Maximus Tyranus was in the eyes of the Empire, one of the last true Sith. A role he filled exceptionally well. Maximus was a man of few words and even few actions. But when he spoke, or when he acted it was noticed further than the eye could see.

“Prepare to board the shuttle my apprentice.” Maximus said, his deep voice conveying a sense of command that wouldn’t be ignored.

Darth Yang was as mysterious a Sith as there had ever been. Only the elite of the elite in the Empire had even heard of his existence and even then it was sometimes taken as a myth.

His actions had been described as savage, relentless, and merciless. He was said to have found three of the Seven Sacred Spheres. It was rumored that when all seven spheres were controlled miraculous feats of power could be concocted with the greatest of ease.

Darth Yang nodded at his master’s words as he exited Maximus’ private chambers and headed to the ship they’d be taking, the Lambda-Class Shuttle Titan’s Glory.

Maximus walked over to the large window which stretched from the floor to the high ceiling in the midst of his private room on Coruscant. His secret Head Quarters were unknown except by Imperial Agents on a need-to-know basis. The sky almost teemed with the darkness which Maximus emanated from his very presence here. The sun had fallen long ago and darkness had taken over. There wasn’t much traffic on the skies tonight.

Maximus turned towards the door and stared at it briefly before walking towards it and finally through it.

“Byss… here we come.” He murmured to himself as he began his voyage to the planet of darkness.

<font color=green>Loading… Intelligence File 236541A

Item Found…

Retrieving Data…

Subject: Byss

Byss’ day lasts 31 standard hours, and Byss’ year lasts 207 local days. Byss is located in the Deep Core. Byss is unusually strong in the Dark Side of the Force. Byss was originally used as a private retreat for the great Emperor Palpatine.</font>

Darth Yang sat there in front of his personal computer in the back of the shuttle, he pressed a button turning it off not needing to know more. At least, not a low-clearance intelligence file that didn’t state anything more than the obvious.

Maximus Tyranus gazed across the cabin of the shuttle sensing the thoughts of his apprentice. He slowly stood from his seated position.

“Won’t find much info there.” Maximus said gesturing towards the data screen.

Darth Yang replied with a nod confirming his agreement.

“What it won’t tell you is that once Byss was touted a paradise, tranquil lakes spread across its landscape. Paradise, that was how it was best described by anyone who was to visit, which is what made it so easy for the Emperor to lure millions there. Then he enslaved them, every last one of them using the Dark Side of the Force. Feeding the growing evil whose appetite would not be appeased easily. He built the planet into a model of a Dark Side society. The Emperor used the planet as his center of cloning activity, the very source of his power during his own resurrection.”

Darth Yang looked at his master quizzically as the last words flowed form Tyranus’ mouth.

“Oh yes Darth Yang, the Emperor himself was resurrected there… on Byss. More times I’m sure than we can possibly count. His spirit was too strong in the Dark Side of the Force to be contained in a single body for very long. He learned to transfer his life energy into a fresh body, a clone of himself!”

Darth Yang listened on with great interest.

“This is why we are going to Byss, to set up our very own stronghold, to learn the secrets of the Dark Side of the Force undiscovered by the great Palpatine, and to perfect the techniques which he started. Soon… my apprentice…. Soon.

Byss, they had finally arrived at their most unholy of destinations. Yang was correct, this place was at one time a tranquill land called a paradise by all who saw it. Now it was all but barren. One thing remained however, one thing which drew them here from light years away.. the Darkside, the Darkside was very strong here, and in it Maximus knew he would grow stronger.

The two practitioners of the ancient Sith religion stepped off of the shuttle and took their first steps onto a planet that would no doubt change the course of their lives from this point forward.

Maximus Tyranus took a deep breath, a breath of fresh air if you will. For to him this air was sweeter than there ever was.

<font color = “#3399FF” size = 2 face = arial>Meanwhile en route to Byss</font>

“All wings report in!” The man affectionately known as “Rock” said over the comm..

“Black 5 standing by…”

“Black 7 good to go…”

“Black 12 standing by…”

“Black 4 standing by…”

“Black 9 jacked up and good to go…”

“Black 3 standing by…”

“Black 6 awaiting orders…”

“Black 8 standing by…”
“Black 11 waitin’ on you…”

“Black 2 reporting in…”

“Black 10 let’s get this party started…”

“Alright Lightning, decelerate to scouting speed.” Rock said as the Squadron emerged into real space along with the transport ships which carried the goods that Maximus was waiting for.

“Group 1, scan the perimeter of the planet for hostiles, if these goods get into the wrong hands Max’ll have all of our asses.” Rock said as he set the squadron splintering off to their individual duties.

“Group 2, pick up Max’s signal and set a rendezvous point for the transport. Group 3 escort the transport to the rendezvous point after the perimeter’s been checked.”

“Aye sir.” The replies came in unison from the three group leaders.

“I hope this planet’s as dead as Max thinks it is… by the looks of it… he’s right again.” Rock said to himself not speaking to the whole of Black Lightning Squadron over the comm..

“Group 1 report in.” Rock said as he monitored the situation from the atmosphere along with Group 3.

“Coast is clear Rock.” One of the pilots said from the planet’s surface.

“Group 2 report in.”

“Group 2 reporting from coordinates 10.1.0.2 preparing drop zone for shuttle.” The pilot said from the rendezvous point.

“Group 3 proceed with shuttle to coordinates 10.1.0.2.” Rock said as he lead the group of TIE Advanced x2s down to the surface of the planet.

<font color = “#3399FF” size = 2 face = arial>Meanwhile back on the surface</font>

“Excellent,” Maximus Tyranus said, “Lightning Squadron has arrived ahead of schedule, they’re gathering at the rendezvous point as we speak.”

Yang didn’t know exactly what was going on but that wasn’t out of the norm when it came to dealing with Maximus. As the pair of Sith looked into the sky the four fighters that made up group three of Lightning Squadron escorted the shuttle slowly down to the surface.

The contents of the shuttle were unknown except to Maximus who had arranged for their delivery. Soon he would make Byss into his own stronghold not unlike Emperor Palpatine had done so many years ago.

The surface of the planet was mostly in ruins, what scattered buildings still stood from the great war which took place here were basically useless chunks of duracrete. The rendezvous spot was a wide open field designated for the landing of the transport ship. The ship along with several dozen workers were going to assemble the prefab structures that would make up their interim command center.

<font color = “#3399FF” size = 2 face = arial>Several hours later</font>

The workers had made extraordinary time and were just completing the installation of the prefab command center. The building wasn’t amazingly large but it would indeed house the several dozen Imperial Officers along with Maximus and Yang comfortably. By this time the pilots of Lightning Squadron had prepped for their return mission. They were going to escort another convoy of shuttles with more equipment for Maximus Tyranus. They’d be going back and forth between Bastion and Byss for several days before the construction of the Imperial base would be complete.

Maximus sat comfortably in his private quarters which took up a large portion of the compound. He stared out through the transparisteel viewport keeping an eye on the construction workers as they setup the minimal defense system which would suffice for now before Imperial Construction Industries could provide the planet with planetary turbo lasers and ION Cannons.

The workers set up a series of sensors which would be able to detect ground or aircraft within a radius of 300km. Minimal gun turrets and anti air turrets were set in place in the rare event of an attack. A standard precautionary measure always taken by Maximus.

Maximus tapped a button on the console of his chair. The foremon of the construction crew answered. “Yes sir?” He said knowing he was speaking on Maximus’ direct line.

“You’ve done an excellent job, you and your men may take rest for the evening. Just make sure the evening crew is on their toes, I want those skies monitored.” Maximus said as he abruptly cut the transmission not waiting for a reply.