Star Wars: Force of Nature

by General Rage

In a carefully laid trap, the King of Monsters is hit with a devastating super weapon. While the Nations of the World cheer they do not realize they have not destroyed him, only sent Godzilla to a new world. It is here the Atomic Titan shall come face to face with a new enemy, as he walks straight into a war long ago in a Galaxy Far, Far away...

2. The New World of Gods and Monsters

A Long Time Ago, in a Galaxy Far, Far Away...

Star Wars:

Force of Nature

It is a dark time for the Galaxy, as the evil Galactic Empire continues to strengthen its stranglehold. Its forces march across the galaxy, destroying what little freedom remains. Their rule seems absolute and unending. The only hope lies in small bands of Rebels who have begun rising up to defy Imperial authority. Wherever they strike, the aura of the Empire's invincibility begins to weaken.

The Empire soon places it's hopes on new and more destructive weapons to extinguish these sparks of rebellion and the dream of a free Galaxy forever. One such project is now nearing completion, a secret cloning operation that has been in development since before the fall of the Old Republic. To oversee its final completion, the Emperor has sent his most ruthless servant, DARTH VADER, to ensure its success.

Meanwhile, a Rebel Cell has learned of this secret project. Fearing the outcome of its full deployment, AHSOKA TANO, former Jedi Padawan, has contacted the services of the crew of the Starship Ghost, led by HERA SYNDULLA and fellow surviving Jedi KANAN JARRUS. The hope being that they can help in stopping this threat before it brings doom to the Rebellion.

Unbeknownst to both the Empire and Rebels, however, an unknown creature has arrived on the planet where the project is being developed. A monster of immense power, unlike anything either side has ever seen. Transported to this strange new world, it now searches for an opponent to pit against its terrible might, placing it on a crash course with the coming conflict that could decide the very future of the entire Galaxy...

---

Chapter One: The New World of Gods and Monsters

The Ghost coasted through space, the calm blackness surrounding it a welcome sight for its tired crew. One too many smuggling runs between other cells wasn't nearly as easy going as Ezra Bridger had hoped they would be. It wasn't that he wanted to avoid a fight, far from it. The problem was that the constant work kept him from further Jedi Training with Kanan. He didn't voice his complaints too much to the others though, partly to keep himself from looking like a whiny brat and mostly because Kanan's lessons on patience were stuck in his head. He really didn't want to get that lecture again.

He supposed the smuggling runs were important, they were essential in keeping the disparate Rebel Cells stocked up on supplies. You couldn't forge alliances between these various groups if you didn't bother to provide them with the means to keep fighting. Hera said one day they'd have a better means of supply beyond smuggling runs, when the cells started acting like a proper Alliance and not a bunch of random insurgents with little in common besides a hatred for the Empire.

Every uprising started somewhere though, and if nothing else it really did feel like they were actually accomplishing something. For awhile they had been on their own, fighting on Lothal by themselves, Ezra thinking they were the only ones sticking it to the Empire's goons. Now there was a whole other world he was a part of. It felt good to know that they weren't alone.

Didn't make things easier though. The Empire was cracking down hard, trying its best to not look weak in the face of the people. Their desire to tighten their iron grip further was driving more people to their cause, but it was also making things more dangerous. Lothal, Ezra's homeworld, had been feeling less and less comforting. He supposed that was why he accepted the need to leave it behind. Until the Empire was gone completely, Lothal would never be a real home for anyone again. Still, he hoped that one day soon they would return and drive the Imperials away, once and for. He had to believe that Lothal could be free, it was what kept him going when times got dark.

At least the Ghost still felt the same as it ever was, the others saw to that. Zeb had frequent spats with Chopper, Hera asked him for help during routine maintenance checks, Sabine continued to coat the walls in paint and Kanan was always on hand to offer training. At least when they had time, of course. Ezra appreciated whatever downtime he had to spend with the members of his new found family. It kept him from going stir crazy and it was nice to not have to constantly think about the next impending mission for a time.

However, it did always creep back in. Like right now, as Ezra sat on the large sofa surrounding the holotable in the ship's living quarters. Everyone knew it had to be a big deal if they were getting called away to see Fulcrum or, as he now knew her, Ahsoka Tano. It surprised Ezra to know there was another Jedi out there besides him and Kanan. Well, Ahsoka didn't like to be called that, but it didn't matter to Ezra, he still considered her one.

He had asked Kanan who exactly she was, not very knowledgeable about the Jedi beyond what little he read about them in the various banned texts the Empire didn't want people looking at. According to Kanan, Ahsoka had fought in the Clones Wars alongside some of the greatest Jedi Masters of the Republic era. She had been a highly respected Field Commander, despite her age at the time.

Then something happened. Kanan himself wasn't sure what, but Ahsoka had abandoned the Order and the Jedi way of life. Something about being framed for a crime she didn't commit, that was all Kanan was able to tell him. Near as Ezra could tell, she just walked away and didn't seem to have any regrets about it. It had certainly helped her to survive the infamous Order 66 that killed off the other Jedi. That was a good thing for them, as now Ahsoka was using her considerable experience to assist the Rebellion in defeating the Empire. She apparently had had a lot of practice at this sort of underground warfare before, although Hera didn't explain the specifics as to what that meant.

Regardless, if Ahsoka wanted to see them it had to be something big. She didn't call them up for a personal face to face meeting just to talk about a change to the smuggling schedule. Ezra could sense that this was going to be some kind of super secret operation. That wasn't really the force talking though, just a pure gut feeling. He wasn't the only one feeling it either.

"Any theories on what Fulcrum wants?" A voice asked him, bringing him out of his deep thought.

It was Sabine, the Mandalorian graffiti artist and the Ghost's demolitions expert. Why someone who loved to paint enjoyed blowing stuff up so much Ezra could never pin down. Her pink-tinted stylized armour also made her a unique standout among her people, not that Mandalorians were ever difficult to spot. Their armour wasn't very subtle to begin with after all, Sabine just made it more expressive. Not that he minded that much about what she did with her gear, he was pretty smitten with the girl regardless. He didn't think she felt the same way, but that wasn't exactly a deterrent for him. He was at least making an effort to better understand her art recently. He wasn't doing too good a job, but it was a hurdle he was slowly working past.

But he didn't feel much like flirting today, Sabine always got annoyed when he tried anyway. Lately he had been trying a more novel approach, being casual and talking to her like a person. Perhaps a bit unorthodox, but he got better reactions out of her when he tried that. Besides, he wasn't up to making any greater moves now, not with the looming mission on his mind.

"Just hoping it's not something too crazy," he explained to her. "I'd prefer not having to outrun more TIE Patrols."

"Why? Still sore about how I'm ahead of you in kills?" She asked him with a sly smile.

"No," Ezra tried to deny, not doing a particularly good job of it. "I'm just... you know, it's Ahsoka. Her missions aren't exactly simple. It's bound to be something messy."

Sabine took up a seat beside him, placing her elbow on the holotable and propping up her head with her hand to look at him.

"Look at it this way, the fact she comes to us with those kinds of jobs suggests she has a lot of faith in us," she tried assure him. "She knows we can get it done. We're her go-to people, how cool is that? We're highly valued operatives of an Ex-Jedi Commander!"

"I don't think she'd appreciate you calling her that," Ezra cautioned. "Even with the Ex part in front of it."

"But she is a former Jedi," Sabine reminded him. "Didn't even know they allowed you to quit the Order back then. I guess if the Jedi forced you to follow them they wouldn't have been allies to a democratic Republic for centuries. It just sounds odd to think about quitting."

"Well, maybe she decided she just didn't fit in," Ezra postulated. "She got framed by someone, maybe she felt betrayed."

He didn't want to sound like he was judging her, it wasn't like he had made great choices in his life either. No sense in making judgments about someone abandoning a sacred Order when you were a lowly thief just stealing to survive and only thinking of yourself. Admittedly, he couldn't imagine abandoning something like the Jedi Order, but then again he didn't really know what it was like personally. He only knew a rough esimate through the stories Kanan had shared. While Kanan had gone to ground several years, Ahsoka was more active in assisting others against the Empire. Ezra couldn't rightly call himself any better, he had turned his back on other people for a long time, after his parents had been taken by the Imperial. But that was a different time, now he, Kanan and Ahsoka were all working together to fix things. That was what mattered now.

"You ever think about asking her to give you some lessons?" Sabine asked inquisitively. "I'm not saying Kanan isn't a great Jedi, but it helps to learn from as many professionals as you can. No one ever has one teacher."

"I think Kanan's considered the idea, if only because she might know some things he doesn't," Ezra shrugged. "But it doesn't change anything. Kanan's my master, I want to learn from him. I guess if Ahsoka offers to help though I wouldn't be opposed."

Not that she would, just because she still kept her lightsabers after she left didn't mean she kept to the traditions of the Jedi. At least not all of them most likely. It was likely that her teaching method would be vastly different from Kanan's. Although Ezra would be lying if he said he didn't consider getting some pointers on how to dual wield two lightsabers like she did. After seeing Kanan do the same, he really wanted to know how to do that effectively.

"My guess is she wants us for some kind of sabotage operation," Sabine eventually theorized. "I'm thinking fuel dump or weapons factory."

"That sounds a bit mundane," Ezra admitted. "I think there are tons of other people who could blow up a fuel dump."

"But none of them have my artistry," Sabine argued, only sounding a bit prideful. "Togrutas are a highly cultured people, she obviously noticed my skills and knows I can get it done while sending a message. Like all good art does."

Ezra just gave her a look, silently asking if she was being serious just now. Sabine decided to pop her own head before it got too swollen.

"Alright, seriously though, those types of targets are becoming more and more important now," she explained to him. "Word is the Empire is seriously ramping up production for their war machine. Crippling that before it gets rolling would be a huge boon to us."

He had heard about that over the holonet. Apparently, the Imperial Senate had passed a new initiative allocating more funds and resources to the Imperial Military's defense budget. Saying that the Imperial Senate was passing anything though was a bit of an oxymoron, more accurately they were being given something the Emperor wanted done and voting unanimously for it on his orders. That's just how it worked. Everyone knew that the Senate was little more than a mouthpiece for the Empire, it had no real authority or say. This was just another decree in a long line of similar initiatives pushing for a bigger and even greater war machine. As if the Empire needed more money for guns.

"I guess I wouldn't mind destroying some Imperial property," he admitted. "Better than skulking around the back end of the galaxy playing courier."

"It is getting a bit boring," Sabine concurred. "Can't believe I'm saying that about outrunning TIEs, but its hard to deny it's getting a bit tedious."

"Maybe they need to get better pilots," Ezra suggested.

"Maybe they need to get shields on their fighters already and stop making it so easy," Sabine countered.

Ezra decided to stop there, Sabine did the same. It was probably not a good idea to give suggestions on how the Empire could improve its war machine, even in private. Best not to risk jinxing things and through some cosmic coincidence make their lives harder.

"Okay everyone," Hera's voice on the intercom sounded. "We're approaching the rendezvous now. We'll be docking with Fulcrum's ship when we arrive so everyone get ready to disembark."

"Well, duty calls," Sabine stated, jumping up from her seat and getting to her feet. "I better get my gear together."

"Yeah, me too," Ezra agreed, standing up from his seat himself. "And hey, I hope whatever it is Ahsoka wants us for, you do get to show off your... artistry somehow."

Sabine just offered a small smile back at Ezra.

"Thanks for the reassurance," she answered graciously, walking off as she did.

It wasn't exactly the best laid bit of flirtation, Ezra suspected that he looked very transparent to her. At least it was something, not much of something, but she responded well enough. Although, Ezra was never really sure if it was just out of pity. Ezra started thinking that perhaps besides Jedi training, he should ask Kanan about girls and how to talk to them properly without looking like a complete desperate idiot. Then again, he'd probably just try to turn it into a Jedi lesson so maybe Hera was a better source for that. She was a woman after all.

Ezra eventually put it out of his mind, he needed to stay focused on the mission and worrying about whether or not Sabine thought his advances were sad wasn't going to help that. The only woman on his mind right now was Ahsoka and what she had in store for them. He quickly went back to his room to gather his things and then made his way to the airlock.

---

Ahsoka Tano's Corvette was your average model for a Blockade Runner, except with a few discreet adjustments like better shields and armor. Hera had been on the ship a few times, but the experience was still a bit new for the rest of the Ghost crew. At least this time there wouldn't be as many questions or wide-eyed looks as the initial surprise of the existence of other cells across the galaxy had worn off somewhat. That suited Hera just fine, the only questions they needed to know concerned whatever reason Ahsoka had called for them.

Hera suspected that this was going to happen sooner or later once the plan had changed. The revelation of the existence of a wider rebellion had opened up a new world for them. That meant more missions, bigger risks, things Hera wasn't sure they were ready for yet. There was no going back from it now though, Mustafar had changed everything for them as did its aftermath on Lothal. They were bigger players in this now and they had to be ready for what came their way.

Zeb was easily the most eager to hear what Ahsoka had for them. He, like the rest of the crew, was getting a bit tired of smuggling runs. He wanted to punch something in a white helmet already, almost as much Sabine wanted to blow something up with one of her works of art. She couldn't blame them, it was hard doing more work for others instead of acting on their own initiative. It was another consequence of no longer being a single cell with no knowledge outside of it. That and causing the destruction of a Star Destroyer and liberating a Jedi prisoner, the Empire notices things like that. As Lothal had proven. You needed friends to help you when the Empire took notice. That much had been made clear to them by now.

After getting on board they were all swiftly directed towards the main briefing room. Kanan stood beside Hera as they entered, taking things in. There was a large vidscreen on the back wall, with a holotable in the center of the room. Ahsoka was already there, staring at one of the small sensor screens off to the side as they entered. Once she heard the doors open she turned to them, a greeting smile on her face.

"It's good to see you all," she began. "I hope my request didn't come too suddenly."

"We weren't really in the middle of much," Kanan assured her. "Just another smuggler's run. We're mostly hoping at this point that you didn't call us out here for another courier job."

"Please tell me it involves punching a buckethead or two," Zeb pleaded from behind them. "I'm not built for being cooped up in a starship! I need to stretch my legs."

"You'll have plenty of time to do just that," Ahsoka assured him.

That seemed to get the crew excited, but Hera was far more cautious. She did her best to bring some proper balance to that. She was happy at the prospect of hitting the Empire where it hurt, but from how Ahsoka sounded this wasn't your typical mission.

"Sounds like we're going to be on the ground for awhile," Hera surmised. "What exactly are we walking into? Weapons factory? Starship dock?"

"I wish it were so mundane," Ahsoka regretfully stated. "First though, you're going to need a bit of a history lesson. Are any of you familiar with a monster attack on Coruscant during the Clone Wars?"

Ezra and Sabine looked at each other confused, Zeb just perched a brow curiously. Hera, however, turned to Kanan, as he would've been the only one who probably was aware of such an event. Slowly he began to nod.

"Something like that happened I think," he admitted. "I only heard a few details from the Jedi elders about it. Some creature the Republic captured got loose and went on a rampage."

"That's a brief summary," Ahsoka replied. "Allow me to give more details."

Ahsoka turned on the viewscreen, revealing a rather vicious looking creature gazing back at them in a still image. It had a smooth round head, a long neck, thick brown scales, three massive arms, one of which was on its back, thin gripping fingers, a tail adorned with spikes and two furious green eyes.

"Whoa, now that's what I call a monster," Sabine observed, clearly fascinated.

"What is it?" Ezra asked in astonishment. "I've never seen anything like it."

"It was called a Zillo-Beast," Ahsoka answered, looking towards the screen. "And it's not surprising that you haven't. They were giant creatures who existed on only one known world, Malastare, homeworld of the Dugs. Their species was wiped out long ago by the Dugs when they started extracting their fuel from the planet. It was like a poison to them and this one was the only survivor."

Zeb grumbled aloud and looked to side.

"I know what that's like," he said morosely.

Hera instantly recognized what their Lasat crewmate meant, considering what the Empire had done to his people. The Zillo-Beasts' near extinction was far too similar to his own people's, killed over resources. It had always been a sore point for him.

"How was it discovered?" Hera asked Ahsoka, trying her best to keep the briefing moving.

"In the aftermath of a bomb the Jedi used to defeat a Droid Army on Malastare," Ahsoka explained, as the still image changed to old Clone Wars footage.

Said bomb did indeed look impressive, rendering the attacking droids lifeless husks. It also opened up a huge hole in the ground that swallowed quite a few Clone Troopers nearby. The footage then changed to the Zillo-Beast waking up and starting to break out of said pit to attack the Clones and Dugs directly.

"As you can see, it was not happy to be woken up," Ahsoka continued, clearly observing the obvious understatement in her tone. "It was even less happy when the Dugs tried to kill it with their gas. The creature, however, was a lot stronger than they thought. The Republic Forces were eventually able to resolve the situation and stun it with energy weapons."

The footage then showed the Zillo-Beast being hit by a lot of energy beams from Republic tanks and eventually it went down.

"It took that many tanks to put it to sleep," Ezra noted, rather amazed at the resilence. "That's one tough monster."

"Why go through all that trouble to stun it?" Sabine asked curiously. "Why not just kill it?"

"Jedi never seek the death of an innocent creature that had done nothing wrong, especially one that is the last of its kind," Ahsoka answered dutifully. "It had only become a problem because of our weapon. We were trying to save it, bring it some place it couldn't harm anyone."

"But I'm guessing the Republic had other plans," Hera presumed, her brow furrowing in anger.

Ahsoka shook her head.

"Not the Republic, just then-Supreme Chancellor Palpatine," Ahsoka stated, a resonant disgusted tone to her voice as she spoke the name. "The Jedi convinced him to let the beast live because of how durable it was. There was a belief that its scales could help give the Clone Troopers better armor that could withstand several laser blasts."

"So he ordered it taken to Coruscant for study," Kanan reasoned, sharing Ahsoka's frown. "Hmm, yeah that doesn't sound like a bad idea at all."

"Even before he became Emperor, Palpatine wasn't what you'd call humble," Ahsoka explained, still wearing a disapproving glance. "His arrogance got a lot of people killed when the Zillo-Beast broke out and started rampaging through the city."

The footage turned to said rampage as the monstrous, three-armed alien creature tore through the crowded streets, scaled skyscrapers and smashed through anything that got in his way. It was a terrifying sight to behold as nothing seemed capable of even slowing it down. Not even Republic Gunships were a match for it, as it spun around, swiping its massive arms in all directions, swatting the craft from the skies.

"He had some cool moves, I'll give the thing that much," Sabine noted, trying not to sound like she was admiring the vicious creature's destruction too much.

Hera noticed something different in the footage besides the creature's superior fighting technique. Specifically, how despite the chaos the creature caused, the Zillo-Beast itself seemed almost purposeful in its intent.

"It almost looks like it was on a mission," she observed.

"It was suggested that the Zillo-Beast may have been semi-sapient," Ahsoka replied concurrently. "Or at least intelligent enough to know who its enemy was. Palpatine had decided the quickest way to get what he wanted from the creature was to kill it. When the Zillo-Beast broke free, he went straight for the Senate and the Chancellor. It almost managed to kill him too."

That elicited a hearty laugh from Zeb.

"Heh, I'm liking this monster more and more by the second," he declared grinning. "Shame he didn't manage it, would've saved us a lot of grief."

"Yeah, definitely would've been better for everyone," Kanan concurred, growling under his breath.

Hera didn't realize this mission was going to bring up a lot of old wounds. The very thought that a giant monster had almost removed the greatest tyrant the Galaxy had ever known before he gained full power was enough to conjure up a few "what-ifs" in anyone's mind. That almost made it a shame to see the monster get killed in the next bit of footage as it was bombed with poison gas from above. Like Zeb had said, if they only knew what was going to happen, maybe the Jedi would've let the monster get its revenge.

"When the Zillo-Beast died we thought that was the end of it," Ahsoka continued, her voice growing more dire. "Another tragic casualty of the Republic's growing need to feed its war machine. Now we know that's not the case. It didn't end there, in fact it was just the start."

The footage turned to a darkened room, encased in shadows and full of strange equipment. The camera's user looked rather jittery as it looked about. Eventually, it settled on a large form in the center of whatever room the person was in. The camera then zoomed in on what looked to be a rather familiar hand and long neck, slowly reach up to a single vicious looking primal green eye. It was grainy, blurry and full of static, but the image was clear enough to be sure, it was another Zillo-Beast.

"They found another one of those things?" Sabine asked astonished.

"No, they made it," Ahsoka corrected her. "Another one of the Emperor's many tricks against the Jedi. According to our inside source, he's been trying to clone the Zillo-Beast since the day it was killed."

"But why?" Hera asked, her face contorting more out of confusion than shock. "He got the scales, he improved the armor for the Clone Army, why make another one?"

"That's the troubling part," Ahsoka informed her grimly. "You saw what that thing could do against the most advanced army of the Republic's heyday. It was wild and independent, but still destroyed a chunk of Coruscant before they stopped it. Now imagine one that can be controlled and what it could do against, say, a Rebel Insurgency."

Terrible thoughts instantly came to Hera's mind. A Zillo-Beast on Lothal would make things even way more difficult on that planet than it was now. They wouldn't be able to move without that thing crashing through the streets to stop them. They had nothing in their arsenal that could stop it, slow it down, nothing. The only option would be to run and hide. They wouldn't be able to fight it. With Imperial Stormtroopers backing it up, any uprising would be near impossible to achieve. There would be no way they could concievably free Ezra's homeworld then.

"A suppression unit," she coldly concluded. "You put a giant monster on a planet, maybe one or two for each city and you basically have the ultimate Rebellion squasher. Any and all movement would be heavily restricted just by it being there."

"Making life very difficult for any cell trying to accomplish anything of significance," Ahsoka added in a dire sense of tone. "Convoys, important military assets, government buildings, prisoner camps, anything these new Zillo-Beasts chose to guard would become impenetrable. Mass uprisings, protests, any major acts of dissent would be impossible. The Empire would have full control of the ground and maybe even more than that if our source's information is accurate."

"What do you mean more?" Ezra asked cautiously, not really wanting to know the answer.

"Weapons systems," the ex-Jedi Commander responded. "As if that thing needs to be even more powerful, they may be putting guns on it now."

Well, that just made things infinitely worse didn't it? Hera just wanted to know one this at this point.

"How long until its ready for deployment?" She asked, not bothering to hide her concern.

"Right now, unknown," Ahsoka admitted. "They're still in prototype phase, full-scale production is a ways off. But we know they'll be testing it soon. Rebel activity is on the rise and the Empire is getting desperate to find something, anything that can quell it."

"And they're turning to this crazy idea that's been in development for years?" Zeb asked, not sounding entirely convinced. "Come on, I get the concept and all, but even for the Empire this is a bit ridiculous."

Zeb had a point, it was an outlandish idea. However, she had learned long ago that the Empire could stoop to some pretty insane extremes to get what it wanted. A monster playing overwatch for an entire city, hardly the craziest thing she had heard of. Although admittedly it was still pretty high on the list.

"I'd rather not take the chance and see this thing get out the door," Ahsoka was quick to counter. "The Empire rules the galaxy through fear. Even just one of those things popping up on a planet in the Outer Rim could scare a lot people away from the Rebellion. The thought alone of their world becoming the next place they'll send one to might be enough to dissuade people away from our cause."

"Better safe than sorry I guess," Kanan concluded. "So how do we take this thing down? Drop a bunch of that Malastare Gas on it when it goes out for its test run?"

Ahsoka shook her head.

"That's not going to solve the problem," she sadly informed him. "They're far enough along in their development that they'll just grow another one. We'll set them back a month or two, if they don't just head right into full production regardless. To remove this threat entirely we need to destroy the main lab where they're growing this thing and all of the research involved."

Sabine just clenched her fist and pumped it slightly into the air Ahsoka's words.

"Yes, blow something up," she said gleefully. "You sure you Jedi can't read minds? Cause you just did with me."

Ahsoka gave off an uncomfortable smile at the Mandolorian's words. Sabine had said the J-word to her, Hera knew that was a problematic sticking point for Ahsoka . It had to do with why she left the Order, although the twi'lek pilot had never asked the Togruta about it. She only knew that Ahsoka had been really close to becoming a Knight and then her whole worldview came crashing down. The Jedi, the Republic, the Clone Wars, it just didn't seem to matter anymore. Ahsoka had never gone into the why she felt that way, just that when she decided to leave, it had made sense for her to do so.

"Jedi can't do that," she sheepishly said at long last. "I'm positive."

Hera decided to help Ahsoka get away from the awkward moment, pushing her back on track for the briefing.

"Where can we find this lab?" She asked pressingly.

Ahsoka turned their attention to the holotable in the center of the room, activating it to reveal the image of a planet. It had three moons and the information next to it suggested that it had breathable atmosphere. It had two large continents, separated by a vast sea and a number of environmental zones ranging from tropical to desert.

"This is the planet Tsuburonda, in the Eijira System," Ahsoka informed them. "It's a resource rich world, but devoid of any sentient life. The system's sun is highly volatile, letting off infrequent barrages of radiation. The planet itself is largely unaffected, the radiation bounces off the atmosphere, creating an almost constant display of aurora lights in the skies. The problem is that residual radiation over the course of millions of years has seeped into the soil, making extracting resources and farm life more trouble than it is worth. The local wildlife is also rather aggressive and highly evolved, sticking to the forests mostly. I won't even go into the oceans, place makes the water inhabitants on Naboo look like fishbowl fodder by comparison."

"A planet full of mutant animals and radiation soaked soil," Zeb grumbled. "Lovely."

"Like I said, the radiation above ground barely even registers," Ahsoka assured him. "You'd need to live on that planet for at least sixty years before it started to affect you. The Empire only moved the Zillo-Beast cloning project out there seven years ago so it could be more discreet. Not to mention so it could exploit the planet's resources for said project unmolested. It hasn't be easy for them to get around the radioactive soil, which could explain why it has taken them so long to make significant headway."

"You sold me when you said the sky was constantly full of color," Sabine declared, cracking a slight grin at it all. "I'm liking this mission more and more."

"You may not when you realize the major problem we're facing and why I called you," Ahsoka replied gravely. "The planet is surrounded by an Imperial Blockade of Star Destroyers. They also have an Orbital Gun positioned on the ground, making it impossible to land planetside without getting blown to atoms."

As Ahsoka spoke, the Star Destroyers and Orbital Gun were highlighted on the holoscreen. There did indeed seem to be a lot of them. How were they going to get past all of that?

"We can't just slip by a blockade of that size," Hera warned. "They're bound to see us approaching."

"No, we can't just slip by, but we do have a ticket in," Ahsoka declared, sounding a bit more sly in her response as she did. "The radioactive nature of the planet makes eating any food that grows there dangerous. The only living things that can survive eating any fruits or whatnot are the animals who have evolved to survive on that world. The Empire needs to either rigorously decontaminate the food, which is really hard when it grows in radioactive soil. Or they need to get it from off-world. That's your ticket in. With the Ghost's ability to mask its signature, it can pass for a delivery ship and sneak by the blockade. Once you shake any escort, you can then covertly land and begin the next phase of the plan."

"Taking out the Orbital Cannon, I presume," Hera suggested rather knowingly.

"Precisely," Ahsoka nodded. "With it gone, or better yet captured, we can use a small fleet of ships to push past the blockade and land some troops on the surface. Then we can move to assault the main lab and destroy it before the Zillo-Beasts move into mass production."

This whole mission had just got a bit bigger than Hera had thought it would be. Troops? Landing craft? Ahsoka was suggesting more than just a simple sabotage mission.

"This sounds like an invasion," she noted. "Do we even have that kind of manpower?"

"It's more like a raid, we're not actually going to occupy the planet, just destroy one facility," Ahsoka tried to correct. "And we do have that kind of manpower, at least now we do anyway. For the moment. It took a lot of favors, some of it involving your smuggling work actually, but we managed to convince enough other Rebel Cells to join in on the coming assault."

Of all the things Hera thought they were getting into, this hadn't even approached her mind. She had always hoped for something like this, but never this soon. An overt assault on a major Imperial installation, involving a secret project of the Empire no less. They had done some pretty big things in the past, but never at this scale. To take on something this big would require a lot of people working together and that invariably meant a ton of cells united to this cause. That was a scale of unity among the growing number of dissidents never before seen. That either meant they took this threat really seriously, had faith this plan could succeed or were likely really itching to hurt the Empire bad.

That last one was probably the more popular one among those who joined up, but Hera hoped enough of them believed in the objective more than anything and that getting revenge was just secondary. It was hard to tell the motivations for a lot of the other cells, at least from what Ahsoka had told her. They all had different reasons for rebelling and thus different agendas.

Some wanted the Old Republic to return, believing that they could reform what had been so easily corrupted. Others believed the systems deserved more independence from each other, feeling the Separatist Confederacy of the Clone Wars had the right idea but the wrong execution. A few even believed in dissolving governments altogether, let the people of the Galaxy run their own lives. The ideologies of the different Cells ranged from moderate to extreme along those lines and there were few commonalities.

This was one of the many hurdles of organizing a Galactic Wide Rebellion. Their cause relied on involving different worlds, species and peoples in coming to an agreement about how to defeat the Empire as well as what should replace it. It was a problem that had plagued Hera for years, steming from the harsh lessons she learned as a child. It cost her family and her people far too much. Success against the Imperials meant showing the Galaxy that there was a viable alternative to it. A bunch of squabbling chaotic cells who couldn't even agree with one another wasn't going to convince anyone.

"What exactly do we know about these assault forces?" Kanan asked inquisitively. "What kind of weapons are they bringing in on this? I'd like to know before we commit to anything."

"We've scrounged together enough heavy weapons and explosives for the mission," Ahsoka stated assuredly. "We've even managed to acquire and repair some old Republic Era assault vehicles. Not as strong as any of the Empire's new stuff, but they're effective nonetheless. Better yet, we'll have air support."

Well that was a relief, any Imperial Facility like the one they were talking about was bound to have a ton of TIEs protecting it. Between her and the Ghost, she could out fly a few squads, but only for so long. Some wingmen helping her out on this kind of mission would take a bit of the pressure off of her. She just hoped they were good or at least had some decent fighters.

"Are they armed with old Clone Wars ships too?" Sabine asked, sounding a bit terse. "I'd hate to think the only things we can get now are Old Republic hand me downs."

"The bombers are mostly repurposed ones they fixed up," Ahsoka explained. "The fighters they have are similarly heavily upgraded. They should be more than a match for any TIE pilots on the planet. They've been hitting Imperial Convoys for well over two years now, so they have experience."

Hera hoped they did, considering they signed up this mission. She was interested about these repurposed and upgraded starfighters though, that peaked her interested greatly. There were other concerns though besides having good people helping them as well as decent equipment.

"Alright, so we got some tanks and bombers, great," Zeb noted. "What does the Empire got? If this thing is so important, I imagine they got a big garrison keeping watch over it."

"According to our source, the blockade is their primary method of defense," Ahsoka explained. "The resource gathering and production facilities soak up a lot of their local garrison. That's not even counting their outposts. If everything goes as planned, we hit the Main Lab a few hours after we land before the Empire can respond. We get past their defenses, blow up the lab and make a break for orbit and hyperspace while they're still in disarray."

That sounded like they didn't have much room for mess ups. That raised some concern for Hera, plans never really survived the first few minutes of implementation. Ahsoka was smart, she probably had contingencies, but Hera wanted to be sure.

"So what happens if something goes wrong?" She asked her. "If the Empire responds faster than we're prepared for or we get slowed down..."

"We'll have to adjust our plan accordingly," Ahsoka succinctly responded. "With a little extra recon from you, we can better plan for contingencies. Our source is good, but they don't have total clearance. Some extra eyes on the ground before we start the attack could help us evaluate our strategy better. If worst comes to worst and our forces can't break through, some of us will have to use the chaos to sneak inside and blow the lab. It may be our only shot at that point before we're forced to evacuate."

Still not a lot of room for failure. Hopefully they could adapt faster than the Empire could if something went wrong. That is, if Kanan decided to mission was worth it. They were co-leaders, but ultimately Kanan decided if they were up for it. She could see him mulling over the details in his mind.

"It is a pretty big step," he finally voiced aloud. "And highly dangerous. Are you positive this... Zillo-Beast is almost ready for deployment?"

"According to my source, most certainly," Ahsoka confidently stated. "And given what has happened lately, I wouldn't be surprised if one of the first places they deployed it was Lothal."

Kanan looked back towards Ezra at that. Hera did as well and saw the young boy had a great look of concern at that possibility. Lothal was already locked down enough, a giant monster parading across the planet would be even worse. If this project did bear fruit, Hera didn't doubt Lothal would be a prime testing ground.

"Alright," Kanan finally relented. "We're in Ahsoka. We'll take that Orbital Cannon for you and see about removing anything else that might be an obstacle. But I really hope these cells you've gathered together are reliable."

"I share the same hope, Kanan," Ahsoka astutely informed him. "If you want, I brought some extra weaponry for you all. It's in the armory. It could help in your mission groundside."

"Sweet, dibs on the thermal detonators," Sabine declared jubilantly.

Hera let the others go off to peruse the armory. She told Kanan she'd catch up, there probably wasn't much there she'd want there anyway. Her blaster had served her faithfully for years now. She didn't exactly need to start carrying more. Besides, she wanted to talk to Ahsoka in private, there was a bit more on her mind she didn't want to talk about in front of the others.

"This is about more than just taking out this Zillo-Beast clone," she told the former Jedi. "It's about all these other cells involved, isn't it?"

"Unity is the one thing we're lacking now, Hera," Ahsoka was quick to remind her. "The Rebellion can't grow if we remain divided like this. If we can pull this off, it will show the other cells what we can do together. It will be the first step to a real Alliance."

"And that's great, but this is pretty big," Hera told her, motioning to the holotable with the image of the planet still on it. "I always thought if we got multiple cells together it would be for something... smaller. A starship dry dock, a Walker Factory, a Forced Labor Camp liberation, not a raid on a secret Imperial Science Facility."

Ahsoka bowed her head, realizing her twi'lek friend had a point.

"I know, this isn't how I planned it to go either," she admitted. "But I trust my information. We don't have time. If it were up to me, we'd hold off until we had more people, remove as many risks as possible to our success. We don't have that option. The Empire isn't going to wait for us and once they've proven the beast clone as viable they're going to set up multiple production facilities. This is our one chance to put a stop to it before that happens."

Hera understood that, but it was still a shock that they were going so fast. She wondered if the history of the Zillo-Beast played a role in the decision as well. Palpatine had made this project a reality and he had done it under the noses of the Jedi. Another one of his tricks against the Galaxy's protectors.

"I know this must feel personal to you," she stated solemnly to Ahsoka. "I can tell Kanan feels the same way."

"We shouldn't have brought that thing to Coruscant," Ahsoka answered flatly. "We shouldn't have listened to a lot Palpatine's orders. We should've seen the signs of what was coming, but... the war clouded everything. In fighting to protect the Republic, we helped quicken its destruction. Now this old mistake is coming back to haunt us."

"It wasn't your fault, Ahsoka," Hera tried to comfort her. "The Jedi weren't the only people fooled by Palpatine."

"But they paid the greatest price, one I barely escaped paying myself," the togruta was quick to add.

She walked over to the holotable and stared at where the main lab was located on the planet.

"I'm fixing what we broke," she proclaimed. "Plain and simple. If any good will come out of this, it will be helping to convince the other Rebels the need for unity in this fight."

"Let's hope that we can achieve that much at least then," Hera concurred, before quickly changing the subject. "But, you know there are other ways to fix what the Empire broke."

Ahsoka turned her head slightly to Hera, a knowing expression on her face.

"If you're going to suggest what I think you are..."

"Hear me out for a second," Hera said quickly. "Kanan never really got as much experience as he should've before Order 66 came down. It would really help him and Ezra if you considered offering them some help in their Jedi training."

"I'm not a Jedi anymore, Hera," Ahsoka flatly replied. "I'm not sure that's such a good idea."

"If Ezra is ever going to become a true Jedi he is going to need guidance from as many knowledgeable people as possible," Hera insisted. "Before it was just Kanan, but now you're here. Both of them could learn much from you. I know it."

Ahsoka was quiet for about a minute. She appeared lost in her thoughts, deeply thinking about Hera's words. Eventually though, she just sighed.

"Trust me on this, they don't want me as a teacher," she stated. "I abandoned the Jedi, I abandoned that life. That person I was isn't me anymore."

"Kanan felt the same way," Hera admitted. "But he found that he didn't need to deny it anymore."

"That's different, he didn't have a choice," Ahsoka corrected her. "I had one and I chose to leave. It just doesn't feel right to me."

Hera sighed sadly, not the reaction she had wanted. At least she had entertained the idea for a while.

"Could you at least consider it?" She requested. "Kanan thought he was alone for so long, the only surviving Padawan of the old Order. You being alive, it's given him hope, Ezra too. You may not think you have something to offer them, but you've given them that. It's something."

She waited for Ahsoka to respond, but she said nothing.

"I better go see how the others are doing then," Hera finally concluded. "We'll contact you when we're planetside."

Hera left the room, hoping that her friend and ally was considering her words. Ahsoka was an opportunity for Kanan and Ezra, she didn't want it wasted. There was still hope though, Ahsoka would be on this mission with them eventually. Maybe the close proximity to the two would convince her to change her mind. Like everything else today, it didn't hurt to hope for the best.

---

The illuminated skies of the planet Tsuburonda performed their usual dance of celestial lights. Greens, golds, blues and yellows shifted and changed in the sky, creating an awe inspiring sight. No one at the main lab facility's landing pad were paying attention to them, however. Everyone's eyes were instead glued to a single descending starship.

The Imperial Shuttle slowly moved towards the docking platform, a full platoon of Stormtroopers close by with their General standing at attention, smothing out his greying beard as he waited. His second, a younger Commander in his mid-thirties with a goatee, was close by. Close to him was an Imperial Overseer, dressed in formal attire and sporting very garish sideburns. They did their best to stand at full attention as the shuttle landed and its hatch dropped down. Moments later a black armored figure emerged from the opening, a small detachment of his own Stormtroopers following close behind him. The menacing, ominous sound of the figure's breathing apparatus echoed through the air, growing louder as the figure approached with his cape billowing in the wind as he marched.

The Imperial officers quickly bowed their heads and stood at attention. The intimidating glare of the black armored man's frightful mask looked towards the Overseer slowly. He did his best to keep a straight face and not show any fear. You did not want to betray weakness in front of Darth Vader after all, right hand of the Emperor's will.

"Welcome to Tsuburonda, Lord Vader," the Imperial Overseer greeted. "I am Varius Nulon, Overseer of this facility. This is General Sakal and Commander Klusto, they are in charge of the planet's garrison. We are most pleased to have you here, my Lord, as we are approaching the culmination of-"

"Spare me your platitudes, Overseer Nulon," Lord Vader said glaring at him, his voice booming as he spoke. "I have not come here to listen to your patronizing banality. I am here to ensure that this project is nearing completion and that you are not wasting the Emperor's time."

"Of course, Lord Vader," Nulon quickly stated, backing off and bowing his head once more. "I did not mean to offend. I only wished to express how humbled we are to have-"

"Enough," Vader said silencing him. "Your groveling is most demeaning, to yourself and others. I wish to assess your progress immediately. Lead me to the main lab."

"Yes, of course," Nulon said, trying not to look even more pathetic than he already seemed, motioning Vader to follow him down a nearby set of steps towards a turbolift. "I can take you to our main lab right away."

As Vader followed the Overseer, so to did General Sakal and Commander Klusto close behind. Vader sensed them before they even opened their mouths to speak.

"Do you wish for us to accompany you, Lord Vader?" The General asked astutely. "I imagine you wish to speak to us about the local garrison."

"In due time, but my primary concern is what you are guarding at the moment," Vader quickly informed him. "Follow if you must, but unless you have any insight on the project itself, remain silent."

That earned a nod from Sakal, who kept far behind Vader for the rest of the walk to the turbolift. That freed up the Sith Lord to speak to Nulon in full. Mostly about how displeased his master was.

"I trust you have explanations for many of the Emperor's concerns about this project," Vader presumed. "Such as why it has taken until now for you to produce any results."

"Resource management and funding hasn't exactly been easy to come by," Nulon tried to explain. "We've been stalled financially in that regard in acquiring the appropriate materials we need to perfect the cloning process."

"You have been given substantial capital over the course of several years," Vader viciously noted. "Your excuse is hollow. We have continued to allocate funds to this project in varying degrees, depending on your results, which have been few. The Emperor is starting to question if you are using those funds properly."

"We are, my Lord, I assure you," Nulon fretfully answered. "But resource management and capital are only one of our concerns. We have had setbacks over the years, as our Chief Scientist shall better explain in full. Suffice to say, we are not the Kaminoans. We are not as adept in cloning as they were, especially not in the case of, well, giant monsters."

Another excuse, Darth Vader thought. They had given them substantial files and documentation concerning the cloning methods of the Kaminoans. How hard was it to transfer that knowledge onto a creature such as the Zillo-Beast? While it had been a unique animal, it was still as flesh and blood as any organic was. Perhaps the chief scientist would better enlighten him as to the complications. As it stood though, the Overseer just appeared to be offering excuse after excuse for the delays in production. It was not all that encouraging, to say the least.

The small party walked onto the turbolift now, Klusto shutting the door as they entered. All the while, Nulon kept trying to talk Vader's ear off about the project and their progress. It reeked of desperation to cover up his shortcomings and the Sith Lord was quickly growing tired of the man. Then again, he grew tired of most politicians and bureaucrats fairly easily. Nulon was no different than the mulling Imperial Senators back on Coruscant who still thought they had a semblance of power. How he hoped they'd be rid of them soon. He couldn't stand their interference in the governing of the Empire, no matter how minor.

His master assured him they were a necessary evil for the moment. They needed to buy time, which was why this project was so important. They needed something to keep order until they were ready, something that would put down these pockets of Rebellion. Once their true superweapon was completed, once Grand Moff Tarkin finished its construction, nothing would stand in the way of final everlasting peace. Then the real work, as his master put it, could begin. Until that day though, they had to look for alternatives to maintaining order and tolerate blowhards like Nulon.

"If nothing else, you'll be pleased to know the simulations we've run, given our current accumulated data, suggest the project has the potential to exceed current expectations," the Overseer confidently assured. "Pacification of riots and other dissident activity is practically total. And that is not even factoring in our upgrades to the creature's natural destructive tendencies."

"I am well aware of the Zillo-Beast's capabilities, Overseer," Vader informed him curtly. "I do not need reassurances that it is a viable method of pacification. I require evidence that you are as close to putting the cloning process into full production as you claimed in your latest report. In all honesty, I am not convinced that is the case."

Vader felt he had every right to play the skeptic card. They had gotten assurances every other year that progress was being made. Each report claimed they were close. It was tolerated at first, given how long the Clone Army took to build up. Now, with small uprisings spreading across the Outer Rim and threatening to spill over beyond it, the Emperor's tolerance was at an end. It was time to find out whether those in charge were deliberately sabotaging the project or were simply incompetent.

Vader had been ordered to see for himself if the project was truly near success and, depending on his assessment, to ensure that they wasted no more of the Empire's time. Either he would shut down the project today, or Vader would push development of the Zillo-Beast clone to it's conclusion. Its production would no longer be hindered by delays and mismanagement, deliberate or otherwise.

"You'll soon see the complications we've had for yourself, Lord Vader," Nulon hurriedly explained. "The holding area will be our first stop."

"Holding area?" Vader asked, confused by their destination. "You have prisoners here?"

"Not exactly," Nulon corrected. "They're more like... the reject pile."

The doors to the turbo lift opened wide revealing a large room lined with several small cells. It was like miniature detainment block for a prison. However, the cells did not contain people. Vader approached one of the cells on the ground floor to get a better view of the occupant. A mangled mess of organic tissue began banging its fists against the shielding that locked it in. It appeared to be a miniature Zillo-Beast, but wrong in so many ways. Its tail was where its third arm should be, it sported an extra pair of eyes on top of its head, the scales were uneven, its feet bigger and missing toes. Vader could only shake his head.

"Mutations," he easily discerned. "Failures of your cloning process."

Vader looked out onto the row of cells that lined the walls of the room, each no doubt filled with a failed Zillo-Beast clone of varying degrees of imperfect alterations. Missing and added parts were one thing, but looking at the mutation in the cell in front of him Vader saw the true problem. It was easily detectable in the very eyes of the creature.

"I sense nothing but mindless rage from this creature," he stated bluntly, before quickly turning to Nulon. "This is not acceptable. We need Zillo-Beasts who are controllable, that will bend to our will, that we can direct. There is nothing within the minds of these monstrosities to control."

"Yes, that is precisely why they are the rejects and why we locked them up in here," Nulon quickly explained.

"Then why, Overseer, have you produced so many worthless miniature clones over the years?" Vader demanded to know.

"It was a necessary step, Lord Vader."

That voice wasn't frightened and mulling. It was more calm, cool, collected, formal and familiar to Vader. Approaching them from further along the cell lined hall was a Bivall wearinf a lab coat and a datapad in hand. Her red crest stood out among the more properly dressed Imperial Officials and Stormtrooper guards standing about. Her eye stalks on either side of her head only briefly looked away from her datapad as she approached. She finally stood at full attention when she stopped in front of Vader and Nulon.

"Lord Vader, this our Chief Scientist, Doctor-"

"Sionver Boll," Darth Vader finished for him. "I am aware. She was in charge of the original Zillo-Beast project and was placed into this position at this project's inception."

"I'm surprised you are familiar with my work, Lord Vader, and honored of course," Doctor Boll humbly replied.

Vader had known Boll when he had still been a Jedi, when he had still been Anakin Skywalker. He honestly hadn't imagined at the time he'd ever seen her again after the first Zillo-Beast's destruction. It was interesting that the Emperor had let her stay on this project so long, given how little success she had achieved. Perhaps Nulon wasn't the only person he should be directing his ire against.

"I would hope you have an explanation for this specimen repository, Doctor," he asked, motioning to the entire prison block.

"The Zillo-Beast's genetic structure is highly unique in comparison to other organic life forms," She astutely explained. "We tried cloning the creature on a smaller scale at first in an attempt to better understand its unique biology on a less trying scale. However, the cloning process proved imperfect even at such a small scale, producing these creatures you see before you. Before we even attempted larger scale, we needed to crack the Zillo-Beast's genetic code in order to properly reproduce it to the specifications the Emperor outlined for us."

"Why keep these abominations alive then?" Vader asked derisively.

"To better understand our shortcomings, killing them would've made discovering where the cloning process was falling short more difficult," Boll explained. "We gathered samples from each of the creatures, slowly perfecting each failing. It is only now that we even dared risk a full-scale clone."

It was at that moment that Sakal suddenly spoke up, walking up to stand beside Boll.

"To be honest, Lord Vader," the General stated firmly. "I believe that we should've put the animals down. Corralling them into these cages has proved hazardous for many of my men. If there is anything that we could've ascertained about the Doctor's shortcomings, they would've been just as easy to spot after an autopsy."

"Perhaps," Boll replied, trying not to act too defensively against the General's accusations. "But if we had killed them we would not have been able to overcome the problems with making the bigger one more subservient. I cannot obtain sufficient data on a brain that's dead, General."

Boll retained her ground, even as Sakal glared at her. It was only when Commander Klusto suddenly interrupted did the angered staring contest end.

"Doctor Boll's decision was unorthodox, I agree, but it provided us with much needed information and gave us a better understanding of the capabilities of the creatures we were making," He explained to Vader. "The General is only voicing the difficulties we had in containing them initially. It kept our people sharp. Overall, the Doctor's decisions have always been in the best interests of the project."

"Thank you, Commander," Boll stated, turning away from a slightly perturbed Sakal. "I appreciate your confidence in me."

As Klusto grinned a bit, Boll looked back to Vader with the same sense of conviction she had shown Sakal moments before.

"Besides, we also needed them to test our cybernetic enhancements," she continued. "We didn't want to risk damaging our only living specimen that wasn't a mindless uncontrollable animal. Through keeping them alive, we were able to discover how best to control the final specimen through advanced cybernetic implants. The creature is docile towards us. It will only respond to issued commands and the core programming that we have instilled into it."

"Then I trust the prototype is ready," Vader said, intrigued by the information.

"Nearly," Boll assured. "If it will satisfy you and the Emperor, however, you can see for yourself."

Boll led the small group into the main hangar in the lab facility. There, Vader looked upon the fruits of over a decade of work. There standing before him, bound within massive metal restraints, was a Zillo-Beast. Vader looked up towards its giant head and saw the familiar terrifying gaze of the creature staring back. down at him

He remembered how he had first come across its progenitor, the giant creature that had torn through Coruscant and nearly killed his Master. To think that the Jedi had been so insistent on letting that thing live, considering what it had almost cost the galaxy. Padme had been swayed by their weak-willed compassion for the monster as well, another instance of the Jedi, most notably Kenobi, turning her against him.

In the end though, it turned out for the best. The monster's rampage had given his Master a clearer vision, one of a creature that could stomp out their enemies before they rose to threaten the Empire. No army could stand against this thing and the only people who knew how to properly kill it, were allied with the Empire itself. Only they possessed the formula for the Poison Gas that had sufficiently killed the original monster. Of course, the Emperor had been wise enough to consider removing that particular weakness so long as the project proved viable.

It wasn't exactly the same as the original monster, however. It had been... improved for lack of a better term. For one thing, it was much bigger than the first one, close to three hundred and fifty feet, far more intimidating that way and less vulnerable to explosives as well. Half of the creature's head was encased in a silver metal face plate. This was clearly a sign of where the command and control implant had been installed, as well as an advanced targeting system for the creature's new long-ranged weaponry.

Such examples of said weaponry could be easily seen from even this far away. Missile packs on its shoulders, gauntlets on both its wrists, armed with laser and cannon based weapons. The third top arm was slumped down along the back though, so he couldn't see if the same held true for it or if they had done something else with it. A large chestplate on the creature's torso was also visible. Hopefully that contained the barrage weaponry component the Emperor had commissioned. The creature's open mouth also revealed what appeared to be a sustained energy beam weapon of significant potency installed within.

Everything seemed to be to the Emperor's specifications. He still had yet to see the tail and third arm though, he'd have to later in order to be sure all parameters had been met. He also saw some other additions that were curious. Vader noticed parts of one of the legs and both frontal arms had been replaced with cybernetic parts too, he suspected what these were for but chose to confirm it anyway.

"I trust the added prosthetics were to make-up for shortcomings," he presumed.

"The cloning process is still a work in progress, but this is our most successful prototype so far," Doctor Boll astutely answered. "The prosthetics do not hinder mobility as far as we can tell, only strengthen the creature's skeletal structure. The weapons systems have increased its destructive capacity tenfold. The tail itself has been outfitted with electrical field generators, making the spikes even more deadly than before."

Boll hadn't really changed much over the years it seemed, her voice still constantly resonated with the near robotic, professional attitude that Vader remembered her for. That was somewhat comforting, it suggested she was actually mindful and focused on her task.

"And the third arm?" Vader asked.

"We're still installing the final components," Boll replied. "The enhancements there will hopefully be to your liking when they're finished."

Vader walked closer to the creature, taking it all in. This was their suppression unit, the creature that would keep the enemies of order down. At the very least, it would prevent any substantial uprising from occurring until Tarkin was finished with the next super weapon. Who knows, maybe they could actually give the Grand Moff more time to fine tune the station, make sure there wasn't any design flaw they overlooked. For now though, it just meant trouble spots like Lothal would soon stop being such a thorn in the Empire's side.

"How soon can it be ready for testing?" Vader asked aloud.

"We've set up a trial run date two weeks from now," Nulon informed him. "We'll have everything installed by then."

"Is it operational at the moment?" Vader asked next.

"Yes," Boll answered, her formal tone slightly cracking under the sudden questioning. "But we still have weapons and systems checks to perform. Not to mention the command and control terminal is still being refined. We need to be sure there are no bugs in the system to-"

"Unacceptable," Vader commanded. "If it is operational now, it will be tested now."

The order forced everyone in the room to take pause, even Sakal spoke up.

"Lord Vader, we need time to properly go over everything," he stated. "I wish to see what this creature can do as much as the next, but isn't the safety of our forces-"

"The security of the Galaxy is all that concerns me and my Master," Vader informed him. "Too many dissidents and terrorists are rising to challenge the Empire's Authority. I will not allow it to continue longer than it already has. You have had enough time to refine and perfect this project, it will see completion before I leave here and full scale production will begin in earnest once that is done."

"We still require time," Doctor Boll hastily insisted. "Installation of the final components is still required and our command and control unit still needs to be tested to ensure full control. If we rush into this we risk damaging our only prototype. It will take months to regrow and reconstruct a new one if something catastrophic happens. That's more time and credits wasted, Lord Vader. We cannot afford that at this stage."

"She's right," Commander Klusto finally spoke up. "We still haven't even found time to set up the testing field. We don't even have anything ready for it to shoot at right now. We at least need some time to set that up, we're still scouting locations for a suitable site on the planet."

Vader thought it over, perhaps testing now this late in the day's rotation would be ill advised. But he wasn't going to wait two weeks just to see if this worked. He had other duties to attend to after all.

"You have four days to sort these complications," he commanded.

"Four days?" Nulon shouted wide-eyed "We can't possibly-"

Vader threateningly pointed a finger in Nulon's face.

"Four days, Overseer, I will not wait a moment longer," he viciously commanded. "You will advise your subordinates to double their efforts and they will have this prototype ready for its first test run. I will not allow you to waste more of my time."

"But four days is-"

"Sufficient, Doctor," Vader boomed as turned to Boll. "Be grateful I have given you that much and pray I do not see fit to decrease it further."

Boll bowed her head capitulation, as did Nulon.

"It will be done, Lord Vader," Boll submitted.

"See that it is," Vader commanded. "I will not tolerate further disappointment. Now, General Sakal, Commander Klusto, direct me towards your garrison's main headquarters. I wish to properly inspect your forces."

"At once Lord Vader," Sakal responded. "Follow me, please."

Vader followed Sakal and Klusto out, leaving Boll and Nulon to ponder their deadline. They would increase their efforts, they had no choice. That was the nature of the Empire, you either performed at peak efficency or you failed in the face of them. Nulon had already learned that he could no longer think of this position as some simple assignment. Now he understood the gravity and would show real initiative. With any luck he would not need to show the same firm hand with Sakal's forces. Everyone needed to understand the importance of this project's success. At this crucial stage, there could be nothing to potentially risked the Zillo-Beast's deployment. He was the Emperor's will made manifest, and all those on this planet would soon realize what that meant.

---

It was hard to compare the forests of Tsuburonda to anything else in the galaxy. The trees, affected over the millenia by the radiation of the sun, had reached staggering heights. The only trees that came close were those on the Wookiee homeworld. Tsuburonda's forests weren't a carbon copy, however. Kashyyyk's trees twisted about, creating dense foliage and interconnected branches. Tsuburonda's trees were less about twisting and more about bulk. Branches spread out from the top while the trunks reached up further and further towards the sky. The trees were also all coated in heavy layers of fungus and moss. It was a very earthy smelling forest, thick with grime and dirt. It was also very dark at night, which was a surprising trait on a planet with three moons and a constant display of dancing lights in the sky.

Any Imperial Speeder scouts who went out this late always feared they'd get lost. It was why they had set up additional lookout and watchtower posts within the trees themselves at this point, so they wouldn't have to worry about waiting until morning before they could find their way back. The whole ordeal of patrolling the forests wouldn't have been such a priority if not for all the wild animals who kept making a nuisance of themselves and charging into any camps set up in the area. If they wanted to keep the local wildlife at bay, they had to keep up these patrols, it was just how it was.

One such patrol had only just left the the outpost an hour back. They were making another sweep of the area. There was some concern about a group of Draxen Mantises about, vicious giant insect creatures the size of a small hoverbus who kept trying to take off the heads of any Stormtroopers they came across. If they were out here, they'd have to take them down. Eventually these bugs would learn to stay away from the outpost if they kept getting shot near it.

Private Arch stopped his speeder near one of the trunks of a tree. Dismounting the vehicle and taking his blaster off his back, Arch surveyed the area with his rifle's mounted flashlight. According to the other patrols, the Mantises were spotted heading towards this area. With any luck they could find the track and then kill the bothersome insects. As he continued to search, his patrol partner, Corporal Kuro pulled up next to his own speeder and stopped.

"Find anything?" He asked as he dismounted.

"I just started looking," Arch responded. "Relax."

"Sorry, just in the mood to shoot something," Kuro explained. "Someone took the last Nerf Burger at the mess today and I'm missing my holoshows right now. Killing a bug would help me feel better, you know?"

Arch just nodded and continued searching.

"I heard the Sergeant say if we find them he's going to have the bodies sterilized and decontaminated so we can cook him," he told Kuro. "I think he's curious to see if the rumors that they taste good are true."

"Well that should make for an interesting dinner," Kuro concurred. "Don't get your hopes up though. Regulations and all that about eating anything on this planet are pretty tight."

Maybe, but Arch could dream. He was getting tired of waiting for the usual food drops to come by every couple of months. They never got anything special, just regulation food orders. Then again that was just typical of life on Tsuburonda, the most exciting thing was hunting mutant animals you couldn't eat. After a few months of that, even that had gotten old.

"You hear what one of those Mantises did to a watchtower guard who was nodding off?" Kuro asked. "Ate his whole head, helmet and everything. Messed up, man."

"Yeah, weird that they got that close," Arch noted. "I mean, I know we've had attacks before, but I really thought we had spooked them off for good a week ago."

"They're persistent, that's for sure," Kuro suggested. "Dumb bugs don't know when to quit."

Arch kept scanning the ground, looking for trace signs of the Mantises' footprints. They were very tell tale, but in this thick foliage and darkness, it was hard to pinpoint them. All he could see was fallen leaves, sticks and overgrown roots.

"I tell you, bud, sometimes this planet is more trouble than it is worth," Arch grumbled.

"Hey, this is practically the easiest duty in the Outer Rim, Arch," Kuro argued. "Don't complain about it. You want difficult? Try Tattooine for a year, worst assignment ever. Dealing with Hutt Crime Cartels, uppity farmers, it was hot, days never seemed to end, and then there were the Krayt Dragons."

Arch looked back surprised by the declaration.

"Don't those live in caves really far from people?" He asked.

"Oh yeah, when they're not hungry," Kuro countered. "But after awhile they really want a Dewback steak and if they just so happen to see one with a Trooper riding on its back passing by..."

Arch shuddered at the very concept. Krayt Dragons were some of the most terrifying creatures he had heard about. The idea of one of those overgrown vicious lizards coming up out of nowhere and ripping you open was frightening.

"That happen to you?" Arch asked Kuro.

"My first CO actually," Kuro elaborated. "Dewback didn't make it, but he lived... barely. Stuck in a bacta tube for two months, just managed to save his arm. Nerves were shot after that though, not the same man after nearly being eaten alive."

"I can imagine," Arch agreed.

"Wildlife was the least of our problems though," he continued. "Be happy there are no sentients on this rock. The Sand People raids were the worst. Every couple of days they'd hit our patrols on the way to Anchorhead. Vicious things, hate anything that don't even smell like'em. They glorify violence I think, bunch of freaks. Only good thing was killing them got us the respect of the locals. Point is, we're lucky we ended up on a world where the worst we gotta deal with is mutant animals. Especially now, you hear about some of the stuff that's going on out there in the other systems?"

Arch had heard, a lot of people not appreciating the security they had all of a sudden. Was a real shame to hear. He hoped things quieted down soon, that cooler heads prevailed. There was no sense in all this anger, these riots he kept hearing about. Just seemed like an excuse to break stuff, pointless.

"I guess it's nice to know we're not stuck doing crowd control," Arch admitted. "Killing Mantises is a lot less complicated than angry civies."

"Yeah, I hear ya," Kuro agreed. "I didn't join to shoot at pissed off farmers. Another reason I didn't like Tattooine, had to get rough with some of the local vapor farmers. Not fun work, not at all. Felt like the bad guy. You don't get much enjoyment pushing around people just trying to scrape out a living."

As Kuro said that, Arch found something in the dirt. He closed his light on it and pointed it out to Kuro. It was Mantis tracks alright, heading off into the forest. As he scanned the area he saw more, at least over a dozen or so. All of them scurrying in from everywhere.

"Weird to see this many in a swarm together," Arch noted. "Where they headed?"

"No idea, but we may need backup to kill them all," Kuro observed. "Better safe than bug food."

"Yeah, good idea," Arch agreed.

But as he went to contact the other patrols, they heard a screech. Instantly, they both pointed their weapons towards the sound and heard something scurrying through the foliage. It didn't sound like a swarm, but it sounded like one very hostile bug.

"Set to full automatic," Kuro told Arch. "Cut through the trees as soon as you see its eyes. They glow in the dark, remember?"

Sure enough, the four glowing yellow eyes soon emerged from the darkness. The screeching continued as the Draxen Mantis scurried out of the black, its four slashing pincer arms lashing about like mad. Kuro and Arch opened fire immediately as it rushed at them, shooting it in the head and perforating its body. The corpse of the bug dropped to their feet, one of its legs twitching about as it started to die. Arch prodded it once with his rifle. As he replayed the scene of the seconds before back in his mind, something felt off.

"Did that attack look odd to you?" He asked Kuro, wondering if he was just imagining it.

"Now that you mention it, Mantises usually prefer to ambush prey when they're alone," Kuro admitted. "Only swarms go for the throat like that one cause they know their friends will close in from the other side."

Yet they only heard one, which meant this wasn't an attack. In fact, it almost looked like the bug was running scared. Before Arch could contemplate this further though, he smelt something in the air. Burning wood, plant life on fire. He could see Kuro smelt the same burning. Without even thinking it through too much they both went after the smell. If there was a fire it could endanger the outpost, they needed to get a better visual on it and report it so they could put it out.

They eventually made their way through the thick brush. It was hard to navigate through the darkness, but what little smoke they could see helped guide them. Eventually they found what they were looking for, a charred, blackened space within the trees There had been some kind of fire here, but it was slowly going out. The foliage was burned beyond recognition, but that wasn't what caught their attention. It was the Mantis corpses all around them. They had all been scorched to death, burned alive.

"Holy... what the hell happened?" Kuro asked. "Lighting strike?"

"No," Arch said looking up towards the trees, spotting a large gash in the canopy where a path had been seemingly burned clean through. "Lighting doesn't hit from the side like this. And it's never that wide a berth. This almost looks like a flamethrower hit them."

"Impossible, who would have a flamethrower that big?" Kuro asked. "Besides, my helmet's scanner is picking up a huge spike in radiation. No one has radioactive flamethrowers, that's crazy."

"So what did this to them?" Arch asked, his concern growing.

"Hell if I know," Kuro shouted back "Maybe its those science guys testing that crazy weapon they've been building for seven years!"

Suddenly, Arch heard something and brought his hand up to silence Kuro's shouting. He heard something thumping towards them. It sounded like an AT-AT but bigger, way bigger. It kept getting closer and louder. The trees started to shake and sway with ever step, their branches snapping like toothpicks. A low grumbling roar sounded over the horizon. The two Stormtroopers looked to where the slowly approaching pounding was coming from, backing away as they did.

The giant ancient trees began to topple and crash onto one another, their crashing drowned out only by the pounding footsteps. They heard the faint distant screeching of Mantises that were suddenly silenced by what sounded like a blast of some kind. It was followed by a blue resonating light that bloomed from within the darkness of blackened forest. Then something appeared through the trees, a large snout followed by a set of vicious yellow reptilian eyes. They peered down through the leaves, over three hundred feet above them to settle upon the two troopers and gaze upon them from on high.

"Kuro," Arch said nervously, stepping back slowly. "What..."

"Just run, Arch," his friend managed to squeak out. "Just. Run!"

A booming screaming roar broke the silence as the two Stormtroopers raced back through the trees. The pounding footsteps followed after them, as did that terrifying roar. They could hear the ancient moss-covered trunks snapping like twigs behind them, crashing down to the forest floor. Arch didn't even want to ask what it was that was attacking them, he just wanted to run. Get back to the speeder and get the hell out of here, warn the outpost, warn everyone!

As he was running, Kuro tripped on an outlying root. Arch turned back towards his friend who reached out with his hand, but before he could even say a word, the crack of a tree cut through the air. It collapsed to the ground, trapping Kuro beneath its branches and rocks on ground.

"Go! Just go!" He called out. "I can get out of this!"

Arch nodded and kept going, the monster was still getting to close. He wanted to go back, he wanted to get his fellow soldier out, but all he kept thinking about were those eyes staring right at him from a thousand feet in the air. He kept running making it back to his Speeder when he heard a terrible scream followed by a the stomp of the pursuing monster's foot.

"Kuro!" He called back, but he knew it was too late.

He could see the trees swaying against the creature's approach. He fired into them with his rifle, knowing it was futile, but angry all the same. This thing had just killed his friend, a friend he had left behind. Only when the roar came again did Arch regain his senses. He stopped firing and jumped on to his speeder. Pushing down on the throttle as hard as could, he raced away into the darkness as the pounding gigantic feet stomped after him.

---

The Watchtower lookout grabbed his gun and went to the edge of the wooden platform within his treetop hide-away. He spotted the lone Speeder bike rushing into camp, screaming like a madman at the top of his lungs. "It's coming, it's coming! Battle Stations!" he yelled.

Before long the entire outpost was moving up towards the edge of the cleared forest line. He didn't know what was going on. Assuming he had missed whatever had gone over the radio before the alarm got triggered he switched on the frequency channel.

"Unidentified creature, approaching camp at rapid speed," someone chirped in his ear. "All Troopers repel creature from perimeter. Hit it with heavy arms, sounds like a big one."

With that, the watchtower trooper grabbed his missile launcher and stood at the edge of the wooden platform. He aimed down the sight, looking at the Troopers taking up positions near the edge of the forest. Then he watched as a blue beam of flame shot out from the trees and incinerated the entire group of defenders. The watchtower trooper dropped back onto his back as the shockwave of the blast knocked him off his feet. He got back up and started peering through the smoke now rising into the air. He spotted something moving about in the dark and fired his rocket into it. There was explosion and then a low grumble.

As the Stormtrooper stood up, something passed through the smoke. A huge snout, two yellow piercing eyes, grey reptilian scales, a snarling maw and large pointed fins running down the back its head. It stared at the trooper, smoke billowing about its head and from its mouth. In utter shock, the hardened Imperial soldier dropped his rocket launcher at his feet. He couldn't even bring himself to speak as the monster bore a hateful look in his direction

The creature let out a terrifying, ear piercing roar at the Trooper in anger and then repaid him for his earlier transgression. A blast blue light shot out of the beast's mouth and engulfed him, the lookout platform and the entire treetop. He only felt a brief painful, burning sensation as his life ended. Below him, the entire outpost burned, along with every Stormtrooper still within. The only sound that could be heard for miles was their agony and when it died all that remained was the ear splitting roar of the monster that had delivered them unto oblivion.

---

Godzilla now stood over the destruction, watching the fires consume his prey. He had destroyed them utterly, as he had others before. They were the first of this new world to know the king's wrath, but they would not be the last. He now knew he had an enemy, much like those who had sent him here to begin with. So alike, yet different. They shared so many qualities, arrogance and pride among them. Their weapons were more potent though. No matter, they would not be enough to quiet his rage. He would see them all burn nonetheless, every last one of them.