Public In Plain Sight.

[Darth Kentarch]

New Lothal City
Late Evening

"Darth Teral." Kentarch said handing the man his ID. The real Darth Teral was lying dead behind a dumpster somewhere on the outskirts of the city in a parking deck. Neck snapped and body burned to a crisp with a high tech compound so nothing could identify him. Kentarch took his ID before he burned him to a cinder. A low ranking Sith Lord, his day to day affairs went largely unnoticed by the galaxy as a whole. This made him the perfect target for identity theft. Kentarch had studied the now dead Teral for the past few days, learning his mannerisms, accent, and perfecting the look of his face so he could nail the force Mask technique down just right.

"Looks like you check out." The ORDIS guard said looking at the ID. The guard handed Kentarch the ID back.

Kentarch glanced at the droids and probes then back to the guards. "Long live the Empire." He said as convincingly as possible. Then strode off into the Engineering Projects Lab. While not a black site, he knew he would be able to pick up some valuable information on the Empire's military, and possibly access their entire network. It did not take long to find a room with several terminals and computer stations where he could access a wealth of information, and be alone.

He worked quickly, typing in on the keypads search inquiry after search inquiry. Most of the information was engineering data on Starfighters and other specifications on ships. He exhaled in frustration as his searches proved fruitless. After finding nothing he switched tactics, searching logistical and supply records. Day to day billings, fuel-ups, supply runs. At first nothing of note managed to appear in the databases.

Kentarch looked up from his console, then masked his presence in the force, along with force signatures of his weapons. He took a deep breath.

Returning to the inquires, at first, he made it seem he was just doing a quick audit of daily dispatches of New Lothal City's fuel depot. Then he broader his search to the entire empire, bypassing some light security and checking past fueling order for various military ships. There was no 'ah-ha' moment, no glaring disadvantage or an Achilles Heal to find. With this kind of data he was looking for a pattern that could reveal something hidden. Again he expanded his search inquires to invoices and expanded the dates all the way back to 848 ABY. A pattern emerged redacted files, double billings for fuel for the same ship. Some officers labeled large amounts of invoices under miscellaneous, with no follow-up descriptions. The trail went cold again. Kentarch reframed from smashing the console in anger.

Not willing to admit defeat the Sith looked through the comments of a few more invoices half-heartedly. Then the name Sarti appeared. Sarti, The planet name puzzled Kentarch for a moment, a gas giant in Bastion's home system, there was nothing there. Yet one of the earliest invoices after the fall of One Sith mentioned ships being deployed there. It was odd, out of place. Yet he knew access would be limited here, if he wanted to search further he would need to get inside a more secure location, all for the name of a planet.

 

[Avernus]

New Lothal Fuel Depot

This was one of the few occasions that Darth Avernus would forgo his usual ostentatious fashion sense in exchange for something far more practical to the situation. A dark ensemble with a hood was not only fitting for this operation but one of the few things that wouldn't get in the way by being too recognizable. He had pretty much insisted that his apprentice, Zhani Amadine wear something similar. He hid around the corner of one of the several fueling complexes, pressed against the wall and peeking slightly around it. He'd ordered his apprentice to follow his lead and trust her feelings, hoping that she'd show some semblance of promise in this venture. He was still unsure of his apprentice's capabilities, but was confident there was no blunder she could cause that wasn't fixable.

It was only a matter of time before the signal was given, and time was of the absolute essence. This operation required a certain degree of subtlety to be successful, and thankfully Avernus wasn't the reckless 'guns blazing' type. He and Zhani had managed to sneak this far without the need for lethal force, but the closer they got to their objective the more unavoidable that became. The moment the guard patrol headed out of sight he darted around the corner and began to use a device to disrupt the door control panel to the valve station control room. The moment the doors slid open he ushered his apprentice in before slapping the inside door panel to shut the doors.

There was only what seemed like a split second between the activation of his lightsaber and the swift beheading of the two guards inside as they rounded the corner to the main control room. The two strokes followed through faster than the poor guards could even realize what was going on. He turned to Zhani, confident that the only significant security had been dealt with. "Plant the charges," he ordered without even turning around to look her way. He wasn't sure if this was actually going to work, given the fact that the fuel depot had been designed specifically to resist catastrophic detonation, but it was worth a shot. He walked forward and began to use the same device to disrupt to door control panel to the main valve control room. At least one technician would need to be spared, even be it just momentarily for this to have any chance of working.

 

[Zhani Amadine]

Zhani kept close behind Darth Avernus as the two made their way through the complex, the desire to prove herself writ large in her general demeanor. This was her first real taste of action as his apprentice; determined to make a good impression, her usual lighthearted irreverence was replaced with (mostly) silent focus. She wore a similar dark outfit to her master, surprisingly smart looking rather than her usual preference for showy skintight affairs. This combined with her rather serious expression made her look uncharacteristically imposing.

She tried not to wince too obviously at how quickly he dismantled the two guards. It wasn't that she was scared of him. Well, that was a lie, she was to some extent. Undoubtedly he could easily dispatch her, too, if it came to it. She was just an apprentice, after all, and the two personal encounters she had with his combat abilities left no room for doubt. But, as long as she didn't fail too spectacularly, he would be the path to realizing her own potential, rather than a threat.

As he worked on opening the door to the main control room, she casually but quickly made her way around the periphery of the room, pulling the small sticky charges out of a pouch and sticking them in inconspicuous but hopefully vital places. Behind a pipe. On the underside of a tank. On the back of a console. As she went, she almost unconsciously reached out with the force, trying to sense if anyone was coming. Trust her feelings, right? The feeling that was strongest currently was anxiety. Her least favorite. The best way she could think to turn that emotion to good use was to be hypervigilant, to stave off any problems before they became, well, a problem.


Avernus

 

[AMCO]

Every once in a while, when the stars were right and the invisible currents of the Force aligned, Adrian saw fit to actually do his job.

Doing his best to perfect his most inquisitorial frown into his shuttle's gilded mirror, the Sorcerer reviewed the details of this little assignment he had given himself: Something was wrong with some fuel records, according to his "analyst". Whatever that meant. One such discrepancy came from the New Lothal Fuel Depot. For an Empire that prided itself on efficiency, this meant one of two things: Treason or incompetence.

He wasn't sure which was worse.

Well, those two or information he was not purview to... but curious as he was, all he needed was an excuse to pry. Pushing himself from his seat as the shuttle put down gently, he flicked his head in the direction of his escort, signalling for the pair of massive Warriors clad in alchemised steel to follow. Nothing got the plebs sweating quite like homicidal monsters.

Avernus & Zhani Amadine​

 

[Darth Wyyrlok XXIV]

Waiting for AMCO was Darth Wyyrlok, Twenty-Fourth of his Title, Loremaster and Chronicler of the Sith. The Chagrian Sith was standing at the far end of the landing platform, between the path leading from the landed ship and the portal to the wider city. He wore a flowing combination of jet black robes and identically black plated armor, the latter of which was inscribed with ur-Kittât runes. The only beings standing in close proximity were the Loremaster's scribes, hooded and mute aliens who meticulously cataloged everything they saw and everything that happened onto gargantuan flimsiplast tomes with ornate golden quills. ​

​

Wyyrlok hailed the arriving Sith Knight with a reserved raising of his hand, which immediately fell back to his side as the other approached. "Salutations, Knight Vandiir. I was appraised of your arrival a short time ago, I have heard that you wish to inspect the fuel refineries and store facilities?" He gestured for Adrian to follow him off of the platform and into the darkness of the adjacent structure, where they could converse without prying eyes or hearkening ears. "It is fortunate that you have come, you may aid me on my mission here on Lothal."​

​

The Loremaster's voice dropped to a hushed whisper, brimming with barely restrained contempt. "The Eye has spoken to me a prophecy, that there are those on Lothal who seek our Master's key. This can only mean that traitors have come to Lothal, and like all traitors to the Empire and the Sith they must be destroyed."​

​

Avernus | Zhani Amadine | Darth Kentarch ​

 

[Taeli Raaf]

Unbeknownst to Darth Kentarch , his search through the Sith-Imperial records had not gone completely unnoticed. He had easily made quick work of the local security systems, that would not surprise anyone that knew of his skills and exploits with the Sith Assassins, but of course no one would know it was Kentarch accessing the systems on Lothal.

As part of the efforts to conceal the massive project commissioned by the Emperor from the Lady of Secrets, certain security precautions had been made. One of which was a specialized imbedded search tag for keywords such as Sarti, a tag that had been tripped by the searches of the Darth Teral persona the Assassin was using.

Within the confines of Malsheem, the commanding security officer was notified of the search from an unauthorized terminal within the Empire by a Sith Lord that was not connected to work being done for the final preparations.

"My Lady, we may have a situation."

That was the message that Taeli received in her office on Genesia, still recovering from Moridinae, but at least making her presence felt by holo during the recent meeting. An image of the Triumvir of Power flickered into being on Malsheem, encryption of the highest order and maintained by MORGAUSE, and there was a frown present.

"Explain."

 

[Darth Kentarch]

New Lothal City
Engineering Projects Lab
Late Evening

Sarti.

The search parameters expanded. The first articles were meaningless stat and research papers on Sarti's composition, dynamics, formation, interrelations and history. Kentarch was not interested in planetology. He looked deeper into the network, although he wasn't quite sure yet was he was looking for. By narrowing search parameters to Sarti he searched increasingly more classified documents and records. Then the intel came together that a large fleet was in orbit around the gas giant. Ship maneuverings that dated back to the One Sith era.

"What are you hiding from me?" Kentarch said to himself.

Suddenly he ended his search, exiting out of all inquires for the moment, and covering his digital footprint to buy him some more time. There was more in play than just uncovering the secrets of the Empire. With a few more commands Kentarch managed to slice into Lothal's security network. Pulling from his robes an electrolockpick, he hooked the device up and in a matter of moments managed to override New Lothal's security systems. Holoterminals were scrambled, alarm systems disabled, network and automated droids system simply switch themself off. He could here officers and people shouting from outside, a reaction from the Imperial personal as they recognized the breach. It was a temporary breach, no doubt forces would quickly work to undo it.

He returned to the Sarti fleet reports. Searching anything, maneuvers, armaments, composition. Then he found it. Spaarti cloning cylinders. Kentarch cursed under his breath. He needed a genetic template if they were making some kind of clone army. Clones had one massive weakness, a lack of genetic diversity. An engineered virus could wipe out the whole clutch of clones without risking collateral damage. But Kentarch needed a genetic template. The Lord went deeper, searching for everything on the empire's cloning records.

Taeli Raaf | Avernus

 

[Darth Sibilus]

Treason. Insubordination. Disorder. Every Empire from the beginning of history has dealt with these issues. What sets one Empire from another apart, is how they choose to deal with these sensitive matters. The flame of insurgency must be stamped out, lest that flame will become an inferno that destroys the millennia of work and planning put in place by the Sith Order. Dominance is a natural phenomenon; order and rank foster peace and stability in an otherwise restless and warring Galaxy. The Sith Empire bring this stability to the northern reaches of the Galaxy and heretics seek to disrupt the hegemony that the modern Sith have worked so hard to construct.

Darth Sibilus' shuttle burst into realspace, the streaks of starlight coalescing into distant pricks of light stretching into the vastness of space as the ship approached Lothal. The Sith Lord himself was deep in mediation, preparing the edges of his mind for the task at hand, concentrating upon only the Force as he submerged his physical body and soul into the shroud of the Dark Side. Having been contacted to cooperate with the Chagrian Sith Lord, the Epicanthix had travelled from his estate on Panatha to Lothal at once. Darth Sibilus would linger in the shadows no longer, and project himself onto the imperial scene with the annihilation of these traiters.

Touching down upon the landing pad into the next available space to the shuttle already present, Darth Sibilus descended the ramp in a cloud of steam, flanked on each side by two shadow-clad members of the Plagueis Legion. Darkness appeared to cling to the three figures as they marched down the landing pad towards the hooded aliens. Their presence was not acknowledged as he passed them towards the two Sith with a mark of grave seriousness etched across his face.

Darth Wyyrlok XXIV AMCO Darth Kentarch

 

[Avernus]

As the doors to the control room whizzed open, Avernus threw his lightsaber in a wide arc across the control room. The amethyst wheel of death screamed through the air and swept around and just above the control panels in a controlled curve, beheading all but one of the technicians in what seemed like an instant. As the blade returned to the dark lord, the surviving technician unholstered a weapon in panic and aimed for what would have been a perfect between the eyes shot. When he attempted to squeeze the trigger, he found that he was unable to move his fingers or any muscle from his shoulder to his fingertips for that matter. Without anything more than a stare, Avernus had seized the man's arm through the force. The arm contorted and began to move in sudden and sickening motions until his own blaster was pointed at his temple.

"Congratulations!" Avernus exclaimed with a smile that was almost convincing enough to assert that nothing terrible had just happened whatsoever.

"You've won the not-getting-instantly-murdered lottery. If you want to keep your prize, I suggest you cooperate."

The technician was already starting to sweat. He nodded his head rapidly in agreement, only being able to stutter as the Pureblood came closer. Avernus looked over the controls with a squint as the technician trembled, his arm still held hostage through the force. After a few moments of inspection, he turned the technician's swivel chair to face the controls once more with a small flick of his wrist.

"I need you to divert all fuel lines to this facility and allow the pressure to increase. Immediately."

"I- I- There are f-failsafes in place-" The technician began a stuttering objection, but was cut off by the force of his blaster barrel pressing even harder into his temple. With a squeak of pure fear he fell silent once again.

"I'm not asking," Avernus responded coldly.

With trembling hands, the technician began to tap away at the controls and access certain systems to reroute fuel storage and transport. Avernus crossed his arms and watched quietly as the technician did his best to be compliant and spare his grey matter a sudden inceration at the remorseless hands of his own blaster.

Darth Kentarch | Zhani Amadine | AMCO | Darth Wyyrlok XXIV | Taeli Raaf | Darth Sibilus​

 

[Darth Kentarch]

New Lothal City
Engineering Projects Lab
Late Evening

Kentarch tapped his communicator, opening a line to Darth Avernus. "I need you to accelerate your time table. Ensure the refinement process is hit at the very least. I discovered something amassing at Sarti in the Bastion System, they are making clones I'm not sure what for." He was careful not to use names.

After breaching another imperial firewall, he was still unable to find the genetic code for the clones. He would need to travel to Sarti, and he was going to need a stealth ship. Long ago Taeli Raaf had made a set of Phasma-Class Corvettes. One of these ships perhaps the most infamous of the bunch, came into Kentarch's hands as the Pale Assassin. Known as the Black Mercury, his ship had vanished since his time on Mandalore. Although he heard a rumor of its whereabouts he would a new one.

The commotion inside the research facility was getting louder. Kentarch abandoned the terminal and took a hallway that looked empty to an exit. Gazing around New Lothal with his senses he could tell the empire was onto them. The military presence had stepped up and he sensed the presence of several more Sith Lords. As hew moved, he walked out onto the main avenue of New Lothal and headed in the direction of the fuel depot. He stuck close to some other lesser Sith lords and a handful of soldiers from the local garrison.

Kentarch activated his communicator again. "I'm headed your way." The Sith said.

Avernus | Taeli Raaf | Darth Sibilus​

 

[Taeli Raaf]

The frown didn't leave her face as the security technician explained the breach, from Lothal of all places. While Lothal did not play a significant part in the Sith war machine, a fuel depot was there and it had presented a vulnerability to their network it would seem. Any good agent knew that the secret you were hunting was ever out in the open to take. It required research, studying patterns and looking for small details to create a larger picture. This infiltrator understood this.

She had to respect the commit to the craft.

"While I doubt it will do any good at this point, lock out this Darth Teral from any and all Sith systems. The Saaraishash will have to investigate if they are a member of the conspiracy or if their information was stolen."

The technician flinched a little at the mention of the Sith Inquisitors. They had a reputation, formed through the hard work of their leader Darth Saarai and his personal agents, but lately it would seem those the Thrikian had left running the organization in the day to day affairs had been slipping. First the Apostacy, now this? Yes, the new Dark Councilor would be making changes.

"Expedite preparations," she continued. "Sarti, it would seem, is under scrutiny. We can not afford any more leaks. Have all pertinent data for the clones and the fleet's objective transferred to the secure system at the Citadel on Khar Delba. Let us see if we can't flush our adversary out."

"At once, Councilor."

The image flickered out and Taeli leaned back in her chair, fingers touching in front of her as she thought. The Emperor should be informed of this, and he would be of course, but as any good Sith would do... Taeli was going to hedge her bets a little.

Darth Kentarch