Chronicle VI "Assassin's Tears" Part Two

Written by Scott D. McGraw

This is the sixth chronicle in the life of Zentar Corellius in which we'll finish off our story about Chameleon who now faces a unique and deadly challenge of her own.


Enjoy...

From a small control room, Moff Hajis sat comfortably watching a large monitor while two of his closest colleagues argued amongst themselves over the wisdom of forcing the young and untested Kriasa to participate in such an "all or nothing" contest against the proven former assassin turned bounty hunter, Chameleon.

"This is madness, I tell you!", Major Jrak seethed. "She is nowhere near ready for this kind of test."

"I'm not so sure, Major." Doctor Vin replied calmly. "Mentally and emotionally she has surpassed all of my expectations at this phase of her training. I think this is just the thing she needs to prove herself and gain the complete confidence of our supporters."

"Mentally and emotionally, yes. Physically, no.", the other countered. "She is simply not physically developed enough to be anywhere near her potential. She is dangerously outmatched by this Katsuragi woman."

"Gentlemen, please." Hajis interjected. "Both of your points are well taken, but time is not on our side these days. Our supporters have become increasingly skeptical of our program over the last few years and of our inability to produce the desired results. As much as I may tend to agree with you, Major, we must go forward as planned."

"But, Moff Hajis-", he began to protest.

"Major, you still fail to realize that my daughter is not in some elite combat training program one of your Stormtroopers would participate in. She is an assassin, plain and simple. Right now, the very fact that she is still a young and innocent looking child is her greatest weapon, not her weakness."

"I still think this is all too premature, sir.", he pressed. "Kriasa-"

"I appreciate your concerns and they are well noted." Hajis raised his voice a bit. "To be frank, my Kyoko was more correct than she knows. This little program of ours is not maintaining the favor it once held with our superiors on Bastion. Whether the timing is ideal or not, we simply must move forward."

When the hard look upon the aging officer's face did not lessen, Hajis sighed and continued. "Major, have a little faith, will you?"

"Faith is for fools, with all due respect, sir." Jrak dared to say, which brought a laugh from Doctor Vin as he sat with his hands folded on the console beside them.

"Such a direct opinion, Major Jrak. You are a lot bolder than I." He snickered. "But, that has always been your strength as an advisor, I suppose."

"Shut your mouth, Vin.", the major seethed. "You never know when to stay quiet, do you?"

"No. That is my strength.", he smiled irritatingly.

"Gentlemen, again, please put your emotions aside. My mind is made up. Anyone who does not wish to observe the event may leave if they so choose."

Aside from a couple sighs, no one moved or said anything more.

"Splendid." Moff Hajis clasped his hands as he directed their attention to several large monitors before them. "Now let us see if my faith makes me out to be a fool or not."



Upon entering the hall before her, Chameleon dropped to a near prone position and began to carefully survey the environment about her as a predatory animal might, straining her senses to pick up on anything out of the norm. Prior experience had taught her that nothing is ever as it really seems, especially so when it concerns her former captor.

Almost immediately she noted several small gas release openings to the sides and above, triggered by a nearly unnoticeable pressure plate just in front of her, which she then deftly leaped over with a surprisingly cat-like grace and landed safely on the other side of it. More than encountering Kriasa herself, she was concerned about not overlooking the details all about her which could prove fatal. Solely focusing on the dangerous child alone would prove a disastrous mistake if she was not careful.

Chameleon now put aside all other thought and became the predator she now emulated and silently advanced forward slowly. Was Kriasa facing similar challenges in order to get to her? She thought so, as this all seemed more of a test for the young girl than for her. This also gave Chameleon the confidence to take her time and overlook nothing. She expected Kriasa, as well as she had also been trained, was also taking similar measures. If not, then she would not live long enough to even encounter her.

The minutes dragged on for the three safely watching their every move, but was not even noticed by the pair within the maze of interconnecting hallways and rooms. They were in their own world now, a world completely separated from the rest of the universe and one where time did not matter. Patience, supreme patience, was the bed mate of the true assassin. Moment by moment each faced some environmental obstacle, whether it was an energy charged floor plate that would electrocute them to death if touched, or a laser beam that if disrupted would send forth any number of fatal punishments. One by one, both overcame each challenge and slowly covered all of the area around them in search of the other.

After more than three hours of a painstakingly slow progress, both emerged in a large hexagonal room and observed each other, neither moving in the slightest.



"Ah, now the test truly begins." Hajis remarked calmly. "Let us hope neither lose sight of the big picture now that they have found each other."

"What was that you were saying about faith earlier, Moff Hajis?" Doctor Vin whispered with a smile.

"Indeed, good doctor, indeed.", the other replied with a nod.

Major Jrak however, remained completely stone faced and said nothing, refusing to even take his eyes off of the monitors before them.



Several more seconds slipped past as the two females silently observed each other before the younger of the two finally spoke.

"Let's first be sure we'll have no other distractions by securing this area." Kriasa stated professionally, no longer sounding remotely like the childish girl she had been the whole time up until now. The illusion was no longer needed, after all.

"Agreed." Chameleon nodded. "It would do us little good to busy ourselves with each other only to harmed or killed by some environmental trap. Let's work together then."

Kriasa smiled at her. "You trust me?"

The older assassin smiled back. "Of course not. But I do believe you could not see yourself the same if anything but your own skills eliminated me in this encounter. Am I right?"

The young girl tilted her head and laughed. "You are right! I do like you after all. I kind of wish you didn't have to die in the end, though. You seem like you could be a really good sister for me to play with."

"Life is full of disappointments.", the other stated unemotionally. "Let's get this over with."

"Agreed." Kriasa replied with a sigh as she too began to examine the room carefully.

Several times the pair came within striking range of each other and even touched, but neither reacted or made any attempt to take the other out. It seemed both were of like mind when it came to wanting a full, unhindered engagement with the other.

"Here." Chameleon stated, as she pulled away a loose plate on the floor about halfway into the hexagonal room. "There's a power switch of some kind. I'm going to deactivate whatever it is."

"Yes, I've also found one and have done the same." Kriasa stated. "Daddy must be happy with us to know that we are behaving so well."

As soon as the older woman pressed the switch, the lighting all about them dimmed slightly and became a faint blue. A few seconds later they both heard Moff Hajis's voice fill the area all about them.

"Well done, my children! Well done. You both have done remarkably well so far. At this point let me assure you both that there are no further peripheral distractions for you to be concerned with. You may both now fully devote yourselves to each other. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Daddy, I understand." Kriasa replied, as she stood upright and stretched.

"Kyoko." Hajis continued. "Please also understand that I bear no ill will towards you at all and still love you deeply. However, it is my sincerest hope that Kriasa utterly destroys you. Much depends on her doing so."

"Yeah, lady, this is nothing personal, but I guess we both know that, right?", the child asked as she wrapped up her long blonde hair into a bun and secured it with an elastic band.

"Both of your statements have no meaning to me." Chameleon responded evenly. "There is no truth to anything either of you say. Since we all know this, why bother saying such things at all?"

"Well, I suppose I can at least honor you with that concession." Hajis agreed. "But I will tell you this honestly, that Kriasa is indeed my true flesh and blood daughter."

Chameleon seemed unmoved. "Either way, it makes no difference to me. Given what I have come to know about you through my own experiences, such a sacrifice is not beyond you if you thought it necessary. You are an incredible monster."

"A monster?", the unseen man echoed all about them. "Kyoko, I'm genuinely hurt."

The lithe woman with almond shaped eyes followed the younger girl's example and wrapped up her hair as well before pulling free the lone dagger from her thigh and crouching low. While still several feet away from the other would-be assassin, she gave her final response to the man who'd had her family brutally murdered fourteen years earlier while forced to watch. "Well, I am a failed experiment, after all."



Aboard a small shuttle craft many, many light years away from the Imperial complex on the planet Belsham, Zentar Corellius lay in his bunk half dressed as he gradually regained his strength from his ordeal with Krey, the Anachronox and Ralian earlier that week, and stared absently at the cold gray metal bed above him.

The earlier events had only distracted him from the very reasons he'd come to Endor in the first place and now felt his mind weigh even heavier than before. When he slept, he found that his dreams were filled with the images of Chameleon as she swifty and expertly cut open the neck of Thoosius Pinch only to bleed all over the duracrete alley, or ones of Prince Krey, as he forced him to cover his head and swat endlessly at the millions of flames that threatened to engulf him that came from the other's lightsaber.

Through all of it he would also see fleeting images of the old Jedi Master, Alaria, as she looked to him for hope, while hearing the endless mocking laughter of Darth Ralian all around him, only to wake up in a cold sweat.

What the hell is wrong with me? He thought to himself. He'd had his share of dark dreams over the years, but never had he ever felt so oppressed and haunted. He had not been himself since first meeting the dark Sith Lord a short while ago, and felt like he was a trapped animal being toyed with.

He felt it within him, calling...

The Darkside. The Darkside of the Force was teasing him with its subtle tendrils, doing what it could to elicit feelings of fear, hatred, regret and pain within the bounty hunter as he slept. Corellius recognized the feelings for what they were when awake, but rather than will them away, as would a Jedi, he simply allowed them their place and accepted them as valid and worth contemplating.

The Darkside...the Lightside...what the hell does any of it mean?

The tall man forced himself up and poured some coffee before heading down the open ramp of his craft into the Endorian forest where he stood and stretched a bit. There were no real answers, he believed. While he certainly respected and agreed that the Jedi philosophies were noble and far superior to the self-serving madness embraced by the Sith, there was simply more to the whole thing than that when it came to the Force itself.

Certainly the Force had been there long before the first self-proclaimed Jedi, and thus had to be independent of it ultimately. Corellius gave much credit to the Jedi however for obviously tapping into the strength and power of it over the thousands of generations before him. But even so, what had been for so long had been all but destroyed by Palpatine and Vader only a mere two decades ago. How could've such a thing happened if the Jedi were the true masters of the Force?

Corellius had become somewhat familiar with the fractured history when spending time with Luke Skywalker at his academy on Yavin 4 earlier in his life, never to find the answers he truly desired or could accept. He respected and even admired Master Skywalker, but simply found his own level of understanding to be lacking. Still, he had defeated Vader and ultimately the Emperor by standing by the Jedi code...

Regardless, it wasn't enough to convince the former Imperial officer of anything. His mind demanded a much greater journey be taken in order to find his answers. He only hoped he lived long enough to find them.

Deciding to take things one at a time by focusing on the most immediate need, he considered what it was he could do to get the Anachronox back from Ralian, or how he could even find the man. Corellius felt a real tie to Alaria who still dwelled somewhere within that shadowy prison and an obligation to do what he could to free her from it. Of course, even if he managed to get it back there was no guarantee anything could be done for her, but he couldn't know until he had the chance to try. For that he would have to rely on Skywalker's help.

There were so many things to consider, so many angles to explore. Ralian was obsessed with him for some reason, determined to sway him to his cause. He might just be able to use that against the other somehow, though he was unsure how just yet. Lost in thought, Zentar Corellius stared out into the lush canopy of trees before him, vaguely aware of their presence as his coffee grew cold in his cup while forcing himself to find the answer.

The bounty hunter had always been a resourceful man, and counted on that now more than ever.



Slowly and silently Kyoko Katsuragi and Kriasa Hajis circled each other within the hexagonal chamber, each bathed in the faint blue light that glowed all around them. Chameleon held her single dagger carefully in her right hand, while the other appeared unarmed.

The bounty hunter knew better though.

What Chameleon now faced was no longer the care free and exuberant child she'd met earlier that day in the park, just as she was no longer the aging Mimra Luustas, droid repair specialist from Indine Technical Repair Services. Both were now the cold killing machines they'd been forced to become, and both with the goal of being the only one to walk away alive from the other.

"I'm gonna kill you." Kriasa sang lightly in a teasing melody, though her eyes bore a feral look to them. "Then Daddy will buy me a toy."

From seemingly nowhere, the child produced a dagger in her right hand identical to Chameleon's and began to twirl it expertly with her fingers. Slowly, the pair moved in on each other, each looking for an opening. Kriasa was first to strike, as she suddenly lunged at the other's abdomen with ferocious speed.

The bounty hunter easily side-stepped her however and countered with a sweeping strike of her own towards the other's heart. Kriasa easily defended herself as well, as a second dagger was produced in her left hand and deflected the other's blade safely away. The two simultaneously then took a step back from each other and once again began to move in a slow counter-clockwise pattern, neither saying a word.

The next move was made by Chameleon as she drew her right arm back and appeared to throw her blade directly at the young girl, hoping to cause her to react. To Kriasa's credit she did not.

"You'll have to do better than that, lady.", she teased as she slowly rotated both of her blades in her hands.

"So I shall." Chameleon responded without emotion. "I merely test you."

As agile and fluid as the young girl's moves were, the older woman knew that she had the one thing that gave her a true edge over the other, and that was experience. Kriasa was new to a game that she had all but mastered long ago. Things would soon end for the young assassin, she knew without a doubt.

Content to observe the other's movement and attack patterns, she let the child come closer to her and form her next assault which came quickly and would have easily eviscerated any elite Imperial commando. For Chameleon, the attack was easily recognizable as one once taught to her by one of her former Noghri instructors, betraying the fact that even now Hajis still had dealings with the deadly race, renown for their skills as assassins. With the proper counter move she deflected the assault away with ease.

One by one, Chameleon allowed Kriasa to make her move, only to side step each attempt at ending her life with little effort. Then unexpectedly, the child executed a sudden attack unknown to the older woman and sent her lone dagger flying from her hand and hitting the ground several feet away.

The bounty hunter froze and stared at the now smiling girl as she twirled her daggers once more.

"See lady? I'm pretty good for a kid.", she smiled happily. "But now, it's time to end this so I can go home and play with my toys."

Though now unarmed, the older woman was still far from defenseless and continued to evade the ongoing assault Kriasa delivered her. Soon though, Chameleon began to sweat and realized that the girl was far better trained than she'd first given her credit for. It then dawned on her that she too was testing her own abilities. The little girl then suddenly attacked her with a common move that was meant to stab one of her kidneys and successfully defended herself against it by rolling to the side and away from her.

To Chameleon's genuine surprise, she felt a stinging pain running across the back of her neck and ran her hand across it. When she pulled it away it was covered with blood. For the first time in the whole encounter, Kyoko Katsuragi became wary of the other. She had no idea what had happened just then. Somehow the child had wounded her and she didn't even know how.

"Not so sure of yourself now, are you?" Kriasa asked as she wiped away blood from one of her blades with her index finger.

The question went unanswered though as the elder assassin began to circle her once more. Then in what appeared to be a rash move, Chameleon lunged forward with both palms toward the young girl. Upon seeing the obvious targets before her, Kriasa shot her blades outward and impaled both of the older woman's hands.

"That was a real stupid move, lady." Kriasa chided as Chameleon's blood began to run down her arms and onto her yellow dress.

"Was it?", the bounty hunter replied, almost sadly.

Then to Kriasa's surprise, Chameleon forced both of her hands to close around the smaller assassin's, and in a quick motion pulled both of the blades away from her. Then in a blindingly fast move, Kyoko Katsuragi crossed the blades still protruding from the tops of her hands and pushed them up against the girl's throat. Time seemed to have frozen for a moment as the pair looked into each others eyes. Then suddenly the elder assassin threw her arms wide and ripped Kriasa's throat open from both sides, nearly decapitating her in one swift motion.

Suddenly, in that instant, it was over.

The bounty hunter then carefully laid Kriasa's now lifeless body down and slowly stood, seemingly unconcerned with the blades that were embedded within her hands, or the blood that continued to flow from them. After a long moment of remaining still, she removed them from her palms and let them drop to the ground with a deafening clang. A moment later she fell to her knees, now feeling faint from blood loss.

"What now, Hajis?", the bloody woman forced herself to call out.



From the small control room, Moff Hajis, Major Jrak and Doctor Vin all watched in silence. Then without a word, the major stood while knocking his chair away in anger and stormed out of the room. Doctor Vin looked at the silent politician wearing an apologetic face.

"I'm sorry, sir. It's rare that I'll ever say that I think the major has been right, after all."

Hajis turned his head and looked at him without expression. "Indeed. This is disappointing to say the least, but perhaps it is for the best. There are other projects we could devote our time to."

"You have some things in mind?", the other asked, nonchalantly.

"Always, my friend. Always.", the oddly calm moff replied. "Come, let's discuss some of them back at my office."

The two of them rose easily and turned from the monitors. Almost as an after thought, Vin asked, "What about her?"

Hajis looked at the image of Chameleon sitting next to the body of his dead daughter and shrugged his indifference. "She is talented. Perhaps we can use her again later. For now, we'll have her wounds treated. After that, we'll have our forces return her to her ship and send her on her way."

"Don't you think she's too dangerous to keep alive?", the odd doctor questioned with concern.

Hajis patted the other on the back. "No, she's far too dangerous to kill. It's rare that we'll ever come across such talent. Better to protect it than destroy it."

"I see.", the other nodded. "In that case, why not keep her here where we can observe her?"

"And cage such a wonderfully exotic creature?" Hajis looked shocked. "I think not. Wild animals are at their best when allowed their freedom to hunt and move about naturally as intended. There are still many trials ahead for my dear daughter to learn from. What kind of father would I be to shelter her from such rich experiences?"

This brought a cruel chuckle from the other as they walked out of the room together. "Yes, what kind of father indeed."



Kyoko Katsuragi remained motionless for a long time as her question went unanswered and simply stared at the dead child lying next to her. Her face remained a tight mask, revealing nothing of what she was feeling inside, if she was indeed feeling anything at all. She'd just cut open the throat of a child, a little girl whose life had been stolen just as her's had so long ago. Perhaps taking Kriasa's life had been the most humane thing she could have done for her in light of things. The cold and professional appearing assassin continued to gaze at the lifeless form before her wondering if that was truly so. Then without warning, but not to her surprise, they came.

Tears.

Chameleon wept silently to herself as the seconds slipped by, betraying the fact that she was not quite the emotionless, dettached killing machine that she portrayed herself to be in front of others. Beneath the cold and calm exterior, Kyoko Katsuragi's blood burned hot with passion, love, hate, and all the other things real people felt. Right now, she felt profound pain as she despised herself for the brutal creature she'd been forced to become. With a look of disgust, she turned her head from the macabre scene and wiped her tears away with her forearm.

"Well...I am a failed experiment, after all."

* * * * *

Please post your thoughts.
Scott