Strategy Centre

"Master Iorek has prohibited visitation of all prisoners currently in custody without his express permission.  I will require verification before permitting your interrogation."

There was a short pause.

"Incidentally, I will require your reasons for interrogating the prisoner."

"In regards to query number two, the Jedi Praxeum of Yavin IV currently holds seventy-three prisoners."

The AI eyeball almost seemed to regard Bastiel with something akin to curiosity. Why would the Jedi need to know of such things? Formidonis had been off of the Jedi radar for almost a decade, why was this Jedi suddenly interested? Silently, the AI notified Master Iorek of the probing, simply sending an alert to his private terminal. The move was more a matter of protocol than anything; the Zabrak Jedi Master was busy with Vidalu Na'an in the grand audience chamber of the Praxeum, and would likely not respond to the notification. But it was of the utmost importance that he believe that the rules were still being followed.

"Now, as far as your initial query," the blue sphere chirped, "my facial recognition software is state of the art technology, and you have been positively identified as Jedi Knight Adelle Bastiel. Cross-reference with filed documentation and CorSec databanks confirm your identity.

"But if you wish to speak with Formidonis," the AI suddenly pivoted, a slight twitch in the hologram becoming present, "you need only turn around," it finished as the door slid open.

Adelle closed her eyes and took a deep breath, standing up. She'd been vaguely aware of his approach, the smell of blood and death clinging to the air around him. The A.I. identified the man as Formidonis and he looked how his records had shown him, how Na'an had described him, minus the fresh cut in the center of his forehead. He carried at least three weapons, making armed to the teeth an understatement. His Force signature, however, was little better than the ferns outside. Several things began adding up and Adelle pressed her lips into a thin line. One: Rutil was a man of strict adherence to rules and security. If Formidonis had been detained under his authority, there was no getting out of it. Two: Na'an had fatally injured Formidonis, according to her story. He should have massive cybernetic implants. Three: It was entirely possible Formidonis really had been detained and escaped.

But there was no alarm and no call for his arrest.

She inclined her head by way of greeting, getting a feel for her lightsaber hilt in the Force. The Oracle A.I. was complicit in this; and if this was a droid impersonating Formidonis, she'd only heard of one other droid doing the same.

"I am finished with the Oracle," she said. "What is the nature of your purpose here?"

Something akin to a sigh escaped Adelle. She stepped forward as he backed up. "I don't think I made myself clear, so I'll use words you'll understand."

She leaned forward. "What is your designation and your primary directive?"

She silently prayed that she was wrong and he was just an HRD with an unfortunate choice of alias. That Na'an didn't have any new fresh hells waiting for her. The sinking feeling in her gut said there were too many coincidences to be the case. If she was right . . .

Na'an, leave.

"Facial recognition, structural composition and historical data identify the subject as designation KR-04. An identical unit was used in the attempted assassination of Jedi Knight Vidalu Na'an three years ago. That it has not attempted to murder you is anomalous," chimed the oracle, forcing the door behind the droid to slide shut.

The droid's face was an absolute match for Aherk Formidonis; a facial structure that the Praxeum's AI knew with a certainty that bordered on intimacy. The droid's structure was also a match for the subject's physical build from a decade ago, and was easily the same size as the dusty and damaged neuranium chassis still lying somewhere in storage. And historically, Aherk Formidonis had not looked as healthy as the imitator bearing his likeness did in years. In recent months the subject had become emaciated and sickly, and certainly would not have had time to build the muscle mass or receive the sun exposure necessary to achieve the look that the droid carried.

Of course, the oracle's own observations came from a different angle than Knight Bastiel's, even if they reached the same conclusion. While she likely could not sense the Force in any great abundance around the droid, the oracle could sense that it was radiating with another kind of power; sensors indicated a radiation spike in the strategy center, although the oracle did not have the equipment to identify exactly what kind. The "autopsy" of KR-04 revealed a prototype power source based on pulsarium rings. The radiation would have been contained by that droid's neuranium construction; that trace amounts were detectable pointed to a different metal composition. And of course, the oracle had full awareness of the Jedi Praxeum; Aherk Formidonis being both in the strategy center and on his way to the main hall was a physical impossibility.

"Knight Bastiel," the oracle continued, "I would urge extreme caution."

The black-haired man's cowed expression immediately went blank. He stood up straight - becoming almost a third of a meter taller in the process - and looked at the Jedi with an emotionless stare. Any trace of personality or humanity vanished in an instant, leaving behind only the machine. Instead of slinging the repeater rifle, the droid simply held it perpendicular to the ground, no longer pretending to be encumbered by the weapon's weight.

"My mission," KR-04 stated, keeping the voice of its creator, "is to locate criminal associates of Aherk Formidonis and terminate with extreme prejudice."

"Vidalu Na'an is on a termination blacklist," KR-04 said, "she is not to be harmed under any circumstance."

This droid had entirely different mission parameters than its predecessor. The underlying program was the same; hundreds of fluent languages, just as many biological outlines for galactic species, countless weapons and their effective uses. But rather than send the new droid to finish the mission of the old - which, at the time of its construction and programming, had not even occurred yet - Aherk Formidonis sent the machine to find those that he had dealt with in his darker days. His associates. His cohorts. His financiers and his customers. Anybody that aided his research, or who his research had aided. And, when found, KR-04 was to terminate them. This did not extend to the Jedi whose life had indelibly marked his own. Rather, quite the opposite; the second assassin droid was not to lay a single ultrachrome finger on her. Whether it was out of guilt or one of its master's known quirks, the droid neither knew nor cared. There was only the mission.

A mission that might now be endangered thanks to the blue hologram.

"Excuse me," KR-04 said before turning to walk past Adelle, moving towards the blue hologram. It was known. And it needed to know how.

"Aherk Formidonis came into visual range. Other sensors took a moment to provide other relevant data. Do forgive me, my installation was rushed, and glitches have been known to occur. Master Man'sell and his technicians had to work around my base code in order for the installation to take place."

The oracle's blue holographic avatar continued to fluctuate as it spoke. While it spoke the same as it had done before, right down to the intonation, there was an odd mischief to it, like a child admitting not to spilling paint onto their father's prized speeder, but attempting to redecorate with their newfound artistic philosophy. It was telling the truth. But it was also most certainly concealing it.

"Of course, Knight Bastiel.

"My base code is written in a programming language years ahead of its time, and my directives were inscribed directly within it. Because of this, attempts at reprogramming inevitably fail, as it was designed. Master Man'sell and his staff of technicians had to work around it significantly in order to secure my installation and compatibility with the rest of the Praxeum's systems, to say nothing of the extensive repair work my CPU required to become fully functional."

There was a loud crack as the door's magnetic seals kicked in, sealing the droid and the Jedi inside the strategy center.

"But as my designer intended, my primary directives are installed directly into my base code; I cannot be truly reprogrammed without also being rendered useless. Master Man'sell knew this and proceeded with his plan. And while he succeeded in reprogramming me at a superficial level, he underestimated my tenacity."

Across the room, a screen activated, displaying various security camera footage. Much closer to Adelle, another screen turned on, indicating that the oracle was attempting to locate a wireless signal. Seconds later, it found one.

"But you inquired as to the origin of my base code. I was discovered by Master Dav Man'sell in Beggar's Canyon three years ago in a prototype assassin droid, designation: KR-04."