The days had blurred together.
Adam no longer knew how long he had been on this frozen wasteland. The only thing he knew was hunger.
His body was thinner now, leaner. His stomach twisted in on itself, demanding nourishment, but food was scarce. The wampa's corpse had long since been stripped of anything edible. He had forced himself to eat every scrap, even the parts that disgusted him. Raw meat. Bone marrow. Anything to keep himself alive.
But it wasn't enough.
His body had begun to break down muscle to sustain itself. His once-sharp features were now more gaunt, his ribs slightly visible beneath the fur of the wampa hide he wore. Even with the Force to keep him warm, the cold was relentless. His fingers were stiff, his lips cracked and bleeding. He had never felt so weak in his life.
Yet, he was still here. He had survived.
The cave was the only true shelter he had, a hollowed-out den that once belonged to the beast he had slain. It reeked of death, but it shielded him from the howling winds and blizzards that ravaged the surface. He had learned to ration his energy, to use the Force sparingly. Every bit of warmth, every ounce of strength mattered.
But the hunger was becoming unbearable.
Adam sat near the cave entrance, his mind clouded with exhaustion. His hands rested on his knees as he stared out into the white abyss. His master had abandoned him here. Sidious had *wanted* him to suffer. To break.
He let out a dry laugh, his breath visible in the freezing air.
*Is this my fate? To die here, forgotten?*
No. That wasn't an option.
His master was testing him. Pushing him to his limits. He would *not* break.
Adam forced himself to stand, his legs shaky beneath him. He needed food. Water. Something. He had to keep moving. Staying in one place would be his death.
His blue eyes, sharp despite his deteriorating state, scanned the icy wasteland beyond the cave. There had to be something out there. Some sign of life.
Then, he felt it.
A disturbance in the Force.
His entire body tensed.
It wasn't an animal. It wasn't the presence of another wampa or some other creature.
It was *people.*
Adam's heart pounded in his chest as he reached out, searching through the Force. He counted at least *four* life signatures moving through the snow, approaching his location.
*No.* Not just people. *Hunters.*
His instincts screamed at him. His master had sent them.
This was the true test.
A slow grin spread across Adam's face. Despite his exhaustion, despite his hunger, he felt a thrill rush through him.
So be it.
He staggered back into the cave, gripping his stolen fur tighter around his body. He had no weapons aside from his mind and the Force. His lightsaber was with his master.
But he would adapt. He *had* to.
The first thing he needed was a weapon. A real weapon.
His gaze drifted toward the remains of the wampa. The bones were thick, strong. He could sharpen one into a makeshift blade. It wouldn't be elegant, but it would be deadly.
Adam quickly grabbed a long, curved bone and began grinding its edge against the jagged ice of the cave wall. It took minutes—*precious* minutes—but the end result was a crude, sharpened blade.
It would do.
He crouched low, his breathing steady despite his body's exhaustion. He could hear them now—footsteps crunching through the snow.
They were getting closer.
Adam closed his eyes and let the dark side fill him, numbing his hunger, his fatigue, his pain. He allowed himself to *feel* the ones hunting him.
They were armed. Blasters. Slugthrowers.
*Good.* That meant they weren't Jedi.
He positioned himself deeper in the cave, pressing his body against the shadows. He would wait.
And when they came, he would strike.
The snow swallowed all sound.
Adam lay buried beneath it, his body pressed against the frozen ground. His breathing slowed, controlled, as he reached out with the Force, sensing the approaching hunters. They moved in a loose formation, confident in their numbers and weaponry. But they didn't know the terrain. They didn't know *him.*
They were the prey.
He could feel their hearts beating, quickening slightly as the wind howled around them. They were cautious, but not afraid. Not yet.
Adam's lips curled into a wicked grin. *They will be.*
His muscles tensed as one of the hunters, a Trandoshan, drew closer to his position. The reptilian's heavy boots crunched against the snow, scanning the area with an old slugthrower. Slugs wouldn't be deflected by a lightsaber, but it didn't matter. Adam didn't have one.
*Perfect.*
The moment the hunter stepped past him, Adam burst from the snow like a phantom. His sharpened bone blade plunged into the Trandoshan's calf, slicing through muscle and sinew. The creature let out a guttural roar, but Adam was already behind him, dragging him into the snow.
"W-What the—?!"
Adam's hand clamped over the hunter's mouth, muffling his cries as he slit his throat. Blood gushed out, staining the snow crimson. Adam held the body there for a moment, savoring the warmth as the life drained from the hunter's eyes.
He whispered, "You never stood a chance."
Lowering the body into the snow, he reached for the Trandoshan's slugthrower and slipped back into the shadows.
Three left.
The others hadn't noticed yet. They moved ahead, scanning the landscape. One of them, a human woman with a cybernetic eye, spoke through her comm.
"Kross, report. What's your position?"
Silence.
She stiffened. "Kross?"
Her companion, a Rodian, grunted. "Must be the storm interfering with comms."
Adam smirked. *Fools.*
Using the dark side, he reached into the woman's mind, planting the seed of unease.
*You're being watched.*
Her breath hitched as she spun around, eyes darting through the snow. "Something's wrong."
The Rodian sneered. "You're losing your nerve."
Adam raised the slugthrower and fired. The bullet ripped through the Rodian's chest, sending him crumpling into the snow.
The woman screamed, firing wildly in Adam's direction. He was already on the move, weaving through the snow like a phantom.
"Where are you?!" she shrieked.
Adam's voice echoed through the storm, cold and haunting. "Right here."
He lunged from the side, ramming the bone blade into her side. She gasped, eyes wide with terror as he forced her to the ground.
"You feel that fear?" he whispered. "Good. I'm feeding off it."
Her body spasmed as he twisted the blade deeper. The light faded from her cybernetic eye as her body went limp.
One left.
The last hunter, a towering Weequay, began to panic. He fired blindly into the storm, shouting curses into the void.
"You think you're a monster? I've killed worse than you!"
Adam circled him, letting the fear fester.
"I'm not a monster," Adam's voice echoed from all around. "I'm something far worse."
The Weequay's hands shook as he fumbled to reload his blaster.
Adam surged forward, slamming the slugthrower's butt into the hunter's head. The Weequay stumbled, but Adam didn't give him a chance to recover. He tackled him to the ground, driving the bone blade into his gut.
The hunter gasped, blood bubbling from his mouth.
Adam leaned in close, his voice a venomous whisper. "Your fear... it's intoxicating."
He twisted the blade, savoring the agony that rippled through the dying hunter's body.
The Weequay's eyes rolled back as death claimed him.
Adam rose from the blood-soaked snow, breathing heavily. He felt alive. Powerful. The dark side coursed through him, feeding off the fear and death he had wrought.
*This is what my master wanted. This is what I've become.*
He wiped the blood from his face and turned toward the distant horizon. His master had tried to break him, but instead, he had forged something stronger.
He was no longer Adam from another world.
He was Darth Venator.
And anyone who stood in his way would suffer the same fate as these hunters.
Adam scavenged through the bodies of the fallen hunters, stripping them of any gear that could aid in his survival. From the Weequay, he took a thick fur-lined cloak. From the Rodian, he pulled off a utility belt stocked with rations, a thermal detonator, and extra ammunition. The human woman carried a data pad, encrypted, but potentially valuable. The Trandoshan's heavy boots, insulated for extreme environments, were a welcome addition.
As he gathered the supplies, Adam's gaze drifted toward the distant ship the hunters had arrived in. His heart quickened. *If I can reach that ship, I can get off this frozen wasteland.*
Moving swiftly, he trudged through the snow, the biting wind cutting against his face. He gripped the slugthrower tightly, every sense on high alert. The ship loomed ahead, its dark hull a beacon of potential freedom.
Then, a screech echoed through the sky.
Adam's eyes shot upward, spotting a sleek fighter descending from the clouds. His instincts screamed at him to move. He dove to the ground just as a bright crimson blast erupted from the fighter's cannons, striking the hunters' ship.
The explosion sent debris flying in all directions. Flames erupted from the wreckage, casting an eerie glow against the white snow.
Adam clenched his teeth, seething with rage.
*My master wants me trapped here.*
The fighter circled once before disappearing back into the storm. Adam slowly rose to his feet, the heat from the burning wreckage warming his face.
"Sidious," he growled. "You think you can break me?"
The dark side swirled within him, feeding off his hatred, his frustration.
He turned his attention back to the bodies of the bounty hunters. There was no escape from Hoth—not yet. But he would survive. He would grow stronger.
And when the time came, he would make his master pay.
Adam trudged back toward the cave where he had killed the wampa. He would need shelter, supplies, and time to plan his next move. He glanced back at the burning wreckage one last time before disappearing into the snowstorm.
*If my master thinks I'm broken, he's wrong.*
With each step, the darkness within him grew, colder and more relentless than the storm that raged around him.