Scales of the Basilisk (complete)

[Hawkins Grime]

Grime leaned forward, his porcelain face inches away from the mirror. His irises were still scarred, like a glacier laced with rot. But the difference from before De'Ville's... intervention was a great contrast to now.

"Boss."

"Yes?"

"Nearing destination. Bretak hasn't responded to your message. Orar said he would have definitely received it though on that secure channel."

"I doubt he will respond, e'Drain. We'll settle back into Iziz when we land. I expect that he will find us. While I wait for him, check into the local business."

"Roger that. Oh, and by the by, that shipment you requested at priority should have arrived by the time we get there. It wouldn't have if we probably hadn't made that stop at Nar Shadda."

"I know."

=======

Grime sat in his condominium in the slums of Iziz. e'Drain was out and about, overseeing some of the more local establishments with Chroma, performing spot checks on the citizens of Iziz that were part of Grime's... unofficial corporation. Averre had rushed in and disappeared to her room in the back.

"A'den. what did you and Manda'lor speak about?"

Hawkins looked up from studying the floor, leaning back into the couch with a groan to glance at the presumptuous boy in front of him.

"Nothing that concerns you, Orar. Aren't you glad enough to be back on Onderon? I would've thought that you'd run off by now, back to your fellow warriors."

The boy leaned against the wall, his arms crossed on his chest. His brow furrowed, suddenly defensive.

"Bretak said I would see war with you. It is my duty to see that out."

"And what war have you seen so far, little warrior?"

The porcelain face tugged into a smile, egging Orar on. Grime was satisfied enough when he caught the dirty look from the boy.

"Don't worry, young Mando. I'll show you more war than even your people can stand. Now go check the console to see if your father figure has responded. I'm tired of waiting. Your Manda'lor gave me her blessing on this task, I shouldn't be waiting in the first place."

Orar shot him another dirty look with the familiarity that Grime used when speaking of Manda'lor. He also noted the distinct change in Aden's voice. It was not nearly as raspy and broken as it had been before. It was lined with a steel edge that Orar had not noticed before. It had something to do with Grime's odd behavior too. The dark figure was still just as wicked and always so angry and yet he was quicker. He moved. Moved like a real predator, not a set of slow moving gears.

[Bretak]

Bretak had taken his time responding to A'den's requests. For one, A'den was not in charge, so it was unseemly to jump at his commands. And, for another, it had taken a day to convince their most skilled blacksmiths that what A'den and Mand'alor wanted could be done in the first place.

He walked through the slums of Iziz, wondering again why the people clung to their walls so. It made them weak, and their weakness festered like rot in the lower parts of the city. Compared to the jungles, the city even smelled bad.

Helmeted and armored, yet walking, Bretak was left alone as he made his way to where A'den lived. Basilisk were not allowed inside the city (though he had brought them in before), and flying made the humans of Iziz too nervous, threatening their peace with the Mando'ade. He had left a message that he was arriving, but had received no response.

The Mandalorian made an armored fist and knocked on the door before he saw the electronic bell, and rang that as well.

[Hawkins Grime]

Orar had just seen the message when someone knocked and the door bell rang. He spun on his heel to see the face of A'den, grinning wide without a groan of pain. Orar could still see the pain and rage in those eyes but obviously Manda'lor could perform miracles.

"Going to get that?"

Orar rushed to the door.

[Bretak]

The door opened, and Orar was standing there, his eyes shining even though his face was trying to convey indifference. Bretak remembered that feeling - trying to look like your elders while still affected by the rush of youth. He reached up and unbuckled his helmet, putting it under his arm and nodding to his ad'ika. "Orar, su cuy'gar!"

"Su'cuy!" The young man clasped Bretak's arm in greeting, and then stepped back to grant him entry. "A'den is within."

Bretak walked inside, his boots loud on the floors. The white expressionless face of A'den turned towards him, and he saluted Mand'alor's ...student... by thumping his chestplate with a clenched fist. "It took some time to set up what you wanted, A'den."

[Hawkins Grime]

Grime stood with an ease that still surprised him. He was so elated that his humor led him to bow in slight response to the salute.

"A non-issue. I have the other supplies already loaded into a speeder, ready to transport to wherever you need it to be."

Hawkins reached for a data slate on the table beside the couch and held it out for Bretak to take.

"My supplies are the first two crates. The other four are full with equipment that I picked up in Nar Shadda from my contacts there. Weapons, maintenance supplies, and other items that Manda'lor said would further your preparations. The inventory is on that slate. Consider it a small contribution on my behalf."

Orar's eyes opened slightly. He'd seen the crates brought aboard the Wyvern but Hawkins had kept the whole thing a secret from him. A'den liked to see the boy caught off guard too often for Orar's comfort.

[Bretak]

He took the slate and looked over the contents. "I will send my vode to pick these up and transport them to the site as soon as possible." Bretak's lips tugged upwards in what could have been called a smile as he saw what Mand'alor and A'den had made possible.

He looked up at A'den, and said, "Our metalworkers are looking forward to this challenge."

[Hawkins Grime]

Pale, thin lips opened, issuing a heavy sigh. Oh, how he was looking forward to it as well. Hawkins knew what had to happen. His flesh would have to be transported from the old exoskeleton to the new exoskeleton. Grime almost regretted that Lilaena would not be there to see him... in the flesh.

"On that data slate are also a few specifications designed by Averre for the exoskeleton's head pieces. She wanted me to apologize if the designs were too complicated but I assured her that her ignorance of your metalworkers' skill would be able to handle it."

Grime turned towards Orar.

"Orar can take the speeder back with you, Bretak. I don't need him here now. I'll have war to wage when I... am in my new skin. Enough to make your... Manda'lor proud."

He turned back to Bretak and nodded towards the slate.

"Go ahead and get to work. I've got other preparations of my own to make."

[Bretak]

Bretak nodded, turning on his heel and walking out. Orar followed him, and had noticed that A'den's statement implied that he might need him later. He was strangely glad that Mand'alor's creature was not willing to just cast him aside, as it had seemed at first.

Back at the Mando'ade camp Bretak presented the plans to the blacksmiths and engineers. They immediately set to pointing out areas to each other that they could make better and admiring other parts that presented elegant solutions they had not thought of. He left them to their work, and ordered Orar to round up some other men and to retrieve the crates from the speeder.

Days passed, and there was always a small crowd of youngsters around the smithing complex as the metal workers set to creating the frame that A'den's new exoskeleton would be created around. Precise measurements had been provided, though some engineers had asked when A'den would be arriving so they could go over the positioning of some wiring that needed to be moved to accommodate some other system work... to be frank, Bretak had little to no idea what they were talking about.

The other crates, the ones that did not have to do with A'den's personal needs and rather were for the Mando'ade alone... those were the ones that interested him and the other a'lorad the most. They did a full inventory and then distributed some of the weapons and other supplies throughout the camp over the next few days, to those who needed them the most. The rest were re-crated and secreted away, until such a time as the Mando'ade took to the stars and battled for their freedom.

Bretak was walking through the camp after spending a few minutes with Mirshe, the head engineer working on A'den's project, when he heard the aran signalling that someone was approaching. Soon enough the warning was called off, it was a burc'ya, not an enemy.

A'den's speeder appeared over the trees, and lowered into the clearing on the outskirts of the large and bustling camp. Bretak made sure he had clearance around him and then fired up his jetpack to go meet him.

[Hawkins Grime]

e'Drain slid the throttle down slowly as he brought the speeder into the clearing. He had been looking at the monitors, watching the ground below him for an easy landing when he noticed the figure flying towards there position before them. As the speeder set down, he turned and yelled over his shoulder into the crew compartment.

"A welcome committee is on their way. Counting only one at the moment."

The small girl shifted uncomfortably beside Grime. Averre shied away from her dark savior as much as possible she could whenever often she could. She knew he was a monster; sometimes the thought of what he had proven himself capable of could make her nauseous. Being this close tended to make her skin crawl. But she was realistic, Grime had saved her from an unfortunate end, had offered her another life, and had given her the means to make her greatest friend ever, Chroma. The mark I AI, of course, was her greatest friend, not the destructive, insane droid Chroma Mk II that Grime had her make after wards.

That droid had thankfully been left back at the flat. Grime always had the droid plugging into the city network. Chroma Mk II tried to hide its tracks and actions in the ether of Iziz but Averre had its older brother, Mk I, keep tabs on him so she knew exactly what was going on. Needless to say, the people of Iziz should be more concerned about the infrastructure of their networks.

She snapped out of her wandering thoughts as Grime stood and the door slid to the side, the humid air of the Wilds invading the confines of the speeder. Rowan didn't get out much, and she had been more than reluctant even after Hawkins had insisted that she was coming.

=======

"You are coming."

"I... I have so much still to do here. The software you wanted is almost finished."

"You told me it was finished."

"I... It... I..."

"You are coming. I'm trusting you with overseeing the transfer of my body into the new exoskeleton. You are more than familiar with the calibrations required with the life support and will be able to ensure the new one is synchronized. No one else."

=======

Grime breathed in deeply; his lungs felt like they were on fire but it drew no bloody coughs or spasms. He relished the pain as if he were stretching. He sighed, letting the sharp pain slide from between his teeth as he realized that it was Bretak landing before them; Averre stumbling into the light, taken aback with the Wilds in general. Grime wasn't sure how well she would adjust but then again, he wasn't very concerned either. Hawkins lifted a hand in acknowledgment of Bretak as he approached.

[Bretak]

Bretak landed lightly, cutting the power to the pack just before his feet touched the ground. He was fully armored, of course, but many of his brothers inside the wooden palisade were not. He nodded at A'den, and his companion, a girl who seemed much too young to be with him.

"Your project is well underway, A'den. The nutrient webbing that will line the suit seems to be giving my engineers fits, but perhaps the one who wrote the blueprints can talk to them?" Bretak looked towards the one called e'Drain, wondering... but no, the older warrior would not have been the one to construct such complicated plans. His helmet turned away, and then looked down at the girl. Of course.

"I can show you to the workers, vod'ika," he said to her, certain he'd judged A'den's companions correctly.

[Hawkins Grime]

Averre nearly attempted to hide behind Grime when the Mandalorian spoke to her. Regardless of the peace between them, Rowan had grown up in the slums of Iziz, where the Wilds were a place of nightmares and monsters. And in those nightmares, the Mandalorians were the boogey men. By no means were the slums a paradise of peace and joy, Rowan knew that, but here, it was fear inspired by the unknown and horrible rumors.

Her attempt to hide was ultimately futile when she felt a metal hand grip around the back of her neck. Grime pulled her out from behind him and shoved her forward before Bretak.

"Don't be scared, Averre. Just do your job and then you can go back. Holding up the process isn't doing yourself a favor."

She glared at him over her shoulder before stepping forward timidly, tightening the straps on her backpack that carried her portable computer unit. Grime saved her, whether he meant to or not, from saying anything as he spoke up.

"Lead the way, Bretak."

e'Drain took a seat on the hood of the speeder, swatting some annoying insect away as he drew a deck of cards to amuse himself. The Boss had said this would likely take quite some time if everything was ready to begin then and there. From what he had seen in some of Rowan's schematics she had left up on the screens, he could see why.

[Bretak]

He saw how afraid the girl was, and couldn't help but feel some contempt for her. She was of Iziz, and was as weak as the rest of the city's inhabitants. But those of the city had been taken and added to the Mando'ade over the many years they had shared the planet, so despite natural prejudices he knew that each person should be judged individually.

Still, Averre was practically trembling as she followed behind him, A'den bringing up the rear of the line, possibly to ensure the girl didn't break and run back to the speeder. A group of young ones was playing nearby, and they trailed along behind out of curiosity as Bretak led them to where the Mando'ade engineers were working on the insides of the exoskeleton.

Mirshe came over immediately, as his apprentices worked on soldering wires on a workbench where a vaguely man-shaped bunch of wires and systems were laid out. "Ah, A'den, welcome. As you can see, we have the interior of your exoskeleton roughed in already. Once the exterior is done we'll fit it in and do the final checks. There has been a hold up, however," the engineer pushed his darkened goggles up on his forehead to better look at the three people in front of him. "Trying to mate the medical systems to our power supply is proving trickier than I'd originally thought."

He scrubbed a hand through his short hair, making it stick up. Like all Mando'ade Mirshe was a warrior, well muscled and lean, though not in armor at the moment.

[Hawkins Grime]

Averre winced as Grime almost lifted her off the ground by her hair before pushing her forward. She almost cried out but instead thought better of it as she stumbled towards the work bench.

"That one has your answers. Or maybe part of them. Play nice, Averre."

She grimaced before letting her back pack slide off her shoulders, praying that the Mandalorian technician wouldn't pay her too much attention while she began to pull components of her computer out.

Hawkins gave a short nod to the new Mandalorian as he stepped forward to examine the exoskeleton's insides. He could see the hybrid of technology of the Mandalorian taste and the parts that he had provided. It looked far more comfortable than the metal prison he wore now. It was like moving into a mansion.

He nodded with satisfaction before turning to Bretak.

"Lucky you, you'll get to see my actual flesh, A'den made material."

He lifted his metal hand, examining it for a moment, his metal tongue sliding along the inside of his mouth against his fake teeth.

========

Blood spattered the surgeon's hands as they cut the final tendon and separated the jaw altogether from CENSORED's face. The tortured body, missing most of its skin with muscles hanging loosely where they had also been cut, rolled its lidless eyes as the other doctor grasped his tongue with tongs.

"Now, now. Hold still. This'll come out soon enough."

The gasp of breath and gurgled blood was the only response they had as they snickered between themselves. The surgeon, still holding the jaw in one hand, smothered the clotting paste against the open face wounds.

"Modern science, savior and... what word am I thinking of?"

"How should I know? Don't ask me those stupid questions of yours. You ain't no poet. Leave me be so I don't cut more than I'm supposed to on this tongue."

=======

"Now that she's here, how much longer is this going to take?"

[Bretak]

Mirshe was looking over Averre's shoulder with interest as she began pulling things out of her pack, and answered A'den without looking up. "Depending on how quickly we can isolate the problem, about two to three more days. We do not want to rush to completion, as there is little room for error once the transfer is started."

The engineer turned to A'den, "In the next room they are working on the facial plate and other... artistic elements. There are a few designs they need your final approval on." Then he pulled up a chair for the girl and asked her some quiet questions.

Bretak nodded to A'den, and they continued into the construct, through a door to where the most skilled with delicate droid works were working on the vanity pieces for the exoskeleton. Anything would be an improvement on A'den's current face, of course, but what Bretak had seen of what his people were creating was impressive. He was certain Mand'alor would be pleased with how they were accommodating her student.

[Hawkins Grime]

They placed a mirror in front of him. They let the drugs fade out of his system to a point at which they knew he was coherent and quite capable of recognizing what he was staring at. His face, or lack thereof... What was left of his body was jerking in spasms of incomprehensible pain. The muscle-lined skull, missing a jaw, with bluer than blue eyes that twitched in panic, gazed at itself for only the briefest moment before CENSORED moaned from his throat. It sounded more like someone trying to drink from a nearly empty glass with a straw.

"Knew you'd appreciate that. You were always a bit too vain of a partner for my tastes, pal. That face had to come. I will say though, I might keep it, put it on one of those statues you fancied."

Hydijjer moved the mirror out of the way and knelt down slightly so that he could look up to the sagging body before him.

"How long we got before you've gotta' put him back into his own nightmares?"

"'ard to tell, Digger."

"Bring her in. Let her see what her prince looks like now."

=======

Grime's eyes glazed over as he lifted the face gently between his fingers. His other hand caressed the cheek, his metal finger pressing against the skin which reacted as if it were actually skin. Hawkins turned it slowly to look at the profile of a man he had once known all too well. The hair was unrealistically perfect, browns, auburn, and even gold here and there, cut a bit shorter than might have been preferred but it was no major issue. The cheek bones, regal, and a strong jaw line. The Mandalorians might have thought it a bit too pretty for their warrior tastes but those features had survived pit fights unscathed. Artists would find it a difficult task to sculpt these features into being. Grime had to hand it to the Mandalorians for their ability to accomplish what they had, it was no simple feat to capture the essence of human perfection.

"You..."

The rest of the world might as well have vanished as Grime became absorbed in the study of a man that had once been. His memory was drenched in blood though and it was hard to remember what had been rather than what he knew it had become. He gently drew the face up to his, wires tugging slightly that still had it attached to some kind of device that Grime could care less about. He pressed the cheek against the porcelain face he now called his own and sighed. It was not a sigh of release or content but rather stifled hatred.

=======

"You see him now?"

She sobbed. Even with his ears cut off, CENSORED could hear the desperation sinking in with each breath she took as her emerald eyes stared into his sapphires. His awareness was being tinged with blood in his peripherals and he seemed to be more and more aware of the beating of his heart over anything else.

"Take a good look, Morghelia, for its the last thing you'll ever see. The man who damned you."

She cried out, reaching up towards him with an arm that ended just before where her wrist should have been.

Not her eyes... Not those eyes...

=======

He placed the face back on its pedestal as he felt the black winds stirring within him. The rage was unstoppable as it welled up like a hot spring, wanting to vomit forth from his mouth. His fists clenched so tight the metal creaked and he could feel the reciprocating pain in his arms. The vents of his life support unit in his back sighed exhaust in response to his body heating up so quickly; Hawkins closed his eyes and turned his face to the ceiling as he struggled with his own wrath.

Moments passed in silence before Hawkins opened his eyes and looked back down at the table. Metal plates were laid out, the outer armor of the exoskeleton, on the table. He grabbed the helmet piece that would actually fit over the face of... that man. Hawkins held it up and turned to Bretak.

"A Mandalorian styled helmet? Aren't you worried that someone might think I'm one of you?"

The face plate did not have the T-visor of the Mandalorian armor he had seen them all wearing but the design was no doubt of Mando aesthetics. Grime didn't mind at all, it was fitting regardless. But he wanted to see what Bretak might think of Mandalore's A'den, a corpse that required a droid body to perform even simple functions, wearing something that might suggest it had links to the Mandalorian heritage.

[Bretak]

Bretak watched A'den's reaction intently, through his visor. The HUD inside his helmet warned him of the man's rapidly rising temperature, but just as quickly things began to return to acceptable norms.

He considered A'den's question, and reached up to take off his helmet. "I was not there when you saved Mand'alor on Coruscanta, but I have heard the stories. Perhaps you will not learn Mando'a or join our brotherhood, but you are no hut'uun. Verd ori'shya beskar'gam." Bretak met A'den's eyes and repeated, "A warrior is more than his armor. But you will represent this armor well, I think."

He smiled a bit, "And it will please Mand'alor, I think."

[Hawkins Grime]

She leaned over his tortured body, encased in its protective, malfunctioning shell, and pressed her palms down on his chest and stomach before he could move in protest. She exhaled slowly and loudly. Her eyes rolled back into her head and her lips worked silently.

Broken blood vessels and torn muscles were painfully stitched back together. But after a minute of wrenching pain for both of them, Lilaena staggered back a bit, tears spilling down her cheeks in some sort of reflex action.

She leaned her weight on one hand that rested beside his shoulder on the work bench, breathing heavily.

"You know my pain and hatred have no bounds... You've tasted it. You have your armor... Let mine be your weapon. We can... We can kill everyone. All of them."

"We will destroy them together," she promised, her voice husky. "No one can stand in our way."

=======

"I've no doubt it will..."

Lilaena would be immensely pleased with herself for how well it was turning out after what little healing she had performed on Grime's body. The Mandalorian flair on his new exoskeleton played right into her schemes, he was sure. Hawkins fought off the exhilarating mental images of his metal hands digging into the flesh of her shoulders and pulling down, peeling skin off like wrapping paper, tracing along all those scars. He needed something to keep his mind off of her for now and if the mechanic was right, there might be a few days of waiting.

"Show me around, Bretak. I'd rather be more familiar with how your people operate if we're going to be fighting together..."

Hawkins had no intention joining their brotherhood, like Bretak had said. The last brotherhood Grime had been apart of had ended quite abruptly and painfully when, in another life, Hawkins had attempted to become the new metaphorical 'Mandalore' of that brotherhood. But he would much rather study a weapon on hand and its characteristics than brood about a woman.

=======

A few days later, Grime sat up from his cot inside the cargo area of the air speeder, looking down the ramp at e'Drain who stood outside. Morrolan was shivering from the cool air that gusted through the trees as the sun rose on the horizon, lighting another stim before pointing behind him towards the encampment.

"Orar just popped in to tell you that they are finally ready for you. You want me to come?"

"No. Stay here."

Grime stood, shuddering as the life support unit kicked out of its relative dormant state that it assumed whenever he 'slept'. He trudged down the ramp into the misty morning of the Wilds towards the camp not far away, hoping that Averre and Mirshe had not requested him for nothing.

[Bretak]

The Wilds were quiet. Perhaps they sensed A'den's presence, and decided it wasn't worth the trouble to arouse more wrath than it could handle. Bretak nodded to Granoi and her troop of twelve year olds as they jogged out of the encampment and into the jungle. They passed the corpse-like A'den as he walked towards where the blacksmiths and engineers were putting the final touches and conducting the final test on the new exoskeleton.

Bretak had seen it that morning - it was an impressive piece of work. Reminiscent of Mandalorian armor, yet there was a sleekness to it that reminded one of the animalistic design of the Basilisks. Mirshe had shown him the face plate again, applying electrical stimuli to make the vacant face smile, and then frown. Over time, he understood, the plate would begin to understand what the face beneath it was doing, and learn to create the appropriate expression.

He lifted a hand in greeting to A'den, walking a course that would bring him to the engineering complex at the same time as the other man.

[Hawkins Grime]

One of the young Mandalorians stared too long but Grime's sideways glance sent the boy's gaze back into the Wilds as he stepped into the camp. He saw Bretak wave and they met just outside and then entered the engineering complex.

"Took long enough."

The annoyance in his voice was hard to place between his ever constant impatience and the likelihood that waking up and exerting the effort to walk was still a chore. They approached the table where the exoskeleton lay open on a large table. Beside it was a cleared space with equipment waiting for something. Him. That is where Hawkins would be reincarnated from this corpse to that one. Averre sat nearby, staring into her computer screen, rubbing sleep from her eyes.

"So, are we ready to begin?"

[Bretak]

"Yes," said Mirshe, looking up from where he was adjusting something. "We are ready."

An elderly looking medical droid was propped up in the corner, a young woman standing next to it and also leaning against the wall. Her body language might have read as overly relaxed, but her brown eyes were watching everything intently. Bretak nodded to her, their best trained doctor, and she returned the gesture.

"Just... just lay down over here," Mirshe said, moving around the room. "Once you're in place we'll turn on a field that will keep the workspace sterile."

[Hawkins Grime]

The muscles of his face twitched with revulsion at the idea of being so vulnerable. The simple commitment of the act, opening the exoskeleton and putting on a show for the Mandalorians, leaving him a bloody corpse, was suddenly an issue for Grime. He staggered to the table and awkwardly pushed himself up onto it. From the corner of his eye, he thought he saw Averre move as if she were going to help him but it must have been a trick of his imagination. Rowan continued to stare into her console, occasionally hitting a key.

His cloak and armor plates had been left with e'Drain in the speeder. That left the exoskeleton looking more like just the muscular structure of a human being, made of black tubing, encased within a clockwork-like structure. The long, brown hair, so obviously fake, came off when Grime removed his hat as well. Hawkins lay back on the table slowly, the life support system sighing with the effort and Hawkins stared into the ceiling, struggling to resist his mounting paranoia and the subtle rage rushing behind it.

"Averre..."

She fidgeted with the console for a moment before sliding out of her chair. She showed the doctor where the ports were for Grime's life support and then the small girl moved to the head of the table. The doctor stepped forward and the medical droid was brought beside the table. The woman plugged a machine into the life support's ports and the medical droid began to regurgitate Grime's vitals in Mando'a. Needless to say, what the droid was describing was nothing short of a miracle that it was still capable of breathing, or functioning period, much less exerting the will to continue.

"He needs... erm... anesthetics before I begin to open... the exoskeleton."

The doctor issued the order to the medical droid and after some time, it finally seemed to be doing what it was told, at least as far as Grime could tell. It came in waves. Breathing became less of a chore. He thought he could feel his fingers and toes again for the briefest moment and then they were gone. Hawkins almost believed that he had his own tongue plastered to the roof of his mouth for a moment. And then his eyes seemed to close of their own volition. And then came the nightmares.

=======

They cut the corpse down from the chains. Miraculously, even as they pulled the finger long needles from the muscles in his arms, legs, and back, CENSORED remained somehow alive. How coherent was he, they thought. Was it simply instinctual that his body went on? The muscle they had brought him in had asked if he was supposed to be staring at them like that but when they had checked, his lidless eyes had been without focus.

=======

Averre pushed the releases on the porcelain face and it came off as a whole to reveal the simple mechanical structure beneath. The girl moved to the chest and then other body parts, releasing locks and seals as Mirshe activated the sterile field over the table. It made Rowan's nose tickle, as if she were going to sneeze constantly.

=======

CENSORED stood in a building he was and was not vaguely familiar with in Iziz. It was awkward because he knew he had never been to Iziz in his lifetime. Candles were set into the wall sporadically, making it appear at a distance like they were floating. The sun was in the sky but it only penetrated the darkness of the room near the high vaulted ceiling through stained glass.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?"

CENSORED had been trying to decipher the image in the stained glass when he was startled to find himself not alone. The figure that had spoken stepped out of the shadows and the click-hiss of a light saber gave a purple tinge to her body.

=======

The medical droid vomited more medical data as the exoskeleton was pried open by Averre and the young doctor, revealing the bloody mess underneath. The body within appeared malnourished and emaciated, other than it had no skin. The blue eyes gazed into the ceiling, unaware that they were no longer covered by anything. Averre did not have the technical or medical knowledge to remove the prosthetic jaw piece but the doctor seemed to manage well enough with only a few drops of blood. It was apparent that most of the muscles had been cut severely between all the joints and the repairs done there had been minimal. Under further investigation, the doctor determined that what was minimal, was the best in Grime's case unfortunately. The chest, some of the ribs nearly visible, continued to sag and heave as the life support unit built into his back helped it along.

=======

"De'Ville."

=======

A raspy murmur of something barely escaped Grime's ruined throat. Averre looked at the glacier blue eyes for a moment before looking at the doctor who shook her head reassuringly.

"Erm... I've unhooked as much as I can. I think we can move him now..."

[Bretak]

Bretak watched from beyond the sterile field, curious to see what A'den looked like stripped of his protective coating. The raw body that was exposed was light enough that Mirshe and Dralshy'a could move it without further assistance, Rowan gathering some dangling wires from underneath that would be plugged into the new life support system.

[Hawkins Grime]

The back of the body had a very simple life support module built into it that Averre quickly detached from the old exoskeleton and began to plug into the new one. She had been studying the plans on her console and that mental image quickly adapted to the reality of the situation and within moments, the new exoskeleton's life support unit, a much sleeker and advanced component was already reacting to Hawkins' vitals and he wasn't even locked inside it yet.

=======

The suns were setting on the battlefield but the scene before him was eternal, without a sign of lifting. CENSORED's arms were folded across his chest as he studied the situation, trying to determine where the next decisive point was going to be. He was also trying to figure out what he was doing there, in what he knew to be battle dress, with a light saber strapped to his hip beside his sheathed sword. He turned to face his general staff, a group of men and women in Mandalorian armor.

"A'den, the Imperials continue to bring their men. And they continue to die. Their casualties far exceed ours yet we continue to give them ground. You predicted right. They have sealed their fates in committing their forces here."

His eyes, rimmed in blood, set in his perfect face, slanted back to the battlefield. Since when had CENSORED been called A'den?

=======

Averre watched the diagnostics on her console. It seemed to be syncing well; Chroma was making it pretty easy on her part, translating all of the archaic medical droid's data. The doctor was doing all of the hard work, carefully ensuring that the frail flesh of Grime's body set well into the lining. Given the pace though, Rowan could tell this was going to take some time...

=======

She stood before him' they were arguing again. Over what, he cared less. CENSORED loved it. He couldn't tell who moved first but he knew who got the first hit in...

[Bretak]

A'den's true form was as though someone had let scavengers feed on his body for days and then decided to try to keep him alive. That he was alive was nothing short of a miracle, Bretak knew. And the deep anger that A'den felt made sense. Who, faced with such circumstances, would not burn with a desire for revenge against whoever, or whatever had caused this?

Had such a thing been done to any of his vode, Bretak would have personally led the party to hunt down the responsible. Dralshy'a was fitting A'den's limbs into the new suit when shouts outside indicated that Bretak's attention was needed elsewhere.

He strode out of the cabin and saw the acolytes swarming to the west. Breaking into a run he saw that the boma were attacking, but those on guard seemed to have things in hand. He ducked into his tent and pulled on his armor, activating the HUD to stay appraised of the action as he finished fastening the plating.

West... A'den's shuttle was in the west. Hopefully his vod had not been caught out unawares.

[Hawkins Grime]

The console read that the whatever-they-were had torn into the plating just above the cockpit of the air speeder. Some sensors were damaged and not much else but e'Drain could hear the clawing getting closer.

He'd been pissing outside when he had heard them, or one of them, whichever he couldn't tell. But he was zipping up in a bit of rush when he had just enough time to jump back. It wasn't that big, just looked like it had some kick to it with a nasty set of teeth and claws that looked about as sharp as Morrolan's knives. It gnashed its teeth at him, a sick tongue licking something from its eye as it seemed to coil within itself. It took him only a moment to realize it was going to pounce again.

It was in the air and his slugger was drawn when the other hit his leg. He yelled out and fired a number of rounds as he hit the ground. The two creatures rolled over, reeling from the concussive impacts of e'Drain's pistol. His other pistol was drawn and firing by the time he had rolled over and was on his knees, hitting two more. Needless to say, Morrolan was on the verge of panicking at the thought of dying in such a pathetic manner. He was on his feet and had dived into the air speeder, the door sliding shut before he could almost make it all the way in. And then he saw what looked like the pack leader through the cockpit. It was almost half the size of the speeder and e'Drain didn't carry a gun that he thought would do any damage to that beast. Maybe the Mandos had heard the gunfire and would be on their way soon to his rescue, or maybe not. And they'd be in the ship soon enough and making a three course meal out of him.

=======

Averre glanced outside nervously before checking back to the console to see how the tests were going. The doctor seemed to work without hesitation, as if there wasn't any kind of emergency outside. Rowan kept glancing at the red and pink flesh that was Grime's face, with blue, lidless eyes, twitching slightly now and then. The face would be the last piece as it was also one of the more complex.

=======

The hallway was straight and narrow. The walls consisted of paneled mirrors. CENSORED knew this place. He knew this place with a warm, welcoming sensation. The door way at the end of the hall was obsidian, gilded in platinum. Behind those doors was his suite from which he had masterminded his rise and ultimately his fall within the syndicates. The hallway he stood in had been a small joy of his. The mirrors were designed to be transparent at any time, showcasing CENSORED's trophies at his leisure.

As he walked down the hallway, he could barely catch his own reflection in his peripherals. A tall, handsome man in a red coat and a ruby metal saber strapped to his side. A strange sense of loss and regret echoed within himself and down the hallway. As he turned to better examine the reflection the mirror became transparent, showing the trophy behind it.

CENSORED stumbled back until his back hit the opposite mirror behind him. The trophies on show case were the hand and head of Morghelia 'Sera' Feltherin. She was likely the only living thing that CENSORED had truly coveted during his lifetime. She had also been the only woman he had ever hated had allowed to live. Nor would he have killed her. But there was her face and her hand, in stasis, composed and regal, attached to a manikin as if it were he own body, dressed in the royal purples and greens that had fit her eyes so well. Even in this state it was a pity that her eyes were closed.

[Bretak]

There was a huge boma clawing at A'den's speeder, an alpha for sure, thick and grey skinned. Its powerful shoulder muscles bulged as its claws dragged into the hull of the ship, then the acolytes were on it, blasters firing from the air as they used their jetpacks to keep them out of reach of the land bound creature.

Its shoulder bunched and it barked off a call before abandoning the air speeder and loping back into the jungle. The thick skin of the boma almost made it more dangerous than the flying drexl; it was able to shrug off most blaster bolts by some miracle of biological conductivity.

Bretak caught up with the defending party, and chambered a round into his shell gun. The weapon was old but well maintained, and even a boma could not resist a hypersonic projectile. If it came back, and it most likely would with greater numbers, the Mando'ade would be ready.

[Hawkins Grime]

Morrolan glanced out from underneath the cot, unsure of what was going on since the large creature had stopped sticking its massive limb in through the tear in the ceiling of the speeder's hull.

"Hope the Boss doesn't mind a new sun roof..."

=======

Continuing down the corridor was a traumatic venue of all the 'trophies' of CENSORED's past. The doors though, gilded in platinum, obsidian and reflective like the mirrors to either side of him, called to him. His hand met the cold stone and he grimaced as it burned the skin. CENSORED knew the pain, somewhere in the back of his mind, it was waiting, as he pushed harder against the door. The sensation welled up within his hand and then exploded like a shotgun blast down his arm as the door creaked open.

The smell of burnt flesh filled his nose and as the door opened, the pain spread as if it were the blood in his veins. He could hear his heart beat rising; each beat sending a new wave of pain coursing through him.

The door cracked wider and he placed his face, locked in a grimace, against the opening as he attempted to retain the will power to continue and look past it.

=======

Averre was positive that Grime's eyes had not just twitched out of reflex as the doctor placed the initial framework of his face module on the exposed muscle tissue. Those blue eyes had seemed to reel, as if Grime was aware of something, or aware period. She double checked the anesthetics and sighed a bit to see that Hawkins' vitals showed no irregularities. The doctor seemed no more in a hurry than she had before, so Rowan took that as a good sign.

=======

CENSORED stepped through the door, unaware of the blood at his feet. The light had died down and the ground before him was a polished dancing floor for the flames that lined the room. CENSORED had found that real, actual flames had held such a more romantic taste to him. And that smell... that wax made with components from CENSORED's most savored murders always brought him back home.

The bed before him was actually surrounded by flames that only leapt a few inches and seemed to have no effect on the satin sheets. Needless to say the image was intriguing. CENSORED was relatively unaware that each step he made closer to that bed left a bloody mess in his wake.

=======

The hatch to the speeder opened and e'Drain stepped out cautiously, pistols in hand. His white shirt was drenched in sweat but he lowered his weapons as soon as he saw the small group of Mandos standing outside.

"Errr... Mind if I join you folks?"

[Bretak]

"You should come into the village," replied one of the acolytes. "The boma will return."

Bretak scanned the surrounding jungle with his suit's sensors, and nodded. "A'den would not be pleased if you were devoured while he was out of commission." Mando'ade were setting up around the speeder, certain that the boma would return with its mates to resume the attack. There were loud bark-like calls from deep in the jungle, and Bretak shouted a few commands in Mando'a to his seconds, firming up the defense plan for the perimeter.

He nodded to e'Drain and they both began jogging back to the relative safety of the wooden palisade that surrounded the more vital buildings of the Mando'ade village, including the hut where A'den was being hooked up to his new exoskeleton.

[Hawkins Grime]

Averre turned quickly at the sound of someone entering and her eyes widened even more, if that were possible, when e'Drain entered, just a bit out of breath, drenched with sweat. His scarred arms, what he had told her were the typical results of nearly losing at too many knife fights, folded across his chest as he leaned against the wall, giving her a slight nod before his concern turned to the body, or bodies if one were being technical, on the table.

The exoskeleton that Morrolan had been so familiar with as Grime looked like it was now a ruptured cocoon or egg or something and whatever obviously malicious thing had been trapped inside was now on the loose. His imagination couldn't run far though as he watched closely while the female doctor, bent over the table, was calibrating the new and improved face of Hawkins Grime. e'Drain was trying not to let his eyes wander too much.

[Bretak]

Bretak re-entered the building, just in time to see that A'den's new form was being sealed shut on the other side of the sterile field he was being contained by. He stood next to Morrolan, noting that the other man was studiously not watching.

"They will test the systems, and then bring him out from the sedative." Bretak offered. "Should not be long now."

[Hawkins Grime]

The doctor inserted a glowing blue needle into invisible pores of the new face. Each time the artificial muscles binded with a hissing sound to the barely existing muscles beneath and the face changed into shuddering facial expressions.

=======

CENSORED screamed and the floor rippled beneath his feet like an ocean as he fell to his knees just before the bed. His face twisted like the miniature waves just beneath him and he stared at the broken reflection for only long enough to see the bloody mess that he was. He staggered back on to his feet and screamed again, fists balled out by his side in defiance. That mutilated corpse he had seen, that he was, was not him. He was not Hawkins Grime. He refused that inevitable truth and the flames around the bed rushed to the ceiling, blinding CENSORED from identifying the figure resting underneath the sheets.

=======

The sanitation field and the rest of the electronics in the room, all besides the new exoskeleton, began to short and fizzle. The room's temperature began to rise and Rowan bit her lip in slight panic. Was he waking up early? It was impossible to tell at this point but her eyes glanced to the old exoskeleton in horror as she saw what had been the former metal hand of Grime curl its fingers.

The medical droid tilted its head slightly back, e'Drain wasn't sure what was going on but it looked like the thing might even have been in pain, if that was possible. The doctor, with more calm than Morrolan thought outwardly likely, simply turned and hit a button, more anesthetic pumping into the new exoskeleton's life support module. The haze of heat quickly evaporated.

=======

Hawkins Grime stood before the bed. The floor beneath his feet was smoldering ash and whispers, like steel being drawn escaped from the molten cracks. Grime took a step forward, blood dripping in streams.

His hand, more bone and string like sinews than anything else, reached forward and the claw like tips scraped across the bare flesh of the woman's back laying in the bed. In his other hand appeared the thin stiletto knife that CENSORED had enjoyed using all too often in these situations.

[Bretak]

Bretak didn't understand what was going on, only that Mirshe and the girl were working more quickly. The old exoskeleton had moved a bit too, he was sure of it.

He wondered what A'den would do with it - the old body he had lived in for so long. Keep it as a trophy? Or burn it?

[Hawkins Grime]

Rowan's fingers dashed across the keyboard in a flurry of motion and the screen before her changed from window to window as she ran diagnostic after diagnostic to ensure whatever Grime had just done had not hindered their progress at all.

The doctor went back to work on the face without hesitation and seemed done soon enough as she turned to the body and began to run her fingers along each limb. Morrolan could just barely notice that she was hitting some kind of seal, that sighed with a faint hiss.

=======

The tip of a bloody, bone finger traced down the middle of her back and she slithered at the touch. She turned so slightly so her face profiled and with one bright, green eye, she bore into CENSORED's lidless, red eyes.

"Hawkins Grime."

The stiletto plunged into the side of Lilaena De'Ville's face, in her cheek, right between her teeth. His free hand slid around her neck and turned her face towards him further.

"No, witch, I am..."

[Bretak]

The doctor looked up, making eye contact with Bretak. "It is complete."

Mirshe nodded, still bent over a console, reading diagnostics. "Vitals are strong. Life support running at optimal, redundancy circuits..." his voice trailed off, muttering to himself as he ran a finger down a check list.

The doctor nodded, adjusting the intravenous line that was keeping A'den sedated. "He should be waking up soon."

Bretak straightened from where he was leaning against the far wall, interested to see what A'den would be like in his new shell.

[Hawkins Grime]

The sensation was liking falling but upwards. It was dismaying, that sensation of waking up. Waking up to reality. To the pain. To a reality where denying the existence of Hawkins Grime was not possible.

The new exoskeleton jerked and Averre startled back, almost off the chair if e'Drain hadn't caught her.

"dE... Lil..."

The voice was calibrating whatever words were coming from Grime while he came to. It sounded like the screams that Averre could remember from all the deaths she had witnessed at Grime's hand. The tones were just right for that until there was a loud squelch and then the voice was silent.

The fingers curled and the body slowly shifted, as if Grime were testing his realm of flexibility while lying down.

"De'Ville..."

The voice was solid, unwavering. e'Drain was impressed. It was so different that it sounded like it had to be a different person. He was more or less oblivious to the given word Grime was saying, fascinated with Hawkins' evolution.

" 'ey Boss. You alright?"

The eyes, still bloodshot, seated in blood turned slowly, a yellow, translucent covering shifted over it slowly than back, revealing piercing blue eyes.

"Yes... Hawkins Grime is alright."

Averre had never been able to hear that serrated edge of sarcasm in his voice now. After making Chroma Mk II, the juggernaut death machine that Grime had requested, she didn't think she could have been part of anything worse. Hearing his voice now, she knew she had been wrong. Very, very wrong.