“This can’t be.” Darth Vishes fumed of anger as he watched electrical currents leaking all over the hull of the Bastion. The live footage was provided by a modified viper-class probe droid but rather than showing the glorious rise of his flagship, he only saw a flickering in the main engines followed by numerous electrical currents leaking over the hull of the Bastion leaving it once more dead on the surface.
Sure this was the fault of the old man, he should have dealt with the old man back when the the first scouts of the supposedly former Imperial fleet showed up in the Caelus System. At least it would have spared him all the frustration caused by them as they ever and ever again crossed his plans on the request of Astor Ky’Lian. At his request…
Reaching for his personal comlink, he opened a secured channel, relaying a simple message: “Prepare your men, Operation King fall starts tonight”
Some hours later
Night had fallen over Chyron, though this meant very little to the activity on the capitol moon of the Caelus System as the ecumenopolis never slept. Still Vishes cherished the night with all its shadows. Entering the courtyard of Chyron’s capitol he strode towards the at all times guarded entrance to the building, trailed by his two most trusted followers.
As the trio closed in on the entrance, two troopers of Caelus Security moved toward them, blocking their way with their blasters readied.
“Stop, don’t move – Oh, its you, I am sorry, we haven’t been expecting you tonight, my-” said the leading soldier but stopped in his order as the shadowy figure raised his head.
Upon the troopers dropping their blasters and allowing the trio to enter the building, the Vishes followers broke off from their master, suddenly blaster rifles filling their hands as they advanced on the soldiers.
Though the C-Sec troopers reacted immediately, the black-clad followers were quicker shooting them from a close distance with their silencer equipped blaster rifles.
Seeing the troopers falling to the ground, a thin smile crept over the face of the shadowy figure. The operation had begun.
<<–o–>>
High above the courtyard, Astor Ky’Lian read over the report that has been transmitted recently by Rian Taldrya aboard the Paragon. The Taldryan Consul had reported a successful attack on the former Imperial flagship in the system, preventing it from fallen into the hands of the terrorist that has been threatening the system for some time now. While the Bastion’s main reactor had been disabled through a group of Force sensitives like the Taldryan leader himself, the Clan’s flagship would remain in orbit above Orth to check on any resisting members associated with the terrorists behind the attempt to re-activate the Bastion.
Putting the report aside, Astor Ky’Lian grabbed another datapad next to the first one, accessing it with his personal ID, he adjusted some of the data and finally signed them off. The price for the peace in the Caelus System was steep but he was sure it was worth it. Laying back in his seat, he called for his attache.
He hadn’t had to wait for long and the doors to the office slid open and his personal attache entered the room. “You have called me, my lord?”
“Yes Deran, I did.” The Ky’Lian said. “Could you please be so kind and send this data to the Paragon.”
“As you wish, my lord.” The attache quickly drew the datapad from the desk and rushed out of the office, but turned on his heels when he received an urgent call from another part of the building. “My lord, there was a security breach at the main entrance.”
“Who?” The governor demanded to know.
“Unknown. The attackers are wearing non-descript black armor.”
A bad feeling grew in the stomach of the governor. “Activate the internal defenses and call C-Sec for reinforcements.”
The attache nodded and left the office, proceeding with his orders, leaving a puzzled Ky’Lian behind.
A couple minutes later the softened sound of combat drew closer. Activating the Sentry droid, Astor prepared for the worst.
The doors slid open and Astor’s attache stumbled into the office, his left arm crossed before his stomach.
“Deran.” Astor whispered, emerging from his cover.
Deran was followed by another person, this one however was clad in a long flowing dark cloak, a red bladed lightsaber in his hand.
Astor’s mind somersaulted back and forth, could it be that his trust in the Taldrya was a grave mistake? No, this can’t be, what reason would the Taldrya have had to deceive him or was all this their plan right from the beginning?
The shadowy figure turned toward Astor.
Protecting his master, the Sentry Droid engaged the man, but was unable to do so as the man grabbed the droid and lifted it into the air before sending it flying through the nearby window.
Looking over the edge of his desk, Astor watched in horror as his Sentry droid was hurled through the window. Only then he realised something about the man, though he wasn’t sure what it was. Something about the way he moved…
With the imminent threat disabled, the figure turned toward the desk and Astor Ky’lian. Moving with slow deliberate steps, he closed in on the governor until he stood towering over him.
Astor felt his body lifted into the air, not on his own command but at the powers of the man in front of him
When he was eye-to-eye with the one that had killed Deran, realization came upon him and he knew what it was that had put him on the edge regarding the one who had killed Deran as he knew exactly who his deathbringer was.
Astor wanted to say something but before he could do so the scarlet blade of the man cut across his chest, leaving a smoldering scorch on his stomach.
<<–o–>>
The next day
The two Taldryan leaders entered the atmosphere of Chyron, seeking to inspect the part of the city the Clan has been given control off along a group of technicians. While their shuttle sped through the sky, the Taldrya’s couldn’t eschew to look at the pile of smoke rising from a different part of the citymoon.
“Isn’t that smoke coming from the capitol?” the younger of them asked the pilot."
A short look from the pilot onto his controls and the following statement confirmed the augmented senses of the two Force-users.
Looking at each other the two Taldrya had a bad feeling coming from their stomachs.
“Pilot, change course to the capitol, we need to know what happened, our district can wait.” The Consul ordered."
A few minutes later the shuttle touched down on the capitol’s courtyard.
The place was roamed with speeders from the local authorities as well as rescuers. Picking the nearest trooper, the Consul asked, pushing the hesitant trooper to answer him through the force: “What happened?”
“There has been an attack on the capitol last night and the Governor has been killed during the attack.”
“What? Lord Astor is dead?”
“Yes, Lord Drayen and Lady Ceyra are within the building.” The trooper said turning his head around. “Oh wait, there they are coming.”
Looking at the same direction as the trooper, the Tadrya saw them, Drayen and Ceyra along a group of medics shoving a hovergurney in front of them, though upon seeing the Taldrya, Drayen parted from his crying sister to talk to a nearby trooper.
Rushing past the trooper, Halcyon and Rian closed in to the group.
“Our sincerest condolences Lady Ceyra.” Rian said bowing slightly. “The moment we came aware of the situation we came here, is there anything we can be of help for you, just ask for it.”
“Thank you Colonel Aslar.” Ceyra replied using Rian’s military rank while wiping the tears from her eyes. “My father always talked the best from you. He said without you and your fleet there wouldn’t be any justice in the system anymore.”
Rian nodded, while Halcyon showed more interest at the corpse of Astor Ky’Lian covered by a white blanket.
“Rian, can you take a look at this?” the elder Taldrya said.
Turning from Ceyra to the corpse, Rian immediately saw what the Proconsul referred to and his mind immediately darkened.
The reaction of the Taldrya didn’t go unnoticed by Astor’s daughter but before she could say anything, Rian spoke up. “Lady Ceyra, can you tell me if there are already any results on who was responsible for the attack?”
“No we have not” came the clipped reply from Drayen who had returned to the group. “And unlike my father, I have full trust into the capabilities of C-Sec.”
Rian wanted to give a likewise sharp retort but was held back by the Proconsul. “As you wish Lord Drayen. If you don’t mind, we will leave you now to your researches.”
Upon turning toward their shuttle, Halcyon stopped for a last moment. “Lady Ceyra, maybe we can give you a lift somewhere?”
“Oh, oh, sure.” The woman took a moment to get the hint before walking up to the Taldrya.
It was only when their shuttle had taken air that Halcyon would speak up again. “Lady Ceyra, I must concur with your brothers statement. The wounds of your father have come from a lightsaber, a lightsaber similar to the ones Rian and I carry.”
Lady Ceyra’s heart raced. “Have, have you killed my father?”
“No, we did not.” Rian said. “But whoever it was, we have a much bigger chance at finding and stopping those responsible for his death than any member of C-Sec.”
Looking at the two Taldrya, she said. “My father trusted you with my life, so will I, find those who were responsible and my family as well as any citizen in the Caelus-System will always be in your favor.”