Crowns

Belia and Khan boarded the ship. All the droids and boxes of crystals had been taken back to the Prometheus. This time, it was filled with tanks of water. Inside held a large number of beautiful purple and blue circular bands with tendrils dangling above and below.

The Crown of Silk, a creature capable of finding invisible and force-sensitive prey and feeding off their energy. All of them were pressed against the glass trying to get Khan and Belia.

Two mercenary droids were at the controls of the ship. They were responsible for capturing the Crown of Silk.

When Khan and Belia were secure, they flew the ship back to space. Not far from the planet, the Prometheus was waiting.

"Finally back, it feels like we've been gone forever." Khan breathed a sigh of relief when the ship sat down and the hatch opened.

"It's only been a week, you can't leave your experiments for that long?" Belia walked behind him, a little confused why he was so excited.

"My Apprentice should be out of the kolto tank."

As they spoke a series of droids came to move the tanks to his lab. Khan didn't wait for them and went straight to the elevator.

When Belia understood why he was in such a hurry, she too became a bit interested. The two took the elevator up to the lab. The first thing they saw when the door opened were stacks of boxes containing crystals.

The second thing was his Apprentice wearing a skin-tight black bodysuit. Besides her breast being covered, almost her entire front was exposed.

She leaned over Vala's body with her long blonde hair draped over her shoulders. Her hand was resting on Vala's forehead and her eyes were closed.

Indicators showed Vala had increased levels of brain activity. When Khan saw this he couldn't restrain a broad smile from forming on his face.

"She's dreaming."

"Vala is?" Belia turned towards Khan.

He slowly shook his head. "Both of them." He pointed at the scans. "She's using parts of her brain that governs complex thoughts. That only happens when you're awake, but she can't be awake."

"A mechanical brain can dream?" Belia still found it hard to believe.

"The force is a pathway towards many abilities some would consider unnatural." The smile on Khan's face grew. He strode forward and stood by his Apprentice's side.

She opened her eyes when he approached. She turned her head and looked at him with her green eyes.

"Master, you've returned." Her eyes widened a bit but she didn't react much. "I've been waiting for you, Habitat said you would be back soon."

She turned to look at Belia and smiled. "Welcome back Madam Belia."

"Madam?" Belia walked forward, a little confused at the title.

"Habitat showed me the video of your mating. Based on the memories I've seen from Vala's past, that seemed like the correct title to call you." The Apprentice spoke in a matter-of-fact tone while nodding.

Belia's mouth opened in surprise. She couldn't believe Habitat would do something like that.

Khan studied his apprentice with interest. Based on her reactions, he can see she had emotions but they aren't very strong. It seemed like her droid brain needed time to learn and adapt.

"When did you wake up?" He asked what he really wanted to know.

"I recovered from my injuries two days ago, but I continued your orders to meditate. I pondered over its meaning for many days." She raised her hand and pointed at the boxes of crystals.

"My mind was chaotic and running rapidly to figure it out. It wasn't until more of these boxes arrived that I was able to think clearly."

"Interesting, Kyber crystal's ability to interface with technology hasn't been properly explored. People use them for weapons but it seems like they're capable of so much more." Khan fell into thought.

Habitat entered the lab with droids carrying the first batch of tanks.

Belia's eyes flashed when she saw her. "Habitat! Why are you sharing personal information with people on the ship!" She stormed forward, pointing her finger at Habitat's nose.

"She is the property of Khan, her creator. She wanted to know more about her master, to better serve him. So I told her everything I know." Habitat didn't even blink when she answered. Seeing nothing wrong with what she did.

She walked past the stunned Belia and stopped in front of Khan. "Will we be leaving this system soon?"

"I've gotten everything I wanted from here. Next, let's intercept some ships. Also, bring me fifty Cereans to test out my Crowns of Silk." Khan waved his hand and dismissed Habitat. He believed she could handle it.

Belia came over with a stinky face. "Aren't you upset at all?"

"Why would I be upset?" Khan looked at Belia strangely. Not knowing why she's making such a big deal, he taped her forehead with his finger. "If you're not busy, you can go demonstrate Sheva the seven lightsaber forms as a reward."

"I can teach her?" Her eyes sparkled when she heard Khan's suggestion.

"You'll have your own apprentice someday, now is a good time to practice."

"Yea? Why can't I have an apprentice too." Ideas ran through her head and she turned to leave.

While they spoke, the ship started moving. To reach a hyperplane near Bespin will only take half a day. This didn't give him much time to do experiments.

But the Crown of Silk only lived for three days and he couldn't waste time.

"Apprentice, it's time I give you a name." His eyes traveled up and down her body. "You will be called Natasha."

He picked the name of the first woman in black leather that came to mind.

"By your will, Master." Her eyes flashed and Natasha agreed.

"For now you'll assist me with my research. Using the dark side without knowledge will destroy your body. For now, your mission is to learn, feel everything through the force, and don't try to control it for now. While you may have learned things from Vala's memories, you need to experience it first."

Natasha continued to nod, remembering everything Khan said.

While he explained a few things to Natasha, the droids brought in fifty Cereans and strapped them to experimental tables.

Probes and needles pierced their flesh and started recording their body data.

"Start placing the Crowns on their head." Khan signaled for the droids to continue.

They pulled the animals out of the tank and placed them on the heads of the Cereans. The creatures tightened their grip around their heads and injected a toxin.

Khan watched the reactions to all fifty bodies. The toxin completely shut down mental activity, better than any sedative he's used so far.

He felt it through the force, the Crowns started absorbing energy from their bodies. He couldn't even sense the trace amount of force energy in their bodies but the Crowns could.

"How do they do it? Not even Force Drain can find such a small amount of energy."

He looked at the data being recorded from the Crowns. As they absorbed energy they created a small sac and stored it in their bodies.

An hour later, the Crowns released the grip on the Cerean's heads. The droid placed them back in the water tank and watched what happened next.

The Crowns' bodies started disintegrating into ash and left a small marble-sized sphere. Looking at the indicators, it showed this sphere was an egg.

"Asexual reproduction? But what's the point if the old body is destroyed and only one offspring is created?"

Khan fell into thought and Natasha watched by the side. He saw Natasha watching him and a new idea flashed through his mind.

Is Natasha Sheva's mother? She had all her parts except her head and limbs. He went out of his way to remove all of the mother's parts and not use her skeletal structure because he believed he was creating a new person.

But he already knew part of a person's spirit was connected to their midi-chlorians. The force is made up of the cosmic force and the living force, while midi-chlorians act as a link between the two.

As far as he understood, the cosmic force was created from the living force; But the cosmic force is far greater than any single individual life form can ever be.

Midi-chlorians represented one's strength in the living force, and how well they can communicate with the cosmic force. Transferring the living force into the cosmic force is how one became a Force Ghost.

But what if these Crowns were transferring their midi-chlorians into another part of their body and undergoing cell rebirth? Can a woman create a fetus in her body that's actually herself?

Is that why the Crowns needed to absorb energy from an outside source to kickstart the process? He already knew of maxi-chlorians, a form of midi-chlorians that persist after death and can fully carry a person's spirit.

Is this something like that, but transferring the midi-chlorians before the body dies?

His eyes began to shine, he felt he was one step closer towards his goal of controlling midi-chlorians if this was true.

"Come, Natasha, let's work on the crystals while we wait for these eggs to hatch." Khan walked towards the boxes with a smile on his face.

"Yes, my Master."