Chapter 20

I would like to thank my reviewers, those who added my story to their alerts and favorites, and to all anonymous readers.

Thanks to all of you sending messages about Mercer's strength, it really helped to clarify it all.

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

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Canderous stood, staring blankly, at the workbench for most of the day pretending to have the most absolute of interest in the heavy-repeater. Truth was, he had taken it apart and cleaned it several times already. The continued repetition steamed from the fact that nothing else of interest was going on, Mission had ran off talking with her brother as soon as Bastila returned. Zaalbar as usual growled to himself in the corner when he wasn't playing a game of pazaak, he decided to stay clear of that. That only left T3, and it was not one of the most talkative droids he had ever met, so he continued working on his repeater.

To his great dismay, he imagined what kind if trouble Mercer would have caused by now. It was never a dull moment when he was around, and he could use some of that craziness about now. Not that he would ever tell anyone.

The sound of the ramp lowering caught his attention, and a rusty droid walked in slowly followed by Voren. Both entered the maintenance area and walked past him.

Canderous could not help but ask. "Where's Mercer?"

"He was kidnapped." Voren murmured.

Canderous chuckled. "Ha! No really, where is he?"

Voren didn't have a good answer and stayed quite.

"Your serious," the Mandalorian began, "never thought anyone could do that."

"About that," he said at last. "You've spent more time with Alex that anyone else here. Is there something you can tell us about him? Anything that can help us track him down?"

Canderous inhaled deeply, nostrils quivering. He knew Mercer valued his privacy and would take great pleasure in making the others work hard for any information about him, but due to the circumstances he might be able to reveal some small details.

"I don't know much," sighed the Mandalorian. "He's from a species I've never experienced before with shapeshifting capabilities."

"Similar to the Clawdites?" Voren offered.

Canderous nodded. "But on a completely other level. His psychical abilities far surpass that of a human, which is why this situation is strange."

Voren blew out a forceful exhale, raised a hand to his forehead. He had seen Alex's physical maneuvers first hand, while they were impressive, he already knew that from the way Alex took out a freaking Krayt dragon. Alex being from an unknown species similar to the Clawdites was a likely conclusion, but still not what he truly sought.

"Do you know where he comes from? Any other unique trait that could be useful?"

"No," He dismissed the questions with a wave. "That is all I know. What is our next course of action?"

"There's not much we can do." Voren murmured.

"For now he's on his own."

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"Hey, wake up!"

Consciousness returned slowly, a bright light blinded him, forcing him to look away. His eyes needed no longer than a few seconds to adjust, the room was dark-lit except for the spotlight above focusing its beam of light on him. The room felt familiar and then he noticed why, he had a similar compartment on the Aerith. The low hum entering his auditory senses confirmed his belief; he was in a cargo hold. Four beings stood around him looking down, two on each side with their weapons on the ready. They observed him through T-shaped visors, armor of blue and grey alerted him to their origins. They were Mandalorian Neo-Crusaders, deadly mercenaries only loyal to their next paycheck.

Alex willed his body into action, only to found out he couldn't. His arms and legs were strapped down to a table by durasteel binders, these binders also went around his neck keeping it in place. He grunted as his restraints still kept him confined, the binders should have been ripped apart with ease. Then he felt it, the same substance he encountered on Tatooine flowing through his system. The anger rose in him with each passing second, he absolutely hated being restricted. For all his life he'd combat restrictions and shortcomings, setting no limits on what he could accomplish. But for now he had to play along until this particular shortcoming was dealt with.

He gave his guards a look that could wither a tree stump from fifty paces.

"If you let me go now I'll spare your lives."

Distorted laughs escaped from behind their helmets.

"You understand what's happening here?"

One of the guards to his right asked. He seemed to be the one in charge of the group.

"Our employer has questions for you."

Alex raised a brow; finally he'd meet the one behind the scenes. Curiosity filled him; they had gone after him personally. Perhaps it was someone connected to ProtoCorp? Had Jon betrayed him? Unlikely. Perhaps someone he'd pissed off in the past, and there was actually only two candidates that fit the equation. The Empire or…

The blast doors opened with a hiss, and a figure in blue and white stepped over the threshold.

Alex frowned. "Calo."

"We meet again, Mr Mercer."

"Didn't I kill you already?"

"Almost." Calo agreed. "You left me for dead back on Taris, a grave oversight on your part."

Alex scoffed at him. "So its revenge you want."

"I admit, I've wanted to kill you ever since then." Calo now hovered over him, arms crossed with a triumphant smile. "But Lord Malak has issued a very hefty bounty on your head, sadly to be taken alive."

This was interesting news; the Dark Lord himself had taken an interest in him. Had Lord Malak somehow discovered the true nature of his existence? Alex thought back, he had been very careful not to reveal too much of himself. The only real slipup that could have caused any harm was on Tatooine against the Krayt dragon, but that happened after the bounty was placed on him. Still, someone could have survived his attack on the Black Vulkars and manage to tell about it.

"Malak has an interest in me? I'm honored."

"Not you specifically, Lord Malak is more interested in your companions."

His companions? Alex made a mental sigh of relief; his secret seemed to be intact. Then who of them would be worthy of notice, Bastila was a likely choice. Her battle meditation was famous after all, known to strengthen an entire army just by mental exercises. Alex doubted a newly appointed padawan would be worthy of the Dark Lord's attention, which was why he dismissed Voren, and the other members of the team did not have anything truly valuable.

"However," Calo began. "I'm sure he will be most pleased after I tell him about you."

"Me? There's nothing special about me that would warrant his interest."

"I disagree," Calo reached out and yanked on Alex's jacket. "Your outfit is actually a part of you. As we soon discovered when trying to strip you down. I'm sure Lord Malak will find much pleasure in discovering what makes you tick."

Crap.

This whole thing turned ugly in an instant. Now he really needed to make an escape, and leave no witnesses. Alex pushed upwards will all his might, making the binders squeak at the pressure. The effects of the drug seemed to have diminished, giving back some of his strength.

"Quickly, give him another dose!"

A small cylinder pushed itself into his body, emptying the green liquid inside and taking away his remaining strength. It was a new experience for him, still awake but unable to move anything but his eyes. His body was doing what it always does; trying to overcome whatever obstacle it faced and create immunity against it. But he still needed more time and time was an unknown factor, they could arrive to their destination at any moment for all he knew.

"You two, keep him under guard. If he tries anything inject him again." Calo ordered before exiting the room with two of the other guards.

Alex couldn't tell how much time passed in silence; there was nothing in the vicinity to give away such information. The same two guards were still present, keeping an ever watching eye on him. Still, he noticed a slight change in their posture, which meant they had been here for at least a couple of hours.

He felt it inside him at all times. How the foreign substance flowed around in his whole body, but he also felt the internal struggle for dominance and he was winning, albeit slowly. During the next couple of minutes he tried to move, careful only to perform the smallest of twitches, anything else would alert his guard dogs. Alex was confident his body could now handle prolonged exposure to the toxin; it would not hamper him again.

Alex buckled against the restraints, causing his captors to rush over and inject him again.

"You never learn, do you?" The guard asked smugly.

"I learn, but I also adapt. And evolve."

Metal squeaked as the binders were ripped apart, wasting no time Alex pierced the closest guard clean through with razor-sharp claws. While grabbing the other with his untransformed arm by the throat, heaving him up in the air. The guard tried to gasp and grabbed his arm, trying to escape the hand that was choking him to death. Alex observed his struggling enemy with contempt, and with a twitch, felt his neck brake. His feeder tendrils left no evidence.

Alex observed the ship from side to side, his thermal vision allowed him to track each and every one of the crew onboard. To his favor, none heard the commotion inside the cargo hold. With no immediate concern, he stopped and evaluated his next course of action. His Mandalorian captor told him everything he needed to know, shifting through his memories took only a few seconds. The vessel was still several hours away from its destination; they're orders had been to deliver him to a Centurion-class battlecruiser orbiting Thule. This meant he still had ample time to take care of this unfortunate situation.

He went over to the console hanging beside the door and hit the proper button, changing into the Mandalorians form before stepping out into the hallway. Through the use of thermal vision, Alex observed three men in the cockpit; one was likely to be Calo. Three groups consisting of two guards were placed at various points around the ship; he decided the best course of action was to take out these groups in silence. Alex made his way to the right, entering the workshop area. The guards noticed his approached but thought nothing of it, a mistake which cost them their lives as he pierced them simultaneously with his claws.

Movement from behind caught his attention, the hiss of an opening door shortly followed by an alarming shout. His escape had been noticed, this however could still work in his advantage.

"Hey! Over here!"

Alex knelt and checked the bodies for a pulse, hearing the fast approaching footsteps arriving just behind.

"What happened?" One of the guards demanded.

"The target got loose and killed them."

"Damn it!" the guard cursed. "Spread out and find him. I'll call this in."

The second guard went back the same way he came, the other checked the bodies as he activated his comlink and prepared to alert the others. Alex couldn't help but smirk as he stood behind the kneeling guard, his disguise power made it almost too easy. The guard did not manage to send out a message or notice that anything was amiss before having his neck broken. Alex observed his handiwork with great satisfaction; the feeling however was replaced by surprise and pain as he turned around and came face to face with a blue fist. An inferno of yellow and red pushed against him, and he could feel the customary loss of consciousness as his face melted away.

His attacker took a step back in fear as Alex's face pulled itself back into existence, and readied another stream of fire. The sudden shock of what he'd seen made him hesitate for half a second, allowing Alex to grab his attacker by the wrist. The guard screamed out in pain as the wristconsole was crushed along with his bones. The screams died out shortly after, now there were only three enemies left. Calo along with his bodyguards were still camped out in the cockpit, only difference now was that they knew he was coming. Alex decided to abandon the strategy of stealth and opted for an all out attack, and this time he would make sure no one would come back to haunt him later.

A shower of blaster bolts washed over him as he made his way through the only corridor leading to the cockpit. Alex growled, shrugging them off; they were nothing more than an annoyance. It still burned on impact, but his vast-powers of regeneration fixed the damage within a few seconds. He charged at the closest enemy, launching a strike with his hammerfist. The guard raised his arms to block the massive fist, a mistake he would not repeat as he was crushed under its powerful impact. A stream of fire burned him from the right, with will alone his biomass transformed from powerful fist to hardened shield. A quick leap forward, vibrations traveled through the ship on impact as he crushed his enemy against the wall.

Smirking, he turned to Calo.

Only to receive three darts in the chest, he pulled them out slowly; enjoying the sight of his enemy's shocked expression as the realization entered his mind.

"That won't work anymore."

Calo sneered and raised his twin blasters.

"Please," Alex pleaded. "You saw what I did to your men. That won't work either. It's over for you."

Seeing his enemy refuse to lower his weapons, he continued.

"I'm a bit confounded. You were not worthy of my attention, that was the only reason I didn't make sure you were dead the last time. And you use your second chance to hunt me down again. Didn't you know that course of action could only lead you here?"

Calo cocked his head to the side. "I'm not dead yet. And you're not as strong as you think."

Alex scoffed. "Confidence spoken out of ignorance. You have nothing to threaten me with. I on the other hand."

Biomass flowed down his arms, changing his untransformed hands into claws. Flexing them menacingly before leaping forward, Calo managed to fire off several bolts but had no room to maneuver. Grabbing him by the arms, Alex lifted him off the ground and held him securely in front.

"Get it over then. Kill me!"

"I have other plans for you." Alex informed him. "I need to know if you've sent any transmissions about me."

"I won't tell you anything."

"Sadly for you," Alex said, his tone ominous. "I won't give you a choice."

Several protrusions escaped his body and latched on to Calo, expanding over his body and pulling him in. Alex saw the same look he'd seen hundreds of times as he consumed his targets, that of shock and despair. The all too familiar rush of memories gave answer to his question; his secret had not been passed on from Calo's lips. Instead the man had opted to give his findings when meeting with Lord Malak in person.

Alex now recognized the vessel he was currently on, the other vessel that managed to escape Taris beside the Aerith. It was owned by the Exchange boss Davik Kang and was called the Ebon Hawk. Calo had taken it off Kang's hands after escaping Taris, apparently the bounty hunter saw no reason to ally himself with a crime lord without any assets. Thus killing the man and taking the ship for himself.

Now alone, he exited hyperspace and punched in a new set of coordinates.

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Au

The Ebon Hawk is under his command, haven't decided yet if the team should continue their journey on the Ebon Hawk or on the Aerith. What do you think?