FORSAKEN II - Eternal Dawn

CHAPTER SEVEN

The black armor of Karabra Lobrajj, the First Sister, melded with the shadows of her meditation chamber. She floated at the center of a pyramidal frame inside a circle edged with Sith glyphs and dark side symbols. Her double-bladed spinning lightsaber hovered in front of her, disassembling into its individual components. The two red kyber crystals were suspended in front of her at eye level. Her breathing was restless. Beads of sweat formed in her attractive pale-blue face of the Umbaran, which was marked by dark side tattoos, giving her a lugubrious aspect under her hood. She rested her fists on her lap, pressing hard against each other, and clenched her jaw. Karabra dwelled on negative thoughts, focusing the upsetting emotions to connect with the dark side of the Force.

The room became darker and she felt the unsettling cold and loneliness that accompanied the mysterious being she had met at the World Between Worlds inside the Splinter of the Mind's Eye, which had promised unlimited power to destroy her enemies, in exchange for her freedom.

"I'm ready to do your bidding," Karabra said in her mind.

"Excellent," a female hissed in echoes inside her head. "There are several requirements to break me out of my prison. The first is the key; an artifact forged by both the light and dark side of the Force. It resides in Dorin, at temple in Dor'shan, protected by the ancient order of Baran Do. The Kel Dor sages were renowned for their precognitive abilities, so you'd be wise to assume your visit will be expected."

"I won't be denied," Karabra said.

"Good. Do this and you'll be one step closer to achieve that what you seek. But remember to keep your actions secret, especially from the Emperor."

"I will leave no witnesses."

Karabra's lightsaber assembled and she opened her white eyes. The Chronicles of Brus-bu, one of the ancient sacred Jedi texts, rested on a plinth near the pyramid. Karabra caressed its cover as she passed by, leaving the chamber. A chartreuse light shone through the myriad of angular windows and skylights of the classified Imperial research laboratory; it cast long shadows within the corridors of what was once the Separatists' headquarters in Christophsis during the Clone Wars. A member of the Order of Inquisitors, the First Sister answered directly to the Emperor and his right hand man, Darth Vader, so none of the staff questioned when she was placed in charge of Project Eternal Dawn. They did stay away from her as much as possible, due to rumors of the arcane rituals she performed to handle the project's setbacks.

Karabra entered a room where the cyborgs that attacked the X'Cal laid on semi-reclined operating tables. Their armor had blaster shots and were splattered with dry blood. They were hairless humanoids with ashen skin and the top of their heads had been replaced by a flat programmable neuro-box interface containing an array of advanced sensors. Their limbs and external spinal cord were replaced with cybernetics. A network of circuits visible in their skins connected everything to the metal plate over their hearts. It contained a small round viewport with the purple glow inside.

"How are the mental diagnostics of the Exobogans, Dr. Evazan?" Karabra said to a human with half his face disfigured. His datapad was hooked into the head of a cyborg.

"All their metal issues have been removed along with their brains," said Dr. Evazan with glee. "No more psychotic episodes, dementia, or irksome personality traits."

"You mean, free will."

Dr. Evazan shrugged. "A minor sacrifice to achieve perfection. The Empire now possesses the ultimate killers; remorseless, obedient, and able to handle the effects of the darkspark." He tapped the glowing viewport twice with his index finger.

"Their cellular breakdown has slowed down considerably now that the output of the darksparks has been stabilized," said Jor Nath, an Arkanian from the medical monitors. The Near-Human species possessed white hair, pupil-less eyes, and four-digit clawed hands.