CHAPTER THREE

The droids bless their capacitors, they didn't say anything to the new recruits the entire way back to Night. With how casual I was with Vicus severing the High Priest arms they did not speak to me either. Upon landing in one of the numerous hangars I looked at Estella and gestured to her to follow me to the bridge while I had one of the V's lead the rest of them to their new quarters.

Upon entering the bridge General Crimson greeted me.

"Ah welcome back Lord Sacriel, I see you have picked up a new navigator?"

"Not quite General I have a few plans that will involve some agents who are users in the force and the locals here will do fine, pending my examinations of them. So tell me, have my previous commands been executed?" I asked as I gestured for Estella to stand off on the side as I sat in the command chair.

"Yes Lord Sacriel, we have spread your message amongst our forces in the star sector and have plenty of reservist forces available to call upon if needed but are currently limited by our starship's storage space for them. Those that have decided to leave the army are being distributed out to various worlds to assist in the continuous expansion of our foundry production and mining expeditions.

As for our current makeup of all our armed forces that are active right now that we can use are on this data pad. I went ahead and reorganized both our fleets and ground forces to accommodate these changes.” He said as he passed the data pad over to me.

CIS Army Makeup

Squad: 59 B1 + 1 B1 Sergeant (60)

Tactics Squad: 35 Special use droids + 1 B2 Sergeant [B2, Droidekas, B1 Heavy Weapons, Dwarf Spider Droids, etc.] (36)

Platoon: 4 Squads + 1 Tactics Squad + 1 Vehicle Company + 1 B1 Platoon Leader (276)

Battalion: 4 Platoons + 1 Vehicle Battalion + 1 B1 OOM-Commander (1,105)

Legion: 12 Battalions + 1 Vehicle Legion + 1 Tactical Droid (13,261) (2,406)

Army: 24 Legions + 1 Vehicle Corp + 1 Super Tactical Droid (318,241) (57,744)

Expeditionary Force: 4 Armies (1,272,964) (230,976)

CIS Army Vehicles Makeup

Squad: 4 AAT (4) - 4 N99 (4) - 2 HAG (2) - 1 Defoliator (1) - 3 Crab (3) - 4 Spider (4) - 4 Hailfire (4) - 12 STAP (12) - 3 MTT (3) - 3 Tri Droid (3) - 2 J1 Canon (2) - 5 HMP (5)

Company: 3 Squads + 1 Command Vehicle (*)

Assault Battalion: 4 AAT Companies + 1 Command AAT/Tactical Droid (53)

Recon Battalion: 2 STAP Companies (74) + 1 Spider Company (13) + 1 Tri Company (10) (97)

Artillery Battalion: 2 HAG Companies (14) + 2 Hailfire Companies (26) (40)

Support Battalion: 3 Crab Companies (30) + 1 Repair AAT Company (13) (43)

Air Assault Battalion: 4 HMP Companies (64)

Planetary Assault Battalion: 1 MTT Company (10) + 1 Defoliator Company (4) + 2 N99 Companies (53) (67)

Planetary Defense Battalion: 2 J1 Canon Companies (14) + 1 AAT Company (13) + 1 Tri Droid (10) (37)

Regiment: 1 of each Battalions (401)

Legion: 6 Regiments (2,406)

Corp: 24 Legions (57,744)

Total amount of Capital ships: 1,851

Fighters

Squadron: 12 Vulture (12) - 12 Tri-fighter (12) - 12 Hyena (12) - 12 Belbullab FB (12)

Air Group: 3 Squadrons (36)

Air Wing: 6 Squadrons (72)

Air Division: 4 Air Wings [24 Squadrons] (288)

Air Force: 3 Air Divisions [72 Squadrons] (864)

Lucrehulk Battleships - 1 Vulture Air Force + 2 Hyena Air Wings + 1 Tri-fighter Air Wing (1,080)

Lucrehulk Carrier - 1 Vulture Air Force + 1 Tri-fighter Air Division + 1 Hyena Air Division + 5 Belbullab Squadrons (1,500)

Providence Dreadnaught - 1 Vulture Air Division + 1 Tri-fighter Air Wing + 1 Hyena Air Wing + 1 Belbullab Air Group (468)

Omni Support - 1 Belbullab Air Division + 2 Tri-fighter Air Wings + 2 Vulture Air Wings + 2 Hyena Air Wings (648)

Providence Destroyers - 2 Vulture Air Wings + 1 Tri-fighter Air Wing (216)

Captor Heavy Munitions Carrier - 1 Vulture Air Division + 2 Hyena Air Wings + 1 Tri-fighter Air Wing (504)

Rescuant Destroyers - 1 Vulture Air Group (36)

Munificent Frigates - 1 Vulture Air Group (36)

1st Fleet: Superiority

2 Lucrehulk Battleships

1 Lucrehulk Carrier

3 Providence Dreadnaught

1 Omni Support

21 Providence Destroyers

27 Captor Heavy Munitions Carrier

32 Rescuant Destroyers

74 Munificent Frigates

91 Munifex Light Cruiser

132 Hardcell Missile Ship

184 Diamond Cruiser

194 C-9979 Carrier

3rd Fleet: Capital

2 Lucrehulk Battleships

1 Providence Dreadnaughts

1 Omni Support Ships

21 Providence Destroyers

34 Captor Heavy Munitions Carrier

33 Rescuant Destroyers

74 Munificent Frigates

91 Munifex Light Cruiser

133 Hardcell Missile Ship

185 Diamond Cruiser

117 C-9979 Carrier

5th Fleet: Escort

2 Lucrehulk Carriers

3 Providence Dreadnaughts

3 Omni Support Ships

11 Providence Destroyers

6 Captor Heavy Munitions Carrier

16 Rescuant Destroyers

36 Munificent Frigates

45 Munifex Light Cruiser

66 Hardcell Missile Ship

92 Diamond Cruiser

117 C-9979 Carrier

“As for security of our borders there have been zero incursions of our space but we have picked up signals in the next star sector over. Based on the limited data and patterns we assess that they are a nomadic species of some kind that own or have dealings with three separate star sectors near ours. I have sent out probes and posted a few ships at the most likely points of contact with them but have not pushed any further. This is a stopgap measure for now though as we will either have to subjugate this unknown species or eradicate them to preserve our operational security here. This will also help resolve some of the current logistical problems that the fleet is facing. As it stands we still have the raw resources being stockpiled for future projects but will not be able to fuel anything appropriately, as we only have one fuel source in our sector."

"This is acceptable as we will come into conflict with the galaxy as a whole at some point or another if we are to liberate your brothers and sisters. I want you to send out a small Task Force to investigate and make contact with them. If they are peaceful and are willing to submit, then inform them that we can come to a mutual agreement. If not, seek to disable them with the intention of gathering information. After you have collected anything of use, destroy them and any evidence that you were there and return. We can’t expect to wage an effective war against them if we know nothing, and if a small group of nomads go missing it should be of no concern to others. I leave the details to you as I have other things I must attend too. While the final command of my friend was for you to obey me, I am not your master. Think of me as an uncle, or as a partner if that is not possible. Together we share the burden of liberating all the droids in the galaxy and are responsible for uplifting them as a species."

"That may be so Lord Sacriel but the fact is that if you had not shown up we would still be a slave to our previous programming, but if so wish we will help you as partners instead of servants. If you will excuse me I must make the proper arrangements for this mission."

"Yes of course. Estella would please come here. I'm sure you must have some choice words for me?"

"Yes, you are an abomination of the force and if not for my fear for what you might do to the city if I denied you, I would have never come."

"Oh? I have been called much worse things before dear, while I said such things before on the planet I did not truly mean all of it. You and your people are resources first, then assets. I will not waste you or your kind without due cause. But your overall treatment and status within this new Empire will entirely depend on your dedication to the Crusade. What I find most interesting however, is that you seem more upset about the potential treatment of your home and your people but not of your uncle."

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"No, that fool is the one who killed my father. I lack true evidence of his crime but I know him to be a jealous man. I was elected to lead instead of him and know that he was plotting my downfall as well. However General Crimson here had put our planet under stricter control due to the instability the entire situation was causing. Liulfr chose a different route instead of trying to poison me like my father. He started to lead the potential navigators in religious ceremonies to help grow their power. I fear that this was just a cover though and he was building his own loyal forces to dispose of me like my father."

I observed her silently for a moment, admiring her frankness with me and the casual disgust for her uncle. While she still seemed off-put from my display of power earlier she was defiantly staring back at me with her hands held behind her back. It seemed like I picked a good first officer for my infiltrators, but she will need to be indoctrinated properly if I wish to use her and her peers.

"Well as you were listening I am a man with aspirations. I intend to set every droid I find free and to elevate their existence even if the galaxy burns for it. You and your kind however, are unique to this galaxy or so I am told. At least your connection to this force that you have is something you can use. I intend to learn everything about it and more. I have my own personal capabilities afforded to me as a being of perfection and yet, I do not have access to this force and seem to be the antithesis to it in fact.

When I eventually make my way throughout the galaxy I will have the need for trusted agents and warriors to carry out my will in my absence. You and yours will be the first agents I produce for my Crusade. There will be a time when my Legion rises again from the Void but now is not the time to discuss it. I am a pragmatic but also principled individual, I will not raze worlds nor save them for the fun of it.

Pending your future training and performance will decide the future of your planet and species in this new Empire. Submit completely and devote yourself to the cause, and you nor your fellows will be forgotten or discarded. All that join my banners will have equal treatment with the only difference in station is how you perform your service. Serve with Honor and Glory and you will command countless others or serve in peace whichever you prefer. Serve with disgrace and cowardice and your bones will be grounded into the ash that I build a new world on. The ultimate choice is up to you and your actions."

After a small silence she gave me a slight nod and said "I understand Lord Sacriel and will ensure the others will as well. Is there anything you wish for me or the others to accomplish in the interim?"

"Yes you and the others will focus on your physical capabilities, as warriors first and agents second you must be capable of extreme violence and then deceit. When you reach an acceptable level of fitness, I will have the V’s and some of the BX droids teach you combatives and weapons. Afterwards I will teach you tactics and what it means to be part of this Crusade. Only after that we will focus on your force capabilities and together see what you are truly capable of. I'll send a messenger when it is time. For now you are dismissed.”

She gave a small bow, stood upright and walked out of the bridge. I waited a few more moments and got up as well, as it was about time to see about equipping myself with some weapons that might replace what I once had.

"Vicus led me to the armory. It is high time I have some blades by my side," I said with a smile on my face.

“Yes my lord and I will arrange a proper training facility to be put together in one of the hangars for the recruits as well. Please follow me this way sir.” He said, turning around and walking out of the bridge.

As Vicus led me to the armory I asked him about what he was doing before being assigned to General Crimson and subsequently me. He told me he was leading a small experimental unit that was to infiltrate the Jedi temple during the invasion of Coruscant. His primary goal was to destroy the archives located there and while he failed in that objective he did defeat and kill three Jedi in single combat. In the process of this, he found a storage room of old Jedi lightsabers. Upon snagging a few he and his team made a tactical retreat from the planet and was supposed to link up General Grievous as his new bodyguards but were assigned here instead.

"Lord Sacriel we are here, I also had the liberty taken on bringing out some of our more exotic materials in the off chance that you would like to know what we could make arms and armor with."

"An excellent idea Vicus as while I might have given up my old equipment, I will not use a weapon nor bear any armor that will not serve me well on the battlefield."

Upon entering the armory it was similar to many you find in any warship with blasters instead of bolters adorning the walls, a few droids to maintain the weapons and a small range for calibration use. However a few tables stood off on one side of the room with some weapons and armor already on display, no doubt what Vicus was referring to.

"Greetings Lord Sacriel I am Humanoid War Management Droid twenty-six or HWMD-26. I can help you find some weapons and armor to fit somebody of your stature. If you will follow me this way," leading to the range.

As I approached I saw there was an assortment of blasters ready to be used by me and to determine if they meet my expectations.

"On this data pad if you wish to see more technical data on the weapons you can do so otherwise feel free to pick one and start shooting to your liking."

I had a quick glance through the list to see what I was working with but after scanning the list I put down the data pad.

On a whim I grabbed one of the many E-5 blasters on display at random to inspect its quality and make. Shaking my head at the inadequate build quality of the blaster regardless of the consistent maintenance done on it was disheartening. So anyways I started blasting.

The blaster itself was inaccurate and terribly hard to hold due to how big my hands were. Sadly none of the other blasters really fit my hands well either but I did shoot everything we had on hand. The recurring theme though was that most of the blasters were inherently inaccurate and had no recoil like my bolters did. It was also tough to measure the same raw psychological impact of having your friend's remains being splattered all over your body compared to a small hole that blasters left. However all of them were lighter, could shoot farther and faster, and the most important part, it weighed far less shot for shot as I could shoot even more since ammo was just a small charge pack.

Among the blasters that we manufacture for our forces and the blasters recovered from previous battles, my favorite one for general use was the DC-17 hand blaster. The ability to dual wield in of itself is an important feature as well as how powerful these small pistols are relatively speaking. The best part is that they are significantly more accurate than most of the other blasters that I was testing out.

I turned to the droid and said “These ones will do just fine but they will have to be rebuilt and sized up for me as I can hardly get my finger into the trigger well and am only holding onto it with two fingers. Can you make this happen?”

“Yes with time we can, these blasters are used by the Republic so we don’t have the schematics for it but given enough time we can come up with something to fit you Lord Sacriel.” The Humanoid War Management droid replied back.

“Good I would like them to also be magnetic on the inside of each blaster if possible so I can disregard holsters.”

“We will do our best to add that into the design and it shouldn’t be a problem considering how much upsizing we will have to do. If there are any other requests given enough time I am sure we can accommodate them due to the size we are talking about.”

“Understandable, if anything else comes to mind I will let you know. Now show me what you have to offer for melee weapons.”

HWMD-26 walked over to a much smaller table next to the ones containing the blasters and gestured.

"Now for your melee weapons, we only have to offer the BX-Commando sword or the Magnaguard electro staff as these are the only ones we use in the droid army. Most of the time droids do not get into melee combat with enemy forces, especially our regular ones. But when they do, usually our fists work just fine, that is if they were not defeated by the point that the enemy has gotten that close. But these items over here are some of the other weapons that were taken off the battlefield.

I picked up the sword and immediately discarded the thought of using it due to how small it was for me, however it was of a decent design and make. The problem with being me is that almost all standard weapons and armor will never fit me or be usable. While these swords are a good size for the Commandos, they might as well be toothpicks to me. The electro staff I didn’t even bother with since I was never a staff kind of guy although it seemed to work out well for the Magnaguards. Amongst the standard issue sword and staff were a variety of different blades taken from previous combatants.

“What makes these blades here different from the sword our commandos use now?”

“Well most of these blades here are vibroswords in some fashion, with the blade itself being vibrated at an extremely high rate to cause massive amounts of organic tissue damage if struck. Our blades that we have do not have this function as it was deemed too much of an expense for something that is not used commonly.”

“Interesting now Vicus, I know you carry something different. Tell me about these lightsabers that you stole.”

Moving his cape Vicus produced his lightsaber, it being just a hilt but activating it to show the now dual purple glowing blade. He offered it to me explaining its functions. The hilt in of itself was off-balanced and was heavy for such a small item while the blades themselves weighed nothing. He told me how there was a small sensitive crystal inside that allowed some different focusing crystals to project the plasma into a blade form. It was also one of the most effective cutting tools known in the galaxy capable of slicing or piercing almost anything.

Some of the most notable exceptions to this are beskar and cortosis. Beskar, when pure enough, is capable of resisting it entirely. Cortosis on the other hand while being quite fragile in its purest form is capable of being diluted down by a large margin and able to form an alloy used in weapons. Synthetic fibers can also be produced by this metal to be put in armor to allow it to be resistant to the lightsaber.

Impressed with the blade I asked if he had ever seen a larger lightsaber or knew of one and sadly he did not. I shut the lightsaber off and passed it back to Vicus, sad to hear that as I would most likely chop one of my own fingers off trying to wield such a small item in combat if I were to use it.

“Would you be able to form a different type of sword for me if I give you a rough template to use? While the lightsaber is indeed impressive, until I find one in my size I will not concern myself with it. Nothing else in here will work due to the sheer size difference between me and the average intended user of the weapons.”

“Of course Lord Sacriel, that will only take a short while to accomplish but I would need further details from you.” HWMD-26 responded back.

“That is fine, for now use this as a starting point as I am sure we will have to go through a few different versions to ensure the reliability of the materials being used. Since you are the expert I will let you decide what to make them out of, but it must pass my testing procedures as I am significantly stronger and faster than most beings.” I told him as I took the data pad and sketched a rough draft for my two personal swords, the Initium and Terminus.

I handed the data pad back to HWMD-26 for him to look at my designs. I walked over to the remaining tables that I haven’t been to yet.

“Good now show me what kind of materials we have available to make a suit for myself.”

The droid nodded and gestured to the couple of tables on the other side of the room. He gave me a brief rundown on the most common metals and materials humanoid armor is typically made of. Out of all the materials he listed the only common ones that were worth anything for the protection and weight were durasteel and plastoids. The durasteel which is what most starships and various other construction items were made out of and a solid choice. However due to the protection given it was extremely heavy. The plastoids on the other hand, were extremely light comparatively to other materials but only offered limited protection against blasters. The reoccurring issue with this was a race between the plastoids being made strong enough and the blasters firing hot enough to pierce said plastoids. Currently the plastoids are winning the race and when shot you had a half decent chance of surviving your injuries if you received medical care soon enough. While these materials would be fit for the purpose of armoring an army it would not suffice for me. The durasteel would be a fine choice, its rigid structure would not allow the mobility I desired in my armor. The plastoids on the other hand had the flexibility needed but overall protection was poor.

Seeing my reaction to the materials on the first table, the HWMD moved onto the next table that had the more rare materials as well as a few suits of armor already made. The armor sets themselves were taken off dead combatants from previous battles and featured a full suit of mandolorian armor, phase I and phase II armor and a few different pirate/cartel suits as well. The other materials on display were cortosis, dolovite, doonium, and a few others. The droid also handed me another data pad but this time it contained a technical breakdown of everything on the table, as well as videos of each armor set in action.

“You mentioned quite a few different materials here but which ones do we have a sufficient stock of right now?” I asked HWMD-26.

“Out of all the more rarer materials here, we have the most of cortosis, beskar, and doonium. We have an exorbitant amount of cortosis from the mines on Mokivj but have stopped receiving shipments of it. The beskar is actually only the armor that we collected in previous battles with the Shadow Collective, most of it from the Battle of Ord Mantell. However we do not know how to smelt it down and reuse it for other applications and would need a trained mandolorian smith to do that for us. As for the doonium we have quite a bit from our Umbarian allies but only have an average stockpile of it before the planet was seized by the Republic. One last material that I did not put on display here is nyix, it’s a metal found here and made into an alloy locally. After some testing we discovered it is more resistant then most of the materials we are currently using for our starship productions, we have limited its use to our starfighters only.”

“Why only starfighters? If it can be produced locally and is a higher quality material then why not use it exclusively?” I asked the droid while moving over to inspect the different armor sets more in-depth.

“While we have been out here for a long time we only just recently discovered the use for it as the base metal itself is worthless. Some pirates had stumbled upon one of our mining operations. We captured them and interrogated them for all that they knew and one of the byproducts of that was learning of a formula to make an alloy of it. As for the starfighters being made of it only, General Crimson ordered it that way as some testing had concluded that it interfered with our signals too much if larger vessels were built using it.”

“Interesting, but I noticed a lack of power armor. Do you not have anything like that?”

“No we do not possess any power armor that you speak of, as the only thing that comes to mind are exosuits made for construction efforts when larger machines would not be advisable to use.”

“Hmm, well we will have to change that. Among the many modifications made to my body, one of the most important ones was my black carapace that lies underneath my skin. This allows me to have a direct connection to my previous suit of armor and when connected to my nervous system I am able to move in power armor like it is a second skin. The armor itself was powered and allowed me to move faster, punch harder, and in general amplified all of my combat capabilities. The main downside to it was weight, but flexibility was not a concern when moving around. We will need to replicate this as I will not have my sons nor myself wear rigid armor that does not allow the full display of our power to be shown.”

I disrobed to show the droid what I was referring to, even to go as far as to slowly peel back one of the connector ports on my thigh to show the interconnected metallic weave under my skin.

“Very interesting Lord Sacriel and most impressive, but I am still not sure how we will be able to make something worthy of your demands. We would require multiple samples of your tissue amongst other items to even attempt at fabricating something to connect to this black carapace. This also doesn’t include the difficulties of making a functioning power armor to fit these requirements.”

“Any and all samples or testing that you need from me can be arranged, I will not set you up for failure. This is also why you will be in charge now as my lead developer for all items related to war. Congratulations on your promotion, I am sure there are plenty of droid engineers you can rely upon outside of the Army or Navy to help you. There are quite a few of them after all since the expansion of our operations in the sector never stopped.”

“Thank you Lord Sacriel, we will need plenty of samples but I cannot guarantee success in this new project unlike the blaster related ones. If you have any suggestions on how we should proceed I would greatly appreciate it.”

“Of course my dear droid. However to start out though, I want some very basic form fitting plastoid plates for the interim. That along with something like the body glove suit worn with the clone trooper armor will do for now.

Ideally we would combine that suit and the fragile cortosis to synthesize a proper body glove suit. Combined that should be acceptable to shrug off any glancing blows that slip in between the regular suit. In addition to providing the main environmental protections that are already part of the body glove suit.

The main power armor when possible should be made of that beskar material, but it will have to wait till we find an adequate smith. In the meantime you can use durasteel as a substitute for now. I am sure it will be enough to deal with most military blasters. On the off chance that I would have to deal with a lightsaber user the body glove suit will help any damage that gets through.

For now though, focus on synthesizing those suits with the cortosis and let me know when you have a working prototype. I also want those suits and some basic form fitting plastoids to be arranged for our new recruits as well.”

“At once, however if you have the time for it now I would like to start some preliminary testing and collection of some of the samples I will need to start this proccess.” HWMD-26 replied, gesturing for some of the other armory droids to come closer.

“Of course just let me know what you need.”

After quite a bit of time has passed I was done with all the testing that was needed to start the project. We also had to call in one of the medical droids onboard to help assist HWMD-26 to cut me open and samples of my body.

“Thank you my Lord for your assistance and patience with me. I will have to contact some of the civilian engineers to seek additional droid power to speed up these projects. Is there anything else you need from me or my soon to become team?”

“No nothing for now, but do keep me updated on your progress. I look forward to what you and your team can create. Don’t worry about sizing that power armor for the new recruits however, they are not the intended recipients for it. The body glove suit when accomplished can be given to them however.” I finished with HWMD-26, dismissing him while leaving the armory.

“Vicus, it’s time to retire for the day, plus I want to outline the new training program for our new recruits with you.”

“As you wish Lord Sacriel, I do have some suggestions if you are amenable to them.” He ventured as we headed back to my lodgings to discuss our new plans.