Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars or Prototype.

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So far it had been a good day.

Woke up, discovered a new galaxy, and got to eat. Right now, Alex didn't have much to complain about as he sat in front of the large desk fiddling with the Dr. Vul's datapad. All information the expedition had discovered so far was contained inside the small electronic device. It only took a few minutes to go through and it didn't contain anything about him yet. Most of the information was about the planet itself and the cave system, with various side notes of the scientists.

First thought was to destroy it, but saner heads prevailed. He figured a datapad could be useful someday, for something, so Alex deleted all data on the device and kept it. Alex leaned back into the chair; he had a decision to make. Dr. Vul told him leaving the planet was impossible without him, and true enough the doctor had locked down every navi-computer with his own voice print. That problem had solved itself; the question now was whether to leave as soon as possible, or to make sure there were no witnesses. Indeed, a tough moral choice.

"What to do, what to do." Alex mused. "Well, better safe than sorry."

The hunt was exhilarating; the first few guards and Dr. Kurt didn't even know what hit them as he sliced through them with his blades. It took less than five minutes to clear out the small facility, currently he was moving towards the exit on the opposite side of the building. Dull grey walls, like cobwebs, slipped past him on both sides as he moved at an impressive speed through the narrow corridors. Heightened vision and reflexes negated the tunnel effect, allowing him to be aware of his surroundings. Alex stopped short of the open entrance doors and crouched down beside them. Using his enhanced hearing, he noticed two teams consisting of three members each close by.

The guards were on alert; Alex couldn't hear their heart beats. His hearing wasn't that enhanced, but he could hear their breaths. And it was ragged; apparently they knew something was amiss. Alex shot down the idea of using one of his 'Meat Suites' for this situation, and decided a full frontal assault sounded fun. He stood up and went through the open blast doors, accelerating into full speed towards the nearest guard. The guard noticed him to late, but managed the fire of two blasts of red energy before being cut down by Alex's blade.

Damn, that actually stung a little. He thought as the two scorch marks on his chest healed within seconds. Alex let out a small grunt as he was hit by two more blaster bolts in the back, forming a shield from his right arm he charged towards the nearest enemy blocking several bolts before cutting him down. The remaining four guards had gathered in the same place and showered him with blaster fire. Alex moved slowly towards them, hiding behind his shield while changing the properties of his left arm. Instead of a hard, sharp blade, he changed his biomass to make it more thin and flexible. When he was close enough, Alex released his whipfist in a horizontal slash. The whip cut through three of the heavily armored guards and destroyed the weapon of the fourth before returning.

Alex released his transformations and walked slowly towards the now unarmed guard. It was bitter-sweet every time they gave him that terrified look as they realized he was superior in every way.

"What are you?" The guard asked, showing remarkable courage given the situation.

"I am many things, little underpaid guard." Alex now stood directly in front of the guard. "You couldn't even begin to fathom half of them. But for now I shall take the role of executioner."

He ended the guard's life with one swift stroke, letting his tendrils work their magic. Absorbing new biomass was always a bit exhilarating, but the feeling dissipated as soon as the process was over. Now Alex was alone in the compound, scratch that, more like alone on the whole planet. He felt a little more than disturbed by the fact, he had always been a loner with no real need for social interactions, save for his sister. But to be completely alone on the planet for a long time would definitely destroy what little sanity he still has left. On the other hand, exploring the galaxy would put him on the radar of the galaxy's major players eventually, it was inevitable. But it was better than the alternative of spending an eternity alone.

With that in mind he began searching and inspecting the vessel's docked on the landing pads, evaluating which would suit him the best. The collected memories helped him in that regard, he could take one of the empty cargo vessels. It would allow him to travel without much suspicion, but these ships had little to no firepower. And firepower was something he liked, so that was out of the question.

This is why he found the Herald-class shuttle to be the best alternative, which had belonged to Dr. Vul before his untimely demise. The vessel was a modified light freighter, 28 meters long and usually armed with two turbolasers. This one however had four of them and retrofitted to be crewed be a single person instead of two. It was also one of the few vessels on the planet with a hyperdrive, drawing on his memories; Alex knew this ship was the one carrying Dr. Vul to the planet. And that it was his own personal ship given to him for his service to the Sith Empire. The vessel had room for 5 passengers not including the captain and had a moderate cargo capacity of 70 tons.

Alex entered the ship and took the small elevator up to the cockpit and sat down in the seat to the left. It took less than a second to manipulate his biomass into Dr. Vul.

"Activate the navi-computer. Voice print: 157623."

The screen directly in front of him flashed several times and a robotic voice answered.

"Voice print acknowledged."

Alex decided not to change the voice imprint to his own; a dead man's voice was a good way to protect the ship after all. He mused were to go from here as he transformed back in to his old self, he punched several buttons on the computer and the open walkway closed. Few seconds later the vessel lifted from the ground and soured upwards, leaving several small sandstorms on the ground from the pressure. It was exciting being in space for the first time and seeing his old home becoming smaller and smaller. Alex considered himself to be many things, but being a space traveler was not one of them. It would take some time getting used to before he felt fully comfortable.

With two more buttons pressed, the stars become white lines as the ship entered hyperspace.

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He felt as a child on Christmas as he walked down the main street of the city Kessia on the planet Thule in the Esstran sector. Seeing new species walk about as if they belong there in your memories was one thing, and completely different when you see it for yourself for the first time. So far Alex had seen Arkanians, they could pass for human but had silver hair and pure white eyes along with four clawed digits on each hand. Then there were the Ubese, near-humans who had fair skin and dark hair with brilliant green or blue eyes. And last there were the Chiss, it was a shock to see what could pass for a human, only it had dark blue skin and blood-red eyes. The ones he had seen so far carried themselves as if the owned the place, and perhaps they did, but Alex never had much patience for the arrogant.

To know the names of these species he had to use every investigative skill he had, he asked a street kid. Said kid had the stomach to demand food in return for his help, which is why Alex was walking down the main street of the city to a particular restaurant. The kid had been very clear he only wanted one specific type of dish in exchange; something called Ahrisa which consisted of various greens and high quality meat. The pair exited the main street and walked down several side streets before arriving at their destination, a fairly well-looking cantina.

Alex entered, immediately stepping towards the bar on the opposite side. The bartender was a tall Ubese, about the same height as Alex, the man watched him without interest as he approached.

"I want an Ahrisa." Alex said to him.

"That will be 50 credits." He answered, his voice absurdly high and rasp.

Alex leaned forward and motioned for the bartender to do the same.

In a sweet voice he said. "Please give me an Ahrisa, or I'll rip your heart out. Okay?"

The Ubese's sensitive ears began to quiver. "It will take a few minutes."

Pleased with the exchange Alex waited at the bar as the bartender went out back, muttering something about not getting enough pay for this shit. It was a useful tactic; he had yet to meet the lowly paid service employee who was willing to risk their life for a lousy meal or drink. Alex didn't see it as extortion, the strong take from the weak, survival of the fittest and all that. In his mind, the weak had to blame themselves for their situation. On the other hand he was also glad he didn't have to kill the Ubese, not out of any moral sense, or even out of pity for the creature, his relief was purely from having avoided the inevitable difficulties brought on by killing someone in public. And he had promised the kid a meal, and he never went back on his word.

Few minutes later the bartender came out with the dish in a box, telling him to never come back, and he wasn't planning to. The kid was still waiting outside the cantina when he came out, Alex watched as the kid devoured the meal in a minute flat. He was actually quite impressed, nowhere near his record but still impressive. The moment broke by a loud bang and the screams of several different voices. Alex turned around and watched a large dark cloud rise behind some buildings.

"What the hell was that?" He said to himself.

"It's probably the Kura Gang again." The kid answered. "They are one of the city's most notorious gang."

"So they are strong?"

The kid nodded. "There's a bounty out on them, several bounty hunters have tried to catch them but everyone has failed."

Alex looked down. "How do you know all this?"

"Everyone in the city knows that, they've been harassing the city for a long time now."

Alex nodded; perhaps he should have a talk with this Kura gang. He does after all enjoy a good hunt, and from the looks of things, this gang sounds to be an adequate target.

"God I've missed this."

The kid looked questioning at him.

"Hunting that is." Alex said with a smile. "See you later kid."

With that Alex began moving towards the smoke to inspect the area. As he left a man clad in dark battle armor with dark-grey hair stepped out of the cantina and punched several buttons on his wrist console while observing Alex moving away.

Looking at the kid he asked. "Hey kid, who's that man you just talked to?"

When the kid didn't say anything, the man reached into his left pocket and revealed a credit chip containing 20 credits.

"Just some guy who's going after the Kura gang, he's crazy going after them."

Satisfied with the answer, he gave the kid the credits and motioned for him to disappear before trailing the same way.

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A blown out building was the first thing that entered his vision as Alex arrived at the scene, few bodies lay scattered near the building unmoving. From the looks of things it wasn't a public building, so Alex deduced they had probably targeted a rich civilian. The cops in him wanted to seal off the area and start to question the witnesses, sadly that was out of the question. But that didn't mean he couldn't start an investigation of his own. Moving past the courtyard, Alex slipped in through the blown out entrance and up the stairs trying to find some clue before the authorities arrive. On the second floor he found a cracked open door, the apartment was in total disarray. The apartment with all accessories must have cost a small fortune judging from all the high-tech stuff lying about.

There were no bodies in the apartment and no visible blood as far as he could tell. Searching through the bedroom he found a safe in the closet, untouched. Whatever they were after was not credits or riches. A kidnapping? Most signs pointed towards that theory. Sirens entered his auditory senses and they were getting louder. In a hurry he went down the stairs and out through the back door, formulating a plan of action as he moved away from the area.

Going around the corner he came face to face with a human clad in battle armor, armed to the teeth and who looked ready to blow him to bits. He didn't have his weapon raised; Alex recognized it as a heavy repeater.

"And you are?" Alex asked.

"Never mind that. What interest do you have with the kidnapping of Mr. Monraux?"

So his name is Monraux. "What's it to you?"

"Curiosity. Not many people would go in to a building that's just been blown up; you didn't even bat an eyelash at the massacre outside." The man raised his weapon slightly. "Why would you do that?"

Alex shrugged. "Got business with the kidnappers, this Monraux is of no consequence to me."

The man studied him for a moment before dropping his weapon. "It seems you're like me, a bounty hunter ready to take on any challenge."

Bounty hunter sounds like fun. "I might be."

"Good, then I have a proposition. I usually work alone, but I'm willing to make an exception this time."

Alex smirked. "And why would I want to work with you?"

"Because I'll let my baby here rip you to shreds otherwise." The man now had his silver repeater aimed directly at him. "Can't have the competition running around unchecked now can I."

Alex laughed, I like this guy. "Fine then, let's do this together."

Moving closer, Alex asked. "How did you know it was a kidnapping? I left just as the authorities arrived."

The man tapped his arm console. "Hacked the Holocamera in the apartment. For being rich the man didn't have any good security measures. Probably why he was targeted."

Alex nodded and the pair walked off in the same direction Alex first traveled.

"By the way, I'm Ordo. Canderous Ordo." The man introduced himself without looking.

"Mercer."

"Just Mercer huh, anyway we should regroup before going after them. I have a place." Glancing slightly back at Alex he continued. "Looks like you need some gear."

"I have everything I need." Alex observed the man from behind in silence as they ventured forward. This Canderous was the most interesting being he's met so far, but he doubted the man would threaten him if he knew exactly who he was dealing with. In any case, this man might prove to be useful on this mission. And perhaps he would be useful enough that he didn't have to kill him when all of this was over.

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Canderous had a place alright; in fact it was a penthouse in the outskirts of the posh area of the city. An opulent, richly carpeted series of room which housed a large collection of antique furniture, framed artworks and prized statues. The place was in one word, perfect. And it made Alex suspicious.

"This isn't your place is it?" Alex inquired.

Canderous grunted. "Why's that?"

"Well first, you carry yourself like a military man. You were probably a high-ranking one, perhaps a commander. But now you're a bounty hunter."

Alex pointed towards Canderous's armor. "Judging from your worn down armor I'd say you haven't been in the game long. Definitely not long enough to earn enough credits to have a place like this."

"So in all likelihood." Alex smiled triumphantly. "You picked this place on random and broke in."

"Damn I'm impressed; you're sharper than you look." Canderous went over to the transparisteel window on the right. "But I didn't pick this place on random."

Pointing out the window and to the right, his finger eventually stopped at a factory. Alex saw nothing special about it; it looked a bit rundown like most of the factories in that area.

"That place is one of their hideouts."

"How do you know?" Alex inquired.

"I've observed them a lot longer than you; you need to know your enemy so you know where to hurt them the most."

Alex nodded. "True." Unless you're an unstoppable bioengineered virus that is.

"Well then Mr. Observer, let's check it out." Alex only received a grunt in response.

It took the pair fifteen minutes to get close to the factory; Canderous had taken the lead in showing the way. His observing had been useful in keeping them unnoticed, not the way Alex would have done it but he couldn't argue with the result. In fact he had told his partner in crime that they should just storm the place, and had received a snarky 'Only fools charge ahead without knowing what lies in wait'. That had pretty much ended the conversation; Alex decided to let the man pay for his insolence later.

"Let's do it." Canderous said. Not bothering to wait for a reply, he broke from his cover and sprinted towards the side of the building. Alex wasted no time in following and caught up, both crouched low to the ground and ran along the wall, heading to the gate. As they approached, Canderous signaled that a single droid was posted as a guard. It was conical in shape, a little more than a meter tall, and half a meter wide. It hovered a meter off the ground and had three long legs dangling below it. Alex had seen one before, or rather the miner Mark had, and they were quite common as patrol drones on dig sites.

The patrol drone's sensors were focused on the gate, not on Canderous as he was bearing down on it from behind. Once he was closed to ten meters, he pulled out his blaster and fired off two quick blasts. Both hit the droid's control circuits, sending up a shower of sparks before it crashed down on the ground. With the sentry dispatched, Alex joined him at the gate, impressed with the display of marksmanship. Alex stood guard as Canderous focused on the control panel beside the gate. Fortunately it was a standard layout, and he was able to cut the power to the gate with a few simple pushes. Alex went in first ready to unleash hell on anyone inside; sadly he found the place empty.

His partner pointed towards a small maintenance door on the left, the door was made of heavily reinforced durasteel. Canderous stepped up to the security pad beside the door and entered a long series of numbers. Alex stood watch, if any more patrol drones appeared. After a few tense seconds there was a soft beep from the security pad, and the door slid open.

"You're quite the hacker, old man." Alex said.

"This is just basic stuff." Canderous replied, shouldering past him and into the factory.

They found themselves standing in a narrow, dimly lit corridor. From there they set of down the hall, it continued straight for about thirty meters, then made a sharp right turn that ended in a closed-door. Unlike the door which gave them access to the factory, this one didn't seem to be reinforced or locked. From the other side Alex could hear the deep, rhythmic thud of heavy machinery churning away. Alex pressed the access panel on the wall and readied himself. The door slid open to reveal the plant's main production floor, and a wave of intense heat smacked him in the face. The manufacturing floor was massive, about a hundred meters across and easily twice as long. Numerous doors lined each wall, dozens of exits to different areas of the plant.

Alex signaled the all clear and stepped through, at the far side he could see a small dangling light in a room high up close to the roof. The room was located in the south-east corner and the pair had to cross nearly the entire space to get there. Another wave of intense heat hit his body, for Alex it was fine, but to Canderous the heat was oppressive; the air almost seemed to stick to the man's throat. But Alex received no sign of complaint; the man was a fighter through and through.

Finally they arrived at the entrance to the room, it was an office and the light still shone through the side window. Carefully Alex tried to pry the door open, it didn't budge.

"Get us inside." Alex said as low as possible.

Canderous nodded and leaned against the wall and punched several buttons on his console. But the door didn't open.

"Try again." Alex pressed on.

Canderous did as ordered, Alex watched the security panel flash with the words 'Access Denied'. The man tried a third time with the same result.

"Sorry, can't hack this door."

Alex nodded, trying to formulate a plan in his mind to overcome this situation. After a few seconds, he came up with a simple but effective solution.

Turning around he said. "I have a plan, as soon as the door open charge in."

Shifting a large amount of biomass into his right fist, Alex created a massive, hammer-like hand. He could barely pick up a low 'What the hell' from Canderous before he launched a powerful strike. The door flew off at an incredible speed and crashed at the opposite wall, crushing the large computer station at the far side. Alex jumped in first followed shortly by Canderous, scanning the room Alex saw nothing particular of interest except for the unconscious Chiss lying under some broken computer equipment.

Seeing no danger, he released the transformation. Turning around, he came face to face with the barrel of a large silver heavy repeater.

"What the hell was that?" Canderous demanded, looking at Alex's right arm as it returned to normal.

How to play this? Alex raised his hands slowly."Put simply, I'm a shapeshifter."

"Bullshit. The only shapeshifters I've heard about are the Clawdites." Canderous narrowed his eyes. "And they can definitely not change like that."

"What can I say, I'm a new breed." Alex smiled.

Canderous was quiet for a moment. "Then what about that increase in strength, even if you're a shifter your strength should be the same."

"The truth is I can freely manipulate my biomass." As a demonstration, straightened out his left arm and formed a blade. "Now that you know, what will you do?"

Canderous grunted. "Every instinct, every fiber of my being tells me to squeeze the trigger and not let go until nothing of you remains."

Alex laughed. "Good, then you have good instincts."

"But… I'm not going to." Canderous dropped his weapon but kept watching him.

"May I ask why?"

There was a small silence between them.

"I'm a Mandalorian. My kind respect power and strength above all else." Canderous watched him up and down. "When I look at you I see just that. Now I realize, that, on some level was what drove me towards you from the beginning."

"Then we can continue this partnership?"

"We can, but one day I will challenge you." Canderous stroked his chin. "My blood demands it."

Alex smiled. "I'm looking forward to it. Now let's deal with that thing over there."

Walking over to the broken pile of computer equipment, Alex pulled the unconscious Chiss out and put him down on a chair to the left. Unlike the Chiss he had seen earlier, this one possessed none of the expensive clothing or accessories as them. Sprouting few bruises, he seemed to be alright otherwise.

Alex gave the Chiss a hard slap on the cheek which promptly woke him up. Quickly putting a hand over his mouth, Alex said.

"If you scream, we'll kill you."

The Chiss nodded and Alex released him. Now wide awake, the Chiss's eyes darted back and forth between his captors.

"Let's keep it simple. Tell us what we want to know and you can live." Alex said.

The Chiss snorted. "I won't tell you human scum anything."

Canderous stepped up beside Alex. "You can make him talk?"

"I can, but you probably don't want to be here for it."

Canderous nodded and stepped outside the office, closing the door behind him. Now alone with his prisoner, Alex went over and put a hand on his chest, smiling.

"What are you smiling about, human."

"Oh nothing, I've just never tasted a Chiss before."

Tendrils sprung forth from his arm and he pierced forward, feeling the rush of a lifetime of memories entering his mind. At first he was unsure if it would even work absorbing an alien, but now that he had, he realized it was no different from absorbing a human. In fact Chiss were a lot like humans he now knew; they had comparable circulatory, neurological, digestive and reproductive system. Perhaps that was the reason it worked or perhaps he could convert any living tissue into biomass, whether it was human or alien. Right now though it didn't matter.

Alex opened the door and stepped out. "We have a problem."

"What kind of problem?" Canderous inquired.

"They've moved Monraux." Alex frowned. "It seems we're going to Taris."

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Au

And there you have it. This chapter was a lot longer than the previous two, roughly 4 400 words. I will not release an update until the end of August or early September due to traveling and exams. But I can promise you that very soon a few more familiar faces will appear.