17

Marcus remained onboard the Interdictor-Class destroyer as an identical ship model took her place of patrolling after dropping out of hyperspace. Marcus still had a few questions for the death row inmate's and he planned on getting the information one way or another.

Sometime later Marcus could be seen standing in front of the Jedi Knight. Even knowing that the parasite was of no harm to himself he continued to utilize the Hazmat suit.

"Tell me about the Jedi order." Marcus waited with a boring look in his eyes. He was honestly having second thoughts regarding a select few Jedi within the Order as he grew up watching them.

Unfortunately, the Jedi Knight before him responded with a question of his own and not an answer.

"You seem to know about the Republic yet we don't know you, Have you examined us? Would you perhaps like to exchange answers?" Marcus didn't respond as he remembered back during the combat simulations his enemy would stall for time and plan ahead during the conversation.

'Even a defeated enemy could defeat the winner if they lessen their guard.' Marcus did not respond but instead walked over towards the Wookiee's cell and turned a dial.

Due to the position of the cells, the Jedi Knight could see the walls within glowing redder than the force field itself.

"Jedi are supposed to ignore attachments but I wonder if you have one with your Padawan here. Each time you refuse to answer I'm going to increase the temperature until untimely the cell becomes an over and cooks it alive." Marcus could only define the creature as an 'it' because he had no idea if the Wookiee was male or female.

He then returns to the Jedi Knight as the Wookiee begins 'talking'.

"Tell me about your Jedi Order. How many of you are a part of the Order." Marcus's actions caused the Knight to frown and once more responded with a question of his own.

"You would result to harming a child instead of me for questioning? Why would you do such a horrible thing?!" Again, Marcus returned to the dial and increased it once more while speaking.

"It is an alien to me. Why would I care about it? You however seem to care about its well-being, are you attached to the young fella or simply because it's a child?" Marcus suddenly remembered an older woman smiling towards him in a car. Marcus' hand slightly shook and decided to leave the cell room as the dial remains in a very uncomfortable temperature setting.

As he arrived within his momentary cabin he sat down on the bed while bringing his hands to his head, old memory continued to resurface of the older woman who always had a smile on her face.

He always woke up to her cooking breakfast and seemingly always anticipated it.

The woman would ask how he slept and asked about his dreams. Marcus wanted to ignore the remembrances but doing so would only make it worse.

Soon another memory surfaced of the woman smiling with him while they were dancing in a living room. Unknowingly Marcus began crying as he started to 'hear' the woman.

"Come on Marcus! When you are upset it's best to release it by dancing!" He remembered how the smiling woman would gently pull him towards her and make him dance with her.

"Life can be a pain sometimes Marcus but instead of sulking about it just roll with it! Life has its ups where you think it's the greatest day of your life while also having its downs! You just have to be yourself and wait for a new day!" the woman would laugh as he remember smiling with her.

Marcus continues to cry and a new memory surfaced of himself and the woman within a car.

"Marcus make sure to remember that there is always a new day tomorrow. It's up to you whether or not to make it a good day or a bad one. I know you miss them but they would remain within your heart. The only way for them to disappear is by forgetting them entirely." the woman then gave a smile even if it was a sad one and hugged him.

As suddenly as they came, the memories halted and Marcus punched a nearby wall that remained perfectly fine.

He tried so many times to suppress those memories as he would be unable to simply walk away if it happened during a fight. For eight years Marcus would rarely recall moments of his past causing him to have a breakdown.

'I need to do something about this soon. I can't suddenly remember old memories out of the blue like that...' He then steeled his resolve and removed any traces of his unpleasantness moments ago.

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Meanwhile, in a completely different universe, The Emperor of Mankind continued to look over is Empire. For more than a hundred centuries the Emperor has sat immobile on the Golden Throne of Earth. He is the Master of Mankind by the will of the gods, and master of a million worlds by the might of his inexhaustible armies. He is a rotting carcass writhing invisibly with power from the Dark Age of Technology. He is the Carrion Lord of the Imperium for whom a thousand souls are sacrificed every day, so that he may never truly die.

He once more felt a distant connection with his kidnapped kin and decided to examine his Proto-Emperor from another universe.

Once he breached into the universe he found that Marcus already began expanding his Empire. He felt countless humans praying to his name, statues depicting himself, and Humanity under the Imperium we're thriving.

After locating his Kin he saw him calming his nerves down. After a quick examination into Marcus' very being, he understood the problem.

He missed his life, he missed his mother most of all.

The God-Emperor waited for a moment before giving his follower a blessing. He deserved a reward for expanding his influence in such a short amount of time.