The Jedi and the Beast

Chapter VIII: Darkness Descends

The reactor room hummed with a frantic energy, the rhythmic thrumming of the engines punctuated by the engineers' frantic shouts. Sweat beaded on Krieger's brow as he surveyed the flickering console readouts. Energy spikes continued to plague the Venator, each surge a jolt of raw power threatening to tear the ship apart.

Suddenly, a tremor ran through the Force. A chilling echo, faint but unmistakable, pierced Krieger's focus. Zane's voice, laced with terror, cut through the din, then abruptly vanished. The tremor intensified, blossoming into a presence that pulsed with raw, malevolent energy.

Krieger snapped to attention, his hand instinctively reaching for his lightsaber. The world around him faded away, replaced by a chilling awareness of unseen danger. With a snarl, he ripped the comlink from his belt.

"Zane, what's going on?" he barked, his voice tight with urgency. Static filled the receiver, a chilling reply that sent a jolt of ice through his veins.

Slinging the useless comlink aside, Krieger sprinted for the reactor room door. He slammed through it just as the Venator plunged into darkness. Alarms blared, drowned out by the panicked shouts of the engineers. Clone troopers scrambled for their weapons, the harsh glare of emergency lights painting their faces with a sickly red glow.

Krieger ignited his lightsaber, its emerald blade a beacon in the suffocating blackness. The darkness wasn't just visual; it clung to him, a thick, oppressive presence that sent shivers down his spine. He pressed forward, his senses on high alert, the echoes of Zane's fear a constant tug in his gut.

As he navigated the labyrinthine corridors, the stench of ozone and burnt metal filled the air. He rounded a corner and froze. Two clone troopers lay sprawled on the deck, their lifeless bodies bearing the unmistakable crimson scorch marks of lightsaber wounds.

A wave of nausea washed over Krieger. Clone troopers weren't trained in lightsaber combat. The implication was horrifying. He wasn't facing a droid malfunction or a Separatist attack. He was dealing with something far more sinister - something wielding the Force.

With renewed urgency, Krieger pressed on towards Zane's quarters. Every fibre of his being screamed of danger, but the thought of Zane alone against this unseen menace spurred him forward. He had to reach her, alive.

Krieger burst into Zane's quarters, his emerald lightsaber cutting through the oppressive darkness. His heart hammered against his ribs as his gaze fell upon her. She lay unmoving on the bunk, her face contorted in a silent scream. The telltale bruising around her neck spoke of a horrifying demise.

A wave of nausea washed over him. Zane. Dead. He couldn't accept it. Not yet. Anger, a white-hot fury, burned through him, pushing aside the grief. He remembered the lifeless clones, their identical wounds a chilling echo of the one on Zane's neck. Where was her lightsaber?

His searching eyes caught a glimpse of devastation across the hallway. Xon's lab. Had the power surge triggered some kind of explosion? Ignoring the questions, Krieger surged forward, his lightsaber casting long, distorted shadows on the walls.

The lab was a scene of utter chaos. Fused wires snaked across the floor, and scorch marks marred the pristine walls. In the centre of the wreckage, the kolto tank lay shattered, its emerald fluid staining the floor a sickly green. But it was the flickering holo recording on the console that truly chilled him to the bone.

The image on the screen was frozen in time. Zane, her face etched with terror, was suspended mid-air, a grotesque creature looming over her. Its massive hand encircled her throat, its single remaining eye glowing with a malevolent light. The resemblance to Xon's failed bio-experiments was unmistakable.

Krieger felt a primal growl escape his throat. This wasn't sabotage. This was something far more sinister. With trembling fingers, he reached for his comlink.

"Xon," he rasped, his voice laced with a barely contained fury. "Where are you?"

Static filled the airwaves. No reply. In the silence that followed, a single, chilling question echoed in Krieger's mind: What had Xon unleashed upon the Venator?