Chapter 11: 11
Varrus sat in the command center of the Resistance base, and drummed his fingers across the holotable in front of him.
All security footage had been destroyed. The only evidence that this had been an infiltration were the corpses littering the halls.
He had his speculations. Cipher 9 being his primary suspect. If this event proved anything to Varrus, it was that someone didn't need the Force to be dangerous.
When the base defenses turned on the Resistance fighters, hundreds if not thousands of Unchained could be saved for another meat grinder.
The real scary thing was, how long did Cipher 9 have to prepare for this mission, and did they know about Varrus's plan?
Captain Briggs had suggested they lure any Jedi out, but the strategy worked almost too well. Was that due to Cipher 9, or a coincidence?
Varrus drummed his fingers on the holotable once more. Cipher 9 was a wild card. A liability that had equal odds of going rogue, or being loyal to the Empire.
Key words being that their loyalty was to the Empire, not the Sith.
Once Darth Jadus went into hiding, he would have to find an opportunity to eliminate or convert the Imperial Agent.
[Incoming Transmission] the holotable beeped.
Accepting the call, Varrus was greeted by Vowrawn.
"Good news Apprentice. Your victory has elevated your standing, just as I have predicted." Vowrawn spoke as if any other outcome was anathema.
"So I shall proceed as planned?" Varrus questioned.
"Yes, I have used your victory to appoint you as military governor of Balmorra. I'm transmitting the access codes and accreditation now." Vowrawn signaled to DN-UTZ off screen to get to it.
Military governor?! Wasn't that supposed to go to Darth Marr's apprentice? As governor, she was destined to die at the hands of the Jedi Consular? AKA, one of the biggest plot armor cheaters in the galaxy?!
"You really must work on those expressions of yours Krawl." Vowrawn sighed. "Yes, military governor, it is only a temporary position, I assure you. I had to push Darth Marr out of the way for this one. As a compromise, you only have a single month to crush the Republic forces on Balmorra."
Varrus swore he could feel the older Sith's exacerbation through the call.
"Very well, it shall be done." Varrus nodded his head in ascent, relief filled his system.
He wanted to take on the protagonists some day, but that didn't mean he wanted to be tied to this irradiated industrial planet.
"Oh and Krawl, do remember to investigate that chip factory of mine, I've left a gift for you in the vault." Vowrawn said with a smirk, then winked out as he cut the call.
Varrus received an updated IFF identifying him as the military governor of Balmorra. Included in the attachment were some access codes. Varrus quickly memorized them before pressing delete.
Rubbing his forehead, Varrus knew he had some annoying things to take care of. Food, water, ammo, morale, broken equipment and worst of all politics. One did not simply take command of a Sith planet without breaking a few windpipes.
There were many problems being a leader.
It was much easier living the life of a PC. 'Go here, kill everything in sight, pick up McGuffin, return.'
He envied them for their casual ability to slay a Darth level threat from the get go.
Well, at the very least Varrus wasn't being sent to sniff around half the galaxy for hidden puzzle pieces. Just how in the hell do these Sith Lords expect freshly graduated Apprentice's to do something like sluice out Tulak Hord's lost treasures anyway?
Fortunately his boss was in charge of logistics, and he didn't require Varrus to go on any fetch quests when his vast amounts of money made acquiring anything one phone call away.
Likewise, Varrus didn't have to deal with smarmy bureaucratic types. In fact, based on the chain of command, he was the top bureaucrat just under Vowrawn and his other apprentices. He never had to worry about supply chain issues. In fact, if anyone ever pissed him off, he could follow in the footsteps of the casual DMV employee, and tell them to screw off.
What would the other Sphere's of influence do without tools, food, or ships? Vowrawn, and by extension Varrus wielded a surprisingly large amount of soft power. It wasn't all to surprising Vowrawn had secured him the governorship if taking that into consideration.
"My Lord, some of the brothers were exploring the caverns underneath the base, and found the factory you mentioned." Traga approached, and said respectfully.
Varrus perked up at the good news.
"Show me."
"...we also discovered a massive mushroom biome. When one of the Unchained took a bite, one single mushroom made him full!" Traga spoke as he led Varrus deeper into the base.
"Well that conveniently takes care of our food. Just another feather in my cap for when I file my next report to Lord Vowrawn." Varrus said with some amusement.
Varrus and Traga made some idle talk when they eventually came across a scene of explosions and blaster fire.
"Access denied." A robotic voice said from a huge blast door.
"I have the freedom to go where I want!" An Unchained shot at the blast door, leaving only the tiniest of black scorch marks.
"Grr, let me in!"
"Access denied."
"Stand down." Varrus approached.
"The Voice and his Prophet! Of course." The man startled, then bowed with deep respect.
The Unchained's action made Varrus uncomfortable, but he saw it as a necessary evil. If he was going to use these unfortunate souls as cannon fodder, he had to walk the walk. The very least he could do was act like he was doing them good. And hey, he never actually lied to them. Everyone here literally joined the Force upon death.
"Rise faithful one. Go join your brethren up top, they are enjoying their freedom together." Varrus waved a hand.
"Yes!" The Unchained man agreed then ran out at a sprint.
Varrus approached the blast door, and let loose with a litany of numbers and letters "Access code: T1EaRL564GrEY973629hot732
"Access granted." The robotic voice affirmed, then opened the blast doors.
The chip factory, much to Varrus's surprise, was fully operational.
Conveyor belts constantly rolled, and the soft hum of giant machinery echoed in the background.
Droids, and robotic arms like you would see in any factory on Earth assembled chips, then dumped them into crates. Thousands of such crates were piled up near the entrance.
Yet another thing Varrus would have to delegate. "See to it that these crates are transported to the surface, then get in contact with DN-UTZ to take care of it."
"Yes my Lord." Traga agreed, then left to take care of business.
All the droids inside the factory ignored Varrus save one. A black protocol droid approached.
"Greetings Apprentice Krawl, I am designated PA-U1, how may I assist you?"
"Take me to the vault." Varrus ordered.
"This way."
Varrus did more walking, took an elevator, then another elevator, and finally walked down thirty flights of stairs before he read off another long access code to enter a blast door.
Sadly, it was much worse walking these long ass hallways in real life than in a game. Varrus never would've thought he would miss bland 15 minute fetch quests when it took twice as long irl.
At the end of his journey, Varrus came across an old dusty analog computer, and a basic looking robot.
The droid had giant letters on its chest spelling out PAU1. It was about as tall as a Wookie, had a gunmetal/rust paint color and was equipped with a giant blaster longer than Varrus's leg.
Overall, Varrus wasn't too impressed. What made this thing any more special than the lightsaber wielding training droids?
Varrus skeptically shook his head at the silly thing.
Shrugging his shoulders, he turned the ancient tech online. After waiting ten agonizing minutes for it to boot up, he began clicking away on the keyboard.
Scanning the droid's files, Varrus discovered that the droid was made from 88% beskar forged armor. Additionally, its matrix had been experimented on by Sith Technomancers for the last 200 years. It was locked away in this dusty cave because it had murdered a Dark Council member.
Finally, the droid's eyes began to light up, and its servos rumbled.
Varrus prepared himself in case Vowrawn's surprise was a Skynet type threat. His Force Sword glowed bright with lightning as he held it at the ready.
"Initiating launch sequence. Buffering. Buffering. Analyzing. Scanning. Scanning. Scan complete. Greetings Apprentice Krawl. I am Planetary Assault Unit One. My purpose is to kill for the Sith. Command me." PAU1 spoke in a deep bass boosted robotic voice.
"Come along Paul, I think we'll be great friends."
"Designation is Planetary Assault Unit One." Paul listed off in his dry voice.
"Not with that attitude! Come along Paul, let's go assault a planet."
"Designation…"
After a brief chat in which Varrus assigned Captain Briggs as his Deputy Commander, and forced every tactical plan upon his lap, Varrus cheerily led Paul to farm some EXP.
Standing outside an irradiated lake glowing with green slime, Varrus was in a place fittingly known as Bug Town.
He had ridden a speeder here, and left the Unchained behind. If things got to dicey, he figured he could retreat at a moment's notice. Where as if he took the Unchained with him, it would be a pain to lose them to what were essentially non-essential enemies.
Hundreds if not thousands of mutated Colicoid's made this lakeside town home. And that was just the surface! Varrus was sure there would be thousands more in the numerous underground tunnels littering this place.
Thankfully none of the bugs were capable of flight. For an insect race, it would be more accurate to liken them to a mix of ant and grasshopper.
They had four legs, limbs about as thick as a man was wide, and were about 10-14ft tall on average. The Colicoid's favorite mode of travel was to curl themselves into a ball and roll. They were much like the droideka in the Prequels.
In fact, in another timeline, these bugs would go on to develop the droideka a thousand years from now.
Unfortunately for the Colicoid, they met Varrus.
"Kill the bugs."
"Orders confirmed."
Paul ran straight into the dozen or so Colicoid's in front of them without a care in the world.
His mechanized fists tore into their exoskeletons. Green blood poured down his chassis as he lifted a bug twice his size, and tore it in half.
One giant Colicoid the size of a bus crawled out of the ground, and vomited a copious amount of acidic vomit onto Paul.
The concrete ground beneath Paul instantly sank and melted into a 10ft deep crater.
"Generating taunt: Pathetic." Paul then repeated the same taunt in a chattering clicking noise.
The giant insect seemed to take exception at Paul, and roared at him.
The bug's scythe like claws ripped and tore at the ground, yet Paul moved to the side just in time.
Each dodge roll of his seemed to drive the bug into a greater fury. It lashed out like a spoiled kid denied his Switch.
"Interrogative: Is that it?" Paul stood over the exhausted Colicoid with his heavy blaster pointed at the tip of its head.
One blast, and the big bug's brains splattered everywhere.
All this killing, and Varrus was happy to receive small amounts of EXP per kill.
It was odd since he couldn't affect machines through Battle Meditation. Not yet at least.
Perhaps Varrus gained some EXP because Paul was his possession? Or was it because Paul was his 'companion?' Frankly, Varrus had no idea.
Regardless, this confirmed that he could take Paul along on future ventures. It would be a shame to leave behind such an effective tool when Varrus faced danger at every turn.
During his rumination, a feeling in the Force, along with his helmet's scanners detected a presence approaching from behind.
"Varrus Krawl, now isn't this a surprise. I'd like to see the face of my would be savior." A cultured, skeptical voice spoke from behind.
Turning around, Varrus quirked an eyebrow at the attractive blond. She was a small thing with a naturally pouty face, but Varrus didn't doubt her power.
He paused, wondering if she would attack him. A slight tension built up in the air before Varrus slowly reached his hands up.
A pop hiss sounded out as he removed his helmet.
"Inquisitor, no need for the suspicious tone. My message to you may have seemed cryptic, but I assure you, I have only the purest of intentions."
"Yes, I can see that. Passion radiates off you like a bantha in heat. How ever do you manage?"
"Oh you know, a bit of this and a bit of that. I drive the ladies to such a fury, they can't help but scream out my name." Varrus smirked as he flashed back to Zenna's 'joy' filled face.
"Curious, I sense only truth in your words, yet you're hiding something. Something big" The Inquisitor took a step forward, and stood uncomfortably close.
"Perceptive. I would expect nothing less from a future Dark Councilor." Varrus flattered. All the while his instinct was screaming at him to take a step back. This Inquisitor, no, this woman, she was plotting something.
"You flirt." The Inquisitor leaned in close and gave Varrus a hug.
No signal from the Force prepared him for this! He expected a possible sudden attack, but this?!
Varrus stood still, stunned. Her soft body pressed against his, and he did all in his power to press down on his urges.
"I'm onto you Varrus Krawl." She whispered, then gently bit his ear. A small spark traveled from her teeth, and shocked him.
The tingling sensation was shared between the two of them as Varrus instinctively pushed back with a small spark of his own. After hours of training with his Force Sword, such an action was natural.
"Mnn." She squirmed, and rubbed into his body.
The Inquisitor gave him a brief look in the eyes. They were standing so close, he could feel her heavy breaths on his chin.
"Hmph." She snorted, then strode past him without a further word.
"I'll see you around Lord Kallig." Varrus called to her back.
She paused, then flashed him a beautiful smile.
"Well played Varrus, but you'll have to do better than that to rattle me. Maybe next time you can call me by my actual name. Inquisitor is much to formal, and Kallig too stuffy. Come along Khem, we have work to do!"
"Hahaha, boy." Khem Val laughed in his booming deep voice.
'That motherfucker could speak Basic this entire time! No wait, she's right! I don't even know her name! Unlike the Ab Queen, the Inquisitor isn't shouting her feelings from the rooftop! Worse yet, I'm hard as a rock! Damnit! Damn that sexy lady got me good.'
Varrus raged as his hardon pushed uncomfortably into his armor.
Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!
Varrus wanted to pound his fist in the ground.
"Observation: My scanners are picking up a slight burn in your general area. Do you require assistance?"
"Go kriff yourself Paul. We're killing more bugs." Varrus snarled, then ran into the city.
"Perhaps the sting was more severe than I first anticipated." Paul hummed to himself.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone