Part 10

Mouths hung open as they descended further towards the surface of the golden planet. There was no sign that they were unwelcome, in fact, there was absolutely no sign of life at all. Astrid guided their ship around various large buildings.

"This is strange" Ruffnut commented from behind a console. "It looks like large amounts of power is being diverted from the city grids."

"Where to?" Astrid asked.

"That's the strange part. I can't seem to find the source."

"I have a bad feeling about this." Fishlegs commented as the group watched the dark city.

"The fact that a man-made planet, older than most of this galaxy's civilizations, still has an active power grid, or that something is sucking away all that power?" Heather asked as she gave Fishlegs a curious look.

"Let me rephrase that, I have a very very very bad feeling about this." Fishlegs now stated.

"Astrid, I'm reading three life signs sixty kilometers at your ten o'clock." Ruffnut stated.

"Well that has to be Dagur and Camicazi." Tuffnut mumbled. "But who's the third?"

"Andeddu most likely. I felt the bracelet break through the Force some time ago." Hiccup guessed. "That is if they managed to find him a host body."

"Hiccup" Astrid had a dangerous edge in her voice. "Maybe next time you can tell us in advance when a very ancient and powerful Sith has been released into the galaxy."

"Sorry" Hiccup looked sheepish as he rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "He may be powerful but he's more of an annoyance than a threat."

"Don't let him hear you say that." Heather laughed. "He'll probably throw a tantrum. His ego could easily dwarf this planet."

Astrid, meanwhile, had found a place to park the cruiser. She set the ship down gently upon the large landing platform. All was eerily quiet around them as they exited the craft. Only a strong gust of cold wind blew past them making them shiver slightly. Ruffnut pointed in the direction of one of the large buildings. "The life signs came from there." She told them while getting her blaster ready. The others also had their sabers and blasters ready if a fight would ensue.

While getting closer to the building they heard some strange sounds. Hiccup stopped the group and looked around the corner. He frowned at what he saw. There a small group of droids, who looked like they had been guarding the entrance to the building the group was heading for, seemed to be getting cornered and blasted to smithereens by a much larger set of droids.

Hiccup, without thinking, used the Force to smash the aggressive droids against each other before knocking the whole group off a ledge. "Hiccup we are trying not to get noticed!" Astrid, who had also peeked out, hissed in his ear.

"I couldn't just leave those poor droids to fend for themselves!" Hiccup mumbled. "They looked more like maintenance droids than actual combat droids."

Meanwhile the little droids looked around confused. There was a flurry of beeps before three spread out in search of what had happened. One of the droids rounded the corner that the gang was hiding behind and stopped. "Oh this can't be good." Throk mumbled as the droid started alerting the others.

Snotlout, Eret and the twins had their hands on their blasters but Fishlegs stopped them when no hostile actions were taken by the congregating droids. One of the droids was pushed forward and came closer to the group slowly. A series of beeps followed. Hiccup looked at Astrid and said "My binary is a bit rusty but did that droid just say it wanted to spank us?"

The little droid beeped again, in a flurry this time, as if it was embarrassed. Astrid rolled her eyes before saying "He said that it wanted to thank us."

"Oh" Hiccup's cheeks pinked at having misunderstood. He gave the droid a sheepish look while the others sniggered. The droids looked to be having an internal discussion with each other before beeping in unity and indicating for the group to follow them.

Warily they rounded the corner to see another droid opening the large doors of the building for them. The little droid that had approached them first indicated for the group to follow them. They entered with caution. The floor was empty except for a turbolift at the end which automatically opened.

"That's not creepy at all" Snotlout swore. "Nope, not creepy at all." Once everyone was squished into the turbolift it descended. The doors of the turbolift opened and the gang cautiously walked into a very dark area.

"I'm not liking this!" Fishlegs mumbled as he walked closer to his girlfriend who had her hand on her lightsaber.

"Please lower your weapons. We mean you no harm lest your intentions are malicious." A voice suddenly spoke from the darkness causing the gang to jump slightly in shock. Snotlout, until this very day, would swear that he did not scream as if a Nexu had bitten him in the behind.

They heard a creaking sound and then slowly a female droid shape appeared before them. From the darkness that surrounded them a multitude of red dots lit up showing them how many droids were in the room at the moment. Astrid and the others had no doubt that these droids could become hostile at any given moment.

"Scorpio?" Hiccup asked tentatively as everyone gazed at the female droid.

"Yes, who is asking?" Scorpio confirmed before her mechanical eyes landed on the round device on Hiccup's belt. "Is that?" She gestured to it. Hiccup looked down and removed the device he had gotten from the old droid from his belt. He held it up for Scorpio to see.

"You know General Huyang?" Scorpio asked as her hand ghosted over the old holographic device.

"General?" Heather curiously asked while the twins asked "Old man Huyang?". Scorpio gave them a nod. "Yes Huyang, former General of the Eternal fleet." Several jaws dropped at that piece of information.

"Come" Scorpio said as she indicated for them to follow. "We have much to discuss." They were led to a door at the back. The room behind it was as large, or most likely larger, than the one they were in. It contained a numerous amount of monitors as well as what they suspected were memory cores. The monitors showed sections of the city as well as schematics that they couldn't decipher.

"I'm sure Huyang must have told you a bit of what had transpired in the past." She stated while gesturing for them to take a seat. The gang nodded.

"What happened here?" Astrid now asked. "Huyang mentioned you had become one with the planet. This....." She gestured to the droid that Scorpio inhabited. "Doesn't seem like being one with the planet."

"Unfortunately you are right. I am currently not in charge of this planet. Three individuals visited before you. They demanded the Eternal fleet. When I related to them that the fleet had been decommissioned millennia ago they turned hostile. The female activated the Darksaber which is the current cause of us being here instead of the actual reception room."

"How? How can one lightsaber do that?" Eret now asked as he leaned forward slightly.

"The Darksaber is no mere lightsaber. It was specially made as a containment device." Scorpio stated.

"Containment device for what?" Heather and Fishlegs asked in unison.

"For Aries." Scorpio told them. "I had managed to defeat Aries centuries ago. Yet he couldn't be killed in entirety. The hilt of the Darksaber contains a secure data crystal that contained the last of his programming. It was given to the Republic with assurances that it wouldn't make its way back to Iokath. The Darksaber could be ignited anywhere but here normally, a weapon for the one acting as the data crystal's warden. If activated here it would give Aries the opportunity to connect back to the stellar mainframe."

"That sounds bad." Snotlout mumbled.

"It is bad. I was wholly unprepared for Aries's intrusion into my data banks. Within minutes he had crippled my defenses and taken control of the Gemini droids. Luckily the planet's maintenance droids are on a separate network that he has yet to penetrate or simply doesn't care about." Scorpio explained while gesturing to some of the monitors that showed heavy patrols around a fortified bunker-like building. "I was forced to retreat back into my original droid body and seek shelter here in a backup hub."

"If Aries has control over the planet then how come that we weren't shot down or vaporized?" Fishlegs now asked.

"Aries thinks that organic lifeforms are beneath him. He most likely has noticed your arrival but doesn't seem to think you pose any threat to him. He's currently more occupied with getting the Genesis engine to work."

"The what??!!" Ruffnut asked. "Is that where all the power is being diverted to?"

"The Genesis device is the ultimate creation of the Iokathians. Not the fleet, not the Gemini droids or even Aries or I. The Genesis device had the power the theoretically destroy all organic lifeforms in the galaxy at once. My creators deemed it too dangerous for it to exist and disassembled it, but the three visitors before arrived in a technologically advanced ship. Currently Aries is trying to interface the ship with the Genesis device.

"He's what!" Windshear mentally shrieked. Heather, Hiccup, Astrid and Fishlegs winced as they could hear her. "How dare that bucket of bolts touch my ship!" They had nearly forgotten that Windshear was one of the original designers of the last Celestial ship.

"Once Aries achieves his goal all living matter in the galaxy could be eliminated with the push of a button." Scorpio finished telling them.

"Okay...... so... basically we have to stop an AI from committing galactic genocide and stop an overpowered superweapon." Hiccup mumbled as he thought.

"Where is this Genesis device?" Heather asked. Scorpio pointed down. "It is close to the core. There are several exhaust vents on the planet that could get you to the location but they are all heavily guarded. The droids that I currently have with me can't penetrate the defenses."

Hiccup was deep in thought when Astrid asked "What happened to your previous visitors?"

Scorpio gestured to one of the droids that were accompanying her. The droid left only to return some minutes later with a few others. They were carrying three bodies. Two of those were tied up and gagged while the third was unconscious.

"Mala!" Throk shouted in worry as he rushed toward the unconscious woman. "What did you do to her?" He asked as he turned to Scorpio when Mala wouldn't wake.

"She was their prisoner." Scorpio stated. "Scans revealed that a second entity was possessing her. We have since been able to separate them. She will remain asleep for another day or so."

"And this entity?" Hiccup now asked completely ignoring the tied up, gagged and wigging Dagur and Camicazi. He was sure that it had to be Andeddu.

"It left this plane of reality of its own accord once separated from its host, but not before hitting these two with a dose of Force lightning while cursing their stupidity."

"Yeah... I can see Andeddu doing that." Fishlegs mumbled.

"Scorpio........ Would an ion cannon have any effect on Aries or the device?" Hiccup suddenly asked.

"My droids have scanned your ship while patrolling the area. The data shows that you have a functioning ion weapon. Unfortunately it is not strong enough to affect the Gemini droids for more than a few seconds." She stated. "Your plan to use that weapon would be ineffective."

"What if it was stronger?" Hiccup asked.

"Oh hell no Hiccup!!" Fishlegs suddenly stood up. "There is no way you can be thinking about doing THAT!"

"Fishlegs.... Come one..... It only blew up twice!"

"And scared the bejeebers out of Celestial beings." Fishlegs grumbled. "Celestial beings!!" Fishlegs emphasized.

"Would this work?" Scorpio asked intrigued.

"Theoretically" Hiccup told her.

"I am willing to try anything that can prevent mass murder." She stated and then pointed towards Dagur and Camicazi. "These two...... are not to be trusted. Since they are human it will be your decision what happens to them."

Hiccup looked at the two squirming Sith. "They'd more than likely doublecross us the first chance they get. Scorpio do you have a garbage chute nearby?"