2/25/7957 C.R.C

  Castle Serenno

  Count Dooku's office/ Great Hall

  My feet thudded moderately heavy against the floor of the castle as I slowly walked to Count Dooku's office.

  My heavy steps were almost drowned out by the security detail I had following me. Four Magnaguards, each with multiple blasters of the pistol and rifle category, two bandoliers of thermal detonators on their bodies, their usual electrostaves, and their frames covered in navy blue cloaks with white linings followed in lockstep with me. My personal bodyguard, Captain Ransack, wearing a navy blue cavalier with black lining and a sheathed vibrosword on his hip, followed right behind me, his yellow optics constantly scanning for threats.

  If Ransack seemed new, he actually wasn't.

  He is, in fact, formerly known as H1-01, the same HK Assassin Droid that was a part of the first batch that had been created in the abandoned HK factory on Telos, who then later fought with me against outnumbered odds when our transport was shot down on Geonosis, and who also assisted the Marauders in my rescue on Mandalore. After six months of his new life, he finally acquired a name that he liked and changed his designation to it. That name being Ransack, which he came up with after his preferred fighting tactics like when he stealthily sliced off Barriss's hand to distract her Master on Geonosis, or his pilfering of Mandalorian weapons to use against Death Watch during my brief imprisonment in Sundari.

  I turned a corner, and glanced back to see my escort quickly following, one of the Magnaguards briefly pausing then standing straighter when she noticed my optics lingering on her. I shook my head fondly at (S1-R4) Sierra's attempt to be even more rigid than a normal droid of her type, then turned back and kept walking.

  It's been a week since the Invasion of Kamino, and in that time, quite a bit has happened.

  Turns out, the virus that I had ordered to be placed in the DNA template of Jango Fett on Kamino didn't exactly go the way that I wanted it to. That was despite the alternate version, which was created and spread throughout Tipoca City by C-8 Sabotage Droids, which increased the rate of every soldier's biochip degradation and spread like a symptomless disease, that one worked perfectly. Instead of just altering the DNA so that the biochips in every new clone would degrade over the course of a year after they take their first breath, along with also blocking any attempt at executive orders, the virus implanted into the DNA template ended up destroying the entire template because of an overlooked flaw with the virus that I hadn't thought of and later kicked myself for forgetting about.

  That flaw was the deviations that happened in the clone trooper's DNA as they were being crafted by the Kaminoans. Without a sample of the original DNA to work with, the virus became confused when it was introduced to the DNA of Jango Fett, and just attacked the template with everything it had, utterly destroying the entire thing on a molecular level. Now, Kamino's ability to create new clone troopers is completely gone, along with the long-term variation of my plan to turn as many clone troopers as I could get my hands on into members of the CIS and also create my own clone trooper army. They're apparently keeping the destruction of the Jango Fett DNA template secret from anyone not Kaminoan, and they're apparently trying to reverse-engineer the template using the first-gen clones, but it isn't working well for them.

  How do I know that? Another virus, this one implanted by the Marauders, Goldie specifically, as the team rescued Omega, which basically gave me a backdoor into literally everything in Tipoca City, from maintenance reports, to clone numbers and ages, the defenses of the city that are still functional, and even the locations and comm codes for the other cities on Kamino. As I expected, there are multiple of the massive domed cities spread across the planet of Kamino, with Tipoca City being the capital and the largest cloning center on the planet, with only three others coming close to the numbers that Tipoca could create.

  I'm not revealing the destruction of the Jango Fett DNA template to anyone though.

  I just know for a fact that Dooku or Sidious himself would come and slice my processor in half if they found out that the clone troopers were even more of a non-renewable resource than before, and that it happened by my hand. Although, I do wonder how Palpatine will react once he finds out that Kamino is hiding something that big from him. He definitely won't be happy, that's for sure. And depending on quite a few different factors that Palpatine has absolutely been micromanaging over the years, Stormtroopers might be coming into existence earlier than they should, which may be bothersome.

  "Informative Statement: We are approaching Count Dooku's Office, General." Ransack reported.

  I nodded to my personal bodyguard as we approached the large double doors to the Count's office. As we approached, the two Magnaguards with yellow optics instead of red that were a part of Dooku's personal guard noticed me. One nudged the other, then pointed me out. The other did a small double-take, then once I got within ten feet of them, they requested short-range communications. Mildly amused as I came to a stop, I accepted and entered a group call with them.

  "Greetings, Magnaguards." I greeted.

  "General Blitzkrieg, sir!" The one on the left replied in a feminine voice. "I am a huge fan, sir. I'm IG-92, but I go by Shock. And this is IG-93, but he prefers Awe."

  I'm honestly not surprised to see IG-100s with those designations here. Dooku probably got the first hundred regularly numbered units as the guardsmen for Castle Serenno as soon as they were built. This is his home planet, after all.

  "Shock and Awe, eh?" I amusedly queried.

  Shock shifted on her feet, slightly embarrassed, but it was Awe who answered.

  "Well, sir, you used the strategy pretty well on Kamino when you fought the Jedi known as Shaak Ti." He explained "It was almost like our names were staring us right in the face."

  I chuckled over the comm. "Well, they're as good a name as any for two of Count Dooku's personal guards." I said. "If you'll excuse me, I do have a meeting with the Count."

  "Of course, sir. I hope your meeting is fruitful." Shock replied with a nod.

  The two Magnaguards uncrossed their electrostaves, then each pushed one part of the large double door open. I nodded at them, then walked in. My own Magnaguards took up positions outside alongside Shock and Awe, with only Ransack following me inside. Inside was the large room that I remembered from the Clone Wars show, which Count Dooku used as his office. I was fairly sure that Dooku was using the great hall of Castle Serenno as his office. I wouldn't be surprised if he actually was, to be honest, this place was very well decorated.

  "Count Dooku, I have arrived as instructed." I greeted as I walked towards the younger Christopher Lee lookalike.

  The Count looked up from a report he was reading, and I clocked the very microsecond that he saw my personal escort thanks to my facial scanners. A miniscule widening of the eyes that then sharpened as he evaluated the assassin droid, his eyes scanning all over Ransack's HK-derived frame. After a few moments, he finally gazed up at me.

  "You travel... heavily guarded, General Blitzkrieg." He said with a gesture at my security, both in the room and out of it.

  "I have learned my lesson from Mandalore, my liege." I replied as I kneeled down in front of his desk, putting us ironically at eye level with each other. "I will never travel again with a light guard when on a planet, unless I am in active warfare. It is simply illogical to do so."

  "I see." Dooku looked down at the report on his desk again. "The reports you have sent me are rather informative. You have damaged much of Tipoca City's cloning ability and their defenses during the Invasion, and you even managed to kill Master Shaak Ti of the Jedi High Council."

  I nodded. "Engaging General Ti was the only option I had, considering General Grievous and Commander Ventress were fighting Generals Kenobi and Skywalker respectively." I tilted my head slightly. "Her presence on the battlefield was unfortunately unavoidable. Kenobi, Skywalker, and Ti flanked our forces as they advanced on a set of Kaminoan cloning spires. Tactical projections indicated a ninety-two percent chance she would flank my forward assault line and cripple our offensive if left unchecked. Eliminating her was not only logical to me, it was necessary to at the very least complete that objective."

  "Her death was brought about by her hubris at fighting an inorganic opponent. She underestimated me from the beginning, believing that my precision, my strategies, and my speed could be overwhelmed by intuition and instinct. By the Force which the Jedi seem to trust so implicitly. After injuring her, it was rather easy to overwhelm the togruta and exhaust her, ultimately leading to her decapitation at the end of our fight."

  "And you all received damage from the battle?" Dooku queried.

  "Unfortunately, my Lord. If I may?" I gestured at the desk, and he nodded.

  I raised my left hand like I was making a 'stop' motion, and a scomp-link extended out from the bottom of my wrist, which I then plugged into his desk, then stood up and let the cable connected to the link slide out as I lowered my arm. The reports of the damage done to me and General Grievous, along with Ventress' injuries, popped up on his desk's holo-emitter.

  "As you can see, my lord, General Grievous had one arm completely sliced off at the shoulder, but most of his other damages were negligible thanks to his tough construction. My own damages were even less so thanks to the Phrik plating that comprises most of my chassis, so my damage was not as severe, allowing me to cover their escape. Commander Ventress was... much worse off, unfortunately."

  I hesitated before expanding her medical file to its full size, and noted that there was a miniscule clench in Dooku's jaw, along with another almost-there widening of his eyes. He must have been shocked by the full list, but that neutral mask of his is incredibly impressive. Unfortunately, his display of stoicism doesn't work on a droid, especially not one with sophisticated facial scanners like me.

  I obviously kept that little tidbit to myself, though.

  "Ventress was unfortunately already injured when we engaged the Jedi, a consequence from an ambush of Clone Assassins we encountered beforehand." I explained. "However, what ultimately took her out of the fight and led us to tactically retreat, was a crippling blow dealt by Skywalker himself, shortly after I defeated Shaak Ti. He sliced through her lower abdomen, severing half of her abdominal muscles and puncturing into her body cavity. The injuries she sustained worsened during the trip back to the ship, to the point that our medical droid had to quite literally stop her organs from falling out of her body after we reached the Finest Hour. Though she was in critical condition for a few days, it has fortunately been confirmed by our medics that she will be making a full recovery in due time."

  The Count was silent for a few moments, then he slowly stood and walked over to the massive window behind him, then just... stared out into the storm that was going on outside. He was probably doing an internal monologue with himself.

  Lona tells me that I do that sometimes, too.

  –

  Count Dooku stood by the tall window of his office, the storm outside occasionally casting flashes of light across his face.

  His hands rested behind his back, loosely clasped together. But there was a faint tension to his form, an almost imperceptible rigidity to his posture that betrayed his unease.

  His droid General had grown far beyond the scope that either he or his master had ever imagined.

  The thought... unnerved him.

  When he greenlit Foreman Tambor's and Duke Poggle's project after they revealed it to him, he had no idea what to expect really, beyond a 'better' version of the Super Tactical Droid, which was undergoing its last few rounds of war testing in CIS territory. But he now knew that the droid standing in his office was definitely not what they intended at first. When he learned from them that BZ-KG had killed a Jedi in its very first battle, he definitely took notice of the droid. But after that, in the months following BZ-KG's activation, things began to... change. Unlike all of the other successful creations in the CIS military, BZ-KG didn't stay within its set parameters. Instead, at every opportunity it was given, the droid evolved.

  Every battle it fought in, it observed its enemies and learned how to fight them better. Every tool it was given, it found a way to improve or even recreate them into something new. And most importantly, every new weapon it found, it found a way to improve upon or remake into something far more dangerous. But the self-named General Blitzkrieg didn't just evolve his tactics, but his physical self as well. Dooku knew that its initial frame was that of an extensively modified Super Tactical Droid shell, somewhat similar to the model's predecessor, but with integrated weapons and increased defenses to directly counter Jedi for a short period of time.

  Then it began to change its body, adding a flightpack that allowed it to fly in both atmosphere and in space, along with concealed slugthrowers of all weapons hidden in its arms as well.

  Blitzkrieg lost its third optic on Pantora in a fight against Skywalker, but gained five-fingered hands during that time. The flightpack it wore was replaced with a brand new model that was even more effective. And even its weapons were replaced with custom versions, along with new weapons hidden under its plating. The droid kept upgrading its form all the way up until a little over five months ago when the Mandalore Incident transpired. The damage report Dooku received, and the good long look he got at BZ-KG's oil-leaking form during their holo-call, definitely shed some light on just how much punishment its frame could take.

  After its last appearance on Saleucami, however, Blitzkrieg disappeared into the south-western part of the Outer Rim on his Master's order. That was the last time Dooku saw BZ-KG as the 'Ultra Tactical Droid' that Tambor and Poggle had first created.

  What returned was something completely different and almost beyond his imagination.

  Even now, as the droid stood in front of his desk, the Count found his gaze unconsciously drawn towards the monolithic machine. Blitzkrieg now stood at a towering height of eight feet and five inches, with massive avian wings that, when fully erected, increased its height to thirteen feet. It also had a cannon attached to its right arm that looked like it had quite literally torn it out of the turret of an AAT. Not to mention the fact that Blitzkrieg had given itself the ability to transform into a massive bird-like avian creature, giving it an aerial advantage.

  A sudden strike of lightning illuminated the droid's exposed facial plating, which gave it the look of something halfway between man and machine. Underneath a faceshield that was deployed in battle, was an actual face made up of tiny yet artistically placed plates too expressive for a solid plate of metal, yet too still to be natural whenever he looked at its face for too long. It honestly looked close to the face of a Biodroid without the synthetic skin covering it, but instead made to look like the facial parts were meant to be exposed like that.

  It was... uncanny.

  Not grotesque or monstrous, but instead simply strange in a way that Dooku -a literal Dark Jedi- could not articulate in any real combination of words. The piercing gaze from its glowing, stark white optics as the droid listened to him, contrasted by the tiny shifting movements of the entire rest of its body unnerved him. It was like the droid's mind was restless and caused it to refuse to stand still like a normal droid, almost like it was alive in a way that Dooku couldn't quite fathom. He had the unnerving sense that, even as they spoke, Blitzkrieg was studying him, finding weak points in his metaphorical armor to exploit or ways to actually kill him.

  It was like his first time meeting an Assassin Droid all over again, but somehow worse.

  Count Dooku took in a slow breath and schooled his expression back into its practiced neutrality. His mind drifted briefly to Ventress and Grievous, both wounded and far from his direct influence. The Count loathed not being in control of the pieces on his side of the board, and yet here he was, with both his apprentice and his chief enforcer laid low… and his most efficient subordinate standing before him, unreadable and uncanny and unnaturally human.

  But Dooku was still in control, of course. He was an apprentice of Darth Sidious, the Dark Lord of the Sith. He had to be in control. But for the first time in a very long while, Count Dooku found himself wondering if the galaxy's strings were still all in his and his Master's hands… or if one of them had started to move on its own. His gaze flicked once more toward the tall figure standing in front of his desk, the pale reflection of the stormlight dancing across the droid's black and white armor.

  Dooku's voice, when he finally spoke, was calm, though even he could hear the faint edge in it.

  "...And their condition now?" He asked after a few moments.

  "...Ventress is stable." Blitzkrieg replied, its tone clipped. "She remains under heavy sedation to allow her body to recover from the surgery. Grievous has already resumed combat drills with one arm. He simply refuses to wait for the replacement to be finished. He claims it builds discipline while he waits for his medical droid to arrive on Telos with a replacement. Personally, I find his ignorance illogical."

  Dooku allowed the faintest of smirks to crease his lips. "That is not a term I would have chosen, but it is not entirely inaccurate."

  "Regardless of that." Blitzkrieg continued. "The Kamino operation was both a victory and a complication. With the death of Jedi Master Shaak Ti and the shock that the Republic military must feel at the home of their mass-produced soldiers being attacked, they are beginning to introduce ships that are... more dangerous than their predecessors."

  Dooku paused.

  New ships?

  "Are you referring to the vessel your fleet fought above Mandalore?" He asked.

  "I am, my lord." General Blitzkrieg replied. "The Republic's new Imperator-Class Star Destroyer. It, along with the Victory-Class and Tector-Class Star Destroyers are beginning to pop up in space battles more and more often. That's not even factoring in the extensive retrofits of older craft like the Maelstrom-Class and the Emissary-Class, converting them from flawed relics into formidable vessels. I calculate that our own naval assets will be outdated within the year without major refits and a complete overhaul of our naval doctrine. We may even require new warships altogether in two years if the current rate of technological advancement remains at its current speed."

  Dooku's jaw clenched slightly. "Outdated, you say?"

  Blitzkrieg nodded. "Indeed, my Lord. And this is not even mentioning the staffing problems. If you look at this you'll see what I mean." It gestured at Dooku's table, which switched to a massive roster of many of the officers in the CIS army and navy.

  "Many of the officers in the CIS military are illogically picked through nepotism and bribes, especially those in the upper class." Blitzkrieg explained. "And those that do show promise are either killed by being sent on suicide missions by corrupt officials, or are thrown at the wayside to make room for an inadequate hire. For example, Captain Mars Tuuk, an adequate candidate I've been paying attention to for a possible transfer into the Star Wrecker's Navy, has been effectively defanged after his defeat by a false surrender orchestrated by General Skywalker above Ryloth. He now commands a small patrol fleet of Gozantis in the Corporate sector as punishment, despite his impressive resume and battlefield reputation. Coincidentally, the Captain now in charge of Tuuk's former fleet, which has since been rebuilt, is the nephew of Viceroy Gunray."

  Dooku raised an eyebrow. "And your point is?"

  The droid's head tilted slightly, and Dooku ruthlessly crushed the shiver that threatened to travel down his spine as the droid's photoreceptors pierced into his own eyes.

  "The point, my Lord, is that while we may have broken the Republic's arm, they are already rapidly healing from the broken leg we had given them by the time of my entrance into the galactic battlefield. All the while, we are letting ourselves rot from the inside out, filled with corruption and nepotism. It is very... illogical."

  And that was another reason Dooku was unnerved by the Ultra Tactical Droid.

  In not even a full year, Blitzkrieg had somehow realized that while the CIS may have the larger military, it was weighed down so heavily by corruption that it was an even playing field between the Republic and the 'Separatists'. Blitzkrieg's intelligence might have even been improved when it changed into its new body. Still, Dooku was in control, as usual. He also had a plan that would keep the droid occupied for a while, and a subordinate who would... keep an eye on General Blitzkrieg as well.

  "You are correct, General Blitzkrieg." Dooku said. "There is corruption in the Confederacy's military. But unfortunately my hands were tied at the time. I was unable to stop them with the Republic breathing down our collective necks as they were. As such, I could not shift my attention away from the GAR until they were pushed back enough to give us a bit of 'breathing room' to bring the corruption to light."

  If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

  He began pacing slowly behind his desk, Blitzkrieg's optics following him unnervingly closely. "However, you have given us this breathing room we require with the attack on Kamino. I was able to acquire a few ships for your fleet. One of which I believe you will like."

  Dooku stopped pacing and clicked a few buttons on his desk, then watched as BZ-KG's photoreceptors narrowed at the hologram of the ship that appeared over the desk. The ship was closer than he thought, considering it was sitting in a large planetary dock that was situated around Serenno's second moon, Tantero.

  "This is the ship General Grievous briefly used, is it not?" Blitzkrieg queried. "The Subjugator-class Heavy Cruiser, The Malevolence."

  Dooku shook his head. "It is not." he pointed at the hologram. "As you know, the Malevolence was destroyed by sabotage from General Skywalker and General Kenobi's infiltration of the ship during Grievous's campaign. This is the Malevolence's sister ship, the Devastation. This Subjugator-class Heavy Cruiser was initially designed to fire a different kind of weapon, a siege-breaker superlaser, meant to crack planetary shielding, but it was also powerful enough to completely destroy a portion of a planet's surface with a single shot. But the ship's main weapon system was ultimately scrapped in development, after the failure of the Malevolence and complications in the development of the firing system."

  He swiped to a different hologram, one that had its technical specifications. "The ship has been docked at Pammant ever since, with a low-priority set on completing it. As of now, the Devastation is unarmed beyond four sets of turbolasers set on the ventral side of its hull. I do believe this ship should be enough of a reward for your actions on Kamino. It is as close to a blank slate as possible to do whatever you wish with. I had it towed here so that you would be saved the time necessary to go and acquire it for yourself."

  –

  Holy shit.

  I was not expecting Dooku to pull a whole Subjugator out of his ass to reward me.

  And here I thought he was just going to skimp out and give me a bigger fleet as a reward instead. But this is good too, despite the ship being only half built. But that just allows me to customize it as I see fit without any major overhauls. The Devastation is by far the biggest ship around in the CIS and the largest of all its sister ships. 7,892 meters, almost five miles long, or 25892 feet. To put that in perspective, the Malevolence was only 4,845 meters long and it was so big it needed a monorail to get from one end to the other.

  That is plenty of space for myself to plan out and create. I could have an entire planetary invasion force in there with enough room to spare for half of another invasion force, or enough fighters and bombers to have complete air superiority over a planet or in a space battle. And it'll be moving with my entire fleet, so it'll be very heavily protected. It'll need to have all its weapon systems added and the front hull of the ship completed though, so it'll need to be docked at the Telos Defense Ring for a while. Might even be the testbed for Project: Arclight once I get news about it.

  But still, what a fucking amazing reward.

  "...Your reward is wholeheartedly accepted, my Lord." I replied after a few moments.

  Dooku nodded, but I noticed the calculating glint in his eye. "However, given the size of the Devastation, I believe that you require a subordinate to keep things in line." He then pressed a button on his desk.

  A side door opened, and a Super Tactical Droid walked in, colored a desaturated green with swirling gold patterns on his chest and shoulder armor. He walked over and saluted us, then stood with his hands clasped behind his back.

  "This is Kraken. A Super Tactical Droid who has been coded based on your battle experience, and he has been personally upgraded by Foreman Tambor and Duke Poggle to better suit your needs." Dooku explained.

  I blinked a few times as I tried to place where I'd seen that droid before, then recognition bloomed in my processor and my optics reset completely in surprise.

  Now I remember.

  I was honestly surprised to see the Super Tactical Droid who would have in the future, when faced with multiple extremely dangerous lasersword wielding Jedi, calculated that the most optimal strategy to conserve his mission... was to throw hands with Anakin Skywalker himself. He even got a few good hits in before Anakin sliced his arms off then decapitated him.

  What an interesting addition to my in-person debriefing.

  "My Lord, I am fully operational and ready to serve." Kraken announced in a nearly monotone voice.

  "Excellent, Kraken." Dooku replied, before turning to me. "I believe he shall prove to be an adequate Captain of the Devastation, under your command."

  I tilted my head, glancing between Kraken and Dooku for a few moments.

  Ah. I see what he's doing here.

  The Subjugator is just a reward, but it comes with a bug already installed. A distraction dressed up as a gift for a job well done. While I'm busy crewing that massive vessel, overseeing construction teams, and coordinating the installation of every single system a warship of that magnitude requires, he'll have eyes on me, tracking my every move. Because Kraken isn't just the new captain of the Devastation. He's a spy. A loyal little recorder placed right in my command structure, meant to monitor everything I do and send it all back to Dooku. Every choice, every experiment, and every decision I make with that ship in my fleet will be observed, logged, and dissected under his scrutiny.

  Clever, really. Truly a move only thought up by a master. However, his little deception will backfire on him, considering the knowledge and paranoia I have regarding anything given to me by the Sith. Plus, I give my own troops upgrades all the time, unbeknownst to him, so it'll be easy to turn Dooku's spy into my own..

  "How very logical, my liege. I accept this new member of the 104th Star Wreckers." I said.

  "Excellent, General. I have many things I must oversee. You are dismissed." Dooku replied, before sitting back down at his desk.

  Sending a silent ping to the Super Tactical Droid, I turned and left, Ransack and Kraken following behind.

  I, too, have things to work on. Most importantly, my takeover of the Techno Union.

  Over the last three months I'd emptied the war chest that I'd been padding in the Outer Rim and turned it into capital for my background shenanigans. I bought shares, I took silent positions, and I made dozens upon dozens of back-room trades through shell corporations and proxies until the name Orion Westwood, a name originally meant to be a placeholder for the name of TFC's (Telosian Fried Chicken) CEO before I took it for myself, was buried layers deep in the paper trail. Wherever a Techno Union board seat looked vulnerable, I put money on the table. Wherever a contract could be quietly rerouted, I snatched it up and made it my own.

  Republic Sienar Systems, for example, was a struggling company in the Techno Union that was 'neutral' in the Clone Wars. It was a company that I was able to acquire entirely through intermediaries. That was possible and quite affordable compared to my other purchases due to their share value being quite low after their fairly recent failure in terms of sales that was the Marauder-Class Assault Corvette, and the diminishing revenue from the expensive stealth ships they manufactured for the Republic. It felt especially good to swipe that company from right under Palpatine's nose, who both had a secret stake in the company, and who would have used said company in the future for the creation of the iconic TIE line of Starfighters. And approximately three days after acquiring it, I had even renamed the company into their later and more recognizable name to Star Wars fans, Sienar Fleet Systems.

  That was just the legal half, however. The other half was grease for the gears that wouldn't move without a shove. Credits changed hands through middlemen, and bounty hunters of the stealthy type quietly removed some of the worst of the Union's lower level leadership. Men and women whose hands were already stained with bribes, back-deals, and dozens upon dozens of crimes that would completely ruin them in one public hearing. Sometimes a death looked like an accident, a simple slip in their home ending up with a broken neck. Sometimes it looked like a fatal heart attack in a three-star hotel. Sometimes it looked like they just couldn't take it anymore and took their own lives. Sometimes it even did look like an assassination, but framed to appear orchestrated from a fellow corrupt peer in the company. Whatever fit the narrative, the corpse came with a ledger and a signature that could be reassigned to me.

  I laundered those holdings through trusts and accounts in the Banking Clan with the appropriate number of bribes, through the names of estranged relatives and 'secret partners' who suddenly turned up with an appetite for industrial influence. If a share certificate needed to switch hands faster than paperwork allowed, I accelerated the paperwork with a persuasion that left no witnesses. If a director was stubborn, persuasion became inconvenience, then ruin, then a quick, formal transfer of assets to a 'next-of-kin' with a notarized signature.

  I've amassed quite a bit of stock in the Techno Union that way. Not enough to fully take over though.

  But that time would come... eventually.

  "So, you are to be the captain of my new ship, Kraken?" I queried.

  "I am, General Blitzkrieg." He replied in that same monotone voice.

  It was kind of off-putting seeing such a robotic droid after being around the Star Wreckers for so long.

  "I see. Well, you'll have your work cut out for you, I suppose. The Devastation will need extensive work done on her before she's combat ready. Crew, weapons, shielding, as well as whatever surprises that can be thought up and fitted to the ship for our organic enemies."

  "I calculate that the Devastation will have a 85% chance to terrify the Republic upon their first meeting with the vessel." The Super Tactical Droid swiftly reported while mechanically marching forward.

  Jeez, even the way he walks has an extra robotic feel to it. It's almost like he's making a conscious effort to be more robotic than normal. Hopefully after I give Kraken a PM, while also reprogramming him and whatever spyware was installed on him by Dooku, he'll be more lively.

  "Is there anything else you would like to report or have concerns with, Captain?" I asked as we neared the main exit of Dooku's home.

  "Negative." Came his curt, mechanical reply.

  Alright then, looks like he's currently not much of a conversationalist. Again, hopefully reprogramming him will solve some of that.

  The conversation lapsed into silence, with all my guards, and Ransack himself, trading glances with each other. I detected quite a few short-range comms going on around me, but simply rolled my optics at their gossiping.

  They were probably already recording for future blackmail of how robotic Kraken was in order to poke fun at him when he gains a PM and becomes more like the rest of the Star Wreckers.

  I exited Castle Serenno, my escort and Kraken following as I walked back to the transport that would ferry us back to Le Rapace, an MPO-1400 Purgil-Class Star Cruiser I was using for non-combat purposes, like diplomatic visits or transport around and behind CIS lines. It was obviously retrofitted to have much more effective weaponry, engines, and shielding, along with a new outer armor profile that was a bit more rounded like other CIS ships. The name was Ghor (basically space French) for The Raptor. I found its name quite fitting.

  As I walked onto the ship, Osprey, my personal pilot, walked over.

  "General, I have General Grievous on line one demanding an audience with you." She reported, her accent having shifted to a slightly german one over the course of her PM's creation. "He seemed... rather insistent about it."

  "I'll take care of it, Osprey." I replied, patting her on the shoulder as I walked past her.

  Entering the ship, I walked to my quarters, which were redesigned to be larger, since my frame was a bit taller and wider than the average sentient, to say the least.

  If my Nevermore frame gets any larger, I may have to look into being able to quickly switch between this body and the UTD frame I woke up in. That frame's already been fully repaired and now it's just been in the repair bay in my literal mansion on Telos. As for why I have a mansion on Telos? It was a gift given to me by Senator Zilean Jessera, the Confederate Senator of Telos IV. Considering that I hardly spent any time on Telos any more with the war going on and my presence required on the frontlines, I was both confused and surprised when Zilean revealed that I had a literal mansion built on the outskirts of Angelbay that I could store my old frame at.

  When I asked why I had a mansion, she simply responded that since I was a droid and had no real home, she polled the citizens of Angelbay to see if they'd like to give me one... a poll which soon expanded to include the entire planet. The polling results were a resounding 'YES' in a literal landslide 90/10 split. That was honestly surprising to me. Zilean also remarked that she'd probably get thrown out of office and into the exhaust vent of the nearest star cruiser if she didn't give the people what she wanted.

  Apparently people really like me on Telos. Who knew?

  I soon reached my quarters on the ship, quickly moving into my office, which was just a one-to-one recreation of the same office I had on the Harbinger's Greed, Finest Hour, in the TVEC building, and in Fort Independence.

  ...I like knowing where I put my things, ok?

  I accepted the call that had been on hold in the ship, and the holo-emitter on my desk whirred as it spat out the image of General Grievous, who was still missing an arm.

  "General Grievous." I greeted. "I see your arm still hasn't arrived yet."

  "Bah! I'll be back at full combat readiness soon." The Kaleesh cyborg replied, before making a motion to cross his arms, but aborting it, then grunting. "Ventress has awoken."

  I blinked. Huh. She wasn't supposed to be awake for another couple of days at this point.

  "Well. That's a surprise to be sure, but a welcome one." I replied, crossing my own arms. "I've also received word that your personal doctor and a replacement arm should be on Telos in three days."

  Grievous nodded. "Good. Good. I shall be whole once again very soon, and I can continue my search unimpeded. Speaking of my search, I also have urgent news for you, one lightsaber collecting General to another."

  I raised an eye ridge. "And that is?"

  Grievous puffed up. "Thanks to my masterful investigative work, I have discovered there is a Jedi on Telos IV!"

  I froze.

  There was no doubt in my mind that Grievous was talking about Lona.

  I subtly extended my scomp-link and plugged into my desk, then quickly sent a message urgently asking Lona if she was on the Finest Hour. While doing that, I responded.

  "A Jedi. On my planet?" I queried, then shook my head. "Impossible. I would have noticed if there was one. My droids are trained to notice a hidden lightsaber on someone's clothing and call it in as soon as possible."

  Grievous let out a hissing noise and tossed his hand out to the side. "Then your droids are as stupid as my own! I have discovered one of the Jedi's precious holocrons in one of the buildings!"

  Lona finally responded, saying she was on the ship, then she sent another message asking if something was wrong. I replied telling her I'd call her in a few minutes, because I was currently in a call with someone else.

  "My droids are not stupid, Grievous." I said with a frown. "They would have noticed a Jedi, even a hidden one. There are no Jedi on Telos IV. Perhaps you are just paranoid since you're missing an arm. Besides, the Holocron is my own find from an ancient Jedi Temple on the planet, which I took for myself. It must have been misplaced by one of my researchers who wanted to take a look at it. I even sent you a briefing explaining a bit about Telos that would have included the abandoned temple, unless you didn't read it." I challenged, before carrying on. "Even then, those things get lost all the time nowadays. This is a galaxy-spanning war, after all."

  Grievous snarled. "Then you are as much of a fool as them! I know a Jedi is somewhere on this planet. I can almost smell their stench."

  "For the last time, Grievous, there are no Jedi on Telos! I would know! You've grown paranoid in your recovery!" I retorted while somewhat lying through my semi-metaphorical teeth.

  "THERE IS A JEDI YOU IDIOTIC DROID!" Grievous actually roared, nearly startling me. "And when I find this Jedi, I will kill them with my bare hands! AND I'LL BRING YOU THEIR HEAD TO PROVE IT!"

  The call ended abruptly, leaving me to spend nearly a minute with my cooling fans on high, venting out steam in moderately large clouds while I tried to calm myself down.

  "Damn that cyborg bastard!" I growled as I finally unclenched my fists.

  After a few moments to cycle in a deep breath, I went to my contacts and called Lona.

  "Come on..." I muttered as I watched the hologram of a small picture of Lona spin.

  A few moments later, the holographic picture of Lona was replaced with the actual Lona, who was wearing her usual jumpsuit and looking a bit concerned.

  "Thank Primus you're on the ship." I said with a relieved sigh, covering my forehead with one hand.

  Lona immediately looked a bit more concerned than she already was.

  "Blitz, what's wrong?" she asked. "You haven't looked this stressed out since before you had started sleeping semi-regularly." She tilted her head. "You haven't forgotten to sleep this week, have you?"

  I let out an endoskeleton-deep sigh as I slumped into my chair.

  "Believe me, I wish this was just the normal 'I've forgotten to sleep for a week straight' stress, Lona." I replied. "I have... very bad news for both of us."

  Lona's concerned face became a little fearful. "What kinda bad news are we talking about here, Blitz? You're scaring me a little here."

  I closed my optics and leaned back, covering my whole face.

  "Grievous has somehow gotten it into his crosswired head that there is a Jedi on Telos IV, and by Jedi, there is no doubt in my mind that he actually means you." I let out a small mechanical growl, then a sigh. "He found the Holocron I was keeping for research into force-attuned objects, and now he's going to search the whole damned planet for you."

  "...what?"

  I physically cringed in pain at how small and fearful her voice sounded. When I opened my optics and looked at her, I could tell that Lona was probably pale blue instead of her normal healthy hue, and I could see that she was shaking.

  "Lona, calm down, please." I comforted, leaning forward with my hands out. "I already have a plan for this. Take a deep breath, just like that... Now let it out slowly."

  I kept that up for nearly a minute until her shaking had finally gone down. It pained me to see her panicking like that.

  "Are you alright, Lona?" I gently asked.

  The togruta crossed her arms, hugging herself tightly. "I may need a hug once we're finally face to face again."

  I smiled. "I'll give you the biggest hug possible once we're finally face to face again Lona. For now... please stay off of Telos completely, at least until Grievous gets called back to Serenno by Dooku for his own debriefing. I'll have a few troops gather all your personal things from your apartment and bring them to the Finest Hour."

  Luckily the upgrades to Grievous' troops had already been completed, but not by me, so none of his troops would gain a PM. But I estimated that it would be another week before he was gone from Telos.

  I'm already regretting giving him those personal upgrades. They were modeled from his 2003 Clone Wars counterpart, so that would include a larger frame that could compress and extend slightly, stronger servos, as well as increased agility and speed. His new body would also feature hidden holsters for a pair of slugthrower submachine guns he had taken a liking to on Telos, as he said they strangely reminded him of his past, as well as being potentially effective on a Jedi. His new all painted white appearance would also add more to his intimidation factor for any poor soul who stumbles into his rampaging path. He'd just need to be transferred over to his new frame, and he'd unfortunately be fine and dandy.

  And still hunting for Lona.

  Lona sniffled quietly, then nodded. "Okay, Blitz. I'll stay up here."

  I tilted my head. "Actually…" I brought up a few reports from Mandalore that I was going to deal with alone. "I have a better idea. One that will keep you off of Telos, but more importantly, away from Grievous as a whole." I smiled. "How does that sound?"

  My smile grew as I forwarded the reports to Lona and watched her eyes widen a bit in curiosity.

  A few minutes later as I quietly watched the Devastation get pulled out of its dock by multiple teams of TUG-314s, my thoughts continued to haunt me. And they'd haunt me long after I'd gone to bed, trying fruitlessly to ward away images of Lona hurt or dead at Grievous' claws.

  Something I would never allow to happen.