Author Note
At this point the story is being co-written by James Pratt.
Reviews
Alan
I have way too many stories going to add to them.
Gnormann
I only intend for there to be three Force Users on Earth not counting the MC and you've already been introduced to them. Bruce won't be in the story much as he'll be training for years.
King of Alchemy
I'll try to find the time.
Sith Gothic 3 - Gotham.
"The chains of the grave cannot hold a Dark Lord of the Sith" - Marka Ragnos
Part 10
Nar Shadda. Hutt Space.
"Welcome to Nar Shadda" said Gothic "Every pirate, smuggler, slaver and bounty hunter in the galaxy finds his or her way here sooner or later. You can buy almost anything you can imagine on this moon, if you know who where to go and have the money to pay for it."
The Smuggler's Moon took Selina's breath away. Dantooine for all its alienness hadn't been that different from parts of Earth that she'd seen on TV. Caves, farms, fields of grass, and that world was home to humans like her, at least in terms of appearance. But this planet, no this moon was something else. Here lived real aliens and they made their home in a city that covered the entire world. She could only guess at how many billions if not trillions of people lived here.
"Remember to stay close and keep your hands to yourself" ordered her guardian. "No matter how bad you think Gotham is this place is infinitely worse. Mind your surroundings and trust no one. You won't be safe till we're back in hyper space, remember that."
Having grown up on the streets of Gotham she knew what he meant.
"A pretty girl like you will be a tempting target for slavers or worse" Gothic warned.
"You think I'm pretty?" she asked.
Gothic had never done anything that made Kat think he was attracted to girls as young as her, and yet she did like the idea that the closest thing she had to father figure found her to be beautiful.
"Of course I do," was all he had to say on the matter as there were other issues to handle "Okay final check"
Selina checked to make sure that her armour and weapons were secure and fully charged before she grabbed her long coat that matched the one Gothic was wearing, lastly she clipped her mask to her belt. She watched Gothic as he went through the same checks.
"You should put your mask on, this place is a bit ripe" the Sith Lord advised.
Gothic gave her a once over and a small smile, before lowering the landing ramp.
"This will be my first real alien world" Selina said as she shook her head "Dantooine didn't count it was too much like home. I want to really experience this."
The Sith Apprentice didn't bother dwelling on that as they walked down the landing ramp. Walking across the dock and into what passed for streets on this level of the moon.
She'd watched the Star Wars movies so she'd thought she was somewhat prepared for the aliens, only as it turned out some what wasn't anywhere near enough. The movies and TV shows that showed aliens really didn't do them justice in just how strange some of them could be. She made sure to stay at Gothic's side as he seemed to glide through the crowd as if they weren't there.
"Stuka doe wee shahnit!" someone yelled at her.
Kat had no idea what that blue skinned person with the red eyes had just said, but she knew it wasn't friendly.
"What did he say?" she asked of her mentor.
Gothic looked down at her for a moment. Before moving across the street into what looked to be an empty alley way. Kat wondered why they had come into this alley way, the smell from the piled up rubbish was almost over powering and she almost reached down to unclip her mask.
Then she noticed, what looked like some sort of homeless person apart from it was green and had a tube for a mouth. The alien held up a small bowl to them, she guessed that he was begging. The alien froze, and she could feel Gothic holding it with The Force. Puzzled she looked at him questioningly. What happened next really hurt. Thoughts, ideas, names and images of places she had never been flashed through her mind. Not sure what was happening she drew on The Force to fortify her mind, to stop the alien memory's from over whelming her mind. She could feel her mind starting to crack under the weight of the memory's that were being shoved into her mind. Just when she thought she couldn't take any more the flood slowed to a trickle and then finally stopped.
"What was that?" Selina groaned
She was now leaning against the wall trying not to throw up her last few meals, taking slow deep breaths she tried to order her thoughts. New thoughts that she recognized as not her own swam through her mindscape in odd patterns. She could tell it would take a lot of work to put these new thoughts into proper order. Looking up at Gothic as he silently watched her pull herself back together. She had a lot of questions that needed answering.
"That my student was, Drain Knowledge, a telepathic dark side ability that can be used to extract knowledge out of a sentient without his or her consent" Gothic explained "It's an ability that goes beyond the simple reading of thoughts, the Drain Knowledge ability allows you to steal memories from a person so as to acquire information. Such a process can damage the subject mentally or psychologically, but lucky for my Sith Apprentice that rarely happens to the person who gains the knowledge, instead it's the person who losses the knowledge who suffers. This poor soul will be dead soon anyway, he's a spice addict and won't be missed."
Kat wasn't naïve enough to misunderstand that last part. Spice was clearly the name of some drug and she found that she no sympathy for those who destroyed their own lives with such substances, they were weak. Unlike her they'd never made any effort to better their lot in life. Instead they sought to escape there lives by turning inwards instead instead of trying to gain control over it. Looking down at the alien she could see that it had just slumped down, while it's eyes were open she could feel that it was empty. A few hours at most and it would die. She couldn't bring herself to feel sorry for the the being.
Gothic watched his young apprentice as she looked down at the green alien. Happy with her train of thought. That drive to improve herself was perhaps more important than even her connection to The Force as it was what made her such a good candidate for the rank of a future Sith Lord.
"Since this technique drains the knowledge of the subject I couldn't simply give you my understanding of Huttese," said Gothic.
Selina found that she did indeed understand the speech of several of the aliens now as they passed by the alleyway.
"It's a very useful ability" said her teacher. "But it's also very dangerous as the human mind can only handle so much. I don't recommend trying it yourself until you're fully matured and have improved your mental discipline. Even then you should use it sparingly or you risk losing yourself others memories".
Her father figure had more to say on this matter.
"I'm sure you can imagine how useful it will be back on Earth if we converse in Huttese since we'll be the only two who understand it" he said. "It's not a complex language, you might not even have noticed that we're speaking in it right now."
Kat blinked as she thought back over the last minute of conversation and noticed she wasn't speaking English any more. It was rather cool, she thought with a huge smile.
"So you mentioned you'd been here before?" Kat said as they left the alley way and merged back into the flow of the foot traffic "Tell me about it".
Gothic had told her that only she'd been too transfixed by the view of hyperspace to pay much attention on what he'd been saying. Normally he would have chided her lack of focus so Kat gotten the sense that her guardian had also been distracted and not just by the flying.
"Many times," he informed his student. "Nar Shadda is good place to get lost in and it's very hard for Force-Users to sense each other while here. Another reason for you not to go wandering off. I might never find out even with The Force".
Kat knew little of the Jedi outside of her lessons and what she'd found in media sources, yet she could imagine how even they would have trouble finding a Sith who walked these streets. Oh he looked dangerous, but then so did most other people walking about. He looked like a bounty hunter so most people would just see a bounty hunter. one among many, nothing to pay attention to, a good lesson she thought. About blending in, here in plain sight.
"First things first we need to visit a Shadow Depository," said Gothic.
This time she didn't have to ask as her teacher to explain as they got into a flying taxi.
"Shadow Depositories are a lot like that bank we broke into before we left earth only they are typically utilized by criminals, be they pirates or corrupt politicians, as a depository for their ill gotten gains. The administrators maintain a very strict policy of secrecy and have a large army guarding the treasures stored in one" he told Kat. "I have many stashes scattered about the galaxy, but this is one of my bigger ones. I've not touched it in decades."
If her master was telling the truth about this age then even he didn't really know how old he was. She wondered if she would live so long.
The taxi zipped though the city, its passengers unconcerned with it's droid driver. After some time passed the taxi dropped them off in front of a building that dwarfed even the tallest skyscraper back in Gotham. The building was jet black and gave of the vibe that it would kill any trespasser who bothered it.
"Put your mask on and follow," Gothic instructed as he got out of the taxi.
Selina did as she was told clipping her mask into place with a soft hiss, her HUD came alive showing green across the board. Once they were in the lobby, she noted Gothic gave some information and the droid pointed them towards a set of lifts. As they walked towards the lift Gothic asked in a low voice.
"Did you see them?" he asked.
Seline didn't have to think to long to figure out what he was talking about.
"Yes, the man reading from the pad in the lobby by the window" she answered "The woman outside eating her lunch and all the droids. They were all watching us".
Gothic didn't respond, just carried on across the lobby. But she could feel he was pleased with her answer. The ride down in the elevator took almost five minutes. On the way Gothic explained that since he was such an old and wealthy client he had one of the most secure vaults, and that they were a couple of miles beneath the moons surface.
Finally they arrived, and she almost didn't want to come out of the lift, she could see more than twenty well armed guards in heavy armour along with the same amount of droids. Above six automated turrets looked down on her and were tracking the movements of the two Sith as they walked across the lobby
Selina couldn't help but stare at the guards patrolling the area and the main door. Two large green aliens who carried huge axes that looked like pigmen stared right back at her, she could feel their desire to kill her through The Force has they tightened there grips on the axes they held. Not wanting to cause a scene she looked away.
Unconcerned Gothic walked across the lobby seeming to ignore everyone, and simply went up the teller who sat behind a fancy looking desk out in the open. This seemed odd given all the security she could see and all the security she was sure that was here even if she couldn't see it.
"I'd like to make a withdrawal from my account," said the Dark Lord "The name is Dexan Triggs".
Kat figured that her master must have gotten through quite a few fake names during his long life.
"It has been some time since you've graced us with your presence Master Triggs." said the man at the desk
Selina noted that he seemed to be checking a computer, out of sight behind the desk.
"Can you please remove your masks for visual identification" the teller requested.
They both took there masks off. A small ball came down from the ceiling and and a moment later a light swept over his face. The man behind the desk looked at the results on his computer. Selina noted as well that all of the guards had quietly formed a semi circle behind them. Feeling a little nervous she fought the urge to reach for a weapon. After another minute the man looked up from his computer, she could feel he was a wary and a little confused.
"Your species is listed as human, yet you don't seem to have aged since you last came to us."
The Sith Lord gave the man an easy smile.
"Benefits of having a Palliduvan father" Gothic replied without missing a beat.
Kat just had to ask.
"What the hell is a Paliduvan?"
Gothic turned and grinned at her
"Space Vampire" he answered.
Kats surprise was impossible to hide and Gothic couldn't help but laugh at the look on her face.
"You'd think of them as space vampires" he explained "It's not unheard of for the males of the species to mate with human females. The children inherit some of the father's traits, such as a very long life, greater speed and strength. This is how I've had an account here for decades and haven't seemed to have aged".
This wasn't why he still looked so young, and they both knew it. But it explained to everyone listening in. Though it was doubtful that anyone in the bank actually cared beyond a concern that someone was trying to take from another's account. There were some tests to endure to make sure Gothic was who he claimed to be. And they had to be passed before he could be allowed into the vault.
Once all the tests were done, they were taken on a small car for several minutes as they zipped through ignominious corridors past doors the size of small buildings. Within a few minutes she was hopelessly lost in in the maze of corridors. Her sense of dislocation was another defence of these vaults she was sure.
The droid stopped in front of a blank door the same as all the others, motioning for them to get out. Gothic did so and walked up to the door and pressed his hand against a spot that looked the same as the rest of the door as far as she could tell. A gentle hum could be heard coming from the door, then she could hear massive bolts sliding back into the wall, and gears turning inside the door which then began to slowly open giving her an idea of its size and thickness.
"That's a big door," she heard him say under his breath with a chuckle.
It sounded like he was quoting something she thought. Another minute and the door was open enough for them to slip inside the vault. Where door started to close again.
Once they got in, She'd been expecting mountains of gold or precious metals, but from what she could tell from looking around the room it mostly looked like junk. She'd been imagining riches, but much of what was in here seemed to be of a personal nature, although she noted there were piles of credits as well as coins casually stacked over in one of the far corners. They seemed incidental to the rest of the rooms contents.
"Payments from my bounty hunter days" Gothic said, answering before she could ask.
He knew how it looked to her. But these were some of his most precious items that he had collected in his long life.
"I know you won't understand what I'm about to tell you until you are much older. Assuming you live long enough" her mentor was now saying "Once you have lived as long has I have and seen all the things I have. You realise that money, riches are always there and easy to get for those like us. In the end they little meaning beyond giving you options. Trying to hold on to your own history, that is much harder".
Looking around he reached out and opened a wooden case and picked up an old holo-projector that laid beside a lightsaber. Pulling out the small disk he activated it Kat looked at the image with curiosity, it showed what looked to be a woman in dark blue robes kneeling before some one that was out of shot of the image. She couldn't see her face her hood obscured it
"My life for yours, master" stated the image.
Selina had a feeling that this person had been very important to her sort of father. She could only feel it dimly but she felt much sorrow when he looked at the image, the fact that he was always so controlled with his emotions made her realise that he had a strong connection with the person in the image, so she questioned him about her.
"That's Visas Marr," Gothic said as he looked at the image, with a blank face "You might consider her to be my first apprentice. She was a broken little thing who, was sent to try and kill me. Or at least drag me before her master. Then things happened and she ended up working to keep me alive until I could confront her master and destroy him. When the time came she sided with me and we slew her master together. I finished her training as best I could. But she was drawn to the Light Side of The Force."
Her mentor had mentioned in his lessons several times that Force-Users can be corrupted by the Light Side of The Force just as easily as the Dark Side, even more easily since few would think the Light Side to be corrupted. The light could consume you as well until you became passive and distant to all around you unable to bring about change. Many Jedi Masters ended their days as hermits as they became more and more allied with the light until they were so disconnected from life that they might as well be droids.
"Visas was a little messed up" Gothic summarised "but I grew to cherish her, eventually we went our separate ways"
"How long ago was that?" Kat asked?
"Longer than you could imagine" Gothic said with a fond smile as he looked at the picture one last time before he switched it off and put it back in it's case "One day I'll tell you all about those times".
With that they quickly picked up the equipment that they were looking for and loaded it all onto the droid car waiting for them outside, before heading out. Going through more security checks as they made it to the exit. Selina tried to show patience with all the checks, but she still ended up pick pocketing one of the guards. Gothic gave her a look that she knew she would have a lecture to look forward to once they were back on Ebon Hawk. Once all the equipment was loaded on the ship they headed out to find someone who could make the upgrades to the Ebon Hawk while some important materials were acquired and delivered to the Hawk.
For awhile all Kat thought about was how she might not be her master's apprentice forever. One day would she have a box with a few mementos of her life in that room? She had never really given any thought to the future before, always thinking she would be killed by some random gang banger, even now she could see that her mind set hadn't changed much in spite how much Gothic had taught and given her. From a few things Gothic had dropped hints about she knew he was at least a few centuries old, and yet he still looked back to remember someone he cared about. It was something she dwelled on for quite some time as they walked back to the ship.
Nar Shadda. Hutt Space.
I knew that something was wrong long before we made it to the landing pad, to be honest I was surprised something like this hadn't happened sooner. The ship was fully loaded with all the materials and supplies I would need for my research projects and base I was looking to build, and when it was time to leave some thugs dared to bare my way.
At a slow pace I walked into the loading dock with Selina a step behind, I knew she wasn't paying attention to the threat in front of us. A small prod via The Force got her attention quickly enough. She was about to lash out like someone swatting an annoying bug when she took note of our guests, who were spread around the docking area. She knew what a shake down looked like, it was the same no matter what planet you were on apparently.
They were made up of members of an aggressive humanoid alien raced called the Rodians. Theywere a reptilian humanoid species native to Rodia in the Tyrius system. Highly recognizable due to characteristics in facial structure and green skin pigment. While not all of them were dangerous in this part of the galaxy Rodians were infamous for their violent culture, which sprang from the difficulties of life in the jungles of their home world. Though they were often relegated to the fringes of galactic society as bounty hunters or criminal henchmen, Rodians were not merely simple-minded thugs such as the Gammorans, but they could be equally as brutish if they put their minds to it.
"Who are they?" asked my apprentice as she noted them blocking our way to the ship.
Selina had been bursting with questions ever since we'd come to the Smuggler's Moon, not that I blamed her as there was much here that she didn't understand even with the all the memories I'd given her from the spice addict.
"The gangs rule Nar Shadda like they do parts of Gotham" I explained to my student. "Given that we haven't seen any until now, my guess is that this part of the moon has changed hands recently. The thugs will either demand money from us for some reason or try to take the ship. I don't intend for them to do either, obviously".
I felt Kat drawing The Force to her as I reached for my lightsaber.
"Stay behind me" I ordered "You've never dealt with Rodians or blasters before, both are much more dangerous than anything you've encountered back on Earth"
I figured she'd do just fine with a gang like this if we were in Gotham, but this was an alien world and her inexperience with the locals would get her killed. I could see that she wanted to argue but one look at me and she could see that now was not the time. So rather than talk she clipped her mask on, and took a step back giving me some room to manoeuvre. She might have The Force, but Rodians were nothing to mess about with for a novice user
As I made my way over to them the largest of the group took a step forward puffing him self up as we walked towards him.
"Human, this our landing pad" he stated in Huttese.
Saying nothing I kept walking closer to the speaking alien all the time projecting clam into The Force stopping just out of reach of the alien. While keeping a careful eye on everyone's positions, and moving my hand out of the way so he could see my lightsaber hanging from my belt, it took a moment for him to understand what he was seeing, it was quite comical looking as the aliens eyes almost bulged out of his head. But by then it was far too late.
"Jedi!" was all the thug had time to yell out.
Then the Snap, Hiss sound of my silver blade springing to life filled the air. I cut down the crook who was nearest to me before he could do more than call out to his friends. The others responded quickly further spreading out around the loading dock. For the first time in a good long while I got to deflected blaster bolts and kill with a lightsaber without having to worry about keeping it secret.
My blade spun in a defensive blur and I was not making much effort to advance at the moment. Now I was taking a moment to enjoy the familiar forms and feeling the fear of my opponents who knew what I was, or to be more precise what I wanted to think of me.
Using the incoming hail of blaster bolts, I deflected them back to several of the shooters. Any rational foe would have quickly realised how pointless this method of attack had turned out to be, but no one with any common sense joined a gang on Nar Shadda. Joining a gang here was often a brutal and a very short life. Large amounts of brains were not necessary.
The Dark Side was strong here on the moon though not as dark as many might think, and the power flowed easily into me as I fought. Once I had the chance I slowly moved forward, soon killing a Rodian who'd foolishly backed up against a wall, sending my weapon into his chest before batting aside a well aimed blaster bolt that could have struck my face.
The shooter, who was clearly more talented that the others, never got the chance to fire again as I grabbed him and began to crush the life out of the alien even as I deflected more bolts. Kat, who remained behind, me a tense but controlled storm of emotions, as she drew one of her knives and threw it at one of the shooters, straight through the eye, the alien only had time for a gurgle be he slumped down. Drawing another one I could feel her looking for another target.
As for the alien trapped in my force grip, he became a living shield as we both moved across the docks towards his comrades and I ended up blocking several shots with his body, before throwing the body hard at one of his companions forcing them both over the edge to the long drop below. By then we were out of direct line of sight of the gang members.
After motioning to Selina to stay put, I moved as a blur across the docks quickly moving between the cargo containers getting behind an alien and almost cutting him in half before he even realised I was there, before moving on to the next kill. There were only half a dozen of the xenos left by this point and they wouldn't last long.
Lashing out with the Force I sent another two Rodians off the platform so they could fall to their deaths several hundred feet below. A third hit some containers and would be out of action for a few moments, leaving me free to deal with just the last three aliens. Two of which opened fire resulting in one of the three getting hit by his peer's blaster bolt.
"Yeah because that worked so well the first ten times you tried it," I said with an amused snort.
The bigger of the two still standing aliens charged right at me using his blaster rifle as makeshift club, unexpected and brave, but ultimately foolish. I lifted him up and placed him in front of his panicking pal and used the floating alien as not-human shield before I let the body drop after his friend had fired several shots into his fellow gang member.
For a moment nothing violent happened as the only alien still capable of fighting, looked at the bloody remains of his friend in front of him. I could feel the beings fear building up inside him, it only took a slight nudge from The Force to get him to surrender and to drop to his knees just before he began to beg for his life. The Dark Side urged me on, pushing me to drink in this creature's fear before I ended its miserable existence, but I resisted impulse. Instead I ordered the alien to take the knocked out green alien over by the container and leave.
"Why did you spare them?" asked Kat as she dropped down from where she had been watching us.
I had my reasons, and it was important that my apprentice not see it as a sign of weakness.
"When news of this gets out, and it will" I said to my student as we walked towards the Ebon Hawk " They, will say that I was a Jedi because I showed mercy, and no one will look into it any further".
I had missed this, Earth might have been my birth place all those years ago, but out here in the Star Wars galaxy was were I felt most at home.
"Besides mercy is a emotion just like rage, hate and fear, a true Sith should embrace the full spectrum of emotions rather than allow hate and anger to control their actions, which is very important once a battle is over" I lectured "This is perhaps the most important lesson that I will ever teach you, and one that you will have to work on throughout most of your life. Your darker impulses will always call to you, whisper in your ear, be warned once you start down that path you can become mad with rage destroying all that you love and hold dear. You must rule your emotions and not be ruled by them."
Selina heard the words. I knew that she would thinking long and hard about them on the way home. For now she had other matters on her mind, such as looting the fallen, a time honoured practiced, she darted away from me running to the closest body looking for anything interesting.
"We will talk more about once we have left this world" I said "And about you kill that alien".
I'd never seen Kat anyone before, granted she hadn't been killing one of her own kind, and she was too distracted right now to think on it, but that would change. If she started feeling guilty she could become withdrawn and that would not benefit her or training.
Waiting at the loading loading ramp I watched Selina move from body to body checking to see if they had anything useful on them, that she could use.
It would be a long trip back with plenty of time for her to take in more of my teachings along more combat training.
Base. Moon.
After a bit of scanning I'd ruled out Mars as a world to build a base on as there were signs that it was already occupied and if that civilization had been able to hide from the probes sent by Earth there was either a massive cover up going on or they were highly advanced so it would be best not to mess with them.
I'd also ruled out any of the moons of the other worlds due to the distances involved. After trying ever where else in the system it turned out Earth's moon was uninhabited there were no alien bases on the dark side of the moon other than my own, and the droids had outdone themselves setting it all up very quickly while I'd been overseeing the next stage of my plans involving the crime families in Gotham
Soon it would be time to remove the older leadership and to install my puppet. When Oswald declared himself the crime king of Gotham I would have to quickly eliminate or convert anyone who didn't accept him as leader. That would require me spending some time reshaping a few minds, while making a mess of some of the others. A process I would soon start since grabbing some high ranking thugs off the street would be easy with all the chaos going on. Oswald would need a core of loyal followers and I might need to put some of my drugged up troopers at his command. At least for a time.
I put those thoughts on the future aside for the moment and focused on the here and now. This part of the still growing base might have bare walls of rock, but the equipment in it was first rate. Soon the two men I had stashed in the basement, Crane and Potolsky, would be brought here when I had the time, so that they could carry on with their work as there was limited space for them in Gotham and it would be a while before I set up a lab in Smallville.
That was the future for now I had the seed of another project in mind. One that I'd been thinking about on and off for many years, that of creating a clone of myself so that I could use Essence Transfer to move my spirit into a new more powerful body.
Transfer essence, also known as essence transfer or transfer life, was a radical Dark Side Force power used to transfer a person's consciousness into another body, or in some cases an inanimate object. Ancient Dark Lords of the Sith and other powerful Dark Siders used this technique though out history to cheat death. Some ended up haunting their tombs and possessing those who stumbled across their sarcophagi in order to continue their reign of terror out in the universe.
Among the earliest Dark Lords to use this technique was Karness Muur, a Lord of the Sith Empire, who bound his spirit to the artefact that bore his name, the Muur Talisman. The talisman allowed Muur not only to cheat death, but also to take possession of whoever was foolish enough to wear the Talisman. Unless the wearer's willpower was strong enough to resist him.
The Sith Emperor used this ability, or a similar ability, to put his essence into another body several times which he called, and was publicly known as the Voice of the Emperor. The Children of the Emperor also had some of the Emperor's essence in them, which made it possible for him to effect his presence on them.
Unlike his spiritual descendants, Exar Kun, The Dark Lord during the era of the Great Sith War, used this power not to suborn another body or possess an object but to anchor his spirit to the Massassi Temples on Yavin 4. When his apprentice Ulic Qel-Droma betrayed him to the Jedi, Kun called all of his Massassi followers into the Temple of Fire, then used their life force (and the alchemical apparatus left by his predecessor Naga Sadow) to abandon his body, drawing on the remarkable focusing energies of the Massassi Temples to anchor himself to the physical world. Kun's spirit remained in hiding on Yavin IV for over four thousand years, driven slowly mad by his bodiless existence and the unthinkable isolation of the jungle moon. His spirit was finally vanquished by the students at Luke Skywalker's Jedi academy, some years after the Battle of Endor.
Darth Bane learned this power after acquiring Andeddu's holocron. The gatekeeper of the holocron refused to teach this power to Darth Bane, so Bane decided to rip the information out of the holocron, absorbing it directly into his mind. He later attempted to transfer his essence into his apprentice, Darth Zannah, during their final duel but her willpower was strong enough to repel the invasion, thus proving her worth to carry on Bane's legacy. However, some of Bane's consciousness still lingered within Zannah.
A favourite of mine, Set Harth, a Dark Jedi who was active in the galaxy around the same time as Darth Bane learned this technique from Andeddu's holocron after taking it from the Stone Prison on Doa. He used the power to shuttle his consciousness through a series of cloned bodies.
Not that either Bane or Set would get the chance to use Essence Transfer in this reality because I'd acquired the holocron of Darth Andeddu a long time ago just in case its knowledge ever came in handy, and soon it would.
I intended to use my advanced cloning technology to assure my immortality. Only I wanted to take things several steps further than that. I wanted to create a superior body, one far more powerful than my current meat suit. This was partly why I had an interest in the freaks that would start appearing in Smallville over the next few years. If their abilities were the result of genetic changes to their DNA then through dark side alchemy and science it might be possible to create a clone of myself with some of those amazing powers.
Trying to copy Clark Kent's was oh so tempting but had been proven several times by Luthor and others to be a bad idea because that's how you end up Bizzaro Superman or maybe something even worse, though I would make sure to pick up any samples he left behind, since I remembered several times where he bled in his adventures and having an understanding of his biology could come in handy if we ever did battle.
I would focus on the Meta-Humans. What abilities I could give a clone body I didn't yet know and it was unlikely that any human form could handle more than a few powers so I might end up a variety of clones. Despite the risks involved I would need mutant clone bodies as the freaks could kill me and if I ever came to the attention of Kal-El I'd need ever edge possible. Plus I could give abilities to my Super Troopers make them more lethal in battle.
When I was ready to hop into a new form I would need to make sure that my altered clone had no mind of its own to resist me and that the clone was stable so I would not rush in its creation. Also I would make sure to have backups as well as plenty of samples of my original DNA. I'd endured for centuries I might go on for thousands of more years with enough clones. I would die one day. I knew that, even the stars grew old and died. I just wanted to go on for as long as existence found ways to amuse me.
Since I could sustain my existence in my original body indefinitely by stealing life from others, at least in theory, I'd not worried about making clones, but now that I had the knowledge of the Dollmaker, who'd been decades ahead of his peers. From his willingness to perform many unethical experiments, I'd gained a greater understanding and attraction to matters of biology. Not unexpected as when you took memories from others you placed a part of them in your own mind.
The work was important, but it could wait until the base was finished and I had some samples to work with. I'd just come here to do a quick inspection. While my apprentice went to further her efforts in getting young Mr Bruce Wayne rapped around her little finger.
Applied Sciences Department. Wayne Enterprises.
Since I was a freelance consultant rather than a proper employee I didn't often get called into work. There was no need for me to attended pointless meetings or to fill out needless paperwork. I got called in to handle technical problems and to help with the designs for the next model of energy cell. The military wanted more than was possible from them but we did our best to meet the demand. This was important to me as it was a good source of income.
Given the size of the cells they wanted and the energy involved I had to wonder if they trying to make battle droids, but from what I knew of robotics of this world using robot troopers simply wasn't practical even if we made the best power cells possible as robots had very sophisticated software as well as hardware. In the Star Wars galaxy battle droids were easy because they'd been refined over many thousands of years to the point that they could be mass produced more easily than cars were in this world.
Sooner or later I'd get around to finding out what they wanted such small and potent power cells for, it just wasn't high on my list of things to do at the moment because I knew that whatever they were working on would take years to complete. Besides I had more important things on my mind.
"I thought you'd given up on this project?" I asked.
By the looks of things Lucius Fox was examining a report on a murder weapon. Only as it turned out this wasn't one of my killings. I could tell that as soon as I saw some details of the report because the elements used by the sword this time were known to the science of this world. Also the shape of the weapon was different if the entry wound was anything to go by.
"This is a different case," said Fox, looking up from the folder. "Possibly a copycat killer or even killers as there are some differences. The targets are still criminals and the police have their hands full so Wayne Enterprises is doing what it can to help."
Was someone copying me? Should I be flattered?
"If our findings are correct then these swords are specially designed titanium blade with acid etching. They will be straight, double-edged blade similar to that of a longsword, terminating in a metal hilt designed around the aesthetics of South East Asian swords." Mr Fox told me. "While we never figured out what the sword the masked killer used was made of we do know that it had more of a western design than these swords."
Well I knew that last part since I'd forged that sword. As for the rest that didn't give me much of a clue as to was behind this. I did wonder for a moment if Ravager might have gotten her hands on a decent sword and started putting her training to use trying to impress me. Something made me doubt that as while Ravager could afford to have such a sword made, and she'd be smart enough not to use it in her own city, she'd already proven herself worthy of my time, and she knew this due the ritual I'd used to increase her power. Besides she was a busy business woman, and didn't have time to run around Gotham while jet setting around the world.
The replica laying on the desk was only made from plastic so it didn't have much weight to it, nor did have the right balance, but I knew enough about the sword to see that the fighting style of a man or woman using this weapon would suit someone of a lighter build than myself. Whoever used these sort of blades would not be the hacking and slashing kind of fighter. The design would suit Ravager whose slight build and flexibility better suited a more eastern style of weapon.
"I see you noticed the replica we've made based on our findings" Fox invited as he showed me the scale model of the weapon. "Ours was made by a 3-D printer so as to help the police get an idea of what they are looking for."
I'd foreseen myself having to deal with the League of Shadows at some point while I was here on this planet. This could be them, calling me out by mimicking my actions, and using the gang warfare as cover to do so. I wondered what they wanted from me? Did they want to kill someone they might see as a threat? Recruit me? Make me an ally?
Tonight I would have to venture out in my masked killer outfit and see if I could find out who else used a sword to cull the herds of crooks out there. If this was the League of Shadows as I suspected then I would have to act carefully as I didn't want that organisation coming after me in full force. Not when I lacked the resources to combat such a group effectively. Ra's Al Ghul had hundreds perhaps thousands of highly trained killers to call on.
Worse such a battle would draw the attention of other powerful organisations.
Should be an interesting evening.