Dark Clouds

[Ikhan]

 Ever since the wedding of Kal Taral and his wife, Anna, the Imperial Palace, and by extension the rest of the planet, had experienced higher security, as there had been several attempts on Emperor Taral's life. it was unknown as to who would want him dead, but he suspected someone in parliament being behind it. At the same time, there were reports of terrorists calling themselves "LICIT" taking hold on Orbis III, which he realized would become quite troublesome in the future. Even with this bad news, he was pleased that the AVATAR project, as well as Project Blackwing, or Bioweapons Project I17A, had been completed. Outside of the throne room, two guards stood, preventing anyone from entering without permission from the Emperor himself. Emperor Taral, who usually preferred to be left in silence, summoned several of his closest advisors, as well as Kal Taral and one of the ambassadors to Orbis III. Upon their entry, Sutta walked up to them, not only to speak to them, but in order to read their minds.
 "Grand Moff Vaiken... My most trusted military leader... I presume you haven't betrayed me?" Sutta asked in an almost menacing tone.
 "No, my lord. I have not. Feel free to check for yourself, but I hold nothing but admiration for you." Vaiken replied.
 "I suppose you are right..." Sutta said as he moved on. "You may leave." he added as he turned to face his son, Kal.
 "Father, I swear to you that I have done nothing against you. I have been leading the investigations into this matter as you asked." Kal said, fearing that he might be punished.
 "Oh, don't act like I believe you are behind it, son. In fact, I summoned for you in particular because I have something to tell you." Sutta replied, not seeing why he needed to be afraid. "From this day forth, you will fulfill the role of Co-Emperor of the Akaatan Infinite Empire. You will not work with me as a lesser, but an equal." he added with what could almost be mistaken as pride. "Now, I shall move on to Prime Minister Fel." he finished as he walked over to the prime minister.
 "My lord? W-what do you need of me?" Fel asked nervously.
 "Tell me. Were you behind the attempts on my life?" Sutta said, his eyes slowly turning black as he saw him.
 "N-no. I-I wasn't i-involved." Fel replied as he realized he had been found out about.
 "Your thoughts betray you, 'Prime Minister' Fel... I know better than to trust you. What other secrets does your mind hold, I wonder... Oh... how shameful, Fel. You have been involved in black market dealings and bribery? How unbecoming of a Prime Minister." Sutta said, his voice slowly starting to loose all signs of emotion once more. "And what is this? You have been giving secrets to our enemy, the Kyr? How dare you!" he added. "Take him away! He will be taken before a military tribunal if I have anything to say about it!" he finished before returning to his throne.
 "Father, if I may, I would like to ask for everyone else to leave the room for a minute. I would like to tell you something pertaining to the family." Kal asked as screams could be heard from the hallway leading to the room.
 "Of course..." Sutta replied before requesting that everyone else leave. "What is it, son?" he asked once everyone else had left.
 "Well, how should I put this... You are going to be a grandfather." Kal said. For a few moments, Sutta remained silent before he had realized what Kal had said.
 "That's... the best news I have heard in a while... Son, I would like to be the first to tell you this: Congratulations. I hope that this crisis shall be resolved before the child is born, at least so that he or she will not have to live through what I did." Sutta said. For a few more minutes, they would continue talking before Kal left. Upon him leaving, Sutta got up and looked out over the planet below, upon the coming dawn.

Edited July 24, 2017 by Darth Saarai