...

I know. It's been a long time. But I had other stories that had higher priorities. I came back though, eventually.

So this story is not dead! It just has a really slow chapter output.


Chapter 3:


The incident with the old Jedi and David defused rather quickly as both side's leaders, Gesth and the Jedi representative got together and decided to keep the incident out of record, much to the protest of few individuals on both sides. With that set aside, Gesth greeted the Jedi representatives -three in total- on the corporation's station.

The situation went over rather quickly when it was explained that they were capsuleers, people who have given up their original bodies to live on as immortals in their clones. There were inquiries about why they "felt dark" from the Jedi. Gesth countered it by saying they were from a place where "dark" is merely a difference of perspective, and all capsuleers had to kill someone at least once in their life, especially for soldiers like Gesth himself. The Jedi let it go when they saw that Gesth's wife was of the light, merely overshadowed by her husband "dark" aura.

Normally, such a relationship would have been discouraged by the Jedi, but the two of them seem to have been married for a long time as well as the wife having her husband whipped.

There were few more conversation, avoiding some topics, which were subtly -and once bluntly- steered away from, and confirmation from the Jedi that these people were not Sith, or their variant.

With that, the capsuleers saw off the Jedi's, and went back to their work...


Gesth watched the Jedi's take leave with hyperdrive through the lenses of the one of the surveillance drones orbiting around the Outlander's Station, the new home of their namesake.

He was surprised by the events that took place in the past week, and had learned more of this new galaxy than before. Truth be told, he found this new world to be odd. These people had hyperspace drive that outstripped their own, yet with such advanced technology, their weaponry and defense system was not as advance. Perhaps something to take advantage of should he decide to have the Outlanders become a weapons manufacturer.

Another odd aspect of this new galaxy was the presence of tens of thousands of sentient species. In New Eden, there was only two confirmed sentient species, humans and rogue drones. To him, and perhaps to everyone among the Outlanders, this was the biggest change they have encountered. It was mindboggling to imagine that all of those species were recognized and lived in coexistence with others.

And then there was the "Force" that the Jedi talked about. From what Gesth heard, the Force sounded like a interdimensional, sentient force of nature that life -sentience to be specific- seem to give come and go around.

"Captain Freilsten, CEI Gesth wants to see you in meeting room one," one of the comm officers aboard the Outlander's Station reported in through the room's speakers.

"Got it," he replied back without taking his eyes off the spot where he last saw the Republic escorts for the Jedi. He stared off for a moment before he stood up and walked out of the room.

The doors slid open with a quiet and dull hiss, and he walked into the large corridor.

He inspected the details of the corridor, and couldn't help but scoff. His wife, the primary designer for the space station's habitable interior, had taken much of her Amarr roots into decorating the place. Oh, he made sure that she did away with the gold but the spacious, slick, and grandiose architecture the Amarrians were known for were still evident.

But instead of the gold the Amarrians were so fond of, the interior was painted blue, white, and green, the three colors most associated with peace and calmness.

Did he ever mention that his lovely wife had Doctoral in Psychology? No, he probably didn't. It was probably her degree that got her to choose those three colors.

Regardless, just walking in the corridor made him feel bigger and calmer than he was.


When he arrived in meeting room one, he was surprised to see that three other core members of the EVE Outlanders waiting for him, David, Q, and

"Oh, I was not expecting this to be a major meeting. What's up?"

Senna smiled. "Take a seat, honey. We're here because of Q."

Everyone turned to Gesth, now that their leader was here to listen to the bipedal AI.

Q tilted his head up. His "face" had no nose, no lips, or eyes. He had a single, narrow horizontal lens that served as its "eye." His voice came from small speakers on his cheeks, but they were not visible.

He didn't need energy input; he had a nuclear fusion battery in his chest. He did not need the neurological implant; as a computer, he could send the necessary data involving his memories other ways.

So he was the visual oddball.

Verbally as well when he was in a meeting physically.

"Would like to study Force. Force manipulation study may yield improvement. Possible implementation through implant."

Q blamed himself for tinkering with data-to-language translation program, one that he was not intending to fix for the sake of entertainment it brought himself.

Gesth nodded. "I was just thinking about that as well. This Force seems like a useful tool for us to have. Problem is, how are we going to study it?" he asked.

"Best path involves sentient experimentation. Worst path involves asking Jedi Order for knowledge."

David raised an eyebrow. "Something tells me those stuck-up assholes high on pot are likely to sell us knowledge, or heaven forbid, just give it to us. Especially when we want to use it as a tool and when we just ... you know, pointed our guns at them."

"You mean you?" There were some snickers.

"Implied data suggests Force users can communicate across vast distances. Sentient Force user experimentation would involve lab facilities far from Gjivona space. Would keep suspicion off us," Q added. "Would need to use local technology for travel for distraction purposes."

"And what kind of improvements are we talking about?" David, ever the soldier, asked.

Q paused for a second as his processors thought up of several possible uses. "Possible uses involve but not limited to: telekinesis implant, bio-sensing implant, and communications implant."

There was a pause before Senna broke it. "Well, until we can get one of these Jedi by themselves without alerting the rest of their Order, I suggest that the secret lab be made. Even if we don't use a live specimen, I highly doubt that the Jedi Order will like us fiddling with their Force."

There were murmurs of agreements and nods.

"Then let's move on to our next topic, one that I would like to present," Senna said as she snapped her fingers. The room dimmed, and multiple holographic charts came up in a pentagon on the center of the table. "First off, I would like to give a report on the corporation's agreement with the Gjivona-II, the only colony in this system. A reminder: none of our ship are allowed to enter the planet's orbit without permission from the colony's space control, and we must be the one to contact them first."

"I assume this was done before the Jedi's got here," David asked.

She nodded, and continued. "Continuing off that, Gjivona-II colony, who call themselves Gvonans -mind you, majority of them are human- and they wanted to buy metals that our mining operation would yield. After a little haggling, I was able to get a decent trade contract that will last us a hundred transactions."

"Specify material to credit?" Q, who was in charge of the logistics along with Senna, asked.

"For every ton of gold, they are offering 40 million credit, which is just slightly less than the galactic standard price for gold, according to the HoloNet."

"I assume HoloNet is the galactic version of the networking software," David commented. "I wonder what kind of porn they have."

"Don't make me report that to your wife, David," Senna warned without looking at him.

David blanched. "Okay, okay. Jeez, you can't take a joke, can you?"

Senna ignored him. "They have also offered 80,000 credit every hundred ton of hematite, 30,000 credit every five ton of titanium pellets, and 500,000 credit every ton of gold pellets."

Gesth raised an eyebrow. "That's a lot of material."

Senna nodded. "Gvonans pride themselves as manufacturing center for the local sector, which is called the Dantus Sector of the Outer Rim territories. Most of their products range from toys and electronics to small arms and spaceships. Because of this, they require large amounts of titanium, iron, and gold. There were other materials they requested to be shipped, but those three mentioned ones are the ones they are willing to pay the most f-"

Q stood up and made to leave the meeting.

"Where're you going, Q?" David asked, the meeting already interrupted.

Q looked back to the five other core members of the Outlanders. "Presence unnecessary. Meeting topic no longer related to unit. Unit's priority in lab construction requires immediate attention."

Gesth nodded. "Alright, go ahead."

Q nodded, and left.

Senna cleared her throat. "I would also like to point out that the Galactic Republic's Office of Business Registration branch on Gvona has stated ..."

Gesth sighed.

Bureaucracy, huh? It was going to take a while.


Day 201, 3491 ATC
Coruscant
Jedi Temple

"Troubling, this is."

The voice had been carried around in the circle chamber that looked out into the center of Coruscant. It was here that Jedi High Council convened to discuss the ongoings of their order, the galaxy, and everything in between.

It was in this very chamber less than half a century ago that all of the Jedi Masters discovered the Force becoming slowly murky and cloudy. By today, looking through the force was like looking through a foggy window. Details and events escaped the Jedi Masters, and they were becoming evermore wary.

"Yes, these Outlanders are troublesome, indeed," one of the Jedi Masters agreed as they looked at the image of the carrier, Home of the Outlanders, in the holographic screen shown in the center of the High Council Chamber. The image roated among several others, including the incomplete space station as well as the make up of the Outlanders' fleet. "Some of their number seems very aggressive, which is what I supposed to be expected from security forces. Yet in the diplomacy that followed, these Outlanders did not back off in the slightest. But perhaps what's most troubling is what they have stated about themselves."

It was ... indeed a troubling statement.

These Outlanders claimed that they were immortals, able to exchange between their clone bodies with ease. Cloning was not a new technology nor one banned. Transferance of mind, though? That raised some concerns.

For one, these people, if they were not lying, had achieved a form of immortality that Sith have long sought but never achieve. This fact alone put these Outlanders on the same level of threat as Sith should they choose to wage war with the Jedi, if not more.

Another fact was their "Force" aura.

From far away, like at Coruscant, their collective Force aura feels like a mass of writhing anger and despair. From up close, individuals all differ but share an underlying darkness not unlike those said to be with the Grey Jedi, those who used both sides of the Force but never fall to the temptation of either; for the emptiness of the Light was just as dangerous as the passion of the Dark.

Yoda, the Grand Jedi Master, hmm'ed as he thought about the Outlanders. From the report of the Jedi representative, it seemed that these people were like any other gathering of misfits. It certainly seemed that way from their interactions and the pranks they played with each other even when they had a galactic representative there to talk with them.

(On the other side of the galaxy, one bored engineer sneezed as he scrubbed the floor for his punishment for the pranks. He blamed the universe for the untimely activation of his pranks on Q.)

In fact, they seemed almost like a friendly sort. They went out of their way to assure the Jedi sent to them that they were in no way a danger to the universe, even going as far as to tell what could have been significant tactical advantage about themselves without expecting something back.

...And perhaps that's what they were going for. By earning the trust of the Jedi, these Outlanders may seek to move unhindered and unobserved underneath the lamp, where it was the darkest.

"We must meditate on this."

And such was the usual response. Even if the Force was getting murky, it still provided those who sought its wisdom with its answers as much as it could provide without upsetting the balance.

"So we shall."


Day 260, 3491 ATC
Blue Frill and Bullets Bar, Cavan City
Gvona (Gjivona II), Dantus Sector, Outer Rim Territories

There existed a single rundown bar within the capital city of Gvona by the name of Blue Frill and Bullets Bar. Painted navy blue on the outside like its namesake with a single giant panel of a bullet hung. For a high tech planet closely tied to Alderaan, the soul of the Republic, the bar seemed downright low tech.

"...And so when I slapped that ass, she rounded on me and slapped me to high heaven! I never got slapped that hard in my life. I flew a good ten meters, I tell ya!" one of the regulars of the bar exclaimed. "That could not have been a normal woman!"

But as far as the Jedi infiltrator was concerned, it was a regular old bar with regular old badmouthing regulars.

"You went there to get a job... and did that?" a man sitting across the loudmouth groaned. "I barely got you that application! Do you know how many favors I had to ask?! Don't you know how high of a wage they pay you? I couldn't find a better technician job if I had the ability to comb the entire galaxy!"

Oh, that's information.

"They were going to pay you a thousand cred every 7 days, and you... YOU...!"

The Jedi in hiding blinked. A thousand cred was not much. In many core worlds, a thousand cred every 30 day was considered to be a good day for a technician (though i depends more on what kind of technician the job was). So a thousand cred a week was a very significant pay raise and something no one in the lower class would miss out on. So he crept closer to the duo while trying not to be obvious about listening in on them.

"I did get the job."

"...huh?" both the Jedi and non-technician muttered.

"I got the job. Their CEO just laughed at me before the woman put me into their gym and running me through during the forced spars. It was still worth slapping that tight ass, though."

The other man let out a stream of curses and mutters, most of which were directed at the man in front of him for being so vulgar.

The technician just laughed.


The Jedi infiltrator left the bar and wondered the night street of the Cavan City.

All over the bar, the Jedi had heard only good things -albeit sometimes questionable good- about the Outlanders. Their recent trade with the Gvonans has increased the planet's manufacturing output, and with it, they were able to sell more as well where they previous could not due to shortage of goods. It allowed the resource starved planet to boom within the last 50 galactic days, and Gvonan living standards in many areas of the planet have seen significant improvements.

He wondered if these Outlanders that the Jedi High Council sent him to spy on was actually a threat. It seemed at best they were businessmen and women whose only actions have created a more stable environment for those trading with them.


Elsewhere in the Gjivona system...
Same day, Same time

"It seems a bit spartan, don't you think?" David asked his old pal as they both looked out into the cosmos.

Or rather, the ugly ship that occupied the space in front of the Outlander's Home, their now completed space station. Designed after the Ammarrian space station, the ones that look like oval stones but with the color scheme of the Caldari space station, the Outlander's Home was a truly alien design in this new galaxy.

More so was the ugly spaceship floating just outside the said space station.

At roughly a kilometer long at the longest point and four hundred meters high, this new ship was just constructed in the last ten days as per Q's request to serve as his research vessel. Unlike the rest of the ships possessed by the Outlanders, though, most of the technology used within the ship was that of this galaxy's. It's hyperdrive and sublight drives, shielding and point defenses, armor and plating, and the communications and research tools. If one were to take a tour of the ship, they might even say that it is a state-of-the-art ship.

Except it wasn't, at least not by the Outlanders' standards.

The ship would have normally cost a very effective manufacturer upwards to a two hundred million credits to make this ship as most of the technology used on the ship have a efficiency rating much higher than your standard equipment. For example, the fuel consumption of the ship was close to a quarter of what its similarly sized cousins in the rest of the galaxy would consume per day, and this was because its reactors had four times the efficiency of its cousins.

But for the Outlanders, this was no issue. They simply used the drones to do their work -and thus cutting down on labor fee- and used the materials they mined to outfit the ship within a ten million budget.

Unfortunately, it was still ugly, but it was Q who designed it.

"Made for optimal use of space. Corridors manufactured small. Allows movement for specialized bodies. Bipedal organics will suffer lack of spatial comfort."

David gave Q a eyebrow raise. "How exactly small are we talking about?"

"1.3 meters tall, 3.2 meters wide."

"How are you going to move your 'test subjects' then?" he asked in return.

Now, let's stop for a second here to consider David Sauh, the head of the Outlanders' fleet. Unlike others of the corporation/family, David fought most of his life as a pirate or some other form of a criminal before reforming within the Outlander. And as a pirate in the New Eden galaxy, he saw plenty of freaky shit. Ammarian slave masters moved and sold slaves in the millions in both legitimate and the black market every second. Often times, he was the one who delivered those slaves to be sold.

And then there was Sansha's Nation, a pirate faction not too unlike Guristas Pirates, which he is still a member of, but one whose goal was to enslave all of humankind with imprints.

Killing those under Sansha's Nations' control was a mercy.

Sansha's Nation especially specialized in experiments which were all inhumane.

So what did he feel about Q doing that to others? His family being the hand of the Devil?

Absolutely nothing, because he had already accepted that cruelty was part of the world, and as long as it did not come to harm his family, he would not care.

If he helping his family by supplying those 'willing' volunteer would strengthen his family?

He was kind of person who would do it. He would go as far as to rip away children from their mothers.

In that aspect, Q and he were the true supporters of the Outlanders. They were most hard working pillars of the Outlanders, investing many of their days into a project for their family more than what was required of them. They were also the darkness that reaped the souls of the innocents, should their death be beneficial to the family.

Q pointed to some tubing that were exposed outside, though they seemed to be well insulated. "Subjects rendered unconscious. Transferred via tubes. No escape. Damaged tubing results in death."

"So you trap them completely, eh? Even if they want to create problems, they can't."

"Correct."

Now, one might ask, why was Q, an artifical intelligence, being so invested in the Outlanders? For similar reasons. When Q was being hunted down by the Gallente Federation just for existing, the Outlanders took pity to it and took it in to their family. They invested years building the drone a humanoid body to fool outsiders.

Q the AI saw its continued existence and safety relied heavily on the Outlanders.

That and it was starting to get the hang of the newly operating SelfInputEmotionGenerator, or SIEG, a basic human emotion generator based on input personality and attitude. Suffice to say, its ... software had grown "attachments" to Outlanders' well being.

"You saw her face, right?"

Q nodded.

They both knew that David was referring to Senna Sarum-Freilsten, the Outlanders' den mother. When Q mentioned human experiments, she may not have opposed but her face had shown her clear disapproval.

"Yes. Information quarantine necessary."

"...Okay then, what do you need me to supply you?"

Q paused for a moment. "Data sent. Encrypted to Code. 7fz. Biometric set to you."

"Thanks," David nodded slightly before leaving the window port and Q alone. "Family over All."

"Family over Self," Q completed their mantra as the two dark pillars of the family.


"I don't like it," Senna growled.

Gesth sighed. "What are we supposed to do then? You know those two and their secrets."

Senna frowned. "It doesn't make it right!"

"Like hell I don't know that!" Gesth growled right back. "We both don't like what David and Q are doing, but we can't stop them!"

It was a odd relationship between the two Freilstens and "dark pillars." While officially, Gesth and Senna order the latter two, and they listen and do as commanded, there were issues where no matter what orders were given or what kind of threats were made, the latter two would ignore the first two.

Normally, the 'dark pillars' would have been kicked long ago in any other corporation. But the Outlanders were not any other corporation. Everyone within was a family, capsuleer or not. They took care of each other and covered each others' faults and weaknesses.

Human experiment, though, crosses the line a bit too much.

But Q, once set on his path, could only be veered off when there was a more pressing matter... which meant no way to keep him off the current "project." However, Senna and Gesth can constantly badger the AI to remove sentient experimentation, which would be very hard to do. They had to try at least, right?


Same time
Coruscant

A small spider, a metallic spider with eight red eyes, skittered in the ceilings above the Jedi's as they walked below it.

Its purpose? To find any kind of knowledge base -preferably electronic- that the Jedi's may have about themselves.

After that? To copy the data.

After that?

...

Make spider webs and catch real insects for energy until more data can be acquired.

It really would be a spider that way. It was a humor that only its creator can take a full appreciation of.

It crawled around the ceiling and sat vertically as it waited for the Jedi's to pass by the door it was hanging above.

[Incoming Transmission: #1 greets #53.]

The spider paused and looked around. It found #1, the oldest model employed by their creator, across the hallway, sticking vertically on a wall.

[Outgoing Transmission: #53 greets #1. #53 asks #1 about #1's mission.]

[Incoming Transmission: #1 has completed its mission. Need QED device to send back necessary data.]

[Outgoing Transmission: #53 asks if #1's QED is broken.]

[Incoming Transmission: #1 denies. #1 states that it never had one and had to rely on the younger generations.]

[Outgoing Transmission: #53 acknowledges. #53 requires the data to send the data to the creator.]

[Incoming Transmission: #1 acknowledges. #1 to #53 data transfer start...]

Just another day as a .Spider.


So human experiments...

My story just took a dark turn :D