"So, you were eager to obtain the Separatists' Particle Beam Lance technology?" Onana Kuat asked coldly.
"Yes, esteemed Kuat of Kuat," Lila Blythex replied.
At that moment, a member of the Kuat family standing nearby stepped forward, raised a hand, and tossed over a data disk. "The Galactic Republic thanks you very much for recovering technology that was stolen two and a half years ago."
Lila Blythex froze. She crouched down, picked up the data disk, and pressed the button. A stream of data and images was immediately projected from its miniature holographic display.
"This is... the precursor technology for the Particle Beam Lance... provided by Zhang Jiarui?" Lila stared at the data, finding it extremely familiar.
"This was Extractor, a secret Galactic Republic project seized from the Alaris satellite by Separatist general Sefrans Tann two and a half years ago," Onana Kuat said. "After going through so much trouble and nearly plunging the entire Quat Planet into a crisis of destruction, this outdated technology was all you got?"
Anger simmered in her voice. "I had our best engineers run simulations! This Energy Weapon called Extractor has an extremely short range—it cannot even be mounted on a warship! And what is the Particle Beam Lance? It is a weapon capable of attacking across an entire star system! This is what I got in exchange for hiding in a planetary shelter for two whole days! Palpatine did not even offer the slightest gesture of compensation! He merely told me I did well! Thank you!"
Lila Blythex immediately broke out in a cold sweat. Lowering her head, she said, "This was my oversight..."
At that moment, Little Kuat spoke up. "Esteemed Kuat of Kuat, even Extractor technology would be of tremendous help to us now. In fact, if we had acquired Extractor