After settling a few things, Daimon was in orbit onboard the Luminary talking to Grand Chancellor Thoryn. He was going to be the regent until Daimon returned.

"The Task Force will be done and ready to depart in a month. I already have a few capable officers in mind who have a good record to lead the Task Force."

Daimon nodded. He trusted Thoryn to select the people needed to do the job. They were going to head into territory that would make the Republic-Sith conflict look like a border dispute. As such, this would require skilled individuals and dedicated resources, both of which the Imperium had an abundance of.

"Good. Compile the list and keep me updated over long range comms. Should we lose contact, just compile a report until I get back." said Daimon. This trip that they were taking would take them to where the Imperium detected signs of life on a planet that Daimon had classified as the Chiss.

It wasn’t 100% confirmed that it was the Chiss, but from what Daimon saw, it was most likely them. If it was not, then it was probably a species that could lead them to Chiss.

"I’ll do that. I’m also coordinating with my brothers and sisters amid the rising tensions. Things are spiraling out of control and the Force is not giving us clear visions on what the future holds." said Thoryn. This was true, as Daimon and the Balance Keepers noted the connection between the blurred visions from the Force and the rise of conflicts around the galaxy.

He has already tasked the Balance Keepers with monitoring the situation and gave them specific instructions on when to take action. He also ordered extra protection for his children, with the threat of the Son out in the galaxy somewhere.

Who knows when he will strike, or where. The Daughter made it clear that the Son was ambitious, and from his knowledge about the Son, Daimon knew just how dangerous he would be if left to run around freely.

Daimon was taking the threat seriously. If left unchecked, the Son could and most likely would come back later to bite him in the ass. So, it’s better to get eyes on the problem now to deal with it later or before it becomes an uncontrollable threat.

He ended the call and turned to the viewport, watching the stars drift by as the Luminary slipped through hyperspace. The ship was quiet as most of its crew had been rotated out for rest, and those who remained spoke in low voices.

Cortana appeared to Daimon’s right, "All is prepared," she said. Currently she was hanging out in the ship’s AI core. Unlike other Imperial ships, the Luminary’s AI core had a section specifically for Cortana as she was Daimon’s oldest and most important friend.

"The probe fleet will arrive ahead of us by two weeks. They will sweep the entire region and update us on any new findings." Daimon had a planet in mind that they were going to which was an icy planet that had matched Daimon’s description of the planet from his memories.

The planet had been discovered several years ago, but the hyperspace route to the planet was more dangerous than normal and it took over a hundred probes to chart a safe route. Once the safe hyperspace route had been successfully routed, the probes had gathered data and detected minimal activity on the surface of the planet.

But out of all the planets that were scanned, this particular planet had the highest probability of being where the Chiss were located.

"Also, I have reviewed the recovered data from the Kaminoan raid—in particular, the stealth and sensor technology used by the pirates. There are no known similarities with other factions or organizations in our database. Likely we are dealing with an unknown faction operating in the shadows." explained Cortana.

For Daimon, this was just more of the same news he had been hearing for the past few weeks. It seemed that hidden factions and unfortunate events keep happening by people working in shadows.

"What do you think about these things that keep happening Cortana. From the Kaminoan raid to the Sith war, to even the Son’s escape and the Father’s death." he asked.

"There is a pattern of strategic destabilization, but not one that aligns with the Sith or event he Republic. My hypothesis is that there are a few shadow organizations at work, targeting the Imperium itself through indirect means. But they seem to not be working together yet have the same goals." Cortana had been analyzing all the things that had been happening and this was the conclusion she came up with for now.

Daimon felt the truth of that. The Jedi once called it the currents of the Living Force: a sense that the galaxy itself became agitated before great change. He had been dismissing it as aftershocks from the chaos of the last war, but in context, it felt more directed.

"Keep mapping the data," he said to Cortana. "If these destabilizations follow a pattern, it may lead us to whoever is behind it."

"Agreed," Cortana replied. She disappeared, leaving him with his thoughts while she continued to watch the probe fleets camera feed for anything of interests.

————

Veldari - Capital of the Veldari Imperium

Elara stood in the middle of a circular training room with a white training blade in hand, with a blind fold over her face, surrounded by 5 people. In each of their hands was also a white training blade.

The 5 people rushed her simultaneously from five different angles to overwhelm her senses. The first blade struck her left guard. She pivoted, parried, dropped to a knee as a second and third blade crossed above her head. She caught the fourth strike, using the armor on her forearm and, without breaking motion, swept a leg backwards, tripping one of her opponents and sending her toppling backwards into the wall.

But the other four didn’t take a break and moved in quickly. Elara rolled under a sweeping low blow, and just before the fifth attacker landed a hit on her shoulder, she grabbed his wrist and leveraged his own momentum to flip him over.

Two of the others used the Force to push her back about five feet. Before she could retaliate, somebody who was standing at the door to the training room had interrupted her.

"My Lady, the Ambassador from the Varraxian Technocracy has arrived for the scheduled meeting." announced an attendant.

Elara pulled the blindfold off, "Have them wait in my office. I’ll be there shortly." she replied. The attendant bowed and left the room.

The five training opponents also bowed. "Thank you for the fight my lady." said one of them. Elara returned their bow and moved to put the training blade in its rack. She unwrapped the padded guards from her forearms and handed them to a waiting attendant before moving toward the washroom to clean up.

The Varraxian Technocracy was a small but technologically sophisticated confederation of worlds situated along the southwestern edge of the Outer Rim. They had been neutral throughout the Republic-Sith war, and their request for an audience had come through diplomatic channels three weeks prior.

Daimon was supposed to meet with them, but he left the matter in Elara’s hands instead.

After she finished showering, she changed quickly, choosing a formal blue garment with silver accents on the collar. The attendants helped her with the clasps along the back while another fixed her hair in the standard style that she liked.

Her office was three corridors away from the training room, situated in the upper eastern part of the palace on the 30th floor. She arrived before the Ambassador had been shown in, which was intentional.

She sat, reviewed the summary Cortana had prepared on the Technocracy three days prior, and waited.

The door opened two minutes later.

The Ambassador was a tall woman, perhaps sixty standard years, with the posture of someone who had spent decades in formal settings and had long since stopped finding them uncomfortable.

Her name was Delegate Saress Thane, and according to the intelligence file, she had been the Technocracy’s primary diplomatic voice to the Imperium for the past twenty years.

She was accompanied by two aides who positioned themselves slightly behind her as she entered.

"Queen Elara," Saress Thane said, inclining her head with the same respect she had always shown Imperial officials when meeting with them. "I am grateful for the opportunity to meet with you directly."

"Delegate Thane," Elara replied, gesturing to the chair across the desk. "Please sit. I understand you’ve traveled some distance."

"Three weeks in transit," the Delegate confirmed, settling into the chair. "The hyperspace routes have been dangerous since the Ssi-ruu rebellion."

"They have," Elara agreed. They had received other reports of the Ssi-ruu causing problems for Imperial corporations. Several transport ships had been intercepted and the crew taken as slaves or killed. Because of this, Imperial transport ships were restricted from traveling through certain hyperspace lanes.

"We have filed formal complaints with the relevant sector authorities," Saress Thane continued, "though I confess the relevant sector authorities have been somewhat preoccupied with other matters."

"War tends to have that effect," Elara said. "Now, what brings the Technocracy to Veldari?"

Thane folded her hands in her lap. She had rehearsed this conversation several times before the actual meeting.

"Frankly, my Lady, we are concerned. We have been at war with the Ssi-ruu for some time now and significant damage has been caused by them. The Republic cannot help us. The Sith have no interest in helping us. We have managed to defend ourselves adequately until now, but the war is increasing in scale, and the Ssi-ruu are more brutal and aggressive than we originally thought." She paused for a moment.

"We believe that eventually, they will surpass us completely through sheer martial might. Naturally it is our fault for making them a spacefaring species, something we regret dearly. We’ve tried to make peace with them, but all they want is war."

Elara understood what she was saying and what she was asking for. Daimon had been eyeing the Ssi-ruu as the war was beginning to threaten Imperial trade, but other matters caught his attention that were more important.

After a while, the war had become less important as new measures were taken by the companies themselves to protect their ships.

Now, the Technocracy was obviously asking for help in defeating them. To Elara, the Technocracy were an old ally that fought with them against the Abominor. They were also the only empire to not declare war on the Imperium during the Imperium-Republic war.

"I know what you’re asking for Ms. Thane. I can’t guarantee support, but I can talk with the progenitors and see what we can do to help you." She didn’t want to just promise to send Imperial troops without first talking with the others.

"That’s all I ask. My superiors are willing to share research data and other things in exchange for the assistance." said Thane as she stood up and bowed.

"Thank you for your time." she said as she turned and left the room. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Once she left, Elara had already started to seek out a meeting with Thoryn and Raelos to see what they wanted to do.