Begin Again In Marvel

POV Rio

It had been two months since we had wiped out Bastion's orbital defenses and dropped all the different biological and chemical weapons on the planet. In that time, the population went from 5 million to less than 4000. Though the bioweapons did do a lot of the work, the one who was really responsible was HK-47. After I found him on Geonosis, I didn't activate him right away and instead altered his programming.

'I mean, I think anyone in their right mind wouldn't turn him on if they know what he is.'

I also checked the database of the facility I found him in and learned that he was brought there sometime before the Clone Wars. They had planned to make a model of droid based on HK, but the records were scrubbed, and the project shut down before they did anything. What was most curious was that the one who erased the scans of HK was either Dooku or Sidious. By sheer luck, HK-47 wasn't scrapped as the system only had his scans, and the genosian in charge of the small facility was silenced.

'Which is very odd. If I had to bet, I would think Palpatine was responsible. He was a history buff and would undoubtedly know that the HK model was discontinued for the extreme danger it posed to all organic lifeforms. Even the Sith Empire banned them.'

Regardless of the reason, HK was left in the facility for decades until I discovered him. After tweaking his programming to not take pleasure in killing everything that breathes, and changing it to the pleasure in completing a job. And made it so he didn't call everyone meatbags. It was amusing at first, but it gets old really fast. Like how a professional feels when they do a job perfectly. Then I turned him on, but with a data package of me and my capabilities. Which did exactly as I predicted. He was designed to kill anything and everyone. However, a critical error was found in said programming, where a logic paradox could be caused.

'He must be able to kill anything, but he can't hurt me. And even if he could hurt or kill me, I would come back to life. Thus, he cannot complete his primary directive. But he must be able to do so. And so on and so on.'

HK was also able to detect that his programming had been altered. So he came to the only logical conclusion he could. He wanted to make a deal with me. He serves me and the Imperium for eternity and will accept the new programming, but I must allow him to kill a planet's worth of sentients. I was more than happy to accept after I negotiated a bit. I didn't feel like waiting for a long time for him to kill an entire population and to make sure he can't just stall the contract. And he didn't want to get tricked into killing one being that is the only sentient being on a planet. So the planet Bastion was decided. He is immune to all the bio and chemical weapons and can sabotage the Empire's attempts at quarantine.

'And the results speak for themselves. In just two months, he has caused untold deaths. And it will likely take less than another few weeks to finish the job.'

Of course, Palpatine wasn't included, as HK-47 made it very clear that he doesn't believe he could kill Palpatine by himself. Or at least not without dying in the process. Which would violate the contract. The scariest results on Bastion were by the Earth-based bioweapons. This galaxy had never seen such viruses and diseases, so it was similar to the Native Americans and smallpox. Most soldiers died before anyone could determine what caused it. As it wasn't just Earth diseases and viruses, there were also Star Wars-based bioweapons.

'And on the slight chance they do survive they will be crippled.'

Regardless of the situation, I found it likely that we were just about done in this trial. More than half of the galaxy was under the Commonwealth. Thrawn and Kalani would lead their forces in the upcoming conflict. The New Republic was crippled and would be focused on reclaiming the core regions before they even thought of expansion. The Core and Deep Core were still under the Empire, but they had 1 Imperial-I Class Star Destroyer in the entire navy. And the Colonies, Inner Rim, and Expansion region were a bloody warzone.

'Though there have been talks between the strongest warlords. So, it is possible that they might unite in some capacity. But I suppose the Hapes Consortium could become active.'

I had left the Hapes Consortium alone for the most part, just making contact with them and not much else. Despite their isolationist nature, they were actually very kind. I made sure to warn them that the galaxy was going to undergo massive changes and that they would have to determine what to do. But from what I have read, they established an alliance with the Commonwealth in order to ensure both sides were defended. The Commonwealth had taken all territories in the Expansion region north of Umbara. The rest was nominally under the region that the New Republic claimed.

'The Hapes Consortium might start expanding as they have the second-largest navy in the galaxy currently. They are able to expand rapidly if they wanted to.'

But I know that the current factions in the galaxy would be low threat or sensible. The New Republic would be bogged down for decades or longer with their hopes of reestablishing the corrupt system that was broken in the first place. The Imperial Remnant is too focused on killing all the traitors in the Colonies and Inner Rim to worry about expansion. The Warlords are very weak, with, at best, some Arquitens and Gozantis. The Commonwealth has expanded to as much as they could ever need or want, and if they want more, there is always Wild Space and the Unknown Regions.

'Speaking of the Commonwealth, I think Cham Syndulla should have made his decision by now. I should contact Mace Windu.'

I had discussed with Cham Syndulla to convince him to lead the Twi'leks to join the Imperium, but he was not fully certain. He wanted to wait until the Empire was defeated and kicked off Ryloth. Then he wanted us to rescue his people from the many slavers. And then he wanted help supporting the massive number of Twi'leks. We did all of that and more, and now Mace Windu was in charge of the final negotiations. I was fairly confident that Cham would agree, as we had shown our sincerity and support every step of the way.

'And even if he doesn't say yes, most of the Twi'leks will join without him.'

We saved over a Billion Twi'leks from slavery or other terrible situations, and as such, many saw us as saviors. Though there was a high chance it was also because of my Charisma stat and some skills. I sent a message to Mace Windu and waited for a response.

Mace: "This is Windu."

Rio: "Has he decided?"

Mace: "Not yet, but at this point, I think he will say no, but the other leaders have already spoken to me in private and agreed to go with us. Syndulla has too much attachment to Ryloth, so he is unwilling to leave. But I have gotten a list of those wanting to leave the galaxy for a better life in the Imperium. It is currently at 3.9 Billion and slowly increasing."

Rio: "How much of the population is that?"

Mace: "Galaxy-wide, it would only be around 40%. But on Ryloth, only it would be 98% of the population. And with us sending out the message across the galaxy, I believe we will get up to at least 65% of the population. Those that don't come will either be part of the criminal element or hardliners."

Rio: "I thought Twi'leks would be more populous in the galaxy."

Mace: "We have already gathered most of them, as most were sent across the Mid and Outer Rim. Not to mention the Empire's Xenophobic policies. Then, Ryloth itself has a small population due to its very inhospitable conditions. Lastly, the conditions most people suffer from when they leave Ryloth lead to many deaths."

Rio: "Any other species interested in immigration?"

Mace: "Not much. The last Hutt has reached out, as he no longer feels safe in this galaxy and thinks he will take his chances with us. Besides them, the very few remaining Genosians have also reached out. They only have around 9k members of the species left after the Empire tried to exterminate them. And without a queen, they will likely go extinct. The Torgruta have also reached out to us."

Rio: "The Torgruta? I thought they were firmly with the New Republic. Other than them, the rest can be accepted as long as they meet the karma requirements."

Mace: "The Torgruta were firmly with the New Republic, but Master Shaak Ti managed to convince them to leave Shili behind. It also helps that they have suffered severe losses among their people, and they want a safe and stable place to live. They respect strength and freedom, and we offer both."

Rio: "Then I see no reason not to accept them. Anyone else?"

Mace: "Not really. Most leave when they hear that they would be one of the only ones of their species and would never return to the galaxy. And the select few that would accept don't meet the karma requirements."

Rio: "Very well, keep me posted."

I end the call and get back to reviewing the files I have.

'We should be leaving in a month or two at most.'

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Authors Note:

There should only be one or two more chapters in this trial. If you have any species you think might join the Imperium, let me know. Until next time Ciao.