Golden Claws

**GOLDEN CLAWS**

IC: lord Cruor & Knight Ammit Bathori

Far below the surface of Korriban in a large room cut from the very bedrock of the planet stood Darth Cruor, next to him was a relative newcomer to the Empire.  Knight Bathori, an Iktotchi of House Vahl.  He knew her in name only, until recently he had never interacted with her.  That changed today in the cantina, she had caught her attention when discussing the desire for golden claws, though she may come to regret ever having mentioned it for not all who received the attention of the Dark Lord walked away from the experience.

The stone walls of the room were rough and adorned with rare and strange instruments used by the Dark Lord in his many alchemical experiments, many were far older than the Knight who accompanied him now.  In cabinets, and on tables, that were spread about the room were vials of different ingredients.  Eyes, bugs, minerals, extracts, liquids, everything one who desired to practice Sith Alchemy could hope to find was found here, in his laboratory.

Quietly Ammit stood next to Lord Cruor, obedient like a slave waiting for his command. Her heart was racing in her chest as she regretted her foolish behaviour earlier that day.

She had joked to a fellow Knight about wanting to have golden claws but needing her hands chopped off first. Unfortunate for her, Lord Cruor heard her speak and dared her to take her own hands. If he had ordered her then and there to take her own hands she would have obeyed. The Iktotchi often forgot to address those higher in rank respectfully, but she never forgot to obey. Even if it was something against her own will, she would never go against a Lord, she would never have said ‘no' to Lord Cruor.

But he did not order her to take her hands, it was dare and instead of doing it herself she asked him to take her hands for her, which he accepted.

Nervous about what would happen she peeked into the mysterious room. Gazing at all the obscure objects, some of which she recognized from the alchemy class she had attended a while ago. Many questions popped into her mind, but the Iktotchi Knight did not dare to speak. Her words had already gotten her into this mess, she didn’t want to make it worse....

"You seem apprehensive." Darth Cruor inquired, his deep voice resonated throughout the stone walled room.  His gauntleted hand raised and pointed a single finger toward a heavy cauldron large enough boil numerous porg at once, though by the corrosion and staining on it she could tell this cauldron was not used for cooking, the cauldron lifted from where it rested and easily floated to the foot of the Dark Lord.

"You have nothing to fear."  He spoke again, his voice seemed to emanate from all around her rather than from Cruor himself.  The cauldron now resting easily before him, he pointed his finger at a bench which held numerous metal ingots of various kinds, at his command half a dozen bars floated into the pot.

"You will have to forgive me,"  He said flatly, "I have no gold.  Ultrachrome will be acceptable."  He added as he moved his hand over the cauldron, his fingers were open and palm facing down.  For a few moments nothing seemed to happen, but the Dark Lord was using his mastery of Force Telekinesis to concentrate the molecules of the metal, eventually that pressure became so immense that the metal began to heat up to such a degree that it melted.

"Place your hand over the cauldron, near my own" Darth Cruor commanded.

A shiver went down her spine when she heard his deep voice echoing against the old walls of the room. “Yes, Lord Cruor...” she replied lowering her gaze, her voice was soft and had a tremble as he continued “I know you are a man to be feared M'Lord...  I also know I got carried away today and addressed you in a disrespectful manner... which I regret immensely.” She bowed her horned head down in shame.

From the corner of her eye she saw how a heavy cauldron floated towards the Sith Lord. Only when he told her she had nothing to fear she dared to lift her head and saw what was happening. Six metal inglots floated towards the cauldron, not gold but ultrachrome. Nervously she fiddled with her golden scorpion ring. “M’lord, whatever you choose for me, I know will be best and I am grateful.” She responded to him as she carefully watched how he placed his bands above the cauldron.

The inglots started to melt when he commanded her to place her hands above the cauldron next to his. “Of course Lord Cruor.” Quickly she removed her Battlelord ring and put it in her pocket. Then she unclasped her golden bracers and put them aside. Her palms felt sweaty when she finally placed them above the cauldron, near Darth Cruor’s own hand.

Darth Cruor watched carefully as she stripped the jewelry from her hand and arm, "No need to apologize, after we are done here I will consider the offense forgiven."  He replied to the young Knight, she could not know the pain she was about to experience.

"Cool the metal as I continue to use my telekinesis to keep it liquid."  Cruor commanded as his free hand reached out toward a shelf of vials, two of them began to float toward the table nearby.  One a larger vial of silver-gray labelled "vanadium", the other a smaller vial with contents of gold labelled "electrum".  Taking the larger vial in his free hand he used his thumb to remove the cork stopper before pouring the entire bottle of vanadium shavings into the liquid ultrachrome.

“Thank you Lord Cruor” She felt relieved by his words but a part of her was still worried, Darth Cruor was still a Sith to be feared after all. Feeling the heat of the liquid ultrachrome on her thick Iktotchi skin she took a deep breath. Following Lord Cruor’s command she applied Cyrokinesis on the liquid metal, trying to cool it down as instructed.

She saw how he summoned two vials from the shelves. Ammit was intrigued by what she saw, having only a very basic understanding of alchemy she didn’t really understand what was happening. While continuing to apply the Cyrokinesis she watched closely how Darth Cruor popped the cork of the larger vail and poured the contents into the cauldron.

Darth Cruor could feel the heat emanating from the metal fading even though he was successful at keeping it in a liquid form, the vanadium helped to ensure that.  Next he needed to add the electrum, a rare golden colored metal powder used most often for cosmetic purposes,  taking the vial he added its contents to the liquid metal in the cauldron and immediately the newly created alloy transformed into a vibrant golden color.

"Keep your hand steady now,"  Darth Cruor commanded one more time.  In his free hand appeared a lightsaber hilt, cylindrical in shape like all lightsaber hilts; only this one was wrapped in a bronze-like metal shaped into the form of a dragon.

The Soulsaber.

He ignited the weapon, it's deep purple blade was mingled with black tendrils of lightning and had small flecks of crimson floating freely within its core.  It looked like no other that Knight Ammit had seen, nor did it feel like anything she had sensed before.  The moment it was activated she became aware that she was in the presence of a powerful source of power, the Soulsaber was in fact a nexus of the Dark Side, being so near to it caused her immediate discomfort and she began to feel nauseous.

Darth Cruor lowered the end of the blade and dipped the end of it into the cauldron, almost instantly the metal became agitated and began to churn and roll within the cauldron as the energy of the Soulsaber began to taint the alloy the Dark Lord had created.

"Stop cooling the liquid," The Dark Lord instructed, "use your ability of telekinesis to pull the molten alloy to your hand, do not stop until the cauldron is emptied!"  He urged her.

Without realizing it herself her eyes grew bigger and the corners of her mouth curled up at the sight of the beautiful golden colour of the liquid. As instructed she held her hands steady above the cauldron and watched how Darth Cruor the dragon shaped lightsaber into his free hand. As soon as he ignited the saber Ammit sensed something dark but familiar.

Instantly she was overwhelmed by a suffocating feeling of nausea, making it more difficult to keep her focus and stay steady. The discomfort she felt reminded her of the darkside Nexus that was present during the duel against her former Master, Darth Skyllan. She had bonded to that Nexus, allowing her to tap into it as she fought her last trial of her Apprenticeship. But the blade Darth Cruor was holding, was different, more powerful.

A drop of sweat trickled down her forehead as she tried to keep her hands steady. Darth Cruor lowered the purple blade into the cauldron, dipping it into the metal mixture. Her heart skipped a couple of beats when the Sith Lord ordered her to pull the liquid metal over her own hands. “yes m’lord” she stuttered in shock, but she didn’t hesitate to obey his order.

With telekinesis she pulled thick golden liquid out of the cauldron, slowly it moved towards her fingers. As soon as it touched her skin she let out a growl, the liquid wasn’t burning hot but freezing cold. The liquid moved over her fingers and down her hand, the pain was unbearable but she tried extremely hard to restrain herself of screaming. Tears formed in her eyes as she clenched her jaw. In pain she groaned as the golden liquid creeped over her skin, down her wrists and forefinger. As he had ordered she didn’t stop until the cauldron was completely empty, and the left arm up to her elbow was covered in gold. Her body was shaking, her heart pounded in her chest and finally she let out a loud soul piercing scream.

Darth Cruor drank in her pain, savoring each moment as the molten metal adhered to her skin and began to eat away at the flesh beneath.  By the time the metal had reached the elbow of her left arm all that it covered was consumed to the bone, no longer was her forearm and hand made of muscle and tendon, it hardened though thanks to the vanadium remained pliable which allowed her to move her hand normally.  The golden ultrachrome had become her arm, it’s surface was cold to the touch and highly reflective, if struck by lightning or a lightsaber it could even be used to block the attacks.  It had one additional property, the ability to enhance her ability to utilize cryokinesis, an ability she helped infuse into the metal herself.

The “gift” Knight Ammit had been given was not without price however, the new arm caused her constant pain and made her core body temperature drop to the point where she was always cold, and as with all ultrachrome if enough energy from a lightsaber or Sith created lightning was transferred into the alloy the entire arm could melt, for that to happen it would take A LOT of energy though.

Ultrachrome arm properties: Resistant to lightsaber strikes, blaster and slugthrower impacts, and resistant to lightning (acts exactly like an Akk Guard vibroshield), also grants a +1 to cryokinesis.  The nails on her fingers were razor sharp, and can cut through most anything a vibroknife can cut through.

Underneath the golden surface of her arm she felt how the her flesh was eaten away. In agony she dropped to her knees, tears rolled down her pale cheeks. Softly growling, clenching her teeth she looked at her new arm. Carefully turning her arm she saw how it reflected the light, it was hypnotizing, it was beautiful.

It took a while for her to get used to the pain, it faded a little but most of the pain lingered. Ammit trembled, her body felt cold.. she looked up at Lord Cruor who fed of her suffering. “thank you Lord Cruor” she said with a soft weakened voice as she bowed her horned head down. She was truly thankful for this gift even for the constant agony....

**~ End ~**