VC Deception - Evolution

INTRODUCTION

It has been 35 years since his creation, the man known as Valaryc Winters Versai has conquered every obstacle that has came in his path, he has defeated the unstoppable and saved the lives of millions of different races, different individuals who could have had their lives abruptly ended...but Val was there, Val was there like a distant shadow, heard but rarely seen by his enemies. That is until the blinding fury of purple and blue searing energy quickly cut short their campaigns for violence and corruption. In this time however, in a time of new blood, new heroes, and new politics…the legends of the past are long forgotten, most of the people, legends like Val had known were either dead or in a nursing home somewhere.

Over the course of these years Val had come to discover the truth behind Krevlin, Russel, and his mother Kathryn. He had learned of the meaning of the phrase:

“Before victory comes humility, before duty comes family.”

A phrase Russel had etched into the Tumarian Pressure Ruby locket known as the “Versai Locket”. The words crisp and clear originated from the point Russel had turned away from the Jedi Council and the Jedi Code. It was then he learned of the past history between Russel and the Jedi, since before his birth.

It was a pivotal event in Russel’s life where he was forced to choose between his duty to the Jedi, or the needs of his pregnant wife. The Jedi had ordered him to go on their peaceful mission of negotiation, but with Russel and Kathryn’s ties to the Old Republic now exposed…they were both at risk. Russel did not want to leave Kathryn alone, pregnant with Val for FEAR of tragedy while he was away.

Because of his “fear” the Jedi forced him to choose, hence the added phrase “before duty comes family”. Russel had defied the Jedi Council, left their ways with his wife in hand, and left his “duty” for the guaranteed safety of his family. This revelation would also come to answer the question Val has been haunted by for years since his questionable “abandonment”.

Simply…

"Why?"

What he thought, what he had concluded as fact was more then it appeared. He was you see, not abandoned by his mother and father as once believed, nor his sister. His sister and himself were PROTECTED. Val was intentionally left on the forest moon of Endor to hide his presence from the Jedi who had in secret, plotted to steal away the Versai children and raise them as Jedi to persuade Russel back to their ways, and perhaps lead him back to their views through the use of his children. Russel had learned of this plan through his various sources and he and Kathryn had to make a difficult choice. As such they had decided to stow away their children with people they trusted, to hide their presence from the Jedi.

However like all things, their plan backfired. No sooner had they arrived on Endor to see their trusted “friend” were they betrayed. They ran into the Stargazer and took off, not because Russel wanted to get rid of Val, but they had no other choice. Their friend had shown his true colors and had tried to set up the “wanted” Versai pair for profit…in the fray Val was lost and the rest is history…

With this new knowledge, Val had come to terms with his long dead parents and forgave them for their decisions…but his discovery did not end there. It was revealed later still, that the two were proficient in finding valuable intelligence for the Old Republic against the Trade Federation and other sects. For their years of service Leia Organa Solo had bestowed the prestigious “Kenobie” medal for being killed in the line of duty. Soon after through contact with Leia Organa Solo, Val was told of a bank account where interest had collected since before his birth in the millions. He was the last “known” survivor of the Versai Massacre and the bank account and all its holdings were his long lost inheritance.

With the money Val invested in small companies and formed the now presently prestigious “Versai Tech” corporation consisting of companies like Borstel, Merr-Sonn, Golan Arms, and others, Versai Tech emerging as the leader in ship and weapons manufacturing next to Sienar Fleet Systems and Corerilla Star Drives.

Through the grace of the Force, a slight manipulation you might say, Val has found ways through his Dark Jedi skills to cheat the effects of aging, making his aging process slower then those around him, he may be 35 years old now, but he can still fight with the best of them if need be. However unknown to Val, there is a piece of his past, a single shard of it, that he has long overlooked for these some 10+ years of his lifetime.

This single overlooked element, appropriately named a “shard” is just that, small and often unnoticed object, but when discovered cuts like a knife, stabbing its victim who never sees it coming until it is already far to late. In this new age of new blood, Val has gone into a reclusive nature. After this last noble deed of saving a family from a guild of assassins, his efforts were met with praise to a newer breed of hero. Not as noble as he was, the kids of today, so called “heroes” seek only fame and fortune.

Every life they save is nothing more then a single deed; the people are forgotten and passed on to a new challenge. To these heroes of the day, it is not about honor or making friends, its about how much the media can capture and how many perks you can attain through your deeds….

It only took one phrase…one line uttered from the strongest of the new breed of heroes…to send him into a spiral of self-doubt, into the darkness he remains in. These words so true to the world or today, so curt to cut to the quick, and they reached him, they bore into his soul like a thousand daggers hurled into him at one instantaneous moment…

They were these…

“You are a relic Val, come to terms with reality…you are out classed, out dated. Face it you’re only second rate. Join the ways of the Empire and expire.”

Now you might come to think that Val is stronger then this individual, but consider his views. You have fought for years to defend the lives of strangers you have never met, you have bled to save lives of people who know you for the moment, then pass on…and for all this you get nothing but self gratification and little recognition. Val does not crave power, or prestige…all he asked for was respect, but on that day, that very instant circumstance, building up by small signs over the years…compiling to a breaking point…it reached him.

Val uttered to himself, gazing to the mental images of everyone he has aided.

“In my darkest hour, in my deepest despair. will you be there? In my trials and my tribulations, in my doubts and frustrations, in my anguish, in my pain…will you be there when I need you? Will you even care?”

In that moment he knew the answer was…

“No.”

On that day, that hour, that second…the Versai Creed, “Truth, Honor, Respect, and Loyalty” was shattered…so too was the “legend” and Val slipped from existence…gone from the public eye he simply paced out the door and….
 

Vanished….

Obi Wan Kenobie said it best with this single phrase:

"You're going to find that many of the truths we cling to, depend greatly on our own point of view."

~OBI WAN KENOBI~ - A NEW HOPE

This is where the “shard” surfaces…and changes everything both Val and you the reader have come to believe. Everything both he and yourself have been led to know as set in stone...

Is about to change…
 

VC Deception – Chapter I - Evolution

FIVE YEARS LATER…

The scene opens as it has done so many times before. The walls are ablaze in fiery flames; screams are heard as individuals meet their agonizing deaths. From within the rage of the Dark Jedi Empire main council room, two figures stand off in a showdown, a few feet from one another. On the left are the torn fatigues of a figure with long brown hair cascading down his neck. His signature trench coat is torn, only shreds of fabric remaining along his body. Within his arms lies the very symbol of his will to live, but she is cold…and limp. Her light extinguished in a second…her life taken in a blink of en eye. Her lover, Valaryc Versai holds her limber body in his arms, refusing to accept the truth, to accept the rules of life and death, still believing she can be revived from her darkness…even though the waves of crimson stream down her blood stained gray jumpsuit, along to the rims of her shiny black boots, her torn black coat dangling from her lifeless form. Val refuses to give in to the laws of life, that everything dies…the only absolute in the universe.

As he glares with a blinding rage towards her murderer, the former student of hers whose obsession eventually overtook his lust to possess her, to take her away from Val’s clutches in a sad but effective notion of “If I can’t have her no one will.” In a flash of silver, and the momentarily scream of her lungs…the deed was done…. Gen Zeridian had fallen.

Focusing on the individual on the right, his body is covered in a sheen of blood, where Val has beaten him within an inch of his life…Cire had managed to steal Val’s lightsaber from him, but even without his weapons, Val proved to be proficient in hand to hand combat through sheer sadistic will, he stayed strong but even he could not survive the pure rage Val has possessed all along, hidden under his more compassionate ways. When Gen’s throat was severed, the curtain of compassion was torn in two within Val’s soul…he felt nothing but rage, and everyone around him had felt it. The flames engulfing the death troopers around him, the mighty Dark Jedi Council members reduced to burning ashes, as flames engulfed their flesh and evaporated them into oblivion.

To Val, Crymson was not important, nor the fact that his adopted brother Foe Raker was engaged in a battle with her…it was only the here and now. It had started the night before, the duel in the forest for “The Prize” Val had won that battle fair and square, he had defeated Cire in three rounds of combat, and yet still Cire had no sense of real honor, his sister Crymson had interfered and turned the tide…Val’s prized Versai Locket was torn from his grasp, leading into the events of today…and to this point, each memory, each punch, kick, stab, slam…all the pain all the impacts felt as one as he glared into Cire’s very soul.

Cire stood to the right with his long black and gray-streaked hair cascading along his shoulders, the smug lips below his beard revealing a sinister grin, showing no respect for what he has done, hurling insults about Gen and Val, trying to make light of the fact he was scared out of his wits…He knew he had gone too far and he had no clue just how much power and potential Val truly possessed, but he knew the end was near and he faced it with a smile on his lips…because either way his words would remain true, to haunt Val even beyond the events of today for as long as Val walked the face of this galaxy…alone.
 

INTERIOR: VERSAI MANSION –VAL’S BEDROOM

While the events play through, the sleeping form of Valaryc Versai tosses and turns, reacting from the vivid imagery of his nightmare…The dream is always the same, but lately it has grown more and more intense, as if building to a higher and higher climax point, the dreams started small as small flashbacks but now they have grown into hair raising torture…night after night after night.
 

~DREAM SEQUENCE~
 

INTERIOR: DARK JEDI ACADEMY – COUNCIL ROOM

Val faces Cire, with his lover Gen Zeridian in his arms, his eyes are narrowed, as he says nothing to Cire for the moment, seeming to concentrate, the beams of crimson light whizzing past his head bounce off a invisible Force Shield. The death squad troopers bustling about, trying to fulfill their objective, “Project Endgame.” Cire hides his fear behind his sadistic brand of comedy, but there is no laughing from Val, only a eerie silence as he holds Gen in his hands, each brush of her skin along his own, a slap in the face that even Dark Jedi were not above the laws of life and death.

CIRE –SO WHAT DO YOU THINK VAL! DID I PASS SITH INTIATION 101 OR WHAT!

VAL –The only place you are going now Cire…is to an eternity of darkness.

CIRE – Maybe so “Teacher”, but not alone! (points to Gen’s corpse in Val’s hands)

VAL –(growls) Cire…

Val’s eyes narrow as a fiery aura surrounds his body, Val’s eyes glancing downward as he speaks, his voice void of emotion…void of compassion.

CIRE –Yes Val? You got something to say to me? I’m all ears!

VAL – SHUT UP, I am tired of participating in your antics…

CIRE – Awwwww but you’re so good at them! (smiles sadistically)

CIRE – Think of it as survival of the fittest Teacher! Gen wasn’t “tough enough”, Foe wasn’t “smart enough” to be here to save her, and well you…you were just not FAST ENOUGH to save her…which makes me NUMBER ONE…. and you…the THIRD RATE STUDENT in the GAME OF LIFE!

Val raises his head slowly, his hand hurling out violently, sending a fierce Force Push towards Cire, whom is sent hurling through a fire-weakened wall into another room. Val pacing with Gen in his arms, walks through the opening as Cire wipes the blood from his busted lip.

VAL – Who’s third rate now? Idiot.

CIRE – (from the floor) WHOOOO HOOOO! THANK YOU TEACHER, MAY I HAVE ANOTHER!

VAL - …….

While Val is distracted by his banter, a section of the wall hurls towards Val from behind, in which Val leaps out of the way, but an explosion from below him caused by a grenade thrown by a death squad trooper, sends his body flying back through the wall he sent Cire through, causing him to lose his grip on Gen’s body, she falls on to a pile of rubble, while Val is sent hurling 20 feet away from her.

CIRE – NOW THAT’S WHAT I CALL PROGRESS! YOUR PUSH WAS GOOD BUT HIS MOVE WAS BETTER!

Cire paces out of the darkness of the hole in the wall, dusting himself off, walking over to Val who has cracked his previously injured ribs once more from his battle with Crymson and Cire the night before. Val tries to concentrate on balancing the pain with his rage and his undying urge to get back by Gen’s side…with only Cire standing in his way.

CIRE – WHERE’S YOUR SKILLS NOW! NOT SO TOUGH WITHOUT YOUR LIGHTSABERS ARE YOU!

Cire sends a swift kick towards Val’s injured ribs and connected, Val’s lips parting in an anguished yell of pain. On the third kick however, Val grabs Cire’s leg and spins him face first into the wall behind him with thunderous Force enhanced speed, turning Cire’s face to glare in his eyes. Cire wide eyed with a busted nose.

CIRE – NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO TO ME TEACHER, REMEMBER YOU CAN’T BRING HER BACK! YOU CAN’T CHANGE THE PAST! IF YOU KILL ME IT CHANGES NOTHING!

VAL – (smirks) Perhaps…but it will make me feel better

CIRE – (nervous) No…no Val you can’t! It’s not in you to kill in cold blood!

VAL – (leans close, his eyes focused in a cruel sadistic glare, that mirrors that of Cire’s own)

You know not the depths of my vengeance…or my potential.

CIRE – No Val, IF YOU KILL ME, YOU’RE NO BETTER THEN I AM! DON’T YOU SEE! KILL ME AND WE WILL BE THE SAME!

VAL – (raises an eyebrow in deep thought over Cire’s words)

While Val is distracted once more, Cire hurls previously charged Force Lighting at Val, sending him flying back, as the “shard” lightning tears into his skin. Val was all too accustom to the feeling having faced it the night before, but then also did he know how to resist it, however Cire knew this as well and turned his assault on the silent form of Gen’s body, the bolts now tearing into her lifeless flesh.

VAL – NO! LEAVE HER ALONE!

Val leaps on the corpse of Gen, taking the full assault of the lightning into his own body, as his skin is lacerated over and over again by the shard lighting, as deadly and effective as glass shards shattering into a victim, the energy bolts inflict the maximum amount of damage, and yet each tear, each agonizing shred of energy entering his wounded skin, only fuels Val’s rage further, as he focuses the Force, glaring back to Cire, his fists starting to swell with a fiery orange blaze, emerging from both fists, Cire knows exactly what is coming his way and this time…he is smart enough to evade it…for the most part.

CIRE – (eyes widening) OH NO!!! NOT THAT AGAIN!

Cire leaps back into the hole, shortly before Val screams in pure focused anger as his signature “Bolt of Hatred, the very same devastating attack that shattered Cire’s lightsaber, dealing the ultimate sign of disrespect to him, now expanding 30 feet launches into the wall structure, completely disintegrating the foundations of the wall as the orange energy blaze erupts into the structure. From the darkness after the melee stops, a single figure, ablaze leaps out and tackles Val to the ground.

The figure is Cire, having leaped from the flames set afire by the blaze, trying to take Val with him as his flesh is scorched. Val having the advantage in skill hurls him away the force of the throw smothers out the flames.

CIRE – (angered) IS THAT THE BEST YOU HAVE VAL! YOU ARE SO WEAK; IN ALL YOUR VICIOUS ATTACKS YOU DON’T HAVE THE GUTS TO KILL! THIS IS WHY I WILL ALWAYS BE STRONGER THEN YOU!

Val – DON’T YOU DARE PREACH TO ME OF MORAL CONVICTIONS! YOU THINK YOU’RE THE ONLY ONE WITH THE GULL TO TAKE A LIFE!

CIRE – PROVE ME WRONG VAL! I DARE YOU TO GET OFF YOUR HIGH HORSE AND BE A MAN! GO ON DO IT! LET ME FEEL THE DEPTHS OF YOUR VENGEANCE!!!

VAL – (stops, looking to Gen) NO…no, I can’t kill you, because in the end you are right Cire. If I kill you I am no better then you are…you took Gen from me, for that I will never forgive, nor never forgive you…but death would be too easy for you Cire…I will NOT kill you simply because…you wish it.

CIRE – (enraged) YOU WILL KILL ME VAL! BECAUSE I SWEAR TO YOU ONLY ONE OF US IS GOING TO WALK OUT OF HERE ALIVE! DO YOU HEAR ME VERSAI!

Val scoops Gen in his arms again, and begins to walk towards a hidden panel in the wall of the academy, the room is dying down as most of the people are dead, or dying…the death squad troopers having been reduced in numbers are met by swarms of storm trooper units, that continue to stream in, but Val knows these grounds well and he knows how to escape and evade them all.

CIRE – KILL ME DAMN IT OR I WILL HUNT YOU! I WILL TRACK YOU DOWN TO THE VERY ENDS OF THIS GALAXY!

Val stops, turning back, his eyes narrowed once again, as the orange aura of energy surrounds him again, his anger focusing his rage, for he realizes that this is a battle he cannot end peacefully…no matter how hard he tries he has no other option but the end the game…and so it begins

CIRE –  I WILL HUNT DOWN YOUR CHILDEN AND YOUR CHILDRENS CHILDREN UNTIL I REACH YOU! WHERE EVER YOU ARE WHERE EVER YOU GO I WILL BE WAITING IN THE DARKNESS! AND I WILL STRIKE YOU DOWN!

Val’s head snaps up, his lips parting slow and controlled. His fingers trace the newly carved lines of blood streaming from Gen’s body where Cire showed no respect continuing to attack a helpless corpse. If there was ever a chance to save Gen’s life, Val knew it was gone now…and with it, a piece of him as well. In his mind ran through the events of Cire’s meeting with Ras Krueger and Admiral Krevlin, of the Sith initiation plans and Project Endgame. Through Gen’s last breath, the knowledge was past into his soul and now it was time to finish the struggle, this chapter in his life for as Val’s eyes lifted up fully to stare towards Cire it wasn’t to his eyes…but his charred clothing that remained.

VAL – What do you want Cire?

CIRE – Just you…RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW! FACE ME! I WANT TO SEE YOUR EYES!

VAL – Very well Cire, you have defiled everything I care for, you have lied, you have cheated, you have stole, you have murdered and you have injured me for the LAST TIME…

CIRE – It's always a long winded speech with you isn’t it Val? LIGHTEN UP!

Cire releases hi shard lightning attack once more, but this time, the bolts hurling towards Val bounce off of him, Val’s hand comes up, as if they hit an invisible wall, bouncing off into the floor and towards the roof in a shower of sparks. With his mind fully set on what he must do Val only utters one last “speech” to Cire before carrying out his plan

VAL – After everything I have done, and everything I have tried to keep pure, in the end you can feel gratified that you have forced me to do something I have never wanted to do…never wanted to consult, in the end Cire perhaps you are right, perhaps by this I would become you but either way…

Val’s eyes lower to the floor, his lips a straight line…with a deep breath and a glance to Gen’s eyes, closed for all eternity in her infinite veil of darkness…something inside him snaps.

THIS GAME IS DONE!

CIRE – THAT’S IT GIVE IN TO YOUR RAGE! GIVE IN YOU YOUR! Huh??????

Cire looks towards Val expecting another Bolt of Hatred attack or something equivalent, but what he receives is something completely different, as Val paces towards him, his eyes ablaze with blazing waves of yellow-orange energy. Cire snaps is gaze downward, as he feels heat begin to increase at an alarming rate around his legs, before seconds later his legs burst into flames.

CIRE – (shocked, looking down) WHAT IN VADERS NAME???

Val does not speak, his face contorted in a shout of pure rage, as the flames from Cire’s legs quickly spread throughout his body, the searing heat almost sending him in shock, but with the Force as his last minute lifeline to life, Cire glares to Val, wanting to deal him that crushing blow…a hint of pain to haunt him throughout the rest of Val’s eternity…Val having paced to stand right over Cire, who has fallen to his knees, now surrounded in a circle of flames, as he clings to his life long enough to unleash his “curse”.

CIRE – (labored) You………you’re living…without…her…is my…eternal…vengeance.

Val leaves no reply, as he turns and walks away, leaving Cire to incinerate in his prison of flames…. Cire, before his flesh is completely eroded away leaving bone screams a telepathic message to Val.

CIRE – (telepathic, full scream) I CURSE YOU VALARYC WINTERS VERSAI! I CURSE YOU TO A LIFE OF PAIN AND MISERY!!!!!!! YOU HEAR ME!!!!!!!!!

VAL – (As Val walks away he stops…and turns back)

VAL – What????

CIRE – Your living without her…. is my eternal vengeance………..HAHAHAHA*****

Cire then falls silent as his body disappears behind the circle of flames, Val ponders this for a moment, then turns towards the exit, but suddenly the entire scene shifts to a dark figure, not seen before, Val’s mental state is in shock in this dream, for this was not part of his memory, it was something…. different. The figure snatches Gen from his arms and runs off with her. Leaving Val standing there empty handed.

Another figure, whom approaches closer and closer, pulls back its jet black hood to reveal a skeleton chatter, screaming:

THE LEGIONS OF DEATH COME FOR YOU VERSAI!

Just as everything Val has just dreamt replays itself swiftly, with the thunderous sounds of Cire, Gen, and the Council Members screams amplified to a deafening roar. The final image left behind is Krevlin’s face, then Ras Kruger’s, Then one he has never seen before, glaring with purple eyes wrapped in a jet black robe, but beyond it as it steps aside…another figure, wrapped in the same darkness, removes its cloak, but before its face can be seen Val is torn from his dream.

~PRESENT DAY~

VAL – (screams from his sleep) NOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Val is abruptly torn from his dream state by the thunderous boom of lightning outside his window, ripped into the present. His bedroom is dark and silent, the time apparently being before sunrise.

Val rubs his head, trying to figure out just what in the blue hell he had just experienced. His dreams were growing in intensity over the last few weeks, with new additions he has never before seen or recalled from his past events. The figure’s words echo in his mind, "THE LEGIONS OF DEATH COME FOR YOU! VERSAI!" over and over again. Suddenly Val’s private holonet pops on. The image is that of his most trusted “living” advisor…. Malcom Shields known as “VT Rep 187”.

VAL – I told you never to call me here…. unless it is important!

A flash of lightning illuminates the room, disrupting the holo signal, as thunder crashes upon the surface of Alpha Xeridia

MALCOM – I am aware of that my friend, but as a fellow employee of Versai Tech, I feel it is my duty to inform the CEO of some recent ummmm developments in VT.

VAL – Malcom, if this is about making new upgrades to Merr-Sonn weapons again, I swear to god I am going to go down there and kick you’re a…(cut off by Malcom)

Malcom – Hah Hah sir, always a kidder but unfortunately this isn’t a friendly chat, you see sir its Versai Tech buildings 1, 2, 3, and 4…

VAL – What about them?

MALCOM – That’s just it sir…. they are no longer there…

VAL – (shocked) WHAT!!!

MALCOM – They’re… gone sir…

VAL – How is this possible…?

MALCOM – Invasion Sir.

VAL – There is no possible way they can invade and destroy four buildings! How did they bypass our security! Those planetary ion and turbolaser cannons can take out a star destroyer!

MALCOM – They just kept coming! It was an inside job though…our security was offline, someone in the organization let them get in…and then they just…burned the building to the ground.

VAL – (annoyed) Casualties? Anything stolen?

MALCOM – (nervous) Umm a few security guards were knocked out, but this was done very professionally…these invaders knew what to do and how to counter our surveillance capabilities, like I said before it had to be organized or tipped off by someone on the inside.

Val turns away from the holonet screen and rubs his temples as a hard thunderous downpour of rain pounds the roof of the Versai Mansion

MALCOM – Sir? Sir you ok?

Val turns back towards the screen slowly

Val – Ok…we lost four buildings but buildings can be rebuilt in time, we still have many more…its not a total loss I guess, but I want this traitor found.

MALCOM – Understood sir, but that’s not the only thing I have to tell you about, please take this file I’m sending you

Val – (puts a finger along is chin, nodding) Proceed…

Malcom hits some buttons and a beep emits from Val’s holoreciever as a slim plastic disc ejects from a coding reservoir. Val picks up the disc and slips it into his on board computer, alongside the holonet projector, waiting for the files to decompress.

MALCOM – That is what we found in all the building locations, just that disc with a “K” on it.
The computer reads the data with various beeps and clicks, as the file completes its loading sequence, what Val sees next causes him to widen his eyes.

The message on the screen reads:
 

THE LEGIONS OF DEATH COME FOR YOU!
THE LEGIONS OF DEATH COME FOR YOU!
THE LEGIONS OF DEATH COME FOR YOU!
THE LEGIONS OF DEATH COME FOR YOU!

WE COME FOR YOU VALARYC VERSAI!!!!!!!!!

BE READY! THE HUNT HAS BEGUN!

-K

Val stumbles back in his chair, almost falling out of it, the dream he had just experienced replying at a increased tempo, locking on the chattering skeleton robed entity that uttered the same words to him over and over again…Val doesn’t understand what the connection is but the eerie mirrored link from his nightmare to his reality disturbs his mental state deeply, causing him to sit there…silent, with widened eyes, frozen in shock.

MALCOM – (concerned) Val? Sir? Val are you ok? Val are you there?

Val composes himself, trying to maintain his “invincible” will image in front of Malcom, making it a point never to show weakness in the presence of others, as he adjusts his robe, smoothing back his medium length brown hair from his eyes, closing them then reopening them once more before turning back to the screen, appearing in Malcom’s view.

VAL – It looks like a threat…

MALCOM – Yes it does, but what do you suppose they want with you?

VAL – (smirks) Whatever it is, it’s the wrong way to go about asking for an autograph.

MALCOM – (chuckles) Seriously though my friend, I’m worried about you. I’m the only one I know of that you communicate with, other then that walking chatterbox you call Sacul over there in your Mansion. The board directors are growing concerned over your lack of appearance. I mean really Val is talking through audio only to them really necessary?

VAL – Oh? Perhaps I should find new ways to motivate them? Janitor duties? If they can’t respect my wishes they can get the hell out of my buildings. Nuff said on that matter.

MALCOM – Val, come on be reasonable.

VAL – I’ve told you several times my friend. People no longer care for relics like me; all they give a damn about is their new “heroes”. I’m outdated remember?

MALCOM – (sighs) I respect you Val, you know that. You’ve given me so much; because of you I have an excellent job and everything…. I just worry for you, being reclusive isn’t like you?

VAL – (voice drops to a morose tone) Malcom my friend…you have earned everything I’ve bestowed upon you, you didn’t have it given to you; you had to work hard for it. You are my most trusted “living” advisor; this is why only you know where I am currently and where I have been for the last 5 years.

MALCOM – Still Val…what was it that made you lose your faith hmm? What made you walk away from it all?

VAL – (silent) evolution…

MALCOM – (sighs softly) Val remember there are those who still care for you, there are those who haven’t forgot what you’ve done for them. Lance Jade was here the other day looking for you; he’s really concerned Val! You should talk to him!

VAL – Lance? He’s still walking around this crazy universe? What did he want?

MALCOM – He wanted to speak with you, he told me to tell you that he thinks you should act like yourself and forget what people have told you. You’re a freaking legend! Fight for your existence don’t give in to it.

VAL – (grins) Lance was always a smart man…I remember when we both ganged up on Krath Ulic under the newly formed Rebel Alliance and kicked his sorry Shi’ido butt all over the galaxy along with his Vong cronies. You know I would have loved to see the looks on their faces when that plank gas slipped in their ships…. (laughs)

MALCOM – (grins) I believe Val, it would be something to the tune of, HOLY SHI------!

VAL – (nods) Where are you now?

MALCOM – I’m at the VT building on Talesea.

VAL – You want me to come out of my five-year reclusive state? Meet me at the Mos Espa Cantina later today. We’ll talk face to face over these developments and go from there.

MALCOM – (nods) Will do sir…. and Val?

VAL – Umm?

MALCOM – I’ll look forward to it.

VAL – (nods) As will I, but don’t get used to it…I don’t plan to remain in the public’s views long, I’m sure my enemies would love a crack at the title (winks)

MALCOM – Of course they would…but if I were you, come armed. Those places are dangerous enough, even without people after you.

VAL – Always my friend…

MALCOM – Very well sir, see you later today….Malcom out

The transmission ends, and Val runs through the information on the disc again, reading the words written four times, one line it would seem for each VT facility attacked. With a steady breath, Val paces from his Master Bedroom, heading down the long hallways of his Versai Mansion from the West Wing into the East Wing, where he has a direct elevator to his armory he calls, “The Funhouse”.
 

INTERIOR : VERSAI MANSION – THE FUNHOUSE

The “Funhouse” is more then it appears on the outside. From the elevator that leads into the south side of the room, as you pace from it, you see a hardwood floor stretching out in a rectangular room. The room itself looks more like a study then a weapons room, from various paintings hanging on the walls, to a few bookshelves and crimson red, velvet curtains adorning the open spaces. Truly a peaceful sight right? Wrong. With a flick of a switch, the walls begin to break in evenly placed sections. The panels flip backwards to reveal several projectile weapons, blasters, laser weapons, knives, daggers, swords, batons, missile launchers and all other forms of combat affixed against elegant red velvet vacuum formed cushions.

As Val paces down the shelves like a kid in a candy store, he grabs his usual weapons attire for a “going out” venture. Sliding his fingers around the smooth but hard base of his flechette pistol, he quickly holsters the weapon, going down the next row to grab various clips of flechette ammo, holding them in the other hand, pacing to the next shelf, grabbing a wrist communicator and some provisions. With all the weapons in the room it’s ironic that will all their firepower, able to take over any imperial facility if desired, Val only takes his usual share of what he needs versus what would be “cool” to use. Flicking another switch behind a panel, four equally placed sections of the floor slide back as long rectangular towers emerge from the vibrant wood paneled floor. Val pacing around to each rectangular chamber, which reads everything from grenade classes to thermal detonators, to other various projective based weapons, pacing around them, admiring his collection, a small grin spreading across his lips as he thumbs each column

VAL – Hmmm…Cryoban that’s great for chilling out the bad guys, hmmm EMP? Nah too flashy, hmmm TDs, nah too much of a “boom”, hmmm Fragmentation grenades? Nah too riveting…AH here we go!

Val takes out a few small vials from a rack that slides from the last column

VAL – (grins) GLOP GRENADES!! Always a mess!

Val paces from the last column as a secret entrance slides back from the wall directly in front of him. His eyes looking back in his “Funhouse” as the weapons racks return to their hidden locations, the room again looking like a normal study, but for Val as he steps into the secret niche in the wall, the floor drops out below him, into a complex freefall like slide, leading to his more appropriate room, where he keeps his real “toys”.

Val spins around a series of twists and turns as the winds from his decent whip his hair back, weaving in and out of various tunnel archways, until he stops short, landing on his feet on a air filled “mitt” of sorts.

Val smoothes back his hair, and then glides his finger along a security panel in the door before him, as it slides back with a rush of air…
 

INTERIOR : VERSAI MANSION – TROPHY ROOM

There about three miles under the Versai Mansion was his most treasured room in the entire facility his “Trophy Room”. This was the room where he had placed everything he had gathered from his past, and present adventures. From Gen Zeridian’s extra set of clothing acquired from his final visit to the now demolished Dark Jedi Academy on Endor, to his various uniforms from his Imperial fatigues, to his Scout trooper/Mandalorian mixed bounty hunting armor. He kept it mostly to remind him of the things he’s over come, or for other purposes that might arise where he would need them. Stepping from the south side of the room, the area opens into a vast circular establishment. To the north are his cases filled with the attire mentioned previously, all hanging on mannequins, one of which is female, with Gen’s outfit on, from her coat to her signature triangular buttoned midriff.

To the left of that was a bookshelf with several volumes that used to belong to Gen, detailing everything from personal logs of the academy, to manuals on personal combat techniques, saber construction, and Force Meditation techniques and the personal holo recorder of Gen’s last known gift to him, the rank of  “Dark Overseer.” Also upon the shelf were various medals Val had received over his years of dedication to various organizations, including two “Kenobie” medals he had received from Leia Organa Solo in memory of his parent’s death. Also on the shelf not too far from old photos of Russel and Kathryn was the object he had bled, fought, and suffered to keep…

The Versai Locket…

To the right was his wardrobe of his usual battle attire. Several long sleeveless trench coats hung on hangers, with drawers full of his black leather pants, and his various tools to fix his weapons and his saber modifications. To the right of those in an illuminated transparasteel case were his more important aspects of his chosen attire. Hanging in case was his shimmering crimson red and gold armor, he had fashioned from mandle steel and thinned down permacite, coating with a layer of dura armor with his trademark Versai Tech breakthrough discovery of “Luminex” armor plating along the front breastplate and back paneling. It was lightweight and yet very hard to penetrate. He had learned from his mistake in the cantina years ago, when the assault of droidekas had nearly killed him, shredding his armor with their weapons. Thank god Foe Raker was in the area to handle the situation. In that moment of being unprepared, Val swore never again to let his guard down again, even on this private “outing”.

Taking the armor from the case, he affixed the breastplate to the front of his body, then attached the back piece, feeling the smooth contours of the unique pattern on the front, bringing back so many memories of when he used this armor…it was for darker purposes then, in this day in age it was used for protection, rather then intimidation.

The look of the brave assassin who unloaded a DL-44 into his chest armor, learning too late the effects of blasters to Luminex plating was hilarious! Val didn’t even flitch. The beams hit his onyx black, Luminex Armor plates, as the shots just bounced right off and back into the would be assassin who obviously didn’t do his homework, his career cut short by incompetence.

Luminex Armor you see can reflect all forms of energy-based attacks, depending on intensity. Like a mirror, lasers just bounce off of the smooth surface and if aimed in a straight line, right back at the attacker.

Alongside where his armor had been were all four of his custom gauntlets. Each bearing a different incarnation of the Versai Crest, which had evolved as he did from the one his Father had created to his own design. This time however the 40 year old Val had evolved beyond the use of these enhancements. As he reached down below them to another drawer below the case, he withdrew his more current choice of “arm guards”.

Gone were the days of his heavy or flashy gauntlets with a Versai Crest etched in them, no Val had decided to “get with the times” and implore a more unique form of protection. As he slide on first, a semi-thick fireproof red glove that extended up his forearm, then did the same to the other arm. Next he took out two cufflink like units, which extended from a just a bit from his wrist, to the ends of the red glove fabric. With his fingers pressing on both ends, the unit clicked into place like a shackle. The unit had a shiny red surface on the underside, leading up to four pad like oval onyx black, divisions, a gold line extended from the edges up, in “pipe” like lines of metal, along side, and between the black, shiny metallic divisions along the top of the shackle like unit.

With his newer, sleek shackle like units attached to his arms, Val took some heavy duty, black gloves, made of blast dampening fabric and slide them on each hand, the finger sections were cut up to the second set of knuckles, with rounded black rims, leaving his fingertips exposed. The black gloves slide under the shackle units, which in turn slide along the red fireproof fabric along his forearms. As with his very first choice of gloves, old designs were his way of adding “old school” to his attire, having left the two notches along the sides of his newer gauntlet units cut away, leaving a smooth oval like nitch on either side of the bottom of his forearms. With his newer choice of protection, his arms were now blaster proof and fireproof.

Where is the Versai Crest you might ask? Simple, on the very top of the black gloves, where the tops of his wrists would be, Val had another metallic plate attached to the glove, and embossed upon the jet black surface in the same golden metal as his gauntlets was the Versai Crest, now having been surrounded with a ring and a big “V” with a smaller “V” inside it, from the top, it almost seemed like the gloves and his gauntlets were one unit, with the metal snaking down in a smooth downward direction.

VAL – (whispers to himself) Out dated? HAH! Nothing can beat the original!

Having donned the sleek new gauntlet devices, Val paced over and snapped on his trademark, designed belt. The very same design he had built for Gen Zeridian, with its oval shaped storage units, and sky blue, luminescent tri sectioned paneling. Val had incorporated all the technology of today, with his weapons of yesterday, he may look like he is old fashioned but his armor and his weaponry is high tech compared to even today’s standards, one of the perks of being a master of mechanics.

Val paces over to the very center of the room, sliding his finger along another scanner, this one scanning his DNA as well as his eyes. Rising from the floor, as panels rush back are the very instruments of his survival locked away in a smooth, clear transparasteel casing. The two units held their own histories and their previous owners were long since dead, but in the hands of their new owner they were his pride and joy…Gen Zeridian and Obi Wan Kenobie’s Second Lightsabers.

Val carefully lifts the sabers from the case, as it slides back into the floor again with a rush of hydraulics. He wasn’t sure what the life of a lightsaber was exactly; he figured that as long as they were maintained they would function well. It had been five years since he put them away in this room never again wanting to use them, nor need them. He had retreated back into his world of darkness as they had, but with the rules having changed, it was time to evoke them once again, even if it was just for one trip…he had a feeling that with this mysterious “K” leaving death threats, he would need them.

Clipping the sabers to his belt, Val paces over to the case baring Gen’s attire on the mannequin. He can almost see her there, the way she was before Cire ended her life…cheerful in his presence, tough as nails in the presence of others. Val’s fingers trace the contours of the glass, knowing that no matter how much he has tried, nothing could bring her from her eternal slumber…and that this form of her was nothing more then a glimpse into a past, he cannot venture to.

VAL – (whispers, with his eyes closed) I miss you…so so much Gen…Each day is an eternity without you by my side, god I just wish some how, some way I could touch you again, hear you…see you alive and happy as you were…

I remember that kiss in the forest, so unrestrained, so secretive and yet so revealing. It’s not fair is it my love? We should have been married, we should have been happy…but this curse…DAMN THIS CURSE…(slams his fist into the glass)

It took you away didn’t it? It continues to take everything away from me? Everyone I love, everyone I care for is taken…I just; I don’t know what to do Gen. DAMN IT! Am I a relic? Have I become extinct, out dated? If I am so out dated…why, why has my Versai Tech Corporation been attacked? Who in the hell is this “K”…?

(Val sighs softly, stroking the glass case, as if Gen’s face was there…)

VAL –Perhaps I will find out my Loved One…perhaps, fate is calling me from the darkness…after all I guess it is true to this day…that I continue to “Defy my destiny”.

Grabbing his signature long, sleeveless, black trench coat which was now made of a blast dampening fabric, still vibrant and shiny black, Val slides one pad over his shoulder, then the other, adjusting his coat around his body, swirling out, spreading like an eagles wings with his strides.

Val paces from the case, as he takes a long look back at the mannequin of Gen, before heading to his Hanger Bay, leaving the room in back in the darkness as quickly as it was lit. Val’s footsteps echoing through the halls of the empty Mansion, aside from Sacul who was most likely on the other end of the grounds attending to things…Val was born a loner and in this moment remained one.
 

INTERIOR : VERSAI MANSION – HANGER BAY

Rounding the familiar double “V” shaped doors of his hanger bay exterior, Val uttered to the computer…

VAL –OPEN…

A computer voice whispers in its mechanical tones “ACCESS GRANTED”

Val paces into the darkness, as the cool, moist air billows through his coat, sending the fireproof fabric billowing around his slender form as he enters the massive bay.

VAL –LIGHTS….

As Val utters his command, a circular array of lights flicker on, one after the other illuminating his hanger bay containing his various vehicles of choice, from his Modified Imperial Shuttle, to his Crimson red and gold MARC, right down to his Howlrunners and Imperial Speeder Bikes.

Wanting to be inconspicuous this time, Val decides to take his Howlrunner, “Nemesis”, setting himself up in the cockpit, flicking various switches. Locking in his course for Tatoonie and Mos Espa. As the hidden panels below the Mansion slide, back…his Howlrunner blasts off into the regions of space with a blazing ice blue aura from its engines.

As Val sleeps in the cockpit, the ship flies to its pre-set destination.
 

CONCLUSION

He is prepared for his meeting with Malcom, but little would he know, what he thinks is his momentary appearance into the world he has long avoided…

Will bring about his first confrontation with the mysterious “K” and what the phrase "The Legions of Death Come for For You." refers to.

He will learn that everything is connected…

The dreams, the disc, the attacks on Versai Tech…

Are only….

The beginning…