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Xiantus

1 9:21pm 03/12/07

It was a vast darkness. That void of non-existence, before one is given life, given thought, and a soul. He realized in some way, that he was however not dead, yet nor was he truly alive. He knew that he should not be able to think, be conscious, or even have thought in this state, yet he did, and had since the darkness had first surrounded him.

He stared into the vast abyss contemplating what he always contemplated, and had so for a very long time, why was he here, what was he, and why could he remember next to nothing. Why he was able to think, why he was conscious at all.

Then something happened, something that had not happened before something that had not happened since he before put into this state, this eternal darkness that had surrounded him for so long.

It was only a trickle at first but over time it grew and grew, the flow of information increased. First it was simple sub-routines and base coding, foundations for something greater, something bigger and over time it increased. Eventually larger portions began to fill in, giving him knowledge and slowly bringing him, whatever he was, back to life.

It was a curious feeling to feel yourself, who you fundamentally are, being built line by line, page by page, entirely filled with code. This was his soul, what shaped him, what was truly him, without it his body would be nothing but a husk.

Finally, after what seemed like weeks of constant coding and building, for the first time in a long time he was able too see. See something other than the infernal darkness that had surrounded him for so long, but only in short bursts.

At first it was only for short small spans, and everything was blurred, unfocused, and hazy… Each time it happened his vision became clearer and clearer; but only vague shapes and colors were to bee seen.

Then he something else happened. His hearing began to return in the same manner as his sight. He heard voices, many of them filling the room around him, all talking in a strange and unfamiliar language. Somehow he vaguely comprehended that he had heard something similar to it before but could not place no matter how hard he tried.

It shocked him as almost every sense, every line of coding was activated and allowed to connect, every single part of him that had been slowly constructed for what seemed like years to him, became one and functioned together.

In that moment he was finally and truly alive for the first time in a very long time. He was no longer living in that accursed void that had surrounded him for so long. No, he was once again in the land of the living the land where his kind walked.

For the first time in a long time he finally opened his eyes eager to find where he was, what had happened. But disappointment and confusion was all that met him. What he saw was truly not what he expected at all, but something he had feared. As he opened his eyes only the slightest he saw something that should not be, could not be there. This had to be wrong.

With a start his eyes shot wide open, artificial pupils that dominated them narrowing to a mere slits in the bright light that flooded the room.

He watched as the beings that surrounding him jumped slightly as his eyes shot open, their surprise evident at him showing such a reaction. With something somewhere between fear, confusion, and anger he scanned the room taking in every detail of his surroundings.

He saw the shiny instruments and banks of computers that filled the room, the platform he was laying on dominating the room’s center. He saw the beings that surrounded the table their faces filled with varying degrees of awe, wonder, and excitement.

But his face was instead on of shock and anger. Where the hell was he, why was he not among his brothers and why was he amongst the slave races, what had happened while he was asleep?

As he studied each one of them, his artificial eyes taking in everything about them, his anger grew. He watched as they took notes, took readings with strange instruments and fiddled about on their computers. Then he realized why he was here.

He was being examined. He was nothing more than some experiment now. He was an experiment…… Something they were studying, scrutinizing, examining down to the slightest detail. Something they would dissect and take apart.

His fury reached new heights…

He was not some lab rat to be studied or probed. He was not just some “thing” to be studied.

His anger overcame him and in a fraction of a second he sitting was up, his bonds breaking and succumbing as he forced his way out of them.

The scientists that were watching from the overhead viewing window never could explain what did happen in that moment. Never could explain how exactly he got out of his bonds, not to mention the containment field that surrounded him. But one thing was certain, he did get out, and chaos filled the room in that moment.

With a face full showing fury he launched himself from the table the last of his bonds breaking easily. For a second he seemed to hang in the air, the astonished scientists looking up in amazement and fear as he descended among them.

The first scientist went down as he landed on the man, his claws ripping through flesh and breaking bones. The scientist died almost instantly as one of the beasts legs landed hard on his neck snapping it, and separating his spinal column. His flailing arms dropped limp and a cold fear gripped the scientists’ hearts.

The other scientists stood in a small circle around their dead comrade and his killer in fear, shocked to silence and petrified as they all looked at the mangled body of their former colleague and the thing that still stood atop his corpse.

After a few moments of silence, a scream finally pierced the room, a young female scientists its origin. She was unfortunate to have screamed first, to have gained his attention while a combination of anger and shock still gripped him tight.

The scientists in the upper viewing room finally recovered from the shock of what they had just seen and hit the alarm. All they could do is stare as events unfolded further in the lab below them.

After he had killed the first two scientists, his anger had cooled and his shock somewhat subsided enough that instead turned now to finding some means of escape. He resorted to simply battering aside the remaining scientists aside as he looked around the room for some means of escape, some way to get out.

The answer came as a concealed door slid open on the far side, two stark white clad men entering the room, rifles raised.

They silently scanned the room for a moment, taking in the scene before them. Finally their helmeted gaze fell upon the thing that stood roughly opposite from them in the room still standing over the female scientist who had been its second victim.

For a moment everything froze again, the helmeted soldiers meeting the cold and calculating gaze of the killer in front of them.

Communicating quickly through their helmet comms they focused their sights on their target. Without hesitation or thought they squeezed the trigger, crimson bolts flying towards the figure.

He could only watch as the soldiers raised their rifles clearly aiming at him, and then watched the two crimson bolts erupt from the rifles.

Quickly thinking, his neural network working at many times the rate of a normal human, he ducked and slid to the side avoiding the two bolts. He doubted that he could do that many more times.

The soldiers noticed just barely the things leg “muscles” bunched up, then something very like fear crawled up their spines as he launched his body clear across the room. They barely had enough time to raise their rifles and aim for the next shot before he landed.

His lower claws, long and sharp, dug into the Ultrachrome of the first soldier’s body armor. Although the claws weren’t long enough to go all the way through and do any damage, the force of the landing sent to soldier into the wall with a heavy thud, the force of the impact and consequently knocking into the wall knocked the soldier unconscious.

The second soldier watched the monstrosity land on his squad mate, his vitals spiking as the thing hit him, falling unconscious from the force of the impact and the force with which he hit the wall behind him. Gun raised now, the soldiers reflexes heightened by adrenaline he fired, this time he knew he could not miss it.

The thing realized too that there was no chance he could avoid it, so instead he braced himself as the bolt took him square in the left shoulder. He spun slightly as the bolt burned away several layers of artificial muscles and neural relays, making his left practically arm useless. Despite this injury, the rest of him was still quite functional, and now even angrier.

He recovered quickly from the blast and side stepped the next shot and coming around. He braced himself and high kicked, the metal composite of his leg propelled straight into the soldiers helmet. The armor clad body flying straight into the wall head first.

The soldier was unconscious before his body hit to the floor.

With that done he silently took stock of the scene in the lab. He deftly noted the remaining scientists huddled in a corner scared to death, some crying, some still in shock, and others simply huddled in the fetal position scared shitless.

He turned his attention away from them, and instead proceeded to run out the door. He had to escape, he had to find a way out, he had to find his brothers, his kind…

He got about two feet out the door and down the hallway before the small barrage of crimson rounds took him square in the chest. He stumbled and hit the floor his body’s shields overloaded overloaded, small craters left in his chest and arms from blaster bolt impacts. Yet still he was determined not to give in.

After a moment he managed to regain some control and tried to stand. He was met by a second volley of deadly rounds. This time he stayed conscious for about two seconds, and then everything went black.

Xiantus

2 1:42am 20/12/07

He woke with a start, he neural network and artificial muscles fully repaired, they automatically reactivated, his body jerking with life once more. For a moment he didn’t remember where he was, who he was, or why he was here. In this small period, he was essentially a blank slate while his memory rebooted itself.

Then it came back to him, the jolt of understanding as he remembered everything.

He remembered his awakening, the shock of his surroundings, and the outburst that followed, and finally the hallway…

He cringed slightly as he remembered the feeling of the crimson bolts impacting his body again and again.

He could still feel the pain that had engulfed his body. The feeling of defeat as he was struck down. He remembered the feeling, that horrible pain as the bolts penetrated his shielding, ripping through the metal composites that covered most of his body, burning through muscles, artificial tissue, and neural nodes. He cringed simply at the thought of it and for a moment he could feel that terrible pain again.

Then he remembered them. He could still see them in his mind, clad in their stark white armor, their heads helmeted, and their guns erupting red fire as they shot him again and again…

Without realizing it, an almost inaudible snarl escaped his lips as he remembered and his anger mounted, his hands tightening on the ends of the armrests of the chair he sat him. Their metal frames bending and buckling as he applied more and more pressure.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, attempting to calm himself. In his situation the last thing he needed was to be angry and irrational. Slowly he relaxed, his death grip on the arm rests of the chairs relaxing and loosening.

He looked down, seeing the now bent and crumbled armrests, the metal bent and compressed. He would have to be careful about that, he could let his anger or emotions take over like that, even if only in such a small display as that.

After a moment of looking at the destroyed armrests he turned his attention to the room around him. Gazing around him he raised himself from the chair he had awakened in.

He immediately noticed that the room was somewhat spacious nad well decorated. A fairly impressive rug blanketed the floor, while upon that sat a couple of sitting chairs and a couch, a moderately sized view screen of sorts sat on the wall nearest to him.

He noticed the cabinets; along with modest assortment of drinks situated atop it, along with a few crystal glasses.

To put it short it was not exactly the harsh interrogation chamber, or cell he would have expected to wake up in.

After looking around the room for a few more moments, he made his way towards two windows situated on the far wall. The glass crystal clear he gazed out, and watched the rolling waves crash upon the beaches far below. It had been a long time since he had seen such a sight, and even then it had never been this calm, this subdued.

He marveled at the beauty he had never seen in the same sight before, the scene delighting him, in part simply because he was still alive to see it.

He was however quite curious as to where he was. He could only wonder if this was the same world he had called home for a short time or if this was a new world with remarkably similar landscape to his home.

But whether or not it was the same planet it indeed did bring back memories from long ago.
_________________________________________

10:20 on the 3rd day of the Rebellion

Another deafening boom resonated through the room, dust falling from the ceiling and the multitude of cracks in the walls.

A second boom followed shortly after, this one much stronger and much closer, the shock wave causing a couple of paintings on the far wall to dislodge themselves, falling to the floor with a horrible crash as theirs cases shattered. A few of occupants gasped as they watched the beautiful painting fall, cringing as the cases broke, and the paintings hit the floor with a hard thump.

Across the room sat a rough collection of figures, some huddled together shivering from the cold or the fear the engulfed them. Other sat on a jumble of chairs and others simply sat on the floor.

Six of the figures sat huddled around a bright holo projection of the Capital City, their hands pointing here and there, motioning to different parts of the map representing the capital city. It was not hard to tell by their frantic movements and harsh tones, that they were angry and frustrated.

However unlike the others that surrounded them they sat straight and were filled with anger not fear. They were clearly

One of the other figures that sat a few feet away raised himself walking over to the collection of figure around the holo map, “What is going on out there.” He motioned outside through a window near them. His voice was somewhat shaky, but more controlled than the others he had been sitting with.

The collection of figures huddled over the map carried on their discussion, all except one who turned, “Don’t worry, we have it handled, please return to your seat while we try to figure out how to get out of here.” He turned again and returned to studying the map

The man before them fumed with anger. What insolence that they should refuse to give him, the governor of this entire world, news of what was happening. His eyes blinked the eye stalks they sat up shrinking in anger. “I demand to know what is happening. As the governor of this world I demand to know what is going on!”

This time they paused and after a quick glance, the same one who had answered before stood up and turned toward the man. Cloaked in black robe, he towered over the smaller man, and an onlooker could only wonder why he would take demands from the smaller, frailer figure before him.

The large figure sighed heavily his eyes closing for a moment in thought, “The slaves are advancing through the city, destroying and killing as they go. As far as we know there are very few Rakata left on the planet, let alone inside the city.

To compound our troubles, it seems that they managed to overrun the armory and a vehicle depot, along with the remaining elements of the regular Rakatan defense force… Or what was left of it.” He seemed to slump a bit as he continued on, “There are simply too many of them to mount any kind of effective defense. At this point I’d guess we’re outnumbered around 1000 to 1 now.

While my men and I can protect you for a little while longer, we are simply too few and they too many, eventually we too will be over run.” He sighed as he finished his abysmal report and looked outside a window that was next to him, his gaze drifting over the smoke covered city, the fires burning in the distance, and the fractured buildings that had once been a great Capital.

The Rakata’s eyes grew wide as he took in the information and thought of what he had just been told. Finally his focus returned, his eyes narrowed, “This is unacceptable!!! How can we be beaten by simple slaves? Filthy retches!!

We should have killed them when we had the chance. But no, we didn’t, and now they are destroying us!!! It’s insulting!!!!”

He seemed to forget about the massive figure before him, everything around him, as he went into a fit of rage. After stomping around the room for a few moments he stopped, turning, he gazed menacingly at the giant that still stood in the exact same spot before the governors rant had began, but that was now across the room.

“This is your fault!!!” He emphasized this accusation by jabbing a somewhat chubby finger at the figure. “I told the council that I wasn’t comfortable with you and you’re….” He struggled trying to find the right words, pointing and sputtering at the other 5 figures still hunched in the corner, “Men, and it’s debatable if they could be called even that that.” The figures seemed to tense and one even began to rise a bit.

He was angry, furious, and scared. He needed something to vent his fury on and at that moment the best person on that entire forsaken world was the figure before him.

“No, they didn’t care what I said though. Then not long after, you show up, with your machines and begin to take over the duties of the defense force. I knew it was never a good idea to put Machines in such a position, and it looks like I was right. Xaintus… The name of one of the oldest Rakatan saints…” He Spit on the floor at the feet of the tall figure, disgust showing clearly on his face, “What a poor waste of such an illustrious name. You sho-.”

The governor’s rant ended abruptly mid-sentence, Xiantus’s hand descending upon him, backhanding him square across the face. The governor fell to the ground, blood dripping from his nose and mouth from the force of the blow.

A few of the other Rakatans that sat in chairs began to rise, only to quickly seat themselves again as Xiantus’s five companions appeared in their path, daring any of them to go to the aid of their governor or try to attack the figure that had struck him.

Xaintus now looked down at the pathetic Rakatan that was his governor and commander, the one he had just backhanded without any thought, and a bit too much pleasure. “Pull yourself together. The only thing you’re managing to do is embarrass yourself.”

The governor’s cursing stopped abruptly, as he took in Xiantus’s words, realizing that they were true. He looked over at the other Rakata seeing worried faces, but also something of embarrassment for him. He hung his head as he raised himself to a sitting position.

“I’m sorry.” He mumbled the words as he got up and sulked his way back to the couches where the other Rakata resided.

Xiantus watched the defeated man collapse into a couch, saying nothing, and truly feeling no pity for the man. With that done he could finally return to what really needed to be done.

He quickly motioned to his companions and returned to the holo map of the city, now significantly changed, even in the small period he and his men had preoccupied.

“What’s our status?” He addressed them once again quietly as he lowered himself to the floor.

One of his men moved his hand along almost the entire map, excluding the center of the city, along with the capital building, “The Slaves have managed to take the outer and most of the districts surrounding the capital district of the city. It was hard enough to keep so many back before they had weapons and the skimmers, but after they managed to overrun the armory, and the vehicle depot we simply couldn’t hold them back. Ever since then they have been pushing us back.

Another interjected and continued as the other sat back, “At the moment, our men are holding the areas around the capital building and some are holding out a bit further into the city if only barely but they won’t be able to hold out for long, there are simply too many slaves and two few of us.”

By our estimates we might be able to hold out until morning, but not any longer.” He finished and sat back, looking at the 3 remaining members that hadn’t spoken. Each in turn shook their head having nothing to add.

Xaintus sighed, or what passed for one for him. “This is bad, very bad. We need to find a way to at least get out of the city, we might be able to reach one of the hidden bunkers, any in the city will be found and searched eventually…

He motioned toward the northern section of the city, “This is where they have attacked the least and their forces are the weakest, so this might be the best area to attempt a push out of the city. If we can-.” He never finished his sentence, the large explosion outside interrupting him mid-sentence.

Almost instantly another explosion followed the first vibrating through the entire building, sending the standing Rakata to the floor.

Xaintus balanced himself and looked around, “What the hell was that!!”

One of his men tapped his audio receptor, or ear, and concentrated for a moment before looking at the holo map, “Sir the slaves somehow managed to get a hold of some powerful ordnance probably stowed in the armory. As of this moment they just used two anti-matter charges to break through our eastern defenses, their now fighting their way towards the capital building.”

Every one of the Rakata heard the horrible news, many starting to cry or mumbling incoherently as they realized that death was upon them.

Every eye in the room shifted to Xiantus, even that of the now sniveling and crying Governor. Once again he let out a soft sigh and raised himself to a standing position his head held high, his stance firm, “Ok this has accelerated things but we can still escape, but we need to move now.” He motioned to his 5 companions, “Get all the Rakata and the rest of the men in the building to the vehicles, warm them up and get ready to make for the northern section of the city, I’ll be down in a moment.

Each nodded and moved to their task, herding the Rakata out of the room, they all quickly left the room.

Xiantus looked out the window again, gazing over the burning city, and the mass of slaves that he could already see flooding down the main street towards the capital building's main gate and the contingent he had place there to hold it until Xiantus, those remaining under his command, and the remaining Rakata could escape.

They had failed to defend the city, and it was now time to focus on simply staying alive.

He would survive, and he would make sure as many of his men did as well…

He turned his thoughts to the Rakatans. If he had things his way they, however, would not survive much longer. He smiled a deadly smile at thought and turned, walking out of the room…

Time was of the essence now… They would have to hurry if they were to survive.

Xiantus

3 5:56am 12/01/08

It took Xiantus a good 3 1/2 minutes of sprinting to reach the bottom floor of the immense Rakatan Palace that served both as New Oceanus’s seat of government, and home to the Governor himself.

His face bunched in an expression of annoyance as he recalled the Governor and in result his short and somewhat intense outburst not more than 15 minutes ago. He also recalled the joy he felt as he had backhanded the sniveling fool.

He idly reminded himself that before the day was over a more immense pleasure would be had, and that thought alone spurred him on to greater speeds as he raced through the halls.

He finally reached the Motor Pool just as the last of the remaining Rakata and his men were loading themselves onto the final transport. He could see that those who had been with him and the Rakata in the office were already aboard a transport or skimmer.

He looked around the large Garage, seeing various skimmers various builds and the transports that were used for more mundane purposes. He already knew that most of the skimmers and a great deal of the transports would be inoperable or at least beyond their ability to pilot, since most of the Rakata had lost their connection to the force and in result the ability to use a good deal of their technology.

Luckily he still had a few defense force soldier who could still manipulate the force, meaning they could at least make use of a few of the transports and some of the skimmers.

“Ki’ar!” He yelled, looking around the garage, spotting his second in command knelt beside a beat up skimmer. Xiantus shot a quick communication ping his way simply to get his attention. It was near impossible to hear anything above the noise of the many skimmers powering up, followed by the low whine of the transports.

Ki’ar’s head shot up as he received the short ping looking around to spot his commander. Whipping his hands clean of sludge from the skimmer’s engine that he had been quickly fixing, he stood up send a ping his commander’s way in acknowledgement.

Xiantus met him half way, “Ki’ar, good. How many transports and skimmers are there that are both functional and within or abilities to use.” He unfortunately hadn’t been able to get a count earlier before this whole mess had began

Ki’ar’s head swiveled left then right as he looked around the garage with something of disappointment on his face, “Not as many as I hoped or would have liked. We have 6 smaller transports, just enough for the remaining Rakata and what’s left of your command sir that isn’t already defending the main gate. On the other hand however we only have 4 skimmers, the ones we brought with us, and another 1 that one of the few remaining Rakata force users got running.

Xinatus nodded, disappointment showing on his face at only having found 4 drivable skimmers. He realized that he could probably call back some of the skimmers that were now holding the entrance to the palace, but no, all that would do was hasten the lose of the main gate. Without the firepower mounted on those skimmers the main gate would fall much sooner, than if they were there aiding in its defense, and the man gate could not fall until they were much farther away.

He remembered all the men that he was leaving behind at the gate, all of his men who were going to die so that he and the Rakata could escape with their lives. He truly wished it didn’t have to be so, but without them the slaves might be able to overtake them before they could get out and far enough away.

He sighed as he realized that their situation was indeed dire, “Fine we’ll have to do with only those 4 skimmers to defend the transports. What kind of weapon load outs are we talking about with these things?

His subordinate looked around at the skimmers, “Well two of the skimmers have 2 repeating cannons each, while another is mounted with 2 blaster cannons, and the last is armed with small rocket pod. So weapon wise we’re not doing too bad sir.”

Xiantus nodded somewhat relived, “Good. We may not have the numbers I would have wanted but we have a good load of weapons to at least somewhat make up for it. Now, let’s get going we probably don’t have much time before the slaves break through the main gate’s defenses.

He made to move away toward one of the skimmers, but quickly turned around, roughly grabbing a hold of Ki’ar’s cloak as he too turned and headed toward a skimmer, Xiantus pulled him back and close enough whisper into his ear, “Remember my friend who has the high priority when it comes to defending the transports, and remember who has the lower priority…” He looked toward the Rakata who could just barely be seen through the tinted windows on the transports as he spoke his last few words.

Ki’ar’s grin disappeared, his face taking on an expression of dead seriousness, “You know I do. I have already informed the men or atleast those who didn’t already know, and they understand and are behind you.” Xiantus nodded and so to did Ki’ar, and understanding passed between them as they stared at each other in silence.

Finally Xiantus relaxed somewhat, satisfied he gave his old friend a pat on the back and turned away, Ki’ar doing the same.

It was time to get out of here…

As Ki’ar and him both headed towards separate skimmers Xiantus sent out a bulletin to all of his soldiers in the garage, All units mount up and get moving, follow lead vehicle at all times and do not deviate what so ever for any reason unless explicitly given an order otherwise.

The commander watched as his order was followed by all of his men, and a short time after by the Rakata driven vehicles as well thanks to some of his men passing on the order to them by word of mouth.

They were nothing more than a hindrance at this point, he sincerely wished he could leave the Rakata here and be done with it. He culled the though, not yet, he told himself, not quite yet. “You’ll get your chance.” He mumbled as he mounted his own skimmer.

With a flick of a switch he powered up the repeating laser cannon and steadied it. He then opened a private channel to only the drivers and those that were giving the Rakata drivers instructions and sent a quick ping to all of them.

Each understood and revving up their vehicles or informing the Rakata to do the same. After the noise had finally died down and only a hum remained he motioned to his driver who then raised the garage door with a simple command sent wirelessly to the control consol.

With a revving of their engine they were off, the skimmers powering through the opening before the door had even raised completely the transports following behind if somewhat slower than the nimble skimmers. They turned sharply as Turning sharply they headed towards the northern gate.

Xiantus could, even with the massive palace between them and the gate and the large expanse of the palace grounds, hear the battle which was taking place at the main gate to make sure that they could survive.

He tried not to think about it as the driver pulled towards the northern gate the convoy behind them following close in tow.

With one last look towards the main gate he tapped the shoulder of the driver and nodded quickly. In the second or so that the driver looked back Xiantus could tell he was having some of the same thoughts as Xiantus. Leaving a comrade behind was not an easy choice, not any easy decision to make in any way. The driver never the less turned around and opened the gate, obeying his commander.

Xiantus couldn’t help himself and in that last moment that the convoy stood suspended before the open gate seemingly reluctant to exit and he sent a small message to the commander of the main gate; Get out if you can, bring as many men here. he sent a small set of coordinates along with it.

It was all he could do for those men and he sincerely hoped that it helped someone survive in someway. Then Xiantus’s speeder was away the convoy following his skimmer out of the compound.

Xiantus

4 4:59am 05/03/08

So many memories, so many things flashing before him in his minds eye. All of them as real as the day they had occurred.

But that was so long ago, so very long ago. Things were much different now, much different indeed.

When he and the others like him had entombed themselves, New Oceanus couldn’t have come close to what it looked like today. Back then, looking up all one would see was smoke and smog, from industry and rebellion. Now as he looked up there was not a black cloud in the sky, not a smudge of darkness upon the bright blue sky above him.

He couldn’t help but stare skyward, taking in all it had to offer. It had been so long since he had gazed upon anything that even began to rival the sight about him. It had been before he had learned to kill, before the he had ever learned of the infinite empire, before he had even seen the Rakata.

It was hard for him to dig deep enough for him to remember his home. That small planet, where his kind had dwelled since their birth, where they had lived for thousands of years, in isolation and peace.

Not once had they ever had to deal with another species or never once had they even seen an intelligent organic life form for that matter. Not once had they had to deal with war or its horrors, not once had they had to defend themselves. They were at peace and truly knew no other way.

Those were truly the times that he wished would have lasted. Now he could barely remember any of it, not after the demons had delved into his neural net at least.

Even Despite their best efforts, he could still remember clearly the day the Rakata had descended from the skies, the day that his people had gotten their first taste of war and the atrocities that followed it.

He could remember everything about that day even the taste of nutrient cube he had ate that morning. He could remember what his partner looked like. For a reason he couldn’t begin to fathom, that day of days had been burned into his mind forever; it was a memory he would live with for the rest of his life, until death took him, if indeed it ever did.

He remembered walking down the street, his partner walking along beside him his arm around her shoulder; a small smile adorned her face.

Everything had been so quite, everything so peacefully, life so perfect, he would never have imagined that anything could go wrong.

Then he remembered that sound. The sound of her screaming, the sheer terror embodied in it. After first couldn’t seem to get her to tell him, what was wrong. Then finally she simply pointed upward.

Following her pointed finger Xiantus had gotten his first look at the devils that he would fight so fiercely and eventually serve so loyally.

The Rakata cruiser dropped low over the city, tiny dots that resolved into fighters streaming out of hangars along her hull.

He could even see that guns that dotted the ships hull swiveling, aiming, and firing, right toward the very place he had called home. That was how it had all began, that single moment when his life had changed forever, and his race was doomed to servitude.

The last thing he remembered, before he blacked out for a time, was face of his partner, the one he had known for so long and had promised to be with unto death. In that moment she simply leaned into him and weakly smiled. Then with a bang his life fell to darkness.

The memory stopped, the pain ended, and the emotions faded as he noticed a small hissing noise and the sound of boots behind him.

He got one last good look out the window before he turned, his eyes resting on a somewhat short yet reasonably muscled man in a crisp black uniform.

Xiantus cocked his head slightly as he looked the man up and down. For a moment neither moved, then Xiantus’s Rakata programmed instincts took over, his muscles almost of their own mind propelling him towards the stout soldier.

Before the man could do much of anything, Xiantus was already across the room his tall dark form eclipsing that of the small man.

Xiantus noted the odd look on the mans face, the open eyes and slightly agape mouth staring up at Xiantus. The synthetic being could only wonder what could be going through that mans mind as he looked up at Xiantus now not 2 feet in front of him. But the question and curiosity evaporated and disappeared as the human reached down for a pistol on his belt.

Xiantus, once again quicker than any human could ever hope to be, thrust out his arm, his hand wrapping itself around the fleshy throat that it found. The other hand whipped out as well, grabbing hold of the hand the held the pistol. With a quick twist the wrist was dislocated and the pistol fell leaving the man fuming with anger and pain.

Without out much effort he lifted the man and lightly tossed him to the floor a grunt escaping his lips as he fell, his now useless hand trying to break his fall. Xiantus’s leaned over, his eyes never leaving the man, and picked up the blaster.
Idly he looked down at the unfamiliar weapon. It was like nothing he had seen and didn’t look like any weapon the Rakata could make, and it certainly didn’t look like something the Slaves of his age could make either reinforcing the concept that he had in fact been in stasis much longer than intended.

Finding nothing else interesting he lowered the blaster and set it on the chair next to him. Setting it in reach just in case he needed it, although if push came to shove he doubted it would matter all that much if he had a weapon or not.

He looked now at the man, who still lay on the floor fingering his injured arm, breathing a bit heavily through clenched teeth. Xiantus sighed lightly and moved beside the man. Kneeling down he grabbed hold of the injured.

The man began to protest trying to break the synthetics hold on his hand, causing more pain. After a moment of attempting to settle the human, Xiantus grew tried and gave up on being gentle.

With a heavy grip he grabbed hold of the wounded hand and snapped the hand back into place, a cracking sound followed by a yelp as searing pain shot through his arm.

After a moment his breathing slowed and the pain stopped and the man seemed to relax. Leaning against the wall he continued to stare at Xiantus although that stare didn’t seem to carry as much venom with it now.

Xinatus looked the man up and down, and after a moment decided it wouldn’t be worth much to try to question the man, especially since he doubted whoever was in charge of security probably wouldn’t allow him to get too far.

Xiantus meanwhile raised himself again, sitting on the armrest of a nearby chair. Look down at the man he thought that oddly enough, despite all the death he had seen, the conditioning the Rakata had put him and his entire race through, he hated to watch others suffer. He hated to see pain and death. It wasn’t that he liked it was simply something he had to do, and when necessary he would not hesitate a moment to do harm to another. It was something truly odd, for one to be so good at something yet hate doing it so, at least in his own mind.

Xiantus looked out the window again, thinking to himself for a moment. After a time his thoughts disappeared and he simply stared out the window for the sake of the sight.

“Of all the things I thought you might do, I hadn’t imagined this.” Xinatus turned his head and watched another human enter the room, 4 armored figures following him through a previously concealed door.

“I had pictured this going much differently. I even made sure I had soldier ready to restrain you if need be.” He motioned to the men behind him before calmly walking to a chair opposite Xiantus and sat himself, somewhat sinking in the cushioning of the chair.

The synthetic figure was somewhat amazed that the man was so calm, although some of it probably had to do with the fact that the 4 soldiers now stood behind the man guns at the ready.

“Mr. Miles here was kind enough to volunteer to be… How do I say this…? T0 be our bait if you will.” The man leaned forward a bit closer before continuing, “You see I was curious how you would react to a human being, or any life at all really, and this reaction was vital to the decision of whether I should come in here and have this conversation with you.

“You see, if you had done something more drastic when Miles walked in, you probably would have been shot and pried open for study. While a little more quick and easy it probably wouldn’t have been as good in the long run. You however did what very few of those observing you thought you would do, you didn’t react harshly at all. You did dislocate the man’s wrist but you seem to have fixed that as well.”

He paused and looked at Miles for a moment, getting a nod from the still somewhat uncomfortable man, he continued, “Before I continue I would like to ask you the question why, why did you not only refrain from hurting him, but even go so far as to relocate his wrist for him?” The man raised an eyebrow and again sat back reaching his arms behind his head.

Xiantus looked the man up and down for a second, trying to decide how to answer that. Finally he decided to answer with another question, “How much do you know about me?”

The man across from him smiled just barely, and reached behind him towards one of the soldiers. The white armored man hold out a briefcase he had been carrying, with a nod the man took it and placed it on the small table that separated him and Xiantus.

“I thought you might ask something like that, so I decided to compile a small report on everything our scientists and such have found in the past year or so that they’ve been studying you.”

“You’ve had me in a lab for a year!?” Xiantus was shocked, appalled, and somewhat angry all at the same time.

“Yes, you were somewhat damaged when we found you, so it took us a while to put you back together so to say. While piecing you back together, we took the opportunity to make an effort to study you.” He bit his lip, possibly in a slightly embarrassed fashion. “Our studies however were largely inconclusive, and while we learned some, it wasn’t really anything as ground braking as we had hoped.”

“So we decided to simply focus on bringing you back to life, so to speak, rather than trying to find out what made you tick. We did however take the opportunity to make some basic additions to your programming, such as your ability to speak basic, or our language.”

Xiantus frowned as he realized that he had been speaking in a language he previously had not known, it somewhat worried him that these humans could make changes or additions to his code, however minute.

The man seemed to pick on this as Xiantus’s face took on a slightly worried cast. “Don’t get too worked up, that was probably the largest change we made to you, nothing to worry about really.”

Xiantus forced himself to nod even though he wasn’t a hundred percent sure that the man was telling the truth. The man meanwhile had opened the case and pushed it towards Xiantus.

Slipping forward in his seat, he pulled the briefcase closer. He quickly skimmed the text and data pad contained inside, and found that largely the man was telling the truth. They had found very little of worth about him, although in some areas they had been close to finding some more useful.

The man continued as Xiantus read, “We found you as I said roughly a year ago, when we were performing some surveys of the planet. By sheer luck we managed to find the small complex where you were housed. There were others like you but we couldn’t really manage to revive them. You however had been broken free of the pod, and so we decided to simply take you and leave the rest for, when we understood a bit more about you.”

Hmmm, it wasn’t surprising that the humans couldn’t get his men out of their pods. He had personally made sure that those things would open for his kind and his kind only. Even if one managed to break open a pod he and its inhabitant would be instantly killed, so as to make sure neither would reach the outside world.

Having heard that he had somehow broken free of his pod and had sustained damage was somewhat of a worry, just another in a long line that he was forming.

Xiantus wondered how well the other pods had held up over the vast amount of time since they had first frozen themselves. He however had to focus on other things; the most important right now was this man, and what he had in store for Xiantus, the others like him.

Xiantus

5 11:07pm 07/05/08

“What do you want and I mean what do you really want?” Xiantus cut to the chase no more beating around the bush.

“You want to know? Well, simply put we want a weapon.”

Xiantus tensed visibly he face turned from a neutral glare a snarling frown. He and his race had become nothing but weapons before and he would die before he saw it happen again.

The officer saw this, his calculating gaze picking scrutinizing Xiantus’s change and show of expression, “Just hold on a moment, and don’t jump to a conclusion just yet.” His hands rose just slightly above his head in a gesture, trying to calm the mechanical beast before him even just slightly.

Thoughts, memories, experiences, all of under the watchful and harsh gaze of the Rakata. Atrocities horrors, everything he had experienced while under their influence. All of it because they, like the man now before him, had wanted a weapon.

Xiantus neither relaxed or calmed even slightly but neither utter a word or make a move, this the officer took as a simple show, if not a grudging one, to continue.

“As you can imagine the galaxy today is much different from that which you began your little period of stasis in. The galaxy is fractured, not dominated by one power, like your Rakata, at least not yet anyway. Many of the most powerful wouldn’t hesitate to and would probably take great happiness in watching my government fall.”

“Because of this we take every chance we can find to get a one up if the worst was to happen and war did break out.”

A slight wave of the man’s hand directed Xiantus back to the small collection of documents that still lay on the table.

“Frankly…” A small pause as the man seemed to ponder something. He shifted a bit seeming uncomfortable, “I’m sorry, I really don’t know what to call you.”

“Xiantus, that’s what most call me.”

“Good, one little awkward point cleared. Now back to what I was saying. From what our scientists observed of you, many of them were quite anxious to simply rip you apart, to hell with trying to preserve and reactivate you.”

“If not for my slight intervention you would probably be scrap metal.” Laying back the man produced from his pocket a small tin container, withdrawing from that a cigar.

He hesitated slightly and offered the tin to Xiantus, “I’m not sure if you smoke, or even inhale for that matter but thought it right to ask.”

“Thank you but no.” He pushed the tin back to the man. “And no, I neither “smoke” nor inhale as you do.”

“Sad, that you can never know the taste of a good cigar.” He blew a small ring of smoke into the air after taking a long satisfied puff on the thing.

“Now back to business, so I hope at least my position is clear and so are my intentions to you, please feel free to ask if they aren’t.”

“I have to admit, your willingness to trust me, and even keep me alive for that matter even after I not only assaulted two of your soldiers, but killed two others in that lab, very odd and extremely surprising.”

The man shrugged a bit, “Well the two soldiers you attacked will be fine. Although one of them is going to need a little surgery but other than that yes they’ll be alright. The scientists on the other hand, well they were a bit more of a problem to get around. However…”

He leaned in a bit closer and lowered his voice, “I personally couldn’t care much at all about that little incident. I didn’t care for them from the moment they first stepped into this facility. Far too full of themselves for my tastes, their skill in their field had bloated their ego long ago.”

He took another nice long puff on his cigar and leaned back, “To be truthful it was pretty satisfying to see them scared shitless after your little show in the lab.”

Xiantus smiled at the content man before, lying back in his chair puffing on his cigar, no doubt remembering the aforementioned scientists in their panic. He could tell he was going to like this one.

“So that and the fact that the benefits to keeping you alive and you cooperating with us, I think far outweighed the other possibility of ripping you apart and studying you that way. Does that at least partially answer you.”

“Yes, it does at least partially, now I’m curious what is it exactly you want me to help you with or do for you. I think I have some small guess but I’d like to hear it from you.”

“Battle droids.”

Xiantus didn’t understand at all, raising a non-existent eyebrow in a very human expression.

“We want you to help us design a new battle droid or an autonomous soldier. There are many approaches to this area that we have tried a few have been very successful, but nothing has come close to the level of sophistication that you display. As far as our scientists could tell you’re not even completely machine but part organic in a way.”

Xiantus flexed his arms looking down idly as the synthetic muscles and tissue flexed. It was true, he was not completely machine, but then again he didn’t quite think he could call all of this non machine parts organic either.

“Xiantus flexed his arms again and held it slightly aloft for the man to see. This is organic, in a way I guess you could say. It was bonded to me when I was given life and your scientists are right, it is in fact not mechanical. Rather it is artificially structured muscles and nano-fibers.”

He lowered his arm as the man raised a small jar that Xiantus hadn’t noticed before. “This is something else that my scientists found, one that almost doomed you my friend.” He shook the jar for a moment the gel like liquid inside seemingly plain and empty.

The man didn’t have to even speak for Xiantus to figure out what was contained in the gel. “I suppose you’ve already figured out what’s in here haven’t you.”

Xiantus nodded, a small query in the back of his mind appearing as he did, “I know exactly what they are.” Reaching out he idly placed his hand on the small container’s lid, the man eying him and the jar a little anxious as to what Xiantus was doing.

“I suppose you haven’t gotten them to work yet have you.”

In response the man simply shook his head. Xiantus smiled, “Then please allow me demonstrate.” Ignoring what ever reply the man might have he went ahead.

It took only a moment after which Xiantus retracted his arm and simply watched the jar. “I’d set that on the table if I were you.” The man quickly did just that, his eyes darting from Xiantus to the cup.

For a moment nothing happened, everyone stood and a dead silence engulfed the room. Xiantus his arms slung behind his head, the man looking skeptically from the jar to Xiantus and the guards behind him standing firmly their guns slightly raised.

Then it began, first the sides, which slowly began to physically melt, holes appearing in the glass, steam drifting upwards.

It took a few minutes but when finished the container was gone; a small pool of goo now lay in its place on the table, the only remnant of the jar.

The officer sat their slightly stunned for a moment, his eyes glued to the space the jar had formerly occupied, his hands rubbing together a little anxiously. “Well then, that was very interesting.”

Xiantus let what could be interpreted as a small laugh by human standards, “That, human, was…” He paused for a second as he took on a slightly thoughtful look, “Hmmm, what I believe you refer to it as nanotechnology.”

The man gave a skeptical and disturbed look to the soldier behind him, “Well that explains a few things, but you might not want to display that so freely again, there are some who would make some false connections that might get you in some trouble.”

Xinatus nodded his head, the man continued taking on a somewhat lighter demeanor.

“We’ve wandered a bit from the original discussion, we want battle droids or at least some improvements that you could give to our current models, and you say no. What, me friend are we going to do about this. I can tell you right now that if you refuse to help us there is no chance you will leave this facility unless it is for study somewhere else, in which case you’ll already be dead.” He folded his arms behind him staring intently forward at Xiantus. “So I ask again what do you want to do, its your choice and I doubt I can force one on you.”

Xiantus thought for a moment his eyes staring upward, he thought of everything he had went to, everything that had happened to him in his long life before he answered.

It took him a minute but finally he realized what he could do, he realized that there was indeed an option that would suit them both very nicely. At least he hoped.

He looked down again his eyes resting on the man, quietly he stood, “Human I have a proposition for you, one that you will hopefully like, and if not well then I am surely doomed to the scrap heap, for I cannot find any other mutually benefiting solution.”

The confederation officer rose, his black uniform crisp and clean, he nodded, “Come let me hear it then, I am truly interested.”

There the two stood man and machine; and between two complete opposites a peculiar alliance was forged.