Planet Gand, Outer Rim

25BBY

The Spanish had conquered the Amerindians with ease, due to their advanced tactics, armor and weapons. But the tech levels were only a thousand years in advance. My ships and contact crews have at least 30 thousand years of technological advancement compared to most species in the sector. I don't expect to need more a than a few years to create a pocket empire around Gand.

What I need the most is my own Force-sensitive group. The Findsmen are nice, but not enough. I thought and sifted through my memories, now greatly augmented by the Force and my crystalline nature, along with the AI subroutines. At least 50 known Force-sensitive sects and cults, with the Altisian Jedi and the Fallanassi being my prime recruits.

And while the Altisians would be harder to locate, with them roaming the galaxy aboard a cruiser-slash-school, the Fallanassi would be much easier. Their hiding place wasn't that far either.

"Dora stand straight, and hold this crystal in your right hand." I demanded from my green twi'lek Maid.

"Yes, my Emperor." she said and complied.

"I will reveal my nature, my true self to you. With this, you become my Voice in the galaxy. The promises you make, the threats you make, the debts you take, they will be mine. And if you feel doubt, or are uncertain, hold the crystal tight and think about me. I will hear you and respond. And when you die, rest certain, your soul will stay by my side, safe for eternity" I proclaimed, opening the droid's chest and floating out in my green crystal form.

"Uhhh. You're not a crazy droid after all..." Dora whispered, as I began aligning her soul with the kyber crystal.

'No, my adored maid. This is the greatest secret in the Empire. And only my Voices get to experience it' I replied telepathically.

"So, what do I do now?" the maid asked, her aura fluctuating between adoration and terror.

'Repeat after me. For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release your soul, and by my shoulder protect thee. The Force has set me free' I whispered in her mind, balancing the crystal to align with her own feeble aura.

The crystal in her hand glowed brightly, and settled on the same green hue as my own glow.

A Force bond, and a conduit for a soul snare. Should she die, her soul will indeed stay by my side, for eternity.

"I can feel you now, my Emperor. I will never doubt you again" Dora said crisply, pinning the crystal to her chest.

'Eh, don't take it all so serious. It's just immortality. Now, take my frigate, a hundred droids and a few Findsmen, and go to planet Lucazec. Find a Fallanassi woman named Wialu, and invite her and the rest of her group to join us. Take some gold and gems too, along with a few million credits. And tell Wialu that she can have her own planet in my Empire, for their loyalty and cooperation against the great evil that's coming. Whatever her response, gift her the gold.' I told my maid, while floating back inside my droid.

"How do I take the ship and the Findsmen? They won't listen to me" Dora asked, hesitantly.

"You speak with my Voice, Dora. They'll listen" I said amused, poking a droid finger at her chest. The Kyber crystal was still glowing green. The droids already received her scan as my second in command.

"Ah. I carry a part of you with me. Sorry, my Emperor, still doubting you" she replied respectfully.

"Enough of that, we're both immortal beings now. Now give me a hug and go" I demanded petulantly.

She hugged the chassis with a mix of awe and adoration in her aura. Eh. Will do for now.

I'll need to experiment with human clones and memory transfer soon. Can't have my maid be not satisfied, can I?

As Dora left, I inspected the other partitions and their work, then began looking for my next maid.

An Emperor had to have more than one maid after all. And maids will need to be of more diverse races, to show the galaxy we're not a xenophobic Empire.

Hmmm. What to call my beautiful not-wives? Honored Matres or Honored Maids? Maids sounded sexier though. Matres were a matriarchal societies in Dune.

I'll have to think of a badge of office, or a uniform though. Hmmm. Maids did come with a uniform though.

Let's see. Short dark blue skirts and a white tiny apron? Would work, for work inside the palace.

For delegations and such, dark blue robes with a white sash.

Damn, I quite miss an organic body now, and my glands.

Planet Gand, Outer Rim

25BBY

Second month since becoming Emperor.

I have three new maids, lazing on fluffy pillows beneath the Golden Throne, and wearing skimpy skirts. And will need a new councilor, since one Gand decided that my policies regarding confiscating the slaves and promoting females on the Council was somehow disrespectful to tradition.

He produced a Gand discharger and tried to end my dynasty. Only his fingers couldn't find traction to pull the trigger.

Telekinesis is such a cheat. Plus he kinda planned the whole thing for a week. Enough time to prepare a soul snare for him.

"The Dream cannot be stopped by mortal weapons. Did you think you could kill the Immortal Emperor?" I proclaimed, levitating the crystal snare and touching it to his head.

His screams might have terrified the council a little, but possibly even more, the Findsmen sensing his soul being sucked inside the snare.

His mortal coil fell towards the golden floor, in slow motion, while his weapon and the snare floated towards my throne.

Now let's see, divination trance, genetic alter, pathfinding through mists, tracing a force marker, discerning unstable hyperjumps, hiding in shadows, seeing from shadows, meditation, breathing techniques.

His soul evaporated, leaving me with all his force abilities. Beside what he had learned from the teaching crystal that the Findsmen received from me, all the techniques were unknown to me.

Now I was a true Gand, in ability as well.

"His soul will rest with the ancestors. Now, let's continue the council. Zuckuss if you would" I continued softly, as my droids came to take the body away, and the hologram grew to engulf the whole room.

"Ah. Yes. Security wise, the defense fleet has 10 corvettes and 44 smaller warships patrolling the routes our shipping takes. Our MC30 frigate will become operational next week. By next month we should have 13 more corvettes refitted for anti-piracy work.

We have purchased a MC40 light cruiser that was damaged during trials and slatted for scrap, and have begun refitting it, however, it will lack heavy weapons for next year. 19 more corvettes have also been purchased and will begin their refit as soon as the dock space is free.

For now, they exist as a fleet in being, guarding our planet. We are training more crews and drilling along with the droids for boarding operations and planetary assaults. 18 starfighters have been lost, while trying to find a secret route to the Centrality. 2 fighters have survived, but didn't return.

We suspect they did indeed reach the Centrality, and have gone dark, awaiting rescue or refueling. The bounty hunters that have returned to make excellent teachers for the new recruits." Zuckuss said softly, his mind slightly more balanced now.

The Findsmen education about the Force was kinda flawed and full of tradition, but it mostly worked. Except the lack of breathing and lungs had denied them the opportunity to practice meditation techniques based on controlled breaths.

Which in turn gave way to mental problems, from fractured minds, to various visual and aural hallucinations, that they called the Dream. Which often featured a verdant planet, which I suspect was the Force reacting to their deepest desires.

I'll make their dreams true, once I had a large enough fleet.

40 corvettes was a pitiful fleet, but better than nothing. I still haven't found any news of nano-droids.

But the tech from the Mon Calamari frigate and cruiser could be reverse-engineered, to provide all our ships with better engines and shields.

My left Hand, Zuralee changed the holoprojection for the next segment, without waiting for my prompt. She could learn then.

"Commerce wise, the Empire is still growing. Ship maintenance and ordinance purchase, along with cost of lost starfighters have increased dramatically. We have still doubled our exports and increased our profits by a third. This expansion is not sustainable though. By next three months we will need new revenue sources, or we will stall. The market for the Exploration Corps is not infinite, and ancient ruins are not profitable in the short term. Especially not if we provoke the Jedi Order. We should open up one of the new planets for mining, Zuralee believes" the female Gand argued, projecting graphs that predicted our income going negative in three months.

"Councilman Mujilik, something to add?" I asked politely.

"Errrm, yes. My knees have stopped hurting. If it's a sign of the life prolonging teachings or myself going dull in my old age, remains to be seen. Findsmen wise, the next trials will take place next month, and possibly provide the Empire with a hundred new Explorers. Our females are also working hard to produce more younglings, as you have required, my Emperor.

So far, they seem happy about it. 21 Findsmen have died past two months, 20 of them in Exploration duties, while one... Due to critical thinking failure. However, 23 Findsmen have returned, so our numbers have grown a little. The promise of becoming a ship Captain and choosing 3 females have encouraged them, and I have signals that the Dream will attract even more." Mujilik replied calmly, his eyes lingering for a second at the spot where his fellow Gand died.

"All right. Honored Councilmen, Hands and Maids. As you have seen, my experiment with giving my Maids my Voice has succeeded. Once the crystal is green, they are my Voice, and I expect them to be obeyed, in every word or action. The Empire will grow, and soon we will spread across dozens or hundreds of stars. I will rule through my Voices, and my Hands.

The Imperial Servants will provide the bulk of our Administrata, once their training is complete. Organization wise, the third Hand will direct black operations of the Empire, its identity known only to myself and my Hands. The third Hand's budget will not be scrutinized unless a Hand or myself deems it necessary. This is for everyone's protection. The galaxy has mind readers, telepaths and other forms of discerning hidden operations, including Sith, Jedi and worse.

Also, once the Dream is finished, I will begin the Avatar project, to grant me an organic interface. This project may take up to 3 years, and will be funded from my own budget.

Now, about the Dream. The newest nano-phage acquisitions from the Hutts, especially the deforestation agent have provided the critical clue in devising a safe mode to terraform Gand.

The poles will remain Imperial exclusion zones, for as long as the danger remains. Explosives are quite dangerous." I explained, going over each subject I thought they needed to know.

Gigatonnes of explosives resulting from converting the ammonia in the atmosphere were beyond dangerous.

I just hoped burying them deep under the poles would keep them safe.

Then again, I chose to make binary explosives, so each agent will be separated by the largest possible distance.

I was more worried about some terrorist group appearing and detonating mega tonnes of fertilizers. Those had to be kept ready and available for exports and farming.

Maybe smaller containers, and spread apart even more? A bad Findsman will find them anyway.

I was even more interested in the Gand discharger, which appeared to be a nerve disruptor weapon of sorts, able to stun, paralyze or outright kill any organic. Some kind of nerve overload, working at very low frequencies. Infrasound most likely.

"Emperor Pef" a vocoder voice disturbed this partition.

"Yes, councilman?" I replied without a hint of emotion.

"I have a daughter. And she appears to want to become a Findsman. She also wants her own ship" the Findsman asked, somewhat scared and hopeful.

"Okay. And?" I wondered back.

"It's against tradition. But, if Zoralee can do it..."

"We will soon have a hundred races and genders on the council. Better prepare her soon. I'll keep the council seat empty till the next Findsman trials" I replied, turning the knob a little more. The gand shook his head and left, leaving me basking in the adoration of my new maids.

"Pef, can I have a ship too?" Celine, the blonde maid asked hesitantly. Thinking of running away already?

"Sure you can. If you learn all the lessons on your pad and become my Voice. Before you go, sing something will you?" I demanded, amazed at the quality of her voice. Back home, she would be a superstar.

Planet Gand, Pef Empire, Outer Rim

25 BBY

Another week passed, while I devoted 3 fourths of my partitions to the terraforming nano-phages below.

I was too afraid to try alchemical transmutation on planetary scale, no matter the degree of precision and multitasking my telekinesis power had.

One single error, and the planet would vanish in a cataclysmic explosion.

So, I just upgraded the self-reproductive codes for the nano-phages, selected atmospheric ammonia as their target, and just struggled to keep them under control.

Every millisecond or so, a neutrino or something would hit one of them, changing their code and causing unexpected mutations, some directed to other gases, while others rebooted them to their factory default, which was multiply and kill all organics.

It was a wonder that the galaxy still had life, with all the plagues and bioweapons lying around from thousands of wars before.

A few corvettes were drilling huge caves deep under the poles, using low yield turbolasers as drills.

And my Voice was returning, her ship carrying two force-sensitives more than she left with. Guess she did find someone then.

Nevermind the maid, focus on the terraforming, Pef.

I did use telekinesis with the other partitions, mostly to separate fertilizer particles from breathable air, and compact them into bricks. Then lay the bricks in huge pyramids.

I was pretty damn hard work. And I wasn't even paid!

Oh well, I should give myself a bonus then.

Focus Pef. Don't let the crazy phages eat our subjects.

"Should I sing more, my Emperor?" Celine asked, with a raspy voice. Damn it. Her whole lungs were on fire. She pushed through the pain and kept singing.

"No Celine. I said a few songs. That means three or four songs. Not hours. Get some rest and come back tomorrow, okay?" I said softly, pulsing a tendril of Force healing into her.

Damn slaves, used to be beaten or worse for any slight. Still terrified of any male. She wasn't ready to be a Voice.

"Lira, go take care of her. Use a bacta tank if the doctor says it will help" I told my other maid.

"Sure thing Pef. Just tell a few droids to escort me. I have no Voice, after all" Lira replied, hints of excitement in her aura. Ah, she gets to order people around, finds it amusing. She will do just fine with a Voice.

Two Justice droids fell from the ceiling at her sides, using repulsor beams to land silently.

"This way, Honored Maid" one of them said, gesturing towards the door.

"Thanks Pef, you're the best!" Lira exclaimed, hoping to her feet and running after Celine.

She'll do just fine.

Anyway, focus Pef. Terraforming for now.

Another brick, and another brick. Brick by boring brick. Trillions of bricks of fertilizer, juggled at once.

If only my mother would see me now.

Focus Pef. Don't kill your subjects with your ADD.

Right. The caverns should be deep enough now. Ammonia should cool them pretty fast, then we stop making fertilizer and start making explosives.

My brother would be so proud now.

I wonder if just one end would take fire, would the planet take off like a rocket?

Focus Pef. Just a few more trillion bricks.

Who came up with this plan?

Oh, drawing too hard on the Force, I felt gazes turning towards my little corner. Hide in shadows. Shhhhh.

There, didn't see me.

More bricks, but slower. Small steps, Pef. And, surprise! Another mutation in my nano-gene teraformers.

Dissolve metal? That's a useful mutation, for a change. I'll keep that strain and lift it up.

Now, let's see about cleaning the low orbit of metal debris from millennia of space accidents and pirate actions. Look, a metal bolt, lets latch to it and reproduce. Eat up and grow stronger little phage.

And maybe one day, this strain will mutate again, and get me even better abilities. For now I will store the new metal eating phage somewhere safe, like a glass bottle.

"Do I have to stay here and listen to you, ramble crazy stuff?" my third Maid, a blue twi'lek girl asked with boredom and carelessness in her aura and voice.

Hmmm. Might have spoken aloud, for a while. Now, this girl was not supposed to be here, in this timeline. I suspect some kind of divine intervention. I don't mind though. She keeps entertaining me in many ways.

"No, Vette. Go do whatever." I said, still amused.

"All right then. I'll go watch cool holotubers rant about cool weapons and ships. And then shoot myself, before you blow all of us up." Vette declared with even more boredom and ennui.

"Or, you can take a few droids and a Findsman and go explore. Find planet Dweem, chat with the locals, buy a few cool weapons..." I baited her. Bitches love guns. This bitch in particular.

"Or, I can do that. I get to be the Captain?" she perked up at once.

"No, my Honored Maid. The Findsman Captain will lead the ship. But you get to spend my money..." I replied, launching my hook.

"Eh. I will buy the most expensive armor and pistols. Cause, you're a rich bastard. And a rocket launcher. Cya later, Pef!" Vette said, waving her hand dismissively, then patting the Justice droid who landed next to her.

"Metal boy, you have to do what I say, right?" the twi'lek asked aloud, as she left the Throne Room.

"Yes, Honored Maid." the droid replied politely.

"Great. Let's hunt some pirates. Some slavers too, kriffing scumbags." Vette proclaimed, punching the droid in the shoulder and regretting it instantly. Don't punch droids.

"As you say, Honored Maid." I replied through my droid, and faked rubbing my hurt shoulder. She was fun.

And I had to test the new maser guns of the MC30c frigate anyway. Nothing like a few pirates for target practice.

Focus Pef. Those bricks won't lay by themselves. Damn bricks.