All which is Forgotten not necessarily has to be Dead

[Darth Abyss]

"Yes."

The answer that actually came to Abyss' mind was cut short once he took a closer look at the shapes of the blood around them. Only as the light unraveled more and more of the twisted runes that were painted on the floor he began to understand what kind of ritual had taken place there, not one of summoning, but one of fighting of what had been summoned. Under other circumstances he would've felt the need to mock those that attempted the spell for their amateurish execution of it, but even the possibility that it hadn't been their incompetence that kept it from working was enough to invoke fear within a being that had long forgotten what true, human fear felt like.

"This can not be ..."

With staggering steps the husk moved further to the center of the room, where an altar awaited them. Around it rested more corpses, all shrouded in dark robes, and none of them fitting in with the pattern that surrounded them. On the altar itself rested a ripped book, it pages red from the blood that had been spilled over them. Without spending another thought on his companion, Abyss reached for the tome and rapidly flicked through the pages, while incomprehensible rambling and mutters shrouded his metal shell.

"Those fools ... How ... Impossible ... It can not be, It can not be, It can not be."

The words began to repeat, now clearly the whispers of a madman. Suddenly the husk turned around, his hollow eyes quietly resting on the relic hunter, while collecting as much of the withered amulets, rings and pages he could find on the dead cultists. Even when a ring that carried the name of his grandfather crossed his sight he only stopped for a second. Their time wasn't running out, it had been gone the second they began their descent.

"We need to go. Now."

Passing by the woman he had hired with his bags filled to their limit, the Prophet only remained besides her for a few moments. He could already feel the spawns of dark magic coming to hunt them once more, and this time a small blaster wouldn't help them. They had walked into a trap that had been set up at least two generations ago, and their only way was to fight. From his left sleeve another lightsaber hilt jumped into his empty hand, offering the purple blade to [member="Alba Talatheen"].

"Take this, and try to cut anything but yourself or me."

 

[Madison M. Maxwell IV]

Axxila, City Ruins, Unknown Time

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Another day, another job, another kriffin' lightsaber.

A bewildered Alba had stood by and watched as her lich companion tore through the pages, unable to really understand his method for extracting the treasure from the ritual they'd wandered into. Letting out an audible groan she closed her fingers around the violet blade's hilt, igniting it after a moment of searching for the button, "Are the bugs coming back?" Alba asked, eyes scanning the dark edges of the chamber. The smell, once overpowering, was now an afterthought as her adrenaline kicked in, her mind focusing on more than the particulars of the room's atmosphere. However, she soon answered her own question; the rising and mounting feeling from before returning to overload her senses with evil all but confirmed it in her mind. What the hell had they walked into? Holding the lightsaber with mild uncertainty, she awaited whatever was going to impede them leaving, sticking close to Abyss' side. She wasn't going to let him out of her sight.

The purple blade hummed in the air and on occasion Alba's gaze flicked to it, brown eyes looking at every inch of the magnificent weapon's far-too-deadly blade. Perhaps now she'd get a longer chance to use one, see how they really felt to use... How terribly, morbidly exciting.

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Spoiler: Interacting With

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Spoiler: Interacting With

Darth Abyss

 

[Darth Abyss]

"They were here the whole time, waiting for us to grow careless. We are surrounded, and I see no other way out then to fight."

The oppressive darkness had shrouded his senses since they began their descent, and he had simply mistaken it for a nexus of corrupted force waiting for them deep down. Instead it had been linked to the spawns of dark magic all along, not merely slaves, but carrier for whatever was hunting them, and whatever had haunted him and his bloodline since generations ago.

With precise steps the husk circled around the relic hunter, until they stood almost back to back, with only a handful inches between them. The room was shrouded in the dim light of two ignited sabers, red and purple mixing in the small space left between the two. The enemy consisted of endless numbers, but at least their last encounter had proven that the insects were nothing without the presence that commanded them. That meant that they would try to swarm them, bury them below a ever growing mass of twisted flesh, instead of fighting like individuals.

"If we kill enough of them quickly, then their own corpses should slow their approach."

He barely managed to finish his sentence before the first wave of crawling flesh broke through the edges of the light. In that moment a clear shift in Abyss' presence became noticeable, as the Sith Lord was replaced by the obsessed, hungering spirit that also lived within his hollow armor. With a mind shattering laugh the husk pushed forward, unleashing a red flurry upon the insects, only stopping occasionally to pierce a head with the sharp talons of his left, or send a blast of red lightning towards a more distant enemy.

[member="Alba Talatheen"]

 

[Madison M. Maxwell IV]

Axxila, City Ruins, Unknown Time

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With a deft swing, Alba cut down with the spare blade into the screaming mass of monsters, the violet laser colliding with carapace and flesh and twisted creations, sawing through without any hesitation or struggle. It just cleaved. There was no elegance or trained artwork to Alba's strikes, simply hacking and hacking and hacking...

It was brutal. But it was instinctual too, as if she'd been born and raised for this specific moment. Everything in her family, her history, building up to this one swing of the lightsaber to slice through the consuming waves of death.

Her attention was hardly on Abyss but that was expected, as an untrained wielder she had to focus on not harming herself with the deadly weapon in her hands. But the flashes she caught of his own side of the fight sent thrills up and down her spine. He was impressive and terrifying, a grim reaper.

One day I'll get there.

But only if we live.

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Spoiler: Interacting With

[member="Darth Abyss"]

 

[Darth Abyss]

Years of violence, war and hardship had forged Abyss' work with a blade into the deadly artform it was today. Yet on first glance his erratic hacking, piercing and slashing didn't looked that different to the first attempts made by [member="Alba Talatheen"] with his spare weapon. Abyss had never cared to fight with elegance and grace. He wasn't a bladedancer, but a ruthless butcher with the finesse of twenty-four kilograms of solid metal, and the honor of dead man.

The only real difference between raw, instinctive bladeswork and his use of the weapon was strength and precision. When the enemy approached the saber remained absolutely motionless, it only felt the need to move when there was an opening. Whenever the crimson blade found one on the other hand, tainted flesh departed into dead, burned ashes with a single strike, cutting through the horde of cursed creatures with seemingly no effort.

Slowly the corpses had begun to stack on either side, and with it the amount of spawn that made it towards the two combatants grew smaller by the minute. Precise steps carried the husk backwards while the blade in his right finished of the last enemy close to him. His left hand followed suit, pointing at the remaining beasts in the distance. Instead of the lightning from before, a handgun was pulled from a hidden compartment on his leg and into his bloody claws.

The sound of shrapnel projectiles being fired into the horde carried on, as Abyss reluctantly returned into the center of the room, still deeply immersed into the thrill of battle. Even if things looked up right now, they couldn't fight forever. At least he didn't expected that Alba could. A last projectile emerged, followed by a moment of silence.

"They are regrouping, many more will be here soon. If we mean to make an escape then it is now or never."

 

[Madison M. Maxwell IV]

Axxila, City Ruins, Unknown Time

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"Right behind you." Alba's voice was haggard but full of intent, still clumsily wielding his lightsaber as she regarded the carnage they had dealt. Kark. Even more of them?

She kicked an insect corpse away from her before she moved to regroup with him. Her clothes were awkwardly splattered with gore, evidence to the first leg of their brutal stand, "How do you reckon we get out? Way we came in?" Hopefully, it wouldn't be flooded with more of those awful things. She didn't like the chances of them having to fight in a place like that rickety elevator shaft, which could bury them in wreckage if even one of those ugly little critters shifted the structure wrong.

The purple blade soon disappeared as Alba deactivated it, no need to keep it ignited whilst in their grace period. Though, like the looming axe of a headsman, she knew Abyss was right; soon they'd be under siege and this time they might not make it out.

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Spoiler: Interacting With

[member="Darth Abyss"]

 

[Darth Abyss]

"Your bet is as good as mine."

The Prophet could see many things under normal circumstances, but these were far from normal. His extended sight was caught in a chaotic maelstrom of darkness that kept the entire world around him obscured, and besides the presence of a ever looming threat waiting just at the edges of his vision he couldn't do much more then guess what awaited them. Maybe it was time to break the secrecy of his mission, a high price, but one easily paid for survival. The husk reached for his comm, a metal talon keeping the button on his right arm pressed while he talked.

"Glory, change of plans. We need extraction asap, just hire whoever can get down here first. Track my position, we will be a moving target. I will take care of anything else."

Once his hand moved away from his comm, a dim light continued to glow on the device that assured him that his current location was transmitted back to his A.I. who generally acted as his second in command and was by far the only one to know most if not all of his operations, secret or not. His right once more called in the hilt of his weapon, keeping it ready in the very likely case they would need it again.

"I say we run, and we only stop once we are save or dead."

On his own mark the metallic entity began to move forward, first a few quick paced steps, then an actual run. Due to his state he could probably run for a year and not care about anything but rust, but at least to his awareness that wasn't the case for [member="Alba Talatheen"]. To allow her to match his speed he moved at a fast but human tempo, making sure to not put to much strain on the relic hunter's endurance while they didn't knew for how long they had to keep running.

 

[Madison M. Maxwell IV]

Axxila, City Ruins, Unknown Time | I'll Sleep When I'm Dead

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Keeping silent as she heard Abyss speak to what she could only assume was a fellow associate, Alba remained at an arms-length even as they moved. Nodding in grim agreement with his final statement, she bolted after him once he began to ran, knowing that whatever was behind them would not grant them a break or reprieve.

She kept his lightsaber tight in her grip, maintaining a steady pace of jogging behind the lich as she followed him to what she could only hope would be their escape.

"How long till that extraction is here?" The pitch in Alba's voice rose a couple octaves as they moved, partly because of the strain that the running was putting on her fit body -- Normally, not an issue, but the fighting had already done a solid dent in the scavenger's endurance and now their sprint did no favours -- and partly because of her no-longer-suppressed, rising panic. Her abilities in the Force might not be trained or even remotely attended to, but the rising evil around them was starting to have an effect.

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Spoiler: Interacting With

[member="Darth Abyss"]

 

[Darth Abyss]

"I have no idea."

He hadn't planned for any of this. Normally he was the type to have a plan b ready, but not today. None of his own men were anywhere on the planet, nor was his network of contacts here anything they could rely on. It was up to his A.I. to sort things out, and their way out was dependent on how quickly she would find someone with the right skills, the right vehicle and the time to pick them up. While he continued his run, his comm released a electrical beeping noise. Touching the device once again, Glory would answer his unasked question on the other side.

"Someone is on his way. ETA two minutes, but considering his track report you should be prepared for more."

Abyss didn't found the time to answer, as a small glimpse of a light broke through the dark above them, descending towards the ground in a wide arc. Only moments later they learned what exactly Glory had meant, as the light was framed by more flashes of white born from the sparks made when metal scratched along the walls on the path down. Whoever she had hired was most certainly not very good at his job.

"We should try to reach elevated ground. Can you see the landing pad over there?"

Breaking into a sprint the husk raised his left to point at a small platform to their right, a handful of stairs leading up towards it. Quick steps carried him upwards, where the Mindeater finally came to a stop. He could feel the enemy creep towards them, only inches away of once more being unleashed upon the two. Like in the room of the ritual the husk reached for his saber, igniting the red blade.

"Try to get his attention. I will buy us some time."

[member="Alba Talatheen"]

 

[Madison M. Maxwell IV]

Axxila, City Ruins, Unknown Time | I'll Sleep When I'm Dead

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Kriffin' amateurs. Sighing loudly, Alba turned her eyes upwards as she spotted the growing light. Once he spoke, she gave Abyss a solemn nod of acknowledgement before she hurried on past him to the centre of the landing pad. The higher elevation certainly helped with her waving in their support, but it still seemed as though whoever the kark was flying wasn't using their eyeballs. Igniting the purple blade again, she began to wave the lightsaber over her head like she was directing traffic at a Coruscanti hanger during rush hour, the hum heard audibly as it swished through the air. Truly, an undignified use for a civilized weapon, but she couldn't give a chit about that now. Hopefully, they'd get the signal and figure out that was where to touch down. If they didn't, well...

With a large purple light in their face, the hired gun clearly took notice. Satisfied that they'd spotted the landing pad and those who needed relief, Alba lowered the lightsaber to her side and turned back to Abyss, "C'mon!"

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Spoiler: Interacting With

[member="Darth Abyss"]

 

[Darth Abyss]

On her look back [member="Alba Talatheen"] would barley see the shape of the retreating husk, illuminated only by the red glow of his saber. The confusion, the frustration, all the build up emotions that had stacked up during the mission that had went far worse then expected were released on the creeping enemies, now that a way out was within reach. The weapon in his right barley any work, as the deformed metal figure secured their retreat by kicking, scratching and even a bit or two with his sharp metal teeth, all shrouded in the horrific sound of his laugh.

Only when the airspeeder touched ground, the flying sparks once more showing the lacking skill of the pilot, he began to hurry back to their pickup leaving a path of shredded spawn flesh in his wake. With one finally leap the husk propelled his strange body into the recently opened door of the vehicle, which opened behind him and the relic hunter.

"What the hell are y..."

"Shut up and drive."

The words of the pilot were cut short by the broken voice of Abyss, and the glimpse of curiosity that the blood soaked monstrosity had sparked was replaced by fear. With a amateurish jump the speeder dropped of the platform, falling for a few seconds before the engine finally kicked in and pulled it into the air. Through the window, between the near all present shroud of darkness, Abyss could see the lowest levels pass by them, as they moved back towards the surface. The husk turned his head towards his companion, while typing onto his comm.

"There is a shuttle waiting to take me off this cursed world. You need a ride?"

Abyss wouldn't risk a return even to the higher levels after what had happened today. If Alba wanted to on the other hand was entirely up to her, or if she would rather take the risk to follow the husk wherever he was planning to go.