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Chapter 6

Guilty Spark hovered beside Jaina at the Praxeum landing pad, awaiting the arrival of her family's vessel.

Family, he thought, a group consisting of two organics of opposite genders and their offspring. That was the definition he had been given, anyway. As with most things, it was likely that the Reclaimers had a different definition of the word, something that made more sense to their more limited processors.

Reclaimer Jaina had spoken at length about her family. Mostly about how her parents and uncle were war heroes, and that she and her brothers, as well as her mother and uncle, all possessed this "force" she kept mentioning. The Monitor was intrigued by the "force." He had no records of anything like it. It would make a fascinating puzzle.

But there were more important matters to deal with right now, namely the defense of this installation. He had already placed the order for admittedly substandard sentinels to be constructed by a company designated Tendrando Arms. Apparently, the proprietor was a comrade of the Praxeum's commander – head teacher, he corrected himself. The Praxeum was technically not a military facility, despite the proclaimed role of the Jedi.

A subtle roar permeated the air, steadily growing louder and closer. Guilty Spark and Jaina turned in the direction of the noise, and saw a spacecraft on its final approach. It looked somewhat like a legless insect, with a circular body and mandibles jutting from the front. What an intriguing design.

The spacecraft – the Falcon, as the Reclaimer called it – circled the pad and descended, struts extending towards the ground. The craft hissed as gas was released, for what reason the ancilla wasn't sure. He had no records of such phenomena; even the other Reclaimer ships he had seen didn't emit gas upon landing. Perhaps it had to do with the suspension system for the struts? It was one more puzzle that he would have to solve another day.

The landing ramp descended, and five figures descended from it. Four of them were Reclaimers, two adults and two adolescents. The fifth was a tall, hairy creature, a Wookiee, as he recalled. Curious; they reminded him of the Jiralhanae to an extent. While there were some similarities, this specimen was shorter and far more hairy than the monstrous primates. And more intelligent as well, if his conversation with the Wookiee Lowbacca was any indication.

The Monitor turned his attention to the Reclaimers; three males and one female. They were all brown-haired. Two of them, the female and one of the younger males, had brown eyes. The eldest male had hazel eyes, and the youngest of the males' were blue. Curious; perhaps one of the parents' progenitors had blue eyes? The Reclaimers and Wookiee ignored his presence and crowded around Jaina, enveloping her in a hug, he believed it was called. A most curious gesture, he thought, one that could serve as a greeting, a display of affection, or a method of comfort.

Guilty Spark's attention was drawn back to the ramp by a shuffling sound. A gold-plated being walked stiffly down the ramp; a robot of some kind, the ancilla concluded. The robot's attention settled on the Monitor, and it then spoke up. "Oh! Hello there! I am C-3P0, human-cyborg relations. I am fluent in over six million forms of communication, and can—"

"Hey, Goldenrod, can you stop with—" The eldest male turned to rebuke the golden robot, and froze upon seeing the ancilla. The others turned to see what had caught his attention, and became transfixed with the sight of the Monitor floating not two meters from them.

"Greetings!" Guilty Spark began, "It is a pleasure to meet you, relatives of Reclaimer Jaina! My name is 343 Guilty Spark. I am the Monitor of Installation Praxeum, and am well versed in numerous defense and containment protocols."

The Reclaimers and Wookiee simply stood there, processing what the ancilla had said. C-3P0, however, had no such problems, it would seem. "I say, I have never encountered a droid of your kind before. What is your function, if I might ask?"

It would seem that the robot housed an ancilla, just as Guilty Spark's own chassis did. "Of course, ancilla C-3P0," he said cheerily. "My original function was to oversee Installation 04, a facility that was part of the Halo Array. Since it was destroyed, my only purpose has been to aid the Reclaimers. As of now, that means overseeing and improving the defense of this installation. I was quite frankly appalled by the lack of defensive emplacements here, especially considering Installation Praxeum's turbulent history."

"I say, I must agree with you on that note. I am sure that I have blown out circuits worrying over the safety of Masters Jacen and Anakin and Mistress Jaina, especially after the Shadow Academy's attack. I am pleased that Master Luke has finally taken action on the matter. And entrusting it to…"

As the two constructs continued to talk about the Praxeum and the Solo-Skywalker family, members of said family turned towards Jaina, the obvious question etched on their faces.

Oh, kriff.

Just how will Jaina explain this to the family?

BlackendReaper: Guilty Spark is already sharing some technology with the Star Wars galaxy, as is shown in chapter 5. However, since it would take years for anyone there to study, reverse engineer and construct a working model, and he wants defenses now, he is adapting the designs to accommodate the limitations of local industry. As to whether he'll introduce true Forerunner technology to the galaxy is unclear.