Private The Sight

[Red Mobius]

Wearing: Red's First Armor

Armed With: Banshee Carbine, Mobius Pistol, Mobius Ban-Hammer, Enclave's Herald, Besragr, Outdated Plasma Grenade (2)


Red found herself walking through the streets of Keldabe, not remembering how she had gotten here.

She saw signs of decay and rot everywhere she went. Saw Mandalorians throwing up, collapsing all around her.

The sky was made of fire, and rained feathers from the cloak of Runi Kuryida . Red knew this because she had seen Runi with such a piece of attire in the past.

The decay grew worse as she walked, seeing multiple copies of The Amalgam laughing at the dying in the street.

She tried to stop, but her legs were on automatic.

She saw a male Mandalorian in bronze armor. One she had seen before out of the corner of her eye in the real world, pointing to a burning house in the distance.

Red found herself walking towards it, heart pounding unbearably as she saw the standing, burning bodies of her people walking out of it, towards her.

Pointing at her...

Red blinked, found herself staring at her very first armor behind its display in her quarters aboard her Class Five Transport .

It had been years since she had worn it. It was her very first Beskar'gam.

There were reasons she didn't wear it. Not normally.

The visions had gone crazy the first time she had put it on.

It was styled after the armor of ancient Rally Masters. It had taken her weeks to forge the whole set. She still remembered the trances she went into when making it.

It gleamed behind the transparisteel display, a ruby red sheen that glimmered even in the low lightning.

That was the single most serious vision she had experienced since waking up in this era.

And she knew there was a reason for her to wake up staring at it.

The Oversoul had need of her.

Hesitant, Red slowly opened the display...

Fifteen minutes later...

Red walked out dressed in her first Beskar'gam and headed down to engineering to meet with Kassandra Beskar'ad , who now served aboard her vessel under the guise of being Red's property to avoid scrutiny from the other crew. Kassandra was a Nuetralizer, one she had freed not too long ago from her loyalty programming .

Kassandra's particular model had the least 'tells' of any of the Nuetralizers created by Laertia Io. Red found her doing maintenance on one of the power couplings next to the other Domarians.

Kassandra did a double take a long with the others at Red's appearance.

"Looks antique..." Kassandra remarked.

"Feth you." Red replied casually and offhandedly, seemingly not even offended. "I'm heading down to Keldabe."

"I thought you weren't going down there for another day or so." Kassandra said.

"Situation has changed. Gotta go early. Taking the Blastboat..." Red said. "I might be gone a day or so. Please make sure to inspect the forge equipment while I'm gone."

"You got it. Anything else?" Kassandra asked.

"Keep the crew working on those cargo hold refits... cycle 'em through shifts..." Red instructed. "And don't let anyone touch that Basilisk prototype except me."

"Good hunting." Kassandra said, nodding in reply.

Red nodded back and departed without further word to the large rear hanger of the ship where her Skipray Blastboat II waited.

Red popped the hatch and stepped in...

...and found herself at the top of a spiral staircase that led into darkness.

Red hesitated but started going down the steps, hearing a ship's alarm klaxon as she descended the flight of stairs, her surroundings getting darker...

She began to hear familiar laughter, and the white gloved hands of Swordfighter Fragments burst from the walls and steps, grabbing her...

Red jumped back, realizing she was sitting in the pilot seat...and that she had already landed in Keldabe...

Hyperventilating, Red stumbled out of the cockpit, paying the dock officer as she tried to maintain her composure.

"If you're heading deeper into Keldabe, watch out..." The Dock Officer, a male Mandalorian in blue armor warned. "Local illness just started popping up a few clicks north of here. Put a few in the med center already."

"Thanks for the warning..." Red said back to him knowing where the Oversoul wanted her to go.

Red ventured away from the platform, armed to the teeth...and not certain what she would find...

 

[Runi Kuryida]

Cloaked in feathers, the helmetless Shaman stood at the corner of the building. She'd just finished carefully scribing a runic glyph there when a dutiful citizen stopped and asked what she was doing. Patients, after all, were inside, but some accepted there were ways of her order they did not understand. "A Ward of Healing," she responded simply and with a slight nod.

As they passed on, her hazel eyes rose to the sky for a moment. Something had felt out of place. It was not the Gravesong or Harrow's presence, fortunately. Runi had to maintain constant vigilance against that creature in case it sought to come to Mandalore itself.

She would need to train others. Yes, train them to use the gifts of the Manda to protect their people from such horrors. They already had several join, but Aether would need more. The galaxy was filled with those using such gifts for their own gain or edification; the Empire had need of those able to stand toe-to-toe with such things. Not for the same reasons, of course, but the protection of warrior and civilian alike was more than enough cause, and a source of great honor.

Having dealt with certain signs that had plagued Runi of late, the Shaman moved toward the entrance of the medical center. It might not be her place to dictate the story of others, but that didn't mean she couldn't intervene in it. Disease was an affliction that brought no honor or strength to the Manda, and could leave a body weak; obviously a Shaman should step in so the worthy could realize their full potential.

Red Mobius​

 

[Red Mobius]

Red wandered the streets of Keldabe, a silent figure in red, gleaming plates of riveted Beskar.

As time went on, Red found herself to be an unmoored element in Mandalorian Society. A Beskar Smith with specialized knowledge and no clan...that made quite a lot of Mandalorians nervous. Suspicious, even.

Red stopped, seeing a storm of black feathers in the sky that wasn't there. They flowed in one direction. Red followed the flow, even as the sky became like fire and the ground began to steam.

She blinked and the streets were back to normal. She saw a Mandalorian start coughing violently before collapsing in the street. Red got to him first before any of the others.

"Hey! What's wrong?" she asked as the others stood over him. The fallen Mandalorian had ripped off his helmet, and was still coughing.

Red spotted the strange crescent moon scar on his neck.

"Like the others..." One of the fallen Mandalorians kin said. "Illness has been breaking out in this sector. Only a few so far. But the cases are becoming more frequent."

"It's not an epidemic?" Red asked.

"Not yet." the other Mandalorian answered. "Here, move back...gotta get him to a Med Center. Don't want him near that Mandokarla witch if I can help it."

"...witch?" Red said hesitantly.

"Down the street...making strange runes on people's homes. Stay away from her. Magic and the Six Actions don't mix."

"He has this scar..." Red pointed out at his neck. "Is that part of the symptoms?"

"Dunno. I'll figure it out later." the other Mandalorian answered.

Red got out of the way so the sick Man's clan could lift him up.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a grinning figure in an all white, skintight catsuit in an alley nearby. A beautiful Twi'lek woman with purple skin and rotting yellow eyes. Red wandered to it casually, not wanting to cause a scene, then ducked into that same alley to look for what she knew to be a Brain Demon Cultist. They had tried to kill her a few times already...

No sign. The alley was empty.

Red explored it. Looked around some more...but nothing...

Red sighed. No choice now. If there was one of those freaks in Keldabe, the witch would have to be informed.

Red left the alley quickly and continued back on her previous route, until she spotted Runi Kuryida .

Red stopped her heart rate from spiking, calmed herself, and walked to the witch.

"Another person got sick and fell down. They took him to a Med Center..." Red said to Runi tersely. "I think I know who is doing it..."

 

[Runi Kuryida]

The soft slip of coal on metal accompanied the final line drawn before the Shaman as Red Mobius stopped near. Hazel eyes lifted once more to the sky and narrowed a hair. "Yes, this will have to do," she breathed.

When her chin fell, she turned to regard Red for a moment. Runi stared at the other woman in silence before she finally replied, "Good. Though I fear it will not be enough. We must find those responsible; perhaps then we can forestall its spread." She extended a hand. "I am Runi Kuryida."

As the Shaman had noted Red's armament, perhaps she would have done the same especially while Runi had faced the wall moments ago. Two, wooden swords crossed against her back with their grips poking out to either side of her cape. Though the woman might be relieved to see even a spiritual woman still wore a beskar'gam even if her helmet had more shamanistic elements than any other.

"Would you tell me of who you believe is responsible?" It was expected since Red had mentioned it first, but Runi asked all the same.

 

[Red Mobius]

Red had avoided being near Runi Kuryida whenever possible back in the days of The Enclave. She hadn't trusted witches, and still didn't. Plus, she feared the possibility she herself was a Force User, and that all her visions would only draw Runi's attention.

But this was bigger than her privacy and fear.

"Red...of Clan Mobius..." Red replied, not sure if Runi even remembered her from The Enclave. Red, like so many members of Clan Mobius, had kept their heads down. They went out of their way to avoid starting fights with other clans. This had made it easy for many Clans to dismiss Clan Mobius as small time, not a threat to the goals of much more ambitious Clans. Perceptive members of other Clans however, noted that Clan Mobius was awfully convenient to have around when you needed doctors or engineers, or needed to lock down trade in an area. Even smarter ones noted that any Clan that had once almost exclusively used the T-7 Ion Disruptor Rifle and the Mandalorian Disintegrator as their service weapons wasn't a clan that tolerated ongoing feuds with others.

"I think it's a group known as The Cult of The Brain Demon. Real bunch of psychos. Connected to a faction that tore itself up during a civil war. They're the ones who have abducted my clan. I don't know why they're on Keldabe. But I've seen these bastards at work. They can't be allowed to develop a foothold in Keldabe. They terrorized the Mandalore System during the Gulag Plague until they were driven out at great cost."

 

[Runi Kuryida]

Runi nodded her head at Red's hesitant introduction.

The Shaman's eyes closed for a moment at Red's mention of the Cult. Her head slowly shook from one side to the other once before her eyes slid open again. "They would be a destructive force, and must be eliminated immediately," Runi agreed. "Why do you believe they are responsible? And do you know how we can find them?" It wasn't that it was unbelievable, but such accusations did necessitate confirmation. If they ran off on a wild goose chase countless people could die needlessly.

"Perhaps, later, we can discuss the abduction of your clan as well. For now, we save those in our reach; we will plan for the future once today is secure." To say this Cult had taken an entire clan... Was this known to others? It was a shocking revelation. Surely she hadn't forgotten something like that?

Recent events the Shaman could recall with precision; it was only the far older events she forgot until it was necessary to remember. The Cult and its actions during the Gulag Plague, for instance, were not something she recalled off hand; but if it became pertinent Runi could manage it. No, from what Runi did know, this abduction must be far more recent. Much like the civil war that had torn the Cult apart.

Red Mobius​

 

[Red Mobius]

"I believe they are responsible because this is their M.O. Commit an Atrocity, then escalate. These illnesses you have been seeing, it's just the beginning. My guess is they are probing reaction times. They'll probably start targeting younglings next...get us riled up, angry. They'll feed off hate and anger to make them stronger. Don't really understand it..." Red admitted. "And it will only get worse."

Red spotted another Mandalorian collapsing in the street in coughing fits.

"They like graveyards. Catacombs. Places of ruin, where death left an impression...that means they'll be sticking close to Keldabe..." Red explained. Wouldn't surprise me if they are underneath us somewhere..."

Red seemed to grow subtly agitated.

"If there underneath us, it must be some section of a sewer system or maintenance access no one remembers. But they are bound to leave traces. It's...like a nest." she explained to Runi Kuryida .

"We need to start immediately...the more time they have to get dug in, the worse things top side get. There WILL be deaths soon. Compounding the danger is these witches belong to a species called Force Spawn..."

 

[Runi Kuryida]

Runi regarded the other woman as she spoke of the Cult. Obviously Red was well informed of their inclinations, strategies, and objectives. Considering they'd taken her Clan, this wasn't suspicious; more just confirmation the woman had been hunting them in turn. "There is much history to Keldabe. Layers no currently living occupy." The Shaman knew of where such creatures might lurk. "I will send word for reinforcements, but we will be the advance. Let us go." Red had already been referring to both them dealing with the situation, so there seemed no need to ask if she was coming. Likely, little would keep Red away from crushing members of those that'd harmed her or hers.

They would move quickly on foot -- or air, if Red's current armor had a pack -- as the destination was not that far from where they stood. "It is locked to keep people from idly exploring. Tunnels long unused may be less stable than they appear," Runi explained along the way. "There are many ways one could find or enter them throughout the city, so it would suit their purpose." A few taps on a vambrace sent word to command informing them Runi was investigating a possible intrusion on Mandalore. They could send reinforcements though none knew much to act on just yet so full mobilization was premature. They could at least begin preparations in the mean time.

Once they came to the entrance, which appeared to be the front of any other building, Runi stepped forward and lifted both hands before her. A second later the sound of something metal groaning and then snapping could be heard. Accompanying pings of metal on the hard floor was muffled by the doors before they start to slide apart. Within was an unkempt, unlit stairwell that descended into the depths beneath their feet. "Any idea how many of their number may be below?"

Red Mobius​

 

[Red Mobius]

Red nodded, though Runi still left her uneasy. She didn't comment on the wooden swords.

Red took the Jetpack to reach the entrance Runi Kuryida spoke of, stopping in front of a building Red had never paid any mind to before, watching with hidden suspicion as the Witch worked her magic as the door opened, revealing an ancient staircase.

Red got out her Banshee Carbine, and took point down the steps, helmet systems scanning for targets as the stair case lead to a tunnel lined with carved reliefs of ancient Mandalorian battles. She saw Mandalorian helmets from different clans lining the walls in special alcoves and she could hear the trickle of water in the distance.

She blinked and saw images of corpses that weren't there. The longer she wore this red armor, the more intense and frequent her visions became.

"Not sure how many might be here. Could be two or three... could be twenty..." Red spoke...

"These Cultists are members of a nearly all female species of Sorceress called a Force Spawn. Shapeshifters...but there is a catch...to take another form means taking on an absorbed personality that form came with...they are extremely dangerous. There's often a dozen different personalities just in one body..." Red explained as she moved ahead...

She stopped at a door composed of Mandalorian Iron, covered in fresh blood traced into a pentagram with a crescent shaped at the center.

"They're here alright. That's one of their wards..." Red said to Runi...

 

[Runi Kuryida]

Runi waited as Red took point. If anything her interest in moving ahead swiftly was appreciated. They would work together to be rid of the scourge. Her eyes strayed to the side at the helmets there. If there were time, she would linger to honor them appropriately. Lamentable that she must pass by in silence.

The Shaman's hazel eyes turned back to Red when the woman spoke of their number and nature. It wasn't until they stopped at the door that Runi spoke again. "I heard of their progenitor from... an acquaintance." One hand arched through the air and the blood ward began to glow. "Formidable. Yet familiar." Her other hand rose and the glowing crescent shape began to raise off the surface of the door. "Surprising how frequently the cycle repeats itself. Our own fault." The shape began to glow brighter before it fractured, shattered, and then faded from existence.

"Are you ready to face them, Red of Clan Mobius?" Would she be overcome by her desire for vengeance? How often had she already encountered these creatures?

Red Mobius​

 

[Red Mobius]

"Well these...things...are very difficult to permanently dispose of. Even a small chunk of them will regrow into a whole copy. And they grow multiple copies of a particular spawn..." Red explained, as she moved into the ancient tunnels full of helmets lining the walls now that the ward was gone. There were now alcoves with simple wall fountains with the image of a Mythosaur Skull engraved on the stone, water still running down them into small trenches lining the passages, with sealed chambers leading into different areas.

Red swooned very slightly in a fit of sudden, unexpected nausea as she blinked, the walls lined with chained up corpses that hadn't been there before. It was clear they were not there, for Runi Kuryida wasn't reacting to them...

Runi saw one door in particular, bathed in fire and blood, to her left at the far end of the passage.

Red, without saying anything took out her pistol and fired on that door.

A shaped charge blasted the doors she had fired on outward. The tunnel shook slightly. Red proceeded forward very cautiously, sliding against the wall next to the blasted open entrance...

She peaked around the corners and saw dead Mandalorians, chained to the wall, covered in glowing green pustules, the same type of blood covered pentagram wards on each wall they were chained.

"Chit!" Red swore, heading in, still cautious.

Red blinked and saw The Amalgam silently laughing at her before charging at top speed.

Red flung herself back into the wall behind her, panic-spraying the empty area with sonic bolts.

Red was hyperventilating...

...not realizing the debris on the floor had suddenly inched closer to her through an unconscious use of Telekinesis...

 

[Runi Kuryida]

Runi noted Red was probably not suited to being a Nite Owl. The Shaman had hoped to get closer before they announced their presence. Unless Red happened to know they'd already arrived, as happened to be the case. A topic for another time. Just as quickly, the woman surged through the opening she'd created with an oath. Runi followed after her at speed, but not in a hurry. That's when the scene exploded into action.

A sword was drawn from her back in anticipation for a confrontation. Which for the moment was unnecessary as the passage beyond was not filled with hostile lifeforms -- or spawn. Curious given the sudden alarm that'd been exuded from Red a half-second ago and the way she had danced backward all of a sudden with her weapons drawn.

"Focus, vod. Calm your thoughts and your body. Become the blade that will slay your enemies," the Shaman instructed the young Mandalorian. "Your thought becomes reality." In more ways than Red Mobius appreciated in the moment, it seemed.

 

[Red Mobius]

"Chit...chit!!!" Red swore, scanning the area for threats.

Nothing but dead bodies and runes on the walls.

Red got her breathing under control at the advice of Runi Kuryida .

"Damn the Cult..." she swore heading into the chamber to carefully, cautiously.

"Judging by the level of decay, these Mandalorians were killed no more than four days ago. It looks like they were experimented on..." Red noted.

"This is about as tame as the Cult gets..." Red said. "Learned a lot about them when I became aware of them targeting my clan...they are sickeningly brutal. Corpses are usually found in...in much worse states...age is irrelevant..."

Red went silent, contemplating all the horrors her clan might be experiencing.

"My Clan...we specialized in salvage work. Cheap goods...prospecting..." Red said as she inspected the bodies. "Clan Mobius was excellent at locking down trade, taking it over...it made a lot of the clans...nervous...most of them focus on weapons, armor, starships when they go into an actual business. Not us. We were good at being merchants as well as warriors. We were familiar with economics and trade in ways most clans simply...aren't..."

No traps. Red swept the whole chamber inch by inch, staying away from the bodies and the wards on the walls.

"We kept our heads down, too. Didn't boast of our fights. We were doctors or engineers in war...and I was considered the best Engineer in my clan..." Red said, her heart beat finally slowing. She chose to exit the chamber.

"I was chosen to head a special project...My Clan had salvaged the remains of a Battlecruiser from a CIS shipyard. Subjugator Class. This was when the Enclave had started to go on the downslope..." Red muttered, approaching another door carefully. No vision came. She put away her carbine, took out her hammer, and bashed the door open, whipping out her triple barreled lupara and sweeping the interior. Nothing, it was empty. Just as she suspected...

"We called it The Dha'Parjai (Mandalorian for Dark Victory) when it was finished. It was my finest accomplishment. I was onboard it for its maiden voyage to Kestri, where we were going to present it to the Enclave Government to add to their navy." Red added as she backed out of the chamber.

"I was searching for answers even back then about the Cult...for why they were singling us out..." she said to Runi. "But my duty to my Clan ultimately took precedence...that ship had to get finished. One moment, I was heading to the bridge...to check out some sort of special anomaly the scanners detected...next moment I'm waking up in a cryo tube in engineering, years after the Enclave fell. All the non-Mandalorian crew are dead and rotted...and a small number of my Clan that actually were there were also dead. Ship was infested with Cultist Swordfighters. I was rescued by Mand'Alor The Iron that day."

 

[Runi Kuryida]

Red learned quickly. That bode well for the young woman's future. Some that failed to heed their own body often lost their way, swept up in dark currents -- sinister influence that distorted the Will of the Manda as people strove to learn it (or what most called 'the Dark Side'). The Shaman watched as Red launched into discussing the Cult and her own Clan once more at length. Didn't want to talk about the visions she'd seen?

"We will return for their bodies when this is over," Runi acknowledged with a somber nod. There was no chance they'd leave them down here now they'd been found, but they couldn't retrieve them until the hostile forces were eliminated.

As the woman left the chamber, Runi followed. "The actions of truly perverse creatures are ultimately self-serving, and often delusional. You were quite fortunate to be placed into suspension until you were found. Do you think there might be a purpose for it?" Quite the unusual circumstances, especially if her most hated enemy was already on-board and likely had been for some time. Meaning seemed unavoidable. Whose, however, remain in question. Though to Runi it seemed to speak to something greater, but what did Red think of it personally?

Red Mobius​

 

[Red Mobius]

"Nothing about those circumstances make any sense whatsoever..." Red replied firmly to Runi Kuryida . "If they were already aboard, and had killed everyone else...why did it take so long to find me? I was surrounded by the dead when I woke up. One of my own clan was lying dead not ten meters from my cryopod, dismembered. The ship logs were wiped completely clean, so thoroughly that no amount of digital forensics could recover the information. And no one I have talked to has been able to tell me where any of my other clan might have gone. However they vanished, it seemingly happened everywhere they were, at the same time...I found evidence of half eaten meals, slept in beds, tasks that were abandoned very suddenly. But no sign of them other than the few amount of bodies I recovered from the Dha'Parjai..." Red answered.

"If there is a purpose, it utterly eludes me..." Red added with a snort. "But I am going to get answers, even if I have to beat them out of the skulls of these cultist feths."

Red methodically cleared out every chamber in their immediate area before proceeding to the passage that led deeper into the catacomb system.

She stopped as she saw a thin line of pure blood on the walls that Runi couldn't see, along with multiple copies of her and Runi impaled on the wall. Flames danced on the wire of blood.

She took out her pistol and fired at the brick the line of blood was attached to.

Swarming tendrils of living shadow that ended in blade shaped tips burst out of the walls, floor and ceiling ahead of the pair, swiping wildly and aggressively, but still just out of reach of Red and and Runi before dissipating, the magic of the hidden Dark Side wards exhausted.

There was no logical way Red could have known that trap was there. The Cult specialized in stealth magic, and had hidden that ward so well even someone highly skilled and competent like Runi might not have spotted it in time.

Red didn't comment on her apparent gift, using her hammer to bash open the sealed door ahead of her. This time the area ahead opened up into a larger chamber full of helmets on walls, all defiled by blood wards.

Red tensed as she spotted two examples of the creatures that had attacked her on the Dha'Parjai, the Swordfighter Fragments , on their knees in meditation before a particularly old suit of Mandalorian Neo-Crusader armor. One looked like female orange skinned Twi'lek, the other a white haired Chiss woman, both with rotted yellow eyes and a physique somewhere between an athlete and a supermodel.

They rose in twitching, disturbing fashion, drawing their alchemized swords. Red rushed forward at the same time, taking on the Twi'lek Fragment, while the Chiss fragment rushed Runi...

 

[Runi Kuryida]

Red's circumstances certainly were abnormal. Then again, the Empire had a number of people with curious backgrounds. Perhaps some of them would come back to haunt them, but until they did Runi wasn't going to prejudge them. "Perhaps it was sudden and simultaneous. If you were already in the pod it would explain your survival." Though that didn't explain why she was in the pod in the first place. If it had been due to injury then shouldn't the injury still have afflicted her on revival?

A short while later Red interrupted their forward momentum, and in doing so triggered a trap. The Shaman watched as it flailed about for them, but found nothing to skewer. More notably, she regarded where Red had shot to trigger it and the woman herself. And, again, the woman moved ahead without a word about what had just happened.

It was obvious the way Red sought something to occupy her attention. She tried her best not to look at Runi. There were a number of observations the Shaman had made, but she'd kept them to herself. Mostly. She'd already offered advice for someone in Red's situation to help her manage it without actually calling attention to it. They would need to talk, however, at some point.

Beyond the next door that Red bashed down were two Fragments. Runi's hazel eyes slid over them to the armor they seemed to be knelt in front of in that brief, still moment. It held her attention right up until the Chiss had closed the distance; their movements hadn't solicited so much as a shift of her eyes. Red met hers halfway, but the Shaman didn't bother so studious of the armor she'd been.

As the Chiss' blade fell, however, a single wooden blade slid swiftly from her back with a loud clang as the blades met. Runi's eyes snapped to fix on the Chiss' face with its yellowed eyes. Then the dance of blades began.

It moved forward with a strike, Runi moved back as though pressed and blocked. One small step at a time, the Shaman seemed to retreat even as she curved her path to take it back toward Red. Despite the direction of her step, however, the Shaman's face was as placid as an untroubled lake. Her wooden blade snapped into position with practiced ease.

Suddenly Runi planted her feet and locked swords with the Chiss; she pressed back until they found one another toe-to-toe. "Your reliance on rage has diminished your training." The Shaman shoved her opponent back. Now that Runi had witnessed their tactical choice in trying to break her guard, she was prepared to exchange blows to learn how they adapted. It was not toying with an enemy if you sought to learn their technique, and in doing so decisively destroy it -- and them.

"You cannot substitute the power of the Manda for discipline and skill. And you should not ignore the gifts of the Manda when fighting another so gifted." Though those words were more for Red's benefit than a creature that wouldn't listen.

Red Mobius​

 

[Red Mobius]

Red was on the defensive as the Fragment's clever attack patterns tried to penetrate her hammer guard with the deadly alchemized sword in her possession. It was all Red could do to fend off immensely skilled slices and thrusts that almost got through her guard more than once, and Runi's opponent was just as skilled, constantly testing the defenses of Runi Kuryida , her strikes focused and experienced, muscles swelling in an extremely disgusting manner as she used Force Rage to try and overwhelm Runi physically as well as with the sheer skill demonstrated.

Runi's words filtered through, but barely. Red was still resisting, still not wanting to admit the possibility she was a Force User, which looked increasingly likely with each moment.

The Fragment bore down on her, and Red was near constantly on the defensive. She had to be patient. Had to wait for her opponent to make a mistake.

The Fragment clutched her hand, and Red doubled over, unconsciously resisting the Fragment's attempt to steal her life force. She dropped her hammer, all her effort going into resisting the pull of her life force.

Everything hurt, and Red struggled to keep her life in her body.

Red blinked and saw the Mandalorian in bronze armor who wasn't there, who only she could see, standing over her. The world around her was nothing but flames and burning Mandalorian ghosts.

The Mandalorian in bronze armor knelt down, lifted Red's right hand.

"I can help you..." the Bronze covered Mandalorian said, in the same Baritone of the Oversoul she had heard long ago when her sight had been restored...

"But it will require you taking your first steps into a larger world..."

"I am scared, Oversoul..." Red confessed.

"You would be a fool if you were not..." The Oversoul replied. "But the evil of the Cult must be destroyed..."

(ACTIVATE RED'S FORCE SENSITIVITY?: 'Y')

(SIGN THE 21 PAGE EA USER LICENSE AGREEMENT?: 'Y')

(THE OVERSOUL HAS GIVEN YOU THE OPPORTUNITY TO SAVE YOUR PROGRESS. DO YOU WISH TO?: 'Y')

(PROGRESS SAVED)

Red hesitated...but nodded, as the pain in her body grew greater.

The Oversoul gripped her wrist...

Red screamed as she rose in the real world, her body covered in a glowing dark blue aura as she whipped out her Lupara and fired.

The buckshot exploded the Fragment's chest and it was blown across the room, dead, its body starting to break down into a disgusting mess almost immediately.

(Plasmid Acquisition Theme plays)

(Red has consciously embraced her Force Sensitivity!)

(New Force Power Learned!)

(Power: FORCE RESISTANCE)

Spoiler

Creates a protective field around the body that resist the effects of offensive Force Powers. As skill grows, greater levels of power can be resisted

Red stumbled back, dizzy. Too dizzy to help...

 

[Runi Kuryida]

Eventually the Chiss and Shaman squared off with hardly a step as their blades swung with increasing tempo. When the stalemate persisted for too long, the blue creature even sought to throw a kick or body check into the mix when it believed Runi off balance. Critical miscalculations as the feather-wearing woman was never once off her guard. The duel continued, however, because her wooden swords were not plasma able to bisect with the lightest touch; but that did not mean they didn't hurt like the Nether made manifest when they struck.

Once Red finished with her opponent, Runi drew her second sword and swiftly parried and countered the Chiss. One swift blow to the head was all it took. Perhaps Red might even sense the power behind that swing as it rippled through the Force.

"Surprising capable even if it relied too much on the Force to make up for a lack of individuality." Her swords swirled at her sides before they were sheathed once more. "The Manda desires individuality. Unique souls explore greater possibilities, which they take back to the Manda before they are reborn." Too much spiritualism for the moment? Well, she was a Shaman.

Runi turned to regard Red with the immediate danger having passed. "A weapon is useful unless you become too reliant on it for survival -- as these two were." Jedi spoke of 'falling to the Dark Side,' which was a bunch of nonsense in Runi's opinion, but the sentiment behind it remain true. Just because power could be acquired quickly and easily did not mean it was good for you in the long-run. "Training and honing your skill with any weapon makes you a better warrior."

"We should talk about your experiences."

Red Mobius​

 

[Red Mobius]

Red's head swam violently as she struggled to orient herself ...

The words of Runi Kuryida slid across her brain like a mud slide. Her mouth tasted like ash. The world around her was nothing but flames and lightning for a second.

"What's there...to talk about?" Red asked bitterly. "Damn thing tried to eat my fething soul... pardon my language..."

Red reloaded her Lupara. Her helmet felt claustrophobic so she removed it, revealing her actual face for the first time as she suffered a mild panic attack. She leaned against a support pillar.

"But fine...I'll humor you..." She trailed, struggling not to be sick.

"I was a child when the Bryn'adul conflicts happened. My home world...was Nar Kreeta..." she breathed out, suppressing her panic attack.

"It wasn't relevant to me until later...but that was the battle...the last battle Laertia Io had where she and the Jedi were still on the same team. That was the battle that...shaped both of us...set us on our paths..." she continued, hands trembling so badly she dropped her Lupara...

"I was blinded in the attack. My birth parents died next to me...it's been so long...that I can't even remember their names..." Red got out, struggling to make her hands stop trembling.

"I was stumbling...almost blind and in pain through a raging battle. I could hear everything dying around me...they used giant worms to devastate the capital, did you know that? They say the worms helped drive Io right over the edge...not that it matters. Probably something wrong with that motherfether even before that battle."

Her trembling hands began to gradually get themselves under control.

"I... don't exactly remember the full details. But I found this...chamber, I think. It had a Mandalorian helmet on the pedestal..." she trailed.

"Suddenly...I can see clearly again...there was flames all around me...and this...Mandalorian...in impossibly carved armor... taller than the tallest skyscrapers of Coruscant...holds me in the palm of its hand...it...is so huge...that I am barely a speck in the palm..."

Red blinked a few times, trying to focus...

"It asked me if I wished to live...and me, being little more than a scared child...I was hardly in a position to refuse. So I said yes...and my sight came back in the real world...that was when I was rescued by my adoptive Father, Klarus of Clan Mobius. They were contracted at the time to resist the Bryn'adul...

Red turned to face Runi.

"But ever since then...I had visions...of...strange things...she admitted..."that was how I spotted the traps before we entered this room."

Red got her hands under enough control to pick up one of the Fragment's swords, examining it.

"As for why the Oversoul keeps sending me horrible visions...your guess is probably better than mine..." she admitted to Runi...

 

[Runi Kuryida]

Runi considered the young woman for a time as she spoke. "There are those of us devoted to offering a place for you to speak of such things. Private places to unburden yourself for a time. Where we might speak of ways to... balance it with the present." It was obvious Red was trying to deal with her past alone. There was a silent strength there in managing it as well as she had. Admirable. But that didn't mean she had to always do it in isolation. There were techniques that could help shift the weight of the past just enough to make it tolerable. The Mandokarla would never erase it from someone's mind, however; to forget as though it never happened was just another way of avoiding what had to be confronted.

Then there was the other matter. "Visions are shown to those to help them shape the future for all Mandalorians, Red. They are only horrible because the galaxy is filled with a great sickness, which our people fight against. They are a test, but not because you must be tested. All struggles test us so we know where to grow stronger."

"The Oversoul only provides visions?" the Shaman asked calmly. There were no other talents that an external force obvious did to or around her that Red herself had no part in, naturally?

Red Mobius​