Imperial Chronicles/Chapter 1

A dark figure stood in front of a glass window. A flash of lightning lit up his grey, disformed face. He wore a black cloak, and he had his hands up to his lips. He looked down at the city below, the towers and civilizations. Two red Imperial Guard walked in and took their positions on either side of the entrance. Darth Vader, his blac suit and helmet glowing from the light of the lamps, walked into the Imperial Throne room.

The Emporer looked back as Vader walked in. "What do you want?" he asked in a harsh manner.

"We have reason to believe somebody has taken the Journalm" Vader said in his muffled, low voice.

Palpatine swung around. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," Vader said, "Somebody has taken the Journal, sir. They have the key to overthrow us."

Palpatine's expression turned to sheer anger. He turned back around to the window as another flash of lightning lit up the dark planet of Coruscant.

Trent was still reading the Journal, the entries after the Order, days after they found it. They were walking down a street, trying to blend in with the crowd. Trent was still reading the Journal, not even looking up. A woman, with black curls and dressed in all white, ran down the same street, the opposite way. She wasn't looking where she was going either, because she ran right into Trent, sending the Journal flying in the air, along with thw woman's various books.

They both fell to the ground, and Trent looked up at her. She looked almost like a Senator. She had curly brown hair, fiery red eyes, and a determined expression. The Journal feel right in between them, and Trent quickly took it up. The woman shuffled her books back up and stood up.

"I'm sorry," she said in a kind and compassionate voice.

"It's alright," Trent said. They both looked into each other's eyes. Trent put his hand out and another book fell into it. He handed it to the woman, and she graciously accepted.

"I must be going," she said.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going," Trent said.

"No no, it's fine. I do it all the time." She looked at the Journal's cover, and her eyes widened a little. "Why don't you join my for a cup of cofee or something?" she asked.

"Sure," Trent said, shrugging.

They walked into a tiny café just off the street. They sat down, and the waitress walked up. "What may I get you?" She looked over at the woman, and the waitress said, "The usual?" The woman nodded, and the waitress glared at her for a moment before going back to the kitchen.

The woman put her hand on the table and looked at the Journal. "So," she said. She nodded to the Journal, and Trent slowly looked down at it.

"Oh that? Just something I picked up at the library the other day."

The woman looked deep into his eyes, and said, "I know what that is. But do you?"

Trent looked down at it, and said, sarcastically, "A Journal?"

The woman glared at him, and said, "Fine, let's introduce each other. I'm Mon Montha, Senator."

Trent snapped his fingers, and said, "That's where I've seen you from." Montha stared at him, and he added, "I'm Trent, and this is Maxx."

Maxx, who was scrunched up beside the window, waved. Montha rubbed her forehead, and said to the two, "That Journal is from the Emporer's Tower. It tells of the Emporer's whole plan following Order 66."

Trent stared at Montha in shock. "You mean, Fives knew everything about Order 66?" Montha nodded, and Trent started to think out loud, "Maybe if we can find Fives then he ould tellus everything about Oder 66 and the Emporer's plan."

"No luck," Montha said. "I've been trying for years, ever since they snatched the Journal from me."

"So it wasyours?" Trent asked.

"Yep, and they just stole it," Montha said. She looked at Trent. "You're a smart boy," she said. "Apparently, since you escaped 66."

Trent got right to the point, "Our friend is being held in prison here. Ever heard about the Yavin Four incident?"

"Yes, I have. That was you?"

"Yep. But our friend Kris, who helped us with most of it, is being held in prison by the Emporer. I bet if we got him out and on the job, we'd find Fives in no time."

"He's that good, huh?" Montha asked.

Trent nodded. He handed Montha a tiny chip, and said, "This is the entire Journal in Holographic form. It also has our adress on it. Meet us there later and we'll talk more. Make sure that doesn't get into the wrong hands."

Montha nodded, and stood up. "Well, it's been good talking to you. I'll see you later, I have work to do now."

Trent nodded, and turned to Maxx. He nodded and they got up. The waitress was coming just as they were leaving. "Hey!" she exclaimed. "Somebody has to pay for this."

Trent threw her a few credits, and she turned back to the counter. "The same Montha," she said to the chasier.

"Mmhmm," she said in a sarcastic voice.

Montha walked down the steps to the "base" and looked at the door. She looked down at her datapad, and shook her head. She knocked on the door, and RC-17 opened the door.

"Hello," he said. "Master Trent and Master Maxx will be here shortly. Please, sit down."

Montha sat down at the tiny table, and looked around the little living area. She took out her datapad and started typing, working on something for her search, probably. She had started to find out information on this Kris Trent had told her about. She found that he was being held in cellblock 9, the highest security, in the Coruscant Galactic Prison. Only treason criminal get put that far down in the prison.

The secret door opened, silently, and Trent and Maxx walked out. The door silently closed back, and Trent broke the silence by saying, "Why hello, Ms. Montha."

She was startled, and almost dropped her datapad. She brushed it back into her bag, and looked up at Trent. She stood up, brushing off her skirt. "Hello," she said.

"Now wat have you found out?" Trent asked.

"Your friend is being held in cellblock 9 of the Galactic Prison. Only treason criminals get put that far down."

"Yes, I already knew that," Trent said, putting his hands behind his back. "But have you found a weak spot in their defences?"

"In fact, I have," she said. She put a tiny holoprojector on the table and tapped something on her datapad. A diagram of the underground prison. "There are three points where we can get in." She tapped a button and three red dots appeared. "These are weak spots in the structure where the concrete has worn away. If you can dig deep enough, then you could puncture one of these three points."

"But even the lowest one," Trent said, pointing to the lowest dot on the diagram, "Is three cellblocks above Kris' position."

"Yes, and the security is tight down there, I know," she said. "But if you set off an EMP grenade just before entering the cellblock, that would disable all automatic security systems and disable the Stormtroopers' visors.They would virtually be blind."

"But only for 10 minutes," Trent said. "I know my EMPs."

"I know, I know. But if you take the Service elevator, then you could get Kris, and get out before being seen."

"But EMPs take out every electronic device in thirty meters," Maxx added.

"Yes, but the elevators run off an EMP-resistant electric circut." Montha turned off the hologram, and put her equipment back in her pack. "So, are we going to do this or not?"

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