EPISODE I

Chapter 8: The Arm

Two weeks have passed since the Valkoran retrieved Darth Vader's holocron from his stronghold on Vjun. During the following two weeks, the Galactic Alliance has been involved in a few skirmishes with the Valkoran on planets such as Jabiim and Quell. There have been a few victories as well as losses for the Alliance. Now, Jedi Knight Zolph Vaelor has been dispatched to the frozen world of Polus to aid the Alliance defense of the planet. However, he has brought along Grein, who, after some research, has pinpointed a Forceless Archfiend temple on the planet.


As the Blazing Manta entered the atmosphere, the ship was bombarded by one of the planet's perpetual blizzards. Grein flew her way towards Qek Base, the local Alliance outpost and docked in a hangar bay waiting for her.

Safe from the freezing cold for the moment, Zolph and Grein exited the Manta's boarding ramp and were greeted by an Alliance hangar guard.

"Commander Vaelor" the guard addressed Zolph before looking at the purple-eyed Chiss "and uh…Miss Grein I believe? General Ven Choi is waiting for you in the war room. I'll bring you over to him." The two Force-users then followed the trooper.


In Qek Base's war room, they were met by a Kel Dor Alliance general. "Hello, I take it you're the two Jedi Master Skywalker sent over to support our campaign here? We've never met. I'm General Ven Choi." He then shook hands with Zolph.

"I'm a Jedi." Zolph answered and then pointed at Grein. "She's… sort of a Jedi. However, we're here for more than just some base defenses and guerilla warfare. In fact, what we're here for is most likely the reason the Valkoran are on Polus in the first place."

"What are you talking about?" General Choi asked.

"Any reports of possible alien ruins on this planet?"

"Not to my knowledge. Why are you so interested in alien ruins?"

"Did Skywalker tell you about any of my adventures on Tatooine and Sleheyron?"

"He did actually."

"On Tatooine, I found some ancient alien ruins that housed a more powerful member of the group that conquered Sleheyron. Recently, Grein here reported another creature like the one on Tatooine waiting to be summoned here on Polus. And as far as I've seen, the Valks will put a lot of security to ensure the summoning process goes uninterrupted."

"Actually, now that I think about it, I've heard reports from my scouts of there being no enemy troops and their vehicles frozen over and abandoned near a large plateau, only to be ambushed seconds later."

"Yup, that sounds like the place they are summoning…um…." Zolph then asked Grein "What's the name of this Archfiend again?"

"Cryosmn."

"Yeah, him…or her…or it?"

"Some of them are genderless."

"Forget it."

"Looks like I've managed to prove useful after all," Choi said. "However, our forces here are spread too thin to lead a full-scale assault there."

"Eliminating one of those abominations is why I'm here, so I'll be sneaking in there." Zolph told him.

"I've already warned you about the Valks' ambush tactics near the ruins, so you know not to fall for them. You have other things to worry about too."

"Like…?"

"First, I've heard reports of a new war droid model wreaking havoc on our men. The one leading the Valkoran operation here is a Force-user."

"Droids don't sound like a problem, but what about this Force-user?"

"Reports say she's a red-haired human female with an orange-bladed lightsaber staff."

Zolph knew the description too well. "Damn! Why did it have to be her?!"

"You seem upset, Commander Vaelor. Is something wrong?"

"It's nothing. We'll head out now." Zolph and Grein went out the war room's door.

"May the Force be with you."


Outside, Zolph and Grein were finally met with icy wind. Zolph was shivering despite being dressed properly for a planet as cold as Polus. Grein was unaffected by the cold even without dressing properly for it.

"Oh right, I forgot you humans can't even tolerate such low temperatures." Grein told Zolph.

"Hey!" Zolph complained to Grein while still shivering, "We didn't adapt in these types of environments like your species did!"

"And I didn't even grow up in Chiss Space. Let's put that aside for now. You seem to have a problem with the Force-user in charge of the Valkoran here. I want you to tell me about her, because I don't want your emotional instabilities inhibiting you during this mission."

"Her name is Dynn Manthis. She and I joined the Academy at roughly the same time. She and I were co-apprentices, but she also grew into a close friend."

"How close were you two?"

"Hey! I'm not done yet! One week after this ongoing war began, she went MIA during the defense of Ossus. One month later on Tatooine, shortly after killing Terraris, I learned that she had slipped into the Valks' cause while spying on them. Upon learning, we got into a duel that resulted in me cutting her right arm off, and that was the last time we met. Now what were you asking?"

"How close did you two get to each other?"

"What are you implying?"

An unusually mischievous smile developed on Grein's face. "You two were in love with each other, weren't you?"

Zolph reacted with embarrassment, especially at the sight of Grein smiling for once, "Whoa, whoa, whoa! We didn't do so much as hug or kiss!"

"Sounds close enough to me. Having a best friend betray you is usually mild to some people, but having a lover betray you usually causes a lot of problems for people. I just don't want it to get in your way."

"Okay, let's stop talking about that. Let's go kill Cryosmn."

"I'm staying here to defend the camp."

"Why?"

"First off, in-case Cryosmn is successfully summoned and you have to fight it, it has freezing abilities. And if you remember, I can liquefy myself."

"So?"

"Observe." Grein then liquefied her left arm, which then turned to solid ice within seconds of exposure to Polus's weather. Zolph's eyes widened with shock.

"Yikes!"

"Having one limb frozen isn't a big deal for me." She then slammed her frozen arm against one of the shelters, smashing it into many pieces and leaving a stump, to the shock of everyone watching. "But between the weather and Cryosmn's abilities, my abilities are limited here on Polus. Besides the Alliance could use a Force user defensively." She then used the Force to regather all the fragments of her shattered arm and walked into a warmer place. Some watery tendrils extended from her stump to the ice fragments, assimilated them and then reformed her left arm.

"Wait, if you can do that, doesn't that mean you're technically invincible?"

"Not really. I'm still limited by the laws of the conservation of mass, so I can't say, turn into a tidal wave, hence why I had to assimilate all those fragments. Second, I'm still a Chiss and not a natural hydromorph. I can still be killed by the same stuff that can kill everyone else, and if I stay in liquid form too long, I could eventually die from evaporation. By the way, water doesn't freeze that quickly here on Polus. I just lowered the temperature in my arm for demonstration purposes."

"I see. Now that you've scared the daylights out of everyone nearby, I way as well go stop the Valks." Zolph then left the camp.


After fifteen minutes of marching through a blizzard, Zolph spotted a quartet of Valkoran Snow Troopers. He watched as one of them triggered something that been buried in the snow.

"Oh fierfek" the triggering trooper uttered before an explosion sent him flying into the air and then landing on the ground dead. Apparently, the Valks had buried landmines in the snow, but some of the mines are failing to discern between friend and foe. The other three troops then spotted Zolph.

They fired at him, but he Force-pushed them backward, inadvertently knocking them into other faulty mines.

"Okay, so I'm in a minefield." He then used a large Force push to clear away some of the buried mines and moved through the path he created.


Later, Zolph came across an icy plateau surrounded by several derelict and frozen-over Rancor-class Assault Tanks. These double-cannoned tread tanks seemed to have been untouched for some time and partially buried by the snow.

Zolph, aware of ambushes happening in this area, used Force sight to detect any potential life-signs. He saw not only some live troopers buried in the snow, but also saw life-signs coming from inside the tanks. The Valkoran had apparently been using Polus's perpetual snowfall to cover up their presence there.

Some of the troopers sprung up out of the snow, one of them yelling "Surprise!" before opening fire. Zolph promptly deflected the shots back at them.

"Hey idiots! You're supposed to shoot before taunting!" One of the tanks' turret cockpits then quickly turned towards Zolph and fired several plasma shots at him, which he quickly dodged. "Wow. These tanks must be pretty well-maintained to still be working in these conditions."

Zolph dashed towards the plateau, dodging the other tanks' shots, sometimes tricking them into destroying each other and as well as other troopers. He eventually got close enough to the plateau to notice some artificiality in the structure. This was indeed Cryosmn's temple. He then dashed into the entrance.


Inside, Zolph no longer had snow blowing in his face. "I'm finally out, but hey, at least it's better than acid rain," he told himself. He then noticed some alien statues much like those found in Terraris's temple. He activated his comlink looking for answers.

"Grein?"

"Yes? What is it?"

"Do you anything about the aliens that built these temples?"

"Yes. From what I've heard, this species, known as the Rakata, once ruled the galaxy in the years before the Old Republic. I heard they even built a factory powered by the Dark Side that could create an army with unlimited resources. Good news is this factory was discovered and destroyed about four thousand years ago, so we don't have to worry about the Valkoran abusing that."

"If they used the Force, how are they involved with the Forceless?"

"Like I told you before, if it's alive, the Collective will use it as a resource. They may have used the Infinite Empire as a gateway for their invasion of this galaxy. For reasons I have yet to figure out, their operation was delayed for thousands of years."

"That's somewhat helpful. But I might as well get back to the mission." Zolph turned off his comlink and progressed through the ruins, fighting off any soldiers he might come across.


He eventually came into an unusually large room. There, he found a large, four-legged Valkoran war droid with dual repeating blasters on its mouth as well as a tail with a blade and cannon mounted on it: the Manticore Assault Droid.

The droid fired its repeating blasters at Zolph, who immediately dodged backward. It then fired a laser beam from the cannon on its tail, scorching the ground near Zolph. He got close to it and swiftly decapitated the droid.

Zolph tried to walk towards the next room, but the droid fired another laser at him. The droid was still functioning. He then noticed a photoreceptor on the tip of its tail between the blade and laser cannon.

He ran towards the Manticore and jumped on its back, knowing it can't fire the laser on him. However, the droid jabbed its blade towards Zolph. After a few dodges, he sliced the droid's tail off and jumped off.

The droid blindly stumbled around until it hit a wall and caused part of the ceiling to collapse on it. The droid was shut down for real, and Zolph moved forward.


Zolph had finally made it to the ritual chamber, where Cryosmn was to be summoned. However, he saw Dynn Manthis, with her lost arm apparently replaced.

"Missed me?" Dynn asked Zolph as he approached.

"Kinda, and I see you got a new arm. I take it that if you're still here, Cryosmn hasn't been summoned yet?" Zolph replied.

"The summoning ritual only has a few more minutes left to it."

"Well, Dynn, you probably figured out why I'm here. I'd just like to point that this group you've sided with is outright insane if they think these Archfiends will save the galaxy. Please turn your back on them before you do something you'll regret."

"Sorry, Zolph, but I've made up my mind." She ignited her saberstaff.

"I take it you're both trying to incapacitate me for delivery and stalling for time?"

"As usual."

Zolph then ignited his lightsaber. "And you already know how stubborn I am about surrendering myself to you guys."

Dynn made a jump attack towards Zolph before making a wide swing of her saber. They clashed blades on equal grounds for a while, until Zolph overpowered her and knocked her back.

There was a pause in the duel. Dynn clutched at her right arm as it reacted strangely, as if it had a mind of its own. The sleeve over it started to tear and the bracer started to crack. With all the sleeve and bracer broken off, her new arm revealed its true form: a black demonic-looking appendage with a claw-like hand with an eye - exactly like those of Forceless - on the back, crudely grafted onto her stump and trying to root itself in. The hand loosened its grip on the saberstaff, which descended towards the floor tethered by a tongue coming from the palm. The hand rose towards Zolph and made a high-pitched shriek at him.

Zolph was shocked by this turn of events. "Okay, that is NOT a cybernetic limb! Who the hell put that thing on you?!"

She did not respond. She had a creepy, lifeless grin on her face. It seemed like the arm was in control at the moment. The tongue then lifted up and started making a buzz saw-like motion with the saberstaff. She walked towards Zolph in an almost zombie-like way, with the arm seeming like it was actually trying to kill him.

Zolph backed away, but he saw an opportunity to disrupt Cryosmn's summoning ritual. He ran towards the rune-filled circle on the ground and started destroying the statue of a strange-looking being, possibly Cryosmn. The circle stopped glowing. It seemed he had successfully stopped Cryosmn from being summoned at all.

"Dynn! Snap out of it!" he yelled at her.

Dynn broke out of her trance and then smacked her own right arm. "Whoa! It seemed I had lost control for a while. When that crazy guy without skin grafted this on me, I thought it was a regular human arm from a donor. Stupid arm..." She then looked towards Zolph. "And I see you ruined the ritual while I was going crazy."

"I'm done here. I have no more reason to be here. I'd like to warn you that you guys and Maesterus may want me alive, but these abominations you've been trying to summon don't." Zolph then pleaded to Dynn. "So, please, get rid of that arm before it's too late and come back!"

The Forceless arm suddenly twitched. "I wish I could, but it's too late." Dynn then used the Force to bring another temple down on them. "I'd run out of here if I were you."

Zolph reluctantly complied and ran out of the temple, but predicted that Dynn would survive like before.


Back at Qek Base, Zolph reported his victory to Grein and General Ven Choi.

"So you didn't have to fight Cryosmn at all." Grein responded. "This is your lucky day, because you may have to actually fight other Archfiends in the future."

"And it looks like the Valks will give us less trouble defending the planet." Choi responded. "The fight over the carbonite mining facilities will still go on, but we won't have any extragalactic horrors to worry about. I'd say your work here is done. We can handle the rest."

"You're welcome." Zolph responded as he and Grein made their way towards the hangar.

"We may meet again sometime, Commander Vaelor."


Now in hyperspace, Grein questioned Zolph further. "So, how did it go with your girlfriend?"

"Are you still on about that? It went alright, except her arm isn't cybernetic. Someone apparently grafted a Forceless arm on her, and it seems to have a mind of its own. She seemed possessed for a while, but she then regained her senses."

"That's unsettling."

"What are you worried about? You said Forceless can hijack their hosts, yet she regained control of herself."

"That's just it. She hasn't had the arm that long, so it has yet to really settle into her."

"Well, I just hope that by the time I see her again, she will have amputated that travesty."


AUTHOR'S NOTE: This chapter was written in mid-2012, but was updated in February 2015. If there are any regrets I have about this chapter two and a half years after writing it, it's how I resolved the Dynn fight. The original version admittedly felt very rushed and half-***ed (for elaboration, Zolph just walked away while she was weakened and merely suggested she amputate the Forceless arm and get a real cybernetic limb). So for a one time bit of "Special Edition Syndrome", I made some slight alterations to that scene to have it make more sense in the situation. Especially in regards to later events in the story (spoilers for those who haven't read that far ahead yet).