EPISODE I

Chapter 13: Parasite

Two days following the infiltration of the V.S. Doomsayer, Zolph Vaelor and Grein set out in the Blazing Manta to scout the previously undiscovered Krantisi system, where the Valkoran are at work summoning Belluzub, one of the most powerful Archfiends in the Forceless Collective hierarchy.

Using the hyperspace coordinates given in the intel Zolph retrieved from his previous mission, the Blazing Manta's crew made it to the Krantisi system and were greeted to the sight of an enormous, spherical space station with an eye-like concave dish and three fins. Where the ends of these three fins met, energy from the nearby the star was being drawn to it, as if the station was absorbing it. There was also a large Valkoran fleet surrounding this station.

"Well, I'll be a Wookiee's uncle." Zolph said in awe at the sight of this station. "This thing makes the Doomsayer look like a snubfighter by comparison."

Grein then added another statement of awe. "If time flowed in reverse, this is what it would look like if the Death Star and the Star Forge had a child."

Zolph then looked to her in confusion. "Wait…what?"

"Even if you were too young to have been around during the Galactic Civil War, I'm sure you would have read about the Death Stars since the destruction of both were among the key events that led to the founding of the New Republic, and those were only roughly a quarter of a century ago."

"Yeah, I've heard about those planet-killers, because my parents fought for the Rebel Alliance. What about this 'Star Forge'?"

"You know how I mentioned the Infinite Empire building a space station powered by the Dark Side? That was the Star Forge. I haven't read too much on it, but I have a theory the Collective had the Rakata make this space station not just as a shrine for Belluzub, but also as a symbol of their power…and as a potential weapon. The Rakata probably built it either as a false prototype for the Star Forge or they built this in the Star Forge's image thinking that they would still have a semblance of authority once the Collective took over."

"Then how did the Infinite Empire fall apart?"

"Contrary to what you're probably thinking, it was not by the Collective they fell apart. They somehow lost their connection to the Force and the species they enslaved rebelled and drove them back to their homeworld, where they eventually went extinct. Whether this uprising was what delayed the invasion of the Collective until now, I do not know." Grein then changed the topic. "But enough history lessons for now. Like I pointed out, that most likely is early superlaser technology up there. Whether it's powerful enough to destroy a planet or not, it's for the best we don't find out at all."

"In other words, you're saying we should definitely call in the fleet and blow it up?"

"Yes."

Before they could open a communications channel, an emergency siren started buzzing. The Blazing Manta was apparently having engine problems.

"Blast!" Grein shouted. She then steered the ship towards the only legitimate planet in system. "From what I also read about the Star Forge, the system it was built in also had a disruptor field generator stationed on the main planet. I'm guessing the Rakata thought to put one here too. Either way, get ready for a rough landing."

The Blazing Manta entered Krantisi's atmosphere and landed as close to the source of the disruptor field as it could on a large continent.

Getting a better look at the surface of the planet as they landed, Zolph saw what was a mostly barren – aside from some plantlife – wasteland littered with the skeletal remains of some large creatures. It then came to a stop in a desert devoid of any foliage or oversized ribcages and skulls.

"Well, wasn't that fun?" Grein said right after bringing the Manta to a stop.

Zolph then chimed in. "And they say I'm a bad pilot."

"Hey, at least I didn't lose the whole body of the ship."

Zolph then spoke to her in a disgruntled tone. "I thought we agreed that was a design problem with the series."

"We did. You're just fun to irritate sometimes."

"Okay, between that and cracking on my relationship with Dynn, I'm surprised that you even havea sense of humor."

Grein then redirected their attention to the situation at hand. "Anyway, about that disruptor field…"

"Yeah, why wasn't the Valk fleet affected by it?"

"They got here before we did, so they've had time to adjust their ships to be immune to it. Unfortunately, even after I get the engine systems repaired, we still won't be getting off this dead rock if the field's still active, and we could've endangered the Alliance fleet if it didn't get to us in time."

"I see. Do you have any leads on the source of the field?"

"The scanners are picking it up from a temple miles away from here on this continent."

"Well that's as good a lead as any." Zolph tried to make his way out of the cockpit before Grein interrupted him.

"Wait. The scanners are also picking up many lifeforms."

"I'm guessing the Valks have forces down here?"

"I not only picked up some of their outposts here, but I'm also detecting lifeforms from outside of them. If the giant skeletons are anything to go by, the indigenous creatures are not very friendly."

"Thanks for the heads-up. I'll go to that temple and get rid of the field while you make the Manta flyable again." Zolph then exited the vessel.

Zolph was greeted to some arid climate. The very little plant-life he saw were tiny patches of grass and some cacti. However, he noticed Valkoran trooper corpses near some of these cacti. He also noticed some still standing, but like statues.

He lightly touched one of the standing troopers and it collapsed as if there was no one in the armor. This trooper apparently had all of his body fluids drained out of him, leaving him as a brittle husk. "What could have possibly killed this guy?" Zolph thought to himself.

As Zolph moved away, the cactus that was next to the trooper started creeping up on him. However, before it could sink the teeth on top of it into Zolph, he immediately sensed it and cut it down. He now knew what killed those troopers. From this point forward, Zolph would have to keep his distance from the Blood Cacti, preserve his water supply and not be tempted to extract water from them, because there was no telling what cacti are real or not.

Moving closer and closer to the temple, Zolph would come across Valkoran troopers and vehicles fighting against more of Krantisi's hostile wildlife, apparently as a way of honing their combat skills. Aside from Blood Cacti, these creatures included Vykles – giant lizards with spikes all over their bodies – and Dune Sharks – predators with four mandibles that 'swim' in the sand and use vibrations to track their pray – among other creatures. Of course, Zolph would be fighting against both Valkoran forces and the Krantisian fauna.

After two hours of enduring rough terrain, Valkoran and deadly animals, Zolph had reached the temple at sunset. This temple had four claw-like protrusions coming from its summit and a beam of light shooting up into the sky. Of course, this beam of light is what led him here. The entrance of the temple was built like the mouth of a demonic creature. There was also a Valkoran Spearhead-class troop transport – the same type used during the Battle of Ossus – parked outside.

As Zolph got ready to enter the temple, he felt the presence of Dynn Manthis coming inside. Suddenly, he began to feel some pain in his jaw. Knowing what was at stake, Zolph rushed in to both take out the disruptor field and get rid of Dynn's arm once and for all.

Meanwhile, in the field generator room, Dynn Manthis was coordinating the defenses of the temple. Following the raid on the Doomsayer, the Valkoran knew Zolph would be coming here. The door leading right to the generator itself would be locked down, with the locks controlled from the temple basement. Dynn would be the last line of defense should Zolph succeed in reaching the generator.

"Go. I'll handle him myself should he make it," Dynn said to the troops with her in the generator room. However, she did not say that on her own volition; the Forceless symbiote she had for an arm took control of her vocal chords and her mouth. She could only watch in horror as the troops left her alone with this parasite and locked down the door.

Now alone, Dynn was brought down on her knees and both of her arms violently bent backwards. Dynn screamed in pain, which also caused her eyes to tear up a bit. "Okay, girl. You and I need to have a little talk about Vaelor." Her arm scolded her.

"What about it?" Dynn asked. The arm, still in control of her, suddenly snapped her neck and then put it back in place without killing her.

"I think you misunderstand what you're supposed to do. You're supposed to kill this brat, not let him live." It continued to torture her.

"My orders are to take him alive. Even if we were allowed to kill him, I still wouldn't do it."

"I knew it! You still have feelings for that piece of filth! It was a mistake believing you would be an ideal servant of the Collective! Compassion is a major hindrance for us, and we can't have that happening."

"I only joined the Valkoran because they had some good points about the state of the Galactic Alliance, not for promises of power or glory."

"Don't make me laugh, you dumb bitch. The Valkoran as a whole may be under that belief, but you're all just mindless cattle helping us turn this galaxy into a part of the Collective."

"That is not what I signed up for at all! Zolph was right about you! You're all just monsters looking to exploit us! I really should have gotten rid of you as soon possible!"

"Of course, I wouldn't let you, and it's too late for that now, as I now have control of every part of your body except for your brain. That means not only do I get to control everything you do, but also everything you feel. I have a proposition for you: you willingly pledge your allegiance to the Collective and do as we say and you'll still have control of your body, or you can refuse my offer, be subject to my discipline and watch yourself do the things you wouldn't until the day you die…which will be never unless it's forced. So do we have deal, Dynny?"

"Go to hell!" Dynn told the parasitic arm defiantly.

"A pity. You're willing to maintain your dignity at the expense of your free will. Oh well, if you need anything all you need to do is scream…oh wait, you won't be able to."

The Forceless symbiote had taken full control of her body save for her consciousness. It then continued to cause her more physical – as well as psychological – pain. It then got some other ideas as it probed its host's brain. "Now what was that thing called again when two of you Force users feel something for one another? A Force Bond? Why don't we have some fun with your boyfriend before he gets here?"

With the room to the generator not too far from the entrance, Zolph could sense Dynn's agony from behind the locked door. He tried desperately to melt the door down, but it was made from lightsaber-resistant material. Zolph then turned back and fought his way through the temple to disable the locking mechanism.

As he fought his way through the troops trying to incapacitate him, he felt even more intense pain, enough to stop him in his tracks. Aside from feeling his bones breaking over and over again, he would feel his mouth being sealed shut, his internal organs being rearranged, new body parts growing, a hole opening in his stomach, his toes being fused together and part of his upper body being ripped open. The Valkoran forces would be baffled when they came across Zolph suffering these random moments of pain. Some of them attempted to put binders on Zolph seeing as this was an opportunity to capture him , but he would naturally cut them down.

A few minutes later, Zolph made it to the temple basement, still trying his best to ignore the parasitic arm's attempts to torture him. At the lock control terminal were two Black Guards. They were even more trouble than usual with what was happening to him. Even then, he still managed to kill them and deactivated the locks. After doing so, he rushed back to the temple entrance to confront Dynn.

After backtracking to the door he couldn't open before and unlocking it, Zolph was greeted to the source of the light: the disruptor field generator. The room was it was in was exposed to the light of sunset. He walked in slowly with his lightsaber ignited, expecting to be ambushed.

Before he could destroy the generator, a whip-like tongue wrapped around his body and threw him into a pillar.

Getting back on his feet, Zolph was greeted to a more horrific sight: a completely naked female humanoid he recognized as Dynn Manthis, but with her anatomy severely altered and several inches taller than him now. Her eyes were now just like those of any Forceless possession victim and had a second layer of black skin that had covered over every original orifice except for her eyes and ears; her left arm had turned into what looked like a tail with parts of its original form still showing; her toes fused together and were no longer visible; and finally her torso had been turned into a grotesque mimicry of a face: an oval-shaped mouth with curved teeth protruding from it and her breasts turned into eyes. All over her body, she had several fleshy spines hanging.

"Hi, Zolphy. I really missed you," She said speaking through her abdominal mouth in a voice that was a mixture of her normal voice and demonic echo.

Zolph was naturally unnerved, and not just by what he saw, but also what he was sensing. He knew these weren't Dynn's words. "Don't lie to me, creature! I know what you really are!"

"Whatever do you mean?"

"I can senseher suffering. You're not truly Dynn. You're just a puppeteer for her body."

"So you know what I really am. Well, watch what I can do now." The parasite then twisted Dynn's head backwards, causing Zolph pain severe enough to make him scream as well as Dynn…if she was even capable of it.

Zolph finally snapped. "Stop it! Give Dynn her body back…now!"

"Why? Without me, she'll die."

"What do you mean?!"

"You know how you felt your insides switched around? I actually did that to her. I'm literally the only thing keeping her alive right now."

Still sensing Dynn's pain, Zolph could pretty much tell that she didn't care if she would die.

"So either you stand down and let me kill you or you kill your girlfriend. What will it be?"

Zolph, intent on sparing Dynn any more suffering, reluctantly told the abomination, "I'll take my chances." He then ignited his lightsaber.

The Forceless then sighed. "I thought it would be easier to exploit your emotional attachments, but it turns out you're as persistent as ever. Looks like I'll have to work myself to kill you after all."

"Just try it."

The Forceless then lashed the tongue coming from its right palm at Zolph once more. Zolph quickly dodged, but the tongue retracted before he could cut it. The right arm then pointed itself towards Dynn's armor pieces – which were broken off during the transformation process. It then lashed its tongue towards the lightsaber staff on the ground, pulled it into its palm and activated it.

Dynn's body started slashing at Zolph, but the slashes were uncoordinated and clumsy, making it easy for Zolph to dodge or block them. Zolph then made a conclusion based on a recent observation: Forceless cannot access Force sensitive victims' powers if the host is unwilling to cooperate, as Force powers are dependent on a being's emotional state.

Zolph promptly Force pulled the lightsaber from her grip - but with the tongue still wrapped around it – and cut the tongue off. Zolph could still feel that pain – though to a lesser extent much like with the right arm - despite not having such a body part.

The creature then promptly whipped Zolph with its tail-like left arm and then picked him up by the throat with its right hand, with the teeth on the fingers sinking into his neck.

"It's all over, Vaelor! I guess I'll savor your death by making it as excruciating as possible!" It then pointed its abdominal teeth towards Zolph and sank them into his abdomen. He felt it trying to slowly rip out his digestive tract.

Zolph looked towards Dynn's eyes – not the one on her right palm or the breasts that had been turned into eyes – and noticed what looked like an attempt to cry, a clear message that she would rather die than be like this for the rest of her life. Zolph then closed his eyes. "I'm sorry, Dynn."

Zolph promptly cut off the teeth stuck in his abdomen and then the right arm grasping him. The arm let go of his neck, fell to the ground and flailed around for a bit before going limp and the eye on the back of the hand stopped glowing.

He could sense the symbiote's life force fading. Unfortunately, he could sense Dynn's life force fading too. As she fell to ground, the symbiote started laughing psychotically. "You may have killed me, but I still get the last laugh in the end!" It continued to laugh until it died, indicated by the breast-eyes ceasing to glow. Dynn then fell on her back, with her eyes back to normal with green irises and white sclera.

Zolph started to tear up. "You really weren't kidding, were you, you bastard!" He then walked over to the disruptor field generator and smashed it with a fully-charged punch from his mechanical arm in frustration, causing it to be deactivated permanently.

His comlink then started ringing. He promptly activated it. "WHAT!" He yelled into the comlink.

"Are you alright, Zolph?" Grein asked.

"I'm just dandy, right now!" He said sarcastically. "What's this about?"

"I got the engines fixed, but we've got another problem for the fleet. I picked up some heavy seismic activity on the move. The Valkoran have a Fortress Tank coming towards your location. This is not only the biggest land vehicle in their army, but also their most heavily armed, so I'm flying over to help out."

Zolph, seeing an opportunity to enact justice on the group that grafted Dynn's arm in the first place, responded. "I'll do it myself!"

"Zolph! Don't even think-!" Grein yelled before being cut off.

Zolph then ran out of the temple to enact supposedly deserved vengeance on the Valkoran. Dynn, still holding on, weakly tried to call out to him, but to no avail, as while she didn't have her vocal chords moved around, she still had the second layer skin over her mouth.

"Damn it, Zolph! Why must you be so impulsive?!" She thought to herself, refusing to die knowing he was in this state.