Alkahest is Heresy (Darth Shadow)

[Darth Libertas]

[member="Illyria"]


Hooray! The massive beast was finally dead. Sumiko got to her feet with a slight groan, holding on to Illyria since her legs were still feeling wobbly. She quickly took possession of her lightsabre again. Dusting herself off, she spared what was left of the monster's head a glance.


"Let's go before more beasts pop up," Sumiko said laconically. She was not feeling like small talk at the moment. And so they trekked further down into the dark cave. Here there was neither snow nor cold, but rather it was stiffling. Tapas had the effect of reducing the heat from unbearable to merely oppressive.

 

[Illyria]

[member="Sumiko Tanaka"]
The destination they were aiming for was slightly anti-climactic. Inside was a narrow, low passage of metal leading to a small room where a stasis chamber stood against one wall.
Illyria’s boot crushed something, and looking down she saw it was fragile bone. Further examination revealed a large amount of bones on the floor.

“The mind-trap’s work, no doubt,” Illyria commented.

A control panel was near the stasis field. Inside was the trap itself.

“We do not want to activate it, just remove the field,” Illyria commented, becoming Captain Obvious.

 

[Darth Libertas]

[member="Illyria"]


Your grasp of the obvious is inspiring, Sumiko thought to herself a bit tartly. Bones crunched between her boots as she stepped towards the control panel, sparing the stasis chamber a glance. "Keep watch in case beasts show up, I'll have a look at the panel." Alas, Sumiko had not really taken courses in Rakatan, but she knew mechu-deru. Surely trying to examine the console and get it to switch off the stasis field could not be that difficult. Oh, wait, her writer is a troll.

 

[Illyria]

[member="Sumiko Tanaka"]
Illyria carefully surveyed the room for traps, and finding none she hung around outside the door, blaster in hand, watching.

Of course, this would not be a fun and exciting adventure if our ‘heroes’ succeeded first time, so something was bound to happen to make Sumiko’s powers backfire!

 

[Darth Libertas]

[member="Illyria"]


"And this here stands for..." Suddenly a predictably red light began to glow and there was a loud, annoying beeping. Runes, which until now had been hidden, glowed brightly. "No, not 'ascend, I meant..." The stasis field vanished and a bright light enveloped the entire room as our villainous heroines were suddenly sucked into the mind prison box.

 

[Illyria]

[member="Sumiko Tanaka"]
Illyria opened her eyes, let out a gasp. At first she thought she was blind, as all she could see was white. However, after a moment’s panic she found she could see…just that most things were white.

Nearby was Sumiko, by a box which looked just like the one which had been back in the chamber.
“I suspect…you hit the wrong thing,” Illyria commented dryly.

“Ah, welcome, welcome! Welcome to my home!” a booming voice called. Emerging from the bright light was a Rakata.
“It’s been a long time…though I can’t actually tell the time in here. No, no, so long. But! It is good to see some new guests again! The last ones, oh they were so disappointing and they simply had to be destroyed, know what I mean?”

The Rakata literally skipped forward, coming to a stop before them. “Ah, two slave races together! My last guest told me it was 20,000 solar cycles since the Empire fell. How long has it been now, hmm? Is Ashira still your ‘goddess’?” the Rakata asked curiously. “We made her to last…yes, yes. Raik’aro was quite the crafter…didn’t help him though did it!”

 

[Darth Libertas]

[member="Illyria"]


And so apparently she'd pressed the wrong button. Sumiko did not like being proven wrong. Alas for her, she had not majored in infallibility. Once she came to, she realised they were inside the white room.


A being clearly identifiable as a Rakatan launched into gloating. However, one particular line of his caught her attention. Namely when he talked about 'making Ashira to last'. "Well, it is a pleasure to meet one of the original Builders. I'm afraid your descendants have degenerated badly. To the point of being barely literate savages. What do you mean with 'making Ashira to last'? Was the so-called Goddess a Rakatan experiment?"

 

[Illyria]

[member="Sumiko Tanaka"]
There was no really good way to discover that your race was made in a test tube…but having it told to you by an insane Rakata in a mind prison was probably the worst way of all!

Fortunately, Illyria had already been a sceptic, but even so she had that little thought in the back of her mind. And in no circumstance would she have believed that Ashira was made…only that she was a myth from the past.

“Hmm, hmm, yes. So the previous ones told me. Reduced to cannibalism and worshipping machines! Undignified. Still, I don’t have to worry about it in here! But yes…Ashira…and the other ones too! We gave them goddesses to be their leaders, to keep them disciplined!”

He peered at Illyria, his eye stalks focusing on her.
“Oh, you didn’t know? Well, sorry to break it to you. Hmm, hmm, yes. I designed you. Well, not you specifically, but your people. With Raik’aro of course, but when he went down they imprisoned me. Hmm, hmm, yes.”

He skipped around Illyria, examining her closely, even prodding her pointed ear before twirling back into place.
“The ears were my idea. Tell the slave races apart, I said. Humans all look alike anyway.” He glanced back at Sumiko. “No offence meant!” he added with a broad, toothy grin.

Illyria’s eyes narrowed, her fists clenched, and her Sciia started to swell and feed on power to smite this impudent creature which would dare presume to make these assumptions!

 

[Darth Libertas]

[member="Illyria"]


Well, this was an interesting revelation!


"None taken," Sumiko siad very dryly. She could feel the rage building up inside Illyria, after hearing that her people had been test tube experiments.


"A slave race, then. I imagine this explains why Eldorai have a higher than average proportion of Force-users compared to humans. To balance that out, they are physically weaker. A good choice to oversee the lesser races...but not meant to be strong enough to oppose you. I imagine it's safe to say the Kar'zun were engineered as well, yes?" she spoke conversationally.


All the while Illyria's rage was presumably building up. "Disturbing, truly. Pity the Eldorai still worship her. Now, I imagine you would not be so obliging to tell us how to leave this box?" Sarcasm mode intensified.

 

[Illyria]

[member="Sumiko Tanaka"]

The Rakata goggled at her for a moment. “Leave? Leave? But you’ve only just arrived! Hmm, hmm, yes. If I can stay in here for thousands of years, you can stay a little while. You’re probably dead by now anyway, we’ve probably been talking a year. Maybe two!”

He looked to Illyria. “But you…you can go. Spread the word to your people of the truth! I shall return to help guide them and meet Ashira again.”

Back to Sumiko. “I am sorry, but I will at last take my leave of my prison…I will take your body and you can stay here. Your form is hairy and unsatisfying, but it will do for I, Ul’karra the Creator! Don’t worry…you’ll like it here. You’ll be immortal! You can think about everything, hmm, hmm, yes.”

“I am not your puppet, we are not your toys, you vile little alien!” Illyria spat with all the centuries of xenophobia of her people.

Stretching out her hands she unleashed a scalding blast of lightning and sent it at the Rakata.

Unfortunately, it simply crackled and reflected from the creature.

The madness changed from happy to enraged in an instant. “Impudent slave! Your powers do not work here on me! You will know your place! You will acknowledge my superiority! We made you, we can unmake you!” it shrieked. “I will take your body instead and return to the Eldorai as an avenging harbinger!”

Sumiko would probably guess the only way out was to follow on the creature’s coat tails then trying to force it back into the box. It wouldn’t be easy…but was possible.

 

[Darth Libertas]

[member="Illyria"]


Calmness, observation. The Inquisition taught its acolytes well. Conventional weapons and even the Force would not work against the annoying Rakatan. So the only way to get out was to take a third option.


"I agree, you should take hers. The Eldorai have forgotten their betters and grown uppity," she said coldly, looking upon Illyria with what seemed like haughty disdain. However, out of the corner of her eye she gave the elf a wink. Hopefully the elf would get the hint.


Her plan was quite clear: Follow in the creature's wake, then push him back into the box. Not easy, but doable.

 

[Illyria]

[member="Sumiko Tanaka"]
Illyria’s eyes narrowed at Sumiko, and if she saw the wink she didn’t show it, perhaps working it into her performance, or perhaps giving in to a little Space Elf dramatics.
“You snake!” she growled.

Ul’karra looked delighted though and let down his guard completely towards Sumiko.
“See? This is how one treats their inferiors! Fare well!”

Of course, it was at this moment that he made his move, and his mistake. The whiteness above them seemed to flicker and become a vision of the room where their bodies were slumped on the floor. Rising, heading for the portal, the Rakata aimed for Illyria’s body.

Illyria rose too, ‘swimming’ through the air she reached out and grabbed Ul’karra’s leg and pulled him back from the entrance, but she would need Sumiko’s help to complete the great escape and lock the mad Rakata again in his prison.

 

[Darth Libertas]

[member="Illyria"]


Personally Sumiko always thought the Snake got a bad rep! Adam and Eve should've been grateful.


In any case, now was the moment to strike and finally escape the white room. While living forever might not be so bad, she didn't relish the idea of being stuck in a box! The Rakatan had let down his guard and so she quickly followed in his wake.


However, as he leapt for Illyria's body she roughly grabbed him by the throat and used all her strength to try and force him into his prison and finally lock him away.

 

[Illyria]

[member="Sumiko Tanaka"]
In rather melodramatic fashion Ul’karra wailed at her. “No! I will not be denied! Slaves, your Master demands…” but they never found out what he demanded. It was probably pompous though.

With a jerk Illyria gasped and sat up on the floor. The light from the box faded with a slowly fading scream of hatred.
It was at that moment that she felt incredibly hungry. Her head hurt and her body was stiff. How long had she been laying there?

Ravenously, she tore into some rations and sucked at a water bottle. Eldorai were very needy after all!

Finally she looked over at Sumiko. “Let’s get it out of here,” she said grimly. She had no intention of discussing the revelations from the creature. Not yet.

 

[Darth Libertas]

[member="Illyria"]


And so the would-be Rakatan supervillain was locked back in the box. In Sumiko's opinion he definitely deserved it. Her essence was pushed back into its body and abruptly her eyes fluttered open. The light from the box had faded, and only she and Illyria were left.


The Atrisian gasped and breathed in deeply. She was having a bad headache and her body felt stiff. When she tried to get up, her legs failed to cooperate. Moreover, she felt quite hungry and like Illyria helped herself to rations, though in a less voracious fashion.


"Agreed," she said laconically. Her head was hurting too much for small talk. Thankfully, the box was quite light so they could load it on the trolley they'd conveniently brought with them, and so they went on the trek back to the ship.

 

[Illyria]

[member="Sumiko Tanaka"]
Two down, one to go!

As they straggled back to the ship they found that Legacy had not been idle. Instead it had been humming away so that when they reappeared it was waiting.

“You have brought a mind-prison,” it commented.

“How observant,” Illyria grunted as they hauled it aboard. After which the Eldorai flopped down in a chair to eat some more.

 

[Darth Libertas]

[member="Illyria"]


Only one more item remained!


Sumiko was not in a very talkative mood after they'd hauled the box aboard. Moreover, she was having a bad headache and that fight with the primeval monster had also been sort of tiring. So she went to her room to fetch a glass of water and an aspirin.


A bit of rest would be good before they went on their final quest on this accursed planet.

 

[Illyria]

[member="Sumiko Tanaka"]
After a good half hour Illyria found relaxed and fed enough to get to her feet.
“Let’s get the last item…Prisoner X. It’s down in the furthest and deepest reaches,” she commented with a sigh.

 

[Darth Libertas]

[member="Illyria"]


"And presumably guarded by the worst monsters," Sumiko remarked. It would be terribly amusing if the whole quest to find Prisoner X turned out to be a big anticlimax with no serious opposition. Regardless, she helped herself to generous amounts of ammunition and grenades in the armoury.


At least Illyria seemed to have gotten over the shock of learning that her ancestors had been created in test tubes by megalomaniacal, pompous xenos. Sumiko was not the pep talk type. Anyhow, our two moderately villainous 'heroines' departed their ship and activated the inevitable teleportation device that was presumably waiting for them a couple miles away.

 

[Illyria]

[member="Sumiko Tanaka"]
Down, down into the depths they went. Further down than they had gone before, and as far down as one could into the stygian abyss.

Once, when she stared up, Illyria could see a pinprick of light which was the sky so far above it was hard to see. Lava boiled around them as they crossed a long stone arc to enter the final chamber.

“Prisoner One…do you know anything about it? Lord Shadow said we should uncover it…but not what we should do afterwards.”