"What a dreadful place," Rahn Alde said.
The sunsets were beautiful, he had to admit, almost as nice as the ones he had grown up with. But that didn't make him like the place. He despised everything else about Coruscant. He hated the way the sun reflected off the towering skyscrapers. The dizzying heights at which its walkways had been built. The never-ceasing buzz of hover traffic zipping across the planet-wide city surface. Every single person seemed to have direction and purpose, to be perfectly at home in this huge metal cage, this city that had swallowed a world. But most of all, he hated the smell. Coruscant's air was a mix of the foul pollution put out by its numerous factories and the stench of filth and grime that emanated from the lower levels.
"It isn't Alderaan." Leo Vale agreed and managed a smile. "Still, we could have died in worse places."
"Indeed!" Rahn chuckled and he looked back out through the window. His eyes squinted through the glare, and he spotted the incoming Imperial shuttle. The Rendaran S-3 shuttle dropped down from the hover lane and angled towards him. The room around them shook as the shuttle neared.
Rahn followed it as it slowed and disappeared overhead. He heard it touch down with a thud, followed by the mechanical grinding as the loading ramp lowered.
That was their cue. In perfect unison, Rahn and Leo turned and moved towards a turbolift door on their left. Their polished red armour gleamed in the afternoon light. As the turbo lift door whipped open, Rahn and Leo dropped to one knee.
Three men filled the lift. Two Imperial Knights dressed in spotless red armour, identical to Rahn's and Leo's, exited the turbolift first and were followed closely by the third. The third man was dressed in a purple tunic with golden trimming and a tall collar--the official garment of the Galactic Emperor. Rahn knew, as did his three fellow Imperial Knights, that the man wearing it was not the Emperor. His eyes were too far apart. His nose too round. His cheeks too full. This was not Rahn's younger brother, Nomar Alde, the so-called leader of the Galaxy.
Despite this, Rahn and his fellow Knights followed procedure. Nobody can know, Nomar had told him, they must think me dead. Rahn's jaw involuntarily clenched at the memory of the conversation. It had to be this way, he reminded himself.
The Emperor's double, led by two Imperial Knights, strolled between Rahn and Leo. Together they both stood and followed at an arms distance. A gloomy silence fell over the group. Nobody dared to say a word as they quickly marched down the narrow hallway. The sound of their boots echoed across the dark stone floor.
They stopped short of the rear entrance to the throne room. The Emperor's double muttered a curse. One of the lead Knights turned back, his hand poised over the door release. The Emperor's double grimaced, then nodded. The Knight hit the release and the door split open.
The throne room was sparsely populated as was often the case for a military briefing. No sign of them yet.
Three Imperial Moffs stood in front of the throne, two on the left. All their dark green uniforms were meticulously cleaned, their boots expertly polished. A fourth figure, an older man dressed in white, wearing the rank insignia of a Grand Admiral stood on the right. They all bowed at the sight of the Emperor.
As the false Emperor sat down on the throne, Rahn took his place beside the rear doorway, Leo stationed himself on the opposite side. The two lead Knights stopped a metre back from the throne. In unison, the three governors rose to attention and straightened their uniforms. The Grand Admiral waited a moment before doing the same.
Rahn surveyed each of the Moffs. Grand Moff Kylian Lee, leader of the Imperial Army, a very short and very fat man, with a wide, wrinkled face, and a gentle expression. He stood furthest from Rahn, on the right.
