Legacy of Darkness: Book 1 - Darkness Rising

Chapter 5: Dread

Nox strolled leisurely through the halls of the Aurora Cannon facility, surrounded by a full squad of Imperial black ops commandos. The sounds of blaster fire from the vanguard battling the forces of the Dread Guard occupying the cannon echoed from the halls ahead. The sound was almost therapeutic for Nox, bringing his mind into a meditative state, allowing him to focus and collect his most abstract thoughts.

His family had grown the past few months, through Satele he had managed to create many new "children" and seed them in the ranks of the Jedi, the Republic Military, and even the Senate. They were a small and disparate group...for now, but their numbers would grow as they brought more and more Force-sensitives from all walks of life to him. As long as he was patient, meticulous, and cautious his plans would continue to unfold exactly how he wanted them to, and none would be the wiser.

As he had intended, the ritual had not only made the children embodiments of his will but inextricably linked them to him with a bond stronger than any Nox knew of. He could not only communicate with them telepathically across thousands of light-years, but through the use of another ritual he had recently developed he could tap directly into their very essence through the bond, drawing on their power and even their very life force itself to feed his own strength in the Force, multiplying it many times over.

He had already used this power to accomplish feats of might and sorcery he might have once considered only the ancient Sith Lords to be capable of, and as a result his ambition had become a slavering beast, eager to consume more and more resources and throw caution to the winds in order to acquire more of this power.

But Nox held his own desires in check, knowing that a Sith who did not rule his passions would instead be ruled by them. He had instead turned that ambition and ravenous desire into creative energy which he harnessed to begin plotting the delicate intricacies of his plans, down to the last detail. He had spent many a sleepless night staring at the holoprojector in his sealed office, visualizing scenarios, simulating situations, experimenting with possibilities, trying to foresee and counter every eventuality. Thus far the simulations proved promising, even the initial failure of one phase of a plan could be steered towards the end goal with a proper course correction.

Before assaulting the Aurora Cannon, he had performed the ritual of Power Transfer in private to ensure that he could complete the mission himself even if all the troops he had brought with him were slaughtered. Thus far the casualties on the Empire's side were minimal compared to the enemy's casualties. Still, they were higher than expected. Based on reports of past conflicts between the Imperial forces and the Dread Guard in Section X, there should have been fewer if any casualties. It seemed the Dread Guard guarding the cannon were more focused and coordinated than their fellows out roaming the ruins of the shattered the prison world. Nox couldn't put his finger on it, but he swore he could sense a faint presence lingering in the air. It was similar to the unmistakable presence of the Dread Masters, but it was too faint to be anything but some kind of echo. But it couldn't be possible that the Dread Masters having been here could somehow amplify the abilities of their troops long after they were gone, at least, Nox hoped this wasn't the case.

As they drew closer and closer to the sounds of blaster fire, winding their way deeper and deeper into the cannon facility, Nox could feel the presence growing stronger. He now realized that it wasn't an echo, not in the traditional sense, but rather an echo of power bound to an object, or most likely, a being. The Dread Masters had instilled a portion of their power into one of their servants and left the being here to command their troops. It seemed the Dread Guard commander was using a lesser form of Battle Meditation to degrade and erode the abilities and wills of the Imperial troops, the most likely cause of the increased number of casualties and the definite cause of the presence Nox sensed in the atmosphere.