[14 BBY]
[G'rho, G'rho System, Shiritoku Spur, Wild Space]
G'rho had been depopulated. Not entirely, but it was a tale of horror from start to finish as I walked it surface with the survivors we'd pulled out of 'processing facilities' or had come out of hiding when Imperial vessels had taken to the skies. Cleared the skies of the invaders to be more accurate as I stood in my armour, gazing at the technological horror before, damaged though it may be as the invaders sought to destroy their mobile facility as their fleet was crushed in orbit. These were no sorcerers or necromancers, but, instead, mad artificers that had intruded on the realms of the divine with their sacrilegious abomination. They needed to be destroyed for this.
Yet, more grating to me, was their fear. Unlike many of this dimension they had the understanding of the Soul, and of Faith, and Religion…and they had committed this atrocity against nature. Here they cowered in fear of actually dying, far from their so-called sacred worlds, afraid they would not see their afterlife. Here amidst the scenes of their crimes, of the souls of younglings stolen and damned, of the flesh that they would eat if we had not defeated them. Before me was an enemy that I could not tolerate, nor countenance as the extent of their arrogant, sacrilegious, and debased horror was laid bare before us.
Entechment they called it.
Worse than many of the vilest necromancers on a dozen other worlds they were. They were saurian in nature and detailed how they had done it to their own kind, a related species that they had enslaved. I stood, cold, listening as they described the enslaved of billions of souls, and had clearly come here to do this…abomination…to those of lived here. The Force seemed to vibrate around me, my rage cold and focused and under control as I stood before the machine I was making these Ssi-ruu repair. Repair and explain, in fucking great detail, how every step and system functioned, and why they had developed it, and all the other nasty historical terror they'd come up with and used across their society.
They had made a massive mistake.
"….converts life energy into…" the dinosaur bodied 'scientist' explained after being Force 'persuaded' with great effort into spilling the secrets of their species. I took notes. I was good at that, in another life, another spellcaster, and I drew upon those memories now as I calmly, coldly, took detailed notes of this abomination they had created. Reached out with my power, with and through the Force, to see, in excruciating detail, the horrible process as I unnerved Asajj and the watching Nighsisters, let alone Celeste. Stass and the other Jedi had been banished from this place, as they wished to kill my prisoners for the massive crimes that they had clearly committed and admitted too.
That was far too merciful in my mind.
{What are you doing?} Asajj queried as I had the machines repaired, watching as the finishing touches were added {This does not…}
"It serves many purposes Asajj, dear" I stated aloud watching the graves being dug before me, my arms folded across my armoured chest, breathing steadily inside my helmet "It was why Barriss is very much not hear, as this unpleasant business. You may leave if it disturbs any of you by the way. But we must understand the process, in depth, so they we can effectively destroy this techno-horror they have created. You have heard the good doctor….an entire species, a multi-system empire, utilising this disgusting practice to power their machines, both civil and martial"
I paused, looking at the machine, mind on screaming souls of children that it had converted into fuel for droid-fighters we had destroyed. Freed by us in true death at last "We are putting an end to it. By whatever means we must. Sacrifices must be made for the greater good"
"Ugh, Daron are you sure…"
"Asajj, dear" my voice was calm, kind "Sometimes we must do things that are unpleasant. This is very unpleasant, very, very, unpleasant. But it must be done. Is that not so Celeste?"
Jedi Master Morne was uncomfortable, but answered me honestly "I am…inclined to agree with Ventress, this is…"
"A necessary process. No innocents shall suffer in the name of the Empire compared to what is occurring in star systems distant from here. That occurred here till we arrived. We all hear those souls screaming. It is why my other wife…and my knights it seems" I said, feeling Karis and Naa'leth gladly take up the offer to leave, only myself, my Sith wife, the Jedi Shadow, my droid bodyguards, and the soon to be dead in the room "Good. Senior Scientist, are we prepared?"
"Yes Commander" the Ssi-ruu replied in a confused tone, all the 'entechment' technicians under a compulsion, all having completed their assigned task "This facility is once again ready to power the Imperium"
"Hmm, yes, apparently it is" I stated coldly, still holding my book, still writing, as I nodded "I do believe we need to document this process Senior Scientist. Yes. Very much so"
I already had plenty of theory to work with, explained in detail by the 'experts' before me over the last two days and nights since we'd retaken the nearly dead colony. But I still needed practical knowledge of the nightmarish process to create a ritual to destroy this new enemy. Their understanding of the realms of the divine were insufficient in truth, and they were always a step away from long-term disaster in my opinion, as mass soul enslavement was a terrible idea. Because, eventually, the Force in this dimension, but simply the nature of souls in most others, worked over millennia timeframes with ease, unlike mortal shells that these Ssi-ruu were.
Really. I was just helping nature deal with the problem by destroying their civilization.
So, I gestured at those about to received as they had earned. And, luckily for them, I was merciful in that their souls would merely within their own creations for a brief period of time. I drew forth my powers, crushing all resistance within the screaming minds before "Now. Please. Show me in depth how this process works in practice. You and your colleagues should suffice, so we have plenty of material to work with"
I disliked the screaming. I always had. But Karguk had endured High Shaman Phargk's training, and I could endure what needed to be done here. It was all very enlightening after all…
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[14 BBY]
[Emperor's Ready Room, Command Bridge, Imperator-class Star Dreadnaught (formerly Mandator II-class) Sovereign, Imperial Navy Imperial Guard Squadron, in orbit Christophsis, Chistoph System, Savareen Sector, The Slice, Outer Rim Territories, United Federal Empire]
Wilhuff Tarkin, Emperor of the United Federal Empire, sat in his chair, hand under his chin as he pondered, the holo-avatar of his brother Gideon on the table before him "So, who is to blame I wonder?"
"We both know you already know who is at fault for such a situation as this your majesty" his brother replied formally, as was proper even in private. One never knew when even the most secure of communications could be compromised or allowing mistakes to be made due to over familiarity when matters of State were being discussed. This was Imperial business rather than family business in the end "No matter the propaganda Kuat puts out, and the lies believed within the Core, it was clearly Palpatine behind this fiasco. Unfortunately, the self-declared Republics on Corellia and Coruscant weren't able to destroy the weapons facility without this…"
"Fiasco as mentioned, indeed" Wilhuff agreed, finishing Gideon's sentence, frowning "It appears to be on the levels of our worse scenario projections"
"It appears to be contained" Gideon stated playing the opposing view as he could "And has forced the recall of an entire Kuati fleet to further deal with the situation according to Imperial Intelligence"
Wilhuff nodded, bringing his hands together on his desk "Yes, we must hope that it is, because it spreading would be very concerning"
"It's madness is what it is. There is no control…" Gideon's avatar shook his head, clearly agitated by the horrifying images presented by the Kuati sources to the holo-net "What's most concerning is the manipulation of this event"
"There are two accusatory parties, and, concerningly I'll admit, Corellia and Coruscant are cooperating publicly in response, and during the operation"
Gideon nodded but gave a warning hand gesture "The Kuati got the message out first, and in a more coherent manner. Though, yes, the allying of those two factions is a concern…but also necessary in the face of what we are seeing from Palpatine. What else has he in the works?"
Wilhuff nodded in a contemplative manner. Bioweapons were a terrible idea in his mind, not after the past few years of studying the subject and historical records. It spoke of the unhinged nature of the Sith Supreme Chancellor that was, actively, targeting Wilhuff's powerbase and bloodline. It was easy enough to ensure the correct message got out across the Empire due to that persistent conflict….even if the Core Republicans had been doing a poor job of dealing with the upstart "We have our projections, and it further serves to bolster the necessity of our efforts to implement rigorous travel systems with our citizenry. One must hope that the site is destroyed utterly, as the information revealed about this bioweapon means that it is too deadly, too indiscriminate, and devastating to be a offensive weapon. No, the real threat is in such as this as revenge weapon of some sort"
'And with Palpatine's faction being Fird and bel Iblis currently, even with this….it hopefully gives us time' he mused to himself, as he shook his head, changing the subject to one of reasons he was showing the banner of the Empire on the Confederate frontier in force with this tour with his wife "But, that is something for later, in person, with the Chancellor and Vice Chancellor's input, along with the military. No, what is the situation with our other enemies?"
Gideon's avatar nodded "The situation at Dressel went both poorly, but also well in other ways, as while the Bothans were forced to retreat despite ou…despite the pirate allies they gathered aid, there have been a number of violent clashes by recent reports from the wider Sector. What the true extent of the Confederacy's internal problems is hard to grasp unfortunately, but there are clear signs of open violence between the Trade Federation and other factions. It's actually forced a withdraw of several pickets and trade defence squadrons from sectors that are…dispute"
'Giving more space for our privateers and freedom fighters to operate' Wilhuff mused, considering the situation as he brought up the galaxy map. The Separatists turned 'Confederates' had been suffering the same malaise the Galactic Republic had in its waning years before the War, and he suspected it was going to get significantly worse based on what he was seeking here "They are concentrating fleets"
His brother nodded, seriously "Indeed they are your majesty, and I don't think against us. There is a series of rulings before their Courts, and with elections soon..."
Wilhuff considered, looking at the map "Hmm, indeed brother, indeed. Perhaps it best we continue our efforts to encourage more Imperial minded sentients, along with increasing our patrols if our neighbour starts to become…unstable. Perhaps we can finally deal with Rothana"
Rothana and Kamino were a nuisance as the only ways to them, that weren't the long way around through Wildspace or Outer Rim territories with limited hyperlanes was through Confederate territory. Which the Separatists certainly weren't going to allow either his forces use, and it combined with the fact of the constant, albeit low-level, conflict with said Confederates along the edges of disputed systems. Where his Imperial Fleet should have the numbers to crush the holdouts on the Outer Rim, the cloners on Kamino another priority target, they just had been able to bring that strength to bear. Not as the systems bordering the Unknown Regions were facing yet more invading barbarian savages who'd heard of the Fall of the Republic and now sought to take advantage.
"Perhaps your majesty, we can but hope. But I feel matters are coming to ahead soon, especially with the news from the Uquaine causing such unease. The fact that the Confederates seem unable to put out a coherent response, or condemnation, is not a positive indicator from their position. We'd send in the Fleet if we were in their position after all…"
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