Chapter Five

Syke woke up.

He did not know what had just happened, but he seemed to have zoned out for a while. Maybe the Oracle was having some fun with his mind for siding against him earlier.

Syke got to his feet and walked back through the portal, determined to prove to the Oracle that he would not be messed with or criticized about his opinions. When he emerged on the other side, he felt pinned to the ground with shock.

The chamber was completely demolished.

The dead body of the bodyguard was lying in front of the overturned throne the Oracle usually inhabited. He moved further into the room and cautiously looked behind the throne.

The Oracle was lying decapitated behind it in a pool of blood.

Syke stared in disbelief at the Oracle's body until he heard a voice behind him.

"Neat, isn't it?"

Syke turned.

A man dressed in an Imperial uniform was standing near the portal. He had a mechanical eye patch covering a slash on the left side of his face and a robotical left arm attachment.

"Who are you?"

"Avery Contra."

"So, you're my final enemy?"

Contra looked a little confused.

"Um, I guess so."

"How did you know where to find this place?"

"This eye patch isn't just for looks, you know. It can see things beyond human perception. Like the portal into this place. But mostly, it was Frucle's fault."

Syke tensed.

"What do you mean? How do you know Aliga?"

"Well, I kinda bumped into him during one of my experiments."

"Experiments?"

"Yes. I was an expert at mixing chemicals and formulas. I had created a new drug to increase one's power levels to give to our soldiers. But I had to test it before giving it out. So I kidnapped a useless alien life form to test it on. It worked perfectly. The alien was immune to any attacks and was almost unkillable. The only side effects were a complete memory wipe, a case of insanity, and one weak spot on its head. Before I could correct those flaws, the Star Destroyer my equipment was in crashed on Nagob and the alien escaped."

"But what does this have to do with Aliga?" asked Syke.

"The name of the alien I had tested my drug on was Angus Frucle."

Syke stared.

"Then that's why he wanted revenge on the Empire. You turned his brother into the Monster of Nagob."

"Yes. Now, where is that Jedi?"

"What? Your special eye patch didn't tell you?"

In response, Contra raised his robotical arm, which had transformed into a gatlin. Syke raised his hands and repelled Contra's bullets back at him. They missed and hit the wall behind him. Then Contra's arm changed into a two fingered claw. Syke tried to swerve away, but Contra's claw had already closed around his neck. Syke gagged and tried to pull the claw off his neck, but it was too strong. He began to see white lights in front of his eyes. He knew he would be dead any minute.

Then lasers shot out of his eyes and struck Contra's face, causing him to release his neck. He heard Contra cry out in pain and fall to the ground.

As his vision returned, Syke looked down on Contra. He had two sizzling holes on his face: One in his forehead and one shattered through his eye patch. He was clearly dead.

Then as he looked up, Syke had a sudden understanding about everything that had happened. He knew now what had to be done.

He turned to face the window behind the throne. Then he closed his eyes and lowered his head.