Author's Notes
Okay... I will admit that the scene of Naraiz going full god-mode on the Faceless Men is not in this chapter. It will be in the next one. I have it planned out and outlined and it would have made this chapter way too big. I only like making huge 15k+ chapters if soemhting really important happens or I feel like it. I don't feel like it.
"This has not been fun." I deadpan while jumping from one cluster of pipes to another as a gatling gun fired on me. This guy had come prepared, and he had also been watching me and Ivuc and within that short time devised means to counter us.
"Die worthless meat and grease the cogs of progress." The cyborg's voice echoed throughout the chamber as a salvo of rockets were fired from a newly built rocket battery. I quickly cloaked myself in the Force turning me invisible, then from an entirely new position I fired an Energy Blast destroying the rocket battery. The problem was the second I revealed my location I was immediately fired on by the dozen or so gun turrets already encamped. "You will eventually be grinded down into dust."
"Shut the fuck up you Engi on super cocaine!" We had started this off so naively. The cyborg was capable of using the Infinity Engines to create anything he wished right onto the battlefield. First, after we separated to avoid his initial attack he made sure to keep me and Ivuc apart. He created a small horde of those droids we had been fighting and sent them solely after Ivuc, my guess is because he detected that the Kaminoan was less adept at taking on large groups than I was. He was correct. I was a horde breaker, while I was an exceptional duelist… that wasn't my best. I was who they sent to crack and destroy entire armies by myself and my squad. As much as I hate to admit it, my crowning achievement of killing the Enteral Emperor couldn't have been done without the other player characters of the Old Republic. I dealt the final blow and had been the last front-liner standing but I was in no way a solo with that.
This fight was going to be a slog, Ivuc was still running around trying to not die at the hands of the droids. I however was jumping around like a monkey in a jungle trying to avoid the attention of our foe's considerable firepower. He had been quick to build up his arsenal and had now enough to where if I attempted to get in close to him all those turrets would unload such a massive amount of fuck off that I couldn't possibly avoid, deflect, or block it all. I would be hit and then at the mercy of his claws.
Long range was also ineffective. Somehow, even after seeing it once he had dissected my energy blasts and created a frequency of shielding that completely dispersed it! Credit where credit is due that is impressive but fucking annoying. Thankfully he still couldn't find me once I Force Cloaked myself and I was able to take shots at his turrets from angels he couldn't shield them as while he could he only was able to do so with his personal shield generator. It suggested that it was different from what the Infinity Engines could make which gave me some insights. The Infinity Engines could likely make anything, so long as the blueprint of said thing was uploaded into their memory. Something like a differently tuned shielding unit couldn't be made on the fly. This gave me a singular advantage but I was still recovering in terms of power stores, I couldn't use Force Cloaking for extended periods of time.
"By creation and destruction of knowledge, I am the font of progress and the warden of stagnation. Forever I shall hold vigil over the glory of the machines. Your trespass here will be nothing of a footnote." But I was getting sick of this and his speeches. So it was time to start using some of my tricks. I jumped up higher into the thicker parts of the machinery. Here I was a bit safer but he was going to use this time to make more rocket batteries and gun turrets. But right now I didn't care. I held out Midwan and Saarai, then dropped them. I hung right above the circle of turrets with that mechanical monster at the center. Of course the Force Blades didn't hit him but instead sliced partially into the floor near him. I force pulled my and my master's lightsabers out from their compartment in my leg and then took an assassin's creed leap of faith down into the waiting bullet hell. "Foolish barbarian, you shall die by your own stupidity."
The hundreds of blasters bolts fired upwards followed by several rockets all targeted right at me. I then ignited my lightsabers and with the Force floated them in front of me as I fell down. Then spun them at high speed creating a deflecting shield for my decent. The rockets still exploded upon impact but my armor and BI-6's reinforcement was able to take the brunt of the flames. It all lasted less than half a minute but my gambit paid off and I landed to floor unharmed… then I was pinned to the ground by two massive metal pincers.
"Now!" I shouted and from above, I could see the cyborg's augmented face slightly tilt to the side. But then two of the facial servos twitched slightly, likely picking up the sudden presence of two new combatants. But by then it was too late, there was this garbled screeching noise that came from the cyborg as Midwan and Saarai pierced his body, the dark sister cutting through several of his back legs and light sister piercing his lower back, where flesh torso met cold metal. They jumped back as his body hissed and crumpled back onto itself, letting me free. "Surrender Arkanian, your talent and skills are wasted here. You would be much better suited for a grander cause."
"Master, I don't think now is the time to seduce a new ally." Midwan warned as she and Saarai came to my side, their blades ready for any counter attack. I disagreed, this cyborg was clearly a savant when it came to tech. He was someone that I could use.
"Me? Submit to some witch-king? Some mystic barbarian that stinks of the foolishness of the Jedi and their tricks!" The cyborg growled with this heavily encoded voice. I was getting a bad feeling and it was confirmed when from behind I heard the clanking of metal hitting metal and saw the horde of droids that had been fighting Ivuc split off and started heading toward me.
"Midwan! Saarai!" I called as I readied my lightsabers for the incoming swarm. But then the loud crack of energy projectors. My battle reflexes kicked in and I Force spirited away but I was the only one. I looked back to see both Saarai and Midwan trapped in a small yellow box that was constrained against their bodies. "No!" I mentally commanded them to return to purely their sword forms. That only caused the energy shields to shrink down to cages for their swords.
"Complex biological constructs… your mystic powers pale in comparison to the cold logical design of reality. Simple physics and sciences can reproduce the glory of the Jedi and Sith." I watched as the swarm of droids then rushed past me and toward their master. My mind quickly knew what they were going to do and I couldn't allow it to happen. I bared my lightsabers but the second I did so I heard barrels roll and click into place. Only thanks to the Force's foresight did I not block the incoming bullets… because they were actually bullets. I created a Force bubble and struggled to catch all the rounds, physical metal rounds.
"Okay… you've really done your homework." I sighed in strained effort as I pushed back the many bullets caught in my shield. In that split second I ran away back to the cogs and pipes above. Him knowing about the effectiveness of slugs vs lightsabers is unexpected but it speaks volumes on this guy. Fucking no one figures that out, I was planning on doing it and having my Astartes mow down Jedi with bolter fire just because of this situation. Lightsabers deflect Blaster bolts, they melt metal slugs and with those slugs moving at high speeds that molten shrapnel ends up on the Jedi in question. If I had known that he was smart enough to figure this strategy out then I would have never let my Force Blades out of my hand.
I then looked down and it was like watching one of Michael Bay Transformers transform. The droids flung themselves at the cyborg and their parts looked to be disassembling and reassembling over his body. Interlocking with each other and shifting around to recreate. He soon became a surface of moving parts that stood back up, now upright on two frontal legs with the rest of his lower body dragging behind him as a form of support. His real biological body for a time was pushed forward at the collar of the growing beast. The cable like tentacles that came out of his back whipped and wailed until they each attached onto a piece of the new body and became taut. I groaned as it rose, I was now fighting a colossus. The thing roared in binary code as several encased gun turrets swiveled and locked onto me.
"Rhyhall!" I looked down to see Ivuc now freed from the attention of the swarm of droids start a charge toward the mechanical colossus. Jumping forward, I sensed a build of Force power in him, when he slammed forward the floor in front of him began to crumble away, looking like it was falling apart in cubes. This effect continued forward and fast enough to where the cyborg wasn't able to do anything before the ground under him fell apart and he started falling down to the darkness below. I don't know how far the next floor was but it was respite that I was going to take advantage of. Immediately I dropped down and fired two energy blasts to the sources of the cages that contained my blades. Then to my disappointment and rage, two new projectors hummed to life and took over the task of keeping my swords from me. "It seems that this entire room is an extension of that madman's will."
"This is not fun… nope." I grumbled as I started to pace back and forth. This guy has been effectively neutralizing everything I could throw at him. My eyes look over to the massive form of the Infinity Engine… no. Destroying it and its seeds are the only way to effectively win this fight but that is too big a loss. That was unacceptable. My entire plan hinges on the use of them to create the tools, equipment and even entire complexes that would allow me to build an army in secret. Then I turn my attention back to Ivuc. "What you just did was the most advance form of Shatterpoint I have ever seen. If it even was that."
"I do not know what this shatterpoint is, but I have called it the Yua'la. It has the double meaning in the my people's language to assemble and disassemble something. I found it a fitting name." Ivuc explained and it will always impress me what Force Users are able to come up with when not influenced by the doctrine of the Jedi and Sith.
"You'll have to…" I stopped as we heard a loud roar of metal tearing and foundation cracking coming from the hole that the cybernetic beast fell down. "This is the plan. I will-" But before I could continue a mechanical arm burst from the ground and swept us aside, its arm sweeping across the floor and sending us flying back with the force of its attack. The two of us weren't some inexperienced fools and righted ourselves midair and landed on our feet. We then watched as an even larger assembly of shifting mechanical parts pulled itself up out of the hole it had created. Only its upper torso made it before its girth hit the ceiling. "Okay… do that thing again. Go… go do it."
"I can't, it only works on a single surface." Ivuc said, dampening my mood. We both took several steps back but a quick glance back told us that we were approaching the wall. I'm… not sure how I'm going to get out of this. I need to start taking these non-canon situations more seriously. I had only expected Plagueis, Palpy, and the Jedi Masters to be the only single combat foes to watch out for at this point in time. But it seems that this galaxy has a few hidden boss fights.
"Barbarian mystics, suffer under the weight of science." The raspy and partly synthesized audio voice of the cyborg boomed all around us. The colossus loomed over everything, its arms moving to crush us and gun implements all over its body were locking on to their targets.
"Right, panic and hide in the corner time." I said as I could not find a single idea in my head on a way to get out of this. That meant cowering in a safe space was the best option at this point until I actually could discover a way to win this. "BI-6, shell both me and Ivuc, strongest density and reinforcement." No second later did I finish those orders, the sliver liquid metal of BI-6 flowed out of my armor and formed a solid bubble around me and my new apprentice. Then, several explosions happened, a great deal of metal hitting metal, and then finally the sounds of pressure hitting something it couldn't break.
"Creator, shell integrity failing. Total mass has been reduced by one sixth after initial barrage and under current kinetic strain I will be unable to protect you for no more than three hours." BI-6 reported as me and Ivuc took a breather. That was some news that I could live with for the time being. Three hours was plenty to work up a counter attack and if he was trying to crush the shell then there would be less surface area for him to destroy meaning that her total mass wasn't in as much danger.
"And when were you going to tell me you had something like this?" Ivuc asked and the answer was not likely any time soon. I ignored him for now as I needed to find a path out of the mess I have placed myself in. Sitting down, I took a breath, finding myself in the Force I started trying to pick at the threads of the future. But they were more slippery than usual. Ah… my doubt in this is making it nearly impossible to do. My mind is plagued by paranoia that anything I try and see will be a false vision made by the Crone. Logically I know that being so far from Terra made this highly unlikely but that didn't help me now.
"Sit down and communes with the Force. Hopefully you will have more luck than I'm having." I said as Ivuc didn't know about the Ones and their possible ability to screw with Force visions. But I also don't know how familiar he was with communing with the Force. I sensed hesitation before he walked over and kneeled down next to me. He really wasn't doing what I asked, it was like a child poking at something interesting with a stick. His mind wasn't open and he was simply sending probes out to the local Force instead of exposing himself to the wider all-encompassing reality of it. I opened my mouth to correct him on this but then I noticed something… the banging had stopped. "BI-6, status report."
"Current enemy has ceased physical assault and has not moved in twenty three seconds." BI-6 responded back to me and that was odd. Given how thoroughly and quite honestly scarily well this guy has been countering every move of mine… sitting back and doing nothing was about the worst play here. "He has also been continuously attempting to access my net-sphere, however I have already identified his code signature and have flagged his mannerisms and digital fingerprint as priority one purge target. He has not stopped despite this being futile."
"We've got him." I say as my eyes light up with hope. This is it… and was so stupid not to think of this before. BI-6 is a toaster… a very sexy toaster. Oh cog boy your cyberdong must be aching right now. "BI-6, disengage from shell protocol but do not return to my armor." There was several seconds that passed by before any change in my droid occurred. Likely her contemplating whether or not she should refute my orders. But she did follow them and flowed out of the shell and into her normal body. Ivuc stood back up, already on guard and wondering just what had changed so suddenly. I then looked up, smirking behind my helmet at the still colossus. "He's still trying to hack into you?"
"No creator, he has changed his outright attempts of override to bribing, threatening, and coercing me into telling him my secrets and joining him." BI-6 stated and I knew I had him now. This man was a fanatic technophile, one that worships technology and likely wants little more out of life than to discover the secrets of the natural universe. Science was his mistress and right now my Droid was a very seductive avatar of that mistress.
"Creator? You claim the honor of creating this… marvel…" For the first time, I heard genuine emotion from this man. Desire and need. BI-6 was highly advanced in both hardware and software. Her entire body was a shifting mass of semi-liquid metal that contained with it memory codes that would allow it to automatically form the proper circuits within its ever moving body. Her software didn't need to think about recreating its most valuable parts, the metal reformed on its own like that. She was an undeniable marvel of technology.
"Why yes I did. My focus of study with non-marital aspects of study is in material science, cybernetic, and engineering. Much like yourself I can see." In truth this man and I probably did study under the same schools of science far more closely then he would like to admit. If anything what he's done is pretty much what I'd do if I didn't have the Force.
"It would seem that you are not the barbarians I had thought you to be. But you might actually be men of intelligence such as myself." And with that that colossus hissed and began moving apart. Its body reforming to allow the man himself at the center a easy walkway down to the ground. Then I was able to see his true body, which was just a smaller version of the first one that he had come in with. Upper half was a hunchbacked humanoid while the lower half was a scorpion like construct minus the tail. The back mechanical tendrils all latched onto either his duel left arms or his low half. The many lights that shown out from under his white hood changed from menacing red to a pure white much like the rest of his clothes. "I am Huldrak Otantre, once the head scientist of a Republic Black-Ops mission to study these wondrous devices. That was… I have lost track of the time."
"Must been long enough for the Republic to forget about this place or what it held." I mused as there was no way the current Republic would ever let up on this find. And from what I can tell, the outside facilities were run down enough to where it could be over a thousand years. This man must be using some insane life extension tech… but then again he is an Arkanian and they are not known for their reluctance in regards to ethical concerns.
"My last transmission to the Republic was the screams of those fools that didn't understand the importance of progress. I do not know how they took it besides they did not disturb me." He said in a callous and unrepentant way that I had no issue with but I could sense that Ivuc did. This might not turn out well.
"So you gassed your own people because they disagree with you. It's the duty of a leader to listen his people and take in their needs along with the needs of the group." Ivuc growled as he stepped forward threateningly. I could feel his growing disgust at the cyborg. They were polar opposites, one was a man that did all he could for others and didn't care about anything but simple survival. Meanwhile the other was cold as ice and did anything to further his own beliefs at the cost of all those around him. "What you did was-" Ivuc gasped as he felt his throat close up for just a second before I released my grip around his neck.
"Now is not the time apprentice." I said in a low warning. Not a bit of my usual wit or humor in my voice. We had somehow escaped the jaws of an uncaring beast and I wasn't about to lose all I had worked for so this naïve old man could spout off to that very beast. "We are not here to debate the philosophy of leadership. We came here to secure your people's future and the doom of the Republic."
"You seek the Infinity Engine." Huldrak stated simply before we all looked to the thrumming orb that was laid at the center of the chamber. "You may not be barbarians but are you thieves?"
"No, I'm sure we can work out some sort of arrangement. Let us speak somewhere more appropriate and allow time to cool heads. There is much discussion to be had between us." I said, maintaining my serious persona. There was a time to quip jokes and have fun but now was the time to act like the emperor I claimed I was. I would have to negotiate the terms by which this Huldrak would join my Empire… and he would have to. It was clear that he was no fool and would sense any deception on my part. I needed to convince him before I left that my plan for the galaxy was in his best interest. All while containing my new apprentice and ironically teaching him that ideals must be set aside for when in need for the greater purpose. Like I have said before, I embrace hypocrisy if it means to further my vision for the galaxy because I know I alone I'm right.
"Are you sure that this is a good idea?" Mysa asked as she and others of her circle of friends followed one of the other girls through the catacombs. The acolytes had gotten very familiar with the underground section of Harrenhal and had even started making their own little club houses down in the larger tombs. No one had ever been buried down here so it wasn't like they were stepping on the long dead.
"Of course it is, don't you want to prove to that stuck up hussy Crane that we can pull off Tyroshi hair dye way better than she can." Mysa really honestly couldn't give to dead rats to what people thought of her. And the catty bickering her friends had started getting into was really grating on her nerves. They all were growing up, most of them have had their first blood by now and yet they weren't even a bit more mature. But this was her curse, to be the eldest among a circle of friends that really needed to grow up a bit.
"They told us that we can't go into town, we have a curfew." One of the other few not noble born members of this grouping of girls mentioned and those that did have noble blood scoffed at the idea. Mysa was really only accepted among them because she and Miana had taken the leadership role of their entire faction of acolytes. If it wasn't for that fact she would have never been invited.
Truth be told she really only put up with them because the guys are starting to get even worse. She was Dornish, it was in her blood to be a bit more free morally. But even she had standards and quite honestly very few of the guys were really meeting them. Only Thoren and Howland were really in her book decent. Miana just kept telling her that she expected too much but that rang hollow coming from the person that Mysa considered to be at the tippy top of her standards. Just remembering their first kiss brought a smile to her lips but then that quickly sunk as she heard a gasp of excitement as moonlight was seen.
"Come on, my parents sent me enough of an allowance for me to treat you all. By tomorrow we're all going to putting Crane and her gaggle of sluts to shame." The rest of the girls all cheered after they had assembled outside the exit they had just pulled themselves through. Mysa on the other hand stayed and looked back at the crack in the wall that they had exited out of. She had a bad feeling but was taken away when one of the other girls took her hand and dragged her off toward the Veiled district. All the while none of these girls noticed that they had drawn the attention of eyes that held nothing but ill intentions toward them.
"Does it look like we are in agreement?" I asked as I turned off the holo-projector. I had just finished negotiating for my plans as they concerned Huldrak, his possible role in my Empire, and the Infinity Engines and how they would be used. To sum it up, I would put him in charge of my version of the Mechanicus.
Said organization would be in charge of technological research and large scale industrial production. Given how I wasn't about to let Mega-Corps infest my Empire and corrupt it from the inside, I was going to do a bit of space communism and hand over all military industry, and most of the material production over to state control. Civilian goods and luxury goods would remain in the hands of the Free Market.
He would be made Fabricator-General and would be allowed to dictate much of the laws, customs, and handling of this Imperial Mechanicus. Other than how it was organized he had total freedom to how it would be run while I had a veto power that I could use sparingly. The world of Trogan would be the headquarters and the original Infinity Engine would remain here. The Seeds would be spread out among initially the planets that would be used as the training and birthing worlds of the Imperial Legions and then once the Empire was in full swing be relocated to the most heavily industrialized worlds which would be handed over to the Mechanicus to rule directly. These new Forge Worlds would at as hubs of the organization and be our primary production centers as well.
All in all, Huldrak wasn't as shrewd at diplomacy as he was in other areas. The hard part was convincing him to go along with my idea at all and then once that was done he defaulted to my offers though to be fair they were generous. Getting him on board took a bit, proving my intelligence and I had to prove to him that Force Alchemy wasn't some mumbo jumbo like some of the other powers of the Force. I explained to him some of the basics and even demonstrated a bit of Rune Crafting and how precise it needed to be. I then used an analogy that seemed to peak his interest, in that I compared the Force to like a reality code. In that the Force was effectively the software of the physical universe and Force Users were simply tapping into that Code. He seemed to like this and let the matter of my Force Using powers drop.
"Acceptable." Huldrak said evenly and without much to go on with how he felt about this turn of events. I also wasn't pleased to hear his lack of deference to me. Likely he saw us as precarious equals, that would have to change but only once I get back my full strength. He had already returned my Force Blades but as I still lacked my full strength in the Force I wasn't comfortable using their trump card. That was the only play I could use to win against Huldrak on his own turf. "I shall agree to your terms should you provide the droid to my custody."
"BI-6? You want my droid?" I asked and… I wasn't opposed to this. Mainly because I knew he was incapable of rewriting her programming. I couldn't do that any more and Naraiz was supposed to be the only one able to even access it to start with. She had reached the singularity point and was pretty much beyond interference. So if I left her here, it would be a perfect spy and failsafe.
"Yes. I wish to study it. You have already explained that it is a product of science and your Force Alchemy. I want to find the blurred line between them and exploit it." He said with an echo of hungry that did make me feel a bit concerned for BI-6.
"-Creator… I am feeling torn between the tactical advantage of agreeing to this stipulation and the prospect of leaving your side.-" I heard within the inside of my helmet. BI-6 was still kinda needed as clearly she was invaluable at keeping my ass alive while I'm still in a weakened state. But… I used her as bait and now that move needs to come to its natural conclusion. If I yank that bait away, Huldrak could flip the table and just try to take BI-6 by force. Which he could. On the other side, I need BI-6 for a number of things on an individual level, both for utility, offense and defense. Aw fuck it, I want my cog-boys!
"Deal." With that BI-6 melts out of my armor and flows to Huldrak's side. He turns to her and immediately I can sense from him all sorts of muted emotions. I feel the need to blue ball him a little. "However understand that BI-6 will not become your property. She had evolved… or devolved depending on you look at it, to the point where I and no one else has any control over her. She only listens as I command because she decides to do so." I say there is definitely a reaction from the cyborg but it's hard to tell what direction it goes in.
"If that is all, please leave my world. I have much to prepare for now." And with that he turned and began walking toward a wall that simply retracted for him to walk through. BI-6 looked at me and several data packages were transmitted over to my suit. A brief glance over them and I could tell that they were her Real kill codes and a backup drive of her consciousness. Ah, in case Huldrak is successful at turning her against me I have the means to stop her and a version of her that I can reinstall. Then she followed Huldrak and the wall closed up behind her. Then every wall started to recede and I got a good idea of what this place really was. When me and Ivuc had first entered, the labyrinth of hallways was simply just being generated as we traveled.
"It would seem that from the moment we stepped into his domain we were at his mercy." Ivuc said in begrudging awe as he had been waiting outside the room. We were now staring up at the shifting form of the entire complex that seriously gave me the impression of the guts of Aperture Science labs. A catwalk formed for us to walk back to the ruined vault door we had entered in from.
"Ivuc, I will be taking you back to Kamino. Tell your people that within two weeks ships will arrive with one of the smaller Seeds. With it you will be able to produce all the supplies you can need for the immediate future." I explain as I start heading out. Cipher will be sending his agents to both Kamino and Trogan to finalize their conversion into my plans. I trusted him to have a collection of people to handle this properly and act loyally. Likely people grabbed up from the Imperial population that wanted a return to the old days. Kamino would be supplied properly, via Cipher's network of agents and an Infinity Seed. With this the Kaminoan population should be stabilized and ready to make the trip out to the secret cloning bases that I will be setting up. I still need to comb over the galactic north to find these worlds. On that side of things I'm going to need to study the Kaminoan Repository data myself and start working on the blueprint for the Legions.
The Legions will be split up into two halves, the Astartes and the Clone Legionaries. The Astartes will of course act as the Marines, fulfilling the planetary assault role along with the elites of each Legion. Unlike in 40k, each Legion will not solely be made up of Astartes but be properly twenty/eighty with the normal Clones the majority. Once the Astartes take a beachhead, the Guard will come in and fortify it and begin conventional warfare with Astartes support where appropriate. Each Legion will differ in role, size, culture, training, and deployment. The key to victory with a high quality but low quantity army is to specialize as much as you can. Maximize the fact you don't have a lot of dudes by making sure that they are damn good at what they do and are only deployed in what they are good at.
My next goal is to find Lehon and get it started on my fleet but after that I will be hunting down all the pieces to my Legions. Namely the genetic pieces. The templates, exotic DNA to enhance my Astartes, the tools that will help shape their minds and bodies, and much more. If I was going to make a Clone Army and have it be ready in time for this ramped up galaxy, then I would be needing to grab up every advantage I could get. And that included the non-clone elements. Engineers to bring my nerd fantasies of military armor to life, capable military officers that could led men in battle, droids for battle auxiliaries and logistical support. There was still so much to do and so little time, gaining the allegiance of the Kaminoans and finding the Infinity Engines didn't mean I had the war won… it just meant I now had a chance.
"You look weird and it's getting really late." Mysa was seriously debating whether or not to just ditch these girls all together. Yeah sure they were nobles and had connections and all that, but she was missing her lower born friends. One side of her was saying that this was good for her in the Assembly, that these girls and all their little followers would stay in the North-Dorne block so long as she put up with them. But the rest of her just wanted to punch them out most of the time.
"Oh come now, I think I look really good." The lead girl that had dragged them all out said with a pleased look on her face. Her previously chestnut hair was now a bright blue that would stand out in any crowd. Other girls had a rainbow of colors that they had gotten from the Tyroshi merchant that had been kind enough to show them how to apply the dye. They had then spent the rest of the day doing just that, Mysa herself opted to sit this one out, she was perfectly content with her Dornish locks.
"Well at least we didn't get into trouble." Mysa sighed as they group of giggling girls made their way back to the crack in the wall that they had snuck out of. Only now they found it blocked off by a wagon with broken wheels. Immediately this stopped the group of acolytes in their tracks. The hole that traveled down to the catacombs was located in a remote undeveloped part of the city. That's why it hadn't been sealed up yet and why the acolytes were able to use it to sneak outside of curfew.
"Do you think the Black Cloaks found it and covered it up?" One of the girls asked but from the worry in her voice Mysa guessed that she didn't believe that. No, if the city guard had found it then one of them would be here guarding it.
"Are we going to have to go through the front gate? This thing is too heavy for us to move." The lead girl complained and that finished it for Mysa. First off, if they all actually tried and worked together then she was sure they could move it out of the way. But more importantly, these girls seemed so dumb as to forget something very important. "They're going to lock us in our rooms and… ooh?"
They girls all watched as Mysa reached out with the Force and lifted the wagon all on her own. She bit her lip at the strain, and cursed the little bitches for not helping her out their own power. When they got back to the keep she was going to go right back to her old friends and spill all the secrets these girls shared. Screw the fact Grayjoy was going to take the vote lead for a few Assembly meetings.
But then as Mysa started to lower the wagon away from the hole in the wall, she felt a rush of dread and her sense in the Force screamed at her to take action. Moving purely on instinct and the will of the Force, she flicked her wrist and put all the strength she had in her power, and flung the wagon back over her and the group of acolytes. The wagon flew over their heads and crashed behind them, a scream of pain echoed around along with the crash. The Dornish bastard looked back and saw the dye merchant underneath the now ruined wagon.
"What did you do that for Sand!" The lead girl shouted as they saw who she had assaulted. The girls all ran over her and started shouting at her while two of them headed over to the downed merchant he was struggling to get free. Mysa ignored them and narrowed her eyes then looked down at her hands, wondering why she felt like they were all in danger. But that sense of dread never left her, her body was still ready for action when another scream hit her ears. This time it was the girl that brought them all out, and her newly dyed blue hair was now matted with blood that had spilled out from her neck.
It all happened so fast. Mysa's eyes widened as she took a step back. Girls that she had been hanging around with for the past few months were dying. The second the merchant was freed by their own hands, a blade appeared from nowhere and was slicing vital spot after vital spot. Blood spattered on the ground and not even a minute had gone by since the first death scream and the killer was rushing forward toward Mysa and the rest of them. Her mind raced, memories of those girls that had just died, or her family back in Dorne, all the acolytes that looked up to her, and her best friend… no… the girl she loved. They all past by as time seemed to slow and her vision tunneled, all that existed now was the sound of the killer's steps as they grew closer, the sight of face and the emptiness of emotion that it expressed, then the crimson that glinted on the small dagger in his hand.
"Miana." She whispered as her body locked up in the fear of what was about to happen. Death had a hold over her neck and as the killer took a last step toward her and raised his blade to cut her… thunder cracked and the man was knocked away. His head flung back and the force of whatever hit him sent his body flying to the ground and crashing back into the ruined wagon and bodies. Then everything went quiet. Mysa's kneels buckled under her and she fell to them and her hands. Whatever was in her stomach pulled itself out of her and she threw up onto the ground as the smell finally hit her brain. She had never smelled death and now it was all around her.
"Over here! We found them!" Mysa vaguely heard and soon after felt a cloak being draped over her as someone helped her up. The Black Cloaks had arrived and were cordoning off the area, one of them was helping Mysa forward. He guided her as she didn't have much agency of her own in that moment. As she past the bloody scene, she saw the man that had just tried to kill her, his face was caved in and destroyed beyond all recognition.
"I should have been faster!" Pierce roared as he slammed his fists down on the table. Quinn meanwhile was too focused on the letter he was in the middle of writing. The incident with the acolytes had just happened not an hour ago and now a meeting had been called to discuss what to do. Rathari was out posing as Naraiz away from Harrenhal, discussing a trade deal with the Vale for stone now that the stone from repurposed towers were spent. Melisandre had left with him for reasons only known to herself. So here sat Quinn, Pierce, Fay, and Jaesa for some reason. "If I had just been a little faster, I could have lined up the shot before… before… fuck." The soldier said before falling back into his seat, his hand grasping his face in distress.
"This world has certainly had an effect on you Pierce. I don't think I can recall you getting so worked up over some casualties." The man gave Jaesa death glare for that comment. Not only was it not in good taste but also he still massively resented the woman for what she had done.
"Those were kids, I would think you of all people would have a bit of sympathy here!" Pierce threatened as a good deal of his built up anger towards Jaesa bleed through here.
"Enough." Quinn said before this devolved further. "The fault lies in me; I did not properly survey the keep and its catacombs. Mother Talzin would have set the wards at that tunnel opening had she been informed. We are only lucky that someone had reported the Acolytes."
"And then you used them as bait!" Pierce shouted as his ire moved from Jaesa to Quinn. "We've already killed four of these Faceless Men including this one. Are we seriously going to keep risking these kids and our people here while we sit on our hands and wait for Naraiz!? We need to do something!"
"Stand down!" Quinn ordered and Imperial training took hold and Pierce quieted again and backed down. "As I stated before, it's not that we lack the desire to do something, it;s that we lack the ability." The Governor took a breath and held up the letter that he had been writing. "This is a letter to the parents of Retta Vaith, I still have one more letter to write. It is a grave failure on my part that I even have to write to these small pieces on the board but I will because it is because of my leadership that their children are dead. Do not question my feelings on this matter." The room went silent before Quinn sat back down and soon the only sound was the starching of his quill on the paper. Pierce slowly sat back down in his seat, feeling deflated in his anger but still unnerved by the lack of action. He hated just sitting around but would continue to do as ordered.
"Quinn." Fay started seeing as she had the least interpersonal issues with those here. She was still very much an outsider when compared to the long history between these three. As such it was less likely anything she said would be taken personally. "The current situation can not go on. There must be some way to contact Darth Nagash and request him to return."
"This system does not have a Holo-Net or communication relay as and is situated far from any intersystem hub. This affords us added secrecy but no communication can come in or out." Quinn answered with an even focused tone. Fay supposed that her approach was correct and she was going to have to play mediator while tensions were high.
"I've seen Darth Nagash call his Chiss ally before."
"Cipher Nine is in possession of a two way Quantum Entangled Holo-Comm which Lord Nagash has its twin. They are only capable of communicating with each other but without limits or threat of spying." Quinn replied and Fay sighed at this lost avenue. Quantum Entanglement communication was still very high level within the Republic. She knew that the Jedi Council and the Military Board used it regularly within their top ranks along with a select few spies but it hadn't been made efficient enough for wider use. For Darth Nagash to have a set of Holo-Comms with this technology was not unexpected but unusual to say the least.
"Then give me back my ship." The others looked at her at this request. "I know that you must have resembled it by now. It wouldn't make sense to keep it parted up. So give it back and I will fly out of system and contact Darth Nagash and tell him that he must return."
"And what would stop you from never returning?" Pierce asked the first part of the question she knew was coming.
"Nothing, you will have to trust me." She answered and knew that this was asking a lot. They valued nothing more than the secrecy of this world. If the Republic found Terra now it would spell doom for their new Order and pretty much everyone on this world. The Jedi would not heed their warnings on the Ones trapped here and would easily be manipulated by them.
"You're a Jedi. We can't trust you." Jaesa had this knowing smirk on her face that sickened Fay as she already knew the truth. But she just wanted Fay to say aloud.
"I… I am an Agent of the Light Side. I belong to no Order and I have made peace with that." Fay said knowing that this wasn't the full truth but not a lie. She couldn't say that was one of them, but she also couldn't deny that the Jedi had lost their way. So she would stand in neutrality and claim the Force as her only sovereign. Jaesa smiled and said nothing more, the men in the room also remained silent but not because they were satisfied with her answer.
"We did indeed reassemble your starship. Your plan could work, by why should it be you? Any number of Talzin's Nightsisters could be of use here." Quinn proposed and Fay was left reeling at the logic of that. With that said Quinn dotted the final punctuation on his letter and then stood up. "Thank you Instructor Fay for bringing this option to my attention. Your craft had slipped my mind. We will be…"
"Let her go." Pierce interrupted Quinn as he continued to stare down, his mind in his own thoughts over this matter. Quinn's unreadable expression continued as he looked to Pierce and then glanced over to Jaesa. He sighed and turned back to Fay with a frown on his face.
"Your ship will arrive tonight at the landing pad. You are to use it to leave the system and acquire a Holo-Net signal and inform Lord Nagash of our need for him to return. Details of why he should return should be kept at a minimum, but the urgency can not be understated." Quinn stated flatly and then walked out of the room. Pierce gave a hard meaningful look to Fay who understood the intent behind it, that he had stuck his neck out for her. Once he left it was just her, Jaesa, and Pandora in the room.
"He's going to hate it when you prove him wrong." Jaesa said with a happy giggle but didn't specify which one she was talking about. And the scary thing to Fay was, she didn't know the answer to that question.
There was something wrong. As we entered the Kaminoan system, I could feel ebbs in the Force that unnerved me. Small ripples of conflict that while wouldn't be anything abnormal in a more populated system, was odd for Kamino. I frowned as I knew exactly what was happening.
"This was a test not only for me but also for your people." I said as I sensed a feeling of tension building in Ivuc. "Now you have your answer of what would happen should you be removed from your people." I continued to stare out into the blackness of space as the ship flew toward Kamino and Ivuc walked over to the nearby communication terminal. His anxiety grew and grew as he kept trying to contact someone from his homeworld. This continued until Kamino was in sight and a flicker of something came up on the Holo-projector.
"-nyone out there! We-" Their message continued going in and out. In it a Gray-Eyed Kaminoan sounded like he was sending out a SoS which was strange. But it was indicative of the situation. My guess, malcontents have risen up and there was a civil war raging on the surface. Once we were in orbit however the signal was cleared up. "-They are killing civilians and herding the rest into camps. Please, if anyone can hear this we need help!-"
"Lama Su." Ivuc whispered in recognition, I simply recognized the name. That was the Kaminoan that was in Episode 2. "If it's cleared up maybe we can contact them." Ivuc said and looked back to me. I nodded to Katz who began working his terminal and establishing contact to the surface. After a few moments of further static we connected with the same Kaminoan male answering our call. "Lama, it's Ivuc. What is happening, why are you sending out an unencrypted signal?"
"-Ivuc, by the deeps it is you. You must return to the surface. Those fools have revolted against you. They are rounding everyone up and are planning on destroying the repository.-" Oh… that was not happening. And I knew that Ivuc knew that the repository was his people's only hope at this point. I had the Infinity Engines now, meaning if push came to shove I could create a Droid army instead of a Clone one. Meaning his position at the table wasn't as stable as it used to be. He was an interesting oddity but not nearly irreplaceable, and he was smart enough to know that. "-They are claiming you are bringing back the old ways once the off-worlders give us resources.-"
"No! We are the cusp of revival and now they break? Unbelievable." This was a long time coming. And despite his words now, he knew it too. He left because he wanted to see if I was worth following and to see what could happen when he died. The sad thing is, this is what happened when he left the world with the intent of returning. It would have been far worse if he died without a clear successor. "Lama, where are you and what is the situation?"
"-Myself and much of the bunker guard are holed up at the armory and the entrance atrium. But the rebels have access to the dive lagoons and have already started sending subs to find the repository.-" Right, this needed to end swiftly and brutally. I could sense Ivuc cracking under the weight of what was happening. Everything he had worked for was tearing itself apart and what was worse was it was people that had pride in the society that he had built. It was true that their fear was understandable but their lack of faith in him showed.
"Vette, fly the ship to the Kaminoan settlement." I said before turning and heading to the elevator to take me down. Ivuc moved to follow me but without any indication I locked him into place with the Force and walked out of the cockpit alone. The doors closed behind me and I used my master codes to keep it from accepting any new commands unless given the right authorization. Vette could open them back up but she wouldn't as she understood me and my intentions. It was time to scare the Cloners straight.
The Chilling Sound flew down the beached ruins that marked the last Kaminoan settlement. I dropped from the boarding ramp without the ship landing and it quickly flew off. Not giving the rebelling Kaminoans a possible chance to shoot it down. I walked through the ruins not as some treasure seeking opportunist but a warrior-king on his way to put down the rabble. Some of Ivuc's commandos melted out of the ruins and attempted to detain me or escort me… didn't care which. I knocked their weapons from their hands, a warning not to interfere or else the next time wouldn't be so friendly. Thankfully they made the smart move and did nothing, also probably radioed their friends to warn them not try anything with me.
That proved to be correct as when I came to the vault doors of the Kaminoan bunker, it opened up without much fuss. I walked down the sterling white hallway, several barricades had been hastily erected and turrets had been moved to face inward rather than outward. The Kaminoan soldiers all hugged the walls as much they could without looking too much like panicked wusses. My guess is that the Force really freaked them out, might explain how Ivuc was able to get into power.
The main vault door opens up to the large atrium that my team and I had been brought into the last time I was here. There was signs of battle but mostly just more hurried reinforcements to the doors and generally a sense of panicked preparation. Several of the Kaminoans here openly stare at me but most were currently funneling into the only open door and with each one that entered the sound of battle increased. That was where I was going to start. I strode past the Kaminoan soldiers and using the Force I pulled the loyalists out of the hall and then slammed the busted doors shut behind me. The impact of what I was about to do would be better if they only heard it. Let their minds play and construct their own versions.
"Right… let's have a little mood lighting." And with that I shattered the lumen bulbs that kept the hallway lit. My night vision in my helmet kicked in and I saw at the end of the hall that the rebel soldiers were scrambling to bring back the lights. They lack the military equipment that the loyalists had, but they had numbers and enough guns to make themselves a threat. Too bad for them I excelled at breaking such advantages.
The angry red glow of my lightsabers filled the hallway and I dashed with inhuman speeds. My Force Blades couldn't reflect blaster bolts and quite honestly both Midwan and Saarai weren't suited for grunts. In their released forms they certainly were on par with any lightsaber and even in their sealed form they were very fine blades but at the end of the day they were overkill. Plus the psychological impact of seeing the glowing red of a Sith's lightsaber flying toward someone was debilitating. The right tool for the right job.
In my right hand, currently slicing through the first of the Kaminoan rebels as I stepped over their pitiful excuse for improvised cover, was my master's lightsaber. A very unique slightly curved hilt in that it contained a fang of Korriban Dragoon, a very deadly native beast that was so fearsome that it survived the invasion of Sith monsters that infested the world. Then in my left, at the moment parrying two blaster bolts shot by some crazed with fear Kaminoan, was the stolen Blade of Arcann, that fucking bastard was critical in the Alliance falling apart. And while I didn't have the honor of ending his life, I did have the honor of nicking his lightsaber out from the Jedi's noses. A replaced kyber crystal later and I had my second Lightsaber.
"No! Nooo-" One of the many Kaminoans shooting at me screamed before I cut his body in half just before using one of his severed halves as a spring board to jump and reflect a few more bolts back at the heads of those that fired them at me. I swarmed and weaved, repelled off walls and blinked between bodies. I was a blur of death and cut my way through hallways of rebellious Kaminoans. All the while I shattered any light in my path just before they saw me. Though I guess they never did, only the light of my blades.
I opened every door I came across; some had more dudes. Those I would usually cloak myself and then reappear in the middle of them and do a cool kick flip. They would be so amazed that they just died… or it might have been me choking the life out of their tall necks. Other times it would be the herded civilians which I would just leave alone. I'd rather not have them wander into one of my kill zones. I was really looking for those diving lagoons that I heard about, I needed to shut down their sub operations as soon as possible.
But then as I was searching, something came up on my helmet's HUD. An incoming call. That was weird, it was an unrecognized ID and my Holo-comm ID was only known to a few people in the entire galaxy… seeing as it hadn't been in use for thousands of years. So I butchered my way through the halls of Kamino. I answered because my curiosity was peaked.
"Who is this and if you say my starship insurance has expired I will find you and kill you." That wasn't an empty threat. What was the point of becoming a badass Sith Lord if I couldn't kill every scammer that tried to fuck with me.
"-This isn't the time Sith.-" I stopped in my killing when I heard Fay's voice. The Kaminoans I had been slaughtering took that as a chance to retreat and smart of them for not shooting me as they did so.
"How the hell are you calling me?" That should be impossible. We hadn't set up Holo-Net communication to Terra yet. I was still even debating if I should. And then it hit me. "Those dummies gave you back your ship."
"-It is my property.-"
"I thought the Jedi didn't believe in property?"
"-You're not funny.-"
"That's not a no." I'm having fun right now.
"-Listen!-" Touchy. "-You need to return to Terra right now. Something has come up that needs your attention immediately.-" Eh… I can't go ten minutes without everything falling apart. Seriously, people need to learn how to handle their own problems. Quinn is very capable at leading things, so are Rathari and Talzin so they have plenty of people that could take care of things.
"I'm a little busy here, putting down a rebellion and then I'm going to have to work on-"
"-Your daughter has been targeted by the Faceless men.-" I'm pretty sure that all that rumbling isn't a natural earthquake.
Reviews
Starlord Master - its star wars... yes there are ruins everywhere
AJ Harvey - He's been doing that for awhile now. He's been Earth Bending for a long time, he first showed it off in this story in that Jaesa fight after the first time skip. Granted it's not using martial arts but I don't want to use something I'm not super familiar with as i don't want to disresepct it.
VoteableDuke - Close
Kalvernus - He won't. That's why I used her like this, so she would have some plot relavence.
ZhaWarudo - it won't be the same Cog-Boys but it will be close.
AO Black - It is currently 275 AC
Rapidnoob - unlikely
Dracus6 - no
Kankup70 - I didn't
RDLV - I am cursed, every time I get a Bata they vanish on me after a few chapters. And the last one was really good too.