Public Ashes of Horror | Agents of Chaos + Open

[5U-K5]

Tags: Scherezade deWinter and Xandyr

5U-K5 watched as the others stumbled through the portal with little grace. Each would test their weapons to varying degrees of success, before taking a gift knife from the generous scherezade. He refused the pink sparkling monstrosity she offered him with a wave, he had brought his own knife.

He stepped over to the candles and reach for one but paused before grabbing one. He turned to the rest of the crowd and raised his voice so all could hear, "Stay away from the water." He grasped the candle and as he stepped, he let out a loud, horrific and metallic scream until the crack of sudden movement dragged him away. He stopped the scream imediately upon landing so the others already here didnt hear it and only the crunch of the ground under his heavy frame.

"Well, what do we have here sparkles? Other than a bunch of semi useful weapons and their confused wielders." He tapped his rifle as it was starting to hum again, "Huh, seems the cold helps. So, direction boss?"

 

[Annasari]

Equipment: Whimsy Knife, G-47 Pipsqueak , Phase I Haywire Armor


Annasari half-stumbled through the portal, tripping over her own two feet in the process. She had been silent in this endeavor thus far, put in a horrible mood by the events that were playing out. The idea of missing children, little innocent souls who were abducted in the middle of the night, rattled Annasari to her core. Since she had left Nar Shadda, she had vowed to help protect those who couldn't protect themselves, as she wished someone would have done for her. Whatever terror had caused this, Annasari would make them pay.

When she arrived on the other side of the portal, she caught herself, regaining her balance. She looked around, sucking in a sharp breath. The whole place felt like a dream, almost not real. The snowflakes that were falling began catching in her hair, gathering around her face, before slowly melting away. Her eyes saw the extreme temperature before it began to bother her, a trait of her Arkanian heritage. She blinked a few times, attempting to adjust before her gaze turned to her allies. Her hands flew instinctually to the holster at her side, removing the blaster, the weight of it heavy in her hand. She turned it away from the group and attempted to fire, but nothing. It left her feeling naked as she reholstered it. Annasari attempted to shake the uneasiness and realized this may be fun; in her younger days, hand to hand combat and sparring were her specialties. Perhaps it was time to shake the rust from her skills.

As the man, woman, and droid before her each took a candle and vanished into thin air, Annasari's alert went up. Whether this was some type of trick of the eye or an unknown magic, she was not sure; whatever it was, she didn't like it one bit. The droid seemed to be confident in his actions though, which brought a bit of comfort to Annasari. She approached the table and grabbed a candle, before everything faded out in a spiral and she reappeared in front of the fort, her friends surrounding her. She dropped the candle and shook her shoulders, attempting to regain her sense of stability and shake the slight nausea the teleportation had brought her.

"I never want to karking do that again" She declared loudly, breaking her silence for the first time since the group had gathered.

 

[Jorah zos Darnus]

Meanwhile, at the Legion of Doom...

[ lost lolcat theme ]​

The boy's fur stood on end.

Shivers ran up and down his body, even as his hands clapped down over his large, tufted, triangular ears. Grinding his teeth, the boy grimaced in pain as sensitive Cathar ears were besieged by all the screaming. His tail shot straight out, almost as if the kitten had been struck by lightning, waiting for all the squealing to start to subside. Only then was Micah able to focus on what everybody was screaming about.

Dex asked if it was alchemy.

"Some kind of midi-chlorian manipulation, maybe?" the kitten mused aloud, as his large amber eyes studied the only vaguely recognizable kids that had been returned to them.

Alchemy could create animal features, but it typically took time to breed those in. Organ grafting? Except, where had the organs come from? No, this seemed like some kind of transformation. That would require operating at a cellular level.

Those who have the potential to use the Force, ride. Those who do not, get ridden.

Except, what did that mean? Could that be a clue? Was Force Sensitivity relevant to some kind of experiment being done here?

None of those questions seemed to answer the larger issue of why they were there, or how they'd come to be here. An entity that possessed the means of cellular transformation and teleportation would seem to already have a wealth of both power and resources. As such, their being there seemed unnecessary.

The boy was seeing glimpses of the effects, but what was the underlying cause? Without understanding a goal, he still might be able to piece together a better theory of just what this was if he only understood what kind of sorcery or science they were dealing with here.

Jai'galaar Gred Paragon of Virtue​

 

[Jai'galaar Gred]

Jai's eyes went wide when Scherezade just seemed to vanish. "What the....? Echuta, where'd she go?" Jai would then watch as yet another, this time the MurderBot-2000, went screeching into the distance. "Um.... Couldn't it ever just be simple?" He then walked up, watching as others vanished too. Great. He took a breath grabbing it before being practically flung forward, and soon appearing next to the others. He breathed hard as he looked around, rubbing his helmet before looking at them all. He heard Annasari, nodding in agreement.

"What she said. Pretty sure my stomach's somewhere half-way along the line." Jai would then quickly put the candle down, and pull out his weapons. "So, what now?"

Scherezade deWinter 5U-K5 The Bridesmaid Asteria deWinter Xandyr Verdun Veroza Alyosha Drutin Annasari

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Dex looked at Micah, clearly worried. He looked around before finally speaking up, not sure he wanted to say what he was about to. "Are... are they Forcies, or are they like me?" He couldn't really tell, but he figured Micah would know. Dex may have been a decent slicer, but he knew next to nothing about the Force. Or whatever the heck was going on.

Micah

 

[Kai and Gerda]

While Alyosha frowned and began testing his weapons, Theo went on talking.

"Well, honey, we may seem like your standard mercenary types, but we certainly have more to offer than the average space trash. My friend here is a trained acrobat and assassin, and a 'Forcie', as you call 'em. As for me, I am a former agent with the OPA and the best pilot this side of Bespin. Oh, and there's a reason the ladies call me Blue Milk..." He trailed off with a suggestive wink.

Alyosha had discovered, much to his displeasure, that the blade of his Light-Spear would not ignite. His rifle appeared to be still functioning, and his control of the Force was... practically nonexistent, at least as far as telekinesis was concerned. He was having trouble sensing the people around him; it was as if a fuzz or static had descended over the area.

And then people started disappearing. Or rather, they sped ahead once they had a candle in hand.

"Fantastic," he muttered under his breath. "Theo, looks like we're moving out." He picked up a candle and took a step.

While the others tended to scream upon their first step, Alyosha knew what was coming and didn't make a sound. He forced his body to relax, letting the candle propel him forward.

Theo soon followed, screaming like a little girl. But his screams died quickly, replaced by a bewildered, dizzy grin as he caught sight of Annasari. "Oh, more ladies! Did y'all start breeding while I wasn't looking?"

The Bridesmaid Sasmay Cull 5U-K5 Jai'galaar Gred Xandyr Micah Verdun Veroza Annasari Asteria deWinter

 

[The Bridesmaid]

Wielding: Curiousity and messy hair
Tags: Scherezade deWinter | 5U-K5 | Sasmay Cull | Jai'galaar Gred | Xandyr | Micah | Verdun Veroza | Annasari | Asteria deWinter


Morgan turned her back towards her group for a second longer as she tried to catch a couple of snowflakes out of the air. It'd be so cool to bring these back home, right? They were really pretty, after all.

When she turned back around and walked back towards the rest, most of them were... gone? She looked around, turning on her heels a couple of times, but she failed to find the missing people. A couple of others had appeared though, so that was something.

"I uh... found something", she muttered softly as she opened her hand to show the rest the snowflakes she had caught, only to realise they'd all disappeared too. "Oh," she added, the disappointment in her voice clearly audible," never mind."

It was then that she noticed someone disappear after holding one of the candles. It was like they just instantly teleported somewhere else or something. At least it explained the missing people.

"Ooooh. I want to go next!", Morgan exclaimed as she hurried over to grab one of the candles. She loved to try new things, and this was definitely new to her. With one candle in her hand, she took a single step forwards.

Morgan arrived near the others as she let out a short yell. She was grasping the candle, but allowed herself to relax once she recognised a couple of familiar faces. She ran a hand through her hair as she smiled cheerfully. "Oh. Here you are. Found ya!"

 

[Jorah zos Darnus]

That was...

...actually, a really good question.

Had any of the kids who had disappeared been Force Sensitives? Micah didn't really know any of them very well. Possibly? Maybe? But, if they'd been Force Sensitive before, were they still now? Or had they been non-Force Sensitive? And, if so, did they now have any level of elevated sensitivity as a result?

The historical texts for both Darth Plagueis and Darth Sidious referenced the ability to enhance Force sensitivity, usually in connection with some level of midi-chlorian manipulation. At Micah's level, such historical ramblings were usually just philosophical. That level of Sith alchemy was beyond his level.

But, that was all hypothetical. And, to be completely honest, the Cathar wasn't even certain of how to go about testing any of those hypothesis. Particularly with the complete lack of anything even remotely resembling a Sith lab.

"I'm not sure," the kitten answered finally, looking back up and then over at Dex.

"The Force works differently here, so even if they were Force Sensitive before they came here, they may not be able to use the Force now."

Jai'galaar Gred Paragon of Virtue​

 

[Sasmay Cull]

​

WIELDING: 4 Whimsy Knives, 1 Nastirci Combat Knife, 2 HG-88 ‘Big Iron’ Hand Cannons, 1 R12 LMG
WEARING: Phase I Haywire Armor on top of UL-13 Corporis Skin Suit
TAG: Scherezade deWinter 5U-K5 Micah The Bridesmaid Alyosha Drutin Jai'galaar Gred Annasari

The lot of them had drawn candles into their hands, and then suddenly disappeared, leaving Sasmay behind while chewing her lip thinking about what to do. She eyed the candles, not willing to throw herself to whatever fate had fallen the other's in that regard. Instead she tapped on her comm link to the others, trying to key into the line they had before going into the portal.

"Anyone hearing me? Fethin hope this still works." She called over the broadband setting.

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Wielding: 7 Nozhi Blades | 1 Whimsy Knife | 1 Whimsy Witch Knife | 2 Nastirci Combat Knives | Clarion | Copero's Wail | Fire and Smoke | Combat Gauntlets | Tessen | 2 TOTT-001 Arc Light Blaster | 2 Dissuader KD-30 Pistols with Glitter Bullets | The Parasite
Tags: The Bridesmaid Sasmay Cull 5U-K5 Jai'galaar Gred Xandyr Micah Verdun Veroza Annasari Alyosha Drutin

Xandyr was the first to appear behind her. Scherezade quickly spun, still aware of the rolling candle. Did she need to pick it up again? Whatever it had done to the man, it had done to her as well, only moments ago. 5U-K5 appeared immediately after that, though now Scherezade was certain she caught a glimpse of a moment, something that you only saw if you didn't blink and were sufficiently focused on a spot for a split of a second. Annasari and Jai'galaar Gred were next, and Scherezade this time couldn't help but grin. No one was a fan of doing that… Whatever that was. And now they were in this place.

The Sithling crouched to the ground, her hands digging a tiny mound. With the Force, she managed to move all the candles into it, and then slightly covered them. "Just in case," she mumbled as she gave the final pat to the covering, her hands frozen almost solid. Damn. That was not good.
In those moments, Alyosha Drutin had appeared. "Breeding?" she asked him, the confusion showing on her face, "It's not that type of a mission."

Joined by The Bridesmaid , Scherezade turned to try to think. Think. They were… In another dimension. The Force and their weapons didn't operate as expected, but there was no pattern that she could see in whether something worked or not. How much more would they-
She blinked, looking to her wrist. She could hear Sasmay Cull 's voice only… She couldn't hear the words. The quality of the sound was perfect, almost as though Sasmay was standing next to her, but whatever it was she said, it all removed itself the moment Scherezade heard it. Effin' weird.

"Sasmay, can you hear me?" she tried to send back, "If you can hear me, I'm only hearing nothing from you. I mean, I can hear your voice, but it's not saying anything. This place is so morbid!"
But…

But there was something. Scherezade inhaled deeply, the freezing air making its way into her lungs. Krak, she wanted a warm fireplace, a hot bubble bath, and all the floof blankets that existed in the 'verse.But still, through the pain of the cold, she could sense… What the…
"That way," she said, and nodded, mostly to herself, "We go to the castle. I'm not sure why but I think we sort of have to."

Micah Jai'galaar Gred
​

Large doors that had not been there before opened in the center of the chamber. The doors were tall, easily reaching fifteen feet in height, and the man who stepped through nearly reached its top.

Though his proportions were human, his body was anything but. Where flesh existed for most people, it seemed that this man's entire body was made of marble. Not as a metaphor for looking like the stone, but actual marble, that somehow and magically moved fluidly. His eyes were blank, though as he stared down at the children, many would feel that he could see right through them. Those who would dare to go near him, would feel an immense need to step back, keep away. This was not a man most people would want to mess with.

"You," he pointed with a finger of god at one of the children that had yet to begin their transformation. As though commanded by magic, the child ceased to shake, and stood up, walking towards the door. Within moments, he was gone behind them, and none could see him anymore. "You," the large man pointed at another child, and the same happened.

He continued to point and choose children, until five had passed through.

"You," the man said as he pointed at Micah, "You," and pointed at Dex. "That will be enough."

 

[Sasmay Cull]

WIELDING: 4 Whimsy Knives, 1 Nastirci Combat Knife, 2 HG-88 ‘Big Iron’ Hand Cannons, 1 R12 LMG
WEARING: Phase I Haywire Armor on top of UL-13 Corporis Skin Suit
TAG: Scherezade deWinter 5U-K5 Micah The Bridesmaid Alyosha Drutin Jai'galaar Gred Annasari

Sasmay waited a moment, and Scherezade deWinter 's voice came through in response. Her smile changed instantly at the realization that it was just the woman's voice. With no words. How the feth did that work. As the other spoke, Sasmay grimaced, bobbing up and down a second while glancing at the candles.

"Oh this seems like a bad idea...a really bad idea. Bad idea Sasmay, really, really bad idea. Fethin chit!" She spat, grabbing a candle and taking a step toward where everyone else had. The woman appeared with the group, sparing a moment to glance around before tossing her candle in the snow and stalking off for a quick pace. Nerves had bunched up in that moment of travel, and she was flinging curses left, right, and center while waving her arms.

After calming down with a gusty sigh, she would follow behind them, still muttering about that being a bad idea on occasion and how the whole idea of it was insane.