CHAPTER ONE
43 ABY
Located within the remote Galactus Nebula, Brodo Asogi was a mystery to most denizens of the galaxy. Inhabited by the secretive Asogians, contact with the Green Planet was rare; natives that departed from their world typically traveled to verdant worlds to collect plant samples which they then brought back to their world for study. Beyond that, Asogians were rarely seen throughout the galaxy; they didn’t even have a presence in the Galactic Senate, although they once had a delegation during the final years of the Old Republic.
Having once been commander of the Imperial Remnant’s Perinn Sector Fleet, Admiral Wred Lortay was familiar with Brodo Asogi to a certain extent. He had never been to the planet, but it was located in the sector he had once been assigned to defend under Moff Lecersen. Having grown up on nearby Valc VII, he vividly recalled a time during his younger years when an Asogian delegate had come to speak with Lecersen’s predecessor, Moff Crowal. He had gotten a glimpse of the alien’s trunk-like body and scrawny neck which retracted in and out of its torso. The sight had horrified him then, and the memory of it only disgusted him now.
His family had long been against the prospect of non-humans playing any role in Imperial affairs, and when the First Order arose to supplant the weak-willed Remnant, he was quick to swear allegiance to the new Supreme Leader. Now, with the Moffs long gone, the Perinn sector was under his jurisdiction, and the Asogians would rightfully know their place in the grander scheme of things.
For the past few years, the First Order had spared Brodo Asogi from its wrath, focusing on more strategic worlds such as those located in the Slice. But as of the other day, he had received orders from the Supreme Leader himself—relayed through one of his emissaries—to venture into the Galactus Nebula to abduct a particular Asogian from the Green Planet so that he could be interrogated. What information the alien supposedly held was not something Lortay had been made privy to, as apparently the Knight of Ren assigned to his station would be doing the interrogation personally.
But Lortay did not mind being mind being left out of the loop. Any opportunity to see one of those Asogians cower in fear before him was a good one.
Standing on the bridge of his command ship, a Resurgent-class Star Destroyer designated as Necrosis, Lortay watched as a Xi-class light shuttle escorted by four TIE fighters emerged from the Green Planet’s surface and headed up into the hangar bay. He allowed a smirk to cross onto his face for a job well done—not that the Asogians had put up much of a fight being the pacifists they were. His dark elation quickly vanished when he glanced at the Knight of Ren standing to his side, and his nose creased in disgust.
While most of the Knights of Ren, from what he had seen, hid their species with masks and armor, they at least passed for humans which allowed them to blend in among the First Order ranks. But the one assigned to him, a woman named Karis, could not have hid her non-human heritage if she tried. Large green wings extending from her back marked her as a member of some winged humanoid race—likely a Stenax or a S’kytri of some sort. She kept the wings folded to keep them mostly out of sight, but there was simply no hiding such protrusions.
Her face was hidden behind a black mask with a thin red visor. When Lortay turned to look at her, she inclined her head towards him, and he could swear he saw his own reflection in that small crimson window.
“Was the extraction successful?” Karis asked, her voice slightly modified through the helmet’s vocabulator.
“Indeed it was,” Lortay said icily. “I suggest you head down to the interrogation chamber to await the prisoner.” And to get out of my sight, he added silently to myself but did not dare voice aloud. He knew the creature wielded a lightsaber and did not dare cross her, as much as he would have liked to.
Karis stared at him for a moment before nodding slightly. Without another word, she turned sharply on her heel and began to march down the bridge. Lortay watched her go for only a few seconds before sharply turning away as well, unable to bear the sight of her hideous back anymore.
The sooner the galaxy is rid of scum like her, he thought to himself, all the better for it.
* * *
It took everything within Karis’s own power to maintain her composure as she strode through the corridors of the Necrosis. Every stormtrooper she passed tilted their helmeted head slightly towards her, and every officer gave a withering glare in her direction.
She should have been used to such looks by now; the xenophobia inherent within the First Order and its Human High Culture was impossible to ignore. But without the other Knights of Ren—particularly her former master—at her side, the venomous looks had become even more targeted and prominent. She had felt it practically exude from Admiral Lortay when she had been in his presence, which had made her all the more eager to take her leave from the command bridge.
Even within the Knights of Ren she had never been particularly liked by the others; her presence was only tolerated because she had been apprenticed to their master Kylo Ren. But ever since her master had went missing six months ago, the rift between her and the others had only widened. After their endeavor on Mandalore, Vicrul Ren—their new leader—had recommended that she be assigned to the First Order forces stationed in the New Territories. Ostensibly, it was to spread their reach across the Outer Rim as the First Order made its push towards conquering the galaxy. But Karis knew the real reason: They wanted her gone, but found her too valuable to simply kill or dispose of. They were likely betting on the fact that she would get overwhelmed by some Resistance force or Jedi strike team and end up perishing in the process, ridding them of the burden she was to them.
She involuntarily flexed her hands, barely tempering the rage building within her. She would not give them that satisfaction. She would prove her worth by carrying out the Supreme Leader’s will, even if she had to do it alone and without anyone’s support. She at least had a lightsaber, something which the others—save for Kylo—did not have until Vicrul got his hands on the Darksaber.
As she understood, leadership of the Knights of Ren was claimed by whoever carried a red lightsaber—the “Ren” they called it. Named for the former Sith acolyte that had established the Knights nearly two centuries ago, the Ren had passed down from master to master; if it was ever destroyed, then it was always rebuilt or replaced, as Kylo Ren had done when he had taken control fifteen years ago. With both him and the saber he carried now gone, she was now the one with the red blade… but apparently, that did not qualify her for mastery. Instead, the Supreme Leader had given that honor to Vicrul after he had claimed the ebony blade of the Mandalorians.
She wasn’t exactly sure what it was that made them distrust her. Like many of them, she had been recruited by whoever was the current Master of the Knights; for her, it had been Kylo, while for them it had been Kylo’s predecessor. She knew that some of them—Vicrul especially—had their grievances with Kylo, but was that enough to explain their distaste for her? She didn’t think her being a non-human had anything to do with it, as she was pretty certain some of them came from non-human races themselves. Were they simply threatened by her power? Her skills? Or was it something else?
She was still unable to reach a plausible explanation by the time she reached the interrogation chamber. She forced herself to put such thoughts aside as she stepped into the darkened room, instead focusing her attention on the other occupants.
Two stormtroopers had just finished strapping the Asogian to the interrogation seat. It was an awkward fit for the alien, with his squarish head barely fitting within the collar and his long arms hanging uselessly to the side. Along with the stormtroopers was the First Order officer that had procured the prisoner. The pale-skinned woman eyed Karis warily with icy blue eyes before glancing back at the Asogian, her pointed nose wrinkling in disgust.
“I have not been able to extract much information from it,” the officer said. “I trust that your efforts will prove more fruitful.”
It, Karis noted. Not him, her, or them. Just it. That was how non-humans were regarded here, just as they had been at the height of the Empire’s reign.
Pushing her thoughts back again, Karis nodded curtly to the officer. “Thank you, lieutenant. I will not be long.”
With a dismissive sniff, the officer strode out of the chamber. The two stormtroopers trailed behind her, taking guard positions just outside the door as it closed behind them.
Now left alone with the prisoner, Karis turned her gaze to the Asogian. He stared at her with wide blue eyes, his whole body trembling with fear.
This was the only time anyone regarded her with any form of respect. When they were at her mercy.
Clasping her hands behind her back, she began to pace around the interrogation seat, keeping her gaze trained on the Asogian from behind her visor. “Do you know why you’re here?”
The prisoner swallowed hard, his long, thin neck rippling from the motion. “No,” he croaked, his voice shuddering. “Please… don’t hurt….”
“No harm will come to you if you give me the answers I seek.” Karis wasn’t sure if she was lying or not. “First, tell me your name.”
The Asogian hesitated at first before speaking. “Zr…Zrek.”
“Zrek,” she echoed. “The same Zrek who now serves as chief of the agricultural sector on Brodo Asogi?”
“Y-yes,” the prisoner stammered.
“The same Zrek who, after the Clone Wars, partook in a venture that was ostensibly a botany mission to the Unknown Regions but was, in fact, an extragalactic voyage?”
To this, the Asogian fell silent, his thin lips quivering as he kept them sealed. Karis came back around the seat and leaned in towards the smaller alien, bringing her masked visage close to his face.
“It’s a simple enough question, Zrek,” she hissed. “Sure, the Empire forbade the extragalactic mission that Senator Grebleips had funded, which would have made you a criminal for having partaken in it. But the Empire is gone now, and the First Order is not looking to punish those who broke its laws. Especially when it’s been nearly sixty years.” She slowly lowered her hand to the lightsaber which hung from her belt. “So there is no harm in telling me, is there?”
She put a little bit of the Force into her words, planting seeds of fear within the Asogian’s mind under the guise of reassurance. Zrek swallowed again before blinking his wide blue eyes. “No harm,” he echoed in that croaky voice of his.
“Right.” Karis leaned away from him and resumed making her rounds. “Besides, in the time that has elapsed since your… unsanctioned voyage, plenty of contact has been made with territories that lay beyond the known galaxy. Much is known already of the Nagai and the Tofs from the satellite galaxies. So you should be able to tell me, Zrek, if you succeeded in your voyage or not.”
Zrek took in a haggard breath before releasing it in a loud sigh. “Yes. We succeeded.”
She paused in her steps, her head snapping to him. “You reached another galaxy?”
“Yes.”
“Was it one of the satellite galaxies? The Rishi Maze or what the Nagai call Firefist?”
“No.” Zrek closed his eyes. “Far, far away.”
She gripped the edge of the interrogation seat as she leaned in close to him again. “And what did you find there?”
The Asogian took another moment to respond. “Life.”
“Sapient life? Or plant life?”
The smallest of smiles touched the prisoner’s lips, almost as if he was reminiscing. “Both.”
“Both?” Karis could not believe what she was hearing. She wouldn’t have been surprised if the Asogian was simply so old that he had become plagued with dementia or senility. But still, she continued her questioning. “Did you document any of the species you found there? Or take a sample of their plant life?”
“Yes,” Zrek answered her. “Plant life added to the Great Gardens. Information recorded to the Galactical Encyclopedia.”
So the information was verifiable, at the very least. She doubted the leaders of Brodo Asogi would add any information to their great database if it came from the delusions of a madman. And if that was the case, then it meant the knowledge she sought—what the Supreme Leader sought—was just within reach. But she needed to hear the prisoner say it before she could report back to the Supreme Leader and authorize a takeover of the Green Planet.
“Give me the information you added to the Encyclopedia,” she demanded. “What kind of species did you encounter? What did they call their planet?”
Again, the prisoner hesitated. Zrek turned her eyes to her, his mouth drooping down into a frown. “No harm.”
“Yes, yes, no harm will come to you if you just tell me—”
“To them.”
Karis frowned behind her mask. “To them?”
“If I tell you,” the Asogian continued, “swear to me that you will bring no harm to the world I found or its people.”
She stared at him, grateful for her mask as it meant he could not see the conflicting emotions warring on her face. She could promise him that she would not personally bring harm to the planet that he had discovered in his mission… but she could say the same for the First Order in general once she delivered this information to the Supreme Leader.
It was an easy enough lie, and yet for some reason she had difficulty in saying it. “I swear to you,” she murmured, her modified voice masking its lack of sincerity.
Zrek continued to stare at her, his eyes suddenly pensive as if he were trying to study her like a plant in one of his gardens. “You hurt,” he started to say.
“I will not hurt you or—”
“You hurt yourself.” He tried to lift one of his long arms, his movement restricted by the bands around the spindly limb. The tip of his index finger began to glow. “Darkness plagues your heart. Your heart—your mind—is sick.”
She leaned away from him, taking a few steps back. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. You don’t know me.”
His lips twitched back into a small smile. “Know enough. Let me heal you.”
“I don’t need healing.” Karis unclipped her lightsaber from her belt and ignited its scarlet blade. “Now tell me everything you know about the planet you found, and its people. Or else I will hurt you… and them.”
The Asogian sighed as he shook his head. “I will tell you, but you can do nothing with the knowledge.”
“Out with it then,” Karis snarled.
And so he told her. And with each word he spoke, Karis found herself falling more and more into disbelief… until eventually, she circled back into the realization that everything he was telling her was true.
And that the galaxy itself would collapse from even trying to fathom the truth.
When he was done, she shut off her lightsaber and made her way for the door, leaving the Asogian there. As she stepped outside, she found the human officer waiting for her, an expectant look in those cold blue eyes.
“Well?” the officer asked, sounding more than a bit impatient.
“Patch me through to the Supreme Leader,” she ordered. “I’ve found what he’s looking for.”
* * *
Light years away, aboard the flagship of the First Order itself, Vicrul Ren bowed before the Supreme Leader, his helmeted head angled towards the pristine floor. His heart thrummed against his chest as he maintained his breathing, putting on a facade of composure in order to mask his growing sense of impatience.
He had counted them; ten full minutes had passed so far since he had entered the Supreme Leader’s throne room, taken a knee, and spoken the words he had wanted to say for the last six months—if not longer than that.
“Teach me the ways of the dark side.”
Snoke had simply sat there in his throne after he had said this, scraping under his nails as he allowed those words to hang in the air. Vicrul knew that the Supreme Leader had heard him and so he did not dare repeat himself. But he also did not want to be kneeling in this position for much longer….
Finally, at the twelve minute mark, the silence was mercifully broken by the Supreme Leader’s deep, gravelly voice. “What makes you believe you are worthy of my knowledge?”
Vicrul lifted his head up. “I am the Master of the Knights of Ren. You taught Kylo Ren, and the Ren before him—”
“The Ren you originally served was not my student,” Snoke interjected. “He was an asset, yes, but never my student.”
Vicrul bristled from the correction. “In any case, I have served the Knights of Ren—served you—for many years. I have accomplished so much more than the others. More than even Kylo.”
He unclipped a rectangular hilt from his belt and pressed the ignition switch. The black blade of the Darksaber extended from the emitter. The red-clad Praetorian Guards that flanked the throne tensed up but Snoke raised a hand to belay them from moving.
“I have claimed the Mandalorians’ mantle of leadership,” Vicrul went on. “Mandalore is now rightfully mine to rule.”
Snoke arched a hairless eyebrow. “Do you consider yourself a Mandalorian?”
Vicrul hesitated. “No. I am more than that—I am a Knight of Ren. But without their precious symbol, their clans are scattered and powerless. In only six months, their numbers have been spread thin as we’ve broadened our attack on their worlds. It won’t be long before the legacy of the Mandalorian Crusaders is nothing but ash.”
“And what then? What use will Mandalore be to you after that?”
Vicrul said nothing as he shut off the Darksaber, retracting its ebony blade. Slowly, Snoke arose from his throne, clasping his hands behind his back as he approached him.
“You have indeed pleased me with your latest accomplishments, Vicrul Ren,” the Supreme Leader said. “But that alone is not enough to make you worthy of becoming my apprentice. Kylo Ren was much stronger in the dark side and had the legacy of Darth Vader—and by extension the Sith Order—behind him. What do you have?” His disfigured face twisted into a sneer. “A desolate world that has been forgotten by all.”
Vicrul tightened his grip around the Darksaber’s hilt. “My being from Hattaska means nothing. My past means nothing. What matters is what I achieve in the here and now. That is what makes me worthy.”
“We shall see.” Snoke made a dismissive motion with his hand. “Let us see how your campaign against the Mandalorians proceeds from here. Then perhaps I will reconsider. But until then, you are simply my servant—not my student.”
Vicrul could feel his anger boiling but he tampered down his emotions. Without a word, he rose to his full height and, after a moment, reattached the Darksaber to his belt.
Just as he was about to leave, one of Snoke’s purple-robed attendant approached and whispered something to the Supreme Leader. Snoke’s eyebrows raised again before he gave the attendant a slight nod. “Put her on.”
Suddenly, a blue figure materialized in front of Vicrul and he quickly took a step back. It took him a minute to recognize the shape as that of his fellow Knight of Ren; Kylo’s former apprentice Karis. Her large green wings were folded at her back as she took a knee in front of Snoke.
“Supreme Leader, we have successfully captured the Asogian known as Zrek,” the S’kytri woman said. “I have just finished interrogating him.”
Snoke smiled down at the hologram. “Excellent. And what information have you gleaned from his mind?”
Karis was slow in responding, as if she was considering her words. When she spoke, she almost sounded as if she wasn’t believing what she was saying—not because she was lying, but she was truly in disbelief. “He confirms what you have suspected, Supreme Leader. The Asogians were successful in traveling to another galaxy. Not one of the satellites, but one that is truly far away from our own. More than that, he said that the world he found there was home to humans.”
Vicrul did a double-take at those words. Humans? In another galaxy?
Snoke, for his part, did not at all seem to be surprised. Instead, he simply grinned back at the S’kytri Knight. “Excellent work, Karis. This information will be quite fruitful for our future endeavors. Tell Admiral Lortay to send his forces down to Brodo Asogi to acquire one of the Asogians’ exploration vessels so that its hyperspace capabilities may be examined in detail.”
“Of course, Supreme Leader. Is there anything else you require of me?”
“Not yet. Stand by until further notice, and report to me when Admiral Lortay is finished with his task.”
“As you wish, my liege.”
With that, Karis’s hologram dissolved and Vicrul was left staring in the space where she had been. He then looked back up at Snoke as the tall despot sat back down in his throne, a satisfied smirk on his face.
“That,” the Supreme Leader said pointedly, “is who your competition is. Keep that in mind.”
Vicrul could only glare back at Snoke through the visor of his mask before turning sharply on his heel and marching down to the turbolift. As he fumed in silence, he vowed to himself that he would do everything in his power to prove himself superior to his supposed “competition.”
Even if it meant eradicating it personally.
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