The course to Rishi was set. Therefore, I could relax. My ship's AI would handle all the stages, except for those where I had to personally pull the hyperspace jump lever. It would take me about three days to reach one of the points, so I decided to focus on training. Fortunately, the system would notify me when I was needed in the cockpit. Descending to the first floor, into the corridor, I felt a strange, growing sense of unease. I looked around, searching for anything that might alarm me… But finding nothing, I turned towards the hangar, when suddenly I felt a blaster aimed at me. A moment later, I dodged the shot, immediately absorbing the second.
"What's going on, HK-47?" I asked the droid that was attacking me.
"Satisfaction: I am generating holes in the meatbag."
HK opened fire with his blaster. What the hell? Didn't I reprogram him? I prepared so much, but it seemed to have no effect on him. Dodging a couple more shots, I noticed that the droid had activated a grenade. That bastard! Not on the ship, though. Grabbing the grenade with telekinesis, I recalled Revan's lessons and tried to wrap it in a Force cocoon. The resulting explosion was immediately extinguished. Meanwhile, a smoke bomb fell at my feet. A moment later, it released a cloud of smoke that enveloped the entire corridor. He wants to nullify my vision?
There's just one nuance: I can feel him. Waving my hand, I tried to attack HK with a telekinetic wave. Hearing the clang of metal, which indicated HK's chassis hitting my ship's bulkhead, I tried to clear the smoke screen with my other hand. He shouldn't have done this; I'll just disable him and see why he attacked me. It's unlikely to be training; he usually started them at my command. Clearing the smoke, I was surprised to find that I wasn't holding HK, but a dummy. And when did he manage that? And where is HK himself? What? Several HK-47s stood around me, or rather, dummies. I saw them as droids using sensory techniques. Therefore, I could easily mistake them for the original. However… These are just dummies; they are apparently incapable of… shooting… Damn it!
They are active. Although they clearly shoot according to a simple pattern, namely at a sentient figure, not at vulnerable points like the real HK, they, damn it, shoot! I dodged the shots, trying to scatter the droids with telekinesis. A lightsaber, or any alteration technique on my ship, would lead to its damage. I'm even wary of using ionization, fearing damage to my ship's nodes. Then a shot rang out, clearly from a sniper rifle, aimed precisely at my head, from the right, just when my maneuver was very difficult.
I raised my hand, erecting a barrier and trying to protect myself from the shot. After deflecting it, I turned around, examining the place from where the shot was fired. There he is… He'll shoot again. Swapping places with the droid closest to the original HK, I rushed towards him, activating all available enhancement abilities on the go.
"Surprise: unique ability. Calculation: I am making adjustments."
Oh, damn… The droid jumped back, starting to blast me with his blaster.
"Stop drilling holes in my ship!" blaster shots from the assistant droids flew at my back.
"Satisfaction: calculation complete. Exclamation: prepare yourself, meatbag."
He's still calculating here… The dog. When I defeat him, I'll take him apart and reassemble him! Then turrets from my ship's internal defense system began to appear from the walls. There were about four of them in total, and they extended only in extreme cases. The droids shot at my back. The turrets opened fire from all sides. And HK again opened fire with a sniper rifle precisely at my weak points. But… He turned out to be next to another dummy. Heavenly palm… That's it, I've used up all my "charges" for the next few minutes. Finding myself behind him, I was about to rush at him when he put a blaster to my forehead.
"Satisfaction: meatbag eliminated."
A shot. Literally at the last second, I managed to use tutaminis. It was more of a reflex… Because when I felt the barrel at my forehead, the world seemed to slow down, and for the first milliseconds, I thought it was the end for me. However, my body and reflexes thought otherwise. Tutaminis was activated at the last moment, and I absorbed the energy of the shot…
"This is unacceptable," I said coldly. "Know your place!"
A telekinetic wave spread from me, knocking over both the original and his dummy companions. The turrets were still firing at me… Until I captured them with telekinesis and began to twist my ship's defense system. HK was pinned to the bulkhead.
"This will end badly for you, HK, if you don't explain to me what the hell you're doing?"
"Explanation: I am HK-47, my primary function is to establish contact with meatbags by burning holes in them."
What's wrong with him? A glitch, or maybe I didn't break him completely? But judging by the phrases, his personality matrix fully corresponds to his pre-programmed settings. So the "master" overlay has come off. But… Why? Most likely, I'll have to exit hyperspace and head to Coruscant, or maybe even to my father. Dennis Flaingstar will figure out what's wrong with my droid. And just as I prepared to finally disable him, I suddenly felt Revan's presence. The ghost stood calmly and watched me.
"Explain?" I asked, holding the droid with telekinesis. "He almost sent me to the other world a couple of times."
In direct combat, when I'm ready, HK is no match for me. In an open area, not on my ship, I can even hit him with ionization. But he attacked at the most inconvenient time, and so effectively. During the fight, I even lost contact with my ship, and I didn't have time to get distracted by the datapad.
"What is there to explain?" Revan asked. "It was a training exercise."
"Training?" I asked, perhaps too loudly. "Where the hell does this look like training?"
"In the usual way," Revan replied. "You handle my assignments perfectly, boy, but real-life experience is a much better teacher. You yourself have noted this more than once. Practice in the context of conscious training and practice during an unexpected situation where life is at stake have different coefficients of usefulness. Now you have survived a confrontation with HK in combat mode. He is the result of special protection that I embedded in him during our last meeting. If you try to reprogram him, after a certain time, he will develop and implement a plan to eliminate his new master. The protocol did not work with Meetra because she was my student. Only someone who knows a certain code can rewrite the 'master' parameter. No matter how hard you try, you can't hack it; it's impossible. Not after all the improvements I've made to him."
"Improvements?" I asked. "Did you really weave something from the Rakata into him…"
"Do you think the Rakata were so gifted in droid construction?" Revan asked. "No, I used the developments of a completely different civilization…"
"Iokath," the realization struck me. "You managed to get there and extract the technology?"
"Correct," Revan agreed. "However, I am surprised that you even know about Iokath. Steris and many others made sure that everything that contained even a mention of Iokath, Zakuul, and Valkorian was erased from the galaxy."
"I had my own… sources. I'd prefer not to reveal them."
"Reasonable," Revan shrugged. "Your knowledge is your own."
"But still, you could have warned me," I said angrily.
"And what would have been the point?" Revan asked. "On the contrary, everything happened as it should have. HK and the lack of warning put you in a maximally uncomfortable position, from which you extricated yourself. You managed to defeat HK without ionization, in such a space, with his analysis – you will be able to get out of more difficult situations," he sighed. "Now I will tell you the code. You, having defeated him under these conditions, are certainly worthy of having him as a companion. Take good care of my creation. Consider it my legacy."
"Uh-huh, thanks," I chuckled.
"Don't try to look menacing; with your height, it looks ridiculous," Revan said.
"When will the galaxy run out of jokes about my height?" If there was anything better about me in the first world than my current self, it was that my height was one hundred eighty-nine centimeters! And here… Pure disappointment.
"Jokes only happen when the object of the jokes reacts to them," Revan said. "However, even if you ignore them, no one will stop joking about it. Now, the code. Bastila-Vaner."
"Bastila-Vaner?" I repeated. "You made the secret code in the form of your wife's and son's names?"
"And you, do you condemn it? I thought you yourself were skeptical about Jedi not being allowed to love."
"They should," I objected. "But this is a damned assassin droid, HK-47. One of the most effective assassin droids known in the galaxy. And the code to rewrite his obedience is so simple."
"Nothing is ever simple," Revan replied. "The voice for rewriting must be either mine, or Bastila's, or Meetra Surik's. Or belong to my descendants. In the latter case, it will also require scanning DNA."
"Requirement: to rewrite the 'true master' protocol – provide your blood for analysis, as your voice does not match any of the recorded matrices."
I looked at Revan.
"Fortunately, I have a way to arrange this," he came closer to me. "I will use your body, modifying your vocal cords temporarily with the Force, replicating mine. However, it will be a little unpleasant. But this way I can copy my voice and rewrite the protocol. You did well, only one drawback."
"And what is it?"
"Dun Moch doesn't work on droids, so in a fight with him – fewer words and more action."
He literally entered my body. I could have easily thrown him out, especially if he had tried to take over my body. But he didn't try; instead, my throat felt like it was burning with iron. I felt myself coughing up blood.
"Bastila-Vaner," I said. The droid's "eyes" turned blue instead of reddish-orange. "Rewrite the 'true master' protocol. True master – Light Flaingstar. Delete matrices of previous masters," "done, so that even your contemporaries from my descendants cannot somehow gain access to the root of its AI," Revan's voice reached my thoughts.
"Requirement: to rewrite the protocol, look into the retinal scanner and transfer blood to the analyzer to save the matrix."
Revan did not take control of my body, so I performed these procedures myself.
"Confirmation: 'true master' protocol rewritten. New master matrix entered into the system and marked as active. Old matrices deleted."
Revan immediately appeared next to me, and I touched my throat. How unpleasant… My vocal cords felt like they were burning with fire. Suddenly, they were doused with well water. Revan directed his hand at them.
"You need rest," the mentor noted. "Try to talk less."
"Question: what should I do, master?" HK's sensors turned orange-red again, which even made me flinch.
"Tr… *cough*… ansfer to… *cough*… standby mode…"
"Confirmation: accepted."
I turned my gaze back to Revan.
"I feel that you want to do many things with me," the ghost said. "Don't doubt it… You will have a chance! Without its realization, don't even dream of summoning Tulak Hord," Revan disappeared. That bastard… Effective… But still a bastard! Even after thinking about it in bed, when I had already checked all the ship's systems and decided to first conduct a total diagnostic, and also recover after the ghost used my vocal cords, I realized that Revan was right. Such a peculiar lesson-exam helped me test my strength… And against whom?! Against HK-47… What did it teach me? Perhaps it developed my paranoia to a new level. I always need to expect a trick. If I hadn't relaxed, I would have defeated HK much faster… But it wasn't just HK that caused "a storm of emotions" in me. This smug legend, Revan, will also get it from me someday! To think of such a thing… Even considering its age, HK is still effective, largely due to what Revan managed to tinker with there. And they managed to hide the preparation of such a thing from me and from the AI… Or rather, Revan hid that HK was being prepared, even managing to recreate his dummies, which turned out to be almost immobile scrap metal, only good for shooting.
And what kind of chance, after which he will "allow" me to summon Tulak Hord? Will I get the opportunity to fight against Revan? Alas, I doubt I will be able to fully feel this battle. After all, we have too few opportunities to fully engage. It's only possible within my own consciousness... It will be a fight, but within my own consciousness, I am king and god. Even Revan will have no chance. But I am sure, given his character and mind, he has thought of something. And I'm unlikely to like it... Because Revan's training is effective, but too cruel to me.
***
To attack "Black Sun," I intended to find Laura herself, who would surely remember me and through her be introduced to Gaven Hornly. I could act alone, but Gaven's personality played a role here. Firstly, I wanted to learn more about the secrets of "Black Sun." Considering that Gaven himself once worked for the de facto head of this syndicate, he could have taken a lot. Secondly, considering the first point, he definitely knows where to strike best. And how... With his help, I will be able to inflict significant damage. All that remains is to find all the key players. Initially, I plan to act alone, gathering data and destroying enemies. But then I can use my Jedi Knight authority, summoning the Justice Corps... Of course, the "soldiers" there might be afraid to mess with "Black Sun." We only destroyed Jarko because the Order got too carried away. But I believe that the machinations I uncover will be sufficient reason to start a campaign. If only I'm not recalled somewhere else. And they can, the Senate itself can recall me, through the Order, because, as is known, the Senate is bought hook, line, and sinker. Not all of it, there are honest politicians... But they might not have time for me. And the corrupt ones might, on the contrary, pay too much attention. If I am recalled, I will either continue to act incognito, or I will be forced to leave the sector.
The only thing that bothered me greatly in the matter with Luna and Gaven was working with the Hutts, who clearly support the PMC "Luna" in this conflict. Of course, the Hutt forces, if involved at all, are at a minimum. They won't fully get involved, because a full-scale war could break out between the two most powerful criminal organizations in the Galaxy. The Hutts are definitely willing to stir up trouble in small ways, but they clearly don't want to fight "Black Sun" fully, just as the latter doesn't want to go against the Hutts. So they'll probe each other, using the well-known PMC. But that's where it will end. It bothered me only that I would have to work with criminals.
Regardless. I understand that to make scrambled eggs, you need to break at least a few eggs. And right now, I won't have any other options... But still... I studied legal law, archives, and criminal law at the University. And in the Jedi Temple, there were sometimes similar disciplines. And in my first life, considering who I was, I treated criminals, people trying to solve things through illegal methods, with prejudice. Although the last example is more due to a lack of physical strength, but that hardly changes the essence.
"The most important thing when working with criminals is to expect betrayal and a stab in the back at any moment," Revan said when we reached Rishi's orbit. "Always think that they want to kill you. Even knowing that you are a Jedi and can do things that some can't even dream of, they might attack."
"You yourself have repeatedly dealt with criminals," I recalled.
"Yes, that's why I'm telling you all this," Revan noted. "Remember that if criminal factions unite to destroy a dragon, they will inevitably start fighting over trophies over its dead carcass. This is the law of the criminal world... A truth that requires no refutation. The essence is simple for this phenomenon. Every union, no matter who it represents, has its own moral standards, principles of interaction with other unions. And if we imagine all the factions, organizations, and so on as a ladder, then criminal organizations are at the very bottom, where moral standards, promises, and oaths are nothing more than weakness. Even their so-called concepts are not rules, but merely prescriptions, to each of which absolutely every individual can react differently. So what should you know? They might accept you, your help for a while. But if they are promised something significant, for your life, they will betray you immediately..."
"I know that perfectly well," I replied to Revan.
"Really? I hope you didn't fall for the cute face of that Mandalorian woman, Laura, I believe?"
"Oh, she's cute, at least her 'face'," I replied. "But all that is irrelevant. She is one of the four commanders of 'Luna.' Her boss is Gaven Hornly. And the fact that she's 'cute' and so on – does that matter? Why such taunts?"
"Hmm, I'm just studying you. Is there anything uncontrollable in you? One should distinguish duty from personal attitude. You told me about your 'adventures.' Including meeting Laura. And I got the impression that you don't miss a single skirt. Although weakly. First, you were with a mechanic who died, then you managed to charm an aristocrat at the University of Alderaan, and upon returning to your homeland – a childhood friend. Admit it – that's already a statistic."
"I will only agree that you are overthinking things, Master Revan. I have full control over myself, and if there's a choice between killing Laura or sparing her when I need to kill her – I will kill her. And not otherwise."
"Well, we'll see," Revan said as we entered Rishi's atmosphere. According to reports, one of "Luna's" commanders was on Rishi. I don't know his identity, but it is known that the commanders directly contact Gaven Hornly. It could be Laura, or... Zelmen Arit, or Leyden Urton, or Nira Aldair. Each commander, conditionally, controlled a certain direction in the Galaxy. For example, Laura operated in the Galactic North. Zelmen controlled the Galactic South, Leyden – in the West, and Nira Aldair – in the East. Each of them, as it turned out, was a famous mercenary. Zelmen worked with Gaven for Dalridan. Zelmen was a Lasat and was known for his incredible physical strength. Leyden Urton, a Twi'lek, came from the fighting pits. He was a slave and trained as a gladiator by the Zygerrians. Gaven bought him out of slavery. Nira's identity was known in the criminal underworld. A Zeltron, she, like all Zeltrons, possesses empathy and an affinity for the Force. This helped her rob the rich sentient beings. And Laura herself from Mandalore... It's almost funny. A foundling, raised on Mandalore – a famous mercenary, assassin, bodyguard, and so on.
Gaven Hornly himself is a sentient human, born on Apatros about forty years ago. According to intelligence gathered, he was also Force-sensitive. In his time, he served in the defense forces of Christophsis, then was dismissed for fighting and violating discipline. I have to work with such a contingent. Plus, assistants from the Hutts. But the game, in theory, is worth the candle... After all, I will be able to extract at least some information and evidence of Sidious's dealings with Plagueis, which will help me in the future...