Nur

Fortress Inquisitorius was a heavily armed underwater stronghold located on the moon Nur. It served as stronghold for the Imperial Inquisitor Program. The existence of the fortress was hidden from the majority of the Empire to maintain the public perception of peace and security. It was in close proximity to Mustafar and Lord Vader's castle on the volcanic planet's surface; thus allowing the Sith Lord to keep a close watch over the Inquisitors' affairs.
 The systems within the Fortress were a complex network of bridges, wings, portals, and gates. The stronghold had a multi fail safe structure so that the Empire controlled every corner of the stronghold. This allowed for a quick response to any breach by a prisoner or intruder. The entire fortress could be flooded to prevent escape. The complex had an Imperial Dojo, control rooms, detention levels and even a frightening interrogation chamber, where Jedi where broke and turned to the Dark Side.

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"Master, we are reaching destination"

The robotic voice of his attendant woke Vallius from a meditative slumber. He uncrossed legs and stood on his feet, stretching the muscles that were numb after the prolongued time spent in the same position. He had again seen dark omens when openning to the Force, dark designs that he didn't know, and he couldn't presume were entirely his father's. There were other forces at work, he could feel it in the woven threads of fate. The door slids open and he moves without a sound to the cockpit, where two silent armored beings were at the helm, while a droid awaited his master.

"My Lord, the Fortress is empty"

"Land in the upper hangar"

He said, imperious, with a hissed voice that was used to command and be obeyed. The ship crossed Nur's clean atmosphere, closing distance to the upper spire of the fortress, a mere fraction of the whole complex, if the scarce data gathered could be trusted. The oceans covered everything, from what it could be seen from the viewport. The imposing architecture of the fortress soon covered up everything; it reminisced so much of Vader Castle, down in Mustafar's volcanic surface: the same straight aggresive lines and design, the same dark purpose behind its construction. The hangar on the tower was like a gaping mouth, toothless. The ship landed without any issues.

"My lord, we should check th---"

Savage silenced him raising a hand. The commando fell silent, the trooper knew that obedience to the Savage clan was mandatory.

"Droid, follow me"

The Sith walked towards the platform, donning a zeyd-cloth mantle, hood raised, the lightsaber pending from his belt. The droid followed silently, not to act as security, but to open doors and crack any firewalls they could find. Vallius stood on the landing pad for a moment, cherising the dark energies that once flooded the place and that still lingered. He saw flashes of hanger and hatred. Pain. He relished the moment, closing his eyes for an instant. The droid knew better than asking what was happening, so he waited motionless, towering over the tenebrous prince. Savage then walked to the door.

"Open it, or I shall"

Said the Sith, pointing at the control panel. K-470 produced his computer interface arm, locking it with the port that controlled the entrance. It took some effort for the door to slid open. The rancid smell of decay and the obnoxious air of a long-closed abandoned space filled Vallius' nostrils. There were what looked like several long-dead stormtroopers near the gate; it seems the departure of he last Inquisitor was abrupt and the facility was closed before some of its inhabitants could make it out. The remains were mummified, due the lack of oxigen and the dry conditions of the closed facilities. The sea breeze erupted into the corridor. Savage walked down the hallway, reaching a wider room, some kind of reception hall. It was dominated by a large statue of Lord Vader, made of black basalt and carved very minimalistically, almost abstract in shape and detail.

"Hubris. Idolatry"

Vallius said with a hiss, between sharp canines.

"Will have that thing removed"

The Sith reached a hand, frowned and concentrated. Sweat drops on his forehead appeared at the very same time that deep cracks started to litter the polished surface of the statue's pedestal. With a crack, the rock supporting the statue's colossal weight splintered and broke: the likeness of Vader fell to the ground with thunderous noise and covering everything up with clouds dust. The basalt, a hard rock, hadn't shattered itself on impact, the colossus remained on the floor, looking to the dark, shadow-covered ceiling.

"Better"

He kept walking, raising a number of steps before finding another door that slid open as soon as K-470 connected into the dormant computer panel.

"The control room is upstairs. Reboot systems and put them to work"

The red photoreceptors looked above, to the secured room. He simply nodded and walked with heavy pace towards the chamber, while the Sith kept walking into the fortress' heart. He sometimes sensed the dread hovering over the empty corridors, saw more corpses and remnants of the previous inhabitants. And the hints of a metallic breath, artificial and ominious. Vallius jumped down a turbolift shaft, landing below with a soft thud, the cloak open like the wings of a crow. He stood, as dark as his environments, only the yellow eyes could be glanced in the darkness. His breath moved the floating dust. And, suddenly, the lights lit up and the systems started working again. He saw a long corridor, going both ways, he followed his instincts and chose the right. Empty rooms at both sides, until he reached a gate without controls. Vallius arched an eyebrow, his yellow bloodshot eyes looking for an openning.

"Ah, I see..."

The Zabrak raised his hand again, moving a mechanism, which turned around in its place, like a key on a lock. The door slid open to reveal an austere and abandoned chamber, wide viewports open to the ocean, that was raging below. An animal howled in the distance and Vallius moved into the room, openning his cloak and placing the fold over his shoulder. He raised the arm, keying the comm.

"Droid, tell me where I stand"

"According to my data and the central computer... you stand in the Grand Inquisitor's chambers, my Lord"

A smile crossed the Zabraks face as he walked into which once was one of the darkest dens in the whole Galaxy.

"Tell the men to send communication to my flagship. They must start sending dropships and personel, at the earnest"

"Aye, sire"

The Scimitar landed silently on the upper pad. A cohort of masked servants, in long flowing and concealing black robes, hurried themselves around the ship. Vallius lowered the ramp and left the vessel at good pace, his boots pounding the hard floor.

"Welcome back, massster"

Said a sycophantic minion from behind his teeth.

"I'll be on my chambers, summon Krajesh"

"It shall be done"

Two Sith commandos guarded the door. The fortress was again fully operational and restored to its former glory, albeit the idolatry to Vader had been removed from the complex. The corridors were now clean and well-lit, the systems functioning properly. Now, it housed the five hundred soldiers his father had granted to him, the surgically and magically improved men and women that comprised the Savage guard, and every individual who had attached themselves to the household of the Iridonian prince.

He reached the former Grand Inquisitor's chambers, that were now his, completely refurbished to suit the tastes and desires of Vallius himself. The prince didn't have to wait much for an alien to arrive. The oversized brain-like skull betrayed him as a Siniteen. He was clad in a black plastoid armor with a rank plaque over the heart.

"Master"

The man bows, Vallius gestures him to come closer.

"Krajesh"

He turns around, his blood-injected yellow eyes fixed on the acolyte.

"My lord father and liege has tasked me with finding a particular holocron"

"Which one, sire?"

"The so-called Dark Holocron"

The alien remained silent.

"The one looted by the Jedi Odan-Urr... it belonged to the Order -thrice be they cursed- for millennia"

"Exactly. But then..."

The Seniteen remained pensive for a moment. His large brain could store and process information better than almost any other humanoid. Vallius appreciated him for his eidetic memory and vast knowledge about Sith lore. Non-force sensitive, he had noneless felt the pull of the Dark and served the Sith for decades, since the times of Lord Krayt.

"The reports are unclear sire, but it was probably among the items Lord Tyrannus carried with himself when he was lost to the Jedi, as Jocasta Nu reported it missing around the same time, in a file addressing the High Council"

"Dooku..."

Vallius clasps both hands behind his back, looking through the viewports the stormy sea raging below.

"That means it probably ended in the vaults of Lord Sidius and might be already lost if it happened to be on Byss..."

He frowns.

"However, the last clue we got is Tyrannus, is he not?"

"Yes, sire, if it belonged to Lord Sidious, we do not know"

"He was count of Serenno. He might have held it in his vaults"

He walks to the desk, activating a holoprojector: a map of the Galaxy, hovering and turning on its axis around both individuals.

"Speak. Tell me about him and the planet"

"Lord Tyrannus held it as count, having inherited title and honors after he gave up the Jedi Order. He used the planet as forefront to his activities as Leader of the Confederacy"

"Understood"

"He headquartered himself in a cliff-side castle, a true stronghold and palace in the outskirts of the capital. It remained there through the following decades, albeit it probably is either repurposed or derelict, I do not know of its fate. But, if the vault is somewhere, it is there, my Lord. Probably the holocron is gone, but you could find a clue"

Vallius walks, traversing the ghostly shapes of planets and stars, until standing before the holographic shape of Serenno, floating before his face. The Iridonian Zabrak looks at the alien from behind the blue-tinted planet, his yellow pupils staring at his servant.

"Gather all the intel necessary and traspass it to my Infiltrator's servers. I shall be going to Serenno personally"

"But, sire, Jedaai hold the planet and..."

Vallius silences the Seniteen with a gaze.

"I do not fear those who cower themselves in the Light"

He said, disdainful.

"I shall conceal myself and cloak my shadow from their prying eyes"

The planet orbits away.

"Tell the Attendants to trace hidden routes from here to Serenno. You shall acompany me in this task"

"As you wish. Should not you, sire, call any of your father's....?"

"No. I'm more than enough to deal with this. A Lord of the Sith needs no protection"

The alien nods.

"We leave in a standard rotation. Now, be gone"