Planet Gand, Pef Empire

Celestial Throne, the Redbox

22 BBY, fourth month.

An assassination attempt took place aimed at the Senator of Naboo. First a bomb on the landing pad, then poisonous myriapods. A certain Mandalorian bounty-hunter was involved, and Knight Kenobi was given the task to investigate.

Senator Amidala leaves to recover on her home planet, and the Military Creation Act passes the Senate. Thousands of starships and starfighters begin construction immediately, on every industrial world still in Republic space. Also, tanks and gunships and personal weapons.

The Republic has just cut all Holonet transmissions from Coruscant into the galaxy, instead transmitting a single image.

Wayback Machine

Seems we're gonna have to switch to our own holonetwork from now on. Providing news and entertainment to a quarter of the galaxy, from Mon calamari and the Centrality, to Hutt space and other Outer Rim worlds.

Investing a trillion credits in holo-emitter tech was paying off now. Who controls information...

Corellia has again refused being involved in a galactic war, citing some obscure law, and began recalling all their warships and their Green Jedi home. Just like Angie told them to, between musical venues. 'The Immortal Pef advises our friends at Corellia to invest heavily in missile technology and keep their greensabers close.' Seems they listened, which is great. Or they were gonna to do that anyway, which is also great. That gives my Empire a bit more time as well.

I can continue the expansion in the Ash worlds, taking Ulonsus, Astigone and Xoraes. Pretty bombed up, but I can fix them, most of the fissionables have depleted since the Hutts used them 25 millennia ago.

I can extend to Malagarr in the SE, though I'll have to visit to clean up the radiation left when the natives self-destructed, very recently. Or just make it a droid world, and see where they can go on their own...yeah, that should work too. My Imperial Servants will remain in orbit to supervise the new droid civilization.

Now, I only need a fleet to anchor that corner. Let's buy one. My best friends the Hutts, still have 10 thousand dreadnoughts, they keep idle.

To the south, we have reached Delacrix system, and we won't expand further, until the entire interval volume is integrated fully in the Empire.

The Hutts have asked a billion credits for their loss of this world, and Proto One promptly agreed to pay it, and also acquired 16 older Invincible-class dreadnaughts in the deal. The planet is practically free in this deal. And I have the fleet to anchor the southern defenses with. Just need to upgrade it, a little.

My Droid Ambassador is surely getting smarter and wiser, which each upgrade and meeting he survives.

His guards only had to fire once, the past month. Not all Hutts are equally smart after all.

The smart Hutts are worried about the coming war though, even asking delicately where my own fleets will go.

'Defending the Empire.' I answered amused. I can do doublespeak too.

Solana is returning with a thousand baby algae, from Cygnus B, and will seed them into the ocean worlds that Solanus now inhabits. Three planets so far, and 8 more to go, scattered on newly discovered planets around our Empire.

And it seems networking himself with new oceans also makes him even smarter and stronger. Like he wasn't already.

'Don't be envious Pef. Solanus also doesn't like loneliness. And he learns from you, just like you make use of him. And with a billion oceans, he could direct the force itself, possibly. He just needs to spread far and wide.' Solana added, showing me an image of herself, taking a bath naked along with the baby algae.

It made strangely alluring and disturbing sight, at once. Blue and green shapes, floating in a huge transparent aquarium, with stars visible in the background through the transparisteel windows of her Lucrehulk.

'We're passing through Junkfort now, Solana will be home soon' she sent with a mildly embarrassed tone. Absorbing the customs of our civilization, then. That's why she wore the armor in public then...

By the time she arrives, the first Geonosis should happen.

There was still so much to be done, and not enough people, or ships or time.

Planet Gand, Pef Empire

Celestial Throne

22 BBY, Fifth month.

"The shroud of the dark side has fallen. Begun...the Clone War has."

―Grand Master Yoda

The Clone wars have begun, with a tactical victory for the Republic, and a strategic victory for the Order of Sith Lords.

I felt the tingle of the many deaths of Jedi Knights in the Geonosis arena. Anakin and Padme survived, unfortunately. Again.

Just a light whisper with my crystal self, and a distant scream with Peffy. I never met any of those people personally, so it was not too bad. Fay and Zero instead, their hearts trembled in pain.

"Yes, my Zero and Fifth Hand, the war has begun" Peffy said, patting their shoulders in compassion. More will die, before it's over.

"I should return to Coruscant, and help..." Zero said, after deliberating inside herself. Fay refused to even think about it.

"I'm never stepping back on Coruscant, plus my charges are not ready. One more year, then we'll see where the force sends me" Master Fay explained, looking below at the huge plaza, where a hundred thousand Clawdite were kneeling on sand, and forming words and shapes with the sand.

Back in the Redbox, the hologram depicted planet Geonosis, with its orbital ring and 15 moons.

Thanks to carefully planted spy satellites, me and my Voices are able to observe everything, almost in real time.

It also proved my theory that turreted guns were much better than fixed guns, for space superiority fights.

Although the Republic will eventually win, the Nantex-class territorial defense starfighter proved able to cause significant damage, especially to clone piloted Torrents and gunships. The vulture droid starfighters fared much worse, losing dozens for a single kill.

Which is why I preferred an adapted CIS Scarab-class droid starfighter for my own navy, with a turreted Gatling laser, a forward blaster canon and a missile launcher. It was even cheaper than a Vulture, and had better armor and even had shields.

Tri-droids will take one more year to appear, and such I bought a million Scarabs from planet Charros. That's only to equip our current carriers, since once we enter the war, we won't need to bother about patents and other legal niceties, and just steal whatever tech we want.

For now, every single piece of equipment we use publicly has to be bought and licensed. But, not for long.

Just waiting for Corellia...

In fact, I had already announced the Corellian Diktat of our support and promised to keep a hyper-route to them open, should they go to war and need reinforcements.

Ventress and Angie sent a short message too, saying just 'Returning'. Good, cause I need my War Maid soon. And a ditsy singer to inspire morale.

I've established small garrisons and asteroid disguised space stations at Haashimut and Kegan , since whatever people live there aren't advanced enough to notice, and using only B1 and B3 droids. Pretending to be CIS, if discovered. And occupied Tammar promising the locals to restore the environment

Meanwhile, Proto One is visiting Nal Hutta, and trying to buy Sriluur, for 2 billions credits. And hopefully obtain 20 more dreadnaughts.

It helps convince the Hutts we desperately need ships to fight the CIS, since our almost public data says 300 battleships and thousands of small ships. I wrote the description myself, on the Blacklist threat assessment ranking that the Hutts keep. We just mean different things, by battleships.

Upgrading the Invincibles is much less costly than building brand-new 2 kilometer-long carriers. Especially since there're hundreds of pirate ships floating about, taken as capture by Vette and Ventress and various admirals.

Plenty of secondary systems from sensors to reactors and weapons that I don't have to buy or build.

And since most navcomputers and astromechs aboard have never been memory wiped, some in thousands of years, they sometimes add another secret route or rich asteroid or old battlefields that can be mined and put to use.

Mujilik entered the Redbox, radiating excitement. Hmmm, the survey droids found something, maybe?

"Metal Gand, your stupid idea came to fruition, after only 2 million of survey droids wasted. The Empire has a route to the Core, via Togoria and 13 intermediate jumps. And what's better, the cats do not have spaceflight and didn't detect us.

Also, no pilots in the Exploration Corps died during duties. One died, due to spice overdose while testing the advanced starfighter" my sixth Hand declared grandly, and punched the sky.

Hmmm, losing a pilot and the starfighter to spice?

Not efficient.

"Good! Let's use this event to ban spice use for every member of the military." I exclaimed, then turned towards my other Hand present. "Zuralee, promote spice vending on overpopulated planets like Gbu and Mullan and Florn, along with Anzat and Metalorn. Happy citizens do not revolt after all. And we don't want to lose revenue either"

"Zuralee understands. She has seen Gbu herself, after all. Those primitive insects don't even cull the defective eggs. Smelling the excretions from Kessel spiders is too good a fate for them. Too bad they joined before we managed to test orbital bombardments, like I asked them to." the female Gand answered politely, and grinning a bit creepy, like every insect I know.

No wonder that planet joined in less than a week. I should make a note, not to send her on anymore negotiations though.

Planet Gand, Pef Empire

Celestial Throne

22 BBY Ninth month.

The Republic forces are engaged almost all over the Mid Rim, with various skirmishes, someone decided to name the CIS flagship the Subjugator, but it's still wasting Republic fleets left and right. Literally in the Battle of Abregado and Battle of the Ryndellia system

Guess Dooku can't call it the Malevolence now, since he never found Andeddu's holocron. The Sith must have other holocrons though. There were thousands of Dark Lords in history.

But without the stolen holocrons I have on Sanctuary, they'll never achieve immortality. I'm a cheater, I know. Battles take place all over the galaxy, except my tiny corner.

At Agamar , CIS and Republic forces are battling for the past 4 months in the Mirgoshir campaign.

At Ryloth, our agents delivered food rations and ion blasters to the local resistance, perhaps keeping more twi'leks alive until the Republic clones came to liberate them. The Black Ops freighter returned with about 50 kids as well.

And when the Blue Shadow was released on Naboo, the antidote was already spread by our agents in the rivers and swamps near the capital. Guess we'll have to wait and see, if the bioweapon spreads into the galaxy or not.

Of course, Kenobi and Anakin rushed to Iego to find a certain root as well, but were instead given a trademark antidote, from a Servant from Pef's Imperial Medical Division. They were a bit surprised to find an empire already existed in these parts.

Though Kenobi wasn't as surprised by that, instead by the angel who wanted to be taken as a maid, and demanded lightning to sing a few songs. No idea what Angie tells her follow angels.

Just outside our borders though, on Rhen Var, the Republic suffered a major defeat, losing all their troops and their base, to an invading CIS landing force. Anakin was there, for some reason.

They also lost Bespin to CIS, which no doubt was targeted for tibanna gas, and became bogged down on Atraken where Dooniumcan be mined.

Republic troops under Anakin and Kenobi also managed to lose all their troops attacking Raxus Prime

proving their great skills as generals. Only the damned Kenobi escaped from an entire army of clones and tanks they brought with them. Anakin fell prisoner, but he'll be fine.

Meanwhile, General Tann of CIS conquered a planet hosting a 'secret' base of the Republic on Eredenn Prime stealing the super tanks prototypes, the Decimator (war machine).

Anakin was taken to Alaris Prime where he was allowed to escape, so the brave Jedi recruited some wookies and attacked the CIS forces, resulting in the massacre of many wookie villages. Not giving up, he requested help from his Republic buddies and managed to free the moon, with over 30% of his troops surviving.

General Tann of CIS counter-attacked of course, and is about to obtain victory anyway. And obtain the codes for the super tanks.

Very interesting I know, and I can just sneak peaks at all this using stealth satellites.

If only Corellia would move to declare war already.

Eh, back home I have finished building my 100 Mountains, and began arming the rest of the 200 Meteors already constructed.

Perhaps I was too optimistic when I projected millions of them. Even 200 of these behemoths strain my empire's arms production to the limit.

At least we produce 500 Dakka corvettes per month, and that rate will double till the end of the year. Looking back, my Empire had 100 corvettes the entire fleet, 2 years ago.

We're getting better I think. Tanks and droid production go well, along with dropships to carry them. Having our own source of repulsorlift components made at our black hole refinery helps.

I estimate that 300 Jedi had been killed so far, and about 8 dark jedi, at least 7 of them by my actions.

Time to implement the Balance protocol then. My subverted droids will begin erratic behavior if any jedi are around.

'Took you long enough Pef.' Wialu said with a satisfied sigh.

'It won't be pretty, and they'll catch up soon, so I'll use the CIS ones first' I mused, watching the mock combat through Peffy's eyes.

He looked about 17 years old now, not as tall as I'd like, but with fair blonde hair, his body muscled and strong. And wiping the floor with Jedi Fay and Zero and a few dozen changelings at once, in their sparing.

As the new year comes, my Avatar will be ready. Perhaps Peffy will grow a bit taller, before we start building his power armor.

Sadly, I have to keep the hair short, or that purple lightsaber that Zero hits me with might burn it.

The changelings took a while to get used to the crazy human getting hit by a lightsaber for no effect.

Fay is getting better too, parrying the lightsaber with her hands. At least the changelings won't be impressed when they encounter such primitive weapons in the future.

I have them concentrating on using nanomissile guns and ion blasters though. Along with special ops training in security and infiltration, via neural induction.

It's the law after all, for any military units or public servants.

Sadly, force teachings are not so easily obtained. It takes 10 crates of bota plants each day, to boost their force connection.

And by the next year, they'll barely be Jedi knights in strength. They learned speed and agility pretty fast though, so it might be a natural ability for their species.

And Zero finally started teaching me Phase ability.

Which is terrifyingly hard to learn. A single mistake, a blink or a muscle flinching and you become embedded in a wall or starship armor or whatever.

No wonder Zero waited till she considered me at Master level.

"Hey Peffy, wanna come drink with me, when you're done?" Aurra asks with an unsettling smile, also breathing slowly to regain her breath.

Hmmm. Why would she ask me...is it a prank again?

I try to use precognition, but only a vague feeling of bliss...Oh? It is my birthday after all.

"Sure thing, adored maid. Let me take a shower, and find my credit chip. Some violet maid might have misplaced it again." I answered with a blinding smile, covering my body in my own copy of Angie's golden glow of happiness.

"Y-yea. She's coming too. Already reserved a table at that mineral spring resort you like." Aurra added with a naughty smile.

Okay then...better allocate two more partitions, this may get interesting. Jacuzzi bath with my maids!