30 Military

Coming out of hyperspace he saw another blue Earth-like planet, Eriadu. Unlike in the future when it was known as Coruscant of the Outer rim, right now it's a haven for criminals, smugglers, and spice dealers.

Or, at least it used to be. Six Hammerhead-class and twelve Foray-class cruisers were blockading

the planet. Seeing this, he immediately flipped the switch and opened the hatch of the ship. The satellite onboard was pulled from the ship and deployed in space.

"I need to find a better way to deploy satellites in stealth."

At the same time, the ship's comms system started blinking. Khan glanced at the ships surrounding the planet and flicked the switch to answer the communication request.

"This is the fleet of Colonel Kinall of the Galactic Republic. Am I speaking to the pilot of the Vaulted Screw, Lon Alder?" A male voice came over the intercom. He spoke calmly but Khan could hear a hint of tiredness in his voice.

Khan couldn't help but nod his head, the ship transponder really did give away his identity. But this is also what he wanted, it's worse to have no identity than being a criminal.

"This is Lon Alder, what can I do for you?" His lips curled and he responded slowly.

"You're a wanted criminal. Smuggling spice, transporting slaves, and murder of a Kuat security officer. Land your ship at Phelar Port or we'll open fire."

Khan didn't resist, he didn't want to. He drove his ship past the blockade and moved towards Phelar Port. He could see shuttles constantly traveling between the cruiser and planetside.

"It seems like you are desperate to increase your numbers." 

Phelar city had a large surface area, but the buildings appeared to be nothing more than square or rectangular metal structures. The buildings were so close together the main mode of travel was moving through narrow alleyways.

This allowed gangs and criminal organizations to have more control of their territories and the city as a whole. Just placing a few men at certain access points could completely enclose an area.

The only thing they had to watch out for was aerial craft.

The spaceport took up a large area along a river. It looked like a honeycomb, instead of honey you parked your ship in the cells. 

He found one big enough to park his ship and set it down. The moment the landing gear touched the ground, ten members of the Republic military stormed inside.

Their uniforms were mostly red with a bit of black and yellow. It didn't appear to give much protection at all, nothing like the clone armor in the future.

 Their blasters pointed straight at him through the canopy of his ship. "Exit the ship with your hand up! We won't repeat ourselves, follow all orders." 

Khan flashed them a smile before opening the hatch of his ship. He left the cockpit and opened the cover sealing the top and bottom deck. He climbed down but was greeted with a blaster to the face.

He raised his hands with a smile still hanging on his lips. "Whoa there, no reason to be so violent. I come in peace, take me to your leader."

"Check him!" One of the soldiers gestures forward, not finding his joke funny. Based on the insignia on his uniform he was a Sergeant.

One of them came forward and started patting him down.

"You at least could have bought me dinner first." Khan tried to joke with them again, but none of them gave him the time of day.

They found his pistol first, then a bunch of thermal grenades, spice, and data pads from his coat.

"That's everything Sergeant."

"Then cuff him and bring him back. We should be able to make it to the next transport." The Sergeant signaled for his men to cuff Khan.

They placed locks on his hand and pushed him forward. Leaving his port, they arrived in a long maze-like hall that spanned between areas.

Republic soldiers could be seen transporting people cuffed just like him towards a certain area. From what he's seen, those from the republic military were mostly humans or near humans.

Those captured were from a variety of species. The familiar Rodians, the thick-skinned Weequays, and the spider-headed Aqualish to name a few.

The soldiers moved them to one of the larger ports where those arrested were being loaded aboard a ship.

Khan was pushed onboard and sat next to a Rodian. He could see the fear on his reptilian face.

His body shook and he seemed to notice Khan's gaze. "I'm just a spice dealer, I don't want to become a soldier on the battlefield."

"Don't worry, you won't be a soldier." Khan's words seemed to calm him down and drew the attention of those around him.

"You all will be nothing more than cannon fodder at best."

"Huh?!? Why didn't you include yourself in that group? You were captured just like us!" A male Twi'lek with blue skin snarled at him. His sharp teeth looked capable of ripping his flesh apart.

"Haha." Khan laughed. "You think by filing your teeth down you can scare me? Which one of these guys is your master, Twi'lek? You need better domestication, or were you the distraction for him to escape capture?"

"Hahahaha!" Laughter filled the transport. The Twi'lek was about to rise from his seat but the soldiers returned.

"Quite down! Were about to take off, anyone who causes a disturbance will be executed for impeding military operations!" Their guns trailed everyone's body, making them honest again.

The doors to the ship closed and the entire craft vibrated before slowly taking off.

Khan's right eye rotated slightly and the image of his spacecraft leaving the planet was presented before his eyes.

Through the satellite, he tracked his position headed toward one of the Hammerhead-class cruisers.

They flew inside of the ship's hangar and landed. When the hatch opened they were all escorted out.

Just like them, there were hundreds of other prisoners lined up. They were moved into place and the soldiers moved to the sides.

At the front of the crowd stood a man in a Republic officer's uniform. While it was the same color as the soldier's uniform, anyone can tell it wasn't meant for combat operation at first sight. It looked more like a formal dress.

He stood there with his hands behind his back and just watched the criminals squirm.

Khan stood there, his robotic eye scanned everything around him. He wasn't in a rush and had plenty of time.

An hour later, another transport arrived and delivered another batch of criminals. When they were all lined up, the man finally spoke.

"I am Commander Ham Thorne of the Republic military. You all may have guessed why you're here. A dangerous faction waged war against my Republic, and I've drafted you to help defend it."

Murmurs ensued as they started whispering between each other.

"Quiet!" He yelled. "All of you are criminals, instead of sending you to a mining camp for the rest of your lives, your records will be expunged. You've all attained the rank of Private at this moment and subject to military law. Any deserters will be executed." His eyes were cold as he spoke.

"For now, rest, this may be the last moment of peace you have for the rest of your life."

Next, the ship's crew ushered them to their quarters still in handcuffs. Not even telling them where they would be sent to battle.

Khan was placed in a room with three bunks. His roommates were the Twi'lek from earlier and a tanned skin Zabrak.

The moment the door closed the Twi'lek smiled, exposing his fangs. "It seems like fate wants me to rip you to shreds."

Khan looked at him and smiled. "Take one step towards me and I'll beat you down."

The Twi'lek paused before rushing forward.

In Khan's cybernetic eye, it appeared as though he moved in slow motion. Khan's body twisted and his leg swung around, kicking the Twi'lek in the thigh.

The force caused his legs to buckle and stagger to the side.

With his leg still in the air, he bent his knee back and unleashed a second kick to the side of the head in less than a second. The Twi'lek collapsed to the ground completely unconscious.

Khan dropped his leg and looked at the Zabrak.

"Whoa man, I'm good!" He raised his cuffed hands with a wry smile and sat on one of the beds. "I don't want any trouble, I just want to survive this war."

Khan smiled and sat at a table. "I don't think this war will end anytime soon." His head shook slightly. "The name's Lon, from Kuat."

"Jido from Iridonia. I came to the outer rim to run from the Republic police, I didn't think I'd be picked up by the military instead." He sighed and shook his head.

"Where do you think we're going?"

"I don't know." Khan paused. "But we've already jumped to hyperspace. They've probably caught thousands of Cannon fodder with the ships they've brought this time."

"I get the feeling we're going to do something dangerous." Jido collapsed to his back.

He knew the Prometheus was following behind him and Habitat could track his position. 

With nothing to do right now, Khan's mind left Lon's body. His eyes blinked and Lon took back control. 

He sighed at the situation he found himself in. He didn't even know if he was truly still himself, all he knew was he had to complete the mission. Feeling his newfound strength running through his body, he decided to get used to it first. 

Back on the Prometheus, Khan opened his eyes. The corners of his lips rose, during this time he finished developing the technique he started on Cerea. He formed a barrier around him that shrouded his presence in the force.

He took off his helmet and placed it on the ground. Wherever they were going, it would take a while to get there.

He left the meditation chamber and went back to the lab. He stopped in front of Vala and checked her limbs. "The bones are growing nicely, maybe another three weeks and it'll be done."

His plans for Vala were great. She will become the Dark Lord of the Sith under his command in the future. He needs her to fill the gap left by Belia.

"It's time to start improving the nanofluid." Khan took a deep breath and moved to a part of the lab he hadn't used before.

The resemblance to the setup he used on Earth caused him to pause for a moment. His fingers ran across the computer and he smiled.

"I'm not who I used to be." The force gushed from his hand and invaded the computer. Dense lines of code appeared one after another as fast as the computer could handle.

It only seemed like a moment before the code was completed. He turned towards a device on the side and watched the metal inside melt.

The molten metal was pulled inside a machine that began turning it into nanofluid. Soon, all the syringes were filled with a dark gray metallic fluid.

"Durasteel Nanofluid."