A "Wound in the Force" is created whenever a massive loss of life occurs. All life in the galaxy is interconnected and when a significant number of lives are suddenly ended, the Force sustains a localized injury much like a sentient who had lost a limb. The epicenter of the wound became a dark place, filled with the reverberating echoes of the pain, terror, and suffering of the life forms who had lost their lives. Wounds in the Force were most often centered in astrographical locations where traumatic events took place, such as Malachor V or Alderaan, but they could also form within individuals such as Meetra Surik or Darth Nihilus.
---
@lost-on-kamino and I have done the best we can to save some of the clones in unconventional but kindly ways.
But I always had something much worse in mind for Jesse and the crew of the Tribunal...
Who doesn't love a good vengeful spirit here and there?
"I may not be a Jedi, but my connection to the Force is strong enough that I can sense when... Extraordinary events occur..." The cloaked mercenary explained over the roar of the wind. "This moon... It is the sole witness to something quite terrible."
"The crash of the Tribunal..." The young Jedi in training whispered, as she held Echo's arm to help steady him, and kept her other hand firmly planted on Rex's shoulder to keep him grounded. "But... What does that have to do with the creature that attacked our ship during the storm?"
"It has everything to do with it, silly girl..." Zed sighed. "The Jedi of old had a name for it... But this is the first time I've heard of something of that nature, manifesting like this... Perhaps it was the components that made it so... But this moon bore witness to great tragedy and loss. And then something much darker came and took something of importance. A tribute of remembrance. A mark of grief. An offering of apology..."
"Ahsoka's lightsaber... It wasn't at the memorial..." Rex realised. Recalling how his beloved friend and commander had left behind something of great importance to her to remember their lost vode by. A lightsaber was an item of great importance to any Jedi who earned those crystals. Offering hers had been the greatest sign of respect she could ever bestow any clone.
"Wait... But how is someone pilfering a gravesite cause for...For whatever that thing was?" Echo asks. His voice still weak from the mental assault of screaming wailing voices that had tried to drag him towards the hungry maw of the thing that had been stalking them since they'd landed.
"Not thing. Someone. Many someones." The mercenary corrected. "Lost, pained souls. Trapped in a single time's moment. Repeating it. Unable to see that the horror has passed... Famished for things they can no longer have. Kinship, life, breath, the comforting touch of another..."
"The lost crew of the Tribunal..." Echo paled in horror at the implication. That the thing in the storm was so much closer to home than he could ever bring himself to be comfortable with.
"Jesse..." Rex whispered, face twisting with grief as he too understood what the mercenary was implying.
"Not quite. Mostly. But much more." Zed glanced back towards the derelict venator class. The storm was headed their way. Getting stronger, darker. More turbulent.
At the very top of the hill stood a wispy shadowy figure that smelled of sulfur, burning flesh and molten durasteel. Twisting in the wind. Watching them. Waiting for the light of day to be snuffed out by the storm that was only just beginning to gain ravenous strength.
A hunter waiting for the right time to kill it's preferred prey.
"Torrent." Zed hummed. "Their name is Torrent. And they are a rather violent Wound in the Force..."
A bunch of Star Wars doodles (mostly oc stuff) that I might finish some day...
Mambo is neither a licensed medic nor a nanny droid, yet here we are...
A sleepy Crosshair (from my Amnesiac Crosshair AU) holding his little tooka, Lula II.
Two BD Units.
Rebels Era Wolffe as that one sword dog meme.
Kel Dor hatchling cycle headcanon. I like the idea of little grub babies that go through a kinda tadpole stage. When they reach one year of age, they initiate their toddler stage (no tail and toddling around on all fours) and can eat solids.
Hush, one of Mae's crewmates. He's a Commando droid with a damaged voice modulator, and a higher level of sentience than most battle droids. When presented with a choice of self-preservation and loyalty to the Separatists, he chose the former without hesitation.
My boy Pox in a dress. He'd look lovely!
Pox's helmet. He still wears Phase I clone armour because he never got the chance to properly join the war effort.
Concepts sketches of Zed Kwinde, a cyborg mercenary that serves as one of Mae's most valuable intel sources.
Space filler Nexu Crosshair doodle.
Surprisingly nice doodle of Mae being a menace to her poor medic. Mambo won't admit it, but he's got it bad for this one painfully annoying organic...
Pox in all his inexplicably beefy glory. Why does a medic need to be so stacked? Not sure, I didn't initially envision him as a big strong buff clone. Guess his diet and exercise regiment must have been a good one while he was self-isolating...
Summary: The first person infamous cyborg mercenary Zed Kwinde ever killed, was a young Guardian of the Whills named Zuiih...
Warning: Self-mutilation and amputation.
[Couldn't really pick a clone that fit today's prompt, so I'm giving the boys a break and focusing on one of my ocs. Make no mistakes tho, the clones do still have a pretty big impact in how this drabble turns out. It's just something you gotta think about to truly understand.]
[THIS STORY IS NOW ON AO3]
---
---
The temple is silent. Long delicate fingers run through thick curls with the grace and care of an enraged rancor, as Guardian Zuiih paces the halls uneasily.
Jedha has been spared from the wrath of the war, but she can sense the distress of millions as ruthless battles continuously scar the galaxy.
Droids, clones, Jedi...
None of them matter to her.
What matters to her is the civilians.
The innocents that cannot fight back.
The ones she wants to help.
But, alas, she's helpless to do anything in regards to the war efforts.
The Guardians of the Whills protect the Kyber Temple.
And Guardian Zuiih is, regrettably, a Guardian of the Whills.
A path chosen for her by her parents, just like they chose to send her older brother to be trained as a Jedi.
How she resents their choice.
She's been trained to be kind. To be considerate and calm. To be the picture perfect monk she was sent to become. But Zuiih had never quite felt like this was where she belonged.
She didn't like the restrictive teachings, the beliefs, the robes, the dogmatic company...
She could only just barely tolerate Brother Imwe and Brother Malbus, if just because they're so different from the rest of the Guardians.
Devoted but wise.
Not blinded by the staleness of the creed that they live by.
A spark of hope.
One they have still never managed to rub off on Zuiih.
She's grown disillusioned.
It doesn't help that she's strong enough in the Force that she has a good reason to be so.
She can feel the death of the galaxy all around them.
The pain of millions upon millions of sentient beings.
Such is the burden of a strong Force Empath.
Such is the horror of her life.
Tonight's argument with the Temple Elders has tipped her over the edge. Brought up many doubts and pains she'd been living with, besides the resentment of a life she never asked to live.
It's more than her jealousy that her brother got to become something that helped alleviate the pain of others.
It's more than the discontent she feels when she looks upon the mirror and sees a face she can't see as her own.
It's more than the way her skin crawls when they call her Zuiihlana Kwinde.
It's everything and more, and the pit in her stomach that used to feel hollow is full of something new.
A burning fire. All consuming. Bright and deadly.
She wants to fight.
She wants to do more than sit around and act as a novelty.
She wants to stop being a pretty lie.
He wants to be who he really is.
No one sees him slip away in the night. The Guardians had no reason to believe he'd ever leave the safety of the temple. Not when no other has ever left on such a bitter, angry, note.
But he's not Zuiih anymore.
He's someone new.
Someone that he gets to decide who to be.
He steals a ship and flies as far away from Jedha as it will take him.
Steals another and another and continues on flying.
Headed for the heart of the republic.
Headed towards the source of his pain.
He'll participate in this war, and put an end to all that suffering that keeps him awake at night. But first... Alterations need to be done.
Starting with cutting off the connection he has to the Force.
He's heard before that cybernetics hinder one's usage of it.
Maybe if he replaces enough of himself, he'd finally know peace.
He'd be disconnected enough to never falter in battle.
His choice of facility is a dingy illegal one.
A body-modding hub.
They don't have anaesthesia.
He's awake when they cut off his arms and legs.
He screams as he feels his limbs being taken away.
Screams even more as they are replaced with unfeeling machinery.
Continues to scream because he can still feel the despair of others all around.
But the potential is there.
He can reshape himself as he pleases.
Take out the old, bring in the new.
Become above what he'd once been.
He cuts his long hair, bleaches it white, puts on as much makeup and jewellery as he wants, and then gauges out his own eye and installs the replacement himself.
No anaesthesia.
He refuses to numb the agonising pain.
Because even if it hurts more than anything he's ever felt, the ecstasy that follows at having so much control is absolutely intoxicating.
Zuiihlana Kwinde dies a lost and disillusioned emotional wreck.
Zed Kwinde is born an apex predator primed to kill.
He Joins the GAR from the sidelines, makes friends with few people.
Watches his brother Vikerius from afar, trigger finger itching for bloodshed.
The only thing that stops him from murdering the focal point of his envy is the squadron of clones that seem so fond of him.
The commando with the snarling hound heads drawn upon his kit... Makes him falter the most...
Zed doesn't look up, merely continues to clean his blaster even as he begins to speak.
"I consider all childhood memories equally as terrible or terribly boring, so I won't bother to pick one over the others." He slots a part back into place and then glances in your direction briefly. "Besides, I don't believe that's any of your business..."
6. What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever had to do?
"Hm. You're insistent aren't you? Very well..." He rolls his eyes as he slowly puts his blaster back together. "If you must know, the hardest thing I've ever done was leaving the temple where I was raised... Despite my unhappiness, it had been my home for quite some time. The first steps on the path of your own making are never easy ones..."
8. What do you think had the biggest impact on you growing up?
"That would be my strength as an Empath." His expression darkens slightly. His blaster is back together and he's now cleaning a vibroblade. "My connection to the Force isn't weak, and lack of training made it... Hard to ignore when a war raged on..."
9. Are you a spiritual person? If yes, what do you practice?
Zed finally looks at you and starts laughing. He wipes away a stray tear, messing up his mascara ever so slightly, before he glares at you. You get the impression you should probably leave him alone before he turns his weapons on you.
"I was raised as a Guardian of the Whills, while my brother was raised a Jedi. We were both equally strong and believed in something bigger than ourselves... But I was always much smarter than Vikerius... I left where he died for the Jedi Order... For nothing... Spirituality can give you hope, but it will never save you in this Galaxy..." He points to the door. You get to live, for now. "Leave."
Summary: Zed is neither a Jedi nor a fool, but he sure knows how to make fools out of others...
[THIS MINI STORY IS NOW ON AO3]
---
Zed wasn't a fool, he knew he couldn't trick everyone.
As luck would have it he was fortunate enough to evade the rest of the Inquisitors's narrow-minded interest.
But not the 13th Sister. No, she kept her eye on him and he knew she wasn't one to give up on a particularly intriguing quarry. Especially when she was so sure he was up to something.
The mercenary knew it was a matter of time before he got caught smuggling out clones and information. But that day was not today and he honestly found it funny how easily the 13th Sister fell into manipulation and mind-games when those were tactics she herself employed.
In a game of wits even a master can fall short if they end up in the trap of their own hubris. Kera may be on top of her game when it came to pitching the other Inquisitors against each other, but Zed was nothing if not a master of making his enemies seem like bumbling idiots in his presence.
The charms of a clever cyborg far outmatch the greed of a power-hungry frog.
I want to know more about your other star wars ocs (the not clones ones). I'm especially curious about the Kwinde brothers. What's going on there?
Oof my dude, a lot of family drama.
That's what's going on there...
Vikerius Kwinde and Zedediah "Zed" Kwinde are perhaps two of my oldest Star Wars ocs, and also two characters I don't get to talk about very often. Mostly due to them having been in the background of a ton of my other characters's stories (Especially Mae's).
They are two mixed race human Force Sensitives (both exceptionally strong Force Empaths) ailing from Jedha, who had their paths in life chosen and carved out for them by their parents who wanted the prestige that came with having both a Jedi and a Guardian of the Kyber Temple in the family (a rather selfish act on their part which caused the crux of Zed's resentment towards Vikerius).
Continue reading...
---
Starting with knowing his strengths and his limits.
To Vikerius the Jedi life was all he ever really knew, and he took it very seriously.
This was the destiny the Force had in store for him.
The purpose of his being. And he'd honour it without faltering.
Due to his high affinity for sensing the emotions of others, he preferred to concentrate on introspection and inner-peace/balance, rather than pursue conflict, as he thought immersing himself into constant combat or emotionally compromising situations might lead to his fall.
Zed on the other hand, was never happy serving as a Guardian of the Whills. On top of feeling like his identity was not his own and the constant body dysforia, he also felt like he'd been robbed of greater purpose.
As such, in terms of aspirations, it seemed like his main goal in life was to become a Temple Guard rather than become a Jedi Knight or Guardian...
Something which tragically never came to pass as the Clone Wars began with the death of hundreds of Jedi, and the need for skilled fighters commanding the various clone battalions was of a higher priority at the time...
So he ran away.
He couldn't understand why he wasn't sent to be trained as a Jedi, when he was just as strong (if not stronger) than Vikerius.
It also didn't help that, due to lack of training, he couldn't control his ability to sense the emotions of others... Something which caused him great anguish when the Clone Wars got more and more ruthless.
Sensing the suffering of literal billions of sentients was tearing him apart and he wanted to put an end to it.
He put aside his old identity (quite frankly killing the person he'd been before), and remade himself both literally and figuratively.
And, while the cybernetic enhancements didn't dull his connection to the Force as he'd so desperately hoped they would, they did give him an advantage out in the field.
The reason why is... Not one Zed knows the answer to.
Naturally both brothers eventually met out in the battlefield.
Zed even came close to assassinating Vikerius out of pure jealousy many times.
Hoping to destroy what he perceived as someone who robbed him of something he'd so terribly wanted.
But he never could bring himself to pull the trigger.
Even when he knew for sure he'd be able to kill him before Vikerius even realised his life was in any danger.
It could be that he didn't kill Vikerius because of Mae...
Or maybe because of the clone commandos that so clearly needed his guidance...
Or maybe... Just maybe... Zed didn't really hate him as much as he claimed...
Who knows?
He certainly doesn't.
Once again he'd been robbed of something, and this wasn't as easy to replace as a poorly lived life.
It's not like it matters anyway.
Grievous eventually killed Vikerius, so it's not like either of them ever really had a chance to get to know each other all that well.
That one-sided bitterness remains between them, and if anything Vikerius's death only worsened the conflicted emotions Zed felt.
