Oremin: The Hidden Empire

Lynxidia, or just Lynx to her friends, grinned ruefully at her companion. “I hate to admit it Kem, but you were right this time.”

Kem grinned back. “What’d I tell you, Lynx? What’d I tell you? All that nonsense about the Chasm being haunted was a bunch of Spacer superstition. Only an idiot would have believed those tall tales. I mean, just look at our reward!”

Lynx looked out the viewport again; indeed it was hard to miss the planet in front of them. It was huge, easily the size of some of the smaller gas giants. It felt like they were going to crash into it even though they were still a good few clicks away. Orbiting the planet were three moons that could almost be considered planets in their own right. Encircling it all was a lazy asteroid ring.

Even more promising were the initial scans, scans the suggested that the mysterious planet was composed of several rare and valuable ores, not to mention many that were simply mundane but still highly profitable. The three gigantic moons and the asteroid field all showed similar properties. It was a prospector’s dream come true.

Any galactic corporation would sell their proverbial right arm to get their hands on this mother lode.

Still, Lynx was haunted by the rumors that surrounded the Chasm. It was whispered in cantinas from Tatooine to Nar Shaddaa that any ship that entered the Chasm would be lost forever. There were tales of ghost ships that haunted this area, ranging from solo tramp freighters to whole Imperial fleets. The mere fact that the Chasm rested on the borders of Wild Space did not help matters. No one knew for sure what waited beyond the borders of the galaxy. For all Lynx knew, the rumors of ghost ships could be entirely true.

“Let’s get out of here, okay Kem?” Lynx all but pleaded. “I don’t want to be stuck here any longer than we have to.”

“What, are you crazy?” Kem retorted. “We still have to get a more detailed analysis of that planet. Fire up the Star’s high-res scanners and tell me what you find.”

Seeing she had little choice in the matter as Kem was the one flying the ship, Lynx sighed and brought up the Star’s sophisticated sensor package. “I’ve got a bad feeling about this…” she mumbled.

“Would you relax?” Kem implored. “I promise nothing bad is going to happen, okay?”

Lynx chose not to answer as she continued scanning the planet. Due to its sheer size, the scanners would take some time to map the entire planet in detail. However, it had barely started when an alarm sounded - it was a familiar siren, it meant that there were people already on the mysterious planet, powered vehicles to be more precise. Almost as soon as the alarm sounded it cut off again.

Lynx double-checked the readings as her brow furrowed. “This… this doesn’t make sense,” she mumbled. “Let me try the image enhancers…”

“What’s going on?” Kem asked, more curious than alarmed.

“This!” Lynx told him as she brought an image up on the main screen. It showed a top down perspective of the surface on the planet. It was rocky and barren, but if one looked hard enough they’d be able to see small dots moving around on the surface. Every so often one of them would catch the sun in a particular way, betraying them to actually be metallic.

“The hell?” Kem muttered as he squinted at the screen. “Are those what I think they are?”

Lynx threw her hands up as she leaned back in her seat. “Your guess is as good as mine. The Star can’t get a reading on them, or the planet and its moons for that matter. According to the ship, we should be in the middle of open space right now.”

“Blasted piece of junk!” Kem cursed as he smacked one of the consoles. “Let’s just see what it says when I touch down on the planet.”

Lynx stared at him wide-eyed. “Kem, think about this for a minute. Even if the planet does exist, the gravity on it must be tremendous. We won’t be able to venture outside without being crushed by our own weight and the Star will be hard pressed to lift-off again. We simply aren’t equipped to explore a high-gravity world.”

Kem’s counterargument was cutoff as the Star shuddered, followed by several more blasts that rocked the ship. Lynx and Kem checked the readouts amid another flurry of shots that seemed to come out of nowhere. The Star was still insisting that they were in open space.

That notion was easily dismissed when the dagger-like form of a TIE Interceptor, followed closely by several of its brethren, screamed by the Star’s cockpit. Kem immediately turned the ship around to jump out of the system, but they were still too deep within the enormous planet’s gravity well.

Lynx was terrified out of her mind. “It’s the ghosts! The stories were true! We’re doomed!”

Kem was too busy to answer her as he struggled to keep the Star’s shields up and target one of the Interceptors. The Star’s computers still refused to confirm the existence of the enemy starfighters despite Kem’s best efforts.

Amidst another barrage, the shields on the Star abruptly collapsed. Alarms began to sound all over the ship as it sustained more and more damage. Kem and Lynx shared one last look before a couple of green laser blasts pierced the cockpit and opened up the interior to vacuum…

***

Hidden away from the Star’s destruction, a silent figure watched as the blip that represented the errant starship abruptly disappeared. The man’s eyes were hard and his face weathered from a lifetime of experience. However it only served to add an air of authority and distinction to his formidable presence.

“Alpha One to Oremin control, the intruder has been destroyed. No Survivors.”

A second later, Reneg Kasr could make out the twelve dagger-like forms of Alpha Squadron reentering the deception cloak. His sharp eyes followed every one as he mentally estimated their status. They seemed to emerge past the artificial starfield like birds of prey from a cloud. An appropriate reference considering the way Kasr had to run Oremin. No one, save those he trusted, would ever know of its existence if it could be helped.

Kasr thumbed the com button. “Good work, Alpha Squadron. The clean-up crew is already on the way.” Even as Kasr spoke, specialized shuttles had been dispatched to remove all evidence of the Star and the conflict that had destroyed it.

Secrecy was key here at Oremin.

If anyone ever found out the truth behind the Chasm, let alone how extensive Oremin was, Kasr’s carefully constructed secret would collapse in an instant. His plans would be ruined, decades of careful planning gone. He doubted that the Empire or the New Republic would allow something like Oremin to continue its existence. A rather ironic statement in the Empire’s case as Kasr had set up Oremin to make sure the Empire would survive under any means necessary.

To put it simply, Oremin was a back-up plan, a last-ditch defense to prevent the ideals of the New Order from slipping away forever. It had taken Kasr half his lifetime to move all of the material needed to keep Oremin self-sustained and not attract unwanted attention while doing it. Ships lost in hyperspace, missing convoys, unaccredited pirate raids, many of them could be traced back to Kasr if he had been careless enough to leave any evidence behind.

Under Kasr’s careful instruction, Oremin had grown from a few starships loyal to him to a vast sprawling complex of factories, refineries, research centers, and shipyards. Work was slow, painfully so due to the limited manpower and the need to keep everything top secret, but the careful pace was an unfortunate necessary evil.

That should have been enough for any man, but Kasr still wasn’t satisfied. Just because the Empire was reuniting did not mean that it couldn’t be shattered again. It was still fragile and still filled with too many power-hungry individuals for Kasr to rest easy, further measures had to be taken to keep the Empire stable… something more drastic.

Kasr brought up the image of an enormous shipbuilding berth that would soon house his greatest project to date. It easily dwarfed most of the structures around it, including the small white forms of three Imperial-class Star Destroyers. That was the spot where his command ship would be built, the perfect tool for his plans.

The Majestic waited patiently as the Arrow came within com range. Captain Rishard Trieon was a bit apprehensive about the prisoner transfer. The Arrow’s deft capture of the Obsidian at Bilbringi would likely make some of the more suspicious Imperials start to wonder…

But perhaps Trieon was reading too much into all this, in any case none of his musings ever appeared on his face. To his crew, he still looked like the confident, slightly haughty Imperial he made himself out to be.

“This is Captain Venrif to the Majestic, the prisoners have been scanned both inside and out for tracking devices. None were found. We destroyed the shuttle two jumps back. They’re all yours.”

Trieon smiled. “Good job, Captain. I’ll see to it that GARK is aware of your thoroughness. We’re ready for the transfer.”

The exchange was quick as the two scientists were brought, in binders, to the Majestic’s brig. Instead of the usual guard, there would be four stormtroopers keeping watch. It was a measure that Trieon felt was justified. He would take no chances until he handed the two to Kasr.

IC: Remi Thash sat in a small, dark room on orbital mining station 13. There were two control sticks and a holomoniter in front of him. At the other end of the control sticks, some 10,000 kilometers away, was a robotic repair droid. Remi was attemptinf to use the fine motor control function of the droid to attempt a repair on one of the High-Grav mining facilities on Oremin.

The extremely high gravity of the planet, the same gravity that made landing people on the planet impossible, was also constantly pulling small asteroids from its orbit, causing them to crash down at random across the landscape. Unfortunately, a larger rock had recently hit one of the primary mining stations on Oremin, and a related asteroid shower had completely decimated the droid control relay station in the area.

The DCR Station could be replaced easily in a couple of weaks, but with construction of the new Super Star Destroyer underway, the loss of minerals at this mine for even two weeks would be an unacceptable delay. So Remi had assigned every available man on this orbital platform to man remotes for individual droids to attempt to affect repairs on the mine.

Unfortunately, Remi wasn't designed to automatically compensate for extremely high gravity the way the artificial inteligence was. With every minute movement, the droid's limb positions would shift radically downward. After more than 5 hours, Remi found himself still doing more damage than he was fixing.

Suddenly a door opened in the room. Remi looked up and, without realizing it, lazed his control of the repair droid. The repair limb came crashing down, making another dent in the thick skin of the mining station, and damaging that repair limb beyond repair.

Exasperated, Remi threw both his arms in the air and screamed at the person in the doorway, "What!?"

Remi's personal aid was the man in the doorway. Remi instantly felt guilty for yelling at the man. He would never interrupt Remi if he didn't know it would be worth it. "Director, one of our engineers has found a solution to the Repair droid situation."

Remi calmed himself, "Then by all means, send him in."

Remi's aid dissapeared and a small woman stood in his place. Remi realized that the reason he couldn't see her was because the lights were all out, "Lights," he said. The lights in the room came up and the woman stepped into the room. She very young. Too young to have gone through the training that all Imperial engineers went through at any of the major acadamies. With her standing in front of him, at 42 Remi felt like an old man.

She approached him and, rather than offering a salute, extended her hand.

"Kathryn Valmer, High Grav research specialist. Mr. Garret incorrectly introduced me. I'm a scientist, not an engineer. And I'm civilian, not under your command."

Remi reached out and shook her hand, "I was not aware that we had civilians on Oremin. Thank you for clearing that up, Miss Valmer. I'm Director or Mining and Construction Remi Thash."

"I know who you are, DMC. And I also know how to get Polark off of your back."

"I'll ignore your brashnees for the moment, if you really can get our production level back up to par." Remi sat back down at the moniter, "So what are you proposing we do."

Valmer looked even more confident than she had before, "The programming is already in place. I've rerouted the main droid control station through each of your people's remotes. It'll take up a lot more of that computer's attention, but it'll allow the droids to each be controlled individually to get the job done."

"And how do we get your program to take effect?"

"the computer's built so that it never overrides a human opperator. Just order your men to stop their pathetic repair attempts and the computer will do the rest."

Remi looked down, and to his astonishment, the droid was continueing it's repair work all by itself.

"well, I guess that's one of the day's problems solved," Remi said. He hit a few commands and replacing the visual from the droid, a an absurdly long list apeared, "Thank you for your help Miss Valmer. Would you care to have a look at any of the rest of these malfunctions?"

Her look of smugness dissapeared as her jaw dropped open.

Kasr was even more of an enigma, he didn’t even have an official title or rank. Then again, he was the type of man who made his own authority. Kasr had this unique driving force that frequently astounded Polark. There were very few people in this universe who could set up something like Oremin and still keep it a secret. Only one person at Oremin could truly say they knew Kasr, and sadly Polark wasn’t him, no that honor belonged to Admiral Jer Roviditian of the Kismet.

“How are things running, Polark?”

Polark didn’t have to turn to know to whom that richly cultivated voice belonged to. Everyone here knew that voice.

“Everything is on schedule, Kasr,” Polark reported. “We had some problems with a mining station on planet, but the DMC reports that we’ll be back up to full capacity shortly.”

“Very good,” Kasr complimented. “I don’t want any further delays on the Silent Shade’s development.”

Polark looked at Kasr out of the corner of his eyes. “Silent Shade, sir?”

“The name I’ve chosen for the SSD,” Kasr explained. “Rather appropriate, don’t you think?”

“Yes, sir.”

Kasr nodded. “The Majestic is en route with two more scientists for my think tank, I want to be informed the moment they arrive.”

Polark allowed himself a small smile. “I have a feeling you’ll know before me, but yes, I’ll make sure you’re the first to know.”

"What now?" Was all that Roc could say as he stared up at the ceiling from his bunk.

"You said, lets use the confusion to escape from Braniards machinations. I think your exact words where, i'm sick and tiered of coming back to this cell everyday lets escape and go home. Now look where we are back in a cell again." Fel's fist smashed against the wall as he looked around at the smaller cell than the one at the IRC.

"Did you really think we wouldn't be put in a cell till they sorted out who we are. After all we have been gone for three years. we could be spies for anyone of the super powers or out for our own gains. Give them time and we'll be in some decent appartments.

“Oremin, this is the Majestic. We’re ready to unload the prisoners,” Trieon announced. “Please transmit an entry vector.”

A moment later Polark’s voice answered him. “That is confirmed, Majestic. Coordinates are being transmitted for facility Beta Six. GARK has been looking forward to their arrival. Stand by.”

GARK, that was what Kasr demanded to be called by in any transmission. After all the years of secretly working for Kasr, Trieon still didn’t know what was so significant about it, but he didn’t much care either. He supposed he could find out from Roviditian if he really wanted to.

The console next to him chimed once, letting him know that the new flight plan for the Majestic had been received. “Bring us in,” he ordered.

Slowly the wedge-shaped ship of war moved forward before seemingly slipping right into the fabric of space. The only evidence of its passing was the rapidly dissipating ion trail.

Once the Majestic had docked, the scientists/prisoners, still in binders, were escorted under armed guard to a small room and locked in. Inside the barren room was a table with four chairs and a rotating laser turret embedded in the ceiling.

Not even five minutes after Roc and Fel had been dropped off, another man entered. He wore a black uniform that seemed to be fashioned after the same kind that would be worn by an Imperial Admiral. His brown hair was graying at the sides and lent an air of distinction to his appearance. His eyes were ice-blue and seemed to burn with their own fire, a clear indicator that age had not dulled his wits one bit.

As he entered, those same ice-blue eyes quickly swept over both Roc and Fel, seemingly appraising the two in an instant. His movements were swift and sure as he sat down opposite them in one of the metal chairs. He stared at them again before folding his hands and leaning back ever so slightly in the chair.

Sarca had been with Kasr’s think tank from the very beginning when they had been experimenting with different and better ways to kill Jedi, back when the Empire had still funded it. She had seen her fair share of scientists come and go. She always tried to help the new acquisitions settle and adjust to their new life, but that wasn’t always successful. Kasr himself usually executed those that protested or otherwise caused a disturbance, he simply had no tolerance for disobedience.

And now they had four big projects to complete for him with precious little time to do it. The rumors of two more recruits would be a welcome addition if true. She would probably put one or both of them on the armor project. By far, that was the development that was estimated to take the longest.

Her comlink buzzed. “Dr. Koylir?”

“Yes?” she answered.

“Professor Irev,” he identified himself. “I think we’ve got a potential breakthrough on the sensor flare, but we need a dummy ship to try it out on. Preferably a starfighter to start with.”

“I understand professor,” Sarca confirmed. “I’ll talk with Moff Polark about requisitioning a TIE as soon as I get our two new guys settled in. I believe Kasr is talking with them now.”

Sarca got the distinct impression that Irev had just shuddered involuntarily. “I remember that talk, scared me half to death.”

“And with good reason,” Sarca reminded him. “Is that all, Professor?”

“Um, for now, yes. Irev, out.”

It was true that she was no engineer, but with a team of engineers under her command, she was the most effective high grav repair and maintenance specialist Remi had ever seen. While his teams started construction on the enourmous frame of the SSD, she kept the mining output so far above the quota that they had already more than made up for their day's loss of production on planet. Nearly all the mines were functional nearly 100% of the time.

It was for this reason that he had sent the request to Kasr to put Valmer in charge of the mining operation for the duration of the Silent Shade project.

The benefits of giving her such a promotion were twofold. Not only would that free Remi up to focus on construction, Remi hoped that his supiriors would be able to see his willingness to put the right people into the right position, even if it meant some loss of personal prestige.

And Remi knew that Valmer was at least as good as he was.

"Sir, we are scientists. We are happiest when we are doing what we live for. However I would say that imperial training must have slackened if anyone would believe the data from a severely damaged shuttle." Fel kicked under the table impacting his foot with Roc's shin.

At some unseen signal, two stormtroopers walked into the small room and took the binders off of both Roc and Fel.

“Doctor Koylir will be the one you report to from now on and she’ll be the one to explain the situation further,” Kasr explained before looking at one of the stormtroopers. “Sergeant, escort these two to Doctor Koylir. If I’m not mistaken, she should already be on her way over here.”

The sergeant confirmed the request before getting both Roc and Fel to their feet and marching them out of the room.

Polark quickly wrote out a message and reviewed it before sending it to the DMC.

DMC Thash, your request has been approved. Professor Valmer is now in charge of Oremin’s mining operations, effective immediately. Her success at keeping the mines running has been noticed by GARK as well.

And next time you’d do well to remember that you report to me and then I report to Kasr. If I find that you try to go over my head once more, the results will be disastrous for you. Otherwise, keep up the good work.

-Moff Polark

Rapidly closing in on the TIE was a modified lambda shuttle that carried the sensor flare prototype. And behind the shuttle was the impressive form of the Star Destroyer Kismet.

“Remind me again what this thing is supposed to do,” Admiral Roviditian asked Professor Irev.

“The sensor flare is a last-ditch defense mechanism dreamed up by Kasr,” Irev explained. “In case the stealth defenses and the special armor are ever compromised. He wants a way to cripple enemy ships to allow him enough time to get away. In essence it would fry all their active sensor equipment and make targeting Kasr’s ship impossible by computer. We used a combination ion pulse and broadband frequency coupled with-”

“All right, I don’t care about the specifics,” Roviditian interrupted. “Begin your testing.”

“Commence test Alpha-One-Zero - Trial run of the Sensor Flare,” Irev ordered over the com “Observers are Professor Tomex Irev and Admiral Jer Roviditian. Performing the test are Professors Julis Gul and Kilry Vasia.”

The shuttle moved into the sensor flare’s estimated range and came to a stop. The recon TIE continued to scan the shuttle, and target it with its lasers, as well as send a repeating message to the other ship. All of the TIE’s systems were running in order to see exactly how many systems the sensor flare would affect.

The shuttle seemed to stall for a moment before Professor Gul’s voice was heard over the com. “All systems ready. Activating the sensor flare now.”

The lambda shuttle suddenly came alive as blue electricity crawled all over its surface. A second later the lights and the engines on the shuttle died and it began to drift. The recon TIE was not affected one bit.

Irev looked at the failure with his jaw hanging open, the only sound he heard was Roviditian’s dry laughter.

“I don’t understand,” Irev remarked as he quickly composed himself. “We had it all worked out. All the computer simulations showed that the TIE would be incapacitated.” He sighed. “Recall them both please, Admiral. It looks as though we have more work to do.”

"Got me on weapons developement, you?" Roc sipped at his cafe and slumped into an opposite chair.

"Some sort of advanced propulsion. Usual deal, the high ups son watches a science fiction holo and suddenly the father wants that drive for his own ships." Fel shook his head.

"Remember that time we had to work on making a nebula go super nova?" Roc laughed lightly as he remembered the codes.

"Do I ever, I thought Sylkud would have a heart attack when we told him his star killers wouldn't work. Never did figure out why he would want to blow up a nebula though." He looked around the room casually looking for different places that would possibly hold listening devices, it was as futile as he suspected.

"Wanna hit the facilities cantine area and see if we can dig up some decent food?" A cushion sailed across the room impacting with Fel's head followed by a chuckle.

Moff Sildan Polark watched the displays in the Oremin Control facility with interest. Walking over to one of the operators, he inquired, "What codes are being broadcast by that shuttle that just entered sublight space?"

The operator peered down to make sure that his information was correct before he responded, "Moff, sir...the codes check out as valid, but have not been used for nearly a year, but the records indicate that these codes have been used here at Oremin before..."

The Moff rubbed his chin thoughtfully and asked, "Operator, what is the classification of those codes?"

Without hesitation, the operator's hands flew over the console and accessed the secure Oremin database. Rapidly accesing the information requested, the operator responded, "Moff, sir...the codes belong to the Oremin External Security Force. They have been verified by Mr. Kasr a few years ago..."

Polark narrowed his eyes in suspicion. He did not like surprises and had heard of this 'Oremin External Security Force' only once, but it was sometime ago. He looked down at the operator and ordered, "Operator, give the shuttle landing clearance. Have the Commanding Officer of this 'Force' come to my office as soon as he lands, additionally, pull up what dossier we have on him and forward it to my office console..."

The operator responded crisply, "It will be done, sir..."

Sildan Polark wanted no 'wildcards' introduced into the sensitive operations that he was responsible for. Perhaps there were things that Kasr kept from him, but he would know everything else...of that, he would make sure.

Trailing behind him were 19 others dressed similiar to the Colonel. Each of these soldiers carried an oversized black duffle bag in each hand. These soldiers walked in silence following their commanding officer. An Imperial Naval Lieutenant flanked by a pair of stormtroopers approached the stoic group as they exited the shuttle. He pulled up a few feet from the Colonel and said formally, "Colonel Samuel Kregin. I am Lieutenant Mayes. Welcome to Oremin. These stormtroopers will show your men to their quarters. Moff Polark would like to meet with you. If you would follow me, sir..."

The Colonel said nothing in response, only nodding in response. The Moff continued, "You graduated from the Imperial Army Academy, eventually made the Stormtrooper ranks and served two tours of duty there. You later made the Stormtrooper Commando units and eventually got your own platoon there doing operations for not only the Imperial Army and Navy, but also the Ubiqtorate..."

Again, Colonel Kregin simply nodded in response revealing no emotion on his facade. The Moff looked up and regarded him for a moment and kept reading, "Now, what grabs me is the incident where you lost the command of your platoon and were barred from the ranks of stormtroopers..."

A sneer formed on the Colonel's face briefly, but then resumed an expressionless posture.

"Colonel Kregin, we run a tight ship here at Oremin. I am responsible for every soul in this operation. It is my job to make sure that all is well concerning the well being of all that takes place here..."

Samuel interrupted, "Sir, I know where this conversation is going...permission to speak freely?"

The Moff nodded serenely.

"Moff Polark, that incident was many years ago. The Ubiqatorate screwed that operation royally for me and my men. I lost a lot of my soldiers and friends on that cluter-frell of an operation. In fact, if my men had been anything less than excellent, we all would have died. My men and I were not in a state of mind to be reasoned with for their inexcusable foul up when we returned. Your report is correct, when my men and I returned, we did indeed march into the Ubiqtorate Intelligence Room on that VSD and we beat the snot out of each and every one of them, including their idiot Captain commanding officer. Did I deserve the Captain's Mast and punishment I received? Maybe so. But there is nothing in that report about the Ubiqtorate's 'goof' is there? I can answer that--no there isn't and there never will be...how convenient for them. Am I still bitter about it? Damn right I am..."

Polark stared at the man in front of him in a new light. He had heard rumors of that operation many years ago and this man in front of him confirmed many of the more 'quiet' rumors he had heard. He nodded sympathetically and said sincerely, "I am sorry about your men, Colonel. I have heard this story as well, believe it or not. Sometimes I do not need a data record in front of me to know the truth on some subject matters..."

Moving on to another topic, the Moff continued, "So...you were then assigned to be a Security Officer on the ISD Kismet under Admiral Roviditian. I assume that is where your connection to Kasr is?"

Samuel nodded and expanded, "Kasr recruited me through Admiral Roviditian while I was on that ship working that 'dead end' assignment and put my skill set to better use. With the opportunity to have what was left of my old platoon as a Stormtrooper Commando unit Commander once again, I didn't care what the job was. I have no idea how Kasr and Roviditian managed this transfer and I will probably never know. At this point, I don't care. So, I have been working as the Oremin External Security Officer ever since."

Polark nodded and went along that line of questioning, "Oremin External Security Officer...I knew this job existed and that an individual occupied this position, but I never pursued it any further because that person was not here on Oremin..."

He paused and leaned forward a bit on his desk, "Colonel Kregin, what exactly does the Oremin External Security Force do?"

Colonel Samuel Kregin smiled for the first time sonce arriving in the Oremin system, "Moff Polark, you don't wanna know..."

Chuckling breifly, but suddenly his face hardened and in the most serious tone yet, he stated, "Colonel Kregin. I have a good idea of what you do, but since you are now in Oremin and under my purview, you will need to provide your job description, as there is no description of what you and your team do for Oremin..."

Silence.

Kregin stared at the Moff with a cool stare and then answered in a cool tone, "With all due respect, Moff Polark...I do not report to you. My job duties take me outside of Oremin more than inside as it has been for years. If you insist on knowing what my team does...so be it: we solve problems. When there is a possible leak outside of Oremin, we plug it. If one of the Oremin commanders find themselves in prison, we rescue them. When a threat to Oremin presents itself outside of Oremin, we fix it. If one of your scientists or workers escapes, we track the being down and neutralize him or her before there is a compromise. In essence, Moff Polark, we do the dirty work for the Oremin project...is there anything else, sir?"

Colonel Kregin closed the heavy blast door behind him and looked to one of his men, "Circ...check for surveillance."

Without hesitation, the young man hopped off the crate and scooped up a large cube-shaped device. He flicked a switch with his free hand and the device began to emit a low hum. The soldier called Circ walked in a tight circle with the device, flicked off the switch, put the machine down and hopped back up on the crate he was sitting on previously. In a soft vocie, he reported, "We are clear, sir..."

Kregin nodded to the soldier, turned and addressed all nineteen sets of eyes looking at him. He began, "Ok fellas, here is what we got. As you all know, approximately two months ago we received word from Kasr that there were some unauthorized transmissions coming from somewhere on Oremin. We traced this transmission to Tatooine. When we arrived, we found it was a relay station that was under the operations of Eelaka the Hutt. Now, we are not going to move on Eelaka until we find the violator here on Oremin and have more intel on Eelaka's operation. Kasr has provided enough information on the transmission bursts that the next time an emission is sent, we will be able to triangulate the origin's location. We will need to be ready to move when that happens..."

There were a chorus of nods from the Colonel's men, so he continued, "Now...Kasr wants to eliminate any possibility for error on this. Because of this, we have been assigned as the sole investigators in this matter. We were the only Oremin personnel not here on Oremin when the transmissions began, which eliminates us as suspects. We play this one by the book. If anyone asks why you are here, you tell them that you are here for a little Oremin R&R..."

A few chuckles came from his men, but they promptly quieted and conitnued to listen.

"You are right, not really believeable, but I don't give a frell. We do not eliminate the violator when we catch him; we take him alive...questions?"

One of the older Sergeants in the back spoke up gruffly, "Yeah sir, once we intercept the transmission, are we rushing in with no discretions?"

Colonel Kregin nodded and answered, "Good question Sergeant. The answer is yes. When you get the signal, you drop what the frell you are doing and get your game face on. I don't care if you make a show of it, because we will NOT miss our mark, will we?"

A solid, loud, "No sir!" was the unified response.

Kregin was something of a wild card, Kasr would admit that, but so far that had proven to be an advantage. It would’ve been impossible to set up Oremin in complete secrecy without some leaks. Fortunately Kregin and his team made excellent plumbers when it came to stopping leaks.

He would, of course, continue to keep a close eye on Kregin and everything he did. Kasr had a few handpicked men in Kregin’s team in the unlikely event that the Colonel should ever chose to betray Oremin.

Setting the report down, Kasr resumed the business he had been working on earlier - picking apart all the log data from the shuttle Obsidian. Despite what he had told his two new acquisitions, Kasr didn’t like to have unknowns at Oremin. He had grown convinced that Roc and Fel were hiding something and he would find out what it was…

***

The sensor flare shuttle was brought back to Oremin looking quite bad. Well, to be more accurate, it was towed back. Despite everything the techs tried on the Kismet, the shuttle simply wouldn’t run unless they replaced every system. Irev had promptly ordered them to keep it like it was, something had gone wrong and they needed to find out what.

As Irev walked through the shuttle’s blackened interior, his boots crunching against broken glass still strewn on the floor, he sighed. Professor Gul had been seriously wounded when his monitor had exploded in front of him. Professor Vasia had been luckier, but she would still need another dunk in bacta before she could return to work.

“This is definitely a setback,” Irev told himself. “What the hell went wrong? What didn’t we catch? Dr. Koylir and Kasr will want answers soon and since the recorders on the shuttle became corrupted from the trial, I don’t know what to tell them.”

His only clue was what he had seen on the Kismet, namely the shuttle awash with blue electricity. To him, it was a clear sign of ionic interference similar to what would happen if the shuttle had been hit with an ion cannon.

Irev’s eyes brightened as he continued to follow his current train of thought. Perhaps they had used too much ionic energy in the formula? Maybe it was that excess energy that had reacted badly to the rest of the sensor flare?

Just as he was about to take another sip of his hot caf, the receiver chimed with activity. Quickly putting down his mug, he began to run series of programs that would triangulate the signal. According to their information, these transmissions were never long, so he hoped that it would remain active long enough for them to trace. Just as the activity ceased a few seconds later, an indicator signaled an accurate lock within 50 meters of the source--that would have to be good enough. He ran another software package to interrupt the triangulation and place it on an Oremin map grid. in a matter of seconds, it was finished. Sergeant Kramer scooped up his communicator and punched in a series of keystrokes, sending out a text message to everyone on the team instantly...

At once, all of the team's personal comlinks began to vibrate indicating a message. Peering down at his communicator, Colonel Kregin read the message:

"Signal triangulated. Sensor tower 12."

Colonel Kregin quickly hopped out of bed, threw on some black BDU pants and hefted a small black bag sitting by his bed. Once he put on a black high collar shirt while he ran, he grabbed his comlink and spoke to his team, "External Force...converge on target, set weapons to stun, turn your FF transponders on. Roll it!"

On that note, all of the Oremin external Security Force began to count off as they all ran to their target. Colonel Kregin felt pride as every one of his men reported in. Tearing out of the main Control building, he sprinted towards Radar Tower 12, a mere 100 yards away. As he ran into the night, he reached into his bag and pulled a set of nightvision goggles. Looking around, he saw a figures dressed like him sprinting across the field as well, converging from all directions. As he came to the entrance door, he keyed the entry...locked. Transmitting on his comlink, he commanded, "Kramer. Door. Now."

With that, one of many figures in black made his way to the front door and inserted a golden passkey. As he did so, the blast door shot open and the team, one by one, entered the building like ghosts in the night. Five of them entered the turbolift, five of them took the stairs, five of fanned out on the main floor and five of them stayed outside the building.

Colonel Kregin and four others took the stairs up the massive Radar Tower. The soldiers said nothing with just the echoes of their feet tapping against the stairs as they ran up the 20 story structure. Less than a minute later, a voice came over the communications circuit, "External Force, this is lift team...he have a burst transmitter array that has been activated within the last five minutes. No one here. Repeat, no one here..."

Colonel Kregin keyed his comlink and responded, "Roger lift team, hold your position. Yard, floor and stair team...keep your eyes open."

Suddenly, Colonel Kregin noticed more echoes on the stairs coming from above. In the lead, he stopped his progress and held up a closed fist with his right hand. On a dime, the other four stopped instantly. Indeed they all could hear the distinct echoes coming down from sets of feet coming down the stairs. The Colonel lifted a finger and spun it around. The other four around him methodically spread themselves out around the stairwell with their blaster carbines beared. Kregin noticed they were nearly halfway up the stairs as they waited for strangers to come down to their level. The movements were not hurried and now that he was stopped, he listened closer. He was able to make out three distinct sets of feet. He raised his arm and held up three fingers. There was a chorus of nods from the four soldiers behind him. The sounds began to get closer and closer. Soon, one of them rounded the corner: an Oremin Security Guard. He was oblivious to the five who were still waiting in silence and he continued to walk. Two more rounded the corner: another Oremin Security Guard and the Oremin Security Director!

Colonel Kregin did not hesitate. He squeezed the trigger on his carbine, loosing a stun bolt right into the Director's chest. The four other soldiers around him also shot off their blasters on stun into the three security personnel. All three of them dropped to the ground unconscious from the sudden flurry of stun bolts.

The four soldiers looked at Kregin in confusion as he let out a chuckle, "Men, in this line of work we shoot first and ask questions later..."

The soldier known as Corporal Riggs was a monster of a man, standing just under seven feet and weighing just under three hundred pounds. He responded with a quick salute, walked over and easily hefted the Security Director, draping him over his right shoulder. He and the Colonel stalked out of the room and headed to the Control Facility.

Minutes later, the Corporal and the Colonel, with their sentient luggage, made their way to one of the more obscure locations in the lower levels of the massive facility. This was a room there that few on Oremin were aware of, one used infrequently: the 'question and answer' room. The thought of this room caused the Colonel to smile slightly: that was the polite name for 'Interrogation Area'.

As they came to their destination, looking up the sign atop the door, bold black letters displayed "Q&A Room". Kregin ran his passkey through the blast panel and the door opened to reveal a darkened room. He looked over to the Corporal and said flatly, "That will be all Corporal. Thanks. Drop our kind Security Officer here. I will be back later..."

Both Doljian and his guards were awake and conscious by the time Kasr arrived. Doljian himself was practically fuming. “Kasr! Sir! I’m glad you’ve arrived. This… This madman and his men ambushed us as we were making the rounds! ”

Kasr looked over to Kregin, who was standing at attention, his face expressionless, and then back to Doljian. “I’m well aware of the situation, Director. I’m also aware that there has been a security leak at Oremin. A leak, I might add, that you and your men have not been able to find in two months.” Kasr looked back to Kregin. “How long did it take you, Colonel?”

There was some satisfaction if Kregin’s voice. “Two days, sir.”

Kasr nodded and turned back to Doljian expectantly. “Well?”

Doljian seemed incredulous. “Wha… Y… You don’t think I’m behind this, do you?”

Kasr arched an eyebrow. “I never said you were responsible. Are you?”

“No!” Doljian answered flatly. “I know that Oremin’s security has the utmost priority. Only a fool would try to compromise it, especially now that you’ve returned.”

The interrogator droid, which until now had been dormant, moved around behind the three subjects and injected each of them with a blue liquid.

Kasr waited until the droid was done before he continued. “Then, Mr. Doljian, you are a fool! Ever since I was made aware of this compromise in security, I’ve had ship waiting just outside of Oremin to intercept these rogue transmissions. Do you know what they contained?”

Doljian just shook his head. Beads of sweat were starting to form on his forehead.

“Plans for my Super Star Destroyer and details on the modifications that will be added to it,” Kasr told him. “Very few people have access to this information. I do, as well as Moff Polark, Dr. Koylir, DMC Thash, and…” Kasr paused meaningfully. “Security Director Doljian.”

Doljian licked his lips, which had suddenly gone dry, but said nothing.

Kasr nodded to the interrogator droid. The black droid extended two arms from hidden compartments that contained shock prods. The crackle of electricity could be heard in the room. Kasr allowed the noise to dominate for a moment before signaling the droid to proceed. Immediately the droid plunged one arm each on the hapless guards, eliciting cries of pain.

Kasr watched with a neutral expression, Doljian looked decidedly pale. “That blue liquid the droid injected you with, do you know what it was?” Kasr asked, his voice raised over the sounds of the torture session.

“No,” Doljian answered weakly.

“It’s a mixture of truth serum and pain amplifier,” Kasr told him. “The pain those two men are experiencing is about double their usual tolerance. My droid has programming to keep them just on the edge of death. Have you ever seen someone die through sheer pain? It is not one of the better ways to go.”

Doljian looked about ready to crack and Kasr decided it was about time to get the confession. “Of those people I listed earlier, only two of them, besides myself, know Oremin’s security routines well enough to sneak out a transmission. Moff Polark is one and you are the other. I know Polark well enough, and he knows me well enough that betrayal is not an option. That narrows the list down to you and me. It obviously isn’t me. Who does that leave?”

Doljian was sweating profusely now, but he kept his trembling mouth closed.

Kasr sighed and grabbed Doljian’s hand before selecting a finger and breaking it. Doljian’s howl of pain was short and cut off by sobbing. “Who does that leave!?” Kasr demanded. “Answer me or you’ll lose another finger!”

“Me! It leaves me!” Doljian confessed. “I did it! I had to do it! Eelaka forced me! He found Jesika and he blackmailed me! Please no more! No more!”

Kasr signaled for the droid to stop its torture. The two guards slumped in their chairs, barely conscious. A silence lingered in the air before Kasr looked to Doljian thoughtfully. “Jesika? That was your daughter, correct? You told me she was dead.”

“I thought she was,” Doljian sobbed. “But Eelaka, that rotten slug, found her and has her hostage. I had to give in to his demands. I couldn’t bear to let her die again. Not again… Just kill me, please, and put me out of my misery.”

Kasr withdrew the blaster he always kept strapped to his side. “Kill you? Are you sure?”

Doljian nodded. “I know what happens to traitors at Oremin. There’s no need to draw this out any longer.”

“Indeed,” Kasr agreed. He turned and quickly drilled both of the guards through the head with a blaster bolt apiece. Then, just as quickly, returned the blaster to its holster. “I can’t have traitorous guards working here. But you, Doljian, are another matter. I’m not going to kill you because, believe it or not, I know how important family is.”

Kasr looked over to Kregin. “Colonel!”

Kregin, who had been silent throughout the whole thing, snapped to attention. “Sir!”

“You are to find Jesika Doljian and bring her back to Oremin alive,” Kasr ordered. “Eelaka and his cartel must also be eliminated and all traces of information sent to him from Oremin are to be retrieved or destroyed. The VSD Nemesis is on patrol in that sector and loyal to me if you need help. Understood?”

“Yes, sir!”

“I trust that is okay with you as well?” Kasr asked as he turned back to Doljian.

“Yes, thank you,” Doljian sobbed, only this time they were tears of happiness.

Two stormtroopers entered and began unstrapping Doljian and the two dead guards from their chairs. “Of course, your days as Security Director are now over,” Kasr continued. “From now on you’ll be put to work in the mines as DMC Thash sees fit. You’ll be informed when your daughter arrives. Dismissed.”

Doljian weakly made his way out of the room, bowing humbly to Kasr, before being escorted to the medical wing by one of the stormtroopers outside.

With that, Colonel Kregin saluted sharply, spun on his heels and exited the room. As he trekked back to the mine room, he reflected on the last few hours. Samuel had little face-to-face contact with Kasr, but he did remember him being a fairly ruthless man for the Empire. However, he had no idea the man was capable of blantant cruelty. Kregin knew it was sometimes a necessary evil in order to make steps towards the greater good. The very fact that Kasr would commit an his entire team to rescue the traitor's daughter spoke volumes of the man's complex character. One that Kregin admired...

Arriving in the mine room, his men were lounging, patiently awaiting their leader's return. He walked in and began, "First order of business...you men did a helluva job back there tonight. There were no mistakes, no complications. As you and I both know, this is a rarity in special operations. Exceptional job..."

Beaming faces of pride stared back at the Colonel as he continued to speak.

Colonel Kregin continued, "We have another task. Get your gear together...we leave Oremin tomorrow at noon. We have been assigned to wipe out Eelaka the Hutt and his entire operation. Along with this objective, there is another objective--rescue Security Director Nik Doljian's daughter, Jesika. Eelaka is holding her hostage..."

Sergeant Hobbs looked like he wanted to say something, but thought better of it. Colonel Kregin noticed the expression and called him out, "Sergeant Hobbs...you have something to say?"

Looking down and looking back up again, he began tentatively, "Colonel, we are rescuing this traitor's daugh-"

Kregrin interrupted him in a stern threatening voice, "Sergeant, we do as we are told, is that understood? It is my job to ask why..."

Silence.

"Now that that is out of the way...are there any questions?"

Silence again.