*TRANSMISSION TO CORUSCANT, IMPERIAL OCCUPATION AND RESEARCH TEAM 1, YAVIN 4, COMMANDING OFFICER, CAPTAIN MERRIC QUAID REPORTS*:

“My Lord, apologies for the limited information available, but, as commanded, I am transmitting the latest data from the research team's findings on Yavin 4.

Shadow Guard X-03, as Your Imperial Majesty so wisely saw fit to send with us, made his way down into ruin 5-alpha. He said he sensed something (and I quote) “gargantuan and angry”, recently awakened by our excavations into this particular temple.

I commanded him not to go alone, but he invoked “Abscondita Est Ei Imperatoris” and, as by Your Majesty's law, I could but comply.

However I do admit that I had previously affixed a micro-optical-transmitter to X-03's helmet without his knowledge, all but invisible to the naked eye. Your Shadow Guard has made it further and deeper into these ruins than any of my own men, but had not been exactly forthcoming with any of his findings. Having double checked all of our communications personally, I see also that Your guardsman has not used any of our equipment to report back to You either, My Lord. I trust that Your Majesty will forgive my underhandedness when Your Majesty sees what X-03 found down there.

After making his way deep into the ruins, X-03, albeit unknowingly, beamed exactly 5 galactic standard seconds of holorecording before his signal went dark and presumably was killed nobly in the line of duty to Your Majesty.

The holo seems to depict a beast of indeterminate and primoridal origin, perhaps not fully evolved, or even a product of mutation, as it has no visible external sensory organs; neither eyes, ears, nor nostrils, nothing but a smooth, black, bullet-shaped headplate ending in a toothy maw, clearly predatorial.

It stands approximately 5 meters tall. Its gait and stature bears some similarities to the rancor beast found on Dathomir and other humid worlds found in Your Majesty's domain. Though it possesses some features and abilities which are radically different, possibly not entirely natural; almost as if the creature was conceived and produced by intelligent design in some biological laboratory.

While its left arm and claw are similar to other naturally ocurring predators, its right appears to be something else entirely. The creature's right arm appears to be made of some unstable, metallic, thick, liquid material, almost like mercury. We cannot tell from the holo how it remains attached to the body, but it does. Before the signal went dark, the right arm appeared to liquify, and came, well, "shooting out" at X-03, presumably killing him instantly and shattering his holorecorder.

The creature also appears to have some type of black-coloured tendrils coming off of its back, which seem to waft and wave about similar to what might be observed when watching an underwater crustacean moving its antennae about in the search for food. The tendrils are four in all, but what is most unnerving to our anthropologists is that they appear somewhat transluscent, not like plastisteel or glass, but made of energy; "not really here”, for lack of a better descriptor.

The creature appears bipedal, and covered with some type of knobby, almost reptillian scales. And although I admit that it's difficult to tell with the limited footage we have, its hide almost appears to made out of black lava rock, some parts pitted, other parts smooth, almost shiny.

Finally, it is worth noting that we can just barely see some type of cinder or ash, seemingly still ablaze, swirl about the creature's maw when it roared at X-03. None of Your experts here with me have seen anything like it before. A "fire-breathing" creature is more commonly heard of in childrens' stories.

I have already beamed the holorecording back to Coruscant and will be standing by for Your Majesty's further orders before I send any more men down there.”

*TRANSMISSION ENDS*

Great Sith Alchemical Beast [Nemesis]:

Brawn 6, Agility 2, Intellect 1, Cunning 4, Willpower 3, Presence 2

Soak: 10, W Threshold: 35, S Threshold: 20, M/R Defense: 1/1

Skills: Brawl 3, Perception 3, Vigilance 3

Talents: None

Abilities:

Silhouette 3

Sweep Attack (The Great Sith Alchemical Beast can spend Triumph on a successful attack with its Massive Rending Claw to hit the target as well as anyone engaged with the target).

Obsidian Hide (as armor): (+1 defense, Cortosis)

Bellowing Howl (as an action, forces PCs to make a Daunting [4] Discipline check, failure means the PCs take 2 Strain Damage and are Disoriented for 1 round. Despair increases Damage taken and Disorient duration by 1. May be used twice per encounter.

Equipment:

Massive Rending Claw (Brawl, Damage 15, Critical 3, Range [short]; Knockdown, Sunder, Cortosis)

Alchemical Spear Arm (Brawl, Damage 10, Critical 5, Range [Medium]; Breach, Slow Firing 3, Cortosis, Vicious 5, this ability requies a Destiny Point to use, which carries the usual benefit)

Tendrils of Terrible Reach (Brawl, Damage 5, Critical 5, Range [Extreme], Stun Damage, Guided, Ensnare 1. Additionally, the beast may spend 2 advantages [or a Triumph] to move its target 2 range bands closer to it, the beast may also spend [an additional] 2 advantages [or Triumph] to make a second attack using either Massive Rending Claw or Alchemical Spear Arm [if available]on the same target [if in range], this ability requires a Destiny Point to use, which carries the usual benefit).

Ashes of Exar Kun (Ranged [Light], Damage 10, Crit 2, Range [short]; Burn 5, Blast 2)

*At GM's discretion, if defeated, the Great Sith Alchemical Beast's corpse may yield enough salvagable material for a single Cortosis attachment, the author suggests that the raw material have an encumberance value of 10*