First Order: Blackwing Virus [Dominion of Mephout and Seoul]

[Ludolf Vaas]

Post: 6
Location: Seoul
Stage: 3

With Supreme Commander Vaas at the head, [member="Marzena Choi"] and the small pair of other survivors moved into the alleyway. Ludolf had never spoken to the other two people, but they had nowhere else to go, and had simply latched on to the closest leader they could find, which happened to be him. Vaas stared ahead, beyond the dark abyss of the alleyway. Beyond the distant screams and scattered dead walking upright in the streets, he could glimpse the flashing holosign of the police station. His wife's heels clicked lightly behind him.

"Marzena," He turned back to her, seeing the fear in her large, soft eyes, and wished he could wipe it all away with just a word. "Take your shoes off."

His blaster wouldn't do, either. If he fired at any of the dead, it would alert all of them nearby to their presence. He needed a more stealth-friendly weapon. Since he stopped being an Agent, Ludolf no longer carried a vibroknife in his boot. Just his luck. He would have to improvise.

Crouching low, Vaas crept toward the end of the alleyway where the alley met the sidewalk. His movements were lithe and soundless, harking back to his previous training. The dead in the streets were milling about aimlessly, completely unaware of their presence, but there was one grotesque undead right in front of them on the sidewalk, with its back turned. For one last moment, he turned back to Marzena.

"On my count, you make a break for the police station," Ludolf whispered again to her. "You run as fast as you can and don't stop. I'll be right behind you, I promise."

He kissed her lightly on the forehead again, and then leaned down and began removing one of the shoelaces from his boot.

Silently, he crept behind the undead creature. Another moment of quiet hung in the air, before Ludolf turned back to Marzena again and mouthed a word to her. "Go."

Vaas took the long shoelace in both hands and in an instant, wrapped it around the neck of the unsuspecting undead, and gave a quick twist and jerk downwards. He pulled with all his might as the zombie fell down without so much as a scream, the pressure from the shoelace threatening to snap its neck clean off.

 

[Marzena Vaas]

Location: Seoul
Phase: 3
Post: 8

Marzena crept down the alley, remaining a few paces behind the Supreme Commander. The sounds of screams in the darkness made her dark eyes wide with fear, and her shoulders tense. She froze when [member="Ludolf Vaas"] turned back to her, and she heeded his whispered words. Slowly, she bent and removed her shoes, a couple of steps brought her forward, and she abandoned her expensive heels in the middle of the alleyway.

The pavement was cold and rough beneath her bare feet. Walking on tip-toe, she continued after Ludolf, watching as he moved with careful and silent precision. Marzena knew of his past as an Agent, but this was the first time she had seen his training in action. Had she not been so frightened, she would easily have been impressed. She could see shadows moving up ahead, the undead were wandering the streets.

But then, her eyes locked on the form of an infected that stood near their position. Dim, flickering light from the street lamp above illuminated its rotting flesh and areas of exposed bone. Marzena closed her hand over her mouth, it was all she could do to keep from screaming. She moved in close as the Supreme Commander turned to her once more. Her eyes locked with his, trying desperately to convey her love for him with just a glance.

Marzena felt his lips gently touch against her forehead, and she gave his arm an affectionate squeeze. She hardly dared to look in the direction of the police station, she would simply take off when he gave the word. Although, she was deeply dreading the moment she would have to leave his side. And when he told her to go, she did.

The songstress ran as fast as she could, taking long strides in the direction of the police station. She pulled in shallow breaths, doing her best to stay focused and keep the fear at bay. Her feet pounded against the pavement, and soon came to a halt at the door to the station. Just as her hands wrapped around the handle, sounds coming from behind made her hesitate - seized by fear. Marzena glanced over her shoulder, her sprint across the street had not gone unnoticed. Just then, the man and woman from the auditorium ran past Ludolf and out of the alley.

The pair drew the attention of the undead by the station, and they took off in pursuit. Marzena watched in horror as the scene unfolded. At the very least, they had created a gruesome, but much needed diversion for the Supreme Commander.

A strong hand suddenly clasped Marzena's shoulder and pulled her swiftly into the safety of the building.

 

[Perth Levov]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KaWSOlASWc

She'd already thrown open the door and dived inside before turning and slamming it shut again. It was a big old door and would take a lot to break down through sheer brute force. So she switched her attention to the structure she was in. It was a typical rural church: simple in construction, high ceilinged, windows of stained glass, rows of wooden pews and near the altar, stairs leading down to a small crypt – which was where she would be headed. Just not now. For to be caught down there under these circumstances would be tantamount to suicide. She would wait until the hordes outside grew bored and looked for new prey. Then she would investigate.

Which was when her attention was brought back to the here and now as those pretty windows came crashing in as bodies came hurtling into the space behind her.

She may be a mere apprentice with the Force but her entire upbringing as an Echani had optimised her fighting skills. Traditionally this would not be a worthy contest. Each individual would be beneath her in terms of the fight. But as a collective? She knew she would have her work cut out to leave here alive.

She pulled out the Jedi’s old saber and with a snap-hiss the blue blade was activated and two of the creatures lost their heads. In a traditional battle, the loss of two comrades so quickly would ensure the remainder paused for reflection for at least a moment or two. But not these. They pressed forward and as she looked around, she realised just how many had come in.

 

[Dunames Lopez]

Post: 2/25
Location: Mephout
Allies: [member="Tanomas Graf"] [member="Rexus Wenck"] [member="Darth Veles"] [member="WD-334"] [member="Wolf"]
Enemies: Zombies
Objective: Mephout phase 3

While the Ultima made its approach towards Mephout, the shuttlecraft loaded onboard were standing ready to search for distress signals as sent from the distress beacons usually in use in escape pods. Once the Ultima reverts to realspace, the massive ship was still in high orbit, as was the safety protocol for approaching planets. And then could the shuttlecraft loaded onboard the ship deploy in search for the escape pods or their distress beacons thereof, while at the same time looking for a suitable landing zone for the ship around Mephout City: it will be faster to load half a million residents onboard for quarantine if the Ultima was on the ground vs. in orbit: she knew that what she called shuttlecraft could only load 166 refugees in one go, and here these shuttles were used in lieu of fighter craft, to the tune of three a squadron, almost as if attack craft. Which meant that there were nine Neimoidian Yachts onboard the Ultima and all nine were deployed in search for the escape pods.

"Open a channel to the escape pods" she told Merrily.

"Roger, roger" Merrily responded, while opening a channel to the escape pods.

"To the occupants of the escape pods: transmit coordinates of the distress beacons attached to the escape pods: shuttlecraft are on their way"

"We are detecting the presence of... zombies? But also distress beacons" a Neimoidian Yacht pilot told back to the bridge.

 

[Asharad Graush]

Mephout City.
Post Four.
Stage Three.

The stormtroopers towards the front of the formation had gathered the fallen bodies of the running civilians. Within the minute they were calling in an evac for the civilians, and it had arrived. They were less than two miles from their base of operations. It was quick and easy, by the time it had lifted off in the air, in the coming minutes the streets were flooded with the dead. In regards to figures like [member="Warok the Defiler"], they probably weren't noticed, in fact, they definitely weren't as the Colonel Graush had sounded for the pulling back closer to their hastily made base down the street.

Much of the ships back at their constructed barricade were already transporting other citizens of the Mephout city that were located by other units under the White Wolves. Sure, there could've been more out there, but they didn't have the time anymore, as ordered by the Colonel. Figures like, [member="WD-334"], and [member="Darek Sjaa"] were given orders to setup a mile away from the base and setup a perimeter as Zerek Platoon returned to the base - zombies hot on their tail.

---

In Space, the Captain of the Wolf's Maw, Jaemus Prime, he received an alert on the sensors. There other ships in proximity of the planet, but those were First Order military assets. When the scanners designated the ship as belonging to [member="Dunames Lopez"]'s Star Tours shuttle they were immediately transmitted a message. A'sharad had chosen Jaemus for the sole reason of them sharing similar thoughts. The Colonel chose him because he was cold and calculating. Heartless. But he did his job.

As any ships that operate within First Order Space are catalogued and siphoned through the systems of every Naval Asset, patrol or otherwise, unless Star Tours was using ships that were not registered, then within the database, they certainly would have a name.

"Hailing Ultima. This is Captain Jaemus Prime of the Wolf's Maw. This planet is under quarantine and because of that, you're trespassing. If you intend to land on the planet, you will be shot down and stranded. Should you survive, you will then be arrested and detained. If you intend to remain in the system, your engines will be targeted, and your ship will be tractor beamed and impounded by the First Order Navy. You will also be arrested and detained. Vacate the System. Now."

It just so happened, it was a military operation. Intel about the Abdicator's destruction also put the Ultima, near the scene of the crime. But, that was something that Captain Prime had yet to be apprised of. Regardless, Jaemus was a man of his words. Immediately after closing the communication line, he pointed to the gun operator on the bridge. "Power up the guns and lock on to her engines."

 

[Dunames Lopez]

Post: 3/25
Location: Mephout
Allies: unknown
Enemies: Zombies
People of suspicion: [member="Asharad Graush"]
Objective: Leave the system

"We're being hailed"

"On screen"

"This is Captain Jaemus Prime of the Wolf's Maw. This planet is under quarantine and because of that, you're trespassing. If you intend to land on the planet, you will be shot down and stranded. Should you survive, you will then be arrested and detained. If you intend to remain in the system, your engines will be targeted, and your ship will be tractor beamed and impounded by the First Order Navy. You will also be arrested and detained. Vacate the System. Now"

"Vacating the system on the double. Nevertheless, do you realize that you are hampering an attempt at evacuation? Surely the First Order would realize that the ability to evacuate thousands of people in one go is something useful in the situation Mephout is in, Logistical Command the first"

Dunames leaving the Mephout system empty-handed meant that the First Order had a lot less to work with for evacuating Mephout. What Jaemus failed to realize was that the Ultima's ability to evacuate half a million refugees Hopefully the First Order will realize that mistake and actually call for our aid when the evacuation of the planet will actually occur. For the time being though, we have no business on Mephout, she thought, while the shuttles are being recalled and the Ultima is being prepared to jump to lightspeed. That will surely strain their relationship with Logistical Command, but it appears that Logistical Command has been under fire recently. Poor Dunames: she was caught between two fires. She wanted to alleviate the pressure on Mephout in hopes that Logistical Command would regain its rightful place among the First Order Navy - for far too long has Logistical Command been the poor kid of the FO Navy.

"Set course for Yalara and remain on standby on the planet until called for"

"Lightspeed!"

 

[WD-334]

Post: III
Location: Mephout
Stage: III
Other Figures Nearby: @Dunames Lopez @Darth Veles @Wolf @Tanomas Graf [member="Asharad Graush"]

The war droid, having finished with those that attacked continued on. Soon, it found more than it had hoped for. Stormtroopers. Just what it had been seeking for the past month or so, signs of the Empire. Even though they looked different, they still represented the Empire in it's mechanical mind. It sought out any high up. Without any orders, it had to receive some. It ended up receiving some orders to setup a mile away from the base, where it would cover the retreat of some troopers. Now with orders, it set off to this perimeter it was meant to go to where others would be as well.

Since before coming here, the droid had gotten it's cannons fixed. They weren't as accurate as what they would have been on their original owner, but they would do. Standing there on guard with other figures such as [member="Darek Sjaa"], it waited for the sight of targets, or the troopers coming through. And they would be soon coming, with foes hot on their heels. And when those enemies appeared on the horizon, the war droid would let loose it's rapid fire cannons.

 

[Darek Sjaa]

@WD-334@Asharad Graush

Post 2
Mel

Darek felt a chill run through his spine as the troopers opened up on the creatures, who seemed to take quite a bit of it in stride. Why in the hell hadn't they just glassed the planet and called it a day? Another bolt. And another. Darek shifted his sights toward where the infantry had begun falling back, firing only when one got close enough to cause a problem. There were way too many of these things to take on with a few Platoons of Stormies.

Command was barking in the NCO com line about the pullback. Against the wave of terror the Stormtroopers maintained their discipline, pulling back in an orderly fashion while maintaining their fields of fire. The ewok went entirely unnoticed in the carnage. A distinctive "thump thump" of canons sounded to the soldier's right, signalling a war droid.

Darek continued his fire as the situation grew more grave with each passing minute.

They needed to get out before they were overrun.

 

[Asharad Graush]

Mephout City.
Post Five.
Stage Three.

Zerek Platoon arrived at the established perimeter.

They were joined by other stormtroopers, hundreds of them also sending crimson, emerald, and sapphire bolts down the surrounding streets at the infected. Once A'sharad had passed the initial lines he turned back around to look upon the large host that had been chasing them down the street. Something stirred within the pit of his stomach, but he didn't move. The corner of his mouth twitched, curving slightly and he drew his lightsabre off of his belt.

Their base was herding thousands of civilians off of the planet in droves with the shuttles. Some hundreds at a time. Shuttles were packed, carrying more than they should, but most of these people were fleeing without clothing and gear that stormtroopers did. The ships were able to take it. Dozens of shuttles took off and soon enough the landing pads were empty, save for the remaining civilians that were waiting to be evacuated.

Tapping his earpiece, A'sharad contacted the Wolf's Maw in orbit of the planet.

Captain Jaemus responded.

The Resurgent Star Destroyer was on its way down into the planet's atmosphere, turbolasers being primed. Better to dust them all, A'sharad thought. And that was when the first line of the infected horde hit the perimeter line.

[member="Darek Sjaa"], @WD-334

 

[Ria Misrani]

Anna was grateful to the man and nodded to him and his date, "we'll be trapped up there," she explains, "and they can climb..." she gestures toward the creatures that were now trying to make their way toward the living. "Anna Yun," she introduces herself and looks down, "there, down there those guitars." Looking over the catwalk she looked and noticed the speakers, "I have an idea, are either of you two any good with instruments?" Anna takes a step or two forward, "if I can get down to the control room over there."

The songstress wished her friend [member="Marzena Choi"] was here, she knew Marzena had the vocal cords necessary to do what she wanted to do. "I need to get to the control room and from there." She pauses, "I can change and adjust the tone and pitch but the moment we start playing, we'll become a target, does anyone have a lighter?"

A plan was formulating in her mind, "if we're lucky, Mi-na will drag that man of hers back here and he can eliminate the undead here." Another pause, "and do either of you have a way to make contact with the First Order?"

[member="Sage Annel"] | [member="Rolf Amsel"] | [member="Marzena Choi"] | [member="Ludolf Vaas"]​

 

[Perth Levov]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNaqBBjrIZw

There were dozens of them – most of the village, Perth surmised.

As she was expecting, some of them had already started to rot. Others were missing pieces of faces and or limbs, turning them into walking pathology lessons. At least post-mortem specimens had the good grace to lie down when examined. These simply refused to die. And furthermore, they moved relentlessly forward with the lurching appetite of things whose appetite for death was equally inexorable.

Perth jumped for up to one of the overhead support struts and swung herself up onto it. Not that she expected the mass of bodies below her to fail to climb to her vantage point, but it gave her a precious commodity that often turned the outcome of battles.

Time.

The dead things were finished swarming in now. She was no doubt correct in her assumption that the entire village was present here. And now they were crawling all over one another in an attempt to reach her. Some of them had already started trying to grapple their way up the wooden supports, where others formed an impromptu human pyramid.

In readiness to take her first life – or was that death – she activated her saber with a snap-hiss. And a strange thing happened. The things jumped back, as one. It was like watching a single creature reacting to a perceived threat. They moved with unbelievable speed and agility, as if they'd known exactly what she planned to do.

Were they using the Force? Or their version of it? And did it even matter?

 

[WD-334]

Post: IV
Location: Mephout
Stage: III
Allies: [member="Asharad Graush"] [member="Darek Sjaa"]

Many civilians came by, trying to escape from the incoming hordes. WD-334 did not know of the current plan, nor bothered to ask. It had been set a single objective: to guard the perimeter. But being a single droid, even though it had allies around, it would not be able to target everything. Even though it had two dual cannons, they could not turn. Only fire wherever the torso faced, so it would have to turn it's torso to fire upon targets. Some infected came close, and those the droid took shots at here and there. As long as it stood on guard, it would let none past.

Things were looking up for all of them. After some calculations, it detected that some of the infected groups were thinning out..Until the first wave came. Lasers went through the air at the oncoming targets. The infected seemed to keep coming. WD could not hit them all, only if it turned it's torso could it hit targets at sides. "Overwhelming odds! Overwhelming odds! Too many targets!" the war droid spoke in binary, rotating it's torso to fire at the many targets.

 

[Ludolf Vaas]

Post: 7
Location: Seoul
Stage: 3

Ludolf released his grip on the undead's throat. The zombie's head was now barely hanging from its neck, its brittle bones having been snapped completely, and its body collapsed to the ground, forever silenced by Ludolf's choke. Meanwhile, [member="Marzena Choi"] had seized upon the opportunity and had made a break for the police station. She'd listened when he told her to remove her shoes, but it was not enough. As Ludolf saw her running out of the corner of his eye, he also saw the undead were alerted to her presence. There was simply too many of them for her to go unnoticed.

Suppressing a shout, Ludolf sprinted after her, readying the blaster at his hip. Perhaps he would need it after all. But it seemed that the two stragglers that were following them had unwittingly offered themselves up as a diversion. Forgetting about Marzena, the undead turned towards the much easier prey. It was only a matter of seconds before the two civilians were surrounded. It would be impossible to save them now; the only way forward was to use their sacrifice to his benefit.

Ludolf had nearly reached the police station when he realized that yet again, they were not alone. Marzena didn't move through the door on her own volition; she was pulled through. A pang of fear sprang up in Ludolf's chest; had he unwittingly offered up his own fiancee' to the hordes inside the station? Even his training could not stop the panic that began to escalate in him. Gripping his blaster tightly, Vaas pushed the door in after her and held his weapon at attention, expecting undead to appear at any moment.

"Marzena?" He whispered as loud as he would dare, as the ceiling lights flickered above him. All he wanted now was to find her.

 

[Sage Annel]

Post: 5
Seoul, Phase 3
Allies: [member="Rolf Amsel"] (Dash Fisko) [member="Hannabeth Yun"]

It was impressive, to say the least, how Dash had dispatched of their attacker. Sage had done all she could to remain cool and collected in the face of this monstrous turn of events, but even her firm constitution was shaken by the nightmare she was living. Sure, Dash had been a little clumsy in his methods, but the hunkering was endearing, in a way. Maybe she was just glad to have had her skin saved. She dropped her makeshift guard stance and gave Dash a smile. He was earning points in race for beneficiaries of the "What Happens When you Miraculously Survive a Hellscape of Certain Doom?" principle.

The woman who had dropped onto the catwalk from the roof was now more clearly recognizable (and confirmed by her introduction) as one of the judges from the Seoulian Idol competition. Sage, in her constant effort to diffuse tense situations, couldn't bite back her "Pleased to meet you. I gotta know: which of the kids was going to win?" Not unexpectedly, the other woman was already on to other things when Sage's small joke made it out. Sage had no musical experience, so whatever the woman's plan was could have proven defunct by Sage's involvement. For a moment, she considered Anna's question about the First Order. She did have, concealed in her fashionable wristwatch, a communicator which could get her into contact with Sentiri and, by extension, Ludolf Vaas. But her cover was something she had no intention of blowing. Since he was her first major espionage contact, Sage decided it best to wait until all other options had been exhausted before making her FOSB affiliation known. For now she was still just Dash's damsel in distress; she hoped the man was up for the challenge.

"I don't play an instrument, but I have been told that my singing could kill someone one day." Sage wrapped an arm around Dash's waist to give him a little squeeze to the stomach--a nervous attempt at levity or human contact. "And Big Fisko here is a prince of club music. Does that help?"

 

[Progflaw99]

--- --- ---​

Character: Dash Fisko​

Post 5​

Location: Seoul | Auditorium | Phase III​

In Vicinity: [member="Sage Annel"] | [member="Hannabeth Yun"]​

--- --- ---​

​

A raised eyebrow was all Dash had in response to the woman's question about guitars. Looking first down to the stage, and then back to the woman, back to the stage, back to the woman, he was struck silent.

*She wants us to go down there?*

He could easily see the rack of guitars down on the stage from whence they'd came but the idea of being any closer to the creatures than absolutely necessary caused him a moment of panic. He'd only just managed to overcome the barrier of fear he'd had by toppling the creature over the railing but to willingly descend into the jaws of hell? He smirked, realizing he was getting carried away. Taking a few deep breaths he looked once more at the situation. Everything inside him told him going down to the stage was a bad idea, but they didn't exactly have options here. Glancing back to Sage, he took a few steps in her direction now that the threat had been temporarily abated.

A smile tugged at his lips she inquired as to who would have won. Dash turned back to face their new acquaintance and bit the inside of his cheek. Was he good with instruments? He played a little bit of guitar, but nothing too flashy, just a few of the most popular riffs but it was mostly just covers of songs he knew. Did that even matter? He felt Sage's arm wrap around him, the comforting touch not gone unnoticed. He let his own arm extend, holding her gently as he spoke, appreciative of the compliment.

"I might be able to lay down a few tones, what's the plan?"

He wasn't thrilled about dropping back to the stage after all their effort to get up to the catwalk but he didn't exactly want to stand around and wait to be eaten either! As far as a lighter, he grinned. Reaching into his pocket with his free hand, he casually flicked out a metal lighter, the soft click barely audible as he struck the flint with his thumb.

"Like this?" He smiled. "What's this about the First Order? I've got nothin', unless you count my ability to pick up a comm link and dial 911."

He began looking for a way down to the stage, noting there were still a few ropes hanging via pulley. That could be a viable way down, the stairs were out, he noted. Too many of the Zeds had already begun wandering up the flights of narrow stairs to the catwalk. Reaching into his pocket once more, he retrieved the switchblade, flicking the blade open and pressing the handle into Sage's hand.

"Here, take this and watch my back would you? Besides, you need something better than that stilleto of yours" He winked.

 

[Ria Misrani]

The auditorium was dreadful, the stench of death could be described as overwhelming. And that would be the understatement of the year, she looked over her shoulder and gave [member="Sage Annel"] and Dash ( [member="Rolf Amsel"] ) a thumbs up. For now the zombies were gone, well not gone, but were now deader than dead and as she walked up the aisle she wondered if [member="Marzena Choi"] was okay. Her theory was that she could manipulate the sonic frequencies to such a degree that they could clear a path and get an escape route established. Or at least get off of Seoul, she had no idea just how far and wide this spread and all she hoped was that Seon was okay. Getting to the control room was difficult as she avoided the bodily fluids of the dead and tried to keep her composure.

At the control room she got onto the microphone for the auditorium, "you look great guys, and really. I was voting Bernard. Lily reminded me too much of... well, me." A pause, "of DIVA Machine. It's not her fault but still, I don't need nor do I want another young girl, or girl group coming up and destroying themselves the way we did. Besides, Bernard is part or was part of the changing times, okay guys. I just need you to play, I'm going to manipulate the frequencies to a high enough pitch to attract the dead and hopefully, destroy them." She took time to secure the control room as much as she could, "If anyone has a contact with the First Order, I'd much appreciate it if you could inform me how to contact them, I can do that from here, so long as the communication tower behind the auditorium stays up."

With the doors secure, she took one single chair and flipped on the soundboard, "okay guys, three, two, one... go."

 

[Marzena Vaas]

Location: Seoul
Phase: 3
Post: 9

Marzena immediately struggled against the hand on her shoulder. Just as her lips parted to scream, a hand clapped tightly over her mouth. Her mind was suddenly wild with panic; the urge to fight or flee began to kick in. She attempted to twist away from the strong grasp, but was unable to break free. A moment later, she was being pulled deeper inside the seemingly empty station.

It was dark, save for a few blue-hued monitors and the eerie flickering of the lights. There was static coming through a comm device nearby; a desperate voice rang out on the other end, followed shortly by the familiar sound of screaming. It was a call for assistance that would go unanswered.

Her dark eyes grew wide; light spilled across the floor for a brief moment as [member="Ludolf Vaas"] slipped inside the station. Marzena felt the arm seize around her waist, the man holding onto her froze, scarcely daring to breathe. From her spot in the shadows, near the middle of the hallway, she heard the hushed sound of the Supreme Commander’s voice. She wanted to call out to him, but her cries were muffled against the man’s palm.

She still had her blaster, but she didn’t really want to use it. Instead, she brought her free hand up and pulled down on the man’s wrist. His hand started to slip and Marzena bit down hard. The man let out a startled cry and released his hold on her. Quickly, her bare feet brought her back down the hall.

“Ludolf!” She called quietly, appearing from the darkness. “I’m here.”

Marzena fell against the Supreme Commander, her arms wrapped tightly around him – she never wanted to let go again. Behind her, there were footsteps. Then, a voice spoke “Michyeoss-eo?” The man did not appear immediately, for he had seen the blaster held in Ludolf’s hand. “I was trying to help you.”

A stocky man came forward, still rubbing his hand. He was soon joined by two others; the trio appeared to be civilians. Their clothing was stained with blood, but at least all three were living and breathing. As the lights came back to life, it was clear that the horde had been through here.

 

[Perth Levov]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zXKtfKnfT8

Seconds she had gained, not minutes. Already the things were closing in on her. She had a simple choice – fight or flight. She could no doubt leap through the window and get to her ship before she was caught. But that meant leaving behind the possibility of knowledge – and that was not an option for her.

So she decided to stay.

She swung the lightsaber. It took the closest zombie’s head off at the shoulders. The head dangled for a moment on one remaining ribbon of flesh, then dropped away. A few listless dribbles of boiled blood leaked like tears from the sheared-off arteries, black as used oil, before they cauterised.

Once more it was a temporary respite until the next thing was almost upon her. Its face was a mottled quilt of grey flesh and exposed muscle, and the clenched grin on its face was somewhere between madness and rigor mortis.

Its breath was fetid, the stench of a thing that had already died and was decaying from the inside out. She decapitated this one too. But as fast as she did, three more were pressing now, and she realised a change of tactics was in order.

 

[Darth Veles]

Location: Mephout
Objective: 1
[member="Wolf"] HAHAHA!!!

Smoke and pain were the first ones to bless the Darth’s agonizing awakening. Something nearby burned, judging by the intense crackling voice of flames, but not a single thought running through Veles’ big head could focus on that. More immediate concerns flooded all his senses, such as being crudely impaled to the escape pod. Upon opening his eyes and seeing his own entrails in great detail, eagerly awaiting the right impulse to jump from his tasty belly and spill onto the floor, he had to shut the orbs closed again, meditate. Focusing on the pain bought him clarity, summoning the dark side was enough to afford the strength and power to continue living. The sight alone would have been enough to drain the last bits of life from anyone else, but Sith tented to survive even the worst injuries. After attempting to move his right arm and sensing his bones still had some strength in them, Veles’ will gave a simple order and his body obeyed.

Taking the disgustingly wet and slippery piece of metal protruding him through, the assassin’s cybernetic hand wiggled it a bit, bending the object to allow the rest of his fleshy form a painful escape. Screams immediately left his mouth, having a will of their own and breaking Veles’ suspenseful silence. Several sloshes and wet gurgles filled the escape pod before the Dark Lord’s body left its cruel chains. A short-lived moment of victory; Veles’ legs immediately decided to give up and the Mon Cal fell, swimming in his own blood, one hand tightly clutching the wound and preventing his insides from coming out for a bloody bath. Moans accompanied by angry, sickly yellow glares of the wounded Sith washed over his surroundings in search of a certain Ren.

Wolf’s absence was both a blessing and a curse. In this greatly weakened state, life hanging on a thin thread, there was no chance he’d date the undead Ren and survive. At the same time, it meant the infected man was somewhere out there, spreading his filthy blood. Veles also wondered about the unexpected survival, presented to the hungry zombie on silver platter only to be ignored. It made no sense, but ultimately did not concern Veles in this very moment. A lone medpac, always sleeping on his belt and ready to help, found itself seized by the Mon Cal’s free hand. The same webbed hand also administered what it could in terms of treatment, alongside the dark side’s unnatural ability to temporarily knit bones and mend flesh in a violent, heretical fashion that spat on traditional healing arts practiced by the Jedi Order.

More pain and a demonic laughter of pure agony.

Another try to walk, surprisingly easier this time. And down he went again, too weak, unable to cross his private red pool on the ground without losing balance. As such, he crawled, clawing himself forward with his prosthetic hand that worked much better than any natural part of his body ever would. A slow trek, one that took long and only succeeded in getting him out of the escape pod. When fresh air and warm sun greeted him outside, he replied with a murderous frown, realization of something crucial carved into his expression before he lost consciousness again.

 

[Perth Levov]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCDdQwVRwxM

In an act of desperation – some part of her knew she would fail but had to try regardless – Perth tried to use the Force on them. She looked to reach out and connect with the presence inside them – to control it somehow. At the instant she made contact, a sharp jolt of toxic energy crackled through her, slamming through her brain like an axe and making her cry out loud. She vomited and swung her saber wildly, to keep any zombies at bay.

She was surprised that she made no contact and yet felt no attack materialise. As the pain subsided, she realised she’d closed her eyes and now opened them. The only light came from the moon, but even that felt overwhelming to her sensitive eyes. But the sight that greeted them was at least a fillip.

The zombies weren’t dead – or rather were already technically dead but weren’t inert. But they were stationary. Or rather were swaying gently but their feet were unmoving. Sorel didn’t know how much time she’d got until they attacked again and she did not fancy repeating the exercise, so she took the decision to leap out of the building, through a now broken window.

Once outside, she set to work starting a fire.