Chapter 18: Dungeons and Star Destroyers

Imperial Castle, 23:50 pm…

"Grand Inquisitor. It's almost time."

Elias waved off the aide with a wave of his hand. Finally, he thought. Finally he could deliver the Jedi to Lord Vader and be done with it. And with luck, be done with Cersei as well, He thought to himself. At this point in time, he purely didn't care.

He had done what he had intended to do that day, which was take Cersei one last time. It helped that the comments Seth had made earlier that same day had incensed him so. So in a way, Elias felt grateful towards Seth for angering him; it had enabled him to release every last inch of his love for Cersei from within him with that final climax he had achieved through his incessant fucking of her.

Elias smiled. He'd discovered that he quite enjoyed doing what he had done to Cersei the previous day. Perhaps once all this was over and he had delivered Kerran to Vader and he had murdered Cersei, he might do it again from time to time whenever he felt up to it. But the time for such thoughts was over.

Standing up, he brushed his uniform down and pulled his helmet down over his head. He had a job to do, a job he was fully intent on completing to its fullest capacity. Even if it meant personally heading down to the surface of Mustafar and meeting Lord Vader there. Grabbing his lightsaber, he affixed it to his belt and stepped out of his quarters, which was still ruined from the day before. Closing the door, he exhaled before beginning to make his way towards the castle hangar.

On the way, he was quick to smell the infernal stench of an all too familiar rhinoceros. Wrinkling his nose, he turned towards the direction of the stench, scowling beneath his mask. "Still haven't taken a bath, Argo?" He asked.

"What's it to you?" Argo replied rudely. He was dressed slightly more smartly than usual, now bedecked in custom-made Imperial armour made exclusively for him. The armour mainly covered his large shoulders, chest, torso, and forearms. But the armour, while protective, was only just that. It failed to mask Argo's insanely terrible hygiene issues.

"Do forgive Argo, Grand Inquisitor." A smooth yet harsh voice said as Argo's partner materialised as if from mid-air. "my colleague can be a little brusque."

"I know." Elias said. "But thanks for the apology, Alec. At least one of you has manners."

"Thank you." Alec Devron Otranto replied with a smirk. He too was bedecked in Imperial armour, mainly armour usually reserved for Shadow Troopers, and more heavily modified to house all of Alec's weaponry. Over that, he was wearing his signature coat, which now had a hood sewn onto it.

"Where is Frederick?" Elias asked. "Already gone?"

"No, as a matter of fact." Said Frederick as he emerged, garbed fully in Imperial Security Bureau armour, with his custom made helmet tucked in the crook of his right arm. His left hand rested on the pommel of the sword at his left hip. A sword Frederick boasted once belonged to the family of Roman the Fox. Also, Frederick also had his blaster pistol holstered in its appropriate place. "I was purely waiting patiently for you to be ready." He said.

Elias nodded. "To the shuttle, then?" He asked.

Frederick nodded. "To the shuttle. Our friends await us."

Elias nodded, and led the other three individuals forth towards the hangar. They had a shuttle to catch.

Imperial Castle Hangar, 31st October 3241, 00:05 pm…

"You're late." The Third Brother called out irritably as he saw the Grand Inquisitor, Frederick the Cat, Alec Devron Otranto and that infernal smelling rhinoceros, Argo.

"I'm sorry, did we miss the shuttle?" Elias replied harshly as he eyed the Third Brother angrily. When no answer came, Elias replied: "Good. Now get in there."

Reluctantly, the Third Brother acquiesced, turning and storming up the ramp into the shuttle.

Elias turned towards Frederick and his ilk, and nodded, allowing them to head up. With this, he turned his attention to Colonel Aryn, who wasn't showing any sign as to whether she was happy or not to see Elias. With a curt gesture with his head, Elias beckoned the colonel to head on in first. Finally, he turned, just as Governor Tarkin appeared behind him.

"Leaving now, Grand Inquisitor?" Tarkin asked, one eyebrow raised.

"Vader will not wait forever, Governor." Elias replied. "And my patience was wearing thin. I had best get this done and over with so that I can continue my work here on this planet."

Tarkin's face showed a thinly veiled smile. "And we were just beginning to get to know one another." Tarkin replied.

Elias frowned. "I will be back." He replied. "Keep the planet secure until I return." With this, he turned and headed onward into the shuttle, just as the ramp lifted. The last he saw of Governor Tarkin was the governor's face, just before the ramp lifted completely.

Within the shuttle…

Elias stepped within the main hold of the shuttle to find everyone he was bringing with him waiting.

Seth Kerran was currently laid on a stretcher, his arms and legs tied down to prevent escape. The Sith torture mask still remained over his head, in order to prevent him from using the Force to a significant degree.

Folding his arms, Elias asked: "Comfortable?"

Seth scoffed. "Depends on your definition of that word. If by comfortable, you mean my current predicament, then I'd be inclined to say as comfortable as I can possibly be. Which isn't much."

Elias chuckled and said: "Well unfortunately for you, until we reach the Star Destroyer, this is how you will stay."

"I'm not complaining." Seth replied. "I've slept in worse places than this."

"Such as?" Elias asked.

Seth looked straight at him, and if Elias had lifted Seth's mask at that moment, he'd have seen a smirk. "Oh, you know. The usual places. City streets, doorways… your old bed in the castle…"

Elias's head snapped towards Seth, his fury mounting. "What did you say?" He asked.

"Uh, the bed you used to sleep in." Seth replied. "You know, when you were a kid?"

Elias very nearly reached for his lightsaber, but managed to stop himself. "You are quite frankly the most annoying Jedi I have ever encountered." Elias remarked.

"Thanks. I've been practising." Seth replied sarcastically, in a way that was supposed to be funny.

In a rare show, General Okada, who was also present, laughed, but only briefly, for he stopped the moment he saw Elias' glare fall upon him.

Elias turned back to Seth and said: "Enjoy the flight. Jedi." With this, he walked over to the seat next to Colonel Aryn, and sat down.

Cersei, after ensuring no one was watching, placed her hand over his and squeezed it gently.

Elias saw this, scowled under his mask, and pulled his hand out from beneath the colonel's. He had little need for affection. Turning towards the cockpit, he called out: "Take us away, pilot."

With that, the shuttle lifted off, and headed onward into the midnight sky.

Elias finally sat back and allowed himself to relax. He had the time for it, after all.

Ouch. Seth never holds back his verbal blows, does he? But then again, I'd likely do the same were I in his predicament.

With that said, thank you all very much for taking the time to read this chapter. If you enjoyed it, then please leave a review in the appropriate section, letting me know what it is that you enjoyed and what it is that you feel I could have done better and how I can do so. In the case that you really enjoyed it, then please favourite and follow this fanfiction, so that you will be notified as to whenever I upload a new chapter to this story.

Again, thank you for reading, and I will see you tomorrow (Hopefully!) with the next chapter, which sees Roman and his ilk get their rescue mission off to a promising start.

T-Rock14