User:Zed42/Workbench1

"Do you know the real reason shape-shifters keep themselves secret? It's because we're used to being used."

- Lopset Yas

Lopset Yas, nicknamed "Flopso" by Doctor Chelli Lona Aphra, was a shape-shifter who worked as an electrician. At some point, Yas was imprisoned by the Galactic Empire at Accresker Jail and became a member of their expendable fighting force in Aphra's squad. Following an attack on an EF76 Nebulon-B escort frigate, Yas gave Aphra a transmitter so she could contact someone who could help them escape. Aphra convinced Magna Tolvan to rescue them, and during another engagement, she and Yas deserted the fight and met with her on the other side of the jail. Their attempt was foiled by a Force spirit, which led him and Aphra to a Penumbra-1 shattersprite. There, they discovered an infestation of gundravian hookspores, which later caused Accresker Jail to be decommissioned and shot at the planet Tiferep Major with all its prisoners still on board. Unfortunately for Yas, Aphra's new escape plan involved him being frozen in the form of Cornelius Evazan, and being traded to the bounty hunter Tam Posla.

The exploited one
"Doctor Cornelius Evazan.''" "Ooh&mdash;I've heard of that guy." "''Used me as a display model for his aesthetic benevolence surgery."

- Lopset Yas explains his work with Cornelius Evazan to Chelli Aphra

Due to being a shape-shifter, Yas was discovered by various individuals, who wished to use his shape-shifting powers. At various points in his life, Yas posed as the double of Kelko Dev to flush out terrorists who opposed her rule, was used as a display model for Cornelius Evazan's aesthetic benevolence surgery, and encountered Sandewar Mandewar, leader of the Vex crusade. Tired of being used, Yas went into hiding, working as an electrician. Eventually, he was taken by the Galactic Empire and imprisoned in the wreckage-prison known as Accresker Jail, assigned into a squad led by a hubdroid. During his time in the prison, he saw several things that led him to believe it was haunted, such as power couplings frying people to death despite having no power, and boarding-spikes cutting another prisoner in half.

Forging allies
"Wh-where are we going? What's the plan here?''" "Dek-Nil, meet Flopso. Flopso, meet Dek-Nil." "''It's, uh. It's Lopset Yas. S-so&mdash;you know this droid?"

- Lopset Yas and Chelli Aphra

Yas and the rest of his squad were deployed into an attack on an EF76 Nebulon-B escort frigate. During the battle, Chelli Lona Aphra, a member of the squad, sabotaged their hubdroid by feeding it false information. Yas asked what was wrong with the droid but Aphra just greeted him, calling him by his pet name, Flopso. As Yas corrected her on his name, the hubdroid exploded, killing all the other members of the squad. Yas began to panic as their implants started beeping, about to detonate. However, another hubdroid, Dek-Nil, arrived, and Yas begged him to let him and Aphra into his squad, which had been lost in a series of improbable accidents. Before their implants could explode, Dek-Nil transferred them into his squad.

After informing Yas that Dek-Nil was her droid, Aphra led them around a corner, where an escape pod was stuck on the edge of the prison's airdome. As Aphra was about to discuss helping Yas escape Accresker Jail, the restraining bolt on Dek-Nil mysteriously moved, taking control of him and leading him to destroy the escape pod due to the Imperial programming. Yas and Aphra then noticed a Force spirit, but were were ordered back to their sector before they could investigate. Returning to the prison, Yas showed Aphra a transmitter he had discovered and repaired, telling her that he knew she had connections to someone who could help them escape. He gave her the transmitter, asking her who she would call.

Aphra took the transmitter and contacted Magna Tolvan, telling her secrets that forced Tolvan to help her escape to protect both of them. As she did so, Yas was almost crushed by some wreckage which had fallen down on its own. Aphra saved him, and Yas told her of the experiences he has had in the prison, claiming that he believes the jail is haunted. Aphra disregarded the idea, but confronted Yas about being a shape-shifter, as she saw him partly change as she was trying to save him from the wreckage. Yas shape-shifted into the forms of several individuals who had used him in the past, telling Aphra that he tried to keep himself secret to avoid being used any longer. Aphra quoted her mother, telling him that evil was a measure of how much people's choices took away the choices of others.

Escape attempt
"L-look&mdash;we just picked a fight with a-a-a haunted mushroom! Why aren't we running?"

- Lopset Yas, to Chelli Aphra

Squad Dek-Nil was later assigned to fight in an attack on a pirate station. During the engagement, Aphra used an Imperial code to override Dek-Nil's restraining bolt. Aphra led Dek-Nil and Yas over to where Tolvan was waiting for them in a TIE fighter. But before they could escape, the Force spirit they had seen earlier appeared and destroyed the sensor disruptors keeping Tolvan's TIE fighter from being detected. Aphra became distracted by it, and as she was led away by the spirit, Yas followed her, encountering the wreckage of a Penumbra-1 shattersprite.

As they investigated the ship, Tolvan was attacked by Sana Starros, a Rebel operative, who flew in on her ship, the Volt Cobra. As it tore her TIE fighter apart, Tolvan jumped out with a rocket launcher on her shoulder and fired at the Cobra, shredding through its port side. Witnessing this, Yas asked Aphra what she thought was happening, but she was distracted by the spirit, who disassembled Dek-Nil with the Force. Aphra shot the spirit, and it disappeared, revealing an infestation of gundravian hookspores, which Yas recognized as the most infectious saprophyte in existence. They rapidly fired at the hookspores, which retreated into the ship, revealing the corpse of a long-dead Jedi. Before Aphra could retrieve the Jedi's lightsaber, the battle concluded, and the airdome began to retreat. As they ran away, Yas retrieved Dek-Nil's central processor, preventing their implant proximity bombs from detonating.

Yas and Aphra ran into Tolvan and Starros, but were encountered by a hubdroid and told to return to the prison. The hubdroid took Aphra away for interrogation, leaving Yas, Tolvan and Starros to return on their own. As they arrived, Yas told them that he was thankful that their situation couldn't get any worse, but he was proven wrong when the presence of the hookspores was discovered by the command of Accresker Jail, who announced that the jail was decommissioned and would be propelled onto a collision course with Tiferep Major, a Rebel Alliance-affiliated planet.

Trapped in Accresker
"Th-the ghost. It's on a rampage.''" "''How many times, Lopset? Don't call it that. It's a sentient telekinetic fungus. "Ghost" just sounds silly."

- Lopset Yas and Chelli Aphra

In an attempt to find a way off the prison, Aphra made use of Lopset's shapeshifting powers to trick Tam Posla into rescuing them. Yas shapeshifted into Dr. Evazan, impersonating him as Aphra contacted Posla. Deceived into thinking Aphra was holding Evazan captive, Posla agreed to take his ship to Accresker Jail. Yas changed back into his regular appearance as Starros and Tolvan discovered that the staff off Accresker were abandoning the Arquitens-class command cruiser that pulled the prison. Yas asked if they should run, which Aphra agreed with.

As the cruiser crashed into the body of the wreckage-prison, Yas watched as the convicts began to riot and fight each other. The convicts recognized Aphra as the one that had been interrogated, and she and Yas once again agreed to run. They turned around to see a prisoner aiming a large gun at them, but the prisoner was killed by the Force spirit, who then killed several others. Yas noticed that the spirit disappeared if it strayed too far from its ship, and Aphra connected it to the dead Jedi they had discovered earlier. Tolvan suggested breaking into the Arquitens-class cruiser, but Yas asked whether they should wait for Posla to rescue them. Aphra disregarded the possibility of Posla coming to Accresker, so Starros decided to use the large weapon they had been threatened with earlier to break through the wall of the cruiser. Yas helped hold the gun, and then entered the cruiser behind Starros, Tolvan and Aphra.

Inside the cruiser, Yas discovered the interrogation bor, which had not been properly refrozen. Aphra discovered that an escape pod still remained in the cruiser, but they had no way of getting to it. Yas suggested the large gun, but the weapon was too heavy to move. Aphra took Dek-Nil's head from Yas so that she could slice into the generator that controlled the prison's gravity. Aphra did so, setting the gravity to half of what it had been while also bringing the wreckage of the hookspore-infected ship towards them. Yas took the piece of Dek-Nil back as they made their way through the prison, arriving at the Penumbra-1. The hookspores briefly possessed all four of them, but was unable to sense anything from Yas, rejecting him as a potential host. Starros realized that Aphra had purposely brought the Jedi's ship towards them so she could retrieve the lightsaber, telling her that the hookspores would not move until they had a heroic host to possess.

Exploited once again
"You're using me! Like people always do! Whatever happened to "evil's just a measure of how much your choices take away other people's"?''" "''You still have a choice. You either get used, or we all die. Welcome to the galaxy, Lop."

- Lopset Yas and Chelli Aphra

Aphra led Starros, Tolvan and Yas to the single remaining escape pod in the wreckage of the cruiser. While Starros and Tolvan climbed into the escape pod, Yas remained outside with Aphra, who launched the escape pod. Tolvan, who had not realized that Aphra was intending to stay behind, leapt out of the pod at the last second, leaving Starros alone in the launched pod. Aphra was irritated with Tolvan, telling her that she had only planned to escape alone. Yas questioned this, and Aphra quickly corrected herself, ensuring him that her plan would still work with the three of them. Yas followed Aphra and Tolvan to the main launch hangar, and Aphra told Yas to remain standing on a grille in the floor. Before Lopset could ask Aphra why he needed to stand there, Tam Posla arrived in his ship. Aphra began speaking to Yas, who realized she wanted him to shape-shift back into Evazan. Distressed by Aphra exploiting his powers just as many others had in his past, he recalled the quote Aphra told him when he first revealed his ability. Yas reluctantly shape-shifted into the form of Evazan, but was worried that he would give himself away. Reminding Yas of the frozen interrogation bor they had seen previously, she revealed that he was standing on top of a coolant grille, which she activated, freezing Yas in Evazan's form. Tam Posla exited his ship to confirm that Aphra had Evazan, and fell for the trick. Posla took the chunk of ice containing Yas aboard his ship, and left Accresker Jail. As he flew away, Posla looked behind him at his frozen prisoner, having doubts about whether it was truly Evazan. In order to find out, he ordered his ship to divert its power to the heating array, so that the ice containing Yas would melt.

Personality and traits
"Selfish masters, benevolent masters, monstrous masters--it doesn't matter. They all see us as a resource first, and living beings second."

- Lopset Yas, on his former masters

Lopset Yas was a changeling who took many forms throughout his life, including Kelko Dev, Cornelius Evazan and Sandewar Mandewar. While he was detained in the Accresker Jail, Yas had a similar appearance to the Abednedo species. He had brown skin, and eyes that changed color over time.

Early into his life, Yas let himself get used by other individuals until he realized he was just a tool and went into hiding. Yas was quick to become nervous or fearful, begging Dek-Nil to let him into his squad after his first hubdroid exploded, and gaining a stutter whenever he became frightened. He quickly learned a lot about Aphra, second-guessing her connections with the underworld. Yas was also very conscious of his surroundings, noticing a lot of weird doings in the Accresker Jail. He also trusted Chelli Aphra a lot, having to follow her wherever they she went due to the hubdroid they had in common. When she followed the Force spirit to the Penumbra-1 shattersprite Yas was quick to follow and he made sure to keep Dek-Nil's central processor to keep their implants from detonating. He continued to carry the piece of Dek-Nil even when the implants were disabled.

Skills and abilities
"By the way&mdash;"exquisitely infectious"? Thought you were an electrician, Lopset.''" "''I'm&hellip;I'm multidisciplinary."

- Chelli Aphra and Lopset Yas

Being a changeling, Lopset Yas could take the form of any species he had seen, as well as being able to impersonate them accurately like he did to flush out Kelko Dev's enemies, or trick Tam Posla into thinking that he was Cornelius Evazan. Yas was also a skilled electrician, taking up the job when he went into hiding. He was able to find and rebuild a transmitter on Accresker Jail, and gave it to Aphra to use. He also had a knowledge of other subjects, able to recognize the gundravian hookspores and describe them in some depth.

Equipment
During his servitude at the Accresker Jail, Lopset Yas wore dark brown leather clothing with a large hood and compartments around the waist, an outfit worn by all prisoners at Accresker Jail.

Behind the scenes
Lopset Yas first appeared in the 2018 canon comic Doctor Aphra 20: The Catastrophe Con, Part I, written by Simon Spurrier and illustrated by Kev Walker.

Appearances

 * Doctor Aphra 20: The Catastrophe Con, Part I
 * Doctor Aphra 21: The Catastrophe Con, Part II
 * Doctor Aphra 22: The Catastrophe Con, Part III
 * Doctor Aphra 23: The Catastrophe Con, Part IV
 * Doctor Aphra 24: The Catastrophe Con, Part V

Notes and references
Category:Individuals of unidentified species Category:Males Category:Shape-shifting individuals