Through the Door

[Kuzo]

It had started on Gravlex Med. The whispered, raw voices, repeating the words from beneath you, it devours, echoing curiously in the dark. A species twisted to actions that ultimately led to their destruction at the hands of vengeful Sith. A mountain glassed, shattered and melted, all for the price of two heads. A lesson, abject and visceral, warning against raising a hand to the darkness.

It continued on Pho Ph'eah. The stones first direct connection to that twisted whisper. From beneath, it devours. Hollow bodies, used to farm a black material, liquid until it simply wasn't. Thick and tar-like as it seeped through the pores, only to crystallize into a black gem with hints of fire beneath the surface. The Empire stepped in, ending the dissemination but not discovering the why. They took the stones they could find and locked them away for study, safe.

For a time, all was quiet.

And then came the Scintilla Nebula. The terror of the Star Weirds as they coaxed the stones into their possession. From beneath you, it devours, disembodied voices cooed. The events surrounding the science ship had been covered up as far as was possible. The majority of the Empire's stores of the mysterious stones, vanished in one swoops of ghostly fingers. A lurking danger, chained and contained for now in that Nebula. For how long? The Empire had set monitors, but with the swallowing of the stones it seemed, for now, that the colossal weird at the center of the nebula continued to slumber.

With only a handful of the stones remaining, the Empire put them under lock and key. Only a scant few with access to them. As no new discoveries were made however, and no new appearances of the strange stones or echoes of the eerie whispers reached the Empire, attention and interest waned. A strange, but ultimately finished, chapter in the early days of expansion.

In time, forgotten.

Perhaps.

*****​

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A door. Sliced red behind, the light seeping rather than shining through the opening. Watching, a hand slides around the edge, gripping the side. Finger tips clutching too hard, as though trying to pull its way through against a greater force. A second hand, fingernails catching, scrabbling for purchase. Wet with something dark and viscous.

Then, a third. A fourth. Watching. By the tenth, difficulty keeping count. Too many. There was awareness, deep in the mind, that these were all one. One being, climbing through.

A pause.

A dozen hands gripping tighter as one let go. Reaching out.

Beckoning.

The dreams had started several weeks ago. For those who wrought reality through the Dark side of the Force, nightmares were not that uncommon, no? For many it was simply a matter of course. For those who did not manipulate the Force, perhaps it was merely a side effect of working with the Sith directly. There was no shortage of horrors wrought. Those who had been on Mirial, on Thyferra, on Gree, might never forget. A price of admission, no matter how lucrative the ride had been.

Some recognized, consciously, the beckoning, the pull. Some knew they were being called, even if they didn't know why. Some did not, just moved on subconscious inclinations, one moment to the next. It didn't matter how they came, or why.

But those that dreamt of the door came.

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*****​

Thule​

Present Day​

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Things were getting weird on Thule. A stronghold of Zambrano power, there was unrest. But it wasn't the sort inspired by rebellion. It was a disturbance, an unease in the populace. People had been dreaming, and the whispers of that were shifting through the streets. There was no silencing what was spoken of in hushed tones.

The first one was found three days ago.

A body, but less. An empty husk. Familiar to those who had been on Pho Ph'eah, but who remembered such an esoteric moment from over a year ago (oh some, some, but would they come?). More followed. A dozen. Two. Concentrated in one area of the capital city, several blocks from city center. A whisper, a thread in the night. Hushed voices with no source.

From beneath you, it devours.

*****​

OOC: Welcome to TSE's Spooktacular DMed event for October. While the events of this thread link back to a larger arc, you do not have to have participated in those threads to join this one. I will be tagging those who signed up in the ooc, but if you did not sign up there is still room to join. This thread is open to all members of TSE. Want to participate and aren't a member of TSE? PM me and we can see if we can fit you in.

This is a DMed thread, which means I'll be controlled the general arc of the story and many of the NPCs. I will post every 24-48 hours, and encompass each of your posts. I am offering four primary 'scenes' to choose from to start, which may branch out into more. Feel free to explore outside of these as well and I will do my best to accommodate. Warning for those who go outside the box- perhaps you will run into a dead end. Perhaps you will find events and clues that will reveal more than is intended in this single thread. Who knows! Interact with the environment, ask questions, poke your nose where it doesn't belong- the more you give me to work with, the more I can do for you as the DM. Feel free to include NPCs without waiting for me, or going places I have not detailed out- create and run with what I give you, please, it's more fun for everyone!

1. City Center/Surrounding Blocks
Fear has started to affect the populace. The nightmares, the whispers in the night, the husks. People are talking and unrest is growing. Explore, ask questions, try to find connections. You've had the same dreams after all. Perhaps there is a common thread. Perhaps you'll find a source for the whispering voices.

2. Science Lab
Those with an official ear to the ground within the Empire know that the labs of Doctors Vain and Jain, the Zambrano's pet cloners, are where the last of the stones from Pho Ph'eah are kept. Locked away, guarded, but perhaps there is something there. Please only take this route if you have a reason to know- high ranking, or a history with the stones from previous threads. A few blocks from the epicenter, security has been increased but oddly, no one has been seen going in or out for at least a week. Strange that.

3. The Catacombs
From beneath you, they devour. The phrase echoes through the city. What more logical starting place than the catacombs beneath the city? Older than the Zambrano's hold here, they run for kilometers, stone hewn and dark. Something moves here, in the distance. What? And which way will you go? Toward the epicenter of it all, below where the first bodies were found? Or somewhere else?

4. Dreams
Go to sleeeeeeep. Go through the dooooooor. Perhaps here, where you were being drawn, you will find answers.

[member="Imogen Daniels"] [member="Heca Foliou"] [member="Xevek Rakama"] [member="Bastian Briareos"] [member="Jacob Crawford"] [member="Matsu Xiangu"] [member="Kor Vexen"] [member="Kole Harper"] [member="Vestille Thumahra"] [member="Micah"] [member="Ithnan Cryo"] [member="Anden Fancelo"] [member="Tubal Sahon"] [member="Elani Zambrano"]

 

[Vestille Thumahra]

Vestille Thumahra​

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In the Realm of Dreams​

Witness​

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It began with the screaming-- It always did.

It turned any peaceful night into a warped and twisted reality-- An environment that he had become all too accustom since a time that he had long since forgotten. A lot had transpired since that dark mark upon his history, events piling atop one another to the point where trying to recollect and reflect on past was an act of madness; much akin to any faithful notion that sleep was to be obtained whenever the General found his time to rest. The term, at least to him, was nothing short of an oxymoron when its relevance came to him; rather a portal into despair and the harrowing world that lay within his subconscious, a twisted reflection of the horrors that he had witnessed and the souls that had been ripped from their mortal coils by his hand. Did he feel pity? No. Did he regret such actions? No. Yet no matter how much apathy that he reinforced as a mental wall against the sea of trauma that sought to drive the General into a position of no return, it struck every night, like a predator. The blackened soul that enacted a sense of containment for the demon that resided within no doubt radiated itself with a sense of antagonizing hatred; it had grown restless-- Cooperation between man and beast could only go so far and now? Now it sought ultimate control. An enemy within which, by all rights should have pulled upon a sense of requiring assistance and a guiding hand to truly tame the beast that had become just as much a part of him as the armor, title and followers were.

Unbeknownst to all, General Thumahra's Pandora's box opened every night. And it all began with the screaming. Yet this one was different.

He found himself upon the steps of a place he did not know. The bodies of all those that had called him their leader and followed him without question lay dead around him in that isolated, twisted hellscape. The sky had been turned crimson red, the ground had been turned black with ash that swept over the architecture and the fallen without discrimination. Among the souls of the damned and the steps that led to a sheer wall of unfathomable size stood the lone survivor-- Vestille himself. His armor had been all but destroyed, perhaps even fused with his skin, his helmet ripped in half and covered in a repulsive mix of blood and ash; the beast flowed free through him, the serpents sitting upon his shoulders with a sense of sadistic glee and smugness that suggested that whatever struggle he stood in the wake of-- It had taken the center stage. The screaming was silent, the world entirely devoid of sound-- Save one, a bloodcurdling cry that echoed across the endless plains. As if he couldn't see, Vestille at first looked around frantically with his eyes, searching for some sense of surviving spirit among the graveyard that he now stood within. He could feel it snickering, mocking him in a sense that it had known it all along and simply waited for the reaction from its host which came as a cold realization.

The screaming was coming from him.

The pure, unfiltered cry of rage and fear was soon to be blotted out by something that cut through the rumble from his throat like a knife. He soon found himself cast within a pure red light, as if the wall before him had opened up like a passage towards damnation itself yet he remained entirely frozen upon the spot. With his inaction, the soft shades of figures began to appear, coming from the almost blinding red light and bellowing evil that came from within-- It did not take long for them to focus within the eyes of the lone soldier, an abyssal sight of various arms reaching out towards him, grabbing for his very person as the voices began to echo to him, sounding very much like they were being spoken right into his ear. Resistance, at first, was attempted-- The almost honeyed words that sounded so very soft and enticing were met with a stalwart reaction-- He would not move nor would he give into the demands; no matter how much the beast wished to step forward, he refused. Whatever he had caused, whatever death had been dealt by his hand, he rejected it all. He would not falter to the demon nor the tempting door of oblivion. This was his stand.

This, eventually, broke. The lone survivor took his first steps towards the door. A man would die, today.

And something else would remain.

 

[Matsu Xiangu]

Thule
Catacombs

Another time, she might have liked to have taken a closer look at Thule. Before the advent of the Empire she’d never spent too much time on this side of the galaxy. The planet was fascinating, its weather mesmerizing in a way little else was to the Atrisian. She might have liked to curl up and watch it all night. But those moments came few and far between for her these days.

The entrance to the catacombs - surely one of many - didn’t yawn so much as peek up from its hiding spot, not closed so much as nestled away where only the seekers might stumble on it. The scent that wafted out was damp and earthy, a transition point from the city center as both had the rotten undertone. Here however, it was a natural smell unlike the stink of too many bodies. This was just...the way things were. A process found all over the galaxy.

At first thought the choice to go to the catacombs had seemed a somewhat literal interpretation of the refrain to Matsu: From beneath you, they devour. But that didn’t mean it didn’t have importance, and the tunnels beneath the earth had been there for centuries before the current inhabitants of the planet. Even her first step, delineation between the stuttering bursts of lightning in the night sky to the darkness of the tunnels, was enough to press a sense of the ancient up against her.

She took a moment to let her eyesight adjust, a passing sense of human urge to see if there was something dangerous in the dark breezing over her mind. Slowly the shadows took dim forms and she walked forward, footsteps quiet. There was no real direction. She could get lost in here, starve until she had to lay down and that was the end. Matsu Xiangu, shriveled up in a dead husk in a place no one would ever find her. Mildly poetic she thought. But there were other plans. Ones that a mere decade ago she might have considered anathema.

The back of her mind, the animal part, was open. That place - usually a fortress - was open to whatever hummed on Thule. She hoped it would drag her toward its center. And hopefully she could get back out.

For the moment all was silent besides the natural drip of condensation, but the faint glow of Thule's bioluminescent vegatation highlighted a turn in the tunnel. Strange that it would grow down here she thought, but it was the only place to go thus far.

[member="Irajah Ven"]​

 

[Imogen Daniels]

THULE
CATACOMBS

The call beneath the city was enchanting. Imogen had heard it in passing, words webbed within the very soul of the city it seemed - From beneath you, they devour. Those words echoed around in her head, etching themselves into the crevices of her brain it was all she could do to find her way within the confines of the Catacombs, the pull too strong to ignore. The entrance she had stumbled upon was by chance, her eyesight making it difficult as it were to find places in a city she had never been, but to find an entrance that sat hidden in its confines was near impossible in her state.

It must have been fate.

As she made her way through the door, a set of stairs met her, leading her underground - lithe fingers ran along the rough stone, making sure she didn’t trip. When she reached the bottom step, the room opened up a bit into a hallway and immediately Imogen was surrounded by the darkness - damp and unforgiving, though it did nothing but leave a slight chill to her skin, her sight already too far gone to notice the extra hindrance the catacombs would give to others.

A blind girl in the catacombs of Thule, what could go wrong?

Taking a deep breath, Imogen rolled her shoulders and pushed out lightly with the Force. Was it dangerous? Potentially, but she was better off possibly giving herself away then to walk into a wall made of bone within moments of being down there. She had been taught well enough how to mask it as much as she could, and so she did so as something told her she wasn’t alone down there.

A faint outline of the hall she was in made itself known to her, and she slowly walked forward, every so often pushing out lightly to make sure she was going in what she believed to be the right direction. Though her steps were light, they sounded loud in her ears as all her other senses were making up for her lack of sight. The sound of footsteps that weren’t hers caught her ears, head snapping towards the direction of the sound and what she came upon made her smile, a sense of relief washed over her as her tense shoulders lessened, something she hadn’t realized was happening. The presence of another, while she hadn’t seen them in a while, was immediately recognizable to her.

“Matsu? Is that you?”

[member="Irajah Ven"] | [member="Matsu Xiangu"]​

 

[Vaylin]

Thule - City Center​

The dreams hadn't begun to haunt her at first.

She had been away, out of Sith Space on a mission that had taken her over a week to finally see to completion. Hunting Jedi and other rebellious elements that had been caught in the Empire's ever expanding net. The pursuit had ended with their ship being knocked out by and sent crashing onto a jungle planet. From there it had been a game of cat and mouse, with Vaylin and her soldiers stalking them down across several miles of dense jungle.

From ambushes to dealing with the native predators, the Valkyrie had gotten little sleep during those nights. But she was in her element, navigating the treacherous terrain with minimal difficulty. In the end they were successful, the leader was captured along with several Jedi; the latter of which would be immediately sent to Mygeeto.

What the Valkyrie wasn't anticipating though, was how uneasy the trip back would be. Once she was back on the Crimson Valkyrie, Vaylin had immediately shed her armour and caught up on the sleep she had missed out on.

It didn't take long for the dreams to take hold.

Vaylin was thrown back into the past, memories stirring from when the Sith Empire had descended upon Gravlex Med in a vengeful fury. She remembered how the usually docile and peaceful Anx had fought with an almost fanatical brutality. That was followed by the haunting imagery of Pho Ph'eah; of the Foundry. She still had a vivid memory of it all, from the sweltering heat, the decaying smell of death and the piles of bodies; husks that had been hollowed out by their own kin. And then there was her last interaction with the Stones, drifting in space attempting to rescue a science vessel. Starweirds descended upon them from every direction, phasing through solid walls and attacking any Force Users that crossed their paths.

It was all followed by a door. Cut out from something, a red ominous light seeping out almost like blood. And one by one, hands began to stretch out from beneath, reaching and clawing for purchase. The Valkyrie was ensnared, a consequence of her exhaustion. It had taken sheer willpower for her to shatter the chains and force herself awake. She pushed through the initial haze, following the call in the Force, towards the direction it was pulling her towards. Thule.

The moment they had arrived in Sith Space, Vaylin had ordered a change of course, turning from their original destination and to the Thurra system. Within moments of arriving, the Valkyrie could feel something from the planet's surface. Familiar, but haunting. So a grumpy and sleep deprived Vaylin descended to Thule and made her way towards the City Center.

She had gotten an update upon setting foot on the ground, and the imagery of the hollowed out bodies called to her. There was a feeling in the pit of her stomach, a sense that it wasn't going to be long before the streets were lined with piles of them. Her arrival was greeted by a blockade, constructed by the local security force and Saaraishah cells that were present.

It was time to get some answers.

[member="Irajah Ven"]​

 

[Heca Foliou]

City Center

Thule was new and interested in the Maenan. One could say she was ignorant for not exposing herself to new worlds and other cultures beyond the skies of Maena. Oh, she did read and study about a dozen or so planets of their history, culture, climate, and other aspects. That was all when she was interested in books and an education in some major she had forgotten.

But now? She had devoted herself to the teachings of her Master, [member="Matsu Xiangu"], and pursue a life as a Sith. So much had fascinated her and she could only beg for more. The limits of her training, considering her early stages as Xiangu’s Apprentice, agitated her only encouraging Heca to go the extra mile in her spare time. Still a novice in the Force and the ways of the Sith, but the Sith Lady saw that Heca was a fine apprentice to invest her time and energy in. With the proper motivation they had been consistent with and some time, the Foliou would gain access to newer things that were beyond her reach.

Thule was a prize for the young woman, after giving positive results to the Atrisian. New knowledge was promised when coming here...

...however, they did come by at a wrong time.

Something was wrong, and student and teacher could feel it in the Force. Perhaps exactly pinpointing was outside Heca’s field; but the dread, fear were all too intoxicating for Heca when sensing the atmosphere of emotions floating around. It was strange considering, from what the SIth Acolyte learned, this world was ruled by the authority of the Zambranos. A House running with Sith, and its head acting as Sith Emperor and Dark Lord of the Sith. The people seemed to strive decently with their superiors as long as they were in line.

But why?

Why the sudden commotion, and bodies hollowed out.

Something was out of place, obviously. Especially that first night when the dreams came to her and whispered cryptically:

From beneath you, it devours.

After that, they had gone to investigate this matter but their paths would diverge from each other. Matsu would go to the underground of Thule’s earth, while Heca would observe from the surface mainly in Thule’s City Center where it all started. The people were frightened, and a small few of people resisted to give into madness though the Sith could feel their mental barriers breaking down as time idly pass by, all waiting to see what the night would devour and spit back in the streets. As one imagined the streets were almost dead, with people taking sanctuary in their own homes; unfortunately for them, their walls wouldn’t defend them in any shape or form.

The young woman strode through the streets, annoyed by the fear this place was producing, and see what pieces of information she could learn to take a crack at this puzzle.

A woman, of Zabrak heritage, came in sight. A bit familiar too.

”Hello?” she called out in greeting.

[member="Irajah Ven"] | [member="Vaylin"]

 

[Jairus Starvald]

THULE​

SCIENCE LABS​

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It still felt rather awkward to her.

She had actually really enjoyed working with Doctor Vain. Then... it turned out that Vain was actually Irajah's clone. Then it turned out that Vain was clone-napped and replaced by Raj. Even to someone as analytical and calm as Cerbera it had sorta made her head whir. So many revelations in one time, huh? But by now she had processed it somewhat. Somewhat. It still disappointed her a bit, she wouldn't work with Vain a bit more. Oh, Irajah was just as brilliant.

But.

Vain was less distracted with needless pursuits.

Oh, well. Cerbera wasn't there for that now. Instead..... she was annoyed right now. Her dreams were being invaded. Over and over again. To someone who had organized her mind to the very fundamentals... it was completely unacceptable. Something was tugging at her. It beckoned her to Thule. More often than not Cerbera didn't enjoy being led around by a leash. No different here. So, it wasn't surprising that she arrived at the gates of the science facility in a bad mood.

Very annoyed mood honestly.

"This is Cerbera." She chewed on the inside of her cheek as she waited for the doors to slide open. "Hello? I don't have all day."

Maybe she should have called ahead.

Oh, bother.

[member="Irajah Ven"]

 

[Kuzo]

City Center
[member="Vaylin"] [member="Heca Foliou"]

The guards let them both pass. As agents of the Empire, they were afforded every courtesy.

The current find that they looked over was a trio of figures. Found in the back of an alley, but not hidden. Nothing thrown over them, nothing done to shield them from prying eyes. A family, by the looks of it- a man and two children with the same dark hair.

Bodies empty. Husks.

It was easy for Vaylin to confirm that this was indeed exactly like Pho Ph'eah had been. They had been filled with the same darkness that formed the stones. Where that was, was anyone's guess at that time. Unlike Pho Ph'eah, these bodies seemed to have dropped where they had fallen. No one had left them here, they were not being farmed, at least, it did not appear so. Whatever was happening on Thule, it wasn't being deliberately taken advantage of by those in power.

Even the Zambranos would hesitate to do what had been done on Pho Ph'eah after all.

If they looked closely, they would find two things. One, a set of footprints that led away, faint in the dim light of the storm that raged over head. The other? Drops of black. Not liquid but crystalline. Easy to miss in the darkness unless you knew what you were looking for. A careful eye would find they both led to the back door of the building next door.

Someone had taken what had come from the bodies with them.

Science Lab
[member="Cerbera"]

It took a couple of minutes for someone to answer. A pair of guards greeted her. It was clear that they showed up initially to send her away but one look, seeing who it was and they opened the doors. Locking them again immediately behind.

"There's a situation."

Well, that was blunt.

"Doctor Vain isn't answering and we have orders to wait for her- unless certain other people show up. You are on that list ma'am. Come this way."

They headed deeper into the facility.

"We're hoping you can make heads or tails of it. No one really knows what happened or when it started. But we have the two lowest levels quarantined until someone could take a look. There's. Well. Better if I just show you."

They detoured into a security room, several pale faced operators looking up from their consoles when they did.

"No one who worked down there is available to answer any questions, so we're in the dark," the guard said with a grimace. "What we know is that something happened in long term storage. There were people down there but any time we try to contact them there's only... well."

He leaned over, hitting a button. At first, there was nothing. Just the sound of something dripping. Then, a whisper. From beneath you. He shut it off before it continued. "We sent one team in, five days ago. Then followed protocol when they didn't come out and initiated the shut down. Been parked here, listening to THAT nonsense for a couple of days now. Without access to the research though, we've been stumbling blind."

Catacombs
[member="Matsu Xiangu"] [member="Imogen Daniels"]

With that openness, it was easy. Had the women been closed off to the possibility it would have been easy to miss. But in closed doors there would have been more protection.

Toward the north, just off of city center, they could feel it. Stronger down here. Just as on Gravlex Med and Pho Ph'eah, the lower one went, the more clarity there was. Or should have been. Rather than clarity it felt like sucking mud. Thick and viscous, heavy. It was broken by the softest sensation of pressure, and then a small pop. A bubble risen to the surface and then ended with a sigh. Some sort of pressure from beneath, the barest breath let out with each of those moments. Something was coming through, but from where?

The sound of water dripping was the only thing that greeted them so far. But deeper in the catacombs, something heard them. A vibration stirred and it moved. Head rising to scent the cold, dank air beneath the earth. Warmth. It rose slowly from it's place amoung the others and lumbered away. As it moved from its sentinel position, something dark dripped, echoing with the sound of the water. It moved toward them, drawn by the warmth, alerted by the breath.

Dreams
[member="Vestille Thumahra"]

It wasn't real. It knew it. But it had to work with what it had. It had been trying for weeks, to coax someone through that door. It of course didn't understand why no one would come. How could they make it more welcoming than a personal invitation, after all? Maybe it had been too long for it to remember the right motion. The beckoning was correct?

Clearly, as someone finally stepped forward, the answer was yes.

Ever since it had been freed from its prison, it had been searching for ways through. Pushing up through the fabric of the galaxy.

Bubbling, like tar.

Tiny holes, just enough to push a minuscule part of itself through. But it wasn't enough. It could never be enough. The holes needed to be bigger. And so it pushed, and stretched. But here?

Here it pulled.

It couldn't bring them through to where it was, not like this. But it could draw them along a line. Walking a tightrope between it and the galaxy they existed in. And if they faltered.....

As he stepped through the door, there was a flash of an image, a photographic negative against his eyes. A mountain, tall and terrible. Then, just like that, it was gone again. In its place a dozen arms encircled, careful, welcoming. Enclosing around him until nothing could be seen but flesh and fingers. They didn't touch him, not yet. A whisper, a request. He could walk with a guide or alone, they whispered. Would he accept their guidance? The arms waited.

 

[Vestille Thumahra]

Vestille Thumahra​

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In the Realm of Dreams​

Bare the Mantle​

He steered towards destruction.

The deeper he went, the more the line between the core concepts of what made Vestille who he was and the lawless savagery akin to a wild animal seemed to blur and mix. No matter how hard his attempts of an internal cordon tried to keep the demon at bay and keep the two separate, it was here that his defenses broke under the sweeping tide. This external influence had been the catalyst for his demise, the outlying hand that gave that which he had kept under control the opportunity it needed to break free from its cage and run rampant through its host. The beast took no time at all to corrupt the already black heart and mechanical soul that kept the General ticking along-- Turning it from the blackened ash of all the death and destruction left in its wake into a new unholy form of unfathomable hatred, regret and sorrow. All that he once had was gone, becoming nothing more than a hollowed puppet following a set of programming that by all rights had doomed him from the very start. There was no family, no friends-- Only a sense of duty and allegiance to the flag that he now carried. Yet that was not enough to bury the emotions and trauma that he had flayed upon his back like a flagellant. He sought no help, no method of release, instead allowing the corpses of his actions rot, decay and bubble; all it had been waiting on was something to crack through the sarcophagus and release the explosive anguish that had bubbled up for far too long.

And this demon was it-- The spear that pierced the dragon's skin. All that had been built up would become his undoing.

Yet as he stood within the door and the hands surrounded and smothered him, the lone survivor stood vigilant and rather welcomed the enclosing horrors that whispered and maintained their distance. They sought to guide him through their world, their dimension of abyssal nature where the rules of reality sought to bend and twist. Something deep down told him to fight back, resist and escape but it was quickly snuffed by the overbearing shadow that fought to assume control of its host. The fighting spirit would rise again soon and the fight would continue for eternity-- Yet it saw its ally within these hands that wished to drag Vestille into their world, their frame of mind... All beyond the hands. The demon's victory was assured, at least within its lust for sitting atop the throne of control and the rewards that needed only that fact to be reaped-- It would become a wolf among sheep, the killing would be without end-- All it needed to do was push its host over the edge.

A mad cackle followed, both from the serpent's mouths and from his own as the effects already made themselves manifest. They welcomed the arms to guide them to the abyss, to show him what endless horrors they no doubt had in store. There would be nothing more than madness and yet, the man could do nothing. The beast's power flowed through his veins like a corrupted stream, filling that which was once hollow and black with an even more sinister power. He felt strong but mindless, as if a never-ending desire to kill, feast and dirty himself with prey-- Whereas the differentiation of friend and foe existed, that would soon be lost. The galaxy would become their feasting ground, all that was would be consumed by their blade and their teeth. All would fall, all would be consumed-- Power in the flesh and the blood that passed through their system. Blood, flesh, soul-- All theirs for the taking.

Lunacy had befallen that which was once steadfast and strong-willed and there was nothing he could do. A man would perish today.

 

[Maghr Hu]

THULE- City Center
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Unlike many places in the galaxy, this was no den of crime. The Sith, tyrannical as they may be, knew how to quash their dissident elements as soon as they reared their heads. That made underground work there dangerous. 'Unprofitable' many would say. Maghr would agree, it was never the best work, but there was work to be done there still. That was actually why Maghr was there. He had a contact here. One of the most reliable contacts he had ever worked with. One of the most punctual he had ever known. That made him worried. He honestly wouldn't be surprised if his contact was an agent trying to set a trap for him. But a trap like this? It didn't make sense. Hardly a flying vehicle passed over head or on the streets. Those that were walking made themselves scarce, daring not to meet him in the eyes. There was another, still, that simply splayed themselves out in the open, naked as the day that they were born. Maghr found himself nearly stepping on their head before he caught himself. He babbled gibberish, and Maghr frowned, taking a drag of his cigarra. Normally, the man wouldn't be concerned with a sight like this, but something about this man felt... wrong. Taking the narcotic out of his mouth, he flicked a few ashes on top of the moaning man, trying to get a reaction out of him, but no such thing would come. Maghr frowned. carefully stepping over the madman and continuing on his way. He hoped that what he had witnessed was nothing more than simple madness.

Maghr couldn't help but wonder for a second if there was someone following him through the streets, some contingent of the law that he hadn't accounted for. The Devaronian quickly retraced his steps, trying to calculate how long it would take him to get back to his ship. In anticipation, he thrummed his fingers on the hilt of his vibroblade. What a shame that would be, hmm? Within a few moments Maghr was back to his normal self, soon shoving the idea of altercation out of his mind. Entertaining that would only make him seem suspicious.

The walk was long and winding. Still no contact, but that didn't surprise him. It would be daft to assume he would run into the man so far from their normal meeting spots. Well, it is such a small galaxy, after all. He was nearing nearing one of their meeting spots now, a small pub that the he never remembered the name of. Oddly enough near the center of this very city. As he turned the corner, what he would see would catch him by surprise. He nearly went back the way he came. There they were, the last thing that he wanted to see at that moment, a blockade. It was enough to make him pause, but Maghr would correct himself. They had noticed him, he could feel their eyes upon him, but yet they took no action. Ah, it mustn't be me they're after, then.

Maghr pressed forward again. The sound of his boots hitting the ground probably somewhat audible to the two women that were already there. Indeed, there were others there, two women. They didn't look like the others. They didn't look like they had something haunting them. Finally, perhaps, he would be able to get some answers.

"Greetings, friends!" He approached them slowly, taking only a little bit of heed at their appearance. There was something off about them, too, but it was in a different way that Maghr couldn't quite put his finger on. He dragged his cigarra for a while, the smoke billowing out of his overtly long nose, rubbing the sides of his face before dispersing into a cloud behind him. "Awfully nice weather we're having today, isn't it?" His question carried with it a healthy dose of sarcasm. "Now, tell, me. It's been a while since I've been on Thule. What the hell is going on here?"

Maghr's stomach dropped as the guardss let them pass. It was never wise to elope with agents of the empire. Too bad for him. Now his curiosity had been piqued. He searched his coat for something in particular. As someone with previous altercations with the law, he had actually started preparing for unwanted situations. For the first time in a long time he was jumping into something that he shouldn't have been rubbing his nose in. It was oddly ironic. Pulling out a relatively small datapad, he began to sift through a host of fake identifications, thumbing through them one after the other. Normal citizen IDs and licenses that he would probably never actually use. He stopped on one in particular before shaking his head. Gah, trying to pass as an investigator is too risky. He thumbed to another one. He looked at it a little bit. In big bold letters was a single word: SINN A few lines under that an name that he wasn't much proud of: "Kel Gantu". Journalist, really? When did I make this? It didn't really matter anymore, he was close enough to the blockade that he needed something fast. It's dumb enough that it might just work. Coming right up to the blockade he held up the datapad proudly before one of the guards. "Evening, sirs, mind letting me through?"

Hopefully they would. At least, that was Maghr's plan. If they lingered on it too long they would probably start to notice the imperfections. It was fine though. Maghr had found that acting with confidence could let one get away with a lot more than one would think. Not for one second would the devaronian drop his devilish smile. He took another drag of his cigarra before he came upon the scene. Why the hell am I doing this? In all his foresight he had never expected that he would come upon these dead bodies. He wanted to turn around, get back on his ship and fly off this rock before getting involved in this. But now he was in too deep. His fingers thrummed against the back of that datapad. He took another drag of his cigarra to calm himself down. "Gruesome scene, ain't it? Name's Kel Gantu, I'm with the Sith Imperial News Network." His voice sounded a bit disinterested if anything. It was a lie, but luckily for him he was a practiced liar. "Told I was coming here to report on a murder, but this looks like a little bit more than that."

The Devaronian began to type on his datapad. He was actually taking notes on the situation. Never knew when someone was going want to take a look, and he especially couldn't risk blowing his cover here and now. "We'll probably be leaving that last bit out for now."

[member="Irajah Ven"] | [member="Vaylin"] | [member="Heca Foliou"]

 

[Vaylin]

Thule - City Center​

Before Vaylin could reach the guards, a slightly familiar voice caught her attention. The Zabrak turned around and paused, caught sight of the young Acolyte. It took a moment be she quickly remembered seeing the woman's face in Ravelin, a passing moment where Vaylin had needed a drink and just so happened to stumble into said Sith.

Something told her they were going to need plenty of drinks after this whole ordeal was over.

"Heca?" The flash of recognition was enough confirmation, but it did bring questions to the Valkyries mind. "You got drawn here too?" As the pair conversed, Vaylin led the way towards the security checkpoint, the two guards standing to attention at the appearance of two Sith. Just as they were about to pass, Vaylin heard the sounds of someone's boot hitting the ground. She turned to look, hands reaching down to the lightsabers hanging from her belt. Previous experience had led to her being prepared, so much so that she had come equipped for battle - wearing her usual armour.

However, before the Devaronian could get his answers, the two Sith passed by the guards, effectively blocking him out from following - at least for now.

It didn't take long for Vaylin and Heca to find the source, turning a single corner to find the alleyway in question. The Zabrak's expression thinned, her eyes falling upon the children in particular. She had killed plenty in the past; those that deserved it, and those that had not. But this...this was senseless. "Don't touch the bodies, or anything that's come from the bodies." Just being around the Stones was bad enough, she didn't want to imagine what directly interacting with them did.

Vaylin walked deeper into the alleyway, glancing up at the storm that was brewing in the sky. She knew Thule was notorious for its lightning storms, but she wondered if tonight's one was worsened by what was happening. The Zabrak crouched before the trio of bodies, examining them from a distance.

"They're exactly like what was found on Pho Ph'eah, only the bodies aren't piled atop one another." For Vaylin, that indicated the culprit didn't have the same motives as back then. There, they were being actively harvested, husks thrown into furnaces once they were depleted. "Whoever did this, attacked and drained them right then and there, they didn't want to stick around." Before standing up, Vaylin checked to see just how the kills were done; lightsaber, blade...bare hands?

Her nose wrinkled when she smelt smoke, a cigara if her sense of smell was correct. Vaylin turned, standing to her full height as she saw Maghr standing at the alleyway entrance. Eyes narrowed, the Zabrak approached the man.

"You shouldn't be here, it's far too dangerous-" She didn't get too far as something caught her eye, a slight gleam of something by her foot. Vaylin crouched down, trying to examine it without directly touching it. She was reminded of the bodies they had found on Pho Ph'eah, closely examining them when the area had been secured.

Something crystalized, trailing along like drops of blood.

Vaylin followed them as best as she could, only to find Heca had found something else too; and both were leading to one place.

A door.

[member="Irajah Ven"] | [member="Heca Foliou"] | [member="Maghr Hu"]​

 

[Ithnan Cryo]

Thule- City Center​

"From beneath you, it devours. "

"From beneath you, it devours. "

"From beneath you, it devours. "

It was a constant saying stuck on repeat in his young mind that tortured him with no answers and only left questions when it stopped. Those dream filled nights were not a moment of reprieve for Ithnan but a doorway into a mystery he had no one to turn to and discuss. It had all started on a basic intelligence collection run among the numerous Sith Worlds in the Empire. With the empire expanding more and more each day intelligence on dissent and corruption became more and more valuable as a commerce tool.

The last night before his planned return back to Bastion was when the words first touched his mind. At first, he thought it a whisper and ignored the words. They were senseless and meaningless to him. It was when he dreamed that an ever-looping reading of the words would send this from a minor trick of the mind to a full-fledged addiction.

What did it mean?

What was the force looking to tell him?

Questions are what led him to Thule. He could feel an invisible force pulling his body away from Bastion and to the Zambrano ruled planet of Thule. He had never visited despite the many great things he had heard about the planet. It was steeped in culture and with the added security of having the Zambrano house running it the wealth of it was one to be marveled at. So why, why here would such a dark force want him to come here? As he grew closer and closer to the planet the visions only became more vivid in plaguing him.

A door, cursed with light that led his mind to conjure up vile images. From these door were outreaching hands that he avoided but couldn't help but look at. What beast was being hidden away here, or maybe it was not hiding at all and calamity had already broken loose. He would get answers, he had too. When his ship reached the Thurra system a wave of emotions hit him. Fear, it was the most prevalent and one he was used to. The descent onto the surface only pushed him deeper and deeper into the miasma of the dark power encroaching over everything.

It didn't take long after landing to hear about the growing unrest in the city center. That would be his first stop. Maybe something could be found there that would shed some like on the darkened dreams. Showing his identification to the security he would move through the streets and admire how fear had silenced the bustling city. He could imagine what it looked like before, before all of this.

His mind tugged him again and like a moth drawn to a flame, he came across two women. Their faces showed that fear hadn't consumed them yet and that just like him this was a matter of mystery and not distress. The bodies are what pulled his eyes more than the door one was looking at, a Zabrak it seemed.

As he drew closer the bodies details were more apparent. They were...husks? Hollow shells of what once was.

"Greetings to you both." he would say still staring at the bodies, his eyes following a trio of footprints over to the door they were staring at, only two stood before him, however.

Before he could even raise a question the words played back again in his head "From beneath you, it devours. "

[member="Irajah Ven"] [member="Vaylin"] [member="Heca Foliou"]

 

[Matsu Xiangu]

Thule
Catacombs


Imogen’s words nearly elicited a snarl. It wasn’t anything like true anger, or even annoyance. It was an animal pulled from that spot between wakefulness and dreams, jarred by an innocent tug away from a place warm and inviting. (Shoveling tar, fingers sticky but still warm enough to stop it all from seizing, shoving it past lips and teeth so that bated pop snaps against the roof of her mouth. She can feel it, that sense of pressure. Hurrying from the outside in. Come here.)

“Imogen,” she said, voice as thick as if she’d truly eaten the tar she couldn’t stop seeing in her head. “Mmm…” she finished, as if to no one.

Rounding the corner brought the bioluminescence in to view, a blue-green that seemed perfectly acceptable up top but down there in the dark seemed almost unnaturally vibrant. It clung to the walls, a seemingly infinite collection of tiny roots running like veins between larger clusters of glowing moss. It reminded her of things she’d seen when she was younger and there had been time to take whatever substance someone passed to her. She wondered if she wasn’t imagining it all.

That warmth at the center was mesmerizing, undeniable. She was vaguely aware its beauty was poisonous.

As she watched, something crept along a swath of root-veins and stole their light. It was slow, like the power draining along a line. But too even. A snake curled in her gut, something at first tapping at the back of her head and then pounding with frantic insistence as the darkness started crawling through and darkening more of the vegetation in patches. She realized it was eerily quiet. Even the water dripping had stopped. (Run, run, run.)

“Here,” Matsu said simply as she opened her vision to the sightless girl next to her, as they’d practiced before. It required some of Matsu’s concentration, and Imogen was of course aware that the moment the Atrisian needed her mind completely to herself she would take it all back. But the concentrated sheet of telekinesis she sent at the wall didn’t require all that much of her besides the precision to press it in to something compressed enough to sheer a wide cut of the plants off the wall - hopefully revealing whatever blended in among them for what it was.

The walls started shrieking.

[member="Imogen Daniels"] | [member="Irajah Ven"]​

 

[Darth Bellum]

K O R _ V E X E N

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Science Labs , Thule
Investigate disturbance

Few circumstances ever called for Vexen's attention and even fewer that gnawed at his conscious. Yet here he found himself, on Thule of all places rather than the theater of war where he typically resided to oversee the Sith Empire's military operations. Accompanying him were a small team of members from his own Legion as well as a pair of Akguza Guards trailing directly behind him. There was only one particular reason the Legion General had brought himself to Thule that sat in the dark recess of his mind, and his destination; the science labs in which the stones uncovered on Pho'Pheah were kept. Vexen's memory of the planet and its inhabitants were brief and indifferent. A plague had taken hold of the populace there, back when he was but a lone investigator and seeker of information at the time, interrogating the natives as to the whereabouts of the stones - or rather the liquid it was derived from. Should he come across the familiar symptoms that exposure to the stones had, he would be able to ascertain to what degree this returning plague had on the area.

He strode at the head of the group that followed behind him, the metallic sounds of his boots against the halls of the labs echoing. Few if any would stop him, mostly in part due to his rank, but also his position as a Sith Lord. He harbored little doubt that someone at the facility had made a mistake and unleashed a danger upon the planet that would require extensive time and resources to contain if left unattended to. Whatever the case it was with the labs, he was prepared to personally deal with it. A dark aura was in the air, and it was not to the armored Sith's liking as he ventured into the facility. He bore little patience for being kept waiting, so security was quick to leave him on his way lest they suffer his wrath. A singular phrase just echoed in his mind of a female Pho'Pheahian, From beneath you it devours...From beneath you it devours... And as he did on Pho'Pheah, Vexen came to investigate once more, and no matter what he discovered, new questions arose.

[member="Irajah Ven"] | [member="Cerbera"]​

 

[Jairus Starvald]

Science Lab
[member="Irajah Ven"]​

"There's a situation." "Doctor Vain isn't answering and we have orders to wait for her- unless certain other people show up. You are on that list ma'am. Come this way."

"That does not sound optimal." Cerbera remarked dryly as she followed them deeper into the facility. The deeper they went... the more disturbing things got. From a Force-perspective, anyway. It started out as a soft scratching at the edge of her presence. It became stronger the deeper they went. Until she could practically feel the longing. The desire. The hunger. To go to the storage rooms. The exact place the security officials were currently talking about.

No.

Not optimal at all.

The Sith Lord recognized an irrational hunger when she felt it. It was a good day that today she had picked an intelligent day. The lack of pronounced empathy allowed her to see clearly. Somewhat. It was wholly possible to see that hunger for what it was.

Resisting it?

More difficult.

She listened calmly as the audiofeed as activated. Then to the whispers that followed the dripping of... liquid. "Count yourself lucky you are unaware, mister.....?" "Dwight, ma'am." The pointed look that Cerbera gave him was kinda hilarious. Almost funny enough to make everyone forget what they were sitting on right now. "...really? Well, mister Dwight, I will need you to escort me to the entrance of this storage facility." A thoughtful pause after that, before nodding.

"You will then evacuate the rest of this facility. If you do not hear anything from me in the next twenty-four hours...."

What was the proper procedure here? Oh, who cared, she was a Sith Lord, wasn't she? Kaine's insistence on proper Imperial procedure could go to hell. Ugh.

"Well. Let's hope it won't come to that. Show me, please." She'd follow along all in good form after that. Even then- her mind was already slowly wrapping itself around Dwight's. The last thing she needed right now was the idiot to be taken over or whatever. He still needed to run off and complete her errands, after all.

 

[Imogen Daniels]

THULE
CATACOMBS

Imogen felt it. The sudden shift in atmosphere, air weighing heavily around them. It crawled through the dark, weaving it’s way around their legs - slowly, constricting and continuing it’s way up until Imogen felt like the air around her was diminishing. Tilting her head in the direction of Matsu, it didn’t take the girl long to realize she had noticed the shift too. Though she was uneasy, she wasn’t scared - not yet. Having only her senses about her, Imogen had learned a while ago how to approach things carefully, without doing so - would lead to her downfall.

As they walked, the colors of darkness in front of her lightened - a blurring grey, and if Imogen had to guess she’d assume that the colors that caused the change in her vision were vibrant, possibly a blue or green. Colors that - before her blindness, would have had the girl in awe.

Though she couldn’t see, Imogen couldn’t deny the warmth emanating from it. It called to her, wrapping her within its confines and drawing her closer, goose flesh appearing along her skin. She couldn't help but take a step closer.

That’s when she noticed the slight vibration beneath her feet. It was subtle, but enough so that it pulled her out of whatever lull the warmth had drawn her into.

The next few moments had happened in quick succession. The warmth was gone, and Imogen felt Matsu become unsettled as the suffocating air came back - a presence she realized, they weren’t alone. Matsu had opened up her own eyesight to Imogen, and she was thankful in that moment, eyes closing as she focused on reaching out and taking a small hold among Matsu’s mind, a thank you whispered among her mind. Upon opening her eyes, she saw it.

Blues and greens - muted under the shadows of something hiding itself within the vegetation of the walls, Imogen’s immediate reaction was wanting it to show itself - wanting to know what they were faced with. Catching on to Matsu’s idea as she watched part of the vegetation fall of the wall, Imogen sent another - the shrieks getting louder, forcing Imogen to block them out as best as she could, so long as she wanted to keep their company in her sights until Matsu would need her full mind back.

[member="Matsu Xiangu"] | [member="Irajah Ven"]​

 

[Heca Foliou]

”Not exactly, Vaylin, but it does now,” the young Apprentice replied back to the Sith Knight. It had been a long time since the two crossed paths, first meeting Vaylin on Ravelin as she needed a drink desperately. And now they were here, investigating whatever mystery affecting Thule. Mysteries that held a strong presence in the Force, dispersing fear in every corner.

They weren’t the only ones lured to Thule. A Devaronian was here on the scene, asking the pair of ladies questions. Questions left unanswered as Sith-Imperial guards allowed Heca and Vaylin to enter the vicinity. The two Sith walked, with Vaylin on point and Heca following in tow. The Zabrak was more mature and wiser in every aspect than the Foliou. She knew what to do and how to handle things such as this.

Or at least that’s what the Acolyte saw in her.

They walked until they came across an alleyway, dark and hinting something sinister. In it were three bodies; a man and two children. Dead, but much more than that. Oh, Heca had killed before and didn’t repent those sins. But this was something far beyond her. The Acolyte did murder in a simple, fast fashion. This, however, was just outright cruel and villainous. Bodies were empty husks as Heca observing walking closer to them only to stop at Vaylin’s warning. What did she mean from them? It told Heca that Vaylin had encountered this type of situation.

Questions brew in her mind like Thule’s storm above them. She read about the planet before coming, and the one thing that stood out for her were the violent storms happening constantly around the sphere.

”Pho Ph’eah?” she asked curiously as the Zabrak continued explaining what was going on. There were still large gaps that Heca didn’t know of, but whatever information Vaylin shared with her now was appreciated. Still had to catch up with the times and history of this...ordeal.

The Sith Acolyte was about to ask more of this mess until the same Devaronian came around. Apparently he was a journalist, reporting on a murder though this was no ordinary murder. Heca didn’t pay any attention on him, she had nothing to comment to the journalist. Although Vaylin approached him and warned him of what was happening, hoping to get him to leave this in peace. Then another player arrived, and was unfamiliar to the Foliou. She nodded at his greetings, but didn’t converse with him.

Interesting of how many were called here and were trying to solve this puzzle. Then her eyes went on Vaylin as she started to trail on something on the ground. What was it? What could it be? Force knows what as Heca began to follow her. The Zabrak was the only one she knew and trusted her to some degree. The others she wasn’t sure about, but was skeptical about them.

The villain behind this could be anyone for she knew. She had to keep her chin up at all times.

”What is it?” She whispered to the Sith Knights as the two women walked towards a door, neighboring the crime scene if one could call it that.

The two stared at it in wonder and caution, but they couldn’t stand here forever. They would have to approach if they wanted to get a clue out of this.

So Heca opened it, slowly. The door shrieked at the hinges, unveiling what waited for them behind it.

[member="Ithnan Cryo"] | [member="Vaylin"] | [member="Maghr Hu"] | [member="Irajah Ven"]

 

[Kuzo]

City Center
[member="Maghr Hu"] [member="Vaylin"] [member="Heca Foliou"] [member="Ithnan Cryo"]

The guards gave Maghr a confused look. But the Imperial News Network was state sanctioned. Nothing would be reported on without the explicit say so of figured far above their heads. In a place with free press? He would have been stopped. But here the government controlled the news so what harm was there?

As Vaylin crouched, she would see no sign of cause of death. In fact, there was no sign of violence done at all- outside of the husks existing of course. Had it been an attack? Or had it been something else? Someone else had been here yes but was it a murderer? Or was something more esoteric at work here?

On Pho Ph'eah, the liquid that turned into the stones had been extracted. What, one might wonder, would happen if there were no outside forces? If it were allowed to mature itself to its own fruition?

The door opened beneath Heca's hand, offering darkness. A quick sweep of the inner wall beside the door offered a lightswitch. It flicked twice up and down, but clearly that was no help. They would have to rely on any light they brought with them or the scant light coming in through the windows. Whoever flicked that switch realized as they pulled away that it was sticky.

Gross.

The first floor of the building was largely empty. Open floor office space. Desks, chairs, a conference table. A lift in the far corner that they could tell went both up and down. Head up? Down? Explore the floor they were on? There was a sound. A bump. Something was there in that room with them.

(ooc: Careful, how you approach this will influence significantly how the next moment goes)

Science Lab
[member="Cerbera"]

Dwight nodded. Honestly, he was just relieved that someone was prepared to make these decisions. This was above his pay grade.

"Everyone still here is mostly gathered on the first floor, Ma'am," he said, the relief noticeable in his voice. "It won't take long."

He didn't ask what she meant by the twenty four hour remark. They had protocols in place and he honestly just assumed she meant those. Beneath the facility, in the catacombs, there were fail safes meant to collapse the building in the case of certain.... issues. He had codes necessary to enact that. If it came to it?

Dwight wouldn't hesitate to leave the labs a crater.

But he didn't think it necessary to mention it. Clearly, Cerbera would already know, based on what she had said. Something shifted, like a shadow across the back of his mind but he shook it off. Time to show her the way down.

It wasn't far, just two flights down. Below the labs and honestly under other circumstances would have been deeply disinteresting. Storage, shelves after shelves. Dwight didn't stay, instead heading up again as directed to do the job she needed of him.

Down here, the sensation was stronger. It beckoned, just as it had in the dream. Down one more flight into the sub basement? Or deeper? It was hard to say. The steps down the last level circled around themselves, spiraling. It brought the sight into view over and over again as she descended. On the far side of the above level, light shone through a hole in the floor. Black edges, looking like black ice flash frozen in mid-drip. Below it..... something bubbled. Thick and slow. The lowest level of the facility was empty but for that and the generators, humming quietly as the sound of whispers grew more pronounced. The sensation of welcome more pronounced.

[member="Kor Vexen"]
Security was quick to leave him because they were focused more on containing what was within, rather than stopping those from without from entering. To people accustomed to working for a particular individual there were little concerns about the ranks of the Sith. These people bowed to science, not titles of power. They left him alone because he made no indication of anything beyond his forward momentum toward the labs. The lab space itself existed in the upper levels- from the second floor and up. He would find them dark, empty, unused. Not abandoned but currently empty. The computers hummed quietly, on and available at the touch of a key. All of the work being done at this facility, available for perusal.

Catacombs
[member="Matsu Xiangu"] [member="Imogen Daniels"]
[float right]

[/float]
The plants fluttered beneath the cuts, drifting to the floor. But where they had been lush and thick, the underground hanging mosses that only needed darkness and damp to flourish, the pieces cut withered as soon as they were cut, curling and dying as if they had been desiccated by drought of years in only the span of heartbeats. A sharp eye would catch the withdrawal of black, viscous tendrils, curling up into the plants that remained above the point of severance. The shrieking, indeed, seemed to come from there.

However, something larger moved, to catch the attention more easily. A shift of a many limbed shadow. Arachnid surely would make sense here. A natural denizen perhaps.

It fled, but only several meters, and then stopped. In the shadows ahead it turned around, the faint light catching a sheen of crimson. Eyes reflecting in the dark.... but.... too many eyes.

Not limbs of a spider. Hands. Not only where they ought to be but where they had no right to be. They shifted above the creature's head, writhing like snakes. But slowly, one by one, shifting as if they were also looking at the pair. A sound, more whine of a canine than anything else, echoed from it. Absently, several of the hands that moved above its head started to pet it.

Soothing it.

It seemed to calm, and its head canted. The colour of the eyes seemed to dim slightly, before pulsing bright again. A questioning sound. Almost as though it were asking them.... something. But what?

(ooc: Careful, how you approach this will influence significantly how the next moment goes)

Dreams
[member="Vestille Thumahra"]

While his inner demon sought certain things, the presence that enveloped him once invited sought something entirely different. And it offered something equally different in return.

A whisper, wordless and indecipherable filtered through the air and the hands shifted, withdrawing from around him in one direction. Not touching, not yet, they formed a shell around him from behind and started moving forward, ushering him. The presence at his back was heavy but warm. A thick blanket or an embrace. Comfort. A sense that there was something large and he was just a step away from being drawn in to something that wanted him in the way a parent welcomed a child in the darkness.

The path ahead was slender. It started as a walkway two abreast could walk, but as each branch split off of the main passageway it grew narrower. Shoulder width. Hip width. The ground beneath fell away in the same manner, moment by moment, step by step, until he was walking a slender rail, supported if he faltered by the hands around him.

We need help with the door.

A voice whispered.

Half familiar but when he tried to grasp it, it vanished like a wisp of smoke. Someone he'd known once. Soothing, comforting. Someone who's hand he might have held- that visceral, physical impression stronger than the memory of the voice itself.

We cannot do it alone. We are too few, but there is room. Room for family. Room for you.

 

[Vestille Thumahra]

Vestille Thumahra​

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In the Realm of Dreams​

Acceptance​

​

The comfort was alien-- Wrong. Yet logic and reasoning had long since been silenced.

Each step deeper into the endless passageway sought the already ripped fabric of reality slip further away until it was nothing more than a mere distant memory; yet where many would feel nauseous or unnerved by everything that surrounded him, the hollowed figure that tread the path of insanity felt nothing save for the alluring comfort that the hands provided. The support that they offered should the man falter upon the journey deeper into madness. To call what had once been a proud General a man was debatable in his own head space-- Nothing was clear, every fact presented to him and the ceaseless in-fighting within his own psyche had left their scars and damage but whatever this was, this presence simply added gasoline to an already blazing inferno. The beast had control but even it knew that its foe was not to be taken lightly; the man that it scrummed with and sought to rip apart with its teeth found itself being torn at in kind yet neither side was the victor; a conflict that seemed without end as blows exchanged daily. Vestille was not a man who was to simply concede and allow his morale to fall; misery had tempered his resolve, tragedy had steeled his spirit and a lack of humanity had placed his zeal to unbreakable heights. He was a fighter, a survivor, not a man but a machine of war constructed of flesh and bone.

Yet this strength led to his undoing. Apathy, ignorance, denial-- All these imperfections were neglected in favor of the approach of full force forward. Time and again had he brushed shoulders with death; where many found solace and family within people, Vestille saw it within the concept of demise. It was reliable, always hovering over the shoulders of everyone and simply watched the time tick until it was the final hour. Even if he dodged it time and again, he found understanding in it-- It wasn't typical comfort but presented against all other things? He could at least count on it.

Yet all of this was proven undone by the whisper that called to him. The voice sounded familiar and it took some moments to come to the realization but-- It was her. Vestille had never been one for intimacy, more so the fact that everything that the Galactic Empire had indoctrinated him with during the Death Trooper program had sucked the morality, empathy and general emotions that a person might feel and replaced it with a cold blooded killer, someone who would get the job done, no matter how bloody, without question. His service and dedication was unquestioned but it was at Dagobah that DT-2417 perished in the swamps alongside his men that had fallen one by one in the bloodbath of a failed invasion. Pestilence was not only his team but something he could call family, whatever parental figures and close friends he had before on the long since forgotten home-world had all but been wiped from recollection. He survived it all, long enough to drag himself from the graveyard that surrounded him and into the hands of a Jedi-- The name he couldn't remember nor did he ever desire to, the act of kindness was seen more as an act of humiliation but it saw him onto the journey of transition-- Becoming Vestille Thumahra and falling into the care of the Sovereignty. A time was spent in a medical center, cared for by a woman that had, for a time, soothed his soul. It was her that despite it all, he could remember-- No details like her name or her features but just the concept.

Someone who he knew genuinely cared. Yet that memory was nothing but dust, now.

It was this scant recollection that drove him on, however. His vigor was all but lost and his once powerful stride had become a shamble of despair, accepting that this was it. This was his time.

They needed help with the door? They would get it. The flayed man would provide them with what they sought most.

His mind had all but shutdown. He had lost.

 

[Vaylin]

Thule - City Center​

​

"I've got no idea, far as I know the Empire has never learned the true identity...of whatever this is." Her whispered carried slightly, enough that the other two would likely hear it if they were close enough. Vaylin had been involved in all three instances of the Stones appearance, but she had never got a full understanding of what the scientists had been digging into. Nor had she ever got a hand on one of them, which was probably for the best.

The Zabrak glanced back, realizing both Ithnan and Maghr were following behind them. She frowned, mainly at the Devaronian. Either the man had some weapon up his sleeves, foolishly brave, or curious to a fault.

"Stay behind us." A rather obvious suggestion, given he was being accompanied by three Sith.

Heca pushed the door open, giving way for a stretch of light to illuminate the room. Though it wasn't particularly enlightening, with scant bits of light shining through the nearby windows. Vaylin placed a hand on the young Maenan's shoulder, tapping it once before stepping ahead and taking lead. The Zabrak didn't immediately go for the lightswitch, instead opting to move further into the room to allow her eyes to get use to the sudden lack of light.

She peered back at whoever did go for the switch, and upon realizing it wasn't working Vaylin reached for one of her lightsabers...but stopped just as her fingers grazed the hilt.

There was something off, the Zabrak felt uneasy not through the Force but through her natural instincts. From the years spent surviving in a jungle, learning how to survey an unknown area in darkness; looking for predators. Even before the bump came, Vaylin felt as though something was in the room with them.

And a sudden snap-hiss of a lightsaber wasn't going to help the situation.

Vaylin walked by one of the desks, fingers brushing along its surface to see if there was any dust. Although her eyes were on the lift across the room, and was slowly making her way towards it. Until the bump echoed out across the otherwise quiet room. The Zabrak suddenly froze, body immediately coiling and tensing in anticipation.

Slowly, Vaylin crouched down glancing over to whoever had been closest to her. While keeping one hand close to a lightsaber, she placed the other down against the ground. The Zabrak waited and listened, hoping another bump would follow so she could follow the vibrations to the source.

[member="Irajah Ven"] | [member="Heca Foliou"] | [member="Maghr Hu"] | [member="Ithnan Cryo"]​