Rattatak

The Prometheus broke free of the gravitational pull of the planet and floated freely in space. All eight of its ion thrusters ignited and slowly pushed the ship forward. While not the biggest ship ever created, it's perfectly designed to accomplish its mission.

With a length of 1.2 kilometers and a width of 600 meters at its widest points, the ship is a behemoth in its own right.

The first half of the ship doubled as a hanger and factory area. It housed three 30 meter light freighters that can be used for separate missions, two hundred drone interceptors for ship defense, and a legion of a thousand androids waiting for deployment.

They watched Rakata Prime get smaller through the display. "Activate hyperdrive, take us out of here." Khan finally turned his head and signaled Habitat.

A counter appeared on the display, when it hit zero the ship jumped into hyperspace.

Belia and Khan closed their eyes, both using different aspects of the force to ensure their path forward. The trip was scheduled to take two days, the result of a more powerful modified hyperdrive. If he had to rate it, it would be class 0.8.

Every so often, one of them would sense something through the force and change directions. Having navigated like this before, they arrived without a problem.

They exited hyperspace a good distance away from the planet. Khan looked towards Habitat and she immediately knew what he meant.

"Shielding is working properly, we're completely invisible to all forms of scanning and visual observation."

"Good, we don't know how advanced their tech is. We're on the fringe of the unknown region, the galaxy has probably already forgotten this planet's existence." He tapped his finger on the table, the sound of metal clashing filled the room.

This was the result of his research, shielding that absorbed heat, light, and electrical signals emitted to and from the ship. If lightsabers can recycle their own energy when not making contact with an object, why can't his ship's shields?

As long as nothing disrupts the shield, the ship is invisible. The only downside is they can't scan or send signals either. They can only rely on the force to perceive danger.

"Since arriving here I have a deeper connection to the force, almost like my vision was clouded before." Belia looked up, her brows still furrowed as she turned to Khan.

"I can feel it, people crying out over vast distances. Their flames snuffed out by encroaching darkness."

Khan's face turned serious, his eyes were deep as he sensed Belia's wavering emotions. "Let them go, death is their fate and you cannot change that. Focus on what you can do, don't forget who you are. Don't be swallowed by the force as it flows through you."

Belia took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She focused, just as she once did surrounded by the darkness of Rakata Prime. Remembering where her light was meant to shine.

The force flowed through her like a current, instead of being washed away, she floated on its surface. While it still carried her downstream she gained the ability to steer.

When she opened her eyes she saw Habitat and Khan discussing something over a hologram.

Habitat noticed when she opened her eyes. "You've been meditating for seven hours."

"So long?!?" Her eyes widened in shock, for her it felt like a moment.

"We've been discussing our next course of action, so don't worry." Khan waved his hand. "Originally we planned to rush towards our next destination, but I think we can do more. We need to expand our influence in the galaxy and this is a good place to start, to at least get some practice."

Belia listened with interest as he spoke, she always liked when he spoke full of wisdom and taught her new things.

"In seven hours the shields haven't intercepted any outside signals. We were just preparing to drop our shields and deploy a quantum satellite." Khan signaled for Habitat to start.

The shield dropped and exposed the ship, but nothing changed. In the factory area of the hanger, a diamond-shaped satellite flew out of the hanger's containment field.

It immediately linked with the ship and started transmitting images and data. While the information was redundant because the ship had its own scanners, it proved the satellite was working.

"Now we can receive data even if our shields are up, they can't stop quantum entanglement." Habitat pulled up the data collected so far on the holoprojector.

"This system has one star and eight planets, the first six are rocky and the last three are gas giants. The only habitable planet is Rattatak, the others being too hot or full of poison swamps." The hologram zoomed in to the fifth planet while Habitat spoke.

The entire planet was covered in brown and red stone, like a crumbling boulder, the planet was filled with deep cracks. Even from space, the planet looked dry and inhospitable.

"Habitat, you take the Prometheus to those gas giants and see if there's anything we can use. We're already running low on fuel. Belia and I will head for Rattatak, I'm interested in seeing their gladiator pits." Khan rose from his throne, not asking if the other had an opinion.

Belia stood up when she saw this, knowing that was final. Habitat didn't care, everything on this ship was part of her subroutine; She is legion. If they took one droid they took them all.

Khan led Belia to the sole elevator, only the one elevator in the middle of the three led to the third deck and bridge.

"Are you excited? We haven't seen another intelligent species in ten years" Belia spoke with excitement as the elevator descended.

"Am I excited?" The corners of his lips rose. "I'm a biologist, every species I meet is like drinking sweet nectar. No matter how much I drink I can never get enough."

Her eyes rolled when she heard this. "You just want to experiment on them."

The door to the elevator opened and they walked into the joining corridor. They went straight to the hall that led to the hanger. The long hall was lined with doors, some were empty but a few were marked.

The doors labeled assassin, mercenary, assault, and heavy assault opened. A slim assassin droid with a feminine shape and red armor plates that looked like a robe walked out. On its back was a collapsible sniper rifle.

Two mercenary droids with wide-brimmed hats, moderate body armor, an electro sword, and a wrist-mounted crossbow walked out.

Five assault droids that looked like mechanical assassins came out as well. They had three electro katanas and a group of fist-sized drones to coordinate with their actions.

The last droid was a heavy assault droid. Its size was twice as big as the other droids and its body full of heavy armor. With its turbo cannon, it looked like a walking tank.

"Do you need so much fighting power? Are you expecting a conflict?" She glanced at the droids over her shoulder before looking at Khan.

"Always expect a conflict." They finally entered the hanger as he spoke.

The entire space was wide open, fully displaying how big the ship really is. Drone infiltrators were stacked in rows and waiting to be deployed. 

The factory located in the two prongs at the front of the ship was in constant operation. Smelting down defective parts and manufacturing more with its mechanical arms.

"If everyone is like you, that explains why the galaxy is so violent." She sighed as they moved towards one of the freighters.

Its sleek black frame and aerodynamic teardrop-shaped design gave it an appealing look. Its side-mounted twin cannons let everyone know it didn't just look nice.

"The galaxy is violent because that's the nature of intelligent species. Even pacifists crave power, they just use ideology to get it more often than direct conflict." His head shook as they walked up the ramp of the ship.

The droids went into standby as they walked to the cockpit.

"If everyone just wants power, then who's right or wrong?" She couldn't help but ask as she sat in her seat.

Khan sat down and grabbed the controls. While the ship can fly on its own, he still enjoyed the feeling of piloting.

"Who?" He flicked a few switches and turned on the power. "The one who wins." He pushed down on the controls and the ship lifted off.

He turned the controls and flew through the hanger doors and into space. "If you win that means what you're doing is right. That you had more conviction for your cause. Everyone has a dream, something they're willing to give everything for. If my dream conflicts with someone else's they will see me as the villain."

He turned his head to look Belia in the eyes. "In life, you have to find something, something worth doing even if the world burns around you. As long as you can grab it, everything is worth it. Even if all that's left is cinders around you."

Her head dropped as she thought about his words.

Khan headed towards the planet with a slight smile on his face. Those words were spoken because he knew his path would be full of corpses.