Palpatine must be stopped for the sake of the galaxy, and all life everywhere. The Force will guide our actions."

Wisdom and Knowledge bowed themselves slightly. Darkness vanished as mysteriously as he appeared.

"My Lord, please reconsider," Seraph said. "Let us gather more information about the Emperor. Perhaps we could renew our search for the Kore of Prophecy. With Prophecy's help, we can confirm whether the Emperor is still a threat."

"Silence, Seraph," Damien ordered raising his left hand. "My word is law. I hold sway over all the Kore. We have searched for Prophecy for years to no avail. The time for Reckoning is now."

"We will dismantle the Empire from the inside out."