Influence

The droids worked fast, digging pits into the mountainside and installing cells inside to hold the prisoners. The tribe had a thousand two hundred and forty-eight people. Of those, a hundred and sixty were children aged twelve or less. Only forty met the age requirement set by Khan and were separated.

The rest, no matter their age or gender were separated randomly between thirty pits. This way, the pits could be easily guarded by three assault droids each.

The houses that stood in the village had been demolished and a fortress was being built on the side of the mountain. Because they don't need to hide, they could ramp up the size of the project. The droids would build a city that expanded down to the base of the mountain and includes the open plane below.

The forty toddlers and babies were taken by the personnel droids programmed by Habitat and have already started their education. They will be taught loyalty to Khan first, then a variety of common sense knowledge.

Natasha and Sheva stood on a large boulder and watched the Cereans tend to the field. The men had been detained in Khan's lab, but their children had come. He found no other use for the males besides experiment subjects.

"Make sure your men stay away from the women. While they may be prisoners, we can't have their Jedi gene pool watered down." Natasha glanced at Sheva and warned her.

"Don't worry, I'll be the first to strike them down if they step out of line. I can't have them ruin this opportunity for me." She shook her head and a light flashed in her eyes.

Natasha nodded. "The women can't be injured, Khan doesn't care about the men. They will be used for experiments and die in mass, only the women are needed to reproduce the next generation truly obedient to him."

Sheva sighed, compared to what her ancestor did, Khan is far more ruthless. "I'll spread my Rattataki out and have them fight in the pits. Let them starve for a few days before they'll be willing to fight each other."

Natasha watched Sheva leave with her hands behind her back. Her hair blew in the wind as she watched everything operate according to her plan.

Things Khan had taught her finally made sense as she put them into practice. The feeling of control and power had further driven her ability to bend the force to her will. Her yellow eyes were a testament to her shift.

--

Inside the Great Library, Khan placed aside another book. He already had a small stack that he's read through. "Amazing."

His eyes shifted to the droids constantly bringing in books, scrolls, and datacrons. A few of the texts were filled with teachings of the Sith, taken from a hidden chamber behind an elaborate puzzle below. While not extensive, it contained brief knowledge of Sith magic and alchemy written by the librarian's keeper after studying the dark Holocron.

The droids also found two artifacts and a set of bones. A blue metallic gauntlet that covered the right shoulder and arm. On the back of the hand was a blue gem, the whole thing radiated the power of the dark side.

The other was a wooden lightsaber hilt. He could feel a unique force signature from the blade. This let him know it contained a rare Pontite crystal.

Unlike other kyber crystals that helped one's control of the force, this crystal resonated with the user and amplified their power. It also had the added effect of allowing the user to remain calm and collected.

"Habitat, did you record the contents of that book?" Khan spoke to a drone hovering over the table.

It projected a hologram of Habitat who nodded. Khan could actually see the joy on her face. "Yes, with the knowledge on how to create Ultrachrome, we can take Olympus one step further. I was worried we'd have to redo the outer armor later, but now this problem has been solved."

"We aren't too far from Gromas, originally I wanted to go there and mine for phrikite." Khan agreed with her statement. He also wanted to make Phrik to use in his nanofluid. It was the best material he could use for himself.

While Ultrachrome was good, it had a fatal weakness. As a superconductor, it spread energy across the entire structure evenly. Once it reaches the critical point the entire thing would fail.

This makes it good for building larger structures. While Phrik is extremely light and durable, it also has the ability to slightly disperse energy and was better for smaller projects.

He glanced at Belia and saw that she was engrossed in a Jedi text. He grabbed the Sith tomes and started reading, not wanting to disturb her further.

His eyes were fascinated, locked on the pages as he slowly flipped through. The more he read about Sith magic and alchemy, the more he felt like this was meant for him.

Sith sorcery goes well beyond twisting the force and controlling it. It gives direct access to the dark side, allowing one to fully use its most heinous capabilities.

If normal use of the force is like throwing a rock, sorcery is a guided missile. Its requirements are high because the missile doesn't come with a targeting computer and may blow up in your face.

To him, Sith sorcery was like science. The more knowledgeable one was the higher the ceiling of power. Just when he was engrossed, the book came to an end.

He took a deep breath and calmed himself down. The Jedi librarian didn't explain how to use it, just his discoveries of its nature.

Khan closed the book and placed it aside. Even though the book didn't teach him the secrets of sorcery, he did learn of a planet. It's a bit north of his current location near Korriban called Krayiss Two.

It housed a temple containing the teachings of Sith sorcerers dating back over ten thousand years. The only problem is no one had ever returned after venturing there.

It took everything he had to prevent himself from going for Freedon Nadd's Holocron right at this moment.

He knew he still had a lot to learn from this Library and grabbed another book.

--

Hours passed and another transport arrived at Natasha's new base camp. Ten dark gray armored droids with a hood and waistcloth stepped out. They held electro whips in their hands instead of swords or blasters.

When Natasha saw the new droid, she pulled out her double-bladed lightsaber to test it. "Come on, let me see what you can do."

She took a sideways stance and held the blade out horizontally in front of her. The golden blades ignited one after the other and she waited for the droid.

One of the droids stepped forward and the whip coiled around its arm dropped to the ground. The droid pressed a button on the handle and the whip turned yellow as electricity coursed through it.

Natasha held out her free hand and motioned for it to come. The droid didn't hesitate, its hand snapped forward and the whip curled back before cracking forward like lightning.

Natasha stepped forward and grabbed her hilt with both hands. She moved to block the whip with one of her blades. Instead of cutting through the whip as she expected, the whip wrapped around her lightsaber blade.

A loud crackling sounded as the energy fields reacted, but before she could be too surprised, the droid pulled its arm back.

It ripped the lightsaber from her hand and flung it backward. The droid lifted its hand and the whip rose into the air.

"Wai-" Before Natasha could surrender, the droid's hand snapped down.

The whip flew down like a bolt of lightning and struck Natasha in the chest. A gash appeared on her right chest and electricity coursed through her body. It caused her to tense for a moment, enough for the droid to unleash an onslaught.

One gash appeared after another as the whip continued to snap and break the sound barrier.

She fell to the ground and the droid finally stopped. Her body was covered in black and blue welts from being beaten and electrocuted.

She pushed herself from the ground and turned to the droid. A smile appeared on her expressionless face. Never had she felt so alive and close to the dark side than she did at that moment.

She held out her hand and the lightsaber flew to her palm. "Again."

This time she didn't try to block the whip but dodged. Even so, the whip was so fast she couldn't move closer. The droid just flicked its wrist and created a circular barrier around its body.

She just rushed forward regardless and the whip fell on her back. A loud crack resounded as it licked her skin. Her eyes shone and she stabbed her blade forward.

Just when she was about to stab the droid, another whip came from the side and latched onto her blade. It pulled it off course and caused her to miss her strike.

Her head turned and she saw another droid had joined the battle. "You have me rush to make these droids and you're going to destroy them?! This isn't training time, you're in the middle of a mission."

Habitat's voice came from the droid for a moment before it returned to normal.

Natasha turned off her lightsaber and realized she was a little rash. Something she's never done before. "Why is that? What got me so excited?"

On the Prometheus, Vala's elevated brain activity returned to normal the moment Natasha calmed down.