((This fanfic has been redone from its original plans and made according to me, Diego, better than the first. It follows Darth Matas and a few more beings during a small crisis during 69 ABY.))
Prologue
The one formerly called Kadrian Kolar had been promoted on the Sith capital of Kroprulu by the Dathomiri male, Darth Scourge and the Commander of the Sith Armed Forces, Darth Minious, and renamed Darth Matas. He recieved his Sith tattoos and made a course to Iridonia in order to keep his promise to stop the Iridonian Civil War. On Iridonia he found himself to be stronger than he anticipated and managed to fight in the war. He joined the special Zabrak organization called the Zabrak Warriors and his mind molded to a more warrior-like mind. His whole life had been of war. Darth Matas led the Zabrak Warriors to many assassination missions to kill the clan leaders of both sides and then in the final battle in Capital Square he slaughtered many soldiers until the Commanders of both sides surrendered. Matas killed the commanders and forced the Iridonian government to form a much more united government where a Civil War among the Zabrak would not happen. That led to the creation of the Zabrak Empire. The people of Iridonia decided to make Matas temporary Kaz'ak, or leader of all Zabrak worlds in the Zabrak Empire which was called the Zabrak Imperium. Matas accepted as he saw the Zabrak would need to raise their prestige in the galaxy. Matas would return to Kroprulu after six months on Iridonia.
This is where Zabrak Warrior begins.
Brigadier General Matas
Chapter 1
69 ABY
Atheelus
The once former surface of the factory planet, Altheelus, lay barren with the scars from a Sith bombardment. Buildings eradicated, fires spreading along the small forests, and most life eradicated from existence. Bash Massa watched his homeplanet in ruins and stood next to a vaped speeder and the remains of many melted and burned sentient beings. Bash peered upon Atheelus’ surface and anger began to build within him as he stood in shock of what had happened to his planet. He had been off-world on business, being he was the Exchange’s leader, and Bash had not heard of this occurrence until he had heard of it by holo. He felt hatred towards the one’s who had done this to the planet and sought revenge. The vengeful human turned to a Rodian and began to speak.
“This will be avenged. They will all suffer.”
Kroprulu City spaceport, Two week later
The worn and beaten black freighter slowly landed on the metallic surface of the spaceport in Kroprulu City. Its once smooth surface had become rough and stained with carbon scoring from constant battle. It descended and landed hard on the surface. The ship’s landing gear seemed to wear out and bend itself seeing as it was tired. Out the loading ramp of the freighter came out the ship’s owner, a Zabrak male. Although his hood covered the horns that grew from his head, it was automatically known he was of the Zabrak species. Darth Matas walked from the freighter and stepped calmly onto the spaceport’s surface. A human with long, black hair stood near the freighter.
“You ought to buy another one,” Darth Praxeum told the Zabrak as he began to walk towards him.
Matas turned to the ship to realize his bird looked like bantha poodoo and he turned back to the Corellian only to half shrug and nod. Kadrian Kolar’s father, Zan Kolar, had left it for him on Iridonia and it became Matas’ but now it was beyond repair and he needed a new ship. May came to mind but he could think of that another time. “Perhaps, but credits are needed,” Matas responded to Praxeum, “How did you know I was here?”
Praxeum smiled and chuckled somewhat, “I could see that piece of junk from the other side of the galaxy”. His chuckle dispersed quickly as Praxeum sensed anger rise within the Zabrak. “So, did you finish your mission?” The Zabrak nodded with a sense of pride. “After you left Iridonia, a new government was formed. A stronger government which will unite all the Zabrak in the universe and will prevent another event like the Iridonian Civil War to occur. It is called the Zabrak Imperium and it will become a feared and powerful government in the galaxy. So, that’s a yes”.
“I saw holos of it but didn’t know the details. The Zabrak Emperor made many changes to the Zabrak community. Did you oversee it?” Praxeum asked with a calm tone to Matas. The Zabrak thought for a moment as they both walked towards the spaceport exit and into Kroprulu City. “I made myself temporary Kaz’ak as the changes set in over the few months I was on Iridonia. I began with the recovery of Iridonia from the Iridonian Civil War and have rebuilt many cities. With the new government, the clans have been reunited and hostilities have ended, except for friendly clan competition. I also have established the foundation of the IridonTech Company, which shall be the Zabrak Imperium’s shipbuilding company stationed on the capital, Iridonia. All worlds of the Iridonia System have joined the Imperium along with the colony worlds of Apalkus, Hindoria, Wanao, and Juristo. The current Kaz’ak is in an attempt to recruit the Zabrak Core Worlds of Artik, Kotha, and Kuzos and I believe he will succeed in doing so.”
“We’ll you’ve been busy,” Praxeum expressed in a somewhat surprised voice. It wasn’t that surprising considering that Zabrak could complete any task they placed themselves to. Matas simply shifted his black eyes to face Praxeum’s icy blue and then shifted them back towards the exit where they left for the Sith Temple.
Sith Temple
The Xagrassian male stood in the halls of the Sith Temple watching young apprentices walk by and socialize of their experiences with their masters and of the occurrences in the galaxy. Darth Minious had seen this for many years and was used to the sounds of young chatters. Minious walked passed a statue of Darth Rivan that stood on the pearl walls to meet with two beings. Darth Praxeum immediately bowed before Darth Minious and was followed by Darth Matas who gave a much shorter bow and kept his black eyes in contact of Minious dark navy blue eyes.
“Well, what do we have here? My two former apprentices. It is a pleasure to see the both of you. I see you have returned, Darth Matas. Lord Shadow informed us of your dealings on Iridonia. I must say I am quite pleased with your skills. In less than a year you managed to stop an unstoppable war and change the government of your homeworld, not to mention your ability to create an Empire for your people,” Darth Minious said as he met with Darth Praxeum and Darth Matas. The Zabrak seemed confused for a moment as he wondered How did he know that?, but he remembered of Shadow’s ability to look into the future. A sense of Zabrak pride came over Matas as he heard his former master say his accomplishments.
“It was all I could do for my homeplanet,” Matas answered. Minious nodded and smiled. “Very glorified you seem,” Minious said sarcastically. Praxeum bowed once again, “Forgive my sudden exit but I must be leaving.” The Zabrak saw the Corellian human walk quickly towards a curved passageway and disappear. It was obvious that Praxeum was in hurry. “Yes, I must take my leave as well,” Minious began, “I was instructed to tell you that you are wanted in the Council chambers immediately.” The Zabrak bowed before his former master and the Xargressian smiled and began to walk towards the opposite way of the hallway.
The Zabrak wondered for what purpose he would be needed in the Council chambers, but he was in no position to question the Council. If Darth Matas was needed, then he would present himself there. His horned head turned towards Minious’ direction and he noticed his old master had already disappeared. Matas turned back towards the opposite way where Praxeum and his master, former, left and began to walk towards the Council chambers. The chambers were located on the 10th floor of the Sith Temple and the Zabrak was currently on the 1st, he had a while before he reached the chambers. It had been a long time since Matas had seen the Council chambers; probably eight years. The statues of the ancient Sith Lords were glared at quickly due to Matas’ urgency of arriving to the Council Chambers. He passed a statue of a Zabrak with a similar appearance as he. Although the statue was gray, his black Sith tattoos could be seen. I hope my accomplishments would have met with your statures, Lord Maul, Matas thought as he passed the statue.
Matas rushed towards the stairs in which he used his muscles to reach the 10th level. He felt his twin hearts pumping blood and an increase of oxygen into his bulged muscles which caused slight decrease in stamina and an increase in arrival time. After 5 minutes, Matas reached the entrance of the Council chambers and entered the seemingly mysterious room.
Kroprulan Sith Council Chambers
Darth Matas entered the room with anxiety and a feeling of curiosity. He had forgotten the chamber and wanted to envision it once more. The room was as dark as space. The only light in the room was in the center of the chamber and had a spotlight vision to it. Matas’ black eyes shifted towards the ceiling to see a light emitting towards the floor to form the circle of light which contained beings in its presence. There were basic outlines of beings in the darkness as well but it was too difficult to make out who they were. There were three beings in the light that Matas did not recognize at first glance, but he would later. There was a human with long, white hair which was currently partly tied into a tail. To Matas, that was strange being he still was not completely used to human customs. He recognized the being as Darth Tarna. The Onderonian human who had been a bonded ally of Matas and they had shared a room once after he crashed on Kroprulu. During his time away from Kroprulu, it seemed the human was initiated and used his birth name as his Darth name.
There was a Lethan Twi’lek female standing next to Tarna. She had full body Sith tattoos from her legs to her lekku. The Zabrak had seen the Twi’lek but he had not really met her. Next to her was a Zabrak female, he felt as if he knew her. She had orange skin and black hair and horns that reached only to the midpoint of her head. All three of the beings turned to see the Zabrak male enter. Tarna immediately recognized him and smiled as he entered. “Darth Matas. Good to see you my friend,” Tarna patted Matas’ broad shoulder as he walked close to him. Matas simply nodded at the comment. He was not known for the most talkative Sith in the Order but more of one to take action. The Twi’lek seemed to take an interest in Matas as she glared and smiled at him. Matas took a glance towards the female who was staring at him with interest as well. “What are you doing here?”
The Zabrak female smirked, “Surprised to se me on Kroprulu?” “You could say that. What is your reasoning of your presence? You were on Iridonia when I left,” Matas asked. “Easy, your ship is a piece of junk. I came here by Iridonian Transport.” Matas was about to comment on what the female said when the chamber doors opened once more and a presence was felt. It was a purple skinned being with large teeth on the other side of his mouth. A golden belt wrapped around his waist and maintained the exposed robe/tunic he bore. A half crown was worn on the back of his head and he showed the appearance of royalty. The Draethos male walked by the beings, ignoring them, and bowed into the darkness at the nearest outline.
“Greetings, my Empress,” a light suddenly appeared before the Draethos and revealed the outline to be Darth Saber, Empress of the Kroprulan Sith Empire. As soon as Matas realized this, he bowed at the woman’s presence. The others seemed to do the same. Then, the lights suddenly showed the appearance of all the Council Members. Matas saw his former master, Darth Minious, sitting on the farthest chair and he also saw Supreme Prophet Shadow, another being he was familiar with. Saber lifted her pale hand signaling to rise and they all obeyed.
“Your bickering was amusing,” Darth Shadow said in a deep tone than almost boomed through the chamber. “If you have terminated your pointless conversation, we can announce your reasoning for calling.”
“You all have been called to us for a purpose. That purpose is simple. We wish for all of you to investigate mysterious attacks on Sith on different planets,” Saber told the group. Her emerald green eyes glistened in the light despite her older human appearance as she glanced at all the Sith present before her.
Darth Shadow was the next to speak. He had always been one to speak after the Empress. “You all will travel together to each of the planets we order you to investigate. After you have acquired sufficient information, you shall return to Kroprulu and announce to us the information.” Shadow continued to stare at the group with his icy blue eyes as if he were waiting for someone to respond in a way he knew or for someone to speak.
The human next to Darth Matas suddenly spoke out. “Excuse my ignorance milords, but I have a question,” Tarna sounded quite confident in the manner he approached the Council. It was just a matter of time to see what the Council’s reaction would be. A hint of knowledge appeared in Shadow’s eyes and he faced the Empress as if knowing she would be the one to speak next. Empress Saber lifted her hand and opened her palms, motioning for Tarna to continue to speak. “Thank you, your highness. Shouldn’t this mission be given to the Inquisitors, being this is their line of work?”
“You are bold to ask young one, but it is not your place to question the Council,” the Draethos shot towards Tarna. A sense of fear strangely fell over Tarna’s single heart as he began to think of the consequences of questioning the Council. The feeling left after the Empress stepped in. “No Darth Altous, his question is reasonable. We will answer this.” The Draethos lowered his head not making eye contact with the Empress. “Yes, milady,” was all Altous could say. Darth Minious surprised the group when his voice erupted into play.
“We have already sent a group of Inquisitors and they disappeared without any trace. We knew they arrived to their destinations but for unknown reasons, they disappeared. That is why we are asking you to investigate this,” Darth Minious explained to the group. Now it was more understandable for Matas and he knew the nature of the mission. Darth Altous’ pure black eyes gazed towards the human Supreme Prophet. “Lord Shadow, has the force given you a vision of what is happening?” Darth Shadow gazed at the concerned Draethos’ face and responded quickly. “The force has given me many different visions, but nothing concerning this.”
The group gazed at each other with concern as they heard all the information the Council could give them. They would have to investigate Sith disappearances and possibly deaths but they all were sure they could handle it. “Yevra Sey, I shall give you this datapad containing the locations you shall investigate. It must remain with you the whole time. Do not let it out of your sight, do you understand?” the Empress stood from her chair and reached within her robes. Out came a small green datapad with a holo of different worlds. The female Zabrak nodded and lowered her head, “Yes, milady.” “Your mission has been explained, go,” Darth Shadow said last.
The beings gave a formal bow to the Council and walked out the room. The chamber was now filled with the strongest Sith in the galaxy. They all gazed at each other and Empress Saber sighed. “Were you telling the truth, Shadow? Did the force truly not present you with a vision?” Shadow chuckled and looked back at the Empress, “All I say is a lie, except for this. I have truly not received a vision of this and I do not search for finding a vision. This shall become a test, one that tests all of us”.
Sith Temple Main Hall
The large room lit up as the Kroprulan sun flashed its rays upon the crystals that hung from the ceiling. The maroon walls presented shadows as one would pass by it and they would disappear as one would completely pass it. Darth Matas still did not know why they had to work as a team. He knew he could probably complete the mission without another Sith’s help, but that was caused because of his prideful Zabrak nature. Darth Tarna, on the other hand, was grateful to work with the beings present. The Onderonian considered the Iridonian his friend being they spent much time together. He was proud to work with the Draethos, Darth Altous. The young human had heard of Altous’ accomplishments and he knew he would be of good use in the mission. Darth Altous had been alive for 800 years and had sufficient training, as a Jedi but training nonetheless, of the force and lightsaber combat.
“I still wonder why the Council did not send more Inquisitors to investigate this,” the Twi’lek said suddenly. Altous stopped in his place and it was followed by the rest. “It is not our place to question the Council’s motives, Lihat Zuna, even if they would seem illogical to one such as you,” the Lihat’s lekku twitched as Altous said that statement. “I wasn’t questioning their motives; I was just saying it’s strange they would send us instead of more Inquisitors.” Yevra had been quiet throughout most of the conversation but it ceased when she spoke, “I must admit, it is strange but we must complete our mission no matter our questions with it. That is our first priority.”
“You may be right, but we are not in the middle of the mission and I have a few things in mind,” Lihat walked up to the serious and muscular Zabrak and strangely stood close to his robe. The Twi’lek obviously had things in mind. “So, tell me handsome, do you have a mate yet?” Matas jerked his head towards the Twi’lek in shock of what she had just said. The Zabrak seemed to be too surprised to have the ability to speak. Darth Tarna began to laugh at what had happened and he joked to Matas, “Damn it, Matas! Can’t you go anywhere without a woman coming onto you?”
Brigadier General Matas
Chapter 2
Tatooine
It’s been a long time since I’ve been here. I’ve almost missed the hot wind on my face, Jedi Master Xander Vos thought as he and Baxthrax Jedi Knight Morgz sat watching at the Mos Eisley scenery. The buildings were the same as Xander remembered years ago and the sand, hot as always. Morgz fluttered his wings to remove sand particles from them, “So, this is Mos Eisley?” Xander nodded, his brown hair moving as he motioned his head. “Yes, the scum and villainy are plentiful here in Mos Eisley. Great, isn’t it?” Xander seemed to miss Tatooine being he was born on the planet.
The Jedi had been sent to the planet because of the discovery of possible Sith on the planet. The Jedi were to destroy the Dark Sided presence before any harm would come to any being. Holodata had showed that the Sith had come to Mos Eisley and that is the reason for Xander’s and Morgz’s presence on Mos Eisley. Both Jedi walked into the city and searched in the force for anything unusual that could be suspected to be of a Sith. The hot sand blew into Morgz eyes and he instantly blinked them away with his insectoid eyes. “Perhaps we should ask someone if they have seen anything unusual.” Xander shook his head, “Tatooinians don’t really tend to offer help to anyone other than themselves, but I may know of a place where someone would be willing to speak.”
Chalmun’s Cantina was crawling with life that day, like every day. A Devaronian and an Arcona were arguing over podracing, a Trandoshan and a Twi’lek began insulting each other, Gamorreans had just broken up a fight between a Human and Falleen, a normal day in the cantina. Some of the patrons turned around and inspected the Jedi as soon as they had entered the cantina. Xander smiled and went his separate way leaving Morgz to fend for himself in his position. Morgz recovered his training and relaxed. His wings fluttered a little faster due to his curiosity in the cantina. Suddenly, a Gand walked up towards the Baxthrax and began to poke him. “Can I help you?” Morgz asked the smaller Gand. “You are not from here, I can help all your needs. Come, meet my companions,” the Gand told Morgz.
Xander appeared once more and instantly shooed away the Gand. “Be careful of the patrons in this cantina, you can never know what they’re up to,” Xander motioned Morgz to follow him, “I managed to find someone who is willing to give information necessary for the mission, for a reasonable fee of course.” The two Jedi walked passed many suspicious patrons until they reached a small booth were a man cleaning his blaster sat with his head tilted down. As the two Jedi made their presence known at the table, the man rose his head and revealed to be a Kiffar based on his tattoos on his face. His face seemed scarred from previous battles and his expression was that of seriousness.
“Have a seat,” the man said with a coldly tone. “All right, let us get to business. We need information of possible members of the Sith here on Tatooine. I believe you have such information,” Xander got straight to the point of the message and awaited an answer from the full Kiffar. The man placed the blaster on the table and shifted his body to look at Xander, “Interesting, you are part Kiffar and human. Why would I know such information?” The Human/Kiffar Jedi Master smiled at the full blooded Kiffar and answered him quickly, “Because you are a Bounty Hunter, and it’s your job to know such things.” A surprised look appeared on his face but was suddenly replaced with realization, “I guess I cannot fool a Jedi, but I will not say anything unless I receive payment up front,” the man pounded his hand onto the table in open palm awaiting the credits.
Morgz spoke, “Don’t worry, here are your credits. Now about the information.” The Bounty Hunter took the credits and placed them in is trousers. The Kiffar nodded and faced the two Jedi once more, “Yes, I do know of Sith on the planet. An acquaintance and I have been tracking two Sith Apprentices that traveled from Boz Pity to Tatooine. We followed their ship to Tatooine and tracked them up to Mos Eisley, but we lost them after that. Currently, my comrade is searching for the Sith out near the outskirts.” Both Jedi had a concerned look upon their faces and turned back to the Bounty Hunter. Confusion filled the table as they heard what the Kiffar stated and Morgz was the first one to speak, “I see, but the question remains why you are searching for Sith. Unless they hired you, I see no other known reason of why you would search for them.”
“Because there is a bounty on Sith that pays thousands of credits. For Jedi you two seem clueless of how the trade works. Bounty Hunters search people for only two reasons, because there is a bounty on them or they are paying for the bounty,” the man had his dirty boots on the table now, his blaster now at his side.
“Who would put a bounty on the Sith?” The bounty hunter turned away from the table to the back of the both and inspected the interesting structure of the building. “I cannot reveal that information, the code prevents it. You’re going to have to figure that out yourselves, unless, you are willing to spend more credits on that information.” “How much more?” asked Xander. “40,000 Republic credits,” the man responded quickly before Xander even finished the question. It was outrageous in Morgz mind. He knew they would have to obtain the information themselves without the help of the Kiffar. “It seems we will have to obtain that information by other means then, thank you for your assistance,” Xander turned around the cantina and was suspicious of what was occurring.
The two Jedi stood and began to walk out the entrance of the cantina. They were to investigate this more thoroughly to find the Sith. The best place, the Dune Sea. Back at the cantina, the Kiffar bounty hunter was polishing his blaster once more when a Zeltron woman walked up to the man. The bounty hunter’s dark eyes showed fear the instant he saw her. The appearance of the woman was intimidating. She was beautiful except her red skin was covered with strange tattoos. Every aspect of her body had tattoos and that alone frightened the Kiffar. She smiled at the bounty hunter and began to stroke the Kiffar’s long black hair but even with that he was still frightened.
“Nuxa?! Wha-What are you doing here?” the Kiffar was greatly frightened and it confused many of the patrons there being they did not have the knowledge the bounty hunter had. “What am I doing here? You should know that already darling. I saw you speak to those strange beings, Jedi scum correct?” The bounty hunter was shocked as to how Nuxa knew they were Jedi, “Yes, but how did you know that?” Nuxa stroke the man’s head more gently now, “I have my sources darling. Now, why did you not try to contact me immediately after they left? You know how much that information would interest us.” The man was stuttering his words from the fright the Zeltron was giving him, “I was going to but I didn’t have my communicator and-” Nuxa suddenly reached over and grabbed an object on the man’s utility belt. She showed it high and positioned it before the bounty hunter’s face. It was the man’s communicator.
“You know, I hate this part of my job but I have to do it. You showed defiance and that is something we cannot have. It didn’t have to be this way,” the Zeltron woman suddenly grabbed the bounty hunter’s head and twisted it with great strength that the spinal cord would break. The bounty hunter fell dead on the table. Nuxa smiled at the now dead body, “You know I lied to you. I actually love my job.”
The sudden feeling of death hit the two Jedi like a proton torpedo at a frigate. “Did you feel that?” Xander asked Morgz who had turned to the direction of the cantina. “Yes, death. Murder. Fear. All at the cantina, we should go back,” Morgz pointed his insectoid finger towards the cantina’s direction. Xander shook his head immediately, “No, we must keep moving with our main mission. I told you Mos Eisley is a haven for the villainy of the galaxy, so it would be a guarantee this would happen. Come, we must keep moving to the Dune Sea.”
Kroprulu
“I’m not going in his busted ship. It couldn’t even make the trip to Dargon and it’s in the same sector,” Tarna complained about the group having to ride the Maurder. It was an old ship that had been through much and was covered with carbon scoring. It was the property of Zan Kolar before Darth Matas gained possession of it. In Matas’ black eyes, it was still a good ship, but others saw it how it was, a piece of junk. “The appearance of a ship is of no importance if it can make the trip to the destination just fine,” Darth Altous used his wise words on the Onderonian human. Tarna took one look on the ship and then looked back at the Draethos. “I understand Master Altous, but I don’t think that ship will be even to get in the air.” Lihat was standing next to Tarna and was shifting her head around the hangar bay. Her red lekku would bounce off Tarna’s white hair causing Tarna to become agitated of it. “Where’s Matas?” Lihat asked the group. Yevra Sey walked next to the Draethos male. A chain of her black hair fell and covered a side of her violet eyes. “He’s in hangar bay 45. We should meet him there,” she spoke in the common Zabrak baritone that most people were used to because of Darth Matas.
The group followed the Iridonian female to hangar bay 45 which was next to the hangar they were just in. As they entered the image of Darth Matas was obvious. His red skin stood out from his black cloak and his sharp horns gleamed in the light from the hangar. He shook hands with another Zabrak. This one was shorter and was black skinned. He was hairless compared to Matas’ black buzz cut and his horn pattern was closer together from Matas’. His tattoos were thinner and less obvious. “Enjoy the ship, Darth Matas. It is one of the IridonTech Company’s finest ships. It shall do you good,” he spoke as his black hands made contact with Matas’ red hands. “I trust it will, Raitch Eevan,” Darth Matas responded as he began to turn towards the group.
“Well?” Tarna asked in a questionnaire tone. Matas lifted his muscular arms and signaled to the ship behind him. “I have decided to take on your advice and receive a new ship. Meet the Iridonia’s Assassin.” The ship was a green Class 270 freighter that was obviously newer than the former bulk freighter that Matas owned. “Finally, a ship worth using,” Tarna exclaimed as Matas stared at Tarna and growled slightly. Tarna rolled his eyes at how easily Matas would get agitated. Altous walked towards the ship and touched it with his purple hands, “It seems in good condition. I trust it will have the capabilities to take to the desired locations.”
“Yes, it shall. It was built by Zabrak hands so I personally can guarantee good quality,” Matas responded. Everyone seemed anxious to get on with the mission and the feeling became mutual. “Well? What are we waiting for standing here? Let’s go!” Lihat anticipated. As they began to board the all new freighter, Yevra simply shook her head to herself and whispered, “Twi’leks.”
Tatooine
All that was seen was the hot sand of the Dune Sea. Probably the vague image of a Bantha would appear from afar but no visual of anything. The two Jedi opened their senses with the force and detected anxiety and fatigue of beings in the distance. They knew they had to investigate it more so they searched the source with the force through the hot weather and found it. The sharp hisses of lightsabers and the blasts of blaster bolts echoed throughout the barren desert. There in the middle of a dune were three beings. Two men wielding red lightsabers and the other men, heavily armored, firing at the two lightsaber wielders. The two men wielding the lightsabers were young but were not novices to wielding lightsabers. The Jedi searched through the force and sensed a heavy presence of the dark side within the two young men. Sith, obviously, Xander knew automatically. Morgz noticed the man firing his blaster as experienced with it and with extreme accuracy.
“Resistant are you? Well the more resistant you are, the more I get to test out my new blaster,” the older man taunted the two young Sith. The fair haired Sith rolled back and deflected a red blaster bolt, “You will not win bounty hunter. Our masters trained us too well to be defeated by one such as you. Plus, you Exchange hunters are weak and pathetic if you are beaten by mere apprentices.”
The apparent taunt angered the bounty hunter and he began to shoot much more wildly at the apprentices. It was obviously that the apprentices knew saber combat but still had not perfected it. One blaster bolt got through and hit one of the Sith in the face. He dropped instantly dead onto the hot sand. The other apprentice got too distracted by the death of his companion and fell dead as well by a blaster bolt to his head and torso. The bounty hunter smiled and went towards the two bodies. Out of his utility belt came out a communicator.
“Message to Bash Massa. I got two of the Sith on Tatooine, dead. I expect my payment once I arrive to your yacht above Atheelus.”
“Bounty Hunter, who is your client?” Morgz surprised the bounty hunter as he fluttered down the sand into the dune. The man’s blue eyes inspected the two Jedi and he laughed, “Think I’d tell two Jedi? I’ll tell you when Jawas swim, you got that?” Xander walked towards the hunter and faced the hunter very closely. His hand waved before the man and Xander used the force to open the man’s mind and persuade his to tell his truthful responses. “He is-” the man was suddenly cut off by the roar of a speeder stopping at the top of the dune. Three beings observed the two Jedi and the bounty hunter intensely. It was two humans and a Trandoshan and all three of them were covered in tattoos unrecognizable by either Jedi. Xander could see one of the humans had a tattoo said Voxyns[i] and the Trandoshan’s tunic had the words [i]Jedi Slayer, the mere fact he did not recognize them would have caused fear into Xander if he was not trained to not let fear control him.
“Oh, look at the filth we found at the bottom of this dune. Exchange and Jedi abominations together. How delicious for us, no?” the Trandoshan snarled to the two other beings. “You got that for sure. Gan Voc will enjoy these deaths once we report them to him,” the man next to the Trandoshan replied. “And, we are the once who get to kill them. Voxyn Crispo!” The three beings suddenly jumped into the dune and took out dangerous weapons and prepared for a fight. The Trandoshan jumped high and long landing onto the surprised bounty hunter and crushed his spine under the sheer impact and the weight of the Trandoshan. The two Jedi ignited their lightsabers and prepared to duel.
Brigadier General Matas
Chapter 3
57 ABY
Kadrian Kolar flipped back and avoided the sharp viroblade swung from a human, wounded by Kadrian’s own hands. Red blood dripped from the human’s crippled face from the young Zabrak’s immature yet sharp horns that crowned his Zabraki head. The red skinned Zabrak fell to the brown dirty surface since he made a mistake in his flip and fell in a bad position. The bloody human then turned to see Kadrian on the floor in a disadvantageous position which he would use to his own advantage, if he was to live. The viroblade began to come straight down towards the Zabrak but Kadrian rolled and kicked the human’s wrist causing him to drop the sword out of his hand. Kadrian reacted quickly and grabbed the viroblade and kicked the human on his stomach causing him to fall down. Kadrian quickly got up and pointed the viroblade at the human’s throat.
A sudden burst of laughter was heard away from the dueling ring. A small band of Mandalorians stood watching the battle between the human and Kadrian. They were entertained by the tactics and the weaknesses that were presented in the battle. It was a Tal Kyr’am battle. Tal Kyr’am was Mando’a for Blood Death in basic. It was a form of entertainment for the Mandalorians. Young slaves would be forced to fight to the death using whatever they could find just for the entertainment of the Mando’ade. Slaves would be even trained by the Mandalorians themselves to be Tal Kyr’am duelists, which was Kadrian’s situation.
“Good, you horned alien. Now kill the weakling who lies beneath you. He would have been a good Mando’ad, but he is apparently too weak that he can’t even beat an alien like you,” Frugo Coruss ordered and taunted Kadrian.
Kadrian’s face lost some of its red coloring and added a purple tint because of the many bruises he had received from the battle. A very dark red blood trailed from the sides of his mouth. Human blood stained Kadrian’s horns and the same blood covered part of the viroblade. By the fight, one would think they were matured beings who had trained for many years but the two opponents were merely younglings. Slaves of the Mando’ade, by force. Kadrian stared hard at the Mandalorian in the Death Watchers armor and looked once more at his obviously beaten opponent.
A rage surged throughout Kadrian’s young body as the words and his past experiences of his slave master ran through his mind. He converted his anger and rage to action. The large viroblade cut through the human’s pale and bruised flesh through the neck, severing the head off the body. Blood spilled across Kadrian’s face but it was not seen as clearly due to the blood camouflaging itself on Kadrian’s red skin. The sword dropped from Kadrian’s hand and he felt alive. His anger was taken out on the human and he felt a flicker of what was called the force through him. It had been two years since his encounter with the Mandalorians on Iridonia and in those two years Kadrian had learned hate, had learned fury, and had learned how to fight. Within him the Dark Side grew and forged itself a part of the Zabrak. He knew some things of the force from a brief encounter of the Jedi Academy on Iridonia before he was taken and it destroyed.
“Good Kadrian. You have done well. You better hope to be as ruthless and as good as you were today, Mandalore is coming tomorrow and you had better put on a show to him and to all Tal Kyr’am fans,” Coruss clapped as two younger Mandalorians dragged the dead slaves body away, “You are a good fighter, you have a certain quality that helps you as well. Now let us return to the slave holdings.”
The Mandalorian slave master held Kadrian from the shoulders as they began to enter the Mandalore jungles. The fauna soon covered their vision and the ferns scrapped their bodies. Kadrian’s eyes narrowed with anger and his fist gripped themselves tightly. He heard the Mandalorian chuckle at his anger which just caused the darkness within him to grow and possibly become dangerous in the future. I’ll kill you. I will kill you with my bare hands.
The slave prison was large and contained numerous of sentient beings. Twi’leks, Rodians, Trandoshans, Cathar, humans, a Basiliskan, and even Boshan stood in the slave quarters, but Kadrian was the only Zabrak on the entire planet. The force shields prevented the slaves from escaping but that didn’t mean nobody was going to try. The Mandalorians always had trouble with Kadrian. He was the one always trying to escape and resisting his pain from punishments. It was rumored that the Mando’ade might even regret taking the Zabrak as a slave.
Kadrian was carelessly thrown into the slave quarters where he crashed hard onto the soil of Mandalore. The other slaves watched as Kadrian slowly rose and growled at the Mandalorian who was now walking away.
“Oh Zabrak, you be hit on head hard. You fine?” a large furred humanoid with two long horns and a longed face asked Kadrian.
“I hate them. I wish no longer to be in this pathetic prison as property of these damned Mandalorians,” Kadrian growled.
“You and all of us combined. You tink we like being slaves? No, nobody does. But for now, tere is noting you can do. One day we will earn our freedom,” the Boshan slave responded to Kadrian.
“You can wait all you want, Boshan, but I’m going to escape tonight. I will also kill the Mandalorian with my bare hands,”
69 ABY
“Matas! Matas! Wake up!” a voice was heard which caused the Zabrak to wake.
His eyes opened to see the orange skinned female over Matas. Curiosity began forming within Matas as he looked towards the other side of his room to see Darth Tarna with his arms crossed wearing sleepwear standing with a smiling Twi’lek staring at Matas intently. Matas’ face scrunched as he rose slowly from his bed cock.
“What’s wrong? Why are all of you here?” Matas demanded.
“You woke us up with your screaming!” Tarna yelled at Matas.
A jolt of anger spiked immediately in Matas, who did not care if it showed, “What screaming? What the chaos are you talking about?”
“You were talking in your sleep,” Lihat Zuna announced to Matas.
Matas’ black eyes shifted to the Zabrak female standing near him and asked with his body movements if it was true. Yevra nodded, her long black hair shook as she did so. “You were yelling, I’m going to kill him over and over again.”
“Huh, simply dreams. Something of my past. Nothing that concerns any of you,” Matas jerked his head towards all the beings in his room at the moment.
“All right, we shall leave you in peace then,” Yevra said and motioned for the others to leave. Tired and somewhat angry, they complied. As they were leaving the room, Tarna stooped dead in his tracks and turned towards the red skinned Zabrak once more.
“Oh yeah, Matas. There is a strange looking droid in the cargo bay; you might want to check it out”
The droid stood motionless in the center of the dark and alienated cargo bay of the Iridonian’s Assassin. Its appearance was of a simple protocol droid, but one with obvious modifications. With one such as Matas who had seen almost all the droids in the galaxy, the modifications were obvious but to a normal person, it would deceive them. Its golden head drooped down and its body hung down being that it was dead as Honoghr. Matas walked closer towards the droid and inspected it fully. Reaching around its golden torso, the Zabrak managed to flip a switch which apparently was the activation signal. Slowly yet quickly, the droid’s blank eyes glowed a yellow-reddish tone. Its body erected vertically and its golden head turned towards the Zabrak.
“Ah, I seem to have been activated. Hello, sir. I am X-3PX under your service now, master,” the droid spoke in a polite manner. The same manner a droid of etiquette and customs would act.
“Master?” Matas asked.
“Yes, I was placed here as a gift to a Darth Matas by a Kaz’ak Rask Kolar. You match the description embedded into my programming so thus, you are my master,” the droid stated in the same polite fashion it had before.
Rask Kolar was Darth Matas’ clan cousin and Kaz’ak of the Zabrak Imperium. It did not surprise Matas that his cousin would give him the droid along with the ship. “What features do you have, X-3PO?”
“I am programmed in protocol featuring etiquette, customs and translation. I am fluent in 5,798 million forms of communications ranging from verbal, body movement, and any other signs possible.”
“As well as other features, no? Perhaps an assassin programming?” Matas calmly asked knowing the answer. Matas had seen thousands of droids from around the galaxy and he became familiar as to how spot them out.
“I see there’s no fooling you master. Yes, I am equipped both an assassination and a protocol programming. You’ll find my assassination feature most exhilarating. All life must end one way or another; I just speed up the process.”
“So you are useful. This feature of yours will serve well. Many beings shall die.”
