Star Wars: The Darkest Hour

The Apprentice

As the hatch closed behind him, Valeran tossed his cloak over an outstretched console. He was moving smoothly towards the cockpit, and once there he sat the holo device in the copilot seat, pressed the activation button. Almost immediately the robed figure of the Sith's master appeared in the seat. Valeran bowed before his master, and awaited for him to speak. 

"Valeran, it seems you have dealt with those Jedi quickly. Just as i expect from my most promising former apprentice." The hooded being spoke. The voice sounded old, but full of intense power. Even after years of hearing it, Valeran still felt the power echoing through his bones. It was the power of a fully realized Sith Lord.

"Yes master. The pair caused many casualties before I arrived, but were little more than a nuisance. Though the apprentice showed promise, I was unable to bring her back alive." The Zabrakian male reported to his master. His mission had not been to capture the female, but he was irritated at the loss of a possible asset. 

"That is of no consequence. I have contacted you to inform you of your own apprentice's status. It seems she was captured." The Sith master stated. He waited a moment, and let the weight of these words settle. "It seems she is in the custody of the Grand Republic, being transported on a prison transport." Cordeius stated. Valeran almost thought he caught a hint of amusement in his master's voice, but he quickly dismissed it. "From her last transmission, it seems as though she had come across valuable Republic information. You are to retrieve your apprentice, and this information." The Sith Lord stated with authority. This was to be Valeran's next mission. 

"Yes my master." Was the simple response. In the next moment the image of Cordeius vanished, and the holo device deactivated. Moments later, a short beep emitted from the ship's controls. Valeran pressed a button on the console, and a holographic map appeared before him. The star map showed a nearby system, and a red blip flashed among the stars, and planets. This was where he was headed.

From behind the Sith a door opened that led to another part of the ship, and from it stalked a dangerous looking droid. 

This was Talus, a Krath War Droid. This line of droid had been made in secret, and were meant for all types of warfare. They specialized in close quarters combat, but were also proficient with infiltration. Valeran had tweaked his circuitry slightly to make him less stiff, but left his fighting capabilities as they were. 

"Welcome back. Do we have new orders?" The droid asked as Valeran situated himself into the pilot's seat. When his master nodded, the droid quickly took the co-pilot's seat, and began inputting the coordinates into the navigation systems. 

"It seems like Vex has gotten into trouble again." Valeran stated, pushing a toggle forward. Once it stopped, the stars around them began to streak by as the ship entered hyperspace. As they flew through the stars, the Sith caught the droid up on the mission. It didn't take long for the explanation, or for them to arrive close to where the prison transport's signal was. 

"activating cloaking shield." Talus stated, pressing a quick sequence of buttons. There was a moment of a distorted whine from the ship before going quiet once more. Inside the ship nothing seemed to change, but on the outside the entire ship seemed to vanish into nothing. After a moment's flight, a large asteroid drifted away, revealing the sight of the transport they were searching for. 

However it was not moving, and was tilted heavily to its right side. The sight concerned the sith, thinking that it might be a trap. They scanned the ship to be sure, but it seemed as though many of its systems had been disrupted. Most of the power to the ship had been cut off, and the life support had been weakened, but was still functioning.

Even with most of the power failing, the ray shields on the landing bays were still functioning. It didn't seem as though they had a way in. 

"Talus, circle around, and see if you cant find an open bay." Valeran said, his golden eyes scanning the hull for any openings. Overall the transport seemed undamaged, but then why had its systems begun failing? The Zabrakin had a hunch, but he needed to get on the ship first. Soon they had reached the other side of the ship, and sure enough there was a single landing bay that's shield had been lowered.

Talus did not need to be told, and quickly turned the ship to land in the vacant bay. Valeran was prepared for a fight, but the large bay was empty of any life. Not even droids. "Reactivate the shield, and prepare to head in." The sith ordered the droid. With a nod, Talus obeyed, quickly exiting the ship, and making his way towards the landing bay's control console.

For being in such a sorry state, the bay had been emptied by the vacuum of space. The only reason Talus was not swept away by the pull was due to the mag-locks built into his feet. These kept him magnetically attached to the ground. Once he was at the console, a few clicks of the keys, and the ray shielding hummed to life once more. The reactors were undamaged, and the shield now cast its dim blue light through the darkened bay. 

Once the shielding had been revived, Valeran once more took up his cloak, and pulled the hood over his head, once more casting his face in shadow. The sith unhooked both of his blackened sabers from his belt, and held them tightly. He was not afraid, but he was no fool. If this was a trap, it would not end well for those who had set it. The sabers' blades remained dormant as the hooded male left his ship, and approached the lift that led to different parts of the ship. Their fist destination was the bridge of the ship. It would have security records, and all sorts of information they would need. 

"SELECT DESTINATION." Came a female voice inside the lift. Valeran was somewhat suprised that the controls for the lift still worked, but it all added to his hunch. It was as though they were being led. By who, he was unsure. "Bridge." He stated. With a ding the lift began moving. The sith, and his droid stood in silence for a minute before the doors opened again. 

As they stepped out of the elevator, the pair looked at the devastation before them. The bridge was all but destroyed. Many of the consoles had been melted by super-heated energy, and were scorched by blaster marks. "It seems as though Vex has been here." Talus stated, stepping over a corpse of one of the crew members. The man had been nearly cleaved down the middle, but the cut stopped just before the waistline.

This did indeed look to be the work of Valeran's apprentice. She had left little to salvage, but fortunately some of the computers had avoided damage, and still seemed to function through cracked screens. "Find her." He said to Talus. 

The droid nodded, and swiftly began interacting with the keys of the surviving network. It took the advanced droid only moments to find the security feed, and he soon found a screen pointed directly at one of the holding cells. In it was a young looking girl in long dark robes. Her hair was pulled back, and tied to keep it out of her face. 

The young looking girl was sitting as though she were in meditation, but it was clear she wasn't. A demented grin was spread across her face. Her head then slowly tilted up, and looked dead into the feed, meeting the eyes of her master, even though she could not see him. From the edges of the screen, two Republic guards appeared. The pair aimed a set of blasters at her, seeming to have been unsettled by her movements. 

"Time for the fun to begin, Master." She said in a dark voice. In the next instant an alarm was triggered, and from the security feed the sounds of cell doors unlocking could be heard. Soon the other feeds showed prisoners escaping from cells, and overwhelming the little Republic forces that remained. Soon the ship would be flooded with the dangerous prisoners. 

The only cells that did not seem to release were Vex's, and one other.