The Fall of the Infinite Empire

Chapter 12

While Za-Hell's family puzzled over the reasons for Zhed-Hai's extension of his protection, Zhed-Hai himself stood at one of the windows of the Great Temple of the Ancients, looking out over the city of Kwashang. Behind him, seemingly unnoticed by him, were the leaders of the Imperial military. They had been called back from their campaigns for this meeting, just as Zhed-Hai had been, and just like Zhed-Hai they all waited for the member of the Council who had the shortest distance to travel to get here. While they waited these rivals for glory, for position, and for power made polite small talk with each other, but not with Zhed-Hai. They were not his rivals.

Zhed-Hai stood at one end of a long rectangular room, with a large table located at its center. The Council room was not located quite at the top of the Great Temple, but everything above this level was devoted to the military functions of the Temple's peak. There was no higher point at which the Council could meet, here or anywhere else on Lehon. From the top of the world Zhed-Hai looked out, as the noise from his fellow Elders grew behind him. They were beginning to suspect what Zhed-Hai had become almost certain of, the last of their number was not coming.

Zhed-Hai turned quickly away from the window to look upon the two dozen or so Rakatans whose small talk would soon break out into arguments were they left to their own devices. Zhed-Hai had been on the Council for longer than most of them had been alive, and he had watched them all make their way through the ranks of the Imperial Army and Navy. This particular group had lasted a long time. Earlier in his own career Zhed-Hai had seen many military officers come and go on the Council of Elders, due the fact that the war claimed even a high percentage of the officer corps. But the war was winding down now, and the Council had not seen new blood in many years. These men had spent decades competing with one another for influence, for importance, for followers. That competition had for decades been warping the military priorities of the Empire. All in a struggle for who would take third place.

"My friends, perhaps this meeting could be brought to order. Our esteemed colleague may join us soon, or he may view these proceedings as beneath his notice. Either way, we have all traveled a very long way to be here. Shall we begin?" Zhed-Hai called out to the small crowd before him. The assorted generals and admirals turned away from their own conversations to look at him. Their hesitation had a variety of causes. Those loyal to the missing Elder objected, of course, to starting the meeting without him. Those loyal to Zhed-Hai did not want to appear too deferential, and those unaligned members of the Council took umbrage at being instructed by Zhed-Hai. And all had some fear of what the lone absent Elder would think of the Council coming to order without him. It was possible he would not care, after all he was not here, but it was quite clear that Zhed-Hai wished them to begin, and his wrath was not so hypothetical. In consequence of this the Elders of the Infinite Empire took their seats at the table. Zhed-Hai took a seat at one end of the rectangle, and the others lined up along its long edges, leaving an empty seat at the other end.

When the last of them had taken their seats a serving droid, meant to provide drinks for the Elders, unexpectedly left its assigned position along the wall and moved towards the empty chair. Several of the Elders who sat nearest the empty seat rose in shock at this bizarre behavior from something as normally predictable as a droid. They, along with many of those who remained seated, yelled at the droid to withdraw. Zhed-Hai watched silently. The droid, a four-legged thing which stood a few feet high with four arms reaching up from the top of its cylindrical body, climbed onto the chair and leaned forward until two of its arms caught the table in front of it. Then, from a barely perceptible emitter at the top of the cylinder, light projected outward, forming, at the center of the table, the image of a Rakatan. The holographic image showed a Rakatan tall and strong in bearing. He appeared, if anything, younger and haler than most of the other Elders at the table. What foolish vanity, Zhed-Hai thought to himself.

"Soaf-Rushk," said one of the Elders near the seat now occupied by the droid, "we are pleased that you have joined us."

"He hasn't joined us!" boomed Drisk-Koan, a Warlord who commanded the largest of the fleets of the Great Hunt. "He has very much chosen not to answer the call of this council!"

The hologram of Soaf-Rushk smiled at Drisk-Koan before saying, "My apologies honored brother, but my work keeps me from attending this most illustrious assemblage in person."

"I traveled weeks from my fleet to the nearest Star Map! My warriors sit and wait for my return! And you cannot travel a few hours?" Drisk-Koan bellowed.

"Your warriors no doubt appreciate the rest. If your requests for more ships, more weapons and more droids are any indication, you have been driving them hard, especially considering that no Celestial has been found for some time." Soaf-Rushk responded, the hologram showing on his face none of the sneer the tone of his voice suggested. "Indeed much of what I must do is expand the capacity of the Forge in order to keep up with the many requests coming in. This newest crisis will only make the burden it must bear greater."

"Surely you are not required to be present every moment the great machine is at work," drawled Kru-Gath, the youngest Elder, and still one of the youngest Warlords commanding a great fleet.

The hologram turned from Drisk-Koan to the Kru-Gath, who, in contrast to his older colleague and rival with his stiff bearing, lolled in his chair. "It is vital to maintain the correct balance of forces, otherwise the entire process can unwind. As I have explained many times to this Council, the Star Forge cannot be entirely automated. It requires supervision and guidance for it to produce anything," the hologram said.

"And can it not go silent for a day?" Kru-Gath asked with some apparent amusement.

"Why should it, when I can say all that needs to be said in this council without leaving?" Soaf-Rushk answered.

"Perhaps we should begin," one of Soaf-Rushk's creatures on the Council offered diffidently.

"Yes, we would not want to keep you from your vital work of protecting a sector under no threat," Drisk-Koan spat mockingly at the warrior he knew to be on the Council for no other reason than being one of Soaf-Rushk's clients.

This insult drew growls and hisses, both from its target and from Soaf-Rushk's other supporters around the table. Similar inarticulate replies issued from Drisk-Koan and his allies.

Zhed-Hai's voice cut through the noise without his having to raise his voice, "If Soaf-Rushk cannot be convinced to report to this Council in person, I see no reason not to begin our deliberations now." The posturing and preening stopped. Drisk-Koan, though now silent, seemed if anything more enraged, but there was nothing to be done if both Soaf-Rushk and Zhed-Hai insisted on proceeding.

The hologram of Soaf-Rushk paused while looking across the table at Zhed-Hai. The face showed no emotion other than serene indifference, but this meant nothing, Zhed-Hai knew. This face, youthful and healthy, was not the face of Soaf-Rushk, the grand technologist. Many generations separated Zhed-Hai from even the oldest of the other Elders around the table, but there were generations more that separated him from Soaf-Rushk. It had been many years since Zhed-Hai had seen him, but even then his body already showed the signs of his advanced age, and to an eye and mind as trained as Zhed-Hai's there were other signs as well. Signs of forbidden innovations upon which Soaf-Rushk relied to extend his life. Bits of the Elder missing, replaced with cleverly hidden machines of his own making.

"Thank you brother, may we all continue to benefit from your wisdom," Soaf-Rushk said after a few seconds. His voice was no truer a guide to his thoughts than the hologram was of his appearance. "Let us hear of this disaster on Korriban."

This created an interesting problem. Who was to report on the disaster on Korriban, or perhaps more precisely, the disaster above Korriban? Korriban was the frontier, but not an active zone of the war. It was not part of a military sector and so had no sector governor. The planet itself had been assigned a governor but he was obviously dead. The Warlord assigned to take the situation in hand would have normally returned to give his report, but he too seemed to be dead. Upon its discovery Korriban had always been placed in a special category because the Sith were in a special category. But now there was no one who was forced to take responsibility for what had happened. Above the planetary governor and the Warlord of the nearest fleet was only the Council itself, as a whole. And in the absence of someone who was required to make the report at first no one stepped forward to say anything, until the dam broke, and everyone wanted to say something. First one Elder, then another shouted out what they thought was going on. An ally of the first to speak questioned the judgment of the second, who had his own friend waiting in the wings to challenge that. In the cacophony only three of the Elders did not speak, Zhed-Hai, the holographic image Soaf-Rushk had chosen to represent him, and Drisk-Koan.

"It must be a Celestial!" called out one.

"They have not mounted an assault in a century, this is some kind of natural disturbance, cutting off communication," declared another.

"If it is communication only why has no one returned?" came a disgusted response. And it went on that way for a while, the anger escalating along with the absurdity of the speculation.

Finally Drisk-Koan stood, and all went silent.

"There is no communication problem. We have received a communication from the fleet," said Drisk, his tone commanding and calm.

"What? Why was this kept from us?" demanded one of the sector governors.

Drisk-Koan ignored the question. "Because there was a question about what had happened on the planet itself, the fleet was under orders to send back an unmanned ship to the nearest Star Map world on a regular basis. We received a ship containing the information that the fleet arrived at Korriban, and nothing after that."

"How long does it take to get from Korriban to the nearest Star Map world without using the Star Map on Korriban?" asked Zhed-Hai, his tone measured and calm.

"Two weeks. We should have received updates every other day. The orders were strict. The Warlord would have known not to go off schedule. The fleet has been destroyed," Drisk-Koan answered.

"Destroyed or taken," said Kru-Gath darkly.

"Taken by who?" was Drisk-Koan's incredulous response.

"By the Sith," Zhed-Hai said quietly.

"Impossible!" yelled Drisk-Koan. "They are barely above animals. I can believe that they overran ground installations, but take the fleet? How?"

Kru-Garth quickly responded, "There were ships on the surface. We were patrolling the entire planet were we not?"

Drisk-Koan shook his head as he replied dismissively, "They have shown no aptitude for using any advanced technology."

"And now they have. Whether the ships were taken or destroyed, the Sith would have had to use the ships on the surface to do it," Kru-Garth shot back sharply.

"We do not know that the Sith did this!" squealed one of Soaf-Rushk's followers from the other end of the table, a sector governor of no real talent.

"Who then?" Drisk-Koan roared. He had difficulty hiding his contempt for the administrators on the Council, thinking membership ought to be restricted to military leaders.

"The Esh-Kha?" suggested a governor sitting near to Zhed-Hai.

"The few that remain free are not capable of destroying one of our fleets," Kru-Garth answered.

"Perhaps there are more of them out there than we think. It has been many years since the war," the governor said. "If some lone Celestial had found them, what secrets might he have taught to them? What strength could he have helped them achieve?"

"Why involve themselves with Korriban?" another governor asked. "They never attacked that sector during the war."

Drisk-Koan shook his head vigorously while saying, "If they had any real strength they would have gone to Belsavis, not Korriban."

At the mention of Belsavis several of the Elders became visibly uncomfortable. It was not pleasant to think about what was entombed there. The Esh-Kha were one thing, an impudent nuisance that had proven far too expensive to eliminate, and a distraction from the true war. It was horrifying to imagine oneself being punished as they were being punished on Belsavis, but the Esh-Kha were enemies, and their torment was a source of pride for many Rakatans. More importantly, they were a known quantity. It was the unknown that disturbed the Elders, and Belsavis had no shortage of mysteries. As such they put talk of the planet behind them.

"Then it must be a Celestial" one of Drisk-Koan's fellow generals said timidly. The Council sat in silence for a moment after the question was asked.

"Who just happened to attack Korriban after a Sith rebellion? When they have shown no signs of interest in the planet before?" Zhed-Hai said. "I agree, this was most likely the Sith. They are capable of more than we had believed."

Drisk-Koan did not like those outside the military directing policy, and didn't much like it when anyone within the military but himself did so, but exceptions could be found even in his rigid mind for those, like Zhed-Hai and Soaf-Rushk, whose contributions to the Empire were so well known. He looked down the table at Zhed-Hai and nodded curtly.

Kru-Garth did not miss the opportunity the silence of others afforded, and inquired, "Suppose it was them, what do we do?"

Drisk-Koan, not about to lose control of the military discussion to his younger colleague, barked "We will need to send another, much larger, fleet to Korriban, obviously. What did you think we would do?"

"I meant, what do we do with the Sith? Of course I know we have to retake the planet," spat Kru-Garth. "But once we do that, how do we respond to this rebellion? We broke Tatooine for much less of an affront than this."

At this several of the Warlords and governors nearest to Drisk-Koan and Kru-Garth began to loudly speak about the need to teach the Sith a sharp and brutal lesson. Quite quickly they moved into describing imaginative punishments for them, punishments that involved most of the population of Korriban being killed.

After listening for a time, Zhed-Hai shouted over them all, "Brothers!" and then, after they had quieted down, returning to the same calm voice they were more accustomed to the scientist using, he said "We must eliminate the entire species."

These men were not used to being outdone in their bloodthirst by the usually cautious researcher. He was on the council for his knowledge, and for his creations, the usefulness of which none questioned, save perhaps Soaf-Rushk. But he did not normally speak during military debates. The last time he had intervened in a military situation was in arguing against the complete destruction of Tatooine, redirecting the Council towards the more creative and involved reshaping of the world now under way, an intervention long enough ago that it was remembered by no current Council members, with the exception, again, of Soaf-Rushk.

"Eliminate them?" queried the surprised Drisk-Koan, still taken off guard.

"Preferably by full planetary bombardment. If the planet itself can be destroyed that would be best, though perhaps not necessary," Zhed-Hai explained, as though he was informing the Warlord of the solution to a puzzle the younger man had failed to solve.

At this several of the other Warlords around the table began to nod. Seeing his chance, Kru-Garth agreed, "Yes brother, that seems fitting. Good of you to remind us of the old ways. The ways of our fathers and grandfathers." Several of those sitting near Kru-Garth hurriedly signaled their assent.

Drisk-Koan was not to be outdone. He leaned forward, placing his clenched hands on the table before him, looking down at Kru-Garth, who sat opposite him. After smiling condescendingly at his rival, Drisk said "Some of us do not need to be reminded of the old ways. Of course we will punish this impudence, and punish them harshly. That was never in question." Now Drisk-Koan's supporters began to loudly call for death and slaughter, and the only question seemed to be how genocide would be accomplished. Conspicuously silent, however, were the supporters of Soaf-Rushk, concentrated at the far end of the table from Zhed-Hai, and of course the holographic representation of the oldest of the Elders himself. The hologram was that of a Rakatan standing still as a stone. He and his waited as the supporters of the two Warlords spoke and yelled over each other, until Kru-Garth and Drisk-Koan were forced to quiet their own allies down. Then, as silence returned to the hall, the hologram of Soaf-Rushk spoke.

"I beg your forgiveness, my brothers, for I fear I must disagree with my most illustrious friend, Zhed-Hai. You speak of the old ways, honored Warlord? I speak as one whose memory stretches back longer than any, to the earliest years of the war, and I remember that in those old days, Rakatans did not throw away weapons because they feared what those weapons could do."

"What weapons are we throwing away?" asked a genuinely puzzled Drisk-Koan.

"Why the Sith themselves of course," answered the image of Soaf-Rushk, sounding almost embarrassed on behalf of his colleague.

Drisk-Koan seemed shocked at this suggestion as he replied, "Certainly you cannot think that they can be turned into warriors for Empire, not now, after this. If they killed the planetary garrisons and destroyed the fleet sent to retake Korriban, then they are capable of concerted action on a level we never anticipated. We cannot arm them and send them into battle…"

"It is not as warriors that I suggest we use them," Soaf-Rushk interrupted. When this response was met with mystified expressions from most of the Elders, all of them save Zhed-Hai, Soaf-Rushk continued, "It is as fuel."

"Fuel for what?" Kru-Garth, unenlightened by this cryptic response, asked.

"Fuel for his machine," Zhed-Hai answered before the false voice could issue from the false image.

The hologram did not turn to look at him, but Zhed-Hai imagined that somewhere his image on a screen was receiving the hateful attention of two very old eyes. The tone from Soaf-Rushk was measured and kind as always, "The Star Forge is not my machine brother, any more than the works of your intellect belong to you. All belongs to the Empire, and I merely seek to improve on what I have done, that the Empire may be stronger."

"I do not understand...," began Kru-Garth.

"I thought the Star Forge's fuel was plasma from the star," interrupted Drisk-Koan.

"It is of course, hence its location. But there is more to the process than that. What happens once the plasma is brought into the Star Forge, that depends on other sources of power," Soaf-Rushk responded. He liked maintaining a sense of mystery about the Star Forge. It was the source of his power, and, Zhed-Hai suspected, his continued existence. Obscuring what it involved both made his position seem more unassailable, as well as preventing others from thinking of the horrors involved in what he did.

"How do the Sith play a role?" Kru-Garth was befuddled enough that his mask of ironic detachment had fallen away.

"The Star Forge is not just a machine, any more than the Star Maps are. It makes use of the Gift, and there is only one way to infuse crude matter with the potential to manipulate the arcane energies that lie at the heart, the uttermost foundation of the universe," Soaf-Rushk had the decency to keep the elation out of his false voice.

"He means to feed the Sith to the Star Forge. To bind them to the machine, to expand its capacity. To make more ships, more droids," Zhed-Hai had not bothered to keep his weariness with Soaf-Rushk's showiness out of his real voice.

"Yes brother, and thereby to make the Empire stronger," came the response.

"You can do that? It will work with members of another species?" asked one of the unaligned Elders.

"It will of course take more Sith to achieve the same effect as a Rakatan. In the beginning of the Star Forge project we took several dozen of our own people and put their strength into the station. None of you were alive then of course, but you would have been shocked to see how small the station was at its beginning. It has been growing ever since. The same power that allows it to shape the energies from our star into the weapons and ships our brave warriors depend on has allowed the station to grow. As it grows it can process more power, and create more for us. But its growth is limited, unless it receives more strength from those with the Gift," Soaf-Rushk said. He had once been a quite compelling speaker. Whatever his voice sounded like now it must have been stripped of its ability to move crowds as it once did. The droid that had apparently been built to present him to his fellow Elders did not seem to have the ability to reproduce the subtle inflections and modulations that had once characterized the technologist's voice. How that must infuriate him, Zhed-Hai thought.

"If there was a problem with the Star Forge, we would know. It would show up in a shortage of ships, of weapons, of droids. But there is no such shortage. We haven't got enough warriors to properly man the ships we have. You have not made a request for more prisoners to be bonded to your machine in generations precisely because what we lack is sufficient warriors, not equipment. And your machine does not make warriors," Zhed-Hai interjected forcefully. The open disagreement between the two great minds of the Empire was a new thing for most of the members of the Council, and their shock was apparent in how slow they were to chime in.

"At present, it cannot. But as all here know, as the power of the Forge has grown, the sophistication of its products has grown apace. The droids, the ships, the weapons, all are more impressive now than once they were. With sufficient expansion of the Forge's capabilities we will have droids capable of contributing directly to battles," Soaf-Rushk returned. The mismatch between the words and the tone of voice was now quite disconcerting. It was clear that an argument had broken out, but the voice seeming to come from the hologram, but really coming from the droid, still sounded as though it was reading a pleasant letter from a friend.

"Battles against what? You would send droids against Celestials? No, the most an increase in the abilities of your machines can provide the Empire is machines to perform garrison duty. And for this you would bond our enemies, a species filled with nothing but hatred for us, to the factory that creates and programs our ships and droids. Because they will not die, just as the Rakatans once sacrificed to this project did not die. They are part of the Forge now, as the Sith will be part of the Forge if you go along with…" came Zhed-Hai's icy and deliberate response before being interrupted by an impatient hologram.

"The war against the Celestials is all but over. How many confirmed Celestials remain alive? Four? Fewer? They will be found, and they will be killed. Many of our brave warriors will die in the process but the task will be done. And then we will be left even more undermanned than we are now, with a galaxy to govern. Who will garrison the many planets? How will order be enforced?" Soaf-Rushk argued.

Zhed-Hai did not smile. There was no need. Soaf-Rushk would realize immediately how he had been outmaneuvered. Instead Zhed-Hai gently said, "I have a solution for this problem, one that does not require leniency for the Sith. I have brought that solution with me, from Tatooine."