Whispers in the Dark [TSE Dominion of Hex AG-18]

[Dante Sotari]

Location: Rescue Ships
Objective: Be The Big Damned Heroes
[member="Morgan Vance"]

"Life's not fair," she retorted with a smirk. The ball would have bapped him in the noise if he hadn't brought his attention back, and it was pretty clear the blonde was entirely unrepentant.

"I dunno, maybe they stopped bickering long enough to finally find an unused alcove and-"

"Dan-"

"Ugh I KNOW. I'm just sayin', I would read a fan fic about those two-"

"Dan!"

She paused, something in his voice making her look over at him, eyebrows knitting together in concern.

"The ship's stopped moving."

Up until that moment, Dante had been honestly expecting the rescue flotilla to find a ship of anxiety ridden, freaked out scientists afraid of a spider in the 'fresher or something like that. Using the floor to push back against, she levered herself up, hand flat on the durasteel. He was right. She hadn't noticed it at first, but the vibrations had stopped.

"What do you think that-"

An ear splitting shriek filled the cabin. Or at least, Dante thought it had. The fact that it was purely telepathic, entirely in her head, well, there was no separating out that from an actual sound. It felt real. She covered her ears, eyes snapping shut as if that would help but the sound seemed to resonate through to her very bones- loud, painful, and terrifying. She'd never heard anything like it, and for a moment, nothing beyond it existed.

Outside of the ship, the Starweirds had started phasing through the hull. While they hunted down the Force Users on board specifically, that did not stop those without the Force from feeling their effects.

It just wasn't personnel.

 

[Via Dolorosa]

Objective: Rescue Ships
Location: Aboard the Maleficum, the Nebula

"Captain, Lady Venefica. There seems to be something interfering with the ship's communication system."​

​

Both Captain Virter and Darth Venefica exchange looks before walking in tandem toward where Lt. 2nd Class Julie Harrow sat at her station, the communications layout of the ship. ​

​

"What appears to be the issue, Lt.?"​

​

"I'm not sure, Captain. The system continuously keeps blinking in and out. We have lost all communications with the majority of the ship."​

​

"What of the Science Labs?"​

​

"Blacked out."​

​

Losing most of communications with the ship was not a severe threat, but what was in the science labs growing and brewing needed to be monitored heavily from bridge to lab. Any outbreak emitting from those labs could not only turn the ship into a floating graveyard, left to escape the confines of the Maleficum could pose a threat to certain regions of the galaxy. Worse, if the ship never did crash into a planet spreading it's unseen, yet airborne, judgement of death to the unknown participants in a near genocide experiment; some greedy band of scavengers or salvagers might unknowingly release it when they came to strip away anything of worth from the mechanical tomb.​

​

Darth Venefica knew very well the labs must be reconnected with.​

​

"I will go to the labs to determine their status. Andarta....with me."​

​

"One last thing, Lady Venefica. All personal comlinks seem to have been rendered useless." ​

 

[Tathra Khaeus]

Location: ​​Departing Shuttle | Science Ship
Objective: Secure the Science Vessel
Allies: [member="Vaylin"] | [member="Morgan Vance"] | [member="Darth Vesper"] | [member="Dante Sotari"] | Science Peeps

​​"Forward Team to Dauntless, you getting this?" ​Caleb spoke, raising his rifle as the creature lingered with a curiosity in its movements as it inspected the group that had just arrived.

​"Forward Team, this is Dauntless. We've got some interference, we aren't receiving...."

​The com-channel turned to scrambles as the group turned towards the Dauntless, observing the massive ship as it halted in space, completely unmoving. ​​"The ship, it's stopped." ​Another trooper remarked, fear choking up her lungs. The Matador marched forward, longs strides carrying him closer to ray shields that protected everything within the hangar bay. He saw them, sliding through the thick hull of the ship into the Dauntless, he turned looking as the creature was solely looking at him. He had thought it was curiously looking at them all, but now it held its gaze upon him. ​"They've boarded the dauntless." ​"How, they have no crafts. We would've saw them!" ​"I don't think they need them." ​The Matador braced himself as more appeared.

​An ear piercing shriek filled the air, or so he had imagined. He thought at first it had resonated from the creatures themselves, but he was wrong. The sound echoed through his own mind, causing him to wince as it blasted through his head like a internal shockwave. The creatures shot towards the Matador, the creature launched at him with a wild scream. He felt its piercing wail, it was a fear tactic. He held his ground and as it drew close, his troopers opened fire. The bullets passed through as it drew close.

​It swung its large talon, aiming for his throat. The Matador dashed to the side and swung his blade for its abdomen in a flurry, the attack connected as the Matador spun back around, expecting to find the creature in halves. However, it had done nothing. The creature dashed to the side, avoiding another strike and slashed at his chest, its talons leaving scrapes of white across his crimson Iron. The Matador instinctively used his free hand, the creature had gotten past his saber. His fist connected with its chest, knocking it back and causing the screaming in his head to grow louder.

​The Matador dashed forward, he knew he had to let it hit him to get in a good hit, or so he thought. He spun his saber idly in his left hand as he beckoned the creature forward with his right. The creature came forward, striking at his face. He ducked under it, swinging with his saber at its stomach first, again. Nothing! But, he couldn't give away the game. The creature thrust its talons into a weaker part of his armour; digging its talons into padded Durasteel mesh. His free hand shot out to its throat, pulling the creature's chest into his blade. It connected, the creature jolted back as the blade ripped its upper body in half.

​The corporeal creature dissolved into nothingness on the spot, its ashes disappearing as they littered his hand. He looked at his open palm with confusion, turning to see his troopers as they had begun to fire at the other few that were strewn about the hangar.

​None of this was good.

 

[Arken Lussk]

Location: Science Vessel
Mission: Survive

Their situation wasn't a pleasant one. Nobody around, screams echoing throughout the Force, and an ever-growing pit of despair welling within him. Even when Arken figured it couldn't weigh any more, destiny wrapped its wretched fingers around him and dripped more of that vile feeling into him. Helplessness, anxiety, and anger.

They needed to move.

"C'mon, Vic, let's get outta here." The boy chortled with as much steel in his voice as he could muster. "Where to? The bridge?"

"Proposal: Let's relocate to the laboratory, master, there are far more lifeform readings there. At least, they are corporeal."

A shiver went down his spine. "So those little screaming chits aren't?"

"Negative." At least one of them wasn't shaking in their own boots. "I will do my best to guide us there safely."


Arken nodded and slipped his backpack on, nervously unclasping his lightsaber. And with that, they both stepped out of the breakroom. Dull grey bulkheads and dim lightning didn't exactly lend much hope to the young man and his towering companion as they traipsed through the science vessel. Widened eyes darted back and forth as they scoured each and every inch of these long corridors in search of life. Anyone would be a welcome site, even if it happened to just be a uniformed maintenance worker.

Alas, nobody else seemed to be with them.

Another left turn and they came face to face with an airlock. A dead end. Arken sighed inwardly and made an attempt to slow his pounding heart.

"Master," Victor called from behind him.

"Hm?"

The young slicer promptly spun around to see what the droid wanted. Gaunt, pale eyes met his own terrified gaze. Ragged white hair, a towering husk of a creature that seemed all too pleased with its newest discovery. A vile, jagged grin crept across its features to reveal horrifyingly sharp fangs. Before it could take another shambling step towards him, it reared its head back. Then it screamed.

His hands went to his ears, pressing inwards as the loudest sound he'd ever heard pinned him in absolute fear. "Aagh! Stop!" The boy cried, clamping his eyes shut as he staggered backwards against the airlock.

As if upon command, the screaming stopped instantly.

Arken opened his eyes to see a hollow face only inches away from his, grinning.

 

[Via Dolorosa]

Objective: Rescue Ships
Location: Aboard the Maleficum, the Nebula

The labs, the duo noticed as they approached, was still heavily illuminated and bustling with the normal day-to-day activities. Outside of the lab's communications being out, there seemed to be nothing out of order. Slipping through the sliding glass doors and briefly acknowledging the soldiers salutes, Darth Venefica was met half way by Dr. Podal Pyan, the head scientist of the labs, wearing a mask of confusion on her face when she saw the Sith Lady.​

​

"Lady Venefica! Always a pleasure to see you in the labs but I'm curious what has brought you here. The V7.67 formula is nowhere near completion."​

​

"I'm not here about the status of the formula....the lab's com system is down and my reason for being here is to ensure the labs have not been compromised in any way."​

​

The doctor shook her head.​

​

"I was not aware of the com system. Is there something wrong?"​

​

"Not sure....but something seems off."​

​

"Mother..."​

​

Andarta gripped her head, shaking it left and right as if she was trying to shake out some intruder, violently. Venefica placed a lone hand on her daughter when Andarta quickly slapped it away, stepped back, and produced her hilt.​

​

"Andarta!"​

​

Moving into her lightsaber form, Andarta's thumb caressed the activation stud, but didn't express enough pressure to produce it's blade.​

​

"I can't get them out of my head! They keep telling me the same thing over and over again."​

​

"Whose in your head? What are they saying, Andarta?"​

​

Andarta called forth the hilt's blade.​

​

"You are monsters here to kill me!"​

 

[Kenth Typho]

Location: Rescue Ships
Objective: Be The Big Damned Heroes.... or not?
[member="Dante Sotari"]

Morgan didn't hear any screeches and at first didn't even notice Dante's predicament.

Already standing and staring out of the viewport to see if there was anything there. Odd. They weren't anywhere close to the science ship, but that couldn't be right- why would they stop at the edge of the system? "Something's wrong, they didn't announce anything over the speakers and we are still-" Turning around to look at Dante, he suddenly noticed her battling with her own demons.

Eyes closed tight, hands against her ears, a soft whine finding itself past her lips.

"Dan?" Morgan asked, before carefully approaching and crouching down next to her. Hand reached out to touch her shoulder. "Dan, what's wrong?" The muscles in her neck were all tightened up and forced.

As if she was forcing every muscle in her body to stay at attention in preparation for...

What?

A shake at her shoulder. "Dan," Louder now and more concerned. "Do you need a medic?" There was something at the edge of his mind. He had been alive once, after all, and you couldn't just kill someone's connection to the Force for the most part. That would outright kill people. But his bond with it was severely numbed. Almost as if the cut had been burned and scorched rather than knit together again.

All Morgan could hear, when he really tried in the moment? Was a soft hum just past his boundaries.

What was that?

 

[Venthis Zambrano]

​

"The Absorbent" | Inside the Nebula​

Scene 2​

​

Closer and closer. Venthis steered the ship towards the floating piece of debris he had spotted. As he grew closer to it, it's features began to stand out. It was... a miniature space station. A self-preserving facility floating through space, surrounding it were several of the starweirds that had filled the nebula they were in with themselves. They seemed to float around it, fixing and removing pieces. Almost working together.

Venthis cautiously approached, docking his ship near the facility before actually gripping onto it after edging towards it. The creatures could sense his Force Sensitivity. They all turned together, beginning to float towards The Absorbent. Darting to the door, he flung it open with telekinesis wasting little time to open it with his hands. Then he heard them, another screech filled the ship. He ran for the exit of the ship, dodging various weirds attempting to strike him. As he opened the exit, revealing the facility... it all stopped. The weirds vanished.

Sparks flew from each side of the ship, various tubes and wires tossed around. Though there was a purple liquid that seemed to lead deeper into the ship. He followed.

Making his way through various corridors and turnings, he found himself in a wide chamber with a pedestal in the middle. Surrounded by starweirds.

 

[Ras'kala'han]

OBJECTIVE: Dock safely.
LOCATION: Sith Interceptor; Currently approaching.

---

It had been a long time since Force Lightning had been turned on him - it was something he had always regarded as a tool favored by the Sith above all else, imitated by some, perhaps, but mastered by no others. No, this creature was well skilled with it, dangerously so, and it was intent on killing him here and now - his limbs were seizing up, burns forming as the concentrated hatred of the barely-sentient monster, its hatred for all Force-users, poured out over him.

He pushed back against it, letting hatred of his own flow against it, but only to buy a moment's time. He rose, shakily, to his feet, glaring with luminous eyes at the repulsive figure, then closing his eyes. Parting his hands rapidly in a sweeping gestu, as though opening a curtain, he scattered the power, filling the air with sparks and ozone - then, closing his eyes, reached out and enveloped his enemy in a Death Field. Shrieking as its essence dissipated, digested by malevolence before being devoured and absorbed, its manifestation crumbled away into nothingness.

"Prepare to dock," he said, dusting himself off, his expression one of contempt. "And remain ready for a hasty retreat - keep my posted via com of the nearest exit point."

Reaching out with his senses, he pinpointed with all possible swiftness the location of the most familiar presence aboard, likely where his objective lay. He didn't like to think of himself as the heroic rescuer, but he may just get to play the role - assuming that there were survivors by the time he got there. Keenly aware of yet more hostile presences closing in on him, the began sprinting down the hallway, lightsaber in hand unignited.

| [member="Vereshin"] | [member="Darth Abyss"] | [member="Ignis Imura"] |​

 

[Arage Bao]

Location: Tandun III
Objective: Where is everyone?

"Yeah, okay, but I just wonder where everyone is."

"Isss ssssstrange, yesssss."

'Oh, I don't know, this seems very exciting already!"

"There is nothing exciting about skulking through old Rakatan ruins alone without backup."

"What do we need back-up for??"

"Isssss the doctor afraaaaaid?"

The Muun had been trying to ignore their insistent voices as he studied the map in his hands, but it seemed that they really were enjoying having yet another aimless conversation in the middle of nowhere about nothing whatsoever. He scowled, looking over his shoulder to the trio. His apprentice, Daphne, broken and remolded after the battle on Malachor. The Xinkra called Vazz and their creator Dax. All of them pledged their services to him... all of them frankly useless. But Ardeth did not have anyone else for the moment.

Row with the reams you have.

"We are not alone." Ardeth stated calmly, before returning to the map and picking one of the routes. "We are Sith. The Darkside is with us."

That cowed them into silence for the moment and that was the best the Muun could do for now. The truth was that it confused him as well. There were supposed to be more involved here on Tandun.

But instead no ship had been sighted.

The Imperial outpost was still twenty minutes away, deeper in the ruins, where a research facility had been established.

 

[Darth Ophidia]

Focus

Location: Rescue Ship​

She pushed breath out of her lungs and let the thoughts disperse as she opened herself up to the visions, but they did not come. She drew in a new breath and began anew.

Blurry, she felt cold. Not the cold of nakedness, but a biting of ice. Did she see snow?

A scraping sound touched the hull and drew her out of her meditation. The Rattataki looked around suspiciously, eyes narrowing. A minute passed without another sound before she tried to slip back into the Force and sense what went on past the confines of her disrobed corpus.

No, not snow: Steel.There was cold steel, and hunger. Such hunger.

Another scraping sound rattled through her room, and her eyes opened. She stared angrily at the door, cursing under her breath whoever thought it would be funny to disrupt a Sith Lord in her meditations. Funny enough, it would not be the first time someone found such tomfoolery to be worth their time. She tried to close her eyes again and focus, but instantly opened them again as familiar sentence probed her mind:

From Beneath You, It Devours.

That was when she heard the shrieks accompanying the scraping against the hull. She grabbed her lightsabres and bounced out of her bunk. Her bare feet touched the cold metal floor as she curled her fingers into position around the hilts. Her breath quickened slightly as she began to sense the presences lingering in the walls around her. Ghostly hands and heads poked through the metal plating as the starweirds homed in on her as a Force User of some competence. She did not need to question what was happening just yet. She was being slowly surrounded by ghostly entities with palpable bloodthirst and eyes set on her.

The Queen of Shadows ignited her two sabres; scarlet blades blomed with crackling black, and she felt the surge of adrenaline through travelling through her body as the Eyes of the Satwas prepared to cut, to rend, to bite the souls of the dead and feed their mistress.

 

[Shade of Decay]

Objective: Protect the Stones
Location: The Science Ship
Allies: [member="Atlas Kane"] [member="Vereshin"]



Not long after he'd had his personal meeting with Atlas Kane had Tsisaar heard about the scientific expedition soon to take place regarding the stones; highly interested to learn more about the objects, he had signed on as a member of the expedition, though he was careful to keep the stone he'd personally picked up back on Gravlex Med out of the hands of others. And out of his own, as well; the feeling it gave off through the Force was enough to keep him from being willing to handle it with his bare fingers, and the effects the stones had on each other dissuaded him further. He was, then, content to handle the stone with lab instruments and the Force only, studying it specifically whenever he had a chance in his personal quarters. At other times he carried it in a small pouch, ensuring it remained entirely separate from his actual being.

Unlike some others, Tsisaar had never been fond of travelling in space. Being on solid ground, being in a temple, being able to study and practice and do all the things he needed to do - these were all acceptable. But the feeling of having an empty vacuum separate from him by only a few feet of hull material was one he didn't enjoy. Some other acolytes also considered him moderately superstitious - all the different stories of the things in space, the nearly-unexplainable phenomena or creatures in space left him quite disquieted when it came to the airless void that the galaxy floated through. As such, when the near incessant muttering he'd been hearing for some few hours suddenly grew louder and more noticeable, just on the verge of understandable, he froze, looking about himself and his small room with a growing sense of anxiety.

I should've known better than to go floating through some unknown nebula, he thought to himself, almost forcibly driving away some of the anxiety with some self-directed annoyance. Anything involving these stones can't be safe to traverse.

From beneath you it devours

His sense of anxiety and disquiet nearly instantly returning, Tsisaar's head darted around the room once more, his ears highly alert for any more noises around him. With a quick gesture he replaced his stone in its pouch, which he quickly replaced within the folds of his robe. He could feel the stone itself writhing in the Force, almost as if it was trying to break free from him, the ship, from anything - bubbling and boiling against the physical matter around it. As he started to move for the door, he could hear the muttering growing stronger, punctuated with quick scratches, almost like bone against metal. Almost instantly something stepped through his door, not bothering with the matter that composed it; floating, skeletal, almost rotting, and glaring directly at Tsisaar.

From beneath you it devours

Even though the words were still somewhat unintelligible, the rhythm behind the muttering, the intonation of it, and the way he could still feel his stone bubbling more violently than before through the Force all made it fairly obvious to Tsisaar what was being said, while he stood, frozen, staring at the creature in front of him. But before he could purge the ice from his blood and start to move again the thing screeched at him, lashing out with its large claws. Tsisaar was left unable to do anything but watch the claws come for him in seeming slow-motion, mentally screaming at his muscles to respond, to move in some way out of the danger —

Before at the last second his body responded, springing backwards; it was still too slow to avoid being harmed, as Tsisaar saw half of one of his hullepi go flying off from his face, a spray of blood behind it. The injury finally gave his mind and body the impetus it needed to fully react, as one hand reached out to grasp the creature in the Force, and the other, propelled by fear and pain, blasted forth a short spray of lightning, charring the beast completely and letting it slump against the ground. Now aware of the alarms blaring through the ship, the acolyte didn't even take time to notice how the body he left behind slowly vanished, just as ethereal in death as it was in life. He simply pushed open his door, jogging to the main laboratory of the ship, lightsaber hilt in hand and constantly wary as to any movement he might've seen out of the corner of his eye.

Luckily enough for him, however, he came in right behind one of the few other Sith he actually knew, the noticeably-larger warrior named Atlas Kane. "Looks like I'm not the only one to get hurt today, eh?" he somewhat-sarcastically asked the other man, feeling at the stump that had previously been a full tendril. It had at least stopped bleeding fairly quickly. While Vereshin quickly started to secure the area, then, Tsisaar stepped over to fulfill the other issue that had cropped up. Raising one hand, he reached out with the Force, trying to yank the stone out of Ignis's hand and throw it to the ground. Failing that, he already had his lightsaber hilt raised, and was ready to jump forwards and try to drive the pommel of it into the side of the man's head.

[member="Ignis Imura"]

(OOC: Hopefully nobody minds the little bit of timey-wimey manipulation here in my post. Started working on it a couple days ago and all of a sudden I'm way behind on the action.)

 

[Dante Sotari]

Location: Rescue Ships
Objective: Be.... Big.... Damned..... Heroes?
[member="Morgan Vance"]

​Dante didn't hear him. Not at first. Somehow she'd ended up on her knees, arms wrapped around her head. Her entire body trembled. Even at the height of events on Mirial, she had never looked like this.

Though the weirds had no interest in those without the Force, their telepathic screams were untargeted and unspecific. They didn't care who they touched with them, or what the effects were, so long as it kept those that heard it from interfering. Though Morgan hovered a half step above it, the effects were everything they could really hope for. He was just as distracted and taken out of the equation as the woman kneeling.

That was good enough for them.

From beneath you, it devours.

The words scratched just beneath the surface. Not truly audible, barely even decipherable beneath the cacophony of noise. It roiled around in her head, a maelstrom of voices, calling, accusing, begging. But from the base, the bottom of the whirlwind, one voice solidified, coalescing into something recognizable. Something solid.

From beneath you....

Dani! Get out!

"Wh-what?"

Get out! RUN. ​He's coming for you, Dani, love, don't stay, please.

"Bea?"

Dani, please. Go. GO NOW!

.... It devours.

She was up on her feet, hands still covering her ears and barreling toward the door. It was some combination of fear and faith. She believed, without question, that it was Bea's voice urging her on, out.

 

[Atlas Kane]

Location: Science Ship
Objective: Keep the stones safe

[member="Darth Abyss"], [member="Ignis Imura"], [member="Tsisaar Taral"], [member="Vereshin"]


One by one Atlas opened the large containers, checking each tube that was meant to hold one of the stones briefly, keeping track of the number that was missing while ignoring any distractions inside the room itself. It only took him a few moments to do, enough for others to join him and the glasses-wearing Sith, though they were not what his attention shifted to next, rather he counted the stones currently in use by the laboratory, matching the number against the one he'd found missing in the container. It matched, except for one. Several were suspended in the glass casings all around the laboratory, others in their containment tubes around the laboratory, all but one. Soon enough, however, even the last one made its presence known, in the hands of a younger acolyte, who held the containment tube. The man seemed to be reaching for the stone inside, letting it slide onto his hand to feeling its warm surface, the comforting aura it projected when it made contact with one's skin. He watched the man intently, keeping a mental note of any of his reactions, only glancing away briefly when he heard a familiar voice.

"Did you make sure to catch it? Modern surgical advancements have made it quite easy to reattach such appendages." He replied, his tone as calm and precise as ever, though he seemed absent-minded, his eyes shifting away from the Khil in favour of observing the young man mid-sentence.

The younger Sith's reaction seemed quite peculiar. He could see the man's feelings change from confusion to acceptance of the orb's will in the subtle details of his expression, until, finally, it became quite apparent as the man's eyes started to change in colouration. Atlas' eyebrow arched. Most peculiar indeed. To witness the stones' effect on another sentient being was quite remarkable. The hold it seemed to possess over the acolyte even moments after he'd first made contact with it was nothing short of astonishing. He was about to step closer when he heard the loud cry of the fellow Praetor in the room who had begun preparations to shield the entire laboratory from the creatures stalking the ship, but made no attempt to stop him, rather delegating that task to the other Sith inside the room. At the same time, the more powerful Sith who appeared to be no less than floating armour had retrieved a book from his belt, using some form of alchemy to alter the book's contents to serve his own needs. They seemed to both focus on the creatures rather than the possessed acolyte, it was likely they thought it would be Atlas who stopped him from doing anything that could jeopardise their efforts.

Though, before he could do anything, Tsisaar had already stepped in. Atlas could feel the Force surge in the Khil and gauging that he was currently attempting to draw the stone out of the other's hand, judging by his extended arm, though he was prepared for the worst case scenario of his attempt failing with lightsabre already in hand. Everyone in the room seemed to be occupied already, two working on the laboratory's defence from external threats, one possessed, and one working on the internal threats that the possessed posed. The Epicanthix weighed his options. He could aid in the defence of the room by lending the Praetor his strength, bolstering the defensive barrier. He could also jump in to subdue the human. Alternatively, he could also simply wait and let the others do the work while he made sure no one made it to the stones, act as the final gatekeeper should the Khil fail, allow him to test his mettle against one of his ilk.

His options were many, caution attempted to reason with him, telling him he should stand back and see what the Human did against the Khil's assault. Logic dictated he interfere now, subduing the man to then safely aid the other Praetor in his attempts to create a barrier. However, curiosity dictated something far different, something a lot more radical. The kind voice in the back of his mind whispered to him quietly, promised him the world with the sweetest words. Its fluid form curling around his mind, slowly enclosing it to drown out the other voices, his worries. It calmed him, gave him clarity. It was his duty to protect the stones, to make sure no harm came to them.

He opened himself up to the Force, closing his eyes and reciting the Code of the Sith in his mind, allowing the mantra to focus his connection to it. The pleasant feeling of the energy field overcoming him, flowing into him and back out as though he were breathing it slowly made its way through his body. He accepted its will, followed its instructions. His hand moved over the hilt of his lightsabre as he breathed in, opening his eyes again they focused on the Human the Khil had engaged, but they didn't linger there. Instead, they jumped to the Praetor and his barrier. It was encompassing the room, slowly growing in size and intensity. Breathing out he felt the sensation of being cut off from the outside through this barrier. It was a curious feeling, he could not quite place the finger on the emotion it invoked, but he knew what he had to do, there was only one way to keep the stones protected.

With a long release of the breath he had kept for several seconds he turned away from the group, placing both hands on the handles of the container. With the aid of the Force flowing through him, he lifted the large crate with relative ease, his familiarity with this technique aiding him greatly in the effort. Without much of a care for what the others were doing, he turned and began moving towards the door, using the rest of his concentration to form a protective barrier around himself, to make harder any attempts that would be made to stop him.

 

[Eye of Solomon]

The howling shrieks of the damned pierced through the ship's hull, reverberating through the minds of anyone and everyone who was susceptible to their maddening cries. Even Doctor Vain was nearly brought to her knees, both hands clutched the sides of her her head as she slumped up against the viewport. She was a doctor, a medical professional, she wasn't cut out for this sort of spooky bantha poodoo -- nor was she capable of meeting these fiends head on, for she was not a warrior like her master.

Luckily, her master was nothing if not cautious.

So as one of the Starweirds rose from the grilled metal deck, ethereal claw outstretched towards the poor masked doctor, the sound of lightsabers igniting momentarily pierced the cacophonous din.

​

​

A pair of the Imperial Crownguard, the elite bodyguard of the Dark Lord, rushed forward with saberstaffs ignited to combat the fiend. They seemed wholly unaffected by the Starweird's power, their minds shielded by their Epicanthix genetic nature, and after a short scuffle they managed to drive the beast back and secure Doctor Vain.

"The Dauntless has been compromised, ma'am. We have to move to a secure location."

Vain barely understood what one of the guards was telling her, both of her hands were still clutched tightly over her ears as the same ravenous voice thundered in her mind.

F̸̨́r̢̢̨͞o̴҉̨͟͡m̧̛̕ ̨͟b̷̸̶̢̛ę̧n͏̢̕e̴͝a̶̧̛͏͢t̷͏̵̷̢h҉̷̢ ͘҉̴͡y͢ò̡̧͟u̡̕͜͟ ̵̕͜͠i̢͡͡t̨͢ ̕҉d̸̕e̡҉v̵̢̧҉ǫ̴̡̢͡u҉͘r̛͘͟s̨̛͞͡!̨̧​

 

[Kenth Typho]

Location: Rescue Ships
Objective: Be The Big Damned Heroes.... or not? Apparently not!
[member="Dante Sotari"]

His hands on her shoulders now, shaking softly.

"Dante, Dan-"

Suddenly she rushed up and the momentum caused him to fall on his ass, as she jumped to her feet all of a sudden. Shouting, words garbled except for Bea, but Morgan didn't know what it meant. Rushing up to stand and follow, the door was already half open and she was passed it the next, before he could even get a chance to catch up with her.

Her feet bounding against the durasteel flooring and Vance followed, shouting her name, what are you doing, come back.

The door to the observatory was slowly hissing shut, but Morgan managed to slip on through. She stood there, cowering, but that was not the worst part of the entire equation.

It was what was looming in front of the viewport.

Humanoid.

Looking down with a macabre smile on its handiwork. The entire observatory was covered in bits and pieces, it had ripped through the entire mess of Sith who had been occupying the room before. "Dan, feth, get away from it!" Hand curled around her shoulder and pulling her back, before he suddenly realized he had touched something with his foot during the step.

...lightsaber.

Just before it could make its approach Vance already had the red saber ignited and in front of him. Awkwardly.

"Dan, if I die here protecting your ass from... that I will haunt you for the rest of your life." Through gritted teeth as the Starweird tilted its head and attempted a... smile at both of them.

 

[Vaylin]

Location: Rescue Ships | The Dauntless
Objective: Survive & Defend
Allies: [member="Eye of Solomon"] | [member="Flora Burn"] | [member="Morgan Vance"] | [member="Dante Sotari"] | [member="Darth Venefica"] | [member="Venthis Zambrano"] | [member="Darth Ophidia"]

Every so often, Vaylin had gazed behind her to the towering form that was [member="The Matador"]. If the Zabrak hadn't gotten use to fighting beasts of equal height before, then she would've felt intimidated having him shadow her. Either way, it provided the benefit of having no one approach her, wanting to steer clear of the Matador.

It has surprised Vaylin to learn he had been assigned to assist her, given she had seen his work on Tython. He was more than capable of handling himself, rather than having to follow her around.

As she stood on the bridge, watching as the Dauntless moved towards the Science vessel, Vaylin's commlink beeped.

"Yes, what is it?" She spoke as soon as she had activated the device. An somewhat annoyed expression began to form, before she push it back and sighed quietly. Vaylin looked back at Matador.

"Go on ahead with the first shuttle, I've got something I need to attend to here first. I'll join you and the others in another shortly." She didn't look back, but heard the Matador's heavy boots as he walked away and off the bridge.

The minutes that followed were uneventful, the Zabrak remained where she was; pacing around a little maybe, as she coordinate some of the forces. Then her commlink went dead, and the Dauntless stopped without warning.

"What's going on, why have we stopped?" Vaylin turned to look at one of the crew, who was frantically at his console trying to answer the very question.

"I don't know! The ship just sto-"

Before the man could finish his sentence, several ear piercing shrieks echoed out across the bridge. Everyone; aside from the Imperial Crownguard, buckled to their knees. Vaylin managed to remaining standing for a time, before she fell to her knees. Fingers dug into her hair, the Zabrak tried to force the voices out of her head. She could feel them trying to claw their way deeper, beneath her mental barriers.

From beneath you...
...It devours

All the time, a pair of Starweirds phased through the hull and made a beeline for her.

The voices were tugging at bad memories; of Athiss and the few other times Vaylin had been mentally attacked. She focused on her lessons, taught to defend her against attacks like this. The Zabrak called upon the past, the pain and agony she had felt in those moments.

They fueled her.

Sitting on her haunches, Vaylin sprung back from her knelt position and let out a Force Scream. The attackers were banished, sent flying back through the hull and into space. No doubt they would return, but for now the immediate physical threat was much further away.

Vaylin looked over to see Doctor Vain and a pair of the elite guard were making their move to leave.

"They phased through the hull. There's nowhere secure on this ship." She slammed her fist into the floor, then slowly stood up. "We need to fight them back, and someone needs to get this ship back online!"

The Valkyrie was pissed, hands reaching for her two lightsabers and igniting them.

It was time to fight.

 

[Tathra Khaeus]

​
Location: ​​ Science Ship Hangar Bay
Objective: Survive the Science Vessel
Allies: ​​[member="Vaylin"] | [member="Morgan Vance"] | [member="Darth Vesper"] | [member="Dante Sotari"] | Science Peeps

The Matador charged forward, rushing forward to aid the troopers. Caleb fell to his knees, screaming as he clawed at his helmet. The view ahead of his phased him, he grinded to a halt as he threw his arm back, thrusting forward his palm with a charged kinetic blast that threw the starweirds backward.

​His focus couldn't help but shift to the soldiers in his periphery, some trying to stagger back inside of the shuttle and close its shuttle bay doors. Others, like Caleb were on their knees in fetal positions. The starweirds had been impacted by the force blast, but had remained at a distance.

​The wailing intensified, he felt his feet become unsteady as his vision became dark for a moment. He shook his head, and one the starweirds were gone. He couldn't worry about it, not now. The two remaining starweirds came closer, both launching towards him with talons extended. The first went for the armour between his Breastplate and shoulder plates, he raised his arm and sliced through its chest, the blade passing through with no effect as the creature passed over his head, its talons turning to grasp at his back, one talon grabbing a horn of his helm and the other scraping against his chest. The second came for his throat, slashing with its talons towards him with rapidly increasing momentum.

The Matador felt its claws close, thrusting his left elbow into the Starwierds that clawed at his back; knocking the creature back and releasing its grip on him. This gave him mobility once more, allowing him to thrust his right gauntlet up to catch the talons of the creature. He pushed back its ethereal weight with minimal effort, slashing across its arms with his saber, clamped down tightly in his left hand. It launched backward, screaming in his mind as it flailed. He felt a sharp pain, as the third starweird reappeared, launching upward out of the ground and slashing its talons through his knee.

The Matador grunted, the momentum of the strike taking him off of his feet and onto the ground. As the second weird, that he had knocked back before. It slashed at his chest, throwing its momentum into his body and knocking him back. The creature was on top of him, leaving silver gashes in his Beskar plate.

The Matador saw blaster bolts fly by overhead. His mind numbed to every sound other than the continuous plague in his mind, he felt an ease wash over him, a wish to sleep in the back of his mind. But, something else was there. The will of the Tol Varen, the Keeper's hold on him overpowered his enemies will. The Matador thrust his saber upward into the skull of the starweird above him, its head dissipating into small embers as he thrust its body across the hangar floor.

 

[Tathra Khaeus]

​(OOC: Double post)

 

[Via Dolorosa]

Objective: Rescue Ships
Location: Aboard the Maleficum, the Nebula

Even though Andarta wasn't threatening Darth Venefica, or anyone actually, as she stood their gripped in some haunting nightmare, the robe of Darth Venefica began to stir; the tendrils calculating when to strike out to end the forthcoming threat to their matron. And Darth Venefica knew the robe's activation at this juncture would be out of her hands. She also knew she must do what was needed to save her daughter.​

​

Through the Force, the Swamp Witch slammed Andarta against the far wall; pinning her there whilst the two guards stationed outside rushed in. With a minute gesture, Darth Venefica halted the troops before breaking her daughter's hand that held the ignited lightsaber with another calling of the Force. Andarta screamed, the Doctor gasped, and whatever threat that could have manifested was subdued. Calling the unlit hilt to her own hand, Darth Venefica walked toward Andarta closing off the girl's screams of pain and terror from her own mind.​

​

"Andarta..."​

​

Stopping abruptly, the Sith felt a tickling in her mind; some intruder trying to claw it's way into the insanity of the Dagobah Sith's mind. Then came the cacophony of screams flooding the lab, sending everyone to their knees. Darth Venefica remained upright longer than the others, then she too dropped to a knee. As a practitioner of destroying the minds of others, Darth Venefica had long ago trained her own mental fortitude; but the screams where ear splitting none-the-less. Whatever horrors was trying to be implanted failed.​

​

Then she saw them pass through the lab's walls; and Darth Venefica barred her teeth as she gripped and ignited her own lightsaber while she rose. And that's when two tendrils shot out toward the real threat.​

 

[Ignatius]

Location: Science Vessel - Inspecting mysterious stones
Objective: Allow CreepyPasta touch stones
Tags: [member="Dante Sotari"], [member="Darth Vesper"], [member="Aria Vale"], [member="Arken Lussk"], [member="Atlas Kane"], [member="Darth Abyss"], [member="Jorryn Fordyce"], [member="Vereshin"], [member="Tsisaar Taral"],

The stone was wonderful. It opened my eyes to these ghost. I could feel them. I could see how force users could be so... delicious. I felt connected to them. Looking up, I saw lucem was staring at me. However, as a droid body, it couldn't really show emotions with anything other than it's little floating appendages. I watched as the shard slowly backed away from me as I could see others begin go move around me. The sound returning to my ears as I could hear footsteps rapidly approaching me. My father always taught me to be aware of my surroundings. Turning around, I could feel the emotions of those around me. I could feel the fear, the nervousness, and the doubt. I also felt the hatred and the anger that many used to fuel themselves. As one individual who I had not seen before approached me, I got the feeling it was not for good intent. Even more so, he was reaching for the stone. I would not allow that.

NO ONE TAKES THE STONE!

A lightsaber came up to strike at me. However, this poor unfortunate soul did not know what I was versed well in. Fighting with hand to hand combat. In fact, I excelled in it so well, I could fight my father when he wielded a sword, when I carried none. My smile erupted from my face and My hands started to grow hot. While I had moved the rock to my left hand, my right arm came up. Using the bone and forearm to act as a wall to prevent the lightsaber hilt from ever reaching my face. While the man may be reaching for the stone, used it as a weapon now.

My arm spun around the man's own. Attempting to push it away from me, I then reeled my hand back, and then thrust it towards the man's face. My weaponized punch was sent even harder being augmented with the force. Should it touch him even for a moment, I knew that the effects being done to me would be transferred over to him. Even if that was done, Missing his form or not, my eyes began to burn. I could feel the force as it wanted to consume me. Even so, consume me in that which I controlled. Screaming in pain, My entire body burst into flames. Igniting the air around me with a heat that could turn sand into glass, and melt metal within moments. Anyone even fairly close would receive blistering burns.

Standing right next to me more than a few seconds would begin to char and burn away any form of flesh and muscle you had. Any longer? Lets leave the gory details to the imagination.

D͍̘͚̱̀o̠̙̯̼̭͟ ̼̯̮͈̻̺͜n̠͖̭̳̫̱̩ǫ͍̞̞̞̘̬t̸͕͎͚̻̼͝ ̦͚̘̘͚̖̩͜t̸͖͖̫͍o̡͔͔̝̱ͅų̷̨̘͇̲c҉͓͇́h̷̪͖͎͍̩̪ ̷͚͖͍̼ḿ̢̙͍͔̟̗͞ͅè̥̺̗͝!̛̱̰̠̹͢​

​

​

​

Even now, I felt like I wasn't entirely in control. Why was I fighting and doing this? Why was I using so much of the force, and why did I feel that I couldn't trust my allies even more so than normal? It was like I was a child being told what to do, and had no reasoning to understand that this was bad. Nor the reasoning behind these actions? Yes, I controlled my body, but I still felt like my body was doing it naturally. Almost as though this were muscle memory, or if something was guiding my actions to be this way. Even these thoughts for a moment allowed me to still myself. The flames continuing to burn. Blackening and melting the ground beneath me.

I sounded normal for the first time in what seemed forever.

"What is going on?"​

​

Looking over to Atlas, I watched as he began to pick up the box of stones. And was running out of the room. All of a sudden, I could feel my thoughts return to wanting what the stone wanted. Wanting to be near.... itself? As if these stones knew one another. It wanted to be with it's friends. It wanted me to follow them, and prevent their theft of this Sith. I growled as the flames slowly dissipated from me. Running after the man with a rage and a hate that I had never felt before.

G̶͏̺̝͔̪̱͡I̶̜͇̱͘͞V̝̮̼̯̜̳͇͚̫E̹̮̟̱ͅ ̢̧͚̰͍̰̺̼M̷̹̞͙͎͎͍͝Ȩ̬̯͙̱͖̤̀͡ ̵͍̖̺̲̠͎͠B҉̭͟A̴̹̮̲͎C̸̗̝͉͈͎̬͠͞K͕̫ ̷͖̼͓̤̰̲͚͢M̶̸͇̝͜Y͡҉̷̼̘̖̼̘͉͓̘̰S̹͈͠͞ẸL͓̫͘͡F̸̣͓͡!̴͔̰͔̫​

In my fury, my rage, I lashed out. Throwing bolts of flame at Atlas. Only for them to blast away by some shield. I smiled brightly. Yes the shield prevented anything from damaging himself, or physical strikes. However, could it prevent the breaking of the box the very stones were within? I had no clue, but I had to try even if I was running after him and fueled by rage and hate. My hand whipping out in a contorted open grip, and crushing down on an invisible object. Through the force, attempting to break the box, and thus cause Atlas to either touch the stones and become myself, or drop them, and allow our distance to shorten drastically.

I̮͕͈̗͈͍̰̟̺̘͉͜͠ͅT̥̠͉̯͚̗̣͔̼̦̖͡͝ ̷͟͝҉̝̣̤͎͍̭̥̲̰͎͔͍̖̗D̨̨͍͉̱͎͈͎̪̫̗̰̠E̷͙̱̗͓͡͝V̴̶͖͍̼̰O͏͏̹̩̻̰͚̩̣͚͉̻̳͍̬͕͚̞̟Ự̧̺͍̯̺͝ͅR̵̦̩̦̥̟̻̝̱̳̜̬̕͢͞S̯̝͈̤̹̼͈͎͜ ̡̧͏̕͏̦̟ͅU̡̯̖̲̘͕̳̖̺̦̞͓̻̬̮̥̭͚͘͝S̵̛̟͎͎͇͙̖̮̮̝͘͞ ͙̮͓̹̞͚̙͟͝A͉̖̯̝͎̼̞̦͙͙̮̜̠̗̻͚̟͠L̴̡̞̹̻̺͎͚͓̮̣̗͙̺̕̕ͅĹ͢҉̨͚̻̣̥̤͖͖̼̫͘ ̶̡̺̖̞̠͔͟͢͝S̨͏͈̝̱̤͉̥͖̬̙͔̺̫̬͚O̵͔̬͕̻̪̱̲͘O̸͇̬̺͚̻͜͡Ņ̢̧̨̗͖̦͎͙̻̯̻͕͎̩̟̠͓̹E̹̤̬̬͠͝͠R̷̨̧̲̙͖̘͙̫̫̩̟̬͍̱̲̟͜͞ ̴̧̙̰̹̗̟͕͕͇͎̼̞̫̝̗̺͓̀͟O̴̧̡̗̤͚̞̠R̢̬̳̰̗̪̩̥̙͖̰̳͕̙̰̼͕͢͡ ̶̴̀͏͍̙̰̹͇̘̠̼̲̻̗͜ͅL̫̮̹͈͚͉̜̫̺̗͜͟͝A̴̷̧̧͙̜̫̠͎͔̯̤̺͡ͅȚ̢̦̼̞̖̞É̬̝̥̝̳̞̯̟͇̱͙̦̭̘͈͞͞R̷̨͏̗̦͖͙!̡̣̤̣̬̻̥͉̳̖͓̖​