Sith Civil War: Chapter II - The Imperial Forces Unite

Chapter 2: The Imperial Forces Unite is the second chapter of the Sith Civil War, which first priemered on The Dark Sith Lords Forum.

Chapter 2: The Imperial Forces Unite
Grand Admiral Marix paced in his chamber aboard the SSD- The Darkest Night. The dark giant of a ship slowly emerged from hyperspace near the smaller Vader. The bigger ship dwarfed the small Imperial class SD 100 times and Marix did not want to intimidate his allies, so he ordered the commander to keep his distance.

At once, he left his chambers, and walked to the main bridge. As a naval commander, he preferred to be on the bridge at anytime of potential action. As he entered the bridge, officers snapped to attention at the sight of the Sith, and enlisted men of all species ran around, trying to look busy and important. Marix smiled to himself, and then delved deep within himself. Harnessing the Force, in a way which he had first done under the careful instruction of Brigadier General Matas; but was no longer necessary for him and served more as a habit, he looked out into space, and probed the ship nearest his own.

On board he found five Force trained beings, two of them very familiar. When he felt Tarna’s presence, he could only laugh at the thought of their past together. The other was Inquisitor Gra’tua, a former apprentice of his and also a friend. At once he felt relieved that the rogue Star Destroyer report was no more than a few Sith out for a joy ride. Beginning to release his grip on the other SD, he almost missed it. Stretching out his senses once more, he focused in on one figure and could almost smell the tension in him. It was strong, and oozed over the other people in the room. At once, he was alert and his brain began to process possibilities and threats. Turning to his captain, he ordered the ship into general quarters, and had his personal craft prepared.

Calming himself, Marix waved at the communications officer to open a link between the two ships. At once, the image of a smart Imperial Naval officer appeared on the screen.

“This is the Imperial Star Destroyer Vader of the Eternal Empire, identify yourself.”

Marix walked over to the station and gave the current communications booth occupier a slight push. Straightening his uniform, Marix entered the screen and glared at the lieutenant.

“This is Grand Admiral Marix of the Eternal Empire Navy, commanding the Executor Class Star Destroyer The Darkest Knight. Identify yourself!”

The younger and less experienced officer cringed at the sharp tones used by his superior, and immediately gave out his identification.

“Lieutenant Daniels, sir, senior grade. Communications officer of the Vader. Identification code: Corellia Onderon 1435-96753. How may I hellll…” and he was cut off.

“This is Captain Dawes of the Vader. How may I help you?”

Marix grinned inwardly at the way the officers jumped at a chance to gain favor with the GA.

“Get me your commanding Sith, Navy speed. And tell him its urgent, if you know what I mean…”

At once, the officer was on his communicator to Darth Barad’dur, the Sith who commanded the ship. Marix patiently waited for his face to show up on the screen…

Gra'tua stood, approaching the bridge with Darth Bara-dur as the Officers jumped from place to place and then twords Bara-dur. It was the Grand Admiral, his former Master as well as his friend. He waited for Bara-dur to speak to the Grand Admiral patiently as he stood back, appearing on the screen behind Darth Bara-dur.

Ah, so he has arrived, Barad-dur smiled, I was afraid he might not arrive.

"Grand Admiral Marix, sir," Barad-dur nodded, "Good to see you here. If you will allow me, I'll transmit some recordings over to you so we can start on our way. They will inform you of our mission."

He then thought about the Super Star Destroyer, and closed his eyes. Not good, not good at all. How was he to pull this off?

" Actually, on second thought, I must ask you to transfer from the Darkest Night to the Vader ," he then said, "Your ship is a little to big for our mission. And, you will be filled in personally by m---."

Barad-dur turned to the officer and raised his eyebrows, "What is so important Daniels that it cannot wait? It better be good, or I'll personal slay you."

"Sir, a message came in from Bespin, from a General Klar,," he replied, trying to look brave.

Baradr-dur grabbed the holo from the man and read the message. He crushed the holo in his rage and threw it against the far wall. Jedi Scum!

"Sir, I must request you get over here immediatly," he replied, "Our time table has just been pushed forward by a week."

Marix stepped lively, for the first time in a while his pace was determined by something other than his own will. Stepping out of the lift, he walked to his personal craft, a Suwantek TL-1800 (highly modified). Opening up the ramp, he nodded as all was ready, even his personal troopers were there. Setting himself into the pilot's chair, he immediately had clearance and accelerated towards the smaller SD. Hovering outside the main hangar bay, he was directed to a smaller, more personal hangar off in another section. Once landed, he ordered his troops to secure the ship and keep it ready for an unprepared takeoff at a moments notice.

Marix walked down the ramp and moved towards the closest and highest ranking officer. Not able to resist he said, "Take me to your leader..." and followed him to the small chamber that was occupied by the rest of the Sith.

He nodded at the Sith Masters, and walked to Tarna, taking the open seat next to him.

"Thank you for joining us," Barad-Dur said, still a little angry at the change of his timetable, "I am sorry to have to have you come down from your ship, but, we mustn't scare our prey into fleeing." He gave Marix a small holocron and said, "Just be cautios Sir, it will self destruct five minutes after you listen to it."

He turned to Darth Adenn and smiled, "Our targets are the following people:

General Ovorious Klar, an Ithorian who I have convinced into thinking that I am going to see if thier little cult is worth it, the fool.

Admiral Stang a Tatooine man who has no more buisness being an Admiral then I would if I was Emperor.

Jedi Master Ben Skywalker, who we think is a clone.

Jedi Master Durango, a Calamari.

Devorian Pirate Lord Doogo, whose death will make all the pirates fall away from this group.

And, Sith Master Nero, the most dangerous, a master of all the saber forms, and who holds guard over a magnificant prize that I wish to obtain from him. And, don't worry, who will know why I want it when you see it. Once we have it, we will be able to scatter and destroy their forces."

He turned to the commscreen and with a wave of his hand, the greyish face of Dawes came on screen. "Make all possible speed towards Bespin."

"Yes sir," Captain Dawes said, signing off.

He smiled and winked at the other Sith, "I currently upgraded our engines to hyperdrive, now this ship is one of the finest in the galaxy. I'm also working on getting a superlaser on here. Should be great fun."

He flipped on his comm and soon an officer was walking on deck, "This is Captain Jells, the captain of my personal guard. It will be a day before we reach Bespin. So, he will show you all to your quarters."

Malice's interest peeked at the mention of Lord Doogo. He was rather familiar with the Devorian. He had completed numerous jobs for him during his stint as a pirate/mercenary before he came to Kroprulu. The man was not worthy of the air he breathed and taking away that right was something that Malice had contemplated before.

Tarna spoke up, "Nero is mine. I will deal with him personally." he said in a commanding voice. "Grand Admiral Marix, I think it would be best if you handled this false admiral. Inquisitor Gra'tua, your job is to destroy this Pirate Lord Doogo.  Guardsman Adenn, handle the Ithorian.  He should be simple, but he may have personal guards. Darth Barad-dur, defeat these Jedi.  Take Darth Malice along with you."

Tarna waited to see if anyone had any questions about their assignments.

Marix grinned at Tarna's forwardness. Then he found something funny.

"How to take care of this 'admiral'? I should have brought my destroyer along and challenged him to a battle... Maybe I should pretend to promote him or something..."

Marix then turned to Barad'dur, "Do not worry, I am used to things blowing up near me. I work on a battleship... Besides, I am a fast learner and reader."

Marix then gave Tarna a slight nudge and stood up. Turning to Captain Jells, and looked him up and down. Addressing the security man, he said, "I have brought along my own security force and guards. If you would be so kind, I will send them to you to be briefed on ship security, safety, and escape procedures and plans."

He then waited for the others to acknoledge their missions and be ready to leave. He had a vast bank of knowledge available to himself and wanted to answer any questions they might have before he availed himself of the Vader's hospitality.

"Good," Barad-Dur nodded, "We will need to meet at their spaceport they are building after we have destroyed these renegades. There, we will commender thier best ship, and take off with it. And, it is a Super Star Destroyer. Admiral Stang promised that if I joined them he would give me command of thier Super Star Destroyer with him as the supreme commander."

He then smiled. "So, we'll take the Super Star Destroyer with us, then rain fire down upon the rebels, destroying them. How? I personally requested that he include a small control room where six men could operate the whole ship. And besides that, I will be joining him...to watch him die. So, it won't be stealing, will it?"

Tarna smiled at the young Sith, " Darth Barad-dur, I do not care by what means you kill these Jedi. Simply make sure it is done, and I will report your success to the Emperor."

"May I ask where a second rate admiral from the outskirts of the outskirts got his hands on a Super Star Destroyer!?" Marix exclaimed. To have such a ship without the military's explicit knowledge required much more than just a renegade Sith, a couple Jedi and some smugglers.

"There is more to this than meets the eyes. I must contemplate this. Tarna, please keep me posted via whatever means you find suitable. I will be in my ship if you have need of me."

With that, Marix was off to consult records of shipyards and begin to have Military intelligence delve into this void. Battle plans must be reviewed and evacuations must be put to standby. If a rouge SSD was around then he would need to bring it down... NOW... Malice paid no special interest to the subconscious lack of respect for his abilities. He would "tag along" with Darth Barad-Dur and make sure these Jedi were wiped out. That would be the only way he could gain any status. The Sith here knew not of his personal history with the Pirate Lord and he wasn't about to pull Darth Tarna aside and plead his case. That wasn't his way. He would accept his mission and assure it's completion as quickly as possible. He had no former connection to Barad-Dur and thus, didn't know much about this imparticular Sith. Nevertheless, he was sure he was capable of completing this assignment.