EPILOGUE
Jerec stepped onto the bridge of the Ravager, holding the Scepter of Ragnos tight in his hand. Behind him walked Sariss, while leading them onto the ship was the Sentinel that had guided them here. Through the Force, Jerec was able to take in his surroundings and assess every aspect of the present situation.
The bridge itself was more or less identical to a typical Super Star Destroyer, being wider and more expansive than that of a typical Imperial Star Destroyer. Standing at the far edge of the bridge, facing the viewport with his back turned to the arriving party, was a tall man clad in a white officer’s uniform, with polished black boots on his feet and a scarlet cape as red as blood flowing from his collar. His dark hair was slicked back, and when he turned to face the approaching Sentinel and Inquisitor, his pale face looked almost ghoulish. His dark eyes were almost black in color, and their somewhat sunken appearance almost made him look like a Givin if one were to squint.
As Jerec came to stand before him, the man smiled, revealing a set of perfectly white teeth that almost seemed to contrast with the rest of his appearance. “Welcome, High Inquisitor Jerec, to the Ravager. I am Fleet Admiral Gallius Rax, Counselor of the Empire.”
Jerec raised a hairless eyebrow. “Fleet Admiral, you say? You appear to be rather extravagantly dressed for a mere Fleet Admiral.”
Rax chuckled dryly. “I may have taken some liberties given my… additional duties.” He then gestured to the staff in Jerec’s hand. “Is that the Scepter?”
The High Inquisitor raised the artifact to show it to him but made sure to keep it out of the Fleet Admiral’s reach. Rax, for his part, did not reach out for it and instead smiled thinly as he nodded.
“Excellent. We may now proceed to our next objective. Operation: Cinder is currently underway; many worlds are already burning as we speak. Burnin Konn, Candovant, Mandalore… Unfortunately, we appear to have lost contact with our forces at Naboo, indicating a potential loss there. But that is a minor setback at worse. So long as the New Republic is distracted, we will be able to achieve our goals.”
Jerec frowned as he regarded Rax warily. “Is that all this is? A distraction?” He motioned to the Sentinel standing beside him. “Do these droids not speak the will of our Emperor?”
Rax was silent at first, his black eyes drifting back to the viewport, staring out into the depths of the Vulpinus Nebula. When he spoke, his voice was quiet, almost like a whisper. “Are you under the impression that they do not?”
Jerec gritted his teeth as he stepped closer to the Fleet Admiral, his grip on the Scepter tightening. “Do not try to deceive me, Admiral. My patience has its limits and you are dangerously close to reaching them.”
Rax’s shoulders shifted as he sighed. “The Emperor may be dead, High Inquisitor, but his will lives on through me. Before his untimely demise, he tasked me with initiating a contingency plan were he to fall without a proper successor in place. With Lord Vader gone and the Empire falling apart due to Pestage losing it to squabbling warlords, I was left with no choice but to initiate Operation: Cinder as part of the Contingency. The Sentinels were sent out to those I knew would obey His Imperial Majesty’s will without question… and even to those whose loyalty I knew were in question.” He nodded to the Scepter in Jerec’s hand. “The fact that you have completed the task given to you tells me that I was correct in my assessment of your loyalty.”
Don’t be so sure, Jerec thought to himself. Aloud, he said, “What do you need the Scepter for, then? As powerful as I sense the artifact may be, surely it is not capable of destroying worlds that have failed the Emperor.”
“It is not.” A chilling smile then crossed Rax’s thin lips. “But it may be our key to bringing back our Emperor.”
Jerec stared at the Fleet Admiral with incredulity as he picked up on what the other was implying. “You must be mad,” he murmured. “You speak of dark arts that have not been used since the time of the ancient Sith. Which you are not.”
Rax arched an eyebrow. “Are you not a Force-user, High Inquisitor?”
Jerec scowled. “Yes, but even I am not privy to every piece of knowledge that the Sith hold. The Emperor made sure of that.”
“Then it is fortunate that I have found someone who is.”
Jerec frowned as he suddenly became aware of the dark presence in the room. At first he had attributed it to the Scepter in his hands, radiating with the dark side, but now he realized it came from something else. Or rather, someone.
The dark figure stepped out of the shadows, moving almost like a wraith, the hem of their robes trailing across the deck. A hood fully concealed their features, calling to mind images of the Emperor himself. However, when Jerec managed to pierce through the veil with the Force to try and catch a glimpse of their face, he saw only a pair of glowing red eyes staring back at him. Their gaze seemed to cast away Jerec’s metaphorical vision and the Miraluka was left only with the image of their hunched, cloaked form.
Rax turned to face the dark figure and bowed his head. “High Inquisitor Jerec,” the Fleet Admiral said, “I would like you to meet Darth Vorath, Dark Lord of the Sith.”
Jerec frowned. “The Sith have been destroyed. The Emperor and Lord Vader were the last.”
“So it would seem,” Rax said. “But perhaps they weren’t. It is a big galaxy, after all.”
Jerec still had his doubts. He could not fathom any possibility of another Sith existing without the Emperor at least knowing about it. If this Darth Vorath truly was a Sith, then the Emperor must have known about him… and perhaps he had allowed for his continued existence for whatever purpose Rax had in mind for him.
It was either that or Rax was deceiving him, and Jerec had not yet ruled out that possibility.
Still, deception or not, Jerec could sense the power radiating from Darth Vorath. Perhaps this Dark Lord could be of use to him, even if he decided not to follow whatever Rax’s plan was. He would just have to wait and let things play out. Then, he would decide and make his move.
Rax looked between the two dark side users before turning to face the viewport again. “Captain,” he called out to a nearby bridge officer. “Set a course for the rendezvous point. We will meet up with Admiral Sloane and her forces there. Then, the final order shall be delivered, and we will proceed to Jakku.”
“Jakku?” Jerec asked, turning to Rax. “That is on the edge of the Unknown Regions. There is nothing of value there.”
Rax smiled thinly. “Correction, High Inquisitor: It is the place where the fate of the Empire—and the galaxy—shall be decided. And if all goes as planned… then it shall be where our Emperor will be reborn.
“And the New Republic… shall fall!”
TO BE CONTINUED
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