First Reply Litany Litany Litany

[Antecedent]

There was the faintest notion that the root knew it was being healed, and when Jack patted the root it gave him a gift in return.

A glimpse of its own sight through the Force. Yes, this tree could see, not in the same sense that meat could see, but it had its own perceptions. It showed the length of its roots, from every surrounding ship in the yonder to those deeper within the dreadnought proper, until finally it all arrived at the center, not far now, where the great tree sprouted high and beyond the hull. Here was beauty, it was full of life, a forest within a forest, both oasis and hiding place.

But what else it showed was a warning.

A creature, a terrible creature which preyed on the living force itself, and has nourished itself from the tree's bounty. Under normal circumstances, killing the beast would be a tall task even for a Jedi Master, but the tree offers a thought, a touch of its own shrewdness to match Jack's.

Lure the beast to the center, use the vines, the canopy, the thicket itself to slow it down, and take it where the great tree stands tall. There, it promises, that Jack will find both his answer to the mystery of this place and a refuge from the hunter on the prowl.

All it asks in return... Save her. Save my sister.

Jack Sandrow

 

[Jack Sandrow]

A chill went up Jack's spine as he was given the mental image of the nameless creature. This was unlike anything he had fought before, by a wide margin. He'd need something with a bit more kick.

Mentally contacting the Pod (and aware that the simple gesture may be enough to lure the creature) he asked for it to deliver a payload with a specific suit stashed on board. Whatever this thing was, if it had a way to drain or choke out the Force, he'd need to be able to fight it on its own terms. The suggestion of the tree network was a good one, but he'd need to be better equipped in return.

The Pod fired into space, aiming the ballistic projectile towards the center of the tree. Jack closed his eyes, and put a warm hand on the root. "I will.... I... well, I will do my best. I have help coming in, from my ship... I need you to guide it to the center of the tree, where I'll be heading. Once I'm there, keep the creature away just long enough for me to suit up. Then, yes. I'll do what I can to save her." Just who was this 'sister' anyway... Was she the tree??

Jack snorted softly to himself as he got up. That would be one hell of a story to tell. Hey, my sister turned into a tree! Oh wow, that's rough, buddy.

"I'm on my way to the center. Guide the projectile in, I'll take care of the rest," he said to the voice, wherever she was.

---

Antecedent

 

[Antecedent]

The tree echoed its understanding when Jack made his request, something between very well and don't kark up.

The dreadnought began to shake, accompanied by the sound of groaning metal and a distant explosion, all as the tree mustered enough power to redirect some of its tendril-like branches to literally catch the pod and haul it towards the center.

Meanwhile, as the biotech maverick began to move towards the center, the creature caught onto his scent and began a quick pursuit. It could be heard as it clawed its way through the vegetation and let out a sickly, twisted growl. Its proximity was like a hand around the force sensitive's throat, as it began to draw on the life energy emanating from him.

It was at that moment the voice once again decided to chime in, "The meatless is prey, the hunter knows, the hunter is hungry."

"The prey better run, the prey better survive!" There was a hint of excitement in her voice.

Jack Sandrow

 

[Jack Sandrow]

Jack cracked his neck, swallowing slowly as the presence encroached on him. "Prey... prey usually ends up having fight or flight reflexes. And I can't fly."

The capsule crashed down in front of him, blossoming like a fat flower to reveal the compact suit beneath. "Hello beautiful," he chuckled, hopping over a branch and letting the suit jump out of the drop pod to envelop him. Armor and plating clicked into place, soft creaks and snaps as the organic bodysuit - shaped for him specifically - adjusted to fit around the EVA suit as well. Sylva Vitae biotech at its finest.

The Force choking immediately stopped as the Force-insulated suit sealed tightly around him. While he couldn't influence anything beyond the suit, the suit itself (and him within it) were completely safe. "Cmere," he snarled, the blade from the EVA suit shoving out of his new suit with a decisive snap. "Bring it!"

---

Antecedent

 

[Antecedent]

The beast managed to cut its way through and was now face-to-face with the Vinithi, who had barely enough time to put on the new battlesuit. With its force insulation, he was indeed safe from the creature's ability to simply drain him of his life force then and there.

However, it was still a sizable beast and a desperate one at that. It knew no fear, no survival instinct other than to eat.

It began a sudden charge on all fours, its claws digging into the metal as it sent itself into a mighty leap at Jack. The creature's claws were out and forward, with every intention of pinning the savvy botanist to the ground and tearing into their armor to get at the person underneath.

Jack Sandrow

 

[Jack Sandrow]

Jack was ready for it, bouncing on the balls of his feet, then ducking to the side right as it lunged. It missed him, barely, and he got a swipe in on its thigh, barely. Damn but it was fast. He still had the mass from the whip-thing he was using, and as he strafed around the area he pushed the extra biotech material into the left gauntlet.

It was already coming back around. This wasn't a predator, living life and hunting for food, this was a killer, and it only sought to kill. Killers were dangerous, but they were ultimately predictable. Jack extruded the genetic material into a long whipcord, a bit shorter than before but bladed at the tip. He looped the cord around his other hand, and right as the creature pounced again he tossed the loop over a clawed foot and yanked to pull it tight.

Simple physics and biomechanics. Not even the greatest Force users could truly exist beyond those.

His blade was ready, and he swung at the creature with a purposeful and lightning-fast strike.

---

Antecedent

 

[Antecedent]

A beast is a beast is a beast. Even one whose sole purpose in life was to kill, and kill force users at that.

With his newfound advantage, Jack did have the upper hand and managed to prevent the beast from striking a death blow, far from it in fact. As it leapt a second time, the beast was caught in the trap and fell with an angry yelp as the whipcord pulled it down.

However, as Jack went in to strike hard and fast with his blade, the creature did something quite frightening.

It purposefully placed its bound paw in a position to be severed completely from its body, freeing it from the binds in the process. The sudden wound did not stop its assault, and immediately, the nameless beast swept its tail low to trip Jack, before trying to pounce and pin him once more.

The beast's tentacle-like face tendrils sought to wrap themselves around his armor and pry it like the shell of a crustacean; anything to get at the Vinithi underneath.

Jack Sandrow

 

[Jack Sandrow]

"Oh it's like that - Ack!" Jack gasped, knocked flat on his back before it pounced on him.

"Ghhn... ow... okay, big guy," he strained, maneuvering his hands beneath its belly. "You want me out of my armor, huh?" The vine-whip retracted, and he stabbed upwards into the gooey flesh of the creature. "Too bad I bite."

And he kept stabbing until it recoiled just barely enough for him to push it aside and back away. A cursory look over his armor revealed a few extra fractures. "Damn... I'll have to fix that now," he muttered, adjusting the organic paneling before readying the whip again. "Alright, I'm going to put you out of your misery now," he growled, spinning the whip and lancing it out as a rope dart to aim right at its eyes as it pounced.

---

Antecedent

 

[Antecedent]

The struggle was a crude one, and indeed highlighted the nature of the creature well. Its intelligence in the moment prior would have frightened many, likely gotten the advantage, but the once infamous beast among Jedi proved quite challenged in the face of a savvy adversary who took advantage of the creature's insatiable hunger.

Even as Jack punctured its unusual flesh, the beast seemed unrelenting in its violence, but the eventual shove worked, and soon the creature slid along its side on the floor. When it got back up, it naturally did the same thing it had always done; it leapt with every intention to continue its onslaught, but this time it seemed the botanist was ready. The rope managed to spear itself well past the eye and hit somewhere vital.

The beast fell to the ground with an unceremonious thump, its otherworldly form writhed and twitched in defiance against even death, but willpower alone was not enough to stave off the inevitable... With one final, frightening attempt to stand back up, the beast finally collapsed into a lifeless lump.

At this moment, Jack had become among the few in more than some two thousand galactic standard years to slay a Nameless, a feat he likely did not understand the significance of. Yet, what was once a frightening Jedi-killer in ages past may have found its match in a time where personal survival has never been stronger, in a galaxy that seemed so prone to violence and chaos.

Now, all that remained was to find the center and finally figure out what exactly this had all been about.

Jack Sandrow

 

[Jack Sandrow]

Already the form of the creature was sloughing off itself. It was already becoming a rotten mess of gooey sludge on too-thin bones. "Yeah!" Jack called out, sauntering over to the carcass. "That's what you get!" He kicked it, slipping a bit on the muck. "Ack! ʷʰᵒᵒᵖˢ..." No one saw that, be cool. He adjusted himself and looked around, finally able to take in a good view of the environs.

A tall tree was the immediate and obvious focus of the spacious room. While the ship had not been designed for such an immense trunk to punch out through the top of the ceiling, Jack certainly thought it an improvement. He took in a slow filtered breath through the mask, before letting the Olisthiros unfurl off the EVA suit and then stepping out of it. He was sensing an atmosphere here... and now that the combat suit had come off, he could sense the Force again, pouring through the chamber.

Time to take a leap of faith...

His 'heart' racing, he carefully unpeeled the EVA suit and stepped out of it too. Atmosphere... a bit thin, not quite enough carbon dioxide for his taste, but very breathable. "Hoo.... okay... Hi." He spoke to whoever was listening now. "Hey.... My name is Jack. I... I'm supposed to find the sister of the ghost that's possessing an armor down the corridor a bit." He blinked. Yeah that was par for the course. He craned his neck back to look up the tree, and took a few steps closer to it. "Ah.... can you hear me... armor-sister?"

---

Antecedent

 

[Antecedent]

Although when one looked up, they would see the exposed vacuum of the Chiloon Rift, somehow, someway the interior of this chamber did have atmosphere, at least enough to survive in for a time, and certainly enough for this unique biosphere to flourish in this rotting corpse of a warship.

As Jack fumbled with words in an attempt to make sense of admittedly cryptic information, there happened to be a response. It was the voice again, but this time it wasn't through the force; it was audible, present, near.

"Armor-sister?" Her words rang with confusion.

The words came from just ahead, at the tree itself, where what appeared to be a young woman trapped in sap, leaf litter, and vines against the trunk of the tree, where its base dug into the hull. To make her appearance--otherwise obscured--more peculiar, she had an unusual purple glow and radiant energy, all of which emanated from a crystal-like stone buried with her inside the bindings.

She pushed forward as much as her restraints would allow and looked at Jack. "What are you?"

Jack Sandrow

 

[Jack Sandrow]

"Ah! Yes, sorry - there's a set of armor down the hallway a bit, in someone's private room. It's really old armor - this is an old ship, though - and the armor sort of gave me the impression that I was to rescue her sister. Its sister. The owner of the armor's sister. I'm guessing that's you?"

He hopped up onto the trunk's roots, carefully but deftly walking up along the root to the strange tangle of plant matter entrapping the strange lady. "Hi, sorry. Brief introduction, I'm Jack Sandrow and I'm here to rescue you. I'm not human, please don't hold that against me, and I can give more detail later if you're willing to put up with me long enough to hear it. Uhh... Who are you? And what is... this place?" he asked, gesturing around at the ancient ship wreck. The nebula lit the roof from beyond, casting an ethereal light into the wrecked atrium. "....Also do you think I'd be able to get you out of there without hurting you? I'd rather not hurt you."

---

Antecedent

 

[Antecedent]

The young woman's expression changed from confusion to something between annoyance and fear when he mentioned the armor.

"I told you to leave it," she snapped with a sudden change in her tone. "The owner, she--" The trapped woman exhaled, and her tone changed again. "She is... dead."

She blinked a few times and then looked back at Jack, "I am... You can call me Boe," she said as her eyes glanced up and around them. "And this place... This is the Abrogation, or what's left of it, anyway."

"How long..." Boe paused, considering how to even ask, before changing the subject entirely. "Yes..." She looked up at the tree, "My brother... I am stuck," the strange woman continued to struggle with her words. "If you have a way to free me, just do it. I will suffer any pain or bargain, just free me!"

Jack Sandrow

 

[Jack Sandrow]

"Sorry... I didn't mean to pry. I thought you meant 'leave it' as in let it stay where it is, not.... I'm sorry." He drew himself up again before giving the stranger a gentle smile. "Boe. Nice to meet you, Boe." He looked around again at the Abrogation's atrium. "I take it the greenery wasn't in the original blueprints..."

Her pleading was tugging at his heartstrings. "I... I'm not looking to hurt you, either. I'll try to pry you out of there as painlessly as possible, I promise." Jack stepped in close, giving her a warm smile as he knelt down next to her. "Hm... you're stuck in there pretty good... Do you feel restrained beyond this tangle? i.e. your feet or ankles? Or are you free to move around, just encased in there?" He put a hand onto the mess, closing his eyes as he began to connect to it via the Force.

---

Antecedent

 

[Antecedent]

"We had to get inside somehow," she answered regarding the accidental atrium. "Then he was just... Stuck here," she answered. "He's been growing ever since... I don't think he can leave anymore. This is his place now." Those final words in particular had the quality of a whisper.

Boe's expression grew eager, like someone whose heart rate just tripled, when Jack approached to find a way to free her. "Have other restraints, yes, but first I must be freed from the shell he made. He can't remove it himself..." She looked down at his hand and watched with a wheezy laugh of disbelief.

"So I'm not mistaken, you can feel the Force... use it?" She leaned forward as much as she could as if trying to soak it in. "How does it feel?"

Jack Sandrow

 

[Jack Sandrow]

"I mean... yes, I can use the Force... I suppose that's how we've been communicating this whole time." His eyes were still closed as he focused on the ancient mass of roots and vines. They were rooted in place for so long that they hardly wanted to move, but he gently coaxed them. "It's okay... I just need you to move for a little while. Then you may return back to where you were."

He opened his eyes again after a moment, eyeing Boe. "...Sorry, I was... uh, talking to the plants. That's 'how' I use the Force, I guess. I speak to the plants, because I sort of am one. Again... it's complicated." He gave her a grin. "I promise we'll have the opportunity to share backstories once you're out free and clear, alright?"

---

Antecedent

 

[Antecedent]

Her attention was split between his words and the change in the makeshift shell around her.

The vines and roots responded; what was still alive and connected began to pull, pull, pull at the sap-sealed flora. With what physical strength she had, Boe pushed forward and began to lean; the strange glowing rock that obscured her appearance fell first and rolled away. It illuminated a new area in its otherworldly presence.

Spoiler: Boe's Appearance

"It's working!" She gasped.

Finally, it pried enough that she slid and tumbled out of the enclosure and landed in front of Jack on her knees. There was plenty of sap and leaf litter stuck to her clothes and skin, her hair was a tangled mess, and by all signs, she had been here long enough to raise questions on how she managed to survive and avoid severe atrophy, let alone death.

Boe's wrists and forearms were bound by a pair of leather and metal cuffs designed to leech and disrupt one's connection to the Force. Seared into the leather was the icon of the Jedi Order, circa roughly ~845 ABY, give or take some years. She reached up to present the bindings and looked at Jack expectantly with a smile that stretched end-to-end.

Jack Sandrow

 

[Jack Sandrow]

Jack scooted back as she fell out of her little cocoon, brows rising a bit. No shortage of energy. Just how long had she been trapped in there? She had a Jedi Order marking on the cufflinks, but... no way for him to know how old it was. He was no Jedi. It looked recent-ish, at least, so he wasn't talking to someone who was a few hundred years old. Maybe.

"Can I ask why you got yourself stuck in a tree with Jedi cuffs?" he asked with a touch of amusement, brushing off a few errant twigs and leaves from her shoulder before eyeing the cuffs curiously. Seemed a simple enough construction. He put his hand around one leather armature, noting the slow draining of the Force. "Or how you're wearing Force-sapping cuffs but managed to survive a Force-sapping hunter creature thing?"

He made a fist with his other hand, thorns suddenly sprouting on his bare knuckles, before he gave the cuff a sharp strike, and combined with a twist with the other hand he popped the cuffs free. "Am I making a big mistake, letting you out?" he prodded with a wry grin.

---

Antecedent

 

[Antecedent]

When Jack asked her about the cuffs, her expression soured, and her attention seemed to turn inside with deep thought.

"I... don't fully remember," she said. "I remember being here, I remember the angry people... They tried to take me, but I fled with my brother." She glanced at the tree, then back at Jack.

"The Hunter?" She looked confused again, as if it was even a matter of question. "It did not see me."

Then, as he moved to remove her final bindings, Boe looked as if she had just received a vision from the Gods. It was so simple to watch as the device slid from her arms, and for once in a long time, she could not only move but feel the Force as it rapidly began to fill her. Her eyes nearly rolled in ecstasy, and she let out another laugh, one born from ended torment. It was like she woke up from a very long rest; it was like she had quenched her thirst after being stranded on a desert rock.

And as she laughed, the ship began to shake as she exerted everything she had through the Force. It was quite the dangerous exertion, and she nearly passed out immediately, catching herself on the ground beneath him.

It was only then that she processed his wry question, and her joy disappeared. "Some would think so," she answered so plainly as if it were a serious question.

Jack Sandrow

 

[Jack Sandrow]

Jack stumbled back a bit as she released the pent-up energy of the Force in and through her. "...And... why would 'some' think so? Are you a danger to yourself or others?" he asked, a bit warily. To me? For the first time, he began to have a creeping suspicion that perhaps there was a reason she had been so thoroughly ensnared - tossed in the bowels of an empty ship, cuffed and suppressed, with a hunter to guard her (maybe her specifically?).

Also, angry people? Brother? The cryptic responses were only increasing in volume at this rate.

---

Antecedent