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| - "Well, this was unexpected." "What is it, Captain?" "A man claiming to be an Emperor has invited you to a private meeting." "Emperor of what?" The captain hesitated. "The Black Knights, sir." "Those heretic Jedi?" "I believe so, sir." Sythen Kurak shifted in his chair. After thousands of years of peace this splinter group was threatening the galaxy? He clenched his armored fist. He knew he would enjoy any violence that resulted. There were only so many pirates to capture. He wondered, too, what D'aghar would think of this meeting. Of course the old man would turn it down. The thought caused Kurak to chuckle a bit. At over thirteen thousand years, Kurak was only half of D'aghar's age. The captain waited for Kurak's answer. It was not uncommon for the old Sith Pureblood to wait a week before responding to a request. This time, however, they would not have to wait so long. Kurak stood, his metallic boots clanging on the durasteel floor. "I accept the Emperor's invitation." The captain was taken aback. He had fully expected Kurak to decline. "Yes, sir. The meeting is to be held on Planetoid 01957, which is Galactic West of us right now." "I will go alone, Captain. Prepare my shuttle." "Yes, sir." The sleek grey ship disengaged from the Star Destroyer and slipped into hyperspace before the captain sent its coordinates to High Command. The long-distance com buzzed immediately. "This is Star Destroyer Ironhand." "This is Jur'ak D'aghar." The captain's blood ran cold. That voice was simultaneously filled with power and expectation. "And you are?" "I am the one who brings balance and the one who breaks it." The codeword. "Yes, sir. May I ask why you're calling?" "You know perfectly well why I'm calling, captain. You knew I would as soon as you sent those coordinates." The captain gulped. The small hologram of D'aghar flickered in place and waited. "I thought that you should know, sir." "Thank you. If he does not send any all-clear signals in twenty-four hours, alert me." "Yes, sir." The com flickered and turned off. Kurak's shuttle came out of hyperspace less than an hour later, his adrenaline already pumping in anticipation of the fight that he was sure would be coming. The planet below, though, was surprisingly lush and beautiful at first glance. It took Kurak a second to see the kilometers-high pyramid of black rock that stretched on the far edge. "Sythen Kurak. You are wise to come alone." The voice came over the ship's intercom. "I figured that you would prefer that." "You figured correctly." "I assume you're wanting me to land on the dark side vortex?" "The pyramid? Yes." The shuttle landed smoothly on the top of the stepped pyramid. No other ships were visible. Kurak was out of the shuttle before a hissing noise came from his right. A platform raised up from the hole in the floor. Three humanoids were on it. The shortest--but the one clearly in charge--wore a large cloak with a hood. The other two were outfitted in full body armor, helmets in hand. "Sythen Kurak," the short figure said, raising its head to reveal a poxied face, grey and rough-skinned. The face had an unnatural amount of wrinkles, but Kurak could sense that this figure was a human being barely into his fifties. Other than that, the figure was impossible to read. The other two, though, were different. Both were Echani, lean and athletic. Neither were Force-sensitive. "You're the one who calls himself Emperor?" "I am." The Emperor didn't seem put out by the remark. "You're taller than I expected." "I get that a lot," Kurak responded. Where are we going with this? he wondered. "Down to business," the Emperor hissed through lungs infected with the dark side. "Indeed. Why did you want me here?" "For one simple reason. We are going to take over the galaxy and kill the Jedi. And we want you on our side." The captain of the Ironhand was waiting when one of the communications officers ran onto the deck. "Sir!" he exclaimed roughly, all military protocol seemingly forgotten. The captain frowned. Whenever Kurak was gone no one seemed to remember how to show respect. "Sir, Kurak's shuttle is sending over a holocam signal!" The captain's frown disappeared. "Run it on the bridge." Kurak's tall, armored form was expressionless. "I wonder why." The Emperor didn't blink. "You are the enforcer. You are the only darksider to hold so high an office for so long. You have great influence." "Well, I'm flattered. But I think that you won't stand a chance. There are people who will stop you who you don't even know exist." The Emperor began to walk in a circle around Kurak. "You mean the Grey Knights? We know about them." If Kurak could frown he would have. Time to play it off. "That's not who I was thinking of." The Emperor shrugged. "No matter. There are over a quadrillion followers of the Black Knights. They are not all Force-sensitive." "So you're threatening me?" Kurak's tone was incredulous. "It is not an idle threat, Sythen Kurak." "It never is." The Emperor smiled, revealing his blackened teeth. Suddenly something slammed into Kurak's back. Kurak's HUD flashed red and a readout told him something that should have been impossible: his armor had been breached. "You are not invincible. Not anymore." The Emperor laughed as Kurak staggered. Kurak drew his blade. "Kill him," the Emperor said dismissively, turning his back on the scene and walking back to the elevator. Kurak roared in anger. The adrenaline was pumping through his veins and with it came power. His strength of will crushed the armor into the bodies of the Echani. They fell before they were able to raise their blasters. Something else slammed into Kurak's back, on the other side this time. He wheeled around but there was nothing, no one who could have been shooting him. Then twelve cloaked warriors leaped onto the pyramid. Kurak smiled inside his helmet. They had doomed themselves. "Come and get it!" he shouted. Suddenly he felt cold. Time sickness. The realization only increased his rage. He could only hope that the Ironhand had received the holo. But for now, there were twelve Black Knights to kill. The first charged. Stupid, Kurak thought. I'm not that weak yet. The warrior was dismembered by Kurak in two swift strokes. The remaining eleven circled Kurak warily. No doubt they had all known the dead warrior for years. "You want some of that?" Kurak roared. Slowly, the circle began to close in. The captain was watching in horrified fascination. "Send this to D'aghar! Now!" he shouted. "Sir!" shouted another comm officer. "The entire Military Committee was assassinated outside the senate house by Black Knights!" "Sir, the Empress Fel was attacked! Her Imperial Knights barely managed to stop the assassins!" "Sir, Senator Rothil is in critical condidtion! They don't expect him to make it!" The other comm officers continued relaying the news. The bodies continued to stack. "Sir! Orders from the Chancellor! We are to return to Coruscant immediately!" The last three warriors were just waiting now, Kurak realized. They just needed to wait until he was so weak that he would be unable to defend himself. He realized that he only had one chance. There were plants that could put off the effects of time sickness. If only he knew for sure if they were on this planet... He had to take the chance. He threw a hand out and stunned one of the warriors, throwing him into the other two. Then he released the armor. Metal clattered to the ground. Kurak's three-meter frame was down to its natural two. More importantly, his shuttle was beginning takeoff. He leapt to the ramp in a quick motion, but his knees buckled on landing. The symptoms were becoming more pronounced. He crawled to the stasis chamber that D'aghar had had installed in the shuttle 'just in case.' Kurak had laughed at it then, thinking as he did that his armor was impenetrable. It was necessary now. The captain breathed a sigh of relief. Suddenly, though, the holocam showed a single missile headed towards the shuttle. It exploded early--no doubt Kurak's doing--but rocked the small ship. The holocam went dead. The captain let his head rock back and forth slowly. There was no way to ensure Kurak's safety now. "Set course for Coruscant," he said, his voice sounding hollow in his ears. The remaining three warriors were scouring the forest. A ship as small as Kurak's could go missing and never be found. The tallest of the three blinked under his hood. "Well, he's going to die anyway." "Time sickness," cackled the shortest. No one liked him. The tallest half-hoped that Kurak would suddenly skewer the irritating Knight. No such luck. "Well, he's gonna die of time sickness. So let's go back." "Yeah." About half a kilometer south of them, a small stasis tube was barely connected with the generator that powered it. The wake-up function was broken. But it was enough.
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