Location: Executor Bridge
ThemeAs a new day dawns over the Array as the infamous imperial fleet known as
Death Squadron looms ominously over the "planet". The sleek arrowhead design of the massive Super Star Destroyer known as the
Executor, the first of its kind, floats motionlessly while being escorted by four regular Star Destroyers with two on each side of the main ship. While it's still an imposing sight for all to see, it's actually a rather small fleet number wise. Sure you have the giant SSD that's around 8x the size of a regular Imperial II Class, but that's only six ships, plus the one above the complex. Yet who would dare try and combat the massive dreadnought? Perhaps a fool or a suicidal maniac... or someone stupid.
Aboard the Executor, Emperor Palpatine glances over at the new world as he stands coldly in the middle of the ship's bridge alongside two of his personal scarlet Imperial Guards. He's been standing there for the past hour and his very presence sends shivers down the crew's spines. He is an imposing and some dare say terrifying looking figure to those who put their eyes on him. Many dare not to look at him for too long as the crew onboard the bridge continue to busily monitor the ship's status. They knew better then to annoy their glorious Emperor.
The entrance opens suddenly as cold ominous breathing boomed through the workplace. The arrival of Lord Vader was not a second short on time as he walks towards his master in an orderly fashion. His presence didn't seem to provide any calming to the rest of the crew as they continued to feverishly monitor their screens after a brief glance at the Dark Lord. Why couldn't they talk in some dark room in secrecy? After all, that's normally what they would do. Rarely did the crew see Vader alongside his master outside his throne room on Courscant, let alone conversing with one another. Vader continues walking towards his master as his breathing echoed through the room before simply stopping in place. With this Palpatine looks at the rest who were in the room with his venomous yellow eyes.
"Clear the bridge." he announces coldly as he signals his guards to leave.
All the personnel from the holographic map room bowed in complete compliance as they slowly walked out the door to leave the two sith lords do their business. Once the doors closed shut, they were finally alone. Vader takes a kneel as he lowers his head down by his master's feet.
"What is thy bidding, my master?" he asks as he raises his head up to Sidious'.
The Emperor simply smiles.
"Rise, my friend." the old sith replies with a friendly tone as his apprentice rises,
"Today marks an important day in the history of the Empire.." Vader seemed confused at first with this statement.
"What do you mean? asks the masked sith.
"Hmmmm..." sighs Palpatine as he rubs his chin,
"You've seen to have forgotten the concept of time, Lord Vader... it's quite disappointing."The old sith then looks at Vader directly in his eyes.
"Today marks the first month since we have arrived here." he continues as he begins to stroll back and forth,
"You do remember how we got to this point, yes?"There was a slight pause before the masked sith answered.
"I do, master.""Of course you do..." Palpatine responds with a slight smirk as he turns his back towards him to reflect regardless,
"One month ago an unknown anomaly jeopardized this fleet's trajectory to Fondor... and we were suddenly transported in unknown space. For one week did we try to contact Imperial command yet failed... perhaps we would've perished on this very vessel if it weren't for the discovery of this strange... planet. But of course, we mustn't forget the one thing that saved this fleet from it's total destruction...""The Node." Vader interrupts briefly to fill in the gaps.
Palpatine looks back at Vader again with another smirk.
"Correct... Without it, we would be stranded here and either have to rebuild our empire here from scratch or we would perish after the rest of the crew succumb to madness. Thanks to it, we now have a portal back to our own galaxy, to Coruscant no doubt.... and we have access to our own private materials, limited as it may be according to the intensity of the storms surrounding the nodes, but an access point none the less. And yet we won't let this planet go to waste, my friend."He then presses a button on the holographic table, which shows a map of nearly the entire Array, with its biomes and all.
"This planet still has a valuable amount of resources that we must reap." Palpatine continues,
"While scouts have recently found out evidence of possible factions located here, so far most of the ones we've encounter seem rather primitive compared to our technological might. We must wipe them out in order to secure this planet...""Every last one of them..."Vader looks at the map as he studies the terrain documented. Indeed, with the two remaining here, they can crush any who oppose them. This world will prove to be a valuable and secret asset for them to utilize.
"Then I will slaughter them all, master." Vader responds with a bow.
Palpatine's lips began to crease as he reveals an ugly grin of anticipation. He issues a slow cackle as he faces his apprentice.
"I have no doubt in your capabilities..." he responds as he eyes Vader carefully,
"But simply using mere force will grant you limited room to expand. You must negotiate with these factions whenever possible. Make them your allies, collect their trust, use them to achieve our goals, and once they have served our purpose... THEN you may break them.""I understand..." Vader responds obediently.
Palpatine would simply sigh as he begins walking to the door,
"Good... But as much as I desire I stay and oversee our Empire expand into this new territory, I must attend back to our home galaxy and finish off the pesky rebellion. For now, I'll leave the entire fleet under your control... I trust you will treat your assets well."Despite some of his doubt in leading the army in such an unknown territory, Vader simply acknowledges as he bows once more.
"As you wish..." is all that he says.
But Palpatine can sense his apprentice's hesitation and doubt. His face turns slightly ugly as he stops mid-way towards the door and glares at Vader intensely.
"Do you doubt your leadership abilities... Lord Vader?" he unfeelingly asks him.
Vader was quick to remove these thoughts as he stands up slowly.
"No master..." he replies swiftly,
"I will oversee the operation here without fail.""I hope so..." his master replies as he continues walking,
"I will return here within a week to check on your progress. Unfortunately, I am unable to telepathically communicate with you while on the other side of the node... so all actions are under your judgement...""Do not fail me."And with that, Palpatine exits the bridge as his scarlet guards begin escorting his shuttle to the Node below. Darth Vader stands as he enters the observing portion of the bridge and looks out at the square planet below him. He will not fail his master in keeping order on this planet.
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