Chapter 48
Uninhabited star system in wild space. 3653 BBY.
Darth Kress stood on the bridge of her flagship the Harrower-class dreadnought 'The Terror' and gazed out the viewscreen at the rest of her fleet with pride. Since becoming a Sith lord she had worked hard to improve herself and become more powerful.
And now her efforts had final paid off. She was in command of her own fleet. Nineteen warships, including three huge dreadnoughts like the one she was currently aboard, and thousands of crewmembers all under her command.
The War between the republic and the Sith empire was winding down. Darth Malgus and his fleet were on their way to Coruscant, and Kress expected them to end the war soon.
She was a little disappointed that her new fleet would be left out of the final battle but there would be chances in the future. The republic was a corrupt mess and the Sith empire wasn't exactly known for being passive, there would be plenty of battles to fight in the future but for now she had her own mission.
The Sith council had assigned her and her fleet to escort a 'device' from a research facility on Korriban to a secret facility deep in wild space. The council hadn't told her what the device was, and the mystery device was now sitting in one of the Terror's cargo bays, a company of serious looking Sith troopers arranged protectively round it. Not letting anyone get near it.
"I'm getting those weird readings again, Lady Kress." One of her bridge crew called out from his position at a sensor station.
"Can you give me a better idea of what they are now?" Kress asked him her brow furrowing in concern.
They had been getting the strange readings every time they were getting ready to make the jump to lightspeed and it was getting increasingly concerning. Kress secretly believed that the device they were transporting was the cause of the readings but the troopers guarding it didn't report to her and wouldn't let anyone near the thing.
"Negative, but they are getting worse." The crew member told her, and she ground her teeth in frustration.
Short of disobeying a direct order from the Sith council and ordering her own troops to arrest the troopers guarding the device before seeing just what it was for herself, there wasn't a lot she could do to figure out what was going on.
Kress chewed the inside of her mouth in annoyance. She would just have to hope they reached the secret research station soon and that nothing serious would go wrong.
She would need a bath soon, as a Nautolan she felt a lot more comfortable and relaxed underwater and the stress of her first mission in command of a fleet and the secrecy regarding the device was starting to get to her.
"Keep an eye on it anyway, it's probably nothing." She said, not believing her own words but wanting to keep her crew from feeling uneasy.
Kress caught the eye of the Terrors flag-captain who gave her a look that said that he was thinking the same as her, they would both be a lot happier after the device was off her ship.
-
The 'device' was an experimental super-bomb. A doomsday weapon designed to cause destruction over a massive area.
Unlike most conventional weapons the bomb didn't cause any proper damage. Instead, it created a massive electro magnetic pulse that would fry all electronics over a wide area.
The scientists who made it had become worried of an accidental detonation on Korriban, devastating the planet and so the Sith council had chosen to send a fleet to transport it to a secluded outpost in wild space where a detonation wouldn't cause any unnecessary damage.
The scientists had also warned about hyperspace interfering with the device in ways they didn't understand and couldn't predict and so the council had assigned the untested Sith lord, Darth Kress, to use her new fleet to escort the device as they were, expendable.
A company of Sith troopers, loyal only to the council, had been sent along with the device as well to assure the secrecy of the weapon was kept. They didn't want anyone finding out about the weapon and as soon as it had left Korriban everyone involved in the weapons building had been executed to ensure no-one would ever find out about it.
The Sith council wanted the device hidden, it had become too much of an unknown danger. And either it would stay in a secluded research base deep in wild space or it would vanish with a small, and in the grand scheme of the giant Sith navy, meaningless fleet in the cold void of space.
Unknown to anyone the bomb was now sparking wildly inside the crate it was kept in, just waiting to detonate.
-
"All ships reporting hyper-drives online and ready to make the jump. Just say the word, Lady Kress." The Terrors captain said from his position on the bridge.
"Alright make the jump" Kress said hoping this mission would be over soon.
"Those readings just went haywire!" The crewmember monitoring the mysterious sensor readings shouted and Kress was filled with a cold sense of dread.
"They are coming form our own cargo bay! How is that possible?!" The crewmember shouted again panic evident in his voice.
"There's a massive power spike coming from the cargo deck!" another crewmember shouted.
"Some kind of 'energy field' is interfering with the hyper-drive, the other ships in the fleet are reporting the same thing" another crewmember reported.
"Send 'OUR' Sith commandos to the cargo deck and jettison that device now!" Kress ordered. Emphasizing the 'our' as the troops on her ship were loyal to her and her fleet rather than the council like the ones guarding the device.
She didn't care about completing the mission anymore, she only cared about the safety of her fleer.
"They have permission to shoot to kill if those troopers guarding the device give them any problems. I want that device of my ship, NOW!" Kress shouted and her bridge crew jumped to follow her orders.
-
Major Manluc sprinted down the corridors of the Terror's cargo deck towards the bay where the device was stored, seventy-eight of his Sith commandos right behind him.
They had all been in their barracks getting some sleep, not expecting anything to require their particular set of skills while the fleet was in hyperspace, when they had got urgent orders from the bridge to secure the device in the cargo bay.
Manluc was personally leading an advanced team made up of commandos only armed and armoured with whatever they could grab before sprinting out of the barracks. The rest of his commandos were hurriedly suiting up and would follow as soon as they were fully equipped.
"Remember, Lady Kress thinks the device is posing a danger to the fleet. She wants it off her ship as soon as possible. Anyone gets in your way, blast them." Manluc yelled as the door to the cargo bay came into view.
The Sith commandos charged into the cargo bay to see utter carnage.
Great arcs of blue lighting were tearing through the cargo bay sending showers of sparks raining down. The arcs were originating form the crate they had been sent to get rid of and Manluc suddenly felt that that was a great idea.
The company of Sith troopers were disorganised and many had been killed or wounded by the errant bolts of energy, but they still formed up in a ragged defensive line to ward of the intruders.
"Stand down, that container is being spaced. Darth Kress's orders!" Major Manluc yelled, hoping that the troopers would see reason.
"Traitors" the leader of the troopers yelled and raised his blaster rifle.
"Screw this, blast the idiots!" Manluc yelled and he and his commandos opened fire.
A brutal firefight broke out between the two groups of Sith soldiers, the open space of the cargo bay not providing either side with any cover.
"Push forward, we have to get that container of the ship." Manluc shouted, the arcs of energy were getting fiercer, and he was getting concerned.
Manluc charged forwards cutting through the opposing troopers with accurate blaster fire from his rifle. He cursed as he saw one of his men go down after a blaster bolt caught the man in the head before resuming firing at his enemies.
He saw the control panel for the cargo bay doors and ran straight for it just as the rest of his commandos, all fully armoured and equipped, charged into the bay.
Manluc reached the control panel and slammed his fist into the button to open the doors then began punching in the controls to send the container hurtling into space.
The Sith troopers tried to stop him but were quickly being cut down by the Sith commandos. A blaster bolt impacted Manluc's shoulder, but he ignored it and carried on working the controls.
The container was flung out into space and Manluc breathed a sigh of relief as he closed the big doors behind it, before he took a step away from the console and looked around the bay. His men had finished off the last of the Sith troopers and one hurried over to him.
"Major, the bay is secure" The man saluted as he stopped in front of him.
"Nicely done corporal." Manluc told the man.
"Your wounded sir!" The corporal said in concern before calling over a medic to work on Manluc's shoulder despite him trying to wave them off.
The commandos were happy, thinking that they had saved the fleet, until a giant blast wave rocked the entire ship plunging them into darkness.