50 years later
Imperial Year - 157 (6831 BBY)
Daimon Age: 229
Imperium's Population: 75 Billion
Over the course of 50 years, Daimon made an empire wide announcent wanting to increase the population of the Imperium to at least over 50 Billion in 50 years. However, now that 50 years have passed, he didn't expect such a turnout. The people had taken his words and started reproducing like crazy. Thanks to the benefits that having a child brought to a family, many sought out partners and started reproducing in their late 30s.
This brought about a baby boom which started to decrease the average age of the Gen'Dai population which was a good thing considering how long they live. The average household had between 5-10 children which increased the benefits they received from the governnt. As of now, the limit on how many children a single household could have was 15.
Any household with 4 or more children were provided with additional funds for each child they had after this, and that child was supported all they until they reached 25. This gave the child a stable household to grow up with and gave them enough ti to decide what they want to do with their future. These policies and laws would naturally be changed soti in the far future when the need for people decreased. But for now, they would remain as they were.
Daimon himself also had 2 more children during this ti. It was twins, a boy who was nad Malrik, and a girl nad Vaelora. They were both born in Imperial year 132 (6856BBY) and were now 25 years old. Similar to Daimon's first daughter, Luna, they had joined the Order of the Balance Keepers and sought to rise in the ranks.
Luna on the other hand had spent 50 years studying more about the Force and further developing her abilities under Daimon's guidance. She had turned into a capable Force User and was now serving within the Imperium Ard Forces. She wanted to see all the sides of the Imperium and she devoted her ti to becoming the best she possibly could.
She was 61 now, but with the maturity of a seasoned officer. There were even whispers among the other young elites about when she would assu her first command. Luna was certain of one thing: when that day ca, she would not just et expectations. She would exceed them.
The Ascendants, now a permanent and multiplying force, were already influencing tactics and strategy. As projected, many did not survive the early phases of creation, but those who did were unlike any warriors the galaxy had ever seen. They were loyal to the point of fanaticism, wielding advanced weapons and armor.
Established as an elite force, they relieved the initial strain on the Force Scions, filling roles that allowed the Imperium to secure more systems faster than anyone predicted. Hardened by the first decade of operations, their strength only grew as they doubled and then tripled in number.
Each Legion at this ti had at least 10,000 Ascendants in each, with thousands more projected to pass as the decades went by. As for Daimon's personal Legion, known as The Empyrean Guard, the Auric Sentinels had reached only around 500 compared to the other Legions. This was expected since the Auric Sentinels were much harder and more sophisticated than the Ascendants. Recruitnt was high, but the pass rate was not.
The Empyrean Guard had rged with the forr Imperial Guards creating a combination of various types of warriors that made up the now Empyrean Guard. In total the Empyrean Guard had 2,000 mbers with various support staff and droids under them.
Alongside this, Daimon had finally approved the use of clones in the Imperium military. Up until now, clones had been sothing that had always been on his mind, but he always focused on other things. But now that the Imperium was over 150 years old, he decided it was ti to start developing clones for the Imperium Ard Forces.
A new cloning directive was introduced which permitted only 500 million clones to be in the Ard Forces at any given ti. This would obviously change as ti went on, but for now and the foreseeable future this was the maximum allowed. And this number would not be reached within 100 years as the number of resources it required was imnse. It would take centuries before that number was reached if it was even needed to have that many cloned warriors.
———
After all of this cloning business and the formation of new legions, Daimon shifted his focus to the Rakata. A massive initiative was set up to explore the Western part of the Galaxy where the forr Rakata capital, Lehon, was located. This took a while as they had to explore the vast expanse of space until they arrived at their target. So far, they had discovered several worlds within a region of space that they started calling the 'Rakatan Archipelago' with several primitive tribes identified as the Rakatan, but Lehon had yet to be found.
The first world they found, they started to observe the population closely, intending to gather information on the scattered Rakatan tribes. This occurred in year 140 and for 17 years they continued to observe the Rakatan to see how their society has changed from before the collapse of their empire to now.
So far, they had discovered that the Rakata had turned into barbaric tribes who constantly fought each other to unite all the tribes, for resources, or sotis just because of a small conflict between the tribes. The biggest tribes numbered in the tens of thousands while the smallest numbered in the hundreds. Unlike before where the Rakatan were a highly advanced species, now they were unable to even wield their own technology due to their lost connection with the Force.
As such, their weapons consisted of lee weapons and ancient blasters which they were still able to forge. They lived in huts and traveled in warbands across the dense forests, deserts, and cold regions of the world. Around the worlds, you could find ancient Rakatan cities overrun by over 20,000 years of vegetation, dust, and erosion. Most of these cities were considered sacred by the local tribes, who believed they were built by the gods who once walked among them, unaware that it was their own ancestors who created them.
During this ti, Daimon had also implented a new policy regarding the Rakata on these worlds. The policy outlined that only black ops teams, intelligence analysts, and anthropological teams were authorized to operate on Rakata inhabited planets. These teams would monitor the Rakata while also looking for promising individuals, especially those with genetic potential or strategic intelligence who would be quietly abducted and brought to hidden academies for indoctrination and re-education.
These Rakata would be known as the Reford Rakata and would be the future of the Rakatan species. Daimon wanted to make the Rakata the first client species of the Imperium. They would essentially be a vassal species that has autonomy over their own empire, but still be subject to Imperial influence and authority. First, they needed to find a capable Rakata who had potential to unite the Rakata under one tribe and then slowly begin the process of reforming and advancing their society.
At the sa ti, Daimon had looked into the Rakatan's severed Force connection. He had one captured and brought to a facility where he began to conduct his research. After several months, he discovered that the Rakata had lost their connection due to the disease which caused their empire to collapse in the first place. Even now, that disease still existed, only it had evolved to be a genetic trait that all Rakata were born with.
The fix for this was simple for Daimon. All he needed to do was to destroy the cells blocking their Force connection, give them so alchemical exposure, and then conduct Force-bonding trials. This would ultimately restore their connection to the Force, and also create a new generation of Rakata free from this disease. But of course, not all of them would be Force-sensitive. Those who don't exhibit any Force-sensitivity will just be thrown back into Rakatan society as a newly reford Rakata.
By Imperial year 157, the Imperium had captured over 5,000 Rakata and converted them into the Reford Rakata. Leading these 5,000 Rakata was the future leader of the Rakata who was scouted out and eventually selected as the one to lead the Rakata. His na was Tarlen Kresh. He was watched closely in his early life, as he rose from a low-ranking hunter-warrior to an unlikely warlord among his tribe. He was cunning, violent, and utterly without rcy, but he also possessed a rare spark of charisma, an ability to unite fractious warbands, bind them with a shared vision, and wield their collective power to a unified goal.
He was, as several of the Progenitors put it, a natural leader in the rough. The kind of leader who could do what Daimon needed next: weld the fractured remains of the Rakata into sothing new, sothing worthy of serving as the Imperium's first client empire.
All of the Reford Rakata were indoctrinated into unwavering believers in the God-Emperor, directing their faith to a person that was actually alive. Of the 5,000 Reford Rakata, only 50 of them were Force-sensitive, including Tarlen Kresh.
———
Onboard the Aurora Class-Transport ship assigned to observe Arkan'taal, Tarlen and the other 49 Force-sensitive Rakata were being trained by a few mbers of the Order of the Balance Keepers. The person in charge of their training was Ronan Galerius, one of the original 20 Orphans whom Daimon adopted. He was one of the Hierarchs of the Order, a person who was a spiritual and strategic advisor who interpreted Daimon's will.
Pointing at Tarlen and 5 others, Ronan motioned for them to stand up. The 6 walked up to Ronan and waited to be told what to do. "You 6 will all face and show the progress of your training. If I see the sa mistakes repeated from our last training session, then there will be even more hellish training awaiting the entire group." Ronan looked over the 6 and hoped to see so improvent as they were the strongest of the group.
Ronan stepped into the training circle, watching Tarlen and the other five Rakatan Force users fan out around him, forming a semi-circle. Each Rakatan warrior tightened their grip on their practice blades.
"Begin," Ronan commanded.
Instantly, the Rakatan warriors charged forward in a coordinated assault, their movents agile and fierce. Tarlen led the charge, moving with primal aggression tempered by precision, aiming a swift strike at Ronan's chest. Ronan sidestepped effortlessly, using minimal movents to conserve energy, demonstrating the efficiency he had mastered over decades.
Two others attacked from opposite sides, seeking to overwhelm him, their weapons sweeping horizontally toward his ribs. Ronan pivoted, spinning away as their attacks narrowly missed, their rods clashing harmlessly against each other. Capitalizing on their montary disorientation, Ronan pushed outward with the Force, sending both sprawling backward.
Tarlen, undeterred, regrouped swiftly, his eyes filled with defiance and determination. Two warriors approached Ronan's rear while Tarlen attacked head-on, attempting to sandwich their instructor between converging strikes. Ronan smiled slightly, sensing their intent through the Force. At the last possible mont, he leaped upwards, sorsaulting through the air, leaving Tarlen and his comrades to collide awkwardly beneath him.
Landing behind them, Ronan raised a single hand, absorbing a wave of Force energy hurled at him by another warrior who had stayed back, cautiously waiting for an opening. "Good tactic, poor execution," Ronan critiqued, redirecting the captured energy outward, knocking the warrior off his feet.
Frustration mounted in Tarlen's eyes. He shouted commands in his native tongue, urging his teammates into a new formation. The six warriors circled Ronan once more, tightening their coordination, determined not to repeat their earlier mistakes. Tarlen lunged forward, feinting to the left while another warrior attacked simultaneously from the right, attempting to force Ronan into committing to a direction.
Ronan showed a montary glimpse of approval before swiftly retaliating. His blade moved in a blur, parrying both attacks. As two more Rakatan warriors charged, aiming at his legs to destabilize him, Ronan twisted his body in an acrobatic maneuver, kicking one attacker squarely in the chest and deflecting the other's strike downward.
"Adapt faster," Ronan warned sharply.
Tarlen, drawing deeply on his anger and determination, channeled the Force into his limbs, moving faster and striking harder. His training blade whipped through the air in a ferocious series of attacks, forcing Ronan to focus entirely on defense for a mont. Encouraged, the other warriors renewed their assault, pressing their perceived advantage.
Yet, this was exactly what Ronan anticipated. In a dazzling display of controlled power, he swept his arms outward, sending a shockwave of Force energy rippling through the circle. Tarlen and the others were hurled back, skidding across the training chamber floor.
"Again," Ronan ordered, standing unbothered. "This ti, think before you strike."
Tarlen slowly rose to his feet, wiping blood from a split lip, his determination raging even brighter in his eyes. He glanced briefly at his comrades, nodding solemnly. They understood that this was more than training, it was preparation for their destiny as leaders and warriors, molded under the ruthless, ticulous guidance of their Imperium ntors.
Raising their weapons again, Tarlen and the Rakatan warriors advanced once more, steeling themselves for another round, intent on proving they had learned from their previous failures. Ronan, sensing their renewed resolve, readied himself. This fight was far from over.
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