Planet Gand, Pef Empire

Redbox

20 BBY

"So, dear Ahsoka is hiding on Takodana as I said. We'll claim the planet as well." I mused, in a quiet voice. Any Force nexus is better kept in my hands. Just in case.

"As you say, Emperor. Qwi Xux is hard to find. I believe she's hiding." My third Hand explained, a bit upset he was fooled by a teenager.

"No matter, we'll take them all that we can find, and then sweep again, a week later. She's smart but hunger will drive her out" I answered with a snort.

"This humble one bows to your wisdom, oh kidnapper Emperor. She will deduce we missed her and left for good, then come out to search for food. Or ambush our droids somehow."

"So don't land. High altitude Stingers. Now, about the Iokath thing. Got any clue so far?" I asked, not really expecting a result this soon.

"It should be past the Red Twins somewhere. If is very critical, I could expend some Findsmen..." he said hesitantly.

Eh, Zakuul was around there too, so it made sense.

"Not at all. Just wanted nice tech faster. But the Cereans, the Omwati and the Columi should be enough, for now. " I said calmly. Tech was booming all over the galaxy, especially military and intelligence types. And sadly bioweapons too. Because no evil overlord should forget bioweapons.

"And then, Belsavis. We have 3000 ships blockading that planet now, do you think we need more?" Zuckuss asked, a bit cautious.

"Not for now. I want us to finish liberating Sullust and Darkknell and then expand a bit. I sort of wish we had Eriadu, but they need to see evil, before they beg us to save them..."

"It doesn't matter Emperor, we can reach Terminus via Bespin. Senex and Javin don't like Palpatine, at all. And then all the Freestanding subsectors in the south will be ours. Forever and ever." Zuckuss proclaimed grandly, punching at the sky.

"Not until Bomis Koori IV is pacified and the gran on Kinyen agree to join in. Which they will as soon as Palpatine starts bombing their cities. But as long as the Moshaw Dark Star black hole is obtained, it is our victory." I said gently, wondering who made black holes so rare in this galaxy. They were great factories.

"I say we arm the Sanyassan with spears and send them at those CIS droids. We could get rid of both of them. Or do you want more furry wookie things Emperor?"

"We'll be fair, and give them slug rifles with bayonets, and fiber ponchos. And even sabotage the shields, and take out the artillery. I do need more cyborgs, especially in the south..." I answered truthfully.

Cyborgs were quite cool. Stronger, faster, easy to control...too bad mines were so rare in the galaxy.

Make a note to begin mass-producing land mines. Cause skull and bones signs to mark minefields were very cool. They didn't even have that here, these savages! Space mines too, while at it. I did have to interdict plenty of dangerous systems.

"We do have a lead on planet Nirauan , Pef. It pulses strong in the force, as well. That planet Hijarna was also easy to find. Do you want us to remake the Rakata empire?" Mujilik spoke next, having sat quiet till now.

"Well, the numbered Meteors will be much stronger on those planets. And their force fueled ion beams as well. I'll work on a maser beam as well, for the Vong. But if the insane Sith decides to attack, we need fall back points were our fleets can regroup." I explained patiently. Having even 100 Rakata planets of my own would be perfect.

"That's...not very probable, is it? We have a non-aggression pact, after all." Zuckuss said naively.

Who else had non-aggression pacts and broke them at the first opportunity?

Nah, the mad guy will surely attack, unless we did first. Just mustering forces.

---------------

Planet Echani, Independent.

Six Sisters Hall

I stared at the 5 women lying unconscious before me, then turned towards the last one. Bria. Hmmm. Bria Grayshade. It did sound good.

The youngest and prettiest of the Six Sisters of Echani Command, and possibly the fastest.

"Now Miss Bria, we have like 20 minutes till your esteemed martial arts colleagues regain their senses. We could just kiss and make up..." I said softly, measuring intently the deviations of the Fibonacci series of her body scan. Plus 15% in the chest area. Her kids will not be hungry.

"Take off that armor, and you'll see why Echani fighting was not only self-defense, but a form of self-expression, and a means of communication. You rely on servo motors for speed and strength, Avatar." the woman claimed, hooking herself even deeper.

"And then we kiss and make up? You promise?" I asked after taking of the helmet and smiling wide.

"I'll have to wipe that smile off your face, Mandalore. And make sure to kick you where it hurts. I promise" Bria said gently, and smiling back in an enchanting way.

Good thing I came prepared, and wore only a pair of thin pants under the armor. Took me a second to jump out of my armor. Hand-to-hand works better like this.

Those abs muscles took hard work to chisel, you know?

"Please most graceful warrior. Let's dance" I proclaimed with another charming smile.

Oh. Vicious kick? From the start? My wives would leave me if the little guy gets blown off.

I let her show me all her moves, taking care not to damage her too much. A poke here and there at 2% speed.

She was amazingly fast, for someone so cute.

"Stay still, and let me hit you!" she exclaimed frustrated, after some 10 minutes of dancing.

And step in and grab her soft bottom. "I'm staying, my dear Bria. But, only for a week. I do have to work, you know..." I muttered in her ear, as she pounded on my chest weakly.

"Promise?" she asked after her breath became less composed.

"Already did. So, you kiss me first, or we go at once?" I asked curious.

She went first. Huh.

Planet Thyrsus, Sun guard

20 BBY, Next week

The planet is now under blockade, and awaits my decision.

Kriff. Collective punishments suck though. But no punishment at all, it's even worse.

"Message the Sun guard to come up, Captain. Or we'll have to go down ourselves" I said with some pain.

In movies, the heroine gets rescued in time, and all is well. Yea, this is not that kind of movie. Alicia was alive, but her mind was gone. Neural probes tend to do that.

At least her funeral pyre could be seen from orbit.

"Avatar, one named Kenix Jir has replied. He said the Son of Suns will come and vanish you" the comdroid replied after a few minutes.

Sigh. That's not what it means.

"I accept. Begin landings Admiral, and use stunners where possible." I commanded on the Pefnet, the military encrypted holochannel reserved for secure traffic.

Bria hugged me with one arm, and with some worry.

She has been able to read feelings and emotion through combat. To an Echani, a combat between two people said more than hours of talking. They saw a certain purity in the way techniques were used in battle. But this kind of fighting will be different.

"At least their second regiment was destroyed at Wode . They won't pose much trouble." my new wife said, with enchanting naivitte.

"The Sun Guard has served Palpatine for a decade. And Damask before him. And now they also have Shadow Guards, some kind of dark jedi. You'll see soon, what the son of suns means..." I mused wisely, and tapped the holomap again.

Not that I actually needed to, even with just the Avatar. But nobody else could connect with technology like I could.

Let's see... White armor, red armor, black uniforms...there. Black armor!

Proton torpedoes can sink battlemoons, and these guys didn't have Terminator armor.

One down. Some 30 more left. That's how you deal with force adepts.

Cloaked ships and proton torpedoes. Will ruin most people's day.

And make a pretty blooms, like suns appearing out of nothing.

15 minutes later, the Shadow Guards, with their black armors, waiting in ambush were gone, and the commando droids wearing Hydra armor started sniping the rest of the Imperial troops, leaving only the Red armors intact.

Okay then, my turn.

"See you soon, most beautiful princess. I have a prophecy to deliver" I whispered to Bria, then went to enter my power armor, then jump out of the frigate, and glide down towards the first Sun Guard regiment, defending their planet.

By the time I landed, only about 700 Red armors remained, clustered together and holding spears and blasters in all directions.

Man, how dumb could these people be?

Boom! I left myself fall the last hundred meters, then pushed the soot and dust away with a force push.

"Behold, the Son of Suns has come! Fire and wrath, like the heart of the sun. But cold, and somewhat upset. Upset at you, Sun Guard!"

I proclaimed, creating wings of fire to my sides, and amplifying my voice with sound alter 20 times.

A brave Sun Guard took a shot at me, so I lifted him up then ripped his limbs off. I was talking here!

"Still upset at you, Sun Guard. They call me Mand'alore the Charming, because a few girls like me. But then, one of you decides to kidnap and torture my wife. Not cool, not at all. Your lives are mine now. And pray I will spend them wisely. Now kneel!" I boomed even louder, just below organic lung failure. And pushing mind alter of course.

These guys should be happy they had any brains left, unlike Alicia.

As they fell to the knees, I could feel defeat and desperation, but also hope. To be alive and witness the prophecy come true.

"I need 10 of you, who have higher rank. Come closer." I demanded in normal voice, while walking slowly towards the regiment.

"I am in command now, Mand'alore" one of them said, trying to lift himself up.

Nah, I didn't order that. Let's press him down with telekinesis.

"Come on, move faster, while you still have knees to walk on!" I demanded, with a bit of cruelty.

After a fearful look at their former comrade, now without any limbs, they did.

"So, the Sun Guard serves a Sith Lord, and the dark side now? Have you changed your name to the Dark Guard?" I asked curious.

"That's...just rumors" another one objected, confused.

"And before him, before you served Darth Sidious. You served Darth Plagueis, the Muun named Hugo Damask. And aren't the Muuns those that have banked the Clone Wars, both sides at once? One regiment serves Palpatine, the other regiment Dooku, or Darth Tyranus..." I mused out loud, checking for some clues in their aura.

They didn't know...why would they? More religious fanatics.

"We didn't know, Mand'alore. Palpatine trained those with powers...and gave them black armor..." their leader explained...and hitting the key point. Suns are not black, are they?

"Yes...black armor and red force pikes. Exactly as the defenders of sunlight should look" I replied, not even amused.

An awkward silence fell as these guys meditated on their outlook.

"Well, then. I will need this planet to request admittance to the Pef Empire, or this star system will have a new sun. You can run now..." I continued in a bored voice, and flew upwards.

Damn idiots.

'Clean up whatever Imperials you find, HK-47. Violence limit 5.' I sent to the genocidal droid. No nukes or bioweapons.

'Oh, level 5, how generous of you, son of the immortal droid. By the way, you have good taste Avatar. I approve of that Jedi woman, Shaak Ti. Of all organics I know, I would kill her last..." Hk-47 replied in an approving, if disturbing tone.

'Stick to the targets I give you, crazy Sith droid. There will be trillions of Vong to kill, soon' I replied in a more friendly voice.

'Hey, you're not bad. This op was quite fun. And the one before. I might not kill you, as long as I'm having fun' Hk-47 proclaimed, while murdering dozens of imps per minute.

The ships in orbit were scrap now, as well as the defense platform with the starfighters.

They were in the way.

------------------

Planet Gand, Pef Empire

Celestial Throne

Hmmm. Ruul11 reports a new Jedi seeking refuge. A verpine named Beyghor Sahdett .

But, if I recall correctly...

'Detain him with ray shields and call Miss Fay. That seems to be a Sith Fist' I answered after a short check.

Quite a lot more Jedi escaped this time, with Yoda on Coruscant. But...the green monkey was too easy to trick.

Avoiding learning some skills, left you open to double and triple agents.

And even my Empire wasn't impossible to trick. Just much harder.

And there were too many force-groups out there, just as easy to turn, just like the Sun Guards.

"Emperor, what are we going to do with Dilonexa XXIII ? The Jedi have an Agricorps base there."

my third Hand asked, having sat beside me for 33 seconds. But he stepped on nanobots now, and those were hard to fool.

"Plant users eh? We'll hide them on Sanctuary, just like the Silent. What did you find at the Temple of Eedit ?" I asked, more interested at the last part.

"Looted. Only some scrolls and tablets, which my agents couldn't read. Also, some kind of nexus, deep underground."

"We will take Taanab as well, even if it's exposed. And Corsin too. That location will be a key point. I'll send Meteor 6 there." I said gently going over the trade route maps in my mind.

We will lock Mandalore behind our borders, and inspect all ships passing through.

'Solana, any chance with Manaan?' I asked in the bond, looking to the east.

'Eh, it's going slowly. But my fleet in orbit should keep most bad things away'

"Manaan and Corsin. Two more Rakata planets. You plan to instal gates then" Luud'al-ud concluded after a minute.

"Still far away for that, my friend. Just setting traps for now" I mused out loud, my focus on Ruul.

Sigh. No Fay, don't talk to the guy...

Sonic beams and withdraw the air Ruul11. Make him show us his new talents.

See! Glowing eyes. It's quite simple. Now freeze him in carbonite. I want to teach my Zero how to drain dark jedi.

Fay wasn't gonna change, not in time. A paragon of light, that one. But Zero...she was close. Soon she'll be grey.