Faction The Autopsy of Kai Kriel

[Wyatt Morga]

​

Onboard Peace...​

​

The room was prepared with the Jedi Knights, and Masters of the Order; but there was an observation area set up with those who wanted to simply watch. It was a chance to offer education, insight into the Dark Side and its magic for much of the Order; as it had changed in the previous years substantially… Notable practitioners like Taeli Raaf , Darth Carnifex and Darth Prazutis , Kainan Wolfe , and even Darth Empyrean had helped pushed the limits of what the Dark Side was capable of - to a point that the Jedi had to reacclimate themselves to that evil were they to properly fight such a thing.​

​

Wyatt offered a breath of relief as the body of the Jedi Master Kai Kriel was brought out on the repulsor lift table; but not for the fact a Jedi Master lay dead, but because it was no longer possessed by the cruel nature of Darth Carnifex. The body was horribly emaciated, visible scars bursting across - some in place from Wyatt himself, while others were there from the process itself. The head was removed, and there was no light left in the corpse - Wyatt’s only consolation to this was the hope that Kai Kriel had passed on some time ago.​

​

He sighed as he found himself at the head of the autopsy table, glancing around for the others to show up; he only hoped those that did had the stomach, the fortitude to witness what had to be done. Before Kai Kriel could be buried, they had to find what the cause of his puppetry was…​

 

[Shira Varanin]

"Grim karking shavvit."

Shira was mostly talking to herself, and referring to the observation gallery. She hadn't come around to take a look at the body yet. Once she did, though-

"Feth."

She winced and stepped up close for a better perspective. Master Kai Kriel had died hard, that much was clear. Decapitation, other battle wounds-

"Feth."

-and some ritual scars, looked like, or else serious surgery in rough conditions. Someone at some point had cut into this man, cut deep and often, and not really cared how well it patched up.

"Feth."

 

[Jend-Ro Quill]

Quill could've been down in the main chamber, found ways to help. He found he didn't have the heart for it, or maybe the stomach. A little voice considered him a coward, but he'd lived long enough as a hermit that he could ignore the voice and its label. He sat in the viewing gallery, alone, and watched.

Even from here he could see the vicious wounds across the body of Master Kai Kriel - some healed, some not.

"Sorry, Kai," he mumbled to himself. "Wasn't there."

Kai Kriel had been a friend, a good man to have at your back. Quill had scars that dated back to the same battles where Kai had taken some of his wounds.

Quill felt very old and very small.

It had originally been a Pantoran, the body broken and mutilated to expand far beyond its physical limitations to resemble that of the Sith Emperor. Now that the dark magic that had enthralled it had been broken, the body rapidly returned to its normal dimensions far too violently. Skin sagged where muscle had been torn apart in the transformation, the bones consumed by abnormal growth and artificial extension. Though the same afflicted the Being's face, if one possessed enough knowledge of past modern Jedi, they would find that the face belonged to Pantoran Jedi Master Kai Kriel. Master Kriel had once been a part of the Galactic Alliance's New Jedi Order before joining the then Outer Rim Coalition and had been presumed dead after the Sith Empire's razing of Pantora. ​

 

[Seela Khaan]

She'd only known Kai Kriel in passing. Like Quill, he had been a slightly older Knight and later Master than herself, but he'd brought some interesting things back to the Temple before...Before everything. She started to raise a hand to comfort Quill but then slowly lowered it. She could have been down there, searched for where things went wrong, though even from here she could feel in the Force that the the man had been shattered to Chaos and back, not that the information would have helped. Her golden orbs fell on the shorter and older looking man sadly.

"I'm sorry Quill, he was a good Jedi." Did she even have the right to say that? Would she even know a good Jedi if they bisected her with their lightsaber? She doubted that anymore. But she was trying, every day.

Jend-Ro Quill

 

[Tiland Kortun]

Tiland paced slowly around the autopsy chamber as the body was brought in. He had in fact not known the Jedi, despite his time with the Galactic Alliance and Outer Planets Alliance. He had spent too much time on the Outer Rim and beyond. But he was a specialist when it came to the Force and its influence on the body. Just usually, it was the opposite of whatever had happened here. He had seen the report from Wyatt and the rest who had been present on Alderaan.

This man had been possessed and controlled through some means of the Dark Side. It was peculiar. He had been racking his memory, but couldn't remember anything like this before in his memory. It would take some archival research to see if anything more could be discerned. He stroked his beard with one hand as he bent down to inspect some of the scars and injuries more closely. "Most peculiar..."

 

[Jend-Ro Quill]

@Seela Khan

Quill looked up and felt a twinge of embarrassment on top of his shame. "Master Khan. Thank you. I didn't think I was..." He gestured vaguely at his face and refocused on the...amateur operating theatre below. "Yes, he was. Can't help wishing I was there instead of here having fun with books. Or on Pantora when he was taken, instead of farting around on Hoth, and..."

He trailed off into an awkward silence.

"Oh. Oh, good, they've got Tiland Kortun in there. Solid choice. He'll get to the bottom of this."

 

[Wyatt Morga]

“Thank you all for coming.”, Wyatt offered with a sincere sadnes to his tone.​

​

There was nothing good about losing a Jedi, and the fact they had to do an autopsy on him so publically before his burial only made it feel worse. Jedi slowly piled into the obvservation deck, others took a place near the floor - assuming they felt confident in their ability to identify sith magicks. Wyatt stood nearest the table, followed only by the two medical droids that took point on either side of him.​

​

“Master Kai Kriel was a great man, and it is a shame what happened to him…”, Wyatt offered those gathered.​

​

“Were there another way, I would have… Done more. I’m sorry for that.”​

​

He took a moment to collect himself, refind that zen. Wyatt took a small amount of pride in his ability to calm his emotions, but it was sadness that had become the hardest to deal with… This only exemplified that.​

​

“If anything, it proves why we need a unified, strong Order more than ever. So that Kai Kriel might not have been so alone in his efforts to stop the Sith. It is a shame what happened to him - but is our duty as Jedi to make sure it never happens again.”​

​

“And at worst… how to counter it.”​

​

He exhaled through his nose as the medical droids came forward to begin their work. Wyatt motioned to let them begin as he took a step back, crossing his arms as he stood next to Tiland; watching carefully what changed with the body.​

​

“Observation: Multiple bone fractures detected on the femur, humourous and…”, they began, moving what limbs remained.​

​

“Have you ever seen something like this, Tiland?”, Wyatt asked softly.​

​

Tiland Kortun │ Shira Varanin │ Jend-Ro Quill │ Seela Khaan​

 

[Sev Pitborn]

Sev watched quietly as the medical droids did their work. The scene before the gathered Jedi was gruesome, the deceased Master had been thoroughly mutilated, missing limbs and grotesque scars told the tale of a horrific passing. As the autopsy proceeded, many of the present Jedi expressed their disgust with gasps and whispers. Sev, no stranger to gore and horror, simply watched quietly. While there was certainly other things he would prefer to do with his time, the circumstances of this Master's passing were simply too interesting to ignore. The Dark Side was now capable of thus far unknown horrors and Sev was dedicated to stopping them. That meant that he needed to be present, to learn all that he could of his enemy.

Know your enemy, as you know yourself. The wise counsel of Sev's late Master echoed in his mind. If that meant sitting through this horror show, then so be it. The fiend responsible for this atrocity would surely be punished. First, The Jedi needed to learn what they were up against. As the medical droids continued, Sev stepped closer to the table, crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes, focused intently on the unsettling scene before him.

Wyatt Morga | Shira Varanin | Jend-Ro Quill | Seela Khaan

 

[Tiland Kortun]

Tiland ignored the medical droids and circled slowly around the remains, hand resting on his chin. One part of his brain was listening to the droid analysis. What they were saying was correct, but only factually. It was not interpretive and did not draw conclusions. That was the key element in this autopsy. Anyone could see the injuries sustained, especially the obvious ones. Lightsaber burns- both severed limbs and stabs. Mostly from the Jedi who were at the battle, if he were to guess. So it was a vicious battle then and this once-Pantoran had fought on through the massive injuries.

Those were the curious one. He stepped closer and examined the stretched and torn flesh and bones. "I have, but not exactly," Tiland said in response to Wyatt Morga 's question. He pointed to the bone fractures. "These are not directional breaks, per se. Look at the lack of cracking across the grain of the bone. These weren't broken from a blow. They were... stretched apart." The words puzzled him for several moments. "Some forms of Sith alchemy have similar effects on the creatures undergoing the transformation process, but that is a permanent enhancement. This..." He trailed off and shrugged. "I will take some time to make sense of it all, but it looks like there may have been some sort of Sith alchemy done here. Peculiar, because I have not heard of it being done often on sentients, and certainly never a Jedi. Someone with psychometry might be able to discern more."

 

[Shira Varanin]

Shira had shut up - or at least kept her cussing internal while the Masters and medical droids talked. Now she spoke up.

"I saw things like this fighting the One Sith. Not exactly like this, but some of their alchemists had a taste for twisting people into all kinds of weapons. Innocent, willing, anyone. I used to hear about going up against Hounds of Vahl, if that name means anything to you. And there were other things, on Coruscant mostly, people who exploded or gave off sickening energy...bad times. Bad kriffing times."

Sev Pitborn Wyatt Morga Tiland Kortun Seela Khaan

 

[Wyatt Morga]

“Sith Alchemy.”, Wyatt seemed to mull the phrase over in his mouth.​

​

It wasn’t foreign to him, he had been hunted by Sithspawn before - seen their swords, their leviathans, and much more; but to think it could be used involuntarily on a Jedi Master. Was he alive during the alterations - did he even have to be? For a moment, he could feel a coldness run across him, forcing him to almost shiver at the thought of facing such a fate awake, conscious of what was being done.​

​

He wondered for a moment if cutting off Kai’s head in the duel was a mercy.​

​

The thought made him sick.​

​

“Bad kriffing times, indeed.”, he sighed once more as he closed his eyes in thought.​

​

“When we fought - he had a Mask on; adorned with a Sith symbol. It turned to ash when I defeated… this…”, he motioned to the body before him.​

​

“His voice was off too; he didn’t speak, only sent messages through the Force - like a cruel whisper on the wind.”, Wyatt reinforced.​

​

“He was also - Far larger than this. Eight feet tall, easily, and muscle bound; it wasn’t an easy fight. When the mask shattered, a thick, choking cloud oozed from the wounds.”, he offered quietly, glancing over the places he had cut.​

​

“Would that mean anything here?”​

​

Jend-Ro Quill │ Shira Varanin │ Tiland Kortun │ Sev Pitborn │ Seela Khaan​

 

[Shira Varanin]

Shira hissed and, again, spoke out of turn.

"Master Morga, I'm starting to feel like we're fumbling in the dark. None of us know what the feth we're talking about. We need to talk to an alchemist, the genuine article, someone who hates the Sith Empire. There's no other way we'll understand what we're looking at."

 

[Tiland Kortun]

Tiland looked up, interested. “Eight feet tall? Muscle bound? Only communicated through the Force?” His fingers laced themselves together as he considered the new information. “The physical appearance matches that of the Sith Emperor. Fought him above Sisio, and that matches his description.”
He chewed the edge of his mustache for several moments. “That seems to have been some sort of projection of the Emperor made physical. Likely the mask served as some sort of conduit and when it was severed, so was the magic. But details?”

The Anzati shrugged. “I concur. Without an alchemist or one deeply studied in its applications and possibilities, I can give nothing further.“

 

[Seela Khaan]

She flinched. She knew it wasn't true, but she felt dozens of eyes or attentions on her. It was the weight of not doing something when you knew you could do something. She wanted to pull the robe tighter around herself. She remembered the minds she'd touched, the things she'd done. The scars she'd left behind.

The wounds in the Force she'd made.

Some Jedi liked to imagine themselves 'Light Side Alchemists" but anything that exerted one's own will and desires in the Force on another was tainted with the Dark Side. The Force could however be worked with, a give and take, balance. Some had called this way of working with the Force "Alkahestry". It was a purifying, in a way, and could be used according to some texts, to heal the bleeding of kyber. These things, purification, light, healing....She knew them intimately...But she didn't dare touch them. She was too far gone. She had no right.

She started to tremble, her fear and anxieties getting the better of her. Without saying a word to Master Quill she hurried from the the room.

Jend-Ro Quill Tiland Kortun Shira Varanin Wyatt Morga

 

[Jend-Ro Quill]

Truth be told, Quill almost didn't notice Seela Khaan stand up beside him and rush from the viewing gallery. He was, like her, lost in memory and anxiety.

When the door closed behind her, he flinched and looked around, then followed her out into the hallway.

"Master Khaan? Are you alright?"

Now that he was paying attention, she did not feel alright. Didn't look it either.

 

[Wyatt Morga]

He could almost feel the cringe roll up his features at the thought of asking a Sith what they thought about this. The trust of the matter was one thing, but Wyatt held a personal issue with Sith - even if he’d come to peace with it. For the sake of those on the station, he was immediately apprehensive to the idea;​

​

“Who would we speak to, that would be able to give us insight? Velok, Darth Empyrean , Malok , or someone else?”, he asked, holding back any more immediate dislike of the idea.​

​

“Even if they would agree to meet us - what of our trust with them? Sith change their motivations easily, and it wouldn’t be hard for one to sell out the station, or even us Jedi to the Sith…”, he idled as he crossed his arms.​

​

The truth was, he wanted an answer to go along with it, but there was that ever driving fear in him - that those around them would face consequences greater than the puppet before them. His gaze momentarily glanced up to Seela and Jend-Ro leave the observation deck; but he thought it more likely from the gore they witnessed.​

​

“Unless we’ve someone who is redeemed, who may yet remember the art of Alchemy. I suppose that would be a compromise.”, though as he glanced to the observation deck again, none shot their hands up. He offered a quiet sigh as he looked back to the others.​

​

Jend-Ro Quill │ Shira Varanin │ Sev Pitborn │ Seela Khaan │ Tiland Kortun​

 

[Shira Varanin]

Wyatt Morga

"They don't need to know a thing about the station. They might need the body. We could probably get good results from just handing over whatever recordings, scans, and foreign objects comes of the autopsy, but the body would add an extra layer of possibility. Not that I like the idea."

She rubbed the back of her neck, or went to before remembering it was made of metal now. The gesture induced neither relaxation nor comfort.

"You mention Velok - I've heard he might be among the Whiphids in a big mountain range on Gertafuu Six. I don't know much about Maliphant. Metus could be a solid choice if you've got that connection: I'm guessing he'd fold over backward to keep a good relationship with the Silvers and the OPA."

 

[Auteme]

P E A C E​

She wasn't exactly the epitome of grace. As much as she loved books, they were rather detrimental to her agility. Still, she'd been trying her best to move quickly to the room set aside for the autopsy. Auteme had gathered every text she had on hand about Sith Alchemy, plus Holonet sources about the Sith Empire's experiments and a recording of her consultation with the Gatekeeper on the subject.

That research tumbled onto the floor as Auteme tripped into the room.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," she muttered, quickly picking herself up and gathering her research once more. She walked quickly over and put everything down on one of the tables to the side of the room. When she turned back, her embarrassment about tripping had finally worn off, only to be replaced by the embarrassment of being the youngest and most inexperienced person in the room.

So many masters, Knights, people she knew and people she didn't. Moreover, a really gross dead Pantoran sitting on the table. Yes, she'd tried to mentally prepare herself for this, but it was still gross. She was probably the least experienced here when it came to the Sith. Auteme had actively avoided researching dark side powers -- that was the one thing she didn't want to know more about. She didn't really feel like she should have been there... too late to turn back now.

"Um, Master Morga... I brought some texts that might be of some help. I mean, I don't really know..." She scratched her head, then stepped away. "I'll just watch."

 

[Jend-Ro Quill]

Quill followed Auteme into the autopsy room just as she deposited her reference materials on a side table. He avoided being the centre of attention, just started flipping through files and squinting at autopsy scans. The droids had identified a number of foreign objects in there, which sparked a memory, which sent him deep into a book of tales over forty centuries old.

"What Tiland said about Emperor Zambrano lines up with something from the station's records. The Sith Emperor Vitiate wormed his way into minds - servants, captured enemies - and made them into what were called Children of the Emperor. Sleeper agents who didn't know it, courtesy of memory manipulation. There's some indication that they could also serve as semi-permanent vessels for his soul of he wanted. These scars might or might not be from Kal's capture at Pantora. He might have been a Child of the Emperor for longer. Force Light would render them inert for certain. We should probably all get lit up, and scanned for those embedded objects. Sorry if that seems extreme, but I'm uncomfortable with the idea that Carnifex could have been looking through my eyes at some point." He reconsidered. "I was thoroughly exposed to Force light last week, though, so I'm probably good."

Just to be sure, light swelled around his fist. It might damage the little amulet-like objects being removed from the body, but in the moment it seemed like a worthwhile tradeoff for peace of mind.

Wyatt Morga Tiland Kortun Sev Pitborn

 

[Wyatt Morga]

“Gertafuu Six…”, Wyatt repeated, a thumb moving to stroke his bearded chin in thought.​

​

“I don’t think it would be right to leverage our relationship with the OPA or Silvers against Metus - if that is indeed what you’re implying, leave alone that we barely have one as is.”, Wyatt sighed.​

​

The OPA had thus far refused his attempts to talk, and the Silvers… Well, everyone saw how Yuroic acted at the initial call to Peace.While Wyatt certainly got along with Elise, and a few of their members - the Order as a whole still liklely saw this new Jedi Order as little more than a blot on the map.​

​

“If need be, I believe Velok might be a decent option. Unlike Maliphant or Metus, I don’t believe he has had a direction connection with the Sith Empire - though the thought of meeting with a Sith at all still bothers me.”, he sighs.​

​

Wyatt’s attention was brought up, however, as the scans began to show materials left in the body. Nihil Smokestone and Meltmassif - uncommon minerals found in comets in the Outer Rim; and once used by another Sith to control pawns…​

​

“We should wait.”, Wyatt offered with a glance to Jend-Ro.​

​

“Force light might destroy the body if it was indeed altered through alchemic processes - but I would agree that it should be how we cleanse it before he is put to rest.”, Wyatt said with a motion.​

​

“This Meltmassif, Jend, Auteme -”, the Jedi said, motioning to the Padawan with a smile.​

​

“Do you know anything about these minerals the droids found in Kai’s brain?”​

​

Jend-Ro Quill │ Auteme │ Shira Varanin │ Seela Khaan │ Tiland Kortun​