Chapter 14

I would like to thank my reviewers, those who added my story to their alerts and favorites, and to all anonymous readers.

Prepare for filler chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars or Prototype.

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Seated in the command chair on the bridge of the Leviathan, Darth Malak struggled to keep his contempt at bay as his gaze followed across the dozen Imperial officers and crew working at their stations all around him. Their fingers flew over control panels as they reacted to the incoming stream of data while the vessel hurled through the empty void of space.

"Fifteen-minutes until we reach Thule, My Lord." Admiral Saul Karath said from his seat on the far side of the bridge.

Malak dismissed him with the wave of a hand, his mind focused elsewhere. The monthly status reports from Thule had shown a decrease in ten percent productivity, how could he conquer the galaxy when everyone around him fails at every turn? This was why he had decided to go there himself and motivate them. These mundane actions forced his mind to abandon what he really should be focused on, figuring out how Bastila managed to escape Taris and who helped her? Bastila was the key; with her on his side victory was assured.

"My Lord, I've just received word from one of our spies." Saul said.

Receiving no response he continued. "One of the two vessels which managed to escape Taris has been sighted leaving Coruscant."

This piqued the Dark Lords interest. "Which of them?"

"From the report it was not the Ebon Hawk."

Malak would have smiled of he could. "Send word to the bounty hunter, I want the young Jedi and her companion taken alive if possible."

"Right away, My Lord."

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He tapped his foot.

Then he tapped it again. Before long his foot bounced against the floor like a yo-yo. His patience was running out, waiting on something or someone truly was agony. Especially when you know what fun lies ahead and Alex Mercer did like to have fun. Screw the Empire, Sith Lords, Bounty Hunters and pirates, the true enemy which was the bane of his existence was boredom. Being able to entertain yourself was of great importance for an immortal. Sometimes he just wanted to consume a famous entertainer and take over his life, it wouldn't amount to much but it would eliminate the risk of getting bored.

Alex now paced the conference room, flexing his fingers as if gripping an invisible cylinder. Oblivious to the stares he received from the other three individuals in the room. Voren had sent word over the comlink to the others about twenty-minutes ago. As he paced the room Alex realized he'd missed Blue a little, her naïve view of the galaxy had been entertaining. Blue was the nickname he chose for Mission. It fitted her well, after all she's…blue.

He sighed in front of the exit and stepped out; perhaps he'd find more entertainment in his own quarters.

Voren tilted his head towards Bastila. "I need to talk to you."

As they entered the cargo hold Voren continued. "There's something wrong with Mercer."

"I know."

Voren folded his arms. "You know? Then why haven't you said anything."

"I'm sorry," she began. "I should have said something sooner."

"He's like a void in the force; I can't feel his presence or his intentions. You don't think that might have been worth mentioning?"

Bastila sighed. "The council wants us to observe and learn more about him. The Jedi order haven't met a being like him before, he's an anomaly and potentially dangerous."

"So the council wants us to spy on our own team as we hunt down the greatest threat the Republic has ever faced? That's just great."

"You make it sound so sinister, we're merely going to observe him as we travel together."

"Fine, I'll do it. But I don't have to like it." Voren said and left Bastila standing alone in the cargo hold.

Bastila let out a breath. That could have gone better.

With nothing else to do at the moment while waiting for the rest of the team to arrive, she decided to start her assignment right away. Mercer was most likely in his room, doing whatever someone like him does. Leaving the cargo hold, she made her way down the corridor to the left and across to the other side of the shuttle. She could see the compartment door being open from a distance and moved carefully closer. Peaking inside she found Alex facing the other way, fully focused on a small datapad.

She took a step forward and over the threshold.

"I know your there, Jedi."

Alex tiled to the side and observed her from underneath his hood; they way her body stiffened meant she didn't think he'd notice her.

"What gave me away?"

"You mean besides your footsteps, your breathing and your…" Alex inhaled strongly. "Smell."

Bastila raised her brows and took a small step back. Did he just sniff me?

"What do you want?" He asked, staring at her with an unwavering gaze.

"I just wanted to get to know you a little better. Mind answering a few questions?"

"Fine."

Smiling, she began. "What kind of background do you have?"

A thousand different ones. "I'm a bounty hunter."

She studied him, his voice indifferent but sincere as he answered.

"And where were you born?"

"Alurion in the Outer Rim."

Nodding, she continued. "How old are you?"

He wasn't actually sure about that, it had only been a couple of months since he's 'rebirth' caused by the Empire's research team. But technically he had been buried alive for a couple of thousand years.

In the end he went with. "Thirty-two. Are we done?"

"Yes, I suppose we are."

"And did you gain any insight into who I am?"

"Well," she began. "I was studying how you responded."

"I hope my character is to your liking." Alex said, slightly annoyed.

"You answered honestly and you treated this as a serious matter, which it is."

This was true, what she also discovered was that she couldn't tell if he was lying or not, neither through the force nor through his body language. He both answered and acted as anyone trustworthy would, but she couldn't escape the feeling that he was leading her on. As their eyes met she realized why, no matter when he's fooling around or when he's genuinely trying to help, his gaze is always the same. Cold and calculating, it left her feeling very disturbed.

"Then you can go."

Alex's voice brought her out of her train of thoughts, nodding she went back the way she came. The council was right in keeping him under observation. The more she learned about him the more she realized just how dangerous he could be if left unsupervised.

Zeus picked up the small silver-colored datapad and once more scanned its content with an emotionless gaze; the first construction team had begun their work on Castell. The billion-credit deal with the Gossam Government would be quite helpful in the days to come. Everything was proceeding as he envisioned it, InterGalactic Ore was expanding its influence, work had begun on Project Genesis, the bounty hunter would soon secure earth's safety and soon he'd begin hunting down this Superweapon and make sure no one wins this war.

Indeed, everything was proceeding as it should.

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Au

To clarify Alex's absence from the force, he will be similar to the Yuuzhan Vong. He has midi-chlorians inside him, but he's unaware of them and they don't interact with anything. I haven't read too much concerning the Yuuzhan Vong so it might not be exactly the same, but it will be similar.