Naturally, using the recon droid, I couldn't hack the criminal organization's base system. Those clever sorts had taken a smart approach: they routed the data from the recon droids to a separate server, where a special program protected against hacking, scrubbing any suspicious data and not letting it reach the main computer. Clever setup, it eliminates almost any sabotage. And I would have been discovered if the spy program, which was aimed at the main computer through the server, hadn't self-deleted upon encountering a defense line it couldn't overcome. The program that linked me to the recon droid's sensors was easier. With its help, I got a rough schematic of the base, plus I downloaded part of the schematics from the droid's memory.
But what do you do if you can't hack the base through the recon droid, so to speak, indirectly? That means I'll have to hack it manually, with direct infiltration. There's no other choice; bothu grows relatively spontaneously, preferring damp places like swamps… But here's the problem — the nearest ones are occupied by "Black Sun." And I have no desire to look for others. The planet is huge, and I didn't take a speeder because prolonged exposure would simply cause it to rust, and I feel somewhat sorry for my equipment. So the choice was clear — covertly infiltrate the "Black Sun" base, upload "updated software" to them, and gain almost unlimited access to their systems and, naturally, bothu. What "Black Sun" doesn't know won't hurt them.
I'm not going to strip all the growth — one sentient needs far less than hundreds.
"Right then," I opened the base schematics on the computer. "Let's see." The base itself had three important structures. The first and second pertained to the droids. On the first, located on the third floor — was the main server, the main computer, and the generator, which received power from a wind power station and a solar power station. The generator supplied energy for all the base's needs. The second sector was on the first and second floors. The droids were stored there. They were represented by three types — scouts that monitored the surroundings every day. Combat droids, represented by those B1 models so dear to a fan's heart. And droids that serviced the bothu farm. Hmm… From the looks of it, the B1s were custom-ordered to exist on a planet with elevated oxygen levels, because visually they were slightly larger than the standard ones I'd seen in holophotos. I'd like to know the specs, just out of interest.
Also among the base's security systems were turrets and even a light form of planetary defense in the form of missile silos. Everything, apparently, controlled by droids or the main computer. That was all that was in the droid's memory. The plan, as usual, sounds simple. Infiltrate the base, reach the main computer terminal, upload the controller program, and enjoy. In parallel, I could download all the information "Black Sun" had… As they say: quietly snatch and leave — that's called finding. And again — it sounds simple, but the implementation might be trickier… But nothing ventured, nothing gained. Focusing, I began studying the base schematics, as well as the patrols my spy had encountered. He reached the first floor, connected to the server terminal, and then went to recharge. So I can get through the first floor without trouble. The schematics of the second and, especially, the third floor are inaccessible to me… I'll figure it out on the spot. The main difficulty is that this base was built according to machine logic. The lights are off — the usual lights, since not all droids require them. As I already noted, windows exist only in the bothu seedling section.
On the first floor, I noted three patrols encountered. But you always have to assume there are more patrols. And the higher I go, the harder it will be, since the most important structures are on the second and third floors. On the second floor, apparently, is the storage for B1 droids and farm worker droids. And on the third floor is the main computer itself. A standard patrol is three B1-series droids… So, let's say there are five patrol teams on the first floor, meaning at least fifteen droids there. That's my estimate. Plus, don't forget about the scouts, which could also run into me, or I into them. The scouts themselves use remote communication with the main server; they only return to the base for recharging. The farmer droids pose no threat, aside from the general one — all the droids on the base are linked. If one detects me, they all will. If they all detect me, there's a high probability that a signal will be sent to the station orbiting the planet. And then a squad will fly down here, my anonymity will be over, and I'll most likely have to either cut them all down… Or simply scram from here. More likely the second option, because killing members of the Syndicate might make its bosses suspect something. And going up against an entire army alone… In principle, it's possible, but "Black Sun" isn't the kind of organization you can clean out by simply killing everyone in it who can hold a weapon.
And they'd be fighting, after they figure out who I am, obviously not using concepts of open combat. Of course — I'm an assassin-Shadow and my main prerogative is assassination, and it's better done "from invisibility," as they say. But it's one thing to do that yourself, and quite another to defend against it, constantly. No… Without a strong organization behind you — an army, intelligence and counterintelligence, and financial structures — you can't take down an organization like "Black Sun." I'll have to tolerate the existence of all the Republic's vices until I myself have my hands free to do what needs to be done, as I understand that word. On to the geographical features. The base stood by a swamp where bothu grew. The swamp itself was mostly enclosed by a glass sphere that served as the "farm." That doesn't interest me for now. The main thing is to eliminate the dangers to myself in the form of its guards.
"Let's see," I brought up an external image of the base. There was only one entrance; the rest were literally blocked by fences, power defense lines, and automated turrets. The central entrance was similarly protected, but the gates opened periodically. Infiltration plan… Hmm… Two automated turrets are aimed at the entrance. If they spot me, they'll attack immediately. Then an alarm across the whole base… On the other hand… I can do this — hit the turrets with ionization, that will knock them out. Droids can't understand what caused the electrical discharge. For them, it could be either a short circuit or a direct attack, but an attack would be noticeable, and I'll strike with ionization while standing, say, behind a solid fence. However, the ionization wave has a limited radius. I won't be able to catch the five droids standing at the building entrance. Sure, B1s are punching bags for Jedi. But I don't need to fight; I need to infiltrate quietly. "What to do? I need to distract them… Hmm," a thunderclap sounded in the distance. "Of course. Combat droids don't leave the base, but recon droids do, and they could… 'Suffer an accident during a mission.'"
Fires on Drongar, especially forest fires caused by lightning strikes on trees, given the elevated oxygen levels, were utterly routine. And I, as it happened, had pyrokinesis. Which meant I could hit the scout droid with it and set part of the forest on fire. That way, the system would definitely register a unit loss. If my assumption proved correct, the B1 patrol droids from the courtyard would go check on what happened to their "colleague." But what if they came out of the building instead of the courtyard, and the ones in the courtyard stayed put? Maybe I should destroy the ones that went to check on the scout too? No, stop — the key was not to overdo it. Otherwise, one destruction, a second destruction, a third… and I'd be discovered. The main thing was to act carefully and rely on the "machine logic" that would calculate the number of steps to the scout destroyed by fire and decide that the droids from the courtyard would reach it faster than the ones inside. The only thing left was to figure out what to do with the cameras at the entrance… Though really, what to do, what to do? Stupid question. I'd hit them with ionization and take them out. Say the turrets went down — why wouldn't the cameras go down too? The only question was — would the computer request help from the station with an approach like that? Were there repair droids here? There had to be, but would their specifications be sufficient, or would they need additional personnel from the station to fix everything?
Then again… Even if it did request help from the station, I'd have time before they arrived to get inside and do what I needed. After all — if they sent sentients, I'd have another advantage: I knew Force Persuasion. I could handle a group of three or four sentients. Let me lock in the thought, or rather the plan…
First, I wait for the next recon wave from the base. I start a fire in the nearby woods, simultaneously destroying the scout droid with pyrokinesis. I wait for the B1 patrol droids from the courtyard to go after it. You'd think droids wouldn't care about their own — one more, one less… But no. I'd downloaded a copy of the scout's programming. Following the philosophy: want to beat your opponent, think like your opponent. The program specified — collect destroyed droids and, especially, look for intact memory modules. The B1s would definitely be programmed the same way. Once the patrol passed me, I'd press against the wall and activate ionization. The first wave would take out the turrets, and I'd do a second wave after switching positions and getting right up to the turrets… No, stop. I opened the data I'd downloaded from the scout droid again. The cameras didn't necessarily need to be disabled — they were an older model. Using data transfer from my datapad, I could spoof their feed. Yes, that would be smarter than disabling the equipment.
Getting inside was simple enough. I had a slicer program. About two minutes and I'd be in. Once inside, I needed to go straight down the corridor, at the end of which was an elevator to the second and third floors. The most important thing was to get into the elevator and activate it to go straight to the third floor… They might have a basic check that would first send anyone wanting the third floor to the second for inspection by B1s… Most likely, if they weren't idiots, they had such a check in place. Slice the elevator? Was that feasible? I thought so. I'd just need to connect my datapad to the elevator terminal and I'd ride straight to the third floor. And on the third floor — pull off the same trick with the main computer. Did I have a plan? Yes. Now I just had to not screw it up…
* * *
It exploded — really exploded, in fact. The oxygen levels here were higher than on a standard planet, so the combustion it created was extraordinary. I needed to be more careful with pyrokinesis on this planet, or I'd end up burning myself. And I did not want to end up like Anakin. I was too handsome, and my "delicate emotional constitution" wouldn't survive being charred. How would I pick up beautiful women? Character mattered, of course, but appearance was important too. I checked my datapad, which was connected to my old friend… An alarm signal went through the network — a droid had been damaged. According to the base's internal regulations, the memory modules — or whatever remained of the droid — had to be retrieved. Why was that done? To understand why the droid had been lost. Due to a natural phenomenon? Or had someone destroyed it intentionally? Of course, given what I'd hit the droid with, they'd think it was a natural phenomenon. The explosion had affected the whole forest — I'd made sure of that, syncing it with a lightning strike. How long before the B1s came for it?
I decided to step aside a little, hiding behind the burning trees. The Force helped me avoid the harmful effects of the forest fire. Considering the distance from here to the base and the B1s' speed — about ten minutes to get here. And about the same to get back… My calculations didn't fail me. When I approached the fence surrounding the base, I noted that the droids from the courtyard were gone. Excellent. Now — I activated the camera search on my datapad to upload the slicer program to the cameras. Finding them in the app, I started the upload, and as soon as it was complete, I hit the automated turrets with ionization. The fact that the automated weapons stopped scanning their surroundings showed the technique had worked. I peeked over the fence… So, what did we have here? The tech worked, the cameras stubbornly saw that everything was "normal"… The moment I approached the base door, it opened. I immediately pressed myself against the wall.
"What's going on with the turrets?" a B1 said.
"It's probably a software glitch," came the voice of its partner.
Three B1s appeared outside. They didn't even look around and walked straight to the turrets. Phew, good timing on my part. While they examined the turrets, I slipped inside into the dark corridor. A Force push, and the base door closed.
"Hey, who closed the door?" came from outside.
"Not me."
"Not me."
Good thing they were a bit slow. In the corridor, I immediately ducked behind one of the pillars that concealed me from any droids that might be standing at the far end. Apparently, they'd spotted me despite my speed, because two droids immediately headed to check the entrance, while one stayed by the elevator. Hmm… The elevator was open, and inside it stood a strange barrel that was in direct line of sight… So then… I channeled the Force toward my right eye. The world transformed, and I placed a point on the barrel… An instant later, I swapped places with it, immediately channeling the Force toward the elevator button, closing the door and pressing for the third floor. A sharp pain shot through my right eye… Though not as bad as during my first uses of the Heavenly Palm. I'd been training, after all, and had even managed to stay conscious. But I'd better not use that technique again for the next few hours. Approaching the elevator console, I realized my guess had been right. You couldn't just go to the third floor — it would send you to the second first, where you'd be searched. Good thing this lock was relatively simple for my device. I didn't even need to resort to the Force to slice some of the systems. So the elevator headed straight for the third floor… As soon as the door opened, I saw another B1 standing behind the console.
"Who are you?" it aimed a blaster at me.
"An inspector," I replied, stepping out of the elevator.
"Inspector… Alright… Wait, there's no such record in the database," it was about to fire, but I hit it with ionization. The main computer was very close — I was about to take control. I approached another door, behind which lay the room with the main computer, and opened it. It had no additional security measures — apparently, "Black Sun" couldn't have imagined that an enemy could get this far without raising an alarm and summoning guards from the station. The room, unlike the others, was bright, mostly because of the windows that overlooked the base's inner courtyard and the botha greenhouses. It felt like it was used by a sentient, not droids… Though it was quite possible the station chief lived here. Approaching the desk with the main computer, I connected to its terminal and started uploading the necessary software.
"Allow me to give you an upgrade," I chuckled, watching the program break Black Sun's system. Once the system was sliced, I could download the criminal syndicate's data regarding this base. Mostly, it contained records of who bought botha across the entire galaxy. And even which Senators they'd bribed to allow the criminal syndicate to trade this resource without the Judicial Forces or the Jedi having any idea about it. "Well, well. The Senator responsible for countering organized crime," I sneered. "Nelson Kitar" as far as I remembered — a man who championed fighting organized crime in the Republic. Senator from the Iego system. That was right next door… The darkest place is under the lamppost, right? The data also mentioned the Vigo — the local Vigo was… an Anzat… Now that was dangerous. Natural-born telepaths and Force users. Anzati fed on so-called "soup"… Which was nothing other than a sentient's brain. In their cheeks were hidden appendages that they would insert into a victim's nostrils, piercing a path to the brain, and thus feed.
Telepathy allowed them to drive the victim insane, to the point where the victim itself wanted to become food for the dangerous predator. Of course, they also didn't shy away from attacking and overpowering their target with superior physical strength. All in all, these creatures were extremely dangerous. Even for Jedi. I had to be careful. The Anzat was named Jarko Itari. I'd like to know more, but there was only the name, a mention of species affiliation, and that only for the droids. There was also a physical description. Before me stood a woman with hair as dark as coal. She was slender and beautiful — enticing, I'd say, with a languid gaze. The droids didn't care, but many sentients would consider her attractive.
She was dressed in "minimalist," erotic clothing. Such a style might suggest she enjoyed showing herself off. Well then… The controller program was loaded, and I could use it to add myself to the system's exceptions. Now I could move freely around the entire base. I should send the repair droids to fix everything I'd managed to break. And then start studying the properties of botha in practice.
* * *
How should a Jedi take botha? Actually, I found answers fairly quickly. There were several. First, you could prepare a botha preparation, which was made right here. It was distributed in ampoules and stored frozen. However, the ampoules were quite fragile. Plus, sentients preferred to see the actual plant being handed over, not some unknown liquid in an ampoule. So — second — you could take the plant itself. If it left Drongar, it was frozen in carbonite. From the plant itself, an extract could be prepared, taken orally. The botha preparation used for healing was administered via injection. The extract, on the other hand, was a liquid you drank. In choosing between giving myself injections or drinking the juice obtained through mild heat treatment of the plant, I decided on the second method.
The first intake of this extract was accompanied by dizziness, which then gave way to a feeling of euphoria and omnipotence. Every cell of my body was literally overflowing with power. In my mind, stars blazed with the understanding that I could do anything and that no one could tell me what to do anymore. But I'd already been smacked down for overconfidence many times, so during meditation I actively pushed myself with the thought that "omnipotence" would end quickly anyway. Taking the botha extract increased my already strong connection to the Force and accelerated my progress in mastering certain techniques. Honestly, I'd even classify botha as a narcotic substance. Using it created a feeling of lightness and, as I'd noted before, incredible power for a Force-sensitive.
Meanwhile, I had to be careful with the local Vigo. Jarko Itari, given her species, might well use botha for herself too. Ideally, I should avoid meeting her altogether. By the way, the Anzati were a rather unique race — I was surprised that in the canonical conflict between the Separatists and the Republic on Drongar, she, as far as I remembered, wasn't there… It was quite possible she'd either retired by then or died. No matter the predator — it could be killed… However, for now, she was a very real threat. Yes, I could borrow botha from Black Sun's base… But I shouldn't forget about Jarko's existence… And finally, after I'd trained and experimented with techniques after consuming botha, I decided to test the power of the medallion. As I'd already decided — it was best to test it on someone who wouldn't immediately try to kill me for disturbing their peace… The chosen target was the Jedi Lorm Decer… My mentor had quite a temper — he'd killed before and threatened death. But that was for other sentients — for me, he was a mentor with whom I'd been through relatively much. Would he really try to fry me with Force Lightning for disturbing him? Plus — I wanted him to know about Lily's existence. I wanted to see my mentor's face when he learned the result of his fling with Dizzy. His holocron certainly couldn't convey the full emotional spectrum.
But a reflection of consciousness, "summoned partially from beyond the veil in the form of a Force ghost" that would give even more…