Monster Unleashed [CIS]

[Lirka Ka]

The monster was locked in a tube of sickly green liquid, nutrient juices and bacta. A hulking monstrosity long dead, outside and looking within at the specimen was the two Kaminoians who had overseen the request. One of the most classified variety, the Confederacy had made a dive into the next step of military science.

[SIZE=12pt]And it had been going...poorly.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]“[/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]-we still lack the neurological control of the specimen. All initial attempts have failed, and it has resisted all of the modifications and implants.[/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]The second Kaminoian spoke, seemingly some sort of assistant to the first. Presumably somewhere high within the rankings of the gene-crafters by the crest that flowed from his uniform. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]“[/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]Then we simply lobotomize if all else fails. The Confederates will understand the approach we needed to take.[/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Once, the “specimen” had been a she, and she had been Lirka Ka. The battle crazed Confederate, long dead by the hands of the flames on Zomnira. With no next of kin, and only a bodyguard lost to the stars to her name, the buried corpse had been perfect test subject for the experiments, one “Project: Rebirth”, or so it had been dubbed by the Kaminoians. A vile combinations of Dark Magicks, Gene-Science, and Cybernetics. Her soul had been ripped from the depths of the Netherworld, forced into a half decayed corpse returned from the sands of Petranaki, and so was dead flesh made anew; crafted and reformed, the very genetic structure of the Sephi was warped and amplified. A body riddled with scars was reformed as good as new, but then it was torn, expanded, improved: machinery was fused into her flesh, reinforcing limbs, pumping her full of combat stimulants at a moment’s notice.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]She was a monster. Was she? Was that what she had become?....[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Two eyes of an icy diamond blue stared out at the Kaminoians, listen to them talk. The tube muted it all, but the creature could hear well enough. Trying to control her. Make her this monster. Her breathing began to quicken, rage filled her soul again. The Force did not come to her, for her creation had left her a void: the force was gone from her soul. A black void in the force. The rebreather attached to her face began to pant, pushing out bubbles within the tube faster and faster. She looked at the long-necks, she hated them. She could feel her body being ripped apart, see them tearing into her. Specimen. Specimen. Specimen.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Devices whined, informing her captors of the increased violent neurological activity. They continued talking as the machines responded, sending an electric pulse sent through the tube in an attempt to subdue the monster. But it didn’t relent, another shock. Sending pain through every nerve in her Crafted body. But she didn’t relent, her breathing quickened. Stimulants pumped through her body, and her bonds began to whine. And then groaned. Before they were simply torn off, and their monster burst from the confines of the nutrient tube. The bacta-mixture flew across the room, Lirka ripping wires and machinery from the wall in a violent throwing of freedom. Swinging a muscled arm she threw the assistant to the wall in little more than a broken body. Crashing into the other with little pause, sending him flying back. Bones shattered, clawing himself forward and slamming a hand barely into the alarms. The last action before his neck was crushed under the monster’s foot.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Alarms blared through the entire facility, and cries for help were immediately sent throughout the entire sector. They cried for the Confederacy, their employers, there was a “crazed beast” rampaging through the city. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]The specimen had escaped, and any who landed on the city would be quickly aware of this. Cries from the alarms robotic voice, the specimen had escaped. The specimen has escaped. The specimens has escaped.[/SIZE]

 

[Damascus Cid]

"No."

"Look," Cid turned his head to fix one of the long-necks with his gaze, "you're the ones that built this thing tall enough for two Krayt Dragons to stand on top of each other."

A Kaminoian slowly rubbed the side of its neck as it calmly returned the man's gaze with its bulbous eyes. "We cannot reconstruct the entire facility," it explained with that slow, almost soothing voice.

Why entire species had a habit of constructing enormous buildings like this and acting surprised when replacing some crucial piece buried in one of the massive columns cost money to fix, Cid was sure never to find out. He could live a thousand years and the closest he'd come was "it sounded good at the time." Place had been built by amateurs. No that wasn't right... it'd been built by a bunch of scientists and engineers. As someone in that line of work he got it; but damn if some of their technical choices didn't botch a thing in the end.

"I have the schematic, now all I need is--" before Cid could finish, however, alarms began sounding throughout the facility. Didn't sound like a local issue either. The entire chamber rang like a bell. "You have got to be kidding me."

With an alarming rate for one of their kind, the Kaminoian began moving away. "We must hurry."

"Just what is this 'specimen' that's escaped?" A quick jab locked down the gauntlet display ensuring what he'd taken down wasn't lost. Cid's hand dropped to the hammer that hung at his side and hefted it just in case.

"We must get to a shelter quickly. Please, follow me," was their only reply.

Great, so either this one didn't know, or it knew all to damn well. No one had 'specimen has escaped' for something friendly or benign. You didn't warn them a cute and cuddly bear might waddle up and hug your leg. Just his luck he chose today to visit these meddlesome people. Should have handed this job off to one of his apprentices. Ah, Sithspit, better it was him here than them. Just hoped this didn't turn into a giant cluster. Cid opened a channel to the shuttle standing by, "Damascus to Xan, lift off. I'll signal you when to frathing get me the kark out of here."

"What's going on in there?" the Twi'lek's voice came back obviously distressed and aware of the alarms that flared even on the launchpad.

A deep grunt followed the question. "Skrog if I know, Xan, but I don't need you or that ship involved in it. Get going. Now."

"Stay safe."

That was the plan. 'Course, Cid already expected that was about to go Hutt's tail-up any second now.

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

[member="Damascus Cid"] | [member="Lirka Ka"]​

Krakking Kamino.

She hated the planet. It was a big joke at her expense. Someone had one day woken up and thought hey, let's take this bigbutt planet and pump it full of water and murky depths so that falling into them would surely spell death even if you can swim. And then, we're going to invite all the people who can't swim to it. Regularly. Glowing green eyes eyed the wide bridge suspiciously. When storms were a-happening, the bridge often got wet. When it rained, the bridge always got wet. It was always raining and it was sometimes storming. The damned bridge was always wet. And her anti-slipping coating for the boots… She didn't trust it, even if it had never failed her before.

And now she was called. Why? Cloning was a well-known process at this point, and after she'd finished the project of growing her sister's body back to life (something that while did not include cloning, did include a lot of other tech that Kamino made readily available), there was hardly any need for her to be there. After all, she barely knew this Lirka. Sure, she'd seen the gargantuan female around a few times, as had anyone with eye sand had been on as many missions as both she and the elf had been, but the two had not truly known each other.

But then why-

The sounds of people screaming and things breaking was heard all the way from the entrance. Really?! They'd sent her all the way to the water grave to subdue a mammoth of a woman?! Scherezade groaned and marched inside. There was no fear in her heart or on her face. She'd faced bigger opponents before, had taken them all down. What was one terrified elf in comparison to that? Of course, she had no idea that [member="Damascus Cid"] was there as well, or what his plans regarding the situation were.

Scherezade slammed the door to the lab open moments later, eying the collateral damage, the alarms that had been going on during that entire time now becoming annoying to her ears. Groaning, she slammed the touch-pad on the wall a few times, entering the Ministry of Secrets digits in to get that damned thing to quiet down. By now even the dead had probably risen to take cover.

But Lirka was not there.

By grace of the Force, they had needles in her. Needles that she had pulled out when she'd made her dashing escape, but a drop of blood was all the Blood Hound needed. "Take care of your injured," Scherezade sighed. Shed didn't even have the energy to look all super into it right there and then, but that would surely change once she was engaged with the pointy eared female, "I'm going to find her. And then I'm going to find scientists that are better than you at it because you obviously were not monitoring the stims in her system."

With that, she turned around. A drop of blood was all it took. And she had a trail to now follow.

 

[Lirka Ka]

[SIZE=11pt]There was little injured to save: the pile of dead rose high, shattered workers and scientists littered the floor: it was the rampage of a beast, not a person. And maybe to some extent that is what she had become. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]You didn’t need to track this monster, this rampaging destroyer. Merely needed to listen, and you could hear the carnage of tearing metal and broken bones. Throwing herself through a metal door, Lirka had entered into the outside. Even [member="Damascus Cid"] could see the creation of the Kaminoian fools.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]She was not the creature she was before. Her body was clean, not a scar defaced it. No swirling tattoos, merely pale flesh as clean as that of a baby: but there dame the breaking of this perfect seal, visible tubing with flesh melded onto it, the whirl of machinery with every movement, a bulging monster of muscle that wasn’t possible in anything other than a lab. And she was [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]angry[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]She had quickly torn through the facility that had been housing “Project: Rebirth” and the meager and unprepared defenses placed throughout the annoyingly white facility. The color of blood stained the walls, finally offering some variety to the eye. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]As the rain poured outside, leaving the “Sephi” coated in a mixture of water and nutrient fluid, she had begun a new relentless attack on the garrison forces deployed to “Contain the Specimen”: but any looking on could notice it was...bizarre. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]It was erratic, wild, not the refined skilled of a warrior. For she swung at real droids and empty air all the same with the same ferocity. But onlookers could not see what she saw, or feel what she felt: merely observe.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]The planet was on fire. The sounds of war filled her ears, she saw droids and imperials lining the platforms as they fought: it was a battle, a war. Figments of the past, she was clad in plate and wielded a mighty blade that slashed through Stormtroopers like they were paper.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]But she wasn’t fighting on Kamino. She wasn’t fighting Imperials: for she flashed back to reality and to the past in moments. She was fury unchained, hacking at all the enemies before her: and she felt it all. The very real blaster bolts that seared against her bare skin and the entirely fake ones that harmless dissolved against her Plate. It was driving her mad, she lashed out wildly; an entire line of B1s taking out with a wide arc of her makeshift weapon. The initial response force crushed effortlessly, metal was no match for crafted flesh it seemed.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]But she could only throw her head back and roar, and continued to fight her imaginary foes: it seemed a monster truly had been unleashed on Kamino today.[/SIZE]

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Damascus Cid]

Cid stood at the front of the shelter and stared out at the 'monster' as it came barreling through the area. They'd heard it coming long before he caught sight of it. It certainly had an arm on it. Tore the place apart. Probably wanted to tear them apart. But the dark haired man didn't flinch or draw back even as Lirka threw every scrap of solid matter about.

After Lirka passed, Cid turned to look back at the Kaminoians with him. "Specimen." The word was spoken in a low tone. The fingers of his hand uncurled and curled about the grip of his hammer. Specimen. Yeah, that's right. That's the sanitized word people like that used. Now that brought back memories. Oh, yes. Plenty of memories. Of a people -- an Empire -- that was not looked highly upon because of their lack of recognition for the value of sentient life, or the well-being of that life. And these long-necked, haughty fools... "Specimen." Cid snorted.

A hiss followed the door to the chamber opening despite alarmed voices. Cid stepped out of the fortified shelter and looked back at the concerned creatures within. "Don't worry, I'll seal you in. Might not remember to let you know when it's safe though." With that he shoved the door back into place so it would lock. Looked like the controls on the outside had been smashed too, so no chance of bolting back inside like a rabbit. Kark, Cid didn't mean to either.

Hammer in hand, the Blacksmith strode off in the direction he'd seen the 'Specimen' go. Was there a chance of getting through to whoever it had once been? Or was this just one of those mercy killings? Damn fools and their damn meddling. 'It was for the best.' 'Think of what we could do.' 'It was necessary.' That whatever it could be called was not necessary. Was it even sane? Hadn't Cid managed to get away from cold-hearted, arrogant Sith Spitters? Come halfway across the galaxy only to find more of the same crap.

Well, shouldn't be hard to find. Just follow the death and destruction. Just in case, however, he rapped the hammer against the metal wall now and then.

Come on, big girl. Whoever or whatever it was you were killing, it was time to find something that wasn't made of paper.

​

Tag: [member="Lirka Ka"] | [member="Scherezade deWinter"]​

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

[member="Damascus Cid"] [member="Lirka Ka"]​

My, grandma, how awfully noisy you are. It's so that I can better let you know where I am, child!

Scherezade blinked as the words quickly passed through her mind, and shook her head. Even if Lirka had not been making such a mess, she would have known where to follow her. The drop of the blood led the way through the halls, and even a deaf Blood Hound would have been able to do what she was doing right there and then.

What she hadn't accounted for though, was that there would be others. Or more specifically, uninjured others, who were not working on running away. She could smell them as well, though without them bleeding, the scent wasn't quite as strong as it was with the elf.

Sighing, Scherezade changed direction. Much as she would have loved to go after the one that was wrecking everything up, she had to at least check who this other person was that was not locked behind giant strong doors. It was one thing for a few scientists to die while this was going on – it was quite another if someone had been dumb enough to invite a Viceroy over or something.

Turning a few corners, it wasn't too long before she found him. With the scent and the hammer, missing him would've been hard.

And yet she paused when her glowing green eyes befell him [[member="Damascus Cid"]]. "Daddy?" she asked, her mouth forming a perfect O. Scherezade blinked, and shook her head. "Sorry." No, not her father. But damn close looking to it, to how her father had looked after dying and then returning as a Jedi, renouncing her mother and the pregnancy in her stomach. How her grandmother had been happy at that, before deciding to fix the matter. The images ran quickly though her mind and she sighed, shaking her head again.

"Pathfinder Scherezade deWinter," she introduced herself, using her Knights Obsidian cover, "Who are you and why are you not in hiding with the others?"

And in the shorter distance than she wanted it to be at that moment, she could hear the elf woman getting nearer.

 

[Damascus Cid]

Cid froze as someone called out to him in the damnedest way possible. His eyes narrowed to slits as he turned only his head to look at the woman that looked as surprised as he at having said 'Daddy?' With a sharp, slight pivot of his head, Cid thought he got the non-verbal "WHAT?" across rather well. Being mistaken for someone's father could happen. Plenty of strong people in the galaxy. Hell, plenty of people in the galaxy; you had to come across your genetically dissimilar twin eventually. Was that really the first word that should fall out of your mouth though especially given the circumstances?

With a sigh, Cid straightened up, hammer in hand. His eyes resumed their normal size, though his brow remained pinch above the bridge of his nose. No time to relax just because someone else was either stupid enough, or bold enough to venture into the killing zone. "Master Damascus Cid of the Empyrean Forge. And I intended to give our friend someone more on their level to fight. Figure whatever rage-induced delusion they're in isn't satisfied with deathstick necks." In the case of these fishy people it was a brutally honest statement of their physiology.

He held up his free hand after he responded to the woman's -- Pathfinder's -- question. "Look, I can handle myself. If you're here to deal with the situation, let's skip deciding which of us is stronger and work together." There wasn't time for him to tell Scherezade his life story, and he doubted she'd care to hear it. And frankly, dealing with the enraged person/monster on his own wasn't something he needed in his life. Though, it probably would be a hell of a challenge. That was something Cid could look forward to.

Tag: [member="Scherezade deWinter"] | [member="Lirka Ka"]​

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

[member="Damascus Cid"] [member="Lirka Ka"]​

​

​

Well that was a full mouth worth of a title. Scherezade blinked, wondering if some day she would start using her full name as well. After having come out of the pebble, she'd given it to almost everyone, as well as her background and plant of origin. She'd learned though. Learned the hard way, that silence was better. And after consulting with her sister, after her sister became more real, they'd agreed to not use the royal titles at all.

"It's not a fight she needs," Scherezade said, eying the hammer. Under normal circumstances, she would have rejoiced at the thought of a fight, either with a fighting partner or alone. Now though… Maybe it was because she knew the 'subject'. Maybe it was because of a favor a certain mutual wolf-friend had asked.

Nodding though, she agreed, and motioned for him to follow her. "I can scent her down the hall," she explained. And then there was the need to explain. "This is a known potential sideffect when you clone someone. And these stupid giraffe necks have still not learned how to properly deal with this. The subject- the female – in question, is an asset to the Confederacy. Better alive than dead. And re-cloning her is too time consuming."

Though that did beg the question of whynot use accelerated growth but… It wasn't Scherezade's decision to make.

"So how'd you-" she was just about to ask to get a conversation going. Madalena had explained to her how it all worked. She was trying. The problem was, that as she was trying, the noise the elf woman made renewed itself, and they could hear it close by, louder than ever before.

 

[Lirka Ka]

[SIZE=11pt]The Sephi had halted on the platform outside of the lab, thrashing wildly with her makeshift weapon. The storm raged, and lightning crashed alongside the swirling beast. For in her eyes the planet burned, she was in the thick of the fighting that had claimed Kamino for the Confederacy in the first place.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Her body was consumed in the flame, and she could only roar as she swung wildly at her fictitious opponents and the droids that had once again been deployed to try and (rather violently) contain the weapon. It was fairly miserably, and droids were smashed into scrap and thrown into the sea en masse.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]At least she was in one place, for the time being.[/SIZE]

[member="Scherezade deWinter"] [member="Damascus Cid"]

 

[Damascus Cid]

Cid straightened up from his fighting stance and regarded the woman as she spoke. Not a fight that she needed? "I don't do mind games. Maybe it isn't a fight she needs, but she's consumed by one right now." And they'd certainly sent a lass with the mobile armory necessary to give it to the 'specimen.' But, hell, this one seemed to be damn confident in knowing what was going on. If that were the case, he'd entertain whatever notion she had. Right up to the minute his hammer needed to smack the crazed creature in the head.

As they moved, the broad man listened to the words of this Scherezade deWinter. Pathfinder. Whatever. It was probably an important title among the Confederacy. Honestly hadn't bothered to learn about their hierarchy; long as they didn't try controlling him, he wouldn't try knocking heads together with them. Quiet laughter barked from deep in Cid's throat when she claimed all of this was a 'side effect' of cloning. Seriously? "Maybe they shouldn't clone people then." The very idea was creepy as hell. Did they possess their memories? What if you cloned two of someone? Did they both think-- Just damn creepy, and something he'd done his best not to think about until now. Thank you, Pathfinder.

Thankfully, this Scherezade emphasized the 'specimen' was a 'female' rather than a thing. At least until the next breath where she was labeled an 'asset to the Confederacy.' Just what was wrong with these people? This was exactly why he labeled the Dark Side Users among them as Punk Lords, and as for the 'Light' Side Users merrily frolicking through the damn stars...

"Yeah," Cid snorted, "can't wait for that. I'm sure she has plenty of people the Confederacy needs killed." Or was she the last known person in existence with the best souffle? Never you mind her temper, best damn Chef in the galaxy.

The two of them paused in banter for a moment when sounds of the woman's romp echoed back to them.

"Good thing this place is surrounded by the ocean. Sounds like she might be outside," Cid said after a moment. And probably a damn good thing he had Xan leave earlier, or the shuttle and her would have been a smoldering ruin. "So, what's the plan talking her down?" Better have some karkin' good words to say, because Cid wasn't sure anything short of some programmed codeword was going to get through all the snarling and clawing.

Tag: [member="Scherezade deWinter"] | [member="Lirka Ka"]​

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

[member="Lirka Ka"] | [member="Damascus Cid"]​

"It's not a common side effect, just a known one," she explained, "and usually they're better about putting the rabid clones down." What would have happened if it had happened to her sister? Granted, she hadn't used cloning for her but accelerated growth for the body, but the same side effects could happen there as well.

Turning to the man again, she frowned. "She's actually a really efficient killer," she grinned, "but she has more uses. Just… Try to be a little bit understanding. Sometimes experiments go haywire but can be fixed without putting people down." Scherezade's face shrunk like a baby tasting lemon for the very first time. "I swear I'm not so soft hearted," she said, trying to save face, "A friend of mine asked for a favor, to save her if it was possible."

The thought of the plcae being surrounded by the ocean made her visibly shudder. Frek all the water.

But yes. The man – Cid – was right. Their target was outside.

Sighing, Scherezade led them through the halls of the lab and outside, into the rain. It always rained on Kamino. And there, at the end of the platform, was their elf.

The Sithling motioned for the other man to wait with is weapon.

"Lirka?" Scherezade asked, her voice amplified by the Force as it boomed over the weather conditions, "I'm a friend of Alwine. Alwine Lechner. She sent me here to help you."

 

[Lirka Ka]

Lirka smashed her club down again, crushing a droid into little more then a dented mass of broken machinery. She snapped her head back up after [member="Scherezade deWinter"] spoke, with her mind in it's current state of near insanity she could only see history change itself in front of her eyes. Imperial Sith. Imperial cultists. Vile, vile, cultists.

"SHOW YOURSELF, IMPERIAL RAT! I ALREADY CRUSHED A LEGION OF YOUR CURS!"

Nothing truly made sense. It didn't need to, the Kaminoians had done their work: they had created a killing machine, and one that was incredibly focused on the killing part of that right now.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"] [member="Damascus Cid"]

 

[Damascus Cid]

Cid stared at Scherezade, but said nothing. Be a little 'understanding?' Of what? They were trying to resurrect someone 'really efficient' at killing and boy howdy had they managed it. Great job, everyone. Brilliant work. Only cost you a few dozen lives, but you made a monstrous killing machine. But they could 'fix' this one, could they?

The woman seemed to quickly reiterate that her words were not customary. Right, because talking about helping people not be ruthless killers was too soft hearted. Was everyone Sith trained? "Reminds me of the karking Empire," Cid grumbled.

Once they stepped into view of the creature Cid had seen previously, he remained right where Scherezade left him. Alright then. She wanted to give diplomacy a try, who was Cid to tell her no? Not like she couldn't handle herself. Yeah, he knew the type. The type that carried a personal arsenal typically reserved for five warriors instead of only one. Who knew she'd be an adept negotiator? Not that he felt particularly skilled in that art himself.

Yep. That was about right. Cid could make out the less than pleased disposition of the crazed monster before them. His fingers wrapped and unwrapped about the grip of his hammer. Hey, at least the monster didn't like Imperials. They had that much in common. Shame about the loss of humanity or sanity though.

"I wouldn't get too close," he called out to Scherezade. She might not be a bleeding heart, but if she was really committed to this 'friend' that sent her here she might do something reckless -- stupid.

Tag: [member="Scherezade deWinter"] | [member="Lirka Ka"]​

 

[Tess Valnora]

Equipment: Oathkeeper, SGP-12 (concealed), Phrik knife (concealed), shotosaber (concealed), compact SMG (concealed)​

Wear: Shadow's Sting, black trenchcoat (NR dye), tan shirt, black trousers, combat boots, utility belt​

Tag: [member="Scherezade deWinter"] | [member="Damascus Cid"] | [member="Lirka Ka"]​

Target: Lirka Ka​

​

​

'You won't be the only one there to make sure it doesn't escape the planet, there should be others there.' she had been told, 'Keep it alive if you and the others can, kill it as a last resort.'

Tess didn't have the clearance level to know why they wanted 'it' alive, or why the CIS had commissioned the resurrection of a long dead warrioress on a cloning facility, so she didn't ask questions. She just needed to get the job done.

The Crow crouched on a platform about twenty meters away and above her target. Soaked from the rain, she watched through the scope on her B-2 as the monster of a woman crush battle droids with ease, the power behind every swing was awe inspiring and a little offsetting to say the least. She hadn't been watching for long when a man and a woman ran into the torrential downpour as well. Tess focused on the two, the woman's face resembled that of Scherezade DeWinter, they had had a few run-ins and Tess made it a habit to never forget a face. The other [Damascus Cid], she wasn't quite sure, but he was most likely an ally with the current situation.

That was when DeWinter's voice, inhumanely reached her ears, followed by the roaring retort of the monster. Tess adjusted her cross-hairs to look at Lirka's back as she looked toward Dewinter [and Cid]. She wasn't even sure if her rifle was powerful enough to do any real damage to it as the droids had hit her multiple times to no effect. "What kind of steroids have these Kaminoans been feeding you?" she said to herself as she waited, hoping Scherezade would be able to talk sense to the rampaging thing.