Reanimation

[Rossos Atrapes]

Deep Core, Byss, 2 AE

(One Month Before Darkest Days: Sacrifice)

The current officer in charge of the Byss Station strode forward and bowed. “Lord Inquisitor,” he said. “Welcome to Byss Station. It is nearly completely repaired, as I am sure you saw from orbit.”

Inquisitor Atrapes strode down the shuttle's ramp, followed by two other Inquisitors, Rekoj and Vel Aath, who would both stay behind and oversee the finishing of Byss Station's repairs. All three wore the standard apparel of the Inquisitoriate, but for a moment, Rossos entertained the wild fantasy of donning a dark cloak. Amusement wafted from him in the Force, but he knew the impulse for the flight of fancy that it was.

Atrapes didn't reply as he surveyed the Stormtroopers of the Inquisitoriate that stood in neat orderly ranks; Stormtroopers that didn't answer to the military, but to the Inquisitoriate, for the secrecy of the Inquisitoriate's operations required no less than almost complete self-dependence. He realised that Palpatine was easily forgiven his lust for 'power', if one could say the feeling of being in control of this Station was such a thing. That these people would do almost anything he ordered was quite the heady tonic indeed, but the Inquisitor restrained his desire, and chained it tightly within himself. Power was only an illusion, after all. Finally, he spoke.

“Very good, Major,” he replied. “I see that you were a wise choice overseeing this facility's reconstruction.”

Major Firmus Hodrren internally swelled with pride. Atrapes had chosen this man to head the Byss Station two years ago, after he and his subordinates had battled and finally destroyed his mentor, Inquisitor Xyrias Drakkar and his underlings; in so doing, much of the Station itself was destroyed, including the secret chambers which held the clones of Emperor Palpatine. During the battle, the Prophets of the Dark Side, Palpatine's secret order of seers (using the dark side of the Force) had been decimated when they had gotten in the way of the fight. With Palpatine so recently deceased, the two had agreed that the project would be erased, and none would know either of its existence, or the ill executed battle which destroyed it in Byss Station.

“Thank you, Lord Inquisitor.”

“And the cloning chambers?”

“They are nearly finished as well. It was difficult finding technicians skilled enough to work on them.” Major Hodrren did not have to make a statement about the technicians' abilities to keep a secret. Unless they were a very skilled Force user in life, dead men told no secrets. “We still have no clue how to operate them though. It is as if the chambers weren't designed for mass producing clones, and the controls are elaborate and very odd.”

Atrapes was quick to respond. “It is not your place to know how to operate the chambers, Major. Leave that to the Inquisitoriate. Show me them.”

Major Hodrren blushed in embarrassment at the reprimand. “This way, sir.”

[Rekoj]

Inquisitor Rekoj, Byss.

Idle hands are the devils play thing, Rekoj thought sourly. His boots drumming a lazy beat down the shuttles lowered plank. Rossos Atrapes, a name growing in prestige around the halls of the Inquisitoriate indicating his hands had been anything but idle. The report of him becoming entangled with a force user in the traffic lanes of Coruscant had caught Rekoj's curiosity before the word from high up came in.

Watch him.

A simple command but no easy task to watch the wat...chers? What? Rekoj grimaced at the silliness of his own cliche redundancy. But those were his orders, to watch Inquisitor Rossos Atrapes and his hushed pet project rumored to be nearing completion on Byss. Emperor Palpatine had many secret facilities and this was rumored to be one of his most prized. What made it so different from other cache deposits of Palpatines secret inventories? It contained cloning cylinders. These cylinders differed from the more common ones seen in the era of the seperatist and republic war. They were specialized with their theorized purpose becoming the topic of much varied debate between Imperial researchers. The highlight of which was rumored they could be used to resurrect the deceased Emperor pulling his 'spirit' from the ether, as it were, into a genetic replica. Absurd.

He bit down on the butt of one of his stims and pulled it from the small silver case. Giving it a dry suck to pull it a little deeper between his lips. The Inquisitor was in short tow behind Atrapes who was already busy patronizing one of his lessers, a Major Firmus Hodrren. The same man shot Rekoj a disapproving look when he thumbed open his lighter to ignite his stim. He ignored it and lit the stim anyway responding to Hodrren with a large puff of smoke that ironically took the shape of a mushroom cloud sprouting from his lips.

Time for the tour.

[Rossos Atrapes]

The station was orderly, as was common among installations of the Empire. While not bustling with activity, there were still a fair number of personnel working in Byss Station; the most important aspect might have been the cloning chambers, but the planet's isolation lent it to be a prime spot for other experiments and secret projects.

Vel Aath remained behind Atrapes and abreast of Rekoj as the Major showed them the different parts of the station that he could while leading them further in towards the cloning chambers. She was, as usual, silent; though she seemed to be a bit curious, looking around the small group as it made its way towards the turbolift which would take them to the cloning chambers' level.

“You can see the orbiting docks and defence stations are finished,” Hodrren was saying. “The engineers would have made something larger, but the restricted nature of the hyperlanes leading to Byss would not be conducive to large fleets of any kind coming or going.”

They passed the viewport with little else but a slight glance. They were not here for the grand tour of the installation (that would be for Inquisitors Vel Aath and Rekoj after Atrapes had returned to Imperial Centre), but to see the cloning chambers.

Hodrren noticed this, but continued speaking anyway. This was his part to play in any case, and if he did not, Atrapes might use his silence as tantamount to a confession that nothing was done at all and kill him if he so desired. Thankfully, Atrapes remained silent and neither approving nor disappointed or angry.

“The level containing the cloning chambers is only accessible by a security code,” the Major narrated as they stepped into the turbolift. The man pressed a light grey button, which caused a panel covering the keypad to retract. He pressed a seemingly random series of buttons, continuing to speak as he did so. “The code is actually a number of codes, three or four, each of which is changed daily. Each code successfully entered allows the next to be entered. If entered out of sequence or if one is entered incorrectly, an alarm will sound in the security control room, and Stormtroopers will immediately be sent to ascertain the situation. There are no second chances; the lift will lock down and only the security station chief can unlock it and allow for the chambers' level to be accessed again using a completely different code accessible only to him.”

He smiled in satisfaction as the lighting in the lift switched to red. “The lighting in any lift where the code is entered correctly will switch to red; the security station is alerted and the lift is monitored. At this moment, only I or you Inquisitor Atrapes have the clearance to enter the level at our discretion. Others will have to ask permission beforehand and be cleared to enter the level.”

“You seem to have everything in hand, Major,” Atrapes said as the turbolift halted. The doors slid open. “Let us hope they prove able to keep this level secure.”

The Major nodded. “I have no doubt that they will be more than enough,” he replied.

“That,” Vel Aath interjected, “remains to be seen.”

The Major blinked as they left the turbolift and made their way down a well lit corridor to a set of blast doors.

“She is Inquisitor Vel Aath,” Atrapes said, pre-empting the Major's question. “My other associate is Inquisitor Rekoj. They will oversee the final stages of this station's repairs and construction while I am gone. They will both have the same privileges as you and I, Major.”

“Of course,” Hodrren replied. “I will have access codes circumventing the system developed immediately for the both of them.”

Hodrren took a small card from his pocket, and slid it into a panel on the wall as they stopped before the blast doors. Sliding the card quickly in and out of the socket, he just as quickly entered a series of numbers into the keypad beside the slot. The doors slowly began to open.

“I will have to ask Inquisitor Rekoj to stop smoking before we enter the cloning chambers themselves. There are many delicate machines that will not take well to smoke,” the Major said. Despite the tone and inflection being nothing short of professional, the Major undeniably took pleasure in laying down this stricture to stop the man from continuing his disgusting habit.

[Rekoj]

It was an obscenely polite smile Rekoj gave in response to Hodrren's request. His head tilting back, allowing the smoke to spill upwards from between his clenched pearly whites. With the last gray whipping tail of smoke losing its grasp the Inquisitor's tongue. He gave his upper lip a wet lick savoring the chemical taste. Then promptly dropped his stim to the ground mashing it out with the toe of his boot.

"Sincere apologies." Rekoj said with a slight bow of his head.

The door to the next chamber continued to rise and rather then wait for it to reach its pinnacle the Major tucked his head into his shoulders and bent under it. Knowing the door would be fully raised by the time Atrapes and the other Inquisitors moved to enter.

The room was brightly lit, with each cylinder having its own 'showcase' of spotlights. Rekoj eagerly slid past Hodrren, who moved to object, but thought better of it at the last second.

"Interesting." The Inquisitor had taken a series of quick hops to lay a hand directly on the closest cylinder. His finger tips traced the devices crisp edges, feeling his way across the curve of each tube, like a love of affair of a teenager with his first hover car. Rekoj had seen this technology before. After Palpatine's death the Inquisitor had begun an investigation into many of the deceased Emperor's holdings. One of the most rewarding finds was EmPal SuRecon Center on Coruscant. They had discover a large chamber beneath the medical centers which was filled with an assortment of alien technologies and artifacts the likes of which the Empire proper had never seen. Much of what he discovered that day reminded him of what he saw in these chambers. There were minor details, like the patch work assortment of common Imperial technology inserted awkwardly into sections of the cylinder where the Engineers couldn't repair the native part. But for the most part the cloning devices all seemed intact.

Rekoj hopped down from the platform and moved to the next, one as if per chance, every cloning tube might hold some secret that the others did not.

"Your men, for the most part, have done a fantastic job in the restoration of these devices. They should be commended. Have they been able to activate them?"

[Rossos Atrapes]

Rekoj was at the third tube by the time Atrapes, Vel Aath, and Hodrren stepped clear of the blast doors, which remained open even as they stepped clear of the sensors for the door.

Major Hodrren nodded, clearly pleased with Rekoj's praise. “We have done only three activation tests, but are unable to fully operate them due to the odd technology and classification issues for some of the techs and engineers. We're missing something important for the complete operation of the chambers.”

Inquisitor Atrapes strode past the stiff officer and up to the tube. He placed a gloved hand on the glass, imagining the possibilities that could be explored with this technology. He had the feeling he knew what the scientists were missing that was needed for the complete operation of the chambers.

“That shall be your and Inquisitor Vel Aath's assignment for the moment, Rekoj,” Atrapes said after a moment. His own excitement was much more subdued, but due to his restrained nature, the quick step and glinting eyes were more than enough to let anyone know that he was pleased. “You shall work on activating a single tube and getting a test subject to stay alive within it for an extended period. I believe there are some Rebel prisoners that will serve as fitting test subjects–”

“Major Hodrren, please respond to Security.”

The digital voice rang out smoothly over their heads as they spoke, interrupting them, but Atrapes was in far too good a mood to be annoyed.

Hodrren made his way to a comm station situated in the wall next to the blast doors.

“This is Hodrren.”

“Sir, the other shuttle has landed with its cargo. Shall we prepare to bring them down?”

Hodrren glanced at Atrapes, who nodded. “Very well, begin the transferral of the test subjects,” the Major ordered.

“At once, sir.”

“The test subjects will be taken to the cells on this level sir?” Hodrren asked. Atrapes was once again regarding the cloning tubes with an almost reverent look on his face, but he still nodded.

“Inquisitor,” Vel Aath began, but fell quiet when Atrapes raised a hand and flicked his wrist, as if shooing a troublesome pest or child away.

“For the moment, this is the most important project here at Byss Station; so while you will oversee the finishing touches on this station, you will also get these tubes operational,” he said, striding along the rows of cloning tubes purposefully, overtaking Rekoj in a matter of moments. “It should not be beyond the abilities of two Inquisitors to carry out this task.”

“Of course,” Vel Aath answered, but was careful not to be too boastful and end up blurting out a timetable that would end up with her death when she failed.

[Rekoj]

Before Rossos had finished speaking Rekoj had already managed to wedge himself behind one of the cloning cylinders. His torso lost between the interweaving metallic pipes and greasy plastoid tubing of which muffled Rossos's voice to a mere murmur. Again more of what he saw reminded him of SuRecon Center, or more accurately, what was missing. In particular the parts the local technicians had mashed in place stood out like ice on Mustufar. Even though some of the adaptations they had designed were clever in their application.

"Interesting." Rekoj kicked with his legs pushing himself deeper between circuitry and machine. There was a sharp sizzling pop accompanied by a muted flash of light which caused Rekoj to frantically back out of the hole he had dug between cabling. The Inquisitor gave his index finger a sore suck while, behind him through the tightly packed wiring, golden sparks dripped intermittently.

"Hodger." Rekoj shouted between sucking on and inspecting the scorched flesh of his finger.

Major Hodrren took a moment to realize the other Inquisitor was speaking to him and not cussing in some language unknown to him. "It's Hodrren, Major Hod-."

"Yes Hodger," He cut in, "I'll need a layout of this facility. Everything you have. From the earliest records available before your lads began work on restoring these devices and any changes they have made since."

"That should be easy there is a-"

"And hurry with elevating my security status will you? There is work to be done Hodger." Again Rekoj had cut the Major off mid sentence but this time the Inquisitor was busy walking away from the sparking mess he started. "Inquisitor Vel Aath, would you walk with me?"

[Veskasa Vel Aath]

She stood relatively near to Inquisitor Atrapes while Rekoj made himself look a fool with the machinery. Hodrren was looking rather miffed, having been subjected to a special Force ability that cemented the weak-willed man's loyalties with Inquisitor Atrapes. She was still somewhat in awe of the subtlety in the Inquisitor's abilities; usually such powers either wore off, or made the recipient a mindless drone.

At Rekoj's request, Inquisitor Vel Aath cast a sidelong look to Atrapes, who was staring at the nearest tube to himself with a thoughtful look on his face. He had definite plans for these tubes, it seemed. He was still aware enough to nod without looking away though.

Veskasa turned and strode quickly to Rekoj as he continued his 'inspection' of the chambers.

"What are you waiting for, Major?" she heard Atrapes say as she walked off, "You are not indispensible."

"Sir!" There was a slight tap as the Major's heels clicked together while he bowed and went off to get their security clearances and a map of the facility.

Vel Aath wasn't without curiosity though. This place resonated with the Force, especially the Dark Side, and she was very interested in harnessing the potential Byss held, for herself, for Inquistor Atrapes, and the Inquisitoriate.

"Is there something in particular you wanted, Inquisitor Rekoj?" she asked smoothly as she stepped into stride with him. She bit off the rest of her question, judging it unnecessary.

[Rekoj]

"Things, pieces, items and trinkets." Rekoj likely fit the case of a maddening man as his lips fluttered while his eyes tracked a series of pipes near the ceiling. Vel Aath quirked an eyebrow at the odd response. An awkward moment of silence past until Rekoj realized he hadn't quite answered the question.

"Ah. Do you know much about EmpPal SuRecon Center on Coruscant?" Her lips moved to respond but Rekoj gave her little chance before he decided to explain it anyway, "Shortly after Palpatines demise the Inquisitoriate received strange reports regarding the grand hospital tower. In our investigations we discovered a cache of artifacts and technology. One of the largest found in our agencies history. I was tasked by the Grand Inquisitor at the time in researching every bit of it."

Rekoj stopped suddenly causing the heels of his shoes to squeak over the polished floor. He then knelt down to what looked like a slightly raised square tile that fit snuggly against the wall. Val Aath concluded by the wide grin on his face that this was something he had been searching for.

"Much of it..." Rekoj began to feel his way around the edges of the square. "I recognize in this place. Though the exact technology I haven't seen before, you could say I've seen the same style and formula." He looked up at Val Aath and with a click, the raised square slid sharply back into the wall, revealing a embedded ladder leading down a dark crawl space.

"Where am I going with this and what do is it have to do with you?" Even though she hadn't asked the question the arched eyebrow had written the curious look over her face plainly.

"I need you to contact the Citadel. Use this transmission verification number and advise them of directory issue 79A. It's almost automated they'll send a ship with supplies picked from the SuRecon inventory reserves. From what I've seen I believe that should be sufficient in restoring these tubes or at least getting us pointed in a good direction for testing."

Rekoj twisted around, first on his knees, then took a step back and down into the darkened shaft.

"In SuRecon, below the medical facilities, Palpatine had constructed a dark force reservoir Im going to see if this installation has the same. Contact my comm if you need me." Rekoj shouted the last bit from the depths of the shaft before disappearing entirely.

[Veskasa Vel Aath]

Veskasa Vel Aath did not trust Rekoj at all. Even so, she only half listened to him as he relayed to her what he wanted her to do exactly.

"Sir, I am very close to catching him. I only need -"

"I have heard this for two years, Inquisitor Vel Aath. And while I grant you that he is cunning and sly, he is also ostensibly without allies or without resources, of which you have a glut. Do not tell me what you need. Do not shirk from failure, Veskasa. Learn from it. I will find him, but wherever he is, he can wait for the moment. He feels he is safe for now, and is not moving.

"Byss is nearly reconstructed. As the only Inquisitor other than myself aware of this investigation, I need you there to keep a competent watch on the station while I take care of a plan with the Rebels and the Jedi. Understood?"

"Yes."

"Don't go too far. I shall join you soon enough," was all Inquisitor Vel Aath said in reply to Rekoj's verbosity. The promise of getting these chambers active again presented much promise. Even some of the wilder ideas... Force Sensitive Inquisitoriate Stormtroopers, de facto immortality... they were acheivable, if only they could start testing.

She made her way back through the cloning chambers and to the turbolift. Neither Atrapes nor Hodrren were there, though. There was a transmission to be sent.

[Rekoj]

Dust. Dead air, Rekoj held the cuff of his sleeve up against his nose. The thick smell of it was almost choking. He had finally found it. The center of the base, metaphorically speaking, this room would be the key to reactivating the cloning cylinders. The room was laden with shadows, its walls a dark blue durasteel, curved to shape the room into a full sphere. The roof was shaped into a perfect dome and he was actually standing on a 'X' shaped catwalk as the floor was shaped to complete the sphere. Rekoj raised his comm device, which was doubling as a flash light, to get a better view of what the catwalks other ends held. A control panel to his left, to his right an elaborate case filled with various tapestries and scrolls. The cat walk broke into a small circular portion where the paths criss-crossed and in the center of the small circle was what he had been searching for since he began tracking pipes from the Cloning cylinders, the stations 'true' generator.

The station of course held its more traditional power sources but this one, Rekoj approached a dull pulsating green light licked at his shadow creased features. This was the source of power for its darker devices. It was more of a harnessing chamber with a small green crystal suspended inside. EmPal SuRecon center had the same, they could never identify the crystal at its center, anytime the chassis was opened the radiation incinerated anyone in the room.

Careful hands chased the warm metal casing until its lines lead him to a dust layered keyboard. Worse then a librarians tome, the Inquisitor mumbled drawing a line with his finger across the seal of Palpatine. The generator seemed to be intact but not activated. His fingers drummed over the keyboard more akin to a musician playing an instrument then a technician using a tool. The computer beeped. It was missing something. Rekoj bent his back and looked up following a series of cables and wires tracing them to one of the opposite catwalk ends.

Whats this then? A series of storage containers? He hadn't seen this end of the catwalk as it was blocked visually by the generator in the center. The heels of his once polished, no muck flecked shoes, echoed loudly against the metallic grating of the girders. He approached the set of heavy storage doors. The panel for which was glowing a deep red 'Locked' status.

Rekoj gave his knuckles a mischievous crack. "Interesting..."

[Veskasa Vel Aath]

"Inquisitor Vel Aath, the inventory you described has been found and is being loaded onto a secure Inquisitoriate ship. It should reach your location within a standard day if the navicomputer is correct... but it can't be--"

"I did not ask you whether it was correct or not," Vel Aath replied, cutting off yet another verbose fool. "These hyperlanes are not well travelled, and so of course you would not be skilled enough to program the navicomputer's route. The Inquisitoriate ships have the routes preprogrammed. If the navicomputer reports one day's worth of travel to get here, that is what it will be, unless some incompetent fool gets in the way. Understood?"

"...Yes. One day is estimated until arrival."

"Good. You had better hope it gets here on time."

With that last rejoinder, Veskasa cut off the connection, and turned to leave the comm station. She had a bad feeling about leaving Rekoj alone in such an area; his goals might be different from Inquisitor Atrapes', and thus her own, and if he managed to find some way to cut them off from it...

She reached the cloning chambers in two minutes and fifty-three seconds, spurred by the nameless urging of her instincts. Without a second glance, she clambered her way down to the shaft to the darkened and dusty rooms beneath.

Skipping the last few rungs on the ladder, she landed with a small ringing thud, and immediately lit a torch she had hanging on her belt. Her eyes took only a moment to get used to the bright light, and she followed the catwalk she found herself on, following it through a dark and musty corridor until she found a sealed door. A slight touch of the Force was all that was needed to clear the obstacle, and she continued into a pitch dark room save for a glow in the distance. She made her way to the glow, and a few seconds later the torch illuminated a large generator in the middle of what seemed to be a large 'x' shape made from the joining of catwalks that spanned a spherical room. There was still no sign of Rekoj.

Dismissing the uneasy feeling she had about the whereabouts of Rekoj in favour of her curiosity about the generator, Vel Aath studied the generator closely, seeing the crystal in the centre. With a cautious hand, she wiped some of the dust from the chassis; it seemed less dusty than the rest of the room, as if someone had already wiped it. The torch revealed some interesting symbols, which Vel Aath knew to be ancient Sith symbols, from either Sith magery, or alchemy, or some other Dark Art. It seemed also as if the generator was humming...

"Ah, I see you found it as well," Rekoj's voice sounded from behind her. She nearly jumped in fright, but managed to hide her reaction to the point of simply being startled. "Interesting, no? There is a similar device in EmPal SuRecon, but this one has some rather significant changes." His eyes ran over the now visible Sith symbols decorating the chassis of the crystal.

"Where were you?" Vel Aath questioned, eager to keep the conversation going and put the fright of the other Inquisitor's sudden appearance behind her.

"Oh, you know," Rekoj said with his infuriating smirk. "Following some leads."

Veskasa sneered slightly and turned to regard the crystal that was encased in the chassis. "These symbols are Sith magery or alchemy; ancient ones at that. Possibly from the era of the Sith Empire it seems... they have some odd characteristics that resemble certain flourishes used during that time."

[Rekoj]

"Indeed?" Rekoj leaned forward to peer at the crystal. It's pulsing green light reflecting a sickly shimmer in his own. Like some sly lover he was feigning interest while his hands moved with motivation elsewhere. One palm slid an aging data pad up his sleeve while the other tapped the nearby keyboard. A quick glance over Veskasa's shoulder saw the green light flash red, locking the storage container he had found earlier.

"Is archaeology a personal interest Inquisitor? Or did I miss that bit of training in your personnel file?" An imposing implication said with purpose. Rekoj had noticed several of the keys on the keyboard he had used were cleaned of dust from him entering the locking code. Veskasa gave him a look of honest curiosity and Rekoj used the moment of eye contact to neatly brush the keyboard clean, covering his tracks.

"It was an interesting read of course."

[Veskasa Vel Aath]

Vel Aath turned back to the more interesting - and honestly less off-putting - energy crystal.

"You of all people should understand that one learns all they can about what they find. Archaeology, like all other things, are a means to an end; that particular tool was not available to me at the time the personnel file was last updated."

She gently touched the runes, tracing them, mentally trying to remember what they meant and how they were used in this instance.

"If Emperor Palpatine was the one who ordered this made, he must have had considerable knowledge of the past Sith accomplishments. Whoever he ordered to make this, if not he himself, is either dead, or does not understand what they have made. I myself believe they are dead."

She stood, and brushed the dust of the legs of her uniform.

"Did you find anything of interest?" she asked, her eyes drifting to the keyboard that Rekoj had so recently tampered with. Disregarding it for the moment, she slowly circled the crystal, examining it and its chassis closely.

[Rekoj]

"Of interest?" Rekoj quirked an eyebrow doing his best to act the insulted scientist. "You mean this room, this crystal, this device, isn't of interest enough?"

The Inquisitor bent low reaching a hand under the generator to the twine of rippling cabling beneath their feet. He was adjusting something, as always, just out of Veskasa's view.

"Your a hard woman to impress Inquisitor." His breath caught in his throat for a moment as he struggled with some unseen object. An eventual releasing clink accompanied by a energetic hum filled the air. The generator pulsed once, then twice, eventually leading to several blast doors lowering in place over the glass that allowed one to look into the generator. Rekoj noticed Veskasa's apprehension at losing sight of the crystal behind several metallic shutters.

"Fret not." He tapped the keyboard and a smaller window opened up from one of the four blast shields that had been lowered. A green beam of light shot from the opening nearly bright enough to fully light the spherical room by itself. "You can still see it if you wish. The safety precautions merely activated automatically when the generator is brought online."

"You mentioned before several theories on this devices construction. I think your right. Palpatine likely drew up the plans for its construction and had the building done by several teams so neither builder could discover what it was they were constructing exactly. Then, when each team finished their part, he likely had them killed." Rekoj gave his chin a light stroke as he reflected on Palpatines efficiency. "It's the same reason EmPal tower remained such a secret to so many for so long."

"Sha'll we return to the main chamber and see if we can't get this machine to sing for us?"

[Veskasa Vel Aath]

Inquisitor Vel Aath found the spear of light which stabbed upwards (where she suspected the cloning chambers were) simply breathtaking.

"I... yes. I do wish to see," she murmured, her normally impassive face alight with wonder. But the unguarded moment was not long lived. Soon she was using the new light source to look about their surroundings; in short order she had turned around and saw the blast doors at the end of the catwalk. Without knowing it, she had come to the opposite side of the generator that faced the entrance to this chamber.

"Are those what you were investigating, Inquisitor Rekoj?" She asked rhetorically, as she did not wait for a reply, but turned away from them and began to make her way back to the entrance.

"Come along then," she said as she brushed past Rekoj. "While this may have restored a greater portion of power to the chambers, we still have to manipulate them to see if we can clone something, much less begin our more interesting experiments."

[Rekoj]

"Indeed." The trip back up through the vents felt shorter. The pair shared a relative silence between grunts and invitations to take the first step. It wasn't until they emerged from the grime filled maze that conversation resumed.

"Did you send the communication requesting the parts?" Rekoj brushed his uniform to little effect. The Inquisitor took a look of sudden helplessness with his fingers spread wide like a child struggling with a sticky treat. Veskasa gave a solid nod while wiping her hand off to the side in an attempt to fling some of the collected grime off.

"Good, good. Did they give an 'e.t.a'?" Rekoj was on the move again, this time it looked as if he was heading to the command center of the station.

[Rossos Atrapes]

“One standard day,” Vel Aath answered simply. They followed the pipes which had led them to the tile that uncovered the shaft and found themselves within moments back in the cloning chamber, which seemed brighter, and lights were now blinking and flashing on nearly all the tubes. Off to the side, a panel had rotated off the wall at an angle, and was now a console.

And there, as if waiting for them, were Inquisitor Atrapes and Major Hodrren, both of them studying the console intently, but the staccato taps of Rekoj and Vel Aath's boots on the floor warned both of their coming. Atrapes stood and faced them, with Hodrren following his movements a second later.

“Major Hodrren has your security overrides. There are a few more things that must be shown you before I must leave, so follow quickly.” Atrapes did not seem interested in the grime and dirt which had caked itself onto his protégé and her companion, and turned to make for the cloning chambers entrance.

This time, Hodrren turned to the right immediately outside the blast doors to the cloning chambers, and searched for a moment before murmuring an 'Ah!' and pressing his palm onto a smaller square panel. The panel seemingly disappeared, and a keypad was now visible. The Major entered a short series of numbers, and the wall seemed to break apart before them, different sections folding into others, until an arch was made in the wall; an entrance to another corridor, with a high security door at the end. The Major turned to look at Atrapes, who nodded, and keyed the numbers again, causing the door to begin reassembling itself. Some components spun open like gears, others slid stiffly out of another, until all that was left was a perfectly hidden wall.

“What you just witnessed is another experiment that has been worked on in this station, for use by the Inquisition until we deem it dulled down enough that releasing it to the other Bureaus and Offices will not reveal any of our secrets. Anyone with sufficient presence in the Force can open it by simply using the Force to do so.”

Atrapes stood and lackadaisically raised his palm and twitched his fingers. A voice, female and quite alluring, echoed out from around them. “Name?”

“Inquisitor Rossos Atrapes, Office of the Inquisitoriate, security number one,” Atrapes answered.

“Accepted. Welcome, Inquisitor Atrapes.” The door then broke apart once more, small hisses and hums the only sound that accompanied the sight, until it was once again the archway that allowed them entrance to the hidden corridor.

“This leads to our detention area. There are five detention blocs, with fifty cells in each. The cells are fairly large, and can accommodate up to four prisoners in each without difficulty; six if it absolutely necessary. Your test subjects have been chosen carefully, and each has some amount of Force sensitivity. They were chosen from among the Rebel prisoners we have on several different worlds. Inquisitor Vel Aath has security number two, and Inquisitor Rekoj has number three. Do not forget them,” Atrapes said. “Any questions?”

[Veskasa Vel Aath]

It seemed that there were none. Atrapes didn't wait long, and with a wave of his hand, the wall closed once more, sealing the detention block from sight. Veskasa allowed herself a moment to wonder; if she didn't already know that the door was there, she never would have seen it.

“I must go now. I leave the Station in your hands, Inquisitors. Success could very well lead to an overwhelming advantage against our enemies. Do not let the Empire, and the Inquisitoriate, down.”

Atrapes turned, and swept down the corridor to the turbolift and the shuttle that awaited to bring him back to Imperial Centre.

Major Hodrren turned to the remaining Inquisitors, and offered them their security passes.

“You are now able to access any area of Byss Station. I will be available via comm at any time. Now I will leave you to your work,” he said, and made his way to the turbolift.

“I believe that we should get started on the cloning tubes, Inquisitor Rekoj. I wish to begin testing as soon as possible,” Vel Aath shortly, making her way back into the cloning chambers and to the panel that Atrapes and Hodrren had been studying when they had returned from the cavern beneath the cloning chamber.

[Rekoj]

"Fancy door." Rekoj quipped as the turbolift doors closed behind Atrapes. The Inquisitor turned on his heels a keen eye on Vel Aath's back end as she made her way to the newly uncovered control panel.

“I believe that we should get started on the cloning tubes, Inquisitor Rekoj. I wish to begin testing as soon as possible,”

"Ahhh to test, by means of trial to discover, identify, or qualify." Rekoj gave his security card a flick before sticking the corner in his mouth to chew on. He sidled up next to Vel Aath who was already attempting to input a few commands into the console in hopes for a reaction or explanation of its use. It only took her a moment to figure it out on her own.

"Looks like you've got it working. This seems to be the primary control for the tubes. I believe..." He reached across drumming several fingers over the glyph covered keyboard. The control panel gave a deep electronic hum that seemed to travel out through the wall igniting each cloning tube with a series of statistics that sprang to life on display monitors near the corresponding cylinders. "That should activate the dark force reservoir feeding the cylinders. Now hopefully, all we have to do is decipher the data being displayed next to each cylinder to discover what their maintenance needs are."

Rekoj sounded confident but if Vel Aath had bothered to look at him she could see the doubt poorly hidden in his eyes. He was familiar with Palpatines technology to an extent but these tubes were like nothing he had encountered before.

[Veskasa Vel Aath]

"That should activate the dark force reservoir feeding the cylinders. Now hopefully, all we have to do is decipher the data being displayed next to each cylinder to discover what their maintenance needs are."

Vel Aath sniffed in derision. “Hope is what one holds to when there is nothing that can be done,” she replied, still focussing on the control panel. The information being displayed was of no use to her; merely showing her data on cylinders that were truly working. “There is always something that can be done. And powering up the cylinders are only the first part of what we need done.”

With a deft flick of her wrist, she skimmed along the panel, opening up other menus and commands, until she felt that she was familiar with the system the cylinders were operating on. She turned and stalked past Rekoj to the closest cylinder, studying the output panel on its side.

She understood much of the data presented, but couldn't understand what some of the readings were on the bottom. A straight line, as if something had died. A soft noise of frustration escaped her.

“What is this?” She took a closer look at that section of the panel. Beside it were three letters: F.P.D.; Forn, Peth, and Dorn. After that was the line denoting nothing detected.

“Rekoj,” she called. “Does this make any sense to you?”