15 History

They walked up the audience seating and into one of the tunnels that bore into the earth. They came to the familiar dugout that surrounded the pit, now filled with dead bodies. A single blaster shot to the chest reaped all their lives. Besides the tunnels that led to the arena, some holes led to living quarters.

Their entire lives seemed to revolve around gladiatorial combat. Belia led the way with the droids in the rear. They carried the unconscious girl over their shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

They followed the bend until they came to a tunnel lined with decorative gems and bone ornaments. Two dead guards were on the ground, the same fate as all the civilians.

"This must be where that warlord stayed." Belia rubbed a smooth blue gem before entering the tunnel.

Khan looked at the gems and fell into thought. Unlike Belia, he knew they would need money eventually. Not every planet is as primitive as this one, they can't just storm in and take what they want.

If not for their weak blasters and lack of tactical equipment, the results of this trip would have ended differently. He immediately calmed down, realizing he floated a little after he learned the force.

He peeled his eyes away and followed Belia. The tunnel had a few rooms carved along the way, mostly built for his close henchmen.

They followed a trail of bodies until they reached the end of the tunnel. There the assassin droid stood in front of a metal door. Upon closer inspection, the metal extended into the cave walls as well.

"It seems like they barricaded themselves in this room." Belia turned to Khan as he walked behind her.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" He made an after-you gesture, a door is no match for a lightsaber.

She pulled out her blade and plunged it into the door. The heat spread immediately and the metal became superheated. She dragged her blade and began carving a hole in the door.

When the circle was complete, she pushed with her other hand and the force blasted the metal slab away.

The people inside started shooting immediately. Belia's saber spun in front of her in a flash of white and deflected all the shots. Her hand stretched out and pulled backward, yanking three blasters through the hole.

She threw her blade forward and it spun through the air vertically. It impaled one of the Vollick in the room right in the chest. Before the others could move to escape, the blade pulled itself out and began dancing in the air.

Cutting down everyone in the room as though the lightsaber was controlled by a ghost.

"How many sabers can you control now?" Khan watched as the blade flew back to her hand.

"Only one if used in actual battle, but it's pretty useless because it leaves me defenseless." She shook her head in disappointment and stepped through the hole.

"Wait here." Khan waved at the three droids and stepped inside.

The room was quite big and completely enclosed in metal. All kinds of technology littered the room, along with gems and scarce metal ores.

"Why did he keep all this junk?" Belia picked up a damaged datapad. After turning it around a few times she threw it back into a scrap heap.

"This is junk to us, to him it's all valuable stuff." Khan raised his hand and spread the force throughout the room. It invaded all the technology to quickly identify everything.

His hand dropped and he shook his head. "Nothing important, but we can take the ore and gems."

"What can we use this stuff for? It doesn't seem like a kyber crystal or something that can power a lightsaber." She picked up a green gem and looked at Khan.

"We can sell it for money later." He found a knapsack and started putting things inside.

"Money?" She looked a little confused at the new word.

"Credits." He corrected when he realized it wasn't called money in this galaxy.

"Credits? Is this stuff valuable? Why would anyone want this?" She held the gem to her eye and became even more confused.

Suddenly, Khan turned his head. He could feel that the Rattataki woman had woken up. "Our guest has awoken. Bring in the woman."

The mercenary droid walked in and dropped the woman on the ground.

"Ah!" She grunted in pain when she hit the hard ground. Her yellow eyes stared viciously at the droid before turning to Khan and Belia. Her face solemn when she saw the lightsabers at their waist.

"You seem to know what our weapons mean young Rattataki." Khan crouched down and grabbed her lower jaw with his hand.

She felt the cool metal on her chin but she knew the power behind this hand could snap her jaw. "My clan has lightsabers."

"The Yemitus have lightsabers? Why didn't they bring it?"

"I'm of Clan Ventress! Don't compare me to those bumbling fools!" Her eyes flashed with her anger.

"What did she say? Can you guys speak Shi'idese or Basic?" Belia moved next to them with interest.

Khan thought for a moment, he placed his hand on the Rattataki's head and paused. "Don't resist, or you might turn into an imbecile."

Her body shook, not knowing if she should resist or not. Before she could make up her mind, a force shock impacted her mind. Her eyes scrambled and her body shook.

"Can you understand?" Khan spoke in basic when he saw the girl recover. He used a mental technique he learned from Revan to pass on knowledge to the girl. He's never had to use it before so he wasn't sure if it would work.

"You." She spoke in an unfamiliar language in surprise, just as fluent as her native tongue. "What did you do to me?!"

Her eyes looked at Khan, the fear in her heart only grew deeper.

Khan removed his hand from her head and his eyes traveled over her exceptional body. "I think you said something about a lightsaber?"

"She has a lightsaber?" Belia looked over the girl's body but didn't see anything.

"No." Her eyes dropped and her energy seemed to leave her body. "My clan has two lightsabers, the heritage of clan Ventress. Passed down from one matriarch to the next."

Belia sat on the ground and crossed her legs. "If you're from clan Ventress, why were you with this clan?"

"It's a long story." The girl groaned.

"Do you have anything better to do? Or a place to be I don't know about?" Khan pulled back his hood and took off his helmet. His yellow eyes were full of indifference as he stared into hers.

From his eyes, she saw nothing but disregard. Eyes that saw her as nothing more than a piece of meat, waiting for a reason to tear her to bits.

She started sweating and her body squirmed, a feat she thought impossible with a physique accumulated to this scorching environment.

"It all started over two thousand years ago." She stuttered to speak at first, trying her best to look away from Khan's predator-like eyes staring at prey.

"The Sith Lord Darth Vich came to our planet and took thousands of our people as warriors. Clan Ventress was one of them."

"Then how did your clan come back?" Belia asked curiously.

"My ancestor was found to be force sensitive and Darth Vich took her and a few others as Acolytes." She shook her head slowly. "Darth Vich's army grew powerful and he tried seizing power."

"He ultimately failed, and the Rattataki were enslaved. A few Acolytes betrayed him during the revolt, my ancestor among them."

"While her clan was enslaved, she was taken as an apprentice and eventually became a Sith Lord."

"Did she free her people when she became a Sith Lord?"

"No." Khan shook his head.

The Rattataki eyes quickly glanced at Khan and elaborated. "Sympathy for the weak is not the Sith way. Her clan were still slaves, they just had a new master."

"I don't know why, but she brought her slaves back to the planet and dominated. She's the one who set up the gladiatorial pits, she had everyone on the planet fight until the strongest male was identified."

"His prize was her, she bedded him until she had four daughters and two sons; Then disposed of him."

Khan and Belia listened to her story, knowing the important part was coming.

"She knew her time was limited, so she trained her daughters in the force and sons in combat. Her daughters fought each other to the death as did the sons. The winners were to reproduce the next heirs, to keep her bloodline pure and strong."

"This has continued for thousands of years, sisters kill sisters, brother kills brother, and the two reproduce."

"Then tell me, why are you still alive?" Khan looked into the girl's eyes, knowing she wouldn't be here if she didn't lose.

Her teeth began to grind and a fire burned in her eyes. She looked at the binding on her arms then looked at Khan.

Knowing what she meant, he undid the bindings.

She rose to her feet and undid the buckle holding up her outfit on her neck. She peeled down her tight outfit, her firm chalk-colored breast fully exposed. Her bright pink nipples stood out like beautiful flowers in bloom painted on a white canvas, just waiting to be plucked.

She continued pulling down until her gown fell to the ground.

Khan's eyes moved from her breast and saw a massive scar running across her abdomen.

"I have two sisters and a brother. I was the strongest and most gifted in the force. I thought I was going to be the next Matriarch for sure." Her fist clenched and her teeth began to grind again.

"Little did I know, my brother was already sleeping with one of my sisters. To make sure their love could continue, they acted together and gutted my sister and me."

"If the wound didn't kill us, the fact we could no longer have kids would. My sister and I became useless, no longer able to continue the clan. Instead of my mother's fury, she got her praise."

She released her grip and her shoulders dropped. "Maybe as mercy, or humiliation. We weren't killed immediately, but I chose to leave the clan."

The corners of Khan's lips rose when he heard the story. He finally knew where to find his next test subjects.