The farming world of Grix appeared as a serene ball of blue and brown, its immense fields churning out tons of food for the galaxy to consume. It wasn't a popular world, it wasn't a famous world. Hell, it wasn't even really a world, bu a moon orbiting the gas giant known as Gri. Grix produced its food and feed itself, happy to be isolated from the insanity of galactic politics. Afterall, who would ever want to bother farmers?

Deraggo stalked quietly through Demetr, the capital city of Grix and its only spaceport. All food shipments went through here and it held the only long range com tower on the entire planet. The city was of decent size and prosperous, large compared to the town across the planet, all of them immense farming communities. Overall, there were only several million people on the entire planet, but that was what made it perfect; at least to the Union.

Weeks Earlier
SSD Midas

The boardroom was filled with a rogue's gallery of characters, all members of the Committee, the governing body that set and maintained the vast organization's agenda. At the head of the table as always sat Estro Sabrino, looking along it with his cold, calculating gaze. No one cared to gain his ire, for his will was law throughout the entire Union. No one who wanted to live opposed his ideas or methods, thus a reign of abosulte terror existed in the Committee if the Chairman appeared irritated by something. As everyone waited in silence, Estro cleared his throat and spoke, looking at all those before him.

"Fellow Committee members, the time has come to begin furthering our military interests in the galaxy. As you are all aware, I have invested a large sum of resources into Doctor Mengax's Necros Project. I assume most of you are curious as to exactly what progress he has made?"

Several heads nodded, others chose to simply stare on in reply. One hand raised slightly out of curiosity.

"Sir, what exactly has he been doing with all those slaves my group has been providing him?" asked Henod Bek, an Outer Rim black marketeer and slaver.

"Ah, yes, the slaves. You will find that those slaves have been put to very good use. Follow me please."

The Committee stood in surprise just moments after Estro had and followed him down the winding corridors of the Union's mobile headquarters, getting closer and closer to the immense portion of the vessel now sealed off and used solely for Project Necros. None of them had ever cared to journey here as they saw the immense number of black uniformed Union guards, all of whom bore the looks of the sort who viewed a good time as beating someone to death. Obviously being psychotic was a major plus for employment within the Union as was being a cold hearted bastard, proven by Estro Sabrino himself.

They all passed deeper and deeper until they reached a holding area full of armed and armored combat troops, their faces hidden by helmets with glowing red lenses. It was unnerving watching them for some reason, most likely because they never seemed to move. What was even more surprising was the sheer number in this chamber. It looked like a small army almost, all of them identical minus a height difference here or there.

"Behold the future of warfare; necrotroopers. They do not feel, they do not love, they do not care. They simply obey," said Doctor Mengax as he walked calmly in from a side door and stood proudly before the Committee.

"Soldiers will to give their lives for our cause and don't feel pain. Mind you, these are only drone models. They have little more than the intellect of a common Imperial stormtrooper."

This raised several chuckles from the Committee, primarily those who operated in Imperial space. Estro made no comment, but smiled as he gazed upon his new army. These drones were only the beginning, he'd soon make an army so immense that all would fear it, yet never knew who it obeyed.

"So, this is what has happened to the slaves?" Bek asked calmly.

"Indeed, every last drone standing here and now was once a person, an individual. But thanks to a little surgery and a few implants into the cranium and spinal column, we now have a pawn, completely obediant," Mengax said proudly.

Several Committee member shifted uneasily; this was dark science to them, turning people into nothing but things. Stripping away the individual to produce a mere shell, something that lived and breathed, but didn't truly think.

"If I may demonstrate just how much control we have over them" Mengax said, pressing a button.

A door slid open and a drone walked in, regarding them but seeming to have no thoughts about them. Mengax smiled and handed the drone a pistol as he removed the drones helmet revealing a young man's face with blank eyes, seeming to stare off into space.

"Shoot yourself," Mengax orderd.

The drone pressed the pistol to his other shoulder and fired. Several Committtee members jumped and stared on in shock as the drone stood there with a smoking hole in his shoulder, not even seeming to register his wound.

"Now kill yourself."

The drone put the pistol to his head and fired, causing one Committee member to vomit and another to faint. The others stared in shock as the drone crumpled to the floor, dead with a smoking blaster hole through his head.

"Dear gods...." said one member finally, "He just shot himself..."

"Imagine, gentlemen, what we could do with such creatures at our disposal," Estro said with a cold smile.

The Committee regarded the dead drone and then looked over the railing at the vast force below them, all the same type. All of them capable of such horrific actions and obviously much more.

"Unfortunately, this force is not enough to make anyone truly fear us. We shall need more, many more," Estro said calmly

"I'm already providing all I can!" Bek said as he realized this must be coming to him.

"Oh, I know, Mr. Bek, and it is greatly appreciated. But right now what I mean is that we must locate worlds to harvest new drones from. Currently, I have one in mind. Its a agricultural moon of the gas giant Gri. It has several million resident farmers and is left to its own devices. There is also only one way off the planet. Its central spaceport and capital city Demetr. It is perfect for the first harvest."

Several of the more down to earth Committee members smiled coldly, knowing where this would be going and just what the Union could reap out of it. From this would be born a new age of terrorism, an age that could shatter the galaxy as all knew it. The dark harvest was about to begin.

Deraggo looked up at the immense structure that was Grix's only long range comm station. It connected the farming world to the rest of the galaxy and the only real information it recieved besides holobroadcasts where the constant orders and grain purchases being made which in turn were turned over to the necessary farmers. Deraggo was almost jealous of the calm serenity of the world, no army hard ever marched here, no government ever laid claim. The people of Grix were simply left to their own devices, producing food stuffs for other parts of the galaxy, completely oblivious of the goings on around them.

"Ignorance is bliss," Deraggo mutter with a small smirk.

"What was that?" a voice chirped in his ear piece.

"Nothing. Are the teams in position?" Deraggo shifted his gaze to a rooftop where he saw a black clad figure watching him.

"Yes sir, everything is in place. We're ready to hit the comm station on your order. The bombs have already been placed in the spaceport, you won't even believe how easy it was to get them in there."

"I imagine very easy, these people have never been attacked in their lives," Deraggo said with a savage smile.

"Yeah, so what's the word? We gonna hit these pansies or what? I'm getting tired of waiting."

"You know we had to wait for the raid force to get in place, Makkel. Everything's ready though, have your men meet me in front of the comm station," Deraggo said, setting off down the street towards his target.

The comm station sat quietly at the center of Demetr, a squat, square building with a huge comm array on its top, sending and recieving as necessary, keeping Grix in touch with the rest of the galaxy. Deraggo moved through the streets toward it, his mind set on blowing the thing to little pieces so that they'd not be able to call for help. It was vital for them to more or less ghost the planet, cutting it off from all outside contact so no one would know what happened until it was too late and the Union had already come and gone, leaving a dead husk of a world.

As he neared the building, Deraggo spotted his assault team, all starting to gather in the square in front of the comm center, all wearing packs with weapons in them. They shifted as Deraggo entered there group and nodded as he pulled out a pair of blaster pistols. He then raised the comlink to his mouth.

"Hit the dish."

A click acknowledged the message had been recieved and a figure appeared on the roof top of the building on the other side of the square. It hefted a large tube up onto its shoulder and fired. A missile flew out, streaking straight towards its locked on target and smacked into the dish, eruptinging in a huge fireball and shatter the main comm dish. As bits and pieces fell into the square, Deraggo's men drew their weapons and followed him as he entered the lobby of the comm station.

"Sir, you can't come..." the lobby guard inside dropped to the ground, unconcious as a stun blast slammed into him.

Deraggo gave a hand signal and the men spread out, moving through the building methodically, shattering equipment and stunning anyone they encountered with a heavy stun blast from their guns. Deraggo moved determinedly towards the comm hub at the center of the building. As he stepped in several technicians turnedi n surprise and then dropped as Deraggo hit each one with a stun shot. He then proceeded to pull out his vibroblade, ramming and gouging it into all the comm consoles as he heard a large explosion overhead and grinned, knowing their man with the missile launcher was taking out the rest of the rooftop equipment.

"Sir, the center is down, I repeat, the center is down," came a voice over the comlink.

"Good," Deraggo said as he pressed another button on his comlink, transmitting a detonation signal.



Elias Trang had lived a long, uneventful life as the dockmaster for the spaceport, watching ships come and go carting away food shipments but bringing money to Grix. He'd never heard of the word terrorism until the GLF bombing campaign had been broadcast on the holonet news agencies, depicting the horrific sights created by twisted minds. He'd never considered the fact that something like that could happen on Grix though, his world was just a farming planet, getting about its business of making foodstuffs and never having to worry about war, politics, or even much crime for that matter.

It was about this time, as the Union squad hit the comm center that Elias was making his rounds of the port. He walked like a lord of the land, for the spaceport was his domain. Nothing went through without his knowledge of permission and he was paid damn well to keep it that way by the Grix Council, Grix's small elected governing body. As he strode past on cluster of crates, Elias spotted a blinking red glow in the shadows. He paused in midstep and turned towards it, bearing down on it in the way he would on a dock worker who'd just done something very stupid. He shoved several crates aside and now saw a cylindrical object that came up to about his knee, its red lights blinking a basic pattern. As he stooped to investigate, Deraggo's detonation code reached it. Elias Trang saw only a flash and then no long existed, suffering a fate most merciful compared to what the remaining population of Grix was doomed to face.



Deraggo smiled watching the plumes of smoke raise from the ruined spaceport after the bombs had gone off. Nothing would be able to leave now and no messages could get offworld. Everything was ready. Deraggo opened a special channel on his comlink and spoke.

"Sir, the planet is ready."

"Excellent."

Up out in the reaches of space above Grix, a massive black wedge appeared out of hyperspace, followed by a number of smaller white ones and what appeared to be a horde of large cargo ships. The Midas cruised towards the farming world, its special raid group in tow, coming upon the world the Union had so carefully chosen for their needs. The immense warship slid slowly into orbit above the capital city, the Star Destroyers with it spreading out slowly into orbit over the smaller townships and communities.

Estro Sabrino sat within the dark recesses of the Committee chambers, watching his viewscreen intently as he watched the troop landing ships already beginning to disgorge from the immense bay of the Midas, all of them carrying loads of necrotroopers for their first test run as well as their use in the harvest. The people below numbered a least a few million, more than enough for the Union's first test runs helping in implementing other technologies as well as streamlining necrotrooper production. The dark harvest had begun.

Councilman Derek Frenier looked up at the immense dark wedge in the sky and then down at the chaos of the burning spaceport and comm center. Sirens blared throughout the city, citizens running for shelter as the defense forces mobilized. They'd just picked up incoming landing craft and what personnel they had were rushing to the local armory, getting their weapons together. What few defensive turrets the city had began opening fire, trying to shoot down the transports but as they drew into better range, fighters veered from around them, having hidden in their sensor shadows. Frenier cringed as the turret closest to his office exploded from a warhead hit, watching oily smoke pour into the air from its remains. His mind wandered as what few snub fighters they had tried to lift off and fight, getting blown out of the air before they could even move forward. It was was a complete and methodical massacre, and it was obvious from the bombings that it had been planned. Frenier's gaze turned towards the landing troop transports and watched as the first touched down in the city square. Black clad combat troops poured out, their faces hidden by gasmasks with glowing lenses, enclosing their heads in the helmet.

The first battles in the city began breaking out, to Frenier's distress, the black clad troops were using stun weaponry rather than lethal settings. He watched and wondered if this was one of those big Outer Rim slaver groups but then felt otherwise, they were too well coordinated and they were acting odd. He'd seen several take blaster shots right in the stomach or limbs and yet keep on fighting. Just one had to be riddled with blaster shots to take it down. This tactic worked but the problem was there were too many and soldiers were getting stunned constantly because the attacking troops seemed almost suicidal in their tactics, jumping wouldbe stockades and firing before getting torn to pieces by blaster fire. The problem was, their tactics worked; the defense lines here were breaking and reports came to Frenier of other places where this was also happening. Grix was helpless to stop this kind of attack and what was worse, transports were landing and other soldiers wearing black fatigues and berets were loading the transports with the stunned soldiers and citizens.

"Councilman? Why are you still here? We need to get you out of the city!"

Frenier turned to see Captain Vasu of the Council Guard, his job to protect the councilmen at all costs, even though no one had ever really thought of attacking the planets rulers before on Grix. Frenier turned and watched with disgust as this biological salvage operation went on before running to Vasu and departing down the stairwell. He was soon lead out back of his office to a waiting all terrain vehicle, its primitve four wheels on the ground. He climbed in with his small squad of guards and they began driving down the alleys of the city. As they moved through it, he caught glimpses and sounds of battle, yells of hatred and the constant sound of blast fire and explosives going off.

"What's happening to our world, Captain?" Frenier asked shakily as they vehicle took sharp turns and detours, trying to avoid the enemy forces moving through the city.

The progess was swift and stomach turning, making the Councilman very ill but he held it down, knowing now was not the time to look weak during the time of invasion. The vehicle soon pulled up to the defense force HQ which was still being held effectively for now and rushed to the upper level command center.

"What's our status?" Captain Vasu demanded as they approached a table projecting the city, showing troop movements of both sides

"We're losing, sir; those bastards just don't stop, no matter how many we cut down more come to fill the gap. What's worse is they're landing large transports and loading our stunned personnel onto them."

"Slavers?" Vasu asked

"Hah, if so I've never seen slavers like this. Its like they just don't care what happens to them, they charge and fight, even when they take hits. Head shots work, mind you, but other than that they take more shots than a normal person would to go down. Its like they don't feel any pain at all, we're getting reports of ones that have even lost legs or arms and keep fighting if they can."

"This is insane..." Frenier muttered as he heard this.

"Insane, but happening, sir," Vasu replied.

"Who would want to do this? Why?"

Frenier walkedto the window overlooking the plaza in front of the HQ and frowned as he heard blaster fire start. Black clad figures were becoming visible and trading shots with the stockadge forces.

"We're surrounded..." He said in a quiet voice.

"What?" Captain Vasu came up to his side.

His lips moved wordlessly as more and more enemy soldiers began appearing and closing in, pushing through stockades and getting closer. Frenier dropped to his knees, watching the black clad soldiers break into the plaza and begin moving in on the HQ. Blaster fire poured from both sides, one group killing, the other stunning all mixing as they closed in got into the lower floors.

"We're doomed..."

The door into the center burst open and Frenier turned in time to get caught in the chest by a stun shot.

6 Hours Later

Estro Sabrino walked calmly through the streets of Demetr, a squad of bodyguards around him as he listened to the necrotroopers breaking into houses, stunning those inside and pulling them out for processing. Similar actions were happening all over the planet as Union forces swept across it, stunning and storing their victims for transportation back to the waiting conversion chambers of the Forge. It was a sight, to most it would have been horrifying, but to Estro it was wonderful. The Union would gain its new army but this couldn't be repeated, they needed some other way to get subjects for troop production and Estro thought rather cooly of just how to do that.

"What is the status?" Estro asked to his chief bodyguard, Moran.

"The city is being cleaned out completely sir, converties and corpses. We're not leaving a single necrotrooper behind. If anyone finds anything here it'll be from security recordings and whatnot, but it'll be a month before anyone comes here again."

"Good, how much longer?" Estro asked, his gaze shifting to the pile of dead necrotroopers coming up on their left.

"Five days and then we can make leave this world for good. All the tranports are holding up, we're keeping the holds pumped with petrozine gas, that'll keep those inside paralyzed until we get them back to the Forge and into the labs."

"Good, everything is moving on according to schedule, but keep up our perimeter. I don't want anything interfering with the harvest till we've met the needed quotas," Estro said calmly as they moved into the central plaza.

"Of course, sir.'

The group moved on towards a waiting shuttle, boarding it and taking off, bound for the Midas as its black wedge continued to cut across the blue sky mercilessly.

A wind blew quietly through the ruined and empty city of Demetr as fires burned and black smoke rose up from it. Papers rustled along the dead streets, walls were scorched with blaster fire from days past and hanging above the city in high orbit, the black wedge of a Super Star Destroyer carved its path across the sky, slowly leaving the planet and the system. The other Star Destroyers that had come with it already sat expectantly outside the gravity well, waiting for their command ship as they left their harvest world behind. Barely a single living soul was left on Grix, every town and settlement systematically cleared out, leaving only those few lucky to escape into the woods to live. The Union didn't care if someone escaped when they had gathered up most of the population anyways. This harvest was complete and already the tranports packed with prisoners were moving back along irractic hyper routes toward the Forge to prevent tracking. Within the Committee meeting room, Estro Sabrino read over the estimated production summaries once the first shipments started reaching the Forge and its waiting conversion facilities. As he continued to read them a figure appeared from the dark corner of the room and bowed respectfully.

"You summoned me, sir?"

Sabrino looked up calmly from his reports at the masked face of Omega Thrax, the man who was quickly becoming his most predominant agent since he was unquesitoningly loyal. Sabrino smiled at that because Omega Thrax was something of a pet project of his, one of the side experiments produced from the original batches of Project Necros months ago. Since then, that side project was closely guarded and controlled directly by the very thing created from it, Omega Thrax. Few that heard of it only knew of it as Project Geryon.

"Yes, with the success of this mission our ranks shall be greatly bolstered, but the main problem we face now is that we can't keep raiding planets for necrotrooper production. We must find a more stable method of procuring inductees for conversion," Sabrino said as he stood from the table and began to circle the table, reading the data still.

"The raid is the largest natural output so far, sir. Not even our slaver connections can produce as many specimens for conversion, what are you considering?" Thrax asked as his turned his head, following the Chairman around the room.

"Perhaps we should begin looking at more unconventional methods. Doctor Mengax has expressed an interest in cloning techniques for production, he says that he already so severely warps the minds and bodies of those in conversion that clone madness would not even have to be a consideration."

"An intriguing idea, but cloning technology is incredibly difficult to get, the Empire holds the two major cloning centers of the galaxy. To go there would risk much and likely not succeed."

"Indeed, current cloning centers are completely out of the question, however, there is one option we have left," Sabrino said with a cold smile.

The Chairman reached out and pressed a button on the console, causing a green and blue orb to appear above the table, lazily rotating on its axis. Thrax turned his gaze upon it with keen interest as the Chairman continued his gait around the table.

"Cartao, once the home of one of the most advanced and effecient cloning methods out there, Spaarti cloning cylinders. Could you imagine it, Thrax, whole legions flowing from the Forge, created by those beautiful tubes, full grown and immediatley converted into necrotroopers. A step closer to my dreams..." Estro said with a slightly excited tone.

"Intriguing sir, but there are no more cylinders. Spaarti Creations was ruined and the Clone Wars ended, leaving them with no further need, the company no longer existed to manufacture them," replied Thrax.

"Indeed, but the means is still there," Sabrino said as he aimed a finger at the world, "the Cranscoc are still there and what few people know, even those within the Empire these days, is that they were what made Spaarti so effective."

"Palpatine did an excellent job of covering up their involvement when he outlawed cloning after his ascension to the throne, but I've found them and they shall work again. The Union shall reach out and grasp them by the throat, forcing them to make a sufficient number of cylinders for us."

"How shall we do that, sir? It is not like they'll have the facilites to do it anymore," Thrax stated.

"It so happens that the Brindon Exporting Company has just recently suffered a hostile takeover from the Tagge Company. They have a large number of warehouses on Cartao, warehouses that can be used as hidden production and shipping facilities for this project. I want you to oversee this project."

"It shall be done, sir"

Thrax bowed departed quietly back into the shadows of the chamber. Sabrino smiled and returned to his seat, pressing a button, causing the display to switch to several other reports. The first phases were finished for Project Necros, but there was still much more to do, items to gather, samples to gain all in the name of creating an army that would make the galaxy realized what horrors science and technology could produce if utilized correctly. Nothing would get in the Union's way, no government, religion, or company; they would all watch as the Union effortlessly ripped their dreams apart just as so many had ripped Sabrino's apart so long ago.