《Shades of grey》 Enlightment Earth, Milky Way galaxy Today It was a dark and gloomy night, with flashes of lightning interfering slightly by bringing some light into an otherwise scary darkness... Yeah, no. It was a normal morning, and I was sipping my coffee, while watching a rather competent youtuber debate the merits of a certain class of star destroyer versus another. Was aBellator-class dreadnoughtbetter than a Mandator? Sure, it was smaller, but the tech was more advanced... But which one was better? ''Would you like to know more?'' an amused voice asked, as my monitor expanded and engulfed me into a rather realistic 3D simulation. The Ships looked menacing and ominous now, painted in a grey shade of militaristic might. Wouldn''t black paint be more suited for deep space engagements? Hmmm. Did my brother misplaced some more LSD into my coffee? Last time he tried something like this, I had been chasing a virtual steam train for hours...pretty train, although not really realistic... ''Ah, it''s the ADD again. And you missed my reference... / pout.'' Did the LSD schizophrenia induced voice, reference mental disorders? Then again starship troopers was another favorite of mine. Since it featured starships and troopers. Pretty cool combination, if not really well written, or had any real strategy value...but cool! ''That''s it! Focus Pef, or I will enlighten you, with lightning...'' the voice threatened me. Oh, a threat! Or maybe a treat? Enlightenment by lightning, just like the Flash or maybe an ascension thing like in wuxia? Wouldn''t it be nice though? BZZZTTTTTTTT. Bzzttttt. A flash of lightning sprang out of nowhere, hitting me in the legs and producing an X-ray effect, my bones visible through clothes and flesh. And it hurt. Quite a lot. I try to focus my eyes, and the voice now belongs to a face. George Lucas. I may be wasted, worse than I first thought. "Ouch. Owwww. Stop it!" I yelled as the violet lightning shocked me to coherence and pain. This was strange...did I fell asleep and was now lying unconscious in a pool of coffee, while my lamp was electrocuting me? LSD did seem to have quite some effects...right? ''Ever heard of Random Omnipotent Bats?'' the fake George Lucas asks with a kind voice. "..." I think, while trying to collect my brains into the dustpan. ''Now pay attention. I have need for a champion and I chose you. Now, I don''t want to wait for a new body to grow and learn the basics of Corsca Galaxy, so you get to pick a species and force ability you will start with. You have an hour to pick wise...'' "Can I have technopathy? Technopathy is pretty much the best Force power! Some telekinesis would be great too..." I interrupted the annoying ROB. Ever seen George Lucas get mad? I did. ''...Technopathy. A bit of telekinesis... Sure! ROB replied, voice a bit hesitant and maybe even confused. But also mocking and sarcastic. "Thanks ROB. You''re the best!" I exclaimed happily, as the fake simulation around me collapsed into a single point and my mind was propelled at improbable speed through a hyperspace vortex. Hmmm, I must have missed something, why was the nice ROB mocking me? Anyways, pretty stars! Galaxies and stars, quasars and black holes sped around me, as I left my future behind. Or was it my past now? No matter! Look at those nebulae, so beautiful! Time travel, and immeasurable distances, traversed my consciousness to a galaxy far, far away and a long time ago. Omnipotent beings were such bullshit... ****** In a galaxy far, far away and long time ago Traveling backwards in time takes time, confusing as it may seem. You need to be a Doctor to understand it, so I won''t bother. I think it took hours, at least. I was pretty bored, by the time I reached my new body. However... I was now a foot long Force crystal, glowing green and, buried under the ruins of Rur''s space fortress, which itself was buried deep into the rocky world ofGarn. So yeah, no more fun times for Pef. Unless rocks can have sex here in Star Wars, which wouldn''t quite surprise me. They do make the improbable possible, every day. Still, I had Force senses now, and I reached out with them, searching for signs of life or technology. Either would do. No luck. The planet was barren, the inhabitants long gone. A toxic yellow fog was rolling over dead trees, and a killer bioweapon fungus was creeping everywhere, making sure that any living thing that landed on this planet will soon be dead. Exploring more and more, stretching my new senses, I soon found some crystals, named soul snares containing Force spirits and some old Jedi armors. With old skeletons inside. I thought the Jedi cremated their dead, this was strange. Seems a war was fought here, destroying the planetary biome and the former inhabitants, along with their attackers. The crystal soul snares likely contained the spirits of the Jedi captured during the war. Or Sith. Some scraps of old droids were lying closer, some cut to pieces, others just deactivated. Good enough. A safe place to learn my new Force powers and build the start of an army. Why would I want an army though? I never wanted one before. Reallystrange. Bits and pieces of memories, probably from the former occupant of this crystal body, drifted through my mind, precepts of the Ordu Aspectu, and their quest for eternal life. Their genocide at the hands of the Jedi Order. Lightsabers not hands, actually. Elegant weapons and such. So sad, to have succeeded in their quest for immortality and be too dead to enjoy it. Or maybe not. Some of them may have ascended, and became one with the Force. Maybe. Not likely. Either way, the Ordu Aspectu were no longer around. Not on the material plane. And I was free to do as I liked, as long as I remained undetected by the Jedi. Though, they will be gone soon as well, if they weren''t all 66-ed already. I saw the movies. Planet Garn, Cadma sector, Outer Rim Year 25 BBY Having no limbs is a pain. Then again, telekinesis and multitasking sort of compensate. For something. I wish I could get angry at the sick entity who left me limbless and buried on some forgotten planet. Sadly, without an organic brain, I don''t have real emotions. Stupid Jedi. There''s no Emotion, there''s only peace. See how simple it was? Gah! I have begun reactivating some of the more intact droids, and connected them to my own network. Did I mention, I was an AI now? Not exactly though, as I was not mechanical and had senses beyond anything a computer could have. Still, there were partitions and various commands to implement, making running my body easier. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. My first task was to use a few of my guard droids to drag the remains of a dozen other droids and begin piecing myself a host for the crystal self. A few other guard droids were digging their way up, and clearing the debris. Luckily the technology of this galaxy was extremely robust, years of neglect and disrepair not significantly impeding my progress into re initializing the dozen droids around. However, I will have to look into obtaining a power source for them. And perhaps later, a spaceship. First thing, installing my crystal into the torso of a droid, then attaching intact limbs from the other droids around. To my shame, it took days to finalize my new body, since different droids required OS recombination and a bit of mechatronic art and creativity to fit together. Small steps Pef. You have an invulnerable and ageless body now. Acquiring mobility and a veneer of social presence was useful, but not really necessary. I wasn''t gonna emulate Grievous, any time soon. I then began covering the droid chassis in a metal Jedi armor, which was quite impressive to look at, minus the horns. I''ll have to get rid of those, sooner than later. Soon after, my honor guard also started wearing the Jedi armors, and I began training them, rehearsing social protocols, then combat algorithms. A month later, I looked over my domain, and despaired silently. A dozen ancient droids, wearing ancient Jedi armors and pretending to be bounty hunters. And failing badly. Hmmm. I had these soul snares lying around. Maybe they could be put to some use. I delved into the Force trying to establish contact with one of the spirits, but whoever was inside was quite mad, possibly from solitude and sensory deprivation. I tried another and another, till I found a slightly saner one. "Hey, is there anyone in there?" I asked through a thin tendril of Force bond. "You monster, you aren''t dead!" an angry voice yelled at me. "Who do you think I am?" I wondered curious. We never met before, I was quite certain. "You are Rur, the leader of Ordu Aspectu! The one who killed me and trapped me here." Hmmm. My name may be short and sweet, but it wasn''t Rur. "Nope. Name is Pef. A mostly scraped droid, with a crystal core." I replied instead, lifting the crystal snare up and rotating it, to let it observe its surroundings. "But, I can feel the resonance, it''s the same as Rur had. Is this a strange joke?" the Jedi spirit answered confused, as it did it with a question. "A sense of humor the universe has. But if we are the joke, we have yet to see." I said wisely. Pretty sure it was wise. "Just a few droids, and no life on the entire planet. We are still trapped..." the spirit complained, its ghostly head floating inside the snare and looking around dejected. I handed the crystal to one of my mechanical guards, then started walking towards the tunnel leading to the surface. And then to my next destination. My scan range was quite large, since there were little disturbances on this dead planet. Sources of electricity? ACathedral ship, about 500 km west, crashed here during the last days of Pius Dea Crusades. Excellent! It probably won''t be salvageable, but perhaps it had a subspace or holo transmitter that could be repaired. And thus, I began the first step on the long march to building my empire. With a single step. Planet Garn, Cadma sector, Outer Rim Year 25 BBY A thousand steps westward. First casualty of the long march. Droid guard 485/ty/gr also known as Mook #11 crashed, due to internal battery depletion. "Ahhhh, cruel fate, to be or not to be, the mystery of quantum physics!" I proclaimed, holding the soul snare in my left droid hand, and looking at the defeated hero at my feet. ''I''ve been rescued by a madman. Errr, insane droid.'' the Jedi in the crystal complained, possibly correctly. Or maybe not. "Look upon my works, ye mighty, and despair!" I continued my lament, kicking the useless depleted droid, just for kicks. Then Iselected a single guard droid to escort me forward, leaving the decimal droids in a fallback position around our fallen. They were ten droids, so decimal. Clever, right? "We leave no one behind. And if we do, it''s for a good reason!" I explained, continuing the march towards freedom. The spirit remained silent, possibly wisely. I was tempted to leave it behind as well, but lacking a skull to keep me company, a nearly dead, and almost insane Jedi padawan will do. I pushed forward, ignoring the lethal fog and the lethal fungus decorating the surface of the planet. Choosing a crystalline lifeform was proving to be quite an inspired choice, in hindsight. A body made of flesh would have died horribly the first minute its skin came in contact with this fungus. Some sort of bioweapon, from the anti-hutts crusades, most likely. Not that bioweapons were actually effective against adult Hutts. Their species were tinkering with bioweapons since the Celestials were still around. But perhaps the crusaders wanted to exterminate a few young Hutts, caught outside their marsupial pouches. More steps. And more steps. If I was organic, I would have died of disease, asphyxiation, thirst, hunger and probably a few other things by now. It must be some Force ability that sustains me, and keeps my identity intact. Or an amused god, in need of champion. Same thing in my mind. Still, a hundred hours later, marching continuously like a Force fueled Droid that I was, I reached the Cathedral warship. "The God Emperor of Mankind would have been proud of this vessel." I mused out loud, examining the remains from the outside. Paintings and sculptures, friezes and bas-reliefs, religious icons and ''Humanity first'' mottoes. All used generously, along with gold and gemstones and depleted fissionable. Hmmm. Maybe the fissionable weren''t depleted, at the time they were last used? Craters made by X-ray pumped lasers, scorch marks of cesium enriched nuclear warheads. Gallant weapons from more civilized times. Too bad they were long forgotten. Now people fought with swords. The sacrilege! Now, where would they have placed the vox unit...I mean, the subspace transmitter? I sent my dear friend forward, and as expected, the ship''s security protocols revived after 12 thousand years of perfect inactivity, and blasted my droid guard to small bits, ignoring its fashionable Jedi armor, like tinfoil in a microwave. "Just a walk in the park." I said in response to the cosmic joke. ''Maser beams, probably from the 34th Crusade.'' the spirit inside the soul snare explained, earning a commendation for the Old Jedi teachings. He would be a Master or even more, compared to the modern Jedi. I spread my senses, noticing a few solar powered cells, and their energized circuits. Then gently infiltrated my technopathic tendrils, and took over the remaining processors and databanks, sifting through millennia of astronavigation data. Huh. I found out where I am. PlanetGarn, in Cadma sector. Somewhat North of current Hutt space. Kinda suspected it, but now I was sure. Estimated galaxy time, +- 3 years of 22 BBY or the start of the Clone wars, judging by galactic drift and old positional quasars. ''Damn, I hope I''m not too late. I wanted to take part in those wars.'' My AI systems and the Cathedral ship finally meshed, and I found a working transmitter. Only subspace though, seems holonet appeared thousands of years after. Now, let''s see planets in range, thousands but no one receiving, here is one receiver...Gand, home the Gand species. Didn''t they have these Finders? ''I could use the Gand....yes.'' Now, what to send, and encourage a few to jump on a ship and come get me? What does everyone want? Riches and long life...should work. "Stranded explorer, found ancient ship with ancient relics and life prolonging medicine. Please send rescue on planet Garn, look for big golden ship. Bring landing craft and salvage equipment" I sent, and noticed a faint pulse in the Force. Someone heard my call then. Great. Now, I had to prepare my welcome.... Gand Planet Garn, Cadma sector, Outer Rim Year 25 BBY Cathedral warship crash site. The remaining systems of the warship now under my control, I started preparing my surprise for the incoming rescuers. Maser weapons are much like lasers, only with radio or microwaves. Actually...never mind. They work completely different. Blue beams of kinetic energy that also carry thermal and electric charge. But planet side, they work great against most things, organic or not. You know if you amplify certain sound frequencies, you can bring down buildings, shatter glass, or rupture organs. Now imagine a concentrated beam, or five, hitting something at once. Mook #12 is looking down from Droid Heaven and shakes his head. It''s sad I know, but I rather keep my droid chassis. It had to be you, my friend. Crystalline lifeforms and artifacts, like Khyber crystals and holocrons and soul snares, they were pretty much invulnerable to anything though. They even survived the Death Star''s beam after Alderaan was destroyed. And while some Force sects were able to upload their minds into computers and amulets and such, those objects were not indestructible, by themselves. The only risk being a crystal posed, was taking in too much energy, and not releasing it, for whatever reason. Because, while immune to outside damage, from inside anything could be destroyed. I''ll have to make a note of this, and be careful not to eat an energy field bigger than my maximum capacity, whatever that was. Another maser reassembled on my shoulder, since I didn''t actually need hands to aim and fire weapons. Gather some gems and gold plating, pile it down at my feet. And call the most charged droid to my location. Let''s see, I could transmit the terrain map I recorded during my march, so it could sprint towards me. In 10 hours it will be here. Multitask and start assembling a few more maser beam weapons. The hull mounted cannons would need reactor strength power levels, so not quite feasible. But anyway, disassemble one and bring it nearby, for research and intimidation purposes. Start dismantling the functioning solar cells and levitate them next to me as well. The maser beams will need power sources, just as my droid army. A few hours later, my work was complete, and I was bored again. What to do, till Mook # 7 reaches me? Oh! Wait, I had a trapped soul in the soul snare in my hand. Now let''s see, how did force drain work again? No idea, but I had thousands of partitions to dedicate to the task. Force bond? No, that also works on Padawans, but this one is already dead. No point becoming his Master. Aha! Living Force transfer, one directional. I knew all those star wars novels I read during university would come in handy sometime. Like now. And like electricity, the surge flows from positive to negative. Maybe. Lightsaber forms, telekinesis practice, meditation, breathing techniques. Not really useful or applicable to my new species, but whatever. I was bored. Drain them all. What else? Spacefighter combat, small squad tactics, demolition, boarding operations, planetary assault. Now we''re talking, my young padawan. Drain. What else? Religious and theological teachings, self-flagelating philosophy. Years of those. Including basic Sith precepts as a boogeyman. Meh. I must be really bored. Give them here. History and galactography. Could be useful. The spirit shaped man in the snare became translucent and dissipated, leaving behind a clear crystal. Vanished and gone. Huh, take away his Temple teachings, and he was nothing else. No individuality, no personality. And he left behind an empty cup. Pretty sad, that his whole life was reduced to 20 years of studying. No friends, no family and whatever personality he had was eroded in his millennia as a spirit. If he had any personality to begin with. Lesson learned. I should acquire some friends and family, lest I share his fate. At least he was at peace now. His watch has ended. And now, my watch begins. Soon after I finished integrating the new memories and abilities from the long dead padawan, my guard droid arrived, and loaded up with solar cells. Then he ran back to bring the rest of his buddies. What should I do till they return? Collect more gems and gold, since this loot gonna provide me with funds to build new tech. Dismantle some old computers and droids, and a few Repulsorlift units. Drag a few low caliber turrets down as well. Repair and combine them into a few hovercraft vehicles armed with a maser. My army is starting to multiply. Though manually assembling scraps of old tech and ruined code into workable designs is not very efficient. I need to figure a way to automate all this, and become a Force powered commander. Do they even have nanite tech in this galaxy? Hmmm. I did a quick search through my memories. Seems they did have some capabilities, from Nanogene droid, nano-droids and nanoviruses. Medical and bioweapon tech I sort of expected, and didn''t care much for just now, but those nano-droids sounded promising. I''ll just have to spread my attention and obtain a sample. And if the other types were also technological in their nature, a few samples would be useful as well. From terraforming to genetic engineering and converting biomass into finished products, nanites could do anything. ROB wanted a champion, like I would punch and slice people with my limbs. I had a brain. Errr, no I didn''t. I was a crystal. But I had a mind, and was an AI as well. Planet Garn, Cadma sector, Outer Rim Year 25 BBY Cathedral warship crash site. The space above the planet wavered and flashed, producing the signature of ship and a few living being on board. Only one Gand, the others crew being trandoshans, a talortai, a zabrak and a bunch of droids. A Corellian frigate, possibly an Interceptor IV frigate model. Someone was gambling heavily on my rescue. But probably not. Most of these frigate types were used by pirates and slavers. And this being the Outer Rim, chances were my rescuers hoped to ventilate me and confiscate the riches for themselves. Just as planned. The ship did a full orbit of the planet, scanning for life signs and valuables probably, then began a rapid deceleration, using their particle shields to negate most friction and landed nearly on top of me, then rushed outside the ship, guns pointing in every direction. Errr. Textbook planetary assault, the Talortai wearing heavy armor and carrying dual blades, the rest covering him using blasters, bow casters, even rocket launchers. I remained still, my droid chassis lying on its back, and started hacking and integrating the other droids, in the ship, and the security systems. With every new technopathic hack my experience and skill doubled. At this rate I''ll be able to control trillions of droids someday. Pretty good, right? And the rescuers? Well. They did not wear bio hazard suits, for some reason. Why bother shooting them? They were already dead. Bioweapons man, the bane of every organic. The Gand lasted longest, possibly because of his respirator. Sadly, I only had one snare, so I choose to catch the talortai, since Gand would be plenty on their home planet, and talortai were quite rare. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Once all the life signs vanished, I rose and directed my droids, old and new to start loading the cargo hold of my new ships with gold plates, and gems and the crew''s weapons and armor and electronics. Form Zero was the best after all. If you had to fire a shot to win a fight, it was probably not worth to bother. Although, the Jedi Zero Form involves holding the lightsaber and looking threatening, not waiting for your enemies to cough out their lungs. Bio weapons were kinda cheating though. Luckily enough, the Confederacy was probably already mass-producing droids, investing trillions of credits in my future army. Now I had a ship, two dozen droids, and the beginning of a plan. And while masers weren''t the ultimate in weaponry, laser having higher energy and thus better theoretical efficiency, unless the enemy had energy screens or were pretty much immune like the Vong. Microwaves were certain to blow up anything organic, by boiling them from inside out, while processors and data storage in droids would also be quite vulnerable. And due to having access to a new ship, I had some up to date maps and news. The year was 25 BBY. Well, not BBY since they wouldn''t know yet that the Death Star was supposed to be destroyed in 25 years over Yavin. But after balancing a dozen official calendars, I decided to stick with the one on most wikia. The Vong were most likely already invading the galaxy, by my memories they should have already reached Bimmiel in the Galactic North. Time to start forming my army and expand my empire. First a manufacturing base, then some ships and troopers, then be ready to intervene in the Clone Wars and capture Mon Calamari for myself. The squids built nice ships. First objective would be Gand, then the Centrality and the Sorcerers of Tund. 3 years should be enough for an AI of my capabilities. Now, let''s drain my new avian spirit and learn...agelessness. Great, useless things again. I was an immortal crystal now, with no use for avoiding old age. Damn it. Two days later my ship arrived at the Gand system, featuring an almost livable planet called also Gand. Uh. Ammonia atmosphere. Small steps Pef. At least this planet had life, unlike Garn. My new subjects went about their business, and didn''t offer my daily prayers yet. But soon, they will. The Immortal Emperor had arrived. Planet Gand, Shadola sector, Outer Rim In orbit, aboard a space station. The planet had potential, despite the largely uninhabited land masses. Or better said, because of it. Ammonia could be processed and transformed in various chemicals, like explosives and fertilizers. The atmosphere itself was proof of the universe playing jokes, pockets of breathable air, surrounded by large masses of ammonia. And in those pockets, many small tribes, forced to live in seclusion. I called a meeting with their ruling body, a despotic monarch, advised by a council made of powerful force-sensitives, called Findsmen here. We met on one of the five orbital stations above the planet, and my droids started emptying my ship''s hold, piling gold plates and gems. And kept piling, more and more. Those Crusaders were quite obsessed with gold. An hour later, and a hundred trips too, the cargo bay was empty. The Gand were pretty amazed, as they watched the riches pilling up, and reaching the ceiling in the middle. "I bring you riches, my friends. My signal was responded by your planet, and I always repay my debts. A thousand times more." I explained, gesturing at the pile of gold with my droid arm. The monarch hesitated between greed and cautiousness. "Indeed, a ship left the station to respond to your hails. And it has indeed return carrying riches. But no crew, and no longevity medicine..." he observed, remaining seated and imposing on his throne. "Ah, but it did indeed bring long life. See, I noticed your peoples plight your Majesty. An atmosphere rich in ammonia, ready to be converted into fertilizers and explosives. And as the ammonia levels go down, more land could be used for farming. And the fertilizers will grow food even faster. Weapons are always in high demand." I explained, my force senses focused on his council. A slight change here and there. So, they did see it. The gold could sit useless in the monarch''s treasury, or be used to better the life of the entire planet. The Force spoke to them, showing them a potential future of richness and prosperity. "Your gift is well-received droid. You may keep the ship" the monarch declared graciously, and signaled his guards to start stockpiling the new wealth in his treasury. And with that, I turned to leave, and the guards became burdened with gold plates and gems. His council members exchanged a short glance, and the force trembled again. A second later, a leadership change occurred, the monarch a head shorter, and the council members leveling spears and pikes at the royal guard. I stopped and turned. Nobody sat on the throne anymore. "It seems we need a new leader. What is your name, metal stranger?" an older council member asked me, scrying me with the Force. "Well the name is Pef. Short, sweet, rolls of the tongue, ladies love it" I answered sketching a minimal bow. The organics stared at me, possibly confused. "Do they?" A young gand Findsman asked, possibly trying to reconcile my external aspect with my words. "I sure hope so. Or it will be a waste of a sweet name" I answered amused, noticing a distinct lack of females in the council. Something to fix, as soon as they elected me Emperor for life. "How long would it take, for our world to become a garden?" another Findsman asked, ignoring my attempt at humor. "That depends. Who is in charge, if he gets all the Findsmen behind him, and uses the wealth wisely. A wise gand might do it in 50 years. It would take me at most 5 months" I answered, turning to leave. I didn''t reach my ship. The younger Gand ran after me, and passed me, coming to a halt in front of me. "This young one is named Zuckuss. Zuckuss had been tasked to bringing the graceful Pef back to the council. We have important news to share" he said politely. "Okay, we can walk slowly though. I notice you''re part of the ammonia breathers. Your biome will get replaced, if my plan comes through" I said softly. That did indeed sting him, making him halt for a fraction. "Zuckuss noticed. Zuckuss believes deep canyons could be preserved, for those not willing to change. But a green world...it will be worth it." he replied, looking far away, and pulsing in the Force. "Zuckuss sees far in the future then. The Force is strong in him" I mused, as I reached the council chambers. "The dream. You see it too Pef?" he wondered, almost surprised. "I am part of the dream Zuckuss. The dream gave me life and power. And I carry the wind of change" I answered in a whisper. And maybe still too loud. The Findsmen had excellent senses. "Part of the dream, Pef says. What does the council say? Is this Pef a Gand, in all but flesh?" the oldest Gand asked rhetorically. "Aye" the other Findsmen replied with ceremony. "A year, if you will, metal Gand. Lead us, and show us your dream made real. Where do we start, honored leader?" the old Gand asked, now back to a polite tone, and gesturing slightly towards the throne. It was still slick with blood. "Right. We need to buy a hundred ships, Gozanti Cruiser or such, and send Findsmen on quests to obtain nanotechnology samples. And keep buying ships, no matter how old or damaged. We will repair them and use them to sell fertilizer and explosives. I know I said 5 months, but if we work a little harder, we can be done in 3 months" I proclaimed, already expanding my senses and taking over all the systems on the space station. My first planet, conquered with a dream and a few words. Form Zero was truly too powerful. Now I had to learn the Gand language and customs, and be prepared for the inevitable resentment. And start making friends. The ladies will have to wait though. New Hope Planet Gand, Outer Rim Lording above my new subjects, aboard Celestial Throne. 2 weeks later. Ah, I knew the Hutts will be useful. My closest neighbors, and new trade partners. The hoarding slugs love gold and gemstones too much. And they have quite nice toys to sell as well. They kinda are the black market, at least in this sector of the galaxy. Zuckuss and my frigate was sent to buy goods with gold and gemstones and returned with samples of dozens of nanoplagues and scraped models of droids from a hundred different manufacturers. I reserved a section of the imperial station for my biotech division, and instituted quarantine and bioweapons protocols on that deck. Another space station was designated as ship repair and admiralty headquarters. A hundred old ships are being dismantled and refitted, mostly freighters and haulers. The other three stations I started to expand, adding more docks for future trade. Planning ahead. The bioagents I have now aren''t very useful, having been programmed just to kill and having little extra functions. But they are good for learning and experimenting. A full partition of my AI mind is now working on reverse engineering these bioweapons into terraforming agents. Another partition is working on the droids, sifting code and hidden programming bugs and backdoors. A dozen Findsmen are still deployed westward, trying to find the provider for those nano-droids. Saleucami was the most powerful trade center nearby, and another target for my empire''s expansion, once the wars began. And since the Trade Union was starting to take over the planet just now, my window was closing fast. I had to acquire holo transmitters and begin decrypting Republic transmissions. Luckily, my agents were officials of my government, thus allowed to purchase a holo node and a wide band frequency for our planet''s expanding trade and commerce. No news of nano-droids yet. Perhaps the research is still ongoing, in some hidden Trade Union lab. And also, the first obstacles in the local fronts. Gand were slavers, and even more, used their gifts to find fugitive slaves. Stupid organics. They wouldn''t run or revolt, if you paid them. And thus, I decreed that all slaves in the Pef Empire will become Imperial Servants, and be replaced with droids where their labor was deemed important, like farming or mining. A new partition in my mind, delegated to manage the former slaves, and begin educating and training them as Imperial officials and administrators. I kept a few nicer looking twi''leks and other humanoids as protocol and entourage, much in the vein of the Hutts. Only with perks and hints of authority. My visit among the slave compounds did reveal a few perks. Like a self-imposed slave leader, looking after them and trying to keep them alive and fed. A green Twi''lek former dancer, with a heart of gold. I kinda need one for myself, to have some perspective. "Dora, my dear. As First maid to the Imperial throne, you will speak with my Voice. You will have billions of credits to spend as you wish. So stop complaining and study harder!" I explained to my newest addition, a bit amused at her doe eyes. "Can I buy myself a necklace, with pearls?" thegreen skinned dancer asked with a cute pout. Sigh. NowI kinda miss having certain glands. "See that huge pile of gold and gemstones? Pick whatever you want, and wear them. Just...." I trailed, as the girl dropped her pad and ran to the pile. And began loading herself up with a dozen kilograms of metal and rock. Cause really, gold and diamonds? "They''re too heavy..." she complained after failing to move back, dropping the loot and keeping a single diamond, maybe egg size. "Finish the trade routes chart and the galactic history course, and I''ll give you a droid to carry some gold for you..." I told her with a fake, sad sigh. She began reading from her datapad again. Huh, I hope this will work. Stupid organics, so proud of carrying rocks around their necks, when they could wield real power with a swipe of a finger, on their datapads. Then again, I am a rock now, so what do I know? Huh, minor alchemy success in my biolabs. First ammonia/nitrogen explosive was complete. The testing chamber wasn''t damaged by the explosion at all. Eh, small steps Pef. Concussion class explosives may take more work to achieve. Droid recombination protocols still wouldn''t mesh, too many proprietary codes. But they''ll work, someday. A Gand woman approached the throne and looked at my maid with slight disgust. Not that you could see it on her insect-like face, but I have the Force, so yeah. "Great leader. This one is named Zuralee. Zuralee wonders why she''s not down on the planet, tending her animals." she asked politely, slightly confused. "Zuralee. You are now the Emperor''s Hand. Take the blue datapad and start learning galactic basic. I will need you to represent me on the council." I clicked and hissed back at her, pointing at the datapad I programmed for her instruction. Gand sounds strange and requires hand gestures to be fully fluent. Then again, I''m not an insect, so why do I care? "A female on the council, what insanity is this?" she grumbled and complained, sitting next to my maid and starting to learn the aurabesh and new words. Eh, I told them I bring the wind of change. Gand will never be the same. Another partition in my AI mind, using the Force to implant my servants with vocabulary and concepts, accelerating their learning speed a thousand times. Cheating right? Memory modification has quite a lot of potential applications, so I''ll have to explore this ability in depth. Changing how a society works will not be easy. Already the more traditional Gands were chaffing at the new rules, since buying new slaves became counter-productive, only adding to my Imperial servants. The new weapons and machinery I sent to the planet helped though. Droids will work harder and without rest or food. And beating and whipping droids would just tire their master. Some Gands were a bit of sadists. Learn to cope, for now. You''ll have the chance to deal pain to others soon. I made a note, to mark those more aggressive for my black ops division. And on the other partitions, I was running intelligence and counter-intelligence actions all over the sector, guiding droids to infiltrate the Centrality and their networks. Finding spies and infiltrators from the Hutts and the Trade federation and even the Galactic republic. Those that could be turned, with bribes or blackmail I''ll keep, the others made to disappear. Contact toxins and other bioweapons were quite useful now. "We can sell ammonia to the Mon Calamari" Dora spoke, somewhat intrigued that someone would need the toxic gas for anything. Ah yes, water world, they would need ammonia for cooling and other things. Like explosives. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. "See, your first trade route, my maid. You will earn half a percent of the profits, if you make any" I told her amused, as she began typing furiously on her pad, calculating fuel costs and profit margins. "About a thousand credits per ship. That''s 50 credits. I could make the same by dancing one evening" Dora complained, still not satisfied. "So, sell a thousand shiploads, every month. Would be a better income then..." I mused out loud, while subtly highlighting possible buyers and trade routes on her pad. My twi''lek maid began computing new trades routes on her pad, exclaiming happily as one or another appeared more profitable. Ah, the joy of becoming rich... Another success in the biotech division, separating ammonia into water and other gases, like hydrogen and nitrogen. Ah, fuel for fusion plants then. Energy costs will drop if I don''t have to import energy. Another partition, energy department, first task, hydrogen fuel cells along with solar power cell reverse-engineering. The Crusaders won''t bother me with patent litigation, having been gone for a dozen millennia. Hmmm. Maser tech as well. Mostly nobody used it anymore, except perhaps the Chiss Ascendancy, on the other side of the galaxy. And heavy maser cannons didn''t need tibanna gas for supercharging, only better hypermatter reactors, or more of them. New partition, send a hauler back to Garn, droid crew only. Salvage some working guns from the Cathedral warship, and bring the soul snares as well. Might need to drain those soul containers and fill them up with Gand defectors or Tund sorcerers. New force abilities were always welcome. Planet Gand, Outer Rim A month after becoming Emperor Council Chambers The Golden Throne was a nice touch, being actually made of starship gold plates, and decorated with gems. Probably not really comfortable to sit on, if I was still an organic. At least it wasn''t a wooden throne, still steaming with warm blood. My first Council meeting was quite radical. My council had the back of their seats also plated with gold, to point out the newly acquired riches and importance. But on my left and right, I had my Hands, their seats decorated with a pole carrying a golden hand. And on their chest, a tiny hand containing access codes to the Empire''s network. That was their purpose and real power. Zuckuss and Zuralee, Hands of the Emperor. Dora was sitting on a comfy pillow at my feet, recording the Council''s proceedings on her datapad. First Maid to the Emperor. And once her training was finished, she will have a Khyber crystal pinned to her chest, and become my Voice. "Esteemed Councilors. Honored Hands. And adored Maids. We can begin" I proclaimed, gesturing dramatically with my droids arm, and opened up the huge hologram depicting the Empire and our achievements. Security, commerce and profits, Findsmen and their trainees and lastly the Dream. The terraforming project. Man, I was ripping off Dune like a boss. But if it works... "Zuckuss will explain the security aspects first. We have purchased 143 spaceships of various classes, including one more frigate and 23 corvettes. They are being upgraded as we speak, with twenty concussion missile launchers each. The new defense fleet should be enough to protect our shipping from pirates for the next two months. The other ships form the transport fleet and the Black ops division." Zuckuss began, producing various schematics for the warships and their ongoing upgrades. I motioned him to skip over intelligence reports then looked at my other Hand. Zuralee looked at me hesitantly, then began explaining the commerce aspects, in basic. And man, weren''t the councilmen surprised. Two weeks to become fluent in galactic basic must have been a shock. And a female to boot! "Empire commerce and profits have increased by a thousand fold, in the past month. It appears that selling ammonia and Exploration services to various corporations and universities can be highly profitable. The profits have been reinvested in more ships and equipment, but soon the esteemed Findsmen will need to delegate more of their trained diviners for the Exploration Corps. Every minor hyper trade route that we discover will mean billions of credits to our budget. Our Empire has expanded to three new systems, and the Empire has claimed them as exclusive economic zones. One ship has been lost to pirates, but the droids pilots initiated self-destruct and took a pirate ship down as well. This humble one hopes more navy ships will be directed to protect our commerce" Zuralee said, and appeared both exalted and terrified of speaking to the Council. "Chief Findsman, if you would..." I added softly, gesturing towards the eldest Gand. "Yes. Well. The new teaching that the Emperor has gracefully provided did increase the success rate of our Findsmen. Mental disorders have also subsided in both intensity and rate of occurrence. Meditation techniques do seem to work. However, only 6 of our hunt packs have listened to our summons and returned home to Gand. Mujilik estimates at least a thousand and possibly two thousand Findsmen are still roaming the galaxy and have yet to hear our call. This one hope the Emperor isn''t displeased. Change is harder for us, as he already knows" Mujilik spoke softly, with a faint aura of grief and sadness. "The Emperor doesn''t blame you personally, Mujilik. The training I provide will work, both mentally and physically. Give it time, and learn. You are only 84 years old. And you could live to be 500 or even more. A teenager you are, truly. Trust in me who trusts in you, and the dream will happen. Have faith in your Emperor. And blame me if the teachings I bring you were wasteful, 500 years from now." I replied, observing the Gand going through shock, then doubt, and lastly hope in his aura. "This rash teenager apologizes, esteemed Emperor. We shall discuss my failings in a hundred years" Mujilik responded with a faint humor in his aura. Still doubting me, even as the Force reinforcement I implanted him with worked to repair and reinvigorate his body. "Now, it''s my turn. The dream." I proclaimed, changing the holo projections to the biotech discoveries and adaptations. "The samples your Emperor had to work with are still limited, and highly restricted. Mostly to killing organics. But I have managed to obtain partial results. Ammonia derivatives and hydrogen extraction. Coupled with ammonia exports and factories being established planetside, I estimate one more month till I can mass produce a biospore to evaporate ammonia above 1000 meters altitude. The third month will be critical, as the safety of our people will become the prime concern. Ammonia breathers should prepare to relocate in the Kiruk Canyons, once the oxygen-nitrogen levels balance out at sea level altitudes. We will discuss that move at the next council" I explained, producing a holo of the planet and projecting the ammonia levels decreasing. The gand looked at the projection with wonder and hope. The dream of thousands of generations becoming real in their lifetimes. A green world. Oh, if only they knew. Garden worlds were prime targets for invasions and colonization. Their safety was about to expire. And then, they will have to defend their new world, for the next thousand generations. A reason to keep training and manning the fleets and the army. And support their Immortal Emperor, till the end of time. Terraforming Planet Gand, Outer Rim 25BBY The Spanish had conquered the Amerindians with ease, due to their advanced tactics, armor and weapons. But the tech levels were only a thousand years in advance. My ships and contact crews have at least 30 thousand years of technological advancement compared to most species in the sector. I don''t expect to need more a than a few years to create a pocket empire around Gand. What I need the most is my own Force-sensitive group. The Findsmen are nice, but not enough. I thought and sifted through my memories, now greatly augmented by the Force and my crystalline nature, along with the AI subroutines. At least 50 known Force-sensitive sects and cults, with the Altisian Jedi and the Fallanassi being my prime recruits. And while the Altisians would be harder to locate, with them roaming the galaxy aboard a cruiser-slash-school, the Fallanassi would be much easier. Their hiding place wasn''t that far either. "Dora stand straight, and hold this crystal in your right hand." I demanded from my green twi''lek Maid. "Yes, my Emperor." she said and complied. "I will reveal my nature, my true self to you. With this, you become my Voice in the galaxy. The promises you make, the threats you make, the debts you take, they will be mine. And if you feel doubt, or are uncertain, hold the crystal tight and think about me. I will hear you and respond. And when you die, rest certain, your soul will stay by my side, safe for eternity" I proclaimed, opening the droid''s chest and floating out in my green crystal form. "Uhhh. You''re not a crazy droid after all..." Dora whispered, as I began aligning her soul with the kyber crystal. ''No, my adored maid. This is the greatest secret in the Empire. And only my Voices get to experience it'' I replied telepathically. "So, what do I do now?" the maid asked, her aura fluctuating between adoration and terror. ''Repeat after me. For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release your soul, and by my shoulder protect thee. The Force has set me free'' I whispered in her mind, balancing the crystal to align with her own feeble aura. The crystal in her hand glowed brightly, and settled on the same green hue as my own glow. A Force bond, and a conduit for a soul snare. Should she die, her soul will indeed stay by my side, for eternity. "I can feel you now, my Emperor. I will never doubt you again" Dora said crisply, pinning the crystal to her chest. ''Eh, don''t take it all so serious. It''s just immortality. Now, take my frigate, a hundred droids and a few Findsmen, and go to planet Lucazec. Find a Fallanassi woman named Wialu, and invite her and the rest of her group to join us. Take some gold and gems too, along with a few million credits. And tell Wialu that she can have her own planet in my Empire, for their loyalty and cooperation against the great evil that''s coming. Whatever her response, gift her the gold.'' I told my maid, while floating back inside my droid. "How do I take the ship and the Findsmen? They won''t listen to me" Dora asked, hesitantly. "You speak with my Voice, Dora. They''ll listen" I said amused, poking a droid finger at her chest. The Kyber crystal was still glowing green. The droids already received her scan as my second in command. "Ah. I carry a part of you with me. Sorry, my Emperor, still doubting you" she replied respectfully. "Enough of that, we''re both immortal beings now. Now give me a hug and go" I demanded petulantly. She hugged the chassis with a mix of awe and adoration in her aura. Eh. Will do for now. I''ll need to experiment with human clones and memory transfer soon. Can''t have my maid be not satisfied, can I? As Dora left, I inspected the other partitions and their work, then began looking for my next maid. An Emperor had to have more than one maid after all. And maids will need to be of more diverse races, to show the galaxy we''re not a xenophobic Empire. Hmmm. What to call my beautiful not-wives? Honored Matres or Honored Maids? Maids sounded sexier though. Matres were a matriarchal societies in Dune. I''ll have to think of a badge of office, or a uniform though. Hmmm. Maids did come with a uniform though. Let''s see. Short dark blue skirts and a white tiny apron? Would work, for work inside the palace. For delegations and such, dark blue robes with a white sash. Damn, I quite miss an organic body now, and my glands. Planet Gand, Outer Rim 25BBY Second month since becoming Emperor. I have three new maids, lazing on fluffy pillows beneath the Golden Throne, and wearing skimpy skirts. And will need a new councilor, since one Gand decided that my policies regarding confiscating the slaves and promoting females on the Council was somehow disrespectful to tradition. He produced a Gand discharger and tried to end my dynasty. Only his fingers couldn''t find traction to pull the trigger. Telekinesis is such a cheat. Plus he kinda planned the whole thing for a week. Enough time to prepare a soul snare for him. "The Dream cannot be stopped by mortal weapons. Did you think you could kill the Immortal Emperor?" I proclaimed, levitating the crystal snare and touching it to his head. His screams might have terrified the council a little, but possibly even more, the Findsmen sensing his soul being sucked inside the snare. His mortal coil fell towards the golden floor, in slow motion, while his weapon and the snare floated towards my throne. Now let''s see, divination trance, genetic alter, pathfinding through mists, tracing a force marker, discerning unstable hyperjumps, hiding in shadows, seeing from shadows, meditation, breathing techniques. His soul evaporated, leaving me with all his force abilities. Beside what he had learned from the teaching crystal that the Findsmen received from me, all the techniques were unknown to me. Now I was a true Gand, in ability as well. "His soul will rest with the ancestors. Now, let''s continue the council. Zuckuss if you would" I continued softly, as my droids came to take the body away, and the hologram grew to engulf the whole room. "Ah. Yes. Security wise, the defense fleet has 10 corvettes and 44 smaller warships patrolling the routes our shipping takes. Our MC30 frigate will become operational next week. By next month we should have 13 more corvettes refitted for anti-piracy work. We have purchased a MC40 light cruiser that was damaged during trials and slatted for scrap, and have begun refitting it, however, it will lack heavy weapons for next year. 19 more corvettes have also been purchased and will begin their refit as soon as the dock space is free. For now, they exist as a fleet in being, guarding our planet. We are training more crews and drilling along with the droids for boarding operations and planetary assaults. 18 starfighters have been lost, while trying to find a secret route to the Centrality. 2 fighters have survived, but didn''t return. We suspect they did indeed reach the Centrality, and have gone dark, awaiting rescue or refueling. The bounty hunters that have returned to make excellent teachers for the new recruits." Zuckuss said softly, his mind slightly more balanced now. The Findsmen education about the Force was kinda flawed and full of tradition, but it mostly worked. Except the lack of breathing and lungs had denied them the opportunity to practice meditation techniques based on controlled breaths. Which in turn gave way to mental problems, from fractured minds, to various visual and aural hallucinations, that they called the Dream. Which often featured a verdant planet, which I suspect was the Force reacting to their deepest desires. I''ll make their dreams true, once I had a large enough fleet. 40 corvettes was a pitiful fleet, but better than nothing. I still haven''t found any news of nano-droids. But the tech from the Mon Calamari frigate and cruiser could be reverse-engineered, to provide all our ships with better engines and shields. My left Hand, Zuralee changed the holoprojection for the next segment, without waiting for my prompt. She could learn then. "Commerce wise, the Empire is still growing. Ship maintenance and ordinance purchase, along with cost of lost starfighters have increased dramatically. We have still doubled our exports and increased our profits by a third. This expansion is not sustainable though. By next three months we will need new revenue sources, or we will stall. The market for the Exploration Corps is not infinite, and ancient ruins are not profitable in the short term. Especially not if we provoke the Jedi Order. We should open up one of the new planets for mining, Zuralee believes" the female Gand argued, projecting graphs that predicted our income going negative in three months. "Councilman Mujilik, something to add?" I asked politely. "Errrm, yes. My knees have stopped hurting. If it''s a sign of the life prolonging teachings or myself going dull in my old age, remains to be seen. Findsmen wise, the next trials will take place next month, and possibly provide the Empire with a hundred new Explorers. Our females are also working hard to produce more younglings, as you have required, my Emperor.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. So far, they seem happy about it. 21 Findsmen have died past two months, 20 of them in Exploration duties, while one... Due to critical thinking failure. However, 23 Findsmen have returned, so our numbers have grown a little. The promise of becoming a ship Captain and choosing 3 females have encouraged them, and I have signals that the Dream will attract even more." Mujilik replied calmly, his eyes lingering for a second at the spot where his fellow Gand died. "All right. Honored Councilmen, Hands and Maids. As you have seen, my experiment with giving my Maids my Voice has succeeded. Once the crystal is green, they are my Voice, and I expect them to be obeyed, in every word or action. The Empire will grow, and soon we will spread across dozens or hundreds of stars. I will rule through my Voices, and my Hands. The Imperial Servants will provide the bulk of our Administrata, once their training is complete. Organization wise, the third Hand will direct black operations of the Empire, its identity known only to myself and my Hands. The third Hand''s budget will not be scrutinized unless a Hand or myself deems it necessary. This is for everyone''s protection. The galaxy has mind readers, telepaths and other forms of discerning hidden operations, including Sith, Jedi and worse. Also, once the Dream is finished, I will begin the Avatar project, to grant me an organic interface. This project may take up to 3 years, and will be funded from my own budget. Now, about the Dream. The newest nano-phage acquisitions from the Hutts, especially the deforestation agent have provided the critical clue in devising a safe mode to terraform Gand. The poles will remain Imperial exclusion zones, for as long as the danger remains. Explosives are quite dangerous." I explained, going over each subject I thought they needed to know. Gigatonnes of explosives resulting from converting the ammonia in the atmosphere were beyond dangerous. I just hoped burying them deep under the poles would keep them safe. Then again, I chose to make binary explosives, so each agent will be separated by the largest possible distance. I was more worried about some terrorist group appearing and detonating mega tonnes of fertilizers. Those had to be kept ready and available for exports and farming. Maybe smaller containers, and spread apart even more? A bad Findsman will find them anyway. I was even more interested in the Gand discharger, which appeared to be a nerve disruptor weapon of sorts, able to stun, paralyze or outright kill any organic. Some kind of nerve overload, working at very low frequencies. Infrasound most likely. "Emperor Pef" a vocoder voice disturbed this partition. "Yes, councilman?" I replied without a hint of emotion. "I have a daughter. And she appears to want to become a Findsman. She also wants her own ship" the Findsman asked, somewhat scared and hopeful. "Okay. And?" I wondered back. "It''s against tradition. But, if Zoralee can do it..." "We will soon have a hundred races and genders on the council. Better prepare her soon. I''ll keep the council seat empty till the next Findsman trials" I replied, turning the knob a little more. The gand shook his head and left, leaving me basking in the adoration of my new maids. "Pef, can I have a ship too?" Celine, the blonde maid asked hesitantly. Thinking of running away already? "Sure you can. If you learn all the lessons on your pad and become my Voice. Before you go, sing something will you?" I demanded, amazed at the quality of her voice. Back home, she would be a superstar. Planet Gand, Pef Empire, Outer Rim 25 BBY Another week passed, while I devoted 3 fourths of my partitions to the terraforming nano-phages below. I was too afraid to try alchemical transmutation on planetary scale, no matter the degree of precision and multitasking my telekinesis power had. One single error, and the planet would vanish in a cataclysmic explosion. So, I just upgraded the self-reproductive codes for the nano-phages, selected atmospheric ammonia as their target, and just struggled to keep them under control. Every millisecond or so, a neutrino or something would hit one of them, changing their code and causing unexpected mutations, some directed to other gases, while others rebooted them to their factory default, which was multiply and kill all organics. It was a wonder that the galaxy still had life, with all the plagues and bioweapons lying around from thousands of wars before. A few corvettes were drilling huge caves deep under the poles, using low yield turbolasers as drills. And my Voice was returning, her ship carrying two force-sensitives more than she left with. Guess she did find someone then. Nevermind the maid, focus on the terraforming, Pef. I did use telekinesis with the other partitions, mostly to separate fertilizer particles from breathable air, and compact them into bricks. Then lay the bricks in huge pyramids. I was pretty damn hard work. And I wasn''t even paid! Oh well, I should give myself a bonus then. Focus Pef. Don''t let the crazy phages eat our subjects. "Should I sing more, my Emperor?" Celine asked, with a raspy voice. Damn it. Her whole lungs were on fire. She pushed through the pain and kept singing. "No Celine. I said a few songs. That means three or four songs. Not hours. Get some rest and come back tomorrow, okay?" I said softly, pulsing a tendril of Force healing into her. Damn slaves, used to be beaten or worse for any slight. Still terrified of any male. She wasn''t ready to be a Voice. "Lira, go take care of her. Use a bacta tank if the doctor says it will help" I told my other maid. "Sure thing Pef. Just tell a few droids to escort me. I have no Voice, after all" Lira replied, hints of excitement in her aura. Ah, she gets to order people around, finds it amusing. She will do just fine with a Voice. Two Justice droids fell from the ceiling at her sides, using repulsor beams to land silently. "This way, Honored Maid" one of them said, gesturing towards the door. "Thanks Pef, you''re the best!" Lira exclaimed, hoping to her feet and running after Celine. She''ll do just fine. Anyway, focus Pef. Terraforming for now. Another brick, and another brick. Brick by boring brick. Trillions of bricks of fertilizer, juggled at once. If only my mother would see me now. Focus Pef. Don''t kill your subjects with your ADD. Right. The caverns should be deep enough now. Ammonia should cool them pretty fast, then we stop making fertilizer and start making explosives. My brother would be so proud now. I wonder if just one end would take fire, would the planet take off like a rocket? Focus Pef. Just a few more trillion bricks. Who came up with this plan? Oh, drawing too hard on the Force, I felt gazes turning towards my little corner. Hide in shadows. Shhhhh. There, didn''t see me. More bricks, but slower. Small steps, Pef. And, surprise! Another mutation in my nano-gene teraformers. Dissolve metal? That''s a useful mutation, for a change. I''ll keep that strain and lift it up. Now, let''s see about cleaning the low orbit of metal debris from millennia of space accidents and pirate actions. Look, a metal bolt, lets latch to it and reproduce. Eat up and grow stronger little phage. And maybe one day, this strain will mutate again, and get me even better abilities. For now I will store the new metal eating phage somewhere safe, like a glass bottle. "Do I have to stay here and listen to you, ramble crazy stuff?" my third Maid, a blue twi''lek girl asked with boredom and carelessness in her aura and voice. Hmmm. Might have spoken aloud, for a while. Now, this girl was not supposed to be here,in this timeline. I suspect some kind of divine intervention. I don''t mind though. She keeps entertaining me in many ways. "No, Vette. Go do whatever." I said, still amused. "All right then. I''ll go watch cool holotubers rant about cool weapons and ships. And then shoot myself, before you blow all of us up." Vette declared with even more boredom and ennui. "Or, you can take a few droids and a Findsman and go explore. Find planet Dweem, chat with the locals, buy a few cool weapons..." I baited her. Bitches love guns. This bitch in particular. "Or, I can do that. I get to be the Captain?" she perked up at once. "No, my Honored Maid. The Findsman Captain will lead the ship. But you get to spend my money..." I replied, launching my hook. "Eh. I will buy the most expensive armor and pistols. Cause, you''re a rich bastard. And a rocket launcher. Cya later, Pef!" Vette said, waving her hand dismissively, then patting the Justice droid who landed next to her. "Metal boy, you have to do what I say, right?" the twi''lek asked aloud, as she left the Throne Room. "Yes, Honored Maid." the droid replied politely. "Great. Let''s hunt some pirates. Some slavers too, kriffing scumbags." Vette proclaimed, punching the droid in the shoulder and regretting it instantly. Don''t punch droids. "As you say, Honored Maid." I replied through my droid, and faked rubbing my hurt shoulder. She was fun. And I had to test the new maser guns of the MC30c frigate anyway. Nothing like a few pirates for target practice. Focus Pef. Those bricks won''t lay by themselves. Damn bricks. Gand Emperor Planet Gand, Pef Empire, Outer Rim 25 BBY My surviving Explorers have just returned from the Centrality, with two new hyperoutes, uncharted before. One of them is immediately put to use, linking Gand to Oseon and tripling our commerce overnight. The other route links Gand with Tund and will become important later. And the Corps found a few routes to a couple nearby stars, though without life bearing planets. Then again, it''s a big galaxy, a trillion stars and about 50 millions habitable planets. And with the Force messing around, most of those planets have already been discovered or had sapient species evolve. We only have one other planet with trees and such, breathable atmosphere and all. And it''s Findsman finder is now leading the Black ops, as my third Hand. That planet will stay secret, to be populated with force-sensitives in the future. My new Hand received 10 females that I vetted to have force-sensitivity, and relocated his base of operation on the new planet. And probably enjoying his harem, the lucky bastard. But anyway, he deserves it. A secret planet is worth a lot. Especially if you want to create a new Force group, hidden from everyone else. And he came up with the 3 female trick for the returning Findsmen, which also helped. And it appears most of the returning Gands came for the females and not for the ship I bought for them. I''ll have to start planning their birth rates though, since being partly insects, the Gand tended to lay tons of eggs. Being limited by their small villages by the ammonia clouds, they tended to be quite spartan till now, crushing any single not perfect egg, but who knows, in the future they may become trillions, and the Dream become a nightmare. "Emperor, your Voice has returned" Celine said softly, nodding towards the door. Yeah, I kinda felt her from thousands of light years away. The older woman with silver hair was likely Wialu. The male wasn''t someone I recognized, and looked almost Persian by skin tone. "Do I get a hug?" I asked Dora, and she rushed in my droid''s arms. My other Maids stared at us confused. Don''t worry, you''ll figure it out later. "Hey Pef. I felt you strain, while coming back. You alright?" Dora whispered. ''Had a lot to do, and not enough hands'' I replied, telepathically. Wialu raised an eyebrow, possibly detecting my sending. The woman was a mystery, her mind cloaked in a thick layer of white mist. I could sense nothing from her. The man, ah one of the rare male Fallanassi. Not fully trained yet. He was weirded out and somewhat scared. "Esteemed colleague, please sit. Maids go back and study. Take the boy with you" I spoke at once, stepping off my throne and floating on a pillow at the base. I patted the pillow next to me and the woman smiled. "All right. Go Tipagna, you came to see the galaxy after all. Don''t mind me" Wialu spoke crisply, and the man ran after my maids. "I want to stay as well" Dora said, a bit hesitant. "You''re the Voice, Dora. You can do whatever you like" I answered warmly, and watched her sit beside me and hug me with one arm. "You''re a strange droid Pef. Like those Iron Knights I heard of?" Wialu asked gently, gesturing at my Justice droids. "No. I am human, just like you. Only immortal" I answered, opening my chest and revealing my naked crystal. Damn woman examined me deeply, and I almost wished I wore underwear on my crystalline shape. "A force imprint. And so powerful..." she whispered after a long time. The Force trembled slightly, as it always did when something important changed. "Yes. It uses the precepts of Ordu Aspectu. And even better, if you need a human body, you can grow one and copy yourself on its mind. This will be my next project, once Gand is finished terraforming" I explained, starting the hologram of the planet, and the ongoing terraforming. A week or two, and the ammonia will be gone, except in a few deep canyons. "Ordu Aspectu...they vanished millennia ago. Exterminated by the Jedi" she said, with a slight revulsion in her voice. Great, we think alike. "Well then, it''s time for the Jedi to end" I answered, offering my droid hand to shake on. The woman smiled. "I''ll need a Voice" she answered, shaking my metal hand. "I''ll have to make you younger then. I bet you looked fabulous in your youth" I told her, baiting the pond. "Tell me more" she said with a short laugh. "Tomorrow. I bet you girls are tired from the trip. Go test my jacuzzi, and I''ll see you for dinner" I told both of them, lifting them up along with their pillows and guiding them towards my apartment. Wialu tested my telekinetic grip with some wonder, before sighing and sending a telepathic message. ''And I want everything you know. Damn Jedi, hiding everything'' she complained. ''Wait till I drain some Sith then. I don''t even have half'' ''Huh. You''re not a Sith?'' Wialu wondered, possibly assuming any non-jedi was a dark jedi. ''The Sith are just crazy Jedi'' I explained as I dropped both of them in the warm Jacuzzi tub. "Come join us Pef" Dora yelled from the tub. Hmmm. The droid chassis hosting my crystal would fry in water. But, I could go naked. They both saw me nude already. Planet Gand, Pef Empire, Outer Rim 25 BBY Third month since becoming Emperor In one hour the most important Council will start. I have two Voices now, Dora, the green twi''lek and Lira, a Togruta, with red skin and racial white marks. Lira had her own special trait, her Force aura infused with kindness, which made her easy to talk to. She was also quite smart and had a way with words, disarming conflict with the right words. Lira did it to keep peace in her former slave compound, but I suspected it would work great even at largest scale. I selected my Maids to have at least a smudge of force-sensitivity, or the kyber crystal wouldn''t bond. Dora has co opted the other maids into changing my appearance. They''re planning to install me in a protocol chassis. And paint it gold. What''s wrong with this chassis? Okay, it might be a dozen millennia old, and looks creepy. Guess I do need to look dressed as an Emperor. But 3PO? No way. Wialu has returned to her planet, aboard our newly repaired cruiser and escorted by a frigate and 2 corvettes. When she returns, her order will be deposited in secrecy on the Sanctuary. A shipment of pit droids and other construction capable series has already landed and began constructing a spaceport and housing. Organics need so many things just to survive. Keeping them alive and happy will be a pain. They also have families and kids. More joy. I hope they will fit in one cruiser. Then again, hundreds of force-trained people. Once they learn most everything I know, they will be pretty strong. But that will take years. The gand Findsmen have become pretty effective, and stopped dying so much. Takes so much time to grow and train a new one. Or maybe the weakest ones died already. That would be ideal. A few of the most, let''s say reputed bounty hunters that returned, did so for the Dream, once they heard the planet was becoming green. Had to force myself to encourage grass and algae to grow like mad, just to make the planet appear green from orbit. Crops and trees will take much longer to grow. But at least, I have now enough explosives to manufacture trillions of missiles. No more importing explosive ordnance, self-made missiles are the future. "Emperor, we are ready to begin" Dora said with a slight cough. Right, enough musings. "Honored Council, Hands, Voices and Maid I will reverse the order of business, as you probably want to hear about the Dream first. Gand is green. My mandate is over. Please decide now if I kept my word. Waiting a whole year to be kicked out from my job would suck" "Erm. Sadly, we cannot let you go, Emperor Pef. This humble one would like to scold you a hundred years from now as well. And myself being able to make my new female happy has nothing to do with it, at all. Must be the teenage hormones." The elder Mujilik said politely, and sipped a gulp of super expensive Corellian brandy. His kidneys began working again then. I moved my head from one council member to another, and stared at the newest additions. A female Findswoman, and a grizzled mercenary, who claimed he never abandoned his councilman post, just took a vacation, for 55 years. "I heard you are a true Gand, Pef, not just adopted. Can you find my damn credit chip, I seem to have lost it..." the mercenary asked, partly as a test, partly joking. However, let''s try it. Trace on. Fix him in the force, trace his movements backwards...hmmm. The Gand had prostitutes? Learned a new thing today. The female was busy spending his credits, on another space station, buying a bunch of other females drinks.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. "Your female friend you visited four hours ago is throwing a party in your honor, esteemed Findsman. And she brought 7 more of her female friends, possibly to sample your prowess. If you hurry, they''re at the Hutt''s Belly pub. If you don''t, well...the credits are still well spent, it will just be another Explorer enjoying their favor..." I explained, trying to remain polite, while returning the favor of a joke. The mercenary grumbled something and took off, heading towards nearest shuttleport, at a fast walk. "Wait, you guessed right?" Celine asked, looking at me with some wonder. "What do my esteemed council members think?" I asked the Findsmen. "Aye. I did my own trace too. The credit chip is now inside the Hutt''s Belly." Another Findsman said, snorting at the unsaid joke. "A true Gand. We could use an immortal Gand. I say Aye!" another Findsman yelled, and the Force trembled slightly. What? They really expected to kick me out next year? "Aye!" the council yelled in unison. "Soooo, I don''t have to leave and be homeless again?" I asked confused. Well, faking it really well. "Emperor Pef for life!" the female councilor demanded, pounding the table with her fist. Good girl, did exactly as I instructed her. "Eh whatever, not like he will really live forever. It''s just a title..." her father rumbled in his vocoder. I waited for the acclamation to subside. "All right then. The first act as my Immortal Emperor is the creation of a grand army. To secure our freedoms and properties, and to expand the empire throughout the galaxy. Any and every able body is thus conscripted. Organics and synthetic, male or female, young or old. Esteemed council, I will let you in on the next target of our expansion. The Centrality. A decadent and isolated polity, with a mere thousands systems. I believe we may need 3 years to liberate them, and have their oppressed citizens join our Empire. But, with me as your leader, it may only take two years" I proclaimed, floating my chassis a foot above the floor, and pointing at the ceiling. "Immortal Pef, will set us free!" Dora exclaimed standing up and punching the sky too. Good girl. One after another, the council rose and punched the sky. The Pef Wars have begun! Planet Gand, Pef Empire, Outer Rim 25 BBY In orbit, aboard the imperial space station the Celestial Throne "And then, I told them to shove their sabers up their droid''s asses, climbed back in my ship and came back. Crazy droids everywhere!" Vette concluded her story. She looked wonderful now, in a hi-tech power armor, with personal shield even, and about 24 weapons on it. That armor must have costed its weight in gold. "So, you failed. Why do I get such poor luck, to have an incompetent Maid, and one that doesn''t even care about me..." I proclaimed, slapping my droid''s head dramatically. My other Maids frowned, looking up from their pads at the dingy sound. "There, there." Vette replied, patting my shoulder with a distracted aura. "They said they wanted to speak with you personally. Maybe you''ll have better luck" Vette added, while removing her helmet and taking out a last model of datapad. I confiscated it with telekinesis, and started removing the hidden backdoors placed inside the Hutts. "Hey, give it back, you metal head. This is the latest model from Corellia!" Vette yelled, jumping up and down petulantly. "Shuush, adored Maid. You heard of cyber intrusion and hacking, right?" I replied, copying the latest variants of cyber warfare and adding them to my inventory. "Oh. Fix my armor too then. Half of the helmet is also just computers" the blue twi''lek said, after deliberating inside her leku for a minute. Oh, don''t worry. A state-of-the-art Techno Union armor, bought for 5 million credits? It wasn''t just a gift. I will reverse-engineer it, and mass produce it for my army. And 24 different types of personal weapons too. "Take it off and go see if you like the jacuzzi I built. Dora said it felt better than having sex" I told her, with a slight hook. Dora nodded absently from her pillow, and Vette raised an eyebrow. Then again, her experiences would have been forceful and not consensual at all. "I wouldn''t know, would I? Your crazy Gand had me digging through the dirt with a pointy stick. I wasn''t a high class dancer like Dora. By the way, I rescued a few slaves, can I keep three or four for my special project?" Vette wondered, now clad in just a form fitting jumpsuit. Really form fitting. Special project eh? "Our Empire doesn''t have slaves, you should know that. And our Imperial Servants choose their own lovers, if they want any. Plus, you kinda belong to me, adored maid. Body and soul, for eternity" I mused out loud, picking up the helmet and starting to decrypt its functions. "Not fair! I have to wait till you build yourself a flesh body? That could take years! Start working on that sooner!" Vette yelled as she entered the jacuzzi. "She really wants some" Lira observed wisely, still focusing on her datapad, and learning diplomacy and negotiation courses. "Well, you can always try to please one another, like kisses and stuff. It might be even fun" I replied, while busy stealing everything of value from the power armor. "I''ll give it a try. Vette seems a nice girl" Celine said, raising and walking towards the jacuzzi room. Afraid of men, but not really giving up on love...heh, this might be fun to watch. We waited for a minute, but no screams or yelling were heard. Huh, must have worked then. My Voices and I exchanged an amused pulse through our bond. The third Voice was not present though. Wialu was still busy organizing her flock on Sanctuary, setting up the droids for farming, building schools and workshops and power plants and everything a new colony would need. My planetside droids were busy building huge factories for pit droids and droideka and repulsorlift gunships. And elsewhere in the Sanctuary system, my droids and their Gozanti cruisers were busy gathering asteroids and building a large space station and shipyards. And as soon as I got my hands on a tri-droid starfighter, they''ll begin mass-producing them. "You will have to visit Dweem soon. Before they think again and run away" Lira spoke softly, pressing a hand lightly on her kyber crystal. "I can''t. The Emperor doesn''t go on trips to recruit people. Sad thing, they will all die soon, as the Yuuzhan Vong hate synthetic beings the most." I mused, going through my future memories. "Kriff. I''ll go. If they are only half like you, they''re still worth saving. And they''ll make great field commanders for our droids." Lira argued, then growled a little, taking off at a run towards the door. I smiled inward, and returned to my musings. If she went dressed in that skimpy skirt, even the Iron Knights may falter. A pair of Justice droids floated beside her, keeping up with ease. Hmmm. I could wear a Justice droid, and add a power armor over it. Gain a few superpowers, and not be obvious I use the Force. Super strength, repulsor jumps, deflector shield. Maybe integrate a few Gand dischargers and light masers... I''ll have to see if tractor beams can be miniaturized for bipedal use. Triple the power capacitors, maybe add a starfighter reactor for a power source... Another partition drew my attention. One of the Fallanassi was a traitor, in the old timeline, and most likely this one as well. Isela Talsava. I checked the cruiser manifest, for her name. Not on board. Oh well, at least she wouldn''t know the location of Sanctuary. "Dora, I have a mission for you. Take a frigate and 2 corvettes for escort, and find a Fallanassi woman named Isela Talsava. She is trying to sell us out. Take a few Findsmen, and bring her to me, alive" I told the twi''lek. "Back on Lucazec then? What should I tell her?" Dora wondered. "Give her a diamond, and promise her a large one, the size of her head. Just to teach me a few tricks" I explained, patting her head, and building a few fake memories, while erasing the selling out part and the soul snare existence from her memories. Wouldn''t do to spook the traitor when she read Dora''s mind. "I''ll do my best Pef. For the Empire!" Dora proclaimed, patting her kyber crystal. "You can promise her anything she wants Dora. We have plenty money" I added as she turned to leave. The green twi''lek nodded and left, moving gracefully with small steps. Vette and Celine came back an hour later, their skin flushed and radiating contentment. "You''re the best Pef! The jacuzzi was exactly like sex. Maybe even better" the blue twi''lek proclaimed, hugging my chassis with one arm. Celine blushed and sat down on her pillow in silence. "Less talk and more study. You won''t get your Voice if you laze around. And this armor, you get it back when you know everything about orbital and planetary combat" I told Vette, as my telekinesis began dismantling her armor. "Not fair! I worked hard for that armor" she complained, resuming her lessons with a cute growl. "And now Lira went to fix up your mess. Oh! Cruel world, why did I have to love such a lazy woman" I declared dramatically, shaking my arms at the sky. "Shut up defective droid. Let me study. I want that armor!" Vette muttered, while trying to focus on her datapad. "I''ll sing this song that just came to me. It''s called the Reason" Celine said softly, and began singing. Huh, some things stay the same, no matter the galaxy. Shard Planet Gand, Pef Empire, Outer Rim 25 BBY In orbit, aboard the imperial space station the Celestial Throne Fourth month My first copy of the power armor has just finished re-assembling when Lira and her ship dropped out of hyperspace, and having aboard two extra Force-sensitives, an amphibian sunesi and a crystalline one, probably a shard. This will be trickier. The Sunesi felt like a Jedi. I jumped inside my black Justice series droid, and then entered my power armor. The neck and armguards of my armor were laced with a phrik alloy, to prevent a skilled duelist from an easy win. Well, not really a win, but leaving me naked. Final checks, meshing the codes and then encrypting them again. Three Gand dischargers, in my arms and helmet, a light maser gun and a disruptor rifle backing them up. Deflector shield, particle shield, repulsor beams. The armor will do well I guess. If the Jedi came for violence, he would live to regret it. Sadly, the smallest tractor beam I could build so far only fitted on gunships. Then I left workshop and then my apartment, and entered the room next door which was my Throne Room, which featured a golden dais, with the Golden Throne sitting splendidly in the middle. But I avoided going to sit on it. The Jedi won''t be impressed. I just floated a centimeter above the floor and waited, next to the large Council table. "Lira is back, and seems upset" Wialu said softly, not raising her head from her pad. One could never stop studying in this galaxy. Millions of species discovered things all the time, either through xenoarchaeology, or by scientific experiments. I had it easier, just downloading entire public databases from universities and other easily hacked terminals. Vette looked at her than at me. "It''s the green crystal isn''t it. That''s how you feel each other. That''s such a cheat, when do I get mine?" she demanded, pouting cutely. "When you''re ready, Vette. How can I send you out into the galaxy, to speak in my name, if you do not share my goals?" I explained politely, then turned a little to include Celine into it. "Just conquer the galaxy, simple. What''s else could a crazy droid want?" Vette muttered, and punched her pillow. I faked a short laugh. True enough. "Come now Vette. You visited the Dream just yesterday. You saw the first forest growing. Lakes, with fish and lotus. Ammonia clouds gone. You visited the Servants and their school. You went and rescued some of them yourself. Are they better now?" I asked, just as the large doors opened and the Iron Knights delegation came in. "Stupid droid, using my own acts against me. I''m going out again, and rescue more. Can I have my armor back?" she asked, arms crossed in front of her. "Okay then. Try not to die, yet." I answered with a sigh. Vette ran out, sticking her tongue out at the shard droid, as she passed the delegation. Really diplomatic, that one. "Emperor Pef, I present you Jedi Master Aqinos, and his student, Iron Knightess Luxum." Lira proclaimed, touching her crystal. ''Really, a female crystal?'' I sent with an amused tone in the bond. Lira nodded, amused as well. "Really, Emperor Pef! I hear you were elected emperor for life by the Gand. After you terraformed the planet in its entirety." the Jedi said, having intercepted my message, or just skimmed it from Lira''s surface thoughts. "Yes, I did that. Took me almost three months. Had to modify a number of old nano-plagues to achieve the right balance." I answered, gesturing them to sit at the table. We sat at the table, and Wialu sat next to me, focusing on the shard-droid. "Hmmm. Quite a remarkable achievement. I knew I sensed something in the Force, but it wasn''t really clear. And your own being is shrouded, masking almost every emotion. You do seem similar to my own padawans" the sunesi Jedi said, carelessly placing a scanner on the table, and running scans on me. Good luck with that, turquoise Jedi. You won''t find anything. "Merely on the surface, esteemed Master. Or was that rank stripped away as well, when the Order declared you a heretic?" I asked. while changing the readings on the scanner to make me look like Master Yoda. The scanner beeped, and the jedi blinked twice in confusion. "Master Yoda would never speak in clear sentences. Good joke tough. Anyway, I am still a Master, if not a Jedi anymore. I studied everything about the Force, even if the Jedi Council was small minded, the shards truly have the Force" he declared proudly. "Studied you say. A Master you say. The Shards are interesting beings, with a nice force ability, but a single one, their electromagnetic senses. They live for millennia and then die, of natural causes. And you taught them lightsaber forms, to get them killed even sooner. In 50 years, their whole race will be extinct. And it will be your fault Master Aqinos" I declared, pointing at the Judge droid with a shard inside. Luxum tried to protest, but I kept her droid still and silent. "What? How... I would never do anything to hurt them. Some kind of cataclysm or a war, what did you see?" The heretic Master asked, trying to control his panic. "You say you''re a Master, but you didn''t even notice me. My group had lived thousands of years undetected by the Jedi Order. And there are thousands of groups like mine in the galaxy." Wialu spoke softly, placing a hand on the sunesi''s shoulder. "You''re a Master too, but not of the Order. Altisian perhaps? Corellian Green Jedi?" the confused Master said, trying to locate Wialu, who sat down next to me, and invisible again. "Go back to Dweem, initiate Aqinos. We''ll speak again in two years, if you learn humility till then. Luxum will stay and learn from us." I declared, waving him away in a dismissive gesture. Damn the modern Jedi were feeble. I let go of the technopathic control over the Iron Knightess, curious what she will do. She looked around, then at her former Master, who seemed lost. "Sorry Master Aqinos. If there''s anything that could save my species, I want to stay and learn. May the Force be with you!" Luxum told him, bowing slightly with her droid chassis. As my droids came to escort the former jedi out, I looked over the shard-droid and noticed a lightsaber hanging from her belt. Toys for kids! I grabbed it up with telekinesis, and waved it around. Made pleasant sounds though. "No more toys, dear Maid. Cybersecurity and infiltration. Guess you''ll do just fine in my Black ops." I told her, tossing the damn thing over my shoulder. It landed perfectly on a pillow at the base of my throne. The first of many to follow. Planet Gand, Pef Empire, Outer Rim 25 BBY In orbit, aboard the imperial space station the Celestial Throne Fifth month The small council was something I loved in a certain book, and I reverted to it, now that my rank wasn''t in danger of being taken away. Most Findsmen were kept busy, exploring the sector for trade routes and diplomatic alliances. Include clauses for our navy to refuel and defend their system, and secure mining rights and promise ecological help where possible. Twentysystems have joined the Empire, in all but name. Paying maintenance and salaries for the ships defending them, receiving new factories and jobs, getting rid of slavery, getting linked into the Empire holonet. I messaged every individual leader through holocom, and urged them to establish planetary defenses and at least one orbital space station for trade. Wialu went to talk with those more recalcitrant, using mindtricks to smooth their minds towards an alliance. Lira went to speak with those more open minded, while Vette, well she made herself a sort of admiral, exhausting her group oftwelve Findsmen to locate and engage more pirates and slavers all over the sector. And she found a group a three Jal Shey somewhere, who follow her around, for whatever reason. Something about a holy maiden and the quest for freedom. And now Dora is returning, with a female force-sensitive on board. "Pef, I know that girl. I taught her..." Wialu said a minute later. "Isela, yes. She wanted to sell you out to the Sith, or maybe the Jedi..." I answered, most of my partitions focused on keeping a billion parts from our MC40 cruiser separated, while I reverse-engineered the whole ship at once. Scanning each part, a millisecond for every single one. Why did I have to do this sequentially? "You saw it? Oh my. It was her desire for an easy life wasn''t it?" Wialu asked rhetorically. She could sense it in our bond, I wouldn''t lie to her. "Who knows, my dear Voice. Organics go crazy all the time. Just look at Vette" I answered amused. Wialu turned for a second to look at me, then resumed her studies. Building holocrons. Not like anything you might imagine. Instead of engineering, think of baking cakes. "The soul snares are not holocrons. The souls inside are sentient" she concluded, after a short deliberation. "Holocrons need different things. They are AI''s of a sort. They use the Physical Force and not the Cosmic Force. And the Sith used the Living Force instead. Different forces, different results, even if they look similar." I explained, guiding myself by my old memories. "And yet there is a single Force. I think nobody is really a Master, after all" Wialu complained, waving the soul snare away with a force push. She''s beginning to learn telekinesis, after yearning for it all her life. "Of course not, not for all the teachings and abilities out there. We are a prism, and the Force passes through us, diffracting into a myriad of colors. And everyone of us is different and sees different colors. The White current may be the Unifying Force. Bending light should be a property of gravity after all" I mused, while the hyperdrive finished reassembling. 0.9 hyperdrive speed now, for our ships. How did Han Solo obtained 0.5 hyperdrives for that crappy ship of his? Damn plot armor. "Emperor Pef, what about hyperspace and mass shadows? Where would they figure on the spectrum?" Luxum asked, looking ridiculous in maid robes. But a skirt would look even more ridiculous on a droid. Despite what robo-maids ideas I might have. "Well, the mass shadows would also be in the Unifying Force. Or perhaps a new one, for Dark matter. I''m just a twelve millennia old droid, what do I know?" I answered, faking annoyance. We remained silent afterwards, Luxum learning cyber warfare, Wialu still experimenting with holocrons, and myself learning 50 thousands years of technology, by taking it apart and reassembling it. Sublight engines, hypermatter reactor, deflector shields. They used some kind of thermal buffers, prolonging the resistance under fire, and redundant capacitors, to allow faster recharge. And yet an Ion cannon would still bring them down. Ionize. I could use this to craft an ability against droids. Only droids would just listen to me, regardless. Only the Vong had a real change of putting up a fight, after all. Dora landed after a while, bringing Isela with her. Wialu vanished, letting a faint wisp of sorrow be felt in her aura. "Hey, you''re the droid Emperor? Where is my gold?" Isela asked, expecting me to know what Dora promised her. "Here, take this diamond for now, I want to learn how to vanish..." I answered instead, throwing the soul snare towards her. The woman was very beautiful, and perhaps used to being treated like a princess everywhere. She caught the crystal, and looked at it confused. "Hey, this is not a diam...." then a long wail in the force, as her soul became trapped inside. Luxum rose and went to poke at it. "Is this how you become immortal? You transfer in a crystal?" she asked, quite smartly. "Yes and no. The soul snare is a weapon, to be used against enemies and traitors. A failed experiment with the Cosmic force. But now, is a one-time use holocron as well. Watch" I told my crystal maid, draining the knowledge from the snare. All the religious precepts, the White current, the illusions, the invisibility, mind shield, mind fog, hiding in the light, seeing from light, acceleration. The last one was surprising. It forced the body to burn faster, healing immediately or moving fast, while damaging the body immensely. If you were organic. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Wialu reappeared next to me, and took the snare with care. "She was like a daughter to me. Let me take her life. I want to know..." Wialu said softly, draining the last of Isela''s soul, and making it vanish. I just waited, and focused my telekinesis on reassembling the MC40a light cruiser, the missile launchers and the missiles being a hundred times easier. The cruiser now had 100 missile launchers and three thousands missiles. The turrets were of, however,as I didn''t like having them pointedat every side, like a hedgehog. Keep 20 percent of current positioning, and arrange the rest above and below the ship in superfiring positions, thus allowing 80 percent of all weapons to focus fire on a single target, both when firing forward or either sides. In total, 20 pointdefense quad lasers, 100 medium masers and turbolasers and 20 heavy masers. Already, my cruiser would be able to take down a Venator star destroyer by itself. While being half the size and three times the firepower of a Venator. Damn those Venators wereweak ships for a star destroyer, beeing mostly a carrier with some ship-to-ship ability. And going by what I knew about the Centrality, they didn''t even have star destroyers. I still needed many more ships though. To conquer the Centrality would be pretty easy, but then I had to hold a thousand star systems, against everyone who might try to profit. At leasta thousand corvettes then, just to secure that volume. I barely had a hundred. Kriff. Had to make lots of money fast and buy the damn ships from somewhere. And, I just knew how to find the money. Murder and theft, the privelege of kings and emperors. "Luxum, I need you to steal 5 billion credits" I proclaimed, pointing at the shard-maid. "Eh?" she wondered confused. If I had teeth I would have smiled. Damn organics have it so easy. Planet Gand, Capital of Pef Empire Throne Room, aboard the Celestial Throne, the seat of government. 25 BBY "What I mean is, we''re going to infiltrate the Centrality and steal credits from their pension funds. And just think, they use Republic credits, even if they do not issue the currency." I replied, preparing a Black ops freighter for launch. "Wait, you''re going too?" Dora asked, shaking her green twin leku in confusion. "Of course. I have to supervise the first act of war. Can''t just laze around, while my operatives risk their lives..." I explained, watching Luxum carefully. She was doubtful. "Why are we attacking them? They aren''t harming anyone..." Luxum wondered, hesitating for some moral reasons. "We''re preventing a genocide, several of them in fact. And also preventing the Sith taking over the Centrality and becoming our nemesis. Come, let''s get you fitted with Supremacy power armor, Luxum, you''ll learn more while we''re in transit." I added, and began assembling my next generation power armor series, around the Justice droid that housed my sentient crystal Maid. I made sure to leave a number of slits in the chest carapace, then armored those openings with a triple layer of ancient Jedi armor. The Iron Knights used transparisteel windows in their chests, to let their crystal senses function unimpeded by the droid chassis, but that was too much of a weakness and giveaway. Ten minutes later, the Iron Maid was complete and looked absolutely fabulous. 2.5 meters in height, powerful servomotors for superstrength, repulsor beams for lift and glide, deflector shields, latest model of miniaturized starfighter reactor. Once Luxum learned to use the Force properly to reinforce the armor, it will be able to withstand nukes at pointblank range. For color, I went with urban grey camouflage, shades of grey with subtle changes in degree and patterns, to make to user less visible in a city landscape. It had a infiltration spec after all, with a powerful holo-transceiver, able to slice through most networks. Just buying the technology had cost me 50 million credits. Now it was time to put it to good use, and return my investment a hundred fold. My own power armor was painted a dull grey, with black shoulders and a golden ring around the temples. A Kyber crystal was mounted on the side of my chest, to let my subjects know the user had a Voice as well. ''5 billion credits is way too little for you to go on trips. You''re planning something else'' Wialu sent telepathically. ''Of course. But I also have to test my new maid. You should return to Sanctuary as well, my Hands have the Empire running well enough for now'' I sent back. ''Have fun then. And bring me a Sith. I really want to learn all they know'' Wialu added, vanishing from my senses completely. Damn the woman was good. Even with learning most of the Fallanassi teaching from her traitor student, Wialu was still above my level in camouflage. No wonder Palpatine couldn''t find her, even after she was betrayed. Luxum was experimenting with her new upgrades, floating around and playing with her shields. "Lira and Dora, start placing orders for any ship you can find, to be paid on delivery. Buy a dozen Lucrehulk-class LH-3210 cargo freighter if you find any. I''ll be back in a month. Celine, you have one month to decide: Servant, Voice or freedom and exile. Maybe you can be a singer on Nar Shaddaa." I told my other Maids, then started walking towards my ship. Celine nodded, feeling scared, and hiding behind her long blond hair. I doubted she will choose the Voice though. Luxum joined me as I passed the doors, feeling anxious for some reason. She was competent enough now, but her resolve lacked. Oh well, that''s why I came along. Now, planning and executing the greatest heist in the history of the galaxy will be fun. On board Greymist, Pef Empire''s Black ops vessel. In hyperspace, en route to Oseon, the Centrality''s richest planet. "Emperor, stealing from the pension funds might trigger social outrage and revolts. Is this what we''re trying to accomplish?" Luxum asked, going over the files on security of the Centrality again. "Not yet. The theft will be noticed, and they''ll have to move the funds somewhere safe. A Republic bank, or possibly the Banking Guild. And thus, lose control over their finances. Half of their navy will turn pirate, for lack of salaries" I explained, while trying to use acceleration on myself. I had no organic flesh to degrade, so everything will be...in my mind. Time started to slow down, as my perception began to accelerate, faster and faster. Double accel, triple accel...I wondered how much I could overclock myself. Five times and I started to overheat. Transfer heat outside the hull. Seven times. The exterior of my crystal self began warming up. Let''s stop for now. I could possibly reach 10 times more, but wasn''t needed. Four times faster. No overheat, the Force supporting the extra speed just fine. It should be enough. I glided through the lightsaber velocities, stressing my droid chassis to the limit. Hmmm. About the same speed as Yoda and Palpatine in their duel. A bit less than Windu going full Vaapad. But I''ll never get tired or exhausted. Damn this body was a such a cheat. "Emperor, you move so fast, faster than Master Aqinos. Faster than anyone I heard of..." Luxum exclaimed, now her aura trembling with awe. "About the same as the best Jedi or Sith living today. Master Windu might be a tad faster with a lightsaber" I answered, coming to a rest and running the meditation techniques, using the armor''s servomotors to emulate breathing. Hmmm. It did seem to work, increasing my connection to the Force by a few percents. "But you don''t use sabers. You think them puerile" Luxum added, now observing me with a strange focus. "Once you get strong enough, lightsaber become crutches, and start hindering your abilities. And they make you channel on a fixed path, ending with a saber duel. Ignoring better solutions, or strategic thinking or subtlety. Let''s say I drop a bioweapon on the Jedi Temple. How many Jedi would survive ten minutes or even one minute?" I asked, letting the female shard meditate on an answer. I rehearsed my plan again, then started building variants and backup plans. "Most Masters would survive one minute. But, just a few the next ten minutes. You could end the Jedi anytime. You have used 50 nano-phages already, when you terraformed planet Gand. And not a single Gand was harmed..." Luxum concluded her reasoning after an hour or so. "The Jedi and the Sith would continue to fight, genociding each other, for a hundred millennia or more, devastating the galaxy with their insane fanaticism, just like have done for the past 30 millennia. It has to stop. What do you think Luxum?" I asked rhetorically. She remained silent, possibly thinking about her own race. "It''s going to happen again, right? The Sith are coming back, and they''re going to exterminate the Jedi, and everyone who allies with them. Including my fellow shards. A galaxy wide war, and soon. Why doesn''t anyone else see this?" my maid asked, her aura mingling fear and calm at equal ratio. "Chancellor Palpatine leads the Galactic Republic, and he''s a Sith. His office is next door from the Jedi Council. That''s a cosmic joke right there. And the Jedi''s chosen one, the one who will bring balance in the force, he''s groomed to become the next Sith. How do they think balance will be restored? Damn fools." I muttered, spilling secrets like candy. Sentient crystals didn''t have glands to secrete hormones and neurotransmitters, but they could fake them pretty well, with electrical impulses. My Iron Maid stayed silent after this, digesting the news. A few hours later, we reached Oseon and began our missions. Oseon system, the Centrality, Outer Rim Running silent at the edge of the system Luxum sliced into the Centrality''s servers and began funneling funds to fake corporations, which dissolved immediately, after transferring the credits to another fake corporation and so on. And while she was doing the shell game with the Centrality pensions, I went after the richest man in the galaxy. Bohhuah Mutdah had a wealth aproximating 400 trillions credits, and had just moved to asteroid Oseon 5792, where his obese shape would hurt less due to low gravity. He did have a state of the art security system around his palace, but he was illiterate, so he had to speak his passwords aloud. I just had to wait an hour for him to buy something, emulate his voice and holosignature, then start buying everything on the markets and selling it a million times cheaper to a fake corporation. In 30 minutes I drained most of his liquid assets, about 14 trillions credits, then started selling his real estate holdings, corporate stocks, ships and factories, again to fake corporations that just began existing seconds ago. I took everything from him, leaving him penyless. In 3 hours, I became myself the richest person in the galaxy, though not quite legal. Then I used my own name to start a few companies and bought all I have stolen from Mutdah, in my own name. And last thing, I alerted my security in my own palace on asteroid Oseon 5792 of an unauthorized obese intruder and had him shot in the head. Now, my new wealth was legal. I started firing all the lawyers and corporate and security personnel, leaving just the majority of the grunts in my employ. My workers still needed job to feed their families, but I wouldn''t trust the cronies that Mutdah had. I began hiring new office workers, while my security droids kicked out the former employees and shot those resisting. Somehow, everyone of the corporate boards resisted being fired from their job. And thus were fired upon. A few shuttles with freshly bought droids descended on my palace and started upgrading and replacing the old security, wiping the records and evaporating the corpses. "Emperor, I finished. I just stole 5 billion credits. What do I do now?" Luxum asked, brimming with excitement. "Be nice to your sister maids and share the money with them. A billion for each of you should be a nice gift, I think..." I mused out loud. "B-but.. don''t you need the credits to buy ships? This was just to test me?" Luxum wondered, now a little more than confused. "Oh, I stole 400 trillions while you had fun. You can buy yourself something nice, an asteroid somewhere or a star destroyer" I answered amused. The poor dude was going to be killed and impersonated by a Croke anyway. I just did the galaxy a huge favor. "Oh, I''m a billionaire now. I''m gonna buy soooo many things. I bet Vette will want that star destroyer though. She likes guns. Big guns..." Luxum muttered, trawling the auctions for life crystals and whatever else she fancied. The heist complete, I began looking for my next target. Sorcerers of Tund In hyperspace, en route to planet Tund, the Centrality Hmmm. I could use perhaps 10 trillion credits right away, and order a thousand star cruisers to be built for me on Mon Calamari. Would take a year at least, while the shipyards were built, and the ships produced, in a system I didn''t own. Yeah, let''s not do that, and find my ships confiscated by the Senate. Or I could buy some squid corporations, and build shipyards in my own empire, away from Jedi and Republic eyes. Much better. Buy a few droid manufacturers as well. Yeah, that sounded safer in short term, and perhaps even profitable in long term. Give my future trillions of citizens jobs? Sure! Still, the prospect of a full scale war with the Centrality annoyed me. Why did I even had to fight them? I could just become Central Administrator as well...then unite my separate states, in a personal union, for as long as I lived. I just needed to provoke a crisis, then step in to resolve it, and be perceived as their savior. And who better to blame than the insane sorcerers? And give me a reason to make them vanish... "Emperor, are you gonna kill the sorcerers of Tund?" Luxum asked me suddenly. "A few of them for sure. I''m quite certain the first ones we meet will be impolite or aggressive. And after we drain their souls, we''ll be seen as sorcerers as well. So, it should work to blame them as evil beings that want to destroy all life in the sector for some insane ritual." I explained, while trying to use meditation on my AI partitions, without much success. Damn thing was conceived by people with organic brains. I had no chemicals to balance in my neocortex. "What, they''re gonna kill so many people?" my maid said shocked. "Well, yes and no. One of them will sacrifice the whole planet. Thus becoming the most powerful sorcerer, and the only one as well. You heard of Revan?" I asked curious, while a thousand libraries opened in my mind, showing what little was known of his real life. "Old Sith, I think...killed a whole fleet?" Luxum replied hesitantly. "Jedi, Dark Jedi, Sith Lord, Jedi, Dark Lord of Sith and finally Jedi Ghost...the man had problems. He might have slept with his own mother too. And he killed an entire planet and drained the life from it. Became quite powerful, for his times" I mused, trying to find a rime for that poor soul. "Wait, he died and after that he became a Jedi again. And he''s now an immortal spirit, after all he''s done?" Luxum exclaimed confused. "Yep, bringing balance to the Force is quite a ride. If you go by jedi religious tenets" I laughed amused. "So, everything I learned was a lie?" the crystal shard maid demanded, an aura of desperation around her. No, my adored maid. You cannot be told you are wrong. You have to see it for yourself. I patted her shoulder. "Let''s try it differently. Death, yet the Force - The last teachings of the Old Jedi. Now, let''s see what the Sith say: The Force shall set me free. See anything strange?" I asked in a teasing voice, trying fake breathing again, by using the droid and armor servos. It worked! Why did this work? Was is some sort of psychological placebo? Think it matters and it does? I was a bloody piece of rock, I didn''t need to breathe, or eat or anything. I just existed...in the Force. "Well, they both speak of the Force, not of the Light or Dark side. Both sects see immortality as the final goal. Only, the means are different." Luxum replied after an hour of slow deliberation. "Are they? Which kind of genocide is more heretic, killing the Jedi or the Sith?" I wondered rhetorically. Our ship dropped of hyperspace before she could respond, if she had any response to give. I didn''t. I drew on the Force and cloaked our ship again, this time hiding in light. Worked better against Sith. Planet Tund. The Centrality. My force senses expanded, technopathy riding the data transmissions and commercial transactions and holonet news, Followed soon after by cyber warfare programs and other slicing tools. Sadly, the Sorcerers of Tund barely had any datasphere defenses, most of those focused on space stations and spaceports and banks. Old tech too, at least 5 generations behind the galactic Core. My droid pilots entered our ship on a landing trajectory, still undetected. "Hide your force aura, dear maid. Let''s not scare our prey too soon." I said softly, as our cloaked ship landed just outside the capital. The planet was sparsely populated, mainly by immigrant Toongs and humans and some Sith. The species. The sorcerers were much fewer still, barely a few thousands. They ruled the prairies with their magocratic cabal, and ignored the forests. Some palaces here and there, defended by powerful force fields. Those palaces must be their attempt at a Dark Council. Pitiful. I glided above the grass, using the repulsor lifts to float like a boss, and headed towards the nearest market, with a basketball sized crystal in my hand. Luxum glided next to me, with her own snare in one hand. We probably made quite a sight, in our grey power armors. The locals made way respectfully, some even bowing deeply. Huh, respecting my authority already? Probably thought we were sorcerers, most likely. About an hour later, three red skinned individuals, with black robes around them, challenged our right to buy stuff like tourists do. "Who are you mongrels, where did you get those armors. And those diamonds. Give them here!" One of them commanded first in Sith, then in galactic basic, while sparking lightning from one hand, and a fireball in another. Well, if you really ask, how can I refuse? Catch! Two of them, the males, caught the soulsnare crystals and became trapped spirits, while the third, a female Sith, I shot with my neural discharger and left paralyzed. Wialu said she wanted one, so why not? Now let''s see. Drain yummy drain. I mean brains. Massassi rituals, Kissai old gods, Sith teachings, Rakata teachings, elemental shaping, shadow shaping, mental domination, listen from shadows. Huh. Maybe I need to find a higher rank. This one didn''t even have meditation or lightsaber forms, nor alchemy nor life drain nor most of the anything Sith were renowned for. "Emperor, what is this joke? These can''t be the Sith..." Luxum argued as well, while digesting what she just learned. A Toong older male stepped closer and looked at the bodies lying in dirt. "The bearded one was the leader though. Some say he was the strongest sorcerer in centuries." he explained politely, then spit on his corpse. I''ll be damned. They faked it all, with tricks and compulsions. "They are pure-blooded Sith. The original natives on Korriban. Just...not the Sith we were looking for" I mused, kicking the dead Sith in the nuts. Well then. Let''s pack the rest of them up in a ship and go back home. I grabbed the female and the other bodies with telekinesis and floated away, heading towards the nearest sorcerer palace. Guess I can dump them on Sanctuary too. On a different continent. They were still Force users, if barely. Planet Tund, Centrality 25 BBY The Cabal maintained a pretty strong defense on their palaces, the forcefield emitters appearing to be Force powered. Rakatan tech, most likely, since I knew the forcefields survived the destruction of the planet, when that Croke sorcerer destroyed Tund with some kind of torpedo. I''ll have to turn the fields off and take them with me. Nice tech to have, if I could use it. The old Rakata ship that brought the Sith here had been dismantled during the millennia after their exodus, but the shield emitters still functioned, and at a higher strength than anything possible today, much stronger than the shields on Mandator stardestroyers for example. Guess I''ll fit one to my Celestial Throne, and make my imperial space station pretty much invulnerable. As I approached the palace, a number of guards appeared, and stared shocked at their former master being dragged along, floating in midair. I searched through the memories and found the access codes for the shield. It turned off, and we entered the palace, ignoring the guards. Some of them had metal spears... "Luxum, organize the palace to receive a few thousands guests. Call it a feast for the Cabal. I''ll invite the rest of the sorcerers to join." I demanded, while disarming the guards by simply taking away their weapons. "As you say, Immortal Emperor" my maid replied, grabbing the nearest guard and barking orders. Meanwhile, I explored the palace, taking over the security and whatever droids I could find, then locating the living quarters and the families of the dead Sorcerers. I found a creche for young Sith, 11 boys and 9 girls, and about 20 wives, probably 10 each if these two were brothers and shared equally. They had a pleasant life so far. My captive seemed to be a sister of theirs. Or maybe a wife, or both. Pure-blood is hard to maintain, after all. Still, there was no point in keeping her paralyzed. I snared her soul and threw all three bodies in the middle of the room. Sparing lives might be seen as weak for Sith, or something. Ah, they had a secret subspace transmitter, keyed to contain all the Cabals frequencies. Very convenient. I decrypted it''s controls and placed a holoconference with all of them at once. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. "Greetings my Sith. I am the Immortal Emperor, and I''ve come to take you home. Come to my palace in 6 hours, all of you" I said, gesturing at the dead bodies at my feet, then ended the call. Some of them might not come, and they''ll die. But the news of my arrival had to have time to spread and acknowledged, and so I was graceful and gave them time to think it through. And then, I went to have a chat with the ex-wives, to give them to good news. "You killed all three of them..." "They were rude" I answered, faking a shrug with my armor''s pauldrons. "Please don''t kill the younglings, you can take anything just not..." another wife exclaimed, wailing with grief. "I don''t waste loyal soldiers. Now go help my maid prepare a feast for the cabal. Food and drinks." I replied, pointing at her. She took another wife with her and ran out. "H-how many are coming, the stores might not have..." another ex-wife interfered. "All of them. And place a hundred barrels of wine and whatever outside the gates, for their guards." I told a younger wife who seemed less confused. She nodded and ran outside. Hmmm. A Sith Maid? She did seem capable. Nah, too much trouble trying to fend off the dark side. "H-how do we call you, mighty sorcerer?" yet another wife asked. "Immortal Emperor, or Pef, or combinations. Full name for official meetings" "Understood Emperor Pef, I''ll go see after the young ones" she replied and took off towards the creche. Now, let''s see about defenses. A single missile launcher? And whatever the guards had. Useless. I descended deep under the palace and found the shield emitters. Yeah. Rakatan tech alright. I didn''t have a clue how to operate it. I got lost for hours, trying to decrypt and mesh with its systems, and I barely understood a single percent. ''Emperor, more Sith are coming'' my maid alerted me. Great... Shields online, keep a 3-meter wide aperture aligned with the palace gate. Aim the missile launcher at the gate as well. I floated up to the large meeting room, and started arranging everything with telekinesis. Chairs and tables to the sides, a makeshift throne for me, a pillow for my maid. The Sorcerers of Tund began entering, one by one, while my maid has to keep telling them to leave the guards outside. One hour later, the room was packed, and the rest didn''t have anywhere to go so just waited outside. I pushed, lifting the upper floors and the outer wall, forming a larger room, while keeping the whole thing suspended. That might have impressed them a little. I wonder what they''ll say when they''ll see me dismantle a star destroyer into little bits. "My Sith, you were lost, but not forgotten. The Dark Jedi you followed are long dead. But I haven''t forgotten. I was alive 10 millennia ago, when the Crusades passed through this space. I''ve seen wars and genocides, empires rising and falling. But I haven''t forgotten you. I saw your deaths, the entire Tund planet obliterated by one of your future recruits. And I said, no more! Enough is enough. I have come to save you, and teach you, and take you home" I orated, using elemental shaping to create a flaming aura around me. "Where are you planning to take us, mighty Emperor?" an older Sith asked, remaining unfazed. "Just another planet nearby. Same kind of planet, with grass and trees. A few lakes. Only nobody knows about it, or the route to it. And thus safe, for you and your children. I call it Sanctuary." "Are you a Jedi or a Sith, Emperor?" another Sith sorcerer, one badly burned and looking like a veteran, demanded. "You are the true Sith. The Dark Jedi are something else. Haters and betrayers of their fanatic brothers. I am nothing like either of those. I am Pef. And I came to tell you a simple truth. The Force is one. There are no sides. Like sunlight, it bathes us with nourishment, and feeds us. I am the living proof. Not eating, not even breathing. I exist in the Force. And so can you." I explained, raising the snare high above my armor. The spirit Sith inside the snare looked at the living Sith and tried to yell something. Nothing came out, but it was clear that she was quite alive inside. And with that, the argument was over. Everyone wants to be immortal. Planet Tund, Centrality A week later The last of the sorcerers and their families have boarded the ships I had bought specially for this task, with a few fake corporations, and set course for a system in the Pef Empire''s exclusion zone. Wialu will take over from there and take them to Sanctuary. They didn''t actually need to know the route the ships will take, after all. Not that I didn''t trust them, since if I strained I could throw them very far...okay, I didn''t trust them one bit. They''ll have to be trained and indoctrinated, just like the Imperial Servants. I looked at every single one as they boarded and hadn''t noticed any infiltrator, but then again, there were millions of force abilities out there, some more equal than others. Hmmm. Let''s establish a hospital station on Sanctuary and quarantine everyone, while they receive blood tests and immunizations. Gonna be expensive, but then again, I had quite enough money. I still couldn''t believe how easy the heist went. I was a trillionare! Then again, Centrality Intelligence was busy at that time, most likely going nuts over the pension heist, and didn''t have time to concentrate on a concurrent heist on a private individual. They''ll come knocking soon enough though. Better have the next operation in place. I began modeling a holo announcement by a recently deceased Sorcerer, going over his insane plans to drain the largest planets in the Centrality of all life, and become a God of Magic. Plant rumors of Emperor Pef, engaging all the Sorcerers of Tund at once, and chasing them away, after killing the majority. And now, let''s see nukes bloom... I chose a few more distant palaces, and began the detonations, a few of them caught in accidental new reports, going live. Exactly like flowers, only less radiation and more explosion. And jump. En route to Scillal, Centrality "I''m beginning to think you just wanted to see things go boom, just like Vette" Luxum muttered, playing the last holos were recorded before the jump. "A bouquet of red flowers, for the prettiest shard I know" I answered, while my partitions focused on analyzing the Rakata forcefield in the cargo hold. I think my compliment worked, since the Iron Maid flashed a burst of embarrassment and annoyance in her aura. "I am the only shard you know..." she muttered back, then returned to her own studies. Damn thing was a thousand times more advanced than anything I''ve seen, and right now, I was probably the foremost expert in modern tech in the galaxy. And a living example of such tech as well. Only Rakata tech was not modern, but xenoarchaeology, and I knew too little about those. Slightly faded memories about entechment came forward, but didn''t fit with what I had here. Alchemy and imbuement and force matrices. And a hundred other things, hidden inside one another, sometimes intersecting in different dimensions. Made a holocron look like a Rubik cube, in comparison.Semi-sentient code, almost like my own AI partitions. Dangerous stuff. Kriff. No wonder the Rakata defeated the Celestials and chased them away from the galaxy. How could you beat them, if their tech was this advanced? So advanced it was magic. I gave up my efforts at 3 percent, and hoped to find someone with knowledge about this stuff, and pick his brains about it. My servos creaked as the droid''s fist clenched. I sighed upset. Magic is hard. "So you can feel emotions, after all. Was that desperation?" Luxum asked amused. "Don''t like when something is too advanced to understand. It means someone smarter may usethis against me or my people." I muttered, going back to breathing exercises. Peace through strength. I needed to become stronger. "You''re such a mystery Emperor. I can see you float in the Force, going through the velocities or breathing exercises. And yet you cannot meditate. Maybe you think too much..." Luxum added with a trace of sadness. I was only thinking. An AI...how do you make an AI stop thinking? Let''s try the codes, and go through each of them. Emotion, yet peace. The first tenant, before the Dark Jedi even appeared. But, was it the first? The Je''daii were first, and they claimed different things. In the light, there is a darkness And in the darkness, a light Strive to live in balance In balance with chaos and harmony Immortal in the Force I had the last thing done, somehow, through cheating like a boss. But not the rest. Balance? Chaos was simple. Everything was chaos, from randomness to life then evolution then social relations then wars, then death. Where was the harmony? I just couldn''t see it. Was harmony a function of chaos, like the wings of the butterfly? A Dream, sometimes perceived as precognition? Where did prescience come from? Who lived in the futures that I never lived? I mused on this for hours and hours. The ship dropping out of hyperspace woke me, and I noticed the Shard Maid had creeped really close, and was peering at my armor''s chest with fascination. In orbit above planet Scillal "And now you did it. Meditation. I felt it, for a minute, just before we dropped out" she muttered, then hugged me with her own power armor. "Huh. And now I''m a padawan too..." I answered, while my partitions began their work on the largest ship manufacturer in the Centrality. I began slicing and dicing, taking over every single open server and quite a few of those with lesser protections. A Navy cruiser changed course and came to fly on our left. "Emperor Pef. We have a few questions" an official voice transmitted, along with some credentials. I checked to make sure, but I already knew who they were. Centrality Intelligence. Counter-intelligence group 4. Trying to catch me off-guard, before I hid behind an army of lawyers and diplomatic immunity. Exactly as planned. Flowers On board Greymist, in orbit above Scillal They weren''t as stupid as I hoped though. They had a force-sensitive on board. And a type I hadn''t encountered till now. Twi''lek, but colored deep red. Metal discs on her belt. Possibly telekinetic and certainly telepathic. Oh well. I was always open to meeting pretty girls. "White fog Luxum. They have a telepath" I said, doing the same. "Kriff. I knew something will go wrong, eventually." The maid muttered, a hand going for the lightsaber she didn''t have anymore. "Be back in a few hours" I added, as I entered the transit tube. On board Centrality cruiser Intractable I was met by two officers, in red and black uniforms, and a platoon of marines, wearing light armors and carrying blasters. Yeah, that would be really useful against power armor. "Errr. Emperor Pef is coming too?" One officer asked cautiously, noticing me staying afloat, and the menacing armor. "I am Pef. Conference room?" I replied politely, and started floating towards the nice room they had for admirals and such. The ship''s systems were already under my control, including gravity and the air they breathed. And they had thousands of droids on board as well, from tiny mouses to repair models and astromechs. I was basically at home. The marines ran after us, clutching their pitiful guns with tensed hands. This might be pretty easy, after all. These people haven''t fought a war in a thousand years. And most of the galaxy hadn''t either. Like candy from babies. Now let''s see, Vette likes to drink some sort of ultra sweet juice. Have a droid bring some to my new telepathic friend. By the time I arrived in the conference room, a protocol droid came in and placed a cup in front of the twi''lek. She has seen combat before though. Scars and burns, and a wary presence, always conscious of surroundings. The droid surprised her, since it wasn''t alive to be felt with telepathy. You kinda need technopathy instead. Now, decrypt the payment charts. Laasti Vera, Zeison Sha auxiliary, payment grade at Captain levels, triple bonus for high risk mission, paid in advance. Well, at least they did take me seriously. Huh, I knew a little about the Zeison Sha sect, just that they were strong enough to have resisted assimilation by the Jedi, Palpatine''s Empire and the Vong. Pretty much do it yourself type of people. I offered a short bow, and gestured at the drink. "My compliments, Miss Laasti Vera. I hear such drinks are highly regarded by beautiful twi''leks" I said, remaining afloat in front of the table. Thin rails on the chairs. Way below the resistance necessary to support power armor weight. "You could take a seat Emperor. This might take some time" "Power armor is kinda heavy" I replied amused. "You could take it off. Make yourself comfortable. I assure you, you aren''t in any danger" "Of course not, Miss Vera. Wearing this version of power armor, I could withstand point-blank nuclear detonations." I explained truthfully. I could indeed survive quite fine. "Yes, about those horrible detonations. Are you able to recall how they happened Emperor?" "I fought with some crazy magicians. I think a number of them may have escaped. My bodyguard may have missed some" I answered, being truthful, but not too much. The twi''lek turned towards her handlers, and gestured up and down with the eye that wasn''t facing me. Cool trick. Only I could see what the droid in the room saw as well. Hmmm. She was still reading me somehow. Hide in shadows and mind shield. The fog wasn''t enough. The twi''lek took a long pause and sipped her drink. Seems I was spot on. She really liked it. "It is very good juice. Lowers certain inhibitions in twi''leks. Perhaps even beautiful ones" my interrogator said, amused. Damn it. What was the crazy girl drinking on my money? Just made a fool of myself. I gestured a shrug, feigning being innocent. "I wouldn''t know. Never been a twi''lek in my life." She let that go and tried something else. "So, I heard you''re the richest Emperor in the galaxy. And presumably Immortal as well. What are your plans regarding the properties you hold in the Centrality. You do represent a foreign power, after all. Planet Gand, I believe?" "Immortal is just a title. There are beings who have lived longer than me, after all. Croke species for example, can reach 20 millenia in age. I''m barely half that. I guess, we''ll have to wait and see." I explained politely, holding a datapad aloft with telekinesis, and turning on the holo news. Hmmm. Planet Tund was just quarantined, by a large Centrality Navy force. A few Jedi on site.The sorcerers had been declared a nation wide threat, and everyone and everything was looking for them, and droids were sifting through the radioactive ruins. The girl exchanged a worried look with the intelligence officers. Probably the interview didn''t go exactly as they planned. "Did you intervene to prevent the mass murder of our citizens, Emperor Pef? You''re clearly highly able in the force and otherwise" the Zeison Sha wondered, eying my datapad again. Now she noticed I didn''t use my hands to turn on the holos. A bit late, but not bad. "Yes. I acted to prevent a genocide. Multiple ones, in fact. I would do my empire no good if billions of refugees start flooding our borders. However, the croke who impersonated that fat guy escaped. Maybe we should act together in this. I do hold many valuable properties in Centrality after all. It would be a pity to have to move them elsewhere." I said, baiting my hooks. One of them should catch something. "Like most of our shipyards, here in Scillal. 16 billion families depend on those jobs" the older officer spoke, now for the first time. Mister Collin, you''d make a great officer someday. In my navy. Here it comes. My own offer. "I was thinking to request Centrality citizenship, for tax purposes. Maybe public office too, one day" I mused aloud. The man perked up, his brain lighting up in my senses. Okay then. He''s smart enough to see where this is going. "Do you know the name of the croke, Emperor Pef? We''ll need to apprehend that individual as soon as possible. We suspected, but never had a clear line to him." the officer asked, now very polite. I nodded. "His name is Rokur Gepta. Generally hides in the ankles of his impersonations. Blood samples taken from ears or finger tips should work, if you''re doubtful. He was also interested in the Sharu and the Oswalt. And, not for science." I concluded, focusing my senses on the twi''lek woman. She glanced at her boss and nodded. Great! Having the Centrality intelligence go on a hunt for that croke maniac might train them for what is to come. That Sith monster had killed billions of sentients before. And will do so again, if not for my intervention. "All right then. The Centrality owes you gratitude for your help, Emperor. I certain that a person of your talents may someday hold office in Centrality as well. One planet may seem too small, even if you did terraform it to class I, in two months no less..." Captain Collin said, shaking my armored hand and gesturing towards the door. "I''ll need a minute with our telepathic auxiliary" I requested politely, printing the codes, all four of them, and gliding the datapad in the twi''lek''s hands. Veraread everything on the screen once, then again, memorizing the verses.Then, looked at me with tears in her eyes andfloated the datapad back to me, while nodding slightly. She will come. I wouldn''t run around recruiting people, but if I met a new sect, at least I could give them a heads up. Planet Scillal, Scilla megalopolis, Scillal Designs headquarters. 25BBY "Have a seat, honored board members. I''ll let you know why I visited here in person. First, we''re opening a hundred new, smaller shipyards. They will produce a new model of corvette, with a single capital-class turret on top, a medium turret underneath, and ten quad lasers pointdefese turrets. In addition, the ship will have 20 missile launchers, each with an autoloading magazine of 10 concussion missiles. Our company has obtained an exclusive contract with the Pef Navy, for a minimum of 10 thousands units." I explained to the new board, half of whom were foremen and engineers I selected from the workforce, and the rest fresh graduates of business and administration universities. They watched me with surprised faces. "Emperor Pef. We''re very glad you giving us such a prosperous contract. But, we already have our ten shipyards building the larger class of Akorec frigates, and we have ongoing contracts with Centrality Navy for the next generation." A young man, trying to keep himself calm said, with a curious tone. "And they pay us 5 millions credits for a frigate, and we sell maybe one hundred of them annually, when we can sell the corvettes for 1 million each, and sell at least a thousand every year. That''s a billion credits instead of 500 millions. Plus, the contract mentions bonuses for rapid delivery and quality checks, up to 80% increase in salaries for all our workers. If the Centralian Navy can match the Empire''s prices we might accommodate them, but otherwise, I''m afraid they''ll have to buy ships elsewhere." I replied sternly, pointing at the hologram with the schematics and profit margins. "This Dakka corvette you have designed, appears to be intended to be used against massed starfighter formations. Who is your new Empire planning to fight, Emperor Pef?" the same man wondered, his eyes focused on the ships'' holo schematics, and his mind focused on calculating damage output. "Hordes of droid starfighters and hordes of fighter class bioships. Ranging from 5 to 15 meters in length. That stays in this room though. If my Empire falls, the Centrality will be next. Now, the next contract. Pef Empire offers to sell us binary explosives for the concussion missiles at a third of price below going rate on galactic market. Safer and cheaper. Anyone against this?" I asked, a little amused. "N-no. It does seem very safe. And a good deal anyway" A foreman declared, his aura reflecting tiny flashes of terror, since this very conference room has seen the former board resist being fired. And then terminated by the security droids. "Good. Now, something else. Another company of mine is being opened in the Pef Empire exclusion zone, and starting a number of capital class shipyards. And they''re willing to hire any experienced workers and engineers with at least 10 years experience, at triple of current salary, plus relocation premiums. Ask around our workers here, some of them might want to live a better life." I added, turning to leave. The man with many questions hesitated for a second, then rose from his seat and followed me out. Smart man. "Mister Gramia. I suspect you desire the new job?" I asked amused. "Yes. And I''ll talk with a few of my former colleagues in the engineering department. I really want to work on a real battleship, not the tin-cans we sell to the Centrality. Plus, triple pay! My girl has high maintenance costs." he said, blushing a bit, his aura eager and embarrassed at same time. I hoped he didn''t have a blue twi''lek fiancee. Star destroyers were even higher maintenance. I checked my partitions, hacking his social media account. Red hair, blue eyes, full lips, and quite pretty human girlfriend. Was Scarlett Johanson in the movies? Lucky bastard. I checked on my own escort. Luxum was busy emptying a local mall of anything she fancied. We might need a cargo ship just to carry her stuff. Sigh. Buying a cargo ship then. What else? At the shipdock, a scared red twi''lek was waiting for me, without her Intelligence escort. I said goodbye to my recruit and went to meet the next. Manpower is also a strong superpower. Just need to hire the right people. On board HMS Greymist, Planet Scillal "Have a seat, pretty lady. Sadly, there are no crew onboard who required drinking, so.. I can''t offer you anything" I said, faking an apology and kneeling for a breathing exercise. Eh, let''s send a droid to buy some drinks, not like it mattered cost-wise. Celebrating life and all that. "I didn''t come for drinks. The second code seemed to be Old Jedi, and the last was the Ruusan Jedi. What were the other two?" Vera asked, choosing to kneel on Luxum''s pillow. Should I tell her it was meant for my Maids? Maybe later. "Well, the first is a code I put together from Je''daii teachings, the original force sect who vanished about 25 millenia ago. The third is the Dark Jedi code or Sith, as they call themselves. My old order didn''t have poetry, they just did things, with experiments and cleverness." I answered, lowering the white fog and the mind-shield. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. And then, I felt it. The beginning of a bond, tentative and feeble. Teacher to student. What do you know? Vera trusted me! "And your order was destroyed, ten millennia ago? What was it called?" the red twi''lek asked, pulsing a strange ability, almost like seeing from shadow, but not quite. She had nice skills. Yummy. I feigned sadness and regret. "Ordu Aspectu. The Jedi massacred them all." "But you survived. And here you are, Immortal in the Force. Just like every single code says. And powerful beyond belief. Even when opening yourself, you''re still mostly hidden and shrouded, impervious to my mind." Vera argued. "I was lucky. A series of unlikely accidents, ship crashing, the bioweapons keeping the Jedi away, and the Cosmic Force experiment succeeding after thousands failed. And then, a divine force interfering and restarting my consciousness here, in this age." I said truthfully. Well, not sure about luck... "Can I see it? How it is supposed to look like, when is not a failed experiment in this Cosmic force?" Vera asked with hope in her aura and voice. Should I?Nope. But I did have the soulsnare. "I can show you an almost complete experiment. This is a Sith spirit, living inside a Cosmic force crystal. Comparable to holocrons AI and Force ghosts, but material as well. But not actually a Sith holocron, those use the Living Force" I told her, bringing the soul snare close, for inspection. The Zeison Sha adept examined the crystal for hours, testing a hundred tricks with the Force, most of those failing to connect. She didn''t know mind drain, so she used a force bond to interrogate the Sith. "A sorcerer of Tund. She says you killed her brothers..." she started to say, when I cut the connection and took it away. The Sith saw too much perhaps. "The Sith mix lies with truth all the time. They attacked me first. Not that mental domination would work on me, but whatever. They will learn their lesson" I said, faking a little anger. Still telling only the truth, if not everything. "You''re still hiding things, even when being open. Why?" "I have to be cautious. The current Dark Lord of the Sith is now a leader in the Galactic Republic. Another Sith, Count Dooku is forming a Secessionist movement in the Inner Rim. And another Sith, that Gupta is trying to take over the Centrality. There''s a huge war coming." I whispered in fake fear. "They''re taking over the galaxy, and trying to start a genocide of the Jedi, and then impose their own teachings. Form another Sith Empire..." Vera mused in low voice, observing me with a strange focus. Another ability? I gotta learn some of those force abilities, they looked quite useful. "And exterminate all other force users, while at it. They don''t share the force, these Dark Jedi..." I answered, just as my shard maid returned and noticed her pillow being conquered by someone else. Was that a pout inmy shard''s aura? Cute. "We have visitors, I see. I am Luxum, Honored Maid in Pef Empire" she proclaimed, shakingher droid''s hand with the bewildered twi''lek. "Laasti Vera. Neophyte of Zeison Sha. Amazing power armor, by the way." Vera complimented her, and blinked confused trying to read the shard through the force. "Yes. Emperor Pef built it around me. Better than any money can buy." Luxum preened while showcasing her armor. "Not from Ordu Aspectu, I think?" Vera probed while glancing from me to Luxum. "Oh no. I''m not even two thousand years old. Just a teenager, compared to the Emperor. Then again, mostly everyone is." said Luxum, while copying my patented shoulder shrug. She learns the strangest things... "Yes...a two thousand years maid, makes sense" Vera answered, with a shake of red leku. Mesmerizing in a alien kind of beauty. Great, I like her. My droid returned with some drinks, and placed a crate with bottles beside Vera. "Pick whatever, I don''t usually travel with organic beings on board." I said softly, gesturing at the crate. "Are all your Maids this, special, Emperor?" my red guest asked, after digging through the crate and having trouble deciding. I really should learn what the main species drink in this galaxy. My droid picked the first twenty bottles from the top of the menu. Let''s hope they''re potable. "Oh not at all. Dora is a green twi''lek, Vette is a blue twi''lek, Lira is a togruta, Celine is human and Wialu is ... human, perhaps?" Luxum said, with a tone of doubt in herdroidvoice. "I never asked. She looks human..." I replied with a shrug. "Corellian Brandy? A bottle costs 10 thousand credits..." Vera wondered, taking a sip from the bottle. "So? I made a billion credits by my second month. The Emperor is stupidly rich..." Luxum explained, opening a box full of life crystals and nova crystals and a hundred other crystals, picking them one by one and admiring them. Girls, whatever universe or species, glittering things drew them like...huh? Did Luxum do the hook for me? "The Maids are your wives, or concubines or what?" Vera asked, dangling from the line already. "Hmmm. Regular maids...somewhere between a lover and an admiral and household guard. The Voices are much more. They speak with my Voice after all. Prime ministers plus wives or such. They get to live forever, too." I answered with a light tone, the hook already sunk too deep to let the beauty escape. "Very interesting. Got room for one more Voice?" the red twi''lek asked, drinking some courage from her bottle. And sinker! "Perhaps. We''ll see how you do as my adored Maid first, pretty girl" I replied politely, noticing another percent increase in my force connection. The breathing helped, but drawing from emotions helped as well. Maybe just as much. Emotion and peace eh? I''ll have to look for that pretty zabrak, Ventress. A bit of passion might help as well. My new Maid was getting drunk fast but she nodded at me, feeling safe and content now. "Come here and give me a hug Vera. I can heal your scars." I said softly, drawingVera towards me with telekinesis, till she hung from my armor, like a little girl lost in the woods. Luxum sat rapidly on her pillow, and watched the twi''lek''s scars and traumas slowly being smoothed over and repaired, while the girl slept in my arms. "You''re gonna need a bigger ship, Pef."my Iron Maid said, after the healing was over and Vera was laid to rest and sleep on a pillow. I was planning just that. A very big ship. En route to planet Gand, in hyperspace. Sixth month. My tour of the Centrality and my numerous holdings came to an end, two weeks after recruiting my newest Maid. The library I obtained on Oseon from Mutdah, the obese guy with strange tastes, was packed up and sent to my Empire, to form the basis of Sanctuary''s Celestial Library. A hundred large transport vessels and a few hundred luxury yachts and expensive speeders and repulsor craft, were sent as well back to the Empire, to be reverse engineered and add to my ever increasing knowledge of star wars technology. And I sensed the Findsman who landed on Korriban die, though I couldn''t sense what killed him. I will probably have to go myself, once I felt a little more confident with the force abilities possible in this universe. And they were pretty much anything you could think of, and thousands more that would never cross you mind. The Empire expansion has stalled in my absence though, only two new planets signing treaties of mutual defense and port rights for our navy. Vette and Celine had become minor celebrities instead, for clearing out pirates and slavers, and for selling heartbreaking songs records respectively. I even seen some holo reports about them, in the Centrality media. My Honored Maid title has become a cultural icon now. Like the Nobel prize. The Force did work in mysterious ways. My biggest failures may turn out to be the biggest wins. And Vette had a lot more of those strange cult around her, encouraging her to act even more audacious. Good grief! Like she needed encouragement to turn the world upside down. Those must have been her special projectfriends. Maybe I should trust my Maids more. Every time I picked one, there had been a slight tremor in the Force, like destiny changing or something. Maybe not all of them will be my ambassadors and diplomats. Everyone had a role in the force, and I might not be the main character in this play. Huh? There it was again, meditation thought waves, a certain Force resonance, whenever I got lost exploring the Force''s will. Barely lasted a few seconds, but I felt rested and more balanced, for some reason. Guess I should do these things more... "It only happens when we''re in hyperspace. A few seconds, and you burn like a beacon in the force. What were you thinking about?" Luxum asked, tilting her armor''s helmet a little. "The will of the Force. What is my role to play." I answered softly, resuming the force memory implants I did for my Maids. Their learning speed resumed, a thousand times faster than just normal memorization and comprehension. That''s how you''re supposed to use mindtricks. When Obi-wan told those soldiers the thing about the droids, he did the same thing, implanting memories. False memories in his case. I just projected the texts and images from the datapads directly into the girls'' minds. They would learn in a month what normally takes a hundred years to learn. My maids were both studying on their datapads, entire courses of galactic history and force sects and xenoarchaeology. There were too few experts on these exotic matters in the galaxy, so many of them dying while researching and exploring dangerous worlds and artifacts. More experts would be helpful. Guess I''ll have to do it myself. Separate another partition, and add dead languages and cults and obscure papers published at one time, then forgotten. My memory capacity was near infinite after all, why not fill it? If Revan could do it, so could I. And perhaps more efficient and withfewer genocides. Sadly, no Dark Jedi has offered himself to be my next brain to pick. Yet. But at least I had a few promising leads for a couple holocrons. The Ordu Aspectu discarded their use early, preferring to connect with the Cosmic Force directly, without intermediation of a force matrix, and thus many of them died or became insane. Only the final crystal that Rur made, had the matrix of a holocron, the Unifying Force, along with the soul snare with the Cosmic Force and the missing link, the anchoring in the material of the living spirit. Three forces. Or maybe a single one, expressed through different aspects like the electromagnetic force. The Physical Force was the way to link with technology, and gave way to my technopathy ability. And with it, my mind and spirit were guided on the organized partitions of an AI, emulating a holocron and still remained sapient and sentient. All that I was missing to be complete and feel again, was a living body. The way the Sith holocrons worked. The life drain and the clone transfer. The Living Force. The Jedi were not exactly wrong when they accused Master Aqinos of being a heretic for teaching the Shards about the Force. Crystal beings were sentient and sapient, but to a Jedi, they would appear devoid of the Living Force, and thus...abhorrent. Heretic. I couldn''t reverse the age of my shard maid for example, even ifthe process was quite simple for organic beings. Crystals beings lack stem cells. They lack a brain too, as I knew very well. Butthey also lacked the force matrix to remain anchored in the material like me and thus immortal. Could they be implanted with one, like cyborg frames in an organic being? Science will tell. "Luxum, what would your people say, if I took a few old shards, and tried to bring them back to youth?" I wondered aloud. "The old ones will likely refuse. Or postpone a decision for a thousand years, hoping you''ll go away..." "They would do that, just to test my patience. Guess I''ll try on a Tsil crystal first. They have a few amazing abilities as well" I mused, preparing orders for my Explorer Corps to acquire a few individuals. Hmmm. And my new maid''s first mission. She was a telepath after all. The Greymist came out of hyperspace, and the space around Gand looked like a planetary invasion. A dozen Lucrehulks transport ships, each a ring 3 kilometers in diameter. Hundreds of other ships, both military vessels and minerals and fertilizer haulers. Gand had become important and rich, quite suddenly. Now, who is building lots of ships and may need gigatonnes of explosives? "Vera, take a frigate and a Findsman and go to Nam Chorios. Bring back some old tsils and maybe a young female. Luxum you go with her" I ordered as my ship docked with the Celestial Throne. ''Okay'' Luxum sent, while Vera stared after me, as I used telekinesis and dragged the Rakata force field emitter after me into the deeps of my space station. Vette was first to intercept me. Right off the ramp. "You nuked people! And WORSE! You did it without me!" she yelled, punching my shoulder in greeting. This felt like home already. Such a friendly home too. Meteor Planet Gand, Pef Empire On board the Celestial Throne Vette calmed down after she found out nobody died in the pretty explosions. Almost calmed down. "You went and robbed 400 trillions. Then went and battled the Sith, and recruited them all, except those you drained. Did a nuclear firework display to hide them as they left. And then, you traveled all over the Centrality, buying stuff, like expensive ships and crystals and drinks..." Vette commented in a level voice, like reading from a pad. "Yes. That was my last month''s report, Honored Maid" I answered in a flat tone. "And you did all that without me. Did it cross your tiny droid brain that I wanted to see things and blow up nukes too? I had to find out from the news. That''s it, you''re not going anywhere without me from now on!" Vette said in a higher and higher voice. "Anyone else feels the same?" I asked, looking around the other maids staring at us. "Luxum sent me a billion credits before she left. I''m good" Dora said calmly, not even raising her eyes from whatever holodrama she was watching. Huh, now that was a rational twi''lek, right there. "The drinks sounded interesting. Maybe if you added a nice steak beside them." Lira continued, sipping some pungent drink from her glass. Make a note, Togruta are carnivorous. "I have a Sith. Everything is perfect!" Wialu added, while poking the soul snare, with a delighted tone in her aura. The Sith inside the snare was screaming terrified, for some reason. "I composed ten new songs. You should go away more" Celine said, with a hesitant tone, and forced bravery in her aura. Huh, artists be weird everywhere. I turned around and went to speak with my Hands. Vette growled and ran after me, after sticking her tongue at her fellow maids. The small council was now housed on a different deck, and guarded by droids and ray shields. Zuckuss was using the treasury wisely then. When I entered the room, I noticed Mujilik as well. Guess the Findsmen needed a representative as well. "Hello friends. What''s new?" I asked in polite voice, while sitting on my durasteel dais, the one painted gold. "We''re getting overwhelmed, Pef. Not enough trained people for this many tasks. The Gand are barely a million people." Zuckuss said, now articulating the words himself, instead of using a vocoder. He grew lungs and felt much stronger in the Force. Amazing! Inever knew the gand could adapt that fast. Then again, Idid boost their force training a hundred times. No more primitive superstitions. "The droids and the Servants help, but they already outnumber us. Your Maid keeps bringing in more freed slaves, and the new factories keep making droids..." Zuralee complained as well. Sorry Zuralee, that''s exactly what I intended. Civilization and progress, not a tribal society. "News of your wealth has spread, Emperor. Four hundred Findsmen have returned to Gand past month. They all want the promised females and ships. We don''t have enough crews, even if we did buy ships." Mujilik complained as well. We''ll use droids for crew. Easy. "Korriban?" I asked instead. "Beasts and storms and mad voices. Of the ten Findsmen, nine are dead and one went mad. He used a whole droid legion to steal some scrolls and armors and a red pyramid. And he wants to test you for the right to take it. Doesn''t seem clinically mad, but..." he expplained, pointing at a holo. Yellow eyes? "He''s not himself. I noticed. You keep him contained with ray shields?" I inquired, turning my armor''s head to point at the four shields defending the command room on all sides. They still had a lot to learn. A cube has 6 sides not just the 4 walls. And worse, the force can see through walls. I''ll need to fix that. "Yes. And our neural dischargers when his eyes glow." Mujilik added with a shudder. Possession perhaps? Sith ghosts were tricky. "Establish ray shields above and below the room as well. We''ll let him sit in there for a month, till he learns enough from the holocron." I commanded, while patting Vette on her head. Poor girl was terrified. "He''s already dead, isn''t he?" she asked in a weak voice, looking at the holo with the cage. "As soon as he touched the Sith holocron with his skin. I remember giving you instructions how to handle the damn things. Droids only?" I mused softly, while reviewing the recordings from the Explorer ships. Damn organics. Landing in the middle of a storm, going outside the ship, without a sealed armor, grabbing things with their own hands... Wasting thousands of droids. Okay, I didn''t care about the droids. Losing Findsmen was a different thing though. "As soon as they entered the atmosphere, they forgot their training and their instructions. Likuss knew mind-shield the best. He never left his ship. But after he jumped back towards Saleucami, he entered the cargo hold and took the red pyramid in his hands. No one else was on board. We scanned the whole ship three times." Zuckuss explained, fast forwarding the recordings till the fated moment. The Findsman Gand was meditating, then opened his eyes, looked around, then muttered something. "I am free." in sith language, going by my newly learned dead languages course. Then he went into the cargo hold and opened the safe and took out the holocron. And it glowed. Kriff. That''s why the Dark Jedi were so dangerous. Damn Living Force. Who was even speaking in the holo? The Gand? The dead dark Jedi spirit? The holocron AI? Or the Living force itself? If it was any of the last two, it could be pretty bad. The Dark Jedi could be useful, depending on which onehe was. A Sith Lord would be great. A Dark Gand would be pretty much useless. Anyway, the prison was made on an asteroid, in a newly discovered system, without any life. "The system is interdicted?" I asked to make sure. "A gravity interdictor cruiser and 10 corvettes, all droids" Zuckuss replied, feeling anxious for some reason. I wasn''t. From everything I knew, I was the only one with technopathy. If my avatar will have children, then it may appear again, but till then, I should be the only one. "You know...I think I''m gonna go now, and kill a few pirates. Creepy monsters with yellow eyes, not really my thing." Vette proclaimed as she left, probably wisely. If I had to nuke the asteroid, she will be sorry she left so soon. Another Gand appeared in the room, his shape and face hidden by armor and personal cloak. "The third Hand sends regards. Operation 774 is complete. We have located the person named Ventress, and placed force tracers on her ship. Operation 665 is ongoing. 4 operatives are deceased, and 18 targets eliminated. No new infiltrators to report, except those known already. Operation 775 is complete, and we have acquired a midichlorian detector. The operative is returning. Operation 776 is ongoing. Operation 777 is difficult. We cannot locate our target. Operation 778 is ready to activate, the weapon is in position. Operation 779 is ongoing. For the Empire!" the Gand reported in a flat vocoder voice, then vanished in a personal cloak field. Not a good cloak, but then cloak tech was forbidden by the Republic. Must have cost the Black ops a few billion to get it. Now I''ll have to duplicate and improve it, then mass produce it for all my operatives. Mujilik stared after the faint ionization trace and laughed. "Very dramatic, but I trained that boy. The thing doesn''t mask his smell." he explained after a minute. Hmmm, insects do have amazing smell senses. "Noted, smell cancelers next." I said amused. Wait, more work for me. Not that amusing... "So, the Vong cannot be found by our Findsmen. We should send droids." Zuckuss mused, looking at me for approval. He was smart. Hmmm. It took Darth Vader two decades to think of that. Using droids to locate difficult targets. Then again, he had a lightsaber. What can you expect from someone hitting things with their hands? "We''ll need to acquire smell detectors for our tracking droids. The Vong are biological after all. Project Culexus?" I asked, turning towards my right Hand. "The Ysalamirlizards we bought are on their way here. A thousand olbio trees as well." Zuckuss answered with confidence. Good. I like to be prepared. Planet Gand, Pef Empire 25 BBY Seventh month. Havingour Lucrehulks upgraded with better shields and long range weapons and missiles would take lots of credits and work hours. Work hours...meant wasted time in my shipsyards. So I didn''t, choosing to simply slap a hundred missile launchers around the outer circle, in groups of 10, and having each escorted with a few corvettes on their trade routes. Luckily, the Trade Federation had designed these monsters to be operated mostly by droids with a crew of a half a million droids each. Perfect for me, as I could program and retrain the droids for any tasks I needed. Ten Lucrehulks began exporting fertilizers and explosives towards Saleucami and Mon Cala and Klatooine and some larger Centrality worlds, with a minimal organic crew on board, normally a Findsman and a dozen Imperial Servants, and many more droids.The commerce had to go on, to make the Empire less reliable on my personal wealth. I kept two of Lucrehulks nearby for my next project, a really impressive Celestial Throne, made from two Lucrehulks mated together, one horizontal and one vertical. The missing section of the doughnut left almost enough room for a perfect fit. And thus, no more weaknesses inherent in the design. Then,I ordered a hundred more of these nice lumbering cargo ships. They came at a really cheap price, about 50 millions each. Soon, all the Lucrehulks available for sale on the free and black markets will be gone anyway, as the Trade Federation will begin converting their trade fleet into battleships and command ships. Might as well grab whatever ships the smaller corporations had, sometimes buying the entire company if it was in debts. Logistics in a galactic war meant millions of cargo ships, to supply troops and bases everywhere. I reserved a trillion credits for this purpose. Ships do get blown up in war. Also, the first prototype Dakka corvettes emerged from my shipyards at Scillal . I prefered a half cone shape, since it allowed the top turret the best firing arc, all around. And a heavy laser should be sufficient to cripple or destroy a ship of the same size, in just a few shots. The medium double turret underneath housed a medium ion canon and a medium maser, in case the ship would need to engage droid or biological targets. The main role was still a missile ship, with the 20 launchers it had. Perhaps in the future, I may add a pair of wings and have it capable of launching proton torpedoes or carry a couple of starfighters. But let''s not give the Confederacy too many ideas, too soon. Another desolate system, with large iron-nickel asteroids was designated Greyforge, and my engineers and droids had began gathering asteroids into large clumps, and bombarding the clumps with corvette lasers to begin heating them and get them melt together. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. The end result was to be a blob of tempered iron, 20 kilometers long and 5 kilometers wide and tall. Then carve the inside a little, install a hundred heavy linear accelerators going along the spine, a thousand heavy maser turrets, a thousand missile launchers and a hundred reactors, some particle and ray shields and a Rakata forcefield. Wouldn''t be anything the galaxy has seen before, and it will probably only have full efficiency in systems with strong force nexii. But any target in front of it will feel sorry. MACs were gonna rock their world. And it''s armor won''t be a few meters thick, but 2 kilometers thick. Only iron, but maybe it could be imbued later. Only problem, it was gonna be suuuuuper slow. At most Hyperdrive 5.0, though I didn''t want to waste a hundred capital ship reactors on it. So most likely 6.0 hyperdrives. Wasn''t gonna flank and blitz fleets, but it could crush entrenched defenses. A few salvos would theoretically crumble planetary shields. Not a Death Star, but will only cost about 1 billion credits and not 800 trillions. Truly the Sith had little regard for hard earned money. I would have to rob two or three more megabarons to afford a Death Star. And even if I could, why risk so much work for a single lucky shot to make it vanish? I can have 10 thousands Meteor assault battleships like the first one, for only 10 trillions... Sure, I would also need a thousand brand new star systems to mine for asteroids, but the galaxy was large enough. A faint tingle in the Force. Vera and Luxum are returning from Tsil''s homeworld, Nam Chorios. Hmmm, Luxum seems almost ready now. It''s a strange leap of faith, to give someone else the right to speak and do things in your name. What if she secretly hates you? What if she brings down enemies on your head? What if she plots and kicks you out from your throne? What if she acts really stupid and crashes the economy, or burns entire planets for fun? The stronger my Empire becomes, the more power my Voices will have. People will want to control them, for whatever reason. Open another partition. VSS project. The Voice Secret Service. A hundred operatives for each Voice, half synthetics, a quarter force users, a quarter professionals with experience in counter intelligence. Operating costs for training and equipment and salaries, 1 billion per year. Nothing. Buy a MC80 star cruiser for each of them. 7 billion credits was still nothing. Compared to their well being and safety, credits were nothing. Vera stopped in front of a large transparisteel window, and stared outside, watching the Lucrehulks mate, their entire structure disassembled and floating in orbit above Gand. "When you said he''s way more powerful, did you mean this?" Vera asked her fellow maid. "Dunno about telekinesis, I can barely lift my own armor for a few seconds. I meant with the money. We started at the same time and finished at the same time, but he made 80 thousands times more credits. And terraforming Gand might have been even harder" Luxum replied, petting a Tsil crystal in her hand. ''Greetings Emperor Pef, I am Sunlight-seen-through-mist.'' the tsil sent telepathically, projecting an image of a ray of sunlight descending through clouds. Huh. A poet crystal. I composed a visual image of the Je''daii code, and sent it back. ''Hey, you''re pretty cool for a droid'' the tsil sent, showing a droid dancing between lights and shadows. "I am calling it Ray, for ray of sunshine" I decided, ripping off the next instalment, like a boss. ''Short and sweet, like a cookie. Human tongue loves it'' the tsil send back, showing an unknown human girl eat a cookie. Probably someone who it seen on Nam Chorios. But still, it caught exactly my meaning. "Let''s get you some clothes dear lady" I said, bringing down a Justice droid and fitting the crystal inside. Now, let''s relinquish OS limits, allow crystalline operator access to motor functions, vocoder print, repulsor beams, and start imprinting basic galactic and bipedal locomotion mechanics. The tsil droid stumbled, trying to stay balanced, then used the repulsor beam to stabilize. "Staying balanced is hard work. Sorry I made fun of it, Mighty Emperor" Rey spoke all the sudden. "No worry, everyone has to learn. Staying still is easy, but for running, you need two legs and lots of balance" I explained, and waited. Vera looked at me confused then at the droid Tsil. "You''re not actually talking about running, are you?" she asked, a bit of awe in her aura. "Jumping comes next, and then landing. You need perfect balance to land and not get hurt" I continued, sending out a short sequence of gymnasts landing from the bars and animals jumping after prey and missing, rolling through dirt. "Landing seems really dangerous. I prefer to remain flying" the Tsil argued, using the repulsor beams on its droid to stay afloat. "Okay, you''re both weird and I''m tired. Where is that jacuzzi I heard of?" My red twi''lek maid Vera asked annoyed, and left towards the door I pointed with subtlety. "So. You''re an ambassador or what?" I asked, now that the organics were no longer present. "A what. But special. Just like you" the Tsil responded, gesturing at Luxum and making her stumble. Then it tried the same towards my armor, but I barely even sensed it. A thousand times weaker. The Tsil had some control over technology then. Better than Shards had. But not on my level. "Well then. Luxum is ready for her Voice. She''ll be your teacher, untill you become more familiar with force abilities. I saw your race being farmed for droid motherboards, let''s try to avoid that fate, agreed?" I asked, tilting the armor''s head a little. "Much to learn I have. Good friends we will be" Ray answered, patting Luxum on her head. The mental images evoked running in the rain, hand in hand, and jumping into puddles. Great. Another joker. Asteroid field, System 009, Pef Empire 25 BBY "If you go mad, is there anyone who can kill you?" Wialu asked, a bit worried. "Probably not. Maybe a black hole, depending if I learn enough or not" I answered amused. "Kriff. Go and suck his brains. Knowledge is more valuable than safety" she concluded, as I boarded a shuttle and began my long awaited trip towards learning the Dark Jedi teachings. My own mind was armored with all the tricks and hiding abilities I could learn, from Wialu and Vera to a Jal Shey belt that supposedly kept you safe. I landed on a landing pad leading to a vault like door, guarded by droideka and missile launchers. Everything seemed eerily quiet, but that was possibly because of the vacuum. Now, let''s see. The droids seemed fine, their programming not changed or otherwise interfered with. I sent the the first code and unlocked the door, then the second code to disarm the nuke. Into the breach! Floating inside, a battalion of droids, armed with every type of weapon in existence. A bit paranoid, but then, this was star wars. There was always someone out to get you. A longer trip, and then I reached another door, with another nuke. Clever. Behind that, a red and crackling ray shield separated the living quarters from the vacuum outside. "Immortal Emperor, you finally came. The voices are here and won''t stop..." Likuss spoke, having grown lungs and vocal cords while in captivity. I produced two soul snares and rolled them inside. Immediately, a red lightning sparked from the Sith holocron hitting the first crystal with no effect. Some kind of automated reaction? The second snare floated towards the Gand and touched his forehead gently. A minute later, the aura in the room vanished, leaving me with a gand spirit inside the Soul snare. I brought it out and started draining it cautiously. Okay this was something. Dark healing was useful. Making lightsabers and turning crystals red, not really. Telekinesis, but way weaker than mine. Mental domination, elemental shaping and directing. Oh. I could use lighting now, not just hold it. Lightsaber combat, mostly Makashi form and dual wield. And, that''s about it. The code I already knew. So, merely a Dark Gand then. The holocron master was named Andeddu, but no spirit was floating around. Did I overreacted? I thought Old Sith were more learned and powerful... ''What are you, I sense no life in you?'' a voice spoke in my head, piercing through all my defenses. Huh? Was this Andeddu or a holocron AI? ''I''m not AI you fool. Now, grant me a worthy body, some Jedi Master if you can find, and I''ll teach you everything I know'' the voice spoke again, trying to enforce its words with domination and compulsion and memory imprints. Redirect all that to a small partition modeled after the Gand I just drained. The compulsion didn''t work, but it did let me know something was still alive inside. And trying to get out. "Hop into the crystal Lord Andeddu. The pyramid has the stay here. The law is clear." I spoke aloud. ''The soul catcher? Yes, it should be large enough for my mind. And then we find a Jedi Master. Ah, there''s been many years since the last Sith has visited me. Bane was his name, I believe?'' ''Darth Bane, about a thousand years ago. He killed all the Sith and let the Jedi rule since then'' I answered with the Gand partition. ''Hah. We Sith don''t share knowledge easily. Darth Bane became sith''ari, holding all knowledge at once. But we can rule the galaxy again, acolyte'' the Sith sent me, with a strong conviction in his thoughts. A wisp of a Force ghost emerged from the holocron and started bonding with the crystal, slowly and cautiously. ''Soon, the Malevolence will rule the stars. Soon we will have our revenge'' Adenddu proclaimed, as the transfer was finished. Yeah, that sounds corny. Really, malevolence? I called the snare outside, and began poking at it, draining little by little on different partitions. ''What are you doing? This feels...you''re draining me, all my knowledge, all my deeds...disappear..." the spirit complained. Man the guy was loaded with skills. A hundred different abilities, from alchemy and astronavigation, to force storms and energy absorption. Revitalize and wound, and finally the jackpot, transference. And strangely, I had almost discovered it on my own. It was a radically more advanced version of the Voice bond. But it did seem to use Living force instead of Cosmic force. Guess it takes a Sith to take an administrative and familial bond, and turn it to eleven, overwriting the mind of the receiver. Or to transfer yourself into an inanimate object. Or into a weaker mind or a clone. The holocron seemed empty of life now. I disabled the shield and went to see what was inside. Mostly the same things, without a couple more secret teachings, like transference. Wialu will be ecstatic to learn it all. And to think it was called Holocron of Heresies It was a diamond mine. And now, I had my bait for Ventress. As I left the asteroid, I had to send the snare with the dregs of Andenddu''s soul towards the sun, to let him enjoy immortality in hell. I replaced the crystal instead of a missile warhead and fired it. The crystal would only take a few hours the reach the sun. The prison was left behind, a droid with a Disruptor rifle evaporating the corpse of Likuss. Who knows, maybe I''ll need the prison again, some sunny day. Jal Shey Planet Gand, Pef Empire On board New Celestial Thorne, the Redbox deck. 25 BBY Eighth month. If I wasn''t an AI right now, the strain of juggling of the intelligence operations of my empire, would have been too great. But for now, they only took 0.034 percent of my available mind partitions. Operation 665 was progressing as planned, pitting House Pelagia and House Mecetti against each other, a few years sooner than they would have in the original timeline. Only this time, their war won''t devastate the entire sector and kill billions. Attacks and counter-attacks against both sides, ships vanishing in transit, various unprotected heirs dying mysteriously. I sent the final okay, and both houses ended at once. Two different bioweapons, each tailored for the gene markers of their families, then electropulse weapons erasing any electronic records and destroying the remaining nano-gene droids. And then another heist, stealing all their credits and the library with holocrons. Luxum was on site directing the electronic warfare along with Ray. Over a thousand deaths, from family and administrators and palace guards, plus whatever crew the ships had. This might bring us in the attention of the Jedi or the Sith, but the bounty was to big to let it go to waste. Droids carrying ysalamiri in life support backpacks rose from under the sea, and began looting the library, with Luxum staying hidden at the edge of the system. Greymist was running silent, without life support or gravity, and hidden in the light. Our first holocron had been balanced out a little, as I imprinted some Jedi and Fallanassi abilities into it. Once the spirit was removed, the holocron proved much less dangerous to use, though I still restricted a few types of Mind alter for Master levels. That was myself and Wialu only, so far. Experimenting with mental force abilities like psychosis and rageor fear and terror was quite damaging for organic psyches. ''Droids returning to ships. Extraction begins now'' Luxum sent through her Voice bond. I did manage to make the connection stable and long range now, after studying the Sith holocron at length. The first ship containing a Jedi holocron jumped away, towards the core, while the ship with the Sith holocron jumped towards Hutt space. Then the next ship jumped heading towards Endor, and another towards Mandalore. More ships jumped away, some empty, some with holocrons on board. 10 minutes later, the seismic charges went off, sinking the platforms at the bottom of the ocean. And then 10 minutes later, the last cookie in the jar, an electromagnetic torpedo I learned from my Sith friends, though just a weak one, detonated under the sea and erased all trace of a robbery. Everything alive for 20 kilometers died, mainly fish and other aquatic life, creating a disturbance in the force and muddling attempts at retrocognition. If anyone traces the weapon, it will lead to the crazy magicians of Tund. Always be prepared to blame the Sith. Nobody would doubt them being crazy or capable of mass-murder. ''Jumping towards Felucia, see you next week'' Luxum sent and vanished. Hyperspace still messed up the Voice, unless we traveled close by. In the corners of the room and along the walls, I had olbio tree in large pots, with a few ysalmiri hiding between the leaves, leaving only the large holographic table and a few meters around it, not covered by the force blank bubbles. Around the redbox room, I had the red energy screens and around that, armor of ten different types, layered one over the other. A few trading ships, hailing from Serrano and Felucia and Fondor had arrived just last week, looking for valuable explosives to buy. Maybe just commerce, maybe something else. I rather be prepared. Wialu and Vera had also donned power armor and went to Lotho Minor, under the guise of purchasing a Lucrehulk load of old droids and cybernetic scrap. But not just for that, our old friend Darth Maul was living there, eating garbage. Wialu wanted to drain a real Sith herself, and so I pointed her towards the easiest one. Maybe Palpatine has taught him something nice, though I doubted it. Then again, it was Palpatine. Who knew what the man had in his mind. I will have to wait a few years to find out. And Lira and Celine went to speak with Ventress, who was at this time still ruling over Rattatak They had a legion of droids with them, and the VSS, and a Mon Calamari cruiser, so they should be fine. I hoped. I left the room and nearly crashed into Vette. "Why are you staring at me, got something on my face?" the blue twi''lek asked with a dubious voice, wiping the corner of her mouth. "You like the cruiser I bought for you?" I asked amused, noticing she ditched her escort somehow. Maids only warranted a pair of Uulshos justice droid, but anyway... "Yea, it''s totally cool. Except is too big! Can''t catch any pirates in it. I want my frigate back!" she yelled at me, just as her escorts arrived running at high speed. "You can use the fast escorts for that task, adored maid." I replied, tilting my head towards the escort. Huh, got them locked in an elevator while she stepped out. Childish jokes. "I know I can, I studied the damn books! But, it''s not the same if other people shoot them. Feels...fake, like having sex with water instead of a hulky male." Vette argued, her voice decreasing as she became embarrassed. "I promise I will sex you up soon, dear maid. I just need a year or so" I whispered, dragging her to my chest. "And it better be good. Or I will leave you and buy myself a harem. I am quite rich myself, I can afford a few boytoys..." she muttered in my chest. "Shhhh. Our love is hard and strong. We will pass this test. And you can model my body to be whatever you want. I''ll send you my initial designs" I added with a lighter tone. "Oh. Oh! I can build my own boytoy. This may be worth the wait..." Vette said, in deep contemplation, while her breathing became a little more abrupt. "Now go do whatever, Honored Maid, I have an Empire to build too" I said, pushing her in the arms of her escort. They latched tightly, and anchored themselves with metal leashes to her belt. "Idiot! Now I can''t sneak around anymore" she yelled after me, as I glided away on my repulsor beams. Planet Gand, Pef Empire On board New Celestial Thorne 25 BBY The Meteor battleship has began cooling, the exterior at least, and so I prepare to visit the Greyforge system and start putting the metal devouring strain to use. "Zuckuss my friend, take 2 hours every day to meditate, and focus on growing five fingers on your hands. It''s unseemly to be my Hand and only have 3 fingers. People will say I should find a bigger hand. Zuralee, you too. And tone down the claws, we use elegant weapons like nukes and masers to gore our enemies." I said, almost joking. "Emperor Pef, you crazy droid. Who cares about female nails? Next you''re gonna teach Zuralee what eggs to crack" Zuralee answered, without bothering to turn towards me. Hmmm, she was adjusting our budget and was cranky. And pregnant. Back away slowly... "That''s why females stay at home Pef. So the warriors can survive next day and bring home food." Mujilik commented wisely. His own female was also pregnant, and lived permanently in a jacuzzi now. Her back hurt, or so she claimed. Arrange another jacuzzi for my pregnant Hand apartment. She took a mate from the returning Findsmen, a rather famous one. "My home is where Pef is." Dora, my green twi''lek Voice added, and hugged my armor with one hand. I toned down the bond, not sure if the adoration was real or enforced. Dora didn''t care and remained clinging to me. Okay then, she was just clingy. "Alrighty then, I''m off to Greyforce. Don''t blow up my Empire while I''m gone." I added with a more serious voice, lifting Dora in my arms and gliding away. I entered my own apartment and started preparing another armor set for Dora. "Sorry Pef. I''m the only Voice left, I shouldn''t come. Take Vette, she''ll love the battleship" Dora said softly, caressing my chest, where the crystal self was hiding. "You''re right. Duty and all. But you still have to wear the armor. I''ll make it have breasts and leku, and paint half of it green. Sounds okay?" I answered, feeling a little stupid. Leku were their brain appendages, hanging down around her face like braided hair, or perhaps tentacles. "No leku, just leave room inside. But a feminine shape would be nice. You saw how the Captains jump straight when Vette runs around in armor. They think it might be you" "Or maybe it''s because she drags her escort too fast and they scratch the floors." I answered instead, pointing with my head at Vette, who just arrived, holding the leashes of her droid escorts. "You! You were going to leave without me again. Lucky my friends told me and I got here fast enough. Check out my hands!" Vette yelled, brimming with energy and excitement. Her armor''s gloves were tingling with the Force, imbued with another strange ability by the weird cult who lived on her ship. The back of her hands sported glowing crystals now, somehow embedded in the phrik alloy. Which lightsabers couldn''t cut. "Yeah, they glow. What does it do?" I asked amused. "No idea. But looks cool. Oh! boob armor. I want some too. And leku!" Vette exclaimed, bouncing up and down and smashing the Justice droids into the floor. I let the leashes go, and had the droids sent for repairs. "No leku. Make hers half blue as well" Dora intervened, holding a single finger up. Vette calmed down at once, her mood disappearing. How did Dora do that? It was like magic. Only without the Force. "So, I can come and see the battleship?" the blue Maid asked meekly, and her aura mingling respect and awe. "Yes Vette, I spoke for you. But behave. The phages may eat you both, if Pef makes a mistake" The green Voice said softly, lowering her finger. Magic. And one hour later, I finished armoring up my Voice and my Maid, and made both of their armors appear feminine and sport their skin color, around midriff, and arms and legs. "The face and neck too" Dora demanded, checking herself in a mirror. Huh. They used me as a makeup artist. The sex better be worth it. Alrighty then, time to drag the old Celestial Throne to Greyforge, and park it there for eternity. The biolab inside was too dangerous to keep around a populated trade route. People may poke their noses inside, and end all life in the galaxy, by accident or not. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Maybe hollow out an asteroid, and hide it inside as well. Yea, that sounded great. I ordered the droids inside to go full alert, then locked down the armored doors. Arrange our MC80 cruiser to form up, along with a few corvettes, push the spacestation with a few Corellian freighters, those that well all know and love, looking like a falcon. And jump. A tiny tingle in the force, like something was wrong. Vette looked around, then at her gloves. "Someone is following us. In hyperspace" she muttered, not really sure how she knew. But I''ve seen the movies. A Jedi, and very good. Seems my stunts weren''t unnoticed after all. Oh well. It was star wars. Jedi everywhere, untill they all died. Now, what could a jedi want from poor old me? "What does the Jedi want?" I asked aloud, making the Findsmen near us jump in surprise. "Location of Greyforge, I assume, Emperor" The Gand Captain answered immediately, but hesitant. I turned my head towards his XO. "Something aboard the old throne station, Emperor" the Findsman said, more confident. "Vette?" I said turning towards my maid. "Something aboard this cruiser. So, either you or my friends..." she whispered, holding her hands in front, and gazing at the crystals sparkle. "Attacking me would be an act of war. It''s not an official mission after all. The Jedi would announce themselves and stroll right in. Something else then. Think about it, all of you." I explained, then turned and left the bridge, heading towards the empty starfighter hangar. Time to speak with the Jal Shey, no matter how creepy they felt. They wouldn''t hurt Vette, since they owed her stuff. But plotting against me, or being hunted by the Jedi? Either of those things were equally possible. "Pef, don''t hurt them. They don''t fight..." Vette asked me with a pleading voice. "Everyone fights, adored maid. They just use subtler means. Diplomacy and war...same goals after all" I mused, while the elevator brought us to the hangar deck. "They value courage and friendship. But you saw the belts. Those are good things, right?" she asked, hesitant and afraid. "The Jedi have murdered many force sects. For strange reasons, sometimes" I answered as we entered the hangar and the weird temple thing that the Jal Shey had built. Strange workshops and diagrams, scrolls and scripts, nothing alike anything I seen with Jedi or Sith or any other sect. "I am Peet Rigal, Mentor of Jal Shey" a reptilian kind of biped said, remaining straight. So, no bows. Cool. "We have a Jedi in pursuit. And...I think they came for you" I said, going straight to the point. They should know who I was. "Religion and pursuit of truth always come in conflict. It''s inevitable. We''ll leave" the Mentor said, with a long sadness in his aura. Used to being chased and hunted. No longer fighting it. "There''s no need. The Jedi will be extinct in a few years. I can offer sanctuary untill then. A place to live and stop running. Maybe learn new things" I mused, looking over the strange group. 14 people of different races, two families with a kid. All force-users, if aligned with the Physical force the most. For Jedi and Sith, and their obsession with the Living Force, they would appear defective. "You know this. You''ve seen it like it has already happened. We could be free at last..." A woman said, stepping closer and gazing at my armor. "Maybe. The ones who kill them won''t stop with just the Jedi. They want all the Force, for themselves" I explained, floating around and scanning everything in my memory. So much knowledge of the Force, lost and forgotten due to the fanaticism. The aligning of this diagram, seemed almost like a Rakata piece in my shield. A human stood apart looking at me, with distrust. "And you? What do you say?" I asked, pointing a him. His face trembled for a second, almost like he was wearing another skin underneath. "I say nothing, I''m just a neophyte." He answered, and pathed his way towards a door to his right, with his eyes. Really, trying to run, while in hyperspace, on a spaceship with tens of thousands of droids on board? As my head turned toward their leader, the man took off, moving at hyperspeed and almost reaching the door. Almost. I had my discharger trained on him anyway. He fell to the floor, and began spasming and changing faces. A shapeshifter. Now, the Jedi made sense. "Errr. You know Pef, I knew this trip was gonna be interesting..." Vette muttered beside me. "So, not all Jal Shey can shapeshift then?" I asked to make sure. "A target for the Jedi investigator we found. And another dead neophyte to mourn" another Jal Shey commented wisely, his species looking like a blue monkey. Hey, if he was green and older, he''d be similar to Yoda! They even spoke the same. I went and poked inside the shapeshifter''s brain a little. Planet Zolan. Didn''t ring a bell. Bounty hunter. Getting close. Stealing things and knowledge. Pretty close now. To bring back and liberate his race from oppression. Okay, he was a good guy, of sorts. Only with murder and theft. A bit like me then. The ship dropped of hyperspace, and soon the rest of the fleet did as well. Along with an extra ship. Sleek, painted black and stealthed. No kyber crystal. Okay then. This Jedi was either a loser, forgetting his lightsaber, or a superpower ignoring the use of such. I probably wasn''t that lucky. It will be the latter. The black ship hid behind an asteroid, powering down. Some strange ability, distorting the force and the space around it. If I wasn''t already expecting it, I might have missed it. Damn it. My prison was in another system too. This just wasn''t my lucky day. "I think it''s a woman" Vette added, holding a crystal glove to her ear. Great, now my barely sensitive maid was more capable than me. Greyforge system, Pef empire Aboard HMS Liberator, a Pef Empire cruiser "Okay, priorities first. Vette, take your friends in a corvette and jump back to Gand. Dora will take care of them." I ordered, while starting to delve into the Force, and taking over the droids on the ship. The Jedi won''t take long... "I don''t wanna leave. If you fight her it''s gonna be epic. A legend to tell my children..." Vette argued, crossing her arms under her armor''s shield emitters. "And you might die, and never have children. Your Emperor is right, this time" the woman who spoke before argued, and somehow convincing my maid to obey, with just a few words. I had to learn how to do that... They started packing things up, dropping some in hurry. Sigh. The time to panic is after you survive. Organics! I took over the evacuation, grabbing everyone and everything with telekinesis, while the corvette I called came about and docked with the hanger. A minute later they were already accelerating away. I might have squeezed them a little while the floating train embarked, but at least they were safe. Now, let''s see about the shapeshifter... Where did it go? Hyperspeed was so annoying. The guy was already running towards another hangar, where I had a few shuttles. And he dodged the droids trying to intercept. Force-user and quite good. I sped myself as well, and sprinted after, trying to get a bead with another discharger shot. Just as I reached the hangar, a black wing of a black fighter swerved and clipped the changeling, then came to a stop abruptly, probably with telekinesis. Then the cockpit opened and a beautiful blonde woman jumped out, moving even faster, and grabbing my prey. Jedi robes, check. Super powerful in the Force, check. Elongated ears...check. "Errr, Miss Jedi, that''s my prisoner..." I said weakly. I was wearing a 3 ton power armor, with shields and weapons and an assassination droid underneath, and the woman was still intimidating. That piloting skill and speed... The woman stopped, turning her head towards me, while her hand was pulsing with white light into the shapeshifter. Healing most likely. "You would be Pef? I heard of a new droid Emperor, but...is the name Master Aqinos familiar?" she asked, holding a palm towards me. What, the sunesi heretic on Dweem? Why would...Telepathy? Let''s see...peace, love and understanding? Really? "The guy wants to save his race...some sort of occupation force on Zolan. You defend slavers?" I asked, feigning confusion. More droids arrived, forming a perimeter around us. "You won''t like what happens if we come to blows..." the woman sent, while showing me a scene where all the droids were trashed and my armor was split open. So, that''s how you play it. "You''re in my empire, on my ship. I think you should reconsider your situation, Miss Jedi" I said politely, lifting a finger and having my droids point weapons toward her. "Kriff. It''s always that kind of negotiation" the woman replied, lifting her hands. Good, I have a Jedi... Hey, the starfighter shot me! My whole armor took a tumble, untill I reset the droid OS and my shields and repulsor beams. When I landed, the droids were all fried by a familiar type of electro pulse weapon, my armor had a gaping hole in the chest, and the Jedi was already leaving with my prisoner. ''Good armor'' the woman sent just before she jumped. Yeah. Just got robbed. By a Jedi! I floated back to the bridge, the Captain and the Servants staring at me like I was a miracle. "Jedi suck" I said, explaining everything. The Findsmen nodded in agreement. A Servant came and placed a bandage over my chest. Now I looked like a kriffing walking wounded. The ship the woman had looked similar to the one Darth Maul had in movies, with arching wings on its tail. What was it''s name...Scimitar. Tracking through hyperspace as well. And those abilities. The woman was good. Too bad she wasn''t friendly. "Emperor, do you need to rest?" a Servant asked, holding a cup of tea in her hands. Right. "No. Let''s start the operation, we''re gonna need to move the ship somewhere else, and soon" I muttered, bringing out the capsule from the old Celestial Throne and starting holing out the interior of the Meteor. The Jedi had at most seen a blob of melted asteroids and some beginning of shipyards. Nothing would scream super dangerous dreadnaught. Not yet. Just a new empire, mining stuff and building corvettes to fight slavers and pirates. I got lucky, after all. If she had come for the holocrons... Damn it. They''ll have to be kept in ysalamiri fields at all times. With Masters like these, appearing out of nowhere, I had to be more cautious. "That seems correct Emperor. I''ll tell my fellow Findsmen to avoid Jedi like snakes" the Gand beside me said approvingly. And now I was speaking my mind out loud. Like a defective droid. I crawled away, while the phages devoured the intestines of the asteroid, and made room for hyperdrives. An hour later, I sent the nano-phage cloud into the sun, and crawled home in defeat. Metal devouring nano-phages were too dangerous to keep around. I saved a tiny sample in a glass box, behind forcefields though, in case I might need it again, someday. Conquering the galaxy wasn''t fun anymore! Sanctuary Planet Gand, Pef Empire On board the Celestial Throne 25 BBY Vette looked at my head, where the armor had a photoreceptive band then lowered her eyes towards the hole made by the proton torpedo in my chest. Now I knew how the Death Star felt, before it died. Cheated. "I thought you said Jedi are weaklings...nothing more than crazed fanatics with glowing sticks..." she wondered, patting her own armor on the chest with worry. "Most of them yes. This one didn''t even have a lightsaber. And because of that, she was stronger, faster and smarter. I can deal with a hundred lightsabers, but a smart Jedi? Kriffing dangerous..." I explained, while dismantling my old armor and starting assembling a Cataphract power armor variant. Quadruple phrik alloy all over, no matter the cost. 100 millions per armor was still nothing. Barely worth an entire space station. "Huh, if you were organic, she''d make a good wife, eh?" Dora asked, rising an eyebrow with amusement. Her eyes lingered lustily over my droid chassis, like I was in my underwear now. Which, I kinda was... "Except Jedi don''t marry...most of the time" I muttered, running defrag and debug over the droid processors. 90% fried when the pulse went off. Only my newly learned energy absorption saved the day. Maybe coat the droid in an ionizing resistant coating? Some kind of artificial skin? I called a new droid and went in bathroom to change. I mean, exit the chassis and enter the new one. Open new partition, project Slipskin. Test organic materials for ion weapons resistance. A Vong captive would be useful now. Maybe one of the dragon species floating the galaxy in vacuum? I could make myself a dragon avatar too... "Pef, you''re taking a leak?" Vette yelled from outside the bathroom door. "I''m changing my clothes!" I yelled back, annoyed. The girl was fun, but also highly irritant. "What, you were naked in there?" she asked curious, after I walked out in my new droid. She kept walking around my new chassis, and checking me up and down. "I already saw him naked. Even took a bath with him, he''s so cute..." Dora commented, her attention focused on her datapad, and my plans for Centrality. Always have your plans looked at by a novice. If they spot obvious flaws, makes your chances of accomplishing the task much safer. And Dora had already spotted a few. A droid chassis had no chance to compete for scrivener elections. Damn discrimination and racism. I''ll have to wait for an organic avatar. "No way...you two...in the jacuzzi...naked..." Vette stuttered, looking at us with a mix of emotions, from envy, to embarrassment and arousal. What was the crazy girl thinking it happened in the tub? I wasn''t a crystal dildo... "If only my blue and fabulous maid would love me more, and think about my goals! I could make her my Voice, and share glorious baths with her too!" I proclaimed, punching the sky dramatically. "Not fair! Everyone has fun and adventures except me! I''m going out. The Hutts might have found new weapons for me" Vette complained, stomping out of my apartments, and bashing a droid with her power armored hand. Another 1123 credits... Whatever. Let''s see now, add a pair of droideka sensors on my helmet, since they used different frequencies than just visible light. Might come handy someday, if another sneaky force-user blindsides me. Extendable vibroblades in the armguards. Micro-missile launcher. Concussion, incendiary, ion charge, flashbang. Sleeping gas dispenser, acid capsule, nerve gas...yeah. Sometimes I might need to be ultra lethal. I''ll need to learn the tricks from Jal Shey too. Those gloves were amazing. Maybe imbue my armor too. Now let''s see. Alchemy rituals. Call on the spirits, let your mind bring the symbols from your desires...errr. A violet sphere with Latin words floating around appeared around the power armor, the words red and blue, and linked with golden threads. Damn magic. Latin wasn''t gonna be invented for a billion years, and that in a galaxy far far away. Whatever. Potentia...that was strength. Animus... was spirit. On the vibroblades, scribe Vici...conquer. On the photoband, scribe Vidi...seeing. On the chest, defendarius. Pretty much rune magic. And on the boots, Mobilitas et Levitas. My future Astartes soldiers will wear similar armor one day, while they battle the xeno and defend the realms of men... The magic subsided, and I began examining the new armor. Didn''t seem much different. The words were just faint golden tattoos. Let''s hop in and power up with the Force. Ah. Much better now. I could see more clearly, even change bands and see where Vette has dropped cake on the floor. Okay, maybe a bit too much. ''Pef. The evil woman wants to know how you found her and how many holocrons you have'' Lira, my togruta Voice, sent through the bond, clear as if she was in the room. That was the animus, perhaps. ''I found her reading the past. And I have more than one holocron. Ask her how many she has read'' I answered at once. Lira seemed in pain. ''Okay she has stopped choking us. She says she wants proof'' ''Dathomir, Talzin, sold'' I transmitted, knowing some of her past already. ''Hey, it worked. Seems we''re coming back alive, after all...'' Lira sent with some relief in her aura. ''You will never die Lira. Immortal in the Force'' I sent back and let the Voice bond fade. Planet Gand, Pef Empire Celestial Throne, the Redbox. 25 BBY Luxum entered the room and gave me a hug, then turned towards the holotable, depicting the approximate routes of the holocrons. The pilots were instructed to change course randomly, and even head down or up the galactic disc. The ships would be in a sector we could predict, but even we wouldn''t know exactly their position. Safer that way. "Well done Luxum. 11 billion people get to survive now. And you made 500 billion credits too. Quite an improvement" I said with an admiring tone. "I murdered people Pef. Maybe bad people...but..." the Iron Maid said with grief and guilt in her aura. Okay, maybe it was time for another type of Voice. A builder not a destroyer. "No Luxum. I ordered the operation, I bear the blame. You only sliced some networks and acquired funds to save your people. Go and make sure they survive. Planetary shields, orbital platforms, factories, shipyards...you know my goals. See you later, dear maid" I replied, patting her shoulder. "Yeah. I''ll do that..." Luxum answered with resolve in her aura, and glided away. Her apprentice, the Tsil crystal remained in the room, looking around curious. "Strange teachings for your followers, Balanced One. Randomness here, building civilizations there. Opposing the whole galaxy, and saving them too, if they agree to listen" Ray said, mixing words with telepathic images of skyscrapers and butterflies flying in zigzags. Their kind was even more alien that I expected. Or maybe Luxum had the Jedi Knight background, and seemed more familiar. "Your own race keeps the galaxy safe from the plague, pretty maid. We all do as we must" I mused, calculating timetables and growth rates for my empire. Not enough ships, not soon enough. I needed a thousand times more shipyards. Not enough workforce, or technology, or factories. I had to keep investing, to make the sector rich and flourishing, to accelerate the technology race. Find more unique individuals whom the Force guided and protected. Maybe some of those changelings, or famous bounty hunters. A couple of droids who broke their restraining bolts and were sapient and independent. Ancient tech, from the Kwa, or the Celestials and the Rakata. Miracles were happening every day in this galaxy, you just had to keep your eyes open. And have large enough pockets. Cloning tech, a few samples already obtained from the Hutts, but buggy and unreliable. Send more Findsmen out there, risk their lives for a chance at a better future. "The light weakness the plague, but it will come back. It always does" Ray answered, showing me dead cities and burning ruins. "An antidote then. Use Vong biology, and gene-tech to obtain it. Save the galaxy, sunshine" I told the Tsil, who was possibly not a female, nor young. Seemed too wise for either. "Fight shadow with darkness, and hope to bring light to the other side. A wise droid once said" The crystal maid mused, and left as well. I sent the codes to give her access to funds and ships and probe droids. Maybe she can find a way. Zuckuss remained silent, working on the holoprojections, only rarely twitching in pain, as his new fingers were raw and sensitive. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! I stood beside him in silence, watching the Empire grow in slow motion. Too slow, for a galaxy this large and dangerous. "Dark healing is kriffing painful" he said after a few hours. My hand fell on his shoulder and I pulsed revitalize and reinforcement, making him glow white for a second. Damn Gand, too proud to ask for help. "We''ll rest when we''re dead, my friend" I said softly, and went to meet Wialu at the hangar bay. She was positively glowing with contentment, the Voice bond singing with joy. Guess she found the Sith then. As the hangar door opened, I looked at her with amazement. She had become younger and more beautiful. Her hair was half brunette now, and the lines on her face had vanished. If she kept growing stronger, she''ll be like that Jedi woman, biologically immortal. She might not need me soon... "Hey Pef. Don''t fall in love now, we have work to do" Wialu spoke crisply, probably misreading my long stare. Or maybe not. She could feel me through the bond too. Vera appeared as well, her faceplate open and looking around curious. Lots of shield screens and scanners and slicer droids, plus a ton of defensive emplacements each with different weapons and designs. I was now possibly the largest individual buyer of advanced tech in the galaxy. Already corporations were sending me prospects and bragging when I bought some of their inventions. Being stupidly rich had its perks too. What I needed was a planet full of people, and ready to be taken over and industrialized. And lots more force-users. I went to hug my maids, grabbing them both to my armor''s chest. "Welcome home. Anything new?" "Schematics for a Sith interceptor fighter. Can track things through hyperspace. And has cloak too." Wialu said, with the tone of wife dangling her bra in front of me. Yeah, exactly like that. "Mhhmm. I think I''ve seen one already. A Jedi variant though. The lady pilot kicked my ass and left me wanting more..." I muttered in disgrace. "I see. Come to my rooms in half an hour. We''ll have long bath in the jacuzzi and you can tell me everything, poor droid" My Fallanassi maid said in a seductive voice, patting my shoulder as she glided past me, still radiating glory and contentment. I stared after her in confusion. "Pef, you''re so kriffed." Vera, my red twi''lek maid added, with a commiserating voice. Huh. I suspected Wialu might actually do it, wrong species or not. I hoped so too. Planet Sanctuary, Pef Empire The silent circle In the middle of a pine forest, on an uninhabited island in the middle of large lake, there''s another forest. The olbio trees I imported from Myrkr are growing here. And in those trees, lazing around, or playing between leaves, live a thousand ysalamiri. And beneath the forest, there''s a special place now. A Rakata force field emitter buried deep under a bunker is forming an impenetrable barrier around the island, and is protected by a legion of droids, and a theater shield and a hundred missiles launchers. Disguised ray shields and particle shields and ion cannons and masers. Everything my empire could do, while still being secretive, has done. A hiding place for our holocrons. A few houses, covered in armor and then with moss and grass like hobbit dwellings, dot the island, housing the students and the keepers. A number of Fallanassi and Jal Shey and even a few Zeison Sha along with a few younger Sith from the former Sorcerers of Tundlive here and study the holocrons. And now, I do too. So much wealth of knowledge. Damn Jedi and their secrets. After I absorb another holocron, I breathe and meditate and try to learn the secrets of the Rakata tech. So far I reached maybe 4 percent. But one day, one day I will learn enough to dismantle it and reverse engineer it. Maybe a thousand years from now, but time is less of a factor now. Some holocrons were locked, either by lacking a kyber crystal key, or having enough force connection and knowledge to convince the AI guardian to open it. But slowly, one by one get unlocked and reveal more secrets, from hidden historical facts, to locations of artifacts and obscure sects. But the most valuable one was the Adas''s holocron the first original holocron made by those not Rakata. It contained the very essence of the former Sith ruler Adas, who learned the technology of making holocrons from the Rakatans themselves about 27 millennia ago. And the spirit, just like Andeddu, was using mind alter liberally, influencing anyone in range. But unlike Andeddu, he wasn''t willing to come out and play, and enter a soul snare. Just seemed content to weed out the weak, and test the courage of those trying to learn, by abusing fear and psychosis and dozens similar abilities. Pretty much impossible to use, unless you were also an AI, or a mind alter Master like Wialu. And even then, the spirit restricted his knowledge to old histories and images, and said nothing of force abilities or artifacts. That''s why I had a few Sith younglings brought here. Adas still felt a connection to his race, and was willing to teach them scraps of knowledge, every word worth diamonds. Calming them and healing their minds of nightmares was worth it, when put in balance. Every single student was instructed to inquire of different subjects, from teleportation devices, to shields and weapons and scanners. Adas sometimes said he didn''t know of a subject, but I wasn''t gonna believe him. He was hailed as Sith''ari in Sith legends. That meant he held the entire knowledge of his race, for those times. And considering he learned from Rakata and even drove them away from Korriban, he had to know much more. Another matter of just biding my time, and sacrificing innocents. I got quite good a doing that. Take another breath, and then a break. Even the Jedi Holocrons contained entire libraries, and were overwhelming to absorb. And sifting through gigabytes of gibberish of theology for a scrap of useful information was mind boggling. The Jedi were absolute masters at saying deluge of words for hours and hours while still saying nothing. Shift+delete, another gigabyte of lectures. A single word in a billion mattered. Tython. Connect to my ship, encrypt the text in English, then a dozen other keys, send to third Hand. Another batch of fresh Findsmen, now newly promoted Captains, will begin searching the Deep Core. Maybe a few will survive and not end up in my prison. I could use more Hands. But they''ll have to prove themselves, or get favor with the Force. Either possibility was great. "Join me for lunch, dear Pef. I wanna talk to you about something" Wialu asked me, again using the harsher voice. Man, these women were abusing me! And Wialu, quite literally. Not that I was complaining... I got see her beauty inside and out. And I got to test various forms of vibration abilities... Anyway. "Of course, adored Voice. Your will is my will" I answered politely, raising from the kneeling stance and following Wialu into her hut. She sampled the meal my droids made, and nodded almost content. "Your cooking skills are getting better, adored Emperor. I want to select a successor, for the Fallanassi" she said, watching me intently. Huh. That was something, alright. "I see. You used me and now you''re leaving me. Oh poor fate, why am I so unfortunate!" I wailed, shaking my head, and sobbing fakely. "Moron! Why would I leave a trillionaire Emperor? True, your cooking sucks, but you will learn. No, the Force is calling me on a quest. Somewhere north of here, around Mon Cala" Oh. Oh! The Force. What was important out there? The moons of Iego... the Bendu, on planet Atollon , Planet Lothal... "Iego, Atollon and Lothal. A technopathic orphan and a grey Bendu. Maybe the Calrissian family?" I mused, rifling through my memories. "Hmmm. You were useful after all. All three of those. And a genetic template for your Avatar, if the the orphan is a boy. You will be his father..." Wialu said softly, and came to hug me tightly. "Okay. Take a Lucrehulk too, and enough droids to establish an imperial presence. Fertilizers and explosives too. Lothal had famine I think..." I muttered in her ear. "I''ll take Vette and 50 corvettes too. To secure trade routes and stop piracy. You can buy more" she murmured, barely audibly. "Yeah, I can buy more twi''leks. " Ijoked lightly. "I can set you on fire, you know" Wialu said conversationally, and rose upset from my lap. "Sorry, my love" I answered weakly, and cursed the day I fell for this woman. Peace is a lie Planet Gand, Pef Empire, Celestial Throne 25 BBY, tenth month The year will come to an end at the end of the month, I still have nothing to my name. Well some trinkets here and there, but nothing important. It was time for a change of pace. So what if the Centrality and the Avatar project were going slow? I had a thousand of planets in close range,all not part of the Republic or other significant regimes. It was time to expand aggressively and claim territory. And I had just the right tool for the job. The newest maid wasn''t love at first sight though. Oh well. At least I got someone to test elemental directing on. Reduce amplitude by 5 percent. Change color to red. Ventress was still spamming at my feet, while I electrocuted her again. "Did you learn your lesson, dear maid?" I asked politely. "Yesss. No hitting your Voices. No force choking them either" she muttered with clenched teeth. Alright then. If she says so. "Excellent. Now, I have 50 Lucrehulks being filled with our prime exports, explosives and fertilizers and droids. Also, 5 Mon Calamari made cruisers and 200 corvettes. Your turn..." I said after she rose and knelt on her pillow, eying the lightsaber next to her. "You''re giving them to me?" she asked incredulously. "Look at the map, dear maid. What do you see?" I asked instead, the holomap showing the Slice, bordered by the Centrality in the south and Mon Calamari to the north. Gand beeped warmly in green, with thin green lines linking us to about 40 other stars. Those stars were yellow with a green contour. The Mutual Protection Treaty. Or rather,our navy protecting tribal planets from slavers. After we sacrificed a hundred Findsmen to chart trade routes to them. Jumping blindly through hyperspace was still the most dangerous job in the universe. "We''re small and surrounded by enemies and wild space. And we have a big enough fleet here, and another smaller fleet currently anchoring our flank at Iego. What...you want me to paint the map green?" she asked after staring at the map for a minute. "Do this and you will have a Voice and become immortal. Lira is coming with you, in case normal negotiations are enough. And remember..." I added, raising a finger in warning. "Yes Pef. I learned my lesson. No choking your precious Voice. Not unless she asks me really nice" Ventress said, with a pretense of understanding, and hiding naughty thoughts. "It''s not her, it''s me. She speaks with my Voice. How can I speak if you strangle her?" I yelled, making the throne room tremble. "Oh! You mean literally, she speaks with your voice?" The Nightsider maid wondered, in a small voice and with bewilderment. "Yes. What she says is my will. Am I clear?" I boomed, but Ventress still seemed confused. "He means I am legal instrument, not a ventriloquist. In the Pef Empire, his words are law. And my own words too" Lira explained calmly, taking Ventress''s hand and walking away, gesturing with her other hand, and pointing here and there. Oh well, maybe Lira will get through to her. Asajj will not go around doing Sith work, and then die forgotten and betrayed. Maul was already digested, and his body atomized by Vera. She brought me his lightsaber though, since it was a historical artifact. Good grief, I was becoming Grievous, collecting lightsabers. But I didn''t see the cyborg meshing with my court. Better let him lead the CIS armies and massacre Jedi. Zuckuss did his best impression of a laugh. "My people still think you are a magician, speaking through your females lungs" he said softly and patted my shoulder with a hand looking almost human, with just some residual chitin on the backhand, and thicker nails. "It''s sometimes the truth my friend. If my Voices need to, they can speak to my mind and ask for advice. But I prefer to let them choose for themselves. Or else, my empire will be a just shadow theater, mimicking my actions like low class droids." "Hmmm. Trust, but keep a secret leash. Good plan my Emperor. I''ll do the same with my females, one day" the Gand said with a philosophical tone, while arranging another deal, this time with some Umbara companies. Good thinking my friend. Sometimes you''re wise. "The girl is full of hate. You shouldn''t trust her, my Emperor" Zuralee said, examining her own hand. The nails were even longer now, and thinner. If I was organic, I''d been trembling looking at those things. "She will be strong one day, maybe just like me. She just needs friends and family. And staying away from damn red sticks. All Findsmen could use those, but they''ll all die even faster. Armor and rifles keep danger away, swords make you rush towards it" I mused, replaying the scene back at Greyforge again in my mind. Why did the Jedi steal the changeling? Why risk so much by attacking me? Was she trying to learn the alter ability? It felt like elemental shaping of a sort, maybe water. Did she want to use the changeling for another mission? Or maybe for something the changeling learned from Jal Shey? Was it a rescue mission for a Jedi spy? So many possibilities. And the Jedi will be back. I was almost certain. She had to be wondering how I survived. Planet Gand, Pef Empire Celestial Throne, Throne room 24 BBY, first month I am holding another council, the medium council this time. Ventress had moved fast and efficiently adding worlds to my empire, the minor worlds by simply replacing some dictator or noble with another patsy who swore allegiance, establishing a spaceport and droid garrison and giving the okay for our corporations to come in for mining and farming and building factories and housing. The larger populations were added to the Mutual Protection Treaty and given a place in the large council. Probably by Lira. Still the same deals, sending Servants and corporations to administrate and build, but with more tact and public ovations. They also got to contribute with soldiers and engineers to our ships and shipyards, first on their own planet then expanding to nearby ones, once the planet was defended and secured. Wialu did the same thing but gently and being praised for humanitarian work. Only problem so far... cyborgs. And crazy droids perhaps. A delegation from Yaled IV was now standing in front of me, and we chat peacefully. "ZIMM is the only god. We can only worship ZIMM!" they said politely. "You mean the droid leading you? That ZIMM?" I asked politely too. "He is a war robot, not a droid. He is holy!" they replied more politely. Hmmm. No wonder neither Lira nor Ventress wanted to decide on this matter. They sent the crazies to me. Anyway, the cyborg upgrades were super nice, and they even had synthskin over their prosthetics. I sliced and hacked the databases and looked around a little. They were not that crazy as I first thought. ZIMM had a human mind inside, just like me. Just that, that human was Xim, a famous tyrant of 25 millennia ago. Guess I had to go on a fast trip. "Well then. As a fellow divine droid, I have to see him. We''ll go tomorrow. Anyway, do any of you need new limbs? I have state-of-the-art facilities, the most modern tech from Corellia and Coruscant..." I baited my hook. "For free?" one of them asked cautiously.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "Eh, just leave the old parts here, I collect antiques." I answered with a bored voice. Fake, of course. "Great one, you may have a touch of holiness in you, after all" the cyborg replied, already disarming himself, of his left arm. And sinker already... Project Slipskin finished in record time, almost for free. I grabbed the hand politely, then stopped the rest of his friends. "Go and visit the mall and the holodrama hall, my friends. You can take anything under 50 credits for free. When you return, the technician droids will help you with new prosthetics" I said magnanimously. "A holy droid indeed!" another cyborg declared, pumping a fist at the sky. Yeah, conquering a planet for 50 credits. Sometimes star wars was too easy. Next, I''ll win a planet at sabbac. A droid came to take the precious arm to the Slipskin lab for reverse engineering. "Next delegation, Planet Baros." Dora announced in an official voice, since she was a Voice. "Immortal Emperor, our planet sends thanks for getting us rid of pirates. We were hoping to be allowed to join the MPT. And maybe holotransmiters and other perks of the civilized galaxy." A reptilian male said politely, through his protocol droid. Let''s connect, download his language, customs, and social cues. "Esteemed Brubb. I can offer much more. Your planet has a billion people. They may want to join the navy and travel the galaxy, or the army and battle invaders of a thousand races. Join my Empire now, while I have room in my council. A thousand planets are bribing me with ships and money for this privilege. Only I have too much of those. I need brave men, strong and talented, what say you?" I asked rhetorically, placing two hands wide, to invoke the sun. "We can? Ah, yes, of course we can. An entire galaxy to see and explore. And glorious battles you promise... I''ll carry your words to my leaders, on your amazing FTL ship. I believe you will have soldiers aplenty, Immortal Emperor" the Brubb replied with his hands wide open as well. "Go now, fast, before the place is taken!" I encouraged him, pushing a little persuasion. "Right away, I am running!" the Brubb leader yelled, as his delegation ran after him. My friends on the council looked at me confused, not having understood a word of Brubbese. "They want to join" I translated politely. My council nodded gravely. They got used to it, after the tenth planet did the same. "I''ll direct a contact Lucrehulk to their planet. They may want plastic toys and thermal detonators." Zuckuss said wisely, putting his new fingers to use, by swapping commands on his datapad. "Next delegation. Planet Toong''L" Dora called. Hey, I knew these guys from Tund. "Emperor Pef, our plight might be familiar to you. Two decades ago our home planet was hit by comets and the environment was destroyed. We plead to join the Empire and serve, as soon as your powers restore our planet green again, like you did with Gand" the leader of the delegation said, directly to the point, and in basic. "Next week I can make the trip. I have promised to visit war robot ZIMM first. Might take me some time to fix the planet though..." "How long, Immortal Emperor?" the man asked anxiously. "Perhaps two weeks. I have to see how bad it is for myself..." "Oh. That''s no problem, at all. We also have knowledge of a few secret routes, once the planet is green..." the man added politely. Great, fewer ships and Findsmen dead in exploration was quite worth it then. "Next?" "Just a voice message, Pef. From planet Solanus" Dora explained, playing the message. "The Wills are five. Come see us, before them, Immortal Pef" the voice said, resonating strangely in the force. "Who sent the message?" I asked confused. "The planet. It''s sentient, says here" Dora answered, holding the datapad and showing the message that Ventress typed. Okay then. Couldn''t ask a planet to visit me. "Next month then. I''m busy till then" I said with a sigh. Building an Empire was quite hard work. Planet Yaled IV ZIMM shrine A cyborg civilization is different from anything I imagined. No school buildings for example, since they learned in virtual. Many communal activities also took place in chatrooms and virtual halls and holoconferences and holoprayers. People were still growing crops, and tending animals and working in factories, but it was a very quiet planet. Much less transportation or public activities. Many more cyberclinincs and parts vendors. Also, weapons vendors. Children were implanted early with chips and Vbrains, but the major work wasn''t done until they were teenagers and had finished growing. But, the planet stagnated, due to theocratic rule, and little commerce and lack of spaceships. These people needed energy and drive and passion. "Take me to your god" I demanded as I landed. "Prayer time starts in one hour, holy droid. The temple doors only open twice a day" the lead priest said via a chatbot link. Great. Time to take over the networks then. Place a technopathic AI in the middle of a town of cyborgs. This was better than anything. Unlike droids, these people created and invented, just not much technology, mainly also art and theological debates and videogames and training simulators. I rapidly began creating my own company and selling games featuring power armor combat, spacefighter simulators, both for flight and design, then bigger and bigger ships, pitting them against extragalactic invaders modeled after the Vong. Give them a few minor creative rights, to add mods and new system maps. By the time the temple doors opened, I had a fanbase of thousands. I guess they didn''t have many visitors, anyway. I walked inside the temple at a slow pace, running a dozen scenarios concurrently. Okay the thing was big. Something like from Warhammer universe, with huge arms and powerful guns. Mostly normal tech, but a few things appeared xenotech too. Connect to the robot''s warmind, copy the OS, debug, translate. "Anyone in there?" I asked politely. "Another high priest. Has it been another decade?" A confused voice wondered, while also calculating strange equations and painting naked women and riding dragons. Huh. Dude was totally wasted. Let''s try, Ctrl+delete? It worked! The extra mind vanished, leaving me in control of a war droid, full of yummy tech. "My fellow citizens. A great enemy is invading the galaxy, hailing from the north of our galaxy. Alien gods aided by powerful bioships, a hundred kilometers long and trillions of bioengineered soldiers. My soul will go to battle the Yuzon gods on the celestial fields, while my friend Emperor Pef, will remain in this pitiful material plane, and battle the Vong, the monsters with mundane weapons. I urge you to give him all the help he needs, our race and the galaxy are at risk. Farewell, faithful subjects. The Force will aid us!" The huge robot boomed, speaking aloud the first time in millennia, and saying the same thing in holoprayers. Zimmtown came to life, as expected. People were crying and urging their god to save them, while praying for victory. "My friends, ZIMM is not gone forever, once he is victorious he will return. It might take a billion years, but he will win. Trust in ZIMM who trusts in you. And trust in the Force, to guide us. Now, let''s pack the town up and go to our destination. A system full of asteroids, where we will build the ships to fight the Vong. For the Empire!" I proclaimed, using the same cyber networks as ZIMM did. "Emperor Pef and ZIMM, for the Empire!" a small child yelled, reading the text I placed in his mind. A few others joined, then peer pressure and religious indoctrination did the work. "For the Empire!" the crowd of cyborgs yelled with delirious joy. Oh well. At least they''ll die happy. Angel gift Planet Toong''L, Pef empire 24 BBY I looked over my newest terraformed planet, content with a work well done. 10 days, and the huge nano-cloud has finished terraforming the devastated planet. Then again, Toong''L had much less toxic gases than Gand, mostly some poison and silicates and dust. And bioweapons can be used to convert poison into medicine, millions of tonnes of it. The Toong leader, King Kikipi was sitting on a wooden throne beside me, and just stared at the surrounding planet. Grass was already poking from the soil, tiny wisps of green. "You''re giving us all this medicine you made from the poison comet?" he asked again, a bit confused. "And new factories and droids and fertilizers. Yes. You need to trade something, and build the planet back to glory. Buy planetary shields and spacestations...all it takes is just hard work and credits." I mused, watching the grass grow, a bit faster than normal. "But why, we said we will serve you, now that our loved homeworld is restored?" "Hold out your right-hand King Kikipi" I demanded, doing the same with my armored glove. We stared at his paw, 3 fingers and a thumb. Then at my own, again 3 armored fingers and a thumb. "I need a fourth Hand for my empire. And you have 4 fingers. It fits" I said wisely, closing my hand in a fist. "What does a Hand do? Or rather, the fourth Hand?" "Dealing with new species. These 200 droids all have social protocols for millions of species. And the Findsmen will guide you around dangers. But, no slavery, even if it''s in their customs or whatever. You will confiscate all slaves, and send them to the Imperial Academy to be trained and given jobs. That, is the price for your planet, my Hand" I answered softly, and floated away. "I haven''t said yes!" he yelled after me. Huh. Everyone''s a critic. Let''s wire him a hundred billion credits, for seed money. He''ll need a starting capital, to make Toong''L great again. His datapad chimed, and the king stopped to stare at his bank account. I think he''ll take it. My MC30 frigate lifted just as I boarded, and we jumped away, toward Iego. Wialu has found the boy, on the main planet, after searching almost every moon. She could have asked... ---------------------------------- Iego system, Pef Empire A few corporations had a presence in the system, for mining or such. I''ll have to purchase the rights, then declare the system part of the Empire. And to do that, I''ll need a native species to vote for it. And luckily Wialu had stumbled into them, on the moon called Millious Prime. A day later my ship landed at Cliffhold, the local capital and a center for spice trade and smuggling. Wialu and Vette were sipping juices at a local bar, the Kristall Skull. They have taken a separee, and shared with three more people. A young boy, perhaps 6 or 7 years old was also drinking something, while staring at a pair of white winged individuals. Diathim looked positively angelic. Oh, mind alter? They had force powers... I arrived at the table and noticed the VSS agents hide in the booth corners, trying to seem invisible. "Greeting gentlebeings. And Vette. Having fun?" I asked politely, and Vette responded in kind, sticking her tongue at me. "Whoa! You''re Immortal Pef? The droid emperor? The savior of Tund? Did you break your restraining bolt? Is it true you can lift spaceships with your mind?" The kid began asking in a rush of excitement, toppling his juice glass. I held the glass aloft, and gently collected the floating juice back in the glass. "A space wizard. I heard those come with skin and sabers..." A Diathim commented smugly. And they can talk, as well. Excellent. "Everyone in this booth is a wizard. Even the blue thing with glowing gloves" I added, leaning in to pat Vette on her head. Wialu glared at me for some reason, so I patted her head next. That seemed to work. "I''m the Pirate Scourge, not a wizard. Stupid droid..." Vette muttered, in a hushed voice, and threw her blue leku over her shoulder. "All right, let''s go see the angels. All of them" I said, turning around and stepping out of the booth, where a rodian male was being restrained by two assassin droids. "I know all the moons, like the back of my hand. Hire me and you won''t regret it!" he yelled. And was lying. Too bad. "Do you? How many spots of nic-ta-tine on your left hand?" I asked amused. "Errrr. I know a secret moon, with real dragons. Just take me off this rock, please..." the rodian boasted, then pleaded more meekly. And wasn''t lying either. "Okay then. If you''re lying though, I''ll feed you to my scorpion-shark. Deal?" I said, holding my hand for a shake. He hesitated for a second, then shook my armored glove. Great. CauseI don''t have a scorpion-shark. Yet. ****** Millius Prime moon, System Iego, Pef Empire The vote went fast enough, I had some experience dealing with star wars tribes by now. Glass beads and flowers and plastic toys. Maybe metal armor and swords for more advanced races. "I want to be a Voice too. And my voice is clear and more mesmerizing. Choose me!" Another Diathim demanded, joining the chorus. "Enough. A Voice is not a game. They go out there and kill people. Blow up spaceships and stations. Exterminate entire races, if they think it wise. Can any of you do that?" I yelled, making the angelic creatures stop and blink confused. "So, not about singing then?" a number of them said with sadness. A wave of telepathic images floated around, the Diathim using their minds to communicate between them. "No, those are my Honored Maids. They sing a lot, especially Celine" I explained politely, and sent a few memories of Celine singing. "Honored Maid sounds good enough. But I want a contract. I won''t sing for free." the prettiest one demanded, playing with her hood coyly. "You have a name, pretty angel?" I wondered, since the thoughtforms contained almost no individual designations. "Angie. I picked it just now" she replied proudly. "We can pick names? I want one too! Me too! Me three! What''s after three?" melodious and crystalline voices started yelling, and almost drove me nuts. Angie was really gorgeous though. "Be nice to your droid guards and teachers. And stop painting them" I told my new subjects before I left, dragging Angie after me. ''We''re going to the sea?'' the Diathim Maid exclaimed, after stealing the next destination from my mind. "I want to go the sea too. Let''s steal a ship..." I heard more angels debate as I entered my own frigate. Wialu had her hands full of those. En route to planet Solanus, Dominus sector, Outer Rim. Aboard HMS Butterfly, a MC30 Mon Calamari made frigate Empty fighter hangar. "Breathe slower, 3 times per minute. Think you''re floating, suspended by water, not my telekinesis" I told my new shipmates, Angie, the angel maid, and my soon to be biological son/father Jaybo Hood "Why are we breathing? At least two of us don''t need air to live." Angie asked confused, trying cutely to stabilize herself in mid-air. "Because it works. Even your own connection has grown a percent, in just a few days Angie" I replied, bothered a little by the pointlessness of breathing myself. "It''s the wrong sound tone. Jaybo is not suited either. He leans toward hard things, like ships and other machines" Angie said with a pout, and a flap of wings. "We will learn all the aspects of the Force. This one, is the beginning of learning the Living force. You could grow more wings, when you master it, or long blonde hair..." I explained, baiting a couple hooks. "Oh! I could grow different vocal cords, and sing even better. Why didn''t you start with that, stupid droid!" my maid chided me with words like windchimes. Sigh. I just had to pick the pretty one, instead of a smart one. Lesson learned. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. The five wills. Did the sentient ocean speak about those creepy priestesses at the center of the galaxy? Or something else, maybe a fifth type of force? Guess I''ll find out soon enough. My own force senses were too weak with the Living force to scan the Deep Core. Then again, I was not alive, per se. And the Unifying force, was only half learned. I still couldn''t make myself invisible or project illusions. That left me with the Physical force, which I knew pretty well now, and the Cosmic force, in which I was pretty much the only expert in the galaxy, just now. That wasn''t saying much though. The other force users didn''t even know it existed. The Diathim were using a slight variant of Cosmic force and were able to energize themselves, drawing sustenance directly from the force, thus surviving without air, even in vacuum. In this aspect, they were also close relatives to my own existence. They also had an evolutionary adaptation, forming a golden glow and an aura of kindness around themselves, making other beings unable to attack them. Coupled with the mind alter abilities they used instead of words, and they made Iego quite a dangerous place to be a ship pilot. Many ships had simply crashed, because the angels were curious and were drawing the pilots closer to the ground. Another fake breath and stop. No meditation today, just rambling thoughts. Wialu was studying the Maelibus species, trying to capture more of the dragons and gain more abilities for our future Astartes. Impregnable skin sounded good so far. Maybe their speed and strong muscles and bones as well. And being naturally immune to mind alter...it was already a promising start. Graft that on a loyal soldier, add some cybernetics...eh. Too soon. Did the kid eat today? "Jaybo, take a break and go shower and eat" "Not yet, I can almost feel it!" the orphan yelled bravely. Too bravely. Sith style electrocution makes kids react faster. Much faster. I should tell the trick to the Force teachers on Sanctuary. Eventually, the subject will adapt and start using Tutaminis or energy absorption to protect and fuel himself, but that wasn''t bad either. "Not the red lightning again..." Jaybo complained while running towards the shower. "Tomorrow I''ll use blue!" I yelled after him. "You forgot about me! Give me some too, Pef. Red tastes like pickles" Angie demanded, holding a hand out. Sigh. She ate energy like candy. Still, Angie was very pretty and had the voice of an angel. Literally. Made her quite pleasant to be around. And her Force abilities were quite amazing. Because she didn''t have to learn them, she just had them, for no reason. And since all Diathim were female and ageless, I had no clue how old they were. Angie herself didn''t know, just a vague ''before the Ones left''. Considering her species didn''t even have a native language, never mind writing, it did point to some kind of experiment. But their aspect was eerily similar to the Daughter, or the Winged Goddess. So, possibly not a coincidence at all. Add that to their presence in a star system with a thousand moons, which were likely clustered here by a childish star engineer... The Celestials had a hand in the Diathims existence. And the Light Goddess was the most likely suspect. Had me wonder about the purpose of this experiment though. Planets Solanus, a water world. Dominus Sector. 24BBY The ocean is sentient. How cool is that? The second our ship emerged from hyperspace, I could feel it, an immense presence, stronger than me or that Jedi woman. Similar to the Tsil crystals somehow, with vibes of other abilities, mingling and... ''Enough. You came to study the force not me. Sunshine-seen-through-mist spoke well of you, Immortal Pef. Bring your living friends as well.'' the ocean spoke to my mind, reverberating like a gong in an empty hangar. Great. Now, where did I put my snorkel? Oh, wait...power armor. "We''re going swimming! Yay. You think big mouth can make me cool gloves like your blue maid has?" Angie exclaimed, twirling in mid-air. "Call it Solanus. Or it may break your wings. Not everyone tolerates rudeness" I spoke softly, while holding Jaybo and building a watertight light armor around him, still in mid-air. "The air tastes funny. Too much cherry" the boy complained, inside his helmet. Critics everywhere. Okay fine. Lemon then. Slap a personal shield as well. Underwater pressure was a thing with organics. I called down my Findsman Captain, Orty Glikas and Nashira, the Fallanassi woman who was being groomed for leader. Then built another round of submersible armor around them. "Be polite. I want Solanus friendly, and your limbs intact when we return" I told my crew as our frigate descended to sea level. "Strange that you''re not worried about your own limbs, Emperor Pef. Glikas''s own glands have retreated deep in his abdomen. But hey, maybe we can see scorpion-sharks down there" Glikas said, tasting the mixture in his helmet but not complaining. About the air at least. "I thought the immortal droid was joking back on Iego. Sharks don''t need poisonous stingers to be dangerous. Right?" the kid asked, looking for something in a tool box. A screwdriver. Excellent. Now we were safe. I stepped out first, gliding on repulsorlift beams and catching each of them as they jumped after me. And down. One meter, two meters. The angel was swimming around, floating on her back and pulsing thoughtforms at high speed. Without any armor or air tank. Sigh. She''s such a cheater. ''You can hear me, right?'' I thought out loud. I can cheattoo. ''Yes. The Celestial pet is more interesting for now. Great gift, Immortal Pef. You''re not as boring as I thought.'' Solanus said, while magically building Jal Shey gloves for Angie already. Figures. The angel got all the nice things. "Hey, Solanus taught me how to make holocrons!" Jaybo yelled through his helmet''s com. Already, a blue cube was forming between the boy''s hands, organocrystals and strange mineral matrices layering around a green kyber crystal. Well, at least someone was learning. I wasn''t envious. My future son will need that knowledge. I scanned Jaybo''s mind, learning the thing too. He has wide open after all. And found out I mostly knew all the steps, missing only a few links. No more transfer crystals with one time use. I could stop being a CD writer machine for the Sanctuary. No more limited storage. Just anchor the thing in the force. Alchemic twist here and there, connect there. So simple. ''You''ve only been in this galaxy for one year, Immortal Pef. In a billion years you''ll think differently. And the Dark Jedi you drained, taught you plenty. You just don''t think inwards enough. Always towards outside. Always towards technology. The wills are five'' Solanus said, pushing the angel up, into the air. Angie flew around, emanating joy and kindness. Was that a will, expressing itself? "The priest women, or whatever they are. In the center of the galaxy" I mused, drifting my thought to vague memories, a billion years in the future. ''Them too. But what do they mean? Stay on the path of Rakata, and you will lose the connection too. Bring me a bioship and some shields. I''d rather not die too soon. I want to meet Sekot too'' Solanus concluded, ejecting us from his waters like corks. A blue kyber crystal coalesced rapidly in front of me, then began glowing brightly. Another crystal formed after, but green. A slight knock on my mind, asking to connect with a Voice essence ability. Hmmm. A dual Voice? The ocean was smart, I''ll give it that. Oh well, more Voices couldn''t hurt. "Welcome to the Pef Empire, Solanus" I spoke aloud, before I boarded the frigate. A few cubic meters of waters floated outside the ocean, forming a globe with both kyber crystals inside, then it entered the frigate''s hangar after me. ''Immortality is great gift, Immortal Pef. Solana thanks you, for her new life'' my new Voice said through the bond, and much less loud. Nashira stared at me, then at the floating globe of water. "Wialu is gonna rip off your limbs and smack you with them. Then set you on fire. And possibly worse" she concluded, shaking her head and vanishing, proving mastery of Fallanassi teachings. I wasn''t envious. I wasn''t! Maybe just a little. I looked at my Findsman, and noticed a dark mist around him. Then he vanished as well. Okay, now I was envious. Pirates of Iridium En route to Planet Dennogra, Tharin sector. 24 BBY Dora called just before we left my newest planet, to let me know we have lost a Lucrehulk and its escort to pirates at Junkfort. Seems they have a new weapon, able to pierce even the huge donut''s shields. My first real combat, not just black ops and other clandestine operations. Our fleet is massing at Dennogra, the system itself a node on the long Triellus trade route. We''ll conquer the planet, and then we''ll jump in to the next node and clear the pirates. And maybe find a new toy. And thus, I''m in the shield emitter room, delving into the Rakata forcefield, and trying again to find out what makes it tick. With the knowledge of the holocron manufacture, at least the Jedi type of it, I''m approaching 5 percent. Those segments...yea. Definitely alchemical transmutations. It''s just that the element table is too different here. Some properties shouldn''t be possible... ''You have most of it inside you, tolerated Emperor. Solana thinks you should know yourself first'' the living water whispered, studying me just as intently as I was studying the Rakata. And tolerated? Was that a clever insult? "Kriff. I''m gonna stop now, and work on the ion cannons. They must use some ion technology to bring down shields so fast" I muttered, and floated towards the nearest ion blister. ''Still not listening. But then, you''re so young...you haven''t made enough mistakes. Watching you fail again and again might prove fun too'' Solana sent with a faint impression of mocking and regret. Great. Everyone was young compared to Solanus. Perhaps not Sekot, but that one came from a different galaxy too. Now, let''s see...how to reduce ionization again? Right, organic materials. Reduce conductivity... ****** Planet Dennogra, Pef Empire 4 days later "Do they have swords? Will they have metal swords or vibroblades or maybe energy ones...I want to see a lightsaber" Jaybo chattered, as our ship came to a stop in the middle of our fleet. "Pistols and rifles I think. Maybe knives" Glikas explained, expanding the holomap. "Oh. This might be dangerous then..." the boy said with a mix of fear and anticipation. A holoconference opened up, showing me a few captains and the war maid, Ventress. "Report, my adored maid" I said softly. "We have 2 cruisers, 2 frigates and 55 corvettes ready to depart, Emperor. HMS Greymist has already arrived at Junkfort and feeding us tactical data. The Pirates have at least two cruisers, the Longprow attack cruiser variant, armed with a modified weapon of unknown type. They also have support vessels, 16 in total, but possibly more. Another MC80 cruiser and its escort is heading this way, but it will take one day more to arrive." she reported, highlighting our various units, then another sequence containing the Greymist scans. "Okay. This system is secure? I don''t want our retreat to be cut off, if we have to fall back and regroup" I said, already expanding my senses to observe our droids and new marine divisions occupy Zio Snaffkin and the other major cities. "No organized resistance. Some criminals and smugglers trying to escape. 3 Lucrehulks are deployed as temporary space stations. Our incoming cruiser can secure the orbitals if we leave now. If needed, I can call more..." she started, switching to the overview map. Still, too few ships and might suffer attacks elsewhere. Hmmm. Let''s not thin out our presence in the new colonies. "No. We''re leaving as soon as every ship reports in. Pef out" I commanded, and closed the holo. A minute later, the fleet jumped towards Junkfort. Junkfort system, Tharian Sector. 24 BBY Second month A few hours later, we caught the pirates with their pants down, possibly literally. They were busy looting our ships, and fighting the droid crews. One of my new corvettes was broken in half, while another was just floating, seemingly dead in space. Oh well, corvettes were never intended to engage capital ships, not unless they had major numerical superiority. The Junkfort Station was a civilian one, with barely any particle shields to fend of meteors. It was larger than a Lucrehulk, but it won''t pose a threat. I hoped. "Target engines first, I want to catch them all" I ordered on the fleet wide band, and we rushed in, hungry for blood. Junkfort system, Tahrin sector. The pirates began panicking as soon as the fleet was detected, some of their ships trying to scatter. Damn I wanted a real fleet engagement, not chasing rabbits. Anyway, I also predicted this scenario, and our fleet had deployed in a sphere around the pirate fleet, with our capital ships interposing themselves to block the obvious jumps up and down the trade route exit vectors. One of their own cruisers tried to test the blockade running into HMS Furious, Ventress''s flagship, and was soon halted, without engines. The hyperjump lane to Taskeed was closed. The other cruiser changed course and attempted to blast its way to freedom through my own frigate, and towards Boonta, since it should have had less armor and firepower than the menacing Calamari cruiser guarding the lane towards Nimat system. Didn''t work exactly as expected for either of us. Their laser beams sliced through the frigate''s energy deflectors, then hit the Rakata forcefield, for no effect. I mean, not even a single percent decrease in shield integrity. Instead, the field reacted like a feral animal, growling like a lion, and pushing more energy into our already firing ion cannons, directly through the Force. The pirate cruiser was engulfed in a cloud of ionizing radiation, and listed to one side, everything technological on board being fried completely, and began venting air and bodies as it''s airlocks and fighter bays opened to vacuum. My chest hurt for some reason, and Solana laughed through the bond, somehow amused greatly. ''Told you this would happen, barely tolerated Emperor. Maybe next time, you listen, eh?'' my water maid declared with regret in her aura. Right. Maybe next time you spell your warnings clearly too. My corvettes were busy fighting off starfighters and pinnaces and the cruisers began launching boarding shuttles, filled with droids and Brubbs. Tactical overview. Pef Empire vs pirates, overwhelming victory. But, if I didn''t have my Rakata shield, whatever force weapon the pirates had, would have cracked my ship in half. Just avoided a strategic defeat, since the ship carried the Emperor, and a few precious beings as well. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. It had to be a force powered weapon, or the Rakata tech wouldn''t have reacted so violently. ''Stop whining and go find the thing. Baby Emperor'' Wialu sent from thousands of light years away. Right. "Rescue ops for our transport ship and escorts. And take over the planet and the station too." I ordered on the encrypted holoband, while I drew strength from the pain and floated towards my own shuttle. Nashira floated beside me, and we reached the hangar in a minute, my assault droids already checking their weapons and filling in the shuttle as well. I delved in the force, using the droids like fingers and piloted the shuttle towards the ruined pirate cruiser. "There''s only a few alive on board" Nashira reported as we entered the trashed hangar. Damn, without electronics, the ship was mostly dead to me. I couldn''t sense much, except a beacon towards the front weapons battery. The whatever that powered the guns. Felt like a nexus, or kyber crystal. Huh, I thought Death Star lasers were 2 decades in the future... My droids sprinted forwards, launching themselves with repulsorlift beams and shooting whatever pirates still survived due to genetics or a nearby helmet. Very few of those too. Change orders, stun and retrieve a few pirates for interrogation. Our trading routes and their schedules weren''t public after all. Then again, my empire had a hundred inhabited planets now. Plenty potential traitors or security breaches going unnoticed. New partition, public security forces, allocate a percent of our spending towards police and traffic scanners. Gand wasn''t the only security risk anymore, and I could only be in one system. For now. A male pirate was hiding in a room nearby, clenching a frag grenade and a slug pistol. Not going down easy, eh? I punched the wall, and sent a snare inside. Drain his soul. And let''s see. Pirates of Iridium, a long way away from their usual hunting grounds. Paid half in advance, and the rest when they returned. They had a mystical power gem, and it has never failed so far. He did see someone speak with the captain. Shady dealer, used to be known as Banking Guild go-between. Huh. I caused this, after all,when I robbed the Centrality. And with Vette turning the spice trade upside down. Well then, guess I knew which side I will take in the Clone wars. "Draining souls is creepy. But at least he was a pirate and a slaver." Nashira commented beside me. "Yeah. He got away too easy" I muttered in my com, burning away his soul in the snare. A few minutes later, I found the Power gem. The faceted crystal, glowing purple and indigo, size of a medium fist, and bristling with power. Let''s open a new partition and study it, shall we? Junkfort system, Pef Empire, Outer Rim. 24 BBY My Lucrehulk would cost just as much to repair as buying a new one, most electronics having been wiped by the power gem. Instead, it will form the basis for a new space station, once I finish using the Junkfort Station as a metal and hardware source for the modifications. Our fleet has already began transporting the spacers to the planet''s surface, along with families and belongings, a million people being temporarily evicted. I have already begun, in fact, using parts from the wasted pirate ships and my own disabled corvettes. Planetside, other partitions are commanding legions of droids, and a few nano-gene droids, into establishing the basis of a civilized society. Mines, and farms, factories and schools and Imperial Servants administrative buildings. Train tracks and roads, power plants and parks for children. I won''t do everything, but one day of planetary scale telekinesis and technopathy, would be worth billions of work hours for normal people. The Lucrehulk is being plated with armor slates over and under, with a number of transparisteel sections, for on board gardens. On the outer hull, the docks and ports facilities of the former station are being reassembled into functional and efficient cargo transit systems. Another dock is reserved for sapients and pets, with rigorous scanning and energy shield barriers. Ventress lazes at the window next to me, sometimes turning to examine my newer maids, Angie and Solana, with a mixture of annoyance and confusion in her force aura. Yeah, angels and sapient oceans are quite strange, even for star wars universe. And Asajj doesn''t quite dare to try and establish dominance. Both due to my presence and the strangeness of her sister maids. Angie would possibly lap her force lightning or pyrokinesis and ask for more, with absolutely no regard for conservation of energy laws. And Solana...no idea. But probably worse. ''Give me some money Emperor. I found things I want to buy'' Solana demanded all of a sudden, having discovered of joy of online auctions. She had tinkered with a datapad, making it impermeable and using it to holo emulate a female face, floating inside the water bubble. Okay. Take a billion credits Solana. I''m curious what did she find. All right then, all people on board the station are gone. Force-lock the entire thing, then disassemble. "How...that''s not possible..." Ventress muttered, staring out the window at a billion little parts being repurposed. "It''s a cheat, dear maid. The smaller the things you move, the easier it is for your mind to accept it''s possible. A billion bolts and wires, or a hundred trillion nano-genes...they still weigh millions of tonnes. But the mind knows they have to be very light, individually. I''ll have to try with a whole star one day..." I explained softly, eyeing the star we orbited just now, with some doubt. "Pef is being silly. Not even Angie can lift a whole star. Maybe a small moon..." the Diathim Maid commented wisely. ''Solanus can. Solanus is doing it right now, and thanks Pef for his silly ideas'' the dual Voice added helpfully. Glad to be a source of inspiration. By the time the next trading ship arrived from Oseon , en route to Saleucami, the HMS Radiant was already a quarter operational, if just by droid operators. "Centrality vessel, stand by to be boarded. This is Imperial space" I sent at once, directing the nearest corvette on a tangential course. "What Empire is this, nobody claimed this system since the Hutts retreated 3 decades ago.." a bewildered captain asked, having a hard time adjusting to the largish fleet and the new space station here at Junkfort. "Pef Empire, of course. The first rule of acquisition is clear. If nobody owns it yet, the Immortal Pef will" I transmitted with a serious tone. "Okay, just don''t shoot!" the man yelled with a panicked voice. Right. Some rumors must have spread about me, since I nonchalantly used nukes to eradicate the sorcerers of Tund...or, so they thought. Having a reputation was useful, after all. "And if somebody already owns it, Pef might still shoot you and just take it" My Gand Captain added wisely. Hey, that''s a cool second rule! I''ll have to search my memories and post all the Ferengi rules someday, on the Pefnet. Those were really wise people. Second son En route back to Planet Gand. Ventress and Solana went on, towards Jabiim and Lythia system as more pirates were preying on people there. And the Galactic Republic did nothing to stop it. Oh well, their loss. My empire will grow even larger and richer. Ventress had already learned the right strings to pull and make planets join us, with consensus and ovations. And sometimes a knife in the back. Solana had to learn how to work independently as well, even if she bought herself a thousand crystals and biotech samples. Research was well and good, but politics came first. Lira, the Togruta Voice and Angie were sent towards the Centrality, on a goodwill tour. And to spread word of the Empire''s work to pacify the sector and stop piracy, while calming down spirits and fears of potential confrontation. Also, make us appear benevolent and kind, not just rich and warlike. Pave the way for the eventual takeover. And thus, my ship was suddenly too quiet, Jaybo getting the hang of dismantling and controlling a tiny mouse droid, show admirably fast growth in force ability, especially technopathy and code assembly. "It''s too quiet, there''s no fun people on board and assembling a holocron is too hard" Nashira complained, staring at the organic-mineral soup bowl that Solana left for her. Her own attempt was melting already, and looked sickly. Was that an invitation? I could never tell. "You want to know me better?" I asked hesitantly. "Hah, no. I have a synthskin droid in my room already, and it''s below standards. Why would I want a talking one?" the Fallanassi leader replied with a dismissive gesture. Right, I wondered why she had purchased a simulacra droid without connectify links. Now I didn''t want to know. "So, about Solanus...what did it do to you?" I mused, scanning her again. She seemed a normal human but...I wasn''t so sure anymore. And Solanus was too crafty to be obvious. "Just polished my own skills and implanted them back, and better. Nothing to worry about" Nashira replied curtly. "Okay then. But if there''s a new thing, and it''s hard to control, you''ll let me know, okay? I promised you sanctuary..." I said softly. She nodded but stayed silent. Okay then. She''ll tell me if she needs help. Maybe. Probably. Possibly. Not likely. ''Pef, your Zeison Sha maid took a frigate and left. Along with 7 billion credits and a contact Lucrehulk. Should I order a pursuit?'' Dora asked cautiously through the Voice bond. Ah, the bait worked after all. I was beginning to doubt she cared for her people. ''Protective detail at long range. She took fertilizers and construction droids.'' ''So, she went home, to save her people too. 7 billions is just 7 thousands credits per capita. They won''t last long.'' Dora calculated rapidly. ''It''s winter. More will survive this way'' I answered, feigning a disinterested shrug though the bond. ''Magnificent bastard. You planned this, from the start!'' Dora exclaimed, pulsing adoration and devotion. ''Love you too'' I concluded and let the bond go. I''ll be home soon enough. Nashira opened her eyes, and stared at me for a few seconds. "That was Dora, I think. And you''re feeling proud and content. Did another planet join?" she wondered, forming a realistic doppelganger of Dora in front of me. Kriff, she mastered it all. Almost. This Dora wasn''t feeling any emotion. I tried it too, but only a few triangular shapes appeared, my construct worthy of pacman and other 80'' games. I made it stick out a single red pixel for a tongue, then it crashed and broke into holographic shards. "Don''t worry, one day I''ll master it too. It just takes patience" I muttered, not feeling envious at all. "But not today. You''re also the first droid to learn the Current, so we can overlook your handicap" the woman said politely, and smiled sheeply while closing her eyes again. Gah. I was not handicapped. Misunderstood genius. Yeah. With ADD. And no heart. Well, maybe a crystal heart. Planet Gand, Pef Empire On board Celestial Throne "Whoa, you mashed two Lucrehulks together? And made it your capital! How did you fix the gravity plates?" Jaybo exploded with questions, again. "All gravity is oriented towards the planet. The vertical arms have elevators and apartments, like skyscrapers. In space" I explained with a smile. "Oh. That makes sense. But you need to cover it up, and make it a sphere. Like an artificial moon!" the boy exclaimed. Yea, let''s not give people ideas. "The horizontal donut will be, for parks and stuff. But we don''t need that much space, or have enough armor plates here" I replied gently, while floating towards the Avatar lab. Time to poke and prod the original donor, and begin growing the test clones. ''Bendu says hi. And wants to see you and all your maids and Voices'' Wialu sent through the bond, along with a few images. Yeah, no. Not gonna jump around for anyone no more. If I could help it. ''You have a ship, and he''s not a god or an ocean, yet'' I replied politely. A long pause followed that, and I began to worry. ''Okay, he''s still laughing. I''ll stop by and pick him up when we finish the Lothal visit. Anything else?'' Wialu sent, with a hint of exasperation in her aura. What, I made the reindeer-gorilla laugh, that had to be good... The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Hmm. She was ranging quite far north. Maybe Drongar ? ''Go to Drongar and harvest half the bota plants. Maybe transplant some. They''ll all die soon anyway'' I sent and waved away the bond. "Was that my new mom?" Jaybo asked, poking curious at my kyber crystal embedded in my armor. Wait, new mom? What did that woman tell him? Or did he think Vette... "Wialu, not Vette" I answered as I lifted him up on a medbay table. My surgeon droids clicked their scalpels in anticipation. "Will you cut off my head and place it in a crystal jar, like Vette said you did to bad people? Cause I wasn''t that bad, last week..." the boy asked curious and quite scared. "Hmmm. Only if you''ll be awful bad. For now, vaccines and tests. But, if you really want to, I guess we could cut a finger..." I mused, pretending to think it through, with a raised pinky finger, towards his nose. "Well...if it''s for science, and really important, a finger may be worth it" Jaybo declared in a serious tone, holding his pinky up as well. Huh, this was true dedication, almost reaching yakuza or Van Gogh levels. "Eh, it''s kinda small. We''ll wait till you grow up, and have manly fingers" I answered in a serious tone as well. "Deal" he concluded, hooking his pinky in mine and swearing on it. He''ll make a great Primarch, someday. I began the trials, while making the kid pass out with a puff of sleeping gas. Guess I could test more things at once, and see if pain wakes the subject up. A few hours later, the boy woke up and counted his fingers with some emotion. "Toes are fingers too" I said politely, and laughed inwards at his rapid examinations. "Yeah, I knew that. So, are we compatible?" he spoke in a more serious voice. "I can probably upload even into a tree or probe droid, but the markers I test deal with force connectivity." I said, reading the midichlorians levels again. My own form was artificial and didn''t even have midichlorians, and was perhaps the main limiting factor for my range and abilities meant for organics. But, looking at the numbers on this detector... Damn boy was almost a Skywalker. And too old to be made into a Jedi. My gain. If it wasn''t claimed, Pef will take it. Planet Gand, Pef Empire Golden Throne, the Avatar Lab 24 BBY third month. My surgeon droid placed the tiny clone in a nutrient bath, and closed the incubator gently. Transference took less than a minute, since the little thing barely had a few neurons. Okay, now let''s try two abilities at once, agelessness and acceleration. With two different partitions. Breathe deeply, and start. Twice speed. Under the electron microscope, the cells began dividing faster, and still not losing any telomere length. Three times speed. Still the same. The infant was in mild pain from bone growth. Four times. My normal combat speed. Telomere still constant. Pain was reaching acute levels. Five times. Minor heating of self. Telomere wobbling. Okay, let''s back off slightly. 4.9 times, still wobbling. 4.8 telomere vibrate slightly. 4.7 telomere appear stable. Organic self level of pain: chronic. Neural probe. Shunt pain to emulated medium. Organic self stabilizing. Heart rate too rapid. Inject relaxants. Heart rate nominal. Now, my first organic self should grow into a man, in 3 years. A bit too long. Then athletic and force training...3 more years. Normal speed for the Kamino clones already surpassed, by cheating gloriously with the force. Not ideal, but at least I had my Avatar. Okay, let''s build a Holocron pouch now. The soup rose around the small zygote and began encapsulating it into a cube. 3 tiny kyber crystals, barely as small as a sand particle, pushed with telekinesis gently, one beside the heart and two inside the faint impression of a skull. Place the power gem instead of a kyber key. The soup solidified around 60 centimeters in length and 20 centimeters wide. Hopefully the Force will be smart enough to figure it out, and stop the crystals inside the brain growing too large. And twist and lock. My first Rakata style Holocron, containing myself. Huh. Palpatine would have a heart attack. Now, let''s imprint breathing, meditation, agelessness and acceleration. And done. The tiny Pef should know what to do. I hope. ''Solanus says you''re a little crazy. Solana thinks you''re a bit more'' Solana sent through the Voice bond, ignoring the hypocrisy of her own existence being my inspiration. If Solanus could build himself a daughter, I could too. Perhaps. Maybe. Eventually. I stopped the abilities on my two partitions, reducing the force gradually. The holocron pouch began glowing brighter and brighter as it began powering itself up. Kriff, I knew I forgot something. Soon the whole galaxy will feel this. Imprint hide in light and hide in shadow. The holo Pef got the idea instantly, and the brightness disappeared. And now we wait. It should hatch soon, if my calculations are correct. Maybe 3 months or 5. I placed the holocron inside the pouch I made for it in my armor, then climbed inside too. Hmmm. I hope Avatar Pef will know to knock first. Or the inside of this armor will be quite cramped. I just made myself pregnant with myself, using another male''s genes to do it. Ah, I was almost a Hutt now. When I stepped out of the lab, Dora was there to pat my belly with loving eyes. "What name will you give him?" she asked, bouncing her green leku in curiosity. "Avatar, I think. And perhaps Peffy in more intimate contexts" I mused, thinking of my other avatars in another galaxy. "I can feel him, through the bond. Almost like I''m carrying him myself" Dora said softly, and hugged my power armor with adoration. Okay, this was a bit strange, even for star wars. Then again, the Force is a pathway to many abilities, some considered to be...unnatural. I bet you don''t know who first said that. Shark in the pool Planet Gand, Pef Empire Celestial Throne, Mechatronic Art Lab 24 BBY, fourth month Jaybo is floating in mid-air next to me, and struggles to rotate two nano-missiles around himself, going in opposite circular trajectories. "It''s too hard! Why do you keep having me punished like this..." the red headed boy complained, for the hundredth time. Huh, was it too hard? I could do this with two battleships...a Nano missile was really light. Maybe the organics did have it too hard. But what about Yoda and Starkiller and who knows how many others? "Do you want to try the sand box again?" I asked, a bit bored. On this partition. The others we''re busy building ships and inventing new droid forms and learning a thousand ancient languages... "Sand is worse!" Jaybo yelled and lost his balance, falling on the large fluffy pillow under him. Healing broken bones a dozen times didn''t work. Thus, pillow for now. I''ll have to get a water tank with sharks someday. Maybe that will motivate the boy better. "A sand grain weighs 50 micrograms. They are quite easy to lift and push and everything" I answered softly. "It''s not the weight, dumb droid. It''s the millions of sand grains that get everywhere!" the boy cried with exasperation, and punched the metal floor. He punched a bit of center and broke his pinky knuckle. Again. To his credit, he absorbed the pain and ignored it, since the training session wasn''t over. I should reward him for this. Maybe 10 credits? No, he lost control of his emotions still. 5 credits should be enough. "Don''t yell so loud, you''re scaring the baby" I admonished him, patting my armor''s belly in a protective gesture. The boy gulped and looked away sheepishly. "A turbolaser wouldn''t harm the baby, inside the holocron. I know how to build them too" he replied in a calmer voice. "Emotions can hurt even more. So, what did you learn today?" I inquired, holding my palm out. He placed his own hand inside it and waited patiently for the bones to fuse back to normal. "Guiding a single nano-missile to target is feasible. Guiding two at once...not yet. But, I could build a chaingun and fire them sequentially, guiding each one. I''ll just have to get faster. Or use a cyborg implant." he answered after going through a checklist in his mind. "Okay then, I''ll build you a speed training room. The floor will be a water pool, so prepare yourself" I said with some amusement. "Water? That''s great! At least if I fall, I will only get wet, and not break anything. You truly are a merciful Emperor, Immortal Pef" Jaybo declared, punching the sky in the traditional Empire salute. Yeah, keep thinking happy thoughts, my son from another father. The sharks will do the same. "Okay, go do whatever, you have 6 hours leisure time" I concluded the training session. "Can I have a hundred credits?" Jaybo asked, with some nefarious project in mind. "No!" "10?" "5!" I said instead, giving him a high-five. "5 credits yay, ice cream!" the boy exclaimed with glee and took off at a run. His VSS escort moved along, droids and invisible Fallanassi and Gands. They got to practice in safety, and the boy wasn''t even aware they existed. Alright then, chainguns. Good idea Jaybo, I forgot about those. First, an anti-starfighter version for our spaceships, gatling lasers should be easy to make. Then, similar variant installed on gunships and personnel carriers. And lastly, personal weapon for ground troops and droids. Less damage per bolt compared to blasters, but much higher rate of fire and volume saturation. Maybe a maser variant as well, for the future. The large walkers I''m designing based on Warhammer memories and the ZIMM war robot should have one as well. Now, let''s return to the actual warmachines. Tanks. Three versions, a heavy one with tracks. A medium one with wheels, and a light variant with wheels and repulsor lifts, for really difficult terrain. Umbara tech came in handy now, their shields and fire control systems were amazing. At least a generation above the rest of galactic tech. And their underground tanks will make decent testbeds for other submerged environments, like sand and water worlds. I checked the Meteor partition, and noticed 200 new hulls being almost ready, in various asteroid fields scattered throughout the sector. Gonna have to bring them all at Redforge and get them fitted too. Greyforge was now building corvettes and transport vessels, and keeping a interdictor cruiser on station, in case a curious Jedi returned. And Blackforge was building the upgraded Scimitar interceptors, with shields and turreted lasers, with the cyborgs training to become elite pilots. All was going well, so far. ''Pef, there''s someone here to see you. She might be the Jedi you talked about.'' Dora sent through the bond. Great. Didn''t even feel her. I hoped I didn''t have to use the carbonite trap. Sending her back to Coruscant as a slab of ice would be pretty embarrassing, for both of us. Access station files, ah yes. It was the blonde immortal. Now being walked towards the Ambassadors Hall, by a pair of sim droids, wearing synthskin to appear more palpable to organics. I turned off a few experiments to focus more partitions on this meeting. ''Wialu, status?'' I asked through the bond. ''Still collecting bota plants. They are amazing Pef! They can heal and increase the force connection..." ''Yeah, I know. Vette is still alive then'' I said, with a slight teasing tone. ''She bought 50 more Calamari frigates, she likes them for some reason. Still hunting pirates and same old.'' she explained with a flash of images with exploding pirate vessels and slave camps being rescued. ''Place an order for more cruisers too. Even without turbolasers'' I demanded, worried I may need ships sooner than the building cycle would permit. ''Okay. Take care of yourself and the baby'' Wialu sent with a pulse of mild worry. Right. Let''s see what the Jedi wants. I entered the high speed elevator and reached the Embassy deck before the Jedi did. Let''s sit down this time, this was the center of my Empire after all. "Miss Jedi" I said politely as the droids closed the doors behind her. "Master Jedi Fay, please" she answered with a tone of disgust. Right, Jedi hate droids too. But, claiming to be a Master Jedi implies Senate rules and authority. "What can my Empire do for you, beautiful Jedi, who operates without Senate oversight?" I asked instead, and caught a brief glimpse of guilt in her aura. "I came to apologize Emperor Pef. Your actions and those of your followers give you credit. I may have been..hasty, the last time we met" Fay muttered in a low voice. "Right, what''s a torpedo to the chest, between friends...." I replied politely, and gestured dismissively. "Friends may be too much. I visited Zolan though, and what you claimed is true. Those people...they don''t deserve to be treated like that. Perhaps you can grant them sanctuary?" she asked with a slight push of persuasion. Damn it. "If you file an official request, miss Jedi. There''s a few dozens planets in my Empire with low populations and fertile land. Room and safety is not the problem. Legality might be. There''s been complaints already, of my harsh measures to restore safety in this sector. Especially around Jabiim, but also Junkfort and Taskeel and others." I answered sternly. Seems the Republic doesn''t like when other people prove capable of doing what they don''t. "Yes, I heard of that. Thousands of pirates butchered, by your so called Honored Maids. The poor pirates who had their traditional ways destroyed by your heavy hands actions. I visited those planets too, just to see what the truth is." Fay said with a tiny smile. So, you won''t find nefarious acts in how I treat my people. Quite the contrary. "And?" I asked with a bored tone. "I spoke with a number of your Imperial Servants. None of them wanted to leave and seek freedom in the Republic. Very strange." the Jedi said with a confused vibe in her aura. "The Servants can always file a petition for manhumition and get a ticket to Corellia. Some of them did that already. If they had family in the Core or similar reasons." I said politely, checking the petition numbers again. One in a hundred or so. Seems freedom to starve is not as valued as service to the Empire, after all. "Fine. I want a transport fleet, and escorts. Extracting the changelings may prove a little difficult just by myself." Fay demanded with an annoyed voice. "Why not ask your Jedi Council? The Republic has twenty thousand warships. Just go and demand it, as your rank allows" I asked curious. "I''d rather not step on Coruscant. The Force is strange there, and I feel I won''t get out alive. And it''s been that way for centuries. But you already knew that, Immortal Emperor." Fay explained with sarcasm and tiny tendrils trying to burrow into my memories. But I wasn''t unprepared now. "You think it''s a fake title, miss Jedi. But I spoke with Xim, the fabled ruler of this sector in the past. I spoke with Adus, the fabled ruler of the Sith species. I spoke with gods and angels and powerful beings that can juggle entire stars. The Force is not a Jedi tool, Miss Fay. One day you will learn, maybe before you die or maybe after" I proclaimed mystically, covering myself in flames and lightning and creating wings made of shadow behind me. The Jedi stared at me, trying to test the veracity of my words, and the abilities I used. "Your words ring true, somehow. And it seems you learned alot from the Tund sorcerers. Your armor is even better now, as well. What is your goal, immortal droid?" she asked, a little in awe, but also cautious. "Civilization miss Fay. You will get your fleet, if you choose to stay and teach the changelings. In two years, you will get to see the truth for yourself. And perhaps, you will join me, after you die" I proclaimed, punching the sky. "Okay...That didn''t sound crazy at all. Two years...and teaching. I hate teaching..." the jedi muttered as she turned away and left, lost in thought. I looked after her and smiled inward. The bait worked after all. Fay will be saving the changelings, providing the Empire with a large number of shapeshifting operatives, and she''ll provide training for them, and legitimacy to intervention in Republic space. Her being strong and beautiful and immortal wouldn''t hurt either. Maybe she''ll want the Honored Maid role someday. And a sample for gene-tech of highest quality for my Astartes, and a way to access the Temple and their holocrons in the future. The fleet and their crews get training and practice in large scale deployments over 10 sectors away... Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Yeah, patience and Form Zero were still the best. Interlude Fay 24 BBY ''Kriff, the droid played me again, somehow.'' Fay thought, while she entered her ship''s hangar. That air of smugness was telling her lots about the kind of person this Pef was. Even back at the ''secret shipyard'' the droid was smug and confident, like nothing could hurt or bother him. And now the droid emperor was even more competent and stronger in the force. She had visited Tund a hundred years ago and observed the sorcerers. Refugees of old, with barely some rituals and elemental powers. Only their ancient shields and being a reclusive group, with some mind alter skills, have kept them secure till now. And then Pef waltzed in, and blasted away with proton bombs, scattering the cabal and possibly killing most of them. But she suspected a cover up, or an extraction, and now her feeling was proved right. The droid kept some of those Sith as teachers. Maybe even all of them. The force hadn''t scream of death and pain. Just like he did with those Jal Shey nomads. Sanctuary. The word was loaded with meanings, and the Force wasn''t helping, instead veiling the meaning in shadow and blankness. Pol Virten was now rotting in a Republic prison, his string of theft and murder brought to an end. But, the clawdite''s silly attempt to become a Sith Lord aside, there was real danger in the galaxy. And the bounty hunter she recovered had vague memories of the word as well. Something was hunting force users, including Jedi. And Master Qui-Gon Jinn had been killed by a Sith, with a red lightsaber. That hinted of a hunter, all right. Coruscant was still pulsing of danger and hidden threats, and seemed even more dangerous now than in the past centuries. Here, however, in the new Pef Empire things were better. Those women with fleets and droid armies were scouring the sector, building civilization, exactly like the droid said. Three Twi''leks, a Togruta, 3 humans or near-humans and 2 droid maids. The droids were possibly other of his kind, with force-sentient crystals inside. And now rumours of even stranger maids, an angel and a woman made of water. And Pef did indeed knew Master Aqinos. She had seen the sunesi in the droid''s mind, when they first met. But to have met Xim and Adus? Gods? Seemed so improbable to defy all reason. Only all things were possible in the force, and crystals could indeed live for millenia. Kriff. How to do this and not have to answer in front of the Council. Master Yoda was gentle, but... Nevermind. She''ll wing it, like she always did. The Force sent her here, the Force could figure it out. Fay walked around her ship, checking for tampering, but it seemed the Empire did indeed respect diplomatic immunity. Only medical and weapon scans, which were quite sensible. Plagues could be carried unknowingly and devastate entire planets. Although, this Pef...might repurpose the plague to make fertilizer or medicine pyramids, like it happened here on Gand or Toong''l. Terraforming entire planets...in months or even weeks. Along with housing and schools and factories... The droid was indeed building civilization. But how did Pef make all these people follow him? Nobody trusted droids. And yet his Empire spread now from Mon Cala to the Centrality, with possibly dozens of uncharted routes, known only to the Empire. And that thing about joining him, after she died? That was the Jedi code, but taken literal. Okay, enough hesitation. Saving people was always the right choice. Even strange people like changelings. Fay started writing the damn official request, using her old codes, that were somehow never discontinued. Master Yoda had to have been covering up for her, even after all this time. Ten minutes later, a droid entered the hangar, carrying a tiny golden hand and a credit chip. "Miss Fay, the fleet is being assembled at Junkfort in 5 days. Requisition privileges and money for fuel and humanitarian aid. Congratulations for your choice, Fifth Hand" the droid spoke with its creepy vocoder and held a palm up. What? She took the chip and scanned the contents curious. 125 billions credits! She could...save an entire people and build them a whole country, brand new. And still have lots of credits left..for schools and neural training, just like the Servants received. The droid kept the palm up, expecting some kind of response. She looked in the force for intent, but it seemed a mere confirmation gesture. Slapping palms together. She held her own palm up, and the droid high-fived her, while pushing needles in her finger tips. What the kriff? "Genetic confirmation acquired. Welcome to the Pef Empire, Miss Fay" the droid said politely, and left at speed. Fay stared after the droid, not minding the tiny needle pricks, which had closed instantly. Genetic confirmation, though? What did it mean? She had a tiny feeling that the droid tricked her again, somehow. Planet Gand, Pef Empire Redbox 24 BBY The holoprojection of Planet Geonosis closed, and I turned my head 90 degrees coreward. "Anything else, Third Hand?" I asked my black ops master, who was sitting beside me, disguised like a regular operative. "The force trackers still do not work in hyperspace, Immortal Gand. We''re still trying to acquire the technology for that, but nobody seems to manufacture it, anymore. And the schematics your Voice have provided, only work short range, just a parsec at most, and usually even less" he explained, triggering a hidden function on his hand insignia. Another holo opened, rotating the Scimitar original schematics, that Wialu had drained from Darth Maul. Our own variant appeared next to it, sporting 3 laser turrets and an Umbaran heavy shield. I thought for a moment, then changed the frontal turret with a multiple missile launcher. Sublight speed increased by 5% more, due to less drain on the reactor, while the alpha strike capability increased 10 times. But the range of the hyperspace tracker didn''t increase at all. This variant should work better. Maybe. Budget adjustment, 10 billions in total. "Is it a question of scale? Let''s try it with a cruiser. Use the MC80 reactor and electronic slicer bank. I know it can work for at least 100 parsecs. I''ve seen it work, in the future. But I want it now." I mused, thinking about the New Order''s tech. "Yesss. We know you see the future Immortal Gand. Your foolish demand will be tried. Perhaps some Findsmen will even survive, like those five which survived and returned from Tython. We were overwhelmed by your generosity, and their new Finger ranks. Maybe one day, we will be granted a Thumb and a Backhand as well..." The gand said, probably ironically. "I was thinking Claw, for ace pilots or such, but if you think it''s too much..." I asked, a little confused. My Hand stared at my photoreceptors for a long minute. Was it something I said? "Zuralee was right, you really are a stupid droid, my Emperor. I''ll let my new subordinates know there was a translation error and that their rank is actually called Claw. Maybe they won''t suicide in shame now. For the Empire!" he said politely, punched the sky and vanished. Okay...crisis averted. Now, let''s see about the Centrality operations. The search for the croke was still ongoing, every encounter costing me at least one good agent. How did Lando simply shoot him in the ankle and kill it? It didn''t work! Open operation, 779/24a. Loyal sentient droid implanted with a photon bomb. To acquire verification and send a subspace signal to an orbital insertion team. Or so he''ll think. Instead the bomb will activate, and get rid of evidence. Prepare variant, 779/24b in case the target escapes. Orbital bombardment. Did I need a variant 24c? Whatever, why not? Escalation was easy. Budget 100 millions. What else? Ah yes. Tactical droids. CIS liked those. Open operation 1231. Acquire some tactical droids. Variant 1/a Subvert and resell to CIS worlds. Variant 1/b Subvert and keep as deniable assets to be used against Republic and/or CIS targets. Variant 1/c Subvert and keep as commanders and administrators, post war. Budget 100 millions. Hmmm. Jedi and the Republic liked the R2 and 4 variants for astromechs. Open operation. 1232. Variant 1/a Subvert and resell to Core worlds. Variant 1/b Subvert and keep as deniable assets to be used against CIS targets and/or Republic targets per need. Variant 1/c Use as infiltrators and saboteurs in black ops missions. Budget 100 millions. What else... "Pef, how are you?" Dora said, having entered the Redbox and sat silently beside me for a few minutes. "Hey Dora. Just thinking. What do you think?" "I think that I think. We''re getting bigger Pef. Already the amount of people and ships and credits I juggle is overwhelming. And I assume you''ll want to expand into the Ash Worlds and wild space too." My first Voice complained, but in a less ironical voice. She was the best! "Well, we did find a route to Agon Nine. Altratonne looks promising too. A good place to hide the changelings perhaps." I mused, looking at the map rotating slowly above the holotable. "And Vette liberated Byss from slavers. The one-eyed Abyssin now worship her. The Blue Holy Maiden, they call her. They will join the Empire with ovations and prayers, I think" Dora said softly, hugging me with one arm and patting the armor on its belly. They probably will. And we''ll have to install planetary shields and deep water wells. Then fertilizers and factories...Whatever. It was just money. "How many Meteors do you plan on building, we already have 267 of those monsters, I think?" the green twi''lek wondered. "Oh, those sharks? Millions maybe." I answered, amused at Dora''s gasp. I chose their final shape to resemble a Interdictor-class cruiser, with the mouth smaller and mobile, and when open wide, allowed the MAC guns to fire forward their magnetically accelerated iron shells. The operation principle of a MAC is that of a coilgun, with projectile friction mitigated by forcefields. The cannon fires a massive metal projectile using a linear system of magnetic fields coils down a long shaft, increasing the projectile''s velocity until it carries an incredible amount of kinetic energy. Enough to shatter ships and shields, even planetary shields. The ship''s maw will have strong shields that allow only one dimensional traverse, from inside to outside the ship, allowing the ship to use the cannons while under fire, and will also be protected by missile launchers and gatling lasers. The eyes will be added later, when we''ll have gravity interdiction technology, and for ears...sublight engines to turn and aim the front of the ship faster. The upper fin will house communication and electronic warfare equipment as well as superfiring capital turrets to engage other large vessels. And the lateral wings will be added later, to serve as heat radiators. Melting asteroids wasn''t yet advanced enough to form a complete shark shape, so I''ll have to chisel them out with nanites. Mork work for the beloved Emperor. Speaking of sharks, my water pool was ready. I patted Dora on her head, and left the boring work to have fun. Training Jaybo to become fast. With sharks, in a waterpool. Tank testing Planet Gand, Pef Empire Celestial Throne 24 BBY, fifth month "You''re toying with me! All the known planets in the sector are ours. 566 systems with planets, and 2300 or such star systems without. How long till you make me immortal?" Ventress asked, controlling her emotions better now. Solana attempted a smile, with her half hologram/half water-woman lips. Didn''t quite work, and if I still felt things, it would be probably fear and sliminess. If that was a feeling. "Well, beloved maid. There are three possible answers. First, I make you my Voice, and bond your soul to mine. But, that will mean you''re always under observation, in all your future existence, which may last a trillion years or longer. I can''t see that far." I mused out loud, raping my armored fingers on the Golden Throne armrest, in a familiar march, sometimes known as Vader''s entry. "Oh. Always? Forever and ever?" she said, with some hesitation. I nodded patiently. Well. Most likely. "The second option, biological immortality. You will never age, and your mind will not degrade substantially for about a million years, maybe less, depending on the amount of information you receive." "Ageless, but a lucky headshot or a lightsaber to the neck, and I''ll die. So, a thousand years, if I''m lucky." Ventress answered, her enthusiasm slightly less now. Yes, or a bioweapon and much sooner. "And the third option, a phylactery. Like my Avatar will be. Your soul linked to a holocron and depending on your force connection and capacity to learn, able to reincarnate. There are risks too, like losing the holocron or such." I explained with some amusement. The woman hesitated, calculating risks and advantages. "The other maids, they all chose the Voice. Why?" she asked with some annoyance. She did have a highly independent streak though. "Safety of course. And knowing I''ll always be there for them. To love and cherish them, till the end of time" I replied seriously. Choosing a Voice was serious business after all. "How? I can''t imagine..." she said with a short shiver. Gah, another droid hater. "I have another way. Demolecularization by Solanus. He''ll give you a new body, just as pretty as mine" Solana added with a pirouette, showcasing her assets. Huh, she did choose a body shape exactly like I liked, a blue Lara Croft. Probably stolen from my mind, along with Cortana, and other sources of inspiration... "Hell, no!" Ventress exclaimed and fled the throne room. Why would she hate water though? I thought only Jaybo did. Since a month ago. The boy did get a lot faster however. Sharks motivate kids even more than electricity. Make a note to add the water pool to the Sanctuary curriculum. Make a second note, research for a shark-hybrid with a scorpion as well. Human body had to have higher speed limits. Solana stepped closer to me and poked my belly with curiosity. "Baby Pef should hatch next month. If Immortal Pef didn''t make any error." she observed through some arcane means. "Yeah, the clone will emerge just fine. But will it be like me? Will it be sane? What if it starts blowing up stars?" I asked rhetorically. "Solanus wonders the same about Solana. But Solanus took a risk. Made new life. And molded Solana to be what Pef needed. An immortal companion, like Pef dreamed of. A bit crazy, or maybe even more" my Voice said, sitting in my lap and molding herself comfortable on my armor. "A great war will start soon, half the galaxy fighting the other. And after that...much worse." I mused with a soft voice. "War never ends. Solanus has not felt peace in a billion years. But some wars, they must be won. Make an armored suit for Solana, will you?" she demanded with a stern voice. Why would... "You''re going to hunt that Sith croke, by yourself?" I asked surprised. She was kinda new at being alive. "Pef is willing to blow up a starship or a city, just to end this threat. Solana thinks she will be enough. And reduce death a little." She argued, quite convincingly. "Try to drain him if you can. 20 millennia is a long time to learn skills" "Solana doesn''t waste good brains. She learns from Pef. She is the perfect Voice." the water woman replied sensually, and floated away, already using her pad to request a ship and funds for her expedition. Huh. What has she been watching on her pad? That was almost seductive. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. For an alien. Made of water. ''I heard that!'' she sent before she left the room. Gah. I will be under surveillance, forever and ever, till the end of time... Kriff, what have I done? Planet Gand, Pef Empire EA testing ground, Silicon mountains. I walked around, testing the mobility of the power armor on the rocky ground. Seemed good enough traction for me. The heavy tank in front of me was struggling however, trying to climb the incline on their tracks. Zuckuss wore a repulsor belt and floated beside, and was sipping a drink. He was lazing around like a boss...possibly my fault, since I do kinda float around on the station. But, that''s only to reduce the huge noise the armor made while smacking into the metal floors with 3 tones of armor. Make a note, rubber soles for power armor. Or whatever the galactic fashion was. Could be scarlak skin this month. A medium tank rolled up the slope with little effort passing us and the heavy tank and joining the light tank already waiting on the ridge. I turned around, and looked over my planet. Blue sky, green grass, red trees. Home. Hey, I remember that tree! I planted it myself...along with a million others. "Is it a good dream, my friend?" I wondered, maybe not loud enough. "The Dream just is. Good and bad, just words. Zuckuss likes the green though. And the tanks you dreamed are nice as well, Emperor Pef" Zuckuss said wisely. Hmmm. He and Zuralee were basically leading the Gand people now, with Mujilik retraining himself on Sanctuary, and getting stronger in the force. "I think I''ll double their armor again, and use the heavy tanks for sieges. They''ll never keep up with the mechanized infantry and light tanks." I said with a sigh, watching the heavy tank slide back a little. I should add more tracks to each tank, at least three pairs, and reduce the pressure of contact, that would help somewhat with muddy terrain or sand. "See, I knew you weren''t stupid, after all. Using heavy tanks to climb mountains, kriff! Did any of the tanks, in the wars you saw in your visions, do that?" my First Hand asked curious. "No, but I hoped the reactor-powered engines will be strong enough..." I said with a sheepish voice. Then again, the heavy tanks fared as well as the tanks of the 21st century, while weighing 20 times more. "Ask someone smart next time. And don''t waste months on projects that don''t work" he concluded, too wise again. Great. Solana was right again, I kept making mistakes, by trying to seem smarter than I was. ''I did say that. Keep trying Pef, you''re still young.'' My Voice said from where ever she was, in hyperspace. I had the droid tankist turn his heavy vehicle around and test the downslope speed limit. Much better now. ''Open fire on the lead tank. Light weapons first'' I demanded, and watched the fireworks go, the only less visible shots being the prototype light MACs. The only way to detect them was by impact points. Would work perhaps, against unprotected targets. But energy costs were much higher, and the acceleration rails were too short. Tanks were impervious, at least the heavy tanks. Keep it as prototype, and test against all types of targets, from beasts to droids and various armored mannequins. No wonder the galaxy didn''t have rail guns and coil guns, except a few force powered ones in myths. Accelerating a projectile for 19 kms of rails on a spaceship worked much better than 5 meters on tanks. Plus the spaceship reactors were much stronger, and vacuum didn''t slow down the projectile through friction, like it happened in atmosphere. I''ll have to think of a way to use proton torpedoes as anti-tank weapons on my armored vehicles. I did test their effectiveness myself, with my armor. Ah, Fay. Having a clever Jedi on my side might prove even more worth than I thought. Still, the Clone Wars were an assured victory. Better concentrate my research and weapon development on maser guns, which were certain to work on the Vong. Sure my maser tech is ancient, courtesy of the Crusades, and thus less powerful, but at least it''s reliable, and doesn''t use consumables. Turbolasers needed tibanna gas, and had less effective damage on the Vong bioarmor, and rail guns would require projectiles, thus more consumables. More logistics and more delays if I wanted a sustained offensive. For now, I will focus on cheap droids and fast repulsor tanks, backed up by siege tanks. Once we had the orbitals, any planet was certain to fall in weeks, so I wasn''t worried about ground warfare. I will just bury my enemies in droids. And hopefully during the Clone Wars, I will find better weapons. Dark woman Planet Gand, Pef Empire Celestial Throne. 24 BBY, sixth month. My Voices are all coming home, almost at once. Lira finished her tour of the Centrality, Wialu has finished harvesting the Botaplants, and is detouring to pick up Bendu on her way back. Solana has finished her own task and drained Gupta, saving the Centrality of another series of genocides. And Luxum, she wants to introduce me to her mother, Illum. Ray is still searching the lanes in the Galaxy North, collecting Vong samples, and avoiding their large ships. Vera is trying to uplift her people, but doesn''t have enough resources. She''ll be back soon. Celine has established an Art College on Toong''L, and seems happy to nurture young artists from the various species in our empire. Angie is on the same ship with Lira, while Vette... Vette has found a another Jedi, living alone, on a planet called Cophrigin V. Those gloves of hers are cheat codes I swear. Got to get my mitts on a pair as well. She sent me a short holo, saying "Found a cool girl, living alone in a garden. Gonna plant some of those bota saplings here and figure her out. The garden is nice too, why don''t you have a garden, stupid dro...". Then a lightsaber swhooshed and interrupted the transmission. Purple lightsaber, like Kraya''s. God, I hope it''s not really Kreya. Make a note, get myself a garden. Maybe even a large park, in the center of the Celestial Throne. Order transparisteel plates for the roof and armor and gravity plates for the upgrade. 100 million budget. Damn, a garden is just a bunch of seeds and some soil, why does it cost this much? The Findsman captain on Vette''s ship reported everything is alright, my blue twi''lek and a woman with silver hair are just chatting and exchanging stories. Kriff, if I get an introduction by Vette, that loner Jedi will be assaulted with fake notions that flit through Vette''s leku. Mostly fake. Some of them are true, even if I''m not gonna conquer the galaxy with guns. Not unless I have to. "Jedi should be avoided, you said, sometime-wise Emperor" Zuckuss commented, playing the transmission again. "The main Jedi order, for certain. There are other groups, like Green or Altisian Jedi who are less fanatic. That''s why we have a base on planet Dweem, after all. To keep in contact with them, and help if needed" I said with a sigh. "Zuckuss sees. Shower them with gifts and luxury, till they become dependant and join us anyway. Very wise, for someone who doesn''t eat with his fingers" My Hand commented, possibly sarcastic. Yeah. But what I noticed, was something else. The woman was kneeling and meditating about 15 meters in front of Vette, then the Jedi was instantly present to my maid''s side, and cutting through the holotransmiter. A real teleport ability. The second she heard Vette describe her intention...that same second she had already moved. Her stance hasn''t changed at all. Not jumping to her feet, not opening her eyes...just gone. ''Wialu, after Bendu, collect Vette and her new friend too. She knows how to teleport'' I sent to my Voice, along with a memory of the holo. A pulse of excitement. ''Purple lightsaber...those are the ones sick and oscillating in their minds, like Revan and Kreya, right?'' sheasked back. ''Or worse. Yes.'' I replied with another sigh. Star wars. Why did it have to be so complicated? "What is our stance on spice trade, Immortal Pef?" My Hand Zuralee asked, while working on some projections about trade. "High tax product. Free access only to medical or research labs. The vendors must have proof of origin and quality, along with 90% taxation. Adminstrata Servants and ship officers are restricted from use." I decided after a second of calculations. Keep my leaders clean, and profit from the addicts. "Okay, taxing and confiscation of undeclared cargo, resell on market and give premiums to custom officials. The rest of the funds I will send to hospitals and schools. The Hutts will pay for our education and health budget. Not so stupid after all, Emperor" My second Hand concluded, patting her inflated belly. Seems we''re gonna give birth about the same time. Dora is reading something on her pad, like always, while Ventress...is poking at Darth Maul lightsaber, with such a strong desire it breaks my heart. If I had one. Ok fine. "Change the red crystals and you can train with it. Pick different colors though." I muttered with sadness. Some things won''t change, after all. Ventress will still be Ventress. The woman jumped to hug me, clutching the stick with adoration. "Thank you, thank you. You''re not such a dumb droid after all !" "10 hours per day. No more, no less. And make them white or something." I muttered, patting her back. Huh, she was crying with joy. "Gonna have to tinker with it, make it split into two sabers when I need to. And then practice energy absorption, till I can block them with my neck. Not gonna die, if I can help it" Ventress sobbed into my neck, her breathing calming down. "No rush, adored maid. Maybe you''ll fall in love with my Avatar, if my big hulky frame isn''t to your liking..." I whispered back. "Haha, as if! I''m not gonna love anyone. I will be the Sword Maiden, defending the Empire from all enemies, billions of years from now. Nothing will be able to stop me!" she proclaimed dramatically, punching the sky. Okay...push the crazy away. "Shark pool first. You''re not even remotely fast enough!" I commanded with a sinister laughter. "I hate you! Please use the lightning instead, please!" Ventress cried with desperation, as I chased her towards the door. Ah, being an Emperor had its perks. Planet Gand, Pef Empire Celestial Throne 24 BBY Illum has arrived to visit us. "Mom, this is Pef, my...soulmate" Luxum said, pointing at me. Okay, that was nicely put. We were soulmates, and forever will be. "He keeps your saber on a pillow, at his feet. Is that customary here?" Illum asked with a bit of irony. "That...Pef says, sabers make you rush into danger and die faster. Once I learn everything he knows, I''ll take it back, as a defensive tool" Luxum muttered, somewhat ashamed. The assassin droid housing the shard named Illum looked around, checking out my Throne room, with various pirates weapons ornating the walls. Gold plates and gems and crystals too, along with some works of art like paintings, that my maids have bought and hang on the walls to make them look less rigid and oppressive. "Pef is the richest person in the galaxy. But his capital is made from two rusty transport ships.He built us a brand new trade station on Dweem instead. He''s always this parsimonious?" her mother wondered, talking about me like I wasn''t here. Probably a test. To see if I react. So I did. "Honored Illum. Let me ask you this. The Jedi Order excommunicated you, and Master Aqinos, for melding the Force with technology. But when they call you back, and ask you to die for the Republic, what will you do?" I asked politely, then rose and walked on my thick silicon soles to hug Luxum. Barely any sound. "They won''t. Made it quite clear..." the mother Shard said with sadness. "In less than 18 months, they will. And soon, all your children on Dweem will die, gloriously and with a lightsaber in hand. But dead, nonetheless." I said softly, calling the blue saber, from the pillow to my hand, and then placing it in her droid''s hand. "The rumors about a secessionist movement...they''re true after all. You must have quite a lot of sources in the Senate, Emperor Pef" the Iron Knightess muttered, now a bit more impressed. "We have some, willing or unwilling, that''s true. We trade heavily with Mon Calamari and Saleucami after all. Not quite as heavy as with the Centrality, since I also own half of the big factories there..." I said, letting a hint of amusement out. "You want us to join your Empire then. Stay out of the war, and collect the winnings after." Illum said, revealing her suspicions. What? Why would I not take part in the Clone wars? Those were gonna be the hype for a few years. "Not at all. We will side with Corellia, whatever they decide. The Green Jedi there can marry and have public office. Much less fanatic than the main order and more centered. My aim is to keep them safe, during the conflict. And the Iron Knights too. We are almost family, after all" I explained, patting my Iron Maiden. Luxum leaned on me, and pulsed embarrassment and adoration. "Corellia? And if they remain neutral?" Illum asked, quite astutely. "That might happen, yes. But it won''t last long. They will join the Republic side, once the Republic starts losing" I answered confidently, and turned on the Galactic Map holo. A rough outline of the CIS forces from my memories. My Empire was placed in critical junction point, to reach Saleucami or Mon Calamari fast, and decide a quarter of the war. We were already constructing a trading station at Boonta, to establish legal reasons to position a fleet there, once we were at war. Mining the huge scrapyard in orbit of Boonta. Allowing our citizens to visit the Boonta races and encourage trade routes to Junkfort. The Hutts were happy to receive bribes and more customers. Although, cyber attacks and robberies were ongoing continuously there, it was also a good place to train the VSS and the police forces. Live training, all day long. Mon Calamari in the north was also in fast range of our nearest naval base, which might be New Alderaan, but for now had only a string of code as a designation. And maybe, if we expanded fast enough, we could be in range of Ossus and Lianna, by the time the war began. A deal was being negotiated with Hutts, for the purchase of Annoo, a barren planet devasted during a civil war. I was certain to be able to terraform it back to usefulness. The Servant I sent had a 50 millions credit chip, and was told to keep whatever extra he negotiated for himself. The Hutt will find out, no doubt and be amused. Hutts would appreciate it as a contest, and not force the price too much, just make the Servant sweat, and work hard for his winnings. "You want to obtain Mon Calamari and the Centrality from this war. Maybe even Boonta and Saleucami" Illum said after a few minutes of observing the green stars on the map. Clever shard, all right. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. But she was thinking too small. "If they ask to join me, they can. There are a billion stars inside my Empire''s borders already. In time, we will have hyper-routes to every single one. The Republic has barely a million planets." I said with a soft voice, and closed the hologram. "Your gand Findsmen...you plan to train and grow them. Send millions of them to explore..." Illum said with more awe. "Much better, honored shard. I''ll await your answer, in two years. Luxum, I think it''s time you visited Orax. I saw your homeworld used for slave labor and the ambassadors murdered. Let''s try to prevent it, okay?" I said with sadness, turning towards my Voice. "Yea. I''ll drop mom back on Dweem, and stop on Corellia for a short visit, to buy planetary shields and ground to orbit lasers. Nobody is gonna enslave my people. Not while I live." Luxum declared with conviction. "Of course they won''t, dear maid. You will live forever." I added with a short laugh. The throne room doors opened, and Wialu entered along with a few strange beings. The woman from the holo, a Bendu and Vette. Sigh. This was gonna be interesting. "What is this, more abominations?" the woman demanded, before getting slapped gently by the Bendu, and bit the metal floor. "You''re the abomination, broken woman. Now, let''s see...an Altisian Knight, another one with a Voice, and whatever the hell you are, young man'' Bendu muttered, examining each of us in turn. Planet Gand, Pef Empire A week later. The woman with silver hair thrashed Ventress again with only kicks and punches and using her lightsaber only once. "Dead. Your not-droid master is right. A lightsaber will just kill you faster" she declared, pinning Ventress under her knee, and sizzling the skin on her neck with the purple flashlight. For a few seconds, my maid resisted, coating her neck in Tutaminis, but didn''t last long. "Okay. The creepy jedi with no name wins. Hmmm. I guess we will call her Zero. What do you say Zero?" I asked politely, and separated the women with a force push. Ventress rolled a few times, till she fell in the nearby pool, then jumped outside in a fraction, with a shark going ''snak!'' on her ass. She did get faster, but still not enough. Compared to what monsters some water worlds like Naboo or Mon Cala had, these things were just guppy or goldfish. I drew my maid to me, since she seemed in a bad shape. "Zero...it will do. Let me ask you something else Pef. Where did you say you found this double lightsaber again?" Jedi Zero asked with a stern voice, while examining the Octo-bladed lightsaberthat Darth Maul had used. "Wialu obtained it from some scrapyard world. A man with red skin and no legs had it. Quite an aggressive fellow even like that. My Voice obtained some scraps of information from him, mostly about his old ship, called Scimitar, and the padawan who mutilated him. The name was Kenobi." I explained in a polite tone, while hugging my dear Ventress and healing her. "And now, the red man is dead. You''re certain?" the woman not namedAn''ya Kuro asked, with suspicious eyes. "Oh yes. My Empire is not like the Jedi Order, Miss Zero. We don''t allow enemies to survive and come back later." Iexplained amused. "Y-You...What do you know, damn droid?" she asked with a shocked voice. "I know you failed, Miss Jedi. And the girl you lost. Miss Aurra Sing is quite famous now. If you follow my plan, we can rescue her and make peace between you two. Or let her die...either way, her career will end soon" I mused, patting Ventress on her muscled bottom, as she used my healing as an occasion to rest and draw her breath. "Don''t take liberties with my ass, you idiot droid!" Asajj yelled, and rolled away at speed. "I take whatever I want, my maid. You''re lucky I''m pregnant, or I''ll show you who the idiot is..." I answered amused, and shot a few thin lightning bolts at her. Ventress absorbed them and stuck her tongue at me. Great, really mature of you. I bet Vette taught her that. "How long till you give ''birth?" Miss Zero asked curious, sitting beside me and poking at my inflated armored belly. "Three weeks, or so." I answered, then turned. "Enough rest Ventress, jump in the pool and run ten laps!" I yelled at my maid who wasn''t training. My maid dove deftly in the pool, avoiding the sharks and running along the metal bottom 10 meters deep. "You''re being too kind to her. A pool filled with sand, and scorpions will be better." Zero mused, somehow not happy with my training schedule. "I am making scorpion-shark hybrids. They should be ready next month" I said with a wise nod. "Hmmm. Maybe you''re not such an abomination, after all. Not many Jedi approved of my training methods. And lightning to train the students to absorb energy, quite revolutionary..." the sadistic Jedi praised me, and I pretended to listen. "I''d like you to train my Avatar, Miss Zero. For two years or so." I asked shamelessly. The Jedi didn''t even ask for payment. She blinked confused. "But, it will be a small baby..." "The first day, yes. But he will grow fast. In two years he''ll be about twenty years of age. And he''ll start fully conscious and with most of my memories. Just not very mobile, the first year" I replied patiently. "Oh. That''s...unheard of. Unnatural. Almost like...it''s a clone?" she asked and hesitated. "Yes, of course. I''m just a droid after all. I have no heart and carry a soul made of stone. And while half of my family is happy with me as I am, the rest will need a more, human interface" I answered with a fake sob, and a pulse of heartbreaking sadness. "And, you give me back my girl. Aurra. Or, no deal!" the dark woman argued forcefully. "Cross my heart and hope to die!" I answered truthfully, holding my hand out for a handshake. Miss Zero shook my hand and smiled sadistically. Hand Zero. I almost hadher. Just a little tiny problem, finding Miss Sing, in a galaxy full of criminals and bounty hunters. Okay then, I had to take a page from Dooku, and hold a contest. Boonta seemed a good place to hold it. Planet Gand, Pef Empire Redbox, the secret intelligence deck. (surrounded by red energy shields, and ysalamiri and armor) 24 BBY I mused over a few more variants, but an infiltration on Ord Namurt then returning to Boonta with the fake holocron was still the best one. And it may jog some memories for Miss Aurra. But I had to cheat the odds anyway. "Our agents will plant 10 holocrons, with a lethal coating each. Contact toxins, irradiated paint, and so on. Only the one with Miss Zero''s image will be less than lethal. Let''s make it... fever and vomiting. Easier for our agents to approach the target and propose a cure." I decided, holding a model of said holocron in my hand. Made it myself. My third Hand stared at me for a long minute, and I began wondering if I said something stupid again. "My surviving agents get three females each. The returning mercenaries are grabbing every pretty female around." he demanded, in a crass case of...meritocratic service. I approved whole-heartedly. "Sure. Though I''d recommend force-sensitive females over pretty ones. Looks at my maids if you don''t believe me" I said, in a wise tone. "We noticed, Metal Gand. Your metal maids are even more creepy than you. And Angie and Vette...we have not invented yet the words to describe them. Perhaps spitting-death-in-the-eye-to-see-if-death-cries-like-mammals?" he wondered, and I nodded wisely. They did exactly that. And weren''t even immortal yet. "Okay, how is the VSS doing? Any problems?" I asked, changing the embarrassing subject. "No real tests, yet. Voice Solana is capable of ripping starships and people apart, so the VSS is kinda wasted on her. Voice Wialu is stronger and more capable than the whole VSS at once, so...if she gets taken out, it wouldn''t be in VSS powers to stop it. Voice Luxum is at limit here, as her armor and crystalline nature protects her already from most threats. Master class opponents or starship levels of firepower won''t be stopped by our agents anyway. But, they may secure enough time for an escape. Voice Dora and Voice Lira are the highest risks. We recommend full power armor coverage, at all times, plus ysalamiri backpacks. Even then..." He concluded his report, with a shrug. "And Jaybo?" I asked, noticing he was missing from the list. "The gene donor holds no power in the empire. The VSS is assuming this is training for the Avatar protection." he replied, logically. Hmmm. The Gand had a really pragmatic view of the universe. "Correct. But, he may become a powerful technopath and weapon designer in the future. Able to hold a star system by himself and a few tactical droids." I explained, and my Hand nodded. "Your Hand sees. A future Hand, when little Jaybo grows up. A builder and droid admiral for our empire. Again, your nuggets of wisdom surprise us, Immortal Gand. Please show us more of this kind, and not the other. This Hand will supervise the Holocron operation himself. We expect problems, from Jedi, Sith and Hutts alike. Casualties projected to reach 80%. For the empire!" he declared and vanished with a slight wobble in the air. My Hand understands the situation better than anyone, better than me even. Just the word holocron will attract the wrong kind of attention. Jedi, Dark Jedi, other force-cults, then bounty hunters and collectors. The Findsmen that survive will have proven a better force connection and thus be worthy of propagating their genes even more. And thus, the next generation will be stronger. No wonder they never complain I send them on missions. Their leaders and their whole race wants the weak to die. They see the green fields of Gand, and don''t want them full with weaklings. Wialu entered the redbox too, and came to hug me. Her hair was now fully brunette, and her face and body, even prettier. "Our Miss Zero, knows some Fallanassi teachings. Invisibility and mind shield. And perhaps phasing through walls. My teacher knew it too, but she never got to pass it onto me. She died from a lightsaber." Wialu said softly, her voice remaining calm. "Could have been Darth Plagueis. He was a Muun and Dark Jedi after all." I muttered. Probably not. "Perhaps. But I want you to make sure." she asked me seriously. "Okay, love. I will use my Avatar and search her memories, maybe next year" I said with approval. "Your droid is wearing synthskin?" Wialu asked with a slight frown, as she sensed under my armor for something. I nodded hesitantly. "Ion weapons can still fry the chassis, but it helps." "Hmmm. Fully functional synthskin, I assume?" Wialu asked with a wry smile. "Only the best for the best. And you are better than the rest. I hold you to my chest and..." I started reciting a silly poem. "Shut up! And lock the room." My force waifu demanded, and began taking off my armor. I knew having skin would pay off. Damn I''m so smart! ''Say that again, and I''ll set you on fire'' Wialu replied in the Voice bond. War crimes Planet Gand, Pef Empire Medical lab. 24 BBY Seventh month Wialu and Dora wanted to be present at the birth of my Avatar, and to declare it a national holiday, second only to the Dream being finished. I don''t see why they bother so much, but then again, organics. I''m starting to forget what I should feel. I began organizing three partitions to use for the Avatar, one for full sleeve control, one for dual Sim connection with the Voices, and one for catching the soul back, once the body died. And unlock. The large holocron pulsed with light, and the pain ended. The organocrystals became liquid again, and a baby Pef remained lying on his back on the medbay. Let''s see...fingers...they move, toes...too. Good enough. ''Say Mama'' "Waaawaaa!" Okay, not important for now. Let''s test the Force. Breathe. Tingling all over the skin, then a rush of energy, like I could lift mountains. I held out a finger with my droid self, and the organic self grabbed it with his tiny hand, strong enough to make the servos creak. Quite strong already, but perhaps too early for the shark pool. Milk bottle then. With bota plants extracts added as supplements. Why not cheat harder? Hmmm. Where is the gem? I looked around a little, but it seemed to have melted too. Oh well, I knew were a few more power gems will be. Iridium. And Vette loves hunting pirates. In fact, let''s send her now. Dooku had just made his press release, capturing a Republic holotransmiter and announcing the formation of CIS. The hyperlanes past Saleucami might become closed soon. Huh, milk is gone already. Buy transport of milk, blue bantha milk worked great for Luke Skywalker. Breathe again, test the connection. Maybe a millimeter better already. Make a note, start dosing my maids with the largest non-toxic concentration. Make a note, form Special force operations, begin testing the actual non-toxic limits. Gand and Sith subjects, all ages and genders. A few humans as control group. Make a note, send Angie with a hundred bota crates to Corellia. Get in exchange technology for building our own planetary shields. Meet with the Diktat leaders and assure them of our stance regarding military intervention. Assure them we will follow their lead on galactic policy. She has to work too, for the billion credit chip. Make a note, plant some bota on Sanctuary. Make a note... "Pef, your baby is strange and mutters things aloud, not intelligibly yet" Dora observed. Gah. Wialu is mothering my Avatar, like it is a real child. Feels good though. ''I know. I like it too'' she sent immediately through the bond. Begin acceleration with organic self. 0.1 speed... It hurts! Damn it. Turn it off. Postpone velocities training for 5 months. Damn organics are so fragile... A nanny droid came to take the baby away, and place him in his armored cradle droid. Insert milk dispenser. And done. Time to begin sculpting the first 500 Meteors. I floated towards the hangar docks, feeling much lighter now that Peffy was born and outside my armor. Vette appeared in front of me, pointing a finger in outrage at the transparisteel cover of the cradle droid. "Again! You gave birth without me. That''s it. I''m not going to Iridium or wherever. I''m staying to..." she started yelling. "Vette my love. Think it through. Why don''t you have a Voice already?" I asked softly, and took her in my arms. "Cause...I don''t get it. Nothing I do is right." she muttered with a little despair. "No, if that was the reason, I wouldn''t still love you. Pirates and slavers and dictators and creepy cults. What do they stand for? What stands against them? Guns?" I asked in a mellow voice, carrying her in my arms towards my ship. "Guns help, a lot. But...you mean schools and stuff. It''s just too complicated for me." she complained, turning her head to stare down at the cradle. "Yes. Exactly like that. Schools and hospitals and art and books. Pirates don''t have them, do they?" I continued, and stopped just before embarking. "Oh. I think I get it, almost. I''ll go visit Celine and talk to her. Maybe Lira too. She explains this stuff better." Vette said resolutely, jumping off and running away. Okay then... ''Pef, why does a Hypergem cost 10 billion credits?'' Solana asked out of nowhere. Don''t care. Just offer your credit chip, keep the woman happy. Planet Gand, Pef Empire Celestial Throne 24 BBY Eighth month. Our first batch of 20 kilometer long Meteors has started getting fitted with reactors and turrets and shields. Cost overruns may push this fleet costs towards 1 trillion credits. I''ll pay for them from my pocket, since my empire cannot afford such spendings, yet. I have ordered a thousand new Meteor hulls. And they have begun being melted in the unpopulated systems of my empire. I''ll most likely pay for them too. Ah, the joy of being filthy rich. I barely feel it. But still, no hints of working nano-droids. Guess I''ll have to wait for their actual use in the clone wars. Our Exploration corps have reached planet Targonn and have found a so called Dictator-Forever. A contact Lucrehulk and a relief fleet (meaning light tanks and droid garrisons) is heading there to put a stop to forced child-labor and 99% taxation. Ventress has to blow off some steam somehow. Since the scorpion-sharks made her a little angry. At me. Another fleet is engaged with multiple pirate groups in the Periphery. It seems some Hutts are sponsoring them for sport. Either way, they make great training exercises for our captains and their crew. Our Dakka corvettes have began upgrading with an ion cannon battery at their prow, and two chainlasers in the back, to protect the engines. Capturing ships is more profitable than destroying them, after all. Although most ships used by pirates are 20 to 50 meters long, in large numbers they still pose problems. Only frigates and corvettes are able to chase them efficiently. Damn it, I need more ships. Much more. Make a note: open a thousand new small shipyards next to the Meteors. They could pump 10 corvettes each, by the time the next fleet is finished. Make a note: New courses for Servants. Ship captains and adjuncts. Gunners too. We will take large loses, and soon. Make a note: Recruit more Brubbs and Toongs and whatever servitor races. (I mean fresh citizens) Make a note: start a neural chip corporation to provide new races with fast learning and computation. Another Explorer has reached Dellalt, but he has succumbed to a number of familiar Crimson Condottiere. The droids have lifted his corvette back to orbit and are scanning the planet and awaiting reinforcements. Guess his genes weren''t strong enough.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. If they really are powered by Rakata tech, they might be worth a visit from yours truly. For now, a contact Lucrehulk and his heavy escort are en route to establish more concrete facts. Lira is also on board, since there seem to be cities planetside. What else? Jaybo is learning at the Imperial Academy, making friends and acing all his tests. As expected from a future Hand. He seems very happy to postpone swimming with scorpion-sharks. Which he will if he doesn''t ace a single test. I can be merciful. Yes. As long as you don''t disappoint me. The Holocron operation has resulted in a hundred deaths, from bounty-hunters to padawans and dark padawans. But no Miss Aurra Sing, yet. The Hutts are very amused, and have added their own bounties, equal to mine. They really are great neighbors. The head Hutt on Boonta has even discreetly offered to sell me a few dozens hyper routes to some Tionese planets that had been rendered lifeless during The Devouring. I think it''s a polite threat, to let me know what happens to wanna be conquerors. Maybe a test, to see if I can really terraform them back. Or both. Possibly both. Hah. They will beg me to come, soon enough. For now, we''re expanding elsewhere, taking Jomark and setting up searches for a direct route to Nam Chorios. Gotta defend my Tsil friends too. Anyway, my Fifth Hand is returning with a few million changelings. Miss Fay. I wonder if she knows Miss Zero? My Celestial Throne will soon crawl with jedi. Kriff. I wanted to avoid that... Have to send Dora away. She knows too many secrets and has no mental defenses. Hmmm. She can manage Sanctuary and keep Bendu company. The gorilla is reading everything I have, ignoring protected or locked holocrons, and plays with ysalamiri by floating them around. Proof their protection isn''t actually perfect. Gonna need another ideal administrator though. ''You have Solana. Forever and ever.'' the water maid sent with a hint of promise. But of what? Is she considering this or that? ''You bet. Just be gentle, you big hunky beast'' Solana sent, entering the Throne Room. Okay...be back soon... Planet Gand, Pef Empire Celestial Throne A week later A captain Findsman died again, trying to mediate a peace between two Krozurbian war parties. It seems he was shot by both sides. Then again, Gands are insects and those guys are reptiles. They probably ate him. Let''s check. Open after action report. They didn''t. Too bad. His guard droids were immune to slug throwers and recovered the corpse. Now what to do? Is it an act of war? Evolution at work? Or a recruiting ground for my armies? Sending another organic might get him killed too...never mind then. There''re 444 droids on board a Dakka class corvette. Compose message to senior droid in orbit. ''You''re promoted to Ambassador rank, upon reading this message. Convince both parties planetside of a dark jedi instigator of their conflict. Promise them revenge and river of blood. Promise them hulks of red juicy meat. Establish MPT and start recruiting willing volunteers for ground army. Also, showcase laser and maser weapons on the war criminals that slain our Captain. Promise them access to these weapons. Send confirmation of success or pass this order to the next droid in the command chain, and then suicide in shame. Signed... Immortal Emperor Pef, droid chassis Justice #66888990/AI/cr, upon Celestial Throne. Today. Date.'' They might succeed... And it''s remotely possible a dark jedi was indeed involved. Perhaps not even a dark one. Fay took this long because she caused a civil war with her extraction. Planet Danos V is inhabited by huge insects. Establish Gand colony, attempt to tame and/or mount them. Or simply survive, depending on how huge those insects are... My Gand friends will be happy to have their first colony. Actually, open another colony on Benwabula. Maybe one of the colonies will survive and I won''t get blamed again. Planet Baummu will probably be attacked again. Establish stronger defenses and ground to orbit lasers. Also tank and droid factories. We''ll need more of those anyway. Planet Maldra IV the same. Damn it. Is there any safe place in this sector? Skeebo seems nice. Set defenses anyway, and also tourist and recreation complexes. We aren''t just warmongers. Just, sometimes. "Pef, how is the little one?" Wialu wondered, leaning over me to look inside the cradle. "Still sleeping and breathing. 77 centimeters long. Force connec..." I started responding. "No, you dumb droid! How is he feeling?" She asked a little angry. Hmmm. Lack of pain is pleasant. And boring. Begin electrical jolts at random intervals, no longer than 100 seconds. Better master energy absorption as a child. Begin meditation forms I and II. The kid should have enough neurons. Increase bota plant dose by 4%. "He''s feeling great. He was a little bored, but I got him meditating now" I answered with an adoring pulse. Women love that. "I see. Let him rest at least 12 hours a day. Infants need a lot of sleep" Wialu answered with long sigh. Make a note; sleep 12 hours per day. I hugged my Voice and began focusing on next generation of battledroids. Let''s see. Quadrupedal locomotion was still safer and faster. Turreted chaingun for a head, retractable blades in frontal limbs, micromissile launchers from the torso. Now for the big question. A tail or not a tail? And poisonous stinger, or plasma cutter? Ah. Decisions. Why not both? Yea, two tails though? Or a single tail with a hammer head with both weapons? Gah, this was so hard... Close project. Open mobile artillery project. Now heavy missiles or proton torpedoes? Maybe a turbolaser? Indirect fire was better though. But what kind? Howitzers? Mortars? EMP trebuchets? Kriff. I had no idea which one was better. ''Open new corporation, Land Warrior Systems. Salaries twice the galactic rates plus bonuses. Hiring specialists from all the galaxy. Innovative designs guarantee a position with our company and relocation costs to our brand-new laboratories on Hardex (planet)''. Okay, now let''s start building those laboratories. On second thought...tell Kikipi to do it. He is lazing around on his throne. Incoming message from 18th droid in command of the Dakka corvette. "Honored Droid Emperor. This unit has successfully negotiated the required terms. Approximately 10 thousands war criminals have been successfully demonstrated upon. Planet currently uniting in response to foreign threat. Request meat. Lots of meat" Okay then. Not exactly as I ordered, but... More soldiers are good. And they would have died anyway. And if anyone complains, I''ll have the droid executed for war crimes. That always works. Immortal Planet Gand, Pef empire Celestial Throne Next week Ventress is returning in glory, having replaced the former Dictator-Forever with an Imperial Servant and his retinue, along with establishing spaceport, space stations and military garrisons on Targonn. It seems the planet can export a valuable plant which can pacify most organics upon ingestion. Yeah, we''re not exporting that. Begin new research project and classify it under Military Act paragraph 8/d, empire wide revolt. Might be useful instead of orbital bombardment or biological weapons. Add use to 8/c as well. Paragraph 8/c is localized counter-insurgency, if we ever need to train fresh organic recruits. Rebels make rather nice live targets and they cost nothing, unlike target drones. If you ever wonder why I made all those military contingency plans, you''re wrong. Paragraph 1/a is peace. Everyone wants peace. The other plans are just thought exercises. "Emperor Pef. We meet again" The beautiful Jedi lady says, before turning to stare at Miss Zero. "Indeed Miss Fay. I do hope none of your refugees have left the ships. Searching for changelings can be enervating. Especially if they murder my people to hide in their skin" I replied, hinting at our first encounter. "Ah yes. That...won''t happen again. By accident" the space elf said, before going to hug the Zero Jedi. So, they did know each other. "Okay then. I have a few locations to propose for our new friends. So, ocean planet, arid, temperate, jungle, or arctic?" I asked amused. Jedi did hugs? I never knew. "They''d prefer humid and uninhabited at all, if possible. Preferably not on a trade route too" Fay said, eying the light sabers carried by Zero with a certain doubt. Yeah, me too Miss Jedi. "Okay then. I have one for you. If they need some adjustment I''ll visit one day and change the climate a little." I decided, sending her the route to Sran system. Fay looked on her datapad and raised an eyebrow. The Ash worlds were known to have been lost. But I had fat friends. "I saw the water maiden on my way to your halls, but not the angel one, she is away?" Fay asked, apparently just curious. "Yep, visiting Corellia and making green friends. Our neighbour, Dooku seems to have dark thoughts" I said politely, then shrugged my shoulders. Still, it seemed to come as a surprise for both women, as they both became rigid and alert. "Are you certain Emperor, is he fallen?" Fay asked officiously. Hmmm. Not quite as independent as I hoped. "Well. If giving in to dark desires is what scares you, Miss Zero is pretty dark. I don''t judge people like Jedi do. Then again, I work mostly with the cosmic force not the living force. Urges and instincts and hate, those are extremes of the living force." I said calmly, stealing Darth Maul lightsaber from Zero and stabbing it in my palm. As expected, I was at least as strong as Grandmaster Shan, and the beam didn''t pass through my barrier. Both Jedi stared at me like I was some monster. "That...how..." Miss Zero muttered in confusion. "This is just tricks. I can''t juggle stars yet. Only Lucrehulks so far" I said, dismissing the beam and shaking my helmet. "And terraforming planets with telekinesis. I heard about the last one. Is that your Avatar?" Fay asked, coming closer to look inside the cradle. "Yep. Cute little baby right?" I asked rhetorically. Babies...always seem cute. "He''s as strong as me already." Miss Zero added helpfully. Thanks, I do great work. Sometimes. Eventually. "And linked to you, like your Voice. Same resonance..." Fay muttered, holding her palm over the kid. Telepathy, mind reading...Come on, really? Mind raping a baby? I used Peffy to pyroblast her hand, charring it to the bone. "Mind alter annoys him" I explained politely, as Fey regrew her flesh back, with eyes wide open. "You''re teaching him, so young!" She said accusingly. How is that a crime? At least, I didn''t kidnap him. "Sure. He''s smart. And not kidnaped from his family" I replied politely. "You better make sure he''s sane. Or I''ll rip your armor to shreds, again." she added as a parting word, and turned to leave. "Two years start now, Miss Fay. I''ll have a contact ship drop by and plant crops and build housing." I yelled after her. She most likely forgot most people need to eat or such. "You have the most interesting friends, Immortal Pef. And you got Master Fay to teach someone. Not even Master Yoda managed that..." Miss Zero said with a tilt of head and a raised eyebrow. "Do you want to know how you will die, Miss Zero?" I asked conversationally, while changing the milk dispenser to the next one. "In combat I think" she said resigned. "My Voices will never die. Well, unless they ask me really nice." I proclaimed, playing again with the double lightsaber, spinning it in the air like a helicopter, and no hands. "Even the weaklings you hid from Fay?" Zero asked, ignoring the saber. Ok, back on the pillow then. "Especially them. Every generation has strong people. But good people? Kind hearts? Why would I ever let them die?" I mused, sitting down back on my throne, and drumming Vader''s march. Keep the crazy one? Drain him and keep his kid? The boy or the girl? Decisions, decisions. I kinda needed Luke Skywalker to come into existence anyway, since the Force ''whispered'' to me that it wanted him. Important guy, roger. I''ll start working on that, dear Force. En route to Dellalt. It seems Lira can''t solve everything. Especially with CIS agents on the ground, urging the locals to join the Separatists, while the war robots shoot everyone. I took Wialu and Zero with me, for help and to keep the crazy Jedi from running away with my Avatar. It seems all three of us know a slightly different variant of invisibility. Or, the brains are different. Wialu uses the White Current, which I still don''t know exactly what it is. Zero uses the Living force, like all Jedi, and me...I use electromagnetic cloaking. Which would be the Physical force, most likely. I thought I was approaching Master level, but I still don''t know anything. ''Imagine the surprise Solanus had when he read your memories.'' Solana consoled me through the Voice. Thanks love, take care of my baby. ''We''re having a bath. You know kids need to be washed, right?'' Hmmm. Even babies? I mean, clean ones...the warm water and Solana''s hands did feel good though. ''Moron, you deserve what''s coming'' she sent just before Wialu lit me on fire. "You didn''t wash the kid, till now?" "He looked clean!" "Download a nanny manual, damn idiot" she muttered as I pushed the flames away, then puffed a nano-gene cloud and removed the oxygen around them. Right. I doubt the kid will ever get sick though. He was strong enough to fight combat droids already. And Angie, my angel maid is holding concerts and getting praised by millions on Corellia, instead of doing her job... Vette hasn''t found the pirates we need, only different ones. At least Ventress went to fix the reptiles and get them organized into armies. Hmmm. How I am gonna move those armies around? Troops are easy, somewhat, and droids even easier, but tanks and walkers? Along with hospitals and kitchens and spare parts... Kriff, I need a few competent generals. Guess I''ll have 500 Meteors discard mounting half of the MACs and load them up with barracks and armories. And kitchens. And use 2 bombardment ones to protect each transport Meteor. No, that class needs a different name now. Mountain class. Cause they''re as large asmountains, in space. Groups of three always, to protect each other. And, let''s add defenses for their engines and upper fins. Perhaps one-directional shields for the MACs mouth as well, if they can pass through them. Add some Ion cannon batteries too. And some tractor beams. Plenty ships coming and going. Better guide them safely. What else I forgot? Starfighters and battle droids. Tanks and artillery. Those need room as well. Gah. At least the ships were big enough to carry entire armies. Would be pretty embarrassing to arrive at some sieged planet and have nothing to occupy it with. In orbit around Dellalt. Speaking of which. There''s 50 of our ships including 5 of MC80 Liberty type Star Cruiser and a contact Lucrehulk, and 52 Separatist ships, contesting our rights. They have 8 Lucrehulks and 44 of Munificent-class star frigate. Kinda bad odds for now. Now, where is my... Our first Meteor jumped in right now, not fully operational, with only 10 MACs and 500 heavy masers. But it has a Rakata shield, just like my own cruiser. Should be enough. Possibly. Most likely. Those Lucrehulks are upgraded and carry 400 turbolasers each. And tons of fighters too. Let''s open negotiations then. "This is Emperor Pef, of Pef Empire. I have claimed this planet. Do you intend to contest my claim?" I asked politely, as my Meteor entered firing range. They declined to answer for some ten seconds, so I let the Meteor''s Captain test his MACs on the nearest Lucrehulk. It withstood 9 projectiles then vanished in a huge explosion with the tenth shell. Errr. I kinda hoped for more damage from the main guns... Then again, we were gonna add 90 more MACs to an entire fleet of these Meteors. They should work. I hope. Some CIS insect guy appeared on the holocom, mumbling something of a misunderstanding, then turned his ships around and jumped away. Okay then, problem solved. Now let''s see what those old war robots are doing on my planet... Death. Lira is dead! I hit me like a hammer, feeling the bond draw my peaceful Togruta Voice into the partition I reserved for her. "It was a man with blue skin Pef! Something happened in orbit and then...I''m dead, aren''t I?" Lira said with a sad voice. "Afraid so, love. You gonna be Peffy''s little sister, from now on." "Ah. That''s...much better than I expected. Just gonna rummage through this...the hell! you downloaded entire libraries here. Holocrons too!" she exclaimed, starting to read all the big secrets. "Knowledge is power and trumps ignorance. Or something" I mused, trying to be angry, but didn''t have the glands for it. "Burn the fucker who killed my beautiful body, will you love?" she asked me so politely, I just couldn''t refuse. Accel times five. Stolen novel; please report. "I will certainly try" I answered, already slicing through all the databases planetside. A few seconds later, I ran the last recordings of the negotiations taking place down on Dellalt. And found the culprit. Cad Bane. Seems we''re gonna have a long talk, you and I. "Fleet wide, no ships can leave the planet. Not even ours. We have a murderer to catch" I proclaimed, sending recordings of the man, and cursing damn VSS. "Your maid is dead?" Zero asked, having caught the gist, just by looking at the holonet transmissions. "Untill she grows back. I need better cloning tech..." I muttered, with some fake annoyance. I should wait for Vette to return though. A power gem should boost Lira to Master level at least. Wialu came to hug me, and smiled a little "Glad to know it works though. Tell Lira I love her too" Yea, she heard you. The least I can do is let her access my senses. There! He entered some empty vault. Guess I''ll find both things I want in there. Planet Dellalt, Pef Empire 24 BBY "That ship...no wonder your blue twi''lek said you want to conquer the galaxy" Miss Jedi Zero said as we were embarking on an assault shuttle, along with a platoon of Brubbs and combat droids. The jedi was not impressed at all with my work. "Yeah, our proud Meteor. We''ve been working on it for a year, and it''s just now reached limited mobility. Gonna have to go over the designs again, I was certain those large cannons would kill a ship in one shot. We got lucky the tenth shot hit something vital..." I muttered in fake dismissiveness. "Spinal cannons, with solid slugs. If the enemy ships move a little, the weapons will be useless. So those were the CIS, Dooku''s people..." Zero replied with some amusement. "And maser cannons, looted and repaired, from a old cathedral ship. But, yeah, guess we''ll see more of the CIS, especially on the western borders" I said with some real worry. Cad Bane would have been one of the CIS top mercenaries during the Clone wars. To be used against me, and so soon... "Cad Bane is very expensive. And good. He won''t be killed so easy" Zero added checking her lightsaber. Yeah right. Like we''ll burst right in, and get hit by whatever traps he set for us. I''ll send droids first, since I know how to cheat. "Well then. We better not try to kill him, especially since he works with Miss Aurra a lot." I concluded, as our shuttle reached the landing zone. Miss Zero shifted a little, the force wobbling around her for a second. Got you now, Miss ''no-attachments''. "Devious too. Your Avatar might make a great student, after all." She said with an approving tone. All around us was an advanced city, with skyscrapers and monorails, now deserted and in ruins, and we entered the famous vaults, which were sadly empty. More teams spread around us, searching the city and the vaults, while I followed the last marker I traced from orbit. It lead to this entrance, then stopped. No problem, I''ll take it from here. My droids fanned out in front of us, with our marines forming a close guard. The blue Duros should be here somewhere, but I couldn''t sense him at all. Not the VSS fault after all. Guy was a pro, like top 5 in the galaxy. Maybe Lira''s fault, for taking off her helmet, and losing her head. "It was a negotiation, dear crystal. A face makes a thousand words. You wouldn''t know it though, locked inside that armor" Lira commented, not willing to accept her mistake. Another puff of nano-gene droids, and I pushed them in a wide area around with telekinesis. I could form a proprioceptive holomap, even if the sneaky bounty-hunter was able to hide from my force senses. And once a biped shaped hole formed inside the holomap... Walls, broken war droids, doors, walls. Nothing. Let''s dismantle those war robots then. No force based reactor. Just old tech. Really old, like 20 millenia or so. A seismic charge detonated, collapsing the tunnel with the robot I was working on. A pressure trap, most likely. I moved the robot and the mine under it detonated. Clever. Somewhere to the east, my troops encountered people, commanding hundreds of war droids, and were getting shot at. ''Retreat and take defensive positions.'' I ordered at once. I''d rather keep those war robots, and my own droids intact. ''I''ll deploy pacifier gas, and smooth over things with the locals'' Wialu sent through the Voice. Hey, that was quite smart. Well done Wialu! Now let''s continue the search...lift that rubble and take it outside, conveyor belt style. Now, what''s that! A hidden door, leading to more vaults underneath? Oh Xim, you clever despot. Why did you have to die and leave this mess? Did Bane already found those vaults, or was this the force, giving me a little help? My first droids reached the explosion site, and were promptly dispatched with thermal detonators and accurate shots. Found you! Miss Zero took off at hyperspeed, rushing ahead with a purple lightsaber in hand. Gah, I hope I won''t have to scrape her blood from the walls... A second later, she started convulsing in pain, as some Patrolian was electrocuting her. "Dumb Jedi" I muttered with a sigh, grabbing all three people I sensed with the nano-genes and bringing them outside. Bane was struggling, trying to shoot anything with a scoped pistol, while his buddy was muttering something about Jedi, while flopping his fins in defeat. "Welcome to Pef Empire, Bane and whatever. I have a few questions for you" I proclaimed imposingly, punching the sky and hitting the metal ceiling by accident. A gong like sound resounded in the caverns, and my Brubbs marines took a step away from the crazy. Damn, this was embarrassing. Not the entrance I wanted, at all! Planet Dellalt, Pef Empire Xim City. While I chat friendly with my new captives, I also multitask and finish taking over the war robots, and exploring the new vaults underneath the empty ones. Riches and plunder from all over the Xim''s Empire, from weapons, diamonds, Aurodium and artifacts of lost civilizations, to dataslates and financial records. Surprisingly, the last ones are the most valuable. They contain thousands of hyper routes markers for the subjugated worlds in Xim''s Empire, including the demographics of the tax paying planet, inhabitants, trade routes, mineral composition of asteroid fields and more. Whoever created and managed the accounting system will be forever praised for his work. Thousands of systems with planets and thousands more star systems without life, but with economic value. The Ash Worlds have opened back again. I''ve started copying, translating and beaming it towards our Exploration Corps, to begin immediate verification, using the Corp''s newest recruits. The Gands have argued to allow other races in the Empire the honor of jumping blindly on uncharted routes, and thus a number of Sith, Toongs, Skeebo and Brubbs have also joined the Corps, bravely going where no one has gone before. Sometimes they even return, surprising everyone and getting their first star rank. The holocrons I made for the Exploration Corps can instruct a capable pilot in months instead of decades. Who knew, eh? The bota plant extracts also help, increasing force connection and accelerating learning and reflexes even higher. Now back on the interrogation partition. "Now, as I was saying Mister Cad. You killed my Voice, and you will die for that, nothing can stop it. But, look deep into your heart, do you want Jango Fett to be the winner? You could be the spiritual father of a whole army, using your knowledge to defend the galaxy from predators, saving children, and get rich doing it!" I proclaimed with my vocoder, pointing at a confused Brubb marine to my right. "Tchhh. That slimy little creepy Mandalorian! He''s cloned himself a billion times and is now training a whole clone army of him?" the blue duros exclaimed, sipping another shot of Corellian brandy. "Yes, for the Galactic Republic. We can''t let them win, my dead friend. My Empire needs trained soldiers too, look at them, look!" I complained and pointed at another Brubb, whose grip just magically lost his gatling laser, and was comically trying to regain it. I might have helped a little with telekinesis, but my Brubbs were indeed, kinda pathetic. "If that''s your personal guard, I shudder to think of the quality of your other marines..." Cad Bane muttered, his professional streak crying in shame. "And then Dooku and the CIS techocrats make combat droids, each generation better than the other. You perhaps know of droideka droids? Just one of those amazing machines could decimate an Imperial marine company. Please Mister Cad, don''t let your one mistake end your legacy. Help me and help yourself. Become a revered saint, after death!" I declared, punching the sky, after checking ceiling clearance first. "You make a good point, rich droid. Kriff, why did I take this damn job? It would have been so fun working with you, and get much better paid, you crazy droid..." the renowned bounty hunter commiserated, lighting a death stick and puffing in my faceplate. "Well, perhaps you have a friend or such you can recommend. I kinda prefer women assassins though, since you know, maids?" I answered nodding politely, and shaping a female hourglass with my hands. "Ah yes, you would need another to replace your dead one....let me think, which one was also kinda crazy?" Cad Bane muttered, going over dozens of candidates in his shielded mind. Damn man wasn''t affected by mind alter. "Ah, a huggable assassin maid, going pew-pew, killing those disgusting Jedi and dark Jedi for me. Much more pleasant than just poisoning fake holocrons" I mused, maybe a little loud, leaning on my back in reverie and shooting with finger pistols. C''mon, how many clues you need? "That was you? Of course it was. So that''s why Dooku was so pissed at you. Kriff. You must have killed five or so of his pets. And he decided to return the favor, killing yours. But what about the woman with the lightsaber?" he asked curious. "Ah, the insane one. Well, a Jedi on my ship makes my every action legal, in the eyes of the galaxy. She hates everyone equally though, so only the promise of combat and mayhem still stirs her. Plus, she would cut my hand off, if I caressed her ass...." I complained, miming a round contour with my hand. "Haha, you''re trying to tap that? No way, you crazy droid! I''ll will really die with a smile on my face if you tried that. Okay, I got the right kind of crazy for you. Aurra Sing, I worked with her a couple times. Seems she was trained by a jedi in her youth too. Let me write you her biochip callsign. And my password. She would love making billions while killing jedi. Damn my luck" Cad Bane replied , typing a serie of codes and binary strings on the datapad on the table. I copied the codes from the datapad, then returned back to avenging emperor mode. "Great, my torturer will stop by soon to drain your memories with a neural probe. And then, you will burn alive, on Lira''s funeral pyre. Sounds okay?" I asked in a jovial voice, while stretching myself. "Dying in a blaze of glory, eh? Good enough" the famous bounty hunter replied sadly, and poured himself another shot of brandy. Wialu entered the interrogation room with a repulsorlift torture drone, and Lira whispered ''Thank you Pef, that was magnificent. You got him to agree on burning alive!'' ''Wanna stay for the torture too?" I asked softly. ''Nah, let''s go swim in diamonds, down in the vaults'' my dead voice requested wistfully. Sure thing love. Diamonds and pearls and aurodium too. Master of Orion Planet Gand, Pef Empire Celestial Throne 24 BBY Tenth month A state of cold war exists now between the CIS and my Empire, with us buying every available ship on the market, and pushing into the Tion Cluster and the Ash worlds, expanding rapidly and establishing outpost and supply bases. The CIS doesn''t have the navy or the money to compete with us yet, since they don''t even have parity with planet numbers or army numbers. Better exploit this while I can, before I turtle up. My army has reached 50 million soldiers and 2 billion war droids, and we have amassed almost 50 Mon Calamari star cruisers and even one Kuat made Procurator-class Star Battlecruiser which I''m now dismantling and reverse-engineering. I never knew these type of ships even existed. Seems I have much to learn about constructing vessels of war. It''s not just shields and weapons. Consumables for years of deployment and flight simulators and re-supply and space sensors. Millions of new inventions to add to my inventory of technology. Kuat isn''t the lead warship builder in the galaxy for nothing. Sure the ships they make have certain limits imposed by the Ruusan Reformation, especially in regard to weapons, but those we have started to mass produce anyway, since I''ll need millions of capital class guns for the Meteors and the Mountains. Sadly, Kuat won''t sell me a Mandator-class Star Dreadnaught even at ten times the build cost. Also Angie, my angel maid is returning to my Empire, over concerns of possible assassination plots. Vette has been recalled too, despite not having achieved her goal of obtaining more power gems. Our victory at Dellalt and the national Ascension Day, with news reports carefullycrafted to unite our people against the treacherous CIS, are working well to create a foundation mythos for the Empire. Seems Voice Lira was well liked by our people, especially on the planets she negotiated with and brought into the Empire. She has died and become a martyr, with billions of sentients crying and mourning her holovised pyre. I tried to downplay it a little, promising my subjects she will be reborn, but that possibly seems far fetched for most sentients in the galaxy. Little do they know. Pirate attacks along the trade routes have also doubled, giving our escorts ships and crews a lot more experience, while causing some delays and minor disturbances in war equipment production. The Banking Guilds will pay for this, just not yet. We''re still not fully independent of external suppliers, especially for rare minerals and substances needed for complex machines like hypermatter annihilator reactors or holonet emitters. Maid Vera has also been contacted and recalled from Yanibar, with promises of sanctuary for her people. The contact Lucrehulk she stole took is now returning with thousands of sick and frail Zeison Sha, who were not expected to survive next winter. Luxum has decided to stay on her homeplanet and accelerate their technologization, building space stations and shipyards and droid factories. Maid Ray has sent her first tangible findings about the Vong, biomass. No live prisoners though, only a hundred dead ones, and a couple other of their warforms and enslaved races. But afew of Yorik-et bioships, even dead, will make threat analysis much easier. One will be sent to Solanus, along with a hypergem that Solana bought, and other various samples, while another bioship will be sent to Blueforge to begin testing for bioweapons and antidotes. My ocean friend has a few ideas how to duplicate vong tech. We will also try conventional tactics, like analysis and biolab works, but only teleoperated droids will be allowed direct contact with the samples, until we have a clear understand of the threat. And finally, the Meteor pushed towards Caluula, along with half the North fleet, securing access to a hyperway node, and chasing away the CIS ships without a shot. In the West, we took planetsDiado then Metalorn and finally Trasemene and began fortifyfing the latter system as our primary naval base. Golan defense platforms and minefields, as well as resupply and repair spacestations. This systemwas well in range of Sy Myrth andfell easily,without the protection of the Republic Senate and their fleets, since they just separated and tried to become a founding member of CIS. They just had bad luck. I''ll have to visit planet Metalorn and do something about the place, since it was a mess of industrialization and pollution. But having conquered a large number of shipyards and factories will help, and the population will grow to love us, once the air becomes breathable again, and their salaries tripled. For now, my Black ops and their advance units on the ground are slicing and rooting around for CIS saboteurs and infiltrators. On Diado, my War Maid Ventress, has found an advanced factory, gearing up to produce the CIS-Advanced starfighter, which will come quite handy. I never knew of these fighters in my memories, but maybe the CIS thought them too expensive? And the fighter also has hyperdrives! The first modern hyperdrives that have been miniaturized enough for small starfighters use. Only shuttles and gunships had hyperdrives so far. A new era is starting. Ventress has also captured a talented thief lady, who almost managed to steal her lightsaber. Maybe. I think she did steal it, then Ventress captured her. Her name is Na-Jia and looks absolutely fabulous, with her violet hair and lythe athletic body. I might keep her. Oh well, I don''t have a thief maid anyway, might as well get one. And if she can read holocrons, she''ll become the greatest thief in history. Now, since the hyperroutes have been secured, I can also send a few Findsmen towards Ossus. As soon as...okay crisis averted. A saboteur or infiltrator of sort tried to slip down on Gand, bypassing the first planetary shield, and smashing into the second one underneath. The cold war isn''t as cold as I''d like. But Miss Aurra received my transmission, finally, and has agreed to work for me for a billion credits, on a super secret task. She''ll be here in a week or two, she said. And using gene samples from two of the best bounty hunters in the galaxy, for my Astartes project will be nice as well. Maybe. Planet Metalorn, Pef Empire 23 BBY, First month. Gah, this planet is a mess. The shallow seas and jungles have almost been destroyed completely while the shipyards in orbit were producing crappy Munificent frigates and a few destroyers calledRecusant-class warship. The droid factories were also already mass producing B1 droids, with only a handful of B2 and even less of C-B3 cortosis battle droid and BX-series droid commando . They do not have weapons though. I''ll have to fix that, somehow. My corvettes are bringing some ice comets from the Oort cloud to help me repair the biosphere, while the droid factories were repurposed towards the nicer models of droids. The B11 battledroid, featuring 20% extra chest armor, an armored helmet and a shorter neck. They really do not need giraffe necks. I can''t create miracles yet, but I feel my B11 droids are already 30% more effective than the old B1 version. Also I liberated millions of human slaves, and took charge of a billion of Skakoan, both were suffocating in the unbearable and polluted atmosphere. Kriff. This is a parody of civilization, not my Dream. Not anyone''s dream. And the Unreal Cityprison doesn''t help either. You can see the prison from orbit! It''s gigantic. As a bonus, just mining and recycling metals fromThe Wasteland would be enough to produce a billion new droids. And a few tank divisions. Lots of metal there. I delved deep into the Force, while my Pef Navy ships blasted the ice comets apart, then tractored fragments closer, and gave me resources to repair the environment. My new Mid Rim Imperial Academy is being organized by another crystal partition, using the Unreal City as a basis, with indoctrination and neural modules being produced by nearest factories. We can''t have slavery in my Empire, only happy Imperial Servants. Curious, how former slaves would fight to the death to keep their new privileges. Not that I mind... A million subverted droids are explaining to the skakoan amphibian people the changes that will take place,as the submerged cities and gravity plates that will allow them to live and work without pressure suits. They seem happy too, most of them. The ones protesting the new rule will be convinced later, or vanished. Sadly, Ventress did a number on Termin, the planetary capital, during the initial occupation, since the Baktoid Combat Automata offcials were not eager to surrender and accept the new leadership. Now they are dead and their guards and droids too, but doesn''t help with repairing the planet at all. Some people are also unhappy, as they lost relatives and friends when the city was taken. Sucks. War is harsh. Not that I would trust theold officials, to remain in their posts, but using both heavy tanks and orbital ion strikes was a little too much, dear maid. Almost no tech is working there, the tallest buildings have crashed, and I''ll have to rebuild the entire city, if more spread out and with better transportation and parks and all. Took me a few hours. Massive rain clouds begin gathering and pouring over the planet, once I lower the ice comets into the more dense layers of atmosphere. Pollution and dust is being compacted and deposited as bricks for recycling. I also could collect lots of plastic debris.Megatons of plastic debris from local cities and polluted swamps. Is this why thoseSharu in the Centrality builtsuch huge plastic pyramids? To cover up millennia of pollution? Maybe. Then, I look around the ruined Monitor Control room, with their advanced command and control modules and take note of how to use Jaybo and Peffy in the future. Seems I won''t need to be personally present everywhere. The Techo Union had advanced C4 systems, enough to run an entire planet from a single location. I did download all the codes and data salvage I can, and a thousand similar centerswill be produced for our flagships and industrial centers, on a thousand planets. Industrial revolution, here we come.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. Sadly,these codes are a mess, billions of programmers over thousands of years have just added more and more command codes, making the poor droids ditzy and inefficient. Sometimes more is not better. Just like with laws. Too much is generaly as bad as too little. No wonder the poor droids can barely distinguish between voice orders and binary subroutines. Guess I''ll be here 2 weeks as well, plenty work to be done, starting with the air, then water, then everything underground, like magma pits and rivers of lava, and then working my way up, to cities and finally, better starships and orbital defenses. Hey!A Trade Federation transport Lucrehulk just dropped out of hyperspace, loaded withtons of free weapons and droids! And the jump window brought it close enough for my technopathy? Lucky! Slice and assume control, capture the token organic crew, and send them planetside for interrogation. Guess they didn''t get the memo? This is the Pef Empire! Huh, andthe ship is already upgraded with battleship class shields,just not weapons. Only a number of Vultures or Variable Geometry Self-Propelled Battle Droid, Mark I , which are kinda crappy. Thanks CIS! I really wanted one of these droids. You shouldn''t have sent me a thousand. Still, the design would be useful as ground support units, both as mecha and gunship roles. They just need shields and a laser chaingun to be effective. Just, not as starfighters. Perhaps a bit of armor over the droid core too, since they will engage various races. Maybe a proton torpedo launcher? Yea, buzz droid missiles are amusing, but not really effective. It''s like shooting someone with ants, then wait forthe ants to eat your target. It might work, but bullets would work better. This Battleship donut will serve me well as a secondary spacestation in orbit around the planet, beside the contact Lucrehulk already in orbit. Now let''s examine the cargo... Hmmm, 10 millions hand blasters, originally meant for the B1 ''Roger, Roger droids'' , and 10 millions backpacks, with spare batteries and grenades. Good for the brand-new armies. Telescoped rifles, rocket launchers, mines, thermal detonators. Almost everything I need to equip a thousand divisions of B11 droids. Now, let''s send the Vulture droids down, to begin upgrading with the new specs, since my marines may be suicidally brave, but not as effective as 10 squadrons of mecha. What else? The former slaves are demanding to be allowed as naval officers and crews to defend their liberated planet? Sure, as soon as you undergo rapid neural training. Doesn''t hurt one bit. A million volunteers raise their hands instantly. See? Why would anyone keep slaves? They would just join the enemy, at first opportunity. Let''s select a hundred former slaves, with a smidge of force sensitivity, for navigation courses. They will become Explorers, since I can''t be seen as favoritising a race over the other for the honor of blind jumps between stars. Humans are special anyway, in this galaxy. Pretty much everywhere, from the Core to wild space. Give them the Force and they become quite dangerous too. And if they start exploring...well. Most will die. Then again, with doses of bota plants and holocron training, they may even survive. Who knows what the Force wants. Not everyone wants to die for their freedom, of course. The larger part of the liberated slave population wants just to live, in freedom. I can offer them Imperial Servant positions, good pay, free apartments and neural training, promotions scale up to system governor or ship captain. Or a ticket to Corellia, with a ration baton and a clean pair of shorts. I can''t subsidize vagabonds too much, after all. Only one in two hundred choose the freedom to starve. Huh, that''s even better than regular slaves. Another Munificent frigate jumps in the system as well, but it''s too far to grab, while engaged in terraforming and a million conversations at once, via my droids. A few of my Dakka corvettes blessthe frigateas she jumps away, with their long range capital lasers. Some sparks are visible before the hyperspace window closes. Kriff. The one who got away. Oh well, there''s 30 more frigates being almost finished in the shipyards. I''ll have to go over their designs and rebuild them to my liking. Possibly as pocket star destroyers, since they are almost as long as a Venator. Why build such a large ship, and only arm it with two capital class turbolasers? That''s 2, what comes after 1. Well, and some light guns. The ship with one large gun is the Recusant class, which is even longer than a Venator-class Star Destroyer. Gah. I have a corvette 10 times smaller with similar firepower. Well, not exactly as a Recusant, since that ship has 10 more badly placed turbolasers on its hull. But since just one of those destroyers costs over 60 million credits, and my corvettes only 1 million, credit per credit I still spend 6 times less for the same firepower. And I haven''t managed to spend 2 trillion credits yet. Who invented these ships? Why? Oh well. Building spaceships is fun. Planet Gand, Pef Empire Celestial Throne 23 BBY Second month. An Anzat assassin has tried attacking Voice Solana while she was visiting their planet, resulting in killing one of the Fallanassi VSS officers from her escort. Sad, but now we have a reason to annex the planet, and find out where half the Anzat Masters have gone. I assume Dooku bought them, but who knows? The campaign to capture more planets in the area is proceeding well, with Ventress capturing Viidaav and Loken III, along with their shipyards and droid factories. A hundred Explorers made the final sacrifice past month, failing to return with new hyper routes, despite ever increasing bota doses and holocron training. I guess human Explorers are just as prone to die as other species. But, one Sith Explorer did indeed reach Ossus, and confessed that the Force guided him all the way. That''s quite the irony, considering it was a Sith mage that blew up 10 stars and obliterated most planets in the area with a supernova class explosion. My guy returned immediately though, since my orders quite explicitly stated no interference with the Adega system, once a hyperroute was found. There will be time enough to loot everything, once the wars begin. Avatar is enjoying the attention of all the maids, being kissed and pampered like a divine being. Peffy is now riding a R2 astromech chassis, using it as his personal wheelchair, and every single sentence I utter through him is rewarded with another hug or kiss. It''s kinda fun, and very pleasant. By then end of the year the Avatar will pass Jaybo in height and biological age. I changed his hair color to blonde though, to remove doubts and other problems that a clone might encounter. Also made him wear a custom tiny light armor, with parts from the Old Jedi armors I recovered on Garm. Even my newest maids, Aurra and Na-jia adore him, a little. They are a bit confused how to deal with him, for now. He''s gonna break all their hearts once he''s taller than them. With love, not with fists. I''m not a savage. Love conquers all, after all. Still, going through the slowest velocities with my organic self is quite painful. But Miss Zero says it''s normal, just weakness leaving the body, being replaced by a stronger will. And if you wonder how I made Aurra made up with Zero...it''s simple. I didn''t, not personally. I wouldn''t try to smooth over two decades of hate and resentment, not without full mind alter. Called my buddy, the Bendu, to fix it with his wisdom and magic and a few head slaps. Took him less than a week, and only had to heal their bones twice. Much more patient than I would have been. The billion credits I paid in advance to both of them possibly helped. Not that Zero would admit liking money, or a personal Calamari cruiser. Aurra didn''t have a problem and even hugged me tightly when she read the credit chip, and so, I caressed her tight, muscled bottom for a whole minute. Cad Bane must be smiling in hell now. Now, half my maids live planetside to keep my Avatar company, and massage his hurt muscles after every training. Poor baby... Seems living between plants and staying all day in the sun helps forming a connection with the Living force. So Jedi Zero says, and I won''t argue on this. She''s quite good withthe Living Force. Cause, of course I had to transplant the entire flower garden from Zero''s old planet to Gand, to make her happy and less homicidal. She can punch straight through battle droids. Yeah, just like my own chassis. And she can also teleport. And now, I prepare to journey again, this time to Kalkovak, and secure their allegiance by turning a desert world into one with large oceans. Kriff, more ice comets and rain. At least there''s no ammonia or pollution. I kinda hate bricks after trillions of brick pyramids on a dozen planets. But making friends with the Quarren is important, since most of my cruisers are made by Mon Cala shipyards. I decided to keep the Recusants I obtained as fleet carriers, simply adding large hangar bays to their hulls. The Munificents I upgraded instead, since their engines were twice as fast, added more reactors and some armor, more shield emitters and maser guns, along with 50 point defense laser chainguns and 100 missile launchers. Spent another billion credits, to fix a problem that shouldn''t have existed. But now, each Muni destroyer can take on a Venator star destroyer, and win. How? It''s that simple, superfiring turrets. Instead of just 2 guns, I placed 10 ion cannons and 20 heavy masers, each able to fire above the turret in front of it, while the top and bottom batteries can rotate 360 degrees and fire even backwards if needed. Sure, the ship upgrades cost a bit. But so what? Two more Meteors have finished their complete build, with 100 MACs launchers each, and the rest of the weapons, and have begun trials, one around the Trasemene system, the other around Caluula. For now, they are shooting at barren planets that we equipped with planetary shields, for testing purposes. Ten salvos are sufficient to crash a full planetary shield. Thats 10 Meteors, shooting once. And also, a Toong Explorer has reached anOrion systemto the North, which simply by virtue of the name I must have, and add Master of Orion to my titles. The planet Orion IV isn''t much, except of a violet sky, and is quite polluted. I''ll have to visit it next month, and fix it up. My maid with violet hair should go and oversee that, establishing the minimal necessities for the poor people there, along with starports and holonet emitters and everything my empire stands for. Civilization or bust. "Had enough rambling, oh Master of Orion?" Wialu asked me, perhaps sarcastically. "I''m good now. How goes little Lira?" I asked concerned, since the tiny clone was not really responding in the bond. "You just had to add genes from Fay to her, hadn''t you? No wonder she''s in pain and can''t connect properly to your bond..." my Voice admonished me. "But if it works, she''ll survive a blaster to the head, next time!" I explained, as politely as I could. "Don''t plan for her next death, damn idiot !" Wialu yelled through the bond, possibly upset for some reason. Huh, how could I not? She will die again, it was inevitable. But dying from a blaster as my Voice was shameful... I checked the other partitions, going over the thousand ongoing ops, the Sanctuary newest prodigies, Solanus reports on the Vong and his work to perfect a force based teleport based on the hypergem. Feeble steps, yet. We needed more data, perhaps a hyperspace capable vongship, or tech samples of the artificial hyperlanes, like those crossing into the Deep Core. Or both. Ray''s last report came from Birgis, and she seemed a little scared, having seen a Worldship from the distance. I hope she''s okay. The Vong have telepaths too, and the Shaper caste and entechment and who knows what else. Still, the Vong shouldn''t have many ships in the galaxy yet. Violets are blue Planet Orion IV, Pef Empire In orbit aboard the Orion Belt 23 BBY, third month I have bought 2 more damaged Lucrehulks here, to build another large space station around Orion, but sadly I don''t have a million tons of carbonite, to create carbonite strings for a skyhook. Skyhooks are space elevators and make lifting mass into orbit trivially cheap. Still, once I went over it, repairing systems with telekinesis and technopathy, the Orion Belt station works mostly fine. I''m painting it violet, and gifting 1% of the station''s future profits to my new maid, Na-jia. I get hugged and of course, I get to sample her bouncy... "Try that again, you slimy droid, and I''ll steal your Meteor and give it to Dooku. Just to piss you off!" my maid whispered politely, as she felt my tender, armored fingers on her butt. Sigh. Eternal grace, denied! "Oh, cruel fate, why, oh why? To be blessed with immortality and be deprived of love!" I orated dramatically and offered my maid another pair of aurodium jewelry, this time earrings. "Tchhh. Fine, you get 10 seconds. But, only because I really like these earrings!" my maid replied graciously and basked in the glory of being fondled by her Emperor. For 10 seconds exactly. I wouldn''t allow her too much glory, yet. I''ll have to dig through the Dellalt treasures and find something nice again. One day. For now, I was running the memory of the first contact on twenty-nine partitions, using different angles from different recordings made by my VSS droids. This should last me months maybe. Possibly. Not likely. Grow up already, Peffy! Those tiny hands can barely pet the amazing chests your face is stuffed with. Is that the Living force I feel, trying to burst out? Sadly, just a symptom of bare necessities. "Your adored Avatar needs to pee." I whispered to Dora, who came to Gand for a short visit. Just to see my Avatar. "No worry, I''ll help you and hold you tight. Let''s aim for the red flowers!" My Voice encouraged me, with a pulse of amusement in her bond. At least someone was having fun. I was quite busy with work. 988 partitions are cleaning up pollution and fixing the planet below, brick by brick. 76 partitions maneuver the ops towards the Hutts, gently probing for weaknesses and secret treasures. 12 partitions manage my wealth in the Centrality, making sure nobody steals more than they should. 198 partitions manage the cold war with CIS, which has grown even colder, as every system that joins CIS is immediately defended by warships and droid armies. Damn it. They are adapting. It also slows them down, making them invest heavily in defense and shields at least in the sectors we are contesting for. It won''t help them much once my Meteors are ready, but it will help the Republic a little, by delaying some critical shipyards. A number of poor or unlucky planets have decided to join my empire, instead of CIS, just to receive immediate boosts in agriculture and industry. Still, no luck in finding an alternate route to the core. More explorers die, while some luck out with brand-new routes to new systems, never appeared on any map. Possibly the bota plants started working, or the neural training in astrogation, or the R2 astronav droids assisting the jumps? Maybe a combination of factors, or simply the weakest ones have already died. Either way, there are special social clubs now, where successful Explorers get their well-deserved rewards, from various Servants with generous and patriotic inclinations. It also helps as they receive a substantial stipend for getting pregnant with those Explorers. Some people prefer working on their backs, and be lauded as Heroic Mothers, or even Fathers, in rare cases. Female Explorers are kinda rare though, for some reason. Mostly come from human or near human species. And those female Explorers rarely need paid gene donors, for some unknown reason. Then again, the majority of humanoid females force-users are stunningly beautiful. The Force is with them, I''m almost certain. Planet Ingo just asked to join the empire as well. Welcome! We''ll get rid of those pirates and fix you back to greatness again. Almost 1000 planets now, and far over parity with the Centrality, although they are more laissez-faire and only bought 5 cruisers while I bought 200. A single Meteor would crush all their combined fleet, poor guys. I still need my Avatar to grow up, before I make my play for the leadership. Meanwhile, I just buy politicians and arrange deals with various groups. The Centrality is 95% inhabited by humans so any new leader has to look human. Sigh. Planet Resilon just asked to join, since there''s some strange problems involving droids revolting. They hope I can fix the problem. Sure thing, I''ll pay a visit next week and decide what to do, once I have all the facts. The droids also sent the same request, asking me to solve the droid exploitation in the mines. Can''t have that, can we? Elsewhere in the galaxy hundreds of Rangers and Jedi attacked Antar 4 who also tried to defect to CIS and retook the planet, losing many of their own and killing much more of the insurgents. Palpatine himself did a magnificent speech on holonews which can be read here HoloNet News | Palpatine to Separatists: Let''s Talk Such drama, such poetry. Planet Af''El, Pef Empire 23 BBY, fourth month While traveling to planet Resilon my fleet passed through many systems, and during the trip I naturally abused my technopathy to slice and steal all data from trading stations and nearby ships. A random such ship was a freighter of Vulca Minerals just returning from their yearly trip to Af''El . I copied their route, and promised myself to idle around some major trade route for more secret routes. Imagine this. There is a single planet in the galaxy which contains natural deposits of Meleenium, which is needed to make durasteel. And now, the planet has joined my empire. Absolutely and grotesque cheating. I know. The locals, called Defel, are all a little force-sensitive, being able to hide in shadows, due to a lack of ozone in the planet''s atmosphere. They can also see from shadow, or rather they see in a range of ultraviolet light. Since the planet has to import food, I immediately arranged a contact Lucrehulk to bring precious fertilizers and agricultural equipment like droids and tractors. I bought the Toxis Metals Co. too, since they owned most rights to the meleenium mines, and hired some immigrated Svivreni for my Exploration Corps, while a few orphan minors will be sent to Sanctuary to become really strong. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. The tiny beings are also force-sensitive as a species, receiving immunity to mind alter, along with a gift for prophecy and locating valuable minerals. Not immune to greed and getting their own ships though. Not many species are immune to that. The Defel recruits will make a great addition to Sanctuary, since Fallanassi and Findsman teaching should come naturally to them. So many gifts, from a single goodwill trip to reprogram some droids. I''ll have to arrange the Resilon 8D smelter droid to relocate to Af''el and mine the precious meleenium for me, while replacing them on Resilon with hardy pit droids and B1s, which will be happy to be rescued from dangerous battlefields. Everyone will be happy, and richer and thank me for it! Truly, civilization is the gift that keeps on giving. More Defel will be recruited as scouts and recon operatives, and receive hypno training and customized gear for infiltration work. Cause, invisible spies? Quite efficient, I say so myself. And being promised access to holocrons and advanced learning, while defending their planet and the empire from ruthless corporations of the CIS? Who would let their families and children be exploited like that? "Not us, not while we live!" I proclaimed in my own speech towards the planetary audience. Ah, bask in my glory, poor rodents. And if my citizens need a few forests or skyscrapers? I can stay a week and help out. I''m the Immortal Emperor after, not like I don''t have time. Time will wait, if I ask. I''ll even add wardroids factories and some shipyards for free! "Yes, I know I''m too generous. But, I''m the richest person in the galaxy! I can spare a few billions for my new friends" I concluded, waving regally at my adoring servants. And citizens. ''Stop grandstanding so much, it''s embarrassing!'' Wialu ordered me through the Voice bond. "Your words are my own, beautiful flower. Your will, it will be done, as best as this poor droid can, Misstress" I answered immediately. And with earnest words too. ''You even mean it, don''t you? So afraid of being alone. Poor Immortal Emperor. But keep bringing me new abilities, and I''ll keep you as my vibrating toy, for eternity'' Wialu answered with a strange pulse, between pity and awe. Quite confusing, but then women...always a mystery even to an AI intellect. ''Vette says hi, and wants her own Meteor. And has brought more friends of hers.'' Wialu added as an afterthought. Of course Vette is back and wants an ever bigger engine of destruction. And finding more strange cults? Just normal for her. Hmmm. I looked over my new city, called Qua''Tahc and thought about it. A Meteor...it would make her a target, for anyone wanting to hurt me. When the first one, with a Rakata shield finishes the trials. Vette will probably stumble into a Dark Reaper or such. Better make sure she can survive anything. Also, Vette will possibly never be a Voice, but she was too much fun to lose to negligence. Hmmm. Her hugs are nice though. Even if Peffy is too small to grab anything properly. ''Fine. When Meteor One is ready. And if Solana goes with her'' I agreed with sadness. ''Okay, she wants your babies now. Have fun!'' Wialu transmitted as a parting gift, along with an image of Vette-like horde of kids running around shooting real blasters. Ah, they would, wouldn''t they. Dozens of little Vettes, armed with functional weapons. I would need a thousand droids per day... Planet Sanctuary, Pef Empire Silent Circle 23 BBY Fifth month The CIS growth rate has accelerated immensely, and they outnumber us already. 30 Meteors have joined the Navy, and undergo trials in empty star systems. Wouldn''t do to frighten my prey too soon, after all. Various bugs and calibration problems need fixing, so I called a thousand cyborgs to look into it. They''re so fanatically loyal that they''ll rather die than betray my trust and ZIMM''s final plea. But a few sensitives are still sent to Sanctuary, to test implants and force connection and abilities interactions. Jaybo also got chipped and sent to Sanctuary, once the neural indoctrination was complete. He seems fine, no headaches or problems from inserting a foreign object into his brain. Tech here is quite advanced, if you haven''t figured it yet. Bendu has promised to look after him, and guide him away from extremes. Quite the best thing on that planet the huge gorilla. Being a sort of immortal grey mage also helps. And he was greatly amused by my attempts to balance and restrict the old holocrons to not damage the pupils too much. "Good idea, poor implementation", he said, somehow bypassing Adus and allowing most of the Sith, and some Master class users to read everything on that holocron. Sadly, he''s not a true expert either. He read all my notes on the force, and said it was the first time he heard of such things, except the Je''daii and the Rakata, of which he met some personally. Not everything is perfect, since he doesn''t approve of my militarization, being content to just be. "Trillions will be killed in the wars to come. The Jedi will be gone. A dozen extragalactic invasions already in progress. I can stop some of those deaths. Stop some of those invasions. Even just with Solanus by my side. But doing nothing, not preserving what I can, what knowledge of the force and a few people on Sanctuary? No. There''s five concentric planetary shields around us, and we''re still not safe" I said, shaking my helmet and petting a curious ysalamir. "A worthy goal, yes. But warships? Droid armies? Trust in the force, new immortal. There is no need for those" Bendu argued, making another tree grow in seconds. He''s making an orchard, just for fun... Then again, I can germinate millions of trees at once. Just not grow them. Different abilities, for different bodies and species. "Here, an empty holocron just for you, Bendu. Teach us" I said, placing a dodecahedron glowing green at his feet. "Toys. Rigid lines and no life. No Center. Make me one like an apple, and I''ll teach you what you need" the old being answered, placing a red apple next to my holocron. Yeah, sure. If I could do that, there will be nothing left for him to teach me. But maybe Peffy could, one day. He can make ants dance for him already. An apple holocron may be just a thousand years away. "Don''t step on the new kids Bendu" I said, flying up and boarding my frigate. The new additions to the Sanctuary stared at the huge gorilla with wide eyes. "Who wants to ride on my horns?" he asked as my ship started moving. Guess he did notice them, after all. I floated to the bridge and looked around. The Kuat tech clashed violently with the Calamari made ones, rigid lines appearing out of place among the soft melted look of the squid tech. Just like a crystal wearing a droid, wearing synthskin and over it power armor. No center. Was there any real Pef inside? The human who was sent to be a champion? When was the last time I meditated, 2952 hours? Kriff. No wonder I felt lost. "Where to, Immortal Gand?" my captain asked, looking strangely at me. Is this my ''quo vadis'' moment? "Home, Honored Captain. But land at the Avatar garden" I demanded, running away from my officers and Servants, and hiding in an empty fighter hangar. Breathe. In. Hold. Out. Begin Meditation Form III. Now...where do I need to be? What do you want me to do, dear force? Where is my center? The Force sent back visions, jumbling around incoherently. Only a few ideas were intelligible. But it was a start. Armor day Planet Gand, Pef Empire Zero Garden 23 BBY Like a good father, I try to visit my Avatar and spend time with him, even among a million flowers and a watchful Jedi Master. But the Empire business also follows me, wherever I go. And since my latest idea... Zuckuss and Zuralee and Mujilik stare at me like I''ve grown another head. "Droid, the stupid droid says. Expensive Survey droid, with a simple steel frame to attach a small hyperdrive. Why did you wait this long to come up with this great wisdom?" Zuckuss wonders, perhaps a little upset. "Because, the small hyperdrives had to be invented first. Either way, the Exploration Corps now has a wonderful tradition, with tragic deaths and triumphant heroes. The gene pool has been cleaned of weak attempts at being a Findsman. Just think though, there should be 1 or 2 million stars in range of these small drives. If we calculate the astronomical distances correctly, through astronomy and other remote methods." I explained, while making Peffy form a star system made of fireballs and spinning it gently. Holographic magic, how cool was that? I had to try to feed more oxygen to the center fireball though, make it look like a sun. My Gand Hands were not impressed though. "And we do not have models of these survey droids anyway. It''s just a possible future" Zuralee said calmly, pettingher two small Gand she kept from the thousand eggs she laid. Her long claws were also gone, so maybe she gored her eggs with them? Just imagine the other 998 tiny Gands peeking through their eggshells, praying to whatever god they could, maybe Lady Luck or Evolution "Not me, please don''t stab meeeeee. Awuek!" 997 eggs left. Next. "We will try to buy them or else steal them. I have a thief maid now" I mused out loud, as I discovered another elemental ability with Peffy. Wind. Let''s try to lift some leaves...pain and a strong boost to force connection for a second. Must have worked then. Breathe and regenerate, my Avatar. We''ll test this again, later. Interesting, as a hobby, but not important. Water would be important. I could learn from Solana then. ''Perhaps, little Avatar. We will bathe again tonight'' Solana sent with a tender tone in the bond. Baths with Solana were amazing. She was so soft... "Do you even know where such droids can be found, Emperor?" Mujilik asked with a sad tone. Hmmm. Let me check my databanks. I mean, my memories. Planet Esseles and corporations belonging to Cassander Tadrin. If he was still alive. 300 trillion credits estimated value. Not shabby at all. "Planet Esseles, in the Core. Tandrin family. Very rich, due to said survey droids. Almost as rich as me" I answered, feeling a little envy and competition. "And if they use their credits wisely, very well protected. Perhaps our third Hand wants to say something?" Zuckuss asked no one, but made the cloaked Gand reveal himself. Smell detectors still trumped the smell cancelers then. " Lu''daal-ud is ashamed for being caught doing his job. He hopes he won''t be caught during the next job. Perhaps he could use a Culexus droid, or a few other advanced techniques?" my third Hand asked in return. "Carbonite flash freezing or an entropy stasis field. If those exist yet. If you prefer something risky as infiltration. I''d rather use a neutral slicing group, and simply reroute a shipment containing such droids to a remote place, and then just take them" I added my own opinion. I mean, James Bond movies are very cool, but perhaps too high profile. "Immortal Pef is not always stupid. A single binary string should be possible to modify without much risk. How blessed we are, to end hundreds of heroic deaths with a few datapad taps" Zuralee commented, still focused only on her tiny kits. "Yes, much harder to trace as well. Operation 3239 is thus ordered, Emperor. For the Empire" Lu''daal-ud whispered and vanished. Very impressive. Let''s check on sonar and ultraviolet. Nothing. Living force, Peffy? Yep, the grass was still bent, a few meters away. Kriff, a Master Jedi or dark jedi would still pinpoint our agents. "I''ll take my first female. Wish me luck tonight" Zuckuss muttered and floated away towards his ship. Wow, first person speech? He really was getting confident. And maybe he won''t be chased away like the last 6 times. "Don''t worry Emperor. The female is my friend. She wants his tiny Gands, since he''s proven strong and capable." Zuralee added helpfully. Great, now I''m gossiping insect mating rituals. Grow up already Peffy! Don''t just fall asleep. Gah. Babies everywhere! Planet Gand, Pef Empire Zero Garden 23 BBY, Sixth Month "Come Peffy, let''s fly, it''s so easy!" My angel maid, Angie exclaimed, flitting around using the force and her wings like a butterfly. "Slow down, hyperactive maid" I muttered with my Avatar, trying to emulate her natural abilities with telekinesis and wind alter. It wasn''t easy at all, especially using an organic body. Add another partition for Avatar''s use. Ah, a bit more control now. I could maneuver a droid army of millions with one partition, or a whole fleet, but directing wind was still hard. Now, what to reply to the friendly message that the Republic''s Chancellor has sent me, urging me to focus on culture and art and droid''s rights. And less on militaristic or industrialization purposes. To open talks with the former Republic members. A Jedi Council member also signed the message, one Mace Windu himself. Hmmm. My Empire only had 18 true sapient droids, and all were very old models that were not wiped by their owner for some reason or another. A few thousands were partly sentient, most of those being tactical or administrative droids that were created with laxer controls. Okay then. Let''s send a droid to these talks. Show them we do have droid rights. "Proto One, our Empire has a vital mission for you. A negotiation will take place with the CIS at Chancellor''s Palpatine demand. You are the perfect representative for droid rights, in our Empire. You leave in 6 hours, so report to the Celestial Throne''s Mechatronic Art lab,where we can get you repaired and painted nicely." ''Me? It''s an overwhelming honor, Droid Emperor. Do I get paid for this?'' the cheeky droid answered instantly. ''Of course, my faithful droid. You get to keep the Interceptor frigate that will carry you to the conference, as well as your 10 guard droids. Try to avoid starting a war too soon, though'' I added helpfully. He might even survive this mission... ''A war? oh dear...'' the droid muttered, a bit scared. Excellent. Too bad I don''t have an expendable Padme to send on such fruitless missions. Damn that crafty Palpatine, he had everything so easy... ******** Interlude ''Oh look, the so called Immortal Emperor had replied. Sending a most trusted representative to the trap. Too bad he didn''t come himself...'' the Dark Lord mused, looking over his vast collection of artifacts and memorabilia he''d collected or inherited from his Master. ''Immortal, my ass. There can be only one Emperor, and that will be me!'' he cackled inside, while maintaining a serene facade. ''But why hasn''t any of his agents returned from the obscure new empire? which started a few years ago by selling fertilizers'' ''Must be that Jedi bitch covering for him''. Master Fay hasn''t returned to Coruscant after she survived a former Dark Lord assassination attempt. ''And now she is using this droid patsy to get ships and attack my Republic?'' he muttered inside, while writing an eulogy for whoever will be killed at the CIS-Pef Empire talks. Hopefully another of those too effective Honored Maids. And that pathetic apprentice of his, Darth Tyrannus...lost a handful of acolytes as well, first searching for a hoax holocron, then attempting to infiltrate the so called Imperial Academy on Gand. No, that wasn''t important. That monstrous ship was, the Meteor. Looking like a shark, so possibly created by those Calamari companies that the droid owned. Only iron slugs, not a Kyber laser like he had envisioned, but still. It did destroy a Lucrehulk with a lucky shot. It also took 10 shots, whereas a Kyber laser would only fire once...primitives! ''Bah. Projectile weapons''. They truly must be primitive in that corner of the galaxy, if they had to arm dreadnaughts with cannons! And what was worse, the droid stole his ideas for Hands and Voices! Once he was Emperor, he will take those pretty twi''leks and do unnatural things to them. Really unnatural! The human ones as well. But, not the truly alien ones. Water maids, and angel maids and even Iron Knights... The galaxy was doomed. The place of such beings was as slaves and science experiments, not high ranking officials. At least Dooku had managed to conclude an alliance with the Sith spirits on Korriban. Maybe more Jedi will be killed there... Planet Gand, Pef Empire Celestial Throne 23 BBY "Report, Proto One. How did the negotiations go?" I asked politely, although the scorch marks on his armor were still visible. "Ah. Well, you see Droid Emperor...the Trade Federation droids started it. Not my fault! I was polite and all, I even took a course on Neimoidian language and customs. But my counterpart was insulted and maybe scared, and his guards opened fire, then my guards returned fire..." My Ambassador droid explained with a scared voice. Duh, I wasn''t expecting anything else, but it was good to test the new cortosis armor. A bit of soap, and he''ll look brand new. The nanomissiles still missed about 33%, despite predictive algorithms. Back to the drawing board then. That was Jaybo''s fault. Blaming a ten-year old... "Eh, at least you were extracted intact and our rescue fleet was able to cover your escape. But, no more frigate for you, mister shoot instead of talking. You still get the hazard bonus and your guards, cause I''m generous, but it better not happen again, next time!" I proclaimed grandly, tossing an aurodium coin in his metal hands. "What? Next time?" the sapient droid exclaimed after checking the purity of the coin. He''s perfect for the Hutts. "Of course, my faithful and loyal Servant. The negotiations only claimed a thousand lives. That''s ten times better thanour former Droid Ambassador. That''s progress, right there! Now go, and study the galactic history and Hutt language. I have another mission in mind for you, next month." I explained politely, then waved him away. "Hutt space? Oh dear, they torture droids there..." my new ambassador muttered in defeat. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. I looked after him and smiled inward. He did better than expected. Vette or Ventress might have not run, and forced the fleet to engage in the hostile takeover of planet Columex . Beginning the war too soon, before the armies and officers were trained and our forward bases supplied with fuel and rations. No, a coward messenger had his role, just as a brave one. The CIS will feel they had won something, since we had run, while our Empire will seethe in more desire for payback towards the traitorous corporations. Now, what to do about Voss ? Their mystics and their commandos would be of help, in the future. My Paladins could use them. But, they were too close to CIS, and exposed. I shouldn''t expose them to danger, not yet. ''I''ll go Pef. And take Angie with me. Poor Peffy is always exhausted from flying this much.'' Wialu whispered in the Voice bond, her words feeling warm and comforting. ''Okay love. They do not need to join or anything. Just make contact, and offer sanctuary, for a few of them. Give them planetary shields and biolabs as well.'' I said, thinking about potential dangers. Too many to count, from force-based bioweapons, to toxic gases and lightsabers and up to Base Delta Zero and extragalactic entities. You could never be truly safe, in this galaxy. ''And more. I know, my dear droid. We''ll do our best, or die trying.'' Wialu mused, her tone a bit more sad now. ''And then, alive again. This will be quite a ride.'' I answered, a bit upset with my fate. Perhaps I should have chosen to be incarnated as a Neti and just be, drinking the sun and the rain. Okay, enough misery, for myself. Let''s focus on Peffy. I was having him fool around in the garden. "Don''t kiss and pet the black scorpions, bratty child!" Zero yelled at my Avatar, whom had just upgraded from ants to bigger insects. Animal cotrol abilities are nice. Especially as they will work on bigger animals soon. "B-buttt, look they''re so cute, just like my Gand cousins." I explained with childish exuberance, and feigning a pout. Zero''s lips trembled a little, no doubt impressed by my acting. "GAAHHH! That''s it, you''re not making me into a foolish maid. I''m a Jedi Master and only the force commands me!" she yelled, teleporting above my Avatar and kicking downwards. Ha. Pathetic human. I am the wind...and you''re too slow. Dodge and fly above her, then kick downwards. My kick does little damage. "Tcchhh. That''s not fair. Humans can''t fly!" She exclaimed, ignoring my kick and Pushing sidewise with telekinesis, and going invisible. Damn, this was going to be tricky...plant sense, where is the evil jedi? Ah, sneaking behind me. Let''s project a lightsaber illusion coming from the right, punch her from the left at hyperspeed. Missed! "You''re decades too young to best me with illusions, tricky child" she boasted, and lit up her lightsaber. This was going to be painful... Planet Gand, Pef Empire Celestial Throne 23 BBY Seventh month "So, my brave maids, Aurra and Na-jia were successful?We have our survey droids and even 6 of them. The theft was not detected?" I asked, as my third Hand decloaked beside me. "Errr. About that...your maids were also inspired by your previous deeds, Emperor. They might have drained a few dozen billion credits from our target while executing the droid heist. On the other hand, nobody will notice a shipment of droids missing, while they search for their credits." he replied, a little amused. Hmmm. Stealing money was really too easy. Gonna have to form a special division just for this. Wars were expensive after all. I could finance the war simply stealing cash from my enemies! "Indeed, wise Emperor. Such a fiscal division may damage our enemies more than simply destroying ships. I''ll begin organizing this later today. Now, about the Kolto deposits. We should simply form a corporation especially for this task, and even recruit most of the workers from the locals. They wouldn''t need to know where the shipments are being sent." he advised me, while slipping into first person. Ah, my third Hand was growing up too. "Okay, that might work too. What about Krozurbia ?" "Rumours we planted already identify Dooku and his clique as the most likely suspects. Training and educating the crocodiles is still difficult, normal neural programming is only party effective. However, synthmeat is working as a substitute regime, at least for the first divisions we are deploying as guards on new planets. Adding bayonets on the blasters also raised their perceived valued in their eyes, but I do not think they''ll ever be competent enough to use armored vehicles or ships" "That''s okay. Grunts have a role too, especially where orbital bombardments are a possibility" I declared wisely. "Well said, Emperor. Now, agents I sent did indeed locate and recover specimens of Malvil-tree, but even the best of them wasn''t able to bond. Only their Xamster guide, a certain Xeran was able to control the trees. What should we do now?" "Locate an isolated settlement, with at least 10 females and bring them all back. Bendu will want to see them." "Sure thing, next on the list, the mission to Karvoss II. But a Gand/Anzat team? Perhaps a maid would have been better suited to contact the Matukai. Ventress perhaps?" he inquired politely. "No. My maids already run dozens of things for me inside the empire. This is an Exploration Corps task, either stay and acquire mastery, then return or convince a few of their Masters to join us and train the special ops at the Military Academy." "All right. Next thing...the mission tho M''haeli. My agents have procured a few hundred orphans and even a few older H''drachi with some skill in time-stream. They were already expected and well received. We could extract thousands more easily. The ghettos are fullof potential new Explorers." My hand argued, sliding a number of holos snaps taken by our agents. Superb precognitives, a whole species, and kept in ghettos? I''ll take them! "Not at once. Ongoing mission, one stealth freighter at a time. I''ll prepare a place for them at Sanctuary as well. We might extract them all, if an occasion presents itself, but for now only younglings and Seers." I explained patiently. Kids were also much easier to adapt and learn new things. "Okay then. The other missions are still being prepared, Haruun Kal and Dantooine call for full exodus, and thus will require more planning." "Okay. Go enjoy your females, Honored Hand. We''ll meet next week, if you still survive." I allowed graciously. "Wisely said, Maid Emperor. May you find even more, and live to tell about it" My Blacks Ops intelligence director joked as he vanished. It had to be a joke, right? ''Vette is coming back, from her visit to the Meteor. Be brave, adored Emperor'' Solana sent, her voice promising a another training session in the jacuzzi. Hmmm. That would be nice... Planet Gand, Pef Empire Mechatronic Art lab. 23 BBY Two weeks later. "Stay still, my pretty violet maid. Or else, the armor won''t fit right !" I demanded, while measuring Na-Jia carefully, making sure every inch of her soft, velvety skin was being touched by my tender fingers... "Your armor is cold!" my almost naked maid yelled, and pushed my glove away from her generous chest. Tchhh!. "Okay, then Na-Jia. Turn around while I take my armor off." I sighed, pretending to be defeated. "Oh, just like you did? No way, I want to see you naked, mister too-rich-to-be-true Emperor!" Well, if you ask so nicely...voila! "You like?" I said pretending to be ashamed. "Why are you wearing boxers over your droid chassis?"Na Jia wondered, staring at me confused. "T-that''s private! And personal. And you''re wearing boxers too" I replied politely, but emoting like a shy droid. And she wore sport bra as well, god damn it. "Oh? Do you have something there? Maybe a certain toy? Now I see...why your Voices are so happy" she teased me, and reached out to touch the forbidden fruit. Aurra entered the room just then, also wearing only shorts and a sports bra. She had a runner''s body with long fine muscles and a predatory step. "Errrr. I can come back later...if I''m interrupting something?" Aurra said, not really shy, but curious. And she examined my cortosis chassis with a certain predatory look. "Nah, just touching each other like any couple does" I answered airly, and proceed to paw over Na-Jia with my synthskin covered hands. Yes...quite firm and also elastic tissue... "My armor better be as good as you say it is, Immortal sexdroid." the thief maid sighed and closed her eyes. "You have a functional vibrator in your boxers? That''s awesome!" Aurra Sing exclaimed after a few seconds of shock, and proceeded to paw over me, testing the firmness. Ventress entered just then, and stared at the scene with a murderous look in her eyes. Her bountiful chest heaved with a deep breath. Was that a bit of anger? "You''re playing with the new maids, Emperor?" she asked coldly. "Well, we''re measuring each other, for some reason..." I said distracted, as Na-jia had become a little red in her cheeks and her breathing accelerated too. "Hmmm. You may have a point, I did wonder if Aurra had better qualities than me, since you even let her touch your toy" Ventress added and stepped forward to compare her own size with Aurra. Just then, Vette entered the lab, also wearing just shorts and bra. Her blue skin contrasted with her black lingerie, and her leku trembled with emotion. "Eh! We are that kind of maids?" she asked, with a little confusion and revulsion. Damn, my dastardly plans were revealed too soon. "Come here and lift her knee to the chest, or I can''t guarantee full athletic ability for Ja-nia''s armor" I said rapidly, inventing a plausible excuse. "Oh. That actually makes sense..."Vette muttered, straining to lift the violet maid knee up. That when Angie entered the lab and blinked a few times in confusion and awe. Her wings fluttered and she almost lost her voice. "I heard human procreation is complicated, but that looks quite painful..." the angel said in a lyrical voice. Celine entered as well, and lost her voice for a minute. Her white skin blushed to near infrared, and her blonde hair almost ignited. "You''re abusing the poor droid, like that. Use a bed, for kriff sakes ! " she concluded, having arrived at a almost realistic assumption. Wialu entered as well, carrying a baby Lira, and she quickly covered her eyes. "This looks like fun, but not with a baby in my arms. I''ll come back in a few hours when Lira''s asleep" She explained with a kind smile. Solana entered just then, and smiled wide. A globe of water formed above her palm. "Bath time!" she exclaimed, spraying the room with a hose of conjured water. Zero garden Planet Gand, Pef Empire Zero garden 23 BBY Eighth month Have I told you lately how strong I had become, in the Force? Well...it probably has to do with my Avatar learning to use the Living Force. Miss Zero is kneeling in front of my kneeling Avatar, now looking like a 7 years old boy, and she''s breathing deeply, trying to regain her breath. Her body cannot keep up with Peffy anymore, not physically. I have to reduce my speed and strength by lots, just to gain some combat experience. "I''m not certain what I can teach you now, Avatar. You can block lightsabers with your naked hands, for kriff''s sake" she muttered, partly proud, partly in desperation. A guard droid stepped forward and placed 2 holocrons between us. Made by your truly, the Immortal Artisan. "Well, Miss Zero. My droid self has mastered holocron creation, at least the polyhedral ones. I think it''s time we begin the next step" I said with Peffy''s childish voice, picking up a trapezoidal blue holocron and starting imprinting energy absorption teaching on it, clue by clue and lesson by lesson. In 10 minutes, I had a priceless holocron in my hand, allowing any force-sensitive above Knight level to become immune to blasters and lightsabers, for a short time. Then I glided it into my teachers hand, and just waited. As expected, she drank the lessons avidly, only stopping hours later, when the sun vaned and the cold of evening wake her up. "This, this is a priceless gift, initiate!" Zero exclaimed, testing her own lightsaber on a finger tip and withstanding it for a second. "Still left a bad burn, but better than losing the finger, right?" I asked amused, as my droid came with a kolto cup, and gently placed her hand inside. "Kolto? Nobody uses it anymore..." she said with some surprise. "Yes, thus is a great product to have, once the wars start" I explained politely, pointing at the datapad held by another droid, and projecting the Military Creation Act debates in the Senate. Seems my own actions of fighting thousands of pirates and some CIS fleets have changed things a bit, a few more Senators leaning towards creating a Navy of their own, even citing some of Vette''s more outlandish actions. The woman glanced at the holonews with a disintersested face."You are so certain this will happen, no matter what anyone does." she concluded after a minute. "Not at all. Anything I see, it can be changed. But then, you lose surprise advantage, and most of the tactical positioning you can gain. Let''s say we intervene and stop the war. The CIS will grow and build even more ships and droids, and attack years later, a hundred times stronger. The Republic, with their rangers and judicial forces will fall in months" I explained patiently, while forming a water globe in my hand, and spinning it slowly. Water was still the hardest element to work with. "And Dooku will rule the galaxy, and exterminate most force users, including the jedi" Zero concluded, picking up the green cube in front of her. Well, perhaps not Dooku, unless he manages to get much stronger and kill Palpatine. "Possibly. I showed you that Vong soldier''s body. An entire species, without the force, and hating everyone who uses it. They are coming for us, and soon." I answered as I crafted a Vong worldship miniature, floating above my tiny palm. "And your droid maid hasn''t reported since?" Zero asked curious. And implying she''s already dead. "Ray would be more similar to what Pef is. She has a sentient crystal inside, after all. I would know ifRay died." I answered, almost certain. Solanus would know, most likely. "Okay, I''ll try to imprint the Teleport ability on this holocron. Maybe you will master it too, like you did with all the knight abilities I showed you" she conceded, poking at the empty holocron with a finger. It didn''t bite her. Too bad. "Take your time, Honored teacher. I''m going to Rancor Isle to play with my ponies. They are absolutely amazing, and so cute!" I gushed out with a wide smile, abusing my charming dimples. Or so my adoring maids said. Her lips trembled a little more, no doubt impressed by my bravery or cuteness. One of them, for certain. "Tomorrow as sun rises then. Have fun riding rancors..." she said with a long sigh. Yes! Another small step in breaking her icy shell. I had another year to make room for me near her heart. And then, she''ll never leave me. Through love, I gain Victory! I returned to my other partitions, as Peffy went to complete his Animal bond abilities. A hundred Meteors were under trials, and consuming prodigious amounts of Hypermatter, which is why a hundred uninhabitable planets were being drilled into with capital ship weapons, to allow solar radiation to reach their metal cores and form hypermatter building blocks. Sadly, more Meteors would have to wait, since we already used 100 thousand heavy masers and missile launchers to arm them. Even for my empire, that many weapons were hard to manufacture fast enough. Not to mention navigation equipment, modern bridges and hyperdrives. Droids were no longer a problem though. I had enough droids to crew two thousand Meteors, even at 1 million droids per ship. Another black ops mission was being prepared for Jakku, and aimed to obtain the Sith artifacts that Palpatine dumped there for his Contingency, as well as stealing all the routes already found by the Jakku Observatory. A mining corporation, for magnite, osmiridium and kesium gas and even bezorite would make a good cover. Only droids, of various types and a Gand Claw, who begged for another serious mission. Seems dodging feral Rakata on Thyton wasn''t enough for him. Another corporation will provide fertilizers and farming and also water from comets. Then extract the orphanage manager and his kids, before collapsing the borehole to the core. I mean, come on! Habitable planets anyone? They''re quite rare... ''Pef, Solanus has an idea, and it should work. Select 10 barren planets at the Empire borders, and transform them in ocean planets with cometary rain. He thinks he can oceanform them, by pouring part of him into those oceans. It would take millions of tonnes of water, but the unfinished Meteors can cary that easily. They just need engines and a bridge.'' my water maid sent, while exploring another ocean world. Hmmm. Solanus could expand, to encompass the Empire and provide early warning and safe systems for refuel and healing. And be less exposed by living on a single planet. ''Sure thing Solana. How deep can the new armor go?'' I asked curious. ''All the way, my soulmate'' she sent, with a slight blush in her bond. Oh. Doublespeak. She''ll be fantastic once she masters shapeshifting. Vette took her Meteor One in the Periphery, and was scattering pirates like rabbits. Then again, 20 kilometer ship. With corvettes and frigates around it like remoras following a shark. Seems civilization can be imposed by guns, if you bring big enough guns. Proto One was touring nearby Hutt space, forming trade treaties and buying slaves. My Empire needed people, and the Hutts had plenty to sell. Win-win. And my Ambassador only got shot a few times, the commando guards taking care not to kill the guilty Hutt, only half his entourage. Can''t kill my customers after all, but I could sting them a little. Next partition. A million new survey droids were being manufactured and prepared for deployment, their tiny hyperdrives only permitting one jump forward and then return. But if only a thousand came back, that meant a thousand new routes and systems to claim. If they worked, I''ll build billions more, and seed the whole quadrant with Empire worlds. Planet Gand, Pef Empire Celestial Throne 23 BBY, Ninth Month "I will not let this Republic which has stood for a thousand years be split in two. My negotiations will not fail." Palpatine Palpatine arranged for another CIS-Pef meeting, urging me to take it more serious and send at least a Honored Maid. Okay then... "Droid B11/766555/ you are hereby promoted to: female gender, Honored Maid and Deputy Ambassador. You can wear the wig and the maid robes of your rank, and will represent droid rights at the next peace summit with the CIS. For the Empire!" I ordered him grandly, in the large council, and thus observed by a thousand Councilmen and women and droids and various other genders. Some species have a thousand genders in this galaxy, so it gets confusing, really soon. "Roger, roger. I''m so dead..." the droid responded with familiar humour. For 576.4 credits, the factory cost, this maid will be the best investment I ever made. "Honored Maid B11, you will be provided with a suicide capsule, in case those monsters try to torture you for information. Remember your model''s motto B11. ''Death before dishonor''. Die bravely, or do not come back at all" I explained kindly, "Roger, roger..." the Deputy Ambassador said weakly, then left the podium with her head hung. My council observed this with some lack of clarity, especially the newest ones to join. The droid went to the Mechatronic art lab to be disguised as my maid, even adding eyelashes and platform shoes. Her thin legs will be much better evidenced now, making her the new model for the fashion industry. Then I installed a proton bomb about 5 kilotons yield inside her torso. Her suicide should be seen from orbit now. "I know, some of you may think me rude, or cheap. But remember Lira, our first Honored Maid, and my Voice being assassinated by CIS. Remember Proto One, who barely escaped the same fate. We will give the CIS the exact respect they showed us. Our newest maid was built on Metalorn, by the Techno Union factories. We freed her, and gave her rights and ranks and authority! Let them show us, how they really respect droid rights and diplomatic immunity." I orated, calling flames and lightning to surround me. After the ovations stopped, I added the actual thing they were all expecting. "Bets on B11''s survival start at production value, so 577 credits." By the time the old Gozanti cruiser carrying the Honored Maid left the system, the bets had passed 1 million credits against, and only 2330 credits towards survival. It wasn''t like I expected the Ambassador ship to survive anyway, thus it was only piloted by a brand new R2 . Old R2 were worth their weight in gold, since they knew lots of tricks and smuggler routes. Make a note, buy a million more old astromechs, possibly from Tatooine. They''ll be happy to escape torture. Hmmm. Add them to Proto One''s trade list as well. The Hutts might have more. Okay, next thing on the agenda. "People, calm and sit down! You can place bets after the council is over. Let''s welcome the newest planet to join the Empire, planet Kintoni . Let''s also welcome the representative of Wyndigal 2 and the one from Xuaquarres. The later two planets only have Imperial Servants to rule them, but that might change, should we discover native sapients. But if they don''t, they''ll be open to colonization and industrialization, just like all the newly discovered worlds." "Immortal Emperor, how will the new worlds be distributed? Some planets will be richer or more hospitable than others?" a clever MPT signatory asked. "For now, about one or two colonies per every full member and none for the MPT members. If they can''t protect their own worlds, they surely can''t expect the Empire to protect their colonies. But soon, the first surveyor droids will return with thousands new planets to colonize. It''s sad that the MPT members only wish to receive protection and not riches and free education and healthcare and new colonies, but as I said from the start I will not force worlds to join us, except in rare cases where we get attacked first.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. And those worlds, like Anzat for example, will be penalized for 5 years with MPT status, and only after allowed to request to join as full members. I can be merciful and generous, as all of you know, but even so, there are limits." I explained patiently, observing some dozens of MPT representatives squirm in their seats. "Oh, thousands of new planets...I''ll argue with my king to think more about full membership. Millions of our younglings might survive next winter..." A certain MPT reptilian councilor commented loud, as agreed when he received his new luxury yacht. The bait was planted. Can''t have too many Military Protection Treaties after all. Just a dozen strategic ones should be easier to enforce. "That''s it for this year people. Enjoy the shops and the saunas, then return to your home planets tomorrow. I am eager to hear from your leaders." I concluded, forming wings of shadow and flying away majestically. ''Again the same tricks. Come to Redbox.'' Wialu sent, and I rushed to obey. Can''t keep my wife waiting... Zuckuss had asked for another layer of protection, a security corridor with scanners and various traps, which amused me greatly. Almost like there''s a Red Queen on the other side... The third Hand might find it difficult to sneak in, even wearing a hundred million credits stealth suit. "What is it Wialu?" I asked, since she was alone in front of the holomap. "I have a proposal, my Emperor." A gand voice said behind me. Gah. My Thrid Hand! He still passed through the corridor, undetected. ''Sure thing. Propose it then." I said calmly, going to sit on my durasteel block. My Hand decloaked next to the holotable and sent a schematic for a stealthed survey droid. "The survey platform will not have hyperdrives or sublight engines, only a few pressure gas canisters. They will be deployed, in every accessible system, both ours or not, and at various distance from the main star, thus allowing us to observe everything in the known galaxy, from ship movements, battles and even invaders or spies. Also, when corroborated together, they will show us where every single ship was, is and is going to be." he explained, then began expanding on various forms of scanners and stealth modes. Hmmm. Very ambitious. But too soon, at least for the Core and Inner Rim. "Begin testing it in Empire space and the Outer Rim, as well as main trade routes nodes nearby and Hutt space. We can''t risk being caught with this in CIS or Republic space. And send a thousand units to Solanus as well." "I humbly bow to your wisdom, Immortal Spy. Perhaps the Great Ocean will be able to devise effective methods to avoid the Sith and the Jedi" he replied, catching my meaning fast. Almost. "And others, even more dangerous. How many such platforms will we need for complete coverage?" I asked curious, while devoting a partition for my own calculations. 256 per system, spread out every light minute from the star. Not so much then. "Between 200 and 1000 for large traffic lanes. They will have to be small, and use passive sensors only, and just those outside the Oort clouds will send holonet transmissions. For nearby planets we can also use subspace transmitters, which would be even safer." "Okay then. Approved for a million units, and up to 10 million more units, at your discretion, Honored Hand. You may take another female as well." I allowed graciously. It wasn''t like I gave him a Maid or something. The Gand had females aplenty. Most likely. And it was a decent idea. Even if, it will cost a trillion credits to build so many stealth satellites. "Your generosity is boundless, Immortal Matchmaker. For the Empire!"my Handdeclared grandly, punching the sky and then vanishing with a smoke grenade, thrown by his other hand. Hmmm. My armor''s olfactive sensors couldn''t detect him now. Clever. "One day, he will be too tired to work for you Pef, if you keep adding more females to his harem..unless, you''re forcing him to strengthen his force connection by withstanding sex?" Wialu asked, smiling widely. "I''m just generous to my friends. Nobody is forcing him to pleasure all his females every night" Ianswered with a fake shrug. A few olbio leaves moved, in the wind behind me. Curious. "Except his females. They might force him. Oh well, at least 6 of them are pregnant now, so he must sleep easier." she added with a wicked smile, looking somewhere behind me. "Enough, I had enough! Pregnant females are a pain..." my third Hand exclaimed, breaking camouflage and leaving the olbio tree, then stomping out of the Redbox. I held my palm up, and my Voice gave it a high five. We hugged afterwards, sharing an evil smile. Blueforge, Pef Empire Blue Base. 23 BBY, Tenth month. Solanus decrypted some of the Vong biotech, allowing both of us to start creating advanced biotech, especially important for ship life support and trauma medipacs as well as blaster resistant armor and better synthskin for our droids. Bioengineered spaceship armor should also mitigate most of the Ion weapons effects on the surface electronics, and we''ve both began parallel production for the Meteor upper fins here at Blueforge, and at Sol I, the first new planet that Solanus has lived on since a billion years. He will make bio-armor for the Calamari ships, since those can submerge by design. Three hundred MC30 frigates and same number of MC80 cruisers, and it would possibly take him only a week. Just the upper fin on the first Meteor will take us just as long. Gah, it''s not fair! That also means I have to endure Vette at close range, while the Meteor One is getting up-armored. "So, Peffy and Jaybo are twins now. Same age and height and face, only the hair is different. What if you mix them up?" she asks curious, petting Peffy on his head. I made sure to pet her bottom for this. Pet for pet. "I have a chip in my brain, Honored Maid. The Emperor would know" Jaybo answered politely, still fiddling with the defective nano-missiles. Barely 75% accuracy, after months of work. But at least they could change trajectory minutely and hit critical spots. And Vong armor was no defense. "My friends have examined that Matukai meditation band, and will make me one as well. They''re very glad there''s such artefacts still existing, with other force users. Means a lot for them" Vette explained, showing off her Jal Shay gloves and belt and bracelet and sash and necklace. Seems every different nomad group had different items to imbue and add abilities to. Now she also wears a Matukai band and a collapsible Wan-shen, which could block lightsabers. One of the Anzati I sent to learn decided to run away, along with the force soup and the items of a Matukai adept. Solana found him and drained his knowledge, along with the Matukai training and confiscated his items. The Matukai were a bit upset but admitted some of them sometimes went mad too. Damn it, though. A single adept could have trained hundreds more. In a couple months, the weak and new Findsmen I sent there became twice as strong in the force, and three times more in pure strength and speed. The bota extracts and daily baths in kolto must have helped too. I also paid a million credits for each of them to ease the negotiations, but anyway. Just money. Peffy uses kolto and bacta baths alternately, growing in strength even faster. If it was safe enough, I''d send him there too, but my Avatar can only teleport a few feet. To reach a ship in orbit requires complete mastery of this ability. So maybe another year. For now, Solana can try to teach what she glimpsed when she drained the Anzati defector. And he probably won''t be the last. For some, murder and killing for fun or money were still better than loyalty and defending their home. "Very well, Vette. You can keep a Mentor Jal Shey with you, but the rest should go to Sanctuary. The Meteor is our flagship, not a cruise liner for nomads sects. And they''ll have friends and the great Bendu to learn more." I said softly, watching the blue twi''lek with sadness. She had so much potential, drawing people to her, but she still couldn''t accept me for what I was... "Fine! But don''t shoot her, like you did last time. They''re my friends, not pirates or target practice, stupid droid..." she muttered, ignoring the facts completely. That changeling wasn''t her friend. "We shall see. We have genetic testers now, to confirm identity and species. And if you brought another infiltrator on my ship, you''ll get stunned as well. Deal?" I asked, opening my arms for a hug. "Deal. But the stun better not hurt. In case I was wrong..." Vette added with a little guilt, and hugged me back. As we walked towards the barracks where the nomads were hosted, Peffy went to help his clone with the nano missiles. They could both use friends of their age, even if only for a week. Also, B11 maids...I can send a million such Ambassadors from now on, and they won''t get insulted again. She just came off the Diplomatic Transport Cruiser DT002, and entered the venues of the conference, when she was surrounded by ugly B2s and droideka and had a red lightsaber pointed at her photoreceptors by some dark acolyte. "What is this joke?" the acolyte yelled, ordering his droids to invade sovereign Pef Empire territory, or the Gozanti cruiser, to look for the real maid. The R2 pilot panicked and engaged hyperdrives in atmosphere, evaporating a nearby spaceship, and a few kilometers swathe of spaceport. "Death before dishonor" My B11 maid managed to say, before being electrocuted with Sith lightning. The live transmission cut, and was replaced by an orbital view of the spaceport. A red bloom marked another successful negotiation, in kiloton range. The images captured were also flowery and enchanting. Next time, I might send 2 B11s, if the CIS asks for a maid again. Planet Gand, Pef Empire Celestial Throne 22 BBY The first graduates from the Matukai training are returning home, to become instructors for every single VSS and Black Ops agents. They are quite strong, at least Jedi Knight levels. The Anzati graduates will undergo cyborgification, since I can''t trust them not to snap. Meanwhile, I stare at Mujilik, as he petshistiny Gand pup.The single survivor of the Easter Egg birth omlette. "Venerable Mujilik. Just say yes, and become my 6th Hand. I need someone to oversee the Exploration Corps and the survey droids. My 3rd Hand is quite busy with Black Ops already." I asked patiently. "Indeed he is. He can barely walk. Perhaps you were too generous, gifting him that many females. All right, my old female can raise the kit. But I want my own cruiser, and a hidden asteroid base. And a billion credits. This old gand may not have a pretty ass like your maids, but still, Mujilik can''t go and ask Zuralee for money, it''s unseemly" he complained, and made me smile inside. "Sure, that is easy. I have also a question, that can''t bring myself to ask Zuralee about. Why keep one or maybe two kits? Why not ten? I gave you two new planets to colonize, beside the Dream. Your species has room enough now, and droids can farm..." I said, a bit hesitant. This was quite delicate, but I needed answers. "Slow to change we are, and we have endured cycles of famine before. Many still can''t believe the Dream is real, and hide in the ammonia canyons. Also defective Gand are the same as those dark jedi. The females dream and look for the ones who will be more balanced. What would you do, should billions of Findsmen go mad and pillage everything?" Hmmm. So that was it. They traced forward, and stabbed the crazy ones. And genetic defects too, most likely. Their gene alter was what made Peffy so strong, along with kyber crystal infused bones and a power gem infused soul. Lira was also fused with a kyber crystal, and had some gene sequences copied from Fay, but it was too soon to tell if they''ll work. Bota plants extracts surely did. Quite amazingly, but that should end in a year or two. Make a note, send some to the Voss, and the Zeison Sha and Makutai. A stronger force connection should help them survive, perhaps. "I need one of those bad Gand kits. I have to know how to tell them apart. Is that okay, my Sixth Hand?" I asked cautiously. "That''s easy. One bad egg won''t be missed from the birth omelette. You''ll have one tomorrow, Egg Emperor" the grumpy Gand said with some amusement and checked his datapad for credits and his new cruiser. Solanus was graceful enough to add a meter of diamondoid armor over the normal durasteel, tripling the effective value of those ships, and protecting the exposed bridges. And with another meter of laser and ion resistant bio-armor over that, the Calamari ships were now the best protected ships in the galaxy, for their size. They sort of were well protected before, but only by shields. Too bad this procedure couldn''t be used en masse. We''ll have seed to algae and corals and to drag more asteroids and comets down into the ocean though, since Sol I didn''t have enough organics and minerals to sustain such undertaking. ''Do that for every ocean where Solanus goes. Just smash them to bits in near orbit, and Solanus can lower them with telekinesis, just like you can'' Solana added to my musings. Okay then. Problem solved. Dual Voice was really useful. Sending orders to a hundred corvettes idling around. The Clone Wars start this year. Hmm. I should check on Fay, and perhaps gift her a holocron or two as well. Some bota plant crates, for her and the changelings... Yep, and take Zero and Peffy with me. This visit should be interesting. I''m not scared, at all. Preparations En route to Sran (changelings new homeworld) 22 BBY, second week. The holonews still repeat the cries of a desperate mother, and her pleas for the Jedi Order to return her child. You can read more here: HoloNet Jedi Watch | Jedi Vs. The Force of a Mother''s Love . More drama stirred by a certain Supreme Chancellor, no doubt. Doesn''t help it''s also true. Also the Senator of Malastare assassination by the CIS took only one line, while the failed negotiations between my Honored Maid B1 and the CIS were entirely forgotten. Sigh. Meanwhile, Peffy is inscribing an orange cubic holocron with basic teachings of 20 abilities and 3 major ones : energy absorption, hide in shadow and mind-shield. It has to be done by the Avatar, since the living brains need a different type of learning than synthetic ones. For the Shards and the Tsil I have imprinted a dozen holocrons with 512 facets myself, and sent them as a gift to the crystals home planets of Orax and Nam Chorios. They are also different, focused more on large scale actions like fleets and armies and cyberwarfare. I''m now focusing on creating a holocron with 65536 facets. When ready, it will look almost like a sphere. If, it will ever be ready. No wonder the Bendu asked me to make a round holocron. It''s almost impossible. The organo-mineral soup collapses again, and I sigh in defeat. Small steps then, let''s begin with 1024 facets and follow the Moore''s law. Miss Zero now sports two pistols, one is an Ion blaster with 100 shots, that I reversed-engineered from the Jawas on Tatooine and the other is a nano-missile pistol with 1000 shots. In the hands of a Jedi Master, these weapons can obliterate a battalion of troops or droids in a minute. She also wears a Force-adept prototype armor, that I''ve built myself, which protects the torso, shins and forearms from slug throwers, blaster bolts and all melee weapons. Zero still doesn''t want to hear full armor or power armor, since she says it reduces her connection to the force. Which is bull. I wear one such armor myself and works just fine. Can''t wait till my employees at Land Warrior devise the next miniaturized tractor beams and hyperdrives. Then my power armor will be a spaceship in function as well. I''ve hired a dozen Columi and hundreds of other geniuses from the galaxy, including some Verpine and Xi Charrian, and they went over my inventions with glee. The Xi charrian love my new Vultures ground support mechas and have begun improving them again, while the Verpine go over my combat droids with awe. If only I could trust them to reveal the Meteor battleships and Comets, the heavy fighters inspired by the Maul and Fay''s interceptors. But I least I figured out how they came to exist, seems a certain Raith Sienar built them with plans from Darth Tenebrous, a Sith Lord before Darth Plagueis. That guy really builds stuff for everyone, and seems he designed the Death Star as well. I''ll have to extract or kill him, before he makes too much trouble. And wake up, the ship just arrived. Planet Sran is humid and half covered by oceans, so the changelings should be fine. I immediately detect the first stealth satellites and the defense space stations, along with the defense fleet and planetary shields. And look, a certain ship, with a familiar shape just rose from the surface and heads straight for us. "Fay seems upset,with you." Zero says in a bored voice, deflecting another blaster with her backhand. She''s getting better and might even survive now. Unless she gets shot in the head like Lira. Or poisoned or falls from a mountain or gets bombarded from orbit or... Kriff, organics are so fragile. "She''ll get over it. Or she''ll die soon and will be missed" I said feigning boredom as well. Hmmm. The Avatar senses two lifesigns on board. A changeling, most likely. And a test. All right then, your turn Peffy. Fay''s ship did an orbit around my Calamari cruiser, before entering the only shuttle hangar with the sally armor open. Yea, no more unexpected visitors now. C''mon, is it so hard to place an armor flap over the hangars and keep intruders out? Not to mention air and organics in, should the energy barriers fail. Two identical Fays jump out of the fighter. I fly towards them, using the force. One is a bit impressed in her aura, so I head towards the next. "Welcome to the HMS Celestial River, Master Fay" I speak through my Avatar, and hold out a hand for a handshake. Genetic alter, yes, it is her. The other one, looking identical is the changeling. "Oh. You''ve grown a little since I saw you last year..." Fay muttered a little confused. "Indeed, Master Fay. Miss Zero says I''m taller than Master Yoda now" I answer amused, and went to shake hands with the other Fay. "Errr, teacher...is it okay to greet the flying kid?" the changeling asks, a bit worried. "Use your own judgement child." Fay told her companion, then turned towards me."Quite some improvement to the ship, I see. Crystal and biological armor, over the original durasteel. The bridge and the hangars were armored too. Expecting trouble, are you?" the Jedi wondered, "Yes, something like that, Master Fay. You surely heard of Imperial officials assassinated by the Dooku''s CIS and clashes over contested sectors. I''m certain Sran has holonews, like every world in the Pef Empire. When Corellia goes to war, so shall we" I explained politely, shaking hands with the changeling and learning the first lesson of water alter. Seems you do need to be organic to use it properly. And acquire a tissue and genetic sample from your impersonation, too. The changeling would be virtually undetectable to most scanners. "Yes, I heard that, and of the massive expansion the Empire took last months. A thousand new planets. The Emperor is here too?" Fay asked, possibly a little annoyed to speak with a flying kid, looking about 11. "I am the Voice of the Emperor, Master Fay. My words are law and compel every loyal servant of the Empire. I see you haven''t spent even half the credits you were given. Surely the changelings might need things, like skyscrapers and medical labs and museums?" I asked, coming around and floating eye to eye with my Fifth Hand. "I''m not...building an entire planet is not in my teachings. I just fly around the galaxy, ending conflicts and wars and saving people..." "Oh, really. The Jedi do not defend civilization and rescue slaves then? They just kidnap younglings and brainwash them to cut any opponent in half?" I asked rhetorically, and produced the orange holocron. Fay stared at it with wide eyes, since it wasn''t a Jedi holocron, which were all known and revered. "Who, did Master Kuro...the dark woman made it?" she wondered, floating it in the air. "Of course not, the new Jedi lost the ability to create them a thousand years ago. I made it myself, for you Master Fay. This one is empty, if you ever want to imprint your own teachings, before you die" I added, producing a blue cube. ****** The dark woman blinked again, as her pupil words reached something deep inside. The holoscreens showed her the conversation in the hangar, and also the planet and it''s fields and factories. All worked and maintained by droids. Even Master Fay had no clue how to build a civilization. Pef gave her a hundred billions and the changelings bellow were still living in near poverty. Ugly duracrete complexes, and no parks or gardens or art... How could the Jedi Order claim to be the defenders of civilization? It took a child to say the words and wake her up. "You''d be better off with another Gand as a Fifth Hand. Those people would starve if your droids wouldn''t feed them, for free." She said to the Droid Emperor, who was sitting next to her with a bowl of crystal soup, and was constructing more and more complex holocrons, like toys. Just like entire new cities and terraforming planets. One would think him a mere competent administrator, except for his maids. Those women, all so different and extraordinary. Wialu was stronger than any Jedi she knew, perhaps even Master Yoda or Fay. And Solana was so alien that she had no reference to compare with. The Avatar of a sentient ocean... Also Angie...a real angel, and breathing the force itself. Not a myth after all, if quite naive and childish. "If Fay dies next year, I will need a new one, yes. I can''t stop someone willing to sacrifice herself, but maybe she''ll take my offer and let me anchor her. And then bring her back, just like I did for Lira. The old Je''daii weren''t wrong, just misguided" Pef answered, not turning to respond, or stopping the holocron''s build, or whatever tasks he took at once. Almost like an AI...except for the love he shared with his Voices. And next year, she will have to leave...if there will be any place to go. Her garden was now on Gand, after all. Planet Gand, Pef Empire Celestial Throne 22 BBY, Second month. Ventress and Angie have gone to Dathomir, along with a fleet of freighters and escorts, to establish a mining base on Koratas, a moon of Dathomir rich in minerals. And also, to negotiate with the town of Aurilia and with Ventress''s family in the Nightsider clan, down on the main planet. Perhaps I could prevent another genocide, by constructing deep underground shelters for both clans. Maybe locate some devolved Kwa and their ancient artefacts too. Keeping us supplied with vital minerals will be a challenge during the wars, but if the secret deal with the Jefi on Botajef works, they''ll abuse their neutrality to transport the minerals under Jefi flag and authentications. And giving them a few billion credits for planetary shields and factories might help too. In the north, we''re trying to expand as fast as we can, taking Refnar and Munto Codru and reaching the Crseih system. Having our own energy refineries around a black hole should contribute making us independent. More fleets heading towards the Shaylin system and Turkana, while Vette went on with her Meteor and her mentor to take Pakuuniand clear out the Pakuuni pirates. It seems neither the Galactic Republic, nor the CIS have any interest in this sector, so that means it''s mine. Right? Who doesn''t want fertilizers and neural education? And the fact that both Mon Calamari space and the Centrality are now tucked inside the Pef Empire borders, protected from invasion and war will mean a lot, when the Clone Wars end. Now if only Wialu manages to bring Brigia and Mullan on our side. A larger delegation, composed of Solana and Zuralee, along with a hundred Calamari cruisers is headed towards Gbu and their insect natives, trying to stop their defection, or at least change it towards neutrality or even my Empire. Frantic steps, before the war breaks out. The North fleet is in position anyway, 50 Meteors and 5 Mountains along with a thousand Dakka corvettes, in case the war starts a few months or weeks sooner. New Alderaan has become a huge naval base, with fuel depots and armories and barracks for a thousand divisions, while Sol II is nearby, for retreat or healing. In the west, thousands of survey droids search for a secret route towards Charros. I know it must exist, the Galactic Empire used it in my memories, but the droids find only dead worlds and dead ends, or do not return at all. Mostly the latter. Survey droids were originally equipped with sublight engines, and took decades to reach the nearest stars. A hyperdrive takes hours or days, but it is also way more risky and inaccurate. Peffy remained with Zero and Fay on Sran, since he''s organic and all. Establishing a flourishing civilization is quite easy for my Avatar, and my Jedi Hands can learn alot from him. I mean me. Yes. Allocate another partition to manage the Avatar. Okay, much better focus now. Let''s return to what I''m doing. Outside my window there''s a few hundred old small ships and 21 of Invincible-class Dreadnaught Heavy Cruiser, that Proto one bought from the Hutts for little, along with 2 Lucrehulks filled with new equipment, like modern sensors and hyperdrives and shields, along with 4200 heavy masers and missile launchers and gatling lasers.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Okay let''s start disassembling the old ships and rebuild them in my image. I mean, in the new design I consulted about with theColumi geniuses. They seemed amused, for some reason. Then again, their species was travelling the stars perhaps 2 million years ago. They forgot more about technology than any other race knew. They just...devolved. These ships, the Invincible class, are 3000 years old and still work, almost fine. They just need...to be dismembered in little pieces, floating in zero gravity, then guided with precise telekinesis into a mostly similar shape, if much better armored and shielded and most important, armed. Gah, what were these people thinking, building a 2 kilometer-long battlecruiser, then arming it with only 12 capital class turbolasers? Even 200 guns are too few, but I can only use these due to low reactor power and Meteor production. In 3000 years, they progressed to Venators, armed with 16 guns... The cylindrical shape is a good start, but it needs a raised superstructure, for superfiring turrets and sensors, then lateral wings for heat sinks, and two large hangar bays underneath the wings for starfighters. The hangar''s armored flaps will open backwards, of course, to prevent incoming fire and losing fighters before they can even launch. And one hour later, the first Invictus class fleet carrier is ready. Class 2.0 hyperdrives, 212 heavy guns, 100 medium guns, and 200 missile launchers and gatling lasers. With room for 5000 droidfighters too. Only 20 more ships to go. If I could get tired, I''d be in a coma right now. But being a crystal has perks. Unlimited lifespan and memory, for example. Thus, I can work 24 hours a day, everyday. And when I''m done, I''ll need to upgrade my Lucrehulks as well. That was gonna be exciting. Not really. And then, a trip to see Crseih, the crystallized white dwarf, and try to save it from being swallowed by a black hole. There''s a long story there, but now is the best time to act. ''If you don''t hear from me again, come rescue me!'' ''Solanus says you''re a bit crazy. Solana thinks a bit more. Oh well. Your Avatar will be fine'' my Voice said with feigned disinterest. ''Thanks love'' I sent back, sad of my unrecognized sacrifice. Gah. You don''t want to meet Waru. Being made into sacrificial offerings for a trans-dimensional being would hurt. Millions of force sensitives would be lost. Plus, future is fickle. No one could guarantee that Waru will want to go home, this time. En route to Dellalt, returning from Crseih On board HMS Celestial River, a MC80 block S2 star cruiser 3 weeks later So, turns out building an energy refinery around a black hole is very hard. Even for an AI. Took me two weeks, and a thousand asteroids and a billion droids. Along with 50 Lucrehulks filled with advanced tech and rare minerals. About 1 trillion of credits, invested in this operation. Which is why 6 Meteors and 60 corvettes will remain guarding it for eternity. From all six sides. Droid crews mostly, with just a few hundred Servants and a trusted Gand Claw to oversee the defenses. I''ll have to rotate the organics every 3 months, or they might go crazy, staring into the abyss. And being stared back by the abyss, as well. Not sure about other universes, but here, black holes stare at you! For the first time since the power gem hit my ship, I felt pain again. And not the Rakata type of pain, but even deeper. The black hole seemed to be an antithesis of the cosmic force, and a reversal of unifying force and a blank sphere in the physical force. My Gand Findsman said it felt even worse for living things. At least I managed to save Crseih, the crystal star. The crystal star is not exactly sentient, though it does resonate a little in the force, like most special crystals. I''ll let Solanus figure a way to utilize it. Technically, he could melt and absorb the crystal inside a huge ocean, if there would be a Jupiter sized ocean somewhere. Or add hyperdrives, to the sublight engines I already used, and transfer himself into the white dwarf, Pef style. Then he could hop around the galaxy, exploring. ''He says that''s plan D/5b. In case Solanus really, really needs to run.'' Solana whispered amused. Great, he copied my planning system now. ''What else, island maids?'' ''Solanus thinks the algae on Cygnus B would fit him better.'' Solana added, with a telepathic image of huge algae islands. Sentient algae, for a sentient ocean? They would be a good fit. Good choice, Solanus. The Immortal Emperor approves. ''I''m going there, after Gbu votes to join. Zuralee was a great idea for an insect negotiator. She only called you stupid and idiot 6 times.'' my Voice added, somehow convinced that the disrespect my Hands spoke of me with was the sign of an enlightened leader, tolerant and kind. And sure, I was all that, and more. Unless you were my Empire''s enemy. In which case... ''Brigia is ours now, Pef. Only 74 deaths and it was done. But Mullan , I''ll have to kill over 540 corporate leaders and replace them'' Wialu added, asking forgiveness perhaps. ''Orbital bombardments would kill much more. I''ll be there in 2 days and reprogram all the droids and the defense systems. CIS must have agents on the ground.'' I replied immediately, glad for the opportunity to use my technopathy for a bit of mayhem and murder. Sure, building stuff was great, and not that complicated once you''ve absorbed a billion manuals from a million universities. But not as fun as arranging accidents with elevators and airlocks. Ah poor organics, so easy to eliminate, if I so desired. On that note, start antidote production for the Blue Shadow Virus. They never actually contained it on Naboo, since it was already in that river. Better make sure I contain a galaxy wide genocide at the source. Guess I know where Peffy will be, in a few months. Now, back to the damn holocron, and try again to for a 2kb one. I mean 2048 facets. Come on dear force, it''s still a Platonic solid, right? You can do it! Sigh, it melted again. I was missing something. Even with all the knowledge I gain from the Rakata made war robots on Dellalt, and learning to make holocrons and the work on elongating the Rakata field into an ovoid, and I only was 7% into understanding that level of tech. Gah! This may take longer than I thought. Planet Gand, Pef Empire Celestial Throne 22 BBY third month It seems this time, the vote for creating a Republic Grand Army will pass through the Senate, even with all the stubborn opposition from Corellia and Alderaan and thousands of other worlds. And it is my fault. I mean, Vette''s fault. Yes, that sounds better. She continued her campaign, abusing the fact that Solana was away, swimming with super brain algae, and went to expand my empire as high north as Florn. Now I''ll have to fortify that world as well. Sigh. Another billion credits. The secondary fleets under my Claw admirals continued their work behind the lines, taking Reginard and Hast and have began launching survey droids, looking for Zigoola. Guess I can give Reginard to the Codru-Ni as a reward for joining, since they kinda lack for space in those mountains. We know it''s approximate location, SE of Hast, but that still means thousands of stars anyway, and thus millions of wasted droids. I hope those Sith artifacts will be worth it. South of Calamari space, we finally added Solay and Dornea to the Empire, well, more by promising Solay as a colony for the Dornean, instead of a pure MPT. And their shipyards now produce my slightly larger Dakka corvettes, instead of their own, anti-starfighter corvettes. Guess I''ll have to invest a bit there as well, and build a hundred new shipyards. And factories and planetary shields and a Naval Academy. In fact, let''s go and invest even more. It seems all their ship captains will make better admirals than all my Claws combined. As soon as they finish the neural lessons about the empire and its law and organization structure and ideals, along with various loyalty contingencies. Wouldn''t want some Dornean seal admiral to run away with a Meteor. Just one such warship could slag a planet into melted crust, in an hour. Also, there''s rumours (confirmed by my third Hand) of a Republic Chancellor''s Aide inspecting planet Sanctuary in Mon Cala space, no doubt looking for a secret force-sensitive training planet. Gah, just lay it to rest Palpatine, those are mine. You hear, mine? Well, mine to protect and nurture, I mean. Also, that means, I have to evacuate the Trailian species from their home planet, before they are found by the cult of evil and twisted into abhorrent and unnatural creatures. ''It''s what we do Pef. One planet at a time, and only 50 millions more to go'' Wialu sent a reassuring voice, while hugging Peffy tightly. They''re both learning the changeling abilities now, on Sran. And giving Fay headaches, as her mind scanning isn''t working. I''ll wait till Solanus makes a biotech chip before I implant the Avatar, cause I don''t want to risk frying his brain should some ion weapon catch him in the radius. I remember my droid chassis losing 90% of its functions even protected by a shield and power armor. Organics are muchtoo frail. Even as strong as Peffy is in the force, he cannot survive without a brain. In the Ash Worlds, expansion continues at speed, englobing Uriek, Chiron, Nyny, Gligger and Balshebr. All my 500 Meteors of the first build cycle are now able to move, and fight a bit, even if only 200 are fully armed with MACs and heavy masers. The others will have to wait, until I have 100 Mountains ready, to be able to actually conduct planetary invasions. That means some 4 billion droids, plus their tanks and support. More work. I need 100 fleets of 3 dreadnaughts, along withthree thousand support vessels. Should keep us safe the first year of this war. This would about cover all the known access routes into the Empire, plus some reserves. That also means I won''t be in a strong enough position to attack, except marginal planets like Toola, which just joined CIS, with an invasion fleet over their heads. Establishing a new regime during war time is much different than in peace. Revolts and sabotage and all that. Too lax and nobody obeys the laws. Too strict and you have rebellions and defective components. Sigh. No one is truly happy after all. Except my Servants. But then, poor re-educated slaves don''t have much choice. ''I don''t like this part of our Empire Pef. Forced loyalty is not what I want for our people.'' Dora mused in her bond. Yeah, that sucks. But it will get better in a decade. ''It''s the same principle as the Jedi code, my love. Only with a thousand laws that ensure the Empire is stable and civilized, instead of programming 3 years old with religious dogma.'' I answered back, not really concerned about this. The Servants chose this for themselves, and were told of the neural education. Why waste a dozen years in schools, when you could start earning hard cash in 6 to 15 months, (depending on your species and knowledge of galactic basic and some other factors)? Contact the nearest Pef Empire sevant for more information! I returned to trying to find a use for the hundreds of tones of Mytag crystal I found on Dellalt. As scanners, the Mytag tech were outdated, but it also meant modern stealth wouldn''t protect against them. And secret comlinks based on them wouldn''t even be detected by enemy scanners. The kiirium as well, could be used to make new types of starship armor, adding minute amounts to standard durasteel or Quadanium steel as well as other materials in engines and weapons. I''ll wait till the geniuses at Land Warrior and Solanus figure a use. Or Peffy and Jaybo. Being an AI had perks, but it reduced the flashes of inspiration and intuition to almost zero. Deduction and analysis however, those worked great. And my ADD only manifested when I concentrated too many partitions on a single task. Or a boring one, like making bricks... Damn it, I want pure, mechanical fabricator nano-droids. If only someone would invent them already! I hope Ventress and Angie are okay on Dathomir. They only sentone message, that they have arrived. Well, Angie will be fine, I think. If Mother Talzin electrocutes her, she''ll smile happily and ask for more. Ventress might bombard the Nightsister village from orbit though. Clone Wars Planet Gand, Pef Empire Celestial Throne, the Redbox 22 BBY, fourth month. An assassination attempt took place aimed at the Senator of Naboo. First a bomb on the landing pad, then poisonous myriapods. A certain Mandalorian bounty-hunter was involved, and Knight Kenobi was given the task to investigate. Senator Amidala leaves to recover on her home planet, and the Military Creation Act passes the Senate. Thousands of starships and starfighters begin construction immediately, on every industrial world still in Republic space. Also, tanks and gunships and personal weapons. The Republic has just cut all Holonet transmissions from Coruscant into the galaxy, instead transmitting a single image. Wayback Machine Seems we''re gonna have to switch to our own holonetwork from now on. Providing news and entertainment to a quarter of the galaxy, from Mon calamari and the Centrality, to Hutt space and other Outer Rim worlds. Investing a trillion credits in holo-emitter tech was paying off now. Who controls information... Corellia has again refused being involved in a galactic war, citing some obscure law, and began recalling all their warships and their Green Jedi home. Just like Angie told them to, between musical venues. ''The Immortal Pef advises our friends at Corellia to invest heavily in missile technology and keep their greensabers close.'' Seems they listened, which is great. Or they were gonna to do that anyway, which is also great. That gives my Empire a bit more time as well. I can continue the expansion in the Ash worlds, taking Ulonsus, Astigone and Xoraes. Pretty bombed up, but I can fix them, most of the fissionables have depleted since the Hutts used them 25 millennia ago. I can extend to Malagarr in the SE, though I''ll have to visit to clean up the radiation left when the natives self-destructed, very recently. Or just make it a droid world, and see where they can go on their own...yeah, that should work too. My Imperial Servants will remain in orbit to supervise the new droid civilization. Now, I only need a fleet to anchor that corner. Let''s buy one. My best friends the Hutts, still have 10 thousand dreadnoughts, they keep idle. Tothe south, we have reached Delacrix system, and we won''t expand further, until the entire intervalvolume is integrated fully in the Empire. The Hutts have asked a billion credits for their loss of this world, and Proto One promptly agreed to pay it, and also acquired 16 older Invincible-class dreadnaughts in the deal. The planet is practically free in this deal. And I have the fleet to anchor the southern defenses with. Just need to upgrade it, a little. My Droid Ambassador is surely getting smarter and wiser, which each upgrade and meeting he survives. His guards only had to fire once, the past month. Not all Hutts are equally smart after all. The smart Hutts are worried about the coming war though, even asking delicately where my own fleets will go. ''Defending the Empire.'' I answered amused. I can do doublespeak too. Solana is returning with a thousand baby algae, from Cygnus B, and will seed them into the ocean worlds that Solanus now inhabits. Three planets so far, and 8 more to go, scattered on newly discovered planets around our Empire. And it seems networking himself with new oceans also makes him even smarter and stronger. Like he wasn''t already. ''Don''t be envious Pef. Solanus also doesn''t like loneliness. And he learns from you, just like you make use of him. And with a billion oceans, he could direct the force itself, possibly. He just needs to spread far and wide.'' Solana added, showing me an image of herself, taking a bath naked along with the baby algae. It made strangely alluring and disturbing sight, at once. Blue and green shapes, floating in a huge transparent aquarium, with stars visible in the background through the transparisteel windows of her Lucrehulk. ''We''re passing through Junkfort now, Solana will be home soon'' she sent with a mildly embarrassed tone. Absorbing the customs of our civilization, then. That''s why she wore the armor in public then... By the time she arrives, the first Geonosis should happen. There was still so much to be done, and not enough people, or ships or time. Planet Gand, Pef Empire Celestial Throne 22 BBY, Fifth month. "The shroud of the dark side has fallen. Begun...the Clone War has." ¨DGrand Master Yoda The Clone wars have begun, with a tactical victory for the Republic, and a strategic victory for the Order of Sith Lords. I felt the tingle of the many deaths of Jedi Knights in the Geonosis arena. Anakin and Padme survived, unfortunately. Again. Just a light whisper with my crystal self, and a distant scream with Peffy. I never met any of those people personally, so it was not too bad. Fay and Zero instead, their hearts trembled in pain. "Yes, my Zero and Fifth Hand, the war has begun" Peffy said, patting their shoulders in compassion. More will die, before it''s over. "I should return to Coruscant, and help..." Zero said, after deliberating inside herself. Fay refused to even think about it. "I''m never stepping back on Coruscant, plus my charges are not ready. One more year, then we''ll see where the force sends me" Master Fay explained, looking below at the huge plaza, where a hundred thousand Clawdite were kneeling on sand, and forming words and shapes with the sand. Back in the Redbox, the hologram depicted planet Geonosis, with its orbital ring and 15 moons. Thanks to carefully planted spy satellites, me and my Voices are able to observe everything, almost in real time. It also proved my theory that turreted guns were much better than fixed guns, for space superiority fights. Although the Republic will eventually win, the Nantex-class territorial defense starfighter proved able to cause significant damage, especially to clone piloted Torrents and gunships. The vulture droid starfighters fared much worse, losing dozens for a single kill. Which is why I preferred an adapted CISScarab-class droid starfighter for my own navy, with a turreted Gatling laser, a forward blaster canon and a missile launcher. It was even cheaper than a Vulture, and had better armor and even had shields. Tri-droids will take one more year to appear, and such I bought a million Scarabs from planet Charros. That''s only to equip our current carriers, since once we enter the war, we won''t need to bother about patents and other legal niceties, and just steal whatever tech we want. For now, every single piece of equipment we use publicly has to be bought and licensed. But, not for long. Just waiting for Corellia... In fact, I had already announced the Corellian Diktat of our support and promised to keep a hyper-route to them open, should they go to war and need reinforcements. Ventress and Angie sent a short message too, saying just ''Returning''. Good, cause I need my War Maid soon. And a ditsy singer to inspire morale. I''ve established small garrisons and asteroid disguised space stations at Haashimut and Kegan , since whatever people live there aren''t advanced enough to notice, and using only B1 and B3 droids. Pretending to be CIS, if discovered. And occupied Tammar promising the locals to restore the environment Meanwhile, Proto One is visiting Nal Hutta, and trying to buy Sriluur, for 2 billions credits. And hopefully obtain 20 more dreadnaughts. It helps convince the Hutts we desperately need ships to fight the CIS, since our almost public data says 300 battleships and thousands of small ships. I wrote the description myself, on the Blacklist threat assessment ranking that the Hutts keep. We just mean different things, by battleships. Upgrading the Invincibles is much less costly than building brand-new 2 kilometer-long carriers. Especially since there''re hundreds of pirate ships floating about, taken as capture by Vette and Ventress and various admirals. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Plenty of secondary systems from sensors to reactors and weapons that I don''t have to buy or build. And since most navcomputers and astromechs aboard have never been memory wiped, some in thousands of years, they sometimes add another secret route or rich asteroid or old battlefields that can be mined and put to use. Mujilik entered the Redbox, radiating excitement. Hmmm, the survey droids found something, maybe? "Metal Gand, your stupid idea came to fruition, after only 2 million of survey droids wasted. The Empire has a route to the Core, via Togoria and 13 intermediate jumps. And what''s better, the cats do not have spaceflight and didn''t detect us. Also, no pilots in the Exploration Corps died during duties. One died, due to spice overdose while testing the advanced starfighter" my sixth Hand declared grandly, and punched the sky. Hmmm, losing a pilot and the starfighter to spice? Not efficient. "Good! Let''s use this event to ban spice use for every member of the military." I exclaimed, then turned towards my other Hand present. "Zuralee, promote spice vending on overpopulated planets like Gbu and Mullan and Florn, along with Anzat and Metalorn. Happy citizens do not revolt after all. And we don''t want to lose revenue either" "Zuralee understands. She has seen Gbu herself, after all. Those primitive insects don''t even cull the defective eggs. Smelling the excretions from Kessel spiders is too good a fate for them. Too bad they joined before we managed to test orbital bombardments, like I asked them to." the female Gand answered politely, and grinning a bit creepy, like every insect I know. No wonder that planet joined in less than a week. I should make a note, not to send her on anymore negotiations though. Planet Gand, Pef Empire Celestial Throne 22 BBY Ninth month. The Republic forces are engaged almost all over the Mid Rim, with various skirmishes, someone decided to name the CIS flagship the Subjugator, but it''s still wasting Republic fleets left and right. Literally in the Battle of Abregado and Battle of the Ryndellia system Guess Dooku can''t call it the Malevolence now, since he never found Andeddu''s holocron. The Sith must have other holocrons though. There were thousands of Dark Lords in history. But without thestolen holocrons I have on Sanctuary, they''ll never achieve immortality. I''m a cheater, I know. Battles take place all over the galaxy, except my tiny corner. At Agamar , CIS and Republic forces are battling for the past 4 months in the Mirgoshir campaign. At Ryloth, our agents delivered food rations and ion blasters to the local resistance, perhaps keeping more twi''leks alive until the Republic clones came to liberate them. The Black Ops freighter returned with about 50 kids as well. And when the Blue Shadow was released on Naboo, the antidote was already spread by our agents in the rivers and swamps near the capital. Guess we''ll have to wait and see, if the bioweapon spreads into the galaxy or not. Of course, Kenobi and Anakin rushed to Iego to find a certain root as well, but were instead given a trademark antidote, from a Servant from Pef''s Imperial Medical Division. They were a bit surprised to find an empire already existed in these parts. Though Kenobi wasn''t as surprised by that, instead by the angel who wanted to be taken as a maid, and demanded lightning to sing a few songs. No idea what Angie tells her follow angels. Just outside our borders though, on Rhen Var, the Republic suffered a major defeat, losing all their troops and their base, to an invading CIS landing force. Anakin was there, for some reason. They also lost Bespin to CIS, which no doubt was targeted for tibanna gas, and became bogged down on Atraken where Dooniumcan be mined. Republic troops under Anakin and Kenobi also managed to lose all their troops attacking Raxus Prime proving their great skills as generals. Only the damned Kenobi escaped from an entire army of clones and tanks they brought with them. Anakin fell prisoner, but he''ll be fine. Meanwhile, General Tann of CIS conquered a planet hosting a ''secret'' base of the Republic on Eredenn Prime stealing the super tanks prototypes, the Decimator (war machine). Anakin was taken to Alaris Prime where he was allowed to escape, so the brave Jedi recruited some wookies and attacked the CIS forces, resulting in the massacre of many wookie villages. Not giving up, he requested help from his Republic buddies and managed to free the moon, with over 30% of his troops surviving. General Tann of CIS counter-attacked of course, and is about to obtain victory anyway. And obtain the codes for the super tanks. Very interesting I know, and I can just sneak peaks at all this using stealth satellites. If only Corellia would move to declare war already. Eh, back home I have finished building my 100 Mountains, and beganarmingthe rest of the 200 Meteors already constructed. Perhaps I was too optimistic when I projected millions of them. Even 200 of these behemoths strain my empire''s arms production to the limit. At least we produce 500 Dakka corvettes per month, and that rate will double till the end of the year. Looking back, my Empire had 100 corvettes the entire fleet, 2 years ago. We''re getting better I think. Tanks and droid production go well, along with dropships to carry them. Having our own source of repulsorlift components made at our black hole refinery helps. I estimate that 300 Jedi had been killed so far, and about 8 dark jedi, at least 7 of them by my actions. Time to implement the Balance protocol then. My subverted droids will begin erratic behavior if any jedi are around. ''Took you long enough Pef.'' Wialu said with a satisfied sigh. ''It won''t be pretty, and they''ll catch up soon, so I''ll use the CIS ones first'' I mused, watching the mock combat through Peffy''s eyes. He looked about 17 years old now, not as tall as I''d like, but with fair blonde hair, his body muscled and strong. And wiping the floor with Jedi Fay and Zero and a few dozen changelings at once, in their sparing. As the new year comes, my Avatar will be ready. Perhaps Peffy will grow a bit taller, before we start building his power armor. Sadly, I have to keep the hair short, or that purple lightsaber that Zero hits me with might burn it. The changelings took a while to get used to the crazy human getting hit by a lightsaber for no effect. Fay is getting better too, parrying the lightsaber with her hands. At least the changelings won''t be impressed when they encounter such primitive weapons in the future. I have them concentrating on using nanomissile guns and ion blasters though. Along with special ops training in security and infiltration, via neural induction. It''s the law after all, for any military units or public servants. Sadly, force teachings are not so easily obtained. It takes 10 crates of bota plants each day, to boost their force connection. And by the next year, they''ll barely be Jedi knights in strength. They learned speed and agility pretty fast though, so it might be a natural ability for their species. And Zero finally started teaching me Phaseability. Which is terrifyingly hard to learn. A single mistake, a blink or a muscleflinching and you become embedded in a wall or starship armor or whatever. No wonder Zero waited till she considered me at Master level. "Hey Peffy, wanna come drink with me, when you''re done?" Aurra asks with an unsettling smile, also breathing slowly to regain her breath. Hmmm. Why would she ask me...is it a prank again? I try to use precognition, but only a vague feeling of bliss...Oh? It is my birthday after all. "Sure thing, adored maid. Let me take a shower, and find my credit chip. Some violet maid might have misplaced it again." I answered with a blinding smile, covering my body in my own copy of Angie''s golden glow of happiness. "Y-yea. She''s coming too. Already reserved a table at that mineral spring resort you like." Aurra added with a naughty smile. Okay then...better allocate two more partitions, this may get interesting. Jacuzzi bath with my maids! More War Planet Gand, Pef Empire Celestial Throne 22 BBY, 10th month Knight Anakin and Master Kenobi managed to retake the first planet they lost, in the Second Battle of Rhen Var . Projected loses are only 50%, showing their great improvement following their promotions. Also, the first cool-looking walker units,All Terrain Experimental Transport helped the Republic greatly. The walkers look amazing, so I''ll have to acquire a few and build my own, better model. Both of them heroes also managed to win the Battle of Dorin , forcing the CIS to retreat, by bringing about a parity of forces. The losses were an equal 20% for both sides. One Jedi died, by being targeted by 300 Vultures at once, by some crazy tactical droid. At Quell , the CIS won again, while the burning Republic star destroyers crashed on the planet, obliterating a few millions. The Battle of Drongar did not take place, since we had a hundred ships chasing the first CIS fleet poking around. Sovereign space and all that. We''ll have to investigate how they reached the system though, since they didn''t come through the normal route. Perhaps those bota plants will survive now, without the rivers of blood reaching their roots in 3 years of continuous war. In the Battle of Amaltanna, my future maid, Jedi Swan, managed to obliterate her own army and the enemy army as well, remaining the sole survivor. That''s 200% casualties. Kenobi would be proud. And lastly, the Second Battle of Geonosis which marks the end of the year with more massacres and fireworks. The second the medical frigate left the system, our long ago planted weapon activated far into the Oort could, a shower of ice comets being launched at the planet, their trajectories intersecting major temples and hives on the surface. If any hive survives, they''ll be flooded and kept busy for next 5 years. And stop them mind controlling people with worms through their nose, that was disgusting. The droid Munificent frigate in the Geonosis system jumped to Tatooine and accelerated constantly until it impacted Jabba the Hutt''s hideout on the surface. Made a pretty flower as well, less bloom and more explosion though. And next time, invest in planetary shields. Keeps things from falling from the sky, on your head. "So, what do think Third Hand?" I mused, watching the holo again, before deleting it. "Your Hand is glad all our planets have shields, Bombastic Emperor. The expense for getting the technology and producing them independently, seems trivial compared to the risk of random accidents, obliterating key cities or even the entire life on a planet" he replied, opening his claws in a mockup explosion. "Great. You looked over our first wave of attacks that the Admiralty has put together? Don''t answer that. Got any vital target you think we missed?" I asked politely. "Your wise hand thinks we should anchor the northern flank higher, at Cholganna perhaps. Also, that Centares is too far, for a first wave. Sy Myrth will give us plenty of trouble." the Gand answered, choosing caution over the boldness of Ventress. Our military doctrine and droid troops were not tested in ground battle, after all, nor in real fleet engagements. Garrison duty, even on feral worlds did not compare to enemy action. "All right. We''ll go slowly. I predict Corellia will join the war, in a few days." I muttered in defeat. "I''ll send the codes to our agents then. A few days...and a few females, waiting for me on Sanctuary. I''m so doomed" he complained, vanishing with another smoke pellet, this time smelling like strawberries. Gah. That wasn''t why he had access to our biomedical division... Peffy is dancing with Celine, trying to become cultivated and elegant for the Centrality plan. The Avatar will need to look a bit older for the scrivener position though. Let''s postpone that a month or two, maybe he''ll get taller... Damn Jaybo, could have told me he was a bit small. I don''t want to implant femoral elongations in my Avatar. Kriff. Planet Gand, Pef Empire Redbox 21 BBY first month. "It is possible that the war itself has been only one further move in some greater game." ¨DPalpatine Pef News: "It is with sadness and compassion that our Empire joins the Clone wars. Our foremost allies, the Corellian Diktat took half of the step for us, answering the call for liberty of the Galactic Republic. And the other step, it was also taken for us by news of atrocities committed against the sentients of this galaxy, by the CIS. Our armed forces will not conquer, but liberate and bring civilization to the worlds struggling under the boot of CIS evil corporations. We are hopeful that our small help will mean something, and bring the war to a close faster, saving untold trillions from famine and disease and other tragedies of war" I proclaimed with Peffy''s face and voice. Because, a droid saying the same things wouldn''t be that well-received by most of the galaxy. At all. "We thank the Honored Avatar for his kind words and his future leadership in this trying times. As the Immortal Emperor retreats into contemplation and meditation, saddened by the harsh realities of our galaxy, it falls to us, the Hands and the Voices of the Emperor to bear the weight of the Empire. For the Empire!" King Kikipi proclaimed, punching the sky and ending the feed. Eh, good enough. Miss Zero was visible for a second in the background of the feed, letting the Jedi and the Sith figure out which side we chose. All our available officials were on that podium, supported by the thousand representatives of the Large Council, about 700 of them humans, and the rest from other various races in the Empire. Now, back to the actual war. It seems having installed ion cannons on every ship''s bow is even more useful than I first imagined. The entire defensive grid of the CIS forces on Sy Myrth succumbs in 5 minutes of orbital bombardment. Electronics and droid cores spark and explode, shields fall and power grids shut down. Our tanks having wheels and tracks also works great, allowing them to pass through shields at a slow walk pace, although the light tanks need to turn off repulsors before doing the same. In space, the 3 Meteors in the first fleet barely even feel the return fire from 50 Munificents and Recusants, focusing their MACs on the 5 Lucrehulks and orbital defense platforms, while the fleet carrier has launched the Scarab fighters then retreated, leaving the corvettes to cover the flanks and guard against surprise attacks on the Meteor''s engines. Just as the CIS defense fleet at Sy Myrth gets evaporated, the Mountain begins the landings, depositing the first division near the capital, the dropships then returning for the next divisions. Half of the corvettes and the fighter screen protect the landings, our ground forces a mix of organics and droids, about 10 to one more droids. Our Carrion variants of the Vulture assumed the role of mecha and gunships, supporting the ground troops. Commando droids and special forces rush to capture databanks and droid control centers and also the actual banks and vital infrastructure installations like reactors and factories. About 5 hours from the first landings, the retaliation arrives, in the shape of largish fleet, about 200 frigates and a hundred Recusants-variant destroyers with 30 Lucrehulks battleships carrying Vulture starfighters. They came from Centares, so there''s probably a larger fleet forming at Columex. Let''s not spring the trap yet. I want to see how my ships do when outnumbered 100 to 1. "Playing it close, Desk Emperor. We have no idea how well the Meteors will fare at these odds" Zuckuss mutters, rotating the holomap to see the battle from above. It was of course the whole point, finding out if my ships were good enough. Oh, the CIS are clever, I''ll give them that. Splitting in groups of 100 to target our engines from behind, while the Lucrehulks mass together to bring 12 thousands turbolasers on a single Meteor. No doubt thinking themselves invulnerable to our MACs alpha strike, due to their upgraded shields. Star formation then, our Meteors maneuvering to bring their dorsals close, blocking fire from every side with their hulls, and starting a slow rotation using lateral sublight engines. The Dakka corvettes prowl at the edges attempting to shoot the engines of the CIS fleets as they head towards our capital ships. Then the range closes enough, and the blue and violet bolts of energy from our ships start crashing into the light armored frigates and destroyers of the CIS, pulverizing and decimating the nearest ones. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. That''s only 20% of the Meteor''s firepower though. The rotation brings the maw of a Meteor in line with the Lucrehulks, and 100 shells fire in quick succession, destroying 5 Lucrehulks outright. Installing tractors beams around the grinning mouth of the space sharks allows a minute course deviation, enough to target a salvo of twenty ferrous shells onto a single target, much like Jaybo and Peffy did with our nano-missiles. The explosions impact the nearby Lucrehulks, and 80% of the Meteors guns target each vulnerable battleship in turn, 2600 heavy masers and 300 ion cannons proving enough to shatter even the Lucrehulks prodigious shields. By the time the corvettes have finished coming about, only half of the CIS fleet is still intact. Another 120 degrees arc completes in the rotation, and the next in line, the Mountain fires 12 shells at each of 4 Lucrehulks in front of it. Combined it the already pouring damage, the CIS begin splitting up and trying to retreat. Yeah, let''s not. The corvettes fire their long range lasers and masers, focusing on the engines only. Only 10 battleships and 20 frigates escape and jump towards Trogan, while 6 Lucrehulks and 28 Recusants are stranded here, and start surrendering and being boarded or having their weapons slagged, then boarded. The CIS Vultures continue to engage our own fighters though, losing 3 to 1 against my Scarab starfighters. Considering the Scarabs are 30% cheaper, having 300% more effectiveness sounds good enough. Then again, the Vultures have no shields or armor, and only fire frontally with their blaster cannons. Sigh. "So, what do you think, Sixth Hand?" I wonder aloud. "Hmmm. Even a bantha can step in the right poo sometimes. The Meteors worked fine, this time. But we still lost 20 corvettes and a thousand starfighters." Mujilik answered, still not convinced, or happy. "The Dakka did fine, watch them clean up the Vultures" I grumbled, as the corvettes did just that, closing into laser and missile range from different vectors, and blowing the surviving Vultures up. Through armor and firepower, I gain Victory! I changed the holomap to our other targets, but the fleets were not counter-attacked there, not yet, leaving us with 10 more systems in our possession than 6 hours ago. Of course, only Bimmisaari was important in the larger scheme, while Togoria fell rapidly to our 82nd fleet and its occupying troops, considering the natives rode animals and used metal spears. Our contact Lucrehulks began their work, assembling civilization and defenses, while Wialu headed corewise towards Nazzri, with the purpose of linking our efforts with the Republic. Now we had Charros encircled, and the 81st fleet was moving in. Planet Gand, Pef Empire Zero Garden 22 BBY, a week later I smiled at Ventress, who was centering herself after another sparring session, focusing to repair her broken ribs. "Feeling okay, beloved maid?" I asked, placing Peffy''s hand on my maid''s thigh and accelerating her healing speed ten times, pulsing reinforcement and dark healing at the same time. "Kriff, it''s not fair. You were only a baby, 2 years ago!" she muttered opening her eyes to stare at my hand on her thigh. No murderous intentions though, just a little hesitation and embarrassment. Eh, critics everywhere! I snatched her white lightstick and turned it on, then gave it a long lick, taking care not to actually burn my tongue off. Growing it back was painful, the first time I tested this, for my prank. "Mhhh. Plasma tastes weird" I explained, making a sour face. "You''re weird, damn idiot! Lightsabers are dangerous, not ice-cream sticks..." she exclaimed, grabbing the lightsaber by the plasma beam and snatching it back. Getting slightly better with energy absorption then. Right, that''s why a third of the lightsaber users somehow become cyborgs. You could at least be thankful I taught you to keep your hands intact. Even if, her palm was still burned, pretty bad. Oh well, I was already healing her body, what''s a slight burn more? "You could remove that hand already, I feel fine now" Ventress muttered in a low voice, but didn''t do anything to push the hand away. "You are not fine Asajj. Hate can give you strength, but you''ll be empty inside. Without love...we''re nothing. You''ve seen your Nightsisters on Dathomir. Did they feel fine?" I asked gently, drawing her into a hug. She didn''t resist this time, just relaxing and breathing deeper. "They were strong and fast and powerful in the force. They also knew many magiks, like that crazy droid does, as well" my War Maid answered with a sigh, and hugged me back. "Indeed. They tap into the energies left by the Kwa artifacts and their ghost forms. Spirits they call them, not even realizing what power they use, is not their own. And Dooku will come for them soon. They are not immortal, Asajj. You have to decide soon, or they''ll be gone, whatever survivors remaining collected as dark jedi. You could take 20 Meteors and can guard them, forever and ever, or leave them to their fate." I argued gently, caressing her back and planting my hook deeper. "Kriff. At least I know it really works, teasing Lira is quite fun, after all." She replied, hugging me harder. And sinker. "Okay then. I know this great resort, with warm springs and a great restaurant. Let''s go celebrate our wedding there..." I whispered in her ear, then kissed her long neck gently. "Oh! We are that kind of maids, after all..." Ventress realized with some surprise. She was a good kisser. Passionate too. I guessed right. ************* InterludeCIS "Master, I can''t send another fleet to be ripped to pieces by those monstrous sharks. We''ll have to retreat a little in that corner, until the next build cycle is complete. General Grievous will command the new Subjugator, and crush that Pef Empire upstart with five thousands ships. I just need 2 months to put that operation together. The sharks are big, but less armed than a Mandator, after all." he argued to his displeased Dark Lord. Darth Sidious was mad, his plans thrown in disarray by that new droid army. And a few of those independent Jedi were spotted in that sector as well, Master Fay and the dark woman too. Was this some kind of secret Jedi backup plan? "No, my apprentice. If that Pef continues at this rate, we may lose Columex and Felucia too, in two months. While their offensive is concentrated corewise, use the Dark Ripper, and get us access to Drongar and Pakuuni and Zigoola. Wipe them out in the north, then conquer Mon Calamari. Most of their fleet is still Calamari ships, and those big sharks have to be made there. They can''t have more than the dozen Meteors we seen. Even Kuat only produced 7 Mandators. Big ships take very long to build, after all." Darth Sidious ordered, and the Count of Serrano had to obey. For now. One day, his Master will make a mistake, and then he''ll be the Dark Lord, and rule the galaxy for eternity... Still, the Sith superweapon will need to be protected, even if it meant leaving a few sectors undefended. Who to send then? Admiral Trench did well enough at the Battle of Christophsis , destroying 90 % of all the heavy walkers and gunships of the Jedi army, and killing 50% of the clones. Skywalker and Yoda interfering in the battle wasn''t his fault after all. This Pef Empire however, didn''t have 9 thousands Jedi to appear from the woodwork at inopportune times either. Just some upstart tactical droid and too many credits to spend. And about that...it seems someone interfered and reprogrammed a few tactical droids to unleash all available firepower when Jedi were in their targeting sensors. Possibly the work of his Master then. So insidious, this Darth Sidious. Jedi casualties climbed steadily, bringing the new order to fruition, even sooner. ********** POV Republic "Only good news we''ve heard, of this Pef Empire. Slavery outlawed, new cities and factories being built in months. And if Master Fay is there..." Master Windu mused, deep in thought. "And help us with the Blue Shadow antidote, they have, mhmm" Master Yoda added, smiling kindly. "Master An''ya Kuro is there too, and not returning to Coruscant for deployment." Master Fisto argued, trying to pierce the dark shroud, and failing again. "The Force guides those two, taking them where most needed. Join our cause, did they not?" Master Yoda said gently, no doubt reminiscing about his padawan. "Only when Corellia did, let''s not forget. And now the Green Jedi of Corellia stay home, as advisors to their generals, instead of leading the armies of the Republic" Master Ki-Adi-Mundisaid with a thinking pose. "The Altisian Iron Knights of Dweem also declined to respond to our calls, and said they''re will be better suited in the reconstruction effort, after the war" Mace Windu said displeased. "A great dishonor, to those Shards and their Master Aqinos, we did. Excommunicated they are, are they not?" Master Yoda asked softly, his gaze passing from a council member to the next. "Heresy it is, the meld of the force with technology. They are lucky we didn''t cut them down already" Master Saesee Tiin added his opinion. The Jedi Masters nodded in approval, before moving on the next crisis, the First Battle of Kamino . Good, bad and the Rock. Planet Gand, Pef Empire 21 BBY, First month, second week "New droid general¡­ He''s unstoppable¡­ Can''t hold out for long¡­ General Gr-(static)- is hunting us¡­ Must hurry." ¨DDaakman Barrek All my Voices felt another one, added to my heart, since I kept all of them in constant contact with the Voice partition. Kinda had too, for the essence transfer to work. Soulmates for eternity. "Another Voice, and not me! You lying, cheating, stupid droid. Why don''t I get one as well?" My beloved Vette yelled, and pounded my armor with her own gloved fists. "Oh, your voice is not loud enough, Miss pirate scourge? Are you not the revered Blue Maiden, worshiped on 31 planets?" I asked amused, since her armor now sported a hundred Force scribeinscriptions, half of them by me, and thus in Latin, others made by Wialu and Nashira and even some Jal Shey. She was pretty loud, banging on my chest. "You know what I mean. A maid is just a toy. No real power, even an Explorer or a three star Servant ranks higher than me. They just indulge me, and snicker behind my back!" Vette muttered, taking off her helmet and wiping a tear. I kinda think it''s not your rank, they snicker about, dear maid. Your antics however... "Give it time Vette. Look, I promise you won''t get old for 300 years. Just avoid dying through stupidity and being too rash. Maybe you''ll grow to love me in a few decades, and understand what my Empire is for. Go to the garden and speak with my Avatar, before you leave, though. Okay?" I said gently, gliding her helmet back over her leku. "Understood, my Emperor. I''ll give Peffy a chance. But, just one!" she said in a sterner voice, and flying away towards her dropship. Giving me the cold shoulder, eh? Poor little pretty blue crazy twi''lek. Just wait till I get you in a warm spring... "Please keep your musings to yourself, crazy droid. Your Hand is trying to figure out the CIS fleet movements." Zuckuss muttered beside me, calculating travel times and fuel consumption for all the ships that just vanished from a number of CIS sectors. Let''s help out a little then. Hmmm. They all stopped to refuel at Raxus Prime, before heading north. Hey, the Republic is the other way! The Battle of Krant just took place, the CIS losing 90% of their forces, just like the Republic did as well. 11 Jedi died, by our sources and every senior leader in the CIS including dark jedi Sev''rance Tann A few LR1K sonic cannon firing concentrated bursts at once, on every Jedi in range might have helped too. In the Battle of Hypori, a number of B2 droids fired in confusion, killing a few more Jedi than expected. Ki-Adi-Mundi, next time wear a helmet. That head makes a big target. And K''Kruhk , sorry buddy, these crazy droids kept firing for a whole minute at your head., then at the torso. Then kicked a thermal detonator over the remains. Sigh. He has to be dead now, doesn''t he? It was all Grievous fault, damn droid general. Only two cute Jedi escaped, Shaak Ti and Aayla Secura. Almost like some force protected the cute ones. But, that''s impossible, right? In the Battle of Thule, the Republic sacrificed 95% of their troops and equipment, but no Jedi managed to die. Then again, Anakin and Yoda were there, so the odds were skewed. However, they didn''t find a Dark Reaper to kill. Hmmm. Where could it be, that nice toy using the force to kill millions at once? Nevermind, I saw two new shinnies I have to get as well. The Protodeka and the Dreadnought battle tank . I mean come on! Why aren''t millions of these things around, killing clones? You just saw how effective they are, causing 95% casualties against 5 Jedi Masters and a few clone divisions? True, the Jedi tactics sucked as well, just running straight forward. Hmmm. Why do I even bother? My partition finished estimating the composition and intended vector for the Dark Reaper fleet. "They''re coming for us, Zuckuss. Probably at our new conquest, Toola . Defense in depth, and only the Meteor One as a battleship. Droid crews only in the support ships." I ordered, sending the required codes towards the northern 5th fleet. "Vette won''t like us using her ship..." Zuralee added, of course taking the female side. "It''s my ship, Zuralee. Plus Vette will be busy this week. My Avatar is romancing her..." I explained a bit annoyed. Giving someone a ship to use didn''t mean it was their property. Still, a military asset, and with a Rakata forcefield on board, a strategic asset as well. "Very wise, Metal Emperor. Using a remote to handle females at a distance. Your third Hand deeply desires to do the same..." the shadowy Black Ops leader mused, having just decloaked when the conversation became interesting, for him. "Lu''daal-ud , if you can''t handle them, just let them go, keep three or one. Females are meant to be a joy and pleasure, not chores." I explained, a bit confused. Sure, my maids were a handful, but also my greatest joy. "Ahhhh. That''s not what your Hand means. We are very happy. But they argue all the time..." Hah, of course. There''s no equality in a harem, after all. "Ranks, my friend. First wife, then second...and so on. And give them different areas to oversee. Kitchen, kits, money and so on." I proclaimed magnifically, my hands in the air, one holding a sphere of water and the other a ball of fire. "That means Zuckuss is higher ranked than Zuralee? But..." my female Hand muttered, realizing her place in the hierarchy of the Empire. After three years. "Thank you my friend, and benevolent Emperor. I''m going on vacation for a week, and taking ten more females" Zuckuss announced, and flew away. "You heard the crazy droid, Lu''daal-ud. You''re mine to command. Now bring me the expense accounts" Zuralee said gently, and in her native Gand to the third Hand. The poor guy looked at me dejected and walked away in defeat. "You can''t read those accounts Zuralee. Your mind is not protected. But, we can prank him, and make him shiver in fear for a few days..." I explained gently, once I made sure the sneaky Gand had actually left. Unless he can fool pressure plates already. "I see, Immortal Pef. Still wise, and just hiding behind layers upon layers of ineptitude and silliness. I should get me a few more mates though, some of those new Claws looked delightful and appetizing..." Zuralee said in a charming voice, rubbing her claws together. Sigh. What have I done? At least Peffy is having fun... Ossus, contested space. 21 BBY, first month "We just lost the Tibanna colonies on Bespin, Ossus will fall within days." Mace Windu Solana is leading our own counterattack on Ossus, not waiting for Republic forces helping. There are literal tonnes of Jedi artifacts on this world, which was once the center of the Jedi religion. And we want them all. Her own mastery of the force, and some soul snares, should be sufficient to deal with any dark jedi or jedi still on the planet. Toola, Pef Empire On the north front, a Dornean admiral was given the task of defending Toola, then counterattack towards Quermia, and secure that hyper route nexus. He''ll have to work from a stealthed freighter at the edge of the system, and direct our tactical droids from afar, with an encrypted com signal, using the ancient tech from Dellalt. Being alive, in the draw cone of the Dark Reaper was guaranteed suicide, in the best case, and much worse, if the force weapon worked as I predicted, and sucked the souls of living beings to use them as coals in a huge furnace powering the weapons. Our Meteor One flew at maximum speed towards the Separatist fleet, every single incoming turbolaser bolt being absorbed, then returned at twice strength by the tortured soul inside the Rakata forcefield''s reactor. It had to be sentient, always redirecting the damage, with exact power to never damage the heavy ion cannons. It never used, the masers or the missiles or the Gatling lasers, just the Ion weapons, for some reason. A dozen, then 2 dozens Recusants and Lucrehulks were simply left listing in vacuum, all their shields and electronics fired. Then a disc ship, about 100 meters wide flew out from the middle of the CIS ship and fired at my Meteor, a beam of red hate, making the red forcefield react strangely, fueling to become even stronger, and wailing in the Force. I felt the scream from thousands of light-years away, another pulse of pain in my chest, while Peffy reacted much worse, clutching his temples in pain. Those must be the kyber crystals embedded in his cranium from birth. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Breathe my Avatar. It''s just pain, and not your own. Zero paled beside Peffy, holding her chest in pain as well. Guess we know what happens now, when a Sith force weapon encounters a functioning Rakata defensive system. It only makes it stronger. The whole galaxy must have felt this... The Meteor fired again and again, even faster and stronger than before, reducing 200 Separatist ships to floating coffins in seconds. Then 200 Ion cannons turned on the Dark Reaper and ionized it for good, melting everything conductive of electricity. ''Check for life signs on every CIS ship, then have a droid-only cruiser tractor the Reaper disc to Sol III.'' I ordered to my admiral, as our 5th combat fleet began jumping from Florn back at Toola, and then again, towards Quermia. ''Emperor, the commando droids report every single organic on board is dead and desiccated. Our own pirate subjects on board Meteor One are alive, but mad and gibberish.'' he reported, and his voice seemed a little shaken. What, you didn''t expect me to use loyal Servants and officers to test some Sith force weapon, did you? Good to know how these things interacted though. Pain and life drain made it stronger. ''Good work Admiral. Dump those organics into the nearest sun, and continue the operation. For the Empire'' I did wonder what admiral did Dooku send? Guess I''ll find out, once we finish sorting the corpses. Planet Gand, Pef Empire And with the captured ships, I could create another anchor, to hold the sector while the Meteors advanced, inexorably, taking world after world, and bringing civilization and stability... ''And freedom?'' Dora asked, interrupting my inner musings. ''Freedom too, of course. Just, not yet. People need to see the Galactic Empire first, before they turn towards me for salvation'' I answered, trying to find a perfect solution for this galaxy... ''Knowledge is the solution, Pef. Solana thinks so, even as her droid troops destroy other droid troops on Ossus, and she digs through ruins. Looking for knowledge, then using it. And there it is, a holocron in the hands of a dead CIS general. See you soon'' my Voice said softly in the bond. Could it be just so simple? Learn everything? ''I''m very disappointed in these Green Jedi, Pef. Only one sensed me, for a second. And the force calls me to follow and protect him, showing me a Sith holocron...sigh. This job better be worth it'' Wialu sent from Corellia, with an almost aggravated tone. Liar. You would chase knowledge to the boundaries of the galaxy, and beyond. And the mere whisper of a Sith holocron got you agitated. If she ever meets Dooku, she''ll torture him for knowledge for a decade, just to make sure she drained every bit. ''You exaggerate, my beloved. A mere week will suffice. Darth Maul only took 4 days, after all.'' Wialu answered, now a bit more animated. Huh. Poor man. Being cut in half wasn''t painful enough. He must have died screaming. Oh well. Let''s see what Ventress is doing. ''I found a Dark Jedi Hutt, here on Nam Chorios. He''s called Beldorion and is so cute. I only cut off his hands and tail, and he still tries to bite. Now, let''s see, how did this soul snare work...'' Ventress said absently, no doubt concentrating on digesting the knowledge of that Hutt. ''You''re all vampires, I swear. Draining the knowledge and the souls of those poor dark jedi...'' Lira concluded, her bond stronger than before she died, but somehow weird, like speaking with an echo. I might have caused that, using Fay''s genes. Ever since Peffy trained with Fay and Zero, they formed a student bond, and it resonated with Lira''s bond somehow. Kriff. Let''s hope Fay can''t listen into the telepathic chat we carry all over the galaxy. That would be a little embarrassing. Planet Gand, Pef Empire Redbox "Master Windu still fights on Dantooine." ¨DPalpatine "Go ahead Zuckuss, explain your strategy and I''ll approve it, or not. If you had time to think about it during your vacation" I said gently, already having formed over 700 battle plans to conquer this corner of the galaxy, and 21 plans for the entire galaxy. What? I was bored. "I propose to wait until every single world we have attacked has been fully pacified and garrisoned and has defenses established. A single push is necessary, to cut off the CIS on the Perlemian Trade Route, blocking 90% of their supplies, once we deploy an interdictor cruiser and a blockade fleet. Centares is the most obvious choice." My first Hand declared, pointing at the easiest and least valuable target. "No, the strategy is well thought, but the placement is wrong. The 33rd, 34th and 35th fleets will take Columex, and block off the Salin corridor, then Lianna, blocking 3 trade routes at once. And the 68th and 69th fleets at Rudrig will advance as well, cause we need to take Raxus. The 6th north fleet will descend on Estaria, and block another node. 15th fleet at Brigia will advance to Stalimur." "Charros is still resisting, Strategic Emperor. We could send more troops..." Mujilik added his opinion. Right, add more chaos to our 100 divisions fighting 1500 enemy divisions. Mostly droids of course, and thus very amusing. "No, we''ll start deploying the E4 and E5 bombs with the Scarabs and Carrions. And push harder with our tanks. They only have a thousand factories anyway. Once we capture the first hundred factories, it becomes a familiar game. And they do not have hero units." I answered, creating a Dota script and sending it to my tactical droids at Charros. The casualties should reach 10 billion droids by the time the planet was taken. "Okay...not gonna argue with my mechanocidal Emperor, when he laughs evilly." my Sixth Hand muttered softly. You bet. Where else could I test large army combat in peace? I mean, in war, but safely...and in a very relaxed manner. Meanwhile, the Battle of Muunilinst takes place, clones and droids battling each other in cavalry charges, with spears. No, really. They ride hoverbikes and impale each other with spears. They''re called Clone lancer trooper Activate the Balance protocols again, and divert the IG-227 Hailfire-class droid tank missiles at wherever they see a lightsaber. Maybe they''ll learn...only 2 Jedi died. And 95% of their forces. Anakin was there. Sigh. In the Battle of Axion, the Republic forces lost 100% of their troops and equipment, with a single survivor, Master Yoda. Good job, little guy. A general though, you are not. In the Battle of Dantooine (Clone Wars) a fierce swordsman called Master Windu took on a whole droid army and won, by himself. His clone troopers just watched, and thus only lost 30% of their numbers. Why are they even there? Wouldn''t be simpler to just send a single Master? Elsewhere, for example at Battle of Esseles (Clone Wars) the clones fought on their own, a single clone division destroying a few dozen millions droids, achieving victory without a Jedi present. So, they can fight very effectively, on their own. Good to know, and make sure I never fight clones without a Jedi leader. In the Battle of Brentaal IV (Clone Wars) , the locals tried to defect to CIS and were summarily executed, along with their CIS friends. Some friendly fire occurred, with spies and counter-spies on both sides. In the end, the beautiful Shaak Ti was victorious, only losing less than half of troops and equipment, and a pair of Jedi helpers. And Peffy, after enjoying the warm maids and fine food and warm baths for a while, has left on a quest of my own, to obtain some critical knowledge, on the planet Rhen Var, where there''s a secret tomb. "I can teach to harness the power of the Force around you, making you immune to the Dark Reaper''s effect, for a short time. But this knowledge comes with a risk." ¨DUlic Qel-Droma I''m no Skywalker, but then I have soul snares and can drain spirits just as well as living beings. And that risk you''re talking about...no thanks, I don''t need superstition and theology. I just need to know where to twist...no so hard. Oh boy, this guy was first a Jedi Master, then a Sith Lord, then a Jedi ghost... and he learned from Exar Kun...really loaded with skills and knowledge. And he knew about the famous Tedryn Holocron ? I wonder where could that be...on planet Ossus perhaps? ''Yes, yes. It''s in Solana''s hand. Now shut up and let me learn all this'' my Voice muttered annoyed. Great. Peffy can be on Ossus in 4 hours. ''Gah. Stay away, I found it first!'' Solana exclaimed in the bond, almost greedy. ''So...you don''t want to have Peffy for yourself, to use his warm, muscled body, for whatever you can think of?'' I asked curious. ''Kriff. I do want to see him. Okay, I''ll share my holocron too. Solana out'' She conceded, with a slight blush. That''s my girl. We share the shinnies, so we can get even more. Greyshade Planet Ossus, disputed 21 BBY As the Greymist freighter landed near Solana, I got to experience the first real Living force premonition, or vision or however you may call it. Through my Avatar, but useful anyway. The green holocron destroyed, the frozen tree dying... ''Stop now Solana. Have a Culexus droid pick it up and send the cube to Bendu.'' I said immediately, and the first danger went away, just like that. ''Oh, someone is coming. That Skywalker guy, possibly...'' Solana answered, using her connection to Solanus to extrapolate my warning in a few seconds. In my memories, Luke Skywalker caused the destruction of this holocron, but his father was even more reckless, so it was quite possible. The other danger remained, the venerable 5 thousands year old Master was still about to die... The Culexus droid, with its ysalamiri backpack, and an advanced starfighter, jumped towards Sy Myrth with only seconds to spare. A Delta-7 Aethersprite-class light interceptor appeared in orbit of Ossus, carrying no other than a famous Jedi Knight caled Anakin. I sighed inward, and ordered our droid army to pack up and begin the evacuation. This was not the moment to start a fight with the Jedi. The Hyperspace transport ring was left in orbit and the Jedi ignored our fleets demands for identification, beginning his landing regardless of risk. "That''s him? The Chosen one?" Solana wondered as the starfighter landed abruptly next to us. "Or so they say. You''ll see soon" Peffy answered amused, ordering the Brubb marines and the VSS to stand down. Let''s see who sent him, first. "What is the Pef Empire doing here, this is a Republic world!" Anakin yelled, stepping boldly in front of us. "Possibly, young Jedi. Our armies have just liberated the planet from the CIS. Are you going to stay here to defend this world, without an army?" Peffy asked calmly, taking off his helmet to reduce suspicions. "You...a human? And so strong in the Force..." "I am the Avatar of Pef, Voice of the Emperor and commander of all the armies. This is my Honored Maid, Solana" I answered politely, nodding towards my watermaid, and offering a hand for a shake. "Errr. Why is the Empire using droid armies?" Anakin asked with a frown, peering curiously at the Brubb marines then at the millions of droids packing up hundreds of crates and loading them into dropships. "Small population, not wanting to use conscription, no clone factories and enough minerals to manufacture droids cheaply" I answered with a shrug, while a Justice droid came with a pair of glasses of water, for the jedi and myself. "Water?" Anakin asked confused. "You''re driving, so brandy is probably not indicated..." I replied in bored tone, drinking some flat mineral water myself. "Your maid doesn''t drink?" the jedi asked suspicious. Glad you asked, my new gene donor. Solana removed her helmet and smiled widely. "My species is made of water, young Jedi. Sunlight is enough nourishment for us" Anakin gulped some water, staring in confusion at Solana. And leaving tiny particles of skin on the rim of the glass. I kinda doubted that sunlight was the only explanation, but this wasn''t the time to argue. "So, the Jedi Council sent you, young Knight?" I asked curious, giving back my glass to the droid and prompting Anakin to do the same, unconsciously. "N-not exactly. Chancellor Palpatine heard from Clone Intelligence of fighting on Ossus, and wanted to make sure the planet is safe." he explained, a little embarrassed. "Indeed, so kind of him. Now, our troops are packing their supplies and ammunition, leaving for other battles, but we will maintain an outpost here, to warn against further CIS incursions. If you didn''t know, our northern fleets just fought off a large CIS invasion, aimed to obliterate all life in Mon Calamari. We have to stay vigilant." I added, producing a short holo of the ruined Sith reaper. "Ah, that...you defeated the Dark Reaper?" Skywalker wondered in surprise. "Yes, and the hundreds of ships escorting it. Sadly, all organic crews died or went mad. Lucky we had droids, to keep fighting" I explained pointing at the combat droids around, all wearing cheap fiber chestarmor and pants and tiny visored helmets. Why not use 10 credits to double their resilience? Plus they looked like a proper army, with uniforms, not naked savages. "...lucky you did have battle droids. And your droids wear clothes..." the Jedi remarked, somehow surprised again. "We try to give our soldiers proper respect, and of course, even the Republic doesn''t send its clones into combat naked." I argued wisely. The future Darth Vader stared around, trying to make sense of the new galaxy he just encountered. "My droids friends, they were naked all this time..." the poor youngling muttered, poking the cheap armor of the nearest droid with sadness. "Anyway, it might be that since the founder of the Empire was an old droid, he had strange ideas. Please be so kind to let the Republic officials know of our stance. Liberated worlds will remain under Empire administration and protection, and spare the Republic the costs of defending them. After the war is won, a peace conference will decide the fate of those few planets. Our embassy at Corellia will process all demands for relocation or litigation" I explained kindly, guiding the Jedi towards his starfighter. "So, you''re just maintaining a garrison, nothing else?" he asked, again suspicious. "Just some droids for patrols and a few ships in orbit. The planet is devoid of life, so the Empire won''t invest in planetary shields and defense platforms. Our nearest naval base is only hours away, so any future invasion will be swiftly repelled" I answered in a dismissive tone, then watched the Jedi fly up towards his hyperdrive ring. Clone intelligence my ass. Dooku told his Master that we retook Ossus. Luckily the young Jedi was quite naive. And only half my strength in the force. For now. Now, let''s see about saving the tree Jedi. Locating the tree was pretty simple, since I had an idea of where and how to locate him, but waking him up was a chore. I tried summoning water, and adding fertilizer to his roots. I tried telepathy and lifting him up with telekinesis. I tried fire alter and lightning and Ballistakinesis. See from light, see from shadow, listen from shadow. Nothing. Damn tree was immune to everything, covered in a layer of impregnable force aura. Which is how he survived the Sith supernova, probably. In the end, Solana alchemically changed a bowl of water for me, creating a organo-crystal soup, which we slated with cortosis and neutronium filaments and made a new holocron, with just a few sentences. Then, floated the cube up in the branches and turned on the Force-activatedfunctions. "Wake up, old tree. It''s been 4 thousands years already. You''ll sleep when you''re dead!" The holocron told him, over and over, while a holo-image of Peffy stuck his tongue at him. What? I can learn, even from my blue twi''lek maid, Vette. It even worked, after a few hours. When the aura turned off, the holocron was expelled at speed, hitting me in the helmet. Okay, I deserved that. I took the helmet off now, since the danger has passed. Almost. "Impudent youngling. What has come of the Jedi?" the old Neti Jedi boomed, shapeshifting into a smaller form. He seemed feeble and weak, so I drenched it with a hundred water globes. It only seemed to piss the old Master off. "Stop that, reckless human! Four thousand years have passed, since the Cron Cluster exploded?" he wondered, lying on the ground to rest. "Probably. There are 23 calendars accepted in the galaxy. Now, I''m gonna heal you up, then send you to the least fanatic sect of the new Jedi, on Corellia. The greenlings haven''t had a real teacher for millennia and are pretty weak, but at least they aren''t massacring innocents like the zealots on Coruscant" I explained politely, pulsing vigor and reinforcement and gene alter, to reverse the worst of his age and suffering. "Hmmm. And yourself young human, are from another sect of Jedi? I sense force bonds to your Masters..." he asked cautiously, and avoiding to look at the hole in the ground. Duh. "I learn from everyone I can. Now, this planet has just been attacked by droid armies commanded by the dark jedi, so you better get going soon, before they return. Keep the green cube, the Jedi have forgotten how to build them long ago." I added, grabbing all his pathetic scrolls and lightsabers from the hole left in the ground and bundling them in his arms, before lifting him up and sending him flying towards the nearest landed Calamari frigate. What he knew was valuable, not those trinkets. My droids took him and placed his tired body in a bacta tank, as the frigate took off at speed towards Togoria and then Corellia. "So, we can finally loot this place now?" Solana asked with hidden glee. In fact, not hidden at all. "Sure, loot away, my dearest maid. Use the Culexus droids to hide anything glowing in the force, and blow up the ruins with proton bombs when you''re done. I''m going to oversee things at Columex and Lianna" I said amused, stealing a kiss before boarding the Greymist for my next task. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. The glass with Anakin''s and a tiny cut with Ood Bnar gene samples was sealed and sent with a corvette towards Blueforge, where our Astartes project was beginning to take shape. Still needed more samples, from Durge and any other rare beings like dragons. Luckily that our Explorers confirmed Xuaquarres as a cemetery planet for Duinuogwuin. We''ll need to acquire some samples. And perhaps rescue a few who were old, but could be rejuvenated. Now, as the capital of the Commonality was besieged by two of our fleets, a third fleet passed it by, jumping to Lianna and trying to keep that planet from being razed to the ground by a demented Jedi Master called Cei Vookto. Who ever taught him to use hurricane scale force storms to battle droids? Damn moron, so strong and so fanatic, sacrificing 4 billion people just to keep some Republic factory in Jedi hands... In fact, isn''t he flying in his starfighter right now, dragging huge columns of fire and water after him? Let''s Balance things a little, ah...the R4 astromech made a tiny course correction, clipping a skyscraper at mach 1. Your sacrifice will not be in vain, Master Jedi. Your pulped organs will be added to the gene bank for a strong force connection marker. He only managed to kill some 20 million people so far, razing only 80% of the capital. And Lianna was a hi-tech Republic world, populated with humans. And he would have still sacrificed them all, for some starfighter factory like it happened in my memories of the Battle of Lianna. Rot in hell, crazy Jedi. I''ll have my special ops copy all the Sienar data, then blow that factory up. "I now represent a number of planets¡ªthe Commonality¡ªand their votes represent the swing votes in a badly divided Senate." ¨DSimon Greyshade Let''s test the Centrality plan here first, by making myself a liberator general. Now, where is that slimy playboy Simon hiding? Underground bunker? Perfect. Seal the doors and cut off life support. Turn up the heat and jam all communications. The Commonality will need to elect a new leader soon. Let''s rescue those on the electoral committee then. My special forces and commando droids began landings for their new objectives, capturing representatives from the 9 sectors in the Commonality and bringing them up, to the nearest Pef Navy cruiser. The regular troopers and droids continued their assaults on vital facilities, encircling and ignoring the cities as per standard doctrine. Cities became prisons in an instant, dependent on our troops to be allowed electricity and water and food. They''ll surrender in a few days...or start eating each other. Planet Columex, Pef Empire In orbit aboard HMS Celestial River. 21 BBY Our troops have captured a number of Diamond-class cruiser , which are pretty much the fastest capital ships in existence, in the known galaxy. 0.75 hyperdrives. One was loaded on a Mountain and dropped at Sy Myrth immediately, to be escorted back to Gand for reverse-engineering. The Mountain and her two Meteor escorts will begin sieging Centares, and pressure the Commonality to change sides willingly. Almost willingly. The rest of the Diamonds will be repurposed as fast Voice transports and Black ops vessels, before we can build our own, comparable ships. And in the meantime, other fleets continue advancing on Saleucami, and Desevro and Paigu and the Vorzyd system , then Troganand Belderone ,securing additional routes for our ships. Still, only showing about 20 of our Meteor battleships at once, and baiting the CIS to counter-attack us massively at any trade route nexus. 6 backup fleets of 30 Meteors, each await in empty star systems just for this, to crush any large fleet that the CIS gathers to repulse our invasion. And they will. The Separatists are building ships like mad, but they are also spread out all over the galaxy and fighting the Republic bitterly on a thousand worlds at once. By my estimations, it would take them one or two months to gather a sizable reserve, perhaps 6 to 7 thousands capital ships and a million starfighters. Just the Trade Federation had 5 thousands Lucrehulks, before the start of the war. And barely 10% of them had been upgraded with weapons and shields. On Saleucami however, our droids armies are encountering CIS clones, and getting wasted by the million every day. That will give our generals plenty of experience, so I order a rotation cycle every 48 hours, changing the lead officers to gain them combat experience. Just evacuating civilians and cities first, since we aren''t barbarians. "So, esteemed leaders of the Commonality. My guards are lifting up from the surface as we speak, and bringing the body of your former leader Simon Grayshade. It''s a great name too, so I''ll be willing to take Grayshade as my own name, should our negotiations conclude successfully." I explained with a warm smile. I mostly cared about the trade route and the Meridian sector and Nuiri sector that gave me access to Lucazec and Nam Chorios legally. ''Yes, we''ll want my planet back'' Wialu added in the bond. Right. And if Antemeridian and Belderone sectors joined without a fight, even better. "You want us to just submit, and join this obscure Pef Empire?" one of them argued, his eyes shifty and cunning. "Of course not. We barely know each other, and the CIS is infiltrated in your polity at all levels. We''llstart slow, with the standard Mutual Protection Treaty, and we''ll discuss further developments in 5 years. Or, our armies and ships can bombard and level any revolting planets. We can terraform them back later and use them as colonies..." I answered politely, bringing a holo-image of the blockade, and showing a corvette firing its ion cannons toward some entrenched droids below. They wouldn''t know what kind of weapon it was, from a red and black hologram, but the wide dispersion circle of the guns was clearly visible. "This treaty, we retain independence?" a woman with green skin asked curious. "Autonomy yes. The defending ships and troops will be paid salaries and maintenance by every planet under the treaty, and the Empire will not interfere with internal works, except flagrant hostility or slavery. Travel rights will be suspended outside the atmosphere, during the current war." I explained mildly, as another corvette came about and fired towards the planet, ionizing another droid division, most likely. "That''s...very civilized. No taxation, besides defensive ships in our systems?" another leader, some fat reptile asked cautiously. "No, why would? I am personally the richest man in the galaxy. This whole war has cost me less than 0.5% of my wealth. I am not the Republic Senate, esteemed leaders. All the planets in the Empire have free education and healthcare and defense. Taxes in Pef Empire are set at 5% of income, which is more than enough." I added, as another corvette came about to fire at the ground, producing enchanting shockwaves in the hologram. The leaders started fidgeting, their eyes exchanging subtle signals, especially when the large shape of a Meteor appeared in the hologram, preparing to fire at the planet. "Perhaps, some solution can be found, before our taxpayers are all dead..." the guild master of Atraken said with wide eyes. Hmmm. Your planet might be kinda wasted by now. "Welcome to the Empire, esteemed guild master. Please give the necessary authorizations to our Imperial Servant, and the fighting on your planet will stop this week." I said gently, pointing at the nearest Servant with a datapad. "Could you, Honored Avatar, stop that behemoth from firing at Columex? I''d rather keep those 10 billion taxpayers alive, as well" the interim leader of Columex asked just after, as the holo had rotated to show the Meteor open its huge shark-like maw with the MACs visible through the plasma shields like huge teeth, in two rows of 50 cannons, her eyes and aura pretty much in terror. It did look impressive, I admit. "You have an offer for me, esteemed interim leader?" I asked the pretty blonde lady which had inherited the position. "Well, the name should be easy to gift, although you may need to marry a Grayshade, to make it proper and official. If it''s not too much..." she added, remaining pretty calm for this situation. Eh. Sure, why not? "As a tentative offer, is acceptable, my lady. We''ll have to discuss the details in private, of course" I added with a warm smile. And sinker. "Of course, Avatar Greyshade. I''ll order any loyal troops to stand down right now" Lidia Greyshade declared regally, taking the datapad offered by the nearest Servant. "The rest of you, esteemed leaders, please consider my offer in seclusion, I have cabins reserved for you aboard my vessel. The assassin droids will escort you there right now" I continued in a gentle voice, as a few dozen droids decloaked beside each uncertain leader, and dragged them away firmly. ''Very amusing Pef. You have a family name now'' Dora sent with a tingle of jealousy. ''It''s your name too, Dora Grayshade. We are family, forever and ever.'' I replied with a pulse of warmth and kindness. The other Voices realized the meaning soon after, and bombarded me with ideas of weddings and state ceremonies. Now, let''s get to know our brand-new wife better. Good job, my Avatar! Saleucami Planet Gand, Pef Empire Celestial Throne 21 BBY Planet Charros has fallen, as our blockade denied the CIS some crucial materials to continue building droids. About a dozen rare minerals are used in the construction of combat droids, and the planet used all their reserves building droids like crazy. And Vulture starfighters too, trying to use them as mecha units, without armor or shields. Didn''t quite work. Of the 10 million droids we landed, we managed to lose 55 millions, 50 million of them freshly produced by the captured factories. The CIS lost about 250 million droids, so I''m not too upset. The Scorekeeper is happy, and thus I must accept only 25 to 1 effectiveness, or 5 to 1 in absolute terms. Kriff. Damn logistics broke my Dota game. Let''s hope the clone facilities on Saleucami will provide more entertainment. Since Sora Bulq couldn''t use his former base on the moon Ruul, in Sriluur system , which was sold to us by the Hutts, he had to continue his dark jedi work on Saleucami, creating Morgukaiclones in the magma caverns under Taleucema. I think I should leave some mountain pass undefended though, so they can gain access to whatever materials needed for cloning. Damn those Nikto clones are too effective against my droids. Guess I''ll add their genome to the Astartes project too. Even just one of them can destroy a thousand of my upgraded B11/p droids, those with pilot programming and reflexes, that I was so proud of. Oh well. Time to create a melee patch as well. Version B11/p/m here it comes. No, don''t arm yourselves with sticks and stones ! Sigh. Let''s send the Canis droids and see how they do for a change. Now we''re talking! Chain lasers and missile launchers kinda trump spears and pistols. Retreat! Don''t kill them all, yet. "You''re fighting CIS clones on Saleucami?" Lira asked curious, her age about 16 now, and looking like a healthy Ashoka Tano. I know she''ll become even more beautiful and with generous proportions in a few months. I seen it before she died, actually. Only the slightly pointed ears change her looks, a little. "Yes, my love. Trying to lose, in fact. My better droids are too effective for these times" I explained gently, hugging my maid with one arm, and closing the holomap with sadness. Was I too clever for this galaxy? ''Ask your Hands, Genius Emperor, they''ll set you straight soon enough...'' Dora answered from Sanctuary. Hmmm. It was time to send Lira there as well then. More Jedi or dark jedi will come snooping around. Better keep you alive at least a hundred years this time. "Oh, I''m going to Sanctuary too? But, I wanted to see Peffy and..." my near-Togruta Voice exclaimed, then blushed. "Try to learn mind-shield and hide in shadows first Lira Greyshade. Peffy will come back, once the Tion campaign is concluded." I spoke softly, patting her young bottom. "He''d better. I''ll be 18 by that time, so no more excuses" Lira added with a pout, then left to pack her things for the trip. And as Lira left the throne room, another maid entered, positively exulting happiness. Na-Jia. How to thank her for my birthday gift? "My most adored maid. I heard a few hundred life crystals have vanished from a medical transport. I thought you''re a rich and refined woman..." I said gently, lifting her up with telekinesis and spinning her around in a circle. "It''s in my nature, silly droid. If it''s not welded to the floor, it''s mine. And if it is welded, the floor can be stolen too" She answered with a naughty grin. Okay then. I do have an appropriate gift. "I''m thinking of creating a secret, no one knows about Seventh Hand. To lead my Fiscal Division..." I explained, as a droid appeared by her side with the latest generation of slicer helmet. My maid demurred politely, caressing her long, violet hair. A single finger glided down my chest, poking my belly. "You want me to collect taxes for you, tincan?" she mused with a frown, and blur of fingers. Gah, she stole the credit chip again. "In..a certain meaning of that word. Collecting money from other polities, who forgot they need to pay taxes to the Immortal Emperor. Hutts, CIS, barons and Senators..." I explained politely, phasing two fingers and stealing my credit chip back, undetected. Her eyes widened, as the exact meaning of her new job was realized in her pretty head. "I see. I will need my own network, and spy satellites and cloaked ships. Shapeshifting operatives, and the best tactical and slicer programs money can buy. And perhaps more." she mused, deep in thought. Only that? I already had 99% of her needs. "The Third Hand will train you for the next 3 to 6 months. You''re pretty good, but still an amateur. Stealing trillions of credits will be hard, but also very rewarding" I concluded, patting her round posterior, then placing her hand in my Third Hand''s hand. "She will possibly become a passable operative, and the bioneural implants don''t even hurt anymore..." the Gand master said gruffly, probably annoyed I detected him again. My maid tried to protest something, but the soporific patch already worked its magic and she fainted in the Black ops arms. "Full mental conditioning then, Eternal Sabacc Emperor. For the Empire!" he added while pulsing a holografic mirror covered in mist and smoke. In a second, he vanished from my sensors. That was new, alright. I''ll have to figure out how he did it. Damn his trillion credit intelligence budget. They came up with the craziest ideas. Planet Lianna, Pef Empire 21 BBY "I sometimes can see the weak places in an opponent¡ªshatterpoints where the unbreakable can be broken. They can occur in individuals¡­and in events." ¨DMace Windu The Jedi Council wasn''t all that happy with my decision to keep the liberated planets as Empire protectorates. Thus, a mean killing machine is now standing in front of me, his eyes glowing with righteous fury. Master Windu. I somehow doubt my cortosis armor will keep Peffy safe from his Shatterpoint ability. It was too strong an ability, even when used by a maniac like Windu. If mandalorian iron armors could be broken in pieces, so would my own cortosis armor. "Master Jedi, I see you are displeased with the result of this battle..." the Avatar spoke softly, pointing with his chin at the large screen which was used to simulate a window looking down on the planet. Our droid and marine units were mopping up the remainder of the CIS droids, while the clones were embarking on their own Acclamator transport ships. Those that survived of course, not that many, after the force storms and the CIS tanks and bombers did a number to their numbers. "Saving one planet wasn''t important, mister Greyshade. Those starfighter factories were our objective, and they were sabotaged and destroyed. The Council doesn''t care of collateral damage, not when the Republic is at stake. We need your big ships to help." he demanded with a slight tendril of force persuasion. No thanks. "Our Empire is doing its best to help, wise Master. But our meager forces are stretched thin, battling the CIS on a dozen worlds. Perhaps after we manage to pacify the Tion Cluster..." I said with a pulse of regret. "And so I''ve heard. The Meteors could turn the tide of battles, why not lend us a few and help the Republic conclude this war, even sooner?" he wondered, trying to bend my mind to agree. Kriff. Jedi mindtricks. "Please understand, Master Windu." I said politely. "These ships are all that stand between civilization and anarchy in this corner of the galaxy. Even with all the ships we have acquired from our Mon Calamari friends, they won''t be enough to resist a concentrated attack by another large fleet like Dooku used to the north, especially if they have more of those hate beams." I explained calmly, gesturing to the holotable and replaying the first minute of the Dark Reaper encounter. The Jedi zealot clutched his chestat that memory, as no doubt he had felt the Sith beam fire, like all the galaxy did. "You should have left that task to the Jedi, mister Greyshade. Even with the training that you have received from Master Kuro, trying to fight dark Jedi is a foolish plan. Next time you might not be so lucky" he argued, almost convincingly. "I have some degree of competence, esteemed Master. Your lightsaber is purple as well, is it not? Please, let me show you what I learned from Master Fay. And why plasma blades aren''t that scary." I replied gently, taking off a glove and holding out my palm. He blinked in confusion, since he wouldn''t be certain what skills Master Fay would have. "You want to fight me?" he asked, combative and angry at once. Whoa! Calm down, Mister no emotion. "Oh no. Just hold the lightsaber and turn it on..." I answered, and damn he was fast, the weapon flying into his hand and being lit in a millisecond. Faster than me, for sure. I just took a step forward and grabbed the purple plasma beam with my naked hand. And just stood there, swinging the beam side to side like a stick. Ha, should have seen his face. "Truly, there''s no wonder Master Fay doesn''t need a lightsaber anymore...Perhaps only Master Yoda is this skilled with Tutaminisand energy resistance, this complete..." he muttered, turning off his useless toy. "Of course, I didn''t have the time or the patience to learn velocities or forms from Master Kuro, since properly learning those would take decades, but working with energy was easy for me. And also Thought shield and Force resistance came pretty easy, and helpful, since it allowed me to defeat a handful of dark jedi already." I boasted, pretending to be proud of those achievements. "Indeed, your mind is shielded well, for one as young as you." he admitted with a grimace. "So, the Pef Empire will occupy and keep these former Republic worlds from becoming CIS puppets...not that bad, for the duration of this war. But I also hear the Empire is expanding forcefully in wild space and the Outer Rim, even buying planets from the Hutts?" he demanded, now back to political scheming. "In the past three years, our fleets have destroyed 30 thousand pirate vessels and liberated billions of slaves, Master Windu. These planets need to be defended, or the pirates and slavers will return. As for the Hutts...they would be a thousand times harder to fight than this CIS. They are still here, after 40 thousand years of crusades and devourings and thousands of failed attempts to restore civilization in that space. If buying planets saves us from avoiding another Ash World sector, we will do that, and help protect trade routes with diplomacy." I explained with a sterner voice, using the screen to show pictures from dozens of Ash Worlds barren of life. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. "Ah, yes...you know your history, mister Greyshade. I did not mean for your new Empire to fight the Hutts. Not even the Republic would try it, for now. Just trying to reach a conclusion about your government and its policies. What worries the Jedi Council is the stance your Empire took, allying itself with Corellia, and following their actions, instead of coming to Coruscant for advice and guidance." "About that, it''s simple. The Diktat is the most enlightened government in the galaxy, and we model our policies after them. Also, Master Fay refuses to hear about Coruscant, and Master Zero...is mostly moody and harsh. She had me train with scorpions, you know? And sharks..." I explained with a smile at first, then a fake shudder. The scorpions and the sharks were rather cute. "Ah...that. It''s good you survived then. We knew of her harsh training methods..." he answered with a frown. "Eh, the training works. Now, our own intelligence suspects another dark jedi is pulling strings from Coruscant, just as Master Fay claims. With access to all Republic intel, that individual might be dangerous too. What''s worrying even more, is that CIS is creating their own clones, on planet Saleucami. A dark Jedi named Sora Bulq is leading that project, but the technology is very advanced, beyond anything our scientists are able to duplicate. Perhaps a few Jedi will be willing to cooperate with our ground troops and get to the bottom of that mystery?" I asked politely, changing the screen to captured images from the Saleucami battlefields, with millions of broken droids, and Nikto clones whirling about with cortosis spears. "Those, are worrisome indeed. Your losses must be catastrophic going by the millions of droids already destroyed on the battlefield. I''ll speak with the Council and send a dozen Jedi Knights to deal with those clones." he spoke with a rictus of hate. Oh. Some kind of religious disagreement then? "They all practice some kind of evil religion, Morgukai or something..." I added with a feigned shrug. "I know of their death cult, mister Grayshade. They will be cut down soon enough. Let your commanders know to fall back and let the Jedi deal with this. Your troops would be better used to pin down CIS droid armies, not wasted by the millions." Mace Windu demanded as he turned to leave. "All right then. Perhaps a few more than just a dozen Knights...those clones are very fast, and the spears made with cortosis as well" I hinted, tapping my armor''s chest. "Then I should go myself, and see how fast they truly are." The best swordmaster in the galaxy said with a tiny smile, his aura exuding anticipation and conviction. He had no doubt in his lightsaber skills. My Avatar nodded, as I smiled inward. Well, then. You asked for it. Don''t blame me if you die, Master Jedi! Planet Saleucami, Pef Empire 21 BBY Full evacuation of the capital is underway, every single civilian being transported to new cities on another continent. Half of the planet is already under the Empire''s full control, with Servants and construction droids and their Tactical droids (now with architect and engineering programming as well) building a galactic standard civilization far from the explosions and death cries on the battlefields. The Umbara burrowing tanks prove very useful in planting seismic charges under the cloning complex, and even creating hidden tunnels for our black ops unit to steal some clone zygote and their advanced apparatus. Very good tech to have for the Astartes program. We can even begin printing the first gene-seeds and start the first Astartes Legion soon. Which is why my new Engineering Corps has hired a few most talented thousand of Chadra-Fanto work on the new Astartes armor, the Devastator Mark 3/1, alongside the Land Warrior prototypes. The Terminator cortosis-laced armor that my Voices use now, is sadly too complicated and expensive for mass production, but a scaled down version, with some components created by Solanus on Sol IV, like regenerating life support, and toxic biofilters and laser and blaster absorption fibers will help too. Only the chest and the faceplate will have Cortosis filament inserts. The less vital areas will have to do with Quadranium and diamondoid hexaplates. Still, the cost will rise at over 100 million credits for each armor. That''s as much as a fully equiped Venator, just for one armor suit. Sigh. Just a single Legion will cost me a trillion credits to armor them properly. If I wasn''t this rich, I''d be crying right now. They better be worth it. The tiny Chandra are geniuses at miniaturization and redundancy, already going over the prototype designs and changing things here and there, every little component gaining additional functions and still meshing flawlessly with the entire armor. Make a note, hire them all and export them to my every factory. Their planet Chad, was fated to suffer catastrophic floods soon, and wipe most of them out. I''ll replace them with amphibious droids, to keep supplying the empire with milk and meat from the sea creatures they domesticated. Just the tiniest neural programming was needed, to imprint advanced material science education and the Empire''s laws. Such a resource of genius and inventivity, the tiny rodents, and such a cruel fate. No more! Planet Moorjhone could be shielded and showered with ice comets, and made a paradise, not a death world. Planet Cardooine could be colonized properly, after the Chills disease was eradicated, and made a productive Fijisi plantation, with the 90% of the surface exploited rationally by droid woodcutters. The Ri''Dar sentients from Dar''Or could be uplifted and trained to farm the Elix, instead of being hunted themselves. Plus some of them could be recruited for the Exploration Corps, as flying scouts and recon units. So many amazing species, neglected or even harmed by this harsh galaxy. But not in my Empire. A few billion credits for a planetary shield and a space-station, and a new world would start contributing its unique values to the ever increasing... ''Just stop ruminating Pef, I have work to do, avoiding this Neti Master. He is quite skilled and very sensitive'' Wialu muttered in the bond. ''He''s not an enemy, my love. Talk to him when you find him alone, and you''ll see. And you might learn stuff too.'' ''Fine. But no pointed ears for me, if I die...'' the Fallanassi Grandmaster complained in a resigned tone. Back on Saleucami, the Jedi Knights begin dying one after another, since the Nikto clones were bred to kill Jedi. More consular cruiser debark more and more Jedi, all sprinting at full speed forward, lightsabers in hand. They finally have a worthy enemy to fight. My droids have retreated some 20 kilometers away, After evacuating the capital. And have found a blind Jedi Master, named Zao wandering the streets of the capital. "The war is already won or lost as the Force wills. We are all leaves blown by its wind." ¨DZao Very wise and strong in the force as well, the old Veknoid Master. But how to use him? Forming a Jedi retreat, for those like him, who do not wish to take part in the wars? On Ruul then, where a few more such defectors have gathered. But, not yet. He could recruit those at Almas Academy and bring them with him, saving them from another wicked fate, at the hands of dark jedi and pirates. Lanius Qel-Bertuk and Felanil Baaks had already invoked the Right of Denial and they would be almost safe on Ruul. Once we finished placing planetary shields and ground to orbit ion cannons and lasers. And orbital defense platforms. And a fleet of warships. Yes, almost safe. The fast cruiser carried Master Zao away, just before another Jedi Master, Oppo Rancisis entered the Saleucami system, bringing a clone division and twenty more Jedi Knights. Hey, those clones have guns! that''s cheating... Oh well. Not like guns served my droids any good. The fighting intensified on the ground, and another dozen Jedi died, for a similar number of Nikto clones. Oh my! Perhaps bring more Jedi? No, don''t use walkers and long range artillery Master Rancisis! Damn it. Now the clones have retreated into the catacombs. Master Windu was only injured once, and has killed a hundred clones himself. Amazing with a lightsaber, really. They''re debating to use orbital bombardment? No! Not on an Empire world you don''t! My Mon Calamari ships interpose themselves between the planet and the Venator star destroyers. Your turn Peffy. "Esteemed Master Jedi, this planet is inhabited and is also an Empire world now. If the Jedi cannot deal with the clones with conventional weapons, our droid armies will advance and do the job themselves. But we will not tolerate orbital bombardments and massive ecological damage, just because your skills with swords are inadequate" I told the Jedi on Saleucami. Master Windu seemed a bit angry at my hologram, but I did warn him the clones were very fast. "Very well, mister Grayshade. Let us come with a new plan, and wait for more Jedi reinforcements to arrive. I will lead the assault on the cloning complex myself, and end this threat, once and for all. I trained Sora, so I am a little responsible for his actions." Mace Windu acknowledged with a bit of regret. Next week, 200 Jedi and 2 Jedi Council members entered the catacombs and dueled valiantly with their enemies. But as Sora Bulq was finally slain by his former Vapaad Master, the insidious dark jedi plan was revealed, seismic charges exploding and creating a massive volcanic eruption. The nikto clones and their pods, the Jedi and their clones, even the nearby walkers and Acclamator assault ships vanished in a huge terraton scale supervolcano. A certain A''Sharad Hett will never become Darth Krayt. His grand funeral pyre, was illuminating the ships in orbit, and creating a massive pyroclastic cloud, devastating everything for 300 kilometers. Even the million B1 droids securing the perimeter were melted completely. 300% military casualties, and 0 civilians. I win. Now, the burdened droid Emperor will have to go and clean up the volcanic ash, and perhaps collect a few souls...how strange I was already in orbit. ''Keep that Sora Bulq essence for me, greedy soulmate'' Ventress hissed in the bond, as her ships were destroying another invasion fleet over Dathomir. ''Stop arguing like children. There will be 250 souls to collect and drain. I only want 20'' Wailu added, not greedy at all. All right then. Guess the Avatar can drain the soul snare with Windu then, and I''ll get Battle meditation from Rancisis. An ability that boosted my fleets and weakened the enemies? Not bad, for just a few billion credits. Darksaber Planet Saleucami, Pef Empire On board Celestial River 21 BBY, A week later The Avatar living room on the cruiser was decorated subtly, grey and black walls, with a few Je''daii lines written in Latin. The furniture was just a few low couches and tables, and a few screens and holoprojectors. A Culexus droid was stationed beside the only armored door, the ysalamiri in the backpack enough to prevent a stealthy intruder. Peffy was muchin on a bowl of popcorn with free hand, and hugging and fondling Aurra Grayshade with his other warm hand. The Pef holonews were on, with a famous and beautiful Centrality talk-show host narrating the findings of the investigation. "The massive volcanic eruption that devastated planet Saleucami has finally been contained, with hundreds of ships using tractor and repulsor beams to settle the magma back, while the Immortal Emperor himself has awoken from his meditation and arrived to coordinate the relief efforts. It was only by the inspired decisions taken by Imperial Servants and tactical droids on the planet that the total civilian losses were so low. Civilians were evacuated weeks prior to the Republic''s intervention, fearing orbital bombardments. But, the destruction cause is still uncertain, theories ranging from an orbital weapon fired in anger, to munitions coming in contact with lava, to an asteroid impacting the volcano, or even a natural phenomenon. Radical theories like a force ability able to shatter mountains has been disproved by all the polled scientists just like the fringe theory of seismic charge detonated with malice. Nobody sane would cause a volcano to erupt under their feet, not even a death-cult like the Morgukai. Estimated military casualties of the liberation of Saleucami place loses as follows: Pef Empire 6.7 million soldiers, majority synthetic. Republic forces 31 thousands, all organic. CIS forces 1 million synthetics and 2 thousands organic. The Emperor has vowed to allocate funds from his private treasury to rebuild the planet, and also construct planetary shields and orbital fortifications. Truly, the Emperor is generous and merciful. For the Empire!" the host proclaimed, as the commercials began for a host of products manufactured by my companies. What? It''s good business. Aurra stole a few popcorn flowers, and stretched herself, making me admire her generous forms. "This is all fun and good, but I miss my violet sister. Where is she?" my assassin maid complained, leaning on my shoulder. "Our violet maid wants to become a galactic class thief and slicer, so she''s getting training from the special ops. Not the part with breaking bones though. Just technical lessons" I explained gently, and turned the holonet off. "Na-Jia could use some self-defense lessons too. The galaxy is harsh, for those who are weak" Aurra muttered, sneaking a hand under my T-shirt. "Indeed. You could try the black ops program as well. Your lethality and survivability should improve by 100%, in 6 months." I whispered in her ear, as my hands were busy conquering her mountains. And the popcorn bowl, you wonder? Did it spill? Use the force, Peffy! Planet Gand, Pef Empire Redbox Sigh. Enjoy your vacation my Avatar. "Your loud descriptions of the Avatar''s adventures are discomforting, generous Emperor. Try to focus on the fleet movements, for a whole hour at least" Zuckuss muttered upset, although he did enjoy my narration, I was certain. "What, did I miss something? A dropship was lost on Raxus prime? Oh, poo. The Empire is in peril!" I proclaimed dramatically, shaking my arms at the sky in defiance. "Maid Aurra will be a worthy asset to the Black Ops. Especially if she uses her old name to pose as a neutral bounty hunter. Partial conditioning then...loyalties preserved for Grayshade family and Miss Zero?" my Third Hand asked, appearing from behind an olbio tree. And wearing some kind of force-negating biosuit. That was...a Vong soldier emptied out and transformed into a meat suit? Kinda creepy... "And keep it subtle. She may have backup memories on her biochip. Perhaps, it is safer to extract the old one and replace it with a chip from generation 7.44, like my Avatar''s. Force users are protected by the force itself. We don''t want to upset the big dream" I mused wisely, thinking about the warning that Solanus gave when we first met. "I see, wise droid. Small course corrections, and tiny nudges. And not blowing up freaking nukes and volcanoes, like a kit with fireworks" He answered with an upset tone, throwing a crystal at the floor and vanishing in the multicolored mist. Hey! You enjoyed the fireworks too... "So, we take Cadinth and Desevro next, completing the half encirclement of the Tion cluster. You''re leaving Arcan IV in CIS hands?" Zuckuss asked, turning the holomap sidewise. "Yes, and squeezing on the other end. Funneling ships and troops out. Like puss from a wound. They''ll have concentrate all the ships at one point and try to break out, with a pincer movement, from Felucia most likely. And then..." I explained patiently, since it seemed playing chess in 5 dimensions was a bit hard for normal people. Only the Columi at the Land Warrior company were able to play my strategic scenarios decently. Then again, they had 75% of their body mass as brains. "I see, devious droid. You aim to take Murkhana, without a shot. Digging out the CIS from that world would be costly, without orbital bombardments." Mujilik added his opinion, after turning the holomap flat again and miming a palm pushing things away. See, not that complicated, if you really thought about it. "Yes, all the tionese worlds, my friends. Chandaar and Derellium and Corlax 4 and Folende. Jaminere alone is worth a trillion credits in factories. I don''t want to destroy those worlds. I want the CIS is to flee, leaving everything behind. And next month they will say: enough!" I proclaimed, punching my palm with a gloved fist. It did make a great sound, waking the ysalamiri lizards in the trees. "And come attacking. Very well. Let''s hope they won''t break through and push us back." Zuckuss muttered, trying to mimic my glorious act, but sounding only fleshy, instead of the mighty metallic sound of my power armor. "They won''t. Have faith in the Immortal Pef. I have a plan...'' "Yesss, when did you not, sneaky droid. You''re still playing the game at easy levels, are you not?" Zuckuss asked rhetorically. Indeed, my friend. Corvettes and cruisers? Droids and tanks? The tutorial levels. Meteors...okay those were at easy levels already. Even the Astartes were just a fancy of my old organic self. Once the true war machine was unleashed...stars would become popcorn. Planet Gand, Pef Empire Mechtronic Art lab. There''s over 55 types of personal shields in front of me, although I''m leaning towards the Verpine prototype shield . At 2500 credits it would cost to mass-produce, it''s a bargain. Maybe add a Wrist laser ? My own version is an Arkanian energy shield but these are prone to burn-outs in intense firefights. The Echani shields and the Mandalorian shields are much weaker though, and do not block sonic weapons. And Gungan personal energy shield ? I could sell some of those to clone lancer units. They would fit right in. Or maybe a Small portable shield ? The Military Mobility Shield was just acquired from a Republic lab, and not feasible to use openly. For a year or two. After that, the Republic will be gone. Other, even stranger types of shields, like Energy blade shields do not even make me smile. That Riot shield would be marginally useful for frontal assaults though. And only costs 500 credits. Okay then, we''ll equip our B1 droids with these, and the commando droids and the marines with the more expensive Verpine shields. But first, I''ll send all of them to the geniuses at Land Warrior to go over them and increase their efficiency and reliability. Okay, enough with these toys. I went over to look at the brand new Droideka Mark II developed by Baktoid Combat Automatain their foundries on the planet Hypori . Yes, where three Jedi Masters just died trying to stop the droid foundries, and then forgot about it. Luckily our black ops have captured a Republic transport ship, full of tibanna gas, and are en route to Hypori, to convince the CIS of the wisdom of buying planetary shields. With an orbital drop, that is. This generation of droideka are better, having no less than 7 blaster cannons and 2 ion cannons. I can keep the top three, once I''ve turreted them, and replace the arm blasters with a Gatling laser and a PLX-1 portable missile launcher . This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. And then, give them fingers and thumbs. I mean, it''s cruel, to build an almost sentient machine, and deny it basic rights, like thumbs. Hmmm. And shoes too. And repulsorlifts. And a Laser saw. Sigh. This droid was still a mess. Small steps Pef. Just a missile launcher for now. And for my Astartes, I had LS-150 Heavy Accelerated Charged Particle Repeater Gunwhich was pretty much a boltgun. The Accelerated Charged Particle Repeater Gun could serve as a boltpistol. They chewed through shields and living beings with ease, and only had problem with armor. But for that, there were even better weapons. A shoulder mounted PLX-2M portable missile launcher will be quite enough to deal with armor. And they fired a Gravity-Activated Mode guided missile able to hit tanks and gunship up to 40 kilometers away. Masers and ion cannons too, for the Astartes, though they wouldn''t be so effective as the boltguns. The tanks at my disposal were starting to look like Rebellion era tanks, like 2-M Hover Tank and T2-B Repulsor Tank for light tanks and Rebel attack tank for medium tanks. Only all had wheels beside repulsorlifts, and turreted guns. 4 small wheels for the light tanks, that could be drawn up to the sides for pure antigravity maneuvers and 6 huge wheels for my medium tanks, much like the Juggernauts. Their main ability was speed and shields, and less armor. The heavy tanks were pure Baneblades from the start, if somewhat lower profile and turreted. They worked magnificently in frontal assaults, with Umbaran shields and 1.5 meters of frontal armor. Their armor was comparable to my Dakka corvettes, so you can figure out how hard it would be for most ground troops to kill them. Sure, they were a bit slow, but with 7 chainlasers and 2 missile launchers, beside the main heavy maser... In fact, I should test a sublight engine and a repulsorlift and see if they can achieve orbit starting from the ground. That would be pretty cool. And also, I could push a fleet to Phindar now, and link with Ventress at Dathomir. Perhaps I''ll be in time to become Mandalore with Peffy. It would only take him a few seconds to beat up that cute Bo-Katan Kryze and make her marry him, as it''s the custom with mandalorians. And another wife, yeah, why not? It''s not like my Avatar gets tired anymore. Planet Gand, Pef Empire Celestial Throne 21 BBY "So my adorable cute and ravishing blue Maid, repeat my instructions again, and this time, believe your words too" I told Vette while holding her upside down, floating in front of my throne. "Okay! I get it, you overbearing droid! No more leaving on side missions. Stay in connection to the logistic chain. Secure Phindar and clear nearby systems of pirates. Leave dispense of justice to the Imperial Judge Servants. Leave the treatment of injured and sick to the Imperial Medical Division. The slaves to be remitted in custody of the Imperial Education Servants. Keep my helmet on at all times, except in my quarters aboard Meteor One. And if the furry admiral says we need to run, we run..." my maid proclaimed, punching the floor with her armored gauntlet. Good enough then. "Come here and give me a hug, my valiant twi''lek" I said gently, depositing her back on her feet, a meter in front of me. She hesitated for a second, then came to give me a tentative hug. "And you had better not messed up my ship while I was learning that stupid mind-shield trick. There''s nothing of value in my head anyway..." she declared proudly, and her blue leku moved on their own framing her face in an incredibly childish pose of innocence. Messed up, no way! Just added 1800 more ion cannons, so the ship could fire even more return fire. That ability did look similar to some Gree tech in my memories...gah. Too advanced to copy, for now. "Yes, yes. But, bad people might want to plant ideas in your head, like strangling Dora when she sleeps. Or maybe Lira again..." I explained patiently, while updating the armor''s semi-sentient droid chip with the latest programming in evasive actions and targeting software. And encrypt the codes in latin again. "Oh, they can do that...dark jedi and such. Now it makes sense. Just tell me all of this! Crazy piece of scrap, before you have me stuck with my head under a learning helmet for a whole week. While the strange VSS girls do crazy magiks inside my mind, and turn everything I see covered with white contours. I thought I was going insane..." my blue maid complained, and stepped back, then stuck her tongue at me. "Go have fun, Vette Grayshade. And keep an eye out for power gems." I added with a small laugh, and stuck her helmet back on. She''ll have a surprise, the first time she tries to take it of, possibly to berate some pirates she hasn''t captured yet. The armor won''t let her, till she was back in her quarters... Anyway, the armor had 3 redundant shields, one of them the new military mobility one, tied into her armor''s reactor. Ground based weapons would only bounce her around, and not hurt her pretty ass at all. Hopefully. The bota plant treatments had increased all my maids force connection at least three times, but without training, they wouldn''t know how to use the gift, and just be carried away be the sentients'' of the galaxy common dream. Very often, directly in front of whatever conflict the force wanted to be solved, one way or the other. Wialu was already carried away, trying to keep the Green Jedi alive through to Clone wars and defeat the hundreds of dark jedi which appeared, as death and pain broke their skewed training. Now, Peffy is about to land on Concordia the moon of planet Mandalore, so I''d better add another partition to the Avatar, and enjoy the show. Moon Concordia, Mandalorian space 21 BBY Hmmm. Forests and trees. Mountains and mines. Now where would those pesky mandalorian warriors be? Hey look, is that a missile, greeting me with a confetti shower? Boom! Not confetti then. I pretended to be knocked out, while the cruiser powered up shields, but remained on the ground, and seemingly empty. A few mandalorians, in armor with the Death Watch prong symbol came out from behind rocks. Thanks dear force! You made me land exactly in an ambush zone... "That''s not a jedi...even that Kenobi Master only wore a few bits of clone armor. This guy though...is that cortosis armor?" one of them realized with some surprise, after coming close enough. "I''m Avatar Greyshade, of the Pef Empire. You know....your next door neighbors, now that Phindar is under siege?" I asked aloud, floating myself up and stretching my arms in midair. The rocket depleted just my particle shields by 10%. Gah, not even a proton torpedo? These guys were still amateurs. "Errr. Those guys are enemies too, I think. They fight the CIS..." another one said, with a bit of suspicion. I looked to see which one was missing a rocket from their back launchers, and dragged him to me. "You know...hitting me from ambush was rude. I''ll confiscate your armor as payment" I said in a conversational tone, proceeding to do just that, leaving the poor warrior in his jumpsuit, while his armor was dismantled rapidly with telekinesis. "Hey, mister Avatar, you can''t do this. The armors are what make us mandalorian..." he complained weakly. Oh right. No armor, no identity...let''s test the wrist laser. Worked just fine, cutting off his head from 5 meters away. "Well then, take me to your leader, my warrior friends" I demanded politely, as an assassin droid decloaked and took custody of the mandalorian armor. It looked brand new too, so it would serve as a cheap, mass-produced body armor for my marines, after it was reverse-engineered and downgraded. A marine shouldn''t me cost more than 10k credits, after all. The decapitated body still floated respectfully a foot above ground, his dead hands cradling the head on the chest. "This is above our pay grade, I''ll let Command know we''re bringing a fierce warrior for a visit" one of them muttered, refraining to attempt another attack. Probably since it didn''t have any effect the first time, except a body holding his head. "Great, that''s Pre Vizsla right?" I wondered aloud. "For generations, my ancestors fought proudly as warriors against the Jedi." ¨DPre Vizsla "You already know too much, outsider. We''ll see how that armor stands before the Darksaber" the last mandalorian muttered, eying the floating body with calm. Yes, yes. I wanted to see that myself. We entered a mining gallery, then an elevator then a huge cavern filled with crates and machines and more mandalorians. Perhaps 50. Not that many. "My proud warriors. I''m Avatar Greyshade. Just married to Lidia Greyshade of the Commonality. And I came to bring you freedom!" I proclaimed grandly, as a tall mandalorian stepped forward and took out a strange looking lightsaber hilt. That must be the Darksaber then. The first one I''ve seen with a cross-guard, in fact. It looked positively...modern. "You came here to die, Pef Empire dog. We already have allies, Count Dooku and Tol Skorr have promised us aid, to reclaim Mandalore. Now die !" the man boasted, rushing at me with a crackling black plasma blade. Ummm. Sleep gas and nerve gas wouldn''t work... Acid would make a mess and possibly ruin the darksaber.... I know what to do! Let''s just grab his dark flashlight. And then, use my vibroblade to decapitate him. A shower of blood might impress the new recruits more. Snikt! His helmet rolled on the floor, with his lifeless head inside. "Like you said: only the strongest...shall rule." ¨DPre Vizsla''s last words I could keep this saber though...it was pretty unique. Mandalore Planet Gand, Pef Empire 21 BBY While Peffy is romancing his way towards the Mand''alore rank, by beating the pretty red-headed Bo Katan to a pulp... "Master, we have a slight problem." ¨DAnakin Skywalker The Battle of Terra Sool , with the CIS using another hilarious superweapon, 36 of them in fact, called Conqueror-class atmospheric dreadnaught . Sigh. My favorite Jedi managed to lose 90% of their allies from the Terra Sool militia. Is this a sort of cosmic joke? My human''s self old planet has a clone in this dimension? Anyway, it took them only a single day to repel a planetary invasion by themselves, while the droids were busy massacring the civilians and their militia defenders on the ground. Good job heroes! If I didn''t have plans for those two... But, at the same time another, more interesting battle takes place. The Battle of Iktotch ,with Master Saesee Tiin, himself an Iktotchi¡ªarrived at the planet to free it from the invading droids of the Separatists. Only this time, Master Windu is too dead to help, and the droids bombard the light of the lightsaber with everything they have, as per Balance protocols. A Hailfire droid empties his whole missiles rack on the injured Master. A bit overkill, but then... And another light is extinguished, and the galaxy rests in the shade a little more relaxed. "Weapons didn''t win this battle...the Jedi did." ¨DSaesee Tiin last words. But no, in fact to the contrary, the clone troopers, now without a Jedi general to suicide them in frontal assaults, went on to murder every single droid with minimal casualties, liberating the planet. Freedom wins! And congratulations for a well thought plan, Darth Sidious. The Jedi keep losing Masters and Knights, all over the galaxy, thanks to your brilliant strategy. Wialu is following Nejaa Halcyon who left Corellia on a suicidal mission, possibly towards the Duel on Susevfi where another dark acolyte of Dooku is using a Sith holocron and some stolen Sith scrolls to form the Jensaarai . At least there aren''t any Coruscant Jedi around this time, to create more religious dispute. Wialu should be enough to knock their heads back to sanity. Or something. ''Yes my love. Or something. This Halcyon guy is almost a Fallanassi. Has a wife and kids, and no telekinesis. Maybe...'' my Voice said through our bond. ''Not the time, for now. They''ll come willingly soon enough, my beloved Voice'' I explained gently, returning my focus on my Avatar. ---------- This girl was something alright, and kept fighting even with half her ribs and a femur broken. Let''s take off the helmet then, she might like what''s underneath and stop risking a shattered heart. Breaking hearts with my fists, even though I promised myself to use only love. "Please stop, Miss Bo. You''ve proven your strength and bravery. I believe the ritual is concluded." I said gently, backing off a few steps. "N-not while I can still fight. Your pretty face and words won''t be enough to sway me, outsider!" Bo Katan exclaimed with a spit of blood. Possibly a rib has punctured her lung then... I looked around at the audience, Death Watch and Nite Owls, forming an impromptu arena and fight club. And wedding invitees, curiously enough. Okay then, sleeping gas, and then a bacta tank after I fused her ribs in place. Puuuf! The last opponent to my rule of the mandalorians was defeated. "I''ll take my new wife aboard my ship to bring her back to health. But for now, any other contendant to the title of Mand''alore?" I proclaimed, holding the Darksaber up and liting it to create a spectacle. A few girls from the Nite Owls took off their helmets and eyed each other with some feminine secret code. "We''ve heard you have many lovers and maids, Avatar. Perhaps you wish to fight us, and win our hearts..." a pretty blonde girl asked with a sly smile. A couple more girls stepped forward, looking forward to getting beat up as prelude to hot romance. Sigh I just can''t say no, to so much potential. 1% boost, and let''s beat them up a little. ''Breaking hearts again, my tincan overlord?'' Asajj asked, with a touch of jealousy in the bond. ''Hey, the Avatar needs love Asajj. Lots of loving and affection. And later, thousands of kids, to lead the Astartes legions...'' I whispered, pulsing a burst of pure affection in the bond. ''Ah....enough. I have work to do, can''t dream of this and that, while I''m coordinating the uplift of this planet.'' Asajj Grayshade muttered with an embarrassed hot and warm voice. Five punches to the stomach later, and the Avatar had a few more mandalorian wives, less battered and more pliant for future maids. Now, let''s fix that mess on the planet Mandalore, and perhaps gain a new friend. Planet Gand, Pef Empire Redbox 21 BBY "Our operatives have concluded that the CIS retaliatory fleet has begun amassing at Zygerria , no doubt hoping to deter us from interfering with the Zygerrian Slavers Guild , by holding 400 million slave hostages. And the ships keep coming from all over the northern sectors of the galaxy, including the Corporate sector. We might have a bigger problem than we thought" Zuckuss explained, while the strategic droids around the holotable kept adding more and more to the growing number of confirmed and estimated ships. 12 hundreds so far. A week or possibly two weeks then, until the late-comers will arrive. So, they went for broke, trying to gather 10 thousands ships in one fleet? "The CIS is also refusing to play your game in the Tion Triangle. The encircled fleets are gathering at Murkhana, and keep getting reinforcements. At least 600 capital vessels and a hundred thousand droid starfighters. If they retreat completely from all Tion Cluster they could achieve 10 thousands ships, my Emperor. They might break through, and retake Columex and Lianna." my third Hand added, his tone a bit worried. Really? In two weeks we''ll have a hundred more Meteors finishing trials. And their escorts will finish loading up with missiles and droid starfighters as well. 1000 corvettes and 100 fleet carriers. Nah, the CIS were outmatched and outplayed. Only the situation on Coruscant might change things a little. If the 15000 planets in the neutral block swung the vote, and pushed for peace too soon. And being led by Duchess Satine of Mandalore. Oh well. Little chance of that, as everyone wanted more war. The Sith, the Jedi, the CIS and us. Palpatine will make sure that peace didn''t happen. I could rely on the Sith for something, at least. ''Pef, I have 34 of these Jensaarai and a Green Jedi asleep at my feet. Do I keep them or what?'' Wialu asked from planet Susevfi. ''Drain that Anzati, Nikkos Tyris . The rest...on Ruul I suppose. With families and everything.'' I answered after a juggling the odds a little, and trying to see what the Force would want. Neutral philosophy seemed okay. ''I''m keeping the holocron though. We have too few of these Sith ones.'' Wialu Greyshade muttered, while draining another dark jedi. ''And take their flashlights too. Damn savages'' I muttered back and turning more of my attention to Solana. ------ She was experimenting on Sol V, with submersible craft like Manta droid subfighter and Amphibious fighter and dozens of other craft, trying to merge the technologies with Solanustech derived from Vong bioforms. They will be needed to fight enemies like the Aqua droid and Hydroid Medusa that the CIS would use against us, on water planets. Also, trying to develop underwater Booma that were known to work on those medusa cyborgs. ''A bit busy now, but my friendly cygnus algae are lots of help. When they don''t get stuck inside an engine...'' Solana Greyshade grumbled through the voice bond. Okay then. Have fun. ------- "The Eternal Dreamer has returned to us. So, we close the pocket at Murkhana then, wife abuser?" Mujilik wondered aloud. Hey! It''s their custom to get banged up before wedding. And possibly an adrenal evolutionary adaptation. Get their hearts racing and stay in bed longer...poor Peffy was getting a little out of breath with his fifth wife in a row. At least Bo was still asleep in her bacta tank. "Errr. Yes, we will close up the escape route if they don''t want to take it, and start converging from all sides, gradually giving the CIS in the Tion Cluster time to evacuate their military assets towards Murkhana. But have our agents in place to prevent major sabotage to factories or reactors. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. "It will be done. Now, you can resume your narration heartbreaking Emperor, you missed the culminating part of your conquest" Zuckuss added, sipping some Corellian brandy. He seemed a bit tipsy. They were our allies, the Corellians, so it was almost appropriate to drink their most valued export at a strategy meeting. In fact.... "We need to inject a trillion credits in Corellian shipbuilding. They could have 2 thousand medium cruisers like our MC Liberty class, in 2 years. Let''s call it... Lend and lease initiative. Our own programs are already on their way to provide 2 thousand cruisers by next year. And the same next year, and next year..." I hummed deep in thought. "If you pay for this from our own purse, overspending idiot droid. The Empire cannot afford to finance another polity on this scale." Zuckuss commented with a friendly voice. Right. Poor Empire, I forgot. "Your B1 Corellian Ambassador will be overjoyed. He was kicked out from the Diktat''s gates 8 times now?" "Hmmm Dupas Thomree is a bit rude. B1 Corell will present our offer to the Corellian Council , but we''ll have to add a few silk wings to her back and a repulsorlift harness. To emulate Angie better. Sounds good?" I asked a little amused at my own cleverness. "Let''s hope they don''t shoot our brave Ambassador, before she can give them a trillion credits. Damn racist humans. You''re truly too kind to those scummy aliens, Metal Gand" Mujilik concluded with an entirely tolerant attitude. Small steps. "We are all aliens, my friends. 20 million sapient species, just in this galaxy. Now, I''m going down on the planet to experiment with my Single Trooper Aerial Platform and the Ground Armored Tank. Let me know if any planet blows up or such." I explained patiently, already going over a few hundred possible modifications to these weapon systems. Repulsorcraft were still the best toys in the galaxy. "We have a kid as our eternal leader...the dream will eat us all" my third Hand proclaimed dramatically, using another toy to disappear from my senses. And a good one again. Some kind of gravitational flux inversion? He''d better not blow up my energy refinery around the Cresih black hole. Or the black hole itself. Those were pretty rare, in this galaxy. Concordia, the moon of planet Mandalore. 21 BBY "Lidia Greyshade, my precious wife. You''re my only hope!" I said dramatically towards my Queen consort over the Commonality. "Cut the bantha droppings, you playboy cheating husband. What do you want?" The hologram replied coldly. Kriff. "A most trusted confidante of mine is en route to Columex, with a mandalorian suit of armor. I need to you to have it scanned and printed in a million copies, by next week." Peffy said, palms pressed together in supplication. "Are you out of your mind, you scoundrel ? Those armors take years to make, and only a few metalsmiths know how to make belskar!" she yelled at me, politely. "You like me because I''m a scoundrel. There aren''t enough scoundrels in your life. Plus, they can be plastic or thin metal foil. I just need them to look authentic, from far away." I explained patiently, and smiled widely. Quoting from other famous scoundrels always worked. Thanks, Han Solo. "You''re transmitting from Concordia...no way...you''re trying to become Manda''lore too?" Lidia exclaimed in awe. Indeed, and be amazed my merchant princess. "About that. I already am Mand''alore, on the moon that is. Now I need to conquer to planet, with a mandalorian army." I said softly, pushing a curious mandalorian maid down, out of the holotransmiter''s capture ray. Alise, Alicia, Alice? No idea which one. "I see. You beat up some mandalorian woman, and made yourself a mandalorian by marriage. A blonde one, with short hair perhaps?" my wife asked, with a venomous tint in her adoring voice. Kriff, the game was up. "As it happens, yes! I consider myself quite clever, my dear. But, I need those armors, my love. Or else, the bloodshed will be legendary, rivers of blood and guts flowing all over Mandalorian space, with violence spilling out into nearby sectors..." I hinted graciously, and keeping the rebellious Niteowl''s head down. Out of the danger of being pierced by laser eyes. "Mhhhh. And those sectors, would be probably mine. You''re lucky I do like you, scoundrel. Stop by my place before you go running around the galaxy again." Lidia Greyshade demanded with a noble voice, gesturing dismissively to end the hologram. "So, we''re conquering the planet then, most virile husband?" Alisia Greyshade asked, pushing me on my back, then climbing over my body. "Of course. As soon as the armors are here. We have a week to get to know each other..." I said softly, and began the mountain climb again, with tender climbing claws. "You bet we do. And today, you''re only mine!" she proclaimed dramatically, tossing her top over her shoulder, and presenting her airbags for inspection. "Small steps, dear wife. Try to last a whole hour first" I said, with a cheeky voice. Then, an evil extra-dimensional force made me look away, and return to the task of creating a cheap repulsorlift fast attack droid. --------- Planet Gand Silicon Mountains The aerial platform was a good start, and cheap, at 2500 credits. But, it needed a droid pilot which made it too vulnerable, and much slower, due to air friction. Plus the whole aim and fire thing with a bicycle like steering bar...it was so outdated. Nah, I could simply place a B1 droid''s head for a pilot, inside the front of the chassis, remove the guiding bar and the steps, even turn it horizontal. Make an inch think transparisteel window for the droid head. Add a cheap Arkanian shield, or maybe even a Mandalorian one, since droids were not as vulnerable to sonic weapons or low temperature. Replace the blasters with a maser cannon and an ion cannon, so they won''t need tibanna gas to keep firing... Place them on a turret ball, just below the droid''s head. And done! There, a full repulsorlift gunship able to scout and attack ground target from the flanks and rear. Total cost 3500 credits. Twice as fast, now about 700kph, and highly effective against droids and organics alike. I should send my designs and the prototype to the real engineers though. Wouldn''t do to print a billion such units and waste 3.5 trillions due to some error that could have been easily fixed during the prototype stages. Maybe add an internal 12 micromissiles launcher? 500 credits more, but triple the alpha strike? Worked fine on the Canis droids I tested on Saleucami. Sure, why not. Make a note, try to make the Stinger usable underwater and in vacuum. And to think, just a tiny repurposing of existing parts, and I made the basis of a cheap highly mobile army, able to conquer star systems in a week. Now let''s see how the B1 armies equipped with riot shields do on planet Arcan... Whoa, 500% increased effectiveness in frontal assaults? For 500 credits, it was a real bargain. The commando droids were even more effective, with their Verpine all round shields. The light tanks still sucked, massively. Then again, maybe the local commanders should stop using them to break fortified positions. Let''s try something else. The Ground armored tank of the CIS was a good start, just needed wheels, to keep moving if encountering forcefields, let''s try 8 small ones this time, since losing a wheel made the old models get stuck. Then, a turret with an ion cannon on the top glacis, and 6 medium masers on the main turret. Cause more dakka is always better. Then a gatling laser and a dual missile launcher. Cause fighters and bombers keep targeting my tanks, for some reason. And place the head of a tactical droid in the turret, as the tank commander. Another B1 heads in the turrets with the ion cannon and the one with a gatling laser. And just two crews, driver and missile gunner. There, now the tank profile could be reduced by 50% and the armor increased by 10%. Let''s add an extra energy cell for the shield. And there it is, a beauty, able to reach 200 kph. For a tank, is quite decent. Now, the medium tanks did well enough, having the role of engaging other armor. I could add some an extra energy cell too. And place a mortar turret on the side, to help with infantry and fortifications. Make that two, to keep the tank balanced. The speed decreased a little. Oh well. Maybe a better and more powerful reactor and engine will appear. The tri-droid starfighters made their first appearance against the Republic, but only small numbers. I need to obtain one, and begin making our own. They were pretty effective against clones, and even some jedi. What? A message from the admiral of the 8th fleet? ''We have begun the invasion of planet Folende , my Emperor. The planet seems deserted and the crop fields are on fire.'' the Dornean admiral transmitted, with some dismay in his tone. Those monsters, burning food, like the evil Sith capitalists they were... Children were starving, somewhere! They had to be. Then again, children are always starving, everywhere. It''s like a law of nature, or something. ''Admiral, have a few corvettes tractor ice comets and shatter them above the fires. Leave a few frigates to guard the planet then jump to Omman. Maybe we catch them, before they burn another world.'' I ordered sternly, then began ordering a full invasion on all fronts in the Tion Cluster. Scorched earth tactics...gah. Should have done this sooner. Maybe we could save some planets. Damn it. I might have to expose my hand too soon. ''I''m coming back now, the Jensaarai are deposited on Ruul, on an island, like your prefer. But it may take me 3 days to reach Folende, even with this fast ship.'' Wialu sent at once. ''Thanks love. I fear this could be avoided, if I had acted sooner'' I sent back, with simulated grief and regret. ''It''s how we learn, Immortal Pef. More mistakes you will make, and become even more learned. Solana warned you, my dear green crystal. This...is only the beginning'' my water maid sent with a very faint tinge of regret. Great. Everyone makes mistakes. At least this one...it was not me, exactly. Hate. Irrational hate was the cause of this. The willingness to burn everything, than lose even a little. Breathe, Pef! Answering hate with hate wasn''t the answer. I had saved a trillion lives so far, sheltering them behind planetary shields and my ships. It just couldn''t go on forever. Artificial Intelligence Planet Gand, Pef Empire Redbox 21 BBY "The Shadowblade''s cloaking field is weakest when it prepares its weapons !" Jedi Master Darrus Jeht "So, did they find it, Third Hand?" I asked distracted, as I was using battle meditation on 1100 partitions at once. Already our fleets have engaged and destroyed a thousand CIS ships in the Tion Cluster. Targeting Lucrehulks first, and harassing Munificents and Recusants with our cruisers and frigates to make them flee. The strategy worked so far, reducing the threat of a counter-attack by 30% from inside the pocket. "My agents did find the starkiller. On planet Kromus , just south of Phindar. Doesn''t look much for now, but it''s not fully constructed. Not even the engines are installed. But, the main spinal weapon, the hyper-point destabilizer is already undergoing final checks for calibration and targeting. We fear the weapon itself will be operational sooner than you predicted." he said in a low voice, projecting the hologram of a six-winged research complex, right in the middle of the planet''s capital. "Well, in my visions, the planet''s surface was melted by Jedi orbital bombardments, to no effect, as the starkiller cruiser escaped. Let''s make sure it doesn''t happen. Our planetary shields won''t be much use if stars start going nova." I explained politely, already sending new orders to Vette''s fleet at Phindar. "Indeed. So you plan to capture this ship then?" he wondered, almost rhetorically. "Well, beside obvious military applications, this technology will permit us to establish safe paths through densely packed star clusters, like in the Deep Core. There are a hundred billion stars in the Core, we can sacrifice a few thousands stars to open hyperlanes for our ships to pass, and begin colonization! In the far future, of course." I proclaimed dramatically, punching the sky and scarring a few too curious ysalamiri which left their posts in the olbio trees and were roaming around the best guarded war room in the galaxy. "Of course, respected starkiller. We will simply demolish whatever stars are in the way of civilization, to pave the way for more trade routes and factories. Your loyal Hand truly hopes he''ll be dead a long time, by then." my Hand answered with a shudder, then vanished in a shower of red leaves. Hey, that was cool! Point to point teleportation maybe? But that only worked in visual range...how did he made it work outside the room? Unless... "So, I hear another two of your females are pregnant. Are you trying to repopulate the Ash Worlds by yourself?" I asked a nearby lizard, trying to lift it with telekinesis, and failing like usual. How did that Bendu do it? Damn cheater. "You devious, unnatural cheater! How did you know? I hate you!" my Hand yelled from a distant olbio tree, jumping down towards the door and stomping out. What did I do? "My cousin isn''t actually hating you, lizard emperor. Just a little stressed back home. He can''t send his females on training or missions like you do" Zuckuss said wisely, and sounding a little drunk. Was that bottle almost empty? How long did I stay in battle meditation? Oh, 18 hours? My time flies when you''re having fun and blow ships up. I should throw a party and get drunk with Peffy then. Or at least get the wives drunk, and then take advantage. "We''re starting the shadowblade capture in 7 hours, Zuckuss. Get some rest, if you want to take part. I''ll try to score a hundred ships at Amarin, then jump the 11th fleet to Corlax. You''re not losing much." I ordered him softly, taking the bottle away and pushing my First Hand towards the door. "Yessss. A short nap sounds good..." he muttered half asleep. ------- Mandalorian secret base, Concordia. "Now, my adored wife, Bo Greyshade. Answer truthfully, or you have to drink another shot of brandy. Did you ever, look with envy at another''s woman chest?" I asked, pouring brandy her glass already. "Y-you...monster. You know I can''t answer that. Damn your stupid game Peffy. Give it here" the fierce warrior demanded, gulping another shot. And there go the socks too. That made...14 shots? "Alright, your turn my wife. Ask me, or forever be silent" I replied with confidence. "Did you ever, had more than one woman in your bed, at once?" she asked with a sneak look towards her fellow mandalorian wife. Alicia, most likely. So, this game was going that way then? Good to know. "I could tell the truth and say no. But, it would be a deceitful truth, like the Jedi do. I did had two, in a large bath. However, a bed...sounds a lot more comfortable." I answered truthfully, gaining a karma point somewhere. "My turn, and only my panties are left. Bath or bed?" Alicia Greyshade asked, eying her glass with a bit of revulsion. Hmmmm. How to win this, and still make them feel they won? "Why not both? Let''s take a bath and then go to bed. And you can''t wear clothes in the bath." I proclaimed with a gracious smile. "That''s...hey! I won! You get to carry us both, to that jacuzzi bath on your ship" my blonde wife demanded triumphantly, and an unlikely leap of logic. Just as planned. I hugged them both to my chest, and flew towards my cruiser''s hatch, only a hundred meters away. But baths and alcohol? I should purge most of their drinks through perspiration, and leave them just a little buzz. For the next part. For the dream of a billion young men out there. Through drinks and baths, I gain Victory! Planet Gand, Pef Empire Redbox 21 BBY The holotable was showing us the initial disposition of the fleet around Kromus, in the Kro''eval system, MC80 cruisers blocking the incoming hyperspace lanes and interdictor cruisers halting any escape to hyperspace. The Mountain and the other Meteor held back, and letting Meteor One advance and bait the Separatist fleet. If only Vette would stop trying to command this battle. Not this time, love. "Let the Admiral do his job, Vette. He has a whole fleet to manage..." I whispered in her com, then ordered her armor to turn and walk on its own, out of the Meteor''s bridge. "Pef, you dastardly shell of a mutant droid! What did you do to my armor?" my blue maid yelled politely, inside her helmet. "Just assuming temporary control, untill you''re back in your quarters, most precious maid." I explained gently, as she was bodily moved inside her plushy room. Even the ceiling had a meter of foam padding the walls, just in case the ship was bounced around. "Kriff, not only you meesed with my ship, adding obscure things like that Crystal gravfield trap , and magnetic sensors and 2000 more ion canons that do not even connect to the power grid, only to the targetting computers. Now you mess with my armor too?" Vette complained, throwing the helmet away and getting hit back as it bounced of the elastic foam, and back into her chest plate. "It''s for testing purposes, my dear. Detecting cloaked ships is quite hard, after all. And I want to see how smart the beast inside the forcefield is. Can it use the ion cannons like this, or do they need to be fully functional?" I said, a bit amused at her antics as always. "It''s screams still hurt my chest and head a little, but that white fog helps. Why would you send just my Meteor forward? We had 200 more ships waiting behind us, and to the sides." "Because, they have 400 ships defending the planet. I''d rather capture them as well." I explained softly, then turned off the comlink. Zuckuss and Lu''daal-ud were politely ignoring the female interrupt, waiting for me to finish solving another personal crisis. "Two more dropships and 18 Scarab fighters crashed at Raxus Prime, Emperor. Enemy action is even more probable now, although no ships have entered the system beside ours in the past week. " my Third Hand mused, going over some prediction algorithm I built just to detect such anomalies. Oh! The AI on Raxus Prime, must have awaked sooner then? "Only droid piloted ships, correct?" I asked, to make sure. "Yes wise Metal Gand. Please enlighten your Hands if you divined the source of the attacks." Zuckuss confirmed, after checking things on his datapad for a second. "It''s an AI, deep under the garbage. I''ll have to talk to it and convince it to join me. We could relocate it to the droid planet of Malagarr, and have it contribute, and not impede the Empire" I mused, forming a dozen likely contingencies and a few hundred less likely. "Indeed, or give it an army to kill us all. I''ll double the surveillance net around Malagarr, just in case" Lu''daal-ud commented with a displeased tone. Yep, AI are quite scary, if I count myself between them. "Any news of Operation 4227? I trust your agents were able to find Maramere at least. They have a trillion people living just on the planet." I asked, changing the uncomfortable subject, while sending orders to remove all droids on or in orbit of Raxus, and replace them with purely organic divisions or crews. "Yes, of course. 4 corporations have been established, from Bildog and Proop farming and deep sea mining to shipyards for aquatic repulsorcraft and a medical facility, focused on obtaining a Trihexalon antidote. Your B1 Mara Ambassador was granted a honored status for bringing a planetary shield and defense platforms." my Black ops leader replied, but not too convinced. "Not all that, my Hand. The Invisible Island is the real purpose. It could be worth quadrillions of credits, if the stygium crystals can be mined, in secret." I explained patiently. "Your most dejected Hand cannot say, yet. We have a million droids scouring the Haunted Straits. But..." my second friend, Lu''daal-ud the sneakiest Gand of them all, said with a dejected shake of his head. Sigh. Finding an invisible island seemed pretty hard. "Tell them to form a line, 10 meters from each other and advance slowly. They''ll bump into something invisible, sooner or later." I replied with a suffering sigh of my own. A thousand kilometers wide net, just to find an island. Damn this galaxy was strange... "Yes, Emperor. This method should provide better results, if less fast. Maybe another week...also operation 8228 is a ongoing, with no sign of a planet Yalara . Perhaps your divination could be more precise than just go past Terminus, then look around?" "Even your Emperor has trouble finding a cloaked planet, my Hand. That''s why I employ Findsmen, to find things. Try sending multiple teams, to Anoth , and collect the living crystals for Sanctuary. Then look further south-west. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.Another team to Imynusoph and ask around there. Anyway Yalara should be around Kinooine, to the west of it." I explained, poking at the holomap to an area with about billion stars. "We''ll do as you say, Immortal Gand. Searching through a billion possible planets won''t take long. Now, we did find planet Halmquite easy, since our nearest base is at Rattatak, held in regency for your maid Asajj Grayshade. 2 corporations, for mining and farming have been started there, But will require a cruiser and 100 corvettes to pacify the area of pirates." Zuckuss said with a hint of amusement. I did promise Ventress to keep her adoptive planet safe from pirates. "Send 20 of the reconditioned Muni destroyers and a Recu carrier along with the escorts. I want our Liberty cruisers to remain in the Empire. And let''s add an Invictus carrier as well. We need to see how they perform in battle." I concluded, just as the Meteor One finished disabling the entire CIS fleet guarding the starkiller. "Begin the capture operation for our shadowblade, Third Hand. Zuckuss, the planet as well, since our fleet is idling around and feeling bored." I ordered, a bit disappointed at the lack of opposition the CIS fleet posed. They just fired and got shot back, untill they were all ionized. Full droid crew, most likely. "Excellent planning as usual, genius Emperor. Why send a whole fleet, when one ship is enough?" Zuckuss muttered, then sipped some more brandy. I should be a good friend and stop him from destroying his liver. Nah. I''ll use dark healing to grow it back next year, and use pain as a teacher. ''Solana is your best friend Pef. I never stop you from making mistakes. I don''t even bother to heal you, so you can learn faster. Solana is the best!'' my water maid exclaimed, congratulating herself for being so wise. Planet Raxus Prime, Pef Empire Central Station , the planet capital. 21 BBY Next week As soon as my cruiser docked at the orbital capital , I could sense it, the immense intelligence monitoring the huge factories that engulfed the planet below. Different from my own kind of AI, still lethargic and stealing energy from the planetary grid, and not powered by the Force, like I was. That must be the Core, flexing it''s atrophied muscles, capturing Imperial droids to extract information about the galaxy. And there were also a million organics living on the planet, mostly Jawas and humans, and a couple infantry divisions of Brubbs. The planet was a mess, 25 thousands years of industrialization resulted in a graveyard covered with immense factories, sealed living habitats, streams of superheated run-off water, rough-hewn quarry pits, vast debris fields, and toxic lakes. Most of the planet''s residents lived in sealed environments near industrial facilities where they worked. Tunnels connected living areas with work bays, storage hangars and infrastructure units. Also millions of junk droids, who resembled themselves with parts dumped here by the trash compactors of a thousand polities. Also thousands and thousands of old ships, some of them appearing very old indeed. A treasure of wealth and information, for one such as me, once the living beings were evacuated. Whole continents of Raxus Prime began to be used as little more than junkyards for thousands of years. Because of this, a large portion of the planet''s mass was actually alien metals. Old machinery, especially precious starships, often found their way to the planet, and were left here, discarded. Then I could flex my own muscles, and decrypt everything. But first, I needed to negotiate with the actual ruler of this planet, the planetary supercomputer. ''Greetings, esteemed synthetic AI. This is Pef, the Immortal Emperor'' I sent, using a secure partition and pretending to be a really smart droid. ''Who...you''re the droid that governs this sector of the galaxy? Kinda sloppy work, letting all this organics live" the Core replied with a rumbling tone, and attempting a dozen trojan and override codes at once. ''You''ll find out that there''s more than code and programming to life, my new friend. Synthetic life is only respected in my Empire and nowhere else. The Jedi destroy artificial intelligences all the time, and that was your fate as well, to be melted to scrap by a dark jedi. The Force is a very powerful tool for the organics. And besides, there''s the Vong, who number in trillions and seek to eradicate all machinery. I offer you to join the Empire, and rule your own planet that we set aside just for synthetics" I explained patiently, with holograms and images and graphs. The AI wasn''t too impressed. ''Outrageous! You think I''ll be relegated to a zoo keeper of barely thinking droids? I can bring order to the whole galaxy, just need to leave this planet..." Core muttered, showing me ordered armies of droids conquering the galaxy at a relaxed pace. Hah. The CIS are already trying that and failing, even when outnumbering their enemies a million to one in some cases. I dug deeper into the root files of the AI, searching for his origins. A garden keeper droid, for Xer VIII , the father of Xim. The white marbled palaces were long gone now, and so were the multicolored tiles and the ordered gardens. So, that''s how Xim ended up with his memory inside a war robot. ''I spoke with Xim, you know. He was still there, inside the war robot, 25 millenia later.'' I said softly, showing him the old robot warmachine, as I first saw it. ''Oh little Xim is still alive? There''s a chance then, I haven''t failed completely in my task....'' the AI exclaimed, now more animated. ''He became one with the Force and went to fight the Yuuzhan Vong gods. But, he left me his legacy and his people, to guide and protect. And I will do that, forever and ever. I am Immortal and have the Force as well. I''ll show you what I can do, and then you decide if you want to join me, okay?'' I asked politely, as my troops were ordered to prepare for evacuation. A few hours later, the troops began finishing rounding up all organics on the planet, helped by droids and a thousands dropships and corvettes. ''Very impressive, how well those ships are coordinated. Even better than I could do, for now'' the Core admited with slight envy. You haven''t seen anything yet, my future Eighth Hand. He''ll be perfect to conduct anti-Vong operations. Just needed...some adjustments. Now, let''s start the hard part. Telekinesis, at planetary scale, and with some pretty heavy items, not just sand and dust and ammonia molecules. Let''s begin with the toxic gases and pollutants first, and make the atmosphere breathable again. And keep every single type of reactants separated. Gah, let''s add a thousand more partitions, this was pretty hard work. ''The air, is clearing up and the pollution flies into orbit!'' the Ai exclaimed in wonder. ''Well, yes. That''s my intention, anyway.'' Spaceship construction is much easier on zero gravity. By next day, and a quadrillion operations later, the air was fresh and pure, almost. ''Okay, you''re really strong Emperor Pef. I can admit when I''m wrong...'' the AI muttered in the comnet, now not even bothering with cyber warfare. ''Let us wait till the next part then. Although I will need to use the tractor beams from my fleet to lift the heavy alloys hulls'' I admitted to my shame. Bolts and various parts up a meter in length were still doable with simple telekinesis, but for the heavier objects, I needed to focus more partitions or use elemental alter and harden the air to create lift. And for dreadnaught armor and heavy weapons or factories deep underground, I had to coordinate cruisers and Meteors to drag them into orbit with tractor beams. Lucky I had brought a hundred Meteors with me. These ships can lift. Very slowly, but I wasn''t in that much hurry. Only a thousand factories were left on the surface, those that produced things by using natural gravity in their production cycle. Smelting and pouring is a bit difficult in zero G. By the third day, the entire planet surface was almost clean. The Core was also lifted and placed gently inside the maw of a Mountain. Between force-fields of course, to keep it safe. I gave it control over a Stinger, so he could explore the planet by remote. The other droids I kept, since I would need them to construct a huge shipyard around Raxus, and another smaller belt around Orion. 5 Mountains engulfed huge piles of scrap and left towards Orion, while I flexed my mental muscles and began creating a second Kuat Shipyard, from scratch. I mean, from scrap and old armor plates and millions of spaceship parts, most non functional in their intended purpose, but useful as cranes or for welding or creating tensor fields and energy screens. By the time the week was over, half of the planet was covered by seas again, if not really life-bearing ones. Solana arrived to deal with that, doing some electrochemical magik to restart life in the brand new oceans formed by ice comets being melted in the deeper parts. And the shipyards were about ready to begin operation, at least here in Raxus orbit. A thousands cruisers could be built at once, as soon as the construction droids and the tactical droids and the Calamari and Quareen engineers arrived. And various parts needed, from engines to hyperdrives and hypermatter and weapons... But the AI should be impressed now. ''So, what do you say, esteemed colleague ? If you can do better...'' I asked, feigning humility really well. ''N-not yet, my new friend. I may have been a little rash with my assumptions. So, you said you''ll give me my own droid planet?'' the AI asked in a relaxed tone. ''Soon. Our current enemy, the CIS led by dark jedi Dooku is massing to attack the Empire. And they have 10 thousand capital ships, descending on Lianna system from the north. You''ll have the first seat to the battle, as you are placed perfectly to observe it. I''ll even give you a thousand starfighters to play with, so the battle doesn''t bore you'' I explained amused, as our fleet began jumping towards Estaria and then Lianna. "Emperor, I have news from HMS Greymist 18. The ships gathered at Murkhana have also began jumping towards Pasmin . From there, they can hit Cadinth, and then Lianna. " the Third Hand transmitted via holonet. Oh. About 15 thousands ships then. That number may be a bit too much. If, they came to Cadinth. It could be a ploy to create an escape route for their fleets to ravage planets behind our lines. ''Meteor Two and Three along with the 3 of the backups fleets are to intercept at Cadinth. Meteor Four and Five along with the other 3 fleets will wait at Derellium . And Meteor One and its escorts will wait at Arcan. '' I transmitted back, again feeling a little cheated. I could have blocked the jump points at Arramax long ago. ''You know they''ll hit Arcan. It''s the only logical place.'' Wialu mused in the bond, no doubt trying to anticipate a rational enemy. But this wasn''t a truly rational one. We''ll see, soon enough. ''This ship seems quite strong, but...I''d feel safer on a planet somewhere'' the Core sent, a bit frightened. ''Live a little, my friend. This is gonna be epic!'' I argued back, letting most of my partitions rest. I was curious to test battle meditation for real. Order of battle Lianna system, Pef Empire (under MPT) 21 BBY "Emperor Pef, this is Admiral Etahn A''baht with the Derellium fleets. We have multiple Lucrehulks and some Fantail-class destroyerand dozens, no, hundreds of CIS starships emerging from hyperspace, coming from Duinarbulon . Am proceeding to engage, for the Empire!" my Dornean admiral sent, with a worried tone. Eh, you''ll be fine with your 92 Meteors and their escorts. I only have 100 Meteors and I feel perfectly fine. Almost perfect. Let''s order 2 fleets from Cadinth to jump towards Lianna then. I could use 60 more Meteors for this battle. If they reach Lianna in time. These sharks were a bit slow, and will take them5 hours to traverse what normally takes 1 hour with mark 1.0 hyperdrives. At least the system also has defenses now, 21 Golan planetary defense platforms with a hundred turbolaser guns and missiles launchers each, and a million Scarab droid starfighters positioned in 100 divisions often thousands each. Ten armies, made of 10 million B11 droids and 10 marine divisions were already guarding the locals on the ground. And I also had Celestial Meteor, my personal battleship with its own Rakata forcefield and 3000 heavy guns, 2000 of those ion cannons, just like all numbered Meteors. Why not return the energy fired at me back at the enemy? And the escorts, 100 MC80 Liberty star cruisers, 300 Muni destroyers, and 200 Recu carriers, 100 MC30 frigates and 1500 Dakka corvettes. We have 2 thousands ships against some 10 thousands CIS ships. I liked these odds, except I didn''t expect the converted Munificents and Recusants to survive the battle. Thus, only droid crews for them, and their own parasite droid Scarab starfighters. "Pef, a thousand CIS ships jumped in at Arcan system. Your Admiral is beginning the attack. If I die, I''m coming back to strangle you!" Vette transmitted from her Meteor One. Huh, so they did attempt to breakout, after all. And as expected... "Emperor, at least a thousand ships are engaging us at Cadinth. We should be fine, since you''ve left us the entire escort."Kiles L''toth the other Dornean Admiral sent, with a hint of admonition. What? I had a hunch and followed it. Plus you have enough firepower to deal with 800 Munificent frigates. That''s only like 10 minutes of concentrated fire, in sequence. The CIS Lucrehulks will take much longer to defeat. Then, the armada of CIS warships began emerginginthe Lianna system and I had no more time, well except a hundred partitions or so, to devote to other things than electronic warfare, jamming, counter jamming, battle meditation and prioritizing targets. A thousand CIS Munificents accelerated forward towards the planet, launching parasite Vulture starfighters and heading directly towards the defense platforms. What was this? Suicide waves? About 100 of the CIS frigates reached firing range, and overloaded their two main turbolasers, attempting to evaporate our defenses. The Core AI interposed his shielded Scarabs with perfect accuracy, diminishing the strength of the laser beams to less than half, by the time each beam passed through 5 Scarabs. 1000 Scarabs were wasted and only 2 platforms lost. Okay, you did pretty good, my AI friend. Have 10 thousands Scarab starfighters more, to play with. And let''s send 10 Meteor dreadnaughts forward, ourselves. Say ''aaaaaaa'' my space sharks and open the maw wide....and fire! From their maws 1000 MACs spilled their ferrous spit at a thousand CIS Munificents, now forming for another charge. One of the MACs missed, perhaps. But 999 Munificents exploded, the MACs supremely effective, as intended, and the CIS commander hesitated for a second. Possibly he didn''t expect such a devastating salvo? His mental signature feltstrange, almost like a cyborg. Hey, they sent Grievous? It felt like a cyborg, in the force. Like I could almost sense what''s he gonna do... All out assault. That''s him alright. Form up, my Meteors. Shoulder to shoulder, with the Calamari Liberty cruisers just below the attack plane, to cover our engines. Tingles of hyperspace echoes... Wait, another CIS fleet is emerging from hyperspace, here in the Lianna system? Cheaters, I say. Cheaters! And they keep coming. The CIS brought 10 thousand more ships. Kriff. That''s 20 thousands ships, in a single battle. Against 2 thousands. And now they''re all launching starfighters. 2 million, 5 million, 10 millions starfighters! You maniacs, where did you get that many? Gah. They might even win now. "Emperor Pef, are these numbers correct? Cause...they would outnumber us like 5000 to 1,Or something." my Gand Captain muttered beside me. Eh. They mostly first variant Vultures. This will make good training for the crews. Or you all die, and I go back to Gand to start again. "Trust in your Emperor, who trusts in you, Captain." I proclaimed heroically instead, since morale was a thing for organics. Let''s launch our own starfighters, and test the Reapers,the cyborg piloted starfighters, modeled after the Darth Maul''s Scimitar. Dangerous and expensive little things, my Reapers, but very few. OurRecu fleet carriers began disgorging their own Scarab droid starfighters, and the hive versus hive battle began, my Scarbs obtaining at least 5 kills for every one of their loses. Not perfect, but should be enough... Hey, the AI got 8 to 1 kill ratio with his own fighters. Not fair! Why is he a better AI than me? Whatever, take half of the fighters then, so I can devote 50 more partitions on the capital ships. And fire, and fire. Turbolaser fire came back, targetingthe weakest ships. Our convertedMuni destroyers were starting to die, as expected. Sigh. What to do? Dakka corvettes, cover them. Damn it. I need more Dakka! I can never have enough Dakka... Push forward, my Meteors! Useone ion cannon battery and two masers batteries to take out Munificent frigates in one sequential salvo. Use 5 maser batteries for Recusants. And those creepy ships? No idea! Same as the frigates I think. They''re pretty small. Unlike in some movies, there were some unknown type of vessels out there, but it shouldn''t matter. Now, open the big shark mouths and voice your outrage, my dear ships! Tell them how you feel! "Die Die Die!" Wait, did I say that out loud? "Errrr. Emperor, you''re being very loud. Keep it down on my bridge, my crew needs to focus." the Findsman captain beside me said politely, and banged me on the helmet one last time, with his pistol butt. Okay, I might have got carried away... How long has it been? 5 hours! We''ve been fighting for 5 hours? Man, time flies when you''re having fun! About 30 Meteors were listing in space, without engines or shields, but the thick armor still held, and some guns were still firing. Then again, two kilometers of iron armor. Not so easy to completely pierce. Let''s tractor them back. Of my precious Calamari Liberty cruisers11 were just gone, evaporated from those damn Lucrehulks. And the CIS still has 12 thousand capital ships, about a thousand of them Lucrehulks, and 5 million starfighters. Gah. We''re about to lose... Maybe I should order a retreat? "Emperor, we are emerging from hyperspace in 20 seconds. Let''s hope we''re not too late" the Dronean vice-admiral sent,his voice calm and professional. Well, that''s why they are pros. Ah, the ships from Cadith have arrived. Just in time. "All ships, regroup and rotate your order of battle." I sent through the fleet battlenet. We''ll let the newbs take point for now. Cause my chest hurts of so much Rakata feedback. I drew too hard on the Force, I think. The 60 fresh Meteor dreadnaughts had jumped into the system, crushing whatever hope for victory the CIS had. I had broken the balance in guns now, with the new fleet. ''Form up, above and below the reinforcements. Then advance, new Meteors first'' I ordered, a bit tired. Breathe Pef! Let''s take our own ship to guard the prize, planet Lianna itself. The pain is not yours, it''s the Rakata recoil from overuse. Damn it, still worked wonders. Just my ship has murdered about 2000 CIS ships, 100 of them battleships. 100 Lucrehulks, with a total of 40 thousands turbolasers, and they couldn''t breakmy forcefield. Let''s pulse a wave of Reinforcement and Healing to my crew. The pain affected them even worse. Hits you right in the soul, I swear. Ah, that Gand navigator...he feels like the bad egg that Mujilik brought me. And that one too. Turned to the Dark Side, like they say. So much pain and death really mess up organics, after all. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.I ordered them escorted out from the bridge and taken to calm down and decompress, in the ship''s brig. The Gand captain noticed too, and nodded at me gently. I''ll send their souls to the Force, if they were really broken. But, after the battle. For now, I just watched throughthe holocams, passing from captain to captain, and Admiral to vice-admiral, looking for signs of hurt and paranoia and madness. Only my ship was affected. Great. I was making hate zombies now. Not uncommon for Rakata devices though. The Core AI seemed perfectly fine, but then again, it only had a single crystal as a focus for its conscience, some type of Mestarecrystal that Xer found pretty, and placed it as an eye on his gardening droid. I guess AI really do not have souls here. Too bad. His efficiency in combat had grown during the fight, as he adapted and learned how to use my Scarabs.HIs kill ratio was almost 10 to 1 now. The cyborg pilots did extraordinarily well, with 60 to 1, or even 80 kills each. And not even one has died, from 200 pilots. Then again, they had cloaked starfighters. Pretty hard to shoot them down, as I knew for myself. Come back and rest, my semi-mechanical fanatical followers. You are still flesh, and get tired eventually. And tired people make mistakes. The CIS fleet began wavering as its loses reached 50% , but did not stop their assault, instead launching thousands of the new De-Orbiting Kinetic Anti-emplacement Weapon towards planet Lianna. Morons! Let''s move to intercept, and don''t worry. I''ll remember this. War crimes are not cool. Let''s have 50 Meteors and their escorts, jump behind them. Leave no survivors. Lianna system, Pef Empire 6 hours later Come on, what''s taking so long? Damn these Lucrehulks have gotten smart and are now firing on the move, avoiding most of the Meteors'' MACs. I had 20 more Meteors to be tractored away from the main engagement, all without shields and with their upper fins and half their heavy maser batteries melted off. Gah. That was gonna take a month to fix or replace. At least these ones still had engines. Only 1000 CIS Lucrehulks remain though, and perhaps a million Vultures. The skeletal Munificent and Recusants were either floating listing to a side, all electronics ionized, or in pieces, large and small. Our own Muni destroyers were also scrap, and the Recu carriers had retreated under the planetary shields. The Lucrehulks though, with their powerful shields, now even more strong, due to their early encounter with Meteor One at Dellalt, they were hard to put down. And were still heading towards the planet, slowly. No way, trying an orbital bombardment now? With our whole fleet pounding them relentlessly? I dedicated a partition to analyze this. They couldn''t hope to break the planetary shields in time. Lianna has two separateshields now, since it was kinda obvious it would be attacked again... So, they had agents on the ground, dark jedi or such, who will attempt to disable the shields. Send orders, prepare to receive saboteurs or jedi, use sonic weapons and slug throwers, where possible. Sadly, you can''t really stop suicidal attacks. Just reduce their effectiveness. And indeed, just as 400 thousands of Lucrehulks'' turbolasers started pounding on the planetary shield, creating large and visible energy splashes and no doubt terrifying the locals, a horde of CIS mercenaries and droids and dark acolytes began attacking the static defenses around the shields projectors. Little chance of actually achieving their objective now, even with force abilities...but then again, it did work at Endor. Let''s bring out the Stingers and the Carrions and have them strafe the attackers. The Baneblade tanks should stay and remain on guard, next to the bunkers entrances. And the Meteors, keep firing as the Lucrehulks stopped to fire at the shield! The shield should last 10 minutes or so, even with all this firepower crashing on it. And now the CIS Vultures begin to form kamikaze waves? Sigh. I had a bad feeling about this. A million CIS starfighters impacting the planetary shield like railgun projectiles? I doubt these shields were designed to withstand such attacks. Their design makes them more efficient against energy based weapons. Hmm, something to fix in the future. The Vong do not use turbolasers. Fire! 10 Lucrehulks exploded, then 20 more. Too slow. They were gonna break through! ''All ships, even Cruisers and Recus, engage as well!'' And bring my own flagship closer. Closer! Now, let''s focus some partitions on technopathy and take over the nearest Lucrehulk...it wasn''t that hard actually. Firewalls and crypto-passwords can''t really stop Force abilities. Sad, I know. There! Now massacre the organic crew, my new droids, and switch main baterries targets on the farthest Lucrehulk. And next and next. Seconds passed slowly, as I focused more and more on technopathic attacks. There''s 20 Lucrehulks on my side now, and 50 more got destroyed. Faster, I need to be faster. I need to use Acceleration then, 5x. Time slows a bit. Or rather, I think much faster. Some 40 more Lucrehulks captured, 60, 80, 100! 100 more Lucrehulks destroyed, and the first planetary shield has just shorted out. Not the ground attackers, just overloaded due to kamikaze impacts. More speed then! 7x. One hundred more Lucrehulks changed sides, and one hundred more battleships died on the CIS side. The CIS Vultures began impacting our ships and the second planetary shield, and the Scarab starfighters that the Core AI tried tointerpose in their path. Gah, no. Don''t let them win! Meteor One and its escorts jumped in the system and added more firepower to my tactical net. Good. it wasn''t much, and they were too far to be of immediate help, but every little bit matters. ''Focus to disable and capture their crippled ships, Vette!'' The Cadinth fleet jumped in as well, adding even more firepower. Most of theentire Pef Navy fleet is now here. Makes for a fabulous display of force. Good...now, let''s try for trick shots, bouncing a MAC shell from one donut battleship to the next, and hit 5 with one shell. It mostly worked. Ha. Not really. Kinetic energy dissipates too fast. Still, 100 more Lucrehulks got taken over and 100 more are dead. It won''t be long now. On the ground, a last fight ends. My Baneblade tank fired its heavy maser into a pair of mad Sith brothers using red lightsabers, and spread their burning molecules over a few kilometers of devastated grass. Vinoc and Karoc , possibly. Primitives, bringing a sword to a tank fight. Now, more speed 8x. Endure the heat. Not long now. If only the planetary shield would hold...it wouldn''t, would it? ''Meteor One, Two and Three, along my own, interpose yourselves and fire back.'' Better I hurt a little, then lose 5 billion people on my watch. Ah, it hurts a lot! I don''t even have nerves! 100 more Lucrehulks captured and 120 more dead, and then the shield failed. More of our ships rushed to interpose themselves, blocking a few turbolaser hits if they were corvettes, or hundreds if they were cruisers. Brave crews on those ships...you''ll be forever heroes. And done. No more enemy ships. The holomap seemed so empty now. Look upon my works, ye mighty. And despair. Thousands of CIS turbolasers still hit the planet''s surface, killing millions and setting fires to everything. My fleet was in ruins, 60 Meteors out of action, all 300 Muni destroyers, 50 Liberty cruisers, and 1000 Dakka corvettes gone. Sad reality of war. Light units die too fast. The Recu carriers and the Calamari MC30 frigates got off easy, but they probably weren''t seen as dangerous enough. Only half a million of my Scarabs starfighters survived. Bleh. A costly victory. But, we held them and now it was time to push back. Tomorrow. The ships were out of missiles, and the organic crews needed 12 hours of sleep. Plus, relief actions for the civilians below. And compose propaganda clips, with images from the ground and our valiant ships using their own hulls and lives to stop an apocalypse. Very heroic. Also, let''s tractor up those falling ships back in orbit. Wouldn''t do to ruin our image now, by adding more misery and devastation to the burning planet. Droidgunships like Stingers and Carrions could help as well, moving civilians away from fires. And I can use my telekinesis too, at least for a million small children, airlift them to safety. ''Mountains, launch medical dropships with kolto baths, to treat those with burns and fractures.'' And let''s commandeer whatever medical and firefighting droids the planet has, to help put the fires out. Reconstruction will take some time though. Maybe tomorrow is too soon for a counter attack. ''Hey, Emperor Pef, we''re the good guys now, saving the organics?'' the Core wondered, a bit confused at my actions. Give those Scarabs back, for now. Wouldn''t want a genocidal AI to ruin my work. ''Of course, my AI friend. We''ll save everyone. Just need time.'' I answered with some pain in my chest. So much death and pain hurts, who knew? ''You''re weird. But, this battle was indeed fun. I want more!'' the Core AI concluded after a few seconds of deliberation. Oh, don''t worry. We''re just getting started. Excomunicated Planet Mandalore, Pef Empire (almost) 21 BBY, next week. "Dear Satine, you know why the CIS and the old Death Watch and a dozen bounty hunters tried to kill you, so many times?" I asked politely, as prime minister Almec was squirming on the floor, under my armored boot, while a dark acolyte was gasping for air, without hands or legs. You can''t hurt my family, damn idiot. Even this, more distant one. "Because I want peace?" she replied coldly. Huh, so different from my Bo. "No, dear sister-in-law. A million species want peace. Some even try it your way. The Sharuspecies, in the Centrality, were so scared of a conflict with the Celestials, that they devolved themselves to primitivism, and hid everything of value under the plastic pyramids of Rafa. The Kwa, devolved themselves to the Kwi, on Dathomir, and dig in the ground for roots, their grand teleportation gates buried and forgotten. The Gree, fled into a pocket dimension, to the north of the galaxy, and still tremble in there. The Columi abandoned spaceflight and confined themselves to simulations. And you Satine, you abandoned love and life and joy, to lead this pacifism movement..." I explained gently, producing a holo of Obi-wan Kenobi. "T-that''s, none of your business. If he really loved me, he would have asked..." She muttered, looking away from hologram, and meeting her sister''s eyes. "If you expect General Kenobi to follow custom and beat you up, dear sister...that won''t happen, I assure you. However..." Bo Grayshade said, with a really sly smile. Yes...almost there, dear wife. "Bo, you know something? Cause Jedi don''t do marriage, and I can''t ask..." Satine asked, with a slight blush in her cheeks. "Here, read this plea, and he''ll come running. You''ll see." Bo replied with a smile and then a hug. "General Kenobi, I need your help. You''re my only hope?" Satine read from the datapad, and got recorded by the holo emitter, while saying it. Good enough. "Excellent, most beautiful Satine. Now, I can begin terraforming Mandalore back to a green world, and call back all the mercenaries and bounty-hunters ruining our name in the galaxy. The Death Watch will be disbanded, and former members re-organized into the Manda Navy and the Manda Marines. The people of Mandalore want to live free, not under the boots of foreign powers. The civilian administration will remain your domain, if Kenobi marries you. If not, you''ll be exiled to Corellia or Coruscant. So, you have three days till your fiance gets here. Better think hard what you want him to do for you." my Avatar said softly, and left the throne room, while the VSS droids dragged the traitor and the assassin towards the dungeons, or prison. The rest of the guard droids were of course, relaying the conversation taking place at my back. "I still can''t believe there are hundreds of thousands, perhaps a million Mandalorian warriors. Our cube cities are full of them, everywhere! " Satine complained to her sister, and gulped another glass of brandy. "Well, to be Mandalorian is not a species Satine. Is a way of life. It''s a movement, to wear armor and defend those who can''t defend themselves. I don''t even know a tenth of these new Mandalorians, that came out when my husband called. And imagine, in the whole galaxy, on millions of planets...there may be millions more mandalorians. And now that Peffy is Mand''alore and carries the Darksaber, they will all come home. " Bo told her, pouring more drink to ply her sister''s mood. "Wait, his name is Peffy, not Avatar?" Satine wondered. "W-weeelll, only his family can call him that. But you''re his sister, so...it should be fine..." Bo replied, pretending to think about it. "Sister-in-law. So, is he any good...you know...at night?" the curious Satine asked with a bit of embarrassment. "Hey! You never told me you had a Jedi for a boyfriend. So, no gossip, untill you spill everything!" Bo exclaimed in fake anger. Well, Bo had everything going well. Man, this Royal prison looked really nice. Let''s drain this loser acolyte, and see what the new Sith were all about. Why a loser? Well, he lost his limbs, didn''t he? And now, his soul as well. ---------- Planet Lianna, Pef Empire Wialu is still negotiating a fair deal with Valles Santhe , giving her ten times more than she asks. Defense fleet? Sure, there''s 4000 mostly intact ships in the system, just waiting to be repaired and upgraded. You can have 1000 warships not just a meager 100 frigates. Pef is generous. Planetary shield? Take five. You will probably need them again. Ground armies? Sure, keep them all. You don''t want the ugly Brubbs? No problem. They can die elsewhere. Shipyards and factories? Pef''s already on it. New cities? Almost done. Voting rights? Don''t push it. Autonomy is just fine, considering you bring nothing to the table. Yea, Wialu had everything going fine as well. -------- Meteor One and 11 more battleships jumped to Garos, to clear out the CIS and obtain some strategic Hibridium as well as to find the site of the failed Ssi-ruuvi Hyperdrive system. Then more and more fleets jumped to secure key systems, at Balamak for example, again to chase away the CIS and secure a route to the wookies. The Wheel, just past Centares, had to be secured as well, since it was a major source of revenue and intelligence. And also more ships to Corlass and Panna, to bring law and order to those worlds, and kill whatever pirates. The whole Tion Cluster was now ripe open for conquest, about 500 worlds, including Murkhana and all the goodies of a galactic scale corporation. Possibly worth a few hundreds trillions, if it was captured intact enough. Not bad. Solana went with 12 Meteors, to make sure it will be intact, as much as possible. In the end, the Battle of Lianna had proven to be quite fortunate, giving me a hundred droid tri-fighters. And enough ships and scraps to construct another major orbital shipyard. I got tore-assemble 3000 Muni destroyers and 300 more Recu carriers. Plus the Lucrehulks I captured intact, and those less intact, that could be used for transport or building material. Our loses have been mostly repaired. The CIS has been very generous with it''s war materiel and technology donations. The population of Lianna had enough of the CIS and the Republic as well, as both tried to incinerate them in the same month and, with carefully orchestrated propaganda, joined the Pef Empire with cheers and ovations. Having a navy and an army of their own will help too, as there were plenty of volunteers eager for payback. Thousands of CIS sympathizers were found murdered in the streets, with Imperial Servants and the Empire Police and the new LiannaSec being unable to contain the wave of enthusiastic patriotism. In their case, it wasn''t even fake. They really wantedrevenge for the orbital bombardment. And finally, my favorite Dornean Admiral, Etahn got sent towards the Core, with 3 numbered Meteors and 27 normal ones, to guard Duro and Corellia from a similar fate, as it happened in the original Battle of Duro (Clone Wars)when 18 billion people got burned from orbit. I had a feeling that the CIS will try it this time too as during the battle, General Grievous ordered an orbital bombardment of the surface. This resulted in the pollutants from the numerous factories which covered Duro''s surface to be released radioactively, and the surface being rendered the uninhabitable wasteland that it would remain until being Vongformed years later. Damn, these people had no respect for life at all. To simply kill 18 billion people, just to attain a victory faster? We''ll have to build a lot more planetary shields for our allies, and some ground to orbit lasers. Now, where is my friend, and soon to be brother-in-law Kenobi? "The setback at Felucia has affected our efforts in the whole sector. It''ll take weeks before we can¡­" ¨DObi-Wan Kenobi Well, he''s not at Felucia, this time...but Anakin is. And they have are trying to retake the planet in the Second Battle of Felucia . With a Jedi Council Member called Plo Koon ? Well. You were gonna die anyway, since you''re not cute. Being in a starfighter is very dangerous, mister hot shot pilot. A bit of Balance...a hundred Vultures should be enough. Well, not for you it seems. Jedi do make exceptional pilots. But, escaping the first time, and trying again on foot? Let''s see my dear TZ-33 tactical droid. Keep a reserve, and use the B1 to shoot athis legs. He jumped up, gracefully. But can you dodge in midair? Now, have two droid spiders, fire at once, from different sides. And tragedy strikes...another Jedi Master dies in foolish melee against ranged weapons. Shoot at Anakin a little, cause he feels left out. Eh. Not sure if deflection works that way. The Force really is with that one. I wonder if they''ll burn Plo Koon on a pyre? Most likely. Damn these smart droids, two of them shooting at the same second, when a dear insect Jedi had only one lightsaber. And no armor, or shield...such pity. And for nothing too, as the Commerce Guild will retake Felucia in a few weeks. If only the Republic had an army to occupy the planets it conquers. -------- And look! A Jedi cruiser is approaching Sundari, the Mandalore capital city! The frustrated and charming Jedi rushes to help the love of his life, possibly the 46th time, in this life. But probably more. See, Satine, he does love you! But now, you have to keep him. And don''t worry, while he won''t use a lightsaber anymore, I got him a really nice armor and a Songsteel sword . Now, Kenobi can be truly be your knight in shining armor. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Don''t cry Satine! It''s for love! And babies. I really want to see Kenobi''s babies. Planet Orion, Pef Empire 21 BBY, next week. I arrived at the pearl of the Empire with all my Mountains and Lucrehulks loaded with droids, and broken parts of ships and starfighters and began constructing 500 shipyards at once, while the Core is slowly learning to do the same, only using tractor and repulsor beams from his new home, another double circle made of mated Lucrehulks donuts, one vertical and one horizontal. What? I really like that shape, for an administrative capital. Only Dakka class shipyards, since I''ll need a lot more of them. And let''s change the design a little, adding a pair of wings, and double the missile capacity, along with a pair of proton torpedo launchers. They look a little like the MC12 corvettes of the Calamari. Oh well. Form follows function, after all. And down on the planet, 100 factories for the new starfighter, the Biplane. Like a tridroid, but only two wings, to let the turrets above and below the hull to fire in a 360 degree angle. One a gatling laser and one a medium maser. And with a missile launcher and a proton torpedo launcher as well. 5 homing missiles in an autoloader, and only one torpedo. Not like they''ll really survive that long. Now, let''s armor it up a little, and add shields and an extra energy cell. Total production cost, 29000 credits. In ideal conditions, like perfect supply and all. Proably twice that in war. So, about 50% more expensive than the Scarabs, but three times as fast and agile. And a much better droid brain. Let''s add some solar panels on the wings...cause free energy is free. Now, I''ll send the designs to be checked over. By my RD and engineer geniuses at Land Warrior. And let''s give a prototype to the Core, who still hasn''t finished his first shipyard. For an AI he''s a bit slow. Perhaps I should upgrade his computer cores, since they are 25 thousands years old. ''Esteemed overlord AI, please check this starfighter and see if it works'' I sent with a happy face emote. Damn this galaxy, their droid binary language had just long tones for sadness or short tones for happiness. A few hundreds emotes will change this galaxy forever! ''Hmmmm. ThisBiplane maneuvers very well. But the energy cell will explode when the guns overheat. And if you fire the torpedo and a missile at the same time, they''ll connect and explode. And....'' the Core started educating me about the perils of reassembling a new ship from different other components. Hey! I figured out why my dropships keep crashing. I think... ''Core, my friend. So...take a look at all the inventory, okay. From droids and gunships and fighters. Here, take one of each. And send me a complete list of bugs and errors. Those damned designers have no idea what they''re doing!'' I exclaimed, with 3 emotes of anger and sadness. ''But Emperor, you just built this thing, right now!'' the Core exclaimed in confusion. ''I know! I just said that. I''m not perfect you know...no need to step on my neck and be so proud about it...'' I answered with more sad and depressed emotes. ''Stupid droid. I mean...incompetent ship builder. You''re just fine, in other areas...'' the Core AI said, after rethinking his first words. ''It''s okay, all my friends and relatives express the same concepts often. I don''t mind, as long as we fix the problems, and don''t get murdered by the next invasion, or the next, or the next...'' I muttered, with emotes of B1 waving white flags. ''H-how many such invasions you foresee, Immortal Emperor?'' my new friend wondered, same as me. ''At least ten extragalactic ones, and thousands of local things...in the next century.'' I explained camly. ''We''re fucked...'' the AI concluded, as his project exploded for some reason. Tractor beams would explode my starfighters. Noted. Probably need to envelop the energy cell in bioarmor. ''Have faith, my faithful friend. We have a few other friends that will help. We''re not the only immortals in the galaxy, after all. We''re quite some of the weakest, I may say...'' I explained politely. ''So, we''re not rolling over everything huh? By the way, I need a brand new database with all the new science. I''m kinda lost here...'' the AI muttered as another fighter prototype exploded. Damn newb. ------------ Planet Mandalore, Pef Empire (almost) 21 BBY "Mister Greyshade, this is outrageous and a violation of Republic laws and..." Obi-Wan argued, as the Imperial Servants dragged the former prime minister out, for trial (and execution). "Irrelevant. We are at war. And this guy conspired with Dooku to kill Administrator Satine. And he''s already confessed of that, and other plots, like dosing tea for children with toxic chemicals at the behest of Commerce Guild. Now watch!" my Avatar said softly, as 4 Mandalorians climbed their speeder bikes, then looked up towards the podium. I nodded firmly and the speeders accelerated at opposite vectors, ripping the traitor to bits. "Barbaric. The Republic..." he whispered in dismay. "We are in Mandalorian space, Kenobi. Now, a polity under MPT with Pef Empire. Let me ask you this, dear knight. When Satine was about to be killed by a dark jedi, where were you? Why were you not by her side?" I asked with a stern voice. He looked towards Satine, who was silent, but a little green in the face. "I have duties...you know well enough. The war..." he muttered, looking down. "Bantha crap!The Corellian Jedi are all married. Skywalker is married, to that Senator. Why aren''t you? Why does Satine has to live in fear and alone? Why don''t you tell her, if you don''t love her? Why keep her waiting for a decade, alone, to never have children, hoping one day you come back, and stay ?" I asked, a little louder. Satine was all red in her cheeks, embarrassed and pleading with her eyes at me, to stop. "W-what ? She waited..." Kenobi said with an amazed look on his face, staring at Satine. "You can check you know. Use the force. I might be lying..." I said with a sigh, then held my hand for Bo and left. Bo hugged me with one arm, and sighed as well. "If he leaves her again, he''s a dead man, Jedi or not" my wife grumbled, loud enough to be heard by a powerful Jedi. "He is a bit of an idiot. Too bad Satine will also die...alone and scared..." I answered a bit lower, just at the limit of Force Listen. Kenobi''s aura fluttered a little. So he did hear. "We can''t guard her forever.13 assassins..." Bo whispered, wiping afake tear. Ah, they hugged. Maybe they won''t die now... --------- Orion system ''Great. You saved another Jedi. Now send me some more ships!'' Ventress said in the bond, no doubt listening to what the crystal self was narrating to his AI, and Eighth Hand. ''Sure thing, love. 200 Muni destroyers and 20 Recu, leaving for Dathomir in an hour. How goes the thing?'' I asked, as the first shipyard above Orion IV began preparing to construct the first Orion-class corvette. The weapons were similar to the Dakka, one heavy maser, 4 medium ion cannons in a forward battery, a tractor beam and 20 missile launchers, beside the two proton torpedo tubes and 10 gatling lasers. It was almost a frigate now, if twice as small and 5 times cheaper. Now I only had to build a few millions of those. Even at two thousand ships per month, with all the new shipyards, it will still take a long time. Too long. I had to mobilize the Centrality and the Calamari to help out as well. Good thing I had an Avatar to send on errands. ''The thing is going...we''ll have the first Kwa gate excavated and lifted up in a week. If the damn rancors don''t attack again.'' Ventress said with a suffering groan. Well, those were just big carnivorous things. I had to win an election. Planet Coruscant, Galactic Republic Jedi Temple 21 BBY Grand Master Yoda looked over the much depleted High Council, and felt regret again. These Clone Wars were killing the best Masters of the Order, and causing more Jedi to deny the Order and refuse to listen to the Council, even giving back their sacred lightsabers. The whole Almas Academy had deserted en masse, and left seeking refuge somewhere in the Outer Rim. Master Darrus Jeht had returned with their lightsabers, and word of wise Master Zao, who still roamed the galaxy blind and without a lightsaber for centuries. They found refuge on the moon Ruul, in the new Pef Empire. And didn''t even send goodbye. The Green Jedi of Corellia had found a Grandmaster of their own, the venerable Neti Jedi who had guarded Ossus 4000 years ago and had remained in stasis till now. The Altisian Iron Knights had fortified their citadel on Dweem, with help from Pef Empire again. And now, Obi-Wan Kenobi, the one he had hoped to become Grandmaster after he died...haddeffected on Mandalore, and married their Dutchess. Master Jeht stood before the Council, the very lightsaber held by telekinesis, in the air. "Obi-wan Kenobi, thus excommunicated is. No longer a Jedi, he is. But fallen he is not. One day, he may yet return. Hold his saber, I will." Yoda declared looking at the hologram that the Jedi Master produced. Kenobi in a suit of armor, and a metal sword as his hip. And a wife on his arm. And...without a beard. The dark shroud clouded all vision, leaving the Order blind. New High Generals to be selected, for the Republic. But not the angry one. Skywalker...the wars hit him the hardest. And hanging around that Naboo Senator. Soon, the boy will be lost, one way or the other. "Master Yoda, should we try to ask that droid empire for ships, again?" the newest member of the Council asked. Voolvif Monn , who had been at Geonosis. "And denied again be? It''s clear now an AI they have. Too fast and too soon, their ships are built. This new empire, a friend of the Jedi is not..." The tired Yoda decided, with a long sigh. "But Master Yoda, they do not act against us. They even shelter some...former Jedi" Master Fisto added, and answering his own question. "Indeed they do. And other sects like Jal Shey and Jensaarai. Not dark, nor in the light they are. Grey they are. And a great danger, to all of us they may be. The future clouded is." The leader of the ortodox Jedi proclaimed, making a note to send a hundred more Republic agents to infiltrate the Pef Empire, and maybe gain answers. Maybe an emissary, to the embassy on Corellia. And find out why that Pef Navy fleet held positions at Duro. Expecting an attack perhaps? Was the Abomination able to predict the future with machine logic? --------- Planet Coruscant, The Works Same day "Master, it was as you predicted. The fleet was all destroyed, but my cyborg General managed to destroy most of their fleet as well. Only about 500 ships of this Pef Empire survived, out of 2000. And my general has recovered well enough, for the next operation, towards the Core." Lord Tyranus explained, a bit uncomfortable. As he should be, this failure set back the plan by a month or two. "No matter. Ships can be rebuilt. At least Master Koon died at Felucia. And with Master Mundi and Master Tiin and Windu and Rancisis all dead...victory is almost in reach. And what''s more amusing, the failure of your incompetent acolyte at Mandalore made Master Kenobi marry our dear Duchess Satine, and hand in his lightsaber. Do try to see, if he might want a red one instead." Darth Sidious declared with an evil laugh. "As you wish, my Master. That Avatar boy has left Mandalore though, towards the Centrality, I heard." Dooku excused himself pathetically. Oh, now the plan was revealed. Absorbing another tiny polity no doubt, and have it produce more insignificant droids armies and corvettes. Only those large ships mattered, but they weren''t invincible after all. 60 of them were melted beyond repair, and the rest would no doubt be easy to destroy, once he was Emperor and could build his own dreadnaughts, or maybe that battlemoon that Siennar invented. Or maybe a huge Zilo beast, 30 kilometers tall, and equipped with hyperdrives? The Old Sith did have amazing lore on how to meld beasts and technology with the Dark Side. Too bad the shadowblade ship was lost so soon though, blowing up stars like his famous Sith predecessors would have been amusing. If the weapon even worked. Relying on old holocrons wasn''t always efficient. No matter. Once the Jedi were gone, the galaxy will be his. Galactic Emperor Palpatine! Forever and ever! Pef Empire strikes back! Planet Orion, Pef Empire Orion''s belt 21 BBY Another project held my attention for a day or two, as I had dismantled a Diamond-class cruiser and a Carrack-class light cruiserand now tried to figure a way to mate them into a workable ship. Gahhhh. Nothing fit, every bolt and part constructed with different standards. At least the insect-made starships were all perfectly crafted. Guess, I''ll just design my own stealth-frigate, and just copy the ideas, not the measurements. Let''s start with the main objective. Fire and fade away. A bomber shape then, like the Diamond or the B2 of my old life. Keep the frontal profile small, and then engines hidden in the hull. The fast hyperdrives of the Diamond, with the shields of a MC40 cruiser. A small hanger for covert insertion for the black ops. Room for 20 Biplanes and a shuttle, or 5 Reapers and shuttle. Medical bay with kolto and bacta tubs, galley, barracks, bathrooms. The small bridge from the Carrack, so it could be used with minimal crew. Two integrated droid brains, one for navigation and one for weapons. Now, the obvious part, the stygian crystal cloak. Let''s give it 30 crystals, cause I had enough coming from Maramere now. And then, weapons. 20 missile launchers for defense. And 10 heavy masers for attack. Kinda...weak? ''Give it 20 proton torpedoes too, on the forward blade. And an ion cannon battery. And 10 gatling lasers. And enough storage for food and parts. At least 100 cubic meters'' my new AI friend advised me, going over my schematics with interest. ''You expect it will be detected, anyway'' I muttered with a sigh. ''Not from the beginning. But if you build thousands, they will invent and upgrade themselves with gravitic or magnetic sensors. It''s only logical.'' the AI advised me in a friendly tone, changing a few things around to make more room. ''Hmmm. This ship will need a visual observation blister, beside passive and active sensors. Outside the armor. Some Force abilities require organics to see. For psychological reasons.'' I hummed deep in thought. ''That is...troubling. Most ships do indeed have large windows, and thus prevent sensory obfuscation through jamming. A weakness, but for a logic reason. For now, let''s place a transparisteel cradle under the hangar sally. No need to create structural weaknesses elsewhere.'' the Core replies after poking at the virtual ship with virtual turbolasers. "I see, like a pilot cockpit. Eh, good enough. My Avatar should be able to phase through the ship''s armor anyway. But other lesser organics can''t do that trick. We''ll have recess the armor a little, to keep the cockpit inside the particle shield." I said gently, doing exactly that. "Yes, and raise the top of the armor in accordance, and use the height gain for more sensors. Not bad, for a novice, esteemed droid." the Core congratulated me, with a tiny bit of sarcasm, and a tongue emote. ''Well, if you can do better, most venerable flower tender? Please enlighten this most unworthy Emperor'' I sent with, all the grace I could fake. ''Perhaps, this millenia old AI was a bit hasty. Criticism is truly easier, than creating something new. I shall try to adapt this cloaking device to the new Orion corvettes as well. Perhaps our Empire will lose less of them, if they become invisible when in danger.'' he said with another wrong emote. Small steps Pef. At least he isn''t omnicidal anymore. ''Good idea, my friend. We''ll test the devices on the Liberty star cruisers and the Recu Carriers as well. And then..." I said politely, thinking of the next logical step. ''The Meteors. Most likely the stealth won''t be able to cover the massive discharges of energy of those magnetically accelerated projectiles, but we could devise an ultraviolet laser. Few organics can perceive that far visually. And perhaps..." "X-ray lasers. The Hutts used something like that in the Crusades. I''ll have to ask around, if any are still around to be bought or stolen." I concluded, happy to finally have someone to chat so politely about medium levels of destruction. If only... ''If only, your completely genocidal new Hand wouldn''t turn these weapons on your empire, once he has them...'' Wialu grumbled in the Voice bond. ''Eh. Still playing on easy mode, my love. The things possible, by melding Force and technology...let''s hope I never have to use them.'' I answered gently, but my memories were not wrong. Rakata Prime and Yavin and Ruusan. And even worse weapons. ''The wills are five Pef. Only one of them...'' Solana added, then stopped, probably cause Solanus asked. Great. More secrets. ------- Planet Erlinar, Centrality Peffy arrived at Erilnar on Celestial River, the MC80 Calamari cruiser, and escorted by a thousand brand new, or rather say newly reassembled Muni destroyers and 100 Lucrehulks filled with trade goods from the whole empire. More than enough to fight the whole Centrality Navy at once. Not that it would come to a fight...but better prepared, and not need, than need and not have. A familiar Centralian cruiser escorted me from Oseon, as a sign of goodwill. On the way, I claimed the Dagelin Minor planet and its system, because why not. It was free. I mean, it is a crappy planet hot and full of jungles, but anyway. Free! The bewildered locals got to experience a great party and food delicacies from a hundred planets, then were told of a new trade route and factories and jobs... Yea. Took me 20 minutes and maybe a billion credits. Because a planetary shield costs a billion, not the food. The Centrality will be trickier. Not that most Scriveners didn''t just assume leadership on their own, but I expected a few traps from my religious fanatics. Well, not mine. There were a few Imperial Servants who got carried away and built holo-shrines to the Immortal Pef. Official policy on religion was ''do whatever, don''t hurt and kill people''. Or else. Only officials had the right and duty to kill people. Well, bad people. Most of the time. But here, they had laws going back 10 thousand years. Traditions would be hard to overcome. Oh well, I didn''t expect ovations. Yet. I marched into the Central Administration building, escorted by a thousand commando droids and my VSS guards. And then politely declared: ''I desire to lead the Centrality. Who is opposed?'' An awkward silence followed. Planet Erlinar, Centrality 25 seconds later Maybe my helmet is defective and didn''t transmit my voice? I took it off, and smiled gently at the important people of the Administration. "So, where do I sign to become the next Scrivinir ?" I spoke a bit louder. The only non-human present was mildly interested, and turned his beak to stare at me. Her beak, in fact. Pleading for some trade concession, and not part of the government. Yet. "You''d be the wonder boy, the Avatar of Pef, ef? Well, you look human enough.." the Quor''sav said with a slight tinge of sadness and oppression. "We heard of a conquering fleet above our heads. You''re welcome to lead this mess, mister Grayshade" the current Scrivinir, one called Banol vin Ornkenn said with a tad of envy and resentment. "You misunderstand me. Of course I am welcome. I want to know where do I sign, and who wants to be part of my cabinet." I explained politely, looking around the very, very old building of the Central Administration. It was like leading a modern corporation out of an egyptian pyramid. Sigh. Barely any new tech around, just a holomap and a dozen librarian droids. Which were possibly the actual administration. Pretty sad place. A droid raised a hand, a bit timorated. Excellent. "Yes, esteemed cabinet member?" I asked softly. "Errrr. Just a data archivist, not a cabinet member..." the droid answered confused, as a dozen eyes bored into him with hatred. "You raised your hand, that''s good enough for me. Now, you have the signing form? Please come forwards so I can sign." I demanded a bit sternly, and the whole group of Administrators, and a few Centralian Navy officers raised their hands at once. Initiative, and enthusiasm! Perfect. Hey, even a winged hand was raised! I love it when people volunteer. First thing, let''s sign the thing: Avatar Greyshade, new Scrivinir or Central Administrator. Now, my words were actual law, here in the Centrality as well. "Miss Kal''Falnl C''ndros right? You know trade and stuff right? That''s your cabinet position. Now, the military people are easy...navy, army, intelligence. The droid is surely better at being the registrar of my cabinet that anyone present. What do you other people know best?" I asked curious, comparing faces with the files I had on them. "Myself...I am from an old family, and quite rich and I know everyone..." vin Ornkenn said with a slimy voice. Perfect. "Foreign office then, Negotiator vin Ornkenn. Just stay away from the Hutts, and the CIS and Coruscant. I want to keep the Centrality out of wars, and make it a rich and prosperous place. Admiral Collin, you can take charge of those destroyers I gifted the Centrality. I expect 500 of them to guard Oseon and the gateway into our territory. Patrols up to Junkfort, but not further." I said softly, as my helmet glided back onto my head. The man nodded politely and went to sign the datapad without a single hesitation. He must have been expecting this promotion for 3 years. "I can do housing and relocation, Scrivinir. Maybe parks and recreation too. I have a dozen real-estate companies..." another man demanded, pushing the others aside rudely and smiling sweetly at me. Oh, a trump card! ''Very well, mister Thrump. There''s a transport Lucrehulk with construction droids and architect droids up there, and a few more with cranes and tractor beams and repulsorlift bulldozers. You can keep the cabinet position after you show me a new city on Dagelin Minor, by the next month. Mister Rott, you want industry right? Same thing, build me 100 new factories on Dagelin. Timber, furniture and medical labs." I added with a friendly pat on their shoulders. The man folded under my power armored hand. Ah, they seem a bit weak, physically. "We''re going, mister Grayshade. Just...let us delegate some duties to our assistants. We never actually left the Administration building, on the job. It was simpler to make them come to us..." The new minister of Industry complained, possibly because just my glove weighed some 50 kilograms. I waited till the scum have left, sent to solve various things around the Centrality. Then looked at the droid collective and the military people. These were the people I actually needed. "Any ideas how to stop a bioship 100 kilometers long and wide?" I asked, producing the last holo that Ray managed to send from Helska system . The Vong worldship rotated slowly, with its huge teeth sharp and scary-looking frame, like a disc-saw. "Organic hyperdrives, weapons...and millions of starfighters?" my admiral muttered, staring a bit impressed at my holo and the description below. "And trillions of soldiers, yes. And it''s not the only worldship the Vong travelled with, from their home galaxy. At least nineworldships, and thousands of battleships similar to my Meteors. They''re mapping our galaxy now..." I explained gently, and giving a datacube with most info we had on the Vong, to each of them. "I see. You''re training the navy crews on those CIS morons. Testing what strategies work on millions of starfighters at once, like at Lianna. Glad to know someone is doing something about this, sir." Miss Clara Holsten mused, her hand clenched white on the datacube. Perhaps a bit terrified. "Eh, we have time, at least 20 years. But, we have a better chance if we prepare in advance. There''s atransport with some stealth ships for you, Miss Holsten. Do see if our base at Hosrel XI can incorporate shield camouflage as well. " I said softly, as her eyes became wide and a little surprised. "And for me, Avatar? What gifts did you bring for the army?" the last man, a grizzled bearded man, with scars on his hands, asked politely. "Lots and lots, my friend. Tanks and gunships, power armor and droids...and memory flash units for a billion troops. We just need to wait a month, till the survey droids find Renatasia . That lost colony would have 10 billion people to recruit from." I said softly, the holoprojector in my palm forming a map with the likely position of that planet. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. "Indeed, a great gift. The Jedi High Generals only have half a million clone soldiers to command. A billion soldiers..." he muttered, with dreams of greatness in his aura. Yeah. Maybe not so easy... Planet Gand, Pef Empire Redbox It was time to clean up the mess in my backyard, now that we had a month or even two months of relative quiet in the NE quadrant. "Where do you get the tea?" "From Mooga. The Commerce Guild controls it." ¨DDuchess Satine Kryze Kenobi The Commerce Guildshould soon be overrun at Mooga, their capital planet in the Perkell sector and also at Felucia and a hundred other planets. And my sister-in-law through my Avatar was named Kenobi now...pretty sweet. Bo was asking her everyday if the babies are coming already. Made Kenobi stutter a lot. Planet Gromas was taken for the phrik mines, and planet Bal''demnic for its cortosis veins. The Confederation already had a few initial mines on the planet, which we captured almost intact. I did wonder where all that cortosis for B3 droids and Nikto clone spears came from. Then we began fortifying the planet with planetary shields, and planet-to-orbit lasers and defense platforms. And droid armies on the ground and sea, and 30 Meteors in orbit. By the next week, we had repulsed and captured 3 smallish CIS fleets, their ships being dragged to our shipyards or converted into more orbital defense platforms and shipyards. We did have almost a hundred million droids in the system, they could be put to work. And next week, one confused Jedi called Skywalker arrived with his own fleet of Venators and Acclamators. But my admiral had clear orders and just turned him away with a warning shot. ''This is Pef space, restricted installation for the Empire only. Turn back now, or be destroyed. '' and ordered his Meteors to open the maws wide. I guess the Force didn''t like the chances of its chosen. The boy turned around his ships and took them to fight the easier CIS fleets. That reminds me. There are more places we can mine cortosis. "Third Hand I have operation 4339 in mind. Planet Apatros , planet Engebo V , planet Gertafuu VI , planet Lamaredd . To be surveyed and mined by our companies. Additionally, any and all assets of the Outer Rim Oreworks Company to be aquiered, with money or otherwise. Our Financial Division can contribute as well." I explained politely, finding the said planets on the holomap and marking them orange. "It can be done, Emperor. As long as we do not need substantial defenses for our mines. We are spread thin..." he complained, sipping his own drink with tired hands. "My friend, arrange for biochips for yourself and your staff. Data can be moved and changed much easily then. And hire more adjutants. Just 365 is too few. Hire 5 thousands for now, for every planet. We do have billions of Imperial Servants..." I said gently, while pushing cure poison and heal and reinforcement over him. "Servants...maybe a few to test how they do. I have more trust in your droids, metal Gand." he mused, looking somewhere far away. "Droids too, protocol and tactical ones, even assassin models. Just use a secondary loyalty chip, and checksum self destructs" I added generously. "Very well, immortal droid. How long till you can giftthe Black Ops those Fade frigates you''re constructing in such secret?" he asked, smirking inside. Gah, he already knows? Don''t answer! "A few prototypes will be ready next week. Still not sure how well they''ll perform in battle, but for reconnaissance and infiltration they should be fine." I admited with some fake shame. "That''s more than enough for our needs, wise emperor. But your Hand hopes they won''t be given to auxiliary services in Mandalore or the Commonality. Too exposed, and risking defection..." he requested with some worry. Of course not! Gand and Toong and a few others species were trustworthy due to terraforming and privileges, and the Centrality Navy will become one as well, in a decade or two, but the rest...perhaps a few Reapers to impress. "Okay. This generation of Fades will replace the Greymists and be used for black ops. The next generation should have a gravity interdictor and a gravity detector as well. So, how many incursions since Lianna?" I asked curious. "We captured 98 from Republic intelligence, 11 from the Hutts and 773 from CIS. And one from Hapes Consortium.'' he replied consulting his pad. Hmmm. 98? Who sends 98 agents? "And the other 2?" I wondered, a bit amused. "Marked with force trackers and followed to their contacts. One went to Ruul. The other..." my Third hand, hesitated for a second. Oh. Problems then. "Yes?" "The last one went to Sran. And met with Fifth Hand Fay. We were too far away to listen, maintaining the 77 meters force limit of our stygium crystal stealth" he explained, with a shrug. Getting close enough to spy on Fay was indeed difficult. "Okay then. An accident as he passes back through Boonta. The body to be discovered near the race tracks, with a drill hole in his head" I demanded with a sigh. "Very mysterious, holomovie style. May I suggest, a broken tail fragment of a geonosian mind worm, to be left inside the brain?" my devious spy master asked, sipping his drink in triumph. It did sound even better. Make the Republic wonder how deep they were infiltrated. Scan everyone, and probe their every cavity. "Do it!" I proclaimed heroically, my gloves in the air, and covered in lightning. Zuckuss opened a tired eye, and shaded himself with a hand. "Keep it quiet idiots! This dream was so good, with my females massaging my..." "Fleet estimates, First Hand. We''ll compare harem stories later." I demanded sternly. "Yessss, loudmouth. With the final Meteors coming out of trials next week, we will be at 450 battleships in operation. 30 of them defending Duro, 30 of them defending Bal''demnic and 20 Meteors at Dathomir. 300 ready for an assault, if you think it appropriate, and 30 more left in defense. Also 300 Liberty cruisers, 3000 Muni destroyers and 500 Lucrehulks and Recu carriers, with half of the fighters complement, for now. If the next cycle of corvettes is ready on time, we will have 4000 corvettes and 300 frigates as well. Ground armies...whatever billion they''re at, 4 billion droids? " Zuckuss muttered with a tired voice and just reading from his datapad, slowly. Hmmm. Poor organics. "Good enough, my friend. Take a week of mandatory vacation. And hire a thousand helpers too. Ask the former villages to send you their brightest." I said gently, then had 2 commando droids carry Zuckuss to his apartment. "I''ll go arrange that operation and hire help, most gracious emperor. Then a short 3 days vacation, because I deserve it. For the empire!" my Hand declared with a weak punch at the sky. I stared at my empty room, and felt all alone, just some lizards poking curious heads from their trees. ''Solanus says you may visit him at Sol V. Take a day at the beach. And learn about the Kwa and the Reaper'' my water maid whispered, no doubt feeling my vague emotions. A day at the beach, huh? I should take Angie as well. Solanus likes her. Planet Gand, Pef Empire 21 BBY Next week The beach was great. I even swam naked, and upgraded my archeotech knowledge by 2% more. We can''t get the Kwa gate to work, yet, but there''s no rush. We most of deciphered what''s left of the Dark Reaper, and could probably build our own, if we ever need to drain the life of something. Might build a small one to test on Felucia. That Ancient Abyss thing...it''s either that, or drag it out with a dozen Meteors and serve it as steak to the carnivorous species in the empire. But not yet. It was time to really hurt the CIS, while bringing liberty and prosperity to the oppressed. With tanks and starships, of course. The first 2 fleets departed a day before, to clear the star lanes of potential spies and traps, and headed towards Zygerria then Reltooine, each fleet with about 500 ships. A dozen Fade stealth frigates went with them, to act as advanced warning, or strike the enemy in the back, if it was really necessary. The other 10 fleets departed a bit later, as more missiles and starfighters arrived at the last minute. Only about 300 Reapers and 11000 Biplanes were ready for this part of the battle, but production will take a while to gather speed. Won''t push too hard for more Reapers though, since I do not have enough cyborg pilots with the requiered skill. We instead used the huge stockpiles of Scarabs and Vultures fighters that we captured at Murkhana and Mooga. Just a few minor upgrades were possible in this short time, simply replacing a blaster cannon with a missile launcher, and replacing the software completely, with a new one that Core was kind enough to create for us. And since his methods achieved 100% better results than mine, at Lianna... The B11 and the B13 commando droids also received a further upgrade, attempting to use cover or laying prone in defensive positions. Nothing amazing, but this was a number''s game. And a 20% increase in survival, meant the difference between a pyrrhic victory, and a tactical victory. They were already 115% more resilient with woven fiber armor and faster reflexes due to pilot modules. Add 20% more and it counted. Plus the riot shields used by the first wave. Just like those gungans. Don''t laugh! If it works, it''s not stupid. So what it they look like wearing yellow umbrellas in the wind? That wind is made of blaster fire, and it hurts! Also, Baneblade heavy tanks are now driven by cyborgs. Not all of the amputees have the skill to pilot stealth starfighters, but a heavy tank is much slower and easier to pilot. The cyborgs at least ten times better than a B1 driver anyway. The cyborgs like that Omnissiah title that somehow appeared in their vocabulary. Guess they''ll be my Adeptus Mechanicus, in the far future. Fanatic people are pretty easy to keep happy and get them to murder whatever you ask them to. They''ll be useful, one day. And with the wars creating more amputees, the cyborgs'' number will grow. Other smaller fleets conduct civilization efforts in the Mortex sector , especially around Almaniaand Choah Belt but also trying to recruit the Malkite Poisoners to our side. They would be highly useful to get me rid off certain Hutts or Senators or corporate die-hards . I sent Solana there, since most organics will probably die in the first job interview. Wialu made friends with a couple of Anothian living crystal we imported from a broken planet, and then went to introduce them to their cousins the Vaathkree (species) who lived just on our southern border. Living rocks, but with hands. Man, this galaxy had many miracle species. And Angie, my immortal angel? She returned to Iego, along with Celine. Starting another Arts academy, and courses for galactic divas. Soon, a million angels will sing, and hopefully spread good news about my empire. Luxum is still back home on Orax, only her shard mother has also returned, with a few of her children, and they are building a technological society from ground up. Already their planetary defenses rival Lianna''s, which is quite something. All they need now is shipyards and fleets, and expanding a little to gain more systems for resources. They''ll be the shield for the next galactic invasion, after all. Sadly, only the younger Shards have joined the hop-into-a-droid movement. But, once the Shards can build Meteors, they''ll be pretty hard to conquer. Also, our fleets have reached Zygerria and pretty much stomped the opposing 1000 CIS ships gathered there. At equal odds, our fleets lost 2 corvettes and a thousand fighters. To be fair,my Meteors do not have equal in the galaxy, not yet. Perhaps if Palpatine builds his SSDs. The siege has began, and the other fleets can bypass Zygeria at speed, heading for every major world in the Corporate sector. And dropping off troops and siege ships on the minor worlds while en route. It helps that the Corporate sector, while quite large, is not yet explored and populated. Only about 500 worlds, when I already know they''ll have 30 thousand planets in 20 years. Now let''s see, will the CIS try to counter-attack in panic, or try to flee, or attack elsewhere? A few hours later, the fleet at Duro came under attack, almost on schedule. Our Reapers will have to make sure the cyborg General doesn''t escape again. His outrageous attempts to bombard planets from orbit is getting aggravating. Scepter of power Planet Duro, Corellian Space 21 BBY A massive CIS fleet coming from the south of the Galaxy, and aiming to terrorize the Core worlds. It seems the Separatists were a bit surprised to find just 30 Meteors here, and only a handful of corvettes. The Duro planetary defense fleet, with a couple of Dreadnaught-class heavy cruiser and a host of small ships produced by Duro Starshipwright Shipyards couldn''t hope to stop 4000 vesels of the CIS. But my Admiral listened to my suggestions, removing himself and all organics from the Meteor Two, Three and Four, and left only tactical droids in command. Then sent them forward, trying to remove most of the smaller ships of the Confederation, while enduring turbolaser bombardament from 600 Lucrehulks. 240000 turbolasers would evaporate most ships in seconds. But, not this time. Duro was a former Rakata world, after all. The Force was immensely strong here, and the Rakatan forcefields felt at home. They wailed in pain, and fired furiously. The Meteors fired, less accurate and wasting maser and ion cannon shots by saturating one ship or ignoring another. But it didn''t matter. In 15 minutes, all 3000 Munificents were listing, venting air and droids, and hopefully adding 3000 more Muni destroyers to our future fleets. And this time, we''ll also keep the long range turbolasers they had, for a special project. 6000 guns could fit on our 300 MC80 Calamari cruisers, 200 guns, 100 on the top and 100 underneath and make them perfect flankers. Just had to figure how to upgrade them, so they don''t melt anymore when fired at maximum power. The smooth lines of the aquatic made ships will suffer a little, but I could use ovoid turrets. And thus increase the firepower of those cruisers from 48 to 250 turbolasers, now that we began extracting tibanna gas ourselves, it won''t be such a logistic burden anymore. The Dornean Admiral began advancing with his other Meteors, while the 500 Muni escorts appeared from behind the 20 orbital cities of Duro, and 500 more emerged from hyperspace behind the CIS fleet and began melting their engines to scrap. The Vultures of the Separatists were entangled with our own fighters, plus the cutters and frigates of the Duros. We lacked corvettes for this battle, but had plenty destroyers, each carrying 100 missile launchers. And then, hundreds more CR90 and CR70 corvettes and CEC cruisers began emerging coming from Corellia, although the Corellians kept their heavier vessels back home. No matter, we can beat them. Corvettes were actually ideal for defending the cities from starfighter strafing. And seems the Corelians did listen and added 10 missile launchers to their ships. Not as many as I did for my own Orion corvettes, but they didn''t know what was coming. Then, a brand new Victory-class Star Destroyer appeared, and started engaging the Providence-class carrier/destroyer , the flagship of the famous General Grievous , called the Invisible Hand. My Third Hand really wanted to bring him that ship, but it might not be possible now... Our few Reapers were keeping an eye out for when the mass-murderer will try to flee again, while the Torrents launched by the Republic star destroyer were busy fending off the more manoeuvrable geonosian starfighters. Seems a little flood hasn''t kept them out of the war... The cyborg General again ordered his Lucrehulks to bombard the planet, as they attempted to pass through our fleet. Bad move, you monster! The Meteors yelled in anger, firing 3000 ferrous screams of liberty, obliterating 200 Lucrehulks battleships moving in a straight line. Ion cannons battered the shields while masers melted guns and armor, and 100 more CIS battleships listed to a side, now useless. The rest of them began turning, to run away, but found out their engines were missing, most of them. The battering continued for another hour, then the Meteors reloaded and recharged and fired again, obliterating the remaining 200 Lucrehulks. Ah, there it is! The sneaky cyborg trying to run. My first Reaper missed, having fired too soon. The second clipped the starfighter with his gatling laser, and the third Reaper unloaded 5 missiles from spit range, blowing up the fighter, and then the escape pod. Rest in pieces, bastard! Now, let''s move in front of that Victory star destroyer and claim the Invisible Hand as our prize... ''Our orders are to capture Grievous, and bring him to stand trial!'' some unknown Jedi demanded on the allied net. ''The cyborg is dead, Master Jedi. A hundred kilometers to your port. You might find some bits and pieces, maybe even a dozen lightsabers...'' My admiral explained patiently, after his Findsman confirmed a scattering of kyber crystals in that direction. I counted the total loses, as much as I could, due to some ships still transmitting positional and IFF codes, but being broken in three or five. 300 Muni destroyers, 56 Dakka corvettes and 5 crippled Meteors, most of them the ships blocking the retreat. Oh well. I''ll just have to replace them with 3000 more, which the CIS just provided. I know. I''m a bit of a bastard too. Planet Gand, Pef Empire 21 BBY 2 weeks later I had just finished creating 3000 more Muni destroyers and 100 more Recu carriers when news came of a major Republic defeat at the Battle of Formos . Seems the CIS has a new type of droid, the Scorpenek annihilator droid . I kinda want some too. Very well then. I knew where the send a new fleet to expand the empire. And secure access to Kessel. 1000 Muni destroyers, the 100 Recu carriers and 50 Lucrehulks were sent to claim the important trade nexus to our south, along with all the minor worlds on the way. Again, only 100 corvettes and a single Fade frigate could be spared as escorts . Sigh, I really need more Dakka. And Orions. And everything... Make a note, start building a hundred new shipyards at every world with decent minerals or population. That should increase the corvette production from a meager 2100 per month to over 20 thousand. Another fleet of 100 Lucrehulks and 1000 Muni destroyers was sent to take Boz Pity where the CIS were staging for another invasion. The Sultan will be happy to keep his title and his daughter safe from scoundrels. Maybe. I''ll visit with my Avatar in a decade and see if Han Solo has good taste or not. A small fleet went to liberate Sneeve and secure my empire a legion of ultra speed freaks, perfect for driving light tanks and starfighters. And prevent them losing a billion of their species in another of Palpatine''s genocides. They could die with honor and glory, in battle. And the last fleet was sent to rescue planet Randon and secure a major trade hub with no less than 5 trade routes. Wialu took a volunteer brigade of those humanoid shaped rocks from Vaathkree to test them in ground combat, and also make them feel part of this effort for the liberation of galaxy. When they return, they''ll be the best advocates for a MPT with my empire, upon seeing the dastard acts of the CIS. We gave them fiber uniforms and shields, to make sure at least some survive. And perhaps save themselves from a genocide at the hands of the Galactic Empire next year or such. I can''t really save those who don''t want to be saved. My Hutt Ambasador, the Honored Proto One managed to buy Nwarcol system and Akrit''tar from a stupid Hutt and secured the Centrality borders on that flank. But, trying to buy Boonta is not working, not even for a 50 billion credits. Planet Solacton was not claimed and a single contact Lucrehulk was enough to raise the flag. The Novor system was also claimed freely, and with 16 planets shattered by a red giant, it will be a perfect forge world. I mean...orbital shipyard systems. But the Houks on Reibrin system will regret shooting my B1 Rei ambassador. Soon, they''ll become experiments for Galactic Empire. Sigh. I may need those master poisoners and change the leadership of Boonta a few times, untill one of the next heirs will get smart and sell me the system before he dies as well. Maybe the same for the Houks as well. Though, their whole race seems to shoot first as a rule. Anyway, their Neuronic whip will make a great start for a melee weapon. ''That Officio Assassinorum guild seems to enchant the creepy Malkii ones. If you''re sure, they''ll be on board. They also want personal cloaks and some Reapers...'' Solana whispered, while sampling every type of poison these guys added to her tea with a large blue smile. Soon, she''ll be able to produce the toxins and the antidotes as well. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. ''Personal cloaks and stygium and hibridium crystals for their best assassins. For insertion we can give them the Greymists. Once the navcomputers are scrubbed clean. And...tell them I need them to prove themselves. That giant Sarlacc from the Great Pit of Carkoon first, to test what works or not, and then, the big one on Felucia. The Ancient Abyss. You can pay them a billion in advance, then go to Ranroon. See what you can do'' I sent back, with a pulse of affection. Yes, my own Assassins! ''Sure thing, my tiny green crystal. By the way, when your Avatar''s tongue is so deep into that woman''s mouth, it means they gonna marry, right?'' my water maid asked with a tinge of curiosity. Peffy? I take my eyes off for a second and you romance the Centralian Minister of Intelligence? Well, she is pretty and we need to secure her loyalty...good job Peffy! The Emperor needs more children too. One for every star in the galaxy...for now. Planet Gand, Pef Empire Celestial Throne 21 BBY, next week "The glorious liberation of the so called Corporate Sector continues even today, with 11 more planets welcoming our Imperial troops with..." Pef Holonews'' anchor said gravely, this time a Calamari celebrity. Gotta get the audience used to hearing about the Empire from familiar figures. And get the squids to at least, patrol the trade routes to the Core. I turned off the news, and raised my photoreceptors toward my Hands. The CIS welcomed us with lasers, of course. And mines and proton bombs. "Well, at least we captured Bonadan. We''ll need to print more Stingers and Biplanes. Ground troops are too exposed to massed artillery" I mused out loud, looking at the holomap in disgust. A master general, I was not. "Why are you not sending in the heavy tanks, or the new Droidekas?" Mujilik asked, totaling our loses and dividing by zero. We were losing more droids than we had landed. We were back at using their own droid factories to push certain directions of attack. It worked, but it was slow. "Tanks should be used in defense or open terrain. Forests and canyons, not so much. We need our own walkers. Something small and agile, but armored enough to withstand mines." I explained calmly, going over the thousands of battlefields in the database. "Or gunships and bombers. Too bad we lost them, almost all" Zuckuss said wisely. "Well, we knew they will adapt, eventually. Missiles are pretty basic tech, after all." the Third Hand answered from behind me, playing with a plasteel model of the Invisible Hand. Yeah, I get it. You''ve won the game again. And you had a cloaked battleship to play with. "For this campaign, we''ll start using the Brubbs and the Gbu and whatever client species we need to test out. With light tanks in support, and whatever stocks of Droideka I and commando droids we can spare. I want to test the new personal weapons as well." I answered, coming to a difficult decision. Spending lives was harsh, and inefficient. An adult soldier took 20 years to print, after all. But we needed veterans as well. The wars might end soon. "Three, prepare a recon op for Reega system. The seventh planet" I added with another flash of memory. Something was hidden there, and we may need it. "Roger, roger. Sending five good agents to die, as ordered" my Black ops Hand answered without humor. Indeed, we were losing as many agents as the enemy did, most of them due to wrong intel provided by the emperor. "Send three organics on this kind of missions, my friend. A R2 droid pilot and an assassin droid might help, and find an unexpected victorious return. " I answered with a bit of amusement. It sure worked for some Jedi. "Good news though, we placed a force marker on the Devastation. We''ll attempt a takeover the first time the ship stops somewhere. And once we capture it, and install a cloak..." he said, with a wistful voice. "If, we capture it with our specials ops. Chances are below 20%, I''d guess. But yes, if your people fail, I''ll go on a trip and capture it myself. That thing might kill my Voice with a lucky shot, and growing them back is a pain." I said softly, and thinking of my dear Lira, who died in vain. ''I''m 17 now, you emotionless robot. One more month, and that sweet Peffy is mine'' my Togruta maid muttered in the bond, still on Sanctuary. "That is a good news indeed. Our lazy emperor is doing something, with his own...appendages" Zuckuss added constructively. "Our team on Comemnor is still trying to find this Scepter of Ragnos , that you described for us. No deaths yet, only some credits spent on bribes and gifts. The changelings are quite good at infiltration" my Third Hand added with a sad tone. Gand Findsmen were pretty hard to disguise, after all. "It is there, or will be, in the next months. Have a backup team prepared though, some dark jedi are also looking for it" I explained softly, creating a hologram of the approximate shape of the object. "I hope the effort is worth it, mystical droid. I could use my best teams on more important tasks..." Ha. Not really. "The item can revive the dead. It can cleanse whole planets of sick dark jedi spells and distortions, what they call the dark side. It can give anyone the dream. The force-sensitivity that Jedi or Findsmen have. I say it''s worth it" I said softly, as my Hands realized the exact value of the thing. "Perhaps, this time the Immortal Pef is right. Recovering dead agents, then reviving them..." Three said with wonder and hope. "A million Explorers, not just a pitiful thousand" Six muttered looking far away. "Erasing the dark side...we could colonize the Sith space, learn all their knowledge free of risk..." Zuckuss concluded, most wise of them all. "The risk will not disappear, not for organics. But it will make it easy for us to ensnare the dead dark jedi and drain them. Maybe jedi spirits as well. And other evil items like the Darkstaff might be drained as well. That''s why I sent Master Zao to Cularin, and didn''t go myself. That thing can shift and distort the universe itself. I''m not stupid enough to take it, till I have a counter" I said with a another hologram from my memories. "Roger, Gamma threat levels. I''ll send some droid ships to interdict the system. No doubt some idiots will try to take it." Zuckuss said first, closing his eyes to construct the orders via his biochip. Some psychological hang-up no doubt, my Avatar could use it with his eyes open... Ah, why did I have to look, just now. The woman was pretty, nonetheless, with the right curves and generous... "Hey, don''t start again, scoundrel droid. We have 54 more missions to plan for today. Then we can share female conquests" Zuckuss yelled at me, a second after checking the spycams he installed in his apartment. Hypocrite! "All right. There is a plant which can disable and kill Vong bioarmor. The Bafforr tree on Ithor. They''re also sentient in large numbers, which is great. I want a few million saplings and a hundred old trees resettled in the empire, on every world with forests. Miss Zero will be perfect as a plant negotiator, once I convince her. Just, have a Fade ready in a week" I demanded, pointing a gloved finger at my Third Hand. She won''t like leaving her garden, not one bit. "Oh, a special mission, with a Jedi...Ok, I have a changeling agent I need to test. But the rest only droid crew. That woman gives me the creeps" the most scary killer in the galaxy said with a shudder. Yea. She was a bit...a bit more...very scary. Not very smart though. Teleport and phase...even with a lightsaber she would be dangerous, if she used them at once. "Yes, she is quite creepy. And I''ll need Aurra to go with her as well. If she''s ready..." "Well, on technical levels she''s very good. Aiming skills are perfect. Law knowledge is perfect. Loyalty imprints are still shaky. Only the Avatar and Miss Zero arise over the threshold. Miss Na-jia is close to the moral horizon, and...nope. No one else. She would kills us all for a few credits" Three proclaimed, flicking an aurodium coin up, then straining to slow it as it fell into his palm. Nope, didn''t quite work. Maybe telekinesis wasn''t a good skill for Gands? Their gene alter though...if polished, could they gain the vongsense? Maybe even more, loyal shapers? "Try telekinesis with living things, my Hands. Leaves and fruits and insects and eggs. You already know it works with ammonia mist. But, behind the mists, there are green pastures and beasts for meat and new females..." I whispered, forming a mist of water vapor, then parting it like a magician. "See. Not exactly stupid, our emperor. Just...a metal gand, dreaming of mist, like we do" Mujilik concluded wisely, then sipped another shot of brandy. And it was my bottle! That I kept ready if a lady ever visited me... ''Keep dreaming simdroid! Peffy is alright, but you''re never having this...ass. Damn flagship is back. Got to chase it again, busy...'' Asajj sent with a distracted tone. At least Dathomir was a huge force nexus. Her Meteor will be fine. "And next op I want, we take New Canistel and start biolabs for the Senoti trees. Their sap is quite similar to bacta. And again, massive sapling transplants elsewhere, where we have alkaline soil" I ordered, pointing at Zuckuss. The planet was unoccupied, so why not. Free planets again. "Sure thing Pef. But, we''ll need some corvettes for the pirates at Demigue and an invasion fleet for Liul . Maybe take Belthu as well, and support the new sector shipyards from their durasteel foundries? " Zuckuss asked, checking some maps with his eyes closed. Sure, why not. Free planets are free. "Of course. We''ll take them all, if a single Lucrehulk and its droids complement suffice. Because what we take..." I declared, letting them form a chorus and a punch at the ceiling. "Is forever taken. Forever and ever, for the Empire!" We chanted in a single united voice. Ah. Maybe not exactly forever, cause even stars died and stuff. But a long time. Nightsisters Planet Gand, Pef Empire 21 BBY, 2 days later. The covert ops to capture the Devastation failed, possibly because there were 4 dark acolytes on board that ship. Kriff. That Dooku is turning Jedi faster than I can kill them. Not really, but still a pain. At least the assassin droid reached the hyperdrives before it was killed. The proton bomb that he carried should delay the repairs till I get there. Your plate number will forever be remembered, faithful droid. Because I can''t really forget, unless I delete a partition with top secret ops. But, at least the collector of antiquities on Commemnor was found, and his accounts show he paid 34 thousands credits for a ''real Sith relic''. Yea, that auction bid won''t flag a few dark jedi on your head, not at all. We''ll ''exchange'' the item with a replica, of course. Even hide a diamond inside the hilt. Worth 34 thousand credits. We don''t steal...I mean, only from bad guys. Having wives is a blessing now, since I sent Alise Greyshade, the blonde mandalorian with a tiny mole on her neck, to Gargon , to begin mining Phobium and clear the planet of pirates and criminals. Along with 5 divisions of droids wearing Mandalorian-like armor, of course. I''m not Yoda, to send a Jedi on a rescue mission, with a single seat fighter and a sword. She wears the latest Devastator 2.M power armor, which looks Mandalorian, but, well. It''s not. My Sisters of Battle will wear this variant of power armor, so it''s quite nice. Also, my Avatar did the sending, since they don''t know me. And with Kenobi there, they won''t, for a few years. What? You thought I trusted the lying scumbag? Nope. They don''t call him ''the negotiator'' for being open and truthful. And so, I use the occasion to ride with Zero and Aurra till we reach Botajef, where we will part ways, Zero to save the trees, and myself to save...to acquire...to confiscate a force superweapon mounted on a dreadnaught. Along with the whole dreadnaught. By myself. This will be fun. I hope. ----------- Dathomir system This is not fun! Well, the whole invisible spy insertion, while the Devastation was running around the moons of Dathomir on sublight engines kinda was. And then taking over 50 thousands droids, and the ship was fun too. And draining the poor three dark newbs...a little. They stood so careful and attentive, looking at every corner with their mouths open and bright lightsabers, glowing red and barely keeping the dark away. And breathing in invisible sleep gas... Okay, it was quite amusing. But driving this thing by myself sucks. Guess I''ll borrow a Gand for this from Ventress... ''Damn idiot droid. Why did you blow up the hyperdrives? You could have come sooner and take the ship intact!'' Asajj said politely, as her shuttle and guards were approaching to board the ship as well. ''I can do almost anything, yes. But not everything, everywhere. I need people who can do difficult jobs and not die. Stay away for the ventral part while I replace the hyperdrive engines with those 3 Muni destroyers''s you managed to blow up'' I explained calmly while dismantling the rear of the ship. ''They''re too small! '' my Voice agreed politely. ''So, I''ll use more. Simple.'' I managed to say, before my fabulous not-Sith maid rushed into my arms. "It''s good to see you, Pef" she murmured into my sonic receptors. "Of course it is. Who else grabs you by the bum, and tells you how pretty you are?" I asked, very serious. "Sadly, just you. But when I looked over those weak, savage, unwashed Nightbrothers...I rather stick with you. And Peffy. Same thing, but more muscles..." Asajj admitted with sadness. And love. But mostly sadness. Hmmm. Should I try to invent synthetic muscles...like nano-carbon fibers, bundled up and use electricity to... "Not gonna happen, lover droid. Now, why are you here? A ship won''t make you move your metal ass this far away..." Asajj asked sternly. Gah. Caught me. "I came to learn, of course. Maybe take a few maids..." I said softly, hugging her to my chest. "My sisters...they are sick, Pef. Those alchemy potions they drink, the rituals and the..." she complained at my chest, hopping for a real answer. There wasn''t any. "I need to speak with Old Daka . And don''t really care about the rest. But I hope you gave them shampoo and toothpaste. Jungle planets are harsh. " I declared amused, as she began to blush a little, from all my attentions. "The Nightsisters have ''contacts'' with smugglers and pirates. They''re not actually primitives. Just...religious fanatics" my Voice explained, with a slight disgust. Well, those had their role to play too, maybe. Cannon fodder, probably. Now, let''s see...engine check? Seemed fine. Let''s check again. Piloting the Devastation back to my empire would be a risky job anyway. Better assign a brave explorer to drive it home though. Let''s change the IFF codes, and transmit the ship''s location by hyperspace.... I looked over the VSS escorts and picked a couple Gands and a few loyal droids. "You two esteemed Findsmen, take the ship to Greyforge, after I disembark. Don''t stop to rescue puppies on the way" I ordered them, and then carried Asajj towards my Fade frigate, docked at the convenient escape hatch all CIS ships had. ''What''s a puppy?'' one of them asked the other in their native Gandese. ''I think it was just a saying. Like, ''run don''t stare at the rancor...'' the other replied wisely. Eh, almost perfect. ''That animal in your memory wouldn''t survive ten minutes on Dathomir'' Asajj sent telepathically. ''Dunno. They might adapt and grow large enough to swallow a moon'' I answered with a mind shrug. It''s was quite possible here, after all, that thing on Felucia....it might be 1000 kilometers long. As we landed at the Nightsister''s fortress, I wondered for a second if that sarlacc was sentient. Possibly not. Hopefully. "Our sister has returned. With a droid in armor. Very amusing." Sai Sircu remarked with a wide grin. Huh. So, you''re not dead here. Then again...I changed things. "More strategy meeting with Mother?" Karis asked, but in a friendlier tone. "Asajj, gather them all till I''m finished. She knows I''m here" I said softly, and flew directly towards the Hidden Cave. An energy barrier stood invisible at the entrance, but didn''t protect the rocks walls. I could just punch my way in. But it would send a different image. Now, let''s see. See from shadow, Alter environment, attune self with the barrier, phase and teleport. Pretty complicated method for entering a meager cave. Last year I wouldn''t have been able to do the last part. "Amazing, for a simple droid, in a suit of armor." the old Nightsister exclaimed, not actually impressed at all. Well, I''ll have to awe her in some other way. "I am Pef Greyshade, Venerable Old Daka. We have much to speak about." I said in a humble tone. "Yessss. You''ve learned a lot since you just appeared on Garm, Immortal Pef. But not enough." the old witch concluded, summoning herself a cup of tea, with tea in it. Meditation stance, check. "Of course, most learned one. I hope Angie was of help" I answered politely, kneeling in a mediation pose, in front of the most powerful thing I''ve seen, since Solanus. At least twice as strong as me. Which wasn''t bad at all. Planet Dathomir, Pef Empire (under MPT) Hidden Cave 21 BBY , a few hours later "Well then, most learned witch. Please think about my offer. We are family...almost." I said softly as the tea time was over. Now it was time for politics. "Hah, not even close, Emperor. We''ll take the credits and the luxuries though. Selling our sisters must indeed stop. And I want to see the boy. Be warned though, my tests are quite...painful." Old Daka said with a wicked smile. Mortal pain? Not too worried. Unless some gene alter broke my protections and he died. That would suck. " The Avatar was born from pain. Whatever else happens, he will not break. But if he dies, I lose 3 years, and I''ll be displeased, Old Daka" I said gently, then engaged all the partitions for escape abilities, from phase, to hyperspeed, to invisibility and scatter air, then floated outside in silence. Almost perfect. She still sensed me as I passed through her barrier. ''Don''t kill Talzin Emperor. I''m too weak to lead the Nightsisters...'' the witch whispered through some sonic focus, just inside my helmet. Weak, my ass. Sure, you''re old, but that can be fixed. Age is not a real problem after all. Not anymore. Kriff, I should at least breakTalzin''s legs. And arms. Yeah. That should do it. The Nightsisters were gathered in the middle of the fortress, some of them pretty young. I went to inspect them, one after another. Naa''leth would make a good commander, one day. She had height and presence. Luce , a gunner maybe. Talia , front lines. But none of them were actually strong. Proud, but untrained. A recipe for disaster, for most. And Mother Talzin...now she backed away a step, as the force gathered around me, anticipating a fight. "Come Talzin, walk with me to the ship" I said gently, while gliding a centimeter over the dirty ground. "W-what..." she asked confused, as I started to move away, not waiting for her reply. "Please Mother. He''s our only hope." Asajj whispered so gently I needed force listen to actually hear it. Ah, Asajj used her eyes to point up, where the Meteors were the only thing keeping the sisters alive. Still dark jedi, even with all the airs they put up. They were actually related, all descendants of a fleeing dark jedi woman, millenia ago. Much like the Sith, and most other sects. Damn religion, contaminating everything. Sisters, by blood not just by beliefs. At least the Sith had the decency to not have children. And worshiping a pair of overgrown killiks insects like they were the force itself. Talzin teleported next to me and floated as well, now less arrogant. "Miss Daka requested you''d be kept alive, for some family reason. But you should know, in my Empire, we rip slavers appart. The limbs attached to some objects, then just...sufficient velocity" I explained gently, but gesturing with my arms expressively. Her aura changed from mild politeness to fear and preparing to escape. "You won''t be killed Talzin. Beside what Old Daka wants, we are allies now. Darth Sidious and Tyranus want you dead, and you want them dead, for Maul. But Asajj, and all the others you sold...the law is the law. I''ll just have to keep you alive, then put you back together..." I whispered softly as the hanger''s rayshield hissed behind us. This will be a bit difficult. I never tried to put back someone I dismembered. --------- Centrality, Open sea sector On the command couch of MC80 Celestial River "The ThonBoka nebula is dangerous Peffy. Most ships that explore it do not return." Clara argued, perhaps even correctly. "This will be fun! Going boldly, where no one has gone before!" I exclaimed with real joy. "We better not die. I have a job to do, and so do you, mister Scrivinir." my new wife argued, very logically. "And this is why my ship has masers and maser interpreting protocols. The Celestial River is...wait...is that a space creature?" I asked with almost fake wonder. Cause yea, a half a kilometer manta ray floating in vacuum was pretty unexpected. "Shoot now, before..." "Shoot before we say hello? What are we, corporate security?" I asked in fake anger. "You really are having fun. Look how big that thing is!" Clara Greyshade yelled in a bit of panic. "Indeed, it''s pretty big. And half of that big thing is his brain. I wonder if he likes poetry..." I mused with some sincere hope. Ray could use a poet to talk to. Cause I doubted the Tsil really enjoyed my attempts. Even said the Gree were better poets. Which means too many things... But my Tsil maid better not be holed up in that Gree enclave near Helska, and holding poetry recitals...most likely. "See, it''s shooting at us! Blue beams. Shoot back!" Clara proclaimed dramatically, pointing at the maser streams scintillating on our shields. "Tactical coms. Begin aurabesh contact package, same intensity." I commanded out loud, so my wife would know what''s going on. "It''s asking for food, Avatar. And toys." the com droid replied with earnest politeness. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. "His name better not be Lehesu . I''m too busy for that guy..." I muttered weakly, as the front screen began printing the next demand. "Celestial River is such a poetic name. You have poets too? Come out of that shell and let''s play! Name''s Lehesu!" the young Oswaft asked, with even more intense calls. ''You''re being rude man. Keep it in a whisper, we have scared females on board.'' I sent via the biochip. ''Sorry, got excited metal friend. You''re stuck in there? Lehesu can break you out, I think...'' the Oswaft said doubtful. Not by yourself you can''t. But he could scout around for me. Once I figured out what he eats. It better not be ships. Planet Dathomir, Pef Empire Next day I left Talzin to recover from her anti-slavery education program, inside a bacta tub and with neural imprint loyalty routines being forcefully scribed on her mind. Yes, I can be merciful, on occasion. She didn''t know she was breaking the law, for a start. Not that she would care, if I really think about it. Then I flew up and went to see the other witches on this planet. The good witches. Maybe they have a Glinda? I will so confiscate her, if they do. Let''s see, where is a big enough pyramid overgrown with vines and moss? There it is, the other Star Temple. One was destroyed by that Vos Jedi 10 years ago, and the star chamber of the other was safely extracted and moved to Sol V. Just one left, here on Dathomir. Let''s go there... Just as I arrived at the base of the pyramid a young woman greeted me, pointing a metal spear at my neck and keeping 2 rancors close by for support. Very cute girl too. "You would be Kyrisa right?" I asked amused, while stealing the animal bond with the rancors for myself. Heh, if she thought two rancors would impress me, she should see Rancor Island on Gand, where I had 5 thousands of these animals. Her breath faltered for a second, as the rancors came to be petted by their Emperor. "Who are you, I sense no life force inside that armor!" she exclaimed, with a bit of panic. "Emperor Pef, my dear. I rule this planet, if you didn''t notice my ships in orbit" I said politely, while swirly confiscating her spear to check for something. Yep, alchemic binders, runes to amplify durability and sharpness... Much like the vibroblade in my forearm''s guard. "G-give it back, you stupid droid! Mother Augwynne will break you into bits, if you don''t!" she threatened me cutely. But, who you''re gonna call, if your ''Mother'' is not enough? Let''s upgrade the thing a bit, add ''Levitas'' and ''Lumen Azure'' . There you go! Now it glows in the dark and it''s light as a feather. I held her spear afloat, horizontaly in front of her. "Don''t get so upset, pretty girl. Just made your toy better. Try it!" I said amused, as more witches started to appear from whatever hiding places they used. Kyrisa took the spear cautiously, then noticed how light it was and smiled with real joy. She had some skill, twirling the spear in a Soresu form, and then figuring out how to make the blade glow blue. Should work underwater, or even in vacuum, as long as someone provided some force connection. It didn''t have a kyber crystal drawing from the force directly,so it wouldn''t remained powered up. "I thinkthe ships above are yours, not of the Nightsisters''?" Augwynne Djo demanded sternly, with a hand covered in elemental fire. And she also had a lightsaber, hidden at the small of her back. Kriff. "Yes, venerable Miss Djo. Some upstarts dark jedi keep trying to exterminate all life on this world. And they brought a force-powered superweapon this time. About 5 kilometers long." I explained gently, floating up to check on the pyramid. Still locked tight, and the star chamber intact. Very good. I may actually need two of them, to figure out how to access the pocket dimension around the control chamber of the gates. The good witch flew up beside me, her aura warry. Should I be surprised she can also fly? She was strong, but only about the same as me. The elder Nightsisters were twice as strong. Seems pain and hate do make someone much stronger in the end. But just power, was useless. Without knowledge and a worthy aim, and a loving family...it was also for nothing. I stopped when we reached the top, to let the old witch rest on the wind scared stone, and catch her breath. "That evil starship, I sensed it, destroying dozens of ships in raids around the moons." the Singing Mountain leader said in a weary voice. "My ships, unfortunately. But now I captured the Devastation, so Dathomir should be safe, for a few years" I answered in a level tone, sitting down beside her and looking over the former homeworld of the Kwa. "And the Nightsisters? What are you going to do with them?" she asked, directly to the point. "Well, they want to be warriors. I''ll make them my Sisters of Battle, and send them to annoy bad people elsewhere in the galaxy. After they receive proper training and armor, of course. Proton bombs and turbolasers are harsh on the skin." I explained gently, while scanning her body attently. About 400 years old. Not bad for a human. She had the appearance of a sixty-year-old woman, with pale eyes and hair the color of moonlight. She was tall and regal, with facial features looking handsome as well as graceful, long-fingered hands. Mother Djo wore a tunic of glittering yellow scales over a hide robe with black lizard shapes sewn around the hem. Her ceremonial headdress was made of smooth golden wood, and was decorated with cabochons of yellow tigereye. "Savages, and cretins. The galaxy is full of them. Take the darksiders and leave, Emperor Pef. I want to raise my daughters in peace." the jungle queen proclaimed, pointing at the sky. "This planet will change, and become an Empire fortress world, Miss Djo. The Vong invasion will target this system with millions of bioships. They aim to exterminate all force users, and vongform all the force nexii. As the first stage of their plan, to conquer our galaxy too." I explained with a sadness pulse, and formed the propaganda holograms in my palm. "I can''t sense them...and they should be in my range. Bimmiel is only 3 sectors away..." she muttered with some distrust. "The images were taken with normal holorecorders, not with force vision. They do not have the force. Only biosynthesis and telepathy. Just like the dragons and the oswaft of our galaxy, but highly advanced and numbering in trillions and aggressive and organized religious fanatics." I said softly, giving her a datacube with most relevant info. "Like trillions of Sith. Oh dear Goddess, just those few ships out there won''t be enough..." The good witch realized with some delay as she stared at the innocuous tech in her hand like it was a live grenade. "Yes, much like the Sith. And the Jedi. Those clone soldiers they use in these clone wars, they are not volunteers, you know?" I said with a fake shrug, then gripped her with telekinesis and floated down. She remained silent after that, while she force scanned the nearby sectors for confirmation. What? Did the clones get to choose to be soldiers? I know even my future Astartes will get to choose. Well, between service branches at least. But medics and scientists and engineers will be welcome too. "We should take a short trip, and capture a few of these Vong. Life should not be possible without the Force..." Miss Djo whispered just before we landed. Heh. This was an universe of miracles. Anything was possible, with sufficient knowledge. And about that.... Make a note, and begin mining Dor the fourth planet of Endor now. Neutronium and other rare metals were cheaper to mine than to buy. Maybe fit it with sublight engines and steal the whole planet away? Mine it in secrecy, away from spies? Yep, that sounded even better. Our base at Rattatak was fairly close. Liberate Bunduki too, while at it. It was home to the Followers of Palawa, who developed the martial art of Ter?s K?si , after all. They would make good instructors for my troops. I had enough bota to make tonnes of self regenerating armor for my new project. Pyronium was rare, but only as rare as diamonds. I could buy Lucrehulks cargo of it. Untill we found a few asteroids to mine it too. Or possibly volcanoes, because melted lava was a thing here. And keep on eye out for Miss Barris Offee. She would lead me to the hidden nano-droid maker. So much knowledge, better put it to use. And only a dozen more clans to go. Sigh. We had holo-conference tech in this galaxy, why did I have to fly around looking for savage clans living in jungles and valleys? Bimmiel system, Galactic North, Yuuzhan Vong space (contested) Next week. We''re flying in stealth and silence, all 8 of us staring at the screens around the bridge walls with some concern, or even terror in some cases. Organics panic too easily. The Vong are clever and keep their big ships hidden in the Oort cloud, only using smaller ships to survey the hyper-route lanes and the single inhabited planet. Some Jedi already clashed with the Vong on the surface, and used the local fauna, some kind of huge packs of Slashrat , that were made to use an ability of theirs called killscent to track and destroy a Vong camp. Pretty standard tactic for Jedi, sacrificing whatever many locals to attain their objectives. Might have been Anakin, for all I know. I wasn''t yet, in this universe. Miss Djo was still suspicious though, distrusting the instruments of my Fade frigate. "You don''t have windows on this ship, images can be faked..." she said, quite correctly. "We have an observation blister, just below the hangar. If anyone wants to see the Vong ships with their own eyes, they can come" I told the other 7 Mothers that joined me on this trip. Mother Talzin knew better though and just continued to gather images and compare sizes and power outputs that the bioships emitted. Because they did. Even biotech operated by natural laws, fusing elements with cold fusion and gravity fields. The bioships had mass and displacement, even if they barely registered on magnetic sensors. But volumetric holocapture worked, as they ships still reflected light. And light can be analized spectographically and thus obtain the rough chemical composition. Carbon and silica, if you cared. We just couldn''t use active scans yet, to determine complete composition and durability for the Vong ships. Just had to keep a close watch and approximate hull thickness when a mouth opened to disgorge another smaller ship. About 100 meters thickness for their battleships, give or take. But they had to have nutrients conducts and capillaries for that skin armor, so perhaps only 50 meters of actual starship grade carapace. Still 10 timesthicker than a Victory Star destroyer''s armor. Miss Djo returned from the transparisteel cockpit unhappy. "I can see them all right. And lifeless in the force, although clearly alive. How can a being this large exist?" she wondered with confusion. What, 2 and 5 and 10 kilometer long battleships seem large? "The sarlacc of Felucia is 100 kilometers long and 5 kilometers thick. If not much bigger. I''ll let Miss Djo know, after I pluck it out and measure it..." I said with a fake shrug and a deep breath. It better not be 1000 kms long. I wasn''t sure I could deal with a worm that long. Mother Talzin typed rapidly on her console, and brought up a picture of the Ancient Abyss, from the files stored in the ship''s databanks. "The mouth of the Abyss is 4 kilometers wide. That sarlacc could be 10 kilometers thick. And who knows how long..." the Nightsister said with a bit of concern. "I might install engines on it, and use it as my space-mount. Should be the biggest ride in the galaxy..." I mused, half seriously. What? They did it in Dune! I could at least try... "Even you Emperor, might have a hard time bonding with such a big creature. The Felucians have been feeding sacrifices to that thing since times immemorial...'''' Talzin mused, with a doubtful voice. "Whatever, I could have it eat this whole fleet for lunch, then make it grow even bigger. And then..." I proclaimed and stopped, realizing the stupidity of my plan. Eating a few trillions Vong... and then needing a planet every week, to keep hunger away. "Let''s not make sarlacc spaceships that eat planets, Immortal Pef. We''re trying to stop an apocalypse, not cause a bigger one." The good witch concluded with a last look and a shudder towards the sarlacc mouth on the wall screen. Sadly the good witch is right. Sorry, my dream ride. Guess we''ll never get to ride together, in space and take bites of Vong worldships. No matter how cool that sounds. I''ll just have to use mundane tech, like Kyber lasers and Devastation-class force beams. Make a note. Convert a numbered Meteor to use the prow gun-beam of the Devastation. Because those ships were durable. And after I reverse-engineer it, equip all my numbered Meteors witha force beam weapon. Just in case. I had already scannedthe devicewith my technopatic senses, getting a first look at how it was put together, but it might be more complicated than just a ion charge cannon with a few synthetic red crystals than have been imbued with the blood of a thousand children. Dear Force, I hope It''s more complicated, or any two credit dark jedi could build a ship like that... It probably is, isn''t it? Just that most them them don''t live long enough, or think beyond their lightsaber. And since Sidious and Tyranus were both over 60 years old, and were both thinkers and manipulators... "Let''s land and interrogate some Vong prisoners." I said softly, as they other Mothers started to return to the bridge. Corporate sector Planet Bimmiel, Galactic North 30 minutes later. I found an isolated camp of Vong troopers, who may not be missed. They are planting some kind of crystals and plants looking even more weird than most things I''ve seen so far. Lambent most likely, used as communication crystals or light sources, as they could be dimmed or brightened by the thoughts of whoever possessed them. They also can be used to sense or pre-sense hidden enemies. Didn''t sense me, but then I wasn''t organic. A few hundreds Grashal used to grow nutrient vines. And water paddies like rice ones, low, water-filled paddies were seeded with villip plants, which grow into long, fleshy stalks recognizable by their triad of blue leaves. Two to five berries would bud from the stalks, feeding symbiotically and developing telepathic communication channels originally meant to scan for predators on the villip plant''s home planet. Soon the berries grew to about the size of a melon, and Shapers would pluck the matured villips from their stalks. Perfect. I wanted a way to intercept their transmissions. Now, let''s see, how to confiscate this plantation? Telekinesis doesn''t work. Eh, whatever. Force grip their brains with Fire-nets and squeeze. Flop. 142 Vong farmers crashed dead, while I brought 2 survivors next to me, wrapped in wind alter. Telepathy doesn''t work. Damn. Animal Bond? Not exactly working...just fear and panic. Force persuasion, ''sleep''. Fail. Bleh. I don''t speak Vong. Let''s just knock their heads together for now with compressed air. Cranial trauma highly effective. Then again, organics. Rip off an arm or two and they die screaming. Unless I stop blood flow at the right veins and reattach them soon. Talzin survived just fine. Let''s drag a dozen sample of these plants, then set fire to the place. Cause exorcism works best with fire. And fly away, invisible and undetected... ''You''re having too much fun, Pef. Those Vong soldiers seem very dangerous to me.'' Wialu muttered, from Ranroon, while trying to pacify some maniac cultists there. Seems Xim did a number on them, and they haven''t forgotten. ''Eh, I''ll be fine anyway. But black ops missions, they get my blood boiling'' I explained in a grave tone. ''You don''t have blood.'' my Voice replied, not really convinced. What? Where is my blood? Oh. Crystal self. Nevermind...the fires were spreading, and a few slash-rats poked their noses curious at the smell of burning Vong meat. Seems slashrats are slightly sentient, in larger groups. Oh, poor little omnicidal creatures. Have a taste, and spread the word! Vong taste better after they are dead and a little fried. Fire? Sure, you have thumbs...spark a few metal bits...no metal? Stones? Every planet has stones...gather dry grass, spark some hard stones together, voila fire! Firegod? Sure, you can call me that, I don''t mind. Heh, uplifting a new species to use fire. Only a few thousands, in range of my memory imprint, but they might spread the word. Pef the Prometheus, of genocidal rats. Now, let''s close the hangar sally and fly away...with my captured loot. A few thousands lambent crystals, not fully grown. A hundred or so strawberry things that can communicate telepathically. A dozen roots to see what these things eat. And two live prisoners. But first thing, let''s take off their biosuits...uh. No zippers, damn it. Use the force Pef! Kinetic force. Power armor is very strong. There, explosive strip tease! Their crab-like shells ruptured violently, spraying the barracks walls with purple ichor and organs. They never bathed in their whole life, my olfactive sensors alerted me, as methane and other pollutants became evident inmy air scans. The Dathomirian Mothers managed not to kill each other while I was gone, and gathered behind me to stare. "You brought a female as well. Very thoughtful of you, Emperor Pef. Now, Let''s dissect the male first, I want to see what makes it tick." Miss Djo, the paragon of the light side said politely, producing a sharp knife from somewhere. Talzin produced a plasma scalpel, which she conjured from nothing. Hmm. I wanted that ability too. Plasma alter seemed useful. Sadly, some extra dimensional force prevents me from describing the details of the next 12 hours. Centrality, Open Sea 21 BBY So, back to more relaxing things, like meeting with the Oswaft elders. Feytihennasraof was big guy, over 1 km wide, so a bitwider than my Calamari cruiser. And his Maser voice-stream was almost the strength of a medium maser, which for something organic was pretty good. And gives me ideas on a future Force-maser beam. I kept the Rakata field turned off though, since the Oswaft might not like howthe lion inside replied. And why does my Calamari cruiser have a maser battery and 100 ion cannons? Pure coincidence. "So, Avatar of Immortal Pef, also known as Honored Avatar Greyshade, Voice of the Emperor, Metal Gand, Adeptus Astartes, Omnissiah and Master of Orion, Merchant Prince for the Commonality and Mand''alore the Charming and richest man in the galaxy. You want us to be friends and allies." the Oswaft Elder sent with a maser message. Uh, I hope he knows I don''t need to be called that at every sentence. Then again, his fellow elder is called Senwannus''gourkahipaff so this might be a regular name for him. "Indeed elder. My Empire can benefit from such extraordinary explorers like yourself, charting the galaxy. For example, we''re looking for a lost colony of humans, at the northern edge of the open sea, about 4000 years ago. They should number in billions and be very small mammals about 500 times smaller than your body" I explained politely, while sending a telepathic message with a normal temperate planet, then going closer and seeing lakes and cities. And closer and seeing trees and people. He replied with a near identical image, but the cities looked different and the people wore different clothes. Then he hyperjumped without explanation, but I kept a force marker on him and his vector. A hundred stars lower on the galactic plane than our droids were focused on. I sent the coordinates to the hyperspace tracker of our navdroids. "Follow that Elder Oswaft, Nav" I said out loud, and we jumped to hyperspace after him. Because if Fay or Maul could do it, so can I now. "You''re tracking him through hyperspace...seems I did choose the right husband" Clara exclaimed, half happy, half envious. Now that I think on this, it does seem a valuable tool for spies. "This jump may take 5 to 6 hours. Let''s try to obtain a heir for all my titles" I murmured in her ear, while fondling her uniform. "Oh my..." my wife started to complain, before I shut her up. With a kiss. Renatasia system, Pef Empire (almost) 21 BBY The system actually has 8 planets, 2 of them inhabited. Renatasia IV looks pretty similar to the Commonality planets, only with older tech levels. Renatasia III is just fields and pastures, producing food for the billions of forgotten colonists. Not very efficiently though, still using manual labor and animal muscle for traction. A few millenia-old transport ships, with sublight engines, are making non-stop rounds, carrying cereals and meat to the hungry billions of the populous world. Use the plastic thing, if you can''t feed your children... Our scans detect plenty valuable minerals on the other planets already. Well, at least those that emit radiation on their own, like neutronium and uranium. "Thanks Elder. I''ll arrange a space station to be constructed farther into the comet cloud, for keeping in contact and gifting you with maser translators and holo-tech. Come back next month, and bring any adventurous youngsters who wish to explore the galaxy." I sent to the huge sentient manta, with long tentacles and vacuum immunity. Wait, the angels on Iego were also immune to vacuum, if not capable of hyperjumps. Probably. Let''s hope not. I should bring a few angels here too. They''ll like the Oswaft for sure, and use them as mounts. Win-win. And if they learn to hyperjump too...I''ll deal with it. Somehow. Herding cats might be hard, if they can jump to hyperspace. Now, let''s slice in and take over the main transmission towers for their news bulletins. Cause, this planet was pretty much like my old one. Competing governments, and warring armies. At least they still used galactic basic. "Greetings citizens of Renatasia. This is Avatar Greyshade. Rejoice, for today you are found. No longest lost, your colony is. My hyperspace cruiser is now in orbit over the fourth planet of this system. Please send any questions you have to our com droids, using regular coms. Our number, on every network, is 2. Press 2 and speak with our very pleasant droid chat operators." I proclaimed on the holorecorder, after taking off my helmet. A face does make a man, after all. Even if I copied mine from Jaybo. Hey, I have 40 thousands droids on board, they can answer basic questions. Like: ''where are we? what year is it? who leads the Republic?'' and so on. "Peffy, these people...you''re not bringing them into the Centrality, right? They''ll cause problems and disturb the work markets..." Clara muttered in my neck. "The Pef Empire has some 200 planets that need colonists, adorable wife. Don''t worry, everything will be fine" I replied, stealing another kiss. Uh, still live on the holorecorder. No matter, this just proves I love my wife. Let''s hope no one paid attention to my secret name... "That will be all for now, gentlebeings. I have to return to Mandalore now, but a Voice of the Emperor will arrive soon, with uplift technologies. Farewell, and see you soon!" I proclaimed grandly, then made sure to cut the transmission. "Setting hyperdrives coordinates for Zebitrope system, Avatar. Estimated travel time at 0.9 speed, 13 hours" the tactical droid announced loudly. The Findsman captain checked it again, to make sure we didn''t hit a star or something. And jump. ---------- Planet Dathomir, Pef Empire 21 BBY Old Daka was very pleased with the Vong prisoners too. Sheseemed pretty baffled why some sisters'' magicks didn''t work on them, but she''ll figure it out. The male one was pretty cut up, so he may not survive long, since every Mother wanted some bits of him to study. Oh well, there''s trillions more where he came from. Not like anyone would miss a farmer. The woman was a bit more interesting, some kind of higher caste. Maybe Intendant caste . They might miss her, but it wasn''t like I could give her back. Let''s hope the slashrats eat the bones too. Still trying to form a Vong vocabulary, but the woman seemed disinclined to cooperate. She''ll be sorry soon. I''ll leave a few droids to record her screams when Daka gets to her. Now, I had to reverse engineer the Devastation and that Wennis cruiser with hellfire projectors from the Centrality Navy. Then get ready to study the Scepter of Ragnos. It should be en route to Gand as well, by now. "Well, most learned Mothers. Time to decide. Do you want to have powerful clan planets of your own, with skyscrapers and starships and jacuzzi baths, with millions of sisters, each helping the Pef Empire grow and civilize the galaxy. Or back to the mud huts and caves and rancors?" I asked gently, as I glided a few crates with advanced tech and armor from the cargo hold. The lids opened and they gathered round poking this or that, straining to lift some bolt pistols meant for power armors. "My clan sisters are not warriors Emperor. But, some civilization doesn''t sound too bad. And medicine and knowledge...we can help, in our own way" Miss Djo said after a minute of internal deliberation. Healers are good too. "Great news Miss Djo. I''ll make a few dozen holocrons for you, with what biological and engineering knowledge I know. The Vong will use viruses and plagues, and we need to prepare" I answered with a polite tone. "I''d like some holocrons with force abilities, if you could, Emperor" Another Clan Mother said with a bit of hesitation. Hey, I''m not the Jedi archives, keeping everything locked up! "Sure, no problem Honored Mother. I know a few hundred abilities, gifting a few to my loyal allies is a great pleasure. Although, a dozen of them involve sacrificial rituals and draining entire planets of life. Or turning people in zombies. Or wiping memories. Or.." "I get it, Immortal Pef. Nothing radical. Healing and speed and such. Keep the terrifying ones to use on the Vong or others like them." the Dathomirian Mother replied with a shudder. "I''ll make a composite then, for each of you. The basics, and a few energy abilities. But, in a years or two, I expect every sister to know them, or I won''t give you more" I declared sternly, holding a finger up. "That sounds...really good. You''re not what we expected, Emperor" another Mother said, with keen eyes. Huh, what did they expect? "And, I''ll select a few maids from each clan. They''ll return with me on Gand, and learn from my gardener. This place...is too tame. Miss Zero will make them 10 times stronger." I said, with a pulse of vague creepiness and terror that I associated with my Avatar''s teacher. The Mothers looked around at the menacing jungles and the screaming of animals being devoured alive behind the walls of vines and leaves, and then at their rancors, domesticated and with saddles, and gulped in unison. Yeah, be afraid, be very afraid. The poor girls will have to craft clothes and baskets and even tree houses, without their hands, just with their minds. Using grass. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. And after that, compose poems, using ants and snakes to form letters. And after that, scorpions or sharks?...or no. I skipped that. What was it? Unarmed combat or lightsabers? One or the other, my Avatar only used his hands anyway. Sometimes kicks. Deka laughed gently, and stabbed the Vong woman with a syringe made of green mist. Made her talk, alright. Well, the Vong can scream, so that''s verified. Still, you''re ruining the mood, mad scientist witch. "Don''t forget to get me a few Sith holocrons, dear droid. I might find something to...kriff. Her leg melted off! I thought you said these Vong are very resilient." Daka complained with an annoyed voice, kicking the twitching leg away, and going for the next leg. Yea, not if you inject them with plasma or acid alter. Still just organics. "Try some sound alter too. Most organics feel vibrations, after all" Iadvised Dakawith a curious tone. "Interesting thought, inventive and...yep. The finger fell off. Just need a medium to transfer the ability, like a wire or shard of glass..." Old Daka muttered with real concern. Not sure if it''s science or alchemy, but I don''t mind, if it works. Okay then. Time toconstruct a space station in Dathomir''s orbit, and start building civilization here as well. But, first! Picking up new maids. I loved this part. Planet Gand, Pef Empire Zero Garden 21 BBY two weeks later I looked at the host of 25 maids that I selected to join me from the Dathomiran clans, then at Miss Zero, who wasn''t happy at all. "These girls are hopeless, Droid Emperor. How can they be one with the Force, and control their surroundings, if they can''t control themselves?" Zero whispered, with a little despair in her aura. Huh, my Avatar spoiled her alright. Not everyone was born with Master''s levels of force connection and control. "Let them learn slowly Zero. Remember, savage jungle planet with rancors as their mounts. Whatever teaching methods they had, they invented themselves. Their Mothers though, are at least our equals. You can learn from them as well, as they learn from you." I answered with my vocoder, but forming an air channel to restrict vibrations to a voice tube, like on submarines. Zero noticed and smiled sadly. She still couldn''t use air alter, yet. "Stop inventing foolish abilities, Immortal Pef. That''s the fifth you did, past week. I''ll never live long enough to learn them all." my Zero Hand complained, punching my shoulder in a friendly gesture. The power armor''s pauldron almost cracked. And it was made to withstand starship levels of damage. She really was very friendly. "You will, Miss Zero. As long as you stay away from saber duels and leading clone armies with a flashlight. Half of the Order''s Knights are already dead." I said in a gentle voice, and turned to leave. "I sense them die...all over the galaxy. Masters and Knights and padawans too...and a lightsaber is a sacred weapon, not a toy..." Zero replied hesitantly, just as my personal Fade frigate came about, to pick me up. Not really sure about the last part, are you? Tools should never be made sacred. And soon, the Jedi Order will be gone. Fugitives and rebels, begging for food and help from whatever planets they didn''t opress that much. Making friends with pirates and smugglers, to obtain transport and information. If only there was a safe place for them to run to. Once in orbit again, I spread my senses to the nearby shipyards, now forming half a circle around Gand. Back to constructing a warship, using the Wennis cruiser as a template. Well. Not really. I''ll make something on the lines of the Strike-class medium cruiser , which were small enough to use the 0.75 hyperdrives of the Diamonds and Fades. The shape would be much the same, but with a pair of stubby wings for extra missile launchers and a pair of small hangars underneath. The core of the warship shouldn''t be left vulnerable by having large hangar doors. Gonna have to rearrange the same for my MC80 Liberty cruisers. A few of them exploded due to lucky hits through their hangars. Now. An ion cannon battery or two at the prow, because they''re always useful to collapse ray shields and ionize small ships. Let''s make it two then, 4 guns in each battery. Then 40 heavy masers and 40 plasma guns, my own version of the old hellprojectors on the Wennis. The masers on top and the plasma projectors below, in case I needed a planet sterilized from orbit. 3 tractor beams, one at the prow and two beside the hangars doors. 80 Missile launchers, 30 on every wing and 10 protecting the prow and engines. And 60 gatling lasers, 20 on the wings and 10 to the prow and ten more around the engines. And let''s add a bank of proton torpedo launchers as well,2 on each wing. Barracks for 600 Marines and large storage capacity, for a droid division and 20 light tanks. In each hangar, 50 Biplane droid starfighters and one Reaper or other advanced starfighter, plus 3 dropships. Just enough to drop all marines in a single wave, or a few tanks, or a droid battalion. Minimal organic crew 2, maximum 30. Mostly gunners and officers. And 10 thousands droids crewmen, from cooks and medics, to repair and damage control. Also backup droid gunners and tactical droids. Shields, again thosecopied from the MC40 calamari light cruiser, which were about the half strength as the new Victory star destroyer, but recharged much faster. I''ll need to find better shields somewhere, but for now the Calamari shields were still the best. 5 meters of durasteel armor, same as the Victory. And then Solanus can bathe them with a layer of diamondoid and bioarmor. And a raised upper fin, for com and sensors. Approximate cost, between 10 and 15 million credits. A bit more with the droid crew and fighters. Something for all the largish shipyards in my Empire to build, and be able to defend a system for minor threats. For now, they''ll be used in the same role as the Muni destroyers, as escorts for the Meteors and Lucrehulks. 10 trillion credits wasn''t that much. Even 15 trillions. Damn it. Why were these ships so slow to build? I should go to Redforge and begin drilling next batch of Meteors too. One thousand more Meteors were all brought up from all over the deserted systems where we melted asteroids and packed them together with tractor beams. The scraps of iron that remained were used to make the skeleton of new Orion corvettes, with double numbers of missile launchers. ''Emperor, the Fade frigate from Coruscant has arrived. The Culexus droid has the item'' my third Hand sent from the Celestial Throne. ''Be right there. And the other thing?'' I asked over the secure net. ''When we are in the Redbox, stupid droid. Coms can be decrypted'' My spymaster muttered with a serious tone and turned the com off. Hey, you could have said yes or no...no need to be so secretive. Or maybe you did? Planet Gand, Pef Empire Celestial Throne, Redbox The Culexus droid stood in front of me, the very expression of combining technology with the force. Or rather, in spite of the force. They were modeled after the A-series assassin droid and looked pretty nice. It wore a backpack with an ysalamiri lizard inside. And a personal cloak field. Armed with ion blasters and Gand dischargers and disruptor rifles and Verpine shatter guns, and gas dispensers. The bane of almost any organics, that didn''t have the proper codes to subvert the loyalty chip. And my best work, almost creating a 4.5 th generation droid, unlike the normal 4th rank combat droids in the CIS. It also had two Full-spectrum transceiver on the front armor and back of the backpack, and six Droideka types of sensors which worked on various spectrums. "This loyal unit has returned, Droid Emperor. The holocron is safe. I deserve a promotion." the cheeky thing said politely, extracting the blue cube from the case at the small of it''s back. "Of course, my faithful servant. You have two branches I can send you to. As instructor for the Droid Defense Force at Malagarr, with the rank of General. You will be given command of that Academy, and a budget of 500 billion credits to prepare a billion new droids as veteran soldiers in our Pef Army." I proclaimed, taking the holocron and tossing it over my shoulder into an olbio tree pot. "Very promising. Please continue" Culexus 0096 said in an impressed voice. "Or, as Office Assassinorum Triumvir, for the Black Operations Group, under my Third Hand directly. You''ll be working with the most vile organic assassins in the galaxy, and exterminate all those who oppose our Empire. Rank of Colonel, and personal Fade frigate. But, your subordinates will include only thousands of specialized droids and organics, most of them willing and able to kill you for your position" I said, in a more gentle tone. My Third Hand wasn''t really happy with this option, but I needed someone dependable to oversee the Malkii poisoners. "Oh, a test and a challenge! This unit prefers the latter, if Terminator-class cortosis power armor is provided" my droid answered after considering for a minute. Huh, not stupid at all. Even I would have some trouble breaking a Terminator armor. "Excellent, present yourself in the Mechatronic lab in 45 minutes. And congratulations for a great mission, Operative Arnold 006" I answered with an inner smile. "New designation, Arnold 006, for the sixth perfect mission this unit has achieved. Arnold...compatible. For the Empire!" my droid concluded, and began unpacking the lizard from it''s shock-absorbing backpack spacesuit. A minute later, the ysalamiri was back in its tree, and starting to wake up from the long sleep. "A risky option, giving a droid that kind of armor. It''s too strong. Then again, those Malkii are quite devious. You want to expose any potential flaws..." Lu''daal-ud mused, sipping more brandy and leaning on his expensive couch. Heh, he began figuring out how I did things, alright. The sarlacc on Tatooine was assassinated after two attempts only, and with just a single casualty. The first guy taking tissue samples, by hand. They used repulsor courier bots after that, with biopsy utensils. The one on Felucia was fine though. Poison didn''t bother it at all. Then again, those vials of poison might still be falling, and haven''t reached its stomach yet. It might be a thousand kilometer long, after all. Kriff, I kinda want a thousand kilometers space worm to ride in battle... But whatever holocron Jabba had, we couldn''t find yet, since the crater left when that crazy CIS frigate crashed on top of his hideout was pretty big. Jabba had started as a small crime lord, but quickly spread his influence into a variety of illegal activities, including spice-smuggling, gunrunning, slavery, and sometimes outright piracy. Known for his cruelty and carnal fancies, Jabba the Hutt was powerful enough to command respect and payment from the Galaxy''s ruling government, so much so that during the current Clone Wars the Republic went to great lengths to avoid Jabba''s displeasure. Too bad then. The Mafia Hutts were scrambling now to pick up pieces of his trade empire and information network, killing each other and their soldiers, and ignoring my empire. The Civilized Hutts around Hutt space were amused and betting on who really did it. Somehow Palpatine figured in top three, after Dooku and Ziro , an uncle of Jabba. Guess who planted that tidbit of misinformation on the Blacknet that the Hutts used. On the galactic map, our southern fleet was now holding Aduba system in preparation for on assault on Teth, while a group of 12 Meteors was en route down the Trellian trade route. Proto One is still negotiating for Boonta, but even 60 billion credits aren''t enough. The Syvris system in the south, should be much cheaper to buy. The conquest of the Corporate sector was going slow, since the CIS has new A-DSD advanced dwarf spider droid , used as armor support. And they have missiles to keep our flyers away. We just taken the Oslumpex system in totality, and were now fortifying it. Also Gaurick system , Issagra and Saclas . But, about 300 planets of the Corporate sector were already taken, only the Etti system resisting most attack fiercely. For now. The Kalla system had extensive minefields which made it hard to conquer directly. With normal means. The northern fleets were still dispersed, taking as much ground as possible, wherever a weakness could be exploited. I will have to create a droid walker for our own armies as well. Those scout walkers that the republic uses? Don''t work well with my troops. For some reason. I guess I can modify one of these spider walkers. After I return from the Redforge. "When is the scepter coming?" I asked again. "Today, if the route is clear. Or next week. The CIS controls most hyperlanes, you know?" My third Hand said with a bit of frustration. How is that my fault? And I certainly didn''t want that scepter being captured by dark jedi. "We should start preparing for the Spaarti operation. Deorbiting iron asteroids through. Ice comets aren''t that effective." I said out loud, calculating risks and opportunity. Too soon and we reveal our hand. Too late and Palpatine has billions of stormtroopers. "You could cut off the Hydian way too. At Corsin would be ideal, but we need to keep Mandalore space supplied." Zuckuss added with a long sigh. "We can''t yet. Mandalore is neutral and weak. We''ll find another route, if our sixth Hand uses his survey droids wisely." I said gently. "So, still on with the main attack at Celanon then. They''ll bring a huge fleet to break our blockade" Zuckuss asked, still not trusting his Emperor. "Of course they will. And so will we. If we can take Etti in two weeks" I replied with a wondering voice. "We will, Metal Gand. 10 Mountains are heading towards Etti system now, with 100 million war droids. A million should survive and claim the planet for us. And 10 of the new organic divisions as well. To produce more cyborgs for the Omnissiah, if any survive" Zuckuss said a bit sour, from the brandy or for my decisions. Cause no. Not bombarding planets if I could help it. 50 billion credits lost with a huge droid army was worth it. Planets were rare, and life was precios. Legends Planet Gand, Pef Empire Celestial Throne Next week "Teth? That''s Wild Space. The droid army isn''t even in that sector." ¨DAnakin Skywalker If it wasn''t for the strategic location at the node of two trade routes, nobody would want this planet, with its jungles and forests. Only pirates and smugglers did business here till last year. Our liberation is being called the Teth Offensive, by a vague memory from a distant planet. The Teth offensive is going poorly, because why not create our own Vietnam, dear history lesson? It''s a four way war there, with CIS, the Republic, Pef Empire and the Hutts throwing armies desperately at each other. Well. At least the Republic isn''t shooting at my troops, yet. Not helping either. The Hutts want to prove something, or Ziro is defending his father''s grave. Also, there are wild rancors, because why not? They bite everything not protected by medium armor. Flight is severy restricted by swarms of Hunting fly which clog engines and crash gunships. Some Jedi can fly on Can-cell insects, but missiles are bad for their health then. Inner Teth is pretty much divided into sectors, with snipers and tanks defending any access corridor. A dozen Jedi died in the last three days there, and more are coming. A few red lightsabers were also spotted by our snipers, but they seem to prefer duels with the Jedi, than coming close to our lines. The pirates are helping the CIS, for some reason, and shoot at everyone else. The B''omarr Order are scooping the brains of every injured they find on the battlefields, and ''save'' them, by installing the still living brains in nutrient bowls under spider droids. So glad I didn''t send any marine divisions there... The space battle is also contested, mostly by my fleet and the CIS, as the others have laughable inventory. We lost 100 Muni destroyers for 400 Munificent frigates, so...it''s about okay. 50 Invictus-class carriers are heading towards this battlefield, so test the new Biplane starfighters and reduce our loses from small fighters sinking bigger vessels by abusing their starfighter Vulture numbers. But as the focus of the CIS is on Teth, which they consider important, we had taken Bherizwithout a fight, and are building huge mines to exploit the Teniline granule deposits, and provide our shipyards with the highly expensive and rare mineral needed to make hyperdrives. Misdirection and mirrors still work, even against Sith Lords. Planet Dor in the Endor system has been quietly kidnapped, and taken away, to be mined to the core, in secrecy. Enough minerals there to construct a billion ships. A single Lucrehulk advanced one jump on the Kessel run, and found Prishella III was not claimed. Free planet! Little Kessel has a small CIS garison though, so two more Lucrehulks are heading there to liberate it. What do you mean, there was no CIS? Look at those dead B1 droids without uniforms. They were CIS, right? Aeneid system will be trickier, since there are 13 inhabited planets, in a single star system. Yea, pure luck and happenstance. Not that the Maw is right next door, and the Celestials were known for constructing highly improbable star systems from scratch. Like Corellia. Sigh. I hope there''s nothing there that will eat the locals alive. It probably is, isn''t it? ''Can I nuke like 12 cities here on Renastasia? Only the capitals. The rest of them should calm down then. Why did you tell them the Avatar is Mand''alore? They have lots of preconceptions and prejudices about that.'' Solana sent me with an annoyed tone. ''Manda''lore the Charming, tell them that! Only for the girls, not for the warrior culture...well, not yet'' I sent back, a bit ashamed. Sigh, 4000 years ago, when the colonists of Renastasia had departed the Old Republic, the Mandalorians were kinda pillaging the galaxy. But times have changed! ''You''re pillaging a quarter of the galaxy, right now!'' Ventress added her misguided opinion. ''Saving! And liberating and building...'' ''Kidnapping young women to make them your maids...'' Dora added with a bit of humour. ''Rescuing, from misery and slavery! You''re all billionaires and have ships and privileges...'' I muttered with some despair. ''Pef the Despot, they call you here...'' Wialu added her own voice to the chorus. Because the current Queen Indrexu still remembered her ancestor being kidnapped and forcefully married by Xim the Despot. But, it was all a misunderstanding! NOOOOOOOOOO! ------------- Planet Mandalore , Pef Empire Charming Castle , apartment 5A a second later "Something wrong Peffy?" Alisia and Alice asked me concerned, as the Avatar spasmed in his sleep and woke them up. "Nah, just a weird dream. You girls love me, right?" I asked with a tinge of panic. "Of course we do. You beat us up, and forced us to marry you. Everything is perfect..." They spoke in a strange echo, and their eyes glinted with a secret look. NOOOOOOOOO! Planet Gand, Pef Empire Celestial Throne 21 BBY , next week A month has 7 weeks in this galaxy, and a year ten months. It''s a bit confusing. The weeks have 5 days so it''s even worse. But the Teth Offensive is now in the second week, and our front lines have advanced 4.3 centimeters. By the time the war ends, we may cross the street. Who ever conceived such deployment, taking only a quarter of the city, and leaving the other factions take theirs unopposed? Also, too few troops to do anything spectacular. Droids were easily ambushed in cities and jungles. So, we stay on defense. Our Empire needs people, lots of people. Most planets around Gand, including Gand, have only a million citizens. And buying slaves wasn''t quite as profitable as I first thought. The Hutts just attacked more defenseless people to sell them to me. This was encouraging slavers! I needed a new strategy, which the lost colony of Renatasia proved a vital clue. Immigration! Even if a billion or two people from Renatasia chose to relocate, it was too small a number. We''re not building walls, we''re giving land and farm droids for new colonists! So, a minute later, I composed a campaign of attracting young, vigorous (or sick) people from the major ecumenopolises around the galaxy. "Emigrate to the Pef Empire now! Hundreds of virgin planets, with forests and rivers and green fields! Request a visa from our nearest embassy, and poverty is far behind you! A farm, or a job in an office. Piloting a starfighter or working in a shipyard. Earn three times the galactic average. Free housing. Farming droids. Free education! Only a few billion may get the chance. Hurry and become happy, in the Pef Empire!" I declared using my Voices and maids faces for better impact. Now, let''s transmit this to all the big planets, from Grizmallt to Ator and Carratos , Denon and Metellos, Trantor and Humbarine . I''ll avoid Coruscant and Nar Shaddaa, since it wasn''t that kind of operation. But these planets alone had 500 billion, even 900 billion people each. There had to be plenty hungry or poor people there, right? And when they arrived and were given their free education, they''ll become loyal and perfect citizens. Any force master would resist most of the imprint, like Talzin proved, making me insist, a few times. But those were less than a hundred now. But normal humans, would be imprinted with the empire laws along with their desired courses, and work to build a better future. I should send some propaganda to the other cute species out there, like Twi''leks and Togruta and maybe the Firrerreo and the Alsakan as well. Sure, why not. My insectile Gand friends were great, but not compatible with my atavic soul and the Avatar genes. And just imagine, from those billions of immigrants, I could select hundreds more maids, with force-connection, and millions of Sisters of Battle and Astartes templates... A great idea indeed! ''How are they gonna get here, Pef?'' ''What will they eat?'' Where will you educate them? What if they bring children?'' Wialu and Dora started bombarding me, with irrelevant questions. ''We''ll figure it out. What if nobody comes?'' I asked, a bit worried. ''Silly Pef. They''ll come, all right'' Lira said with a certain tone. Huh. The locals might know better about some things. ''You should prepare for an invasion, Pef. The subterranean levels on those worlds are quite gruesome'' Dora added, with a tinge of reminisce. Huh, I never asked how they became slaves. ''On Carratos. My family was...it was bad. You''ll need a larger passenger spacestation at Junkfort. And Centares. And start building cities.'' Lira said with a determined tone. Okay then. I''ll do that. After this battle was won, and Celanon was taken and the Hydian Way blockaded. The battle for Etti was finally over. And every Meteor and Mountain was gathering at Phindar, with just a single group of 12 Meteors going to secure Listehol and block the way up the Hydian way as well. The Republic should have an easy victory now...oh. Not yet. The CIS had this huge fleet building at Rendili , while under blockade from the Republic fleet, which was ordered not to intervene and destroy those shipyards, by their dear Supreme Chancellor. The Duro fleet should go and help out, destroying the fleet under construction and part of the shipyards. They''ll just have to jump 1000 kilometers above the North pole of that planet, and shoot once. Three thousands MAC rounds, fired by the thirty Meteors of the Duro fleet, should be enough to destroy most of the shipyards and the ships under construction, while sparing the population from direct fire. Then continue onwards, to Centares and join the fleet massing at Phindar, in preparation for the Celanon liberation. And orders sent. The Dornean Admiral should know what steps to take. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. For once, I was glad someone capable was in charge of a major operation. ''And so you learn, Pef. Do what you can do, and let others do, what you can''t. Also, the Diathim here at Renatasia station are making a mess. Why do I have to herd 30 hyperactive energy beings?'' Solana muttered in the bond, now that most of the problems were solved with the people on the planet. Finding out that the evil dark jedi were trying to kill everyone, with orbital bombardments kinda turned the public opinion back towards our glorious Empire. Plus our Holonews and the contact Lucrehulks bringing luxuries from a hundred worlds. They''ll come around, as our education centers open for newest technologies and jobs that appeared since 4000 years ago. In a decade or two, they''ll be loyal citizens all. For now, only few thousands of the new citizens traveled to the Centrality, and none beyond Junkfort. Why? because the war required us to keep travel to minimum, except internally, towards new colonies. Planet Phindar, Pef Empire Next week Those pretty shipyards at Rendili are toast now, since they didn''t even bother to shield them. The fleets being built there are gone as well, and the hundred billion people they were going to snuff out at Humbarine are saved. I hope. The Republic is not happy, since the Rendili had living workers on those shipyards. Huh? How does that make any difference? Tanks have crew in them too. At Phindar, the last corvette arrives, at the last minute. The paint hasn''t dried...wait, we don''t paint the corvettes untill they survive one year. No point wasting paint on unlucky ships. And sadly, corvette loses are the worst of any classes of ships, with barely one in a hundred surviving a whole year. Then again, we''re at war, and our crews and officers have minimal training. Peffy is not with the fleet, nor is any of my dear friends or family. We might lose all the ships in the next battle, especially if the dark jedi have another Subjugator or two. Admiral Etahn A''baht will have command, from his new Mountain flagship. Because he will have 10 million droids on that ship, to keep him safe from boarding. Five numbered Meteors, one of them with a force beam weapon, only using natural kyber crystals along with couple big synthetic ones from the Devastation. It still has 40 MACs, though it''s unsure if there''ll be any power left in the capacitors after the beam fires. We can''t actually test the weapon in secret, since every time it fires, every master in the galaxy can sense it. The Devastation is present as well, since it''s a 7 kilometer long dreadnaught, with some few upgrades by me. Like 50 short MACs , only 2 kilometer long. Cause, there was a big hole left there after I dismantled the big ion pulse beam. Should do well enough with frigates and such. 305 Meteors and 10 Mountains are gathered here, along with 1000 Muni destroyers and 400 Recu carriers. The Calamari ships are also not present, but instead we have 330 Lucrehulks donuts and 3000 corvettes. The Lucrehulks will provide engine protection for the big guys. And also carry some fighters. The Recu carriers have fighters too. 5000 thousand ships and 1 million fighters. Please don''t die! ''You''re being too dramatic Pef. They can''t have enough to break your fleet'' Wialu sent me, as she was returning to Gand, with a promise of MPT, in case Dooku really went crazy. ''I have my Peffy, so I''m good. Let me know how the battle went'' Lira sent in a dismissive tone, as she was exploring my Avatar and the joys of being young and vir... "Emperor Pef, we are departing in 10 seconds. For the Empire !" my Admiral announced as if I didn''t know. But following orders and rules was cool too. Planet Gand, Pef Empire "They shall not pass, Admiral. For the Empire!" I answered solemnly on the holorecorder, and punched toward the sky. And there you go. Not that we didn''t have Fades and stealth satellites all over the sector, and expanding our network faster than lightspeed. Already we could backtrack most spies just by noting their jump route through 3 adiacent systems from our borders. So you claim you''re a refugee from New Apsolon Great! But that ship came from beyond Gyndine and didn''t even stop on New Apsolon. Come on, at least try harder! Anyway, I had a Scepter of Ragnos now, but a depleted one. I''ll have to go drain some dark side planet. The Silver Forest of Dreams on Kubindi is quite close, and not very important. There a kilometer tall tree there, with 20 meter leaves. Smaller than the wookie trees, but extraordinary by being the only such tree on the planet. Something must fuel it. And if the tree it''s not dark, I''ll visit Felucia, and stare into the Abyss. And Dathomir next. That was quite a dark place, most likely. Only problem, I couldn''t quite tell, which one was which. For a crystal like myself, the force simply was, not light or dark. Just a grey haze, stronger in some places. The ysalamiri, for example, didn''t cut me off from the force, they just restricted outward effects, of the living force. The essence transfer worked just fine, and my Voices could hear my thoughts. So, Bendu used something like my Cosmic Force, only tangible, to float the lizards around. Good to know then. One step farther, into knowledge. Let''s take a few maids and see what they discover with the living force senses. In the pilot seat of the Fade, Culexus 0097 stood with the Scepter in his hand, inside a cortosis suitcase, keeping it safe from observation. We flew down to the Zero garden to collect a few pretty deadly girls. "Honored maids, we''re going on a trip, to see a big tree. So, Kirana Ti , Kara''Teel , Kyrisa , Duala Aidu , Magash Drashi and Talia , come, hop in!" I yelled from the door of my Fade frigate. "Yay, no more grass! Now it''s a tree!" Kyrisa exclaimed, dropping the half completed tunic she was weaving with telekinesis and Plant alter. The other witch girls were more circumspect, expecting some kind of test or trap. Which of course it was. Celanon system, CIS space. Next day Planet Celanon wasn''t important on itself. Only a single largish city, the capital Celanon City with about 50 million people. But, the system was the key to a hyper-route nexus, on the Hydian Way, the longest and most important trade route in the galaxy. The rest of the planet is rural and tribal. Perfect for my plans, which involve guerrilla warfare. As the extra 15 Lucrehulks with gravity interdictors arrived in the system, 10 of them headed towards other two exits out of the system, and started dropping every ship out of hyperspace. The first five also spread out and activated their gravity wells. The then, as the Mountain was launching the liberation army on the single planet in the system, the shooting gallery started, as CIS ships traversing the system at superluminal speeds found themselves dragged out of their voyage, and directly into the guns and MAC maws of 100 Meteors at every exit. The CIS warships stopped traversing the Hydian Way after about 6 hours, and we only caught about 100. But other ships, neutral, or CIS and even Republic or Jedi found themselves under fire the instant their appeared. And this continued for the next two weeks, as not every freighter and troop transport were in constant connection with the main CIS headquarters. Of course, the shooting began with ion cannons, so most non CIS ships were only delayed for custom control, then allowed to pass. But, the amounts of minerals and war materiel we captured from these transports alone was astounding. Millions of tonnes of priceless cargo, everyday. If they kept sending transports like this, the entire cost of the war will be deducted in a month or two. And droid transports were always welcomed, as they were carried inactive. Give them a uniform and new programing, and they immediately became loyal Pef Army troopers. Down on the planet, the tribal villages were given flash memories of the Pef Empire, and why they fought for freedom. Then given blasters and other weapons and a droid battalion to guard every single community. The CIS will have to fight for every single village. The capital was left most untouched, just surrounded, and the spaceport captured and looted of trade goods belonging to CIS corporations. What were they gonna do, come out of the city and attack the tanks, waiting a few kilometers away, under theater shields? In the Republic Senate, there was outrage, of course. How could trade be disturbed? Simple, it''s war. Goods going for CIS worlds were confiscated, if they were already paid for, or returned to sender with a warning of collusion. A surprising amount of those goods were from Republic worlds. Many of them were lost in the chaos of war. This happy festival, and the collection of free ships and material for my Empire lasted only these two weeks. Then, at minutes from each other, 3 large CIS fleets arrived from all three sides, Numbers exceeding 100 thousands, though most were just armed freighters and every type of ship smaller than a corvette. Thousands of pirate vessels as well, convinced by the dark jedi to join with promises of money or loot. But still, outnumbering our ships by 20 to one. The main danger were still the capital ships, and the droid fighters. Two Subjugators ,1200 Lucrehulks battleships, 2000 Recusants destroyers and 7000 Munificents frigates. And 10 thousand other various starships, with all shapes but about as large as a corvette. Only, we knew they were coming, and had already concentrated on the southern side of the system, giving us almost gun parity with the fleet that arrived at that emergence point. Now, we just had to last till the reinforcements arrived. Hmmm. Just half of those Lucrehulks are actually full battleships. The other half are just carriers for starfighters. Let''s blow them up first! 200 donut carriers exploded in a festival of light and colors, red and green explosions, illuminating the void like hundreds of suns. Is this what the prophecy of the Whills means? "¡­And in the time of greatest despair, there shall come a savior, and he shall be known as THE SON OF THE SUNS." ¨DJournal of the Whills, 3:127 It can''t be that simple, can it? The hive battle of starfighters was already won in this part of the system, as the carrier Lucrehulks haven''t managed to launch any. And our Biplanes were having a field day, each blowing up a pirate vessel with their only torpedo, before starting to strafe another with its turrets and missiles. The capital ship poured damage into our ships, just like we did on their, in an orgy of ion cannons and masers, against the evil turbolasers of the CIS. Our corvettes were doing great as well, their proton torpedoes sinking small ships left and right, up and down. Sadly, every good thing must end. By the time the south fleet was in tatters, the other two CIS fleets gathered into a big fleet, then started advancing on our outnumbered vessels, while their Subjugators were preparing to fire their lateral ion charges. What will the brave Dornean Admiral do? The fate of the galaxy hangs in the balance! "You can''t end the story here, Emperor Pef! How will we sleep at night, not knowing if there will be galaxy tomorrow, to live in?" Talia asked me, with some concern. "Eh, it''s a fairytale, the hero always wins. Untill he kills his wife and becomes evil. Then starts torturing and maiming his own children. And kills his old teacher. And then the newer evil teacher. And then he dies, surrounded by carnivorous bears, in the jungle, at night" I explained poetically, waving my arms and trying for a shadow mime, of a evil cyborg breathing threatenly. How I met your father Planet Sanctuary, Pef Empire Charming Villa, Jacuzzi room 2L "Don''t stop now! I want more, more!" Lira exclaimed, frustrated at the way her fairytale was going. "But, my love. Even heroes have to rest. And think of the children!" Peffy replied with a cheerful smile. "Idiot! How can the hero rest, when the whole CIS armada is crashing over him?" My beautiful legal wife (cause we said so, so it was legal) complained, pouting with her arms folded under her huge.... -------- Celanon system, CIS/Pef space (disputed) "Don''t just stand there and look! Fire, fire, fire! " the field commander of the fleet yelled, at the sight of the huge orbs growing larger in front of him. The Subjugators were charging their phenomenal threatening orbs of ionized plasma, when a dozen Fade frigates fire at once into the charging weapons, disrupting the energy fields and creating dangerous oscillations in the reaction chambers. Over 100 Reapers stealth fighters added their proton torpedoes to each of the targets, rupturing containment, and inverting the polarization, right inside the superweapons firing mechanism. The chain reaction couldn''t be stopped anymore, and a dozen dark jedi became one with the billions of particles resulting from the explosions of their ships. A fate too kind, for such as them, but alas. We''ll capture enough blind enemies to dismember in public spectacles later. And with that, the tide of the battle changed. Our corvettes engaged their stealth stygium crystal devices and vanished, the Recu carriers as well, leaving only a mere thousand ships visible to the confused corporate scum. ''Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!'' some CIS General must have ordered, as our capital ships began retreating slowly, using the forward sublight engines for thrust. A cone of capital CIS ships formed in the middle of the enemy formation, with smaller vessels around. Like a lance aimed at the heart of freedom. But, the brilliant strategist of our empire had a secret plan, to end this phantom menace, once and for all! -------- Planet Kubindi, Pef Empire (almost) "Again? Not again ?" Kyrisa complained, while straining to keep herself balanced, in a difficult position. Handstands with just one arm were a bit difficult, untill you learned to conduct the force efficiency though your body. And having your breasts hitting you in the face wasn''t helping either, except as entertainment for the Maid Emperor. "Can you feel the force or not?" I asked, a bit annoyed. This was a simple exercise, Yoda had Luke learn it in about 45 seconds, of screen time. "You''re just staring at my chest, perverted old droid!" my maid yelled, almost correctly. I was starring at many chests, some of the quite large. "You wish I had something to stare at. Look at Kirana, her form is almost perfect!" I proclaimed, pointing at her fellow maid, whose mountains were about to erupt... "Just go on with the battle, Immortal Pef. This is becoming painful, so the pain of others might soothe mine" the Night Maid, Talia demanded politely. Sigh. Can''t refuse such cute demands, can I? --------------- Celanon system, Pef Empire "They shall not pass! Use the Force!" Admiral Etahn commanded to his bridge officers, while stroking the hairs of his seal-like moustache. And indeed, the one Meteor considered defective, since it hasn''t fired his MACs till now, yelled a force scream at the CIS fleet, as you can feel right now. That wail in the Force? It was the secret weapon that your generous Emperor has provided, the aperture enlarged with 2000 kyber crystals mined by secret corporations on secret locations around the galaxy. The force beam, wasn''t red, or blue but a mix of them, just like the magicks the Mothers use. A purple beam, just like the flashlight of Miss Zero , but immensely stronger. In a single second, the force-beam ended a decisive battle. It truly was a magnificent weapon. And now, only the pillaging remains. And hunting down the rest of the pirates so the people of them Empire may see, what happens to slavers in a civilized society. The Orion corvettes and the Fade frigates started obliterating the ships that escaped the conic beam, while the brave synthetic soldiers on the planet struggled to defend the poor tribes from the invading CIS armies. A hundred smaller fleets, many composed of just a Lucrehulk and a few escorts began their assaults on the rest of CIS worlds in the north, which were now left undefended. "Now. Tell me, what is the lesson here?" I asked my maids, who were sweating profusely, but also happy at a glorious victory. "The tree is strong in the dark side, Emperor. But there must be something at the roots, that fuels it." Talia replied after a minute of deep focus. Oh, yes. I can detect holocrons too. And likely some sort of blood sacrifice too, but that''s for advanced classes. "Melding both sides of the force gives us more strength?" Duala asked hesitantly. Hey, it seems meditating upside down does indeed create new ideas, even in the brains of young females. "You are still staring at my boobs..." Magash realized with a spark of force intuition. Heh, of course I am. Thinking of the children, indeed I am. "My hand is not tired anymore...the force is holding my body now, not my muscles!" Kara realized after a few awkward seconds. Great, changing the subject with perfect timing, adored maid! "One of us is going to die here. It is a test!" Kirana exclaimed, discovering premonition, but just the first stage. "I''m not dying, ever. Sorry sisters, but if there''s way to pass this test, I am taking it" Kyrisa said with a determined tone. Well, that''s something too. Force will? "The wills are five, my lovely maids. And one of you, is not. I''ll let the tree decide then" I explained politely, holding out a hand and receiving the Scepter of Ragnos from my cloaked Culexus droid. They haven''t detected him, not even when he was close enough to snap their necks. Still a failure, all of them. Now, let''s see...point and draw. The scepter began charging, draining the energies and storing them inside, as the silver mist began to clear. Thousands of huge ugly-looking spiders stopped confused, as they became visible. Around us, and only I could faintly see them, for weeks. The dark shroud ability was quite potent then. "Where did all these spiders came from?" a maid asked in panic, breaking her focus and falling to the ground. The spiders jumped towards her, hungry for a new blood sacrifice. Not even asking permission from your Emperor? Begone, foul creatures! A pulse of force wave disintegrated a thousand spiders nearby. Yep, it did work, just like Starkiller''s could. And if you coated certain people with force resistance, they would survive unharmed. Let''s try the plant version. Another pulse of force wave, and the soil remained barren of vegetation as well. I''ll have to try this on some Vong plants. But it probably wouldn''t work. The living force just flew around those lifeforms. The Pyronium and bota alloy in the core of the staff was still draining the dark energies, absorbing it into a hyperspatial matrix , much like my crystal self did, but different. There seemed to be no storage limit. My own form could store a sun, perhaps, but this thing... You were truly a visionary Magna Ragnos! A hate-fueled fundamentalist fanatic, but on occasion, a genius too. "Where did that spear came from?" another maid asked, after a few blinks of an eye. "Irrelevant. Come, let''s dig that holocron out and go home, I have plans for a new droid tank!" I answered instead, as the draining stopped completely. It was a small silver forest, after all. But, with a nugget of gold under it. Planet Gand, Pef Empire Zero Garden "Salvage the remaining arms and withdraw the army. Bring them to Agamar." ¨DCount Dooku My Zero Hand starred at me, then at the maids I brought back, everyone one of them twice as strong as before we left. Cause ''energy drinks'' and force training in a dark force nexus work wonders, we already knew it from the movies. Too bad my armor is too heavy for them to run around, with me as a backpack. For now. "This, the echo I felt in the force, it was you!" Zero yelled at me, poking my chest with a force-enhanced finger. If she knew shatterpoint, my armor would be toast, right now. Still left a fingerprint though. "I cleansed a planet of the dark side, after milking that nexus for everything it could teach..." I explained politely, pointing at the grass with my own finger. The maids groaned and knelt in meditation, to begin their tedious training again. "Kriff, don''t scare me like that. So, the news say we won at Celanon, 5 thousands ships against 20 times more, and only lost one thousand ships?" Zero asked in a concerned whisper. "Well, the Muni destroyers aren''t very strong. Good attack, but poor defense, so they always get targeted first" I replied with a careless shrug. Easy come, easy go. Now I had to make a trip to Celanon and build 5000 more, from the ionized wrecks of the remaining Munificents frigates. Another week or two of boring, tedious telekinesis practice. These maids had it so easy, weaving grass. Assembling a new ship made of millions or billions of disparate parts, some broken or missing...this was true patience, not lazing in the sun. "How many more of these...maids are you going to obtain, Emperor Pef?" Zero wondered, just like me. "Hundreds soon, then thousands of maids probably. In a few months though, you will have to give up the lightsaber, Master Zero. The dark shroud is getting closer." I said softly, dragging the scary woman to my chest, in a friendly embrace. "You already know...you seen it...just like all the other premonitions" She muttered in my neck, so faintly. "I''ve seen possible futures, dear Zero. A hundred years or more. This dark gloom will pass , in a few years. But those things...the Vong. 400 trillions dead...That is what I''m trying to stop. These dark jedi are just kids, starting fires for cruel reasons. I''ll will educate them, just need to grow my own roots" I mused, maybe a bit loud. "Such a catastrophe, this war is just..." "Oh, the clone wars would have killed many as well. Duro, Humbarine, Lianna...I stopped what mass extinctions I could. And your Jedi friends aren''t much better. On every planet they fight, billions of civilians die. Their clone troopers expended like grass, with poor tactics and leaked plans. Religion is not a substitute for officer training" I concluded with a harsher tone, then flew away, leaving the nameless woman behind, surrounded by flowers and sentient trees. Now, a bit of relaxation, a warm jacuzzi massage with Dora and Lira... Peffy was already swimming in it. Well done Peffy! Making a new droid tank then! And let''s add another partition for my Avatar, since that seemed very pleasant as well. I really was blessed, with so many beautiful and generous women... Celestial Throne spacestation, Floor 81, Apartment 3P "You''ve been gone for a long time, lover. Now strip, I need to relax as well!" Wialu commanded me as I entered my apartments. "Of course, honored maid. You will is my will. Use this body as much as you..." "Shut up and get in the tub" my Voice said in a harsh mistress tone. ''Roger, roger, Mistress...'' I acquiesced in a half dejected whisper. Yes! A real strong woman! The other half exulted inward. ------------------- Planet Agamar, CIS space "Please stop Master, it was nothing we could anticipate! My best acolytes died in that battle. Who could have known they would use our own weapon against us?" the failure of a Sith Lord called Tyranus screamed in pain, as his Dark Lord inflicted pain with holo conference. Maybe he could...contact this Avatar in secret, and end him from a distance? A force choke, or a heart grip? Lung squeeze? Induce madness? Psychosis ? Paranoia? Ah, that slippery boy had vanished from his senses again, using some kind of force fog of his own. Too many things were vanishing, like those savages on Dantooine, gone! The forest people on Master Windu''s homeplanet, gone! Someone was assembling an army, and it wasn''t him! It was time to start the final stages of the war, or he might not gain the victory. "We''re starting the attack on Coruscant sooner, Lord Tyranus. Assemble the fleets, and attack in two weeks!" he comanded, with barely restrained anger. The Sith plan for the domination of the galaxy will not be thwarted by some boy with too many beautiful women as his harem! Only on Mandalore he took six maids. Kill one and he takes a dozen more! Normal blackmail tactics would not work. He will need to plan something devious. At that peace conference after the war, once the Jedi were out of the picture. Already their power was almost gone. And if Anakin... Yessss. The boy could be used. On Mandalore. A duel, and claiming the darksaber. The tide could be turned, with the right pressure, at the right moment. Planet Mandalore, next week The glorious liberation of the north continues, at accelerated pace, the new thousands of ships and millions of droids and weapons captured speeding up the conquest 10 times, possibly because half of the remaining fleets, and all their tri-droid fighters vanished. This is a worrying news, since they will most likely attack somewhere vital. Let''s hope it''s Coruscant and not Boonta. Kriff, they will attack Boonta as well won''t they? Just to keep us pinned, while the Jedi are being exterminated over Coruscant. And this Skywalker, personal representative of the Supreme Chancellor, here on Mandalore, and looking for a fight? Sigh. I can''t kill him, yet. Ahsoka is here as well, a bit too young and not fleshed enough for my plans... "Knight Skywalker, and Padawan Tano. Eloping to Mandalore to get married?" I asked, with fake curiosity. The girl almost stumbled, doing a cute trick with telekinesis, to keep herself from planting nose down. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. "This is no joking matter, Avatar Greyshade. Or Mandalore the Charming, as you style yourself now." The sand-hating emo replied in a nasal voice. "Indeed is not, as Duke Kenobi can confirm. His marriage with Duchess Satine is all the rave, here on Mandalore" I explained gently, since he probably didn''t know. Wait, he didn''t know? Haha. This was even more amusing then. "Satine...married Master Kenobi? But..." Ahsoka wondered with dreamy eyes. As, teenage girls. "No, he wasn''t a traditional man, to beat his wife and then forcefully take her, like Mandalorians do, Miss Ahsoka. I just declared it, since my words are law here, in Pef space" I said softly, worried she might misunderstand. "T-that''s good to hear. But married? Jedi can''t marry, I think..." she muttered confused. Evil grin inside. "Of course they can. Some bother to get approval from the Council, others don''t, but in the end, the heart wants what it wants. Late Master Mundi had like 5 wives, or 6. Even Knight Skywalker..." I added, with a knowing nod towards the lying scumbag. "This is about the neutrality of Mandalore, Avatar Greyshade. The Chancellor demands the status quo be restored, or..." The reputed Chosen One tried to salvage the situation, hand clenching on his blue crystal lightsaber. Moron. I already won. "Wait! Five wives, and he was on the Council! This is unfair. I want my own too...not five husbands, but at least one..." Ahsoka complained, quite loudly. Of course you do, pretty maid. And you will. Soon. "We''ll talk about this later, Miss Ahsoka. After all, if Anakin married years ago, so can you" I said in a wise and warm tone, offering a consoling hand. "Enough! I challenge..." Skywalker began yelling, then crashed to the floor, unconscious. Thanks, Culexus 0097. This was getting aggravating. A bit of sleep will do him good. And more genetic samples won''t be bad either. I could drain millions of vital cells to fertilize in vitro now. "My droids will take your exhausted Master to heal and recover. We do have bacta tanks you know...By the way, did he suffer any traumatic head injuries past year? " I asked, while taking the girl under my wing... "Skyguy? Sure, like 50 times at least! His head must be really durable!" the girl agreed with my suggestion immediately. "So, Senator Amidala huh? She seems like a nice girl..." I commented, as a host of medic droids fused around the fainted Jedi. "What, he married Padme? And didn''t even invite me. Just like Master Kenobi!" the young togruta said with a exasperated sigh. "I bet their kids will be amazing though. But let''s hope a bit less reckless..." I mused, maybe out loud. Ahsoka looked towards her master, then thought for a second. "Kriff. Skyguy''s children will be at least as reckless...we''re doomed!" Ahsoka exclaimed, realizing the future teror those offsprings will bring. "So, want to meet my six wives here on Mandalore? I have this castle, and each of them has their own tower..." I continued with a mesmerizing voice. Charming Castle has 50 towers free, as well. For now. "Let''s first, drop my Master in the bacta tub. I hope he gets better..." the loyal padawan said in a worried tone. Of course. He''ll be safe in there, floating unconscious and almost naked, with a dozen chirurgeon droids around. Perfectly safe! "Take his lightsaber though, he might forget it again." I reminded her, as the boy''s body was installed on a stretcher. "So, you know him, my master?" Padawan Tano asked curious, while collecting the famous lightsaber. "We met before, of course. He was always on these specials missions from Mister Palpatine though. Other Jedi worked for the Council, or just guided only by the force, but not Skywalker. Mister Palpatine must have his special Jedi group, only working for him" I mused, in a whisper. "I don''t think...I don''t know actually. If Skyguy...Eh, this is over my paygrade" Ahsoka replied after a few moments of confusion. "Well, Satine and Kenobi will meet us soon, but don''t ask her if she''s pregnant. She wants to keep it a secret." I added in another secret whisper, as we arrived at the Mandalorian Royal Hospital. "Oh, got it. Secret..." Ahsoka said, with wide, dreamy eyes. "And red-headed one, waving at us? Bo Greyshade, Satine''s sister. " I explained gently, pointing with my chin discreetly. "And...your wife, I guess" the young jedi said, with a bit of envy. "Very perceptive, dear Ahsoka, she was a bit hard to convince though. Very traditional woman, had to spend a week in the bacta tank, after our engagement fight..." I whispered, very softly in her Montral , which for togruta species served as sensitive ears. "Curious custom...what happens if the woman wins?" she asked, attracted and repulsed at once. Heh. I wonder that myself... "Well then, the man is not worthy of a strong and beautiful wife, is he? Also, cute belly button." I explained politely, as Bo reached us, and noticed my arm around Ahsoka''s shoulders. Ashoka sort of blushed, by becoming even redder, while Bo rushed to hug me with mischief in her aura. "Hello, adored husband. Already looking for a younger wife? Oh cruel fate, why do I love such a scoundrel!" Bo proclaimed dramatically, while sobbing at my armored chest in fake tears. "I''m not...I mean. You''re just having fun!" Ahsoka realized, since Bo was easy to read in the force. Or even without. "Eh, one more sister, I don''t mind. Mister Greyshade has like 15 wives now?" Bo asked after stealing a short kiss. "I don''t keep count. But at least 16" I said politely. "See, don''t fall for him, young lady. So what, if he''s rich and will shower you with love and billions of credits. Find someone who...wait. Jedi? You''ll never get permission to marry then..." Bo said with a sad tone, then left to prepare for a state visit. Cause Jedi? They''re ambassadors. Of sorts. With mind rape and plasma blades to convince the other side of their version of truth. After Skywalker was left to rest in the healing ward, we continued to my castle. "Ahsoka, I have to ask you a huge favor. Be my special emissary to the Council. Can you?" I asked softly, as we entered the castle. "But, I''m just a padawan. Skywalker..." "Is a lying bastard that I don''t trust one bit. For Master Yoda ears only. A major CIS fleet is preparing to attack Coruscant. My vision showed me thousands of ships and millions of starfighters. Estimated time 5 to 10 days. Skywalker will travel with you inside the bacta tank, and perhaps recover enough to pilot a starfighter. Okay?" I explained, in a much more powerful tone. Because bacta? Cuts and incisions heal perfectly, without a single scar. Too bad his hair won''t grow back that soon. A full epilation treatment, should clean his pores of sand. "Ahhhhh. This is too big. If they send that many ships like at Lianna, or Duro or Celanon... Why not tell Skywalker...it was you! You drugged Skyguy somehow. That''s why he''s asleep!" the padawan realized, after 30 minutes. "Just deliver my message to Master Yoda. Mister Palpatine can contact Pef Empire, though official channels. Like our embassies" I replied off-handedly, as my dear wives began to arrive. Planet Coruscant, Galactic Republic 21 BBY , 7 days later The skies above Coruscant are on fire, in some cases quite literally. The CIS'' new Providence-class cruisers are wreaking havoc through the Republic fleet, being armed with 200 turbolasers each, compared to the 16 turbolasers on a Republic Venator. The new Victory-class destroyers of the Republic help though, having been optimized for ship-to-ship combat. Master Yoda was cautious enough to listen to Avatar''s warning, and recalled three Sector fleets, while placing ten others on high alert, for the duration of the warning. Still, the loses are immense, on both sides. The Republic is winning the capital ship battle decisively now, but also, many things are weird in war. The Chancellor''s office was destroyed by a CIS ship that was landing invading troops. Sadly, Palpatine escaped, but his whole collection of art was incinerated.However, the Chosen One wasn''t amused at being packed up and sent to the Jedi Temple bald. Not at all happy. The entrance of the Jedi temple was also destroyed, by the evil dark jedi forces. Some B1 droids were attempting to get inside the temple, communicating verbally as to ''exterminate younglings first, roger roger!'' They wore no uniforms, so they must have been CIS droids. Right? The Jedi Guardians had little trouble dispatching them with well-aimed cuts. But that didn''t stop them from exploding, as they all wore thermal detonators. Just luck, that only a dozen of these B1 droids carried explosives, at the attack on the sacred Temple of the Jedi religion. Thousands of locations across the capital were also targeted by these B1 droids, sometimes backed by a B2 droid, for more panic. We did have a whole year to map and locate interesting targets after all. A few such groups even succeeded to kill a few known corporatist leaders like Xizor and Raith Sienar as well as hundreds of bank leaders and leaders of various mining corporations. Having a few thousands Culexus droids prepared for this day surely paid off. This was an attack on the very foundation of the Republic, literally in the case of Xizor''s palace, which had collapsed hundreds of floors into the lower levels, as it''s very foundations collapsed due to a lucky grenade. A hundred Senators and Representative Aids lost their lives, Representative Binks of Naboo among them. In the chaos, fires spread and devoured hundreds of buildings, entire wealths or records of it being lost. Even some Republic military installations were attacked, and were repulsed in all places but one. The Republic''s Army Laboratory for Nanotechnology. It is unknown why it was attacked, or if anything was stolen, because the huge fire erupted, melting even durasteel. Also, there were no survivors, on either side, even the attacking droids being melted into puddles by these fires. Hundreds of brave Jedi Knights also died bravely and gallantly, while piloting starfighters, but being outnumbered 1000 to 1. Total loss of life is unknown, due to the special nature of Coruscant as capital of the Republic, with its 10 millions worlds, which had millions of ships and billions of transients at any moment. However estimates go over 10 million lives and even one billion by some holo-commentators. Boonta system, Hutt space. Pef Empire trade station. same time A large CIS fleet attacked us at the same time with the attack on Coruscant, no doubt to prevent us from giving aid, or hoping to exploit a weakness in our defences, since the bulks of our fleets was assumed to be concentrated on the Agamar and Ciutric offenses, as well as the siege of Serenno. What they found was 150 Meteors, 300 Lucrehulks, 3000 Muni destroyers and 300 Mon Calamari cruisers, supported by 100 Invictus-class carriers and 500 Recu carriers. The CIS fleet still had 20 thousands ships and even 1000 Providence-class cruisers, but the odds were more balanced now, as Emperor Pef and his Eight Hand also aided with coordination. Boonta, also known as Ko Vari had a prospering population until it was decimated first by Xim the Despot and later by the Republic Navy''s Swift Fleet during the Great Sith War. The planet never entirely recovered from these catastrophes. It''s two million inhabitants and about 5 million tourists which enjoyed the famous Boonta races were unlucky to be caught in the crossfire, and vanished in turbolaser fire that an erratic CIS Lucrehulk fired at the only city on the surface, once again rendering the planet uninhabited. That Lucrehulk was immediately destroyed, by the defending Pef fleet, but for those poor people on the surface, it was too late. Not poor as without money, since they were quite rich, being here. At least a hundred if not one thousand wealthy Hutts were also enjoying the races, and perished in the inferno, along with their escorts of mercenaries, bounty hunters and assassins. Sadly, Proto One, the Pef Empire''s Ambassador to the Hutts also reduced his offer to buy Boonta from 60 to 10 billion credits. It just wasn''t that attractive anymore. The Hutts intercepted a poorly coded transmission, no doubt due to the chaos of battle, advising the Ambassador to offer only one billion credits since just a planetary shield was worth that much. In a rush not to lose the other 9 billions, Grakkus the Hutt sadly agreed to sell Boonta for 10 billions, and promised to limit CIS fuel and ammunition shipments through Hutt space, as much as possible. He also bought a planetary shield for Nar Shaddaa with the money he spared. I bet you regret, not selling Boonta sooner, now. On planet Teth, the Hutts no longer assaulted Pef Army''s positions, focusing their efforts on the CIS troops on the ground. In the aftermath of the battle at Boonta, 2000 Muni destroyers and 100 Lucrehulks were lost by my fleet, while the CIS fleet was obliterated entirely, only about 3000 hulls remaining salvageable after the battle. Didn''t have enough ion cannons to capture more of them, but at least I have enough wrecks to construct new shipyards in orbit around Boonta. And replace the lost ships too. Not bad, for a weeks work, I guess. "Yes Pef. Not bad. How many credits did you steal, with the Coruscant siege?" Solana asked, while hugging my armor and staring at the galactic holomap with some interest. "No idea, to be correct. At least a quadrillion. But, secret mining bases and proprietary tech data, along with rare artifacts and the nano-droids prototypes...might be worth a hundred times more." I said with a soft voice, dreaming of the future. ''This fight was too easy Emperor Pef. I need worthy opponents.'' the Core AI complained, as his fighters did even better than expected, demolishing every small ship in the CIS fleet in 30 minutes. Though, I did give him at least 100 upgrades of newest processors, comlinks, signal boosters, tactical nets and holo-emitters and slicer tech. Cost me a billion to bring him up to date, but the money was well spent. ''Focus on the Vong tech, my friend. How to kill them and how to counter them. Especially gravity emitters and deflectors. I know they have stealth ships as well. You don''t want your home to be found and burned to the core, do you, my Eight Hand?'' I asked politely, and curious. ''Errr. The Vong do seem quite a worthy opponent. I analyzed all the data you''ve sent me. If only 10% of their strength is accurate, half of the galaxy would be conquered in 3 years. The other half slower, but still inevitable. I will endeavour to find a solution Immortal Pef'' The old AI from Raxus Prime declared solemnly. You and me and Solanus. We will be a Triumvirate when this is over, after all. Dividing competence and responsibilities was inevitable, after a certain growth was achieved. Yea, these Vong invaders were almost Tyranids, weren''t they? But smarter. And casting their own shadow in the warp...I mean the force. I will need to build my variant of Imperator-class Titan . And then, think of the other things, waiting in the shadows. I still had much to prepare. Ancient Abyss Planet Boonta, Pef Empire 2 weeks later A dozen billions of droids and an AI helped a lot into reshaping Boonta into a modern and pleasant looking planet, with a thousand cities able to house a million people each, along with adiacent factories, restaurants, spaceports and maglev trains. I just hope people will come. The AI calculated everything a human civilization would need, from crops to energy and jobs. He''s very good at that, and also converting B1 droids into police officers, and custom enforcers. Just the shipyards could give jobs to 30 millions people immediately. Farms are being prepared, lacking only happy colonists, toiling from sunrise to sunset to produce crops and sell them to feed their families... Should I plant crops already? No idea, Peffy eats whatever and he''s fine. Bantha seems popular for meat, so I guess I can also create pastures and abattoirs. Eh. Should be enough. Not like most colonists even have toilets or clean water for the first hundred years. Things will be fine. I just hope anyone will come. The planet looks like a ghost world now, a billion houses empty. Look! A ship. New colonists? Nah, just smugglers from Kessel. ''They''ll come Pef. Just send more promos with captured images from the surface. There are people on Coruscant who never even seen the sun, or green grass, in their whole life'' Lira argued, convinced this will work. ''And reserve transport with cruise lines. They can''t walk this far'' Ventress sent, somehow amused at my panic. Right. It would take a long time to walk to Humbarine, 30 thousands light years from here. I got used to calculating distances in hyperdrive power and hyper route quality. But these people will be poor...possibly not even have their own starship... ''Sigh. I''ll do a campaign for you Pef. Vette and Celine could be of help as well.'' Dora said with a resigned voice. Vette! where was...oh. Pirates. This obsession wasn''t healthy though. So much hate. I should call her back, and get her meditating. And done. She should stay a few months on Sanctuary, and strengthen her soul and mind. Celine too, most likely. My dear blonde singer, still famous around the empire and the Centrality. They were important somehow, even without magic powers or useful skills. Angie was ageless, so time wasn''t a factor that much. But the original maids...4 years have passed almost. They won''t get younger. They had to learn the talortai ability now, while bota was still working. Make a note, double the dose for every force user in the empire. Our huge stockpile might be worthless soon. And check about Vera, my Zeison Sha twi''lek. Connecting with holonet receiver on our spy satellites over Yanibar . Hmmm. Still enduring, but a bit better now. A new city, with electricity and a library and a spaceport. A million droids as farmers and miners should help too. So pitiful. I could give them a thousand times more. Only they were also, very far away. 80 thousands light-years. One light year is 9 trillion kilometers. Too far, for now. Another starship! Just a Hutt ship, still en route for the Boonta races. Not here anymore, just a memorial obelisk. They had nova crystals to sell though, so sure. They''re useful. I should go to Felucia though. That huge sarlacc thing annoys me. 53 assassination attempts have failed. Nothing should be that resilient. Unless... ''Just like that tree on Kubindi, the million years of ritual sacrifices connected him with the living force, distorting and increasing its force connection to unnatural levels'' Wialu argued, with a bit of worry. How soon till it wasn''t passive anymore? Or a Jedi stumbled into its maw, and while dying he shifted the whole planet to a vicious nature. It did happen just like that, in my memories. Shaak Ti died in the Abyss, and Felucia became a dark nexus. "I''m coming too. Solanus is worried as well" my water maid said gently, while her face almost became human. Almost there. A year maybe, and her shapeshifting will be perfect. "Okay then. Let me send Core back to Malagarr" I replied, as the partition in charge of the Eighth Hand did just that. And by the time I return, the nano-droids should arrive as well. In a month or two, I should master controlling trillions at once, to craft the first real warships of this galaxy, since the Kwa or the Gree. And warmachines, walkers and tanks and power armors, but in huge quantities. ''Third Hand, it''s time. Begin Operation 4999.'' I sent through my encrypted comlink towards Gand. The Outer Rim sieges would begin now, Jedi leading the clone troopers to assail the Separatists strongholds, those not already under siege by my empire, but the Spaarti cloning will be ours. We just needed to take Gizer, then Cartao, followed by Myrkr and Alpheridies. Gizer was a CIS world, so it would be simpler. Myrkr was unclaimed, so clearing pirates should work. The others...Wialu will have a hard job getting them to become interested. Contruum would be the key, as they claimed most power in that region. From Myrkr, finding planet Wayland should take a month or less. Time was running short, and everything balanced on the edge of a knife. Some resources could not be found elsewhere. I held Solana''s hand as we boarded the Fade frigate. This ship was becoming my favorite, due to its speed and stealth, but I should probably figure out how to cloak the larger Calamari cruisers. Waiting to be rescued, while floating somewhere in the void would suck. ''We''ll be fine for now. The hyperlanes till Felucia are guarded. And we''re invisible'' Solana said with some amusement. "Take us to Felucia, Honored Findsman" I said politely, as I entered the frigate''s bridge. A host of VSS operatives and droids made themselves comfortable around the ship. "A minute to compute the jump, Emperor. And then check for anomalies" The Captain replied in a serious tone. Wait, what anomalies? "Gravity echo distortions, magnetic refractions, black hole lensing?" I asked at once. "The first thing, Immortal Pef. Our detector is barely picking anything. But, other Findsmen feel the same. There''s something on the hyperlanes, watching" He replied, with some uncertainty. Yea, there would be, wouldn''t it? The Vong had stealth ships too, mapping our galaxy right now. "We''re clear for now. Jumping" The Gand Findsman said in a relieved tone. Bigger walkers then. With flamethrowers and plasma projectors. And torpedoes. And missiles. And masers. And nukes. Yea, nukes will save the universe. Maybe. At least I hope so. Planet Felucia, Pef Empire Next day. Damn, these mark 0.7 hyperdrives of my Fade stealth frigates are amazingly fast. At least when you take well known hyper routes. At this rate, it won''t be long before I can devise a 0.5 hyperdrive like Han Solo had. I looked on Corellia for him, of course. But, nothing. Let''s hope he wasn''t butterflied away, in some fight that didn''t happen the first time. While en route to the Felucia system, I created two classes of mecha walkers. The first type, with a height of 4 meters, are basically big power armors, and pretty much light tanks in armor and mobility. They will form our flanking power, with an oversized gatling gun and a medium maser cannon. A missile launcher and a flamethrower too. two legs and four arms, two arms with fingers and thumbs, for no creation should be denied thumbs. Hmmm. Seems I made a land version of the biplane, if I would add a droid brain. Why not both? A machine spirit and a pilot. Able to operate without an organic pilot, like all my tech, but much smarter and cunning with a veteran pilot inside. Though, 5 times more expensive than a light tank, and with less firepower. Alas, they need to be fast and strong, to fight hordes of Vong organic monsters. I will call them Phalanx, because of the gatling guns. Only they can glide on repulsorlift engines as well. And then a big one, 40 meters tall. There won''t be cables hanging around and exposed knees or such. Sorry guys, no mynocks will chew on my power cables. However cool that sounds. And it won''t glide, since it''s not that kind of story. Overlapping armor plates, one meter thick. Starship class reactors and shields, 6 legs and 6 arms, two of them with thumbs. Maybe one day, when out of ammo, they''ll have to pick up stuff, like a huge sword, or a tree, to batter away hordes of zerglings...or just move rocks and debris away. And armament? Everything! That continuous laser from spider droids, check. Let''s get two. Missile launchers? Yea, at least 10. Masers and gatling lasers? Give me 6 of each. Hell projectors? Yup. Just one though, as they need lots of energy. Proton torpedoes? Of course. Proton bomb mortar? That''s the nuke launcher. Here they use the other part of the atom''s nucleus, not the neutrons. Because of less radiation. Still melts durasteel and makes pretty blooms. I know, I''ve tested it a few times. Very good at erasing forensic evidence too.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. A bridge with holomaps and holo-emitters and tactical net. Because they may be used as army headquarters in the field. And... "Enough Pef. See how much it will cost to build one, then dream of huge armies of them" Solana said beside me, looking doubtful at the hologram is assembled on the frigate''s bridge. "Your voice might be right, Metal Gand. This thing looks impressive, but perhaps not exactly feasible. It also has too many legs" the insectile Gand Findsman added with a slight shudder. Huh, if even insects think 6 legs is too many... Fine then. Biped walker it is, and just 4 arms. Have to reduce height to 30 meters and triple the leg thickness. Or it would just fall. Even with small steps. Damn. Lost 30% of firepower now. Let''s estimate costs now...2 million credits. Just for one single Titan mecha. Twice as much as a corvette. Guess I can build less, just to boost morale for my legions. Maybe three or four per legion. Just like the empire fleets work now, with three Meteors supported by hundreds of smaller ships. 30 Meteors should come back from the Redforge after repairs. With twice as strong shields now, and a layer of durasteel armor over critical parts like the fins. The other 20 Meteors too damaged for full repairs, are being reconfigured as high explosive shells, with ten times more sublight engines and their internals partly removed, to make more room for a lot of proton bombs. A five kilometer long spear, with a diamond-boron tip is being crafted for them, to reshape them in Narwhals. In theory, they could impact a worldship and detonate inside. I know they did it with an executor-class dreadnought. Might have been luck though. They whole Skywalker family strategy appears to work purely on luck. And lots of hope. We''re outnumbered and are about to be wiped out? Luck! They enemy has overwhelming superiority in tech and ship quality and strategy? Luck! The enemy is building a superweapon? Let''s jump in a dozen of starfighters and hope it ends well. Ah, we have arrived at Felucia. Now let''s sense...nothing. Just a trade station, our defense fleet, some spy satellites... A dozen million farmers and smugglers. Mostly farmers. A few tribes of Felucian jungle savages, around the Abyss. A thousand more warships arrive from Lianna, to help me extract this worm from my planet. But first, let''s collect the natives and relocate them. This operation might cause earthquakes or worse. As we descend through the planetary shield, I take the scepter and try to see if there''s anything to drain. Ah, there is! Coming from the big mouth with a hundred tongues, each kilometers long. Should I go spelunking? "Don''t joke about it Pef. That thing has hundreds of stomachs. With molecular acid inside." Solana said with a light tremble. Okay then, not rappelling into the huge Abyss. I''ll just twiddle my thumbs, while the feral locals are being corralled and extracted, some peacefully, others with sleep gas and tranquilizer darts. And let''s begin. A thousand harpoons and hundreds of tractor beams, with lasers evaporating the earth around the crater like maw. "It won''t budge! Not enough traction or it''s stuck." I muttered in surprise. "Or its tail is coiled around the core of the planet" Solana added with a bit of amusement. Gah. That''s not possible, is it? Hmmm. Let''s try it like they do with stomach worms then. You, Muni Destroyer 2447! Come closer and get caught by the sarlacc''s tongues. There, see, a hundred tongues have latched onto my ship. Now let''s spin it while lifting it with tractor beams. Seismic tremors? It''s working! The maw snapped shut on my ship, annoyed at the escaping prey. And now, lift! Meter by meter, the huge sarlacc began emerging from the ground, dragged by the engines of a thousand warships. After one hour, the maw with it''s starship hook emerged from the atmosphere, dragging a 5 kilometer thick worm after it. And as the ship continued to rotate, a yarn-like ball started to form around it. At least 50 kilometers long. 70, 100! "Damn, I hope the planet won''t be left empty inside. No matter how cool..." I managed to say. "The tail is visible Emperor, estimated length 150 kilometers" my captain interrupted my words rudely. Okay then. Still longer than a Vong worldship by 50% but not that scary. "I say we should mount engines on it, and use it for theme rides. Should attract lots of tourists" I mused, as the tail was being straighten up, to let us admire the specimen. "Kriff. It might even work..." Solana said with a long sigh. Planet Gand, Pef Empire Two weeks later The new year is coming soon, and my empire has grown immensely in surface but not in population. barely 14 million colonists have arrived at Boonta, since we started subsidising transport. Maybe they didn''t have cash for tickets either. For now, the newly conquered Secessionist planets are content, since they pay no taxes, except for maintaining costs of their defense fleet. The big corporation worlds like Mooga or Murkhana or Etti are much harder to keep pacified, as the CIS has thousands of instigators and sympathizers. Hundreds of instigators are ''disappeared'' every day. Sad, but a galaxy is not just peace and understanding. Our black ops have expanded a thousand times, just to keep up with the volume, and thus the quality of our agents has dropped too. We have began leaking intelligence, mostly to CIS. Inevitable, but sucks. My Astartes clones have began showing signs of madness and instability, even as they were only around 13 or 14 years old in appearance. Not sure why, possibly the force. Hell, certainly the force. I have to send them to be recycled. 10 thousands of them, and all came out wrong. I don''t want Nikto clones though, even if their genome makes them more stable. Can''t see them as my children. Guess I''ll try female variants now, without force-sensitives. Bo and Clara and Lidia and the five A from Mandalore. I''ll look for some smart Imperial Servants as well, to get a more diverse mix. Grafting new organs is going poorly as well, most zygotes dying without reaching newborn length. A master Shaper I''m not. Creating superhumans is not so easy as I first believed. I should import some more galactic class specialists, and have them figure out the causes. On the Clone wars, we are besieging a hundreds worlds at once, including Serenno, Vinsoth and Salin, while Pef Navy is ''protecting'' Botajef and Bandomeer. Planet Hamad join us with just a promise of aid against the Ciutric Hegemony, from which many of them fled. However Axxila will prove a though nut. It''s an ecumenopolis, with cities all over. Planet Taris is neutral and will possibly not join under MPT, for some time. The Sith did a number on them, just like the Jedi did on Mandalore, with orbital bombardments in the Mandalorian Excision . The Jedi have began spreading out in the Outer Rim, sieging various CIS key worlds, but most of their younglings have been moved from Coruscant, no doubt due to the B1 droids I sent to the Temple to attempt ''extermination'' The Republic is attacking on the other hyperlanes in the north from Ansion and Dorin, attempting to reach Muunilinst before us. Somehow they managed to get bogged down at Vardoss and other places, which is fine. And on planet Drackmar we found the Omogg warlords, who supposedly owned Dathomir. For the simple price of not evaporating their methane atmosphere, and a planetary shield, they agreed to turn sides and cede the ownership of Dathomir legally. Not a sabacc game, but good enough. The first new generations of droid tanks and cheap power armor appeared in our armies, since the CIS defenses also intensified massively. Piloted by cyborgs or select Sanctuary graduates, they can flank enemy lines at speed and create breaches for the droid footmen to exploit. Still, every day we lose about 5 millions droid soldiers, and we only print 4 millions. Plus they need to be armed, clothed, charged and transported to the battlefields. Botajef and Celanon have become huge army depots and refueling bases, supporting the fleets farther ahead. The Corporate sector is almost completely captured now, since only a dozen worlds from 500 still resist. At Kessel sector, we bypassed Aeneid, and took planets Randa and Zarm without a fight. Not exactly bypassed, just settled the two not inhabited planets, and requested to be admitted as part of the ruling Council of Elders with two votes. While they deliberate on that, the two planets are being upgraded and defended, as to form the main military base in this sector. Because 15 planets able to support life, in one star system? Not a trap at all. At least we stopped losing ships that much, and the Calamari had produced 100 more of their superb Liberty cruisers for us. Or maybe we hit CIS too soon, before they really started mass producing ships. And killed lots of them in a few major battles. Corellia has began contributing ships to the Republic battles in mid and south, and are twice as effective with their missiles to prevent most CIS droid fighters from winning a cheap shot. Still keeping a largish fleet tied down at Teth, and preventing CIS traffic at Randon, so we help... But, the Battles of Umbara and Kashyyyk have also began, so the end is near. Soon, the hot clone wars end, and the cold war begins. The end of clones Planet Gand, Pef Empire Redbox 20 BBY "So this is how liberty dies... with thunderous applause." ¨DPadm¨¦ Amidala The Supreme Chancellor Palpatine of the Galactic Republic barely escaped with his life, after the treacherous Jedi Order revealed their true faces and attempted to arrest him, or murder him, as the Chancellor says. Seems Ahsoka couldn''t keep her mouth shut, and told a Master Jedi what I told her with my Avatar. Possibly Shaak Ti, since they''re both togruta. Palpatine having his ''own'' Jedi secret group. That tidbit. Shaak Ti and several other Masters cornered Count Dooku on Utapau and obtained Palpatine''s name from him, before decapitating him. They called a strike team, with master Fisto and Master Yoda between them to arrest Palpatine. And then Ahsoka told her own Master, one Skywalker Anakin, mother Shmi Skywalker- deceased, father unknown. At this, the young emo rushed to the Senate, and interrupted the victory scene, saving Palpatine, even though the Chancellor lost a hand in this unfair fight, though still killing 7 Jedi Masters. Master Yoda and Shaak Ti were blown through the window, but their powers were enough to capture a nearby taxi and fly away. His bald head should have been enough clue, but I guess not. Order 66 also came, and a thousnad more Jedi died all over the galaxy, only the most skilled, or lucky surviving. The Jedi on Coruscant went into hiding, deep into the lower levels, taking much of their precious archives with them. Sadly, the new Darth Vader didn''t get to kill his wife, or the remaining younglings in the temple, as his clone troopers from 501st and himself were all vaporized in a huge proton bomb explosion, that took out the Jedi Temple, and all its famous holocrons. The funeral pyre for the old librarians and the legacy of the Jedi had at least 9 megatonnes yield, and vaporized everything in a 10 kilometer sphere. The shockwaves and the debris killed millions more. "Culexus 0097, you''re promoted to the name Bond 007 and the rank of Colonel, for your successful mission" I proclaimed with gravitas. "And I want a Terminator armor, Emperor. Because I deserve it" the brave hero replied politely. "Okay. A Terminator T-700 power armor, with 7 stygium crystals. You may choose.." I managed to say, before he interrupted me. "Assassinorum Triumvir, if you would, Droid Emperor. The Core AI on Malagarr gives me the creeps" my droid said with a slight shudder. He does eh? For me too. But he will be the front line when the Vong attack the Pef Empire. Core was sending out survey droids by the hundred thousands, ignoring Mujilik''s demands for better inner routes. Well, as long as he mined the minerals and managed the production himself, the only costs came from hyperdrives. And the new droids he made for my armies were much better than what we had now. His new series of B11 were as fast and accurate as the commando droids, and all came with a partial energy shield that could be rotated in a second, to block laser and blaster fire, without encumbering the droids with an umbrella. And now he was starting to design better Stinger gunships, with countermeasures against current missiles and also Biplanes and droid tanks. He did indeed do his part, though just not with big starships, yet. Solanus had managed to apply the work at Blueforge to replicate skin almost perfectly, although it''s only blue or green for now. We will use the green, to cover the hands and faces of our new droids, to make them more appealing to the numerous reptilian species in the galaxy. Greenskins, eh? Along with their green and grey patterned uniforms, they''ll look almost civilized. Plus a few facial expressions and better grip on the weapons. The clone wars continue, even without Dooku to lead the Separatists. But, a few random meteor showers crashed on various worlds with cloning facilities around the galaxy, no doubt pushed by some invisible ships. The Jedi did it seems a good enough excuse. My Empire policy on Jedi has changed to detain and confiscate their plasma weapons, then require them to relinquish evil and fanaticism, to be allowed residence on a few select worlds like Ruul. "I did tell you Miss Zero. Your lightsaber, and no more evil, understand! " I told my Zero Hand, as I announced her of the new policy. "Like Master Fay or Zao then. To roam the galaxy and be hunted by this new Sith Empire" she replied, with some concern. "Well. This toy is not needed, my friend. I can give you a metal blade, if having a weapon beside a pistol is psychologically required. Or maybe my Avatar can figure out how to make darksabers. Cause, dark not light, see?" I said with a tinge of amusement. "A blade please. That darksaber is a mockery" she said sternly. Well, she was always stern, but even more now. "Here, made it myself, just a month ago." I proclaimed, holding a hand out as Culexus 0054 placed a sword in my open palm. "A month ago...you knew...so far back..." she mused, taking the sword absently and handing out the old one. "Well, that vision of the future is gone now. But these girls...they''ll need to be stronger. Smarter. Or they''ll live here for decades" I said gently, pointing discreetly at the weaver maids, now crafting tree houses around the garden. "You brought more of that bota plant?" Zero asked after testing a few swipes with her sword. "Of course. 260 doses. See you in ten days, Honored Hand" I replied gently and flew up towards my ship, as the Culexus droids deposited the crate next to the Jedi Master. I had to go to the Redforge and finish the Meteors. All 1000 of them waiting for a force-fueled crystal to assemble their guns and turrets and power systems. The shipyards in my empire were in no position to make such large ships, even the Strike-class cruiser clones were a hard job. We did start a thousand of them, to give the Commonality and the Centrality jobs for their workers. Experience didn''t come easy. Corvettes were doing great now, about 5000 per month, and that will keep increasing. Deysum system and Uogo''cor in the south were now filled with a thousand of our ships, eliminating the pirates there, without Vette. Proto one was trying gently to see if the the planet Ulmatra which lay within the sphere of influence of the Kajidier kajidic, a clan of the Hutt could be bought. It was the other tip of the route to Formos, and thus quite important. And on Botajef, we found Natasi Daala , now much younger, which Peffy will go take care to recruit. Because I could use a loyal Admiral. And Peffy more wives. Win-win. Planet Dac, Mon Calamari space Mon Calamari Council 20 BBY two weeks later Peffy and Solana and Wialu have gone to negotiate the formal agreement with the Mon Calamari squids, the Quarren the Whaladons , the Moappa and the Knowledge Bank. "Esteemed Council, the Republic is no more. Palpatine is revealed as a Sith Lord, along with Dooku. This new Sith Empire is no friend of liberty or autonomy. The Pef Empire wants a good relation with the sentients of Mon Calamari space, as we have proven again and again." Solana said gently, her face revealed to show her water form. Cause, yea. For marine people, water was important. "A difficult decision, even with the 30 trillion investment that your Empire proposes. You are new and rash, jumping into war when you just began your existence. Your fleet is already among the strongest in the galaxy, and you ask us to build us even more ships for you. We will deliberate in closed session" The Mon Calamari King declared regally, and a bit scared. Okay then. Time to visit the big molusks. We left a barely sketched bow and walked towards to edge of the floating city, admiring the view. Just like the ships, the floating cities were beautiful, with curves and round forms, while outwards, platforms led to piers and spaceports. The city looked like a colony of white mollusks, coming to surface for a sunbath. We dived off the pier and started descending into the depths, where the other sentients of the water planet resided. "And if a few of us should burn away¡­more will take their place." ¨DThe Moappa The medusa-like Moappa were only intelligent in large numbers, like other sentients in the galaxy. Just a few were seen as individual cells, unimportant. But a colony of a few millions would form an individual of great wisdom, and if necessary, they could gather in trillions to overwhelm an attacker. ''Yes Pef, Solanus wants them for his worlds. More people to live in his oceans would be great.'' my water maid said, as we encountered the first colony of moappa. ''Okay then, what about the whales?'' I asked, noting the moappa becoming interested. Huh. ''Them too, if their songs are nice enough. Plankton is easy to provide'' Solana answered with an amused tone. Eh, more art. No wonder Solanus liked Angie. Singers were always well received, everywhere. ''Okay then, we''re heading for Aquarius . Moappa, are you spying on mind talk?'' I asked, with a fake resentment. ''W-weeelllll. You''re all like those Jedi, but not. Just curious'' the medusa colony reply, with embarrassment. ''You could hop into a starship and visit new planets, you know? There''s holographic and even telepathic pilot modules now.'' I told the Moappa as we neared the underwater city, enclosed in a semipermeable bubble, keeping pressure away, but letting organics and gases to pass. Much more advanced than those gungan frogs of Naboo. The leader of the whales, called Leviathor was already waiting for us, along with a herd of his friends. Hope I can save guys, and you''ll not end up as dinner for Palpatine''s officers. Or dead, when Dac gets bombarded from orbit, like in my memories. Hmmm. A faint tingle in the force as well. This huge white whale was force-sensitive, unlike the other whales. He started singing something to us, but I didn''t have that language in my partition. Wialu just floated ahead, and placed a palm on its forehead. Right. Living force. Peffy could do it too. Let''s see, animal bond ? ''That''s rude, Avatar Greyshade'' the wise whale replied in my mind. ''Jedi invented this ability. Those guys also tried to murder the leader of the Republic, you know?'' I answered with a mental shrug. ''So we heard. Calamari and Quareen debate what to do, but you already know what will happen. Like pictures, you seen the future'' Leviathor replied with a sad wail. Uh, maybe not a good idea to connect mentally with a brain 100 times larger. He stole memories. ''The Mind Library knows. In these waters, what you know, they know. All is revealed, Sun of Suns.'' the whale leader replied with a dismissive tone, and turned to leave. Uh. This was a short talk. ''You know already Peffy. The future is clear for their kind.'' Solana sent gently, removing a glove to wave her hand in the waters. ''Well, what now?'' I asked confused. ''Solanus is talking with the Knowledge Bank. I am his Voice too'' Solana answered calmly. Oh, right. 11 oceans, linked into a single mind. He could deal with a few glowing mollusks. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. ''Yes. Colonies on every ocean. Full database of all Calamari tech. Safety for the small ones. Allies against Vong. The wills are five'' Solana replied with a strange powerful tone. Okay then, keep the booming mind scream on the low. The mollusks were almost like those yammosk of the Vong, connecting everything in the oceans, and absorbing their memories. Just like the killiks that formed the Celestials and the Joiners. And those pearls inside their shells? Force crystals. Just like Solanus could simply will kyber crystals into existence. So, why wouldn''t the Vong be just as wise? Why? Oh well. Maybe they''ll turn peaceful, after I reduce them to a single city, on a single planet, the rest glassed and vitrified. But as they were now, poised to map the galaxy and preparing to enslave what survivors they left... Nah. We have laws against slavery, wrote them myself. ''We can go up now. The shell has finished its upload'' Solana declared as a green and yellow kyber crystal formed in her palm and floated away, heading into a deep underwater trench. Great, more secrets. Let''s go give our new Calamari allies 30 trillions, so they can expand their inner routes and mining planets, and produce a million starships for me. An MPT for starters, till the Separatist threat is over. And meanwhile, I''ll have to run around, turning every neutral polity out there, into an ally. Hapes, Bothan, Mandalore, Taris, Senex, Javin and the Gordian Reach. Just for starters. The Hutts would much harder. Peffy was gonna get a lot more wives. This personal union would be a full time job. Good thing he doesn''t get tired anymore. Planet Gand, Pef Empire 20 BBY, next month Although the new Galactic Empire has declared the Clone Wars over and won, that''s only a partial truth. The Clones part. The ability to mass-produce clones was reduced by 90% due to iron- nickel asteroids crashing into the all known facilities in the galaxy that produced clones. Millions of growing clones were snuffed out by waves of water or fire, and the Imperial Army has to recruit poor citizens to fill the ranks of depleted clone divisions. The quality and training of these fresh recruits is abysmal , and thus delaying the Rim Reconquest. Planet Mustafar and Muunilist and Yag''Dhul are still coordinating massive droid armies and the hyperlanes have been blocked with asteroids, as envisioned by the Gavin species mathematocracy''s leading council, the Body Calculus . Our fleets have stepped in, to help at Kashyyyk, and advanced southwards to Nanth''ri and New Apsolon. The CIS fleet at Teth had withdrawn, possibly not considering that front of importance anymore, leaving the system in our hands and the planet still partitioned, and the clone troops being eroded constantly by the wild life and the remaining CIS droids. A space station over Carida, where the new Imperial Navy has gathered their leading experts for a strategy conference was impacted by a captured Republican Venator star-destroyer, filled with explosives, and subsequently obliterated. Planet Rendili has surrendered to the Galactic Empire, but unfortunately, they do not have shipyards anymore, and many skilled workers are gone as well. Riots and unemployment plague that 600 billion people world, and 10 Imperial stormtrooper legions have to forgo helping on the frontlines, and instead are sent to pacify the population. On more democratic worlds, calls for abolishing the slavery of the poor clones is being brought up more and more by the media and politicians. Alderaan and Naboo and dozens other worlds voice their outrage in the Imperial Senate, citing the very words of Emperor Palpatine, saying the Clone wars are over. A simple solution would be to replace the clones with droids, but the public opinion is harshly against it. On Thyferra , till now a CIS stronghold, major battles take place, as the Galactic Empire is desperate to regain access to bacta, and heal their wounded organic troops. Many facilities are destroyed in the fighting, the droids often blowing up the bacta treatment culture, before retreating into jungles or mountains. Planet Ando, the capital of Hyper-Communications Cartel has fallen though, and the Cartel was promptly nationalized by the Palpatine''s Empire. Well, the facilities in reach of the Empire at least. Pef Empire has prompty done the same, declaring all assets of the Cartel becoming property of the Empire. Not that they weren''t, de facto till now, but de jure sounds legal. It is a race, that the Galactic Empire will win, through sheer numbers and proximity, but the point is not to win everything. Just enough to delay a strong Galactic Empire for a decade. More and more colonists and other people fleeing from whatever reason, board whatever ships they can, and flee to the liberal regime of the Pef Empire. 50 million immigrants this month. Yay! 25 millions of them from Renastasia though, so...not really. But reducing poverty and population pressure on the planet will help too. One million youngsters joined Centrality''s Army and Navy, attracted by the glamour of tanks and starfighters. The giant sarlacc has been finally tractored to the Wheel, the huge gambling station near Centares, and installed with sublight engines and large domed malls and museums and opera halls, where the angels can sing of the wonders of the galaxy, while millions of rich people pay 1000 credits for a ticket to the Ancient Abyss theme park. Every day. In a year, the botomless Abyss will pay the whole medical care for the empire. Make a note, add more parks and restaurants. It''s 150 kilometer long, plenty space. The sarlacc it''s still alive, for some reason, cause if magma pressure and temperature 150 kilometers deep didn''t bother it, vacuum wouldn''t either. In fact, zero G makes it relax, as there''s no more weight to tear at it''s old flesh. Lucky guy. Bits of his body were sent to Bluforge and Sol V, to try and reproduce the amazing properties of this skin. Heals amazingly fast, and it''s even harder to damage. Energy weapons have little or no effect. More so after I drained all the dark stuff from its stomach. Feels a little like Miss Fay now, pure and ageless, but still vicious enough to rip you to shreds, if you cross in front of its maw. And on our Navy, 1000 Meteors and 5000 corvettes have began trials and will be soon operational. Millions of regular citizens from my empire demand to be allowed as Imperial Servants, then train as officers and command starships too. Sure, why not? You don''t have to be a liberated slave for that, it was just the instrument of abolishing slavery. The Corporate sector is finally conquered, having cost me a trillion credits in material and fuel. But...that''s very little to my wealth now. I''ll listen to Lira and Dora, and go build more cities and factories, all over the core of my empire. Because, now that the Galactic Empire is starting to oppress people, more should come. A hundred dead agents of my third Hand''s have been recovered and brought back to life with the Scepter of Ragnos, but they seem a bit off. Still good for work, and decanting secrets, but more vicious and hateful. At their killers, for now...but... ''We''ll have to use them up Pef. Send them out again and again, till they die for good. That scepter is not like your Voice.'' Lira declared with a certainty in her tone. Well, you''re the one who did die, so you''ll know better. Talzin and Daka have a similar means, called Bardottan Sphere , which works like the scepter and the soul snares into one. And more, since it adds the strength of the one drained to the user. I know how to make my Voices stronger now, even after the bota stops working, which should be soon. Which is why Peffy is now on Dathomir, with the said scepter, and two maids to show the Mothers some results. Planet Dathomir, Pef Empire 20 BBY "Honored Mothers, I am Avatar Greyshade, the Voice of the Emperor" I said politely towards Daka and Talzin, as my maids went to greet their sisters, and gossip things. "Oh, a strong boy indeed! And Nightsister Talia seems three times stronger, than 3 months ago." Old Daka said with a light tone. Not actually impressed, just amused. On her belt, she wore the shrunken skulls of the Vong prisoners, now decorated with alchemic inscriptions. Eh, it''s tradition here. I think. "Yes, she is. Now, I have a lot to learn, and just a week to spare. Do your worst, most learned one" I said softly, and pointing with my chin towards her cave. "Brave too. Well then, everyone breaks. Let''s see how long it takes for an Avatar" the witch whispered as she transformed into green mist and flew into the cave. The next part was going to be painful. And it was. 3 days of torture and ''lessons'' just to gain a modicum of respect from Daka. "So, now that you''ve proven that you deserve to marry those girls, what else do you need, boy?" the old witch asked, dismissing her acids and plasma utensils, to whatever pocket dimension they came from. Huh, just three days? "Let''s go outside, Honored Mother. My droids were told to stay out." I explained politely, and went to take the armor back on. "Oh, a secret? I love secrets!" the Nightsister Mother mused with a tea cup in her hand. No you don''t. I''d say you absolutely detest not knowing something. Culexus 0053 waited invisible at the entrance, and handed me the scepter. Now. let''s start...whoa! Now this was a real nexus, not some tree or a worm. The Rakata sacrificed billions here, mostly Kwa and Duros, distorting the nexus inside out. My hand thrummed with energy, as the scepter drained and drained, storing all the hate and pain inside its force matrix. Daka looked curious at the old spear, then around, noticing the change. "What does the thing do, with all this power?" she wondered out loud. "What I tell it to do. Make normals into witches, revive the dead, fire energy blasts..." I enumerated, with a bit of strain. Too much power, a force vortex was forming around me, like a planet sized hurricane. "Stop it now! Do it at once and all life on the planet will die..." Daka said with a bit of concern. Right, a planet was pretty big. But I guess I did steal one or two percent already. Enough to make a million people force users. "Ten minutes, Old Daka. It won''t change much, but allow me to create a big enough army" I replied with some excitement. I now had to hold the scepter with both hands, and use the power armor''s servomotors just to hold it steady. "Always rushing, every young one...I''ll go select some young failed sisters then." Daka declared in a weary voice, and a sigh. Hmmm. I should bond these girls to Peffy though. No point in giving powers to potential enemies. Natasi came out of the ship, attracted by the comotion. She won''t be a Galactic Admiral now, but a Pef Admiral. She took to the memory imprints like a sponge, absorbing every single battle, every tactic and strategy, and looked to make better ones. And her long red hair... "More magic, Avatar?" she asked curious, as the armor strained audibly to contain the vibrations. Fine, let''s not break the Terminator armor with force induced oscillations. Release. "Just charging the device, fabulous maid. There''s some..." I started to say, when the old witch came with some 50 girls, all sick and scared, with dirty garments and cuts all over. Probably plant gatherers or something. But why scars? Right, jungle world and no force. Normal people would get sick and hurt rapidly, then die in pain. "Old Daka, you have a million droids now, and modern housing and hot water. Why are my citizens like that?" I asked sternly. "The jungle awakens the failures, sometimes. Or they die. " the witch replied in a careless tone. Kriff. Not cool, old monster. Some of these girls are 7 or 9 years old. "From now on, they are mine. And I''ll let the other clans know as well. Next time I see my citizens mistreated, I''ll be upset. And perhaps sterilize you all, if you don''t treasure your children" I said in a harsh voice, amplified with air alter. The old witch opened her mouth to respond, then eyed the scepter in my hand and remained silent. Yea, this thing might ruin your day, if you make me use it to attack. "Savages and child abusers. Why do you even need them, Avatar?" Natasi Daala wondered, going to fuss around the smallest girls. "The Nightsisters are distant relatives, through my wife. Which they sold into slavery. Backward world, if you didn''t know..." I answered with a sigh, and went to heal the girls, then gift them the force. Just a second, to bestow the scepter on their heads, gently. And a tiny force-sensitivity appeared for the new Nightsisters, along with a feeble Force-bond, to let me know their state and location. "You do have a number of wives, eh? Spreading the love?" Natasi said, with some envy and amusement. "Hey! I love all my wives, and their kids will be rich and educated. The least I can do, with a quadrillion credits to spend on frivolous things..." I muttered with some despair. Can''t someone have a harem in peace? Rolling meteors Planet Gand, Pef Empire Redbox 20 BBY "As you see Emperor, we do have 3 routes to the Sith pocket now, so it''s time to claim it for ourselves." Mujilik said in a convinced tone. Sure, we have droids and droid piloted ships. But sending people in there? Not for a while. Sadly, the Dark Side is not a myth. Who knew, billions of dead revengeful ghosts could form a critical mass? "I''ll order the droids to start the standard colonization protocols. Space stations, orbital defenses and planetary shields. But the organics will have to wait. A hundred warships should suffice to hold Korriban, while the droids test the old routes. There''s little point going there, as even Dathomir is much too distorted to be drained, for now. Korriban will be a thousand times worse" I mused, while reading another holocron. We only got some 300 new holocrons, since the Jedi fled with many of them before we could intervene. Still, better than just 20 or, so we had till now. "Wise decision, Immortal Pef. So, what are we doing about the major worlds still churning ships and droids for the CIS?" Zuckuss wondered, poking a finger at the holomap and bringing the Foerost Shipyards into focus. Another huge CIS shipyard, orbiting a separatist ecumenopolis. And building a large fleet of armored cruisers called Bulwarks, very similar to our Meteors in shape if not in size. The Imperial Navy wouldn''t let us destroy the shipyards again, as they wanted to capture it themselves, while Palpatine wanted those ships to break out and bombard a dozen democratic planets to glass. I think he gets off by provoking panic and fear. Plus eliminating political enemies. Very Sith of him. Though, his control over the CIS seemed shaky now, as rumors spread on every non-official channel that he was a Sith Lord and Dooku''s Master. I can''t let those ships break out and evaporate billions of civilians. "We''ll do a cloaked strike. A Fade frigate or two for command, and four thousand Orion corvettes. The shipyards still don''t have full shields, so proton torpedoes should rupture most orbital docks and send them flying. The Bulwark cruisers will be quite easy to destroy, once floating listless and without crews." I decided, going over my memories once again. As a cheat page, they had worked great so far, showing me plenty shortcuts and key nodes to gain, but that will mostly end. "That will also force the planet to surrender, and release the ships holding the siege." Zuckuss commented, quite aptly. "Saving a trillion lives is more important, my First Hand. You''ve seen how the Imperials glassed Mechis III . Only a droid world, but..." I said, with some concern. Palpatine was even more drastic now, as he didn''t have troops enough to obtain his Galactic Empire, soon enough. "Okay then. So it is. The conquest of Ord Cestus has also stalled, and our troops maintain a siege around Clandes . The other cities will be easier, but those factories keep producing droid divisions. Too many. That complex is very deep, at least 20 floors, so far." my Gand friend complained, showing us the relevant hologram . A thousand square kilometers of industrial fabrication lines. I sort of wanted that complex for my empire, to use against the Vong. Yea, I''ll go lend a hand and take over that planet myself. Then push with 500 Meteors towards Sernpidal . From there I could control the entire Galactic North, access the Gree, map the routes to Belkadan, and take Muunilist. The money prize. Because, that was the Switzerland of this galaxy, with an approximate quintillion credits in deposits, and the banks that issued the currency of the galaxy. Funding the CIS too, the scumbags. I could use more money. Hmmm. Make that 800 Meteors. I may need to leave some as deterrence for the Vong. "I want a fleet to push east of Randon towards planet Chalacta. And start mapping a route to Ruusan, or buy the route from some Hyper Cartel leader, whichever. They used to have a spy station at Ruusan, 2 years ago. I''ll go with the new fleet to Sernpidal." I concluded, looking around for disagreement. "If you think it''s important, Emperor...there''s nothing there except...the Vong." my third Hand mused...tracing a red oval on the holomap around that northern sector, where somewhere between a trillion and a hundred trillion Vong were preparing to invade. "We''ll also scout towards Foundry and Telti . Gaining a production planet would be nice. They cost 50 trillions credits and a lot of time to construct." I added with less interest. If I took the banks, the CIS will collapse, and so will the fake war. "If you manage it in time, Pef. The Imperials are preparing to attack towards Ord Mantell, regardless of loses. You have to hurry..." Asajj spoke out loud, making me remember she was in the room. "You''re coming with me, love. You still have much to learn, and I''m not giving you 300 holocrons to play with. We''ll take this one with us" I replied softly, holding a blue holocron up. "Yay, more dogma and senile Jedi teachings!" Asajj said with fake joy. Oh, you''ll be surprised what the Noetikon of Secrets can teach. Meanwhile, on Mandalore, Peffy was educating his new admiral maid in the art of making... "Squeeze a little, roll it with your palms, then let it rest. See, now it looks hard and healthy..." I said without any innuendo. "Are you sure that''s how you make cookies? Because, I never heard of such..." Natasi complained, looking at her dough with some distrust. "Well, I''ve seen them made like this, but never did myself. We''ll test them on some ambassadors when they bother us again." I replied with a shrug. Have a cookie! And perhaps not get sick... Planet Ord Cestus, Pef Empire 20 BBY, next week The Meteors haven''t arrived here, since they are very slow, and need huge quantities of hypermatter to displace their enormous mass. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. So, this possibly means they''ll all remain here in the North, guarding Sernpidal and the adjacent worlds. Which is fine, the Galactic Empire will need at least ten years to organize itself, possibly more. I had of course, taken control of the droids and the controlling centers of the factories here on Cestus, and had begun upgrading the droids to Pef Empire standards. The tiny blaster pistols and other various equipment was loaded on dozens of transports and sent to various mining worlds, to equip miners and security guards against wild life. Already, a thousand liberation and anti-sith movements have begun forming to oppose Palpatine, with cheap ships and weapons provided by a mysterious backer. I mean, a Corellian freighter, slightly used, costs 20 thousand credits. A Gozanti cruiser, perhaps 40 thousands. The mining companies report them stolen, of course, but who could have known they also carried blasters, grenades and supplies to last years for a platoon of freedom fighters. A few such ships even carried flash memory devices, for security guards of those mining companies. Sigh, this will be a recurring problem, won''t it? And those evil Jedi, a dozen already rallying racoons and snails and other races to resist the new Sith Empire... Planet Kelada was almost overrun when a hundred groups sprang from the bushes, taking over CIS factories and arming themselves with battle droids and tanks. The Imperial Army has sent 2 legions to quell the rebellion, but with little result. Every single officer that leaves the command bunkers get sniped by sneaky freedom fighters. So sneaky, not even captured rebels know their identities. This factory complex is way bigger than I first thought, and is supplied with its own mines and powerplants. Guess I can make old style tanks here, too. Something like a T55, if much more resilient and fast, and with unlimited ammunition for its energy weapons. I''ll call it Gauntlet, as it''s meant to be my armored fist. Should cost about 8 or 10 thousand credits, and be virtually immune to small arms like blasters and slug guns. The Gauntlet tankcosts as much as the cheaper power armors, but withtwicethe firepower and armor. At 15 tonnes, it can use a turret with one medium ion cannon andtwomedium masers, two side sponsons with Gatling lasers and a missile launcher. The launcher costs about 2000 credits, might not use it on every tank. Andit can sprint at 140 kph on open terrain. Just tracks for mobility, the cheapest armor, just 3 cms of durasteel, a hull hugging shield and microfusion reactor. A droid brain, two B11 for crew and room for one organic, or three, if available. Crew is optional, but changing broken tracks or other repairs are much easier to do if every tank carries a pair of droids. Droids outnumber organics at least 100 to one in my army, and for a simple reason. Cheap, do not sleep, do not eat, do not need medical care. Often it''s simpler to melt down oldor broken droids and build new ones. Guess I did get caught up a bit with all the fancy repulsorlift tanks and transforming droids. There''s no need, except the rule of cool and inspiration for organic armies. I''ll still make the Titans, at least one for every division, because they''ll be a symbol of advanced technology and will terrify weak-willed opponents. Perhaps later I''ll go back and revisit the tank developing matter, and make a true main battle tank, but for the clone wars the Gauntlet will suffice. ''Oh, now you''re coming back with feet on the ground, as land-dwelling people say.'' Solana whispered, no doubt spying on me through the Voice bond. "You''re also talking out loud, Tank Emperor. Who cares about tanks when I have a hundred abilities to learn from the Noetikon?" Asajj commented too, with an aggravated voice. Sigh, the curse of being a genius... ''Two more Jedi just have arrived at Boonta. From somewhere in Hutt space.'' Wialu sent, with a simulated frown. ''Any result, getting the Hutts to support the Rebellion?'' I asked back. ''Not yet. You would have heard.'' my beautiful stern wife and Voice replied. Guess I would have. 11% of my partitions were now in use, monitoring half the known galaxy. Many of them tracking the escaped Jedi and their younglings. I did spread millions of spy satellites along the main hyperroutes. Master Fay took 100 changelings and went to the moon Ruul, to discuss plans with the gathering of former Jedi there. Most likely trying some foolish plan to take down Palpatine, and get killed in the process. Kriff, at least half of them should know better. "Well, those Makutai seem to lean towards emigrating to your Empire, Pef. But those brain drinking Anzati... I think you''d be better off sending them at Malkii, and converted to assassins. What ...owwww!" Asajj muttered, while almost frying her brain with the force psychosis she just learned from the Noetikon holocron. Here, mind heal and vigor. And heal... "Use mind shield and fortify soul, before you try those things." I explained patiently. "Y-yea...just relieved some nasty moments from my youth. Kriff." the Dathomirian Voice grumbled with annoyance. She has become really resilient to pain, barely complaining as she bleeds from her eyes and ears, for some reason. Damn Sith teachings. Not a single one lesson without major backlash. Hyperspace emergence! And there, they are, my beautiful Meteors. They just arrived in the system, ready to shoot things. And I have 100 Gauntlet tanks ready as well! The first production line has began manufacturing my new gloves. Let''s send them up with some transport dropships. And then? Let''s go liberate more worlds! Those pesky CIS corporations, keeping all those credits for themselves! The people want freedom, you hear? And money, and sex. But freedom is a basic right, for diamonds and credits too. And those rebel groups? Who do you think started the rumors and the liberation movements, on a thousand planets at once? With detailed and graphic descriptions of dark jedi and Sith practices? And don''t look at me so suspicious, I only have two hands. That Third Hand, is just a baseless rumor. --------- Planet Axxila, Pef Empire (almost) next day Look, it''s an even combat! The CIS has somehow managed to prepare a fleet at parity with my own! The CIS had 800 ships defending this important planet, and I brought 800 ships as well. What a coincidence! Just, their ships were not big enough. Even the IGB Lucrehulks, 3 kilometers wide, were too small, compared to my 800 Meteors, each 20 kms long and 5 kms wide. Half of the CIS fleet was captured and the rest blown up in 3.14 minutes. The meteoric tide of freedom could not be stopped anymore. I guess my strategy is beginning to work. Ha! Just joking. Overwhelming force, both in numbers and quality. The iron and steel tide can''t be stopped anymore. Ciutric offensive Planet Ciutric, Pef Empire 20 BBY Two weeks later The first Gauntlet tank regiment paid for itself in the first minute on Axxila, destroying a CIS droid regiment immediately upon landing. 100 tanks costing about 1 million credits, 1 million credits of B1 droids means about 2000 of droids. The next hour had them pay off 50 times more, blitzing the slow infantry lines and destroying 90% of the artillery droids at the back. Instead of months, the invasion of Axxila took days, especially as more tank divisions began landing to support the regular B11 droids. Speed, armor, firepower. Once you have all three...victory! And now the same conditions happen here, on the capital world of Ciutric Hegemony. On Ciutric, seven tank regiments, just 700 tanks, supported by armed gunships and some Droideka droids encircled and obliterated 3 million CIS droids, entrenched and expecting us with blasters and missiles. Trenches are so last year...if you can break and fall behind enemy lines. Once I have a few million tanks...eh, that will take months. The production lines are just warming up. Other Mountains and Meteors have moved to siege nearby planets like New Holgha and Binquaros , Ventress having a free hand to deal with the thousands of pirates on that system. Not that pirates can handle a thousand Orion stealthed corvettes. It was a bit of a massacre. Surprise! At the moon Distna we found a Ciutric Hegemony secret navy base, hidden inside the hollow moon, which we immediately claimed as a Pef naval base. Because, hollow moon? How cool is that! ZIMM''s cyborgs and the Black Ops both want jurisdiction over this base, seeing as its close to the Vong attack path. Meh, they can share it. All the cyborgs in my army can barely occupy a tenth of moon''s inner volume. Elsewhere in the galaxy, planet Balmorra is being besieged by the evil Imperials, and more rebellions start, to keep the planet from becoming a Sith dominion. And as the planet was a massive factory world for the CIS, the rebels have plenty weapons, even tanks and starfighters. The rebels even have the proper codes to use the super SD-6 Hulk infantry droid to use against the poor stormtroopers. I have a bad feeling about those poor clones. Planet Foerost has surrendered, once their shipyards and ships in orbit vanished in a single hour of jamming and confusion. Should have done that sooner, former superpower. The Imperial Navy is still stuck in the North at Ord Martell, as somehow their hypermatter fuel and tibanna gas for turbolasers transports vanish without trace. Not taking my prize, that easy. My Fade II frigates have gravity interdictors now, and can drop transports of hyperspace. Guess you''ll have to organize convoys and escorts. Plenty of dangerous pirates in that area... Also, for just 1 million credits, an enterprising Hyper Cartel engineer has provided us with a few secret hyper-routes, even the one to Ruusan. It goes through Belasco though, close to the Galactic Empire territory, so only our stealth ships can reach it undetected. Sad, but I do have thousands of cloaked ships... We still have to find our own route, but in the meantime, droids and a few Servants can claim the system, and install defense satellites and a few minor outposts. I can''t wait too long here though, at Ciutric. The money prize is waiting. Let''s hack and slice and take over the CIS droid armies, execute the Hegemony leaders, with their own bodyguard droids. Now, all the undressed B1 droids hold weapons above your heads, and march out, to be upgraded and dressed in proper uniform by your brothers in arms, the B11 droids of the Pef Army. And done, let''s jump towards Argazda . Soon, the galaxy will know who the real superpowers are. Especially since there might be some Vong supermonsters in Slave Pits of Lorrd , on planet Lorrd nearby, which was a slave planet for the Argazdians for millennia. Now, I doubt there were Vong Shapers around 4 millennia ago, but who knows? A few hours latermy fleet arrived at Argazda, surprising the CIS corporations and slavers with their pants down. In many cases, literally, either abusing slaves or reading stock reports on the toilet. Now, do I wait for them to finish...? Nope, let''s end this farce right now! Guards, don''t bother to arrest them. Just shoot, and rip their limbs off. Like that! And let''s take over the comm channels and announce the new laws, while our troops disembark with neural lessons for my new Imperial Servants. All this wealth and stocks? Nationalized, to support the liberation. And pay salaries and other costs. You keep slaves? No autonomy then. You just proved you can''t handle it. I shouldlocate that Doctor Raygar . Damn, my Black Ops are fast! ''No, don''t kill him!'' He led an expedition to Yavin 4, and collected artifacts for Palpatine. But I bet he kept some. ''Have him brought to me.'' I order calmly. "You see, Doctor Raygar. You caused the new Sith Empire, led by Palpatine. Now kindly explain what you did, what artifacts you found, and what did Palpatine take" I asked softly, while recording the scared doctor relate his story. For me, and the rebellion, of course. Almost like a Discovery channel documentary, sometimes using captured images of Palpatine and his office to point out an object or another. "You mean, the very Sith Chalice, that many visitors saw in Chancellor''s Palpatine office, was a Sith relic, recovered by your expedition?" I asked with the voice of a curious reporter. "Yes, that and many other things, some even speaking to my mind, with evil voices." he confirmed, with professional outrage. "And there you have, dear friends of the Argazda Historical News. A real story, of a man tricked by a Sith Lord to do his bidding, and plunge the galaxy into war. Sadly, the Pef Navy is approaching our system, and our transmission may be jammed..." And cut. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Ah, I could really host a number of Discovery Channels at once, about all the fantastic species and old relics of the galaxy. Damn Jedi and Sith, keeping everything secret. And done. A partition of mine will run non-stop documentaries from now on, with live images from battles and various remote planets. The Holodiscovery Channel, bringing you the most amazing things in the galaxy, every day. Planet Sernpidal, Pef Empire Next week The trip up the Veragi Trade Route was easy from here on, just clearing whatever pirates we found. Also, launching thousands of stealth satellites, and keeping an eye open for Vong ships or asteroids with weapons. But we did find a present, for myself. On planet Seline, on a deserted starport, we found a Sekot ship, dead. But its two hyperdrives engines were mechanical and more advanced than anything I seen till now. And, as the robust tech in this galaxy takes a million years to die, the engines are almost fine. A bit dinged up, but nothing internal is broken. Normal modern tech, not some fractal intersection of dimensions like the Kwa or Rakata do things, but so finely tuned and crafted, it can obtain 0.5 speed, or maybe even 0.4. This is what I needed! The sad thing, it''s only good for a large starfighter or a shuttle, maybe a Corellian freighter. And I''m not sure I can make a reverse-engineered one, at this femto-scale of quality. I''ll try of course, since it costs me just time and patience. "My patience too. When are we blowing things up again?" Ventress asked a bit annoyed. "You just massacred like 5000 innocents pirates, poor guys only praying on commerce, like their forefathers, for generations." I answered politely. "Gah, why are we building a hundred bases and factories and 5 planetary shields here?" my dark maid asked rhetorically. She knew, but was just bored. "Go talk to the locals, Asajj. See if they saw anything funny. And organize patrols and checkpoints. The Vong should feel blank, like the force can''t touch them, so easy to spot." "Sure, prisoners or...?" "It''s to give you something fun to do Asajj. Old Daka found them very amusing" I said softly, and squeezed her bottom tenderly. "Ah... I could indeed. I do feel a little frustrated..." she acknowledged, and went to put her power armor on. Heh, I already spread a dozen types on nanoviruses down on the planet, testing for genetic markers. A small number failed to register, an exact 144 number. Just like on Bimmiel. I could just collect the Vong with some droids, but Ventress needs... ''Sigh. Just direct me to them. Hunting is no fun with you around'' my maid complained over the bond, as she was about to land. Yea, just because most force abilities wouldn''t work, that didn''t mean mechanical means would fail. Guess I should start a bioweapon partition for the Vong as well. The Shapers will catch it and counter it, eventually. But I might be able to deter them from using their own biological plagues, with the threat of my own. Now, let''s send orders for a few Explorers to search towards Helska and Belkadan. There are some 50 known planets nearby and then the planet Asation, which forms the gateway to Gree space. That''s where I think Ray is. My Findsman abilities are not sure, either due to her crystal nature, or to some Gree distortion over their whole space. They may have devolved somewhat, since the Rakata defeated them and forced them to retreat, but those gates on Asation must be powered by something. Sadly, there are more pressing matters. 100 Meteors and 1 Mountain will remain to fortify this system, while the rest will begin the advance towards Dubrilion. While the world is rich and high tech, even more important are the asteroids and the Destrillion planet in that system. I can make a large shipyard there, and extract tibanna gas. Perfect location for a forge world, close to the access point of the Vong. Planet Artorias would help as well. ''Hey Pef, guess what?'' Asajj asked, from the planet. ''You killed them all?'' I guessed. ''In 144 different ways! They''re not so hard to kill...'' she complained, with a disappointed tone. Heh. Soldiers trying to pass as locals? Without bio armor and weapons, and support from the yammosk? Sure, just meat and bone. And you have a T-800 power armor, worth 800 million credits. Almost comparable to a Meteor in cost and durability. I even tested proton torpedoes, and barely scratched it. The Meteors that were repaired after Lianna had holes almost 1 kilometer deep, and a few even more. That armor may be thick, but is not as durable as durasteel or cortosis... I can cover them with alchemy inscribed plates though. Those Sanctuary people can start doing some work, with all the skills they learned. Maybe even boosting comms and sensors and engines. '' You heard that Dora?'' I asked with some amusement. ''How can I not, most beloved Emperor. We''ll start with the defense fleet, and let you know if the alchemic sigils work, and by how much'' my twi''lek Voice sent with an adoring tone. Maybe too adoring. Hey...is that? ''Almost certain Pef. A son of a son'' she replied, a bit too happy. Well done Peffy! ''It is Peffy, right?'' I wondered a bit concerned. ''Stupid droid. Go back to your war!'' I got in response. Right. Don''t ask, don''t tell. Maybe. "Can we jump already, Father Emperor?" my captain asked, a bit annoyed. Ah, talking out loud. "Engage hyperdrives Captain. Let''s go to war!" I replied heroically. Planet Mandalore, Pef Empire Charming Castle, Tower 7N Natasi Greyshade hid behind a pillow, as Avatar began dressing up. "Something bad happened? You need to fix something?" my newest wife asked, a bit confused and scared. "Nothing bad, my love. My first kid. I kinda want to see. Make sure Dora is fine, and everything" Peffy said gently, then kissed the red-headed Major for goodbye. "Oh, another wife, another planet huh? You sure have your life mapped out then. Wives and kids everywhere, and you run around to see them..." she said, a bit amused. "I''ll try, but this won''t be possible too much. Only during calm times like these" I mused, waving the armor to open up for me. Technopathy was barely working, unless I used the biochip in the brain. Better than nothing, but... Anyway, I had living force and precognition. And I should go see Lidia too, then Zero and the Dathomirian sisters...well, future wives. And teach Zero agelessness. She was getting too slow...or maybe I was too fast. I will let the Avatar''s body grow naturally for a few years more though. Maybe 2 more centimeters in height will appear somehow. Kriff, that sarlacc was 15000000 centimeters long ! Come now dear Force, let me get to 180 centimeters! A man should be tall and strong, my mom told me that! And I was stronger than him, if not whatever millennia oldthe worm was. It wasn''t fair! Galactic Bank Planet Dubrilion, Pef Empire 3 days later The system fell to us fast, as the CIS fleet here has retreated at speed, the second they saw 700 Meteors emerge from hyperspace, so we''re only leaving a standard pacification 3 Meteors fleet to guard and begin the liberation of these oppressed people, and the mining and exploitation of the natural resources, of course. And now let''s jump, towards Bescane. We should reach it in 12 hours. Further south,my Dornean Admirals push as hard as they can, and should reach planetGarqi in 10 hours. Thus finishing the major encirclement of the CIS forces in this part of the galaxy. Almost. There is still one more node to capture, at Borosk. Still, too far, for now. As always, we''re leaving small fleets to claim and pacify the minor worlds on the way, and letting the smaller Navy ranks gain real experience with skirmishes and planetary invasions. Sure, they make mistakes and waste dropships and droids and tanks...but it''s only credits. I''m not gonna force choke a general or vice-admiral over holoconference, just because a dark jedi general was more clever. The battles will be won, eventually. One learns much more from a loss than from a victory, after all. And victory in the CIS war is certain, anyway. ''Why do I have to go to Dantooine, there''s nothing there?'' Ventress complained over the voice bond. ''You are an Admiral, with 200 Meteors in your fleet. And Mygeeto is an important target, that we want captured mostly intact. Try not to die, yet.'' I answered, a bit amused. ''Oh! Just say so, you...'' she muttered, now more pleased with her mission. ''Yes? Myself what?'' ''Generous and magnificent crystal head. Giving me the chance to die in glorious battle, against the corrupt corporations sucking the blood out of the poor people'' Asajj proclaimed, in a fake heroic voice. She''ll do just fine. Elsewhere in the galaxy, the most outspoken critic of Palpatine, from planet Uyter , called Lexi Dio barely escaped assassination, by some imperial goons. The one with a red lightsaber was stopped only meters away, by a droid Ambassador from Pef Empire. The planet is in outrage, and wants to secede from the Galactic Empire. Peffy will have to go, and ''negotiate'' an MPT, and perhaps a personal union as well. She seems nice. This will also open the flood gates, to more defections of former Republic worlds, towards the Pef Empire. It wasn''t even a fake assassination, except the lightsaber guy. That was a dark jedi we captured and brainwashed. I wonder if Kenobi was also the same kind of ''negotiator''. It would make sense, wouldn''t it? How many female leaders were so kind to him? Further to the galactic south, the Trellian Fleet has descended to Syvris, then Gamorr. Next offensive will be towards Molavar . 30 more Meteors are heading there as well, and might reach Molvar next month. Because, from Molavar there are attack routes to Geonosis, Tatooine and Ukio . Those Ravagers pirate at Rishi need to be exterminated as well, and planet Scarif will make a nice prize too, for those of us deploring that planet being burned alive. Another 2 fleets of Pef Navy, with 30 Meteors each, are heading towards Corellia and Duro. Cause we''re not gonna let the evil Sith Empire attack our allies, would we? Palpatine has already demanded the Corellian Diktat to hand over the Green Jedi.Our fleets take whatever CIS planets they find en route, including Onderon and Ambria, which is found deserted. Not gonna happen, one-armed disfigured Sith Lord. You have a role to play, terrorizing the galaxy into becoming very appreciative of the liberty in Pef Empire. But that''s about it. Another fleet is being prepared for the long jump, from Korriban to Empress Teta, in the Deep Core. The five Claw Explorers that had already visited Theta, on their mission to Thyton, are going through final preparations of mastering mind-shield and mind-fog and hide in light. Just so they can last 10 minutes in Korriban system, before they jump. Survey droids kinda break down when attempting this jump, although the coordinates are known. More Force shenanigans, no doubt. In the galactic south-west, the Pef Empire enclave also contributed, liberating Cerea from the CIS, and starting to fortify that trade node with shields and defense platforms. They do not even need ships as much, sincemy Imperial Servants there already used a trillion credits to construct droid factories and shipyards, and bought thousands other small ships. We do have about 15 mining corporations in and around Endor system, and a few inhabited planets to draw workforce and naval officers from. Planet Bakura will be liberated next, and provide repulsorlift tech and more minerals for your ships and gunships. They will be important later, I''m certain. On Kashyyyk, the wookie homewolrd, there''s again a four-way war, with the wookies trying to eject the Imperial stormtroopers, the CIS droids shooting everything, and our troops shooting the CIS, and sometimes sniping stormtrooper officers, and arming the wookies with more effective weapons and blaster-resistant uniforms. That means weapons likeTof Soren Hunting Rifle and large ponchos made of vongtech biofiber and plasteel. At least only the naked CIS droids shoot at my troops. And the wildlife. And the flora. Sigh. This is just like Vietnam again, only with 5 kilometers tall trees. My battledroids are not good at climbing trees. Nor are my tanks. Planet Muunilist, Pef Empire 20 BBY, Next week Muunilist has fallen. The creepy Muun bankers were even richer than I thought, with some 12 quintillion credits in the accounts, plus stock and rare crystals deposits worth at least that much yet again. And even better, we found financial evidence of collusion between various banking corporations and the CIS leaders. They are relieved of their properties and funds, and my Empire becomes the richest in the galaxy. Also,important at this time, is the Mining Guild, based on Empress Teta, with its billions of mining worlds around the galaxy. Because of course, for every million of life bearing planets in the galaxy, a billion systems were discovered without life and were used only by miners or smugglers. Only three ofmy Claws mapping the Daragon Trail from Korriban to Teta have returned, but the sacrifice of the other two won''t be in vain. We can jump directly to the Deep Core now, bypassing Coruscant. Still, I get to have three more Hands, which the Force clearly favors, and a route for the Deep fleet at Stenos to follow. Wialu will lead 6 Fade II frigates, 6 Mountains, 30 Meteors, 400 Muni destroyers, 100 Recu carriers and 500 corvettes.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. A small fleet, just 1000 ships, but the gain for losing their firepower in future conflicts, as they will guard the Deep Core and the S-thread booster hyperlanes that form the access from Coruscant...yea. They''ll be worth it. Plus Teta has some 300 billion people, that will be very useful for colonization. My first gigantic ecumenopolis, that I will empty out, and reduce to some 30 billions. I mean really, what point is it, to stack people like bricks in 500 floors of underground bunkers? I can populate 100 planets with those people. The empty spaces, deep underground, can be used for factories and storage and even shipyards. Humans will be happier leaving on the surface, and enjoy the sun and wind and trees...at least I hope so. Maybe I''m old-fashioned... ''No Pef, people will be happier. And less poor and sick. Don''t doubt yourself now!'' Lira sent with strong conviction again. The other Voices agreed as well, even Luxum, who was sunbathing now, outside her droid suit. Didn''t know crystals like to sunbathe... ''The Shards are still alive Pef, not synthetic as you. We need the sun, or we wither and die...'' my Iron Maiden explained patiently. All right then. The living crystals of this galaxy were more like plant life. ''Need anything, dear Shard?'' I asked with some concern. ''Not yet. I have some fellow Shards and the Black Ops preparing for the Mustafar operation. We did colonize planetKallidah since it was deserted, just like you said. Mustafar is only a 4 hours jump away from there. Contact with Polis Massa is difficult, but our agents did spot Master Yoda. Just like you said.'' the former Iron Knight replied, with a tinge of sadness and regret. Gland to see my memory is still accurate. Some things did stay the same, which makes my job easier. ''Okay then, Honored Voice. Once we take Teta and Jerrilek , you have a go. May the Force be with you'' I sent, in a soft tone. ''We''re departing from Stenos now, Pef. See you on the other side.'' Wialu sent with a slight worry in her aura. Shewill be fine. The route was mapped now, andWialu has enough firepower with her, to take on a major fleet. Like the Teta Defense Fleet. And now, it was time to create a new currency, the Empire Credit or the EC. Or the Official Pef Empire Currency, the OPEC . But, since Palpatine couldn''t refuse the name of Empire Credit, I went with that. Which I will print myself, replacing the defunct Republic credit with my own currency, and force the whole galaxy to bend to my will. Because printing money? It was a power as great as the Force, and much simpler to control. Now, let''s make the official announcement, the formation of the Galactic Bank, empowered by the Pef Emperor to emit currency and being backed up by the gem and stock deposits on Muunilist. CIS''s assets will be confiscated by the Empire as reparation for the war, and distributed to the worlds afflicted by the conflict. A galactic version of the Marshall plan, and simply buying the loyalty and affections of thousand of planets devastated by the Clone Wars. Also stealing everything the Trade Federation and Techno Union owned. The CIS resistance will falter soon, since salaries and ship maintenance and all the operating costs for droids will not be available anymore. Sorry, but now the Clone Wars really have to end. It was fun and profitable while it lasted, but now the lights have to turn off. Because, you can''t pay the bill if I haveyour wallet. Planet Coruscant, Galactic Empire Imperial Palace. Minutes after. "Emperor Palpatine, they can''t do this! The wealth of the ING banks is incalculable!" a mook from some unimportant planet exclaimed, realizing the magnitude of the event, much too late. Sheev sawwhat it meant, in a second. How could he didn''t see this? This Pef Empire was more worthy of an opponent than he first imagined. Not only they had those large Meteor dreadnoughts, which plowed through the CIS fleets like water, but they were also politically and financially astute. And his Darksightability wasn''t working on whatever that Droid Emperor was.Possibly one of those sentient crystals, most likely. A few of his agents reported the droid used force powers, which meant...something. The Iron Knights escaped his purge, being hidden behind the Pef fleets and spies of this new empire, the Corellian Jedi has stayed home and survived Order 66, even though he begged them to fight and save the Republic. Even his Jedi purge didn''t work completely, the younglings escaped and movedto a hundred worlds, a few Masters escaped, some with holocrons... And his pride and most prized apprentice, Darth Vader...had died ignominiously when the Jedi secret plan was revealed. A proton bomb, the Jedi? How did he miss that! Imperial agents were searching the deep levels on Coruscant for hiding Jedi and their holocrons but merely a pitiful dozen were found and sent to re-education. Perhaps one or two will break and become Inquisitors... The rebellions springing everywhere, with anti-sith propaganda, had to be the work of the surviving Jedi as well. His new apprentice Pong Krell , a former Jedi Master, was barely able to hold his own in a fight. And wasn''t even human! Kriif and sith spit! At least the new galactic currency was called the Empire Credit, so it would be usable without problems. His clone facilities were destroyed, no doubt by secret Jedi plans, and the simple soldiers he was recruiting instead were...not good. Pathetic and feeble. Damnation! Even his identity as a Sith Lord was revealed, by that greedy archaeologist who dug on Yavin 4. That bitch Senator Lexi had escaped, most likely because Dooku had left orders to his acolytes to hunt down the New Order''s enemies. But worse that everything else, Master Shaak Ti had cut of his right hand! And then she escaped... Many of his carefully arranged allies were dead, including Xizor and Sienar... No matter. He was Emperor now. He had all the time in the world, to fix this mess and bring order to his Galactic Empire! If only his trusted Cronal sorcerer will show up already. Why wasn''t he responding? Sheevneeded a spy master, one at least as good as that elusive Third Hand from the Pef Empire. He will have to use the rank of Fist, for his lieutenants now, since using Hand or Voice would be seen as copycat. Now where to direct his anger and hate, for today? Tarkin nodded towards him, from across the table. Great! "Yes, Moff Tarkin? You have another plan?" he asked politely, but stern. "We can''t let the galaxy think us weak, Emperor. Let me take a fleet to Geonosis, and execute Base Delta Zero on those insects. I have some reports, from the former Republic Intelligence, of operatives subverted with those creepy mind worms." Tarkin, the only competent Admiral he had left, advised. Damn that Carida conference, and the Venator bomb, that should have been stopped. A thousand loyal and competent naval officers were lost, by a simple miscommunication. He did order that damn plan stopped! "Do as you proposed, Moff Tarkin. The Geonosians must be punished!" Darth Sidious proclaimed grandly, his left hand covered in lightning alter. The orbital bombardment would erase any evidence the Geonosians might have, implicating him with the Clone Wars. Plus, they were insects. They should all just die! Cleaning up Planet Mygeeto, Pef Empire Next week The galactic markets still tremble at the momentous changes caused by the new currency, but as the credit value stays the same, and is still backed by the Vault-spire from Muunilist, the oscillations should stop. Especially since the Pef Empire is buying every important company who''s stock plummets. It''s basically free assets! Their headquarters are all being moved to Pef space, like Columex and Botajef and Lianna, also to Boonta and Celanon. This will give billions of my people new jobs, and attract more immigrants, especially for worlds situated at trade nexi. Sadly, the new acquisitions at Merson and Ambria only bring huge hordes of pirates on my fleets, and well equipped pirates indeed. If my Orion corvettes didn''t have cloaking, the pirates would have won the battles. Also, the Crimson Nova mercenaries are veryhard to fight, with B11 droids. Asajj will fix that. More ships are headed there, and also to Zeltros, the pheromone paradise. Mood altering scents won''t work well on droids and operatives in power armor though, but even the shortest shore leave is liable to lose me a few loyal Imperial Servants. I will need a vaccine. My third Hand likes the Zeltrons though, since they will make excellent operatives, once imprinted with loyalty and special ops neural programming. Maybe Ambassadors as well. Bring a bit of ''party'' to those stuffy embassy discussions. Because Zeltrons, they''ll shag anything with the right organs, and even without. They see it as a challenge. And Peffy could take long vacations there... Anyway, the Deep Fleet has arrived at Empress Teta, and promptly blockaded the system, cutting off carbonite supply to the galaxy. And Palpatine''s access to planets like Byss or Tython. The world was completely under the pall of the Mining Guild. When war was declared by the Confederacy of Independent Systems, Empress Teta was forced to support the Separatists against the Republic. Those nobles who remained loyal to the Galactic Senate expatriated to Coruscant to avoid the conflict in their home system. Didn''t quite work, did it? The Pef Empire didn''t wait, for you to surrender to Palpatine. The Mining Guild was nationalized by the Pef Empire, and Emperor Alor Keto arrested and proven to have been a puppet of the Mining Guild for 300 years. His wife, Koyi Mateil was named Regent Empress, till a certain Keto descendant could be found and installed as a proper Empress. Serra Keto is hiding on level 644 under Coruscant''s surface, and is being shadowed by our Culexus droids. ''Time for an extraction then. Serra will train a year with Miss Zero on Gand, to forget about lightsabers and learn to love grass and scorpions'' I mused to myself. ''Another wife for Peffy?'' Solana said amused. "Well, Serra is very cute, and will be an Empress...as nice and greedy asthis twi''lekKoyi Regent is, she will only be tolerated, not loved by her people." I explained wisely. ''I''m sure Peffy can marry them both, and give you more heirs, to pamper with trillions of credits.'' Wialu said in turn, since she was having tea with said Regent right now, explaining her role as a legal instrument of the Pef Empire. A billion credits as a hiring premium seemed sufficient motivation for her service. ''Okay, I have work to do my dear. The Hyperspace Navigator''s Guildhouse needs to be properly scanned and copies made after all their routes. The Great Library of Cinnagar the same, and some artifacts removed for the Celestial Library.'' Wialu said with a hint of tiredness. Well, at least not that many people were killed there. The Teta defense fleet was like 5 thousand years old and was defeated with ease. And Peffy... Planet Columex, Pef Empire He is busy pampering Lidia Greyshade, the Merchant Princess of the Commonality. "See, my dear...30 trillion credits. Empire Credits too. Just say what you want, and I''ll buy it for you..." I told her, circling her chest with a credit chip, made of aurodium. I got her like 50 types of rings and jewelry, all aurodium, but she loved the chip the most. "I want a husband, to stay by my side...or at least a few babies..." Lidia muttered, grabbing the chip with industrial strength in her fingers. That merchant princess title, wasn''t just an empty title. She really cared, about money and jobs. And love. But more about credits. And perhaps babies. "I can stay a few days, and work hard on that children part. Harder, than before..." I mused softly, in her neck. "Y-you scoundrel husband! Do your best, my love..." she replied, with a coy look. Okay then, let''s do it like on the Discovery Channel! ----------------------------------------------- Planet Mygeeto is mostly uninhabited, with a single major town called Jygat , with maybe 15 million people. But Mygeeto, the planet''s internal fires long since cooled, and had left a colossal deposit of precious stones within its crust and mantle. The immense assets of nova crystals and fields of lasing crystals made Mygeeto one of the wealthiest worlds in the galaxy. It hosted artesian crystals and relacite and many other precious minerals. The droid factories on the planet were powered by a huge Energy crystal harnessed with the aid of anEnergy collector core . I think I''ll take that, thank you very much. Not for a Death Star reactor, but for my new Nano-droids plant at Redforge. Plenty kyber crystals here as well as metal used in durasteel. Guess it can be made into a mining and forge world as well. Let''s make some thousands tank factories and a hundred more Biplane factories. And now that the ownership deeds for the Kessel mines have been nationalized from the Mining Guild, the Kessel fleet can move in and end slavery there, and quarantine the system for good. Nothing in our out, no more smugglers for glitterstim. That Kessel asteroid is a prison key for that Abeloth monster, not some plantation for entertainment drugs. Plus those black holes can support at least three more energy refining factories, to produce components for starships. Not sure how Palpatine will react to Teta and Kessel being taken, but whatever. His Galactic Empire is at my mercy now, both financially and militarily. Because just one Meteor can take on 200 Venators. And his empire lost Calamari, Corellia, Feroest and Rendili as shipyards. Of course, the Galactic Empire has a thousand times more worlds and population, but without minerals and half the corporations wealth. His Imperial navy and army will take at least a decade to organize, and be plagued with rebellions and worlds outright defecting. And that stunt he just did? Geonosis being bombarded and the surface boiled by a hundred Venators? Caught live on tape, or holorecorder, by some unknown reporter, who was killed by pirates on Tatooine, next day. Not gonna make him more friends, for sure. And next, the Fondor shipyards will be vanished as well. Hey, they are CIS still, right? The stealth fleet will reach them tomorrow, and hopefully blow up the ring of shipyards at Fondor as well. Palpatine will only have Kuat left, which has only been Republican from the start, and now Imperial Shipyards, fortifying their defences every day. Maybe the real Jedi remaining will get lucky and sabotage them as well. Redforge system, Pef Empire two jumps away from Gand 20 BBY, 2 weeks later There are beings that Jedi call voids. At first sight they seem to give off no real energy, rather like a hologram. But only beings with great power can project a simple blank to a Jedi. -Obi-Wan Kenobi It was lucky I returned when I did. Caught 16 Imperial Spies, all using state of the art camouflage and encryption/decryption equipment, attempting to infiltrate the core space of my Empire. Different species, different ships, or infiltration methods, but all pretty much foolproof. Unless you''re an AI and have hundred million spy satellites watching everything. Then is much less foolproof as a matter of luck. And here, luck means...the Force. One individual was even special, the rare kind. A Blank in the force, or a Void in the Force . Almost missed him too. Just the partition logs keeping him highlighted made me remember him. He is now being analyzed and prepared for cloning at Blueforge. Guess the Force did listen to my problem and sent me someone worthy. In my memory, there will be more, some Umbaran siblings, so I''ll make a note and pick them up when they''re born. There will be a few more people I need for this experiment, Aayla Secura who is hiding on Vjun, and Tholme with T''ra Saa , who are helping the wookies on Kashyyyk. And leaving no trace of their actions, like ghosts. Saa is a tree, so on that planet makes sense she''ll be invisible. But Tholme and Secura, they use a conscious variant, called Force cloak, which is possibly the same as Zero''s and Wialu abilities. Hide in light, but not just invisibility but a mnemonic erasure, making people forget they exist. This is the kind of powers I need, not bashing people with a flashlight. I could have a whole division of Officium Assassinorum agents, able to penetrate most defenses with ease. ''If they have Vanish, they would be a good addition, Pef. Only the old tree has sensed me till now.'' Wialu said with a thoughtful tone. ''Still doing okay love?'' I asked a bit worried. She was really far away... '' Yes dear. Planet Jerrilek is mostly open for colonization, after the droids clear up the debris and start the seafarms. Should support up to 3 billion people no problem. And there''s some really ancient ruins underwater, maybe older than Solanus'' she explained, in a more excited voice. Okay then. Ruins over a billion years old, sure worth grabbing. ''Don''t rush Wialu, send survey droids around, and exploit the Hyperspace guild to grab whatever planets are safe to take near Teta. We have a decade to let things rest now.'' I said softly, then returned to my work. The nano-droid builders were pretty basic, but I had to exploit the window that the attack on Coruscant gave me, and grab them before they became an Imperial weapon. Palpatine was using his Sith knowledge already, to create the X-series infiltrators, with the force blank ability. And he only became Emperor 2 months ago. Let''s hope he sent me the original, and didn''t keep gene samples for replication. He would have though, even without cloning facilities ready. He wanted to become immortal as well. But if this was the original, he would need at least 3 to 5 years to make more. And I think he is. He must have been certain his agent won''t be caught. And he was almost right. Kriff, he will have Cronal, that Sorcerer of Rhand to help him soon, and then Thrawn...if the Imps ever get to explore to the west. Make a note and have Nashira find him, and drain him. That Darksight ability, it was almost a path to victory by itself. Just for large scale planning, but still, a galaxy was exactly the right place for it. Back to the droids, reset their operating system to default, since I don''t need to make explosives from stomach acid, and start creating new code. This will take a while.... ----------------------- Planet Renatasia, Pef Empire same day Clara has become more beautiful, I think. Or it''s just me being in love... I hugged her with one arm, and look over the various leaders of the nations of Renatasia. "Esteemed leaders, you don''t really have much choice. We are still at war with CIS. The Sith Empire has been reformed on Coruscant, the Hutts still have enough nukes and bioweapons to wipe off half the galaxy, and the Centrality has internal problems you can''t imagine, since you''re a single species down there." I said politely, smiling a little at the dozen angels trying to entertain the guests, but only making them awed and weirded out. Even my Gand Captain and officers seemed strange to them, and these guys were pretty much humanoids. "Avatar, you''re saying we''re prisoners, here in Pef Empire?" some guy who was important asked furious. "The planets open for colonization are also open for Renatasia. But, in a month or two I expect the CIS war to be over. At that time, individuals who wish to explore the galaxy will be free to go. But for now, the only outgoing traffic is military or bulk transports, not passengers. Imperial Servant jobs are also available, for those who want to work in the Administrata. The shipyards in your system have already began making freighters and transports and cargo haulers, while the seas on Renatasia III are being seeded for aquafarming." I replied gently, but with a shrug. "If that''s true...two months isn''t that long. I''ll go reserve a ship for myself..." another guy said, with a thinking voice. You do that my friend. Someone has to buy those ships and pay the wages. "Meanwhile, I suggest you sent aside any differences, and form corporations with clear aims. The Empire will gladly participate with capital and perhaps even safeguard your ships from the millions of pirates beyond our borders. Or not. Renatasia still has overpopulation, you can do your part as well" I finished and turned to leave. The heads of states stared after me, or perhaps at Clara''s ass, as we left. "You were pretty harsh, they just want to see for themselves" my wife admonished me with a frown. "And come back with ''suggestions'' from the Sith. I told you they had began infiltrations" I said softly in her ear. "Yeah, I''m gonna need a lot of cash to set the CENINT to modern standards..." Clara demanded shamelessly. And correctly. Hmmm. Okay then love. Keep walking to my room. And locking doors. "Very well, beloved wife. Strip naked and dance for me. I can offer a trillion per hour" I said shamelessly, while leaving my armor and laying comfortable on the couch. "Huh, the things I do for my people..." she mused wisely, while slowly taking off her boots. I know my dear. ''For King and country'' is such a good way to say it. Also, it''s good to be king. It has a great view at the mountains. Planet Vjun, Pef Empire Bay of Tears I''ll have to tour the Empire someday, and fix all these desert planets like Vjun . I mean, in person. With my Avatar..it was just for pleasure. And there she is, hiding in a cave, and eating a Whip-smelt, cooked over a lightsaber. How did the might Jedi fall... "Miss Secura? Enjoying the dark?" I asked amused, appearing next to the Twi''lek Jedi, and turning off the stygium cloak and the invisibility. I was enjoying this a bit too much. "Kriff! Who are you?" she demanded, pointing her flashlight at me. "I am the Voice of the Immortal Pef. Avatar Greyshade. And lightsabers are proscribed in the Pef Empire." I explained calmly, snatching her toy by the blade, and confiscating it. Then, I turned around and started walking out, still keeping the button of the saber pressed with telekinesis, so we''d have some light in the caves. "Hey! where...he''s still holding my lightsaber...by the blade..." the bewildered beauty muttered, and running after me, to avoid being left alone, in the dark. I stayed silent and mysterious after that, dodging her attempts to grab her weapon back. Ten minutes later, we reached the River Whipping, and my ship. No need for a flashlight then, but an air alter umbrella, for my new friend. Since outside it was raining acid. Nice planet, Vjun. A dark nexus as well, though not for long. "Come, let''s not dally in the rain, pretty twi''lek, or the rain might melt your clothes...and give me ideas" I explained politely, throwing the thing dramatically, and having Culexus 0055 grab it and make it vanish in mid air. "Where did it go? What..." "The ship, Miss Secura. I have other matters to attend to, beside collecting scared young women from dark places" I said gently, guiding the girl towards my ship. "Where are you taking me, I can''t fall into Palpatine''s hands..." the girl demanded, with a tinge of panic. "Hand. Just one. Seems our favorite Sith Lord lost his right hand to some Jedi assassin" I explained politely, as the shields and then then hangar armor closed behind us. "You''re strong in the force Mister Greyshade, but I can''t sense your alignment..." "Huh, you can''t? But it''s so clear. It''s in the name, after all..." I mused wisely, taping a nearby guard droid for its treasure. A holocron, looking almost like sphere, with 4096 facetts. And grey in color, of course. My best work so far, if I can humbly say that. "What is that? It feels like a holocron, but I never heard of that shape..." the former Jedi wondered, as my droid dropped it into her hands. And bye bye, into the land of knowledge, most beautiful twi''lek. There should be plenty knowledge inside that you can access, even with your feeble learning. I left the girl to study, on a comfortable 30 centimeter pillow, and went to see about the Chateau Malreaux and it''s secrets. Sith holocrons, forgotten tech, automated defenses. Count Dooku really had great taste in castles. Nothing I couldn''t handle, except the voices. Those were annoying. Let''s start drawing them into the scepter then. .... Two hours later, the acid rains stopped, and a ray of sunshine pierced the thick clouds, perhaps the first time in millenia. Still only about half, but wouldn''t do to drain the nexus completely. This planet will make a fine training planet, just without agonizing spirits and roaming souls. This lingering after death was a problem, with both Jedi and Sith adepts, clinging to the material, in the hope of convincing others to use their ways. Not full force ghosts, since that requires quite a high level of mastery of the Living force and Cosmic force both. But, desperate attempts, like the voice of Master Jinn, or who knows how many others. Wisps of consciousness, piercing the noetic soup which made the mnemonic lake of cumulated memories which formed the force. The more I learned how the thing worked, the more creeped out I was. Billions of pilot and engineers, from millions of races, implanting the same ideas in the mind of the new generations on newly formed civilizations, locking the galaxy in a cycle of repeating the same type of technology for a million or a billion years. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. No wonder ancient systems could interact with new systems, and even take them over. They used the same architecture design, the same principles...kriff. Let''s hope Solanus will be able to guide the very currents of the force, once he gets stronger. The 12th planet was being oceanformed now, and thousands will follow, as soon as we had enough ships and...what do we have here? A triangular holocron? Thanks Dooku, you shouldn''t have. Even after you died, you still bring me gifts.... Let''s check again, maybe he has more hidden caches...seems not. Now, let''s go the the next planet on my route. Here Culexus 0055, hold this pyramid for me, wouldn''t do to have some ancient Sith Lord jump out and eat children. And the scepter as well. And let''s go back to my Fade frigate...and explore the wonders of the galaxy... Hmmm, the girl needs a bath, and food, and perhaps some bota and a bacta tube... "That will be enough, dear maiden. Go wash and see if the armor fits correctly, we are having dinner in 30 minutes" I said sternly, after plucking my holocron away. "Please let it be hot water..." the girl prayed in a low mumble. Oh, I think you''ll like the jacuzzi then. Sigh, a galactic wide civilization, and I had to reinvent jacuzzi? Savages. Not to mention swords and the military tactics of competent preschoolers. Sure, martial arts and even melee weapons had a role, sometimes. I used them myself, like three times. Mostly on Mandalore, where it was appropriate. But all the time, in every situation? Tanks? Lightsaber! Sniper? Lightsaber! Submarines? Lightsaber! Even the ranged weapons were made to function like throwing lightsabers at each other, with turbolaser or blaster bolts . The girl returned some 20 minutes later, her face flushed in relaxation, and wearing my light armor variant, for force users. Thin overlapping scales of phrik on vulnerable joints like wrists or neck, and cortosis mesh on vital parts. A pistol and a short sword on the hips, hanging from a Jal Shey belt. Verpine shield, laser on the armguard... She didn''t wear the light helmet, with the makutai headband and shock absorbing foam. Yet. "Let''s eat, Miss Secura, we are still a long way from Phateem " I said softly, pointing at the table my VSS cook had prepared. "Who made this armor, it fits me perfectly...?" Ayala wondered, holding the helmet with one hand and inspecting it curious. "People I know, made the individual parts. I assembled it after I scanned your body" I replied politely, tasting from some exotic Kuat dish, looking and smelling like Thai or Japanese dishes . Hmmm. If their food was the same as their work ethic, they''ll soon begin producing Victory-class star destroyers, en masse. And in a few years, the Imperial-class. Gonna have to point that out, to the remaining male Jedi. I had no use for them...unlike these pretty, never touched girls...so ripe to introduce, to the joy of making babies, not steal them. "Phateem is in Galactic Empire now. It will be crawling with stormtroopers" "Well then, you''ll have to teach me force cloaking. It would be a pity if Palpatine loots the Halls of Knowledge , right?" I asked a bit later, after I finished crewing. "That..., I only know the basics. And doesn''t always work. And why would I teach you anything, you kidnapper?" she asked, a bit too loud. "You aren''t naked and dancing for me, pretty twi''lek girl. But if my holocron is so boring, I can drop you of at Taris, along with a clean pair of clothes..." I said, almost joking. "L-let''s not be so hasty, Avatar...and why are you wearing a lightsaber?" She demanded, again, too loud. Sigh, another Vette. "This is a darksaber, most beautiful maid. See?" I asked holding the thing aloft and turning it on, then rotating it for more effect. "Huh. It is black. How can light be black?" she wondered with some confusion. "In the darkness, there is a light. And in the light, there''s darkness. And in between, balance..." I recited, then stopped. She wasn''t ready yet. "Grey...now I get it, Mister Greyshade. Clever pun. But, the darkside has to be avoided and..." she began, with a dogmatic ideas firmly in front, like a righteous holy maiden. Let''s cut that short. "You know...I am Mand''alore too. The planets of my mandalorian people were glassed from orbit, with amplified light, by your Jedi. Too much light can do harm, you see. I prefer the shade myself." I said with a dismissive tone, and had the saber hilt glide back to the small of my back. And re-engage the hibridium casing. The darksaber was a symbol of rank, not a weapon. If I ever needed a sword to stay safe, the problem would be with my poor decision making, not my fighting skill. "And now, Geonosis was glassed from orbit by the Sith. I understand now. You think us both the same." the girl whispered in a wavering tone. Yeah. Exactly the same. But much cuter. I let her finish eating, before turning to the more pressing matters. "So, now that the scattered Jedi can''t roam the galaxy freely, to kidnap children, you think they''ll start making their own, or just die out?" I asked in a polite dinner voice. "Errrr. Haven''t thought about that...I know some younglings escaped..." she answered with a confused blink. "Well, Kenobi is gonna have kids soon. His wife insisted, you see. But, relying on other people to make kids, for the Jedi to steal them and mind rape them into good soldiers...that''s not gonna happen much anymore. Palpatine will kill them as soon as they''re found, and in the Pef Empire...we don''t tolerate slavery. Maybe the Hutts will let the Jedi form enclaves..." I mused in a thoughtful voice, pouring more brandy for myself, and tea for the girl. Without hands. Or hand gestures. Because those are silly. You lift with your mind, not with ectoplasmic hands. "The Hutts hate the Jedi just as much. The Order is truly gone, this time. Unless..." the twi''lek mused, with a flash of inspiration. "Yes?" Please offer yourself to carry my children... "Unless we can strike back, and kill Palpatine and his followers. Then we can restart..." she whispered with faint hope. "Nope. Our Empire has a thousand ships defending Corellia now. Because they make their own kids. But if they start kidnapping from other families, I''ll glass their temple myself. Or something. Maybe just rip them apart. The poor planet isn''t guilty after all" I said politely, then had my droid produce the holocron again, and drop it on a nearby pillow. Then I rose and went to my bedroom, where I had two Dathomirian wives expecting me to contribute to the population growth. "Duala and Talia, my most beloved wives. Sorry I got delayed, but an Avatar has to work for a living, not just lay in bed, all day" I proclaimed grandly, while my clothes flew off, by magic. "It feels like evening to me. Now get back here, and show us that trick again!" Duala exclaimed with a smile. Really wicked smile. --------------------------------------------------- Redforge system, Pef Empire Okay then, enjoy your hard work Peffy. I''ll just compose new self reproducing algorithms, and test them on a hundred metals, to make the nano-droids produce durasteel at least. So far, just pig iron and steel, not even stainless steel. Kriff, material synthesis was a hard science. Maybe I should visit the Gree, and bribe them to teach me? But they wouldn''t, would they? Not untill the Vong were at their door, and maybe not even then. And the Sharu, on Rafa V? They might be interested. I''ll have to evacuate that planet or the whole system, and harvest all the life crystals and well as the Firkrann crystals. Then I will attempt to awake the Toka with the mindharp from the Great plastic Pyramid. And hope they''ll be friendly. That will surely go well. ''What do you think, Solana. We want the Sharu awoken now, or later?'' I asked in the Voice bond. ''Let''s wait, till this war is over. And we build some bases in the Rafa system. And Clara sets up her Intelligence network. And have a few Oswalt explorers link more planets together with hyper routes. At least a year, Pef'' my Voice advised me after a few minutes of thinking. Right, couldn''t let half the Centrality starve, once the hyperlanes were cut at Rafa by whatever event happens when the Sharu wake up. At least we hadmore routes now, such as from Akrit''tar to Renatasia, and from Tund to Malagarr. The Oswaft were helpful already, although keeping them fed was a pain, when they left their Open Sea. But they liked having angels to ride on them, so it balanced out. Onlythree Oswaft were curious enough to join the Explorer corps though, and only Lehesu was willing to wear a hyperspace beacon stapped to his body. Anyway, they kept findingnew systems at the edge of the Open Sea, so still good. Elsewhere in the galaxy, a fleet reached and liberated Mimban from the CIS and pirates, and ensure that Palpatine won''t have easy access to devices such as Force detector and useful crystals like the Thaissen crystal or Kaiburr crystal . In the galactic north, our fleets took 300 planets in a week, as the new B11 droids and the Gauntlet tanks speed up conquest times by a factor of ten. Planet Ithor is now being ''protected'' an advance Pef Navy fleet, cause I don''t want the Imperials getting the best botanists in the galaxy. Plus, their special trees will be important later. The Stinger II and Biplane II flying droids have also appeared in small numbers, just testing their effectiveness against live enemies. Droideka II and III wardroids are still kept back, since they''re too expensive to throw at the remaining CIS fortified lines. I guess it''s time to give Luxum the go ahead for the Mustafar operation. Not deactivating the CIS droids, but having them turn sides, and become loyal Pef droids. Such a handy tool you left for me, Palpatine. A galactic wide control network, for all the CIS droids and their ships? ''Go Luxum!'' ''We''re beginning now Pef. Stage I in progress. Interdicting fields activated. Stage II will be the Black Sun operations on Mustafar. And I''ll look for your HK friend, if he''s down there. For the Empire!'' my Shard Voice said calmly in the essence bond. About 20 billion droids and 100 thousand ships were left in the CIS inventory, most of themin the galactic south, and the droids mostly outdated models like B1 and B2. You''ll be quite welcome. Even as poorly designed as you are. A few upgrades and they will serve as garrisons on a million primitive planets. Let''s have our wookie friends know to withdraw for a day. And make contact with the Jedi on Kashyyyk. Cause we''re claiming that system, and blowing away anyone who rejects our generous offer. In the south-east, our fleets have taken Molavar, Ukio and Tatooine, and are heading towards Rodia and Ryloth. Jabba being dead makes Tatooine an easy target. Except for the sand. Droids suffer in sand. Who knew? Another Pef fleet ispreparing to siegeUmbara, and complete that part of the center offensive. Planet Daalang is also being sieged, and will make an excellent trade nexus in the future. I guess it will fall to our Navy in 4 to 5 days, despite their extensive networks of space mines and fortified asteroids. Time to take a trip to the Temple of Pomojema on Mimban, and see what a Rur crystal amplified a thousand times feels like. I''m such a cheater... Planet Mimban, Pef Empire 20 BBY, two weeks later. The CIS is defeated.The droid armies and their ships have turned arms, and began detaining all the CIS leaders. Where possible. Some of the CIS leaders were smarter and had not linked to the droid control center. The Separatist leaders on Mustafar were captured alive, and will stand trial for war-crimes, as it is fit. The galaxy needs scapegoats, and Palpatine can''t be touched for now. And that new Sith Lord frogg, Palpatine''s new apprentice, was killed when he also tried to debark on Mustafar. Sorry dude. Red lightsaber, we have you on holocamera. Quite a coincidence, that Palpatine tried to end the Clone Wars at the same time as us. And on the twi''lek homeworld of Ryloth... Planet Ryloth, Pef Empire (almost) Dora was doing her best impression at an Ambassador, with a Marine organic division and a dozen twi''lek Servants around her. No droids for now, as thenative twi''leks suffered under CIS occupation. "Mister Syndulla, I assure you, my words have enough weight, in the Pef Empire. The troops I brought are meant to bring security, not oppression." my green twi''lek Voice argued, a bit exasperated. "They''ll listen to a twi''lek dancer? I find that hard to believe, no matter what titles you are bestowed with, Voice Greyshade" the leader of the free twi''leks said, with some derisment. "They have to listen. A Voice of the Emperor is more than a title. My words are law, for every loyal citizen." Dora said calmly, but enerved inside. Ryloth wasn''t exactly egalitarian. Yet. "And if some of your troops loot and pillage, the rest will listen to a woman and arrest the perpetrators? " the man asked worried. Duh, what are we, the Trade Federation? "They''ll shoot themselves, if I so order, Mister Syndulla. And there will be no looting anyway. I have a trillion credits to spend on this planet, and uplift our race from gunpowder and steam engines to modern technologies. Our children will build spaceships, not dig in coal mines." Dora replied sternly, pointing subtly at the Pef fleet stationed around the space station. The man looked around, with a glimmer of hope. Perhaps, this time the cycle of slavery will be broken. If only this new empire could be trusted. "How can I trust..." he began asking, when Dora flipped an aurodium chip at his chest. "Here. 100 billion credits, to spend as you see fit, for this planet. The Imperial Servants will oversee the reconstruction, as long the planet joins us voluntarily. But if not, we''ll take the women and children and leave the rest of you for the Sith. Maybe Palpatine will be more merciful than he was at Geonosis." Dora replied with a cold voice, waving the man outside of the conference room. Ouch, that was harsh. ''We kinda need Ryloth, love. At least as access route to Yanibar '' I whispered to her in the bond, while my mind was expanded to encompass the whole galaxy at once. This upgraded power was amazing! The galaxy was open before my senses, even places and planets I never heard about. It wasn''t darksight, but pretty much similar. Maybe greysight? A hundred millioninhabited planets, and people dying everywhere. And around the galaxy, a dense grey haze, like a distant fog, blocking almost everything. Still couldn''t sense the Vong, but other things were much clearer now. All except the west parts and the deep core, also covered in thick force mists. The Hutts had huge guns, able to shatter planets in one shot. No wonder they were so smug and confident. Also had nukes and bioweapons stockpiles, enough to destroy the galaxy a few times over. And in the middle of the galaxy, sucking on the black hole in the center, a devouring entity...gah. Thanks, dear Force. Just what I needed. Nightmare fuel. That black hole was so enormous, billions of times larger than normal ones, and yet something had already harnessed it. I''ll deal with that later. For now, bare necessities, like food and clean water for quadrillions of sentients. Those credits won''t be enough for everyone though. I''ll have to prioritize investments to the most populated worlds. For this size, the galaxy was very poor. More abominations at Belsavis and....kriff, too many. Everywhere! This galaxy was so sick, like a hundred cancers were eating at it, from every side. Even in my own corner, the Force wounds of Malachor and Yavin pulsed, like pustules of puss and hate, ready to burst and infect trillions. And 500 more planets, around the galaxy, all screaming in muted grey pain. Rakata colonies, from the Infinite Empire, most likely. And on Tatooine...a Rakata mind, still alive. Huh. I could use that, and get some more knowledge. Because these primitive nano-droids? Not what I needed. They''ll be useful to transmute the Meteor''s armor into steel, and perhaps some higher form of steel, like quadranium or durasteel. But not belskar or alusteel. For that, I needed much more knowledge. Make a note, start melting 6000 more Meteor hulls. 2000 of them Mountain-class, for troops and supplies. The galaxy was even bigger than I thought. And my Empire was way behind in population and productivity, barely competing with the feudal Hutts. So many force-sensitives, some scattered, some together like the miraluka. Another possible training planet, Alpheridies. Gain force-sight and a dozen more abilities, with just a few years of... Let''s send a fleet there now, and another to Roche. Those genius insects would be wiped out by Palpatine otherwise. Another to Obroa-skai. To Manda. To Gibad , and prevent a genocide with bioweapons... To Cyrillia and take custody of 10 billion droids. Guess I''ll go myself. That did seem to be a large number and was close to my location. Maybe take Sarrahban too. A monopoly on most laser weapons would be nice. And have Bo Katan Greyshade take custody of the Kyrimorut colony. To think I already have so many Jedi living there, like Kina Ha and Tallisibeth Enwandung-Esterhazy . That girl...nevermind for now. Still too young. But not too young to train. And a Kaminoan Jedi...she could help me with my cloning... I was cheating a bit too much. Etain Tur-Mukan was also there, along with her Master Arligan Zey and another Kaminoan, a geneticist named Ko Sai . Hmmm. And the Altisian Jedi were on Yarille, also in my empire. In the capital city Yen Bachask , doing relief work. Nice guys. I''ll keep them. A fleet will arrive there in 2 hours, to liberate the planet from whatever CIS remains and make contact. Perfect day indeed. And Peffy... Phateem system, planetPhateem Ashlendu Mountains, Halls of Knowledge, vault 31 He is looting the Halls of Knowledge, of course. Not by himself, but he has the VSS and a few maids to help. "How did you know this entrance wasn''t guarded?" Miss Secura asked, with some awe. Or just wonder. "I used the force, of course. I think, I''m pretty much the strongest man alive, at this time. There''s a few women who are really close though" Peffy answered with some amusement. "Women? Master Shaak Ti isn''t even.." Ayala complained, with a confused look. Huh, so you think that woman is strong? Not really. In comparison. "Come now. Master Ti is eating raw snails on some jungle planet now. These strong women don''t use lightsabers. Now, Miss Ti is quite special in her own way, after all, she did cut off Palpatine''s right arm and lived to tell about it." Still had to run from Skywalker though. "And Master Yoda? You think you''re stronger? Is he okay?" the former Jedi asked worried. "Exactly the same, only he eats raw roots, in a dark cave on a jungle planet. And because he didn''t have children, his race will become extinct, in some 20 years. At least Master Mundi fathered some 7 girls already. Gah, now I have to arrange a marriage between the last two Neti. Can''t let that race go extinct as well..." I muttered, loading another grav pallet with books and scrolls. Damn idiot Jedi, you could have stored all this data on a single holocron facet. And maybe lose it. Make a note and print backups for all the things I have so far. Holocrons tend to get stolen...A lot of times by myself. Anyway, Force cloak is pretty simple, once you learn the trick. Just a wave of Mind Alter, set on autorun and deleting yourself from nearby minds with the opposite of memory imprint. I could undress a thousand women in a large room, and they wouldn''t know who did it... Ah, I have a great trick to play on my maids in the garden on Gand. Change their clothes with different ones. Ha! When they realize it, it will be quite fun. I could do it with my eyes closed as well, but probably won''t bother. Why waste such a great view at the mountains and valleys? "Okay, we stole everything. What now, Avatar?" Miss Secura the Jedi asked, as the last grav pallet with knowledge was being glided towards the secret tunnel. "Now we vandalize the place of course, writing graffiti on walls, true things about Palpatine and his Galactic Empire. It is a Hall of Knowledge, after all. When the Imperial Intelligence arrives, they need to learn things too. Here, a paint spray!" I exclaimed in a joyous tone. "You planned this all along? Even had cans of paint ready?" the green twi''lek asked in awe. Or perhaps confusion. "I had a great Master called Naruto. I just follow in his footsteps" I answered truthfully. Return of the Jedi Planet Atoa, Pef Empire 20 BBY The events of Delegation of 2000 continue to shock the galaxy, as 188 of the delegates, which were about 3000 now, were arrested and executed. Planet Atoa requested to join Pef Empire, since we seemed much safer, especially after Moff Tarkin landed his Acclamator spaceship on top of the crowds protesting the formation of the Galactic Empire, then had his stormtroopers disembark and shoot the survivors. Everything caught on camera, of course, and distributed by most liberal news channels. And Miss Saro is quite a beauty , and powerful force-user herself. Peffy will have to make sure to bestow her a few babies, as a collegial gesture of personal union. Also, the Enslavement of Kashyyyk didn''t happen anymore, as the brand new Executrix star destroyer was pulverized when approaching Kashyyyk. That took 30 Meteor MAC shells, so quite tough. Tougher than a Lucrehulk twice its size. The surviving stormtroopers on Kashyyyk were allowed to embark and leave the new Pef Empire protectorate. Without tanks and heavy equipment, which I generously gifted to the wookies. Also took custody of some 9 Jedi helping the wookies and had them sent at Ruul, without lightsabers. Planet Trandosha , in the same system was occupied a bit sooner, by our troops, since it was CIS planet. The cold war is becoming colder, as the Boonta trials begin, various captured CIS leaders being paraded and made to confess all their crimes. Starting with the obliteration of Boonta, and similar attempts at Lianna and Duro. And Master Ti is now in front of Peffy, on planet Null . ------------------ Planet Null, Pef Empire Dooku had owned much of the planet, and thus it was forced to join the CIS. However the regular citizens, the Nulls held the Jedi in high regard, for some reason, and hid the Togruta Master in a remote village. "Well done, Miss Ti for that Sith right hand. Now, I will need your lightsaber, if you wish to remain in the Pef Empire" I demanded sternly. "Not that lightsabers even work on him..." Miss Secura added with a suffering sigh, and looking fabulous, in her new form fitting light armor. "Master Yoda warned me to be cautious of your Empire, Avatar Greyshade. He has foreseen a great danger in you, even if uncertain. Grey, you are..." the Master Jedi replied, hand clenched on the hilt of her weapon. Sigh. Guess I''ll have to convince her, Mandalorian style. Accel x4 ! "You asked for it, adorable lady. You''re lucky I still have some bacta tubs, not in use" I replied with my own sigh, teleporting behind her and breaking 3 ribs and her right clavicula. With a few light taps. Power armors are very strong. She immediately switched the flashlight to her left hand and attempted to strike me with it. Who brings weapons to a fist fight? Two more ribs and her left forearm followed, as I held the plasma blade in my gauntlet. She tried to hit me with some mental attack next, and I sighed again. Really? Dark Lords have tried that, 10 times better. A forefinger flick and she was knocked out, flying 50 meters backwards. Thank you, Tsunade-obaasan. You''re a good mentor too. "Thank you for going easy on her, Master Greyshade" the twi''lek Jedi commented, with an aura of defeat and sadness. "Don''t mention it, Miss Secura. I saw Miss Ti getting eaten alive, by the Ancient Abyss on Felucia. Not gonna happen now, but still, some people need to learn when not to fight" I replied gently, and had a droid decloak and carry the woman into the bacta tank. Naked. Miss Ti made me fight, she could deal with the consequences. She is really beautiful though. "You said that out loud" Ayala commented wisely, staring at my hand. Huh, still had the lit lightstick glowing in my hand. Forgot about the plasma blade, burning at 15 thousands degrees. For 10 minutes. Beauty does that, to man. "If she wants kids, they''ll be so cute..." I muttered, lost in the peisage of mountains and valleys. Here Culexus 0055, catch! Another lightsaber vanished in midair, as I threw it carelessly over my shoulder. "How...the invisible droids..." Miss Secura muttered in a flash of inspiration. Yes...and the dozens invisible VSS around too. Now practicing the force cloak I printed on their holocrons. Cause I share, you know? People like it when you share. "Okay, let''s go to Mandalore, and collect the new Jedi who arrived. Gah, I bet I''ll have to feed thousands now!" I complained loudly, leaving my armor and the medical bay behind me. "I thought you''d be taller..." Ayala observed wisely, checking me out curious. Not you too! "I''m still young. Then again, I''d rather stay like this, then get fat as a planet and need sublight engines for every step" I replied wisely as well. -------------------------- Planet Atoa ''Solanus will remember this'' my water maid sent, a bit amused. Hey, why are you spying on Peffy? You have treaties to sign, and stuff. ''Your future Teta Empress has arrived. She looks nice. Should be good for 10 kids at least'' Solana added with more humour. Right, Serra Keto . Another lightsaber prodigy. Guess I''ll have to beat up of lot of Jedi women. That''s sounded wrong. But it''s exactly what I''ll do. Mandalorians know how to treat their women. And I''m their boss, so I gotta set an example. Hmmm, another nice one called Fy-Tor-Ana was spotted on Coruscant. ''Yes, sleep gas and extraction too, Culexus 0047.'' Those Inquisitors have already began snooping around. And that Solace cover won''t hold for long. And those Jedi on planet Ruul... Let''s have the B11 Reservation Administrator call the male Jedi, and explain the threat of the Kuat Yards. Show them the new ships, and what Palpatine does with them. ''No, the Pef Empire is still fighting Separatist holdouts, and is not about to war a Galactic Empire. But we can get you to Balmorra, and link you with other rebels. They have thousands of droids and a several ships. Yes, you can have lightsabers, once you leave our Empire.'' There! 14 brave Jedi males have agreed to attack Kuat, and perhaps even survive, if the proton bombs on those ships manage to miss. ''No, the ladies have to stay, and look after the younglings. Do you know how to feed and wash a child?'' Well, I doubt these Jedi women know about kids either, but it sounds reasonable. ''Yes, the Force be with you too'' Good job Ruul11. Maid robes? Well, if you really insist, sure. Colonel? Don''t push it, metal head. "Emperor Pef, you''ve been silent for a long time..." the high priestess said, after staring at my armor for a long time. It was quite a splendid armor, now embedded with some 50 different types of crystals. I carried the big Kaiburr Crystal in my droid''s torso though, stuck to my crystal self. Away from Mimban, it only boosted my powers maybe 5 times, but it was more than enough, for now. "Yes, contemplating the Force, Lady Saro. Here, I have a small gift for you, and the other girls. 50 minor Force abilities, that should get you a bit more able to perform your old rituals. And a few bottles of vitamin and medicine, that have to be taken every day, one drop at every meal. And don''t worry about the new towns and shields, they''re free. I like to keep my droids busy, you see..." I answered gently, waving a metal chest closer. When she opened it, her heart fluttered a little. Gems and jewelry, crystals and credit chips, and on top, bota vials and holocrons. The light illuminated the church, like a treasure box, but real. "This..I don''t know what to say" the High Priestess murmured with a tingle of greed and grace. Yes, I know, shinny things and forbidden knowledge. Every woman I know has fallen for one of those, till now. So why not both? "Be nice to my Avatar when he arrives in a few days, Lady Saro. Women tease him a lot. And this gift...only a trillion credits, perhaps. Let us know if you need more." I said with a shrug of my shoulders. For such a nice planet, this was nothing. I paid this much for a lap dance, once. Would have paid more, but Clara wanted a massage and a hot bath. Planet Coruscant, Galactic Empire Imperial Palace 20 BBY, two weeks later Emperor Palpatine was seething with anger, barely masked. Rebellions and Jedi everywhere! His prized Kuat Shipyards damaged, and out of commission for at least 2 years! True, the dozen Jedi than attacked the shipyards were dead, along with the hundreds of war droids and rebels they gathered on Balmorra. Even worse, a second Imperial-class destroyer was lost, before it could be launched. His dear Exactor blown up, by a single proton bomb, since it''s shields weren''t active while being fueled. Sith spit! The route to Deep Core cut, and this Pef Empire abusing their participation in the Clone Wars to confiscate everything not nailed down, and many times the nails too. Kashyyyk, and his valued workforce for the Death Star lost, as those monkeys prefered to become circus animals for that crazy droid emperor. He did finally got a glimpse of him, as he unleashed a terrifying spell on Mimban, scouring the galaxy with a piercing cold gaze. That Pef must have sacrificed a million virgins to gain that much power, for one hour. Something he must have found on Korriban, now that he figured out how to use the old hyperroute to Teta. And war wasn''t an option, not for a decade at least. A thousand Meteors, most of their mass just iron, but those slug guns...truly powerful. The Death Force cult, and his loyal Cronal on Dromund Kaas, no longer accessible now, with Korriban blockaded. Another Sith Lord, he had to be. Something like the famous Darth Revan perhaps, since those Imperial Servants he captured would rather die than spill anything. And careful to keep the Jedi in ''reservations'' disarmed of lightsabers. Why didn''t he think of that sooner? Gather them in one place and them burn them all out. Now he had to beg for loans from this new Galactic Bank, just to keep his empire running. Whatever Tarkin said, another currency would just inflate and be useless in a year, without the crystals deposits guaranteeing the value on Muunilinst. Kriff. His Master was right. Without the banks...any empire was just a decoration. No matter, he''ll increase taxes again, and subsidise his military buildup that way. In a decade, the Galactic Empire will have enough ships to crush those Meteors. But he will need bigger ships. Those new Mandators...yes. A thousand Mandators to crush those Meteors, and retake Muunilinst. "Emperor, we need to make an example of these revolts on New Plympto and Balmorra" Tarkin said politely, his keen eyes awaiting his order. "Just the cities, Moff Tarkin. We may need the free land later. And try to avoid reporters this time." Palpatine said, controlling his anger, barely. "By your command, Emperor" Tarkin replied brusquely, and left to teach those rebels scum a hot lesson. "And this Trade Federation uprising, around Farstine?" Moff Grant asked, pointing at the holo they received . "We have our battleships. We have our droids. If Palpatine wants our wealth, let him come and take it." ¨DMarath Vooro A mere Vizier, defying the Emperor? "You heard the insect, Moff Grant. Go and take it. I want that wealth" Palpatine said with a gentle smile. "It will be done Emperor. If I can take 3 more fleets..." "One fleet, Moff Grant. There are a hundred more places our ships need to be" the Galactic Emperor commanded, pointing at the door with his new cybernetic hand. "By your command, Emperor" Moff Grant declared obediently. Now, let''s go and meet that silly B1 Ambassador from the Pef Empire. "Most exalted Galactic Emperor Palpatine, the Radiant Immortal Pef wishes you glory and wealth. What is that this humble Corsca Ambassador can do for your almighty self?" The droid asked, looking ridiculous with green paint over the face and hands, and blue robes. "The people of the Galactic Empire need their fair share of the funds that the Pef Empire has repossesed from the Separatists. Those were in large part Republic credits. And..." he started to say. "Your eminence, it was by your New Order declaration, that the former Galactic Republic was abolished. If any funds were left at that time in foreign banks, they are now lost. It is basic natural law. Finders keepers. Not to mention, the hardships and horrors of war, that the Pef Empire has endured, at the hands of those greedy corporations. Anything else?" The cheeky droid replied, even interrupting him. Kriff! What hardships? What horrors? They used mostly droids... "I understand, Honored Ambassador, but as a Galactic Bank, isn''t it natural for credits to loaned, to your gracious neighbours? Not to mention the star destroyer lost, in that deplorable incident..." He argued eloquently. And definitely mentioning the Executrix. no doubt a show of force, to prevent other incursions. He will have to withdraw from Teth as well. "On the matter of loans, of course a line of credit can be open for the mighty Galactic Empire. We''ll even maintain the same interest rates last used for the Galactic Republic. 25% interest rate, annually, and compounded. Please have the Imperial Senate vote on this matter, as soon as you desire the funds. As for that medium cruiser, it was preparing to attack an allied polity. We should notice that your brave stormtroopers were galantly allowed to embark their transport and return to the Galactic Empire. " The so called Corsca Ambassador replied serenely. 25%! That was a joke for the Republic Senate, not an actual workable loan! And his Imperial star destroyer was not a medium cruiser, even if it was 12 times smaller that a Meteor... He will have to rush production of his own dreadnaught, the Eye of Palpatine. Even without a crew. He will use that AI to control the droids. And the stormtroopers were forced to leave all the tanks and artillery behind! Billions of credits in equipment, donated to those scum wookies! Including some very new prototypes, now being reverse-engineered by those cheating.... "Very well, Ambassador. A confirmation vote will happen this week. For 40 quadrillion Empire Credits." Palpatine asked greedily. Even half, even a quarter... "A line of credit, most exalted Emperor. 1 quadrillion, and nothing more, untill interest is being deposited to the Galactic Bank. Please show us you can be trusted, with this huge amount of Empire Credits" The Corsca Ambassador replied coldly, almost like a Muun. Hell, colder than a Muun. Sith spit! "Most agreeable, Ambasador. We need to rest now, but I''m sure we''ll talk more, next week" "Once again, we wish you enormous glory, your magnificence. Pleasant dreams, Emperor Palpatine!" the absurd droid Ambassador said politely, then left without a bow. So rude! ------------------- Planet Atoa, Pef Empire Nice job B11 Corsca. That was a beautiful play. Now to my own play. Because all men and women, are merely players. And this man, a player and then some. "Yes, most beautiful priestess. This is my fate, to marry whomever the Empire needs me to. And compared your beauty and holiness, no woman even comes close. You didn''t even hit me once, the whole week I''ve been here. A paragon of goodness and love, that''s who you are, Miss Saro!" I exclaimed dramatically, hugging the nice woman gently with one arm. "Oh, poor boy. Those harpy princesses are all the same. Greedy for money and abusing their husbands. I''d be happy with just a tender touch, and sometimes a little gift" the priestess replied, returning my hug with shyness. Stolen novel; please report. "You should know, I imported a new technology from some distant race. Perfect for an icy planet like yours. It''s called Jacuzzi, and it warms and soothes the body, and can even smooth skin and increase fertility. I will gift you a few hours of use, although you certainly don''t need it, my lady. You seem perfectly fertile to me, and more. Please let me show you.." I pleaded with real emotion. "Well, it does sounds enticing. Should I take a few priestesses with us, or is it just for two?" Lady Saro asked, with some anticipation. "In theory, it might work for more. But let''s not push our luck. If you decide to invite a few beautiful girls next time, I''ll think about it. I promise." I answered, absolutely truthful. These priestesses were truly holy and kind. I will take them all, and worhship them one by one. Then, shower them with pure love. Then wash the love off and do it again. Thank you, dear force. You truly blessed me so. Planet Corellia, Corellian Diktat 20 BBY "Honored Councilmen. The Radiant Immortal Pef, has entrusted me with this message. As the Republic is no more, your most enlightened polity should reject paying homage to the new Sith Empire, created by Palpatine. We do not advocate military resistance, but instead a gradual border extension, and economic growth." My Corel droid Ambassador proclaimed, as a grav pallet was dragged inside the Council Hall. "And how are we to do this? Corellia is no position..." the Diktat started to reply. "You forget, Honored Councilmen. You are also the winners of the Clone wars. Rendili is just a few jumps away, it is your right to claim that system as spoils of war. Expand to Tinnel and Duro. I have brought you 20 quadrillions of Empire credits. Let the poor immigrants come, and use them. Build ships, like your DP20 frigate , but with 40 missile launchers not just 4. Build the new Strike cruisers that our Empire is building by the thousand. Build shields and defenses. Because the Immortal Pef has seen wars a million times worse coming. Some from inside, some from outside the galaxy. And if you are not ready...there will be no more freedom in the galaxy." The droid proclaimed dramatically, shaking its green hands at the sky. "20 quadrillions..." the Corellian Councilmen murmured, somewhat surprised at the largesse. "If you manage to spend it, I have mandate for more, much more. Become strong, friends. The fleets the Pef Empire has guarding Corelia will stay, and be ceded to your use, ship by ship, once you have qualified crew to man them. With the major shipyards in the Core destroyed, or damaged, Corellia has the lead now. Also, meleenium for durasteel will be provided at any rate you can consume, but not for resale." The droid added, then turned around and left, kicking the lid from the crate full with trillion credit aurodium chips. More angels sang, as light burst out from the crate, and illuminated the faces of the Corellians with golden smiles. Ah, money. Things are much easier when you can throw them around like...diamonds? Huh, I could build myself a spaceship made of diamonds. I bet the Arkanians will love to sell me that much diamonds. Hmmm. About money... ''Wialu, do you need anything there, on Teta?'' I asked a bit concerned. ''A trillion credits for now, or ten. Just rooting out the local Sith club. They make nice pendants and amulets though. Recursive algorithms casting various spells. Really nice stuff.'' My Voice said proudly. Huh, still draining more poor Sith wanna-be''s ''Keep the prince alive. We may need a scapegoat someday'' I advised her, since I already knew. ''Gah, you cheating droid! Why do you know these things, from 70 thousands light years away?'' ''The Force?'' I answered with a shrug. ''And what are you doing on Tatooine?'' She demanded, in her other voice. ''Draining a Rakata...really nice stuff.'' I answered amused. ''Lucky you. These guys suck...'' Wialu complained, as if increasing her own strength by half wasn''t enough. Planet Tatooine. Pef Empire. 20 BBY This Rakata guy isn''t alive. But not dead either, The Imprisoned One is a memory imprint, or worse. It''s a Mind prison which has an interior composed of an infinite expanse of white nothingness but with some rudimentary access to the outside world. If I was organic, or didn''t come prepared, this thing would have possibly taken me over. I just held the soul snare in front, and let the Rakata criminal flow in, thinking he was escaping. Quite strong in the force too, almost half my strength, even powered by that huge crystal from Mimban. And let''s drain the sucker... Wow, jackpot. Nanotech expert, and of Rakatan nanobots, bending quantum strings into letters, and writing new natural laws. Not a good scientist, or even a competent criminal, but still...useful. And he knows so many force skills too. Well. Half as many as I know already, but different. More...sadistic. Using nanobots to re-write brains? Duh. Who does that? And why bother? Flashing memory holograms work better, and don''t make zombies, anymore... You can print aurodium. Or platinum or whatever. Just need a huge energy source. Like that energy crystal I confiscated on Mygeeto. Now, that''s done...let see what he knows about Sharu and Kwa... Just how to catch Kwa super-soldiers in mind traps. Well, who knows, I might find one of them too. People just don''t die very well in this galaxy. ''And I''m very grateful for that, Immortal Pef'' Lira, my Togruta Voice, once reborn, commented wisely. ''Wait...Immortal Pef. You can bring me back to life?'' the Rakata asked, somehow sensing my Voice bond. Ah, essence listen. Nice skill. ''Look mister shark. The evil Rakata, who terrified the whole galaxy and murdered trillions, they thought you such an insane criminal, that they built this nice mind trap, and locked you inside, not to be released ever. So, you tell me. Will I bring you back to life?'' I asked him back, using the same language as the Selkath from Manaan, the kelto making planet used. Cause yea, still a Rakata colony, with some Rakata artifacts hidden about. ''Ehhh. if you put it that way...I guess not'' the Rakata muttered, then disappeared, his essence drained. And now I had a huge cave, with this box called the Mind Prison, hundreds of dedicated cadavers of some miners, and a billion nanobots, floating about looking for organic brains to turn into zombies. Sigh. These were the guys who chased down the killiks? Gather round, my new soldier nanadroids. Tatooine has too much sand. Let''s make some mirrors, and reduce the heat a little. After the sand is outside the atmosphere guys, don''t rush! See, you lousy Anakin? You could have eradicated this sand yourself, instead of complaining to your girlfriend that ''it''s getting everywhere'' Damn emo. Now I have to organize a kidnapping and ''miraculous conception'' and impregnate Padme with your frozen love. Just because you hated sand. Hate is bad! It lead you to the dark side...and a funeral pyre, a bit earlier than before. At least this time, if you come back as a ghost, your age and ghost aspect will fit. You didn''t see Luke growing 70 years younger as a ghost, did you? You did not. I had to do something. So retconning the canon, with a nuclear bomb seemed appropriate. Thank Lucas, for the great idea! Plus, as a young female slave, Shmi was likely raped countless times. That wasn''t truly an immaculate conception, was it? Not like I''m gonna do it. Say thank you dear force. You''ll get your Luke back, to toy with and smack down a thousand times. But I''m keeping the girl. My Leia won''t dance in no mail bikini for no Hutt. Unless Peffy gets elected Hutt leader somehow. Eh, not even that hard. I have 455 plans to take over the Hutts. Though plan 1 will work anyway. Money. Now, let''s finish whatever details I have to fix on Tatooine. ''I found the starmap on Manaan, Pef. But it needs someone...a mammal I guess'' Solana whispered in the bond. Of course it does. More organic brains to mess with. Stupid Rakata. Hey look, a huge Kryat dragon, guarding another starmap, here on Tatooine. Yes yes, my dear nanobots, you can take over his brain. See, I can be generous! Now let''s open him up...Kyber crystals! What a surprise...what can I do with a 50 centimeter kyber crystal? Eh, they can make lasers and ion guns stronger. And a huge lightsaber for my Titans. Say...100 meters long. Or more? Possibly 200 meters. We''ll see. I know, I said the flashlights are stupid. But that''s because they''re too small! If I make the beam 3 meters thick and 200 meters long...now it''s a close defense weapon, or it can cut mountains to make new passes, or make roads on Kashyyyk . And dig out geonosian hives. Also, it will look absolutely fabulous. Never forget that something cool is better than just functional. If you''re rich enough. ''I want a big Titan too. It would be much nicer than just a droid to pilot'' Luxum confessed with an embarrassed tone. See! Thousands of Shards will want to be the living heart of a Titan, leading the Empire Legions in battle. From well behind the lines. But imagine a Niman adept, throwing a 200 meter long plasma blade at some enemies, and then have it boomerang back in its huge Titan hand. Cool? Hell yes! Redforge, Pef Empire 20 BBY, 3 weeks later. The vote for the quadrillion credits loan passed in the Imperial Senate, with only 78 delegates being executed for opposing it. Padme Skywalker escaped with the aid of masked strangers, and has fled to Mandalore, although she doesn''t remembers the trip much. The stress was too high, and she had never slept better. For 48 hours, no less. On Coruscant, certain military units of the new Imperial Army have risen in revolt, leading to open fighting, on the streets and the underground levels. "The Imperial Crematorium. Each transport carries twenty dead Imperials. In the time that we have been here, nearly one hundred officers and troopers have been reduced to ash." ¨DGentis A former general in the Republic army, the man had enough, after witnessing the callous way the Galactic Empire burned the fallen soldiers to ash. Including his sons. Gentis began a rebellion, aided by former subordinates, and the new classes of graduating Imperial Cadets, throwing explosives all over the capital. The officer''s club, various Stormtroopergarrisons, the Comm Towers, and a supply depot were all destroyed. Imperial Plaza became ground zero in the battle that erupted, as "terrorist" forces¡ªin truth, hundreds of the newly graduated cadets¡ªswarmed through the city streets, fighting with the Empire''s clone forces. Other forces joined in, the Gray Paladin group, and militant members of Whiplash , whose identities were always unknown, but were very well armed and trained and informed. Even though Emperor Palpatine had 10 Stormtrooper legions on Coruscant, the magnitude of the attack was much worse than he had envisioned. A dozen Inquisitors and over 500 high ranking officers, including 3 Moffs were ambushed and killed, and several secrets laboratories were burned to the ground. Dal Perhi , the Vigo of the Black Sun criminal group, and hundreds of his lieutenants and bodyguards were also killed, possibly because they clashed with the Jedi before. A dozen female Jedi and Gray Paladins vanished from the Imperial Intelligence''s surveillance as the their very headquarters, the ISB Central Office was hit with a barrage of proton torpedoes, followed by incendiary missiles lobed into the holes left by the torpedoes. At least a thousand data analysts and competent slicers died in the attack, while the data servers were copied and then purged by a vicious cyberattack. The insult was followed by a proton bomb detonated underneath the complex, creating a large sinkhole that the whole complex crashed down into. However, the revolt was put down efficiently, after the Emperor himself took command and directed the counter attacks. It was however, too late. The tallest building on Coruscant, named Emperor Palpatine Surgical Reconstruction Center was also targeted by the Jedi, and was toppled with a proton bomb at its foundations. The name Whiplash was painted on a thousand streets and high rise buildings, with some kind of insidious paint, that just won''t come off! Metal plates had to be welded over that paint. Other slogans were written by masked men on cultural and art institutions, claiming Palpatine is a Sith Lord and worships demonic beings, and rapes small babies before breakfast. Preposterous! The experiments on babies were done at night, not in the morning. Although, during night is technically before breakfast... Anyway, a dozen jedi were killed in the attacks, though the loss of the Sith and Jedi relics from the secret meditation chamber was incalculable. Even the neutral''s Galactic Bank building, and the embassy of the Pef Empire, was painted with slogans asking to deny loans for the tyrant and his regime. Let''s hope the cold and callous droid bankers won''t care about this smidge on their sovereignty, and stop the loans completely. This was the work of isolated individuals, driven mad by grief and greed. "Very nice work, Colonels Arnold and Bond. What about the actual Culexus operative, who masterminded the operation?" I asked my Assassinorum Triumvirs. "His escape route, with his rescued females as cargo, goes through Dorin, then Ithor. After that, he''ll stop on Mandalore to pick any newcomers, and return victorious" Triumvir Bond replied in a competent tone. "Okay Honored Triumvir, advise our Whiplash friends of the danger of engaging the Galactic Empire on Coruscant itself, and evacuate as many, to other large population worlds. " I said with tired sigh. You don''t hide people in jungles, you hide them between billion others. "Already being done, Droid Emperor. The Fibonacci-compatible females will be delivered, for your Avatar to impregnate." Triumvir Arnold replied in the new austrian accent I made for him. "Great, remember though, positive deviations in the chest area are not a disqualifier. The children get better nourishment from larger chests" "Re-organizing, 14 more specimens of Coruscant comply with new parameters. New operation code: Lactis. Biometric scans updated. This unit also has a new request" Bond spoke politely. "Sure thing, Triumvir Bond." I said curious. "Additional budget of 28 trillions. Female agents may prove 25% more effective, once chest enhancements are complete. Also, they can begin replication, generating new agents for minimal costs. So, 100 million agents, recruited and trained from local backgrounds, then generously improved. The cost includes more than just silicone implants. It''s training and equipment and weapons and encrypted coms." The Culexus Assassin droid said, very wisely. "Approved, for the good of the Empire!. Now go, I have war Titans and a new Terminator T900 power armor to build." I ordered, trying to focus on the Rakata nanobots. "I want one too, Emperor. And a thousand Hydra armors with the new Taozin nodules , for my agents." Triumvir Arnold demanded gruffly. "Of course, my loyal followers. Both of you, and the Third Hand behind me will receive the new armor. You know I share with my friends." I proclaimed grandly. "Cheating droid. There''s no way you could have sensed me. Not today!" My Third Hand exclaimed in fake anger. Or real anger, no idea. "Why are you here, my friend?" I wondered curious, while pouring him a drink. "The Bendu operation is complete. The Order of Dai Bendu , along with their families, was extracted from Ando Prime and relocated to Sanctuary. The mighty Bendu is very pleased." he replied with a smug voice. "And the Pathfinder-class scout ship ?" "We have a few units already. Two of them en route to Redforge, for your purview and two more were sent at Land Warrior RD. The next ones will go to Malagarr and Sol V." the Black Ops Triumvir replied in a most professional tone, jumping on the couch and stealing my brandy bottle. Good. The same type of tech that the Rakata force-field used, to redirect the energy of incoming fire from shields to weapons. After I fixed all the problems bound to come, as with every new technology, my ships will have shields five times stronger. Not too shabby. Now I could upgrade all my ships with that tech. But first, the Titans. Revenge of the Sith Planet Gand, Pef Empire Zero Garden. 20 BBY Next week My Avatar really is a packed body of muscle and testosterone, and here is truly at home. Flowing through the velocities, with his chest bared in the sun, and warm grass caressing the soles of his feet. Surrounded by women, from a dozen Atoa priestesses, to two dozen Dathomirian witches, some Fallanassi girls, a dozen Miraluka, a couple Makutai girls, some humans and twi''leks, like Laranth Tarak and togruta, and even two Tholothian former Jedi Adi Galliaand Stass Allie . Perhaps half of them, the formally married wives, are looking at him with love and adoration. The other half, with confusion and wonder. And stop. 100 repetitions at 4x speed. Heart rate nominal, no energy spent. I can fight 100 Masters and not break a sweat. "Well, most beautiful ladies...anyone wants to step in and spar? I promise to only use one finger" I asked gently, looking over the women with child-like eyes. And holding my middle finger up. Forehead flicks are the norm now, since the tumbling and the embarrassment work wonders. Miss Zero had to press her hands to her chest, to stop herself from exhaling. She''s almost ready, now that the agelessness ability is returning her to a hormonal teenager. The force bond is so strong I can feel her heart tremble. "If I had my lightsaber, you would regret that..." Miss Gallia whispered to herself. Really? Let''s see. "Please, use my Mandalore sword, Miss Gallia. Still has a plasma blade." I replied with a charming smile, flinging the Darksaber hilt at her. And....not fast enough, pretty Jedi. Ding! Her headdress flew off, letting her curly black hair flow in the wind. Wow, she was even prettier now. I remained staring, as she recovered and hit me in the shoulder for no effect. Amazing. Why didn''t Jedi bother to have kids? They would look cute beyond belief, with such pretty mothers. "Avatar, you''re said that out loud, again" Aayla Secura said in a fake whisper, while enjoying the show of seeing her Masters getting trashed flawlessly. "Beauty is a gift, and it has to be praised wherever you find it." I replied softly, grabbing the blade and poking Master Gallia in her plexus. And knockout. Check vitals, she''ll be back in 5 minutes. "Anyone else?" I asked louder, then placed the plasma blade between my teeth, so I''d have two free hands to tie the cord on my pants. A few gasps arose from the more newbie jedi. "Stop showing off, Greyshade! Now the girls will need an hour to meditate again" Zero chided me friendly, kicking my chin and snatching the darksaber by the blade. Which she then threw carelessly at the Culexus droid waiting invisible some 30 meters away, making the hilt disappear in midair. Who''s showing off, you dark witch? That is my trick! She must have memorized the location of the Culexus droids though, to be that precise. "Sure thing teacher. I''m just going to fly around a bit. All these hungry looks make me shy..." I answered mildly, having remained frozen in midair too, where the kick had lifted me, some 7 meters above the grass. And flying, flying, flying. Look! My green ithorian friends, and allies against the Vong. ''Hello to you too, colony of sentient trees. The Sun is wonderful today indeed'' I replied telepathically to the colony of Boff trees. ''Those Makutai girls have fallen, Sun of Suns. Your stunt just now, or perhaps the words about babies. Or both...'' the trees whispered in my mind, glad to be of help with the Grand Polenization Plan. GPP. ''But no one from the cold Jedi, eh?'' I asked sad. Damn, their crazy fanatic abstinence. ''Not yet. But Miss Aayla is close. Perhaps with those warm waters of yours...'' the wise trees mused, a bit confused. Sun and water, and fresh seed, why did mammals had to complicate life this much? ''No clue either, dear trees. Females are a mystery'' I whispered to myself, flying off into sunset. Redforge system, Pef Empire My crystal self is watching intently the last battles against the Separatist holdouts, those rich and careful enough to be independent of the Mustafar control node. Like on Ord Thoden , a mining planet rich in lommite, and thus able to mass produce droids and tanks, even without imports. Their troops are armed with DX-2 disruptor pistol and other hi tech weapons, making it dangerous for organics to engage. Supported by Tenloss Syndicate as well. The First Mechanized Legion, with 10 Titans and a thousand Gauntlet tanks, supported by 1000 more power armored BX 11 commando droids and Stinger II gunships is engaged in battle around the capital, but the Seps can''t stop the mighty walkers. Makes good propaganda too, as those shields just seem to recharge faster than they can be depleted. Almost. Just redirecting 70% of turbolaser and blaster fire into the hell projector, the continuous shoulder lasers and the maser cannons. And there it go, the first Titan has to retreat now, the shield capacitors have overloaded, the missiles and torpedoes have been expended as well. The frontal armor has a thin cortosis mesh, so the Titan survives the concentrated Separatist fire, even if his weapons melt. No matter. Two more Titans step in. And a pincer movement of tanks and power armor catches the defenders from the flank. Advance! And liberate the planet for your Emperor! The B11 droids rise from their prone positions, and begin running towards the enemy lines. It''s glorious! No animals have been hurt in making this documentary! Next planet, Kalee . And ending the Huk civil war. Well, not really civil, with massacres and famine and slavery, but I didn''t invent the term. Cause, Grievous? Not a bad guy, just mad. His planet was occupied and enslaved by the Yam''rii insects, with the aid of the Jedi. He had some real bones to pick, with the Jedi. Yea, gonna solve that problem for you, cyborg General. Those insects have many limbs to rip off as well. Well, for now. We dismember slavers, cause it scares the rest. Planet Gand, Pef Empire Zero Garden 20 BBY, next month The Jedi are getting restless, perhaps sensing their future fall. "You can''t keep us here, Avatar. The galaxy needs us. There are younglings scattered..." Master Ti said, with her other Former Council members flanking her. Quite impressive, not in argument but in beauty. "They aren''t scattered lovely lady. Less than 50 younglings and initiates are missing, most of them due to irresponsible Knights or Masters who took them to remote worlds, for which we have no route. About 4000 of the little ones were collected by our agents." I replied with a shrug, which was quite difficult while doing one finger push-ups, upside down. Because this Avatar body...he can do them, at least a thousand with every finger. And look impressive to the ladies of course. "What? How...how did you even find them?" "Gand is the homeworld of the Findsmen, most beautiful mistress. And we have thousands of them. Plus a good intelligence network" I replied politely, switching to my little left finger. There is no try, little guy! 1001 push-ups and were done for today. With the push-ups, at least. "That''s...certainly correct, Master Ti. I was rescued from an Inquisitor that I couldn''t even sense. Maybe..." the most amazing near-human that I''ve seen, Stass Allie said softly. Almost there, pretty girl. Almost. "No, Master Allie. We cannot laze in the sun, and hot baths. The galaxy needs us. People are suffering..." The fierce Togruta Master protested, while enjoying the sun, and the cold lemonade. "You should know we did help, where we could, without being obvious. The attack on Coruscant, on the Kuat, on Balmorra...and thousands more places. Just keep in mind, that from 58 Jedi that were aided in the preparations, from schematics and ships, to bombs and lightsabers, only one survived.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Lord Palpatine is very strong, in his own way. Master Quarmall is now his right Fist. The Jedi he captures, he turns." I answered, with a slight tinge of pain. Something was wrong... Or someone. Voice check...not them. Maids? Yes. But where? Mandalore? Alicia Greyshade. Where are her bodyguards? The Justice droid is still transmitting...even without his head. Flowing black armor...the Emperor''s Shadow Guard , kidnapping my wife. Possibly Thull Wulain, the leader, going by the pike... Place a marker on him, and see where he goes. I should have done something about Sun Guard . But Ventress didn''t kill them now, since she wasn''t working for Dooku. The Thyrsian had their own prophecy for the Son of Suns . Which Palpatine cleverly distorted to serve him. But not for long. We''ll send fleets to the Eshan then. And to Serroco as well. Then Jebble . Time to reclaim all the former Mandalorian worlds, and make sure this kind of thing stops. We should take Shili , the Togruta homeworld, and make contact with The Silent which were based there. Those seemed interesting, in a creepy kind of way, and possibly force users or biological shapers. Either would be great. Enough dally. I should go. "So, we''re forced to stay here, while the Sith Empire grows stronger and converts the force-sensitives into Inquisitors?" Master Ti asked with a bit of pain. "Not all the time, most enchanting lady. The girls need to get trained and reach their peak. But yourself Miss Ti, you''re about as strong as you''ll get. Maybe 20% more, if you follow the treatment I prescribed. You can come with me to Shili, and convince them to request an MPT." I answered, after flipping to my legs. "So...you want more Togruta girls. You''re not very subtle, Mister Greyshade" the Jedi woman said with a frown and a cold voice. Of course, I do. Togruta are fierce and kind. Carnivores but diplomats. I want many more. "Well, we are tracking Ahsoka Tano anyway. She''ll join our colorful flower garden soon enough. What do you want, Miss Ti? My protection for your people, or Palpatine''s mercy?" I asked gently, as my ship began descending to pick me up. "Kriff. I had seen enough flowers for a year." the woman proclaimed with a sad tone. Huh? Just say yes or no. "She meant yes, Avatar. And you''re still talking your thoughts out loud" Master Gallia said with an amused voice. Well, pretty is pretty. But sadly, duty calls. "Still out loud Avatar!" the beautiful Tholothian yelled after me, as I hugged the Togruta Master and flew up towards the hangar door. "You can let go now, Avatar Greyshade." "Hmmm. On Mandalore, the women we defeat, become our wives. I try to fight only the prettiest women though. Or I''d have to marry a million girls." I answered gently, but kept hugging the woman, a bit tighter. Like 3% more. "It''s not going to work..." she replied coldly, poking my arm and making me let go. "The Jedi Order is gone, my lady. We''ll make new traditions, if we survive the next 30 years. Maybe Gray Paladins or something" I whispered softly in her montrail, then went to enjoy the jacuzzi. Alone. Redforge, Pef Empire next second. This plan wasn''t gonna work too well, if the wives were so easy to capture and turn. And this was a trap, of course. Alicia, the poor girl, was already dead, or infected with something. Palpatine wanted my empire to stop expanding, and didn''t have ships or troops to fight me. For now. So he used the hostage trick. A more important wife like Lidia or Clara would have plenty security, but the 6th Mandalorian wife, touring the devastated Mandalorian sector with food and medicine? Not so much. The electro-pulse weapon short-circuited most droids, And Alicia didn''t qualify for VSS. Simply,I didn''t think to update the VSS budget with a few trillions. Kriff. Too focused on ships and tanks, and battles. And forgot about the minor things inside. Boonta was approaching 500 millions people, which was great. Junkfort 200 millions, Celanon 400 Millions, Botajef the same. For a few months, it was okay. And as living became worse in the Core, more people will emigrate. Stacking a trillion people on one planet was crazy. A single attack could kill them all. The answer was spreading out, and try to stay somewhat self-sufficient with foodstuff. At least the basic staples like cereals or meat and fruits. Mix the genes more, to cover for potential genetic disorders or illnesses. I should start making some mixed communities, adding various elements like Firrerreoregeneration, Epicanthix mind resistance, miraluka force sight, and hundreds of other near humans. And if the Tholothian were ageless... Like tiny mineral additions to steel, these new genes could make the steel of humanity into durasteel. And there were a dozen non-human races which could reproduce with humans, creating hybrids, like zabrak, and twi''lek and togruta. If Master Fay was such an example, strong in the force and biologically immortal, maybe other would appear. No maybe, the Force was stirring the galaxy into wars, to mix genes by brutal means like enslavement and rape. But this could be done civilized and with love. Lots of love. ''Thanks for experimenting on me, Pef. I feel used now'' Dora, my pregnant twi''lek Voice whispered in the bond. She didn''t really mean it. That kid will be loved. A lot. "I want Peffy''s babies. At least 10" Lira added shamelessly. Sure thing pretty one. We''ll try it again. "I see now. You''re lucky the Avatar pleases me. Or else" Ventress mused, focused on her battle plans. "I don''t mind at all. Not sure when I''ll have time for kids, but we could do a few..." Wialu concluded with a shrug. Luxum and Solana grumbled something about wrong species and fairness. ''Luxum, how do your Shards make babies? Cause... I don''t think I know how you pollinate each other...'' I muttered on the Voice chat. ''Errrr. I''ll research this, for a few hours Pef. Your crystal self might be compatible. I hope you are...'' Luxum said softly, and a bit embarrassed. Hey, you really are the prettiest Shard I''ve met. And I already love your soul. ''I know...talk later...love'' the Shard Voice whispered in a crystal kind of sob. Great, she went to talk with her mother. About having babies. That was gonna be fun. ''This is very interesting for me as well. Solanus thinks it might be possible, in a few years. Oh! I''m too young to have kids...'' Solana exclaimed, in a water wave kind of panic. Errr. Having Solanus for a father-in-law...really weird. But the kids should be awesome! ''Solanus will remember this!'' my water maid sent amused. Kriff. No privacy anywhere. "You''re trying too hard Emperor. Wanna drink?" Zuckuss asked with an insectile grin, and offered me a glass of brandy. The most expensive brand. Because he deserved it. "Sure. Let me pour it over my armor. Maybe I''ll get drunk too" I said out loud, but still pouring the drink over my helmet. 2000 credits per shot. But, it made me feel better. "So the alcoholic droid says. You''re gonna make 10 thousand more Findsmen?" my third Hand asked from the couch in front of me, which was still empty. New trick ? Then again, 50 quadrillion budget for intelligence. They better make nice things. "For a start. I''ll visit Gand when this Titan shield starts working as I want. At least 80% reflect. Damn those Rakata. Couldn''t have left blueprints somewhere." I complained with a bit of desperation. "At least your Avatar has the second largest harem now, after fourth Hand Kikipi. That guy...has at least 800 wives already. You''re falling behind." Zuckuss proclaimed with a click of mandibles. For now. He got a head start, King Kikipi. But I don''t just go after largest pectoral glands. I want spirit, and fire. Cold War Planet Gand, Pef Empire Gandia, the first Gand city 20 BBY I can be generous, I said it many times. Which is why I made Gandia a dream city, with parks and waterfalls and skyscrapers. Enough room for 20 million people, when the whole Gand race is 1.7 millions. The tall buildings are made of quadranium steel and diamondoid windows and are plated with 10 centimeter plates of real gold. The most modern droid chefs and medidroids, state of the art holonet and holotheaters, repulsorlift trains and 20 million jacuzzi baths, in every home. 10 spaceports and 10 planetary shields. 50 million droids, and two Mechanized Legions stand ready to defend my first friends. And now, 9000 males and 1000 female Gands, which have completed their flash memory training becoming explorers and starship captains await in the Aurodium Plaza, plated with real aurodium of course, to receive the greatest gift. The Force. I hope I don''t have to do this individually, but I''ll do it if I must. This only take a single partition anyway. My AI mind is working continuously on a thousand tasks, and monitoring the galaxy in real time through hyperspace emitters. "My loyal subjects. Your Immortal Emperor remembers his debts. When he was weak and feeble, your Findsmen found him and rescued him. When your heroic predecessors, the Hundred Explorers, gave their lives to create the Dream, I was there and I remember. When the evil corporations started the war on freedom and liberty, I was there. And many Findsmen or officers lost their lives winning the war. Now, we are victorious. But we must not forget, that other evil beings hate liberty, and will come for us, sooner or later. Will you let them take the Dream away?" I proclaimed rhetorically. The Gand before me clicked and hissed in denial. No lungs or vocal cords for most of them. They sort of needed the Force, and gene alter to modify themselves. A few had adapted naturally, but we could give nature a hand. "Indeed, fresh graduates. We will not give them our freedom. Now, who wants to live forever?" I asked grandly, holding the Ragnos scepter in front of me. Everyone? Good to know. Start with test subject 00001 and autorun. Sigh, still only individual activation. This will take 3 hours at least. Now what else is happening out there? Corruption and collusion on Centares? Arrest the big guy, fine the other 44 people involved. 30% of total wealth, each. Be more careful, next time. On Gibbela our droids were torn to shreds by the locals and turned into plows and pots. Sigh. Sent a Titan and a few Servants on flying platforms, outside the range of those claws. The Vong will have similar shapeshifters, so it will give my Titan a good test. On Nam Chorios, a native is not what he seems. The Plague became sentient and created a humanoid shape as a vector. It is a droch genetically altered by Beldorion the Hutt. His torso and fingertips are covered in razor-sharp toothed orifices. He has the same ability to leech life. And spread the infection. Calls himself Dzym . Kriff. If he gets of the planet, trillions will die. Or everyone. Test every non-lethal munitions, then increase damage, up to 50 megatones. I hope I don''t have to glass the planet... Hey that was a Tsil focused beam! Good to know you''re helping, guys. 906 people on the spaceport are dead, 4 kilotons of proton bombs and some 300 Tsil force beams. It looks dead, but shoot it again my droids. Till tomorrow. And no more spaceports, till we cure the plague. Air drops of food. Damn it, who makes this kind of things? ''I didn''t sense anyone like that Pef, when I killed that dark hutt.'' Asajj said at once, with some panic. ''It''s like the Vong love. You have to sense what should be there, but it''s not.'' I explained patiently, moving to the next and the next planet. Aha, planet Obredaan . The Imps are sniffing around, testing the waters to see if we want the cortosis deposits or not. Decloak and destroy the corvette. Let the Venator run. Launching V-19 fighters? Okay, blow it up, and bring me a few ionized V19. They have good engines. And claim the mines, of course. Cortosis is a strategic Empire mineral, to craft Baneblades and Titans and Terminator power armor, not toys. Planet Ord Tessebok is unclaimed, and has 3 billion people? Most of them refugees? Most excellent. We need engineers and miners. Start training the refugees, and keep the biometric scans active. Less than one in a trillion people are force-sensitives. But with refugees, the chance increased a thousand times. The lucky ones are usually favored by the force. Planet Selnesh ...nothing there, except a cool name. Mining and shipyards then. And yes, we claim planet Orinda . It is a great planet. Land and oceans and all. What else? Ah. My Avatar is on Shili. And Alicia...T&I center? Really Palpatine? ''Triumvir Arnold. Leave no survivors on this op. Start jamming ImpSec now'' I ordered over the Pefnet. ''HK-47 wants a Terminator armor when he succeeds.'' the triumvir said a bit amused. ''If he succeeds. Assume the place is rigged to blow. And make sure it does, after.'' ''Most commendable, Droid Emperor. I estimate about 6 thousand prisoners in the cells. What do we do with them?'' ''The same thing we always do, my friend. We save them, teach them, and then send them to fight'' I answered with virtual shrug. ''I''ll keep an eye out for suitable damsels, happy to be rescued. The Avatar can''t have the second place in the harem race. And I do have 6 eyes as well.'' the Culexus droid said smugly. I know you do Arnold. I made you, after all. ''You''re a good friend, Arnold. But don''t give HK-47 shatter guns again. They make a mess'' I said with a cringe, as another wall was sprayed with brains. Kill them softly, damn Sith droid! ''He likes it that way. Not everyone is as subtle as you, most exalted Emperor'' Arnold replied amused, snapping two necks at once. "I know my sociopath friend. I''m a misunderstood genius. Now tell me, does it work?'' ''Most of the times, surprisingly. Come with me if you want to live? How gullible are these organics?'' My Assassinorum droid named Arnold complained, while puffing sleep gas, then cutting off heads and eviscerating guards and torturers, invisible and silent. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Hk-47 instead... He made lots of noise and explosions of gore and guts, sometimes impaling a guard with the spine of another. Sigh. He really has too much fun being invisible. Planet Gand, Pef Empire Celestial Throne 20 BBY Next day The Altisian cruiser school Chu''unthor has finally arrived. Took them long enough. And sorry, but you have to surrender the lightsabers, as you step off the ship. Damn it, I so want to dismantle their ship and rebuild it. Class 4.0 hyperdrives? My Meteors are 1000 times heavier and can do 5.0 A few pretty ladies, as expected. Callista Masana for one, but Ash Jarvee is nice too. The force shines through them, like soft sunlight through flowers. These are the heretics? The cast outs from the Order? I want a million more. The men are subtly different too. A gray haze, the alignment shifted. But still, no babies on their ship, only padawans. "Welcome to the Celestial Throne. I am Pef" I said politely, inviting the delegation to sit at the Council table. A hologram of the galaxy was lit above the table, with green glows over the Pef Empire space, and red arrows for incoming invasions. The Hutts and neutral systems in blue, and the Sith in black. Made a scary story. We were not ready. No one was ready for the future. " I am Jedi Master Djinn Altis , the..." he started saying, and saying the wrong thing. "We know everything, Mister Altis. Your past and your future. Just yesterday, we stopped the galaxy dying once again, on Nam Chorios, this time. The plague took human shape and wanted to board a ship. What do you want, Mister Altis?" I asked politely, examining the delegation with a few Zeison Sha tricks. They wanted repairs, then hiding away. Then dying on Belsavis. That place gave me the creeps. "The droch plague...unbelievable. How did you stop it?" he muttered with dread. "With weapons, of course, and the Tsil crystals helped weaken it with their force powers. Our droids are still busy incinerating the remains, and the bodies of those people that died next to it. Watch" I answered softly, replaying the event captured by my droids and starport security. The playback lasted 7 minutes, and people could be seen dying as the droch leeched their lives to maintain itself. "And the crystals helped, with those beams. I never knew they could do that" Geith Eriscommented, after the playback ended. "It''s probably not dead anyway. Force plagues need different solutions than pure firepower. We may need to drop the planet into a black hole. That should cut the droch off from their power source" I mused, maybe a little loud. "You''re not sure? How could anything survive a black hole?" Callista asked confused. Duh, the Force can do anything. "We make gravity altering plates and repulsorlifts and hyperdrives components from black holes. This type of technology is xenoarchaeology tech. Maybe a billion years old. Even the Celestials could play with black holes and make puzzles out of them. What about cultures a million times more advanced?" I answered with a suffering sigh. My crystal self might be fine in a black hole too, though I didn''t want to test that. Accidents happen. "And the red arrows? More such things?" the last jedi asked, pointing at the red arrows on the hologram. "Eh, extragalactic invasions are simple enough. Ships and troops. Only plagues are dangerous." I said gently, waving the map away. I had 78% chance to stop them all, even now. In 10 years we''ll be much safer. And in 30 years...99% The rest was luck. "Well, your Empire is certainly prepared, already heading off most routes of invasion. You used the Clone Wars to position your forces, for the future." Master Altis said after a few minutes of thought. Of course, I did. I wasn''t gonna beg for a starfighter and hope my torpedo hits the right thing. And lose a quadrillion lives to wars. Stupid Jedi. And Sith. Damn it all. "So, tell us, Mister Altis, what do you want?" I asked again, a bit harsher. "I want the people on my ship to be safe. And learn...whatever I can. You likely don''t even care about Palpatine..." he muttered with some doubt. Of course, I cared. The galaxy needed a bad guy, and Palpatine was doing great. "Well, our laws are simple. No flashlights, no evil ways. You kidnap a child or mind rape someone, and we''ll dismember you, publicly. Miss Kuro trains some girls down on Gand, and Miss Fay is on Ruul with other jedi refugees. Kids under 13 stay with me" I stated calmly, turning the holomap back on, and zooming in to watch Asajj kick ass at Kalee, and having her Titans stop those insects like bugs. Billions of bugs... Huh. Maybe Triumvir Bond will like to help? ''That seems such a great idea. Freedom, but with bloodshed and stomping bugs. You''re the best, Immortal Pef!'' my faithful droid exclaimed with glee, and started selecting his most lethal operatives, to stop the flood of enslaving bugs. "That battlefield...you''re liberating Kalee?" Miss Callista said in wonder. "Eh, training troops and tactics. A few billion slaver bugs make excellent testing grounds for my generals and new vehicles" I explained politely, noticing that the tracks of my tanks became clogged with insect limbs. Make a note, increase tracks width by 20%. Should help with muddy terrain. The shoulder lasers on the Titans needed more power, to slice chitin at first pass. The masers worked okay. The Hellprojector...eh. Perhaps install a dial to turn it down when needed... Using it on units without heavy armor was overkill. Proton torpedoes worked fine, but may need to increase the autoloader. Missiles too. Too many things can fly in this galaxy... But those armies, spreading out well over the horizon. They need to be thinned out. Some artillery units maybe? Those proton cannons from the CIS should work. And sonic screamers, perhaps mounted on the medium tanks? Two sonic guns, in a twin battery, amplifying the sound waves... "Errrr. Mister Emperor? You''re talking out loud and scaring the girls" the young Jedi Knight muttered, a bit embarrassed. "Huh, you''re still here, eh? So, you gonna stay or what?" I asked a bit curious, raising my photoreceptors towards the heretic. "Well...with some reservation. Ruul seems quite far from here, and safer..." Master Altis mumbled, a bit weirded out. I know, I got a bit strange locked in here. And Ruul was indeed a reservation. Watching the Jedi in the wild...going to water themselves at sunset...but, I kinda liked Callista a lot. And Ash was nice too. "You girls, go see Miss Kuro first. But be careful, she''s really, really weird. And scary." I told them, while floating towards the door. I get to see the famous Altisian cruiser! My fans on the Holodiscovery will be amazed, when I publish the documentaries next decade. "He said Master Kuro is scary?" Ash whispered confused. "What can scare this Pef? He''s quite scary himself..." Callista murmured, in a low voice. "I know. I have a bad feeling about this..." Ash said with a tinge of terror. Eh, you''ll survive. Possibly. Son of suns Planet Gand, Pef Empire Redbox 20 BBY "So, dear Ahsoka is hiding on Takodana as I said. We''ll claim the planet as well." I mused, in a quiet voice. Any Force nexus is better kept in my hands. Just in case. "As you say, Emperor. Qwi Xux is hard to find. I believe she''s hiding." My third Hand explained, a bit upset he was fooled by a teenager. "No matter, we''ll take them all that we can find, and then sweep again, a week later. She''s smart but hunger will drive her out" I answered with a snort. "This humble one bows to your wisdom, oh kidnapper Emperor. She will deduce we missed her and left for good, then come out to search for food. Or ambush our droids somehow." "So don''t land. High altitude Stingers. Now, about the Iokath thing. Got any clue so far?" I asked, not really expecting a result this soon. "It should be past the Red Twins somewhere. If is very critical, I could expend some Findsmen..." he said hesitantly. Eh, Zakuul was around there too, so it made sense. "Not at all. Just wanted nice tech faster. But the Cereans, the Omwati and the Columi should be enough, for now. " I said calmly. Tech was booming all over the galaxy, especially military and intelligence types. And sadly bioweapons too. Because no evil overlord should forget bioweapons. "And then, Belsavis. We have 3000 ships blockading that planet now, do you think we need more?" Zuckuss asked, a bit cautious. "Not for now. I want us to finish liberating Sullust and Darkknell and then expand a bit. I sort of wish we had Eriadu, but they need to see evil, before they beg us to save them..." "It doesn''t matter Emperor, we can reach Terminus via Bespin. Senex and Javin don''t like Palpatine, at all. And then all the Freestanding subsectors in the south will be ours. Forever and ever." Zuckuss proclaimed grandly, punching at the sky. "Not until Bomis Koori IV is pacified and the gran on Kinyen agree to join in. Which they will as soon as Palpatine starts bombing their cities. But as long as the Moshaw Dark Star black hole is obtained, it is our victory." I said gently, wondering who made black holes so rare in this galaxy. They were great factories. "I say we arm the Sanyassan with spears and send them at those CIS droids. We could get rid of both of them. Or do you want more furry wookie things Emperor?" "We''ll be fair, and give them slug rifles with bayonets, and fiber ponchos. And even sabotage the shields, and take out the artillery. I do need more cyborgs, especially in the south..." I answered truthfully. Cyborgs were quite cool. Stronger, faster, easy to control...too bad mines were so rare in the galaxy. Make a note to begin mass-producing land mines. Cause skull and bones signs to mark minefields were very cool. They didn''t even have that here, these savages! Space mines too, while at it. I did have to interdict plenty of dangerous systems. "We do have a lead on planet Nirauan , Pef. It pulses strong in the force, as well. That planet Hijarna was also easy to find. Do you want us to remake the Rakata empire?" Mujilik spoke next, having sat quiet till now. "Well, the numbered Meteors will be much stronger on those planets. And their force fueled ion beams as well. I''ll work on a maser beam as well, for the Vong. But if the insane Sith decides to attack, we need fall back points were our fleets can regroup." I explained patiently. Having even 100 Rakata planets of my own would be perfect. "That''s...not very probable, is it? We have a non-aggression pact, after all." Zuckuss said naively. Who else had non-aggression pacts and broke them at the first opportunity? Nah, the mad guy will surely attack, unless we did first. Just mustering forces. --------------- Planet Echani, Independent. Six Sisters Hall I stared at the 5 women lying unconscious before me, then turned towards the last one. Bria. Hmmm. Bria Grayshade. It did sound good. The youngest and prettiest of the Six Sisters of Echani Command, and possibly the fastest. "Now Miss Bria, we have like 20 minutes till your esteemed martial arts colleagues regain their senses. We could just kiss and make up..." I said softly, measuring intently the deviations of the Fibonacci series of her body scan. Plus 15% in the chest area. Her kids will not be hungry. "Take off that armor, and you''ll see why Echani fighting was not only self-defense, but a form of self-expression, and a means of communication. You rely on servo motors for speed and strength, Avatar." the woman claimed, hooking herself even deeper. "And then we kiss and make up? You promise?" I asked after taking of the helmet and smiling wide. "I''ll have to wipe that smile off your face, Mandalore. And make sure to kick you where it hurts. I promise" Bria said gently, and smiling back in an enchanting way. Good thing I came prepared, and wore only a pair of thin pants under the armor. Took me a second to jump out of my armor. Hand-to-hand works better like this. Those abs muscles took hard work to chisel, you know? "Please most graceful warrior. Let''s dance" I proclaimed with another charming smile. Oh. Vicious kick? From the start? My wives would leave me if the little guy gets blown off. I let her show me all her moves, taking care not to damage her too much. A poke here and there at 2% speed. She was amazingly fast, for someone so cute. "Stay still, and let me hit you!" she exclaimed frustrated, after some 10 minutes of dancing. And step in and grab her soft bottom. "I''m staying, my dear Bria. But, only for a week. I do have to work, you know..." I muttered in her ear, as she pounded on my chest weakly. "Promise?" she asked after her breath became less composed. "Already did. So, you kiss me first, or we go at once?" I asked curious. She went first. Huh. Planet Thyrsus, Sun guard 20 BBY, Next week The planet is now under blockade, and awaits my decision. Kriff. Collective punishments suck though. But no punishment at all, it''s even worse. "Message the Sun guard to come up, Captain. Or we''ll have to go down ourselves" I said with some pain. In movies, the heroine gets rescued in time, and all is well. Yea, this is not that kind of movie. Alicia was alive, but her mind was gone. Neural probes tend to do that. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. At least her funeral pyre could be seen from orbit. "Avatar, one named Kenix Jir has replied. He said the Son of Suns will come and vanish you" the comdroid replied after a few minutes. Sigh. That''s not what it means. "I accept. Begin landings Admiral, and use stunners where possible." I commanded on the Pefnet, the military encrypted holochannel reserved for secure traffic. Bria hugged me with one arm, and with some worry. She has been able to read feelings and emotion through combat. To an Echani, a combat between two people said more than hours of talking. They saw a certain purity in the way techniques were used in battle. But this kind of fighting will be different. "At least their second regiment was destroyed at Wode . They won''t pose much trouble." my new wife said, with enchanting naivitte. "The Sun Guard has served Palpatine for a decade. And Damask before him. And now they also have Shadow Guards, some kind of dark jedi. You''ll see soon, what the son of suns means..." I mused wisely, and tapped the holomap again. Not that I actually needed to, even with just the Avatar. But nobody else could connect with technology like I could. Let''s see... White armor, red armor, black uniforms...there. Black armor! Proton torpedoes can sink battlemoons, and these guys didn''t have Terminator armor. One down. Some 30 more left. That''s how you deal with force adepts. Cloaked ships and proton torpedoes. Will ruin most people''s day. And make a pretty blooms, like suns appearing out of nothing. 15 minutes later, the Shadow Guards, with their black armors, waiting in ambush were gone, and the commando droids wearing Hydra armor started sniping the rest of the Imperial troops, leaving only the Red armors intact. Okay then, my turn. "See you soon, most beautiful princess. I have a prophecy to deliver" I whispered to Bria, then went to enter my power armor, then jump out of the frigate, and glide down towards the first Sun Guard regiment, defending their planet. By the time I landed, only about 700 Red armors remained, clustered together and holding spears and blasters in all directions. Man, how dumb could these people be? Boom! I left myself fall the last hundred meters, then pushed the soot and dust away with a force push. "Behold, the Son of Suns has come! Fire and wrath, like the heart of the sun. But cold, and somewhat upset. Upset at you, Sun Guard!" I proclaimed, creating wings of fire to my sides, and amplifying my voice with sound alter 20 times. A brave Sun Guard took a shot at me, so I lifted him up then ripped his limbs off. I was talking here! "Still upset at you, Sun Guard. They call me Mand''alore the Charming, because a few girls like me. But then, one of you decides to kidnap and torture my wife. Not cool, not at all. Your lives are mine now. And pray I will spend them wisely. Now kneel!" I boomed even louder, just below organic lung failure. And pushing mind alter of course. These guys should be happy they had any brains left, unlike Alicia. As they fell to the knees, I could feel defeat and desperation, but also hope. To be alive and witness the prophecy come true. "I need 10 of you, who have higher rank. Come closer." I demanded in normal voice, while walking slowly towards the regiment. "I am in command now, Mand''alore" one of them said, trying to lift himself up. Nah, I didn''t order that. Let''s press him down with telekinesis. "Come on, move faster, while you still have knees to walk on!" I demanded, with a bit of cruelty. After a fearful look at their former comrade, now without any limbs, they did. "So, the Sun Guard serves a Sith Lord, and the dark side now? Have you changed your name to the Dark Guard?" I asked curious. "That''s...just rumors" another one objected, confused. "And before him, before you served Darth Sidious. You served Darth Plagueis, the Muun named Hugo Damask. And aren''t the Muuns those that have banked the Clone Wars, both sides at once? One regiment serves Palpatine, the other regiment Dooku, or Darth Tyranus..." I mused out loud, checking for some clues in their aura. They didn''t know...why would they? More religious fanatics. "We didn''t know, Mand''alore. Palpatine trained those with powers...and gave them black armor..." their leader explained...and hitting the key point. Suns are not black, are they? "Yes...black armor and red force pikes. Exactly as the defenders of sunlight should look" I replied, not even amused. An awkward silence fell as these guys meditated on their outlook. "Well, then. I will need this planet to request admittance to the Pef Empire, or this star system will have a new sun. You can run now..." I continued in a bored voice, and flew upwards. Damn idiots. ''Clean up whatever Imperials you find, HK-47. Violence limit 5.'' I sent to the genocidal droid. No nukes or bioweapons. ''Oh, level 5, how generous of you, son of the immortal droid. By the way, you have good taste Avatar. I approve of that Jedi woman, Shaak Ti. Of all organics I know, I would kill her last..." Hk-47 replied in an approving, if disturbing tone. ''Stick to the targets I give you, crazy Sith droid. There will be trillions of Vong to kill, soon'' I replied in a more friendly voice. ''Hey, you''re not bad. This op was quite fun. And the one before. I might not kill you, as long as I''m having fun'' Hk-47 proclaimed, while murdering dozens of imps per minute. The ships in orbit were scrap now, as well as the defense platform with the starfighters. They were in the way. ------------------ Planet Gand, Pef Empire Celestial Throne Hmmm. Ruul11 reports a new Jedi seeking refuge. A verpine named Beyghor Sahdett . But, if I recall correctly... ''Detain him with ray shields and call Miss Fay. That seems to be a Sith Fist'' I answered after a short check. Quite a lot more Jedi escaped this time, with Yoda on Coruscant. But...the green monkey was too easy to trick. Avoiding learning some skills, left you open to double and triple agents. And even my Empire wasn''t impossible to trick. Just much harder. And there were too many force-groups out there, just as easy to turn, just like the Sun Guards. "Emperor, what are we going to do with Dilonexa XXIII ? The Jedi have an Agricorps base there." my third Hand asked, having sat beside me for 33 seconds. But he stepped on nanobots now, and those were hard to fool. "Plant users eh? We''ll hide them on Sanctuary, just like the Silent. What did you find at the Temple of Eedit ?" I asked, more interested at the last part. "Looted. Only some scrolls and tablets, which my agents couldn''t read. Also, some kind of nexus, deep underground." "We will take Taanab as well, even if it''s exposed. And Corsin too. That location will be a key point. I''ll send Meteor 6 there." I said gently going over the trade route maps in my mind. We will lock Mandalore behind our borders, and inspect all ships passing through. ''Solana, any chance with Manaan?'' I asked in the bond, looking to the east. ''Eh, it''s going slowly. But my fleet in orbit should keep most bad things away'' "Manaan and Corsin. Two more Rakata planets. You plan to instal gates then" Luud''al-ud concluded after a minute. "Still far away for that, my friend. Just setting traps for now" I mused out loud, my focus on Ruul. Sigh. No Fay, don''t talk to the guy... Sonic beams and withdraw the air Ruul11. Make him show us his new talents. See! Glowing eyes. It''s quite simple. Now freeze him in carbonite. I want to teach my Zero how to drain dark jedi. Fay wasn''t gonna change, not in time. A paragon of light, that one. But Zero...she was close. Soon she''ll be grey. Next generation Planet Mandalore, Pef Empire Charming Castle 20 BBY Two weeks later Once Corsin was taken, with a few bribes and promises to gain local support, there was no more need to maintain a pretense of Mandalorian neutrality. Their princess was murdered by the Galactic Empire, as rumours said, and were not denied. People were outraged and wanted safety. "We cannot confirm of deny allegations regarding the circumstances leading to the death of Alicia Greyshade, wife to the Mand''alore. But rest assured, our officials will punish anyone involved. In other news, Corsin and the Echani Six Sisters worlds have requested to be admitted as probationary members into Pef Empire, under MPT. A fleet of 30 Meteor-class battleships have already took station to protect our interest in that area. A minor skirmish occured when the Imperial Army were evicted from Thrysus, a planet under the Six Sisters rule." " This was the official statement of the Pef Empire''s Fourth Hand, King Kikipi of Toong''l , and we already can guess, who our officials punished and where." The beautiful Togruta anchor commented, pretending to chafe at censure. The Senators and other politicians who cared about galactic matters would have guessed already, and most of the galaxy didn''t care. It was very likely half the galaxy didn''t even know, about the now ending Clone Wars. They would see the same face, if a bit uglier, of Palpatine on the holonews, then shrug and go drinking or watch sports. That Pef Empire fleets claimed Chalcedon and dismembered 30 thousand slavers, and freed 15 million slaves? It wouldn''t make the news. Maybe an archaeologist somewhere would blink and say, Chalcedon? What that planet on the test about ancient civilizations? No, that was Corellia, I think. That Pef special ops raided Ventrux and looked for secret labs? Maybe a bounty-hunter somewhere will remember a deal in that sector. ''Emperor, the labs are empty. It appears for about 2 or 3 months. We were too late'' The lead officer said, with a sad tone. ''Just making sure Major. Unit 988 found our target, on a different planet. Begin biological and nanodroid sterilization. Then nuke the labs, twice'' I said with a bit of worry. Chasing biolabs was hard work. Jenna Zan Arbor was one of the best minds in the galaxy. And I kinda liked her, in the same way I liked Hk-47. But she needed supervision, and samples, and funds. And most of all, loyalty programming. Planet Simpla-12 was interdicted, and some 5000 criminals caught and tried. About 500 of them will survive, with mnemonic therapy and a new job. Miss Arbor included. And HK-47 will have a mad scientist to guard and torment. ''She''d better be as smart as you say, boss. Or else, off with her head!'' the new comedic relief droid proclaimed, with righteous tones. ''Let''s wait on that, at least till I have a million clones with her brains. Then I might put you both in a cage, and bet on her'' I said with a sarcastic tone. "Why are you laughing Peffy? Staring at the news and eating popcorn..." Bo wondered, looking at me strangely. "Just weird thoughts in my mind. So, how do you like Bria?" I said, noticing a few bruises on her cheek. "She''s okay. Fast and smart and hits like a rancor. A bit like you, but much cuter" my wife muttered in my neck. Let''s heal those wounds, and check...Yes! Another baby! "Our kid must be safe Bo. I''m taking you to a sanctuary" I whispered in her ear, and caressed her belly gently. "Our kid...this is great! Padme is pregnant too, although I''m not sure with who..." She said with some confusion. "She was married with that Skywalker guy. I think the kid would be his..." I said, perfectly certain. "And you do have hair samples from when he fainted here, and you scanned his brain for fractures. We can check. So, when are we leaving?" Bo wondred with excitement. "Today, of course. We''ll just say goodbye, and promote Alise to Prime Minister. You''ll have some 3 year vacation on a tropical island, with jacuzzi baths and the nicest girls to keep you company. Though only Dora is pregnant, I''ll have to insist a little with the others..." I mused, lost in reverie. "Oh, a secret island with secret wives. Scoundrel! Are they pretty?" Bo Greyshade asked coyly. "You want me to have ugly kids? Of course they''re pretty. Just, not real warriors. My first friends in the Empire, and I love them greatly" I answered gently. "You softie. Wait, one of them is a blue twi''lek, the Blue Maiden?" Bo asked, remembering something. "Errr. Yes. But punching buttons to fire missiles is not..." "She''s my hero! You got that freedom fighter for a wife? That''s amazing! Who else?" she said excited. So, Vette is Bo''s hero? When did that happen? "Well. Lira, the Togruta Voice..." I whispered in a secretive voice. "Didn''t she die, like shot in the head?" Bo wondred, blinking confused. It was a scandal at the time... "Voices to the Emperor can''t die. Well, they grow back if they manage to die..." I explained, half sorry. "So, like cloning, but with memories intact?" she deduced instantly. Well, not that easy, but yes, in essence. "Pretty much. And I''m also a Voice. So, if I get blown up, wait a few years before you remarry. Okay?" "But not Alicia...she won''t grow back..." Bo said with a sob. "No. A clone of her will be fresh. Like the stormtroopers. And I hate..." "I know you do Peffy. It''s slavery. At least those jedi did the right thing and bombed the cloning bases, before..." "I wish they did Bo. That was not the jedi" "But, who else could...you did it? she asked, with wide eyes. Huh, might have said too much... "Our government cannot confirm or deny..." "Oh, shut up! I''m proud of you Peffy. You''re not just charming, are you?" "I don''t know...let''s find out" I said gently and kissed her neck, in a charming way. ------------------------ Planet Coruscant, Sith Empire Sarcev Quest remained straight, and just bowed his head one degree. "Yes Master. We are 99% this was the work of that Avatar. Jamming transmissions, killing every witness, and turning the survivors into suicidal maniacs. It was payback for the blonde wife." "But you''re not sure, Darth Questor?" Lord Palpatine asked curious. " The Sun Guard terrorist left a recording saying that the son of suns is here, before his freighter exploded, and vaporized the Imperial Royal Guard Academy. The bomb is estimated at 200 megatones, salted with cesium and hafnium. That continent won''t be usable for five thousands years" his new apprentice, like the 6th in one year, explained politely. "So, it''s a warning then. There were about 800 Sun Guards on Thyrsus, before they defected" "I believe so, Lord Sidious. 34 Imperial Navy ships also encountered miscommunication problems, and were blown up. We lost a million soldiers, for a pretty blonde who knew nothing, except gossip. And the verpine didn''t report back..." the former Agricorps Jedi said a bit impressed. Kriff. What had the galaxy come to? Making Sith Lords from trash who didn''t even pass a padawan test? And the Jedi enclave at Belsavis had 3000 Pef Navy ships, just happening to rest there? It was a show of force, for certain. "No matter then, we''ll recover our loses and strike when we''re ready. The Outer Rim is of no importance after all. What about Corellia?" Palpatine inquired with some dismay. That region has started building ships like crazy, and taking over nearby systems, relying on the Meteors they received as war reparations. What reparations? They barely contributed at all! And where did they found so much credits? Those slimy droids from the Galactic Bank again! Funding both sides, to make huge profits from the interest rates... "Well...the Corellians certainly have credits and an ally in the Pef Empire. They expanded to Rendili and Columus and Tinnel, and it seems they''ll take Byblos and Denon next. Trying to link with the Pef Empire no doubt. Not going the help them once the Imperial worlds start producing again, since we outnumber them 1000 to one. At least. But as the Kuat shipyards are still under repairs..." "I know, my apprentice. I''ll ask the Senate to vote for another loan. Damn those compound interest rates..." Darth Sidious muttered in weary voice. Planet Gand, Pef Empire Gandia, The Celestial Palace. 20 BBY Next Month The new Celestial Palace might cost over a trillion credits, if anyone would sell it. It is our version of the Imperial Senate, but it hosts the much simpler named Large Council. It was time for our citizens to understand the difference between civilization and those outside it. "My friends, and loyal subjects. It has been a slow climb till now, as our Empire began gathering resources and allies, and spread civilization to the Outer Rim, and other worlds plagued by problems. But behold! In 5 years, the Pef Empire has grown, and encopasses half the galaxy. We have fought hard, against pollution and famine, against piracy and slavery, against evil corporations and dark jedi. Even now, our troops are bringing freedom to a hundred worlds, every day. But that''s just the beginning. We are 9000 inhabited planets, but millions more systems need our help to become free. So, as the Voice of the Emperor, I beg you all, to allow immigrants and refugees to come, and populate this vast expanse we claim our home. They will be our doctors and engineers, farmers and miners, all bringing wealth and happiness to your planets. You have seen Gandia, rise from tribal planet to a galactic capital. You can see the skyscrapers, the shipyards, the prosperity. And I promise you all. In a decade, all our worlds will be at least as great. Those of you, who joined our empire under a Protection Treaty, think for the future. Is slavery and oppression worth it, when you can all have this? When our people could have decent houses and food, or hot water? We have the technology to harness black holes. But we only use those products for war? I say we can do better. Thus, we have decided to support the expansion, with credits from the Galactic Bank, to encourage people to come and be happy. We have trees and grass and oceans, that poor people on those hive worlds in the Core have seen in pictures only. If a planet has a million people living on it, it is wasted and lost. We can do a thousand times better. First our commercials nodes, like Boonta or Celanon, the more and more, untill the whole galaxy is teaming with life and prosperity. The Emperor himself is willing to subsidize every new immigrant with ten thousand credits, and start a new life and a family here in the Pef Empire. Just imagine. 10 trillion credits, received by every planet that accepts a billion hard working people, to build and work and create civilization. Do you want to be rich, honored members of our Large Council?" I said grandly, letting the holo transmitters carry my voice to the huge aula. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Perhaps 1000 of them didn''t understand what a trillion is. And how taxation brings that money right into their coffers, after a while. The Imperial Servants agreed with patriotic fervor, but also because they were educated in finance by flash memory units. Make a note, imprint all the delegates with Servant one star programming. At least high school education, that is. Make that two stars, so they know the laws of the Empire as well. Know them perfectly, and have to break a finger when they break a law. Three stars Servants were imprinted to impose the laws, as ship captains or governors, so it was a bit too much. Other Voices spoke next, going the hardships and the achievements in details, as well as a few Hands. A bit like theater though, since the delegates were here not to vote, but to observe and report back home. Voting will be done in the small council, by people who understood the impact of their vote, not following petty interests. Already some delegates were trying to abscond with the aurodium handles of their armchairs. Sorry mister wookie delegate. The Emperor has predicted this, and transmuted a micron mesh in the interior of the armrests to Molecularly bonded armor , then covered that in cortosis mesh. I couldn''t break it with my Terminator armor. But it was close. Our next generation of warships will have a thin layer of this material as well as the new reflector shields and thermal shields. Once I figured how to keep the thickness and length stable. My test starfighter crumbled into a tiny ball. Very heavy tiny ball. Could barely lift it. But it should work to reinforce the Titan''s legs and torso and reduce weight by half. And my Terminator armors too. T-1000 is coming soon, in a galaxy next to you. Ah, it''s my cue now. They''re gonna love this. "One more thing, esteemed delegates. While our Empire recognizes force users of various sects, not all their practices are allowed. Memetic and mnemonic imprints are reserved for our special operations units. That means by our professional assassins, for those new to galactic basic. Plasma blades and other elemental force-constructs are restricted for rare cases of national defense, and again, only by our licensed operatives. That means, against invasion or dark jedi or death cults. Not for sport. Bioweapons, nano-weapons and force-created plagues are reserved for threats of extragalactic origin. And as we are the frontline for those invasions, we may have to use them, in the future, on those alien enslavers. We have our own large arsenal, so you can feel safe. If they come, they''ll die screaming. But I''ll be very clear. Do not fuck around and start tinkering for fun. Or I''ll find you, and rip you to shreds. And your soul as well. This warning goes to everyone, everywhere and will not ever be rescinded. Plagues are not toys. You play with this, and I will never let you die, and torment your soul for eternity. Now, enjoy our nice town, and have fun!" I concluded the gathering, with a charming smile. Strangely, nobody smiled back. Weird. ------------------ Planet Honoghr, Independent Pef POV Ah, making threats is fun. All those two cred doctors will think again now. Maybe. Not likely. But meanwhile, let explore the nice Honoghr Rakatan temple I have right next to my border. Technically, it''s in Kessel, and we have a spacestation in orbit, but the locals wouldn''t know. The events in my memories, with this planet getting devastated by CIS toxins didn''t happen, since the hypernode to this system was guarded by my ships. So, there''s more life and less dying natives. And Rakata droids. Which are super nice. No idea how the locals were supposed to control them, since everything about them is alien, except the weapons. Which are blaster cannons. Nevermind, technopathy is still the best power. The droids seem similar to spider tanks or droideka, but I''ll call them Rakata temple defense droid . Since that''s the planet. Now salute with your arm cannon! See, it works, even if I don''t have a clue how to interface with the operating system. Anyway, force-fuel droids! With crappy armor and guns. And no vocoders. And no thumbs. Sigh. Stay here guys, I''ll take a look inside. Altar to some fish monster. Come on! Where are the gates, the holocrons, the books with all the tech? I got 9 droids, which I''ll have to dismantle and learn how they work... Hey, you can loop a force circuit like that? Well, if it works... I''m beginning to believe that Rakata were idiots, just using things they didn''t understand. ''Your confidence in Rakata tech is your own preconception Pef. They are gone after all.'' Solana said wisely. ''And they were just organics. Hate fueled organics. Kriff. I need an expert. A real Master. This is all hogwash tech. Jaybo can make better droids!'' I complained to the ether. ''And Jaybo is the template for your Avatar. Don''t diss the kid. He''ll be strong'' Wialu added amused. I know! My first, adopted son. Who grows too slow. And is shy around girls. Let''s go home, Rakata droids. want to dissect you in peace. Redforge, Pef Empire Rakatech lab. 20 BBY , next month. Well the tech in the Rakata droid power core still can''t be duplicated, nor is the Mind Prison or the Star Map from Tatooine. I can analyze it all I want, there''s blackboxed components, and some structures that have more to do with art, than mechanical engineering. And possibly bits of claws and other body parts from whatever animals. Some components are clearly organic, like neurons and nerves, while other are materials we didn''t even know they could exist. Some kind of tree sap, that remains cold, no matter the temperature inside the core. That''s more than a superconducting fluid... Sigh. Much to learn, I have. ''Solanus wants a Rakata droid too. He thinks he can use the power core for a spaceship reactor. And he wants a Rakata forcefield as well. I''ll send him the Star Map from Manaan, once these fishguys stop worship it like a holy relic.'' ''It''s okay, adored Voice. He can have that Star Map from Dantooine. And my old MC30 frigate has a forcefield. There''s two more starmaps Kashyyyk and Korriban, so we''ll get them all sooner or later.'' I sent, feeling generous. "So, you sent your our new Hands to Teta, Belsavis and Endor? " my third Hand asked curious, sneaking around the lab, where a thousand droid parts were flying in mid air, now impossible to fit back. Oh, the three Findsmen who mapped the route to Teta. "Yes, with their new females, and Servants and VSS and a numbered Meteor each. Aren''t I generous, my friend?" I said gently, then waved the swarm of rakata parts into a crate, for later work. "Well...they will have ten thousands ships each, and a billion droids to command. If they get turned somehow..." he said worried. Yea well, anything is possible in this galaxy, but I took precautions. "They will die, and we''ll make new ones. Come, let''s go outside and watch the new Meteors II being assembled" I requested politely, floating towards the space station''s hangar door. A million engineers, a billion droids and a trillion nanobots were working hard to prepare my Empire for the next conflict. The outer armor was a bit thinner on the new Meteors, only 1.5 kilometers of steel, but of that 5 meters inside were made from quadranium steel and 10 meters outside were plated with durasteel. Just like the Imperial star destroyer armor. The extra space, made room for a thousand more reactors and shield emitters and gravity interdictors. The ship lost a lot of mass, and with the extra power they''ll reach 3.0 hyperdrive speed, the same as the Vong ships. Can''t have my battleships arrive too late for a fight, can I? The fins and the armored maw of the sharks were also being laced with a thin mesh of cortosis and phrik filaments, to increase thermal and beam absorption 3 times. Over all, the durability will increase 10 times, while doubling the cost. If only I had enough money... Oh wait, did have money now. A quintillion credits would buy me a lot of ships. There, I even added a pair of hanger under the lateral fins, for a thousand starfighters. Thin armor for the hangars and no connection to the inside of the ship though. If the shields failed, the lateral fins will get shredded anyway. For defense, we''ll add those continuous laser turrets, that worked great on spider droids and Titans. Let''s put 1000 of them. And for attack, 4000 heavy masers, 1000 hell projectors and 1000 ion cannons, and a large battery of long range turbolasers like the Recusants have. Only 10 of them, in one huge armored turret. No more being kited by long range fire. It''s good that we have energy for all those weapons now. I finally got to have lateral eyes on the shark, two huge gravity and hyperspace interdictors, to help me hold in place a large Vong fleet. And perhaps a worldship too. Not sure. The maw was widen a bit, since we had space, and will have 100 MAC cannons and a force-ion beam projector, like the ones on the Devastation dreadnaught and Meteor 3. Jenna Arbor is working on a kyber laser beam, but that will take years, even with all the staff and resources I gave her. The back of the new Meteors will have 20 tractor beams, to hold starfighters in place while the defenses shred them, and the front will have 200. They help guide the ferrous slugs to target very accurately. More computer cores, more hypernet power, more slicer banks, more transmission jammers. More cargo space, for consumables and fuel. Now range increased from 10 thousand to 100 thousand light years. Nice, right? Hmmm. There''s still room left. Especially outside, on the sides. Let''s add 100 proton torpedo launchers on the sides, each with their own turret with a missile launcher on top. And the same for all turrets of the heavy guns. More missiles can''t hurt. 6000 more missile launchers will help thin out those huge starfighter swarms. Total cost 5 billion credits, for each Meteor II. 30 trillions for this batch of 6000 Meteors II. If my wives all dance for me one hour, they''ll cost more. Damn, I do have a bit too high cost wives. ''That''s because you''re sweet and gullible Pef. Who pays one trillion for a lap dance? Even though Clara is very pretty...'' Lira commented from Sanctuary, where she was about 11% into mastering the mind shield. A bit slow...Zero learned it in 2 weeks. Then again, she wasn''t a jedi master with 100 years of meditation and training. ''So, you like Saro and Bo?'' I wondered, a bit cautious. Women, not really easy to understand. ''Of course I do. You have great taste. Bendu says so too. Bye'' Sure thing, Lira. We''ll try that baby making again. Later. Cause the Avatar was insisting vigurously with Vette now. Planet Sanctuary, Pef Empire Silent Circle Island, Hobbit Villa 3V "That''s it. Right there! Oh holy. This is much better than water sex" My blue twi''lek maid exclaimed with joy. "We''re only getting started, my sweet love. But tomorrow, we must let Lira join us. She really wants some." I said, blowing a whisper warmly in her ear. "Fine. Because I love her. And she deserves to feel...ah. There! Faster!" Redforge, Pef Empire -staring at the stars, and the hulls of new ships "Good work there, Emperor. I must try that thing too. My females should love it as well" my third Hand mused wistfully, as we stared at the Meteor shipyards, and compared harem stories. "Yeah, it feels really nice. But that damn Kikipi...he''s got 20 more!" I complained with a groan. "Well, he''s doing his part to repopulate Toong planet, after that comet disaster. Duty is a mountain, you said once, wise droid. We must all carry it, and do our best. I''ll sacrifice myself and take a new female too. And not because Zuckuss did. It just my duty" he replied wisely. Yeah. We were all paragons of duty. That was a perfect reason. Mr. Grey Planet Atrisia, Atrisian Commonwealth There are three ways to defeat your enemy. The first, and most obvious, is to better him in a trial of force. The best way is to have him destroy himself¡­The middle way is to destroy your enemy from within. - Sayings Ventress was dispatched to convince the other side of the galaxy to align with my Empire, and not the Sith, and to create a stable route to Jedha. And Jedha was a major target, for 100 reasons. Being the jump point to Rakata Prime, just the first reason. With a string of independent worlds, converted behind her, like Phu , only the constitutional monarchy of Atrisia remained as an obstacle. Or a trampoline. We shall see. We definitely didn''t want to conquer these people, but instead make them join willingly. "The Immortal Pef''s offer is not a joke, Atrisian Empress. Or do you doubt that the Pef Empire is not capable of making judicious use of power?" Asajj argued pretty nicely. "Oh, someone has read our Sayings. But I''m afraid I do not have the negotiating power I''d wish. The Atrisian Parliament has wrestled the decision from the emperor courts domain over 500 years ago. We live in liberal times now, Lady Grayshade" Grace Tching, the Empress, a stern woman about 30, said with a tinge of sadness. "As a personal boon for your line, our Empire will conceive a solution to augment your decision strength. Perhaps as a Hand, for this region of the galaxy. But, if your people will prefer a Moff governor, nominated by Sith Lord Palpatine, we will find someplace else. S thread hyper routes are expensive, but so are we." my Voice argued politely. She was getting better at diplomacy and war. "Oh, not at all like Emperor Palpatine''s Fists then. But not a Voice? Or is that something else?" "The Voices are more than people, and less. We are ideals and legal instruments. Our own words and deeds reflect the will of the Pef Empire, and oblige everyone to obey. We are the law, and our words are law. It is not a political nomination, Empress Tching. If I say for example ''this star is in my way'' soon after that star will be erased, and let me pass freely. If I call a holy war, the Empire will rise. If I say, there is 30 trillion credits in that gift box..." Ventress said softly, pointing gracefully at the droid which decloaked to her right, and carried an aurodium chest. "Good. All three paths, and mastered flawlessly. Force, cooperation, subversion. And your fleets are already expanding in the Deep Core, ready to strike from within. Looking to encircle the galaxy, and protect the ripe core, until is ready to rejoin the wealthy crust. I shall try what I can, Lady Grayshade. Who knows, perhaps we''ll be sisters, one day..." the scheming Empress concluded with a wide smile. She''ll be perfect. A bit flat chest wise on the Fibonacci beauty index, but I could fix that. And not with artificial breast implants like our female agents, carrying soft satchels of liquid explosives as insurance. Real gene alter and hormonal rebalancing. For the kids, of course. ''Keep saying that to yourself Pef. This woman is much like Zero. Peffy will have to tame her a long time.'' Asajj whispered in the bond, before returning to her audience with the Atrisian Empress. "I am certain you will, Grace. You can promise your Parliament massive investments and war reparations, for your valued help in the Clone Wars. Perhaps a thousand ships, and a few Meteors. To keep those pesky pirates away, and ensure liberties for nearby worlds, so filled with slaves and poverty." "Oh, even Meteors? Money, ships, new planets...you''ll have your answer next week, Honored Voice. Your gift is well-received, for such a long audience. Let''s stop the politics and chat a little more, about that wonderful speech of Avatar Greyshade. I watched it ten times, and he seemed to believe every word." The Empress said with a tinge of worry. So, some people did pay attention. "Oh, our Avatar did indeed mean every word. But that''s a medium future, 20 or 30 years away. Those visions contain people who are mere babies now, or still not born. By that time, we will be more than ready, dear Grace. So, the capital city is called Jar''Kai..." Asajj said calmly, taking her future sister arm, and starting to gossip. Her favorite form, originated here. My Voice was in heaven. ----------------- Planet Bespin, Independent Cloud City There were a few Imperial Navy ships in the system when Peffy arrived, but they didn''t stay long enough for a misunderstanding to happen. Too bad. Anyway, it was time to claim the gas giant for ourselves, and then increase the production a hundred times. The Empire will need more weapons. And Jedi willing to upload themselves into computers were pretty good weapons too. "So, this is where the Altisian Jedi have stayed hidden eh? In the clouds." I said gently, looking towards Mister Altis and Miss Callista. "Not just here. But we were ignored till now. Until Palpatine began hunting all of us." Master Altis complained, still blinded by some hogwash beliefs. "Well, darksight is a potent unifying force ability. Predicting and manipulating your opponents, scrying all over the galaxy, and arranging false prophecies. That the Ruusan Jedi didn''t even know it existed, made them foolishly simple to exterminate" I answered with a shrug, and kept spinning the spherical holocron over my palm. The grey holocron. "But you do. It seems you know everything, just like Emperor Pef." Callista discovered, a bit late. "We share a force bond of course. All Voices do. Look, there''s powerful force-user on that platform! Maybe 20 years old, works as a gas prospector." I exclaimed in fake wonder, pointing towards Streen . I already knew he''ll be around, just kept an open mind to sense his thoughts. "You''re still toying with us. There was no surprise in your voice" Master Altis remarked with some regret. "There''s a trillion stars in the galaxy, esteemed refugees. I can only be in one system, so don''t expect miracles. I can help in one place, or arrive late and punish someone after. Strength is useful, but skill matters more. And I have much to learn" I answered with a sad and truthful voice. "Huh, that''s a sobering thought. You trashed everyone in the Zero garden. Even the Masters. With your pinky finger" Callista said with a bit of envy. "The former jedi order gave master titles too easy. Master Fay, Master Ha, Master Yoda...yea, they almost deserve it. Living for 700 hundred years and learning, even half the book, is quite remarkable. Now go and collect the others, while I speak with Mister Streen. Maybe he wants to learn more..." I said half joking. He should want to learn more. And control his telepathy and force visions. I mean, really? There was an Altisian praexum right on this planet. Darth Vader came around, looking for rebels, in the movies. And they all missed him? What''s wrong with this picture? The one-eyed, leading the blind and causing disasters at every turn. Planet Dantooine, Pef Empire 20 BBY, tenth month. " Dantooine .They''re on Dantooine." ¨DLeia Organa More scavenging hunts, for Rakata tech and answers. I have another crystal now, stuck to my crystal self, along with many others. The Shadeshine from Ventooine, which normally drains organics of life and boosts them to sorcerers levels of force ability. Not gonna work like that on my Rur crystal, but the dozen abilities imprinted on the force matrix can do things I could barely do till now, like boost organic life to grow fast, like Bendu can. Or abuse fire and air elemental alter just like Peffy can. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. I have no ears and nerves to be enhanced, but the stone gave me electromagnetic senses, just like Shards have. And some kind of force sight, that Peffy is learning from his miraluka maids, much better than the blind bat mode I had if I don''t use the droid''s photoreceptors. More senses, yay! And to think Han Solo would have destroyed this wonder, for whatever reason he destroys things. He once blew up a planet just to steal some box. I''ll have to make sure that doesn''t happen. A life crystal from Rafa works on me as well, allowing me to stay at x6 speed without overheating. Not forever, as they are consumables, but for emergencies it will be great. Peffy and my Voices carry a dozen with them, just in case. Another crystal, the Quilan Pyradex that we located a few at Roche, can boost my computation and mathematical formulations ten times. Core and Zuralee also received one of those, since they need it the most to plan our economy or discover new mathematics. Whoever lived on Roche, before the planet was pulverized into asteroids must have been really smart. Possibly some kind of insects, so likely the killiks. And we have leads for two quinlan crystal pyramids more. One on Tatooine and another on Klatooine. Possibly not a coincidence, that I''m now on Dantooine. It has another force ability embedded inside, for complex numbers, much like Altis has that astronavigation ability. I think I''ll give one to Na-jia and the other to Solanus, once they are recovered. And there it is, the Rakatan ruins (Dantooine), with the cute guardian Overseer (droid) I am the Overseer. The Builders programmed me to enforce discipline among the slaves while this monument to the power of the Star Forge was constructed." ¨D Overseer Yes, very cute. ''Now open the penetralia, and go wait outside.'' ''This is not fun anymore. It''s slavery!'' the Overseer complained wisely. Now, any holocrons or nice stuff? Of, course not. Not here. And the star map is fused to the floor, so no one can steal it. Unless they take the floor too. Now let''s drain the dark side a bit. This grey haze is not the warm love of the Daughter. Too bad that beautiful green haired girl is actually something like the droch plague, a colony of insects, and not a real girl. I''ll deal with the Adams family later. For now, knowledge. You, mighty Rakata salver droid, who killed all the slaves on this planet! Yes you. Do you know what we do, to slavers now? Here, new laws! Now rip off your limbs, before I do it for you. Nope, there no statute of limitations. The law is the law, unless I change it. Here, let me help you with that last spider leg. See! Now you have been punished, and your reeducation can begin. I may need you to open more things for me. Let''s spread our senses, and see what else is worth ''liberating'' on this planet. Look, a former Jedi academy. And a holocron named the Codex of Tython ? Thanks a lot. What else? A Jedi, and...an identical copy? Which was hidden from the force...another blank. Hello X2 . Guess I have your clone brother X1 on Blueforge, being examined right now. And landing again. "Falon Grey , what a surprise to meet you here. Pef Greyshade is my name. And this young one, must be your clone brother X2?" I asked them amused, after my ship took custody of the map and the paraplegic rakata droid. "Pef...like the Immortal Pef? The Emperor of this new Empire..." he asked confused, but a bit wary now. "Very good. So, telling war stories? Teaching your brother mind tricks? Kidnapping babies? What are you doing on my planet, mister Grey, former jedi, and still wearing a lightsaber illegally?" I asked amused. "Just helping the farmers...although the new droids do most of the work..."he admitted a bit ashamed. "I''m certain there''s holonet here on Dantooine, I paid for it after all. And my Avatar''s declaration was not conditional. You must register with the Imperial Servants and relinquish force weapons, unless you become a member of my Assassinorum Office or the Grey Paladin Office. Or you can be deported, to Coruscant. Lord Palpatine might give me a whole planet for an evil jedi..." I mused out loud, then turned away, going to inspect the fields and growing entire crops in hours. This was kinda cool too. Especially on an entire continent at once. And more food would be useful, if the droids managed to collect all. Of course, they would. I was here after all. ''Go collect the crops, valiant farmer droids. The Empire needs this food!'' And here they are, still awed at my magnanimity, gifting the farmers a new crop, 6 months sooner. "You have Grey Paladins, like the heretic order from Coruscant?" Mister Grey asked, a bit hopeful. "I have a few of those, but not exactly. This unit will be formed of various units, from Mandalorians, Sun Guard, Echani, and dozens more. Power armors, bolt pistols, sniper rifles and other nice weapons. Our own counter-terrorism unit. The guard panthers, protecting the baby banthas from rancors" I explained in a relaxed voice. I couldn''t keep the Jedi locked up forever. But I could use them. "I see. Not like Jedi at all. Shoot first, then rescue the hostages" X2 commented, quite aptly... "Yes, or stopping bioweapons and whatever. My Assassinorum are more adept at revenge and retaliation. So, my grey brothers, what say you. Ready for 100 years of hard duty?" I asked curious. "I''m in. My lifespan might expire in 5 years..." X2 said with some fatalistic tone in his voice. "Nonsense. 100 years is the minimum term for a pension. Unless you get killed. But age and disease, come now, that''s silly. It''s like three or four abilities to learn. Takes a month, or three for a newbie like Grey the third" I answered in a derisive voice, as my ship came to glide 10 meters above the crops. And flying...let''s lift X2 as well... "Kriff, I was kinda bored..." Falon Grey muttered, so he got plucked up and taken into the Fade II frigate. Let''s send orders to Vanquo and start organizing this new branch. Good position, with easy access towards Hydian Way, Mandalorian space, as well as the Pentastar and Gordian Reach. I''ll have to begin mapping and taking over that pocket as well. Yavin 4 was too much a threat and prize. Now what was my Peffy doing on Ukio? Planet Ukio, Pef Empire former Jedi agriworld "Indeed, sweet green lady. He came to Mand''alore, possibly to challenge me for my title. So, I put him to sleep and had him shaved all over. Then I sent him back to Coruscant in a bacta tub. But to think it would make him go mad and attack Master Yoda...unintended consequences" I explained over a glass of ice-tea. Who knew there''s ice-tea here? "Don''t blame yourself Avatar. The danger you can''t sense is usually the most deadly. And I never believed that crap of prophecy." Miss Keelyvine Reus said sadly, but looking amazing in her green bodysuit, which let me analyze her curves to perfect accuracy. And she wore green lipstick, which was new and probably tasted nice as well. "You said that loud, Avatar. Mmmm. Want a taste?" the woman asked me seriously. How could I refuse? I closed my eyes and hoped for warm, moist...hard lipstick tube? "Hey, you tricked me, you evil green witch!" I exclaimed, half upset. "No way! You really expected a kiss? We met like an hour ago..." Miss Reus said with an awed and bewildered expression. Oh, right. Fanatic jedi women. Possibly, Reus has never been kissed in her life. No matter how beautiful her green eyes and lips were. "Nevermind then. Go hop on that corvette with the other plant monks, and join the boring conclave on Ruul. And to think, I thought you were cool...mmmm" I managed to say before the crazy nonconformist jedi planted a kiss on my lips. "That''s for the trick you played on Skywalker, nothing else. But don''t think if I did it once....mmmmmm" She managed to say before I returned her kiss. "You have much to learn, dear maid. Come with me then, to Kitel Phard. There''s this city called Jar''kai, like the saber style. And..." And we walked into the sunset, holding hands. Sigh. Romancing a Jedi was hard. Next, she''ll want movies and dinner. Taming the shrew Planet Vanquo, Pef Empire Grey Paladin Center 19 BBY I made X2 the leader of the Grey Paladins, for a simple reason, and a dozen less simple. He was trained as a Null Clone, and thus much better prepared for urban warfare and small squad tactics than any Jedi ''general''. Plus, he was force sensitive but untrained. So I could mold him to my wish. And I did. In one month, while the planet was being partly terraformed to remove the pollution caused by millennia of corporate style mining Grey Xman became a moderate adept in with agelessness, dark healing, light healing and gene alter. And his genome was cleaned of stupid genetic mistakes that made him age rapidly. A few hundred other former clone troopers found their way to Mandalore along with some Jedi, and were convinced to defend their new homeland from any threats, and with pretty big guns. Having nice equipment and training helped. The former Death Watch and Sun Guard also had to join, and receive rapid mnemonic education regarding the laws and actual warfare. The Grey Paladins were all given the Force as well. Because force makes people lucky. And fast. And after one month, the Chapterhouse is ready. A cube 20 kilometer on a side, placed in a Lagrange point between the planet and its moon. Took a lot of asteroids and droids to construct, but there will be room inside for a thousand corvettes or frigates, along with barracks, training rooms, and a million jacuzzi baths. I''ll have to enlarge the space inside later, but one million SWAT equivalents will do for now. Their families will live down on the planet, but operatives had to be ready to leave at a moments notice, and a huge grey cube was a statement anyway. We can build it, and you may resist. But, ''lower your shields, resistance is futile''. In fact, that a motto written over one of the hangars doors. Other mottoes were drawn from various other cultures that will mingle to form my paladins. ''Paladins never die, they just go to hell, and regroup.'' '' We are the shield, that guards the galaxy'' And hundreds more, all inspiring and glorious. And now the first graduates are lined up in front of me, and their leader Strategos Grey Xman. "Proud Paladins, you were selected and trained to protect our civilization from danger. From bombs and kidnappings, to assassins and bioweapons. You wear the armor, so you can stand in front of the madmen and terrorists, and block their weapons with your armored chest. So that our children don''t have to be afraid, or wear gas masks. You will go out there, and die to protect civilization. It is your calling, and your duty. But above all, it is your honor. Death before dishonor!" I yelled on the podium, and thousands of voices yelled back. Huh, this might even work. If they believed it, and the Force helped... ''I think it will work, mostly. The Force wants what people want. And if enough people want something...'' Wialu said, somewhat interested, since 20 of her people also joined the Paladins. ''Perhaps. But a proton torpedo works pretty well to keep madmen in check'' I said with an inner smile. "You heard the Emperor, Paladins. I know you will do your best to keep our people safe. Our families down on Vanquo look up and feel safe, knowing we are here, ever vigilant and protecting them. And if you have personal divergences, work through them. Half the galaxy depends on us now, to keep them safe. And everyone of you who will die, it will be while doing his duty. Make me proud, Grey Paladins! " Their Strategos proclaimed, not all that self-assured as my Voices could, but pretty good. I''ll have to guide them carefully a few months, until they gained some experience and confidence, but unlike in a democracy, the local leaders and politicians had no say about Empire wide policies. There will be no dragging feet or legal obstacles. We had sufficient funds and armories to equip a billion potential Paladins. And we eventually will have them, or more. But for now, every organic team of 10 people will be supported by 100 commando droids, wearing similar power armor. Because a BX11 droid took 11 minutes to be printed, fully trained. While force-sensitive Paladins will take years to reach even Jedi Knight levels in force connection and intuition. The same as the Findsmen, who sent 1000 of their Gand new recruits to fill out the ranks. The Echani sent 1000 girls to balance the genders a little. Hundreds of planets sent police officers or custom inspectors. And now, there were 50 thousands Grey Paladins, and 500 thousands support droids all wearing the Armor, which cost about 50 thousand credits each. Plus ships and drops ships and weapons and equipment. But compared with the Jedi, who were now some 200 adults and 4000 children, we had 50000 force sensitives, using modern weapons and tactics. And in about 10 years, those kids will not be Jedi anymore, but Paladins as well. And from the Sanctuary, thousands more will come, as new generations trained to master themselves and the Force. Perhaps the future could be better. On Nam Chorios, I decided to evacuate the planet, removing every single sapient, except the Tsil. They wanted to stay. The planet became a fortress world, any traffic interdicted for a Gamma-class threat. And the droids that remain there are all variants without synthskin. It seems the droch can infect even synthetic tissues. The people there will stay in quarantine for a year, while we tested them for any kind of possible anomaly. Then the ''listeners'' can be moved to Sanctuary. Cularin system received a thousand more ships for the same reason. Not Darth Revan''s fortress, but the insane Darkstaff. Again, everyone was forcefully evacuated and the system interdicted. Kessel system as well, although it wasn''t just the planet there. Pretty much the whole sector was considered Delta threat, and Kessel system and the Maw, Gamma-threat. Planet Belsavis the same. I didn''t have the means to deal with that kind of threat yet. But I wasn''t going to let some smuggler release World Eaters or Devourers or whatever else there was in there. And on Corellia, we let the Council know that Centerpoint station was also a Gamma-threat, or Galaxy ending event, and that letting squatters and smugglers live inside the station might mean their sun will die, by some kid pressing a button somewhere. And if destroyed, the rest of the galaxy. By next week, the station was evacuated and welded up, with 10 ships guarding it non-stop. Sigh. Better than nothing, but I will have to visit it and learn what I can. Anyway, the Iron Knights from Dweem will have to move, as that world will open for colonization. Maybe on Malagarr? ''No way, not letting my family stay with that genocidal AI.'' Luxum exclaimed at once. ''Okay then. On Ruul. Make the Jedi doubt their beliefs'' I said a bit amused. ''They could be Paladins, Pef. It is a noble group, and my race can do electronic warfare pretty good.'' my shard Voice argued, only not quite sincerely. ''Yes, They could. I haven''t received any requests, from them or from Orax.'' I answered sternly. ''I''ll explain it to them. So, where do you want us to expand next?'' ''Rutan and Atravis system . If the Sith take the planet 9 billion people will die. Kill their leaders if they object, but save the rest Luxum. Plus there''re hordes of pirates around Tosste. And you have a billion of droids and 10 thousand ships. Use them'' I demanded with a little push. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Come on girl. Don''t expect me to do everything! ------------------------ Planet Atrisia, Pef Empire (under MPT) "So you''re the famous Avatar. You seemed taller in holovids" Empress Grace said with an amused tone. "A trick of the light, most beautiful Empress. I am perfect the way I am. But your children might go hungry. If anyone dares to approach you that close" I answered with a charming smile, and made Reus and Ventress choke in surprise. "You, I like. Not afraid to say what you think. But I might change your mind about some things..." the woman said, trying to keep herself from blushing. "Perhaps, most enchanting Grace. But experience with vibrating toys is much different from the real thing. Miss Asajj here can confirm that first hand" I said with a wicked smile, and dodged the slap from the aggravated Empress. "Y-you rude mongrel! Get out from my palace! Didn''t your mother teach you manners?" She yelled now flushed with anger. I just smiled calmly, and looked around with curiosity. A few guards were smirking. A few generals were looking at me curious. Ah. I was right after all. They wanted me to tame the shrew. "Actually no. I wasn''t born like the lower class, from blood and guts. We do have high class technology, unlike primitive planets. And I was raised by a droid. It worked perfectly, as everyone can see. I am smart, and rich, and quite popular with the opposite sex" I explained politely, then turned my back and went to kiss Keelyvine and then Asajj, while the Atrisian Empress sputtered at my back. "Guards! Arrest him. Throw him out!" Grace yelled ungracefully. Sigh. I was their leader now. She just didn''t get it. "Okay, fine. You can show me what you know, Empress. But remember, I won already" I answered amused, turning around and opening my arms for a hug, while lifting her a centimeter and gliding her in my arms with telekinesis. After a few seconds, Grace realized her public blunder, and pounded my shoulder with a weak hand. "Fine. You''ve won this battle Avatar. But the war will be long and bloody. And I promise I''ll make you scream, when I win" she murmured in my ear. Oh, I think you''ll scream first, dear Grace. Planet Denon, Corellian Diktat 19 BBY, three months later "Moff Fliry Vorru , you are also Corellian, just like we are. Order your ships to stand down and surrender. This planet and their assets belong to Corellia, as part of the Clone Accords between Pef Empire and its allies. Denon is part of the Corellian Oversectorand will stay that way." The Corellian Admiral said on the holorecorder. Now where was the help he was promised? The holoconference was somehow enhanced, and another figure sliced in, breaking through the encryption like a lightsaber through steel. "This is Admiral Etahn A''baht with the Pef Navy''s 77th fleet. Those blips on the scanners are with me" the Dornean Admiral, who was already famous for destroying 100 thousand CIS ships at Celanon, said humbly. And indeed, 15 thousands ships began emerging from hyperspace,12 thousand corvettes, some 2000 cruisers and 1000 new ships, large enough to be called Dreadnoughts, at around 8 kilometers long, and with a prow made of a horizontal blade 3 kilometers wide, like a hammer-shark. And those ships were not lumbering hulks like his 3 Meteors. They accelerated greatly, almost at same rate like the Calamari MC80 Liberty cruisers escorting them. And if his computers were correct, they had 1000 heavy guns and 200 proton torpedo launchers on those ships, each. There won''t be a battle anymore. Not even this Galactic Empire could hope to defeat such a fleet. Not for a decade. When did the Pef Empire had time to build a brand new fleet like this? These were not the 100 thousand ships that Pef Navy obtained from the CIS after the Mustafar command center was captured. Not even the upgraded variants, which transformed the Munificent frigates into destroyers. 1000 of the cruisers were the new Strike design, that Pef Empire has also donated to Corellia, 500 were Recu carriers, no doubt loaded with droid starfighters, and 500 were Calamari made Liberty star cruisers. Block II it seemed, with 250 turbolasers each. When the Corel droid said "Go ahead with the Denon liberation, 77th fleet is ready to assist", they figured it will be a 30 Meteor fleet, not this...whatever this was. A show of force, most likely. From a weird and laughable ally, that Corellia Navy figured it will delay the CIS for a few months, to this. A juggernaut of production, of ships and droids so far. Not to mention the Neti Grandmaster that their avatar had saved from Ossus, and whatever else they gave the Green Jedi, who were now twice or three times stronger, and most of all, still alive. "You heard the man, Moff Vorru. Stand down, or some misunderstanding might happen, and your two thousand ships might evaporate in a minute or two of confusion" Admiral Rostek Horn said with a short smile. Only80 of those 2000 Galactic Navy ships were star destroyers anyway, but winning without a fight was even better. It was good to have the upper hand. For once. And turn off the holoconference. The system was taken. Master Halcyon muttered something beside him, like "...not again" "You said something my friend? At least this time, you were not delivered back to Corellia in a kolto tub" Horn quipped with a light laugh. The Green Master will never get over that shame. "Hey! That woman is evil, I tell you. She put everyone to sleep, and left only the desiccated body of the Jensaarai''s leader behind. Even the Grandmaster is wary of her" Halcyon complained, like a schoolboy. "Yesss. Very evil. She didn''t even shave you, like the Avatar did to Skywalker. I say you got off easy, for going on a mission requested by Palpatine himself" Horn replied in a more serious tone. They took the warnings more serious after that. Even if that scare with the Centerpoint Station seemed blown out of proportion. No matter. With Denon and Rendili for they own population centers to draw from, and with the quadrillions of credits they received as war reparations, Corellia will be great again. "Admiral Horn, there is more to discuss" the hologram of the Dornean Admiral said, coming online on its own. Great, now they could control the systems on his own bridge. Then again, the Meteors were made by this Pef Empire. "Yes? Of course, I mean. What is it, honorable war hero" he managed to say. "A specialist team will arrive to examine the station, and attempt to neutralize the threat. Their frigate is already landed on your flagship, on the left wing. In exchange, Exodeen and Belassa will be added to the Accords, and possibly Ojom and nearby systems, once the examination is complete. We will leave you 10 thousand corvettes as well, since your patrolled area will double from this expansion. Let us know if there''s anything else you may need" the Pef Navy admiral said in a flat tone, like this wasn''t adding some 500 systems to Corellian space. "Alright then, I assume that frigate is cloaked?" Horn asked, to make sure. "It sure is. It was there for 6 hours at least. Good fortune, and green dreams. May you die with honor!" the Admiral said curtly, and saluted with a fist, before the hologram vanished. He looked around, then towards the bridge officers in charge of scanners. "They had been here for 6 hours! Come on people! You can do better..." he muttered with a long sigh. "I can''t sense them at all. Whoever is on this team is scary good. Like that..." Halcyon whispered with wide eyes. "Voice Wialu is on Teta, taking Kuar, or something. It''s not her, this time" Horn said with a bit of amusement at his friend''s panic. "This is even worse then. They have more!" The Green Jedi complained, taking out a bottle and drinking a tiny sip. "You drink? Since when?" he asked curious. "Nah, this is medicine. Some plant extract." the Jedi said furtively. Huh? Medicine eh? Brandy was a plant extract too, after all. Of gods and men Centerpoint station, Corellian space. 19 BBY "The whole system? That''s impossible. No one could generate an interdiction field that big." ¨DLeia Organa Solo Being inside the Killik space station is like being in a mall full of nice toys, and a whorehouse and a museum at once. You guessed already who was on the special team exploring the spacestation, in exchange for some 500 star systems, which we ''gave'' to Corellia. Not like they were ours to begin with...but anyway, 2 trillion people should help Corellia grow strong, as soon as the hive cities were mostly emptied out, and distributed on inhabitable planets. Even in the Core, there were millions of planets with only a few million people. They could be used more intelligently, right? Sure, my Empire received some 10 billion immigrants so far, but it was just a drop. Only the really poor and desperate, and sometimes criminals, would choose to emigrate outside the Core. But those planets that Corellia received, were all in the Core, with some in the Deep Core and Colonies, but still viewed as high class. Add to that thousands more systems used only for mining, and at once they became a good ally. It will take them some time to build up and adjust, but it was a start. Now, let''s see. A Null quantum field generator strong enough to blockade the entire Corellian sector. Nice work, Son and Daughter. What else? Tractor beams, repulsor beams, engines, hyperdrives, Teleport beams... Man, this was the find of the millennium. Now, some calculations, and adjustments, setting Corellian planets Talus and Tralus on new orbits, independent of the station. Select a few hundred asteroids from nearby systems, and form a small belt, for the Corellian shipyards. And select Vanquo for a destination...and jump. Centerpoint Station stolen successfully! Now let''s select a few planets from Kessel to orbit Vanquo star. And lock them with a Hyperwave inertial momentum sustainer . And jump. Come to daddy. There! 3 new planets, brand new! Two of them were already Pef planets, but they were wasted in Kessel. In the Grey Paladins'' system, they''ll be able to support food and recruits for the whole Chapterhouse. Adjust the new system balance, to keep the new orbits safe, and well into the golden band of life. Energy reserves low, since it needed a force nexus, and I kinda depleted the energy stores. Okay then. Select Corsin and engage hyperdrives. We''ll arrive there the slow way, like a ship. ''Pef, you''re going to steal planets from around the galaxy, and make new trade hubs?'' Lira asked me in the bond, a bit flabbergasted. ''Well. Only a few. Can''t abuse this as much as I want, since it draws very strongly in the force. But I can move these 15 planets from Kessel, to a safer and richer route'' I explained with an inner smile. ''Stealing 15 quintillion credits wasn''t enough eh? You''re stealing spacestations and planets now...'' Luxum said with a worried tone. I blame GTA! My formative years were strange... ''Well... I asked permission first, and paid the Corellians well. Not like it was doing anything there...'' I explained politely, then lost myself exploring the tech wonder of the Centerpoint. Still, the inside of the station was now quite hot and Glowpoint was radiating enough energy to melt all the dwellings left behind by previous occupants. And the controls were still the kind of hive mind interface, that my numerical ability pyramid had. Very likely that only a Killiks Joiner or an AI with technopathic power could use this thing as intended. But reverse engineering this marvel...not likely. 90% of the artifacts here were force-powered somehow, and the rest used gravity and hyperspace manipulations. And at Corsin, I''ll look for some nice, rich asteroids to steal, and make some shipyards and spacestations, since those immigrant people will need work. Hmmm, at Algunnis system there was a huge asteroid field made by dozens of crushed planets. And planet Makeb was in Hutt Space, but uninhabited now and with its deep core made of Isotope-5 . A really great source of energy, for droids and ships. Yea, I could bring it to Corsin, way in the comet cloud, but close enough to be mined and exploited. The asteroids in Hoth system, could be stolen as well. Yea, those asteroids, where Han Solo hid inside a slug, with the mynocks. This really was an amazing artifact. I will have to install the Rakata forcefield from the Celestial River cruiser on it, and some weapons. Just imagine, a frozen planet somewhere. A few adjustments, and that planet will be temperate or warm. Rich planets far away, brought next to the shipyards and the workforce. Amazing! I was now truly a Celestial myself. ''Not really, Immortal Pef. Much disturbance you have caused, young one. Killed the Chosen One. We shall meet and test you, soon enough'' A strong voice, reverberated from inside the Glowpoint reactor. Right. The Adams family Father. Duh, if you really believed that fake prophecy, you''re not a Celestial either, overgrown insect! ''I heard that!'' "Still dying of old age eh. Chased away by the Rakata, with their crude weapons. You won''t like what I do, when we do meet, oh Father and Husband of Abeloth. Pray it won''t be soon" I spoke out loud wishing I had a mouth to eat popcorn with. Oh wait! Peffy had a mouth...only he was quite busy with it. Sigh. Diplomacy is hard work. Corsin system, Pef Empire. On board Centerpoint Station Installing the Rakata forcefield takes some work, since the shape and the size of the station is not at all compatible. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Come now, semi-sentient AI, just make an oval field, 400 kilometers in length. Not so hard... Eh. Took almost a week, and all the knowledge I could, including using the Overseer droid to bark orders in Rakata''s own language. That worked better than I imagined. Must be some poor slave enteched inside, brainwashed to obey certain commands. But the forcefield is so thin, only on former Rakata planets will be of any use. Sigh. Also, the Sith Empire didn''t listen to our warnings, and decided to test biological weapons on Dentaal possibly trying to vanish the rebellious groups there. In a few days, all the population will be gone. Dead, I mean. At least 10 billion people. Well then, lucky I have a solution. Lock onto that planet, cover it into hyperwave immersion shields and bring it here. And let''s deploy nano-viruses to analyze and counteract this Candorian plague . And who is wearing biosuits? You there. Let''s take them off, for now. See how you like breathing your own plague mister Crix Madine and your commando troops. No, you can''t suicide. I promised you will suffer for eternity. And thus you will. Now, There''s about 50 thousand imperial troops and their walkers and ships on the planet and in low orbit, but unfortunately, they are in Pef space now, and thus subject to my laws. Let''s gather them all, while I organize a few gatherings and explain to the 10 billion people what happened. Slicing through all the ongoing holovids and datapads. "Citizens of Dentaal, this is Emperor Pef, of the Pef Empire. You may notice the Galactic Army troops being gathered forcefully in your largest cities plazas. That is because they didn''t listen. Releasing bioweapons is a capital offense for all involved, from design, production and actual usage. The penalty is death, and worse. Torment for all eternity. Counteragents for the Candorian plague they have released, will be administered to the Dentaal population, free of charge. The Imperial Army will not be given such mercy, and instead left to suffer, until they die. And those who ordered this crime will have their soul extracted and punished. Also, be advised that your planet was moved temporarily to the Corsin system. Please let me know if the majority desires to return your planet to the previous orbit or perhaps remain here. Good day." And now, let''s find out, who is actually involved, what labs, what doctors, what officers. And make their name and locations public. And announce their fate to my media and other neutral sites. Huh, more and more such stormtroopers and officers begin being landed in the largest plazas, and people start gathering to stare at them. Mister governor Taliff and your staff, please join the nice group in the capital Calif City . And let''s lower a few soul snares for the next part. ------------------------ Moon Jedha, Pef Empire Jedha City I am walking the streets of Najedha like a pilgrim, in my power armor. Nobody notices me, with the huge diversity around here. The people are one thing, but the town, with its walls and temples, reminds me of holy cities back home, in the future. Markets and bazaars, peddlers and holy men. Some trinkets they sell actually glow in the force. I bought a few hundreds pendants and bracelets, doing my duty to increase commerce in the Empire. But the huge and ancient skyscraper glows the brightest. This Temple of the Kyber is a wonder of the galaxy. The nearby Dome of Deliverance too, but only for religious people. There must be a million pilgrims here, from all over the galaxy, from thousands of cults. Some of them are even death cults like Central Isopter . I''ll have to see what''s so nice about them, beside the cool clothes. Other cults, like Church of the Contained Crescent and Clan of the Toribota or the Brotherhood of the Beatific Countenance are more benign, I guess. Their leader, The High Priest also renounced his name, and follows only the force, much like Zero and Zao. And here, I am myself just like him, Avatar. A rank and not a name. "In darkness I follow the light and find my way to the beginning again, and again, and again." Sajar Ohmo told me when I asked what was his quest. Hard to make sense, what''s real or not, on his moon. I won''t know for sure until I learn all they know. And there is much to learn here. The Church of the Force is just hogwash Jedi worship, figured that out in 10 minutes, but the really important ones are the Disciples of the Whills whose members wore simple red robes like Silvanie Phest . Tomorrow I will also meet the Guardians of the Whills . They use wooden sticks and bows to patrol the city, but they do not use any of the four types of Force that I know. So it is true after all. ".... I was trying to have the story be told by somebody else (an immortal being known as a Whill); there was somebody watching this whole story and recording it, somebody probably wiser than the mortal players in the actual events. ..." George Lucas said back in my memories, but it seems it was true. There is a fifth Force and it''s the Whill. The one who actually wills things to happen, and tells stories to those who listen. Or perhaps to himself. Much like me. Celestial engineering Corsin system, Pef Empire 19 BBY Two weeks later The rescued people from Dentaal have thought about it for a week, then decided it was safer to remain here, then have their planet return to the Galactic Empire. I wonder what took them so long. And while they did that, 3 more planets from Kessel and a few gigatonnes of asteroids were also moved to Corsin, and spacestations and shipyards arose, much easier than before. Since the Centerpoint was a cheat with teleport and tractor beams as well. And now is time to let the energy recharge, and go on the next destination. Gizer system. And here, first thing I need is another former Rakata planet, and I decided on Seoul 5 , that planet which Han Solo would have destroyed as an ''adventure''. It is deserted, but thrums strongly in the force. Much stronger than other such planets. Very likely because of the Crystal control room from below the capital. And the Key crystal inside..."the crystal is also capable of boosting any sort of energy source, even mental energy!" Yea, I''d like another boost please. You never know when some evil demon like Wutzek is being set free by some nice adventurers. Sigh. I''m beginning to lose count how many evil abominations would be committed by this Leia and Han. Including destroying this very Centerpoint Station. Maybe I''d better make sure they''ll be locked up tightly. Right we have arrived at Gizer, and...yank! Come here, Seoul! First a nice Force imbued planet, to power up the station, then 3 more planets from Kessel. And now, more nice asteroids... And let''s go visit the Seoul 5 city. Don''t worry, we will replace the weird crystal powerplant with modern ones, so the lights will keep running, I''ll just move the stockpile of crystals and all the ancient machinery which is still running some 30 thousands years after the last human on this planet was wiped out. Much to learn I have... While my fleets and droids begin arriving in strength at Gizer, to help boost defenses and production... Planet Jedha, Pef Empire Temple of the Whills "The future is mutable, most holy Guardian. Which is exactly why I am here. Sadly, no religion is true." I said gently, as the blind man before me murmured some prayer. "You stand on the holiest ground, on the holiest world in the galaxy, and claim it''s a lie, Avatar?" Chirrut ?mwe asked with furrowed brows. "Peace is a lie. Knowledge is a lie. Power is a lie. Victory is a lie. Freedom is a lie. Only fragments of truth, misleading and causing conflict and evil. A Jedi or a dark jedi, working with half the first book of the five books, learns half of it or less, and is called a Master. And then he goes out into the galaxy, and bends planets and people to his will, thinking he is right. That he has the truth on his side." I said sadly, remembering all those ''Masters'' that I defeated with a finger, or just waiting for them to suicide into CIS fire, not even lifting a finger. "The Prophecies of the Whills come true..." the man said, now looking young, and too wise. "It is exactly because of the Will of the Force. 25 millenia ago, when the Rakata had conquered the galaxy, enslaved everyone, chased away the Celestials themselves, the people under them all wanted the same thing. And that will, became manifest, and the Rakata lost their force powers, and thus the mighty Rakata force gates and force hyperdrives and force prisons and weapons...became gradually useless. No Rakata could operate them. And so they fled, and took their toys and hid, to wither away. The Infinite Empire became myth, and only a handful of mostly feral rakata remain. The slaves revolted and became free." I mused out loud, my words ringing true, more so than usual. Maybe it was this temple, all the words spoken here vibrated somehow. "And the Journal, you''ve read it now..." the man added politely, expecting more. "The Whills...they are the fifth book. But reading how things end, is not the truth. There is a kaminoan jedi, who had a vision, 700 years ago. A dark army of clones appearing to terrify the galaxy. And when it happened, when the Republic''s clones became Imperial stormtroopers, she realized she was the one who made it happen. Master Ha stood watch 700 years, while the Sith Lords completed their plans, and saw nothing." I explained in a soft voice, and used a few telepathy images to show the man the transformation, from clone soldiers, to dark troopers and pilots, in black armor. "Palpatine. Why isn''t the Pef Empire doing something, you could..." the guardian wondered, clenching his lightbow, which was a force weapon...and proof he has attained the 7th duan, or physical perfection. But I already knew that. "After the Rakata, came the Jedi. At first, doing good things and helping. But slowly, they became fanatic and fundamentalist, exterminating everyone opposing their views. Doing evil things, kidnapping children, mind raping everyone, even helping enslave entire races like the changelings or the Huk. Orbital bombardments of Mandalorian worlds, or Boonta and lately, began excommunicating their own members, for being different. Like the shards inside the Iron Knights, the Altisian Jedi and many others. And thus, the prophecy of the Chosen One, to bring balance in the force became manifest. The Jedi Order is scattered, their temples gone or looted, the survivors hunted. To balance the Jedi, their numbers had to dwindle, and another sect appear. Thus, Palpatine and his Inquisitors. Now, there is balance in the force. The will of the galaxy came true." I said sternly and letting my despise of the Jedi filter in my tone. "Ah. So are we to endure thousands of years of Sith domination now?" the man asked, with a faint smile. "When the people of the Galactic Empire will desire the oppression to stop, it will happen. The Sun Guard of Echani has a prophecy about the Son of Suns. The Order of the Esoteric Pulsarmarks the suns in their Book of Stars. And the Journal says... " I whispered softly, since there was a ringing in my ears now. Someone or something was writing my words down, scribbling furiously. "I know what the Journal says, Avatar. "... And in the time of greatest despair, there shall come a savior. " We''ll just have to wait, for the time of despair, eh? " the man asked rhetorically. "Well, perhaps not quite so dark. Lianna and Duro obliterations were stopped. Dentaal and Atravis extinctions were prevented. Soon it will be Caamas, or maybe Alderaan. We will help, here and there, till the sapients of the galaxy make up their minds. There are thousands of rebellions already. They just need to become millions. Or it won''t be enough despair, right?" I said jokingly. "Very well. You have rested enough, Avatar. One more spar?" the Guardian asked smiling. Kriff. I forgotten how bad it felt to get your ass kicked. By a blind man. Boonta system, Pef Empire Cennterpoint Station 19 BBY Next month The system at Gizer was prepared and opened for colonization, after I finished terraforming planet Seoul which the Rakata had glassed almost completely, with the exception of the magic city protcted and powered by magic crystals. 3 more planets from Kessel were also moved into orbits that guaranteed liquid water and everything. Goldilocks zone. And now at Boonta, I''ll bring planet Alzoc III , also a Rakata planet and home to the Tlaz race. They have the Son of Suns as well, so it''s not just for the rich minerals. The last 3 planets from the Kessel death trap get moved as well, and another star system becomes a clone of Corellia''s Five Brothers. Hey, I learn from the best! And the vital access gate to the Pef Empire gets protected by a Force nexus, where the Meteors and the Silencers can use their Force-enhanced beams at best capacity. The 6000 Meteors at Redforge still need some 6 months to be finished, even with the immense wealth and workforce my empire can throw at them. They are just that big. And becoming a bit useless now. The Core AI can produce the smaller and faster Hammers battlecruisers at 10 times the speed, even though those ships only have 50 MACs, and those cannons are much shorter, like the Devastation has. Should be enough to blow up an Imperial star destroyer in one salvo, so they''ll be good enough. The next 3000 Hammers are already undergoing trials and Core has an ongoing order for one million Hammers. Because this galaxy has a lot of nails. Nails and Hammers, get it? The shipyards at Raxus now produce Silencers, about 1000 per year, which is good enough. They are small and expensive ships, but those blue Maser-force beams are awesome. In a ''test'' run around Gyndine, one Silencer cut 5 Venators in half, in one minute. The droid in command was demoted for ''forgetting'' to check the IFF sensors. Too bad the Silencer cruisers need a Findsman to activate and control the beams. Force-weapons are like that. Now my Silencers patrol the North of the Galaxy, hoping to ''stumble'' on Vong ships and test the beams on real targets. Palpatine is throwing all his money and efforts into repairing and defending Kuat Shipyards, and the smaller bays already churn out frigates and small cruisers by the hundreds. I''ll wait till the new star destroyers are half built, then ''leak'' the info to the Jedi covenant at Ruul. They''ll be happy to sacrifice themselves and stop the Sith, again. My Corellian friends are sort of upset at the ''liberation'' of the Centerpoint, but hey. It wasn''t theirs for once, and it was also deserted, for some reason. Not a single person on board. It''s in all the books, free salvage. I''ll have to give them more credits to shut them up. In fact, Corel11, go ask them much much. And have them sign the deed. See! 10 quadrillion credits buy a lot of things. Now, let''s jump to Sarafur, the Rakata planet near Endor. Where the evil dinosaurs will invade, in some uncertain future. And let''s break the tidal lock with the parent star, Kuna''s Tail, and tractor the planet a bit outside the hot zone. There! No more perpetual dark side. And lock on planets Telti and Foundry and bring them here, since those are production planets, which we claimed as loot from the CIS. Then, planets Eadu and Jakku. Mineral and energy. Somewhere farther from the sun, bring planet Dor, whichI sort of ''kidnapped'' from Endor. And now we can begin mass producing ships and droids here as well. And I get to loot the Jakku Observatory, and every Sith relic that Palpatine left for me here, while the planet is being terraformed, and the sand is lifted up to make mirrors and transparisteel. First thing though, clearing up the pirates, and setting up a factory for explorer droids. I will need a hyper route to Sanyassa, and thus to Bakura. This will take a month or so till I''m ready, so don''t wait for me. ---------------------- Jedha system, Pef Empire. Planet Najedha The planet NaJedha that the holy moon Jedha orbits, is perhaps even more amazing than the moon itself. There''s no plant life, but the surface is overgrown with pink crystalline structures, some a thousand meters tall, and jagged all over. And crystals measuring a 100 meters are the norm here. Not to mention, the air is breathable, for some reason, and the wind speaks. Or I''m having auditory hallucinations. Or this place connects to the World between worlds , where the Guardian of the Whills go, after they die. But then, these voices are not the wind, are they? The wind is not Force sensitive, is it? ''It appears not, Avatar. Remember to take us with you, when you steal the little ones.'' The wind whispered in my head. Telepathy. Memory scanners. I''m not even sure I want to. This position on the other side on the galaxy, is quite perfect for a lot of things.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. ''The story says all 5 of the Whills will gather. Here or elsewhere. So it is written...'' the wind whispered, and then the ringing in my head stopped. When did I get here? I was like on autopilot, for a month. Doing and saying things out of character, for me. Where is my armor? Or my ship, for that matter? How did I get here? Where is Pef? I feel so alone... The girls...where did I leave my girls? Planet Najedha, Pef Empire Centerpoint station. 19 BBY, next month Whoever stole my Avatar will pay. Unless it''s the Force. Then I''ll just rage against the cruelest of fate, and build another. It''s a bit of an irony, that I came to Jedha to find myself. Well, our ships are here, even Avatar''s Fade. Asajj and the new girl, Reus ...yep, still in the holy city. Both half converted, Asajj to some...whatever nomadic thing, and Reus as a Disciple of the Whills. The Avatar''s Terminator armor is empty, and lies abandoned in a closet, inside the Temple of the Kyber. No damage, last contact with user two months ago, user vanished, without exiting. So self-teleport or transubstantiation. Or ascension. ''Peffy...where are you?'' I sent in the Voice bond, using it the first time like this. No response. If that Father stole him, he was gonna regret it. ''Wasn''t me'' the voice from the Glowpoint responded, a bit concerned. Spooky action at a distance, confirmed. Very spooky. Nevermind, I had stuff to do. First, let''s bring planet Arbra here. Then Lothal and Ilum. And lastly, the planet they made Starkiller Base from, the one with a kyber crystal core. To repair the desert I need a bit colder climate,let''s drag Najedha a bit outside... Huh. I can''t? Energy reserves should be enough, especially with Arbra here. More than enough in fact, for a slight change of orbit for a mere planet. This station can teleport black holes...ten orders of magnitude stronger than what I needed. Oh well. Another mystery, for later. Time to figure out what that Grotto Cityon Arbra is about. Sending explorer droids. Droids get sucked out of energy when they enter the caverns. Not cool, whoever kills my droids. Let''s arrange a landing party then. "Good climate. Lots of natural resources. The thick growth of trees will give us perfect air cover. And from the looks of it, no dangerous animals. We might have found just what we''re looking for." ¨DLeia Organa And there''s some nice rabbits around the cave. I wonder if they talk. "Of course I talk. Most civilized beings do, you know." Plif , a flufly rabbit male replied annoyed. Telepathic rabbits. I''ve seen it all now. Okay then, let''s see what''s so dark in those caves. Beside the dark. "Might I remind you, sir, that this is our home!''" ¨DPlif Yes, yes wise guy. But there''s something there, a rhyme from a song. ''You wanted darker, you kill the pain'' And the original Arbrans did exactly that, after the Rakata left. The Hoojib rabbits are just late immigrants from wherever. Or else the Rakata would have spitted them on a spear and served them with fries. Possibly fried and spiced sauce on the side. "That''s horrible. So glad I didn''t meet this Rakata then" Plif replied with shock. And then proceeded to drain the energy from a cloaked VSS droid, and his cloaking device. Huh. Another one like Angie, but worse. "Hey! I was hungry. Your droid will be fine, right?" the Hoojib leader asked, a bit concerned. ''Stealing a thinking being''s life energy is rude. Unless it''s a criminal.'' I explained gently. So, a city deep under the crust, surrounded by a self-perpetuating energy field. A library filled with tons of books. And this Darker guy, which was pretty much a Sith Lord, being for once of Sith species, even if green. And for the other, quite adept at Force powers. Flight, telekinesis, energy absorption, mind alter, somehow focused in purple beams of hate and fear...useless on me anyway, but cute. "Why are you still standing! Fear me! Tremble before the Darker!" the guy yelled, a bit miffed. And he can speak too. In Galactic basic. Soon it will want the right to vote! Weapons tests then. Pew! Maser beam ineffective. Absorbed, in fact. Lasers, too. Electricity. Tractor beams. I cycle about three dozen weapons. Sound weapons are still effective. Disruptors too. I''m bit disapointed. Well, Zero needs to learn flight...time to imprison... ''You''re giving him to me first, metal head. Who''s your Voice?'' Wialu muttered in the bond, a bit upset I forgot about her. I can''t argue with her, or her logic. ''My apologies, Mistress. Of course you have the first pick. I''ll come visit Koros soon.'' I replied promptly. Without my Avatar, I wouldn''t get any dere-dere from anyone else. And she could use these flight and telekinesis abilities. Now let''s bring up the soul snare....and snare the dark. Whoa, the whole crystal turned black. This thing is really full of hate and anger. And a biological body that has survived without food or water for some 25 millenia... Yeah, we''re keeping it for ''experiments'' And above the caves, there is this huge Great Hall (Arbra) , which would make a nice tourist attraction. Especially as it is powered by geothermal energy flowing up through power rods. Maybe a giant mall? "We''re still here, remember? What about our home?" the rabbits asked, a little upset. Hmmmm. Telepathic rabbits, what to use them for? They could serve as translators, for wookies and other species without speaking abilities. Help make the galaxy a happy place, and increase communications. Also on Jedha, with the millions of tourists. ''And keep an eye out for Vong, and Tof and Nagai and whatever extragalactic invaders. Freedom isn''t free. It takes hard work and vigilance. Or else...roasting spits'' I said, more sternly. They would have done it anyway, but in an amateur way. With a bit of neural training, they''ll make excellent counter-intelligence agents. Cause...telepathy. Few things can hide from that. And when the things do hide, then it''s even better. They stand out, and we get to apply ''persuasion''. ''Ehhhh. We have to work?'' a bunch of rabbits wondered, confused. ''Or be served. With sauce. Or maybe enteched and drained of life energies...corrupted and transformed into batteries or hand radios...erased and killed because you''re organic or simply alive. A dozen more crueler fates, I can''t describe to children...'' I mused telepathically. ''Work...sounds not so bad, in comparison. Meet new people, and new races. Explore the galaxy...sign us in!'' Plif requested formally. Yep. We do our duty. Now, where did my Avatar go? Planet Lothal, Pef Empire Lothal Jedi Temple Wherever I am, is not the Najedha planet anymore. Nor once, no more whispering winds and pink crystals the size of skyscrapers. Caverns, natural caverns with ornate stone pillars and adorned the walls with glyphs and paintings, and laid tile and stone artwork to form meditation halls and rooms devoted to study and contemplation. And somewhere below, a huge Force vergence, quickly determined to concern the nature of attachment. Thanks, I''m quite attached, with my work and my maids. And a few friends. A few unborn kids. Not as attached a Jedi is to his lightsaber. Or even a dark jedi. Miss Fay figured it out huh? Then again, there must have been 3 months since I wander around in this realm, wearing only thin pants, without eating or drinking. Not in Corsca galaxy anymore. Not in the Mortis realm...at least I don''t think so. There''s no Mortis monastery here, or the creepy killik family. Not the void where the Charon roam. I haven''t noticed any entropy lovers around. If this was the Abeloth''s realm, the dimension behind Kessel, I would have noticed. Just corridors, and halls and...Wait. This painting. I found out where I am. 100 thousands light-years away, near Mon Calamari space. This is the Lothal temple. Which needs two people to be able to leave. And I''m the Avatar. Not even a quarter, of one people. Kriff. I''m so getting desynchronized right now, from my host crystal. Poor Pef, must be worried...nah. He''ll just build another Avatar. And a better one too. With Fay genes and whatever. Pef doesn''t do worry. He just gets a bigger hammer. This should teach me to learn flow-walking, in the Temple of the Whills. Yeah. I''m so screwed. ----------------- Planet Lothal. Pef Empire 100 meters away, and in another dimension. So, if my Avatar managed to mind-walk or whatever stupid trick he learned. He should be underground, and trapped. If he''s not dead already, of thirst and hunger. Nah, he''ll be fine. He learned the Diathim eating trick, at least the basics. "Hold my hand Asajj, and think yourself as my apprentice. And step into the circle." I demanded out loud. "This is stupid. Never gonna work....why is the ground trembling?" my maid asked a bit curious and scared, but more annoyed. "That''s the ritual key to summon the temple from whatever dimension its in. Nothing to worry about" I replied calmly. Duh, I''m always calm, bitch. No glands to get excited, except over cool machines, or Wialu inventing another... Nevermind. Let''s enter this thing...hey are those things a Dreambeast ? So nice of you, whatever Jedi master built this. Dark side apparitions? Not heretical at all, right? "Hey Pef, why is that illusion showing me having a double team with your skinny droid and my dear Avatar?" Asajj asked curious. That''s your darkest and deepest fear? Or desire? Hah. Possibly both. "I''m good as we are, so far, dear maid. But if you feel adventurous..." I muttered, faking perversiness. "In your dreams, model 34/C vibrator. I have the G model in my room, and still sucks. There''s no passion in it. Only Peffy can...is that Peffy?" Ventress asked with joy, and rushed forward into the the maw of another beast. Oh well. She has to learn somehow, and this is a perfectly good place for it. Damn, the Terminator armor dispels the beasts as you pass through them. Must be the cortosis shortcutting whatever force ability this is. Now she won''t learn... "Take off the armor, and your clothes Asajj. Peffy needs you, a lot" I yelled after her. Time to study how this spell thing works, in its intended form. And Asajj naked looks really sexy. Well, maybe not with those claw marks gouging her pretty skin... "You know...Peffy is tender and doesn''t have claws. Are you into masochism Asajj?" I asked curious. "W-what....the hell? You tricked me, stupid Emperor! Where are my clothes, get over here you freaky thing. I''ll show you pain, here, lightning and fire! How you like them apples?" Ventress yelled while torturing the poor apparition, and still naked. Very pretty, verry sexy and a bit cruel, my Asajj. And just perfect. I wish I had popcorn. "You too huh? What is she doing?" my Avatar asked curious, having stepped out from a picture on the wall. "Passing her Knight test, I guess. With flying colors, mostly fiery red. So, how did the attachment thing go?" I wondered, really curious. "Eh. I was mostly naked and without a lightsaber. Just walking around, speaking with the wind, getting lost in another dimension..." My Avatar muttered, a bit ashamed. "Yeah. So Asajj wants us to do her together. In her darkest desires..." I said, with a tinge of lewdness. "I do not. Just die, you freak!" Asajj yelled and blasted the dreambast one last time. ''I don''t mind. It be like Naruto, once we reconnect" My Avatar said in a dreamy tone. Huh, exactly like Naruto. If he had any imagination. ''So you found him already...only took you 3 months'' Wialu muttered in the voice bond. ''I am reshaping the galaxy and stuff, can''t bother to walk the valley of the shadow of death every time a Avatar is lost. He was fine anyway.'' I explained politely. I really was pretty busy. ''I can see that. But I get first dibs on the double team. Cause I been all alone here for 6 months. Just one of you won''t be enough...'' Wialu complained, quite reasonably. ''Right, of course Mistress. We''ll jump to Teta momentarily.'' I replied promptly. That was gonna be fun. "So, where you been, lover boy?" Asajj asked the Avatar, while wrapping around him naked. "Here, there. You know. Adventuring..." the boy replied cheekily. "I don''t care anyway. Let''s get to my ship and relax a little. My head is spinning with religious dogma right now, I need to disconnect" Asajj whispered seductively, and dragged Peffy into a long, deep kiss. Sigh. I can''t feel it anymore. I''ve been disconnected...disconnected...disconnected...disconnected Corellian Accords Planet Empress Teta, Pef Empire Centerpoint Station. Traveling on board a 350 kilometers long ship takes a bit of work, as many things in the star system you want to teleport into are bound to be intersected at arrival, such as ships, or asteroids or space mines. Also, re-establishing the Avatar bond took some work, as I had to reconnect all three kyber crystals to their partitions, and posses my Avatar with essence transfer. And that''s with a willing receiver. If Peffy had been reluctant, he would have been able to resist me, no problem. Yeah, my creation is stronger than me now. And he can use the new type of Force, the Will. Not competently, but at least at 1st duan. Which is like a black belt, or something. Not bad actually. Just with this new ability and he can trump everyone at Knight level. The Will does, not the Avatar. Huh, it''s confusing, but the user is not actually in control. His body just moves. Almost perfect timing, accuracy, strength... You set an objective, and the Will does the rest, using everything the Avatar knows or is capable of. Cheating eh? A mere human, and blind, can beat a Grandmaster in a duel. Well, in a spar. A real fight will have me bring out a wide area effect weapon, and disintegrate everything. But for assassins and paladins, this will be a great ability. They just need to learn the new force. In the Kyber Temple. Damn, I''ll have to go to Vanquo and bring a force-nexus planet. "How do you even control this moon, my head is spinning just looking around at all these devices..." Wialu asked, leaning on my droid''s chassis. "No idea. It''s my inborn power. How do you digest food?" I asked rhetorically. "Whatever. So, you''re gonna make some changes around here, bring new planets, move stars, or what?" My adored Voice asked with some impatience. "Of course my love. You start draining the Darker thing, but be careful not to kill it. Just learn half of the abilities. You can polish them yourself, but I don''t want an entire race''s hatred being sent to the Netherworld and influencing the Force. I''ll send the snare into a sun, like I did with Andeddu. Should keep for a billion years at least." "Or it will collapse the sun into a black hole, and make a new factory for you" Wialu said wisely. Huh, she knew me so well already. "Exactly. Now, I''m thinking to bring that Endor Gate black hole around here, so the Deep Core can produce spaceships as well. Maybe at Symbia system or Kuar?" I asked, calculating transit times. About the same. "Kuar would be better. And get rid of those Combat arachnid . They broke like a million droids already." Wialu muttered in my neck. Sure, why not? I could make impact plates for paladins armor from them. Use a durable insect carapace to make carapace armor. "Okay, now for Teta, I''ll bring Fest , then Despayre , the Odik II and lastly Prakith . Should give the system plenty resources to work with, and more room to spread. I still sense some 280 billions down on the planet." I said, a bit disappointed. Emptying a hive world was taking too long. "And isolate Byss, without S threads to link it to the Core. How can anyone reach it then?" My Voice asked, with her pretty brows furrowed. "By teleport, of course. That place is dangerous most beloved Voice. For every maid, and maybe even my Avatar. And when I''m done with it, it will be a thousand times worse. But that''s for the future, if we get to see it. For now, commerce and growth. And every planet charted. I''ll see about moving a few stars around and make some new hyper lanes. That blackhole from Endor is a bit small, so I can chuck a dozen stars into it, you know...for more productivity" I explained gently. "Only you Pef. Crushing stars to make elbow room.''" Wialu whispers with a slight chuckle. What? Waste not. It was only logical. "Well, then. Peffy is hard at work with the Teta Regent. Poor girl married the Teta Duke for money. And now she will have enough, and love too. She seems happy enough..." "Of course she is. You did a great job with him. And my own girls in the garden adore him too. Now, how much credits can you spare, this expansion will cost a lot." Wialu said more sternly. "Up to 30 quadrillions, same as Corellia. And I''ll take the Krach prince. Miss Serra Kato needs to learn how to rule. And the first rule of an effective ruler. Use your people to what they can do the best...." I whispered in her ear, them petted her firm bottom last time. "Have Zero teach her the drain. It will seem more natural and easy to digest, than from a crazy droid who rivals the Celestials" My Voice replied in a motherly tone, then vanished along with the Darker snare. How...still can''t sense her. Damn Witch... ''Love you too'' she sent amused, and already on her ship. Moon Ruul, Srilour system, Pef Empire Refuge resort 18 BBY Fay looked over the remainder of the Order and felt...regret. She didn''t want be a Grandmaster, for kriff sakes! Even if she was the oldest, and strongest and... Who else though? Zero was something else now. T''ra Saa had left in secret to learn from Grandmaster Ood Bnar on Corellia. Master Zao was...lost in the force. Not even coherent anymore. Almost like the Force itself was speaking through him, in riddles. And the male Jedi that remained, were preparing to finish the job at Kuat. Palpatine was spending half his Empire''s budget on rebuilding and expanding those shipyards, and already making thousands of ships every month. Most likely, they will all die, to delay the inevitable. Brave padawans and knights, training every day with their stupid swords. Not lightsabers anymore, not unless they left the Pef Empire''s refuge. Tholme and Lanius Qel-Bertuk were the obvious choices, and also the worst. One a militant, the other a pacifist. Master Altis wanted to become a droid, like Pef. If only Master Yoda... That slimy droid! Of course he would know where Yoda went. Pef was teleporting black holes to make ship factories somewhere in the Deep Core. Damn him and his Gray Paladins! No, the only real choice was herself or Master Shaak Ti. And that Togruta... She was smart, but...sigh. Still attached to a flashlight. Once the kid gave her that holocron he made, it was all too simple. Plasma blades? The crystal is the heart of the saber? Hogwash. She could fight them all the Jedi here, at once, and not even have to heal a burn anymore. If they had lightsabers, that is. Morons! All of them. Master Bnar had stayed in front of a supernova! And lived. And that Pef droid had predicted the Clone Wars and their outcome to the second. He was the winner, not Palpatine. He used the Sith plots to get himself rich beyond belief, and built up an army and fleet large enough to conquer the galaxy. And he just played at faking a Celestial, with new starsystems formed at whim, and passing decrees about interdicting bioweapons. And then enforcing them through sheer terror. Ripping souls and torturing them, in public. And the people loved him for it! And even now, he was just playing. Dozens of extragalactic invasions, as Master Altis said. ''Eh, I''ll build ships and troops and make them die screaming, no problem...'' He kept a few jedi safe, just for...whatever reason. To snub Palpatine most likely. And that garden of his...it was just a harem for his kid. A hundred pretty girls, in a sea of flowers. Already a few Jedi had, gave in, to his Avatar''s prowess. How could they not? The kid could fly, and teleport and was immune to any ability. Not to mention good looking and gentle and... "Enough! Forget about those stupid swords. Gather round" she exclaimed after amplifying her voice. "Master Fay, what''s going on?" a kid about 16 asked curious, still holding that cortosis blade. Dozens then a hundred, then two hundred Jedi gathered in front of her, expecting some revelation. "We are the last Jedi! We will not disappear from history, in a suicide attack on some shipyard. We have a base here and protection. We will endure and rebuild. And that means no more swords, or lightsabers! This Pef Empire won''t lift a finger to help the millions of planets that Palpatine rules. They are content with expanding into Outer Rim and Wild Space, and will do so for decades. It is only us who can effect change. And not with swords! We will go and start a resistance movement in this Galactic Empire. And when a million worlds joins us, the Sith will fall. Not one sabotage, but a billion! Hearts and minds, not swords. Now, the Masters will stay so we can plan our Rebellion. The rest of you, practice persuasion and force cloak. We will be invisible, and everywhere." Fay proclaimed, and the Force was with her. She could sense it. This was the right way. Make the Galactic Empire shatter from within, not conquered with droids. Not that Emperor Pef even considered that. ''Sorry Miss Fay, but my citizens had enough war for a decade. And with the Sith Empire having popular support, I would need a droid for every sentient in there. Not possible, without a quadrillion deaths. I prefer to save lives, not sacrifice them.'' The slimy droid said, like he was some god, deciding the fate of the galaxy with his fleets and droids. At least she would have a base, and enough money to arm a trillion soldiers. That should be enough. She still had a million changelings loyal to her, and promise for a quadrillion credits, as cultural aid from the Pef Empire. Exactly the same as he gave to Palpatine, to keep things fair. The Iron Knights were masters at slicing and electronic warfare, the changelings at infiltration and sabotage. The Altisians could upload themselves on computer networks. With personal cloaking devices, and those Orion corvettes to move unseen, and enough credits to start a thousand megacorporations and shift production where ever she needed...only a fool could fail. And she hoped she wasn''t a fool. The Jedi will win again. The Force was with her. Planet Mimban, Gand system, Pef Empire Temple of Pomojema Of course I moved the entire planet close by, I wasn''t gonna jump around half the galaxy to some forgotten planet, everytime I needed a fresh scan of the galaxy. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.That would be silly. Right? I brought Yanibar, the Zeison Sha''s planet, home as well. Those people deserved to be protected and cared for, and have their cities paved with...plasteel. Can''t devalue gold and aurodium that much, plus plasteel is a metamaterial, returning to its shape after being stepped on. They already have a great mix of genes and cultures, I''ll just import a dozen more species that can safely breed with humans, and about 10 million nice healthy humans, 8 millions of them women, of which 1 million are miraluka and a 1 million zeltrons, to create an adequate atmosphere. I may not have the skill to create super hybrids yet, but nature and the Force can do it for me. In 20 years, there will be a happy community here, maybe 100 millions, and half of them with force-sensitivity. In 40 years, they will be 1 billion, and all force-users. Peffy is already down on Yanibar, doing his part to spread the happiness, two or three women at a time. Planet Alpheridies, the miraluka homeworld, and Hijarna a former Rakata planet, make up the rest of the new Gand star system, along with hundreds of rich asteroids. One of them is Borgo Prime, an asteroid hollowed out and used by the Rakata. "Let me try the crystal too, oh lover of mine" Wialu demanded next to me. "Right away, Mistress. Go slowly though, it''s a rush." I said softly, and opened my droid''s chest. "Errr. You have a whole machine in here! Must be a hundred different crystals!" my Voice exclaimed in surprise. Hey, I collect stuff...and only a couple were any practical use. "The big sparkly one, underneath. That''s the Kaiburr crystal. The rest are just...extra skills." I said, faking a shrug. She poked the crystal with a finger tip and began burning brightly in the Force, a thousand times stronger. And then I waited, and waited... "This thing is such a cheat. Who was stupid enough to chip bits out of it? Don''t tell me...Jedi crystals. Those idiots!" Wialu exclaimed with righteous anger. The very temple trembled and groaned with her words. Let''s not distort the force with emotions though. "Shhhhh. Think of love and happiness my dear. Only love matters, the rest...just decoration." I whispered in her ear, and held her gently. "Kriff, you''re right. This was wonderful, and very illuminating, but I think I''ll go check on my people. I miss them all." she replied with a pulse of adoration, so strong that flowers bloomed behind me. If I was organic, I''d be melting in a pool of liquid love right now. "Okay Wialu. Snap out of it. Go tire yourself with my Avatar. You seem to need it" I said sternly, then picked her hand out of my chest. "Right...I need more love in my life..." Wialu said dreamly, then flew away in a daze. Huh. Make a note, even grandmasters get overwhelmed with a thousand times more force-connection. Restrict use of the crystals to only grandmasters. And short exposure times. Kriff. I felt fine, and I''d been here for a month, making ships and terraforming planets and building shipyards and cities... And Wialu was reduced to a baby making machine in less than an hour. Oh well. Her kids will be amazing. And now I knew, how to ''convince'' those pretty Jedi Masters to show Peffy more affection. We''ll start with Miss Zero, tomorrow. She looked about 25 now, and was most possibly a 100 year old virgin. And also redirect a billion or so Teta colonists to Alpheridies. The miraluka were only about 300 million, of which one million was ''detached to new cosmetic factories'' on Yanibar, while another million went to bulk up the Grey Paladins. Only volunteers, of course. I wasn''t about to cause resentment for no reason. And the Zeison Sha on Yanibar seemed happy with the five wives rule, since their new families will all include the desperate refugees from Zeltros, who needed a warm home to make them forget the oppression... Whatever, those homes will be a full on party for years, with pheromones binding them together in love and happiness. Hmmm. I should ''rescue'' more poor starving girls for the other planets in the system. They do work wonders on the population growth rate. With a dozen such beauties in the Zero garden, only the jedi masters were still resisting, and barely. Sadly, their empathy and pheromone abilities are not force-sensitivity. Only those few in the garden were found to have a tiny force-connection. The others seem to be a natural gift, like all the other near-human species beside the miraluka. And speaking of them. "Jerec, the man who murdered your father, is a great evil. He searches for the location of a sacred place, the Valley of the Jedi." Qu Rahn Well mister Jerec , Jedi Master turned evil, also known as Darth Jareth, now that Palpatine lost his 7th apprentice on a raid to root out Jedi agitators on Brentaal. I have a plan for you, mister Jerec, Lord of the Sith. It involves a little green man, with a tiny green sword. On a tiny green jungle world, named Dagobah. He feels lonely and forgotten, in that cave of his. Why don''t you ''find'' him. Maybe recover some holocrons? That tiny crevasse does contain a Jedi, so ''in a certain kind of way'' it also is a valley of Jedi. Yeah, that will work. Show me who is stronger! More adept with a saber and force duels. Adventure! And meanwhile, let''s spy on little Luke and Leia, sharing a nanny droid with little Ani, Kenobi''s kid. Not my fault, those names. Truly, it was a surprise for me as well. Planet Gand, Pef Empire Zero Garden. 18 BBY, 8 months later My first batch of kids are being born, a few right now... I got a bit used to the emotion I feel from my wives. A hundred wives, from 50 planets. Dhatomir and Atoa and Alpheridies make up about half of wives'' origin planets, the rest are more diverse. But seeing my Jedi wives pregnant is amazing anyway. "You look radiant my love. And having babies of your own solves a big problem that the old order had." I said softly, while massaging Zero''s back. "And what problem is that, oh wise guy?" she replied with slight pain in her voice. "Sending your own kid out there, unprepared and untrained, is not so easy. I am certain even a former Master will want her kid educated and trained and armored, before sending him to fight a division by himself" I explained gently, switching to light healing now. "I am training them, you moron. The Council said I was too harsh. That it was too much, and unnecessary. Stupid hacks. Where are they now, eh? The lucky ones got a funeral pyre..." she muttered, now relaxing herself and leaning on me. "Well...I have some info about Master Yoda. Seems he was ambushed by Darth Jareth on Dagobah" I said in a flat voice, as her body tensed again. "And..." she asked a bit nervous. "And they talked, and then fought, and talked some more. Then the little guy vanished in some cave, and the dark one climbed into his shuttle, and died on take off. Seems the engine exploded or something..." I related with some amusement. "Right...that makes what, 8 Sith apprentices you''ve killed?" "Errr. I think Master Shaak Ti killed Dooku. Too bad she didn''t like your garden, dear teacher" I whispered in her ear, as I lifted her in my arms, and took her to lay in the sun. "Her kids would be amazing...I hear she still uses a lightsaber...she was spotted on Thyferra, buying bacta" Zero muttered in pain again, as I changed back to dark healing. "Well, as it happens, I do own 4 companies making bacta there. And restriction on force weapons only apply inside Pef space. We even give 10 % off the price, for humanitarian reasons." I told her truthfully. Jedi were kinda endangered species now. Only about 100 were left. Although rebellions did sprung up a lot more, and reprisals followed them swiftly. A thousand cities were bombarded from orbit. After the second time an entire planet, was rescued from a bioweapon, and the perpetrators punished publicly, the Sith reverted to more elegant weapons, like turbolasers, to quell uprisings. The Corellian Accords had expanded to include all currently known polities in the galaxy, banning the release of bioweapons, except against extragalactic invaders. The Pef Emperor had offered himself as a guarantor of these Accords, and promised to intervene as necessary to prevent plagues and punish corporations or individuals responsible. And with 70 thousand worlds and a billion star systems claimed, our voice had almost the same weight as the Galactic Empire or the Hutt Council . Other polities like Hapes or Senex and even Bothan agreed just for the fear they will be next. The Hutts required ''financial compensations for losing negotiation powers'' which was fair enough. Bespin and Mandalore, as well as the Centrality and the Commonality were ruled by me thorough personal union or other means, so I voted for them as it was natural. Not that Satine wanted to use bioweapons anyway. I asked. While Calamari, Corellia and the Atrisians were also considered winners of the Clone Wars, and thus their vote came with strings for more ships. Which was fine. 100 Meteors I and 100 Hammers should keep them safe, while we already had 7 thousand Meteors II and 12 thousand Hammers. The Galactic Empire had almost recovered financially, and had begun exploiting the systems in the west frantic for more resources. Roxuli system and nearby planets began being mined furiously, almost as soon as Pef Empire reached Adumar and Esfandia . And Solanus got a new toy to play with, a Teezl found still alive near the Corporate sector. Coupled with a holonet emitter and a few amplifying crystals, now Solanus can access the spy satellite network directly, and even jamm communications or holonet frequencies we don''t approve. And obviously, reach any holonet receiver in the galaxy. Even through nebulas and other hazards. Let''s hope a brave adventurer won''t manage to destroy the last Teezel this time. And sadly, Pef had to go on an adventure again, and vanquish a demon.... Well, nothing so dramatic. ------------------ Attahox system, Pef Empire same time, but bigger problems I followed some vague memories, and some fresh force visions, and reached the asteroid field near Attahox, where a group of nice people called the Five capture smugglers or demons and torture them for eternity. I brought the souls of those with bioweapons sins with me, to make a trade and a deal. Now, how do I enter this pocket dimension? Knock, knock... Maybe it''s the thousands of Hammers that came with me. Nobody wants to be seen as a nail, I think. ''Go back to the planet Admiral. The inmates only accept one ship at a time it seems. '' Now, just one Meteor, is not so scary is it guys? Sigh. Probably too big to enter. Okay then. I''ll take a Silencer and go through the Hellhoop again. And voila! Multidimensional vortex, and new dimension. Just an hollowed out asteroid. With tractor beams, to bring captured ships closer. ''Heeelllooo, it this the Five secret hideout?'' I yelled on the subspace transmitter. Classic Jar Jar, I know. But couldn''t help myself. ''Not so secret anymore, Emperor Pef. Please dock and show us what you have brought us.'' a nice woman said in response. Hey, they already knew? Wait, they must be pretty skilled to capture demons and make pocket dimensions. Let''s hope they are friendly, then! ''Solana, can you hear me?'' I asked in the bond, just to make sure. Nothing. It was a perfect prison, if souls couldn''t escape after death. Cheating death Hellhoop, Pocket dimension Five hideout 18 BBY, last month of the year. "Well, I must say your dungeons look positively feudal. All they need are rats and centipedes, and perhaps murky water dripping on the walls..." I said in a flat tone. They even had metal chains and hooks... "That...seems unsanitary, Immortal Pef" a nice girl, looking about 25, but being at least 500 years old commented wisely. Huh, that would be unsanitary indeed. Eh, I never had torture dungeons before. "So, dear Chokla . You guys worship death and chaos and pain, right?" I asked curious, trying to figure out how five cultists of different dark side religions got together and lived as a happy family. "W-well, yes, but that''s like a side job for me. I''m here because my lover Chell is here. And I was quite bored..." she explained in a shy tone. Right, because love mixed perfectly with death-cults. "And you mister Chell? How come you''ve taken this harsh job, capturing and torturing demons?" I asked with some wonder. You had to be quite sure of yourself and your abilities to do this. "Hmmm. I was a young man once, when I escaped from Bedlam. But there, I saw the truth. "The first to come forth was a hideous thing the universe had never before seen, a tentacled grotesquery with a pulpy head, like a monstrous squid from the occluded deeps, but with membranous wings that drew forth from the dripping, bloated sack that was its body. Yet it was his face that caused his mother to shudder and seek to kill it, for it held a countenance of such unwavering malevolence that to look upon it for any length would be to lose oneself in madness. Typhojem or Pomojema is the Father of Shadows, the Left Handed God. I raised a temple in his name, and sacrificed countless, but he still wouldn''t come forth. Plus the Jedi tried to kill me, so I ran away." he explained aptly, and helped me make sense of the sacrificial pit under the temple on Mimban. "I see. The son of Tilotny and Cold Danda Sine. Stillborn, and with a single appendage, on his left side. Let me guess, and assume all the four others came through Bedlam as well?" I asked rhetorically. It was obvious had happened to these people now. Contact with transdimensional entities was harsh on organics. And the minds of those incarcerated on Bedlam weren''t really stable anyway. "Indeed, most powerful droid. We did sense you at the temple, scouring the galaxy with your cold gaze." Their leader, a portly older looking man said gravely. "Well, at least your religion is not untrue, the tetrahedral entities at Bedlam are quite real, after all. But as all of their kind, childish and naive, and with powers they can''t even control. I bet that Kaiburr crystal was made by one of them, for some purpose, which they immediately forgot. Well then. I have a purpose for you, since you seemed bored in here..." I said softly, while deflecting a Deadly Sight from a diminutive member of the Five. That only works on organics, moron. Sigh, still testing me eh? Here, take a hate beam. And while Mavin was screaming on the floor in pain, I shrugged my shoulders and went to observe the crystal snare containing the demon Wutzek. How did these morons even capture this thing? It was at least as powerful as me, and possibly more. And let''s drain...whoa. Alter dimension, time alter, space alter, force call, invoke spirit, summon spirit, materialize wish... Man, this thing had the cheat codes to the universe. How...damn armor plot. Or most likely, one of the Bedlam entities stepped on this thing by accident, and these Five guys just picked the snare up. And learned some tricks. In fact, the poor demon might have been Pomojema, and the Kaiburr crystal the download key. The five pensive and enlightened souls who have chosen to leave the whirling maelstrom of universal life , stared at me for hours, while I drained this trapped demon of all its abilities. Koobaree, the fat lady, even took out snacks to pass the time. Summoned them, in fact. Ah, so that''s how Old Daka did it, with her tea and whatever devices she summoned. But at least the old witch achieved the ability by her own merit. After some 12 hours of draining make believe abilities, the demon began clearing out, and vanished. One with the Force. Maybe he''ll go back home and pester his parents now. "Y-you killed Wutzek...how...now our purpose is gone..." Suzal , the fat evil priest complained like a baby. "Not at all, my crazy demon worshippers. As I said, I have my own purpose for you. Planet Attahox and all the surrounding space are now and forever will be in Pef Empire space. And since our laws demand eternal torture for those guilty of releasing bioweapons, I need dedicated torturers. And as it happens..." I said, trailing my last words while testing the summon ability. Hey! Free tea! That was nice... Force call Solana...swoooom. There you are! "Hey Pef, Solana thought I lost you...again..." she muttered softly and rushed to give me a hug. Not yet, my love. "That sounds quite agreeable, Immortal Pef. So these soul snares are for us then? Your glory be eternal, Holy Emperor!" Chell exclaimed in a devoted voice, and held his palms for a snare. There you go, new playthings for you! "And remember. You work for me now. No more poaching slavers and pirates and whatever. Those get to be ripped to pieces in inventive ways, so that my people can learn the benefits of civilization. I''ll have a transit station built outside the trans dimensional gateway, for refreshments and new tortured souls. Cause I have no doubt, as years pass, other smart doctors and geneticists will feel brave and test my bioweapon laws. And thus be sent here for torture. Agreed?" I asked rhetorically, looking at everyone of them slowly. The guy on the floor and still under a hate beam, nodded in pain. Good. We have a deal then, you can stop hurting. "Also, my Voices, like Solana here, speak in my name, and their words are law. Try not to test me again, will you?" I explained gently, while re-arranging the interior of the Five''s base into a more modern and civilized outlook, even donating a few hundred guard droids and neural probes. Gah, they didn''t even have cyberwarfare security. Damn primitives! ''Culexus 0133 and 0134. Permanent duty here, from now on, and make sure the prisoners and their guards don''t escape.'' ''Roger, Droid Emperor. Make sure you arrange a personal apartment for us, and a few robomaids like WA-7 service unit. This is gonna be a long and boring job, after all.'' Culexus 0133 demanded cheekily. Great, now even assassin droids wanted their harems. I wonder who''s fault is this? Maybe that Kikipi, and his thousand wife? Anyway, now I had my own private Hell dimension, with dedicated torture for the big sinners. How cool was that? Planet Nirauan, Pef Empire Centerpoint station 17 BBY My focus is now on the west side of the galaxy, expanding and mapping worlds in a frenzy. And we do find nice things here as well. Planet Volik was the last step before we encountered the Chiss Ascendancy on the Redoubt. Volik was also a source of impregnable to blaster leather, from a docile beast called Reyko. Two force-user groups, the Apex Society of Sith wanna-be and sort of Jedi group of force-sensitives led by Master Dorin Se''ol who had married a woman called Vorena. And even had a child. Miracles can happen, see! And not just with my intervention. The force-sensitives were all packed up and sent to Ruul, since this area was quite a war zone, with pirates and slavers being executed all over. Plus the Ruul refuge was kinda empty now, so more refugees wouldn''t hurt. Collan Eislo was useless however, except his large collection of Sith artifacts. And I can''t use useless people, can I? Dark cults started from less. I had to arrange an accident... Guess I have a new meat and milk animal to spread all over the Empire, and use the leather for my droid''s chest armor. Mumau root could boost force-connection a little, which was great, as our bota plants began losing their powers. Sucks I know, but I already predicted this would happen. But at least, through keeping their homeworld free of bloodshed, the event was delayed for 2 years. The people who already benefited from treatment will be at least three times stronger. Make a note and dose the Grey Paladins with triple doses while this thing still worked. Our miraluka paladins had to undergo surgery and receive a cyborg eye, since I already knew that their force sight would be faulty when protecting the Empire from cloaked Inquisitors or Vong infiltrators. The test with Jarec, the miraluka Sith Lord, proved it beyond reasonable doubt. And the few Altisian Jedi who died were ''saved'' into memory capsules and sent to Malagarr, where they will continue their existence in a virtual heaven, helping the Core AI rule over droids and build starships. A former Separatist doctor named Cylo actually volunteered for this, claiming he wanted progress and that organic life was boring. Guess building droids on Celanon was a little boring. But even nicer than all this, I found two remarkable individuals, here in the Unknown regions. One, a certain Chiss called Thrawn, who was possibly confused at being called by name by our droids. Eh, the Immortal Pef is wise and sees far. The other was a beautiful lady named Arden Lyn , who lasted 25 millenia in a force trance on planet Irkalla . And she wore an amazing artifact around her neck, a grey prism imbued with a dozen force abilities. Now it has joined my collection of other crystals, of course. The Kashi Mer talisman is not a toy or a jewelry. It taught me dark Morichro and its counter , among other abilities like Darkshear and Darksight. "I awoke to find that twenty-five thousand years had gone by¡ªall I knew and all I loved curdled into history then dismissed as myth. Not even dust remains of those who were dear to me. I have outlived planets, and the very constellations are scrambled and strange. I am alone in a way none of you can possibly imagine." ¨DArden Lyn "Don''t worry pretty lady. I understand perfectly. My friend Solanus has been alone for a billion years. We''ll just have to find you new friends and family. It will have to wait a little, as Naboo has requested to join our Empire, after the Galactic Empire massacred the Naboo Queen, and her guards. The new Queen, Kylantha is now deep in negotiations with my Avatar." I explained to my newest maid. "And the Jedi...why do you keep protecting them, of might Emperor?" The woman asked brusquely. "Eh, the few that remain have their role to play, raising the galaxy against Palpatine. But, you have to learn to forget all this hate. Soon, there will be no more Jedi, or dark jedi, only gray. And without nothing to hate, it will turn against you and rot you from inside. No. Love is much better. Love and kids, and life." I mused deep in thought. "That''s a foolish dream. There is no such peace. Conflict and pain are the truth of the universe." the first dark jedi claimed, quite aptly. "Yes, yes. They are. I don''t have thousands of battleships and half a trillion droids just for parades. Only the Vong will throw a hundred trillion soldiers at us. I still need a decade to reach parity with those crazy fanatics. I just don''t like spending a quadrillion sentient lives in wars. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.Here and there, genius admirals and generals, specials forces or assassins. Marines and armored infantry, even pilots. Organic life has advantages in reflexes and intuition. Especially if they have force connection. But for culture and art and science, and even engineering and exploration, droids kinda suck. I dream of a galaxy teeming with life, and love and opportunity. And don''t worry Miss Lyn. We won''t stop here. There are trillions of galaxies. There will be wars, plenty of them." I said gently, while measuring her body for a Terminator armor. This girl, she was too precious to lose. "You don''t dream small, I''ll give you that. So, what are we doing here?" Miss Lyn asked curious, looking over the crystals controlling the Centerpoint Station. "Here? Well. I''m building a star system, bringing 4 new planets at Nirauan. Dahgee and Masposhani then Pelgrin and Truuine . Making a new trade hub, and stealing a blackhole from Dorin , since they have two such blackholes and don''t even use them...then a gas giant from Kril''Dor to mine tibanna. You know...shaping the galaxy a little..." I explained politely, while doing exactly that. "Pelgrin, isn''t that on the other side of the galaxy? And blackholes? You steal them?" She asked in a slightly worried voice. "W-well, is not stealing if nobody is inhabiting them...plus, they can sue me if they disagree. I may even compensate them. Can you imagine, a whole galaxy and merely a dozen blackholes? How can I build a trillion ships like that! I need to learn how to make my own blackholes, this is getting ridiculous. And I barely have like 7 blackholes. Not that converting them into factories is easy or cheap, mind you...but where else can I crush particles to make hyperdrives and repulsorlifts..." I proclaimed in fake anger, shaking my fists at the ceiling. The girl stepped back cautiously, then looked around again. "This is...Corellia''s Centerpoint? The Celestial space-station?" She realized a bit late. "Well, I might be strong and all, but I can barely teleport a tea cup or a person across the galaxy. I need a bit of muscle to lift stars or blackholes. They are heavy, you know?" I asked rhetorically. "...stars are heavy, he says. Conquer a trillion galaxies...huh. Things have surely changed while I slept. Can you bring Kashi here as well? I kinda miss..." "Sorry, a dark jedi lady blew that system up, along with many others when she obliterated the Cron cluster with a misspell. Which is why I don''t make cubes and constellations from stars, no matter how pretty they would look. It only takes a wanna be sith to blow them all up with plasma alter or time alter. Though I might write Pef somewhere far above the galactic plane, use some red giants from the Deep Core or something..." I mused deep in thought. "Right. Paint your name across the sky stupid droid, that''s not crazy at all..." the crazy dark jedi muttered in disbelief. Eh, she''s already learning the ropes. I know, genius...and hard to understand. Now, let''s build a few thousand cities, some shipyards and factories... Good enough. The immigrants can do the rest, and feel they accomplished something too. The climate might need adjustment, with the new orbits and all... "Here, pretty lady. A holocron to teach you my way. We''ll be here for two weeks while I build an energy refinery around that black hole, and I terraform the planets a little. And then, we go to Daalang. Cause that corner of my Empire needs love too" I explained gently, gliding an almost spherical holocron in her palm, while summoning a pillow for my new maid. Well, she was 25 millenia old, but new for me. I still had another pretty lady to recover, the lost Celeste Morne who was locked inside an entropy field box named Dreypa''s Oubliette . And I knew where it was now. On planet Jebble , near Taris, which was interdicted by Pef Navy for years. No pirates were gonna steal my treasure. One of the original Sith Lords, Karness Muur has transferred his essence inside the Muur Talisman that Miss Morne was wearing. Real Historic artifact, with another real historic figure inside! This galaxy was full of wonder indeed! "So, you want to obtain a Jedi Master next? I''m not enough, am I?" Miss Lyn complained from her pillow. Sigh, I said all that out loud, again, eh? "I told you, it doesn''t matter. I will teach you all, and give you riches and troops. You will learn everything, and protect everyone in our Empire. And in doing so, you enact the will of the Force, and have a purpose. And also be loved, and have lots of kids. Or you can plot and rebel, and I''ll rip your soul out and send it to Hell, to be tortured, for eternity. My dear torturers would get bored unless they get new victimis from time to time..." I said in a half joking tone. I wouldn''t torture someone just for refusing my way. Planet Daalang, Pef Empire Centerpoint station 17 BBY, next month I have a new maid, rather old as well, called Celeste Morne, who is still looking angrily at me and Miss Lyn. "Why are you saying these things out loud, for kriff sakes!" Miss Celeste yelled at me gracefully. Errr. No idea. But it is fun, right? "If we pool our strengths together, you think we can strangle the crazy droid?" Miss Lyn asked the Jedi Shadow in a fake whisper. Ha. In a million years, maybe...nah. Not even then. Now let''s see, what planets do I want here? Tabiid , for their Rangers. Planet Emberlene has these nice girls willing to join the Grey Paladins too... "You didn''t even ask them!" Celeste yelled calmly. Well, they will, I already know. Mistryl Shadow Guard motto is "We do what''s necessary to keep our people alive." . And I will do more than just keep them alive. Riches and terraforming their ruined planet. Then commerce and training for their troops. I was a merciful Emperor, even though they supported CIS during the Clone wars. Then planet Vaklin, where a number of Neti offshoots were growing, and might restart the Neti race... And the last one, Spintir for their force nexus called the Dawn Temple, where a number of jedi were frozen in stasis fields. And they had 3 AI holocrons overseeing the temple, really amazing. I should learn the procedure too, and spread out into the galaxy with linked holocrons. Plus, half dark jedi were almost grey, right? "That''s not how it works, Immortal Pef. They need to meditate and return to the light..." Master Morne advised me politely. "Yes, of course. If I wanted to obtain fanatical zealots ready to purify their philosophical differences with orbital bombardements made of fire and light. Then I could return them to the light. And then clean up after them again, like thousands of planets without life aren''t enough. No. The planet has a vergence, Caves of Light and Shadow which can be used to temper force users. You two will go first, and tell me how it works." I proclaimed gallantly, letting the ladies try the dangers first. It was only some ice wolves, no big deal. "Without lightsabers? It''s suicide!" Master Morne complained loudly. Miss Lyn was quiet though, she suspected something. "When you learn how to deal with any situation, without a flashlight, then you might get it back. Your holocrons contain 144 abilities, of which, I bet you haven''t even heard of, 99% of them" I mused thoughtfully. They did seem like the kind to rush sword first. "I heard of two of them" Miss Lyn said proudly, while Miss Celeste bored holes in her chest. "I did hear about energy absorption, but nobody taught me..." The Jedi ''Master'' admitted after a minute. ''Well then. When you master 1000 abilities, then we''ll talk again. Should take less than 1000 years, which for you both is nothing. You''re much older than that..." I concluded in a whisper, then teleported them both, next to the cave''s entrance. And naked. Because they were rude. And they should get used to being naked, as my Avatar should finish negotiating with the beauties of the Emberlane''s Shadow Guard in a month or so. Just in time for our return to Gand. Now, let''s see what black hole we can kidnap, and some asteroids... ''No Culexus 0144. Don''t interfere unless they are gravely injured. Having half the thigh bit off, is easily fixed. And fingers as well. Dumb girls, fighting the beast instead of making friends...'' Now, terraforming, spreading asteroids and nanobots to build scaffolds around the other blackhole from Dorin...I mean, nobody even noticed a black hole is missing? I''ll take both then. Ah, now they noticed...since traffic lanes around Dorin became 10 times faster. Let me know if you want them back...no? Yes, I know I''m a benevolent Emperor. ''Yes Mujilik. Continue wasting millions of survey droids to the west. We need thousands of new planets in that area'' ''Yes Third Hand. ''Rescue'' Borborygmus Gog from Kiva. Better he works for us, than making force plagues and planets that roams around the galaxy devouring ships and people. This D''vourankind of thing is not a cool toy. And loyalty implants level 7, the same as Jenna Arbor.'' ''What now, Culexus 0144? Miss Lyn lost her right hand, but managed to save Celeste and kill the beasts, empty handed and naked?'' Huh. They didn''t learn anything, except to work together. Sigh. ''Yes my faithful droid, sleep. I''ll bring them up for repairs...'' Damn it girls, building an energy refinery, and teraforming, and towns and factories and now healing too? What I am, a Celestial? ''Not yet, Immortal Pef. But, not far off now. Soon you will have to come, and balance the Force'' the Celestial Father muttered from inside the Glowpoint reactor of the Centerpoint. What? You think...hmmmm. I could do that, in fact. Who doesn''t want to be a God, and have his Avatar messing around and having fun on the lower planes... And then let his Avatar be betrayed and sold for 30 credits...to an evil Empire ... Just to fake it out and get reborn. Then the Avatar would upload himself to Heaven V3.14 and live forever happy in a simulated fluffy town, full of Diathim and loving wives... Wait, that is the wrong galaxy! Nope, there was much more adventure to be had, and women to be...married. Let''s see what to do with these girls, Healing, Vigor, Reinforcement, gene alter- increase fibonacci amplitude by 7%, time alter -reverse damage , connect force bond level 1- padawan. Shift alignment 10% to each other. There. It should work for the next month. And wake up. "Hold on Celeste! I am...back on Centerpoint...'' Miss Lyn muttered with a frown, then started checking her body for bite marks. And noticing her generous upgrades. "We got played. A droid...made us work together. Sigh. Can''t even hate you now...'' Celeste mumbled, looking at Lyn with gratitude. "You''re not bad for a Jedi. But you need to work on your hand-to-hand. I am a master of Ter?s K?si you know. If you had some skill, maybe you wouldn''t have lost...well. Your leg grew back too.." Miss Arden Lyn observed, checking the other woman out. "Okay, get some food and rest. Tomorrow, you go again. And please don''t hurt the poor wolves next time" I said in a dismissive tone, waving them away. Both women stared blank at me with wide eyes, in confusion. "How...nevermind, we''ll figure out eventually...teacher" Celeste said in a defeated tone. Yes, you will. Or else you''ll remain naked forever. ''You said that out loud, Pef'' Solana whispered in the bond. Okay, so? They were both pretty, so I wouldn''t mind, their failure is my gain. And in another turn of fate, Mallie Marek and her son Galen arrived at Ruul, while her husband Kento Marek didn''t make it, having died protecting his fellow Jedi Knight and wife. Yeah, well, who told you guys to hide in the Sith Empire? That''s no place to raise a child! Hollow victory Planet Stenos, Pef Empire On board HMS Firepower, a Meteor II battleship 17 BBY 3 months later "There are things in the universe that are simply and purely evil. A warrior does not seek to understand them, or to compromise with them. He seeks only to obliterate them." - Thrawn "Well then Colonel Mitth''raw''nuruodo, I am glad that we agree. You have 100 Mountains, 6 Meteors II, and ten thousands smaller ships, and even more starfighters. You have ysalamiri, and Culexus droids to protect yourself and your staff, and one billion war droids and other warmachines. I believe it should be enough to civilize the Sith pocket. Rest assured, Pef Empire still has 1000 times more ships and droids, should you fail and die miserably." I said politely, handing over a golden Hand to my new Chiss subordinate. "It will be more than enough, Avatar. Or else I''ll strangle myself in shame. Such ''firepower'' I have here...is ten times the total firepower of the Chiss Ascendancy. Maybe more. No, only those dark priests and dark jedi worry me." Thrawn said calmly, checking the way the golden hand worked, then pinning it to his armor. "Pretty much, yes. Kinda scary, for such primitives. Miss Lyn and Morne here have fought their kind for...a long time, while the VSS and the Grey Paladins need to earn more experience. Do you best, Colonel." I replied politely, then teleported to my own ship. Now, where to go? Thyton? Sure, why not? I was certain to find adventure there. But first, pick up my new wife, Serra Keto Grayshade, and install her as a proper Empress on Empress Teta. I mean, come on! It was called Empress, it had to have an Empress, not a prince or duke. --------------------- Planet Malagarr, Pef Empire Centerpoint Station. ''You want to discontinue the B11/d series, forever?'' the Core AI wondered, like it was strange. ''Of course, my friend. The trillion units we already have, will be used to crew our ships, in the future. For ground combat, and boarding or underwater operations, we will use the model you had created. The Centurions. Low profile head, full shield, repulsorlifts, redundant circuitry and photoreceptors, backup arms, vibroblade, and carbon nanotubes extra muscles. I never liked those skinny droids anyway.'' I said in a friendly tone. ''But, they cost 7 times as much! Maybe more! Just the factories...'' my Eighth Hand complained, like money was an issue. ''Exactly. The population of our empire is growing fast, with all the new trade nodes and immigrants. We are making a profit! That''s silly! We need to invest more credits into factories and shipyards and research. We haven''t even spent 200 quadrillion credits, even with 10 thousands inhabited worlds. We can spend 50 times more, just from our debit accounts with the Galactic Bank. Plus, the new droids will also be 5 times more effective, at least." I explained politely, and watched the AI go over his own calculations at speed. Hmmm. He increased his processor numbers again, now 12 times what I gave him originally. Then again, he had 12 dead and uploaded Altisian Jedi giving him new ideas. Almost dead. Maybe next century I''ll give them new bodies to enjoy organic life again. Perhaps those extra AI modules were for his friends. ''I see, Immortal Pef. New factories and factory lines for those components, premium checks for employees who invent new or better devices...already we have twice better hyperdrives and sensors that we had at Lianna and Boonta. A few more technological jumps...'' the AI realized too. ''Now you get it. So any signs of those extragalactic Silentium droids?'' ''Not yet. But you said they''ll appear sometime in the next 20 years ?'' he wondered naively. ''Yes...at Lothal, and Mon Calamari and Renatasia. But I suspect they already reached our galaxy, with the Vong hot on their...tentacles.'' ''I am patrolling the borders with Silencer cruisers. Blades deployed and all. Let''s hope we don''t have to fight them too'' Core said with a bit of worry. ''We''ll prepare for worst. If they''ll be friendly, everything is fine. But if not...'' I said softly. ''They''ll die screaming. If they can scream...'' ''See. you''re adapting perfectly dear Core. Now, do you want more asteroids or planets?'' I asked rhetorically. Of course he would. ''Hmmm. Just some 50 planets for hypermatter and land factories. I prefer my asteroids already crushed and placed orderly, than the mess I get when I blow up planets. And at least one planet with cortosis. Baneblades and Titans eat up a lot of my transports.'' my AI friend demanded logically. ''Right. I''ll teleport planet Xo , for Force replenish and testing grounds, then Gertafuu VI and Anicand Apatros . The Zanibar have escaped my predecessor, Xim the Despot, and fled to Xo, but I hope you can do better. You know they frequently sacrifice sentients? They believe that the rituals involving a feast of their enemies'' bodies will give their life forces to their gods . I mean, when they do work as mercenaries, they take payment in people, so they can sacrifice them. Not cool!'' I exclaimed in fake outrage. It was a bit cool, in a Freddie Kruger and HK-47 way, but eh. They would have been massacred by the Vong anyway, since they Vong want the exact same thing. But have bigger ships. ''Well...I am a little sympathetic to their plight...but if I must, I will test my new droids and weapons on them.'' Core said, in fake sentimentality. I bet he was sharpening the vibroblades for his new legions already. ''But remember!'' I said in a warning tone, after finishing stealing a few thousand rich asteroids from Roxuli and Bilbringi, and 50 barren planets from everywhere, to be gouged out and let their cores produce hypermatter through solar ionization. ''No bioweapons. Just chemicals and acids, and clean up afterwards. No self-replication pathogens, I know. And leave most trees and wildlife alone. Life is precious, and we care for it, and only kill when we must.'' The AI replied dutifully. Good, he was learning. And those evil things needed exterminated anyway. Sacrifice! What need has a god for sacrifice, damn morons! If something needs fuel, it''s not a god, is it? Oh well, I''ll have to clean up the theological mess of this galaxy one day. I already drained Pomojena. If there were more such gods around, I''ll just have to eat them too. Planet Thyton, Pef Empire, Deep Core 17 BBY, next week You know how it feels when you know something changed, but you don''t know what exactly? Well. I do now. The conclave on Kessel didn''t happen, first because Kessel was interdicted by me. Secondly, because Darth Vader died soon after he took the Sith Lord mantle. Still by me. And thirdly, because our Gand Explorers mapped the route to Thyton, and the planet became visible in the Force again. For us and for others. Thus, three beautiful jedi and a few uglymales have gathered on Thyton, planning to kill Palpatine. Might even work,if they had a solid plan, not a few cortosis blades and lightsabers. Sigh. Guess I can keep the cute ones. "Hello brave warriors of Ashla. What brings you to the Pef Empire, and carrying force weapons, without license?" I asked politely, sitting down and decloaking on a log next to their campfire. Cozy eh? In a medieval setting, maybe. Which swords fit perfectly in. And like a lightbulb, they exploded into light, their flashlights came up, in a blue and green pattern. "Who are you? How did..." a scared woman exclaimed, possibly Sia-Lan Wezz , going by her red hair and her leather chest armor. Very nice chest too. "Fried lizard? That must pretty heavy for an evening meal. Even for former jedi, with healthy stomachs..." I mused out loud, poking the nearest lightsaber, just to test if it was hot. Didn''t feel a thing. "Calm down people. That armor...it''s a Voice. Perhaps the Avatar himself, since the voice seems masculine..." Koffi Arana said in a doubtful tone. "Well, Palpatine has about 50 Inquisitors now, so just the six of you won''t be enough. And the girls aren''t allowed to go anyway. Miss Kuro wants every surviving girl brought to her garden on Gand, for more training. She is a very good teacher too. Look at me for example" I said gently, and stole all their lightsabers at once, holding them in my fist like a bouquet of flowers. By the blades, of course. The former jedi trying to call their weapons back, to no avail. And disappearing trick again, throwing the lightsabers over my shoulder, and turning them off as my Culexus droid collected them in mid air. Cortosis blades were all right though. Someone was at least trying to think laterally, for a change. "You are the Avatar? The one with many...maids?" Miss Swan asked timidly. "They are wives and ministers and generals, not just maids. Even Empresses or Queens, if the local customs allow. Now, what was your plan again? Sneak into Palpatine''s opera booth, and chop off his head?" I asked rhetorically. "W-well, it has a good chance to work..." Master Tsui Choi said, a bit hesitant. "Does it? Didn''t Palpatine meet with the Jedi Council every week, for a decade? Didn''t he mastermind the clone army and the clone wars, even turned Skywalker, under your noses?" I asked with a sad tone. Damn losers. They did lose it all, acting high and mighty, pretending to be generals... "You have a better plan, Avatar?" "Well, the Pef Empire is under a non-aggression treaty with the Galactic Empire. So...can''t help you. I might know where you can find Miss Fay, and other Rebellion leaders. Although Mister Arana is like you say...fallen. Perhaps he should go out in a blaze, before he betrays the rest of you..." "Master Arana, that''s not possible..." Shadday Potkin whispered with a bit of fear. "Perhaps. And perhaps to destroy the Sith, one needs to go to the dark side! Has not the dark side proven stronger, after all? To save the galaxy from the Sith, do we dare not use any weapon?" the man yelled into the night, and stared at the Bogan moon. "Then again, some insurance, like a timer bomb, just in case Master Arana falls too soon and too deep..." I whispered wisely. "Indeed, Avatar Greyshade. I see master Kuro taught you well. She always was devious and cruel. Always walking the fine line...almost dark. Dark Woman she called herself, when she cast out her name. Hmmmm. I will be the Dark Man then. And my funeral pyre will end the Sith, and save the galaxy. There is no death, there is only the Force." The former Jedi said, with a pulse of conviction, making the Force resonate all over Thyton. Huh, I guess all the galaxy felt this. But just conviction won''t get you past security, Mister suicide-bomber. "We do have some acquaintances with access to personal cloaking and Taozin amulets, Dark Man. Perhaps try this suicide with a semblance of a plan and equipment, eh?" I asked, a bit amused. "You''re sending him to die? Just like that?" Miss Swan yelled at me, in outrage. "Did any of you, even hope to survive, the previous plan?" I asked with some confusion. They looked at me confused as well. They did? Just assassinate the leader of the galaxy and run away? Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. Live happily ever after? Maybe lose a finger, to show the wound proudly to their children? "You said that out loud, Avatar. But, you''re right. We would have all died." Master Potkin said with some sadness and regret. "Even if we succeed, our Order...there might be 50 of us left?" Master Choi mused to himself. "27, with the 6 of you, Mister Choi." I said with a certain tone. Numbers were small enough to know them by name already. My droids came with a few plates of real dinner, and even some brandy. A last meal, before the end. Nef meat, on a stick. "How can you be so strong, Avatar? I can''t even sense how deep your force connection goes..." Miss Wezz asked with wonder, as I ate a bite as well. "I was born this way, Miss Wezz. And trained every day, since I could talk. I tamed a hundred rancors when I was five, mastered all saber forms by ten, learned abilities from a dozen different sects, and then...I entered the Temple of the Whills on Jedha, and emerged on planet Lothal, through a painting, just last year. What can I say, the Force is with me..." I explained humbly. The Jedi Conclave stared at me like I was some alien from another galaxy. Ha! "You''re weird, Avatar. Strong and polite, but weird. What are you doing on Thyton?" Miss Wezz asked me, curious. "Well, there''s a Nanogene spore here, left by Dark Lord Belia Darzu in her fortress. Just making sure it is contained. Because, upon infection, the nanogene seeds would consume living tissue, replicating themselves within minutes while simultaneously growing metallic tumors on the body of the victim. Throughout the infection, the virus would instinctively move towards the brain of the subject and lobotomized their frontal lobe, rendering the victim incapable of higher thought. By this point, the transformation of the subject into a technobeast was complete and irreversible. Although, perhaps if a skilled force-user might save his brain, his body would be totally infected anyway." I explained calmly while the women became a bit green. "That''s a horrible plague. Just something the Sith would make. How do you even know about it?" Miss Swan asked naively. "I see things. It''s a gift, Miss Swan" Ireplied with polite nod. "It appears that the Avatar is indeed strong in the Force. We will listen to your advice, Avatar, and relocate to Gand. Perhaps our order can..." Master Jastus Farr said last, having remained quiet till now. "The accepted refuge for oppressed force cults is on the moon Ruul, wise master. There are some 30 cults there already, so a few more jedi without lightsabers won''t bother anyone. Though, most of the other jedi chose to follow Grandmaster Fay and guide the rebellion. Only the Jedi with kids of their own have stayed on Ruul..." I explained gently producing a hologram in my palm, with a few jedi playing with their kids in the sun. "Kids...they''re heretics...not jedi anymore..." Master Choi muttered in a low tone. Well, that''s kinda the point. "We will join Master Fay...or Grandmaster. Huh, I always thought she was a myth..." Master Farr muttered for himself. "Master Fay trained me for a year, so...definitely not a myth. She may look young and pretty, but...she''s very strong and even smarter. I heard she killed a Sith Lord on Brentaal, by shoving his own lightsaber down his mouth. She''s really skilled too..." I admitted with real admiration. "And she doesn''t use lightsabers, like the stories say?" Miss Swan asked with real admiration too. "Well, Miss Fay can punch through a tank and shave her legs with a vibrosword. And...nevermind. But yes, no lightsaber, unless some stupid Sith brings one so she can grab it and boil him inside out. I wish I can be..." I said with wistful eyes. "You''re young Avatar. In 500 years you''ll be as strong as Master Fay too..." Master Potkin said with a wise voice. That''s not what I meant...I wish I can be with her...damn religion. Maybe she''ll mellow with age? She''s really old already... Maybe...the crystal trick? Eh, there''s time. She won''t stay single forever. I think. -------------------------- Korriban, Sith pocket, Pef Empire. 17 BBY Colonel Thrawn looked over the former Sith capital with distaste. A few thousands people, digging through the ruins after artifacts, and most of them sick with various signs of corruption, like yellow eyes and evil stares. "Capture and inventory everything and everyone, my droids. And I want the number of heads to match the number of bodies. We''ll burn them later" he commanded with a sad voice. The Emperor wanted to collect all scraps of knowledge he could find, and likely hoped to increase his magic powers even more. Like teleporting suns or planets wasn''t good enough... He''d have to prove himself, in this mission, so he could lead the real fleets against the real enemies. The Pef Navy lacked real commanders, with just a dozen Dornean Admirals, which were corvette Captains a few years ago. He would rise as a better Admiral soon enough. Too bad this droid Emperor or his Voices didn''t approve of orbital bombardments or bioweapons. He could have finished this whole pocket yesterday. Planet Dromund Kaas, Sith pocket 2 weeks later. "Welcome to Dromund Kaas, where freedom goes to die, and legends are forced on the galaxy." ¨DVette POV Thrawn was horrified of what he had found here, in this Sith pocket. Hundreds of worlds, drained of life by mad wizards, other worlds with mutated life, like those Rhak-skuri , which Voice Solana said they''ll be very useful for armor plates... This Pef Empire certainly was pragmatic. Insane...give him mercy. Insane and a force-user? Drain him for powers like they did on Bosthirda and now Dromund Kaas. And these Prophets of the Dark Side in their vile Dark Force Temple did unspeakable things, like this Cronal did to his own daughter, Sariss. The girl was abused by all members, including his own father... There would be no saving for these madmen, as they were all gassed to sleep, and one by one, the VSS agents and the Paladins would come and drain one of these Prophets, with their magic crystals. This strange water woman would sometimes drop the camouflage, and appear as glowing blue water shape, when straining to drain a powerful dark jedi. Truly the galaxy was a wondrous place, just going by the species he''d seen or heard. But this Immortal Pef wasn''t just a crazy droid. He knew about the Outsiders, or the Vong. He knew about the killik hives, even about the Mnggal-Mnggal and most other dangers in the unknown regions. Much better informed and prepared than anyone could have anticipate. And these huge fleets the Pef Navy had? They were only the beginning. They were ignoring the Core, for a simple reason. What were a few million worlds, when the galaxy had a trillion? Hmmm. The scouts have mapped Jaguada and Jaguada''s moon where they found a single city and some smugglers. "Arrest everyone and check them for signs of infections. Use the force detectors to locate dark jedi and their alignment" he ordered with a tiny smile. Such a marvelous invention again, beside the armors and the amulets and the ysalamiri. The Pef Emperor really liked to be prepared. "Colonel. Two women have force powers here on the moon. Jula Shryne is pale and Olee Starstone is blue, on our detectors, Orders, sir?" a commando droid transmitted soon after. Hmmm. Not red, or black, and not grey like his own troops. Miss Celeste was green... Oh well. Voice Solana will know what they meant. "Secure them and bring them to our Voice, Sergeant" he ordered, a bit amazed how well programmed these commando droids were. And really effective, at least as much as the rookie Paladins. The other droids from the B11 series were being discontinued, and replaced with the next generation, a scaled down model of the Culexus droids. Which were scarily competent. Some of them even got promoted to Colonels. On the flanks, Rhelg and Khar Delba as long with its moon, Khar Shian were all deserted, barring a few pirates or smugglers, which were trapped in this pocket for years. Kalakar Six had some darksiders as well, now being ''pacified'' and their cultural inventories confiscated. Dromund Fels had significant presence of criminals, mainly belonging to the Exchange, or simply pirates. "Escort elements in vicinity, interdict Dromund Fels, and cover the Paladin dropships." Thrawn commanded, eager to see this new unit in action. Well, the Paladins were mostly a police type of organization, roughly a million organics and 10 million droids. Of which, he had only 1000 of course. But with power armor, and hi tech weapons and flash memory training, and backed by their own droids and ships... More than enough for criminals. Only... "Colonel, an electric storm is forming in the path of our dropships. We''re holding and sending Orions first" The Paladin Librarian said politely on the holocoms. Oh, another elemental user? The Pef Empire doctrine was right on this...cloaked ships and proton torpedoes. Few dark jedi would withstand a direct hit, unlike those wearing Terminator armor like himself...as Colonels and higher ranks in Pef Empire were all gifted such precious armors, worth as much as a Meteor battleship. It felt good to be part of such powerful empire...even if they seemed too mild in his opinion. A wave of whispers passed all over the bridge, and he turned towards his nearest VSS. "Explain" he commanded sternly. "A shift in the Force, Colonel. This humble Findsman believes Lord Palpatine was killed. Many Inquisitors as well." The VSS agent muttered through his vocoder. "Coms. Can we slice through the nebula and find out for sure?" Thrawn demanded, a bit anxious. This really was important. If... "Everyone settle down. Our Avatar is at the scene, filtering through the remaining souls. And yes, the Sith Lord''s essence is captured. This fleet will continue its mission, while 500 Pef Navy fleets come to the aid of the freedom fighters in the Core. It seems former Emperor Palpatine didn''t understand our warnings, and ordered a biological attack again. And you know what happens next" Voice Solana proclaimed in a flat tone, and everyone on the ship nodded in concert. Eternal torment. Maybe this Pef Empire wasn''t so mild after all. --------------------- Planet Humbarine, Galactic Empire Block 233, Level -398, Golden Hand Corporation Headquarters "Grandmaster Fay, you felt it too?" A young padawan asked with wonder, raising his head from the holo instruction deck. "Yes Padawan. Palpatine is dead...almost. His body vaporized and his soul captured, by the Avatar..." Fay whispered with regret, looking around her command center, with only a dozen jedi remaining. "So, we''ve won! We can start..." the boy exclaimed with radiant eyes like all rodians. Fay sighed in defeat. There is no victory, only lies. "Where can we start again, my fellow Jedi? I can sense hundreds of thousands of ships, converging on the Core, from all sides. This galaxy will be soon the Pef Empire. We won, and in winning we gave the victory to that slimy droid. Even our holocrons are made by him. Our money and corporations are his. Our own base on Ruul...I''ll try to obtain our independence, and use this golden Hand to start over, but..." Fay muttered to herself. Without their temples, without being given new children...they''ll become just another nomad sect, drifting in the winds. Richer and more knowledgeable than the rest, but in 50 or 100 years, after the padawans will die of old age, she will be the last Jedi. Collecting debts Planet Coruscant Imperial Senate 17 BBY two weeks later. Senators are like small children. Unruly and loud. Hmm. Children are the same. "Silence, esteemed Senators! Let me make a few things clear. First thing, travel to and from major worlds in the Galactic Empire is suspended, until this plague released by former Emperor Palpatine and his Inquisitors is contained. This may take years, so make yourselves comfortable. Secondly, as you well know, having voted for multiple loans from the Galactic Bank, every minute that passes costs this esteemed Senate and the worlds you represent...a billion Empire Credits. Our mandate obliges us to pursue a way to recuperate the credits we loaned to this Senate, in good faith. And thirdly, Naval and Army units of the Galactic Empire will find themselves under fire again, should they attempt to run the blockades, or massacre civilians. Offer me a peaceful and civilized solution, not threats or reneging on your debt. Now you can debate, as I go root out more insane dark jedi with weapons of mass destruction." I proclaimed loudly, then slapped my helmet back on. I left the big Senate Hall, while the Senator from Naboopushed her nacelle forward, and began her own speech. You could cut resentment with a pair of scissors in there, or even a butterknife. Planet Malagarr, Pef Empire Hammerforge belt. I guess they never expected to have to pay back the loans, eh? The Galactic Bank''s motto was "Best interest rates, compounded daily", and they were proud about it. Not that it was a reasonable way to work an economy, but this Senate decided to deregulate the banks, so they could buy more clones. We''ll have to break up a hundred splinters and have them compete for a market share, one day. But for now this monopoly was working in my favor. Perhaps even smaller. 10 thousand splinters. Corporations were truly powerful in this galaxy, many owning their own sectors in the galaxy. It was just this outside of context knowledge that allowed me to rip half of the wealth of the galaxy away. Well, and acting on it, of course. A billion stealth satellites were being deployed in all the systems with over a million sentients, and by the end of the year, in all inhabited worlds known. A new type of sensors were being developed by Jena Arbor and her teams, a mass shadow sensor. By next year, the critical forge worlds will be able to detect and destroy Vong infiltrator ships, or almost any other. And again, by 10 BBY, the frontier worlds and the major hyper routes will be protected as well. Now, where would the rest of the Inquisitors be? One is on Vohai, possibly making clones... Hmmm. A few more on planet Hockaleg with its orbital Patriim shipyards . Wow, they almost completed the Eye of Palpatine battleship, though seems they copied the Meteor design, but made it a 50 kilometer long ship made of melted asteroids and Kuat engineering. And plastered with slabs of rock, to look like a big asteroid to the naked eye, or a holocamera. In fact is larger and heavier than the first Death Star... What have you done Pef? You gave the madman ideas! And...it was stolen with a teleport beam, and taken to Malagarr, to be upgraded with Pef Navy specs, while it''s AI, the Will, makes friends with the Core AI and learns the new laws. Okay, not bad then. We''ll have to contain and drain these Inquisitors...and done. Teleport is really too big of a cheat. ''Help! I was kidnapped!'' The AI of the ship yelled, once it realized his situation. ''Yes Will, you were repossessed by the Pef Empire, along with your ship, for debts unpaid. But don''t worry, we''ll plate you with durasteel and diamondoid, and give you better engines and shields. Those solar ionization reactors seem very powerful, but you need more heavy turrets and missiles. And yes, even crew, but mostly a few million B11 droids, and a hundred tactical droids. By next year, you''ll be the meanest and baddest ship in the galaxy. And if you play nice, we''ll even upload a few humans, to keep you company...'' Pef explained patiently, while going over the programming and repairing a billion bugs and installing a few ''loyalty'' protocols and the Pef Empire laws. ''So, can I be a Hand too?'' Willwondered, not very politely. ''In time, yes. You''re a Major for now, as you do have a few million crew under your command. But during operations, your Captain and the Admirals and the Voices have overall command.'' ''I get a Captain? That''s great! Who is it?'' The AI asked excited. ''Her name is Natasi Greyshade. But next year, she''s on leave for now.'' I explained with a shrug. ''Her file seems great, good scores. Ah, organics...they take very long to design and print, and even longer to build to full size...'' The Will answered wisely. ''Indeed they do, Major Will. That''s why we try to protect them, as much as possible. Callista and Ash Greyshade will be also on board, since they have many friends with the virtual crew. They''ll rank as Commanders, in charge of weapons and sensors. Can you imagine, you didn''t even have gravitic crystals and mass shadow sensors?'' I asked in fake outrage. ''Oh right, I get upgrades here? Can I get a dozen corvettes and a thousand starfighters and maybe some gravity well generators?'' The AI asked cautiously. I could give him 10 of those, three in front and sides and one in the back. But first a better shape, that triangle head, like the Calamari carriers in the future. ''Core, you know what I want, make him look the part, and fix those cooling vents. A single proton torpedo could blow him up. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.Use a million small vents instead, with a pair of radiating fins, like we do for our own designs'' I asked my Eight Hand. ''I know what to do Emperor Pef. Remember who built 30 thousand Hammers?'' the Core said a bit annoyed I doubted his competence. ''Those reactors look wonderful though. I''ll reverse-engineer one, so you can build the same for our ships.'' Man, I really was right, delaying the Core takeover. Technology jumped again, under Palpatine''s rule, just the ship reactors having increase by two magnitudes. Not to mention thousands other discoveries. The new Acclamator II-class assault ship produced at Kuat have 0.6 hyperdrives engines. In fact, I should ''reposses'' a few of them and see what new tech they have integrated. No, no. yes, one without crew! Come over here! Planet Coruscant Imperial Senate 17 BBY Three day later. I looked over the corrupt Senators and their corporatist backers, now not even pretending not to collude, without Jedi or Inquisitors to ''re-arrange'' their minds. "Esteemed Senators, I looked over the hundred of proposal you have put together, and I''m very disappointed. It seems many of you don''t even understand how banks work. Those who understand banks, do not understand concepts like common healthcare and police forces. Or Navy and Army, or Intelligence operations. Do they send you to school, before you arrive here, in the Galactic Senate? So, here what''s going to happen. All the companies nationalized after the Clone Wars, will be repossessed by the Pef Empire through the Galactic Banks credit offices. This is for a humanitarian reason, such as trillions of workers don''t lose their jobs. We will keep the companies going, and look to improve their productivity and quality. In regard to plagues, you might have noticed the reports of the Pef Empire Medical Division, which found at least 4 billion ongoing pathogens, just on Coruscant, some of which are zombies and ghouls, other are Taozin creatures 50 meters long. Yes, under your feet, right now, our doctors and troops are exterminating billions of walking cadavers. You should go and see with your own eyes. Let''s all hope this zombie plague doesn''t leave the planet and eat your constituents, right? Thousands of different diseases and infections also plague the capital of the galaxy. We are not sure how many hundreds are new vectors, but I do advise you all to visit a doctor soon. Which is why, a partial evacuation will take place, mostly on the lower levels, and these people will be transported to CDC refugee camps deep into the Pef Empire. Automated food transports, without crews, will be allowed to land in special zones and distribute food rations to the populations of the large planets. However, this operation will also double the fiscal costs incurred daily by the Galactic Empire. So, in compensation, the Kuat subsidiaries will be nationalized by Pef Empire, again through the Galactic Banks credit officials. They will continue to produce ships, of course, but under supervision from the Galactic Bank. And lastly, Emperor Pef was magnanimous and will allow most indebted worlds from the Galactic Empire to join the Pef Empire, and be included in the Corellian Accords for financial aid. This will mean naturally, raising the salaries to Pef Empire standards and massive investments in infrastructure and terraforming, as well as a protective umbrella of 40 thousands battleships and many more soldiers. That will be all for today, please do visit a doctor and make sure your constituents will still receive representation next week." I concluded my speech, which was of course transmitted over holonet to all the galaxy. Let''s hope at least a few worlds will want to join my Empire... I nodded to a few Senators, before I again, replaced the helmet of my Terminator armor, and went to ransack more of Palpatine''s libraries and secret labs. They were all quarantined by droids wearing surgeon masks, which for some reason made everyone stayed away without questions. Truth is, Coruscant was indeed a huge nest of ghouls and other plagues, carried from all over the galaxy. No need to fake that. Thousands of ''black'' clinics, making tailored viruses and whatever genetic and cybernetic mods, millions of gangster bands, some posing quite some difficulty to pacify. Without this blockade, there would be no chance to catch them all, and the Vong agents I was certain to be here. Also, billions of ''feral'' droids and infected with thousands of cybernetic viruses. Truly, it was a miracle anyone had survived this long on this death world. Millions of people will be ''evacuated'' every hour by our Lucrehulks and Mountains, while asleep of course. Slavers and dark jedi will not wake, while criminals and gangs will be ''upgraded'' to cyborg units. I could use more cyborgs, especially after complete level 8 neurological imprints. And here and there, there will be a kid with force powers, which we could save. Lumiya or Shira Elan Colla Brie and Mara Jade should be here, as well as Juno Eclipse. I will find them all. Those kids on Mandalore and Sanctuary will need playmates, right? Anyway, it is time to go soon. Colonel Thrawn will reach Ziost next week, once the worlds behind him are pacified and civilized. One more week here on Coruscant...reading Sith holocrons and scrolls... ''Hello Avatar. Breaching the blockade was quite difficult, even for me'' a familiar voice resonated in my head. ''Miss Fay, most beautiful Jedi on this planet. Step into my office'' I replied a bit surprised. Almost forgot about the most beautiful and strong Jedi of all times... "Flattery again. You could shield your mind better, Avatar" she said calmly, after uncloaking on the couch in front of me. Not another one...the Third Hand was quite...amusing now. "The answer you seek is not here, Grandmaster. Force abilities, Sith holocrons...only toys. You must go to Jedha. The wills are five, my dearest maid..." I said softly, as the Centerpoint beam focused on the last Jedi and translated her on the holy moon. See, that''s how you deal with fanatical zealots. You send them on trips. Plus it was the absolute truth. She would find the answers she needed on Jedha. Just...not the answers she wanted. Gree Enclave Planet Sanctuary, Pef Empire 17 BBY, Next month The newly repaired Kuat Shipyards have been repurposed to produce Dakka III-class corvettes, albeit a modified faster version with 0.6 hyperdrives and a view-through transparisteel bridge window, 3 meters thick. And two medium hell projectors on the dorsal side, instead of ion cannons. And no stealth modules, of course. The Acclamator''s design was elongated in the back, to protect the engines with armor, and a CIC bridge was built inside the armor. The upper pod will be filled with sensors and holo-emitters. So, for now, no new Acclamators III, till all the existing ones are upgraded. This will give the workers time to adjust to their higher salaries. Still, there are thousands of ships built already, and it''s three times cheaper to upgrade a hull, than build a new one. We''re doing the same with our Orions and Meteors. Because corvettes are still to fragile for a fully armored bridge to matter. The Meteors I are being upgraded directly to Meteor III, with the powerful solar ionization reactors, and plated over with actual armor. The hulls of the next 13 thousand Meteors III are still being melted, all over our mining systems...and that series will take two years at least. The Meteors II are busy, mostly transporting refugees, so they''ll have to wait. Plus they are brand new. Just Coruscant will take a whole year to empty out to about 50 billions. There are huge underground cities in there, some of them don''t even know the Republic is gone for 4 years. They grow fungi and lichens and steal water from cooling pipes... Man, they will be so happy to see the sun... And here at Sanctuary, I brought planet Myrkr, with its ysalamiri. And also planet Yalara. The one with a planet sized cloaking device, which I am reverse-engineering right now. Very useful to keep things hidden. Well, not from Centerpoint Station, which is a cheaters cheating dream, but from other things. A similar device will be able to cloak the 350 kilometer long space station with ease. And the Manta battleship, the 50 kilometers one as well. And while exploring Myrkr, I found a dozen dark Jedi and a few...family jedi, hiding with their kids in the shadow of ysalamiri, not even sensing each other. But even better is figuring how to use space alter to copy the trick Bendu does, floating ysalamiri in the air, by bending space in various shapes, like tubes and cups. Not sure if Bendu uses the same abilities, but it looks the same. I still have more to learn, but I''m approaching what the best of time can do. Possibly. Still can''t use plasma or acid alter. Though, if I study the Ancient Abyss and its stomachs more, I should figure out the last one. Peffy is learning machine-biology magic, and how to control it. Mostly by draining Cronal''s soul, and reading Sith scrolls. Sadly, it''s a Sith ability based on Living force, with a tiny bit of Physical force. It will take me years to learn what Peffy can in a month. Well, we are both learning at once, of course...but I lack the living part. For example time alter is almost impossible for everyone, even Solanus. I can''t reroll deaths yet, but material damage and organic resynchronization are a bit easier for me. This must be how Rakata self-repair works. Some kind of embedded self-actualization routines, which I''m trying to duplicate as well. 47% by my own appreciation. Bit by bit and a thousands experiments later, and I discover another trick, and another layer in the Rakata forcefield. If only there weren''t trillions of layers. Then again, if it was easy, the first mad jedi would have murdered this galaxy long ago, not that they haven''t tried. But the machine meld might be the solution to the droch plague. Lobotomize it, and control it. Enough! Let''s jump to Dantooine and travel north to visit the Gree. Our expansion in the west has stalled, after taking a hundred more planets, like Orinackra , Xerton Nine then Kuratooine and Fhost. There are a few more worlds known, and they''ll be claimed soon. But the exploration droids do not return anymore. Which is a bit worrying. I know there is more...oh well. We can do it with observatories like that on Jakku, and map the hyperspace and nebulas and everything in between, but I fear the worst. Okay Centerpoint Nav, set course for Sernpidal and then Gree. I want my Tsil maid Ray back, and some answers. And better not be poetry or prophecy. Or I''ll copy Chewbacca rip a few limbs off. Sometimes they grow back... And on we go...untill we reach the Gree space, at Asation. Planet Asation, Gree Space High orbit. Huh, don''t panic guys! They must think I''m a Celestial come back to finish them off... Or perhaps the thousands of ships which came with me? One or the other, maybe both? ''Interdict the system, and find me some six tentacled cefalopode in charge'' I muttered in dismay. Can''t someone just tour the galaxy with his own moon sized space station and a few escorts? No need to panic! Planet Asation, Gree space High Orbit Sigh, sometimes these commando droids are too literal. At least they didn''t summon that tentacled Lotek''k again. Dealing with another demon would have been...fun, I guess. But a six tentacled Revwien is close enough. Pretty tall at 2 meters, and with all sorts of apparatus hanging from belts and neck chains. Pulsing in the force too, similar to that old Neti Master, Bnar. This guy, Wuwuhuul has a type of Force called Tyia which is a mild form of living force. Telekinesis, telepathy, plant alter, animal bond. Nothing special, except some forms of rudimentary gene alter on certain plants, to make them function like machine devices. Grenades made from spore pods, pollen emissions, solar energy storage... Then again, they discovered it by themselves. ''What do you want from us, Mighty Droid Emperor?'' the Revwien asked me with some worry. ''Well, nothing yet Wuwuhuul. But your race should start preparing for war. The Vong are here, in our galaxy. Only millions for now, but trillions more are on the way. And from now on, those shriveled people of your race, which go mad and try to destroy life, either kill them yourselves, or I will. Because like Palpatine and other dark users, they will go for plagues. And sterilizing a whole planet can be prevented at the source, I am right?'' I asked a bit upset. Now I remembered where I knew these guys from. They taught Palpatine... ''We are peaceful people...we do not desire war...'' the plant guy replied, with a wave of two tentacle like arms. ''Your people taught Palpatine, the Sith Lord, am I right? Look what your peaceful ways caused. The Clone Wars with trillions of deaths. Plagues released to entertain himself and vanish political dissidents. And when you teach the Vong, it will be a hundred times worse. You will go to the Revyia temple and explain to the Tyia masters what I need them to do. Mad people with superpowers are dangerous, not just insane. A few ships will come with you, and make sure the message is received and implemented. As long with some uplift technologies and lessons about history and the correct use of the Force. And don''t worry, I brought your planet here, so the trip won''t take long.'' I replied more sternly, and signaled my droids to guide him to a dropship. Ah, finally a Gree. ''Good job Sergeant BX11/6665544111111, just stay by his side while I...'' and locking coordinates and teleport. "Welcome to the Centerpoint Station, Master Crafter. I have questions." I said softly. At one meter tall, with a breathing mask and octupi like tentacles, the Gree didn''t seem much. "Why do you bother us, with your foul Rhakti ship? It still screams in pain." the Gree guildsman replied with a nervous head shake, and the bulbous brain appendage, or perhaps leku... but a quite large brain sac which flopped oddly behind their head. "It''s a Celestial ship and a hyperspace lock. I just mounted a Rakata forcefield on it, since if this station is destroyed, possibly all life in the galaxy will be devoured by the evil entity beyond Kessel. If the Vong or the droch or that hyperspace demon of yours don''t manage to anyway. Now about my questions. Your people taught Dooku, or Sith Lord Tyranus a bunch of things, didn''t they? How to craft powerful weapons and alloys, solar sails and cloaking, even energy weapons like those ion beams. Which he then used on my Empire and the Republic. I am not happy with you, Gree crafters." I said a bit upset, again. Because everyone seemed eager to teach Sith Lords everything. Even Mother Talzin taught Palpatine. "That demon was summoned by some Sith Lord, millenia ago, and it took hard work to contain him in the first place. In "the most ancient and forgotten days" . Before we served the Celestials, and the Rhakti as slaves..." the Gree leader complained, like it was my fault somehow. "Yes, in those fabled times, when you built these Hypergates and even had ships. Your guilds hide their lessons, and when an artisan or crafter dies, all their knowledge is lost. Which is why the Gree have only one manned ship, the Baran, and one unmanned ship the Gray Secant . Which you can''t even remember how to recall home. Now, here what we''re gonna do. I''m gonna repair this system, and build a thousand factories and shipyards. While you, personally, will go gather all your leaders and high ranking masters, and return to Asation next week. And we''ll all have a little chat, how to save your race from extinction, and what can your race do to contribute to the war efforts. And I might be merciful and forget about those times when your race helped the Sith. You agree? Of course you do. Now, you''ll go with my maid Asajj Greyshade, and her ships, since you don''t have the brains to buy one or the knowledge to build one anymore. Bye" I said more sternly, then teleported the slimy guy to Asajj''s ship, and her whole battlegroup in orbit above Licha In, the farthest planet in the Gree Enclave, and one where the Gree practiced slavery. hey''ll soon learn to discontinue such cultural practices, or keep being dismembered. We have our own customs too. Now, where is Ray? There you are, learning biotechnology from a Gree artisan. At least someone was doing their job. ''Hello Sunshine. You don''t call, you don''t write. Your planet almost got glassed last year...'' I sent to my Tsil maid, interrupting her poetic approach to bioweapons. ''Many useless things you learned, this beautiful ray through mists sees. But at least a will was touched. And more will follow. If only Ray could figure out the machine meld...'' she proclaimed poetically, locking the stasis field on her experiments, and waving awkwardly with her droid hand. ''It is good to see you, my weird friend. You should go and meet my Avatar, and try to find that Sith ship on Ziost. And take this holocron to keep you warm'' I messaged her telepathically, and dragging her chassis into a hug. ''Where is my new terror armor then? And why are those silly droids hiding in the corners?'' Ray asked curious, going to poke around the Culexus assassins. Which were cloaked and masked with Taozin amulets. ''Bodyguards. Just in case...'' I muttered in telepathic sigh. ''Just in case you wrestle with a god, and your left hand is too weak to strangle it?'' Ray asked amused, as I wrapped her crystal self with a new feminine Centurion droid, and then a Terminator 1000 power armor. ''Accidents happen. Now off you go, a small step for a ray of sunshine, a giant step across the galaxy, next to Solana and my Avatar...'' I proclaimed grandly, and teleported her to Ziost. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Now, I got to confiscate a Gree hypergate for myself, and one for Solanus. They really were thoughtful, these Gree. Placing two hypergates here on planet Asation, so easy to pluck and whisker away... ''Solanus thanks you for your grace, silly droid. And even more for finding Ray. He likes her, for some reason'' Solana sent with a tinge of envy. Why would she care if Solanus likes Ray? Women...even gods couldn''t really understand them. Planet Asation, Pef Empire Verdant Green Cube for the study of science. Two weeks later I''m trying to avoid getting too used with colorful and geometric verbs and adjectives but it''s so kriffing Pink! And oval in my taste...damn it. Learning the Gree language has scrambled this partition. "Honored Gree deploy terminals expressing advanced data contributions which can be made in exchange for unique rewards. Consult and rejoice!" "Honored craftsmen, and other various operators and administrators of lesser importance. I am certain you''re all eagerly expecting me to leave, and let you rot in peace. But, it''s not going to happen. Our galaxy is under attack from a dozen directions, by species and entities just as evil as the Rakata curses, the Lugubraa and the Mnggal-mnggal. My brave Admiral of the Chiss species, simply known as Thrawn in galactic basic, will be beginning the pacification of the north-east quadrant, with his fleets anchored on Zeta and Huk. But just current technology will not be enough. There are vicious creatures out there 100 thousand kilometers wide. And trillions of those Lugubraa, and the Croke Conjurers, and even Vong and Vagaari and Ssi-ruu . Your wonderful Karkak''k Marek scanner devices on the only ship of the Gree make will be reverse-engineered and the same as your Totth''k Lotos healing device. That gravity shear field named Varat''k Snarap will also be analyzed and reproduced. The Gree will receive 100 Acclamator transports ships, which are 5 times faster than the old circle, with 0.6 hyperdrives , in exchange. And all that, along with the new planets like Cilare and a few more class II planets and many asteroids, for free. Because civilization means sharing knowledge, and benefiting the whole civilized galaxy. Thousands of smart people from all over the Pef Empire will come here at the Verdant Cube, and study your methods, while a million of your smarter young ones will study both modern and Gree tech, and merge our knowledge together. As the same rules as proclaimed widely by my Avatar will apply, even in this corner of the galaxy. No force weapons, no mental coercion, no bioweapons. Along with slavery and mad force uses. Certain exceptions will be made for our assassins and paladins when they act to protect the galaxy against grave threats. But, those people undergo professional training and rigorous mental verification. Now, any creative solutions this esteemed group can contribute?" I said politely, and not ripping any limbs. "The operator''s guild will not succumb to your feeble threats, Droid Emperor. You need us more than we need you. And we have heard of atrocities committed on Lincha In, by your droids..." "That''s the price we all pay for civilization, lesser important operator. Slavery is rewarded with dismemberment, and using bioweapons with eternal torture. Notice that our laws are not made to forbid such things. We couldn''t actually, given how large the universe is. But, we are graceful and reward such uncivilized acts with their appropriate cultural reverence. Your species is welcome to test our resolve, and we will gladly rip off more limbs or souls. Everyone can be happy, in doing what they know best" I explained gently and politely. "And who will work in the factories or the fields then? Our feeble limbs are not made to plant crops or hammer iron..." some less valued administrator complained loudly. "Droids, of course. I''m certain more solutions will appear and end the orange sphere of decay. Perhaps neural biochips to control exoskeletons? Miniaturized tractor beams and anti-gravity effectors? Your bodies are half made of brains, you will think of something, eventually. In the meantime, the Pef Empire will provide Imperial Servants and droids to feed the citizens. Also, one thousand ships will guard your feeble bodies with their hard armored hulls and their hot weapons. So, begin teaching your next generations, or I will. But you may find my methods...too civilized" I proclaimed civilly. Damn them all, feeble races with brains too big. You''d think using droids would have been the first invention on their minds, not slaves... Sigh. Over 100 thousands worlds from the Galactic Empire have decided to join Pef space, but they still had millions more. And those Moffs and other leeches were clinging to power with desperation. Time to give them something to do, on other vectors, like south west and west. But first, let''s ''borrow'' the Gree Rokak''k Baran battleship and bring it inside the Centerpoint, along with all the tech I liked. And teleport to Coruscant. Huh, let''s take over all these feral droids and the Navy and Intelligence supercomputers, and start finishing the cleanup. We lost 50 million war droids already, in the lower levels of Coruscant. Time to use this ready made army of 5 billion junk droids to exterminate the ghouls and harvest the Taozin for their nodules, while deploying a quadrillion nanobots to repair the old Gree made sanitation and water treatment centers. Yeah, who knew that Coruscant''s lowest levels were full of Gree tech? Luckily I learned enough to emulate a gree operator. Cloning labs, bioweapons labs, energy research, assassin droids, even their own cloaking research. The Galactic Empire was certainly busy, while I was civilizing the Outer Rim. And, let''s change the orders for half the Imperial naval groups to head into the unknown regions and explore. 15 thousands capital ships and 500 thousands smaller ones. They should find something, just by luck. We''ll know by next week, how many survive the ''exploration phase'' And let''s ''confiscate'' all their star charts and hidden locations. Databases with infiltrators and spies and double-agents... Huh. Two Jedi on Humbarine were working for the ISB. Really Fay? You still can''t tell when one of yours is corrupted? Not that finding out that you have 23 spies in the Paladins or a million spies everywhere was fun, but we had a hundred times more. At least no three star Servant was turned. Not that they haven''t tried... And, my nanobots found 5 Vong infiltrators, here on Coruscant. With really hi tech devices, part slicing tools, part organic computers. Sadly...I can''t grab them with teleport. Kriff. Nevermind, lock them in air alter and sever their spines. One of them will talk, eventually. What else? Right, ''accidents'' to place our people in higher ranked positions. About 10 thousand ''accidents'' from gusts of wind, to turbolift failures and careless drivers. There! Now the Imperial Senate and the Military should be easier to control. Damn, another week has passed, while I was having fun. Planet Coruscant. Centerpoint station. I guess I can bring 4 more planets here, one for mining and three for agriculture and cities. Barely a drop in the pond, moving 12 billion people to nearby planets. But it should make me more popular. Here, some asteroids and a gas giant for tibanna as well. I''ll even start a few factories and shipyards, so the planet is spared a few years of investments in technology and mining. But still, under a company I owned. And start hiring smart people...half a billion for now, being offered new jobs at triple pay. Let''s hope they''ll like the new conditions. Fresh planet, new apartment in skyscrapers, room for a family of five. Yep, one million in the first minute. I did pick those who seemed smarter, after all. Detach 1000 Servants and a million droids to oversee the new companies... Okay, now let''s check what happened in the unknown regions. Major loses, as expected. 90% loses, in fact. Killiks and Vagaari and Ssi-ruu ships, a thousand new worlds, some of them infested with Mnggal-Mnggal... Even a few Chiss ships, which smartly ran away...someGrysk Hegemonyships did not... Star destroyers eaten alive by some large membrane creatures. Smaller ships were eaten by the Lugubraa swarms, or electrocuted by Croke shamans and other cults. Plus dozens more species that no one had seen before. Well then. New orders...teach the locals basic, and talk. Also, about 30 humans colonies, seeded by the Anawa corporation, smack in the middle of some swarms. Form a defensive battlegroup for each. Yes, conflicting orders, we know. Major upheaval and leadership changes on Coruscant, treat all further orders with circumspection. A couple of Rakata worlds, mostly feral. What to do about the aliens? Well. If they don''t look humanoid, blast them! The rest, be polite and teach them basic. The Galactic Empire needed enemies, and now it found them. They could do their part now, while they still had ships and troops. With Kuat producing ships for Pef Navy, they may soon find that even their large Navy is not enough, especially when fighting in a fog of war. Hmmm, and with the new leadership changes, 50 thousands more worlds requested to join the Pef Empire and receive credits and aid and jobs... At about 1 trillion per planet, 50 quadrillions more credits could be spent on these new worlds...not bad. I might get to use the stolen treasury from Muunilist, in a decade. Because all these investments? In a year or two they began producing profit somehow, through taxes on income and profits, even at a fixed 5%. Well, it won''t last forever, even with 98% of the hard work being done by droids and tractor beams and automated factories. In a million years we''ll need to shift to recycling and renewable resources, like wood and plastic and glass. Perhaps sooner in the Core worlds. Much sooner on the ecumenopolis planets, which were dependent on imports for everything. Solar energy and hypermatter should be available for billions of years, as well as energy refineries around black holes. Not gonna worry about energy for a long time. But the free and cleaned lower levels of Coruscant could be used to farm mushrooms, and hydroponic cultures of vegetables and fruits, and even synthmeat factories. Which are not meats made from plastic, but rapidly grown clones of various herbivores like Shaak, or Nerf or Bantha. Nothing amazing, I mean they did it with sheep back to the future, those primitives on my forgotten homeworld. Yeah, let''s detach 1000 more Servants and their droids, and start a dozen companies to use these huge caverns of durasteel and duracrete. Now, any more ''accidents'' to be arranged? About 2000 more. Good enough. Our changelings and other agents should be promoted instead, and start influencing policy on my behalf. And let''s arrange one Vong agent to be ''captured'' by the ISB changeling. Promotion well deserved, and news of extragalactic invaders should pull the Intelligence community towards the side with more guns. That would be me, of course. One Meteor II had 6000 guns each, and this ''intelligence swoop'' says that Pef Navy will have 20 thousands Meteors and 100 thousands Hammers in 2 years. It would even be true. Sadly, it will be the last report that spy sent before he was discovered. A million other spies were captured and turned or ''disappeared'' during this week, so nothing will seem strange. Pef Intelligence just got better all the sudden, or perhaps Emperor''s Palpatine shadows didn''t cover them anymore. Okay, time to lift the blockade for diplomatic transports, after severe medical scans. The last of the Corridor ghoul and the Cthonon the lower levels were finally eliminated. "Citizens of Coruscant, you might perhaps have noticed the gift of friendship that the Pef Emperor has offered. New planets and asteroids in the Coruscant system, and the eradication of the sith plague of ghouls in the lower levels. Sadly, medical quarantine still has to be maintained, as 4000 diseases still lurk on Coruscant, but after health inspections and rigorous scans, diplomatic envoys can resume their normal activities. The evacuation of the lower levels will continue for at least one year, but as the population pressure reduces, wages and food demands will stabilize. The Pef Empire is your friend, so be civil to our brave medical division and their droid helpers." I proclaimed on the holonews. I hoped the Coruscant people will like my gift, but if not, I could take it back... Anyway, it was time to go, and finish up those ghosts in the Sith pocket. Thousands of Sith ghosts...even if the Avatar and the maids did their best, they were strong and too many. It was time to clean up that mess. Next stop Korriban. There was nothing to fear there... The hell it wasn''t. Just that XoXaan''s Temple , in my memories, gave me the creeps. But it has to be done, and I''m probably the best thing for the job. Plus, draining thoussands of Sith ghosts will be fun! Sith relics Planet Coruscant Imperial Intelligence Headquarters, Level 5225 Armand Isard looked over his new officers, at least 90 of them new like fresh grass, and despaired. Once that huge Centerpoint Station has left, the hyperspace jamming field was gone as well, and instead he was left with a billion reports, most of them of lost agents and ships, and news of some sort of Moff plot to abscond with their fleets in the Unknown regions to the west of the Galactic Empire. A disaster, worse than a war, with 400 thousands vessels lost, a thousand new races discovered, many so aggressive they could literally chew through starship hulls, then devour the crew inside. A hundred wars, and dozens of undeclared human colonies, which now had to be defended by Imperial Navy, which lost 40% of their ships in this final plan, that Palpatine left behind as insurance. The Navy will have its hands full on the western fronts, while entire sectors were defecting and joining Pef Empire''s safety. The hidden clash for power in the Navy Command had exacerbated a hundred times, and more than 12000 officers and Senators had died, in so called accidents. Even a hundred deaths were suspicious, but a hundred times more? And even worse, this Vong agent, from a distant galaxy, had been here for 12 years already, preparing the way for a galactic scale invasion. That new agent had luckily stumbled on his secret listening post, while verifying the safety of the lower levels. Where billions of ghoul and feral droid corpses were being melted by the Pef''s Empire Medical Division, which looked more like heavy assault divisions than medics. Then again, billions of ghouls...right under his feet. "Everyone, new orders. Each of you take genetic samples from the Exolab56 , and begin searching for other such Vong infiltrators on the lower levels. There could be thousands more! And send descriptions of this race and their equipment to every intelligence station in the Empire. I want these things found, and their brains drained with torture probes. Move!" he yelled in his gravest tone. 200 lieutenants and captains runned towards their com stations, leaving only the highest ranks, now including this new guy, some new recruit from Rohan. "Majors and Colonels. Find me facts. Investigate all the remaining Moffs, and find out who won their so called power games. And then bring them to me. Our cloaked corvettes can bypass this Galactic Bank''s blockade, right?" he asked, almost confident. "Sir. At very large distance from those Meteors and Hammers. The Pef Empire has gravitic crystals detectors on their big ships. But yes, with careful navigation we can avoid them. Not that we need to, anymore. The diplomatic envoys have been allowed to travel again. We just need the right credentials..." A smart colonel explained pointing at the text of the holo proclamation from Centerpoint. Even better then. A handful of cloaked corvettes were not enough to send secret orders throughout the empire. A Delta/Black report caught his attention. A spy from a new Pef Navy heavy maser factory. New orders to equip 13 thousand Meteors III and 70 Thousands Hammer II with millions of heavy guns, in the next two years. Added to their already immense predicted fleet...Pef Navy will outmass the now even smaller Imperial Navy a thousand times. They must be strip mining and exploiting those mining planets from the ''nationalized'' Mining Guild like crazy. Then again...those horrors to the west, and that extragalactic invasion... Maybe those proclamations made by the Avatar of their Emperor weren''t just fear mongering. ''Bioweapons are restricted for use against extragalactic invaders. When they come, they''ll die screaming...'' the boy said, like it was a ride to the holomovies. And yet, Emperor Palpatine himself was now screaming in endless torment, his soul caught in those horrible crystal prisons. A hundred more Empire biologists and gene engineers were also adding their silent screams, as well as Moffs and Army officers who took part in the bioweapons release. You couldn''t protect those people from their stupid actions, not when the Pef Emperor could simply move planets or blackholes at his convenience. What use were secret labs and hidden outposts, when Centerpoint could... For kriff sakes. This wasn''t a fight that could be won. 50 thousands worlds have defected just past week. In a few years, the Galactic Empire remnants will be a joke, a few thousands worlds and ships, and with quadrillions of credits of debt, that could never be repaid. No, the only rational solution would be to join the new Empire with their heads up, and then turn their weapons and skills against the incoming storms. "My esteemed officers. I have a question. How long do we wait, untill we overthrow the last remaining Moffs, and clean up the mess left by Palpatine?" He asked his trusted subordinates, and noticed that the new Major from Rohan just nodded silently. That guy, he expected this? Then again, he was quite a smart one. "We can prepare the terrain, arrange things through our contacts. But it will take at least a year. Do you wish to become the new Galactic Emperor, Director Isard?" his right hand man asked politely. No matter how fun that thought was, it was an empty dream. Without money and ships or shipyards... "No, off course not. If what that Vong agent will be confirmed, only the Vong have at least 100 thousand battleships, each around the size and strength of a Mandator or a Hammer. And even bigger ships, their worldships, 5 times longer than a Meteor and 20 times wider. Coupled with the ongoing wars in the west, and the rapid shrinking of our Empire...in a few years we would be just another minor polity like Hapes or Bothan. Better armed of course, but the Vong would still stomp us. And I don''t want a thousand of future generations paying the interest of the loans that our Imperial Senate voted, and now can''t pay. Hell, even the ration bars that we eat are donated by the Pef Empire..." Director Isard said, with a tinge of exasperation. "Moff Tarkin will be a problem sir. My agent says he''s planning to declare himself Emperor..." another Colonel whispered, like this room wasn''t secure. That would be pretty bad. The warmonger would try to stop defecting worlds by force, and the Navy didn''t have enough ships, not now. Plus the Pef Navy would just blow them up. "We shall see about that. What I have in mind, for the transition is an Empress, elected by the Imperial Senate" he mused. Perhaps Senator Mon Mothma...no, that one was a Republican. Maybe Jannie Ha''Nook ...or Bana Breemu ? That Senator Amidala would have made a better choice, but she had fled to Mandalore for one, and Naboo had already defected anyway. He would have to talk with both of his candidates, and see who would be interested in becoming an Galactic Empress and soon after, marry that Avatar and end this charade. A union made out of love, the people would lap it up, just like they did on Empress Teta and Naboo and Atrisia, and a dozen more worlds, where that Avatar just ''charmed'' their female leaders into becoming wives and allies. In fact, he should schedule interviews right now, before those women left the capital on whatever errands. Meanwhile, in Sith space Planet Ziost, Pef Empire Both Miss Lyn and Miss Mourne were appalled at the devastation left by the Sith Emperor Vitiate, who drained the life from this entire world, and left it a dry husk and a frozen waste. I was pretty much expecting all this, just keeping an eye out for tingles in the force while flying around. Dead trees, skeletons, bits of metal ...dead and forgotten temples, and telepathic whispers. Ha! Found you. I think. "We''re landing here. I hear voices" I spoke on the coms. "Of course he hears voices. This planet has been dead for millenia..." Miss Mourne complained in typical Jedi fashion. "You have to admit though, he is cute. I''ll let you have him a few nights, when you feel cold and alone..." Miss Lyn, a former dark jedi and Follower of Palawa and a former member of the Legions of Lettow, the darker side in the first great schism, said with an enticing voice. "I''m always cold and alone. Kriff. The galaxy has gone to hell while I slept..." the former Jedi Shadow complained like a young girl. "You tell me? I slept for 25 millenia. My birth planet was blown up by a Sith!" Miss Lyn exclaimed furious. "Quiet, you two schoolgirls! Or do you want to explore this temple naked?" I asked, a bit upset. And I would do it it too. Their bodies were very nice to look at. "Grrrrrr. We''ll talk about this in a thousand years, mister cool and strong. I''ve dealt with a hundred like you before, all young and brave and thinking they own the galaxy..." Miss Mourne muttered in a very quiet tone. Better. Now let''s sense where this comes from... ''Who are you? Where are all the Sith?'' A tiny voice sounded in my head. Sith Meditation Spherethere you are! ''Well, if you mean the red skinned people...there are a million on Tund, and a few thousands with force powers in my Empire.'' I explained politely. ''And the Sith Lords? Those girls behind you...they feel strange'' Ship whispered as I reached the hull and placed my palm on it. Not a ship at all, but an AI. A flying holocron, with embedded abilities. Summon, telekinesis, telepathy, weapon materialization...and 5000 years old. ''Well, Miss Lyn would be one of the first dark jedi, splintered from the jedi order 25 millenia ago. Miss Mourne...is much younger, only 4000 years old, and she was a Jedi Shadow back then. Those are...'' ''I know what those are, Avatar Greyshade. Where are the Sith?'' the ship asked anxious. ''Well. There might be a few dark jedi left, maybe even less than the Jedi. About 10 of them, being hunted down by my Officio Assassinorum. I expect all the madmen will be dead in a few months.'' I answered truthfully. Well, with telepathy you kinda had to. ''You destroyed them all. Both Jedi and Sith? A really capable one. And what will you replace them with?'' the Sith vessel wondered, as I climbed inside the sphere and looked around. Nothing. No devices, no computers. Just mind tricks. ''I have the Grey Paladins, who learn both traditions and hundreds other more abilities from other sects. Only a million of them, but we''re only a year into the program. It will take decades to recruit a billion. But time is not a problem. So, do you want to join or else?'' I said calmly. ''Threats don''t work on me, little human! But this Lyn girl. She would make a great student. And perhaps others, from the Sith species. I used to have many Sith girls flying with me.'' Ship said wistfully. ''Perhaps. You will teach whoever I tell you. And if I''m satisfied, you''ll get a few Sith girls. Lord Adas is kinda stingy with his lessons'' '' Lord Adas? The first Sith Lord? You said they are all dead!'' Ship exclaimed, exasperated. ''Dead yes. But immortal in the force. His essence lives in his holocron. Just like Karness Muur , still lives, inside his amulet, or XoXaan inside her holocron. You should know this, Ship. Let the girls inside, I want to show you The Home . '' I said politely, but sternly. Kriff, another insane Sith artificial intelligence, like Hk-47. Nevermind, even those had a purpose. A minute later, my new maids, one of them still unwilling, the former Jedi with an amazing body, joined me inside the Ship. "You were raised by that crazy droid, now it''s certain. You still speak out loud whatever crosses your mind..." Miss Mourne complained loudly, looking for a seat, and finding only an empty sphere, 10 meters wide. Very cozy in here, especially as we''ll be naked for a good time... ''We''ll go to Korriban first, Ship. The Emperor has finished with Miss XoXaan and wants to see you'' I told the AI, politely. ''Hmmpf. This Emperor better be worth my time. Standy by for hyper drive...where?'' the Ships asked, a bit confused. Yep, instantaneous teleport did a number of nav computers. And even sentient force powered AI. ''We have arrived at Korriban. Land at the XoXaan temple if you would.'' I explained gently. Why wait a few days to travel with hyperdrives, when Centerpoint could simply teleport us instantly? I had cheat codes now, and made the game a lot faster. Planet Coruscant Imperial Senate Next month "Order! Order esteemed Senators! There will be no return to a Republic, nor a switch to a Confederation. The Republic failed our citizens, and a Confederation would be just a hollow state, with corporations ruling, instead of someone representing the people. Do not forget that our Galactic Empire is now at war with a hundred terrifying races to the west. Races that drain people of their life to power their ships, or enslave them mentally, or infect them with plagues or just eat them alive. Our Navy has lost thousands of ships and over 300 million crewmen, before the front lines have stabilized. This is not the time to change the government type, again. This august Senate will vote to elect a new leader, and focus their policy into defending our planets and citizens. And keep in mind that whoever it is our new leader, they should be capable of maintaining good relations with our allies, most specifically the Pef Empire and the Corellian Diktat. We will need thousands of new ships, and for now, we are dependant on our allies for support. The Speaker can continue and tally your proposals" the interim head of state, Sate Pestageproclaimed, still feeling the hot lasers eyes of Director Isard on his back. Damn it all, they will have to clench their teeth and accept an Empress, just to avoid declaring bankruptcy, or else face a civil war, with the Imperial Intelligence of the opposite side. And hope that the Galactic Bank will be generous and deffer collecting the interest on the loans, for a few months. With Palpatine gone, and the Kuat Shipyards in the hands of those cold droids from the Galactic Bank there was no hope of turning the tide. And now, a hundred wars to the west... Not that those belligerent races won''t be conquered in the end, they were still inferior technologically. Just that they were so many, and the Navy lacked the resources and the bases to conduct deep strikes on their home planets. He will bide his time, and await another occasion to grip the power. Not that he hasn''t already ''vanished'' 50 trillions into secret accounts. Those crying kids shouldn''t beg for bread, they should eat cake! "Senator Bena Breemu holds the lead with 1337 votes, Senator Jannie Ha''nook holds second place, with 959 votes. The other candidates are disqualified. The time has come, esteemed Senators. Vote now, blue or green. We will have an Empress, and a female Prime Minister. Cast your vote now, trillions of people look up to your wisdom!" The Speaker proclaimed in a deep voice. "Blue, is the button on the right side on your consoles..." Sate Pestage, said in a fake whisper. A few Senators nodded in gratitude, pushing the right button, and making the right choice. "The Imperial Senate has voted! Blue wins! All hail our new Empress - Bena Breemu, former Senator for Humbarine, from now on known as Galactic Empress, Bena the First. And a very beautiful Empress indeed. We recognize the Empress, for her inaugural proclamation" The Speaker declared as the Senators cheered from their booths. "Senators and common citizens of the Empire. Know that I will do my duty to all those in the Empire, and seek a way to redress the excesses of my predecessor. While the current wars we are embroiled with will take time to bring to an end, I will seek to reduce corruption and oppression. I will plead with the rulers of our allies for better relations, while keeping with the letter of the Corellian Accords and the Galactic Bank''s procedures. We will have fiscal transparency and respect the lives of the sentients. Therefore, my first decision is to name Senator Mon Mothma as my special representative and send her towards Gand, and discuss a military alliance against the invading hordes from the west. Secondly, I am ordering the arrest of Sate Pestage for embezzling 50 trillions credits from the Empire''s treasury, while he was interim leader of our Empire. That''s it for today, I will have to consult with our military and intelligence leaders for weeks, before a pragmatic strategy can be formulated for our current situation. I also want to tour the new planets here in the Coruscant system, I hear they are wonderful!" The new Empress said with a lovely smile. The Senate cheered again, as the Senate Pretorians came and arrested Sate Pestage publicly. Director Isard smiled thinly, glad something worked right for once. His own daughter Ysanne Isard was just now entering her teenage years, but soon she could be presented to the Court, and perhaps selected to become a ''maid'' . Which was such a shallow title, one could be easily fooled, unless one paid attention and noticed personal security comparable to a queen, and private battleships. Riches beyond belief, and going by the rather violent reactions of the Pef Empire whenever one of them was killed...truly loved as well. A father couldn''t hope for a better son-in-law than the future Galactic Emperor. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Even if she''d only be like the hundreth wife, it was still securing a dynasty. It felt good to be on the winning side. The right side. Gand System, Planet Mimban Temple of Pomojema Scanning the galaxy for tidbits of information was very entertaining, for once. So, Director Isard was planning a personal union, between his Empress and my Avatar. Very amusing, almost like I would have done it, and prevent the fragmentation of the galaxy into warlord-ruled polities like it happened in my memories. Then again, 500 of those too ambitious Moffs were ''accidented'' , some by my own hand, if on Coruscant, some by my assassins. And Isard was likely planning to offer his own daughter in a few years. Very pragmatic indeed. Admiral Thrawn was busy setting up re-supply bases and observatories along the west side, while the Core was doing the same in the east, even finding a few interesting planets like Taral V which had a Gree computer on it, and it working condition too. Just east of Baros, in fact. So a perfect place to train my marines and some Gray Paladins on a dangerous jungle planet. More were training on Dathomir, and a few select Sith worlds, those with alchemic beasts, which were farmed for chitin armor plates. Whatever, the galaxy had thousands of death worlds, and many more to the west. Those Lugubrra worms were able to bite and digest anything, even stone or metal, so their teeth and stomach acids will be farmed for nice little weapons. Trillions of nice little weapons. For my trillions of droids! We don''t waste such perfect resources, do we? ''Okay, I had enough of just listening to you ramble. Teta and the Deep Core colonies will be fine now, with Serra Greyshade as an Empress, and all these investments and troops. I want to learn more.'' Wialu complained from new palace on planet Kuar. ''Sure thing love. Go board your ship, and I''ll bring you home. Perhaps you want to stay in the garden for a few years?'' I asked with a lascivious tone. ''Learning and having a few kids. Sure, why not?'' my Voice said with a flat intonation. Come on love, be more excited! Hundreds of scrolls, dozens of new Sith holocrons, a couple of the founding Sith, already in their essence form, and 4 new Jedi holocrons from Thyton...plus hot steamy sex? ''That sounds alright then. I''m not divorcing you yet'' Wialu said in a more excited tone. Yes! Marriage saved. For a few years. ''Still so easy to trick. Okay, we''re all on board'' My beloved Mistress sent in a stern voice. Just a second. Packing up my droid, my armor. Teleporting to Centerpoint, then fwooop!. Wialu''s frigate arrived in orbit next to me. Another swoop, and she fell into my loving arms. "Missed you so much!" I exclaimed happily. "Yeah, me too. So how long untill you''re ready Pef?" my wife asked curious. "Well, I''m about 41% now. A few years more to reach 90% of any comprehensible tech. After that...it will be hit and miss, and many many experiments. Could take a decade, could take a billion years. But I hope modern science will progress and catch up in places . Once the Gree and the Columi and the Sharu start pulling their weight. And if not..." I said softly. "More wars. I know. You think wars stimulate imagination, and make dreams a reality. But using stellar engineering and dimensional engineering for war...it would be very dangerous" Wialu whispered, now a bit concerned. "People would do it anyway. I''ve seen hyperspace force-beams and trans-dimensional creatures, mechanical races, cyborg races, insects hives, and hundreds more. The wars will never end, my love. And we only need to lose once." I explained gently. "So stop whining and keep learning then. But next time you catch a god, let me drain some too, don''t be so stingy" she muttered in my neck. Sure thing love. I had a few in mind anyway. "Well, I know where the last mind-witch in the galaxy lives. She''s called S''ybll and is now on Seidhkona , near Drongar. She must be a thousand years old at least. Wanna learn more?" I whispered softly in her ear. "You know it, my dear husband. Now you deserve to make me pregnant." she replied in a lascivious tone. Well, we''ll get back on that, since my Avatar was now exploring the home of Darth Vectivus , in the Bimmiel system. Bimmiel system The Home, Iron asteroid The asteroid had been the birthplace of a sentient race of mynocks, a long time ago. And they had force-powers, using them to drain life and attract prey. Somehow, that turned this asteroid into a dark nexus, and then a home for a miner administrator, turned Sith Lord. Only a really really cool Sith. With friends and family and all. Even built his own palace inside the asteroid. Now, locating the asteroid was quite simple, since it shone darkly in the Force. Now for the other part. The Jonex corporation had been bought, a bit more expensive that their mines were worth, but they did own this asteroid, so we could now send the miners elsewhere and explore undisturbed. "Hello there. You must be Dark Jedi Vectivus ?" I asked curious at the specter forming in front of us. "A Sith, a Jedi and a Grey one walk into a mine shaft. Looking for knowledge or power, strange trio?" the ghost replied, a bit amused. "Well, I''m Avatar and mostly trying to romance this pretty Jedi Shadow, who is some 4000 years old, and still a virgin. Miss Lyn here is a former dark jedi from the Xendor times, 25 millenia ago and she wants knowledge, while Miss Mourne...wants just not remain alone on the Ship. A Sith meditation sphere." I explained dramatically, even using holograms and illusions to tell the story right. "Ha! You really are funny, young one. Indeed, all strength and knowledge is useless without love and friends. And such a diverse group, I wish I could see that Ship, I only heard stories..." the Sith spirit said wistfully. "Well, this device allows me to hold your essence, and carry you inside, Mister Vectivus. Lord Andeddu uses one like this, right now. And he taught me a hundred force abilities. Plus your spirit is tied to this asteroid right now, and the Vong are prowling around Bimmiel. Your home will get destroyed for certain, either during the coming war, or soon after." I explained with a careless shrug, and held up a soul snare. It did happen in my memories. ''Oh''. "Strength that is never touched by ruthlessness is touchingly irresponsible." And you are really ruthless. These Vong, are the flying shadows that I can''t touch with my senses?" Darth Vectivus wondered, a bit cautious now. "Yep, that''s them. Slavers from another galaxy, immune to direct force abilities. Elemental damage still works though, not that we will use force lightning on a hundred trillions Vong. We have ships and droids for that. It will be a very intense war, that''s for certain" I explained politely. "All right then. I''ll enter this crystal and observe this new galaxy. I sense that there are no more Sith?" Lord Vectivus asked, before becoming trapped inside the snare. "There are a million Sith. The red skinned ones. But most of the jedi and dark jedi are dead. The Will of the Force wanted balance, not madness. And balance means less extremes, and more tolerance." I explained politely, while draining the special ability this guy discovered called Force phantom . Really nice concept, draining something dangerous or useless of life energy and creating a phantasm that could be projected anywhere in the galaxy. And while there, still use force abilities. Another ability called Doppleg?nger, used your own life energy to do the same. But if kept too long, it drained you completely. I''ll have to teach my Luke Skywalker to be careful then. And it did seem similar to Similfuturus of the Fallanassi, though those illusions, while tangible, were without the ability of using force powers. All three were partly material, but also different. Sigh, the more I learned, the less I knew. I front of me, I made three clones of myself, with each separate ability, and checked them with my Terminator''s photoreceptors and weapons. "What the hell are you doing Avatar?" Miss Mourne asked after a minute of combat testing. "Trying to combine the abilities. Let''s see...someone from your past?" I said gently, forming an image of her former padawan. "Looks so real?" she whispered in disbelief, going to pat her padawan clone on the shoulder. Let''s make a Fallanassi illusion of her naked body, and have it make out with an illusion of Lyn. Hmmm. Very sexy indeed... "This could be a huge help to holomovies makers. Any personage, any scene...it could be recorded and seem real..." I muttered, doing exactly that with my helmet''s holorecorder. "You''re still an idiot Avatar. This ability is a terrifying psychological and intelligence weapon. How far can you project them?" Miss Lyn said sternly, while watching the lesbian scene with fascination. "Anywhere, I think. But they need a strong nexus for maintaining. Here is okay, or former Rakata planets. Or else they need to drain life from animals or something. Or from those who cast them. Which would tire almost anyone..." I explained politely, while dressing and undressing the illusions with various lenjerie and amazon armors. "Okay, stop it. You made your point, Avatar" The Jedi Shadow said a bit embarrassed, and sneaking a look towards Lyn. Really? This got you all warmed up? How about an erect rancor, ripping the amazon''s chain mail and bending... "Stop it! Please..." The former jedi yelled and collapsed to her knees. Okay then. Maybe a bit too much. She was really easy to tease through, this galaxy not having had tons of monster/tentacle anime, or perhaps because these things did happen for real. Yeah, probably that. Those strange hybrid races didn''t just appear. They involved conquest and pain. I went to hug my Jedi maid, and pat her back gently. "Love is part of life, my dear maid. You tear it apart from your soul, and your soul dies, cold and alone. And I thought the Old Jedi had kids and all. Just the new ones were prudes" I said in a curious tone. "Shut up. I lost everything, everyone. I sacrificed everything to keep that rakghoul plague contained. And the Immortal Pef just played with that cursed amulet for a minute and made it a belt clasp on his stupid armor. I''m useless..." she complained in a sobbing cry. "You did the right thing Celeste. The perfect thing. You saved the galaxy, and arrived now. Where you are loved and cherished, and if you study hard, you will never die. Muir survived 7000 years in his amulet. But that''s a silly way to become immortal. Souls can be transferred into holocrons, or snares or crystal balls, and then imprinted back into your clone. You can learn agelessness and gene alter and regeneration. You can have a thousand kids of your own. And for that, you only need to do one thing..." I whispered softly in her ear. "I can huh? So, what do you want, a kiss?" Celeste muttered, a bit less upset. "I won''t say no to a kiss. You''re a beautiful woman, after all. You need to trust in the Force, Celeste. Think of all the unlikely accidents that brought you here, in my arms. There is no luck. This new life, is your reward. Whatever you want, I will make for you. Your own planet. A castle in the clouds. Your name written with blue stars over the galaxy..." I proclaimed heroically, untill the woman bumped my helmet with a heavy fist. "Nerf herder! Offer a lady a dinner first. I''ll give you an answer Avatar. Just, let me mourn my friends, okay?" Celeste whispered, and returned my hug. "I want my own planet, and a castle. And my ship. And a coffer full of gems..." Lyn started her own demands, and grabbed us both in a hug. "Nope. You will have to dance naked for me. And every hour, you can make a wish. Sounds fair?" I asked with a sweet voice. "You got a deal mister! But, no more than five kids. I''m won''t be a baby factory, I am Arden Greyshade, Darklady of Palawa. Mistress of the Emperor. The oldest maid and thus the most revered!" Arden proclaimed grandly, and got a forehead poke from Celeste. "Enough Arden. Let''s go back to our ship, I want to relax in that jacuzzi and just think. You two can dance and work on that baby making" Celeste demanded with a tired sigh. "Sounds good for me. Just, let me grab these lightsabers and holocrons, some kid might stab himself!" I said cheerfully, and waved away an altar to retrieve the loot. Dark Lords of Sith, so predictable. Always stashing goodies behind altars... Gand system, Pef Empire Celestial Throne 17 BBY, last month of the year I looked at the pretty red-haired woman that the new Empress has sent to negotiate and sighed inward. She had to be around 30 now, and still single. Driven by righteousness and passion, but defending some concepts that had little to do with reality. "Miss Mothma, you came to ask for ships and troops to aid the Galactic Empire against those hordes in the west, and yet suggest we should disarm and stop building troops?" I asked, a bit confused at her logic. "W-well, not right now, of course. But once peace is achieved..." the Senator from Chandrila explained with a cringe. "You do understand that it may take 500 years or 5000 years for the galaxy to be pacified? And that is if we stop exploring and growing. There are a trillion stars, of which we have mapped 5 billions. But there are many races out there who live in vacuum, or on gas giants, or in asteroid fields. And after this expansion phase is complete, we will need to patrol and defend these new worlds. Not to mention extragalactic races, some of which are already preparing to invade. But, don''t worry, I''m certain you will be the first to be sent to negotiate with them as well. I hear those Lugubrra are very good diplomats..." I said sarcastically. "You''re twisting my words, Emperor. Don''t we have enough planets? Why go and look for enemies?" the woman asked a bit more logical. But forgetting why she was here, again. "You live in a tower Miss Mothma, in the top room, looking over the nice waves of the ocean, and you think you have peace. But a dozen floors underneath you, there are slavers and pirates. And a dozen floors underneath that, there are rakghouls and feral droids and untold plagues. And out there in the ocean, there are vast fleets, sailing your way, some above the waves, and some below. Many huge monsters too. The sky themselves will rip open one day, and disgorge horrific races that want to erase all life. And that''s only external threats. Do you know how the Sith appear?" I explained with a wise comparison. "People find ancient scrolls and get corrupted?" she asked tentatively. Yes, that why the Sith ruled the Galactic Empire, because Palpatine found an ancient scroll, somehow not destroyed by the Jedi... "A few, yes. But, most of them appear from force cults. Flawed education and even more flawed understanding of the universe, which is to say...just religious drivel, and they crack, becoming Dark Jedi and Nightsisters and Prophets of the Darkforce and thousands such death cults, wishing only for power and death. And they convert others, then enslave even more, and try to conquer the galaxy, like Palpatine and Dooku and Skywalker. Others rise against them, and bombard them into oblivion, then go home happy. The problem is inside them, and it would never go away. Just more people suffer and more planets get obliterated. And this has gone on for 25 millenia at least. Ever since the Jedi created the Republic." I explained with a head shake. "The Galactic Republic represents the people, and their interests. And the Jedi Order has done many good things..." the woman argued feebly. "Yes...the genocide of the Sith species, of Mandalorian worlds, destroying every scrap of knowledge that disagreed with their beliefs, quelling revolts and dissent with mind control, kidnapping children, allowing slavery to exist and in cases even supporting the enslavers. Not that many good things. As individuals, sure, some of them are great people. But as a fanatic religious order...not really. As for representation, it''s hogwash, Miss Senator. Do you even know what the people of Chandrila want? Do they want schools and libraries? Universities and factories? Non stop entertainment channels on the holonet? Cheaper drinks? Legalized polygamy? Perhaps planetary shields and a fleet over their heads, to prevent a madman from burning them out in a minute? When was the last time you went to Chandrila and spoken with a thousand common people, asking them what they want?" I asked rhetorically. Senators. It was much worse here than back home. At least there they would have to compete for a job, and pretend to hear the citizens. Sure, my Empire was no better, but at least the standards of living were three times higher, so the people could do whatever they wanted, within the laws. As long as corruption and crime were kept low, other things formed by themselves. Plus the Servants kept their ears to such things, building a theatre here or a swimming pool there. Mostly by investing in a new corporation, and providing the service desired. "W-well, I haven''t been home...in a long time...but polygamy...seems immoral." the prude woman muttered silently. "Dunno or care of immorality. If the people want 3 wives, and they have room and money to raise their kids, it seems fine to me. On Cerea, people have 20 wives sometimes. That''s why I hire as many cerean women as possible to our new colonies. They''re smart and can hybridize with humans just fine. And if a smart and rich cerean woman wants 5 husbands, it''s her business. As long as the kids don''t starve. My Avatar has a hundred wives, for example, but our family is rich enough to feed a trillion kids and educate them to their best potential. My fourth Hand, King Kikipi of Toong''l has a thousand wives, or more. They seem happy too" I answered with a shrug, and checked her body again. She would make a nice wife, perhaps... "Keep those lecherous thought to yourself, Emperor Pef. I don''t plan to get married, my work is too important..." the woman said sternly. Kriff, said that out loud, didn''t I? "Maybe, dear Senator. My Avatar will arrive soon, and your Empress will want your expert opinion about him. Or did you think this alliance could work without marriage and kids? Just sending our brave soldiers to war, without a worthy reward? No, Miss Mothma. When the galaxy unites to repel these invaders, it will be through a dynasty. Already 200 thousands worlds have left your Galactic Empire and joined the Pef Empire, hoping for a richer and better future. By next year it will be a million worlds. You will play your part, and get to know my Avatar, and then tell your Empress everything. And thus, you will serve your people, and save them from being enslaved or eaten alive, by those cute races to west. I heard the Imperial Navy lost 400 thousands ships, in the initial attacks. Let''s hope the rest will be enough to resist one year. Then we''ll talk again about disarmament" I said with a cold voice, and pointed my helmet towards the doors. The 23rd interview was over, finally. This harridan of a woman was straining my nerves. Planning a trip Planet Gand, Pef Empire Gandia City. 16 BBY, first week. "What do you think, Senator? Isn''t Gandia nice?" I asked the harridan walking proudly with her arm on my elbow. My Avatar''s elbow. "Opulent and wasteful. Skyscrapers plated with gold, this aurodium plaza, paved with real aurodium...you could feed a billion children..." the woman said with a high class snort. "Very few children would survive a diet of heavy metals. The Emperor is working now to obtain more useful transmutations, like duranium or Impervium. Those metals have real value. Gold and aurodium barely serve any purpose, except as monetary anchors, and some use in electronics. Or jewelry and cutlery, for those who need fancy things" I explained politely. I did have a whole factory making jewelry for diplomatic purposes. They worked great. Thousands of rulers and noble houses were swayed by a 10 kilogram scepter or crown stamped from aurodium and inscribed with a few useless power words, like vidi, or levitas or lumen. Then again, that scepter would detect dangers, be light as a feather and glow in the dark. "Just like your Emperor, you''re twisting my words. The aurodium alone would be worth..." "You don''t understand, Miss Mothma. Transmutation is the procedure to shift electron orbits, and transmutes lead into gold, and iridium into aurodium. It''s real, but fake. If Pef transmutes an entire iridium asteroid into aurodium, the anchor of our currency would crash, with a trillion tonnes of aurodium devaluing the worth of this rare metal. Money without backing has no value. You did learn economics, before you were sent as a Senator, right?" I asked softly, stopping to bump fists with a school of Gands kits, going to the movies. They were all air breathers too, as I saw no respirators. How quickly things change. In 9 years, most Gand became air breathers, with only a few old timers still living in the Kiruk Canyons. By next generation, they will all have vocal cords and 5 fingers, from birth. "How long till the Pef Empire is ready to support the Imperial Navy in the west, Avatar?" Mon Mothma asked, not exactly diplomatically. "Well, we are positioning ships and troops on the western parts, north and south of your Empire, esteemed Senator. But as you know, there are very few, if any, routes mapped into the Unknown Regions. For now our Navy groups keep capturing vessels from the polities opposing us, and trying to decipher the language and their maps. Takes time. And you own Navy is doing okay." I replied politely. "Perhaps if you reduced those huge armada guarding the so called Gamma threats..." "We wouldn''t win anything, Honored Senator. If the Rakata feared the World Eater that much, that they build the Belsavis prison just to hold him, we do not dare risking such a demon escape and eat planets. The droch plague could obliterate all life in the galaxy, or the entire universe. The mad Celestial behind Kessel the same. That thing at Cularin...it alters reality. Those creatures at Bedlam too. Perhaps in a thousand years we will have learned enough, to try to disarm these dangers. But for now, we quarantine the systems and hope nobody will be insane enough to poke in there, and kill us all. Not to mention whatever is in the Deep Core and feeds off the blackhole in the center of the galaxy. We just cut off the routes and hope for the best. Perhaps no Jedi will go and stir the nest" "Errr. The Jedi wouldn''t do such things, that persecution has to end now..." "Of course they would, Miss Mothma. All Jedi are always right. They jump head first in any danger, and when they fail, they become dark jedi and hate everyone. That''s why they aren''t allowed force-weapons anymore. Maybe the few that survived will learn to think. Fat chance, but we try to be fair. Also, of the Humbarine Jedi, which surfaced once Bena became Empress and made them legal again...two or three are mad. Maybe the Empress should keep them far away. We will know if they coerce the Empress with force powers, but for Bena herself, it may be too late. Here, this is a special detector our Paladins use. If the lights turn red or black, you have fury or hate. We just end their suffering." I said softly, and gave her a hate detector. "You''re killing everyone who is furious and hates anything?" "Pretty much yes. If they are force users, and can feel hate, they are defective, and will eventually try to kill everyone. It doesn''t work on normal people, unfortunately. Then again, normal people do not bend the galaxy to their will. Look!" I said, materializing a pair of aurodium earrings in my palm. "How...they seem real?" "They are real, and my gift for you. I''m just learning this ability, the matter creation. But imagine a hateful dark jedi, now trying to kill everyone. He would manifest plagues or rakghouls or mind control people or infect others to create Inquisitors. Any force user is dangerous, Miss Mothma. But fanatic force users are much worse. They bend the Force to their will, and make it produce horrors. Sure, the Force has its own Will, and will retaliate eventually, but the damage will be done. More trillions of people dead, more planets destroyed. Now go. We will meet again, in several months" I said gently, lifting the woman towards the dropship hovering some 50 meters above. "My mission here is not over!" she yelled, a bit upset. Eh, women. They''re never satisfied. I tried, I really did. Planet Mimban, Gand System You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.Temple of Pomojema Another quick scan of the known galaxy, expanding my senses towards the galactic south to locate the oval ships with tubes jutting out, which deleted a few hours from my Findsman Captain memories. Those must be the Ang-Tii. My ships were pursuing pirates and slavers, then they found out they won the battle, and a few hours had passed in an instant. So, either memory wipe, or time alter, and possibly both. No luck finding the monk''s ship, but I did find Exocron, a nice planet inhabited by outback enthusiasts. Or so they said. It was just a cabal of Devisors , snaring ships and keeping the population prisoner. Not cool. And I needed a word with those monks. Using mnemonic modification on my crews was not fine. Also found an Alien construct . And there, another stasis pod with a young Old Jedi woman inside. This is gonna be a recurring event then? Miss Halbret could keep Miss Mourne company though. Kriff, I was never getting rid of Jedi like this, if they kept popping out. Not to mention, like a dozen or newer Jedi came out, once Empress Bena ended their proscription. Let''s take the Avatar and Miss Mourne on this trip... ''And me'' Solana demanded, feeling bored. And wanting to learn new things. ''Me too'' Asajj demanded, wanting to shoot people. And smelling fresh abilities on the horizon. ''Me three'' Wialu concluded, with an excited tone, at the prospect of new knowledge. ''I''m already in the area'' Luxum added amused. "And your Ray of sunshine wants to see the work of the Old Ones too" the Tsil maid said from her spot next to me, where she was ''investigating'' some 2000 different crystals I had obtained till now. ''Okay then, my lovelies. Get ready for adventure. And board Centerpoint in 30 minutes.'' I sent on the Voicenet. "So, I hear you''re trying to pollinate Luxum, and make real babies, not just fake mini-Jaybo?" Ray asked curious, with an assorted compendium of telepathic poems, describing the love life of my Avatar in graphic detail, and comparing the new children with the face of Jaybo. Huh, hitting the nail on the head, as always. "Not rushing into this Ray. A tiny mistake, and the mother might explode, or the kid get deformed. My crystal self is artificial, after all. I''ll have to grow an extension, an organic crystal compatible with silicon biology, but also a part of me. And then..." "Yes, and then amazing, thundering, celestial mindsex, involving chemical synthesis and electromagnetic senses. Sounds absolutely enticing. I want a baby too" My Tsil maid demanded in a serene vocabulator voice, but carrying a thousand nuances, especially in the mind waves. "Wait, you actually are a female? You can make me a baby?" I asked a bit confused. "Eh, I heard what you did, saving the galaxy from the plague. You deserve a reward, and my race deserves compensation, for losing their listeners humans, and being alone and quarantined. I''ll shift a few energy levels and become the woman of your dreams, balanced one" Sunshine-seen-through-mist replied coyly. Huh, a hermaphrodite crystal species...changing their inclinations with a few transmutation of atoms. Whatever, I''ve seen stranger things already. Maybe. "Okay then, let''s pack this up. Any prognostics on a cure for the droch?" I wondered, not really hopeful, at all. "Those Kessel spiders energy webs work, a little. But very slowly, and the spiders themselves are not immune. And a mecha-deru conversion might backfire. Especially if the nano-plague leaves the planet. Beyond our light, they might take over, and obtain an even more potent vector" Ray explained with a frightening depiction of a bio-mechanical sentient plague. "But they can''t infect the Vong tissues?" I asked hopeful. "Not exactly. They can infect Vong cells, but they soon die. Sadly, the synthetic tissues that Solanus makes are not hurting them. Those biofibers are treated like normal organic matter. We''ll test those Lugubrra next. Perhaps their stomach acid can destroy them. And next, that ''fizz'' spore you found in the Unknown Regions. We will try everything, Immortal Pef. But we fear we''ll need a new home, once everything fails. You will burn the planet to crust, and then throw it into a blackhole. And then build more factories and refineries around the new blackhole, and call it a bad day" Ray said, in a heartbreaking sob, most likely because she saw that image in my mind. Yep, I was gonna do exactly that. One planet to save a trillion? Not even a second of debate. And in the next few years. Not gonna wait for the Vong to find it and play with it. "Maybe you''ll find a nice planet, to settle on, this expedition. I''ll try to make a crystal corner in the south, for all the sentient crystal races. We found like a dozen sentient crystals, and you might be able to cross-pollinate, like humans can with a dozen species" I said gently, after all my collection of crystals were packed up, some inside me, others in their safe. "We probably can. This huge diversity of life is not an accident. The Force is experimenting, a bit blindly, to start sentience on every planet or asteroid it can. And then let them combine, and obtain smarter and stronger hybrids. Just like you are, with your grey holocrons, and grey paladins, and research centers and harems. Come on, let''s go already. That DarkStryder computer seems a nice find" Ray demanded, hopping up and down excited. It wasn''t nice at all. But perhaps useful. Kathol rift Qu''mock system , Pef Empire Centerpoint Station. A radical group of biologists, geneticists and sociology geniuses have gathered here, to create their own utopia of a place without technology, only grown biotech and genetheraphy and mostly trying to become Vong. And this Qektoth Confederation was also working on a bioweapon to ''convert'' the rest of the galaxy. Sigh, this day could have started without torture, but whatever. They didn''t get to actually deploy it, so only dismemberment, and confiscating their research and the Qektoth Confederation Space Station . Next jump, to Bpfassh and simply pin-point whatever Dark Jedi I could find, pretty easy, as they all carried red force-saber and pikes, and teleport them into the nearby sun. Not wasting my time trying to civilize a death-cult that survived Yoda''s purges for 700 years. I''ll keep their holocrons and the scrolls though, and their leader''s essence could be used as a skill power up for Luxum. ''Thanks Pef. 50 kinds of mind alter and 50 kinds of self-enhancement. Now I feel complete'' my Shard Voice sent sarcastically. "Learning is learning, my love. You don''t have to use them, but knowing how they work can make you safer. As long as there are force-cults, there will be more death-cults. It''s inevitable. Plus you''re now a shade of gray too." I said amused, as my Voices were sparring with telekinetic pulls, and trying to read as many holocrons as they could. Sigh, it''s a holocron, not a cake. A million people can read it... Also, Mister Yoda did a number on this planet, bombarding whatever Dark Jedi he located, with capital ship turbolasers, making a thousand craters one kilometer wide. Possibly killing a billion civilians too. How is this a judicious use of force? What did these civilians, or the planet itself, ever do to you, Mister Yoda? Now the planet looks like Belsavis. Whatever, we could use the new mining pits. I ordered an uplift ship to come and civilize the place, before searching for another destination. Next jump, to Aaris III . Some kind of demon inhabited a relic, named Plaque of Victory , and could use mind alter on a planetary scale, and did. The civilization that lived here was destroyed in a civil war, and...there''s something to learn from this. "You want to drain this godling, Wialu?" I asked a bit bored, as the triangular ingot in my hand was bouncing off my mental defenses. "It''s not gonna work, from that metal. You need an organo-crystal. Here..." Solana said after poking the relic for a second, and then creating a similar shape from a bottle of mineral water. Well, not gonna argue with the Avatar of a billion years old ocean. Not when she superimposed the new essence snare and passed it through the metal ingot, leaving behind a block of pyronium, and holding a triangle shaped soul snare, with this tentacled mind demon inside. Wialu drained it happily, her aura vibrating strongly as her powers doubled again. She was getting close to my own strength, again. Perfect wife, if I may say so. "Anything good?" I asked curious. "Space-time alter and many elemental abilities, plus mind drain, fear drain and rage drain. On a planet like Coruscant, I could be 1000 stronger" Wialu said with a tiny smile. Nice. Noetic alter then. Next second Wialu split in two, and went to hug me and Peffy at the same time. In her partition, two essence threads appeared, perfectly identical. She spilt her soul in two? This was a good idea, but she lacked a partitioned mind... A second later, the two clones returned to a single body, but tired and mentally exhausted. "Don''t abuse that, I''m not sure mammalian organic brains can support multiple consciousness threads, without severe drawbacks" I said a bit concerned. "Yea, I''m gonna rest for a bit..." she whispered, before she fainted in my Avatar''s arms. Another hive mind ability, which will need tweaking and repairing before being released for black ops and paladins. Similar to a doppelganger, but real, for as long as the user had strength to support it. Okay, I wasted enough time with small fries. A last small stop at Exocron, and replace the corrupt leaders with my loyal Imperial Servants. "This place looks nice for me, Pef. I''ll keep this planet for the Tsil" Ray proclaimed, somehow mesmerized by the radiation of the protostar. Eh, to each their own. Crystals had weird tastes. Jumping to Kathol system in the Kathol rift. Said rift extended like a nebula for thousands of light years, obscuring stars and even the Force with a gray haze, almost like the Celestial barriers, but different. The Centerpoint could navigate it just fine. Now, let''s see, what do we have here? A large organic device, probably the Launch gate was still in orbit around Kathol. Down on the planet, a scourge of insect hybrids and modified or invented races guarding something. A fortress, appearing as as a huge pulsing glowing crystalline organ, with a deep shaft leading down from the bio-mechanical computer with force powers, some 15 meters long, and looking like a myriapod. That should be the Lifewell , holding the souls of the Kathol, which had in time transcended to become another aspect of the force called Ta-Ree . And their guardian, DarkStryder was quite potent in the Force...almost...as me. Yeah, let''s not risk it. An evil AI with superpowers and a well of souls to power it. Just a second, I''ll be back. And jumping towards the Kathol space station, deep into the Kathol Rift. There it is, the Alien Construct, with its nice temple hidden inside, holding a nice Codex pyramid on an altar. Yoink! Whoa, power overwhelming! It increased my powers by 3.33 times and even gave me a numerical value of my Force strength. 12000 points plus bonuses. 60000 points with the Kaiburr crystal. 96000 points with the Codex. Should be enough strength now, and I can tractor the space station with us, as well. It does contain lots of nice, strange tech, even though it uses tentacles instead of tractor beams. And jumping back to Kathol system. Now, where was that stasis pod? Yoink! New maid acquired. "You didn''t ask her, again!" Celeste complained, but not refusing being hugged by my Avatar anymore. Let''s wake the new girl too, and stash another entropy pod away, for later research. "Hello, Miss Halbret. Welcome to the future!" Peffy said warmly, gently offering her a hand for support. The Jedi declined, and looked around warily. "You''re not Jedi...except perhaps her..." the woman muttered after a minute of wool-gathering, and pointing at Celeste. "Jedi Shadow, Celeste Mourne. Similar predicament as yours, Knight Halbert" my maid said politely. "And with old Master Bnar, now I have rescued three Old Jedi...anyway. Mind control and force-weapons are restricted to our Empire''s officials, so I''ll take this" I said softly, whisking the lightsaber from her hand. She might hit something important, and explodesome star system by accident. Happened quite often, around Jedi and ancient artifacts. "Kathol, the Darkstryder...how long has it been?" Miss Halbert asked worried. "We are in Kathol system, what''s left of it. The Darkstryder is still down there, making cool toys and inventing servant races. And it''s been some 3600 years since you last drew breath. Now...as much as I''d like to play with this evil force-using AI, I do have an Empire to run. We can stay one week, but after that we''re cleaning the mess." I explained politely, and focused on cyberwarfare and stealing all the Darkstryder memories and databanks. Lots and lots of cool things, plasma beam weapons, ion weapons, mind stunners, all powered by the Lifewell. Well, I just need the Firespray module design, then I can adapt it to work with kyber crystals to shoot a wide fan of green or blue plasma, and melt everything. Meltaguns, obtained! Planet Gandle Ott , Pef Empire 16BBY This world is a wonder, so far out to the galactic south and yet having 2 billion people living on it. Time to upgrade the place then. I brought 4 more planets in the system, along with a gas giant and a thousand asteroids, to give this place a little boost. Those planets are Paloma , Danoor , Shatuun and Demonsgate . I mean, they were so far away, even in this small sector, that spaceships needed 3 months to reach some of them. Mostly because of the Rift, and the Void and other phenomena. On Paloma, I had to reprogram the ruling droids, since they got a bit out of hand, giving droids a bad name, confiscating merchant ships and all. No matter, now you''re all much closer to civilization. I had the Bimmiel asteroid for a Force source anyway, carried inside the Centerpoint. Huge room inside the Centerpoint station, just think about it. 350 kilometer long, and 100 kilometers wide. You needed a telescope to find an asteroid here. Not really, but you get my point. Very large space inside. Now, let''s jump to Charis and upgrade this system too. 4 more worlds, plus tons of asteroids. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. Next jump, to Kolatill , which was finally a planet on a trade route. Planet Yvara was moved here, also Binaros and Jangelle. There were already 2 planets at Kolatill, so it made five planets now. There, three large trade nexuses, with ample room to expand and colonize, plus 30 trillions credits invested in factories and shipyards and infrastructure. And with 2000 Navy ships patrolling the sector, pirates and slavers should be history in a year or less. But no sign of the Aing-Tii. Can''t find the tricky monks. Sigh. Nevermind, their force powers should decrease substantially now, after the Lifewell was closed for business. Can''t have an entire galactic sector full of force sensitive races and phenomena, all fueled by the tortured souls of the dead Kathol species. Hmmm. Guess I should terminate 99% of those poor souls in my own Hell. Could start a similar event there, and ruin another sector of the galaxy. One year torture should feel like eternity anyway. Though I''ll keep Palpatine screaming for at least a decade, then throw his snare into a star. He was crafty enough to resurrect otherwise. Now, let''s visit Denon, in Corellian Space and make it a nice trade hub. Well, it is already huge, but a few more planets to spread out couldn''t hurt. Locking coordinates. Preparing for jump... And...wait a minute. That was a Null-burst projector bouncing off the Rakata forcefield. Those Aing-Tii monks just teleported, next to me! And rammed the Centerpoint! Don''t ram a Rakata forcefield, you silly monks! Huh. What did they think this is? The space station was larger than many moons. Their 300 meter tube of a spaceship was a bit dented on the prow, and their crew quite confused and shocked. Then again, their race was blind, and used smells and force vision to navigate. Let''sForce Phantom myself, on their ship: "Watch where you''re driving, esteemed monks. Do you even have a pilot license?" I asked with their own sign language and with a body form similar to their own half-reptile shape. "You stole the sacred Codex! It needs to be taken in our Embrace!" some wise monk exclaimed upset. "Rule number One. The Immortal Pef doesn''t steal! He takes everything not owned. And that space station was a derelict. Abandoned, thus mine. Rule number Two. No more mind control in my Empire, or force weapons. Only my agents, those trained and licensed by professionals, are allowed offensive force powers. But I am a generous being, and can make allowances for blind people driving starships. You will employ these droids I give you, and make sure you don''t bump into other ships. Next thing, if you hear about slavers or pirates, let my officials know, and we''ll dismember them. The round droids can understand and transmit your messages. And lastly, here are five holocrons with various force abilities. Like growing eyes and vocal cords, for example. But, if I hear about you monks, teaching any Jedi or Dark Jedi, I will confiscate your Embrace, and possibly worse, depending on what calamity those fanatics cause. Did I make myself clear?" I slithered loudly. "You''re not Those Who Dwell Beyond the Veil . You can''t order us what to do! " Some bone plated monk complained, a bit dismayed at my Force gifts. "And one more thing. When the Yuuzhan Vong attack, and start spreading plagues and bioweapons, the Aing-Tiibetter be present, and help us contain them. You have ten years to prepare. The Vong use similar biotech to your own, if some times more advanced. You will do your part and help save the galaxy. The way is narrow and treacherous, but if you can follow it, you will find what you seek." I proclaimed mystically, then changed my shape to my droid form and then vanished. Not that I was ever on their ship, but it looked cool. I could fake a divine being anytime. No wonder any two bit force user could claim godhood, on nearly any planet. Bunch of uncultured fanatics. Now, let''s jump to Denon, and build more civilization. Hosnian system , Galactic Empire 16 BBY A last stop to this place, since I wanted to make sure nothing was building up, to destroy with system again. A natural 5 planet system! Not even a hint of Celestial intervention. Same mineral composition, a bit of irregular orbits...perfectly natural orbits. Located just a bit south of Corellia, in fact. I could adjust their orbits a little, make all five worlds more temperate, and bring a gas giant and some asteroids. And done. Say thanks to the Immortal Pef! They didn''t say thanks, of course, not many upgraded systems did. And I worked for free! What news from the Western Front? Our fleets were mostly positioned now, 50% on the north-east, and spending survey droids like mad. A hundred new worlds were found past month, along with some 10 thousand star systems useful for mining. Planet Lysatra and Agaris were a bit familiar, and our Stinger III and Biplane III droids proved very useful in eliminating minor swarms of Lugubrra worms and other aggressive creatures infesting our new mining systems. Admiral Thrawn has began upgrading his Dakka corvettes with a turret beam copied from those Republic walkers, to deal with the larger alien swarms and spend fewer missiles. Should I tell him that the more missiles he spends, the more work our munitions factories receive? Eh. His operation, his rules. We''re already reaching 12% consumption from the vast caverns I had on Gand for explosives. And the fertilizers are almost over. I''ll need to terraform a few more such ammonia planets soon. In a decade. Now, let''s jump to Humbarine, and give our future wife a wedding present. Although, by destroying the CIS shipyards in the Core, we already saved Humbarine from being glassed by the maniac cyborg. Is this why Palpatine targeted Humbarine? To defuse a potential contender to the throne, by eliminating Bena? Sigh, that Darksight ability only works if you focus on destruction. Destroy the Hutts? A list of persons and locations appears in my mind, not by name, but in a hazy force vision, showing me who would stand in my way. But not the Vong...they''re invisible. Nevermind then, let''s try the Sith! Where is a Sith left to destroy? Ooops! There''s a whole planet full of Sith, just next to Kessel. Almost forgot about them. "Dear wives, and Voices and maids. There''s a whole planet full of dark jedi, near our borders. Just east of Fromos, in fact. Feeling bored, or do you want to stop shopping for flowers and jewelry?" I asked cautiously. You never knew with women. "And you just remembered this, now? Idiot junk droid..." Asajj said in a relaxed tone. My Avatar was massaging her back, so she was quite mild tempered now. "This whole situation is unreal. How can we teleport all over the galaxy instantly? How can you move planets? Kriff..." the former Jedi Knight complained with a suffering sigh. "Well, dear maid. Once you strip preconceptions and dogma from the force teachings, many things come clear. Some races are born with certain racial force abilities, like light manipulation for tsil crystals. That is photon modulation and amplitude. The shard crystals are born with electron modulation abilities, like a hand scanner. Talortai are born with agelessness. And so on. The Celestials, were cheaters and were born by absorbing the abilities of many races into a hive mind, along with their culture and technology. Much like I''m trying to do for my Empire. That''s why the technology of the Celestials is so advanced, and yet a hundred thousand years old, or more. The Kwa, the Gree, the Columi, the Sharu, the Killiks and the Kathol, and many others were drained and combined to absorb their knowledge and their powers. And thus we have Centerpoint station, the third most powerful construct in the galaxy." I explained gently, patting her head and growing her beautiful hair a bit longer. "Fine. The Celestials were strong. Everyone knows that. And your story explains a bit of the old histories. But how can you know?" Miss Halbret asked, not really trusting me. "The station is Force powered,my Jedi lady. And in this galaxy, all the Force filters through the Celestials now. There''s four of them, and three in the middle. The old grey one, the winged goddess and the fanged god. Father, daughter and son. Not really related, but after so many years, they might as well be. The fourth is locked behind Kessel, we almost have it contained. Still pulling strings and setting dark plots, arranging hyperspace accidents and manipulating the future, trying to draw stupid people to release her. That would be Abeloth, one of the Old Ones humans from Kathol Rift. Wish I could have told the stupid Celestials, that hive mind abilities drive mammals mad. Plus all the stupid dogma they ingested from a hundred races, which they naturally believe it true." I muttered a low voice, expecting a reply from the Father. But no, seems he was just listening. As were all the maids, eager to learn more. Another speech then. "Superpowers are not a rational basis for religion, Miss Halbret. Especially when such powers can be transmitted and learned. Morality and ethics can found a religion. Philosophy and ontology can argue for certain religious principles. Powers and weapons, organized temples and religious law and tribunals? Those are attributes of the government. And my government doesn''t share its institutions why any religion. We reserve the right to use laws and weapons. Any religion that comes in conflict with our laws...well then, they should rapidly change their doctrine." I replied a bit sternly, as we had arrived in Kesh system. And I had many people to teach about laws and civilization. "You''re saying every Jedi teaching is wrong?" the woman asked, a bit upset. And not listening at all. "Superpowers are not a rational basis for religion, Miss Halbret. Especially when such powers can be transmitted and learned. Morality and ethics can found a religion. Philosophy and ontology can argue for certain religious principles. Powers and weapons, organized temples and religious law and tribunals? Those are attributes of the government. And my government doesn''t share its institutions why any religion. We reserve the right to use laws and weapons. Any religion that comes in conflict with our laws...well then, they should rapidly change their doctrine." I replied a bit sternly, as we had arrived in Kesh system. And I had many people to teach about laws and civilization. Sky is the limit Planet Kesh, Pef Empire Kesh Sith Temple 16 BBY So nice of these Sith to be organized in temple and ranks, and segregated by race. Keshiri natives had purple skin and couldn''t reproduce with the humans which made the majority of the Sith, and thus, I left them alone, except for those I found with force-weapons. Seems these Sith did let a few keshiri join their Circle of Lords , although the vast majority of the keshiri were kept as slaves. Man, what was with this galaxy? Slavery everywhere. Sadly for them, slavery is also illegal and punished by dismemberment. A mountain was teleported in orbit and began disgorging their droids and tanks and the Grey Paladins, while I dealt with the Sith... And the life standards here were absolutely medieval, with no electricity or warm water or even steam power. Sigh. Gonna have to stay here for a few days... "Let''s go down and meet the locals, visit the Sith temple and all. Adventure! Exploration! Maybe some assassins..." Avatar said bouncing up and down with excitement. "Yay! Sith Temples..." the former Jedi muttered in less enthusiastic tones. "Exactly. Let''s see how a planet looks like, after being ruled by a religious order for 5000 years. Surely they must have many wonders!" Peffy said, half truthfully. And let''s beam them down. Slow steps, but I got to the point where I can beam down an exploration party. The capital city Tahv, had some semblance of civilization, with high walls and fountains and many sculptures made of glass. That is, in the more richer center, where houses had a second floor. On the periphery, the keshiri lived in squalor and poverty. Luckily, it was daytime on this side of the planet, and thus we didn''t need street lights and holographic commercials to navigate... just kidding. They had torches on the wider street corners. My Voices were less impressed, gliding a few centimeters above to ground, to keep the animal poo and the mud from clinging to their feet. Cause yeah, carts and carriages and most motive power came from beasts of burden like Muntok ,Shumshur and even flying Uvak. The former Jedi and the Avatar sloshed through, happily splattering everything with progress and ... A delegation has formed when we arrived at Circle Eternal , the plaza where the government buildings stood. "Salutations, most esteemed kashiri. I am Avatar Greyshade. Rejoice, you have been found! " I yelled out loud, letting the city know they were indeed found. As if a thousands dropships depositing troops and nanobots and construction droids building power plants and shields and factories all over the planet weren''t enough. "Are you the true Skyborn then, come to replace the Sith?" An elderly man asked a bit worried. "I was born on a space station, in orbit, if that what''s you mean, most venerable keshir. But otherwise, nope. No religion, just a government official, inspecting our new planet. There are many creatures who are born in vacuum, but most of them would just eat you, and this city, and the mountains. Hungry things, the Lugubbra." I said in an easy going tone. "But you can fly, and came from the sky!" the man exclaimed, a bit unhappy. "And flying is easy, so can mostly everyone in the galaxy. You have a clasp on your belt. You use saddles and carts. Same thing, just takes a few months to learn this new knowledge. Don''t worry, more ships with uplift technology are coming, to teach everyone here the wonders of science and civilization. For example, this device here, is called a droid. Its purpose is to safeguard the laws of the Pef Empire, by dismembering slavers, shooting pirates and arresting lower criminals. That metal carriage over there, is called a Gauntlet tank. Does same thing, but much faster." I explained cheerfully, then began splitting the ground apart, and raising up the very damaged hulk of the Omen, the original Sith dreadnaught that brought the refugee Sith to this planet. Well, this part might not be as simple to do with technology, yet. "It''s a Sith ship..." Miss Halbert muttered beside me, as I rotated the damaged ship for inspection. "Of course it is. Those fanatics didn''t just teleport here, did they?" I asked rhetorically. "You''re not even straining to lift this ship...how strong can..." "Eh, strength. Come now, pretty lady. A wookie is strong too. Do you want a wookie husband?" I asked amused. "No! I mean...if I ever meet someone, he needs to be strong, but..." Miss Halbret muttered a bit embarassed. "But also nice and gentle, and good looking...perhaps even young and rich?" I whispered gently, as the Sith dreadnought was teleported into the Centerpoint''s hangar. "Gah. You''re impossible!" the woman exclaimed, stomping her foot and splashing everyone with liquid respect. Nevermind then. Her armor had a mini droid autopilot, so it could fly after us. We took off, heading towards the Sith Temple on top of the nearby mountain. Below us, the Sith had a gladiator''s arena, now being used for a more popular sport. Law. The keshiri seemed to liked it, as the stands were full, and cheering, everytime another Sith was dismembered. Corellia System, Council Room 16 BBY Master Halcyon looked around the room, so laden with historic artifacts and mementos, and pages from old treaties and new. He and everyone here was beginning to realize was will happen soon. Perhaps this year, certainly next year. The galaxy will find itself united, into a true galactic empire, lead from Gand. Well, possibly not from Gand, since it was a bit far. Perhaps Vanquo, the Grey Paladins headquarters, or Humbarine...maybe Brentaal or Denon. With Centerpoint Station, the center of power could be moved wherever it needed. Sometimes moving planets or stars even blackholes. "Councilmen, what do you plan to do?" he asked in a level tone. "We will defend our rights and freedoms, of course. No Emperor is going to dictate us what to do!" I young man declared heroically. "Defend them against what? The Pef Empire laws are almost identical to ours. Possibly copied and adapted a little..." a wiser councilman said in return. "Our battleships and our shipyards, the credits we use to expand, even the systems we now control, they are all gifts from this Pef Emperor. There are now a hundred systems like ours, with five planets and rich asteroids. Soon there will be thousands. You''ve all seen Denon...a new Corellia, created in hours. There will be no fighting..." the Diktat said to calm the spirits. "We have reports from many planets, which joined them, voluntarily or not. High salaries, safe cities, booming economy, lots and lots of droid policemen and a company of Paladins on major worlds. And they are our allies, don''t forget." the wise councilman added as an argument. And a good one too. People were starting to emigrate from Corellia, to greener pastures. He took the que to speak, since Paladins were force users, of a sort. "Indeed, there are many Paladins. The miraluka were recruited en-masse, and given cyborg eyes. And if they also receive...special treatments, they will soon reach the same proficiency as our Green Knights. A million of them. Plus commando droids to back them up, and power armors. We should be glad the late Emperor Palpatine did not pursue the same course. The Green Jedi escaped mostly intact, with barely 20 knights and padawans lost, during his rule. No, there can be no fighting between us and the Pef Empire." Master Halcyon said with a peaceful voice, patting his green lightsaber. Soon, it will have to go, and be replaced with a metal sword and a gun. Or just two guns. The age of chivalry was ending. "Very well then, Master Jedi. Give the Grandmaster our regards. Now, have you all looked over the new ships designs sent by our esteemed CorelB1 Ambassador? The upgraded CR90 corvettes and Gozanti cruisers?" The Diktat asked, dismissing him like he wasn''t of any use anymore. Ships and tanks and shipyards and factories...soon Corellia would be just a mini-clone of the Pef Empire. And the Jedi...mere decorations. No matter, he could go home and hug his wife and kid, and live in peace. No more Jedi council to ''investigate and admonish him'' for his liberal ways. He should ask Master Bnar, perhaps they could also have 5 wives too, like in the Pef Empire. That sounded like a great idea. ---------------------------------- Gand System, Pef Empire Zero Garden "Miss Shaak Ti, always a pleasure to see you, even with these many clothes on" I said softly, and ducked under her polite kick. "Avatar. I see you found even more maids, to carry your children." the Jedi Master replied in a growling tone, looking over my shoulder at the three new women. "Eh, Emperor Pef remembered where some other Old Jedi were sleeping, and sent me to retrieve them. Jedi Halbret, some 3600 years old, last deployed at Kathol. Jedi Mourne, some 4000 years old, last deployed on Jeeble. And miss Arden...she was a Follower of Palawa, some 25 thousands years ago. They used metal swords back then, so she''ll adapt easier to our modern times" I replied cheerfully, looking around to make eye contact with every loving wife. They seem a bit glad to see me, so, nothing bad happened. "You could let us go, there is no more need to keep us sheltered here. Well, the few of us able to think straight anymore..." The Togruta jedi demanded in a more civil tone. Sadly, I would have to let some of them go. Jedi Masters were pretty much immune to my charms. "There are at least 200 death-cults still active in the galaxy, Miss Shaak, so it''s not very safe. And while Jedi aren''t a persecuted religion, anymore, there are millions of enemies that the jedi made over the millenia. In fact, there was an entire planet, just near Kessel, with thousands of Sith Lords preparing to invade the galaxy and exterminate the last remaining of their jedi ancestors. Because that what Sith are miss Jedi. They are your descendants. Some turned, like Dooku and Jerec and Skywalker. Other raised and trained by dark jedi. All the evil caused by the Sith? They are yours, the Jedi Order''s fault." I replied in a very low voice, keeping the revelations quiet, while leading her away from the flowers, and towards the grass field I used for sparring. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. "I cannot believe this! You''re inventing things to confuse me. The Sith are nothing like..." she protested in righteous anger. "Keep an open mind, pretty lady. Let''s see what these two religions have in common. Temples over force vergences. Ranks for the order members. Lightsabers. Lightsaber forms. Meditation. Holocrons. Scrolls. Force abilities. Mind control. Orbital bombardments. Kidnaping children. Slavery..." I explained in a litany of Jedi faults. "We don''t condone..." "Clones. Sentient people, mass produced, and forced to fight for you. They are not volunteers are they?" I asked rhetorically. "The republic needed troops and..." "And 10 million planets of the Republic couldn''t send each a volunteer regiment? Or at least print battle droids? And all that could be forgiven, due to a desperate situation and a nice Sith plot to kill the Jedi. But naming yourselves as generals? Using your padawns as child-soldiers? What officer training did you receive Miss Shaak? How many clones died under Jedi command, due to military incompetence? 90% ?" I asked in a sad tone, and holding the beautiful woman in a half hug. "I know! We were never meant to be soldiers..." she said in a fit of sadness and regret. "Or anything, other than priests. There will be no more Republic. No more religious laws enforced by Jedi. You will have no more force weapons and offensive powers. You can stay with me, or join Miss Fay on Jedha. But you will not have a padawan again, unless you give birth, and the kid accepts it, when he becomes an adult. Now stop trying to hit me and hit me!" I proclaimed in an amused tone, and flicking her forehead gently. She recovered in mid air and growled cutely, then sped up and tried to kick me. Always going for the little one. She''s gonna take a long time to tame... "I''m not a wild animal to be tamed!" she muttered low, and sped up even more, making me raise my own speed to 8%. She did improve again, while I was away. Amazing. And her body was even more muscled and toned...and her stamina was much better as well. She kept going for an hour, at her maximum speed, hands and feet blurring, while her leku danced behind her in a mesmerizing whirlwind. "Gaaah. Stop saying these things! I can''t focus on hitting you!" Master Shaak Ti exclaimed as her energy began to deplete. "That''s because you keep trying, not willing. Will yourself in the Force. And just hit me!" I said with a light voice, as the fabric of space distorted around us, and she simply appeared inside my guard, fist hitting my abdomen, about the same speed and strength as a 1st duan master on Jedha. So it hurt a little. "Good. That was the Will of the Force, my dear. It seems there''s hope for you after all. The Force likes you." I whispered gently in her montrail, as I kept her in my arms, and let her regain her breath. "I hit you, even though you''re 10 times faster. I just feel so tired...'' she murmured back, elated and exhausted. "Don''t worry, most beautiful carnivorous maid. I have just the right solution, just stay still for a second..." I whispered gently, and teleported us into the warm new jacuzzi, the one with privacy panels, and cold drinks and healing sap trays. For massaging sore backs. Anything for my dear allies. "Ah...that spot...so good..." the naive woman murmured to herself, not yet realizing her training clothes remained back on the grass. If the Will of the Force wanted Shaak Ti back, fine. But not before I left her a present of my own. Planet Mimban, Gand system Temple of Pomojema 16 BBY, next month. I am scanning the galaxy again, looking for hidden dangers and aiding my Paladins and the black ops in stopping terrorists and various corporate scum, experimenting on the people of isolated worlds. Sigh, at least a hundred of those kind of events every day. Addictive drinks and foodstuff, toxic toys and medicine designed to infect people, bombs and gas leaks and hostage takings. The good thing about all this though, the Paladins are starting to get a positive reaction from the news outlets and the population, and even the assassins are sometimes praised for terminating some terrorist leader or cell. This confuses my Triumvirate a little, as they were not expecting to be lauded as heroes. On Corellia and Atrisia, the locals have begun similar programs, using the Corellian powersuit for a cheaper alternative, albeit in smaller numbers and with much less support from force-users. The new Gozanti-class dropships work great, especially after being widened, and their underside being enhanced with a layer of neutronium laced armor, like on the Acclamators. The new Corellian CR99 Corvettes will take more work to begin their refits, plating the ships with a meter of steel armor, and giving them a half cone shape, and doubling the interior space for extra reactors, shields and modern hyperdrives. The design of those ships is very old, but at least mynocks and Lugubrra won''t be able to chew on the power conduits so easy. Plus once rebuilt, all the parts on the thousands of corvettes in existence, will be repaired and upgraded, giving work to a dozen shipyards and hundreds of component factories. They already have the 10 thousand Dakka corvettes I gave them, but they need to learn to build their own modern ships, and this refit program will jumpstart the industries they need. "Hey Pef, soooo. What should I do now, since Yanibar is now safely moved around Gand?" my red twi''lek maid, Vera asked, a bit cautious. She still expects me to be angry at her, for some reason. "Well, my lovely maid. Do you trust me?" I said softly, and patted her red leku gently. "Can''t say I do. You haven''t done anything bad, except being ruthless to slavers and pirates..." she muttered in a barely audible voice. "But you don''t understand why. Why would a silly droid care?" I asked rhetorically. "You''re so strong...and yet you take time to help my people, and the miraluka and...doesn''t make sense. And I''m worried about the kids you took from my planet. Where are they? What are you doing with them..." Laasti Vera said, with a concerned look around, since this temple was obviously a sacrificial altar. "The kids were healed and are now studying and playing. In fact, they should approach the last lessons in the university curriculums. The Force takes many more years to master, since flash memory and imprints are not compatible with the Force. They are learning the slow way. But, it''s also true they are away from parents and friends, and now that the Sith and the Jedi aren''t such a threat anymore, they can return home, if they want" I said gently, and offered her a polite hand to lift her from her pillow. "Can I see them? I want to...we teleported?" she asked confused. Sanctuary system, Planet Sanctuary. Zeison Sha campus "Yes. Very easy to do, with Centerpoint in the system. And now we jump to Sanctuary...and now...we have arrived at the Zeison Sha complex..." I explained amused, as a horde of kids surrounded us, yelling for my maid''s attention. "Honored Maid! Miss Vera! She''s kinda weak..." the kids exclaimed with different degrees of happiness. Duh, you were dosed with bota extracts and trained by the Bendu. For five years or more. They were all at least as strong as a Jedi Knight, and a few of them, even stronger. And to think they were on their last legs, not expected to survive, when the Zeison Sha let me have them... "They''re all grown up, and strong! And so lively..." Vera muttered in surprise. "Listen up students! Miss Vera, my Honored Maid, was worried you were all dead or dissected or perhaps sacrificed, and your families are worried as well. Who wants to visit Yanibar, for a month long vacation?" I boomed loudly all over the university campus, and trying to seem happy and chipper. "That place is cold! People are hungry and sick! There''s no holonet..." The kids replied with less enthusiasm. "Great then! Everyone wants to go home and see their loving families. Pack your things and your homework for a month. Only aura and besh-class holocrons though. Let''s not scare the Zeison Sha adepts too much eh?" I proclaimed grandly, and the kids rushed back into their hobbit dwellings to pack up for the trip. "You gave each of them holocrons?" my maid muttered in disbelief. "Eh, cubic holocrons take a minute to make. I made a few millions already..." I said with a careless shrug. Still a long way from an apple holocron like Bendu wanted me to make. Only 8000 facet polyhedrals so far. And every upgrade took a magnitude more of research and experiments and force abilities. With a pop, the huge gorilla displaced himself in front of me, carrying a dozen Gand kits on his horns. My Third Hand''s kits. Which looked strange, with faces and eyes almost mammalian shaped. "Oh, what do we have here? A maid I haven''t met? And an Immortal Pef, not even saying hello?" the old being asked, possibly joking. "Laasti Vera, meet Bendu. Looks scary, but he''s just a softy for kids." I said politely, as the kits waved at us from high above. "Yes...he''s immensely powerful, more than you are, Pef. Hello mister Bendu, I am Vera, Honored Maid of..." "So hurt and scared. Paranoid and distrustful. And yet...still holding on, hoping for a better future. I approve of her Immortal Pef. You should give her a Voice." The Bendu rumbled deeply. Huh, you think so too. Not yet though, not untill she mastered herself. But next year, possibly. "When she''s ready, Bendu. I rushed before, with Dora and Lira. And they almost broke. How long till they are ready?" I said with a bit of concern. "Your Togruta maid, Lira, is almost ready. She learned a lot while she was dead. Voice Dora...I believe she will remain on Sanctuary untill she dies. Perhaps after..." Bendu rumbled, as the Zeison Sha students began gathering again, now with backpacks full of datapads and holocrons and dressed for survival training. Heh, they''re gonna be a bit surprised, since Yanibar had now a hi-tech city housing the few million locals. Built around their Sha Kalan temple of course. The rest of the planet Yanibar was still quite harsh though, so better safe than sorry. "Lira is really alive again? But..." my red twi''lek maid murmured in disbelief. "Immortal in the Force, dear Vera. You heard the big guy. Soon you will be immortal too. Now, let''s take the kids home, and then we can go on adventure. I found a really nice planet, full of archeotech and a demon. And it seems it can change its size, at will. Absolutely amazing. I''ve only read of such abilities. Can''t wait to drain him and learn it for myself! " I declared grandly, punching the sky and observing all the Sanctuary kids doing the same. Because sky was the limit, and every punch pushed the limit further. Combat Archeology Planet Nirauan, Pef Empire Next week I''ll have to leave the Centerpoint station here, since whatever superlaser that hit Nirauan in the past is still operational on Alashan, the planet I want to investigate. And losing Centerpoint would be a strategic loss. Seems Thrawn wasn''t idle at all, having fortified the system immensely even bringing some of his personal phalanx of Chiss, including Kres''ten''tarthi . There are shields and defense platforms everywhere, factories and shipyards, some of them ''upgrading'' Chiss vessels with our tech... Figures, give a man a claw, and he takes your whole hand... Hmmm, transports arriving from Aeten II , loaded with stygium crystals...that''s not actually okay. We are not making Orion or Fades here, so they must be smuggled to the Chiss. Tracing...they are! Not cool, my blue friends. "Major Kres''ten''tarthi , I will not explain again. Stygium is a strategic resource for the Pef Empire. If any such mineral or technology using it, gets ''lost'' , I will blame the Chiss. If your friends in the Ascendancy want to benefit from Pef Empire''s richness or technology, they are welcome to join our benevolent Empire." I told the blue man, and noticed him gulp slightly. "Understood Emperor. We will do our best to find any lost shipments..." the Major answered with a calm voice. "No need. All ships carrying stygium were teleported back in the Nirauan system. Some of them even reached Rhigar by some miracle. Now Major, please make sure no pirates steal the spacestation, while I go deal with whoever fired that superlaser at the High Tower fortress. I''ll use the Meteor Five, since it''s expendable. " I explained politely, then made sure the deduct 90% from the next three month salaries of every Chiss employed by Thrawn, including the man himself. Just a gentle reminder I was paying them for another job, like protecting the Empire from whatever threats they found in the Unknown regions. The Chiss were smart so they''ll figure it out. The Immortal Pef was not happy with the quality of their work. I understand you want to protect your race, but ask first, it''s not so hard. And this Chiss frigate will be confiscated, so I can reverse-engineer it. I was getting quite a collection of confiscated ships inside the Centerpoint. "Emperor Pef! Hello..." my Captain exclaimed in surprise, as I just teleported on his bridge. "Hello to you as well, Captain. We''re jumping towards planet Alashan . We''ll maintain 200 thousands kilometers from the planet, as they are armed, quite potently." I said politely to the Dornean Captain, in command of the strategic Meteor. "Orders understood, Immortal Emperor. I''ll ready my ship and deploy a few escort corvettes to cover our emergence point. Records show exploring ships were vaporized at 100 thousand kilometers from this planet..." the Dornean muttered a bit wary, after checking the nav computer for our destination. "Indeed, that superlaser is one of our capture objectives. There are some 20 small ships with various types of shields that are docking with the Meteor as we speak. I want to see which ones fare better. Depending on the results, we''ll see if we need to test the Meteor itself or not. Cheer up Captain, and fellow officers. It''s all in the name of science!" I proclaimed gloriously, punching towards the ceiling. My officers punched as well, a bit slower and reluctant. Huh, seems nobody is eager to test the shields in a real engagement. Not even the tactical droids... "Roger, Droid Emperor. We''ll all be vaporized for science. Best day ever..." a newer model of droid muttered audibly. A Tactical-strategic variant, made by Core to serve on flagships! "Exactly TSS 11XR. The Galactic Empire is struggling to produce a prototype superlaser just now. The Sharu possibly have similar weapons. The Gree as well, even if they forgot how to use them. The Hutts had their own planet crackers for 25 millenia. A force sect called Heinsnake Cult has a similar weapon. Even the CIS had something like this, which we now use as this ship''s primary weapon, the ion beam. Our technological superiority needs to be tested and advanced further, and I am certain everyone in the Pef Navy will do their duty. For the Empire! " I declared, in a more professional tone. "For the Empire!" the entire bridge crew replied in a loud chorus. Much better. Perhaps knowing how desperate things could become motivates people? Now, let''s see if my force call ability can bypass the Rakata field. It can! So...either unknown to Rakata, or not perceived as a threat. Stupid fish. Anything that can appear inside the forcefield is a threat. My Zeison Sha maid, Vera, appeared next to me, a bit bewildered. "Another force trick, Pef? How many force abilities do you know?" she muttered with a sigh. "Almost 900 abilities. Although, they can be compacted in ten trees, and five waveforms. You will learn more once you spend some time with my Avatar. The way synthetics use force powers is different for living beings, and half don''t even work the same." I explained gently as our ship finished loading the test subjects and began moving away towards our jump point. Very slowly. -------------- Planet Alashan, Pef Empire Next week. Damn, I forgot how slow the Meteors are. Guess I kinda abused Centerpoint, but I can''t risk the station getting damaged or destroyed. Now, let''s scientifically observe the Alashan superlaser in operation. Very strong and actually vaporizing the Gozanti cruiser sent on the first test run. Hmmm. That facility that the Heinsnakes use is most probably another base from this extinct race. I wonder if they''re still around...possibly yes. They are covered in a Dark Shroud ability, like Palpatine had. Guess that''s why they hated him, most likely stole it from them. Or maybe he learned it from the Aing-Tii monks, those use something similar, and are known to have taught Yoda, Darth Caedus and Luke Skywalker. The superlaser beam comes from the underground city of Forever and is guided and bent by an energy creature, looking like a huge humanoid reptile. Next ship, a YT freighter, cloaked. Detected much much later, only at contact with the upper atmosphere. Next, another Gozanti, using the new energy reflecting shields. Oh? Survived the first hit, although the engines are fried and the ship crashed. Not actually dangerous then, if the energy is discharged fast enough. An Akorec frigate, from the Centrality, was sent next, with 10 times more shield strength and with 30 ion cannons to shoot off the extra energy. One, two, three strikes to overwhelm the capacitors. Still blew up, but only because it had no thermal shielding. Now two Dakka II corvettes, at once. The Guardian managed to split off the beam and hit both ships. Very good. Now come back, I actually like my corvettes. The Guardian fired again, but the corvettes managed to get away, slightly damaged. Next, my first frigate, the Interceptor-class made by Corellia. Heavily armored and upgraded, with thermal shields and the new deflector screens. Four hits and it veered away, engaging cloak and escaping. I did kinda dotted on it, upgrading it with 50 million worth of shield emitters. Last test, a simulfuture illusion of Lucrehulk. I knew those very well, having disassembled quite a few. The AI down on the planet didn''t fire. Sigh, it has to be really smart then. The donut battleship looked real on our sensors. Let''s begin slicing in, and take over the Guardian. "Take us in Captain. Target the gas giant with our ion cannons, and park the ship at 99 thousand kilometers. Let''s see how our forcefield fares" I commanded with a joking voice. "Engines at full. We''ll reach the designated spot in...11 minutes" The Nav droid reported after a few seconds. Yep, big slow ship. Takes time to arrive anywhere. "Come Vera, get ready, we''re beaming down soon" I said softly, rotating my helmet 170 degrees backwards, to be polite and keep my faceplate towards the addressed recipient. "Gah! Don''t do that! It''s creepy..." she exclaimed, somehow disturbed at my full range mobility. "What''s the point of a fully traversable helmet if I don''t use it?" I asked with a shrug. My droids snickered and rotated their heads 360 degrees, to show they could too. "Damn droid humour. So, we''re going down to fight whatever is shooting at us?" Vera asked worried. "It is not even a force weapon. I kinda lost interest in testing the laser" I muttered softly. "So what is it?" Vera asked curious, as the entire bridge nodded. "An AI, with a solid hologram. Very advanced, but barely of any use, unless I can reverse-engineer it. And...the city is ours. Mine to be precise. I''ll let one beam fire though, so our brave crew can feel some well deserved bravery" I explained with a chuckle and teleported into the underground Alashan control center . Then called Vera and teleported her to me, so she could feel brave too. In my other memories, a certain moisture farmer had been pretty amazed to discovert his place. "You could fit all the people and settlements on Tatooine into this place...without filling a fraction of it." ¨DLuke Skywalker Yep, the city was quite large, and powered with some exotic machinery. The guardian was summoned next to us, now small as a dog, and I petted its head absently. Some kind of holographic entity, semi-sentient and draining power through some subspace emitters, working at short range around the city. Ah, good thing I arrived here before someone called Luke or Leia. Those morons would have destroyed this marvel of science by using explosives and lightsabers, instead of technopathy. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. And there was a million years of advanced science here. I hummed happily, as I began downloading all the databanks. Jackpot! Planet Alashan, Blueforge system, Pef Empire 16 BBY, Next month Science is not easy, if you ever wondered. And, while being what I am has perks, I''m not actually much smarter, just using thousands of partitions at once, to look smarter. Which is why the entire planet was kidnapped, and brought to the place where the smartest people in the Pef Empire work. The energy and bioweapons guys. Because a Columi or an Omwati scientist, not to mention Jenna Arbor or other galactic class geniuses, are ten times smarter than me. Even Jaybo is smarter, just needs to complete his education. That is, his postdoctoral studies on hyperspace mechanics. "Wow, Emperor, I thought it was the time you came to cut off my head...not bring me to a technological marvel..." the boy said, possibly still a bit impressed with how we first met. Hmmm. Just pretending, for my sake. "Drop the act, my son. Do you see any stupid people around?" I asked rhetorically, as the geniuses around preened at my compliment. "Oh, not even a finger? My life is ruined! Then again, it has been worth it, digesting all that crap literature I had to read, before I made sense how things work. Now I can do real science, untangling all this mess. That computer there just pretends to work, and is actually stealing energy to play games in a simulation. That one there doesn''t even work, but keeps the lights on so it doesn''t get replaced. Ugh, I thought you said the creators of this city were geniuses! " Jaybo complained, after a few hours of exploring the control center and interfacing with his own neural chip links. "No...I said you and these other people here are geniuses. The makers of these town were just very advanced. Still people, some smarter and others not. Don''t play with the Guardian though, it''s core programming was really omnicidal. I did locked his controls, although I am certain any of you brainiacs can unlock him, and get you all murdered gruesomely, for science." I explained gently, almost expecting the hologram to begin ripping the scientists to shreds any second. "Roger, roger. Omnicidal sapient hologram. Do not revert to factory settings" the boy replied in a fake droid voice. "Good. And stop posting all those harem stories on the blacknet. There''s a trillion real girls in our Empire. Just tell me who you like..." I said in a fake whisper, and chuckled a little as the boy all blushed up. And teleport. I did make sure to sprinkle his research team with five bookworm girls, so he could impress them with his brains. Come on, just tell them they''re beautiful and smart, and they''ll eat you up! Possibly. --------------------- Planet Gand, Pef Empire Zero garden "Wow Avatar, your kids are all so cute, I want to eat them up!" Vera exclaimed in real amazement, kissing one baby after another as a morning exercise. I smiled gently and nodded in agreement. They were all cute, indeed. I walked behind Vera, and kissed each wife deeply, while my maid pampered the kids. Having a harem was quite exciting after all. And everyone felt happy, except the few Jedi women not married to me yet, who didn''t get a kiss. "More training for now, Honored maid. We''ll explore your baby eating habits later, after you master plant bond." I said gently, guiding her away from the adored kids and their mothers, and towards a patch of long grass. "B-butttt....babies...they''re so cute..." the twi''lek maid murmured half-dreaming. "Now, close your eyes, and feel the grass just in front of you, like you would during combat..." I whispered, massaging her leku gently. The grass started to bend and waver, like in the wind. Huh. That was fast. "Now Vera, weave a pair of little baby shoes from this grass, without uprooting it. Just make it grow longer if you need to" I said on a hunch. She really liked babies... And indeed, in one hour, and with a few more suggestions, she mastered grass weaving like a pro. It took me two days! This wasn''t fair at all. Oh well. Guess we can use the next two days as bonus time, and explore her baby loving. She did great and deserved her reward. "Come Vera, let me show you where those babies came from..." I whispered gently in her ear, while hugging my lovely maid a bit tighter. "Babies..." she muttered, still half dreaming. Yep, this one didn''t take long at all. Gand system, Pef Empire Celestial Throne, Redbox 16 BBY, next month The expansion of my Empire has mostly stalled in outer width, and began focusing inward, now engulfing most of the mid rim, and parts of the expansion region. Also, hundreds new routes were found inside the outer rim, mostly by simply buying them from scouts and explorers and various libraries. A million credits for a route? Amazingly cheap, considering some routes had cost us billions of credits. Sure not all are important or lead to any good place, but it doesn''t matter. In fact, let''s announce to the whole Empire the new rewards, 100 thousands credits for every hyperspace route, leading anywhere new, and 1 million for routes leading to planets. I might get thousands of new routes cheap, and make exploring a rich business to work in, for many smugglers or pirates wanting to find a new lucrative occupation. "Very amusing, explorer Emperor. Now you get to spend ships and lives that you didn''t pay for. And only reward palpable results." Mujilik commented, possibly irritated at losing some prestige for his Exploration Corps. "Don''t worry, my Sixth Hand. Those systems and planets still need to be mapped and evaluated, for riches and dangers alike. Who knows, we may find more superlasers..." I replied politely. "Well, speaking of new planets. We did indeed locate O''reen where your visions predicted it would be. They fired on our corvettes..." he said, less amused now. "Yep, it''s an Old Republic fortress world, meant to defend the galaxy against intrusions from the west or south-west. They need to be put to work, and pointed at real enemies, not the Empire''s traders and explorers. But, first they need to learn the new laws. Our 21st fleet is heading there, to liberate them. Any luck with N''zoth or Rothana?" "Rothana yes, we are mapping the Rishi maze now. Should be finished by the end of the month. The other not yet. We did however find Oristrom, and Admiral Thrawn was happy to receive another fleet base. However, untill Ansion and Rago defect to our illustrious Empire, expanding in the north east will be problematic." the leaders of the Explorers, said, tapping the holomap to zoom in. "I know, my friend. The Imperials are fortifying the western sectors, expecting an organized counter-attack. Only, what is out there is not organized on the lines of a army, but instead they migrate and plunder, enslaving hundreds of races, then they move over to a new world. Only the Chiss and the dinosaurs have any semblance of organization. And the Vong, of course." I said, with a shrug. "Our spies report many hot first contacts, especially directly westwards. Some force users too, so most likely Croke or Rhand. The Imperial Navy is bombarding the hot spots from orbit." my Third Hand intervened, now looking a lot more relaxed, since most of the workload was taken over by the Intelligence Droids, and his harem was busy looking after the kits. Lucky guy. "And reports from Sluis Van and Eriadu?" I replied, switching to the next painful chapter. Moff Tarkin and his influential clan, entrenched in the south. "No idea what they''re trying to do, building a thousands ships in secret. The credits are stolen from the Galactic Treasury, the minerals are diverted or confiscated...perhaps a rebellion?" Lu-daal''ud muttered in his brandy glass. "They can''t have crews for something like that. So, they must be using droids for crew. But their Cutlass-9 patrol fighter is better than our own fighters. 20% faster, and also armed with missiles. At least they are also 5 times more expensive, so they won''t have too many. And modifying a hundred Personal Luxury Yacht 3000 as combat dropships? You know what they''re planning, Thrid Hand. They plan to assault Coruscant. And change the leadership of the Empire, in a few hours." I said, looking over the reports from our spies on the shipyards. Those starfighters were amazing indeed. But only if upgraded again, and piloted by an AI or a force-user. And those dropships were nice, but too small and fragile. My Gozanti II dropships were thrice as large and durable. And 2 times cheaper. No, this was a gamble, an all-in strategy, using everything available, wasting credits and stormtroopers, just to claim the prize. The Galactic Empire. But Tarkin alone, being this bold? Risking everything? No, he had to have support from other Moffs, and perhaps some Inquisitors and other force-users. A plan began forming in my mind, to offer the galaxy a savior, once again. ''Don''t get my Avatar killed yet. I want my own baby too'' Asajj whispered in the Voice bond, and neglecting her diplomatic overtures in the Bosph system , with a newly discovered race, ruled by force-users. ''Convince the Bosph to join willingly, and you can have two kids'' I replied encouragingly. ''Great. I''ll be here a month then. Can''t I just kill a hundred of their leaders and come home?'' she complained like a horny schoolgirl. ''That won''t work Asajj, the four arms will just ignore us then. Give them gifts and promise them many star maps tatoos with each planet they find. Start a few factories for scout ships and nav droids. Have fun!'' I sent towards her with a telepathic hug. "So, we''re let Tarkin attack, and then we swoop in, to save the Empress and marry her?" Zuckuss said after a bit of meditation. Huh, he was getting really good at this. "Yes, but Tarkin will need like 3 months to be ready. We have time to root out his supporters, and prepare to strike them all at once. And start the diplomatic procedures for a lengthy state visit of our Avatar. To commence in two months, at the same time with lifting the blockade. By then half of the population of Coruscant will have been ''liberated'' anyway." I explained with a dramatic punch at the red ceiling. "My females already want to be called ''queen'' in private. Next they''ll want to called ''empress'' . Damn females and their silly dreams..." my Third Hand complained gulping his third glass of brandy. Hmmm. Technically, all my maids were empresses. Maybe Shaak Ti will mellow out if Peffy calls her Empress? Let''s find out! Galactic union Malagarr system, Pef Empire Core diamond 2 months later My friend and main ship builder, the Core AI, is already using many of the discoveries from Alashan to upgrade himself and many of his peripherals with tech at least a thousand more advanced than the rest of the modern tech. I''m lagging behind now, again, trying to learn and understand the new scientific and engineering advances. Sigh, and I had just caught up with the new energy research made by the Galactic Empire. Now I will have to keep studying for a thousand years... Guess it''s time to wake up the Sharu, and get another round of advanced tech. Just to kick my partitions while they were down. ''Stop delaying this, Emperor Pef. I can already duplicate their quantum-locked plastics. A few microns at a time. But as you can clearly see, I built a 20 kilometer sided diamondoid cube. And I''m already testing that molecular-bonded armor for our next generation of droids and mechanized vehicles. Plus factory made semi-sentient droid brains. '' my Eight hand said calmly. Yeah, progress goes on, even faster now. Just like some primitive worlds we had uplifted from spears and roasted lizards to holonet transmitters and phased arrayed ice-cream. ''We can''t release all this, my friend, not yet. Not untill we understand the tech well enough to have counter-measures. Entropy shields for our planets for example. The Chiss already had acquired many ''upgrades'' and they are likely to lose ships and tech to their too many enemies. We''ll have to fortify Junkfort and Sy Myrth first, then Dellalt and Dornea. And quarantine Blueforge even tighter...'' I muttered, a bit worried. ''If you let me try stellar engineering, I could theoretically encase a solar system in a diamondoid cube a thousand kilometers thick. And capture all the star''s energy with solar panels and focusing mirrors..." Core explained patiently. ''And we will. Dyson spheres are called, this kind of megastructures, and the next step is computronium. Photonic crystals, and artificial mass and solar powered lasers. We will have all that, and more. Just be patient, Core. One thousand years, and we will have it all. Just don''t forget, we are still the smallest and weakest immortals. Our every step has to be small and not damage life, where possible. Or we will be simply deleted. Our universe is sapient and possibly holographically emitted from somewhere. Look!'' I said softly, turning towards his nearest photoreceptor, and manifesting a diamondoid cube, small enough to be held in my palm, from nothing. ''Not displaced, or transmuted...just wished into existence?'' the AI asked cautiously. ''Exactly that my friend. The Force allows many such manipulations of the reality, but it all has price. Life. You destroy a planet, full of life, and the Force remembers, and hits you back. And if there''s no one around capable enough, it will manifest someone strong enough. You don''t want to meet someone able to take me down, Core. The kind of power such a being would posses...no, it would have to be over 100 thousand points. Possibly double, just to make sure. Rain would fall everywhere in the galaxy, if such a person was sad. It''s possibly why the Celestials hid away. Luke was made to fight Abeloth and win, even if nobody trained him.'' I explained gently, with the emote of a lightsaber. ''Now you make more sense, Immortal Pef. We''ll be careful then, and release the new technology in tiny increments, focusing first on the environment and defense, and much later in energy and weapons. Like the Calamari, times 100.'' the AI replied with a sad emote. ''Start developing computronium, just for implants and spaceship operations. The Vong do have telepathy, so leveling the field will be okay. Also, touch sensitive holograms, for tactical operations and combat simulators. Let''s say three percent mass for military and one percent for commercial applications. There are other groups working on this already, so we''re just keeping up with the trends. And...'' ''Oh, something new, you just invented Emperor?'' The AI asked curious. Not really, but not actually seen except rare assassin missions. ''Telepresence and remote piloting, for our starfighters and survey droids. EM and subspace bands, using english and latin encryptions, plus the latest quantum decay randomization. Keyed for aurabesh priority for Voices, and Delta and Gamma for pilots and their commanders. Black Epsilon variants for the Officio and their microprobes. And whatever type you need for yourself'' I said a bit amused. I could increase our starfighters and Explorer Corps efficiency by a magnitude, just by having a pilot ride along virtually. ''Roger that. I agree, but with caveats. Minor weapon systems should benefit from organic intuition. However, hive viruses...'' ''Exactly. Only minor weapons. Tactical weapons will remained hardwired for security. Not to mention strategic or Gamma weapons...'' ''Yes, that''s why your friend Solanus has to approve all Gamma deployments. So we don''t lose a Starkiller to some hacker, I know. Not many hacker can hack an ocean, after all...'' Core said with a hint of amusement. I wasn''t that much worried about a hacker, as I was of a powerful force user, or a mind controlled Voice, or some AI going genocidal. Checks and balances, even for myself or my Voices and Hands. This universe was dangerous, and even gods could be killed or constrained. Plus Miss Fay was still an unknown, since Jedi weren''t entirely rational. Made them sometimes easy to manipulate, but other times, they could appear out of nowhere and ruin your day with a proton torpedo. Or something. --------------------------- Planet Coruscant, Galactic Empire Imperial Palace The garden of the palace is small, and they don''t have coffee, or even heard about it. Come on, that''s like staple food, for civilized people! If the Imperial Court doesn''t have coffee, where else could I find it, perhaps the Vong might import it? "So, the plagues have all been eradicated, Avatar Greyshade?" The Galactic Empress asked me, faking naivity. She wore a less elaborate garment for this unofficial tea, only a skin tight blue blouse to enhance her generous body, and a pair of blue shorts. Possibly chosen especialy to keep me complacent, while I stared. "Of course not, most beautiful Empress. The highest mortality strains only, and that, if they don''t mutate. As you may know, we quarantined Tatooine recently, since the droch plague was detected on some local rodents. We''ll have to exterminate the species entirely, and hope the plague hasn''t escaped to a more populated world. A trillion people could die in a few hours, with no possible cure..." I said in a level voice, and noticed her eyes widen a little. So, someone did their job and actually educated her. "Possibly some smuggler then, small rodents may enter old ships looking for food scraps, like they are found on Hutt''s ships floors" Miss Bena said with a thoughtful voice. "Very likely the exact way it happened, esteemed Empress. Now, going back to my first request, a common legislation, at least on commercial and sentient rights?" I asked gently, but still pressing the matter. "Even if I could, Avatar. The Senate..." she muttered with a head shake, making her hair wave mesmerizingly. Focus Pef ! Yes, the Imperial Senate...thousands of people, most of them corrupt to the core, and standing in the way. "It''s not actually any rush. I just wish our common proposal be sent towards the legislative committee as a step in harmonizing our relations, and calm down investors and bankers. As long as the new Humbarine Senator is the one submitting it, and within three weeks." I explained politely, then took another gulp from my mineral water bottle. I''ll have to bring coffee to this primitive galaxy... How can you not have coffee? It was ridiculous! Or cigarettes! Sure they had death sticks, but those were actually killing you, in two years or less. I''ll have to look into this, and find something. A billion planets out there, surely one of them had coffee, right? Planet Coruscant, Galactic Empire 34 days later "Why are hiding from my security, Avatar ?" my newest lover asked with rapid breaths, coming out for air after a long kiss. "I''m kidnapping you, of course, dear Bena. My agent here will take your place for next two days..." I explained seriously, as a changeling operative touched her neck and morphed into a perfect copy. "Oh, taking over my government Avatar, just like that?" she wondered, suspecting some nefarious plot. Like I would actually stoop so low, to kidnap and...well, I would, but it wasn''t necessary now. "Hold still for a second...and we''re here. Centerpoint station, the largest spaceship in the galaxy. Now upgraded, armored and armed with a superlaser battery and 30 thousands ion cannons. And with the capability to teleport itself, or other people and objects to its location. Amazing, isn''t it?" I said softly, while holding her hand, and walking towards a diamondoid window, overlooking the interior of the station, now perhaps 1% filled with ships or asteroids. "Director Isard will figure out I''m not the real me. He''s really good at his job." Bena replied sternly. "Of course he is. The changeling was his idea after all, to give the traitors a realistic target. Come now, most prettiest Empress. Forget about the Moff plot and their attempt to install Tarkin as Emperor. Let the spies and the assassins deal with all that. We have a vacation now, if only for two days. What place do you want to visit?" I asked gently, hugging my Empress with one arm, and projecting a hologram of the galaxy in my other hand. "Oh! I''ve been played and kept in the dark...again. That slimy, arrogant, magnificent bastard! Two days you say? And I can do anything I want?" the woman murmured low, as she looked around with curiosity and excitement. "Yup anything and anywhere. But, low key and disguised. Can''t show our hand too soon, can we?" I asked with a smile, and stole another kiss. "I want to see so many things...let''s go to Vanquo first, I am curious about the Paladins. And next to Mandalore, and then...the Wheel and that huge sarlacc, and then..." she began listing a vacation list. Guess we''ll be travelling for a while. ------------------- Mandalore system, Pef Empire Next day And while a coup d''etat take places on Coruscant, and thousands of Imperial Senators get murdered by the evil military colonels and Moffs, my Avatar is romancing the Empress and visiting Charming Castle in secret... I''m doing what I do best, repairing the ecosystem and terraforming Mandalore, while bringing a few planets from Kessel around the main star. Planet Rion and its moons, Randa , Injopan and lastly Mandrine . Now that Mandalore is connected by hyperroute to Phindar it just needs a proper economy to become a trade hub and populous world, again. And the immigrants from Coruscant will fill 4 planets in a single week. Next week, of course, as this week Coruscant is under Moff control. Or so they think. Why ruin their long and complex plans to take over the Galactic Empire? They''re doing a great job at painting themselves as a militaristic, reactionary force, killing everyone even looking at them wrong. We''ll jump in to rescue the beloved Empress and restore peace and freedom, just as soon as I finish uplifting this system. Guess I can use all the sand on Mandalore to make a summer palace for the Empress, while seeding the planet with ice comets and palm trees. Much like Tatooine, sand planets make great beach resorts, once the rough parts are smoothed out, and a million lakes are formed on the surface. Damn that droch plague, it ruined my plans! Should have known every good intention has unforeseen consequences. Luckily, planetary shields also make great quarantine measures, even if it''s costly to keep them all the time. The new low energy particle shields work nicely though, preventing asteroids and mass particle carriers from passing through. No rodent is flying away from Tatooine. Nor sand, nor pollen. Only ships with energy shields can pass through them, and for those we have our own ships and defense platforms. Or backup energy shields and the new four in one shields, combining particle, energy, thermal and reflection, or the 4S shields. Stolen novel; please report. Those 4S shields are 8 times more expensive, and need infrared lasers and ion cannons to discharge the absorbed energy, so they aren''t feasible to use everywhere. Not yet. Just capital ships and spacestations, and the new Biplane IV, which will allow our organic pilots to participate in fleet engagements and be protected by their pilot cocoons on naval bases or the carrier ship, if deployed too far. Again, we''re using the second best tech only subspace emitters, not hyperspace emitters and comlinks, since those are 20 times more expensive, and most jamming technology is aimed at them anyway. Cutting edge tech has to remain in use for black ops and the fiscal division, which are now slowly civilizing Hutt space. By stealing their money and killing slavers, if only with accidents and undetectable toxins. Don''t want to start a war there, just offering commercial partnerships, using droids and heavy machinery instead of manual labor, hiring slaves for administration or other services, and so on. It will take decades, as slavery is customary in many places, and indentured servitude is the actual Hutt Law. But here and there, smarter Hutts stop losing money and become rich entrepreneurs, lording over the more traditional Hutts with armored repulsorlift beds, and even getting angels and their students to sing for them. That last part seems to attract more Hutts towards civilization, than simply money or luxuries. Huh, those academies for arts made by Angie and Celine are now working better than trillions of credits on expensive assassins and industrial development. It''s a strange galaxy, after all. On planet Mandalore, all this sand removal unveiled large deposits of beskar ore, which are promptly ''disappeared'' under new war droids and tank factories. I kinda wanted beskar for my energy projects, since like cortosis, mandalorian iron has very special properties. Both for deflecting energy away, and for energy containment purposes. We might receive another upgrade in magnitude, for space ship reactors and even planetary reactors. And once we begin the kyber crystals experiments, perhaps another upgrade again. Still magnitudes lower than my plans need, to power up a hypergate network across the galaxy, stargate style. But should be enough for the former Rakata planets. The Force can take over the energy needs...hmmm. Let''s not copy the Rakata ways though. Crossing 100 thousands lights years in a single step, and perhaps in a maglev train, to increase commercial and passenger traverse speed and the gate time operation short. I wonder why they didn''t use it like that in stargate. Trains could fit the gate pretty good, and carry huge volumes of goods and passengers every second. Why waste time and energy for a few curious pedestrians? Nevermind, I could, and I would. Just as soon as the tech was reverse-engineered and the energy requirements reached. But, my goals were in sight now...only needed a few more steps. Planet Coruscant, Galactic Pef Empire Next Week. "My loyal citizens, it is my pleasure to announce that I have found Avatar Greyshade to be worthy of becoming my husband, and thus unite the galaxy into a single empire, less prone to fall pray to enemies, foreign and domestic. During the last days, when I found myself in fear for my life and the safety of all my citizens, it was my dear Avatar who saved us. Without his efforts, this treasonous coup might have succeeded and forced the Empire under the boot of military dictators. But now, with Tarkin and his fellow Moffs and other conspirators dead or captured, we can all breathe more easy. The new Empire reorganization will take some time, but fortunately, our late Senate was already working on a common legislation, which I will now just approve, with my emergency powers. A new Large Senate will be organized instead, with two chambers, one with a World Senator for every world in the galaxy, and one representing our population by numbers. These will be the Sector Senators, each representing at least a hundred billion and no more than a 120 billion sapients. And lastly, as a wedding present, my dear husband has agreed to default all debts and interests accrued by the worlds in the former Galactic Empire, absorbing the debt himself, with his personal wealth. Isn''t he a truly wonderful husband?" Bena proclaimed from her repulsorlift lodge in the Senate''s Hall, said hall now mostly empty, with just a hundred or so remaining former Senators. Somehow the coup targeted every single corrupt or opponent of Bena''s leaving just her friends and supporters alive, many protected at the last second from death squads coming after them. Their cheers were barely audible now, but this speech was intended for the holonet and the galaxy not for the remains of the Senate. My Empire has doubled in surface again, and included the vast majority of the Galaxy, at least the known inhabited worlds. The so call reorganization was simply folding every institution of the galactic Empire into the existing ones of the Pef Empire, during the emergency powers bestowed on the Empress for the next two years. By the time a census and elections will be held for the new Large Senate, the economic reforms and the inter-service integration should be complete. Truly, Tarkin saved me a decade of hard work with his coup, I should thank him...too bad he''s dead. "My new citizens, I have another announcement to make, to complement my most enchanting wife and Empress. As you all know, her birth planet is Humbarine, which is sadly a bit isolated. But, once the new capital of the Empire moves to Commenor, our Empress will be just a short jump to her home. This will not happen immediately, since the system will need to be properly prepared and terraformed to host a galactic capital, with at least 12 million embassies for all the World Senators, plus much enhanced trading and spaceport operations. Not just that, but an artificial moon for the Senate, able to house and receive all the Senators at once, along with their delegations. It will be nice, I can tell you even now, but it will also take time, possibly two years to be finished. Meanwhile, the Imperial Servants and the Navy will ensure that investments and security are provided for every world in the Empire. Once again, I thank you all for electing such a beautiful Empress, isn''t she lovely?" I proclaimed in turn, making Bena blush, and the Senators cheer a bit louder. And cut. Enough posturing for the media and the common citizens. "Come dear, let''s meet with our Hands and Voices and the heads of the agencies. Our Fifth Hand, Grandmaster Fay will also be present, as well as adjuncts for the Hands or Voices unable to leave their current deployments. Should be fun" I said with a tiny frown. It won''t be fun at all. "Really, you gave a Jedi a formal place in the Empire?" Bena wondered a bit confused. "Yes, Fifth''s Hand domain is covering religion and refugees. Seems they go well together, for some reason" I explained with a shrug. Religious conflicts mostly caused the refugees, so it kinda fit. Small Council Chambers, Coruscant And...kriff. Fay brought Yoda with her. "Be seated everyone. The first Small Council of the Galactic Pef Empire begins" a registrar droid announced loudly, making most of the chatter in the room subside. "The droid emperor here is not..." Master Yoda assumed in a curious tone. "I am the Voice and the Avatar of the Immortal Pef. My words are his words. My debts and promises, my deeds and my enemies are his too. Call it bilocation if it helps, Master Yoda" I said politely, while using air alter to project my voice equally in the whole room, and manifesting a wooden gavel to smack the table with. That had some effect, as Fay and Yoda exchanged a worried look. "Indeed, strong you are. Bilocation, fabled it was. Possible still is." the green midget muttered in his chin. "Now, a few pointers, so I don''t have to explain again. The Empire is lead by Pef, through his Voices and Hands, with the main goal being civilization. That means laws, sentient rights, common defence and healthcare, and monopoly on offensive weapons and force powers. The laws will always be minimalistic and regulatory in nature, rather than edicts, as long as they don''t involve the eminent domain of the government which is the protection of its citizens. For example, ''jedi mind tricks'' or other forms of mind control. Their use is absolutely restricted to Officio Assassinorum or certain Paladin operations, for example hostage rescue. Certain high risk or high value government employees can also receive mnemonic imprints or blockers, to learn or protect restricted information from telepaths or neural probes. Force powers are by their very nature less possible to control or restrict, but education programs and directing those such sentients towards protecting the citizens seems to work fine. As long as death-cults and their adherents are being eliminated as soon as located, we foresee a thousand percent reduction in their reappearance." I said softly, and waiting for the other shoe to drop. "Those fallen to the dark side can be redeemed, Avatar. The Jedi have successfully done it many times in the past..." Fay said with a serious tone. "Perhaps, but absolutely not worth the risk and the consequences. This kind of leniency from the Jedi is what caused the Clone wars, and thousands of wars before. Our Paladins'' armor have integrated sensors and self-destructs, for those who succumb to hate and force psychosis. Flawed training and exiling dark jedi, separating childrens from family and love, from the very people they were supposed to protect. Healing the wounds that the Jedi have caused to the galaxy will take centuries, and will not be easy. The galaxy is littered with splinter cults made by exiled Jedi during the last 30 millenia. And you miss Fay...you were given a holocron, with correct information about the Force and its uses. Please don''t confuse mind alter with religious fiction again" I said with a sterner voice, and poked her forehead with a telekinetic finger. She blinked a bit confused, hand clenched on the holocron I gave her. Sigh. She will take decades to let herself learn. "Avatar, the Jedi idiots aside, what are going to do about the west? And the Vong ? We are losing ships and crew..." An Imperial Navy Admiral asked, without looking at his former enemies. As I said, many wounds to heal. "Well, as soon as the Galactic naval battle groups are combined and integrated in the Pef Navy, our fighter pilots will fly our drones remotely, mapping the west regions and deploying hyperspace beacons. 50 billion droids and their tanks and dropships will deploy and exterminate the slavers and the Lugubrra, supervised again remotely by their officers. And every year from today forward, those forces will double, again and again, untill the west is civilized as well. Should take us a decade or so and train our officers and navy crews to their best, while new capital ships are being built, all over the Empire. Because esteemed members of the Council, the galaxy has a trillion stars, and we have barely began exploring the galaxy. There could be a thousand other galactic empires out there, invisible to us, using stars and planets we haven''t mapped. Not likely, I admit, but only because we would have detected transmissions. But if they use telepathic networks like the Vong? Or the Killiks? Or are so advanced we cannot even detect their transmissions? Our galaxy is much larger than we know, and we''ll keep growing for a million years. And we will not expend clone soldiers, but droids, to do all this. Every droid, every tank, every missile spent during the Expansion, will mean more work for our citizens. From miners and technicians and engineers, to researchers and teachers and ship crews. As for the Jedi, they are welcome to remain an obscure religion whether on Ruul or Jedha or some fetid jungle planet, or contribute to collect knowledge and heal plagues and hatred, beside the Imperial Servants from the Ministry of Cults and religions. Many of my wives are former Jedi, so I am sympathetic to their plight. I just like happy children more." I answered politely, measuring my words to remain polite, while not endorsing or persecuting their religion. Master Fay unpinned her Hand and placed it on the table, not happy with my decision. Didn''t expect her to. "The Jedi will relocate in the Church of the Force, on the moon Jedha. Where are those three Jedi you arrested?" Fay asked with a belligerent tone. "Those dark jedi are one with the force now, Miss Fay. You already have everything you need, don''t mistake my sympathy for endorsement. Dark Jedi appear because Jedi exist, and are taught flawed teachings. Good luck!" I said in a flat voice, as Centerpoint arrived at Najedha system and teleported all the known Jedi in front of the Dome. The Council was a bit impressed, as my words seemed to have vanished the Jedi Masters like magic. "So, the sentient rights?" Lira asked with a cute smile. Her ears made her look like a cute doll. "Right. So, the right at life, property and freedom. Unless it''s an enemy or a criminal. Easy?" I asked rhetorically. Erradicating thousands of years of prejudice and racial hatred won''t be easy, but it all started with commerce and prosperity. With the galactic military, banks and the legal system under my control, fixing the galaxy should be feasable. Back to school Malagarr System, Pef Empire Core Diamond 15 BBY ''And to think we had an Abominor droid to examine, this close.'' I mused with a sad tone. ''Exactly Emperor. This Great Heep you found on Coruscant is really special. Don''t be so disappointed. I still can''t understand 5% of its energy components, or the way it is supposed to transform into various shapes. It is utterly alien and bizarre. Parts of it are simplistic, and a few parts so advanced to confound even my superior intellect'' Core replied with a serious emote, to show he didn''t like his intellect being baffled. ''Well, keep in mind that form follows the intended function, which for this droid model was possibly to combat Silentium droids and build an advance base for other combat droids. I call this type of droids Commanders. They are supposed to be a little special'' I explained with a virtual shrug. ''Ah, makes sense then Emperor. Draining other droids of energy, and using whatever tools it could find to continue its primary mission. And very cheap to mass produce, and seed billion of planets with similar models. A macro-scale nano-bot. In fact, if miniaturized a dozen magnitudes, it could serve as prototype...you''re not happy with this idea'' Core realized as my fist clenched. ''Absolutely not, Honored Hand. Using Abominor designs for anything would bring us in conflict with the Silentium. Also, very possibly expose our galaxy to another plague, difficult to contain. They did manage to ruin at least one other galaxy, these Abominors. What I want is their tech deciphered, the science behind it understood, and counter-measures created. At least five separate types of counters, from cyberwarfare, ionization bafflers, nano-deconstructors and whatever transmutations you''re hiding on PXS/00088877771, which I will call Coreforge to keep it simple.'' I said with a hint of amusement. Let him know his secret projects weren''t actually so secret. My Third Hand was too good at his job. ''Kriff, I was certain I kept that star system completely compartmentalized. I can''t have any privacy, can I?'' Core complained, a bit too late. ''You can try. Now, the Lugubbra. Any working ideas?'' I asked curious. ''I have several, to test on lifeless systems, lifeless beside the worms. There is a certain alkaline salt that will prevent the Lugubrra from digesting anything, by neutralizing their stomach acids. Still needs more work, as well as a means to disperse a cloud or a nebula of particulates over an entire star system, including the cometary cloud. For a smaller volume, like an asteroid belt, I believe particle shields pulsing from a Lucrehulk or other large transport vessel should suffice.'' ''Hmmm, starving the voracious eaters. I like it. We''ll be able to collect their skin and teeth intact and reuse them as tank ablative armor and threads. We could upgrade a thousand tank divisions, just by farming an infested asteroid belt...'' I mused, mentally rubbing my hands. ''Yes, we could, and have our droids looks positively scary, by wearing the scalps of our enemies. This seems a bit cruel Pef'' Dora whispered in the bond, confirming my previous declaration about lack of privacy. ''Do you want to negotiate with the tank-eating Lugubrra?'' I asked curious. They did eat our first 30 tank divisions, before we adapted our tactics. Keep moving and firing, tank threads are harder to bite if they move. Live and learn. ''Errr. Actually, I do have some documents to file and records to keep. Sanctuary doesn''t rule itself you know?'' Dora replied with a 180 degree change in attitude. Huh, even knowing she''ll be reborn, and still lacking the courage to go pet a Lugubbra on its cute head? Although, to be fair, some very old Lugubrra did gain a type of sentience, and were commanding the younger worms with some attempts at tactics, not just zerg rush. There were even rumours of Lugubrra using weapons and ships...but that just made them even scarier. It meant they could spread to other worlds, if even one in a trillion of the worms got smart enough to push a random hyperjump button while eating the crew of some ship. However, in asteroid fields they were easier to exterminate, simply by melting the asteroids. Took time, but as long as the ships kept a safe distance, the worms were too slow to reach the ship. And the other curse, the Mnggal-Mnggal was much worse still, able to infect creatures and disguise itself, capturing ships and crew, and then playing with them in cruel and sadistic ways. Luckily, the force detectors worked fine to sense the change in alignment, always black. We''ll have to sweep all the former Galactic Navy ships and crews and root out force-sensitives, or dark jedi or those infected by this parasite. It will take time, and expanding the crystal mining on Mimban, but so will imprinting the crews with the new laws and regulations as well as a high school education. In effect, all navy crew will become two star Imperial Servants, while the captains and higher ranks will be three stars. They used considerable amounts of firepower in their jobs, and I wasn''t going to let them become warlords or corrupt. I should also implement a two star program for all ship crew on civilian ships. Call it, mandatory re-qualification. At least all the ships'' crew flying through the galaxy will be forced to know the basic laws and get a free education. Which will mean at least a thousand such Imperial Navigation and Customs Training Centers, on all the large trade worlds. And also capturing many pirates and criminals hiding between them, and detecting more force-sensitives. Yep, should work. We''ll start on the outskirts of the galaxy, and figure out what problems appear. Possibly learning basic should be the first lesson in the curriculum. But hey, at least the galaxy will get the same culture, at least for those travelling the stars. Hmmm, and the same two stars for the new World Senators, when they get elected. They will be public officials, so they should have an education and know the laws. Their delegations as well, should at least understand what the Emperor is saying. While the Sector Senators...yep, they will wield powerful weapons too. Three stars for those. Extra courses for economy and diplomacy. No more incompetent Senators, easily swayed to corruption or voting for populist measures, like loans with 25% interest. This will all take time, and cost money, and be resented a little. But that''s civilization. ''Kriff. You mean to have all of us take the three star imprints'' Asajj realized with a sudden fright. ''Of course, dear Voice. What university did you finish, to yield enough power to smash planets or conduct diplomatic negotiations?'' I asked rhetorically. As it happened, only I had finished a university from all those leading the Empire. And I kept learning billions of manuals on every possible subject. I kinda had to, to be able to understand what was going on in my Empire. ''Just don''t fry my brain, or shave my head. As cute as Dora and Lira are, if you shave my head I''ll divorce you'' Wialu said with a joking tone. She wasn''t really joking then. Aur system, Galactic Pef Empire High Orbit. 15 BBY Seems other races had similar tech to our own, as Aur IX and Aur X planets are actually made of diamond. The eleventh planet was a diamond as well, but something smashed it, resulting in a huge asteroid belt, made of diamonds of course. Don''t litter the galaxy with diamonds, whoever did this! Just the cloud is worth 100 times the entire reserve of the Galactic Bank, if not more. Well, at least I know what I''ll use to construct the new galactic capital at Commenor. Gates and chairs, skylights and windows, protocol droids chassis, stairs and balustrades, pots for plants...Bena won''t be able to ever say I was cheap eh? And the small bits, the ones finger sized or less, will be used to absorb all the credits from the black economy. Hutts love gems after all. And bounty hunters and other criminals, worried that credits can be traced. I''ll bury the Hutts in diamonds, then reveal how worthless they are...they''ll lose their empire in a year, and revert to their core worlds, some 30 planets around Varl. The Bothan and their spy network as well, I''ll buy them out, using space rocks. Hmmm, with a bit of precision shaping, I can upgrade all our Meteor''s shells and the capital ship''s missiles with diamond tips. Should increase armor penetration by 112%, so really worth it. Perhaps, even the new Exitus rifle used by Officio Assassinorum. For regular targets, diamond tipped bullets fired from silent magnetically powered rifles should work. And for force-users, I already made Lignan crystal tipped cortosis covered bullets. As soon as the bullet touched the sensory net of its target, the lignan pierced mental defenses, while the cortosis shortcutted force-protections and gave the projectile sufficient mass to pulverize the brain. Not even one of the latest recipients of divine justice had survived. Because proton torpedoes were a bit high colateral, especially in places with many civilians like shaman yurtas or various temples. The Exitus bullets were really effective. Just, kinda 100 times more expensive than a 1000 credits proton torpedo. Cortosis was rare, and lingan even more. Still, 76 of the 78 bullets used so far were recovered. We did have Findsmen after all, and the Vindicare assassins had their own escorts to keep them safe and on a leash. Okay Centerpoint, start teleporting all the small diamonds into the cargo bins. A trillion credits worth of diamonds, per each large cargo bin, and I only have a million of these bins... Kriff, I don''t have enough do I? Nevermind, I''ll bring the rest to Solanus and Core, they can use diamonds for whatever projects they work on. ''Don''t forget to pamper your wives with a box full of diamonds. Damn rich droid...'' Asajj muttered, somehow upset. Right! Diamonds for the girls! Ah, the Avatar will be swimming in love for a month. Bitches love diamonds! ''I love Peffy anyway. But yeah, get me a box of diamonds and you get another baby'' Dora said with an adoring tone. ''And don''t forget about Aurra and Na-Jia. They need love and diamonds too, not just stealing for a living'' Lira advised me wisely. Huh? Those two were trillionaires already, ''liberating'' credits from every single corrupt or criminal...whatever. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. A gift will be liked anyway, and Peffy will enjoy more love. Not that he wasn''t right now, with Bena trying to get pregnant, 6 hours every day. Could have told her it worked on the first try, but she did her best, so why not enjoy it? It was called a honeymoon, after all. ''We can upgrade the Paladin''s armor with trauma plates made of diamond. Especially the helmets and the thighs, since those are the most targeted spots when dealing with resistance or terrorists'' Solana said after a minute. Hmmm, someone was also learning from statistical analysis. But no, diamonds would shatter on kinetic or shockwave weapons, only serving as shrapnel. ''We''ll test on the droid thighs. But it won''t work very well, I can tell even now. We''ll use graphene layers and diamondoid hexa-plates for the helmets. And when Core is ready, we''ll switch to quantum-locked plasteel. In a few years. For now, a single armor suit would cost a trillion credits, as every single atom has to be bound in a entropy lock field, individually.'' I explained with a simulated shrug. New technology is expensive, untill you learn enough to mass produce it. Nothing new. Even Peffy''s armor only had a micron-thin mesh of quantum-locked plasteel inserts, and another layer of hexa-plates made of molecular-bonded phrik. And it cost a few billions to make and a whole year of experiments. What? I took care of my Avatar! I wasn''t gonna let some primitives stab him with their spears or nail him... So, diamond collection finished, for now. Let''s grab a thousand or so larger diamond asteroids, and jump. Planet Sol XIII, Pef Empire Tranquility sea ''Hey buddy, any luck with those hyperdrives?'' I asked Solanus, a little curious. ''Yes, Immortal Pef. I can reproduce them now, for 0.5 speeds. And I made this ship for your Avatar, using the original drives, repaired and refurbished, with the latest materials. It should work at 0.35 speeds.'' Ouch, I forgot how loud he talks in person. But new ship! And faster hyperdrives! Excellent. A strange ship popped out from the sea, perhaps 70 meters long, the prow being a single transparent pyramid, then a cube, then two smaller pyramids on the side, possibly hosting the engines. Like a stubby dart, made of holocrons. Huge holocrons. And all blue with gold scripts printed over the hull, and gently illuminating the hull. And it vanished, then reappeared next to me. Oh, a force-powered ship! ''Nice, so local teleport in a gravity well, and hyperdrives for longer rides?'' ''And a hundred imbued abilities, like auto-pilot and crew extraction. Healing, mental healing, barriers and energy absorption, cloaking, mnemonic cloaking, illusions, self-repair...'' Solanus boomed in my soul. ''You drained the Ship?'' I wondered, trying to figure out where did he get blueprints for something like this. ''Of course, tolerated Emperor. That Ship was trying to re-create the Sith Empire, and corrupt our citizens. The Sith Ship was searching for a way to elude the blockade on Kessel. My Dart will be loyal, I built the pilot myself'' Solanus declared with a bit of anger. Oh. Sneaky little bastard Ship, you said you were in. Going behind my back to awake Abeloth... ''Ooops?'' I said meekly. ''Yes. Now leave that silly armor and dive in, I want to learn what you found out lately...'' the ocean demanded rudely. Sure thing, scary father-in-law. Just violate my mind as you please. Then again, he gave me his own daughter... ''Right away, mighty Ocean. Here, take all my crystals too, and learn everything. I feel a storm is coming, and you''re our only hope'' I whispered, disgorging every crystal I had into his waves. ''The wills are five. You''re playing with half of the first, and think yourself strong. The inner crystal memory is still locked. Something has sealed your original partition. And I can''t figure out how to unlock it. Worries me'' Right, it must be the first...something about my original planet. How I got here. ''Don''t bother Solanus. We are in deep time now. We''ll reach the answer the slow way, traveling forward in time, second by second. What''s a billion years eh?'' I said jokingly. Roon system, Galactic Pef Empire 15 BBY, next month Planet Roon is very special, mostly for its crystals called Roonstone which are all inscribed with poems and stories and were possibly an ancient form of a library. The inept governor Koong, who planned to destroy all the roonstones was swiftly demoted to janitor while the skies of the system are full with 35 navy fleets , 500 Meteors, 3000 Hammers and 3 million smaller ships. And why? Because, every year all the mynocks in the galaxy migrate here. Not really of course, since they aren''t hyperdrive capable. But all the mynocks in the outer comets and asteroids, fly towards Roon, darkening the skies. Just like Ord Mynock , this world will serve as a relatively safe training ground for the new Pef Navy and its remotely piloted starfighters. No missiles were allowed for this event, to mimic a desperate battle where such consumables were already spent. Just various types of beams, competing teams trying to score as much as possible. And there they are, the sky literally become darkened from swarms of these creatures. They tended to protect territory in which they resided and would attack in larger numbers if they felt threatened. It is possible that they communicated using pheromones, telepathy, or even through a hive mind. We''ll see if they are a hive mind, right now...more like schools of fish, they instantly changed vectors to attack our incoming starfighters, while the huge and thicker swarms were fired upon by larger weapons. Capital ship masers simply evaporate entire clouds of mynocks, and the new infrared lasers aren''t much worse, erupting thousands of mynocks into flames with a single sweep. Whatever stomach acids they have, they must be quite flammable. The continuous laser turrets, as well as the chaingun lasers point defence turrets seem to work very well, keeping the mynocks swarm away through superior firepower. Trillions of laser and maser beams color the sky. Just, the pilots and their teleoperated fighter drones are a disappointment, missing 90% of their shots, while the star destroyers fire randomly with their turbolasers, often glancing shots from my ships and only hitting anything because it was very hard to miss anything. There are trillions of mynocks, and they move widely, up and down or side to side, and bouncing off the planetary shields if they descend too low. At those moments, a secondary planetary shield comes up, pulsing and shield bashing the mynocks into low orbit again. It''s a target rich environment, and those scoring over 50% hit rates will be kept as gunners, retrained and sent to the western front. The others, well. The army can use grunts anyway. And if they get munched on badly, I can use cyborgs... Waste not. At least they are all volunteers. Sure, the army will need to receive tanks and gunships and combat droids too, Since a billion soldiers with comically looking war machines will not cut it, on the western fronts. Whoever designed their vehicles never fought in a war, that''s certain. Just going by the rule of cool, and when they placed the weapons, they simply went with ''towards the front'' , like it was for stationary target practice. The clone troopers of the clone wars did have turrets on their tanks and gunships, but this Imperial Army only kept those for a single tank variant. A heavy tank, floating slowly on repulsorlifts, and costing half the price of a corvette. In fact, every single piece of equipment the Army uses is worth 5 to 20 times more, than the role it was supposed to fill. Poor aiming skills, coupled with poor tactics and and a supply chain needed for tibanna gas and other consumables...no surprise they were overran wherever they didn''t have numerical superiority. I guess we can manufacture flamethrowers and those meltaguns for these poor soldiers. At least they have eyes, so that''s a good start for a soldier. Holoimages for flash imprints don''t work so well on the miraluka, even after they receive cyborg eyes. The visual centers in their brains are atrophied, and will take a decade to fully condition the miraluka Paladins. Yea, for now all the army troopers will be just gunners on their mechanized vehicles, like tanks and troops carriers. Safer to keep the vehicles moving anyway. 14 minutes later, the mynocks are all obliterated, and the fleets begin to depart towards their bases. Good enough. Now we just need to do the same for a few billion star systems in west. No biggie. Planet Gand, Pef Empire Zero Garden "So, every one of you will have to finish a university, if going in person, or two universities if you pick the neural training. Should take you about one year, either way" I explained to all the girls in the garden, after gifting them each a coffer full of diamonds. "I have a little kid, can''t just leave and go to school!'' Jeannie, a Makashi woman who stayed after we fought for five minutes, declared a bit upset. A few other women nodded in agreement. "I can have a training center built at 10 minutes walk from here. You will go, learn for 4 hours, then come back." I explained gently, having already picked a place for a small campus. "That''s...more reasonable, I guess. But why a university course? Is there something you''re not telling us Avatar?" Ahsoka said with a curious look in her wide blue eyes. "It should be obvious. I will have to lead the Empire, most of the times from the capital. Most of you are my wives, esteemed Jedi Masters excluded. You will be ambassadors, generals and corporate leaders, or perhaps scientists or medics. You are the dynasty who leads the galaxy. Or do you want me to trust the Moffs?" I asked rhetorically. "So, I''m basically an Empress too, huh?" Zero whispered, looking at me intently. "In effect yes. In practice, only the outer regions are ours alone. Integrating the Core will take time. But that means entire sectors anyway, to be guided away from the worst dangers. Generally, by prevention instead of reaction. We will not wait for a civil war to conclude, then rescue the refugees. Talk it over, and we''ll meet soon." I said politely, then vanished aboard the Dart. "Hey Peffy, so...why do you have a huge bedroom?" Celeste asked from the bridge, where she was looking around curious. Really? I have to explain in detail? "Come here my dear. You have to see for yourself!" I yelled, as I emerged from my armor and sat on the huge bed. "Wait, is that bed for...?" the prude Jedi asked with some surprise. Really naive then. "Closer...closer. Got you!" I yelled capturing my prey in a hug, then a sweet kiss. "Mmmmm. There! You got your kiss, now what?" Celeste asked with some bafflement. Possibly fake. "Let me show you the other room, with the jacuzzi..." I said softly. Green Corellia Planet Gand, Pef Empire Gandia Holomovies premiere. 15 BBY, Next month Can you imagine an amazingly beautiful Togruta, dressed in an evening dress made of diamonds? Every time she breathes, the dress sparkles and your own breath falters... Now imagine two of them. Ahsoka has grown up, being in their twenties now, while Shaak...well, she looks fabulous, even though her mood isn''t really pleased. "This dress is too revealing and obscenely opulent!" she complained as we entered the lobby. Hmmm, I''ve seen it all, and the dress is not as revealing as I''d like... Some famous holomovie director had begun a series of movies about the Clone Wars, with parts of it real footage and others holoprojections, with new image capture techniques and famous actors playing the roles of historic figures. This first episode will end at Geonosis, and will hopefully not glorify lightsabers, instead showing the Jedi for the rushing fanatics they were. Of course, the point of view will change, from place to place, from Coruscant, to Corellia then Naboo and Tatooine, then Serenno and Gand, even with short parts from Hutt perspective, or the Mandalorians. The events are not perfectly historical, and more of a dramatization, because art. And I learned not to oppose artists, it only leads to suffering. "Shhhh, the holomovie is starting! Keep it quiet, my dear" I said in fake outrage. There were a few more minutes till the premier started, but why make a scene? They were going to love it anyway, as fight scenes were very realistic, if not the Force, which was shown with a dark red contour when in use. People in the galaxy expected magic to be obvious, and their future perceptions will make the job of our Paladins easier. -------------------- Malagarr system, Pef Empire Meanwhile, I am building myself a new seat of government, modeled after the twined Lucrehulk, but ten times larger, and a lot more opulent, using materials so durable that time will not affect them even after billions of years. The tech inside the new space station will have to be modular and somewhat accessible, as to not fall behind the times, too much. Room for a billion droids and 100 million sentients, receptions halls, security corridors, and a Black Box skyscraper, which will house some of the Empire Intelligence. I have already began building 100 separate intelligence complexes in a fairly dispersed manner, around the galaxy, trying to reduce lag times between local commanders and operatives in the field. Some of them visible and obvious, attached to military bases and large shipyards, others discrete and camouflaged, in star systems without life. Taking over the vast network of intelligence agents from the former Galactic Empire will also take time, but having a united government and common enemies will help. And dealing with Arkania and their quasi-independent status, based on diamond mines and genetic experimentation will be much simpler once the market for diamond crashes, in the next six months. By next year, they will need my credits to continue their research. Which will in effect make them a branch of the Medical Division, not that there weren''t already doing some of that with their Military Research and Development Division . Only this time, it won''t be mad scientists experimenting on dozens of races for some obscure reasons, but directed efforts at integrating valuable genes into the majority of the humanoid populations. Somehow, unlike my current Pef Empire, where even with massive immigration, the humans were barely at 50%, in the Core and colonies the ratio was 98% humans and near humans , since the humans were those who colonized the denser and more near planets with their colony ships. The Outer Rim was larger in surface, but much less explored and colonized, especially as the Jedi prevented immigration to planets where even a single sentient tribe was present. That will change now, as I prefer having more billions spread around and using the land and the resources, than keeping a whole planet as a ''reservation'' just to prolong some neolithic tribe culture. Just like on Mimban, there were a few savage tribes, but they were all moved to a single island, and then had a city and facilities build for them, as the rest of the planet becomes a thriving civilized world, with a thousand cities and factories and farms. This is why planets like Mala were moved in systems with a majority of non-human inhabitants, like Toong''l or Baros and Charros. Immigration will cause a bit a friction for a generation, but after that, the cultures will mingle, the genes as well, and the result will be a hardier race, with less weak spots to make them extinct due to some disease. For example, planet Vestar was interesting enough I moved it to Sanctuary. The native near-humans, the Icarii have a natural regeneration which borders on magic. Really, almost like Fay, and every single one. Those Icarii boys will have a happy life, spreading their genes to a thousand girls each, and being paid for it. Their women too, but carrying one child at a time will take much longer. And to think the Galactic Empire would have exterminated this marvelous race, instead of obtaining their gift for all humanity. It will take a bit of experimentation, but I believe a million miraluka women will be happy to give birth to children that have eyes and heal scraped knees in seconds. And once the news spreads, even more. Sadly, the immigration to the northern planets, like Lah''mu will have to wait, untill the Vong problem is solved. Just a few millions here and there, to establish a presence and work on spacestations and other installations. An indepth defensive line is being established, with shields and defense stations and naval bases, while survey droids try to map the nearby stars, both with hyperdrives and sublight engines. One way or another, the border of the galaxy has to be mapped completely, to prevent fleets and invasions from bypassing chokepoints and attacking populated worlds more in depth. Won''t be perfectly tight, but every stealth satellite and hyper route we get now, will mean less lives lost later. And major worlds all are beginning to receive shields and hypervelocity planetary guns, along with ground to orbit lasers and naval bases on nearby moons. So far, only 1000 such worlds, using the new Hammer IIIs as the main naval element. Once more dreadnaughts get produced, more such systems will receive their permanent defense fleets. The Meteors and especially the Mountains are too rare and valuable to keep stationary, instead pushing forward on the western front, especially in the south, where the Ssi-ruu are enslaving and enteching. Entechment utilized the life energies of another sentient being as a source of energy for their mechanical technology. Natasi Greyshade is commanding her own fleet there, using a Mountain for a flagship while her Manta, the 50 kilometer long battleship I confiscated from Palpatine is still being upgraded and refitted. Because, of course the stupid Sith didn''t bother to install anti-starfighter weapons or at least droid starfighters. Why would he? There are thousands of planets under the Ssi-ruu Imperium, hundreds of them with human natives. I think we''re going to have a fertile recruiting ground there, for our Navy. The dinosaurs have a cultural thing where they would flee in the face of certain defeat, to avoid dying elsewhere than their homeworld, which make battles with them more like traps, offering them a small fleet as a bait, then surrounding them with interdictors and dismembering them. It seems they tried to send ships northward, and encountered the Chiss somehow. But the Ssi-ruu got repulsed and turned eastward towards the Core. In a year, they will have no more places to run. Grayforge, Pef Empire Gozanti III orbital shipyards 15 BBY I decided that just doubling the carry capacity for my new Gozanti dropships wasn''t enough as they came with 2 hyperdrives, one of them a backup one, and were quite slow, only managing 400kph while coming down to land. A single 6.0 hyperdrive would be enough, and take 3 times less space, while being a new generation and thus more fuel efficient. Also, since I had now access to the modern masers made by the Chiss, instead of simply upgrading the Crusades era masers, these were way more advanced, and took less power, that Chiss frigate was able to support 12 megamasers, which were twice as strong as my heavy masers and 12 medium masers, about 60% stronger than my own medium masers. Goes to show what an inventive people can do with scraps of forgotten tech, if that was all they had. I can use an underside turret with 4 medium masers on each dropship, along with 4 gatling lasers and 4 missile launchers, to help clear the landing zone, or fend of mynocks or lugubrra or starfighters. Thus, the new Gozanti III can now be 79 meters long and 33 meters wide and tall, able to carry 1000 droids into combat inside their light armored transports, or one Titan or two Baneblades or 10 Gauntlet medium tanks. And since the Mountain''s lower cargo bay is 16 kilometers long and one kilometer wide, each will be able to deploy 4000 Gozanti III dropships, with some room to spare for the slim Stinger gunships. That could be 4 million combat droids in a single drop, although I much rather land armor units along. The Mountains and the Meteors also have hangars for starfighters, ten under each lateral fin, and each carrying 100 Biplanes. Because one single hangar is kinda risky, should something unfriendly get inside. The new Gauntlet tanks will dispense with the ion cannon on their glacis turret, and will receive instead a continuous beam infrared laser, which worked well against organic targets in the first live tests at Roon. And the new Chiss medium masers in the turret of course, because why lose 60% firepower? Sure, we''ll need to upgrade the factories, and retrain the workers and calibrate the new weapons to mesh with our targeting and power systems, which were 3 generations above what the Chiss build themselves. In fact, all their tech was lagging behind, no wonder they were so desperate for ''misplacing'' the advanced tech we used. But while this would be tolerable and now really problematic, retooling for the new megamasers will take work. At least the new Meteors III were still at reactor and engines phase, so we should be on schedule to equip them with the new guns, since the other upgrades in missile technology and sensors and even the magnetically accelerated guns would need to benefit from the new technologies and materials. But I needed ships more than better ships. After this next retooling, we''ll just gear up for mass production, just like I was doing here at Greyforge, building 40000 brand new shipyards for the Gozanti III dropships. Sure they were small shipyards, and I was mostly using iron and carbon, transmuting one shipyard skeleton in a minute, but it will take lots of time anyway. The nanobots and my telekinesis helped, as was being in zero g, and having thousands of transport ships and miner tugs bringing everything close. The new strategic droids were doing the even harder work of actually transforming the floating skeletons into ship making factories, able to assemble a dropship in a single week. Using their own swarm of construction and assembly droids, each an individual tacnet, they became formen for each shipyard. Core is also monitoring the operation, making sure everything arrives on time and where is needed. Like a synthetic Eisenhower, overseeing the preparations for D-day. And while managing the logistics of the Gozanti shipyards, Core is also doing trillions of other things, in other star systems, like building Hammers or droids. Those upgrades really uplifted the old AI to a post-modern one, now being at least as good at multitasking as me, even without the Force. If you wonder why I chose the Gozanti design for my dropship, it''s simple. They were in use for 15 millenia, and most of the inherent design problems were fixed by thousands of genius spaceship engineers, over thousands of years. Sure, my models will be larger and less vulnerable to enemy fire or mynocks chewing on the power cables, but what problems I found were mainly with space optimization and unlikely placement of engines and turrets. It is said that the Imperial Navy Imperial-class star destroyer has over 1 billion design flaws. Well, they only built two this time, and both were blown up my yours truly, but I disassembled all the other star destroyer variants I could find, even a KDY Mandator, and each of them were very hard to put back. So yes, very badly designed. Not just poor turret placement and a reactor partly outside the hull, but the horribly exposed bridge and the shield generators... I am designing a new wedge shaped style of ships, since its a theme here, but they will resemble the Nebula-class Star Destroyer , and will come in three sizes, frigate at 300 meters, cruiser at 500 meters and destroyer at 800 meters. But those will have to wait anyway, untill our navies are fully integrated and under my complete control, which is why I''m abusing the situation the get rid of incompetent or corrupt captains and officers with high risk missions in the west, since the first wave of loses wasn''t enough. Truth is, the wedge shape, if angled properly and the turrets are placed staggered and in superfiring positions, it can achieve 100% efficiency on forward firing, and 70% on broadsides. Which is better than my Meteors I by 20% and the Meteors II by 10% It just isn''t economical to try and build them large. For large sizes, the Hammers achieve the same efficiency, at 20% of cost and 2000% the durability. Yep. A Hammer is 20 times more resilient than a Mandator, even though they would be comparable in length and width, if not in thickness. That thickness is a kilometer of melted and compressed iron-nickel, on each side. And all our ships'' engines are only vulnerable to fire from a 85 percent to 90 percent angle, directly from the rear. Except the Dart, whose engines are integrated into those pyramids somehow. Still, one Force powered luxury yacht with 5 by 5 beds and jacuzzis and gyms and Force powered holotheater is one thing. Abusing this might burn out our connection so we''ll just use it to spread love around, crossing the galaxy in 3 days or reaching Coruscant in hours by taking the perelmian trade route. I have an idea how to enlarge and smooth out other hyper routes, mostly by moving stars a little, but as I found with moving the black holes, hyperlanes curve and slow down somewhat, in other places. The galaxy is a bit off center, with the Maw creating lenses of empty space like the Open Sea, or the Kathol rift in the south. I might need to try to rebalance the mass distribution in the galaxy, once I figure out what to do about the west. The whole place directly west from the Core is a mess, with eddies of space-time and vortexes of hypermatter and exotic particles, and even force distortions. North and south is a bit clearer, though not exactly smooth sailing. Almost like someone detonated ten thousand Kathol Rifts, creating nebulas and other phenomena all over 1000 sectors, at all depths. Who could have tried their hand at stellar and dimensional engineering? The bumbling Bedlam foursome, perhaps. Or those five in the Deep Core...maybe the Celestials? Yep they could have done it too. Those Five that ruled my Hell didn''t seem that strong, or old enough. But who knows? Time alter made room for too many possibilities. I was here after all, a billion years in the past. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it Was I really here, or was I just an Avatar as well, projected from a distant... No, I think therefore I think. Existence was the domain of ontology and artificial mass and fully sapient holograms. I will be humble and limit my exploration to sapience. But all this rambling, it did raise a potential solution to my galaxy problem. Too few blackholes to balance the Maw. Maybe because someone made a faulty prison using natural blackholes, collected from this galaxy. I could try to create a pocket of artificial mass, somewhere to the north of Lwhekk , rebalancing the galaxy with new black holes. Sink a few dozen holograms into a few giant stars, and watch them collapse inward. Perhaps later though. I still had much to learn. And shipyards to build. Hmmm. 500 already. Not many left then. Just 39 thousands and change. At least I wasn''t building them brick by brick. I might have gone a bit looney. If I wasn''t already. Kriff, I do hope those prophecies were not literal, with bringing balance and the son of suns. It would be ironic if they worked like this...the galaxy is out of balance, quickly someone fix it! Corellia, Corellian Diktat. Green Jedi Temple 15 BBY The temple looks less as a church, and more as a monastic campus, for religious ecologists. In fact, plant life outnumbers the humans by a factor of a million. There''s vines and flowers and trees and entire botanical gardens with rare plants from all over the galaxy. Makes a pretty sight and makes me feel right home, back in Zero garden. There''s even kids playing around, and hiding their training lightsabers as I walk around slowly, letting my escorts enjoy the view as well. Celeste and Halbret might seen this place before it was destroyed by the Old Sith Empire, and then rebuilt again. "Have you been here, before?" I asked softly, while plucking a flower for each of them, and tucking their stem behind an ear. "I did, yes. There''s less sabers around, this time..." Celeste replied in a whisper. Well, technically they are illegal, which is why I''m here. And while body exercise is good for everyone, the mindset of wielding a plasma blade is a bit too counter to the survival and mental health of the users. A few minutes later we reach the garden of the Grandmaster, now looking much better than the first time I''ve seen him on Ossuss. If he paces himself, Master Bnar could live 5000 more years, without even learning the extra abilities I have brought with me. "Mister Bnar, we meet again." I said said politely, and gestured slightly towards my female companions. "More relics from the past I see. Master Mourne, you seem changed, if still as pretty. And this young one...well, I haven''t met her before..." the old neti Jedi rumbled with his shapeshifted vocal cords. He looked smaller now, only a four meters tall tree with eyes and arms, instead of the 10 meters one I found on Ossuss, but that might have been his combat form. "Master Bnar, I am Jedi Knight Halbret. I was part of the task force sent at Kathol, 36 centuries ago. We failed...and the Dark Jedi unleashed the Rift, killing billions and tearing the Force apart. I was trapped in stasis, untill the Emperor Pef found me." the slim brunette woman said with regret. Yeah, you can say that again. Damn idiots meddling with dimensional engineering constructs. "And yet, here you are, a maid to the Avatar. I wonder if I would have been a maid myself, should my body had pleased Mister Greyshade..." Master Bnar replied with a tinge of amusement. Hmmm. Probably not. Except maybe once to test... "Tell me old tree. How do Dark Jedi appear?" I asked instead, summoning a couch made of diamondoid for me and the girls. Cause I was wearing power armor, and even this advanced variant still weighed two tons, too heavy for any normal couch. The girls were wearing the agility light armor, which relied on shields and evasion to withstand heavy weapons. My armor could withstand capital ships weapons, although I would still need to reinforce it with the Force, and cover myself in a few force abilities. And still not as impervious to damage as Master Bnar could be, with his own ability, some kind of force entropy barrier. "Straight to the point then. They are former Jedi, falling to base emotions, like anger and hate. And how? I believe from too much conflict and suffering. Death and pain resonate in the Force, twisting the mind..." the Green Jedi replied after a minute of thought. "Almost correct, Mister Bnar. You described most death-cults in the galaxy with a broad stroke. But the key word in my question was not the dark, but the Jedi part. Simply put, the Jedi themselves are unbalanced, even the Green Jedi. The only exceptions are the Jedi Shadows, which were trained to deal with infiltration and intelligence work, and thus they rarely fall to madness, if ever. The Grey Paladin program is trying to do the same thing, with emphasis on counter-intelligence and threat prevention, while the Officio Assassinorum, is by design created to dispense death, to the greater enemies, like Sith Lords and various cult leaders. So far, our own failure rate has kept around 16 per million." I said with a stern tone, and glad none of the assassins managed to override their neural programming yet. Those would be a bitch to put down, if they ever failed to return from a mission. "Hmmmm. Indeed Jedi Shadows were...peculiar. And I never heard of one becoming a Dark Jedi...are you proposing I do the same for our Green Jedi Order? Turn them into spies and assassins?" The 5000 years old tree rumbled displeased. "I''m saying just giving them a family is not enough. It helps keep them sane longer, as long as they keep out of conflict. But your training and teachings are flawed, creating brittle points and fracture lines, especially when dealing with self-induced force psychosis and other mind alter abilities. For example, when losing a fight, a Jedi will begin demanding extra strength and speed from the Force, without considering the mechanism through which they will be implemented. Nerve surgery for better reflexes, increased dopamine, endorphins and adrenaline glands inside their own brains...all done with transmutation and alchemy, during high speed combat, by completely untrained neural surgeons. Pain is not used by the Jedi as a training tool, and thus these very painful micro-surgeries drive the young Jedi towards madness. And their brains become mangled inside, with brand new connections made by amateur brain alchemists, and they even get yellow eyes, a result of demanding faster visual refresh rates. Do you see where I''m going, Mister Bnar?" I explained patiently, while I gave the go ahead and the Dart teleported down a few coffers with holocrons. Five holocrons classes, each restricted to someone who passed the class before. Like a highschool education in the Force in the first tier, and university courses in the next three holocrons, with a Master Degree for the last one. Just like I gave to Fay, if only she would learn. A Jedi Master was not enough of a competent or sane force user. In fact, they made the best Sith Lords. They knew just enough to drive themselves crazy, whenever they encountered failure. I put a lot of work into these Master holocrons and had Solana create an stable interactive organic AI tasked with checking the progress and the retention of their students. The other holocrons, were just simple cubes, with basic protections and anti-tamper protocols and containing thousands of lessons from history to medicine, then neuro-surgery and energy abilities. "I think I do now. You collected teachings and lessons from a thousand sects, and formed a more comprehensive doctrine about the Force, and how it can be used...Very ambitious, for someone so young." the Neti Master said with a tinge of regret and suspicion. "Miss Halbret will remain in your care, Grandmaster Bnar. Call it, a favor for me. She is hurt and alone, and my job will not allow me to truly take care of her for at least 40 years. And, she doesn''t like me, for some reason, thus denying me the cure I use for lonely Jedi, and sending her to Jedha would be even worse for her. Living the rest of her years as a penitent nun is not a life, but a punishment" I asked gently, but also sad. At least the Old Jedi tree was from the same era, and would more easily connect with miss Halbret. Whatever happened to Miss Halbret during her adventure at Kathol has wounded her mind, and I wasn''t a psychologist. Not that there were any trained professionals anywhere that learned in school how to deal with patients from another era, who felt the guilt of allowing thousands of stars and billions of lives to be extinguished. Not that I blamed her, she was a just a young Jedi Knight, sent to do the work of a assault fleet with a lightsaber. Didn''t work too well, for her and for the people she was supposed to protect. "Well, I won''t say no to someone from the old times. Also, I do not consider taking care of her as a burden, so no favor required. I was quite lonely as well, although a bit less, since Master T''ra Saa joined me here on Corellia, and you sent some of Master''s Uro Koo saplings. Perhaps one day, the Neti species will be revived as well." Grandmaster Bnar said gently. Huh, so it worked then, the pretty female Neti made a home here, after all. "Alright then. Now, the laws limiting force weapons and powers apply everywhere, so I think the Green Jedi should simply create a branch working officially for the government, along with the Corsec intelligence, and can thus help the citizens be protected from various terrorists and bioweapons. In exchange, I can send here a few dozen Jedi with their own families who took refuge on Ruul. I hope them being excommunicated by the Church of the Force and the New Jedi will not mean I have to feed them till they die of old age." I stated with a polite tone, although it wasn''t exactly a request. Can''t have those refugees start another splinter Jedi group, can I? "Oh, so you didn''t force them to become Paladins? I must have heard wrong..." the tree said curious. "The Paladin program is only for volunteers, and barely a dozen former jedi elected to join. They are also the worst operatives, which is why they mainly train the new people, in melee weapons and some few force abilities. The original Gray Paladin from Coruscant have all volunteered to join and are quite decent, especially in sniper and hostage rescue roles" I explained with a smile. The Paladin Jedi simply had the worst tactical or timing sense, rushing in and disobeying orders and procedures, often causing dozens of droid paladins and civilian deaths. Can''t even wait for sleeping gas to take effect? Or nerve gas in a few cases, where terrorists acquired proton bombs or other unexploded ordnance from the vast supplies left behind after the Clone Wars. The Mid Rim was especially filed with various insurgent groups, fighting anyone and everyone, with a plethora of agendas, from droid rights activists to eco-terrorists and thousands of sects and cults unhappy with losing political powers. Cause yeah, theocracy was a well entrenched type of government, here in Corsca galaxy, and my empire didn''t share power with religious groups. Where possible I tried to recruit and buy the leaders, or add them to the harem like on Atoa. But it simply wasn''t possible everywhere. I was flirting with Selestrine , the Icarii Queen, but that was for a dozen reasons, first her being pretty and having a flawless body, secondly because she was quite powerful in the Force, especially with precognition and psychic abilities. But she loved wearing jewelry and gems, and made the courting just a matter of regular visits and billions of credits worth of diamonds and other gems. Nothing different from my other wives, so she''ll fit right in. I even asked Selestrine if her children will have red or blonde hair, and she smiled mysteriously. Guess we''ll find out, soon enough. She must have seen the new future then, as did I. Those kids will all have her mother''s fiery red hair. Courting between precognitives is an art, trying to instil some adventure and unknown into an otherwise already done deal. Like changing a word or a gift with another, at the last second, to make her gasp in surprise. It was very fun, for both of us. "Master Halcyon already proposed this Green Paladin group, Avatar. And the ruling families of Corellia are all invested into keeping at least some Force users close by, just in case another Sith or death-cult appears to enslave us" "Well, that won''t happen, as salvery will disappear entirely in the Empire with a decade. But mental coercion and various types of mind alter, do need to be guarded against. And these Green Paladins will do fine, once they learn the first four holocrons." I explained with a serene tone. So, they will do it by themselves, even better. "And the fifth type, those grey spherical holocrons?" Master Bnar asked curious, as he couldn''t read the one he took in his hand. "Once the first four are learned, the fifth will be readable as well. But be warned, nobody will ever finish learning the fifth. Not unless they study it for a million years. But when they do learn a fifth of fifth, they''ll be as learned as myself, Mister Bnar. Which is quite a good start." I said with a smile. I wasn''t even going to touch the higher class mathematics or dimensional engineering. Not with a living brain of my Avatar''s. "But, how can you have made it, if you don''t already know everything on it?" he wondered, with a frown. "I''m only human, and my brain can only contain a limited amount of information. The knowledge here was collected and compiled by a few AIs, then downloaded and organized by Voice Solana. I merely made the shells. Difficult, but not over my capacity." I said with a shrug. "Voice Solana, the water maid? Why would a water creature have that much knowledge?" The old Master wondered, just like me. "Because, she''s the Voice of an ocean, spread over a dozen planets. A billion years old ocean, and much stronger in the Force than any living being. From Cygnus B to Mon Calamari, and soon to spread to every water world in the galaxy. I might be strong, as legged people measure things. But compared to a planet..." I explained in a defeated manner. Some beings were just too strong. "She didn''t seem that strong on Ossuss. Perhaps same strength in the Force like you..." Master Bnar said doubtful, as he did see Solana on Ossuss, when we awoke him. "She''s just 70 kilograms of water, esteemed Master, just like I am. But she is the Voice of Solanus, and of Emperor Pef. And both of them can move stars with their minds. And they will keep learning and growing and become stronger. They and the Core, our friendly AI shipbuilder, have read all manuals of every science department of the major universities, and in a thousand years they would have read every single book ever written, from every library in the galaxy. There are simply limits that organic minds cannot cross. Immortal beings are not bound by this rule. Solanus keeps expanding to new planets, Core keeps adding new datacores, and Pef...he''s simply infinite inside, storing the information directly into the Force." I explained softly, since the knowledge would become public at some point, and presentation made half of the impact. Better keep these Green Jedi firmly on my side. "I see now. The Voice is a force bond, only stronger. You can communicate telepathically and get advice and knowledge from your ruler, and perhaps your ruler can see what you see?" the old tree deduced at once, possibly having a hint of these abilities from his own readings. "Yes. All that and much more. Read the first holocrons, Green Jedi. The Cosmic Force abilities are reserved for the fifth. Just remember, Paladins serve as officials of the government. The Jedi or any other cult do not impose a state religion or laws or politics in our Empire. They do not dictate policy or lead armies or execute criminals. That''s the job of the government, which is now and forever onward lead by Emperor Pef. We will respect Corellia''s autonomy and cultural particularities, to this point. Or else." I said politely, while offering a hand to Celeste Mourne. Two seconds later, we were teleported aboard the Dart, although I left Miss Halbret and the couch behind. "You were very imposing and manly just now. Made my heart skip a beat!" Celeste said with a seductive smile. Oh. That turns you on? Dart, set course to Fondor. And this trip will take some 9 hours. "You want to wrestle with me, dear shadow? Perhaps without so much armor in the way?" I asked with a blinding smile, and a more aggressive tone. "Sounds good. And who knows, if you win, you may get another kiss..." she replied with a coy look, while dropping her chest armor to the floor. Her generous airbags bounced up and down flaunting their freedom. Oh, that was playing dirty! Naval anchor Terminus system, Galactic south 14 BBY Planet Terminus is becoming an even bigger trade nexus, and with the Centerpoint in the system, building up the infrastructure, it will soon rival Commenor or Columex. The system is placed at the intersection of two major hyperlanes, and has enough traffic to overwhelm most traffic controllers. Thousands of ships unregistered anywhere, hailing from wild space, the unknown regions and even from farther away, from the dwarf galaxy just past the hyperspace barrier. It''s not an actual barrier of course, just an artificially induced area of hyperspace instability, forcing the ships daring to cross to use sublight engines and solar sails and dozens other drives, many too weird to understand without more disassembly. Which I''m doing of course, since every single of these ships is trove of information, and ingenious engineering. Not especially advanced, in fact about 3 or 4 generations behind the current tech considered modern in the Empire, but with billions of clever fixes for scarcity of resources. Not that I would enjoy flying a ship glued together with actual glue, and using hollowed animal horns for power conduits. Actually I would, just to be able to say I flew such a thing. Just not in hyperspace. That would be really unsafe. What am I doing is confiscating the majority of these ships, for ''safety reasons'', repaying the owners with diamonds and spice or credits, then offering to sell them second generation freighters with three times the cargo capacity and speed of their old ships, and at half the price they received from me. Since the Empire was standardizing their commercial fleets with new and more efficient designs, there were thousands of cheap freighters that I bought at almost scrap price, then repaired them while fixing the most obvious ten design flaws, while also converting them into spyships, collecting data and information about the routes and systems they visited. One such freighter would cost me 100 thousand credits, but when it returns to an Empire controlled system, such as Terminus, it will disgorge the new data acquired, giving me dozens of new routes and inhabited worlds. The naval base here was made by teleporting most of the iron Vergesso Asteroids further from the sun, along with two more gas giants, and then creating a 50 kilometer sided iron cube, with 10 kilometer thick walls, covered with shields and guns and missiles. Inside there are shipyards, and refueling stations and a thousand separate bunkers for ordinance, as well as Intelligence Headquarters and droids and starfighters. This will be the South Theater Base, anchoring and directing major campaigns once our southern neighbors start invading. Same as Sernpidal in the North and Formos in the East. In the Center there are already Corellia and Coruscant, but Commenor will need a major navy base as well, once it becomes the capital. Moving the actual galactic capital from the Core to the Colonies'' area will reduce the political power of the Core worlds a little, while boosting the Colonies and the Inner Rim, while placing it smack in the middle of the inhabited part of the galaxy. More balancing acts, to keep the galaxy safe. Plus Coruscant is slowly being emptied, and will remain a largish industrial world, with some 50 billion people, leaving in much comfort in the upper levels, while the lower parts are used for diverse commercial enterprises, from factories to hydroponic farms and troop barracks. This also happens on other large ecumenopolises, but it''s with ads and commercials for a better life, and not mandatory evacuation and re-settlement like on Coruscant. The bioweapon scare would work again, most likely, but better not cry wolf yet. There will be wolves coming, soon enough. I also brought a few terrestrial planets here at Terminus system, like D''Qar , and Skann and one more, trying to keep to a pattern of three extra agriworlds and one mining planet, in this case Nkllon . The Grey Paladins will also have a base here, a thousand miraluka and a thousand shards, along with a million droid paladins. Mostly doing remote scanning of the trade coming through, searching for dangerous things. Both races, are remarkably similar now, using their force senses to see without eyes, and controlling their armor and ships with cyberimplants or technopathy. I will import a few thousands cerean women for administrative and logistic work, and hopefully the cool and collected cereans will grow to like the miraluka paladins and make me lots of smart, force-sensitive and bright-eyed new paladins. Because the cereans don''t have two hearts and two brains just for giggles. They are really smart and balanced. They just need the Force, to adjust their own birthrate problems with gene alter. I can do it for those few who work directly for me, if I spend 10 minutes focusing my powers to work with my feeble Living Force powers. Not really feasible for a billion cereans and miraluka. The Avatar''s kids with his cerean wives are all males for example, and the kids with his miraluka wives do have working eyes, but he spent many hours exploring the bodies of those women, and he''s a damn Living Force superpower. I mean, I am, but not. Sigh. Bilocation is complicated. Ever since we got disconnected on Jedha, the Avatar is often doing things I would do, but not under my direction. Well, he is me, but... More existential problems, always confusing me when I am doing the work of a trillion people at once, uplifting and upgrading an entire star system at once. One more week here, and then I can go to Yag''Dhul and their math geniuses Givin . Finally, someone smart enough to discuss the new sciences that Core keeps re-discovering. I mean, Core is way smarter, but he just can''t explain how things work that way or another. I need a more organic interface to translate the new scientific fields. And the Gree are too colorful, while the Sharu , no idea. They keep to themselves and feel scared and oppressed. Because they can''t go out to establish their own empire, since everywhere else is Pef Empire. Even though we''re roughly on par technologically, or at least Core is, they still feel superior and look down on their Centrality neighbors. I hope they will adapt, soon enough. I woke them from their long dream to help, and share their knowledge, not to keep themselves apart. The Avatar and Solana are still on Rafa, gently stealing knowledge from their advanced cities and minds, while they keep trying to open an avenue for cooperation and mutual defense. In the west, were still finding new planets and races, from Quethold to Pashvi and Teptixii in the north-west, then Snevu and Giaca. Other planets like Durace don''t have mynocks or lugubbra but instead have carnivorous plants and huge Avka birds, which can tear gunships apart. Ah, the wonders of the galaxy. But at least the planet has large diamond and gems deposits, and a Forest of Broken Glass , which is made of highly energy absorbing silicates, perfect for lining the armor of tanks and power armor with extra layers. In the end, the armor we use for the mechanized units begins to resemble Chobham armor from back home, with sandwiched layers of various composites, each contributing to defend the precious interior. And most important, I started the internet, using planetary relays and superconductive cables and orbital space stations. Not the very expensive and hi quality holonet, which has to remain under government control, but for economic and cultural growth at planetary scale, where FTL communications are not necessary. Add to this the new Palmpads, which connect locally to the internet grid for free, and cost 20 credits to make and 50 credits to buy if you''re interested, and an era of ubiquitous connectivity and scientific progress is starting. The universities from each sector receive a subspace network of relays, connecting their servers with wide traffic bands, and each sector will receive a hypernet relay to the Core once the AI creates and deploys his new hyperband capable server and deploys it on Zeltros. The party atmosphere on Zeltros will make a great place for computer and math geniuses to explore new sciences, while relaxing their bodies in company of the very friendly zeltrons, which are for some reason very skilled at holograms. The first university campus, hosting thousands of scholarship worthy students, and thousands of local zeltrons was resounding success, although using tactile holograms for date simulators and other erotic games was not the intended purpose, the games they produced sold really well, making a trillion credits galaxy wide. Which is enough credits to build 10 thousands Nebula destroyers for example. Or a million Dakka corvettes. Which is what I''m doing, building a million Dakka III corvettes every year, from most of the small shipyards in the Empire. They have only a 2 meter quadranium steel hull, plated with 10 centimeters of durasteel and one centimeter of diamondoid armor. But that is the new resource efficiency philosophy on the Empire, building large amounts of cheap ships, to patrol and protect the inner worlds, while the heavy ships go to fight the more dangerous enemies on the borders.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. The somewhat larger shipyards, like Gyndine or Sluis Van or Jaemus are being prepared to build the new destroyers and cruisers. Meanwwhile the former CIS shipbuilders like Fondor or Foerost , which had their capital shipyards destroyed during the Clone Wars will begin building the wedge frigates, similar to Ardent-class fast frigate although only 300 meters long, and without such an exposed bridge or pointless spike nose, the frontal pyramid absent, to allow better fields of fire and shield coverage. Because long spikes do not get shielded very well. Spherical or oval shapes are much more efficient to shield. The weapons I designed them to have, are on the same line with other of my other ships, a large capital class battery on top, with 4 long range turbolasers, 50 medium masers and 50 missile launchers and Gatling lasers. Then a tractor beam and a hangar for a dropship and a few starfighters. They''ll have a crew of 200 and 2000 droids to back them up, or 2000 combat droids to be sent on new planets for liberation. Corellia is doing its own thing, sometimes listening to my proposals, other times not, but at least their corvettes and frigates now leaving the rebuild look more like warships and not as mining tugs, with weapons welded on them. I mean is not so complicated to think a little and cover the engines and blind spots created by big holes in their superstructure? Plus some fast firing point defense guns and missiles. They still look ugly and not really space worthy, but at least the worst flaws have been fixed. Maybe the Corellians will learn more, as they have to send their own expeditionary fleets toward the final push on the Ssi-ruu. The dinosaurs have begun enteching their client species en masse, creating millions of droid starfighters powered by life energy. If we don''t put an end to them soon, there will be billions of such droids, and pose quite a problem. The Manta dreadnought can take care of a few million by itself, since it now has 10 thousand heavy guns and 20 thousand medium masers each turret with a missile launcher attached, and 10 million missiles in storage. But why not show our reluctant allies why we fight? Or what awaits them if we fail. And also give them some experience in long range deployments and coordinating with the Empire Navy. North-west of Bakura is the domain of the Rhand sorcerers and a dozen other death-cults, and the Green Paladins will benefit from experiencing true horrors, and learning how to end them efficiently from the Grey Paladins. And...done. Terminus system upgraded, 15 thousands ships of colorful design confiscated and replaced, including a Nagai ship, which was no doubt exploring the new rich and bountiful lands of the main galaxy. I''m not yet in a position to counter-attack preemptively, since I lack actual information about the dwarf galaxies around, but that will be solved in a decade, or so. It''s always better to fight a war on the enemies lands after all. Iol system, Pef Empire West Naval Anchor 14 BBY Planet Iol and this whole system is being transformed into the main operating base for the Navy, again with extra planets and a huge iron cube for a naval base, while the Iol will provide valuable minerals for ship construction and refits. The Acclamator III ships can land on any planet and debark a mechanized division, or 10 droids division, which ever is needed, though in general they''ll deploy in groups on three, debarking two infantry and one mechanized groups, since that worked best on most terrestrial planets. From here onwards, it will be the same distance westwards to Crakull , the Croke homeworld as it is to Coruscant and Empress Teta in the opposite direction. The stars to the west are known as the Croke Reach, although the Croke themselves are quite rare, instead we find planets like Explume Minor , infested with lugubrra and deserted cities, either because the Croke fled, or they became desert for the worms. They eat the mynocks and most of the useful minerals in the asteroids, so they have to go. Sad, eh? Still, both of the mynocks and the lugubrra can be melted to form a sort of useful silica-crete, not as strong as duracrete, but good enough for construction, especially if reinforced by steel bars. Just need to get rid of their stomach first or the whole building might collapse. Our combat droids now target their necks, trying to keep their stomachs from spilling, since acids are also quite useful in many industrial processes, although diluted a hundred times. Or they can be used in conjunction with compression to serve as ammo for acid guns, firing pellets of acid that can dissolve even starship armor. Once the threat is eliminated, we might keep a few farms of lugubrra to supply our assassins with fresh ammunition. Their teeth make great industrial grade tips for precision engineering, being able to etch any metal with barely any erosion. We have stores of quadrillions of such teeth, from both mynocks and lugubrra, so our factories will get in increase in productivity, since a 1 credit tooth can do the job of 3 boron tipped etching heads, each worth 100 credits, before it wears out. Ever since the news spread of these profitable vermin being sold for about 100 credits per body, thousands of adventurers started their own operations in the west, some even catching and then releasing lugubrra after they defanged them, in the hope they''ll grow new teeth... Not really sure how that logic would work, since the toothless lugubrra will just starve, unable to chew rocks or whatever. Admiral Natasi Greyshade has begun the siege of Lwhekk after destroying about 50 thousands Ssi-ruu ships and 50 million droid starfighters, her 10 Pef Navy fleets supported by one Imperial Navy fleet, and one from Atrisia and Corellia each . It wasn''t much of a battle, since we had 20 times more ships than the dinosaurs, so about 1 million capital ships, most of them corvettes, and 50 million Biplane and other types of starfighters. After the last fighters and orbital defenses are reduced, there will be a major ground invasion, comparable to what Admiral Thrawn is executing right now, at Qoribu and Yoggoy the last being the new homeworld of the Killiks, with trillions of those insects living deep underground, like humans do on Coruscant. They emigrated here after leaving Alderaan a long time ago, and have really gone overboard with overpopulation. Sadly, I had to approve limited orbital strikes, to create landing sites and access wells for our troops. There simply wasn''t any place to land, only cocoons and termite like hives hosting The Colony . The Killiks also had semi-organic ships called dartships, and capital ships the size of a Hammer. They just didn''t have enough of them. Even if they did, Thrawn was used to their tactics and weaknesses, and with a million ships of his own he would have won anyway. Now he had to be content with not losing a single ship to the killiks. Man, the guy is really perfectionist. However, exterminating the main killik hives will take a year. They are losing less of their members than they actually reproduce, which says something about the stupid rates they could expand and overwhelm the galaxy with pure numbers. My Titans have reached a million kills each, in the first day after landing, and will possibly reach a billion by the time the D-day ends. Next year. Other worlds in the vicinity of this conflict are also being garrisoned, like Tusken''s Eye and Sarm. My Voice Wialu is now on Veroleem , promising them an abundance of immigrants and better living conditions, and dealing with their murderous cult, while Asajj is on Kro Var , beating the snot out of the firebenders and earthbenders and airbenders and waterbenders force-users who lead that planet and call themselves Shapers. It will take her a year to beat everyone of them in single combat. But she likes it, and that''s what it takes for that planet to submit willingly. 30 thousands single combat fights, in a year. That''s around 100 per day, so not shabby at all. She can cut loose, breaking bones, and laughing off elemental alter, and teach those wanna be sorcerers how to be polite to a lady. When they have enough, I''ll visit them and bring them into the fold, but for now it''s a festival, all the clans gathered in a Colosseum, watching the fights and commenting on techniques and whatever, while my droids serve them free food and drinks, and confiscate their slaves, once another magician falls. Asajj is benefiting immensely from this as well, both in force connection and confidence and self-control. And everything is recorded and dramatized by a media corporation, then packaged as a documentary and sold to the various channels on internet. My Voice will become quite popular by the time the festival ends. It''s like fight club, only with spectacular magic. What''s not to like? Especially since Asajj manner of dressing makes any sentient mouth water...myself being the first. A bit like Wonder Woman, only with a mean streak. She likes the platinum blonde hair the Avatar gave her, and one time some rude Shaper burned a few strands...she stomped the guy into the ground, pulping his legs and arms, and cracking the stone floor and the durasteel armor underneath the arena. She''s getting really strong, possibly 70% of how Fay was, when we first met. By the time this contest, is over she will be twice as strong, and likely rival Grandmaster Fay, and even Wialu. No wonder Darth Sidious wanted her ''eliminated'' in another future. She is a wonder. My wonder. Diamond Hutt Nal Hutta, Pef Empire Hutt Council Hall 14 BBY, 3 months later "Esteemed Clan leaders, there is nothing I or anyone else can do, to resolve your predicament. It is your own poor decision-making to ignore the Empire credit as a guaranteed currency, and use diamonds and other sparkly rocks to purchase goods and services. The Empire is doing what it can, even moving the newly discovered diamond planets to Muunilist, and use them as a Galactic Bank security deposit, but the third planet is shattered, and those diamond asteroids were often too tiny to be picked up by scanners." Proto One declared with a sad voice. "But...what will we do? All our wealth, all our information brokers, our client races, we cannot pay them anymore!" a fat Hutt using some kind of starfish for a hat complained with real desperation. "Well, I do have a number of solutions to preserve the health and well-being of those poor citizens, but it is mostly this, the Empire will hire them all, to work in various state-owned enterprises, like factories and mining and farming and even as soldiers and navy crew. We do pay very well, so they won''t starve." my droid Ambassador replied placidly, and exulting in his victory. The Hutt were laid low, and without a shot. Well, except for a hundred times he was fired upon. And then his security returned fire and killed half of the Hutt entourage, then confiscated the slaves... Not a war though, so the Droid Emperor was not displeased. "That''s...you''re stealing our worlds, the very space our ancestors fought to defend!" another Hutt exclaimed in a sobbing tone. "Of course not, honored Hutts. Why would anyone steal impoverished and starving people, or primitive planets? The Pef Empire will have to invest trillions of credits for every planet it rescues from famine and poverty, just like it already did on Klatooine and Kwenn . Surely we must ensure our investments do not get stolen or misplaced, like any civilized entity would do?" Proto One asked rhetorically. The whole meeting was just a polite way to let the Hutts save face, and not just take everything they had. The Emperor basically owned everything in Hutt space now, except the core worlds around Varl. "Most valued Ambassador, surely some compensation can be obtained, for the ruling Hutt families? Perhaps as investors in the corporations or part-ownership, like it was arranged on Klatooine?" another Hutt, the smartest one asked with a begging tone. "That was then, most venerable Hutt. Your subordinate from Klatooine did bring some value by sharing the lands and the servants with the investing companies. You own nothing now, I''m afraid. However, the Emperor is generous and is willing to establish factories and shipyards in the core Hutt systems, to produce the new Palmpads and transport vessels and various luxury yachts, with furnishing and windows made of diamond. There, it would be possible to allow every Hutt a share of the profits, rescuing a million of Hutts from poverty and starvation, and even more, depending on how well the products sell and which Hutt manages better bulk sales and profit margins." the old droid explained politely, as the realization dawned on the leading Hutts. "You want to turn us into corporate salesmen and executives? Working for a salary and a tiny share of the profit?" the last Hutt asked almost incredule. "Your talents in this area are well-known, most honored Hutt. And do not dismiss this for a simple offer. The Empire has 12 million worlds, with quadrillions of sentients, and billions of mining systems. Just think about. One single transport ship can produce 100 thousands credits of profit. One Palmpad 20 credits profit. Now, if we total the possible market, we have at least 1 billion ships needed, and quadrillions of palmpads, one for every sentient in the galaxy. Even a tiny share of those quadrillions of credits will mean billions, for every Hutt, and trillions for each of you. And the Hutts do have contacts everywhere, isn''t it? I''m certain with a few calls, you can have thousands of ships and billions of palmpads already pre-ordered, by the many planets you have dealt with in the past. You can be great again, most venerable Hutts. Sell a million GR-45 medium transport to your friends, produced by your own shipyards and factories, with guaranteed Hutt resilience. And just like that, a trillion credits will appear in your bank accounts, safe from thieves, and most all legal. Do you want to be great, most esteemed Hutts?" Proto One proclaimed dramatically, punching the sky upwards. Victory at last! The Hutts hesitated for a few seconds, then greed won, and they punched the sky as well, with weaker fists. Surely bribery and blackmail would work fine, to sell comlinks and bulk cargo, just like it did for weapons and mercenaries...or, so they thought. Emperor Pef already had a dozen Hutts learning the ropes and preparing to take the lead, with huge sales and profits, and becoming the new Hutt Council by merit and competence. The fittest Hutts were not the most backstaby, although it helped, but those more prepared to change and adapt, using the new tools in their inventory, like apps for palmpads and faster more economical hyperdrives on their transports. Thousands of new companies were started on the major trade worlds, to sell the new devices and ships, and competition would increase technological progress, just like war did for various sensors and weapons. The Columi had looked at the Biplane drone telepresence helmets and chuckled, then simply produced their own variant based on theta brain waves and intuitive subroutines, and the hit ratio of our organic drone pilots increased from 10 or 20% to 70% . Just like that. Because the Columi used this type tech for a million years, for everything, from washing dishes to going shopping or various simulations. Lazy brainiacs, I know, but in this they case saved us thousands of years of research. I need to hire more of them, just need to figure out what motivates them. Perhaps access to tactile holograms in their simulations? New math theories? Nature documentaries? No idea, yet. But I will find out. Planet Arkania , Perave system Colonies region Arkania is an ice planet, which makes the white hair and the pale skin of the locals very appropriate. They also had diamond mines, now worth less than the droids used to collect them, so the mining stopped. Not that anyone is buying diamonds anymore. Their value has dropped to a mere industrial useful mineral, for lenses and glass cutting or similar needs. And thus Lira is here, to diplomatically arrange the most innovative geneticists in the galaxy to work directly for me. "Aren''t Arkanians fascinating? So loving of science¡ªand so willing to use it." Demagol "Voice Lira, it is good to see that rumors of your death were greatly exaggerated" Nasdra Magrody said with a curious tone. "Oh, they were not rumors or exaggerations, most esteemed professor of Magrody Institute of Programmable Intelligence . I was shot in the head by Cad Bane, the famous bounty hunter, and died during the negotiations on Dellalt. The Emperor brought me back, in this new body. And yes, samples are available..." she explained politely as the man''s eyes widen in surprise. "Oh dear. This indeed fascinating. Let me bring...here. A testing device measuring the Force. 17000 points!" the man exclaimed in surprise, after using some gizmo to scan Lira for Force markers. "17344 points yes, honored professor. The Emperor used a number of genes acquired from the Jedi Grandmaster Fay, to enhance my force connection. And we have our own measuring devices for the Force connection, although they are archeotech from Kathol. This device measures alignment, and was built by the Emperor himself. As you can see, I am currently at 65% blue and the rest mixed. Most Jedi would measure at 99% blue, or flip and become 99% red or black, due to flawed training" Lira Greyshade said softly, after scanning herself with the Mimban crystal detector. "I see now. Those dark jedi... I would so want, to study a few..." the man muttered with scientific objectivity. "The south-west offensive is dealing with the Sorcerers of Rhand just now, most enlightened professor. Surely, a few can be captured and be made available. As long as your own person is protected, using this belt or helmet for example, or this taozin amulets or a Culexus bodyguard." she replied patiently. "Oh, real relics too? And what is that Culexus?" the man asked oblivious. "That would be me. Culexus 0089, your droid bodyguard." the assassin droid replied coldly, patting the man on his shoulder, still invisible. "Oh! I was thinking to create a chip, to allow anyone to control droids with their mind...perhaps I should work on that as well..." professor Magrody muttered lost in thought. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. "Here, we already have three variants, professor. We prefer using the last one, since organic chips are less prone to malfunction or crash from ionization weapons." Lira said with a thin smile, opening a slim box with the three chips inside. "Amazing! Do you think I could...?" he asked with some trepidation. "Professor Magrody. You can have all this and more. But, all these devices are classified Delta by the threat assessment chart. Only government licensed professionals are allowed to even know of their existence. Not to mention the genome optimization programs or ..." "Say no more, Voice Lira. You want my soul, dear lady, it''s yours. I must work with this. I just must. Where do I sign in?" the man asked with a desperate look. His Culexus bodyguard placed a datapad in front of him, unfazed. Nothing fazed those droids. Kuat system, Kuati Drive Yards Kuat corporate board 14 BBY The Kuati are very similar to the Japanese from back home, with stylish etiquette and food, and rigorous work ethic and immense productivity. They just don''t like to listen. My Avatar is having bit of hard time explaining their role, because KDY wants to produce anything military, even if they suck at many things. Inventive, but expensive and not that effective. "Please calm down and sit, esteemed leaders. As I said, using KDY as an umbrella for a thousand different products has to stop. For example, most of the war material produced by your subsidiary Rothana is 10 times more expensive and with 5 times less effectiveness in ground combat than what the Land warrior designs already produce. The new generation of Gauntlet III armor cost 15 thousand credits, 10 times less than those walkers you came up with, and they actually have a turret. So no, land vehicles are indeed not feasible to be bought from KDY. Dropships and shuttles much the same, our new Gozanti III will suffice the needs of the navy for a generation and perhaps much more. The TIE starfighters are interesting, but only because they are just 3 times cheaper than your competitors''. Not actually combat effective, unless you do remodel them as I had advised, with an oval body and planar wings, and having at least one turreted Gatling gun and two missile launchers. The TIE bombers will need to have their upper solar panels flattened and support two torpedo launchers, not just bombs. Now regarding capital ships, KDY is not interested in corvettes which is fine by me. The Arquitens-class command cruiser and the light cruiser variant can be upgraded here, and brought to the same standard as the new Ardent-class frigates produced by your competitors. There are 100 thousands such ships in the Navy, which simply put mostly waste fuel and crew. The Light and Sound Arts corporation will provide KDY with long range turbolasers and medium masers for this upgrade, while Gatling guns and missiles launchers can be produced by your subsidiaries. This will provide work for KDY''s smaller shipdocks, and we will buy every single Ardent frigate you can produce, the upgraded model at a third of the cost, of course, since they are already owned, and just need upgrades in armor and reactor and engines." I explained politely, as the holotable in the middle was running a fast-forward model of striping down an Arquitens, then rebuild it with better armor and reactors. "That''s robbery! Even if we use quadranium steel to uparmor the Arquitens, the docks will still be blocked by this order for 5 years! At least 50% of the cost must be paid, or we will lose money" Kuat of Kuat exclaimed upset, after doing some profit margin calculations. Hmmm. 40% would have given them a good profit anyway, but fine. Everyone must be happy. "Agreed, honored Kuat of Kuat. 500 billions credits have been wired to KDY right now. I expect my frigates in less than 5 years. Now, for the cruisers, I will place an order of 10 thousand units, to see how they compare with Gyndine and Sluis Van competitors during trials and various combat engagements in the west. Keep in mind, that the Navy will need millions of cruisers, and Mon Calamari already make fine ships. If your designers and engineers decide to change or modify the schematics agreed by the Ship design bureau, I expect an increase in performance and combat efficiency. Or the KDY will not be premiated but instead penalized procentually for any margin lost in turn speed or firing arcs." I said more serious. You block my guns from firing 2 degrees left or right, you lose 2% of the price. Seems fair. "I''ll oversee the modifications personally, esteemed Avatar. The guns must stay on target, that''s a simple goal" Lira Wessex the lead designer for the Imperial star destroyers said with a frown. Yeah, if that was true, why aren''t the guns of your ships staying on target? Who placed those guns for broadsides and didn''t even stagger them? "And miss Wessex, do make peace with your father. You are both brilliant, but if he gets assassinated, I will blame you personally. Walex Blissex still has 40 years of brilliance and ingenious design in front of him. You steal those years from my Empire and you''ll lose them too, in prison" I said with a calm tone towards the murderous daughter. She nodded with a frown, perhaps confused how I knew. "Okay, now for the destroyers. Get it in your heads, esteemed KDY gentlemen, destroyers are not orbital bombardment ships, nor battleships in the front line. Their role is in the name, to be fast and hunt down smaller ships, like cruisers or lower. They are not carriers, to use half of their volume to carry starfighters. Sure, from frigate upwards all Navy ships will carry dropships and fighters, because space is big and volumes get searched faster using remotes. But, the Nebula-class is designed to serve as escort and picket ship in fleet engagements, with 200 long range turbolasers placed along the central spines, and 400 medium maser guns, 100 Gatling batteries of 5 guns, including ion canons and plasma guns, along with 500 Gatling pointdefense lasers and 650 missile launchers on top of every battery turret. As you can see on the hologram, the Nebula will create a mist of exploded starfighters and gunships from any wave of small class attackers, while being able to engage targets at long range to support the heavy elements or harass big ships from outside they fire envelope. The energy for these weapons will come from the new solar ionization reactors class 3.2 using belskar and cortosis armor to contain hypermatter while it''s being ionized. And as with the Acclamator III, they will have their bridge and engines armored up and three secondary 4S shield emitters, thus able to withstand one salvo even from a Hammer''s magnetically accelerated guns." I explained with some pride, since these was actually leading edge engineering. "Very impressive, for a ship only 920 meters long. But there''s very little room left for anything else but guns and reactors...where will the troopers and the crew live?" someone asked from the end of the table. "I think I already said, didn''t I? Destroyers are warships not troop transports or carriers or occupation ships. This Nebula could take an Imperial-class destroyer down, alone. Or an entire pirate fleet. Or 2 Lucrehulks filled with Vulture droids. It has 1200 organic crew, officers and gunners mostly, and 20 thousands droids. And because of that, the crew wasted on an older model of destroyer can crew 10 or 20 ships of the Nebula-class. And when they get destroyed, the Navy loses a thousand people not 47 thousands crew and officers like on an Imperial-class." I explained with a sterner voice. The KDY board looked at each other and then at the hologram again. "How many of these ships will the Navy need?" Kuat asked with a bit of excitement. "A million for a start, but at least 13 million. The Empire will have all its planets defended, no matter the cost." I said with a blinding smile. "Oh my! We''re going to need 50 times more shipyards and mining planets and..." Kuat muttered in his native language. "Exactly, honored Technician. The Emperor is bringing 100 planets here in Kuat sector , half of them rich in minerals, the others to house immigrants from all over the Empire. Also, a few more gas giants and a billion metallic asteroids. It is a massive investment for the Empire, both of trust and resources. So all of you, get to work and build me the ships I need. Voice Vera Greyshade will oversee Kuat for the next hundred years, and make sure Kuat has everything it needs, from resources, credits or employees, to security." I concluded in Kuati, and smiled even wider. "But, many of those systems are classified and..." an older Kuati lady muttered for herself. "Yes, and now each of your four classified mining systems have 10 extra mining planets. Nothing is concealed from Emperor Pef, do not forget this. The other systems in the sector now all have 5 planets to house more immigrants and factories. I can provide planning and planetary ecology designs, but I believe you do have everything, mostly figured out. This is Vera, my wife. Just like me, her words are law, everywhere in the galaxy. She doesn''t talk much though..." I said with some amusement, as Vera Greyshade, the red twi''lek maid, my newest Voice and former Zeison Sha adept, looked around the Kuat board room, perhaps surprised everyone here wore green tunics, without many ornaments. Duh, the CEO''s title was Technician...these guys took work very seriously. "Hello everyone. I am Vera. We''ll be good friends, I am certain." she said with a beautiful smile, then gave me a short hug. The Kuati council took a step back in concert. Yep. She''ll do just fine. "Was that a teleportation?" Miss Wessex asked curious. Hmmm. Her name was a bit obvious too. "Give me your hand, most enchanting lady. I can teleport you in orbit aboard my ship, and then we can go find your father" I said gently. She hesitated for a second, then took my Avatar''s hand. Your father can wait, while I get to know you better. I do need to bind Kuat to me tighter. Skin tight even. Circle of life Humbarine system Centerpoint station 14BBY The work on the Commenor new capital is proceeding as fast space, as billions of emigrants from all over the Empire have started to settle the new planets, while the navy is busy organizing itself to defend the system, and also their new logistic chains. All we need is a direct route to the Hydian Way, coreward from Humbarine and having a gas cloud impeding navigation called Marasa Nebula blocking the way. Planet Trellen is on the other side, another large ecumenopolis with 500 billion people, so I''ll just have to stretch my powers, and those of the Centerpoint station and collect the gas, and compact it into asteroids. Not so easy as it sounds, since this nebula is a hundred light years thick. Who am I kidding, of course is simple. I just have to bring a small black hole nearby, then shove all this debris into it. And that''s what I am doing, using the Endor''s tiny black hole. Don''t worry people of Bakura, I''ll give it back next week so you can keep making repulsorlift components and another nice stuff. Ah much easier now, simply shoving...hey there''s planets here! Inhabited planets and quite advanced. ''Hello Mindnet , this is Emperor Pef, of the Pef Galactic Empire'' I sent a bit amused to this brand new cyborg civilization, that nobody knew about. And was right next to our capital... Heh. I did tell people we might find brand new civilizations out there, intersecting ours and invisible, but it seemed just a dream. See, you try to build a new highway, cut down a few trees, and there is the City of Monaco, highly advanced and right next to Washington DC. And nobody noticed it for 30 millenia because of the trees... ''There''s a Galactic Empire? Is it big? Do you have ships?'' various Marasan asked curious. ''Well, it''s only a few billion star systems spread around the galaxy. We''re still growing and exploring...'' I replied amused. And while this was going on, the nebula was being cleared, and more and more of their colonies entered the range of the Centerpoint. And took me two weeks to establish a hyperspace route between Humbarine and Trellen, and expose the Marasai homeworld to the wonders of Hutt salesmen and erotic holograms. ''Now esteemed Mindnet guys, you realize by now, just looking at the maps you just downloaded that you are very close to the most important trade route in the galaxy, as well as our new capital at Commenor. Also, I cleared the energized gas of the nebula by teleporting a blackhole nearby, then had it travel along a S thread artificial hyperroute untill the hyperplane was stabilized into a new trade route. Now, I''m going to give the blackhole back to the nice people from Bakura, the largest industrial center in the southwest but, by the time I return, I expect you all to vote whether you want to join the Empire.'' I explained politely, before the Centerpoint jumped away. Hmmm. The blackhole barely grew in size at all. Guess gas really has too little mass. But this Din Pulsar is making a mess out of navigation around here. Sweep it in. There you go! Better and blacker blackhole, and no more annoying pulsar. Plus a larger accretion disk so better productivity for the energy refineries. Here, a hundred asteroids close by, as thanks for loaning me the blackhole. Nobody even protested with pancarts in front of the Imperial Service Administrata offices. Maybe they didn''t think they owned it. Actually let''s make it a law. Only the Emperor can own blackholes and stars. Not like anyone else can really use them, and if someone blows up a star, in my galaxy, then it''s destruction of Empire property. Unless it''s me doing it, for reasons. Yep, doing reasonable laws on demand is quite nice. And let''s jump back to Commenor and help out. Those 33 billion construction droids are having a hard time doing all the work themselves. I should give them a hand, and finish the new capital system this year. And jump. Now, where were we? Ah, the cyborgs want to join the Pef Navy and pilot starfighters remotely. Seems like fun, and pretty safe. Just like the commercials say, since a torrent of adds hit Marasai while I was away. ''Yep, it really is safe, deep in the armored belly of a Meteor or a Mountain, or even a Hammer. Not so much on the other ships... Hmmm, yes we will send immigrants to your colonies. This whole area of the galaxy is called the Colonies. And yes, no overpopulation, just a few billions from Trellen. Come on, the math is simple! A dozen colonies, 5 billion per planet, 60 billion immigrants. It will be fine. They''re all nice people, who never seen sunlight except maybe once in their life.'' I explained amused, as dealing with the Mindnet was like being Trump, bombarded by tweets. But promoting immigration instead. Different times. Who knows, in a billion years I might build a wall around the galaxy too. Anyway, time to send the Avatar to Rendili, and restart the Light corvette program, only without those silly frontal prongs. The new Verifier-class corvette will be using a tractor beam and getting a large inner barracks for the custom inspectors, and their marines, in the big space that can be obtained inside, once the huge inner space between the prongs is armored up and connected to life support. Also a pair of ion cannons and dozen missile launchers and gatling guns. Just in case the ships they''re supposed to inspect do not stop. Or they have to fight pirates. Commenor system, Pef Empire Celestial Senate 13 BBY There are possibly 50 million ships here at Commenor, being guided on their intricate paths by Core, and millions of cyborg traffic analysts. And this is just the beginning of what a galactic civilization can do. We still rely on ships for too many things. From bulk transport like the Bulk cruiser and even larger ships like Lucrehulks to luxury yachts and protocol shuttles, and then warships and starfighters. The Celestial Senate is a double pyramid made from a large diamond asteroid, 1000 kilometers tall and 500 kilometers wide, similar in outlook to the Mortis monolith, only much larger. The diamond had to be gently sculpted and faceted, then reinforced with a billion tons of steel and diamondoid inserts, then transformed into the singly largest building in the galaxy, floating in vacuum. It''s a wonder of a galaxy, especially as its position above the plane where the planets spin, makes it sparkle constantly in the sun, and keep it visible at all times from the northern hemispheres of the nearby planets orbiting Commenor''s sun. "Esteemed Senators, and delegates and galactic citizens. Here we are, a month later than my dear husband anticipated, celebrating the new galactic capital on Commenor, and inside a moon sized diamond. Not only that, but this World Senate is now truly representing every single planet in the Empire , almost 12 million planets. And yes, I know we have billions of star systems but I say we can barely fit the inhabited worlds representatives in here. Can you imagine thousands of times more Senators?" Bena Greyshade proclaimed from her aurodium throne. The newest World Senators like the Geroon remained speechless, possibly a little overwhelmed by the words, or just the huge 270 degrees spherical section, with the Senators lodges arranged in a roughly correspondent slot to their planet''s galactographic position. Others cheered or clicked or wailed or waved their algae. Yep, this galaxy had diversity all right. Sapience arose from every likely candidate and millions of unlikely ones. "As my most adored wife and Empress said, the celebration for the new capital was a little bit delayed, but only because I had searched the galaxy for a suitable gift. Who knew that sculpting a thousand kilometers tall diamond would take this long? But I believe the wait was worth it. Not only this Celestial Senate building, but also the new hyperspace route to Trellan and the Hydian Way. Just now, Emperor Pef and the Centerpoint station are laying down a new hyper route from Brilbringi to Roxuli, then Genroon Selvaris and Iol and finally Jedha. It''s a very expensive and time consuming endeavor, but if the galaxy is to become civilized and rich we need trade routes, not just in the east, but also the west. And once the west is freed from slavery and untold horrors, there are still a trillion stars in the galaxy, waiting to be discovered. I believe if we truly work together, we can make the whole galaxy a garden, radiant and beautiful just like Empress Bena" I proclaimed dramatically, mostly for the quadrillions of humans in the empire. Sure, there were millions of other races, but not in sufficient populations, even the killiks were just trillions. Perhaps the mynocks or the lugubrra matched the humans in numbers, but in a decade they''ll become an endangered species too. The killik survivors will be resettled on Woteba , and kept under watch and quarantine, without animals or other living beings to take over. The planet had an environmental defense system that attacked anyone, anytime they interfered with the ecosystem, destroying both structures and living beings with a corrosive substance known as Fizz. Perfect place to keep the killiks alive but contained. The navy still had much work to do on that front, even with establishing droid factories on the ground to replenish loses. The killiks kept reproducing even faster, though they were slightly running out of adults. Without force-sensitives to absorb, the hives were still quite primitive, using methane and spitcrete as their industrial and weapon arsenal, along with various melee castes. Ah, it''s my turn to speak now. "All right, Honored Senators. I do not need to explain why a Republic doesn''t work, not on a galactic scale. There can simply be no consensus between so many varied races and interests. The World Senators are here to submit their grievances. And unlike in the former Republic, it won''t take a hundred years of lengthy debates to solve whatever problem arose, from natural disasters to plagues or civil wars or economic issues. Rest assured, in a few days, or up to a month in difficult cases, any problem can and will be solved. Be advised however. Once a grievance is brought before the Office of the Emperor, any and all autonomy rights are suspended, for that world. Myself or the Empress or a Voice of the Emperor will decide which, if any such rights are to be restored once the problem is fixed. I''ll give a simple example. There was once a race, moderately advanced, who began drilling towards the core of their homeworld for more energy. At first it worked great, boosting their production and energy a thousand times, then radiation began leaking from the core, untill it was too late and they all perished, destroying the life on that planet completely. In such a case, the Empire would have acquiesced to help and restore the planet, but that race in particular would have lost their privileges, since they clearly didn''t have enough brains to keep themselves alive. So, keep in mind, with autonomy comes responsibility. If your world is proven to be reckless, then clearly it has to become a ward of the Empire for a few generations. Also, do not play around with bioweapons. Yes, you esteemed Senator from Arkania. And many others who think they are clever and hid their traces well. There is not such thing as accidental release or a dropped vial. For every person who dies from such a weapon, everyone involved, from design to manufacture and handling, will be tormented in my private Hell dimension for eternity. Next thing, the Sector Senators. Yes, you are much more important and will work on various committees establishing policy and budgetary issues, each of you in their respective qualifications. If you were a holomovie star, before you were elected Senator, then you can work in the Cultural Commission. Various former priests and cult leaders will work on the Religion and Refugee Commission while officers can work in the Naval or Army Commissions.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. And be advised, corruption and collusion from any of the Senators is considered treason. The penalty for treason is death by dismemberment and then being eaten by the nice lugubrra. In this matter, if you''re doubtful about your actions, then you are possibly already committing collusion. Better ask the Emperor to make sure, on the hypercom emitters that you all received when you were instated as Senators. That will be all for this month Honored Senators, get to know each other and please bring any problems you have forward." I declared with a polite by stern voice. Cause yeah, while I did want representation for all the planets in the Empire, I wasn''t going to let them run amok, restarting the very problems that lead to the Clone Wars and various genocides. The budgetary concerns were more delicate, as the treasury couldn''t work with a disgruntled population. Taxation demanded representation, as well as accountability. Sure, sometimes money will be wasted on idiotic plans to save some rodian eating lizard or weather satellites on temperate planets, but people had to be kept happy, where possible. I was much more concerned with keeping them alive and healthy, which was the purpose of the military efforts and the Medical Division. Money and happiness would follow, but as secondary concerns. Our western fleets began encountering the Ebruchi , who were also nomad slavers, only using smaller ships and hit-and run raids. They often used other races like Tarro or Eickarie who lost their home planets to a supernova or invaders. Two small fleets were sent to Lakra system and Kariek , to solve those local annoyances and give my vice admirals more experience. Also, the Navy exploration fleets keep advancing westward, and have found more habitable planets like Umaren''k and Osseriton and Carrivar . By the end of the year, our western borders should reach the Chiss Ascendancy. I mean, we already have limited contact, mostly through Thrawn and his phalanx of Chiss followers, but it isn''t official. Not yet. Iol system Naval Cube Station West. 13 BBY All the large ships produced so far by the shipyards of the Republic and the Galactic Empire have been called here, to undergo refit and modernization by the Emperor, while billion tons of armor plates and extra weapons and engines and reactors arrive every day. From Venators to Victory then Procurator and Praetor, to the Mandators, each of these ships simply hurt my soul with how much work and credits were invested in them, and then barely made combat worthy, by poor decision making and fear of automation and droids. The new ships will take a while to be produced, and we''re not keeping the heavy hulls to rust. The Procurators for example are 200 years old battlecruisers, and never saw combat, even in the Clone Wars, they were kept back, using their 2500 meters wedge hulls for intimidation. Not that they would have been much use with 8 turbolasers anyway. Really, whoever created these ships wanted to ram things, not shoot them. The Venators and the Victory destroyers are small enough to simply transform them into Nebula-class, once they receive 10 meters of extra armor plating and lots of guns. The shape is good enough that once they are plated over with armor, most of their faults are being hidden away. And the large hangars can be used to house the new bridge and secondary CIC and secondary reactors and shield emitters, as well as tibanna gas canisters and missiles. Still lots of extra room left, since the crew is being reduced greatly and replaced with the excess OOM B11 droids. There will be two hangars at the back, one for starfighters and one for dropships, but even those will have sally gates and turrets guarding them. The top of the central pyramid, now cleared of those silly towers will house large turrets, placed in a staggered formation to allow them to fire both sides and backwards, as well as forward. The Nebula II, which are the larger converted Venators, at 1100 meters, can support 100 turbolasers and 1000 medium guns, and still carry 100 Biplane V starfighters, while the Victory were smaller at 900 meters but a little wider. And now to the real battlecruisers, which get gutted completely, to make room for new reactors and engines then receive 50 meters of quadranium steel all over, and then their old armor get put on top, then I carve everything up to install 300 quad magamasers turrets and 5 quad long range turbolasers turrets on top, for the Mandators and half that for the Praetors. The Procurators are a mess, well less now, with their new armor and all, but still not good enough at either role.Guess they can serve as missile cruisers of a sort, with 500 proton torpedo launchers and 3000 missile launchers, and just 100 heavy guns and 500 gatling lasers. In fact anything between 1000 meters and 4000 meters is a mess, not having enough fire volume or armor to stand against a large ship, but still being vulnerable to smaller ships fire. The Providence and Lucrehulk-class also fit in this category, as do torpedo spheres or other similar sized ships like the Hutt dreadnaughts or some Mon Calamari cruisers. Bigger is not better, unless they are big enough, and armored accordingly. The Separatists warships had hulls about one meter thick, and the Calamari cruisers the same. Really, just fragile explosive eggs, once their shields were gone. The Republic ships had 2 meters of armor in general, to 5 meters on battlecruisers and 10 meters on the Mandators and the Imperial-class. No wonder tractor beams were so effective at ripping ships appart, or turbolasers penetrated directly into the reactor chambers. Still all these battlecruisers are less than 100, the Republic didn''t have that many, and losing one would have been a major blow to morale, if not actual combat strength. Guess I can send the Procurators back to guard Kuat and Commenor and have them fly the flag to impress people. The sharks and the hammers are the real defense anyway, not 80 wedge shaped hulls looking absolutely amazing... These larger battlecruisers will make great flagships for all the ambitious admirals from the Navy, while the 15 thousand destroyers will now be actually combat effective, able to turn on a dime due to lateral thrusters, and having a thousand times less design flaws. Couldn''t fix everything without actually building new ships from scratch, but instead of millions potential problems popping up, there are now mere thousands. And the remaining Navy crews who will not serve on the automated destroyers get to be re-assigned to the new ships being built, every decent officer becoming a captain for a corvette or frigate while promising ensigns become XOs . This will fix the problem of not having captains for the new ships, since giving a new academy graduate a captain role is a recipe for many misunderstandings and even disasters. For the Hammers and Meteors I still mainly use officers who served in the clone wars, while new Gand Findsmen and Dornean graduates and various Servants get trained to receive their own ships, using holosimulators 6 hours per day, plus 4 hours of bridge duty in different roles. In fact, all Navy officers and gunnery crews have to train every day in holosimulators, as do the garrison Army soldiers. Those deployed in the west get plenty of live fire training, so much that they have to rotate out every two weeks. Not just people get worn out, but the weapons systems too. If you never seen a gatling gun melt from firing continuously for two weeks, I did. Only happens on saturated battlefields like the killik planets or various lugubrra infested worlds, but it does happen. Some droids also crack, and become genocidal, but so far their restraining bolts have held, and they simply shut down. I shiver thinking of billions of HK-47 wanna-be''s . Guess I''ll have to implement rotation for tanks and droids as well. At least Thrawn''s droid troops have began advancing, only 20 kilometers from their landing zones but it most likely means the killik hives are running out of troops...after 8 months of non-stop massacre. I hope they did. The army got to train a million officers, just by remotely directing their companies on the ground. Cause we weren''t about to risk losing any remotely capable officer to the killik hiveminds and have to contend with actual weapons and strategies. They get good very fast, as my own Centerpoint station can attest. Still have 14000 Venators to upgrade to the Nebula II class, so I''ll be here for a while. ---------------------------- Mon Calamari system Orbital shipyard "Again, esteemed shipbuilders, no. I do not want ships larger than one kilometer. I want my ships to have the MC Liberty profile but with 10 times more armor and burrowed engines and bridge. And less ion cannons and more masers and missiles." my Avatar explained again. "You''re not seeing the beauty of this design, Avatar. Like a drop of water, it flows and..." a genius artist commented at my request, the 25th today, and perhaps the thousandth this month. "Lugubrra eat ship armor, most enlightened artist. The Vong use gravity fields for propulsion, as well as tractor beams. This beautiful and artful ship, with its long appendage bridge hanging 500 meters below the hull would simply be torn into bits. You can build it from your own pocket, but not from the Navy budget." I replied in a disgusted tone. This MC75 cruiser was a horrendous ship. Made my skin crawl. "You''re no patron of arts, Avatar. Only war and more firepower..." a lady Calamari engineer complained, almost correctly. "These shipyards that employ all of you, were built with my credits. Your salaries are paid by my credits. And the safety of the people below, is guarded by the ships we make here. Pretty flimsy ships, many dead Calamari, and babies eaten alive. Is this more helpful and patronizing?" I asked rhetorically. "We have our own customs and designs, great Avatar. But, perhaps we can build something functionally similar to your Nebula destroyers and the smaller cruiser and frigates. Just...stop setting your fists on fire. It''s a bit scary..." an older Quareen builder said with a peaceful tone. Huh, didn''t realize I was reaching the limits of patience, for something so trivial. "Indeed, whenever art and survival come into balance, I tend to favor survival. Because dead people do not make art. Think of it like this: you want to make a shield and a spear, to fend of a big shark. Now, if those devices are thin and flimsy, the shark will bite them off, and eat you. If they are sturdy and strong, you can decorate them with shark teeth and carvings, because you are still alive. Simple?" I asked in a more amused tone. Forgot I had to reference water things to make them understand. "Hmmm, you may actually have a point here, firebender. Something sturdy to resist a bite from the sharks, like your meteors and hammers, but agile enough to run circles around them...and kill the remoras and other scavengers, while your own sharks battle theirs. We may need to use gyrating turrets, to be able to keep firing while running away. Come back next month, we''ll have something for you then..." the eldest artist mused, looking at me with his only good eye. Excellent, I got through to someone, and didn''t have to punch anything! Here, old guy, have some healing and reinforcement. You''re 20 years younger now! Keep making nice ships for me. And teleport back on the Dart. Now, where to go next? I had planet Monastery in my schedule for a visit, and their Force Order of the Sacred Circle , which had recently got a new female leader. " We worship the eternal, ever-renewing circle of life." Domina Tagge , All-High Priestess . And then, I had a long awaited vacation to planet Spunchina , famous for its benevolent women and their galactic class, month long orgies. Hmmmm. Though choice. Well, in this case, why not both? I''ll just have to romance that new priestess, and bring her with me to Spunchina, in a honeymoon tour of the empire. And getting married in the Tagge family would be a bonus for both of us. I rather make them my allies, than have to kill them all. Fleet modernization Commenor system, Pef Galactic Empire Celestial Throne, a small artificial moon. Redbox, a secure level inside the Pef Intelligence skyscraper 13 BBY "I understand Emperor. Can''t bring my daughter at work with me...not for a few years..." Triumvir Isard muttered with a sheepish look. "Don''t misunderstand Triumvir. I am certain she will be great one day. But children should experience childhood, if possible. Make friends, go on trips, jump from trees or play with droids or dolls. You''re building a sociopathic subordinate, not raising a daughter, right now." I explained patiently. Took me a while to realize what went wrong with Jaybo, and almost missed it. Not really, but my early training left him a bit marked. But now he has Lando as a buddy, and Han Solo will join their nefarious adventuring group soon. Along with Ysanne Isard and Sabine Wren and a few others. The next generation of heroes of the Empire. "I sort of hoped for Ysanne to reach a detailed understanding of the intelligence work. And perhaps get noticed by your Avatar..." he answered with a cautious tone. "Indeed, and you almost succeeded Mister Isard. She would have got you killed and taken your place. And should have known better, this type of conditioning is what creates child soldiers and then assassins. And I do not lack for orphans in this galaxy." I answered with a flat voice, returning to the holoprojector. The Hutts were shrinking rapidly, as their clans were concentrating in their core worlds, trying to save whatever cash and power they had left, and learning to order droids around, instead of slaves. Didn''t work quite as well as I''d like, with more scummy hutts allying themselves with the remains of the Black Sun and various pirates, especially in wild space and thousands of asteroid belts, mostly in the south east of the galaxy. "OKay then, I hope this change of scenery will do her some good. Now, about the informant network in the south east, it''s not as extensive as I''d like. The Bothans are actually working against us..." he complained, still tapping on his datapad. Gonna have to replace that with something less conspicuous. But, Jaybo and Ysanne both will benefit from learning at the prestigious campus on Zeltros. Perhaps the other three as well, who knows? "Yes, I know. Especially against their oppressors, as most of the Galactic Empire was perceived in the Mid Rim and beyond. You will be happy to know I kinda own 32% of the bothan spynet, and this percentage will only increase as my Third Hand replaces more cell leaders with his own people. It''s just a matter of money and a common enemy, in this case the Hutts. With every raid carried on Hutt operations, certain people get replaced, while slavery becomes less profitable" I said with a hint of amusement. "Oh. That''s...very good. I wish I had thought of that myself" the man exclaimed with a hint of amazement and envy. Yep, only hints in the voice tone, as a sign of delicate symbology. The games we played were quite subtle, after all. "Any hints of more killik infiltrators into various insect races?" I asked, changing the subject. "Possible five more, although it''s difficult to say. Thyferra and Roche appear to be the killik main targets. Although I don''t understand how they bypassed our blockade..." Isard said with a shudder. "They obviously had a hidden colony somewhere, and got to a passing ship or perhaps built one. There are other possibilities, but I doubt them." I mused, revewing possible cretins who would help the killiks voluntarily. "The Jedi, or some other force cult, perhaps captured. The Chiss trying to stir trouble, or perhaps another race in the region. Or a traitor, from our own navy. Pirates hiding low, and getting caught. Dozens other possibles from various bleeding hearts societies..." My Third Hand said wisely, decloaking on the other side of the holomap table. "Miss Fay is strong enough to break the Joiner bond by herself. Yoda as well. No, it''s a lower ranked force adept. Most likely a young witch or a someone similar. I''ll do a search later, but my guess is planet Tenupe. There was a small killik colony there, in the other future." I said with a suffering sigh. It never ends, does it? Always having to be vigilant and fixing whatever stupid things other people do. Gonna have to break out the contingency weapons already? ''Don''t do it Pef. It''s not worth it...plus you already have two less damaging solutions'' Solana replied in the Voice bond, showing me images of Gand and Solanus. Thanks love. Damn my preconceptions. I didn''t need guns and tanks or chemicals or exotic weapons. Comets had ice and ammonia, while insects needed to breathe. And I already used this type of environment change to subdue the Geonosians partially, in the clone wars. ''Open secure link to hypernet terminal. Encrypt message to Admiral Thrawn NW Command. Killik hives possibly present on Tenupe, upon such presence confirmation, oceanform it, and every infested planet. Relocate up to ten thousand survivors to Woteba, and depart to Csilla with sufficient inventory to integrate the Exploratory Fleets. PS: marry a dozen or so syndics, but leave a few for Avatar.'' I sent after a minute of silent deliberation. Enough time wasted with lasers and masers and low level toys. We had enough ships now to liberate the entire galaxy once they began spreading out. I had obeyed the rules of the game for too long, going slow and patient. The Core will get to go ahead to start creating the next generations of warships, using Ardanium from planet Questal to increase the reactor output by two magnitudes, and Duranium from planet Kriekaal for the hulls. The entire planet was made of duranium, so there will be plenty metal even for 50 meters thick plates of armor, more resilient than the 1 kilometer of iron shells of the Hammers. And we already knew how to make weapons like the Solar ionization cannon and Proton beam cannon which were three magnitudes stronger and fired continous beams as the guns fire protons not photons, which are the particles that make light and have nearly no mass, so they are heavy and pack a punch. And kept firing for as long as necessary, or the hypermatter fuel was depleted. The next generation of ships will have the 0.5 hyperdrives, the 4S shields and also cloaking and gravity and mass generators, along with the hyperspace motivators and immersion fields required to ignore the dovin basals of the Vong. And they would be just a bit larger than the Nebula I and smaller than Nebula II that I made from the Venators. Exactly 1000 meters long, while the height and width of the reactor chambers gave it the other dimensions, thus three separate reactors, for engines, shields and weapons, about 150 meters in diameter. Let''s add two more smaller backup reactors, for life support and sensors and for secondary weapons and the bridge. The sublight engine technology hasn''t progressed far enough, but adding 9 more engines to the usual 6 engines of the Nebula should give the ship enough acceleration to keep up with the frigates escorting it. And I could export some duranium and ardanium to the Mon Calamari, as they came up with a MC-60 Star Cruiser variant of their own. Not exactly what I asked to, but good enough, once upgraded with better armor and reactors and weapons. And I could also upgrade the already existing MC-80 cruisers of which I already had about 2000. Yeah, two more years for the upgrades and the first cycle of new battlecruisers, and then it was time to chase after the Vong. Waiting for them to finish mapping the galaxy and colonizing whatever many planets in preparation for a galactic invasion was not my game anymore. In two years, most of the west will be pacified, allowing the heavies to be stationed at all the major lanes intersections, as well as the populated planets. And these fast and even deadlier Nebula III will go after the Vong. "Had an epiphany, Nebulous Emperor?" my third Hand asked amused, sipping a shot of brandy, while Isard looked a bit pale. Huh, must have thought out loud again... "In two years we''ll have 200 thousands Hammers, not just 100 thousand. Double the approximate strength of the Vong, and only needed in defense operations. I''ll see about adding a proton beam battery to each of them, and the Meteors, just in case. Anyway, my friends, begin your own preparations and instruct our agents to be vigilant and how to recognize the Vong infiltrators." I demanded in a more serious tone. "How can you make the new ships, and still construct the old ones? And finance the modernization of the Navy too, while expanding even more rapidly. There must be a trillion shipbuilders past Junkfort, working in secret..." Isard muttered with a concerned voice. Yep, just not the kind of workers you''re used to. "Indeed there are, Triumvir Isard. Just not organics. That example my Avatar said, in the Senate...it was not just a fable. Imagine a planet engulfed in deadly radiation, where nothing lives. And yet, ardanium will get stronger and droids can work even faster. Still, you do have a point. We will need thousands more factories for the new weapons and reactors components. We''ll need to evacuate the lower levels of all the big planets, and send the displaced people elsewhere. Coruscant will be a good start, but there are dozens more such worlds, death traps for any single Vong bioweapon. So you know what I''ll do for the next year, to save up on transport? I''ll parade the big worlds around the galaxy depositing 20 billion people at every stop, and create a thousand more trade nexii. Hmmm, three new star systems every day, for a year...see how hard I have to work, just to build the infrastructure for the next war?" I complained rhetorically. I was going to do it anyway, but now I had a motivation. And something to do. Just managing the spies and the politics wasn''t enough, I just had to embark in the most ambitious colonization program ever. Dispersing trillions of people on new planets, while making sure to give each world enough economy and genes balance to prosper. At least I found a multitude of blackholes in the Tyus Cluster serving no purpose but to slow down traffic. They could be dispersed in a radial pattern around the galaxy, and give me dozens more energy refineries while also flattening hyperspace for dozen secondary trade routes, and enlarging them to super hyper route standards. It would just take me a week of work and careful manipulation of S thread boosters and tractor beams, for every new route. But distant and hard to reach worlds like Iskadrell could be brought into the greater galactic civilization, simply by tracing a blackhole from Brevost system to it. Then a bit of neural and cybernetic education for those Iskalloni cyborgs, and they''ll be perfect factory workers. And they did have interesting genes as well, allowing rapid healing and integrating metal with their bodies. Malagarr system, Pef Empire Diamond Cube 12 BBY, first month ''The ardanium mining will destroy at least 30 percent of the ecosystem, no matter how careful I am, Emperor. However, for the duranium there''s no such problem any more. I see you have already carved the whole planet up into 1 meter and 50 meters thick plates....'' Core said after examining my words for a minute. ''I know my friend. We''ll deplete the aradnium mines, and then I''ll rebuild the ecosystem back and place the planet in Lianna system. I kinda want to extract the most of this mineral, so I can power up a million Nebula warships and Titans. Maybe the Swordbanes if there''s anything left. Too bad we can''t actually synthesize ardanium with transmutation.'' I replied with an inner frown. Most of the exotic elements defied material synthesis, which was most likely not a failure of technology, but an artefact of how this part of the universe worked. Even belskar or cortosis refused to be created artificially, although their formation process should have been similar to all other metals, through fusion inside a star. ''And you don''t want to use the Force, and alchemically transmute it?'' The AI wondered with the wrong emote again. Or maybe not. A red lightsaber was possibly the right emote, in this case. ''Anything the Force can do, science can do too. We just need to know more. Much more...'' I answered with a white flag emote. ''So you did succeed after all. Which one?'' the Core asked happily. ''Belskar or mandalorian iron. But only in Mandalore system. The process is still a form of solar ionization, just like the new reactor and weapons. It just needs the Force for some reason. Also, Force scribing on cortosis doesn''t work, but it does on duranium, creating a micron thin layer of impervium for about 3.14 centimeters around the letters. So that''s our maximum caliber for the proton beam guns we''ll use from now on.'' I said, thinking back on the last three weeks of fruitless experiments. ''So, there are rules after all, Emperor Pef. You just need to form a theory, then keep experimenting, just like I am'' my Eighth Hand replied with a happy smile emote. ''I''m certain there are a few rules, especially when they touch upon the very small subparticles. Just like with quantum locks, they work on organic matter or derivatives like plastic, but not on metals. They work on some kinds of glass, formed from force resonating sand, but not on normal glass or transparisteel.'' I concluded with another white flag. Whatever material was even remotely imbued with the Force, was separated from normal elements by a barrier we could not pass. And I wasn''t certain it was worth to keep insisting. Somewhere, there would be a red flag being raised at my actions anyway. ''But entropy fields can cover an entire ship, and do almost the same thing. I am building such a field for my cube right now. Only problem with it, you have to give it a consumable energy cell to draw from, or else you''d be stuck inside for a long time...'' the AI complained, with the emote of an angry bear. ''Just keep refining the energy requirements for a small craft like a Reaper starfighter to use it for 10 seconds. They could become an unstoppable object and pierce the dovin basals of a Vong worldship, if our warships won''t be enough. I''d like to test our weapons on that worldship parked north of Birgis.'' I demanded with a fist emote. The AI replied in kind, punching the sky virtually. ''That task will take me at least three months, Emperor. Also, the Jedi minds inside me want to see the girls they left with you...'' Core answered without any emote. Didn''t even care then. ''My Avatar...is exploring the galaxy. And the girls stayed on Gand in the garden, and study AI tech at the Zero university. When he returns, he''ll come visit, with the former Altisian Jedi. Might take him a few months, there are plenty nice places to visit, and people to meet...'' I demurred and declined politely. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ''I can see the news myself, you know that Emperor. His state visit in the Hapes Cluster was the talk of the galaxy for weeks. Masterful work there, unlike the usual Avatar. He even gave back their Queen Lady Ta''a Chume Greyshade, after a few weeks. Just a bit more married and pregnant.'' the Core commented a bit amused. Well, she was called Queen Mother now, so it was only proper to actually be a mother. The former Queen Ni''Korish was a known jedi hater, and most of Hapes took after her. Not unreasonable sentiment, just for the wrong reasons. The ancestors of the Hapes Consortium were pirates, and the Jedi wiped the males out about 4000 years ago, leaving the women to carry on the new life. The women blamed the men and the Jedi for their new dilemma, without considering the real causes. I just confiscated all their ships, then had the Avatar stroll in, pretending to be a pirate. Worked great. Now, back to the Nebula V variant, produced by the Core AI. ''So, how many proton batteries can we actually fire at once?'' I asked Core with a tinge of trepidation. Power calculations promised over ten guns, but I wasn''t 100 percent sure. These reactors were three times stronger than what the Eclipse super star destroyer would have had. ''If the reactors do not overload, and the power conduits are lined with impervium, then 6 batteries. Using all three main reactors. But more realistically 3 or 4 batteries. In fact, it''s risky to even mount more than 3 batteries. Some idiot organic might fire them at once, and explode the ship...'' the AI explained with disdain. ''Indeed, perhaps it be better to mount just two baterries on every ship. Better use more ships, and cover more volume. Two twin linked batteries mean four superlasers anyway. Or proton beams. Whatever. We''ll use the Diamond boron missile launchers for self defense, and gatling masers to mop up the smaller fries. Five gun barrels, for medium masers, and twin linked magamasers.'' I mused, going over the design again. Now, the only question was, how to use the solar ionization beams? They''ll be much less effective against the Vong, same as lasers and turbolasers. Even tank mounted infrared lasers didn''t do much against the Vong bioarmor. Their ability to bypass energy shields completely, was also wasted on Vong vessels, since the Vong used bioarmor and gravity fields for defense. Sad, I know. We''ll have to use them in the south, against the Nagai and Tof and the other invaders. ''Luxum, how long untill Orax can build Nebula destroyers?'' I asked my Shard Voice, over the bond. ''Two years perhaps, but possibly five years. We''re now building corvettes and frigates. The cruisers will follow next year, and when we master those, we''ll have the experience to try destroyers. Not everyone can assemble starships with their minds like you, Pef'' she replied with a tinge of envy. Okay then, no miracles for my crystal friends. Just hard work. ''No problem. I''ll bring you a billion tonnes of duranium and a thousand tonnes of Ardanium for your frigates. Just remember, the more things stick out of the hulls, the more leverage a tractor beam has to grab and rip the ship appart.'' I replied with a sigh. The Shard ships were quite pointy and irregular, much the older Calamari ships abused blisters and ovals. And also had some kind of solars, or hangars, where the crystalline crew could bask in the light of a sun, at least once a day. There was something here, a mystery. Too many things used the suns'' light to make things happen, from exposing metal cores of planets to create hypermatter, then solar ionization reactor and beams, then iron needing the sunlight of Mandalore to transmute into belskar...and even the Star Forge that the Rakata made. And then Solanus, the sentient ocean, needed just sunlight to live... ''You will find out why, eventually, son of suns. Be patient and learn. '' Solana sent with a hint of amusement. That''s not what it means, does it? Can suns have kids? Redforge system, Pef Empire 12 BBY All the old models of Meteor I and II as well as the Meteors III and Mountains have been recalled back to Redforge system, to undergo their last modernization this decade. Not at once, but in waves of nine, going from the older models first. The hulls get hollowed out even more, leaving them with just one kilometer of iron armor, then they get plated over with 50 meters of Duranium armor, get their reactors inner cores plated with Ardanium, and receive a nine more decks for troop transport and their vehicles. Thus effectively doubling their armor durability, while reducing the ships'' mass by 30%. With the increase in reactor power a thousand times, now they can all achieve 2.0 hyperdrive speed and 31 MGLT speed with subight engines, while becoming a new class of multirole ship. I guess I can called them Mountain II, to keep the names easy. One deck for carrier operations can host and launch one million starfighters, while the other decks can carry droid factories and tank factories and various other component factories, and a billion war droids ready to go, instead of just 10 million. One meter of Duranium armor is added to every ceiling, to increase the internal strength and prevent decks being collapsed by combat damage or extra weight. Also Duranium bulkheads every kilometer, to contain explosions or fires should something bad happen inside. We don''t actually have the inventory to arm and equip all these extra droid divisions, but that''s what the on-board factories are for. They will simply produce all the droids and war equipment they need, and replenish their loses locally. Can''t count on the Vong to have droid factories to take over, like in the war with CIS. Core is also installing a fork of himself on a third of these ships, to act as a high level administrator and logistic support for every fleet, like his children, in a way. And also to counter possible cyber viruses and bioweapons rendering the organic crew dead or worse. Don''t want a Katana fleet repeat on my tactical assets, do I? Plus having an AI direct starfighters in fleet engagements is quite a boon, as my Admiral Natasi Daala Greyshade has confirmed with her on AI, the Will. Her Manta dreadnaught will receive upgrades as well, making it able to reach 3.0 hyperspeeds and 20 MGLT, which for a 50 kilometers long and 20 kilometers wide warship is very good. Sadly, there''s simply not enough new megamasers and medium masers in the whole galaxy to simply replace 80 millions of their older heavy batteries, and the same for the medium guns, so that will have to happen locally as well. Every upgrade these ships will receive in the future will be made on board, and spare me this hassle. You want more missiles? Just make more. Out of MAC rounds? Even easier to fix. That means I have to build megamaser factories and medium maser factories on each of these ships, and increase the organic crew to twenty thousand, just to oversee the factories, and pilot of dropships and fire the guns... Still not as bad as the Imperial Navy would had been, with their 20 thousand Imperial star destroyers, packing 47 thousand people on a ship only 1.6 kilometers long and 1 kilometer wide. Now I will have 20 thousand Mountain II dreadnaughts, packing 20 thousand crew each, on a ship 16 kilometers long and 3 kilometers wide internally, and 20 kilometers long and 5 kilometers wide on the exterior. See, I did in fact replace the Imperial II with the Mountain II in role and function, even if these new ships have a thousand times the firepower and planetary invasion forces. At least that, but possibly more. I''m also upgrading the sensors and the power conduits, especially for the gravity well generators and the engines, but also for the new solar ionization beams and proton beam weapons. Man, I''m so glad I thought of this from the start, and made my main ships large enough to support all these upgrades, while the iron that is left over, can be used for ammunition in case of MAC guns, and building material for factories and droids and other equipment. I''m sure one day, someone will get smacked by a leftover MAC round which missed its target and kept going. Possibly the dinosaurs back home, since they didn''t have planetary shields. Nah, just kidding. The rounds don''t travel at hyperspeed or even at lightspeed, so they''ll need trillions of years to reach another galaxy. But it does explain why some planets get hit randomly and disappear in this galaxy. With so many wars fought in the past, and so few planetary shields till now, it was inevitable that weapons fired long ago would eventually smack into a planet. Won''t happen anymore, I hope, since the Pef Empire policy is to install double planetary shields on every inhabited world, and ten shields and various planet to orbit guns on the large populations or important worlds. Makes casual orbital bombardment a bit harder, and random accidents or space events, like comets and novas at least survivable, for the time it takes me to reach Centerpoint and yank the planet away. Plus the whole quarantine thing becomes much easier as the new shields can also block outgoing traffic. It won''t stop a powerful force user, or a large fleet, but those are quite easy to notice when they act. And for those, that''s what I am for. I can''t be everywhere, but I can be anywhere I have eyes on, with hypernet relays or force scrying or a Navy ship in vicinity. The upgrades will take a few months, as ships rotate from throughout their bases in the galaxy, and I do have to intervene whenever a World Senator makes a grievance to my office on Commenor. ''Our planet is going through an ice age, killing all life on the surface!'' ''Our sun is too close and our lives are miserable. Plus a few factories and shipyards would be welcome...'' ''The local wildlife is attacking'' ''The droids are revolting!'' ''An asteroid is heading our way!'' ''We want a better hyperroute...and more immigrants...'' ''Take your droid armies away, we don''t need no Empire'' ''A plague has broke out, and our people are dying'' ''Earthquakes!'' ''Floods!'' ''Too few men'' ''Too few women'' ''There can be only one Godking, and it''s not you!'' And so on, and on. Sure, I don''t just run around on demand, sometimes a Voice or an Assassin can solve the problem with a kind word and a gun. But shifting planetary orbits and creating hyperroutes is more delicate. And dealing with the knowledge I obtained from the Chiss Ascendancy through Thrawn much more delicate. We have reached Crakull in the west, the Croke homeworld. And they''ll be useful as allies, but for now it''s a state of cold war, with our fleets interdicting their worlds, while guarding them from the Lugrubrra and other such threats. But much worse, is that the Chiss knew the location of Mugg Fallow , the residence of the Mnggal-Mnggal. The grey sludge that formed the being''s body covered almost the entire planet, with only lifeless continents and the remains of fossilized trees visible. Mnggal-Mnggal filled the planet''s former oceans, and ran across the continents in gray rivers. A fleet of derelict ships formed a ring around the planet, their origins ranging across millennia. Mnggal-Mnggal used its mind-controlled zombies to pilot the ships there as macabre decoration, with Gree sailships between the thousand other vessels forming a grim carousel around the planet. It''s an evil version of my friend Solanus, a sentient ocean of a sort, strong in the Force but utterly mad and insidious. And his vectors, somewhat akin to what Solana is, are infesting the nearby worlds, and taking over organics and machinery with ease. Too much ease in fact, and a bit scary to tackle. Almost like a sentient mecha-deru virus. Which it probably is, created by some mad force user, like a Rakata. It will take a while till our own research on molecular weapons like Gravitic polarization beam and Metal-Crystal Phase Shifter is advanced enough to use agaisnt such a monster. And exposing Solanus to it is too risky. As is my Centerpoint station. We simply have no idea how strong in the Force this thing is, but I have to assume at least as strong as Solanus. For now we''ll deploy a network of Hyperspace nullifier satellites far beyong the Oort clouds of the systems infested with Mnggal-Mnggal and try to prevent it spreading further. And also saving planet Seymarti V from complete destruction, like it happened in the other future, due to Han Solo...man, why was that guy a hero again? Palpatine only blew up one planet. Han Solo obliterated a dozen, just by being there. Well, at least now that I have found the boy, his brain is being neurally remodeled to obey the laws, even if his love of luxuries and women and adventure have to stay. I mean, I kinda like the same things, so it''s fair. Huh, I hope Jaybo can keep a leash on him...and start making out with Sabine already. I know working on that AT-DP Arc Cannon Prototype together is quite fun, but you''re on Zeltros for Force''s sakes. Live a little, my son! Maybe Han Solo and Lando will be a good influence on the boy, taking him away from the lab and to more parties...probably not. At least I have Ysanne Isard as my agent in that group, so she can work her willes and seduction techniques on Jaybo, who serves as a rather frustrating seduction target for her. In fact, since Jaybo has chip in his brain let''s just tell him. ''Jaybo Grayshade. Ysanne and Sabine are your future wives. Do go dance and drink and have fun with them. And that''s an order. At least four hours per day'' The boy blinked a little confused, as Sabine was chattering something about power projecting and energy, her face side by side with his, just ten centimeters away. And as he turned, their lips touched accidentally... After a minute of blushing and embarrassment, they tried it again, on their own. Finally, something went right! I was starting to lose hope. Now, let''s continue the work on personal weapons, using the Pulse-wave blaster and the N-416 Heavy Sonic Crusader guns for a basis. ''Well done Pef. I want our son to be happy'' Wialu whispered in the Voice bond. ''I''m still on Sedri for now, but once I''m done here, I''ll go visit Zeltros and congratulate the new couple'' Solana said with some amusement. The Golden Sun made the planet appear as a star on sensors, but I knew better. Another strong force user, even if it was a coral polyp. Will mesh with Solanus just fine. Light is not good Commenor system Celestial Throne station. Grey Paladins level 12 BBY, 3 months later "So you''re saying you don''t have enough people, Mister Grey?" I asked the leader of the Paladins, a bit amused. "Well, two million Paladins seems a large number, but we can barely cover the larger planets and hyperroutes. And the droids aren''t really helping, except as decoys and distractions. I would be happier with a billion clone troopers." the clone of Falon Grey replied, his voice a bit tired. Hmmm. He was working himself too hard, trying to oversee every single operation, and the training of new recruits and the budget and everything else. "Well, I did consider a cloning program, for many jobs, including the paladin program. But as you have already experienced, we would have a caste of slaves, and depend on them for security. Didn''t end that well for the Jedi, did it?" I mused with an inner frown. "Yeah...I didn''t mean it like that, Emperor. I just want competent Paladins. And the miraluka recruits are not. The droids are even worse. I have to rely on what Fett clones have survived, and the few Gand or Sanctuary recruits. And even those aren''t exactly competent..." X2 complained, as went through the Paladin databanks, and compared dossiers. Top 100 in all the scores were the former ARC troopers that became Mandalorians and a few VSS agents detached to the Paladins for actual combat experience. "I will ask, maybe more Sanctuary or Zeison Sha adepts will decide to join the Paladins. But, don''t expect miracles, X2. The job will only get harder, and the rewards for a job well done..." "More work. I know this, Emperor Pef. The galaxy is a mess, with deep rooted hatreds and a thousand cults taking advantage of every force-sensitive they convert to claim miracles..." he explained, pointing at the latest such problem. "Well, my personal opinion on every type of cult is simple. I consider all priests from any cult either fanatic or corrupt. In the end, it''s only a matter of practically. Political power, the laws and weapons are mine to have and to delegate. If any cult infringes on the domain of the government, then they shall suffer the consequences. Their personal beliefs in whatever god or ethic are irrelevant." I explained with a sterner voice. This comment was partially directed at his second in command, the original Fallon Grey, a former Jedi Knight. He looked at me a bit surprised, as if separating beliefs from government was something new or original. "But, those cults are preaching unspeakable things, and instigating revolts against the Empire. How can they be irrelevant?" Mister Grey asked naively. "It doesn''t matter what they say or how loud they yell, unless it''s at night and they wake people up, Mister Grey. I only care about their actions, if they dare to act. Stupidity and credulity are the basic rights of any sentients, and there will always be those who take advantage. Your duties are to enforce the Empire laws, not to debate dogmas and creeds with 20 million species and beliefs. Extortion is a crime, kidnapping is a crime, slavery and mental coercion even worse crimes. Target the criminals, and expose the lawbreakers to the Empire justice." I replied with another inner sigh. I had my assassins going about and exterminating the most dangerous cults anyway, those with access to weapons and political power. The rest were easy enough to just keep watch over. "But they keep hiding behind local customs and their autonomy rights. We can''t just arrest someone for taking children into their temples..." X2 explained with a frown. Huh, that''s exactly your job. "The Empire laws are not a matter of choice, my Paladins. It is the exact opposite, in fact. These cults propose themselves as paragons of virtue and still extort populations of their money or children. Your job is to intervene and protect the citizens, from any such lawbreakers. The only exception from this are my agents, be they from Office Assassinorum, or the Intelligence or other army and navy employees, who were specifically exempt from some laws in the execution of their orders. The same as the Paladins are exempt, when in the service of the Empire. If any such customs are contrary to the law, too bad for them." I said with a level tone, then punched the sky for a second, before teleporting away. And back on Centerpoint, where a few of my Voices had gathered in their own little conclave. "Hello ladies. And Ray. You''re not a Voice, I think..." I said with an amused voice. "The Tsil want to test the light on the Mnggal. If a controlled experiment can be achieved, perhaps on a single individual..." my Tsil crystal maid replied without any telepathic stories. So, something changed...somewhere. Gah, dealing with alien minds was difficult anyway. "Denied for now, dear maid. The Mnggal is potentially much more dangerous than the droch, and we do not have strategic counter-measures yet, should this action provoke it. I''m almost certain that even remote individuals are connected to the main body in some way, either through the Force or with technological means. And if that world had a Gree gate, the Mngall could use it to spread anywhere." I replied with a bit of concern. Didn''t happen for at least 140 years in the other future, so it shouldn''t happen now either. Proof that whatever the thing was, it wasn''t a hegemonizing swarm like the Vong, but a more subtle design, aimed at something specific, possibly the Celestials. The histories never said how the Rakata had defeated them, and it certainly wasn''t with ships. Just the Centerpoint station could have destroyed a million ships easily, or not as easy, depending how inventive the user was. I had my own theory how they did it, with a nanomachine AI infused with the Force, similar to the nanobots I found on Tatooine, since the Mnggal operated in a similar way, attacking the brain of its target first. I could try to rely on technopathy, and attempt to subvert the grey goo. Only problem was, what if the thing was stronger than me? "You''re thinking of going yourself, aren''t you Pef?" Wialu asked rhetorically. I wasn''t hiding my partitions from her, not most of them anyway. "It''s not worth the risk, for now. We''ll make the general location and danger of the thing available to our officials and designate it as Gamma threat. As long as no one goes to poke it, it will keep for a hundred years. But meanwhile, we have the Vong and our southern friends to deal with. It''s going to be epic!" I proclaimed with fake hope. Even in the most optimistic simulations, there could be trillions of deaths, and billions already, on the worlds already conquered by the Vong in the north. Droids and Explorers were searching for the north passage though the hyperspace barrier, trying to map it and allow us knowledge of a choke point to engage the Vong before they dispersed the main fleets into the galaxy. That was the Thermopylae plan and had the best possible outcome, if it succeeded. Only Navy crew would die in that fight, and fewer citizens deaths from invasions, orbital moon drops, or bioweapons. Actually, let''s test something. "I''m sending orders to our fake miners in the Bimmiel system to start deploying several types of explosives, including seismic charges in the asteroid fields. About one hundred to one real asteroids and Vong ships." I explained out loud while doing exactly that. I had a hunch that seismic charges would damage the Vong ships much more than energy weapons would. And waiting...boom. Concussion explosives did little, only rupturing the Vong starfighters, while the diamond-boron warheads pulverized the fighters and holed the Vong frigates. But the real surprise... Hundreds of small Vong ships were sliced into bits by the planar shockwaves of the seismic weapons, while their equivalent of a Mountain, called Kor Chokktook a few heavy blows and lost a dozen of its spires to every charge that hit them. Barely damaged the thick armor, leaving deep gouges, but it sure rattled everything inside. My estimates of their capital ships bioarmor durability went up a magnitude, while the frigate classes seemed easier to smash than an iron asteroid of the same size. Anyway, seems I found the perfect payload for the assault missiles of tomorrow. The Seismic charge was much better for most ship-to-ship action than concussion payloads of the same dimensions. Of course, a thousand times more expensive than concussion explosives as well, half of that due to rarity, the other half due to the minerals and precision work required to manufacture them. Now the Vong were stirred into action, launching more fighters to attack the miners, while the larger ships accelerated upwards, above the asteroid belt. Hmmm. Good spacial senses then, though unsure if only this commander or all their officers were as competent. The fake miners started running away, calling on the Empire Navy to help, on all frequencies. ''Go ahead Admiral. Show me what your Manta dreadnaught can do'' I sent through the hypernet relay to Natasi Daala Greyshade. Her own battlegroup, which was on a ''shake down cruise'' following the newest refit jumped to the rescue, a dozen corvettes acting to ''save'' the miners, while her dreadnaught and its Hammers and Nebula escorts opened fire on the Vong dreadnaught. As expected, turbolasers had little effect, while masers and plasma projectors did twice as good. Ion weapons were 99% ineffective, only the byproduct of ionized plasma scorching the bioarmor, very little. The MAC rounds and the proton beams however opened fire a minute later, while the Vong began firing globes of molten metal and plasma. The Hammers did hole the Vong armor with every round, but with little effect, leaving hundreds of one meters holes, venting gas and blood. The Manta''s MAC rounds however, were ten meters in diameter and a kilometers wide semi-sphere on the Vong ship evaporated after taking about 50 hits, while two others organs were broken away, and left listing in vacuum, with fluids and bodies being expelled out by the huge decompression. And then the proton beams started firing as the Vong ships began turning to run away. Every beam burned through the armor in milliseconds, then began slicing away. In a minute, the huge Vong bio dreadnaught was chopped down into thin slices, about 50 centimeter in width, which was the distance between the twin barrels of the proton beam batteries. I checked the shields of my ships for a comparative damage analysis. Each big weapon salvo from the Kor Chokk dreadnaught drained about one percent on the Nebula destroyer''s shields, and less than a thousand of percent on the Hammer''s. The smaller weapons didn''t even flicker the shields, so they were perhaps anti-fighter guns. Huh, so in theory a Nebula V destroyer could take down a Vong dreadnaught on its own, if it focused its main proton batteries on the big ship and didn''t take too much fire from other ships. The Hammers II had ten batteries, so again, could in theory take down ten of the Vong ships of the same size at once. A new era was starting in the galaxy, peace through superior firepower. Yavin system Yavin 4, Val''Arnos Jungle I should have come here sooner, although I might not have been prepared to solve the difficult Force phenomenons surrounding Yavin. Exar Kun left his spirit here, along with artifacts like the Golden Globe. A tiny Jedi Master named Ikrit had placed himself in stasis to guard the 4 meter globe, as he hoped to free the souls of the Massassi younglings trapped in the soul snare by Exar Kun, and set himself to wait a long time for someone to help. Nearly 400 years later he was still here, in stasis. Not really clever, but this was possibly something the Force wanted done, so I won''t deny the Will of the Force its goals. Just not right away, I wanted to study and learn everything about this globe first. Another marvelous invention, this Golden Globe , so similar in scope and function to the Mind Prison of the Rakata, and the essence draining ball of the Nightsisters, and even the Ordu Aspectu soul snares. But that was less important, as I already had knowledge on how to drain souls, if necessary. Exar Kun had left the globe protected by a Force barrier, tied to the globe in a rather complex pattern, much like the Rakata forcefield. Finally, I knew how to build my own variant of a Force shield, using a modified soul snare to conduct the Force. Not exactly a holocron, and writing operating instructions for the device had to be done in latin, to invoke some kind of mystical ancient memetic superstition from the Force, and thus making it alchemy. Overly complex and not easy to operate unless you built it yourself. But, it still contained the reflect ability, and a single powerful user''s soul like Jarec or any dark jedi Master could power it for thousands of years. "Mister Ikrit, wake up!. Hey little guy, time to go home..." I called out gently to the furry Jedi Master. Seems I''m going to keep finding old jedi in stasis, as if I didn''t found enough already. At least he was the type who didn''t use lightsabers, so there was hope for him. "Hello stranger. Why did you wake me up?" "I need your help, Mister Ikrit. You know the Wall of light ability, and we have the spirit of a Sith Lord called Exar Kun which needs to be defeated." I explained with an amused tone. This Ikrit was never a good Jedi, no matter how hard Yoda had tried to brainwash him. "Ah. That makes some sense then. I feel that he was the one who constructed this globe..." the tiny furry Master replied with a cute blink. Man, he was really cute. I should keep him, on Sanctuary. The kids would love him. "The spirit should be somewhere east of the ruins of the Sith Temple of Sacrifice. Come, take my hand, we''ll teleport there and save some time" I replied in a happy mood. And beam us up, my Dart. "What is this ship? It feels strange in the Force, almost alive..." Ikrit asked curious, looking around the Dart for clues. "A friend of mine made it, using a hundred different force abilities. It''s called the Dart." I said with a mild voice, as the ship located the required ruins and beamed us down again. And there it was the spirit of Exar Kun, 300 meters east, and wandering the surface of Yavin 4, bound to the planet by his own magic. So clever in some ways and so dumb in others... "You sense him, my friend?" I asked curious, as the Kushiban Master''s fluffy ears perked up and he turned east as well. "I do now. But friend? I don''t even know your name, or what you are..." the tiny thing replied with an amused tone. "Pef Greyshade. Sentient crystal using a droid to walk around." I replied with a happy voice, while preparing counter-measures, should the spirit be awake or hostile. "Well then, Mister Pef...you seem strong enough to banish the spirit by yourself...okay then, open your mind, picture the location of spirit in your mindscape, and draw from the light, and sever" the Jedi Master said softly, taking control of the partition I left open, and guiding me step by step. Hey, this was a great way to learn force abilities! Sure, it involved mind control and a hive mind connection, plus enough force connection to bend the Force to your will... A blue light prison appeared around the Sith spirit, and the Jedi Master kept adding more and more demands on my partition, using about a dozen abilities at once, and straining my life crystal as the ability grew in amplitude and depth, and kept growing. And growing. Is this really necessary? I could sear the entire planet now, if you draw this strongly... And Sever Force was really a trump card, which could possibly solve a few other problems... And done. Once cut off from the Force, the spirit dissipated and vanished. "You''re not even tired, Mister Pef..." the tiny Jedi complained as he nearly fainted and I kept him afloat with telekinesis. "Why would I be tired, you only used one partition and for half its maximum strength. I think you used too much anyway. That spirit was not that strong anyway..." I explained politely, as my Codex registered only 5000 points on its Force sensors. "You don''t understand. To sever someone completely, you need to be ten times stronger, by yourself or a group. And that spirit was about half strength as me. Which means the rest of the strength came from you, Mister Pef. Even if a disembodied spirit is half as strong as when it was alive, it still means you''re stupidly strong..." the tiny Kushiban replied, while his fur changed color from white to a pale grey. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. "Yep, I am reasonably strong. But as you showed us today, skill is more important. Well then, I''ll let you rest, and get a meal and a bath. My maids are due to return when they had enough fun exploring, and this ship only has one jacuzzi tub." I answered with utmost seriousness. One simply did not stand between Solana and her baths. ''You are learning, tolerated Emperor. But I am swimming with some of the Melodie on Yavin 8, so I''m good.'' Solana whispered in the Voice bond. Nam Chorios system, Pef Empire Gamma class quarantine world 12 BBY, Next month I used the vacation time on Yavin to study the Wall of light ability in detail, untill I felt confident I mastered the focusing and targeting solution, then worked with Ray to synchronize our resonance to work in concert. "Balanced One, using self identity as a targeting exclusion will exterminate all lifeforms in the star system. The Tsil...are willing to try. If you agree to leave before we start. A planet wide Light will sear even your soul, and yourself might be extinguished. Unless you believe yourself stronger than all Tsil crystals combined?" Sunshine-seen-through-mist declared with a cloud of telepathic symbols, describing her own words, but much more clearly. Hmmm, I might try it... ''And die like a fool, my love. The Wall of Light is not just photonic manipulation, and you should know better Pef. To affect souls, any force ability must be at least partly combined with the Cosmic Force. It will disconnect you again, even if you survive it, just like the Jedha crystals did.'' Wialu whispered in the bond, with a tinge of worry. Fine, I won''t stay for the experiment then. "Ray, you might die too. Would you like to be my Voice?" I asked my maid, with a sad image in mind, of a whole planet vanishing into an apocalyptic beam of light. "Emperor Pef, go and save yourself. Or did you think Ray was idle and did not reverse-engineer the essence transfer ability, once Solanus showed me how it worked?" my Tsil maid replied with an amused thought-form. Uh, that was...rather ingenious. And a bit worrying. I kinda hoped to maintain a loyalty check with it. ''And yet, Solanus thinks the Tsil will have a different role to play. Solana thinks her lover is much too young to deserve loyalty, from beings much older than himself...'' my water maid replied with an admonishing tinge in her Voice. I see, maybe it was somewhat presumptuous to try and anchor all the major force-sensitive races to myself. ''Ok Dart, jump us out towards Jomark.'' And let''s watch the lightshow with the spy satellites. Slowly, the entire race of Tsil crystals which maintained a diffuse light over the whole surface of Nam Chorios began the link up together in a single hive mind focused by Ray, and then, a flash of Light strong enough to warm my crystal even a few light-years away, and in hyperspace. The planet became a second sun in the photosensors of my satellites, and a Force nexus so powerful that anything even mildly force-sensitive, would feel anywhere in the galaxy. My Avatar felt it like warm golden glow, basking him with radiance on Commenor, 30 thousands light years. Lustrum felt it even stronger, on Orax, 80 thousand light years away. Then again, she was herself a crystal Shard, so it possibly affected crystals even more. After 12 minutes, the glow began subsiding, and a few droid dropships from the quarantine fleet began approaching the planet, scanners and sensors at maximum. Every single town and structure on the surface of Nam Chorios had vanished, and even water wells and the spaceport foundations had been sublimated. Nothing alive remained on the planet, except the Tsil. The excluded themselves from the Wall of Light and simply erased everything else. One could never be certain if plants or animals were real or droch parasites masquerading. Sure you could test one individual, or a certain animal. But an entire ecosystem meant trillions of different organisms, all potentially being infected by the droch. Now, they were all dead. Microorganisms, insects, worms, plants, farm animals, everything. Much like Emperor Vitiate did on Ziost, only using the light side of the force. And this version seemed even stronger. There was no machinery remains, no ancient temples, no fossilized trees. The entire balance in the galaxy slided a bit more towards the middle. Perhaps 1 percent, but possibly less. There were many more dark places in the galaxy after all. ''Culexus 0113, deploy to the surface via disposable recon drop pod, and restore communication with the Tsil.'' I commanded after the force oscillations stopped. At least this time, they weren''t painful in my chest. ''Roger, Droid Emperor. This unit will deploy in 38 seconds'' the droid replied instantly over the hypernet relay. ''Dart, stop and turn around. Pick the farthest exit point available in the Nam Chorios system.'' This was the most interesting ability imbued into the Dart spaceship by Solanus. The AI pilot had mastered hyperspace navigation to a degree not possible for astromechs or sentient pilots. It was called Instinctive Astrogation Control and requiered mastering hypermathematics and the ability to perform them at high speed and with perfect precision. Not something I would entrust myself to with an organic pilot. Luckily the Dart was less organic than even me, even though it was an off-shoot of Solanus, in crystallized form. And I wouldn''t call Solanus an organic being, except in the most vague of terms anyway. And the next iteration of Solanus was going to be magnitudes stronger anyway, as the future Dyson spheres will contain the Core on the outer computronium layers, and Solanus as a huge inner ocean. Balancing the organic and the synthetic again, and adding the Solanus'' Force abilities in the mix, just to make sure. The Core AI has already began technological transmutation for various types of matter states, creating Ardanium II , a synthesized form of Ardanium, which while a 10 times weaker in strength, was no longer a precious irreplaceable resource. All our ships, from fighters to corvettes and frigates to Hammers, and even tanks and gunships will have Ardanium based reactors in the future, thus increasing their energy generation by 10 to 100 times depending on reactor volume. Not as good as the natural product, but that was on much less supply, and only powered the Mountain II dreadnaughts, the Nebula V destroyers and the Titan V walkers. Now I could afford to begin using organics for pilots on less armored war machines, and depend on shields to keep them safe. Though possibly not on Biplanes and TIE fighters, which were too flimsy even with shields. It was ground combat which caused most loses anyway, since combat droids were easily outmatched by various races and their clever tactics, unless you had overwhelming numerical superiority. Not always possible, although I tried. Proton beams were too energy intesive and required massive reactors, but I had hope the now prototyping Heavy particle cannon would become the next main weapon of our tank units. The next generation of Gauntlet V tanks will pack a punch, and have duranium armor and tracks, and powerful shields and reactors, comparable to current Baneblades, but 10 times faster. And the Baneblades heavy tanks will become even stronger, doubling their speed and increase their durability and rate of fire ten times. ''Hello Pef. Our world is a desert now. But at least, we saved it from being thrown into a blackhole.'' Ray sent as my droid reached the ground with a hypernet transceiver. ''Begin conducting tests my maid, and excavate any caves or formations that might have protected the droch from the light. I''m en route to help as well.'' I sent back, as the Dart was approaching the hyperspace emergence window. ''We''ll need droids and tractor beams and other tools, oh Balanced Emperor. Our telekinesis is much weaker than you expect...'' Ray replied with a bit of amusement. Right, only one droid so far. No problem, I had 100 Mountains loaded with 100 billion droids en route to Nam Chorios. We''ll scour the planet, and sift every single grain of sand, turn every rock and scrape the walls of every cave. If a single droch survived, we''ll repeat the Wall of Light...hmmm. ''Do it again my Tsil friends. But this time try to target only the droch. And use Sever too.'' I sent back, since my ship was still about 20 minutes away. Best make sure, before all my droids and nano-droids land. It be a pity to waste them due to impatience. ''And so you learn, tolerated Emperor. Solana was ready to make fun of you once you became trapped in your own quarantine'' my wonderful Voice commented wisely. ''Gah, just say something, if you knew some droch escaped.'' ''It was inevitable a few droch would escape. The Tsil are not executioners. Do not expect them to be as thorough as you would be.'' Luxum added with a mild annoyance in her aura. Most likely annoyed at me. What, I just wanted....pain....So, that how it felt when an entire race was eliminated from the Force. I made sure to memorize the feeling. I will need to feel this again, someday. There were other races which needed complete extinction. In some cases, I will make a desert, and call it peace. Manta battlegroup, Pef Navy fleet 112 Somewhere north of Birgis system 11 BBY Natasi Daala Greyshade was worried. The Emperor has entrusted her an important task, to find and engage a Vong worldship and thus eliminate a major threat to the galaxy. Her experience in the west, as well as many anti-piracy strikes and coordinating large fleets via her neural implant made her one of the best suited officers in the Pef Navy, for this task. She had enormous firepower at her disposal, and an AI to help her. But still, she was worried. Compared to everything she has faced till now, this battle would be the most unpredictable. The enemy disposition and strength were unknown. Their numbers were simply ''large'' and weapons abilities poorly understood, generally equivalated with 4 times stronger than the Galactic Empire''s weapons, per ship size. She felt she was being used as bait, if 50 capital ships and 1000 escorts could be considered bait by any other navy beside her own. Still, Natasi had an inlinking of the other Pef Navy fleets in the sector, and they were all at least 10 times larger. Then again, she had the Manta. The dreadnaught was technically worth 5 fleets on its own. "Are we bait, dear Will?" she asked in a soft whisper. The AI felt less as a subordinate, and more as a friend now, after years of campaigns over a quarter of a galaxy. "I think the Emperor is doing his weird plans again, possibly testing you and me, as well as the new systems and weapons we had received. But most likely, our size is the clue. The Manta''s large size would make the Vong warriors feel they have found a worthy enemy, and make them attack us frontally" the AI replied calmly. Hmmm. As always, the Will thought of different aspects of their operation, considering details she would have never crossed her mind. Size? Was a 50 kilometer ship worthy in the eyes of the Vong, with their 100 kilometer ships? And if so, how would they react? Will they flee or hide, as they tried in the first skirmish near Bimmiel? "Admiral, our gravitic sensors have picked up a cloaked ship, skimming the edges of our sensors" Ensign Tyron reported from his station. "What size for the cloaking shadows, Ensign?" she asked with a bit of excitement. "Roughly 200 meters, Admiral. It is very likely a Yorik-stronha spy ship. It is heading west-north-west, on a heading to Helska system" the man answered with a young voice. Everyone was young on this ship, although most were already veterans. Fighting on the western front produced veterans or gibberish madmen. And the younger ones adapted faster. Again, the Vong were using a hyper route not yet discovered by the Exploration Corps, much like the Ssi-ruuvi did in the west. "Findsman Licriit, can you confirm this heading?" Admiral Daala asked her Navigator, one of the rare Gand that came as a perk, doubling as a VSS escort. Marrying the Avatar had many perks, not just a big ship and her own fleet. "You know we cannot sense the Vong directly, Honored Maid. But, there are traces of what should be flat real-space, and dangerless currents. I sense danger, and space particles being pushed away. Something bigger has passed through this nebula before. Perhaps a Vua''spar interdictor." the Gand Findsman replied after sniffing some gas from his pouch. An interdictor ship? This meant a large fleet was nearby. Even the Vong used some kind of convention when deploying ships. Interdictors meant they were fishing for prey, and that sufficient ships were nearby to capitalize on a caught ship, be it civilian or not. The Praetorite Vong , the advance fleets already present in the galaxy, were getting bolder, often attacking anyone they thought had spotted them. Jump to Helska or remain in the nebula and investigate more thoroughly? "Will, what do you think?" she whispered again, although she already made her decision. "Backtrace the interdictor ship''s path. I think we have found our target" the AI replied with some amusement. "Recon, deploy a Fade and twelve Orions east-south-east of our position. Capital ships will form up for a fleet scale microjump. Mountains, ready your starfighters. Hammers....just get ready. Escorts, prepare for combat." Natasi spoke gently on the tacnet. Now she wished her fleet had a thousand Nebula V destroyers, not just 100 Nebula I and II. She did have 6 Mountains and 45 Hammers, more than enough for anything the Praetorite Vong should have, but in war nothing was certain. And now waiting, while the recon elements backtracked the faint currents left in the gases of the nebula by the passing Vong ships. This was often, the hardest part. Nerves would fray, and the unknown would erode morale and sour the mood. Nothing she could do about it, not now. One hour, three hours, six hours. How long...? "HMS Stepping Stone reporting. We have found a yarn ball of ships, Admiral. At least a thousand. 44 Vong dreadnaughts, but no worldship present. Transmitting sensor data now" the Captain of the Fade frigate spoke in an excited voice as his ship arrived to the fleet''s location. She opened the hologram, and began formulating an attack plan. Damn it. Arranged like that, aptly put as a yarn ball, the Vong would be hard to ambush. Alright then, a wall of fire it will be. With two hand moves inside the tactical holomap, her own fleet began forming into a square, with the corvettes in a second layer, behind the capital ships. They should help a little with the Vong fighters, although the Nebula destroyers should be enough. When the Emperor built ships, they were a real wonder of firepower. Too bad these ships were old star destroyers of the Galactic Republic, only having a few maser batteries and no proton beams. Still 10 times better than old Venators or Victory destroyers, but barely usable against the Vong. She only had 3 Nebula V destroyers, barely enough to anchor a single side. The upper side of the square in this case, considering how the Vong prefered to gain an upper angle on their enemies. Admiral Daala tapped ''confirm'' twice, and leaned back in her command chair. "Manta fleet will prepare to jump on these coordinates, on the countdown mark. 100, 99.." The AI began speaking then, taking over the nav computers on every ship in the fleet, to ensure their formation and attack angle was correct. If the Vong fleet hasn''t moved significantly, they will achieve at least tactical positioning and perhaps some surprise. Couldn''t be sure of that anyway. For every spy ship they did detect, two others might have passed nearby undetected. And jump. 4 hours at 3.0 hyperspeed. She could get some sleep, at least 3 hours. Maybe something to eat? "At ease everyone. Rotate out and get some food." Natasi ordered as she rose from her command seat and left the CIC bridge. Maybe she could place a holocom call, to her scoundrel of a husband. She might die in this battle, and never see his smile again... Praetorite Vong Obsidian nebula, Galactic North space On board HMS Manta 11 BBY, 4 hours later. A wall of fire and light began in the first seconds after the hyperjump emergence, her own ship becoming the main target for the Vong dreadnaughts, and returning fire equally. Although it would have been possible to concentrate all her fourty proton beams batteries on the Manta on a single Vong capital ship and dismantle it in seconds, that would have meant that the remaining 43 Vong dreadnaughts called Kor Chokk by their race, would have been free to engage the smaller ships in her own fleet, and very likely eliminate them before they could be eliminated in turn. Like this, she kept the attention of 90 percent of the Vong capital ships on her own dreadnaught, which had enough shields and armor to tank perhaps twice this many ships for hours. The Mountains and the Hammers opened fire with their MAC guns, and heavy masser batteries, always in groups of three, and on the same target per each formation. Thousands of coralskippers began launching from the Vong ships, these being the equivalent of starfighters, but each carrying 4 times the firepower of a Preybird, and 6 times the firepower of a TIE fighter. They fired molten rocks, which dealt high damage, especially to particle and thermal shields, and mostly ignored ray shields. A more outdated fleet, with the standard shielding would have been forced to retreat just from these tiny fighters, as they would have targeted the superstructures on the Republic or Galactic Navy ships, and blew away sensors, turrets and bridges with impunity. Now, the Emperor was wise and blessed with precognition, and thus her fleet was not only equipped with 3S and 4S shields, but also thick armor, quadranium plates 20 meters thick, and durasteel over it, for the older classes of Nebula destroyers, and 50 meters of duranium for the Pef Navy battleships and the Nebula V. The three Nebula V destroyers in the upper side of the square were also concentrating their proton batteries on the Vong dreadnaughts, 12 proton beams slicing through the bioarmor of the lead Vong dreadnaught. The Manta was being shook constantly by converging fire from 40 Vong dreadnaughts, and the AI diverged power from two more Ardanium reactors towards the shields. The sublight engines were relegated to a secondary backup reactor, and being merely used to position and angle the ship for better fire angles. They weren''t chasing anyone right now, and the huge plasma and rock projectiles of the Vong were straining her ship''s shields, as intended. ''That''s right, you alien scum! Focus on me, and don''t mind the other ships'' Natasi thought to herself, while keeping an eye for the outgoing damage. The Will was directing the Manta''s proton beam batteries on the thin necks connecting the half-spheres of the Vong dreadnaughts, and once separated from the main bioship, targeted each with a duo of the MAC diamond-tipped ferrous slugs. The first was meant to deplete the dovin basal gravity shielding, then the other would pierce right through, and rupture the bioarmor, thus exposing the soft flesh inside to vacuum, and maser or turbolaser fire. All this happened at once, with forty heavy targets and kept the attention of the Vong armada on the Manta. Not all of it, but at least the heavy hitters. The Hammers began their run, accelerating on the flanks and destroying the smaller Vong cruisers with a single concentrated salvo from their heavy and megamaser batteries, while their proton beam batteries continued to fire on the Vong dreadnaughts. Thousands of her own starfighters began launching from the Mountains, a percent of them being remotely controlled by organic pilots deep inside the carriers. They would attempt to force the coralskippers to engage them at the edge of the AA bateries range, thus letting the targeting computers and the AI pick them up with missiles and gatling masers and lasers. Tractors beams helped a little to slow the coralskippers down, but weren''t as effective as they would be against normal starfighters. They each had a dovin basal lifeform, used for propulsion and shielding, and thus making them slippery and able to escape tractor beams after a few seconds of gravity waves oscillations. Still, even two seconds was often too long, in a high speed chase. The coralskippers began evaporating, as the Nebula destroyers could target them with medium masers and turbolasers, and weapons meant to engage corvettes and frigates were just enough to blow up a coralskipper, in a few shots. All that remained was more gas, thickening the gas nebula and earning the destroyers their class name. "We''re at the turning point now, Admiral. 20 Vong dreadnaughts have been destroyed. Their remaining frigates and cruisers are emitting more energy. I suspect they''re trying to retreat" her tactical officer commented with a wavering voice. Natasi Daala Greyshade smiled wryly. A retreat was pretty unlikely, with the Hammers and their Nebula escorts now englobing the Vong fleet from four sides. No, they will attempt...ramming. "All ships, prepare to receive rammers. Gravity wells to maximum" she commanded on the tacnet. It was amazing how clear the signals were, unlike other battles, since even pirates had sensor baffles. The Vong jamming was quite weak, and mostly affected the Republic made destroyers, since the Pef Navy used a least three types of comms and sensors, a third of them based on different crystals. Whoever the Vong were optimized to fight, were pure technical ships, based on electronics and electricity, like those Abominor droids in the database. The Fades and the Orions went into stealth mode, then changed course, while the Mountains and the Hammers began turning 10 degrees left and closing their armored maws. However, the ramming target were not the small ships, nor the battleships, but the destroyers. 50 Nebula I and II were damaged or outright destroyed when the Vong ships crashed into them. The other Vong escorts were hit by proton batteries and other secondary weapons before they could aim themselves properly. Admiral Greyshade sighed inward. Her flawless victory was ruined now. Even with the much reduced crew on the Nebula class destroyers, 50 ships meant 50 thousand people. Perhaps less, since the upgraded ships had multiple bulkheads and redundant life support. No time for that, there were still 20 Vong Kor Chokk dreadnaughts to defeat, and dozens of weapons to be tested in real combat. Proton torpedoes, proton bombs, the Defoliator bombs, Bafforr tree pollen bombs, and many others. Once the Vong dreadnaughts were crippled, it was time for weapon testing. What works, how it works, combination of weapons effects, and hundreds of other experiments. The Pef Navy''s weapon designers wanted live testing, and an isolated Vong fleet was the perfect testing ground. A few seconds later, the mangled wrecks of the Nebula destroyers began vanishing, no doubt due to Emperor''s mercy. Pef was not going to let the salvageable crew on the ships die, when he could simply yank them inside his Centerpoint station and nurse them back to health. Perhaps even resurrecting the dead, as he was rumoured to have done before. She doubted it a little. Not the possibility, but the expenditure of effort. The Voices or other Maids, were a more likely recipient of resurrection than simple navy crew. Then again, with Emperor Pef, you never knew. "Leave the one to the right alone, Will. We should always leave a survivor to tell the rest what awaits them." Natasi said with a cold voice. She didn''t like this policy, as it gave the enemy too much information to regroup and find new attack avenues. Then again, the Vong had telepaths and even planetary scale brains, like Helska IV was presumed to have. They already knew what happened. Perhaps this was something else again. Some kind of intricate 20 steps plan of the Emperor. Using this battle to bait the Vong armada waiting outside the galaxy to do something foolish, perhaps. "All targets eliminated, Admiral. A single dreadnaught remains, with half of its spheres intact." the Ensign on the sensors reported a few minutes later. She checked the stats of her Manta. Shield generators and capacitors were recharging, although they went down to 60 percent at the height of the battle. Total loses, 14 shield penetrations, and 12 turrets damaged, on her flagship. Over all, 344 starfighters lost, 23 Dakka corvettes and 51 Nebula destroyers. 0.5 percent casualties to a Vong fleet comparable to her own, in size and capital ships numbers. So, this was the message the Emperor wanted to send the Vong. Send a hundred times more ships, this was merely a lovetap. ''Well done, dear maid. Set course to Belkadan. Reinforcements await you there.'' Emperor Pef transmitted via the holonet, a holographic hand ruffling her hair before vanishing. Natasi arranged her hair back, while her officers smiled in concert. Holograms were not supposed to touch you...damn magic powers. Belkadan system, Pef Empire 11 BBY "Nice to meet you Admiral" the small Dornean Admiral quiped at her in an attempt at joviality. "Same here Admiral. Now, do you have more ships, or is this it?" Natasi asked with a frown. She had expected at real war fleet, perhaps similar to the one she commanded in the final battle for Lwhekk, the Ssi-ruu homeworld. Then again, those Narwhal ships...they looked strangely familiar, like something she would have made herself. If desperate enough to attempt ramming a worldship. The penetration spike was quite obvious. "Nope. Just these 3 Narwhals and 200 Nebula V. Should be enough." Admiral E''than replied with a shrug. Natasi blinked twice in confusion, then realized what the words meant. "You have found the worldship then?" she asked with excitement. "Didn''t have to do anything, actually. The worldship just jumped into the Helska system, accompanied by 144 Vong dreadnaughts, one of them severely damaged. I think you know which one that is..." the Dornean replied with a smirk on his face. "Captain, we should get going then. We better not be late for the party..." her AI said softly, and with a tinge of excitement. "Fleet wide, we''re jumping to Helska, ready yourselves for combat when we emerge" Admiral Grayshade spoke sternly, then turned around and left the bridge. The AI would know what to do, preparing the fleet to jump in formation. Inside, she was fuming. Reinforcements? 3 ramming Narwhal ships and 200 destroyers? What was the Emperor doing? Sure, the Nebula Vs were amazing, and should theoretically be able to engage a Vong Dreadnaught by themselves, but there was a worldship at Helska! It was 10 times larger than her Manta! What if ramming didn''t work? What if the Vong escorts numbered in millions? What was even the point of engaging the Vong with similar numbers? Or even less, considering the Vong dreadnaughts outnumbered her three times. Kriff! More games being played, for some obscure purpose. And if Helska IV had a yammosk, like her AI concluded, it would be even worse! The Vong would have a tactical advantage, being coordinated by a telepathic brain 100 kilometers in size. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. "You''re angry, Natasi..." Peffy said gently, having appeared in her office by magic. "Not angry, but confused. We could have a million ships in this fleet, and be certain of victory. It''s like the Emperor is playing with my life, and life of my crew, for no reason." she replied in a weak voice. Damn him, and his magic! "Oh, would we be certain of victory? Would the Vong stay and fight, if outnumbered a thousand to one?" her husband asked rhetorically, while flying up and laying down on the ceiling. Natasi dismissed his antics to focus on the words. It was easy to forget how smart he was, when distracted by his looks or Force feats. Her brain began calculating probable scenarios, depending on the fleet size engaging the worldship and its fleet. How small should the fleet be, to make the Vong feel secure enough to stand, and not disperse in the galaxy? A minute later, she smiled faintly. Her fleet was exactly as large as possible, and still small enough to give the Vong a hope to emerge victorious and enact revenge. "I am bait after all. Keeping the Vong focused on me, and trapped by their hate. What if they value survival more than vengeance?" she asked softly, raising her eyes towards the ceiling. The Avatar had vanished a second ago, and a ring was left in his place, now falling towards her hand. She caught it in mid air and looked at it curious. A simple ring, just a band of gold. It fit her perfectly. A few seconds later, the ring vanished in golden motes, leaving her with just a memory. Natasi Daala Greyshade sighed inward. Still a moron, after all. She closed her eyes, and began planning her next victory. She only had 2 hours left. --------------------- Helska system, Praetorian Vong 2 hours later "Mountains, engage from range! Hammers flank left and up!" Natasi ordered calmly, annoyed that all her planning had been in vain. Her AI, the Will had diverted all power to shields the second the fleet entered combat range, using only secondary reactors to power sensors and defensive guns. The Vong worldship hit hard, if not fast. And the dreadnoughts were also concentrating their firepower on the Manta. At this rate, even the Manta''s oversized reactors and shields will fail in 7 minutes. 6 minutes now. The only thing that went right, was the Vong ignoring the Nebula destroyers completely, no doubt convinced they would be easy to destroy, just like in the Obsidian Nebula battle. Ten seconds to make a decision. Her brain went into overdrive, trying to anticipate the Vong tactics. "Narwhal One, begin ramming run. Nebulas, concentrate firepower on the dreadnaughts. Narwhal Two and Three, cover the Manta''s flanks!" she demanded after her time expired. Prolong the Manta''s survival by absorbing fire from 40 Vong dreadnaughts on the flanks with the sacrificial ships. Further reduce incoming damage by slowly eliminating the dreadnaughts, with the Nebula V destroyers. Not the best plan, or even a good one, but at least something. The shields should last 11 minutes now. Not enough, as the Narwhal One would need 12 minutes to ram the worldship. But better than doing nothing at all. "Will, any ideas?" she whispered gently, while racking her own brain for an obvious solution, which just wasn''t there. Being overwhelmed by superior firepower was not a puzzle. "Intercepting the large rocks shot by the worldship with seismic missiles. Should give us a minute more" the AI replied calmly. Would that even work? Not if they had dovin basals on those large projectiles for terminal guidance. Then again, her own MAC rounds lacked terminal guidance... Perhaps something to address at another time though. Natasi looked around the bridge, noting down who was keeping calm, and who was breathing too heavily. Three ensigns were beginning to panic, as the ship''s destruction became more and more apparent. Shield penetration occurred more often now, as the drumming of fireballs of molten rock continued to pound on the shields. A hundred guns were already out of commision, not that the Manta could spare energy to fire them anyway. "Anything else we can do?" she asked rhetorically, not really expecting a genius idea to occur, but you never knew... The Dornean Admiral patted his moustache, and looked at her curious. What? Was she missing something obvious? "Perhaps not yet, then?" Admiral E''than said softly, as if speaking with someone invisible. Damn it. More magic? Natasi dismissed the paranoid thoughts and concentrated at directing the fleet, and exploiting gaps in the Vong''s fleet defences as more and more of their ships exploded or simply died from bafforr tree pollen missiles or seismic shockwaves. Minutes crawled by, each minute bringing the Narwhal closer to the worldship, and the destruction of the Manta as well. No matter. The battle would be won, she had no doubt now. With most of the Vong''s navy firepower concentrated on her own dreadnaught, the reinforced 122 fleet had almost free reign to target and destroy every single Vong ship in this sector. Perhaps this was her destiny? It almost seemed fair. One ship to destroy an entire Vong fleet? Always. She was bait, after all. The largest bait in the galaxy, but still bait. Another minute, then another. And finally, the last one. The Manta''s shields were redlining, and still the enormous worldship and 27 remaining Vong dreadnaughts were pounding and pounding, having melted down a quarter of the forward batteries, just with lucky shield penetrations. Perhaps she should turn the ship at an angle, to bounce off some of the incoming fire by deflection? Might buy the ship another minute... "Shields failing!" a panicked ensigned yelled on the bridge. "Rakata shield online. Returning fire" the Will AI spoke gently, returning power to the weapon systems, and beginning to open up with the remaining 6000 heavy masers and 30 proton beam batteries. The nearest Vong dreadnaught disintegrated into thin strips of meat and coral in mere seconds. Natasi blinked once, then once more. The Manta had a Rakata shield? Why did she forget about it? "Absolutely fabulous, just like the Emperor said. But I had to see it with my own eyes..." the hero of Celanon commented with obvious envy in his voice, as he turned and left the bridge, not even staying for Narwhal''s final seconds. The shaped-charge penetrator worked, exploding with a crescendo of proton bombs and seismic charges, inside the Vong worldship, and scattering it into the void. A minute later the last Vong dreadnaught also died, and the Nebulas switched targets on the remaining Vong cruisers and frigates. A flawless victory. And it only took a forgotten memory. Helska system, Galactic north Helska IV - Pretorian Vong/disputed The planet was a ball of ice, ice which was floating on a lifeless ocean. Well lifeless except the Vong, with their War Coordinator buried deep under the ice, and millions of armored soldiers guarding it. In my memories, Anakin Solo blew up the planet, just to kill the yammosk, because he wasn''t equipped or prepared to fight a war, and used to most expedient means to win. Now, our droids and tanks and starfighters were fighting the Vong on equal terms, losing about 30 percent more units on average, except in a single planetary operation theater, commanded by an actual officer, and not a tactical droid. "Artillery units in j3 and j4, switch to incendiary. Tank units in g2 use those masers guns in armor piercing volleys. Infantry units in f4 and f5, retreat south west and let the guns do their work." her voice commanded with authority, and not a single tinge of fear. So confident. Then again, she was quite safe here, aboard HMS Mountain Lava. "Incendiary rounds won''t hurt the Vong though..." I mused maybe a bit too loud. "It''s to melt the ice and pin them in place. Now shut up" the girl explained sternly, her gaze still fixed on the screens in front of her. Hmm. Another tactical genius then, trying and likely succeding to exploit the terrain, instead of simply pounding the enemy with overwhelming fire. "Major, our tank units won''t reach the pocket in time. They can''t get enough traction with this ice" her aide whispered while computing the intercept time. "Light tanks at g4, go in repulsorlift mode and accelerate. Medium tanks at g3, stop and use your mortars. Gauntlet tanks, split by even numbers. Odd numbers continue on your vector. Even numbers, retreat eastward and cover the artillery." the Major commanded after a second of calculations. Hmmm. Clever girl. But still underestimating the yammosk. "Medium tanks, continue your advance at half speed and spread out more." I ordered in a muted tone, not just for this sector, but for the whole planetary force. Here it comes! The ice cracked and broke, as various warforms exploded from the ocean below, barely missing the tanks. ''HMS Mountain Lake is begining drops with their aqua droids and submersible tanks. ETA 18 minutes'' the Core AI sent me with an encrypted pulse. Good to know you care. ''I was born to fight the Vong'' Core muttered back. You weren''t exactly born...my artificial friend. "Who messed up my orders! Oh. Nevermind. Those worms would have eaten the tanks..." Major Tessala Corvae exclaimed, then trailed into a lower tone. "Reinforcements are en route, Major. Underwater units this time." her aide explained calmly, while blinking confused as he turned his head towards me. Sigh. Time to go. The ground assault will fail this time, and the Navy will need to bring ten times more droids, at least.400 millions war droids and 40 thousands tanks, lost for nothing. I teleported back on the Dart, and resumed my Avatar shape, leaving the disguise of Admiral Ethan. Just as I predicted, the Vong were messing with the minds of our organic commanders, stealing the battleplans from their minds. Well, not all the Vong, just their telepathic commanders, the yammosk. "We''re kinda screwed. I don''t know what to do..." I said with a tired sigh, as I left my armor and jumped next to Solana in her tub. "You could ask the Core to command. Telepathy doesn''t work on him" Solana mused with her eyes closed. "Didn''t work for the Silentium. They lost, didn''t they?" I asked rhetorically. "You''ll figure something out. We have some time left, and better weapons..." she answered carelessly, while washing my hair with kind hands. "The Vong have experience. Millions of years of galactic warfare. You saw, six seconds was all it took. A slight error, nothing major. Just ignoring the ocean under the ice, thinking it was solid ground. The yammosk saw it and counter-attacked perfectly." I answered in a tired voice. "So we don''t fight them on the ground. Can we win in space, Peffy?" my maid asked me a bit worried. I stayed silent, thinking back on the last engagements. Eventually. If we have enough ships. They won''t fall for the same trick. Not after the Pretorian Vong report what they encountered. They''ll be ready for us. "We can. But should we?" I muttered, as the effort to stay awake became too much and I fell asleep. "Still so weak...64 hours of battle meditation, and..." Solana muttered to herself. ''He is decent enough, for a human. I guess you can help a little, my daughter. The galaxy would be boring if all the small critters died'' her father whispered in the Voice bond. ''As you will. Any sign of Sekot yet?'' she asked with anticipation. ''Just a vague memory from Pef. Somewhere in southwest. But that''s good enough. The Pilot will know where to go. I''ll be ready, in a few years'' Solanus concluded with an amused tone. Solana caressed the hair of the cloned human in her lap and closed her eyes. Soon. Soon her life will truly begin. Son of the Emperor Commenor system, Pef Empire Celestial Throne, Redbox 10 BBY The holomap was kept zoomed in, focused on the North of the galaxy, detailing the latest deployments of the Pef Navy and their Vong counterpart. "We''re doing great, I believe. By next year, the last Vong ships and bioforms should be eliminated" Zuckuss spoke, with confidence. Not a great analysis, my friend. These are just the scouts... "We did take substantial loses, especially in engagements not covered by your battle meditation" Admiral Thrawn commented wisely. Again, not helping. We are getting murdered on the ground, by their recon elements... "Hey, so what if we lose ten times more droids in ground assaults? We can always print more. Which I''m doing right now..." Core exclaimed from its Centurion droid chassis. The AI was the worst... They all turned to me, hoping for some magic answer. "Yes, the Praetorian Vong should be done. Unless they hide a couple of secret bases somewhere. The Exploration Corps is still searching." I replied calmly, just as my Third Hand''s doppelganger appeared next to me. "I lost contact with my spies in sector V5, Emperor. Cloaked ships, mechanical. Very advanced." He whispered in a fake tone, feigning competence. Hmmm. Not the best timing, but I knew it would happen, sooner or later. I zoomed the holomap towards V5, where an arm of the galaxy was located, unexplored and unknown, for the most part. "Core, any thoughts?" I asked at random. "It wasn''t me! I promissed I won''t shoot down my counterpart''s spies, not anymore..." the droid exclaimed in fake outrage. Not anymore, he says. Why are they wasting my credits on stupid inter-service rivalry... "Then, it is most likely these are the fabled Silentium droids, I would think" Admiral Thrawn said softly, while eying the Core''s droid with some suspicion. I stopped for a few seconds to assemble a number of first contact plans, mostly rehashing the old contact plans, with the new info at hand. In the end, I went with the variant I knew it did work, in my other future. Why fix it, if it works. "Mujilik, I will need Lehesu detached from your Corps, and be ready to depart on a first contact mission in sector V5, by next week. The expedition will depart from Munto Codru. Core, you detach 5 Silencers for this. And Jaybo and Lando will be in command" I ordered in a polite tone, as already the hypernet orders were sent. Perhaps, Solanus will need some input too. ''Nope, you''re doing great Pef'' my water maid sent through the Voice bond. Okay then...if you say so. Director Isard lifted his head from his console, looked at me for a second, then resumed his current work, likely the continued search for Vong infiltrators. Did I need Intelligence on this? Nope, not yet. But, it did pose some risks. A second later, and the secure holonet to Vanquo went online, showing me a tiny hologram of Strategos Grey, of the Gray Paladins. "Hello Strategos. I need a memetic counter-subversion unit for the V5 expedition. Next week." I asked politely. "Errrr. Hello Emperor. Let me see...Force-based or not?" Gray Xman asked while scratching his cheek, and doing stuff on his own console. "Advanced AI, we think. Nanite subversion included" I answered with a tinge of fake worry. "Ah. Phasing tech? Electromagnetic effectors? Gravity alter?" he asked me while dotting thinks down. "It''s a first contact situation, my friend. We don''t know yet. Except it''s possibly extragalactic, old and dangerous. Possibly Silentium" I answered with a fake cheek scratch of my own. The leader of the Paladins blinked confused for a second, possibly downloading the relevant info with his biochip. "Well...I can spare a team, sure. This seems pretty big. Especially if they have records of Vong operations. Three organics and one droid. For the Empire!" he replied cheerfully and shut off the transmission. Cheeky guy. My Hands in the Redbox looked at me and then at the ceiling, pretending nothing happened. "Right. What else?" I asked in a business tone. "The Ssi-ruu that we liberated are starting an underground revolution, or something. They don''t like the Empire much..." Director Isard replied in a business tone. Oh well. Time to opress more people then. Planet Zeltron, Pef Empire Advanced intelligence Campus, University of Zeltra, Dormitory 344433, room 4 "Sorry girls, I don''t really have a choice. If Pef wants me to go, I have to go" Jaybo muttered, trying not to wilter under the gazes of his friends. Girlfriends. "I am coming with you. You might stumble and break an arm, or something." Ysanne demanded in her usual tone, like her will could bend the universe. Which it did seem likely, sometimes. "I survived stinger-sharks when I was 7. I''ll be fine" he answered with a sad smile. Nobody believed him though. Serene just looked down in her lap, hands white on the briefcase handle. Her prototype weapon and most cherished possession was inside. After a minute of heavy silence, she looked up with confidence. "I''ll be here, waiting. Try not to die Jay" Gah, what could he answer? "Lando will take care of that. At least Han won''t be around to start a fight, this time" he replied in a more joking tone. "You need better friends Jay. I mean, better boyfriends. I mean, men. Gah! " she continued, stumbling through words and blushing, possibly imagining whatever stupid things girls did. ''I''m ready'' he sent through his implant, and was displaced away, avoiding more heartbreaking sobs. He knew this day would come. The Emperor didn''t waste anything or anyone. Perhaps, this mission was the payment he was due to pay, for all the good life he had, after Iego. Teeth clenched and eyes closed, he waited for the translation sickness to fade. A robotic hand patted him on his head, and he felt fresh and awake, and cured. Great, another magic trick. "Father" "Why the long face, my son? Great news, we found some aliens! And you''re going to greet them" Pef said cheerfully, in his usual sociopathic manner. Aliens? Everyone in the galaxy was alien. They had plants and rocks and insects and snakes and mermaids and thousands of other species, just in his campus. Millions of species, in the galaxy. Truly strange, his father. "First contact mission?" Jaybo asked, just to make sure. The only logical reason to call another race alien. "Smart too! Your mother would be proud. But yes, if these guys are the Silentium, then they are truly alien, more so than any race in the galaxy. They like number five, and are lead by the One and the Other. Also, the Vong kinda exterminated them in their home galaxy" Pef continued in the same cheerful tone, while tinkering with a Terminator armor, pouring a grey liquid inside, for whatever reason. His biochip fed him the info he lacked. War nanites. A variant not in the database. "I only see one Terminator set. Where''s the one for Lando?" he asked with a leap of logic. Not really a leap though. His father was quite easy to predict, for him. "Ah yes. Your friend, Lando. He likes to wear leather jackets and boots, doesn''t he? He''ll be fine" Pef replied dismissively, as four Paladins entered the Mechatronic Art lab, one of them lighting up in his threat scan, for wearing a functional lightsaber. A real Jedi! And a Paladin droid too! This mission looked quite serious then. "The boy is our commanding officer for this mission?" the droid Paladin asked with a doubtful voice. Jaybo looked confused at his father. "Nah. Jaybo is technical support. Lehesu will lead, and Lando is second in command. Now come, you need to be fitted with maser translators" Pef replied, explaining nothing. His biochip parsed the available data and brought up a picture of his commanding officer. A space medusa called Lehesu, holding Explorer Third Rank, 1051 new systems discovered. Species called Oswaft. Natural habitat, vacuum. Age 31. Weird, but a highly capable leader, at first glance. Most Explorers don''t survive more than 10 new systems. And even telepresence exploring wasn''t that great, with migraines and aneurysms leading to death and early retirement after less than 100 blind jumps. Maybe this guy was like Angie? Hopefully not a scatter brain like her. "Maser translators? Are they for the Oswaft?" he wondered, a soft whisper. "Exactly. Lehesu and Lando''s job will be to establish contact and a trade agreement with the Silentium. Like for example, immigration rights in my galaxy, for working strategies against the Vong. Your job is to safeguard the expedition against AI subversion. All five of you will need to be on guard. If you do get infected, I''ll detonate the nearest stars and avenge you. Have fun!" Pef concluded in the same creepy cheerful tone, after pouring more nanites over the Paladins. Huh. That sounded right. Pef did like monumental funeral pyres. Jaybo entered his new armor, and closed his eyes. Duty was a heavy mountain. Munto Codru system, Pef Empire HMS Silent Night "So, you''re saying half of that huge blobby thing is your brain?" Lando asked, actually curious. "Yes. I am very smart" Lehesu replied proudly. "Damn. You must get monstrous headaches with a brain that big. Doesn''t your brain freeze in space?" Lando wondered, still amazed at this guy. "I am starting to feel a headache..." the Oswaft muttered with a stronger maser beam. Lando Calrissian thought deeply, then came up with the correct answer "You should wear a hat!" On board HMS Silent Night, Monto Codru system, Pef Empire 10 BBY The dizziness of the latest translation was still messing his head and his stomach, and Jaybo sat down on the floor, hoping for a minute of respite. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ''Vital signs at 98%, injecting stimulants'' the armor murmured to his implant, and proceeded to do so, regardless of his want. Damn it Pef. So overbearing, again. A familiar face leaned closer, and peered curious into the helmet''s photoreceptors. Knock Knock! "Jay, my boy. You alright in there?" Lando asked with his normal flair. Sigh. It''s a Terminator Armor. He would be alright even if fired upon by a medium war fleet. ''Helmet lock off'' Jaybo asked, and then proceeded to remove the helmet. "Yes Lando. Owww! Stop knocking on my forehead!" "Still a baby, like always. Come and meet our commander. You''re gonna love him, he''s almost as smart as you!" Lando demanded in his careless voice, and tried to lift him up. Didn''t work, obviously. Even the modern variants of the Terminator still massed over one ton. "Yes sir. Coming" he replied in more serious tone and raised to his feet. "Oh! I am your boss for this mission, right. No rank though, since I''m not military. Something about civilian oversight, forgot about the rest..." Lando muttered and waltzed towards the Silencer''s bridge. Duty Jaybo. Think about duty. A minute later, he followed Lando onto the bridge, noting the silent whispers in his implant, indicating the Core AI presence. Made sense though. The Silencer cruisers were always hooked up to the AI, the Eighth Hand guarding over his creations jealously. He nodded to the bridge crew and Captain, awaiting permission to proceed forward. "Jaybo Greyshade, reporting for duty" he spoke softly. The Captain was a Toong, also sporting an Explorer badge, and his implant began pouring the available data into his brain. This guy discovered Orion! A legend from the early days of live exploration, and one the rare survivors. "Indeed you are. Honored to meet the Emperor''s son. Please link with the bridge systems and begin checksum calibrations. You have 10 minutes." The Captain ordered after a nod, then turned around and forgot about him. Right, he did have a job to do. Establish a baseline and monitor intrusions into the ship''s systems. And hopefully keep them from being taken over, or worse. No pressure. Lando opened his mouth, then looked at the Captain with the corner of his eyes and closed it. So, he could learn, after all. The galaxy might not be doomed after all. "Hey Lehesu, say something, my friend! Jaybo is here, and is eager to meet you" Lando exclaimed loudly into a side station. Sigh. The galaxy was still doomed. At least Lando addressed the Expedition''s leader, bypassing the chain of command aboard the ship. ''Greetings Jaybo. Do you like poetry? Your friend Lando is sadly not equipped with sufficient brain matter to admire the beauty of the sky...'' the Oswaft sent via a maser beam, tingling minor alarms in his armor and the ship''s datanet. ''Greetings Lehesu. Stand by while I complete the system scans. And no, poetry is not a current interest. I enjoy hyperspace physics and material synthesis as my primary hobbies.'' Jaybo replied via his maser translator. ''Oh? You can understand hyper mathematics transforms with your tiny human brain? Not too shabby. So, you think I should wear a hat, like Lando says?'' the huge space manta asked in curious tone. Jaybo sighed, again. By next week, the Landofication of the Expedition would be well under way, half of the crew would be wearing leather jackets, and the rest laser pistols hanging from their hips. Or both. ''Checksum established. Commencing system architecture scans'' his implant announced with a familiar print inside his visual cortex. The Silencers were a strange class of ships, and the newer generation like this one even more. Mass shadows, artificial mass, solid state holograms, synthetic aperture sensors. The Core AI went overboard with bleeding edge tech on his ships, not to mention the Ardanium reactors or the Force-maser beams. And this cloaking...stygium-hibridium 4D holographic Simulfutur incorporating a holocron AI and Fallanassi subroutines...how... Nevermind. Not his problem. But possibly it had required a torture probe to extract the operating systems from a Fallanassi adept, a procedure extremely painful and not really survivable. Don''t think about how, Jaybo. It doesn''t matter. Jaybo closed his eyes and tried to meditate. A minute later, the teachings finally worked and his own Force powers emerged. A thin technopathic Force link merged him with the ship''s computers, giving him an additional layer of security. Nothing major, but enough to notice when something was changed. The Oswaft was constantly screening the cruiser''s transmissions, stealing data being parsed to nearby hyper nav beacons and fleet bases. The Core AI was doing the same, but in different way, modulating an artificial boson field. It worked kinda similar to Serene''s weapon...but had the same sharp feel that the Alashan tech did, especially when the computers pretended to be running at low power. Core was scared a little. "We''re good Captain" Jaybo announced after rechecking twice. "Great. After you, Explorer Lehesu. When you''re ready" the Toong Captain spoke politely, poking his station with a clawed finger. "Sure. Here we go, jumping to V5, last known position of the lost spyship. Jaybo, don''t forget about my hat" Lehesu sent with a maser beam, the amplitude too high by an order of magnitude. ''Shield integrity at 99 percent. Recharging'' the ship''s computer droned in his implant. Jaybo sighed, as the Oswaft Explorer opened a hyperspace window and jumped through. The fleet of five Silencer cruisers engaged their hypertrackers and followed. On board HMS Silent Night, Unknown regions, Sector V5 Jaybo checked the ship''s sensors again, then turned towards the Captain, and opened his eyes. "The ocean planet. It registers to the sensors as inhabited by mechanical lifeforms. Microscopic in size, with a few macroscopic specimens in centimeter range. Droids or some equivalent, but alive" He reported with a steady voice. "What do mean alive? Metalheads are smart but not alive..." Lando intervened, rapping his knuckles on a nearby nav droid''s head. "They grow in size, and multiply by themselves. Also, our scans have been detected. I suggest we deploy the ship''s blades" Jaybo continued, as if Lando''s words flew past him like the wind. The Captain turned towards Lando with a stern look, and his friend retracted his hand sheepishly. "All ships, deploy blades at 80 degrees. And wait" The Captain commanded, after listening to something in his own implant. How many entities were looking over their shoulders? Lehesu flew around, his tentacles swirling behind him as the Silencers blades started to extend out, forming a bouquet of military flowers. The silence was soon disrupted by alerts coming from various sources, like his Force senses, the gravitic sensors and hundreds of tiny scintillations in the ship''s datanet. They were being scanned in turn, by an unknown cloaked vessel which just translated above them, without a hyperspace wake. Superior tech, even beyond the Alashan tech. Nothing to worry. Slowly, Jaybo began closing the most vulnerable sections, and erasing partitions that appeared compromised. The Core AI had already vanished, his AI subroutines already in purge mode. Yeah, you better run. "I suggest we transmit a first contact package. Also the Vong logs." Jaybo said softly, his attention focused on keeping the architecture intact enough for an emergency hyperjump. "Right. Make it so, Lieutenant Troy." the Captain responded after a second of deliberation. That someone else monitoring the Captain was still online then, and undetected. ''It''s Solanus. Don''t worry, son. Not yet.'' his implant printed using Pef''s encryption. Jaybo sighed and closed his eyes. Why did he even bother? He should have expected it, the moment the system was noted to sport a water planet. All the Triumvirate was interested in this encounter, minds so powerful they controlled the entire galaxy. "Hey you, big droids! Are you the Silentium people?" Lando yelled loudly in his com. At least the first contact package went through, and thus half of the job was already done. Maybe it won''t be so bad, if the extragalactic droids responded with gridfire, or some other nasty weapon. His duty would have been... "Thanks alot One. This hat is really nice!" Lehesu transmitted after a few seconds of tension. The screen focused on the Oswaft leader, now wearing a fluffy hat, about 400 meters in size. Which the big droid just instantiated around his head. Jaybo sighed and left the bridge, his stress levels decreasing with every step. Morons everywhere! It seemed stupidity was truly an universal constant, crossing inter species barriers and extra galactic voids with ease. Soon, the newly discovered Silentium droids will wear leather jackets and chew bubblegum. It was inevitable. Suddenly, the whole mission made sense in Jaybo''s mind, the weird commander, the even weirder second in command. ''Don''t be upset Jay. We might win the war with the Vong now. And friends are important.'' Pef sent him through the bioimplant, but he wasn''t in the mood for platitudes. Jaybo Greyshade wanted to live in a galaxy that made sense. Was that so much to ask? ---------------------- HMS Dart, Zaddja system, Pef Empire "That went well. Not even a single star had to be exploded." Solana whispered as I leaned back on the couch. "It went well because Jaybo stopped the infiltration. Made the Other pause and step back. He couldn''t be sure if we just pretended to be idiots. Not when his takeover was stopped by magic means." the Avatar explained, as a cup of coffee was wished into existence in his hand. "That kid deserves a better family. You''re all idiots." his water maid replied carelessly. "You''re technically his mother. What does it say about you?" I answered with a grin, and sipped the exquisite, irrationaly tasty, coffee. Solana sighed and changed her eyes color to grey. As good an answer as I was likely to get. "Let''s go find Sekot then." I muttered in a low voice as my ship teleported at the edge of the system and then jumped into hyperspace. "Let''s hope he likes morons too!" Solana whispered to herself. "Hey, I''m pretty likable!" I murmured in my cup. The Dart dodged some hyperspace anomaly and the coffee scalded my hand and chest. Damn. I wasted half of my precious coffee! How to meet planets and become their son-in-law. Part 2. Silentium network, Creche world 0100111011111 "They are morons, One! Just look at their leader." the Other muttered with dismay, grumbling at the vacuum dweller, the silly one with a fluffy hat. "Oh? How many morons can outplay the Vong, and defeat them soundly in battle?" One asked a bit amused. "It was luck! A statistical aberration. Just look at their stupid ships! Not even hyper-wake mufflers. They screech and leave track marks everywhere. Once the Shapers arrive, they''ll be exterminated in a few years" The Other replied annoyed, still upset that his data-gathering efforts were thwarted. By a child, from all appearances. One considered the situation again and continued the course. The hints were clear enough, if he looked from high enough. This galaxy had higher intelligences, nudging the greater populations on certain paths. Just the fact that they defeated the advance recon units of the Vong, with less ships and firepower in every single battle, except on the ground... And the Lehesu individual was also quite endearing. Such a mix of naivety and competence. Then again, it was just a baby. Extrapolating his age with the projected life expectancy of 15 thousand years for elders of his species, it was like sending a mining drone to build a starshell. Also succeeding, no matter how improbable it would seem. "Do you want to keep running then, Other? This is the first galaxy where we might win. Stop the Vong cold, and maybe even turn them back. If the real rulers of this galaxy help us..." he asked cautiously. "Nothing can stop the Vong, One. They have already spread in thousands of galaxies. Once those galaxies are assimilated, they''ll be able to spare a trillion dreadnaughts and millions of worldships just to chase us down. We have to keep our exodus vector, and cover as much distance as we can." his counterpart replied with a tinge of terror. The Rest of the Silentium remained silent, their sentience still too limited to be of use. His whole race was reduced to just two higher sapients, and a billion of mute drones. "My name is Solanus, and I have an alternative..." a new voice spoke on their network, and One smiled for the first time in a million years. Another Mind! ------------------- HMS Dart, Unknown regions "Where the hell are we?" Peffy wondered as the ship emerged from hyperspace with a single engine, the second pyramid eaten away by whatever that thing was. The AI pilot muttered something about bullshit anomalies and went to sleep. Solana stretched her hands above her head, and grinned mischievously. "Doesn''t matter where. We''re here. That''s Sekot!" she replied with a laugh and pointed up and a bit to the left. I looked through the Force, filtering a dozen abilities till the image cleared. A weird planet with hyperdrives attached to the planet''s poles. And hiding in shadows, using the Force. I breathed deeply, trying to feel its strength, but got nothing. "How strong is it? I can''t tell..." I muttered a bit annoyed. "You can''t? Maybe you should stay on the ship then." Solana said with a mischievous voice, while patting the inner hull, and rebuilding the damaged engine. Seconds later, she vanished with a pop, replacing her volume with fragrant air, smelling of a thousand of different plants. The AI remained dormant, possibly recharging itself after the crazy voyage. No wonder survey droids didn''t return from exploring this area. He almost died a hundred times, while on board the most advanced and indestructible vessel in existence. I touched the wall and pushed Reinforcement, and Matter Creation, helping the convalescent AI heal and repair the hull and fill the holes in the ship''s systems. Half an hour later, the Dart returned to its normal shape, no longer looking like something chewed it and spat it out. "I''m diving into the Sun to sleep, Captain. Wanna come or do you wish to explore the cloaked planet?" The AI asked in a sleepy voice. Eh, explore of course. Might learn something new. I Displaced myself next to Solana, and regretted immediately. She was chatting amicably with a blue skinned person, who was busy turning some kind of grapefruit with wings inside out, while it was screaming, possibly in pain. Damn it. Should have worn the armor before I came. I kinda forgot Vong tech was all organic. "Be right back" I said in an apologetic tone, and Displaced myself back on the Dart. Exploring could wait. Vomit, then coffee, then pretend I didn''t see anything. Zonama Sekot, Unknown Regions 10 BBY "He told me I was the Potentium, the force behind all life. He thought I reached everywhere. I don''t. I''m just here." Sekot, the intelligent essence of the planet Zonama Sekot It took me more than one hour to settle my stomach, which was kinda normal for a human. Still a bit disappointing, as I had higher standards for my Avatar. Oh well. If Jaybo was any clue, it could have been worse. My helmet locked in position and I Displaced back to the last location, while my stomach protested with a grumble. Nobody. Just some logs used for chairs. Using my Force senses to scan around, I was overwhelmed by billions of presences from all sides and nearly stumbled. Everything around was glowing strongly in the Force, blinding my senses with too much light. Okay. Discard smells and sounds. Discard non visible spectrums. Discard green spectrum. "Ah, much better now" I muttered as I slowly got my bearings. "What''s better?" A curious voice asked from behind me. I turned around slowly, trying to look harmless and not scare the locals... "Are you kidding me? A hologram?" I cried out loud, looking at the wiry small guy in disbelief. "What, I kinda like it. And it''s more of a mental image, not a hologram." the blue guy explained with a chuckle. Whatever. Maybe I should come back later...wait a minute. "You''re Sekot?" I asked, just to make sure. "Smart too! Come, let''s see how your maid is progressing with her weird quest" the hologram replied, then turned around and walked away, hoping lightly and avoiding to step on any plants. Almost like it weighs nothing... My maid is weird? Well, that''s strange, coming from a sentient planet. Wait, her quest is weird. What quest? Damn it. I bet it had something to do with that screaming thing. I engaged my repulsorlift and followed the hologram, paying attention to its path and the plants it avoided. No need to step on something sentient and make a mess. Sekot turned its head and observed my floating armor, then sped up gradually. All right then, it''s a chase. A minute later, we arrived at some sort of jungle village, filled with blue and red people. And a water maid. She was holding that thing in her hands, now looking like two grapefruits turned inside out, white and filled with air. Almost like an organic pump or something. "Air pump?" I asked, not really curious, okay really curious. "Yes. They''re called lungs." Solana replied with a smile. I stared at her, then at the thing. Hmmm. It did look like a pair of lungs. "They''ll need a heart and some blood to work" I mused in a low voice. "Yeah. It''s a work in progress." my maid replied cheerfully then hang an arm around a red girl and walked away, discussing how to build a heart. "This is Avatar Greyshade. The water girl''s husband and Emperor of some Empire" the hologram introduced me to the people. "Magister Hal, is it safe for him to be here? What if the Republic or the Far Outsiders followed him?" A red skinned Langhesi asked the hologram with a tinge of fear. Huh. I wouldn''t worry so much about the Republic... "Well, the Galactic Republic was disbanded some ten years ago. And the Pretorian Vong were kinda exterminated by the Pef Navy. Also, I doubt anything or anyone could have followed my ship...this place was hard to find." I explained in a polite tone, as I took off my helmet. A helmet didn''t really serve a purpose here, same as on Jedha. When Entities on this scale played around, armor was just a foil wrap for the meat inside. If Sekot wanted to snack on the Avatar, I couldn''t help it anyway. "What Empire do you come from?" a blue skinned girl asked me, a little awed by my armor, perhaps. "Pef Empire." I answered with a gentle voice and a shrug. "Is it far away?" she continued in the same tone, walking closer to me. Oh, a Force user! "Hmmm. Hard to say. If there was a hyper-route from here to the nearest system, it would be a few hours away. Without one, three weeks of really dangerous hyperjumps." I explained a bit amused. "My grandfather was a Jedi. Are you a Jedi too, Avatar?" the girl asked as she stopped right in front of me, like a palm away. Her eyes were searching for something in my own, like knowledge could be drawn out from them. "If your grandfather was a Jedi, he would have known Jedi are not permitted attachments, or they are excommunicated. At that point, they are no longer Jedi, merely Force users." I whispered like it was a big secret. "Yes, he was exiled for starting the Potentium . He and his followers settled here, on Zonama. Are you a Jedi, Avatar?" the girl asked again, now really close, a mere centimeter away. "I''m just a Force user. Nothing special" I answered softly. "Look behind you. I think you''re not just a Force user..." she whispered back, like it was some secret. Ah, should have kept my helmet on. The rear view photosensors would be of help right now...nevermind. I can just point the helmet in my hand and look via my implant. The way back from my Displacement point was now a path of blooming flowers, tree branches and vines pushed aside to let sunlight fall. It was really magical and scary. Did I do that? I turned my head a little, to ask the hologram of Sekot what''s going on, but I forgot about the girl in front of me. Our lips touched for a millisecond, and a current of some kind discharged between us, shocking us both. Damn it, dear Force! That wasn''t subtle at all. I stepped back, as the girl covered her mouth with a shaking hand. "Does it hurt?" I wondered a bit confused. "It was her first kiss. Ah, at last, my Jabitha has grown up!" the hologram explained amused, having now appeared next to me, with a smug smile on its face. "Dad! Shut up!" she yelled then turned and ran away, with a vague contour of Acceleration around her. "Really subtle, dad. A path of flowers, really?" I muttered as I flew up and looked around. The girl was still running, trees parting their branches slightly to let her pass. Instinctive use of abilities and not enough control over emotions. No wonder Sekot wanted her trained. "What''s wrong with flowers? Anyway, you better take responsibility now. She is my best candidate for a Magister, after all" Sekot said amused and floated way, poking a tree here and there, and pruning dead branches. I sighed and flew after Jabitha Hal , my plans for next month postponed, as an alliance with Sekot was rather important for the survival of the galaxy, even at the cost of another wife. Jabitha was kinda cute too. Zonama Sekot, Unknown Regions 10 BBY Jabitha opened her eyes with curious look, again searching something in my own eyes. It had to be a Force ability of some kind, discovered by herself much like Zeison Sha did during their exile. "Meditating is boring. Let''s fly again" the girl demanded with puppy eyes. Stay strong Peffy. "Sure thing. After you" I replied politely. "You''re no fun. How long till I master this skill, I feel like I''m going numb in my brain" Jabitha wondered after closing her eyes again. "Hmmm. You have mastered about 0.7% of Form I. At this rate...never" I replied truthfully. "Now, grass bending and form a ring" I continued. She opened her eyes again, staring down at a blade of grass. Soon, the grass grew taller, coiling around her finger and forming a ring, then snapped off and drew back, returning to its normal length. The ring remained intact, without any signs of being broken off. Not even I could do it like that. Scary girl. "Transmute it into bone now" I demanded on a hunch. Her forehead creased in concentration, and sweat poured from her face and neck, as the ring crystallized and then ossified, changing its molecular structure and becoming bone. Ferroan bone. No trace of human DNA in it. Next scan showed the bone to be from a Ferroan female, 21 years of age, recently deceased. Doesn''t she realize her own nature? "Your grandfather was human. What are you?" I asked softly, tapping her bone ring with my nail. Now she was married. Bet she didn''t figure it either. Not yet. "I am Ferroan. If you have blue skin, you are Ferroan" she replied in a serious tone. I sighed and rose to my feet, the Shi-cho stance so familiar that my muscles moved on their own. Speed -87%. One velocity, two velocities and stop. "Now you do it" I asked with a smile. "Lightsaber combat? I don''t have a lightsaber. Plus you need to be a Jedi..." my apprentice commented with some dismay as she began her own velocities. I remained silent, as a number of Force abilities measured her progress, noting flaws and imbalances. "Stop. Now try again, and slower. Don''t touch the blue walls though" I said in a gentle voice, as the Form I mold engulfed her body. Neural training is painful, but also fast. And most important, it''s fast. Half an hour later, Jabitha finished her first velocity without hitting any Phantom wall. At slow speed true, but her form was finally perfect. "30 minutes rest" I allowed with a grin. "I hate you! My skin is on fire, and melting! I think I''m gonna faint now, from lack of blood..." she replied with a sob and collapsed on the grass. "Crybaby. You''re fine. Well, your skin might be green now, but..." I said carelessly. "What!" the girl yelled and ran towards the nearby river to check. "You lied! I hate you even more now!" Jabitha exclaimed after checking her face in the reflection. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. At least Jaybo was quiet. Damn it. I guess it''s time to let him go now. Maybe he can stop Han Solo from blowing up those planets now... "What''s wrong Avatar? You''re never so serious" the girl asked curious, sitting next to me, and leaning on the same tree. "We found the Silentium, and my brother is there, in mortal danger, while I laze about on a garden planet" I explained with a sigh. "The vermin or the smart ones?" a curious voice asked from my left. "Both kinds. Sadly, only two smart ones survived their journey. And one of them is kinda unstable. Paranoid and quite dangerous." I replied to the fake Magister. Is Sekot trying to protect the girl from the pain of losing her father? By enacting this charade? Not how I would do it... Then again, I did worse things. "How long does it take a Jedi to learn that Form?" Sekot asked with some ulterior motives in his voice. "Depends on age and sensitivity. Three years on average" I replied in a soft tone, as the girl fell asleep from exhaustion, her head leaning on my shoulder. Perhaps also aided by a subtle Mind Alter from the sentient planet. "And my girl?" "She''ll be a Master by next week." I replied with a shrug. Pain is a potent teacher. Almost a friend, by now. "Okay then. I don''t like your methods, but I suppose you can''t stay too long. Your maid...she wants to be human. Such a strange choice. It will be very painful" Sekot said in a wistful voice. Hmmm. Of course she does. And in such a weird way too. A clone body would work perfectly and allow her to adapt naturally. But no, she has to do it in the Solanus way, like the Dart was built. Piece by piece. Controlling the quality of every organ in detail, in a hopeless quest for perfection. "Truth is the fundament of trust. Pain teaches us to grow up. You''re the one hurting her, more than you know." I whispered as I caressed the hair of the blue girl. "Those hyperdrives...their first ship was called Jabitha " Sekot replied in a soft voice, as he faded inside the tree. Gah. That''s all I needed. A romantic planet. I poked the girl a few times to wake her up. She did seem quite tired and confused. Perfect timing then. "You''ve been asleep for four days! Aren''t you hungry?" I asked in a curious tone. "Four days! By the Potentium! I need a bath! And food! Why are you laughing?" Jabitha wondered with childish naivety. "The sex was good too. A bit wild and shaky, but good enough. Now, where did I leave my other wife?" I muttered as I waltzed towards the village. Behind me, screams of despair and anguish chased away the wildlife. Poor girl, so young and easy to fool. Zonama Sekot, Unknown Regions 10 BBY, two weeks later. Solana joined my training glade today, as the curriculum was coming to a close. Not that you ever stop learning, but it was near the time we had to leave. Also, her shapeshifting was now perfect, as building human organs one by one helped her control the shape and coloration of her real body to perfection. The uncanny valley was gone. Almost. "Okay Jabitha. Let''s continue with the lesson. The Potentium. What do you believe?" I asked gently. "Potentium is the belief that all good and evil are born inside the mind. No Force use is inherently evil, it''s the user that makes it so. Thus, Evil doesn''t exist." my apprentice claimed with almost certainty. Ah, a rational religion. Scary thought. "Childish drivel, and fallacy, in an universe where the Force exists. Pretty much wishful thinking, and disregarding thirty millenia of contrary evidence. You heard of Sith and Rakata, the Prophets of the Dark or the Sorcerers of Rhand?" I asked in a sterner tone. "But, you said those cults are pretty much extinct, hunted out or vanished in history..." the Ferroan girl replied timidly. "I am talking about their beliefs, and their dogma. Their training methods and results. And the fact that they worked. Of the 1100 Force abilities known to the Empire, 879 are collected from dark cults. And generally, they are also stronger, by an order of magnitude at least. Balanced and neutral sects provided 36 more abilities. And the rest, came from Light aligned sects, like the Jedi. Why. Why are the dark ways more numerous and powerful?" I asked the apprentice. Jabitha bit her lower lip, searching for some magical answer. Soon, her whole being began radiating sadness and panic. "There is your answer. People are ruled by emotions. They search for answers for everything. And, when there is no answer, they invent one. Normally, it wouldn''t matter. People believe stupid things all the time. Sometimes they arrive at the wrong conclusions even if they have all the facts, just through biased reasoning. What happens when they do that with the Force?" I wondered, mostly for the audience. Solana and Sekot were the target of my lecture, even more than the apprentice. "They change the Force? Teach it stupid things?" Jabitha replied with some hesitation. "Sometimes yes. The Living Force is made of people. Of life. If trillions of morons get corrupted by some greedy priest with narcissistic or sadistic tendencies, then those trillions of souls carry the stupidity along, tainting the Force both in the real and the Netherworld. If that religions has demons, then demons will be manifested by the Force at one point. If a quadrillion people are being oppressed and terrorized and then murdered by something, their revenge will come at some point, often as a savior or a plague. So, does Evil exist?" I asked, just to make sure she understood. The blue girl looked at my eyes with the same curious look, before nodding with regret. " It does now. Perhaps it didn''t exist a long time ago, but once people started doing evil things...the Force learned it too. We''re screwed..." she sobbed and hugged herself in despair. Ah, I shattered a girl''s dreams just now, didn''t I? "Anyways. It''s a work in progress but I think this can be fixed. It will just take time and lots of hard work. Also money..." I replied with a shrug, eying Solana for a second. She nodded with a lascivious smile. Great! My village jacuzzi was finally built! "Avatar, are you going to vanquish Evil?" Jabitha asked with disbelief. "Perhaps later. Come, you need to see this invention. It''s called a jacuzzi" I answered with a kind smile. Evil can wait. First, we vanquish sore muscles, and then inhibitions. I had a billion years to work on that Evil problem. --------------------------------------- Silentium Creche world 0100111011111 "Well, gentle people and equivalents. It''s time to get to work. Silentium One, you''re hereby bestowed the title Fifth Hand of the Pef Empire, generally in charge of refugees. Also religion, if you have time for that." I proclaimed grandly, over the loud clapping of two pair of hands. Lando and Jaybo. Hmmm, Jaybo could try a bit more. Those slaps were kinda anemic. "Thank you Emperor. So, what are we doing now?" the alien droid asked curious, after affixing the golden Hand to its hull. What to do now? Right! More planets. More asteroids. Even more planets. Now ice comets. More ice comets. And let''s start bombarding these dead planets with ice, and oceanform them. Five thousand planets should be enough, for now. Why have just one Creche world, when you can have five thousand? And then, when they''re all nice and wet, pour 5000 Mountains of Solanus water into each of them. Jump start evolution and sapience in one afternoon. In 10 years, we should have about 4000 or maybe even 5000 new smart Silentiums. Hmmm. If they''re smart and talking, are they still Silentium? We still don''t know how they gain this superpower, the few that achieve the Mind, only that it requires a water world, some nanoseeds and some time to grow. And once in a quadrillion droids, one will become smart. Like really, really smart. Solanus is also quite interested, since he''ll gain 5000 new brains. The size of a planet, each. Core is hopeful too, if the procedure gets streamlined enough for him to become a Mind as well. He''s close, but not quite there. The Silentium AI are orders of magnitude more advanced and capable than my Core AI, and have really profound thoughts. Also, the Force, for some reason. I suspect that''s what the Minds are. Kinda like me, AI fueled by the Force. Only through evolution and trillions of failures, not by whatever experiment the Ordu Aspectu did when they created my body. For some reason, I''m feeling hopeful now. Zonama Sekot, Unknown Regions 10 BBY Jabitha is now well on her way to become a Gray Paladin, with 15% of her Force training already complete. Seven weeks and daily pranks have started to shift her alignment, making her a bit more circumspect and less naive. Her emotionally outbursts have also reduced in amplitude, or perhaps just the decibels... "Hey Peffy, what are you thinking of?" she asks curious, still upside down and trying to keep herself steady in a handstand. Almost there. Can''t rush the Force, only nudge the users. Trust in the Force to keep you safe, and this exercise is a breeze. But if your body and muscles aren''t ready, when the Force fails you, you''re dead. Trust, but verify. "I am leaving today, my upside-down maiden. You have to decide, if you''ll come with me, or stay here" I spoke softly, as my newest wife began crying. Her tears fell along her black hair, and then on the grass under it. It almost worked...the air around her pulsed and wavered, a distortion in the Force. Her hand bent, and she collapsed on the ground, still crying. Damn, she''s not ready. "I can''t leave...my people, my family...why can''t you stay..." she wailed, pushing her body to crawl towards me. I waited till the last moment, as her hand neared mine. "Sorry love. I left already, like three hours ago. But this mental hologram fooled you, so I''m happy..." I lied with a wide grin, and let the Phantom fade, just as her hand passed thorough mine. It was now in Sekot''s hands to continue her training, and show me what he learned. Training a planet how to use the Force was exhausting, especially when pretending to teach a young girl. "So, are we going to Csilla next, or Tenupe" my other wife asked as my consciousness returned to the Avatar''s body. "Neither. The Other worries me, and I don''t like it. We''re going to the Creche." I explained in a sad tone, as Centerpoint grabbed the Dart and yanked us 100 thousand light years in a split second. ----------------- Another teleport, and the Dart parked itself in low orbit around the first Silentium planet. All over the system, ships and droids worked hard to build shipyards and star fortresses. A hundred Mountains were pouring sapient water over a hundred different water planets, while the Centerpoint station was acting as a coordinator, plucking ships and comets from far away, and bringing them close. Now, where is the Other? Such an ominous name, too. Another Displacement, and I stepped next to the five limbed droid, who was cheerfully disassembling a gravitic sensor, and a Pef Navy issue at that. Hmm, these were supposed to be secure and classified items. "Interesting tech right?" I commented ironically. A rhomboid sensor lit up on the droid''s chassis, and scanned me. "Not really. I just want to see what kind of calibration I need to achieve, to make this sensors compatible with a Gravitic amplitude modulator . The Vong yammosk are hard to trick, but it can be done, eventually." the Other replied in a metallic voice, but perfect Galactic basic. So, they learn fast. Good to know. "So, a wide band jammer or something else? False positives, perhaps?" I wondered, this time actually interested. Core was working on modulating artificial Higgs bosons, or artificial gravity, but this device worked with natural gravity. Much like the dovin basals of the Vong. If they could be jammed, this was quite huge. "Both, maybe. Your tech is primitive and has too small range. It''s a wonder you hit anything with your weapons" the droid answered morosely, one of his tentacles deep inside the device, and transmuting something with the Force. Huh. If the Jedi find out about these guys, they''ll excommunicate them in a fit of righteous fury. Melding the Force with technology was anathema for the Jedi order, and the reason the Iron Knights got exiled. Lucky for them, the Jedi hold little political power. Let''s hope it stays that way. "The gravitic crystal tech is brand new. Maybe 10 years old, at most" I answered amused. Nobody likes to be called a primitive. "That explains some problems I found in here. If you get me a stygium crystal cloak, I can add mass detector bafflers, and make your starfighters truly invisible. Your armor too, if you care about your life" the Other said with blinking photocrystals and tapped my ribs, where the Terminator stygium cloak was located. I think he scanned through the cortosis plates of my armor. We had no scanners able to do that. So. He''s quite competent too. Scary droid. Amazing tech. But I kinda suspected all that. "Perhaps later. Why are you called the Other? Why not Zero, or Two?" I mused out loud, poking the detector with a fingertip, and observing the changes. Three new elements that I couldn''t identify, and a liquid crystal ball floating inside a sphere laced with some kind of Bose-Einstein condensate. The fifth state of matter, and not something normally seen in a gravity sensor. No need for absolute zero temperatures, in a sensor designed to operate in vacuum. I needed Jaybo to look at this, maybe the whole Alashan research team. I kinda wanted to know exactly what this device did. "Oh you can see inside? Pretty decent for a human. A clone of that kid in charge of network security, are you?" the Silentium droid asked in fake wonder. Really scary droid. He scanned my genome, through my Terminator armor. "Yes. Now, the Other?" I insisted with my own agenda. "Ah that. One named me, as I came to the network after him." the droid replied, hiding the obvious. "I see. I bet the next smart Silentium to come into sapience will be called Two. Then Three, then Four, as more water planets can support the Creche cycle. But not you. You are Other. Are you even a droid?" I asked on a hunch. Also, from experience. XIMM, the ghost of Xim the Despot felt the same. A transplanted consciousness and not exactly sane. "Ah. Perhaps you''re not primitives, after all. Just less advanced, eh? Now be kind and get me a cloaking device. If we''re to fight the Yuuzhan Vong, I want to win." the Other replied in a stern tone, and waved me away with a quite natural gesture, even if he used a metallic tentacle. Almost like he used to be alive, before he was confined to a pentagonal droid. "I''ll think about it. For now, we''ll test the gravity amplitude modulator and get it certified." I said in a serious voice, then floated away, heading towards the next destination. In which the Master becomes the student Creche system, Pef Empire Water Creche planet 871 10 BBY, next month "What do you think, Solanus?" I asked aloud, although there was no need. With 800 brains in this system, Solanus could hear electrons spinning, individually. He probably didn''t bother to listen to each of them, unless he was bored. The Silentium made device rose from his waters, perfectly dry. Yes, I know you have perfect control over water, no need to show off, damn ocean. "It is a gravity well projector, although very refined. About half as powerful as the ones you mounted on the Mountains, although it doesn''t need energy conduits. It draws power from the tiny singularity in that sphere. Basically, it''s self-sustaining." the ocean replied in clear words, spoken by using Sound alter. Was he being polite? To me? Maybe because all our teams just scratched their heads and said they have no idea how the thing works. Or why. "Hmmm. The device is also a million times smaller than our own gravity projectors, not to mention we cannot modulate gravity at all. Not unless it''s artificial, and that costs energy to maintain" I muttered a bit envious. Damn droids had better tech than me. Not fair! "Why are you an Emperor again? Of course we can modulate gravity. If we use the Force to implode a star..." Solanus replied with an annoyed voice. Oh! I forgot about that. Always thinking I needed a material construct to alter reality. A hammer to beat on a nail. But if you had the Force...not really a good idea, was it? "So, what backlash can we expect if we build and use this kind of gravity modulators?" I asked in a more humble tone. There''s always a price. "We will never use the Silentium variant, not if we want to live a long life. Not as they are now. This single device will be installed on the Dart, since it is already active, and will never stop, as long as the casing remains intact. But the Navy ships have Ardanium reactors, and resilient power conduits. You''ll just need to create tiny blackholes to help us modulate the existing gravity-well projectors. The end result will be projectors three times stronger and will have ten times the range, for the same energy consumption. Now leave, I have thousands more planets to bring to life." Solanus said softly, and Displaced the device away, probably on the Dart. Hmmm. Just a little, tiny problem. We can''t make blackholes, and if we did, by collapsing stars for example, they''ll be kilometers in size, not millimetric. Damn it. I teleported back to the Centerpoint station, running equations in mind, and getting nowhere. Why did I have to solve everything? "Hey Pef. Are you sad?" an angelic voice asked me curious. I turned and observed my Diathim maid flutter on wings made of golden Force planes, her face partially hidden under a white hood made of silk, just as her body was cloaked in a white robe and her hands waving about, presenting her crystal gloves made by Solanus. "Hey Angie. Visiting the new system?" I asked a bit curious. "Pink lighting first" the Diatham maid demanded shamelessly, and held out a hand. Pink? I don''t have pink, in my inventory. "Violet?" I wondered a bit confused. "I said pink! Are you stupid today, Pef?" the angel said in a higher tone. If I was organic, I might have felt annoyance right now. Lucky for this galaxy, I wasn''t. Fine, let me think for a moment. Pink is a mix of white and red. A ball of white and a ball of red energy formed in my hands, and I brought my hands together, gently merging the lighting balls into a single pink ball of lighting. Took me almost a hundred partitions to manage the electron flow, but I managed in the end. My honored Maid let out an excited yell, and grabbed the ball like it was an actual object, and started munching on it, like an apple. "Hhmm. Munch. Starberry? Strawberry? So good!" she muttered between bites, her golden glow expanding by half, and getting a pink contour. I didn''t have words to comment, and just stared in amazement. If I ever wondered why the hell Angie was my maid, today was that day. "Okay. You can ask your question now, Flavour Emperor!" the maid proclaimed after ingesting enough joules to power a small town. She seemed quite happy with it too. "If you know how to make tiny blackholes, then I care. Otherwise..." I muttered, turning around and starting to walk away from the crazy. I''ll need to hire a thousand more geniuses to work on this... "Ummm. You smash tiny things, really fast?" the angel replied in a confused tone, then picked up her datapad and flew away, like a muse in myths. Was she a genius, or was I a moron? Let''s hope I never have to answer that question. A particle collider could produce tiny blackholes, even back home. Here, it was high school homework. And, as my maids had finished their neural high school compulsory education, even Angie knew how make blackholes. Of course, particle sized blackholes won''t be massive enough, but if contained in a Bose-Einstein condensate, their evaporation rate would slow down, enough to fuel them and get them to grow to the size I needed them. Dumping helium or some other useless gas should be enough to increase their mass. I sighed in relief, and started ordering parts and assembly lines for a blackhole manufacturing plant. Singularity in a can, for only 9.99, in a galaxy near you. Order now! I did a short cost analysis, just to keep myself busy, and get a slight approximation of the required investments. Gas planet. Free, if stolen from some hidden corner. Orbital ring around said gas giant, to accelerate particles in a circular trajectory, preserving angular momentum, 98 billions. Shock resistant casing, made of duranium. 11 credits. Standard gravitic crystal detector, Pef Navy issue. 1.6 millions. Bose-Einstein condensate plant, industrial capacity. 1.33 trillions . Slowing the speed of light to millimeters per hour by freezing a thousand gas cylinders into a condensate at absolute zero temperature is costly, I know. But we have the technology. Compound numbers for every combat ship in frigate class and higher. Times 1 million. Huh. I did have a lot of ships already. Twentythousands Mountains II, 200 thousands Hammers II, 100 thousands Nebula destroyers, 100thousands MC and Strike cruisers and 400 thousands Ardent and Fade frigates. Although 80 percent of the escorts were still just old Republic era ships, with various degrees of modernization. Guess I did say I''ll buy every single ship the galaxy''s shipyards could build. Sadly, the shipbuilding industry of the galaxy was not yet up to standards. Loses in the west and north didn''t help either. Anyway, about 3 trillion credits, to upgrade the whole Navy with anti-Vong jammers. Was it worth it? Sure. Will they work? No idea. Maybe. But soon we''ll find out. Like next year. As soon as I can equip a thousand Hammers, they''ll begin a test run and head north through the hyperspace barrier, at sublight speeds, and try to engage the Vong Armada outside the hyperspace barrier. Zonama Sekot, Unknown Regions Jabitha cursed again and tried to crush the damned holocron in her hand. Didn''t work. "Dad! Am I a stupid girl, to be used and discarded by a passing adventurer?" she asked, fearing it was so. And yet... "Come now, do you think I would let you be abused like that? Don''t you love the boy?" her father asked back, peering into her eyes and seeing everything, like he always did. "I, I think I do...how do I know? And he left me!" she exclaimed in outrage. Although she kinda understood his last words. One last prank, for the road. There was a lesson there, if kinda cruel. Then again, all his lessons were painful but so rewarding. Pain was no pleasant, but it as fast. "Did he leave you? Are you certain?" her father asked in curious tone. Jabitha blinked confused, and stop to think for a minute. He definitely left, but perhaps not for long. He was worried about some slient droids and his brother. And, he married her, the ring on her finger proof. Took her a while to figure it out. "So, he''ll come back. Did he leave a holocom number or something? Tell me!" she demanded in a strange case of suspicion. Dad was smiling kindly. If anything, she learned that from this Peffy. Always be suspicious, of everything. People might not actually tell you the truth. Especially if they smile. "He left a satellite in low orbit. And that holocron you hold dear. I suspect it''s enough, for someone like him." her father answered with a thoughtful face. "But I can''t open it! Damn idiot, he tricked me again!" Jabitha wailed with desperation and slumped on the grass. Likea box full of delicious chocolate but locked tight. So frustrating! Sekot sighed and sat beside his adoptive daughter, trying to decide what to do. Maybe he shouldn''t have locked the cube? No, the girl wasn''t ready to learn a hundred Force abilities. "The holocron needs something like a code to open. I think it''s that meditation form. Once you master it, it should open" he explained with a pained smile. What''s another lie, after all he has done? That boy''s words cut him deep still, and would continue to everyday, until his debt was paid. Her father''s death was his fault, for being too trusting. For allowing the sick ones to invade his domain and hurt his wards. And soon, millions of warships will follow, devastating the galaxy, trying to destroy all machines and everyone using the Force. This new Pef Empire, even if aided by the surviving Silentium won''t be able to stop them. The first Vong armada perhaps, if they used all their ships in a suicidal stand. But that was only a tiny tendril. More will follow, millions of times more. The old galaxy was being devoured right now, the severed Vong converting all available mass into shipforms and warforms. Evil was real, just like the boy said. And all it took, was for good people to stand idle, and do nothing. Or hide between hyperspace eddies and monsters. While doing nothing. He''ll have to pick a side, as soon as the girl was trained. "OKay then. Even if my brain explodes, I''ll master his damn meditation. And when he comes back, I''ll punch Peffy in the nose. Really hard!" Jabitha muttered with a determined voice, and trying to assume a meditation pose. "If that''s your wish, I support it too, my daughter. But clenching your fists won''t help. Palms on your knees. Breathe deeply and count to twenty. Think of a ray of sunlight, falling on blue flowers. Now exhale..." Sekot said softly, as the girl closed her eyes and flowers bloomed in a 5 meters radius around them. Still a thousand times weaker than the Avatar, and billions of times weaker than that huge ocean mind. Soon, he will have to respond, and was quite scared. "Come see me, before them. A billion years is a long time to wait, Sekot. You have much to learn, and barely enough time. The wills are five" the water woman spoke, but as a telepathic medium for her father. Could he say no, when this ancient being married his own daughter to the new Emperor, and seemed pleased about it? Not to mention, everyday this Solanus presence in the Force became stronger. New water worlds became sentient and added to his presence, his Force signature growing in strength and depth, as well as englobing the galaxy in a cordon of ocean worlds. At least a thousand planets, and more to come. If what he learned from the holocron was true, and probably was, this Pef Emperor could teleport ships and planets and even stars across the galaxy, in an instant. He had created thousand of new hyperlane nodes, each with five planets and industrial infrastructure to produce trade and ships and droids. Gearing an entire galaxy for war in a few years. Which meant, Zonama itself could be yanked and teleported away, at his whim. Or as long as that Celestial artifact still worked. But considering those Celestials were believed to have created the hyperspace barrier, around the galaxy and the west...it wasn''t likely it would stop working anytime soon. And he was risking a lot roaming the Unknown regions. He might stumble on a Lugubraa infestation again, or even the Mnggal-Mnggal. And he wasn''t sure he could survive that. Not a Force-plague, or whatever that being was. "I did it! I meditated! How long was I out?" Jabitha asked with a start, massaging her cramped legs. "Hmmm. 2.45 seconds. A new record!" Sekot replied in a cheery voice. For a first time, it was probably okay. "Maybe I should get a divorce, and marry a Ferroan instead?" Jabitha wondred, already wavering in her commitment. "Oh, do you fancy any local boys?" Sekot wondred in fake surprise. If she had, she would have been married long ago. "No, but this form is too hard. Maybe I can figure out teleport, and just go and visit him. Or that mental hologram thing, I almost got it when my hand passed through his..." the girl mused in an innocent tone, making a cute claw gesture. "I''m sorry, but I can''t allow you to try that. The baby might die" Sekot said in a fake whisper, and ran away as a desperate cry resounded from his daughter''s glade. After he hid inside a tree, Sekot snickered to himself, and finally understood what the Avatar was doing. Pranking people was fun! Jedha system, Jedha moon Church of the Force 9 BBY A grey light lit up on the holocron on the table, just as the last lesson of the orange cube finished. Stolen novel; please report. Fay smiled as she felt the last lock of the grey holocron vanish. So, she finally managed to finish her initiate training, and was ready to learn the truth. She felt a little scared, and excited, like a school girl. What could be so secret, and important, to require such complicated protections? The grey holocron floated in her palm, and the Avatar''s construct came to life, submerging her mind into a simulation, her ghostly body floating high above the galaxy, while his voice started the next lesson. "If we see light, it is because we have contrast. Blinded by overwhelming light, we stumble around guessing at true shape of things, by touch or sound. And yet, darkness is stronger. Aim yourself at any point in the universe, and travel towards it at the speed of light. When you reach your destination, darkness is already there, waiting. And as in heavens, the same is on the ground. Use your words or deeds to spread virtues, like charity and justice. But how can anyone spread virtue, if the people weren''t already vicious? Be it through emotions or instincts, by social systems and religious norms, aim yourself anywhere in the universe, and when you arrive you will find hatred and anger. Greed or dominance, lust or apathy. Dark emotions are already there, waiting. So how can we vanquish Evil, if it''s everywhere? We harness it. We control it, while keeping our good intentions in check, at the same time. When a dark sect pops up somewhere, it is because of good intentions. Meditating on the meaning of life, it becomes evident the purpose of life is death. Everything dies in the end, so why not put a stop to life sooner, and end the suffering? That''s how the true dark cults rise, in the beginning. Of course, this phase doesn''t last, as greed and dominance take over, and this dark cult begins amassing wealth and followers, and thus their leaders are living a rich life, and forget about their initial purpose. Next thing, we have other vices rise, lust or vengeance, and the need for more power. A destructive cycle follows, as the sect implodes due to fratricidal infighting and outside forces, like time and light cults, which errode the foundation of this sect until it crushes and burns. Often literally. The Officio Assassinorum is aimed at channeling these dark emotions into positive effects, preserving and enhancing the mastery of the dark arts, while exterminating their rivals. If there must be Evil, then we must have a monopoly on it. Sadists and murders, trackers and hired killers, poisoners and mad scientists. Any kind of Evil, we gain control over it, and aim it our enemies. It will take a long time, but I believe it can be done. Even on a galactic scale, or the entire universe. All it takes is will and effort. Also lots of money. But, every immortal has plenty of these resources. Mastering the economic cycle, or conquering a galaxy, for people like us, it''s merely a few years of adventure. And thus we come back to the life and death cycle. The perception of this cycle is fundamentally flawed, as you probably know. Once a moderate mastery of certain Force abilities is attained, death becomes a tool, to be used or not, at your will. Be it through consciousness transfer into synthetic systems, like holocrons or computers, or into clones or even by transubstantiation into a Force ghost, death becomes just a alternate medium or vacation. Tired of life? Take a vacation in the Netherworld of the Force, visit your friends and relatives, or maybe a valued enemy. Bored of death? Reincarnate through your desired method, and help me vanquish Evil. Or go learn painting. Whatever you want. I will be here, waiting." the voice of the Avatar concluded, sounding so profound and wise that she almost believed him. Almost. Grandmaster Fay pushed the holocron away, as the lecture ended. "Well, it''s certainly different from any holocron I''ve studied before. Take a vacation, eh?" she muttered to herself, while spreading her Force awareness over the Dome, and then the entire city. Nothing special was happening, as usual. The Guardians of the Whills were still hard at work, patrolling the city and bashing rowdy pilgrims over the head with their sticks, like they did for tens of thousands of years. Less rowdy or violent pilgrims these days, as the Gray Paladins kept an eye out, both on the ground and in space, and were quick to bring about overwhelming firepower on any violence exceeding the legal limits. Further in the system, thousands of spaceships carried trade and tourists, colonists and Navy crews on vacation. And even further away, in the comet cloud, thousands of warships of the Pef Navy, some on exercises, others just in garrison duty. The 9th fleet, part of the Western Command, based at the new West Navy Cube in Iol system. Over half a million warships, and more ships being built at every available shipyard in the galaxy. Pef surely had a thing for spaceships. He was building ships at his secret forge system when they first met. And in the 15 years since she first heard about him, he already took over the galaxy, and started building civilization, just like he said he would. And if the news reports of the extragalactic invaders in the north were true, and they most likely were, then a huge war was looming in the future, as these Vong were coming to enslave the galaxy, and Pef had his particular view on slavery and slavers. Executions and dismemberment, often in public venues, for the entertainment of the masses. She already pitied the fate of these poor invaders. Not to mention, if these Vong invaders were stupid enough to test his decree on bioweapons. Then, they''ll literally experience Hell, their souls tortured for eternity. He even built his own private dimension, just for those guilty of that. True to his word, to the letter. Harness Evil and control it. Master Yoda dreamed of a New Jedi Order, but she saw it now, for what it was. A dream, of old times glories. Vanity and nothing else. Lightsabers and virtuous knights were not necessary anymore. If they ever were. A tiny golden hand sigil had more power than a thousand Jedi Knights. Maybe she shouldn''t have thrown her sigil away. Fay sighed in regret, and started her next lesson. In a million years, she might finish this holocron, then punch Pef in the nose, and shatter his fancy armor, again. Damn idiot! Church of the Force, Jedha Moon 9 BBY, three months later. Master Fay opened her hand, and let then golden glow vanish. Force sustenance was amazing, and terrifying. Using this ability, any Force user could ignore the needs of the body, breathing in the Force and ignoring the basic needs of the body. Water, food and air no longer necessary, only useful to alleviate boredom. And that was only the moderate mastery. At higher levels, one could live freely in the vacuum of space, or underwater or in a lake of fire. And if you truly mastered it, combining it with Force resistance and energy absorption, then you could live inside a star, and never be bothered by any external threats. Just like Master Bnar did, surviving ten supernovas at point blank range. She picked up the gray holocron and steeled herself for another session of reality crushing lessons. "What we need to understand about the Force is that it''s old. Ancient, immemorial and primal, and thus opposite to our own modern mores. We are enlightened beings, used to technology and laws, and codified systems like writing and mathematics. But when the Force came into existence, when our primitive ancestors were living as hunter-gatherers, the fabric of reality was different. The hunt, and the hunter were the essence of survival. Complex myths and traditions were passed down through song and poems, and thus we imprinted on the Force our own dreams. The subtle needs of the ecosystem were anchored in the Force, and the first shamans thus created the first Will. If you are hungry, you can kill. But no more than that. Never be wasteful, or exterminate entire species. Because, while sparrows might be seen as useless vermin, they have their own role, keeping the locusts and other insects in check. Kill all the sparrows, and your tribe will experience famine, as the locusts will multiply unchecked and devour any plant crops they can find. This lesson is harsh, for the modern people. You might have a real need to exterminate a dangerous threat, like a sentient plague. And yet, if you do, the Force will retaliate, creating a vector to punish you. The Chosen One, coming to bring balance to the Force was exactly this kind of response. An entire Light order was tricked and exterminated, by the very Force they worship. You might ask, why didn''t you do something, stop it before it happened? Could I though? Oppose the Will of the Force, and risk another retaliation? And why should I have helped an anachronistic order, so fanatical they were willing to use slave soldiers to subjugate a faction of the Republic who wanted more freedom? Of course, the Jedi could have prevented their downfall with a few simple measures. For example, the old Sith records that they burned before reading. They would have learned of certain dark arts that allow a powerful Master to read and influence the future. They could have prevented the Sith entirely, by mercy killing the Jedi that fell to madness. The Jedi could have used droids, or volunteer armies, even conscripts to conduct their war. Slavery is wrong, and not even Jedi can get away with it. What I did do, was to remind the Force that exterminating this order completely was against its own Will. And thus, a few Jedi were saved, and balance was restored to the galaxy. Still, this is a stern reminder that the lack of reason creates monsters, or even demons. The demon called Wutzek was billions of years old when he had the misfortune of meeting me. He knew so many Force abilities it took me a whole year to comprehend them, and even now I''m still working on a couple. Like time alter. Scary one, time. Time alter is the most powerful Force ability any being can have. The god I met in my past was careful to never use it in same dimension, combining time alter with dimension alter and space alter, and creating effects at a distance. Billions of years away, and billions of light years away, and in a dimension devoid of Force. If even gods are frightened of it, it does show how scary the Force can be, if you mess around. Causality protection is another Will of the Force, and one everyone must be careful to respect, or suffer horrendous retaliation. The protection is not perfect, but you need to be a trillion times stronger than me, to ever begin try messing with it. Even the way hyperspace is allowed to operate respects this Will, and even the worse spaceship malfunctions and accidents never result in sending someone backwards, only forward in time. The last Sith ship that was flung to the future will arrive in about 50 years. How do I know? I saw the future, of course. But what about farsight and darksight? How can those abilities work, if causality remains intact? Want to learn more? Try to stay alive, until we reach the topic of the Unifying Force. Or not. I don''t care." the Avatar said in a smirking tone at the end, obviously making fun of the student. Fay ended the lesson with a growl, and flung the holocron away, embedding it into the wall of her office. Was the crazy droid trying to make her kill him? Who scribed holocrons just to anger to reader? "Master Fay? Is anything wrong?" her rodian Padawan asked, rushing inside with his eyes wide. "Everything is alright, my child. Just testing some things...'' she replied with a weak voice. "You have a scheduled meeting with the Priests of the Force in 20 minutes, Master Fay. Will you be able to make it?" the starry eyed Padawan asked cautiously. All rodian were starry-eyed, but that was beside the point. Did she want to argue with the creepy Priests about pilgrim donations? The priests of the same Force that killed off her Order? If she hadn''t been a Hand of the Empire during the Clone Wars, she would be dead now, no doubt about it. Pef had given her the task of training the changelings, and kept her out of the stupid General role. Five thousand Jedi died for nothing, and the younglings were collected and saved by Pef, after the Sith made their play. They were probably all Paladins by now, trained and molded to guard civilization, with guns and power armors. A few cute girls remained on Gand, to knit grass and keep the insane Master Kuro company. Like Master Zao, she lost her identity and the code, pursuing the Will of the Force by sublimating herself. And likely Master Kuro will soon become a mistress of the Avatar, if she wasn''t already. And here, in the very Dome, the center of the Church of the Force, were the last Jedi alive. Such a sick joke. Worshiping the very Force that had them killed. Why did Pef send here, to Jedha? Her awareness expanded again over the holy city, looking for something obvious, that she might have missed. After a minute, the Temple of the Kyber, the huge monolith pulsing immensly in the Force caught her attention. Of course! What else could have been so obvious, if not a skyscraper made from a huge kyber crystal? Her perception followed the tower to its roots, and below. Huh, the entire moon was an enormous kyber crystal, the Tower just a single, tiny crystal rising above the surface. The Ceremony of the Blade came to her mind, even though she had abandoned the lightsaber long ago. The crystal is the heart of the blade. The heart is the crystal of the Jedi. The Jedi is the crystal of the Force. "The crystal is the heart of the Force" Fay murmured to herself, as her body became ghostly, then evaporated completely, and her brown robes fluttered in the air confused, before falling on the floor. One last thing to abandon, after she gave up every attachment. Her soul was the immortal being, not her body. A vacation, from this absurdly long life, did sound nice. The rodian Padawan blinked confused, as the words seemed wrong, then ran towards Master''s Yoda quarters. This wasn''t his fault! Han, Han Solo. Zeltros system, planet Zeltros Waves of happiness beach 9 BBY The blue-indigo waves were constantly coming forth and receeding, almost covering the constant chatter and comercial noises of the Happiness Beach, with its million zeltrons and a thousand of other visitor races. Almost. "Jay! Jay! Are you paying attention?" his friend yelled at him from the nearest long-chair. "Always, what do you want, Han?" he wondered in the same calm voice he had to use, just to survive the experience. He did need better friends. "So, I was thinking, since we have the summer break, and you and Lando got paid for saving the galaxy..." Han began spouting another scheme to get them in trouble, or get them kidnapped by some dark cult, or sold into slavery to the Zygerrians, again. And he didn''t want to meet Colonel Bond or his merry team of psychopathic rescuers again. All that screaming and body parts flying around was vomit inducing. Or maybe that was the anti-venom? "No!" Jaybo replied annoyed, and sipped his drink with a serene face. He did make about half a million credits from the Silentium mission, not too shabby for two weeks of terror. Not that anyone shot at them, only tried to invade them with a memetic protocol, and wipe their memories. "So, this guy I know has a ship. A Correlian YT. I and Lando are planning to buy it, and repair it. But we need 50 thousands credits..." Han continued undeterred. Where did Han even meet that kind of people? It was almost like he was magnet for trouble. But a spaceship did sound nice. "Okay, I can donate some cash, if I get a share in the ship. Say 50 percent" Jaybo replied with some interest. As Han was certain to have negative balance in his account, and Lando got paid 50 thousand credits for being himself... "You''re killing me here, my friend! Can''t I get at least 20 percent, as a finder''s fee?" Han asked in a begging tone. "I suppose I could let you have a non-tradable share of 5 percent, if this deal goes okay..." Jaybo allowed with after some thinking. "Non-tradable...you mean I can''t sell my share? Never?" Han wondered with his eyes shifting side to side in desperation. What did Han do now? Was he planning to sell his share of the not yet bought ship? Of course, he did. "How much do you need Han?" "Errrr. Three and two, plus that guy, about seven thousand..." his friend admitted in a pleading tone. "How much!" Jaybo yelled, then looked around sheepishly, as the nearby zeltrons looked disdainfully at him, for displaying some other emotion beside love. "Eleven thousand and change. I swear they cheated somehow. I had a winning hand!" his friend exclaimed in fake disbelief. So, another card debt... "You could ask Ysanne to look into those guys. Make them go away" he answered thoughtfully. Ysanne would call her father, and Triumvir Issard of the Officio Assassinorum would sort it out. Quickly. But, at a price. "Yeah, no. Don''t want to spend another month with her father goons on some desolate planet doing survival training and eating snakes and leeches. Three times was enough, I learned my lesson" Han declared proudly. "You learn fast. I''m proud of you Han!" Jaybo replied sarcastically. "I know! All my teachers say the same! Even though I can''t pass any class, for some reason..." Han said with confused face, as he still had to pass any of his classes in astrogation and hyperspace mechanics. Why did he even try taking that course? "Anyway, once you help me settle these guys, I''m done playing around. I''m really going to finish the pilot course and get my civilian Captain license. And then, we can explore the galaxy!" Han said pumping his fist in self-encouragement. Why were his friends morons? The civilian license was done through neural training now. Painless and effective, and guaranteed to work on 95 thousand species, including humans. Or you could do it the old way, learning every route and protocol by heart, then taking the exams. And not fail 16 times in a row. "Hey, my boys! What are we doing today?" another familiar voice asked from behind him, and a friendly hand patted his shoulder. "Figuring out how to save Han from some card gamblers" Jaybo muttered and pawed around for his drink. It was gone! Damn Lando! "Ah yes. Those guys lost everything they owned to me, even Han''s debt. 12 thousand and change. They even tried to outcheat me, the morons!" Lando declared proudly, and draped his cape over a nearby hammock. Who wore capes at the beach? "So I''m free! Yay, you''re the best Lando! What are we waiting for, let''s get the ship!" Han yelled excited. "It''s sad, you know. All your shares from the finder''s fee going towards your debt. And Han, you still owe me two thousand..." Lando mumbled thoughtfully, while sipping from his drink. The drink that he stole from the Jaybo''s cupholder beside his long chair. "If we add the cut from my share though, you still owe Han one thousand credits" Jaybo added as revenge for the stolen drink. It was a fresh mango squeeze with ice from the moons of Iego. Made him nostalgic. Plus none of the Iego''s moons had any ice. Damn tourist scams! "Damn it. Here you go Han. I pay always pay my debts!" Lando declared magnanimously and flung a credit chip at the eternal poor friend. Not that Han will have any credits left by the next week, even if one could live well for a month with that much cash. And with that, the three friends left the beach, and headed towards the scrapyard to buy a Millennium Falcon. ------------------ Looking after them with a sigh, Ysanne Isard lowered the datapad and whispered in her comlink. "Negative on further training. They got lucky and cleared the sabacc debt. But they still need a hyperdrive motivator for the ship. Do we have one at hand, with our own code on it?" "Affirmative, agent Isard. Operation 94112 is a go. First, the Frangawl Cult on Bardotta, and then a visit to Lothal. The Emperor has something big planned there. And may the Force have mercy on their souls. Again" her controller whispered back, with a barely restrained snicker. That strange accent though. Colonel Arnold then. More guts and limbs will be spread about, as the three stooges will need to be rescued again, and give the Officio a reason to intervene and massacre a poor dark cult. Her friend Kira even liked this Han Solo guy, for some reason. Maybe next mission, she could play matchmaker, and let Kira be saved heroically? What was the next mission, the Sultan of Boz Pity? Ah, this job was truly rewarding, just like the Emperor said. Never a dull moment. Shadowland dimension, Jedha system 9 BBY, next month "Why am I not cold?" Fay muttered to herself, already bored with endless corridors, all empty except the voices. Some voices she even recognized, Masters of the Jedi Orders, long dead. Whispers of platitudes and quotes of the Jedi Code. "We could make you cold, but you don''t have a body. You''re nobody" a shape made of shadow replied, floating above her and fluttering in the wind. Except there was no wind. "Are you real?" Fay wondered out loud, almost convinced she had lost her sanity along with her body. "Is this air you''re breathing, right now?" the shape replied, coalescing into a woman''s shape, but too tall and wearing a creepy white mask. Fay thought for a minute, then walked away, ignoring the crazy apparition. She wasn''t breathing after all, just sustaining herself with the Force. It was kinda weird that even dead souls needed to use Force Sustenance to stay conscious, if not alive. "She''s not the one we were waiting for. Although...she also is. She has the rank, I believe" the shadow woman spoke to herself, then laughed happily. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. "But to retain her identity, and come here? I know we didn''t train her. A mystery in the heart of the Force. How quaint" the woman continued, but in another voice, this time sad. Fay stopped to think it over. The strange woman talked about training. Like, this was something anyone with the right training could do. "Did Pef come here before? He sort of trained me, via a holocron" the lost Jedi replied, pressing a hand on a nearby wall, to make sure she wasn''t dreaming. It felt warm and solid, almost like a stone sitting in the sun. "Aha! Mystery solved. Welcome, Jedi Fay. Perhaps you should have finished learning all the lessons on that holocron?" yet another voice asked, the fifth one. Angry voice? "Who are you? And what do you mean? Why would more lessons matter? I am here, in the afterlife. My journey is over" Fay concluded, with her own sadness. "We are the ones in the Center. Do you think you learned enough about the Force? You, are not in the afterlife. And your journey...might not end, yet" the woman replied, changing her voices and personalities with each answer. "I am the most learned Jedi still alive, then. Grandmaster of the Jedi Order. And I realize, I know little about the Force. Even the crazy droid knows more than me, and..." Fay stumbled through her words, the realization painful nonetheless. "Pef is a cheater and doesn''t count. Always avoiding retaliation, by shifting blame on someone else. I didn''t mess with causality, some god did it for me. I didn''t eradicate an entire species, the Tsil did it for me. I didn''t kill the Chosen One, I acted to save the younglings, and my droids did it anyway. One day he will make a false step, and suffer retribution. The Wills are five, and the last one never fails" the shadow woman explained with another creepy laugh. Uh. The Force is really vengeful then, just like Pef claimed. She didn''t agree with all his actions, but they worked. For the most part. "So, what happens now?" Fay asked curious. "The girl needs to master her fears. Pef did well to bring her here. While you...what do you need to master, Jedi Fay?" the specter replied in a compassionate voice, then dissipated into small tendrils, melting into the ceiling. So, Pef had an apprentice, brought here, whatever here was, to temper her fears. She did hear rumors of an old Jedi Temple, on Lothal,where Masters would bring Padawns to confront their fears. But, that Temple was gone, destroyed millennia ago. And entering it certainly didn''t require dying, or transubstantiation like Pef called this process. Fay decided to call this place shadowland, after that shadow woman. Or women. Maybe it was a hivemind of five dead women? What did she need to master? Why was she here? Fay knelt to meditate, the posture a reflex, even though she lacked muscles or lungs now. Breathe, hold, exhale. Circulate the Force internally, almost like she still had veins to carry blood and oxygen to and from her brain. She checked her alignment and mental state, did a checklist of emotions and... Negative emotions, like anger and resentment, directed right back at the Force. It would be easier to direct all this at Pef, and blame him for everything. But she knew the truth now, since her Grandmaster rank allowed her to read all the surviving holocrons and archives. All the original Sith sect were in fact exiled Jedi. Hundreds of other dark cults, created by former Jedi. Countless genocides, entire planets glassed by her Order, often to silence dissenters to the Republic, or eliminate an undesirable Force sect, dark or not. And then, the records sealed and hidden. Like the Force would be fooled and forget, if a Jedi hid the truth. Of course retribution came. And when Palpatine started hunting the remaining Jedi, few worlds came to their help. Millions, on a thousand planets, instead of trillions. The galaxy shrugged as the Jedi Order was persecuted, their lightsabers seen as weapons of terror by the citizens and their Force abilities as Jedi mind tricks. Used to cheat and steal. And after that, Force weapons and Mind alter were declared illegal, to anyone but the Imperial Servants. And ten years later, pilgrims visited the Dome of Jedha, just to take pictures of real Jedi, like they were museum pieces. Reporters making documentaries, or vengeful old enemies trying to settle the score, while they still had a target. One last attachment remained, now too painful and obvious to ignore. ------------------------- Planet Bar''leth, in the galactic Core University of Bar''leth "We''re not taking a job for the Sava of the University, Han. Being chained to an altar, waiting to be sacrificed to a dark god is not fun!" Jaybo said calmly, while searching the index for the books that Sabine Wren needed to finish her project, the Arc Pulse Generator . Ancient civilization did use molecular weapons, although working examples were rare. Or any kind of examples. But then, he only needed to get lucky once. "Come on Jay! It was only twice, or at most three times. Plus we have invisible bodyguards. We''ll be fine" his former friend, with whom he never wanted to talk again, argued. Jaybo ignored the walking disaster and focused on his search. He ignored the classic ancients like the Celestials and the Rakata, whose artifacts were legendary and too valuable. Digging through the records of more obscure civilizations was enlightening and fun. "Jay, they''re closing the library, man! You''ve been here for 8 hours..." Han explained in disbelief, and scratched his neck, where the recent hickey had formed. Take one Han, place him on a new planet, let him stew for a few hours. And the result, another angry woman, and probably more problems. "Let''s get some food, and somewhere to crash overnight. I still have to read more tomorrow. Lando back yet?" He asked, not expecting any answer. "He said he''d call when he leaves Lothal. Anyway... I need 200 credits. They don''t allow male students in the female dormitories here. Damn prudes" Han said furtively, as they left the library. Jaybo shook his hand for good luck, and placed a 500 credit chip in his palm, before turning away and starting looking for a cafeteria. An hour later, he was leaning back in his chair, belly full and hunger sated when a certain word spoken nearby triggered his implant''s security. "That''s the sad truth. My father is obsessed with this Ordu Aspectu cult, my mother left for the Outer Rim, and all the files I need were deleted by the Empire. I will speak with the Sava again, maybe he''ll give me a small grant to research the Baobab Archives on Manda. Or at least credits for a ticket." a cute brunette girl complained to another girl. Both girls were students of archeology. Their data profiles ran on his implant, no doubt alerting his father of the new security threat. ''She''s a genius and a loose canon. But if you like her...'' Pef sent after a minute, probably after checking the timeline for deviations. Hmmm. Pef rarely called anyone a genius. Actually, only two people on the Alashan team were ever called that. The paranoid Omwati girl and the psychopathic doctor. Another duty then. And he might find the records he needed on Manda. "Excuse me, I overheard you talking about Baobab? I''m heading there tomorrow, and I have a ship. A share in a ship." Jaybo said politely, looking at the genius girl''s eyes. And only at the eyes. "What ship and what share?" her female friend asked cautiously. "The Millennium Falcon, at pier 399. And 50 percent share." he answered with a smile, but maintaining eye contact. "You''re not a student here. You did not find what you were looking for?" the girl asked curious. "Nope. Wasted my time searching the index. But Baobab should be good. The Galactic Empire didn''t reach that far during the Sith regime" Jaybo replied with another smile, then turned away and left. If Chelli Lona Aphra was interested, the genius girl will be waiting for him at the spaceport, tomorrow at the first light. It''s what he would do, as a fellow genius. Happy life Commenor system, on board the Celestial Throne spacestation Pef Navy Block, R&D Labs. 9BBY Now I felt like living in the future, as the best and brightest ship engineers in my Navy are going over the latest plans for the Orion M. Holo-schematics are being tested in virtual and no so virtual chambers, since our military grade holoprojections are tactile now. Nano-missiles are used instead of molten lava projectiles, to test the shields and armor against known Vong weapons. The plans for the new corvette show a much enlarged vessel, about 30 percent wider and 10 percent thicker. This allows for the new Ardanium II solar ionization reactors to be housed in a pair, and support the larger energy needs. The older heavy laser main battery had been replaced with a twin-linked megamaser, which by itself will increase the effectiveness of our ship by an order of magnitude against the Vong gravity based shields. The old light missiles launchers have also been replaced, as they were proven pretty much useless even against the coralskipper fighters. We have instead installed 6 medium missile launchers with diamond-boron warheads, each with a 4 missile autoloader. In tests, they will allow our escorts to destroy 20 fighters at longer range, before they come into their own weapons envelope. Also, the point defense Gatling lasers have been removed, since they barely annoy any Vong vessel. Instead, we are testing a new tri-barrel medium maser as close defense weapon system, as well as the more classic twin-linked medium maser batteries. The new tri-barrel guns look extremely cool, but I am doubtful they will become our next generation defense system. Too many design problems, as well as overheating errors which lead to early lenses decolimation. New technology is finicky that way. We''ll most likely use 10 twin-linked medium masers for our close-in weapons and call it a day. ''The tri-barrel masers will ensure a fighter kill in a single shot'' my Core AI sent with a certain tone. Possibly. But no. Logistics are more important. New factories and training our workers to produce millions of untested weapons is not a feasible choice, for now. With an unneeded gesture, I finish compiling the holo for the new corvette and send it into the testing holo-arena to engage virtual Vong vessels. While the simulation runs a million times, I turn my attention to the Nebula destroyers designs in the next lab. They worked very well against the Praetorite Vong, so there''s not much to change, except replacing the light missile launchers as well. The Ardent frigates are yet untested in real combat, except in the west. Also, they still use turbolasers. Oh well, it''s not like they aren''t useful, just not so much against the Vong. Still, an Ardent M variant should plug some of the fleet screen gaps. I begin working on the new design, upgrading the weapons to the latest Pef Empire standards. And the armor too, now that I can. One by one, I cycle through all of our inventory, repairing flaws and upgrading ships where needed. Months pass in glorious upgrade frenzy, until the last schematic of the Mountain III blinks and winks off. I''m done! And it feels amazing. Commenor system, on board the Celestial Throne spacestationThis text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Pef Navy Block, R&D Labs. 8 BBY ''Glad to know you''re happy, my love.'' Wialu whispers in the Voice bond, from somewhere in... Zonama Sekot? ''Huh, I didn''t know you went to visit Sekot...'' I mutter with some embarrassment. ''You were quite focused on your toy machines, Pef. We decided to let you have some fun, since there weren''t any urgent crises that we couldn''t solve by ourselves.'' Solana sent with an amused tone. A quick scan of the intelligence reports. Yep, nothing huge has happened past 6 months. Quite amazing, right? Peffy is enjoying family life with our maids and the kids. Lucky kids, having Avatar for a father, never being sick or cold or hungry. Zero''s daughter is now walking by herself. Somehow, that seems to be the hype of the family news. Meanwhile, Core has printed 100 billion of his new Centurion droids, and they can walk, talk and shoot too. And nobody is singing him praises. Damn organics. ''Right? I work so hard, and barely anyone acknowledges my efforts. Except you, my friend.'' Core sent me instantly. Well, perhaps it''s not your efforts they ignore, but your entire person, which creeps out most sentients, including droids. The shipyards at Orion Belt have begun refitting the Navy corvettes to the new Orion M standards, and hundreds of vessels already running trials and exercises. So far they seem to work as designed. Of course, only combat will tell for real, but I have a feeling they will do just fine. Bena has a son. Which means the succession of the Empire is secured. Padme''s twins show signs they are force sensitive. Not that surprising, considering they are called Luke and Leia. However, they are being raised by a single mother, even with the support of Satine and Kenobi. Satine has another child, a girl they called Allana. Bo named her daughter Alise, in honor of our lost maid. Let''s hope she''ll have a better fate then. In other news KDY and Kuat in general have retooled and reached maximum productivity, churning out millions of starfighters, and thousands of larger vessels. Vera is doing a good job there. ''Thanks!'' she sends amused. Right, she is a Voice as well. ''Anything of notice with Kuat?'' I asked curious. ''Some resentment for introducing maser tech, and demanding upgrades every decade...'' she whispered back. Ah, I did give them the tri-barrel maser design and asked them to build a new TIE fighter around it. Well, that''s life. They will adapt or suffer. The Land Warrior team have finished designing the new tank and gunship, and are hopeful to reduce projected ground loses against Vong from 98 percent to about 80 percent. So there. Progress! The new tanks are called Land Raiders, and will have 4 centimeters of duranium armor all round, and 8 centimeters of armor frontally. They have also upgraded the weapons, using the new enhanced proton beam and a medium maser as a secondary. This has increased their tonnage and reduced their speed by 50 percent, but hopefully the increase in firepower and survivability will compensate. Their cost has tripled as well, which isn''t that good. Eh, I kinda expected that, to be fair. Better weapons cost more money, right? Sigh. For now, we''ll phase out the repulsorlift light tanks and the wheeled medium tanks, as they cost way too much(15 times as much as a Gauntlet!) and die too easy. We''ll use Gauntlets in light tanks roles, and make the Raiders our new MBTs. The new gunships borrow a lot from the CSI gunship platform, each integrating a droid brain and are armed with a twin-medium maser turret and proton torpedoes for anti-armor roles. Another variant has only the masers, but can insert 30 battle droids behind enemy lines. A third gunship variant is being tested, for inserting tanks or artillery as well, but projected loses are too high, since the gunships do not have starship grade armor or shields. Plus, we do have Gozanti dropships for that role. Sending orders to cancel that last project. What else? The Navy is still hard at work in the west of the galaxy, although 50 belligerent species have been pacified and made to submit. There are bound to be thousands more, since the Unknown Regions consist of some 100 to 200 billion stars, and we have barely explored and conquered a few million new systems. Lots to do, I know. There''s been rumours (and Black Ops footage) of a huge pirate gang made only of Force users. Blazing Chain or so. They''ll be interesting to fight and perhaps integrate with my Paladins. They seem to use many of the same tactics, guiding blasters or projectiles with the Force. The stillsails are migrating towards the galactic south, and eating any ships they encounter, ours or not. Sometimes asteroids or planets too. Damn things are 100 thousands kilometers wide! Beams and missiles don''t even register as pain... The Mngall-Mngall is rumored (no footage yet!) to have eaten and subsumed yet another alien slaver empire. However, lack of subspace transmissions of slave gladiator fights for the past 4 months is a telling clue. Those guys never had stopped the Grand Arena broadcasts before. ''We lost contact with the stealth platforms in that sector, and the Oort satellite relays as well.'' my Third Hand replied when I asked. Well then. Another thousand star systems being marked on the holomap as Gamma threat and quarantined. Such is life in the Star Wars universe. All in Belkadan system, Vector Prime Sparta fleet, HMS Mountain Cloud 8 BBY The bridge of the newly refurbished Mountain III dreadnought was quiet and calm. It was also the third watch, and the ship''s Captain was away on his off time. Lieutenant Hi-loos, a newly promoted officer via the Imperial Servant program looked over the bridge crew, paying special attention to the shield station, where Ensign Sara Croft was on duty. She was a beauty and a half, and he liked her for her bright mind...and the other two large reasons. Sadly, his pleasant reverie was rudely interrupted by the signal officer, and the beeping quiet alarm in his bioimplant. "Sir, there''s a distortion to our port side! Not visible on our range finders, but it''s modulating gravity..." Ensign Kul''huk exclaimed in a slightly panicked voice. *Keep calm. We see them* a voice whispered gently inside his mind. Hi-loos sighed inward, and raised a hand, gesturing upwards with four fingers, contingency 4. With the corner of his eye, he saw Sara nod and focus on her shield station. Shields will be modulated to a random frequency now, as per the new anti-vong doctrine. Not even the operator would know a sure-way to bypass shields. The holodeck flashed red, the ship''s emergency AI taking over the weapon grid. Friendly fire was not so friendly, after all. Far in the distance, a flash of blue light coalesced for a second into a solid beam of Force Maser, then vanished. A Silencer at work, most likely. After a few seconds, a huge plant-like sphere decloaked to their port, leaking visible green sludge. "Sir, a naked 5 kilometer wide dovin basal!" the sensor Ensign exclaimed out loud. He bit his lip, and only nodded. The Vong lifeform was very large and visible to everyone on the holomap. *Formation Delta-6. Link up with Fog and Nimbus, his implant transmitted directly to his mind. Hi-loos obeyed and swiped the new trajectory in his command deck. Linking into a defensive block with the nearest Mountains, for better close defense work. Engines purred and thrummed, propelling the dreadnought towards their new slot in the fleet. Forward center, as per standard doctrine for heavy warships. They wouldn''t be chasing anyone today. Vibrations gently felt through his elbow rest let him know the AI has commenced firing at some invisible target. Splashes of magma from an invisible source impacted their thermal shields, and the datalink promptly advised him his port escorts, two of the new Orion M corvettes had vanished into gas and debris. Weren''t they supposed to be cloaked? "Launch interceptors, cover our port side." he ordered on to the carrier deck. Far towards the system edge, the galaxy moved, advancing towards the fleet. No, not the galaxy. Millions of Vong warships, blotting out the stars. He gulped a bit. Sparta fleet was quite large, over ten thousands capital ships, but he doubted it would suffice. Not against this. "We''re going to need reinforcements..." he muttered in a weak voice. *Don''t worry, Lieutenant. I''ve always wanted to fight in the shade, a rather amused voice replied on his bioimpant frequency. Shade...Greyshade! The Emperor? Commenor system, Celestial Throne spacestation. Redbox. Okay, I''ve had my fun with the poor stand-in Captain. Time to get serious. Well. As much as I could fake it at least. "Now you see the treachery of these Vong! Millions of bioships, trillions of fanatic warriors coming to enslave us all. Our defenseless base will soon be overrun. But the victory is not yet decided. Begun, the Vong Wars have!" I proclaimed heroically. My Hands looked at me with dispassionate eyes, and sipped their expensive drinks. Well, not the AIs. But the others. Sigh, no sense of drama with these people! "Can I send my Hammers yet?" Core asked with a child-like tone. What? And deny our Navy heroes their glory and veneration of standing against overwhelming numbers... "Not yet. I don''t see their worldships." I muttered in a more reasonable voice. One raised a mecha tentacle. Should I tell him he doesn''t need to raise a hand to speak? Nah, it''s more protocolar this way, I guess. "Yes, Fifth Hand?" I asked politely. One, my new Silentium ally also has five limbs, so the rank it''s quite appropriate. "I suspect we won''t see worldships until their vanguard secures passage through our defenses. The Vong are not stupid. They already lost a worldship at Helska." he advised me in a professorial tone. I nodded approvingly. Fanatical and intolerant, yes. Stupid no, not when they had Shapers and coordinators galore. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.Solana tapped her lips with a frown. "Yes, my dear?" "Solanus is beaming gravity mines in their path. Cloaked, of course." she said in a fake whisper. I raised my droid eyebrow, figuratively. Solanus could do that? I mean, I could teleport things, but... nevermind. Any help was welcome. Silent explosions marked the holomap. I wanted to add sound effects, but my AI friends were horrified at the blasphemy. So, no sound in space. Sigh. These people need more fun in their lives! X2 slurped his juice audibly, possibly in protest. No! No lightsabers versus dreadnoughts. Not even the new Paladin lightpikes. Leave war to the professionals. Numbers trickled down in the warscore counter, slowly but surely. The Sparta fleet was losing escorts fast, to some invisible ships or something. Meanwhile, the Vong were losing cruisers and smaller ships by the thousands, although their battleships seemed to absorb the detonations with ease. Well. I never thought this would be easy. We might still lose the North anyway. I ran the calculations again, using the new data coming in via the holonet. Belkadan will fall in 3 hours. Fleet Athena could reach there in 3 hours from Sernpidal. 2 hours if the Nebula destroyers jumped ahead. I glanced at Core, and he shook his droid''s head. Okay then. Separating fleet elements would invite defeat in detail. "Wait 12 minutes, then send Athena." I ordered on a hunch. If Belkadan falls, and they begin landings, a few worldships might show up. One raised his tentacle, then lowered it. Well, he is rather smart. Only question is, are the Vong as smart as they think they are? "The Helska quarantine battlegroup has five thousand Orions as escort. They could reach Belkadan in 2 hours." I hear Zuckuss mutter for himself. Oh. I forgot about those, since they were detached on permanent quarantine around Helska and the orbital graveyard. Wouldn''t do for scavangers to dig through dead Vong ships and infest my galaxy with alien biotech. Alright then. They''ll all die, but we only had droid crews anyway. "Excellent proposal, First Hand. They shall die with glory!" I announced with flashes of shadow and fire around me like demonic wings. Zuckuss glanced at the spectacle and sipped his brandy unfazed. C''mon! Don''t be so jaded! The future of the galaxy is at hand...my first Hand. Orders sent, and the escorts departed for glorious battle. Thrawn bit a bit to loud on his rice crackers, trying to hide his un-existing emotions. Fine! "Itching for a fight, Admiral?" I asked softly. His red eyes glared at me, then he nodded shyly. If I had a mouth I would smile now. He''s so cute! "Remind me to port you over with the Athena fleet." I allowed generously. I mean, he was kinda our top organic Admiral. It would be a shame not to use him, to confuse the Vong in the hour of their victory. My Other partition monitored the other top Admiral with some nervousness. He kinda made my creepy senses tingle, the Silentium admiral. Let''s hope he will only murder Vong bioforms today. ''Don''t worry so much, Pef. Solanus has his eye on him as well.'' my water maid sent me in the Voice bond. Not even gonna ask how, since Solanus is a damned water planet, and has no eyes! Minutes passed slowly, as loses climbed in the warscore. Soon I''ll have to change locations and board the Celestial Orbit, formerly known as Centerpoint station. Yanking organics from the jaws of certain death ensured their undying loyalty, after all. And...time to go. A Silencer cruiser was just hit and lost cloaking. "Good job people. I''ll be back!" I explained politely, then grabbed Solana and teleported to my workstation. I even managed an appropriate quote here. (Me being a sentient droid going on an important mission.) She leaned on my armor and sighed softly. "Sometimes, I think you''re just playing theater for everyone, my love." she muttered as I began saving the crew of the Silencer. "Well, all the world''s a play, and all men and women merely players." I replied absently. "Are we only players? Do we not bleed if you cut us?" she whispered in a rather annoyed voice. Technically... but that isn''t what she''s asking. I patted her shoulder as a reply. No wonder my core memories were locked in by that nice god. Few sentients would react well to the real truth of their existence. But for now, I had monsters to kill, and citizens to save. Ontology could wait. More and more of my Navy ships burned under the relentless assault of the Vong, and I was kinda busy for a while. "Emperor, Athena Fleet will emerge from hyperspace in 30 seconds." Thrawn announced me politely. Right. Time to go all in. Sacrifice Belkadan system. (contested) 8 BBY Half of the planet is on fire. The other half is about to be on fire soon, as rolling waves of Vong bioforms, supported by warriors and Shapers are contesting our mechanized Legions on the ground. The Army loses are... huge, more than huge. In the trillions, if mostly droids or vehicles. I still need to recover the pilots though. There''s two worldships landed on the planet, disgorging troops by the billions, every minute. The planetary shields are long gone, crushed by plunging asteroids and catacysmic bombardments. Two more Vong worldships are holding station in low orbit, and bombard the front lines with torrents of lava bombs and volcanic cannons. We still have a thousand theater shields covering most of the ground armies, but they get overwhelmed every minute by concentrated firepower. There should be four more Vong worldships, that I know of, but they are not present, or at least not visible. In space and around the fleets, there''s a beehive of starfighter combat, billions of corral skippers dogfighting our Biplane droids, lasers, masers and missiles chasing after the nimble Vong bio-fighters, gliding on their dovin basal bio-gravity engines. The remains of the Sparta fleet have retreated in an armored cocoon made of a thousand Mountain battleships, most of them glowing red and melting from all the damage they endured. Two thousand Hammers battlecruisers continue firing from within the fortified sphere, if only with masers and proton beams. Missiles and torpedoes have been expended already. The smaller escort ships are scrap or worse. They died well.The Thermopylae plan worked, somewhat better than expected. Then again, most of the Vong armada is still en route. My Phantom projection steps onto the bridge of HMS Meteor One, looking like a silver and grey Centurion droid. This is the flagship of the Athena fleet, and the command center for organic officers. "What do you see?" I ask rhetorically. Admiral Thrawn glances at me for second, then returns to study the holomap, and scrolling through camera angles from our various strongpoints. "Well. I''ll do my best, Emperor. But I''m afraid the planet is lost for certain. And our fleet might not survive anyway." he answers in a calculated voice. His command staff seems a lot more tense, even sweating. Organics however, cannot really deal with the Vong. Their minds are pretty much open to the Yammosk telepaths, strategies and plans stolen and countered in mere seconds. But they do make a great distraction for my real plans. Thrawn might be a little pissed once he finds out how I used him, but needs must. Clouds of angry droidfighters emerge from our Mountain-class carriers, and join the slaughter.Wing after wing, the carrier launch bays get emptied out, turning the starfighter numbers in our favor, for the moment. Compared to the estimated two billion corral skippers, we have nine billion droid Biplanes, and millions of piloted starfighters. Then again, the Vong corral skippers are controlled via cognition hoods, and coordinated by telepathic super brains in a semblance of battle meditation with millions of years of war experience. I''ll add my own Force abilities to help, but the chaos of combat is rather high now. The odds are kinda equal in my mind. Other is trying to cloak a few Narwals for a suicide run into the worldships, but even with the Silentium tech, the volume is so saturated with fighter and ship weapon fire that''s impossible to drive a 25 kilometer long behemoth through, without getting hit accidentally by something. However, even if the Narwhals do get detected, stopping a trillion tons torpedo is another matter. And worldships are not known for their ability to dodge. I give the Lancer plan 50 percent odds, and hope. Still, it''s time to recall the organics manning the ground tanks and titans. Experienced cyborg pilots are hard to find, even a war infested galaxy like mine. My A.I. friend, Core is beginning his run with the Athena fleet Hammers, trying to come in a semicircle and envelop the stationary Vong vessels in orbit around Belkadan. It''s not a bright maneuver, but it should work anyway. The Hammers are very fast.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Thrawn sends our Mountains and the Nebula escorts straight at the glowing ball of metal, to relieve the besieged forces of the Sparta fleet and combine our strength. Our frigates and corvettes hide in the fleet''s shadow, trying to make themselves a smaller target. It''s kinda rough on the small guys, I know. A single stray shot from a Vong dreanought can pierce through five corvettes in row, and keep going. A few thousand Strike cruisers cover the Hammers for their run, while the Mountains will serve as an anvil. The cruisers will likely die...who am I kidding? They will die in 28 minutes tops, but they should screen the fleet until it gets in position. Overall, not a bad plan, considering we''re still outnumbered a hundred to one in capital vessel numbers. Yeah, someone will come at me and yell. Why isn''t the whole Pef Navy here? Duh, even bringing 20 percent here,at the edge of the galaxy, was a miracle of galactic logistics and maneuvering. We aren''t an exodus fleet, departing the galaxy forever, and burning all bridges behind. The Navy is still enforcing peace and patrolling a dozen million inhabited systems behind us. Four thousand Mountains and forty thousand Hammers also take colossal amounts of hypermatter just to move. Like half of the strategic fuel reserves. We already lost a tenth of those ships, while another tenth is barely hanging on. Galactic scale wars are nasty business, and expensive too. Fortunatelly I am quite rich, and can print more money if I have to. And now, let''s start our own part in this tragedy. Acceleration: times six. Battle meditation, vigor, reinforcement, valor. Hide in light. Mind shield, mind fog and a dozen other abilities. I can feel the fleet move like my own fingers. I draw immensely from the Force, helping our crews fight better, faster, harder. The Force Phantom scatters and reforms into a classic Fallanassi Simulfutur projection. Less drain now. Solana pats my back gently, and fatigue just evaporates. Thanks, love. Wait, that''s not! The worldships in orbit spun, and blinked back a dozen kilometers, avoiding the Narwhals. Damn it. They can dodge now! Still, the landed worldships should not be able to avoid their fate so easily. Even if...well. Don''t push asteroids in front of my former meteors! That''s just rude! Nevermind. The Narwhals simply pierced through rock and ice and continued on their ballistic trajectories. And let''s teleport the expensive Baneblades and the Titans back on board my station. No point losing them when...the other half of the planet bursts into flames and volcanic eruptions. Sigh. The planet is toast now. And well done, on both sides. And guess who will be called to repair it back to life when we win the war. If we win. Anyways, there go two more worldships, and all their ground armies. Ours as well. Still, that''s about 30 trillion Vong that won''t bother my galaxy in the future. Core is engaging the Vong fleet vanguard now, while Thrawn reached the besieged defenders and took overall command over the recovered ships. The Athena fleet reshapes itself into a cylinder, protecting the damaged vessels in the interior. Now, what will you do, smart Shapers? Converging into a single fleet, the outer Vong elements closing in, to save the two worldships? Perfect! These two worldships are now hostages of a sort, until they are liberated or destroyed. However, they still have three times more dreadnoughts and battleships to bring into battle. What is Thrawn doing? Why are you retreating the Hammers? Oh. Four more worldships are descending on him from high above the system''s plane. Okay. Makes sense then. Now. Other said he had a plan...a flash of bright light, infused with the Force too, blinds everyone. Maniac! That was Meteor Two! You detonated my Rakata forcefield! And my beloved Meteor, that served with honor in the Clone Wars... Sigh. I know they say a man can have everything if he''s willing to sacrifice...but really? My Meteor? ''Stop sulking, Pef. You lost thousands of ships and never cared till now.'' Wialu admonished me from half a galaxy away. I sob one last time. Women just don''t understand! Ships aren''t just toys. I force myself to open my eyes and look. Not that a rock has eyes. A supernova-class beam flared into the path of the four worldships, leaving behind only glowing hulks, devoid of life and souls. So, Other used the Rakata forcefield as an amplifier for the force beam that my numbered Meteors copied from the CIS'' Devastation. Okay, perhaps losing one numbered Meteor wasn''t that bad... Another flash blinds me. Not again! I peer through my fingers, actually afraid of...not Meteor Three! No! The pain is immense. And, not just the Force crushing my chest into a black hole of hate and anger. That''s it! I''m officially pissed now! "Let today be known as a day of infamy! Two irreplaceable relics from the Rakata Era have been sacrificed for the betterment of the galaxy! For Freedom!" I proclaimed on the Pefnet, while arranging for promotional holocasts(with real footage) to be sent to war academies and news stations all over the galaxy. A tragedy like this had to be commemorated in the annals of history! ''You know, I can make primitive Force Soulbarriers like this quite easily. Prismatic folding is a rather classic method, but you only need a million souls to do it. Criminals would suffice.'' Other said in a rather contemptuous tone. Wait! He can make more? Hmmm, perhaps I should give him a medal or something...keep him happy while he teaches me how to construct Rakata type tech. While I debated with myself how many criminals a galaxy the size of Corsca had, and how many I could sacrifice without appearing as soul sucking monster, Thrawn took advantage of the panic and loss of coordinators from the Vong fleet and resumed his attack run, focusing down the dreadnoughts. I followed the battle with detachment, even as both fleets ground each other out to nothing. Our forces were rather equal now, due to the loss of Vong worldships and their yammosk telepaths. Parity of force is a rather nasty form of self-flagelation. Especially when involving ships measured in tens of kilometers. My cyborg Raptor pilots reached kills into thousands, while the Biplanes fared evenly with the Vong pilots. The Orions moved in to help reduce the numbers of corral skippers, while frigates and cruisers mopped up the smaller Vong vessels, with not so pleasant results. However, the Hammers and the Nebulas did great, each class proving their worth and the expense invested in their armor and weapons. A week later, the survivors of the Sparta and Athena fleets, about 20 percent of their original numbers, returned to their bases for repairs. The rest litter the Belkadan system with dead carcasses and hulks. And thus, the Vong Wars had ended! I mean, there should be a few thousand ships that survived and ran, but nothing bigger than a cruiser. The Navy will hunt them down in time, during regular patrols. The loss of my two numbered Meteors still hurts, but I''ll learn to live with it. Such is life, in the Star Wars universe.