Chapter 1. Introductions and memories.
I arrived to my new home at Telos IV without further adventures, breaking those thief` hands in three places doesn`t count.
My new father and brother has met me in a spaceport and quickly bringed to an expensive limo. Soon we were at the family`s very expensive very fancy mansion. It`s good to be rich.
Kinda forgot how good it can be in two lives. In this one because ascetism of jedis way of life and in the previous one, despite being also born in family of wealthy industrialist, life of mechwarrior is mostly spent in cramped dropships and cockpits and barracks. It is also ascetic in it`s own way. Still the early period of my second life is what amplified my true passion. Passion, which I am not gonna leave just because I am reincarnated in very different universe. To quote some very intense character – "Death is only the beginning", after all. A new life has started for me, but despite everything, I am still me. I believed so.
After arriving to the mansion, I was shown to my new rooms and changed into new clothes in local fashion. We were having a family dinner. We were going to learn more about each other. My new father, Vox Chun was a simple man at his core. A greedy man, who wanted greatness to his dynasty, to his name. My younger brother, Kad Chun, was not up to standards my father placed on him and completely in his shadow. Kad was already happy what father concentrated on me and not him.
I am going to make them both a very happy people and bring their dreams to reality, all the while pursuing my real passion - the "Big stompy bois". I think of myself as a more orthodox kind of jedi, following Old Code` principle of "passion, yet serenity" in this case. Pursuing my hearts wish with the Force granted clarity.
My father asked me about my plans. Time to weave the words in truly jedi fashion.
"In the future I plan to marry and strengthen our dynasty, father. I hope for your help in finding a proper partner. The chances what my descendants inherit my supernatural abilities are very high. Leaving Order doesn`t depowered me, neither it make me forget my skills." I demonstrated this by carefully levitating of the furniture in the room, "And my abilities can make us very rich very fast. You may have heard about Xanatos Du Crion, also the former member of the Order."
"Yes, he recently was made the First Citizen of our world." Father said, quickly glancing at the floating chairs.
"Exactly! Well, I can bring our family to those lofty heights. With your financial support, I plan to enter the field our family has not branched in yet. You see, the Force can grant access to many abilities that some can consider to be unnatural. In this particular case jedi abilities can allow to discover, or well, to rediscover technologies long forgotten by the rest of the galaxy. It is in the Code. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. And I had foreseen what in the coming years weapon manufacturing will be extremely profiting."
"How extremely?" carefully asked Vox, placing down his utensils.
"Words like unlimited government funding will be frown around, for reasons that shall be not discussed where general public can hear them."
"I see," his gaze was very calculating. "We will talk about this more, later."
I nodded and turned to my brother.
"I shall say this to you my brother, in the future your children my also be born Force-Sensitive. Supernaturally powerful if you prefer. You shall marry not for money, but for personality."
He nodded mutely and awkwardly at me.
And though our first dinner talk was kinda awkward and stilted, it sets the tone to everybody satisfaction and better future. The Force tells me what father will not be pressuring my brother so much anymore and he will have a chance to actually have a real love in his life and become happily married in the future, without our fathers meddling. Vox Chun himself will completely support me, blinded by the promises of wealth and prestige and potential control over me, including potential wife, chosen by him.
Truth to be told I fully intend to deliver on my promises. Maybe it will make him better man and give him a better destiny.
Maybe. I can only hope. At least he wasn`t a secret Black Dragon Kurita and have no intentions… actually he do have intentions to use me in local political games. Still better than what I experienced in Draconis Combine in my previous life.
Anyway, with his support, people and resources was obtained and in three weeks a new company was registered under the family name and my complete control. Claiming the Will of the Force and intimidating people with idle harmless demonstrations of telekinesis, not mentioning father`s money and influence, really lubricated bureaucratic machine.
As inside joke and reminder what things can turn really ugly really fast, in case I lose my sight of what is right and what is wrong, I have named the new company as "Wells Technologies". Father was unsure of the name, but quickly agreed what I have the right to name it however I wanted.
The facility was being quickly built, according to the specifications I remembered from my previous life. All the while the necessary machinery and instruments was ordered and delivered and future workers was interviewed. The Force helped to choose adequate replacements where it was needed and filter potential workers and stuff. All was moving according to my plan.
I felt what "other shoe is going to drop" or something like that, the Force was whispering. And so, in my free time I trained myself. I didn`t forgot what jedi training I received in the Temple as Bruck Chun, I merged it with what I remembered from my previous lives. All those things discussed on forums in the internet, described in movies and games and books and even comics of my first live… I didn`t remembered all of that, but it gave perspective on what was possible. And meditative practices and sword techniques I practiced as a traditional Kuritan noble mechwarrior, the principles behind "Magic Bushido hands", combined very neatly with the jedi ways. I can not point all my success at that, the Force was guiding me and it was a truly awesome feeling. Though I didn`t made a new lightsaber, following the whispers of the Force allowed me to find a very neat vibroblade, buried in one of mansions many closets. It will work for now. All in all, I has found myself rapidly improving. And just in time.
Today, three weeks and a couple of days after I arrived on the planet, we had an important visitor. I felt his oily presence long before he reached the mansion, while I was working on company documents in my new home cabinet. Soon father`s butler informed me what the First Citizen Xanatos Du Crion is visiting and requested my presence. I followed immediately.
I didn`t feared Dark Jedi, the Force was with me, we so gonna prank him.
Soon we was at quest chamber and introduced to each other. I was mostly silent, allowing Xanatos to find the reasons so we could talk alone about our shared experiences in the Order.
I didn`t listened to most of his pitch. It was pretty standard "join me and I will show you the real powah of the dark side! Together we will have vengeance on puny jedis who have wronged us!", nothing original. Funny thing how that speech resembled some pieces of Kuritan propaganda I have encountered during my time in DCMS. Xanatos was in love with his own voice to the same degree as those political officers too. In the middle of his longwinded hateful speech I get up to get some water from a table near a wall of chamber. I stood with my back to Xanatos and poured some water from pitcher into a glass I took from the table. Sound of water hitting glass made Xanatos stutter. In this lull in his monolog, I started to talk, while pouring water.
"To quote the Immortal Emperor of the Sith, Valkorion," I glanced at Xanatos and turned away from him again, then pitched my voice with the help of the Force just right to do correct impression from the trailer I saw a life ago, "The man can have anything if he is willing to sacrifice."
I took a sip of water and slowly turned to him.
"There is many paths to immortality." I took another sip, "Some of them are better than the others." Another sip, "Your impassionate speech doesn't move me. You can not offer me anything I don`t already know."
Xanatos flinched and immediately moved to fighting position. His chair broke and fell away. His hand went to hilt on his belt and moment later a red blade revealed itself.
"Who are you?"
I smiled slowly to him.
"I am not the Emperor, if you worry about it." I placed the glass back on the table. Slowly. Not looking at him with my eyes. But through the Force with a presence of Mechwarrior, projecting the same feeling I had as Mechwarrior sitting in the so called 'infantry plough', while looking at the poor halpless enemy infantry, "But, yes, this is not the first face I wear. You are not interesting to me. I do not see in you qualities I would desire in my apprentices. Interfere with my plans and I will stomp you into two dimensions." with remembered and projected through the Force slowness of eighty ton machine, I turned to him, "But if you want so, I can dangle some juicy dark knowledge before your nose. You shall be familiar with the feeling, I know it." I have called the glass back to my hand with careful application of telekinesis.
"What?.." he took a step back. I`ve got him.
"The choice is yours." I projected some more of my Mehwarrior` experience to him.
Xanatos started retreating. Not turning his back to me, faster and faster, until his back met the wall near the main door. His second hand, not holding lightsaber started to blindly search for a doorknob. It was a fancy old style door. With a doorknob.
When he has found it, I started to talk again.
"And remember, if someone else will learn about this little heart to heart," I projected memories of how it feels stepping on enemies in eighty tons warmachine, "I will be very disappointed in you. It will make me interested in demonstrating you my past` experience."
Xanatos left very fast. It is very good what he fell for my ruse. For our prank, according to The Great Force. Truth, shown from a certain point of view, really is amazingly powerful weapon!
But now I shall look into hiring competent guards for my new facility and family. The guards shall be competent enough to stop undertrained Dark Jedi.
Where can I find such, I wonder.
The impulse from the Force delivered the answer from the depths of my first life memories.
There should be some mandalorians available for hire on this planet, I can feel it.
