The Anzat hounds were a species of Sithspawn created by Rin Sakaros and Vos'elk'eetash as weapons in the Nightmare War.
Biology and appearance[]
The Anzat hounds were created through an alchemical blend of tuk'ata, vornskrs, and terentateks. They stood a meter in height and were 1.37 meters long. Their builds were slimmer and sleeker than tuk'ata, but bulkier and more heavily muscled than vornskrs. Rin and Selkee reinforced the bones in their hips and rib cages, which seemed particularly thick to the eye. They had glowing red eyes like tuk'ata, and quasi-reptilian hides in indigo.
Anzat hounds had long maws with double rows of sharp teeth, and their jaws were powerful enough to clamp on to something and not let go, even if the something was a strong Anzat trying to shake them off. Their arms, legs, and torsos all had sharp, jagged spines which visually resembled those of both tuk'ata and Massassi. They had four legs which ended in paws with hooked talons, and the strength in their legs was such that, with a running start, they could bound onto walls and run on the walls for a few meters before gravity caught up with them. They also had enough agility and fast enough reflexes to dodge attacks from an Anzat.
Anzat hounds had tails like vornskrs, but the mild venom vornskrs secreted had been replaced with a green chemical which acted like acid on the flesh of most beings, although the hounds themselves were immune to it.
The most crucial feature of the hounds, which enabled them to serve the purpose for which they were created, was their olfactory system. In place of normal nostrils, they had several breathing flaps which appeared to be gills all along their snouts. They could smell as tuk'ata and vornskrs could, but their systems were designed to respond to the smell of Anzati. The smell of a live Anzat caused both a bloodthirsty rage and physical pain in the hounds. The consumption of Anzat flesh neutralized the burning, although it would not fade if other live Anzati were in proximity.
In addition to all their various offensive capabilities, Rin and Selkee engineered the creatures to have a resistance to telekinesis.
History[]
Jade Star: “Perhaps beautifully effective.”
―Rin reveals the Anzat hounds to Jade
Rin Sakaros began considering the use of alchemy to forge Sith monsters as early as the Battle of Feldirjo. However, it was the Battle of Harth Gool and the slaughter of Heshoo citizens by clones of Sacco Vyrak (and by Royal forces, trying to contain the clones) that finally convinced her to follow that path. She sent Jadian Star, Kyriel Windrunner, and Vem to capture vornskrs on Myrkr while Tariun Sakaros, Luna Raquelsei, and Sovi Evnairis acquired tuk'ata from Korriban. Rin herself confronted and slew a terentatek on Belsavis, then captured two Anzati from Anzat itself.
Knowing her alchemical skills were rudimentary and that she could not spare the time to master the discipline before starting her work, Rin took the Chiss Centurion Selkee with her to Kavez Massass. There they raised the Vengeance and began alchemical work on their "samples". Both inexpert alchemists, the two had numerous errors and aborted attempts before they successfully engineered an acceptable specimen. Testing it on one of the Anzat prisoners, the two made further modifications to the genetic structure before pronouncing the Anzat hounds complete, perfectly designed to kill Anzati. After they also created the Shadow Massassi, Rin and Selkee returned to the Sith Star.
Rin's brother, the Sith Lord Tariun Sakaros, was put in charge of the dispersal of the hounds and Shadow Massassi. While the Massassi were kept for selective use, the Anzat hounds were deployed widely with the Romasi and Xoquon Sector Fleets. They were unleashed on the Vyrak Legions with devastating effect at the Battle of Keliso, where Luna Raquelsei and Axelia Solios were somewhere between amazed and appalled at their ruthless efficiency. The hounds were turned loose in the corridors of the Sith Star during the battle there, and contributed to the Empire's victory by mauling and mutilating many of the Vyrak Legionnaires who had boarded the ship.
In the aftermath of the war, the Anzat hounds were kept around briefly as systems were scoured for lingering signs of the Reawakened. Once Rin Sakaros was certain that all the clones of Sacco Vyrak had been killed, she had the Anzat hounds euthanized, knowing it would not be safe to release them into the wild of any planet. However, she retained the genetic template and hundreds of frozen embryos, planning to some day unleash another generation of them on the Anzati of the known galaxy.