A Must Need

[Clovis Torcularis]

I stood on the deck looking down into the hanger bay, eyes tracking the mechanics and various workers as they moved about readying smaller ships to be dispersed into the galaxy. My time among the Knights of Ren and the First Order was something bordering success, yet my current mask that I needed to help sustain my life was fleeting. I didn't have the time to go out and began creating a new one, but when death is standing at the cusp of your life waiting to disengage you from the galaxy, one had to make time. After getting permission from the higher ranking members of my Order, it was time to stretch out my wings and go looking for the proper materials I desired for my new mask.

If successful, then I would consider taking on another self infused mission to properly create a lightsaber that better suits me. This.....thing is far more wretched than the individual who wields it.

"Disciple, your ship is ready," came the voice of one of the mechanics through the comlink attached to my belt. I somewhat thanked the individual but deep down harboured disgust in doing so. I felt slightly angry at myself for thanking someone that was paid to their job. Afterall, nobody thanks me for doing my job and that's how I prefer it. Complements and the like have no place in my heart. In fact, I wish these people didn't act like I needed to thank them, but it is what it is and time to move on.

Steadying myself through the Force, I lept over the rail landing on the bay's floor with a muffled thud sounded by my booted feet. I could have used the turbolift but that would have taken time, and time is not my ally at the moment. I need to preserve whatever time I have if I wish to see the death of the Force. "Relax Clovis," I mutter to myself, cringing at the sound of my own name. I never understood how my parents came about such a horrific name, probably my Father's doing, but it is my name and until the day comes where I can ascend to a name change under the Knights, I'm stuck with it for now.

I stop short of the ship signed out to me, carefully observing it through the glassed slits in my soon-to-be defunct mask. I don't trust many people, including those that are paid to do their job, so taking an overworked and sleep deprived mechanic's word that my ship is ready, well, that would make me both foolish and ignorant. I'm pretty sure there isn't a soul here that wishes me harm, but being careless is not in my nature.

 

[Clovis Torcularis]

I would never reference myself to being a great pilot, or even an above average pilot. I have witnessed some of our pilots in action and though I would never openly admit it to them or anyone, I feel a surge of jealousy at what feats they can accomplish. On the scale of piloting, I would rank myself a four, maybe a three. What I do understand completely is how a ship works, internally. Thus that gives me a slight edge over my lack of piloting skills. Most of the time. Before setting off to my first destination, I run a quick systems check of the ship to ensure everything is in working order. I am well equipped to handle any internal issues that may arise during flight, but I rather not waste time repairing a ship that a mechanic has given a green light for, so I spend some time running the diagnostics while engaging the Force to feel for any unseen issues the mechanic might have overlooked.

Satisfied with the judgment handed down to me by the ships judicial system, I alert the hanger bay's officers that I'm heading out. With a slight lurch the ship moves forward while gaining some altitude. Once in the coldness of space, I program the ship's navigation system with the coordinates of the planet I will be visiting first. By all accounts, I've never been to the planet of Felucia and from what intel I read about the planet, it doesn't seem like a place I would like to grow old and die on. Still, the alloy known as turadium can be found in an old abandoned mining facility that was once used by the old Galactic Empire. At least I hope it is, unless of course the locals have some how managed to plunder it all.

Moments after the ship made it's jump into hyperspace, I remove myself from the cockpit and head to the ship's lounging area. I sit on the floor, taking in deep breaths whilst centering myself in the Darkside. Early in my training I scoffed at such techniques like meditating, but over the past few months began to rely upon it heavily. I've heard the Jedi use meditation to expunge potential dangerous emotions from their minds; I do the opposite. Ever since my awakening from the accident, I'm in a state of pain constantly. One of the medical doctors told me she could prescribe some kind of medication to alleviate the pain, as well as have me spend some time in a bacta tank to better heal my facial scars. The pain I appreciate. It keeps me honest and focused, as well as coming in useful in certain situations. As for my scars, I have no desire to expel them from my existence. They are a constant reminder of my youth as well as a constant reminder to never forget death is but a breath away.

Also, one day I will come face-to-face with my Father again. On that day, I will show him, in so many ways, how the son he never wanted has surpassed him in every way imaginable. Perhaps I will kill him and make his greatest fear come to life; taking over his company. But the greatest moment I look forward to, is seeing his eyes twitch and falter when see's what I've become on the outside. Never again will anyone mention 'how much alike we look.'

 

[Clovis Torcularis]

With the landing complete, and most of the systems either shut down or in stand-by mode, I debarked the ship stepping on the surface of Felucia for the first time. The colorful arrangement was a dangerous misconception, plants bred with such magnificent beauty to attract unsuspecting prey in to range; then to the horror of the prey, found them themselves becoming one with the flesh-eating vegetation. Though as dangerous some of those plants where, Felucia possessed even more terrifying creatures, such as the legendary sarlacc and rancor beasts, and those winged monstrosities that hunted from above. Felucia was my kind of place, but like I said earlier, it would never be home.

Now the mine laid less than two-hundred and seventy-five meters to the east of my current location. After making a couple of passes on the way in, I couldn't spot any reasonable place closer to land. As I had predicted, the old mining area had been taken over by the indigenous plant life. I adjusted my mask, taking in a high impact breath. My mask, like my future one, came equipped with an air filtration system that disallowed toxins and noxious fumes from reaching my lungs, but it also prevented me from smelling or tasting the air; which could be dangerous at times since some the more notorious nasties where always preceded by their foul smell. Lucky for me, I possessed the knowledge of the Force, and it acted like an early warning system, overriding the betrayal of such natural occurrences like smelling and tasting.

I stomped through the foliage, pushing branches out of the way or simply cutting them away with my recently ignited lightsaber, until I reached the edge of the mine. A quick glance down, and I spotted fresh footprints leading toward the maw of the mining facility's main mine; where my treasure awaited to be claimed by me but was in the current state of being plundered by usurpers. I gripped my hilt tight, feeling the growing anger wash over me, sending shivers of pleasure down my spine. I don't make it a habit to go out of my way to kill people, but when I'm in the grip of anger's passion, killing is the only orgasm my anger can accept to ease it.

I marched headlong toward the entrance, where two sentries stood on duty. All three of us stared down at each other, a small hush of confusion between us. For me, I wondered why they didn't open fire upon seeing me. If I was the boss of this rag tag bunch, that would have been my standing order to these two. For them, they probably were unsure that I was real. I mean seriously, what are the odds of another being arriving at this run-down mining area. They shook their heads in unison, when the snap-hiss of my lightsaber abruptly broke them from their spell of confusion. I acted quickly when I saw them begin to lift their blasters toward me. I'm no assassin nor do I work in the shadows like one. I do not fear attracting the whole nest of usurpers at once. I'm a God compared to these miscreants, and most of the galaxy really, so there was no need to be quiet about killing these two.

With my right hand, I threw my lightsaber in a spinning arc toward the one on the left, whilst gripping the one on the right by the throat with the Force. I'm no master of Force Choke, but just an adept at it. I've practiced this ability many times but I was still meters away from perfecting it. So my Force attack was only strong enough to disrupt the armed sentry from opening firing on me. My lightsaber toss, on the other hand, struck home killing the man that resembled a work of art. I caught my returning blade with my free hand, re-ignited it and charged the last remaining sentry, dropping my grip of him. I brought my heated red blade down in sound-breaking speed, cutting his rifle in two, then spun around to add more momentum to my attack; and followed it through slicing through the man.

 

[Clovis Torcularis]

Wasting no time, since I had none to waste anyway, I kicked open the loosely closed door; making a grand entrance for nobody to see. I placed my hands on my hips, looking around the area. Empty! From the distance I could hear both chatter and the sounds of machines hard at work. Apparently these usurpers where trying to crack open something further down, hazarding a guess; it was probably what I had came for. The alloy was not in high demand like phrik or cortois, but it could withstand a few glancing blows from a lightsaber, which had attracted me to it in the first place.

Once again I moved into stalker mode and headed down the hallway toward a blind date with thieves. Now, I know I'm here to pillage the alloy myself, but I'm no thief. What I have planned for the alloy is for personal use, not to sell on one of the many black markets that infest all most every planet in the known galaxy. Add to the fact that as a member of the First Order and a Knight of Ren, it is my sworn duty to uphold certain laws, and what these usurpers are doing are breaking the law. Or will be if I let them escape.

Entering the mine's main chamber, I saw no more than four lawbreakers hovered around some sort of makeshift drilling apparatus. The horrid noise had masked my entrance, allowing me the element of surprise. Even with my lightsaber ignited, they were none the wise. Calling on the anger that is always with me, I charged toward the nearest thug, and once in range drove the heated tip of my blade through his back. With one of my feet, I kicked the lifeless thug away from my blade, which was more for effect than purpose. The others were still spellbound by the machine's hard work. I facepalmed my mask and shook my head in disbelief. Unreal! I will be the first to admit that the green monster known as greed is my travelling companion, but these guys take it to a whole new level.

Calling on the Force's Darkside nature, I unleashed a torrent of spiteful pain, or Inflict Pain if you want to be politically correct about it, on the next nearest man. My devastated lips turn into a painful smirk as I watched him fall to the ground, shaking and shivering; and finally expel the contents from his stomach. That little act finally got the attention of the other two. When they turned to face me, I noticed one of them was a woman. A very beautiful woman. If not for my training, I would have still been caught off guard by her majestic looks when her associate lunged at me with a vibrosword of sorts. Lucky for me, woman don't hold much stock for me, nor I with them.

I've mentioned before how scarred my face is. Let me put that in some perspective. I'm so deformed under my mask that no Twi'lek dancer, and I use the word dancer loosely, would turn me down. I parried the attack, observing there was already a skills gap between my opponent and myself. With two quick slashes, I sent him off to the otherside. To ensure this woman would get a fair fight, I impaled the pain stricken thug while he still laid on the ground.

"I don't know who you are, creep, but you wouldn't dare harm a lady," she said while moving one of her hands to the small of her back. I'm no idiot, she probably had a small hold-out blaster behind there. She, too, was no idiot because she didn't go for the hand cannon on her hip hoping to catch me off guard. With an ungentlemen like gesture, I shoved her to the ground using the Force, then stood over her pointing the tip of my blade a couple of inches from her face. "Toots, you have no idea what I'm capable of doing," I said following my words with a thrust that ended her life.

 

[Clovis Torcularis]

With the alloy secured safely in a lockbox aboard the ship, I set the navigation computer with the coordinates for my next stop. Nar Shaddaa, the smuggler's moon. While I was making preparations for my solo outing, I contacted a black market proprietor to aid me in finding special lenses for my mask. Normally I wouldn't deal with such a person, but these lens were crafted from two Nova Crystals. The craftsman had manged to work his magick turning the crystals into lens, which the finished product had produced two interesting effects.

The first effect was the lens enhanced the surrounding area, making whomever looked through them see whatever they were seeing in more high definition. I thought that was neat. With these lenses set into my mask, I would be able to pick out the smallest detail that the naked eye would miss. Granted I had the Force, but the Force doesn't work like that. The second effect was that the lenses absorbed light, both natural and unnatural, storing them until the lighting had darkened. So when day became night or I entered a darken cave or building the lenses would continue allowing me to see as if the light bulb was still on. Unlike night vision goggles, or other electronic devices employed by people, there was no need to switch them or swap out gear for them; they naturally did their job.

Of course there was one flaw in these lenses. In order for them to retain light they needed to be charged, and the amount of charge these lens held depended on the amount of time they were exposed to light. For those that hate math, I'll explain it layman's terms. Lenses spend twelve hours in light equals to twelve hours of charged lenses in dark. That suited me fine. I don't plan to spend a lot of time in the dark.

As I came out of hyperspace, I checked to ensure I still had the chip card that had the amount of credits to make the purchase, and felt relieved when I felt it in my pouch. It would have been a real set back if I had dropped it back on Felucia. Theses lenses were not cheap, costing me close to two-thousand credits and I had no real desire to hack into other hard working people's accounts to siphon their funds. Again.

 

[Clovis Torcularis]

I handwaved my way out of paying the docking fee, which was set at an unreasonable price. The Hutts were a greedy bunch, my kind of people, but I would not let them grow richer off me. Let those who can't Force their way out of paying docking fees add to the Hutt's purses. While I walked through the streets of Nar Shaddaa the feeling of desperation was thick in the air. Species of all kinds suffered terrible bouts of poverty, some even resorting to selling themselves or loved ones in exchange for enough credits just to survive. The whole scene rank of weakness and I found that to be more offensive than the Twi'lek girl trying to get me to buy her goods. I admit, her goods looked nice and they seemed to be worth the credits she was asking, but I've long written off any kind of relationship; sexual or otherwise. There just wasn't any need for me to indulge in such carnal pleasures.

When I turned down the alley where my contact instructed me to meet her, my Twi'lek shadow vanished. I could sense her fear and apprehension about this alleyway, but what she feared down there held no comparison to the fear I could install into someone. I'm no master of fear inducing illusions yet, but I have my ways of making people soil their undergarments.

Halfway through the garbage infected alley, two species of aliens I never seen before stepped out of the shadows in a vain attempt to spook me. Because I have the Force walking alongside me at all times, I knew they were there before they elected to reveal themselves. "You lost stranger," one of the aliens said while his partner stepped to cut-off my advance. "You look lost," the alien directly in front of me said. If these two thought I was some mark they could shake down, boy where they in for a painful surprise.

"Lost? Nope. Just enjoying the beauty of Nar Shaddaa from a different perspective," I huffed. The two aliens narrowed their eyes in unison, the one off to my left adding, "Jokes won't get you anywhere." I turned my head to face him and retorted with, "Oh believe me I know. I tried stand-up comedy once and got heckled right out the side door." Apparently these two held no sense of humor between them, because once again in unison they produced two blaster pistols. I pointed a finger at them and said, "You don't want to do that. I'm here to see Ja'ku and unless you little boys can help me, I advise getting out of my way."

The two boys must knew who Ja'ku was because one of them took a swing at me.

 

[Clovis Torcularis]

One would imagine that someone of my height would not be all that graceful, or even slow to react to a sucker punch from left field. Well, you're wrong. I sensed the punch coming a mile away and instead of ducking, blocking it, or simply getting out of the way I did this instead. I reached out and grabbed the alien in front of me, positioning both his surprised look and body between me and the flying punch. His fellow scumbag's knuckled up balled fist connected with his face, changing his surprised look into a 'you karking hit me' look. I hurled the domestic abused alien to the floor and relying on the Force shoved the other alien up against the wall, where I continue to keep him pinned there.

"I'm not sure if you two are aware of this but it's demonstrations such as these that make Nar Shaddaa one of the least tourist attractions." I reached down to retrieve my lightsaber because one of these two needed to be taught a deadly lesson, and in doing so I hoped the other one would never forget what the professor taught him today at the expense of his friend. "Enough," came a woman's voice as she stepped out side door. "My deepest apologies to you. I will deal with my associates later," she said eyeing the two aliens. "Ja'ku I assume," I said releasing the alien. The woman nodded to me then beckoned me to follow her inside.

The inside looked far more lavish than the outside. Definitely this woman had expense taste. "You should really teach your lower level thugs better hospitality," I told her still feeling cheated out of killing someone today. Normally I don't pull out my lightsaber and go all stabby, stabby with it. But cross me, get on my bad side, or throw a sucker punch in my direction and you can bet your sweet behind I'll come stabby, stabby for you. "Yes, I'll keep that in mind. Now I assume you have brought the credits in exchange for the lenses." It took everything in my power to bite back a snarky comment, but you should be proud of me. I succeeded.

I tossed her the chip card, catching it with the Force a few inches from her readied hand then told her, "Just so you and I are clear, I don't take to kindly to be swindled. So before you make the decision to close your hand around the chip, think all your options through first." Say what you want about smugglers or undesirables like black market gurus, when it comes to credits they are about as honest as they come. She reached just a bit further and snatched up the chip then inserted it in a datapad. I watched her eyes bright up with joy when she realized that I was as honest as they come too. She nodded to a case resting atop a table. "Our transaction is concluded. You can show yourself out."

 

[Clovis Torcularis]

When I returned to the ship's cockpit, the little red light next to the communication system was beeping letting me know I had a message. I settled into the seat and pressed the button, sitting back into the chair to hear the incoming transmission. "Disciple Torcularis, this is Dr. Phan. Your order for the special air filtration system is ready for pick-up. At your convenience you can stop by the medical lab on Lipsec to obtain it." That was excellent news. Thanks to the First Order, they helped me meet this Dr. Phan to discuss a new air filtration system that was more or less a prototype. I don't like being anyone's test subject, so I waited patiently for almost three months for the doctor and his team to complete their project, thus giving me the finished product.

My soon to be acquired air filtration system would be mounted to the front part of mask, naturally, where my lower face would be if not covered. Unlike most of these machines, where they allowed individuals to breath air through a tank, this one had been designed all together differently.

The air filtration system had two unique facets to it. The first was that it had a built in regulator that could take any type of air and transform it into breathable air for me, thus eliminating the concerns of dealing with air types that exceeded Type I, which was the kind I required. This would also eliminate the need for a tank to be connected to it. The second feature was that it had a built in blocker that prevented air born toxins and poisons from being filtered into my already ruined lungs. The only draw back was that the filtration component could not be removed and attached to any other style of mask. Why? Because much as the thought of this makes me cringe, once attached to the mask and to get the desired effect from it, the air filtration system needed to be surgically screw to my face, making it not only a permanent fixture to my face; but disallowing the mask to be removed all together. Which suited me just fine. There was no need for me to remove my mask once it was completed.

I sent a response to Dr. Phan then left Nar Shaddaa behind. I was feeling a sense of overwhelming satisfaction that I was drawing closer to have my mask completed. I entered First Order space, quickly making a heading to the planet of Lipsec.

 

[Clovis Torcularis]

I was shown to the doctor's office, where the man sat behind his desk enthralled by whatever text he was reading on his computer. The droid that brought me here announced my arrival and departed. Without waiting to be offered a seat, I took one opposite of him, crossing my legs waiting for him to complete whatever he was doing. Dr. Phan shut down his computer and looked up at me.

"Welcome Disciple. I trust your journey was safe," he said through a throaty voice. The last time we spoke his voiced seemed normal, but something must have occurred in the past three months to change that. I wondered if he was waiting to see how the mask took to me before he indulged himself with the same technology. "For the most part, Dr. I did have to deal with some less than desirable individuals, but nothing I couldn't handle."

Dr. Phan rested his elbows on his desk, folding his hands together. I could sense he was nervous. With a clearing of that rustic voice, he said to me, "There has been an unforeseen development since we last spoke, Disciple." I raised my hand to stop him from continuing and replied, "I hope you are not going to tell me there is something wrong with the filtration system?" Dr. Phan shook his head no, and followed it up with, "The system, I think not. It's the manner of how we are to deliver the goods to you."

I leaned back in the chair trying to imagine what he was talking about. The filtration system already had to be surgically mounted to my lower face, what could possibly be worse than that. Then he answered my thoughts by adding, "Initially I told you that we would have to fix the filtration system to the mask and perform a rather delicate surgery to keep it properly install. Forgive me, but we discovered it goes further than that."

"How so?"

"There is no easy way for me to say this so I'll just say it. The entire mask will need to be infused to your head."

"Hmm. That doesn't sound that bad. You've seen my face doc, that could be a positive thing right?"

Dr. Phan looked away, which told me there was something more. Chances were that I wasn't going to like it. "In order for the new filtration system to adequately perform its function, a serious of tubes will need to be fixed to it from the inside of the mask and attached to each of your lungs. But that's not the worst part I'm afraid. The procedure must take place while your awake."

My jaw dropped. Well it would have if I wasn't currently wearing the defunct mask. "Awake? Why?" He explained to me that when a patient is under, their lungs and labored breathing act entirely different than when a person is awake and functioning normally. If the procedure took place when I was knocked out, there was no guarantee of success. This was a kicker that hurt my shins to the bone.

"There's more."

"More," I stammered. He explained to me that the current design of my mask would not work. Sensing that I was growing angry, he told me that he had contacted an engineer who took the liberty to redesign my mask, which thankfully, would include the two crystals. "I assure you, Disciple, this new mask will be far better than the one we planned to use before. When you are ready, we are ready."

 

[Clovis Torcularis]

I returned to the medical center three days later, ready to begin the procedure. During those three days I had meditated through the Force asking for the Darkside to watch over me. I was still young, and wasn't ready to die. Well, I'm always prepared for that horrific event but I always thought in would take place in the heat of battle. Not sprawled out on a cold, metal operating table.

Stripping down to just my undergarment, I laid on the table staring up into the lights that seemed to be mocking me. Dr. Phan leaned over me, trying his best to give me a reassuring smile. He failed terribly. "I will administer a small sedative that will help you relax. Though I'm afraid I'm unsure how much relaxation you will experience." I starred into his big, blue eyes and said, "Doc, do me a favor. Stop saying I'm afraid. You're starting to freak me out."

I felt a small sharp pinprick in my arm. In a manner of seconds I could feel my body move to a state of relaxation. Though as everyone would have expected, that didn't last very long when the operation began.

I won't get into heavy details about the operation. Somethings need to be left unsaid. What I can tell you is this. The pain I experienced from start to finish was something that I never imagined. I am pretty good at dealing with pain, such as channeling it out or even transforming it to fuel my Darkside energy. This new whole level of pain was something that I was unprepared to deal with. During the procedure I tried to call on the Force to assist me, but I guess it decided that it didn't want to stick around and watch this doctor turn me into some sort of Panenstein monster.

Worse yet, there where times when my body wanted to shut down from the excruciating pain but the doctor's medical droids where quick on the scene. Whenever the threat of my body shutting down became apparent, they poked and stabbed me with needles to prevent the blackout. I was in so much pain that I couldn't even grow angry with what was being done to me. That was the measure of pain I was experiencing.

Thirteen hours later, the procedure was done and I was finally put under to allow what my body went through to rest up and heal.

 

[Clovis Torcularis]

Twelve hours later I woke up. My entire head all the way down to my lungs hurt, including my chest area where as I later discovered they had to open me up slightly to make the attachments. I took a breath and felt a wash of invigorating air. When my eyes finally adjusted to my surroundings, I grew angry. There was nothing cover my upper part of my face, making me think that the credits I spent on those two nova crystal lens went to waste. I went to to sit up and felt a hand gently push me back down. It was Dr. Phan and some unknown male dressed in engineering clothes.

"You're finally awake. Good. This is Dr. Trumin, head of on of the most renowned engineering schools on Dosuun. He will explain your new mask to you."

I watched as the elderly man stepped closer to me. "As Dr. Phan had already told you, the current design of the mask was obsolete for this procedure. So I took the liberty to craft you a better one."

Dr. Trumin explained to me that my new mask now possessed a new scanner which he personally crafted into the lens. With the goggles down, which he explained I could raise and lower at will since they were attached to the mask and not my face, I could see a small readout on them telling me how far objects where. To prevent confusion or distractions from the numbers, a voice activator had been aligned to the mask allowing me to not only call up a distance of an object but to single it out by just looking at it. In all fairness to this engineer, I thought that was a wonderful addition.

He explained the mask didn't engulf my entire head just my facial features, unless of course I had the goggles up, leaving my scarred throat open to everyone to discuss. The lower half of the mask was surgically implanted to my face, preventing any leakage of air or the invasion of toxins and such. According to him, this was far better than having an encompassed masked hermetically sealed around me. This style, according to him, gave me greater mobility with moving my head. He went to further tell me that the tubes attached to the mask and lungs were created from armorweave, thus making it more flexible than durasteel or other some hardened alloy.

Lastly, he told me designed a small feeding port on the side of the helmet that allowed me to intake fluids as a means of getting my daily dose of nourishment. All in all, he did a wonderful job. I tried to thank him, and Dr. Phan halted that test. "Do not try to speak. You need to let your vocal chords heal properly first. During the procedure we had to attached a third tube to your larynx that when you speak, it will caress your larynx to allow you to make sounds. The damage to your throat had grown far more severe overtime. I'm afr....your voice has gone a dramatic transformation."

I pointed to my face and Dr. Phan handed me a mirror. When I saw my reflection and what I now looked like, I was more than pleased with the outcome.

The End.