The Hapes Cluster

[Jaina Jade Skywalker]

Noise.

 

The dull roar of the dormitories gradually grew louder in little Tirzah's ears, finally drawing her to a state of wakefulness. She lay in bed, her eyes shut, and listened. The breakfast bell was ringing, the pied piper to draw away the crowds of children at the orphanage. As they raced toward the cafeteria and the sounds of their shouts and the pattering of their feet grew dimmer, she sat up and thrust her feet into the slippers next to her bed. Standing, her tousled nightgown fell about her ankles and she didn't bother to dress before leaving the room. Only then, finally, did she open her eyes slowly.

 

Uselessly. The pale white eyes the girl sported flicked about to and fro with no real method or point, but she quickly scampered down the hall toward the sound of retreating laughter and the promise of breakfast, joining in the fray of children.

[Ashley Jade Skywalker]

Stampede.

 

Ash stood back from the entrance to the cafeteria, datapad in hand, taking role as the children paraded in. Satisfied that she wouldn't be trampled, at least for the moment, she stepped through the door herself, watching as the children filed through line and then seated themselves, dividing into the cliques that children seemed to form so easily. Ash frowned as she took another quick headcount- one was missing. She turned to look behind her-

 

And just barely managed to step out of the way as that last child came trotting down the hall. The girl took a step in the opposite direction, leaving Ash's movement next to pointless. Silently she stopped next to Ash and looked up at her, leaving Ash speechless for a moment at the sight of the girl's pale white eyes. Still silent, the girl followed the other children into line, leaving Ash staring after her.

 

The was a rustle of movement behind her, and Ash's supervisor moved into her peripheral vision. "What's with the new girl?" Ash asked, checking off the last role box on her datapad.

 

"Tirzah," the older woman supplied. "Just came in from her fourth foster home. Couple thought they could handle a blind child, but weren't prepared for one who 'somehow knows where everything is.' They didn't even have her for a week."

 

Ash tsked and tucked the datapad into her back pocket, her eyes still on Tirzah. "Poor kid." She watched as the girl sat down at a table on the outer edge of the cafeteria, not even half a meter away from the group of children already seated there but far enough to make it clear that she wasn't part of their clique. As if she knew that she was being watched, Tirzah looked up from her food tray and looked straight across the room at Ash, her white eyes meeting Ash's gaze for a few seconds before she methodically began eating her meal.

 

Something fluttered in the back of Ash's mind- the feeling she always got when she felt that she was supposed to remember something- but before she could grasp it, as always, it left as fast as it had come.

 

Her supervisor raised an eyebrow at her frown of concentration. "Something up?"

 

Ash shook her head. "Just a thought. I'll go prep the classroom."

 

As she strode down the hall toward the large room at the other end, Ash couldn't seem to shrug off the familiar feeling that the girl evoked. Her brow still furrowed in thought, Ash pulled the datapad back out of her pocked and flipped toward the copies of the holos that she kept in it. She pulled up the third one, magnified it-

 

And stopped short as she gasped in surprise.

 

The infant's eyes were white.

[Jaina Jade Skywalker]

"LISTEN UP! Everyone get in your lines! It's time to go!" said the Lady With the Big Voice, like she did every day, just as Tirzah was finishing the last of her breakfast. The little girl quickly dropped to her knees and began crawling her way towards the periphery of the cafeteria, her smaller size granting her the ability to go unnoticed. Resolutely, she was following the little twinkle of light in her mind that tugged her forward, the little fairy that was her eyes and whispered to her where to go. Sneaking along the walls, she disappeared down the side hallway towards the classrooms, her little heart pounding as she hoped to remain unnoticed.

 

Where are we going, little fairy? she thought quietly.

 

Come this way, Tirzah. This way.

 

She set one hand on the wall as she walked, and stopped when it came to rest on the cold metal of the door. She stood on tiptoe to press the release, her fingers just barely reaching the plate. As it hissed open, the fairy in her mind alighted on the shoulder of a woman's figure dimly silhouetted in her mind.

 

"Are you going to teach us to read?" she asked sweetly. The woman inhaled sharply, and Tirzah wondered if she had frightened her. Closing her eyelids and tilting her head towards the ground, she murmured, "They said we were going to learn to read..." The woman still said nothing, but Tirzah could hear the pounding of her heart. All of the little girl's being strained to reach out, to calm her, to quiet her.

 

Little fairy, she's afraid, Tirzah's mind whispered to the bright light, in an effort to convince it to reassure the teacher.

[Ashley Jade Skywalker]

Her mind reeling, Ash had half-stumbled into the dimly lit classroom, absentmindedly flicking the power switches on the holoprojector and audio system. She closed her eyes, taking a few deep breaths to regain her composure, trying to redirect her thoughts from the child who was somehow linked to her past. What do I do now?

 

Lost in her thoughts, Ash didn't hear the classroom door slide open, didn't hear the child take a few steps into the room. She felt a hand lay softly on her shoulder and turned abruptly toward the door-

 

Only to find no one behind her, and Tirzah standing in the doorway. The small amount of composure she'd managed to regain suddenly disappeared and her heart started racing again.

 

"Are you going to teach us to read?"

 

The irony of the question didn't escape her, disconcerted as she was at the moment. Calm the kriff down, Ash, she mentally berated herself, taking another deep breath. Almost by will, her heart rate decelerated. Feeling slightly silly, she quirked an eyebrow at Tirzah. "Reading's on the agenda, yes. Although I'm not sure..." her voice trailed off and she rubbed the back of her nect awkwardly, not wanting to state the obviously.

 

Fortunately, she didn't have to, because at that moment the rest of the children hurried into the room, albeit not as quickly as they had rushed into the cafeteria for breakfast. Almost feeling like she was betraying the little girl, Ash slipped from the room to puzzle out her future and the small child whose eyes she couldn't get out of her mind.

 

-----

 

Ash was waiting at the desk, stack of papers in hand, when her supervisor finally emerged from the classroom just before dinner time. She waited until the older woman had sat down before she set the first one down in front of her. When she quirked an eyebrow, Ash explained, "Adoption papers for Tirzah."

 

The woman glanced down at them. "From who... you?" she sighed. "Ash, you know the rules. You can't adopt a child if you wor-"

 

Ash set the second paper down. "My resignation." And the third. "My financial records. You'll find I'm better equipped to raise a child than most of the couples that come through here, Tirzah's last set of foster parents included."

 

Her supervisor sighed. "And your replacement?"

 

Ash laid down the last few papers. "I took the liberty of running a background check on the girl who turned in her application yesterday... She'll work out fine. She'll be here in half an hour for an interview."

The other woman picked up her pen, flipping over the papers again and again. "Why now, Ash? Why her?"

 

"She's... important, somehow," Ash said quietly. "I don't know how, I don't know why. I just know that she is. Please." She gestured to the paper.

 

With one last heavy sigh, Ash's now-former supervisor scribbled her name over the bottom line of the adoption form. Just as she finished and looked up, she nodded at something behind Ash. "I think you have one more person to ask."

 

Ash turned around to find Tirzah standing a few meters back, silently studying the two of them. Lips quirked slightly in a smile, Ash crossed the distance in a few steps and knelt before the child. "What do you think, Tirzah? Do you want a home?"

[Jaina Jade Skywalker]

Recess. Tirzah had learned long ago that recess was not her domain. She was good at ball games, but the other kids stopped playing with her when the ball always seemed to go where she wanted it to go, and she always knew exactly where it was. The teachers would never help her with the art supplies, saying that she wouldn't be able to see to use them anyways. Games of running and chasing and leaping and hiding she was terrified of; variable terrain frightened her and she'd much rather sit and learn anyways.

 

Lunch times and recesses, therefore, she had learned to spend with the teachers. Toddling past the office where she knew the Lady With the Big Voices would be, she suddenly stopped as she overheard the voice of the Nice Lady that her Little Fairy liked. She crept into the office slowly, not touching anything, not making a sound, and stood at the back of the room, listening intently.

 

"I think you have one more person to ask."

 

Tirzah's heart began to pound, feeling the eyes of both women turn to her. Tugging at the bottom of her skirt, she stared at the floor with unseeing eyes, shifting her weight back and forth between her feet. As she hung her head shyly, she felt the nice lady coming close to her, and heard her voice, gentle and near.

 

"What do you think, Tirzah? Do you want a home?"

 

Home. Immediately the little girl's mind raced to her last few foster families, her memory darting back and forth. Home is loud and mean, recalling the foster father who staggered home and smelled like the Bad Drink and yelled at her and his wife and all his wife could do was sit in a corner and cry, even with Tirzah's efforts to let the little fairy cheer her up. Home is lonely, she thought as she recalled the young couple with the pretty clothes who smelled nice and spoke softly in small words that she could understand, but who spent most of their time going away to work and left her at home with C-8Z3, who the little fairy didn't like, and he never talked to the little girl. Home is scary, as she thought of the large family of prissy girls who all taunted her and teased her and moved her things and locked her in her room and put things where she couldn't reach them or couldn't find them and made fun of her clothes and locked her outside when she went to play and pulled her hair and always acted like little angels when their mommy and daddy came home. Tirzah would always get in trouble for what they had messed up or broken or played around with that they weren't supposed to touch.

 

But oh, what it must be like to be able to call someone mommy. To call someone daddy. She liked the quiet teacher, with the heart that pounded like a drum, like a scared little animal. She reminded Tirzah of many things... like a blanket, like softly playing music, like a warm hug. That's it, the little one thought matter-of-factly, like a hug.

 

Impulsively, she threw her arms around the woman's neck and squeezed her tightly, burying her face in her shoulder. She smelled familiar. She smelled like Tirzah's earliest memories, in which the little fairy coaxed her out from a place of warmth and safety into arms that held her with not just their strength, but heart. She smelled like home. She smelled like love. "Does that mean you're my mommy?" Tirzah asked quietly, wondering at the feel of the word on her lips.

[Ashley Jade Skywalker]

"Does that mean your my mommy?"

 

The words cut straight to Ash's heart, as the holo that she now had committed to memory sprang unbidden to her mind- the young couple staring down adoring at their child.

 

Why are you here now? she wondered, trying to think of an explanation of how a child that had obviously been loved so much was now abandoned.

 

Ash's arms tightened ever so slightly around the child, wondering at the question she'd been asked. With increasing certainty, she felt that she should know why Tirzah felt so important to her, that she was somehow related to the people in her holos, that she should remember something about the people who might be her family. But the memories remained locked away somewhere in her mind, and Ash turned her thoughts from them to answering the question.

 

She pulled back slightly from Tirzah, offering the girl a smile. "That's a more complicated question than you know, little one, and we'll talk about that later. But I'm going to do my best." She stood and offered the little girl her hand, and a wave of utter familiarity washed over her as Tirzah slipped her smaller hand into it. Ash tried to grasp at the tickle in the back of her mind, but it slipped away as soon as it hand come and Ash kept the smile on her face, feeling that somehow Tirzah could feel what her facial expressions were. "Let's go get your things and I'll take you home."

 

Home. That, too, made Ash think. She'd stayed on Hapes because she didn't know where else to go, what else to do. Now, without her job at the orphanage to give her a viable excuse to stay...

 

But while constant travel might've been fine if it was just her, Ash had Tirzah to think of now too, and the child needed to have some constant in her life. After all of the foster homes she'd been in and out of in her short life, Ash wasn't about to start shuttling her from planet to planet. No, she'd make sure Tirzah had a home.

 

And maybe... just maybe... We'll figure out the answers together.

[Jaina Jade Skywalker]

Tirzah held her bag close to her chest, the first tastes of apprehension beginning to grip her. As they walked out of the orphanage, hand in hand, she turned her face up at the stars, the familiar dreamy longing gripping her heart, straining her eyes as though to see her way into the distant galaxies.

 

"We're not staying here, are we?" she whispered quietly. "We're going away."

 

When there was no immediate answer, Tirzah squeezed her hand and turned her face up at her. "Can I call you mommy?"

[Ashley Jade Skywalker]

"Can I call you mommy?"

 

A smile ghosted across Ash's lips as she looked up at the stars, feeling as if a weight had lifted off her shoulders. She reached down and tousled Tirzah's hair and offered the child a grin even though she couldn't see it. "Yeah, kiddo, you can." Hand in hand, they walked back to Ash's apartment.

 

Ash mused silently to herself about Tirzah's question of going away as she opened the apartment door and led Tirzah inside, picking the girl up and letting her sit on the bed as she pulled a black duffel bag from underneath the bed and started tossing her few belongings into it. Her hand hesitated at her holos, and she let her eyes linger on them for a few seconds before turning them off and carefully wrapping the emitters up and putting them into the bag.

 

She zipped the bag up and set it next to Tirzah, guiding the little girl's hand to it. "Hang here for a second, okay? I gotta grab some stuff off of my desk."

 

Tirzah nodded and wrapped her hand around the straps of the duffel as Ash grabbed the only other travel bag from beneath the bed and went out to the living room. She flipped her holonet terminal shut and slipped it into the bag, followed by the cylinder sitting next to it.

 

Grabbing a piece of paper and a pen, she scrawled a note down for her landlord and left it on the desk, along with a credit chit for abandoning her housing contract. Clothes, holos, travel terminal... The food can stay, got plenty on the 'Stalker... Ash frowned for a second at that thought and stepped into the kitchen, opening one of the lower cabinets and pulling out a sealed plastic box.

 

"Hey, kiddo, want a cookie?" she held one out in front of Tirzah and the girl took it happily, munching on it as Ash lifted her back down off of the bed and slung the duffel bag over her shoulder.

 

A quick air taxi ride brought the pair to the spaceport, and Ash tried not to concentrate on entering the Blackstalker security code, knowing from experience what would happen if she entered it incorrectly. Holding back a sigh of relief as the boarding ramp lowered, she led the now-yawning Tirzah onboard and back toward one of the rear cabins.

 

"This is gonna be your room 'til we get to Corellia, 'kay kiddo?" Without much urging Tirzah climbed into the bed, and Ash reached under the bed and pulled out a small stuffed nerf- yet another thing she had found and not gotten rid of- and tucked it under Tirzah's arm as she pulled the blankets up. "He'll keep you company while I'm piloting." On sudden impulse, Ash leaned over and kissed the girl's forehead. "Try to sleep a little, all right?"

 

Tirzah nodded and closed her eyes, and Ash smiled and left the room, headed for the cockpit. She strapped in and quickly lifted the ship from its berth, suddenly very eager to get off of Hapes.

[Sheog the Mad]

LOCATION: The Planet Orelon

 

Deep within the Transitory Mists, on the fringe of the Hapes Cluster, detached even from the Hapan Spine, the planet Orelon is hard to find, even for the best of spacers. It is one of the sixty-three Hapan planets within the Hapes Cluster, located in the inner rim of the Galaxy. Much of the planet is volcanic in origin, but has now lain dormant for centuries, giving rise to the earliest forms of vegetation and plant life. There have been few attempts at colonization, even with the rich volcanic soil and abundant underground aquifers.

 

From space, the planet looked like a faded diamond, set against the bright blue of the planet's cold, class O star, and the green sea of the Transitory Mists. The planets terrain is a mix between looming mountains, deep valleys, and large, unexplored lakes of dark blue. The land is strewn with large rocks of granite, covered in dark green moss, and raw iron, jutting up from the plains of knee-high pale grass, which covered much of the usable ground where the great, untamed forests did not inhabit.

 

Only one colony, Beta Duros, has been successful on this world, keeping out of sight of the Hapan Pirate gangs who wish to prey on starting colonies. The colony had few members, ranking in only one and a half thousand sentient beings, mostly Hapan in origin. The main inhabitants of the planet were now large herds of roaming Banthas, who found sustenance in the pale grass. Old abandoned mineshafts dot the mountainsides around the colony, evidence of the colonists failed attempts to drill through the volcanic mountains. The few crystals that had been recovered over the years were of a medium value on the personal market, but had never been experimented with in the industrial market.

 

Large, warehouse sized caves are commonplace, as well as countless lavashoots and deep caverns filled with water and crystalline formations. The colony has no flight control building, nor large array of sensors. The proximity of the planet to the transitory mists is enough to keep most pleasure travelers and merchants at bay. Pirates do lurk about the planet, using the asteroids for mobile bases several light-years away. Orelon is of little value to the Hapan government, and no local governor has been installed, although a representative who spends most of her time at the Hapan Capital collects the taxes annually, much to the chagrin of the colonists. At this time, there are no large-scale colonization efforts underway or in planning by the Hapan government.

 

Over this faded gem, Sheog's shuttle escaped from the blue embrace of hyperspace, the two Sith onboard, master and apprentice, meditated as one. Sheog's proud, gluttonous smile filled his slimy face. He could feel the growing power within his apprentice, strong and extremely powerful, but raw and uncontrolled as he meditated. He would have to teach his barabel apprentice how to refine his growing power.

 

Heaving his massive bulk back towards the main control board of the unidentifiable shuttle, he set a course for a deep valley several hundred kilometers away from the Beta Duros colony. As the shuttle descended through the deep-blue sky, his scans located a very deep section of caves and caverns within the valley below. He narrowed his course destination for the narrow opening to the cave, which was located at the mouth of a small creek, which wound its way through a grove of large trees. The repulserlift engines sent the grey grass swirling as the unmarked shuttle made its landing. He turned and motioned to the mouth of the cave and smiled before speaking.

 

<>

[Gonzo Lockjaw]

So immersed and concentrated in his meditations, Lockjaw hadn't noticed the shuttle exiting hyperspace and landing on the planet Orelon. Regaining his senses after coming out of what felt like a very long meditation session, Lockjaw caught most of his master's instruction before Sheog headed off to gather supplies. As Lockjaw exited the craft he got his first glimpse of the new planet that he would be residing on, and from what he could tell there wasn't a whole to take in. Everywhere he looked there rocks and then some more rocks, before him was the mouth a very large cave, which is where Lockjaw assumed his master wanted the camp set up. So gathering what few medical supplies there were onboard the shuttle, Lockjaw carried them over to the entrance of the cave. He decided to set everything up about ten yards into the cave and looking over what medical supplies they had Lockjaw that they only had a couple bottles of antibiotics, a few vials of morphine and relatively few bandages. Lockjaw placed all of these into one of the storage containers that he had snagged from the shuttle.

 

Next came the oxygen and nitrogen containers which took Lockjaw a while to unload as he had to carry them one at a time into the cave because the cart they were one would be useless on the rocky terrain. All of these, Lockjaw sat besides the other medical supplies on the left hand side of the cave. Finally Lockjaw unloaded the container of Thallium from the shuttle which he placed a ways further back into the cave so that there wouldn't be any risk of exposure. That was about all of the material that was onboard the shuttle craft, all that remained were the bunks for the emergency patients which Lockjaw removed and set up on the opposite side if the cave.

 

Feeling that he had set up the cam as best as he could, Lockjaw thought about trying to light a fire before returning to his meditation, he realized that there wasn't anything nearby that he could use as fuel. So setting himself down on one of the mattresses from the shuttle Lockjaw returned his mind to wrath, anger, and thoughts of future glory, Lockjaw allowed these emotions and desires to fill him up once again and allowed his mind to wander throughout them.

[Sheog the Mad]

With a long, drawn out, slobber-filled, and entirely unnecessary sigh, Sheog began to push himself into the nearby woodline, avoiding many sharpened rocks, and using a minor application of the force to turn several of the unavoidablely sharp stones to a dusty powder. As he pushed his bulk forward, he glanced back towards the shuttle, where he observed his apprentice beginning to unload their medical supplies. He smiled approvingly and continued forward, tossing a wriggling handful of white-worms into his massive gullet.

 

Concentrating on his feelings of gluttony, and letting them guide him through the force, he began to move in a northwardly direction, using this time alone to focus on meditation and attuning himself to Orelon's new environment. He also spent some of the time trying to devise a plan of training for his barabel apprentice, one that wouldn't necessarily get him killed and at the same time be exciting for the both of them. He was awakened from his gluttonous thoughts by a series of extremely irritating growls. His eyes found a pair of bears sitting behind a bush, seemingly doing recon on what seemed to be a human family's party. The larger of the bears was ridiculously dressed in a hat and tie, whilst the smaller, childish bear was sporting an unstylish bow-tie. His crimson eyes narrowed.

 

About two hours later, Sheog pushed himself into the cave entrance and observed the neat job of organizing the campsite that his apprentice had done. The only complaint he had was the lack of a warm, cozy fire. His crimson eyes settled on his meditating apprentice and a feeling of pride welled up in his multiple hearts. He disappeared again quickly and came back levitating several large logs the size of the shuttle which they arrived in. He dropped them unceremoniously quite close to his apprentice's head, and then began to unload his jacket's numerous pockets. He deposited two flayed bear carcasses beside the logs, which he had pulled from outside the cave's entrance, and carefully laid out the skin beside the carcasses. From his sidebag, he pulled a bloodstained picnic basket, along with numerous cooking utensils. With a sigh, Sheog spoke to his apprentice

 

<>

[Gonzo Lockjaw]

When Lockjaw heard his master return to the cave he came out of his meditation, and was excited to see all of the food and supplies that his master had returned with. However he was a little nervous when Sheog instructed him to prepare dinner, as Lockjaw had never explored his cooking abilities before. But trying to reach out through the force for guidance, Lockjaw realized that he first thing he had to do was to chop up some of the wood for the fire, which at first posed a problem for Lockjaw as he had nothing to chop it with, but luckily a quick inspection of their medical shuttle revealed a storage compartment which housed emergency tools one of which was an ax that Lockjaw could wield with both hands, and with the ax in hand Lockjaw in a couple of minutes and cut several logs and had a good fire going with some matches that he found in the picnic basket.

 

Now that he had the fire going, Lockjaw set about cleaning and cutting the bear meat, Lockjaw first removed what remained of the bears' clothes and set them off to the side, and then proceeded to slice up the meat as best he could, dividing the sections into breast, thighs, ribs, ect. Then taking a large portion of the breast meat, Lockjaw placed it into one of the large bowls that his master had provided him with and began marinating it salt, pepper, garlic, lemon juice, and olive oil, all of which he had found in the picnic basket. While the meat was soaking up the flavor from the oil and spices, Lockjaw removed a grill from the pile of utensils and set it over the fire, and grabbed a pair of tongs. With everything ready to go Lockjaw pickup the large slab of bear meat and set it down gently onto the grill, which immediately began to sizzle over the open flames.

 

With the meat now cooking, Lockjaw went through the rest of the picnic basket and discovered a loaf of French bread, butter, potato salad, and a bottle of red wine. Removing all of these, Lockjaw brought them over to large flat rock near the center of their living area within the cave and set them upon it after of course covering the rock with the red and white checkered picnic blanket. Lockjaw then cut up the bread into individual slices, coating them each with a nice layer of butter, scooped the potato salad into one of the more fancy bowls, and placed the wine bottle in the center with two glasses. Going back over to the bear meat Lockjaw flipped it over to reveal a lovely roasted dark brown coloring, and the aroma from the dish began to fill the cave. With the meat almost done, Lockjaw decided to modify his white nurses outfit, which he had been wearing since the hospital incident on Correllia, Lockjaw cut off the lower skirt portion, revealing a black set of trousers. Lockjaw then went over to the small pile of clothes taken from the bears and placed the bow tie around his neck, and grabbed a couple of hairs from the skins and formed them into a pencil thin mustache. When Lockjaw had completed his outfit he removed the medium roasted meat from the grill placed it on a platter and set it down on the table. Lockjaw then beckoned his master to come over and sit on the cushion he had brought over, poured him a glass of wine, handed him a fork and knife and quite proudly said,

 

Dinner is served

[Sheog the Mad]

Sheog savored the tastes of the wonderfully prepared bear meat as he ate slowly, contemplating how good his apprentice was at cooking. It was cooked just right, with a pleasant reddening at the center of the slabs, and marinated almost perfectly, the taste of the lemon mixing perfectly with the other essences. He took a small sip of the expensive Hapan wine, letting the flavor wash his pallet of the taste of meat, allowing for a brand new experience as he tossed a piece of the buttered bread into his gullet. He followed it up with a scoop of potato salad, a piece of meat, and another sip of the wine.

 

He belched loudly and wiped his face with the back of his grimy hand, before removing the crumbs and grease from his fattened hands by rubbing them on one of his random disguises, this one involving a weird superhero who was obsessed with mynocks. His crimson eyes focused on his apprentice as he placed a small, bloodstained, stuffed ewok toy upon the centre of the tableclothe, about the size of a human's hand. He motioned to it with a now cleanish hand.

 

<>

[Gonzo Lockjaw]

Lockjaw was very pleased with himself over the fine meal that he had prepared, and better than that, his master had thoroughly enjoyed it as well. As Lockjaw was finishing up his last mouthfuls of dinner, he saw his master pull out a small, bloodied, ewok and ordered him to lift it with the force. Eager to be finally doing something real with the force Lockjaw raised up his arm and fixed his eyes upon the toy in front of him, and using all of his will power, Lockjaw (in his mind) commanded the toy to lift off of the table. Nothing happened, after about a minute of this lockjaw gave up as he realized that it wasn't working, perhaps he needed to fill himself up in wrath and hatred like in his meditations.

 

So leaning back away from the table Lockjaw began to meditate again and allowing his mind to swim about in the buckets of anger and wrath that he had built up, and as it did so he stretched out his arm again and tried to grab the toy ewok again with the force and lift it up into the air. But when he opened up his eyes to see if whether or not anything had happened, the toy ewok was still sitting there on the table.

 

This greatly annoyed Lockjaw as he stared down at this small pathetic excuse for a child's play thing. It was then the Lockjaw came to the conclusion that he did not like this toy at all, in fact he hated it, he hated everything about it from the bloodstains on the fur, the button eyeballs, and that stupid crooked little smile that seemed to just mock him and his inability to move it with the force. But Lockjaw was determined to move this object in front of him, and as he went back into his meditation again, Lockjaw reached into his reserves of hatred, but rather than pouring them into his mind he instead poured them out onto the ewok, pretending as if he were dowsing it with fire and incinerating it with his fury for causing him such frustration, he wanted this thing gone from his sight. This time when he reached out for it, Lockjaw felt as if some kind of energy were flowing through his body towards the toy, and with this energy Lockjaw directed it towards the ewok, and grabbing it by the neck he hurled the toy with all his might, tearing down the walls that housed his inner most wrath and pouring it all out onto the toy now gripped within the confines of his power.

 

Lockjaw would have continued this nice little scene inside his mind and perhaps tried to tear the little thing apart, but he lost his concentration when he suddenly heard something squeak outside of the cave, and looking up to see what it could have possibly been, he noticed that the ewok toy was missing from the table.

[Sheog the Mad]

Sheog belched loudly at the surprising sight of the utter lack of movement from the Ewok toy. It was slightly depressing to see his apprentice concentrate in vain so he reached out with a fattened hand to take the toy in hand, to see if it possibly was absorbing the power of the force. Before his grimy fingers could grasp the bloodstained fur (made of genuine EWOK FURRR®, which was in fact, sadly not actual Ewok fur, but a Bantha/Wookiee blend, mixed with a dash of polyester, and handstuffed with ”˜a cup and a half of love,' according to the advertising schemes of the Nemoidean TOYCRAP Corporation. The only love the toys were stuffed with, was the laborious sweat of the companies ten-thousand Wookiee slaves ((who were also shaved monthly for their fur)) , who sat at the production lines on Nar Shadda, and fed only scraps of Ewoks, which was somehow ironic...), when the toy shot from the table-top and went spinning into the depths of the caves, in a gore-like explosion of stuffing.

 

Sheog's eyebrows rose a full three inches in surprise, and in the distance a squeak could be heard, caused by an unfortunate accident which included a bus full of day-laborers and several falling trees, which seemed to startle Lockjaw from his meditation. Sheog laughed heartedly and slapped the apprentice proudly, if not a bit too hard, on the back in congratulations, and led him out of the cave entrance, into the fading twilight of the light of the setting sun falling through treetops. The extremely large Hutt withdrew one of Darth Ares' lightsabers and tossed it underhand towards Lockjaw. Placing a grimy hand upon his ceremonial staff, he began to summon the darkest energies through his ravenous connection to the living force.

 

Swirling tendrils of gluttonous power began to pull upon the corrupted flesh of the dead, animating it to Sheog's command. Muscles began to twitch and tendons stretched taught over dead bone. Sheog's crimson eyes shone in power, like a star's explosion set into the spinning red mists of a nova, as he began to pour power into the dead bodies of his former enemies. Bodies pulled themselves from the medical shuttle and cavern; Cassandra, Gren, Ares, Cas, Kiralocca, Dahar, and Bradly Manning, all reanimated, strode into the clearing before the cave entrance, surrounding Lockjaw in a circle. Each one held a piece of metal, the size of a landcrawler's tire iron ready as some type of weapon. Sheog turned his head to the side, glancing at his apprentice, before concentrating his power onto the lightsaber Lockjaw held.

 

With great concentration, he flicked the blade to the lowest power setting, still able to block a weapon's strike and leave a searing kiss, but not enough to absolutely destroy the implements of his training. The bodies began to slowly circle his apprentice, stretching and working out the stiffness in their dead muscles, preparing for a great battle. Sheog's great smile widened as he began to speak, his glowing eyes carefully observing the actions of his apprentice.

 

<>

 

As the great Hutt finished speaking, the body of Kiralloca strode forward from the circle, wonderfully decapitated, and began to weave a blurred web with the swinging of his arm and the piece of metal, a truly gruesome display. The Wookiee stepped to the left and would swing a low blow to Gonzo's legs, before dropping a strong kick to the head of Barabel apprentice. If the apprentice were to jump over the strike, he would place himself fully at the mercy of a Wookiee's kick. It would be a wonderous game.

[Ary the Grey]

An authorless message came in for Sheog's comm device, relayed through the Holonet, requesting his presence on Coruscant for an allied attack on the Jedi. A lunch buffet would be provided, free of charge.

[Gonzo Lockjaw]

When Lockjaw regained his senses he was just as surprised as his master to see that the ewok had been jettisoned clear out of the cave, and while Lockjaw had fully intended to do that he had only expected the toy to perhaps fall off of the table. Anyway it seemed to greatly please Master Sheog who gave a hearty laugh and slapped Lockjaw on the shoulder causing his face to land in what was left of the potato salad and butter. Recovering his composer and cleaning his face off with the red and white checkered table cloth, Lockjaw accompanied his master back out of the cave. Thinking that perhaps he was going to enjoy a peaceful moment with Sheog and watch the sunset, Lockjaw was proven to be very wrong, however when his master tossed him one the obsidian lightsabers of the former Darth Ares. Lockjaw's curiosity of what he would be doing with the lightsaber was soon answered as the reanimated corpses of their fallen enemies pulled and stumbled their way out of the shuttle and surrounded him.

 

As the seven zombified bodies to their positions in a circle around him, Lockjaw ignited his lightsaber, whose red light reflected off of his hardened, emerald, scales illuminating his intense and eager expression. But as soon as he had ignited his lightsaber the scorched and decapitated corpse of Kiralloca attacked swinging his metal rod at Lockjaws legs, and not yet taking a proper fighting stance, the dead wookie's attack struck the side of Lockjaws leg knocking him to the ground. But before the dead Kiralloca could attack again, Lockjaw rolled over to the wookie's feet and sprang back and seized the charred foot that Kiralloca had attempted to kick Lockjaw with, before heaving it back towards the wookie's face and swinging his tail, like a club, into the side of the wookie.

[Sheog the Mad]

Sheog was hungry, and just for that, he stuffed a handful of white-worms into his gaping gullet as he spun the force to command the battle taking place before him. His original attack had caught his apprentice off guard, but the Barabel had recovered well, grabbing the Wookiee's foot and heaving it backwards, whilst swinging his tail like a lizard club. Sheog allowed the Wookiee to collapse, hearing a dreadfully loud popping sound as Kiralocca's kneecap gave way beneath the scaly onslaught. He smiled, smacking his lips loudly as the walking carpet collapsed to the ground, released by the force.

 

As the hairy body fell, Sheog commanded the tattered remains of the other Jedi, Dahar, to rush the Barabel where he'd sprung up beneath the Wookiee. At the same time, the headless Cas Holloway would step forward and strike down at the Barabel's back with an overheaded swing of the metal pull. If Gonzo's luck did not hold, the rushing Jedi would impact him on his left side, whilst the metal rod would impact his rear scales.

[Gonzo Lockjaw]

Lockjaw knew that as soon as his tail connected with the unprotected leg of the Wookie corpse, he had done serious damage by shattering the knee cap and ripping apart the tendons within. With the Wookie out of the way, Lockjaw turned to face his remaining opponents, six reanimated corpses still stood before him and judging by the skill of which his master could control these bodies he would stand little chance against them, because so far in the fight Lockjaw had been relying on his own fighting instincts and not the force. If he wanted to win this fight, Lockjaw would have to focus his mind and allow the force to flow through and guide his actions, but no sooner had he begun to try and tap into the vast power and strength that hate and anger could provide, Lockjaw saw out of the corner of his eye one of the dead Jedi rush him from the side.

 

Not really even thinking, Lockjaw swung his right hand, bearing it's razor sharp claws, down upon the dead face of Dahar. However as Lockjaw moved against Dahar he did not sense the attack by Cas Holloway and Lockjaw gave out a shrill hiss of pain and anger as the metal rod scraped down the scales along his back. Infuriated that he had once again allowed himself to be struck unawares again by one his masters dead henchmen, Lockjaw allowing his anger and frustration to fill him to the brink, took his lightsaber and swung it as hard as he could towards the neck of Cas Holloway.

[Ary the Grey]

Ares' ship pulled out over the planet his target was currently on, entering a high orbit. The Sith Master didn't know the pinpoint location of the gluttinous Hutt, but they both were strong in the Force, and Ares could sense its movement. His hands gripped the controls, slowly guiding the ship down towards the surface, homing in on the origin of the disturbances in the Force very methodically. In little time at all, his ship was landing near the cave where Sheog was currently occupied in animating the corpses of those he killed, including Ares' own, which the Sith Master would soon find out.

 

A darkly armored figure strode down the landing ramp, his booming voice echoing out for all nearby to hear.

 

"SHEOG!!! YOU SLIMY, FILTHY COWARD, GET OUT HERE AND FACE ME!!!"

 

Ares gritted his teeth as he listened to the echoes, his rage boiling and churning in the Force like some great unholy inferno hurricane. He had waited a long time and took great pains* to find him, and now the slug would feel the harsh winter of Ares' discontent. If that winter were like a fire tornado or something else bitch-ass nasty awesome.

 

 

* Not really. It was actually kind of easy once he used the right method ((and once it was agreed upon OOC)).

[Ary the Grey]

Ares was getting fed up with Sheog's 'play dead' routine. It was getting very annoying. The Hutt knew what he did, he knew who he screwed over, and honestly, Ares was tired wasting energy over it. Angrily he walked into the little cave thing, carefully checking for bombs as he went. He walked up to the Hutt, who appeared to be comatose, with his apprentice nearby battling corpses, one of which being Ares's own, he noticed. He glared for a moment, before slapping the Hutt across the face several times slapstick-style.

 

"Mother****er, if you ever pull that kind of shit with me again, I swear to god there won't be anything left of you to clone. And I'm going to do it slowly and painfully. I know you hear me, you fat tub of lard."

 

He grabbed his lightsaber hilt off the Hutt, noting the slug's apprentice was currently fighting for his life with the other one. One lightsaber wasn't really that much of a loss, especially considering Ares had several made in case of fatal eventualities. He did, however, have a problem with them being stolen as trophies.

 

"You. Lizard-guy. Whatever. When you feel you've earned that weapon, you come and see me. It's yours now, not his. And don't let his blubbery ass try and take it from you either."

 

He turned back to Sheog, shooting him one final nasty glare, before walking back to his ship, throwing a extremely rude hand gesture over his shoulder as he left.

 

"**** YOU, D****E!!

 

Ares's ship pulled away, leaving the pathetic planet behind. What a p***y place for a Sith, a Sith, to hide. Since when did Sith hide, anyways? They were gods of this galaxy, and everything and everyone in it was under their natural dominion, through natural selection. This whole thing was getting incredibly un-funny. Thinking about it for a moment as he flew through the atmosphere, Ares doubled back, landing near the cave again, and spraypainted a ginormous rainbow on the side of Sheog's spacecraft, before again leaving, this time for good.

 

Unfortunately, Ares didn't know the paint was a kind of prank paint, meant to come off with water, and a rainstorm was approaching Sheog's current location.

[Sheog the Mad]

Sheog's great crimson eyes, like two lanterns of red, focused upon his apprentice, the young Barabel Lockjaw. With a wave of his fat, meaty, pudgy, grimy hand, he let the surrounding forces of corpses fall to the ground in a heap of partially rotting filth. With a long sigh, he moved his large bulk through the blades of pale grass that made up the small clearing within they both stood, (or the Hutt equivalent). With a large, booming voice, he began to speak, letting the force whirl about himself like a dust-storm.

 

<>

 

With another great sigh, Sheog threw his bulk forward, whilst plunging himself into the heart of the force. Hunger, great and devouring, rose within his stomach, churning the force about him, causing the pale grass to ripple like a great wind had began to blow. Sheog concentrated upon the hunger, letting it flow into a bubble about himself, letting himself fade behind it. To Gonzo, the great slug, would seem to falter, and then fade like an image from a two-bit hologram projector, picked up from a Coruscanti Toys' R'nt Us. (Admittedly, most of those two-bit holograms were broken at the store by Toy's R'nt Us' clientele, the crazy ewoks who had settled about Coruscant in clear violation of its immigration laws. ) Sheog's voice boomed over the clearing.

 

<>

[Gonzo Lockjaw]

As Gonzo Lockjaw prepared another blow to his undead combatants they suddenly crumbled to the ground, lying there in decaying heaps of flesh. No sooner had this occurred Master Sheog belted out new instructions for his young student.

 

<>

 

And before Lockjaw's very eyes the massive bulk of his master faded away, leaving no trace at all except for his smell and heat signature. Then from apparently nowhere, Lockjaw heard the voice of his master again instructing him in this force technique. So gathering his wrath and hatred about him Lockjaw allowed the force to flow through him, but instead of sending it straight in and out of him, he kept it close to him gathering the power of the force around him, and forming a bubble. As the bubble began to take shape, Lockjaw brought it closer to himself until it began to creep onto his skin. It felt as if his entire body had been covered in a thick liquid and it was pouring all down his body and running all over his scales. When Lockjaw held his hands up to his eyes he could not see either of them, in fact he couldn't see any part of his body, everything from the tips of his claws to the end of his tail was rendered completely invisible. The only visible trace that Gonzo could find of himself was the imprints on the grass that he left as he walked about, other than that the only other way to detect him would be by his smell or body heat. Now that Lockjaw had control over this new ability he released the force surrounding him creating a small shockwave hurtling throughout the clearing he was standing.

 

With this new power under his belt Lockjaw had a much larger task before him, killing the governor of Beta Duros. Lockjaw knew that this kind of task is not something to be taken lightly and could possibly take days to plan out properly and make it as exuberant as possible for his Master's enjoyment. So loading what few supplies and pieces of equipment they had Gonzo boarded the charred shuttle craft and headed off to Beta Duros which was according to the sensor, several hundred miles away.

Beta Duros was once an illustrious city with a booming economy and immigrants pouring into the colony all looking to get in on the wealth that the mines provided. However as the wealth flowed into the colony so did the politicians all looking to make a profit from the taxes they would collect. But try as they might no politician could set hardly any tax regulations as they were constantly me with resistance from the miners and powerful corporations. For the first several years of the colony it was the businesses that were really running show. Through their extreme wealth and ability to hire their own private mercenaries and bounty hunters they were able to fend off the onslaught of politicians even going as far as ”œremoving”

[Sheog the Mad]

The energies of gluttonous power flowed about the caverns, crafting and drawing material together. Gluttony took shape with its brothers Lust and Pride, forming into invisible hands, to aid their master. Their master was the heaving bulk of muscle, covered in a protective layer of fat, forming a pure mountain of Sith-like monstrosity. A few wriggling worms protruded from his slimy lips as he wove together the powers of the Sith, and weaving together a bitter contraption of metal and power about himself. Armor was being created, plated-mail crafted from the charred starship metal, taken from part of the ruined engine housing of the medical shuttle, collected before his apprentice's departure.

 

As the armor took shape, Sheog glanced over at his datapad, observing a fattened man, whose complexion was that of Lando, beginning to cover the morning's news, in a high-paced tone, which made the report all the more interesting. The man, Ollie, by the name underneath his bulky frame, was beginning coverage news of the Blossom-Day Event, (put on by RJ's Blossom Emporium, which happened to be a Dug Mafia cover business which was charitable enough to throw a city-wide celebration of ancient Hapean tradition ((along with a perfect opportunity to press drugs into the hands of eager young children))), and was speeding through it. Within a few seconds, he had finished with the celebration, and had moved on to more pressing matters: The assassination (and martyrdom) of the Hapean governor Mire Serolod. A large smile spread across his grimy face, and a feeling of pride swept across his blubberous frame. His apprentice was turning out to be even more exciting than he had first thought.

 

A rustling in the bushes made him turn to the cave entrance, where he witnessed a young woman run inside, armed with a blaster-pistol, wearing a pair of black shorts, and a simple T-shirt of black fiber. She was athletic in build, and carried herself with an air of confidence. She paused as she saw before her the massive, armored bulk of the mountainous Hutt, the darkness obscuring her view. Sheog burped loudly, causing her to scurry swiftly backwards, where she tripped and fell over a barrel of medical supplies, with a yell of obscenities. Her face fell into the light, and Sheog recognized her immediately, she was a hacker, wanted in the Hapean system on every planet, according to the newscasts, for mischievous hacking and troublemaking. Scooping her up with the tender hand of the force, which caused another stream of obscenities to stream forth from her mouth, he set her softly upon another barrel.

 

With a flourish of the force, the cave came to light with light, streaming about the girl in the form of flying dragons, fully illuminating the cave, showing himself in his true form, fully armored in blackened plated-mail, in all his gluttonous glory. The girl's yellow eyes narrowed, as she

analyzed her situation, and then spoke slowly.

 

”œYou”¦ Going to kill me?”

[Lord Ar-Pharazon]

The Dreadfully Unpleasant and Very Unholy Chariot of Unwarranted Suffering exited hyperspace over Hapes. Seeking a metropolitan area, the evil Sith man steered toward a destination ripe for terror, and landed at one of the public docking bays. Ar-Pharazon stepped out from his ship, with a beige trench coat and matching hat, wholly eager to cause a stir. In his hand was a large briefcase, full of do-it-yourself literature that was going to make for one very hilarious afternoon on Hapes. The literature was full of career-relevant verbiage written by Ar-Pharazon, through nonsensical riddles, offensive gender-specific labels, and bold-faced lies, turned into cheaply produced pamphlets and leaflets about advancing in the work place, which was a lesson that all women could use, and they'd be drawn to it all like Wookiees to a flame. Hapes was ripe for fraudulent sales and executions.

 

Before long, Ar-Pharazon began setting up his booth at a local shopping mall. Other than his beige hat, he didn't even need a disguise. Women didn't watch news. They had no idea that he was the most evil man ever, much less the most important fellow in history. What a great scenario! He carefully spread all of his literature on the table, making sure it was set up in an appealing way. He even set out a tray of delicious chocolates ”“ which were filled with sweet caramel and slow-acting poison. Then he took his seat, folded his hands, and waited for the fun to begin.

 

A moment later, a beautiful buxom blonde woman approached. ”œOh wow!”

[Dashel Illioni]

Deleted and sent to its proper thread.

[DeCaro91]

Cayzr's borrowed ship touched down on the surface of Gallinore. As the engines powered down the ramp descended and he walked slowly from the ship. He was here on official Exchange bushiness, His mission: find a rat. His clawed thumb stroked the pommel of his mace that hung from his belt and he drew himself up to his full height stretching out after the long flight. Securing his traveler's cloak around him he proceeded into the spaceport, people steering away from the hulking alien. He needed information and the best place to obtain it was a Cantina. Pausing slightly at the small child that ran into his leg, Cayzr gave the child a nudge prompting him on his way. As the child gave him a Terrified look he scurried away and Cayzr continued to the Cantina and hopefully, information.

 

As he entered the Cantina he pushed past the crowds huddled along the bar, past the patrons watching the Twi'lek dancers, and settled himself in the corner of the room, His fiery orange eyes gleamed within the darkness of his cowl as he scanned the crowded Cantina. Tilting his head ever so slightly he overheard. "-boasting about how much money he made turning some deal sour," Cayzr's eyes locked onto the man, A balding middle aged human sitting at the bar a glass in his hand, engaged in deep conversation with the bartender.

 

"This guy got a name?" The Chiss bartender asked mildly interested.

 

Cayzr stood and made his way to the bar and sat next to the Balding man, who turned and gave a terrified squeak as he saw Cayzr's face beneath his hood. The Dashade was not amused at this humans cowardice but it could not be helped. "What was this guy's name?" He asked in a guttural voice.

 

"W-why do you want to know?" The man asked hastily downing his Corellian ale in a single gulp.

 

"That's my concern," Cayzr replied turning back to the Bar.

 

"Well, why would I tell a Freak like you?!" The man asked.

 

A low growl escaped the Deshades lips as he quickly rose to his full 8 foot height and picked up the Human by the front of his Vest holding him 5 feet off the group with apparent ease. "You will tell me, Or I will kill you." Cayzr snarled. The Cantina was deadly silent Except for the music coming from the holoprojectors next to the exotic dancers. The Balding man struggled against Cayzr's iron grip finding escape was futile. He looked helplessly at the people who had gathered around to watch, but none dared intervene lest they suffer the huge aliens wrath.

 

"All right! I'll tell you!" The man shouted. "His name is Koobis Kalivo he is a Rodian. Now please put me down?"

 

Cayzr loosened his grip And saw movement out of the corner of his eye A Male rodian was slowly edging his way out of the Cantina. Cayzr unceremoniously dumped the man on the floor who staggered back and landed on his butt. The Rodian saw Cayzr turn and began to shove his way towards the entrance of the Cantina only to have his escape cut off as the crowd around Cayzr quickly moved out of his way. Grabbing the green reptilian alien by his throat Cayzr simply turned, Rodian in hand and walked out of the Cantina. A few moments passed and then the Cantina resumed its usual upbeat atmosphere.

 

The Deshade drug the struggling Rodian into a nearby alley and tossed him face-first into the dirt.

 

"You've been a bad boy Koobis," Cayzr drawled.

 

Koobis hoisted himself to his feet and drew his blaster. Only to have it knocked away by Cayzr.

 

"The boss doesn't want you dead But that doesn't mean I can't have a little fun with you first," Cayzr leered at the small Rodian who only came up just past his waist.

 

Koobis attempted to buy his way out by waving thousands of credits in front of Cayzr who simply knocked them away simultaneously delivering a vicious body shot to the Rodians ribs feeling several break with his first hit. Koobis coughed up a glob of blood as a second fist came crashing down on his jaw and then...darkness.

 

Cayzr scooped up the battered Koobis and threw him over his shoulder, and began is walk back to the ship.

Edited December 1, 2012 by Guest

[Terra]

The bittersweet reek of spice hung thick in the air, lying like a blanket of smoke upon the packed cantina, located in Gallinore’s seedier Deadstone Plaza. A dry, stiff breeze broke through the opening door, announcing the arrival of yet another sentient creature to the grubby tavern, the choking cloud of burning spice whisked away by the automatic fan system. The neon signs gleamed bright in the gloomy interior, reflecting off the eyes or sensory nodes of the various denizens who called The Hairless Wookiee home.

 

From the pazaak table came a desperate cry of rage and desperation, drawing the eyes of packed room, to the quickly enraging Iridonian, who had thrown his drink into the masked face of his opponent, a small figure cloaked in a tattered duster of black, with stitchings of gold in the shape of a kraken.

 

“You cheat. No one has ever been that lucky.”

 

The figure stood slowly, barely rising in height to match the man’s throat. A voice, tired and sad filtered though the mask’s voice system.

 

“Your rage does not do you well, Iridonian... Fall back and take your loss. A fight here, between you and me, would not play favourably to you.”

 

With a deep growl, the man stalked away, brushing aside the cantina scum to leave bereft of his credits, but not his life. The figure turned slowly follow him with its gaze, which fell then upon the entering Dashade. It was a hulking beast, a menacing figure, even amongst the varied evil of the Cantina. The figure followed this beast, (Cayzr), the cowl flowing behind, revealing the various weapons scattered across the armoured plating. The plates matched that of a Mandalorian, and the crest identified the figure as one of the Kyr’tsad. After the mountain of a beast manhandled a Rodian, the figure quickened its pace to get ahead of it. Pausing a yard after the giant creature, the figure stopped, hands resting upon the weapon belt , and the voice filtered forth once more, cynical.

 

“And... Who might you be, creature? Sentient, I certainly hope...”

 

EDIT: Nice one there, DeCaro, ninja-ing an edit in there... Edited to match your edits.

[DeCaro91]

Cayzr paused before the small masked figure that barely came up to his waist. He took a moment to adjust the Rodian and to get a closer look at this figure in front of him. The figure was wearing plated Mandalorian armor and the Crest was that of the Kyr’tsad, the Mandalorian elite. He gave the Figure a look that showed respect that only another warrior could ever understand.

 

Flashback

 

Cayzr's mace came crashing down on one of the Sorrus arena guards helmeted head caving in the helmet killing the man instantly. The hulking Dashade barreled his way through the Narrow halls of the arena bowling over all who stood in his path. He would have his freedom or die trying. As he rounded the corner heading towards the local spacedock he was cut off by 15 Sorrus arena guards armed with blaster rifles and vibroswords. One stepped forward and spoke

 

"Surrender beast or we shall be forced to put you down!"

 

Cayzr Roared a Challenge to them beating his breast with his fist as he charged forward. With a single swipe of his Mace he downed 4 men. He caught another in the backswing smashing him into the wall blood dripping from beneath his helmet onto his chest as it rolled at an odd angle. Then an intense searing pain struck Cayzr in his shoulder as one of the guards shot him with his blaster. Cayzr rushed forward promising death to his assailant but before he could reach him he was shot again in the back. It didn't penetrate his armor but it still staggered him. As he fell forward A gun butt swung up to catch him in the jaw.

 

Cayzr's eyes opened as he was being dragged back to his holding cell the hall was fuzzy and his spirit was all but broken. To be so close and fall short. He would never see his people again, instead he would die on this godforsaken rock as sport to the masses. A single shot rang out And the guard supporting Cayzr's massive frame dropped to the ground, dead. He looked up to see his only friend in this prison a former Mandalorian, a Zabrak by the name of Agerak, standing over him holding a still smoking blaster. He turned to the next guard who attempted to drop Cayzr's bulk and draw his blaster. A second shot rang out and the guard was dead.

 

"Cayzr, my friend you must get up you must go now!" Agerak's horned face swam in front of his vision. Agerak helped him to his feet and handed him his mace. "Go," He said.

 

Cayzr shook his head and Agerak rounded on him. "I was shamed when I was captured you must leave while you can Cayzr! I have nothing left but dishonor by aiding you and taking down as many of these guards as I can Restore some of my lost honor." Cayzr nodded stiffly and turned running full tilt towards the spaceport as the sounds of combat and Agerak's maniacal laughter followed him down the corridor.

 

Flasback End

 

Cayzr looked at the Mandalorian in front of him.

 

"I greet you in honor Mando'ade." He said inclining his head slightly.

[mereelsgirl]

*i walk in, receiving a message from Sheog to meet here for training. My red skin is being covered completely with black corotosis weave material. I'm cautious of the new territory and i looking around for my Master, Sheog. I"m not making a noise*