Disclaimer: I own nothing, this is purely for recreational purposes

AN: Ok, just wanted to say that I'm sorry for not posting anything new in a while on this site. Plot bunnies, life and work have all been conspiring to hit me over the head with shit.

Personally, I blame Tzeentch.

Anyway! Enough about my problems with life, on with the show!

XXX

"I'm sorry, but could you please repeat that? I must have misheard you there. Did you just say that your client wants to hire us to steal a holocron from the Jedi Temple?"

The question was said with no small hint of incredulity, a natural action given what I was being asked to do, then again, I didn't doubt that such a thing would happen as I quietly considered what was to come in at some point this year even as I kept an eye on the rising tension between the Republic and the various members. Already, dissatisfaction was growing to a noticeable degree as a few of the subtle laws were being pushed forwards by the Senate to antagonize the Outer Rim systems.

In response to my question, the Devaronian before me merely gave a slight smile before nodding his head without any noticeable trace of irritation at my question, instead, the fucker looked amused, more than anything else.

"Indeed, Mr. Drake. My client wishes for you to break into the Vaults and steal a rather particular Holocron from the Jedi before a certain time has been reached. As such, one could say that this job is of a time-sensitive nature and must be complete as soon as possible." Stated the Devaronian, who had introduced himself as Holmar Grahrk as I nodded in understanding. Frowning slightly at the words being said, but not saying anything against them since what was being asked of me was technically possible, just difficult as all shit to carry out since it would mean half a separate elements would need to be juggled in order to get this all to work out properly.

However, if it worked out well enough, I could be looking at a rather large pay off with the possibility of even stealing more than a few more Holocrons for my own purposes. Such things, while being less than immediately useful, were still useful once they were cracked open and the Reavers were able to access them since, while Psionics and magic were separate to the Force, they could still interact with one another rather nicely. Still, that left me with a rather important question.

"... And how will I know which holocron to take, exactly? I doubt the Jedi leave helpful labels on them to help thieves know which one to steal." I remarked sarcastically as the Devaronian merely smiled and nodded.

"That is understandable, though it is not a problem due to my client providing a means by which you can you can locate the Holocron in question." With that, the Devaronian allowed an image to be projected next to his image, one of a rather odd looking bar of crystal that was decorated by darkened bronze stripes engraved with runes and patterns of a dozen designs. It was rather obvious that I was looking at a Sith artifact of some description, but the nature of it was something that I couldn't even begin to guess until I had a chance to look it over in more detail than a holographic projection. Still, I considered things as they were and mentally nodded to myself, rather liking the job a bit more now that I had a method of speeding up the process beyond the slow, thorough, approach that I had planned initially, requiring large amounts of Psionics to find the required object in time to meet either the deadline or my own, personal, satisfaction of speed. Then again, that left a rather important question at the end of this as I looked at the projection of the Devaronian.

"And the payoff?" I asked, glancing off to the side as Eve appeared in my vision, a message appearing to me, displaying the fact that the signal was being traced as to find out just where idiot was and Lilith was already working to generate a full profile of the idiot in question. Credit transactions being the main interest, as tracking them back to sources might prove useful, unless payments were offered in hard currencies and materials, something I honestly expected, given my meta-knowledge of the years to come.

"My client has not stated a hard-limit on the final payment that may be offered to you as a result of the job in question, my client has merely stated that, at the absolute minimum, you will receive a payoff of ten million credits, should you succeed in your task. Said amount may rise higher, though, my client only said that, in order for this to happen, you had to 'show the Jedi mortal terror'. Aside from that, anything else that you take from the Jedi has been stated to being yours to do with as you wish. My client merely wants a single item, anything else is fair game, as it were." I listened, allowing a single eyebrow to rise at the rather specific condition with which to work with, but kept my face carefully neutral throughout it all even as I heard the potential number of credits. Sure, I was already making millions from contracts and investments, but making more money, especially large amounts like that, in as short a length of time as possible never hurt. My head tilted to one side in deliberation as I considered the pros and cons of the operation, along with the thought of giving the Jedi more ghosts to chase for a while.

On one hand, I'd get to troll the living hell out of the Jedi and get them to jump at shadows, ghosts and various dog-and-pony shows. On the other hand, I'd be drawing attention further away from the Core worlds, away from Sidious and his Master, Darth Plagueis. Then again, given the current year, 33 BBY and roughly five years after I had showed up in this universe, I could guess at what was going to happen next, even then, I could see the writing on the walls and the growing tensions between certain parties, each one directing towards others.

All of it spelt out that the Yinchorri were getting ready to make a move.

"... And the deadline?" I asked, not giving a hard confirmation of my acceptance, but not denying it either, since it was the truth. If anything, the Devaronian, who I knew to be Vilmarh Grahrk from a facial recognition scan through the holo, smiled at me for that, clearing knowing just as much as I did.

"Again, no hard confirmation from my client, but my client stated that they wanted this done within the next six months." I nodded at that, cupping my chin in false thought even as I glanced off to one side. Eve, seeing me look, raised a number of reports up that I glanced over to see if the resources were available. Truthfully, it wasn't required, but it was useful to remember what was happening, and what the current operations were that I needed to know about.

Honestly speaking, I had a lot on the go as of the moment, but I could just take some time and do the job myself. Not difficult to do, especially since Avun, Eve and the other six AIs ran a lot of things, taking a lot of the strain from me and passing me the stuff for final review and approval. Still, these reports were useful, if only to keep aware of where resources were and what they were doing, reports back from them also told me of their current progress in discovering items of importance. A few moments passed in relative silence before I looked back at the projection of the grinning idiot before I took my hand away from my chin with a nod.

"Very well, tell your client that I shall have the job taken care of as soon as possible. Where shall I pick up the device you mentioned earlier?" I asked as the Devaronian smirked smugly at me.

"I'm on Nar Shaddaa for the next week, or so, at these coordinates, whoever you plan to send on this job, get them to come by and I'll give them it." He stated, a message being sent through a sub-signal that carried a sign and counter-sign to ensure that whoever I sent was the real deal. Clever, but something that could have been noticed by anyone that was looking for it, of course, that would have only worked if Lilith wasn't watching the Holonet like a hawk, especially for Slicers.

Hell, I was pretty sure that Lilith had long since taken to copying the attention to detail of the Obsidian Order, where no one could sit down to a meal without each dish being duly noted down and recorded. Certainly, Lilith had enough sub-sentient AIs under her control to pull that kind of thing off.

"Understood." I stated as the link closed a moment later as I turned around and walked back to the chair in the centre of my office, the waiting glass of brandy being welcome as I started thinking about what to do, already having a few ideas floating around even as I sat down before looking back. Instantly, I saw the same image, the chaotic blue Supergiant, it was slightly different than the last time that I had seen it, dots gathered in a ring around the equator of the star, but not enough to take away from the view.

They were yet another sign of things having progressed in the last few years, something I remembered even as I sent off a message for the nearest team of Reapers to be dispatched to pick up the device from the Devaronian Smuggler. The use of Reapers, while overkill, would help send a message and keep things rather quiet if only because it would ensure that anyone trying to put into my business would think twice about it. Sure, there were still the occasional idiots that wanted to give me the boot from the Galactic Underworld, but they were few and far between, usually being new-comers that thought they could make a name for themselves by taking down the dreaded Sicarius.

I smirked at that thought even as I heard the sound of the gate leading into the my office to slide open, a sound utterly undetectable to the ears of normal Humans, but one I heard loud and clear. Glancing over my shoulder as I heard that sound, I saw Avun stepping into the room, a data-pad in hand while her chosen attire reminded me that, if anything, the last few years had been kind to her, especially given her altered nature as a Technojacker. Still, some things had changed, namely the fact that Avun had started growing her hair longer, braiding it into a thick pony tail that held tight while dangling down to her waist. Looking at it, I could make out the flickering silver within the braid, not a sign of age, but something the Chiss had taken to doing to try and draw my attention further towards her, even if her choice of clothing wouldn't have already had any straight male walking into walls at the sight. Today, it seemed, Avun had decided to favor a more conservative, by her standards, dress that looked like a silver version of Six's dress from Battlestar Galactica, only it stopped just shy of the knee rather than the shin, a cut being present in one side that traced up one leg and helped to show supple muscles with every step.

As she stepped in, she clearly saw me looking and started sashaying towards me, her steps light against the mirror-like surface even as I looked beyond her and saw a squad of Reapers waiting outside the room with a dozen Sicarius soldiers in their power armor of choice: The Northern Gun Blue Boy, a recent addition that was now the standard for infantry, painted in a matt black with a few crimson highlights.

Quickly, the distance was closed as Avun came around beside me, standing to my left while I heard the door closing as I turned back around, fully looking at Avun as she smiled at me.

"The reports that you requested, My Lord." She stated as she offered the pad to me, bending over even as I looked up at her, the impish grin and sparkling madness being obvious on her face even as she gave me a very good view of her generous chest and how her breasts barely seemed to fit in said dress. Taking the pad, I felt a corner of my lips twitch up at the old trick, one I had long become resistant to, if only due to needing to get shit done rather than spend days hammering into the Chiss. Still, my 2IC didn't seem to mind the challenge, since she often tried to find ways of getting into the same bed as me as often as possible. Which usually meant between one and seven times a week.

"Thank you, Avun. Can you give me a summary?" I asked even as I started reading through a bit of it here and there, skimming over details to get a broader view of things that I could review at a later time. Avun, in turn, bowed slightly as she clasped her hands in front of her, smiling softly to me as she spoke.

"As you wish, my Lord." She stated as she gestured with a hand, multiple screens suddenly appearing before me, holographic images showing the various projects that I currently had on the go. I counted half a dozen of them, each one covering a significant amount of different objectives that I had set out for the express purpose of getting a leg up over the competition to survive the coming storm. Looking at the, Avun gestured and one came into focus, one of three that I recognized as being designated as being getting priority over the other projects due to the need for... Research materials...

"Currently, Project Grigori is going as planned. Reaver teams are shadowing several objects that you designated as being of value and are in the process of retrieving several of them for later investigation. Currently, several teams are on Korriban and surveying Dromand Kass, the latter of which is currently inhabited by the Dark Side-Force cult, the Prophets of the Dark Side. The Reavers have managed to evade their attention, but have noted that they should not wonder too close to the encampments of the Prophets, lest they be detected. Teams are still looking for a way into the Deep Core to access Typhon, as per you instructions, but they have already collected several items that they believed would be of interest to you, My Lord." Avun explained as another gesture brought up images of the items in question. I noted a dozen ancient tomes written in ancient Sith, probably covering a dozen different topics and skills while a range of amulets were also present. Old weapons, Sith War blades, armor plating and even a few Sith Holocrons were present alongside a surprisingly large array of primitive Lightsabers. It was an impressive collection, but the true prize was an object that stood out to me rather impressively: It was Dreypa's Oubliette, also known as the Jebble Box.

I smiled at the sight of that, nodding once and gesturing for Avun to continue as plans began to spin in my mind. The coffin-like box was a potent thing, both for what it was and for what it contained. The Box contained an ancient Jedi Master, one Celeste Morne, who had been trapped within it for thousands of years. She had been trapped within it for the sake of containing the owner of the Muur Talisman, a Sith artifact that could turn normal Sentients into Rakghouls and control them like an army of puppets. Sure, the talisman was still haunted by the ghost of the Sith Lord Muur, but I could think of a few ways of removing that little blight from existence, while retaining any information that might have been present within his ghost. Absently, I made a note to see about whether or not the Reavers could affect the sleeping Jedi mentally while she was within the casket, as a way of granting some measure of control over her once she was awoken.

"Next, Project Genesis has reported rather promising results from their latest tests. Tests show that combinations of Gen'Dai, Icarii, Feeorin and Dashade DNA samples shows the most promise and that they are currently moving on from Stage one Alpha-level testing to Beta-level testing. They hope to have a working series of prototypes ready for your review by the end of next year, with the Stage two models being tested a few years afterwards, depending on the results and your authorization for such a thing to take place. Along with that, they have also been looking into the possibilities of Psionic genes and various other creatures that they believe could be spliced together and added to the end result of the Stage three testing. Currently, they only have theories and ideas, but, with Gaia helping them, they have begun looking at the possibilities of Taozin, Ysalamir and Vornskr, along with what few samples of Tuk'ata and Terentatek genetic material that were provided by the Reavers of Grigori, among others. So far, the simulations show much promise." I nodded as more images came, test-tubes and large cylinders filled with liquid, figures were visible within some, but not visible within others while various technicians, Droids, robots and other members of staff wondered around and carried out their duties. Current progression was working on a scale of fast prototyping via the use of genetic profiling and accelerated aging programmed into the prototypes. Said prototypes currently only lived a few years before they died, and even then, they had virtually no mental capacity what-so-ever, little more than breathing corpses, abet, ones that still had value and use to them. Seeing the gesture, Avun continued onwards to the next project as I glanced down at the data pad, a superficial move on my part, but one that helped me focus on the details.

"Lastly, Project Solomon. Lilith and Hecate have been working closely with this project to both find the blueprints for technologies of interest, as well as developing them further to suit the needs of both yourself, and Sicarius as a whole. So far, they've found several dozen examples of various technologies that could be considered ancient by current standards, some even being thousands of years old, but these examples have, thus far, proven themselves to be dozens of times more effective than anything currently available due to the technological regression that the Galaxy seems to experience. Among what was found, Reaver teams located two vessels of interest, wrecks that you instructed them to search for, My Lord." Avun stated as two new images appeared before me. I smiled slightly as I saw each of them as I took a sip from my glass and enjoyed the flavor as I savored the knowledge that the chances of me and mine surviving the many, rapidly approaching, shit-storms were going up and up further each day.

"The first vessel was found on Mustafar, an old Republic warship that was present dates back to sometime between the Mandalorian War and the New Sith War, exact dating is somewhat difficult due to the nature of the planet, but a more detailed report is being compiled for your review, My Lord. Aboard the vessel, the Reavers found the remains of several weapons and droids, among them, they found this." Another image appeared as I watched, a wide smile playing across my features as I saw the image before me of an ancient, yet well-preserved Droid body, damaged in the initial crash that must have taken the ship down with it, but the body was still in good enough condition that, clearly, the data core must have been retrieved.

"And the data core of the Droid?" I asked, partially expecting the answer that followed as Avun bowed her head slightly.

"Empty, however, the actual personality core of the Droid was found to have been uploaded into the main data core of the vessel, a Hammerhead-class Cruiser. The Reavers have retrieved both the remains of the Droid's body and the data core, having cut it out of the wreck, along with samples of the technology present." I nodded at that, accepting the answer as another thought came to me as I looked over two of the latest additions to my growing arsenal of aces against suicide-by-stupid-people.

"And what of the wreck itself? I assume that they didn't leave anything behind to be found by scavengers or the like?" I asked, getting a nod from Avun, who gave a sly smirk in turn as she gestured once more, causing the previous images to disappear. Absently, I wondered why she even did that, especially given her augmented-nature, though, given the fact that the little movements caused her dress to shift and expose more skin, or the interesting things it did to her chest, I think I could answer that question myself.

"Destroyed, they made it look like an avalanche that caused the wreck to fall into a lava river before triggering a minor eruption in the area. No one was present to see it, as both the locals and the Techno Union presence on the planet were located elsewhere on the planet. The nearest settlement being days away by anything short of a sub-orbital flight." Avun stated as she brought up an image of the other ship that the Reavers had found, as per Project Solomon. I openly grinned as I saw the ship, the oddly shaped vessel looking very much like I remembered from the background I had read and that seemed to have remained true even here.

"I see you found the Grey Secant on Ilum. Good, what about the Hypergate on the planet? Was that present as well?" I asked, slightly curious as to whether or not it had survived millennia of Jedi stupidity and constant war, especially after the Great Galactic War, the Cold War, and the Galactic War. Avun smiled and bowed slightly as the next image showed the Hypergate in question, uprooted and loaded onto a large freighter, a nice image that told me plenty, more than enough, to know that it would soon be added to the various Keys of Solomon.

"Indeed, My Lord. The Gate was present and the Reavers responsible for the expedition managed to both secure it and the vessel. They also returned with a few trinkets they found, dating back to the Great Galactic war, with a few other items mixed into it, even a Lightsaber or two that must have been lost during the conflict for the world before the Republic regained it, as you theorized." Avun stated simply as I nodded and stood up from the chair.

"Good to know that such a thing has been confirmed, at least now I know that the Jedi are as blind as they are stupid, not anything new, but confirmation is always nice. After all, when your enemy is making a mistake, it's best not to tell them, let alone interrupt them while their doing so." I remarked with another sip of my Brandy as Avun giggled slightly at that, covering her mouth even as her body bounced a bit, an action I knew she was exaggerating to grab my attention, hence the giggle. Pausing for a moment, I looked at the large Supergiant before me and saw the beauty of it again, a thought and an area of the image zoomed in to show one of the many stations that now circled the massive celestial object. Even as it zoomed in, I walked forwards, passing the holographic screens that disappeared with a thought even as I heard Avun coming up behind me, to my left.

Soon, the image cleared and enhanced itself to show one of the stations in question, a massive thing that having been the result of three years of careful work to produce a new form of resource generation that would further aid the Hades station in being both self-sufficient and fully capable of thriving in a full-war footing, should it come to that. The stations were shaped like massive cylinders, one end facing the star while the other aimed for space, just looking at it, one could see the scale of the massive constructs, black Thermo-kinetic armor working alongside radiation shields to protect it from the close proximity of the star. Looking at the trail of stellar matter that linked the two objects, I smiled as I watched it rise like a double helix, an impressive sight, a by-product of the tractor beams pulling the massive amounts of energized matter up.

"Five years... " I muttered to myself even as I felt Avun behind me, through senses both common and esoteric. She remained silent even as I continued to speak, indulging me in one of my moments of reflection even as I sipped my glass once more.

"Five years since I came here, since I started out as a lowly Bounty Hunter and now...? Now I command a PMC that has numerous planetary governments taking steps back, that has the Republic giving me cautious looks and has the respect, envy and fear of virtually the entire Galactic Underworld... Damn..." I said as a thought made the image of Stellar Foundry No. 07 disappear even as I felt movement behind me, felt the pressure of Avun coming up behind me and pressing her body against my own as arms came and dangled over my shoulders, one tracing over my chest while another played with the collar of my jacket, looking for a way to undo it and get into my shirt. I ignored it, for the most part, even as I kept talking while Avun perched her head on my shoulder, pressing her chest further into my back.

"Damn... Just where the hell do I go from here...?" I asked, repeating myself even as I felt Avun's hips starting to move while a finger traced my jaw before gently pushing my chin, I allowed it as I turned to face the seductress that looked back at me with a half-lidded stare. She wasted no time after that, pressing her lips against mine for a short kiss, tracing her tongue over my lips before pulling back with a sigh escaping her own lips as she pulled back before slipping in and leaning into my ear, hot breath tickling my skin.

"... Wherever you wish... My Lord... We shall follow..."

XXX

Sighing to myself as I looked over my collection of weapons and armor, I tested checked my supplies for what seemed like the millionth time, even as old and new paranoia told me to check everything again, just to make sure it would work as I wanted. Honestly, I was less than worry about what I was getting into, but I still found myself feeling a nervous anticipation of what was to happen next, of what would come after I left the Dagger that I was currently using as a transport, one of a fleet numbering in the thousands, and that was just for the Dagger-class. Other ship-types had long since been constructed to fill roles as Sicarius expanded in the last three years, updates, upgrades, new developments and new discoveries just meant that things were constantly changing, shifting and being altered to make the best use of what was learned, whether it be from this Galaxy, my own, implanted, knowledge, or from hard-won experience.

As such, as I pulled my clock over my shoulders, attaching it into my collar and waist while my helmet unfolded from said collar to expand and cover my head, I looked at the final item that I had with me. The strange device was made of Crystals, a bar of solid crystal engraved with metals lines and runes that I recognized as being of Sith origin. The entire thing had been tested, checked and examined a dozen times before I picked it up from the Reaper team sent to originally pick it up just after passing into the Core, travelling along the Hydian Way before splitting off to head for Coruscant. Operational security was that any Force artifacts were to be examined and contained, kept away from Hades for a minimum of a month before they were considered safe to bring closer, even if only to a secondary base a few dozen Light-years away.

This was not one of them, as such, it was something that we only really worked with as a tool. Read Object had returned with nothing more than who had made it and who's hands it had passed through, a rather long list that I knew would probably grow longer in time, but I at least knew that it wasn't going to lead back to Hades if Darth Plaguies decided to come knocking. Then again, I smiled, the Muun probably knew that coming to my front door so blatantly would not be a good idea.

Darth Plaguies the Wise, indeed.

"My Lord, we are on final approach to Coruscant. All stealth systems are currently active and we will be approaching the infiltration point within the next seven minutes. Lilith has reported that there are no signs that your approach has been detected, along with that, she reports that she is ready to begin causing security forces difficulties, should they discover your presence. Ishtar, likewise, reports that all forces are present and ready to intervene, should you be discovered and require a hard exfiltration." I heard in my ear, Eve reporting how the current situation was going even as I put the crystal block away, knowing that it had been altered to react when in the presence of the Holocron that my client wished for. As far as I could tell, it would do such via glowing either brighter or dimmer, something I disliked since I'd be playing a game of 'hotter or colder' with this damned thing even while I tried keeping myself hidden from Lord only knew how many Jedi.

And yes, I knew they were stupid and blind, but even blind people can find something if they search for it, certainly, they'd probably be able to find if something was out of place in a location they knew so well.

With that in mind, I called up my reserves and started feeling the power flow, both Psionic energies and Aetheric currents of magic. I smiled at that, both flowing freely as I remembered that old book I had been given, a tome of knowledge given to me by my Benefactor at our last meeting three years previously. I had said it would be game-changing then, and it still applied some three years later as I enjoyed the fruits grown from that seed of knowledge: A way to use Magic while clad in heavy armor, inside MDC vehicles, or even in the depths of Starships.

Moving out of the armory, I took a turn and left for one of the main Airlocks, a pair of Reapers following me in their preferred suits of Light Power Armor. I felt their bodies tense up even as they remained hyper-aware of the world around them, self-discipline keeping them from twitching and jumping around like a barely contained spring. As that happened, I remembered all the work needed to allow me to use Magic through my armor, an action that took years to do for my own suit, and such action would only would for me, given what the book spoke of.

It spoke of saturating the materials of a suit of armor with a person's energies, allowing them to pass, but only for that person. Any other person would suffer the same as if they wearing a normal suit of armor, but said suits could be attuned to more than one person at a time, but the price to be paid increased exponentially with each person that you wanted to be able to use a suit of armor. For a single person to do such, it took a year of time, effort and work, double that for two people, four times that for three, eight times that for four people, and so on and so forth. Doing it like that just wasn't economically viable for anything but a single person, something I full agreed with since, while it meant a Reaver would need to start from scratch if they lost their original suit, they could access the full width and breadth of their abilities in battle.

As could I.

A few minutes later, and I came to the Airlock in question, more soldiers standing guard as I watched the door cycle even as the mental counter I had ticked downwards to nearly nothing as I walked in once the door was open wide enough. A second later and the door sealed behind me as I waited for what was to come, not that I had to wait long, as Even returned to me a minute later as I looked at the blank door before me while checking the readouts on my HUD, all things showing that they were working and that my Reaver-style armor was up to scratch.

"My Lord, we are approaching the target zone. Opening outer Airlock." An instant later, that happened as I saw the door cycle before sliding open, the wind suddenly blasting into the room as I walked towards the entry point beyond me and stood at the edge. I looked around and noted with a fair bit of amusement that I was, literally, standing in a hole in reality, since it looked like a doorway had appeared from nowhere as I looked down at the city skyline that was Coruscant. Absently, I tightened my hold on the Altered Aura that was being released by my body, a Psionic skill that Reavers had learned to use to hide themselves from Force-based detection by rendering their Aura down to virtually nothing. Such a thing was useful, especially when combined with a few other tricks to render you even less visible.

Still, as I took that last step before reaching the edge, I considered if I should go that route, if only to ensure that I managed to get in and out without getting caught. Then I reconsidered, remembering the words of the client: "To show the Jedi mortal terror". I smiled at that as I discarded those thoughts and began to consider other powers, trying to decide on what to use before finally settling on one even as I glanced down.

Below me, I saw the grand sight of the Jedi Temple as it stood, cream-coloured stone or concrete-like materials giving it such a colour in the dawning sky even as I smirked at it. Chances were that they had probably felt the ship arriving, but that wasn't something I could be sure of even as I took a step forwards and jumped into the howling abyss of the open air, an eager grin plastered to my features even as I shot towards the ground like a bullet out of a gun with one thought playing across my mind.

This was going to be fun...

XXX

The corridors of Hades were always busy. Either with supplies being transported, men and woman moving from one location to another, or with patrols being carried out; These were but a few of the reasons that the corridors always seemed filled with people, few corridors were ever empty, and most always had at least a few dozen people in them at any given time, regardless of whether it was day or night, based on station-time. As such, as Avun stalked through the busy corridors with her escort of Reapers, all members of Sicarius moved to grant her passage, her superior rank and her guard of high-ranking Reapers ensured it as even the most unobservant moved quickly to get out of the way of the towering, Power Armor-clad soldiers that were considered among the most dangerous warriors within Sicarius.

Seeing this, Avun smiled slightly to herself and allowed a glance at the Reapers in question. Dull black armor covered them entirely, the plating covering all weak points while synthetic muscle bundles were visible through the cracks in the armor and the joints, MDC fibres woven into the muscles, as well as the nature of the bundles themselves, removed them as a weak point. Every Reaper always had at least a dozen guns on them at any given time, the two guarding her were no exception as she flexed her abilities and felt their weapons; Four visible pistols were on each side of their waists and on the small of their backs, but both also had another four hidden in thigh compartments, plus another four in compartments hidden in the shoulder blades of the armor, plus at least one rifle on either of them. Added to that, they also carried a few dozen different throwing knives and blades scattered around their bodies, few people generally witnessed how heavily armed they were, then again, they would probably be too busy pissing themselves at the sight of the helmet.

Said helmet was carefully crafted, the materials used giving it the appearance of a leering skull while black lenses gave the impression of the eyes being a bottomless abyss. More than one opponent had tried to flee at the sight of such a face, and it certainly wasn't helped by the fact that Reapers had quickly picked up how to inspire dread through simple body language mixed with infrasound projectors. Not to mention other tricks they had picked up to seem as intimidating as possible while still carrying out their duties, something that was used to keep the Underworld in line and prevent them from doing something stupid when they thought they had a chance. Avun absently rolled her eyes at the thought of such a weak point being possible, her Lord had worked too hard to ensure that no such weak point was visible, let alone even existed.

Turning a corner, she heard and felt the Reapers stop as she walked through an open door, taking guarding positions at the doorway along with other soldiers that stood at attention, weapons at the ready in case of an attack that probably would never come. The door sealing behind her, Avun smiled as she looked into the white-walled lab around her and moved through it, taking note of the teams of in-house trained scientists and workers busy while she looked up and saw the vast arrays of massive tubes and containers where dozens of figures floated in suspension fluids. Smiling, the Chiss approached a work station and brought up the current progress of Genesis, along with the logs of the many side projects attached to it, her own work included.

"Gaia, how is the progress on the current iteration of retroviruses?" Avun asked as she looked over the data in turn, taking note of the work done and what DNA samples had been included to get what result. A moment later, a hologram of the AI fragment appeared, bowing her head slightly before looking back at Avun in turn.

"Current status shows a 67% success rate with the current iteration. Trials have proven promising for this version of the retrovirus, but improvements can be made and the effects can become more pronounced in time. Trials have also discovered that the use of normal M.O.M implants in the subjects can cause numerous problems with the conversion, as they would be rejected and either destroyed, or the regrowing flesh would try to displace them, both outcomes would, and have, resulted in the deaths of the test subjects." Gaia explained, a small clip playing that showed exactly at that as man was injected with something before he stayed quiet, only to start screaming in horrid pain moments later as his skin rippled slightly, scales becoming visible while he bucked and thrashed against restraints. The MDC materials holding firm, but only just as subject continued to throw himself around even as the changes continued, only to stop as the skull started to deform before all movement stopped, blood slowly leaking from the subject's eyes, mouth and nose as he slumped into the bed that he laid upon, dead.

Seeing that, Avun nodded as she considered that for a moment and considered what she knew before choosing to continue speaking.

"Have you discovered any solutions for the problem?" Avun asked, referring to how virtually every member of Sicarius had implants in one form or another, generally as a Controller chip to keep them loyal, a paranoid precaution, but one that was used to both make them loyal in the first place and to keep them as such. Gaia nodded at that.

"Biochips are already being constructed, when the process is ready, many of the current lines of implants can be replaced with Biochips to allow for a smoother process. The already present augments are of little danger of causing rejection, but Psynetic and M.O.M implants are still taking time to discover a work around, especially due to your own nature, my Lady." Gaia stated as Avun leaned back, taking a seat in thought as she cupped her chin, as she considered and discarded a few ideas before glancing back at the AI.

"... What about using a nanite-based delivery system to reconstruct the genetic make-up of an individual one cell at a time? The process would effectively be the same, but slower due to needing to be more careful about implementing it." Avun stated as Gaia tilted her head slightly to one side in thought, probably running some simulations to see if the idea had potential.

"Possible, though extremely painful. Projections show that such a conversion process would also have several long term problems with the regenerative abilities of the different DNA augments trying to remove the implants or consume them to make itself whole." Avun shrugged at that, expecting something to come from the proposal, at least in terms of long term problems.

"Understandable. Is there any way to work around it?" Avun inquired as the fragment shook her head.

"Not currently. The only way for a heavily cyberised individual to undergo the current conversion process would require for their cybernetics to either be removed, or converted to some kind of techno-organic structure to ensure that the conversion would think that the metal was just the same as the subjects flesh and blood. Such a thing is outside of our present abilities to do. Though, Grigori has noted the potential for Sith Alchemy to do such a thing... Hmmm... Marking Sith Alchemy down for further research." Gaia stated as Avun smiled at that, glad to know that she wouldn't be left behind when it came time for things to progress, as directed by their Lord's master plan. Then again, no one within Sicarius wanted to be left behind, especially if he advanced to become something greater than he was before. Oh, all of them would gladly stay as they were, had he given the command, but he had allowed this to happen, to allow Genesis to be carried out fully and without objection.

"What about the current lines of prototypes for Stage one?" Avun asked as another image appeared, showing a Humanoid figure as layers were peeled off to show the separate areas of interest as more and more was done to highlight differences as another hologram appeared next to it, showing a Sicarius baseline soldier.

"Work is progress as predicted, slow, but with steady advancement to the design and complexity of the prototypes. Stage one is working to create the foundation for further enhancements down the line, but the current design shows great promise as it is, even without adding any further samples to the gene-mix to further augment the current iteration. As of this moment, we've been using Gen'Dai and Dashade DNA as a base while using some Icarii DNA for the appearance and enhanced regenerative properties, as per the Master's instructions. This has meant that, while Human in appearance, the prototypes have shown impressive regenerative abilities, allowing them to survive any kind of injury that one could imagine. Icarii DNA also helps prevent the Brain from degenerating from advanced age while a bit of gene-splicing as made it so that the brain is no longer centralized, but scattered through the nerve clusters that line the entire nervous system. As a result, there is no centralized organ that can be attacked to ensure a clean kill of the prototype while retaining the ability to enter a hibernate state either at will or once too many injuries have been taken, the latter of which has been pushed back significantly to increase durability. Dashad DNA has increased the durability of the prototypes hide while also granting it several organs scattered throughout the body that help regulate their body heat and filter any harmful radiation from their bodies. Theoretically, this should also make them partially resistant to the Force, either making it harder for Force users to directly affect them, or for them to be less effected by things such as Mind Tricks. I'd need more information to create a more solid theory, but the simulations support the theory. Finally, the addition of Feeorin DNA has made it so that muscle development and durability will not degenerate from underuse or age, but will grow stronger with age, and stronger still through constant use and exercise." Gaia explained, showing clips of the prototype at work, going through drills and showing how such things worked as it compared charts that showed how the subject became stronger, tougher as it grew older at an accelerated rate before showing other aspects, the resistance to damage, the healing, and the fact that one would need to destroy the creature down to practically kill every cell and destroy every atom of the creature to ensure it stayed dead. Something that showed to be a difficult prospect even as Avun watched the tests slowly progress from the weapons of this Galaxy towards weapons favored by the Master's Homeworld, weapons that Sicarius used as a whole.

Avun smirked widely as she saw all this, the results speaking for themselves as she watched the prototypes being attacked, stabbed, shot and blasted to pieces only to come back together, if given sufficient time to do such a thing. In terms of appearance, they looked like Humanoids with sections of their skin being overlapped, or replaced, with scales, mainly around the waist, the wrists, ankles, neck, the jaw line, cheeks and around the eyes. Such differentiating features were expected, but future stages of the project planned to remove such superficial differences through a number of means, either making it so that the scales could be hidden or removed altogether. Still, it was everything that the Chiss Technojacker expected and more, even with what she had just read from the reports she had delivered to the Master just earlier.

"And what about the other DNA samples that are being looked into, and the possibility of Psionic genes being implanted into the final product?" Avun asked as she saw Gaia smirk slightly at that.

"Work is still ongoing... But, the results... They show... Promise..." Avun smirked widely in turn as she chuckled slightly at that, the ideas that came from that alone and the potential for the future was more than enough for her to know that her Lord's plan was progressing as it should. However, what made it even better was the knowledge that it was only one of many.

One among a vast web of plans and schemes that stretched across the Galaxy...

XXX

Looking over her latest work, the Hecate-Fragment looked at the current design of a new ship that would seen be put into production. It was something to join the growing fleet of Sicarius, like all the other ships that she had designed, it followed the same design plan as the rest of them: Jet black in colour with sharp edges, hard angles and very few soft curves, if any, in the entire design. Other aspects often included the large degree of automatic features that allowed the ship to function, such as the Hyper-swarms, colony-hives and large numbers of robots working as security and anti-boarding units to protect the virtual skeleton crews when compared to the ships of the larger Galaxy.

As such, she turned her attention to her latest work: The Covert Assault/Shock Assault/Anti-Warship Vessel-Destroyer Iteration 9726-AD, the Longsword-class Destroyer.

The design for the vessel was simple, a vessel designed with the express purpose of hunting down other Capital ships, or any opposing ships in general, and gutting them as quickly and efficiently as possible, regardless of range. Of course, closer ranges meant that they would have a much easier time getting a target lock, but such things were a matter of reality due to the nature of void combat, with the distances giving opposing forces time to move and dodge out of the way of potentially lethal hits. For that reason, the Longsword was designed with a heavy focus on weapons that could not be avoided easily, each one focusing on a different area. For long ranges, the Longsword was designed to favor a new weapon system that Hecate had created from the ground up, a system that was to be used in a number of heavier classes from this point forwards.

It was called the Ragnarok Cannon.

The Ragnarok Cannon was a Mass Driver, designed to fire shells the size of some shuttle craft with a warhead of pure Anti-matter contained in a reactor/warhead hybrid design. The shell itself was a more than just an oversized bullet, it was a semi-guided projectile with the capability to hone in on a target across vast distances and try to hit them. Of course, with the distances involved, such a thing was not possible with any degree of certainty, which was why the Ragnarok shells were programmed to go for Proximity kills, detonating close enough to bath the surrounding area in a well-spring of Radiation, heat and plasma. Of course, the Anti-matter warhead was just the standard shell type, other types were present, ranging from a Flechette-spraying shaped charge, to more cluster shells capable of splitting up mid-flight to attack multiple targets at once. Internal colony-hives also boasted the ability to rapidly produce these shells to assist in rearming the ship between engagements, something that would only sever to make the ship more dangerous in the long run.

For placement, these weapons were located in two turrets that were located on either side of the bow of the ship, which split apart to have two spikes coming from an inward-facing crescent, one above the other with the inner edge looking like it was honed to a razor edge. The vessel widened from there, looking more like a blade, if viewed from above, and following the current lines of designs that Sicarius used, it looked like a long, grip-less sword that had the guard replaced with a pair of sharp wings that jutted out from the rear of the vessel and slashed forwards. These wings held other weapons, primarily the dozens of Torpedo launchers that held the Sicarius brand of such weapons, little more than oversized missiles with enlarged warheads and even more agile self-guidance and path-finding systems. Missiles were also present, but they were redesigned for agility more than warhead size, preferred as a close-range weapon while the Point defense systems remained present, and in a similar design configuration as with other vessels. Of course, what further made the ship so dangerous was the weapons that dominated the six edges that moved along the ship from the bow, away from the Ragnarok Cannons.

On each edge, in an alternating pattern, were a series of retractable turrets that each held a twin-linked weapon system, either a Plasma Beam or Particle Beam weapon that could render any target that came within range of them into dust. The Plasma Beams remained for closer-ranged targets, but they were potent things within those ranges while the Particle Beams kept their own strengths, their only failing being their charge time between blasts that was partly solved due to the twin-linked nature of the turrets, allowing them to fire in sequence or parallel as needed. Though, compared to other vessels, the range of such weapons was greater due to the sheer increase in size and energy being pumped into the weapons than with the lesser Daggers or Shortsword-class Frigates.

Aside from that, the 850 metre long, 210 metre wide vessel contained every other advanced system that had become a hall mark of Sicarius, with ECM and ECCM systems incorporated into the hull, Thermo-Kinetic armor that was fifteen metres thick at the weakest point and covered by multiple self-repair systems. Added on to this were the dozens of Variable Force Fields and stealth systems built into the monster vessel that would soon stalk the stars and void as Hecate qued up a series of simulations to run, testing the design with the aid of Ishtar to see how it faired. Once that was done, the two would go over the results to see how they could be improved for future versions while also beginning a limited production run for testing within the Hades system.

It was the same thing that they had done with the Dagger, and the Shortsword, both having their origins in the works of their Master, but growing from them, improving upon the initial designs to create something better. So impressed with the designs, the Master even granted them permission to halt the production of his old designs, something that had rendered all seven of the AI-fragments speechless for minutes. Then again, it only gave Hecate more determination to keep on going, the praise of the Master driving her forwards as she sought to improve, create and expand the abilities and reach of the Master through the tools she crafted.

Already, she had seen the praise her Master had for her skills, but she wished for more, to hear him speak and praise her for more of her craft, for her to know that she was valued by her Master, as did all the AI-fragments that formed the N.E.X.U.S.

And, as she opened up a new project and began her work, she felt a slight twitch to her digital lips, what could only be called a shallow, sly smile that promised many things for the future.

None of them good, for the enemies of either her or her Master...

XXX

Slipping into the Jedi temple was never an issue.

Three years of training, combat and practice, not to mention continuous development of my own abilities, had meant that I had plenty of new tricks to add to my arsenal. With that time, I had long since learned to diversify my abilities, growing from the purely discrete powers of Magic and Psionics to more potent, obvious applications of powers that could be used to render opponents as little more than carbonized ash or bloody smears against the walls. My stealth abilities had not fallen behind my combat abilities either, mostly because I found the use of such things more potent than one might expect, especially with the rumors surrounding me, acting like a veil to hide the full length and breadth of my skills.

As such, with the words of Darth Plagueis' puppet in mind, I decided to try a rather different approach since my aim was not to get what I wanted with minimum fuss, but was to cause terror within the ranks of Jedi, to lead them on a merry chase that would have them jumping at shadows.

For that reason, I walked right in through the front door.

Of course, that isn't to say I was stupid about it. No, my form was hidden by a rather neat trick, a Psionic ability called an Ectoplasmic disguise, coating my form in a goo-like substance that was molded and textured to look and feel like flesh. A bit of work later, and I looked like a non-descript Human Jedi in the appropriate robes while still retaining my armor hidden under the layers of my disguise, more work had also allowed my Aura to shift slightly to become a composite image of multiple Jedi, letting me slip into their ranks without even a side-ways glance in my direction. Under my disguise, I couldn't stop grinning like a lunatic as I walked through the halls of the Jedi Temple without fear, I had done stuff like this before, with Sith cults that were scattered around the Galaxy, along with learning more from the Reavers that were under my command.

Walking at a pleasant pace, I quickly found what I was looking for as I turned a corner and stopped for a moment, reaching the Jedi Archives itself. The massive chamber filled with computers and terminals to access them as I walked past them, glancing around even as I gave a nod to one of the Liberians that guarded the knowledge held within the massive banks of solid-state storage devices. Slowly, I approached a table and took a seat, keeping my disguise calm as I sat down and started opening the terminal up. With a bit of influence, what few security features that were present disappeared, allowing me full access as I got into the highest level of data before starting to look for what I needed.

Namely, a full map of the Jedi Temple and an access port that was out of the way and not checked often. The former was easy to find, since it was attached to the main Archive and a few levels down, deeper into the Temple proper and with less ways to access it. However, the latter proved a bit trickier to find, but still something I found in due course as I back tracked the logs of access to find something out of the way before I smiled under my disguise. A thought and I dismissed what I had found as I turned my attention back to the physical world, where my body was giving the impression of researching the particulars of certain styles of fighting, Form two and Form three of Lightsaber combat.

"Excuse me, Master, but may do you require any assistance?" I heard from my side as I returned to my senses even as my eyes glanced over the screen. Instincts and old, self-enforced, training prevented me from jumping in surprise as I turned to look at the source of the voice in question. I kept the surprise from my face as I scanned the figure that I looked at, taking in details and running a quick searching the back of my mind before finding a match even as I felt my eyebrow rise slightly at the conclusion.

Though, in retrospect, it wasn't needed.

"Not at the moment, Padawan Kenobi, though, I appreciate the effort nonetheless." I stated as I rose from the terminal to see the future mentor of the chosen one. Scanning him, I saw him standing stiff, his head bowed respectfully even as he rose back up to look at me in turn.

"As you wish, Master, though, if you need anything, don't hesitate to request assistance from either myself or one of the others present." The Padawan stated as I nodded, a smile spreading across my false features as started walking, heading in the opposite direction of the Holocron vault as I felt the need to head for something a bit different first.

"No need, I've already found what I was looking for. I'll be leaving, but may the Force be with you in your duties." I stated as he nodded before walking off with an offered 'And may the Force be with you too, Master'. The words faded into the background quickly as I headed for the entrance of the massive library. However, I paused by the door for just an instant, not long enough to be noticed, but long enough for me to drop a package that then scuttled over and hide in alley before searching out its pre-programmed target point even as I carried on as though nothing had happened. The whole point of it was to give the appearance that nothing had happened. In truth, nothing really had, but my present would soon be working to give me just a touch more than I had initially wished to get, should it work as I hoped.

Outside the archive, I smirked happily, my form still hidden by my disguise as I turned a corner and walked around the area, heading for another section of the Temple even as a message played across my vision as the modified Scarab Mark six Assassin Droid made it to its target. The machine, having been modified for its task as to infiltrate the Jedi network and steal as much data as it could find, exploiting the backdoor I had formed for it, but working on a deadline as I knew N.E.X.U.S would be working fast to ensure that everything was done. Still, it everything worked as well as I hoped, I would be able to get more than just a few Holocrons out of this, even if I failed.

Turning another corner as I finished descending further into the temple, I absently scanned for other signs of life, I paused as I felt around with my mind, looking for my target as I envisioned the area around me, scans showing the internal layout and cross-referencing it with the map I had downloaded from the temple's network. Nodding to myself, I glanced around again, a nervous habit as I pressed a concealed control on my waist and walked forwards. A moment later, I came into contact with the wall...

... And walked right through it as though it wasn't even present. An Out-of-Phase Field generator mounted into my armor, slimmed down enough to be flush against my back as I slipped through the wall before emerging in the one location I wanted.

The Holocron Vault.

As I looked around, laser triggers and darkened lights filling the chamber and causing the gem-like cubes to glitter in the faint light, I couldn't help but grin like a loon as I pulled out the Sith Artifact and started looking for my objective, Object Read played across my mind as I scanned some Holocrons and grabbed a few that caught my interest. Mostly, they contained generalized information about the nature of the Force, but also contained information about a few potent abilities that caught my interest the most.

Still, even with all that, the only dampener on the whole thing was the fact that I still had to play a damned game of 'hot or cold' with a glowing hunk of crystal...

"... Well, it's not like I expected anything else..."

XXX

AN: Ok, there you have it. Hope you enjoyed this chapter and I welcome all reviews at the time.

Until next time!