Chapter Eight: The Hunt

We had just landed on the surface of Saleucami and were unloading our tanks. Anakin was patrolling in space to keep an eye out for reinforcements while I was placed under Rex's command for now. Anakin had sent a message to Palatine, but it would take a while due to how far we were. I was on a speeder, getting some instructions from Rex on how to ride it. Once we started to head for the down transport ship, the ride was bumpy for me as due to my weight, the speeder occasionally touched the ground. After a while, I got the hang of it and in time too as we arrived at the wreck. I knew Grievous wasn't here but I still looked around, so I didn't appear suspicious. I was daydreaming about when I would be a commando and be able to go on missions by myself and not worry about people asking how I know certain things or why I killed certain people. As I was flipping stuff over, I saw a pile of tools that were still warm. Grievous must have tried to repair himself after our fight but the transport was going down, so he had to abandon the repairs and get to an escape pod. As I was looking around, Rex came up behind me and said I was to go with him. I got on my speeder and followed Rex along with Jesse and the others. We had been speeding for a few hours, I was looking around at the planet. It was the third place I'd been to, and it was beautiful. But my wonder was interrupted when someone nailed me in the head with a sniper. It wasn't enough to knock me off the speeder, but it caused me to swerve and hit a nearby tree-like flora. Then Rex got hit next in the chest and fell off his speeder. I got up quickly as I mentally punched myself for being distracted and forgetting about the commando droids. I ran over to Rex who was being checked out by the medic while Jesse and the other clone took care of the droids.

Once they came back, they loaded him onto a stretcher after seeing the domesticated animals and finding a farm on the map. We all sped over there as quickly as we could.

Meanwhile, some distance away...

A group of battle droids was moving slowly as they were losing power while General Grievous sat on top of a Reek which was basically a dinosaur mixed with a bull. He was constantly coughing, and his body was covered with partial welding marks and severe damage from his fight with Doom but most of it was hidden by his cloak. He only had his bottom two arms while the top limbs were severed, and his face was also slightly cracked. He was constantly getting frustrated and throwing tantrums which resulted in some of the droids being cut up or best case, yelled at. He constantly asked if they were getting closer due to him wanting to call for reinforcements and he desperately needed repairs. A battle droid came up to him. "Sir, we received a message from a commando droid...they confirmed a sighting of the clone". Grievous was now looking around at the trees as if something was going to jump out. He yelled at the droids and told them to increase their speed as he wanted to avoid another confrontation with him.

A few minutes later, at a farm...

We had just pulled up to the farm when a female pink Twi'lek opened the door with a rifle pointed at us. I let Jesse handle the talking when two kids came out from her legs. They were cute and I gave them a little wave but they seemed to be scared of me so I made sure not to interact with them too much. I looked around the farm as Suu who was the Twi'lek, allowed us to stay in the barn for the night. The medic worked on Rex while I waited outside on my speeder. Cut was lucky, he has a nice home, a family...and a smoking hot wife. I drifted off into thought as I wondered if I could have something like that. Would someone want a man as violent as me? Nala Se had never had sexual relations before and would gladly stay with me but I didn't know her real feelings. Maybe I'll ask her the next time I see her. My train of thought was interrupted when Suu came to the barn with a tray of drinks, she offered me one which I took. I gave her a nod as she went inside, I took my helmet off when I saw her kids running out of the house. They were getting closer but stopped when they noticed me. They started to walk slowly to the barn when one of them asked me a question.

"Are you a soldier like the men inside"? Asked Shaeeah who was the older one. Her brother was trying to pull her towards the barn but she kept pushing him off. I nodded my head as she looked at me inquisitively. "Why don't you speak"? I had to think of a lie quickly, so I just made the gesture of a knife going across my neck. Jek seemed like he was going to scream as Shaeeah said that she doesn't see any scars. I was stuck in a rock and a hard place, so I got off the speeder and knelt down. I wrote in the dirt that I was born that way, but I like to say other things to have a cool story to mention. they both understood and oohed in unison before running into the barn. Once they left, I smacked myself in the head for trying to lie. i was thinking of something to do to keep busy when I thought of something. I went out into the field and looked around for a bit. Eventually, I found what I was looking for... an escape pod full of commando droids. I walked inside and counted 20 of them when I had an idea. I grabbed one off the wall and crushed its head. I checked my glory kill count and saw that it was still the same, so I destroyed all but 13 of them. I pulled out the vibroswrod and pushed the button to activate them.

Meanwhile in the barn...

Rex was trying to leave when the medic told him that while he was injured, the medic outranks everyone. He wanted Rex to stay there and get better before he tried to leave. Then Rex told Jesse that he was in charge. While they were talking, they heard blaster fire, and everyone but Rex ran outside. Suu was standing at the door with her rifle out while Jesse and the others followed the source of blaster fire to the field. As they went through, Doom was fighting 5 commando droids while 8 brutally destroyed droids lay around him. As they started shooting at the commando droids, I smashed two droids together.

Glory Kills left: 3...

I saw the clones and realized that I needed to take the rest of them out so I shoved a thermal detonator into one of their chests and threw it into the others. The clones took cover as I just stood there. The explosion destroyed the plants and part of the escape pod as it barely affected me while I read the notifications.

Level up to Level 3...

Glory Kills left: 18...

Health: 700/700

Stamina: 700/700

Endurance: 650/650

Strength: 575/1000

Armor Stats Upgraded to 515/515

Congratulations on reaching Level 3, you have earned a complimentary weapons chest and a new proficiency...

Smithing Proficiency: 45/100 (Able to modify armor and weapons plus you have basic knowledge of forging)...

Ooh, that'll be handy especially if I get to visit Mandalore and "borrow" some beskar. But it looks like I'll have to upgrade my proficiency before I can work with beskar. And being able to modify armor and weapons will be very useful as well. As the dust settle, the clones came over and saw the escape pod. Meanwhile, I realized that the explosive maybe wasn't a good idea since some of the crops were on fire. I started to stomp them out as Suu came over with a bucket of water. The clones were helping as well and, in a few minutes, the fires were put out. Luckily it didn't spread to the other crops but I wasn't a farmer so I wasn't sure how far back this would set them. Jesse apologized to Suu for the attack as we got ready to leave. Luckily, she was still willing to keep Rex there as we left to find Grievous. While we were speeding, Kenobi had given us new coordinates for us to head towards. On our way there, I opened the weapons chest and saw the spinning chest again. When it stopped and opened, there were two weapons this time. The first was a K-16 Bryar pistol like the one Kyle Katarn used which I swapped with the DC sidearm. The second was a new sword called the Cathar Honor Sword from the Old Republic Cartel Market.

It appeared to just be a strange ornate alien sword if not for the glowing center and the extra blade attached to the bottom half of the blade near the hilt. Otherwise, it was beautiful and I kept it in inventory for now. For a few minutes, we sped towards our destination til we heard the blaster fire. As we approached the battle, we all started to fire our weapons on the speeder at the droids while a Separartists ship flew overhead. While Jesse and Cody were engaging the droids, I had seen Grievous in the distance, he was fighting Obi-Wan. I jumped off the speeder and started blasting my way through droids with my new Bryar pistol. While fighting Obi-Wan, Grievous saw me blasting my way through the droids and told the ship to forget about the landing. Then he ordered all droids to concentrate fire on me. As I saw the flurry of droids attacking me, I swapped the Bryar Pistol for the Super Shotgun. I had become good at learning how to reload the Super Shotgun with rapid succession. When I had a brief reprieve, I looked up to see Grievous attached to the ship with a grapple. He laughed maniacally while being flown away. I blasted a nearby droid with shotgun pellets before using the Meathook on Grievous. It pulled me towards him and I could see the fear in his eyes as I latched onto him. We were lifted away by the ship as i leaned in close while restraining his hand.

"Rip and Tear...Qymaen jai Sheelal". I watched as the fear intensified in his eyes at the mention of his birth name before letting go of him and landing on the ground. I decided to let him go for now so I could test him later when I get stronger. I landed in a field some distance away from the others and made my way back. I knew he would escape so I was ready to be done for the day.

A few hours later, on Coruscant...

I was currently in an elevator with Anakin, heading to the Supreme Chancellor's office. After our mission on Saleucami, Anakin told me that the Chancellor wanted to talk with me. I presumed that it was to test me or find something out. At that moment, I started worrying about him reading my mind when the System answered that question for me.

There are built-in fail-safes to protect your mind from influence or persuasion. (Thanks to the Force Imbuement you received, you are now shielded against more powerful Force users)...

I breathed a deep sigh of relief which Anakin noticed but misinterpreted as nervousness in meeting the Chancellor. "Don't worry, he just wants to talk about the new offer I made with you". Said Anakin as I wanted to just smack him. I held myself back as I wondered if I should try to stop him from becoming Vader or if I should let it happen. Another thing that came to mind was the strange place where I was healed during my fight with Grievous. While I was thinking, we arrived at the office. As we walked in, a group of Senators was sitting across from the Chancellor. And three Jedi were also there, Mace Windu, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Yoda. They were talking as we approached from behind. I happened to see Anakin smile as he looked at one particular Senator. I looked over and saw Padma Amidala who sat between Bail Organa and Jar Jar Binks. She was discussing something related to politics that was too boring for me to listen to. Out of boredom, I looked around and saw C-3PO who was also standing with Padme. The other Senators I didn't care for so I kept looking around. I saw some statues and remembered that he hid a lightsaber in the statue of Sistros Nevet, a female member of the Four Sages of Dwartii, ancient lawgivers from the dawn of the Galactic Republic.

Yoda was observing the conversation when he sensed something. He turned around to see Anakin Skywalker but he was more intrigued by the man in black next to him. He observed the strange armor and red color on one arm. On the same red arm, he saw the blade attached to it. He also noticed the vibrosword which was on a makeshift baldric and attached to his lower back was the Super Shotgun. He sensed anger and that this man was dangerous. While he was doing that, I noticed him looking at me. When he noticed me, he gave me a slight nod which I returned. Eventually, the Senators finished their conversations and left. Padme gave Anakin a smile as she walked past while C-3PO greeted him. Then it was just the Chancellor, the four Jedi, and me. Me and Anakin approached the desk as Mace Windu studied me like a hawk. Ki-Adi-Mundi had told him of the strange feelings he sensed from me. All I knew was he was watching me intensely as Palpatine stood from his desk. "Welcome, it is a pleasure to meet you, Trooper DO..." Anakin interrupted him and told him my new name. "...I see...well, Doom...I must say, you are certainly...impressive in combat...and not only that but managing to injure General Grievous when so many others have died at his hands". The Jedi nodded their heads as they were also impressed by this. "Now, young Skywalker here has given me an interesting request...to have you become a lone commando to carry out missions on your own while still being under his command". The three Jedi were surprised as this was the first they were hearing of it.

"I've seen him in battle, Chancellor...his potential is wasted in a group where there is a chain of command". Said Anakin as the Chancellor was deep in thought.

"So be it, I approve of your request". Said Chancellor Palpatine as I nodded. "I will arrange for some missions where a lone unit would be needed to be sent to you". We left the room with the three other Jedi following. We all got in an elevator and left the office. When they left, Chancellor Palpatine's smile left as he activated a privacy mode for his office which locked the doors and closed the windows. He went into a separate room and came out in a black robe and had a hood pulled over his head, concealing most of his face. He activated a holo terminal and called Count Dooku. Eventually, he came on and was kneeling before greeting his master. "How goes Grievous's recovery"? Asked Sidious as Count Dooku stood up. "His recovery is very slow...this new clone would have killed him if the commando droid hadn't interfered...but he told me something interesting the clone said...a phrase...and he knew Grievous's birth name". Replied Count Dooku as Sidious was shocked. No one else could have known his name but he was more curious about the fact that he was told that Doom couldn't speak. He wondered if maybe he just chose not to talk or if the accelerated cloning just made his vocal skills take longer to develop. After all, Lama Su told him that he was fully developed when he woke up but still stayed asleep. He asked Dooku what the phrase was and Dooku was silent for a while. "He said, Rip and Tear". Said Dooku as Sidious perked up at this mention. "Shall I have Ventress take care of him"? Sidious rolled his eyes at the mention of Ventress, she was a good asset but she was growing much too powerful. For now, though, he told Dooku to have her watch him. Dooku understood as Sidious turned the table off before going into the room and changing. When he came out, he carried an old, worn leather-bound book with ancient Sith symbols on it. He flipped through the pages which had various dialects in them and some handwritten notes by him.

Eventually, he landed on a page where one side was full of writing and the other was a drawing of a pile of dead Jedi and Sith. On top of the pile was an armored Sith with a long ragged cape and red eyes. He wore a smooth red mask that had no facial features on it with horns. He wielded a unique lightsaber that had a blade shape to it instead of the normal cylinder shape. The blade was a red color with white outlines. Palpatine read through it til he found a passage he was looking for. "In his ravenous hatred he found no peace; and with boiling blood he scoured the galaxy seeking vengeance against the dark lords who had wronged him. He wore the crown of the Sith, and those that tasted the bite of his saber named him Lord Davoth, The Dark Lord. And before his demise, he shouted to the Force that one would take his power and become...The Doom Slayer. A being of great anger who would be able to wield the power of the Dark Lord but be unable to master the Force. None will escape his wrath for he will Rip and Tear the entire galaxy if need be..." Sidious had closed the book and slumped into his chair. He had read this passage before but always dismissed it as a false prophecy. Lord Davoth was an ancient Sith of which there was almost no record of this Sith. Then when he thought about it, he dismissed it since it was not possible to wield the Force but not be able to use it. He put the book back despite the tingling sensation he felt from it.

Meanwhile on the ground floor...

I exited the elevator as Anakin wished me luck before heading off with the other Jedi. I was hungry and decided to go to Dex's Diner. I had gone there a few times but people rarely interacted mostly due to the fact that I was a trooper. I boarded an air taxi and went to Coco Town which was an industrial area where the diner was. The ride was smooth as the pilot was a Rodian with blue skin. He had driven me before and always kept to himself which was perfect for me. He also knew that I rarely came to Coco Town for anything else and dropped me off near Dex's Diner. I walked in and took a stall seat as I took my helmet off. The waitress droid FLO was going around, taking orders while Hermoine Bagwa came to take mine. She was the only human waitress here and she was smiling which was always nice. She was a blonde, white girl who had an accent that I could describe as being the closest to Australians. She wore a blue mini-dress with a silver belt across her waist. She had a black microphone-like object attached to her belt. She had her hair up in a top ponytail and wore two silver bracelets on each arm. "Hello there, Trooper...the usual"? Asked Hermione Bagwa as she pulled out the microphone and recited my usual. "One Coruscant Slider with a extra Mongo Beefhead patty and Sernpidalion may-ketchup, a Photon Fizzle, and a side of Protato Curls". She gave me a smile as I paid her 12.2 credits for my order.

I waited a few minutes til I saw the Dexter Jettser hand a tray of food to Hermione who walked over to me. I looked over the meal before me that I generally ate since it was the closest thing to a normal American meal. The Coruscant Slider was just like a burger but with different ingredients. The patty was Mongo Beefhead, a slice of Gonzo yellow cheese, Reywien lettuce, topato slices which was a green fruit, Ojomian onions. and B'omarr-style pickles. The Photon Fizzle was a greenish drink with green blobs inside. It had the taste of a soda but none I ever had. And finally, the Protato Curls were just like potato curls but orange and made from a protein-enhanced synthetic vegetable. I started digging into it, luckily for me, it seemed to taste just Earth food or that was just my brain playing tricks on me. But I was surprised when someone sat across from me, covered in a black robe. I could see their face, but it was obscured from everyone else.