Private Fixing Scars

[Liin Terallo]

The Scar Worlds had acquired a remarkable talent for discouraging visitors.

Most people who spoke of them rarely mentioned the geology, the climate, or even the civilizations that had once called these worlds home. Instead, every conversation eventually returned to the same subject: the Draelvasier. Entire sectors whispered about them as though speaking too loudly might somehow invite them back. According to the reports I'd managed to gather, they had finally been destroyed. Whether that was entirely true remained difficult to verify. Rumors, particularly in the Outer Rim, possessed an unfortunate habit of surviving long after the facts had perished.

Fortunately, I wasn't here to investigate monsters.

As the hired transport descended through the planet's thin atmosphere, I remained seated beside the viewport, datapad resting comfortably on my lap while I reviewed the survey maps for what was probably the sixth time. Large regions remained geologically unstable, but that was precisely what interested me. Catastrophic ecological collapse left fingerprints that ordinary worlds simply didn't possess. Mineral composition changed. Microbial communities disappeared or evolved. Soil chemistry developed unusual deficiencies or occasionally, unexpected resilience.

If I ever hoped to improve biomolecular terraforming, then I needed to understand not only how healthy ecosystems functioned, but how broken ones failed.

The transport shuddered gently as it cut through another layer of turbulent air.

A quiet chirp drew my attention downward. My little companion had abandoned it's usual place inside my satchel in favour of climbing into my lap, where it now peered curiously through the transparisteel viewport. It's narrow head tilted first one direction, then the other, studying the scarred landscape below with innocent fascination. It knew nothing of ruined civilizations or extinct horrors. To it, this was simply another place waiting to be explored.

I smiled, resting two fingers lightly against it's back. "I know," I murmured. "It doesn't look particularly welcoming to me either."

The creature answered with another soft chirp before settling against my forearm.

Outside, the landscape stretched endlessly toward the horizon. The scars were visible even from altitude. Great wounds crossed the surface where forests, cities, or oceans might once have existed. Jagged ridges of blackened stone rose from pale ash plains, while enormous impact-like depressions interrupted the terrain with unsettling regularity. Whatever had happened here had done more than destroy life. It had altered the world itself. It was beautiful; in a deeply tragic sort of way.

The pilot's voice crackled over the intercom. "We're approaching the coordinates that you requested."

I looked up from the viewport. Below us sat the remains of what geological surveys suggested had once been a freshwater basin. Devastation had reduced it to cracked sediment and mineral deposits unlike anything found on more stable worlds. If biomolecules could one day restore environments this badly damaged, then understanding places like this would be essential.

The transport settled onto the fractured ground with a muted hiss. For several seconds I remained seated. Not out of fear, but out of habit. Research had taught me that the first moments after arriving somewhere unfamiliar often revealed more than the hours that followed. Wind direction. Ambient sounds. Wildlife. Or the absence of it.

Silence greeted us. Not a peaceful silence, but empty silence. I adjusted the strap of my satchel over my shoulder before collecting my sample cases, scanner, and field kit. The little biomass creature climbed effortlessly onto my shoulder as though it had performed the ritual a hundred times before; which, admittedly, it had.

The boarding ramp lowered with a slow mechanical whine. Cold, dry air drifted into the cabin, carrying the faint scent of dust and scorched stone.

I took my first step onto the Scar World. "I should only need a few soil samples," I said quietly, more to reassure the pilot than myself. "With a little luck, we'll be on our way home before sunset." It was, I reflected as my boots settled into ash; the sort of sentence that people often said immediately before discovering they had been spectacularly optimistic.

Tag: Kharon

 

[Adonis Angelis IV]

Oops

 

[Adonis Angelis IV]

twice is crazy

 

[Kharon]

TAG Liin Terallo

Red chitin moved like soldiers in a row toward Kharon's face. Held in his grip was a mug of ale poured from a keg pried from the cargo hold of some dead baron. The Draelvasier and his horde had recently come off of a score in the Kessel sector. They had hit a personal transport for said baron, some powerful person's son who had too much money and not enough security. Rather than giving The Dread Admiral what he wanted- the ship and the ransom that came with the baron- the fool fought back. That made Kharon mad, so he crushed the baron's windpipe on the ship instead of holding out for the ransom.

Long story short, the baron's father was actually very well connected, so Kharon and his group currently had a band of Jedi sweeping the Outer Rim for him and his crew. That was enough to give pause to even one as morally bankrupt as the pirate lord. The Draelvasier were not commonplace in the galaxy, so it was not easy for him to blend in. If he wanted to be left alone, he had to go where no one would look. Somewhere the darkness radiating from Kharon and his pirates might disappear beneath something far greater. Somewhere the Jedi would have to reach through decades of death and suffering before they ever found him hiding beneath it.

So he went back to where it all started.

The Scar Worlds had been a reminder to the galaxy for the last several decades, that just because you didn't see a threat didn't mean they weren't there. Though ignorant to the Draelvasier from then, Kharon carried fragments of what they had known. Knowledge surfaced in him without warning, broken impressions impressed into him before he had ever opened his eyes. He could feel pieces of who they had been and understand things he had never consciously learned, as though scraps of their experiences had been buried somewhere inside him. It was fragmented, like trying to listen to a comm channel when you were in the freezer. He knew what they were, but he wasn't always able to tell who they were.

Though genetically a match, the Draelvasier who cleaved and burned this world to the ground were not the same as the one who found himself hiding among its wake. In fact, they likely would have killed him for taking aliens into his service. They conquered and killed to further a goal, to build an empire. Their leader and Kharon's precursor, Tathra Khaeus, commanded armies and destroyed planets. By comparison, Kharon was a drop in the bucket in terms of desolation caused by his species.

Instead, The Dread Admiral and his men found themselves in an old abandoned military outpost on the planet. At this point, it was hard to tell who it belonged to, paint and banners had long since eroded in the harsh, barren surroundings. Though, Kharon knew, he knew exactly where they were. He had brought them here to lay low and wait for the Jedi to finish scanning the system, but there was another reason he had chosen this particular grave world, and more importantly, this particular military outpost. See, it had belonged to the original settlers of this world, some people who were trying to get away from their tyrannical governments, but quickly they were killed and the Draelvasier took over, claiming the foundations as their own.

Under his very feet, Kharon suspected there was a hatchery, a place where Draelvasier had cultivated new generations of their kind, altered genetic templates, and experimented upon the biology of their warbands. If Kharon were correct, and his research was accurate, he could be standing on top of a literal genetic goldmine. Since his 'birth', the pirate lord had yet to come into contact with another sample of his people's DNA. What if there were other of his kind down there? What if his wasn't the only pod left intact? These were questions he had wanted the answers to since he had found the information on the outpost weeks ago. The Jedi just gave him an excuse to spend the time finding it.

"Admiral, there is movement just two clicks south of here. We were unable to assess if the presence is Jedi or not." A voice called from behind the Draelvasier.

"Get my speeder ready, I am going to pay a visit to this interloper." Kharon answered back with a hunger in his voice not usually present. He was curious, Jedi or not, what someone would be doing on a planet like this one. Who would have a morbid curiosity to visit a world untouched by civilization for so long. What were they after?

Within minutes, the roar of speeder motors tore through the otherwise barren landscape. Kharon was stationed at the front, his large speeder carrying his multi-ton weight and still finding room for armaments. Behind him rode two Twi'leks, both of whom had shown themselves to be the most competent of his crew, or at least the most scared of death. If there were a Jedi waiting for them, they would find themselves hard-pressed to stand against the three of them.

The trio made great time across the flat landscape, with no trees or landscaping to get in their way, they moved uninterrupted. The devastation of life from the planet was truly impressive for the scale. Scars were supposed to be things that had healed, these wounds were still bleeding, still festering from the wars decades ago. There were signs of life, yes, but the totality to the desolation would be felt for generations yet to come.

Kharon thought back to the distant impressions buried within him, echoes of wars he had never fought and the feeling of entire worlds breaking beneath the advance of his species. He wouldn't let this intruder, Jedi or not, ruin his discovery for him.

"Do not kill this one. I am curious what brings it to our home." He hissed over the comms. Ahead, Liin would likely hear the roar of war-speeders coming her way, making no attempt to hide their presence.

 

[Liin Terallo]

The silence did not last. At first, it was little more than a distant vibration beneath my boots. So faint that I had questioned whether I had imagined it. I paused in the middle of lowering my scanner toward the cracked earth, listening instead.

There it was again. A low mechanical growl carried across the empty basin, growing steadily louder with every passing second.

I straightened slowly, lifting my eyes toward the horizon. Three specks appeared through the haze, moving quickly over the broken landscape. Speeders. For a brief moment, I thought nothing of it. The Scar Worlds had become home to scavengers, prospectors, pirates, and opportunists. I was hardly the only visitor with reason to be here. It seemed perfectly reasonable that whoever they were simply had business elsewhere. There was an entire world surrounding us, after all.

I stepped a little farther away from the area I intended to sample, more out of courtesy than concern. "They'll pass by," I murmured quietly.

The little biomass creature tilted it's head, following the distant vehicles with noticeably greater interest than I possessed.

I returned my attention to the scanner. Or at least I tried to. The sound continued growing louder, and too quickly. A small crease formed between my eyebrows. That was odd. I looked up again. This time I watched them instead of assuming.

The lead speeder never altered its course. Neither did the two flanking it. Their formation remained perfectly steady. Straight towards me.

My first thought was not whether I could defend myself. It was considerably less dramatic than that. Had I wandered into an active survey site? A salvage claim? An archaeological exclusion zone? Perhaps this basin belonged to someone who simply hadn't expected visitors. There were any number of perfectly reasonable explanations for three strangers to approach a lone scientist on an otherwise deserted world.

I found myself absentmindedly checking that my sample cases were properly closed before lowering the scanner to my side. It was an oddly ordinary thing to do under the circumstances, but habits acquired in laboratories rarely cared whether one stood before a microscope or three approaching speeders. One by one, however, the innocent explanations I'd assembled quietly stopped fitting the evidence. "...Oh. They're coming here."

Behind me, I heard the pilot shift uneasily near the transport's open boarding ramp. A moment later came a muttered curse that the wind almost carried away before he disappeared back inside the ship. I couldn't entirely blame him. Whatever this was, he had apparently decided it lay well outside the scope of a routine charter flight.

The speeders continued closing the remaining distance. The riders gradually resolved through the shimmering heat rising from the fractured ground. The one in the centre immediately drew my attention. He was enormous. Even seated upon the speeder, he possessed the sort of stature that made everyone around him appear diminished by comparison. My first estimate placed him somewhere around nine feet tall. The two Twi'leks accompanying him maintained their positions on either flank with disciplined precision, suggesting that this was no chance meeting between travellers.

The little biomass creature pressed itself a little closer against my neck, giving a distinctly uncertain chirp.

I rested two fingers gently against its back. "Do you think that they're lost?" I asked quietly.

It answered with another chirp that sounded remarkably unconvinced.

A faint smile touched my lips despite the circumstances. "Yes..." I admitted as the speeders finally began slowing before me. "I'm beginning to suspect that you've judged this situation rather better than I have."

Ash curled lazily around the repulsorlifts as the three vehicles came to a stop.

I remained where I was. Not because I was fearless. But simply because I had learned that most conversations began much more successfully if neither person started by running away. So I waited. Hands occupied only by a scanner that had already been lowered harmlessly to my side. Curious to discover why, of all the empty places on this forgotten world, they had come straight towards me.

Tag: Kharon

 

[Kharon]

TAG: Liin Terallo

The speeders cleaved through dust and ash easily, casting them aside in a blanket as the trio of pirates continued. The sound of the speeders carried for miles across the open expanses of the Scar World.

Kharon raised a pair of macrobinoculars to his sulfur-yellow eyes, honing in on the woman's location. She was alone, save for the presence of what appeared to be a pet of some kind. She also didn't appear to have any visible weapons, and she was clothed without armor. Everything about her suggested civilian. Everything about the timing suggested otherwise. He chose to be cautious, relaying the message to the Twi'leks that the plan right now was to watch, and at the first sign of her being a Jedi, they were to attack.

As they got even closer, the speeders showed the first signs of slowing down. The engines were still revving, but they weren't hitting the gas nearly as much. The closer they got, the more Liin would be able to see that the vehicles were more a melange of parts than recognizable speeders. That didn't stop them from being terrifying. Kharon's was a black matte color where the rust hadn't started to take over, flanked on either side by a repeating blaster.

The other two were far more...utilitarian. They were put together by pieces of older speeders taken and fused. Instead of blasters mounted, there were handcrafted spikes and javelins put on the front. The speeders were less armaments and more missles. They were expendable by design. Speed, momentum, and terrified men made effective battering rams.

As the pirates finally stopped, and the engines wined down, Kharon stood to his full height. Volcanic chitin clicked as he did. His crimson body and molten eyes locked onto Liin. The pirates gave her enough room. Not enough to be dangerous, but enough to not feel like her life was about to end.

He looked down at the woman. She was woefully unprepared for battle if that had truly been her purpose. She even seemed underequipped to be in the Scar Worlds at all. He wondered her reasons for traveling here. His mind wandered back toward the abandoned hatchery. Had she come to hunt down the same thing he had? He was so close to discovering more about himself and his species, he wouldn't let her take that from him.

"Why are you here?" The Draelvasier snarled toward the woman. The two Twi'leks had joined Kharon on either side now. No one had pulled any weapons.

Yet.

 

[Liin Terallo]

I found myself relaxing, if only slightly, as the three speeders settled into place. Not because the situation had become safe. But because they had stopped where they had. They had left space. It was a small thing, easily overlooked by someone more accustomed to violence than observation. Yet it mattered. People who intended immediate bloodshed rarely concerned themselves with another person's comfort. These strangers had approached cautiously, formed a loose line rather than a circle, and although every instinct told me that they were dangerous, none of them had yet reached for a weapon. That was enough to convince me that conversation remained possible.

The little biomass creature apparently reached a somewhat different conclusion. It's tiny body puffed outward as unfamiliar biomolecular tissues rippled beneath it's skin. The smooth contours along it's sides gradually hardened into dark, segmented plates while two delicate mandibles emerged around it's mouth, clicking experimentally as it stared toward the towering crimson figure before us.

I blinked. "...You are not helping," I murmured softly.

The creature answered by clicking it's newly acquired mandibles once more. Whether it was attempting to frighten the enormous stranger or simply copying the first unfamiliar anatomy it had encountered, I couldn't honestly say. I suspected the latter.

Resting two fingers gently against it's back, I stepped forward a single pace. Not enough to diminish the distance between us significantly, but merely enough to show that I intended to answer rather than retreat.

"My name is Liin Terallo." My voice remained as calm as it had been moments earlier. "I'm a molecular bioscientist." I paused only briefly, glancing toward the sample case resting beside my boots. "I came because worlds like this are extraordinarily rare." My eyes wandered briefly across the shattered basin surrounding us. "Most scientists study healthy ecosystems." A faint smile touched my lips. "I find myself equally interested in understanding how ecosystems fail."

I lifted the scanner slightly; not as a weapon, but simply to illustrate it's purpose. "I'm collecting soil samples." My gaze returned to the towering figure before me. "I'm researching methods of ecological restoration." I considered my wording for a moment before continuing. "Most people would call it terraforming, although my work differs somewhat from conventional approaches."

I knelt briefly, brushing my fingers across the pale ash before allowing it to fall again through my fingertips. "I don't reshape worlds through massive atmospheric engineering." I looked back up. "I study biomolecules capable of encouraging life to return gradually. Restoring microbial communities. Repairing damaged soil. Helping ecosystems recover from collapse rather than replacing them outright."

A small breeze carried loose ash between us. "When I learned what had happened to the Scar Worlds..." My eyes drifted briefly across the horizon. "...I realized that there may be things here that no healthy planet could ever teach me."

The little biomass creature clicked it's mandibles again, then slowly relaxed as it's borrowed armor shifted subtly beneath it's skin. It remained watchful, however, it's bright eyes never leaving the immense crimson being standing before us.

I smiled apologetically. "He tends to become protective around strangers." My hand gently scratched beneath the creature's chin, earning a quieter chirp. "Fortunately, he's considerably friendlier than his impression suggests."

My attention settled once more upon the towering stranger. "Now I suspect," I said thoughtfully, "that my answer probably wasn't what you were expecting." I tilted my head ever so slightly. "So may I ask the same question?" My eyes briefly swept across the three battered speeders before returning to him. "What brings you here?"

Tag: Kharon

 

[Kharon]

TAG: Liin Terallo

The ash packed tightly under the Draelvasier's weight. Each step creating a defined print in the world below, marking his footprints in the wake of his ancestor's victory. Though the prints would be blown away in the wind, just as his ancestor's had.

The two Twi'leks who flanked Kharon carried blasters at their sides, though they did not aim them yet. Even they seemed confused by the lack of violence carried out by their leader. Normally, they would have killed the woman and taken the creature as a new pet for the Dread Admiral. They knew better than to ask questions however. Everyone knew that his graces only went so far, and eventually someone would die.

Instead of attacking, however, Kharon listened. He considered the luck of his situation, and really hoped he wasn't falling for an elaborate trap set by the Jedi. "You are lucky, small one." The Draelvasier growled. A large red hand raised in the air and snapped his fingers, making the two Twi'lek warriors move to either side of Kharon.

"You interest me, so your life is not forefit." The Twi'lek moved closer to the woman and her creature.

"Yet." The Twi'lek raised their rifles toward the two of them, not firing, nor making a move toward her. Perhaps she would come willingly.

"I have use of your knowledge and therefore your life."

 

[Liin Terallo]

For a moment, I genuinely thought that he was speaking to the creature. I glanced down at my little companion, whose borrowed chitinous armor had begun to ripple uncertainly beneath my fingers. "Small one?" I murmured.

Then Kharon continued. My expression changed. Not dramatically, for I had spent enough time around dangerous people to know better than to make sudden movements when weapons were nearby. But the meaning of his words settled into place with uncomfortable clarity. You interest me. Your knowledge. Your life. So I was the one that he had been referring to.

And then the Twi'leks raised their rifles. My little companion immediately reacted. It's body compressed and darkened, defensive structures beginning to form along it's back. I gently pressed my hand against it before it could do anything more. "No." The word to him was spoken quiet, but firm.

I took half a step backward, then stopped myself. My hands rose slowly to about shoulder height, palms open and clearly visible, once I had placed the scanner within my satchel.

"I don't intend to cause any trouble." My eyes remained fixed upon Kharon rather than the rifles. Watching the weapons would accomplish nothing. The person giving the orders was the one I needed to convince. "I'll cooperate. Provided that he is allowed to accompany me." I glanced down toward the little creature. He had gone very still beneath my hand. His defensive transformation remained incomplete, leaving him somewhere between his harmless appearance and something considerably more threatening. "He isn't dangerous unless he believes that I'm in danger." I looked back toward Kharon. "And if you intend to make use of my knowledge, I would strongly recommend allowing him to remain with me."

My hands remained raised. "He's not simply a specimen." There was a quiet firmness in my statement. "He's my companion." He was also my bodyguard-of-sorts.

I didn't know what Kharon intended to do with me. I didn't know where they wanted to take me, or why my knowledge interested them, or whether cooperation would actually preserve my life beyond the next few minutes. But I knew one thing. I wasn't going to abandon the one creature that had followed me across half the Galaxy simply because three armed strangers had decided they wanted me.

My gaze returned to the towering Draelvasier. "You've made your position clear." My voice remained remarkably calm despite the rifles pointed in my direction. "So allow me to make mine." I slowly lowered one hand, just enough to rest it against the creature's back. "If you want my cooperation, you have it. But he comes with me."

Tag: Kharon

 

[Kharon]

TAG: Liin Terallo

The boldness of the little creature was refreshing, truly. It moved its body in a way unlike any of the other things Kharon had come across on his conquests. There was a curiosity in the Draelvasier's next thoughts, a wonder over what it exactly was. The culture of pirates and raiders, especially inherently xenophobic ones like Draelvasier, didn't leave a lot of room for whimsy.

Kharon watched as Liin put away her scanner and complied with instructions willingly, something the pirate hadn't encountered much. Anyone who traveled the Scar Worlds knew the dangers, and rarely went down without a fight. It was one of his first hostage situations, and he wasn't really sure how to proceed. Then the small woman, mustering the might of a rancor to speak her demands, asked for safe passage for her creature.

A sound came from Kharon. Most would consider it a low growl, but to the Dread Admiral, it was closer to laughter. The Twi'leks behind him exchanged confused looks, their lekku communicating a concern for what would happen next if Liin knew how to understand them.

She was negotiating!

"Bravery." A massive crimson arm raised from his side, clawed palm extended.

"Luck." The other hand raised in the same fashion.

Kharon stood solid, weighing one against the other as though the distinction genuinely required consideration. The crimson armor covering his body caught what little light filtered through, giving him the appearance of a statue of some ancient warring god who held his arms open for his children.

It was nothing so divine.

Kharon smacked his two hands together, clapping loudly enough to break the eerie silence. Then something moved deep within his throat. The whistle bone unique to his species sounded what could only be described as a warhorn from the Nether, the noise shaking from somewhere within his body's core and echoing across the wastes as another bout of laughter erupted from his gut.

It had truly been a while since someone entertained him so deeply. The creature meant nothing to him. It could live, die, or get eaten by the dogs the moment they boarded for all Kharon cared. Liin was different. Her knowledge had value, and dragging an unwilling geneticist through the ruins beneath the outpost would accomplish considerably less than having one who actually cooperated.

If keeping her strange little pet bought that cooperation, then so be it. "You may bring him along, but you must fight off the dogs yourself."

His lips curled into a gnarled smile, the mandibles along his jaws flexing. His predatory glare shifted toward the creature that had been posturing at the Draelvasier moments before. Rows of sharp teeth showed as he leaned slightly closer, finally getting a proper look at it.

"They will think he is lunch."

The Twi'leks flanking Kharon never completely lowered their weapons, but once they understood that their Admiral was toying with the pair, their demeanor shifted. The rifles were no longer trained directly upon them, though either pirate could raise one at a moment's notice.

Finally, Kharon turned his attention toward Liin one final time, the same hateful expression seemingly carved across his face. "Do not expect another kindness from me."

The Dread Admiral turned and made his way back toward his speeder. The Twi'leks knew to load the pair onto the back. There would be enough room for Liin to sit comfortably without needing to hold onto her captor, but she would need to keep a tight grip on her creature.

Soon enough, the speeders would tear back across the wasteland toward the outpost, and whatever Draelvasier biotechnology still waited beneath it.

 

[Liin Terallo]

For just a moment, I wasn't entirely certain of what to make of his laughter. I had apparently amused him. That was probably better than the alternative.

I allowed myself a small, cautious smile as I lowered my hands. The tension in my shoulders didn't disappear, however. The two Twi'leks exchanged a glance behind him, and although I couldn't understand what passed between them, I didn't need to. There was a particular sort of look people gave one another when they were waiting to see whether someone with a temper was about to lose it. I had seen it before.

But more importantly, Kharon had agreed to my request. I glanced down at my companion as I gently guided him beneath my coat. He seemed considerably less interested in the conversation now that he was being tucked somewhere out of sight. I secured my satchel against my side and gave the straps a quick check before following Kharon toward the speeder.

His warning about the dogs lingered unpleasantly in my thoughts. I had no weapon. I had never actually fought anyone in my life. And whatever these dogs were, I suspected that they weren't the sort of animals one distracted with a piece of food and a stern lecture. But there was no sense in pointing any of that out.

I climbed into the back of the speeder as instructed, settling myself carefully and keeping one hand beneath my coat so my companion could remain close. Before the vehicle moved, I looked back across the wasteland toward the transport that had brought me here. The pilot was still there. At least, I hoped he was; and that he was watching this all unfold. I held his vessel in my gaze for another few seconds, committing it's position to memory. If he had any sense at all, he'd understand that my disappearance wasn't entirely voluntary. Perhaps he'd even have the good sense to follow from a distance so that my location would be known. It was a thin hope, yes, bit it was far better than having none.

I finally turned my attention forward as the speeder began to move, one hand remaining protectively against the small creature beneath my coat. I had negotiated safe passage for him. But now I only had to hope that I hadn't negotiated myself into something considerably worse.

Tag: Kharon

 

[Kharon]

TAG: Liin Terallo

It wasn't long until the ashen world beneath them began to blur as Kharon's speeder took off. The engine was loud and in the way, much louder than an average speeder. It was clearly upgraded on the black market, and the weapons lining it from top to bottom weren't stock either. Liin would be quick to tell that nothing about it was up to any sort of code or warranty standards. It was, however, rocket-fast. The Draelvasier and his 'guests' were making record time across the vast expanses of destruction that painted the world they found themselves on.

Holes in the earth, dead flora that never got a chance to regrow, preserved forever in the ash, and dried waterbeds were the only thing that passed for markers in the hellscape. Kharon couldn't help but feel the echo of his people in the air they breathed. He was curious how many other places like this existed in the galaxy. If the woman were able to help him with this laboratory, the Dread Admiral considered the possibility of raising his own army of his people, and leading another charge through the galaxy. Leaving a footprint of his own one day.

The Twi'leks were close behind their leader, their speeders not quite as souped up as Kharon's. There was no need for them to remain too close, seeing as there likely wasn't another living soul on this hemisphere of the planet. Still, with the Jedi and who knew who else on his tail, he never wanted to stray too far from their cover. He couldn't resist his urge to scare Liin, so when they hit a particularly open expanse of land, devoid of even a footprint of the past, Kharon revved the engine and really took off. The speeder tore through the open land like a knife, cutting through the dry open air at high speeds. The dust cloud produced by it choked the Twi'leks as they tried to catch up.

He wasn't a bad driver, and he didn't do anything to purposefully knock Liin off, but he wanted to show her if she was going to survive in his custody, she would have to pay attention. Their speed eventually leveled out, helped along by the faint knocking that started in the engine whenever Kharon pushed it too hard. The Draelvasier wasn't expecting a hostage, so he hadn't worked on the speeder in a while and it was in need of some repairs.

Soon enough, the group started coming upon the buildings sitting atop the supposed research and breeding lab. The horizon began to give way to small boxes, covered in the same ash that made up most of the world, but they broke the flat landscape that had been the norm for the last ten minutes.

As they drew closer, however, something beneath the ruins began to separate itself from the remnants of the original settlement. Between two collapsed buildings, the earth had been torn open, exposing something that didn't belong with the duracrete and rusted metal surrounding it.

Blackened chitin pushed through the ash like the exposed bones of some enormous buried creature. Thick plates overlapped one another around an opening in the earth, descending into darkness beneath the settlement. Some had cracked with age, while others remained remarkably intact despite everything the world had suffered.

Kharon slowed the speeder as they passed it.

That was what he had found.

Whatever the settlers had built on the surface was only the grave marker. The real prize was underneath.

 

[Liin Terallo]

The journey was considerably less comfortable than I had anticipated. The speeder was loud enough that conversation seemed almost pointless, and it's modifications were obvious even without my having to inspect them closely. The engine produced a vibration that I could feel through the seat, and every so often I caught myself looking at some exposed component and wondering how it had not already shaken itself apart.

I tried, nonetheless, to keep track of our route. The landscape offered surprisingly few landmarks, but I watched the dead riverbeds, the collapsed structures, the larger holes in the ground. Anything that might help me reconstruct our path later was worth remembering.

The wind made that considerably more difficult. It tore at my hair until I was certain that by the time we stopped I would look like I had been dragged through the atmosphere behind the speeder rather than riding inside it. I briefly wondered whether I should attempt to fix it, then decided that there was very little point. There was nowhere to look presentable for, and I suspected that my captors were unlikely to be particularly concerned with my appearance.

Then Kharon accelerated. I had just enough time to realize what he was doing before the world seemed to lurch backward. I quickly grabbed onto him. There was no thought behind it. One moment I was sitting upright, and the next I had both hands firmly on him simply because I had rather strong objections to being thrown into the wasteland at whatever speed we were currently traveling.

I held on until the speeder finally began to slow. Only then did I seem to remember that I was, in fact, holding onto the person who had kidnapped me. I released him rather quickly and settled back into my seat, smoothing my coat with what dignity I could salvage. I decided not to comment on it.

The landscape eventually began to change. Ruins appeared on the horizon, half-buried beneath ash and erosion. I watched them emerge from the wasteland with growing interest. Whatever this place had once been, it had suffered catastrophically. There was almost nothing left to suggest that people had once lived here.

And then I saw it. I leaned forward slightly and brushed the hair away from my eyes. Between the collapsed buildings, something black protruded from the earth. At first I thought it was simply debris, but as we drew closer, the shape became clearer. Chitin. My eyes widened. I stared at the enormous plates emerging from the ground, their surfaces cracked in places but otherwise remarkably intact. The material overlapped in a manner that was distinctly biological, yet the scale of it was difficult to comprehend.

I had completely forgotten about my hair. I had completely forgotten about the pirates. For several seconds, I just simply stared. Whatever had been built here, the ruins on the surface were not the most important part. Something else had been buried beneath them. And judging by the structure protruding from the earth, something had built the thing that was now waiting for us below.

Tag: Kharon

 

[Kharon]

TAG: Liin Terallo

Kharon felt the woman's hands grab onto him the moment the speeder lurched forward. Another rumbling sound escaped from somewhere deep in the Draelvasier's chest. He didn't need to look back to know what had happened. The little scientist had spent the last several minutes negotiating with him as if she had any control over her situation, only to abandon that dignity the moment Kharon opened up the throttle.

He said nothing when she finally released him. The knocking coming from somewhere beneath the speeder was enough to wipe the amusement from his face. Kharon grumbled something under his breath and struck the side of the machine with one massive fist. Whatever problem existed within seemed to correct itself, or at least became quiet enough that he could ignore it.

Finally, the ruins grew larger ahead of them. Kharon had spent weeks staring at the same collection of dead buildings. There was little of value left above ground. His crew had already torn through most of it, taking anything that could be sold, eaten, burned, or repurposed aboard the Wicked Providence. What remained belonged to people who had been dead longer than Kharon had been alive- what waited beneath them was different.

He felt Liin shift behind him.

Kharon's sulfur-yellow eyes moved toward her as the speeder slowed. She wasn't looking at the buildings. She wasn't looking at the pirates coming out to meet them, or even the Twi'leks pulling alongside their leader. She was staring at the chitin.

The Dread Admiral followed her gaze toward the massive black plates breaking through the earth. His people had built beneath the bones of whatever civilization had existed here before them. Even after everything that had happened to this world, their work remained, and the woman had noticed it immediately.

Interesting.

The speeder finally came to a stop. Kharon stepped off without waiting for Liin, the ash compressed beneath his weight as he rose to his full height. Around them, members of his crew moved between the ruins, hauling equipment and scavenged supplies through what remained of the settlement. Cables ran across the ground toward the excavation, feeding power into lights that disappeared beneath the earth.

A low growl sounded somewhere among the buildings.

Then another answered it.

Kharon glanced toward the creature hidden beneath Liin's coat before looking back at her. "I warned you."

There was almost something resembling amusement behind the words. Kharon began toward the exposed chitin, expecting the woman to follow. He stopped after several steps when he realized her attention had never really left it, for once, he didn't rush her.

The Draelvasier turned toward Liin. His eyes narrowed as he studied the expression on her face. It looked like she had recognized something before he had told her anything. Perhaps dragging her across the wasteland had not been a waste of his time after all.

"What do you see?"

 

[Liin Terallo]

I tensed slightly when Kharon struck the speeder. The sound of his fist against the machine made me instinctively remember just how much larger he was than me, and how little I would withstand a similar blow.

My attention then immediately went beneath my coat. My companion was already changing. I could feel his body shifting against me, the familiar tissues reshaping themselves into something more heavily armored. I placed one hand over him, quietly encouraging him to remain where he was. "Not yet," I whispered. He was brave. Sometimes considerably braver than was sensible. And right now he was the only hope that I could hold onto.

I climbed out of the speeder and followed Kharon, though I did so slowly. Instead of taking notice of anyone else, my attention remained fixed upon the enormous black plates emerging from the ground. I needed to pretend that no one else existed in order to focus properly. Kharon had yet to tell me exactly what he needed me for, other than for entertainment. But perhaps it was to solve a mystery that they could not.

"What do I see?" I stopped near the edge of the excavation, careful not to step onto the exposed chitin. I crouched slightly, studying the overlapping plates and the places where they disappeared beneath the ash. "Something enormous." I reached toward the nearest section, stopping just short of touching it. "The structure is biological. Or at least it appears to be. The layering suggests an organized growth pattern rather than random architectural remains." My eyes followed the plates downward into the opening. "But I can't tell yet whether this is the exterior of something buried here or part of the structure itself."

I looked toward the darkness below. "How far down does it go?" There was a genuine curiosity in my voice now. "And what exactly did you find beneath it?" The cables suggested that they were powering something down there. Was it just lights or something more?

Tag: Kharon