Chapter 62

---Several Weeks Later---

Receiving my new title and territory, after the dust settled from both conflicts, the first thing I did was review the current state of my domain. As the former nobles were more focused on military might than the people they served, I anticipated there would be quite a lot of issues to address. Working with Jarvis and Luxion over the course of four days, we created a checklist of over six hundred pages in length. Ranging from woodland clearing projects to road repairs, there were far more problems than I ever could have imagined. Handing things over to my Engineering Division, I instructed them to reach out to me if they had any questions.

One of two non-combatant divisions at my disposal, the automatons, men, and women of this group were the backbone of my operations. These individuals were responsible for most of the production, maintenance, and disposal of equipment as there was far too much for me to handle alone. Grateful to have them working alongside us, Commander Bannister and her men were held in high regard by everyone in my organization. Providing her with everything she needed to complete the work, I confirmed with her she was all set before leaving it to her.

"To clarify, sir, is there any particular order we should tackle these in?", Commander Bannister asked, quickly skimming through the sheets.

"I would prioritize well and food storages repairs/replacements first, but outside of those you are free to tackle them as you see fit.", I stated, "Notify me if you have any further questions or concerns."

"Will do, Supreme Commander!", she said, saluting me, "Also, thank you for giving us something to do other than typical maintenance work. We are happy to do it, but it becomes pretty tedious doing the same shit every day."

"Hahaha, I can imagine.", I chuckled, before the two of us parted ways.

Returning to my residences in the capital, I found my family lounging by the pool soaking up the sunshine and remaining warm weather of the year. Walking out onto the patio with refreshments for everyone, the women came over to greet with a hug and kiss.

"How did your meeting go?", Mylene asked, as I took my usual seat in the middle of the group.

"They eagerly accepted the work as it will break up their normal work routine.", I told her, "Based on her estimates, everything should be completed by next summer. After that, I think we will move there till preparations are completed for our space faring journey."

"How long will that be again?", Clarice inquired.

Tapping my wrist computer, I scrolled over to the current completion progress on the few remaining projects. Confirming that the information was current, I informed everyone that it would be about two years from now. Understandably upset that it was not sooner, Deirdre sat up in her chair and inquired if we could take another excursion into space. Having missed out on our first voyage, Deirdre and Mylene were eager to see what life was like out there for themselves.

"Well…we could pay a visit to an active space station and buy resources to speed up the construction of our star base.", I acknowledged, rubbing my chin, "We currently have one hundred million credits thanks to those idiot pirates and marines, and those pirates most likely have a bounty on them so that will net us additional credits too. While I am not sure what the market price is for the materials I need, I see no issue with at least checking it out for the heck of it."

"Oh! Can we do a bit of shopping too?", Lucoa asked, leaping out of her chair, "I bet they have all sorts of cool, unique items for sale that we have never seen before!"

"Fair enough, just do not go overboard, okay?", I chuckled, as the women hurriedly ran inside to change and prepare for our trip, 'Good thing we are on winter break now. It is safe to assume Angelica, Clarice, Deirdre, and Olivia would readily skip school to go on this trip.'

Taking everyone's glasses inside, I put them in the dishwasher and headed up to my room to pack as well. Heading out once everyone was ready, we charted a course to the nearest inhabited space station and headed on our way on Yamato.

---3rd Peron POV, Artemis Space Station---

Sitting down at a café for lunch, Anakin, Ahsoka, and Obi-Wan let out exhausted sighs. Tasked with tracking down the unknown force user by the Jedi Council, they had scoured almost every inch of this sector without any luck. Quickly running out of places to look for the ship and force user, all of them were on the brink of calling it quits and returning home.

"I do not understand how there is no record or trace of that ship in any port we visited. They must stop and resupply occasionally, right? How does a Dreadnaught-Class vessel just disappear without a trace?", Anakin inquired, looking at his glass of water.

"Our biggest problem is, if they do have a Folding Drive, they could be anywhere in the universe right now. A Folding Drive could allow them to go anywhere they wanted at the snap of their fingers. We very well may be looking in the wrong place for them.", Obi-Wan acknowledged, "Thanks to the Imperium's crusade, the Force is unstable so attempting to track them that way is impossible right now. This may have to wait till the crusade ends…in a few decades."

"I am going to take a walk.", Ahsoka said, getting up from her seat.

Taking this setback harder than the two of them, Ahsoka felt this was a waste of time. In her eyes, the unknown force user was a good person having saved the lone civilian transporter without asking for any reward. Believing they should focus on quelling the droid rebellion and hunting down the mysterious Sith Lord, she wished Obi-Wan would just give up and return where they were really needed. Walking along the boardwalk, Ahsoka looked at all the various ships from around the universe. Recognizing Klingon, Vulcan, Asgardian, and many more ships next to one another, she was about to head toward the Market District when she saw another vessel pulling into one of the bays reserved for the largest vessels. Instantly recognizing it as the vessel they were looking for and contacted her comrades.

"The ship we are looking for just pulled into port.", she informed them, "Pier F087."

"We are on our way, do not approach them!", Obi-Wan ordered her, "The force user could be a Sith!"

"Sorry…the static…it is getting…bad…", Ahsoka replied, crumpling up a piece of paper by the microphone.

"Really, Ahsoka? I taught you that trick, it will not work on me.", Anakin laughed, "Just stay there and wait for us. We will be there in ten minutes."

Watching a ramp extend out from the warship, a group of eight people disembarked and stepped onto the pier. Running out ahead of their target, his seven female companions seemed to be amazed by what they were seeing. Beckoning for him to hurry up, they seemed very eager to go somewhere.

"Come on, Victor, hurry up!", the platinum blonde haired woman pleaded.

"I understand you are excited to be here, but you need to keep your enthusiasm in check. People are going to start gawking at us.", Victor chuckled, catching up to them, "Cleare, make sure you keep a close eye out for any shady individuals."

<You got it, Boss Man!>

Noticing a small floating orb flying over the group, Ahsoka had never seen a droid like the before. Hopeful that it would not spot her, she slowly began to approach the group when it suddenly spun around and locked eyes with her.

'Shit…', Ahsoka thought.

<Boss Man, that lady has been watching everyone closely since you got of the ship. Is she perhaps a guard or something?>

Turning to look at her, Victor instantly recognized her face and retracted his helmet. Shocked to see a handsome young man under that armor, she blinked her eyes several times to ensure she was not seeing things. Having expected an older guy in his thirties, it made her wonder where he learned to use the Force like he did.

"No, she is a Jedi Padawan. The Jedi Order used to be a peace keeping organization, but in recent years they have begun to lose their way.", Victor said, motioning for her to approach, "I apologize, but my fiancées are eager to do some window shopping. If it is all the same to you, can we walk and talk?"

"Fiancées?!", Ahsoka gasped, "You mean all seven of them!?"

"Yes, that is correct.", Victor chuckled, "So, are you coming along or not?"

Sensing no hostility coming from Victor, Ahsoka agreed to walk and talk with him. Running over to them, the nine of them headed into the market together.