Demon's Lust

[Khendon Sevon]

The world suddenly shook. A sharp, piercing screech echoed violently. The darkness of Khendon’s meditation, the veil of concentration he had swept over his mind, fell into a chasm of chaos. Another jolt snapped reality back into cold, stark relief. The leader of Federacy stood and activated a console, “Captain Tremoltar, what’s wrong?”

“We’re under attack! Taking evasive maneuvers… they’re all around! A wing of fighters!”

Turmoil brewed. Rage rolled like a boiling sea within the deep, dark, dank confines of Khendon’s being. Anger swept the empty, desolate wastelands of his soul. Hatred crested and fell sporadically and unpredictably. Energy crackled and sparked forth from the fiery, wanton stew of enmity. The darkest, blackest power in the universe filled the Imperator to the brim and threatened to leap from its vessel into the outer world and wash everything with its wrath and contempt without prejudice or care.

The man’s eyes were dark shards of gray narrowed into tight, focused slits. Veins bulged from his exposed arms, muscles bloated with all of Khendon’s dark emotions. The powerful warrior threw his cloak on and marched to the cockpit of the shuttle, face resolute with contempt for the disturbance.

[Maal Lah]

Buzzzzzzz!!!!!!!!! The jolt of a mental impulse fired through the passageways of Maal Lah's brain. The comatose soldier instantly awakened from the half-vegetable state he was in. Not that waking up entailed much. just a heightening of the awareness of his brain.

In fact, his brain was so aware that he noticed the 72 red blips appearing within his mind, surrounding the two green dots whom were his allies. Holy Sithspawn! For a moment, Maal wondered whether they were Sovereignty githers, but nothing distinguished these TIE's. Instead, his comabt-oriented mind whirred towards finding his wingmate. Where in Duros is Snake? A voice filling his senses solved that problem.

"Lah, are you there? Should we engage? These are only X-Wings and Headhunters..."

"But there are 72 of them, Jake. Hang tight but closen up the gap between us. Any luck and the fighters won't pay too much attention to us. Only to the shuttle, and we'll need orders from the Imp'tor. Vape a few if you'd like" Maal made the last comment in jest, and hoped that Snake had taken it that way too.

[Jake Snake]

Jake was laying stretch out inside the surprisingly roomy cockpit of the new vortex fighter. It was unlike the other fighters he had flown because he had to lay down on a couch in order to operate the fighter. He was relaxing and thinking how boring this mission was, when he felt a sting in his brain. This told him there was trouble and suddenly the view screen in front of him started to shift and zoom in on the Imperators shuttle. As it did, red blips appeared around it and next to them were classifications.

He reported to Lah and closed up with his fighter. As he did, Jake closed his eyes and saw the controls and space around him. Mentally he started to flick switchs and active all systems. Everything came up green and Jake put his hands into the control arm slots. As he did, the arms on the side of the Vortex released and swung out, weapons ready.

"72 pirates in ageing craft against two Federacy Officers, I like those odds." Jake grinned a little. He was confident, but not so confident that he didn't pay attention to detail. "I have a different idea, sir, if I may. I think we should split up. I can come in from Port and you from Starboard. They are slit in 4 groups, so we can split up on them. We can surprised them and do a lot of damage if we split up, I'll fly through on group, than take on your group as you flew past them, that way we can do twice the damage. I think our Ion torps can come in handy. Also, since the Imperator is under attack I don't think we need permission to perform our mission of protecting him. Plus transmittion are being Jammed. We have to engage now. That shuttle can't take much more."

As he said this, Jake looked on, watching the Imperators shuttle take a beating.

[Khendon Sevon]

A harsh, sharp light flickered alone in the empty corridor. Emergency lighting strained to outline the lines where the floor met the wall. A thick, gray mist—probably a coolant mixture—migrated towards Khendon. In random intervals sparks showered the ground, fiery beasts for one moment, cold and dead the next. Electrical circuits were clearly exposed overhead, insulated housings ruptured. The innards of the ship hung low from the ceiling, a blue liquid dripped and fell with a plopping sound. Small, isolated pools formed here and there.

The noise of strained engines suddenly made the scene deafening. Khendon staggered forward, trying to keep his balance as the vessel rolled and turned, fell and ascended. Suddenly the acceleration was cut and gravity dispersed. The Imperator was thrown violently forward and upward. He rolled into a ball and kicked off a bulkhead, sending his body at breakneck speed towards the deck. The dark warrior braced himself and hit with the force of a proton torpedo.

Suddenly, everything was very silent. The moment froze. Khendon fought back the feeling of feinting, white attempting to fully take control of his vision. He propelled himself forward, using the walls as guides. His muscles began to ache and his breathing became sharp. “The oxygen!” he said in a horse voice.

A brilliant explosion ripped one of the wings from the craft and it began spinning out of control. Gas of blue, amber, and crimson vented from the engine of the crippled shuttle as it flew haphazardly towards a nearby forest planet.

[Maal Lah]

"Crap!" Maal exclaimed as a part of the shuttle exploded in a brilliant flash. The shuttle began a slow descent, tumbling like leaves in a wind.

"Okay, Jake, thats it. Show these scum who they're dealing with. I know you're capable of taking care of yourself. Click for help and lets take them out. Ready for a large dose of pirate scum?"

Snake replied in an unconventional manner; he inverted his fighter and headed pell-mell into the furball.

Maal responded in like kind. Now with the shuttle out of control, the fighters' attention had turned to the two "insignificant" fighters. A costly mistake.

One headhunter found that out all too easily. As Maal dove into the melee, he kept his gatlings firing constantly, the ratio of him to enemies making it a decent tactic. A headhunter caught one bolt behind the pilot canopy, not destroying it but debilitating it., Lumbering more than usual, it wheeled in an attempted pursuit of Maal. clumsy clodhopper...thought Maal in a bored voice as he poured gatling fire into the starfighter.

The headhunter exploded into bright, gaseous shards, whirling this way and that.

One down, 71 to go.....

[Jake Snake]

Jake's scanners followed the Imperator's shuttle as it started to manuever and then came appart under the heavy barrage. He knew that they should have reacted earlier. Anger grew in him a little. He had been tasked with protecting the Imperator's ship, but had failed in that mission. It was time to make up for that fact.

"Yes, sir, good hunting." Jake acknowledged and barrel rolled port. His fighter accelerated faster than any known fighter. As the group of fighters started to converge on Lah, Jake swung around the huge group in a long arc.

He came out of the arc with all guns blazing. The pirates didn't know what hit them. As Jake came at them, each other weapons on his fighter was able to track a different target. Each arm fired two pulse lasers into two different fighters, while the gatlings on each one fired at completely different ones. The Heavy pulsecannon on the Vortex's belly fired at yet other targets from long range. The large cannon swept through space without stopping. As its thick beam came into contact with shields, it made them glow and burn out within milliseconds. In seconds 5 fighters were destroyed and 2 were critally hit.

Jake flew into the thick of the group and fired off two ion torps. After hitting the turbos and pulling up, he detonated both of the torps inside a group of 12 X-wings and Headhunters. The ion warheads went off and covered the surrounding area in a thick wave of ions. They washed over the fighters and sparks played over hulls. Systems started to fry and 9 of the 12 were left floating there.

As Jake came back around toward the mass of fighters his scanners showed 56 enemy left and still dropping. He focused on a flight of three that turned toward Lah's fighter. Coming from high port, Jake's 4 Pulselasers converged on the port fighter, ripping it into three parts. His heavy belly pulsecannon tracked and fired a steady beam into the starboard X-wing, making it disintegrate in space. The middle modified headhunter high full thrust and started to accelerate and dive down, spining and rolling.

In his fighter Jake had no problem keeping up with the obselete headhunter. He went from side to side and then hung in space for a second, as the headhunter veared starboard. As it did, Jake moved the control arms and the starboard weapons arm turned to follow the fighter, as it did, the belly cannon turned as well. The two cannons on the arm and the belly cannon fired at once. The Headhunter had no chance as the blue beams converged on the fighter, going through the shields as if they weren't there. Soon there was nothing left but debris. 53 fighters left, thought Jake.

His mind twitched and instantly went to sensors, which showed 3 torpedo launches at his fighter. His two dorsal AMS turrets swung around and unleashed a hail of laser fire as the torps raced in. Jake swung the fighter around as two torps exploded early after getting hit with laser fire. He waited less than a second and dived instantly, allowing the third torp to just go by his fighter. Before it could start to turn, the AMS on the starboard side picked it off.

Jake concentrated and his systems back tracked the torps to their firing position. Zooming in, he could see the pair of X-wings closing on his position. Again the belly turret swung around and a beam lanced out. The beam swung left to right, cutting through both of the fighters in seconds, making both explode. Turning toward the larger group of fighters, Jake noticed 2 X-wings and 2 Headhunters moving in behind Lah.

"Sir, watch your six, you just picked up 4 tails. I'm coming in from your front. Dive on my mark." Jake stated and rolled in front of Lah's fighter. He picked up speed and headed straight for Lah. As he closed in Jake calculated the time in his head. "Mark!! Mark!!"

As his words went out over the neural net, Lah dived just as Jake fired all his weapons. Each targeting a different fighter. The belly cannon ripped through an X-wing as the port pulsecannons did the same to a headhunter. The Starboard pulsecannons slamed into another X-wing and ripped off 2 S-foils and 2 port engines, sending the fighter into a long spin out of the engagment zone. The port Galter tore into the last Headhunter, making it fall apart under the intense barrage of laser blots.

Jake's mind flaired as laser blasts started to rain down on his fighter. the remaining fighters were now upon them and still outnumbered them by a lot. Jake hit the microthursts and turned around in space, flying back into action with all cannons blazing.

[Khendon Sevon]

Khendon’s face contorted into a sneer as dark energy rippled through his body. A burst of sudden speed and agility allowed him to kick off the deck and push off the bulkhead nearly instantly, his body flying forward. The Imperator clenched his fist, energy crackling around him. A durasteel door designed to protect the cockpit of the shuttle suddenly folded inward and fell to the ground as if it were made of simple tin.

With the force as his gravity, Khendon’s feet touched the deck and he stepped over the crumbled hatch. His silver eyes stared coldly at the scene that awaited him beyond the entry. Sparks erupted from destroyed circuits, cracks had formed in the transparasteel viewport, monitors were ripped from their casings. The cold, harsh, metallic floor bounced ambient light around the confined space, casting an eerie glow on the image of two dead pilots.

The bodies were barely recognizable as human. They lay slouched in their chairs with crash webbing fastened sturdily. However, other parts of them were scattered about the confines of the cockpit, the entire scene painted in red. Computer components and controls were strewn about; several penetrated the flesh of the deceased.

Khendon flinched as his eyes shot to the viewport. He gasped helplessly as the planet rushed up to greet him.

[Maal Lah]

Hmmmm, 24 for Jake. One for me. Maal grinned as the reality of the numbers set in. But, in the end, it didn't matter as they both needed to survive.

Ensuring that part at the moment, his four gatlings unleashed a pent-up torrent at a Headhunter foolish enough to try a head-to-head maneuver.

The nose of the fighter splintered followed by the cockpit and the CDE as the hellfire ripped it apart. Bot even bothering it another glance, Maal dove into a convex arc, drawing another fighter with him. And then his two rear swivel opened up on it. The X-Wing danced around the first shots, letting it graze the shields, but then a hit struck the inner section of the upper port s-foil, knocking it to the right. Another laser caught it on its belly, and that was all she wrote.

Three. Eh, not bad.... Maal was then, ironically enough, left alone in the midst of nearly four squadrons of enemies. Or was he? Instead of meleeing individually, and getting massacred, the pirates seemed to have grown brains. That, or it was a stroke of luick.

Indeed, a stroke of luck large enough that an entire squadron's worth of missiles, 24, had been launched at him at the same time. The situation did not look good.

And all the warning klaxons were killing his ears.

[Jake Snake]

Jake noticed that Lah was in trouble instantly. Lah had gotten so into the fight that he let the enemy get the jump on him. Dispatching his foe quickly, Jake spread out his fighters arms and hit the microthrusters. These slowed the fighter down quickly and spun it around to face Lah's position. Hitting turbos, the vortex fighter shot off toward Lah's.

As Jake's fighter closed in, range scrolled down on his displays. In seconds he was within Heavy pulsecannon range and than within gatling range. Pressing and holding down the trigger, the three weapons systems erupted with laser fire. Fighters started to take hits. Some exploded, others left the area. The Heavy pulsecannon swept through space, knocking down torps as they started to close on Lah.

"Hold on Lah." Jake said, as his fighter got within AMS range. Both lasers fired instantly, picking off torpedo after torpedo. Suddenly alarms went off and the display closed in on a mass of torpedos and missiles that was closing in. 36 torps and missiles raced on Jake's fighter. His lasers turned to meet the new threat and allowed some of the torps heading for Lah, to get through.

As Jake's lasers fired on the torps coming at him, Jake was weaving the fighter around the torps and raced toward a mass of enemy fighters. As he got close his pulsecannons turned the fighters in fresh debris fields. As he flew by, fighter parts slamed into his shields, taking them down to 50%. As he flew by, his fighter rocked as a massive explosive wave hit it. 5 of the torps that were after him detonated in the debris. His sensors were down for a few seconds and in those seconds 4 torps smalled into his fighter. Shields went down after 3 hits and the forth exploded just above the fighter. It took out the top engine, the 2 AMSs, a stabilizer, and the hyperdrive went ofline.

The fighter become a little hard to handle and suddenly power went on and off, shield systems started to go off line. The only thing to do was get on planet and land. "Lah, I'm hit. I'm going to try to land planet side. Good luck."

With that Jake used the remaining power to locate the Imperators crash site and raced in on that destination. when he was close to the ground, only 1 engine was left functioning. He only had power for a small repulsor boost. He flipped them on ad slowed down, before smashing into the ground.

[Khendon Sevon]

The shuttle fell like a broken thing, turning and spinning. Like a stone it descended into the planet’s atmosphere, brilliant waves of fire rippling off its superheated hull. Another wing ripped off and the vessel began undulating violently. It streaked across the night sky like an ill-fated meteorite.

Khendon had retreated to the rear of the vessel. The engine room was dark and silent. His silver eyes sparkled in the blackness as he folded his legs and took his first calming breath. The Imperator pictured the shuttle in his mind, imagined a protective barrier around himself, a bubble of the force. He pulled forth the deepest embedded emotions of malice and pain he could, fed off their influence and pure chaos.

A violent jolt ripped through the shuttle as it collided with the surface of the jungle planet. The shuttle punched through the earth and fell into a dark abyss, a previously concealed cavern. It continued its freefall until it smashed into an underground lake. Water was suddenly superheated and steam left the newly created vent.

Darkness.

[Maal Lah]

Sithspawn Maal thought. Even as he spared a glance at the surface of the moon, he thought he saw a cloud of dusting, marking the spot where Snake had landed. Or crashed... However, his attention could not be diverted from the numerous fighters remaining.

That observation was punctuated by the impact of a missile on Maal's shields. Maal thought a curse that would have shamed the cruelest ruffian as he looked at damage indicators. Shields had dropeed to 60%. With one missile hit, too... the situation was not good.

BUt it was time to show them who the Federacy really was. The enemy was probably drunk on the easy succumbment of the shuttle, and the recent downing of Snake's fighter. I'll just have to make them retch, then

Squadrons had formed up among the enemy, looking to group on him all at once. In answer, four gatlings opened up as Maal veered towards the nearest group. Headhunters' dilapidated shields and X-Wings' inferior power succumbed to deadly rains of crimson lasers.

27 fighters had been left after jake went down. THe number became 25. Then 24. Next, 23. Maal poured fire into another fighter, letting it exploded, then zoomed off, looking to bank into the fight again. BUt several lasers, the result of wither profound skill or miserable luck, caught up to his figher. SOmehow penetrating his defenses, the blasts caught Maal on his center-starboard area and sent his fighter into a topsy-turvy spin. Crap! Hyperdrive, dorsal AMS, this is not good. Without hyperdrive, he wouldnt be able to go for help.

Still, Maal thanked his gods that the torps were still functional. He still could use them. And he planned to. He sent his full load of missiles at every target he could spot. One veered towards a newer model X-Wing. The enemy fired lasers at it, and the lasers converged on the missile...And the missile nudged out of line and continued to strike the X-Wing, vaporizing it. Maal paid no more attention to it. He dodged as best he could, trying to avoid hits, and kept his gatlings firing, a constant stream of lasers.

A pause borught hope to him at last. Of all the 72 fighters, only a half-dozen remained. Maal turned to face the last six, and the gatlings opened up again. Six brilliant explosions lit the space.

Then all hell came loose, at least inside Maal's fighter. The starfighter was pitched forward and bucked like a rancor in a nerf herd. Pieces flew off and whirled around the black emptiness. One caught the assailant who had ruined Maal's hope of coming out of this intact. Not as lucky as Maal, who had a top-of-the-line fighter, the enemy vanished in a plume of fire.

Inside, Maal's eardrums were pounding. His fighter was caught and being sucked into the moon. He had no lateral control and no repulsorlifts. As his fighter was pulled into the atmosphere, and the black turned mikly-white, his last thought was...

...Crap

[Jake Snake]

Jake's eyes shot open, only to watch the dirt around his downed fighter fall back down. His restaining system had worked and he didn't feel like he had sustained damage. Jake ordered the fighter to open the emergancy hatch, but nothing happening. All systems were down. Jake looked around and hit the release button. Instanly a door at the top of the fighter slid open.

Getting up Jake climbed out of the fighter and jumped to the ground. Looking it over he whistled at his fighter. The whole rear was blackened and holed. The front held up remarkably well under the impact and might even withstand the stress of flight. Jake walked around and opened the cargo bay. From inside he got out his survival pack and a standard blaster. Straping on the pack, he jugged off into the direction of the crater about a km away.

When Jake got to it, he looked down. Inside, deep in the ground was the shuttle carrying Sevon. Jake looked around and didn't see any one that got out. He wrapped and tied a rope around a nearby tree and proceeded to decend into the cavern. He went into the water and dove under to get to the hatch. The hatch was open, so he swam into it. Inside there was a pocket of air and floating there was Sevon.

"Sir, are you alright? Your shuttle had quite the fall. Are you the only survivor?"

Jake looked around, "I have a way out of it, if you would like to follow me."

[Khendon Sevon]

Khendon took a calming breath and floated as still as he could. The frigid water’s hypothermic affects melted away. A subtle breeze frolicked in the underground. The constant, droning trickling of water filled his focused ears. The former Sith extended his perception through the force, connected with the life around him. He drank deeply of the energy around him. The Imperator stretched his metaphysical legs and felt the tight ligaments of his incorporeal form.

After a long moment Khendon sighed and released the hatred that had built in his soul. While it had protected him, it had also chipped away at his humanity, corroded the waterworks of his being. A new figure entered the pattern of life around the former Vice Diktat.

A voice broke the silence gently, “Sir, are you alright? Your shuttle had quite the fall. Are you the only survivor?" Khendon’s eyes focused slightly in the darkness and he perceived the outline of Captain Snake.

“I have a way out of it, if you would like to follow me." Khendon nodded his head slowly.

His rough voice broke the moment, “let’s get the frell out of here.”

[Maal Lah]

Green surrounded him, but the inside of his of his body was a confusion of red-hot flames licking at him. The air about him rose in steamy gouts, but not touching the man. The man in a Federacy uniform. The one with commodore markings on him. The one sitting...in the wreckage of his ship

Maal woke up, or, as per the fact that he hadnt been sleeping, regained his consciousness. He was lying...where? Memories flooded back to him: the fight, the burning shuttle, his wingmate crashing...his own fall....his ship...burning! and yet, when he looked around, there was...pieces of his ship scattered around.

A frown appeared on the tan forehead of the man. A Federacy fighter should not have splintered into a thousand pieces. And yet, Maal noticed suddenly that he was sitting on his fighter's cockpit couch. His blaster was lying on the floor, or the soil, right by him. What the frell was going on?

Maal holstered his blaster. He took his canteen from his side and poured some water into his hand. The water hissed as it hit the decidedly cooler skin of his palm. The blaster, however, made of metal, was comfortably tucked into his side.

Maal put away his concerns, and set off through the surrounding area. He had important things to do, like finding his Imperator and his wingmate, and the sooner he started, the sooner he would find them.

[Jake Snake]

Jake looked at the Imperator and nodded, "Follow me sir."

He took a breath and went under the water again. Piviting himself downward, Jake swam deeper and saw the hole in the ship. Light was weakly coming through it and when he reached it he looked back to see if the Imperator was behind him. Jake motioned him through and then went after.

As he broke through the water Jake turned to see the Imperators shuttle groan a little and then sink all the way down. He swam to his rope and motioned up. "You go first sir. I'll be right behind you."

After Sevon was on his way up, Jake grabbed the rope and started climing. It was harder then coming down, but his military training and conditioning made the climb much easier. He had to watch out for loose rocks and looked after the Imperator, making sure Sevon didn't fall back. Finally Jake reached the edge and pulled himself up. He looked at Sevon and smiled lightly, "Not a bad work out, huh, sir."

He looked the man over, "Do you need any medical attention? I have a med pack with me."

For some reason Jake looked right and in the distance noticed smoke coming out of the trees. "Should we check it out sir?" Jake asked.

[Khendon Sevon]

Khendon’s head broke free of the frigid water’s icy fingers. Still drenched, he followed the Captain up and out of the great, gaping mouth.

The sky was a peach color with streaks of strawberry and hues of cherry. “Night must be coming,” said Khendon in strained voice. A barrage of questions followed as Captain Snake inquired about the Imperator’s health and the smoke rising in the distance.

As if a film were removed from Khendon’s eyes and everything had suddenly come into focus Khendon’s eyes sharpened. Control returned to his voice and power to his muscles. His cold eyes scanned the horizon. “Captain,” he said in a full, firm voice, “let’s move out… I’m fine,” his eyes softened somewhat and a slight smile played across his face, “thank you.”

[Jake Snake]

Jake stood at attention and saluted, "Just doing my job sir."

He placed his survival pack on his back and then held the blaster in his right hand. Jake looked at the Imperator, nodded, and set off in the direction of the smoke. Where the terrain allowed, Jaked ran, other times he jogged, but most often he had to use his virboknife to cut away dense vegetation so Sevon and him could get through.

As he got closer, he started to send out neural messages, "Lah, is that you? Lah are you there, over?"

[Maal Lah]

Whoa there Maal though to himself. His pilot's neural implant was working it seemed. Either that, or he was a imagining a dot in the middle of his mind.

"Seems that Jake survived, at least." Maal noted. Then for a moment he was seized by a flitting moment of fear. What about the shuttle? After all, the Imperator of the Imperial Federacy was on board. And wouldn't Snake have stuck by his, and Maal's, commander?

With a shake of his head, Maal dispelled those notions. The Imperator was resourceful; how else would he have risen as far as he had. Besides that, he was also one of the most mowerful Force users Maal had ever met, perhaps even one of the best in the galaxy.

Okay, lets not overstretch our brain capacity. Maal thought to ground himself into reality, as he chose a new course of action. Well, of course; he would go and meet up with his wingmate.

Snake, according to his implant, was closer to Maal's wrecked ship than he was. So Maal backtracked through the terrain. He was moving around a clump of trees when he saw a splotch of black. It could be a lump of blackberry juice. Maal thought stupidly. But closer inspection showed it to be moving, something blackberry juice could not, in Maal's experience, do.

Maal slowed to a casual jaunt and strolled towards his wingmate. But Snake kept on moving. Surely he must have noticed him by now. Maal started jogging to move up to the man.

The crash site loomed up. Jake ran to it, Maal following. When Jake reached the charred area, he paused to examine several footprints, Maal's footprints. He stood and made to walk off again into the forest.

Okay, this frellin business has gone on long enough Maal strode quickly to the rear of the man and stated simply: "Tap-tap."

[Khendon Sevon]

Khendon bit deeply into his lip as a surge of electric pain ran its twisted fingers across his chest. His eyes were sharp, intense, his mind focused like a vice. The pain will feed my strength, he told himself, I am the darkness that binds demons to night, I am the lust that feeds man’s desire. I, the Imperator of the Imperial Federacy, will survive this day, and the next, and so forth… until I see the rotting corpses of those that have done this to me.

The injured Imperator straightened his back and fought off the white blurs that threatened at the corners of his vision. Khendon could just make out the outline of officer Snake as he ran off into the distance. The former Vice-Diktat took his time and gently strolled onward.

With some slight effort Khendon made it to where Snake was waiting, a new figure present behind him. The dark jedi smiled with amazement, “Lah!” he had focused so much of his efforts on using his pain to carry on that he hadn’t expanded his senses, hadn’t allowed his perception to wander over the local area for the fallen Commodore.

[Jake Snake]

Jake smiled as he saw Lah and patted the man on the shoulder. "You made it." He laughed, "I didn't have a doubt in my mind. We gave it to them pretty good huh?"

With a smile he turned toward the sound of the imperator, "Sir, we are back together at last. Now to find a way out of here."