Chapter 9

[33BBY]

The following two months went by in a blur. Valin was constantly working on the droids and ship. Even when he wasn't working on it himself, he overlooked the droids to make sure that nothing was amiss.

This whole time Corvus didn't move from his side, as he absorbed as much information as possible. It was an honestly calming thought to have some backup in case anything needs to be maintained or repaired when Valin was unavailable. Just droids won't cut it as long as they haven't gained at least a certain level of sentience. Critical thinking out of the box was something that machines rarely managed on their own.

But in the end, it was worth it, he managed to finish the droids. They had all the equipment he planned for them and then some. He even managed to utilize the crystals he acquired before. Those were built into the Sentinel droids and worked as either weapons or tools in case of leaks or for short-term repairs in situations that call for urgency.

They had two modes. Firstly, they were able to utilize them as some kind of laser sword, which made for a very lethal weapon. The second mode could be compared to a welding torch on steroids.

The torching mode was installed into the Marines' rifles as well as some kind of trump card in case they were ever forced into close combat and were unable manage to get their knife fast enough. Aside from the close combat mode, their weapons were installed with the same fire modes the particle magnum had, that on a larger scale however. Their firepower and energy reserves were superior to the guns and could use continued volleys of shots.

Getting Freia's help in constructing small explosives that are able to generate a lot of force was the right decision as well. Her knowledge of which kind of mixtures would yield the biggest results and how to best activate them was on a surprisingly high level for someone that worked as soldier and mercenary for most of her life. So it was no surprise that they managed to construct some nasty little bombs that could easily be carried unnoticed.

Since they were finished even before the first month went by, there was plenty time to train the droids, working Sabe and the twins to the bones as a result.

To summarize project combat droids, it was a complete success on all fronts. Valin was actually giddy to let them lose on enemies that were hell-bent to get into their way. Thinking back on Astartes, he was sure that they would even be able to go against powered individuals with their firepower, teamwork and tactics.

Admittedly not against Darth Vader, but average Jedi Knights and some of the Master's should pose no problem for them. Especially when their main form of combat was the lightsabre. In that case, Valin had nothing but pity to offer.

He was actually temped to let them loose against Darth Maul in the future. Alas he was still unsure to what extent, and at which point he would meddle in the war to come. There was a lot to gain, before all else he didn't want a big chunk of the galaxy ruled by an insane Sith Lord that had nothing but destruction and egoistical goals in mind.

Maybe saving a few of the more open-minded Jedi would be worth the risk, food for thought. It was still enough time to forge a solid plan. Until then, he still had a few smaller goals to fulfil, first and foremost to find more members for his crew. They could act and function as they were, but there was still a lot room for improvement.

And aside from that, they all deserved a few days off to relax their bones and mind. Therefore, their first destination was Zeltros, the planet of perpetual entertainment. Their main goods of import were gourmet consumables, which was the reason he thought to be able to find himself some good cooks and maybe musicians. Only work would muddle the mind after all.

He even managed to piece together the technology at his disposal and created a replicator, but in the end he didn't have enough data to fill it and the ones he had for proper meals still didn't grant him the result he wished for. In the end the taste was just lacking.

The other positions on the ship would fill themselves the longer their travels would continue. Highly trained people were hard to find and most of the time already affiliated with existing factions. Therefore, he planned to add them as soon as he found trustworthy and capable people along their journey and on the different planets they would visit.

As soon as he found himself more personnel however, he would visit the more interesting systems and planets that he remembered. All the while he would make sure to avoid Coruscant for the moment. He just had no interest in that planet as it was full of deception and brought forth the worst 'humanity' had to offer while wrapping it in gift wrapping paper with a nice ribbon on top.

Apart from the more mysterious locations, he was looking forward to visiting the different planets he learned about in the movies, series, comics, and games.

Ridding himself of his straying thought for now, Valin concentrated on the task at hand. He was going through the last motion to lock the systems of the ship behind certain genes. While he was the only one with the full acess, he gave his crew various level of clearances. It just wouldn't make any sense to get a crew and use them as nothing but decoration.

The captain's seat was the famous control chair that the Ancients used, a more comfortable version however. In his mind it was the perfect way to control a ship as it was intuitive and in situations he didn't have enough personell on hand, he could pilot it alone if necessary.

After finishing around one hour later he was pleased with his work and thought back if there was anything left to do at the ship. He didn't want any mishaps at the last moment after all.

Mentally going through a list, he was put to ease as nothing seemed lacking anymore. They already packed their stuff the day before and boarded the ship as their new living space. The other two smaller ships were put into the ship's hangar and the droids were assigned their respective posts on the ship.

Calling for his crew, he sat onto the control chair that additionally served as the captain's seat.

One by one they appeared with new clothes that showed their affiliation with their crew. The clothes were mostly in darker blues with black and grey accents. The style was more on the militaristic side, something that appealed to all of them and helped to build some sense of belonging. The proposal came from Dunn and Valin was once more glad to have recruited the seasoned commander.

Aside from their uniform, they all carried a particle magnum now and had small devices that served as communicator between them and the ship. With them they could contact each other or request a teleport as they acted as signal for their location as well.

"It's finally time?" Freia asked.

"It is, I'm really looking forward to it." Valin answered. He planned for this moment for a long time after all, so it was understandable that he was the most excited of them all. Furthermore, they all had far more experiences across the galaxy than him and he was eager to make his own.

"Alright, does anyone know where Corvus is? I thought we wanted to start our first trip together on the bridge?" Valin asked, already knowing what would happen next.

"I'm pretty sure he got absorbed into his work again. He surely was livelier than I have ever seen him before for the last two months." Dunn stated as the spot in front of them was filled with light for a moment.

"Sorry for the delay, we can start." Corvus said sheepishly as he appeared on the bridge. He quickly made his way towards his seat.

The others could only shake their heads at his actions.

"Corvus, are you sure that you want to use the teleporter for every little distance you have to cover? I'm pretty sure you'll look like a Hutt in no time!" Brachium joked, eliciting laughs from all of them.

"Yeah, do you want to embarrass yourself when meeting Zeltron ladies on our next stop?" Thwak teased as they began to laugh even louder.

Those two were probably the ones that looked forward to their next destination the most. They were going on about how beautiful Zeltrons were and that this particular species knew how to enjoy themselves for nearly a week now that Sabe even used the stun function of her new guns to gain a few minutes of peace and quiet.

"Alright, all of you buckle up!" Valin ordered as he leaned back into the chair, activating it at the same time.

A rumble went through the ship as every system came online before calming again.

"Open the hangar!" Dunn commanded while Valin concentrated on controlling the ship.

After the gates fully opened, the ship started to take off as it activated it's cloaking ability, becoming invisible for anyone else. It didn't take long for them to leave the influence of Tatooine and enter space for the first time.

Valin opened his eyes as he gazed at the big window in the front. The sight was something to behold and he would see a lot more of it in the future.

Taking one last look at the unpleasant planet where he spent the first 16 years of his new life, he leaned back again and brought the ship onto the course to Zeltron. Occasionally using the warp drive and sometimes the sublight engines, they would arrive in no time.