The shuttle had been gone for only three days from Rhy-Din's perspective, but from the crew's perspective, it had been almost three weeks since Hex had taken the shuttle Lord Brutin offered. Hex had been given a mission, to procure supplies and materials which could be used to fight the slaver Travanix, who happened to be a Sith Lord.

Now the shuttle was on final approach for Brutin's slaver compound outside the city. As the craft set down, the seven-foot tall, mechanical praying mantis watched from at terminal set up in the cargo hold. The slight lurch as the skids met the bare earth inside the compound walls stirring Hex to life.

Moving towards the loading ramp, which was already lowering, Hex pointed to several of Brutin's soldiers as they watched, #You three, gather whatever soldiers or slaves are available. We will need at least fifteen people to unload this cargo!#
Not even waiting for a reply, as all the soldiers had seen Hex before and knew Brutin trusted the strange machine, Hex turned back to the two man crew that were already lifting crates and containers.

Within minutes, all of the crates were spread out on ground within the compound, with soldiers and slaves alike watching curiously. The machine moved around the piles, examining every crate and container. Satisfied that nothing was damaged, Hex began issuing orders to other slaves and soldiers.

Over the course of the next day, crates were unpacked and a pre-fab building was quickly erected on one side of the compound. Weapons turrets of advanced design flanked the single door in, and while these would ignore the soldiers and slaves walking by, only Hex, Tara, and Lord Brutin himself were permitted to pass into the building.

Inside the strange building, Hex had set up several animal cages, two of which held a pair of strange lizard-like animals. Each clung to what looked like a tree sapling. Across from the animal cages were large liquid filled tanks, as well as various computer equipment of unknown purpose. In the smaller of the two rooms in the small building were large machines which vaguely resembled smithing forges, but of an advanced and strange design.

When everything was up and running, Hex closeted itself in the building and got to work preparing for Travanix's downfall...

As Lord Brutin moved into the first room of the building, Hex was handling one of the small lizard-like animals it had purchased. The insectoid head swung around, nodding once as the machine placed the lizard back into a cage.

#Lord Brutin. Thank you for coming, there is much to show you.#

As Brutin came inside, the doors closed and powerful electronic shielding activated around the building, ensuring privacy from any outside observers.

#In studying Travanix and other Sith, I have discovered that his two most potent weapons are a psionic-like ability called the Force, and an energy blade called a Lightsaber. In order to neutralize these abilities, I took your shuttle to his home universe. There I discovered that others have previously engineered methods to strip a Jedi or a Sith of these weapons.#

Gesturing to the two lizards in the cages, #These are called Ysalamiri. They possess an innate ability to neutralize Force energies within a ten foot radius, so long as they are alive. A curious creature, it is itself immobile and linked symbioticly to these trees. I have begun to clone them.#

#I have already studied their genetic makeup and have isolated the portions of their physiology responsible for their nullification ability. Once I have a suitable sample size, I will harvest the neural tissues required and install these into biopacks which can then be worn by soldiers.#

Moving away from the cages and into the second room, several rows of liquid filled tanks showed Ysalamiri being cloned, two dozen at a time. #The clones mature in two days Lord Brutin. Next, over here I have the method to neutralize Travanix' use of a Lightsaber.#

A table next to the strange 'forge' was piled with what looked like rock samples in containment canisters. The mechanical mantis pointed to the first, #This substance is called Phrik, and due to a property I have yet to isolate, is extremely resistant to the energies of a Lightsaber. The other substance is Cortosis. Cortosis in it's raw form seems to be able to disrupt the power systems of a Lightsaber, shutting it off temporarily. Unfortunately when pure the metal is quite brittle, and when combined into an alloy, the metal looses it's disruptive effects, merely becoming resistant to a Lightsaber.#

Finally turning to Brutin himself, #I have begun mass production of both metals using a molecular forge. Which this device I am able to construct any material I have a sample of, using base materials and energy, both of which are abundant here.# The machine points to the final machine, the doors closing off intense light coming through the small viewports in it's side.

#I am assembling all these supplies into a new Frame for myself to use when I finally combat Travanix. My new armor is nearly complete, and I will begin production of armor, weapons, and other equipment which your soldiers may use.# Finally Hex stilled in place, watching the slaver.

#Do you have any questions, Lord Brutin?#