"And do remind me again why He's decided that our forces are better spent in Hutt space rather than supporting the efforts of the Covenant or the Eleventh Empire?" The Councilor of Korriban sighed at his fellow Councilor's question, his masked head turning from the datapad that he had been reading to regard her properly. "You should know well enough that the Prophet's decisions aren't always so...easily explained. He wishes to see the Hutts eradicated and gain a more permanent foothold for the Order of Wonosa, to Him I'm sure that this whole Scouring campaign was quite ideal until these interventions began."
The Councilor of Dromund Kaas scoffed and crossed around to where Korriban sat behind his desk, propping herself against it as she crossed her arms. "'Oh yes let's try and recruit everyone in Hutt space that isn't a criminal!' How inventive and ambitious, were it not damn near impossible! He knows that we don't have the forces necessary to hold more than a handful of these worlds even if we could take them, now we're being forced to sit back and watch as other Sith carve victories from our foes because of His obsession."
That made Korriban perk up. "Precisely my point yes, which was why I called you here. I believe I have a method of...forcing the Prophet's hand in turning at least some of our forces elsewhere." Kaas tilted her head to the side to regard the other Councilor with a narrowing of her hidden gaze. "You think you can pull that off? The only thing that Darth Strosius enjoys more than killing slavers is killing other Sith, and He's made it clear that we can't afford anymore actions against the Eleventh Empire at the moment."
"Very true, but we have an ace in the hole. His compassion." Korriban presented the datapad that he had been looking over during their conversation to the other Sith, Kaas taking it with a barely hidden disdain before reading over it herself. "The...Atsak augments? That program was shelved before we even began our recruitment operations, you know how unstable they can be." A raised finger halted the slightly seething Councilor before she continued. "However with our forces now sustaining consistent losses and injuries, we find ourselves back to similar circumstances as when the Atsak were made. Why not try it again?"
Kaas inclined her head but remained otherwise silent, prompting Korriban to continue. "The Prophet won't be pleased but any action to get our injured soldiers back into fighting condition is necessary under our current circumstances. But of course, given how dangerous they were in the past He won't just let any Legionnaires implanted with the augments to fight alongside their comrades and certainly not alongside any militia or local forces that we can gather in Hutt space until He sees they're not a threat. Which means-"
"That He'll want to see them in action elsewhere! And He couldn't care less if one of them goes rogue and takes a chunk out of any forces from the Empire or the Covenant so He'll probably use them there!" Kaas cackled clapped Korriban on the shoulder for a moment until he shrugged her hand off. "Oh that's devious! We can get these Outer Rim dregs into proper shape and get them into real fighting in one fell swoop!" "And the Prophet Himself will forgo any disagreement He has when He sees His devoted followers eager to continue serving His will in any way that they can, even if it means some Sithspawn augmentation."
Kaas hummed in agreement, looking over the datapad once more. "That just leaves the question of how we're supposed to improve upon this little archived project. I'm assuming that you already have something in mind?" "Indeed. We've managed to glean some lessons from our more recent work on Project Vicar and the Prophet's Sangnir that I believe can be used to redesign a more functional augment program. With our new cloning capabilities we should be able to make the bond between the Sithspawn and the recipient far more stable and reliable, ideally with some growth limiters that should negate their old...virility."
Kaas nodded, satisfied with the theory. Now just came the application. "I'll work getting some prototype specimens ready for implantation then. Do you have any initial subjects in mind?" Korriban rose from his seat and gestured for his fellow Councilor to follow, the two Sith journeying a short way from the office room down into the ship's bunks where an assortment of Legionnaires were waiting at attention. They all bore some rather debilitating injury, lost limbs, significant internal damage, yet those that could stand did and those that could still salute or bow did so as the pair of Councilors entered.
The platoon's commanding officer, Centurion Khan Horo, stepped forward clumsily on his new prosthetic leg and saluted. Korriban gave him a nod before moving to address the Legionnaires with his arms crossed behind his back. "Soldiers of Wonosa. We thank you for your bravery and sacrifices on Sleheyron, your efforts have garnered us many siblings in faith and cut down many that would deny us our liberation. Your Centurion has informed me that you all wish to continue serving the Order of Wonosa in our war against tyranny and enslavement. Is this true?"
The injured platoon didn't hesitate. "Yes Lord Councilor!" "Then we will not waste your heroism and strength of will with a long recovery and adjustment period. Through the blessings of the Force you can be made not only whole again, but indeed even stronger than before. Will you accept our boon? Will you undertake the coming trials to serve our Order?" "Yes Lord Councilor!" Beneath his mask Korriban couldn't help but smirk. How dutiful and servile the Prophet's flock was, ever eager to indulge in their "blessings" no matter the cost.
"Then follow us and listen well, on this day you begin your transformations into new warriors of Wonosa. Today you will begin the path to becoming more than mere Legionnaires, soon you will become Massassi." "Massasi! Massassi!"
