Planet Mygeeto, Pef Empire

Next week

The galactic markets still tremble at the momentous changes caused by the new currency, but as the credit value stays the same, and is still backed by the Vault-spire from Muunilist, the oscillations should stop.

Especially since the Pef Empire is buying every important company who's stock plummets. It's basically free assets!

Their headquarters are all being moved to Pef space, like Columex and Botajef and Lianna, also to Boonta and Celanon.

This will give billions of my people new jobs, and attract more immigrants, especially for worlds situated at trade nexi.

Sadly, the new acquisitions at Merson and Ambria only bring huge hordes of pirates on my fleets, and well equipped pirates indeed. If my Orion corvettes didn't have cloaking, the pirates would have won the battles. Also, the Crimson Nova mercenaries are very hard to fight, with B11 droids. Asajj will fix that.

More ships are headed there, and also to Zeltros, the pheromone paradise.

Mood altering scents won't work well on droids and operatives in power armor though, but even the shortest shore leave is liable to lose me a few loyal Imperial Servants. I will need a vaccine.

My third Hand likes the Zeltrons though, since they will make excellent operatives, once imprinted with loyalty and special ops neural programming.

Maybe Ambassadors as well. Bring a bit of 'party' to those stuffy embassy discussions.

Because Zeltrons, they'll shag anything with the right organs, and even without. They see it as a challenge.

And Peffy could take long vacations there...

Anyway, the Deep Fleet has arrived at Empress Teta, and promptly blockaded the system, cutting off carbonite supply to the galaxy. And Palpatine's access to planets like Byss or Tython.

The world was completely under the pall of the Mining Guild. When war was declared by the Confederacy of Independent Systems, Empress Teta was forced to support the Separatists against the Republic. Those nobles who remained loyal to the Galactic Senate expatriated to Coruscant to avoid the conflict in their home system.

Didn't quite work, did it? The Pef Empire didn't wait, for you to surrender to Palpatine.

The Mining Guild was nationalized by the Pef Empire, and Emperor Alor Keto arrested and proven to have been a puppet of the Mining Guild for 300 years.

His wife, Koyi Mateil was named Regent Empress, till a certain Keto descendant could be found and installed as a proper Empress. Serra Keto is hiding on level 644 under Coruscant's surface, and is being shadowed by our Culexus droids.

'Time for an extraction then. Serra will train a year with Miss Zero on Gand, to forget about lightsabers and learn to love grass and scorpions' I mused to myself.

'Another wife for Peffy?' Solana said amused.

"Well, Serra is very cute, and will be an Empress...as nice and greedy as this twi'lek Koyi Regent is, she will only be tolerated, not loved by her people." I explained wisely.

'I'm sure Peffy can marry them both, and give you more heirs, to pamper with trillions of credits.' Wialu said in turn, since she was having tea with said Regent right now, explaining her role as a legal instrument of the Pef Empire. A billion credits as a hiring premium seemed sufficient motivation for her service.

'Okay, I have work to do my dear. The Hyperspace Navigator's Guildhouse needs to be properly scanned and copies made after all their routes. The Great Library of Cinnagar the same, and some artifacts removed for the Celestial Library.' Wialu said with a hint of tiredness.

Well, at least not that many people were killed there. The Teta defense fleet was like 5 thousand years old and was defeated with ease.

And Peffy...

Planet Columex, Pef Empire

He is busy pampering Lidia Greyshade, the Merchant Princess of the Commonality.

"See, my dear...30 trillion credits. Empire Credits too. Just say what you want, and I'll buy it for you..." I told her, circling her chest with a credit chip, made of aurodium. I got her like 50 types of rings and jewelry, all aurodium, but she loved the chip the most.

"I want a husband, to stay by my side...or at least a few babies..." Lidia muttered, grabbing the chip with industrial strength in her fingers.

That merchant princess title, wasn't just an empty title. She really cared, about money and jobs. And love. But more about credits. And perhaps babies.

"I can stay a few days, and work hard on that children part. Harder, than before..." I mused softly, in her neck.

"Y-you scoundrel husband! Do your best, my love..." she replied, with a coy look.

Okay then, let's do it like on the Discovery Channel!

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

Planet Mygeeto is mostly uninhabited, with a single major town called Jygat , with maybe 15 million people.

But Mygeeto, the planet's internal fires long since cooled, and had left a colossal deposit of precious stones within its crust and mantle. The immense assets of nova crystals and fields of lasing crystals made Mygeeto one of the wealthiest worlds in the galaxy. It hosted artesian crystals and relacite and many other precious minerals.

The droid factories on the planet were powered by a huge Energy crystal harnessed with the aid of an Energy collector core .

I think I'll take that, thank you very much.

Not for a Death Star reactor, but for my new Nano-droids plant at Redforge.

Plenty kyber crystals here as well as metal used in durasteel. Guess it can be made into a mining and forge world as well.

Let's make some thousands tank factories and a hundred more Biplane factories.

And now that the ownership deeds for the Kessel mines have been nationalized from the Mining Guild, the Kessel fleet can move in and end slavery there, and quarantine the system for good.

Nothing in our out, no more smugglers for glitterstim.

That Kessel asteroid is a prison key for that Abeloth monster, not some plantation for entertainment drugs.

Plus those black holes can support at least three more energy refining factories, to produce components for starships.

Not sure how Palpatine will react to Teta and Kessel being taken, but whatever.

His Galactic Empire is at my mercy now, both financially and militarily. Because just one Meteor can take on 200 Venators.

And his empire lost Calamari, Corellia, Feroest and Rendili as shipyards.

Of course, the Galactic Empire has a thousand times more worlds and population, but without minerals and half the corporations wealth.

His Imperial navy and army will take at least a decade to organize, and be plagued with rebellions and worlds outright defecting.

And that stunt he just did?

Geonosis being bombarded and the surface boiled by a hundred Venators? Caught live on tape, or holorecorder, by some unknown reporter, who was killed by pirates on Tatooine, next day. Not gonna make him more friends, for sure.

And next, the Fondor shipyards will be vanished as well. Hey, they are CIS still, right?

The stealth fleet will reach them tomorrow, and hopefully blow up the ring of shipyards at Fondor as well.

Palpatine will only have Kuat left, which has only been Republican from the start, and now Imperial Shipyards, fortifying their defences every day.

Maybe the real Jedi remaining will get lucky and sabotage them as well.

Redforge system, Pef Empire

two jumps away from Gand

20 BBY, 2 weeks later

There are beings that Jedi call voids. At first sight they seem to give off no real energy, rather like a hologram. But only beings with great power can project a simple blank to a Jedi.

-Obi-Wan Kenobi

It was lucky I returned when I did. Caught 16 Imperial Spies, all using state of the art camouflage and encryption/decryption equipment, attempting to infiltrate the core space of my Empire.

Different species, different ships, or infiltration methods, but all pretty much foolproof.

Unless you're an AI and have hundred million spy satellites watching everything. Then is much less foolproof as a matter of luck. And here, luck means...the Force.

One individual was even special, the rare kind. A Blank in the force, or a Void in the Force .

Almost missed him too. Just the partition logs keeping him highlighted made me remember him. He is now being analyzed and prepared for cloning at Blueforge. Guess the Force did listen to my problem and sent me someone worthy.

In my memory, there will be more, some Umbaran siblings, so I'll make a note and pick them up when they're born.

There will be a few more people I need for this experiment, Aayla Secura who is hiding on Vjun,

and Tholme with T'ra Saa , who are helping the wookies on Kashyyyk. And leaving no trace of their actions, like ghosts. Saa is a tree, so on that planet makes sense she'll be invisible.

But Tholme and Secura, they use a conscious variant, called Force cloak, which is possibly the same as Zero's and Wialu abilities. Hide in light, but not just invisibility but a mnemonic erasure, making people forget they exist.

This is the kind of powers I need, not bashing people with a flashlight.

I could have a whole division of Officium Assassinorum agents, able to penetrate most defenses with ease.

'If they have Vanish, they would be a good addition, Pef. Only the old tree has sensed me till now.' Wialu said with a thoughtful tone.

'Still doing okay love?' I asked a bit worried. She was really far away...

' Yes dear. Planet Jerrilek is mostly open for colonization, after the droids clear up the debris and start the seafarms. Should support up to 3 billion people no problem. And there's some really ancient ruins underwater, maybe older than Solanus' she explained, in a more excited voice.

Okay then. Ruins over a billion years old, sure worth grabbing.

'Don't rush Wialu, send survey droids around, and exploit the Hyperspace guild to grab whatever planets are safe to take near Teta. We have a decade to let things rest now.' I said softly, then returned to my work.

The nano-droid builders were pretty basic, but I had to exploit the window that the attack on Coruscant gave me, and grab them before they became an Imperial weapon.

Palpatine was using his Sith knowledge already, to create the X-series infiltrators, with the force blank ability.

And he only became Emperor 2 months ago. Let's hope he sent me the original, and didn't keep gene samples for replication.

He would have though, even without cloning facilities ready. He wanted to become immortal as well.

But if this was the original, he would need at least 3 to 5 years to make more. And I think he is.

He must have been certain his agent won't be caught. And he was almost right.

Kriff, he will have Cronal, that Sorcerer of Rhand to help him soon, and then Thrawn...if the Imps ever get to explore to the west.

Make a note and have Nashira find him, and drain him. That Darksight ability, it was almost a path to victory by itself.

Just for large scale planning, but still, a galaxy was exactly the right place for it.

Back to the droids, reset their operating system to default, since I don't need to make explosives from stomach acid, and start creating new code.

This will take a while....

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

Planet Renatasia, Pef Empire

same day

Clara has become more beautiful, I think. Or it's just me being in love...

I hugged her with one arm, and look over the various leaders of the nations of Renatasia.

"Esteemed leaders, you don't really have much choice. We are still at war with CIS. The Sith Empire has been reformed on Coruscant, the Hutts still have enough nukes and bioweapons to wipe off half the galaxy, and the Centrality has internal problems you can't imagine, since you're a single species down there." I said politely, smiling a little at the dozen angels trying to entertain the guests, but only making them awed and weirded out.

Even my Gand Captain and officers seemed strange to them, and these guys were pretty much humanoids.

"Avatar, you're saying we're prisoners, here in Pef Empire?" some guy who was important asked furious.

"The planets open for colonization are also open for Renatasia. But, in a month or two I expect the CIS war to be over. At that time, individuals who wish to explore the galaxy will be free to go. But for now, the only outgoing traffic is military or bulk transports, not passengers. Imperial Servant jobs are also available, for those who want to work in the Administrata. The shipyards in your system have already began making freighters and transports and cargo haulers, while the seas on Renatasia III are being seeded for aquafarming." I replied gently, but with a shrug.

"If that's true...two months isn't that long. I'll go reserve a ship for myself..." another guy said, with a thinking voice.

You do that my friend. Someone has to buy those ships and pay the wages.

"Meanwhile, I suggest you sent aside any differences, and form corporations with clear aims. The Empire will gladly participate with capital and perhaps even safeguard your ships from the millions of pirates beyond our borders. Or not. Renatasia still has overpopulation, you can do your part as well" I finished and turned to leave.

The heads of states stared after me, or perhaps at Clara's ass, as we left.

"You were pretty harsh, they just want to see for themselves" my wife admonished me with a frown.

"And come back with 'suggestions' from the Sith. I told you they had began infiltrations" I said softly in her ear.

"Yeah, I'm gonna need a lot of cash to set the CENINT to modern standards..." Clara demanded shamelessly. And correctly.

Hmmm. Okay then love. Keep walking to my room. And locking doors.

"Very well, beloved wife. Strip naked and dance for me. I can offer a trillion per hour" I said shamelessly, while leaving my armor and laying comfortable on the couch.

"Huh, the things I do for my people..." she mused wisely, while slowly taking off her boots.

I know my dear. 'For King and country' is such a good way to say it.

Also, it's good to be king. It has a great view at the mountains.

Planet Vjun, Pef Empire

Bay of Tears

I'll have to tour the Empire someday, and fix all these desert planets like Vjun .

I mean, in person. With my Avatar..it was just for pleasure.

And there she is, hiding in a cave, and eating a Whip-smelt, cooked over a lightsaber. How did the might Jedi fall...

"Miss Secura? Enjoying the dark?" I asked amused, appearing next to the Twi'lek Jedi, and turning off the stygium cloak and the invisibility.

I was enjoying this a bit too much.

"Kriff! Who are you?" she demanded, pointing her flashlight at me.

"I am the Voice of the Immortal Pef. Avatar Greyshade. And lightsabers are proscribed in the Pef Empire." I explained calmly, snatching her toy by the blade, and confiscating it.

Then, I turned around and started walking out, still keeping the button of the saber pressed with telekinesis, so we'd have some light in the caves.

"Hey! where...he's still holding my lightsaber...by the blade..." the bewildered beauty muttered, and running after me, to avoid being left alone, in the dark.

I stayed silent and mysterious after that, dodging her attempts to grab her weapon back.

Ten minutes later, we reached the River Whipping, and my ship.

No need for a flashlight then, but an air alter umbrella, for my new friend. Since outside it was raining acid.

Nice planet, Vjun. A dark nexus as well, though not for long.

"Come, let's not dally in the rain, pretty twi'lek, or the rain might melt your clothes...and give me ideas" I explained politely, throwing the thing dramatically, and having Culexus 0055 grab it and make it vanish in mid air.

"Where did it go? What..."

"The ship, Miss Secura. I have other matters to attend to, beside collecting scared young women from dark places" I said gently, guiding the girl towards my ship.

"Where are you taking me, I can't fall into Palpatine's hands..." the girl demanded, with a tinge of panic.

"Hand. Just one. Seems our favorite Sith Lord lost his right hand to some Jedi assassin" I explained politely, as the shields and then then hangar armor closed behind us.

"You're strong in the force Mister Greyshade, but I can't sense your alignment..."

"Huh, you can't? But it's so clear. It's in the name, after all..." I mused wisely, taping a nearby guard droid for its treasure.

A holocron, looking almost like sphere, with 4096 facetts. And grey in color, of course.

My best work so far, if I can humbly say that.

"What is that? It feels like a holocron, but I never heard of that shape..." the former Jedi wondered, as my droid dropped it into her hands.

And bye bye, into the land of knowledge, most beautiful twi'lek. There should be plenty knowledge inside that you can access, even with your feeble learning.

I left the girl to study, on a comfortable 30 centimeter pillow, and went to see about the Château Malreaux and it's secrets.

Sith holocrons, forgotten tech, automated defenses. Count Dooku really had great taste in castles.

Nothing I couldn't handle, except the voices. Those were annoying.

Let's start drawing them into the scepter then.

....

Two hours later, the acid rains stopped, and a ray of sunshine pierced the thick clouds, perhaps the first time in millenia.

Still only about half, but wouldn't do to drain the nexus completely. This planet will make a fine training planet, just without agonizing spirits and roaming souls.

This lingering after death was a problem, with both Jedi and Sith adepts, clinging to the material, in the hope of convincing others to use their ways. Not full force ghosts, since that requires quite a high level of mastery of the Living force and Cosmic force both.

But, desperate attempts, like the voice of Master Jinn, or who knows how many others. Wisps of consciousness, piercing the noetic soup which made the mnemonic lake of cumulated memories which formed the force.

The more I learned how the thing worked, the more creeped out I was.

Billions of pilot and engineers, from millions of races, implanting the same ideas in the mind of the new generations on newly formed civilizations, locking the galaxy in a cycle of repeating the same type of technology for a million or a billion years.

No wonder ancient systems could interact with new systems, and even take them over. They used the same architecture design, the same principles...kriff.

Let's hope Solanus will be able to guide the very currents of the force, once he gets stronger.

The 12th planet was being oceanformed now, and thousands will follow, as soon as we had enough ships and...what do we have here?

A triangular holocron? Thanks Dooku, you shouldn't have. Even after you died, you still bring me gifts....

Let's check again, maybe he has more hidden caches...seems not.

Now, let's go the the next planet on my route. Here Culexus 0055, hold this pyramid for me, wouldn't do to have some ancient Sith Lord jump out and eat children. And the scepter as well.

And let's go back to my Fade frigate...and explore the wonders of the galaxy...

Hmmm, the girl needs a bath, and food, and perhaps some bota and a bacta tube...

"That will be enough, dear maiden. Go wash and see if the armor fits correctly, we are having dinner in 30 minutes" I said sternly, after plucking my holocron away.

"Please let it be hot water..." the girl prayed in a low mumble. Oh, I think you'll like the jacuzzi then.

Sigh, a galactic wide civilization, and I had to reinvent jacuzzi?

Savages.

Not to mention swords and the military tactics of competent preschoolers.

Sure, martial arts and even melee weapons had a role, sometimes. I used them myself, like three times. Mostly on Mandalore, where it was appropriate.

But all the time, in every situation? Tanks? Lightsaber! Sniper? Lightsaber! Submarines?

Lightsaber!

Even the ranged weapons were made to function like throwing lightsabers at each other, with turbolaser or blaster bolts .

The girl returned some 20 minutes later, her face flushed in relaxation, and wearing my light armor variant, for force users.

Thin overlapping scales of phrik on vulnerable joints like wrists or neck, and cortosis mesh on vital parts. A pistol and a short sword on the hips, hanging from a Jal Shey belt. Verpine shield, laser on the armguard...

She didn't wear the light helmet, with the makutai headband and shock absorbing foam. Yet.

"Let's eat, Miss Secura, we are still a long way from Phateem " I said softly, pointing at the table my VSS cook had prepared.

"Who made this armor, it fits me perfectly...?" Ayala wondered, holding the helmet with one hand and inspecting it curious.

"People I know, made the individual parts. I assembled it after I scanned your body" I replied politely, tasting from some exotic Kuat dish, looking and smelling like Thai or Japanese dishes .

Hmmm. If their food was the same as their work ethic, they'll soon begin producing Victory-class star destroyers, en masse.

And in a few years, the Imperial-class. Gonna have to point that out, to the remaining male Jedi.

I had no use for them...unlike these pretty, never touched girls...so ripe to introduce, to the joy of making babies, not steal them.

"Phateem is in Galactic Empire now. It will be crawling with stormtroopers"

"Well then, you'll have to teach me force cloaking. It would be a pity if Palpatine loots the Halls of Knowledge , right?" I asked a bit later, after I finished crewing.

"That..., I only know the basics. And doesn't always work. And why would I teach you anything, you kidnapper?" she asked, a bit too loud.

"You aren't naked and dancing for me, pretty twi'lek girl. But if my holocron is so boring, I can drop you of at Taris, along with a clean pair of clothes..." I said, almost joking.

"L-let's not be so hasty, Avatar...and why are you wearing a lightsaber?" She demanded, again, too loud.

Sigh, another Vette.

"This is a darksaber, most beautiful maid. See?" I asked holding the thing aloft and turning it on, then rotating it for more effect.

"Huh. It is black. How can light be black?" she wondered with some confusion.

"In the darkness, there is a light. And in the light, there's darkness. And in between, balance..." I recited, then stopped. She wasn't ready yet.

"Grey...now I get it, Mister Greyshade. Clever pun. But, the darkside has to be avoided and..." she began, with a dogmatic ideas firmly in front, like a righteous holy maiden. Let's cut that short.

"You know...I am Mand'alore too. The planets of my mandalorian people were glassed from orbit, with amplified light, by your Jedi. Too much light can do harm, you see. I prefer the shade myself." I said with a dismissive tone, and had the saber hilt glide back to the small of my back.

And re-engage the hibridium casing. The darksaber was a symbol of rank, not a weapon.

If I ever needed a sword to stay safe, the problem would be with my poor decision making, not my fighting skill.

"And now, Geonosis was glassed from orbit by the Sith. I understand now. You think us both the same." the girl whispered in a wavering tone.

Yeah. Exactly the same. But much cuter. I let her finish eating, before turning to the more pressing matters.

"So, now that the scattered Jedi can't roam the galaxy freely, to kidnap children, you think they'll start making their own, or just die out?" I asked in a polite dinner voice.

"Errrr. Haven't thought about that...I know some younglings escaped..." she answered with a confused blink.

"Well, Kenobi is gonna have kids soon. His wife insisted, you see. But, relying on other people to make kids, for the Jedi to steal them and mind rape them into good soldiers...that's not gonna happen much anymore. Palpatine will kill them as soon as they're found, and in the Pef Empire...we don't tolerate slavery. Maybe the Hutts will let the Jedi form enclaves..." I mused in a thoughtful voice, pouring more brandy for myself, and tea for the girl.

Without hands. Or hand gestures. Because those are silly.

You lift with your mind, not with ectoplasmic hands.

"The Hutts hate the Jedi just as much. The Order is truly gone, this time. Unless..." the twi'lek mused, with a flash of inspiration.

"Yes?" Please offer yourself to carry my children...

"Unless we can strike back, and kill Palpatine and his followers. Then we can restart..." she whispered with faint hope.

"Nope. Our Empire has a thousand ships defending Corellia now. Because they make their own kids. But if they start kidnapping from other families, I'll glass their temple myself. Or something. Maybe just rip them apart. The poor planet isn't guilty after all"

I said politely, then had my droid produce the holocron again, and drop it on a nearby pillow.

Then I rose and went to my bedroom, where I had two Dathomirian wives expecting me to contribute to the population growth.

"Duala and Talia, my most beloved wives. Sorry I got delayed, but an Avatar has to work for a living, not just lay in bed, all day" I proclaimed grandly, while my clothes flew off, by magic.

"It feels like evening to me. Now get back here, and show us that trick again!" Duala exclaimed with a smile.

Really wicked smile.

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

Redforge system, Pef Empire

Okay then, enjoy your hard work Peffy.

I'll just compose new self reproducing algorithms, and test them on a hundred metals, to make the nano-droids produce durasteel at least.

So far, just pig iron and steel, not even stainless steel. Kriff, material synthesis was a hard science.

Maybe I should visit the Gree, and bribe them to teach me?

But they wouldn't, would they? Not untill the Vong were at their door, and maybe not even then.

And the Sharu, on Rafa V? They might be interested. I'll have to evacuate that planet or the whole system, and harvest all the life crystals and well as the Firkrann crystals.

Then I will attempt to awake the Toka with the mindharp from the Great plastic Pyramid.

And hope they'll be friendly. That will surely go well.

'What do you think, Solana. We want the Sharu awoken now, or later?' I asked in the Voice bond.

'Let's wait, till this war is over. And we build some bases in the Rafa system. And Clara sets up her Intelligence network. And have a few Oswalt explorers link more planets together with hyper routes. At least a year, Pef' my Voice advised me after a few minutes of thinking.

Right, couldn't let half the Centrality starve, once the hyperlanes were cut at Rafa by whatever event happens when the Sharu wake up.

At least we had more routes now, such as from Akrit'tar to Renatasia, and from Tund to Malagarr.

The Oswaft were helpful already, although keeping them fed was a pain, when they left their Open Sea.

But they liked having angels to ride on them, so it balanced out. Only three Oswaft were curious enough to join the Explorer corps though, and only Lehesu was willing to wear a hyperspace beacon stapped to his body.

Anyway, they kept finding new systems at the edge of the Open Sea, so still good.

Elsewhere in the galaxy, a fleet reached and liberated Mimban from the CIS and pirates, and ensure that Palpatine won't have easy access to devices such as Force detector and useful crystals like the Thaissen crystal or Kaiburr crystal .

In the galactic north, our fleets took 300 planets in a week, as the new B11 droids and the Gauntlet tanks speed up conquest times by a factor of ten.

Planet Ithor is now being 'protected' an advance Pef Navy fleet, cause I don't want the Imperials getting the best botanists in the galaxy. Plus, their special trees will be important later.

The Stinger II and Biplane II flying droids have also appeared in small numbers, just testing their effectiveness against live enemies.

Droideka II and III wardroids are still kept back, since they're too expensive to throw at the remaining CIS fortified lines.

I guess it's time to give Luxum the go ahead for the Mustafar operation.

Not deactivating the CIS droids, but having them turn sides, and become loyal Pef droids.

Such a handy tool you left for me, Palpatine. A galactic wide control network, for all the CIS droids and their ships? 'Go Luxum!'

'We're beginning now Pef. Stage I in progress. Interdicting fields activated. Stage II will be the Black Sun operations on Mustafar. And I'll look for your HK friend, if he's down there. For the Empire!' my Shard Voice said calmly in the essence bond.

About 20 billion droids and 100 thousand ships were left in the CIS inventory, most of them in the galactic south, and the droids mostly outdated models like B1 and B2.

You'll be quite welcome. Even as poorly designed as you are. A few upgrades and they will serve as garrisons on a million primitive planets.

Let's have our wookie friends know to withdraw for a day. And make contact with the Jedi on Kashyyyk.

Cause we're claiming that system, and blowing away anyone who rejects our generous offer.

In the south-east, our fleets have taken Molavar, Ukio and Tatooine, and are heading towards Rodia and Ryloth. Jabba being dead makes Tatooine an easy target. Except for the sand. Droids suffer in sand. Who knew?

Another Pef fleet is preparing to siege Umbara, and complete that part of the center offensive.

Planet Daalang is also being sieged, and will make an excellent trade nexus in the future.

I guess it will fall to our Navy in 4 to 5 days, despite their extensive networks of space mines and fortified asteroids.

Time to take a trip to the Temple of Pomojema on Mimban, and see what a Rur crystal amplified a thousand times feels like. I'm such a cheater...

Planet Mimban, Pef Empire

20 BBY, two weeks later.

The CIS is defeated. The droid armies and their ships have turned arms, and began detaining all the CIS leaders. Where possible. Some of the CIS leaders were smarter and had not linked to the droid control center.

The Separatist leaders on Mustafar were captured alive, and will stand trial for war-crimes, as it is fit. The galaxy needs scapegoats, and Palpatine can't be touched for now.

And that new Sith Lord frogg, Palpatine's new apprentice, was killed when he also tried to debark on Mustafar. Sorry dude. Red lightsaber, we have you on holocamera. Quite a coincidence, that Palpatine tried to end the Clone Wars at the same time as us.

And on the twi'lek homeworld of Ryloth...

Planet Ryloth, Pef Empire (almost)

Dora was doing her best impression at an Ambassador, with a Marine organic division and a dozen twi'lek Servants around her. No droids for now, as the native twi'leks suffered under CIS occupation.

"Mister Syndulla, I assure you, my words have enough weight, in the Pef Empire. The troops I brought are meant to bring security, not oppression." my green twi'lek Voice argued, a bit exasperated.

"They'll listen to a twi'lek dancer? I find that hard to believe, no matter what titles you are bestowed with, Voice Greyshade" the leader of the free twi'leks said, with some derisment.

"They have to listen. A Voice of the Emperor is more than a title. My words are law, for every loyal citizen." Dora said calmly, but enerved inside. Ryloth wasn't exactly egalitarian. Yet.

"And if some of your troops loot and pillage, the rest will listen to a woman and arrest the perpetrators? " the man asked worried.

Duh, what are we, the Trade Federation?

"They'll shoot themselves, if I so order, Mister Syndulla. And there will be no looting anyway. I have a trillion credits to spend on this planet, and uplift our race from gunpowder and steam engines to modern technologies. Our children will build spaceships, not dig in coal mines." Dora replied sternly, pointing subtly at the Pef fleet stationed around the space station.

The man looked around, with a glimmer of hope. Perhaps, this time the cycle of slavery will be broken. If only this new empire could be trusted.

"How can I trust..." he began asking, when Dora flipped an aurodium chip at his chest.

"Here. 100 billion credits, to spend as you see fit, for this planet. The Imperial Servants will oversee the reconstruction, as long the planet joins us voluntarily. But if not, we'll take the women and children and leave the rest of you for the Sith. Maybe Palpatine will be more merciful than he was at Geonosis." Dora replied with a cold voice, waving the man outside of the conference room. Ouch, that was harsh.

'We kinda need Ryloth, love. At least as access route to Yanibar ' I whispered to her in the bond, while my mind was expanded to encompass the whole galaxy at once. This upgraded power was amazing!

The galaxy was open before my senses, even places and planets I never heard about. It wasn't darksight, but pretty much similar. Maybe greysight?

A hundred million inhabited planets, and people dying everywhere. And around the galaxy, a dense grey haze, like a distant fog, blocking almost everything.

Still couldn't sense the Vong, but other things were much clearer now.

All except the west parts and the deep core, also covered in thick force mists.

The Hutts had huge guns, able to shatter planets in one shot. No wonder they were so smug and confident. Also had nukes and bioweapons stockpiles, enough to destroy the galaxy a few times over.

And in the middle of the galaxy, sucking on the black hole in the center, a devouring entity...gah.

Thanks, dear Force. Just what I needed. Nightmare fuel.

That black hole was so enormous, billions of times larger than normal ones, and yet something had already harnessed it.

I'll deal with that later. For now, bare necessities, like food and clean water for quadrillions of sentients.

Those credits won't be enough for everyone though. I'll have to prioritize investments to the most populated worlds. For this size, the galaxy was very poor.

More abominations at Belsavis and....kriff, too many. Everywhere!

This galaxy was so sick, like a hundred cancers were eating at it, from every side.

Even in my own corner, the Force wounds of Malachor and Yavin pulsed, like pustules of puss and hate, ready to burst and infect trillions. And 500 more planets, around the galaxy, all screaming in muted grey pain. Rakata colonies, from the Infinite Empire, most likely.

And on Tatooine...a Rakata mind, still alive. Huh.

I could use that, and get some more knowledge. Because these primitive nano-droids?

Not what I needed. They'll be useful to transmute the Meteor's armor into steel, and perhaps some higher form of steel, like quadranium or durasteel. But not belskar or alusteel.

For that, I needed much more knowledge.

Make a note, start melting 6000 more Meteor hulls. 2000 of them Mountain-class, for troops and supplies.

The galaxy was even bigger than I thought. And my Empire was way behind in population and productivity, barely competing with the feudal Hutts.

So many force-sensitives, some scattered, some together like the miraluka.

Another possible training planet, Alpheridies. Gain force-sight and a dozen more abilities, with just a few years of...

Let's send a fleet there now, and another to Roche. Those genius insects would be wiped out by Palpatine otherwise.

Another to Obroa-skai. To Manda. To Gibad , and prevent a genocide with bioweapons...

To Cyrillia and take custody of 10 billion droids. Guess I'll go myself. That did seem to be a large number and was close to my location. Maybe take Sarrahban too. A monopoly on most laser weapons would be nice.

And have Bo Katan Greyshade take custody of the Kyrimorut colony.

To think I already have so many Jedi living there, like Kina Ha and Tallisibeth Enwandung-Esterhazy . That girl...nevermind for now. Still too young.

But not too young to train. And a Kaminoan Jedi...she could help me with my cloning...

I was cheating a bit too much.

Etain Tur-Mukan was also there, along with her Master Arligan Zey and another Kaminoan, a geneticist named Ko Sai .

Hmmm. And the Altisian Jedi were on Yarille, also in my empire. In the capital city Yen Bachask , doing relief work. Nice guys. I'll keep them.

A fleet will arrive there in 2 hours, to liberate the planet from whatever CIS remains and make contact.

Perfect day indeed.

And Peffy...

Phateem system, planet Phateem

Ashlendu Mountains, Halls of Knowledge, vault 31

He is looting the Halls of Knowledge, of course. Not by himself, but he has the VSS and a few maids to help.

"How did you know this entrance wasn't guarded?" Miss Secura asked, with some awe. Or just wonder.

"I used the force, of course. I think, I'm pretty much the strongest man alive, at this time. There's a few women who are really close though" Peffy answered with some amusement.

"Women? Master Shaak Ti isn't even.." Ayala complained, with a confused look. Huh, so you think that woman is strong? Not really. In comparison.

"Come now. Master Ti is eating raw snails on some jungle planet now. These strong women don't use lightsabers. Now, Miss Ti is quite special in her own way, after all, she did cut off Palpatine's right arm and lived to tell about it." Still had to run from Skywalker though.

"And Master Yoda? You think you're stronger? Is he okay?" the former Jedi asked worried.

"Exactly the same, only he eats raw roots, in a dark cave on a jungle planet. And because he didn't have children, his race will become extinct, in some 20 years. At least Master Mundi fathered some 7 girls already. Gah, now I have to arrange a marriage between the last two Neti. Can't let that race go extinct as well..." I muttered, loading another grav pallet with books and scrolls.

Damn idiot Jedi, you could have stored all this data on a single holocron facet. And maybe lose it.

Make a note and print backups for all the things I have so far.

Holocrons tend to get stolen...A lot of times by myself.

Anyway, Force cloak is pretty simple, once you learn the trick. Just a wave of Mind Alter, set on autorun and deleting yourself from nearby minds with the opposite of memory imprint.

I could undress a thousand women in a large room, and they wouldn't know who did it...

Ah, I have a great trick to play on my maids in the garden on Gand.

Change their clothes with different ones. Ha! When they realize it, it will be quite fun.

I could do it with my eyes closed as well, but probably won't bother. Why waste such a great view at the mountains and valleys?

"Okay, we stole everything. What now, Avatar?" Miss Secura the Jedi asked, as the last grav pallet with knowledge was being glided towards the secret tunnel.

"Now we vandalize the place of course, writing graffiti on walls, true things about Palpatine and his Galactic Empire. It is a Hall of Knowledge, after all. When the Imperial Intelligence arrives, they need to learn things too. Here, a paint spray!" I exclaimed in a joyous tone.

"You planned this all along? Even had cans of paint ready?" the green twi'lek asked in awe. Or perhaps confusion.

"I had a great Master called Naruto. I just follow in his footsteps" I answered truthfully.