"Now, don't forget to flush after you've done your business," I said to Fido as I instructed him on the usage of a toilet, his arse hanging over the hole in the seat as his tail hung down the side.

The Sith hound's head tendrils folded backward, head tilted as he made a noise of displeasure. "I'm serious Fido. If I come to use this toilet only to find it full of your turds I am not going to be happy. You're lucky I haven't insisted you wash your paws as well."

Fido made a whining noise, but he eventually nodded. "Good boy," I said, now smiling as I ruffled his tendrils. "I'll get you some nice dog biscuits once we reach Coruscant, OK?"

Fido nodded again, barking and wagging his tail as he got off the toilet, racing out of the bathroom. I had previously checked the Holonet to see whether any actual dogs existed in this galaxy. There were apparently multiple different kinds of creatures that were called dogs, like akk dogs and Corellian hounds, but they bore little resemblance to Earth canines, instead being types of lizard with some mammalian characteristics such as giving birth to live pups instead of laying eggs. They still didn't look as dog-like as Fido though.

I followed Fido into the common room. Today Fay's and Sorzus's Stamps would finish, meaning I could finally resume my lessons with the latter. The only room on the ship with enough space was the cargo bay, which was still off-limits until they had both been captured. That was why acquiring a new ship was the next thing on my to-do list after visiting Coruscant. I still intended to hunt down the Katana fleet, but Cortana had been rapidly expanding my wealth by playing the stock market, so my new mobile home would be purchased rather than scavenged.

"I hope you're not too busy Cortana, because there was something I wanted to talk to you about in private. Kelly as well," I said, leaning against the door frame.

They both looked at each other before nodding. "Sure thing Ame," Cortana said as they both got off the couch.

"You know, calling a private meeting without me just makes me more curious about what it is you'll be discussing," Sorzus said.

"Have I asked you to divulge all your secrets, Sorzus?" I replied, fully fixing my gaze upon her.

The Sith lady grimaced, clearly thinking she'd messed up her attempts to manipulate me, which were doomed to fail anyway. "No, I suppose not. Very well, I won't press the issue."

"It isn't anything Warp-related anyhow," I said, waving a hand dismissively, following Kelly and Cortana into the kitchen area, finding it hard to keep my eyes off the former. Kelly was normally quite reserved outside the bedroom, which was reflected in her choice of clothing, but today she'd taken to wearing a loose tank top and skin-tight short shorts which gave me an excellent view of her toned abs and long, muscular legs, not to mention her sculpted rear end. I shook my head to focus; this conversation was important.

"What's this about Ame?" Kelly asked, once we were all seated around the kitchen table. "I can't help but notice you've left Aayla and Xyl out of this conversation, despite having already told them about the Catalog. Unless you plan to talk about its… well, meta aspects?"

"Not really. They just lack any technical knowledge relating to the topic we're about to discuss," I replied. The pair just looked at me expectantly, prompting me to continue. "Simply put, we need a bigger ship. This small cargo freighter which I never bothered to name has served us well, but is beginning to feel a bit cramped for seven people - eight if you count Fido. I am going to start looking for the Katana fleet sooner rather than later, but I'll want something bigger than that for ourselves, not to mention the chance that I might fail to find it."

"You do realise that just one of the Katana fleet cruisers would dwarf this thing, right?" Cortana asked.

"Yeah, but they're still not huge. I checked, a Dreadnaught-class heavy cruiser is like, what, 600 metres long? How they can call such a thing a heavy cruiser when it's barely more than half the length of a star destroyer is beyond me, but that's neither here nor there. Not to mention it's a pretty old design. No, if I'm going to be investing both galactic and Company credits into a ship, I want the biggest, best thing I can get my hands on."

"Both kinds of credits?" Kelly asked.

"I'm guessing Ame means for the maintenance," Cortana said. "When we last discussed getting a new ship, he didn't seem to realise that there's a perk that supplies trained crews for any registered vehicles, as well another that gives unlimited fuel, ammunition and other supplies, and even self-repair."

I nodded. "In general, I'd rather not rely on Company stuff for things that I can easily get elsewhere. That doesn't apply to unlimited fuel and ammo though. Theoretically it's just a convenience, but it's such a ridiculously huge convenience that not getting it just feels stupid."

"It isn't necessarily just a convenience either," Kelly pointed out. "I know this is extremely unlikely, but if you somehow screw up so badly that the Republic realises what your goals are, being able to traverse their space without needing to worry about resupply will be huge."

"It'll also allow us to keep a lower profile on the galactic stage, with there being no records of us buying supplies that could be used to keep track of us," Cortana added.

"Plus it's just one more thing we don't have to worry about," I said. "Now the question is, what ship do we actually get?"

"Well, if you want big, you've really only got two choices," Cortana said. "The first would be a Lucrehulk-class battleship, manufactured by Hoersch-Kessel Drive. They're those big circular ships the Trade Federation used to blockade Naboo."

"Maybe being associated with the people that invaded Naboo isn't such a good idea," Kelly said.

"Nope. At least not for flying around Republic space. Besides, they started life as heavy cargo freighters. Not exactly the most optimal design for combat."

"It seems like this second option will be our best bet then, assuming it isn't completely terrible," I said.

"Probably, yeah. That option is the Mandator-class star dreadnought, made by Kuat Drive Yards. Though it's eight kilometres long, it's about the same tonnage as a Lucrehulk due to its slimmer profile. Still, unless you're completely surrounded by enemy ships, a triangular wedge seems a much better shape for getting guns on target than a circle."

"No-one's that concerned about maintaining a low profile, then?" Kelly asked. "Multiple-kilometre long warships tend to stand out."

"Like we don't stick out like a sore thumb anyway when we make planetfall?" I said with a shrug. "Don't forget, it won't just be our flagship; it'll be our home, which means getting something spacious. Both for leisure, and for my more ambitious experiments. Besides, if I ever decide that I do want to stay under the radar, we can always use one of the Katana fleet cruisers."

"Fair enough. The Mandator sounds like a far better choice, Cortana. Why, then, are we even considering the Lucrehulk?"

"We wouldn't, if not for the fact there are legal limits on the amount of firepower, armour and shield strength that hyperspace capable warships are allowed to have, thanks to the Ruusan Reformations. The Lucrehulk isn't affected by that as it isn't officially a warship," Cortana replied, before turning to me. "Though that only matters if you don't plan to make your own upgrades, Ame; the Mandator is clearly the better platform otherwise."

"That's pretty much what I thought to be honest," I nodded. "And yes, there will be plenty of upgrades. Ones that involve technology foreign to this galaxy, courtesy of the Template Stack I am about to give to you."

"My very own Template Stack, huh?" Cortana said, smiling broadly.

"It's been a long time coming, but yes. Though before you get too excited, I should stress that we ought to keep the dissemination of new technology throughout the galaxy a slow, gradual process. I would like to keep the resulting societal upheaval to a minimum."

"But I can do whatever I want to our new ship, right?" Cortana asked, not put off in the slightest.

"Sure, go crazy. Though at the same time, we shouldn't neglect this galaxy's native technology either. I think there are still plenty of advances we can make without introducing completely new stuff."

"For example, the aptly named turbolaser," Kelly said dryly.

"It's called a turbolaser because it shoots plasma, Kelly. It makes sense if you don't think about it," I replied, equally deadpan.

We all had a good chuckle at that, before getting serious again. "So how will we avoid falling foul of the law if we're going to be upgunning our new ship?"

"Because that only applies to ships that use hyperspace," I grinned. "After Cortana brought this to my attention, we checked the exact wording of the relevant bit of legislation. It doesn't mention faster-than-light travel in general terms, it specifically talks about hyperspace. Of course those two things are synonymous for everyone in the galaxy except us."

"Ah, so we'll be within the letter of the law, if not the spirit." Kelly smiled. "Returning to the topic of turbolasers, they're basically starship-grade blasters, right? But then you also have disruptor weapons, which are just blasters which use far more energy and consume far more tibanna gas than usual. Crucially, turbolasers don't seem to display the matter disintegration properties of disruptors, despite being far larger. Is there any fundamental reason we couldn't make starship-grade disruptor weapons?"

"Don't see why not," Cortana shrugged. "Obviously tibanna consumption isn't a huge problem when you're on a ship carrying a few million tons of the stuff. It's even less of a concern when there are Company perks that handwave away things like ammo consumption. In fact, I can think of two other ways we could increase the yield of turbolasers even further without introducing foreign tech."

"Go on," I said.

"The first is to use kyber crystals. Even outside of lightsabers, they amplify any kind of energy that flows through them… somehow. Maybe they draw it from the Warp? Anyway, there are a few instances I've found of them being used to increase the power of other weapons as well. The second way is a mineral called agrocite. I couldn't find a huge amount of info about it, but it has also been used to increase the power of blaster weapons, including turbolasers. Combine that with kyber crystals, and the proportionally greater amount of tibanna as a disruptor, you've got a turbolaser with a vastly higher yield than normal."

"Definitely worth looking into," I said, rubbing my chin in thought. "Though that wouldn't solve the problem of them having such a short range, and the plasma projectiles being fired at such a slow speed, to the point that it's honestly rather pathetic. The starships of the Imperium of Man generally fight at ranges of at least several light seconds."

"That's well beyond the range of a turbolaser. Then again, we could probably combine them with our own plasma technology to massively extend the range and muzzle velocity," Cortana nodded. "Out of interest, what kind of weapons are Imperial ships armed with?"

"There's two main kinds; the more common is the macrocannon, which is pretty much exactly what it sounds like; a five metre bore, thousand ton shell gets fired at around two percent of lightspeed, and hopefully hits an enemy ship."

"Like the MACs that we used back home, then," Kelly said.

"Pretty much, except they also contain an explosive filler powerful enough to increase the destructive potential several times over despite the already enormous kinetic energy. This usually takes the form of a plasma bomb, which is, er… some kind of nuke, I think? I don't know the technical details. At any rate, while the adamantium hull of an Imperial battleship is quite resilient to a broadside of macrocannon shells, they should still do a pretty good number on any ship in this galaxy."

"Adamantium is the same stuff that's used in your armour, right?" Cortana asked.

"Only a little bit, it's mostly ceramite layered on top of plasteel, which is still pretty damn strong. The ceramite provides protection against heat and energy-based weapons, and the plasteel against kinetic impacts."

"Hang on a minute Ame," Kelly said, sitting to attention. "The reason that our MACs are so effective back home is that the muzzle velocity is fast enough for hydrodynamic penetration to occur, meaning the mechanical properties of the target are basically irrelevant besides density. How does that not apply to macrocannons as well?"

I felt my brow furrowing in thought; despite my millennia of memories, I didn't have the comprehensive academic background that Kelly's Spartan upbringing and education had given her. "Hydrodynamic penetration… that's when they act like liquids or something from a high speed collision?"

"It occurs when the shockwaves of a kinetic impact exceed the speed of sound in the impacting materials, at which point they effectively act like fluids," Kelly explained. "The stiffer and denser the material, the greater the speed of sound through it, though that's still well below relativistic speeds for conventional materials. And I doubt adamantium is as dense as, say, a neutron star."

"No, it isn't, but I think you just gave the explanation," I said. "Quite simply, adamantium is so incredibly stiff that even impacts at a significant fraction of lightspeed aren't enough to make it act like a liquid."

"Oh," Kelly leaned back in her chair, stunned. "Well, I wish we'd had some of that when we were fighting the Covenant."

"I'll admit, I have no idea how a material merely held together by atomic bonds can be so strong. I do know that the adamantium used in armour isn't a pure metal, it's some sort of alloy… not that that really helps. Elemental adamantium is part of the so-called 'island of stability' on the periodic table, a group of super-heavy elements inexplicably far more stable than those before them. I'm not sure what its atomic number is though. Maybe its strength is due to some sort of quantum effect caused by its high atomic mass?" I said, shrugging. I was just spitballing at this point. "It's nowhere to be found on Earth of course. A shame it was only discovered long after humanity left its cradle. But out in the centre of the Milky Way, where the remnants of ancient supernovae are abundant? The stuff's downright common."

"Obviously they don't have any in this galaxy, either," Cortana said. "The closest thing I've been able to find out about is a metal called phrik, which is also very strong, though not 'can withstand relativistic impacts' strong."

"Meaning we'll have to make the adamantium ourselves," I mused. "We already know about molecular furnaces, but the technology you'll have access to via your Template Stack also includes matter transmutation amongst other things, so it's not a huge obstacle."

There was a lull in the conversation as Kelly and I digested all this information - Cortana, of course, did it pretty much instantly. Eventually Kelly said, "Ame, you said macrocannons were one of the two main ship weapons used in the Imperium."

"Oh, yeah, I did. The other kind is the lance, which is basically just a starship-grade laser weapon - and I mean an actual laser, not a turbolaser. Compared to macrocannons, they aren't quite as powerful, or as resilient to damage, but they're obviously a lot easier to hit targets with at long range," I said. "I should also mention that not all macrocannons fire solid shells; while rare, there are some that shoot plasma instead, which is obviously a lot more practical than lugging a bunch of thousand-ton shells around. Fitting our new star dreadnought with plasma macrocannons as well as lance batteries seems like a good first step, as well as adamantium armour plating, and shielding technology that's actually good."

"Good, as in…" Kelly trailed off.

"As in not having to have the shield generators exposed to empty space," I replied. "If you've ever looked closely at an image of a capital ship on the Holonet, I'm sure you've noticed those giant golf ball things mounted on the outside. They're the shield generators."

"Vulnerable to fighters then, especially as point defence weapons in this galaxy don't seem particularly great," Kelly observed. "I'm assuming that's a technological limitation, instead of the ship designers just being that incompetent."

I laughed. "Tactful aren't you? Yes, it is. Fortunately, the Imperium uses void shields, which can have the generator kept safe in the heart of the ship. They might even work better in this galaxy; while for the most part Imperial technology seems to be more advanced than what's available here, one important exception is power generation. The power output of even a small hypermatter reactor is honestly kind of ridiculous. Rig up a void shield generator to a Mandator's main reactor, and it will take an insane amount of firepower to deplete it, and that's not even mentioning how quickly it would recharge.

"Anyway, we're getting sidetracked," I said, sitting up in my chair. "Cortana, my wealth has been growing rapidly thanks to you. Roughly how long will it be before we could afford to buy a Mandator? And how long do they take to build?"

"Thanks to the power of exponential growth, you should have the requisite 600 million credits in a couple of weeks, maybe less," Cortana replied, managing to sound only a little bit smug. "Normally they take more than three years to build. Luckily for you Kuat Drive Yards already has a few parked in orbit above Kuat to act as show pieces. As soon as we've got one of our own, we'll take it for a spin to somewhere isolated, away from prying eyes while we start fitting it with our own upgrades. Speaking of which…"

"Ah, right," I said, tapping my phone. "Congratulations, Cortana. You're now the proud owner of one Template Stack of Orikan the Diviner."

I heard Cortana groan the second I confirmed the purchase, gripping her head in her hands as a metal staff with a glowing green, star-shaped top was deposited on the table, appearing literally out of nowhere.

"Cortana?" Kelly asked in concern.

"I'm fine," Cortana said, shaking her head. "Getting 60 millions years worth of data shoved into your brain all at once is pretty overwhelming, even for me."

"60 million years!? Even the Forerunners only go back about 10 million years!"

"It's true," I said. "Orikan the Diviner belongs to a race known as the Necrons. A race which is notable for having the most advanced technology in the Milky Way galaxy. That particular individual has more knowledge of said technology than anyone else I can think of."

"Yeah, he does, and now so do I," Cortana grinned. "Now I can understand why you want to keep this stuff a secret for a while, though the first thing I'll do is fit our new ship with an inertialess drive."

"Inertialess…" Kelly sucked in a breath. "How does their overall technology level compare to the Forerunners?"

"I'd say the Necrons are a little more advanced overall, though it wouldn't be a slam dunk. The Forerunners are probably better in terms of mass manufacturing ships and things, though it's hard to compete with time travel," Cortana replied. "Ame, I know you already bought Science Talent, but for building large-scale stuff Engineering Talent would be more appropriate. You'll still have plenty of Credits left over."

"Of course," I said, buying Engineering Talent and Talent Share for it. "Now, you might want to hide your new staff, at least until Sorzus is fully captured."

"Sure, but only for that long," she replied, barely able to contain her excitement. "Soon, we're gonna be working technological miracles."

Cortana grabbed her new staff, admiring it for just a second before it fizzled out of existence. "I'm keeping it in my own pocket dimension," she said.

"You know, this would all be a lot more impressive if Ame didn't already have his own pocket space," Kelly teased. "Not to mention he can manipulate time as well."

Cortana snorted. "I'd say using Company stuff is cheating if that wasn't the only reason I have all this tech now. Though unlike Ame's, my pocket space doesn't have a size limit."

"Well, it won't be long now before you can start experimenting in earnest," I said, giving Cortana's shoulder an affectionate squeeze. "Just a few hours, then you can create technological wonders to your heart's content."

"You have no idea, Ame," she grinned as we all got up. I guess in a few weeks, I'd have a ship with more bells and whistles than I knew what to do with.

-x-x-x-x-

As we approached the 72 hour mark since I Stamped Sorzus, I watched the countdown on my Company phone with bated breath. The Sith lady had been getting antsy about the lack of anything to do since leaving Korriban, while I insisted we take a break. Unfortunate, but we couldn't continue our lessons without the space the cargo bay provided. At least that would be coming to an end in three… two… one… zero.

That very second, Sorzus abruptly sat bolt upright, clearly having noticed the change.

"You- what have you done!? I felt a shift in my connection to the Force just now! I'm not sure how, but I know you're the one responsible!"

"Oh, noticed did you?" I replied, unfazed. "I wasn't sure if you would, this is the first time someone's been conscious for this. It's now 72 hours since I applied that Stamp to the back of your hand following your resurrection. It has a bunch of side effects, one of which is to make the affected person far more resilient to the corruptive properties of the Dark side, which is probably what you just noticed. More important than that however is the main usage, which is to impose a minor mind control effect to, well… make you mine."

"Mind control!?" Sorzus yelped, alarmed, as she glanced around at the rest of my companions. "I thought it was suspicious that everyone else here was female, and far above average in physical attractiveness. I should- I should… do nothing…" she trailed off, sounding confused. "What in the Force is going on? Why don't I mind you doing this? I should be furious, but…"

"Probably because you're being mind controlled to be OK with being mind controlled?" Aayla offered. "Kelly and Cortana have been with Ame since the beginning, but I'm a more… recent addition, I guess. Xyl is even more recent, and you and Master Fay are the most recent."

The Sith didn't immediately respond; I could almost hear the gears whirring in her head as she processed this information. "Yes, that would explain why a Jedi would tolerate the presence of not one, but two powerful Dark side users," she murmured, gesturing towards Xyl before turning to face me. "What are its other effects?" She didn't sound afraid, just curious.

"Besides ensuring your loyalty to me, and affection for me, not a whole lot," I replied. "It's clearly subtle enough that you never noticed its effects on the others. You need not fear that it'll affect your freedom of choice; you will still very much be your own woman."

"I don't find that particularly reassuring," Sorzus said, sounding deflated. "After all, I am now utterly at your mercy. What will you do with me?"

"Besides using biomancy to transform you into the sexiest, most beautiful Sith sorceress that's ever lived?" I grinned. "The same as before really. I wasn't lying when I said I was interested in learning everything you know about the Warp. I just happen to also be interested in having my own harem of Force-sensitive women."

"So it would seem," she muttered. "And to think I was planning to do something similar to you."

"I know. Maybe going forward, don't plot against someone who can read your mind?"

Sorzus's eyes widened, before she eventually sighed. "I see, your usage of telepathy is strong enough to be able to directly read people's thoughts… that is rare. Well, as much as it pains me to admit it, it appears I have been completely outplayed by you, Amedeus. If nothing else, I'm glad to have such a worthy student. I do hope that you decide to teach me everything you know in turn though. After all, you don't have to worry about me using that knowledge against you."

"Sure thing," I said, before taking Sorzus's head my my hands. "First though…" I trailed off as I pushed Sorzus into unconsciousness.

"Master, I believe I can make a positive contribution here," Xyl said, rising from the couch. "Depending on how exactly you want her and Fay to look of course."

"Right. Bring Fay into this room here," I said, gesturing towards the doorway. Xyl followed close behind, holding the unconscious body of Fay in a bridal carry.

"This is a spare bedroom that I've reappropriated for experiments and other things that don't take up a lot of space," I explained. "When I arrived in this galaxy, I used this room for my first biomancy experiments. Lay Fay down on that table for now, and take her clothes off."

Xyl did so, just as I did the same for Sorzus. Soon I had my two newest companions naked on the table, laying side-by-side.

"Just to be clear, what exactly do you intend to do, Master?" Xyl asked.

"For Sorzus, let us keep her proportions vaguely within the realms of natural plausibility," I replied. "For example, while we'll be making her tits a lot bigger and perkier than they are now, I don't think they should be quite as impressive as yours."

"I think we should go bigger. Currently I'm the only one here who can properly titfuck your huge dick, Master."

"Like we don't attract enough attention as it is?" I chuckled. "Still, we can make up for it by prettying her up elsewhere, and giving her an arse as nice as Kelly's while we're at it. Fay, on the other hand… I was thinking less, 'human with pointy ears', and more 'hentai elf'."

"Hentai?" Xyl frowned, confused.

I blinked, realising what I'd just said; of course an art form from the early third millennium wouldn't have survived until the 42nd. "It'll probably be easier if I just show you," I said, telepathically pushing a few images into Xyl's mind.

"Oooooooh," my sex daemon said, drawing the sound out before grinning. "What an excellent idea Master. Are you sure you don't plan to make more extensive mental changes to go along with them?"

"Not presently, which probably means never. I might be able to alter someone's personality like that; I'm pretty sure the Space Marine librarians in some loyalist chapters use their powers to help reforge the psyches' of neophytes to make them more resistant to the allure of Chaos. It's not something I have any personal experience with though. Still, I do have an idea for how I can make her more amenable to her situation. I had a revelation during my lessons with Sorzus, that the Light side of the Force is effectively a kind of proto-Chaos god, one that draws upon the galaxy's collective positive emotions, and thus doesn't guide the Jedi towards helping people out of altruism. Maybe sharing that with her will cause her to question everything she's been doing for the past few centuries, as thus not be so hung up over being unable to do it now."

"I doubt that will affect her desire to help others. People have been doing that for thousands of years without the Warp," Xyl pointed out. "If you don't intend to significantly alter her personality, it may be best to allow her to indulge every now and then."

"Perhaps, though I can't risk us being seen together in public, especially with her soon-to-be new appearance. Even just being visibly on the same planet at the same time may lead to questions I'd rather the galaxy at large not ask. An illusory disguise might be in order."

"Maybe don't bother then," Xyl shrugged. "As it is, you'll be helping a far greater number of people in the long term, albeit indirectly, just by cleaning up after the Senate's corruption once you take power. Hmm… you know Master, if you aren't willing to make drastic mental changes, what if we just make a few subtle ones? While the Stamp will make Fay love you, and eliminate her aversion to that notion, she'll still know, intellectually, that she isn't supposed to. The corruption within your soul speaks for itself, Master… not that it's as severe as mine but, well, I'm literally made of Chaos. Aayla may have overcome her aversion to Dark side users because of you, but I suspect that was made easier by her still being young and impressionable. With Fay being centuries old she'll be a lot more wary, and stubborn."

"Good points, but I'd rather us not make changes that aren't absolutely necessary, which I don't think this is. The Stamp will bring her around eventually, it's just a matter of how long. I'm willing to wait a few weeks if need be. If it becomes months with no visible change, we can revisit the idea then."

"A shame, I was looking forward to trying out some mind altering spells," Xyl pouted. "Well if we're not doing that, we can start making a few 'adjustments' to your Sith teacher."

I felt the spiritual presence of Xyl in the Warp as she helped to direct the biomancy that I applied to Sorzus. There were some obvious changes, like the complete removal of any body hair, doubling the size of her breasts, and inducing the growth of new muscle fibres in her glutes for the perfect bubble butt. Most were a lot more subtle however, such as slight alterations to her bones and skeletal muscles to shift her build into a more aesthetic hourglass figure. The alterations to her face were similarly slight, like mild changes to the shape of her nose and cheekbones to take her from being merely pretty to drop-dead gorgeous.

Once Xyl and I were satisfied, I brought Sorzus back to consciousness.

"I feel… different," Sorzus said as she sat up. "What did you- oh," she cut herself off as she noticed her nude state, and thus the changes we'd made.

"It might help to use this," Xyl said, handing her a mirror.

"A large part of me wants to be offended that you didn't think I was attractive enough already," Sorzus said dryly, examining her new appearance. "If nothing else, I can acknowledge that you did an adequate job."

"Adequate!?" Xyl huffed in annoyance, folding her arms under her chest, pushing up her far larger breasts in a way I strongly suspected was deliberate. "You've just been given a full-body makeover by the most aesthetically capable person in this entire galaxy!"

"Don't take it personally Xyl," I said. "Merely being disappointed, as opposed to zapping you with Force lightning, is the Sith way of showing gratitude. They're pretty contrarian like that."

Sorzus closed her eyes as she sighed. "Must you be so incorrigible? 'Contrarian' indeed," she muttered darkly as she pulled her robes back on.

"How about I make it up to you by letting you take part in my plans for Fay?" I said, giving her an indulgent smile.

Sorzus raised an eyebrow. "You were lying when you told me you hadn't decided what to do with her, weren't you?"

"Sorry, but I thought you'd get suspicious if I told you. And yes, though Fay's makeover will be a bit more… extensive than yours," I replied, gesturing towards Xyl.

"I see," Sorzus said with a tone of amusement, her annoyance fading. "Well, I suppose it would be a shame to let her beauty go to waste."

"Such a waste," Xyl grinned. "I couldn't help but notice that her hymen is still intact."

"This just keeps getting better and better," I grinned back. "Anyway, let us stop procrastinating and start makeovering, if that's a word. Sorzus, feel free to watch and learn how we wield biomancy. You can even join in on the fun if you'd like."

In much the same manner that we had just performed, Xyl and I began making changes to Fay's body. Sorzus didn't say anything, instead just watching with keen interest as Fay's boobs expanded like balloons. The rest of her, too, was changed to more or less match Xyl's bimbo-esque physique, only with the addition of much longer, more elf-like ears which Xyl couldn't resist making extra sensitive.

"Even with mind control, it'll take a while for her to fully accept these changes you're making," Sorzus commented.

"I know, which is why we'll be taking it slow. Since I don't have to worry about her leaving or turning on me, there's no rush. We thought about casting a spell to help hurry things along a bit, but I decided to not make any changes that aren't absolutely necessary."

"Casting a spell?" the Sith said, sounding intrigued. "Normally I would only refer to the more mystical and arcane Force techniques as magic, as opposed to the more direct techniques we use most of the time. You regard all aspects of the Force as magic, then?"

"What else is it, if not magic?" I shrugged. "If it looks like a bantha, walks like a bantha and brays like a bantha, do we call it a krayt dragon?"

"It's an energy field projected by all living things, its ebbs and flows a reflection of their thoughts, feelings and emotions."

"Yeah, and? It doesn't stop being magic just because you know how it works. I see no reason to distinguish between direct applications of the Warp or more ritualistic techniques. They're all just different ways of applying the same thing."

"I suppose that does make sense… just never let the Jedi hear you call it magic. They'll take that as a sign of ignorance, unaware that they are the ignorant ones. Believe me, I used to be one of them."

"Tell me about it. I had more than a few conversations with Aayla about that when she first joined me. Good job she isn't here to watch as I use magic to awaken Fay," I said, a flash of blue Warp lightning flowing around my hand as I returned her to consciousness.

Fay groaned, as if she'd been abruptly awoken from a deep sleep - which is effectively what had happened - blinking groggily at the ceiling.

"Hello again, Master Fay," I said cheerfully.

"Wha-" Fay said momentarily, cutting herself off as she took in the true state of mine and Xyl's souls, before yelping as she leapt off the table, while simultaneously staring down at her new, unclothed body in horror. "What have you done to me!?" she shrieked, torn between multiple conflicting negative emotions, her mouth contorting into a shape I didn't think actually existed.

"Oh we just made a few 'improvements' darling," Xyl smiled. "Not that you were bad looking before, but why settle for not bad when you can reach for perfection?"

Fay swallowed, cowering in the corner of the room despite our lack of hostility as she desperately tried to preserve her modesty. I idly wondered if she would've attacked us if not for the Stamp before she found her voice. "I see my suspicions about you being a Sith were well founded," Fay said, sounding resigned. "As are your companions, not that I recognise them."

Xyl tutted in annoyance. "Fay my dear, I'm a bit disappointed you don't recognise me even in my true form," she said, morphing into her human form, before morphing back.

"Only one person in this room is a Sith, by the way," Sorzus added. "It's not anyone you've already met."

"You… you're a Sith, despite not being the most powerful Dark sider here?" Fay asked, sounding afraid and disbelieving.

My Sith teacher just rolled her eyes. "Perhaps you've heard of me; Sorzus Syn, founding member of the Order of the Sith, now back from the dead after 7,000 years thanks to my rather large apprentice."

I didn't think it was possible for Fay to look even more shocked and distraught than she already did, but somehow she managed it. "You know I did say I was after the teachings of the Sith," I said.

Fay was shaking by this point, her wide-eyed gaze darting back and forth between us. Well, we'd had our fun, but maybe now it was time to start building her back up. "Here are your clothes, by the way. We even washed them for you."

She just nodded, moving as a blur as she pulled her clothes on with Force-assisted rapidity, though it was impeded by her boobs straining against her now far too small robe top.

"Ah, guess we didn't think of that," I said, gesturing towards Fay's chest. "We'll be stopping off at Coruscant soon, so we can get you some new clothes. I'm sure Xyl can help you pick out something more stylish than Jedi robes."

Fay frowned. "What makes you think I'll just… hang on a minute, you've done something else to me as well, haven't you? Why do I have this feeling I can't leave?"

"Because you can't?" I replied. "Now, your situation isn't as bad as it seems. Follow me into the kitchen, where we can sit down and have a polite conversation about a few things."

Fay now seemed more dazed than anything by our lack of hostility despite our tainted souls, but she complied, mainly due to her complete lack of options, with Sorzus and Xyl following close behind. Before we'd even left the room, I was using the Warp to start making tea, telekinetically filling the teapot with water which I boiled with pyromancy, adding the tea leaves and swirling them around. We all sat around the kitchen table, Fay eyeing the extra-high chairs used by everyone except me with bemusement, as I telekinetically brought four mugs before us, which were promptly filled with the boiling hot liquid.

"Now as you might have guessed, everyone on this ship, including you, is now bound to me," I said to Fay as she sipped her tea, calming her nerves. "This binding includes a minor mind control effect which will ensure your loyalty to me, and your affection for me, but otherwise change nothing."

"'Otherwise change nothing', implying you aren't already changing a great deal," Fay said bitterly.

"Yes actually; you won't be able to betray me, but neither will you be compelled to obey me. Still, the possibility of betrayal is something I am unwilling to even contemplate."

"Meaning I am powerless to stop you as you attempt to destroy the Jedi order," she said morosely.

It was my turn to roll my eyes. "You say that, despite the complete lack of any evidence that I have that goal."

"You may not be a Sith yourself, but you're an extremely powerful Dark side user with a resurrected Sith teacher."

"So why do either of those things imply that I want the Jedi dead? As a matter of fact, your continued survival is clear evidence against that assertion, as is that of Aayla."

"Who?" Fay asked, confused.

"Oh right; I introduced her as Talea, the twi'lek that was with me on Korriban… still is with me in fact. Her real name is Aayla Secura, former padawan of Quinlan Vos, now one of my apprentices."

I felt Fay reach out with her Force-sight, confirming that Aayla was still devoted to the Light side, along with Kelly and Cortana. "Yes, I heard about her supposed death. I can only assume that Master Vos is also bound to you, perpetrating your lie," Fay murmured. "Well, I suppose I'm glad that young Aayla still lives, if not the other related circumstances. But why keep her with you, if not to seduce her to the Dark side?"

"Because she's a beautiful, sexy young woman, and Master Amedeus enjoys the company of beautiful, sexy young women," Xyl replied. "He's also enjoyed teaching her a variety of Force techniques unrelated to the Dark side."

"Such as?" Fay said, now sounding suspicious.

In response, I just engulfed my hand in crackling lightning. "You surely know of Force lightning, the Sith's ability to emit their own negative emotions through the Force in the form of electricity? What I have here isn't my rage and hatred taking the form of electricity. It is literally just electricity."

Fay furrowed her brow, now seeming confused, before she grabbed my other hand; I felt energy from the Warp flow from her harmlessly to me. "You use the Force in a manner unlike anything I've ever seen before," she muttered. "You aren't even using the Dark side at all, or the Light for that matter. You're… drawing upon neither? Furthermore, you wield it with greater emotional control than all but the strongest willed Jedi."

"Drawing upon the Dark side is unavoidable if you attempt to use the Warp with hostile intent - which is what my people call the Force, in case it wasn't obvious. Right now, my intent is peaceful, so the Dark side doesn't get involved. Besides, where I come from there is no Light side to draw upon, and the closest equivalent to the Dark side is…. well, even darker. For as long as psykers - what my people call Force-sensitives - have existed, we've developed all manner of Warp techniques far more destructive than mere lightning, all without channelling any emotions to power them. In fact they couldn't have done that even if they wanted to, the Warp being far too unstable to risk such a thing."

"You mentioned that before, but after thinking about it for a little while I was unable to make sense of it," Sorzus said. "Surely if the Force really were so unstable in the unknown regions, it would ripple throughout the galaxy in a manner that would be obvious throughout?"

"You're right, it would," I grinned. "And I never actually said I was from the unknown regions, you just assumed that and I never bothered to correct you. Back home, the Warp is so incredibly unstable that the entire galaxy has been split in half by a colossal Warp rift, so large and powerful as to be self-sustaining even in realspace."

Sorzus's jaw fell open in a very undignified manner as she gasped. "You're not from this galaxy?"

"I'm not even from this plane of existence," I said, grinning even wider as Sorzus was absolutely floored, while Fay just seemed sceptical. "You asked me why I keep Aayla around, Fay? My answer was true, but there's another reason as well; I get paid to."

Seeing the Jedi master now thinking I was completely mad, I just chuckled as I pulled out my Company phone - which, despite having all the functionality of a 21st century smartphone, had had its appearance changed to match the retro sci-fi aesthetic of Star Wars. "Here, take a look at this," I said, handing it to Fay.

"Fay, tier 6, whatever that means, with an image of me - or at least, how I used to look," Fay said, frowning in consternation. "Sorzus Syn, tier 7, again with an image of her. What is this?"

"That device is my sole means of interacting with my employers, an all-powerful company known simply as 'The Company'. The tier system is basically a measure of how much they think you're worth, which roughly correlates to how powerful you are. I'm a pretty solid tier 7 at this point. I can only assume that Sorzus is tier 7 on account of her creations instead of personal power. Anyway, the upshot is that the more powerful the people I capture, the more I get paid."

"Is this Company the reason you're so strong in the Force?" Sorzus asked, frowning.

In response, I showed her my personal profile on my phone.

"Template Stack Ahzek Ahriman… hang on a minute, that's the sorcerer you claimed was your teacher!" She exclaimed, her lips curling in disgust. "Your power even isn't truly yours!"

"Isn't it?" I shrugged. "Sure, they could take my power away at any moment. They could also do that to you just as easily, or simply turn you into a bantha, or a tree, or even a puff of smoke. We're all equally helpless before the Company, like it or not."

The Sith's lips thinned into a line, clearly displeased by that idea. "I want to disagree with you, yet if what you say is true their power far overshadows even the Force itself… Why do they do all this? Giving you this power, transporting you to this galaxy, and everything else?"

"I have absolutely no idea. We're probably just entertainment for them. Given my complete inability to affect the Company in any way, it's not something I really care to think about."

"That seems wise," Fay said. "Why worry about something you cannot affect?"

Sorzus went quiet, deep in thought as she sipped her tea. I broke the silence by clearing my throat. "If it's any consolation, being bound to me allows you to benefit from many of the same perks that I do," I said, as I showed her the tab that explained Soul talent.

"It's not much consolation at all, given we are entirely subject to the whims of this Company, but I'll take what I can get I suppose," she murmured. "So our powers can increase without limit?"

"Pretty much. Though that would happen anyway, Soul talent just massively increases our rate of progress. Besides, while it is true that the Company is the only reason I'm able to do all these things, I find it easier to avoid thinking about it when my main reason for doing all this Force-related stuff isn't the acquisition of power, that just being a welcome side effect."

Sorzus narrowed her eyes at me. "So what is the main reason then?"

"It's really fucking interesting! Why do I want to learn Sith alchemy more than anything else, Sorzus? It's because making stuff with magic is so much fun! I can hardly wait to start enchanting my armour, or making my own Sith amulet!"

She laughed. "You never would have made it as a Sith, you know, despite your sheer power. You're far too sentimental. You are right though, it is fascinating. How fortunate that you have enough power to not need to channel the Force through your emotions, even if I would prefer that power to be your own."

"So would I, but the choice was between having power given to me by the Company and no power at all. Guess which one I picked."

"If it's knowledge you seek, why do you seek only the Sith? Why not the Jedi?" Fay asked. By now her demeanour had shifted, having reached some small level of acceptance of her situation.

"What makes you think I don't?" I replied with a raised eyebrow. "I didn't bring you here and bimbofy you just to get myself off. Unfortunately, the Jedi's increasingly legalistic nature over the past thousand years doesn't lend itself to discovering new, interesting Force techniques. A fact that you yourself have demonstrated Fay; you discovered a way to preserve your youth for centuries, yet your colleagues never cared to learn it themselves, did they?"

Fay grimaced, unable to deny my words. "Now, that isn't to say that I think the Jedi have nothing to offer," I said. "The fact remains however, that Aayla has learned more from me in the past few weeks than she has in the previous few years as a padawan, despite me not teaching her a single Dark side technique."

"What do you plan to do now, then?" Fay asked.

"Right now we're heading for Coruscant, we should get there in a couple of days. Once we're there, we'll restock on supplies, do some shopping for things only available in the grand capital of the Republic, visit some of its many tourist traps, and deal with the reigning Dark Lord of the Sith."

"One of those things is not like the others," Xyl smiled. "Though you've not told them who the Sith actually is yet."

"Nope. Darth Sidious, publicly known as Chancellor Sheev Palpatine."

Fay's eyes bugged out of her head so hard it was a miracle they didn't pop out on stalks, while Sorzus cackled. "Oh that's too funny. The Chancellor of the Republic is a Sith? Now your comments about bending his schemes to your own ends make a lot more sense."

"That isn't funny at all," Fay said, sounding upset and angry. "He's going to destroy the Jedi isn't he?"

"Not if I have anything to do with it, which I will," I replied. "I promise you that the Jedi order won't be going anywhere, Fay. What I'm going to do instead is use his position to purge the Republic of its corruption. Then, once Palpatine has fully taken over the galaxy, I can start building it up into the utopia it was always meant to be."

"With you at its head," she said, frowning.

"No-one ever said it had to be a non-profit exercise," I shrugged. "And quite frankly, once I've turned the galaxy into a post-scarcity utopia it'll hardly matter who's in charge anyway."

"Surely even you have to concede Amedeus makes some good points," Sorzus said. "Even in the short time since my resurrection, it's become obvious that the Republic is a complete mess. A private corporation invading a Republic world with virtually no repercussions? The Republic of my era never would've let that happen."

"You've quickly worked out the Holonet, then?" I asked.

"Yes, and what an incredible invention it is… I'm glad to see technology hasn't remained stagnant since I died."

"If you think that's impressive, you should see what Cortana's new Template Stack allows her to do," I grinned.

"Oh? Does it involve technology somehow?"

"Well, that'd be telling…"

AN:

When I first started writing this fic I expected to have to do a lot of reading wikis. I didn't expect to be reading scientific research papers. I think I've understood how hydrodynamic penetration works, but there's a chance I got it wrong... this stuff is pretty complicated.

Anyone familiar with Warhammer will know that Necron technology is way beyond anything in Star Wars, with the possibly exception of some of the Celestials' stuff. It's fortunate (for this story) that Template stacks are nerfed to tier 4, so don't expect to see any really crazy stuff for a while yet.