The bridge of the Vigilant Warden was absolutely tense. The orders had been carried out, Admiral Ayro's new weapon had had its first successful test...with terrible results. No lifesigns were being reported, all at once, they had all winked out...and were gone.
"Excellent." Ayro said. "Now, set your course to Karideph."
"Sir?!" The navigator spoke up, staring at the admiral in wide-eyed horror.
"I didn't stutter, crewman." Ayro said. "Get it done." He turned from the pits, heading toward the viewport out at the planet they'd just wiped an entire city and all of its people off the face of.
"You heard the man..." Dax said, tapping on his datapad. "Set course for Karideph and prepare for the jump to hyperspace." It had only ever been rumored that a Rebel base even existed on the planet, but Dax had a feeling the Admiral wasn't looking to take any chances now that he had the weapon he sought. The Rebels had failed miserably in their plan, and the Captain was less than pleased with how things had turned out - particularly now that Ayro had a weapon of such great power.
It made him sick, right to the core of his being. This was not what the Empire was supposed to be...not what the Empire needed to be. For now, though, all he could do was follow orders until he could lead the Rebels to a new opening...provided they stayed long enough to utilize it.
"Captain, there's reports of blasterfire in the docking bay!" The ops officer called over to him. Dax looked up from his pad, moving over to the man's console.
"Where?" Dax asked.
"Bay 327, moving into 328. Internal sensors picked it up and we lost contact with our people there..." The ops officer said. "Shall I call for an alert?"
"No. Dispatch Squad Alpha to Bay 329. I will meet them there." Dax said.
"Sir?" The ops officer looked confused.
"I don't believe I misspoke." Dax said. "You have the bridge. Do not inform the Admiral where I have gone."
"Y-Yes, sir..."
* * *
"You felt it, too, didn't you?" Calen nodded in answer to Niyasa's question. He had felt it, the moment the holonet feed had cut out, that beam of light raining down upon Gehenna and then...nothingness.
"What was that?" Calen asked her.
"I think that was the Dark Side of the Force." Niyasa said. "The Heart...it's something of the Dark Side."
"Makes sense." Calen said, shivering a bit. "I felt that before...not that strong, but...in the cave on Gesaril. I think that's what they were trying to show me. The Gesaril, I mean."
"I remember you said something like that." Niyasa nodded. In her clawed hands, she held the holocron. "I tried asking the holocron, but it doesn't know anything about the Heart..."
"Probably was made before it sunk into Pergitor...or maybe after. I don't know." Calen shrugged. "Either way, we have to stop it. Somehow."
"Hopefully this isn't a suicide mission." Niyasa said. Calen fixed her with a stare. "Look, I want to stop the Empire as much as you do, maybe more, but I also don't want to die if at all possible."
"Yeah, I get it." Calen sighed, relenting. "One thing is bugging me, though. In the vision I had...it was Critus who had the heart, not the Empire."
"You said before he'd shown powers in the Force." Niyasa said. "Maybe that explains how the Empire managed to get it?"
"He was working with Ayro." Calen said. "And the Gauntlet, now that I think about it." He felt a twinge of pain, having forgotten his search for Tin Daheel. The Twi'lek was probably on the other side of the galaxy by now.
"If he were on Pergitor that whole time, that strong in the Force and that close to the Heart...he might know everything about it." Niyasa said.
"He spoke about his Dark Lady, how she'd foretold everything to him." Calen said. "Maybe that was the Heart speaking to him?"
"It's possible." Niyasa said. "From his holonet broadcasts and the things you've said, he seems to deny the Force is a thing, so he might just be thinking of it in a religious sense."
"Or he's nuts." Calen said.
"The two things aren't mutually exclusive." Niyasa said. "We'll have to be careful, though...he'll be even more powerful with that thing. If it could wipe a city out of existence, imagine what it could do in his hands..." Calen sighed, looking back up toward the cockpit, hoping that they weren't racing toward the galaxy's doom.
* * *
The few Stormtroopers in Docking Bay 327 had not been expecting the firestorm that had erupted. The Church of Infinite Perception had been known as a cult that favored peace and introspection. All the intel the Empire had on them suggested they were significantly less than a threat. Needless to say, when they began to open fire on them, they were caught off guard.
This process continued, and those in Docking Bay 328 were equally as surprised. The few that remained of their number had made it into Docking Bay 329 and found a squad of troopers there, along with a very displeased-looking Captain Dax. He ordered them to join formation with the troopers that remained, his own blaster having been drawn as they awaited the inevitable shootout that would follow.
Oddly enough, it did not.
Instead, the form of a man in white robes and wearing a tightly-wrapped turban emerged from the doorway into the next bay over.
"Hold your fire." Dax ordered. One trooper, unfortunately, released a blast. The bolt tore through the air and toward the form of Ijo Critus, who merely glanced up at it and it froze in mid-air.
"The time for Ascension is nearly at hand..." Critus said, raising his hand as the bolt seemed to melt away into it. "Very soon, your weapons will mean even less..."
"Critus, what is the meaning of this?" Dax demanded. "The Admiral will not be pleased with-"
"The Admiral is no longer of any concern to me, viper." The holy man stared at him. "Nor are you." His cult began to filter in behind him, along with a few of the Troopers and technicians who had joined his cause.
"...traitors!" One of his troopers yelled.
"HOLD. YOUR. FIRE!" Dax bellowed at the man, not turning fully from Critus. "I want the Admiral. You can have the ship." Critus cocked his head to the side, looking almost amused.
"You seek to bring home the troubled child to your masters?" Critus asked.
"That is my offer. Ayro and I will leave, and you can have this damned ship." Dax told him.
"I'm afraid you are in no position to bargain, Captain." Critus said. "Your offer does not interest me. Seize him."
"Open fire!" Dax yelled, raising his blaster to aim for the head of the Grand Perceptor...and finding himself caught at the wrist and disarmed...by one of his own men. "What the-?"
"My powers are growing as the Way opens." Critus said. Dax looked and saw that his men had indeed turned on him, all now with their weapons leveled at him. "Your will is stronger than theirs, Corrin Dax...but you will soon have your Eye opened to the Ascension. Prepare." One of the Stormtroopers nudged him with the muzzle of his blaster, taking Dax away.
* * *
"What do you mean the Gauntlet is pulling their support?!" Ayro roared at the projected image of the Twi'lek.
"My employers believe that the time has come to reevaluate our working relationship at this time. The decimation on Pergitor was-"
"You snake!" Ayro's fury must have come right through his image to the Twi'lek, as Tin Daheel's image was visibly quaking.
"Please, Admiral, you must understand...my employers have no interest in genocide."
"As if the Gauntlet hasn't done what is necessary." Ayro snorted in derision, still fuming.
"My employers do not agree with you that this was necessa-"
"THEN TO HELL WITH THEM! AND YOU!" Ayro bellowed. "I'M GOING TO WIPE THE REBELS FROM THE FACE OF THIS SECTOR!" He slammed his fist on the top of the holoprojector, causing the image to blur and flicker. His voice dropped low. "...and then, Tin...I'm coming for you..."
The Twi'lek's face was frozen in fear as the image flickered and then finally faded out of existence. Ayro stormed out of his office and back onto the bridge.
"WHERE IS CAPTAIN DAX?!" He yelled to his men. "WHY HAVE WE NOT MADE THE JUMP INTO HYPERSPACE!" His men sat at their post, stone silent and unmoving. "...what is the...HAVE YOU ALL GONE DEAF?! HELLO?!" He nudged one, but the man did not move, he didn't even flinch. "WHAT IS GOING ON!?"
"I believe, Admiral, that you will find your men are under a new commander." The voice of Critus got his attention. Ayro turned to see the holy man, his cultists, and a contingent of...Stormtroopers?!
"W-What? What are you doing, Critus?" Ayro asked.
"I told you before, you were to capture the Heart of Derriphan." Critus said. "And you did that. You even destroyed Gehenna, just as I hoped that you would." Ayro's eyes shot wide.
"How do you know about-?"
"I felt them." Critus moved forward silently, his eyes locked on Ayro's. "I felt every single one of them, every man, woman, and child there." Ayro backed away from the man, but Critus continued to cross the distance between them, both men moving down the walkway toward the bow-side viewport. "They have all Ascended now...their souls within the Heart, its power is growing exponentially."
"Wha-What?" Ayro asked. "It's a damned-"
"You know so little of the Path, Admiral." Critus shook his head. "It is no surprise that you do not understand this, too."
"HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO ME IN THAT-" Ayro found a bit of himself and started to shout the man down, only to find himself flung back down the walkway, very nearly hitting the far wall. He coughed as his body attempted to recover from the suddenly shock. Ayro felt as though he'd been hit by a speeder bike.
"Like an angry child, you shout out at those above you...it is so sad to see." Critus said. "Pathetic, really. Take him away." Two Stormtroopers moved up, each one grabbing one of Ayro's arms and hauling him to his feet even as he struggled.
"YOU WON'T GET AWAY WITH THIS, CRITUS!" Ayro spat. "I'LL HAVE YOUR HEAD FOR THIS!"
"No, no, I'm afraid you will not." Critus gestured vaguely as the Troopers took the man away, struggling all the while. As Ayro left the bridge, the men and women at the controls began to move once again, looking as though they had awoken from a dream.
"Now, my children..." Critus said. "Return to the Great Work..."
"Grand Perceptor!" The ops officer spoke up. "We have an Imperial call sign that just dropped out of hyperspace. They're requesting docking clearance."
"Good...just as foretold." Critus smiled. "Grant them permission to land. Docking Bay 328."
"At once, Grand Perceptor." The ops officer started to transmit instructions.
"Once they are onboard, prepare for the jump into hyperspace." Critus said, looking out through the viewport. "Ascension is nigh..."
No comments:
Post a Comment