Saga - PT Outcasts

Title: Outcasts
Author(s): SergeyX2017
Timeframe: same as "Star Wars: Rebels" TV series, in fact, my characters may even run into the "Ghost" crew at some point
Characters: see in this thread http://boards.theforce.net/threads/make-a-star-wars-character.50042691/

Part 1: Escape from Kamino​

​

He woke up with a jerk and a gasp.

At first, he could barely even open his eyes. There was bright light, just bright yellow light, everywhere, flooding his vision. He suddenly became aware that he was only able to use his right eye.

After awhile, he started to discern shapes and figures around him. There was machinery, equipment, lots of it. He was in some kind of a laboratory.

He was laid prone on some sort of examination table, held down by restraint belts.

There were beings surrounding him, at least half a dozen, mostly tall, long necked, pale skinned Kaminoans, but also a human wearing the dull grey uniform of the Galactic Empire.

He could understand all this, yet he could not understand one simple thing: who was he? Why was he here? How did he even arrive into this world?

The uniformed human spoke suddenly:
-
"Well, hello there, PX51. Nice to finally have you with us."

'PX51'? Was the man addressing him? Was that his name? 'PX51'... What a strange name. What did it even mean?

- "How are you feeling, PX51?"

He tried to reply, but found himself unable to speak. His vocal cords would not respond despite all his efforts.

- "Oh, of course, my apologies let me enable all your implants."

Suddenly, he felt his left eye open; and now he could see. And not just see, like a regular being either.

Learning quickly, controlling what he now realized was some sort of a bionic eye device, he was able to engage X-Ray, heat, and night vision regimes.

Meanwhile, he felt a new strength in his limbs, which, he now saw, looking down, were also covered in metal. Flexing his right arm, he effortlessly tore it free from its restraint.
-
"Marvelous!"

The human scientist looked very pleased.

Finally, PX51 spoke, with a raspy, mechanical sounding voice, through the strange implant covering the bottom of his face.
-
"Where am I? Who am I?"

The human answered him, with an indulging smile:
-
"You are on the planet Kamino, my dear boy. This is a special Imperial facility for genetic research. And you are our most promising creation yet, our pride and joy, Prototype X51. The Emperor has tasked us to build him an army of force-wielding super soldiers. You are the first of your kind, the original, the prototype, as your designation suggests. You will be trained and educated and improved and refined, until you become the most efficient killing machine the galaxy has ever seen!"

PX51 was quiet for a moment. Then, he slowly nodded.
-
"I understand."

And thus, began the first, grueling years of his artificially created life.

***​

Five years later, PX51 had grown taller. He had also grown stronger and deadlier.

Every day of his life was spent honing his lethal skills.

The top marksmen of the Empire taught him to handle various blasters and blaster rifles. Martial arts masters from a dozen different worlds taught him their various styles of hand to hand and blade combat.

He was also trained to pilot TIE fighters and many other kinds of starships and crafts.

He also took classes in command and leadership skills, battle tactics and strategy, handling explosives, and many other such useful subjects.

PX51 turned out to be an amazingly quick and skillful study, and soaked up all the knowledge offered to him like a sponge.

By now, aged 17 natural years (although he had absolutely no memory of himself beyond those five years ago), he was a highly skilled, deadly fighter with his natural abilities enhanced further by his implants, including the bionic eye, the limbs, which granted his superhuman physical strength and agility, as well as the implant which covered his mouth and nose which, he had now learned, allowed him to breathe effortless in any environment, including underwater and even, for a limited period, in outer space.

About two years ago, a strange new person began visiting him, a tall, grey faced man clad in black.

He identified himself as an Inquisitor, and explained that he would be training PX51 in light saber combat.

Thus, he was introduced to his main weapon of choice, his twin light saber, shining a bright, menacing red. They could be conjoined to form one double bladed weapon. Or, he could use them separately.

The Inquisitor taught him the wild, chaotic Juyo light saber fighting style, which, he said, was also used by the mighty Sith warrior who was PX51’s own genetic ancestor.

That man’s name was Darth Maul. The Inquisitor described him as a ferocious, legendary Sith, who had done the Emperor proud, once, but has since perished at the hands of the Emperor’s enemies.

After two years, PX51 had mastered his light sabers totally and completely. The Inquisitor had refused to spar with him, after awhile, when PX51 began beating and humiliating him soundly, in duel after duel.

***​

Now, at the age of 17, the scientist in grey uniform, Dr. Marlo, came for him again, and announced that it was time. They would gather his DNA to create new super soldiers, based on the prototype. By now, PX51 had understood his role; he knew this day was coming. He was ready.

He followed Dr. Marlo into the lab complex. It was a huge domed building, stationed atop a tall platform over the vast, stormy ocean of Kamino. However, instead of the labs on the 15th floor, they headed downwards, into the basement levels.

They were met by a whole unit of heavily armed Stormtroopers. The latter aimed their blaster rifles squarely at PX51.

PX51 looked at Dr. Marlo, confused. The old scientist glanced back at him, with something akin to guilt and sorrow in his eyes.

- "I am afraid, my dear boy, our project has been discontinued. It seems you have showed far too much of a promise. The Emperor and Lord Vader have decided it is best our program be shut down for now; and you... are to be terminated... I am sorry, truly. I never wanted it to end this way."

PX51 stared down at the floor for a moment. A new emotion suddenly formed in his mind. He had rarely felt emotions, perhaps because he was trained against it, or because such a large part of him was, essentially, a machine.

But, he felt one now: a cold, hard, fury, an all consuming rage.

They were going to throw him away like trash, him, a descendant of the great Darth Maul?!

No. Never!

Suddenly, before he even realised it, his light sabers were in his hands. There was a shocked expression on the face of Dr. Marlo. PX51 could tell what the scientist was thinking: we should have disarmed him first...

The Stormtroopers started firing wildly, but they stood no chance against a highly trained Sith cyborg assassin. PX51 took them down one by one, chopped them into pieces, cut off limbs and heads, threw them around like rag dolls using his own mechanically enhanced body or the Force.
Dr. Marlo was the last one alive, but not for long. PX51 let out an animal like roar, before slicing the scientist in half with his light sabers.

He then turned and ran back around the corner, towards the elevator. A couple more Stormtroopers waited there. They fired their rifles upon seeing him, but he easily deflected their useless blasts and then cut them down.

He then took the elevator to the space dock level.

Rushing out, he saw a number of starships around him, some with pilots lounging nearby. And, also, more Stormtroopers. By now, a loud alarm began blaring throughout the complex. The Stormtroopers began to fire their weapons at him, he whirled his light sabers to deflect the blaster fire. Concentrating his mind, he used the Force to hurl two Stormtroopers flat on their backs. Jumping high in the air, he landed behind another Stormtroopers and, turning, neatly cut off his head. It rolled away from his falling body, still encased in its white helmet.

He ran towards an Imperial shuttle parked nearby. The pilot had been resting near the shuttle and jumped up, reaching for his sidearm blaster. PX51 chopped him in half before he could even raise the weapon from its holster, and rushed into the ship, without breaking his stride.

He quickly fired up the engine and lifted off and blasted out of the hangar, just as the Stormtroopers began to shut the huge hangar gates to try to prevent him from getting away.

As he headed up, into space, PX51 could not help but look down, one last time, at the big, gleaming white dome, gradually receding to a small dot in the vast planetary ocean, which had, until now, been the only home he had ever known.

That sight was still in his mind as he left Kamino’s atmosphere and quickly engaged the hyperdrive.
PX51 was heading for the Outer Rim of the galaxy. His instructors had told him there were planets there where one could get lost and never be found, for as long as he did not want to be. For now, that was exactly what he wanted.

***

That's Part 1. More to come later

 

The series "Rebels" helped me to learn to appreciate Darth Maul. Then I stumbled over this fun song on youtube:



And now I read your fanfic and even though I have little time on my hand, especially with starting a new job position next week which evolves more hours & commitment, I would like to be on your update list.

For I did enjoy binging with the 1st season of BBC series "Orphan Black" recently.

Reading about your PX51 sucked me straight into the trouble some story that is his life.

 

Oooo, not only that this is off to a great start, but you also created a lovely cover. Now, my tip is to update every 7, 10 or 14 days to get thoughtful, good comments and not to overwhelm your readers, but it's ultimately up to you.

PX51's birth is a fascinating sight. How his senses come to life, how he slowly becomes who he is and how his implants actually enable him to perform most basic of functions. And then he's turned into a killing machine, like some sort of a cyber Sith acolyte. How heartbreaking. I am kind of glad that he ran away, even though he killed everybody, including Dr. Marlo. Since they wanted to get rid of him, I'd say it was a fair game.

I am speculating that he might actually be a genetically enhanced Maul with his memory wiped, or his consciousness transferred in a plain Human body, but I could be wrong. It's funny how that thought resurfaces out of nowhere when he's in danger.

And I came here for Sebastian the lobster. WHERE THE HECK IS HE IN THIS ENCHANTED STORY? GIVE ME BACK MY MONEY, YA FILTHY ANIMAL.

 

Grr... That better return to normal after April Fools Day lol

That's an interesting theory, Ewok Poet:

Especially since, as we now know,

Spoiler

Maul apparently died on Tatooine at the hands of Obi-Wan Kenobi, with some involvement of Ezra Bridger (Rebels Season 3 Finale)

We shall see. It is a nice idea. Very nice idea...

I am a fan of Maul, absolutely. Frankly, I've long wanted to see a Maul vs. Vader face off, just to see what happens lol

Anyway, I am working on Chapter two now, where PX51 will take on a new name, and meet his first new friend

Stay tuned.

Am also adding one more character to the future roster, see in the Character thread shortly.

 

Then I will patiently wait for your update.

 

Part 2: New life on Tatooine​

PX51 sat his shuttle down into a desolate desert. Sand blew in his face as he stepped down the ramp.

He had chosen Tatooine because it was one of the most remote planets in the galaxy, a poor, highly criminalized hellhole undesirable among tourists and investors and the like, visited only by the riffraff of every species out there, smugglers, bounty hunters, and criminals of every stripe. The planet didn’t even have a real, functioning government. The only “authority” around was a dangerous Hutt thug named Jabba.

This suited PX51 just fine. He feared nobody, smugglers, bounty hunters, or Hutts. The lack of proper governance on the planet, and equal lack of attention paid to it by the Empire meant he won’t be bothered here by his dear creators, at least, for the moment.

In the mean time, he needed to get something to eat. PX51 had flown a long way, from Kamino to Tatooine, even by hyperspace. He found a few snacks aboard the shuttle, but, with the healthy appetite of a young man, he was still quite hungry.

PX51 had, quite deliberately, landed well away from Tatooine’s two main cities, Mos Espa and Mos Eisley. He wanted to avoid civilization, for now, even if the word “civilization” was a stretch to describe any settlement out here.

Instead, he landed next to a small village. Walking closer, he could see a man, a farmer, by the looks of him, working his little plot of land, though what he could be trying to grow, in this environment, PX51 could not fathom.

The man was dressed in a simple gray tunic, and had a rugged, unshaven face, and an unruly head of hair.

The man waved in a friendly manner, upon seeing him.

- "Well, hello there, you must be from far away, haven’t seen you around here before."

PX51 hesitated, than answered, in his slightly robotic voice

- "No, you would not have, I am sure."

He could see the man was slightly disturbed by his facial implants, but was, perhaps, too polite to openly show it.
-
"Just flew in, have you?"

- "Yes. That’s my shuttle, nearby there."

- "Well, if you need anything, any repairs perhaps, just wait till my Luke gets back. He’s great with those sorts of things, you know."

- "I’m sure."

- "I’m Owen, btw."

PX51 was, briefly, at a loss. He now had to introduce himself, and his lab designation somehow did not seem at all adequate. Then, he recalled reading about a certain ancient Sith Lord he had rather liked, at the time, Darth Veles.

- "Veles. I am Veles."

- "Well, nice to meet you, Veles."

Just then, a woman came out of the nearby house. It was a simple looking small building made, it seemed, from mud or some similar material. The woman had her hair pulled back in a tight bun, and wore similar simple clothing as the man, Owen.

Owen introduced her,
-
"Beru, my wife."

The woman came forward
-
"Oh, Owen, we have a visitor? I was just about to ask you where Luke was, dinner’s ready."

- "Don’t you worry; he’ll show up for dinner. Hey, Veles, right? You hungry? Come, eat with us, be our guest tonight."

Again, PX51, or, now, Veles, hesitated
-
"I would not dare impose..."

- "Oh, no, it’s no trouble. You’re obviously hungry, come on."

Veles nodded. It was hard to tell, with his implants, but he was smiling, at least on the inside. For the first time, he had met people who were genuinely being nice to him, without any ulterior motive. It felt good.

He shared a hearty meal with Beru and Owen, and their son Luke, a boy about his own age, who had, indeed, showed up later. As the family chatted amicably around him, Veles could not help feeling something, from Luke. Some kind of... power. The Force!, he suddenly realized. Luke, like him, was Force sensitive, though he did not seem to be aware of it. Probably a good thing, too, he thought, for the guy’s own sake. The Empire, after all, was hunting down any Force-wielders who were not loyal to and employed by the Emperor already... Including himself, at this point...

The Lars family, as he learned their surname was, offered him a bed for the night. He gratefully accepted, and, next morning, after a nice sleep, bid them all farewell, and set out for Mos Espa. He had decided to check out the local scene after all.

Luke had offered to give him a ride to the city in his landspeeder. Veles agreed. He knew his mechanically enhanced legs would have no trouble getting him there in any case, but, the landspeeder was faster, and he didn’t really know the way either.

Luke dropped him near a local cantina on the outskirts, as he requested. As they said good bye to each other, Veles, again, felt some strange vibes from the other boy. Not just the Force, but a premonition of some kind. That Luke will go on to do something truly amazing, perhaps even change history of the galaxy, one day, Veles thought suddenly, and then wondered why he was thinking that...

Walking into the cantina, he saw being of all shapes and sizes, from all over the galaxy, and all of them seemed to be rough and scruffy looking. He had suddenly realized that his bionic eye had yet another purpose: it identified the species and gender of every being he looked at. Given that he had extensively studied all the known species of the galaxy in his classes back on Kamino, and needed no help identifying any of them, he actually found this feature annoying, rather than useful, but, to his irritation, could see no way to shut it off at that time.

He quickly found himself a small table in a corner and sat down. Nobody gave him any trouble, for the moment.

This changed quickly, however, when three boar-faced Gamorreans came in. Even in a place like this, this trio looked nasty, with their pig snouts, big, rotting teeth sticking out of their wide mouths, greenish skin, horns, and fearsome armor and helmets.

The Gamorreans headed straight for the table Veles had just chosen for himself. They stopped, upon seeing him there.
-
"Hey, kid, get the hell outta here, now, this is our place!"

Slowly, Veles stood up and raised his eyes to meet the gaze of the lead Gamorrean. He said nothing.
-
"Kid, you stupid or something? Scram now!"

The Gamorrean took a menacing step towards Veles... and then sank to the ground, dead instantly, his throat and head pierced by one of Veles’ light sabers.

The other two whipped out huge battle axes, but one shout in agony, dropping his axe along with his suddenly severed right hand; while the other froze, in shock, with Veles’ other light saber aimed right at his face.

Veles powered down his light sabers and returned them to his belt. He then turned back to the Gamorrean who still had both hands, though had, by now, also dropped his axe, and delivered a thunderous punch to the goon’s big jaw, a tremendously powerful strike, totally unexpected from such a, relatively, small body. The Gamorrean was lifted off his feet, and then slammed back down to the floor, on his back, out cold. His friend, whimpering, clutching his burned off stump of an arm, back away from Veles in total terror, and then ran out of the cantina, yelling obscenities and threats
-
"You’ll pay for that, you little punk! Nobody messes with us! You know who our boss is?!"

Veles didn’t. He also didn’t much care. He simply stepped over the two fallen Gamorreans, and returned to his table, taking, along the way, a drink from the bar, which the bartender ended up spilling, his mouth gaping open in complete shock at what had just transpired. In fact, everyone else in the cantina stared in awe at Veles as he made his way back to his corner table.

Someone remarked, in his direction

- "Those guys work for Jabba, you know. He’ll probably come after you for that..."

So... He was, after all, going to meet Jabba the Hutt. This was going to be an interesting day, thought Veles.

***

To be continued

 

PX51 going to Tatooine and meeting Owen is almost certainly NOT a coincidence. He seemed kind of interested when they talked about Luke and when Luke came around. Was he sent after the kid? He is either acting well or being blissfully unaware of who Luke is. But the Lars' hospitality is wonderful.

I love how he you picked the Sith name that has something to do with our ancient mythology. Heck, yes. But obviously, the fact that Veles is a fan of Sith lords and wields two lightsabers says a lot. This keeps on getting more interesting.

Wooow, excellent storytelling here. I love this!

Jabba the Hutt and Veles in one place will be interesting...with the possible bounty hunter appearances, the rancor and all.

 

Liking this.

 

Part 3: Working for Jabba; enter – Bobba Fett​

Veles sat calmly at his table in the cantina and waited.

He didn’t have to wait long.

The same, now one armed, Gamorrean, stumbled back into the joint, followed by several more of his kind.

He growled at Veles

“Hey you, punk! If you are so tough, come outside, now!”

With that, they withdrew back out the door.

Well, here we go then...

He calmly stood up and walked towards the exit. Other patrons stared at him, some gaped. Even the quartet band on their small stage stopped playing for awhile.

Veles stepped out onto the street and looked around. There were about a dozen, at least, Gamorreans waiting for him; as well as a huge slug-like Hutt, with a shiny, golden-plated protocol droid at his side.

The Hutt looked at him, and then addressed his one-handed underling in a booming voice. The droid did not translate; but Veles found that his eye implant, connected to his brain, apparently had a feature for that too, he was somehow able to understand everything the Hutt said:

“THIS PUNY KID BEAT ALL THREE OF YOU GUYS AND KILLED JAKKU?! REALLY?! HE SURE DOESN’T LOOK SO TOUGH...”

“It was him, boss. I swear. Look, ask Rokku...”

Just then, Veles saw two of the Gamorreans emerge from the cantina, dragging along a third one, the one he’d smashed in the jaw before. The goon was apparently still unable to walk, or even stand, without help.

Meanwhile, the other Gamorrean continued with his pleas to Jabba

“And, he’s got light sabers too, boss! Be careful...”

“LIGHT SABERS?! HMM...”

He turned to Veles. The droid prepared to translate, but Veles raised a hand to stop him.

“Do not bother. I can understand.”

Even the droid looked surprised, as much as a droid can. Nonetheless, it remained silent.

Jabba spoke,

“SO, YOU ARE ONE SPECIAL KID, HUH? TAKE ON AND WASTE THREE OF MY GUYS. AND YOU USE LIGHT SABERS... WHO ARE YOU, SOME LEFT OVER JEDI?”

Veles laughed softly to himself

“Not quite.”

The light sabers suddenly flew from his belt into his hands and activated with a hiss. Their bright red glow reflected off the glass window panel of the cantina.

Jabba seemed taken aback a bit

“RED... YOU ARE A SITH?”

“Something of that sort...”

There was a silence. The the Hutt spoke again.

“WELL, WHATEVER YOU ARE, I COULD SURE USE A GUY WITH YOUR POWER AND SKILLS. WHAT DO YOU SAY, BOY, WANT TO WORK FOR ME?”

“Doing what, exactly?”

“WHAT DO YOU THINK? WASTING PEOPLE I DON’T LIKE!”

Veles considered. He could, probably, make plenty of credits as an assassin. Enough credits, to allow him to travel around the galaxy in comfort and style and keep the Empire off his back. And, the sort of people he would likely be killing for Jabba, would be the sort who well deserve killing anyhow.

“Okay, Jabba. I’m in.”

The Hutt laughed thunderously.

“GREAT! GLAD TO HAVE YOU! BUT YOUR FIRST JOB WILL BE AN EVALUATION.”

“Evaluation?”

“YES. YOU WILL HAVE TO COMPETE AGAINST THE MAN WHO IS CURRENTLY MY BEST BOUNTRY HUNTER AND ASSASSIN. TAKE OUT THE TARGET FIRST, AND YOU BECOME MY NEW NUMBER ONE MAN, KID.”

“Okay... Who, exactly, am I competing against?”

“Me.”

A new figure stepped into view, from the shadows behind the large Hutt. He was clad in silvery Mandalorean armor, with blasters hanging on his hips, a fierce looking helmet covering his head and face, and what looked like a jet pack on his back.

“THIS IS BOBBA FETT.”

Veles had heard of Fett. He was one of the most famous and feared bounty hunters in the galaxy. Even his teachers on Kamino had mentioned Fett as a skilled assassin used, at times, by Lord Vader himself. Veles was impressed, but not petrified. He feared nobody, although he could certainly respect a worthy opponent, like Fett. If anything, he felt excitement, at all the thrilling action that lay ahead.

“Well, this should be interesting.”

Fett snorted

“Kid, you are dreaming if you think you can best me, even with all your little Force tricks and your fancy light sabers...”

Veles simply chuckled in return, which seemed to irritate Fett, who turned away from him and spoke to Jabba

“Shall we begin, than. What is our task?”

The Hutt nodded his enormous head

“YES. YOU ARE TO SET OUT FOR NAL HUTTA TODAY!”

Nal Hutta? They were going to the Hutt homeworld? Why?

“Who is it we are to kill there, Jabba?”

The Hutt hesitated, then bellowed

“MY BROTHER.”

***

What fate awaits Veles on Nal Hutta? Will he carry out Jabba's orders, and win the contest with Bobba Fett while he is at it? And who else might he run into along the way? Stay tuned and find out

 

Okay, this is taking a very sinister turn with the contest between Veles and Boba and Jabba's usual grandiose delusions...

...and I like it.

And you have a misspelling, "Gomerreans" somewhere in the text.

 

Thanks, error corrected

 

Great story, really like this premise as well. Glad he left Luke alone, I'm hoping Veles will team up with Luke somehow, or possibly even Obi-Wan....but who knows ;-)

Would love to know when you update this

EG

 

Wow, missed two updates, but here I am again. Completely thrilled again after my little reading marathon.

PX51, or, now, Veles really meets all the interesting people on Tatooine in one go: the Lars family, including a kid named Luke, Jabba the Hutt and Boba Fett against whom he is having a lethal challenge.

I would say, he should have picked up a much calmer planet: Dagobah. It hosts just one person and a swamp that should be less murderous than Nar Hutta.

But well, the Force definitely plays sabacc games with our main character.

 

Next chapter coming soon, like, couple days from now, promise

Veles will leave Dagobah to Luke and Yoda, thanks lol

 

Part 4: Off to Nal Hutta​

They had to kill none other than Gumba the Hutt. Jabba’s very own big brother; and one of the most feared crime lords in the galaxy. Another being probably would have been asking himself at this point, just what he was getting himself into. But Veles was only feeling excited for a new adventure.

It was a race from the very beginning, and Fett had a clear advantage – his own ship, although it, apparently, was docked in Tatooine’s other big city, Mos Eisley, at Jabba’s headquarters.

Veles, on the other hand had no intention of going back to the Imperial shuttle that was likely now being hunted all over the galaxy. He needed to acquire another vessel, hopefully a speedy one, if he was going to beat Fett to the Hutt planet.

Veles hurried down to Mos Espa’s bustling space port.

Walking around and looking down into the round docks, he could see ships of all shapes and sizes, none of which attracted him very much.

Suddenly, however, a long, elegant silver shape caught his eye; a very expensive Nubian space yacht. Whoever owned it must be very rich indeed.

Veles smiled quietly to himself.

If I’m flying all the way to Nal Hutta, might as well fly there in style...

He didn’t look for an elevator or stairs, but simply jumped right down into the dock, using the Force to slow his descent and gently and silently lower himself to the ground.

Just as he started towards the ship's lowered landing ramp, the hatch at the top slid open, and a man emerged.

He was human, tall and dark complexioned, dressed in black pants and a blue shirt, with curly hair and a well groomed mustache.

He froze in surprise, at seeing Veles looking up at him at the bottom of the ramp.
-
"Well, hello, there. Do I know you?"

Veles hesitated, and then answered, curtly

"No."
-
"Okay... So, what do you want then?"
-
"Your ship."
-
"Excuse me?"
-
"I need your ship, for a short period of time, to perform a task that I have been assigned. You can cooperate, and there will be a financial reward after my task is carried out."

- "I see... And if I do not... cooperate?"

Veles raised his hands and his light sabers flew into them and activated with the usual hiss. The red glow illuminated his fearsome face in the murky space dock.
-
"I could simply kill you right now, along with anyone else on board, and just take your vessel. If that is what you prefer. I am offering you a... nicer solution."

The man from the fancy ship swallowed nervously. Veles could see he was very much afraid now. His hand, perhaps reflexively, slid down, towards the blaster hanging off his right hip.
-
"That would be a mistake, sir. I assure you, you will be dead before you even manage to pull that blaster from it's holster."

The stranger stared at him hard, for a moment, and then, suddenly, grinned, sighed, with what seemed like resignation. He dropped his had from the blaster, and raised both of them in the air
-
"Okay, kid, you got me. I give up. You certainly look like you mean what you say, and I’m not gonna test you. Now, you did say something about a reward at the end, right?"

Veles considered, for moment, then extinguished his light sabers and put them away
-
"There will be an appropriate payment for your services, as long as you transport me where I tell you and cause me no problems along the way. Otherwise..."

- "...I’m dead. Gotcha."

- "Indeed... Is your ship all fueled up and ready to depart?"

- "Funnily enough, yeah, We’d just finished getting her ready to go, when you showed up..."

- "Good. Let us board then, without further delay. I must reach Nal Hutta as soon as possible."

The other man stopped dead in his tracks.
-
"Nal Hutta?! You want to go to Nal Hutta?! Seriously? The Hutt world?! What in the universe for?!"

- “That is not your concern. Just get me there, the faster, the better.”
-
"Okay..."

He waved his hand towards the doorway into the ship
-
"Welcome aboard, I guess. I’m Lando, by the way. Lando Calrissian."

Veles walked up the ramp.
-
"Just call me Veles."

***​

Lando didn’t have much of a crew on board. There was an old, green and orange astromech droid, R4-H5; and an equally old, wrinkle-faced Weequay who always wore a pair of goggles and a strange triangular hat on his head, and introduced himself as Hondo Ohnaka.

Lando told Veles that the droid had once served a Jedi Master (at this point, he seemed to catch himself, probably recalling the obviously Sith red of Veles' light sabers, but went on, when the latter's face revealed no hostility, or any other emotion, at the mention of the Jedi); and Hondo, apparently, used to be a legendary pirate captain, long ago, before the Empire destroyed his fleet and even imprisoned him for awhile, before he was able to escape thanks to some lucky circumstances. Veles was sure Lando was feeding him tall tales, perhaps to try to make his crew look more interesting or something; but said nothing, it was all the same to him. He just wanted to get going, and fast. He was sure that Fett must have blasted off already, by now.

Lando and Hondo soon went up to the cockpit, and the droid retreated into its compartment to recharge for the journey ahead; while Veles stretched out comfortably on a sofa in the ship’s spacious lounge.

Now this is the way to travel... I could definitely get used to this...

As the ship’s powerful engines awoke, and it lifted off and flew out of the dock, Veles closed his eyes, and drifted off to sleep. He dreamt, mostly, of Kamino; but, sometimes, he saw something else: a face, similar to his own, yet rather than greenish, like his, this face’s skin shone a bright, bloody red, and his eyes exuded a fearsome, powerful menace. Veles dreamt of his own ancestor. He dreamt of Darth Maul.

***

To be continued.

EGKenobi AzureAngel2 Ewok Poet
Sorry for the wait, guys. Kind of hit a writer's block or something, just couldn't come up with anything for awhile... Next chapter coming soon, meanwhile, enjoy

 

But before your muse left you, you dragged poor Lando into the story. And Hondo. Which is a cool move for I like both characters for being such scoundrels and meaning naughty fun for everybody forced being to deal with them.

 

Wow, Veles has got one very interesting team with him. Watch out, Boba Fett - he's got some of the scounder-est of scoundrels.

 

I'm gonna tie both of them more into the story, you'll see more of them later on lol

Hondo especially is one of my favorite characters from Clone Wars. And he is kind of tied up with the Ghost crew also, whom I also intend to involve in the plot at some point

 

For some reason, I wasn't particularly surprised that it was Lando.

 

Part 5: Nal Hutta

It was a typical hot, hazy day on the Hutt world when they touched down on its service. They landed in a misty bog near the city of Bilbousa.

Lando and Hondo went off to the local bazaar, which was huge and bustling with beings selling everything and anything one could possible want, legal or illegal. R4-H5 busied itself rolling around the ship, identifying areas in need of servicing or repair.

Veles, meanwhile, set out for the palace of Gumba the Hutt, Jabba’s fearsome older brother, who was said to be even more massive than Jabba himself, and has lately began trying to muscle into Jabba’s lucrative smuggling routes.

There have been a number of bloody skirmishes, and, after losing far too many ships with valuable merchandize, Jabba has now decided that his brother, sadly, must be eliminated.

For Hutts, business came before family.

It was now down to Boba Fett and himself to make Gumba disappear. If he, Veles, could accomplish this ahead of Bobba, he would now become Jabba’s head assassin, his go-to-man, receiving the most lucrative assignments and many other perks of the job.

It was, however, going to be a challenge. Gumba’s compound was very well protected. He had a whole army of well armed, well trained, and very well paid bounty hunters and mercenaries at his disposal.

But challenges did not intimidate Veles, they excited him, if anything. He moved confidently through the bog, and then through the city, until, finally, he reached the tall walls of a massive fortress.

There was a tall gated archway, which opened into a huge courtyard, decorated by a massive statue of a Hutt, made of what looked like solid gold, set on an equally massive pedestal.

Well, it seems Jabba’s brother has an even bigger ego than Jabba himself...

Strolling along the street, easily losing himself in the throngs of beings from all over the galaxy, he silently used his mind to activate his bionic eye’s X-ray vision, and scanned right through the wall of the fortress.

He had already observed three heavily-armed bounty hunters guarding the gate.

Now, he saw no less than four standing guard around the golden statue, and another six spread out around the yard, each watching an entrance into the inner mansion compound.

There were more guards stationed on several towers over the wall, three apiece, one of each trio manning a heavy disruptor cannon. One of the towers stood right over the entry gate.

And this was just the first line of defense.

There would be many more highly skilled adversaries waiting inside the mansion.

Absently, he wondered if Fett was also here by now. More than likely, he was.

But, it was no use dwelling on that. He would either win this little contest, or he would not.

The only thing to do was to do all he could to create an outcome in his favor.

Veles already knew the basic layout of the fortress, and even amount of forces Gumba would have on his side (or, at least, the amount Jabba assumed his brother had, which may or may not be accurate).

However, rushing here to ensure he would not be too far behind Fett, he hadn’t really taken the time to thoroughly plan his course of action.

Now, he had to wait and think for awhile.

He was confident that he could take Gumba’s goons without much difficulty, however many of them there may be; yet simply charging into this situation was still unwise.

Suddenly, as had often happened to him at his tactical classes, the whole scheme just came together in his mind, and he knew exactly how he would do this.

For, using his X-ray vision, he had just glimpsed something very interesting indeed: a hidden, underground passage, some sort of a secret tunnel, which, no doubt, led into the inner mansion, from some unknown location, right underneath the fortified perimeter wall.

Jabba was, apparently, unaware Gumba had such a feature at his little crib here, and, therefor, so was Fett.

A predatory smile crossed Veles’ lips, invisible, behind his implant.

An advantage for me, finally.

Now, he just had to find an entrance to the mysterious tunnel.

Using, once again, his X-ray vision, enhanced for underground scanning, he was able to follow the tunnel for some distance, ending up in yet another misty bog.

He soon saw a small, solitary structure, an old hut or some such building.

It looked abandoned from the outside, yet there was light coming from its windows.

Creeping closer, he could glimpse several bounty hunters inside, at a table, playing sabacc.

There were four men in total, including two humans, a lizard-like Trandoshan, and a fierce-looking, canine-like Zygerrian.

Blaster rifles rested on the table next to each player.

Veles knew this was it. The entrance to the tunnel must be here, these men were guarding it.

He also knew he did not have much time. Fett, no doubt, would have a plan of his own ready, by now. He had to act now, if he wanted to overtake the Mandalorean assassin.

Veles simply strode right up to the front door of the building, which hissed open in front of him, causing the men at the table to instantly jump up and reach for their weapons.

Veles, however, was faster. His light sabers were already in his hands. The blades flashed with their bright red glow.

He cut down one bounty hunter, then turned and sliced through the chair another had hurled at him with one saber, while deflecting a blast with the other.

The sabers danced wildly in his hands.

Veles had to admit to himself, he was enjoying this.

The screams of his opponents, as he chopped off the right hand of one, and then swiped low, cutting off the legs of another; the smell of their burned flesh; and the look of sheer terror in their eyes, as they died. It all excited him, aroused him in an almost sexual fashion...

He turned and finished off the now one armed human bounty hunter, and then chased after the remaining one, the Zygerrian, who was racing away from him, firing his rifle madly, heading for an opening at the back of the room.

That must be the entrance to the tunnel...

Veles reached the Zygerrian already inside the tunnel, stabbing him through the chest as he turned to fire at him once more. The rifle fell from the goon’s hands, as life ebbed from his eyes, and he crumpled to the ground.

Veles felt his heart pounding hard in his chest, not from any exertion or effort; but from the thrill he had just felt. The ultimate thrill, the thrill of the kill...

But this was no time for such idle thoughts. He had to hurry.

Veles rushed down the tunnel.

He did not believe the men in the hut would have had any time or opportunity to contact their comrades at the main compound and raise the alarm, but he could take no chances, at this point.

The tunnel was narrow, but well built, with reinforced flooring, walls, and ceiling, and fairly good lighting too.

Running fast, Veles suddenly slammed right into two more bounty hunters who had been headed the other way.

The impact knocked all three off their feet, but Veles reacted instinctively, rolling with it, coming instantly back up on his feet, light sabers in hand, quickly jabbing one of the bounty hunters through the throat as he was getting up, and bringing his blade down onto the head of the other, who was still dazed, on one knee, not even knowing exactly what just hit him, as he died.

He ran on, leaving the two corpses behind.

The tunnel was long, Veles ran for quite awhile, although his mechanically enhanced legs felt no strain from it.

Suddenly, he saw bright light up ahead. The tunnel was about to end.

***

He emerged slowly, looking around. He was inside a some sort of warehouse, probably in the cellar of the mansion. A weapons depot, actually.

He could see crates full of blaster rifles, grenades, and all kinds of other deadly tools of war.

Veles considered grabbing something for himself, but went on.

He had an aversion to using blasters.

It always felt somehow cowardly to him to just shoot someone, without giving them any chance to defend themselves.

Close quarters combat with his light sabers, or just hand to hand, seemed fairer and nobler to Veles.

Running through the deserted warehouse, he finally saw a staircase leading up to a door. His X-Ray vision told him there was a guard posted on the other side of the door.

The man was standing with his back to the door.

Hesitating for just a brief moment, Veles rushed up the stairs, and, as the door slid open, grabbed the unsuspecting guard from behind and dragged him inside. The fellow tried to fight, but Veles’ arms, enhanced by bionics, held him tightly, and quickly snapped his neck before he could even shout for help.

He cautiously peeked out the door. The hallway outside was empty.

Suddenly, an alarm began ringing loudly throughout the building.

Veles wondered, for a moment, if his covert entry had already been discovered, but then heard, through the door at one end of the hallway, what sounded like a nasty shootout in the front yard.

Fett... I guess he decided to come in through the front door...

Well, Fett wasn’t going to beat him to the target.

***

He ran down the hallway, in the opposite direction from the courtyard door.

There was a set of double doors at the end, which opened before him. Rushing inside, he ended up in what looked like a mess hall. There were about two dozen tough-looking bounty hunters sitting around tables, having dinner.

They had already jumped up at the alarm, and were now staring darkly at Veles, the intruder in their midst.

A tall, well-muscled human with a bald head and a bushy moustache growled at him

“Who the hell are you? How did you get in here?”

In answer, Veles stretched out his hand and sent him flying into a wall with the Force.

The others attacked in rage.

Veles decided not to draw his light sabers, as none of his opponents here were armed either, they had clearly all been caught off duty and off guard.

He raised his hands and met them all, blow for blow.

Because of his enhancements, he still had a considerable advantage even on those who were larger and, seemingly, stronger than himself, as he had earlier demonstrated on that Gamorrean on Tatooine.

Now, he dodged the bounty hunters’ swings with an unnatural swiftness, aided both by his bionics and the Force.

Even when they managed to land and connect a hit, it could do little damage to Veles; whereas his punches, chops, and kicks always seemed to shatter bone, tear flesh, and damage brains and internal organs.

Soon, a pile of lifeless bodies lay around him.

Veles calmly adjusted his clothes and then walked onwards, through the mess hall, towards the next set of double doors, which led out into yet another hallway.

Veles kept running, as the hallway bent around a corner.

At the far end, he saw yet another door, at which two guards had been posted.

They saw him coming and brought up their rifles, firing quick bursts in his direction.

Veles deflected the blaster fire with his light sabers, sending one goon’s blast right back at him, killing him on the spot; and charging straight at the other.

The other bounty hunter wisely decided to retreat, and rushed back towards the doors he and his companion had been hoarding.

He never made it, however, as a blaster bolt pierced him suddenly, and brought him down to the floor, dead.

Veles turned around, slowly.

Fett was standing there, just a few steps behind him, his face concealed by the visor of his helmet, yet, if Veles had to guess, none too pleased to see him already here, ahead of himself.

They were at the entrance to Gumba’s own suite.

This was it, they had reached their target.

Only one question remained: who would come in through those doors first.

Fett held a blaster in each hand.

Veles’ light sabers burned bright red in each of his.

The two deadly men stood, silently, facing each other.

Fett finally spoke

“I’ve just come through the mess hall. Is that your handiwork in there?”

“Indeed.”

“Not bad...”

“Well, thank you...”

Veles could not help smiling a little. That was high praise from a notorious assassin like Fett.

“How did you get in here, anyway? You obviously didn’t come in through the front, I’d have seen you.”

“No. I’ve found a different way in.”

“I see... Well, anyway, playtime is over. You’ve done good, so far, but now it’s time to get lost and let the grown-up take care of things, okay, kid?”

Veles smirked

“I think not, Fett. I am going to win this competition of ours, whether you like it or not. If you want to go through that door right now, you’ll have to go through me first. Or else just let me go in before you.”

“What?! Why you...!”

Angry, Fett fired at Veles with both his blasters, while at the same time engaging his jet pack, sending himself shooting right past Veles, who rolled out of the way just in time and slashed with one of his light sabers, disabling Fett’s jet pack.

Fett ended up crashing, rather than flying, through the doorway, sliding in on the floor.

Veles ran in right after him, and saw a huge gold-plated throne, with an equally huge Hutt seated on it.

Gumba started down arrogantly on Fett, who raised a blaster to shoot him... only to have it knocked out of his hand by Veles, using the Force.

Gumba turned his gaze slowly towards Veles.

“WHO ARE YOU? DID MY BROTHER SEND YOU? AND FETT TOO? WHY DID YOU STOP HIM FROM SHOOTING ME?”

“Yes, Jabba did ask us both to relay his well wishes, Gumba. But no, Mr. Fett won’t be killing you today. That honor, I’m afraid, belongs to me.”

And, with one wide swing, Veles sliced open the Hutt’s enormous throat.

“Noooo!”

It was Fett.

Veles turned back to him

“It’s over, Boba. I win. Don’t worry, I won’t tell Jabba how I broke your little jet pack and disarmed you right in front of Gumba.”

With a hearty laugh, he walked out, leaving Fett still sitting on the floor, roaring and pounding the ground with his fists in frustration.

Before he left, he engaged his communicator and transmitted the image of now dead Gumba to Jabba on Tatooine, telling him the job was done. Jabba seemed very pleased and told him to hurry back to Tatooine, there will be a big party in his honor. Veles told him he will be returning right away.

He met no further hostile action upon his exit from the compound.

Those of Gumba’s mercenaries whom either he or Fett had not killed yet seemed to have simply ran off.

Veles made his way back to the bog where Lando and Hondo had parked their yacht.

The vessel was still there, in all its shiny splendor.

Lando was waiting at the ramp.

“Heard a lot of commotion in the city, they said the local boss, Gumba, his place was attacked or something, lots of shooting, explosions...”

“Yes. He is dead now. So are most of his guys. Nothing for you to worry about.”

“Wait... That was you? You killed him? You just killed a Hutt crime lord?!”

“Yes, I did. Now, take me back to Tatooine, and you’ll get your payment.”

“Better be a big one...”

“It will be. Jabba is a generous guy...”

“Jabba!? You work for Jabba?!”

But Veles had already walked up the ramp and disappeared inside the ship.

Lando scratched his head

“Oh, boy... What in the universe did I get myself into now...”

To be continued

 

Veles may be a real Sithspawn, in the technical sense of the word, but now that he's on his own, he has the potential to be an okay guy. Because he does have a sense of fair play, and even though he enjoys killing, so far all of his victims have been total scum. And he's fallen in with Lando, who, even though he's kind of a scoundrel himself, will totally be a good influence on Veles.

 

Here's something exciting: tue next chapter may involve the guy in your avatar

 

I would like to think the same thing Cowgirl is thinking, but after this carnage, I'm not sure if it's possible.

The chapter itself was enjoyable, minus the said carnage - it was like an old platformer video game, with level bosses and all.

I particularly liked this:

Well, that says a lot about whether we should sympathise with this character or not. Knowing that, in the Hutt world, massive = evil, this Gumba was one complete sheevy sheev.

Now, whether he becomes a good guy or not, given his association with Lando, Veles has to fail somewhere, somehow. Otherwise he would be too powerful. I understand that he's a genetically modified organism and all, but still.

And Han Solo is going to be in this? Bring it on.

P.S. You have Boba spelled as Bobba in a couple of places. 'appens to the best of us.

 

Spelling corrected, thanks

And I did kind of picture the battle in Gumba's fortress as a video game lol

I am somewhat disturbed myself by the level of bloody violence in my work... Maybe I am working out my own inner demons through this, not sure... I also greatly enjoy slasher horror movies, it's my favorite genre... I am a weird guy...