Chapter 144: Callous Kallus
I don't own star wars
The Zabrak Swordsman died in my hands as I crushed his throat. He was a challenge, a true warrior. Those don't last as long on Juggalo II, not as often as you'd think. It's been months since the supposed Death of Blackjaw Gryst and Crazy Candi needed a new champion gladiator… and after grueling deathmatches, slave auctions, and more grueling death matches she eventually found one.
Me.
Some Shistavanen dog she found in the hold of a prison ship.
"You are a gold mine!" she giggled maniacally as she smacked her 'Booty' hard on her rear. "I never imagined a Shistavanen prisoner could become my champion so quickly… she grinned sweetly at me, eyeing me up and down. "MMMn… did I ever tell you I was a dog person?" she asked, I remained silent. There was very little point in trying to hold any sort of conversation with her.
"Yes." I said, quick and to the point.
She pouted, grabbed her 'Titties', and dragged her roughly under her desk "Anyway. I have a new challenge for you. It's very easy. You're going to Yatib to fight in old Yackers' arena. And then you're going to kill whoever he puts up against you, and then kill him as soon as you get the chance…" she sighed contentedly as 'Titties' went to work, "…You can work out the details…" she added, waving to me as my handlers collared me and dragged me away, "If you come back alive I'll do something nice for you!" she cried happily as her doors slammed before me and they tasered me unconscious again.
They did that often, otherwise, I'd rip them apart…
When I awoke I knew I was in space on one of Candi's transports. "I heard she found him eating a pack of Nexu in the jungle…" the rodian said as my eyes focused, three-guard droids aiming shock blasters at me as I looked around.
"Bullshit." The human pilot mumbled, "I heard, he tore the arms off a wookiee and beat a trandoshan to death with them."
"Hey Dog." The remaining member of the ship, a trandoshan, but certainly not Blackjaw. "What'd you do? To become a prisoner before Candi dragged you from the prison ships?"
I was born. But I didn't tell them that…As I said, I was born in captivity, and quickly learned to survive. Through some complicated bullshit, which I learned when I was older. My father committed a crime so heinous that my mother was imprisoned for it as he died before he could serve it… then when I was born she left me to serve the sentence. I don't know, nor care what happened to her… But I learned to fend for myself quickly, killed quicker, for twenty-eight years that was my life… now thanks to Candi's surface to space missiles. I was a gladiator and now assassin.
"Hey. I'm talking to you!" the trandoshan snarled. His teeth were dull, he didn't have the balls to try and get close.
"Leave him be Tartax." The Rhodian mumbled, "He'll kill you if you get too close." Although that might be a feat even for me as I was bound to the wall… but I won't know until I try.
When we came to Yatib, a harsh desert hellhole. The plan was to land at Yackersvile. The bith patron known as Yackers ran the arena and had a rivalry/blood feud with Crazy Candi… At least normally he did. However… Yatib now had an infestation of Imperials over the planet, three-star destroyers: one slightly bigger than the other two. "What the fuck?" the human pilot said surprised as before their eyes the Star Destroyer, identified immediately as the Deterrent. Sent a fleet of trooper transports to the planet. "Fuck, we need to get-"
"They're hailing us…" the rodian said nervously, eyeing the others. "Do we… answer?"
They all hesitated… then a new fleet exited the ship, TIE fighters, half a dozen of them scrambled towards our ship "Fuck!" they shouted together and did the only thing they could think of. They tried to get planetside.
"FUCK!" the pilot hissed as our ship was hit, "Damn it!!!" he roared as we were hit again, making it into the atmosphere when everything was suddenly on fire…
"We're going to die!" the rodian shrieked as they all braced themselves…
The vessel hit the sand hard, the TIE fighters did a sweep over us before quickly heading back toward the star destroyer. I looked around at the wreckage. The pilot and the rodian were dead, sand was pouring onto their bodies through the cockpit window, the trandoshan was knocked out, and the droids had been deactivated… the trandoshan was right next to me.
…He had the key…
It took a lot of effort and flexibility on my part, along with a dislocated shoulder. But it was worth it as I retrieved the key. Popping my shoulder back in and I rubbing my sore, binding free wrists as I left the ship. All I had on me was the fur on my back and the pants on my waist… I suppose I could scavenge gear from the idiots on the ship… but I had a job to do. Kill Yackers. Assuming the Imperials have not done it first… I don't know what to do if that happened.
I made my way across the desert, the sounds of fighting getting louder as I approached the town. Dozens of ships were trying to get through the blockade but you could count the ones that managed to escape on one hand… missing four fingers.
Then I made it to town and it was a bloodbath. Slaves, victims, smugglers, pirates, raiders, thugs and general monsters were creating havoc for the troopers now marching into the streets. All who resisted were killed, Slaves were rounded up, and smugglers were captured. All of those officially working for Yackers: were abruptly executed.
"Halt!" a trooper said suddenly, approaching me, "Hands up, Dog." He said, his blaster on me as he approached.
I didn't have time for this. My hands went up. Then as he got three steps away I quickly closed the distance and snapped his neck before he knew what happened. "Blast him!" another trooper nearby shouted, and a handful started firing. I used the dead trooper as a shield as I closed the distance between us.
Hurling the body into a group of three I quickly shredded the other two before they recovered, pulling the eviscerated corpse of the second trooper in front of me they pumped half a dozen blaster rounds into him before I used his rifle to return fire. They were boring, blaster fodder… and there were dozens more.
I made my way through the screaming, the burning, the bombings… the tallest building in town viewed over the arena, a towering pagoda of bones and steel, at the top was a balcony where Yackers the bith would view and announce his bloody games. I noticed immediately that it was utterly untouched, which meant they weren't aiming for it… Killing another 2 squads, a dozen troopers total, I tossed the severed arm of the recent one's commander aside and walked towards the towering pagoda.
"We have the hostile!" another squad turned their blasters on me, one had a heavy repeater, "Put it down!" taking cover in a nearby building as the blaster fire ripped the walls apart.
"Where did he go?" one said, entering the building with two others. A grenade trooper stocked with thermal grenades and a blaster rifle, and another with a heavy scatter gun.
"Stay together! Back to back!" said another as they quickly stood back to back, scanning the room as I dropped down from the ceiling behind them.
Chucking the active thermal detonators out towards the other three, who promptly screamed and exploded I moved on. Reaching the pagoda doors and shoving them open to be met with another dozen troopers. This was getting tedious…
A few moments later their corpses littered the ground, I frowned, looking up towards the spiraling staircase, each level had a wide open flooring that lead to a separate circular room that was built around the tower. I snorted, annoyed at the sheer tedium of it. Then up I went, I had a task and I was going to fulfill it.
"What the fuck?" I reached the fourth level. There was one more to go, and it was currently occupied by another squad. But they were noticeably different than the others. Their armor was red, blood red, and along with blaster rifles, they all had vibroblades. These ones were a problem, blasters were easy for me. Vibroblades required a little more focus… and I had six to contend with.
The one who had spoken, obviously the commander with a shoulder cape to signify his ranking in the squad, stared at me through the empty eyes of his helmet. "…Kill him." He said simply, turning and walking up the stairs to the next level.
Their blasters went up and they fired. I moved quickly closing the distance before engaging, as I reached one, I drew his vibroblade, immediately removing his head before taking cover behind him, using him as a shield as their blasters smoked his corpse before hurling him at another, sending him four stories down to the floor below with a scream.
"Swords!" hiss one of the three, drawing his weapon with the other two as they rushed me. They were good, and skilled, but I had a weapon now too, and plenty of space. One screamed as his arm was taken and I took his sword, another took his last breath as I rammed the vibroblade into his chest before taking the legs of the last one, pinning him to the floor as I pinned him there through his chest…
Then I moved on.
"…Motherfucker." The captain came out of the main room, staring at me through his helmet. "…MOTHERFUCKER!!!" he roared, drawing his sword and coming at me as he realized that if I was on the top floor, his soldiers were dead. He swung his blade again and again: he was better, but better wasn't great. "GRAH!!!" he roared as I caught his arm and slammed my claws into the joints of his armor, "Fucker!" he hissed as I tilted my head at that, it must be his favorite word…
I ripped out my claws and my fist slammed into his helmet, the visor cracked under the blow, and he went still. Bleeding profusely as I kicked the blade off the edge… moving on. I kicked open the door into a luxury sweat. Yackers' dead bodyguards littered the room staining it the color of blood, various colors of blood in fact as multiple sentients could be seen. But they were all killed by sword wounds. Three were still alive in the room, Yackers' himself, kneeling on the floor and bound helplessly as he watched his town burn around him, a purple-skinned Togruta female in an imperial officer's uniform. And finally, a redheaded woman in a combat suit, lightly armored and holding an obviously custom-made vibroblade that looked like a cavalry saber.
"I'm glad you finally understand Yackers." She said, before glancing at me with bright green eyes, "Good morning." The redheaded woman added calmly, eyeing me thoughtfully before she separated Yackers' bith head from his shoulders with a casual flick of her wrist and kicked his corpse away dismissively. She carefully wiped the blade with a piece of cloth before tossing it away as well. "Commander Cadril I thought you had soldiers stationed around the perimeter, In fact, where is Cyrus?"
The Purple skinned Togruta woman in the imperial uniform frowned angrily before speaking in a thick Dromund Kaas accent. "I did Ma'am." She said coolly, leveling her blaster pistol on me before the redheaded woman tapped the blaster with her blade and pushed it down. "…And I am as confused as you are."
"…Then I can only assume this fellow has killed them." She noted, eying me up and down with her bright green eyes. "…How many were there?" she asked Cadril as I answered for her, flexing my clawed fingers.
"36." I said dismissively, "…before reaching this room…" I added, counting the number of dead troopers I went through to get here and eyed Yackers' headless body in annoyance. "… I was supposed to do that…" I added bitterly.
"Yes well…" she said, just as dismissive as she casually kicked the bith's head like a soccer ball out over the balcony with a smile, "He had upset quite a lot of Imperials…" she then smiled beautifully at me, "So I'm afraid I beat you to it."
"Ma'am he is an obvious threat. I recommend-"
"Shush. Cadril. Shush." She said, putting a finger on the togruta woman's lips. Who immediately, although reluctantly, obeyed. "You…" she said turning to me, "Are a talented warrior obviously…" she said suavely, "And it seems I've taken your kill." She added prodding Yackers' headless corpse with the tip of her sword, "…Would you like to try your luck with me?"
"Ma'am!"
"Shush! Cadril." She said, glaring at her and putting a finger back against her lips, "I haven't had a decent fight since I accepted this stupid command, you will not spoil my fun."
"Your sister will not approve." Cadril said sourly but the woman scoffed.
"Yeah? I never would have imagined." She replied sardonically and leveled the saber-shaped vibroblade at me, "Well? Do you want to try to face me? Shistavanen?"
"…I am Kallus." I said, baring my fangs and claws, ready to fight a REAL opponent. A true duel to the death.
"Kavilla Kane." She replied elegantly, bowing professionally before flourishing her saber with a twirl, "Amuse me, Kallus" my claws moved faster than her eyes, and she quickly deflected the quick thrust of my hand with her blade, she looked briefly surprised, then she smiled. "Fantastic." She said, and our fight began.
My claws flashed at her like ten tiny knives, each time striking at her vitals but failing as she skillfully dodged or deflected with her saber. She was good… she was easily seeing through my feints and deflecting my real attacks. She was very good… By far the best I've ever faced.
Blood trickled down my cheek as she slashed a small wound on my muzzle. It didn't even hurt but I knew that if I hadn't dodged at just the right time I would no longer have a head. Several strings of her bright red hair fell from her elegant locks as my claws slashed them from her beautiful head.
…Wait… 'beautiful?' That's an odd word I've never used myself…
I frowned, looking down at the sudden wound in my chest. It was little more than a scratch… but honestly, it was the biggest I've ever had. I paused, gently wiping a small trace on my finger to examine it. I then looked at her, she was flourishing her saber.
"…Try again?" she said smiling, readying herself again as my face twitched… I think it was a smile. I didn't know I could make it. But I moved quickly, she blinked looking ecstatic as my claws swiped across her face, a small scratch appearing on the bridge of her nose as she swayed away and booted me back and we began anew.
She was like a manic war goddess, she was smiling as we went at each other again and again clashing about the room like our own private arena. The furniture and tacky bith-based decorations on the wall were destroyed as we fought all around the room, Cadril trying to desperately to stay away from our constant clashes… scampering here and there as we only became occupied with ourselves.
I lifted a nearby chair and I hurled it at her with a roar, she was briefly taken aback at my strength, but with a crazed grin and gripping her sword with both hands, she split the chair easily in two. We stood still… catching our breath.
…I was having FUN… I don't think I've felt that before.
"…I LIKE you…" Kavilla said in utter amusement… and I felt something… in my chest. It was an odd feeling. She swished her saber thoughtfully, as we backed away from each other. "…How would you like a job?"
"What?" Cadril said suddenly, even I was taken aback.
"…I don't understand." I said lowering my guard, but only a little as she blatantly sheathed her saber. But I would be ready if it came back out again.
"I need a new bodyguard, my last one has annoyed me. Like the rest of them." She added, then eyed me up and down appreciatively, thoroughly examining me with a glance of her bright green eyes. "And judging from the way you're dressed you're a slave of some sort. It would be a waste just to make you some sort of laborer or kill you." She added approaching me completely defenseless. "And I've always preferred merit over status. So. Work for me instead." She said, and I stared into those green eyes…
I should kill her. She was barely an arm's length away from me it would be easy but… I didn't want to. I dropped my guard completely, and she smiled rubbing a hand on my chest… feeling the dozens of faded scars under my fur, along with a few of the new ones from our fight. "…What would I do?" I asked as she pulled her hand away, wiping off blood on one of Yackers' many curtains, leaving a thick red streak on the blue cloth.
"Well. You'd protect me."
"You don't need it." I said, and immediately as she outright laughed.
"Well in social circles I do. But I also need a warrior, someone who would have my back in the middle of combat. A warrior who could follow orders… are you that warrior? Kallus?" she asked, casually. Taking a chair from the floor and sitting on it as the city before us burned.
"…Yes." I said, feeling a weight on my shoulders lift as Cadril stood beside Kavilla on her other side. "I am that warrior."
"Good." She smiled at me, "We'll get you fitted and looking all dapper in hours." She said, "Anyone that can go through several squads of troopers, including my personal elite unit unarmed, is a talented man…"
…I've been praised before… but I've never liked it. And as I stood straighter beside her and the trooper transports landed on mass, I became determined to gain more praise from Kavilla Kane by doing whatever she wanted.
…Whatever she wanted…
End of Chapter
So this is Kallus' backstory, which while rather light still shows him off a little. I debated on whether to put it before or after Heart of Darkness, but I guess it doesn't really matter in the long run
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