A Sith Alchemist's Friend's Daughter's Best Friend

[Valik]

Word had recently spread amongst the upper tiers of the Fringe grapevine that a certain celebrity couple had elected to kidnap their own little child. Except, for some odd reason, they didn't wish to make it their apprentice, or experiment on it, or hold it as leverage against their foes. They just wanted to . . . keep it. Help it mature. A foolish notion Valik reasoned, as the best way to make one strong was to put one in a tumultuous environment rather than a nurturing one. Perhaps they wished to brain wash it from an early age until it matured and was able to protect their aged future selves. It was all quite confusing to Valik, with only one thing sticking out in his mind. It was a weakness, one that wouldn't have been allowed in the Old Empire.

Still, Varanin had done a great deal for Valik, and her wife had never wronged Valik. He supposed he should follow social convention. Most of the Fringers had deemed it necessary, or perhaps merely polite, to gather gifts for the new ward. Whether it be toys, gaudy decorations for a room, or minuscule sized clothing or shoes. Valik however, was a much more practical man. A person didn't need uniquely colored shirts or sources of amusement, they needed power, to assert and protect themselves. Sadly, he did not believe the couple would be very appreciative of him giving the youngling a lightsaber, Sith Sword, Sith Amulet or Blaster. Chances were the creature was too small and untrained to even use such gifts properly. Valik clearly had to take an alternate approach. How could he sneak through some murderous way to empower the child without setting off the alarms of her caretakers? Perhaps Valik was approaching the problem from the wrong angle. Perhaps the best way to empower her was not direct, but by bestowing the strength of another.

Gathering a few datapads he began some research on Sithspawn and other various interesting creatures. He had a pet to make, and it was going to be the best damn dog the galaxy had ever seen. After all, when did anything Valik make take second place?

 

[Valik]

Deep into the night Valik sat at his desk, leafing through datapad after datapad on the biology of differing Sithspawn and other biological monstrosities. There was the simple option of domesticating a Tuk'ata, a noble beast who'd served the Sith for quite some time, guarding their Tombs admirably over the last few millenia. Then again, they weren't exactly the most majestic beasts, and had taken on what the old Emperor Tyrin Ardik would refer to as a very mookish quality over the years. Akk Dogs were a strong candidate for alchemization, having a naturally lightsaber resistant hide, great strength, and perhaps even being Force Sensitive. Writing a note down he still continued onwards however, as any true scientist or engineer didn't proceed with the first solution he found, always making sure there wasn't a better option to be had. Continuing on he reasoned Vornskrs would be a fun experiment, able to track and hunt those who used the Force. Next up for creatures in his interest . . . . Nighthunters. Rare creatures due to a natural ability to use the Force to cloak, becoming outlines in the surroundings to a well trained Jedi or Sith, all but undetectable to anyone else. Not to mention the animal's natural speed and lightsaber resistant bones.

As Valik continued his studies his eyes grew weary, and his body craved sleep. And food. Normally he'd just shrug it off and envelope himself in his work, but, well, you could only go so long with food and a couple of hours a sleep a day before your body collapses. So, a bit belligerent as he did so, Valik went through his list of species, trying to make a decision on what he wanted to obtain. Akk Dogs lied in Protectorate Territory, Nighthunters or Maalrass in Republic Territory, and the Vornskr in Mandalorian Territory. The Protectorate and the Fringe were on somewhat tumultuous terms, so Akk Dogs were out. The Mandalorians were on good terms with the Fringe, but generally didn't like scientists or Sith nosing around their most important resource worlds. He could try to sneak onworld, but without borrowing a Seroth-class that'd be difficult, and borrowing a Seroth-class would also arouse suspicion amongst the Fringe. Which left the Republic, which wasn't on the best of terms with the Fringe, but weren't openly hostile. With the world's Maalrass's inhabited being much lower-profile he shouldn't have gotten that much trouble for going where he wished. Plus the creature's abilities were astounding, being the only cloaking creature on his final list. Yes, the Nighthunter would do fine, but first Valik had to hunt his own night, and let sleep take him, restore him. But first, a peanut butter sandwhich. He'd be up all night if he laid in bed with this stomach growling at him all the while. Tomorrow would be setting hyperspace jumps and preparing for the hunt.

 

[Valik]

It was two days hence since Valik had eaten that peanut butter sandwich, on that fateful night where he decided that he wanted to hunt a feline predator that could rip through skin and bones and render itself undetectable. Rather than go out looking for it without any advice Valik decided to speak with the locals about the beast, hopefully gather some info he couldn't find in a book. So on the streets of Iziz he walked, blonde haired and blue eyed after a little alchemic disguising, looking around for anyone who looked like they might have been in the business of beasts. Luckily enough for Valik the planet seemed to have a long-standing tradition of "Beast-Riders" as they were called. Men and women originally exiled from the safe cities of civilization and exiled into the dangerous wilds, where they learned to tame the indigenous fauna to survive. He needed only to find one to question.

Deciding to go with his instincts he headed to one of the less affluent parts of the city, not really the lowtown but definitely not uptown either. His intention was to find the community with just enough money to spend on elaborate beasts, but enough money to be snooty about it. Snooty-money often meant hiring your own hunters, or getting deliveries done privately. Upon arriving at the desired social class he found he was correct, as he often did, with stalls and even stores of Beast-Riders selling rides, lessons, even entire animals to the Onderonians around them. After sizing up a few of them he decided to go to the hardiest looking Beast-Rider he could find, a man who looked like he'd faced death before and come on top. Or a woman, as the case happened to be this time.

"You there, Tourist, come over to Bethany's Beast's for the best quality Drexl Rides you'll find on Onderon." She said, her voice warm, inviting, yet still carrying the low tone of experience.

"You seem to have quite the collection here." Valik complimented, referring to her tethered yet powerful beasts. "I'm a bit curious though, do the Beast-Riders breed the Drexl they find or do they capture them in the wild?"

"Many Beast-Riders get Drexl who've been bred in captivity, but all of the best Drexl are raised by the wilds on Dxun. I personally get all of my beasts from Dxun and break them in before bringing them for use or sale." She said, with no small amount of pride in her voice, perhaps deservedly so in comparison to the men around her.

"I actually came to Onderon looking to find some beasts, but Drexl aren't what I'm looking for." Valik began before the woman responded.

"I also have fine Dalgo, Ruping, and Boma to provide." She responded quickly, sensing a sale if she could provide one.

"Can't say I'm looking for those either. What I'm looking for is far smaller, a predator that is said to become as a shadow in the night." He described, before hearing a snort from the young Beast-Rider.

"You seek the Maalrass? I don't have time to play games searching for dirt on Manaan." She reasoned, before Valik gave a small smile.

"But you can find them can't you? Many say they're extinct, or a legend, but you think they're out there, just rare." He pressed the woman's choice of words, eliciting a sigh.

"Yeah, I can find them, but it's not worth the time or money needed to catch those ghosts."

"I'll pay you three month's wages." Valik retorted quickly, giving the woman pause as she looked him over. Sure it was a tough job, but who couldn't think twice about earning three month's wages in a safari?

"I'll need the money upfront."

"You'll get the money when we leave for the Safari."

" 'We'? Hell no, I'm not playing babysitter to some tourist."

"You won't need to. I'll take care of myself, or I'll die, and you'll get to go home early." He said, and she stopped, the expression on her face making it clear that cogs were turning as she thought on whether or not to agree.

"We leave tomorrow at Fontu port on the third shuttle to Dxun. If you don't have the money I'll hunt you down and beat it out of you." The Beast-Rider said, the expression on her face cold as ice.

"Excellent." Valik replied, before leaving the woman to her day's work and heading back to his ship. He'd have his Nighthunter soon, and perhaps another test subject to boot.

 

[Valik]

Valik found Bethany waiting for her at Fontu Port fifteen minutes before the third shuttle left. She was sporting combat armor, a blaster at either hip, and a large backpack full of supplies, the stock of a rifle just barely reaching out of it. Valik himself had come armed with a few blasters, notably a Gorgon-Web Rifle, along with a few rations in his much smaller pack. He hurried to reach her side while her eyes stared him down saying only one thing, where is the money? As if to answer Valik reached into his pockets as he reached her, pulling out a small box full of high-marked credits. She snatched the credits out of his hand quicker than a Kybuck's sprint on a hot summer day. She examined them furiously, before shrugging as she realized they were legitimate, and she was actually doing this.

"So what's the plan Bethany?" Valik asked, curious as to the local's method.

"Well, it's not gonna be easy. I found one a few years back on a hunt by chance, trying to shoot down a boma only to find something else die right in front of it, so I know they're out there. The way I figure it the only thing they have to eat are Cannoks because they're not big enough to take on a Boma or a Zakkeg. So what you do is you find somewhere you have a great vantage point and you lure as many Cannoks as you can into one place. Build a karking fence around them or dig a pit or something. Then you've gathered up enough of them they'll smell you out and try and get to the Cannoks, only problem is you gotta deal with Boma coming in too. If you have the fire-power or the aim to take those guys down though, you'll be able to find a Maalrass eventually from other stuff getting in." She reasoned as they readied themselves to get into the shuttle.

"I suppose that's a better plan than just running around and hoping to find one." Valik responded, to which Bethany nodded as they entered the shuttle, finding their seats. For the next couple of hours Valik listened as Bethany told him about the 'dangerous wildlife of Dxun', where best to shoot an animal to bring it down, how to look for tracking signs on different animals, and various other 'wildlife' facts that would be useful on their safari. With the moon so close to Onderon however the ride was not a long one. They landed at a small settlement that was little more than the port they landed in, save for a few homes, shuttle docking bays, and walls. Bethany was eager to waste no time and urged them head out into the wilderness as soon as possible, a request Valik honored and encouraged, eager to continue with his acquisition. Heading into the jungle moon walked for five, maybe six kilometers until they found a large clearing, where Bethany dropped her pack and began to open it up.

"We are going to set up camp, and then we are going to dig a pit." She stated factually as he began to set things up. He began to realize that the pit they needed would have to deep and wide to fit the amount of Cannoks they wished to contain. It was going to be a long night, and a longer day tomorrow.

 

[Valik]

The digging took quite a bit shorter than Bethany had expected it too. She was confounded about it actually. Little did she know Valik had cheated, using telekinesis here and there to significantly speed up the process whenever he wasn't under the woman's eye. While skeptical of Valik's seemingly extreme passion for manual labor she was not unappreciative, happy as a lark in fact. A foolish move on her part, not questioning everything odd about her surroundings, but not unexpected. Even a seemingly qualified hunter like herself was prone to take the easy road when it meant less effort, a more logical answer. With more time to spare the due began their hunt early, setting traps and picking up any cannoks they could find. Filling the pit with their find and then with whatever powerfully scented slop Bethany had brought in anticipation of their trap. In a day they'd managed to dig their hole and capture nearly half a dozen cannoks. Efficient, but not enough in Valik's mind. Eager to accelerate the process Valik sneakily put a little sedative in the woman's drink at supper, just enough to ensure she got to sleep a little earlier, and stayed there, not alert of her surroundings.While she succumbed to Slumber he headed into the pit, the cannoks attempting to consume him literally being blown away by his display of the Force. Upon reaching their feed he stuck his hands in the slop, concentrating for a couple of minutes as he changed the substance to have a much more prolific smell, hopefully increasing the radius of the attractant. [SIZE=8pt][/SIZE]

In the morning they had what they needed. It seemed like a herd of cannoks were engorged in the pit, so full the brim that they had almost began eating each other simply to clear room to move around. Bethany, as expected, was appalled, but ecstatic all the same. She had been planning on spending a few weeks gathering digging pits and gathering cannoks before finally finding their prize, but now the time she wouldn't be making in the bazaar was growing slower and slower, making this trip more and more profitable, making three month's wages in a few days rather than a few weeks. To her credit she was somewhat able to contain her excitement, now talking to Valik about how deadly bomas were, and how bad the zakkegs were that hunted the bomas, and how fast the cloaked devils of Maalrass could be. To her, perhaps they were, but she was speaking to man who could make a Terentatek, or even a Leviathan with the time and effort. Such simple beasts did not intimidate him, even if he wasn't playing with the Force or holding a lightsaber. They were just another set of animals to him, another set of test subjects. Another opportunity.

Opportunity was quick to come, with Boma's spreading towards them as if a wildfire had consumed the Dxun forests. There was a quick barrage of shots, Valik shooting left, right, center, aiming for legs and skulls, killing or debilitating as he could. Bethany was admittedly a better shot, taking down more than her fair share of the beasts. They continued shooting the incoming beasts for what seemed like a couple of hours before the beasts subsided, and the beast-killing combo took the time to re-load and re-fuel, eagerly consuming some ration bars. The rest lasted only a few hours before the Boma's returned, the shaking ground giving advance warning to their coming. Again they shot at eye, knee, and ankle, taking down the beasts. It was awfully monotonous work, until out of the corner out of his eye he spotted a shadow, and outline that shouldn't have been there.

Thinking fast he switched over to his Gorgon Web Rifle and shot at the beast, it's electrical shock making the maalrass cry out in pain. A split second later he was jumped from the right, turning to find nothing on top of him, yet feeling the claws and hearing the snarls. He threw the beast off with a shot of telekinesis before taking his Gorgon and encasing the creature in stokhli fluid. He then gave a signal and the Bethany, prompting her to head away from the Cannoks trap and towards his two captures. They let the Boma's pass freely to their cannok dinner, but shot all who came near the two Maalrass. A simple sign that beasts soon understood, diverting their path away from the two hunters. In another few moments they were gone, leaving Valik and Bethany with only their prey.

"Well, that went smoother than I expected. Only took us three days to find the beasts." Bethany said as she caged the two creatures, readying them for transport.

"Yes. It's such a shame that we lost that one girl." He said, and Bethany, though dull before, was sharp as a tack now, raising her blaster at him immediately. She fired a shot only a second too late, as Valik pushed her gun to the side, it firing harmlessly to his right. He had no lightsaber on his person, no infinitely sharp sith sword on his belt. But he had skill in Alchemy, and unclipped fingernails. He combined the two to form an impromptu weapon, with unchallenged lethality, though quite short range. They sliced through Bethany's combat armor faster than a bonesaw. Blood covered his fingers from the cut, and his hands from it leaking through her spittle. A few cuts more and she was dead, lying on the forest looking the victim of a brutal Boma attack. The next hour was spent using Art of the Small to change the blood on his hands and clothes into water, removing all evidence of stains.

Valik had just murdered a woman in order to cover up who he was while he made a pet for a little girl. He wondered whether or not he'd tell that story at the girl's graduation.

 

[Valik]

Valik garnered many strange looks as people looked at his two cages, both seemingly empty yet very full, with live Maalrass their captives. They'd watch in amazement as he'd put a strip of meat in there and it would disappear. The fools thought him a magician, or some other man with simple parlor tricks. The fools. It astounded Valik how little the average man had in their senses. How willing they were not to explore that which they didn't understand. Why anyone would choose to live such a mundane life was beyond him.

Other then that the trip back to Valik's ship was uneventful. Once at his ship he put the two, male and female luckily enough, in a large cage encasing the both of them. He then put on a rebreather and put out a carton of Lotus Sticks, lighting them up. He wasn't sure if Zeltron Pheromones would have the same effect on semi-sentients as it did on sentients, but he was fairly certain it'd have the intended effect. From there he went to the ships controls and put up a hyperspace course back home. He'd hit the bed and hopefully sleep the rest of the way back. Some nice sleep without having anybody watch his back would be excellent.

Except, for some reason, it wasn't. Valik awoke two hours later, when he knew he had at least another eight before he arrived home. That seemed . . . impossible. Valik was not a heavy sleeper, but hyperspace was one place he knew no one could catch him. He'd always slept well there. He tried to roll back into his bed but couldn't return to sleep. Something was wrong. Something had to be wrong. He prowled around the ship, hunting for something wrong. By the looks of it the two maalrass had done their business, and we now resting. A good sign, but not what he

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEUOV_ODo_0

A shrill telepathic shriek echoed in Valik's mind. Valik collapsed at his feet, catching his fall with his forearms. The two Maalrass's, seemingly able to hear the crys were now awake, barking and hissing in protest. Valik stood to his feet as quickly as he could manage before he spotted the image of a floating, skeletal image before him. It lashed out with powerful claws, Valik's PDA activating but still being penetrated, leaving a trail of bleeding scars on chest rather than cutting through his ribcage. He let out a push forward and the creature flew backwards through the cages behind it. It was able to rip him to bits, yet maintained an ability to to become incorporeal. Fascinating.

Valik's moment of wonder was soon struck to terror as the creature began moving towards his Maalrass captives. Thinking fast he poured out a flurry of lightning, hitting the floating creature with energy rather than physical force. It cried out in terror, before coming back to Valik. He attempted a second shock but was too slow, the creature came at him and thrust it's claws into Valik's underbelly. Blood covered the semi-corporeal fingers of the beast as it raised another hand, going for a kill shot. A kill shot it wouldn't get, as Valik poured in all of the electrical might he could muster. The creatures cried out in pain, before finally the cries stopped and the creature slinked to the ground, presumably expired. Valik shocked the creature once again for good measure, no more surprises.

The creature was one of the more interesting he'd encountered, and he wished desperately to study it, but there was only problem. Valik was losing a lot of blood. Far too much blood. He needed to get medical attention, and quick. Which meant Valik would have to self operate in the depths of hyperspace. No pressure right?

 

[Valik]

There was blood on Valik's chest, his shirt, his pants, his hands, the floor, blood fething everywhere. Valik wasn't one to squirm at blood, especially considering how much of it he took from others, but the sheer amount of the thick red ooze around him was more than a little disconcerting. As he arrived at his ships medical lab he bemoaned the fact that he was more prepared for dissection rather than healing. He could simply bandage it up, but the creature had dug deep into his stomach. He was likely bleeding internally. Deciding he needed a closer look, or feel in this case, he took his fingers and began to dig into the wounds where the creature had stabbed his stomach, matching finger per finger.


"Aaarrrrrraaaaggghhhhhh". He screamed as he dug in, eventually finding what felt like a cut artery, and perhaps a hole in his stomach. He pulled his fingers out quickly as he could, now stained a deep red from even more exposure to blood. He hadn't bothered to carry bacta on his ship due to expenses and a seemingly easy mission. A foresight he'd not repeat. He needed something to bind his wounds, something to patch him together. He didn't really have the equipment or ability to sew up his stomach, it'd require sedatives that dulled him to pain but didn't affect his mental acuity or tactile precision. Creating such a sedative wasn't outside Valik's intelligence, but it was outside of his timeframe. He needed something quicker, something he just slap on to stop the bleeding, then he could deal with the more precise fixing of himself. Damn it, I think I have everything I need and then something attacks me from fething hyperspace. Valik thought to himself, before abandoning his self-loathing and using his thoughts for something productive, finding a solution. Forget about what I don't have, what do I have? The alchemist thought to himself. Scalpels, blood monitoring tools, a couple test subjects . . .

Valik rushed over to the cage where the two Maalrass hadn't yet fallen back to sleep, both prowling around the dead creature that had attacked them, yet unable to bypass the cage which separated them from it. Valik opened the cage and the two Maalrass pounced at their captor, Valik waved a hand and threw them both back, turning them so their undersides were visible. Male and female more easily identified. Valik then picked up the male with the Force and brought it towards him, still snarling and attacking despite it's levitating state. The cage door then flew, just stopping the pouncing Maalrass for having a chance at a dying meal.
Concentrating as fiercely as his injured body would allow he carried the Maalrass to the lab, before putting it in a smaller cage, then hitting it with a sedative, putting it out cold. Taking a scalpel he made an incision about three centimeters deep, then cut three centimeters wide and three centimeters long, before plucking out the piece of skin and putting a bandage on the creature. From there he cut the .03^3m volume cube of skin into smaller fold, then put one on each finger. He looked at his finger for a moment, taking four deep breaths before sticking his fingers back into his wounds.

"AAAAAAARRRGGGGGGGHHHHH" He wailed in pain, but forced himself to remain conscious through a combination of the Force and sheer willpower. His options were to fight the pain and stay alive or get knocked out and die. An easier choice than the pain would imply. Once he could feel the hole in his stomach, the tear in his arterie he placed the maalrass skin atop it and began an alchemy like he'd never done before. Molding two pieces of skin together. It was hard, digging into his abs while focusing the Force as both an alchemical solution and a way to keep himself conscious, not to mention the energy that he lost from simply screaming. But it had to be fixed, and there were no other viable options at this point. Once he'd fixed those up he pulled his hands out of his stomach, slowly, then did the same to his outer wounds, patching them up with skin as to stop the bleeding. Afterwards he took some bandages and put them over his chest, filled with cuts from a much lighter slash. Cuts that the bandages he had would work on.

The bleeding had stopped, but something felt . . . wrong. Valik was woozy, tired, out of breath. He supposed that was typical after what he'd just accomplished but . . . he needed to be sure. So he fired up a datapad to conduct a medical scan, only to find what he had already suspected. Valik was too later. He'd lost too much blood. He needed a blood transfusion, and quickly. Taking some needles he began to set up a transfusion with the only other thing that had blood in the room. The Maalrass. Valik's plan was desperate, but so was his situation. This had to work.

As the Transfusion was set up Valik first did a scan on the Maalrass's blood, having a datapad in front of him display all of the chemical information. Closing his eyes he focused on the Maalrass's blood, visualizing it at an atomic level. He pressed a button on the datapad and the transfusion began, as did Valik's mind, using Art of the Small to change the blood from the semi-sentient's form to be compatible with his own. It was a slow process, a difficult one, but somehow his energy didn't give. Somehow his body hadn't given in yet, he hadn't had a violent reaction to the blood. It had to be working, it just had to be.

Valik's concentration and alteration lasted for about another thirty minutes when his energy in the Force was gone. Like a man who'd been throwing weights around all day his body and mind were sore, everywhere, and even if his process wasn't working, even if it was working and he still needed more blood, he could no longer focus to make the necessary changes. So he put a clamp on the surgical tubing connecting him and Maalrass and disconnected himself, putting a bandage over the hole in the soft of his arm, before doing the same to the male Maalrass, despite it's unlikely chances of survival. Once complete he headed over to his quarters and collapsed upon the bed. He'd awaken in the morning or he wouldn't, but there was nothing more that he could do now.

 

[Valik]

Valik awoke seven hours later to find that he was sore, groggy, and covered in blood, but alive. He rose slowly, grunting as his body protested. After leaving the room he soon found that he was not the only thing covered in blood, his lab, tables, and floors being absolutely slathered in it. Evidence of his existence. It would need to removed before he docked. Going through his lab he took a few beakers, vials, and solutions and began mixing them, and put up a timer. He'd add some finishing touches once it was done brewing, but for now he had one task at hand. Discovering what it was that had attacked him, and how.

Heading to the bridge Valik began running his security footage on the entrances for the past 120 hours. He saw himself leave to head into Iziz, then a whole lot of nothing, and then . . . him returning with the Maalrass's in tow. A bit confused Valik ran the tape again, looking more carefully to try and spot the creature heading in, but found nothing. The chances of it being in the ship before he went to Iziz were nominal at best, the creature had exhibited no signs of intelligence enough to wait and plan, only attack. It couldn't have entered the ship while it was in hyperspace could it? Valik thought to himself. Then again, the beast seemed to be able to phase in and out of solidity at a glance. If I have bent physics and chemistry to my whim with alchemy . . .

Valik didn't bother finishing the thought, instead pulling up a few more holomonitors and running all footage from the past eleven hours, a little before he arrived on the ship. It took a bit of re-watching but Valik finally found it first arrive, mere minutes before he awoke from his sleep. Contrary to all common convention it simply seemed to arrive on the ship. No opening of doors, no phasing through walls, it simply wasn't, then it was. He had never heard or such a manifestation. He needed to know more.

Ding! Valik heard the timer in his lab ring throughout the ship. He'd deal with the creature later, he had some alchemy to do for now. Heading over to the lab he heard a soft whimper as he entered the room, looking over to see the pale, sickly Maalrass male. After taking two, maybe even three pints of blood from the creature it was a wonder it had even survived this long. Feeling a bit merciful he reached out in the Force and snapped the creature's neck, ending it 's pain. He didn't have blood to give the creature without risking the health of the more important female, and he could use the dead male's cells to synthesize an artificial ensemination if he needed to. There was no reason to keep it suffering like that.

Whimper-free the Sith Alchemist turned to the solution he had made, then began concentrating on the liquid, changing it's properties but remaining extremely careful not to touch it. Once he believed he was done he took a knife and held it, and his finger over the solution before inflicting a mild cut on his finger. He then squeezed the finger until the blood dropped into the solution, eliciting a rise of steam and echoing a sizzling sound. Valik smiled. The blood had completely dissolved.

Taking the pot he took it around the ship, pouring it here, there, and everywhere and watching his blood literally melt away. It was a soothing feeling, watching one's biological fingerprint be removed from the premises. He could dump the ship now, even give it away and nobody would be able to track him from it. Well, psychometrists would, but there was no stopping them. Perhaps he'd make an amulet to remedy that later.

 

[Valik]

With the blood disposed of and Valik's mark eroded he finally felt comfortable getting on-world and heading to his lab. He had been in orbit of Firrere, a sparsely populated and civilized world, perfect for planting a hidden lab deep in the countryside. Docking was rather simple, the Firreren port officials giving him little trouble after collecting their small fee. Once that was out of the way it was a simple matter of loading up the two expired creatures and the living female Maalrass onto a heavy speeder and driving into the wilderness.

It took about an hour and a half before Valik arrived at his lab, a bunker hidden into a rocky hill. After going through a few DNA scanners the door opened and he headed inside, bringing his specimens inside and prepping them for storage. The female Maalrass went to a cage, the male on ice, and the other creature headed towards the examination table. It was finally time to identify this creature.

A quick eval indicated the creature, despite having a semi-sentient intelligence at best, definitely had the Midi-Chlorian count to be considered Force Sensitive. That would explain the ear-splattering scream he heard. A telepathic attack using a shrill scream as it's base, adding a mild fear effect and then kicking up the volume would be quite the effective tool for a hunter. Force User, telepathic scream, semi-corporeal phasing ability, gaunt skeletal-like frame, hair that seemed to float, even though they weren't in space anymore. Those were pretty unique qualities, and hopefully enough information for Valik to properly identify.

For the next hour Valik sat in front of a terminal, perusing all sorts of obscure biological database, hoping to find something to identify the creature but coming up short. He then constructed an algorithim to search the holonet for any relevant information. He explored one page, then another, then another, before finding a site based on old spacer legends, this page being on a creature called a Starweird. Comes into ships on hyperspace, terrorizes men with a deafening cry, and kills them with their piercing claws. Sounded familiar enough. As he continued to read differing spacer's responses he found one line that gave him worry.

"Leave no trace of their existence after death."

Which meant he'd either somehow killed the Starweird unlike anyone ever had before, or . . .

Valik put on his PDA and headed over to the strapped down creature and took out a scalpel. With the scalpel in one hand and lightning ready in the other he began to cut down the starweird's face, before it's eyes curled groggily and Valik saw for a moment the recognition of the now waking creature. His hand sunk into the starweird as it lost it's corporeal form and sunk into the the table. Lightning poured from Valik's hands, reaching the Starweird before Valik was thrown back by the Force, the creature's hand outstretched.

Then the lightning came, but not from the Sith. The creature's ability in the Force was being shown to be far more than simple mental screams. Expecting the attack Valik's PDA activated, bringing up a protective field against the creature's lightning. Valik returned the electricity with his own, making the creature emit a shrill, but not piercing cry, before bumping into the wall.

Electricity makes it solid Valik mused, wavering his concentration for a moment, just enough for the starweird to break free. It rushed at him with uncanny speed, still floating just above the ground in it's unique fashion before slashing at Valik. His PDA absorbed most of the blow, but just got through, re-ripping up his bandaged chest. Valik threw his right palm forward in response, pushing the beast away before his left threw another volley of lightning. Thinking quick he threw his lightsaber with his right hand and ignited it with the force, activating through the Starweird's chest.

The next moment was something Valik couldn't really explain. The starweird was simply gone. No corpse, no body parts, no blood, simply gone without a trace. While Valik's curiosity was perhaps his greatest weakness he had no desire to meet one of those creatures again. Once was more than enough.

 

[Valik]

After re-bandaging Valik's torn chest he decided it was high time to get to work. The Starweird was gone, hopefully anyways. On one hand the rumors stated that it was only seen in space or hyperspace, but on the other it simply manifested out of nowhere. Chances were the beings traveled through hyperspace and had issues traveling to places with gravity wells under their own will, but he didn't have enough data, and recent exposures had made him a bit paranoid about it. In any case, he could not predict when a Starweird would appear so his best course of action was to wear a PDA at all times. Offer him protection from a first strike.



In anycase Valik headed over to the female Maalrass, did a couple of tests and found that the creature was indeed pregnant, the first thing that had gone his way since he got on the ship to head back home. That would make things much easier, as Valik could alter the still-forming creature, then accelerate the gestation process and boom. Sithspawn puppy ready to go, much easier than shaping an already developed being. The only question was, how to enhance it? The Maalrass had lightsaber resistant bones, the ability to cloak, but what else could a potential guard dog use?



Then it came to Valik. The Starweird. Even amongst force users and Sithspawn it's abilities were fantastic, unlike any he'd ever seen. And he'd managed to run a live tissue sample through analysis. He had the medical data on the creature, not to mention the firsthand experience of dealing with it and it's abilities in not one, but two fights. The Maalrass were already a Force-sensitive species, as their cloak was a manifestation of photo-kinesis, so they should have the potential to adapt the Starweird's other skills.

Heading over to his terminal Valik examined the data he'd pulled from the tissue sample earlier, though the tissue sample itself was oddly, but not unexpectedly, disappeared. His digital notes however, had not disappeared, allowing him to examine the flow of the creature's biology, to see how the interactions of the starweird's midi-chlorians provoked reactions. For the next five hours Valik merely stared at the screen, ran differing analysis programs, and made his notes, theorizing the most likely explanations on why and how the Starweird's abilities manifested. Valik had to admit it was difficult, but nothing was outside of his intelligence and expertise. All he needed was time, and he had all the time he needed.

Valik's next move was to head over to the pregnant Maalrass. Putting the beast under a few sedatives he then opened 'er up, allowing him access to the womb. From there he changed the to-be-baby Maalrass's form, making it destined to grow larger, to have a howl that echoed throughout a man's mind, to have the ability to change whether one took a corporeal form or not, and one added thing, irrespective of Maalrass or Starweird. A unique ability that only this creature would have, at least as far as household pets went. The ability to drain the life of one's foes, A rare force power amongst the Sith, only able to truly learned by experiencing it first hand. The ability Valik was instilling in this wolf of a hound would pale in comparison to the Force Drain of say, Velok the Jen'ari, or the Reyven Samoth of old, but it would be quite the deterrent and surprise for any would-be child snatchers.

Once all that was done Valik sealed the Maalrass back up, carefully using Sith Alchemy to stitch the creature back together at an efficiency far beyond that of a simple sewing stitch. From there it was just a matter of using a combination of chemicals and the Force to accelerate the Maalrass's gestation process, using the process used to accelerate the growth of clones as a basis. It was hellacious for the mother, but her life was unimportant. He didn't have to tell the little girl the puppy's growth and creation killed both her parents, so he simply wouldn't.

A few weeks later the baby was born, though it's mother was killed in the birthing process. An acceptable loss. His creation was at hand. Now all he had to do was dust it off a little and give it a new home.