....Two minutes...

Two minutes had been more than enough time to get far from the Skyhook before it was destroyed by the Imperial Navy.

Xizor made a living knowing people and he knew better than to expect Vader to bluff. As soon as he calmed himself he had made his way quickly into a waiting escape vessel. Made his way to the upper atmosphere, met with one of his Corvettes, and headed for the instillation he had made for just such an occasion.

"To contend with Xizor is to lose."

He had said it so many times before, and now, now even through the ashes of a fallen palace and the loss of his Skyhook, he could still taste small victory. From the shadows he was free to run things as he would. Free to strike out against the Empire, against Vader.

The plan was simple. He would build, and rebuild, and finish his most prized project. He would finish the XPG project and wait for his time to return. When the Emperor and his lap dog, Vader, had both been destroyed the Galaxy would be ripe for the taking.

And now deep within his underground instillation he would hide. Wait like a snake, gathering venom for his time to strike. Soon it would be upon him.. soon the Galaxy would be his.

Deep inside the planet, the instillation had been prepared for the Dark Prince's arrival. The first batch of XPG's had been awakened, fifteen in all, and ran through advanced testing. Meschi, the fifth to be awakened, was quickly established as the groups leader. He had chosen for his second in command Mace, the first to awaken.

Years before the XPG project had begun. It's goal was to create warriors who were smarter, faster, stronger, and simply superior to any the Galaxy had seen thus far, and so far it seemed to have worked. The XPG products were of several races. Their bodies cloned, and mechanical devices implanted throughout them. Eyes, mechanically enhanced to see a wide array of things that the human eye could not detect. Ears with implants making them capable of hearing a pin drop from several hundred meters, if need be. However the most significant accomplishment was held within the mind. A computer bank allowed the XPG's to process information at speeds matching those of most super computers. It also afforded them great memory capacity. However the most ingenious point was the memory sharing abilities. These beings had the ability to store their memory and pass it freely to another XPG. The could communicate mentally these images over large distances and, in effect, were immortal because of it. When their bodies expired, which none had yet, their memories could simply be placed within a new host and their tasks renewed.

They were, in effect, the perfect weapon.

Meschi now waited within the docking bay, hidden deep within the planet's surface. A brigade of men behind him, standing in full dress uniforms, awaited the impending arrival of the Dark Prince, Xizor. Meschi commanded the men through both respect and fear. Respect of his abilities and fairness, fear of what happens to those disloyal to the Dark Prince. Meschi had already dispatched several of his lower classed officers who seemed unworthy of their posts.

Disloyalty was simply not tolerated.

The Dark Prince's ship slowly set down upon the dura-steel flooring. As the docking ramp lowered, Meschi knelt and his lessers followed suit. The Dark Prince was shown the respect of an Emperor, in the presence of the XPGs. To them he was father, leader, and reason for life. They were simply fanatically loyal. As the Dark Prince's form came seen from behind venting gasses and shadows, Meschi's head lowered towards the floor.

"Greetings, my Prince."

The Dark Prince stepped from his docked craft. A wicked smile threatened to break his concentrated face as he looked upon Meschi and his men. All his time, and credits, had paid off greatly in this endevour.

The XPGs were, Perfect.

Striding down to the dura-steel floor, he moved towards his kneeling commander.

"Rise Meschi, bring me to speed on recent events here."

Xizor wanted to place the destruction behind him. To move forward and past the events which had transpired. Move past them, but not forget. He would still have what was his. He would still win in the end.

To contend with Xizor was to lose.

This had not become any less true. What disappointment and anger he had felt began to melt away as Meschi spoke of performance results and final testing analysis. The XPGs had tested even higher than he had imagined. One of these men could have beaten his HRD without breaking a sweat.

Guri.

Yes, that had been a tragic loss. She was loyal and good at what she did, not to mention more pleasing to the eye than these XPGs. Not that they were displeasing to the eye, they just lacked that feminine touch. These men would do well, however.

Meschi continued on about testing stages and the possibility of another batch being awoken within a few months, after the final testing results from the initial had been completed. Xizor had to hand it to Meschi, he was thurough. He knew his job and did it well. He had also heard the tales of how Meschi kept loyalty. The tales pleased him greatly. He almost grinned remembering in specific when he had been told of a particular incident.

Meschi had found a leak in the security of the instillation. The leak would lead no where, but credits had begun to go missing. A small amount at a time, a human would not have noticed it. However, Meschi was not fully human. He called the man he found to be responsible into his office. Proceeded to make small talk for thirty minutes, then called the man over behind his desk. "I want to show you something." He had said. "It is a gift for your services to this organization." As the man arrived, Meschi quickly grabbed him in a tight grip around the back of the neck and forced his head to the desk. Holding him firmly, he removed a high powered blaster pistol from his side and placed it in the man's mouth. He was said to have pulled the trigger only a fraction of a second after saying. "Your continued service will no longer be required."

Ruthless, but warranted. The Dark Prince looked forward to watching this holoproj himself. He always liked to have an idea of what, exactly, he was dealing with. Soon his new Vigo's would arrive, and his commanders alike. They would meet in his palace, no where near the awsomeness of his previous one, on the surface of the planet. The navy would have to be almost completely replaced. He had located a new commander and had sent for him. He had also had the foresight to have another HRD ready, incase something should have happened to Guri. A fortunate thing.

He would rebuild quickly.

Meschi, commander of the XPGs, finished running down current specs for the Dark Prince. Once they reached Xizor's personal chambers, he was relieved from his escort duties and returned to his daily activities.

Meschi turned down the long, dimly lit, hall towards the training facility. He spent an average of ten standard hours training per day. He spent an additional five hours daily in the absorbing chambers. These chambers were specialized facilities, which allowed the XPGs to absorb information at a rapid pace. Basically they pulled up what they wanted to learn and the computer base within their brain absorbed the information at alarming rates. Earlier this day he had already learned two new languages and the customs of a wide array of worlds.

However, as with most warriors, his first ambition was toward the combat arts. He entered the large training arena and moved to the wall quietly. Removing his gun belt, he replaced it with a training model. Various training weapons and whatnot about him, he moved into the simulator booth. Each weapon was specially fitted with reading and output devices that interacted with a computer simulation. This allowed the XPGs to practice on enemies who were a match to them, without harming one another. Even so, Meschi began to grow bored of the simulator. He no longer found the challenge in it he once did. The computer generated opponents seemed slow and flawed. However, he continued to push himself to his limits of speed, endurance, and skill. None shall defeat him in combat, when the time should arise.

Just as he began the day’s exercises, his wrist comm. rang with a communication. Evidently there was someone on the Dark Prince's level who was not cleared to be there. This did not sit well with the XPG. His training weapons quickly discarded, he retrieved his own and headed to Xizor's personal level. Whoever was on it had clearance codes to be there. They did not, however, have clearance to be there now. Someone would pay for this outrage. Someone would pay for interrupting his training.

Someone would surely die.

Meschi stepped from the turbo-lift and looked down the hall. A stealth suit, he thought to himself. Certainly not a welcoming gesture. He tapped his wrist comm., calling for the hall's power to be cut. In the dark the assassin had not chance of escape. Meschi's eyes instantly shifted to infrared. The heat signature of the attacker was quickly given off, due to his nervous state. Meschi moved with blinding speed, however failed to make more than a slight breeze echo as he moved. Flawlessly his hand powered forward into the larynx of the attacker, who quickly fell to his knees. Meschi had the man disarmed almost before his knees hit the ground. His right arm wrapped around the neck of the other and he quickly pulled off the hood of the stealth suit.

In the turbo-lift, Meschi held his grip on the infidel's neck. Throwing him from the lift and to his knees once more as they reached the main level. Meschi had already called for the staff to be assembled in the main congregation area. This would be a public display. This would be a lesson.

Dragging the man, who began to fail to fight back, he reached the communal area. He threw the man to the center. The employees and guards alike were aghast to see one of their own in such a situation. Meschi removed from his back an elongated sword. Curved slightly, and tuned to razor sharp, he stated to his 'spectators'.

"Disloyalty will not be tolerated. This is the penalty."

With that, his blade lowered in a motion so fast that many of the normal races had trouble following it. For a moment it appeared as if he had missed his mark. As if he had issued a warning. However, that moment passed and the brutality of the action became apparent. The man's midsection slowly parted and his insides became outsides. A gruesome display as his entrails were spilled upon his lap and his bowels and bladder loosed their contents.

With not so much as another word, Meschi turned and made his way back to the training area. His daily training had to be finished. He did not give the incident so much as another thought. After all, it was warranted.

To offend Xizor was to die.

Xizor did not get to where he was by being careless. Not only had he known about the attack upon his life, but had in a round about way, invited it. He had knowingly hired the traitor into his ranks as a test for his new guards. Knowing full well he would never have gotten through the sealed door, and if he had, he would have met a lancing hard light energy beam to the skull.

As with everything in life, Xizor liked to know what he was dealing with. He smiled as he watched the holoproj of Meschi in action. It pleased him to know that he was protected so well by someone with the skill and infallible loyalty of Meschi.

After watching the events played back once more, he made his way to a secret, and private, lift, which would take him to his surface palace. He would there wait for his new commander and his new Vigos.