Private Welcome to The Future

[Nathan Bloodscrawl]

Wearing: Civilian clothes (Interceptor Gear hidden)

Armed With: Old Mercenary Set

Mercenary Slugthrower (4 Clips)

Arrived to Epica in: Consular Class Cruiser

The damn ship had finally given out on him and he was adrift in space, the engines having completely failed and with no way to fix them, he had drifted, running low on power, eventually starting to go hungry when the freighter found him and towed him in.

They were a friendly bunch, whoever they were. Small blessings.

He had been brought aboard, given food and water. His gear had been concealed in a reflec shielded portion of the deck plating of his ship. He could pretend he was a refugee.

Nathan lay on an examination bed, the Medical Droids scanning him. His expression was grim and unsmiling, more so in his half starved, dehydrated state. The lights around him were white like the rest of the room. After a while of injecting treatments and nutrients into him, The droid left to get him some food.

Wasn't long before he was questioned by one of the locals. Looked like a reservist, the sort you'd expect from a local Militia. He was older looking than Nathan, with a rougher face

"You're very lucky we found you... another day and you'd have likely slipped into unconsciousness." The rough looking man said. "Names Drex Starway, part of the local administration."

"My thanks for your assistance, Mister Starway." Nathan said calmly, expression unchanging, which only served to creep his host out.

"Well, uh...you mind, telling us how you ended up all the way out here?"

"I'm a refugee. Fleeing the Maw."

"Where you hail from?"

Nathan repeated a few strung together facts he had picked up in his travels. Mentioned a world conquered and slaughtered by these Maw. Didn't matter which, he said enough to get Drex nodding sympathetically.

"You're not the first to flee those monsters. Just the latest. Well, Epica's got plenty of room for those wanting a new start. You're welcome to stay. Strong looking fella like you? Make a great farmhand."

Farming didn't sound bad to Nathan at all.

"Sounds like honest work..." Nathan replied in a neutral fashion. "I don't mind working the land, if you and yours would have me."

Drex eyed him, still greatly unsettled by his unnaturally calm demeanor, his expression so stern, in spite of the fact he was halfway to starving. He busily ate.

He dismissed it. Poor fella was probably traumatized.

"We have free room and food here. Pay's low as a result, but still pretty good for getting what you need."

"I'll pull my weight, Sir..." Nathan replied respectfully, but still in a halting, stiff manner.

"About your ship...I dunno how you flew that thing, but I'm afraid its done. Engines are shot. Electronics are shot. Hull was weakening in key sections. You're better off buying another. Unfortunately, we don't have much in the way of ship dealers on Epica. Mainly freighters and such. Basic Holonet access though."

"Thank you sir."

"Never got your name." Drex mentioned.

"Nathan." Nathan answered. "Nathan Arnold."

He knew they wouldn't find him in any database, but they wouldn't question it either. The destruction of the world he claimed he was from had been on the outer rim, and total.

"Nice to meet you Nathan. These people here are good, salt of the earth types. You do right by them, and they will stick by you. And so will I. Matter of fact, I got a position open at the Agricultural Estate I run. Maybe when you are feeling better, you could stop by. You any good with a rifle?"

"Depends. What kind?"

"Any familiarity with slugthrowers?"

"Yeah. Bolt or lever action?"

"Lever Actions, Revolvers..."

"I can work those."

"Great. I got Animals that need guarding when they graze..."

Two days later...

Nathan disembarked from the shuttle and walked onto a pastoral scene and instantly disliked it, for it reminded him of Dantooine, which he never wanted to go back to.

He had proceeded to the immigration office, gotten himself registered as a refugee, applying for citizenship status, then he had taken a long slow trip to one of the local bars to get something to eat...

 

[Nathan Bloodscrawl]

He entered the bar, in cheap blue clothing, his expression as grim as it had been when he had been rescued. There was something about his slowness in his movements, yet the precision and detail in that slowness, that made others subconsciously get out of his way as he sat upon a barstool.

The Bartender, a portly man with tan skin and a mustache, walked up to him. "What's your poison?"

"Just looking for some water and something to eat." Nathan replied calmly, his unfeeling expression and overly still manner seeming to chill the air around him.

"Sure. Roasted Nerf and Rice fit your fancy?"

"That would be lovely, Thank you." he replied with all the formality of a schoolteacher.

"Uhhh...sure..." the Bartender spoke, somewhat hesitantly at that steel gaze that did not blink.

Nathan was soon dining, slowly.

"You'll need a gun soon, boy." The Bartender advised as he poured drinks for others. "Territory out here is dangerous. Been attacks on the animals when they graze."

"What sort of attacks?" Nathan asked, his tone like he was writing a check.

"Oh, most times its poachers. Our border's close to House Lagnan'ia, and they ain't fond of Yharwod. Poach our animals. Sometimes they injure. Occasionally they kill 'em. But lately? Attacks are getting more violent. We think its an animal."

"I'll keep it in mind. Thank you for telling me..." Nathan answered back, dull green eyes on his meal.

"No trouble..."

The sound of jangling spurs did not spur him as they passed through the swinging doors.

"Alright...whose head do I have to bust before I get some answers?"

Nathan's head swiveled in an unnaturally smooth manner to a rough looking character in a suit of dark red buck skin, with two bandoliers holding ammo. He wore a white, wide brimmed hat, and he had two gun holsters, each with a revolver.

"Fusi, easy now..." The Bartender said. "You know the marshals don't like it when you walk up in these parts without them knowin'."

"I walk where I please..."

"What's this all about Fusi?" The Bartender asked.

The tall, bronze skinned man with a thin goatee and mustache walked up casually, spurs dangling.

"House Lagan'ia will not brook insults..." Fusi said. "Especially the ones who enforce their will. I found my Brother, Lero, dead this morning, hanging from a tree on your side of the border!"

"Well, I'm real sorry about that, Fusi, but I'm sure nobody here knows anything."

"Banthachit! One of you bastards knows something! I bet Starway's behind it." Fusi said, spitting on the floor. "Old Bastard's crossed a line this time! He won't get away with it. One of you knows something!"

Fusi began walking around.

"Speak up! Which of you Yharwod nerfherders did the old man put up to it?"

No one said anything.

"I'm ordering patrols tripled on the border. If any of you try to cross it, you'll be shot. If any of your sheepo cross it, we'll shoot them too." he snarled.

Nathan kept eating while the man interrogated everyone, before Fusi's gaze fell on him.

"You. I see these flys in here stinking up the joint every time I've ever come in but I don't know you."

Nathan stared at Fusi's unsmiling expression.

"I don't know anything about your brother..." Nathan said quietly. "I'm fresh off the shuttle. Came to work."

"Another mosquito, looking to plunder Epica's riches. Parasites like you make me sick." Fusi snorted, spitting on the ground in front of Nathan. "Be careful who you choose to make friends with, outsider...wouldn't want their stink rubbing off on you."

Nathan, not looking for a fight, only replied; "I'm a pretty good judge of character."

"That remains to be seen." Fusi replied with a snort. He stepped a little closer.

"And what do you judge about me, Outsider?"

"I judge that you are being serious."

"The first intelligent thing you have said..." Fusi replied with a dark chuckle. "Perhaps you might make it here after all...as a paper weight."

Fusi burst out in insane laughter than no one joined him in. He then strode out of the bar.

The Bartender breathed a sigh of relief, eying Nathan.

"You dodged a bullet there, Stranger. That was Fusi Flamespider! He's one of the best shots in these parts! He's an enforcer for the Lagan'ia's. Best steer clear of him. Nobody's proved it, but we suspect he's killed Marshals in the past."

"With what, his breath?" Nathan asked with a snort.

"You may not scare easily sir, but don't underestimate him. Especially now that his brother is dead."

"The aformentioned Lero?" Nathan asked.

"Yeah. Terrible business, that. He was found, hanging from a tree overlooking a valley. Disemboweled."

"Given how his brother acts, I'm not surprised."

"Everybody hates those two...but as long as we can't catch him red handed, he's like a greased Gizka."

"I see..." Nathan replied quietly, finishing his meal and drinking his water.

"I'll have to be careful then."

Nathan politely thanked him for the meal.

Hours later...

"Yeah, its good for scrap..." The Toydarian said in the musty office. "But before we go further, I want to make it clear there are absolutely no refunds."

"That's fine." Nathan said.

"And there is also the matter of what my droids found beneath the deck plating as they inspected it." the smarmy alien said with a grin, pulling up the reflect coated footlocker.

"Now, normally, I try not to pry, but Epica has an unfortunate habit of taking its laws seriously, when it can enforce them, that is, eh heheheh..." the Alien chuckled, his fat blue body floating around Nathan, wings flapping at high speed, a five o clock shadow on his face, his short snout rough and scarred.

"You're one broke ass merc, whoever you are...no business of mine of course. But its going to cost you, if I am to take the risk of keeping your little stache quiet."

"How much?" Nathan asked.

"Let's call it a discretionary fee...I do find the term 'bribe' to be so unsavory. Let's see, that piece of junk Consular Cruiser, in her current condition, you'd get ten thousand credits for her under normal circumstances. I'm not greedy--your stuff is so bargain bin, I'd actually feel bad charging you more than 400 credits off the top of that. Heck, I'll be nice. 200!"

"Thank you for your discretion." Nathan said.

"So what kind of trouble you in?" The Toydarian asked under the light of his desk lamp as he began getting him his credit stacks.

"Got murdered. Wife Got murdered. Got better. Wife didn't."

"Lucky you..." The Toydarian chuckled, signing all the necessary transfer papers. "Seriously though..."

"I fought the Sith. Not interested in that anymore."

"Pissed off a Red-Blade?"

"Just soldiering."

"That's a relief. We don't need that kind of heat. One of those feths reaches Epica it'll be a slaughter." The Toydarian replied, handing Nathan a bag containing his credits.

"Welcome to Epica."

 

[Nathan Bloodscrawl]

Nathan and the Toydarian watched in the junkyard as his Consular Class Cruiser was broken down by laser beams and disassembled by Droids.

"You wouldn't happen to know where I could buy a ship would you?" Nathan asked.

"The City, maybe. But they'll charge you into the poorhouse for the really good stuff. Stuff you won't be able to afford on a rancher's salary." The Toydarian replied, popping open a cork from a whiskey bottle and taking a large swig.

"Unless..." Nathan trailed.

The Toydarian chuckled flitting about Nathan again.

"Let's speak in hypotheticals, shall we?" he said with a rumbling chuckle.

"Say, an enterprising soul had acquired a mint condition Aurek Strike Fighter. The one ship he has no idea what to do with on a planet that isn't made for producing pilots. It's not in the skill sets of many people here, and even for those that have it, they have access to better ships. Aurek's are as common as blasters. You could surely see the problem present."

"I can. So what's the mark-up?"

"I normally couldn't part with her for less than four thousand credits. But if you're interested in doing a small job for me, I might make an exception."

"I'm listening."

"I need a package retrieved from Arcort's territory. That city runs a lot the factories on Epica. All their lands are fitted with them. The Marshals, they know all my usual guys, but they don't know you."

"What's in the package?"

"Don't worry about it. The less you know, the better. I want you to wait and work here a couple of days before I send you for it...you'll just get yourself killed going in blind. I'll call you in a week. Deliver the package, and I shave the price of the fighter in half. I'll even throw in fuel." The Toydarian answered, taking a swig, offering him some.

"I don't drink." Nathan said.

The flying Alien burst out in laughter.

"Hehe! Just as well! At least I know you won't blow the credits on Juma!" he exclaimed merrily, taking another large swig.

"So, we got a deal?"

"Sure. We got a deal."

Nathan took a strode around the junkyard, looking for anything that might be useful.

He spotted an old black 74-Z speeder bike hanging via suspensor fields in mid air.

"How much for this?"

"500 Credits."

"It's used."

"It was just restored, friend..." The greedy alien said slyly. "I got to make my money back some kind of way."

"I see. I'll give you 400 for it."

500. No lower." The Toydarian insisted, taking a swig of whiskey.

"I'm gonna spend a hundred credits just on getting it tuned up." Nathan replied. "Things two decades old anyway. Things worth 300 at best. 400."

"475!" The Toydarian argued.

"400." Nathan repeated.

"Are you trying to ruin me? 460! That's as low as I can go!

"450. A measly ten credits less won't kill your business." Nathan replied.

"455! That is my absolute, final offer!" The Toydarian rumbled. "Any lower and it's space lane piracy!"

Nathan thought about it a moment.

"Deal." He replied.

"Anything else I can interest you in?" The Toydarian wondered.

"What else you got?" Nathan asked.

"These scrap heaps, so useful for concealing the real buys. It's amazing, what people throw away..." The Toydarian muttered, flying over and landing his short, stubby, blue-grey body next to a particularly large scrap heap and tossing away a few junk items, radiators and the like, before producing an old, silver belt, that had a switch on the buckle.

"The locals don't look kindly on stealth technology. Makes a fella seem suspicious. But with all the poaching attempts it pays to have an insurance policy. This Sound Dampener is used, but she works real good. For about 14 minutes. Then she shuts off, she's like a hog, drinking power like it's water.

"How much?"

"Oh, even used Stealth units are at a premium. I couldn't part with her for less than 800. And I really cannot lower the price."

"Fine. Deal. Where you recommend I hide the box?" Nathan wondered.

"You're better off leaving it with me for now. We'll need it to transport the package anyway. They see you leaving with a box, someone will want to know what's in it. These Epican's... they're nice...but they ain't stupid."

"Just so we're clear..." Nathan said. "I've only agreed to do one shady task for you. One. That doesn't make me an employee."

"Relax. I'm small scale. I'm not the Primakovs. I can't afford to have more than passing help most times. I have a very limited number of true helpers. Refugees like you are typically used once, than no more. It keeps me safe from the Primakovs and The Marshalls, since I never use the same person twice to make my runs."

Nathan eyed him. "I hope you're telling the truth."

Hours later...

Nathan walked into the local Armory.

The Store Owner, a pink skinned Twi'Lek woman in her thirties walked up to him in blue farm clothes.

"Howdy..." she said, making eyes at his handsome figure.

The cold calmness of his response and his steel faced expression make her take an unconscious step back.

"Good afternnoon. A pleasure. I'm Nathan. Nathan Arnold. I arrived here to find work as an employee on one of the ranches. It's dangerous work. Looking to purchase a rifle, pistol, and ammo. As I am a refugee, all relevant documentation has been destroyed, and I unfortunately can provide no background check."

"We get cases like that all the time these days. People who've lost everything. It's perfectly alright. Just sign on the dotted line here, says you've been made aware of the Laws of Epica and will abide by all relevant structures."

Nathan signed about three pages of material, handed it over to her.

"So, what's your type of weapon?"

"Slugthrowers..." Nathan answered almost tonelessly.

The Owner opened a cabinet, pulling out a lever action, and a bolt action.

"Enrico Repeating Rifle. Match Grade."

He picked it up. It had a good weight. He checked down the sights. He put it down, then picked up the bolt action.

"Myrkr Rifle. Comes ready with a scope." The Owner said.

He examined every facet of it.

"I'll take both..." Nathan said. "What about Pistols?"

The woman retrieved a revolver and a scoped blaster.

"My dad swears by the Model 41..." she said as he examined the gun, ever silent, ever grim faced.

"You have much experience shooting?" she asked.

Nathan's head swiveled up in an unnaturally slow manner, and she felt her blood chill slightly and didn't understand why.

"Some." he replied politely.

"I...I see. Well, for frontier work, almost everyone uses those. Treat it right and you'll never be sorry. As for this other...mean little customer, but takes skill to work..."

Nathan watched as a crossbow type pistol was placed on the counter. It had a pearl grip, and engravings, with a detachable silver stock and scope.

"These models ain't got a name. But they're adapted from Nightsister Bows."

"Who made 'em?" Nathan asked.

"No one's sure. One day the model just started showing up on the rim. Got a limited number of these. They're great for killing Nerf and Sheepo--they got a quieter firing sound, don't emit much glare. Great for putting the scare in poachers."

"I'll take it..." Nathan said casually. "How much?"

"Let's see..." she replied, scanning the price tags. "300 for the Enrico, 400 for the Bolt action. 200 for the Model 41, 350 for the Bow Pistol. 1250 credits sir, ammo included free as a first time purchase."

"What do you have for armor?"

"What kind you need?"

"Light."

"Good, 'cause that's all we got. We ain't exactly got access to military hardware in a rural area. Syko usually handles that sort of stuff."

She strode over to an armor case.

"Lots of people in these parts keep light on their feet..." she said. "A Blast Vest is a real popular choice. We also managed to snag some surplus Sith Energy Shields.

"I'll take both..." Nathan said in a calm, unfeeling voice.

Hours later...

Nathan pulled up to the small estate and walked, in a slow, unnaturally deliberate pace. His weapons were strapped to his speeder bike and he patiently waited, staring straight and still in the guest lobby, seemingly barely breathing as he waited to meet with the administrator...

 

[Nathan Bloodscrawl]

Drex Starway strode out to meet Nathan, wearing dusty farmhand clothes.

"Mister Arnold! Welcome to my small, humble little estate. It's not as large as the central one near the Mountains, but we generally fall under their purview. This small facility was built on an experimental basis..."

"What's the experiment?" Nathan asked.

"Some folks round here are getting real sick of House Lagan'Ia's provocations. This smaller estate is sort of a way for us Civilians to react more quickly to trouble near the western border. So much damn space out here, it's no wonder House Lagan'Ia gets away with skirmishes and attacking our cattle."

"Aren't you worried building this place closer to the Border might be seen as a provocation in of itself?" Nathan asked.

"House Lagan'Ia has to learn it cannot just keep provoking us like this. They can bleat all they like about their claims to this land but it's ours and we have a right to defend it." Drex replied. "And with the animal attacks lately, the sooner we catch what is doing it, the more secure our position out here will be."

"I confess, I don't know much about ranch work. Willing to learn though."

"That's ok. Lots of people who come here don't know their ass from a harvesting scythe. We'll get you squared away, don't you worry. Matter of fact, I wanna get you started on something simple. One of my cattlemen, Franco, he's escorting a small herd of our Nerf out to graze. We also gotta check them for fleas and parasites before and after so you go southwest of this lobby and meet him at the stables, I'll tell him you're coming."

"Thank you, Mister Starway." Nathan said formally, offering his hand. Drex shook it.

"You work hard, you'll always have a place among us..." Drex assured him.

Nathan walked through the sterile white passages of the tiny estate. It was very clean and well maintained. Well stocked Armory too...

He went and found an older, even rougher looking man in blue denims tending to Nerf in the large, open air pen. He wore a wide brimmed black hat.

The man noticed him, yet continued his focus, running a scanner over a Nerf to track parasites.

"You the new hire?" the man asked.

"Yeah...you Franco?" Nathan asked.

"Yeah. So what brings you to Epica?"

"Refugee. Running from the Maw." Nathan answered.

Franco chuckled.

"Something... funny?" Nathan asked, curious.

"You're running from something, friend..." he said. "But I don't think it's Maw."

"You don't? Why not?" Nathan asked, head tilting slightly to the right.

"It's none of my business, of course..." Franco said. "Just something I couldn't help but notice. You're eyes. Too focused. Not glassy enough for a refugee."

"I'm not here to cause trouble."

Franco chuckled again.

"Like I said. It's none of my business, friend. As long as you do your job, we'll have no problems. Here, grab this scanner. We check for nuisances..."

Nathan hopped over the pen and grabbed a nearby one.

"Approach slowly. Don't spook them. Let them sniff you first." Franco advised.

Nathan held out his hand to a nearby Nerf and let it sniff him. It did...and slowly backed away, snorting.

"Doesn't seem to like me..." Nathan commented.

"Back away. Slowly. Don't agitate it." Franco ordered.

Nathan did as he asked.

"Strange...they don't get agitated like that normally. You better let me handle it for now. Maybe they need more time..." Franco assessed.

Nathan backed off.

"You picked a bad time to come to Epica."

"I heard about the animal attacks." Nathan replied, watching the Animals slowly back away from him.

"Foul business." Franco remarked. "None of the animals are being eaten, you know that? Just slashed apart."

"What makes them think it's animals, and not poachers pretending to be animals?" Nathan asked, leaning against the hull of a nearby tool shed.

"The tracks. Like a wolf, but bigger..." Franco answered. "Hunts like a wolf, too."

"Any attempts made at hunting it?"

"Plenty." Franco answered, running his scanner over another Nerf. "None successful."

"Is that why Starway built this estate? To hunt the Animal?"

"That Animal has killed an entire herd, and the cattlemen escorting them. It was ruthless too. Cruel. Everyone is scared. It killed Starway's wife. He built this place with his own money, to hunt it. He thinks the Primakovs are behind it, or even House Lagan'Ia. All the attacks occur close to the Western Border."

Franco looked at him.

"Drex isn't stupid, you know... probably took one look at you and thought he might finally get some real muscle. Only so much an old Nerfherd like me can do."

Nathan folded his arms, his dull green gaze narrowed to pinpoints.

"Has anyone seen it?"

"We found a survivor two weeks ago. He survived long enough to describe a black shape against star light. And teeth and claws."

"What else?"

Franco chuckled again.

"What's so funny?" Nathan asked, tone all business.

"The survivor...he say crazy things. Say the creature held a blade of red fire in its jaws..." Franco replied.

 

[Nathan Bloodscrawl]

Using: Myrkr Rifle (Scoped) (3 Reloads)

Model 41 Revolver (3 Reloads)

Equipment (Shared between Nathan and Franco)

Survival Vibro Knife (2)

Survival Vibro-Hatchet (2)

Ration Kits (2)

Water Canteens (4)

Emergency Flares (2)

Electric Lantern (2)

Survival Comlinks (2)

Primitive Tent Kit (2)

Range Finders (2)

Compass (2)

Nathan and Franco rode on their Speeder bikes, leading the small herd across quiet plains where only the wind blew.

The Nerf ran and Franco would tell him interesting facts about Epica and the locals, and of Nerf of course, telling him how to command the, steer them to where you wanted them to go, to avoid panicking them.

Nathan had decided not to ask about current events, lest he give away just how truly ignorant he was about this era.

He watched the small herd like a hawk with Franco.

"So this beast...with the fireblade..." Nathan said after a while, eyes staring at the herd as he sat on his bike next to Franco. "Was it a Lightsaber?"

"Careful with that kind of talk around here..." Franco said. "Nobody wants to hear about anything Sith related. Bad enough the Empire is on the rise. A Sith on Epica is a shark in a tank full of chum."

"But if there is a Sith on Epica...why would it be attacking animals?"

"There isn't a Sith on Epica." Franco insisted. "There's nothing on Epica a Sith would want."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Positive. All that's here is the Commune, the other territories, endless plains, and Primakovs."

"Okay, maybe not a Sith. Maybe something related to the Sith." Nathan theorized.

"What's all this interest in where the beast came from? Al that matters is killing it."

"To destroy an enemy, one must understand them." Nathan responded. "To pursue a foe blind is to invite ruin."

"Look, the man who described that was slashed up badly. For all we know, it may have been a dying hallucination. Its probably just some well trained beast sent by the Lagan'Ia or the Primakovs to disrupt their operations. If there was a blade, it was probably just some holoprojector they attached to add to the scare."

"Okay, so maybe its not a Sith. Maybe its just a Dark Jedi. They like to make remote places like this a playground."

"You know a lot about that sort of thing."

"I've had bad luck, is all."

"I see..." Franco chuckled. "Lots of people have bad luck like that."

"What about yourself?" Nathan asked.

Franco took out a small cigar and struck a match, watching the Nerf graze.

"Once or twice."

"Same here." Nathan answered back.

There was a scream in the distance. Over a hill.

"You watch the herd. I know these hills better than you do..." Franco ordered.

Nathan nodded and Franco sped off on his bike, and Nathan was left watching the herd.

The sound of gunfire rang out and Nathan's head snapped to the hill beyond.

Another gunshot. Nathan kept his rifle at the ready. The Herd got spooked and started to shift away.

Yet another Gunshot. He heard Franco calling for help.

Nathan got off the bike and took off and saw a body when he got over the hill a woman, lying dead on the grass, her clothes torn and bloody, and Franco behind a large boulder, gunshots impacting and blowing chunks off it, bit by bit.

Nathan spotted the shooters, three men in black armor, wearing colorful ponchos, firing lever action rifles from behind the protection of a few large trees, and Nathan ducked back behind the hill as a bullet whizzed over his head, and he took aim, looking for one of the shooters. He saw one stick his head out and he fired at the tree, pulling the bolt back and ejecting the round and firing again.

The tree splintered slightly at the impact point and Nathan fired again, and again, and Franco took the oppertunity to run from cover and back over the hill, where he took cover next to Nathan and then began to open fire on the other shooters with his own lever action, buying time for Nathan to reload round by round, their position getting pelted by gunfire.

Franco managed to hit one and Nathan watched as the two remaining shooters started to run off, hopping onto speeder bikes and bolting westward.

Nathan and Franco got up from behind cover and started running down to examine the bodies, Nathan getting a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach as he came across the body of the woman, lying dead in the grass. His breath tightened as he stared at the body, remembering another field of grass, and another woman. He saw blood everywhere, and he started to hyperventillate...

Franco examined the body.

"Repeater bullet, through the back. Death was instant. The cuts weren't. Like...animal marks..." he observed. He turned to Nathan. "What do you think?"

Nathan couldn't respond, he had gone pale, and soon fainted...

 

[Nathan Bloodscrawl]

Nathan stirred as smelling salts were waved under his nose. He sat up, his expression immediately going back to that calm but grim state.

"What did I miss?" Nathan asked, his time unconscious a nightmarish series of images about his death.

"You've been out for only a few minutes..." Franco answered. "What happened?"

Nathan glowered.

"I was taken somewhere I didn't like."

Franco frowned.

"Try not to leave again."

Nathan got up, and went over to the body. He steeled himself. He was prepared. He looked at the body of the woman and managed to avoid his previous nausea.

"We need to call this in."

"I'll do. You check the other body."

Nathan nodded and began walking to the body by the tree. He smelled copper in the wind.

Franco had opened the guys guts up with a rifle shot. He saw a number of tattoos on the arms and face. Been in rough places, this one.

The wind rustled Nathan's hair as he knelt down and examined the body. Heavily armed. He didn't dare touch anything. This was not a battlefield. There was Law Enforcement who didn't take kindly to acts of scavenging from corpses.

"He dead?" Franco called out.

"Yeah, you got him..." Nathan called back. "Do you know the girl?"

"Katie." Franco answered. "Farmer's daughter. Liked to wander the plains in search of rare herbs."

"This a Primakov?" Nathan asked.

"Yeah...I've seen him before..."

"Why would they be interested in her?"

"I dunno. Primakov's are a varied bunch. Could have caught their interest for any number of reasons..." Franco replied, staring at the dead woman. "Poor girl. Much too young."

"There's a 'preferred' age for this?" Nathan asked with a snort.

Franco glowered at him.

"That was uncalled for."

"Death ain't got a preference. We're all fair game." Nathan replied, standing up.

"Old and Wise. Young and Innocent. Noble. None are spared." he added walking to Franco. He glanced down at the body.

"It is unfortunate." Nathan noted, expression softening for a micro-second before his armor went back up.

Franco raised an eyebrow.

"You're some stone cold kind of bastard. Saw too much blood and it fried your brains." Franco muttered.

Nathan's head tilted in an unnaturally smooth manner to one side.

"Perhaps."

Franco snorted. "At least you entertain the idea I might be right about you."

Hours later...

"Franco tells me you take orders well and that you were pretty useful out there today. Your aim just needs a little work." Drex Starway said to Nathan in the privacy of his office in the center of the ranch. Drex's office was decorated in animal hides and large pictures of his family. There was a shrine to his wife, a middle aged woman with graying hair and a tan complexion. Drex poured a ruby colored drink into a crystal glass.

"Bourbon?"

"I don't drink." Nathan replied, expression deadpan.

Drex nodded. "I was a bit of a teetotaler myself once. My mother stressed temperance as a virtue. I..."

Drex tapped his fingers against his glass.

"I've fallen away from that line of thinking recently."

"Franco told me you're out here looking for the Animal that killed your wife."

"And the Lagan'Ia's or Primakovs I think are it's handlers."

"If I had known you wanted me involved in a dispute with rival cattle barons and a criminal gang, I would have been much more hesitant to accept your offer of employment."

"There are no free lunches, Nathan. Not even Fresh Starts..." Drex answered back firmly. "There's violence here, same as elsewhere. No getting out from under it."

"Mister Starway, I am no stranger to violence. But I am not so sure the kind of violence you are facing is the kind you can handle."

"Nonsense. It's just a more elaborate scheme then what they normally pull. It's just a gang of men and an animal. And as soon as we find both, we'll deal with them. As a message to their friends."

"I'm not an assassin. I didn't come here to take lives."

"No you didn't. But you'll be saving them if you help me."

"And I didn't come here to play hero."

"Forget being a hero. What about common decency? Doesn't that count for anything anymore?"

"Ain't that what the Marshalls and the Reserve is for?"

"They got a million other problems to deal with, the Marshalls. Things are tense. The murder of that Lagan'Ia enforcer has everyone on edge. Nobody wants to risk a larger conflict. Not over an animal."

"So that's why this place is so far away from the central commune. You're unsanctioned."

Drex nodded. "Nobody knows what I'm really here for. And I don't intend to reveal it. I'll double your pay out of my own coffers. Just help me catch them.

Nathan's head lowered. "No charge."

Drex blinked and his eyes widened.

"But why? I'm perfectly capable of compensating you."

Nathan rose up.

"You're not the only one who lost their wife to an animal." Nathan answered, walking out of Drex's office.

 

[Nathan Bloodscrawl]

The next few days were without incident, Nathan slowly starting to learn the ins and outs of herding and farming. He helped the other ranch hands, always silent until spoken to, his face permanently frozen in its grim expression.

Few beyond Drex or Franco willingly approached because of this.

On the fourth day, Nathan was on the perimeter of the ranch, fixing a fence one of the Nerf had broken when a teenager in ranch hand clothes approached him riding a bantha from across the plains.

"Hey Mister! You Nathan Arnold?"

"One and only." Nathan answered without looking.

"Here. Got paid to deliver this to you." The teenager said, holding out a hand written letter sealed in a paper envelope.

Nathan walked over and took it, offering him some credits in exchange as a tip, and then walked off to a little bit beyond the edge of the camp to read it. The message read this:

CAMERLING HILL. MIDNIGHT. ALONE.

SIGNED, THE FRIEND HOLDING YOUR VEHICLE.

Nathan sighed. Debt Time.

He got what rest he could, but he was always awoken by the sound of his wife screaming as Darth Phyre murdered her, so it wasn't much.

When it was half an hour to midnight, Nathan rose up, dressed, walked out of the room he had been provided and past some of the security in the stylish, sealed ranch interior.

"Hey, why are you up so late?" one of them, a Rodian, asked.

"Going out... getting some air on my bike."

"At this time?"

"Can't sleep." Nathan answered. "I'll be back by morning, ready to work."

"Okay then. Careful out there. Heard from one of the scouts out back they saw a Kinrath nest close by. Suckers are dangerous."

Nathan nodded and headed to his garage. He didn't take any of his weapons as he raced out of the garage to across the plains of Epica, guided only by starlight and his own naturally good eyesight.

He made it to the Hill, a large lump in the plains surrounded by boulders. There waited the Toydarian, on the Repulsor cart that contained quite a lot of merchandise.

"Hurry! Get changed and put on that Sound Dampener belt!" he ordered.

"What's going on?" Nathan asked.

"No time for questions. We only got two hours to get to Arcourt!"

Nathan sighed and began changing to his black biker gear.

"This is going to get ugly, isn't it?" he wondered, tone acidic with irritation.

"Yeah, it might. You up for a rough ride?" The Toydarian asked.

"As long as it's not the Law."

"No...no law..." The Toydarian answered, bulbous, hovering body planting itself in the seat of the repulsor wagon.

"Tonight, we worry over Primakovs."

Nathan climbed into the seat and the Toydarian handed him a Model 9 Pistol along with a bolt action rifle along with some night vision goggles.

"I thought I was going alone." Nathan said, putting the goggles on.

"Plans change. Package got intercepted by a rival. He intends to sell it to the highest bidder. He's having a private auction in one of Arcourt's factories after hours." The Toydarian answered.

"Greaaattt..." Nathan muttered.

The Wagon sped over grass as they neared a valley that didn't offer much cover. Nathan already didn't like this.

They hid under an outcropping of rock as they saw a gunship approaching.

"Syko Military..." The Toydarian explained.

"I thought you said we weren't dealing with any Law Enforcement..." Nathan grumbled as they watched from beneath the rock shade.

"We're not supposed to be!" The Toydarian hissed. "Something spooked them. They normally never come out to these parts.

They turned off the engines, waiting in darkness as the small gunship swept the area with a search light.

"Could they be looking for us?" Nathan whispered.

"Not a chance. I paid all the right people off!" The Toydarian scoffed, his blue snout crinkling in annoyance.

"Did you pay them enough?" Nathan asked pointedly.

"I pay them good! I pay better than their own bosses do sometimes!"

"Who you trying to convince? Me or you?" Nathan questioned.

"This is no time to be a smartass!" The alien hissed back.

"Oh, it's always a good time." Nathan replied in a very dry, bored tone.

"If they catch us--"

"I'm not shooting at the military, let's get that clear." Nathan added tersely.

"Come to your senses! You think they're out here tonight just as we happened to be heading to Arcort for legitimate reasons?"

"But why send a gunship for you? Too noisy. Sniping you and me is much easier. Just get a night scope and a suppressor to the rifle. I don't think they're here for us."

"That doesn't mean they're here for good reasons."

Nathan watched them through the scope of his rifle.

"One of them is leaning out of the side with a harness..." Nathan observed in a whisper. "Anti-Materiel Rifle mounted on a turret."

The Toydarian paused at this.

"What the hell are they here for?" he wondered, hiding on one side of the wagon.

Nathan watched as something in the distance moved closer. Something big. With black fur. Walked on two legs.

"Get in the wagon and start it..." Nathan muttered.

"What if they see us?"

"They're about to have other problems..." Nathan trailed. "Get in the Wagon. Quick."

The Toydarian clambered into the wagon and Nathan crawled back in.

The Alien's hand hovered over the activation switch.

"Wait." Nathan ordered, face momentarily lit up as the search light of the gunship swept close to the rock out cropping.

A wolf like man-beast leapt from the darkness below, Red Lightsaber in hand. It's black fur rippled as it caught on to the side of the gunship, which started spinning as it tried to hack through gunship armor with it's weapon.

"Now." Nathan said dryly.

The Wagon took off and Nathan fired and hit it in the back just as it managed to tear the side open. The impact knocked the monster with burning red hellfire eyes free before it could kill anyone and the gunship pilots immediately raised the altitude of the vehicle to prevent the monster wolf from trying again, but it had damaged their engine so they were forced to try and make a run for the base.

Nathan didn't have long to celebrate however, as a ghastly howl that tore through the plains heralding the monster as it sprinted.

"Move faster." Nathan requested.

"I'm already at Maximum!" The Toydarian exclaimed.

The beast's sprint carried it ever closer...

 

[Nathan Bloodscrawl]

Nathan fired at the beast repeatedly with his bolt action, his heartbeat not over 70. His rifle ran dry and then he drew his pistol and fired at its legs, which made it stumble but it kept coming.

It was a terrible thing to behold up close. Yet it still didn't scare him, even with it's Obsidian fur, it's ruby eyes, the smell of human meat in its breath.

Nothing scared him after Darth Phyre.

The Toydarian in the meantime, frantically reloaded his rifle and handed it back to Nathan.

"What the hell is it?" He yelled, barely able to keep his eyes on the road.

"I confess uncertainty..." Nathan replied as though he was looking for the condiments section in a market.

"It's getting closer! This Wagon will never outrun it!"

The Beast's howl and swipe nearly hit the vehicle, and Nathan aimed right at its face and fired, hitting it in the snout and causing it to tumble in the grass, though it's enraged roars told him it wasn't dead.

"Is there somewhere we can hide?" Nathan asked. "That bought us only a few minutes, I think."

"There's an old Syko Military Outpost a kilometer from here. They abandoned it years ago after an... incident...no one goes near it..."

"We either risk an old ruin or certain death in the open." Nathan replied coldly.

The Toydarian thought about it, then agreed, and altered course, heading for the old outpost.

"I don't like this, Human."

"You think I like it?" Nathan asked with snort as he heard that demonic howling again.

The Outpost, or what was left of it, was basically a few caved in buildings and shacks surrounded by a ruined wall with guard towers. Thunder overhead began and Nathan couldn't see the Moon anymore as they scrambled out of the Wagon, running for what looked to be an old Engineering bay with rusted, but heavy shutters.

The pair were running as fast as they could when they heard the next howl, now very close. There was more thunder overhead.

"Hurry! Get the shutters closed! It's our only chance!" The Toydarian yelled as they both struggled to force the rolling shutters downward.

Nathan pulled with all his might, just as he caught sight of the beast on the outer perimeter. The shutter came down with a heavy clack and the Toydarian slid a locking bar in place.

"Those shutters are solid Impervium, to prevent break in attempts." The Toydarian whispered. "Even that monster's claws will have trouble scratching their way through it."

"How do you know that?" Nathan asked.

"I made runs here before it was closed down." The Alien admitted, flying over to another passsge. "There's no other entrances or windows it could get in through either."

Nathan followed, taking note of all the rusted over equipment. Old blood stains and embedded knives and blaster marks.

"What happened here?" Nathan asked quietly.

"I'm not certain. No one knows. One day the order just came out from Syko that this outpost was being decommissioned. No explanation. They declared it off limits. Wasn't until some greedy Primakovs went missing here that everyone knew to stay away." The alien replied.

There was a violent screeching noise across the shutter behind them.

"These weapons might as well be spitballs." Nathan grumbled. "Anything in here we could use?"

"This is the engineering section, not the armory! And even if it wasn't, this place has been abandoned for over five years!"

"Well, you better think fast, merchant. Because I can't stop him with these."

The Toydarian flinched as there was another screeching sound across the shutters, followed by a deadly howl.

"Upstairs. Chief Engineer's office. there was a gun locker. I never knew what was in it."

"Better a slim chance than no chance?" Nathan asked rhetorically, hearing another roar.

The Alien flitted this way and that in mid air, bulbous chest moving rapidly from panic.

"Follow me!" He said, and Nathan did running over quickly to a rusted over workbench covered in dried blood and mummified bodies.

"They have bottles of fuel for their fusion torches. It's pressurized..." he explained, spotting a silver lighter and grabbing it.

Just then, there was no more roaring. Dead silence.

"It's trying to find another way in." Nathan realized.

"Upstairs, now!"

They raced past bodies. It looked like they had all died killing each other. Nathan was at a lost to explain any of it.

It wasn't until they reached the second floor that the blanks started to get filled in.

Pentagram shaped runes had been burned into the walls. He was familiar with these runes.

"Get behind me." Nathan said, pulling out his pistol. He turned on his sound dampener belt and crept forward coming across more mummified bodies.

"What is this?" The Toydarian asked.

"You don't wanna know." Nathan grumbled. "Where's the office?"

The Toydarian pointed on a door that had a very large pentagram on it.

"That's the one room we shouldn't go into." Nathan said.

"What do we do?"

Nathan slowly opened one door. There was nothing in it but a desk and papers.

"Take the rifle." Nathan said. "I'm gonna go into that room and try and open the gun locker. You stay in this room and wait. Do not close the door unless you have no choice. If I am not out of that room within one minute and thirty seconds starting from when I open that door, you leave this upper level and you do not return. You're gonna have to take your chances on your own at that point."

The frightened Alien nodded. "The Key. He kept it hidden in a false book on his desk."

Nathan nodded. He then stepped forward to the office, and his hand went for the door slowly. He slid it open and saw the interior of the office covered in pentagrams burned into the room. Two bodies lay on the floor in the middle of the large office. A book that had ugly writing next to them lay open, its letters glowing.

Nathan stepped forward slowly, keeping his gun trained on the book as he approached the desk, looking for another book. His eyes narrowed as he saw the Lightsaber clutched in one corpse's hand.

"Nathan..."

Nathan wheeled around, and found himself in the Castle of the Bloodscrawls.

"No..." he whispered.

"Nathan..."

Nathan turned around and found his father, Angus Bloodscrawl, clad in dark red biker leathers. He looked like a slightly older version of Nathan himself.

"Father..." Nathan whispered, the peach glare from Ession's sun shining through the windows of his old quarters.

"Son..." he said back, voice rough and grittier. "It grieves me to see you like this. You were so much more, once."

"How have I come to live again?"

"A Sith Lord of terrible power, named Darth Solipsis, attempted to rewrite all of reality so the Dark Side would be forever triumphant. His blasphemy carried to your grave at Dantooine, undoing your death."

Nathan was silent only a short while.

"I'm retired." he said, thirty seconds later.

"You don't look it. What are you doing here, on Epica?" Angus asked.

"Trying to gather my brain." Nathan answered, sitting down on his old bed.

"And then what."

"I am becoming a farmer."

"You're not a farmer, Nathan. It's honest work. But it's not you." Angus replied sternly.

"I'm done with the Force." Nathan said. "I no longer want anything to do with it."

"You cannot walk away."

"Why the hell not?" Nathan snapped angrily.

"Because if you retire to the life of a farmer, now, you may find quiet. But you will never find peace."

"Maybe I'm willing to settle for quiet." Nathan said without looking at him.

"And with your sin unaddressed?"

Nathan finally looked up at him.

"I know what you did, Son..." Angus trailed sorrowfully. "Why? Why did you throw away your honor?"

"She murdered you. She murdered Mom." Nathan answered bitterly. "How can you even ask?"

"Did you think your crime ended at Elaine? They took her, Nathan. They converted her."

Nathan shot up. "What?"

"Oh don't act so surprised...sure, you were hoping they would kill her...but deep down I think you knew there was a possibility that they would use her, instead. And she went on to kill many more innocent people."

"She lives?"

"I will say no more. Except that you have much to atone for. And you cannot do that by being a farmer."

Nathan blinked and he was back in the burned office, opening the false book and finding the silver key to the safe in the corner. He scooped it up and then carefully fitted it into the rusted lock and twisted. There was a click and the safe door swung open.

Nathan removed a old shotgun of a type he had wielded before, and a box of shells, along with a large blaster pistol.

There was a large smashing and ripping sound in a room beyond, followed by a roar.

Nathan began calmly loading the shotgun, powering up the pistol....

He only had a moment to notice the book and the corpse with a lightsaber was gone as he rushed out, as a furry fist punched throught a wall...

He quietly signalled to the Toydarian, still waiting with the room open and they both headed down the spiral stairs.

"Did you see anything move past you?" Nathan asked.

"No. You were only in there thirty seconds. Why?"

"Nothing." he replied.

They had barely gotten into the pit where they worked on the heavy machinery when the wolf beast began to thud down the steps, the snarling abomination spotting them.

Nathan fired point blank at its chest and knocked it off the stair case, The Toydarian fired his rifle at center mass just as it rose, making the muscular thing shriek and charge.

Nathan blasted it backward again but it got back up. He emptied the shotgun, blowing large chunks of the beasts chest off with The Toydarian's help, and when the shotgun ran dry he began firing the blaster pistol, feeling a pleasant kick as he fired it again and again.

It leaped forward, and only his complete lack of fear allowed him to aim at its jaw and fire, blowing it clean off.

It was flung backward, at last rushing up the stairs in full retreat.

Nathan turned to the Toydarian. "We leave. Now."

"Are you crazy? What if it comes back?" The Toydarian hissed.

"That thing's gotta regrow its snout first." Nathan snorted. "We've seen the last of it for tonight."

"We can still make the sale!" The alien exclaimed. "We'd be cutting it just under the wire but..."

"Let's go then. What am I picking up?

"Stygium Crystals..." The Toydarian hissed, undoing the lock on the shutters...

 

[Nathan Bloodscrawl]

The crossover into Arcort was through a rough crevice between two rocky hills, the only safe route in not patrolled by Syko Military. It was three hours before morning.

They had quietly payed their toll to park their wagon once they reached a factory district. The one here being an ore smelter focused affair. They had to sneak about night patrols, and couldn't take weapons except pistols for the sake of concealment.

The unpleasant, burning odors of Ore being turned molten greeted his nose as they headed down one street. He saw Aerial Drones present, and at that point, the Toydarian pulled him aside.

"Okay, listen, the sale is about to commence. I want you to hang back, don't talk and let me do all the negotiating. No matter what, you don't whip your gun out until someone else does. There are Primakovs about likely."

"What if they want this sale to go through anyway?" Nathan asked in a whisper, watching for cops.

"We scram. Some shoot out starts here it won't be like Yharwod, where there are endless plains to disappear into. The law will come down on us hard here."

"Seems an awful long way to come just to be told 'no'. We should steal it." Nathan argued.

The Toydarian eyed him.

"For a guy who wants no part of my profession, you sure as hell are open to getting your hands dirty."

"I never liked running with my tail between my legs." Nathan answered coldly.

The Toydarian scratched his chin...

"Huh... not bad. I'll try and identify it. In the meantime, we go in as planned..."

Nathan nodded but as the Alien turned to continue their journey to the factory he pulled him back to them by the shoulder.

"Remember, Merchant: After this job, I'm through."

"Sure..." The Toydarian chuckled, turning away to resume his walk.

Then Nathan heard from him, a second later; "Until you want something else you can't get with a rancher's money."

Nathan grimaced at this but offered no challenge to the statement.

The guard waiting in the back of the sprawling complex was a large Wookiee. He gave growls and snarls at the Toydarian until the flying Alien tossed him a large ruby. They were let inside, the Wookiee growling at Nathan as he walked through.

"Growl at me again and I'll shave you." he replied in terse fashion as they were led in to a factory floor that had been momentarily cleared save for the processing machines.

There were a bunch of others present. All looked local.

Nathan frowned as he saw Fusi Flamespider in the crowd, wearing his poncho and white hat over a three piece suit of black wool, the gunman spotted him and Nathan grimaced.

Fusi eyed him. He snorted as the Auctioneer, a fat stubby human with a handlebar mustache and balding head in an expensive red silk suit walked to the center of the room.

Nathan saw the box of crystals, a jewel lined box.

"Ganris!" The Toydarian bellowed flying up to him. "Ganris, you no good rotten bastard! You stole my shipment!"

"Next time, take better care of concealing the drop, Toydarian..." Ganris replied smoothly. "And you can thank Fusi for ratting it out."

Fusi chuckled, giving a playful spin of his revolver.

"A restroom? You are getting desperate to avoid the authorities..." Fusi joked. "But what else can I expect from someone who grabs trash off the street for their dirty work?"

"You talk pretty big for someone whose brother got waxed like a little schutta and hung from a tree." The Toydarian snarled. "Your day is coming, Flamespider! Count on it!!"

Fusi drew his revolver, right around the same time Nathan drew his pistol.

"You don't get to talk about my brother, Alien."

"And you don't get to point that six-shot at him, Mister Flamespider." Nathan said.

"I can kill the both of you before you can pull that trigger, outsider." Fusi snapped.

"Shouldn't have wasted all those words then..." Nathan replied.

There was the sound of a hammer being clicked behind Fusi.

"I've seen you shoot, Fusi. You probably could take them both..." said a feminine voice with a Coruscant accent.

She leaned out and Nathan instantly went on edge as he saw the tall, athletic looking elderly woman in an all too familiar looking silver catsuit, wearing a wide brimmed black hat and carrying a fancy looking silver pistol that she leveled at Fusi's head. But she had always been dead the previous times. Mummified.

Never alive.

"But can you kill both them and me?" Lucretia Lister asked pleasantly. "Guns down. All of you."

Fusi spun his revolver and put it back in his holster. Nathan put his gun away.

"Thank you, Miss Lister..." Ganris said pleasantly. "Now..."

He flipped open the box and they stared at the glittering black Stygium crystals, still trapped in their rocks.

"Bidding starts at ten thousand!" Ganris announced.

 

[Nathan Bloodscrawl]

"FIFTEEN THOUSAND!" The Toydarian sputtered. "You'll suffer for making me bid for my own drop, Ganris!"

The Toydarian walked back signaling at Nathan.

"Bastard's hawking a fake there...real stuff is nearby... probably in the office..." The Toydarian hissed. "I'll keep him talking, keep them all watching me. You search the office up there, on that catwalk."

"Still time to back out..." Nathan whispered.

"No. That shipment of Stygium is mine. And we're going to pry from his hands one way or another."

"TWENTY THOUSAND!" one bidder declared.

"TWENTY FIVE THOUSAND! YOU NO GOOD SNAKE!" The Toydarian bellowed at the top of his lungs.

While the Toydarian went into a Rant that soon had the whole room's attention, Nathan switched on his sound dampening system and discreetly weaved through the crowds. He spotted guards, but they were so transfixed by the Toydarian's ranting, that he darted to the side in shadows, and hopped onto the staircase from the side, completely silent as The Toydarian's rant against his rival grew more pronounced.

On the second floor he crept above the group of auctioneers as Ganris grew more insistent in his demands for the Toydarian to take a seat.

"Really, you should feel privileged that I'm even allowing you the opportunity to buy it back." Ganris replied.

Nathan found another guard, his back to him, on the second catwalk, and swiftly put him in a sleeper hold, taking his passkey and creeping to the office, opening it up quietly and spotting another safe and cursing under his breath. This was a combination safe, not a Key Safe.

He had to think very fast now. Extremely fast.

He looked around for something, anything that could help him break the lock. He saw two paper clips and he began pulling at them and reshaping them by hand into a hook and a straight pin respectively. He had had to open a few mechanical locks in his time.

He worked quickly, refusing to panic, all that mattered was getting the tumblers in the right place.

Thirty seconds passed before he heard a click. He slowly opened the safe door, checking for any wires attached to the door. There were none.

He opened it fully, pulling out the iron box and picking it's lock open as well.

The Stygium crystals glimmered, and his own past told him they were the real deal.

There was a shuffling sound behind him. He turned, finding Lucretia smiling merrily, pointing her small gun at him.

"You're pretty fast with that lock handsome..." she said, her voice a low, feminine purr that got under the skin.

"The gun, if you please. Slowly."

Nathan shut the box, took out his gun and placed it on the table nearby, and the catsuit clad woman slinked over and took it. She examined him.

"You're not like the ones that Toydarian usually hires...not skittish like a normal Refugee either... mercenary?" Lucretia asked.

"Of a sort." Nathan responded.

Lucretia grew only more intrigued, studying him.

"There is something else different about you..." she noted slinking closer.

"A charge...in the air around you...to a gal like me it's...intoxicating..." Lucretia said in a lower purr.

"The hell is that supposed to mean?" Nathan asked, playing dumb.

Lucretia smiled.

"What do you know of the Force?"

"Nothing." Nathan lied. "You a Jedi?"

"No." Lucretia answered. "I'm just a Bounty Hunter. I owed Ganris a teensy favor for a spot of bother he got me out of once. So this is my repaying it."

"Similar with me and The Toydarian."

Lucretia smiled.

"Normally, I'd let a scrumptious little Morsel like you slip by, but I did catch you with your hand in the cookie jar. If you come quietly, I'll persuade Ganris not to kill you."

Nathan's eye flicked to something on the wall for a split second and then back to her face.

"I'll take it under consideration..." he replied, snatching the box and pulling the fire alarm, barely missing the bullet Lucretia fired as he dived out out through the glass, another bullet crunching into his shoulder painfully as he hit the plating, running with the box as the other guards opened fire.

The Toydarian whipped out a grenade, pulled the pin and tossed it in the air, making everyone scramble to get out of range as he flew frantically towards Nathan, who was running for the Emergency exit as the blast went off, causing chaos...

 

[Nathan Bloodscrawl]

Nathan crashed through the emergency exit door with the Toydarian, bleeding. He was forced to duck as a guard posted there shot at him. The Toydarian drew his own pistol and shot the guard in the leg, forcing him to flee. There were sirens in the distance.

"Hurry. There's a Witch behind us." Nathan said without panic or urgency in his voice as they burst out into the open air from the emergency exit, running as fast as he could.

"Witch? What Witch?" The Toydarian bellowed.

Lucretia came out seconds later, half her face scorched from the blast of the plasma grenade The Toydarian had unleashed. The flesh in her face shuddered as she gave chase opening fire with her small pistol.

"That Witch." Nathan clarified, the pair turning to an alleyway, moving as fast as he could past factory streets, the sirens very close.

"You remember where we parked?" Nathan asked as Lucretia gave chase.

"Follow me!" The Toydarian yelled flying as Nathan kept using anything he could think of in the alley way to throw in the path of their pursuer. His shoulder left him in searing pain but he kept running.

Lucretia kept chase, her aim at Nathan's legs, only for The Toydarian to chuck a sonic grenade her way, forcing her to dive behind a dumpster to avoid the blast wave.

"You got my other pistol?" Nathan asked as they ran, still bleeding. Police speeders were just around the corner.

The Toydarian tossed him his WESTAR-81 and they barely cleared their way into another alley before a rush of police speeders crossed their way.

Behind them, Nathan spotted Lucretia, separated from them by the rush of speeders, in the alley they had just left. She was staring at them.

He didn't dare stop running. He saw police shuttles approaching from the air...

The Toydarian and Nathan ran for the public parking lot, ducking into the archway of a closed fast food restaurant to evade the search lights.

Nathan at last spotted their wagon but heard Lucretia clearing her throat and the pair turned, the catsuit clad elderly woman leveling her pistol and Nathan's slugthrower at them both.

"Gentlemen. Pistols, on the ground. The Stygium, if you please..."

Nathan took the box into his hands after dropping his pistol.

"On the ground. Slide it to me, handsome."

Nathan squinted at her opened the box and tossed it's contents at a stunned Lucretia, the crystals flying every where as he kicked up his pistol from the ground and caught it dived backward at the same time the Toydarian did to avoid her instinctive firing and shot her in the shoulder, blasting her backward. She struggled up, but he kept his pistol on her as he also rose, and retrieved the pistol she had taken from him earlier, as well as her own.

"The next one will kill you." Nathan warned (You wanna go to jail or you wanna go home?: 90 XP), as the Toydarian frantically recollected the crystals, thankfully undamaged by his gamble.

Lucretia only smiled, flesh shuddering everywhere for split second.

"You are intriguing..."

Nathan's face contorted to a visible sneer, before he heard the yelling of police. He and the Toydarian ran, while Lucretia also cleared out.

They barely had made it the Wagon, and started to pull out, trying to act as casually as possible. Nathan got in the back, hiding under a piece of tarp.

The casual ride was agonizing. But when the repulsor wagon began picking up speed, Nathan came out from cover, and got in the front seat with The Toydarian.

"That was some crazy chit, Human!" The Toydarian bellowed. "I can't believe it worked!"

A blaster bolt whizzed past their heads.

Nathan wheeled and saw Fusi Flamespider and a posse of four in speederbikes, all firing on them...

 

[Nathan Bloodscrawl]

Bullets ripped through the back of the Wagon as they raced through a narrow pass. Nathan returned fire with his blaster, but he was in a great deal of pain, and it sabotaged his ability to shoot properly.

"Will they chase us over the border?" Nathan asked, barely flinching as a bullet scraped his side of the wagon.

"Fusi's off his rocker! He just might!" The Toydarian answered...

"Hey Outsider!" Fusi called out joyously over the roar of speederbikes as he fired at The Wagon. "Here's a good old fashioned Epican symphony!"

The bullets sailed into the wagon rapidly and Nathan returned fire with his blaster, though he cried out as one of Fusi's bullets grazed his side.

"You like that, Outsider?!" Fusi shouted in triumph.

Nathan narrowed his eyes, and fired his pistol, only for Fusi to dodge it cackling.

Nathan fired several more times, Fusi dodging and weaving closer to the Wagon to get a better shot...and Nathan leapt onto the speeder, tackling him off it, both tumbling and skidding brutally across the mud and grass.

Nathan's fist smashed into Fusi's face with the pistol, savagely hitting him as many times as he could out of sheer rage with his good arm.

Fusi slammed his fist into his side where the bullet had grazed him and Nathan clutched his side, but not before he got Fusi's gun as he scrambled away, pointing at him.

"Call your men off."

"Go to Hell." Fusi said.

"I don't particularly care if you are a better shot than me. It doesn't matter if you don't have a gun to prove it." Nathan replied calmly, heart beat creeping back down to 70 bpm.

"I will kill you if you defy me again, Mister Flamespider." Nathan emphasized. "Do as I say."

Fusi slowly pulled out his comlink.

"Pack it up boys. It's over."

"Tell them to leave their weapons." Nathan added.

"Drop your guns..." Fusi ordered. "Drop them where they are and leave."

There was shouting on the other end and Fusi grew angrier.

"You heard what I said! Drop them! We have plenty more back home."

Silence on the other end. Finally, the speederbikes ridden by Fusi's men rode by, one stopping to let Fusi climb on.

"You won this round Outsider. Savor it. It's your last win against me."

Nathan's response was to shoot Fusi's gun hand. Fusi cried out in agony, clutching it and cursing loudly as he was taken away by his friend, riding off into the distance.

Nathan lowered the pistol, as The Toydarian rode up to him.

"You crazy bastard!" The Toydarian exclaimed. "Ohhh...it's a real pity you ain't really for hire, drifter. The chit we could pull off working together..."

"I need a doctor." Nathan said.

The Toydarian helped him up into the wagon.

"I know just the place. Someone who won't ask questions."

A half hour later...

The Toydarian's wagon pulled up to the homestead of an old man resting in his bed, wearing red long johns. He was stirred from sleep by the pounding on his door from the Toydarian.

The Old Man scrambled out of his bed, grabbing his old automatic shotgun as he went to the front door.

"No solicitors!" he barked.

"Gaius, open up! It's me! I got a patch job here! He's fethed up! Bad!"

Gaius snarled and opened the door, looking at the Toydarian partly hoisting up a now pale Nathan.

"Not like you, bringin' strays in, Merchant." Gaius muttered.

"You could be a tad nicer. He got shot getting your Stygium!" The Toydarian replied angrily.

Gaius frowned.

"Well, chit, get 'im in here!" Gaius bellowed, dragging Nathan in and helping him over to the operating table...

 

[Nathan Bloodscrawl]

"Here..." Gaius muttered, offering him a rubber bit after Nathan had removed his jacket and shirt, the Toydarian bringing in a few of their guns . "Bite down hard on it. This will hurt. Ain't got no anesthetic."

Nathan took it, biting down as Gaius put on his glasses, shined a light on Nathan and began working on his wounds, using a pair of surgical tweezers to remove the bullet in the back of his shoulder.

"Damn lucky your jacket was armored, or you might have lost part of your lung. Forty-five caliber is no joke... especially at the range you took it." Gaius said, cleaning and disinfecting both wounds before sealing them shut with what Nathan HOPED was surgical laser and covered both wounds in Bacta patches.

"Try not to aggravate those. Let the Bacta do it's work." Gaius warned, taking off his gloves and pulling out a bottle of Epican Whiskey and pouring himself a shot to steady his nerves. He offered Nathan one from an extra glass.

Nathan shook his head. "I don't drink."

"Suit yourself, stranger." Gaius muttered. "I'll give you forty minutes rest, then you got to clear out so I can get back to bed."

"Gaius... Lucretia got his scent." The Toydarian mentioned, sitting down.

Gaius started cursing.

"Feth, just what we need... why the hell is she involved?" Gaius grumbled, bushy grey mustache twitching.

"Apparently she owed Ganris a favor."

"Lucretia is more slippery than a damned eel." Gaius grunted. "I've heard stories about her Marksmanship."

"You should be more worried over the fact she's a Witch." Nathan gasped, taking in air, the pain fresh and hot.

Gaius blinked. "Witch?"

"Yeah. A tough one. Tougher than normal."

Gaius snorted.

"I dunno what you heard boy. But she ain't nothin' but a Merc. Just luckier than a freaking charm and with good body armor to boot."

"She is a witch..." Nathan repeated tersely.

"How do you know that?" Gaius questioned, folding his arms, eyeing him.

"Never mind how I know it." Nathan hissed, still in great pain. "I just do. Leave it at that."

Gaius spat on the floor.

"But you got the Stygium, right?" Gaius asked.

"Yeah. Intact." Nathan answered.

"Well, at least there's some good news. But who shot you in the gut? Bullet materials were different from what I pulled out of your shoulder. "

"Fusi Flamespider." Nathan grumbled, wincing as he shifted wrong on the operating table.

"And you lived?" Gaius snorted in total surprise and looked at the Toydarian. "Where'd you get this guy?"

"Refugee, fresh off the boat." The Toydarian replied.

"My ass. If that rancor-eyed feth is a refugee than I'm Darth-fethin'-Vader." Gaius snapped.

"Look, it doesn't matter where he hails from. You should have seen what he did to get your Stygium back!" The Toydarian praised. "If I had just ten more of him, I'd own a corner of the commune itself!"

Gaius turned his head back to Nathan.

"So we found someone competent. Unexpected."

"I expect our bargain to be honored, Merchant." Nathan hissed, wincing.

"Right, right, half off on the Starfighter, like I promised." The Toydarian replied.

"Although...what if I dropped the fighter to quarter price?"

Nathan was silent a moment.

"Speak."

"Hear me out, buddy. I promise, if you refuse, you can still have the Starfighter at our original bargain. No iffs, ands, or buts. But if you accept..."

The Toydarian flew around a bit, gathering his thoughts, scratched his butt a bit.

"But if you accept my new offer, I drop the price of the fighter to one thousand credits."

"In exchange for--?" Nathan asked.

"Me and him are fixing to go on a trip in House Lagan'Ia territory. To the estate of one of their Colonels, a man named Michelangelo Magpul. We need stealth devices to do it."

"Why are you going there?"

Gaius frowned.

"He has something of mine. Something I intend to get back."

The talking was halted by the sound of a ghastly howl that carried across the plains.

Gaius peered about at the horrid sound.

"Beast is out tonight. Not safe for you to travel..." Gaius muttered.

"Have you seen it?" Nathan asked.

"Once or twice, at a distance. Big Bastard." Gaius answered, going over to the front door, checking to make sure the Wagon was in the perimeter and lowering the bar over the door.

"That thing is also an abomination of The Dark Side." Nathan mentioned.

"Any possibility it and Lucretia could be tied together?" The Toydarian inquired.

"I don't know. I can't be certain. True coincidences are rare." (Apathy is Death: 100 XP) Nathan responded.

Gaius paced a bit, trying to think.

"I kept hoping someone else would handle it. Screw it." He knelt by an old lock box and threw it open. He pulled out an old, dusty but small paper box taking out shotgun shells with a bright orange casing.

"Twelve Guage. Explosive." Gaius explained, handing the box to Nathan. "Powerful enough to turn a Wookiee into a fur coat, provided you run into it again."

Nathan took the offered box...

"So what did Colonel Magpul take?"

"He's got my grandson..." Gaius answered.

"Why does he have your Grandson?" Nathan asked.

"He made the mistake of being my grandson." Gaius answered. "I used to work for House Lagan'Ia as a Doctor in their armed forces. But I got sick of patching them up from their little feuds on the Western Border. Didn't see the point. Colonel Magpul specializes in arranging those strikes. I wanted to leave Epica. He refused, said I knew too much. So I stole some papers proving his involvement as insurance. Merchant here, he's shady enough to smuggle me out...but he had to do it separate from my Grandson. Couldn't take us both in the same vehicle."

"I succeeded in getting him out...but they caught the vehicle his grandson was in..." The Toydarian explained.

"How do you know he isn't dead?" Nathan asked.

"Because if he dies, I turn those papers over to the Marshalls. House Lagan'Ia would have to disavow his actions. He'd be ruined." Gaius explained. "Then again, I turn those papers in, they kill my Grandson. Mutually Assured Destruction."

"You need a tiebreaker."

"Colonel Magpul has given me an ultimatum: I have four days left to show with those papers or he'll execute him. But I know if I hand the evidence over, he'll just kill us both. I need to sneak him outta that estate. I need stealth field generators. But more than that, I need muscle."

Nathan thought about it a moment.

"I'm not here to play hero..." Nathan trailed.

Nathan looked at the Toydarian. "Knock it down to several hundred, the Starfighter. Then I'll help."

The Toydarian thought a moment.

"Quit your scamming, Merchant! We need him!" Gaius barked.

"Alright, alright! Seven hundred!" The Toydarian complained throwing up his hands as he flew about in frustration. "Space Lane Robbery..."

"Well that settles it...only thing left is to find someone who knows how to work Stygium to make what we want." Gaius noted. "But I know I guy in the state of Enen who owes me a favor. Had him on standby for this."

"Cutting it awful close, aren't we?" Nathan asked.

"No choice. Especially with Syko Military in control of the airspace and borders." Gaius said. "The route has to be planned precisely."

"Well..." Nathan stopped. They all stopped as they heard that ghastly howl across the plains.

"Syko military is after the beast too. We saw one of their combat shuttles tonight, off their usual patrol route. Damn thing attacked them. That was when we first ran into it.

Gaius looked out a barred window.

"When the sun starts to break is when it's safe to go.

There was another sound. This one of a woman's screams. It was deathly silent in the old man's shack.

"It doesn't eat it's victims, y'know that?" Gaius said. "Just slashed 'em up. That's why ol' Starway's on the war path. His wife got it especially bad."

"He was relying on a guy called Franco to try and catch it 'fore I showed." Nathan mentioned in a whisper, everyone driven quiet by the howling as it started again.

"I seen that ranch hand. He's good with a gun, but after what I saw tonight...he's out of his depth." The Toydarian whispered.

"When did the attacks start?" Nathan asked.

"Half a year ago. Scattered incidents at first. A pet dog or two sliced up. Then it got bigger. Two months in it was cattle exclusively. Three months was when there were people that started getting murdered. Starway's wife was one of the very first." Gaius whispered. "Killed an entire herd of his, and the ones guarding it."

Nathan was silent at this. Another Howl carried across the land.

"You pissed that sucker off, alright. It never howls like that." Gaius said, eyes looking across nighttime plains.

"If it's as intelligent as I think, it'll be looking for me..." Nathan grumbled.

"Making any trip to Enen potentially twice as risky..." Gaius muttered. "But we got no choice..."

Nathan winced as he shifted his position on the operating table.

"You rest for now. You gonna be good to help us, when the time comes?" Gaius asked turning back to him.

"I've been through worse..." Nathan grunted dispassionately. "You'll get your money's worth."

 

[Nathan Bloodscrawl]

Nathan managed to change back into his rancher clothes before they headed back at daybreak to his speederbike at Camerling Hill. He had worked out a deal with Gaius to leave his acquired weapons and gear there. He had split up from the Toydarian there.

As he arrived at the estate, he saw Drex Starway waiting by the garage entrance.

"Where were you last night?" Drex asked. "Not normally my place to ask a man his business but what you did was highly irregular."

"Went looking for your beast..." Nathan answered, parking his bike. "Ran into it. Barely escaped."

"And I suppose that huge fire that burned down that factory in Arcort a couple of hours after you went to get some air is just a coincidence, right?"

Nathan's expression was pure dullness.

Starway spit to his side.

"I'll be damned if that isn't the creepiest Alderaani Poker Face I've ever seen." Drex noted. "What screwed you up so bad, Mister Arnold?"

"Years of coming up with last minute desperate solutions to impossible problems created by other fething people." Nathan answered, his response being a rare moment he could be heard cursing. (You're a maniac, drowning your own crew: 90 XP)

Drex nodded.

"Listen, as long as you help me catch that monster, I don't care if you go out at night to dance naked in the grass. Burn down four more factories while you're at it. Now what about that beast?"

"You're in over your head, Mister Starway." Nathan answered. "It's not some ordinary, trained animal. It's humanoid. Wolf like characteristics. Very strong and fast. Smart too. It's a Dark Side Abomination."

Drex started cursing under his breath, fidgeting with his hat.

"Oh feth...are you sure this is Sith?"

"The Dark Side is not exclusive to Sith. But the chance it was made by the Sith is strong, yes."

"Dammit..." Drex snarled. He paced around in agitation.

"This'll cause a panic if it gets out, y'know that, right?"

"Sithspawn tend to cause that." Nathan replied with the delivery of a bank teller.

"You don't talk to nobody else about this, y'hear?! We'll bring down all sorts of chit on our heads. You'll get the Marshalls all up in our business, Syko Military will want in--"

"Syko Military is already involved." Nathan spoke. "I witnessed a shuttle looking for it."

Starway cursed again.

"Of all the Banthachit that could get dumped on us..." Drex muttered.

"This gets any worse, some Civilian here is gonna try and get one of the Ashlan Crusaders. If they get their claws in this--"

"Ashlan. Crusade?" Nathan asked in a low snarl that Drex had never heard from him before this point.

"Yeah, Ashlan's! A massive chunk of our populace are Ashla worshippers, but them Crusaders from Ession take it to another level."

Drex backed off a little as Nathan's eye twitched.

"Not a fan, huh?"

"No." Nathan answered, tone seething with quiet loathing.

"You, uh...you might wanna keep that to yourself in these parts. They don't force nobody to worship Ashla if they don't want to...but it's best to not draw attention to yourself by openly disliking Ashla either. It'll make for suspicious stares. They'll tolerate you being creepy like you normally are...but they won't tolerate you being blasphemous AND being creepy."

"I will take it under advisement." Nathan replied in soulless manner.

"You good to work?" Drex asked.

"Yes."

"Good. Get your guns and gear...we found another victim."

One hour later...

Drex, Nathan and Franco piloted their speederbikes to the site of the latest killing.

Nathan's stomach turned as he beheld the grisly sight. It will not be described. It is too horrifying.

"This was done for pleasure." Nathan said in a detached manner, though his eyes betrayed cold fury at the grisly sight.

Franco rubbed his jaw as he stared at the corpse.

Drex could hardly breathe, pale, and sweating from seeing it.

"We're gonna nail this fethin' thing!" Drex hissed. "Look for tracks..."

Nathan looked at him. "We shouldn't split up. If it's out here...you'll have less than a second to get your gun on it."

Drex nodded. "How big is it?"

"Big." Nathan answered.

 

[Nathan Bloodscrawl]

The trio silently road along on their speeder bikes, following a long bloody trail to a cave, and Nathan tensed up, feeling a strong sense of malaise...

He got out his shotgun as he disembarked from the bike with Drex and Franco.

"Think this is where it sleeps?" Drex asked.

"A good candidate for it, certainly..." Franco muttered.

"Stay behind me." Nathan said, going into the cave and keeping the shotgun pointed straight ahead.

He saw gnawed at human bones as he walked, and grimaced. He felt irritation, that even in this little hamlet of a planet the ravages of the Dark Side could still be perceived.

More bones, eventually. Nathan brushed past something in the cave passage as he came upon a dead end and realized it was an empty torch sconce and went to examine it. He saw a barely perceptible depresstion on its base in the wall and pressed it, the cave wall splitting open at a seam to reveal another passage and they came into a natural cavern that had multiple shrines of bone and a large white statue in the middle of a wizened old woman in a gown sitting on a throne after another few minutes of walking.

"What the hell is this place?" a horrified Drex asked.

"It's a shrine to an extremely ancient Force Witch named Ersethy..." Nathan explained, walking forward, ready to blast anything that moved.

"She visited Atrisia thousands of years in the past, and ravaged it so badly the Gods of Atrisia supposedly struck her down and obliterated her very soul. But Ersethy was so evil, so utterly corrupt with the dark side, that even this was not fully enough to end the threat she posed..."

"How do you mean?" Franco asked.

"Ersethy's flesh was so polluted by the Dark Side that despite her soul's obliteration, the flesh went into a state of perpetual decay that never completed its process of turning to dust. Abominations spawned from the forever putrid corpse, creating a Dark Side nexus of such potency that the ancient Priests of Atrisia were forced to construct a temple that contained the evil."

Nathan checked every corner, every possible ambush spot.

"So why is there a shrine here?" Drex wondered.

"Its like burying Radioactive material in duracrete...eventually, the duracrete breaks down." Nathan answered grimly.

"Stuff gets out...sometimes the fragments are little more than ravenous beasts, weak and easily destroyed. Other fragments, which split off from the corpse, sometimes mutate and become witches themselves. Sometimes they bear the likeness of Ersethy herself, other times, they look like completely different women, sometimes, not even human looking..."

Nathan paused to observe the floor, looking for rune traps.

"As to why there is a shrine here...maybe there was a worshipper. She was called the Dead Goddess or Moon MIstress by her adherents. Some fragments are still worshipped possibly."

"Where's the fragment?" Franco asked.

"No data available..." Nathan answered. "Don't touch anything. You might set off a curse..."

"We don't tell nobody about this." Drex said firmly.

Nathan wheeled around.

"It would have been one thing if this was just some one off abomination hiding in a simple cave of bones..." Nathan said. "But now there is a Dark Side Shrine that's been uncovered. The threat level has escalated exponentially. I may not like the Ashlans but even I know when the situation has grown completely beyond my control. We must inform the Marshals and them of our discovery."

"We 'must' nuthin'." Drex spat back angrily. "You know damn well what happens if we inform the Ashlans...I'll never get my shot at the damn thing doing all this..."

"Mister Starway...the entire Commune may be in danger. You do not have the right to risk every person around you for a chance at vengeance." Nathan said.

(Cutaway of J Jonah Jameson reading Nathan's bio)

(J Jonah Jameson: Laughs Uncontrollably)

Drex was silent a moment.

"Give me one more week. Just one more." Drex asked quietly. "If we don't get it after one more week...then I'll go to the authorities myself. Tell them everything."

Nathan stared at him coldly. Franco rubbed his jaw.

"Alright Mister Starway. One more week. Starting tomorrow." he finally agreed. "But you are playing with fire..."

"I'll take full responsibility. I won't even mention you two."

"Deal." Nathan replied. "If we want to find it, we need bait."

He grimaced.

"Let's get out of here. I need to think..."

"What about the body of the woman?" Franco asked.

"Chit, you're right!" Starway exclaimed. "This place was pretty hidden...not likely they'd find it unless they were looking for it...even Nathan only spotted the switch by accident...Call the Marshalls for the body..."

 

[Nathan Bloodscrawl]

Nathan ate alone by himself in the canteen later that evening, wrestling with himself over what he had agreed to.

On the one hand, he understood Drex's need to kill the Monster more than Starway would ever understand.

But on the other hand... waiting placed the whole commune in danger...

Was he looking at this wrong? Was he seeing too much of his past in Drex?

He was not relaxed. His grim expression never changed as he ate, slowly, letting the minutes drift on by.

That was when Lucretia walked in. There are no words for how unnatural that skintight silver catsuit made her, in spite of how well it emphasized a voluptuous and athletic build, made all the more eerie by her elderly features... though these features in of themselves were not displeasing, they just did not match the body they were attached to.

"Hi there sailor. Mind a little company?" Lucretia asked, wearing her Black cowgirl hat.

"It's a free commune..." Nathan replied.

Lucretia slinked into a seat across from him, ordered a whiskey.

"Who the hell are you?" she asked bemusedly. "I've been on this quiet rock for years and beyond the attacks of that beast, you're the most exciting thing happening here."

"What do you know of it?" He asked, eating slowly.

Lucretia shrugged, taking a sip of her whiskey. "No more than anyone else, I'm afraid. But I...have my suspicions..."

"Oh?"

Lucretia leaned closer.

"I don't think it's always a wolf. I think it can shape shift. That's why no one ever catches it. Only traces of it."

"Ever try and fight it?" Nathan asked.

"I'm not paid enough. If you have, than you've already got way more experience than I do in that respect. But the wolf isn't really why I'm here, Nathan."

"Enlighten me, then."

Lucretia gave an uninhibited shudder of pure lust.

"I love it when they're so assertive..." she remarked to herself idly. "But not here. Outside."

Nathan finished his meal. "No tricks, Witch."

"I wouldn't dream of it unless you asked..." she replied flirtatiously as she led him out of the Canteen.

They walked the grasslands surrounding the perimeter.

"No doubt you know why I am here, Outsider..." Lucretia spoke as though they were discussing the weather.

"I can't give Ganris back the Stygium..." Nathan spoke. "Besides, he stole it from the Toydarian first. All he did was reclaim his property."

"Mister Ganris, unfortunately, doesn't care about such nuance. He was humiliated by a rival and his hired help. I myself have a reputation to uphold. You can understand the difficult position your actions have placed me in." Lucretia responded.

"How much is Stygium runnin' on the Black Market these days?" Nathan asked.

"That box of crystals is worth far, far more than you could hope to pay back..." Lucretia said.

"Take it up with the Toydarian...I just did him a favor in exchange for a discount."

"You caused the most trouble, however. Mister Ganris had a finger in the Pie that was that factory. So not only do you owe him for the Stygium, you owe him for the lost profits of that factory."

"Why are we talking, then?" Nathan asked. "Surely for the inconvenience I've caused, you should be tearing the skin from my bones."

"Don't get me wrong. That was certainly a topic of discussion..." Lucretia replied casually. "But after careful consideration--and my considerable lobbying..." she added with a purr to her voice. "We have chosen an alternative means of resolving your debt."

"What?" Nathan asked.

"I need help getting inside an old Ashlan Church at the edge of the Commune, bordering Syko. It's under heavy guard by the local Militia."

They stopped in the grassland.

"That thing is out there. It's got my scent." Nathan told her. "But even if it doesn't, we are more than likely still in its range. Syko military is also hunting for it."

"Oh dear, that does present a problem..." Lucretia said to herself. "The attacks always happen at night...we'd have to do it in the day time."

"What do you want in that church?" Nathan asked.

"Something valuable enough that Ganris will forgive your debt if you retrieve it." Lucretia answered. "A spear and a shield. Very old."

"If it's so valuable, what stopped you from robbing it before now? And why do you want my help doing it."

"When a someone survives me, I mark that as making them a cut above the rest. You not only survived, you escaped me. Twice. You're resourceful. Ganris even half considered offering you a job."

"I'm not for hire."

"A pity, truly. You and I could have a lot of fun, catching the local bail jumpers. Gunning down those piece of chit primakovs all day." Lucretia replied coyly, slinking up to him.

"You remind me too much of the thing that chopped up my wife." Nathan said bluntly, expression ever severe.

Lucretia pouted. "Way to kill the mood, sailor..."

She backed off. "But I do have your cooperation?"

"There must be no deaths." Nathan said. "Absolutely no deaths. We get it, and get out quietly and unseen. And we do it without weapons."

Lucretia raised an eyebrow.

"Ambitious sort...okay. your call." she said, folding her arms clearly uncertain that they could pull this off.

"What sort of security system?"

"Just guards. Maybe an old security Droid inside."

"This doesn't smell right...I know these Ashla types. If it was truly valuable, their security would never be that simple."

"Do you want to be free of Ganris' debt or not?" Lucretia asked.

"I'll go..." he grumbled. "When do we hit it?"

"Tommorow. Noon. There's a mag train that passes close by heading to and from Syko. It comes in with payment, and leaves with essential foodstuffs. It stops near that church. I know a guy at one of the stops who owes me a favor. We show up tomorrow, we smuggle ourselves into the church through one of the supply crates.

"How do we smuggle ourselves back out?"

"There's an old tunnel the Church was built over. No one knows the exact exit but it leads into the heart of the commune."

"Where do I meet you?" Nathan asked.

"Station D." Lucretia smiled. "I look forward to seeing you in action, Outsider..."

Lucretia slinked off, hips swaying.

One hour later...

"It's a set up..." The Toydarian muttered as he poured himself a whiskey in the privacy of his office as Nathan sat across from him. He poured Nathan one and slid it over.

"I don't drink." Nathan reminded him.

"You do tonight, friend..." The Toydarian replied.

Nathan thought about it a moment.

"Feth it." Nathan muttered. He took the glass and downed it in one gulp.

"So this Lucretia...she really that dangerous?"

"More than you know."

"You're gonna need a gun. No choice. It has to be a set up. Here's how I'd do it. First I'd have scouted the place beforehand. Then, I'd have a convincing fake made of whatever I want to steal. I'd smuggle myself in. Something reflec coated. Once I was in, I'd use my sucker that I brought along for a distraction, get him doing the heavy lifting, shoot him dead once I get the treasure and escape down the tunnel. Easy."

"I don't think a gun will do me a whole lotta good against that freak." Nathan muttered.

The Toydarian went into his desk an removed a silver pistol and a single magazine of pistol bullets with dark heads.

"Voidstone bullets. Immensely expensive." the winged alien smirked.

"How much?" Nathan asked with a scowl.

"More than what's left of your funds are worth." The Toydarian answered. "I can part with a single magazine...in exchange for another favor..."

Nathan sighed. "What? Out with it."

"We'll be heading to Enen in a few days right? We'll be there for at least a few hours once we arrive. I have an errand I need completed. An act of sabotage."

"Of what?"

"An experimental lab studying Vong biotech." The Alien answered buzzing around.

"Vong? Are they insane?" Nathan asked.

The Alien chuckled. "The case could be made, friend..."

"Why do you want it sabotaged?"

"Syko Military is looking to get a few of the combat biots into their ranks. They funded the lab, which cost them a huge chunk. But these just aren't ordinary biots. They're smart. Scary smart. If Syko likes how they perform...and they have access to a steady supply...things will become much tougher for smuggling on Epica. Evading the Law will become much tougher."

"I see. Well, I wouldn't wanna kill your business..."

"Then we are agreed! Great to know, friend!"

The Toydarian slid him the gun and the Magazine.

"Make every bullet count."



Morning...


"May I ask why the hell you gotta pick both today and the day after tomorrow to be off duty?!" Drex demanded.

"It's a private matter. I thought you'd understand, given some recent ethical compromises you've asked of me." Nathan answered in Drex's office.

"Nathan, blast, I'm trying to catch this thing! We're trying to catch this thing!" Drex exclaimed loudly. "How can we coordinate any attempt to kill it if you go vanishing when I need you?"

"Mister Starway, the thing you are after is many times your speed and strength. I only survived an encounter with it by luck." Nathan explained calmly. "I'm not sure even with the three of us we could take it using solely conventional methods. Plus I had a...theory...about the wolf..."

Drex leaned against the desk. "Go on..."

"What if the reason no one has caught it is because it isn't always a wolf?"

Drex narrowed his eyes. "You're saying it might be able to turn human?"

"Think about it..." Nathan posited. "How come that's the only evidence of a den we've found? How can such a large beast come and go with no one seeing it? How can it strike with such malice and sadism? Being able to turn human...or something close to it.... would explain a lot..."

Drex frowned.

"First you tell me it's a Dark Side Abomination, then you tell me it's a Dark Side Abomination that can turn human...next you'll tell me it drives a clown car in a three ring circus!"

"It's only a theory. But it's a theory that explains some of the mystery... Mister Starway...if it's not prying too much...may I ask you about the events involving your wife's death?"

"Hell of a thing to ask, son. I'm not sure whether to punch you in the mouth or not." Drex growled.

"You may know something without realizing it."

Drex's expression softened.

"Forgive me Nathan... memory just...it's still raw. You don't forget a thing like that."

"I understand, completely." Nathan assured him with a haunted look in his eyes.

"Somehow, I believe you..." Drex muttered, scowling. He took a seat behind his desk...

Then he began to speak.

"It is impossible to talk about my wife's death without talking about myself. You find out about that old military base Syko closed down?"

"It's come up in conversation once or twice." Nathan answered, leaning back in his seat slightly.

Drex grimaced. "Listen closely..."

 

[Nathan Bloodscrawl]

Drex sighed, the stresses of the past half year making him appear worn and haggard.

"About five years ago...there was a blight across the land...crops were dying. Little children getting sick from contaminated foods. Had a couple of them folks from Enen come in to try and find a cause for the blight. They couldn't trace it. Or find a cause for the blight..."

"And in an agricultural commune, the harvest is everything..." Nathan replied. "Let me guess how it goes next: Someone got desperate."

Drex nodded. "Yeah...me..."

He rose from his desk.

"The Yharwod Commune was staring at the barrel of a gun..." Drex explained. "Back then, We thought, it was House Lagan'ia. Had to be. They've wanted this land for years. Blight would be a perfect way to force everyone out on the guise of an environmental disaster. Syko Military wasn't too fond of that prospect, because once we were out of the way, or under their thumb, they'd seek out ways to bring down Syko next, then Enen after that."

Drex walked over to his Library shelf, pulled a red book out slightly until he heard a click and the entire book case slid open, revealing a second shelf of books far older looking. Nathan rose up and went to examine them.

"Greater Life in The Inner Boundary, Third Eyes,
Two Principles, a collection of tomes by various Light Side witches, many by the Lightbreach Coven." Nathan observed.

Drex gave no reaction to his employee's knowledge, not sure what Nathan was anymore. He definitely wasn't some refugee. And he sure as hell wasn't a soldier. The other possibilities were much too terrifying to consider.

"This stuff here would get you burned at the stake if you were on Ession a few centuries prior..." Nathan admitted.

Drex snorted. "Stuff here would get me burned at the stake on Ession now. They're my wife's books, passed down to her."

"Was she a Force User?" Nathan asked.

"No. Not even a little. Neither one of us." Drex replied. "But as you know, no doubt...books like these don't require that..."

"Which book did you use?" Nathan asked.

"It's not here. It's still at that old closed down base. Mister Arnold, I..."

Drex grabbed the corner of his desk, his nerves shot.

"You have to believe me...I didn't know what was gonna happen. I had a cousin in Syko's Military. Another poor but decent fella who had lost one of his children to the blight... Nathan...we...we weren't bad folk. All we wanted to do was stop anyone else from dying."

"Paved with good intentions..." Nathan replied coldly. "Continue."

Drex sighed, trying to recall it all...

Five Years Ago...


Drex had taken a Repulsorlift Wagon to the military base in the dead of night, sailing past endless plains of dying grass and rotted trees. The Blight spared none on Epica.

The hospitalized children in the Commune was what had finally cemented his decision. He had taken one of his wife's Antique Books, the ones that were forbidden to be displayed in the open.

He hadn't meant to, at first. But once he had glanced at the contents (and stupidly ignoring the possibility the pages were made of skin) he began to wonder if any of what the book claimed it could do was true. Let it be emphasized this was a hilariously awful idea, and he KNEW it. But the fear in him was strong.

The Commune was hesitant to call on the Ashlans for help, despite the fact most of the Commune were Ashla worshippers. Epica wanted to maintain its independence, and was frantically seeking an in house solution.

Florence was just as hesitant. But Florence was his cousin in the military. He knew the score better than most. And where science had failed...he was now willing to cheat for a solution.

It was night time when he arrived at the small base, close to its loading bays. No sense in coming in from the front.

Instead... nothing.

The wind howled eerily across plains of silent, dying grass. His wife wouldn't know...she rarely went to check on the collection because it creeped even HER out...it was an unwanted inheritance. A liability that could get them shunned. But they were too scared to seek a buyer out. The books themselves had proven indestructible. Attempts had been made to get rid of them, yet they always mysteriously turned up in the house again.

Drex kept them in a locked room. He never questioned why he had even been in there that night.

Drex had come dressed like he was here for an unexpected late night delivery to the local Syko Military Base for vital engineering parts for molecular furnaces, all supplied by Yharwod and Arcort. Thick oil stained brown overalls and a tired expression with a thermos of coffee and single crate of the vital parts, each worth thousands of credits. His heart pounded as the gate guard walked up to his wagon and inspected his crate, then went back to him, eyeing him, then the wrapped package next to him in the seat.

Standard protocol was to inspect every package. The guard simply shrugged, then waved him through. How much his cousin had paid the guard, Drex would never know. He was just pulling the wagon into the loading bay, past the shutters, walking and carrying the wrapped bundle containing the pilfered book past late night crews working late. He tried to look casual as he headed up the steps to his cousin's office holding back the nervous sweat.

The other offices were open but empty save for Florence's, which were closed. Drex hesitantly knocked.

Florence opened, dressed in full Syko Military uniform is with a tiger stripe camo pattern and blond hair with hazel eyes waited anxiously in an office full of blueprints, engineering charts, a gun safe, and to his alarm, the presence of the local Ashlan Priestess, an elderly woman with golden hair , dressed in gray work clothes, with a concerned frown. Had Nathan been present, he would have recognized her as the Sorceress of Ossus.

"Florence..." Drex said slowly as he walked in. "I thought we weren't going to tell the Ashlans."

"We haven't..." The Priestess clarified. "I want to make it known that I very 'stringently' objected to every part of this plan, once it was explained to me. You should be thankful your cousin trusts me so much."

Drex frowned. "What good does you knowing do us? All you gotta do is make a peep to Ession and their Jedi show up to drag us off to crucifixion."

"I have certain advantages..." The Priestess replied. "And more importantly, I have experience you do not. If what you are planning goes away, you will need me..."

"We can trust her, Drex. She knows so what's at stake. If we fail, the Commune falls."

"Are you all sure about this?" The Priestess asked sincerely. "Think carefully before you answer. We can all still back out of this. It's not too late."

"Every day we sit on our hands when the solution may be in our reach is another day people think about leaving or risking our independence by asking for outside help..." Drex snapped. "I won't let it happen. We have come too far, struggled too much on this planet to surrender it all."

"If we are going to do this, the vote must be unanimous. No one person in this room should be permitted to act without the consent of the others, either for or against." Florence asserted, displaying the quiet, never say die attitude that had seen him through the years.

"You know my position." Drex stated firmly, folding his arms.

Florence thought a moment. "I'm in favor of this..."

Both looked at the Priestess...

She eyed them a moment.

"Very well..." she sighed. "Present the text to me, and I'll see if I can make sense of it..."

The wind battered the walls outside as Drex unwrapped the text, presenting a red leather book with strange, red vellum like pages. He handed it to her and she began to flip through the pages, the text dealing with the manipulation of nature through the Force.

"Seems Legit so far...I think I can work with this..." The Priestess noted.

"You've dealt with stuff like this before?" Florence asked.

"Yes...but I have been retired for many years now..." The Priestess answered, turning the pages. Her finger fell upon a single page depicting in green luminescent ink a lush forest.

"I still know enough to work what is in this book." she continued.

Drex looked at something silver dangling from her belt. He couldn't glimpse it properly.

"It requires blood from all present. Our life tied to the land itself..." she explained, producing a trio of engraved, double edged gold knives with pearl grips from a nearby bag, along with a ritual bowl and a set of large, carved blue and green Kybers.

"Your palms, please..." The Priestess Spoke.

Drex and Florence both offered their right hands, and she promptly cut each, one knife for each hand. Drex looked at the Priestess in surprise when he saw the glowing green blood from her own hand.

"As the book is not mine, you must recite the words exactly as I say them..." She instructed, directing Florence to bandage their wounds before she directed Drex to place the book on the floor.

The Priestess whispered the words into Drex's ear. It sounded like barely pronounceable gibberish, both when she said it and he said it.

The ground shook, and ugly, burning pentagrams surrounded the room.

The Priestess looked around in alarm.

"What's Wrong?" Florence asked.

The Priestess had her eyes locked on the book as a page of the book, the one with the image of the forest, began to bubble and shudder.

The ink began to turn chalk white and then began to soak into the page, getting reabsorbed, revealing the image of a white, jagged moon beneath.

"No...the book was disguised!" The Priestess shouted.

Hey, before you call bull, remember I DID say she was retired. Anyone can get unguarded.

Force Lightning erupted from the page, slamming into the Priestess, then Florence. Florence was drained first, to Drex's horror, mummifying and turning to dust in seconds. Just as he started to feel the terrible evil in the page start to rush into his own soul to devour it, The Priestess whispered something that broke it's hold, dropping him, though he was still in great pain, coughing violently as he watched The Priestess attempt to contain the evil force in the book, green lightning erupting from her hands as the page that had the moon symbol detach from the book, still erupting Force Lightning even as it began to swell into a humanoid shape...

Confusion played out on Drex's face as it took on the shape of a very orange skinned Twi'Lek woman with a curvy figure, laughing psychotically as her hate leapt out of her body, flooding the soldiers below. Only the Protective Spell the Priestess had whispered kept that hatred from entering him. But he could hear the ones below hollaring in madness as it consumed them from within.

"I am a fool..." The Priestess whispered as their lightning clashed. "A spell on the book to dull the mind of the alert. Clever. Not many know that one."

"A delight! I wasn't expecting to net a peer!" The Twi'lek woman laughed as her flesh bubbled.

A Cylinder fell into the hand of the Priestess, a green blade erupting from it.

"You must not be permitted to escape. I will do as I must..." The Priestess warned, her own flesh starting to bubble.

"Bring it." The Twi'lek woman laughed.

The Priestess turned to a terrified, near petrified Drex.

"GO!" she shouted.

Drex bolted for the door, frantically clambered down steps as the howls of the damned echoed around him.

He saw strange things, terrible things as he fought as maniacally as the others to reach safety. Watched people that had known each other for years violently stab, strangle, or shoot each other or even try to kill him. He ran in a near blind panic, blood splashed on the walls in a twisted cacophony of madness as he somehow reached his wagon, speeding out of the now bloody facility in the dead of night...


"A week later, the blight was gone..." Drex finished, on his second glass of whiskey. "Dunno what happened in there. Never tried going back for the book, of course. And My Wife never noticed it missing..."

"Interesting. But what do you think it has to do with your wife's death?" Nathan asked

"Initially, I didn't think it had anything to do with it...I really did believe it was just some well trained animal." Drex answered.

"Did you really believe that, Mister Starway? Or did you merely want to really believe that?" Nathan questioned in an unfeeling, pitiless manner.

Drex shrugged and sighed.

"I dunno...I...I was facing the end of my livelihood, Nathan! A happy life. One I had struggled years to find any semblance of prior! I fled the decadent city planets and their soul crushing skyscrapers! Their loudness, their cruelty! I busted my ass to get to where I am! And I was supposed to accept that it was all going to be taken from me?! I was supposed to just accept defeat!!??! Accept that it was all for nothing??!!!!" Drex bellowed.

Nathan didn't answer, stricken at how much he understood the depths of Starway's pain and rage.

"But...now that you can confirm the monster is of the Dark Side..." Drex trailed, desperately trying to regain his composure. "...it got me thinking...back to the night my wife died...

"I'm listening..." Nathan assured him...