NationStates Jolt Archive

OOC:Usual rules of rp etiquette apply. No huge fleets, no godmodding, nothing over the top. If you want to rp something outside of the normal first contact situation, TG me and we'll work something out.

IC:

A low breeze stirred the halls, brushing curtains to and fro, almost as if the world was trying to speak but couldn't seem to speak loud enough to say anything beyond a low murmur. Walls of black stone and white pillars lined a great hall, filled with statues and art of great worth, but all were not considered by the robed figure which walked down its halls. Cloaked in a dark robe and protected by a set of armor on top of it, this figure walked with the pace of one deep in thought, its head at an angle towards the ground, not looking up. The figure moved up a set of stairs, coming to a set of doors guarded by guards wearing large suits of blood-red armor. They nodded to the figure as it walked past, but it barely even noticed them. They moved to open the doors, and it walked in, leaving the guards to close the doors.

The figure began to walk into a large, luxurious room mounted with flowing banners displaying Sith symbols and a large throne made out of a dark brown wood, finely polished. It paused as it noted a figure sitting at a desk, poring over holopads. A low chuckle came from the hooded figure and the figure gazed up at the sound. Bastila Shan (http://images.wikia.com/starwars/images/thumb/c/cf/Bastila2.jpg/180px-Bastila2.jpg), Dark Jedi Knight of the Sith Empire, stood up and bowed. The robed figure raised a hand and spoke in a tired voice.

"Please, Bastila, there is no need. We have known each other for far too long to be continuing that old practice. Besides, there aren't any foolish Senators or Dark Jedi to deceive."

Bastila smiled a little before rising. "As you wish, Lord Revan."

Revan sighed and removed her hood, showing her tired face for all to see. She noted Bastila's concern and gave her a look. "I am fine; I merely have exhausted myself in my searches to find out what has caused this shift we encountered upon reaching the Unknown Regions. Everything has changed. Within the Empire, the star charts remain the same, but the scouts detail that the void outside the galaxy is gone and now filled with countless stars. And the probes we have sent show a glut of nations, big and small, whom are bound to have noticed us and the wave that brought us here." She sighed and shook her head.

"The Empire is powerful and capable of protecting itself, but I cannot risk it until I am sure that they have not come here as well."

Bastila winced at the mention of the True Sith. Revan had conquered the Republic to ensure she had a powerbase to destroy the True Sith, whom had masterminded the Mandalorian Wars. But now, with the shift, Revan had resorted to using the Force and forced meditations to discover the truth of this strange universe they had arrived in. But her searches had been inconclusive and she was wearing herself out. Not to mention much of her duties as Empress had been ignored in her quest for answers and so she has asked Bastila to discreetly fulfill them, occasionally showing her things that needed her insight and wisdom on. The system had worked but things were beginning to unravel. Bastila had wanted to tell Revan about Malak's moves to take more power within the Sith Empire for himself, along with Bandon. But she saw her master was incredibly tired, and besides, she had a few plans on how to deal with these two Sith. Malak was learning but he was still incredibly brutal and blunt, and Bandon was an even less subtle version of him, as hard as that was to grasp.

So, she merely nodded and spoke, putting that thought away into her mind. "You should rest, Master. You have not slept well this past few days. Let me deal with the matters of state. I have enacted protocols for first contact, as well as ensuring the Jedi remnants and rebels do not interfere."

Revan smiled softly. "You were always the brightest of the Dark Jedi Order, Bastila. I knew I could trust you with missions normal Dark Jedi could not handle." She stretched, holding back a yawn. "Very well, I will retire to my chambers. You have full command, short of certain powers I retain only, in my absence. Do what you must to ensure the Empire runs smoothly and continues to stay within our grasp. If we let the Jedi consolidate even a little, we shall face a civil war on the level of the Jedi Civil War."

Bastila nodded and Revan smiled. She turned and headed to her chambers, guarded by four of the most highly skilled within the Royal Guard. Upon her entry into her room, Bastila turned back to the desk, sat down and began to continue the state work that Revan had to deal with everyday. She hadn't known how much work the Dark Lord of the Sith had to do in running the Empire and now was sure Malak didn't know what he was getting himself into with his attempt. But for now, she would have to wait and see what he pulled, try to counter his actions as she stalled for time for when Revan was at her full strength and could deal with this effectively.


**********************

Even as life within the Sith Empire began to return to normal, the events heralding its arrival into the new universe did not end. The temporal displacement wave which had hit the Empire and caused this strange event, continued throughout the galaxy. It's power drained by the transition, it could not displace nations. However, it would cause EMP-like effects in nations not protected against such a thing, send a huge energy spike reading within systems nearby and also give a large spike at the "source", a system within the Sith Empire. This system was known as Bonadan.

Renowned for its body armor and industry, it was an important world on the Outer Rim of the Sith Empire. It's importance was about to increase as all the curious nations of the new universe came in, little by little, to investigate this new phenomenon.....

TAG for participation

*bump*

*bumpage*

Atrox held the parrying blade as his student swung at him. Part of the training was to teach combat and even with his heavy suit on, the blows was deceptively easy to predict. Kane telegraphed his blows mentally as well as with his body language. He was not sure what Nightshade was teaching at her so called school but it certainly was not swordsmanship.

Kane gripped his hilt and made a simple feint to the right and spun Jedi-style to strike from the opposite direction. He found the practice sword waiting for him as he completed his turn and stumbled backwards in surprise that his blade did not strike true. Atrox stepped forward closing the space between the two not allowing him to detach from the duel. This placed Kane at a further disadvantage and his eyes widened at the descending wooden blade as it stopped bare millimeters from impact.

“You are good but you need to throw away all Nightshade taught you. She has installed weaknesses in your thoughts and your actions. I want you to forget these weaknesses and learn the proper way to…”

Atrox stopped speaking and looked to the east as if he heard something distant…



-----



In another place deep within the Academy, another Avatar of Atrox was teaching the fine points of meditation to the two students which arrived at the same time. The Ascendant had to learn control of a new form to allow it to use its Force abilities and the other needed to control his own battlerage. He was attempting to show both how to concentrate their minds and control their emotions, a basic ability needed in the New Sith Order.

“… you need to concentrate upon the object in question. Once you find it you gather all your emotion and lock it under your Control. You don’t let it out, you secure so it cannot escape. When you have that, the energy you are able to draw the energy you need from this, much like a battery. A car only uses the fuel it needs and does not burn it all at once. Your emotions are the same way. Use only what you need to power your abilities. You…”

Atrox stopped speaking and looked away from the students as if he heard something they could not…



---



Deep within the garden, the Avatar was applying more energy to the Tree. He had went to Konoha for a seedpod and returned with his prize safely in hand. He had planted the seed and applied Force, Psionics, and even Magic to make the thing grow. He had included a couple hairs from Hera in with the pod so she would feel more at peace while resting under the safety of its branches.
He picked up the canister of specially mixed fertilizer he had created for the tree to recover from its initially enhanced growth spurt. He turned to begin walking away when he felt it.

“This can’t be good.”

Atrox hurried into the Academy.



---



Several minutes later a single shuttle broke the surface of the ocean a short ways away from the Academy as it left the underwater launch bay. The ship rose quietly through the air and left the planet. Once in orbit, a wormhole opened and the ship disappeared.


Across the galaxy the other end of the worm hole tore open, depositing the ship into real space. According to his navigation charts, the edge of the galaxy should have been behind him, instead a seemingly endless reach of stars spread before him that matched nothing in the most up to date Imperial star charts.

According to the readings, the source of the pulse he had felt originated in this area. His sensors could pick up several signals but they seemed to be affected by some sort of interference. He instructed the Shipmind to approach the system thought to be the origin.

The Bonadan system was not left unguarded; due to its important both location wise and industrially, it had been given a moderate defense force to protect it. Several groups of orbital defenses and heavily-armed shipyards orbited the world, their bristling guns making any ship wary about trying that gauntlet. To add onto this, a fair force of ships were in the area to protect the system and conduct patrols with an eye for pirates and bandits. Praetorian-class frigates, Foray-class blockade runners, Hammerhead-class cruisers and a couple Dagger-class destroyers to even out the mix. Currently they were spread out, to cover the most area as possible and to conduct Interceptor patrols with an eye for efficiency. A key Sith trait, efficiency was always paramount in any operation.

So it was that the sensor stations orbiting Bonadan sensed the spatial disturbance and the subsequent sensor signature of an unidentified class of shuttle, and sent a message to the commanding officer in the area. A Captain Tyras Lathil stood aboard one of the destroyers, the Iron Hand and glanced at the message displaying on the screen. Waving a hand for the communications officer to remove the message, he spoke. "When you are done removing the message, contact all ships in the area and inform them of this new development. Have a Foray and a Praetorian maintain a close distance to the ship in case we run into trouble."

The officer nodded. "Yes sir."

The captain turned and headed back to his chair, looking at the main screen as the unidentified shuttle came into view. He had to follow protocol laid down by the Sith Lord herself, Darth Revan and he wasn't in the mood for flexing the rules. Taking a deep breath, he pressed a key and opened the channel to the small craft.

"Unidentified craft, this is Captain Lathil of the Imperial destroyer Iron Hand. You have trespassed in Sith space. Identify yourself and your purpose in our territory. Depending on your answer, you may be imprisoned or allowed to come aboard to open discussions. And please, no smart stunts. I've had too many pirates think they could escape and forced to deal with them accordingly. Something peaceful would be better."

"Unidentified craft, this is Captain Lathil of the Imperial destroyer Iron Hand. You have trespassed in Sith space. Identify yourself and your purpose in our territory. Depending on your answer, you may be imprisoned or allowed to come aboard to open discussions. And please, no smart stunts. I've had too many pirates think they could escape and forced to deal with them accordingly. Something peaceful would be better."

Atrox listened to the transmission and could not help but chuckle to himself. They were trying to impress him or something and it was not working. Sith Empire, there is no such thing. Atrox opened a channel and replied to the assuming captain.

“I would love to come aboard and have tea with you but you don’t have the time. The signal I felt and followed will lead others here soon enough and I have to warn your leaders. I am sure I could not fit enough pirates in this shuttle to endanger your Destroyer. If you still feel threatened, you are welcome to board her but I will not stick around to shake your hands.

Now, either decide what you will do or point me in the right direction to find your Leader and they will do it instead.”

Atrox reached to turn off the transmitter but hesitated first.

“Oh, my name is Darth Atrox, founder of The New Sith Order. If I meant you harm, you would have already been breathing vacuum. I don’t appreciate waiting much longer.”

The sensor readings on the shuttle never wavered. If the stranger was powering up some sort of weapon, it was nothing they could detect.

Lathil stood on the bridge, listening to the newcomer as the person replied to his message. He held back a surge of irritation at the obviously sarcastic tone as the speaker turned down an offer to have "tea" and the assurances there were no pirates. Taking a deep breath, he let it out as he cleared his mind. Unlike some of the Dark Jedi he had encountered, he was not going to be ruled by his anger. He activated his side of the channel and began speaking. Before he did, he caught the last bit of the message and his eyes widened. There was...another Sith? The only Sith he knew of were Darth Revan and Malak. And this person mentioned a "New Sith Order". Revan had already established one, it hadn't fallen yet. Something was going on here.

"It's the law that I question you so thoroughly; if you have complaints, take it up with the Empress on Coruscant. We have had to deal with pirates and some rebellious breakaways, so its my duty to protect this system. Besides, who knows, we could be focused on you and some attack force could take us unawares. We have to be prepared for such things. And the implied threat is not nice.

Now, as for a leader, I can direct you to the governor on the planet at most. If you wish to speak to the Empress, you will need to land anyways and speak with the Governor to use the communications array to send a message."

“Perhaps if you were to only focus a single sensor array on my small shuttle then nothing else will be able to sneak by. I will take your suggestion to heart and proceed to the planet, thank you for granting permission.”

With the perceived permission granted, Darth Atrox commanded Shipmind to gun the engines and plotted a course for the planet. He assumed the Captain would signal ahead to they would expect his imminent arrival. The Gravity drives surged and the shuttle streaked away faster than most fighters were capable of.

The captain bit back a curt response to the impertinence of the new arrival and sent a message to the governor, alerting her of the incoming arrival and of the circumstances. Shara Dell, the Imperial governor of Bonadan, turned off her datapad and began to pull on her coat. A self-styled Sith Lord hailing from a "New Sith Order". This was troubling. Buttoning up her dark gray uniform, she secured her blaster belt and put on her hat. Walking up to the door, she pressed the panel and walked out into the hallway. She passed two elite soldiers assigned to guard her office and they followed her as she headed to her personal landing pad. There waiting for her was her personal shuttle.

She quickly climbed in, followed by her two guards, one whom took the position of pilot and began to activate the systems. The engines ignited and the shields snapped into place. Jets of air shot from the craft as it maneuvered into the air and it rocketed towards one of the many orbital facilities where trade was conducted. The shuttle the Ta'Nar Atrox was on would be fed coordinates by the orbital station control to dock in one of the many hangars dotting its immense surface, and then it would be secured by a powerful energy field. Then it would be moved into place to dock with a cord connecting it to a pressurized, oxygen filled room. As Atrox walked through the tube, he would feel several pings through the Force as he felt the Dark Jedi on the planet and its facilities. He would also feel a large concentration of dark side energy just outside the pressurization chamber, along with three typical sparks in the Force that defined non-Force sensitives. The door opened and it revealed four people.

A single Dark Jedi (http://my.fit.edu/~farroyo/DarkJediAvatar.jpg), with his robed swirling about him and his yellowed eyes gazing intently at Atrox with a mix of careful suspicion and covert hostility, two Elite Sith (http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/starwars/images/thumb/f/f6/SithCommando.jpg/115px-SithCommando.jpg) soldiers, and the Governor (http://s91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/Nirokasa/?action=view&current=130.jpg) stood outside waiting for Atrox. Upon his exit of the chamber, she stepped forward, bowing slightly.

"Greetings, I am Shara Dell, governor of Bonadan. I understand from Captain Lathil that you have a message for me? Something about a warning?"

[OOC: Hope a six-ship scout detachment isn't considored a fleet of 'Ipwnu' ^^;]

When a nation, just crawling out of its own galaxy to arive at it's largest companion galaxy, just managing to find a few planets that were about to be populated for outposts for further expansion, suddenly gets hit by the largest Electromagnetic Pulse in the five thousand years of recorded history, three thousand of those being space flight, their first thought was bound to be that it was some sort of natural phenomena of this alien galaxy.

Luckily however, their vessels and military structures had evolved to the point that EMPs were a nuiscence and strategic weapon only - as while the pulse would wipe clean any program that wasn't specially (and expensively) protected from the bloody things would not suffer any damage rendering it unavailiable, a weakness old Terran microchips seemed to have. Yet, a wave of such magnitude that knocked out their first outpost station, as well as whatever ships currently happened to be in Real Space at the time of the interruption, was definately something that had the Sertians on their toes, and after reconciling with the races they had current contact (as well as dropping in on other people's communications whatever they could), they quickly learned that this was not a natural phenomena akin to this galaxy.

Thoughts ranged from a devastating weapon constructed by the United Resistance to be used against their home galaxy in reparation of the war twenty years ago, to some sort of black hole on black hole collision that created a space-time gravity wave so large it swept up nearby stars, shredded them into electrical and magnetic energy, and carried the pulse across the galaxy, or some combination of both. Nether the less, it was quickly placed on the priority lists of 'things to check out' and it was decided that a taskforce of Alpha Division, lead by Vice Admiral Keylanka, to explore the source of this disturbance. However, the Sertian Expeditions forces were spread thin with their exploration and attempts to guard their sole space station within several million light years, so the Vice Admiral could only take her personal ship, the SEV Radiance (Ascension-Class Light Cruiser), two Peacemaker-Destroyers (The SEV Homebound and Photon), and three frigates, two Firebird-Class Aerospace Frigates (SEV Hummings and Selica), and a single Shield Frigate (Fortitude-Class, the SEV Nahnahnebooboo). These six vessels quickly gathered up at the edge of the space station once the effects of the EMP had been countered, and quickly jumped into the Drift in the same manner as all ships, seeming to have their particles dispersed in an almost poetic manner into the interstellar medium - while the ships in actually just jumped into a universe filled of the darn flowing, wave-like points of light in a trip that would take several days, perhaps even a week, to reach the outer edge of the solar system where the event centered.



A week later the small group of ships flowed from nothingness into Real Space, magestical gold particles flowing from the nothingness of space into six ships, the largest of which just over seven hundred and fifty meters long. Of course Drift Drives were quite stealthy devices, when they were in FTL, but they made a rather large spike of gamma rays and x-rays whenever they exited, as well as the easily noticable and phantom-like light show, which just happened to drop off six black and red colored vessels with their coat of arms bearing a phoenix wrapping its fiery wings around a system of stars protectively.

The ships then coasted on the small bit of kinetic energy they had kept through their long trip, drifting towards the inner parts of the system while their sensors quickly gathered whatever information they could. Meanwhile, Keylanka had spent the last several days preparing a 'contact' message for whatever they might have found, in fact several dozen for whatever situation she could possibly imagine. Seeing a fully inhabited system, well armed with dozens of ships and space docks that could probably blast a few holes in their Emprium hulls before being able to power up their Drift Drives again, was fortunately near the top of her list.

Resisting the urge to command her vessels to raise their shields, she would instead send out her communication while the advanced sensors of the Ascension-Class tried to soak up whatever information they could.

"This is Vice Admiral Keylanka of the Sertian Empire, charged with the command of the vessels you see at the edge of your system to investigate a mysterious phenomena that swept through our forces in this galaxy. We do not offer you any hostility unless you attack us first, and in this act of good faith we have our shields and weapons offline."

She waited a second, before continuing with something she had just thought up on the moment, "With your permission, we could jump into FTL again and meet you in a place more secure, in case you believe us to be a threat?"

After getting the directions, Atrox asked Shipmind to take him there at once. Shipmind took the ship into T-Space and moments later faded into Real Space right outside the coordinates provided. The nav computer linked up with Shipmind and guided the shuttle (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v248/beldragos/AtroxsShuttle.jpg) into one of the many landing pads on the nearest station.

The shuttle, strange in design and sensor readings entered the landing bay and settled a few centimeters above the surface. As it was moved into location for the airlock to attach, the side of the sip changed into liquid and flowed upwards to form a docking tube with a door at the far end. After the seals were attached and a vacuum test performed, the inner door slid open.

A monstrosity stepped out of the far doors. The black metallic creature walked heavily down the docking tube and was easily not close to human. The creature possessed four arms and two legs. It head was insect like in a vaguely robotic sense and two antennae rose from its head, all encased in very flexible metal that was as black as obsidian. The creature stepped forward and stopped before the guards which were waiting. He had scanned the chamber and was mildly surprised to discover so many Darkside emanations here. As he walked through the boarding tube he marked the location of each person in the waiting chamber. Atrox paused right outside the final door and did a scan once more before activating the door. He kept his strengths hidden so they would make misjudgments about his abilities in case this was a trap. He stepped through the doorway and waited a moment for those on the other side of the door to adjust to his appearance.

A single Dark Jedi (http://my.fit.edu/~farroyo/DarkJediAvatar.jpg), with his robed swirling about him and his yellowed eyes gazing intently at Atrox with a mix of careful suspicion and covert hostility, two Elite Sith (http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/starwars/images/thumb/f/f6/SithCommando.jpg/115px-SithCommando.jpg) soldiers, and the Governor (http://s91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/Nirokasa/?action=view&current=130.jpg) stood outside waiting for Atrox. Upon his exit of the chamber, she stepped forward, bowing slightly.

"Greetings, I am Shara Dell, governor of Bonadan. I understand from Captain Lathil that you have a message for me? Something about a warning?"

“Yes indeed, I have come here to warn you.”

Atrox’s voice was not insect-like or even mechanical. To all those in the room it sounded like an ordinary voice without any traces of modulation. In a way, it sounded honest and trustworthy which seemed exactly opposite from his appearances.

“I felt your arrival almost a quarter ways across the galaxy. If I could feel you at that distance the Empire will detect your presence and those abominations will come here in force to conquer you for they cannot stand to have anything out of their command. You will have to also stand to an assault against the cursed Jedi for they will not stand to have Imperial Control of this area either. You should expect them any time now so I would suggest you be careful.”

“Who is in control of this nation of yours? You are Governor, indicating a much larger organization. Where can I find the leadership to confer with? It is of great importance I speak with them. I have information on both the Empire and Jedi that would benefit all.”

Atrox turned to look at the Dark Jedi.

“Also, who is your Master? It would be good to speak to them as well. I can feel great Darkside energy here so there has to be a Lord to lead and direct you and your forces. It would be good for two Sith Lords to meet and discuss the upcoming troubles. I fear you and your Order will not survive without assistance from me and my New Sith Order I created.”

As the meeting between the Governor and the supposed "Sith Lord", Captain Lathil had sunk back into his chair, massaging his temples. Dealing with that impudent messenger had tested his control more so than he had encountered in some time, so he had a small headache pounding away in his head already. Not the best of starts for a day of boring patrol. He was about to get up and go request someone call medbay for some pain-killers when the ships alarms rang out. Warnings of incoming ships and spatial disturbances on the edge of the system filled the main screen and his headache vanished as his attention snapped to it. Requests for orders came filling in from the other ships as their nerves, shot by the arrival of the shuttle, proceeded to fray ever more. Straightening, his mind began to work out military tactics to fit the situation.

"Have the Accuser, Predator, and Violator proceeded to come around us. We will form an initial strike force with which to hold off the enemy and pin them down, while reinforcements come in from the system. Hold your fire until it shows clear hostile actions. We don't want to cause some foolish intruder to go to war with us. Lord Revan made this quite clear."

A chorus of ayes sounded and Lathil focused on the task at hand. Long range sensors and sensor arrays around a couple of the outer worlds revealed six ships, three cruiser class and three frigate class. His eyes narrowed. This couldn't possibly be an invasion force, it was way too small. Or the commander was an idiot who went in without any intel on the enemy. Just as he thought this, the comm officer turned to him.

"Incoming transmission, sir. It's coming from the unknown ship group."

He nodded. "Very well, let's hear it."

The screen switched to show the face of one he could relate with. Her face had stress lines that could only come from being in command. And judging from how lined it was, and the strange stars on her uniform, she must be a high-ranking one.

"This is Vice Admiral Keylanka of the Sertian Empire, charged with the command of the vessels you see at the edge of your system to investigate a mysterious phenomena that swept through our forces in this galaxy. We do not offer you any hostility unless you attack us first, and in this act of good faith we have our shields and weapons offline."

She waited a second, before continuing with something she had just thought up on the moment, "With your permission, we could jump into FTL again and meet you in a place more secure, in case you believe us to be a threat?"

He nodded to the comm officer, whom entered their communication channel to the new arrival's own. "This is Captain Lathil of the Sith Empire, aboard the Imperial destroyer Iron Hand. We read your peaceful intentions and will not attack. I wish you had sent a message ahead but this is better than being shot at. I will direct you to my superiors to discuss about the energy wave. Coordinates to Bonadan are being sent through this comm channel; feel free to jump outside the orbital facilities. They know of your coming and will be ready to direct you to the proper facilities. There is already an arrival meeting with the Governor, so you will be greeted by a normal escort, I'm afraid."

He then sent orders for the ships he had called to disperse back to their patrol patterns, but had them altered so they maintained a fairly tight net around theIron Hand, which he had stay at its position with its naval squadron. He had a feeling more would be coming.

When the Sertian force come out of their FTL, they would be greeted by a message from the orbital shipyards, detailing a place for a shuttle to be sent. It was up to the Sertians to send a shuttle and get it there. A warning against bringing too large of a guard was sent in the message as well; the Sith were not too trusting of others, as was their way.


*************

Marn Roke's eyes narrowed when he saw the strange creature come out of the connecting tube. His hand went straight for his lightsaber, but Shara instantly put out her hand, her eyes narrowed at him. "If there is to be any combat here, Roke, then it will not be started by us." She whispered to him angrily. He snorted and then relaxed as much as a Dark Jedi could, his eyes boring into the creature. The two guards had given short gasps of surprise before they had hidden it under their calm mask once more. Shara, aside from her terse scolding of her Dark Jedi partner, had remained calm. She knew of what her Lords Revan and Malak could do with the Force, this hardly surprised her.

What did end up surprising her was the being whom stepped out from it was calm and sounded...normal, considering a giant bug-like construct was its bodyguard. And he mentioned something of a warning. Her eyes narrowed as she listened to him speak of an Empire which was an "abomination" and the Jedi whom would attack them as well. She blinked in confusion; why would the Jedi attack? They could hardly find a single, permanent place to sleep, much more think of resisting the Sith Empire. She held up a hand after he asked about who was their leader and was about to speak, when he had turned to Marn and asked him who his master was. Marn let out a soft hiss and then spoke.

"I have no official master, so-called Sith. I am a master of the Force, a Dark Jedi Master. I rule over the Dark Jedi Knights and Acolytes whom reside on this world. However, the masters of the entire Order, Revan and Malak, are not here. Lord Revan has withdrawn into her palace on Coruscant and Lord Malak has gone on another hunt, seeking to hunt down the remnants of the Jedi Order whom still plague us. I do not see what kind of Empire out there could possibly pose such a threat. Only the Mandalorians and those Sith Imposters beyond the edge of the galaxy posed any threat and Revan crushed one and could have wiped out the other."

Shara let out a sharp, unhappy noise and Marn glared at her. "That is enough, Marn. As much as I agree with you in that the Sith Empire is at the strongest it has ever been, we can't fall into laxity. Remember, as the Empress stated, the enemy is always in that single shadow you never see, waiting to sink that vibro-dagger into your back. Caution is the rule of the day here, not pride." She turned to face Atrox.

"You are correct, I am merely the governor of this planet, and of this system. I can direct you to Lord Revan, although I do not foresee much reward there. After the strange wave removed us from the stars we knew, she had withdrawn into her palace and has made few public appearances. Normally, I would not allow someone to bother her but...your news troubles me and perhaps you will be able to get our Lady to come out. In her absence, the Empire has been experiencing countless troubles." She clapped her hands and a woman (http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/Nirokasa/133.jpg) dressed in a simple dark blue uniform appeared.

"This is my aide, Alessa Steyl. There is too much to speak of to inform you of the current situation. And I cannot leave my post to escort you, so she will go in my place. There is a Hammerhead-class cruiser, the Eclipse, which is heading for Coruscant in two hours. I can have your shuttle be loaded onto it and you, along with Alessa, will head to Coruscant, with my recommendation, to see the Empress." She stepped forward and handed him a medallion, with an engraved series of letters in Sith language. "Show this to any of the guards or officials on Coruscant and they will direct you to Bastila Shan, champion of the Dark Jedi Order. She will help you see Revan."

Stepping back, she sighed and spoke once more. "Also, if you do not mind, sending us any files on the Empire and Jedi threats would be nice. I could read them and send our a report to my superiors for possible dissemination throughout the Empire at large."

Her words stunned Atrox for a few seconds and he did not reply until after the Governor had already finished speaking.

“Revan and Malak?”

“Did you say Lord Revan and Lord Malak? That is impossible. I have studied her Holochron years ago. She has been dead for centuries as has Lord Malak. I cannot believe this yet your words ring with Truth. The only explanation is Time. Somehow you have been moved forward 50 centuries. It is even more important that I speak with Darth Revan. I can possibly save her life if history happens to follow its same path.”

Atrox made a connection to Shipmind.

Quick, run a comparison diagnostic of the scans you made of the new stars with that of the Empire with a temporal displacement of about 5000 years.

The Vice Admiral just gave a short reply notting that she would follow the procedures before her ships slipped back out of sensors in the same way they had come in, except this time the ships seemed to fall apart into millions of tiny bits, before once again reconstituting themselves a microsecond later in the designated spot. Of course, the standard military vessel didn't have access to such luxuries as shuttles, but the light cruiser did have one or two troop transports occasionally used to ferry important personal between vessels when they couldn't afford to dock, or had to go planet side... Of course, such vessels were equipped with weapon systems and could be viewed as hostile, so they anounced the type of ship they would be sending, with an escord consisting of Vice Admiral Keylanka, the pilot, and two soldiers to protect her as well as repressent different species of the Empire.

A few minutes for the commanding officer to gather her escort, as well as make her way to the transport shuttle, and they were off. The two VTOL engines pushing the vessel out of the hanger and towards the station they were heading towards, synchronizing with the station's orbit before letting a few thrusts forward, tipping towards the station before drifting to a stop, landing gear pushing out to stabilize the craft on the floor. From here, the side of the transport vessel would open up to reveal a space that could comfortably seat sixteen soldiers as well as the crew to pilot the vessel, yet only three stepped out and jumped the last two feet to the floor of the hanger they were visiting... Although she left out the fact that one of her 'escorts' was a three meter tall lizard being with most of its form wrapped in a dark gray cloak, and the only visible weapon him him being a two meter long sword strapped to his back.

The other escort though, seemed to be fairly humanoid and dressed in a full body armor, although the helmet was missing, revealing the fact that this alien actually seemed fox-like in appearance, his head holding the large ears similar to a Terran fennec fox. His weapons seemed to be more modern, a G-20 sniper rifle held in a magnetic holster on his back, and a SP-9 plasma pistol on his hip. Surprisingly though, the Admiral held no weapons on herself, but kept the similar armor to her fox-like escort, seeming to be completely human except for the tiger-like stripes on the skin of her neck.

"Hello, sorry for the slight delay but, my big friend Drae'lykkra here was currently asleep, and I'm afraid it takes two or three plasma rifles and a few grandes to prevent mauling by a tired Drag'lock when they wake up."

A group of Sith Elites surrounding a uniformed Sith Captain stood there as they exited. The captain only gave a passing glance to either alien soldier. They had plenty of experience with aliens and it was as common as breathing. Turning to the Vice Admiral, he bowed. "Greetings, I am Captain Deshel. I am afraid the Governor is still in a meeting with another arrival, so she is not available at this time. However, we do have an area for refreshments and relaxing, and there is a diplomat there whom you can speak to if you have any questions you wished answered as you wait. If you'll follow me...."

He turned and made a hand motion, causing the guards to take up an escort formation around the Vice Admiral and her two soldiers, and they began to move towards another area of the facility. She would notice the place was very clean and precise, with soldiers moving about their business briskly and quietly. There was a tenseness in each of the soldiers and some even seemed to have a harsh nature to their eyes and faces. But most only gave a passing glance to the group before returning to their work."


*************

Shara and Marn both glanced at each other, hardly believing their ears. Shara spoke first. "What do you mean we have been brought forward in time? I don't quite understand what it is you mean by this? But as I stated before, we can get you on the Eclipse so you can go to Coruscant."

The Shipmind's scans would show what Atrox thought; the stars were the same as those five thousand years ago.

"Yes, that is most advisable. Your Empress would need to know of this development in order to properly prepare against the dangers of this time period. Things have changed and not in the best of ways."

After a thought struck him, Atrox turned back to the Governor.

"Will you please transfer my shuttle to the transport. It will get lonely and probably cause mischief if I leave her here for too long."

Atrox followed his escort toThe Eclipse for the trip to Coruscant when it led him away.

The three made their way, following the guidance of their escort. The Vice Admiral though seemed to be taking note of anything that past by them, looking for anything that signified written language, perhaps trying to gain a brief glance at any reports. Eventually though, the anthro soldier to her right caught the glances and spoke softly, in a language that was not the Sert they had greeted the Sith with.

"If your eyes were any more obvious, they might accuse us of spying Sir."

"Forgive me, but we do not even know if they are responsible for the wave that hit this galaxy," she responded in the same language, but a bit more louder to not make it as secretive. "If they are capable of creating such a powerful weapon, we need to be aware of it so that we can approach them as carefully as we can."

"As you wish, but might I suggest you rely on a species with better senses than your own to look for any significance to this?" he responded, scratching his furred chin as he walked.

"Very well..." and with that the three continued their walk towards the refreshment area, the only one looking the least bit concerned was the Drag'lock to the left of the group, who had the uneasy feeling of being somewhere she really didn't want to be.

The Vice Admiral and her escorts came to a door, where one of the Sith Elites stepped forward, showing some sort of device. The two guards at the door glanced at it and then nodded, waving them through. The door opened to reveal the Governor, her guard, and the Dark Jedi. After showing the Balroggan to the ship, they had come back to meet the other newcomers. Turning to the Vice Admiral, Shara smiled. "Greetings, I am Governor Shara. Please sit; we have much to discuss I imagine."

********

Several minutes earlier...

Shara nodded. "Very well." She made a motion to one of the guards. "This man will escort you to the Eclipse and your shuttle will be put in a hold as well. May the Force be with you." The guard nodded at Atrox and proceeded to escort him through a maze of hallways before making it to a docking bay. He could see his shuttle being loaded into a hangar bay as he entered the umbilical. The guard waved him into the ship and then began to head back to report his successful escort to the Governor. Atrox was greeted by two more guards, whom then led him to the bridge before leaving.

A well-dressed man wearing a black uniform, with grey shoulders stood on the bridge. Upon hearing footsteps, he turned to see Atrox, his blue eyes staring with intelligence and pride, his black goatee giving him a good command appearance. He nodded at Atrox and spoke. "Greetings, sir, I am Captain Deschel of the Eclipse We have finished loading your shuttle and we will be heading to Coruscant shortly. From what the Governor has told me, you wish to speak with the Empress. I wish you luck on that endeavor, as many have tried to gain audiences and failed. Perhaps you will be able to find out what plagues our Empress so as to make herself hide away from us." He turned to a screen when it flashed and nodded.

"Very well. Helm, bring us to sector three-seven-four and prepare the hyperdrive for jump." Turning back to Atrox, he clasped his hands behind his back. "If you want, you can go to your quarters, which are located on this datapad, or you can come with me to the officer's lounge and ask me questions of the Empire." He handed him a datapad and then bowed a little, before heading to the door. As they moved, the ship turned and headed to the proper jump coordinate. Within moments, it was ready, powering up its drive and then the stars blurred into lines. They were on their way to Coruscant.

Lord Atrox tilted his head in parting to the Governor and replied, “And also with you. Thank you for trusting the words of a stranger.”

With that, he followed his escort. As he was traversing the seemingly endless hallways on his way to the umbilical, his shuttle made contact with him.

Master, they are moving me. What shall I do?

Monitor your surroundings and complete scans, otherwise cooperate with them. Alert me to anything that seems out of the ordinary.

Yes Master.

After crossing through the umbilical, Atrox was escorted to meet with a human wearing a black and grey uniform on what appeared to be the bridge of the ship. The screens showed a view of the ship as it was docked to the superstructure of the station. The captain turned to greet Atrox.

"Greetings, sir, I am Captain Deschel of the Eclipse We have finished loading your shuttle and we will be heading to Coruscant shortly. From what the Governor has told me, you wish to speak with the Empress. I wish you luck on that endeavor, as many have tried to gain audiences and failed. Perhaps you will be able to find out what plagues our Empress so as to make herself hide away from us."

Atrox nodded to Captain Deschel.

I return your greetings most wholeheartedly. I am Honored by your actions and professionalism. You may call me Atrox while I am under your care for I do not need the use of Titles. What do you mean by plagues?”

"If you want, you can go to your quarters, which are located on this datapad, or you can come with me to the officer's lounge and ask me questions of the Empire."

Atrox took the datapad from Deschel. He linked up with the pad and downloaded all the information directly into his suit while using the senses of the suit to scan the object. The schematics were not different from ones used today but some of the components were outdated by material sciences long ago, confirming his suspicions about there being a temporal anomaly.

“I would wish to accompany you to the Officer’s Lounge. Not only would the view be better than from the quarters but the company would also be more interesting. We can continue to converse during the trip. I am sure you are as curious about me and my world as I am about yours.”

Atrox returned the bow and followed his host down the hall. While following him, Atrox contacted his ship through the suit's Kython Link.

Scan the ship and compare the schematics to those salvaged when we cleaned up the Home system. Also, try to compare the star charts with ours. Request an update to the nav system with The Eclipse. Most ships are willing to do so in order to avoid collisions.

Yes Sire, I will do so after I am finished with the scans.

Be careful with the scans, don’t let them detect you. If they are concentrating on you, forgo the scans. I will ask about the Navigational Update from the Captain and let you know when it is safe to send the request.

Yes Sire, checking for monitoring equipment.