Perlia was at war, and it was losing.

Three days ago, a coalition of several Outer Rim pirate warbands had arrived in the Outer Rim system, proclaiming their intents to pillage its wealth and promising terrible fates to all who attempted to resist them. The Perlia system fleet and orbital defenses had put up a valiant fight, but faced with far superior numbers, they had eventually been defeated.

Now, raiding parties were rampaging across the planet, stealing valuables and people alike, leaving death and destruction in their wake. Members of Perlia's law enforcement, laughably outgunned, did their best to defend their people, but they could do little but die against the pirates, who were armed to the teeth with weaponry from all across the Outer Rim.

Then, all of a sudden, something changed. On the bridges of over fifty pirate ships, officers cried out in alarm as a new signal appeared on their screens, dropping out of hyperspace deep within the system.

A new ship had arrived. It was larger than any vessel anyone in the system had ever seen, save for the immense cargo-haulers which carried immense quantities of raw materials across the stars. But this was no merchant ship : even a cursory glance was enough to make its martial nature clear. It was shaped like a wedge, with a split in the middle creating two prongs. Hundreds of gun emplacements dotted its surface, along with a main cannon larger than most of the pirate ships.

For a moment, the raider armada was frozen in shock, unable to accept the reality their sensors were presenting to them. Then, a message was broadcast for all in the system to hear :

"Unidentified vessels, this is Commodore Kasteen of the Imperial superdreadnought Invincible. You are trespassing within the Perlia system, and have been caught committing criminal acts against its population. In the name of Cain, power down your shields, weapons and engines immediately and prepare to be boarded, or face annihilation. As for your forces on the planet, they are to cease their depredations at once and either return to orbit or stand their ground and submit themselves to arrest by the lawful authorities. You have ten minutes to comply."

Predictably, chaos ensued. All attempts to hail the Invincible, whether to question or threaten, were met with silence, or a recording of the same message in the former case. Frantic exchanges took place among the pirates, as raiding parties hastily withdrew from the planet and back to their ships.

The coordination the pirates had displayed when taking on Perlia's defenders was nowhere to be seen, having started to fragment while they pursued their own goals by pillaging the planet, only for fear at the sight of the Invincible to finish breaking it apart.

Then, right on the ten minutes dot, the superdreadnought opened fire.

On the bridge of the Invincible, Vaylin, once the High Justice of the Eternal Empire, firstborn daughter of Valkorion the Eternal Emperor, watched as her Teacher (not her Master, not her Master, she would never have a Master again, he'd promised) led them through this madness they had suddenly found themselves thrown into.

Despite the fact none of them had expected to find Perlia under attack on their arrival, or that the Invincible's hyperdrive had glitched the moment they had entered hyperspace, Darth Cain was perfectly serene, an island of calm and control amidst the agitation of the bridge. Clad in his black and red Imperial armor, his lightsaber hanging from his belt, he cut an imposing figure even at rest.

Looking upon him now, it was easy to see why he had been a candidate to ascend to the Dark Council as the head of their Sphere of Military Offense, even if he had eventually rejected the offer to focus on his own projects without the meddling of the rest of the Council. His robotic aide, JURG-N, stood at his right side, ever ready to serve him tea or bring death to his enemies – the advanced combat droid, whose services Cain had obtained during one of his many past adventures, cared not one way or the other.

For anyone else, naming their flagship the Invincible would have been a sign of hubris, a challenge to the Fates that could not possibly go unanswered. And yet, since leaving the shipyards of Perlia, the superdreadnought had fought against the ships of the Republic, rival Sith Lords, and even the automated armada of the Eternal Throne, and survived them all.

Swarms of Supremacy-II class fighters were flying out of the hangar bays in hunting formations. From what Vaylin had heard, the fighters' modified design had been created by Imperial scientists at Darth Cain's command after he'd led a squadron of the standard type to victory against the Republic over Adumbria, in order to make them more effective in battle, as well as safer for their pilots. Most Sith would have considered the latter a waste of resources, but as her Teacher was fond of saying, a fighter could be replaced far more easily than a trained Imperial Navy pilot.

At the same time, troop transports were flying toward Perlia, bringing soldiers to reinforce the beleaguered local defenders against the raiders. Having seen the men and women under her Teacher's command fight, Vaylin wouldn't have bet on the planet-side pirates' odds of surviving the next few hours.

"The technicians have finished their analysis of the star field, my lord," called out Commodore Kasteen, drawing Vaylin's attention back to her immediate surroundings.

Something was wrong, Vaylin realized at once. She had seen Kasteen order the Invincible into the teeth of the Eternal Fleet, side by side with the Gravestone, and she hadn't looked half as disturbed then as she did now. The Commodore was ashen-faced, and almost trembling.

"Have they figured out the reason why it does not match our records ?" asked the Sith Lord.

"Yes, they have. It … It is because the stars themselves have moved, lord. We … we have arrived approximately three and half thousand years after we entered hyperspace."

Stunned silence descended on the bridge. Even Vaylin found herself reeling. Three and a half thousand years. It was … it was impossible. Surely someone had made a mistake. But her Teacher only employed the best of the Imperial Navy on his flagship, regardless of their political or social standing. Besides, what else could explain the presence of pirates in Perlia, the domain of Darth Cain, one of the most feared Sith Lords of the Empire ? How else would these scum dare risk his wrath ?

Then another realization hit her. Her brother was dead. Any hope she had privately held of one day reconciling with Arcann after their bitter parting was lost, because there was no way he had survived this long. She would never have the chance to explain to him why she had disobeyed his orders to bomb planets to dust in order to draw his enemies out of hiding, never be able to reconnect with him and be a proper family, free of their progenitor's manipulations. She was surprised by how much that thought disturbed her.

Then her Teacher spoke, his voice dragging her out of her spiralling thoughts.

"I see," he said, sounding just as calm as ever, and Vaylin took a deep breath, trying to emulate his fortitude. "That explains this attack, at least. The Empire must have left Perlia long ago. We will have to learn all that has transpired in our absence, but our immediate course remains unchanged. Perlia is mine, and I will not have this vermin think they can plunder it. Is that clear ?"

With that last word, a cold shiver ran down the spines of everyone on the bridge, Vaylin included, as Darth Cain employed the smallest measure of his great power to shake the crew out of their shock and return their focus to the task at hand.

"Yes, my lord !" replied Kasteen, saluting on reflex.

And just like that, Cain had dispelled the doubt and shock of the crew, replacing them with cold determination and fear of his displeasure. Vaylin was once more in awe of how easy he made it look, especially since, ever since she'd become his Apprentice, she'd never known him to indulge in the making of examples which his peers (and herself before she had deserted the Eternal Empire, a small voice whispered) used to keep their subordinates in line.

Outside, the one-sided battle continued. For several minutes, Vaylin watched as, one by one, the pirate ships were torn apart. Compared to the space battles she had witnessed before, this barely qualified as a skirmish, but she still found it a pleasant sight. Then one of the bridge crew called out :

"My lord, we have broken through the enemy encryptions." The main holographic display shifted to show one of the pirate vessels. "Based on our analysis, this is the command ship of the enemy fleet, although these pirate scum lack a proper chain of command."

"Good work, Officer Tarkus. Continue monitoring their communications. Vaylin ?"

She didn't jump when he called her name, but she definitely stood a little bit straighter.

"Yes, Teacher ?"

"I am curious to know what exactly the purpose behind this deplorable attack was," said Darth Cain, his voice no different that if they were discussing the weather. "And that ship might contain valuable intel in that regard. I am going over there to have a chat with our uninvited guests; might I trouble you to accompany me ?"

"Of course, Teacher," she replied, smiling. She always loved how he was careful to phrase his commands as requests instead of orders – he didn't need to, she wouldn't disobey him, but the fact that he cared enough to go out of his way to avoid reminding her of her kriffhead of a progenitor was nice. "It will be my pleasure."

"Good. Commodore Kasteen, you have command in my absence. Have a squad meet us in the hangar at my personal shuttle."

With that, Cain briskly walked out of the bridge, Vaylin and JURG-N (there had been no question the droid would accompany the Sith Lord) following on his heels. As they left, Vaylin couldn't help but smile. It wasn't often that she got the chance to show off for her Teacher : she could already tell she was going to enjoy this.

Captain Varan of the Dread Son, notorious pirate lord of the Outer Rim and secret Dark Side acolyte, watched with growing dread as the fleet he'd spent so long assembling was systematically torn apart by the biggest kriffing ship he had ever seen. Months of building up his reputation among the outlaws of the Outer Rim, of leading raids on merchant convoys whose paths had been fed to him by his master, of using the secrets he'd been taught to bend the weak wills of the other pirates to his own, were all coming apart before his eyes. And, try as he might, he couldn't think of any way to stop it.

Swarms of fighters had emerged from the ship, and promptly wiped the floor with the pirates' own squadrons. It hadn't even been a fight : whoever these 'Imperials' were, their pilots were good, and so were their fighters. Then there was the ship's own main gun, which was powerful enough to tear through the pirates' shields like cheap flimsy, each shot turning another craft to pieces, while their own fire couldn't seem to make so much as a dent in the newcomer's shields.

Already, some pirate ships were making a run for it, despite all of Varan's efforts over the radio to convince them to stay. Not that it was doing them much good : the fighters were focusing their efforts on the ships trying to flee, crippling their engines and leaving them dead in the void.

Where in all the Correlian Hells had this thing come from ?! He had never even heard of something that size !

Had his master known about this ? Surely not. If he had, then he'd have told Varan, right ? Unless … unless that was the plan all along ? To have him gather all the pirate crews of the region in one place, so that the Invincible could kill them all, all in pursuit of some goal Varan could only guess at ? It was certainly possible (Varan was under no illusion as to the kind of man he served), but then, why would his master have given such specific orders to Varan regarding the ancient treasures that were rumored to still lie hidden on Perlia ? No, this all must be a coincidence.

Although in the short term, the distinction was academic anyway. The Dread Son had managed to avoid drawing the Invincible's guns for now, but sooner or later the leviathan of the void would run out of closer, more obvious targets.

"Captain," called out one of the bridge crew, who would probably be on the verge of panic if not for the fact that, like the rest of the ship's essential personnel, Varan had long since crushed his will, leaving just enough of the man's mind intact to do his job and act the part of the terrified crew mate whenever the captain had guests onboard. "We have boarders in the main hangar."

"What ?!" Varan ran to the man's station, pushing him aside to look at the holo showing the hangar bay of the Dread Son.

A shuttle had landed there (and, just like the monstrous ship, it was not of any model Varan recognized), easily finding place now that most of the ship's fighter complement had been reduced to stellar dust. As he watched, a squad of soldiers in a kind of armor he had never seen before emerged from the transport, cutting down the people in the hangar with merciless precision – but Varan spared them no second thought, focused instead on the next silhouette to come out of the boarding craft.

His blood ran cold as he saw the unmistakable image of a lightsaber in the hands of a tall human woman. Then his heart nearly stopped as she glanced at the camera, and he swore she was looking right at him, before she made a gesture with her left hand and the feed died.

Immediately, Varan activated the internal comms.

"All hands, we've been boarded. All of you who can carry a blaster, move to the hangar and deal with them !"

Most of his men were still on Perlia, but there were still a lot of them aboard, all of them bloodied veterans. And he had kept his own personal squad of enforcers close by – no pirate captain survived long without a group of thugs whose loyalty he could rely on more consistently than the rest of his crew's. He sent them all toward the landing bay to drown the boarders with superior numbers.

It didn't make a single bit of difference. Watching through the Dread Son's security system, in the brief snippets before (for some reason) every camera was destroyed, it was like something out of a horror holo. Dozens of men, whom he had led through numerous raids against the toughest customers of the Rim, were cut down like weeds. The soldiers advanced behind her with practiced ease, taking shots whenever an opening presented itself. Varan was no military expert, but he was good at reading people, and even through the video feed, he felt that the soldiers were wary of their lightsaber-wielding leader, keeping their distance from her even as they followed her deeper into the ship. That had to mean something, but what, he didn't know.

Briefly, he considered the bridge's escape pods, but where could he go ? Every other ship in the flotilla had either been destroyed or run away. With how many fighters were still in the void, there was no chance of the pods going unnoticed.

Which meant he couldn't eject in Perlia. But elsewhere …

"Seal the bridge !" he ordered, and the heavy, void-proof doors slammed shut. The doors were thick enough that even a lightsaber couldn't penetrate all the way – that should buy them some time.

"Get us out of here," he ordered the pilot. "Hyperspace jump to the closest inhabited system as soon as possible."

Once they were out of Perlia, he'd activate the ship's self-destruct and eject. Recouping his losses and explaining himself to his master would be difficult, but at least he'd be alive to try –

Suddenly, the blast doors buckled, as if struck by some impossible weight. Varan froze on the spot, before a second and third impact made him turn to look at the doors, just in time to see them ripped apart, as if seized by some large, invisible claws.

The woman who had ripped through his crew stalked through the wreckage, her lightsaber held low. Now that he was seeing her in person instead of through the security system, Varan could see that she was pale-skinned, yellow-eyed and dark-haired. More importantly, her lightsaber's blade shone a vibrant gold. He had never heard of a Jedi's blade being of that particular color, but it wasn't like he'd met many of the Republic's self-righteous, holier-than-you enforcers before.

"You are this ship's captain, aren't you ?" she asked, raising her weapon in his direction.

"I am," he replied, seeing no point in lying. "Captain Varan, at your service."

"Is that so ?" She looked amused, not at all worried with the half-dozen blasters the rest of the bridge crew were aiming in her direction – but then, after what he'd seen her do on the way there, Varan hadn't expected her to be. "I suppose I should introduce myself as well. I am Vaylin."

"Well, Miss Vaylin. You don't want to hurt me," Varan said, pouring every bit of power he possessed into the words. If he could just make this work, even for just a second, then maybe, just maybe, he could get out of this. "I am your friend. You want to turn off your lightsaber and let me go –"

But instead of relaxing in the usual lack of expression that indicated his control had taken hold, the woman's face distorted into a grimace of rage.

"How dare you try to get into my mind !" she roared, and leapt forward, crossing the entire bridge in a single jump, before slashing with her golden blade.

Varan drew his vibro-blade just in time to block a strike that would have decapitated him, thanking the Force that he'd gone to the trouble of having it treated with a cortosis weave so that it could block a lightsaber without being cut into pieces. He fell back, barely dodging out of the way of another blow that instead cut a console in two, sending sparks flying.

"Vaylin," called out a deep voice from behind the broken gates. "Enough."

The snarling madwoman paused. Then she lowered her lightsaber and stepped back. Varan would have felt relieved, if not for the smirk that had replaced her snarl, and the feeling in his guts that his troubles had only just begun.

An unnatural stillness descended on the bridge as a tall figure passed through the broken gates. With each armored footstep, the temperature seemed to drop, until Varan was shivering in his armor. The lights appeared to dim, and every fiber of the pirate's body was screaming at him to run, get away, get away get away get away –

The figure resolved itself into the image of a man, clad in black and crimson armor. He looked at Varan with yellow eyes in the same disinterested way Varan would've looked at an insect, before glancing down at the vibro-blade he was still holding.

"Are you a swordsman, Captain Varan ?" he asked, in a voice overflowing with implied threat, every word sending new spikes of terror down Varan's spine.

His heart was racing, his head was pounding, his body was trembling with fright. It was all he could do to stay up : across the bridge, his mind-controlled crew were already falling to their knees, moaning in terror, their already battered minds unable to withstand this, this monstrous presence, this all-consuming fear.

"No answer ? Hmm. Very well. I suppose I will have to see for myself."

With a crack-hiss, the man drew his own lightsaber, a crimson blade that cast baleful shadows across the bridge, and though he wouldn't have thought it possible, Varan's fear spiked even higher.

"Defend yourself, pirate," said the man, before going on the offensive, moving across the bridge like a hungry void-wraith.

Varan's survival instincts overpowered his terror barely in time for him to block the first blow, but the strength behind it was so strong his grip on the vibro-blade's hilt almost slipped. Soon, he found himself forced to give ground as his opponent kept up an unrelenting torrent of attacks, never giving Varan the slightest opening to strike back.

The rest of the bridge faded away, until there was only Varan and his foe, who seemed to grow taller, stronger, and more terrible with every blow. Varan's muscles burned with effort, and it seemed as if he'd been fighting for hours, even though it couldn't have been more than a handful of seconds. Some part of Varan's mind, the part that wasn't either gibbering in terror or focused on survival, noted that the monster was clearly holding back, seeing what he could do, toying with him.

"Mediocre," said the specter in black and red, sounding bored. "I have seen enough."

Before Varan could respond, the red lightsaber suddenly twisted. The pirate screamed in agony as his right hand fell to the deck, severed at the wrist. Then he froze, as the very blade that had cut off his limb drew near to his throat. Varan blinked, and the blackness that had enveloped his vision slowly faded away, revealing the rest of the bridge, with the other lightsaber wielder and the troopers who'd followed her through his ship walking across the deck, taking over the consoles, while a droid stood at the command station, one hand connected to the main console through a series of digital ports.

They had taken his ship, and he couldn't gather the energy to care.

"Now, Captain Varan," said the dark warrior. "I have questions for you, and you would be wise to answer them."

Despite the pain, or perhaps because of it, Varan suddenly realized what it was he was facing, what his brain had refused to recognize until now. The power of the Dark Side radiated from the man like a dark star, stronger than anything he had ever encountered. Stronger, perhaps, than his master, a treacherous part of his brain whispered.

"You … you aren't a Jedi," he muttered through teeth clenched with pain, his eyes fluttering wildly from one lightsaber-wielder to the other. "Neither of you are."

"What was your first clue ?" mocked the man. "The ship I came to this system with ? The color of my blade ? No, Varan. I am no Jedi."

"I am Darth Cain, Lord of the ancient Sith Empire," he proclaimed, and Varan felt the very Force shiver at the words, as if the galaxy itself had heard them, and nothing would ever be the same for their speaking. "And by attacking Perlia, you have earned my wrath, for I once swore an oath to protect this world. And though many years have passed since then, that oath remains as important to me as it was on the day I swore it. Now, tell me why you came here. Was it only greed that motivated you, or something else ?"

"I … I …"

"Answer him," growled Vaylin. It was strange, thought Varan : mere moments ago, he'd been terrified of the young woman, yet now, he couldn't muster the energy to be afraid of her at all. Still, there was power behind her words : his panicked thoughts were forced together, compelling him to obey just like he'd compelled hundreds to do his bidding – albeit with none of the subtlety he'd used on most of his victims to prevent them or their allies from realizing anything was wrong.

"The other warbands came for plunder, for treasures and slaves to sell to the Hutts," he said, the words tumbling out of his mouth. "But they came here because I gathered them for the raid, and I did that because I was ordered to ! My master told me to attack this world, and to use the raid as cover to take the old artefacts that are stored in the capital's museum !"

"Treasures and slaves," repeated Darth Cain, his voice flat yet still threatening. "I see. And who is this master of yours, Varan ?"

"I – I don't know his real name, but he called himself Darth Sidious in our exchanges !"

Cain actually raised an eyebrow at that, looking surprised for the first time. Vaylin was much more expressive, letting out a string of words in a language Varan didn't recognize, but didn't need to to know they were probably profanities.

"'Darth' Sidious," repeated Cain, speaking slowly, as if tasting the name. "Are you certain of this ?"

"Yes !" Varan clung to the glimmer of hope that was suddenly thrown before him like a drowning man to a plank of wood. It seemed his master really hadn't sent him to die after all. "And he won't like you killing me !"

At that, Cain laughed, and the slight hope his reaction to Sidious' title had rekindled in Varan melted away like snow on Tatooine.

"Oh, you miserable kriffhead. You think I care about that ? You have no idea how many Darths I have killed before. Now tell me, how do you contact him ?"

"I don't !" Varan blurted out. It obviously wasn't what Cain wanted to hear, but Varan was too afraid of him to even think of lying. "He is the one who contacts me !"

"Then you are of no use to me," said Cain, his expression hardening, and he walked toward Varan.

"I – I told you everything you wanted to know !" Varan begged, still clutching the stump of his right hand.

"And for that," said Darth Cain, "I grant you a quicker death than you deserve for your crimes against Perlia."

Before the pirate could say anything more, the red lightsaber flashed, and Varan's head rolled off his shoulders, the last spark of his consciousness fading away before it hit the deck.

Well, I was properly karked now.

With Varan dealt with, Vaylin and I returned to the Invincible, leaving the Dread Son in the hands of the reinforcements Kasteen had sent to help secure our hold over it. The bridge crew had passed out with their captain's demise, and given how badly he'd messed with their minds I wasn't confident they would ever wake up, but I'd ordered them to be taken care of. If nothing else, studying the effects of prolonged Force manipulation on someone's brain could be useful, which was one silver lining on the calamitous, world-wrecking storm cloud that was this whole mess.

As our shuttle flew back to my flagship, I looked back at how I had ended in this situation. After Emperor Vitiate had finally died for good (or so everyone hoped, given that it hadn't exactly stuck the last two – or had it been three ? – times), I had looked forward to enjoying a peaceful retirement on Perlia. I could see the writing on the wall : the Sith Empire was doomed to crumble, no matter what the Dark Council tried to keep it together. Then the Republic would sweep through our territories, but hopefully the kudos I'd earned with them by avoiding committing war crimes under the guise of 'maintaining my honor', helping deal with the Eternal Throne and Vitiate's attempts at resurrecting himself would be enough no one would call for my execution, so long as I agreed to disappear in a nice villa somewhere.

Then the Invincible's hyperdrive had malfunctioned (or been sabotaged, it wasn't entirely clear, and probably wouldn't ever be cleared up now), and now here we were, back to Perlia at last, over thirty centuries later. How exactly this was possible, I didn't know : no doubt the engineers would be able to come up with some kind of techno-nonsense to explain it. Myself, I strongly suspected this was yet another proof that the Force had it out for me.

And to top it all off, I had just killed the servant of some other Sith Lord I had never heard about (although, come to think of it, that was probably for the best : given how much time had passed, the prospect of facing a Sith Lord I had heard about was even more terrifying).

Not that I'd much of a choice : it wasn't as if Varan would know anything important about this Darth Sidious. If he was at all competent (and any Sith who claimed the title of Darth was competent, present company excepted), then Sidious would've made sure his pawn didn't know anything compromising. And in the few moments I'd spent with Varan, his talent for bending the minds of others using the Force had been obvious, so keeping him prisoner would have been more trouble than he was worth. I was lucky he hadn't tried it on me : all he'd have needed was a few seconds, and he might have exposed me for the fraud I really was, right in front of Vaylin, who wouldn't have taken the revelation well to say the least. Of course, Vaylin herself had never needed to worry about Varan getting into her head : she'd beaten off far more powerful manipulators.

Vaylin. My 'Apprentice', nevermind that she was so much more powerful in the Force than I, what with being the daughter of Valkorion, Emperor Vitiate's latest (and, if the Force willed it, final) host body. I still had no idea what exactly she'd been thinking when she had come to Perlia after her brother's defeat at the hands of the Alliance's Commander and asked me for asylum.

Sure, I had managed not to collapse into a gibbering mess begging for mercy when she had come to Perlia a few years before at the head of an Eternal Throne's subjugation fleet. I hadn't been able to come up with an excuse not to meet her in person to surrender (which, given how it had only taken Zakuul's forces a few months to conquer the entire bloody galaxy, had been the only sensible choice, something my subordinates had thankfully been all to aware of), and fortunately years of keeping up appearances in front of other Sith Lords had allowed me to maintain my façade of calm in her presence.

But that didn't explain why she'd felt I could help her deal with the frankly absurd amount of trauma her father had inflicted upon her. Still, since having the Emperor's daughter continue to be a violently unhinged psychopath wasn't in anyone's interests (especially mine, since she was in the same system as me), I had done my best to assist her (genuine, to my own unstated surprise) efforts to recover from her less-than-stellar 'education'. Really, undoing years of brainwashing and outright torture was something I felt the Jedi Order would probably have been better suited for, but I was the one Vaylin trusted, for some Force-forsaken reason, so I was stuck with her.

And, to be honest, I had been pleasantly surprised by the results, even if I still had to be very careful not to slip and reveal my true character in her presence. She wasn't anything I would call sane yet, but she was doing much better than when she'd first declared herself my Apprentice (without asking me, apparently taking my acceptance as guaranteed).

Unfortunately, Vaylin was far from being the only one I needed to worry about aboard the Invincible, although she was definitely the most dangerous by a considerable margin. The ten-kilometers long superdreadnought was home to tens of thousands of Imperial citizens. The naval crew alone was around fifty thousand, if I remembered correctly, and I knew exactly how many of its military complement had survived our last deployment : ninety-seven thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven, and that was without counting the combat droids.

And each and every single one of them had a gun. In fact, many of them had a lot more than that, and if they decided to use them on me, I was doomed. Fortunately, in all my years as a reluctant agent of the Empire, I had gone to considerable lengths to avoid developing the kind of reputation most of my peers had among the Imperial Army. While I was perfectly willing to sacrifice soldiers to save my own skin, I'd kept that fact from them, and avoided throwing their lives away in pointless displays of power and intimidation, both because that left me with less troopers to hide behind when the blasters started firing and because I wanted their blasters to be aimed at the enemy, not me.

Under normal circumstances, I would have been confident the soldiers aboard the Invincible would follow my commands without question – they had done so through all the crazy nonsense that had preceded our little hyperdrive mishap, after all. But these were far from ordinary circumstances. I would have to tread very carefully to avoid a mutiny.

Apart from enough soldiers to conquer and hold an entire star system, there was a bunch of Sith Acolytes aboard the Invincible : Dark Side neonates who had fled the rest of the Empire for various reasons and come to Perlia seeking my protection and patronage. There was also the squad of Mandalorians who were convinced that they owed me a debt of honor that could only be repaid by following me around and fighting alongside me. Personally, I was convinced that was just an excuse the battle-maniacs were using to stick with me, having caught on to the stroke of bad luck which had caused me to fight for my life more times than I was comfortable thinking about. While neither group was as powerful as Vaylin or as numerous as the common troopers, I still needed to keep them in mind if I wanted to survive this mess.

The Invincible had all the facilities required to produce armaments for the military complement on board, so long as it was provided with raw materials. When designing the ship, I had let the architects go as overboard as they liked, since the whole thing had been a ploy to spend the resources that seemingly always ended up falling into my hands whenever I was forced to risk my life for the glory of the Empire. After all, if those resources were tied up in the dreaded Darth Cain's personal project, then nobody would ask for them in order to fund their own personal projects, which would help get me less involved in my esteemed peers' nonsense.

I had been very proud of the idea at the time, only for the superdreadnought's construction, which had begun a few months before the Treaty of Coruscant, to finish right in time to join the fight against the Eternal Empire. People had assumed I had been planning to do so all along, and disillusioning them would have resulted in me having to face the wrath of the Alliance Commander – a Jedi who had managed to journey to Dromund Kaas itself and kill the Emperor's Voice. So, not someone I wanted angry with me.

Well, at least it meant I had a solid base of operation in this new galaxy, I consoled myself as I entered the command bridge and sat back on my throne, which gave me a view of the entire bridge while also being out of the way of the people who actually knew a damn thing about running things.

"The pirates have been dealt with, my lord," saluted Commodore Kasteen. "Commander Broklaw reports that our forces on the ground have rooted out the last of the criminals who were trapped planetside when their accomplices fled or died."

"Thank you, Commodore," I replied. "Now, do we have any new information about the galactic situation ?"

One of the data-analysts hesitantly stood up. I nodded at her, and she began her report :

"We have been able to access the Holonet and comb through publicly available historical records," said the analyst. "My lord, the Empire has … has fallen. It fell thousands of years ago. It's gone. What … what are we going to do ?"

Truth be told, I didn't really care about the fall of the Empire – in fact, the disappearance of the Dark Council and all the other Sith Lords who had constantly tried to get me killed was perhaps the singular silver lining in this whole mess – but I couldn't let it show. The ship's officers were genuine patriots : for some reason I'd never understood, they had willingly dedicated themselves to a system where they would forever be second-class citizens, under a theocracy of mad sorcerers who spent their time backstabbing each other even in the middle of a galactic war. Revealing how little the Empire had mattered to me would be suicide.

So it was time for another performance. Thinking of what would happen to me if the truth got out, I drew upon the Dark Side, weaving my fear around me like a cloak, using the Force trick which had saved my hide so many times before. The bridge's temperature plummeted, and crew members recoiled – although Kasteen herself stood her ground, showing the backbone which had earned her command of the Invincible despite being a woman in the male-dominated Imperial Navy.

"I see," I said curtly, letting the Dark Side fall away as if I had just reined in my temper. "And what of the Republic ?"

"The Republic still stands," the analyst replied. "Nowadays, it is the primary galactic state, with the Hutts the closest thing to a rival power."

"The Hutts," I sighed theatrically. "Truly the mighty have fallen. Very well. Return to your post, and continue investigating the situation. I will expect a full report later."

"Yes, my lord !" saluted the analyst, before sitting back down at her station, no doubt immensely relieved I hadn't choked her to death for the crime of delivering bad news like so many Sith Lords would have, no matter how pointless and self-defeating it would have been.

"My lord," called out another operator – this one working on the comms, if I remembered the bridge's setup correctly. "We are being hailed by the local government. They are asking to speak with you."

Given that, from their perspective, we had just arrived out of nowhere with a ridiculously huge ship and swatted the invaders they'd had so much trouble with like a bunch of flies, I could well understand why the locals would want to talk with me. Well, 'want' was perhaps too strong a word. 'Need' was probably closer to the truth.

Until the Invincible's hyperdrive was repaired (or, preferably, completely replaced, as I would rather avoid being hurled even further into the future), we were stuck in Perlia.

"Open the channel," I ordered, and within a few seconds, the image of a middle-aged man in the kind of elaborate costume only career politicians across the galaxy could get away with appeared in the main holo in front of me.

For a few seconds, he simply looked at me, eyes wide, and I wondered if the transmission had frozen – then he shook himself, and I realized he had just been surprised to see me for some reason, despite being the one who had initiated the call

"Lord Cain," the man said, bowing deeply. "I am Lio Trevellyan, Regent of Perlia. It is a great honor to witness your return, and all of Perlia rejoices at your timely arrival."

"Well met, Regent," I replied. "I assure you, it was our pleasure to assist you in dealing with this incursion. But I had thought that Perlia would have been happy to forget its time under the Empire."

"My lord," the Regent hastily protested, "I swear to you it isn't so. Though it has been many years, and the details have sadly been lost to us, we still remember how you liberated us from the corrupt dynasty that ruled this planet before the coming of the Empire. Yes, we rejoined the Republic, but that was only because you were gone. And now that you are returned, it is my duty and privilege to fulfill the ancient oath of my family and return control of Perlia to you."

Force, I realized, he was serious. The title of 'Regent', which I had thought was just a local custom (I'd certainly encountered stranger ways to call a planet's ultimate authority), must be rooted in that oath – if it even existed and Trevellyan wasn't lying to me, but I felt confident he wouldn't try such an obvious and easy to spot lie so early.

How bad was the situation on Perlia that he was willing to just hand over control of an entire planet to me ?! No, I needed to be calm about this. From his perspective, the pirates may be gone, but there was still the largest military ship he'd ever seen left in the system. And if Perlia remembered anything of the Empire, then making his surrender as clear as possible was the smartest move he could make – although I was a little hurt the Perlians remembered me as another of the Empire's ham-fisted tyrants, who needed to be appeased with such blatant brown-nosing as Trevellyan was doing now.

Sure, I was under no illusion that I'd been a great ruler for Perlia in the years after I'd been forced to conquer it for the Empire, but I took solace in the knowledge that I'd definitely been better than any other Sith Lord would've been.

"I see," I said. "This is pleasant news to be sure; we will need to discuss matters in person soon. My entourage and I shall make planetfall soon : please prepare to receive us. We'll contact you with the details later."

"Yes, my lord," he bowed again. "We will make sure to prepare a reception worthy of someone of your standing."

And Force, couldn't that be interpreted in a multitude of ways. I could already tell my paranoia wouldn't let me relax at all once I was on Perlia, just in case someone decided that assassinating me was the best way to avoid having the planet back under the rule of a Sith Lord – nevermind that I was pretty sure that my death would cause far more trouble for Perlia in the long run, since I wouldn't be here to restrain the fanatics under my nominal command.

As the comms officer shut down the Regent's transmission, I addressed him :

"Open a channel to the entire ship, please. I think it's time I talk to our people."

"You're on, my lord," he told me after a few seconds of pressing buttons and flicking switches.

Silence fell on the bridge as the officers listened intently, curious as to what I was going to say. Much to my discomfort, I had gathered something of a reputation for making speeches in the (now distant) past, and while it had helped save my life on numerous occasions, the notion of lying to tens of thousands of people at the same time was still nerve-wracking.

Once again, I poured my fear into the Force, and forced myself to go on :

"People of the Invincible, this is Darth Cain speaking.

By now, you have probably realized that something strange has happened to us all. How else could Perlia be under attack, when all in the galaxy knew it was under our protection ?

The answer is simple. Because everyone thought that we were dead, and Perlia was defenceless.

You are all aware of the malfunction that struck our hyperdrive when we left our last battle. Its origins remain a mystery, but while our engineers managed to save us all from annihilation, it still resulted in us arriving at our destination over three and a half thousand years after our departure.

The Empire is long since gone, and only the Republic remains in known space. According to the exchange I have just had with the local authorities, the last of the Sith were wiped out by the Jedi a thousand years ago – though I have reason to suspect that is only what the Republic believes.

The war we have fought all of our lives is over, my friends. Now is the time for us to look to the future.

The coming days will be hard on all of us, of this there is no question. Everything we knew is gone, and for many of you, that includes your friends and families. But remember, you aren't alone in this dread hour. You have your comrades by your side, and you have me standing with you. Our oaths to one another remain unbroken, as unaffected by the passage of millennia as our own flesh.

I promise you, we will rise to this unprecedented challenge. Already the Regent of Perlia has recognized my authority, and the people of this system, grateful for our help against the pirate scum, have welcomed us back after our long absence.

Together, we will chart a course in these strange waters, to survival, triumph, glory, and beyond !"

With a gesture to the comms officer, I ended the broadcast, feeling confident that little speech should be enough to keep the troops from turning against me until I figured out my next step through this mess, only to find the entire bridge crew standing at attention, looking at me with something uncomfortably close to adoration in their eyes.

I blinked, surprised, but was spared from having to process the unexpected sight when JURG-N approached me. There were very few people I would have let get so close to me without going for my lightsaber, but the hyper-advanced combat droid with a protocol droid core was one of them.

"Sir, news from the medbay," he whispered into my ear. "Knight Vail has awoken."

I immediately stood up from my command throne.

"Commodore, you have the bridge," I told Kasteen briskly, already walking toward the exit. "Something has come up that requires my immediate attention."

With any luck, maybe Amberley could help me make sense of this mess. If nothing else, having a Jedi at my side should keep the Republic from immediately declaring a galaxy-wide hunt for my head.

AN : Happy May the 4th, everybody !

Yes, this is another story. Because the Muse is strong, will not be denied, and I have been on a Star Wars binge recently (mostly Legends stuff, along with a lot of fanfics, from which I will shamelessly take inspiration going forward).

The timeline of Star Wars : The Old Republic (SWTOR) got messed up by Cain's presence and actions (which, conveniently, spares me from having to do a lot of research into the official timeline). If you aren't familiar with Bioware's MMO, then you're probably confused, but I plan to use the reaction of the rest of the galaxy to do some exposition so you're caught up to speed.

As for when the events of this chapter take place in the Prequel Trilogy, as indicated in the blurb, we are between Episodes I and II, but I haven't decided when exactly in that ten-years period. Initially, I went with one year after the Battle of Naboo, but I decided to remove that clarification since I haven't come up with a proper, complete timeline for the story and when exactly this starts will affect things like the state of the Clone Army and Anakin Skywalkwer's involvement. By the time of the next chapter, that question will hopefully be clarified.

On the same note, don't expect regular updates for this. I am planning to have the entire story planned out before actually starting it (that is to say, knowing exactly how many chapters there will be, and the broad strokes of what happens in each) in order to avoid another story growing too long.

Stop laughing. I mean it this time.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this first chapter, and I look forward to your thoughts and suggestions.

Zahariel out.