Forging The Stars [Slade Zambrano]

[Judas of Vahl]

Forging The Stars​

Grimhold, Panatha​

[member="Slade Zambrano"]​

​

​

Sometimes it was just nice to sit back, relax, and plunge a blade into a beast's skull. So that's just what Mordecai was doing here today. He was finally back home on Panatha and his little personal alchemy forge known as Grimhold was littered with flames, hate, and creatures of his own creation. A handful of Yuuzhan Vong in their signature crab armor stood by idly, ready to assist their lord with whatever he so desired. Mordecai didn't think he needed any help at all, but that wasn't something to be said of the Terentatek that he was sitting atop of.

An Amulet of Control was hung around his neck, which helped him keep the beastie fairly calm while he wiped off the blade with his tunic. The thing had long since been waken up since its delivery from the Beast Hunters' Guild and was now chained to the ground with a Sith Lord sitting on its neck. That same man hummed a tune while he shined his tools of destruction. A few moments passed and his various pliers, blades, and scalpels. Mordecai was building himself a shiny new set of clothing for the Spring line. Hell, it might even make it to the Sith Lord calendar.

Boy was it his dream to be Mister September.

All joking aside, his real armor frame lay nearby. Most of it had already been altered due to his previous long hours spent in this heated forge. All it awaited now was the new little alloy he was making with the help from his friend here. Leaking blood and using bone marrow and scales was a surefire way to get the results he wanted. All he needed was an extra pair of hands and they weren't the unprecise ones of a Yuuzhan Vong, oh no. They were the ones of someone who knew him by blood - which was literally the only reason he was to be here today.

The young man hadn't shown up just yet but Mordecai expected him to do so very shortly.

 

[Slade Zambrano]

The little lord Slade Zambrano, bastard of Kaine Zambrano was looking forward to spending some time with his Uncle Mordy. Really he was, he had grown to hate his father as of late. He was always out mounting whores or destroying the republic and rarely had time to see him. And the moments he was home he spent it with his whore wife. It was a cycle of neglect and loneliness that got to slade and he would be sure to return the favor to his father one day. But all of that aside the Zambrano son had missed his uncle and looked forward to this experience

An expensive speeder pulled up to the workshop, sleek and jet black it hummed to a stop and parked itself in front. The back door popped open and out came Slade Zambrano. The sixteen year old boy walked his way past the Yuuzhan Vong and into the workshop not stopping to look at the hideous alien scum. "Filth." He said under his breath. He wore a black polo shirt with jeans and a rather expensive set of shoes. Normally he'd be wearing a suit but this wasn't the appropriate wear for the time.

Walking through the front door his gaze fell upon his uncle and his eyes light up like fireworks. "UNCLE!" He yelled running forward to greet his family. It had been years since he had seen the man and it certainly was brightening up his day. Coming to a few feet away from him he smiled brightly and for the first time in ages he felt like a boy with a family.

[member="Mordecai Zambrano"]

 

[Judas of Vahl]

Of course Mordecai knew all of Kaine's offspring had daddy issues. That's why most of them came to him rather than his elder brother if they ever needed anything. Had someone else come to him for help or asked for assistance, advice, or mentorship, he would've turned them down with blade's edge. He only helped these people because they were family and were the only real things he had in the galaxy so far. This power he'd secured for himself was not permanent and he knew that, but that never stopped him from attempting to make it so.

Running footsteps and a shout marked Slade's arrival and made Mordecai look up from his beginning work on the Terentatek. He'd made several large and small incisions into the outer hide, mainly to test the waters and see how strong it really was before trying anything serious. It'd be a waste to end up breaking several of his prized instruments before he had barely starred with his work. Oh right, the boy. Mordecai's emerald gaze looked the finely dressed young man from top to bottom and vice versa. He looked more ready to debate economics or help his mother bag groceries rather than kill a legendary beast and learn something gritty.

"Slade," he said, lifting his alchemized blade, "How've you been?"

A literal second passed after his simple greeting was uttered before he brought down the blade into the Terentatek's neck. The third of a meter piece of metal tore all the way down to the bone of this measly thing. Although the hide of it was resistant to lightsabers, he'd been chipping away manually at this spot for several minutes. The Sithspawn gave a shriek that would put fangirls to shame and its body arched, as if it was throwing up. The chains that kept it mostly grounded strained against the strength of the beast as Mordecai twisted the blade inside of its neck, dark crimson blood pooling as it began to dribble about.

[member="Slade Zambrano"]

 

[Slade Zambrano]

[member="Mordecai Zambrano"]

Slade smiled at his uncle and chuckled softly at him, he had been hard at work creating something by the looks of things. He noticed his work upon the table and then the beast chained to the floor. He had never seen one of those beasts before and to be honest he was happy until this point that he had not. They smelt awful and looked simply disgusting. "Uncle what is it you need me fo-" slade was quickly cut off by a splatter of blood that hit his face when Mordecai slew the beast.

Taking a step back slade coughed and gagged "It's in my mouth! Oh gods it's in my mouth!" The little lord spat and spewed crimson blood from his mouth obviously disgusted by the taste of the beasts blood. "It's in my mouth!" He said once more turning around to spit a bit more of the foul liquid out. Taking a few seconds to clean himself he looked back up at the dead creature and began to kick at it's corpse furiously. "Bloody beast!" He spoke a few more curses in his native language. He soon relaxed and looked back up at his uncle, his own face bright red in anger.

"I'm ok Uncle. I'm glad to see you are well by the way you slew that beast." He approached his uncle and gave him a quick hug before releasing. "So what is it you need me to do uncle?" Slade took out a silk napkin from his pocket and began to wipe the blood from his face. He was quite interested to see what he had going on here.

 

[Judas of Vahl]

The Sith Lord was almost covered in blood by the time the Sithspawn had stopped squirming and shrieking. His hands and arms were by far the worst recipients of a scarlet liquid bath. Blood felt good, smelt good, and tasted good. Mordecai knew well the taste of defeat and being punched in the face in his formative years found out that losing never meant a complete loss. It taught him to realize that he had weaknesses and would never progress without utterly destroying them. This boy had more than his share and maybe, just maybe, good 'ol uncle Mordy would be able to help him do the same with them.

"It's just blood, boy." The Sith Lord grunted, almost shoving aside the teenager as he gave him a hug. Had he not borne the name Zambrano, what Slade had done would've been the equivalent of high-fiving a sarlacc pit. The master alchemist dismounted the corpse and scratched his beard as he scoured it for weak spots. "C'mere," he pointed at a portion of rough flesh between a shoulder plate, "I want you to cut this entire portion of his shoulder off." The blood slicked blade would twirl in his fingers before he handed it to the boy, planting a bloody hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry about getting dirty. It's all about the journey, not the destination."

Once Slade would begin his little assignment, Mordecai himself would take off to the other side of the beast. Most of the blood had already been drained from it and was now collecting in artfully crafted etchings in the floor. It would remain there until the alchemist would alter the forge's floor itself, tilting the ground to siphon all of the liquid into a single vat before it was distributed throughout his armor. With his own blade in hand, he targeted the fleshy openings of the Sithspawn's hull and got to work.

[member="Slade Zambrano"]

 

[Slade Zambrano]

[member="Mordecai Zambrano"]

Slade felt a bit of rage boil inside of him, to be simply cast aside like his father had done to him. It made him angry, it made him feel unwanted. But most of all it made him want to end his uncle as well now. However Uncle Mordecai was nowhere near as bad as his father and perhaps a simple showing of affection was not his cup of tea, he was a Sith Lord after all. And Sith Lords weren't really known for expressing their feelings. Slade was still a young boy, he had not been broken by the darkside yet, nor had he been consumed by his hatred for his family. Just by giving that hug there was a hint of light left in his twisted soul, his path was not yet chosen. As his uncle had just said, it was about the journey not the destination.

"Of course Uncle." Slade walked over to the work table and picked up an alchemized knife that had a sick curve to it. "What brings you home uncle?" He asked Mordecai whilst walking back to the large beast. Truthfully Slade did not mind the sight of blood or violence, he didn't care for it either. He preferred more subtle ways of killing his opponents and rivals. The whole cats paw method. Taking the blade Slade began to work the thick hide of the beast slicing into it's shoulder with great care and precision. His teachers had shown him the correct way to wield a knife and it was evident right now that the little lord knew what he was doing by the grace of his movements.

He sliced into the beast at and angle carefully gliding the sharp knife through flesh and bone. The supernaturally sharp blade cut deep into the shoulder of the beast sending pools of hot blood up into the fresh postmortem wound. "They say these beasts have the ability to resist the force entirely. Though in my research I find that the skin of the Sugati is much more resistant to lightsabers than that of this monstrosity." Making small talk slade finished slicing through the last bone and muscle, and with the sick slick sound of flesh peeling the shoulder popped off and fell to the ground. Looking back slade looked two to Yuuzhan Vong workers and barked out orders. "You two! Carry this!" The worker caste bowed their heads and picked up the fleshy shoulder. "Would you like me to skin it uncle?" He said with a blood stained face and smile

 

[Judas of Vahl]

Mordecai actually liked Slade a whole lot more than the rest of his family. Most of them were cunning, ruthless little fiends of Kaine's and wanted nothing more than to destroy anything he stood for. Slade, on the other hand, had actual emotions and possessed enough innocence to actually seem like his age. He was a simple yet strong young man and the Dragon Lord knew what would become of him in the future. When it came to darkness, it was hard to peer into the future for just a fraction of a second, but victory was the spark in that torrential downpour of nothingness that stood out to Mordecai.

As for the Sith Lord on his far end of the corpse, he dutifully worked away at the dead beast with his blades of eternity. This little piece of metal gripped tightly within his grasp would never dull and judging by the way it sawed through bone and sinew, he was glad that was an attribute. The revolting smell of charred, dying flesh assaulted his nose and he forced himself to not even move a muscle as he continued his grisly handiwork.

The boy's question from across the room would not go unanswered.

"I had some things to take care of." That would be his usual, mysterious, and untrusting reply. "Power doesn't last forever unless you learn how to safeguard it." That's right. This suit of armor he was building would more than increase his chances of survival.

"Perhaps I can show you how to do the same."

[member="Slade Zambrano"]

 

[Slade Zambrano]

[member="Mordecai Zambrano"]

Nodding his head he agreed with his uncle then did so vocally. "Yes Uncle Mordecai. Power is to be safeguarded." Then a thought came to the boys mind, if one does safeguard that power what he does with it was what defined that person. "It's what we choose to do with us is what makes us who we are and how long we can hold on to it." Slade spoke some more letting his innocent mind speak it's thoughts. "I think that power corrupts much like the darkside of the force. Like poison Uncle it seeps into our thoughts and minds until it twists us into something we are not." Slade went to the large chunk of bloody meat the two Yuuzhan Vong held and he would begin to go to work on it while continuing to have somewhat of a conversation with his soft spoken uncle. "Look at the Jedi, now and then. The Jedi sat back and ordered the fire bombing of Gratos because the Graug threatened their power. They burned men women and children in their homes in the name of justice. And not a single one lifted a finger to stop them despite their claim upon the light."

Slade took the curved knife and began to slice the skin from the haunch of meat. Barely pushing bellow the skin Slade coughed a bit at the foul smell of the beast releasing it's bowls in death. The smell of bile mixed with blood and it was wholesomely gross. "Look at the Jedi of old. They were so caught up in their power as generals in the republic they could not see the sith rise up to destroy them from within." Slade began to leak a slick piece of skin off the body of meat gently. He wanted to make his uncle proud of him. He desperately yearned for that fatherly approval and love that he never had received from his Sith Lord of father. "think about it uncle, with power comes a great many challenges." He then continued to carve the skin from the meat carefully and slowly until the entire piece of skin was removed from the large chunk of flesh.


But he thought about his uncles offer for showing him a thing or two. He wanted desperately to spend time with anyone who could be a father to him, and so he accepted even if he really didn't want power. "Yes uncle I would enjoy it." He said with that same blood stained face

 

[Judas of Vahl]

The blade sliced through the bone and tendons like it was nothing. As he was nearly twice Slade's size and had been doing this kind of handiwork for decades now, he needed neither extra manpower or time to finish his side of the Terentatek. Both his tunic and arms up to his elbows were completely drenched in small traces of fresh blood and an over-exuding stench of dried scarlet. Mordecai couldn't count how many times he'd bathed in such decadent fluids. Every time it happened a new foe never failed to cleanse his sins away with their blood.

He lifted his massive work with a grunt, heaving the bloodied meat and bone over his shoulder. "Little Lord," he moved towards the steaming cauldron, "If you cannot hold onto something, you cannot hold on to anything. I have known that ever since my birth. Your father slayed our parents and I merely whisked myself away to a military academy. I understood that going there would teach me things that I would need. Kaine went elsewhere." Mordecai slung the quickly-dried material into the pot. It sizzled, bubbled, and literally melted away the flesh into a liquid of a bronze color. As for the bone, it was refined and took upon the hue of snow or a cloud. Pure white and without any blemishes or abnormalities.

"I no longer feel many emotions, son." The Sith Lord waited a few moments before pulling out a longer blade, jabbing at the bone to soften it. "You show much more promise than the rest of those young souls. Your only weakness is feeling. You are too innocent, too naive."

He had only spoken such words because he was family. Family and power were the only things that meant anything to Mordecai anymore. Anything else would either submit to his will or burn.

The sparking snaps of the boiling water took his attention away from Slade's words. Tongs appeared in his hands from the nearby rack and he withdrew the Terentatek bone and leathered hide. Much of the hide itself had dissolved into the water, but nothing was to be wasted. It wasn't a hard process and there was another cauldron near Slade for him to finish his side and complete the process.

"If you're finished, go ahead and refine the hide." Mordecai said as he dropped the hide near the suit of armor. Numerous hollow spots were in the beskar itself and other plates of the armor weren't set in place yet. It was his intention to literally bind the two materials together into something new completely.

Maybe even Slade would want a set of such armor someday.

@[member="Slade Zambrano"]

 

[Slade Zambrano]

[member="Mordecai Zambrano"]

Slade listened to his uncle with a pit of happiness in his chest, his uncle told him that he had great potential and it was something that he had never heard in his life. Not from his father, or his trainers, not a single soul. It made him wasn't to listen more and do more for his Uncle just to get that acceptance he wanted so badly. He nodded his head in agreement to his uncle and thought about the grandparents he would never meet due to his father. But they were dead and of little importance to anyone now. He then received his next batch of orders and his eyes light up in a way of happiness and joy. Something he did not feel ever, those kinds of feelings weren't really tolerated in the castle and he didnt want people to think he was weak. No that would be step one for his siblings or father to dispose of him like his dear sister Elani

"Yes Uncle, right away." Slade ordered the two Yuuzhan Vong to drop the meat and hang up the skin stretching it out on all four corners. "I am aware of why father keeps me so distant. He thinks me weak because I have emotions, because I have thoughts that don't involve murder or gaining power!" A bit of rage flicked through slade and took a few towels to begin aggressively soaking the blood from the hide. "He thinks that I am just some boy to dispose of! That I did not care for him until he cast me aside to go swindle another drunken queen!!" Power surged through slade as he began to pay down the blood. All around him small tools and blades began to levitate from the ground and spin around him in a small vortex of the force. "I am not his dog!! I am not ak hound nor am I his son!!" The tools spun around slade as he didn't seem to notice what was happening the thought and hate of his father growing in his mind was too strong.

Taking the knife in his hands he began to run it across the hide removing small hairs and particles from the skin. The tools kept floating and kept talking. "Fuck father! All he does is go out and kill and leave me behind! What about me?! What about his son!? I just want a father! I just want someone to be there for me!!" The tools blew outward in every direction as slade finished cleaning the hide. He dropped to one knee and a single tear slid down his face and dripped into a pool of blood that stained his pants and shoes. "I don't want power, I just want my dad..." He said under his breath another tear falling to the pool to show his own saddened face in the reflection

 

[Judas of Vahl]

[member="Slade Zambrano"]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fl1Dubqke28​

​

The solid-stature Sith Lord paused from his own work to watch the boy learn and grow. Mordecai was really never one to hate anyone - not even his brother. It was always too stressful and too much work for little gain. The galaxy itself was the harshest and most cruel thing that he had ever experienced. There was no battlefield quite like life and the challenges and foes were eternally endless. It was simply your job to pick up your rifle, grab your buddy by your side, and charge that machine gun nest with all your might.

Once the rage began to build up within the boy, Mordecai knew it was time. There was too much he had been through and little Slade was going through exactly what Mordecai had been through in his formative years. He had neither a father nor a mother to love and cherish him. Kaine did, though, and he even hated them for loving him.

"Listen, son," Mordecai breathed, moving closer to the boy, "We are all alone and the only things out there are family and foes. Nothing in between, nothing less than that." His rough, calloused hand came down to clamp on his shoulder. "I will not baby you, I will treat you like a man because that's what you are now. No more mothers, nothing."

Both of them were slicked with blood by now. Slade was standing in a pool of it and his arms were greased with crimson and his uncle looked as if he had showered in the stuff. "I will help you, son. You're family, I look out for family. Now I don't want you runnin' off to kill your pop because old uncle Mordy said he was a bad guy. No, that'll get you wiped off the face of existence faster than you can say 'Epicanthix.' Instead, grow and become a good person."

The Sith Lord removed his hand from the boy's shoulder. "I'm only a Sith by title. I follow no causes but my own. Hatred and corruption are only tenets of the foolish. Be above that, Slade Zambrano." He stressed his surname. "You're one of us now."

 

[Slade Zambrano]

Slade weakly grabbed onto his uncle's pant leg and clutched it weakly. Hot tears ran down his face and he closed his eyes to let out a choking sob. "It's just so hard." He said to his uncle while trying to keep himself from crying further. He let out another choking sob and he spoke again. "When anyone hears the name Zambrano, they think I'm a monster. They think I'm like my father, that I want to destroy. They think I wish to cause genocide and fire bomb worlds." Slade looked at himself in the pool of blood to see his own reflection, he was a Zambrano. Even if he didn't want to be it, that was what he was.

He wanted to know how to overcome his name, how to be better than what his monster of a father was. What he looked down upon was the face of a child, the face of someone whose path was not written yet. "How do I become a good person? How can my soul be saved while my father slaughters? I am my product of evil, how can that rise up to overcome the stories that follow our name." Slade let a few more tears fall and as he gathered himself once more he stood up and gave his uncle a quick hug.

He sniffled and looked back at the hide and armor he was crafting. There was still work to do, he came here to help his uncle not weep like a child. And to him that was a first good step to becoming a good person, help your family and finish what you started. He let go of his uncle nodded silently before speaking. "Let's finish this. I think it will help." Slade moved over to the hide and began to rub a treating ointment on the skin to protect it from damage. He wanted, no needed to do this. He needed to help his family like his family had helped him [member="Mordecai Zambrano"]

 

[Judas of Vahl]

Little Slade was no older than Mordecai was when he had been through all of his teenage turmoil. After the death of his parents, he allowed himself no time to weep or mourn the loss of his emotions or parents. The man sighed as the boy dropped to his knees and clutched to his leg like a newborn hatchling. Before he had a chance to wretch the teenager from his extremity, he released his grip and quickly rose to his feet.

"Listen, boy, yo-" His words of wisdom were quickly silenced by a - luckily - quick hug. With a frown, he continued, "Don't do that anymore. I've told you, sucking up to me isn't going to earn you anything and neither is crying about it. Tears never saved anybody."

Once he got to blabbering about becoming a better person, that was when Mordecai cut in to silence him. "I cannot help you become a better person. I can only make you strong and break you of everything you ever knew. I will make you cry, I will make you suffer, but I will never be able to give you that one thing. My only piece of advice is to never become like your father."

Scratching his beard, the man tore away from the young boy as he moved to finish his work. "Finish up, I'll be waiting."

[member="Slade Zambrano"]