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cursedbeasts · 2 months ago

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Bestia's Wrath Chapter 18: Stranded

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Summary:

Another long one, this chapter covers the two kotet chapters that take place on Iokath. Bestia has had enough of these motherfucking droids on this motherfucking planet.

Beginning Notes:

Music for Bestia and Styrak exploring the city: Austin, Atlantis - Homestuck OST

Bestia stared into a bright blank sky framed by buildings so overgrown they were completely green. The sky was far too bright, and it hurt her eyes to look for too long. She sat up and looked around instead, her eyes taking a while to get used to the shade. She was on a balcony, a wall and a passage leading inside a building on one side, and a view of a city on the other. Moss and vines covered everything. She heard a noise and turned her head to see her husband stirring a few feet away. Her shoulder stung.

A humming noise drew Bestia's attention, and she stood up and turned around, grasping for her lightsaber. A black vaguely rhombic shape floated before her. A single glowing circle was etched into the middle of the shape, with lines of circuitry going up and down from it. It made a beeping sound at Bestia.

"Um...hello." Bestia said, unsure if the thing could understand her.

So far, it hasn't shown any hostility, so Bestia slowly let go of her lightsabers. The droid beeped again, and its eye changed colors from red to green. A green stripe moved up and down Bestia's body, and the droid chirped, and spat out a small flat patch. Bestia caught and examined it. The droid bounced, and a green dot appeared pointing at a cut on Bestia's shoulder.

"Oh!" She said, "For my shoulder?"

The droid bounced again. Bestia smiled at it, and applied the patch to her shoulder. The cut stopped hurting right away.

"Thank you."

Styrak slowly rose to his feet in Bestia's peripheral vision. He immediately fixed the droid with a wary look.

"I made a friend!" Bestia grinned. "It gave me a kolto patch."

Styrak's shoulders relaxed a bit.

"Your tendency to try and bond with every beast and droid you meet is quite charming." He said, giving her a crooked but genuine smile.

The droid floated over to Styrak, and repeated the scan process. At the end, it made a noise that sounded a lot like "all good!". It backed off when shadow wings unfurled from behind Styrak's back.

"I'll fly up and scout the area."

"Look for the others!"

"Will do."

With a few powerful beats of his wings, Styrak was high up in the air. A decaying city sprawled out below. It appeared abandoned, and nature had reclaimed it almost completely. Beyond, Styrak saw a transparent shimmering white barrier. And beyond that, immense buildings and spires that disappeared into the distance. Among them were huge domes that seemed to hold entire forests inside. He looked down, and saw movement among the ruins: small shapes were walking around and methodically burning away the vegetation.

A blaster bolt flew past him, and he spun around. Several small droids floated before him. They were different from the one Bestia befriended, more box-like in shape with chains hanging from the underside.

"TRESPASSER!" one of them screeched.

Styrak sneered, raised a hand, and blasted all three of them with lightning. They fell to the surface below, and Styrak dove back down to the balcony.

"We are inside an energy dome, not far from the edge."

"Where there's an edge there's probably an exit of some kind."

"I agree. Also, this place is crawling with droids."

The two Dread Masters left the balcony through the tunnel in the wall. They didn't have to go far before meeting a group of droids armed with flamethrowers. Bestia rolled her eyes. Why did it always have to be droids these days? Couldn't she have something organic and capable of fear to scare off? You know, as a treat?

Styrak fell behind, trying to rein in the fear that rose inside him. Bestia, however, charged forward before the droids had time to react. She decapitated one, and used the Force to direct another's flamethrower towards its friends. A third aimed at her, but a bolt of lightning sent it crumpling onto the ground. Bestia looked over, and saw Styrak standing there, with a hand extended towards the droids. He looked somewhat gray, but had a determined snarl on his face. Bestia could sense his fear. Styrak's Force storm dealt with the remaining droids as Bestia jumped out of the way.

Styrak let out a sigh of relief when the last droid fell. On an objective level, he knew his pyrophobia was the result of the trauma sustained when he died on Darvannis. He knew he had to be patient with himself, and work slowly towards overcoming that fear. Still, it made him feel weak. He remembered freezing up when Oricon went up in flames, and Rammas dragging him along towards a shuttle. He was grateful, but it also felt like a disgrace. Bestia seemed to sense his doubts.

"You feel weak for being afraid?"

Styrak nodded.

"I said it many times before, and I'll say it again: you're not weak. You're not a disgrace. You're doing your best, and I'm proud of you."

She carefully wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

"Fear is normal. Being afraid of something that has hurt you this much is normal."

Styrak hummed in agreement. This conversation had happened many times before, and it always made him feel better. He nuzzled Bestia's head gently to show his appreciation.

The two walked on. The tunnel led out onto an empty street. Buildings crowded the sides, so covered with vines and other plants that Bestia couldn't tell if they once were offices or apartment buildings or something else entirely. She noticed a lumpy shape ahead, and walked over to it. She pulled the plants away until a still intact plexiglass pane was revealed, and Bestia recognised the lump as an abandoned hovercar.

"I wonder what happened here." She murmured. Styrak shrugged to her side.

"Either war or disease. You know, the usual."

"Yeah. The usual."

The street was wide, and led up to a wall. Bestia followed it upward with her eyes until she couldn't crane her neck up anymore. High up, the wall gave way to a force field. This must have been the border Styrak had mentioned. More droids patrolled the road, and stood around an open gate at its end. The two Sith made quick work of them.

As soon as Bestia and Styrak passed the gate, the plants stopped abruptly, giving way to clean hexagonal tiles. They emerged onto a walkway leading up to a platform with an odd monument on it, shaped somewhat like the friendly droid from before, and a computer console. Bestia approached it cautiously. It must've had some sort of motion sensor, because a hologram came to life. A bald dark-skinned human looked impassively down at the two Dread Masters. He stuttered out an error-riddled greeting.

"What is this place?" Bestia asked.

"This is Selruvian biome, sector eight thousand twenty two of the engineered world designated Iokath."

"That's nice." Bestia said. She had no idea what the hologram just said, other than the planet's name. "How do I leave?"

She heard footsteps on metal, and turned around to see Torian, the young Mandalorian. Styrak bristled a little at the human approaching them.

"Oh hey, Commander."

Bestia nodded.

"You seem very unphased by the situation." She commented.

"I've seen my share of weird things." Torian shrugged.

Bestia turned to ask the hologram for more information, but it was gone. The din of blasterfire and lightsabers hitting metal drew Bestia's attention. She crept towards the edge of the platform. A group of large tripod gold and silver droids were attacking humans in golden armour. She recognised the armor: knights of Zakuul. The two groups were too busy fighting, and Bestia motioned Torian and Styrak to quietly move past. As they did so, they watched the Knights and the droids slowly destroy each other, until there was no one left: the last Knight took off the last droid's head in their final moments.

"I wonder why we've been dumped here? Some kind of battle royale thing?" Torian mused.

"Could be. These guys clearly weren't winning."

Bestia's communicator beeped. She grabbed it hastily, afraid the sound would draw unwanted attention. It was Theron.

"Are you having the same creepy day as I am?"

"Probably. We found Torian. There were Knights of Zakuul and some pissed off droids but they killed each other. Where are you?"

"I found some sort of temple or museum." He was unsure. "Not as exciting, but safe enough. I'll send you the coordinates."

"If you can reach the others, gather them there as well."

"Will do. Keep an eye out for Vaylin. She was on the Gravestone with us."

Bestia nodded, and pulled up a map. It took a while for it to load due to the unfamiliar environment and nonexistent Holonet connection. Most of it was empty, but the coordinates Theron sent weren't that far away.

"Let's get going before more of those droids get on our case."

***

Rammas awoke in a featureless metal room. Vaylin was already up, pacing back and forth like a caged animal, and tearing at the wall panels with the Force. Judging by the state of the walls, she's been at it for a while. Rammas watched her silently until she felt the Pureblood's gaze and wheeled around.

"The fuck are you staring at, you bug eyed little freak?!"

Rammas rolled her eyes. Here we go again, with the insults. If she had a credit for every time someone made fun of her appearance, she'd be wealthier than the Hutts. People, especially humans and fellow Purebloods, usually went for her eyes, or her odd limbs and gait. She was used to it, and had learned to not let her annoyance show. It was a skill she picked up back on Korriban. The kids who insulted her all mysteriously went missing soon after.

"That's about the least creative insult I heard."

"Shut up and help me get those tiles off. I'm getting out of here, and I guess I'm getting you out because clearly your Alliance isn't coming for you."

"Nope."

"What?!"

"Should have asked nicely without insulting me."

"I could kill you right now."

"Same mere. If I wanted, you'd be dead where you stand."

"Yeah?"

"Do you want to die of a heart attack while curled up in a pile of your own shit, while witnessing the worst moments of your life on repeat and magnified?"

"If you're referring to what the Outlander did to me, I'm not impressed." Despite Vaylin trying to sound tough, Rammas saw her shiver. She returned to savaging the walls. For a moment, Rammas considered simply strangling her.

"They trust me enough to let me fend for myself. I'm not a child, even if people keep thinking I'm much younger than I look. For now, you're my ticket out of here so yes, I might help with the walls." Rammas threw her hands up in the air.

"And you're my meat shield. Or at least a meat shield for my shins." Vaylin snapped.

"Short jokes? Really?"

Vaylin groaned, but decided to turn her rage towards the walls. She screamed, and her hands contorted into claws. More tiles began tearing off of them, crumpled into a massive floating ball. Rammas kept sitting a few feet away, doing absolutely nothing. She wasn't that good with telekinesis anyway, and was content with Vaylin doing all the work.

Suddenly, there was a flash of blue light to the side. A man appeared by the far wall, another human, pale and gray-eyed. His head was shaved almost bald, and he wore a black tunic, pants, and boots. His face was somewhat familiar, but Rammas couldn't place it. She reached out with the Force, but couldn't sense anything. The man ignored her, and stepped towards Vaylin, who turned around and stood there, eyes wide.

***

The map failed to account for the planetary defences. Laser beams danced across the plaza Bestia, Torian, and Styrak emerged onto, almost singing the latter's robe. Bestia grumbled, and followed the nearest pair of laser beams with her eyes to the source. She then threw her lightsaber at it. Torian and Styrak caught on quickly, and started taking out the emitters, allowing the group safe passage.

This was just the first of their adventures. Beyond the plaza was a bridge, and a group of Zakuul Knights was trapped there. A fight broke out: Torian shot at the knights, Styrak brought down a small-scale Force-storm, and Bestia jumped into the fray and hacked and slashed at her enemies. In the end, Torian and the Dread Masters stood victorious.

There were more laser traps ahead, but the three dealt with them quickly. Eventually they made it to the coordinates. A large structure towered in front of them, the main doors shut.

"This should be the place." Bestia muttered.

"Over here!" A whisper came from behind a pillar. A familiar pointy-haired head peaked out. Bestia and the group jogged over, and found Theron crouching by a side entrance.

"Can't really risk being seen." He said as he led them inside. "The others are here, including your Dread Master friends. Calphayus didn't want to leave the greenhouse I found him in."

"Sounds like him." Bestia chuckled. "Is everyone okay?"

"Shaken up, but alright."

"Have you found Rammas by any chance? Vaylin had her hostage, but maybe they got separated by whatever sent us here?"

Theron shook his head.

"Afraid not. Haven't found the Gravestone either, yet."

Bestia sighed. Torian stayed behind to keep watch at the entrance, and Bestia and Styrak emerged into the main room. It was hexagonal, as everything seemed to be on this planet. A bigger version of the tech spire from before sat on a raised platform in the middle. Bestia saw Brontes and a short Twi'lek woman huddled together at the console.

"Vette and Brontes seem to be onto something helpful here."

Bestia let out a relieved sigh upon seeing that Tyrans and Calphayus were here as well. Tyrans paced around, while Calphayus sat leaning against a wall, looking dejected. Tyrans waved at Bestia. She nodded at him.

"Have you found the Gravestone?"

Theron shook his head.

"I scanned for it, and Brontes did as well. So far, nothing."

"Scorpio said that this planet is home to the Gravestone. I wonder if we can just find a replacement."

"The planet is vast. Even my scans can only get so far." Brontes said. "I do believe one of those technological monuments may prove helpful."

"Yeah!" Despite everything, Vette sounded excited. "Come here and hear what this thing has to say!"

Bestia clambered up to where the unlikely duo stood. Vette was hunched over the console. Brontes had one of her tentacles plugged into a port. A holo appeared of the entity from before. This time, however, his speech contained no glitches and errors. His name was Aries. Upon some prompting from Vette, Aries told them of the weapons program that Iokath ran on surrounding worlds. Iokath would send out various highly advanced weapons, and see how the local populations fared. Among those weapons were the Eternal Fleet, the Gravestone, Scorpio, and the Gemini droids.

"Are YOU a weapon?" Brontes asked.

"I am simply here to gather and spread information, thank you for asking." Aries said politely, before suddenly glitching out. Vette raised her hands in the air.

"Don't look at me, I didn't touch anything."

"I believe it wasn't my doing either." Brontes withdrew the tentacle from the port, just in case.

"Are you free?" The voice made Bestia sneer and Brontes frown. "Are you free?"

"Thexan? But… you're dead. Arcann killed you years ago!"

Ah, so this was Vaylin's brother, and Arcann's twin. Rammas had overheard his name mentioned by Cael and Senya before. It also explained why his face was familiar. Something was still off about this Force Ghost. Rammas couldn't sense him. Yet, she decided to stay silent and simply watch.

"I'm here now." The man's voice lacked discernible emotion, but Vaylin didn't seem to catch onto it yet. "You are so powerful. The things you can do…"

"You used to visit my cage. You brought gifts every time."

Something stirred inside Rammas's memory, in the section that was barred to her for some reason. She remembered the flashback she had, of a room with energy walls. Another memory fragment came up, of her holding a small whittled tooka cat in her much smaller hands.

Thexan didn't reply. In fact, he didn't react at all. Odd, Rammas thought. Force Ghosts generally remembered events of their lifetime. Force Ghosts could express emotions too. Vaylin slowly reached out towards him.

"Why can't I feel you?"

"Because he's a fake." Rammas said. "I'm sorry, but this isn't your brother."

***

Bestia bristled and snarled at the droid, but Brontes raised a hand.

“My colleague here is understandably angry with you. What do you have to say for yourself?”

“TURN ON YOUR LOCATION, I JUST WANT TO TALK.” Bestia cut in.

“I would, despite the threats. But I am afraid I do not know it. I am as much a prisoner as you are. What I do know is that we are test subjects, and if we do not work together, we will die here.”

Bestia huffed.

“I’d rather destroy the whole planet.”

Brontes let out a tired sigh.

“I believe we may be under greater threat than Scorpio, and working with her is more beneficial to our situation than working against her.”

Scorpio nodded. “I am glad to learn that the Dread Masters aren’t all emotionally driven brutes.”

“I will take that as a compliment.” Brontes said, while Bestia started seething again.

Scorpio disappeared, and at the same time something exploded outside. Theron came running up the stairs towards the platform.

“Please tell me I can go destroy something, because I am PISSED.” Bestia growled.

A blaster bolt zapped past her shoulder and hit the wall behind her. Bestia's eyes darted around, locating the source within moments. She roared, and charged towards the droids pouring into the chamber.

"There goes Bestia…" Brontes sighed.

Styrak flew up to the platform, and together, he and Brontes rained lightning on the enemy. Vette wedged herself between the Dread Masters, using her blaster to take out what the lightning didn't reach. Calphayus suddenly appeared in the middle of a group of droids, his cyan lightsaber cleaving them in half. He faded out before the others could zero in on his location.

Theron crept along the wall towards the entrance. Droids kept coming, and Bestia now stood on a considerable pile of them. Theron aimed his blaster at the controls and fired. An emergency force field came on, cutting off the tide of droids.

“This should keep us safe for now.”

“I can’t stay here forever. Vaylin and Zakuul aren’t gonna destroy themselves.” Bestia said as she hopped down from the giant pile of scrap metal.

A loud scraping noise resonated through the room, and Bestia spun around, lightsabers ready to strike. She saw a section of the wall lift upwards, revealing a passage. Brontes floated down from the platform to examine it.

“You will not have to. Vette found us an exit.” She turned to the Twi’lek. “Your proficiency with ancient and unfamiliar technologies is outstanding. Would you like a spot among my Dread Guards?”

“Uhhh…” Vette stammered, thinking. “Do I get time to think?”

“As you wish. My offer will stand as long as it needs to.”

Vette side eyed Brontes, then jogged down the stairs towards Bestia.

"Let's check out the passage, shall we?"

"Yeah, let's go."

Bestia walked briskly into the newly opened tunnel. Vette scampered after her.

“I was trying to get Aries back online when the door opened. You’re not gonna try to recruit me into the Dread Guard as well, are you?”

“Nope. Well, unless you wish to join.”

The passage was lit by faint blue lights installed along the floor. Massive clusters of cables hung on the walls. Bestia and Vette emerged into a room with a huge shaft in the center. Unlike the passages, the lights here were green and murky. In the center of the pit sat another terminal. Vette ran to the edge of the pit and pointed towards it excitedly.

"Hey, look! Another of these techno-thingies. I could try connecting to Aries again from here."

“Let’s find a way across, then.”

They slowly walked around the pit, examining everything. Soon, they found a console. Vette pressed a button, but the device stayed dormant. She crouched down, examining the sides and back of the device, and found a panel lying on the floor, and a hollow space on the back.

"Looks like the power's cut. But we could find some power sources and put them in."

"What should we look for?"

"Anything that's shaped like a battery and that could be powering anything nearby."

"Would a droid work?"

"Yeah?"

Bestia jumped towards a tall droid approaching them from a side tunnel. Before it could raise its weapon, Bestia cut off its head. Vette jogged up to the droid and pried open a panel in its back.

"Here. I'll go install it and see if it's enough."

Thankfully, it was. A bright yellow force field appeared before them, leading up to the terminal. The Sith and the Twi'lek crossed it, and from the central platform, they saw that the walls of the chasm were lined with horizontal glass capsules. There were bodies inside. They were thin, almost skeletal and clearly long dead.

“There must be millions of dead here…” Vette murmured.

As they approached the Technolith, an image of Scorpio appeared.

“There are billions.” She said. “You’ve found my creators.”

***

Vaylin froze.

“IF you’re not my brother, then WHO ARE YOU?”

She flung the balled up tiles at the image, and it flickered out of existence just as the ball was about to hit it. It hit the opposite wall instead, tearing a huge hole in it.

“Welp, guess we have a way out now.” Rammas shrugged.

Vaylin grabbed her by the arm.

“Shut up and follow me.”

Rammas didn't argue.

***

“I do not know how long my connection will last. We must speak quickly.”

“So speak then.”

Bestia did have a prolonged lifespan, but she did not have a whole day. And yet, she listened to Scorpio as the droid told her of the Technoliths and of her creators. The Technoliths were all connected to a database that held thousands of years worth of information. The denizens of Iokath were scientists and engineers, but they fought among each other, and it brought about their destruction, only the planet, its droids, and the various advanced weapons scattered about the Galaxy left behind. Their mechanical creations rose up against the Iokathians, slaughtering most of them. However, in one last attempt to save themselves, Iokathians locked the memory cores of many of their weapons, and sent them scattering out into the void. It didn’t help them, but their creations were all over the Galaxy now, used as weapons by others.

After listening to Scorpio’s story, Bestia’s rage lessened enough for her to give the droid one last chance. If she blew this one, she’s scrap. Hell, she even felt a bit bad for Scorpio, having been used as a weapon by Vitiate and having no way out for a long, long time.

“So, basically, you came home only to be put in a box?”

“Yes, that sums it up.”

“Why, though? Who’s doing this?”

***

Vaylin dragged the Pureblood out into the light of day. Rammas hissed, but had no choice but to follow the Empress. They walked out of the building, only to find themselves surrounded by droids.

“You’re gonna have to either give me my weapon and trust that I don’t bury it in your guts, or fight them yourself while I play dead.” Rammas said.

Vaylin glared at her, then at the droids, then screamed and unleashed a storm of lightning at them. Rammas whistled, impressed. The storm rivaled ones she’d seen Styrak conjure up, and took out the droids easily. Rammas made a mental note to dial back on fucking with the Empress, lest she’d end up on the receiving end of a similar fate. While Vaylin dismantled a few remaining droids with her lightsaber, Rammas looked around. She saw a tall spire in the distance, crowded by familiar spaceships.

“Hey, is that your fleet over there?”

Vaylin looked up from blasting a twitching droid, then looked for a moment where Rammas was pointing. She was silent, but when she turned around, she was smiling. She dragged the now limbless droid with her, and once again grabbed Rammas by the arm.

“I hope my subjects didn’t miss me too much.”

She started walking, now dragging both Rammas and the still active droid with her, but stopped abruptly when the image of Thexan appeared before her.

“Ah shit here we go again…” Rammas mumbled.

“Who are you? Show yourself!” Vaylin let go of the droid and sent a bolt of lightning at the fake.

The image stared at her silently for a few moments, before flickering again, changing into another human, this one with dark skin and a device around his head. Rammas and Vaylin exchanged glances. They had no idea who that was.

***

“Wait, Aries was behind everything the whole time? The broken information bot?” Bestia tilted her head to the side.

"Aries has been accumulating power for thousands of years. He is stronger than everyone thinks."

"Thousands of years, huh. I wonder if he can be convinced to go against Vitiate. An army of droids would be the perfect weapon against him, since he can't drain them."

Speak of the Force Demon. The image flickered and changed to that of Aries.

"I could be convinced to go against this Vitiate, if any of you have proven to be worthy of inheriting Iokath. None of you are."

Bestia crossed her arms. "I'm okay with it. I'm not that tech-savvy anyway. What about Brontes?"

"The tentacled one deems herself a master of both flesh and metal. But even she isn't worthy."

Bestia could swear she sensed a surge of indignant anger from somewhere. It added to her own anger at being called a brute for the second time today.

"You know what, go fuck yourself." She flipped the hologram off and kicked at the terminal. "Vette, we're leaving."

Metal footsteps echoed in the tunnels around them. The bridge flickered out of existence just as the two women crossed it. They looked around frantically, until Vette spotted something on the far wall.

"Heere tunnel tunnel!" She called out as she ran towards it.

Bestia watched her go, confused. And then she noticed it: the pattern of the walls was cut off at an odd spot at that wall, and it had faint scuff marks on it. Vette once again found a switch on the underside of a decorative beam that ran along the wall, pressed it, and the wall gave way.

Bestia bolted towards it, and the two ran along the tunnel until Bestia skidded to a stop at an exit. Vette nearly ran into her. They stood in a tall chamber, and in the center stood a gigantic droid.

"Dread God damn it Vette, where the fuck are we?" Bestia hissed, afraid to wake up the metal monstrosity in front of her.

To Vette’s credit, she was surprisingly calm in the face of Bestia’s outburst.

“Closer to the surface, I think. And closer to the temple. We just have to sneak around…”

They slowly made their way around the droid. When they passed by a terminal, Scorpio appeared on the screen.

"I have managed to escape. But so did Vaylin."

Bestia sighed, and chose her words carefully for her question.

"Does she have anyone with her?"

"A Sith Pureblood. Very short. They are on their way to spire controls. The Eternal Fleet will be free soon."

So Rammas was still held hostage by Vaylin. What's worse, Vaylin would soon reunite with her fleet. Then, it was anyone's guess what she would do. Bomb Iokath from orbit, most likely. Bestia let out a heavy sigh, worry for the fellow Dread Master outweighing her anger at Scorpio.

“I thought about what you said earlier. Out of the two entities, you're less annoying, so I'm willing to cooperate.”

***

The holographic man disappeared once again.

"You don't have to drag me along. I'll cooperate." Rammas said carefully.

"Good. Go ahead where I can see you."

Vaylin picked up the droid, slamming it into a nearby wall for good measure. Then she gave Rammas a Force Push. The Pureblood stumbled forward, and walked in the direction she was pushed. They soon stumbled upon a group of Zakuulans, a mix of Knights, human Eternal Fleet personnel, and a single Gemini droid. They were huddled under the platform Rammas and Vaylin stood on.

"Jump." Vaylin barked.

Rammas obeyed, softening her landing with the Force. Vaylin landed behind her, and let the dented, but still somehow functioning, droid drop after. The survivors backed away from Vaylin, and then knelt before her. The Empress looked at the meager collection of humans and droids, hands on her hips.

"Are you sad lot all that's left of my forces?"

The humans stayed silent, eyes downcast. Rammas could almost see fear coming from them. Finally, before Vaylin could get angry at the lack of response, the Gemini captain stood up.

"The organic crews of all the Eternal Fleet vessels were scattered around the area, but most were exterminated."

"Call them here. We're taking back our fleet!"

"But we'll die before we take back our ships!" One of the humans cried out.

"No one's fucking dying without my permission!" Vaylin snarled at him, and the man flinched.

"His assessment is correct. We will be destroyed, Empress." The droid's shoulders slumped as far as the servos allowed. "I… I am afraid."

Rammas couldn't help but feel somewhat bad for the humans and the droid. The Gemini really did sound afraid. It reminded her of the anxious droid that came with the ship gifted to her friend by his then master. The poor thing was constantly terrified, and it took Hu'un a long time to convince the droid that he's not going to destroy it for the tiniest mistake. The memory made Rammas wonder if Brontes or Tyrans could sequence their long coveted dread virus from such a droid's code.

Vaylin didn't have time for such Nerfshit though. Her reaction to Gemini's admission of fear was to Force Push the droid off the platform. The Gemini flew past Rammas, and the Pureblood stepped towards the railing to see where the poor droid ended up. She was seemingly fine, sprawled on the metal floor a few levels below.

"Don't you need the droid to pilot the ships or something?"

"I have others and she'll catch up. Probably." Vaylin shrugged, and then gave her subjects a withering glare. "Anyone else want to take a flight? No? Then shut the fuck up and follow me! The controls aren't far away."

Vaylin grabbed Rammas by the scruff and pushed her forward. Rammas grumbled, but started walking at the front of the group. She did not want to take a flight. Or get blasted by lightning. Or get torn limb from limb.

Instead, she turned inward, and tried to make sense of the flashback she had back on the Gravestone. She combed through her memory regarding the dark-haired human, until it clicked. She HAD met him, quite recently in fact. Except he was much older, and his eyes were grey and sad. The man must have been Valkorion, the Emperor of Zakuul, presumed dead by almost everyone.

This raised more questions than it answered. Why was she having flashbacks about Valkorion? Was she even sure if it was her past she was seeing? The flashbacks started when she came in contact with Vaylin, so she could have been seeing into Vaylin's past. But then, if Rammas had the power to see into people's pasts, why did it only show up now? It didn't make sense. Also the point of view was wrong for it to be Vaylin's, as Rammas saw the hands of whoever it was twice now, and they were decidedly not human hands. If anything they were most likely her own.

Then there was the matter of the human girl Rammas saw. Even though she threw away the seeing into Vaylin's past theory, Vaylin was the most likely candidate. Considering that Valkorion was her father and had been present in the flashback, if only as a puppet of something else. The name "Tenebrae" came to her mind unbidden.

What did Rammas have to do with Valkorion and Tenebrae? This was stupid. She tried to focus on the part of the flashback that showed the grey hallways. Maybe she could recall some identifying marker, like a banner, sigil, or sign. It was futile, and earned her a shove from Vaylin because she slowed down too much.

The human Empress was seriously getting on Rammas's nerves. An itch to make her disappear like she'd done to the Sith Academy bullies started in the back of her head. But also if the kid she saw in the flashback was really Vaylin, she felt a tiny bit bad for her. Whatever she went through wasn't pretty.

Rammas strained to bite back any witty remarks once again, and quickened her pace.

***

“Good. Vaylin may prove a good distraction for Aries. We can stop him together.”

“I think Brontes might want to help, if we reach her and the others.”

“She will. She is quite miffed by being called unworthy of inheriting Iokath.”

“Oh I BET.”

Bestia chuckled. Her laugh was drowned by a loud metallic sound, and Scorpio’s image flickered.

“I detect a power surge at your location.”

Bestia turned around, to see the gigantic droid slowly come to life, stepping away from its supports and turning to face her and Vette.

“Oh for fuck's sake!”

Vette tugged on Bestia’s coat.

“Look. There’s those huge conduits. They feed power to the big guy.”

“Got it.”

Bestia dashed forward. A huge blaster bolt singed the floor behind her. The droid had firepower, but, like most oversized things, it was insultingly slow. Bestia ducked under the huge mass of cables Vette pointed out, and brought her lightsabers around in a wide arc, cutting through the cables. The droid raised its arm again, and Bestia bolted forward, avoiding the shot once again. She did circles around the droid, cutting down the other three conduits.

Then, Bestia rushed at the droid, running between its feet and slicing at the back of its knees. The colossal machine stumbled and fell to its knees. Bestia jumped onto its back, running along the metal spine, and plunged the lightsabers into the back of its neck. Again, the creator's painfully organic and humanoid sensibilities shined through. The entity twitched and fell dormant.

At the same moment, a closed door on one of the walls was blasted open. Bestia turned and crouched, ready to mow down more droids, but instead she met eyes with Brontes and Styrak. The ends of Brontes's tentacles were smoking faintly, and Styrak's hands still sparked with electricity.

“Hey Brontes. We were just talking about you. Want to tear Aries a new one?”

“Yes I would, in fact, like to tear him a 'new one'. Or several.”

"How did you find us?"

Brontes looked at the giant droid lying face down on the floor.

"I would be surprised if the commotion wasn't audible on the other side of the planet. What did we miss?”

“Aside from this?" Bestia jumped down to the floor. "Vaylin is free and wants us dead. The information bot wants us dead. Scorpio wants him dead. None of them can feel fear, so we’re, once again, fucking useless.”

“It has been a while since we’ve faced a challenge.”

“True.”

“I would like things to just stop happening…” Calphayus sighed from the back.

“Me too.” Bestia said. “So, going underground didn’t work.”

“What if we go up?” Theron said. “There’s a landing pad on the roof.”

“Yes, but how do you expect us to get off the planet? We don't have the Gravestone. Or any other vessel for that matter.”

“My shuttle’s inside it. I have been scanning for the Gravestone, but not my shuttle.”

“I see. Your implants have an uplink to it.” Brontes appeared before Theron, ignoring any kind of personal space, much to his chagrin.

“They do. And no, you can't dissect them.”

“Even if you do find your shuttle, we still have hundreds of droids to get through, and as Bestia said, our powers do not work on them. Given time, me and Tyrans could hack into them, but alas. We do not have the time.”

“They’re just droids.” Bestia shrugged.

“There’s hundreds of them!” Lana threw her hands up in the air. “We have to fight smart, not hard?”

“We could rig up some kind of distraction…” Tyrans mused.

“Like the giant droid right over there?” Vette pointed at the fallen droid.

"Good thinking." Brontes said.

She floated up, examining the droid. Tyrans and Vette joined her while Bestia sat down by a wall. Brontes's tentacles shot out from behind her back, each boasting a different tool. Under the Dread Master's control, the appendages welded and reattached severed cables, quickly repairing the damage. And Brontes didn't even have to lift a finger. Tyrans and Vette worked on the legs. Theron wandered around the room, one hand held to the implant on his temple.

“Someone completely destroyed this unit’s logic circuits.” Came Brontes’s cold voice from the top of the droid. “And nearly severed its head.” She glared at Bestia through the eyeholes of her mask. “Someone will have to pilot it.”

“Don’t look at me, I don’t think I’ll fit inside.”

“I was not speaking of you.”

The tentacles on her back coiled tightly against her body, and she disappeared inside some sort of a cavity. Theron and Lana exchanged glances. The giant droid slowly rose to its feet, and then jumped up. Rockets flared at its heels, and it tore through the glass domed roof, showering those below with glass. Soon after, sounds of metal being crushed and artillery fire came from the outside. Bestia grumbled from her spot by the wall.

"We could join her outside." Styrak walked up to her, wings appearing from behind him.

Bestia grinned, and let Styrak pick her up and fly up to the roof. The giant droid was in the courtyard below, surrounded by a huge pile of scrap. Its own hull looked singed and dented. Bestia sighed as she assessed the situation. She'd be more of a hindrance down there, because Brontes would have to worry about not stepping on or blasting her. Styrak, however…

He raised a hand, and lighting shot out, hitting a floating drone behind the droid's back. The droid turned around slowly, and gave Styrak a nod, and then proceeded to stomp and blast through a new wave of enemies.

Bestia sat down cross-legged a few feet away from the roof's edge, and looked down at the mayhem below. Between Brontes piloting the droid, and Styrak's lightning, they were making quick work of the enemy. However, she also noticed the damage to the droid. Pieces of its hull were starting to fall off, and sparks came from its joints.

The sound of engines distracted her from the battle, and she looked up. A small shuttle came flying from behind a nearby building, and Bestia sprung up to her feet. She waved at Styrak, motioning him to withdraw. He flew after her as she ran towards the shuttle. Behind her, the droid suddenly jumped up, and Brontes gracefully landed next to her and Styrak. The droid exploded high above. Brontes looked up, and sighed.

“Pity. It could have been useful in rebuilding Oricon. Or establishing a new base.”

"Yeah. Imagine how quick we could get the debris sorted."

"I suppose I could build something similar."

They all piled into the shuttle and took off. Theron directed the vessel upwards, but had to slow down as another ship cut them off. Bestia flipped it off through the porthole.

"I don't think your road rage display works…" Brontes observed.

"The vessel is empty. Watch." Scorpio was on the communicator again.

The ship darted ahead, and then suddenly exploded, pieces falling down to the surface. Bestia groaned loudly.

"For fuck's sake, can't things be easy for once?"

"I am afraid they cannot." Scorpio said. "The planet is surrounded by a shield. Aries controls it."

"So if we want to get out we'll have to kick his shiny metal ass?"

"Yes. Your terms are crude, but efficient."

The image glitched, and they were face to face with Aries once again.

"Your struggles provide invaluable design feedback. Still, my decision remains. None of you are worthy of inheriting Iokath."

"Are you certain?" Brontes's tentacles writhed behind her back. "How about we meet in person and discuss this."

"And by "discuss" she means you get turned into droid chunky Tatooine meatsauce." Tyrans added.

"Turn on your location, we just want to talk." Bestia added.

"Empty threats. Soon, you will die."

"I'm detecting a power surge building up." Theron looked at them over his shoulder.

"The weapon I used to incapacitate you is re-energizing."

"The white light?"

"That is bad news. We are out in the open this time." Brontes said. Her tentacles curled around her.

"This time, you will not wake up. Except for the aberrant one."

Bestia tilted her head to the side, confused.

"The big male."

Bestia bristled and clenched her fists.

"Did you just call my husband-"

Scorpio wrestled the control over the signal back at that moment. Despite her face being unable to form expressions, she looked smug.

"I've identified a flaw in Aries. He talks too much. Your banter revealed his coordinates."

***

Vaylin, Rammas, and Vaylin's subjects finally arrived at the controls. The Gemini droid caught up with them when they descended down a few levels. She was a little dented, but functional, and stayed quiet the remainder of the walk.

Vaylin quickly dispatched the droids guarding the controls with a lightning storm, and freed the fleet. The ships swarmed above, and one descended to a dock nearby. The group boarded, and Rammas was dragged to the bridge. A pair of Force suppression manacles was fastened around her wrists, and a Zakuul Knight was instructed to guard her.

"So I don't have to babysit you." Vaylin said.

She watched as one of the ships flew high above the others. It would have cleared the atmosphere if it didn't explode. Vaylin kicked the nearby chair, then hopped on one foot and swore up a storm, then turned to the Gemini captain.

"I have a friend for you. Find out where the source of the shield is from him."

Vaylin Force-pushed the droid towards Gemini. Gemini's eyes glowed, and the column of light she floated in briefly flashed red. A map of Iokath displayed on its surface, with a big red dot not far from a swarm of smaller green dots.

"Shield source located. Warning: sensors detect an energy surge building up at the location." The Gemini looked down at Vaylin. Her voice, while mechanical, betrayed fear once again. "Empress. This is the same type of surge as the one that incapacitated us before. We will not survive it this time."

Vaylin grumbled and kicked the droid at her feet. It skidded away. Its eye glowed and it spoke.

"This Gemini unit is defective. It carries the corruption of Scorpio. I can reset it to factory settings."

"I am listening."

"I only require a link."

"If it gets Gemini to shut up and obey me, do it."

Vaylin dragged the droid to a terminal. A cable extended from its ruined arm and plugged itself in. Rammas watched the column of light flash red. The Gemini within twitched and writhed. The column flashed white several times, and the droid went limp, before straightening out.

"Reset complete." Gemini announced in a placid metallic voice. "Awaiting instructions."

“Turn the fortress to dust!”

***

Bestia landed and ran towards the building. Styrak caught up with her, flying at her side. Brontes, Tyrans, and Calphayus brought up the rear.

"There's a massive energy surge building up right ahead. Hurry." Brontes said as she zapped past, metallic wings gleaming in the artificial daylight.

Just as they approached the entrance, a ball of light fell onto the building. Bestia looked up and saw Eternal Fleet vessels circling above. The base appeared unharmed, though.

"Vaylin." She spat, before fucking inside the building.

"We will have to be quick then. I don't think these shields will last forever." Brontes shrugged as she floated next to her.

"Pity we can't just get Vaylin and this Aries asshole to destroy each other." Tyrans said.

He pressed something on the triangular medallion at his chest. Glowing particles enveloped his arms. They solidified into golden gauntlets etched with the same dark stripes as his mask.

The Dread Masters walked into a large room with a huge window taking up the entire opposite wall. A droid stood before a control panel. It was bulky and bland looking, in stark contrast to Scorpio and Gemini's polished shells. The droid turned around, and the image of a human flashed briefly where it stood.

"You must be some kind of a virus, truly." Aries sounded exasperated.

The Dread Masters fanned out, standing in a wide half circle with Bestia in the center. Her hands rested on the handles of her lightsabers as she eyed Aries.

"You look like a pile of scrap. I expected something fancier."

"My form is purely functional. And its function is to eliminate you."

Without warning, the droid dashed towards Bestia and sliced at her with a vibroblade. She jumped back, her lightsabers coming to life. The droid has clearly been studying her fighting style, as it was relentlessly attacking her with two blades of its own. Bestia struggled against the assault. Defense had never really been her strong suit.

Styrak saw this, and blasted Aries with lightning, knocking him away. While the droid recovered, Styrak jumped on him, drawing the enemy's attention away from Bestia. At the same time, Tyrans joined the fray, delivering a powerful punch to Aries's midsection, unprotected by the chassis. Calphayus appeared behind Aries, about to stab him with his dualsaber, but the blade fizzled out upon contact with the droid's armour.

Boxed in on all sides, Aries unleashed a knock-back pulse, sending everyone except Styrak flying. Something hissed above, and the room was filled with laser beams. Brontes weaved among them, her wings changing back into tentacles and shooting at the emitters to take the lasers off. Calphayus was thrown at the large computer console, ending up in the only safe space in the room. He cloaked himself with the Force to not draw any more attention. Tyrans and Bestia zigzagged around the laser beams back towards Aries and returned to pummeling him.

While armour protected most of the droid's body from their lightsabers, he still had unprotected joints. However, those were kept safe by his fighting ability. He copied their fighting styles, alternating between Bestia's ruthless assault and Styrak's defensive style.

And then he aimed a flamethrower right at Styrak's face. Styrak blocked the flames with a Force shield, but staggered backwards. Time froze for Bestia as she watched Aries bury one of his blades in Styrak's side. Styrak let out a short scream, completely drowned out by Bestia's own roar. She charged at Aries, and tackled him into the wall, putting all her rage into it. Tyrans joined her, his gauntlets transforming into sharp claws that dug into the cables in Aries's midsection as payback, and tore a few out. Bestia grabbed one of the droid's arms and tore it off, and then hit him over the head with it.

Brontes and Calphayus were at Styrak's side in moments, dragging him behind the console. He was propped up against it. He gritted his teeth, and his hand glowed a dark purple. He held it against the bleeding wound, and growled while the healing did its job. It was a painful process, as dark side healing wasn't kind. Styrak felt the torn muscles and organs mend themselves. Calphayus and Brontes stood guard over him.

A vibration caused Brontes to look around, until she was facing the window. A machine was spinning wildly outside, arcs of lightning shooting off of it.

"That's not good." She muttered, floating over to the console.

The screen informed her that the weapon was almost ready to fire. Bestia joined her. Brontes jammed one of her tentacles into a port and started typing feverishly at the keyboard, trying to slice into the computer in time.

"Behind you!" Styrak called out weakly from his spot by the wall. He raised a hand, sparks crackling around it. Bestia turned to face Aries, his remaining arm brandishing a retractable knife. Before she could react, Aries collapsed to the floor, revealing Scorpio standing at the entrance holding a blaster rifle.

Bestia bristled at the new arrival, but Scorpio pushed past her and plugged her hand into the console. The screens turned green, and the weapon outside slowed down to a stop. Arcs of electricity still coursed along the structure, though.

"You are welcome." Scorpio said.

Brontes stared at the screens.

"The good news: the weapon is stopped. The bad news: Aries has overloaded it, so it's going to explode."

"Of course it is…" Bestia growled, giving Aries a Force-powered kick. She followed up by picking him up with telekinesis, and slamming him into the floor, walls, and ceiling several times. Happy with her handiwork, she turned to Scorpio.

"You."

"Yes. I am me, thank you for noticing."

"What are you going to do?" Brontes asked.

"I am going to upload my consciousness to the planetary network. I will become one with Iokath. I will not trouble you again. I suggest you evacuate the planet."

"And why should I let you do that? You crossed us several times. I mean, you also helped us several times…"

"I may be of assistance against Vaylin. And possibly even Vitiate."

Bestia sighed. Behind her, Tyrans and Calphayus helped Styrak limp towards the exit.

"Ah, fuck it. I'm convinced."

"I would like access to this world's technology. In the interest of science, of course." Brontes said.

"I will contact you." Scorpio replies.

A particularly large bolt of lightning hit the building. The weapon tilted a bit. Bestia ran towards the exit, Brontes flying after her. They looked over one last time, and saw Scorpio's abandoned metal body collapse to the floor.

Bestia broke into a sprint and was outside in seconds. The Gravestone floated by the edge of the platform. Calphayus and Tyrans helped Styrak hobble into the hangar. Something exploded behind Bestia, the ground shook, and she darted forward, dodging a piece of debris. She and Brontes bolted towards the ship, fire raining around them. They jumped into the hangar, the forcefield coming on behind them, and the Gravestone took off. Its shields glowed as the Eternal Fleet kept pelting the area with fire.

Bestia stood by the hangar entrance, and watched Aries's base go up in flames. A burial pyre for an arrogant metal asshole, she thought. The devastation quickly receded into the distance, and the last thing Bestia saw before the Gravestone turned was a white-hot orb expanding from where the base stood. She backed away from the forcefield.

***

The explosion took several of the Eternal Fleet ships, the rest barely making it. Rammas could only sit and watch, petrified, as the white light nearly devoured Vaylin's ship. In the blinding glow, she thought she saw something. A small object leaving Iokath. She stared at it, squinting.

“They didn't even try to save you.” Vaylin’s voice took her out of her thoughts. Rammas shrugged, putting on an air of nonchalance.

“Yeah.” She said, guarded. “If you want to gloat, just get it over with.”

"Nah, I'll just show you off like a trophy during the huge party I'm going to throw when we return to Zakuul."

"As long as I don't have to dance in a metal bikini, I'm good."

Vaylin looked at Rammas for a long while, probably trying to mentally put a metal bikini on her. Then she doubled over laughing. Rammas glared back at her, unimpressed, and the Knight guarding her shuffled his feet nervously.

"Do you assholes need music for your party? Because I heard Zakuulan music, and while I don't want to shit on it, most of it is far too fucking pompous for any kinda good time."

"Oh and you're the old god of music taste."

"Yep. My music taste is divine. And I humbly request an opportunity to inflict it upon the guests of your party. If anyone shows up that is."

Vaylin considered the offer. It sure freed her from the need to find a DJ and then pay them an exorbitant amount of credits to provide music for her party. She doubted the captive could do much damage through music. She could build a decorative golden cage around the equipment, presenting Rammas as a little songbird.

"The only thing I will require is access to the Holonet so I can download the songs." And send out a message, Rammas thought.

"Fine. You can be useful at least."

***

"Are you alright?" Bestia sat down next to Styrak.

He nodded, although he wasn't fully sure. He was alright physically, his dark healing saw to that. But mentally he was shaken. He had no idea Aries would use his pyrophobia against him. He sighed and grumbled.

"Stabbed by a bloody droid. How far have I fallen?"

"Happens to the best of us. Remember how Arcann stabbed me?"

"Arcann was a powerful Force user trained since birth."

"And Aries has probably been around longer than Vitiate, and had access to experiment data from multiple planets."

"I feel useless." Styrak muttered, looking down.

"You're not. I mean it."

"I wonder how Aries figured out my fear."

"Probably the same way he copied my fighting style: by observing us through his droids."

Bestia looked around the bridge. Almost the whole crew was here. Koth was in the pilot's seat. Theron and Lana sat in chairs on the opposite end of the room. Brontes tapped away furiously at a datapad. Tyrans had his nose buried in his own datapad. Calphayus was napping.

"We didn't get a chance to save Rammas, either." Styrak said grimly.

"I know. But I think she'll be fine. She's Sith. We'll get her back as soon as we can."

"Vaylin will probably take her back to Zakuul." Styrak frowned.

"Don't you two have that Zildrog cult on Zakuul?"

"We do. I have forgotten. Rammas is the one who kept in contact with them. However, I'm not sure what they can do about it."

"They could be on the lookout. Or pass her a message somehow."

"I will contact them."

Bestia stretched her legs, and reclined in the chair. She wondered how long they've been gone.

"At least we got the Gravestone back."

End notes:

I wanted Rammas and Vaylin to at least start getting along but it seems like they have their own ideas.

Also, flipped bird count: 13

#fanfic #c: writing #swtor #Dread Masters #Dread Master Bestia #swtor dread masters #swtor fanfiction #S: Bestia's Wrath #F: $W

0 notes