The Devils in the Details: When it all comes undone, Part 1

[The Message]

Access Denied. Access Denied. Access Denied. Access Denied. Access Denied. Access Denied. Access Denied. Access Denied. Access Denied. Access Denied. Access Denied. Access Denied. Access Denied. Access Denied. Access Denied. Access Denied. Accerzzzzt. DenieEEEeed. Acccd ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ER- O RE RE ** .......

Access Granted.

---Data feed in progress---
--Sync active--
Sync Complete - Link complete...

- Uploading.


Imperial Center on Coruscant. The communications office of Imperial Intelligence, sat first grade communications officer, Tanya Brootin with a warm cup of fresh caff clutched between chilled fingers. She stared blankly into the monitor, her face a bask in the green glow of data scrolling over the screen.

Thank god for caff, Tanya thought, with a light sip of the steaming beverage. She enjoyed her job but some days watching the endless droning logs of conversation wore on a person. Most were not even important, just some plebs who managed to mention a keyword the Imperial Intelligence had flagged. Today was another one of those days.

A red blip suddenly flashed onto Officer Brootin's screen. Here goes another one, Tanya thought dryly. She tapped the screen appropriately enlarging the alert, which immediately began spilling information and alerts across the screen. Tanya squinted her eyes in suspicion, setting her cup of caff down as she read through the data. It wasn't a simple key word alert this time.

"What the frell...this can't...?" Tanya's fingers slammed into her keyboard frantically. This was wrong, she repeated to herself. Something with the system, it had to be some glitch or internal error. The screens green glow quickly gave way to red, the alerts spread like some plague over the screen. Whatever it was came searing through the hard line infecting the database. Suddenly the screen went black. KRRSSH!

Tanya's body shook with adrenaline. She was clutching her right hand. Her fist having slammed through the emergency glass to hit the a large, dangerously red, button. The hard line to the Intelligence data base had been cut. The button was an emergency shut down to lock the system from intrusions. It would set off small charges along the main communications hub that housed the main lines into the intelligence data base. Several other communications officers stood up, looking around confused as their stations went dead.

"Officer Brootin. Explain!" Her commanding officer, Gentry Pown, came rushing over.

"Sir the system, I thought it was a glitch or an error at first. Someone accessed Intelligence from outside our network. When I tried to confirm an i-dent' then the system it..." Tanya's body continued to shiver, she was staring absently at her bloodied hand, shards of safety glass sparkled from her knuckles. "I don't why they would..."

"Security breach? Which department? What were they after? What did they take? Tanya explain yourself."

"That's just it, sir...it was like the system was attacking itself. The first alert was a simple name flag but then, data, news, all our feeds began alerting. Am I the only one who saw it? I ran a trace to the source but it came back classified. An internal department sir. The breach was sending data to local news centers with names of operatives, holo recordings of missions, everything in the archives was being shuttled out into public data spaces." Tanya stared at her black screen in bewilderment trying to comprehend the last fifteen minutes.

"Tanya your rambling. Speak plainly. Who was it?"

"Sir the breach was from within intelligence."

"Your saying we have a traitor? Someone hacking into the system from inside?"

"I had to cut the line. It was the only way to stop the data from being sent out."

"Tanya, you realize the data that has been sent out already is still over the public network? Without our main access line we can't cut their feeds. You've cut us off from taking any action. Go, Get your self fixed up. Hendren contact the hardware crew and get the back up line activated. We cant cut that feed until access is restored."

"Yes sir, auxiliary communications are up now. Getting access to the public network feeds. They're still broadcasting. Sir I'm also getting emergency comm. chatter over the lines," Hendren clutched his ear piece tightly, trying to make sense of the audio. "Something about an explosion?"

"Sir the lines up. Systems are back online and the data feed is... cut. There, news feeds are no longer transmitting. Alerts look clear." The communications pit was a chaotic ballet of reports, each tech yelling out updates as they fell back on training to regain a handle on the situation.

"Commander? I found a data seed in our system. Whoever it was that hacked in left a message it seems. Its a clip directed to...us?" Hendren piped the clip onto the main screen allowing the rest of the crew a visual.

"What is it?

"A holo recording it looks like." The holo jittered for a moment before the resolution was stabilized. The building stood tall amongst others, clearly it was on Coruscant somewhere. The tip was billowing black smoke into the sky while flames licked out from blown out windows.

"Where is that? Someone identify that building, I want a location." His finger speared at the screen as he spat orders, too many unknowns, too many questions for a commander of communications, it all made Gentry far too uncomfortable.

"Sir, I got it. Its the TLN news tower...wait...thats not a recording...thats a live feed. Reports are saying the building was rocked by an explosion five minutes ago."

"Get emergency crews out there if they haven't been alerted already. I need to know how far behind in events we are, updates people. I need them fifteen minutes ago!"


----Two hours after breach incident, Communications commander of Intelligence Gentry Pown's office.

"Report." Gentry was laying back in his seat, finger tips sat sorely over his closed eyelids. "Keep in mind good news would be welcome."

"It took some time but we found the source. Its a building on Coruscant, in the lower district, here are the coordinates." Hendren slipped a data board over the clear duraglass table.

"Lower district? Last reports were that the line was patched through from the TLN news line. Hence why the broadcast was sent over their network. Your now telling me that the assailant hacked in from another location without a main line?" Gentry squinted an eye suspiciously at the young officer. Hacking in over a main line was a feat in itself. accomplish able by a very select and small group of slicers, but from a remote distance with no direct line to our systems? Impossible.

"Speaking freely sir?"

"Of course."

"I have no frelling idea how the assailant did it. We traced back an initial attempt on our system. Several i-dents were used but they had all expired years ago. As you know we change encoding and issue new access passes to even the highest level of our departments monthly. Whoever it was obviously had access to our systems at one point years ago.

"So it was an inside job? It couldn't have been some informant in our department selling expired access passes on the black market?"

"No sir. It had to be an inside job. Approximately three minutes after the first attempt I found data prints going through our own network looping back and forth through personnel profiles. Most of them very high up on the food chain."

"Do you have the names of the users it went through? I'm assuming you ran a cross reference for them in our database?"

"Yes sir I did. Half of them don't even exist in our data base and the others are classified beyond my clearance. It took some digging but I managed to trace his route through our system to a back door which is how I discovered the buildings location. That's how I know its an inside job. But there is something else..I don't understand sir."

"What is it?"

"There was a text document left on his last data print embedded in the system. I didn't read the message but its directed to Grand Inquisitor Karl Valten?"

"I see...good job and the names, you didn't mention or let anyone else see them did you?"

"No sir."

"So what did the TLN building have to do with this? Don't tell me the direct feed to their network was a coincidence."

"No, far from it. From the security reports and the emergency response briefings. A group of men stormed the building and commandeered their equipment. Opening the ports for our feed to be broadcast. If someone had tried to shunt the data straight through on its own without letting them know it would have been buffered. That is, until the director reviewed and put it on air. These men apparently were part of this plan and were ready to broadcast live as the feed came in."

"What exactly was broadcast and to what end?"

"Thats where it gets weird..." Hendren tapped a data pad which began to play the recorded broadcast and handed it to Commander Gentry. "R. S Esalis head of Imperial Intelligence."

Gentry looked at his young officer very unamused. "I know who she is Hendren. I report to her."

"Er, yes sir. But play the clip it switches to a battle recording of Imperial missions dating back years ago. Most of the scenes are full of death or massacres preformed by our troops. Events we have done well to keep covered up. The media has been instructed to play it off as a new holo movie in production. Anyway, If you continue the video, most of the faces I don't recognize but...there, that's Admiral Telan Desaria."

"Grand Admiral." Gentry corrected, "So what are you saying? Are these warnings?"

"Warnings. Targets maybe?" The young officer theorized.

"So basically what I'm looking at here is a single man, or group of men, has broken into Imperial Intelligence. Broadcast our archives, which appears to have been cut together in some sort of threat? Blown out the top of a news building. Stolen data regarding people who don't exist and left behind a message to the Grand Inquisitor." Gentry wished he was a weaker man so he could start crying over this mess.

"Yes sir. I believe that's everything sir."

"Good now try explaining why any of it has happened in the first place and you can take my job." At least Gentry wouldn't be going into a meeting empty handed. He still had the location of the assailant. "Dismissed."

Gentry tapped one of the seven data pads Hendren had delivered, in particular the one addressed to the Grand Inquisitor. He knew the title existed but he wasn't informed of the mans name until know. The letter contained a list of names. Tapping the recording he watched the faces, they were set in order with names on this list, showing their profile first then the recordings of battles.

Each name had a specific message, he purposely skipped over for a rightful fear. This was growing beyond him. The two names he did recognized where possibly the most dangerous people in the Empire.

This hacker was picking a very dangerous fight.

[The Message]

The Building,

Coruscant, the lower districts, un patrolled by the Empire for the most part. Far below the expansive skyscrapers and towering crystal buildings that stood majestically amidst the clouds. The lower districts were the dirt that dwelled beneath the angels. The pride of society inhabited the heavenly upper levels, blessed by beautiful blue skies and a warm sun. The lower levels had the dredges of society, thugs and criminals, who skulked under the cloud of constant smog and shivered beneath an endless night with stars of neon signs. The great ecosystem of Coruscant.

There in the district of Kel'd held but a single tower that stood so solemn and overbearing it was nearly a symbol to the decrepit underworld of the lower districts. Its black windows thick, its walls rigid and high, more of a fortress then a building of business. Like a fortress it was grand amongst the hobble of tiny buildings. Most weren't even connected to the power grid but instead had grown like barnacles onto other buildings, creating clusters of debris, only rats would be proud to call home. The only entrance was a main door, guarded by several unsavory characters. The men stood nervously. None of which knew each other but each held a data pad with a picture and instructions. They were to talk to their contact when they arrive and give access to the building with further instruction once inside. That's all they knew and that's all they needed to know with credits being paid to their pockets.

So they stood in the darkness under the tower, each waiting for a stranger.

[Baralai Lotus]

Baralai approached the area, seeing the dirty underbelly of Coruscant. It was disgusting, crawling with filthy degenerates. Baralai had no intention of staying here longer than he needed too, but his curiosity had gotten the better of him. He had to come and find out who it was that had delivered this message, and more importantly, he had to discover how they knew his name.

Darth Ouroboros.

He hadn't used that name since the Sith Order had fallen. No one would hold him back from finding out exactly who it was that had done this. There were two options as to who this one. Either it was a lost member of the Order, or worse yet, it was the only other people that knew his name.

The Inquisitoriate.

They were the most viable option, and Baralai feared that more than anything else. But he was prepared. He'd had years to train and hone his skills, and he was much more deadly than he was last time. He wouldn't lose this time, and if he ran into Y'roth or Tear, their deaths would be quick.

He approached the dirty tower, it's darkness stretching up into the skies themselves. Baralai saw the men standing outside the tower and approached them, pulling out a cigarette and lighting up.

"So, who sent me this message? Was it one of you?" Baralai looked at the men, the silver snake on his eye patch glistening in the moonlight.

[The Message]

Danul pulled at his jacket with crossed arms. It was frelling cold this time of year. The damned thermo generators never worked this far below Coruscants surface leaving the masses of Kel'd District in the shadows of winter. He shifted his weight uncomfortably along the buildings wall. No one had been brave enough in their new position to bring a chair but he was seriously contemplating it. Who knew how long they would be waiting. After all they had been standing around on shift for roughly a week now.

It took several days but the group of men eventually broke the distrustful silence, a joke here, a borrowed stim there to break down the social barriers and into the lands of small talk. Danul refused to partake in the chat-chit. He instead sat quietly in the corner, away from the main group as they joked and conversed. He hated small talk and the cat calling or gawking at passerbys the rest of them had taken up to pass the time. This was a job, something he was trying to take seriously. Admittedly it was boring, but hell, who didn't want get paid for standing around doing nothing.

"Check out patches."

"Hehe Arrr...space pirates."

Like a pack of Barnair Hyenas, Danul thought dryly to himself. He saw a single man walking down the sidewalk toward the building. At this time of night? Suspicious Danuls face squinted at the man. It was a little late to walk about Kel'd by yourself. Wait patch? An eye patch?

"Think he heard you he's coming this way. Ooh you've done it now Barristan...Haha." The men jostled each other jokingly their body language stiffening slightly when the man spoke. His voice was unusual...

"So, who sent me this message? Was it one of you?"

"Frell." Danul cursed under his breath. From his corner he held the data pad up parallel to the mans actual face which was only a meter or so away. It was him. "Sir, over here." The rest of the men went quiet when they realized their first contact had come. Danul waved the man over while removing a pager that had been given to him by a small probe droid earlier in the week. He pressed down on the button. Nothing. Was it broken?

"Uh...ehem. Well this is for you and thats all I know." Danul passed him the data pad with his picture on it. The man took it, his own picture drove his curiosity as he attempted to look through the files but they had been password encrypted. "Ah...I take it you don't know it either. You wouldn't happen to know why your here, would you? The lads and I have been waiting a wee-"

The large doors to the building rumbled to life, opening outwards. Most of the men had jumped, startled by the sound, including Danul himself. It had been a week or so and the doors had never opened or made so much as a creak. A small droid was floating just within its entrance.

"Enter." The droids voice cracked with static. "Please follow." The rusted orb spun in place and leisurely floated back inside the building. The large doors shuddered with effort as they closed slowly behind. Baralai had only a moments notice to choose to enter or the doors would close. He would not have come all this way for nothing, no, he needed answers.

The Sith would quickly find himself following the droid down a long hallway. Obsidian floors shined with polish while the walls were bare and bone white in color. The bright white lights above caused a sort of snow blindness. To bright to be comfortable but not so much so as you couldn't get by through squinting. The inside of the building felt more like a bunker then a towering building. There didn't seem to be any doors, besides the original doors he gained entrance from, just a plain hallway that ended in a dead end.

The tiny droid stopped and turned. It's central eye squinted toward Baralai, his hand vibrated and if he had glanced down the data pad was now unlocked.

"Answers to some of your immediate question lay within that pad. Others will be answered shortly." A rectangle like crease suddenly formed along the wall to the right of Baralai. The sound of hissing air could be heard before the door slid back to reveal a small room. "Further instructions lay within the pad also. Note: Weapons are discouraged within the room." The droids humming pitched higher and its sphere body listed to the left and down the hall where the entrance was located.

---Data Pad Contents --

Password: Accepted
Message to Darth Ouroboros - Open - Cancel - Delete
- Open -

We write this message to you in confidence and hope that you share similar political interests. We know the political landscape may be of little interest to a man such as yourself but you are a man of power. Like any man of power you have a gravitational pull. Lesser men are swayed under this influence. Sometimes this power attracts those that rival your own.

What power could possibly rival a Sith such as yourself? The only power capable of course, The Empire. Who's gravity of influence spans this galaxy with lesser men flocking to its control. Perhaps this is why you may be interested. Perhaps this political approach may interest a man like yourself with certain vendetta. Perhaps. Though this leads to a question, will your influence combine with our own OR will our own gravitational pulls attract each other to destruction?

Further discussion is of course essential so please be patient, relax in the room we have provided.

When you are ready enter this code (******) into the panel near the mirror.

Sincerely The Gemellae.

---

The message on the pad ended there. Exploring the data pad revealed an attached Intelligence file on Baralai along with a recording of his interrogation while imprisoned by the Inquisitoriate. Explaining how the droid may have traced his whereabouts along with the knowledge of his Sith title.

Perhaps this ruled out the Inquisitoriate then again this may all be one elaborate trap.

The room was small. Containing a single chair, a sink, and a mirror on the wall with a dull glowing data panel that contrasted the white walls that surrounded the Sith. Time would tell what Baralai truly thought of the situation but for the mean time, trap or not, the doors were shut behind him.

[Hera]

The sleek black finish of the Inquisitoriate limosine blended in with the shadows of the street, masking its presence effectively, even as its design intended.

Within its plush interior, Hera watched the building through the shadowed window with interest. Apart from the few individuals loitering around the main entrance, who surely were lookouts of some form or another, the street was deserted. Whoever had sent the message would, perhaps, be waiting within. Or, failing that, someone who could atleast explain the cryptic visitation to her of some nights before to some satisfaction.

Initially, upon its arrival, Hera had thought the message delivered to her in private by one of the hover-droids the Imperials were so fond of, was a test of some sort. But on further consideration, she could see no reason for it. What would the Inquisitoriate be seeking from her that they didn't already know? Helghast through his interrogations had stripped her to her barest soul, smashing any barriers she may have had the will to erect. Over time, the constant monitoring and policing of her every move, the close proximity to Grand Inquisitor Valten and his Nightmares had left her with very little to hide. Why would they go to such elaborate efforts to trick her into doing something they could remonstrate against her for? They could easily just outright kill her any time they pleased, if it so served them.

It made no sense.

And what made even less sense, was that she was given license to investigate it. Or, more accurately, that she was not refused the freedom of going for a ride on the company dime, despite being ambiguous about her real purpose for requesting so. Accompanied as she was with the familiar soldier escort who, no doubt, would give a detailed account in the morning, Hera had been granted the limosine's use. It wasn't a stretch for the Imps really. They knew she had no where to run, and no desire even to do so.

"What'd'you think?" she asked the uniformed boy seated across from her, his knuckles white from holding his rifle so securely in his lap. He made no answer. "Looks kinda shady, doesn't it." She peered closer through the glass, answering her own question. "Who are these jokers?" she continued on, more to herself than her stoic companion. "They'll be sorry for wasting my time, I tell you that mu--" Her threat stopped mid-track, as a figure from her not too distant past approached the small knot of men in front of the building.

It couldn't be...could it?

Hera was shocked into momentary silence. Was it really him? It was so dark, it was hard to be sure. She pressed closer to the glass, her breath fogging it up, annoyingly. She'd presumed him dead. Long gone, a shattered battered shell left to rot in some dungeon of the Citadel two plus years ago. Just another of Helghast's statistics.

She stared in disbelief. She knew that man. What was he doing here? Her mind raced with possibilities.

There was no question of her not going into the building now.

The Message had promised her surprises within.

If this development was any thing to gauge by, Hera was not going to be disappointed.

[The Message]

"Oye check out that fancy limo." Rentzen stood just over six feet tall. His eyes were sunken from too many sleepless nights. His eyes red from just as many nights spent abusing Carcintine dust. It was like watching a swaying clock tick-tock back and forth. If you watched him for any amount of time you became entranced. Until he would sway too far in one direction and stumble or fall, depending on how big the hit was.

"Limo? Hah, Rentzen in this neighborhood? I thought you weren't shootin up on the job anymore mate."

"Aye, where you lookin Rent? I don't see anything."

"Could have sworn I saw a Limo..." Rentzen blinked his red, dopey eyes, squinting briefly in the direction he thought he saw the vehicle.

"Sure mate, sure, I know this gig pays good but not that good. Look guys an Imperial giving away candy, OoOoo.."

"Yeah, yeah alright, already. Hell with this im out. Standing around for a weeks end. I earned more sellin 'tine spikes' on Orrin street. Any o' you lot want this contact? Give you one third of what I'm being paid for it." Rentzen scratched at the back of his neck like the mere question caused him irritation. The man was likely wanting out for a hit. The shifts they pulled lasted days and for an addict like Rent, hours without his substance of choice wasn't a life he wanted to live. Especially with credits in hand.

"I'll take it." Danul had been sitting on the curb finishing a stim. After his contact had arrived he was suddenly jobless again. One third of something is better then nothing. Especially when the work was just standing. He would have been doing that for free anyway.

"Right you are then. Lucky man too, this ones the looker of the bunch heh." Rentzen reached into his pockets and tossed the appropriate amount of creds at Danul and then flung the data pad lazily to the curb before walking off. Danul could have cracked him one for that but scrapping with Rent was likely a gamble in diseases to attract from merely touching the creature. Nimble finger tips pecked the spilled credits into his palm then retrieved the data pad, balancing it on his knee. His thumb gave the 'magnify option' a tap, enlarging the data pads profile.

"Hello Miss Hera..." Danul mused with a long suck of his stim as he eyed the attractive blonde in the picture.

[Hera]

Grey-blue smoke curled in languid tendrils about Danul's head, his gaze still bent downward in perusal of the datascreen information. He'd have noticed the shuffle of feet beside him, no doubt, but it wasn't until the unnatural quiet of the other men rested on his ears that he actually looked up.

Hera stood over him, her companion in arms behind her with his rifle levelled, but held close to his own body to avoid undue attention. Neither of them smiled in greeting.

Hera and the soldier had exited the limo even as one of the men detached himself from the group and walked off, and with the attention drawn the other direction, their approach had been unnoticed until they were right upon the men.

"You fools have something for me?" she opened without preamble, addressing, in particular, the man with the datapad.

[The Message]

Danul stared blankly at the woman, the stim hanging limp from his bottom lip. A memory from child hood when his mother had caught him watching adult holo's suddenly flashed to mind. He had blushed a deep red back then from the embarrassment, now was no different.

"I uhm..." He gave the stim a lick pulling it back between his lips, pulling a long puff to buy himself some time to compose himself. Danul gave the woman a long up and down look and smiled to himself, it was definitely the correct blonde.

"I believe this is for you." Standing he spun the datapad over his palm and handed it to the woman. "Im not sure what it is to be perfectly honest. None of the lads here do either. We're just messenger boys. Basically we're told to give you the pad then.." He reached into his coat pocket which gave the guard a twitch.

"Uh then I hit this button. Easy fella." Danul slowly removed the pager between two finger tips, letting the guard see it was no weapon. He gave the device a click. This time the doors came to life far quicker accompanied by the same deep rumble.

The small droid was still hovering in at the entrance. Its center eye shrunk at Hera. "WelcoZZraxxt**" A puff of smoke was coughed up from the droid. "Welcome." Fingers of smoke still clug to its rusted sphere of a body as it turned and floated back inside the tower and out of view.

Danul winced at the high pitched electronic squeel the droid had let out at its first welcome attempt. "That thing needs recycling. I think it wants you to follow it. Least thats what the last guy was invited to do." The doors began to close within moments of the droids disappearance. "I would hurry too, that droid doesn't seem to be the patient type." Danul winked at Hera and stepped back.

The guard gave a look of reluctance to Hera, but the woman pushed forward past the doors anyway. He let go of his rifle for a moment as if to reach out and grab Hera by the arm but at the last second thought better of it. The guard gave a grunt and pushed forward past the doors as well, following her into the tower.

At the end of the hallway the droid was waiting. "The data pad has been will unlock once you enter the room. Please relax and take your time as you consider what has been written." A door to Hera's left was suddenly sucked back revealing a small room. Comfortable for maybe one but a tight squeeze for two.

The room was simple enough it held a single chair, a sink and a mirror, with a data pad next to it. "Enter when ready."

[Hera]

Hera rolled her eyes - another small cubicle. Story of her life.

The hovering droid had whizz-banged its way down the corridor, its worn circuits working hard to keep itself from fritzing into a ball of smoke and fire as it issued its directives. It kind of reminded the Sith of an old butler who was long past his prime. Age having worried away at sight and physical agility but leaving the dignity in performing its service untouched. Pathetic, really.

"You think whoever was runnin' this show would spring for some new equipment, eh?" Hera tossed to the young soldier walking beside her, smirking at the droids difficulties. The antiquitated equipment inspired no confidence in either of the individuals trailing in the orbs wake. The riff-raff at the front door had given off the same impression.

Hera felt her uneasiness at this cryptic summons lessen as she moved deeper into the building. Nothing she had seen so far was familiar, or to be specific, Inquisitoriate-familiar. This was an outside party, she felt certain, operating independantly of Valten or Helghast. Independant even of the Imperials themselves. Certainly, if the droid was any indication, it looked like it had been salvaged from some space junk, stolen from some cast off work-horse barge of the Empire and recycled for someone's own personal interest. And personal interests were always appealing in their potential to be manipulated.

And so, Hera stepped obediently into the cubicle as the droid instructed, meeting, for a moment her companion's stare, "Feel free to shoot anyone who gives you the slightest concern" she encouraged. And as she bent to pick up the new datapad, the door slid shut and locked behind her. Hera shook her head resignedly, "story of my life."

[The Message]

---Data Pad Contents --

Password: Accepted
Message to Hera DrenKast - Open - Cancel - Delete
- Open -

Uploading Images - Successful.

The data pads screen shifts through a slide show of images. There also appears to be a timer in the top right hand corner counting down from five minutes.

First Image: Depicts a lab or what appears to be a medical facility of some kind. The medical staff hovering over tables with white coats give it away. Looking carefully you notice Imperial insignias and ranks displayed on their collars.

4: 28
Second Image: A series of large vats filled with an unidentified green liquid. Small shadows within them indicate there is something suspended inside but the shape doesn't hint at what it could be.

3:46

Third Image: A lab technician seems to be running a test on a panel near one of the vats of liquid. The panel display shows various information one of which seems to be an electrocardiogram. Whatever they are working on has a heart beat.

2:58

Fourth Image: Showed two scientists, assuming thats what the white coated Imperials were, standing side by side over looking over two dozen tubes. The tubes contained the same thick green liquid but were slimmer yet far taller in size. The shadows within had grown as well taking a slender humanoid shape.

1:52

Fifth Image: Some of the tubes were now black while the remaining ones were beginning to show what seemed like black oil mixing with the green. The faces on the technicians gave the situation a saddened tone of disappointment. Something wasn't going as planned.

: 58

Sixth Image: The technicians again huddled around a table. This time their starch white coats were smeared with blood. Two pink human feet could be seen poking out from the huddled mass of stained red lab coats. A possible operation maybe?

:10

Seventh Image: Elated faces of the scientists in a large group of what seemed to be around twenty. Two of which were clutching a bundled infant each. A group photo...celebration?

:01

- Images Deleted -

Uploading recording...
- Complete.


A camera lense comes into focus to show two girls running rampant through a lab much to the chagrin of the technicians trying to work. The lab is a medium size with a group of six technicians working at three different desks. Along the side are a set of stairs leading up to a second level. But its the middle where the camera is focusing as it attempts to follow the two girls who are climbing about the room like deranged monkeys.The girls look to be around four or five, strawberry blonde hair and blue eyes (if you paused the footage to check). Two nurses are chasing after the younglings who have now taken some medical equipment, from a technicians desk, hostage.

One of the nurses manages to nab a girl and a struggle quickly ensues with squirming arms and legs. The other girl giggles wildly as she weaves around tables and chairs with the nurse hot on her heels.

It seems all fun and games but the thought of "until someone gets hurt" comes to mind.

The fleeing girl suddenly trips and falls skinning her knee over a steel grating. The other twin is still entwined in the nurses grasp. The camera zooms in on the little girl who had fallen. Her eyes are already welling up with tears when the nurse finally catches up. Panning to the other girl it shows she is beginning to cry as well even though the other girl is physically unharmed.

The situation seems to be a common occurrence when none of the technicians bother to look and those that do give a look of annoyance rather then concern. That is until the lights in the lab suddenly begin to flicker. The two girls are becoming increasingly upset, sobbing turns into wailing until both children are screaming at the top of their lungs. The situation seems to only be growing further out of control when several glass beakers and light fixtures explode in a shower of class and sparks. Various control panels about the room explode outwards while chairs and desks tremble and shake. The nurse panics and drops the child from her arms. It only takes a few seconds for the twins to rejoin in a close hug and the room goes silent.

The camera surveyed the room in its aftermath. Broken glass littered the floors, control panels still smoked and sizzled and anything not nailed down had been shoved outward toward the walls. In the center the twins sat quietly inspecting each others tiny cuts and scrapes. The team of technicians along with the nurses had fled the room leaving it empty save for the camera man.

From behind the camera you can hear someone laughing.

- End Recording -

We have thought of what to say to you for a long time. Perhaps its our deficiency in words but we find it hard to communicate our reasons for -Error.

- Text File corrupt -

The rest of the message is jibberish. The file having been destroyed somehow most likely the result of that damn droid short circuiting. Its further instructions lost now save for the last point of instructions which are simply five words.

tradel'q
etul
al'bek
ruul

[Hera]

"Huh."

Hera held the datapad loosely in her hand and sat back slouching, her body angled off-center fashion in the chair, her legs stretched to one corner of the small cubicle. It was the third time she'd gone through the information and it made no sense now, just as it hadn't the first time she went through it.

She scratched her temple, perplexed more than anything else, at just what, precisely, she'd been reviewing. Or why.

"Huh" being the only comment she could really manage at the moment.

Sure, biological experimentation was not a new concept within the Empire, or the galaxy for that matter. Cloning and all its other nasty little genetic engineering off-shoots had been a fact of life for a long time now. So what did it have to do with her?

And whats with all the nonsense, "We have thought of what to say to you for a long time, blah blah blarg?" Tell me what, she wondered.

"Tell me what?!" she yelled out loud. She looked at the mirror and sat forward, "Tell me what, you little freaks?" Cold blue eyes waited expectantly for an answer from behind her own reflection. They were probably there, watching, whispering together like truant schoolboys.

She threw a balled fist into the door and pounded loudly.

"Hey - morons! Tell me what?"

She banged louder.

"And just what the frell is a tradel-que?"

[The Gemellae]

There were no answers to Hera's questions. The walls did not respond nor did the door retreat under her assault. The only response came in the form of a soft pitched buzz that filled the room. That sterile hum of older lighting systems, how archaic she thought, sucking in a deep breath which was quickly spat out in a sigh of unrest.

It was like the room had finally become fed up with her tantrum. The lights flicked out and the room went dark. Hera floated blindly in the swallowing void of black the room had become. Unsure if to move or listen. The only device that may have held any help was the data pad in her hand which gave up only the lightest of glows. The light source was barely enough to find her own fingers.

Then she heard it. The sound had caused Hera to whip her head in it's direction. Blind eyes squinting for the source while her hand, tentative at first reached out, finding only emptiness in the black. It was a voice, soft, like a little girl who seemed to be singing. Her fingers past through the air where the sound was coming from finding nothing.

Names scripted in the stars...
And who to stand against our will...

A second voice, young and light like the first joined in on the second verse. Together they repeated the two verses in harmony. A light thudding of feet skipped around the floor circling Hera. With each pass their voices grew softer until the singing had died into a soft susurrous. It felt like two little girls playing a game, the intermittent chirps of laughter being held in were injected throughout the song.

Hera flinched back at what felt like tiny hands grabbing at the Data pad. The Sith stumbled backwards, tripping over the chair, the door to the room flew open letting Hera tumble out into the hallway. The sudden contrast of pitch black to the white glare of the brightly lit hallway blinded the woman momentarily. Her eyes eventually fell into focus on two twins standing at the end of the hallway.

The lights began to flicker nervously in the twins presence. The girls were wearing simple white dresses with red shoes that matched the fiery color of their hair. They were whispering into each others ears while keeping an eye on the Sith who was still squinting under the harsh light. Then as if they had come to a decision they spoke:

"Follow us"
"Follow us" The girls spoke in unison.

The twin on the left turned and reached up to a keypad installed into the wall behind them.Nimble fingers danced over the keypad to the elevator. "Tra-del-q" She whispered each syllable. A piece of the wall slid back to reveal a set of shiny metallic doors. The twin turned back around and looked to Hera with a smile, seeing if she understood.

The overhead lightening continued to flutter blanketing the hall in darkness for split seconds at a time. Small hands suddenly grasped Hera's. The twins had managed to appear next to her in a moment where the lights had died. When the lights buzzed back to life the Twins were standing on either side of her. Each had taken up one of Hera's hands as they walked forward towards the metallic doors at the hallways end. Stopping they turned back to face the Sith. Their faces, soft and innocent with girlish smiles showing their excitement.

"Follow us Mother."
"Follow us Mother."

The lights again failed and flickered back to life. This time the lights stayed on. The twins had disappeared to be replaced by Hera's guard who had a confused look sprawled over his features. Hera was standing in the hallway with her arms still angled forward. At the end of the hall the shiny steel doors had disappeared but the keypad remained.

And we were gods once...

[Hera]

Hera found the soldier's eyes and held them, questioning. Did he see that, them? Did he hear what they said, did he understand what it meant?

The young Imperial sensed her confusion, read her questioning look. He shrugged, "The lights are fracked" was all he offered.

The Sith scowled, he was no help.

She couldn't be sure of her own senses, what her eyes had seen. Or what she'd heard. The ancient song, one from her homeland...How could they know it? Why, would they know it? The whole thing gave her the creeps.

Hera remembered back to when she'd last recited that song. It was a horrible memory, and linked to the man she'd seen enter this building before her - Baralai Lotus. It was a memory rich with dark emotion - full of torture and agony, of her own helplessness and thwarted fury.

Flashes of images raced through her mind. Helghast, Tear, those terrible needles, Baralai hanging like a side of Rancour meat on a hook, his tongue ripped from his mouth. The images lead a well-worn path to other faces, other hatreds, Valten and their ambiguous friendship, his Nightmares who avoided her if they could, the grinning, physcotic Crestmere, of her stabbing Helghast with a knife, or at least trying to and failing..

"You alright..?" the soldier inquired, concern creasing his brow further as he stepped forward to touch the Sith gently on the arm. Hera had not realised how heavy she was breathing, or that the hand holding the datapad was shaking with anger.

His touch broke the imagery and brought her back to the present.

"They used a code" she said in answer, the officer's frown deepend as he didn't quite follow.

"The girls, they used a code" she explained and used a finger to tap in "tradel'q"

The shiney metallic elevators doors appeared and the soldier stepped back, surprised.

"Eeh" Hera smiled at him, pleased with the result and looking a little creepy herself, he noticed.

"And lets try this...." she entered 'etul'. The doors opened.

Another smile and a gesture toward the soldier to join her, which he had no choice but to accept.

She tapped in 'al'bek' which opened a panel within the elevator itself, on which Hera entered the last word in the sequence 'ruul'.

"Here goes nothin" she said as the doors closed and the turbolift engaged into motion.

The girls had called her Mother. Or, atleast, thats what she'd thought they said. If the datapad was to be believed, the twins were the product of genetic labour that had finally, successfully, produced a viable return. What the connection to herself was, DrenKast felt dubious to speculate on. She'd had no offspring, of that she was certain. Whoever was orchestrating this little drama had best be very, very sure of their facts. She did not take being toyed with, lightly.

The elevator stopped and the doors opened accordingly.

The interior of the room that opened up before them was dark, and smelt..strange. Floating out of the void was music, light, playful...bizarre.

Hera and the soldier exchanged a look, then stepped forward through the threshold together.

[Baralai Lotus]

Baralai sat in the room, looking at the four white walls surrounding him. There was nothing, in the room, just himself. And after having lost his tongue, he was used to the silence. Baralai had forgotten what his real voice sounded like. It had been so long since he had actually spoken. Baralai placed a finger on the wall, and started moving it around in circles.

Baralai had always liked that shape, a circle. So continuous, so eternal. . .so perfect. It was one continuous line, wrapped around infinitely on itself. It was such a good symbol. Baralai smirked as he thought about the Order, and wondered if it would have a symbol. Perhaps he could make one, every great Order needed a symbol to rally behind, and the Sith were the greatest of them all.

He continued to look around the room, still bored. He was sure that whoever had called him here knew him. They had called him Darth Ouroboros, so, there was no question they knew who and what he was. Baralai wanted to meet this person face to face, he wanted to talk to them, to see the look in their eyes. More than anything though, he wanted to know who they were and exactly what it was they wanted.

[The Gemellae]

"What the fraaak...?" The guards handle on the situation had dropped much like the tone of his question, ephemeral and puzzling. Shadows of large animals, Mynocks, Tauntaun's, even the waving shape of a Rancor floated across the wall and over their faces. The guard took a step forward and squinted, clearly not believing his eyes, the animals were not really animals at all but wooden statues with saddles strapped to their backs. They spun merrily on the edges of a rotating circular platform. The pieces ever slowly rising up and falling down continued to spin languidly to the cheerful plink of music. The center of the ride had strips of dull gold lightening giving the room a warm bronzed tone while causing shadows to stretch out to the farthest corners. The pair shared a look, clearly a merry-go-round in the middle of a building wasn't common place.

The guards weapon jumped to his shoulder with a click when the movement of a little girl skipping by startled him. The twin seemed oblivious to their presence. She was humming the same tune Hera had heard them singing before. She had a box in her arms with a small rod curved to a right angle sticking from the side that she was twisting. The metallic music jumped pace and died with each crank of the rod. The faster she cranked the more rapid the beat of the music. The girl was smiling, slowing the music teasingly then speeding it back up. As the notes played she turned to face Hera with a smile.

"Are you looking?" The girls whispered in unison to the pair standing in the door way. One of the sisters appeared riding the tauntaun. Her head twisting, as the ride went round, to keep an eye on the two who had entered the room.

"You're not looking." They whispered together again, the twin on the ride was making her second pass while the other continued to crank the toybox, the notes climbing to the eventual climax of the song.

"Why aren't you looking mother." Their voices repeated with irritation. Although it was obvious Hera could not keep an eye on both of them at once. Suddenly the top of the jack in the box popped off causing both girls to scream. The twin holding the box let it fall to the ground, barely missing her toes, she turned giggling frantically and ran to her sister. They both fled quickly from view to the other side of the carrousel but their giggling could still be heard throughout the room.

The box fluttered nervously over the ground. Tipping from side to side even jumping an inch or so off the ground. It was managing to hop and skid its way toward the pair standing in the doorway. If Hera peeked, she would see it was a box within a box, or more accurately a cage within a wooden box. The cages roof was marked Atropos. Inside the cage the sound of feathers ruffling and the squawk of crow was clear.

"Are you looking now mother?" The twins whispered from no where and everywhere at the same time.

[Naberius]

"Ouroboros." The voice was gravel over glass. A trandoshan's hulking frame stood menacingly in the doorway to Baralai's room. The Sith's eyes skimmed over the alien's armored body. The trandoshan's frame spanned past the width of the doors entrance. While his height bordered on seven feet, translating into being irregularly large for his species, which was a feat.

"Follow." His voice was raspy, spitting the word out with little more then a growl. The large reptile turned stalking toward an already open elevator at the end of the hallway. Baralai was slow to rise from his seat but made leisurely pursuit of the beast that awaited. The doors sealed behind the Sith as he entered and without even the slightest of hints the elevator's level indicator began to climb. They were going up it seemed.

The trandoshan stared forward his hands clasped firmly behind his spiny back. His jaw rolled and his lips peeled back showing rows of sharp teeth beneath, it looked as if he was stretching. "You no doubt have questions regarding my master's offer. I will answer these questions but I will be honest with you Ouroboros. I am not fond of galactic common, it is a dissatisfying dialect and my tongue has never had the taste for it. So let us not waste each others time in pointless posturing and games." The door to the elevator slid back with a hiss, which caused Baralai to arch an eyebrow, as it easily could have been the trandoshan and not the elevator doing the hissing.

Another series of hallways. The hulking mass of the reptile slid past the Sith and took the lead out of the elevator, hands still clasped behind his back. "Ask your questions."

[Baralai Lotus]

Baralai grimaced as the Trandoshan spoke, "Who is your master? How did he know a title I haven't used for years? What am I doing here?" Baralai followed closely behind the man, watching his hulking form head down the hallway. Something about this situation didn't seem right, it seemed off.

"Most of all, I want to know, what does your master want with me?"

[Naberius]

Naberius continued forward leading Baralai into a room, massive and black, filled only with the echoing of their foot steps. The trandoshan's skin seemed to crawl and shift, the sickly green of his scales changed color trying to match the dim black of the surroundings. He had remained silent after Baralai's barrage of questions, making note to appreciate his bluntness, he finally turned to face the Sith.

"I serve the Gemellae. Your title is known to them from another. You are here because your curiosity got the better of you." Naberius activated a small button on his wrist and the sound of hydraulics accompanied the lowering of a plank leading into the stomach of a small ship. The ship seemed like a regular transport shuttle with no markings of any kind, definitely non military.

"What do my masters want with you? That is up to you Ouroboros. We know what the Empire and those serving it have done to you. The Gemellae are offering you a chance to join them in bringing destruction and chaos to it. That is why you were chosen. Because of your hate." Naberius turned back to the ship and stalked his way inside, stopping at the top he glanced sidelong over his shoulder at Baralai.

"Follow us Ouroboros and we will give you the power to take revenge on those responsible." With his invitation given the trandoshan slipped into the ship disappearing from view. The choice was Baralai's now.

[Baralai Lotus]

Baralai listened to what the Trandoshan said.

What they had done to you. . .

The Inquisitoriate. Whoever this Gemellae were, they knew of the Inquisitoriate and what they had done to him all those years ago. They knew about the hate he had for them, and how they had destroyed him. Baralai wasn't sure what this man wanted, but he knew what he had to do.

He stared into the darkness of the ship, and stepped inside. He would do whatever it took to get back at the Empire and the Inquisitoriate. He would destroy them.

[Naberius]

"Good." Naberius closed the plank behind Baralai as he entered. The ships engines fired and the hull rumbled deeply, clouds parting before their bow, they turned skyward. The trandoshan turned in his chair, after activating a sequence for the autopilot to follow, and regarded the Sith. He was standing his eyes set on the viewport out the front of the ship watching as sky dispersed into stars and satellites. But his eyes were fixed on something farther, not something as simple as stars in space, he was dwelling on the pain in his past. Naberius could relate, most beings held painful moments in their past but force users were unique. Painful moments could warp that person in such a way and make them unrecognizable, a different person entirely.

Dark siders used pain for fuel and their hatred was ammunition for their powers. The mere mention of the Inquisitors was enough to set off that power in Baralai. If the Sithling had never been tortured by the Empire would he posses any of the strength he does now? Does he realize that in some sick sense he was made better by the Inquisitors for that endless memory of pain. If he ever accepted this truth would that dull his thirst for revenge? Or would being confronted by it burn his soul into a hatred that could only be tamed by his need for power. Naberius did not know but he was hoping he those questions would be answered soon.

"My masters have a task for you Ouroboros. Something to test your abilities. The weapons we need to destroy the Empire must not be blunt." Several red lights flashed over the Shuttles overhead console. Naberius noted the ironic timing as he was about to mention the dangerous part.

"Ahead of us is a Star Destroyer. A symbol of power and dominance held by the Empire. We want you to take it for us." The trandoshan watched as Baralai's eyes widened with the shock of such an idea. The smallest of Star destroyers usually held a crew compliment of nearly ten thousand. It was an expected reaction.

"We will sneak on board and you will kill the commanding captain. You will do this in such a way that the rest of the ship will be oblivious to the change in command. How you accomplish this is something we leave for you to figure out. Note when I say "we" that means I will be watching your progress and noting your success." Naberius paused and stretched his jaw, growling uncomfortably, it was becoming sore. Galactic common was such a foul language. "...or failure."