Glory to the Confederacy (Star Wars x Male Separatist Reader)

Chapter 19: The Stronghold and the Figure in the Dark

Y/N POV

"Minister, we have arrived at the Vassek system."

The ship came out of lightspeed as I re-entered the bridge. Stepping closer to the cockpit, I looked down at the beacon left showing the location of this 'stronghold'.  I found it strange that Dooku knew the exact coordinates of the location yet still sent me to deal with it.

I pointed at the beacon on the map and instructed Nachkt. "Good, land as close to the stronghold's location as you can, I don't know what to expect down there." Nachkt knew better than to argue so he just nodded saying "Yes Minister L/N."

The ship began to approach the grey planet, I also found it interesting that it would be the Vassek system of all places, it was relatively isolated from any civilised systems, or systems in general, a suitable place for a stronghold.

We descended into the atmosphere and was met with copious amounts of fog, Nachkt commented "It's near impossible to see anything through this fog. If this ship gets damaged, I'm charging you extra!"

I kept looking at the beacon and said "We should be getting closer to the stronghold now, find us somewhere to land around here." Nachkt snapped "How am I meant to spot land if I can't see anything?!"

As soon as he said these words, a large slab of stone ground emerged from the fog, I just gestured towards it and said "There, that should do nicely." Nachkt rolled his eyes "Of course Minister." He pushed a button to set the ship down for landing, allowing it to touch down with little trouble.

Once that was done, we disembarked and stepped out onto the rocky surface. Turning around, I got my first look at Gha Nachkt's ship. A large vessel, certainly fitting of its purpose. Considering I'd woken up inside it, I hadn't gotten to see what it looked like until now.

Image of the Vulture's Claw (Gha Nachkt's ship):

Gha Nachkt himself chose now to speak up "Well then, I've taken you to where you wanted to go. Our business is concluded. I expect 500,000 credits for my services." I just smirked at his declaration, it was high, but it was something I could easily afford."

"Consider it a deal, once my business is concluded here, I'll talk to Count Dooku about getting the credits sent to you." Nachkt snapped "You'd better." "I'm a man of my word. You'll get your pay." Nachkt extended his hand "Then we shake on it."

I looked at his hand, trying to suppress a grimace. Either way, I reached out and shook. With that out of the way, I turned back to face ahead. Nachkt boarded his ship and soon I could hear it taking off behind me.

Now though, all that mattered was going forward, into the fog...

Timeskip...

I still had the beacon so I just followed that for a few minutes before coming to a stop. I spoke quietly to myself "According to this, it should be right about-." Ahead of my was a sea of fog, extending my hand in front of me. I channelled the Force and with a swish, the fog disbursed.

Ahead of my was a large mountain and what seemed to be a massive door which had previously all been concealed in the fog. Stepping closer to the door I began to inspect it. There was no visible control panel so I was unsure how to open it.

I contemplated carving through it with my lightsaber but that's when I noticed an elevated panel etched into the door. I commented "Oh? This is interesting." Reaching out I pushed the panel, causing it to retreat into the door, and just like that it swung open.

Behind it was a large corridor, bathed in darkness. The only lights present were dim lamps that lines either side of the corridor. I stepped inside and took a moment to look around, the place certainly seemed intimidating, right away I got a negative feeling, as if I was being watched.

That's when the door slammed shut behind me, in shock I spun around and ignited my lightsaber. I approached the door only to find it was locked I snarled and muttered "Trapped!" Turning back to look down the corridor, "I suppose this is my only way forward."

I turned my lightsaber off and began to walk down the corridor, the uneasy feeling I had only increased. Not because of potential dangers, but because of the LACK of them. I had no idea what this 'asset' Dooku wanted me to find was. But in here, it could be anywhere.

Arriving at a large circular room, I found some sort of chair. I took this moment to look around, how quiet it was any yet, I still had that feeling as if a pair of eyes was on my the whole time. Leading off this room was another corridor, seemingly identical to the last, darkness with dim lamps on either side of it. With my lightsaber in hand, I began to walk down it.

Out of the corner of my eye, I thought something moved, my head snapped in that direction however I saw nothing, except for a door which opened as I got closer, what was on the other end surprised me.

It appeared to be a statue, showing a figure, in one hand he held a blade and in the other he held a severed head. I recognized the figure as a Kaleesh. I remember hearing about the Huk war briefly years ago. What was this statue doing here?

I muttered "Interesting..." Before turning to a door on the other side of the room, I went through there and was met with even more statues clearly of  Kaleesh origin. These ones though were different as they had cybernetics grafted onto their bodies.

Once more, I noticed something move from the corner of my eye, it caused me to twitch. This time there was no mistaking it. I could feel a presence very strongly now, I looked sideways, not turning around just yet.

That's when I heard it, metal footsteps. I raised an eyebrow and looked around, I couldn't quite clearly pick out where it was coming from, it seemed like it was coming from all around me. It was only brief though as silence once again returned.

I barely had time to ignite my saber and defend myself as a figure dropped down from the ceiling, green and blue blades poised to attack...

Author's Note: And that's it for this chapter. The next one will be the last one in this arc and then we'll be on to the Malevolence segment. I really hope you enjoyed the chapter and as always, thank you for reading.