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Blackened is the End

"What do you mean the heavy rockets are still here?!?" La Forge was turning red with anger.

"Sir, they were not loaded to Iota as they should have been... they were left in the hangar, unloaded." The junior crewman in the weapons division avoided eye contact as much as possible.

"This is ridiculous!" La Forge continued on his tirade. "First we get a bunch of rockets, then we send Iota on a difficult mission without them because somebody FORGOT?!?"

"Sir, I..."

La Forge cut him off. "I think you misunderstand. We could have sent Iota to their deaths without those rockets!"

"Excuse me, sir..." This time it was Muscat, but La Forge continued on.

"And I don't understand why you seem to take this so lightly! I assure you that this-"

Muscat interrupted more forcefully. "Captain..."

La Forge talked even louder, over top of the interruption. "And I assure you that this incident has all the-"

Muscat finally spoke loudly enough to get La Forge's attention. "Captain, you're needed on the bridge."

La Forge stopped and paused for a moment. "Very well." He turned back to the crewman. "We'll have a little chat about this later."

The holocron had taken a fair amount of assembly, but all the parts had fit together well. Despite their scattering across the sector on several worlds and several planets, including prolonged submersion for some pieces, they all seemed to be in good condition. It was as if the pieces were nearly indestructible.

"I think I've got it, general..." Major General Jagged Fel had been working away on it for some time. As Chief Imperial Engineer, it only made sense that he was best-qualified to reassemble it.

"Ah, good... Good... Let's see it!"

Jagged Fel removed the elaborately decorated device from its storage container and set it down on the desk. One piece just needed to be pressed in to complete the device. "You sure you're ready for this? From the looks of the disassembly, it looks like Grand Admiral Daemon didn't want us to be able to reconstruct it."

"No time like the present. I know it was deliberately disassembled, but it has the answers we need." The General was excited. A holocron was exceptionally rare in the galaxy... Even non-functional ones would be sold for astronomical prices on the black markets or confiscated by authorities.

Jagged Fel clicked the last piece into place. The holocron glowed with a soft inner light momentarily... then a three-dimensional holographic projection began...

The holographic image spoke. "Captain La Forge, what took you so long?". The projection of Admiral Fel did not seem happy.

"Crew discipline, Admiral. Iota was sent out on its last mission without heavy rockets, despite my orders to do so." La Forge was equally unhappy.

"How did THAT happen?" Admiral Fel's face didn't betray his surprise.

"Believe me, I intend to find out..."

"Very well. Now that you and Commander Muscat are here, let us begin..."

"Ready, sir..." Muscat piped in from off to the side slightly.

"Let me brief you quickly on the Chimaera's role at Geonosis. You are fortunate in that Wedge and the Nemesis will be arriving first. It is likely that they will draw the majority of Rebel Forces. That said, we've identified several key targets for you.

"On approach you may or may not encounter a Rebel fleet. It is dependent upon the success of the Nemesis and VSD Vigilant in drawing off Rebel Forces. The Vigilant has already left for its flyby of the planet. We'll see how it goes."

"Sir, didn't that tactic end badly for the VSD Dominance last time we attempted such a strike?" Muscat clearly remembered the loss of the Dominance so long ago - a blow to the Empire indeed.

Fel smiled grimly. "Yes, but they weren't backed up by the bulk of the Imperial Fleet that time. Rest assured that we learned lessons from last time."

"Aye, sir."

"In any event, our probe droid sweep identified a pair of defence platform and a repair yard. Those - and any forces foolish enough to defend them - are your first target. Their likely locations are pinned on your map now...

"Following all of that, you'll need to move on further around the planet to where the majority of the fleet is likely to be anchored. Unfortunately, we cannot be sure exactly of what forces are held there since our probe droid was unable to approach further without detection..."

"What does that mean, Admiral?" La Forge didn't like the uncertainty of it all.

"It means that the Rebel forces there are no doubt the toughest we've yet faced."

"But we don't have Iota Squadron," La Forge protested.

"They'll be on their way soon enough, Captain," said Fel. "They've got a hyperdrive - don't worry about that. Besides, Beta Squadron is held in reserve normally anyway. Employ them."

"Understood, Admiral... But I do have one more concern."

"Yes?"

"Well," La Forge hesitated. "Some of the pilots will think this is a suicide mission."

"I know. I'll be speaking to them before launch time. Don't worry about that. When the battle rages, they'll do their jobs."

La Forge mulled it over for a moment. "They always do, sir."

"What is it you wish?" The dark, low voice emenated from the holocron in much the same way as the image. The image of His Majesty, Emperor Palpatine.

Jansen and Jagged Fel stared at the image, dumbfounded.

"Well?!?"

Jansen was first to speak. "Is this the holocron of Grand Admiral Daemon?"

"That is correct."

"We have many, many questions..."

"And who are you to ask them?!? I will respond only to the Grand Admiral himself."

"The Grand Admiral is missing in action, and I am General Jacob Jansen, Commander of the Army throughout the Galactic Empire."

The image of the Emperor paused. "I sense what you say is true. You may proceed..."

"Admiral, why do you always use the large briefing room even though it's just the three of us?" Wedge asked while he waited for Commander MAR to arrive.

"Personal preference, I suppose. Does it really matter?"

"No, not really. But I-" Wedge left off as MAR entered the room. "- I guess we should get started."

"I'm here early, sir, but you always get here earlier." MAR checked his chronometer to be sure. He took out his datapad and was ready to take notes.

"Okay, let's get going. Start early and end early." Fel brought up the map on screen. "You'll note the target is Geonosis, as we discussed. And our probe droid sweeps have given us an idea of what to expect...

"The Nemesis will be going in first. The VSD Vigilant will up ahead of the Nemesis, but they're not staying around long - they're going to draw off forces. But we don't expect there will be a lot going with them, so we will need to be on our toes."

"What will we find there?" MAR asked about the dots on the screen.

"Our probe droids identified a platform and a repair yard for the Nemesis to target, and a number of Rebel capital ships. Unfortunately, we were NOT able to identify all forces, lest our probe droids be noticed. It is our hope they don't know we're coming...

"In any event, the Chimaera will be joining you soon on the far side of the planet, but they're down one squadron. Namely Iota. Iota will be rejoining partway through the battle. This isn't quite what we wanted, but we can't hold off on the attack any longer."

"Are there other reinforcements?" Wedge asked.

"We've got the Vigilant as mentioned before. And as per usual, I have a little surprise up my sleeve." Fel had a devilish grin on.

"Care to share the surprise?"

"Not really. It stops being a surprise if I tell, doesn't it?"

"No fair." MAR looked disappointed. "Surprises are only fun if I am the one giving them."

"And now you know why I'm not telling." Fel continued to grin. "In any event, now's a good time to brief your squadrons. I'm going to be delivering a speech to the officers soon. Get them ready."

"Aye aye, sir." Wedge saluted.

General Jansen had spent well over seven hours plumbing the depths of the holocron to learn what he could about the device, and its role in the life of Grand Admiral Daemon... In the end, the holocron would not provide all the answers on its own, but it provided many, and a key - one that allowed many of the Grand Admiral's records to be viewed. And at last, through the records, the holocron, and guesswork... much had come to light.

Some events were already well-known and well-recorded history...

While Grand Admiral Daemon was indeed the Supreme Commander of the territory and forces the Emperor has presented him with, he was in fact not -- as he had been told -- the Supreme Commander of the entirety of the true Empire. What the Grand Admiral was led to believe was in fact precisely what the Emperor wished the rebels to believe -- that another Imperial Grand Admiral had risen with a sizeable fleet, and was attempting to restore the Empire from territories in the outer rim.

The Emperor's plan, meanwhile, continued on its course, as a great fleet was amassing in the Deep Core of the galaxy... a fleet to ensure the restoration of His Majesty's Empire.

The Grand Admiral's forces would merely provide the distraction necessary to divert the rebellion's eyes while the realization of the Emperor's grander plan would plunge a dagger into its heart.

Even with relatively meagre resources, Grand Admiral Daemon's faction grew to exceed the Emperor's expectations -- and he began to consider if his newest warlord could in fact be a threat to his carefully laid plans.

The truth of the matter was that Grand Admiral Daemon's loyalty to Emperor Palpatine and his Empire was unquestionable; however the Emperor in any lifetime did not ensure his security by relying on loyalty. At the same time, he would certainly not put this new resource to waste. He would simply have to take more direct control of the Grand Admiral.

Shortly thereafter, GA Daemon came into possession of a Sith Holocron -- a holocron that the Emperor was well aware of, for he had imbued it with Sith Magic and engineered the events through which the Grand Admiral came upon it. Although the Grand Admiral was not a Force-sensitive being in his own right, there were few sentients who could not act as a conduit for the Emperor's awesome powers: powers which enhanced the will and prowess of Imperial forces throughout the galaxy whenever His Majesty commanded them.

This holocron would be a focal point -- a manifestation -- of that power for the Grand Admiral to use to access such enhancements upon demand and with temporary effect, oblivious to the fact that the Emperor was not only instructing him on how to use the holocron, but that it was a design of his master's own hand he was drawing upon. Oblivious as well to the other effect the device's enchantment was designed to have: for its energies to seep into its user like a slow poison of the spirit, gradually opening enough of their mind to the will of the Emperor that they could be used, via that same holocron and over great distances, as a literal extension of his will when he saw fit. Through it, he would not only make the Grand Admiral one of the most effective commanders at his disposal, but would be able to control him directly -- and through him, his forces -- in the event that they did not remain as loyal as he wished them to be.

To the perspective of Grand Admiral Daemon, he now had the holocron in hand, and was being "tutored" in its use by the Emperor. To the surprise of Imperial and rebel alike -- who were totally unaware of the powers the Grand Admiral was tapping -- his public success (which, it should be noted, was nothing to scoff at before), seemed to nearly double overnight, with the rate of military build-up within his territories reaching a level that had been almost unseen since the early days Galactic Empire itself. He would decide what, if anything, was to be done about this Supreme Commander shortly; for the moment, there were more pressing plans to attend to.

The more venomous effects of the Sith Magic also began to do their work. In truth, it was working, but at a decelrated rate... and the Emperor was not pleased at the seeming failure of his holocron to do its work.

For Grand Admiral Daemon, what had decelerated the effects, interestingly, was the one thing that he had always striven to keep hidden from his superiors throughout his Imperial career. He wasn't entirely human. Certainly mostly -- but by no means entirely. The makeup of the remainder of his physiology, none know for sure -- and it is speculation whether or not the Grand Admiral knows himself. But no matter the origins, it produced in him a mind that was ever so subtly different from that of a full human, and the Emperor did not expect this...

He may have been resistant, but was by no means immune. With the willpower of the Emperor once again absent from the Imperial forces at large, Grand Admiral Daemon found himself in a position that to keep his forces on the forefront of the battle against the rebellion -- and most unfortunately, a selection of Imperial factions who disgraced the name -- it was necessary to use every tool and weapon at his disposal. That of course included the holocron, which he was always wary of, but which worked too effectively not to chance its continued use.

The Grand Admiral doubled his efforts, using the holocron extensively to supplement his energy and stamina to command. Gradually, however, more and more use became necessary to achieve the same results. He knew that discontinuing its use was necessary before it became entirely ineffective and he experienced a breakdown in the process.

There was only a single problem: the poison had finally taken effect. The holocron had finally imbued the Grand Admiral's mind with enough of its energy that two now shared a synergy, and one that needed to be replenished; for it was via the holocron that the Emperor's instructions were meant to be transmitted to the mind of its user. After attempting to discontinue use of the device and experiencing headaches, fatigue, mental turmoil and various other ill effects that necessitated sudden and unannounced departures from the fleet, some of which were lengthy, it did not take him long to deduce the predicament he was in...

To continue to use the holocron would be suicide. To cease using it would lead to insanity. He conducted research missions personally to avoid revealing his illness to the fleet (and potentially his enemies, were word to leak out). Traditional medicine was useless, and certainly none of the Emperor's Dark Side Adepts could be trusted to assist... even if he could locate some of them.

The Empire did not need an insane Grand Admiral at its helm. Nor would he be any good to the Imperial cause dead. The only remaining option was firmly planted in the unknown: the holocron had to be destroyed.

He was pleased to find that the disassembly of the holocron, at least, did not kill him instantly; but it was not promising to learn that the fragments resisted all destruction. His final mission with it would therefore need to ensure that they were scattered to the far reaches of the galaxy, in locations to no-one's knowledge but his own. Upon completion, he would return to the fleet and await his fate... Preparations to appoint another Supreme Commander would be made in the event that he began to deteriorate, but to make such an announcement before scattering would be far too dangerous to the success of his mission.

Suffice it to say that being shot down over Geonosis was not part of the Grand Admiral's plan...

"Officers of the Imperial Navy..." the holographic image of Admiral Fel spoke. "This will be my sole opportunity to address you before you enter into battle at Geonosis. This also is my opportunity to remind you that you are the best forces that we can send... and you are the forces that we know can get the job done.

"Rebel space forces and troops fortify the world of Geonosis. But their forces are no match for our Imperial Starfleet matched with the iron will and superior skill of our pilots.

"This battle will be unlike any other you have faced before. It will be larger, longer, faster... But you have no reason to fear... Rather, it is the Rebellion who is afraid of US! See them cower in their emplacements as we march forward... See them fall back and retreat as our victorious fleet moves inexorably forward. And most of all - see the cowards flee before the might of the Empire before a single shot has been fired!

"This is the hour in which the Empire shows the Rebels that this is not the Empire of old, but a New Empire born from the old... Show them the true power of the Empire... Reborn!"

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