Feron-4's nights were silent again.
The corrupted constructs had been purged, their memory cores atomized, and Iralith's infection sealed within a containment chamber deep below the command spire. Kael hadn't spoken to her since. He didn't need to.
He had more important priorities now.
System Notification: Empire Panel Expanded
New Feature Unlocked: Research Tree
The Research Tree
Kael opened the interface.
It unfolded like a web — dozens of branches, each with long-forgotten technologies: gravity well manipulation, organic-synthetic fusion, neuro-force conversion fields.
But he began where all tyrants began.
War.
Research Initiated: Modular Droid Architecture (Tier 1)
Duration: 4 in-universe weeks
Unlocks: Customizable chassis types, adaptive targeting, onboard loyalty cores
Secondary Research: Psychic Dampening Field (Tier 1)
Duration: 2 weeks
Unlocks: Shield generator that weakens Force precognition within a radius
Passive Applied:
Scientific Autocrat (Minor) — Research speed increased by 10% for all Empire-tech projects when Kael directly oversees them.
Kael allocated his newest level-up:
Level 11 → 12
+5 Stat Points → All into Midichlorian (+10)
+1 Skill Point → Upgrade Signal Burn (Lv.2 → Lv.3)
Midichlorian Total: 8020
The numbers didn't matter to him anymore.
But what they allowed did.
The Assembly Begins
Kael's engineers — a hybrid of local sentients and reprogrammed droid minds — began constructing the first generation of Kaelic Wardroids.
They were tall. Angular. Without design influence from the Republic or the Separatists. Their loyalty wasn't coded. It was embedded in the Empire Core Kael had grown from Vault-Arc technology.
Each one knelt before him before first deployment.
Not as droids.
But as instruments.
On Serenno
In the study of House Dooku, lightning rolled across the horizon.
The Count sat beside a fire, a tome of Sith philosophy opened on his lap.
Palpatine's voice echoed in his private comm.
"You feel it too, don't you?"
Dooku's expression was unreadable.
"Yes… a force not of the light… or dark. But cold. Like glass wrapped around a blade."
Palpatine replied, slowly:
"My agents report disappearances in the Outer Rim. Entire colonies vanishing. No battle. No survivors. No evidence of fleets."
"Go."
"Take a ship. Investigate the Feron Sector."
Dooku's eyes narrowed.
"As you wish… my master."
Preparations for Contact
Kael stood before a new holo-map of the Feron Sector.
Several outposts were now operational: mining camps, orbital relays, a prototype shipyard hidden within a carved mountain.
Tessara-1 entered silently.
"We've intercepted an encrypted Separatist comm relay. A reconnaissance ship entered hyperspace two days ago. Destination: near our perimeter."
Kael paused.
"Republic?"
Tessara shook her head.
"No. Confederacy. But… the encryption patterns? Sith."
Kael's mind worked instantly.
They had noticed.
System Alert: First Contact Protocols Triggered
Empire Status: No longer hidden
Galactic factions may begin to detect anomalies
Prepare defenses or initiate misinformation campaigns
Kael moved toward the command table.
Activate Protocol Mirror — a signal-shifting field across Feron-4's orbital layer. It would make any probes register the planet as a barely habitable wasteland.
It wouldn't fool the Force, of course.
But Kael had already begun preparing for that.
Ending Ritual
Beneath the core vault, Kael stood alone in the chamber of silence — no data. No constructs. No echo mind.
Only Kael.
And Iralith, still weak, watched from behind glass.
He reached out with his mind.
Not through the Force.
But through will.
Not to touch… but to erase.
Across the stars, a ripple passed. A place where Force sensitives would look… and find nothing.
No presence.
No void.
Just absence.
Onboard the Scimitar-class Stealth Ship – Dooku's Vessel
Count Dooku stood at the observation port.
As the stars twisted around the vessel in hyperspace, he felt something unusual.
Like a scar on the Force.
Not bleeding.
Not infected.
Just… removed.
"…what are you?" he murmured.
And the stars gave no answer.