Space twisted open with the shriek of hyperspace exit. The Scimitar-class stealth ship emerged just outside the gravitational reach of Feron-4.
Count Dooku stood motionless in the command bay, hands clasped behind his back.
"No satellites. No transmissions. No major power signatures."
"But the Force… is hollow here."
His pilot, a quiet protocol droid modified for stealth ops, spoke softly.
"Shall we initiate surface scans, my lord?"
Dooku narrowed his eyes.
"Begin passive scanning. Do not alert anything... that may already be watching."
Feron-4: Protocol Shadowlight
Kael stood in his observation chamber.
The Phantom Array — a series of orbital data ghosts — projected false planetary telemetry to all inbound scans. Atmospheric turbulence. Magnetic interference. Harmless native fauna.
To Dooku's instruments, the world looked like a pre-civilization rock with no strategic value.
Kael's eyes flickered across the live data.
"He's not buying it," he murmured.
Tessara-1, standing nearby, asked:
"Do we eliminate the ship?"
Kael shook his head."No. That would confirm suspicion."
Instead, Kael initiated Operation: Hollow Town.
The Deception Begins
On the far side of Feron-4, a "settlement" was activated: a prefabricated village of primitive mud-and-stone architecture, half-destroyed by fake weathering. A few dozen "locals" — reprogrammed droids in organic flesh suits — began moving as if part of a real, backward society.
Kael selected the most unremarkable life readings, rerouted signals, and funneled them toward the ship's scanners.
Dooku would land.
He had to.
Aboard the Scimitar
Dooku frowned at the new readings.
"A village? This far out?"
His voice was skeptical. But his curiosity had been stirred. This planet was supposed to be dead. Empty. Yet the Force was whispering around it.
"Set course for atmospheric entry," he said.
"Land one kilometer from the settlement."
Meanwhile: The Flooded Memory
In her sealed recovery chamber, Iralith Vex thrashed in her sleep.
Kael's Echo Mind flickered red.
"She is remembering too fast."
Inside her mind, flashes of war screamed through:
Fleets of black ships wielding anti-Force beams.
Jedi crucified on obelisks of crystal.
Sith reduced to raw cells, recycled for energy.
A throne of fractured stars.
Her eyes opened.
She sat up.
And whispered, "The Lament Engine… it's still active."
System Alert: Ancient Weapon Identified
Name: Lament Engine
Type: Sub-conscious Suppression Array
Status: Dormant — Reactivates when multiple Force users gather in proximity
Function: Nullifies emotional-based Force powers and implants false visions in Jedi and Sith
Location: UNKNOWN
Kael absorbed the information in silence.
Something older than the Jedi… older than the Sith… was still out there.
Waiting.
And the more he built, the more it would awaken.
First Contact
Count Dooku entered the fabricated village alone.
Primitive huts. Dumb stares. Broken tools. Everything staged to perfection.
He observed one of the locals — a droid in disguise — and reached out with the Force.
The being's mind… was there.
But empty. Not Force-dead.
Just… manufactured.
He turned his head slightly.
And saw it.
A child.
Looking at him.
No fear. No curiosity.
Just… calculation.
Then it blinked.
And Dooku felt nothing.
Above, in Orbit
Kael monitored the situation with clinical detachment.
He didn't care if Dooku suspected. What mattered was the delay — days, weeks, however long it took to complete his first military ship.
If Dooku made a move?
Kael had contingencies.