Although Darth Lilim's message had been brief, seeing the grand formation of five Imperial-class Star Destroyers now truly confirmed for Darth Malthael that Darth Sidious had suffered a devastating loss—one so severe he had nearly choked on it, enough that he had gone to the trouble of dispatching a fleet from so far away to settle the score!
Sure enough, Darth Sidious's expression shifted slightly at those words, but he forcibly suppressed it before saying solemnly, "Gethzerion is an enormous threat to all life in the Milky Way Galaxy. To prevent untold devastation across the galaxy, I must first ensure that she cannot escape from Dathomir planet. Then we will go together and destroy her!"
Who exactly was the one running away? Darth Malthael sneered inwardly. Darth Lilim's message had stated it plainly: when the two sides clashed, it had been His Majesty the Emperor who fled in panic.
However, Darth Malthael also knew that after Darth Sidious had stirred things up like this, killing Gethzerion was probably no longer possible. With strength that made her one of the strongest beings in the Milky Way Galaxy, once she knew they explicitly intended to kill her, she could escape their pursuit through Force foresight alone. Even Orbital Bombardment would have difficulty stopping her.
"His Majesty the Emperor considers the welfare of all life in the galaxy. That is the galaxy's good fortune." Darth Malthael offered a hypocritical compliment. "So, where is Gethzerion now? Can we lock onto her?"
"She is extremely cunning. The moment she discovered our arrival, she fled," Darth Sidious said. "However, during my investigations over the past few days, I found that there are other witches on Dathomir planet who are hostile to the Nightsister Order. We discovered several battlefields, all sites where those witches were massacred. If