Chapter 8: The Zillbra Massacre
Lord Darth Vader sat within his private hyperbolic chamber in the deep recesses of the Executor. His apprentice, Chi'anna Eclipse, sat in a lotus position, breathing slowly, her eyes closed in meditation. The Executor was still several hours away from Raxus Prime, and both of the Dark Lords were mentally preparing themselves for the battle to come.
Vader's helmet slowly lowered with a click as he resealed his armor, and Chi'anna's eyes snapped open. Both of them rose slowly to face each other, the only sound the wheezing of Lord Vader's breathing. Finally, Vader broke the silence.
"Tell me, my apprentice… I have heard that you were responsible for the Thanta Zillbra massacre. Nearly a hundred pirates held Thanta Zillbra station against nearly every possible challenge. And that is not even mentioning the other pirate gangs that flew about the station in their personal ships. I know of your skills, so I know how you were able to eliminate them… but I would know your thoughts on the matter. Were they a challenge to you?"
Chi'anna shrugged her tiny shoulders. "Barely. Only a few stood out in the battle. Their leader was the only survivor… because he offered to surrender to me, and even now is part of the Empire."
Vader looked down at the small child. "Tell me."
Chi'anna took a deep breath, and began to tell her tale.
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The Thanta Zillbra installation was old. Created for a purpose long forgotten, it had been refurbished by its new crew to stand as a fortress in space. Heavily armed with every weapon imaginable, it could withstand an assault by an Imperial sector fleet. Backed by the dozens of pirate vessels that used the base as a port of call, it was no wonder that the Zillbra station was largely ignored by the Empire.
The pirate vessel Arcadia approached the Zillbra station with a slight lurch. With battlescars gleaned from its recent battle with a Hutt mercenary escorted heavy frigate, its crew hailed the station. "This is Arcadia, we need repairs. We can pay. Bonecrusher, are you there?"
The huge pirate Shinbit "Bonecrusher" was named for the deadly creatures that populated the Barabel's homeworld, flicked his comm. "Yeah, this is Bonecrusher. Harlock, is that you?"
Captain Nethanial Harlock sighed as he answered. "Yeah, we got into a scrap. We can pay with supplies, some credits and a few prisoners. You interested?"
Bonecrusher looked out the window at the approaching Arcadia. "Since when do you take prisoners, Harlock?"
"Since they turn out to be the daughter of the Sector Moff." Harlock answered. "Give me a dock."
"Take docking bay 4. It's empty." Bonecrusher said, and then flicked off the comm.
On the Arcadia, Harlock turned to face the little girl standing next to him. "There. You'll be aboard in a few minutes. You just give us time to get the hell out of here."
Chi'anna looked at the handsome human pirate and smiled. "I make no promises. I suggest you drop me off and get away as quickly as possible."
Harlock looked at the child, nodded quickly and informed his crew. "Once we're docked, stage a reactor leak… we'll jump system as soon as we're clear."
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Bonecrusher looked annoyed as the Arcadia jumped system with a reactor leak. "It's a shame." He said. "Harlock's a good pirate." He said to the other pirate scum around him. "All in all, if the reactor leak is bad enough, wait a few hours, then go find the ship. The crew should be dead, and we can claim salvage rights." He chuckled.
Another of the pirates entered the chamber with a little girl. Wearing what looked like a little sun-dress, the child looked frightened. "Looky what Harlock left behind! The daughter of the Sector Moff! We'll be able to ransom her!"
Bonecrusher nodded. "Tell the boss. We can maybe even get some of our crew locked up on Darvin." He looked down at the small child. "So little one… you scared?"
The frightened look on the little girls face melted away, and she looked at the Barabel with a smile. "No… not at all."
The explosion of raw force energy that came from the little girl was so much that it practically destroyed the control room. Bonecrusher was blasted through the control boards, and ironically, lived up to his namesake as his bones were pulverized. The other pirates in the chamber all ended up with broken bones, or were dead from the impact, but the girl made sure that each one was dead before she left. With a small vibro-blade, she slit their throats… but the last one, she used the Force to lift him from the ground. "Tell me who your leader is."
The pirate, who was holding his shattered leg, looked at the child in fear and shock. "His names Hask! Loka Hask!"
The small child held her hand up, the fingers open… and then she clenched her fist, crushing the pirate with the Force. "Loka Hask." She said softly.
For the next hour, she wandered the halls. Every time a pirate appeared, she would act like a little lost child, or worse, she would scream for help that the other pirates were killed. Once she had them near, she would slaughter them in very unique, painful ways.
Every time she killed a pirate, she would see her master Micah's face. How she longed to butcher the arrogant biogeneticist.
Finally annoyed that this was taking so long, she started running through the halls. She saw a group of six pirates walking towards her. She didn't pause, she flicked her wrists and her orange colored lightsabers emerged from their hidden sockets. She leaped into their midsts, and started slaughtering them.
The screams were music to her ears.
The screams got the attention of the other pirates and the alarms were sounded. Many of them ran to get weapons, others gathered in groups. Only one, the pirate leader himself, was intelligent and sat in the main captain's quarters, listening to the comm as the other pirates were killed off one by one.
Finally, Loka Hask stood up with a small blaster as his door was slowly cut from the wall by twin lightsaber blades. What surprised him was the little girl standing before him. Chi'anna Eclipse stared at the human. He had a Corellian limpet attached to the left side of his face… Chi'anna pointed at it, and said. "You got a little yuk on your face." She said with a giggle.
Loka Hask stared at the child, ignored the insult and knew he was a dead man. "I take it you're here to kill me?"
Chi'anna walked over to a nearby bar, and poured herself a small drink. "Well, that depends entirely on you. I have been authorized to take prisoners if they are able to provide information that will lead to the arrest and incarceration of other criminals. If not, I am to… how was it put to me exactly….I am authorized to neutralize any threats I come across."
Loka Hask dropped the pistol immediately. "I surrender. I can provide ship names, locations of other pirate bases, and even aliases of pirates in disguise."
Chi'anna smiled as she took a sip from her drink. "Excellent."
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Vader looked at the small girl as she finished her tale. "Loka Hask is now a loyal servant of the Empire," she said, looking at her master's reaction. "Every thing he said turned out to be true."
Vader nodded. "Your skills are considerable. You will make an excellent Sith Lord, Darth Eclipse."
Chi'anna smiled as she bowed to her master. "Thank you, Lord Vader."
Vader looked to the timer on the wall. "We will be arriving in the Raxus Prime system within the hour. Prepare yourself."
"I'm always prepared, my lord." Darth Eclipse said softly.