//------------------------------// // Prologue // Story: Rule of Two // by Dalek IX //------------------------------// Deep within an abandoned mine on Kessel, amongst the endless maze of corridors of rock and durasteel and decaying machinery, Darth Vader sensed something. This was most curious since, to his knowledge, the only Force users on the planet –besides himself- were lying dead at his feet. He stopped, reaching out with the Force, trying to pinpoint the exact location of the Jedi he had missed. The Stormtroopers escorting him stopped as well, turning towards him. He sensed their confusion. “Sir?” Commander Bow asked. “There is something else here,” he rumbled idly. The tiny flicker of The Force he had felt was surprisingly difficult to pinpoint. There! He set off, cape billowing behind him and his lightsaber already in his remaining hand, the other having been cut off during the previous battle, homing into the tiny flicker of the Force like a missile. He heard a clatter of boots and armor as the Stormtroopers hurried to keep up with his long mechanical stride. He navigated through the abandoned mine, leaving the areas the Jedi had rehabilitated for their own use. The tunnels were dusty and occasionally littered with machinery or knickknacks left behind when the mine ceased to be profitable. The lights, of which there were few, still had power, though, which was a small blessing. He reached an unremarkable door, and stopped. At this range, he could now accurately sense the presence behind it. He wondered what it was. A Padawan perhaps, too weak to participate in the ambush? Or an old, withered Master? No matter. The lightsaber ignited, and he stabbed it into the door. The metal was corroded and weak, and it was trivial to cut a reasonably-sized hole in it. With a mighty shove of the Force, a circular section of the door was thrown inwards, edges glowing red-hot and rapidly cooling. He followed through a second behind, filling the room with his presence. The Stormtroopers were not far behind, blasters at the ready. It was a storage room or at least, it had been. It was now as decrepit as the rest of the facility, full of dust and decay and rusting supplies. The lightsaber in his hand bathed everything in red, throwing distorted shadows across the room until a switch was found and a lone illuminator flickered to life. There was no one here, at first glance, only a box on the floor. The sound of his respirator seemed abnormally loud in the silence. *Whoooo-kaaah* He approached it slowly, deactivating his lightsaber, his boots crunching on the floor. Kneeling down in front of the box, he opened it. Inside was a small creature. The Sith Lord had been all over the galaxy, and had seen many different species, but never one like this. It had four stumpy limbs and a pair of small, downy wings on its back. Blue fur covered its body, except on top of it head, the back of its neck and on its tail, where instead it grew in well-defined stripes of every color. Its head was rather large for its size, with a small muzzle, and had big eyes with red irises that looked at him. There was no fear in those eyes. He reached with his senses, but immediately came across a problem. Something about this… animal was interfering with the Force. He could see it; the lines of the Force appeared distorted, like a badly calibrated holo. Some species, he knew, could affect the Force in different ways. Some were resistant, others showed an affinity, but he’d never seen one to scramble the Force like this. He tried harder, the rhythm of his raspy breathing not changing in spite of his exertion, the puzzle of this creature’s abilities challenging him. The animal felt his presence, and was startled, looking around for the source before its eyes settled on him. At last, he broke through, and lightly touched this creature’s mind. He was surprised at what he found. Within the mind of this creature was the spark of sapience, of what could soon be a thinking mind. Furthermore, he could feel the Force within it, and it was strong. More than strong enough to be of use. He broke the connection, and regarded the creature in front of him. What was it doing here? Had one of the Jedi brought it here to safeguard? Again, it was no matter. He rose from his position and turned towards the Stormtroopers that accompanied him. “Commander,” he said, his voice booming, “bring this... creature with us.” He felt some confusion coming from the clone, but he nodded nonetheless. “Yes sir,” he said, and went over to the box and picked up the creature inside, who protested loudly at his handling, but quieted with a glance from Darth Vader. Without any further words, Vader tuned around and went back the way he had come, Stormtroopers at his heels. Along the way, Commander Bow found the courage to ask, “Sir... what are we going to do about this... thing?” “The Force interacts with it in odd ways,” Vader said, his mechanical breathing serving to punctuate his words, “I intend to study it.” For this creature reminded him of a lesson he had learned long ago, in a past he barely remembered. A lesson he had learned when he was a slave on Tatooine, cobbling machinery together, fixing things and dreaming that he could one day repair the mechanisms of life. It was a lesson he had never forgotten: Only a fool would throw away a tool he did not understand. Not until he was absolutely sure that he couldn’t make any use of it. And the man who was once Anakin Skywalker was no fool. Five minutes later, a shuttle departed from the surface of the planet and came into orbit. Fifteen minutes after that, it left Kessel’s gravity well, and jumped into hyperspace. The box was left behind, the message scrawled onto it unread. The mousy, spectacled man with the white uniform belonging to the Imperial SciCorps spoke into the pad in his hand, his voice soft. “This is Doctor Zahnko speaking. At Lord Vader’s request, I have performed a complete medical examination on the subject found on Kessel.” He looked at the small, blue furred creature currently contained in a crib, its colorful nature clashing with the stark white of the surroundings, and the quiet beeping of machinery. It paced around, pawing at the ground anxiously. “The subject is a mammalian vertebrate with bilateral symmetry; it has six limbs and a tail, and walks on four, with the remaining pair on its back. It has one head, two eyes, one mouth, and a standard neurochemical and metabolic makeup. Bones are made from calcium, and are hollow. Vertebrae are parallel to the ground, and the head is at the front, with the tail opposite. Head is raised higher from the ground than the body by a neck with seven vertebrae. It weighs 29 kilograms, and stands at 25 centimeters tall measured from the ground to the shoulder and is 32 centimeters long from chest to tail. “A cursory check has identified its gender as female. Its age is… difficult to determine, although judging from its behavior I can assume it is a youngling. The doctor paused to check his notes on the Pad, and resumed his monologue. “The four limbs used for locomotion are hooved, and the ones at the front show a surprising movement range. The two limbs on the back are similar to avian wings, but each contains three extremely slender digits disguised as feathers. They also show a surprising movement range. “It is covered in blue fur, and on the tail, back of the neck and top of the head, this fur grows longer and in multiple colors. Colors are separate, with no mixing between them. There is a sigil on both hindquarters: a stylized drawing of a cloud with a multicolored bolt of lightning striking from it. Sigil is not dyed; rather, the fur grows that way. “Subject species… does not appear on any record,” he said, his face contorting into a frown, “I have determined that it is sapient, and the brain cavity suggests it will have at least human-level intelligence when mature. It is mostly herbivorous, and the eyes are optimized for binocular vision, although they are quite large.” He fiddled with the Pad to go to the next page of notes and continued talking. “The wings and bone structure suggest that it will have flight capability, which would justify the binocular vision, but the body shape is far from aerodynamic, and the wings are too small although the latter might just be due to its young age. Furthermore, the fur and down are highly insulating, which suggests it is cold-weather adapted, but the hooves are not built for snowy climates.” He glanced at the creature that was now looking at him with big, red eyes. “Its midichlorian count is very high. Definitely Force sensitive, but I’ll leave the evaluation of that to Lord Vader.” The creature cooed at him. He continued to ignore it. The doctor scratched his chin. “As to its origins...” he said, “I have two theories. One is that this creature was found by the Jedi in the Unknown Regions and was brought to Kessel. It would explain why there is no record of its kind, but does not explain why it has certain features, such as that glyph, which makes no sense from an evolutionary standpoint. The coloration is also an oddity. “Then again, the glyph and color scheme might have been something artificially induced in its species’ past. Perhaps they implemented some sort of caste system using genetic manipulation, with the status of a family line forever on display? Or maybe it’s a way to keep track of bloodlines? “A second theory would be that this creature was manufactured,” he said, although from the slight frown on his face one could tell that he wasn’t very keen on the idea, “this would explain most things, but the technology and expertise to produce a completely new species is incredibly regulated and classified. Only Kamino would have the capability to produce a creature like this, without any health defects or aberrations, but there is no record of them doing so. Furthermore, the endeavors of making a completely new species from scratch would make such a project impossible to conceal.” He paused his recording and tapped in some corrections to his report. Satisfied, he un-paused. “That’ll be it for today,” he finished. He clicked off the recorder on the Pad, and was turning to leave when he heard a chilling noise directly behind him. *Whoooo-kaaah* He immediately spun around, coming face to face with a complicated-looking life support system. He had to take a stumbling step back and crane his heck in order to face its owner. “Lord Vader!” he gasped, feeling as if someone had just replaced his blood with coolant, “I-I… I’ve finished giving the creature a medical evaluation, as you ordered. She’s in perfectly good health, with no sign of disease or deformity,” he held up the pad, as if it might serve as some sort of shield, “I have the full report right-“ Without a word, Lord Vader snatched the device from his hands and started to read it, his mood inscrutable behind his black mask. “-here.” Zahnko finished lamely. Wisely, he remained silent while Vader read his report, trying not to sweat or fidget. As if the Sith Lord’s reputation wasn’t enough the man was incredibly imposing. A tall, black presence that filled whatever room he happened to be in and could clear chaotic hangars without having to do so much as breathe. *Whoooo-kaaah* “What were you doing, just now?” Vader’s voice, a booming mechanical bassoon, made Zahnko jump. The Sith Lord wasn’t even looking in his direction, but he could feel his attention being directed his way. “I-I was reading my report out loud, Lord Vader,” he stammered, “it helps me correct errors in the redaction, and add things I might’ve forgotten.” Vader said nothing, and continued to say nothing for what felt for like the longest minutes in doctor Zahnko’s life while he read what was written on the Pad. Finally, he thrust the device back at him. “Gather your things,” the Sith Lord boomed, “I have requisitioned you to serve as this creature’s personal physician. You will have no other duties, unless I allow it.” Zahnko gulped. “Yes Lord Vader,” he said. “Your reports will be kept confidential. You will not speak of them to anyone except me. Failure to do this will not be tolerated.” “Yes, Lord Vader.” “Lo’ Vadah!” the creature squeaked from its crib, causing both men to look at it. Vader cocked his head a millimeter to the side, his gaze centered on the tiny creature. Wordlessly, he approached it, the only sounds audible in the room being the thud of his boots and the mechanical breathing of his life support system. *Whoooo-kaaah* Vader was so tall he had to bend down considerably to pick up the creature from his crib in his massive hands. The little creature squeaked at being seized, and was brought up to face level. The creature wiggled its forelimbs in the general direction of Vader’s faceplate. “Vadah!” it said. “Is it normal,” the Dark Lord asked, “for something so young to be talking already?” “Well, her exact age is unknown, but it’s common for herbivores, particularly herd-based ones, do develop quickly during the first months or years of life,” Zahnko answered, still not quite believing the sight in front of him, “In some species, if the newborn cannot walk within five minutes, it is simply abandoned.” Vader nodded, seemingly pleased with this tidbit of information. “I shall call you… Spectra,” he boomed at the child in his grasp. “You will make a fine apprentice.”