Back on Coruscant, Emperor Arrhenius walked into the imperial throne room. He looked at his desk and sighed. Paperwork always seemed to multiply by the second. Two-hundred eighty-seven bills. He was only gone for one standard week, and two-hundred eighty-seven bills had piled up. Since when was the Senate so efficient? He sat down and started to speed read bills.
Hmm, the save Coruscant Act. That sounded fascinating. He began to read. It was a fifty standard year plan to return Coruscant back into the planet it once was many millennia ago. It seemed like a good idea. A planet-wide city was horrible for said planet's environment. But where would the government go? He kept reading. Ah! Of course. A new star destroyer class. That would work. The emperor loved this idea. He picked up his pen and signed the bill.
He looked through more bills, and after signing about twenty, an officer walked into the throne room. "What is it, officer?" asked the emperor.
"Your Excellency, Intelligence has picked up on an unidentified distress code. Its origins are unknown and not from this galaxy or the surrounding dwarf galaxies."
"Okay. Is anything else notable about this distress code?"
"Yes, it seems to be at least fifteen millenia old."
"Intriguing. Thank you for informing me. Please let Admiral Epstein know about this"
"Of course, Your Excellency." The officer then turned around and left.
Seconds after the officer left, the emperor felt a tremor in the force. He collapsed, writhing in pain. Twice this year. Twice. He had to find the source, and it seemed as though Intelligence just found a lead.
He staggered to his feet. He pulled out his Holo-projector and contacted the Admiral. A blue version of Epstein flared to life. "Yes, my lord?" he asked.
"Launch the second Outbound Flight Project."
~oOo~
An address to the Empire. It wouldn't be long. Maybe two minutes. But knowing that trillions of beings were going to watch him, it would feel longer. The Emperor looked at the cameramen. They gave him a thumbs up.
Emperor Arrhenius cleared his throat and began: "Loyal citizens of the Empire, the time has come. The second Outbound Flight Project is ready. We will go to area sixty-six. We will make contact, and attempt to set up trade routes with one star system. Maybe two. If we have time, we will attempt to conquer a system. With our recent victory in the Runeterra system, I am confident that the Navy and the Stormtrooper Corps. will be able to handle any and all challenges they may encounter. Thank you." He then turned to one of the men standing behind him and said: " Admiral Epstein, the stage is yours."
Admiral Epstein walked to the stage and shook the emperor's hand. "Thank you, Your Excellency." He faced the cameras and the crowd. " As Emperor Arrhenius said, we will attempt to conquer one star system. If necessary, we will use force. We don't want to, but if we have to we will. We will be taking one fleet of which the Emperor has hand picked. The commanding vessel will be the Emperor's personal flagship, the Eclipse. She will be carrying an ISD in her largest hangar bay. There will also be three Sovereign-class dreadnoughts including the Sovereign herself. They will each carry a Victory-class Star Destroyer. The escort will be made up of thirteen ISDs. This will be more than enough to conquer one star system. Thank you for listening. Emperor, the stage is again yours." The Emperor shook the admiral's hand, and again addressed the crowd.
"And now for some news that I believe will shock many of you: I will be joining the outbound flight project." The crowd gasped. "Relax, I'll be fine, the Empire will be fine. In my absence, Lieutenant Empress Amarin will take over. Right now, most of the fleet is already waiting for us at Vector Prime. Me and Admiral Epstein will leave Coruscant within the hour. So, thank you for listening, and your consideration. Thank you." The Emperor backed away from the podium and the Imperial Anthem began to play.
Admiral Epstien walked up to the emperor, "Our transport is ready"
"Excellent. I do believe this trip will be very enlightening for the both of us."
They boarded the shuttle and headed to the Eclipse. As soon as they were on board, the Eclipse shot into hyperspace.
~oOo~
On the Eclipse, Lucifer Arrhenius invited Amiral Epstien into his personal rooms. Lucifer motioned for the Admiral to sit down. He walked over to his bar and poured two drinks. He offered one to Epstien. "Thank you," Epstein said. "Why did you invite me here?"
"Outbound flight is just a cover story," answered Lucifer.
Epstein considered that for a moment, "A cover story for what?"
"We're headed to my home Star System" Lucifer took a sip of his drink.
That confused Epstien, "What do you mean your home system? We both grew up on Naboo. We went to the same Academy. If you're going to your home system, how is Outbound Flight a cover up?"
"What is my name?" Lucifer asked.
"Sheevieboi Arrhenius. Why the change of subject?"
"It isn't a change of subject. My real name isn't Sheevieboi. It is Lucifer." Lucifer looked at Epstien's drink. He picked it up and topped it off. "Finish this."
Epstein was getting uncomfortable, so he instead took the bottle from "Lucifer's" hand and took a big swig.
That surprised Lucifer, as he wasn't currently precogging. But, Epstein wasn't sober anymore, so he continued. "As I was saying, my name is Lucifer Arrhenius. I am a celestial. Sheevieboi doesn't exist. As a celestial I have complete mastery of the Force. Also, celestials aren't originally from the Galaxy Proper. That is why Outbound Flight is a Cover up. I need an excuse to leave the Galaxy. I have sensed that my home is in danger. Sadly, in danger of itself. I am trusting you a great deal by telling you this. I hope you know that"
"Celestial. You– a celestial?"
"Yes, I am a celestial."
"No you aren't."
"Yes I am."
"No you aren't."
"Yes I am"
"No, You aren't"
"Yes, I am"
"Then prove it."
" Really? You want me to prove it? That might hurt your mind."
"Yes, I want you to prove it. I don't believe you."
" If you insist. Just close your eyes."
"Fine"
Lucifer quickly took off his royal robes. Immediately his features changed. Before, he was just an average looking guy. Now, his features were more refined. He had chisel-cut cheek bones, and six-pack abs. Best of all, his hair was magnificent. Even Han Solo would be jealous of that hair.
Then, something remarkable happened. Two pristine white wings emerged from his back. He wrapped them around to cover his front. They were so big that they just barely missed the floor. Then, two more emerged. He positioned them to cover his back. Then, a third pair of wings sprouted from his back. These were much larger than the other four. These were so large that they dragged on the floor. They all seemed to glow with a light that screamed "I'm important."
Admiral Epstien was at a loss for words. He knew he should do something, but he didn't know what. So he knelt. Lucifer looked at him, "Rise, my child. Be not afraid." Epstein rose. He no longer felt nervous. In fact, he felt confident. He felt such confi–
"Great. Now that you believe me," Said Lucifer, snapping the Admiral out of his trance, "Let's continue our earlier conversation."
"Ahm, okay" said Epstein, now feeling stupid.
"My homeworld is in danger. I feel the need to save it."
"Okay, that makes sense. But there's one thing that doesn't. Why would you announce that you are going along on this mission over the Holo-net. Now the Triumvirate knows you're heading to Vector Prime. They've likely already sent cruisers there to apprehend or kill you. After all, you did order the destruction of one of their most important systems. You know how much they rely on Hex-tech."
"Yes, that is a reasonable concern. One that I have already considered. If that happens, we will just have to deal with it." Lucifer took another sip of his drink. "Actually, I'm hoping that will happen."
"So, will your home system join the Empire?"
"If I can get my siblings to agree to it." Then, hyperspace alarms sounded, "We best be headed to the bridge, Admiral"
~oOo~
On the bridge, the swirling blue and white lights of hyperspace danced in the transparisteel window. The turbolift opened and out stepped the Emperor and the Admiral. They approached the window just as the Eclipse left lightspeed. The blue-white lights disappeared, and elongated stars replaced them and quickly shrunk back down to their normal size.
The Emperor handed the Admiral a piece of paper containing the coordinates to his home system. "Send these to the rest of the fleet."
The Admiral looked at the coordinates, "but, this is the-"
"I know"
"But there isn't a safe hyperlane there"
"Yes there is," The emperor handed him another piece of paper. "This should get us there safely."
"If you say so." Admiral Epstein said, turning to an officer and handing him the papers, "Transmit these to the rest of the fleet and instruct them to begin the calculations for a hyperspace jump."
"Yes sir," said the officer.
Epstein turned back to the Emperor, "How come no one is looking at you?"
"I reached out with the force and stopped them from noticing"
"I will never get used to that"
"Good, It would be weird if you did."
"I'm sure it would be." Admiral Epstein said. He then went to check on the hyperspace preparations. As he was doing that, eleven Mon Calamari cruisers blasted out of hyperspace. Shit. He thought. "Is the jump ready?"
"Yes," one of the pilots answered. "Disengaging the sub-light drives now" as the pilots said that, the stars elongated and the blue-white lights of hyperspace returned.
~oOo~
"That was close," Said Admiral Epstein
"Agreed," Said the Emperor. "That could have been disastrous." Lucifer then walked over to the nearest bench and sat down. He shuffled his wings to fit. It was almost impossible to find a seat that accommodates the wings of a celestial. Though, considering the lack of winged species in the galaxy, he shouldn't be upset about it. It wasn't a big deal.
But what was a big deal was what he was going to do when he finally got home. He knew something was up, otherwise there wouldn't be so many tremors coming from his home system. He certainly hoped the Daglan didn't have something to do with it.
The Daglan. Wounds in the very fabric of the Force. He hated them. Almost as much as he hated Abeloth. Almost. Fifteen millenia ago, they ravaged his home planet. Convinced his followers that they were salvation instead of their creators. They sucked the life from the planet. Its very connection to the Force. It took the entirety of the remaining followers of the celestials, three ancient sith sorcerers, one Force nexus and multiple Force-imbued objects to subdue them. Just to subdue them.
Though, he didn't see as to how the Daglan could be behind it, considering he made damn sure the starborns trapped them on their own planet. The sith sorcerers somehow formed a portal between the planets of his home system. It was necessary, yet he didn't like it. That caused him to have a love- hate relationship with the sith. But their existence was needed since the Son died. He missed his nephew.
Lucifer got up and went back to his rooms. He poured himself another drink, and began contemplating his return.