Mondder

No response came from Silas, not that one was needed. A few moments passed before the distinctive scream of another TIE fighter could be heard arriving, though this one looked unlike Rogo's Dominador. For those familiar with the Empire, they would recognize it as more akin to a TIE/D Defender, but with its wings inverted. It was a modified variant that had only been granted to a few Imperials, and Silas had been one of them.

Silas pulled back on the controls as he approached the warehouse building which had been cordoned off by the local police force. He set the ship down just outside the building before exiting the craft and making his way inside, heading straight for the office where he sensed Rogo to be waiting
"Inquisitor Rogo... please, show me what you found..."

Silas followed Rogo as the young Inquisitor lead the way through the crime scene and up to the hidden office space where the fight had plainly taken place. His gaze scanned the scene, taking everything in while listening to Rogo deliver his report. Things had definitely taken a rather unexpected turn, starting off with a simple suspected active Jedi or Force User. But it had ended up with the culprit dead. There were undoubtedly answers he might have gotten much more easily had the man lived, but sometimes such things were unavoidable
"You've done good work Inquisitor Rogo..."
He moved across the room, carefully avoiding the body, and squatted down to examine the altar. Strange runic markings were carved into the flesh and bone that made up the altar. They were in a language that Silas vaguely recognized as being some mix of Quarren and the old Sith language. There were bits and pieces that he could translate, referencing something or someone known as 'The Voices'. Silas examined the figure which depicted a creature with four arms and a faceless skull. The name "Xaztes the Faceless One" was barely legible. Silas rose to his feet and pulled out his datapad, quickly bringing up the recordings to play back Oraloh's last words
"Hmmm... It seems we have stumbled upon something far darker than initially imagined Rogo... I've heard reports and seen visions of a group upon Dac... They claim to serve these... Creatures of the Abyss. I considered them a threat, but... I did not imagine they would be here so soon... It would seem our friend here was offering tribute to one of them. Perhaps hoping to try summon this... Xaztes upon Etti IV..."

"If half the rumours are even true, he saw something nightmarish indeed..."
Whether what he saw was real or not, Silas was not a hundred percent certain about. The dark side of the Force could produce and hold creatures of unimaginable power and might. Did he believe them to be true deity's? almost certainly not. But were they creatures with god like powers? almost certainly. After all, Abeloth, Bendu, Sel-Makor, Vitiate, and Waru had all existed and each had god like powers. These 'Voices' were just the latest in the existence of such creatures
"We could speculate all day about what effect the death of his padawan had, whether he was pushed further down the path or it shattered his pretense... But there is one possibility worth considering: That he was crazed long before her death. That she was trying to escape his madness and whoever killed her was meant to be helping her escape... Or... perhaps he killed her himself... Whatever the case, the perpetrator is dead now..."
He slipped the datapad back into his pocket and met Rogo's gaze
"As to what we should do... For now, we need to keep an eye out for any other cultists throughout Diarchy territory. We'll need to deal with them before they can summon anything. For now, I believe a diplomat is being sent to Dac to negotiate with the Quarren Dominion. Perhaps via the government, we can gain an insight into what exactly is going on beneath those waves... While Diarch Torken's men are meant to be handling external intelligence, I do not believe they are equipped for dealing with a danger such as this... There is much to do Inquisitor Rogo... For now, we shall wrap this up. I want everything within this room delivered to the Cathedral. Have it all packaged and ensure none of these uniformed buffoons touch it directly. Am I clear?

"I don't intend the diplomat to gain anything on the matter. If he can open diplomatic channels however... It will make it much easier to embed our own agents onto the planet..."
Silas gave a bow of his head and made for the door then, stopping and turning back to look at Rogo
"And Inquisitor Rogo, I suggest you keep an eye on more than just Etti IV. The Diarchy is more than just one planet and I'd rather you handle future investigations, lest I have to waste my time repeating myself to every Inquisitor throughout Diarchy space that comes across this... Good luck..."
Silas turned around without letting Rogo get in another word and made his way out of the building and back to his TIE/C, the Cyclone taking off a few moments later and heading across the city back to the Cathedral

The shielded doors trembled and the ceiling started to give in.

"The cortosis lining worked, sire, but they're using explosives now. We don't have much time"

The assault on the palace had begun on the earnest, but they had not accounted for the excellency of Torkan's security and guards, who had blunted the attack and held the ground. Even Inquisitors had been felled by blasterfire and vibroblade. Torkan and a group of loyals hurried themselves through an underground tunnel, accessed through his personal office.

"The Contingency is in place, my lord"

"Good, we have no time to lose"

Torkan knew sooner or later than his alliance, build on compromise and a fragile understanding, would eventually crumble and he would have to save himself and his work. Darksiders could not abide to reason, they and their unholy religion had again undermined a stable government, only for the thirst of power. The betrayal of Thrune was bad enough, but now Silas, whom he had raised and considered an ally, had stabbed him, trying to usurp power. But, Torkan was prepared. Doors slide open revealling a hangar, where a red-hulled yatch awaited: his private vessel, a marvel of engineering that rivalled the Imperialis itself. Guardsmen in long red cloaks and red armor awaited.

"Everything is loaded, sir"

"Fire the engines, we're leaving"

He then clicked something on his comm. At his command the files and copies and backlogs and everything of use on his private servers would be deleted, while he took himself a copy of his personal archives, including the throve of information from the ISB that he had ever since he was a mere director in said agency. The small group boarded the yatch, passing through a number of crates, loaded with priceless relics belonging to the Moff's personal collection and other invaluable artifacts he could simply not part with. The guardsmen entered the ship last, and the engines roared. A rocky wall openned itself, revealing an underground tunnel. In mere moments, the fast ship crossed the passage, leaving through a waterfall that concealed the entrance.

Torkan had taken seat on his chamber on board, lighting up the powerful computer. The holographic display was clear, the key locations at the capital were lost, including the High Command and the research facilities. A huge number of key members of the Diarchy's government was now imprisoned or worse, beyond recovery. A select few, part of Torkan's contingency, were now out the planet and the system both. Torkan ran through the files, stadistics and predictions. A war would be prolongued and cause significant loss of population and resources. The Diarchy would no longer be sustainable, losing important contracts and provoking a loss of interest among the investors and great companies. The assets would crumble and the bursatile class would collapse entirely. There was no way he could fight back without risking his own backup assets, including the millions of credits diverted to ghost shells and other front companies in Balmorra, Nal Hutta, Muunilinst and Brentaal IV. The yatch shaked as some flak or fighter fire impacted on it, but the redundant shielding made it almost impossible to crack unless hit by the heavy octuple battery of an Imperial Star Destroyer.

Soon, they were in orbit and a battle welcomed them. The navy, who had always been faithful to the moff, was battling the pretenders' forces in orbit, with a number of red-marked destroyers holding their ground effectively against orbit defenses, lesser ships and other cruisers. Many of those ships had been part of Torkan's battlegroup while he conquered the CSA in the name of the Empire, years back. They were loyal. Torkan keys the comm at his holodesk.

"Sire, we presumed you lost"

Replied back a stern-looking woman in grey and red uniform.

"Far from the truth"

"We're holding the ground, sir, but we fear they might have reinforcements soon. Large destroyers of those loyal to the Executrix and her ilk"

"They will, certainly"

According to reports, the Ghost of Gehenna had been seized and weaponized against the loyalists and would soon arrive to wreck havoc.

"The Empire needs you, commander Syronna. Is my flagship ready?"

"The Eviscerator is at your disposal, sire"

"I need an open route to hyperspace, commander. Break the enemy line"

"As you wish sire"

She answered, rather grim.

"Apply secret initiative 0.0.B.G.76. Code: Redemption. I will see you again commander, I will not forget your loyalty"

"Long live the Empire!"

The grey-clad commander hailed her superior and cut the communication, her holographic shape flickering and disappearing. Soon, the defensive formation was broken and the destroyers focused in a single point in the enemy line. The Eviscerator, guns blazing, mauled a smaller cruiser, the shields of which started blinking and soon disappeared, the hull pierced by blaster fire, erupting in a ball of flames and debris. Every ship suddenly acted in almost a suicide fashion, taking huge amount of damage just to make an openning. One of the destroyers, an old Imperial-class, had an eruption on its upper hull, both shield generators wrecked by bombing assaults and precise starfighter attacks. The aged destroyer started to break apart, but as it did, sublight engines roared and made the dying ship ram a Golpeador-class, taking it down with its own last breath.

"Sire, we have an openning"

"Take it. Coordinates stored in navi-computer, codename: Ashen Nest"

"As you wish"

The yatch, with engines as powerful as the Nubian starships of the Naboo royalty, crossed empty space, debris and fighting lanes in a blink, heading for the stars. Soon, amidst the carnage of two dying destroyers, a red bullet entered hyperspace with destiny unknown. Before leaving, Torkan clicked a button and, in the surface, the palace was blown and explosions shattered the High Command from the inside, making it crumble on itself. The loyal forces then disengaged and the surviving forces followed suit, scattering like leaves on the wind. Torkan sighed as space disappeared and was replaced by the fast moving lights of hyperspace.

A shame, what a shame. Time to lay low.

The now dethroned Grand Moff removed the plaque on his chest, he looked at it and sighed. Then laid back on the chair, somberly looking through the viewport. With uneasy hand he keyed something on the console and forwarded a command ahead. Somewhere in Corporate Sector,  well hidden deep within a starbase located in a remote asteroid field, a ship awakened, thirteen sublight engines thrusting the ship forward...