The first thing Sp-87 knew was pain. Even before he could open his eyes, he would feel sharp things poke and prod him. Every day he would be woken up, fed, and then led to a brightly lit lab where they poked him with strange instruments and scanned him with stranger tools. Once they were satisfied, he would be returned to his room until they needed to take more samples.
For years this routine continued, sometimes he would be left alone for several days. On other days he would be brought to the lab multiple times per day.
Then one day everything changed. Sp-87 could feel something was off in the lab, the technicians were yelling at each other as a siren was ringing through the room.
"How did the Jedi find us? This lab was supposed to be off the grid!" one of the technicians yelled.
"I don't know. Listen, this facility has state-of-the-art defenses. Let the battle droids do their jobs." The lead technician responded.
"But what if-"
"Shut up and start packing up the equipment. This facility is compromised so we will have to relocate immediately once the Jedi is dealt with. We need to download and delete the data on the servers. Also, someone take the subject back to his room."
Sp-87 felt hands grab him and start dragging him away. As he was being pulled through the familiar hall to his room, the announcements on the speakers were becoming more urgent. "Sublevel 1 has been breached. All security personnel, muster on sublevel 2."
"Shit, that's right above us."
"I know, let's hurry up and lock the kid up. Then we can figure out what to do next."
They soon arrived at his room. Sp-87 was quickly thrown in and heard the door seal shut behind him.
Not knowing what else to do, Sp-87 sat in the corner and waited. Listening to the announcement, he could tell that they were becoming more urgent as time went on.
"All personnel, the facility is lost. Delete all data that cannot be transferred and liquidate the test subjects. Once complete, evacuate to the shuttle."
Sp-87 did not know what 'liquidate' meant, but he knew it sounded bad and his body shook. Pulling his tail close to him, he hugged it tightly, seeking comfort in the soft fur. Soon enough, his fears were confirmed when the door opened, and a security droid walked in. As the droid approached him, Sp-87 backed up to the corner of the room. Nowhere else to go, he started growling at the machine as it walked closer.
Sp-87's eyes looked past the droid to see a figure enter the room holding a glowing green blade. The droid was cut in two with one slice and fell to the floor. Sp-87 growled as the stranger approached him, knelt, and held out a hand to him.
"Come child, don't be afraid. I am here to take you from this place."
The human in front of him had dark skin and was wearing strange robes with no resemblance to the lab coats the technicians always wore. Despite his fear, Sp-87 somehow knew he could trust the person. Taking his hand, he was led out of the room.
The human led him through parts of the facility Sp-87 had never seen before. Along the way, he saw destroyed droids and dead technicians. When he felt his legs get tired, the person lifted him and carried him.
They eventually entered a lab that resembled the one where he spent most of his days and saw another figure dressed in similar clothes to the one carrying him standing near a table with a body on it.
"Master Beq, I am sorry. I was unable to stop them from deleting all of the data on the servers. A large group were also able to escape on a shuttle."
"That is fine, padawan. What about her?"
"She has been dead for several days already. All that I can tell is that they have been experimenting on her for several years. I have never seen a race like this before, she almost looks like a mix of Human and Amaran. Do you think they were experimenting with genetic splicing?"
"I do not know Kiara, if only we got here sooner. Let's get this child out of here, there is a judiciary frigate nearby, we can send them this location and hopefully, they can get more data on what this lab was studying. It is time we return to the temple."
"Master is the child force-sensitive?"
"I think so. Come, let us depart this place."
During the conversation, Sp-87 had his gaze locked onto the table in the center of the lab. He felt a sense of sorrow and grief as he reached his hand out to the corpse he instinctively knew was his mother.
Orlen jerked awake. Looking up at the sky he saw that the sun was just starting to rise. Sitting up, he had a moment of confusion at the unfamiliar scenery before recalling the previous day's events. Taking a few bites of his ration bar and a sip of water, he contemplated the disturbing dream he had. It has been a while since I dreamed about the lab, what brought that on? No matter, I need to get to that town. Getting to his feet, he gathered his gear and set out for the town he saw last night.
Walking for several hours, Orlen finally arrived at the town shortly after noon. As he approached, he noted with disappointment that the buildings were made of stone and wood. "Dammit, looks like this is a feudal world. I doubt that I will have any chance of finding a ship here."
Alright, no need to panic yet. This could be one of those settlements that reject technology. I should talk to some of the locals, maybe they can point me in a better direction.
I should also get myself a map. Let's see, do I have anything to trade with? I doubt Imperial Credits will be worth anything here.
As Orlen wandered further into town, he noticed the townsfolk were starting to react to his presence. People were pointing at him before running off and women and children were quickly running indoors. Before long the streets were quiet and deserted and he could sense that a dangerous situation was developing,
Orlen decided it might be better to get out of the town and turned around to leave. Before he could progress very far, a mob gathered in front of him, cutting him off from the edge of town. Much to his dismay, he saw many of the peasants were wielding pitchforks and other impromptu weapons.
"That is far enough monster!"
Shit, I really should have turned around sooner. They do not look happy. Am I the first nonhuman they have seen? This could go really badly if I handle this poorly. Better try to calm them down.
Before he had a chance to talk, the crowd parted and one man, dressed in finer clothes than the rest of the mob stepped forward with a steel sword in hand.
"What sort of sick, twisted plot has the Monster Lord come up with this time?"
"Sorry but I am kinda lost, if you could tell me where we are, then I promise I will be on my wa-".
He was interrupted by a shout from the crowd. "You really thought you could sneak into our town? We have driven off monsters before and we will do so again!"
"Are the monsters not satisfied with raping our men and now want to steal our women as well."
"I bet he wants to steal our children too!"
"What if he wants to rape us as well?"
"You sick fuck!"
The mob erupted in fear and anger and started to look violent as they fed off each other's fears.
They think I am going to do what?
Utterly shocked and confused at what he was being accused of, Orlen started to step back, looking for an escape. He was almost surrounded and they were starting to advance towards him.
This is getting bad, they could erupt into violence at any moment. I don't think talking to them will do much good. Spotting an alleyway he could duck into, Orlen got ready to make a run for it.
"Listen, I don't want to rape anyone or steal anyone's children. I'll leave and never come back. Sound good? You won't see me again." He observed that his attempts at de-escalation had no affect on the crowd and that they were still moving closer. Continuing to slowly backstep, Orlen saw that he was almost to the alleyway.
Before he could make his move, one of the peasants, face red with rage, lowered his pitchfork at his and charged.
"I won't let you rape me! Ilias protect us!" The man yelled as he tried to stab Orlen.
Twisting his body, Orlen dodged to the side. Quickly grabbing the pitchfork, he pulled it from the local's hands and spun it around, striking the man on the side of the head with the end of the pole. The man collapsed to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.
There was a moment of silence before the mob let out a feral cry and charged at him.
Dropping the pitchfork, Orlen sprinted to the alleyway. He could hear the mob shouting behind him as they gave chase.
"Get him, don't let him escape."
Trying to lose his pursuers, Orlen ran through the alleyways and streets, taking random turns.
What the blazes was that? I understand being scared at seeing an alien for the first time, but that was ridiculous and over the top. They were looking and acting like I was a Hutt or something. Have they had bad experiences with nonhumans in the past?
After several minutes of running, it seemed like he lost the mob. Taking cover behind a cart, he took a moment to catch his breath as he listened for movement.
Okay, it looks like I am close to the edge of town. I should be able to run straight for it and lose them in those nearby woods. I'll figure out what to do after that.
Instincts screaming, he dove to the side, only to see an arrow strike the side of the cart. Turning to the direction the arrow came from, he saw the man from earlier who was wearing nicer clothes holding a bow and reaching for another arrow.
Maybe the local mayor or lord?
"I found you monster, now kindly sit still so I can end your miserable life."
Scrambling to his feet, Orlen sprinted away from him, running towards the edge of the town. Keeping an eye on the bow wielder, Orlen waited for him to release another arrow. Once the arrow launched from the bow, he changed direction and easily dodged it.
At least it is easier than dodging blaster bolts. Taking another side street, the bowman was out of sight. Emerging onto the main street, Orlen soon made it to the outskirts of the town. There is the edge of the town, almost out of here.
He came to a halt and let out a groan of frustration when he saw three guards wearing rudimentary armor block his way. Lowering their spears at him, they cautiously started advancing on him.
"Nowhere to run monster. Now prepare to face Ilias' judgment."
Looking back, he saw more guards and their presumed leader charging towards him.
Alright, I am done with this, they may be trying to protect their homes, but this is getting annoying.
Taking out his blaster, he flipped a switch and set it to stun. In quick succession, he fired three shots at the guards. As the blue rings of energy hit them, the guards tensed up before falling to the ground unconscious, their nervous systems overloaded.
Stepping over the bodies twitching on the ground, Orlen exited the town and ran for the nearby forest.
Taking a moment to look back at the town, he saw most of the mob stopped at the edge of the town however a few of the bolder locals still gave chase.
I have to lose them in the woods. I am suddenly glad that General Draven insisted on instructing us on ground evasion tactics. However, I doubt this is what he had in mind.
"I am sorry my lord, we let him escape."
Baron Frederic Grimsby ignored the man standing before him apologizing and focused on what he was going to do. Monsters have never been so brazen to try and waltz right into town. Kitsunes were known for their skills at infiltration.
Did this one not know his disguise failed? Maybe he had an illusion spell on him that wore off.
Or was he just an idiot?
Frederic looked up at one of the guards. "How are Will and the others feeling?"
"Henry is still puking, Will and Oswin are back on their feet, but they are complaining about feeling dizzy. Barry is still unconscious, the healer thinks he is concussed but otherwise okay."
"And the ones who chased him into the forest?"
"They quickly lost him, they looked around for a bit but gave up. We will probably need to get the hounds on his trail if we are to find him."
"Alright, gather the folks in the town square. I will go address them in a few minutes."
With a nod, the guard set off while Frederic returned to his thoughts. This is disturbing, no one has ever seen a male monster before. Is this a rare monster or will more male monsters start popping up?
The monster did seem weak. Besides whatever spell it cast on those three, does he have any other way to defend himself? It did not try to fight or use any kind of pleasure attack and focused on running away. The monster dodged those arrows and Barry's pitchfork as if they could hurt him.
Kitsunes also are stronger the more tails they have if I remember correctly, this one only had one. If we corner him, I think we can take him down. This could be an opportunity. Male monsters are unheard of, if I take his head, the Pope is sure to shower me with riches. I will just have to convince the others to help me hunt it.
The baron noted that the priest was approaching, sighing at the thought of what the man was going to demand of him, Frederic cut him off just as he was about to speak. "No need to say anything priest, I already know what you are about to say. It is our duty as faithful followers of Ilias to hunt this monster down in her name. Sound about right?"
Frederic took satisfaction at the sight of the priest with the wind taken out of his sails. "Ye- yes my lord. It is good to see we are in agreement on what the Goddess wills."
"Good, I am going to gather a hunting party to find and kill this monster. I suggest you get your holy water and anything else you need, you are likely going to get people asking you for blessings and Ilias' protection."
Getting to his feet, Frederic walked away from the priest and returned to the town square where the residents were gathered. Looking over the crowd, he could see that many were fearful. With disgust, he also noted that some women were blushing and giggling to themselves.
It is just like some of the younger lads when they find out what most monsters are really after. Most of them look scared, it should not take much to convince them to join me on this hunt.
Seeing their Lord, the crowd erupted in fearful questions.
"M'Lord, what are we going to do? That monster will surely come back."
"We need to do something, think of the children."
"I am not going out there, that monster will rape me."
"Silence!" Shouted Frederic. "Yes, good people of Averton, a male monster assaulted our town and he will definitely return. So, I say to you, will you feel safe while he is out there? The beast will make off with your women and children, he'll come after them in the night!"
He saw that his words were having the right effect on the townsfolk.
It is working, they shouldn't need much more convincing at this rate.
"We are not safe until we take his head. I say we kill the beast! Ilias wills it, she will bless our righteous quest! If we do nothing, this monster will wreak havoc on our town. So, who is with me? Who has the courage to stand against this latest scheme of the Monster Lord?"
"I will go my lord."
"Ilias be praised, she will reward us for this noble quest."
From the crowd, more and more volunteers stepped forth until he had about thirty men assembled in front of him. Frederic smiled, started organizing the group, and ordered his steward to gather supplies, horses, and hunting dogs.
An hour later as night fell, the band departed the town, its members eager to begin the hunt for the monster that was threatening their town.