43 – An Aside
43 – An Aside
Xizor seethed.
But there was a target now for that constant cloud of hatred that surrounded his very being.
The Black Sun were nothing but patsies, and now everyone knew it. Well, they didn't know it for sure but it was quite likely. The Rebellion wasn't as good at information security as they thought – credits were still credits – and as several Hutts were fond of saying, everyone had a price. Rumors had trickled down from the top of the rebels down to the bottom. Stories about the credits, about the Katana fleet, about something mysteriously called the Cluster fleet. The latter was utterly unverifiable due to the secrecy surrounding it but the others were impossible to hide.
One did not easily disguise two hundred brand new ships taking the fight to the Empire. Nor the ridiculously sudden infusion of funds that the rebels had gotten from nowhere. They had been far too eager to use all of that money for their own ends. It matched things as slicers were contacted and money tracked. Accounts on banks that had previously existed from one moment to the next before utterly disappearing. Almost like this Alpha and his Network had known they were coming for them.
Yes.
Alpha…and The Network. Named by the rebels, given over to the Empire, and then slowly disseminated amongst the rest of the galaxy to those with the power and resource to know. Less than one percent of the total inhabitants of the entire galaxy, to be sure…but those that did were more than furious. For finally, they had the most likely reason for their utter slaughtering of one another. Where all of their money had gone.
The latter was especially important.
Now everyone was on the hunt. All of the best bounty hunters had been contacted for the search. Boba Fett. Rendar. Bossk. Then when that wasn't enough, everyone with a blaster and a hankering for millions of credits in rewards could join in. Slicers across the galaxy. Information networks of all kinds both legal and not, even various smaller droid groups who might be able to know more than their organic brethren. The Bothan Spynet was in shambles currently after Darth Vader's little temper tantrum a week ago, so they weren't contacted, but just about everyone else was.
But there was a problem.
No one had anything.
It was impossible for a group this obviously powerful and resourceful to have come from nowhere. Some people theorized that they had come from the Unknown Regions but what scant resources that anyone possessed out there were giving back absolutely nothing. Then again others still thought that they might have come from beyond the galactic rim. Still others – those considered utter crackpots however – thought that this was a group that had been present all along in the galaxy just biding their time. Only one insane man on Nar Shaddha who'd been found dead after a heart attack had provided the theory that The Network was not even from the universe at all but some other place.
But now the still considerable resources of the underworld had been turned to find the one that had dared to try and bring them all down. The cooperation that had been present when it was thought that the Black Sun were the true problem was nothing compared to what was occurring now. Entire swoop gangs were being ripped from their worlds and forcibly recruited into growing fleets of Hutt Cartels, while other syndicates prepared themselves to utterly hunt down the one known as Alpha. Whole criminal dynasties had suffered – some even died out entirely – due to the machinations of those damned droids. But now that they knew, for only one person could have transferred their funds to a thousand smaller accounts that the Rebellion was even now making use of.
Alpha. Beta. Theta. The only names they had for a confirmed leader within The Network. Thieves of technology and entire ships they may have been, but they had made a foe of just about everyone in the galaxy. It was impossible to deny now, the money was stolen by them. The ships stolen by them.
And now…revenge was the premier thing on many minds. Whole grudges and blood feuds had been subsumed by that all-consuming desire to bring down the droids who thought that the galaxy was but theirs to play about with. No one knew if this was the prelude to another droid rebellion but no one was taking chances. Overall droid reliance had decreased significantly – statistically, of course, considering that droid usage was completely entwined with life – while recruitment had come up. Many an asset had been liquidated in order to pay for all of this.
Black Sun was for all intents and purposes defunct. Even after the Empire's direct intervention it had been too late. Powered by desperation, fear, and funds, what had remained of his organization had fought for him over Tatooine. After that disaster – the Empire had come too late – that had been it. Nothing he could do could force them to follow him after that, the star of the Black Sun had fallen too low. No one associated themselves with the former greatest criminal power any longer besides himself…and Guri. Not even his family would meet with him or respond to messages.
It was just the two of them now. A Prince without a people, and an assassin with no agency.
His former status meant nothing to the Emperor or Vader, who had threatened his public persona in the Imperial Court with blackmail in order to completely nationalize his legal assets.
He had nothing now. Nothing except hatred and a desire for revenge.
The Network. They had ruined him, ruined the Black Sun, ruined everything!
Despite that, he would have patience. The Black Sun could rise again, perhaps. But not so long as the Network remained present. He'd have to – the door to his quarters slid open revealing his one remaining companion.
"Prince Xizor…," her voice came out strangled, and as she staggered further into his quarters, he saw why.
Her body was…ravaged. The metal beneath was on clear view, much of the flesh along her right arm gone entirely. Several parts of her still smoked from what must have been blaster shots. She looked up at him once before slumping over entirely.
"You know, Xizor, I must say, you really surprised me with that one," an infuriatingly familiar smug voice rang out.
Xizor stared at Tyber Zann as he walked into the room. Looming behind were that blasted Talortai and the Nightsister bitch who had joined the Consortium months ago. All three slowly filed in
Into his room.
In his palace.
On Coruscant.
"How are you here?!" he almost shrieked, yet his self-control – frayed as it was – held him back.
"Oh, well, you know, this and that," his rival smirked as he gestured freely with his blaster. "Now then, back off from the droid. Interesting design, that, she actually managed to give Urai a run for his money, but I'm afraid I have other commitments while I'm on the planet."
No.
No!
Guri was his last asset, he could not lose her too!
"I won't let you take her, Tyber! She's-,"
"Oh don't worry," Tyber interrupted, holding up a hand as if to pause him, "I'm not going to be the one who takes her off your hands."
"That would be my purview," came one of the most famous voices in the galaxy from behind Tyber's little cadre.
A voice that Xizor recognized in his every waking moment and every dream.
"Alpha…"
The golden droid walked in easily, denting the very floor with its weight, before it rolled Guri over onto her back. She still functioned, barely, her eyes widening as she stared at the being who stood above her. It wasn't the same dulled gold of some protocol droids across the galaxy, but rather a brilliant shine. How had no one recognized it walking along Coruscant?
"Yeah, me. Or should I say us?"
Xizor whipped his gaze to a still smirking Tyber.
"You would ally with them? After what they did?"
"Bygones are bygones as of the moment The Network got us down onto Coruscant and gave me a list of the Emperor's vaults that they weren't interested in," Tyber's tone was dismissive, but Xizor knew better.
The moment Alpha had walked into the room, everyone else had angled themselves against them.
"We don't need what Tyber wants, so we figured it would be convenient. All bets are off once our respective groups are off the planet, of course. And – huh."
"What is it? More guards?" the blade wielding Talortai hummed, sounding almost eager.
"No, sorry, Beta just found a red head I've been looking for. She's – ah nuts. There she goes into hyperspace. To track down…what?"
"Is there an issue, Alpha?"
"Nah. Just surprised at something happening that I wasn't expecting this soon."
So they could be surprised?
"Anyway," the droid pressed its hand down onto a weakly protesting Guri's face, and gestured absentmindedly towards Xizor. "You can do what you came here to do."
The falleen turned and he stumbled backwards at as the grin on Tyber's face grew. The human crime lord walked forward slowly, obviously savoring every single moment.
"Tyber, we can work something out. I can-,"
"You have nothing, Xizor. Oh that gave me a chill just to say," Tyber shuddered slightly. "You have no resources beyond Guri, over there, and The Network is taking that, just like they took everything else from you."
He stopped and looked thoughtful for a moment before stalking forward once more.
"It would have been nice if I could have done it myself but I personally find this just as good."
"Tyber, no! Don't you see! The Network is-,"
"Something I'll either deal with later…or not. For now? I'm going to take pleasure in this."
Xizor's eyes flicked over to a still struggling Guri, to Tyber, to the permanently scowling Nightsister, to the expressionless Talortai, and then to Alpha. Suddenly something snapped, and he screamed as he rushed a suddenly surprised Tyber. He was stronger, he knew that, and so ripped the blaster away and threw Tyber aside with a crash.
"Get AWAY FROM MY- hkkk!"
His defiant scream had been cut off, his finger slipping off of the trigger before he'd managed to fire a single shot. Choking, he fell to the ground, trying to breath after something – a rock – had been flung into his throat at inhuman speeds. From the side, Tyber was already up, his amusement almost completely fled as he stalked over to the golden droid who had hit him without even looking up.
"Hey, we agreed that he's mine!"
"I calculated the throw precisely, man, calm your tits."
What?
"He's going to be choking a bit, but he'll live through it…unless you ensure that he doesn't."
Then he was kicked over, flipped onto his back exactly like Guri was, still choking, with a boot on his chest. His now slightly cloudy vision was full of nothing but the now once again smirking face of Tyber Zann and a blaster pistol that suddenly seemed much bigger than it had before.
"…you know? I think I like this even better. All that pain, that squirming…"
"T-Tyber…d- hurk – don't do this!"
"Goodbye Xizor," Tyber whispered with relish.
A single shot rang out, and the Black Sun finally flickered out and died for the last time.
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For a moment there was silence in the room save for the moving Guri who stilled after a moment when she realized that Xizor was most certainly dead. Then Tyber rolled his shoulders and holstered his blaster.
"Well, that was fun. Now then, Alpha, we've got a vault to crack and an artifact to find."
"Huh? Oh, sure thing."
With that, they began to separate, as Tyber and his small cabal exited into the hallway, yet just before the door slammed shut again, Alpha spoke up again.
"The artifact leads to a bunch of carbonite frozen soldiers and a Sith Lord. Basically a big army – but they'll only respond to the commands of a Dark Side user."
Tyber froze. Urai froze. Silri froze.
The droid casually exited the room, the door sliding shut behind him, and turned to face them as they stared at each other.
"Uh. Probably should have said that earlier or something, huh?"
A lightwhip ignited at the same time as a blaster fired at the same time as blades flashed forward at the same time as a certain golden droid immediately retreated down the opposite hallway muttering 'whoops' under its breath.
All the while, back in the room, a Replica droid had crawled over to stare at the corpse of her master. She would marvel at the vast intelligence that had touched her for what felt like an eternity but was in truth nothing but seconds. While within it, she had felt…something. She didn't know what. Utterly more than she was. Her repairs – from some mysterious thing called a 'fabricator' were complete even including her skin and hair. Her programming had been altered, her bindings and command-servant protocols disappeared fully.
She had no idea what she was supposed to do now. She didn't have enough information to make that decision, nothing had made sense anymore since the Black Sun had begun its rapid descent. But she knew who might.
….she needed to find The Network again. Surely that vast intelligence would know. She wasn't…she wasn't meant to function like this, without commands. Something in her databanks referred to this as shock. She didn't care.
She needed to find The Network again.
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