New ideas were needed.
Warp travel in the absence of the Astronomican had proven ineffective.
So, it was necessary to adapt to the new rules of the game.
After all, Master Burton had surely set him these tasks precisely because Alrik was not bound by the rusty chains of tradition and superstition.
And along with these tasks, he would enrich his own coffers… “Yes.” Alrik said it out loud, but he said it to his own cheerful thoughts.
“For now, we’ll stick to the following plan: we’ll immediately request a small local trophy tub from the Mechanicus.
After the Jokaero deal with this xenotech, we’ll head along the main trade route to the center of this local ‘republic,’ simultaneously studying local society, xenos, humans, and also identifying the main targets for the Crusade when they seriously take on this ‘republic.’ As time passes and we gather reconnaissance on the target, we’ll change the plan, but for now, this is it.” Everyone in the hall nodded.
Some slowly, still thinking about how this would affect the fleet in the future, and others quickly, agreeing with Alrik’s arguments.
Only Melissa, one of the officers, and Taumi did not support the former interrogator’s arguments.
The first two because they suspected the severe consequences.
As for the third, she didn’t care.
She would do any job, and Alrik knew it.
“Well, the majority is in favor.
Then let’s get to work.
Liron.” The elderly admiral briskly turned to his master.
“Tell our astropaths to send a dispatch to our mechanical colleagues that I need a local schooner.
Preferably small, undamaged, and with a galactic map.
Heckel.” The fat man rose from his chair, listening attentively to Alrik.
“Take my entire fleet, except for the Kraken and the Sirena.
Set out with all the ‘Whales’ for the designated worlds.
Start immediately; every day counts.” The fat official bowed and left the bridge.
Alrik could have sworn that the rhythm of his heartbeat dropped sharply as he walked out the door.
At least he wouldn’t be getting in Eyvor’s way anymore.
One piece of good news for a change.
“The rest of you are dismissed.
Attend to your regular duties.
My retinue, be ready to depart.” Immediately after the last word, the council members nodded and began to leave the bridge.
But just as the safecracker peeled her back off the wall, Eyvor immediately called out to her.
“Taumi, please stay.” Taumi nodded and approached the table.
The others paid little attention to the request and continued to file out.
Only Ingard remained and looked questioningly at his boss.
Professional habit, Alrik chuckled to himself.
He gave an approving nod, as if to say, everything’s fine.
The other nodded back and walked out the door.
“Great speech you gave, Cap,” Taumi said unexpectedly after everyone had left.
“I was even listening.” The tech-priestess sat down in the chair next to the trader.
“Could I have done otherwise?” Alrik smirked.
He wasn’t vain, but he was one hundred percent aware of his abilities.
“But you shouldn’t lie to me.
I saw you starting to snore halfway through.” “Well, what can you do,” Taumi shrugged slightly.
“I prefer the speeches where you declare genocide on entire planets.” “Yeah, I’m good at giving speeches.
My mom always told me to become a priest.
Or a toastmaster.” Taumi laughed quietly.
After a few seconds, she asked in a relaxed tone.
“So why did you call me?
Not to discuss your speech, I take it?” “No.” This time, Alrik’s tone became colder than a winter on Valhalla.
He looked sternly at the safecracker.
“We have a mole.
Someone is leaking information to the Inquisition.” “A mole?
But only those who were on the bridge knew about the xenos and all our shady dealings.” She thought deeply.
“Are you sure it’s a mole?
Maybe it’s just a listening device…” “I don’t recall inviting Bloodmoor or anyone connected to the Inquisition who could have planted them.
But even so, the bugs should be here, or in the cabins of my Retinue, or on personal cogitators.
Either way, it all needs to be checked.
I was hoping you could help me with this matter.” He looked meaningfully at the former magos.
Taumi had never been a fool.
And now she understood perfectly well that if she refused, Eyvor would check her first.
And he would check very meticulously.
With all the thoroughness inherent in an ex-Inquisition acolyte.
“Of course, Cap!” she said cheerfully.
“You know you can count on me.” “At times like this, you’re the only one I count on.” The Rogue Trader smiled his trademark smile, the one he had spent long hours practicing in front of the mirror in his personal cabin.
“If you can, take care of this matter immediately.
And when you find the mole, tell me.
I’ll handle it.” The coldness with which this was said made Taumi shiver.
She gave him a short nod and walked out the door.
Alrik sat for a few more minutes, looking at the map of the galaxy new to him.
He was thinking about his next moves.
In truth, deep inside, he was already selecting that piece of the galaxy he wanted to possess.
And that piece turned out to be quite large.
The size of several Imperial sectors.
“I think that’s a sufficient reward for me for the work done.
Governor-General of the super-sector, Alrik Eyvor, the First of House Eyvor… has a ring to it…” Alrik smiled to himself.
Maybe, when the main Crusade begins to actively expand its expansion into this ‘Republic,’ Alrik will take care of ‘his’ sectors, which are located in the galactic north.
But for now: “colonization, reconnaissance, diplomacy”.
Mentally, he activated the UAI (Universal Analytical Instrument).
The very device he had taken from his cabinet.
Once again, for a brief moment, Alrik’s gaze was enveloped in a blue haze.
A second later, it was gone, replaced by the typical colorful picture of reality.
But instead of the usual vision of objects, Alrik saw these objects with annotations.
One glance at the spot where Melissa had stood — and a small cloud of scent, invisible to the human eye, trailing out the door, lit up in red: her signature perfume.
Immediately, slightly to the side of the cloud, a comment appeared.
COMPOSITION: … PLANT RAW MATERIAL: LILAC PETALS AND GOOSEBERRY BERRIES – 34.5673% … SOLVENT: MASCULON – 85.91% … DYE: BERENZIA EXTRACT – 8.3% … WATER – 14.09% This way, he could check every object for its composition and properties, as long as the owner had the desire.
But Alrik had a different intention.
He shifted his gaze to the galaxy map.
Mentally, he ordered the map to be loaded into the memory block.
… INITIALIZATION… PREPARING FOR DOWNLOAD… DOWNLOAD COMPLETE… The next moment, a complete copy of that map, exactly as on the hololith, with all the markings and distributions, appeared before Alrik’s eyes.
He mentally ordered a diagnostic and analysis of the map.
…INITIALIZATION… ANALYSIS…ANALYSIS COMPLETE… DATA: EXTENT – ~120,000 LIGHT YEARS.
NUMBER OF STARS – ~400,000,000,000 NUMBER OF GLOBULAR CLUSTERS – ~200 RECOMMENDATIONS: A LARGE NUMBER OF STAR CLUSTERS ARE LOCATED ALONG THE GALACTIC NORTHWEST AND SOUTHEAST BETWEEN THE SECOND AND FOURTH ARMS.
— The map now showed the designation of the arms, as well as the cardinal directions, roughly like on a compass.
— MAJOR GRAVITATIONAL, ELECTROMAGNETIC, QUANTUM, OR WARP ANOMALIES ARE LOCATED AT THE FOLLOWING POINTS.
— Several dozen red dots immediately appeared on the map, where, presumably, large black holes or other serious anomalies capable of severely harming navigation or a ship’s course might be located.
Having studied his new home in detail, Alrik nodded to himself.
At least now he knew where to go after the main task.
And where it was better not to go.
Having read everything he wanted to know, Alrik decided to tackle another problem.
Mentally, he ordered the UAI to open the contact book.
It displayed several thousand contacts of people with whom the ex-interrogator had been in communication.
He stopped at what seemed like an unremarkable number, one that didn’t even have a name.
The UAI had the power of a fairly decent cogitator.
It could automatically connect to a planet’s cogitator network, if one existed.
Or connect directly to other personal cogitators, if it had their number.
The Jokaero themselves said that distance didn’t matter, since their gadget used ‘quantum entanglement technologies.’ Alrik didn’t remember the further explanation, as he didn’t particularly need it.
He himself was a humanities person, not a technologist.
Let the magos rack their brains over the secrets hidden within the xenotechnology; for Eyvor, only its practicality mattered.
Only, this connection could be one-way, since the interlocutor might not have such technology — Alrik remembered that immediately.
A minute later, the red highlight of the number turned green, meaning: ‘interlocutor is connected.’ “Excuse me, haven’t we met on Armageddon in M41.442?” Alrik asked some nonsense in a completely imperturbable voice.
“Indeed.
I was on Cadia, but in M41.672,” the interlocutor replied just as imperturbably.
His voice was synthesized, so it was impossible to tell if it was a man or a woman.
“You are 10 minutes late,” the interlocutor added after all the formalities were observed.
“Circumstances.
Report, Agent Hector.” “The Inquisitor’s headquarters is moving to search for an Eldar artifact.
I am sending the presumed coordinates of the target.” “The xenos herself?” “Unknown.” “Understood.
I will call back exactly 2 weeks from now at 4 p.m.
Terran time.
Prepare a report on this artifact.
I need to know everything about it.
And preferably, find out about the xenos witch.
You will receive an additional sum.” “Received.
End of communication.” Hector disconnected, and his number turned red again.
If Bloodmoor thought Alrik wouldn’t take measures against his spy game, he was sorely mistaken.
Now, with the help of one greedy scoundrel from his retinue, he would find out about all his dealings.
And if he could also learn about this artifact or even steal it, he could manipulate him as he saw fit.
And then Alrik’s power, seasoned with the insignia, would become absolute.
With such cheerful thoughts, he walked out the door.
The bridge again plunged into a grim silence, waiting for the councils on the destruction of entire worlds to be held there again.
The scarlet light of sunset washed over the Jedi Temple, the unshakeable bastion of peace and order in the midst of a galaxy drowning in war.
Here, on Coruscant, the capital of the Republic, measured life went on as usual, barely feeling the burdens of the civil war.
Bloody battles, hundreds of thousands of corpses — all of that was far away, and by and large, as long as clones were the ones fighting and dying for the Republic, their deaths mattered little to the average Coruscant inhabitant.
To say that this point of view was displeasing to Grand Master Yoda, the eldest of all living Jedi, would be an understatement.
Even though the clones were bred for war, and, as the Jedi had recently learned, their ancient enemy had been directly involved in their creation… Despite their identical faces, they all looked different in the Force, meaning they were fully-fledged living beings, whose lives were, without a doubt, sacred.
Slowly hobbling, accompanied by the rhythmic tapping of his own cane, the Grand Master of the Order quietly entered the empty Council Chamber.
The chairs, orphaned in the absence of their rightful owners, served as a living reminder of the gravity of the situation the Republic was currently experiencing.
Once champions of peace, now acting as generals of their own clone legions, they were scattered across the galaxy, shedding blood (and machine oil) for peace, democracy, and the Republic.
“Master Yoda.” Holograms depicting the wise knights of the Order began to appear one after another.
Master Windu and Obi-Wan Kenobi were finishing off the remnants of Admiral Trench’s invasion force on Anaxes; Master Shaak Ti had returned to Kamino to oversee the training and organization of new legions of Jango Fett’s genetic ‘children.’ Plo Koon, Ki-Adi-Mundi, Kit Fisto… The Grand Master of the Jedi Order was able to breathe a sigh of relief when the last of the familiar faces took its place.
“Troubling news I have gathered you all to discuss,” the elderly Jedi began the next Council session.
“We have all felt how the Force groaned in pain not long ago.” The Grand Master of the Order tried to choose the right words carefully, for the Force, the essence of all life in this galaxy, which had surrounded Yoda for nine long centuries of his life, had not merely groaned.
The Force had screamed in pain, like a beast being torn apart alive.
“Of course, Master, we all felt it,” Master Windu was the first to speak.
“Were you able to discern the nature of the phenomenon that caused such serious harm to the Force?” “I fear this truth has remained a mystery to me,” the Grand Master replied, slightly averting his gaze.
“Thickly shrouded in the Dark Side our future is; no Light can be seen through its veil.” The old Jedi’s words were, for the most part, truthful.
For the most part.
With each passing day of the Clone Wars, the veil of the Dark Side thickened.
However, the Grand Master concealed the smallest detail from his students.
Starting with the memorable vision sent by the Force, the meeting with Qui-Gon, and the beginning of a new path in understanding the Force, an oppressive apathy stubbornly refused to leave the small body of the great master.
“If we consult the archive records, I’m sure we can find examples of similar phenomena,” Obi-Wan Kenobi suggested, thoughtfully stroking his beard.
“The ancient Sith have wounded the Force on multiple occasions in the past,” Luminara Unduli immediately seized upon this suggestion.
“Could some action of Dooku’s provoke something like this?” “Or it could be the work of Darth Sidious himself,” Ki-Adi-Mundi emphasized darkly.
“I want to remind you once again that we have not yet managed to uncover the identity of the true Sith Lord.” “Thank you for your reminder, Master Mundi.” Shaak Ti’s gentle voice soothingly enveloped her interlocutors, despite the millions of light-years that lay between them.
“However, this time the entire Force was struck, not just its Light side.” The Grand Master smiled inwardly.
Shaak Ti had always been one of his calmest students.
“Moreover, the ability to wound the Force was an extremely rare phenomenon, even among the Sith Lords of old.” “Necessary it is to send a Jedi Master into Hutt Space,” Yoda said thoughtfully.
“Bad rumors from those parts have been circulating lately.
With the groan of the Force they may be connected somehow.” “Unfortunately, that is hardly possible right now, Grand Master,” Windu objected.
“A campaign in the Outer Rim worlds is about to begin, which will most likely decide the outcome of this war.
We are not in a position to recall battle generals from the front right now.” “What about Master Topal?” Plo Koon, who had been silent until then, interjected into the conversation.
“As far as I… pff… know, his mission to escort representatives of the Neutral Systems should have… pff… come to an end by now.” The respirator on his face did not allow the Jedi to speak freely.
“Why not assign the… pff… investigation of the rumors to him?” “An interesting thought, but I’m afraid Master Jaro Topal has disappeared without a trace,” Aayla Secura informed the Council in a concerned voice.
“He was supposed to contact me a week ago, but so far there has been no word from him.” “Maybe there was some kind of mix-up?” the eternally optimistic Fisto spread his hands, a slight smile on his face.
“Aren’t we starting to suspect the worst a bit too early?” “We happen to be living in dark times, Master Fisto,” Luminara Unduli cut off the Nautolan’s optimism in a grim voice.
“I’m afraid we should prepare for the worst outcome if we don’t want to be caught off guard.” “I’ve been saying for a long time that using the hyperlanes provided by the Hutts to transport diplomatic missions is not the best idea,” Ki-Adi-Mundi grumbled.
“They may have entered into a sort of alliance with the Republic, but we should still remember who we’re dealing with.” Angry notes crept into the Jedi Master’s voice.
Jaro Topal was a close friend of the Cerean.
“Need I mention that the Hutts are criminals?!
Slave owners!
And we’re dangling a bag stuffed full of Republic credits right under their noses.” “Control yourself, Master Mundi,” Shaak Ti judiciously pulled her brother in the Order up short.
“After all, we cannot know for sure whether the Hutts have anything to do with Master Topal’s disappearance.” “Besides, as shameful as it is to admit, we still need the Hutt hyperlanes,” Master Windu supported his colleague.
“And the closer we get to the upcoming campaign for the Outer Rim worlds, the more acute the need for reliable supply lines becomes.” “It’s entirely possible we won’t need supply lines, and the war might have ended before it really began,” the still-unsettled Cerean threw out.
“Are you referring to…” Shaak Ti began as cautiously as possible.
“I’m talking about Quinlan Vos and Asajj Ventress!” Ki-Adi-Mundi flared up.
“If we had taken that step at the very beginning of the war, Dooku would be feeding the worms by now, the Separatists would have collapsed, and thousands of worlds would still be living in peace.” For a second, Yoda felt ill when the Cerean reminded him of one of the Council’s most shameful decisions in the last thousand years.
Recruiting Asajj Ventress so that she, together with Quinlan Vos, could organize an assassination attempt on Count Dooku.
How low their Order had fallen.
“According to Vos, they are not ready yet,” Mace Windu objected to his old friend.
“Besides, it would be foolish to seriously count on the success of such a… dubious venture.” “What if we were to use a more delicate approach?” Master Kenobi timely voiced his suggestion.
“What interesting proposal does Master Kenobi have in mind?” The Grand Master believed that Qui-Gon Jinn’s student would be able to find the right way out of the current situation.
“Master Secura, which of the Jedi not currently deployed on the front lines is closest to Hutt Space?” Kenobi asked the Twi’lek.
“Hmm…” Aayla Secura’s flickering hologram perfectly conveyed her thoughtfulness.
“Knight Cera Junda, along with Padawan Trilla Suduri, were investigating the smuggling of rations in a system neighboring mine.” The Twi’lek swept her appraising gaze over the Council members.
“I can relay the Council’s decision to her.” “Thank you, Master Secura,” Obi-Wan nodded approvingly.
“Since the Hutts are under suspicion, we are unlikely to get any cooperation from them, which means Knight Junda will have to conceal her identity for the investigation.” “Well, decided it is, then,” Grand Master Yoda struck his cane on the floor.
“Young Junda and Suduri to unravel the mystery we will send, and may the Force be with them, and may it help them achieve success.”