FORESIGHT and SCOPE: BOOK TWO

C H A P T E R F I F T Y-N I N E

"Oh, where did it go now?" Fern grumbled.

"It is most likely still heading to the village." Hunter said. "Keep at it." Fern set the ship in cruise.

"Fern," Tech's voice emitted from the comm channel. "your speculation was correct. The creature is a modified clone. It is also the same species that attacked Coruscant during the war. You must not let it get near the power grid, or it will increase exponentially in size."

As Tech was finishing his explanation, the Marauder broke through the treeline and entered the clearing. Fern's eyes widened at the sight of the beast consuming the powerplant's energy. Only, it looked like nothing it did before. Now, it raised its oval-shaped head and glared at the clones with glowing-yellow eyes. Its long neck connected to a slender, serpent-like body and had four appendages with flaps for feet. It also now possessed a lengthy, whip-like tail containing eight sharp spikes. The most prominent feature was its unique third arm protruding from its back. Blue, white, and purple sparks coiled and licked at its thick, plated armor and engulfed its mouth, which was full of razor-sharp teeth. Its forked tongue flicked at the electric energy.

"It's the Zillo Beast..." Fern awed, never realizing she would see one in the flesh. She swerved just in time to avoid getting clobbered by its tail. Its powerful, ear-shattering roar verberated throughout the entire ship.

"You know this thing?" Hunter inquired with shock. "Why did you not say anything before?"

"Because one: that 'thing' didn't have beacons for eyes and an arm growing out of its back a minute ago, and therefore I didn't recognize it." Fern retorted in defense. "And two: this is my first time actually seeing one. I wasn't there when it ransacked through Coruscant. The only reason why I even heard of it was because of General Windu."

"Do you know how it was stopped before?"

"Unfortunately, yes. A specific, poisonous gas killed it," Fern said. "which we sorely lack. The best we can do is maybe aggravate it enough to drive it away from the powerplant before it grows to its full size." She veered the ship around and volleyed above the Zillo Beast's head. Wrecker understood the assignment and rapidly fired upon it, but the creature did not budge. Along up the mountain and in the village, power cells exploded from the energy's disturbance.

Suddenly, a squad of Imperial ships popped up on the scanners. "Oh, scrag!" Fern yanked the controls to dodge a collision. The Marauder was taking fire.

"Where did they come from?" Wrecker exclaimed.

"They're here for the Zillo Beast," Fern speculated, then momentarily went limp in her arms as another thought dawned on her. "and..." She smacked the comm channel with her palm. "Tech, Omega, you've got Imperials inbound and I guarantee they are not swooping in to just say hello. Get out of there now."

"On our way." Omega confirmed.

"Hang on to something." The veins popped out of Fern's arms as she initiated a series of maneuvers, from low-bearing dips to knock the Imperial ships into the trees to playing tip-yip—engaging in a full-on collision with the opponent, only to withdraw at the very last moment and thus the enemy pulverized into their own. The Marauder zipped over the crashed vessel just as it was demolished by Imperial cannon fire, just as Fern had predicted.

From what she could recall from General Windu's report, after the Zillo Beast was killed, its body was disposed back on Malastare, where its species originally resided before its presumable extinction. Obviously, this was false and the Republic, seeing as that was the standing establishment when the cloning process began, kept it under tight security. The Galatic Empire wanted to continue that streak by destroying every morsel of evidence that could lead back to the Zillo Beast's resurrection. That included... witnesses...