Ossus


Ciscero held up the badge of a low level technician for the Public Port Authority indicating his task to perform a routine check of the systems. Being a public facility, like most civilian organizations, they outsourced their maintenance. With relative ease, the Imperial Intelligence operative identified the contracting company and sliced in a work order and ID.

The Port Authority allowed him to run his diagnostics, which in itself was not all that complicated, and upon completion, entered the data allowing the contractor to get paid for the work.

Only from a bogus employee, with a bogus appearance and a bogus identity.

He doubted the contractor would complain. And if they did, the only thing that might happen is a denial of payment.

The datanet that Ciscero had access too for the upgrade was not classified, high level or even sensitive enough for even the modest of security levels.

Who wants to know how many freighters or transports booked passage too or from Naboo, Coruscant or even Bonadan?

Typically, trans-government travel required more paperwork than usual but Ossus was not at war with the Empire, Commonwealth or the Jedi. Even then, such traveling (especially through Imperial space) was minimal.


Then he found it.


Isard had mentioned that the only data that seemed to be compromised was the transport information. Teverek was virtually untouchable on Ossus despite the many agents the Director threw his way.


Ciscero punched in the information for the time-frames the agents would have been sent and he saw that the Port Authority correctly logged no arrival. Ciscero knew that these transports had met with various tragedies but he widened the time-frame and noted that every transport from Imperial Center had also no arrival logged.


A sweep!


There were not that many to be sure. Imperial Center did not look too kindly to travel outside it's borders but it was possible. The numbers were so few, however, that any correlation was simply skipped by. The time frame of the incidents had passed and vessels were no longer in danger.


But the fact that all the transports from Coruscant in that time-frame did not arrive at Ossus, for whatever reason, told the Imperial Intelligence agent that Teverek only knew of a general danger to him. If they knew specifics, then the danger would have been handled more surgically. Not like the swing of a primitive club.

But if I am in play and there is a general sense of danger once more...



*


He had changed his appearance once more, his physique gaining several pounds to the eye and as he moved through the starport he saw several local security officers and craft around his ship. He had characteristically left nothing damaging to him or the Empire in the ship but the mere fact that it had been seized limited his options.


As he walked past the berth, he noticed the old Admiral in civilian clothes talking in the distance with another man, presumably the Port Authority Manager or some similar functionary.


Apparently his questioning of the old man had raised his suspicions. Talk of the Project and his interest in it had sparked some worry.


That more than anything else...this reaction by the retired Admiral, told Ciscero all he needed to know about the danger this Project posed.


The old man would remain here trying to track him down which gave the Intelligence agent an window of opportunity.


He must be in some sort of contact with Teverek.


He would need to view the transmission logs of the Admiral's communications consol. Breaking into a Communications facility was much harder though not out of the realm of possibility. But Ciscero instinctively felt the pressure of time closing in.


This made his target much smaller.


He had to get back to the old man's place of residence.



*


His hunch had paid off.


After slicing into the old man's computer system he had bypassed the encryption of the data. He did not care about the content of the messages the retired Admiral sent so much as he cared about the destination.


His eyes ran through the series of communication coordinates hoping that one would stand out over others. Many were repeating which is what one would find in residential communication devices. Family... Friends.


But one location was out of place and the odd point out.


Odd because there was supposed to be no life there.


Mim



Teverek had moved off of Ossus alright. But still in range of his data collection systems to keep his Project running as best he could.


How do you book passage to a place that no one wanted to go too?


He remembered the defense platforms and knew that to travel there was to alert someone somewhere which, in turn, would somehow alert Teverek.


His eyes narrowed.


He would have to think this one through.


How do you defeat something that would know you are coming?

Circa: After the events in Apparitions





Teverek sat at a table staring out blankly at a wall. He and Evek had finally finished off the last of the half million credits and he could no longer hold Oloh at bay. The loan shark would expect his money back with interest and so far, they had nothing to show for it.


When he tried to bring his concerns up to Evek, his friend simply shook it off and continued to work on the latest addition to the Project. It was a nutrient tank of some sort that resembled a bacta treatment tank.


Or cloning cylinder... he thought absently.


The completed tank stood in a corner awaiting the package that was to arrive from the Utropollus System.


It was Evek who had brokered the deal, through intermediaries of course, between the Black Dragon Empire and the dictator who came to be known as Macbeth. Currently, their handler was a wanted person by the Empire. He knew that they would probably not see Thera again and he wondered, not for the first time, just how responsible they were for the whole ordeal. Were they responsible for Thera's life if the Empire caught her?


"Nonsense," Evek had said, "She knew the dangers of her line of work and if she did not accept them, then she wouldn't be a smuggler."


She had delivered to Macbeth cartons of Dragon nanomachines and from there chaos erupted. The Utropollus System had fallen to the control of the mad Macbeth... mad in every sense of the word.


"The shipment arrived!" Evek gleefully shouted entering the room directing several droids who were pushing repulser-lifts full of containers.


Macbeth, in his insanity, had misused the nanomachines attempting to create a power that was, perhaps, better held by the Black Dragon Empire. He had tried to merge the biological with the mechanical with frighteningly disastrous results.


Teverek felt for those living in the system under the warped dictator.


"Tev, you will not believe what happened." Evek's hand grabbed Teverek's shoulder. "That madman Macbeth struck out against the Empire. Theren Gevel of the Bastion Conclave is responding but it looks like an early victory for Utropollus!"


Teverek shot his friend an incredulous look, "There is no way Macbeth can sustain his attacks. He is but one system! The Empire will smash him to dust! And the people suffering under his rule!"


"Tut..tut... spilled milk.." Evek responded, "I for one will not cry over the Imperials dying at this madman's hands. A madman we helped push into power!"


His grin widened. "I should say this proves the Project a success once more! The Empire is only feeling our first stings of the Project, but imagine.. Imagine once the Project moves to the next phase... We will be unstoppable!"


"But those people.." Teverek murmured.


"Forget about them. Casualties of war. Sometimes to kill a rancor in a mudpit, you have to get a little dirty."


"Tell that to the people suffering under a madman we maneuvered into power. And at what cost to the man himself?!"


Evek shot his friend an annoyed look. "The New Republic has fallen! The great offensive of the Galactic Coalition and the Outer Rim Soveriegnty has FAILED! If the candidate before Macbeth had succeeded, we might have been in a position to influence the outcome of that war! But who expects two factions to attack the Empire and still turn back defeated!?"


The Jedi's contempt for the valiant efforts of the Coalition and Sovereignty was, to Teverek, a bit unfair. There was no denying the Empire's brilliant commanders on the field of battle nor the uncanny competence of their masterminds.


"How do we know our meddling in the affairs of Utropollus did not somehow, influence the outcome of the war?"


Evek frowned further. "How?" he asked but then waved the question away. "It doesn't matter. It only further goes to show the effectiveness of the Project in galactic affairs."


The droids had begun to unclasp the containers and begin filling their gel-like liquid into the waiting tank.


Perhaps the nanomachines had driven Macbeth mad. Perhaps it was a combination of things but in any event, what was important about Macbeth's whole drive for power was his interface designs.


Teverek stared at the greyish liquid goop filled with Macbeth's inferfaces and silently mourned.. Was it for this that Utropollus suffers?


Perhaps Evek really did see these incidents as mere stepping stones to destroy an even greater evil. Their missing link in the Project was the Force. Without the equipment in every place in the galaxy to gather data, there were huge gaps in what the algorithms could predict. The greater the range of application the less the probability factor became and soon it become nothing more than intuitive guesses. But the Force?


The Force knew things and imparted these things to force users at whim. Evek's confirmation of the validity of the data and information they were using had helped tremendously but the man was hindered by his physiology. There was only so much data he could take in and reflect on at a time. Therefore, as the stacks of information piled, the actual data they could reliably draw conclusions from lessened.


Their latest push was to give Evek access to all of the data at once. A constant meditative state was required and if achieved, coupled with what data they could gather from their systems, meticulously arranged over the years, who knew what sort of visions Evek would see? To allow the Force to sort through it and perhaps show Evek visions of the future and, with the algorithm, give them a chance to manipulate the future into one where there was no Empire was heady stuff indeed.


Think about it! A galaxy of free beings!


But Evek had changed since they took the Project in this new direction and Teverek was not sure if it was a change for the better.


He became more driven, more focused but also more callous. People became variables and numbers and the idea of bettering the galaxy fell back to the idea of simply bringing the Empire down.


"Evek," he started, "What good is defeating the Empire if we become the Empire ourselves?"


"We are NOT the Empire!" his friend shouted back. "When they are gone and we are charting the course of the galaxy, we will do so with benevolent intentions! Our decisions are based on the good of the galaxy! Not for the good of ourselves!"


Evek's arm came around and struck Teverek on the side of his head. So unexpected was the blow that Teverek went down. Evek was there by his side, kneeling. "Tev, I am so sorry. I don't know what came over me. Please, it's not fair to compare our work to the Empire. After all we've done. After all we've been through and the years we have put into this.. It was an unfair comparison."


Teverek rubbed the side of his head in confusion but nodded to his friend. "It's alright. It did not hurt that much.." he lied.


Evek suddenly smiled. "Brilliant!"


He held out his hand, "Come help me into this tank. It's time to change the fate of an Empire and change the face of a galaxy."

Present Day



Mim



The calculations scrolled down various screens as tired eyes glanced at the dance of number representations and symbols. As the dance reached it's climax and ended, the resulting display showed:





"Run, algorithm 459,343," his voice croaked and the scrolling began again in earnest.


72% is not a bad percentage, all things considered. A voice in his mind put forth.


"Not good enough," he murmured.


The pendulum has already swung in our direction. Simon Kaine did not become the Emperor and the resulting spiderweb of possibilities takes predictions into new territories. Previously darkened branches suddenly flared with new life so...


The voice was persistent in it's reasonableness and it was tempting. Oh, it was so very tempting.


"The fall of the Empire does not automatically mean a Golden Age. What damage to the galaxy will such a fall bring about and will that damage be irreversible?" he patiently explained.


We have already demonstrated our ability to withstand anything the Empire can throw at us and with total invulnerability comes freedom of action.


"We are not totally invulnerable," he persisted in showering reality where it had so long ago fled.


There have been queries but nothing to sustain your worry. Ossus believes you toil at their security and so far, their notions have been rewarded with results but they take us for granted. They have forgotten our contributions and they have forgotten the task for which we were formed. To shape a galaxy requires delicate touches but we are not out to shape it. We are out to repaint it.

It is nearing the time for us to simply whitewash this canvas and start over.


It was so very tempting.


Teverek Shal sighed as his tired eyes glanced at the murky liquid in the darkened tank situated in a corner of the room.


The datanet was secure.


The information gathering facilities in the Adega System were second to none and the Project was primed.


He should have been relieved.


Exultant even at the prospect of having finished what he and Evek had set out to do.


Instead, what he felt was exhaustion. He knew that even this was yet another beginning.


Another stepping stone in unending stepping stones for a goal that he no longer cared about.


But, for the life of him, he saw nothing he could do. He saw no alternative and so he fed more variables and figures into the program let the numbers tempt their hand at fate.






It almost did not register.


What were the new variables!??


What were the factors?!!the voice demanded.


No, Shal had long since come to the realization. Commanded!


"Galactic Coalition attacks... major defeats... splitting apart.." Teverek frowned at the probability branch wondering how so much heartache and destruction could bring about the desired result?


"Radical change in Imperial Military philosophy...this is very interesting.."


Everything was cycles. Predictable loops that, if you simply waiting long enough for, would change the stage of activity or, in this case, galactic activity.


Timeframe? snapped the voice. As always, it was not quick enough to suit certain plans already put into motion.


The anarchy of terrorist activities and general mayhem of random destruction had it's uses as proven mathematically but Teverek was loath to even contemplate such things.


Unfortunately, he was not the guiding force of the Project.


He kept reading as fast as his tired eyes could scan but the monitors began to cause them to tear up.


"It seems that a major fracture within the Imperial machine occurs..."


"When?" came a new voice between opening doors and Teverek was at a loss to explain the intrusion.


The man was wearing an Ossus Military Uniform and holding a tray of food, both of which Teverek instantly forgave for he had forgotten the last time he had eaten when the voice shrilled with one word:


Danger!

Present Day


Mim



How do you defeat something that would know you are coming?



The answer is rather simple and, if you are patient, rather easy.


Remove yourself as a threat.


There was no such thing as a totally self-sustaining biosphere that required constant connection to the outside world to fulfill your purpose. If the Project were run by machines, they would require maintenance. If the Project was run by humans or other beings, they would require resupply. If such resupply was provided for on the surface of a moon, such facilities would also require it's own maintenance.


There was no real self sustaining system that also interacted with the outside galaxy.


All one had to do was make oneself a part of this Project's upkeep. Work for the Project and you would not be considered part of the problem to be detected, weeded out and/or neutralized but part of the sustaining equation. An essential part of the system that would depend on your actions for continuation, perpetuation... in fact, it's very survival.


Inserting false data that detailed a false background was not hard. Even if such things could be pierced, the point was, by your behavior and conduct you dissuade such curiosities from even occurring.


He knew that for the Project to be truly effective, they would have had to answer the subjective problem which required knowing which data was true and which was false.


So it was expected that the facade would be shredded, especially given the short amount of time he was allowing for the patience of inserting himself into the Project's Support System.


He hoped, however, that such shredding would not happen until after he reached Mim.


There was an element of risk but being in his line of work, what wasn't?


And so, Ciscero came to find himself on Mim and as he separated himself from the maintenance crews he began to explore the small facility trying to locate the central hub.


A door opened revealing a room that contained monitors of various sorts all along the walls and full of some sort of numerical data that he could not interpret at a glance.


At the center of the room was a man seated and speaking but to no one in particular...


"It seems that a major fracture within the Imperial machine occurs..."


Ciscero, holding a tray of food as a pretense spoke, his mind working alternatives and extrapolations from what he was seeing.


A large highlighted area of one monitor standing out among the others...





"When?" he asked out loud.


The seated man was startled and Ciscero recognized him as Teverek Shal.

Finale




With the Intelligence Agent's arrival, the monitors surrounding Teverek Shal went blank. The Project Team Member slowly sat up, turning his entire body in the direction of Ciscero.


"Congratulations," he murmured without enthusiasm. As expected, words appeared on all the monitors in large enough script to be read by the intruder.







Ciscero took the moment in sensing that the emotion behind the words did not... could not! reflect what Dr. Shal before him felt inside. As he stepped slightly closer the lines of fatigue lining the others face could not be mistaken.


"You believe too much in your future prediction project.." the Imperial commented in a light-hearted voice that was anything but. His eyes scanned the room trying to locate the source of the text entries.


What he did see was Teverek's eyes drop and his shoulders sag a little.


Disappointed?






The text glowed and Ciscero cast an amused expression.


"Surely you cannot believe the luck in destroying an Imperial Fleet would save you again?"


"It was not luck.." Teverek sighed. He was so very tired.






"So what have you been doing? Biding your time?" Ciscero barked out sarcastically at a monitor ignoring the fact that he felt ridiculous arguing with a monitor but ever so slowly moving closer to Teverek.





"There is alot of data out there," Ciscero waved absently, "but very little information."


Teverek's eyes suddenly lit up and his head rose in curiosity.





The monitor taunted.






That stopped Ciscero as the Imperial's eyes narrowed. It made sense, the confidence they had in the project had to be reflective of something. Just because he could not figure out a way to figure the difference did not mean Teverek had not.


The Agent suddenly lunged forward grabbing Teverek by the shoulder and twisting him around ready to snap the scientist's neck. The tray of food had dropped revealing a blunt cylinder and with a flick of his wrist, he could crush the scientist's trachea.


"And if I kill Dr. Shal?" Ciscero asked, pleased that he had been able to move so close to the scientist despite their apparent oblivion.


They kept their minds on the big picture never noticing the details that would be their undoing. Or so his mind reflected.


The monitor's next words sent a shock through him.





"You can't mean that!" snapped Ciscero. "Teverek Shal is the highest ranking member... Hell, he's the ONLY member of your precious Project now! His death would not be useless!"


He is the most dangerous man in the galaxy! Wasn't he?


He saw that the words on the monitor offered Teverek Shal no surprise and he gave a tired chuckle that offered no resistance which confused the Intelligence Agent. Surely with their plan in place and with the fate of the Empire at stake (or so they believed) surely, the scientist would put up some sort of fight.


"The bridge was not erected by me, Imperial." Teverek finally rasped out. "It could not be."


Ciscero released the man and the scientist turned to face the agent, "Tell me, Imperial. Who of all people have access to information and predications that defy all logic of natural evolution?"


Ciscero felt a sinking pit in his stomach. "Are you referring to force users, Doctor? Are you telling me you handed the Project over to a force user?"


And then it snapped, "Evek Jiren was a relative of Gash Jiren! The only man who has been both a Sith and a Jedi Master! The force must run strong in his family!"


"A user in tune with the force could channel a great deal of confirmation as to the veracity of information. Is it true? Is it false?" Teverek supplied.


"But even then, on the scale that you evidently want to operate, you would need a hundred Jedi! Thousands!"





"A computer? An AI made in the image of Evek Jiren?" Ciscero cocked his head in sudden thought, a grin suddenly splitting his features.


"I hate to burst your bubble," the grin widened, "but machines cannot channel the force!" and Ciscero moved.


His arm curved and he threw the metallic cylinder at the monitor as Teverek screamed "NO!".


The metallic object sailed steady and true and the monitor shattered upon contact sending electrical sparks and wiring every which way.


"You fool.." Teverek whispered harshly as Ciscero went to retrieve his cylinder from the monitor. The metal was not conductive and so the agent pulled it out easily wondering if he should finish Teverek or not.


"I have some knowledge of machines that think too much of themselves, Doctor. Remember, we do have dealings with the Black Dragon Empire." Ciscero remarked offhandedly.


"You fool..." Teverek merely stated absently.


Ciscero was going to retort once more when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned noting only the dark sludge of liquid in a tank sitting off to a corner. There was one part darker than most and as he walked slowly up to it he saw that the shadow was an outline of a hand.


Pressed up against the glass.


As his surprised eyes traveled up the glass cylinder they came to rest upon two glowing orbs staring back at him. The malevolence of the gaze was determined by the hurling of the Imperial Intelligence Agent across the room striking another monitor causing it to spark as well.






The creature in the cylinder swished through the murky liquid as Ciscero was picked up by an unseen hand and thrown against another wall.


Teverek had tried to slowly move out of the path of the Imperial being thrown about and tripped on Ciscero's cylinderical, blunt object that had dropped. Cursing at the pain that shot through his ankle, Teverek picked up the object and hobbled over to the corner where the tank sat. Upon reaching it, he turned to watch the Imperial agent being handled as if he were a mere toy doll.


Through the pain and haze that had overcome his mind, Ciscero knew he had miscalculated badly.



How could anything live in that sludge?



The fact that it was a force user changed the balance of power completely and it also put a new spin on the Project. All this time, Ysanne Isard had thought Teverek the puppet master with this project but as he glanced at the man through bloody eyes, he saw that the man himself was merely a puppet. Teverek was the public face of a project, publicly disgraced and hunted by the underworld all the while being a lightning rod for those that would make a play for the real master.


This ... force user.


And there was only one force user attached to the Project from the beginning.


A man who had disappeared and was presumed dead by everyone.


A man lost to time.


"Evek Jiren.." he whispered through shaken lips.



The creature's glowing eyes widened slightly and the invisible hand's grip lessened. Teverek was rubbing his side but looked on with renewed interest.



The remaining functional monitors displayed the creature's amused response.






"A faulty conclusion based on faulty information," Ciscero muttered trying to remain conscious.






"Probabilities." Ciscero retorted weakly. "Kaine says there are always possibilities."






Ciscero tried to sit up but could not as pain shot up his spine. He turned his head to the creature's glowing eyes and sneered...


"Easier. More seductive the Dark Side is. Once you start down it's path, forever will it dominate your destiny!" he spat out. "One destination, indeed. Your own self destruction!"


The creature snarled as it's face pressed against the tank and Ciscero noted that his facial orifices were covered with some kind of metal contraption. There were fibrous metallic strands protruding from its skull reaching upward to the covered top of the bacta-tank look-alike.






As Ciscero felt the pressure on his limbs increase he felt an overwhelming urge to scream out when a crash occurred and he lost consciousness to the sound of a muffled beat.



*



As the light fluttered into his eyes, Ciscero's first observation was the blank screen on the wall opposite him. As more of his senses returned, he heard a faint weeping in the corner and rolled over to see Teverek Shal on his knees crying over a bloody mass of pulp, his cylinder object stained red and on the floor nearby.


The tank's glass had been shattered.


As the Imperial Agent pulled himself slowly to his feet and hobbled over to Teverek, the scientist sat back down and leaned against the back wall unfocused. The voices in his head were now permanently silenced. The forced exertion leveled against him by his former friend had driven him to near collapse.


As Ciscero neared, he too tried to sit down and ended up dropping down when Teverek reached into his lab coat and pulled out a computer data crystal. When Ciscero did not reach out and take it, Dr. Shal placed it on the floor between them.


"Why?" Ciscero asked between throbs of his pounding headache.


"Gash Jiren was right. We were obsessed in our need for revenge and while we applied that obsession into our work, it also ate at my friend's heart. Revenge can be a powerful motivator but it will also destroy you. In the end, there was nothing left of my friend, Evek. This was our last gamble, our last roll of the dice to bring an end to all the pain and suffering we experienced. But what we lost sight of was that in our attempt to save the galaxy, we neglected to save ourselves. We thought we could merge science with the force and be the better for it."


"A force user who did not need visions but simply an application of mathematics to bring about a desired outcome..." Ciscero murmured.


"A Jedi allows the Force to guide his actions. By moving Evek's reliance on the Force to science, instead, we set up the foundation for his slide into the Dark Side. I do not know exactly what this Dark Side is or how it operates but I have seen first-hand it's effects. Revenge and hatred crushed what light there was in my friend and he turned his back on everything his family had taught him."


The Intelligence Agent nodded slightly, "His goal, however, stayed the same.."


Teverek shook his head, "No. The destruction of the Empire is not an end. Yes, we treated it so but what good is removing the Empire if there is nothing better to replace it. Empire and Republic. Empire and Coalition. Two sides of the same coin. Each the same and yet different. We never saw past the Empire's demise to address this. We thought to bring down the Empire and establish a rule of compassion in it's place."

Teverek grimaced, "but a benevolent dictator is still a dictator. That was why, despite our refining the mathematics and algorithms of the Project, we could never obtain the result we wanted, namely, the end of the Empire. The current leadership would be removed but replacing one empire with another could never eliminate the New Order."


"But what about the monitors showing 100% probability of the Empire's fall? And if your program was so effective, how was I able to get here? And why did you..." Ciscero motioned to the pulpy mass that was once Evek Jiren.


Teverek sighed a tired sigh. "These conclusions I learned a long time ago. But how do you, when you are but a puppet, work to undo a system that by definition can head off disaster and foresee conclusions?

At first, the project was aimed at protecting Ossus. Even then, a gargantuan undertaking for information gathering. But once the nano-machines from Utropollus were received, we used their interface to merge Evek with the ability to have instantaneous access of as much information as our impressive systems could provide.

The human mind, while fragile, can process quite a bit of information at an unconscious level that rivals even the fastest droids. The added dimension of the Force took the Project into realms previously undreamt of. The focus became to protect Evek thinking that Ossus, by extension, would also benefit. He was his most dangerous then. A program that protected him from anything and everything coupled with a force sensitivity to danger merely extended his paranoia.


I began to use that paranoia to suggest to him ideas like what good was protecting him if the orbitals blew up? What good was being alive if Ossus was destroyed. One thing we learned and one thing he could not deny was the the interrelationships between actions and reactions, the connections between circumstances. And so, the protective ranges of the program grew and grew until Ossus was protected once more.


The 'by extension' assumption is just that. An assumption. I thought that if someone could slip inside the protective envelope, some sort of action could be taken against Evek and the program would not issue counters as the larger safety of Ossus was not threatened. I just hoped the Empire would stop sending battle fleets."


"We sent agents."


Teverek nodded. "Yes, but Evek's own force sensitivity was intensified and so while his counter actions were not as fine-tuned as a Project algorithm's, they were still effective. You managed to slip into the envelope and make your way here which again, surprised me. But when you started on me and then the computer and not Evek directly, I lost hope. I fully expected you to die quickly.

But then something strange happened. You engaged his interest however short which allowed me to act under his sensor net, as it were. My blow was unexpected and a shock."


"You definitely made the most of it," the agent murmured. The nutrient solution Evek lived in, along with his nano interfaces as well as the use of his own dark powers were slowly destroying his body. What was left could hardly be called human."


"If Darth Vader could surprise Emperor Palpatine, I could surprise Evek." Teverek stated matter-of-factly.


"But you also lost out on your best chance to bring down the Empire.." Ciscero commented.


Teverek gave the Imperial a tired smile, "The program works, Imperial. The new variable entered for series Coruscant - 459,343 was if Evek Jiren was killed."


Ciscero felt a little lightheaded as his eyes glanced down at the data crystal on the floor. "So what prevents me from taking this and using it against your vaunted prediction #459,343?"


Teverek turned a serious look at the other, "Young man, in the last decade I have worked on this Project, there is one thing that I have learned about facts and truth. Despite the differences in each that many will espouse, there is one permeation of which both fact and truth are resolute and immutable in their agreement:


The fall of the Empire."



He waved his hand at the data crystal. "So take it. Use it. You may delay the fall. You may conquer yet a hundred new star systems and spread your tyranny and lust for destruction across half the galaxy.


It will not matter.


It will not change the inevitable.



The Empire will fall."



And with that, Ciscero slowly and painfully stood up reaching for his cylindrical weapon that Teverek had used on Jiren. He stared long and hard at the data crystal before him as Teverek tensed.



He then brought up his boot and slammed it down hard shattering the crystal into fragments.


"Be sure to pay your debt to Oloh, Doctor. With interest," Ciscero remarked as he limped out of the room leaving Teverek Shal with his memories.

Epilogue





Ysanne Isard read the report that Ciscero provided while the agent sat on the other side of her desk waiting patiently.


"You took a beating this time, Ciscero," the old woman commented, her colored eyes rising from the datapad in her hand towards her agent.


"Unexpected force user."


"Indeed. It seems we have yet to hear the end of Jiren and his clan."


Ciscero nodded wondering why she was beating around the bush about his destruction of the Project's data.


"You left this Dr. Shal alive, I see." It was not a question.


"Given that he was not the most dangerous person in the galaxy anymore," the agent replied alluding to Isard's words before she sent him on the mission, "killing him would simply open more curiosity than not."


"Agreed. Also, I agree with your decision to destroy the project data."


Ciscero's eyes shot up and Isard noticed the surprise. "You're surprised?"


"Well yes. Quite frankly, I expected you to skin me alive over this."


Now it was Isard's turn to look surprised. "You are one of my special agents and there have been some judgment calls you have made in the past that I questioned but for the most part, I agree with most of your decisions. Especially this recent one."


"Why?"


"Because Dr. Shal is correct."


Ciscero sat straighter, "Excuse me?"


Isard's eyebrow rose, "His conclusion is hardly news, Ciscero, though it is tempered by his own subjective perspective.


The Empire will fall. Eventually. But, then again, cosmic history shows us that all governments fall given enough time. Name me one government that has lasted since the beginning of time?"


"The Old Republic that sits in the dreams of the Galactic Coalition and their kind lasted for quite a long time." Ciscero pointed out.


Isard rasped out a laugh, "Romantics that they are. The name 'Republic' lasted about twenty thousand years but I assure you, the government prior to the Empire forming was far different than the government that was forged in 'year one'. The malcontents all pine for the peace that was the Old Republic conveniently forgetting that it's twenty thousand year history was paved with blood from one war after another. Peace, indeed!"


"No one will accuse you of being a romantic," Ciscero remarked and Isard glowered.


"That was burned out of me by my father."


In the uncomfortable silence that followed, Isard sighed.


"Simon Kaine works to ensure the Empire functions as an entity for the next thousand years after he is gone. Our Emperor Hyfe also would like the Empire to last for a thousand years but, like Palpatine, he too craves life everlasting and would like the New Order to remain firmly in his grasp for all that eternity."


"And you?" Ciscero asked quietly.


"What do I care a thousand years from now? As long as I am a part of the most powerful organization in the galaxy and in a position to wield that power, I will fight long and hard to retain it for as long as I live. After I am gone, what will it matter to me?"


She laughed lightly as if thinking about a particular joyful memory. "I was once nearly Empress. After Palpatine died at Vader's hand." Her face then clouded, "If not for Rogue Squadron and the New Republic forcing me from Coruscant, I may yet have remained such."


Her voice became wistful.


"But that is the past and we have enemies in the hear and now. Can you imagine if you brought that stupid project back to the Empire, what the result would have been? Can you imagine Emperor Hyfe jumping at shadows both on the far side of the galaxy as well as in our backyard just because some program tells him of some danger? Couple that with his use of the Force and you have Evek Jiren all over again."


Ciscero nodded but the Director was not finished.


"Can you imagine once he felt secure from his external enemies, he would then apply this 'Project' to his own soldiers and servants to weed out dissent and secure his throne? Can you imagine the purges that would reign from his paranoid mind?

No. We are far better without such detailed knowledge of the future."


Besides, it would give one faction of our own infighting an edge that would be very difficult to overcome, Ciscero thought.


"What if Kaine's initial move against Ossus had actually triumphed?"


"Then he would have held in his grasp the key to everything." Isard smiled, "Imagine, but for that one failure, he may have been Emperor himself."


Ciscero shared the smirk though distressed inside about the thought. What would an Empire under Kaine be like?


As he stood up, Isard stopped him with a question, "The data has all been destroyed, yes?"


He turned to the Director of Intelligence and nodded, "All of it."








And somewhere, in a dark and musky room where records of the past are kept comes voices. Tables and old terminals piled on top of one another sitting listlessly and forgotten.


The discarded remains of a bygone era.


A time when anything was possible and when scientific endeavors stretched only as far as the imagination.



Inside the dusty remains of a holo-record was the vibrant figure of Searthan (Gash) Jiren speaking...


In my readings of ancient human literature, I have come across one quote featured prominently in extremely early eras of our ancestor's existence, one apparently made by a scientist of some great repute. It is, simply: "God does not play dice." And, an eternity after these words were spoken, we are at last able to affirm them.

Not only does God not play dice, but he plays chess; the universe is nothing more than a carefully laid set of perameters in which a play is being enacted. Essentially, it is an equation; and while such an equation would be too large to ever map, we have at last taken the first step in that direction. While some assumptions must be made--for, as in any mathematical equation, every factor effects every other--JirenTech has created an algorithm with which seemingly events may be predicted using nothing more than a specially-designed scanner and processing unit.

We have mapped the world, and the eyes through which beings see it. And now, we can predict how that world reacts to said beings--and how those beings react to that world....