Dr Doom in Star Wars

 Middle Ring. Star system TS-114.

 752DBY.

 14 years before the Mandalorian Purge.

 A few hours later.

 Darth Doom.

 The first oddity in this case was the fact that the gang that kidnapped the senator's daughter was not a pirate gang... But it was still based on a private space station. Yes, they had several ships, according to the Jedi who made an inquiry to the Justice Corps — the local castrated army and navy that appeared after Ruusan and became something of a law enforcement agency. A useless organisation, though. Half of them are corrupt, and half are so corrupt that the previous Sith of Bane left notes about their suspicions regarding how easy it was to work with these... morons.

 We didn't arrive in the system in our own ships, of course. Both the Jedi ships and mine were quite rare and therefore very noticeable.

 So the senator gave us something from his own collection. Fast enough, secure and durable. After all, the politician wanted to live and spend no more on defence than on interior decoration.

 The interior design greatly disturbed the Jedi with its pompous luxury, which literally oozed from every crack.

 Naboo work, what else can be said about it? I don't really like the style, as I prefer the medieval antiquity of my native Earth, but perhaps I will use it in certain moments. Or I'll just make them do it my way.

 "Hmm..." — the green-skinned Jedi clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction, running his fingers along the carved armrest of the elegant chair. " — You're so sharp-eyed...

 "I'm not sure about that... But don't you think the senator might have left a listening device here?" — The black Jedi said to her companion with a slight smile and a reproachful tone.

 "Tsk... So what? Maybe condemning the Jedi will make him more modest." — The young man snorted, leaning back confidently in his chair.

 "That's unlikely, Jedi." — Vi waved her hand dismissively, continuing to dismantle the thermal detonators right there, despite the green-skinned man's nervous tics.

 "And why not?" Rald Kashras immediately piped up, clearly having no understanding of his order's principles of calmness.

 "You and the Republic have been around for about the same amount of time. If the Jedi's opinion had any influence on politicians, the galactic state would be much... cleaner." "Yes, there are many different datapads and other electronic reading devices here, but I've always preferred the old way. Including reading, again, the old way."

 "We're doing everything we can... But sometimes even that's not enough." — Unlike the moron who continued to rant, his partner was more level-headed. Although she was also completely detached from reality. Just think, a superhuman obeying ordinary people... What kind of nonsense is that?

 "Ah, that eternal Jedi excuse..." — giggled Vi, who was in a cheerful mood and served as a kind of provocateur for me.

 Let them focus on her, not on me, pretending to be innocently sceptical of their Order, which is how most intelligent beings in the galaxy feel.

 They mustn't suspect anything until the very last moment.

 "What do you know about Jedi, you little thug?" — once again displaying his complete immaturity, Kashras glared angrily at the saboteur.

 "Rald..." — Zakir warned her companion without a trace of a smile.

 "What, Alma?" — he glanced at her.

 "Compared to what's left after your lightsabers, I'm still a very humane thug..." — Vi giggled maliciously and incredibly boldly, feeling emboldened.

 She relies on her explosives, or... No, honestly, she's not that stupid. She couldn't possibly think that I would defend her, could she? Getting the senator for my plans is much more profitable than one young amateur bomber, even if she is very talented for her age. You can't even train her as an acolyte of the Dark Side, that is, an apprentice.

 "Mr. Doom, please influence your subordinate. Now is not the time for conflict, despite all our differences." — said the black woman in an extremely diplomatic tone, playing with her voice and showing them her desire for compromise in every way possible.

 Well... At least that doesn't annoy me.

 So...

 "Vi." — I uttered a single word, and the saboteur, whom I had once briefly introduced to the Force, fell silent and began to rummage more actively through the grenades.

 "Thank you." — The Jedi glanced at the saboteur, but still bowed her head gratefully to me.

 Ha-ha... Previous generations of Jedi, are you turning in your graves? Your descendants bow their heads to the Sith, those who are going to destroy them all in the future. How ironic, isn't it?

 "Alma, you're bowing down to criminals again..." — the Jedi couldn't help but grimace in displeasure, almost causing me to lose my temper.

 His face was too similar to the arrogant and contemptuous faces of the Jedi who were trying to convince themselves that they didn't need my help to save their own asses.

 ...If even a third of the Jedi are like that, my verdict on their existence will be absolutely final. Such fools must be completely eradicated from the face of the galaxy and from the pages of history. I'll make sure of that.

 "We have arrived," I said laconically, carefully closing the book and placing it in the manipulators of one of the Dumbroids, modified to carry part of my growing library, which I had brought with me.

 "Where did you come from..." — the black woman asked me, but I just walked silently towards the exit of the spaceship. Let them figure out for themselves that I had simply hacked all the ship's systems. It was nothing particularly serious; in fact, my Dumbroids, which had temporarily joined together into a single network, had handled everything.

 My help was only needed in the part of the systems that was installed on all the most advanced systems after the Great Droid Revolution. Only an artificial intelligence, or at least an artificial intelligence that had gained a magnificent self-awareness, could bypass it. However, these were only half-measures, and I have no intention of turning my Dumbroids into pathetic local imitations of true Artificial Intelligence.

 I'd rather wait until all my urgent plans are complete and then calmly get down to it. After all, they will also help me in my search for my mother... As well as in my search for the Force technicians needed to find souls. They exist; I've come across hints of them in the records, but there were no clear instructions anywhere.

 Folding my arms across my chest, I stared out the window, through which I could clearly see a very old-looking station.

 "We're not even being met by fighters?" — The petite saboteur raised her eyebrows, nervously twitching her tail. "What nonsense...

 "Not all the stories you heard on Nar Shadaa about space station assaults are true." — I condescended to explain, looking away and heading back to the exit.

 Nevertheless, I was still somewhat surprised that the ship docked at the station without incident and we went inside.

 The Jedi were lingering somewhere, and judging by the data from the hacked systems, they were actively discussing something. I was the first to enter.

 "Senator... We weren't expecting you so early... What?" — The brute who greeted me with a cocky smile instantly lost all confidence when a dozen combat droids pointed their guns at him.

 The Jedi were already breathing down my neck, and I couldn't let them find out that the senator was definitely involved with the gangsters. I didn't even pay attention to the secret part of the mission, which had come to me in a message during the flight, saying that the station was to be completely cleared out.

 A perfect puppet, giving away incriminating evidence all by himself... So, in a matter of seconds, my Dumbroids opened relentless blaster fire, wiping out every living thing in the delegation. And the non-living things too.

 "Oh..." — the Jedi jumped up and sighed in unison when they saw the carnage wrought by my creations. It wasn't even carnage, it was execution. For the only thing the bandits managed to achieve in those ten seconds was to hit one of my droids' blasters, rendering it useless.

 "Are we going or not?" — With my hands behind my back, I calmly walked on, stepping over the numerous corpses of intelligent beings.

 "Was that necessary?" — asked the woman, stepping over the dead with slight disgust.

 "Yes. Did you think we should spare those who kidnapped a little, innocent girl?" — I said with feigned condemnation, as if I wouldn't have done the same if it had been necessary.

 "On the one hand, you're right, but on the other..." — the black woman sighed, shaking her head, but I sensed satisfaction and a little respect for me in the Force from the second brat.

 Perhaps if I had planned for them to survive this mission, it would have been useful to me... But alas, I had other plans.

 So I quickly dismissed the unnecessary information from my mind and moved on.

 The condition of the corridors showed that they were hardly being monitored. It would seem that a gang so closely connected to a senator would be...

 But then again, when did I ever expect to see signs of intelligence from the usual criminal scum that I had mercilessly and swiftly destroyed in my Latveria, reducing crime to practically zero?

 "Who's stomping around like a herd of tauntauns, Zalb, is that you?!" — barked the leader of the three gangsters, turning the corner. " — Fuck." — He only had time to curse before a row of scarlet blaster bolts pierced him through. Next came the turn of the brutes and thugs who hadn't managed to get their blasters out in time.

 "We could take the tongue and find out where the kidnapped girl is..." — placing her palm dangerously close to the lightsaber, the Jedi stared at me.

 "No need. I hacked the local systems. Not completely, but we know where the kidnapped girl is." — I shrugged, glancing at Vi's smirk as she looked at the surprised faces of the Jedi.

 The girl is getting cocky. A little more and she'll take credit for my achievements. However, as long as her attitude doesn't drive me crazy... Let her be.

 "And where is she?" — The Jedi brat wasn't going to calm down, making me want to kill her right then and there. To use a simple Force choke.

 "We're going there." — I hissed through clenched teeth, quickening my pace.

 Apparently sensing something in my emotions, which were now hidden from neither ordinary intelligent beings nor the Gifted, Zakiri fell silent.

 In the end, we continued on our way in absolute silence, broken only by the clanging of the droids' metal limbs and my steel sabatons against the equally steel surface of the station. The first resistance, which could be called such with a stretch, met us in a fairly large compartment of the station, where the bandits had taken up positions behind some containers.

 As soon as we entered, they opened concentrated, but not particularly accurate, fire on us.

 The Jedi instantly drew their lightsabers and began to deflect the blaster bolts in a ridiculous manner. Meanwhile, I engaged in more effective activities, directing the droids to scatter, forcing the bandits to spread their fire, which meant that far fewer red flashes flew at me. Not that they could do any harm to my metal, which, while not the rarest, was hardened by the Force, but... I'm not the type to tolerate enemy attacks.

 Thanks to my brilliant mind, I instantly identified the leader of the assembled criminals, then headed straight for him, covered by grenades thrown by Vi, who quickly realised that a subordinate in her position had a duty to help me in every way possible.

 Cries of pain, despair and hopelessness rang out everywhere... They were interspersed with the sounds of explosions and Vi's joyful laughter, as well as the steady hum of the Jedi's lightsabers... Which sent the gangsters' limbs and heads flying, causing them unimaginable pain from the loss of a huge amount of their own flesh.

 This magnificent picture, in my opinion, was complemented by the smells of burning and blood, because my droids were wielding not only blasters, but also blades, whose blood was by no means cauterised.

 "Hutt you bastard! What are you?" — the wheat-haired man cried desperately and frantically at the top of his voice, emptying almost the entire energy cell of his blaster — the equivalent of a magazine for a kinetic weapon — at point-blank range.

 "Me?" — Smirking, I suddenly thrust my right hand forward, grabbing the bandit by the neck before he could even react, and lifting him off the ground. —Dum.

 A loud crunch marked the end of one of the billions of criminal fleas in this galaxy.

 Well, well. A significant portion of the bandits had been exterminated, so... I could proceed with my plan.

 Same place.

 Jedi Knight Alma Zakiri.

 A native of Haruun-Kela, she looked at the carnage with some despair.

 She understood that these intelligent beings had brought this fate upon themselves, that if it weren't for them, someone else would have done the job... But still... Why did it end like this... So bloody? Why couldn't they be captured and brought to justice, as they should have been?

 The saddest thing was not even that the mercenary had calmly finished them off, in the end, despite everything, as one would expect from someone clad in steel... What was sad was that some of her comrades did not object to this attitude towards the deaths of criminals.

 Yes, most of them were like her — they wanted to treat everyone according to the law, but some... wanted to take the law into their own hands. And for some reason, there were more and more of them...

 Shaking her head and getting rid of unnecessary, albeit sad, thoughts, Zakiri blinked and stared at the mercenary who was talking to her, Duma. He was gifted with words and not weak. It was even surprising that he had not been found and taken to the Temple as a child.

 However, he was definitely not a former member of the Order — his entire aura indicated that he was completely untrained, and even if he could use telekinesis, it was only on a reflex level. In addition, his aura in the Force fluttered like a flag in the wind — lightening and darkening depending on his emotions, just like any other untrained gifted adult.

 "...the place where the girl is being held." — Finally returning to reality, the Jedi no longer heard the words of her temporary ally as if they were coming from under the water.

 "Yes?" — Alma replied sluggishly.

 "There's a large enough compartment here, but it's unlikely to be used by the others for anything else because of its remoteness." — The mercenary continued, casting a hostile glance at her with his intense green eyes from the slits of his very brutal-looking eyes, with a hint of irritation breaking through.

 And to her embarrassment, the Jedi couldn't blame him for that. She was to blame for being too impressed by the deaths of intelligent beings and letting her thoughts wander into completely the wrong place. She needed to practise self-control, not get angry at those who shook it, as her strong but hot-headed companion would have done, unfortunately. Many of her mentors at the Temple had pointed this out to her...

 "I understand. You want us to free the hostage, and you... I suppose you'll finish off the criminals?" — The dark-skinned woman sighed sadly, glancing again at the pile of corpses and her petite assistant Duma, who was busily searching them. Vi, I think that was her name... I wonder what race she is, and if she's as young as she looks?

 After all, Master Yoda is several centuries old, despite his extremely short stature. He met the legendary Grand Master of the Order after Ruusan — Fay Coven herself!

 "That's right." — The man nodded in agreement, and the Jedi saw satisfaction in his eyes. "I'll send a couple of my droids with you, just in case. I have no doubt you can protect yourselves, but the senator's little one might get hurt. And I'm not going to ruin my reputation because of you.

 "We can protect the child." — Comrade Zakiri frowned, finishing his argument with the young woman who loved explosive things, then took a few steps forward and stood next to the princess.

 "I'm not taking any chances." — The mercenary waved him away fearlessly, not changing his attitude even after the Jedi had neutralised half of the bandits in the room.

 Although usually even Mandalorians begin to treat the Jedi they despise with great respect after witnessing the abilities of the Temple's pupils.

 "Fine." — To her partner's indignation, Zakiri agreed diplomatically.

 In any case, saving an innocent child was far more important than destroying a criminal scum that a vengeful parent would get to one way or another. Alas, the other senators would agree on this matter. The politicians of the Republic did not like it when anyone touched something that was important to them. And in order not to quarrel with the legally elected representatives of the territories belonging to the galactic state, the Council of the Order would also be on their side.

 Waiting for the map downloaded from the hacked systems to transfer to her temple datapad, Zakiri nodded to her partner and, using the Speed of the Force, rushed down one of the corridors.

 On their way, they were again met with blaster fire, but the yellow blade flashed again and with a couple of deft movements deflected the flashes back, causing their opponents to cry out and clutch their wounded arms, no longer able to hold their weapons.

 Rald didn't stand on ceremony, and as they ran past, he finished off his enemies with quick strokes.

 "What? I don't need anyone to report us and stab us in the back!" — he snorted condescendingly, shrugging his shoulders.

 "Oh..." — the dark-skinned woman shook her head, stopping in front of the massive steel doors, behind which she could sense the lights of other lives. "There's not just a girl in there... There are many intelligent beings. Dozens..." — she stared at Alma's partner in shock.

 "So there are more bandits? Great..." — the guy grinned and, without saying another word, thrust his green light sword straight into the doors and began to cut a large hole in them.

 Glancing reproachfully at his impatience, the girl began to help him, and soon a massive melted section of the barrier collapsed forward.

 ...But instead of the expected fire, they were met only by... Weak and tortured intelligent beings.

 "Slaves..." — Zakir sighed in shock, cautiously stepping inside and looking at the intelligent beings huddled in the corners. "Calm down, calm down... I'm a Jedi. See? Jedi. Not your captor... Jedi..." — pointing to her active lightsaber, she instantly rushed to calm the intelligent beings.

 To his credit, her partner also began to do the same, and this idyll lasted until the mercenary droids crawled through the hole created by the lightsabers.

 "Emergency. Emergency." — they said in a mechanical voice, distracting the Korunka from healing one of the boys with the Force.

 "What is it?" — Alma stood up, alarmed.

 "Switching to Mr. Duma." — The droid's visors flashed. "The local fools are desperate, Jedi. A couple of them intend to blow up the entire station and destroy its reactor..." — the droid continued in the mercenary's voice. "Take... the senator's honoured daughter and let's get out of here.

 "We... We can't. There are still prisoners here! Slaves of the bandits!" — exclaimed the dark-skinned Temple pupil, somewhat losing her composure due to the events of the last few minutes.

 "I don't care. I have a mission." — The gifted mercenary replied harshly, and the droid waved its manipulator in a very human manner. "But you can try to stop the explosion to save the others. However, the senator's respected daughter..." — The droid's manipulator pointed to the girl, who, unlike many of the slaves here, looked much neater and happier. And she was not being held in chains. "I'll take her anyway. What if you fail?"

 "Well... All right." — After a moment's hesitation, the native of Haruun-Kela nodded. "Give us the location of the reactor."

 "You have it on your maps." — Dum replied through the droid, after which the latter cautiously approached the girl and knelt on his right knee. — "My lady, allow me to escort you to your esteemed father."

 "What a cool droid..." — whispered the girl, running her manicured, slender fingers over the metal. "All right! Lead me, steel knight sent by my father!"

 The Jedi did not hear the rest of their conversation as they rushed along the very confusing but only path to the reactor, killing several bandits along the way, even though they had no right to survive.

 Now they couldn't risk the lives of dozens of slaves because of some criminal scum who had committed such an outrage.

 "What?" Alma blinked in surprise, flying into the reactor compartment at full speed with her lightsaber at the ready.

 Inside were only the corpses of the five bandits... And a couple of their mercenary droids, which had somehow gotten there before them. Slowly shifting her gaze to the screen displaying the reactor data and the droid doing something with it, the girl didn't even have time to say anything before the humanoid machine turned its visors towards her and, flashing ominously green, spoke in the equally ominous and chilling voice of the mercenary Duma:

 "Farewell, Jedi.

 A flash of explosion engulfed the Temple's students just as they threw their lightsabers straight at the droid.

***

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