Kapitel 52: Chapter Eighteen, Part One
A flash of light illuminated the empty void of space. Ultron's personalised vessel, surrounded by a small fleet of Kryptonian carriers. He pressed his sunlight engines to the limit, mirrored by the other ships. They would come to match the speed of the signal from his drone. A complex interception that required the bulk of his attention.
"Almost there," Ultron squinted into the void. The A.I. extended his sensors, mechanical eyebrows tilted in surprise. "Fascinating…"
His fleet pulled alongside his drone's signal, contained within the body of a vast worm. His scans had trouble reading the details with the beast, but the signal from his drone grew stronger as he closed on the tan behemoth. A hundred kilometres wide, and thousands long, it shuttled through space on a wave of gravidic energy.
"I need to get an accurate picture of the interior…" Ultron squinted, mind focused on the drone at Dan-EL's side. "The signal must be boosted!"
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"What's up?" Dan poked at the rigid drone. Ultron had frozen, locked in mid step as his eyes flashed red and white.
"Maybe he lost his connection?" May frowned as she stopped Dan from tipping Ultron to the ground. "Either way, we need to keep going…"
A frizzle of light sparked from the drones eyes. A web of electricity that spiralled down its body and into the floor. Spears of light poured from between its armoured sections, eyes turned to spotlights as steam whistled from between its jaws. Wave after wave of blue silver energy diffused into the air.
"Get back!" Dan pulled May down the curved tunnel, around a bend from the radiation's glow. A violent explosion followed, a sound that tinged the air blue. "What the hell!"
Darkness returned and May followed as Dan inched back, toward the savaged remains. He poked the red hot metal with a foot. A crackle came from Ultron's frequency, the confidant voice of the original.
"I have entered the creature, I'll send drones to lead you to my location…" The A.I. paused, a burst of static on the normally crisp com. "There are local lifeforms, I'll call you back."
Dan sighed as the line went dead. At least Ultron had confirmed they were inside a massive beast. They would have to tread carefully. Whatever species constructed that city, held technology second only to the Celestials and the Kwa.
"Let's head toward his signal," Dan followed his own advice and set out down the tunnel. "I have a feeling he's going to poke at a hornets nest we could have just left alone…"
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"You still haven't spoken on how you plan to give me my grand destiny," The tattooed Sith crept along the halls of his prison. The droid's voice had led him on, through a maze that had no end. "What is this place…"
The tunnel of metal opened to a vast chamber, ceiling supported by pillars that rose a mile overhead. Maul stood at a guardrail, face pinched as he gazed at a slime filled lake below. Countless cables hung, mechanical vines that dipped their ends into the viscus waters.
"This is your future, whether you embrace it or not," Ultron walked a drone from the shadows and gestured to the bizarre equipment. One of the cables rose at his command, a tentacle that held a small, horned child within a gelatinous pod. "Say hello to yourself, Sith!"
Maul stood, locked on the infant Dathomirian. A male, it looked more like a Zabrak, the race of his forefathers, but he could spot the subtle differences. His eyes flitted to the forest of cable.. If each one held such a creation…
"So, you plan to clone me…" the Sith snorted, fists tightened as he glared down the cursed droid. "Such ideas are hardly new, I could do the same myself after a visit to Kamino."
Ultron laughed as the infant returned to the lake. A beam of light projected onto the air. It showed the design for a cybernetic drone. Muscled body reinforced with strange technologies, the sight of it brought a chill to Maul's spine. The A.I. shook his head as he pointed to details on the hologram.
"This technology is far beyond what you would call cloning," Ultron peeled back the cybernetics on the projection's head to reveal the skull beneath. "It took me quite some time to reverse engineer, but my personalised genesis chambers can do so much more…"
"Abominations!" Maul snarled, tensed as he scanned the chamber. This place was huge, with no drones in sight. "Why would I agree to help you defile my genetics with your mechanical shackles?"
This would be his best chance of escape, though he expected he was surrounded by more droids, hidden in the shadows. Utron interrupted his thoughts with a laugh, a sound that repeated from the darkness of the chamber.
"These units are merely an experiment," the drone shrugged as it gazed over the field of cable. "I was instructed by my master to create a cloning facility on this planet, a place where it is possible to create sane clones with Force capable DNA."
Maul paused his thoughts of escape. His master had often spoken about the impossibility of cloning his fellow Sith, or even the Jedi. The connection to the force created a feedback loop, a crazed impression of the original that brought instability and madness. If this droid and his creator had solved this problem…
"What are your Master's goals, droid," Maul met the drone's harsh red eyes. "Why are you so certain you can offer me enough to betray my cause?"
"Biologicals are so tiresome…" Ultron sighed as he returned to face the genesis machine. "You always fail to grasp the obvious." He projected a new stream of data, detailed information on both Palpatine and Plagueis. "These two have no intention of letting you rule anything, the destiny Sidious preaches is meant only for him."
"Lies!" Maul barked, deep rage beneath the surface of his words. "I was born to rule, my destiny is set into the will of the Force!"
"The Force…" A wash of static poured from the drones mouth, exasperation given form. Ultron poked a finger toward the Sith's chest. "Where is it now, hmmm?" He waved to the air "I'll tell you this, the absence you feel isn't the result of some spell. My master has a Wizard, but even he is helpless in this place."
Footsteps thundered and a legion of drones, two and a half metres tall, stomped through the doors. Line after line of armoured hulks, featureless automatons with shoulder mounted turrets. They lined in formation, a sea that filled the walkway.
"Nature can defeat this Force of yours," Ultron laughed as one of the drone's chests opened, a small lizard contained within. "A creature - so unintelligent it might as well be a plant - renders your power irrelevant…" Ultron walked closer, until his face hovered an inch away from Maul's. "What right does the Force have, to dictate our destiny?"
Ultron placed a hand on the contemplative Sith's shoulder and pulled him to face the holographic display. A series of images cycled. Weapon tests, the launch of a new destroyer class carrier, a world converted into a drone factory, and a legion of Ultron's drones.
"We are the winning side," the A.I. brought his pitch to a close, the image of Zonama Sekot as it jumped into the phantom zone held for effect. "Any chance you have at ruling lies in joining our efforts… even your Master will become little more than a stone in the path for what we have planned."
Maul shrugged the droid's hand from his shoulder, face expressionless. Images could be fabricated, but he had experienced enough to know this machine told the truth. The Sith were unprepared for an enemy that ignored the Force. He faced the indoor lake, filled with Force sensitive clones.
"What place do I have, in an Empire that stands above the Force?" Maul gripped the guard rail, chaos in his heart. "Why would I be given anything, when you've taken all you need from me?"
"My Master is a soft hearted fool," Ultron joined the Sith, head raised to face the ceiling as he complained. "He knows your story and calls it a tragedy, apparently the future you so wish to meet has nothing but misery and pain for you." The A.I. displayed a new image for Maul's eyes. "As for your place… the future has infinite possibilities!"
AUTORENGEDANKEN 
VendakSoth
VendakSoth Thanks again, and a huge thank you to my Patrons! I can’t make this content without support, and I’m super grateful to all of my supporters! This fanfiction is also available on my Patreon, I’ll always keep it free, so please visit! The Patrons make this work possible, and if enough patrons want this novel to be a priority, it will be! Updates for this series will be at five a week, a chapter part monday-friday, with bonus chapters whenever I can get them written and edited.
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