Korriban Galaxy – Periphery of the Forgotten War
The galaxy of Korriban was a skeletal spiral, blackened by ancient star-death and choked with the entropy of long-abandoned systems. For millennia, it had remained untouched a tomb sealed by time and terror. That silence was now broken.
High above the dead world's surface, deep within the orbital Darkstar Station Aldre, the Security AI an ancient construct of the Mahasimu empire awakened.
:: PRIORITY ALPHA TRIGGERED ::
:: SOVEREIGN AUTHORITY: SUAMA ::
:: INITIALIZE PRE-ESCORT PROTOCOL—AWAKEN SLAVE HANDLER AND SUPPORT UNITS ::
From deep within Vault-Ω, a cryo-casket hissed as a humanoid figure emerged.
The Shadow Trooper designated Eid-Varak opened his voidglass visor. His breath rasped through an integrated respirator, lenses adjusting as his cybernetic eyes adapted to the crypt light. His armor, silver and ominously pristine, reflected the tomb's sickly crimson light.
He stood tall, activated his neural command interface, and turned to the 20 Sand People now rising from their own stasis pods.
The Sand People Forgotten, Bound, Awakened
Wrapped in robes of dust-colored synthcloth and armored with grafted bone-ceramic, the Sand People emerged in twitching unison. Their feline muzzles exhaled slow, wheezing gasps through rusted breather masks, while their hollow neural-tap ports flickered with blue data glow.
What remained of them was not truly alive.
They were slave-machines, bound into the tomb complex, half-organic conduits used to whisper data, filter blood, or monitor command pulses through endless pipes of bone and metal.
They had once been free beings. Now, they were memoryless slaves, code-etched into flesh, their voices long hollowed by data filtration coils and blood-cleaning pipes. These were not guards.
They were keys.
Eid-Varak issued the order in the tongue of the old tongue:
"Stand vigil. The Sovereign descends. You will kneel when she arrives."
Silently, the Sand People formed a line before the titanic obsidian gates of the Tomb Ascendant, staring toward the distant horizon where stormclouds seethed above black dunes.
Descent of the Empress
Above the tomb, a single Shadow Transport Vessel cut through the atmosphere, its hull glowing as it breached the upper dust clouds. The ship bore no insignia none was needed. Its presence alone sent a pulse through ancient Mahasimu systems across the galaxy.
The vessel landed with surgical grace before the gate.
The ramp extended, hissing open with ancient mechanical precision. A gust of withering wind blew across the entry, stirring the cloaks of the waiting Sand People and rippling the shadows cast by the structure.
From within emerged two figures.
Queen Suama sovereign of the Mahasimu Empire, dressed in obsidian ceremonial armor inlaid with starlight filigree. Her presence bent the very air, her gaze sharper than a singularity's edge.
Royal Guard Commander Nyota her spear-like weapon folded across her back, her armor black-violet and silent as death.
As they stepped onto the sands, Eid-Varak immediately fell to one knee, his voice echoing through his comm-linked visor:
"Shadow Trooper Eid-Varak, Slave Handler Protocol awakened and awaiting further orders, my Queen. Tomb Ascendant awaits your command."
The 20 Sand People simultaneously dropped into a bow, their twitching limbs moving with mechanical precision.
Queen Suama did not acknowledge the bow.
She merely raised her head, letting the wind sweep across her face.
"Good. Begin entry. Ready the vault. The First Grand Star Lord will awaken to my voice."
With a silent gesture, Eid-Varak motioned for the gates to open.
one Sand person bowed not out of reverence, but out of programming and emitted a high-frequency code-song that caused the ancient black gates of the tomb to unseal.
The Gate of Black Remembrance Opens
The massive obsidian doors shuddered, their ancient mechanisms groaning as the Command Crypt finally yielded its silence. Beyond lay the winding descent into the hollow bones of the Mahasimu's oldest war deity the subterranean fortress known only as Tomb Ascendant.
Inside, the Eid-Varak stepped forward, flanking Suama and speaking a single phrase in the ancient Mahasimu tongue:
"Shalak'th Vuth'ar."
All movement ceased.
The Sand People knelt, their internal servos causing joints to grind. The deep halls pulsed awake, and the escort moved forward.
The Sand People remained at the gate silent guardians.
Only Eid-Varak, Nyota, and Queen Suama crossed the threshold.
The last light of the stars vanished behind them.
And below them stirred the slumber of annihilation.