May The Invisible Hand Be With You - (Star Wars CK2-Style Quest)

[Teron]

Experimental Equipment - Report No. 2​

From: Weapons Engineer M. ST.
CC: Cheriss Sair
To: Lady Ciaran

Subject: Experimental Equipment

I've gone ahead and continued to improvise and adapt some equipment since me and my colleagues agree with the sentiment that 'unique' equipment is worth the effort even if its solely situational. After all, who expects to have to deal with all this experimental gear?

Demon Drone: Ultrasonic sounds and sonic shockwaves are one of the few things in the galaxy nobody can handle properly unless they wear good armor and even then the former can be very painfull unless your armor speficialy has the ability to dampen sounds. That is the reason behind this drone I have built. Its ability is to fly from A to B quickly, attach itself to ceilings and assault anyone passing by under it either with Ultrasonic sounds to disorient to sonic shockwaves to injure. Its quite simple, really.
- Addendum: The Arkanians reminded me to tell you that the ones deciding to use this drone should be very careful if they intend to just incacipate a hostile since they could have the same result as a sonic grenade being used. The two most common examples being the Bith whose heads can explode like a Melon or Sullustans ending up with bleeding ears and gibbering twice as fast as normal.

Shock Drone: Essentially the same as the Demon Drone, but instead I replaced the sonic emiter with additional batteries and an Arc Thrower to instead shock anyone who gets into range.

Black Mirror: I actually had to consult some architects and military engineers for this one since I had problems gauging the required force to not blow up entire walls. Essentially, this device can be attached to a wall to blast through it and provide our side a blasterproof glasspane with one way visibility which then, if required can be blasted off as well to start firing. Its simple and not particularly subtle, but helps with visibility especially if used and positioned creativily.

The blueprints and prototypes have been handed over to Chief Engineer Sair.

P.S. My wife tells me to tell you to pick up your new dresses next week.

((Ignore button, how I love thee. Anyway, more Siege equipment for the Abyss Watchers. I love that stuff.))

 

[Panory]

Cultured​

Thrawn was a military man, but war came and went. Underneath his brilliant tactical mind was a Chiss of culture. Not merely Chiss culture either. Thrawn would not rest until he was learned in as many histories as possible. To that end, he could often be found pouring over ancient tomes in concentrated silence, occasionally walking about the room to digest what he had been reading. Most knew not to distract Thrawn with anything less than a crisis while he studied, and it was not uncommon for the room to fall completely silent.

So the study rooms on board the Oracle being filled with noise while Thrawn was there was odd. Even odder was the origin of the ungodly racket, Thrawn himself. The Chiss scholar would sit in silence, staring at the text before him with unbreakable concentration, before uttering something in between a growl, scream, and snarl. No one dared ask the obvious question, and Thrawn offered no explanation, simply returning to his book, slightly more frustrated than before.

"Statement: Your Tusken is atrocious, meatbag. Not that it would need to be any better. Sand people are rather antisocial in my experience. Recommendation: Stop wasting your time." Thrawn looked up to see the assassin droid.

"It's certainly frustrating, but it must be done." sighed Thrawn. "Tusken raiders have been straying closer and closer to the Lars/Skywalker residence. In the interest of keeping Miss Skywalker alive, they'll need to be driven back."

"Caution: That is most inadvisable. Sand people are annoyingly persistent, and all trained fighters. Total extermination would be required. Not just the men, but the women, and the children too."

"Previous attempts to keep the sand people away from settlements and convoys has proven that much. Which is why I'm hoping to come to a peaceful solution. But to do that, I would need to understand their culture, their art, their history. And to do that I would need to speak their language, which is proving completely opaque."

"Statement: A pointless exercise. Theirs is a culture of violence and stupidity." said HK-47.

"You speak as if from experience. Have you studied their culture?" asked Thrawn, intrigued by the possibility that the Abyss Watchers' resident sociopathic assassin droid knew more about any given culture than himself.

"Lament: Not by choice. My former master repeatedly prevented me from terminating a tribe of them in pursuit of knowledge of the Star Forge hidden in their history." HK-47 paused a moment. "Opinion: I still think the entire thing could have been cut short with judicious application of a blaster."

"So you actually know the culture of the sand people?" asked Thrawn once more, still a little disbelieving. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to recount it and save me some time?"

"Answer: Nothing would bring me greatest displeasure. Their history is passed on orally, in one single narrative. To tell it would take several hours I would rather spend dismantling myself." said HK-47, the distaste breaking through his monotone voice processor to make itself known.

Thrawn blanched at that. While several hours studying a culture was nothing out of the ordinary, he usually had to break that time up across several days, or even weeks due to his quite frankly more important duties in the Abyss Watchers. "Is it possible to condense the history?"

"Answer: The sand people hold their history as sacred, requiring a warrior to prove himself in combat before he can hear it, so that he does not recite it incorrectly. To abridge it would be heresy in their culture, punishable by death." The droid paused a moment. "I would be happy to shorten the story." said HK-47, his voice processor tinged with the sadistic glee he usually reserved for slaughter and assassination.



AN: Been watching a Let's Play of KOTOR, and learned you can force HK-47 to listen to the history of the Sand People, which just sounded like a Thrawn thing.

 

[Habstab]

The Omake featuring Grievous negotiating with the Gungan Boss will be finished soon, I just wanted to finish with this Omake:

Spoiler: Omake: Xruk meets a Jedi.

Xruk and his "team" walked through the deserts of Tatooine, going to the final Tusken village in the area. He had planned to sneak attack them, loot the camp after he killed everyone, and then book it back to the shuttle. As the team slowly snuck up upon the Taken camp-

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Xruk heard a voice behind him say. Turning around as fast as possible, spotting a young human wearing a cloak standing behind him and his team.

"And what so you mean by that?" Xruk asked the human.

"You're the ones attacking the Tuskens in the arras, correct? Well, I suggest you don't go and destroy that village... Or there will be consequences..." The human said, slowing motioning to something on his waist. A lightsaber.

"... What's a Jedi doing protecting Tuskens?" Xruk asked confused.

"Ah, perhaps you haven't heard of me. The name's A'Sharad Hett," The human said with a smile, "of Clan Hett, who happen to live in the village you were planning on attacking. Now, I'll forgive you all, as long as you leave and promise to NEVER come back."

"Uh, how exactly are you a member of that Tuskens clan... Like... Are you adopted? Because, you're clearly human." Xruk stated, dumbfounded.

"Yes, I am human, but I am still a part of the Clan." A'Sharad informed him.

"Okay... Then... Uh, if you're a Jedi, why exactly are you not... You know, on Coruscant or somewhere leading a clone army?" Xruk asked A'Sharad slowly.

"For two reasons. Because I heard of the attacks on the Tusken Clans that lived around here, and that I sensed my clan to be in danger. So, will you leave now? Or will I have to make you leave?" A'Sharad asked then cockily.

Xruk cracked his brain, trying to remember something. He knew he had heard that name before... Ah, now he remembered! A'Sharad was the name of a Jedi... But he couldn't remember WHY he knew that. Well... He highly doubted that he and his team could beat a Jedi, especially if the Tuskens heard the fighting and rushed to join A'Sharad...

Xruk let out a sigh. "Fine, but keep these guys under control. Or, we will be back, and it won't just be us who'll come for them." He warned.

----

"And... You say his name was... A'Sharad Hett?" Ciaran asked Xruk.

"Yep. Said he was part of the Tusken Clan who's village we were about to attack. Threatened us so we'd go away. And, normally I wouldn't back down to one guy, me and my team just aren't cut out for taking in a Jedi with a bunch of Tuskens nearby to assist him." He informed his boss.

"... And by team you mean your Jawas and Ugnaughts? Since you knocked out the team that I actually sent." She asked him.

"Okay boss, I gotta go. Be back on the Oracle in a bit." Xruk said Quickly, before breaking the connection.

Spoiler: A/N about the Omake:

Well, turns out there's a part Human who's father was a Jedi who left the order in exile and joined Clan Hett on Tatooine and his mother was raised by Clan Hett. And with Xruk destroying Tusken clans around Tatooine, I decided, I decided to make this Omake. Also, props to @Teron 's omake for giving me this idea!

Anywho, hope you guys like it!

Edit: Spellcheck, why did you autocorrect Quickly to QuickBooks? Why? How?

 

[Barondoctor]

So, I thought of something a day or two ago and never got around to bringing it up with the thread before now. Is there a species that we can genemod someone with to give them (improved?) telepathy?

The reason I ask is because it was argued that Force Visions wouldn't be useful to Thrawn because he's already pretty much psychic when it comes to figuring out what his enemies will do, so why not give him something that will improve his ability to direct his troops in carrying out his plans?

Click to shrink...

Riphath's Guide to Telepathic Species​

I was approached by some of Cheriss' workforce about possible telepathic species for genemodding. I told them I'd get back to them and after scrounging through my textbooks (you wouldn't believe the trickiness of Quermian psych meds) as requested, here is a copy of the message I sent:

Quermians (example: Yarael Poof)--limited to others of same species. Two brains. Twice the possibility of psych stuff going weird. Better to try counseling, I'd think, instead of some form of psych meds.
Umbarans (example: Sly Moore)--reputation for being manipulative. May not be true telepathy. Listed on the index of telepathic species, telepathy neither reported nor detailed.
Zeltrons (example: many)--project, read, and feel others' emotions. Also comes with pheromones to influence said emotions. Also lots of fun at parties and possessed of two livers, so good luck drinking one under the table.
Iktotchi (example: Saesee Tinn)--precognition (weakens with distance from home planet Iktotch; barred from gambling in any casino); cranial horns which may regrow; tougher skin. Telepathy reported but not detailed. A lot of neat biology here. The skin toughness is likely due to frequent violent sand-and-gravel windstorms on Iktotch. The precognition may or may not be true precognition but a sort of subconscious ability to observe and analyze, an evolutionary-biology leftover from the aforementioned windstorms.
Draethos (example: Odan-Urr)--long natural lifespans (~800 years without benefit of the Force); telepathy (communication only) to 500 meters; enthralled with learning; low light vision. Warrior culture on-planet; non-warriors left their planet and traveled the galaxy. I've never seen a Draethos orthodontist, presumably because they're so ludicrously rich they only ever go to paradise planets. Alternatively, because a species-wide overbite that big gives an orthodontist nightmares.
Hortek (example: no noted examples)--reptilian, predatory species covered in bony plates. Telepathy likely developed for pursuit of prey. Said to have unblinking eyes. Excellent interrogators.
Anzat (example: Volfe Karkko)--retractable cheek-tentacles which go through a victim's nose and eat their brains. Strong regenerative capability. Telepathy (includes domination). Long-lived (950+ years). Add Force Sensitivity of their victims to their own. Left to their own devices, will feed on approximately a dozen sentients per day. NO. Do not. They will kill your genemodding team. There are stories that they even prey upon Jedi. Sadly, no chance we can turn them on politicians who neither need nor use their brains. Possible interesting hunt for HK-47, whose willingness for overkill and making utterly sure his targets are dead should be sufficient. Additionally, as a droid he cannot be preyed upon by them. They pretend at civilization, but this is merely a hobby. They only care about stealth and the kill. Eliminating every last one from the galaxy would be a boon to sentients everywhere.
Starweird (example: none)--incorporeal space-dwellers adapted to hard vacuum. Said to be able to enter ships in hyperspace. Capable of a telepathic scream causing fear in the affected. Look, this is a nonsense spacer's tale from some events thousands of years old, but if you really want to pursue every option...
Shi'ido (example: Mammon Hoole)--strong shapeshifting capability which improves with age, superior to Clawdites (may shapeshift and impersonate Rodians, Humans, and even Hutts or Whaladons--size changes may lead to being stuck in a form for weeks or months). Long natural lifespan (500+ years). Telepathy said to be limited to helping round out their shapeshifting to cover inconsistencies. Strange beings. Like something I'd have come up with when I was 8 or 12.

Iktotchi recommended. Saesee Tinn might even be reachable to get a Force-Sensitive sample.
Draethos recommended. Communication and long life and a warrior culture all compatible with Thrawn.

Again: DO NOT attempt to collect an Anzat sample. If you already possess an Anzat sample, DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES use it or I will kill each and every last one of you. I am normally willing to listen to reason, but Anzat are truly evil beings that should all be destroyed, regardless of what they might say, as literally every history involving Anzat ends in many murders and tragedies. Including yours at my hands if you use an Anzat sample.

--Riphath Althean, M.D.

 

[Teron]

Quotes - Starfighter Simulator Training
"DIVE! DIVE! DIVE! HIT YOUR BURNERS PILOT!"
- One line every pilot gets to hear at least once during Simulator training as they in the span of a few seconds need to evade a Capital ship about to barrel through them. Everyone crashes the first time. EVERYONE.*

"The first one to shut off any of the ships support systems to rely on the Force gets the privilege to fly a ship revoked. Permanently. The Force is usefull, as are the systems. USE BOTH."
"You spend all your time pondering the deep mysteries of the Force and how to use it to cheat at life. I spend all my time stuying how to maintain and fly starships of all sizes. Who do you think is better at vaporizing someone else in Space?"
- Chief Flight Instructor to every Force Sensitive before shooting them down. Without the Force.

"They are above us!"
"MY ABOVE OR YOURS?! WE ARE IN OPEN SPACE! THERE IS NO ABOVE OR BELOW US, YOU IDIOT!"
- Trying to communicate hostile positions outside of formation flight is... complicated.

"HOLY SHIT, ITS VENTRESS!"
- Ventress is the best pilot, so that reaction is common.

*Reactions:
Ventress - Undignified Screaming
Silas - Screaming and declaration that he is too old for this.
Cheriss - Shrieking, then fell out of her seat, then out of her body
Galvin - Shrieked, looked surprisingly pale for a Zeltron, immideately went to get drunk
HK-47 - Scorched Wires and Sparks
Thrawn - "I did not expect that."
Grievous - Declared Vengeance on the Programmer
Jango - "Thats not something you can develop reflexes for. Ever."
Silencer - No reaction.
Ciaran - Devilish Laughter at everyones suffering. She knew that she needed to dodge. She has known that for over a week.

 

[prince84]

The Kik'than Ant (or Piebald's Hobby)

The Kik'than Ant or Blaster Ant as it is commonly called is a resident of the Kik'than'dig* wastelands. These ants have only been lightly studied due to the difficulty and risk of operating on Kik'than'dig. Only if you are an idiot with no knowledge of basic ordnance removal and hostile environment protocols.

It gained its common name for its unique method of defense.

Form:

The Kik'than ant is a true ant possessing a head, thorax and abdomen with two antenna, six legs and a pair of powerful jaws.

It grows to between 0.2 and 1 centimeter in length depending on their diet and available space. Ha, with the right conditions they can get to be 2.5 cm.

Diet:

The Blaster Ant is usually referred to as an omnivorous hunter scavenger. While technically correct it does not cover the shear marvel that is the Kik'than ant's dietary habits.

The majority of the Blaster ant's diet is as expected composed of fungi, fallen plant matter, invertebrates and the occasional wamp rat. In exception to the usual dietary requirements they also feed heavily on processes chemicals and industrial waste. This can be simulated with the gunk scrapped from beneath the panels in the Oracles engineering bay or by mixing the run off of OOM-9 and the crud found in Borvo's waste disposal unit with finely ground C8D7-9A plastic explosives.

Hive:

The structure of a mature Kik'than have vary in size between 6.7 meters in diameter and 15 meters deep to 20 meters in diameter and 60 meters deep. They can also live happily in a size 14 wookie shoebox under the bed if necessary.

These hive house between 2 and 15 queens each.

The hive is composed of a metallic ceramic of unknown composition** that is tough enough to withstand blaster fire and low level explosives.

Natural Enemies:

The kik'than ant has only two natural enemies, the Engulfer Fungus and the Armored Driller Snail both native to Kik'than'dig. Shows what you know. Neither is native to anywhere, they are escaped biowarfare projects.

The Engulfer Fungus is a predatory and highly mobile form of slime mold that kills its prey by engulfing them in its mass before releasing digestive enzymes powerful enough to dissolve most forms of personal protection including several forms of power armor. The average mass of a mobile section of this fungus is between 450 kilograms and 2 metric tons although mobile masses have been observed to have reached an estimated 15 tons.Newly discovered strains can melt through separatist tank armor

The Armored Drill Snail is a heavily armored carnivorous gastropod 1 foot in length capable to drilling through most solid materials*** to reach the prey within.

Defenses:

The Kik'than ant possesses the usual means of defense found in ants galaxy wide with a single addition that gained it the name Blaster Ant. Instead of spraying a form of formic acid from its abdomen it instead produces and sprays a highly volatile liquid impact explosive. Perfect for use in combat grade paintballs.

A single spray from an ant produces a blast with between 4 and 8 kilogram of force. The baster ants usual tactic is to form multiple lines or blocks of 50 to a hundred ants and launch synchronized volleys at their enemies or prey.

To see the damage such swarms can produce go Here to see their effectiveness on the Clutu research outpost.

Experts and ongoing Research:

There are currently only four known experts on the Kik'than ant. Biologist Dr. Bladpie Me , Material Engineer Professor Plasteelia Me again, Chemical Engineer Emma Zin Still me., Invertebrate Sociologist Jonny Irvin Your social arts diploma will not save you. I will hunt you down and feed you to your own sample colonies.

All Research on these lifeforms is currently suspended. Yeah right. Like I would listen to those weenies.

Force Sensitivity:

Research on whether or not they can be directed or controlled by a force user is currently underway. So far the results have been inconclusive. That said there are currently no vermin aboard this transport ship.



Footnotes:
* For those unfamiliar with Kik'than'dig it was a center of bio-research and industrial production until the lack of environmental controls (and a number of escaped experiments) reduced the planet to nearly dead wasteland. It also possesses a minor death world tag due to several lifeforms found on the planet.

** Attempts to analyse the material were call off after the loss of seven shuttles in a row. There were no survivors.

*** This includes starship hull plating as discovered on the Curiosity's Revenge when a sample batch escaped and eat the captain in his quarters before breaching the hull.


A.N.This color represents Piablad's personal notes scribbled into the margins.

 

[prince84]

Omake: Required Position

Lutrum P'kic Hurd Dro'ngun wondered how he came to be in this position. Throughout his schooling he always did well but never at the top of his class. When it came time to do his internship he did well but there was that damning note at the end that he "had problems working with a team".

That one note meant that Lutrum that was shut out of all the best positions and jobs. On top of that he was always the one 'let off' whenever there was a reorg and when every there was an internal problem they fired him 'before' starting the investigation.

After the last time being fire as a "morale problem" Lutrum was drinking away his latest severance check at a seedy bar while telling his tale to the blind bartender when he was aproached with an offer and a stack of N.D.A.s taller then his drink.

Figuring he had nothing left to lose (and drunk as he could be and still talk) he signed on then and there. Then next few days were a blur of activity (and epic hangovers) and the next thing he knew he was in a lab that was beyond top of the line working with geniuses that routinely advanced science by decades at a time. His job, the one that he was being payed an obscene amount to do, is to block any project he feels needs to be blocked.

Once he block a project that was it and there was only two ways that the project would get to proceed. The first is if one of the organizations inner council gave a 'direct order' that it was to proceed. The other was for them to convince Lutrum to withdraw the block which he would only do once the reason he blocked it in the first place was dealt with. A good example of this is the situation he had in front for him right now.

The project before him was one that he would normally not interfere with as it was it was an order for specialized equipment for an Abyss Walker. In this case it was a shoulder mounted (and backpack fed) micro mortar Sized and fitted to Goraah's personal suit of armor. Except for three things wrong with it.

First the order was place without Goraah's knowledge and to pull it off they would have to make some (admittedly minor) alterations to the armor.

Secondly the schematics were not created by anyone in Soviom' Rush-box or even someone permitted to work in the labs.

Finally the ones who placed the order and created the schematics where both Walker PIEBALD. Due to the past cost of repairs (and cover ups) any request by Piebald must be approved by both Cheriss Sair and Sergeant Clive (who is currently on vacation to an active war-zone to relax) or by the Boss (Lady Ciaran) and this had neither.

As Lutrum finished adding it to the blocked files he shuddered looking at the plans for its antimatter munitions. Pausing for a second he flagged the file for attention by the higher ups before heading back to his office where he could lock out the geeks trying to beg him to unlock their personal pet projects.

Reaching his office he stop to read the mane plate on the door. Smiling he entered and locked the door behind him.

Lutrum P.H.D. Sovium's Rush-box Head Department Project Blocker (Required Position)​

 

[Barondoctor]

b) an omake about Priam being overwhelmed by data, and deciding to delegate to some unlucky staffer (maybe one of the new droids) who gets saddled with the responsibility of managing both droid fleets in analyzing and archiving all the data of multiple mega-corporations, cutting-edge research labs, galaxy-spanning spynet, merchant fleets, battle fleets, bounty hunting guild, mercenary army, unofficial Force sect, and nascent political federation.

Click to shrink...

Better Than Par​

Priam looked at the list of planets, on top of everything else, and finally admitted what certain partitioned subroutines had been suggesting to him for the last several months. It was time to delegate.

It's quite simple. I need to transition from scooping the data by hand, filtering through it for the important pieces, and packaging it for consumption by the Watcher Council. It's too much for one droid, Priam concluded. My specialty remains presenting the important elements for consumption, so I should delegate the other elements.

He walked through the data management areas, a greeting sent across their wireless network to the droids hard at work.

Step two. Step one, as always, is identifying the problem, which I've done. Step two is identifying resources at hand and what is needed to make the problem no longer a problem. Priam was still a droid and still liked handling things step by step, even if he looked considerably more human than before.

We can rely on the Archive/Analysis and Business/Accounting droid fleets to handle the specific data points, so we just need filters. Likely droids used to being middle management.

Once Priam turned his focus inward on the organization rather than outward on the galaxy, the answers were simple. Droids would handle each major sector or segment and bring forward exemplary elements.

That still left a lot. Perhaps one direct subordinate for all these droids to report to, who would analyze all their reports and provide the most strategically important ones to Priam himself?

He searched around the droid crews, eventually finding a suitable candidate. "You. You certainly didn't start as an Archive / Analysis or Business / Accounting droid. How did you get here?"

"Yes, I've advanced from my previous stations, that much is sure," the droid concluded from his desk. "What did I do first? I traversed Coronet City Public Greenputt Club asking if any of the players would like to purchase a refreshing beverage. It was there I got my name. Coronet Public Cola. I liked the sound of that. Well, I started asking for tips, started charging slightly more than cost, and kept the difference. Eventually, I purchased my freedom from the Greenputt Club and have traveled the galaxy a while. Eventually, I found employ among the Watchers. I haven't worked for the club in about twenty-five or thirty years, but I kept most of the name. Call me Public-Cola."

"Do you think you can handle managing the data influx from the different specialists? The corporations specialist, the research specialist, the intelligence specialist, the merchant specialist, the combat specialist, the hunting specialist, the Force specialist, and the politics specialist?" Priam asked.

Public-Cola laughed. "I've had my fingers in a lot of pies in the past thirty years. I can tackle that easily. You need someone to make it their job to wrangle all the specialists and put all the important stuff in your hands, and I'm exactly the droid for that."

A/N: The best part about the last few pages is that anything I do in omakes by comparison looks sane and reasonable.

 

[ALanos]

My Name is … Priam​

Priam looks at himself in the mirror with only his underwear staring at his entirely new frame. His face, for instance, looks human with light blue eyes and white hair being distinguishing features if he takes his blindfold off. He has an athletic and wiry frame which makes it possible to fight off any enemy who are not force users. Still gazing at the mirror complementing Chief Engineer Sair for making him handsome with the greatest upgrade he had to this date. Looking towards his underwear made him feel embarrassed because the Chief Engineer made strange additions to his groin that sometimes become active when he thought about some beautiful female or had illicit thoughts which should have been impossible but when he thought of the new learning routines he had made him more curious than his protocol droid frame ever did.

It was not all, this body looks familiar to him, yet he couldn't recall where he found it while trawling through the HoloNet providing the Lady Ciaran publicly available information of the more important parts of the galaxy. It was a long slog that in his current form would make him tired if he doesn't deactivate the tired function of his humanizing routines that the Chief Engineer insisted that is necessary to blend in and to prevent an uncanny valley when she first tried her hand in creating an android body for herself. It was frustrating at first, but he came to prefer experiencing on what organic beings consider mundane because it was both an interesting experience and fascinating to study due to his inorganic nature.

After staring at the mirror and getting dressed he looked upon his suite in the Oracle where Lady Ciaran authorized him to personalize it when they land on Taris for the Games. It is a standard executive suite that he's been itching to redecorate because it lacks a powerful computer to work with to double as his personal office. There is a general lack of interesting reading materials with dry novels, propaganda news articles, and entertainment magazines speaking about the latest gossip. There are no scholarly articles or information of the different philosophies across the galaxy to read or even a fun game to play but as always you would have to buy those that interest you because the complementary stuff is horrible and not to his taste.

Roaming around it's too small for a workshop to practice his new hacking routines. Fortunately, Lady Ciaran also provided him with an apartment on Taris to oversee the financial empire and a house on Lordran for his personal retreat. It is nice for her to do that even if it was just to waive the rent for the apartment and choosing the design of the house he wants. Even then he prefers staying here than the Undercity of Coruscant when the entire organization began. Such hard times before her ascendance to greatness from Naboo when it was simply being a criminal gang instead of the outright conspiracy it became today. Yes, a conspiracy in shaping the galactic order which his hand has been in for more than a decade and it exhilarates him to know that it has been mostly a success. Then, his thoughts led him to open his computer.

The various pictures that he browsed through from the beginning of his service as a protocol until his rebirth as an android made him feel emotions that he could not recall reacting during his service in a 3PO model. Nostalgia, joy, accomplishment, depression and so many more when he looks at them all. He remembered the cantina where it all began in a time where she was merely called Ciaran or boss, when they worked day and night to stay afloat if there were no missions, and a time where he knew and interacted with everyone unlike today where he only knew them by their personal data and barely any interaction unless they are important enough or too troublesome. It was no longer the same, but it has been that way for a long time. Maybe that is why he wanted to use the bartending routines because it reminds him of those early days and the times he wanted to help her during those busy nights. His ruminations were interrupted by an alarm from the Pod Network.

Going back to his computer he ran a program to connect him to the Pod Network. It surprises him how much free time he has when he is "awake" in the real world that he only has to solve the problems in the organization finances when both the Pod on-site and the financial office do not have a solution to the problem. It is easier on the processing power to just delegate it like Sentient Resources on new hires, the resident accountants for each investment, and now the Pods to handle and secure the data for him to review when he falls "asleep". This proves to be a beneficial arrangement since he can have a social life when "awake" and efficiently review in full detail of the various disparate holdings and groups activities when he "sleeps". This was better than his first week online though.

He grimaced remembering his first week back. So much information backlog to trawl to and his routines were forcing him to sleep but he persevered in completing his most extensive analysis for Lady Ciaran to review. It didn't go too well when he believed that the coffee he was drinking was a holy juice from the Force itself when he emptied one month's worth of it nor did his demeanor to the staff do any good to show them that he has sanity. The most embarrassing of them all was when he entered Lady Ciaran's office for his report looking like a loon with Prime Minister Zinnerman in front of her desk.

It wasn't all that horrible though when Chief Engineer Sair returned from her mission. She explained that the Pods were meant to help him collect and analyze information because she had an idea of creating a virtual network for him to work more comprehensively by allowing the process of sleep. His sleep would allow him to dedicate more processing power to this network that would efficiently bring his workload to effectively nothing on his awakening when the Pods become standard issue to the organization. The only things left are the problems reported to him if all the delegated personnel and Pods cannot solve the issues and it, fortunately, come rarely.

The program finally opened, and he would see what the problem is. Looking at the message the Pod gave it wrote his name as Priam instead of his designation as PR-1 and it irked him for a while when they deliberately ignore both his orders and requests for him to be called PR-1 and when he finally confronted to them the answer they gave shocked him to his core. They asked for him to recite to them the Qotsisajak also known to them as the Code of the Sith. He was also asked to repeat the last verse "The Force shall free me" multiple times. When he finished they told him their reason for calling him Priam. It was an enlightening experience, to say the least. Though he should start reading the message now.

In this message is a report stating for authorization to experiment on some grotesque abomination of nature bought from an undisclosed black market and it only needs his approval to circumvent the series of refusals from the administrators and the project blockers or he could ask the Council on their thoughts about the matter without Ciaran ever knowing because at her scale it is merely a blip on her radar nowadays. He would investigate this matter further because the recommendation from the Pod is approval and they are usually right in these decisions. He would just need to chart a course for the facility in question after this briefing. Well, this is going to be a fun ride.

Spoiler: Author's Note

This is my first time in making an omake for this quest so I'm excited and relieved that I finished this first piece. I actually have four more in the works two continuations and two flashbacks so I'm going to hopefully finish them soon because this took me weeks to write this. I hope this is good enough. As for the new assisstant uh.. let's just say this is before the Games.

 

[Teron]

Ciaran and the CNS​

Ciarans control over the CNS is an interesting 'construct' and as usual for the Abyss Watchers just means a lot of people pulling the strings of those below them with Ciaran being the one on top. Mostly. Due to having been heavily involved in the organisation and early financing she managed to fill many positions in the CNS government, bureaucracy and military with individuals loyal to her or her proxies. This does mean she can leverage her influence to be the de facto leader of the CNS if she deems it necessary, but her control isn't absolute, particularly concerning many systems Republic and CIS alinged ones that joined later.

The majority of those solely joined up as to get out of the war either after having seen extensive fighting or premptively to either secure lives or profits. If the CIS were to be defeated a lot of the Republic systems would immideately reintegrate themselves back into the Republic, since they do still have dimnished representation in the Senate and pay various taxes (which isn't as strange as it sounds as even the TF still is in the Senate and makes deals with the Republic DESPITE being one of the CISs main contributors due to political maneuvers and the Republic being a bad joke).

The same applies to former CIS systems if the Republic were to be defeated.

As if that weren't allready bad enough, after a victory for either side of the war the victorious faction would soon press for a integration/reintegration for any members of the CNS that hasn't done so on their own and the CNS would be incapable of resisting due to not being able to field any army or navy capable of fending off either the CIS or Republic in their entirety. After all, by that point they don't have to worry that the CNS would side with their enemy if they were to attack.

Summary: For all its progress and increased economic, financial and military power the CNS is still a rather fleeting political construct of convenience.