Fredrick observed as the frantic pace of shipbuilding sent new warships sliding down the dry docks in record speed. The small size of most Confederate ships relative to Imperial and their other counterparts made them easy to produce in vast numbers. Several new Resculant light destroyers made up a new interceptor squadron for catching these new fast cruisers. On the surface of Kursk, a pair of Providence class destroyers were being constructed as flotilla leaders for the growing squadrons of Munificent frigates to ease the burdens on the two Lucrehulks.

A month prior Fredrick had ordered the construction of immense tunnel networks to store the ever growing numbers of battle droids, large warehouses had been emplaced at every strategic position on the planet and filled with racks of them. B1 droids alone were approaching outnumbering any single settlement bar the central hive city.

The frantic speed of this militarization was sparked by Fredrick's growing fear of the rest of the Galaxy. This latest incursion had him remove all prior restraints to the production of military weapons and warships.

Even Defoliators had been placed on the production line and a program to produce them in massive starship sized ordinance for bombardment purposes had been explored. A mounting was in development and debates on what vessel would host it were being had amongst design teams.

The cold feeling he had been having ever since that raid had been growing. It didn't help that despite his position as essentially Dictator of an entire star system that he rarely saw other humans anymore. Over the campaign to claim Kursk, he had become dependant on the armor that encased his body, the burns from the Melta Pistol had compromised several of his internal organs and mechanical replacements had been crafted and emplaced in his body.

His sense of touch over many areas had been fuddled and dulled by scar tissue. Infact only his back had much in the way of its original sensitivity left. Ironically his cybernetics, which would have been frowned upon in any of the major galactic hubs prior to the Clone War, was barely commented on by the people of Kursk and some even saw it as a major sign of wealth on his part.

Droids surrounded him on the bridge, the two Super Tactical Droids that controlled the two arms of the Confederate Military were dealing with the vast demands placed upon them by the structure of their organization. However other super tactical droids were now their underlings, as production was catching up with the demands of the military build ups. Even the Munificent Frigates had at least one Tactical droid in command as opposed to normal Confederate doctrine of a OOM battle droid being the captain.

Probe droids had been dispatched and one of the nearby star systems hosted an Imperial settlement. They had received signal returns showing the presence of formidable naval assets including a trio of dreadnought tonnage vessels.

Fredrick stood in front of the various foremen and task masters of his naval yards.

"What do you mean that you need more time, there are multiple Dreadnoughts in all the serious naval concentrations in the local area!"

He was astounded at how badly out gunned they were by the enemy.

"Sir, it can't be done, we simply lack the means to churn out larger vessels, as it stands we are working our human workers in eight hour shifts round the clock, fighters and tank are no issue but warships larger than a Munificent class are simply beyond our means to mass produce."

"Motivate your men, or I will find less gentle overseers. You have been given ample resources my RMOs have assured me that they have."

The man who had been addressing him knelt and withdrew the others following behind him. He rose and turned to watch a new set of dignitaries approaching. They were members of the aristocracy, each more pompus than the last in his own estimation.

Clad in his armor he was taller than all of them, seated in his throne he thought he cut an impressive figure, the frailty of his body and range of his injuries hidden beneath the durasteel and cortosis of his armor.

The first, a woman dressed in a elaborate silk garment, adorned with various precious stones. She had been a relative of the former planetary governor and had only been saved from imprisonment and execution by her assistance in helping many of the upper echelons adjust to the new regime. Fredrick knew her, Lady Izolda.

"Lord Fredrick, we must speak." she said her voice edged with concern.

"What is so important you give me orders?"

This intrigued him, even as he feigned anger. It was a show for the others.

"You have neglected the dangers of Psykers, unlike your predecessor who had the dangerous creatures dispatched on the Black Ships."

She paused, watching the reactions of the staring red eyed droids surrounding the new Tyrant of Kursk.

"They present a credible threat to our entire world which could be plunged into damnation by them. You must take action, or we will all be dragged into that dark abyss."

The unchanging red lense stared back, it was one of the issues of speaking to Lord Fredrick. He didn't have an expression. One had to await the reply to gauge his reaction.

"What do you propose I do about this menace?"

"They need to be removed from the general public, the threat they pose is simply to great to allow them to be at liberty in the general public. I ask you to protect you people from the strange powers that have befallen those lost souls."

"You propose that members of the public be rounded up and presumably be either imprisoned or summarily executed for something that is indistinguishable until it is acted upon? How are my soldiers to discover who has such powers?"

"I ran the search for Psykers prior to your arrival. I can reestablish the service for you."

"Do it, you will have your service reinstated. I will have a droid sent to act as a liaison and oversight."

She hadn't expect Fredrick to grant her request, of course she also hadn't expected a group of droids to walk over to her.

One of them, a square bodied droid, light brown in color with a rectangular head spoke.

"I am CV-6005, I have been tasked with supervising the creation of your agency. Come with us."

She faintly recognized the type, they had been identified as a commander class of droid during the war. Seeing one in the role of a civil servant was a surprise to her. The twin white eyes or whatever it had in place of eyes bored into her.

It gestured to follow and she went with the droid, the four lesser droids trailing behind them. They walked through corridors abuzz with activity, OOM droids were carrying out work at the direction of droids much like CV-6005. Occasionally they would pass a Super Battle Droid painted in the colors of Fredrick's personal guard. Humans could also been seen, acting as directed by higher level droids.

The tactical droid lead her to one of the lower levels of the Governor's palace, now the central hub of all planetary governance.

This was near the old holding cells for prisoners.

They entered a room and awaiting them was one of the same type she had seen guarding Fredrick's person. Its twin glowing purple eyes watched her. It too bore the white paint scheme, with two red lines on its torso, one on either side of a large faintly glowing purple mark on its chest. It was different from the others, larger and she could see the numerous motors that powered its body.

"My designation is IG-190, we will be working together on this threat."

Weeks past and her office was brought "online" as the droids would refer to it as. She had ceased wearing her court outfits to the capital and instead now dressed in a functional outfit as befit her station. A new section of droids had been sent to her. The OOM series made up the bulk with a handful of tactical series to oversee them. The surviving members of her staff had also been brought back into service where they could be found.

They had also brought in their first batch of Psykers. Debate between her and IG-190 was ongoing over their fate. Due to the lack of Black ships to take them to Holy Terra for processing she advocated their executions. IG-190 refused stating that studying them to understand their talents was going to help the war effort against both the Imperium and other factions that lurked amongst the stars.

She felt guilty, taking a stand against the Emperor and his Imperium was a vile heresy but it was the only option for them. Loyalists to Zhukov had been publicly executed first by firing squad and in a few cases of particularly troublesome examples, publicly torn in half by one of the massive B3 droids. She would do her part for the people of Kursk.

They had given her several hundred BX-series commando droids for her purpose. She had seen the work of these droids against the unprepared. They were fast, significantly faster than a human and strong. The weak psykers that had been cropping up were swiftly brought into custody, excepting those killed resisting arrest. It was brutal work and she was glad that her droids were skilled at it. Feelings of unease were common amongst her staff, but it was natural she reasoned. They were essentially an organ of Fredrick's police and as one of the branches given the power to arrest and detain on suspicion they were feared.

The other offices of the occupational government were hard at work, and her work had been given secondary priority compared the Confederate Navy which was receiving the lion's share of industrial power of the entire star system. She had been told that refineries and new foundries were being constructed on one of the other planets in the system. It would be an outpost and later an immense forge for droid armies.

She would play her part in this heresy. Working to secure the people of Kursk from themselves. As this thought was dawning, an klaxxon began to blare. She watched as her droids began to take emergency actions. One of their charges had broken loose.

A group of Commando droids hurried past her office, heading to the deeper levels. IG-190 had drawn a Disruptor pistol, its large fat barrel scorched by repeated uses. The tactical droids drew forth various blaster pistols, while the OOM droids kept to their posts.

Personally she kept an old laspistol on her person and readied it. The sounds of screaming could be heard as something roared.

The sounds of blaster fire erupted and the chatter of battle droids could be heard. The sounds of blaster discharge reached a frantic crescendo and the sounds of tearing metal could be heard. A loud roaring could be heard and with great cleaving noises she heard the clatter as droid bodies fell to the floor.

"When it comes through the door, I will engage. Take cover."

The door was slammed inwards, the metal hinged having been ripped off the frame.

An amalgamation of fleshy tendrils burst into the room. It grabbed a pair of OOM droids, crushing them, and another tendrils, this one covered in barbs and eyes reached for one of the tactical droids.

IG-190 opened fire, rapidly firing his disruptor pistol, striking the abomination in the numerous eyes along the tendril, and the flesh of the creature erupted in greasy orange flames. IG-190 stroded forward, ducking another lashing whip of flesh and drawing his electro staff.

The speed of the droid astounded her, it was reacting perfectly to avoid the monster. Whirling blows rained down upon it, purple sparks flaring. Blazing points of greasy fire whirled around the droid as flesh and metal warred.

The tactical droids and most of the OOM droids had begun shooting with whatever side arms they carried. Blaster pistol and carbine fire blackened and burned the beast's skin.

Izolda fumbled at the controls near her desk, a large green button was covered by a small glass box. It was one of the failsafes she had convinced the Magnaguard to add. Donning a gas mask she pressed the button.

It was a noxious chemical agent, designed to incapacitate and kill rapidly. It was normally deployed by specialist B2 variants outfitted for gas attacks. Here they were to be used in the event of a catastrophic breakout. She had to get out of here, as the concentration rose it would prove fatal, gas mask or no.

But to the droids it would be no more harmful than a fog bank was to humans.

A new sound joined the din all about them. A high pitched warn klaxon signaling that canisters of poison gas were going to be deployed.

She ran for a sealed chamber specifically built for human staff to shelter in during a purge.

A metal body landed next to her. Jagged rents in the metal showed where IG-190 has taken blows from the creature. She saw the droid rise, one of its eyes shattered and dark. It pulled out a large vibroknife and stood between her and the monster that was ransacking her office.

Droids lay scattered in parts and she watched as the creature forced its smoking blackened bulk inside the room.

A seal as the room pressurized and she watch through a small reinforced glass window as the two battered combatants faced off against each other. The abomination of flesh lurched a clawed limb clutching out as a five tendrils of flesh lashed, attempting to ensnare the droid.

The gas was causing its skin to bubble and ooze as it ate into the tissue. Yet the freak of flesh did not slow.

Its legs stunted and malformed propelled in forward and IG-190 made a single motion. He lunged forward and brought his vibro blade arching down. Blood erupted from a cluster of eyes and the flesh convulsed.

The droid retreated as the living blasphemy shook in its death throes.

As she watched IG-190 rose, and and took a step away from the creature. It twitched and a tendril lashed out, latching onto his arm and pulling him towards a fanged beak that thrust itself out of its flesh.

Failing flesh and damaged metal fought their last gasps against each other. IG-190 reached out and hacked at the muscle pulling him in. His strikes rapid and precise in the way only a machine could manage.

He drove the vibro blade into the pseudopod clutching him and was free as the limb was severed.

"Enough of this."

The droid moved as fast as its damaged mechanisms would allow and retrieved its electrostaff.

It did something to a small control underneath one of the staff's heads and she had to look away from its sudden brilliance, casting purple light about the room.

She waited for some time and saw a dark pall of smoke had obscured the room and what was within it from view.

"Purge the atmosphere, signal to the rest of the fortress that the outbreak has been controlled."

A powerful burst of air cycled through the ventilation shafts, and the tainted air was cycled to special ducts made to recycle the toxic gases.

The door unsealed and she took a step into the room, and saw the beast where it had finally expired, IG-190 a mere pace away from it.

The form of IG-190 was blacken and charred, his armorweave cloak tattered and torn,

The remaining purple photoreceptor still glowed faintly.

"I have issued a directive to all nearby droid units, the cell block is to be liquidated. It appears you were correct in your assessment."

The droid was battered but it still made attempts to rise, its motors whining and protesting.

"Let me help you."

The droid was heavy, heavier than she expected and she struggled to get him upright.

A group of ten of the white B2 super battle droids rushed into the room. One of them, at the forefront was a B2-HA the sergeant of this squad.

"I have incinerator equipped droids, we will ensure this creature stays dead."

The ret of the droids began dragging the massive carcass out of the door. Their brute strength making the task easy.

"It is an impressive feat, slaying such a foe."

The massive battle joined in the effort and together they brought IG-190 to his feet.

"I will summon engineer droids to begin repair work. Ma'am we will secure the area, replacement droids have already been ordered for this sector."

"Thank you sergeant, I'm certain a report will have to logged."

She was shaking, the droid did not seem rattled at all by the carnage around it. It was discussing its slain fellows like parts in a machine.

No wonder they had been warned about Abominable Intelligences. Except IG-190 had risked himself to save her, battling a creature out of nightmares to preserve her life.

It was strange to wrap her head around.

Still Fredrick would demand answers and she had to deal with him.