Dresden University- Coruscant<!--EZCODE BR START--><!--EZCODE BR END--> One month before Black Hand Khomm Incursion

“Define perfection”

The professor looked at all the faces of his students in the classroom, waiting for an answer. The students were smart, but some of them weren’t as intelligent as the others. Most of the males did not like his history/philosophy class. Most of them were in it only for the college credit it would earn for them. After a moment a reluctant hand went up, a female student.

“Yes?” The professor asked.

“No anomalies or abnormalities within a society” The student said.

The professor smiled. “Good. Now can anyone give me an example of a society with no anomalies or abnormalities?”

Another hand went up. “The planet Khomm”

The professor smiled again. “Very good. Today we will be learning about that particular planet and their ideas on a ‘perfect society’.

“One thousand years ago the people of Khomm abrubtly decided that their culture had reached the point of perfection. So in essence, they froze their civilization, and built huge cloning complexes in each of the major cities. In the last thousand years, virtually nothing has changed. Each inhabitant of Khomm is identical to the first clone. Each city is laid out in identical style and has always been well kept and clean. The entire planet itself has no remarkable geological features, no axial tilt and no unusual orbit…





“What is the situation?” Captain Jones asked into the long-range comlink.

“This is going to be too easy. These clone people are terrified of another attack on their world” The Project Scorpion Agent said.

Jones was silent for a moment. “But it has been a while since Colonel Cronus leveled the place. Surely they feel safe again”

“Nope. They are constantly looking upwards toward the sky as if they expect it to start raining turbolasers. All I need to do is poke some of the higher-placed officials a little bit and they will be begging Griff to take over.”

“Alright. Use all necessary force to ensure that they will agree to an alliance when Black hand shows up.”

“Understood”

“Oh” Jones said, as an afterthought, “Make sure you kill only the bad guys”

The Agent said nothing, he merely signed off.






The Project Scorpion agent waited in the darkness of an alley. The alley was between a Khomm ‘Entertainment Facility’ and another block of perfectly rowed houses. He was dressed fully in stormtrooper armor and carried an old E11 blaster rifle. He was not a part of the regular Black Hand military, but rather of the mysterious Project Scorpion. The Project was a rogue operation, dedicated to protecting the Black Hand. They were allowed to use any and all methods to assist the Black Hand in all of its operations. His current task was to literally scare the cloners of Khomm into begging for military aid. And Black Hand would conveniently show up at the right time.

He peeked out of the alley entrance and to the west. He saw a small speeder make its way up the street toward him. It would pass the alley in a minute. He smiled beneath the stormtrooper helmet as he exited the alleyway.

And walked right across the street.

The speeder came to a screeching halt and the driver stepped out and began screaming as he saw the armed Imperial Stormtrooper. The agent disappeared between two more houses on the opposite side of the street. Behind him, he heard several shouts of people trying to figure out what was going on. The agent smiled again enjoying this assignment. He made two more public stops before heading toward the cloning complex.

The cloning complex was a huge place. It turned out millions of clones every couple decades or so. The time between cloning dates was spent by refining existing techniques, and creating new ones. There was several huge control rooms where the process was controlled, and a huge library that contained a complete history of Khomm and a datafile on every inhabitant of Khomm, dead and alive. The Project Scorpion agent dressed as an Imperial stormtrooper easily gained access to the cloning complex by breaking the access code and then getting into the security room. There he acquired a card key for the central command station. He marched through the complex, stunning every worker he saw. He marched right into the command room and let loose a flurry of blaster bolts that quickly destroyed every control station in the room. He then stunned the controllers in the room. It was he who had made the ultimate decision not to harm any Khommian. But he could do a lot of damage, that would increase the fear of the Khommians of outside threats. After he was done, he left the complex with alarms going off and people swarking around the site.




“What ships will you be taking to Khomm, Admiral?” General Odesk asked Griff.

“The Silencer, Executor, Intruder and the Devestator

“Three Birds of Prey?”

“You heard me, did you not?” Griff asked him, swiveling his chair around to look out at the barren inhospitable landscape, and the massive shipyard high above the small planetoid.

“Yes sir, but production is lagging behind and we barely have enough defense ships as it is…”

“I need them General. I have seen your reports on upgrades that you want to the current defensive systems and I give you authorization to implement them. But I need those ships, and I will have them” Griff retorted, annoyed at being told what he could and could not do.

“But Admiral, I have more news” Odesk said quietly.

“It has to do with that ‘Project Scorpion’ again.”

Griff spun his chair around and leaned forward, listening intently.

“General, you will tell me what you know”

“A couple of shipyard comm. experts installing communications systems into one of the new ships when they caught this-“

He produced an audio holorecorder and placed it on Griff’s desk. He pressed a button and an odd squawking sound emanated from the holorecorder.
“It is an encrypt” Griff said.

“Yes, and the best one we have ever encountered. We have only been able to decode a few words. Listen to what we have got so far”

He pressed another button.

“…………..Black Han……Kho….Cap…..ones…….Project Scorpion…”

“Cap ones?”

Odesk shrugged.

“Alright, search the database for the best hackers and crypt specialists in the galaxy” Griff told Odesk.

“Sir, I already did. The computer just brings one name up every time, Hacker” Odesk said uncomfortably.

“Wait a minute, the fugitive Hacker. The one where one of our agents turned up dead. The same Hacker who successfully avoided us on Coruscant? That Hacker?”

Odesk nodded.

“Find her” Griff told him, “I want to talk with her”

“It will be done, Admiral” Odesk said as he saluted Griff. Griff returned the saulte and turned away as Odesk did an about face and marched out. Griff turned away, back to the stars.






The dark haired woman known to select few as ‘Hacker’ glared at the Public Safety Service officer that stood next to her landspeeder.

“We are checking all vehicles within this designated area. Step out of the vehicle and prepare to be searched” The police officer told her. But she could not let them search her vehicle, she had her portable computer terminal with her, which had some incriminating documents on it. But with a blaster rifle pointed in her general direction gave her no choice. Reluctantly, she complied and climbed out of her speeder. One officer stood by her as another rummaged through the speeder’s cargo compartment. After a moment he held up her PCT.

“Sir?”

“We are processing all computer documents. It will take a moment” The PSS officer told her. He then looked to his counterpart, “Do it”

The one holding her computer set it down and connected it to another, smaller terminal. Hacker turned toward the officer next to her.

“I simply don’t understand why this has to be done. I am going to go to Imperial authorities-“

“Sir!” The other policeman said excitedly, interrupting her complaints, I have records of his terminal being used to illegally infiltrate several datasystems, some of them are secure government facilities”

The officer standing next to Hacker turned to her, pulling stun-cuffs out of an holster.

“You are coming with us”

Hacker said nothing.


She sat in her cell, three days later, still awaiting interrogation when they came. They were the ones she most feared more than anyone else in the whole galaxy. She never had found out what their official, or unofficial name was- she simply called them ‘The Agents’. She was sitting down on the flat bench, contemplating a tray of unappealing food that had been delivered to her.

The three men that stopped in front of the shield that spanned across the doorway wore clothes that would make them fit in on any number of worlds. She had to hand it to them, they were very inconspicuous.

“Hacker” One of them, apparently their leader, said in a cold, flat voice.

“I don’t know who you are talking about. I have never heard that name before in my entire life” She responded, putting a little anger into her voice.

The leader signaled and the field dropped. He stepped into her cell and the field snapped back on. “I know who you are, we have been chasing you for a long time.” He picked up her tray of untouched food and examined it, not looking at her, “Quite embarrassing that you were finally caught by a couple of traffic controllers at a routine stop, wouldn’t you say?”

She didn’t answer.

“Anyway, You will be accompanying us, but first I want to ask you some questions.”

She sighed and sat back against the wall. “Ask away”

“Where is the disk containing the information you stole from the Outer-Rim Federation’s database?”

“In a safe place” She told him, grinning.

“Tell me where it is, or I’ll let the Corellians try you for your computer crimes against the-“

He consulted a datapad.

“-Corellian Engineering Corporation’s Vehicle Pool”

“So I diverted a couple of ships, big deal. Not enough to kill me” She said, wanting to look unconcerned.

“And then” The Agent continued, “We will turn you over to the Empire. There are more incidents on their list than I can count. You willing to talk now?”

She sighed again.

“I will not speak to anyone who has not given me a name and shown me some credentials” She said adamantly.

“Call me Fayar for now”

“Fayar?” She asked.

“Correct” Fayar replied.

“Who do you work for, Fayar?” She asked, impatient to learn the true identity of the ones who had been hunting her for a year now.

“I am not authorized to tell you that” Fayar said, getting annoyed.

“Well, I am not authorized to talk” She retorted.

Fayar shrugged and told one of his men to call the Corellian PSS officers back in to haul her away, to face judgment. She relented.

“Alright. I’ll show you” She said, grudgingly.

“Let’s go” Fayar said[/i]

The greenish world of Khomm filled the forward screen of the Silencer as the Bird of Prey exited hyperspace. Admiral Griff stood on the bridge, hands on the railing that cut the bridge in half and separated the lower level from the higher one. He had been thinking of ways to convince the boring Khommites to join the Black Hand. He had formulated several options: threaten the planet into submission, convince the planet’s leader to join The Black Hand, or just take possession of it outright. None of the options were very good. But he had no choice.

“Open a channel to the planet” He ordered.

“Sir, they are contacting us. They want to know our identity and our business in the system” The comm. officer said from his station.

“This is an admiral with an independent organized faction. I wish to arrange a meeting with the Khomm leaders”

The response came clearly.

“Granted. We will clear a shuttle for landing at once” A nervous voice said.

“Agreed. I will be there within the hour” Griff replied.

Commander Cage, his standing XO for this mission turned to him, surprise showing on his face. Griff held up a hand to forestall any questions. Griff himself had too many as it was. He turned back to the comm. officer.

“Inform the other ships to scatter themselves in their assigned positions. They are to monitor all traffic to and from Khomm. Also inform them that I am heading down to begin negotiations with the Khommites” Griff said.

“Yes Admiral” The communications officer said, then turned back to his console to relay the orders.

“Commander” Griff said to Cage, “Ready a shuttle. I want it prepped for the trip in thirty standard minutes”

“Yes sir” Cage said, saluting.

Griff returned it and walked across the bridge to the turbolift.




“There” Hacker said, pointing to a black case, inside the small house she had rented.

One of Fayar’s associates picked up the case and easily picked the lock. He opened the case and examined the contents, a row of black computer chips. After five minutes of examining the chips on his own PCT, the Agent nodded in satisfaction.

“It’s all here, sir” The Agent said.

“Good. Let’s get off this planet before the Imperials start sticking their nose where it doesn’t belong.”

They went back to the landspeeder and directly for the spaceport. After passing the security checkpoints they were allowed entrance into a docking bay where an average-looking light freighter sat waiting. They marched her up the ramp and into the common area. Fayar stood with her as the other two went for the cockpit. Ten minutes later they were heading out of Corellia’s atmosphere.

“Sorry for the cuffs, but we had to keep up appearances” Fayar said as he tok the stun cuffs off of her wrists.

“Look, I have been hunted by you people for so long and I have never known who you were. Perhaps you should tell me everything” She said, rubbing her wrists.

“I have been authorized to tell you” He said before taking a deep breath.

“We are agents for Black Hand” He said.

She had heard that name before, it was somewhat of a ghost story among the disreputable wandering Corellia’s Treasure Ship Row. The rumor went they were an outlaw band of pirates with spies across the Galaxy. She had heard the name pop up every once in awhile but had never given any serious thought to it. Now the name exploded in her mind.

“We have been sent to retrieve you not to capture you, but to hire you”

She stared at him with absolute shock.

“What?” She asked incredulously.

“We need your particular skills” He replied.

“For what?”

“Well, there has been several unexplained occurrences within Black Hand lately. We are aware of an even more secretive group within us who are…assisting us in ways. They call themselves ‘Project Scorpion’. But we have no idea what they are and what their objectives are. Our best hackers have not been able to dig up anything. So we were sent to get you to help us” He said.

“What do I get out of it” She asked.

“We will wipe the slate clean of all your past…endeavors” He replied.

“Done. When do I get to work?” She asked.

“As soon as we reach our destination” He told her.

“Alright” She said, and for the first time she felt relief. After this was all over, she could go back to Corellia or Coruscant without having to constantly look over her shoulder.

Soon.


“Hello, Admiral” The yellow-fleshed clone said to him as he walked down the ramp of the assault shuttle that had ferried him to Khomm’s surface. Griff declined to bring his Noghri, but Kael had two security guards with him.

“Kaell 116 is it?” He asked.

“Correct” Kaell 116 replied.

“Greetings” Griff told him.

“If you will please accompany me, we can head to the conference room” Kaell 116 told him.

Griff nodded and followed the clone leader from the landing pad and into a turbolift.

“Has there been a lot of repair work done since the Cronus attacked Khomm?” Griff said conversationally, mostly to help ease Kael’s nervousness.

He had made a brief transmission to Kael shortly before departing the Silencer explaining that Griff had nothing but peaceful intentions for Khomm. Kael 116 still had every right to be apprehensive.

“Yes, we have rebuilt several city blocks that were destroyed and completely rebuilt the Cloning center in Heh’l City. Other reconstruction projects are in progress throughout other cities. But it will be longer before all of the damage is repaired.” Kaell 116 replied.

Griff just nodded in response as the lift opened up and led into a corridor. Kael himself led Griff to a modest room with a long table and at least a dozen chairs. Griff sat and was offered refreshment, he declined, and Kael sat down across from him.

“Now, Admirall Griff. Forgive me for being rude but would you mind telling me who you are and who you are with?”

“Of course, I apologize for being so discreet, but I cannot announce anything over a nonsecure transmission. Now what I am about to tell you does not ever leave this room, ever. Do you accept that?” Griff asked directly.

“Yes” Kaell 116 said, leaning forward.

“I am the leader of a faction called Black Hand.” Griff said.

Kaell nodded, an expression of shock on his face. “We have heard rumors about you. Why interested in Khomm?”

“Because it is deep in the Galactic Core and because of your cloning technology” Griff told him.

“Oh. You just want the technology for yourselves” Kaell said, sitting back with a sigh.

“No, I already have the technology, but it is incomplete” Griff replied.

Kaell 116’s brow furrowed, “Tell me” He said.

“Well, our cloning program has suffered severe setbacks. We cannot get our prototype Spaarti Cylinder to work correctly. Here are our technical problems” Griff handed a datapad to Kaell, who studied it for a minute.

“I will pass this on to our engineers. I am sure they can find a way to help you” Kaell said.

Griff smiled. “Thank you.”

Black Hand Main Computer Complex

Fayar stood watching the woman through the double-sided mirror. She was at one of the control stations, hard at work hacking through Black Hand files and others. She was on a mission to discover the origins and agenda of the ultrasecret ‘Project Scorpion’. She had been at the control station for nine hours straight, without rest.

Another Agent, Hoffner, stood next to him. He was also staring intently at the dark haired woman.

“Did you find out her name?” Fayar asked Hoffner.

“Yes. It was in an old New Republic file. It was very vague and listed only her first name. Her last name appears to have been partially destroyed. Our slicers are trying to decode it now. They will be done in two hours” Hoffner reported.

“Good. The more we know about her the better” Fayar replied.

“Agreed. When will she be done?” Hoffner asked him.

“No idea. But I have a feeling it will be soon” Fayar replied.

“Why is she here in the first place? Our own slicers could handle the job adequately enough.” Hoffner said.

Fayar sighed, “Because she is the best of the best. She eluded us for almost five years byt hacking her way through countless computer systems. And now she is hacking our database, one of the most secure in the Galaxy.”

“Let’s say she does find out the information she is looking for. Will that make her a target? Will The Project come for her?” Hoffner asked.

“My instincts tell me they will try to quiet her. I don’t know these people, or even if they are people. They could try to kill her. But when and if she gets the information we will give her the payment and she is out of our hands. Whatever Project Scorpion does will not be our fault” Fayar said.

“If you say so” Hoffner replied, turning to walk away.

“Wait. What was her name?” Fayar asked.

Hoffner turned to him.

“Bria” He said, then walked out of the room.




The woman known as Bria stumbled out of the Computer Center holding a computer chip. She was barely able to stand, and the two guards standing nearby moved to hold her up.

“Here, take it” She said to one of the guards. “It is what you wanted” She then collapsed and fell asleep.


“Ah, Admiral Griff” Kaell 116 said as Griff walked into the same conference room.

“Kaell One-sixteen. Is there a problem?” Griff said, taking a seat. This was the fourth meeting he had had with the green and yellow clone. They were quickly becoming colleagues. Griff admired the clone for his management skills and his open-minded nature. Kaell respected Griff, with his calm demeanor and quick-thinking. Kaell had agreed to contact the other city leaders about an alliance with The Black Hand. But now he was grim.

“Yes. I have presented your proposal to my peers. Most of them reject the offer because it detracts from our isolationist posture. They do not want to become involved” Kaell said.

“I must talk to them then” Griff said, siting back in his chair.

“You?” Kaell asked, surprised.

“Of course. What kind of ally would I be if I didn’t speak to them face-to-face?” Griff told the clone.

“I understand. Would you like me to arrange it?” Kaell asked.

“Yes. As soon as possible” Griff replied.

They were interrupted by the bleeping of the comm. unit.

“This is Complex One-One. Kaell One-One-Six come in please” The voice on the other end of the channel said.

Kaell pulled out his comlink and spoke into it, “This is Kaell One-One-Six. What is it Complex One-One?” He asked politely.

“Sir, we have analyzed the dossier you gave us, and we have come up with a few things. It would be wise for you and the visiting Admiral to come down here so we can present it to you in person” The Complex Manager said.

“We are on our way” Kaell 116 replied.

He turned to Griff, “Would you mind accompanying me down to Complex One-One, Admiral?” He asked.

“I would be glad to” Griff

The cloning complex at the center of the city was huge. With four wings filled with control centers, laboratories, and training centers, and one huge center chamber filled with cloning cylinders from top to bottom. Thousands of yellow-fleshed Khommites patrolled the central chamber overseeing the process and making sure there were no irregularities in the cloning tanks.

Admiral Griff observed all of this with a tight smirk across his face. He had heard all about Khomm’s cloning centers.

“This way” Kaell 116 told him as he and two escorts marched through the central chamber and into the north wing. After walking along a long corridor they turned into a large laboratory filled with computer terminals, scientists, various medical supplies and other things. As they entered two of the scientists turned toward them and beckoned them over.

They walked over to the scientists, both identical in every way.

“I am Garo two-twenty-one” The first said, obviously the younger of the two.

“And I am Garo two-twenty” Said the other, the older.

“This is Admiral Griff, our visitor” Kaell introduced him. Griff gave both clones a nod and motioned for them to continue.

“We have studied the information given to us by the Admiral here and we have located your problem” Garo 220 said.

“Yes” Garo 221 put in, “It was a fairly simple challenge. It seems that the information gathered by this ‘New Alliance’ was slightly flawed, completely understandable since they knew next to nothing about cloning cylinders” He said.

Garo 220 continued, “The prototype cylinder itself is fine, it is the template program you are using that is the problem. There is a code for everything, how to replicate the brain patterns and even the Force. One of the codes responsible for the brainwaves was flawed and if not imprinted correctly into the mind of the clone the clone would experience…side effects” He said.

“What kind of side effects?” Griff asked.

“The clone would be insane” Garo 221 said, “But we have corrected the problem. Here is proper code your scientists must use. They should have no problems” He said, handing Griff a datapad.

Griff smiled at the two clones, “On behalf of the Black Hand, I thank you gentlemen”

“It was our pleasure” Garo 220 told him.

“Now” Kaell 116 said to Griff. “I believe we have a meeting to prepare”


“Admiral Griff” The hologram a Black Hand Anylist named Galek Fayar said.

“Anylist Fayar, what can I do for you?” Griff said, sitting back in his chair onboard the Silencer.

“Sir, the woman called Hacker has compiled information on Project Scorpion” Fayar said.

Griff’s eyebrows shot up and he leaned forward. “Tell me”

“They are a highly secretive section of Black Hand. They were originally created by the Federation Council as a last resort, so to speak. In the event of an foreign invasion and the failure of the military to stop it Project Scorpion would be the last line of defense, with covert operations and sabotage”

“The Federation Council?” Griff asked incredulously.

“That’s what the file says” Fayar told him, checking something offscreen.

Griff sat back, deep in thought.

“It also lists the top Project Scorpion members” Fayar told him.

“Really?”

“Yes sir” I am encrypting and forwarding the list now sir” Fayar said.

“Good…I want it all” Griff said.

“Sir, some of those Project Scorpion Agents are here on CN-1344. Even in the upper hierarchy. Is there anything you want me to do?” Fayar asked.

“No. I will confront them myself once this business is done” Griff replied.

“Yes sir” Fayar replied.

“Silencer out” Griff said and terminated the transmission.


Two hours later Griff stood in front of Kaell 116 and five other city leaders.

“What will Khomm gain from an alliance with Black Hand?” Hekk 183 from the city Keyl asked Griff.

“What does Khomm want to gain with an alliance with Black Hand?” Griff countered. “What you desire and need I will provide you”

“In exchange for what?” Oded 134 from Hayen City asked.

“Nothing” Griff replied.

“His offer is genuine. He has agreed to send us agriculture and construction droids to repair the damage our cities have suffered. The droids are en route to Khomm right now. We can all benfit from this. Just look at Dorsk 81, his becoming a Jedi brought change to our society and differs drasticly from our standard routine for a thousand years. It is time to end our isolation and start to look out for ourselves. It is time to stop hiding in fear and actually attempt to create a society that we can be proud of” Kaell 116 said.

“I call for a vote”. Hekk 183 announced. “Those in favor of joining Black Hand in an alliance?”

Six hands raised.

“It is unanimous” Kaell said. “Admiral Griff, Khomm accepts your invitation to form an alliance”

Griff nodded. “Black Hand welcomes you”

Black Hand Headquarters- CN-1344

“Admiral Griff reporting as ordered” Captain Jones said as he walked in to Griff’s office and saluted him

“Where is the Federation Council hiding?” Griff asked, turning from his window and facing Jones.

“Sir?” Jones asked, his voice laced with confusion.

“Don’t play stupid. Tell me where they are hiding or you can take a walk out the nearest airlock” Griff retorted angrily.

“I do not know what you are talking about” Jones said, not backing down.

“You are the Project Scorpion director in this sector of Black Hand space. You have information I need. I know who all of your compatriots are, some here right now in my offices and in Director Meer’s offices. I can get the information one way of another” Griff said, his voice quiet.

Jones obviously decided to stop playing dumb, “I cannot tell you. You will expose the operatives I have placed there.”

“I will decide that. Your organization is rogue, and I will get rid of it if I have to. I have names, names that I can cross out at my leisure”

“We are trying to help you. We have always been trying to help you. Why do you think the Khommites were so jumpy when you showed up?” Jones said.

“You did it?” Griff asked. He felt like he was getting surprised in a regular basis.

“Of course. We have been aware of your plans to negotiate with the Khommites for some time and I placed several people there to incite fear in them. Fear of attack by someone other than Black Hand. I had Kaell 11 convinced you were his savior, so by the time you finally showed up he threw himself at you” Jones told him in the tone a parent would use when correcting a child.

“Where is the Council?” Griff asked dangerously.

“In a safe place. But I cannot voluntarily give out that information.” As he said this he turned on his heel and dashed for the door. As he did so two different plants flanking the door shimmered and morphed into tall grey-skinned beings. The Shi’ido grabbed both of Jones’ arms and dragged him back to Griff.

“Then you will gibe it out involuntarily” Griff told him and nodded to the two Shi’ido and they took him out of the room to be interrogated.

Griff went back to his desk and contacted Logan on Wayland.

“Xander, what a pleasant surprise. What can I do for you today?”

“The Khommites have remedied our problems with the prototype cloning cylinder. I wanted to express my thanks for all of your help” Griff said.

“What happened?? You seem…happy” Logan said.

“Yes. Clones will start rolling off the assembly lines soon and I will soon have the location of the elusive Federation Council.”

Logan’s eyebrows went up, “You have been searching for them for months. How did you find them all of the sudden?”

“We have uncovered Project Scorpion agents, who have the location. It is finally time for revenge” Griff said.