V.3-C.57│Empyrean Victorious II│

Advancing forward, multiple droids, constructed from within the Empyrean's up and ready forge of the ages, they were scouring the planet once known as Coruscant. The once glorious capital of the Republic.

No one of organic flesh would dare to step foot here. Even then those droids that were living would also not dare to step their mechanical beings here, for the mechanical midi-chlorians used to create them as living would also be affected.

Thus, only expendable, non-living droids were sent here to collect data, material and all sorts of other things. Especially information about many things, but their research is slightly flawed due to having no one that is actually living being able to help them out.

Within a sensitivity to the Force that connects all things living, they would not be able to recreate anything perfectly.

The droids would be attacked by abominations that were mutated beyond what they would have been by Sidious. They would have a hard time trying to go up against them, but the Empyrean has the resources to do so.

After all, with the Star Forge, Anakin would be able to create an army out of barely anything.

The Star Forge was a giant automated shipyard, designed to create the most powerful army of all time. It was constructed by the Rakatan Infinite Empire, five thousand years before the rise of the Galactic Republic.

The Star Forge drew energy and matter from a nearby star which, when combined with the power of the Force, was capable of creating an endless supply of ships, droids, and other war material.

The Rakata, also known as 'The Builders,' constructed the massive space station through the use of slaves from many subject worlds including Belsavis, Corellia, Coruscant, Dantooine, Drall, Duro, Kashyyyk, Manaan, Selonia, Sleheyron, Malastare, and Tatooine.

This technological marvel came at a terrible cost, as the Rakata were by nature a cruel and savage species; the Star Forge began feeding off these negative traits inherent in its creators. As a result the Star Forge became an immense tool of dark side power.

The Star Forge, now a fusion of technology and dark side energies, began corrupting the Rakata in order to gain the immense power it required to operate itself and ultimately caused the collapse of the Rakata Empire.

Aware of the semi-living superweapon's ability to corrupt its users, Darth Revan limited his contact with the dark side artifact to avoid allowing it to control him as it did the Rakatans.

His apprentice Darth Malak, on the other hand, planned to explore deeper into the Star Forge after disposing of his Master.

The size of the Star Forge was extraordinary for its time. Capital ships could easily move between the gaps of the three 'fins' that radiated outwards from the central spherical structure.

The fins extended downward to draw matter from the star of the Rakata system, using it to produce weapons and armament.

While having few apparent docks for capital ships, many fighter craft and smaller freighters were able to dock at bays located on each of these fins.

Externally, the Star Forge possessed very little defensive weaponry, save for several turbolaser batteries positioned near its hangar bays.

Instead it depended entirely on its massive ship production capability as a means to defend itself.

Internally, it was also capable of manufacturing thousands of battle droids for defense, and possessed numerous heavy blast doors that ran throughout the entire factory.

It was also protected by a deadly ship-disabling energy field projected from Lehon's Temple of the Ancients on the Rakata homeworld nearby.

The field caused ships to malfunction and be captured in the planet's gravity well, sending them spiraling down to the world below.

It had been upgraded however, with the Empyrean's rise in technology and the time that has passed, the technology today should of advanced a fair bit, leading to this war machine becoming so much more than before.

In a system where it was unused, Anakin had recreated it better and bigger, allowing him to do a many more things with the behemoth device. For now, it was being put to use to crate disposable droids for the total exploration and creation of outposts in and around systems Coruscant.

The two reason being the Yuuzhan Vong and this now corrupting black hole that started on Coruscant.

Stepping down, someone within a suit started to make their way through the carnage brought on by the droids. "Seems like they know who to do their work." The voice and person within this suit was former Jedi Master, Obi-Wan Kenobi.

"Your telling me." Another person walked by, this person being Obi-Wan's former master, Qui-Gon Jinn. "Anakin's droids are efficient at least."

"Yeah, that is if you call being destroyed in the dozens just to take down one of those creatures is considered efficient." Obi-Wan quipped back.

"And I am sure that you have a better idea?" Qui-Gon replied, questioning his apprentice who still embodied some of the qualities he had as a Jedi.

Walking through the streets as some sounds of skirmishes was happening every now and then, it seemed like there was some corrupted mass starting to grow throughout the megacity. "This place is definitely like nothing I have ever felt before. It isn't the light or the dark sides of the Force." Qui-Gon said, his senses spread throughout, interacting with the dangers that lurk just underneath.

"Careful Master. You remember those reports, don't you? And you are getting quite old now. Why did you come out here?" Obi-Wan said playfully.

"I admit, peace and quiet is nice but there is more for me yet here. Everywhere really, and I have no problems even if I die, for a fear of death should not stop me from being my selfless self." Qui-Gon responded.

"Right. The light side of the Force is strong in you, I guess." Obi-Wan replied.

"Yes. But I have realized a great many things long ago, and that is that Anakin is the Chosen One, whatever his choices be. I have put my faith in him, and he has delivered so far, has he not?" Qui-Gon said.

"I guess." Obi-Wan was not too jealous of what Anakin had, but he must admit it must be nice to actually get into a romantic relationship. 'Maybe I can finally...'

"Watch your six." Qui-Gon informed Obi-Wan, as an abomination came from the direction, launching itself upwards and performing a sequence of attacks that pushed the two Force-sensitive people backwards.

"Great. Now we have to deal with the remnants of Sidious." Obi-Wan complained.

"They are much more now, Kenobi." Qui-Gon said, his face looking seriously at the beast, for it was no longer something that could be called sentient or sapient in many facets. It was but a worker drone in the grand scheme of things.

Their lightsabers active, the two men, in synchronization started their defensive and offensive against the creature.

[]

Droids, short for androids, or also called robots, were mechanical beings, often possessing artificial intelligence.

They were used in a variety of roles and environments, often those considered too menial or too dangerous for humans and other species.

Droids were also used in fields that required extensive specialization and knowledge, such as medical droids and astromech droids. Droids designed for combat were battle droids.

Depending on the model and its corresponding purpose, droids were totally obedient, rugged, expendable, capable of vast memory recall, and mathematically precise.

These characteristics made them well suited for many jobs, though the lack of independent thought in the cheaper, less advanced models limited their capability.

This lack of autonomy was simultaneously a vast asset and a glaring weakness, an asset in terms of obedience and control but a massive drawback in terms of effectiveness.

Designers faced a fundamental paradox, make the droids overly intelligent, and they might rebel; yet make the droids not intelligent enough and they would be ineffectual.

Customarily, droid names were often an arrangement of numbers and letters.

Very useful as they may be, the Empyrean was using them to explore the corruption that originated from Coruscant.

Thankfully there is enough droids to also help them in their battle against the Yuuzhan Vong, where massive ships of various types made their way through these areas. These ships only composed of droids and artificial intelligence under the control of Anakin and Siri, for there would be no more death of life going into these zones.

The best way for them to go past these things and truly gain information from their new enemies, the Yuuzhan Vong is to go through the corruption.

Which only droids could really do safely, especially the non-living variants.

Located in the Core Worlds, the Ruan system contained one of the eighteen farming planets administered by the Salliche Ag Corporation.

It was through this route that they managed to get past the corruption of the Core World, Coruscant and finally make their way deeper into the now Yuuzhan Vong territories.

Large fleets of massive numbers were there, but they were inactive as the controlled droids were able to scout ahead, noticing that alot of the corruption was spreading throughout the Yuuzhan Vong as well.

Meaning, the corruption from Coruscant in conjunction with the Yuuzhan Vong could create rather disastrous affects.

The furthest the droid army fleet could go was Empress Teta of the Deep Core systems.

Empress Teta was an ecumenopolis world located in the Empress Teta system, a star system in the Koros sector of the galaxy's Deep Core. Initially known as Koros or Koros Major, the planet's name was changed following Empress Teta's unification of the system around 5000 years ago from now, give or take a few years.

The extent to which the capital Cinnagar covered the world also caused many to refer to the world itself as Cinnagar, even in official documentation, a source of confusion at times.

A major supplier of refined carbonite, the planet was a major hub of operations for the Mining Guild. It was located on both the Koros Trunk Line and the Carbonite Run, and for a short time on the Daragon Trail.

Empress Teta was the main hub of galactic civilization in the Deep Core and was also one of the few highly urbanized planets in the region to rival Coruscant itself in fashion and amenities.

Now that it was under the control of the Yuuzhan Vong and given their hate for technology from this known universe they had traveled into, the Yuuzhan Vong had laid siege upon this planet. Millions were dying or were enslaved under the Yuuzhan Vong for other purpose.

Probably to specifically have them become canon fodder for the corruption forcing them to retreat inwards.

The droid army attacked the Yuuzhan Vong here, but would remain defeated even with much better and more advanced systems.

Empress Teta was a city-planet located in the outer shell of the galaxy's Deep Core, at the terminus of the Koros Trunk Line directly galactic south of Coruscant.

With over half its landmass covered by its capital Cinnagar, and vast reserves of carbonite that made the backbone of Empress Teta's economy, the planet was the center of galactic civilization in the Deep Core.

While officially a monarchy, the Mining Guild held the true power on the planet in the post-Unification era as the stores of carbonite on the planet gave them the advantage of setting galactic prices on the valuable commodity.

Due to the reliance on carbonite economically, mines dotted the surface of the planet and the cityscape, and had at one point threatened to completely shatter the environment of the world.

The discovery of the valuable substance on the other six worlds of the Empress Teta system enabled the Mining Guild to do much of its business Offworld, allowing the nonurbanized areas of Empress Teta to avoid the environmental damage that befell the other worlds of the system. Where the city had not grown, some areas of wildlife remained, including forests and plains.

In addition to the carbonite stores, Empress Teta was a major source of andris spice within the Core.

An authorized supplier of the spice, andris' primary function was as a cure for hibernation sickness, a side effect that befell ancient colonists that had been frozen in carbonite on sleeper ships once they were woke from their slumber.

Like most controlled substances, the criminal element on the planet had discovered a way to make andris spice a powerful stimulant and sought ways to sell it on the black market. This criminal problem was an issue until the rise of the Galactic Empire, which stamped out much of the black market dealers.

Traffic in the planet's skylanes and orbit was controlled centrally from the Cinnagar Space Traffic Control tower.

Cinnagar Control directed ships leaving orbit, arranged for repairs to returning vessels, and kept wanted vessels and those taking unauthorized action in line with its own defense force of Koros Spaceworks interceptors.

Empress Teta was a wealthy and fashionable world, typical of the many affluent planets in the galactic core, only slightly behind Coruscant itself in the amenities it offered.

The ornate artistry of the world's architecture was admired, much of it having arisen in the reconstruction that followed the Great Hyperspace War. Galactic-class museums, fine restaurants, and boutiques attracted tourists and local aristocrats; all of whom flocked to Empress Teta's gems of history and luxury.

While most Tetans who lived in the Core District of Cinnagar were accustomed to living in luxury, those who lived outside of the Core District of Cinnagar lived a working-class lifestyle.

Nobles on the planet traced their ancestry back to the legendary Empress Teta herself; though some historians questioned her actual existence by the rise of the Galactic Empire.

Lesser nobles possessed a share of the Mining Guild's activity in the system, allowing them to amass great fortunes.

However, none of this mattered now that the Yuuzhan Vong had them under their control, allowing them to benefit the most and turn everything produced here into their own things.